I know it's been a long time since the last time I've updated, but I haven't had much time to write lately. I want you to know that I'm not going to leave this story without an end, believe me. It's just that I'm not going to update so frequently now.

I hope you like and enjoy the chapter. Remember as always that you can leave a review and follow it to know when I update a new chapter.

Paine woke up after sleeping only two hours. She looked through the window of her room and sat next to it, seeing a sky full of stars that was turning blue. Paine tried to think about something else except the night of before, but nothing came to her mind except Nooj's words. How could I betray my family? My father has given everything for his business and now he's lost it because I'm too weak.

Her cell took her out of her thoughts. Paine picked it up without looking who was calling her. Rikku's voice sounded on the other end. She seemed worried.

"Rikku? What's wrong?" Paine asked. "You never wake up before 10." She joked. Paine had not realized that it was almost 9 in the morning. Rikku answer left her without words. "What?" Paine asked coldly. "Don't move." She said and ended the call.

Paine stood up and walked out of her room. She had only one intention: find Nooj and make him to talk with Auron.

She went to Nooj room and opened the door with a slam. She did not knock or ask for permission to come. Unfortunately, she found an empty room. With frustration, Paine turned around and walked to the dining room, where she was sure the breakfast was been served. Again, she opened the doors of the room with a slam and found two persons there.

"Morning honey." Payd said as she buttered her toast. She did not look at her daughter, but she could tell that she was pissed off. "Do you want an orange juice?"

"Morning." Paine muttered as she scanned the room slowly. Her mother was sat next to her father, who was reading a newspaper. Payd was buttering some toast with strawberry jam. They seemed happy as ever. There was no sign of that mood that her father got those days. "I'm looking for my cousin. Have you seen him?"

"Have you looked in his room?" Millow asked looking up at Paine with a cryptic look.

"I've already been there, but I haven't found him."

"Maybe he's in his office." Payd told her with a smile, then she looked at Millow and stroked his hand.

"Thanks." Paine said with a bitter smile and walked back to her room.

"Gippal? What are you doing?" Tidus asked as he saw as Gippal took his things and turned off his computer.

"I'm going to meet Rikku for breakfast." Gippal smiled innocently.

"Gippal, are you sure you two want to go on with this?" Tidus asked concerned.

"Of course we want." He answered a bit annoyed. "Tidus. I love that girl. She's so perfect."

"Oh really? And what about the others girls?"

"They… I…" Gippal begun to say but he found himself speechless. "Come on man, what do you want me to tell you?" He laughed nervously.

"I just want you to think if it is a good idea your relationship with Rikku. Remember that she is getting married in two days." Tidus told him and Gippal face went paler.

"Do you think that I've not thought about it?" Gippal said after a moment of silence. "Of course I do, but I cannot imagine my life without her now. Tidus, she's the reason why I keep working here, I mean, I was thinking about leaving this sector before I met her, but now I wanna keep working here just to gain enough money to buy her a big house, a new car, a lot of dresses…"

"Gippal, do you realized that she's already all those things, right?" Tidus asked worried.

"Yeah, but those things are nothing to her. They don't have any value. What I'm trying to say is that Rikku's the girl I'm looking for." Gippal confessed with a lovely voice. Tidus, on the other hand, did not seem convinced. "Okay, think that you and Yuna are the ones in this situation. Will you leave her because she is getting married with a man that she did not love?"

"You cannot do that. I mean. Yuna is not getting married." Tidus replied.

"Just think about it. Will you?" Gippal asked again with a smirk in his lips. "As I thought." He laughed and walked out of the office to the café where Rikku would be waiting for him.

"Paine, I was just thinking about you." Nooj exclaimed with a sick smile when the girl appeared in his office. He had heard the voices of his employers shouting to someone to wait, and the first thing that he thought was that it was Paine. He was right. "Come here and sit with me."

"We have a deal." Paine said instead of sitting with Nooj. Her cold eyes were fixed in him, waiting for his response.

"And what's makes you think that we haven't it now?"

"Why is Rikku locked up in her house?" Paine asked seriously.

"That's not of my business. Auron is her fiancée. He must have his reasons." Nooj told her bored.

"His reasons? Nooj! You promised me that you would leave them." Paine exclaimed and breathed heavily.

"Hey, calm down Paine. I don't want to carry you to the hospital." Nooj said as he stood up and walked besides Paine. He took her arm and sat her in a chair. "Okay. This is what we are going to do. I'm going to call Auron and try to fix everything."

"Are you serious?" Paine asked trying to control her breathe.

"Of course I am. Now, why don't you go home or go out with Yuna?" He smiled and called one of his employers. Nooj told him to walk with Paine out of the office. When he made sure that she was out of there, Nooj took his phone and called Auron. "We need to talk." He said.

"What's wrong now?"

"Why have you locked up Rikku?" Nooj asked curious.

"How do you know it?"

"Rikku's called Paine, and she has come here to talk with me." Nooj explained quickly.

"She was going to meet that guy again." Auron answered with an angry tone.

"Why do you care so much about that guy? You know you don't love her. As long as she goes on with the wedding, you don't have to worry about him. Let them have fun." Nooj chuckled. On the other end of the phone, Auron waited for him to stop.

"Now that I have your attention, I have to remember you that if I let her be with that guy, we run the risk that she don't want to go on with the wedding. I'm just doing this until we are married. Then, she can do everything she wants." Auron explained. He was telling the truth. Auron just wanted to make him sure that Rikku would go on with the wedding. He needed that marriage to get to Cid's business.

"You are being a bit extreme. Let her have fun these two days, and don't worry about her and the other guy. Ask Yuna to stay with her these days until the wedding. With that, you'll make sure that she doesn't meet that guy."

"Care to explain?" Auron asked confused. He did not understand why he had to ask Yuna that.

"You know that Yuna is a very traditional girl. And loyal. If she discovers that Rikku's cheating on you, she would be very upset. And that's something that Rikku doesn't want to happen." Nooj explained.

"I see your point now… Okay, I'll let her go and I'll call Yuna."

Rikku was half asleep when she heard the motor of a car. At first, she thought that it was just a neighbour, but when she heard the noise of a pair keys, she jump from the point and ran to the door.

"Hey there! Can you help me?" She yelled but nobody answered, although she kept hearing the noise of the keys. After a few seconds, the door opened and Rikku stood frozen in front of the door. There he was Auron, with a pair of keys in his hands and a bitter smile. What she could do in that moment? She could hit him for what he had done, or she could act as nothing had happened.

"Rikku, what are you doing here?" Auron asked as if he did not know the reason why she was there with all her make-up blotted.

"I-I couldn't open the door." Rikku murmured.

"What?" He asked again and then he faked that he remembered something. "Oh. Didn't I tell you that I've change the keys of the house?" Rikku shocked her head as a response. "I'm sorry my dear. I've lost my keys the other day and I decided that the safer thing was to change the lock." He smiled and walked towards Rikku. "Are you okay?"

"I've lost the date with the dress-maker." Rikku simply said without looking at him. She had so much hate inside her and she did not know what could happen if she look directly at him.

"Well, don't worry. I'm sure it will be perfect for the wedding." Auron told her as he took a glass and fill it with some whiskey. "Hey love, why don't you go with Yuna and Paine these days to a resort? Just to say goodbye to your "old" life." He laughed and pet her head.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that, why don't you do a bachelor party?"

"That's sound like a good idea." Rikku commented. "But I cannot organize a party in ten minutes."

"Don't worry. I have everything ready. Paine will come in ten minutes and then you will go to pick up Yuna." Auron said and took a sip of his glass. "They know where to go." Rikku looked coldly at him for several minutes. He was doing it again. He was organizing her life without asking her what she thought about it. After those minutes, she walked to their room and took her suitcase. Rikku appeared again with some suitcases and waited in the lounge for Paine to come. "Have you got everything ready?"

"Sure." She said and stood up when she saw a car parking outside. "I think I should be going now." She told him and he nodded. Auron walked with her to the porch of their house and waited until he saw the car leaving his house. Then, his smile grew wider. He had everything planned for those days.

"What are you saying?" Gippal asked suffocated. "I cannot have these informs for Monday. I'd have to work all weekend."

"I don't care Gippal." Lenne said and gave him a lot of folders. "I need them for Monday. I don't care how you do it." She told him and left his desk.

"Hey Gippal, is everything okay?" Tidus asked as he sat in one of the chairs in front of Gippal's desk.

"No. Nothing is okay." Gippal answered and buried his hands in his face.

"What's wrong now?" Baralai asked. He had seen his friends talking and wanted to participate in their conversation as he had nothing better to do.

"Everything."

"Gippal, could you explain yourself?" Baralai chuckled but stopped when his friend sent him a death glare.

"I talked with Rikku the other day to meet her today and she hasn't come. She doesn't pick up the phone and I don't know anything from her. Besides, Lenne put me all this work to do this weekend."

"Let me help you with this." Baralai smiled and he called a girl that came quickly to where Baralai and the others were. "Hi Anis, can you do me a favour?" Baralai asked with lovely eyes and a warm smile. "I have to do all of this, but I'm busy this weekend. Can you do them for me? Then I could invite you to something." He whispered that last part to the girl, who could not stop from giggling.

"You got it." She answered and took all the folders from Gippal's desk.

"How have you done that?" Tidus asked with his mouth opened.

"I had to find a way to do my work while I was with Paine." Baralai answered with a serious and indifferent face. "Then, about Rikku. Gippal, all the girls are like that. They make you think that you mean something for them and then, they just throw you away. As if you were a toy or something like that."

Tidus and Gippal exchanged a look. They knew that Baralai was hurt by Paine, but they did not think that he was that much hurt.

"I've got an idea." Tidus said trying to cheer up both of his friends. "After work, we will meet in my house at 17 o'clock. All you have to bring is some clothes."

"What are you planning to do?" Baralai asked as he tried to fake a smile.

"You see. Rikku's wedding is this Sunday and I'm not sure that Gippal would like to be here then. You have to stop thinking that girls don't have feelings…" Tidus looked at his friends who were avoiding meet his eyes. "So I was thinking that we need to have a weekend as the old times. Just the three of us. And this time, I'll be sure that we don't meet the girls."

"I don't think this is a good idea…" Gippal begun to say but Tidus interrupted him.

"Come on Gippal. It'll be fun and-" He said but he was also interrupted but Baralai.

"I'm in. Gippal, we need this." Baralai said and Gippal and Tidus looked at him shocked. They had thought that he would not agree to it. Even if Tidus threaten him.

"So girls, can you tell me where are we going?" Rikku asked as she sat in her plane seat.

"Auron didn't tell me. All he said was that we were going to a two-days holiday." Yuna explained and sat next to her cousin.

"You shouldn't worry. We'll be fine." Paine tried to comfort her friends but her face and voice tone did not help.

Rikku and the girls were talking most of the flight. It was only a flight of two hours, so they did not get bored or sleepy. They talked about the wedding and about Yuna's life with Tidus.

"Don't worry Yuna." Paine said when they arrived at Kilika airport. "In a few days you will hate it." She laughed and Yuna and Rikku sent her a death glare. "Come on Rikku, tell me I'm lying."

"Of course you're lying." Rikku answered sticking out her tongue. "Yuna, you will love it." She comforted her cousin as they got in a taxi, who drove to a beach resort.

"Don't lie Rikku." Paine looked at her through the mirror of the car. Rikku and she exchanged a knowing look.

"Girls, I'm fine." Yuna smiled. "I don't know how I'm going to feel in a few days, but I don't really care. All I care is about the present." She ended saying and Rikku and Paine looked at her in silence. "Girls?"

"That was so romantic!" Rikku exclaimed hugging her cousin.

"What? No! That was so disgusting." Paine replied and looked to the road.

"Oh Painy… Are you jealous?" Rikku joked but she regretted it when she remembered all about her relationship with Baralai.

"I don't wanna talk about it." She said and got out of the taxi.

After a few talks with a kind receptionist in a nice hut, the girls got their rooms that were connected to others rooms by a wood bridge. Yuna and Rikku shared a big hut with two beds, one next to the other. There were some spiral stairs that led to a rooftop from where you could see the town and the sea. Paine's hut was something similar but with one king-size bed instead of two.

"It's not fair!" Rikku protested when she saw Paine's. "Why do you have this room and not me?"

"Because I order this room." Paine blinked at Rikku.

"But I'm the bride. I should be the one with this room. I need to relax myself."

"Come on Rikku. If we join our beds, we'll get one bigger than this one." Yuna laughed and walked to her room with Rikku following her. Paine looked at her friends and shocked her head with a smile in her lips.

"Man! How do you get a pair of rooms in this place? This is so expensive!" Gippal said as he entered in his hut, similar to the one that Paine had.

"Just don't ask, Gippal." Tidus smiled. "We're here in Kilika just to have a good time. I've heard that here there are a lot of clubs with different kinds of music, and with the best beer too." He told Baralai and Gippal, and the three of them high-five each other.

"Where's our room?" Baralai asked as he took his suitcase.

"Just a few huts down. Let's go. We will meet in down in the reception hut in 20n minutes." Tidus ordered. It seemed that in that trip, he was the one that had all the plans.

As they walked to their room, Tidus heard a pair of voice that sounded too familiar to him, but he did not pay too much attention to them. When they got to their room, they left their suitcases on the bed.

"We can join the beds if you want, Baralai." Tidus suggested and Baralai sent him a disgusting look. "I've said IF you want to." Tidus begun to excuse himself.

"I'm fine with the distribution of the room." Baralai chuckled and lay on his bed. "Hey Tidus, why Gippal has a room just for himself?"

"Because he will need it." Tidus smiled and Baralai looked at him confused.

"Care to explain?"

"Listen." Tidus said as he sat on his bed. "Both of you need to carry on with your lives. You cannot be stuck in the past with Paine. And Gippal needs to forget about Rikku. She will be married in two days and things cannot go on this way."

"Who has told you that we need help?" Baralai asked a bit angry. He did not like Tidus opinion about him. "I'm not stuck in the past with nobody. I was doing my job, that's it." He sat on the bed so that, he was facing Tidus. "And about Gippal, is his problem. If he's happy in that situation, let him be happy. It's not your problem." Baralai told Tidus and stood up.

"What are you doing 'Lai?" Tidus asked as he saw his friend taking his phone.

"I need to take a walk." He answered and opened the door to leave, but he went back to take his cigarette pack. "I'll need this."

Tidus looked at the door and sighed. He did not want to argue with Baralai, but he meant every word. Tidus took his phone a dialled Yuna number. He waited a few seconds until he heard her sweet voice.

"Hey Tidus!" Yuna greeted him. "Are you missing me already?" She kind of laughed.

"Of course I do." He answered sweetly. "How are you doing?"

"Oh, right now I'm on the rooftop of my room with Rikku, taking couples of photos." She told him.

"I'd like to see them."

"I'll send you some of them." She giggled. "I have to go now. We are going to take a walk through the town."

"Okay. Love you."

"I love you too Tidus." She said and the call ended.

"Okay girls. What do you have planned for today?" Paine asked when she met Rikku and Yuna in the hall of the hotel.

"Let's go to find some good restaurants and bars." Rikku said and walked out of the hotel. Paine looked at Yuna who just nodded and followed the blond girl.

"Do you know some places to go?" Yuna asked Rikku and she shocked her head.

"Nope. But I'm sure we'll find something."

"I know some good restaurants here." Paine told them and they stopped immediately in the middle of the port. "Why are we stopping?"

"Have you been here before?" Yuna asked.

"Well, yeah. I've been here with my parents. They loved Kilika." Paine explained as if it was the most obvious thing, and Yuna and Rikku started to understand why Paine knew something about that small town.

"So, where can we go?" Yuna asked as she looked around.

"I'll go to the resort restaurant. Their buffet is one of the best." Paine suggested and Rikku protested, but the girl silence her with a hard look. "Rikku, we are paying a complete service." And with that, the girls ended their walk around the town and went back to the resort.

Gippal was lying on his bed, reading one of his favourite magazines and keeping his mind occupied with other things. He wanted to call Rikku and asked her for an explanation for why she did not come that morning to meet him in the café, but Tidus had told him that he could not do that.

Tired of thinking what to and nor to do, he picked his phone and search in his agenda for Rikku's number. There it was, under his father's number. Gippal only had to press one button and he could find all the answers for his questions. Then, what was stopping him?

A knock in his door took him out of his thoughts. He threw his phone away and took his magazine again before he asked who it was.

"Can I come in?" Tidus voice asked. Gippal agreed and the boy entered in the room. "What are you reading?"

"Where's Baralai?" Gippal asked instead.

"He wanted to take a walk, but I don't think he's taking too much." Tidus lied and took Gippal's magazine.

"Dude, do you think he's okay?" Gippal asked concerned.

"What do you mean?" Tidus looked at Gippal. He was about to answer his question when they heard a group of girls laughing under Gippal's hut. They boys exchanged a look. "Wanna take a look?" Tidus asked with a mischievous smile and stood up, but Gippal just chuckled and shocked his head.

"Sorry, but I don't feel like looking at them."

"Gippal…" Tidus said with a sad tone and a knock interrupted him. "Who's there?"

"Room service." A male voice said. Gippal looked at Tidus with a confused look. As Tidus was standing up, he was the one that opened the door.

"Owww." Tidus exclaimed upset. At the other side of the door was Baralai with his hands in his jeans pockets.

"What was that for?" Baralai asked after he entered in the room and closed the door.

"I thought someone was giving us a surprise." Tidus told him lying on Gippal's bed.

"You mean Yuna?" Baralai laughed and walked to the rooftop of the hut. "Guys, the view from here is amazing!" He yelled as an invitation for Tidus and Gippal to join him.

"Do you think he said that for us?" Rikku asked scared and hiding behind a pile of boxes.

"Don't know." Yuna answered as she sat next to her cousin.

"This is ridiculous girls." Paine said as she stood up and walked out of his hiding place. "What if he has said it for us? We should take it as a compliment." Paine explained as she tried to find the guy who had said that the view from there was amazing. All she could find was a blue-haired boy that was walking through one of the wood bridges from above. Paine's eyes met his and he smiled at her.

"Do you know him?" Rikku asked and Paine focused her attention on her friends again.

"Yeah. He comes here really often. I knew him since the first time I've came here." Paine explained.

"Paine. Nice to see you again." The blue-haired.

"Same here." Paine answered softly. "Fen. These are my friends Yuna and Rikku." She presented each one.

"A pleasure m'ladys." Fen smiled and shocked their hands. "What are you doing here?"

"We are having something like a bachelor party." Paine explained everything to Fen, who listened careful to her words.

"Congratulations, Rikku." Fen said with a big smile. "And Yuna, I'm sure you are missing your boyfriend these days."

"Well, yeah. But my friends come first. Besides, he's having a trip with his friends." Yuna told Fen. They talked for a couple of minutes and at the end, they arrange to go dinner together.

"If I knew you were here, I wouldn't have lunch already." He apologized. "So I think I'll see you tonight." Fen smiled at the girls, but his eyes were fixed on the bi-coloured Yuna's eyes.

"Wow Yunie." Rikku said with an astonishment face. "I think he likes you."

"Wha-What are you saying?" She blushed and walked away to her hut.

"Yuna! Wait for us!" Rikku yelled as she run after her cousin. Paine looked at them and shocked her head as she walked to her hut, but then she remembered they were going to the restaurant of the resort, so she stopped and walked back to where Rikku and Yuna had gone.

After several minutes arguing among them, the boys decided that the best idea was to go lunch to a restaurant in the port. As they walked there, Baralai run into a guy with blue hair.

"Watch out!" The guy said as he stood up. "Good-for-nothing."

"I'm sorry. I haven't seen you." Baralai apologized, although all he wanted to do was to hit that guy.

"'Lai, let's go." Gippal said sending a death glare to that guy. He knew that if he did not take Baralai out of there, they would end up fighting. Baralai is a legal guy, but once he loses his temper, you better run away, Gippal said to himself.

"We're sorry." Tidus told him again with a smile. The blue-haired guy just looked at them and walked away.

"Thanks." Baralai murmured. He knew why his friends had done that.

"You're welcome." Tidus smiled and walked to the restaurant.

"What I don't understand is, why don't we have lunch in the resort's restaurant?" Gippal asked Baralai as they followed Tidus through the bridges.

"Because we took so long in your hut that it's closed." Baralai chuckled. "That's why we are going to that restaurant in the beach. Tidus is sure that he would find there something to eat." He said pointing at his friend. "But I disagreed."

"Thank you so much, Baralai, for your trust in me." Tidus told him without turning his head to look at his friends. "I'm taking you two there just to see if we can find those girls that were under Gippal's hut this noon."

"Have you seen them?" Baralai asked.

"Nope." Tidus simply answered. "But I'm sure I'll recognize. Don't ask me why."

"And who has told you that we want to meet new girls?" Gippal asked a bit annoyed. He did not know why Tidus did not accept that he loved Rikku.

"I only want you to meet new people." Tidus told them this time looking at them. "I'm not saying that you have to love them or something like that." He was serious although he was trembling.

"Whatever." Baralai said as he walked past Tidus and Gippal.

The girls spent most of the noon in the resort's SPA. It was Yuna's idea. She had said that Rikku needed a relaxed treatment before her weeding.

"You know?" Rikku said as she walked back to her bed before receiving Paine. "I like this body-cream." She smelled her arm.

"You're a walking orange." Paine told her with a smirk and Rikku answered sticking out her tongue. "Where's Yuna? We are going to be late."

"She's in the bathroom, finishing her make up." Rikku answered playing with her hair. She was waiting Yuna for fifteen minutes. Rikku's hair was low, with some braids in her right side. She was wearing a green shirt with a denim skirt, and a pair of brown sandals. "By the way, I love your red lipstick, Paine. It matches your eyes."

"Uh, thanks." Paine replied a bit blushed. She had not been waiting for Rikku to notice her lipstick. She was wearing a red sleeveless 80's dress with a pair of black shoes and a black purse.

"But you'll look better if you let your hair down." Rikku smiled, trying to convince Paine to put down her hair.

"Forget it." Paine answered knocking on the bathroom door. "Yuna. He's waiting for us."

"Okay, I'm ready." Yuna said opening the door and showing herself.

"That's why you have lasted that much?" Rikku asked looking at her. Yuna was wearing a denim shirt with a pair of white jeans and a pair of blue high heels. She wasn't wearing much make up, and her hair was as always.

"It took me hours to decide which eye-shadow I should wear."

"Whatever." Paine replied walking past Yuna.

They got to the restaurant where Fen was waiting for them for ten minutes. He saw Paine entering in and he waved his hand at her. Paine smiled and she walked to him followed by Rikku and Yuna.

"Sorry for the delay." Paine begun to apologize but Fen interrupted her.

"It's okay. Don't worry." He smiled at Paine and Rikku and exchanged a strange look with Yuna. "Well, tell me something about you, girls." Fen told Rikku and Yuna.

"We've known Paine since we were 18." Rikku said looking at Paine with a friendly look. "And we've been together since then."

"Even at the university?"

"No. We're in the same campus although we study different careers." Yuna answered as she took a sip from her wine glass.

As they talk about random stuff as the university and about Rikku's wedding, Fen ordered some delicious plates that the girls really enjoyed. It was been a wonderful night. Rikku did not think about her wedding at all. Paine's mind had others things to think apart of Nooj's problems and her own problems. And Yuna stopped missing Tidus that much.

The dinner ended and the group of friends decided to take a walk around the town, but before leaving. Rikku needed to go to the bathroom.

"It's just a sec, Yunie. Please, come with me." Rikku begged.

"But Rikku, we cannot leave Fen here like that." Yuna laughed.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind at all. Besides, Paine is going to stay here with him."

"I don't think so." Yuna said pointing at Paine, who was talking by her phone. It seemed an important conversation.

"Owwii!" Rikku exclaimed, but then her mood change. She walked to Paine, grabbed her arm and run to her hut while Paine complained and kept talking on her phone.

"Wow!" Fen exclaimed. "I know how Paine is, and I'm sure she'll be pissed off with her all night." He laughed as he walked to a bench to wait for Paine and Rikku. Yuna sat next to him and smiled at him.

"I didn't know that this place was so crowded." Gippal said loudly as he tried to get to the bar of the beach club.

"Excuse me." Baralai said to a random girl that appeared in front of him. "Anyways Gippal, why are we here?" Baralai asked him as he followed his friend to the bar. Sometimes he looked back to make sure that Tidus was behind him.

"Yeah, thanks!" Tidus smiled politely to a girl that had complimented his muscles. "And well, you know Baralai, this kind of remember me the first night that we went out when we met in Bevelle."

"That was a great night." Baralai agreed laughing. He remembered that night very well. At first he had told them that he would not go out that night with them, but Tidus and Gippal appeared in his room and took him out of bed, literally.

"You had a good time after all." Gippal smiled at his friend. He had reached the bar and ordered three beers.

"You have to recognize it 'Lai." Tidus said poking Baralai's arm.

"Okay. Yeah. I had a great night."

"So that's why we're here tonight." Gippal confessed and Tidus and Baralai looked at him confused. "Come on man. You need to cheer up!" Gippal explained punching Baralai's back.

"Why do you think I'm depressed or something like that?" Baralai asked annoyed. "I've told you I'm fine. I was doing my job."

"Yeah, but you've changed." Tidus told him. "You're not like the Baralai that begun the mission."

"I've only been with her some weeks. I haven't changed anything." Baralai chuckled.

"Of course you've changed. You have stopped Lenne from flirting with you." Gippal said looking at his friend.

"And you aren't as polite and kind as before." Tidus added.

"Also, you don't show so much interest in girls anymore." Gippal ended.

"Wait! What?!" Baralai asked confused. "It's not that I'm not interested in girls anymore. I've told you that I'm not interested in a relationship. A re-la-tion-ship."

"Then, talk with any of the girls that are here tonight." Tidus told him.

"Why? Because that would change your mind?" Baralai laughed. "Don't be childish."

"You only have to talk. If you do that, we'll leave your love live to you." Gippal said seriously. "We promise."

Baralai looked at their friend and sighed as he walked to the nearest girl. He started to talk with her as the gentleman he was. Sometimes he looked up at his friends, who were looking at him as they talked between them.

"I didn't think that he would do it." Tidus said surprised as he looked at his friend. "Do you think that we were wrong?" He asked. "Maybe he's fine after all."

"I wouldn't say that." Gippal answered, pointing with his beer at Baralai's direction. "You see, he's bored. He doesn't want to be there with the girl."

"What are you saying?"

"Look. He's nodding all the time but his eyes aren't fixed in her." Gippal explained and Tidus understood what he was talking about.

"Well, why don't you help him? Go and talk with the girl too so that he could leave her." Tidus suggested.

"I'll pass. I'm having so much fun watching him." Gippal smiled.

"Oh come on. Who knows? Maybe you like the girl."

"And here we come again…"

"Excuse me?" Tidus asked offended.

"Why don't you accept that I love Rikku?" Gippal asked annoyed and tried to walk away, but Baralai came. "Why are you here?"

"I've already talked with that girl. Where are you going?" He asked looking at Gippal and then a Tidus, who had a regretted look.

"Nowhere." Gippal answered looking back at Tidus. "Well, tell us how it has gone." He said cheerful.

After some hours on the club talking about old times, and after taking at least five beers each one, the boys came out of the club. They walked back to the resort, walking through the wood bridges.

"You know what I don't understand yet?" Baralai asked to Gippal and Tidus. "Why we haven't gone to the resort's restaurant yet?"

"That's a good question." Gippal answered.

"And that's a bad answer." Tidus said and the three guys started to laugh. "Hey guys. Do you remember where is ours huts?" Baralai and Gippal exchanged a funny look and shocked their heads. "Well, it's a beautiful night to take a walk, don't you think?" And with that, they started to walk with no direction to random huts, hopping that they would find theirs.

"Hey Tidus." Gippal called him. "Isn't she Yuna?" He asked pointing to a girl that was in a bench next to a guy.

"No. She's with Rikku and Paine in a bachelor party." Tidus answered looking at the girl.

"She's Yuna." Baralai said and then pointed to two others girls that were walking away from Yuna and the guy. "There are Rikku and Paine."

"And who's that guy?" Tidus asked hiding behind a pile of boxes. "Wait! He's the same guy of this morning!"

"You know, I've never met a girl like you before." Fen told Yuna as he moved a bit closer to her and put his hand in her back.

"W-what?" Yuna asked blushing. "What do you mean?"

"Well. To begin with, I've never seen a girl with a blue eye and a green eye." Fen explained as he played with Yuna's hair. "You're so interested too." He moved closer to her again. "And-."

"I've got a boyfriend!" Yuna exclaimed, closing her eyes. She did not want to see Fen's face after hearing that. She opened slowly one of her eyes and saw as Fen moved back. "I'm sorry Fen."

"It doesn't matter. I should've remembered it." He said looking away, and just as he had said it, somebody hit him in the face. "What the hell?!" Fen yelled as he heard Yuna screaming.

"Tidus! What are you doing?!" Yuna yelled to her boyfriend as she took his fist and stopped him from hitting Fen again.

"What is he doing here with you?!" Tidus asked mad. He turned to Yuna and she could she pain in his gaze.

"We're waiting for Rikku and Paine." Yuna answered coldly. She did not understand why he was acting like that. Just when she said that, Paine and Rikku appeared behind them.

"Rikku!" Gippal exclaimed and was about to walked to her but he stopped, remembering that he should not do that. "And Paine."

"What are you doing here?" Rikku asked with a surprised look. She looked at her cousin and saw that she was quiet looking at Tidus, who was red-headed. "What's wrong?"

"I'll fill you up layer." Gippal whispered and looked at his friend, waiting for his reaction.

Paine was as Rikku, looking at Yuna and Tidus, but then she remembered Fen. He was sitting on a bench with a hand in his mouth.

"Are you okay?" Paine asked him, passing next to Baralai and ignoring him.

"Yeah, don't worry." Fen smiled at her. "You know, it's late and I'm leaving tomorrow to Bevelle." Fen said standing up. "I like to see you again, Paine. And Rikku and Yuna, it's been a pleasure." Fen smiled at the girls. Paine just looked at him, knowing that they had to talk later. Rikku waved her hand at him, but Yuna did not look at him nor answer him.

"We should leave them some privacy." Baralai told them and everyone nodded.

"Let's go to my hut." Gippal said. "We'll wait there until they finish." He explained and walked to his hut followed by Baralai, Rikku and Paine.

"Care to explain what has happened?" Yuna asked with an angry tone.

"Let's talk in your hut." Tidus answered and walked with Yuna to her hut without exchanging any other word.

"Do you think they're okay?" Rikku asked sitting on Gippal's bed after hearing the story.

"I don't know." Gippal answered but Baralai interrupted him quickly.

"What are you saying?" He had an annoyed tone. "Of course they're fine. It's just an argument. They'd talk about it and solve everything." Baralai explained and everyone looked at him confused. "Oh come on! Tidus loves Yuna and she loves him too. I'm sure they're not going to throw everything away just because of an argument."

Rikku looked at Paine as Baralai was talking. She did not know why, but she was sure that Baralai's words were mean to Paine. Paine was looking down at her shoes. Is she listening him?, Rikku thought.

Baralai looked at each one when he had finished and saw the look in their faces. Gippal was looking at him with his I've-told-you look. Rikku was looking at Paine with a sad look. And Paine…Baralai could not see her face because she was looking at her shoes, so he could not tell what was happening in Paine head. He looked at Gippal again, wondering why he was looking him that way until he realized it. It hit him hard.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." Baralai said turning his back to everyone and playing with his lighter. The room went silence and they could hear Tidus and Yuna's arguing in the distance, some huts away.

"They are really angry." Rikku murmured looking at Gippal who stroked her head lovely.

"Don't worry. Baralai's right. They won't break up because of an arguing." He told her. Gippal looked at Paine who was looking at the hut's door. I'm sure she wants to leave, and as Gippal thought that, Paine spoke.

"It's late and I'm tired. We should leave them. Things would be better tomorrow, don't worry." She said as she walked to the door. "If you want Rikku, you can sleep with me tonight."

"Don't worry. I'm fine." Rikku said, and Paine knew that she would spend the night with Gippal.

Some minutes after Paine had left, Baralai followed her, leaving Gippal and Rikku alone in the hut.

"Bae, why haven't you come this morning to the café? I've been waiting for you a long time." Gippal told Rikku as he hugged her. She looked at him and told him everything that had happened that morning. "I'm going to kill that bastard." Gippal said with a low voice.

"Gippal, don't waste your time on him. I'm fine now, here with you." She told him cuddling and kissing his chin.

"Don't marry him. Please. I'm begging you." Gippal told her but Rikku did not answer. She just kissed him again and laid her head in his shoulder, trying to remember everything about that night and about Gippal.

Baralai got to his hut and sat on his bed. It had been difficult to be near Paine and acted as they did not know each other. Besides, she knew that jerk with blue hair. What if she likes him? Has she forgotten about me so quick? He tried to think about something else but he could not. Every time he thought about other thing, he ended up thinking about Paine and about all he had said before on Gippal's hut. Tired of thinking, he walked to the rooftop with his cigars and lighted one, looking at Kilika view. Baralai inhaled the smoke of his cigar and kept it in his lungs for a few seconds. Then, he exhaled it slowly, looking at a hut that was near him.

The lights of that hut were on and he could see the shadow of someone walking to one side of the hut and then to the other. Baralai kept looking at the hut without paying too much attention for real. AS before, his mind was miles away from reality. He could not stop thinking about her.

I've tried to forget her. I've tried to go on with my life. I've told myself that I was doing my job. Then, why I can't stop thinking about her? Why I feel as nothing makes sense to me anymore? I've never felt like that. Even we Taria left. Oh my Yevon! She was so beautiful tonight… All I could think about was to take her in my arms and kiss her. Kiss her until I couldn't breathe, and then kiss her again. But I can't. She doesn't want me in her life. I've hurt her and I've failed her.

While Baralai was thinking about his feelings, the lights of the hut turned off. He noticed it after a few seconds. Baralai took his phone and checked the time. It was one hour past midnight. Maybe my parnet has gone to bed, he thought as he lighted a second cigar. When he looked up from his cigar, he found his partner in the rooftop of the hut.

He smiled at her weakly and unconscious. She looked at him seriously but with sad eyes. Yevon knew how much she wanted to run to him and hug him. Baralai could not take his eyes from her, and for the first time, he did not care. He was tired of faking that he was fine. He was tired of telling the whole world that he was doing his job.

Paine sat on a couch and laid her head on the railing, looking at him. She looked at his posture while he smoked his cigar. Although she did not like Baralai's vicious, she loved it when he took that position. She could not help but smile. They were at least ten meters away one from the other. They felt so close but so far at the same time.

Baralai was really tired of thinking about Paine, and being in front of her was not helping. He took his cigar pack and his phone in one hand, and waved to Paine with the other one. Paine did not respond him. She was so distracted admiring him that she did not notice that he was leaving. Baralai smiled weakly again as he shocked his head and turned around to go down to the first floor. He was in the middle of the stairs when a message got to his phone.

Don't go.

He read it twice and turned around back to the rooftop. Baralai looked at Paine, who was with her phone in her hand. She was looking at his hut worried but when she saw him back there, she relaxed herself. Baralai looked at her for a few seconds and then, he sat in a couch similar to Paine's. Why she has written me? This is so hard to me. Doesn't she understand that she's hurting me doing that? All I wanna do is kiss her and take her to my bed, and never let her go again, he thought as he looked at the silver moon of that night.

His phone vibrated again after a few more seconds.

What are you thinking?

Baralai looked at Paine again before he answered.

I wanna kiss you.

He answered and looked at Paine with a sincerely smile. Baralai wanted to see Paine expression while she read the message. Paine looked at him before opening it and read it a few times after doing anything else. Her eyes met his and then she understood that he was serious. Paine did not answer. Instead, she stood up and after looking one more time at Baralai's eyes, she went down.

Baralai was looking at Paine's hut. Hoping that she would come back, but nothing happened. How could I be that dumb? I've got her in front of me and I didn't know it. And then, here I was, thinking that she would talk to me, opening my feelings to her, thinking that we could talk, but nothing has happened. Baralai stayed there for a long time. He heard as someone knocked his door but he did not care. I'm not in the mood to see or talk with anyone. He lighted his third cigar and waited, but the person on the other side of the door did not give up. Tired of it, Baralai went down and took the knocker in his hand. He waited for a few seconds and opened the door abruptly.

On the other side was Paine, with her hand up and looking at Baralai with fear in her eyes. Was she doing right?