Fire Inside The Man – Chapter 14

Attack At Sunrise

((Rikku's POV))

Something wasn't right. You know those feelings of anxiety and paranoia you suffer from when you know something's about to happen? Well, I was getting them. Only there weren't just a feeling; I soon discovered that they were real.

Chaos enveloped Ethelinda's camp. Baralai had done a good job in sneaking in. Now the problem was getting back out. He was supposed to light a flare if he needed help. But for the next five minutes, I saw nothing. Perhaps he couldn't light his flare, and he needed help? Should I light one? No… maybe he got out with Paine just fine. I didn't want to light a flare and send our troops in to certain death if Baralai wasn't even there. Things were going to be fine… oh, but why didn't they look that way!

"Light a flare." Someone said, coming up behind me.

I spun around to face Gippal, "Why?" I asked.

"I agree. Light one, only shoot it up over our camp instead of aiming for Ethelinda's." Pops added, coming to stand next to Gippal.

"Huh?"

"It will confused Ethelinda, but it won't confuse our fighters." Nooj explained, joining the party. "Paine, Baralai, and all of my troops down there know that a flare over our own base means reinforcements are coming. The troops here know that too."

I grinned, the plan that they were thinking coming together slowly in my head. "But Ethelinda doesn't know what that means."

"Exactly." Nooj said with a curt nod, "Now, light that flare for us."

I smiled and dug around in my belt pouch for a flare. I found one and quickly set it off. When the red sparkled against the rising sun, the camp began to bustle with activity. Gippal put an arm around my waist and gave me a squeeze.

"Come on. We've gotta get ready." He whispered in my ear.

I nodded in agreement, and then broke out into a smile. It didn't matter if Ethelinda was ready for us or not…

Because we were coming.

((Baralai's POV))

Things were not playing out in our favor. I looked over at Paine, who had managed to find a sword off of a dead soldier. She was still bare under the cloak they gave her, and that she didn't like fighting naked. I cleared a path for us and ducked inside an empty tent, dragging her behind me. I whipped my coat off, and let her cloak fall to the ground. I put my coat around her shoulders and undid the bandana around my head. My white hair fell into my eyes, but I was going to learn how to deal with it. I tied the long blue material around her waist, making sure the coat stayed closed and firmly wrapped around her.

"Thank you." She whispered.

I smiled and kissed her forehead. I looked down into her red eyes and asked her the dreaded question. "Did they hurt you?" I whispered.

"Baralai, we have more pressing issues-"

I ignored her and lightly grasped her upper arms. "Did they hurt you?"

Paine shook her head, "No."

Then, the tent we were hiding in was hit, half of it catching fire. "Run!" she cried, grabbing me by the rest. As if I needed to be told twice. We got out of the tent, and nearly got hit by a hot beam of energy.

"What in Yevon's name is going on? Who's doing that?" I cried, looking around for the cause of these really freaky beams of bright light.

To my surprise, Paine's hold on my wrist tightened and she dragged me off in a random direction. "I know those attacks!" she cried with happiness. Now I knew where we were going.

"What are you talking about?" I cried, trying my best not to trip over something. After following Paine, I soon discovered what, or rather who, was causing those attacks. I can safely say that this was one of the most welcome sights I've ever seen in my life.

Rikku.

Well, rather Rikku sitting on top of a ridiculously huge piece of moving machina. Paine called out to her and she turned her machina around to face us.

"Paine! Baralai! You guys are alright!" she cried, coming over to us, the ground shaking from her machina moving. She came to stop a few feet in front of us, and grimaced. "Um, just a minute please!" she said, turning back around. She hit a button on the controls, and hot energy beams crashed over the oncoming wave of True One soldiers. Turning back to us, she smiled. "That's a lot of fun. Oh hey, why don't you join the fun Paine? Here's your dresspheres!" she said, tossing down a bag to Paine.

She looked like she was about to jump for joy, which would have scared me more than seeing Rikku on a huge piece oflethal machina. Thank Bahumut she didn't. With a flash, Paine stood in some dressphere that I've never seen before. With a growl, she took off and top speed toward another oncoming wave of warriors.

Rikku giggled and looked at me. "Well, if you want to see some sweet fighting, you better follow her. Her special dressphere kicks some serious butt."

"Her special dressphere?" I asked, completely confused. Since when did they have 'special' ones?

"Yeah, Full Throttle!" Rikku said, looking at me strangely. "You mean you've never seen it? Oh dear… you might want to hurry up."

"I'm still confused on what they are." I said, looking in the direction that Paine went.

Rikku shot out a salvo of strange missiles, and looked down at me. "This is my special dressphere, Machina Maw. Neither Paine nor Yunie can use it, just me. That's why it's a special dressphere. But I have to tell you; Paine's got a looker. You might want to hurry up if you want to see it."

"Why?"

"Because she doesn't go into it unless she needs to, and doesn't stay in it long. Here, I'll give you a ride. Climb on."

I swallowed nervously and managed to get on the back of Rikku's machina. I held on tightly as she tore off after Paine, and she stopped suddenly in front of a stunned Gippal.

"Rikku! Where did you get that!" he cried, starring at her machina in wonder.

"It's my special dresphere, move!" she called back, sending out another patch of missiles at some nearby tents, destroying them. "Gippal, do you need a ride or something?"

He shook his head quickly and was about to say something, but I beat him to it. I pointed over his shoulder, "Gippal, behind you!"

He spun around and knocked the man to his feet. Two more jumped him and he was struggling to keep the knife away from his throat. I could tell that Rikku was extremely frustrated. She wanted to help, but she couldn't do anything at this close of a range.

She couldn't… but I could.

I leaped off and flipped in the air, landing neatly on my feet right behind the two men attacking Gippal. They never saw my flight over their heads. When they did notice that I was there, it was too late. I danced. My feet moved of their own accord, my bladed rod following me everywhere I went. I closed my eyes and felt for my enemies. I lost track of time, but I felt someone grab my rod. My eyes snapped open to see whom my attacker was, but it was only Gippal.

He had a gentle look in his eye, but was holding back something like fear. "You got all of them 'Lai." He said softly.

"I did?" I asked, looking around. Sure enough, I had. "Whoa…"

Gippal smirked, "Yeah, you did a pretty good job if I may say so myself. And by the way… it was really cool to just watch you."

"Great. Thanks." I muttered, cleaning off my blades.

He slapped me on the back and pointed in the direction that Rikku had been taking me. "Paine went that way, and she's not too hard to spot. Now I'm just dying to ride on Rikku's machina!" and with that, he turned around, and hopped onto the machina with no problems. Show off. Rikku took off to the right, nearly knocking Gippal off. That made me feel slightly better. I tore off in the direction Gippal had indicated, ready for some more.

Gippal told me she would be easy to spot, but why couldn't I find her? I ran blindly, looking for any sign of her. My first clue with little holes in the ground. Yes, holes. They seemed to be evenly spaced, and went in a straight line. My curiosity growing, I pushed the thought of finding Paine aside. She was a big girl and she could take care of herself. But those little holes led to Paine…

In Full Throttle.

Not a lot of things scare me, but I can safely say that Paine scared the living crap out of me. I saw those men running for their life, but they didn't make it. Paine slashed, and men screamed. Her wings were metal blades, newly sharpened and lethal. Her legs were just simple metal, coming down into points. Now I knew what had left those holes. She held her wings back, charged up her attack, and unleashed something that I have to admit was amazing to watch. I ran down the slope, considering she had eliminated any threats nearby.

"PAINE!" I cried, hoping that she could hear me, and that she wouldn't decide to slash.

She turned around to see me running toward her, and kneeled down. "Baralai!" she said, almost nervously.

I stared up at her in Full Throttle, and I was tilting my head back a ways. "Holy… Yevon Paine."

She looked to the side. "Yeah, I know, it's-"

"Amazing!" I said, climbing up the metal legs, almost slipping. "Damn it…"

"Did you just swear?"

"Oh be quiet." I said with a smile, moving to stand on the flat piece of metal next to her right thigh. "This'll hold me right?"

"It will." She said, now looking up at me.

I smiled down at her, and reached a hand out to stroke her cheek. What happened next is something I'll never forget.

((Paine's POV))

It was unreal. He touched my cheek, and then suddenly, he wasn't there anymore. It was like he just vanished into thin air! Then, I felt Full Throttle change. I was beginning to panic. What was going on? I didn't order to come out of it! I saw my legs become tan, right along with the rest of my skin, and my hair become longer, falling out of its usual style. With shock, I realized some of it was snow white. I saw some of the black metal go to green or white, and the blades on my wings become accented with red. I was beginning to freak, and consider coming out of my special dressphere. What on Spira was happening?

'Paine? Are you there?' A soft voice asked in my head.

I paused for a few seconds, knowing that this wasn't good. But that voice sounded so familiar… 'Yes… who are you?'

The voice sounded hurt, 'Paine… it's me.'

"BARALAI?" I cried out loud, "You're in here?"

'I… I'm not sure. I think that your dressphere absorbed me.'

'What? Shinra said that this dressphere was perfectly safe!'

'Did he test everything that could possibly happen?'

I paused, 'Well obviously not, but that's not the point! How do we get you out!'

'That would be a great question to ask Rikku. So, why don't you get us going so we can find her?'

We found them battling some kind of machina that Ethelinda had come up with, and the machina was loosing badly. To finish it off, I sent out an attack that certainly didn't look like anything I've ever used before. Rikku spun around, and Gippal looked at me oddly from his standing position on the back.

"Shiva… Paine, is that you?" he called, "Why do you sorta look like Baralai?"

"Do you want to know the honest truth? I have no idea."

Rikku jumped, "SPIRA! Did he touch you when you were in Full Throttle?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" I retorted, just wanting to know how to fix this issue.

"If he did, he's with you in the dressphere. It absorbed him."

I just starred at her for a few seconds before Baralai spoke up. 'Absorbed? Why is she acting like this is normal?'

'I have no idea.' I admitted, and voiced Baralai's statement aloud.

Gippal tried not to laugh, "You haven't noticed have you Paine? We can hear Baralai through your voice when you talk. We can hear both of you to be exact."

I blinked. What?

'That's actually kind of funny…' Baralai mused.

'No it's not! We still have no idea how to get you out!' I retorted, and he just laughed. "Rikku… how do we get him out?"

"Just come out of the dressphere."

"What if he gets stuck?"

"He… oh. Well, let's just not think about that!" she said brightly.

I starred at her in amazement. "Are you telling me that there is a chance that my fiancé is stuck inside my special dressphere?"

'Paine, calm down. It'll be fine. Just do it.'

That was pretty much all of the encouragement I needed. I concentrated, and found myself standing back on the ground. But I wasn't alone.

Baralai's arms were wrapped around me, and his head leaned against me, eyes closed. I saw a faint smile cross his face. "That was interesting."

"Um… do you think you guys could that again?" Rikku asked, shooting some oncoming soldiers. "We've got a lot of people to get rid of, and we need extra help. I wanna see what you guys can do together."

"Fine by me." Baralai said.

I looked up at him with anger. "We're NOT doing that again!"

"I don't get stuck, so what are you worried about? Just go into it right now. I'll be fine." He whispered in my ear, and I knew that there wasn't any reason we couldn't do it again. I focused and found myself back in Full Throttle. Everything felt normal, but there was someone behind me. I could tell, because my head was against their chest. I looked up, and my eyes widened.

There was Baralai, bare chested, smiling down at me. I saw red tattoos that looked like fire wrapped around him arms. But before I could ask how he got there, he answered for me.

"It's my little secret." He said with a chuckle. "Now, let's go!"

((Rikku's POV))

I watched them run off to engage some soldiers in battle… or rather watch them slash away. Gippal tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to look at him. "Do I get to do that?" he asked with a childish grin on his face.

I nodded and he hoped into the cockpit behind me, and I watched the cockpit change. Control panels appeared to Gippal's right and left, and they were in good reach of his arms. With some amusement, I noticed that his normal dress was gone, and replaced by a dark blue jumpsuit like mine. His hands left the panels to wrap around my waist and give me a quick squeeze.

"Onward!" he cried with gusto, and we both laughed. I took off after Paine and Baralai, and we soon found another machina that was sent kill us… and it was a lot bigger than last time.

After a few seconds, we found ourselves running from it. This was a LOT smarter machina than we battled last. And that little sucker wasn't about to let us get away.

"Rikku, turn around!"

"Why?"

"Just do it now!" Gippal yelled, and I complied. He typed something in on his right control panel, hit a button on the left, and reached around me to press a button on my consol.

Shiva that was awesome. Machina Maw opened its mouth, and unleashed a big huge… bomb. Gippal chuckled evilly as we starred at the smoking remains of the machina.

"Oh that was sweet." He snickered.

I starred at the remains for a few more seconds before I started to giggle madly. "Oh when can we do that again?"

"Let's go find another one baby girl!" he cried, giving me a quick kiss.

"Way ahead of you!" I cried, ordering my machina to go forward.

It was time to hurt something.

We'd done it. Gippal sat behind me on Machina Maw on a ridge, watching what remained of Ehtelinda's pathetic forces. What remained of them was running back into Macalania forest… into the sunset.

I leaned back into Gippal and sighed, closing my eyes. For the first time that entire day, I relaxed. The battle had raged an entire day, and not once did I come out of Machina Maw. Gippal took his hands off of my now favorite control panels and wrapped me in his arms. This is my favorite place for his hands.

He leaned down and leaned his head against mine, slightly coated in sweat. "Rikku... pypo kenm... oui tet ed." ((Rikku… baby girl… you did it.))

I snorted softly. "Oayr nekrd. Oui cyjat ic cu syho desac." ((Yeah right. You saved us so many times.))

"E syo ryja, pid fedruid oui ed fyc ymm vun hudrehk." ((I may have, but without you it was all for nothing.)) He whispered in my ear, unzipping my left sleeve far enough to expose the glove, which he took off. Grabbing my hand, he tilted it until the fading sunlight caught the diamond. "Oui'na ymm seha huf. Hudrehk'c kuhhy dyga so kenm yfyo vnus sa." ((You're all mine now. Nothing's gonna take my girl away from me.))

I snuggled closer to him and giggled. "Yht oui'na ymm seha. Dryd sayhc oui'na kuehk du ryja du taym fedr sa vun dra nacd uv ouin meva." ((And you're all mine. That means you're going to have to deal with me for the rest of your life.))

He chuckled and squeezed my hand, looking at the ring. "Muugc mega E's eh vun y meva uv craan rybbehacc... yht cusa yhhuoyhla. Pid dryd'c fryd sygac ed vih." ((Looks like I'm in for a life of sheer happiness... and some annoyance. But that's what makes it fun.))

I laughed and kissed his jaw. He let something out that was a mix of a growl and moan.

"Oh please don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Tease me like that. It's not very nice."

I smiled evilly, "Aw, what I have done?" I asked, kissing his jaw again.

His arms tightened around me. "That. If you would please spare me…"

"Never." I whispered, moving to kiss his jaw again. But he pulled back sharply and I pouted, only to have my frown become a full-blown smile.

Well… I would have smiled, but Gippal didn't really let...

A/N: Goodness, I'm so sorry it took me so long to get this up here. I just got back from vacation... and that was SOO much fun! ((lol)) Anyway...

Angel-Light-Girl: Well, I'm glad that you liked it. It's coming out after this one, and there's about three or so chapters left before this is over. Doesn't seem like a lot... but it is whenyou're dying to write something else by now. ((lol)) And I hope that I usesome songs that you know, and I promise there won't be as much songs as last time. Sadly... I don't have that many good ones left.

Mandy: Well, here ya' go! I hope you like this chapter too!

for always x: Well, here's Baralai swearing a bit more... well, not a lot, but I tried.

Kitsu Kurasei: I'm glad to see that length doesn't bother you, but this chapter was nice. It's longer than the last two. :) It makes me happy... ((lol))

Paine jnr: Hey, I've wondered where you went... ((lol)) Just kidding. I knew you would come back sometime. As long as I see you once in a while I'm all good!

Bec: Well... this ISa GippalxRikku fic... so, I"m already doing one currently... ((lol))

Thank you all so much!

-Vincent's Angel of Chaos-