Note: Sorry about the wait, this was a rather large update. It's not what I wanted it to be becuase of the rush I was in to get it up, so you should be on the lookout for version 1.1 of this chapter. Who knows when I'll get around to it though. Enjoy.
Chapter 7- The Dinner
I was given orders to lie in bed for a while, letting my leg heal. They had found a nice sized gash once it was put into the day light and I was just surprised by how little it actually hurt. I was probably thinking of other things in that cave...many other things...
I looked around Lulu's and Wakka's tent, surveying the simple things around me. It was a nice little place but how would two grown people and a child fit in here? I suppose they'll figure it out but I'm worried that they won't know what to do when the baby comes. Something will be done of course, and if they ever need it the Celsius will always be available to them.
I sighed and brought my head up to look at my leg. It looked fine to me, no mark at all to indicate that I had ever been cut. Why was I laying in here then? Why couldn't I be out there telling Wakka about the cave? Why am I stuck here?
Sighing, I laid back down. Stupid, stupid, stupid... I was fine! Fine, I tell you, fine. Why won't anyone listen to me?
Paine will listen to me though, she'll always be listening to me. In fact...
Oh, just thinking about it makes me smile although I'm not quite sure why. She didn't really say anything after I confessed my feelings for her, she just...smiled.
She smiled! She smiled at me, her lips forming this wonderful smirk that filled me to the brim with happiness. I could feel my legs give way even more, my weight falling heavily upon her as she tried to keep me walking. And all I remember after that is looking at her, her face looking cheerful like I have never seen it before. Such a sight to behold...something I will never trade for anything else. I will keep that memory in my mind until I leave for the Farplane. Never will it leave me....
She helped me into Wakka's house, laying me down on the bed. My leg had hit a post of the bed but I didn't feel the pain, I just saw her eyes, looking at me with love in them.
I smiled even harder as I thought about it. I was always worried about jumping the gun whenever she looked at me for I always wanted to think that she did really care for me. I always had to tell myself to calm down, to remember what I was thinking and how impossible it is and always will be. But this time, I swear, what I saw was real. I swear that this is the beginning of something wonderful and long. I can just feel it.
Paine's and Wakka's voice came creeping through the flaps of the tent into my ears, hearing them talk about the cave in Besaid. I knew that there was something hidden in there, something wrong, something evil, but I just didn't care right now. How could I are when I was thinking about Paine and how...how....
She had slathered some potion onto my leg, healing it quickly. She turned to leave, laying the potion on the table next to me, when she said to me, "I'll be right back, okay?"
"O-okay," I muttered.
And then she left, to talk with the village people, mostly Wakka, about the cave. She had to do my job for me; tell everyone that it wasn't Sin, that Sin was gone forever, and that the cave should be off-limits. Then tell them how things would be okay but keep a look out and contact us whenever things got a little out-of-hand or dangerous. I mean, danger is in our job description, right?
"Yuna?"
Paine.... "Yes?"
The flap opened and in she came, running her fingers through her hair in exasperation. "Damn people. They'll never listen to me. I keep trying and trying to tell them that Sin will never come back but...they want you Yuna."
"Oh," I said, pondering this.
"They can wait for tomorrow though."
I looked up at her; I mean really look up at her. She stood there with the same black outfit I always saw her wear. She never varied her style, but, then again, neither did I, and I liked that. It was just another one of those things about her that I liked so much. The little silver flashes that sparkled at you when the light shone on them just right. Or the long black gloves she wore everyday, keeping her hands sparkly white and clean I supposed. I could see the small piece of jewelry that hung from her neck, swaying with each step she took. I never actually looked at it, hardly ever noticing it, but now I did. What exactly was it? Where had it come from? Did it have any sentimental value?
Paine sat down on the bed next to me. I moved over to let her have some more space and titled my head in question to her.
"Um...Yuna?"
"Yes?"
"I was wondering if...um..." she looked away, staring intently at her feet. I tried to see what she was looking at so closely but I didn't get very far. "Um..." Paine seemed to sigh in exasperation and after this she just blurted it out in this big rush. "Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"
"W-what?"
She seemed annoyed that I had asked her that but I think she got the wrong message. "Would you like-"she started much more slowly this time but I cut her off, bringing my hands up in front of her.
"No, stop," I said, "I got that part. I was just wondering...why?"
Paine beamed down at me, this happiness and joy coming over her face. She licked her lips and stood up, smiling even harder every minute that passed. "You'll see," and with that, she walked out of the tent, the flap swishing back and forth after her.
The rest of the day just went by in a blur. Paine was no where to be found once I was allowed out of bed. Wakka and Lulu fussed all over me, making sure that my leg had healed properly, making sure I could stand, giving me food and drink to eat. After about an hour of worrying and hassling I grew tired of it and told them politely that I was fine, for the tenth time, and that I was going to go.
Rikku was out playing ball with a dog once I finally got out of their grasp, finding the sun close to the horizon. She ran up to me and asked me how my leg was doing. Faintly I remember telling her that I was okay and that there was nothing to worry about. I just really wasn't with it then. My mind was on one thing: Paine.
I walked around the village, talking to people that came in front of me. Every time I had to talk with someone they initiated the conversation first, asking me if I was okay and whether or not Sin had actually come back. The whole village seemed to ask me the same questions, their thick skulls having never listened to a word Paine said, a new person coming out each time I was done with one. An endless flow of people that would never have stopped if it weren't for the boy that came running up to me, a piece of paper rolled tightly into his hand. He stopped just short of me, breathing hard and fast, his hands on his knees with his head bent to recapture some of his lost breath.
I turned to him, thankful to get away from these pestering villagers, and kneeled down so as to look him in the eye.
"My...lady...Summoner..." the boy said through huffs and puffs, "I...have...a message...for you...." He held out his hand, never lifting up his face, to give me the piece of paper in his hand.
I took it, curious to know what it was, a quickly unfolded the paper.
Yuna,
Meet me by the cave.
-Paine
Forgetting all of the villagers I took off for the cave, entering into a run soon after I went beyond the village limits. I kept running and running until, all of a sudden, I was a the cave entrance, the large, broken down "steps" in front of me with the small door entrance to my right. My lungs were burning from running so hard, so fast, and for so long. My legs were clenched up in pain as I stopped, trying to steady my breathing, struggling to keep myself upright. Gravity itself seemed to be working against me now, pulling my down to the earth, making the pain much worse.
"You came," Paine said in front of me in a matter-of-fact voice.
"Of...course I came!" I huffed out, straightening my back and sucking up my pain. I started to control my breathing and looked her in the eyes.
"Then follow me," she said as she turned around, walking over to the left, going out of sight beyond some brush.
I jumped down the large steps, not even glancing at the cave that I had been trapped in for so long with her, and ran forward in the direction I last saw her go. She had stopped in front of an edge, right where the water started below, and she stood there, waiting for me, her back to me. She didn't look that extraordinary today, her clothing the same, and her silver hair still set in a perfect pose. But what she was standing next to made my heart leap into my throat, making it tighten into painful yet wonderful knots of joy.
It was like...how can I describe it? A blanket, white and pure, was laid down on the ground, things laid upon it. Food was spread upon the it, ranging from delicious appetizers to mouth-watering deserts, not to mention some of my favorite foods. For starters there seemed to be a shrimp cocktail, a lovely leech soup, some roasted chicken, a delightful green salad, and some white bread to top it off. Even just looking at one side of this cover I was amazed at how much work she's done, and all for me, all for our dinner, but I wasn't done looking.
Although there was enough food just from the starters to last me a week, there was still the main course. There was ham, chicken, steak (actually château briand, too good for words), some fried chocobo (which was and still is risky to eat but very appealing), fish, salmon, lobster, pâté, and caviar. All of these dishes were sitting in pots, steaming (or not), and placed upon these little place holders so as not to scorch the white cover. My mouth started to water uncontrollably. How could she have done all of this? All of this food, made wonderfully and delicately, sitting her for us to eat? She must have done a lot of work to get all of this for me.
Then...oh my...deserts. Cookies with chocolate, nuts, and other little delicate inside sitting on one plate. Then there were pies of every type, puddings, ice cream (inside a little bag to keep it cold), and a wide assortment of cakes, ranging from vanilla to chocolate and everywhere in between.
For drinks there was a rare delicacy of a rare wine... the famous wine of Guadosalam and the Thunder Plains, where grapes were breed in a specific environment, unknown to all but the breeders, and placed in a cooler for one hundred years. It was so hard to come by this type of wine that people waited for ages to get on the waiting list. How she got it I don't know but I felt so special...so unique to get this pleasure of drinking it.
I sighed, looking at Paine with this emotion surging throughout me, filling me completely. Never, in my life, have I felt so alive. Every breath I take fills me more fully than my first breath of life, coming out of mother's womb all wet and sticky.
As I was lost in my thoughts, Paine started to speak. "I know you may be wondering how I got all of this food here." She turned around then, and as I looked at her I saw a beautiful smile forming on her lips. "That will be my little secret, alright?" Her smile grew even wider. "I wanted to...ah...create a great dinner for you. Make it...memorable. I though that after everything we went through today, and...ah...what you told me," she glanced to the side for a minute, "so...I...ah...made you this." She waved her hand around, showing me again everything that she had made for me.
"Wow..." I whispered in awe. "Paine...."
"Shhh..." she shushed me, coming toward me and only stopping when she was inches away from me. "Let's just eat."
So I sat down, right next to her, grabbed a plate, and dug in. I tried to catch everything that went by me, piling food upon my plate until I couldn't see the first bits of food I had put on first. Everything was wonderful, dancing with my tongue as it first entered my mouth, and warming me as it went down to my stomach, where it played for a long time before settling down. To say the least, the food was the best food I had ever tasted. It was like the Farplane in my mouth, soothing, calming...delicious.
Dinner took us a while, and as we ate we watched the sun set slowly, bringing an ere glow upon the water, earth, and food, but we didn't notice. We were engaged in conversation, talking about our lives, about our hopes, fears, and wishes. We laughed over the stupid things we've done in the past but mostly about Rikku, talked seriously about things that should never be repeated again, and we enjoyed ourselves. I was sad when it was too dark to even see my own hand for that would mean that the night was over and things would have to go back to the way they were.
Paine seemed to notice this and, with a word, beckoned me up. She took my hand and started to walk away from the cover where out leftovers sat. I was wondering why we were just leaving it when she explained it all to me. "I've got someone cleaning it up after we've left. Don't worry, just follow me."
I nodded and it was then that I noticed that her hand was in mine. For the second time that day I thought that I would die with happiness, and all because of this silly, little, hand.... Our fingers twined with each other, swaying back and worth with the movements of our bodies, we walked not toward the village but towards the ocean.
The whole journey to the ocean was silent; each of us stuck in our own emotions and feelings, yet through our hands things were said that words would never be able to explain. Things that you could only feel....never say....
We played in the ocean for a while, chasing each other around the edges of the sound, splashing the water around, under the bright moonlight. It all went by in a blur. I was having so much fun that I never noticed the time. It was when I yawned that I finally asked about the time.
"Does it matter?" Paine asked, taking my hand again and swinging me around.
The place around me went by in a haze until I finally landed, hurting my butt in the process, in the water. It lapped up into my lap, soaking my back and cooling my insides. I sat there, stunned at my fall, but then laughed harder than ever. My shoes were squeaking, my hair floating in the water, and my clothing stuck to my back like a wounded child. As I laughed Paine came down and sat in the water with me. But she didn't sit next to me, she sat on me.
She straddled my waist, legs on either side of me, in the water. She wasn't really touching me but I could feel her presence, her energy radiating off of her and loving me simply. Just everything about her was strong, sure of herself, and very arousing. Yet when I looked in her eyes, her face close to mine, she looked nervous. How could she do something like this, so brave, yet look so nervous when I actually looked at her?
"Paine?" I asked, my voice a mere whisper.
She just looked at my some more, daring me to speak. Her face, so soft, her eyes so tender, all of it sending shivers up and down my back.
"I...I," I tried to say, although what I wanted to say I was not sure of.
She silenced me with a finger to my lips, shaking her head. My lips closed themselves tightly, my breathing stopping, and my heart pounding louder than ever.
I'm not quiet sure how things went after this; the raw emotions that I felt after this have made my mind fuzzy and hazing on the details. All I know is that she kissed me. She really, truly kissed me. She had done it in a non- fanfarish way, capturing my lips with her own and just...kissing me. When I finally realized that she had done it, that I had felt her lips against mine, she pulled away. She wouldn't even face me; it seemed like she was ashamed of what she had done!
I almost laughed out loud at how silly she was! Would should she be ashamed of doing such a thing?! Oh Paine....
Without any more thought, I grabbed her head, pulled her closer, and kissed her back.
How can I describe such a wonderful feeling, such a beautiful act? Her lips were as soft as I dreamed them as, now that I finally got a chance to really feel them. They were like silk, moving tenderly against my own, rough lips. I was swimming in pleasure, lost in love and lust, trying to keep my head about me. It was all so wonderful...much better than anything else...than...than...
My hands caressed her smooth face, feeling her cheeks, her neck, her hair, running my hands through it and delighting at their lightness. Her hands had found my back, bringing me closer, holding me close against her. I could almost feel her heart beating against my chest, pumping her blood throughout her body, giving her life....
She started to gain control now, becoming more daring, for soon our kiss started to deepen. Her tongue played across my lips, requesting entrance into me. I let her in, meeting her with my own tongue, feeling her truly, completely. I tried to touch every corner of her, inside and out, and she did the same. Soon, with the water still covering our legs and waist, I started to let my hands roam all over her body, feeling her back, her arms, her chest. I could feel her hands wander over my own body as well, returning the touches and feelings that I was laying upon her.
We stayed there, making out lightly, exploring each other, in the water for a while. The moon was bright over our heads and the wind start to make soft music against our skin and ears. Once we started shivering, laying in each other's embrace, we decided to get up and head back to the village. Although I was reluctant for it all to end, for all of this wonderful day to finally close its doors, I got up from the sand and tried to brush myself off. Once ready, I took her hand and led the way.
Upon return to the village, everything was dark and quiet, the fire that usually raged in the middle was out and the moon was our only source of light. We made our way to Lulu's and Wakka's tent where we were to be pitched for the night, and dressed for sleep. I was so tired, so sleepy, that I barely noticed the goodnight kiss I received from Paine.
I must say that the dreams I had that night were full of happiness.