I'd always thought that Rikku was irrepressible. And unsinkable too. The whole world could have come crashing down on everyone's heads, but Rikku would be the one who would stand there, in the dust and rubble and wreckage, and laugh, calling out, "Paine? Why is there so much dust? Did Brother blow something up again?"

That was just Rikku. For most people, all the little things that happened daily would pile up. Eventually, all those little things would get to them. Not Rikku though. Rikku was never the kind to let things pile up. She was just too energetic, too happy. If there is such thing as too happy.

It took big things to get to her, and even then, she wouldn't even be that 'gotten-to'. She could be on the brink of being killed by some rampaging fiend, and all she would ever say about it was that she needed a break. It wasn't the stoic bravado, or the need to stop others from worrying about her, it was just the way she was. Too happy and lighthearted to even consider that maybe, just maybe, the next little hit would make her a goner. She wasn't pretending to be strong, she wasn't pretending to keep us from worrying, she was just not aware. Or maybe she was, and it was just that she didn't care. That was Rikku for you.

So no-one was prepared when that one day came, when Rikku snapped. No-one ever expected, no-one ever thought that it was possible, no-one, nothing, was ever capable of such a thing.

Except me.

All it ever took was me, and a fallen plush Tonberry.

x x x

"Please, Rikku, stop."

"But it's so cute!"

"Put it down."

"But Paine! Look!"

A small, plush Tonberry found itself in front of my face, nose pressed against my nose.

"Put it down, Rikku."

"Paaaaiiiiiiinnnnneeeeee..."

"Rikku..."

"But Paaaaa-"

"Get that thing out of my face, and put it back down on the shelf. We need to go."

The plush Tonberry was lowered to reveal a disgruntled face, brilliant green irises boring angrily into my crimson ones.

"Mr. Cutie-Tonberry's mad now."

Pouting, Rikku made the Tonberry cross its arms in mock anger.

"Oh please, Rikku... Just put the thing down, we have to go."

"Don't say 'thing' like it hasn't got a name, Paine!"

She let the Tonberry's arms go, and instead, grabbed its neck. With deft movements of her fingers, she made the Tonberry's head shake.

"My name's Mr. Cutie-Tonberry. Nice to meet you."

The Tonberry's head movements matched its words as Rikku changed her voice to the supposed one of a Tonberry's. 'Mr. Cutie-Tonberry', as Rikku so eloquently called it, bowed and held a plush paw out for me to shake.

"Rikku..."

"Just shake it, Paine, Mr. Cutie-Tonberry's waiting."

I sighed.

"And if I refuse to shake it...?"

"Then you die."

I looked at her.

"Okay, fine, you don't die, but I will get mad. And so will Mr. Cutie-Tonberry."

"And tell me why I'm supposed to be frightened into shaking his hand by these two prospects."

Rikku lowered Mr. Cutie- Tonberry.

"You don't want to make me mad, do you?"

The pout on her face was supposed to be annoying me, but somehow, I found it cute. Adorable, actually.

I sighed again.

"And just how many more times will I have to tell you to put.," I rolled my eyes, "Mr. Cutie-Tonberry down before you actually will put him down?"

"Try all you want, Paine, but I won't put him down."

I didn't like the air of superiority that she had on.

"Then what'll I have to do to get you out of this shop?"

There was a pause of silence as I watched Rikku furrow her eyebrows, sinking into deep thought. The moment didn't last long though.

"I know!"

She held up the Tonberry again.

"You can buy it for me!"

"Um, what?"

"You," she poked me in the chest, "can buy Mr. Cutie-Tonberry," she held up the Tonberry, "for me." she flashed me her best winning smile.

I pretended to consider.

"Well, I don't know Rikku..."

"Awwwwww, come on, Paine! Please?"

I smiled.

She smiled.

"No."

Her smile faded.

"What?!"

My smile faded as well.

"No. Rikku, I'm not buying that thing for you. Now put it down and let's go!"

I moved to wrench the Tonberry from her, but she skipped daintily away from me.

"Paaaaaaaiiiiiinnnnneeeeeee!! You meanie!"

This time, the meant-to-be sigh came out as a growl.

"Rikku, for the last-" I paused to stop myself from swearing, "time: Put. That. Thing. Down!"

"I will not!"

She stuck her tongue out at me, prepared to spring away the moment I made a move towards her.

We stood like that for a long time. Me, leaning slightly forward, face glowing with menace and annoyance. Her, crouching slightly, holding the already dearly-beloved Tonberry to her chest, face curved into a pout. The silence was unnerving.

"Paine?"

Rikku's voice was quiet, shaky.

"Yes?"

Mine came out a growl.

"People are staring."

And it was true. Unbeknownst to us, tourists that had wandered into the shop had found themselves walking past a silent standoff, and had taken the liberty to stop and watch.

I broke away first. Spinning around to face the gathering audience, I twisted my face into the meanest, most hateful look I could manage, and snarled at them.

"What're you looking at?"

They paled and went away as one.

Turning back around, I prepared myself for a last-attempt lunge at Rikku to get the Tonberry away from her, only to find Rikku latched to me.

"Rikku?"

The Tonberry was pressed between my body and hers.

"Paine, please? I'm sorry you're mad, but I really like this Tonberry. Can't you please buy it for me?"

I could feel her face nuzzling against my neck.

My mind told me to wrench her arms from around me, snatch the Tonberry, plunk it down on the nearest shelf, and drag Rikku back to the Celsius, refusing to talk to her ever again. My heart told me to buy the stupid Tonberry for her.

Instead, I opted for a very choked up, "Rikku, let go."

And she did. Amazingly. Her eyes shone as she looked up at me, a childish pout gracing her lips.

"Paine..."

She didn't bother to make a move to stop me as I gently took the Tonberry from her grasp and set it down on the nearest shelf. Sighing, I tenderly grasped her arm and pulled her towards the door.

"Come on, Rikku."

She looked back over her shoulder at the lonely little Tonberry on the shelf, and I knew she was waving a quiet little goodbye, but I paid no attention. It was weird, I felt weird. I was never this soft. Never.

By the time we got to the Celsius, Rikku still hadn't said a word, and I was beginning to feel both unnerved, and uncharacteristically guilty.

"So, what took you two so long?"

Looking up from the ground, my eyes found themselves meeting two mismatched irises. Yuna smiled softly down at us from the top of the ramp.

"Rikku had a bout of sudden and unneeded attachment to a plush Tonberry."

I nudged Rikku to go ahead of me and up the ramp. Yuna chuckled.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"It was cute though." Rikku murmured, quiet.

My heart tightened, both with guilt, and some other feeling I couldn't put a finger on. Before I knew what was going on, I'd found myself walking down the ramp again, towards the town.

"Paine, where are you going?"

"I have to go get something. I'll be right back."

"Okay."

I turned to wave to Yuna, and then spun back around and sprinted towards the town.

When I returned, I found myself thrusting Mr. Cutie-Tonberry into Rikku's sullen arms, and rushing off into my room.

x x x

That had been half a year ago.

Mr. Cutie-Tonberry's left shoulder has a rip in it now. His left eye hangs a little too loosely off of his face. He has a ketchup stain on his chest, and more than one drool stain from when Rikku was sleeping a little too soundly with him under her chin.

And he's no longer named Mr. Cutie-Tonberry. Instead, he's named Dr. P Tonberry. After me.

Rikku once tried making a wig out of grey wool for her dear Dr. P Tonberry. She'd managed to stick it on his bare head with a massive amount of drying glue, and had even spiked it up to a grotesque copy of my hairstyle with Brother's horrific hair gel, only to have Yuna, Brother, Buddy and Shinra laugh until they cried. Rikku took it all in stride though, and ignored all laughs and jokes about Dr. P Tonberry's hair. In the end, it was Yuna, after my incessant pleas, who took the half hanging wig off of his poor head.

One of my more memorable recollections with Rikku and her Dr. P Tonberry however, occurred only a few months ago.

It had been in the middle of the night, with crickets chirping and moonlight streaming in through open windows, when I'd woken up. My stomach was uncomfortably empty, and I needed to fill it in order to get some sleep before the sun blared into the Celsius. Slipping out from underneath my covers and into my fuzzy Tonberry slippers, I'd started to head down the hallway towards the kitchen when I heard the shuffling of someone else in slippers. In a matter of moments, Rikku rounded the corner.

"Oh. Hello."

Her blonde locks stuck up in every direction possible.

"Hi."

She yawned and stretched, waving Dr. P Tonberry up in the air.

"Bit late to be wandering around Paine."

"I could say the same thing for you."

"Me 'n Dr. P Tonberry got hungry."

"Hm."

She yawned again, and I found myself holding back a smile as she cutely rubbed her eyes.

"I'm tired."

"You should go back to bed Rikku."

"Hm. 'Kay. G'night Paine."

"Night."

She smiled at me, and I mildly returned the gesture. Her chocobo slippers shuffled toward my Tonberries, and then suddenly, they stopped.

"Paine?"

"Yes?"

She gently kissed Dr. P Tonberry's lips, and then pressed them against mine.

"Night. Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite."

She smiled again, before shuffling off to bed.

Normally, I would have just scowled and continued on my way to the fridge. That night, however, I couldn't hold back an amused smile. More like a contented smile. Rikku was cute. She was painfully cute.

And then things went very wrong, very fast.

x x x

"Give him back!"

"No. You've been mumbling incessantly to this... thing, and it's annoying me!"

"And what has my talking to him got to do with you?!"

I paused and glared at her in incredulity.

"Your mumbling has got to do with me because my name comes up in there more than half the time!"

Rikku blushed.

"No it doesn't."

"You think I can't hear my own name?"

I strode towards the ramp out of the Celsius.

"Paine, come back here!"

And Rikku followed.

"Look, Rikku, you need to stop. Either you promise me that you'll stop talking to this thing here," I held up the Tonberry, "or I'll have to get rid of it."

She stomped around, mad and at a loss for what to do.

In a matter of moments, we found ourselves in a standoff over a cliff, a waterfall raging beside us.

"Paine, please, give him back."

"No. Not unless you promise to stop."

She bit her lip and looked down, scuffing the toes of her boots into the dirt.

"I can't."

"Then you won't get this Tonberry back."

"But I need him!"

"No, you don't. He's making you crazy, Rikku."

"No he's not!"

"Yes, he is. I'm not arguing with you anymore, Rikku. Either you promise now, or I'm getting rid of him."

She didn't say anything, just looked at me with a pleading look in her eyes. It took all my resolve to not give the Tonberry back to her.

"Rikku, you have three seconds."

She still didn't say anything.

"One."

"Paine..."

"Two."

"Please!"

I paused.

"Two and a half."

She bit her lip.

"I can't stop, Paine, not after what happened."

I completely forgot about the three.

"Nothing happened, Rikku!"

"Something did happen! You can't just brush it off like that!"

"Three."

The Tonberry flew over the edge of the cliff.

"NO!"

She rushed forward, and from the looks of it, was ready to jump off the cliff after the Tonberry, but I caught her and flung her back.

"NO! HOW COULD YOU?! HOW COULD YOU?!"

Rikku was in hysterics. Tears streamed down her face, a face contorted in rage and hatred.

"Rikku, you're going overboard. I had to do something."

"WELL YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO THROW DR. P TONBERRY AWAY!"

"Yes, I did."

"NO YOU DIDN'T!"

She stomped her foot angrily, then fell to her knees and flailed her fists against the dirt. It was a long time before she got back up again.

"You..."

Her face was deadly calm, the kind of calm that hid massive amounts of hurt and anger underneath.

"You had no right, Paine."

She stalked towards me, each step deliberate and hateful.

"You had no right, you had no right to throw him away."

"Rikku-"

"You had no right! You can brush me off like nothing happened, but you had no right to throw him away!"

Her tightly clenched fists rose up to chest-level. The first of the two pounded down on my chest. I caught the other one.

"How could you do that to me?! You knew how much he meant to me! You knew! You knew!!"

She sniffed.

"He was my... He was my..."

She choked on her words as I wrapped my fingers around her other wrist, holding her two hands tightly in my own.

"He was my you."

"Rikku..."

She wrenched her hands out of my grasp and backpedaled several steps.

"You can't pretend nothing happened that night!"

"Rikku, don't bring that up again!"

"Paine, you can't hide from it forever!"

"Rikku!"

"Something did happen, and you know it!"

"Nothing happened!"

"Something happened, and you meant it too!"

"NOTHING HAPPENED!"

She flinched. I coughed and urged myself to calm down.

"We were drunk, Rikku."

"That's not an excuse."

"Yes, it is. We didn't know what we were doing."

"But we still did it, it still happened, you can't-"

"Rikku, just forget about it, okay! It happened, fine, I'll admit that, but it meant nothing, absolutely nothing! Just forget about it!"

She shook her head.

"That Tonberry... It reminded you too much of what happened. So I had to get rid of it. That way you'll forget too."

Her head still shook from side to side, flailing her blonde braids this way and that.

"It meant nothing, so just... forget about it."

"It didn't mean nothing."

"Rikku..."

"It didn't mean nothing."

"Yes, it did. Just forget about it, Rikku, please!"

"It might not have meant anything to you, but it meant something to me!"

"Rikku..."

"It meant a lot to me, okay?! I meant everything I said. It wasn't because I was drunk that I said those things, I meant every, single, word Paine! Every single word!"

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to react. Rikku had lost it. She'd snapped. I'd thought she was unsinkable, but here she was, sunken and hysterical.

"Paine, I said I loved you. I meant it. I still do."

I looked away.

"And you said you loved me too."

I could hear her footsteps over the roaring of the water. I felt her warmth as she stepped up to me. Her hand was gentle as it cupped my chin and turned my head towards her.

"I meant what I said. And I meant what I did too. What you said and did meant a lot to me. But..."

The tears started again.

"Since it means nothing to you, I guess maybe I have no choice but to forget about it."

And she turned, and ran away.

It was a long time before I was finally able to turn away from the sheer drop of the waterfall and head back to the Celsius. When I got there, I found Yuna waiting for me.

"Paine?"

"Yeah?"

"Is there something going on between you and Rikku?"

She was worried, and it hurt to have Yuna worry.

"No."

"But Paine..."

"Nothing's going on, Yuna, don't worry."

She let me go then, but when I bumped into her again that night in the hallway, she was much less merciful.

"Paine, we need to talk."

"Okay..."

Yuna's voice was hard. Steely. She was never like this.

"Paine, is something going on between you and Rikku?"

The same question from this afternoon, only so much more... hateful.

There was a pause.

"No."

"Paine, there's no use in lying to me."

"Did Rikku tell you?"

"Did Rikku tell me," she scoffed, "yes, she did. No use hiding it now, Paine."

"Well, if Rikku told you," I turned around, showing my back to Yuna, "then why are you asking me?"

I began to walk away, strides long and deliberately calm. Several clicking sounds followed my footsteps. I turned my head and shot a look over my shoulder to find myself staring into the barrels of Yuna's guns.

"Turn around."

I did. I noticed the gleam of tears on Yuna's cheeks as they streamed down from her angry eyes.

"Rikku wouldn't tell me exactly what happened, but she told me that it had something to do with you. Whatever you did, Paine, you hurt her."

"I never meant to hurt her, Yuna."

"Whether you meant to or not, you did. You hurt Rikku. You hurt her."

"I know I did."

"How can you say that so calmly?!"

"I'm not."

"Oh, you're not."

The derisive note in her voice stung.

"Look, Yuna, whatever Rikku told you, it was all just a misunderstanding. She knows that, and-"

"Don't go denying it, Paine! Don't go blaming it on her!"

Her hands shook. The guns shook. The barrels lowered a fraction of an inch. I couldn't help but notice that her trigger fingers were shaking too, a little too uncontrollably.

"Yuna, please, calm down."

She glared at me.

"Put the guns down."

She repositioned the guns to purposely point at my chest again.

"No."

"Yuna..."

"You hurt her, Paine, you messed her up. Rikku doesn't get hurt, not very often. She doesn't get messed up. You know that."

I nodded carefully.

"Whatever you did, it was bad, really bad. You're going to fix it, Paine."

"I... can't."

"Yes, you can, or you'll have to pay."

I stared at Yuna, unbelieving. Yuna was never like this, she was never so coldhearted, so uncaring, so harsh.

"Yuna?"

"No, Paine! You hurt Rikku! She's my cousin, Paine! She's like the sister I never had! She was 15 when she went with me on my pilgrimage! She was always there for me, and now she's hurt, and it's all because of you!"

My eyes hardened. I turned to go.

"Don't do this, Paine! Don't walk away from me! Don't walk away from Rikku!"

I stopped, but didn't turn to face Yuna.

"What did Rikku tell you?"

There was a pause.

"She told me about what happened the other night. When I was out."

"Oh."

"She told me what went on between you two."

"And?"

"I didn't understand why she would be upset about something like that."

I didn't say anything. Instead, I opted for waiting for Yuna to continue.

"But you must have done something today to upset her. She's in her room, she refuses to come out. She's got her face buried in her pillow and she's been crying non-stop. Rikku doesn't cry, Paine. The only time I've ever seen her cry was when I told her I had to go. During the pilgrimage, that was the only time. The only time she ever shed tears over something, over someone, was when I told her I had to go... die. That was the only time. What you did today," Yuna sniffed, "must have been very bad, because she's crying. Crying more than when I told her I had to die to save Spira."

Yuna's words, Rikku's doings, they made my heart hurt. I turned my head to look at Yuna over my shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Yuna."

"No! Don't! Don't say sorry to me, because I'm not the person you hurt! You should be saying sorry to Rikku!"

I turned away and took a step forward.

"Paine, don't do this!"

"Let me go, Yuna. I have to do something."

"No, you don't! You have to come back here and talk to Rikku!"

"Yuna, let me go."

I took another step forward. The guns clicked.

"Paine, don't make me do this..."

"No-one's making you, Yuna."

My voice was hard, cold. But instead, I was in so much pain. Too much. I had to do something, and I was going to go do it.

"Paine..."

"Shoot me if you want, Yuna, but please, trust me. Just let me go."

When I stepped down onto the cold moonlit dirt outside the Celsius, I heard several rounds being fired.

x x x

"Paine, Paine, can you hear me?"

Everything was so blurry.

"Paine? Paine, please! Answer me!"

Everything was so blurry. Everything hurt.

"Ri... Rikku?"

It hurt to talk. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to live.

"Paine! Oh God, please. Paine, you're going to be okay, you're going to be fine, you're going to be just fine!"

I could feel her tears on my cheek as they fell from her chin.

"Yuna!! Oh God, Yuna!!"

Yuna's voice came from a distance. A really long distance.

"Rikku! Oh my God. Oh my God!"

"We have to get her back to the Celsius, Yuna! Help me!"

I could feel myself being lifted, and then a distant roaring sounded. Rikku swore, hysterical.

"Rikku! Get Paine back to the Celsius, I'll deal with this thing."

I could vaguely make out Yuna's figure as she turned and stood, guns at the ready. Rikku nodded and hauled me onto her slim figure, trying her best to carry me, but she was having trouble.

"Ri... Rikku?"

"Paine, don't talk, wait 'til we get back to the Celsius, 'kay?"

My vision was clearing a bit at a time. I could make out Rikku's features. There were tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Rikku, don't... cry."

I raised a bloody hand up to her cheek and swept my thumb over it, brushing away a tear. My gloves were torn, bloody thumb showing through the tear, and it left a smear of red on Rikku's pale cheek.

"Smile... Rikku."

"Oh God, Paine!"

She sniffed.

"Please, Rikku?"

She started sobbing. Her body shook, shaking mine in turn as she laboriously hauled me towards the Celsius.

"Rikku... Smile... For me."

Even through her sobs, she turned her head to me and smiled. I smiled back.

"You look prettier when you smile."

Rikku's face crumpled again as she sank into heartbroken sobs. She almost dropped me. Sniffing wildly, she hoisted me back up as I had begun to slip, and continued towards the Celsius. Each step seemed harder and harder for her.

"Paine, don't give up, we're gonna make it, okay? We're gonna make it. You're gonna be just fine."

She tried her best to smile again. The result was heartbreaking.

Another roar sounded in the distance, the roar of fire, followed by an intense crackling. Then everything when black.

x x x

It was like I was floating, floating between life and death, and all the while, I could only see dancing plush Tonberries, and Rikku's beaming face. Her voice seemed to be everywhere. Calling to me, laughing, screaming something at me for being a 'meanie'.

Little snippets of the past came back, little shards of memories.

I saw Rikku crouching on her bed, eyeing the door with a smirk of evil on her pretty face. The door creaked open, and the past-me stepped in, only to have Rikku pounce from the bed and onto my back, whooping wildly and screaming for a piggyback ride. I watched as my past-self threw Rikku off, sprawling her onto the bed, yelling about respect points.

I saw us in battle. Me, Rikku and Yuna, standing together in our standard line-up, weapons at the ready. I saw the attack coming towards my past-self, and I saw my own muscles tense. I saw Rikku tense and spring forward, intercepting and taking the hit. I saw her fall to the ground in a heap. She'd gotten back up and smiled at me.

"You owe me one, Dr. P."

More memories flowed in. More snippets of her laughter and my yelling. They swirled around me, confusing me and comforting me at the same time.

And then the whirlwind of moments faded away, to be replaced by a single memory.

x x x

Rikku giggled madly.

"Come on, Paine, fill 'er up!"

She held out a glass to me and I tipped more wine into it. The delirious smile that was plastered on my face was a clear enough sign that I was drunk. The tinge of red and the giggly mood that Rikku was in told me that she was drunk as well.

She tipped the glass to her lips and downed the swig of wine in on gulp. I chuckled.

"Come on, let's see you do better!"

She stuck her tongue out at me.

"Fine, I will."

Instead of filling my own glass with wine, I took the bottle and tipped it up, sending the bottle's contents rushing into my open mouth. I downed the whole bottle in several large gulps. Setting it down with a clang, I wiped the trailing wine from my chin with the back of my hand.

"Ha. Beat that, Rikku."

"Okay."

She moved to open the other bottle of wine and was struggling in opening it when I took her hand in mine.

"Actually, don't."

"Awwwwww, why not? Scared I'll beat you?"

I grinned.

"Like that's possible."

"Meanie! Scaredy-cat! Let go!"

She tried to wrench her hand from my grip, but I pulled her towards me to counteract the motion. My pull sent her tumbling into me.

I heard her gasp, and I think I gasped too. Her breathe cascaded down onto my lips.

"Um, Paine..."

I don't know what came over me, I don't know why I did it. But I do know what I did.

Before I knew what was happening, I'd pressed my lips onto Rikku's.

It was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. Of course, that would naturally be the right thing, because I'd never kissed a girl before. I'd never kissed anyone before, for that matter. But I was pretty sure kissing anyone else other than Rikku would not have resulted in such an intense level of bliss.

She began to pull away, and I tried to keep her close, but she slipped from my grasp. We were both breathless.

"Paine..."

"Rikku, I love you."

She stared at me. I stared back.

"Well... Say something, Rikku..."

She leaned forward again, eyes never leaving mine, and pressed her lips against mine. When she pulled away, she smiled.

"I love you too."

What happened next was something that I want to forget, and want to cherish for the rest of my life. To keep things short and sweet, we stopped in time to not do anything we'd regret the next morning.

When the next morning actually did come, I woke up to find a certain blonde nuzzling her face against my neck. I never thought, just got up, dressed, and ran away.

x x x

Curaga

The magic flowed over me. Even in my deep 'slumber' of blackness, I could feel it.

Rikku's words played in my head over and over again.

You're going to be fine.

You're going to be just fine.

x x x

"Paine?"

Once again, everything was blurry.

"Paine? Can you hear me?"

I blinked. And blinked again. The filmy veil that blurred my vision cleared away.

"Rikku?"

She was hovering over me. I could see Yuna, Brother, Buddy and Shinra in the background, gazing worriedly down at me over Rikku's shoulder.

"Oh, thank God you're alright."

She bent down and pressed her lips gently against my forehead. When she straightened up, I noticed the tears in her eyes.

"Paine, what were you thinking?!"

I coughed.

"I wasn't."

The figures of Yuna, Brother, and everyone else slipped away.

"Paine..."

"I had to go do something. So I did."

"But Paine-"

"Look what I got back."

From underneath my shawl, the only place I'd bothered to protect, I brought out a wet, battered and very bruised plush Tonberry.

"Dr. P Tonberry..."

Rikku took him from me wavering hand and held it to her chest.

"Paine..."

"Rikku, I'm sorry."

"But Paine-"

"No, let me say this."

Rikku sniffed.

"I'm sorry, Rikku. I'm sorry for hurting you. I'm sorry for leading you on. I'm sorry for pulling you to me, then brushing you off like you meant nothing, because... You do mean something. I'm just... sorry. For everything."

Rikku never said anything. Just pressed her lips against mine.

"Don't be."

Everything was getting better. Everything was going to be fine. Just fine.

x x x

I'd always thought that Rikku was irrepressible. And unsinkable too. The whole world could have come crashing down on everyone's heads, but Rikku would be the one who would stand there, in the dust and rubble and wreckage, and laugh, calling out, "Paine? Why is there so much dust? Did Brother blow something up again?"

And then I found out she wasn't like that. She was irrepressible, but she was sinkable too. I found that out the hard way.

All it ever took was me and a plush Tonberry to bring down the undefeatable.

Me, a coldhearted, distant warrior, and Dr. P Tonberry, a plush Tonberry that I'd bought for her.

All it ever took was me, and a fallen plush Tonberry.