Author's notes: I reviewed the last two chapters...and I found a couple of mistakes.... such as...instead of himself, I typed Itself... oO; sorry for that... maybe I need proofreaders...or whatever you call them..XD

Disclaimer: err...i don't own them...simple as that...

"" - conversation

italics- thoughts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3: the Talk of Bevelle

Rikku was the first one to wake up among the three. She shook Yuna gently, waking her up with a large grin on her face. "wakie Yunie!... remember...we have some work to do..." Yuna groaned and slowly sat up leaning on the head board. "oh yeah, I almost forgot about that" "Is that why you're up so early Rikku?" Paine just woke up from her sleep, and she was pretty annoyed. "uh-huh! come on you two!" said the bubbly Rikku who was now dragging Yuna out the door way. Paine sighed and stood up, following the two Gullwings.

"so here's the plan, I'll ask Baralai while you and Paine ask the people around" instructed Yuna pointing to the people walking around the place. "okay! good luck" Rikku said as she ran away to catch an old by-passer who seems to be one of the 'monks' there. Paine crossed her arms and rolled her eyes while sighing in defeat. Obviously, Paine doesn't agree with this whole being nosy about that room plan. Yevon haven't really changed that much I guess... still likes to keep secrets huh... she said to herself as she noticed a couple of young ladies staring at her while giggling. Actually, they were staring at the three of them, first, at Yuna who was now running off inside, then to Rikku who was annoying the poor old man, and now to Paine. Her eyes twitched as the ladies continue their 'small talks' while eyeing her and giggling. Pissed off, she decided to go there and find out why they're laughing.

The said girls noticed the very pissed off Paine walking towards them. They stopped giggling and straightened up as if they are innocent. "okay girls, may I know why you're staring at us back there?" Paine tried to be some-what nice by asking them as 'sweetly' as possible but found it hard. She just can't stand the smile that the one of them is giving her. "spit it out" "uhmm... nothing ma'am,...we were just wondering which one of you is Paine" Paine eyed each one of them as if saying 'why the hell do you wanna know' but instead, she just sighed. "Okay, I'm Paine, so now would you all stop staring?" The girls nodded in unison. Paine was about to leave when she caught one of them started giggling again. Now she is really annoyed. She was about to yell when Rikku called her up. She decided to just leave this be and went to Rikku.

"who are those girls? got anything yet?" "well... those girls are staring at us back there... curios about who among us is Paine..." Paine said in her usual monotone voice. "oh... wonder why...anyway, I asked two monks from here and all I can get is that, Baralai doesn't allow anyone in there but himself. They said, the Praetor goes in there, or rather, hides in there whenever he needs a break. Then, one of them said that that room is Baralai's, uhmm..what do they call it? studio or something. He said that the praetor loves to paint as his hobby" Rikku narrated while going around Paine. She seems so excited about this stuff... thought Paine almost missing out RIkku's question. "What was that again Rikku?" "I said... aren't you curious about this secret studio of his... I mean, if it's just something to do as a hobby, why keep it such a secret? his talent should be exposed!" "whatever Rikku..."

Meanwhile...

"so she's Paine..." the girl giggled as she look towards Paine. "interesting..." said the other girl. These girls were attendants of the praetor. "are you sure you heard the praetor say her name in his dream?" "positive" they both giggled again. "oh you should have seen the praetor then..."

FLASHBACK

(knock knock) there was no reply on the door. His attendant assumed that Baralai is somewhere else and decided to enter his office. She brought with her some cleaning materials to clean the office. Upon entering the door, she saw Baralai on his desk, his arms on the table and his head resting on them. The praetor is asleep, and seems to be really tired. The attendant shook him gently to wake him up but Baralai is in deep sleep. "poor praetor...always busy with work..."

The attendant started piling up his cluttered papers, putting all things in order and wiping off the dust on his desk. She was finished in about half an hour and was ready to leave when she heard Baralai murmured something. She walked near the praetor to hear more clearly and was surprised about what she heard. "Paine...stay with... me" Baralai said in his sleep almost faintly but the attendant captured every word he said.

end of flash back

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Baralai's office

(knock knock) "who's there" "oh, its me, Yuna" "come in" Baralai opened the door to let Yuna in. He directed Yuna to the sofa and motioned her to sit down. "doing work?" "a praetor's always busy, but not to a friend...so what brings you here?"

"uhmm... pardon me if I may seem to be nosy or something...but..." Yuna found it hard to explain her business for visiting the praetor. Baralai was curious about what Yuna has to say, that she's having a hard time explaining it. "do you need something? my attendants can..." "no... uhmm..actually..." Yuna sighed and went on. "we, I mean, Rikku and me are pretty curious about that 'secret room' you told us about yesterday..." Baralai was taken aback from what he heard. Why would Yuna and Rikku want to know what's in there. He sighed and chuckled while saying "oh, that room... I guess, when I said off limits, it made it look so fishy...but I guarantee you, there's nothing special in it, is that all lady Yuna?" "oh... I see...yes, that is all, I better be going" Yuna left Baralai's office and ran off to meet up with RIkku and Paine.

I know there's more to it than that... I hope Rikku found out something...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"so, Yunie, what did he say?"

"he said there's nothing in it..."

"told you he won't talk..."

The two girls sighed in defeat while Paine crossed her arms. Rikku then told Yuna about their conversation adding Paine's weird encounter with the attendants. "hmm...a studio is it? something tells me it's not just a studio..." Now, Yuna looks more determined than ever as Rikku jumped around excitedly. "now what..." Paine said as she put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. Basically, this means that their little 'mission' is not close to being done.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N errr... so what do you think? short? confusing? boring? lol ... review and hey! i'm not stressed anymore... I'm actually happy (my dad just promised me a manga! lol) ehe

thanks to all that reviewed my fic if i can just hug you all...oh what the heck... gives everyone a superultraomegahug