Paine sat up, screaming, "Yuna!"

It was dark, but warm. She glanced around, startled, not remembering where she was. There was the tunnel, and the dark and the-

Memories flooded in, and she caught up with herself. Then she tensed. This wasn't the cockpit of the small silver craft, it was the hold. She was lying on the cot in the cargo area.

Quickly, she reviewed the activities of the 'night' before. No where did she remember getting up and coming here, which meant-

Paine stood up, and walked out of the cargo hold, leaving the door open.

Leon was sitting in the pilot's chair, not facing her, though undoubtedly he had heard her yell. Heat and color crept up the Warrior's neck at her momentary loss of control.

"I wondered how long it was going to take you. Got up this morning, nearly fell over your useless carcass," Leon said, a hint of nastiness coloring his tone. Several colorful and equally nasty retorts floated through Paine's head, each more violent than the last, but she held it in.

"When did you move me?" she asked, instead. Leon shrugged, the chain around his neck tinkling.

"Not long ago. I got sick of stepping over you."

Paine looked back through the empty doorway. The impression she had made on the bed showed she'd been there for quite a while. She considered pressing the matter further, but decided it was futile.

She stared out the window for a while, her eyes unfocused. Now that she had studied it a bit more, she could see that space wasn't totally black. It had overtones of green and purple, and colors that shouldn't exist, yet somehow did.

They passed in a comfortable, or at least unstrained silence, with Paine continuing to study the history of the universe she didn't even know was out there, on the navigator's console.

"So, what are these Heartless Wars?" she asked, at length, her curiosity overcoming her brevity (not to mention her strong desire to not speak to Leon). He spun around, stretching his legs out in front of him.

"Not sure where to begin-" he started. And then he told her.

He told her of a young boy, given the unenviable task of saving the universe from a dark force of creatures called 'Heartless'. He recalled how these monsters of darkness almost ran over all words, until this boy-the 'Keyblade Master'-sealed them in, using a magical blade. He pushed back his hair.

"It should have ended there, but it didn't. The wars went on."

"How do you know?" Paine asked, leaning forward. He shrugged.

"If the worlds had been completely sealed, they would have been separated, and this ship would be useless, space would be just that-space. So if the walls aren't up, the Heartless must not be totally gone."

Paine leaned back.

"Tell me about the Keyblade Master."

Leon laughed again, completely sincere.

"He was just a kid. I had a lot of trouble believing so much power would be granted to one so young and inexperienced, and yet-" he paused, then shook his head, still smiling, "He just had a way of making you believe. You really believed he could do it. You trusted him."

Paine went very still. She'd known someone like that once. Leon watched the transformation take place. One minute she was there, the next, despite the fact it looked like she was sitting there, she was really far away.

"You know what I'm talking about?"

Paine stood up, and walked forward. He moved to the side so she could look closer out the window.

"I let someone in once," she said, quietly, staring out the window into the blackness. He wasn't even sure she was talking to him anymore, and he had no reply.

"Two of them. I trusted them."
This was significant, it was important to her.

"What happened to them?" he asked, standing up and going to lean up against a wall with one shoulder, getting into a more relaxed position. She turned and looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. Their eyes were locked, concealing everything, as if letting it be seen would destroy it and them. What 'it' was though…

And then just for a moment, he found a crack, a chink in the armor that gave him just a glimpse. A glimpse of pain, and something else…

"Did they betray you?"

There was a flash-as bright and as brief as lightning-in her eyes, then they died again to dull red embers.

"Yes, they betrayed me."

The exchange would have been over anyway, even if the ship's alarms hadn't all gone off at once. The ground rumbled beneath them, leaving them off balance. Paine fell back into the navigator's chair.

"What's happening?" she demanded, gripping the arms.

"Good question," Leon muttered. He watched the screen as several red dots went 'blip'.

"Are we under attack?" Paine inquired.

"I don't know, why don't you get out and ask them," Leon suggested. Paine shot him a dark look before asking:

"Well, do you have anything to fight back with?"

If he'd been an adolescent person, the word 'Duh' probably would have found its way into Leon's mouth, but he prided himself on his self-control, so he stayed silent. Instead, he pushed a button that was partially hidden on his console. There was a whirring sound, and a different control stick came out. It had a red button on the top. Paine didn't need to ask what it was for.

Leon's forehead creased in concentration, as he focused on his invisible target. Suddenly, from the left, a white-hot laser blast flew towards them. Leon jerked the ship sideways, just barely escaping. He then pitched it sideways, and turned it.

"Now let's see what we're dealing with here," he said. The four ships that loomed in their view were obviously not pleasure cruisers. Each boasted mounted lasers, and torpedo launchers. They looked heavily armored, and not at all friendly.

"Friends of yours?" Paine couldn't help but ask. Leon snarled in answer, still concentrating. The enemy ships launched a volley of fire, but Leon managed to sneak under their attacks. Most of them anyway. The ship jostled and jerked, pitching back and forth. Luckily, Paine had put up with Brother's driving for years, and was use to it. Being shot at from the depths of space though…that was a new experience.

A direct hit managed to score on the front of the hull, and a red klaxon began to sound.

"This may be a shot in the dark, but that's a bad thing, yes?" Paine was checking. For answer, Leon said:

"We need to land somewhere. I hate emergency landings, but I don't think we have a choice."

The next few moments passed in a kind of ethereal haze for Paine (and Leon too for that matter), as they entered the atmosphere of the closest planet. The ship jerked around so much that focusing on anything was impossible. Paine's eyes felt like they were turning inside out, and she had to try hard to stay conscious.

The alarms wailed as the ship plummeted into the unknown…