Many worlds away, in his golden brown ship, Mirt was contemplating in sweet euphoria what he would do with his own special little world. It had of course, never occurred to him that a being that had never allowed himself to be seen would ever allow even a partial portion of his power to be shared with the kind of worm Mirt prided himself to be. Men like Mirt never did.

In any case, he was in deep concentration when a voice, ethereal and unholy whispered right in his hair:

"You are a fool, you moronic imbecile. Those two warriors will kill each other before they ever reach the Stigmon. You must take steps to ensure it does not fall into the wrong hands. And if your great fighters do not destroy themselves, remember to warn them about the Guardians." The presence left.

It was strange that every time Mirt received a visit from the Master he felt he should eat as much sweet foods as he could because his time was limited. He couldn't account for this feeling, but it drew him to the galley of his ship, where he found waiting for him, as if expecting his arrival was a vast array of sugar treats and very strong alcoholic beverages.

Back on the Heaven's Kiss…

Needless to say, Paine wasn't comfortable and did not sleep well that 'night'. But perhaps she would have been comforted by the knowledge that Leon wasn't and didn't either.

When the servants were just rising to start the morning cleaning and cooking, Paine found herself on the forward observation deck of the Heaven's Kiss, staring out into the deep nothingness that makes up space. This would prove to be fortuitous because of the following events.

How the commotion began no one could say but by the time Paine had reached the main area, she was able to witness it in full swing. And swinging it was. Mainly, Sevren's guards…at Leon. Obviously, Sevren was not the kind of girl who took no, of any kind from anyone for an answer.

"Let us go, Sevren. I have no fight with you, but you can't keep us here." He spoke evenly, and reasonably, but Sevren, despite her cool demeanor, was past the point of listening.

"I am not planning on keeping you both here. She can go anytime she wants, I don't even want her here. But I don't understand why you can't stay here?" Tears welled up in her wide green eyes, and her lower lip quivered spasmodically. Leon hung his head, his hand on his sword. Sevren's voice took on a diamond hard edge.

"I won't let you leave Leon."

Her guards attacked. Paine had seen Leon take on overwhelming odds before, but not only was he outnumbered six to one, but he was also outgunned. All of the guards carried high powerful firearms, which they didn't hesitate to fire mercilessly. Leon ducked and dodged, trying hard not to hurt the guards without committing practical suicide. Paine watched for a while, before she tired of the game.

She moved up behind Sevren quietly, and had her dark silver blade to the eccentric young woman's throat before she could finish her screech of:

"It doesn't have to be like this!" She stiffened when she felt the sword at her jugular.

"Call them off," she whispered silkily in Sevren's ear. The redhead clenched her jaw.

"Why is he important to you?" she changed the subject.

"He's not, but I won't leave him here with you. I'm not that cruel."

"You don't understand. He wants to stay with me. I know it. He wants to take care of me." She sounded like a child faced with a mortal terror. Paine was quickly getting sick of the whole situation. She ignored Sevren completely and just yelled to the guards.

"Cease fire, and let us go, unharmed, or you'll be taking orders from a headless corpse!"

All firing stopped immediately. It was apparent that they didn't much relish the idea of shooting someone they respected so much. They looked up at Sevren. She nodded tightly. They vacated the room. Paine let her go, and walked past Leon, throwing over her shoulder, "I'll be in the ship."

Leon stared at Sevren, his face unreadable, but with just a hint of disappointment in his eyes. Her own eyes begged his understanding, his compassion. He shook his head, and walked out, without ever looking back.

When Leon walked in the ship, Paine was quiet, leaving him alone, partly out of respect, partly out of fear that he'd just kill her for spite. He walked past her as if she didn't exist, and disappeared into the cargo hold, shutting and locking the door behind him.

The one thing they never tell you about space is that it's boring. At least on an airship you could look down and watch the scenery go by.

There is no scenery in space, in fact, there's nothing out there at all. Of course with Rikku and Brother it was never boring, or peaceful for that matter. Paine found herself thinking more and more about her past, especially them, all of them. And the ship was so small, there was nowhere to go and nothing to do. Paine was now fully rested and almost completely healed. A few scars would be all that she had to show for her little tusle. She still grew angry every time the memory surfaced.

"I should have been able to take them," she berated herself. She looked at Leon who was apparently unaffected by the long mundane hours. He could have probably taken them.

On day, the monotony of the days was broken by a call. Leon was sleeping or at least resting in the cargo area with the door shut and locked.

He hadn't told her what to do in this situation. In fact he hadn't said anything to her in two days. She waited a little while in case Leon would emerge. When it became obvious that he wasn't going to, Paine pressed the purple button herself. A familiar face filled the screen,

"Paine! Leon hasn't gotten you two killed yet?" Yuffie asked, a grin reaching from ear to ear.

"Not for lack of trying," Paine replied, dryly.

"So what's been going on?" Yuffie practically bounced up and down. Paine pondered for a moment.

"We ran into an old friend of Leon's: Sevren."

Yuffie's face screwed up into a distasteful expression, as if she'd just stepped in something unpleasant. Paine chuckled.

"I see you're not too fond of her either."

Yuffie shook her head vigorously.

"The feeling is mutual, I can tell you that." She paused. "How did Leon handle it? This time Paine laughed outright, a harsh bark.

"Oh, they seemed quite comfortable." Yuffie's face grew concerned.

"What happened?" she asked, seriously. Paine quickly ran over their encounter. Yuffie stared off screen, until Paine finished.

"Manipulative…"Yuffie muttered, darkly, though the next word she said was lost. Paine could speculate what it was from the tone though. Paine was confused and a little disturbed by Yuffie's bitter tone.

"He didn't complain," Paine observed. Yuffie sadly shook her head.

"No, he wouldn't. Too good for his own good." Paine blinked, now completely lost. Yuffie noticed her expression and explained.

"When we were last here, Leon went to do the job we'd been hired for. I stayed on the ship, monitoring the situation. Along the way, he comes in contact with Sevren. A little slip of a girl, with tussled red hair and tear streaked face. And my good partner is quite the sucker for a damsel in distress. He risked his life, and mine, I should mention, almost got both of us killed, the big dummy. Anyway, he got her out and she even managed to convince him to get money from the treasury. Said it was her 'inheritance and dowry'." Every word dripped with sarasm and conceit.

"He set her up with some nice people and made sure she'd be safe and comfortable. I could tell she was trouble. She was definitely playing him. But he's got a total blind spot when it comes to her. She's just another of his many wards, a poor soul that needs to be cared for." She took a deep breath, since she'd rushed all this out in one breath, then she sighed in resignation and smiled brightly. Paine wondered at the young woman's ability to swing from mood to mood.

"So," Paine said slowly, trying to assimilate all the information, "You two have 'wards' on different worlds?" Yuffie bounced up and down.

"Oh, yes-Well, not just us, but we do all the work, but yeah, others do too. Oh! There's this one old man, and his son was really a-"

The sound of a gravelly throat clearing stopped the sporadic litany. Paine froze for a moment before standing up and turning around. Leon leaned on the door jam, his face as unreadable as ever though his eyes seemed a shade darker. Yuffie covered beautifully.

"Well, good morning, sunshine. I guess what they say is true. 'Speak of the devil and he shall appear'." Leon wouldn't look at either of them.

"Paine, would you excuse us for a moment?" he requested with icy politeness. Paine slowly walked by, taking a final glance at Yuffie who wore a distinct 'Save me' look. As she passed him, Paine looked up at Leon. He wouldn't meet her eyes, wouldn't even look at her, and she wondered how much he had heard.

As the door hissed shut behind her, she heard Yuffie whine, pitiably: "What? What did I do?"

Leon waited till he heard the door lock. He stood before the holo-vid screen, powerful arms crossed over his chest. Yuffie cringed visibly as dark azure eyes burned holes through her skull. She quickly defended herself.

"Look, I know you're mad," she paused, perhaps hoping he would cool off. He didn't bite. "Uh, yeah." She started again, "But I didn't see any harm in telling her. We were just talking and-"

"It isn't her business," Leon silenced her in his slow, cold way that made Yuffie suppress a shiver, even though she knew him well enough to know he'd never hurt her.

"But," she argued, though again, he quieted her with a glare. She grew somber.

"I like her, Squall. She-"

"I don't care, Yuffie. I have great faith in your judgement, but it doesn't matter. Once this job is over, she goes back to this world and I-"

"Go where? You have no world, no home. You know you can always come back to us, but I know you won't. So where will you go?"

Leon hated it when Yuffie was reasonable. He sighed.

"Away, Yuffie. I'll just go away." Her eyes softened in understanding. But not pity. He wouldn't tolerate being pitied. She gave up, knowing that pushing him would only make it worse.

"Well, take care of yourself, then."

"You, too," he replied, stiffly. As an afterthought, she added:

"Take care of her too. You need someone to watch your back." Her eyes sparkled impishly and she winked at him, before a blank screen replaced her face. He sank into the Pilot's chair and wondered which vengeful deity he had offended that would curse him with two such insufferable women.

Meanwhile, Paine was facing her own curse. Its physical incarnation was a black bag. No one had seen her bring it on board, she had snuck it in. Now, she stared at it, wondering if this time…if this time would be different. If this time she would be able to handle it, to face it. Her fingers reached out, barely caressing the material when-

The door hissed open, and Leon leaned his head in.

"What is that?" he asked, bluntly. Her eyes narrowed.

"None of your business," Paine answered, curtly. They faced each other as two elements, needing only the bare minimal aggravation to set off a fire-hail storm. Just one spark.

Mirt called.