Disclaimer: I am not the lucky duck who created these characters. If I was, why would I be writing this story.

Rikku's POV

It was either morning or afternoon, I wasn't entirely sure. I figured it had to have been afternoon because I rarely woke up before then. I spent most of the day laying in my bed, thinking about Paine. Now that Yuna was gone, Paine trained all the time. I had hoped she'd open up to me like she did to Yuna. Thinking about it actually made me envious of the High Summoner. She always got everything; the fame, the friends, the man, and she even managed to get more of her than I did. More of Paine.

I wasn't even sure why I really cared, but for some reason, I always found myself watching Paine, wishing we could be closer. Sometimes I dreamt about her, too. In my dreams we were like best friends, often even more...

I had already accepted the fact that I liked Paine as more than a friend. Who could blame me? With her crimson eyes, her sexy array of clothing, and her stoic heroicness, it was amazing she didn't have half of Spira taken with her. I had suspicions that she did, and the Spirans were too afraid of Paine to do anything about it.

But I knew Paine, she wasn't really that mean or heartless. In fact, she was quite the softy, quite the sweetheart. Just don't let her know that's what I thought of her.

But none of my dreams changed the fact that when I awoke, Paine was still distant, still the same old annoyed-with-me Paine. She was still taking respect points away one by one. I couldn't even remember how many I had left.

I decided it was time to do something about it. I was going to confront Paine about the whole thing. Okay, so maybe not about my crush on her, but about opening up to me as she did Yuna.

So I found myself pulling on my typical clothing and hopping down from the loft where Yuna, Paine, and my beds resided and walking down the hallways to the deck where I knew Paine would be, training hard. Sometimes she made me feel guilty, like I should be training too. But training for what?

The door ahead opened for me and I blinked as the sunlight shined down upon me. I squinted my eyes and looked around. There she was, standing there staring at the clouds above you. I had to stop and admire the sight for a moment. Only a moment.

"Dr. P!" I yelled, cupping my hands around my mouth as I did so. I walked further out of the airship, allowing the door to close once more.

"Stop that," said Paine, acting like her usual self.

"Aww," I whined, wondering why she was already acting like that. Maybe I'd lose my cool after all. I wouldn't be able to ask her.

"I just wanted to come and see what you were doing." I said happily, hoping she wouldn't know there was more to it than that.

Then she asked me if that was all I wanted. I shifted uneasily and stared at the floor. I mumbled about wanting to talk to her about something.

She grunted. How nice, I was standing there, nervous as all get out, and she just grunted. Oh well, at least I knew she was listening.

I looked up at her, staring her straight in the eyes. "Um, Paine, I was just wondering.. why it is that.. you felt that you could talk to Yuna, but.. you never tell me things?" I stared at my feet again. I felt as if I had just made a huge mistake asking Paine that.

When Paine said nothing I looked up. She was no longer just leaning against her sword. She was standing there, looking deep in thought. It was rather cute, actually. When she realized I was watching her, she leaned again against her sword.

"Rikku, I don't want to talk about this right now."

That's the reply she gave me. After worrying about it all day, well, since noon or so, and finding the courage to overcome my nervousness to talk to her. She just brushed me off. I was heartbroken. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes. It was embarrassing, but I still couldn't bring myself to look away.

"Don't do that, Rikku. Listen, I promise we'll talk about it later, okay? Meet me out here around midnight and I promise I'll have your answer."

Did Paine just crack under my pathetic childishness? I thought for a moment about what she said before I smiled and hugged Paine tightly. I wasn't sure why I hugged her, but I did.

I then ran back into the airship. As I walked through the halls something occurred to me and my heart beat more quickly. "Did Paine just ask me on a date?" I giggled, knowing it wasn't true, but it was still a fun thought.

I went to the Cabin and sat down at the bar.

"What can I get for yoo, mish Rikkuuu?" Asked Barkeep as he dried off a glass.

"Hmm." I thought for a moment before ordering something to eat. When I finished I went to the Bridge to play Sphere Break with Shinra, he had promised me a rematch.

"Aww, poopy," I said after losing the match. "You're such a meanie," I whined.

"I'm just a kid," replied Shinra before hopping back into his chair and messing around some more.

I smiled at him. Shinra always said he was going to go home when we had finished our missions, but here he was. He used the excuse that he had to distribute his great inventions to Spira. We let him go with that, even though we knew he didn't need our help with it.

Just then Buddy came up to me and told me Gippal had sent a message saying he wanted to see me. I just rolled my eyes. Ever since saving Spira from Vegnagun, I somehow managed to get Gippal back on my tail. I had no interest in him anymore. The only person I cared about was.. her.

When I thought about Paine I remembered to check the time. It was only 7PM. I sighed.

"Just tell Gippal I'm busy, okay?" Buddy gave me an understanding look and walked back to his station.

My stomach growled, and the crew took it as a dinner-time signal. We all walked to the Cabin and ate some dinner. We laughed and talked about the time we spent together. Then we made fun of Shinra and teased Brother a bit.

Later they all left, it was now 9:30 PM. I turned to Barkeep.

"Has Paine come in to eat yet?" I wondered if she had eaten before the rest of us did.

"No, Mish Rikku, I have not sheen Mish Paine reshentaly." I couldn't help giggled at Barkeep's speech before worry set in.

Where was Paine? She must have still been on the Deck, but I wasn't going to go check. I didn't want to risk her getting mad at me. So I had to think of something else to do to pass the time until midnight.

That's when I got a devilish idea. Sure, I knew Pain and I weren't having a real date, but that didn't mean I couldn't dress up, right?

I ran up the stares to the beds and dug around for some better clothes. I found a cute pair of tan cargo pants and an adorable green T-shirt that brought out the color in my eyes. The shirt didn't cover my stomach completely, but it was still more than I usually wore.

Then I pulled on some bracelets and my usual boots. When I was done with that I ran to the bathroom to put on the finishing touches.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, wondering what I was going to do. Then I decided I was going to take my hair out of its braids and let it hang down for once.

"Ouch!" Bad idea. Bad, bad idea. After much tugging, pulling, and many ouches, I still only had half my hair out.

"Grrr," I growled at the mirror. Now I just looked like a fool. I had to continue.

Finally my hair was no longer in braids, and it looked really good, cascading down over my shoulders.

But that didn't help the fact that my head hurt now..

I glanced at a clock. 11:45. Not much time left now. I brushed my teeth and put on my usual strawberry lip gloss. It was then time to go.

I walked slowly down the hallways, not wanting to arrive just on time. I didn't want to seem that pathetic. Soon I reached the door to the deck and took a deep breath. I stepped forward and the door opened, allowing me passage to the outside.

The night air felt very nice against my skin and it was surprisingly not that windy. I figured the airship must have been going slow. The stars were absolutely beautiful.

I stood in the middle of the deck and looked around. I couldn't see Paine anywhere. At first I was worried, and then mad.

She has set me up! I bet Brother dropped her off somewhere and I didn't realized it. That's why I hadn't seen her at all that day. My eyes narrowed as I glared at nothing in particular. The rage coursing through me was insane. I had thought that I was finally going to get Paine to open up to me.

Not to mention my head still hurt from trying to fix my hair.

But that's when I saw a dark shadow, a person laying near the wall of the deck.

I walked over, knowing it was Paine. She must have fallen asleep. I looked at her, studying her. I could tell she had been sitting against the wall when she had fallen asleep. Then she must have just fallen to her side. There she layed, all curled up. I couldn't help but smile at how innocent and.. cute she looked. A small smile was playing across her face and I wondered what she was dreaming about.

A small part of my heart hoped she was dreaming of me.

I couldn't help the urge to reach out and stroke her cheek. Her skin was soft and inviting. I found myself staring at her face, studying her soft features.

Suddenly I realized I was staring straight into crimson colored eyes.

"Yikes!" I declared, falling backwards onto my butt. "Owwie..." I whimpered.

"Rikku?" Said Paine, sounding as if she was unsure of herself.

"Yeah, Paine, I'm sorry.. I couldn't help myself." I sounded completely pathetic. She was going to figure out I liked her if I kept that up, and I didn't want her thinking I was a freak.

"It's.. it's okay." She whispered.

My heart skipped a beat. I wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but Paine was definitely not acting like herself.

After many moments of awkward silence Paine spoke up.

"What are you doing out here?" She asked.

"Um," I began uncertainly. Had I dreamed up the whole thing where she asked me to meet her there? "You told me to meet you here, remember?"

"Oh yeah.." She said. "Sorry."

"It's okay," I said, unsure of what else to say. The whole thing was unnerving and strange.

Suddenly Paine covered her mouth and sneezed. I swear I felt the entire airship shake.

"Oh no, Painey! You're sick.." I frowned and looked at her. She did look pale. Even more so than usual.

"Mm," she said. Suddenly her eyes rolled back and she fell back on her side.

I jumped up in a panic. "Ack!" I didn't know what to do. Then I calmed down. I had to get her inside. I leaned over next to Paine and slid my arms under her. With strength most people didn't think I had, I lifted her and cradled her like a toddler in my arms.

I quickly made my way back through the halls and straight to the Cabin. I lumbered up the stairs and set Paine gently down upon my bed. It was the closest to the stairs.

"Oh Painey.." I cooed as I pushed a piece of hair out of her face and stroked her cheek. I was frowning, and I hardly ever frown.

I knew that she just needed some good sleep. It seemed to be nothing more than a cold. I could feel my own fatigue settling in. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to sleep in Paine's bed, because she might get mad, and I didn't want to sleep in Yuna's, because that seemed odd. I did kind of want to curl up next to Paine to keep a close eye on her.

Also because I cared about her.

But I knew that was out of the question. As I sat on my bed next to Paine's sleeping body, thinking about where to sleep, I felt an arm wrap around me. The next thing I knew I was being held tight against Paine's body as she snuggled up next to me.

"Um, Paine?" I questioned. I could feel the heat rising to my face.

There was no reply. I looked at her face. She was still asleep. She had pulled be down in her sleep. I tried to pull away, but couldn't. It was no use, I was going to have to stay there. Despite the awkwardness of it, I had to smile.

I gingerly wrapped my arm around Paine and drifted off to sleep. A very, very sweet sleep.

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