Disclaimer: I own nothing..
A/N: This is my first FF based fic.. Please be nice.:)
(dot dot dot) –thoughts.
(dot dot dot) –spoken.
FFX-2 Holiday Special
Rikku looked around, tomorrow was Christmas and she still had no idea what to get her favorite silver haired grumpy friend. "What to get, what to get?" she pondered aloud to herself. The blonde looked around her small private room. She rarely went in there since it was so stuffy, but she needed time to think.
After looking around for about half an hour, she went to the cabins. The barkeep looked up and greeted her with a usual smile and wave; she returned the gesture and shuffled to her small dresser.
She pawed around for 10 minutes or so before she decided that she'd rather buy the warrior something rather than attempting to make her one. The Al Bhed girl sighed and walked to her cousin's room. Quickly knocking, she spoke in a small voice, "Yunie? You in there?" A minute passed and the door opened. "Yeah Rikku? What's up?" the brunette asked.
"Ah, you wouldn't happen to know what I could get Paine for Christmas, would you?" the blonde asked awkwardly. Yuna blinked then paused, "Hm… I don't know what she wants.. But it's nice of you to get her something... Maybe a book?"
"She doesn't like books, Yunie. It's a miracle if she reads one book a few months. You like to read." Yuna laughed nervously, "Oh..yeah. True, why don't you go to the mall.. I'm sure you can find something there." "Good idea Yunie, I knew you could help me!" The priestess sweat dropped and nodded. A few minutes later Rikku was dropped off at northern Spira.
"Oh Paine, what'll I get you?" she wondered to herself. The Al Bhed looked at many of her favorite places, but sadly.. she failed to find anything Paine would ever consider wearing. She walked a little more and came across a little hut with a skull and cross bones for a sign. "Hmmm… Looks.. Paine-ish." Rikku smiled and skipped inside.
"Hello? Anyone in here?" she asked to no one in particular. The shop had black everywhere and it had some kind of music playing in the background. "How may I be of service to you?" a low voice came from behind her. "Eep!" the Al Bhed jumped and turned around to face the store owner. It was a tall woman with waist length raven hair and piercing red eyes. Her first thought was of Paine.
"Hey.. Do you know Dr. P?" she asked innocently. The woman raised an eyebrow "Who is this Dr. P you speak of?" she asked. Rikku blushed awkwardly "Oh! Her name's Paine.. You two have the same eyes.. I thought you might know her." The dark woman paused and her eyes widened, "Silver!" "Silver?" asked the blonde.
"Yes… An old nick name, we used to work together… I suppose you could call me Noir. Now with what business do you come?" asked Noir. "Well.. I work with her, and I was wondering if you could suggest a gift?" Rikku asked timidly. There was a very long moment of silence, and then the dark woman fell over in laughter.
"You –gasp- want to get –gasp- Paine –gasp- a gift!" Noir was clutching at her sides and the blonde just blinked. "…Yes?" The raven haired woman calmed down some and regained her serious tone. "You're serious?" There was a pause. "I'm not too sure… Silv never let anyone get her gifts... But maybe..." Rikku waited patiently for the woman to finish, but when she didn't, the blonde coughed lightly.
Noir sighed "Ah... Well, Paine used to be very attached to a necklace. I'm not really sure why, but one day she came in and she wasn't wearing it. I think she lost it or something, but after that day she was just… more distant. I went to order some more for her, but she left before they came in and I haven't heard from her since."
"Could you show them to me?" Rikku asked. I wonder what happened.. "Of course, right over here." Noir nodded and walked the Al Bhed girl to a small stand near the back of the hut. Once Rikku saw the piece of jewelry, her eyes glittered. "Beautiful…" she sighed. "I'll take it."
xxxxx
Meanwhile, back at the ship. Paine was looking up at the ceiling from her bed. "Rikku… what am I going to do?" she'd thought of many things in the past week that she could get for her up beat friend. Sadly though, none seemed to fit her perfectly. Maybe Yuna could help. God I can't believe I'm about to ask Yuna for help. Paine sighed lightly and stood.
The silver haired woman quietly walked up to Yuna, who was now currently seated on a couch in the cabin area with a book, and coughed. The brunette looked up startled, "Paine?" she asked. "Ah… Yuna, could you help me... figure out what to get Rikku? I've thought on it, but I can't decide on one specific thing."
If the priestess wasn't confused before, she was now. "You're getting a gift… for Rikku?" she asked unsure of herself. "Yes." Was Paine's pained reply. "And you're asking for my advice..?" Yuna continued. The warrior scowled slightly and nodded.
"I see.. Well.. I guess I could suggest a thing or two. She likes.. bright fuzzy things… cute things.. Maybe some really shiny things." Yuna concluded. I don't like where this is going… "And where could I get those things?" Paine asked cautiously. "The eastern shops in Spira." "..Thanks Yuna." Replied the warrior as she began to walk away.
"To eastern Spira it is." Paine muttered and was dropped off minutes later. It took her quite some time to get over the shock of what she saw. All the people had bright colorful clothing on and a smile on their faces. There was laughing and skipping to top it off too. "What…the hell.." she spoke to herself. As if on a que, all the civilians stopped and starred at her. Most were looks of curiosity, some of fear, and a few of disgust.
"Uhm… I'll be going." She managed to say while keeping her cool. Once she escaped she sighed and leaned against a wall. "That was interesting.." she sighed to herself. "What?" came a high pitched voice from behind her. She twitched and spun around, drawing out her sword. "Ahh! Don't kill me!" a young woman cried, Paine winced, "I wont, what do you want?" the silver haired woman asked.
"Oh, I just overheard you, what was so interesting?" asked the woman. "Nothing, I'm just a little new to this area and I'm looking for a gift for a friend." Paine replied, warily eyeing the cheerful girl's extra bright clothing. The woman stood about six feet tall, with yellow eyes and pink hair, she was quite the sight.
"Huh... I could help you! My shop is right over there! C'm on! Ah, sorry, my name's Elysa!" the girl spoke enthusiastically. "Paine… Thanks." Elysa showed the red eyed warrior inside her small but excessively decorated shack. Beads were hung everywhere while dolls and various toys and jewelry lie neatly on tables.
"Please look around!" Elysa shouted and went to her front table. "Right.. I'll do that." Paine mumbled and began to walk around. Ten minutes passed and Paine began to get a headache. Too bright…Damn. "Mmph! You could buy something for yourself as well! You need some color in your life, I can tell!" Elysa squeaked. "What?" Paine asked.
The energetic girl began to twirl around her and before she knew what was happening, the warrior was covered with colorful beads, a fuzzy green hat and a bright pink boa. "What the hell?" she yelled as Elysa began to shoot pictures of her shouting. "Yes! Right there! Smile more! Make love to the camera!" Paine tried to fight off the girl, but she was being blinded by multiple flashes.
"Enough!" She finally yelled and drew her sword. Immediately the woman stopped and squeaked. "Sorry... I just like to capture my work so others can see what a good fashion designer I am." Paine looked at her for a moment before asking, "When's the last time you had a willing customer?" "Ehm…." There was a long pause and Elysa sighed.
"Now, delete those." Paine commanded and Ely nodded. She pressed a few buttons and grinned evilly, "All gone. Now, need help?" she asked sweetly. Paine growled "No thanks." She replied and walked back to another table. This one held little statues of crystal. Cat, dog, bird, mouse, flower, star, hmmm… "Ah! That one!" she exclaimed
After buying it, she left the shop and looked around shuddering. A white fluff ball rolled up to her and chirped. "…Hello?" she asked, the ball stopped. Without warning, it doubled in size and pounced. "Damn it!" she screamed and tried to reach her sword, but to no avail. Soon it covered three fourths of her body and she fell to the ground. "Ah! Snood, DOWN! DOWN SNOOD!" Elysa's voice screamed.
As suddenly as it had attacked her, it hopped off leaving the warrior in an inch think layer of white fuzz. "I'm SO sorry! He never does this! Sorry!" she squeaked. "…Right… I'm going to go now.." …and never….ever…return. Paine took out a small device and dialed something. "Yeah?" a masculine voice answered. "Pick me up at Elysa's fuzz hut, eastern Spira." Paine spoke. "Uhuh…Ok.." was the awkward reply and then a soft click. Within three minutes, the Gullwings ship appeared.
Right at that moment, Rikku had just finished wrapping Paines gift. "I hope she likes it.." she spoke softly to herself. "You've got mail!" an electronic voice rang through the room. The blonde quickly went to her computer and looked at the message.
From Ely: I thought you might enjoy this.
Soon a picture started to load, once it had finished the Al Bhed's jaw dropped. There Paine was.. covered in beads, a green fuzzy hat and a bright pink boa, looking quiet confused. Then, Paine walked in the room.. A very fuzzy Paine. "Oh….my…." Rikku began but was cut off as Paine quickly raised a hand to silence her.
"D-dr. P?" she asked. Paine just quietly walked by, furry head held high. She walked into the rest room and closed the door.
After a few minutes, the Al Bhed broke into a fit of laughter. Only when the warrior came out of the bathroom, is when she managed to compose herself. "Hey…" she spoke up. Paine's skin was a tint of pink. She must've been scrubbing pretty hard..
The silver haired woman flopped on to her bed and sighed, "Hi." "…Have fun?" asked Rikku. "Oh..loads." was the warrior's tired reply. Quickly, she shot up in bed and left the room, leaving behind a very confused Rikku.
Unbeknownst to Rikku however, Paine had gone to wrap the blonde's gift. Finishing it with a shiny red bow, Paine hid it then returned to her bed in the cabin, Rikku was still there. "Well… Good night then." She said. The Al Bhed nodded, "Night Paine." Quickly, the two fell into a deep slumber, both exhausted from a days worth of stressful shopping.
Christmas morning Paine was awoken by a feminine voice in her ear. She sighed, not registering what the person was saying. Her mind was foggy wit sleep and she smiled, enjoying the feeling of warm breath on her ear. Soon though, she began to come to. "Paine.. Dr- P… Wake up, its Christmas morning." Rikku was sweetly whispering to her. "Ah.. Rikku? Christmas…" Paine yawned and stretched like a mountain cat.
"Yep, time to open gifts." Rikku smiled at the silver haired woman. Paine blinked and paused. "Ahh, ok… I'm up, I'm up." She said and rose from the warm bed. "We've better go to the deck, Yuna mentioned to me before she wanted to go up there to open gifts." The Al Bhed spoke and Paine nodded.
After they'd changed, the duo went to fetch their hidden gifts and went up to the deck. The ship was currently settled in the Calm Lands. The high priestess was already seated Indian style with a couple neatly wrapped gifts around her, "Sit!" she said with a smile and the two obeyed happily.
Rikku looked around after a few minutes of silence, "Yunie, where's everybody else?" she asked. "I wanted us to open our gifts to each other first. Besides the other guys wont be awake for another few hours." The brunette answered. The other two nodded and a comfortable silence fell over the trio.
"So, Rikku, here's your gift. Paine, here's yours. I hope you guys like them." Yuna said as she handed to the duo their gifts. After Rikku had opened her gift, she squealed and hugged her cousin, "I love the shoes Yunie, thanks so much!" They were two inched blue shiny heels with fishes swimming on them.
Paine opened hers and raised an eyebrow smiling as she held up a new sword sharpener. "Heh, thanks Yuna." Rikku giggled. So the gift unwrapping ensued. Yuna received a necklace and a rare book. Now it was time for Paine and Rikku to exchange gifts. Yuna had been waiting for this all morning.
The Al Bhed nervously handed over a poorly wrapped silver box and Paine gave her a shiny red box with a bow. "You first." Rikku spoke, but Paine countered her. "You." The priestess sighed. "How about you both open them at the same time?" There was a moment's pause and the two nodded.
"1…2…" Rikku began and Paine finished, "3." They anxiously opened their presents. Rikku has finished first and she gasped and made an 'aww' noise. "Wow.." she breathed, and held a blue crystal Pegasus in her hands. When she moved it in the light, it cast a large rainbow in the ground and her eyes grew wide. "It's beautiful Paine!"
The warrior nodded, a very light blush gracing her features, and the Al Bhed noticed as did Yuna. "Thanks..and Rikku- " Paine gasped after she had completely unwrapped her gift. She held up ruby and silver necklace. The stones were the deepest ruby she'd ever seen and it glittered in the sun light. "…Thank you." She choked out. "It's been a while since…wait." Paine locked eyes with Rikku "You got this at Noirs shop, didn't you?" she asked. "How'd you know!" Rikku squeaked.
"It's just like her to carry these.." the warrior explained "I used to have… but, something happened…. I lost it. Rikku.. thank you, so much. This means a lot to me. …. Plus 1,000 respect points." The silver haired woman said softly. Rikku smiled widely and went to hug Paine, but stopped short, unsure of herself.
Shockingly however, Paine smiled an nodded, opening her arms. Yunas eyes bulged. Rikku is hugging Paine? And Paine's letting her? The blonde, shell shocked aswell, cautiously went into the silver haired woman's embrace. She's hugging me? She's so warm and..soft! Wow.. jasmine and sandalwood?
Why am I hugging her? Just because she got me the same necklace my mother gave me? The same piece of jewelry that holds my happy memories of life before she died… just because of that… I can at least hug her. Paine thought to herself.
Yuna looked on and from what she could see… Paine's eyes were closed and her stance was relaxed.. Sadly, she couldn't see her cousins face since it was rested in the crook of the warrior's neck. I should make a smooth exit now… And so she gathered her gifts quietly, and tip-toed away.
Neither knew how long they'd stayed like that, but eventually, Rikku began to pull back. When Paine opened her eyes, they were different somehow. Not as cold or distant… They were happy. "Paine…" the red eyed woman smiled softly.
"Thank you Rikku.. Really." The blonde simply nodded, still too amazed at the amount of affection she'd just been given. Paine just kept her vision locked with Rikku's, and the Al Bhed understood through her eyes. She had seen into the warrior's soul and had been struck breathless from the emotions.
Paine smiled and whispered again, "Just…thank you."
End. I know I should make a prequel.. but for now let's just have your imaginations do the work mhhk? Its so much more fun that way! Don't look forward to a prequel.. but I may do one if I get bored enough.. I really hope you liked it! Please review