Stumbling out of the crevasse and onto the grass, Namine, skidded to a stop, sighing. She turned around to see the others coming out behind her. Before she knew what was happening, Kael had her by the arm and tugged her backwards, towards the ship.

"Come on!" Not expecting that, she tilted off balance and stumbled, falling over. Kael tried to hold her up and keep going, but only succeeded in falling down with her. Both of them tumbled across the ground, ending up in a tangled knot together. Spitting grass out of her mouth and looking disgusted, Namine looked up on time to see the crevasse collapsing and Paine and Baralai, the last two out, sweeping past them to get a safe distance away. Desperately, Kael and Namine tried to get to their feet, but to no avail. They were barely able to untangle themselves when there was a loud crash and a cloud of dust passed over them. Kairi bit her lip.

"Look out!" Even as she spoke, she knew her warning wasn't going to do them any good. The pair disappeared completely in the thick cloud kicked up by the one side of the cave collapsing. Kairi looked to Sora, worried, though found no comfort because he looked just as anxious as she felt. There was a long silence as the group waited impatiently for the cloud of dust to clear. When it finally did, they all let out a sigh of relief, seeing that Kael and Namine were both okay. Emma made a funny hiccupping sound. Kairi, covering her mouth to muffle her giggle, looked at her and had to try even harder to keep from laughing at the look on Emma's face. Rikku made a funny coughing sound to cover her laughter. Everyone was trying to keep from laughing. Namine and Kael were curled up on the ground, covered in a thin layer of fine dust and clinging to each other for dear life. Paine cleared her throat and Namine opened her eyes slightly.

"Is it safe?" She asked meekly. Riku kicked a stone, grinning.

"It's fine." He answered. His voice sounded choked in his attempt to keep his composure. Emma giggled, and immediately both Kael and Namine realized that they were still holding tightly onto each other. Instantly, they both let go, getting to their feet and starting to wipe off the dust. Namine shook her hair, creating a little cloud of dust around her head. Kael, meanwhile, was staring at the pile of boulders that was all that was left of the crevasse. Namine blinked at him.

"Umm, what are you looking at?" She asked slowly. He didn't answer; instead he walked up to the pile of rubble and inspected it

"I think I just found the problem." He said after a long moment. Immediately everyone gathered around him and whatever it was that he was looking at. A few of the larger stones, partially buried, had black char marks on them. The shape of the black markings and the unmistakable smell of fire would have told anyone what had happened. Gippal snorted.

"Pure chance that the explosives did that much damage. They were crude and not nearly as powerful as the stuff Nhadala's got at Bikanel." He stated. Emma was going to ask how he could tell that from looking at charred rocks but Rikku spoke first.

"I think the stuff Shinra has stored on the ship could have done worse, and believe me, what he's got ain't that impressive." She said, agreeing with Gippal. Paine started.

"Wait, Shinra's got explosives stored on the ship!" She asked. Rikku nodded, scrunching her nose. Paine crossed her arms, letting out a long breath. "It's not that I don't trust Shinra. For a kid, he knows what he's doing. It's the fact that it's within Brother's reach that worries me." She spoke slowly, almost mumbling. Rikku laughed.

"Brother? Get his hands on Shinra's DHT? Puh-lease. Me and Gippal tried to break into the stores a while ago, but we set off one of his zillion alarms in the first 30 seconds." She answered. Paine looked a little bit more relieved. Gippal grinned.

"It was you who set off the alarm." He stated casually. Rikku, hands on her hips, glared at him.

"Excuse me? You were the one who cut the wrong wire in the lock box." She accused.

"Yah, but the alarm didn't go off until you tried to put it back together again." He answered smugly. Rikku frowned.

"It had to be put back together again for the lock over-ride to work, and if you hadn't cut it in the first place…" She started. Emma cleared her throat. They all looked at her.

"You can finish you're argument later if you want, but we should probably get out of here before whoever planted the bomb gets back to finish the job." She suggested. Rikku elbowed Gippal.

"And we will finish this later." She told him threateningly. He rolled his eyes.

"Uh-huh." He sounded like he wasn't even listening. Rikku growled at him, her eyes narrowing. Gippal smirked and swept her into a sweet, deep kiss. Afterwards, she looked slightly dazed and stumbled a little, dizzy. Linking arms with him, she smiled dreamily.

"Consider yourself forgiven." She said, her voice whispery. Gippal grinned and wrapped an arm around her waist, and the two of them walked back to the ship together. Both Namine and Kael watched the couple in shock. They still weren't used to the strange way they acted when they were together. Kael looked like he was trying to say something but couldn't find the words. Namine bit her lip, trying to keep from laughing at his expression. Kael raised an eyebrow at her.

"Are you laughing at me?" He asked. Namine snickered and smiled slyly.

"No. I did a good job stopping myself from laughing." She said proudly. "Besides, I was laughing more at Rikku and Gippal than I was at you." He paused, grinning, then added, "even if you are really funny looking." She giggled. Kael pouted.

"Come on, I look a lot better now that I've had my mole removed." He answered, smirking. Namine burst out laughing. Paine looked mildly horrified. Kael grinned at her.

"It was a joke." He said. Paine nodded.

"I knew that." She said airily. Baralai grinned.

"You know Paine, getting a joke requires you to have a sense of humor." He said. She glared at him.

"I have a sense of humor!" She replied, angry.

"I was joking. But you definitely just proved my point." He said, grinning triumphantly. Paine growled at him, and he pulled her into a kiss. She looked thoughtful for a moment afterwards, and then shook her head.

"I'm not Rikku you know. It's going to take a lot more than just one kiss…" She began, though, hearing this, Baralai cut her off with another kiss. He grinned sheepishly.

"Is two kisses enough?" He asked quietly. Paine sighed, and then didn't answer. Emma stifled a laugh.

"Not if it means you'll kiss her again." She said to Baralai. Baralai grinned at her and Paine glared at her. She squeaked, seeing the death glare Paine was shooting her way. Riku grinned.

"I think it's time we got on the ship, don't you think Emma?" He asked, taking her by the hand. Emma nodded vigorously and the two of them walked away, towards the Celsius, with her glancing back every few moments, paranoid about Paine, who was still shooting death glares at her. Baralai sighed.

"You know that Emma won't come anywhere near you for a week or so now, right?" He asked, sounding almost as if he was scolding her. Paine smirked.

"Maybe she should get a sense of humor. After all, I was just joking." She paused, but when no one else said anything, she spoke again. "Well, Emma was right about one thing anyways. We need to get back on the ship sooner than later." With that, she started towards the ship. Kairi immediately followed. Sora raised an eyebrow at her in a silent question. She smiled coyly.

"I know Paine said she was just joking, but you never can tell with her. I'm going to make sure that she doesn't try to chop anyone's head off. It seems she's in one of those moods." She answered. Sora grinned at her and followed, grabbing Baralai by the arm and pulling him along.

"Come on Baralai, she's your girlfriend, you talk some sense into her." He said. Baralai frowned.

"But I'm the prime victim!" He complained. Kairi shrugged.

"And that's your own fault." She told him plainly. As they got on the ship, Kairi turned around and shot a subtle wink at Namine. The twin girl saw it and didn't quite understand until she realized that she and Kael were the only two left outside. She then proceeded to blush like a tomato. Kael looked at her, slightly confused.

"Are you okay?" He asked after a moment. Namine started and looked at him, blushing even more.

"I'm fine." She answered, sounding almost choked. Kael watched her for another moment and then shook his head, walking over to her.

"No you're not, you're flushed. Are you feeling okay?" He asked, sounding worried.

"I'm fine, really!" She said, sounding overly bright. Kael crossed his arms.

"You're face is bright red." He told her. She grinned, trying to sound natural.

"I know!" She said. Afterwards, she realized that it was a stupid thing to say. Kael raised his eyebrows.

"You know…?" He asked slowly, grinning. "Do tell me what's embarrassing you so."

"I never said I was embarrassed." She accused. He shook his head.

"You're right, but you're blushing harder than I've ever seen you blush in my life before." He said simply. Namine paused, looking for a way to avoid answering the question.

"How do you know I'm blushing? How do you know that I'm not sick or something?" She asked, cringing as the last words came out of her mouth. He scratched his head.

"You just told me you weren't sick." He said slowly. Namine made a face.

"I know. I just realized now that it was a dumb thing to say." She admitted. Kael started laughing. She pouted. Her eyes went big and round as she gave him her best puppy dog face. His eyes settled on her and he just watched her smiling slightly. She blushed a little again.

"What?" She asked after a moment, feeling very self-conscious. He blinked, laughing awkwardly and dropping his eyes.

"Sorry, it's just you're…" He paused, turning red and not continuing. Her mouth quirked into a smile.

"I'm what?" She asked, curious. He grinned, still feeling awkward.

"Nothing." He said quickly. She pouted at him again.

"Please?" She asked quietly, fluttering her eyelashes. She grinned. He smiled back at her, amused.

"Do you remember the time I stole my sister's dress for you so you could come to my birthday party?" He asked. Namine started to laugh.

"They were all quite angry, I remember. Your parents, your sister…Taniki." Her wide smile faded a little. Taniki was a girl a year younger than they were that lived near Kael's summer home, who had been promised to Kael since they were little. Kael was the type of person who would be kind to anyone, even if he didn't like them. Taniki, however, he was often short and approaching rude with her. The only reason he didn't often yell at her was because it had been drilled into his head from the time he was born that politeness was of the utmost importance. Namine, however, didn't know this because Taniki constantly shooed her away. Kael shook his head.

"You know, seeing how angry Taniki got was almost worth the all the scolding." He said. Namine blinked, surprised.

"I'm sorry?" She asked. He smiled sheepishly.

"I don't often say things about people behind their backs, which is why I haven't told you this, but if there's anyone in the world that I hate, it's her." He admitted.

"Haven't you told your father? He'd call the engagement off, you know." She said quickly. Kael nodded.

"I've told him, but he says that I need to give her a chance. We were supposed to be married last year, but as soon as I found out I made plans to go to the capital to become a knight for the King's Guard." He said. Namine laughed. She calmed down a little and watched him curiously.

"I never realized that you disliked her that much." She said. Kael looked surprised.

"You didn't?" He asked. She shook her head. He shrugged. "Well, you know now, I guess." He said slowly. His eyes settled on her once again, and she smiled slightly, blushing again.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" She asked quietly, nearly giggling. Kael didn't realize what he was saying until it was already out of his mouth.

"You're really beautiful." He said, proceeding to turned as red as a tomato. Namine blinked, surprised, and then smiled bashfully. There was a quick silence and she nearly expected to hear Rikku or Kairi or Emma come running up behind her and yell at her to hurry up and go for it. She looked up and him and was greatly tempted to 'go for it', but having just spoken about Taniki… Namine had gotten her self wrapped up in her thoughts so quickly that she hadn't noticed how much his expression reflected her own. He, however, noticed the look on her face that perfectly mirrored what he was feeling, took a deep breath, leaning forward slightly and touched his lips to hers. Instantly she was pulled back to reality, and before she could stop herself, she let out a little gasp of surprise. Immediately Kael pulled away, silently scolding himself for being so stupid. I knew how unlikely it was that she felt that way about me, and even if she did, I should have known that she'd have enough respect for my parents' wishes to know that everyone would say it was wrong. Even if I couldn't care less about what my parents want. When he looked at her, though, he realized that he may not have been as stupid as he thought. She was staring off into the distance, chewing her lip and smiling slightly, and her breath was coming much more quickly than normal. Her eyes met his, and the corners of her lips turned up into a smile, her cheeks turning pink. She moved toward him, but a loud yelling like a warcry crew their attention. Spinning around, both looked wildly around for the source. Namine muffled a cry and grabbed Kael by the hand, tugging him towards the ship as fast as she could.

"Shapeshifters! Let's go!" She cried between puffing breaths as she ran. Kael fell into step next to her, racing for the airship. Boarding, they ran for the bridge, shouting for the Celcius to take off. The urgency in their voices caused Brother, Buddy and Shinra to kick the ship into gear and take off before bothering to ask any questions. Once the ship was safely off the ground and speeding away, Sora raised an eyebrow at the pair.

"And what was that about?"

……………………………………….

So sorry for the looong time it's taken to update! It took me a while to find a direction for this chapter, and then I was at a loss for an ending, and then I went away for the holidays to visit umpteen billion family members. So I am back now, and I hope this was worth the wait! RnR! Next chapter: preparing for Fate and insane amounts of awkwardness between our new couple :D