I got good reviews for this story. Which is a good thing cause now I got a reason to update more. I've been falling a little behind in all my fan fictions…what with school and studying for finals and all. But I'm exempt from them all so I guess I'm just being lazy…whoops.

Chapter 2

A mysterious figure walked into the grass hut that served as a doctor's office on the island of Besaid. It came unannounced and nobody seemed to hear it come it. They approached the two women who were leaning against a doorframe, their footsteps unheard.

A hand reached out to grab Paine's shoulder. An easy target.

"What'd I miss?"

"Gah!" Paine jumped at the touch of the hand on her shoulder. She turned to face her assailant. "Lulu!" She squealed at the familiar face.

"Holy crap, Lulu. Don't ever do that again." Rikku—who had apparently scared to death too and thrown from Paine's side—stood a couple feet away, clutching a hand to her chest.

The black mage chuckled. "I'm sorry, Rikku. I thought you'd be happy to see me." She said with a smile.

"Oh, I am. Just, right after my heartbeat goes back to normal." The thief said while taking deep breaths, adrenaline still running through her body.

"It's been a while, Lulu." Paine hugged her old friend. "What're you doin' here?"

"To see the baby, of course. Brother contacted me earlier."

"Where IS Wakka?" Rikku asked, having her turn to hug the dark-haired woman.

"He'll be here soon. He's just getting Junior ready."

"How old is the little tyke again?"

"He turned fifteen months about a week ago. Just learned how to walk too."

"Really? Jeez, the last time we saw him, he was barely out of your stomach."

"It HAS been a while."

"It sure has."

"It's still great to see you though." The thief gave another hug.

"Lu, you in there?" A deep, heavily accented voice called from outside.

"Yes dear."

"Mama!" A tiny boy waddled in, running towards his mother.

Junior, the offspring of Lulu and Wakka, was a toddler of fifteen months. He had dark orange hair like his dad and ruby colored eyes like his mom. He was small for his age, but full of spunk. What he lacked in height, he made up for in brainpower, as the Celsius crew was told by the proud parents a few months ago.

"There's mommy's little boy." Lulu picked up her child. "Do you remember Auntie Paine and Auntie Rikku?"

The little boy shook his head shyly and buried his face into his mom's shoulder.

"At least say 'hi,' ya?" The former blitzball player walked over.

"Wakka!" The thief threw her arms around the much taller man. "How's it going?" she punched his arm in her excitement. It hurt her more than it hurt him, seeing that he had the muscles of an elephant. "Ow." She cradled her poor little hand.

"I'm good, ya. How you doin', kid?" The muscular man picked up the blonde in a bone-crushing bear hug.

"I'm fine. But my back isn't."

The tall-haired man only responded by hugging her even tighter. There was aloud crack, which was poor Rikku's back.

"Ow. Hey. My back feels great now. Thanks Wakka." She rotated her shoulders.

"Ha ha. Good to be of help. Now, where's the new little blitz baby?"

"A blitz baby, eh? Let's wait a little while before we hand her a blitzball, kay?"

"Whatever you say Miss Rikku, ma'am. Now, please point me in the direction of the non-blitzer baby." Wakka bowed playfully in his accented voice.

"This way, good sir." The thief bowed back, gesturing into Yuna's room in a butler-like manner.

The former blitzball player and dark mage couple walked excitedly into the room, Junior settled onto his mother's hip.

There was an excited squeal followed by an 'Oh my gosh! Lulu! Wakka!' from Yuna, a startled cry from Ayane, and a 'What're you guys doin' here?' from Tidus and everyone else.

"It's so great to see you, Lulu. Why are you guys here?" Yuna hugged her old mage buddy with her free arm.

"To see you and the baby, of course. Brother called us before you arrived." The older woman hugged back in an awkward position as to not crush the baby in Yuna's arms or the one resting on her hip.

"Even if he didn't call us, we couldn't miss you guys with that big, obvious ship you got parked right outside, ya?" An eager Wakka took his turn to greet the new mother and baby.

"Oh yeah. You guys got a hut right up the hill, right?" Tidus vaguely remembered.

"Yeah, mon." Wakka shook Tidus' hand and slapped him on the back. "What's it feel like to be a dad?"

"It's great. Best feeling ever."

"They're until they learn how to walk. Trust me." The more experienced father leaned in, using a hand to cover the side of his mouth.

"Don't tell him that! You're gonna scare him." His wife scolded him.

"Sorry dear." Wakka held up his hands in defeat.

The man next to him snickered.

"Tidus, don't laugh. It's not funny." HIS wife took her turn to scold her husband.

"Right. Sorry, honey." Tidus straightened and tried to put on a serious face.

The three bachelors in the room snickered, knowing they couldn't get shushed by a spouse.

"Shh!" The two women hissed in unison.

The three straightened immediately. That shut them up.

The rest of the day passed by unnoticed. Only when the moon took its place in the sky did everybody realize the day had come and gone.

"Man, how time flies. What time is it?" An exhausted Rikku looked up at the clock. It read 9 o' clock. "Holy geez it's late."

"We should head back to ship. I'm starving." Brother's stomach grumbled in agreement. "Lulu, Wakka, you come too?"

"Heck yes. It's been a while since I've been on the Celsius. Lu, what'chu say?" Wakka turned to his wife for permission.

"Why not? It's been a while." Lulu looked down at her son. "But we shouldn't stay long. Junior's getting tired."

"Oh! You are more than welcome to stay overnight on ship." Brother, the captain of the Celsius stepped forward.

"Well, I guess we can stay late then. Lu?" The former blitzer turned to his wife again, asking for silent permission.

"Why not? I think Junior will like it." The mage shrugged in agreement.

"Is great! We head over now." The excited captain jumped up.

The whole group filed out, saying 'goodbye' to Yuna on their way out.

Paine brought up the rear. About to give Yuna a quick nod goodbye, she saw a very tired looking Tidus.

"Tidus?"

"What?" He snorted and jerked his head up.

The warrior felt sorry for the poor guy. He'd been up since early morning when Yuna first started going into labor. The blonde looked like he was going to nod off right where he sat.

"Why don't you go? I'll stay here and keep Yuna company."

"Huh?" The exhausted man's eyes drooped. "Oh no, that's all right. I'm fine."

"You look tired. You should get some sleep."

"I can sleep here. This chair's pretty comfy." He swayed in his armchair, off-balanced.

"Tidus, dear. Go get some sleep." His wife interjected.

"'Kay." He mumbled absent-mindedly and slowly shuffled out the door.

He passed by an amused looking Rikku.

"Heh. You did a good job, Yunie. He actually listens now." The thief chuckled. "Paine, you coming?"

"I was gonna stay here with Yuna."

"Really? Can I stay too?" Rikku looked at her cousin.

"I'd love for you to. But the doctor said only one person could keep me company tonight." The summoner bore the bad news. She gave her cousin a guilty grin.

"Does that mean I have to spend the night away from Paine?" The blonde pouted.

"Yes. Unfortunately."

The thief slumped and pouted at the taller warrior.

"It's only for one night." Paine said to the tearing up eyes of Rikku. "Plus, you have to make sure everybody stays out of trouble." Thought it would probably be Rikku causing most of it anyways.

"Okaaaaay." The little thief drawled. "I'll come back first thing in the morning." She ran and jumped into the taller woman's arms. Giving a quick goodbye kiss, another hug, and a goodbye to Yuna, she ran out of the room and caught up with the group heading to the Celsius.

"Finally, some quiet relaxation." The summoner relaxed into her pillow and let out an exhausted sigh.

"Yeah." The warrior agreed and plopped onto the cushioned armchair right next to the bed, leaning her head over the back.

"So, what were you gonna tell me?" Yuna asked after a couple minutes of silence.

"Nothing." The reclined Paine answered, not moving from her position.

"I know there's something."

"Oh?" The silver-haired woman opened an eye.

"I know you, Paine. You wouldn't have been so generous to Tidus and let him have the luxury of sleeping on the airship."

The warrior responded by returning to her relaxed position, almost ignoring Yuna's presence.

This was something that the summoner was used to. Paine always did this when she was thinking. She watched for a minute or so, observing times when the warrior's eyes scrunched up tightly for a second, or listening to the steady rhythm of her breathing.

"Paine. Is this about Rikku?" It was almost a rhetorical question.

The warrior dropped her feet to the ground, "Yeah." She sighed. "How'd you know?"

"Paine, do you-" The mother put her sleeping baby in the little bassinet that was set next to her bed. Her arms being free from the weight of her child, she swung her legs over the side to face the other woman, leaning back and using her arms to support her. "-do you love my cousin?" she finished.

"That's not a question really…" Paine somewhat trailed off, staring at an imaginary spot on the opposite wall. "Of course I do. More than anything. It's just that…there's…something…"

"What? You can tell me. Rikku's my family—which makes you practically family."

"Are we? There's one way to make it official."

"Paine? What're you gonna do?" the brunette's curiosity took her farther. "Are you gonna-"

The warrior shushed the summoner. Pulling her chair closer, the two began what would look like a very intense and interesting conversation.

To be continued...

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