Note: This story was created by me and edited by my dear friend Hazel. I wrote it based on what I envisioned happening at the very end of Final Fantasy X2. There are spoilers so consider yourself warned.

I do apologize if the information about the characters or anything else is in any way incorrect or confusing, I have a poor memory of what happened during the game.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Final Fantasy X or X2 characters, so there.

On The Way Down

Sunset

Two years had passed since the defeat of Sin. Sin was a nightmare of destruction and death that haunted the dreams of the innocent. It devastated the people of Spira, repeatedly throwing them into grief and despair for over a thousand years. The slight hope of being rescued from this downward spiral of death was slowly fading away. That is, until a young summoner by the name of Yuna and her six guardians, against all odds, stopped it once and for all; now Sin was nothing more than a memory.

The Eternal Calm had left just as quickly as it had come, but then a new threat emerged from under Bevelle's surface. Vegnagun was a forbidden machine that was developed for one purpose: to destroy Sin. The ancient machine was never used in battle and remained dormant beneath Spira's soil until it was claimed again by an unsent, whose only purpose of existence was to punish the world for his loss and pain. The weapon that was meant to defend and protect Spira from danger had quickly turned into the enemy. Once again, it was up to Yuna and her company to rescue the people of her beloved home from this new terror.

At last, the fighting has finally come to an end. The Calm will be able to continue…or will it?

"Maybe it will actually last longer this time." Rikku said quietly to herself as she stood alone on the sandy white beach of Besaid. The normally quiet village of was celebrating the defeat of Vegnagun and the return of their high summoner and the Gullwings. There was music and dancing that could be heard from miles away. All of Spira was celebrating at that moment, except for one person. It wasn't like Rikku wasn't happy about the outcome of the day's events, not at all. She had other things on her mind that she didn't want to share with anyone, not yet anyway.

There was gentle breeze that was so soft it made Rikku shiver with pleasure when it floated past her body and through her hair. The sun was setting into the ocean, making the water glisten endlessly. All the different hues of red were painted into the sky, making the clouds look as if they were on fire. The scene was surreal.

The beach seemed like a quiet place to just get away from everyone else, to be alone and reflect on things for awhile, but her idea was not as original as she thought. There appeared to be two other people who decided to take advantage of the deserted area as well.

She breathed in the fresh flowing air around her and silently watched the couple in the distance that was Yuna and Tidus, sitting together near the water's edge. They both looked so serene as they reminisced over the two years that led up to this point in time.

It had only been a few hours ago when Yunie was reunited with her lost love and yet there they were, in their own world, lost in conversation as if two years had never passed between them. Rikku smiled to herself as she watched them. This is how it should be. This is how it should have been before. Rikku was lost in her own thoughts and didn't hear the footsteps of the dark figure approach her from behind, and settle in the sand at her side. She didn't even acknowledge its presence at all until it spoke to her.

"What exactly are you looking at?" came the demanding voice of Paine, who had unintentionally startled the spaced-out blonde. She followed Rikku's gaze to see Yuna and Tidus sitting together a few yards away watching the sun melt into the horizon.

"Well they certainly are a cute couple now aren't they?" Rikku recovered from

her surprise and nodded her head in agreement.

"Mhmm…they sure are." Rikku turned her head slightly to see Paine standing next to her, arms folded sternly across her chest, and her face emotionless like always. She couldn't help letting her mind wander to a new topic of conversation. She was still curious and just had to know.

"So...what about you, hmm?" She inquired.

"What about me?"

"Do you have a special someone waiting for you?" Rikku asked, while biting her bottom lip to keep from smiling. She gave Paine a gentle nudge in the left arm with her elbow, trying to encourage her to spill her heart out. Paine gave smirk.

She knew where this was going, they'd already had this conversation before. She decided that she wasn't going to make it any easier this time. She could play along with this little game but only to twist it to her own advantage.

"I'll tell if you do first," was the reply. She turned her head sideways to take a look at Rikku's slightly-flushed expression. There was a pause.

"Uh..." was all Rikku could manage to say when her mind recalled a certain charismatic, sunny-haired young man with an omniscient attitude and an ego bigger then Vegnagun itself. She realized her face was burning with embarrassment as she thought about Gippal.

"I.. I have nothing to tell! Honestly!" She squeaked out while throwing her hands

up and waving them in defense

"Right." Paine let out a soft chuckle before turning her head away from the stuttering blonde to take in the view before her once again. "Neither do I then."

"Oh come on, That's not fair at all!" Rikku stomped her foot into the sand. She was letting her impatience get the best of her but she couldn't help being curious, especially when it came to Paine's mysterious love life. She wanted a straight answer for once, but it was obvious that she was going to have to try a little harder.

"So sorry to disappoint you." Paine said, letting her words reek of sarcasm.

"I'll give you a cookie if you tell me." Rikku is the optimistic type. Bribing someone wasn't exactly in her nature, but it seemed like this particular occasion called for it.

"Freshly baked chocolate chip ones, made by yours truly!" She held her hands together behind her back and leaned forward giving Paine the most innocent smile that she could muster. She was positive that the bribe would work, how could anyone pass up a cookie?

"I'll have to pass on that. I wouldn't touch your cooking with a ten-foot walking stick," was the reply. Rikku's grin faltered as she scoffed. "And I mean that in the best possible way." Paine concluded.

"Humph...yeah right meanie." Rikku grumbled, letting her arms drop to her sides in defeat and sulked silently. "My cooking's not that horrible," she mumbled to herself.

"Besides," Paine continued again, "if you can recall, this conversation already lost you respect points and you don't want to lose anymore do you?"

"No, no! I promise I'm done being nosey." Panic had risen in Rikku's voice.

"Good."

"For today anyway," She added. Paine rolled her eyes.

"Fine then."

The sun had almost vanished completely now and the couple sitting in the distance had already stood up and started to walk farther along the beach in the other direction. Rikku couldn't help but stare after them with a frown. There was still that one thing that was on her mind, a question that needed an answer. She needed to hear the answer from Paine. Depression had slowly settled into her good mood and she was trying her best not to let it show when she asked.

"What happeneds now?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Are you talking to me? Because you really should speak up," lectured Paine.

"Of course I'm talking to you, I'm not talking to myself you know!"

Paine snickered. "No, I don't know. You talk to yourself so often you don't realize you do it anymore."

"That's not true!" Rikku declared in defense.

"It is true. Now what were you saying before?" Paine finalized the argument.

Rikku blinked. It took her a few moments to recall what she had asked. "Uhm…what happens now?" she repeated more clearly, but with hesitation.

"What do you mean?" Paine had slight confusion in her tone. She didn't understand the meaning of Rikku's question and was annoyed with how slowly it was taking to get to the point.

"Well…Yunie found who she was looking for and you found the answers that you were looking for…" She started but was having a difficult time finding the right words. She almost didn't want to hear the answer to the question she was about to ask.

"Uh-huh?" Paine was growing a little impatient at this point.

"So...what will happen to the Gullwings now that we have no spheres to search for anymore?" Rikku finally spat out, staring at the ground and kicking the sand below her. She was trying to ease her discomfort by occupying herself with an oddly shaped pebble in the sand.

"Hmmm," was the reply she received. Paine hadn't thought about it until now. "That's a difficult question."

Deep down they all knew what the answer was. It was inevitable.

The Gullwings would go their own separate ways now that their sphere hunting adventure was over with. There were no other spheres to find that they knew of. There weren't any more questions that needed to be answered, so what was the point in continuing on being a sphere hunter? Yuna would probably want to stay in Besaid. It was her childhood home; she grew up and became a summoner here. Why would she want to leave? Where else would she be able to go? Yes, Yuna would stay in Besaid and Tidus would stay with her. Paine, one could only assume, would go back to her home, wherever that might be. Just where the heck did Paine come from anyway? Now that was the question of the year. No one knew where Paine lived before she joined the Gullwings, or who her family was. She was about as social as a rock, so it wasn't like anyone could ask her about it.

They both stood in silence for a few minutes before Rikku spoke up again.

"So…what happens now?" She looked over at the other with teary green eyes, hoping Paine could give her any other kind of answer other than to reassure her that this wasn't the end of their adventures.

The actual question that she meant to ask was what happens to me now? Rikku didn't really have anything to search for like Yunie and Paine did. She didn't know what to do with herself now that her family for the past few months would be parting ways. Where would she go? Where did she belong? Going back to her former home of Bikanel Island to dig seemed so boring to her. There had to be something else. Surely this couldn't be it.

Paine let out a sigh and turned around to start heading back to the village. Before she walked away she turned to the blonde and put her hand on her shoulder in a comforting way.

"I think…that's something you need to figure out for yourself." She said in a soft comforting tone. It was the best answer that she could give.

That said, Paine finally made her way back to the trail that would lead her to the celebrating village, leaving Rikku to drown in her own thoughts again. The sun had disappeared completely into the horizon by now but the sky was still barely lit by the lingering sunlight. The warm beach weather had turned cold as it became night.

Rikku stood frozen in place, hugging herself while starring into the darkening sky. She could just make out a couple of stars that were sparkling their way into view.

Yeah. I guess I will have to figure it out for myself, she thought as she felt herself begin to cheer up. It looked to be the beginning of another adventure. She took one last glimpse at the brightest star in the sky before heading back to the village. She smiled. "This is only the beginning of my story" she said to herself.

Ok so it starts out slow, very slow in fact, but it's my first fan fiction ever and there will be more action in later chapters. The fiction will turn out to be a typical Rikku/Gippal romance. I do realize that there are a lot of Rikku romance stories out there and I'll try to make mine as original as I possibly can, though that might be hard to do. Mine I think will turn out to be a little cliché but it's my first fiction so what the hey.

Reviews are appreciated and I would love to know if I've gone out of character in this chapter and in future chapters. So yell at me and I'll do my best to change it. I hate when good fanfictions go OOC.