A trip to the markets of New Zanarkand.

Thank you for the follows/reviews.

italics = denotes thought or memory (for the most part)

Not Mine

Children - 3 Days Until the Coronation

Paine walked leisurely, Shinra tagging along by her side. In front of them Kelk walked nonchalantly, arms crossed behind his head, his gait slowed. None of this mattered of course because ahead of all three of them Naimi walked excitedly, feet hardly touching the pavement in short but quick strides.

As they entered the square her pace only increased forcing the three slower walking patrons to try to keep up with her. Paine laughed at her enthusiasm, at least one of them was excited. Which wasn't to say she wasn't happy to be here, Rikku had asked and she had said yes after all. Then Shinra had declared that he would come as well, and Kimahri perhaps seeing this as a chance to familiarize his son with other aspects of the world had insisted that Kelk come too. That had been met with a lot of grunting from the young Ronso but as things were wont to do when parents stepped in, he had eventually caved to his father's wishes. Later Tidus had thanked her for giving them a chance to catch up without children around and she had let her own father know that it wasn't anything to be worried about.

It wasn't the weekend but that hadn't stopped the market from being packed full with people. Part of the booming business could be attributed to the fact that people were in the area for Yuna's coronation, but as had been pointed out in many different articles in many different newspapers Besaid was exploding into a life of its own. One could not wholly blame the coronation. Being the Capital city helped of course, but the pictures of it in magazines as some sort of peaceful metropolis where nothing ever went wrong didn't hurt either. Filled to the brim with pictures of palm trees, sandy beaches, markets, and their very attractive ever growing Blitzball team. Paine had to admit she wasn't a huge fan of seeing her father described in terms like "glistening" or "gorgeous". But she put up with it all the same. The first time it had happened she had ended up contacting Yuna and her friend had just laughed and had reminded her that Tidus wasn't her father, not in the traditional sense.

Once Yuna had said that though she had gone quiet and asked if she had hurt Paine's feelings by stating that outright. After a little bit of time Paine had confessed that while her feelings had not been hurt - it would take more than an offhanded comment like that to bruise her, what Yuna had said had felt incorrect. The two of them didn't talk often about family, and her relationship with Tidus because they were all so close in age. It was hard sometimes to reconcile how they looked age wise with how they felt about each other. By the end of the conversation Paine had made it clear that while she didn't think of Yuna as her mother, the feelings she had for Tidus felt like the feelings that Naimi felt for Auron or Kelk felt for Kimahri. Tidus wasn't her father in the traditional sense, but the familiar notions she had of him were.

After that Paine had asked if he was nervous when it came to his upcoming match, and his ever increasing popularity. Yuna seemed to think that he enjoyed it, and that if Paine wanted she could ask Tidus to open up his emotional link to her about it so she could get an honest reading. However Paine had insisted that doing so wasn't necessary and that she trusted Yuna's judgment.

A tug on her sleeve brought her back to herself and she she looked down at Kelk who had found his way back to her and was now pointing at Naimi who was arguing with an aging man who had to be at least thirty years older than her. Walking up to them Paine was able to catch on rather easily to what had happened, "-behaving childishly, keep your pets at home."

"Dusky didn't do anything wrong and he didn't steal an apple. If anyone is behaving childishly it's you." Naimi's eyes were hard and it was clear she wasn't backing down.

From the tone of her voice she was also clearly channeling her father, which for Auron worked. For Naimi who was still young, and could not tower over people it only served to further exacerbate the situation, "What happened here?" Paine asked once she had gotten close enough to be heard.

"Dusky and I were over there looking at machina parts." Naimi pointed across the aisle at a dusty looking booth with tons of loose wires and gears, "And then this guy is yelling at me about how Dusky stole an apple, but he's been on my shoulder the whole time!"

"I had all my apples in a row and not twenty seconds after she shows up at the machina booth across the way one of them goes missing." The older man said.

"I keep telling you to look under that ridiculous, gaudy, and tacky red skirt you have on the table and are trying to pass off as a tablecloth but you keep on saying no!" Naimi crossed her arms and glared angrily.

"The way I balance my apples, such a thing is impossible."

As they were talking, Kelk who had seemingly disappeared from the group reappeared holding a small shiny red apple, "Kelk find. Hidden under skirt like Naimi say."

Upon his announcement the face of the man Naimi had been arguing with did a few strange things. First, Paine noted - he had the gall to look upset, then that transformed into embarrassment, which turned into disbelief. Having dealt with plenty of people like the man in front of them Paine knew with certainty what was coming next and the man did not disappoint, "That apple must be one from the table! You must have just stolen it. Let me just count -" He turned and begun to count his apples while they waited, "It must be!" He exclaimed when he was done.

"But it's not is it." Paine said staring at him with a measured look.

"It -" He stumbled over his words.

"I can wait." Paine told him.

"No. It's not."

"Apple man apologize." Kelk told him, "Honor already tarnished. Best can do."

"It was just a misunderstanding!" He complained.

"Misunderstanding: a failure to understand something correctly and a disagreement or quarrel. You are correct in your assessment but there was no misunderstanding on our end. Belligerent: angry and aggressive, feeling or showing readiness to fight, and if my calculations are correct - you. Please apologize." Shinra said.

There was a little bit more sputtering but eventually the man in front of them was able to squeeze the words sorry out of his mouth. Having finished the altercation Paine sighed, more than anything she hated people who could not be bothered to try to see things from all sides nor could she deal with people who attacked children. Naimi wasn't just any child of course, but she was thirteen and the man was clearly in his later years. So it wasn't up to Naimi to be the bigger person. Naimi owed this man nothing after how he had treated her. As they walked away Paine looked over at Naimi, "Are you alright?"

"I'm just steamed. I hate people like him! If he knew who we were or who we knew he'd be sucking it up big time." Naimi's eyes slowly softened, and her angry frown turned into a pout.

"Who are not important. Material thing not important. Ronso father says honor above all. Only matter if one kind, good, just." Kelk told Naimi.

"Well said." Paine told the young Ronso.

They turned a corner in the market and entered a long alleyway. Unlike the main street of the open air market, here buildings were laid out closer together and the street was tightly packed and dusty. Cloth awnings hung over booths that were clearly attached to homes. There were less people in this area of the city, but that was okay. This little street was one of the few hidden gems of the market, owned exclusively by Al Bhed only the best machina could be found in this alleyway. And with the best machina came the best dresspheres.

Most women in this day and age went to the high end dressphere boutiques which promised beautiful one of a kind dresspheres for outrageous prices. And they lived up to that, and more. But those dresspheres were often modded versions of ones that already existed. Songstress dresspheres where good fabric that allowed for easy movement was replaced with silks, and cloth that tore easily. Dark Knight battle gear that was dripping in diamonds and other unnecessary gems. Berserker costumes with long tails that were easy to trip over in combat but pleasing to the eye. Her mother and father both abhorred those shopped and Naimi, having grown up around machina and the idea of function over glamor did too. No, here in the Al Bhed market one would find none of that.

After a quick stroll up and down the aisle Naimi stopped in front of a medium sized booth and rang the small silver bell on the counter. A smaller woman came out to greet them wiping oil off her hands with a dirty rag. She was a bit portly, but overall looked friendly and her smile when she saw them was infectious. Putting the rag down she looked down over at Naimi, "What can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for dresspheres. It will be my very first! You seem to have the most so I was wondering if I could try them on?"

The woman eyed Naimi for a moment and then looked up at the group of people behind her. It was clear she was a little wary of letting a thirteen-year-old try on her few rare and expensive dresspheres, but that she wasn't going to outright say no. Paine nodded back and the woman's expression changed, "Alright. What's your name?"

"Naimi."

That made the woman pause. It didn't matter what Al Bhed circles you ran in, it was hard not to hear or know about the young Al Bhed child that Rikku had adopted at the young age of nineteen. Naimi was often photographed, despite her parents wishes as the two of them often came to visit Yuna and wherever Yuna went cameras often now followed. There had been a whole spread on Naimi in an Al Bhed magazine for teenagers when she had turned thirteen. For the most part though Naimi looked like the average Al Bhed teenager and so unless it was expressly pointed out to people, she was able to fly under the radar. Which suited her just fine. Instead of making a scene the woman just nodded, "Come on in. Let's try a few out."

After that Paine decided that she liked this woman a great deal. She was no nonsense but seemed joyful as well. It was hard to find a mix of the two, "What's your name?" Paine asked.

"Tal. Bit of a plain name but my mother, bless her heart thought it sounded strong." She paused and laughed, "She wasn't wrong. People liked to say I could knock out a boy twice my size."

"I don't doubt it." Paine told her.

In front of them Naimi was picking out a few dresspheres and rummaging around the wares. She ended up bringing two spheres over to where Tal was standing next to Paine, "I can't pick between Warrior or Gunner. I really wanted to try Samurai but I grabbed one of the swords used for it -" Naimi pointed over to the wall of swords, "And it was too hefty."

"Try them." Shinra suggested.

"Yes. Try." Kelk agreed.

"Is it okay for me to try them on?" Naimi asked Tal.

"You may."

Taking out the garment grid her mother had given her Naimi placed both spheres in the two slots that had been allotted to her. Touching the Warrior sphere there was a burst of light and then Nami stood before them in the garb of the warrior. Her outfit looked very much like that of the one her mother used but there was a greater emphasis on the color red instead of orange, and the tough fabric that covered her chest area went up to her neck and left nothing exposed. She moved around in it a bit swinging the sword and Paine noted that she had to have at least a little bit of training. Auron most likely, she surmised. The sword was a bit big for her overall, but it was lighter than the sword she would have used as a Samurai and so her movements were not as clunky. She looked at Paine, "Fight me!"

"Okay. Bring it."

Transforming into her own garment Paine attacked Naimi, being mindful of the space around them. The two traded blows back and forth while Naimi got used to the sword she was using. At first her strikes were clunky and mis-aimed but they slowly became more accurate. By the end of their engagement Naimi had gotten used to the sword for the most part - although she still wasn't the masterful swordsman her father was. Paine was impressed for the most part. Naimi wasn't a large girl by any means, although Paine was sure she would eventually outgrow Rikku to the woman's complains, but her skill for her body size and age was relatively impressive, "Next One. Next One." Kelk chanted from where he was now sitting.

Touching the next node Naimi transformed out of the Warrior garment and into the Gunner one. In this she had long yellow leggings with silver accents, and her ruffled half-skirt was silver and white. Her black boots almost reached her knees, and her top closely matched that of her mother's but with silver instead of blue. She aimed the gun she was now holding and Paine laughed, "Your grip is all wrong." Paine told her.

"I've never used this one before! I've fixed a few guns and fired a few, but none that looked like these. Feels weird." Naimi said.

"You should get both." Paine said after a long pause.

Behind her Shinra sputtered, "I said I would pay for one! Not two."

"I'll pay for the other one." Paine told him, "She's good with the sword so it won't be a challenge. The Gunner garment will be, it will help her learn and grow. Experience is important."

Naimi let out a shout of excitement, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

She ran over to hug Paine and for a moment Paine wanted to draw away from the contact, but seeing the unbridled joy on Naimi's face caused her body to relax. Eventually her arms came up to hug Naimi back. A moment later Naimi pulled back and yelled in excitement again. Paine was glad to hear it.

A/N: It took me awhile to decide on the dresspheres that Naimi would buy. But overall I think these two suit her best.