Disclaimer: still don't own it...

Hey I've got another chapter for you guys The plot is starting to twist at last, the most exciting chapters are still to come. Here is a little preview of part 2 of chapter 4:

"As a thank you for everything you've done for me I will introduce you to Lady Yuna, she is a personal friend of mine."
"I would be most honoured Baralai."
We both looked up at the sky, enjoying each others company. I stroked Cyjeuin's feathers with my good hand while my injured one lay on my lap. The silence was broken by a loud gunshot followed by the sound of a huge explosion. I jumped up and looked around, there was nothing different. Flammarius stood up calmly.
"I will go and find out what has happened, stay here with Cyjeuin." I nodded at sat down by Cyje again. I waited patiently for Flammarius to come back. I think I dozed off because Cyjeuin nudged me awake at the sound of Flammarius' returning footsteps. I blinked several times to get the sleep out of my eyes and turned to look at the red bird. He was walking awkwardly for he was carrying something on his back. He placed the body gently on the floor next to me. I took one look at the figure and let out a strangled yell.
"What the hell is he doing here?! What happened?!"

Muahaha, big big things are going to happen in the next chappie.

Anyway coming back to this one, I hope you like it. Some of you may think that Paine is a little OOC but hey, she needs to unwind a bit.

A big big thank you to my reviewers, especially DragonGirl323, you've helped me a lot. This is the first time I ask but please review, it means a lot to me.

Enjoy!!


Killer sandwiches and fits of laughter

Sure enough I found Rikku running in and out of the other side chamber, screaming orders at the startled workers that had gathered at the sight of their co-leader running through the temple like a maniac.

"Get Nhadala here! She's in charge while I'm gone! Clean up that broken down machina! Where's my garmet grid?! Stop staring and get back to work! Hey you!" Rikku pointed at one of the workers.

"Me?"

"Yes, go and call Nhadala and make sure she's here in an hour!"

"Oac sy'ys, nekrd yfyo sy'ys, frydajan oui cyo sy'ys!" the worker said quickly, not wanting to get in trouble and be told off by a hyper-active crazy albhed. I sighed as I saw the poor worker scurry off to call Nhadala and walked over to Rikku, who was waving her arms around while she continued shouting.

"Rikku!" I said sternly causing her to jump and turn around to face me. "Will you just relax? You're working yourself up for nothing, cut it out!"

"But Paaaaaine, we're gonna go and see Yunie!" she whined back.

"You just saw her through the commshpere," I pointed out, crossing my arms over my chest. Rikku twirled one of here braids around her finger and grinned sheepishly up at me.

"Okay, okay, I'll calm down," I rolled my eyes; if anyone could get Rikku to calm down I would reward them with at least fifty respect points. Rikku carried on as though she didn't see my reaction. "So are you all packed and ready to go?" I paused, thinking of the small duffel bag I had brought with me, a bag that I had only opened to put the provisions I had bought at Rin's place in.

"...yeah, I'm packed."

"Okiedokie, let's get this show on the road, or rather into the bedroom. We need to sleep now if we want to be up before dawn."

"Rikku, it's not even midday."

"Uh... I'm a heavy sleeper okay?" she faltered under my gaze. "Fine! I'll wait until Nhadala comes, we'll have lunch and then we'll sleep." I nodded my approval and watched Rikku as she ran around the temple trying to find the worker she had sent to call Nhadala. If he was intelligent enough he would inform Rikku that Nhadala was coming as quickly as she could and then get out of the way. I decided to go outside to get some fresh air; the temples tend to get pretty stuffy, especially if there's loads of exhaust fumes and machina oil in the air.

I walked past the small building where they were interviewing future diggers and stopped at the start of the bridge that was known as Pilgrimage Road. I lent on the rail and gazed out towards the sparkling water beneath me. My thoughts kept on returning to a certain snowy white haired man with chocolate coloured eyes. I tried to close them out, it was no use. So I focused on the reason, the reason I had let him go, the reason he should be happy now, the reason I was in such pain right now... Shut up! It's your own bloody fault. You said you want him to be happy, no matter what. You've hidden your feelings loads of times before so that others could be happy, you can do it again. So what if he's thinking about some other girl? If he's going to be happier with her then so be it, sure it hurts but this is Baralai we're talking about, you would do anything to see him happy. He deserves to be happy after what happened to him and his connection with Vegnagun. And you'll still be by his side as a friend when he needs it.

"Friend hm?" I muttered under my breath after scolding myself mentally. Friendship was probably the only thing keeping me going, I wasn't interested in gil, or jobs, or fame or all of that stuff that came running after you once you've saved the world. When I was about to submerge myself once again in my thoughts Rikku came trotting out of the temple.

"Hey Dr.P! Nhadala is already here, she's just arrived. You wanna come in and grab something to eat?"

"Fine by me," I walked back towards the temple, Rikku had already bounded in again. I found her to one side making some sandwiches. I raised an eyebrow when she handed me one. She shrugged and said

"The cook is ill, and you know perfectly well I can burn toast so I opted for sandwiches, you can't burn those," she grinned at me and took a bite out of her sandwich. I looked down at mine sceptically and took a cautious bite. Then I looked up at Rikku, surprised. The sandwich was delicious, either she was had been practicing her cooking skills or someone else had made them. I would have gone for the latter but I saw Rikku grab a knife and some bread out of a bag and she made herself another sandwich, having gulped down her first in a matter of seconds. She caught me staring and started laughing.

"Gippal makes these killer sandwiches and he taught me how to make them myself. How did he put it? Oh yeah, 'so you can survive in the wilderness of Spira without your gorgeous Prince Charming by your side.' He spent the entire afternoon writing down his combinations and teaching me how to make some of my own. The one you're eating is an experiment," I jumped and started choking. "Hey, hey, I was just kidding!" I relaxed visibly, there was no way I was going to be Rikku's guinea pig for her experimental cooking. I finished my sandwich and asked for another. Rikku giggling to herself made me another. When she handed it to me she was still giggling.

"What have you done to it?"

"N-nothing," Rikku was desperately trying to hold back her laughter. I raised an eyebrow at her and she gave in. "Oh fine killjoy, that is what Gippal calls the Imdesyda Rihkan Gemman Vun Cdilg Ib Fynneunc Mega Tn. B."

"I have my own sandwich?" Rikku nodded and burst out laughing. I made a mental note to throttle Gippal when we found him.

"Don't worry Yunie, Nooj, Baralai and I all have personal sandwiches as well. Gippal's still working on Tidus' sandwich though." I rolled my eyes. Rikku yawned pointedly and stretched her arms behind her head.

"We've had lunch and Nhadala's here," she said, as if I hadn't caught her indicated yawn.

"Uh-huh. Lead the way then." Rikku jumped up and ran towards the bedroom. I followed her a little slower, I really don't know how she can run everywhere, it tires people just to look at her. I found her placing sheets on a pull out bed next to her's and Gippal's. She turned when she heard me entering the room and smiled at me. Then she went over to her chest of drawers and pulled out some chocobo pyjamas.

"Nighty night Paine!" she said as she jumped in between the sheets. I muttered a good night but Rikku was already fast asleep. I looked at her curiously, wondering if that was where she got all her energy from, afternoon naps. I shrugged and laid down on the bed, knowing I wouldn't be able to fall asleep until it was dark. I spent hours just staring up at the ceiling, lost in my own train of thoughts. When I came back down to earth I saw that the sky was already darkening outside. That was the advantage of being the leader of the Faction. Rikku and Gippal's bedroom was one of the two that actually had a window. I sighed and turned over, this time actually trying to fall asleep. Rikku hadn't budged, she was still curled up cosily under her sheets. I felt my eyes close and I drifted off into the darkness.

It felt as though only minutes had gone by when I opened my eyes again. That's why I was surprised to see that Rikku's alarm clock read 4:30 AM. I gazed up at the ceiling, trying to will myself to sleep for another half an hour. I knew it was impossible so my mind decided to wonder.

I love night time. It's dark but also light. The vast extension of the sky is illuminated by specks of light, stars, great big balls of fiery gas... I used to spend hours contemplating its beauty but now I find it so empty, cold, endless. I wonder what made me change my mind... I guess it's because that's the way I feel, empty because I left my heart in Bevelle, cold because I don't have you to keep me warm and endless because that's what my pain feels like...

Sheesh, your fluffy side is finally showing huh?

So what? Everybody has a fluffy side, some just don't display it often.

Whatever, you need to talk to Yuna pronto.

I guess... I wonder if he's thinking about m-

No! Don't finish that sentence! Stop thinking about him, at least until you speak with Yuna.

I sighed, anyone would think I was mad if they heard the internal wars going on in my head. Looking back at Rikku's alarm clock I saw that only two minutes had gone by.

"Oh what's the point of trying to sleep when I know it's going to be impossible," I muttered to myself as I got up and went to the bathroom to wash up. When I returned I saw that Rikku was still fast asleep on her bed.

"Rikku," I said softly, tapping her gently on her shoulder. She shifted underneath the blankets but she didn't wake up.

"Rikku," I said again, a little louder this time.

"Gippaaaal... I wanna be lazy bones today," her voice was muffled by the pillow but I still made out what she said. Smirking a little I tapped her on the shoulder again.

"C'mon Rikku get up."

"Noo... I'm lazy bones today, it's my turn not yours." I chuckled, a devious plan forming in my head to wake Rikku up. I looked around for something to record it with, if it worked it would be perfect for blackmailing and if it didn't... well I suppose I could always erase the recording. Then I spotted it, a little blue sphere sitting on the chest of drawers. I checked it to see if it was blank and placed it on Rikku's bedside table, the view would be excellent. I pressed the record button, explained the situation and my plan and proceeded to bend down and whisper in Rikku's ear.

"You know Rikku, I'll marry you and have seven kids if you wake up now." My plan worked, Rikku shot up immediately and looked around, obviously looking for Gippal. I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing at Rikku's reaction.

"Paine? Whaddaya doin' here?" she murmured rubbing her eyes tiredly. "Where did Gippal go? Was it just a dream?" then she spotted the sphere that was still recording her.

"Paine?" she whispered in a dangerously soft voice. I looked at her, still holding back my laughter. Her eyes were burning with fury, my laughter died away immediately. "You recorded that." It wasn't a question. I just looked at her, laughter still dancing in my crimson eyes.

"I'm going to kill you!" she yelled and started chasing me around the bedroom. I ran to where I was keeping my sword and pointed it towards Rikku, halting her immediately. Then she burst out laughing,

"You should have seen your face," she said, clutching the stitch in her side. "Okay, now seriously what are you doing here?"

"Well, I was waking you up so we could leave but I think I've done that pretty well."

"Huh? Leave...?" Rikku looked lost for a moment but then she remembered. "Oh...! Okiedokie let's get moving!"

Where the hell does she get all that energy? I wondered as I watched the Al'bhed rush around checking and double checking her luggage.

"You know you don't have to take half the temple with you right?"

"Duh! Course I do Dr.P! I'm picking up all the dresspheres and important garmet grids. After our visit to Yunie we're going directly to the Calm Lands, I'm not wasting anymore time!"

"I have to say I'm impressed, you are the act first think later type, why the change?"

"There are things that are too important in life to lose just because you haven't got a plan of action."

"Three respect points."

"But, but..."

"Three more respect points," Rikku was practically beaming.

"C'mon Paine, let's go."

And so we left the temple silently, not wanting to wake anybody, after all it was quarter to five in the morning. Once we were outside Rikku stopped and I turned to look at her questioningly.

"So what's our goal?" she said in a perfect imitation of Tidus. A smile tugged the corner of my lips as I answered.

"Cross the Mushroom Rock Road, the Mi'ihen Highroad and get to Luca before the first ferry leaves."

"What?! That gives us like three hours!"

"Well we should stay here and chat then" I replied in my usual monotone voice. Rikku huffed and bounded forward yelling "Slowpoke!" over her shoulder at me. I rolled my eyes and picked up a quick pace to catch up with Rikku. We rented a couple of hover like motorbikes from the al'bhed that was standing at the cross roads and drove down the road. As we stopped at the turn going to the Youth League's HQ Captain Lucil stepped out to greet us.

"Why hello there Gullwings."

"Hiya!"

"What are you doing here if I may ask?"

"We're going to Luca to catch a ferry."

"Oh right," Lucil nodded. "Would you like to pass for a few moments? I'm sure Mevyn Nooj would be glad to have a visit."

"Since when is he glad about anything?"

"What Paine means is that we have to hurry, otherwise we'll miss the ferry."

"Very well, continue," Lucil saluted. "Please visit soon though."

"Will do!" Rikku waved and bounced off with me at her heels. I just couldn't stand another moment in Lucil's presence. We never 'clicked' shall we say, we were just not meant to be friends. It's not as though I hate her, I just dislike her.

Once we reached the end of the Mushroom Rock Road, Rikku stopped and looked around.

"Hey Paine... how come we haven't been attacked by fiends yet?"

"I'm wearing the charm bangle, we can't waste time fighting fiends when we're in a hurry."

"Ah..."

"However on the Highroad the fiend population is higher so we may be attacked once or twice," I pointed out to warn Rikku and started walking again.

"Uh... Paine?"

"Yes?" I said without stopping.

"Why are we in such a hurry?" Rikku asked, jogging to catch up to me.

"You want to go and check on Gippal as soon as possible right?"

"Yeah but..." from the look she gave me, Rikku knew I was hiding something but she kept her mouth shut, probably not wanting to risk losing her newest respect points.

When we reached Rin's Travelling Agency we stopped after several minutes of Rikku's whining and persuasion skills.

"C'mon just ten minutes? I need to stock up on hi-potions anyways..."

"Fine, ten minutes, not one more. If your skinny butt isn't out here in exactly ten minutes it's gonna be hurt time got it?"

"Yes!" Rikku squeaked as she rushed inside. After precisely nine minutes she came out again and stood in front of me, grinning.

"See! Not even ten minutes!"

"Alright, now let's move it."

"Okay, okay let's go then," a refreshened Rikku said and started running down the Highroad. I followed, keeping a close eye on her, but without running. Unlike Rikku, I didn't have an unstoppable source of energy.

Suddenly Rikku stopped and rocked back and forth on her heels looking worried and slightly nervous. I caught up with her and looked at her inquisitively.

"The machina...," she started. I perked up immediately, something in Rikku's tone of voice meant that it was serious. "The machina... they're gone!" I looked around and realised that it was true. "I've only seen two so far, there should be loads more guarding the road... What if people have been attacked? What should we do? Where have the machina gone? Oh... poopie..."

"Okay, for starters no one has been attacked because we would have seen them, two when we get to Luca we will inform the Youth League commanders there and they'll take care of it, and three well that sound like a job for the Gullwings doesn't it?"

Rikku turned to face me, a smile on her lips and her emerald eyes burning with determination. Never mess with an al'bhed's machina. I quoted the old phrase in my head.

"Very well, we need Yunie A.S.A.P! Come on" Rikku said and ran off. I decided to run as well, this was urgent. As we neared the entrance to Luca we noticed that the machina were also missing here. We ran down the steps and into the square and began searching for someone in a Youth League uniform. After a few minutes Rikku's eyes lit up in recognition and she started bouncing up and down, waving her hand and shouting,

"Maroda! Hey Maroda, over here!"

I looked over in the direction that Rikku was waving and saw a dark skinned man with jet black hair and dark brown eyes waving back. I recognised him as the guy that did some undercover research in Bevelle for the Youth League and the same guy that had made them leave the entrance to the Den of Woe when the Gullwings had followed Logos and Ormi there. He waved back and made his way over to us.

"Well if it isn't the Gullwings! What brings you to Luca?"

"We could ask you the same question," I interjected. "Weren't you in Bevelle?"

"Guys! This is no time for chitchat," Rikku said before Maroda could open his mouth to answer. "Maroda, the machina guards from the Highroad are missing."

"What?!" Rikku and I nodded simultaneously.

"Well I'll get a message to Nooj immediately. I'll round up a team of soldiers to guard the road until the machina are either found or replaced."

"Thanks."

"If I may have your leave ladies," I nodded as Maroda turned and ran off in the opposite direction.

"Poopie," I heard Rikku mutter softly. I raised an eyebrow at her. "If something is wrong with the machina the al'bhed are going to get the blame," she explained.

"Come on, we have to get to the docks," I said as I started walking off towards the other side of the square, high heels clicking on the floor.

"Hey wait up!" Rikku jogged up to me and we continued our journey. We arrived quite quickly, seeing that it was still pretty early in the morning.

"Pfft." I turned at the sound and saw Rikku laughing into her scarf.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"This is where we kicked Leblanc's Syndicate butt for the first time."

"Good times..." I smirked as I remembered the scene that had taken place.

"Yep" Rikku continued giggling.

"What now?"

"Nothing, I'm just remembering Logo's and Ormi's faces when Yuna unleashed a trigger happy on them. It was like so cool, with the somersault and everything," Rikku was moving around enthusiastically. "They looked as though they were dancing on Cactuars." She started laughing again and didn't stop until we boarded the ferry.

"All aboard!" the ferry's captain shouted, making sure that all of his passengers were on safely. I lent on the rail, watching the open ocean, a faraway look in my eyes. Rikku noticed and hopped onto the rail that I was leaning on and waved a hand in front of my face.

"Spira to Paine! Come in Paine!"

I blinked and looked at Rikku angrily.

"What?" I snapped at the blonde. Rikku leaned back instinctively, it was never a good idea to angry me but by the look on her face she had no idea what she had done to make me react like that. She had done it before and all I had done was give her an annoyed glare and a sarcastic comment.

"U-uh nothin', you just spaced out," my features softened.

"I'm sorry Rikku."

Rikku's brow crinkled up in thought, I could almost hear her thinking 'What the hell is wrong with Paine?' and to tell you the truth she has a good reason to think that... I never apologize directly to anybody. She opened her mouth to say something but I already had a pretty good idea on what she was about to say so I interrupted my friend before she said anything.

"Look Rikku, I know what you're going to say," Rikku's mouth closed and she blinked, surprised. "I know I haven't been myself lately..." the al'bhed snorted and rolled her eyes, grinning like mad. I ignored her and continued. "In the past few days I've been through a lot of stuff that I have no intention whatsoever on repeating. It's something personal, something I have to get through on my own understand?" Rikku shook her head defiantly. "What happened was my own decision, now I have to move on through this phase of my life on my own. It would be helpful if you didn't pester me about it anymore ok?" The last part of the sentence was said with a little more edge to it. Rikku nodded slowly and looked up into my eyes. I looked back at her and saw a mixture of worry, concern, sadness and a little bit of hurt...

"I'm sorry Rikku, I didn't mean to be so harsh..."

"Hey, don't worry about it okay?" Rikku put a hand on my shoulder to reassure me. "Listen, Paine... I don't know what happened and I don't mind if you don't want to tell me, but remember that I will always be here by your side to help you with absolutely anything, no matter how diasterrific...," I smiled at Rikku's choice of words, she didn't notice though and she continued talking, staring out into the ocean. "... and I'm sure that Yuna would do anything for you as well! YRP are inseparable you know that! So all you have to do is look over your shoulder and I'll be there, annoying as ever, watching your back, no matter what!" I let out a small chuckle and turned towards Rikku.

"Thank you Rikku, I needed that... Come here," I said as I held out my arms to hug my best friend. Rikku jumped off the rail and leapt into my arms.

"Anytime Dr.P," she said in her usual chirpy voice. I responded by giving her a huge bear hug, lifting her off the ground and twirling her around. Rikku squealed as she flew through the air, holding onto me for dear life. "Man I really need to do these speeches more often if I get reactions like that!" I put her down and turned to lean on the rail again, chuckling as I answered.

"Don't worry, it was a one in a lifetime kinda thing." I laughed when Rikku pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Poopie..." she muttered, loud enough for me to hear.

"Pfft..." Rikku turned towards me. I was bright red, trying to hold in my laughter. A few moments later the dam burst and I started howling with laughter.

"Humpf! What's so funny?" Rikku demanded.

"Y-you-your face," I replied as I pounded on the rail, still laughing. Soon Rikku started giggling at the sight of me laughing. Giggles turned to laughter and laughter turned to shrieks of mirth. Both of us slid down to the floor and we were rolling around, clutching the stitches in our sides, gasping as we tried to get our breaths back. We spent a good quarter of an hour on the floor before we finally calmed down. We lay there resting as the colour of our faces returned to normal.

"That's the first time I see you laugh like that," Rikku said, turning to lie on her stomach.

"I've never seen you do that face before."

Ya know, we should have recorded that... I bet Gippal, Baralai and Nooj would have loved to watch it, not to mention Yuna, Tidus, Wakka and Lulu," Rikku commented but regretted saying those words as soon as they left her mouth. She looked over to where I was lying on my back on the floor of the deck. I think she suspected that Baralai had something to do with what I was going through. "Um, sorry Paine I didn't mean..."

"It's okay," I cut her off with a wave of my hand. "I'm worried about Gippal too. As soon as we see Yuna we'll set off."

Rikku nodded but she knew perfectly well that I knew she meant somebody else when she apologized. We stood in silence for the rest of the journey, staring out into the glittering ocean, both submerged in our own thoughts. The captain's voice startled us out of our peaceful silence.

"In five minutes we shall be docking in Kilika Port. Please gather your luggage and head towards the landing ramp."

I sighed, annoyed that the silence had been broken. It was then that I noticed that a certain bubbly al'bhed was missing. I looked around the deck for a figure in a bikini and a mini skirt. I raised my eyebrows when I spotted her leaning against the rails, a few metres away, talking with a tall, very tanned, blond man. I narrowed my eyes when I saw the man lean over Rikku flirting shamelessly. I let out a low snarl and began to walk quickly towards the pair. Before I reached them though, I saw Rikku smile sweetly and lean towards the man. Then in less than a millisecond she stamped on his foot, cuffed him over the head and shoved him over the rail. Rikku just watched him fall into the water, giggling to herself. I jogged over to her and looked at her questioningly. Rikku just turned to look at me and said,

"Come on, let's go and wait for him on the dock."

"Wha-?" I just stared at her dumbfounded, watching her go into the cabin and come back out again, holding their small duffel bags.

"Hey! Come on Miss-I've-never-seen-my-friend-push-a-man-into-the-water-so-I'm-standing-here-looking-like-a-doofus." I just blinked.

"Uh-huh, that name really suites me."

"I know," Rikku replied as she bounded off towards the ramp to wait for this man to come out of the water. I followed curiosity burning inside me.