"How's my little Yunie-cakes?" asked Tidus dotingly and Paine made a fake sick noise in the background, quickly silenced by Rikku.
"It's okay!" giggled the peppy Al Bhed, "we're just going to leave now!"
"No, don't," said Yuna, "we need to talk about dresses."
Shinra tried to sneak out silently but Tidus soon had him by the collar, "no way, little man, you too."
"Ahwwwwwww!" Shinra whined and Tidus dragged him out.
"So I was thinking blue or something," said Yuna, shutting the door to her hut dreamily, "like the ocean."
"You mean blue like Tidus' eyes," Rikku taunted and Yuna blushed furiously.
"Nu-uh!"
"What kind of blue?" asked Paine resignedly.
"Well sky for me, very light- but I was thinking maybe aqua for you-"
"Make it navy and we have a deal," said Paine.
"Don't be so stubborn, Painey!" said Rikku, rolling her eyes. Then she turned back to Yuna, "I think Paine should wear red, don't you? It's so her colour!"
"But it'll clash with the blue, Yuna fretted."
"No way! It'll look great!" Rikku insisted, "and I could wear yellow, right? I love yellow!"
"Don't all the bridesmaids dress the same?" asked Yuna nervously.
"How about the same dress- different colours? We could have a summery theme! Red, orange, yellow… you know?"
"Hey, that'd look great!" Yuna squealed and Paine opened her mouth to complain.
"Don't give me that look, Painey," Rikku sighed, "it's a wedding- you can't exactly wear black!"
"What about black and white?" Paine compromised.
"No way! White is totally only for brides at a wedding, okay?"
"Do you think I should wear white?" asked Yuna worriedly.
"Definitely," said Rikku. "It's the official wedding colour."
"Okay then!"
"Now for the design…"
Paine groaned inwardly. Must not take points off Rikku- she's just trying to help. Must not take points off Rikku. "That's minus three respect points, Rikku," said Paine.
"Wha?!"
"I'll be right back."
Paine left and drew her mini-sphere gadget out of her long black glove, "Rikku… minus three…" she muttered to herself as she tapped it in.
"Whatcha doing?" asked a familiar voice and Paine spun around.
"Nothing, Baralai," she said. "I should probably be getting back to the girls, actually."
Baralai laughed, "Tidus warned me not to come by- that you were looking at dresses- but I thought it would be impolite not to greet the bride-to-be."
"She's so excited, I honestly doubt she'd notice," said Paine.
"Hey, Painey! What's keeping ya?!" asked Rikku, poking her head out the door, then she called back inside, "Oh! Yunie! The Praetor's here!"
"Guess you're stuck now," said Paine, shrugging as Yuna came out.
"Congratulations, Lady Yuna," said Baralai politely.
"Thank you!" said Yuna, beaming brightly, "and thank you so much for agreeing to perform the ceremony!"
"It is an honour," said Baralai, bowing and Yuna blushed.
"Do you wanna help us pick out dresses?" asked Rikku happily, "we were just about to fly out to Luca with Lulu to take a look-"
Baralai shook his head, "sadly, we males have things to discuss as well."
"Well, I'll see you then!" said Rikku waving.
Baralai bowed again, "goodbye Miss Rikku, Lady Yuna…" his eyes lingered on Paine for a fraction longer than the rest, "…Paine."
Yuna and Rikku waved cheerily and Paine nodded deeply in acknowledgement. He walked off and Paine sighed inwardly, not knowing herself quite why.
"Off to Luca!" cried Rikku, unphased, and it was Yuna's idea to bring the boys with them to save time on another trip.
Rikku was the first to bound onto the airship, bounding straight over to Shinra's machina and calling Djose Temple with her favourite toy, the CommSphere. Rikku angled the CommSphere's view slightly and eventually sighted Gippal, who was slow to notice that someone was calling him, but eventually wandered over.
"Riks?" he said, "what's up?"
"Yunie wants you to meet us at Luca around lunchie-time, 'kay? We're picking out suits and stuff."
"Rikku, I'm going to the cabin, okay?" said Paine in the background and Rikku nodded, waving off-handedly.
"Lunchtime?" said Gippal, "okay, I'll be there. Is there anyone you need picked up on my way?"
Rikku thought about it and called over to Yuna, the only other person on the Bridge- the boys still being in the village, debating on whether 'Yuna' counted as a first word- the main argument being led by Tidus, who had bet on 'Poopie', said, most likely, to Brother.
"Hey, Yunie- is there anyone Gippal can pick up for us on the way to Luca?"
Yuna thought about it for a moment, "do you reckon we could get Kimahri in a tux?"
"If we can get Painey in a dress, we can do anything!" was Rikku's positive reply.
"Then ask him to pick up Kimahri," said Yuna gratefully, "oh, and Nooj too."
"'Kay! Did you get that, Gippal?"
"Yeah, I won't be long," said Gippal, nodding.
"Okay, then, that's cool- wait, before you go-"
"What?"
"Do you think 'Yuna' counts as a first word?"
"Of course not," said Gippal easily, "the only name that could possibly count as a first word is 'Gippal'- duh!"
"You are so egocentric," said Rikku, rolling her eyes.
"You don't even know what that means, do you?" said Gippal, chuckling.
"I can guess!" said Rikku defensively, then she huffed, "just because I don't walk around with my nose in a dictionary like Paine…"
"Paine doesn't even own a dictionary, Riks- she's just smart that way." "Hmph!"
"See ya, Riks."
"Bye, Gippal…" she replied grudgingly and shut off the SphereComm.
"So should we go call the boys?" asked Yuna, staring out the window, towards the village.
"Yeah- hey, wait a minute!"
"What?"
"What this?"
"Paper?" said Yuna, squinting over at what Rikku had just picked up.
"It's a coded message!"
"It's Shinra's," said Yuna, "even if you were to figure out the code you probably still wouldn't understand it in Spirian."
"Paine would!" said Rikku brightly, "and I'm the master at cracking codes!"
"Paine would think digging through someone's belongings and decoding secret love notes was and invasion of privacy," said Yuna, "and I kind of agree with her."
"You reckon it's a love note, then?" Rikku giggled. "I just have to figure it out now!"
"No, put it back," said Yuna, "I'm going to get the boys."
Rikku sighed dejectedly and put the piece of paper back where she'd found it. Nodding, Yuna left.
Rikku went over to sit down in the driver's seat… then squirmed a little… and fidgeted… and stood up again, bolting towards Shinra's station and grabbing the message back.
"Now to crack you, little codey!" she giggled happily, but then she heard footsteps and laughing- coming closer- and was forced to return it. "Later then! I'll be back!" She jumped back into her seat and grinned as her friends entered.
"Okay," said Yuna, "let's run through the guest list- guys first."
Rikku jumped out of her seat and recited dutifully: "Wakka."
"Here!"
"Vidina!"
"Yuna!" the baby gurgled and Yuna smiled.
"Tidus!"
"Uhm, hello? My wedding! Yuna'd kill me if I wasn't here!"
Yuna smiled sweetly, "no I wouldn't, hunny! I could never bear to see you hurt!"
"Really?"
"Of course!" said Yuna, "I'd hire Paine to kill you for me! Up for a mission, Gullwings?"
"Hey!"
"Good thing you're here," said Yuna, eyes twinkling mischievously. "Go on, Rikku."
"Okay: Kimahri?"
"Gippal's picking him up for us," said Yuna confidently.
"Baralai?"
"Right here."
"Gippal?"
"Meeting us there."
"Nooj?"
"Gippal's got him too."
"Shinra?"
"Yea."
"Buddy?"
"Him, Cid, Brother and Brother's girlfriend are set to meet us there," said Yuna.
"Okay, then… Barthello?"
"He and Dona will see us there."
"Ormi, Logos and Leblanc?"
"They'll be there."
"Girls now: Lulu?"
"Present."
"Yunie?"
"Yupyup!"
"Rikku- oh! That's me! Painey? …she's in the lounge… Dona's with Barthello… Le Blanc's with Ormi and Logos… Brother's Girlfriend is with him… Barkeep's here… Okie dokie! We're good to go!"
"Captain Ree ready for flight?" said Yuna.
"Never readier!" Rikku giggled, "YEEEEEHAW!"
"Uhm, what?"
Rikku shrugged and grinned, "just wanted to see what it felt like."
"Good?"
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!"
-
"Hey, Paine."
Paine looked up as Baralai entered the lounge.
She thought for a moment, then found a small smile for him, "hello again."
"How's the dress choosing coming on?"
Paine mocked a long, sad sigh, "red," she said.
"Sounds nice," said Baralai, nodding appreciatively.
"Rikku said that black was too "funeral" and white was reserved by the bride…"
Baralai laughed, "well, it kind of is, Paine."
Paine shrugged, "why don't you sit down," she said. "We haven't talked in a while, have we?"
"Evil dictators don't have much free time, I've found," said Baralai sadly and Paine gave him a scrutinising look.
"That was Shuyin, not you," she said sternly.
"That's not what it looked like to everyone else… all the lives I destroyed… now I know how Sir Jecht must have felt."
"You did not wreak nearly so much havoc," said Paine, sounding cross. "You are the most fair and benign ruler New Yevon could ever have hoped for, if your people cannot perceive what is so very obvious, then they are terrible fools."
"Then I am a fool too."
"You sound just like Nooj, you know," said Paine.
"I'm no Deathseeker."
"Well, you're heading that way. Perk up!"
"I really must be something of a wreck if little miss vision-in-black is telling me to cheer up," said Baralai, looking at her with an earnest smile touching at the corners of his dry lips.
"Don't you forget it," said Paine, poking him as she stood. "And minus two respect points for being such a Nooj."
"Have you still even got that little machina?"
"I never go anywhere without it," said Paine threateningly, and she stalked off to remove the promised respect points.
Not that the "fair and benign ruler of New Yevon" could ever have anywhere near as few points as Rikku.
Quite the contrary.
He had the most.