Chapter VII

Good News


"Painey!" Rikku announced happily, bouncing down the beach towards Baralai and me as we walked through the surf after getting off the Celsius. The energetic Al Bhed ran up and threw her arms around my neck, almost squeezing the life out of me. "I'm so glad you could come!"

"Me too," I wheezed. "Now please let go of me. I need to breathe."

"Oh, sorry, Paine," Rikku said, giggling.

"Yeah, we were worried you wouldn't be able to make it," Yuna said, giving me a much gentler hug.

"I don't think I'd miss this for the world," I said, slinging my bag over my shoulder. "It sure did take you two awhile to make up your minds though."

Yuna giggled and a bright red blush crept onto her cheeks. Rikku rolled her eyes as Tidus kissed her forehead. "Well, I'm glad you're here now, Paine," Rikku announced. "These two have been driving me crazy!"

"What?" Yuna said, a shocked look on her face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Rikku began giggling madly as she ran away from her brunette cousin, who had already started chasing her down. Tidus took off after them, all three of them forgetting about me and Baralai.

"Well, shall we?" Baralai asked, chuckling a small amount.

I was surprised when I saw Rikku waiting for us near the waterfalls. "Sorry, bout that, Paine. Here, lemme take your bag for ya."

Before I had the chance to acquiesce to her request and hand my bag to her, she scurried up, ripped it out of my grasp then turned around and happily began to skip away. I rolled my eyes and looked over at Baralai, scowling when I saw him trying not to laugh. I gave him a rough shove in the shoulder before taking off after Rikku.

"Hey!" He protested. "What was that for?"

I laughed as I looked over my shoulder at him, picking up my pace as he took off after me. I stopped and waited for him at the entrance to the village, spying Rikku standing outside Yuna and Tidus' hut.

"What was that about?" I asked, taking my bag back from her.

"Nothin'," she said, shaking her head, making her blonde braids fly wildly about. "I just wanted to carry your bag for you. You and Baralai are gonna be sleeping in the Crusader's Lodge. Come to Wakka and Lulu's hut once you're settled in."

Not once during the entire course of the night did I check my bag nor did the thought that Rikku had tinkered with anything inside it even enter my mind. After having dinner with everyone in Wakka and Lulu's small hut I borrowed a small pair of cotton shorts and a camisole from Yuna to sleep in since I had no desire to go digging around in my bag for my own bed clothes. That wasn't the last bad decision I would make on this trip.

And when I woke up in the morning the last thing I expected was to see my bag empty and my leather outfit gone. I swore up and down as I searched for them, thinking that all my dresspheres and Garment Grids had magically jumped out of my bag and hid themselves while I was sleeping but no. They were gone.

I swore some more when I saw Baralai still fast asleep in his bed. I was hoping that he had risen early like he always did in Bevelle but, then again, he had to get up that early. At least I didn't wake him up... I thought, breathing a sigh of relief. I tip toed to the Lodge's front flap and peeked cautiously outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of Yuna or Rikku so I could ask them what hell was going on.

I almost ran right out of the tent when Baralai laid his hand on my shoulder. I turned around and my eyes immediately went to his chest. I was fighting a losing battle with myself, trying to keep my eyes away from him. A shiver ran down my spine as I remembered how soft his skin felt beneath my hands and how amazingly defined those muscles of his were. I was rather relieved when he spoke up, making me take my attention away from the rest of his body.

"Is something the matter?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest. I wondered briefly if he did that intentionally so I would keep my eyes from wandering.

"Someone stole my clothes," I said, knowing exactly how stupid I sounded.

Baralai gave me a skeptical look and gazed over his shoulder into the back room before bringing his eyes back to mine. "Are you sure?"

I rolled my eyes and dropped the corner of the flap that I was still holding. "Yes, Baralai, I'm sure," I said, letting the agitation show in my voice. "When I checked my bag this morning all my Garment Grids and dresspheres were gone, including my Warrior outfit. Now I all I have to wear is this," I continued, indicating the clothes I had borrowed from Yuna.

Once corner of his mouth curled up as he closely examined what I was wearing. He slowly stepped towards me and wrapped his hand around my hip, gently pulling me towards him. "It's not so bad," he mumbled, hooking his index finger under my chin and lifting my head up.

I squeezed my eyes shut and bit down on the inside of my cheek, knowing that I had to stop him before things got out of hand, but not really caring if they did. My conscience finally kicked in when our lips were a hairsbreadth away from touching. "Don't tempt me, Baralai," I whispered, involuntarily shivering as I felt his lips brush against mine as I spoke. I put my hands on his chest and gently pushed against him to emphasize my point.

"Paine," Baralai said, some of this commanding 'Praetor' tone showing in his voice. He let out a frustrated sigh and ran his hand through his messy hair before continuing. "I don't care about what's going to happen to you and I don't care about what you have to do." He paused and I felt rather insulted by his words...at first. "All I care about is you." It seemed as though he wanted to say more but he was having a hard time putting his thoughts into words. "I know that I can't stop what's going to happen but at least I can make it seem like you're not going to a death sentence."

I smiled then, probably one of my first genuine smiles in months, and felt my face grow hot. Even though he still had a grip on my chin I tried my hardest to avert my face away from his so he wouldn't see me blushing. I desperately wanted to let him in, desperately wanted to open up to him; something I had never done with anyone else, but I couldn't. The thought of my impending rite of passage assignment loomed over my head like a great, black storm cloud. "You flatter me. You really do," I mumbled, hesitantly bringing my eyes back to his.

"Painey! Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!" Rikku sang as she approached the Lodge.

I cursed and broke away from Baralai, retreating into the back to find anything I could to conceal myself a little more with. I fished around in my bag and praised Shiva when I found that my sweatpants were still there. I quickly pulled them on over the shorts as Rikku entered and started talking to Baralai.

"Oh, hi Baralai. Is Paine awake?" She asked, walking into the back room before even hearing an answer from the Praetor. "Good morning, Paine!" She announced, throwing her arms around my neck and hugging me tightly.

"Good morning, Rikku," I replied, rolling my eyes and pulling her arms away from my neck. "Rikku, where are all my dresspheres?"

She looked at me like a deer caught in the headlights before nervously laughing like she usually did when she knew she was caught. "Well, um," she stammered, looking over her shoulder at Baralai before grabbing my wrist and dragging me out of the Lodge. "We'll be right back, Baralai."

"Okay," he said, slightly confused about what was happening.

"Rikku, what exactly is going on?" I asked once she had pulled me into the temple.

"Well," she began, walking a few paces away from me. "Don't get mad at me, Paine, but I'm the one that took your dresspheres and your Warrior outfit."

I cocked one of my eyebrows at her. "Why?"

"You'll see," she replied, nervously kicking at the stone of the temple floor. I sighed heavily and was about to say something when she pressed one of her hands tightly over my mouth. "And before you start taking respect points away, it's for the party tonight."

"And am I supposed to walk around in sweatpants for the rest of the day?" I asked, starting to get aggravated.

"That's where I come in," she announced with a smile. "I'll come get you when we're ready to start." And with that she left me to walk back to the Lodge by myself.

Baralai was already half way dressed when I walked back in. "What was that about?" He asked as he began the complicated process of putting on his Praetor robe.

"She told me why she took all my stuff. She said something about it being for Yuna and Tidus' parties," I replied, sprawling out on my bed.

"By the sound of it she's got something rather interesting planned," he said, turning around to look at me.

I sighed in frustration and put my hands over my face. "Don't even remind me. I don't want to think about what Rikku has planned."

Baralai was silent for a few moments and I jumped involuntarily when I felt him sit down on the bed next to me. I moved my hands away from my face and frowned at him but instantly closed my eyes and groaned inwardly when I realized he was going to continue the conversation we had started before Rikku had pulled me into the temple.

I wished that he would just drop the entire subject. I wished that we could just have a normal conversation without him bringing up the same thing over and over again. It was beginning to become a little redundant and annoying.

I quickly lifted my right hand and impatiently waved it in his face, already knowing what he was going to say. "Just give it a rest, Baralai. I don't know what to tell you that will make you realize that you can't help me."

"True," he replied smoothly, plucking my hand out of the air and cradling it in his. "I do know one thing that I can help you with though."

"And what would that be?" I asked, one of my eyebrows arching in curiosity.

"I can help you carry the burden you have resting so heavily on your shoulders. You don't have to bear it alone," he said, lightly kissing my knuckles and leaving my skin tingling.

I quickly looked away from his penetrating stare as I felt my face begin to grow hot again. It's ridiculous how he's able to do that to me so easily, I thought, biting down on the inside of my cheek. "I'll have to think about it, Baralai." I blurted that out so quickly it took me a few seconds to figure out exactly what I had said, but by then I couldn't take it back.

Baralai nodded. "Alright, that's good enough for me," he said, with a smile and a small glimmer of hopefulness shining in his dark brown eyes.

I spent the next two hours fuming over what I had told Baralai. Mere seconds after our talk had come to an end Tidus came and grabbed Baralai, saying that it was time for the guys to start getting ready so I happily sat on my bed mentally kicking myself for saying something so stupid. I think I threw myself off a proverbial cliff four or five times, kind of wishing that said cliff was real. I had achieved the total opposite of what I had initially planned. Go me.

I almost didn't hear Rikku come running in and I only realized she was even in the room after she threw a bundle of clothing at my head. "Those are your party clothes," she said. "You are forbidden to wear anything else until the party is over."

I groaned inwardly when I discovered that my "party clothes" were a rather small bikini and a skirt made of nothing but small strips of cloth. "You're serious?" I asked, looking at the outfit in disgust.

"I'm as serious as a heart attack, Paine," she replied, putting her hands on her hips. I groaned audibly this time, making sure she knew exactly how displeased I was with what I was being forced to wear. "Oh, quit being such a baby, Paine," she said, laughing at the scowl on my face. "I'll go get a bottle of sun block and help you put it on." She began to walk out of the Lodge but stopped when she reached the front flap. "And you better have that suit on by the time I get back!"

I rolled my eyes and sighed, knowing that I had no alternative. I reluctantly put on the suit and skirt but, as I looked at myself in the mirror, I actually liked how...sexy I looked in them. The bikini was black with a curvy dark red heart on the right side of the top and the back of the bottoms. The hearts weren't really my style but at least the suit was black and not bright pink. The skirt was just simple black cloth, which I was also happy about.

"Hey, you look really good in that," Rikku said after she returned with the sun block, dressed in her own yellow and orange stripped bikini with matching yellow skirt.

"Is there some special reason why we're wearing swim suits?" I asked as I rubbed some sun block into my arms.

"Well, duh, Paine. What else are we gonna do on a tropical island in bikinis?"

I chuckled and rolled my eyes. "Oh, yes, how stupid of me."

Rikku and I were getting ready to leave the Lodge to go get Yuna when said ex-summoner ran inside the cool tent, clad in her own purple and pink stripped bikini with matching purple skirt. "Rikku!" She exclaimed. "I've been looking all over for you! Have you seen my - ?" Before Yuna had the chance to finish her sentence Rikku handed her the bottle of sun block. "Oh, here it is. Thank you, Rikku," she said, beginning to put the lotion on her legs.

She straightened to begin on her arms but stopped when she saw me and smiled. "You look very pretty, Paine."

"Thank you, Yuna," I replied as we left the Lodge, the brunette still rubbing sunscreen into her skin. "You look very nice as well."

Yuna giggled and swept her bangs out of her face. "I'm just glad you could make it with everything that's going on."

"Like I said, I wouldn't miss it." I paused as Yuna let us into her small hut. "So, Rikku, what's the plan?"

"I thought you'd never ask! Sit down and I'll tell ya!" She instructed, waiting until Yuna and I were seated before speaking. "Okay, you both already know that I've pilfered your dresspheres and I know you're not happy about it but it serves a purpose! It really does!"

"Why am I getting the feeling that I'm not going to like this?" I asked, folding my arms over my stomach. Rikku feigned sadness which made Yuna giggle some more.

Rikku began to open her mouth to begin explaining when she immediately clamped it shut, shooting her brunette cousin an odd look. "Ya know, Yunie, you've been acting pretty weird lately."

"Well, I did want to wait until later to tell you two..." She looked at both me and Rikku individually before a large glowing smile sprang onto her face. "I just found out yesterday that I'm pregnant!"

My jaw dropped and my eyes widened in shock. Yuna pregnant? I thought incredulously. Is such a thing even possible? My thoughts were interrupted as my eardrums were blown out of my skull and my teeth were set on edge by Rikku's squeal of glee. I had to rub my ears for almost a minute for the ringing to stop.

"Oh my gosh, Yunie!" She exclaimed, running towards her cousin and hugged her furiously. "How do you know?"

"Well," she began, a bright pink blush creeping onto her cheeks. "the first time Tidus and I were...together was the night he came back. That was about three weeks ago. I started feeling a little sick a couple days ago and took a test."

Rikku beamed and hugged her now pregnant cousin again, but this time a little more gently. "Oh, I'm so happy for you, Yunie! Does Tidus know?"

Yuna nodded. "He was there when I took the test. He's about as excited as I am."

I sat and listened to the two of them babble on and on about the baby on the way with an amused expression on my face. I was happy for Yuna but also a little sad that I wouldn't be able to see her baby once he or she was born. Even I'm not going to be able to have any children, I thought with a frown.

I wouldn't even know how to deal with a child let alone raise one. Before my life was flipped ass over tea kettle I had imagined starting a family with children of my own. Not now though. Not with my life in the sorry state that it's in. A child was the very last thing on my mind.

"But anyways," Rikku said after almost half an hour of her and Yuna going on. "we have a bunch of time to talk about this later. Right now we have a party to get on the way!"

"Sorry for not including you, Paine," Yuna whispered, resting her hand on my forearm.

I smiled and shook my head, reassuringly patting her hand to let her know that I didn't mind. "It's alright. It was fun just to listen. Congratulations."

Yuna smiled and gave me a brief hug just as Rikku began to speak. "Alright, we're going to be going on a scavenger hunt for our dresspheres, but we have to get them from Tidus, Gippal and Baralai."

"How are we supposed to do that?" I asked, not liking the sound of Rikku's plan already.

The blonde Al Bhed rolled her eyes and chuckled, pulling three small scrolls out of the waist line of her swim suit. "I have our first clue right here," she said, handing me and Yuna each a scroll.

Unable to wait until Rikku told us what was inside the scroll, I quickly unrolled it and read the four simple words written on it: Go to the beach.

I cocked an eyebrow and looked up at Rikku with a questionable look in my eyes. "What's at the beach?" I asked, rolling my scroll back up.

"That's where our scavenger hunt starts! So let's get goin'!"