"I mean really Yunie, how could two different people look and think so much alike?!" Rikku sobbed into her pillow.

Yuna sat down on her former bed out of habit and sighed. Looking around she realized how much she missed this place. She pushed those thoughts from her mind however; she couldn't doubt her decision now, besides she had to find a way to keep Rikku from completely unraveling.  She sighed again. "Rikku," she paused and sighed yet  again. "No never mind." she rejected the thought.

Rikku rolled over to her side and wiped the tears from her eyes. "What?"

"It's nothing.." Yuna assured her.

"Out with it!" Rikku snapped, sounding rather like Paine herself.

Yuna let out yet another sigh. "Well it's just...." another sigh. "Paine was an orphan right?"

Rikku nodded. "So what?"

"Well...did she ever tell you if she remembered anything before that? Like a past family or something like that?"

Rikku sat up and shook her head. "She was left on Bevelle orphanage's doorstep when she was less than a year old. No one knew where she came from, or even cared, they didn't even give her a name for Spira's sake!" Tears welled up in her eyes. "She....she never did find out who her parents were...or if they were still alive....or anything!"

Rikku always had wondered how she could manage to keep living on without knowing anything about her past. Paine's answers were always simple enough, if her parents were dead then learning about them would be pointless. If they were alive that meant that they had abandoned her, and Paine didn't want to know her parents if they didn't want to know her. This logic seemed to keep Paine going, she never was one to dwell in the past much anyway. She said all this, but still Rikku wondered, her parents' absence in her life might have played a part in why she had run off.

Rikku shook these thoughts away. "Why do you ask?"

Yuna frowned. "Well...I mean the only thing I can think of that would explain things....is...well...." Yuna sighed.  "What if Ruby and Paine are related somehow...like sisters or something?"

Rikku shook her head. "I don't believe it. I mean, unless they were twins they wouldn't look that alike! And Ruby's younger, so she says anyway, so I don't think they are twins. And even twins would be unlikely to have the exact same reaction to something, especially since Ruby claims to never have met Paine." Rikku's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "No. There's something else going on here."

Yuna just sighed again. Maybe the need to solve this mystery would keep Rikku going for a while. What troubled Yuna was that she wasn't falling apart herself. She'd known Paine nearly as long as Rikku had, spent just as much time with her in the long run...and yet, Paine's death hadn't been so crippling for her as it was for Rikku. Was it because she had Tidus to lean on? Or was it because Yuna had never allowed herself to get close to Paine? Had she been so focused on saving Tidus that she didn't appreciate what she already had? Had her attitude towards Paine contributed to her running away? Yuna attempted to push the guilt away, but she could feel it creeping up on her.

Rikku sighed. "She better be happy in the far plane!" Rikku exclaimed.

Yuna looked up at her friend. "Have you visited her there?"

Rikku shook her head. "I could never bring myself to. You?"

"I couldn't either...."  Yuna sighed and forced a smile. "It's so nice being in the Celsius again, I had really started to miss the place."

Rikku sighed. "This feeling..." she said softly. "This must be how a runaway feels after coming home."

They both smiled, thinking of the time Yuna had said those exact words three years before. For a moment, Rikku closed her eyes and pretended she was back in those days. Those really were the days, they were on an adventure every day, and her friends were always around her. Those really were the best days of her life. When she opened her eyes she grinned; Yuna had the same reminiscent look. 

Without realizing it, they found themselves looking over at the empty bed that lie in the corner of the room, like a billboard reminding them that they were only two thirds of a whole.  Rikku could have sworn she saw Paine sitting there for a moment, but as the tears filled her eyes the illusion vanished. Paine was dead. Gone. No longer among the living.  She wasn't an unsent either. Now the closest thing to her was a suspicious look alike, these were the sort of mysterious that Paine's practicality usually solved, How Ironic, and oh how cruel?

...

Ruby shouldn't have taken it.  She'd seen the thing— A circular plate-like thing with various spheres inserted into it— and it seemed as though it was calling out to her, begging her to take it. Before she realized what was happening, she'd snatched it from Rikku's box while everyone was distracted by Rikku's sudden exit, and scurried into the elevator and then into the Engine room. She couldn't put it back now without admitting that she had stolen it, and she was curious about what is was. She'd return it soon anyway. In the meantime she might as well take a look.

She sighed. "Think of this as practice....." she whispered to herself. "You have to build up to difficult tasks after all." she sighed once more. "Never mind that. Now what is this thing?"

She looked at the plate and the different spheres, each had a button next to them. Under each node there was a title, the word warrior caught Ruby's eyes and she stared at the orange sphere. The thing seemed harmless and yet she was afraid. She took sucked in her breath, and closing her eyes she pressed the button next to the sphere titled warrior.

Suddenly she felt the world fade away from her, she felt as though she was floating.  And then she felt her cloths change, she opened her eyes and looked down as the black leather materialized onto her skin.  On instinct she held out her hands as though grabbing onto something. A moment later a sword materialized into her hands. She nearly dropped it in surprise.

In just a moment she was back in reality, still dressed strangely and holding the broadsword. The leather felt like a bit much, but the sword felt strangely comfortable in her grasp. She playfully spun it around and then swung it at the air, attacking an invisible foe. The longer she practiced with the sword the better she seemed to become. She'd heard of natural warriors, but this seemed surreal.

The bizarre moment was interrupted by a shrill cry. "What are you doing?!"

Ruby jumped and cried out in surprised. She whirled around to see Rikku standing with a scowl and her hands at her hips in anger. She briskly walked forward and grabbed the strange plate out of Ruby's hands. She then gently pressed the button next to warrior seething.

In a moment Ruby was back to normal, and the feeling of comfort was gone.  She also registered that she had been caught stealing. "I...I should explain!" she exclaimed, holding her hands out reassuringly. "You see it..it fell out of your box....and I was going to bring it to you! But I accidentally pressed the button and it did that." That story was believable enough right?

Rikku didn't let up. "You were going to bring it to me by sneaking into the Engine room?" she asked in a low voice, that could barely be heard over the whirring of the Engines. She scowled and took a step closer to Ruby, staring straight into her eyes menacingly and taking her roughly by the shoulders. "I don't who you really are, or what you're doing here, but don't think that I've let my guard down on you." she hissed. "And if you ever, and I mean EVER steal something of Paine's again....I promise you'll wish you never cheated your way into my life. Got it?!"

Ruby gulped and nodded. "Y...yes ma'am." she stuttered. "I...I'm sorry."

Rikku humphed and stomped off, her face bright red. As she watched Rikku leaved Ruby couldn't help but wonder what had just happened. She looked down at her hands, the same hands that had just effortlessly used a broadsword, she cursed under her breath. Rikku was onto her. Things would be fairly difficult from here on out. So many unanswered questions flooded her mind but she pushed them away, her last thoughts on the situation were simple ones: everyone really must have loved Paine, if she was Paine, would she be loved too? She shook her head. "I'm not Paine." she whispered. "I'm Ruby....Ruby...Ruby...Ruby." she muttered, and for once she had never been more saddened to be right.

A/N 0_O The plot is getting thicker! XD Sorry I haven't updated sooner, but hopefully the pure awesomeness of this chapter makes up for it. ;D Anyway I'll hopefully update this sooner rather then later because I am really excited for the next couple of chapters. Sorry for any confusion about the Garment Grid, that was kinda hard to explain since aside form it's use in game-play I don't think they ever explained what a garment grid looks like, so I improvised a bit. ;b Anyway, if ya liked this (or didn't like it) comment and vote and all that goodness. I hope you've enjoyed this, stay tuned for more Final Fantasy goodness. Love y'all -Reibun