"I can't believe there were that many spheres here!" Rikku exclaimed

as the Gullwings trekked back to the Celsius with an arm full of

Spheres they'd found. With the extra Gullwings they'd been able to

find so many more spheres than usual. Still it was a little more

tiring than before...but it was worth it by far.

            "Yeah..." Yuna agreed "I hope Paine is feeling alright..." She frowned

and looked up at Tidus "You said she had a fever right?"

Tidus nodded "yup, she didn't look too good. But she'll be fine. She's

a warrior after all! I mean she's tougher than Auron!" Tidus said

reassuringly.

            Yuna frowned unconvinced. "But Auron died..." Yuna mumbled to herself

when Tidus wasn't listening. Paine may seem to be tough as nails but

really she was pretty fragile on the inside. She was strong no doubt

about it...but she certainly wasn't as tough as she put on....

And she'd been acting so strange lately. Yuna couldn't shake the

feeling that something was wrong.

            "I think one of us should check on her." Yuna said nervously when they

entered the Airship.

            "I'll do it." Cali exclaimed and she weaved and dodged the others to

get up the stairs and to the elevator.

            'The ship sure is crowded now that we have nine Gullwings instead of

six' Yuna thought to herself. She'd begun to wonder if this is really

what she wanted to do with her life.....maybe she could talk Tidus

into settling down with her in Besaid.

            Her thoughts were interrupted by Calie coming back a minute later her

skin as pale as the snow on Mt. Gagazet. "Sh...Sh...She's not here."

Calie whispered almost to herself.

            "What?!" In seconds Rikku was in the elevator and Calie was on the floor having

been ungracefully pushed aside.

            Yuna just collapsed. She knew what had happened right away, Paine was

gone. She'd pretended to be sick and ran away...and chances were she

wasn't coming back. wasn't coming back.

A/N Hey guys, sorry I meant to post this chapter yesterday but I got sidetracked. (Does this happen often? Increasingly...........today. lol ((Bonus points if you can tell me what movie that is from)) Anyway I am sorry these chapters are so short! I'm trying to make the later chapters a little longer (I've already written the first few chapters.) Anyway stay tuned for the next chapter and I hope you are enjoying the story so far love y'all - Reibun