A cool evening breeze danced across the sky bringing a feeling of light-heartedness to the twilight. The breeze mixed with the resounding buzz of people's drunken laughter gave Bevelle's city scene just the atmosphere of happiness and joy that usually accompanies victory parties of these sorts.

Except the feeling didn't reach one solitary soul.

Paine leaned into one of the darker shadows of the massive stonewall outside the main hall of Bevelle's temple. The draft ruffled her silvery hair, the physical feeling was the only emotion that touched the woman as the stared down into the golden glow of Bevelle's enormous sprawling expanse. Mere weeks had passed since the world of Spira had once again drastically changed forming new factions and rekindling old friendships. Rekindling, pah, Paine sarcastically harrumphed in her mind as she thought of how distant all of her "friends" had suddenly become. Gippal, now free from the task of trying to intermediate between Baralai and Nooj, had redoubled his efforts at digging up Spira's past in Sanubia's desert. The last Paine had heard (from Rikku who was joining her clan in the effort) was that some very promising ancient machina had been discovered in the Calm Lands and propositions were being put forward to start an excavation to evaluate the site. Paine "pah'ed" again under her breath. It would only be a matter of time before that too would become a tourist attraction.

Her thoughts turned to some of her other friends. Yuna wanted to travel again, but this time without unwelcome company (although the former summoner would never be so rude as to verbally imply that—it was an unspoken agreement that she would be reliving her pilgrimage from two years ago with her beau to find closure from the experiences before.) There were many souls and memories to be remembered, or so the summoner said.

But Paine had no wish to delve into the likes of the past. It was better to let it rest and just be. The recent episode with the revengeful spirit of Shuyin reaffirmed this already deeply rooted belief. Even Sin was merely a product of a mindset stuck in the mistakes of generations past. With the evidence so obvious to her eyes, Paine just didn't see the need to go poking around in painful places.

A sudden high-pitched squeal floated through the tall doors a few yards from where Paine leaned. Inside the hall soft candlelight illuminated mingling people, some speaking to each other for the first time in years, people dancing to the music provided by the now quite popular Macalania Woods group, people feasting on foods prepared from all over Spira, and of course, LeBlanc practically hanging from the arm of Nooj. The squeal had come from her, just as Paine had suspected and a sharp annoyance filled the bottom of her stomach. Obviously Nooj had just said something, which LeBlanc found overly amusing. Paine felt her teeth grinding just a tad too tightly as she coolly regarded the couple, so she diverted her gaze back to the serenity of the cityscape.

Suddenly at her side a shadow detached itself from the wall and the form of Baralai with his white-blonde mane and deep brown eyes accompanied Paine. "It is certainly a beautiful evening," he remarked in greeting.

"I have a hard time picking out beauty in a place shrouded in deceit and lies," she replied.

"Touché dear Paine, who was ever the eternal pessimist," Baralai returned with a shadow of a smile.

"You say that as if you knew me long ago," Paine noticed.

"You have become very distant as of late. I must admit, some of the others worry…"

"It is not I who am distant," Paine cut the former Praetor off. "Everyone else is leaving. Again. Yuna and Tidus, Gippal and Rikku, Yevon only knows where Nooj keeps himself these days. And you…"

"Are right here," Baralai finished with a grin. He gazed into the open doorway where Nooj and LeBlanc talked with a group of former New Yevonists, oh how times had changed. It seemed quite obvious from the possessive grip LeBlanc had latched around Nooj's muscular arm just where and with whom he had mysteriously located the past weeks.

Paine followed his gaze then quickly averted her eyes—a gesture that did not go unnoticed by Baralai. "What are you doing with yourself these new days?" Paine asked, quick to be on another subject before a touchier one could be pushed. "I've heard many conflicting rumors."

Baralai smiled. "Let me guess," he said tilting his head back and tucking his hands behind his neck. "Secretly organizing another faction of Yevon to boost my bruised ego? Making a pilgrimage to all the hidden temples to become possessed by more vengeful spirits? Or perhaps I am plotting to sabotage Gippal's excavation sites in an effort to discontinue the furthering of our knowledge of the past so that I can cover up all of my dirty little secrets."

Despite her nonchalant mood, Paine outright laughed. It was true; she had heard every single one of the suggested tales. To be quite honest, she wasn't really sure whether to believe them or not. She had always known that Baralai's polished exterior was simply a reflective mirror, and that deceptions lay underneath all of the former Praetor's liquid words. Yet in her travels and through learning of her own past, Paine had begun to worry about her friend's true nature. Even when Shuyin's presence wasn't lurking behind Baralai's hazel gaze he still halfway explained things, made vague references. What was he trying to hide?

"To be quite honest, I am still undecided on the subject myself. The people do not trust me anymore, so I don't want to present myself as a leader of any kind. I suppose I will do scribing work of some sort, I am just not sure where. I have decided it best to stay away from the temples for a while."

Paine nodded in understanding. The pair stood in a comfortable silence a few moments more, enjoying the evening quiet while the party raged on behind them.

"PAINE!"

A bubbling Al Bhed racing down the paved walkway to where the pair stood shattered the momentary serenity. "Paine!" Rikku squealed, "I've been looking all over for you! Yuna wants all of us to get together for a sphere recording! I guess she wants to have something to remind her of us while she's gone…Oh, good evening Praetor Baralai." Rikku halfway dipped into an awkward bow as her attention was drawn to the man concealed in the shadows of the wall.

"Please, Lady Rikku, it is only Baralai now. I am now longer affiliated with the temples." Baralai returned her bow with much more grace.

Rikku giggled nervously, not being used to such proper conduct, she was unsure how to act around the done up man. "I'm no lady, just Rikku please," she replied. She turned back to Paine, "So are you coming?"

"Why doesn't she just take us if she's going to miss us so badly?" Paine asked stiffly not moving from her guarded position.

"Now Paine, that's not being very fair," Baralai smoothly interjected when Rikku face dropped in bafflement and bewilderment at her friend's cool indifference. "Obviously she wants time to become reacquainted with her, ah, friend."

"Yeah, Paine, don't be such a meanie," Rikku snapped out of her shock and grabbed one of Paine's folded arms. She suddenly stopped and gave Paine a mischievous grin. "You aren't sphere-shy are you?" she asked mockingly. Paine snorted and Rikku laughed. "I knew it!" she exclaimed grabbing Paine's arm and giving her a mighty yank. "Come on you sissy let's go. I promise I won't let the big bad sphere eat your soul!"

Baralai chuckled and dipped his head toward Paine. "Your public awaits," he said with a smile. He hesitated—surprising Paine with the gesture, for Baralai was not a man to hesitate—and raised his hand in farewell. "Take care Paine, perhaps our paths will cross again."

A tightness filled Paine's chest. Was it possible that this was the last time she would glimpse the face of the man she once called friend? A knot arose in her throat—she had such a hard time with goodbyes—so she simply nodded at Baralai and quickly turned toward the building keeping a calm face and a cool demeanor as she strode in to "enjoy" the rest of the party while Rikku skipped along beside her.

"Spira to Paine, come in Paine!" Rikku waved a hand before the distracted warrior's face snapping her fingers and nearly poking Paine in the eyes.

"Stop that," Paine grabbed a hold of Rikku's arm and deflected the almost blinding blow.

"Oops," Rikku pulled back her hand. "Sorry, guess I'm kinda clumsy."

"Well that's nothing new," Paine retorted.

Rikku didn't seem phased by her former fellow Gullwing's insult. "So, Yuna and I were wondering Paine, you've been pretty much keeping to yourself the last few weeks, well, you always did keep to yourself so I guess it's kinda pointless to mention that…he he," Rikku chuckled sheepishly at Paine's bored look. "What I'm trying to ask, I mean what Yuna and I are trying to ask, as one sphere-hunter to another, or better yet, as one friend to another…"

"Is there a point to this babbling?" Paine cut in.

Rikku took on an uncharacteristically serious expression. "Paine, are you alright?" When Paine raised her brows in question, Rikku continued, "It's just that you've been, well, short with everyone these days, well, more than you normally are anyway. Yuna and I thought that you would be happy with the truth of your past revealed and resolved, but lately you've become closed off from everyone around you."

Paine didn't have a chance to respond. Suddenly a thick tanned arm was thrown around her shoulder and a body was pressed between her and Rikku. "Hey girls, picture time!" a staggering Gippal slurred out as he sagged in between Rikku and Paine's combined efforts to keep him up.

"Ha Ha!" a boisterous laugh materialized along with the form of the happy-go-lucky Tidus holding a spherecorder in his hand. "This is definitely a keeper!" he grinned as he recorded Gippal in his drunken stupor.

Ever since Tidus had been introduced to the top Al Bhed technician the two had become fast friends. Paine could see why. They both had a very relaxed and easy demeanor. They could turn any uncomfortable situation into a moment of laughter and easiness with the blink of an eye.

Gippal tried to raise himself onto both legs, but failed and drooped to the ground causing Rikku and Paine to lean with him. Paine rolled her eyes. Another thing the pair shared was a tendency to be overly annoying in any given situation. Like obviously trying to out-drink each other with the variety of cocktails floating throughout the sea of people.

"You guys!" another voice now joined the group from Paine's right and she titled her head, leaning forward so as to see around the bulk of Gippal's desert gear, to observe Yuna approaching with a spherecorder also in hand. "Tidus," she came beside the former guardian and placed both hands on her hips. "Have you gotten Gippal drunk again?" the disapproval in her voice was apparent.

"Come on Yuna, I swear he did it of his own free will," Tidus smiled nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"Really?" Yuna eyed him.

"Yeah, so maybe he thought we were in a little competition and that I was drinking also, but…" Tidus trailed off sheepishly looking down into Yuna's peeved expression. "Oh come on Yuna, now this is quality entertainment," he spread his arms dramatically at the figure of Gippal who was starting to drool.

"Oh my," Yuna commented and stepped back from the pile that had already accumulated on the floor before her feet. She covered her mouth to suppress a giggle. Turning forlornly back she declared, "Tidus, since you are responsible for his condition, you should take him back to his room. Any puking or whatnot will be your responsibility."

"Yes ma'am," Tidus mock-saluted. "Say, when did you become so authoritative?" he asked looking at her suspiciously.

"When you decided to act like a seven-year-old," she replied with a twinkle of mischief in her eye. "And, because you are responsible for Gippal's condition, you will also be responsible for explaining to Cid why his lead technician will be unable to perform his duties aboard the airship in the morning due to the massive overhang I'm pretty sure he will accumulate."

Tidus paled at the mention of the Al Bhed leader. "But, why do I have to tell Cid? He already doesn't like me, and I can't see how this will help."

But Yuna had already turned away from the golden-haired man and was watching her two friends; Rikku with one hand wrapped around Gippal's middle and the other clamped firmly over her mouth while crinkled eyes revealed the laughter she was trying to hide, and Paine…

Yuna frowned inwardly at Paine's obvious disinterest. Of course she was used to the cool demeanor her friend used when speaking to anyone, but this expression of pure…boredom, as if she wanted to be anywhere else except surrounded by the people she was currently enshrouded with, well, that was simply…rude.

Yuna shook her head. She was beginning to understand more and more just how resistant to change Paine really was. Back when they were still sphere hunters, the former summoner had compared the compassionate, almost open Paine that she saw in the sphere recordings to the silent stoic warrior steadily gazing out the window of the airship. At first she was confused by the personality change, but now it somewhat made sense. Paine couldn't handle the pain of being separated from her friends in the aftermath of the defeat of Sin and had withdrawn from the world around her. It appeared that she was now doing the same with the people around her. Yuna didn't understand why however, it wasn't as though they never expected to see each other again.

The smell of death clung to the air as a young Paine crept through the debris left in the wake of Sin. It was the first time the monster had ever attacked Luca, and only a small portion of the coast was affected: the portion where a seven-year-old Paine and her sister lived. She scanned the overcast beach and finally located the spot where her house used to occupy. Wooden beams and pieces of thatched roofs littered the ground as she tentatively stepped toward the mess. Remnants of her life were scattered all along the shoreline: pots and pans, broken dishes, old dolls, and pieces of her bed. She barely noticed the zombie-like expressions of the people around her as they haggardly dug through the ruins. Pyreflies floated in a massive cloud just above the wreckage, but Paine didn't look up at them. She was afraid of what she might see if she did.

She stopped short at the central wooden beam, connecting all of the houses together. It was toppled and broken in several places. Paine closed her eyes and took a slow, painful breath as the echo of a distant scream floated through the air. Mere hours ago this unearthly plea for life had been wrenched from the throat of her four-year-old sister, Sacrifice. Paine recalled the moment of her sister's demise, she was just beyond the girl's reach. Sin's power pushed over heavy objects like feathers. She had stretched out with her own too-small hand, but was still yards away from saving her sister's life. She could only watch from her sprawled position as the beam groaned, gave way, and slowly started tilting before gaining speed and hitting the ground with a great earthquake. She could only watch the terror surge through her little sister's beautiful blue-gray eyes as her last breath was stolen from her tiny body in a heartrending shriek. The beam crushed her body on impact.

Paine found a tiny hand reaching from beneath the pole, reaching toward the sister that could not save her, the sister who left her in her direst need, just as their parents had left them a year before. She sank to her knees and shed the first and only tears that would ever grace her cheeks in the entire span of her life as she stroked the lifeless hand.

Paine awoke gasping and sputtering. She was cold, very cold according to the coat of gooseflesh that encumbered her arms. She sat up from her bed in the massive chambers of Bevelle's mansion. It was Yuna's house, although the summoner hadn't lived there since she was taken to Besaid as a young child with the Ronso warrior Kimarhi. She drew the feathered comforters close to her chin and sat silently in the dark. Why had she woken so abruptly? Why was her breath so short and her heart running laps through her chest cavity? She had been dreaming, first of adventures with the Crimson Squad, normal and preferable, and then of her days as an orphan roaming Luca's streets, invisible to everyone, unusual and not very preferable at all. She didn't like thinking back on her joyless childhood days, but what memory could possibly spark this surge of emotion? She touched her cheek and expected to find tears trailing them, but found none. Of course. She never cried. Even being an unloved invisible child lost amidst the scramble of city life in Luca, she never shed one tear. Instead she persevered. And survived.

Paine shook her head and stood up letting the comforter slip off her shoulders. The goose bumps were already fading and her breathing was regulating itself. Obviously she just had a nightmare of some sorts. The last few months certainly had been quite an ordeal, for any person. Stoic as she was, she was still entitled to feel fatigued, right?

Something about the situation agitated the edge of Paine's mind, but she was groggy and in no mood to try and force herself to examine emotions that didn't exist. Instead, she decided to step outside and let the fresh air clear her senses. She exited the room and drifted down the hall absorbing the quiet of the house in comparison to the earlier din of the festivities in the ballroom.

She navigated through the labyrinth of halls with the ease of someone experienced to maneuvering them, when in fact, she had only been shown to her room once. Her friends had been correct in appointing her their "ship's" navigator—her sense of direction was excellent.

She opened an obscure door hidden behind the turn of a staircase, the gardener's entrance to the estate's gardens. The upkeep had only been minimally seen to, which explained its overgrown condition. Paine didn't mind, however. It reminded her of a secret wilderness retreat. She strolled through the cobblestone pathways overrun with wildflowers and lush grass growing between the cracks. The trees, not having been shaped in quite some time extended every which way reaching toward the starry night sky and the silver sphere of the moon.

Paine halted her trek and watched the sky. Faint wisps of clouds stained its velvet surface giving it the appearance of marble. "Lovely evening," a voice suddenly appeared at her side.

Nooj.

Paine glanced sidelong at the erect figure. "Couldn't sleep?" she asked him coyly.

"Could you?" he responded easily.

"No," Paine admitted and was silent.

The quiet extended a few moments more before Nooj offered, "The Lady Yuna suggested that I keep a room in the mansion until the morning when I leave."

"For where?" Paine couldn't help asking.

"Mushroom Rock."

"Ah," was Paine's monosyllabic reply.

"I didn't see you during the party," Nooj said after another lilt in the conversation.

"I didn't know you were looking," Paine responded.

Nooj smiled. "Why do like being invisible?" he asked.

"Why do you seek your death?"

"Sought," Nooj corrected looking off into the sleeping flowers. "I have learned the value of life just recently."

"And who, may I ask, was your tutor?" Paine asked, a tightness filling her chest. She didn't want to hear the answer.

Perhaps sensing her thoughts, Nooj merely gave a ghost of a grin and changed the subject. "Are you going to carry on with your sphere hunts?"

"No, I found the truths that I sought," she replied.

"Really?" Nooj asked doubtfully. "Yes, you certainly seem to be one with all of the answers—concealing your true nature from the whole world."

"And what would you know about my true nature?" Paine asked shortly.

"Nothing." Nooj's features softened. "Paine, there is some great despair deep within you…I wish I could help you heal it. I've never had siblings, but I suppose I wish to protect you the way an older brother might…"

"You are not my brother," Paine fairly snarled taken aback by the sting she felt from the comment.

Nooj merely chuckled. "No, I hardly qualify for anyone's familial status."

"I didn't mean that," Paine said softly lowering her head, a twinge of guilt working its way up from her stomach.

She sighed and raised her eyes to the heavens. "There was a time when I…well I was fond of you," she admitted.

"Yes, I know," Nooj answered softly.

"I knew who you were from the first day we met, and I wanted to reach you somehow. I felt like…like I had something to atone for. Like if I could save you it would be like saving another's life…" Paine chuckled. "Now I sound just like Rikku, babbling on like this."

Nooj placed a comforting hand on Paine's shoulder. She felt support in the touch but could not absorb it. "But I couldn't save you," she proclaimed, the realization dawning on her for the first time. "You were unreachable."

"I learned to save myself, just as you must do the same." Nooj looked Paine squarely in the eyes, but she couldn't hold his gaze. Instead she looked at the cobblestones as he continued, "Perhaps you felt drawn to me because we are similar. Both of us sought death, me physically, you emotionally. I had to learn to find strength within myself."

"But you didn't do it alone, you had someone there to help you."

"True," Nooj acknowledged.

"LeBlanc." It was the first time the woman's name had been mentioned between the two and the air crackled with the tension. Nooj didn't reply.

Another silence wove its way between the pair, but this absence of sound was pregnant with awkwardness. Paine lowered her gaze to her feet and Nooj followed suit. "Ah! What's this?" he asked gingerly leaning down while balancing his weight on his cane and carefully picking one of the flowers from his feet. The stalk was blue tinged and the petals were brilliantly white, almost crystalline in appearance and arranged in an overlapping manner so that you could only just glimpse the pollinated pale yellow center. "This flower is not from here, in fact, the only place I've ever seen a flower like this was on Mount Gagazet."

"I don't recall seeing any flowers," Paine had briefly explored the mountain peaks with Yuna and Rikku in their search for treasure spheres.

"They grow in a secluded areas that I discovered while training atop the peak before my Crimson Squad days. There were many places with the flowers that I often went to when in need of peace. You know, to clear my mind and listen to my thoughts."

Paine smirked. "Sounds like paradise," she replied.

"Yes, I made many important decisions atop that mountain. In fact…" he regarded Paine cautiously and then continued, "It would probably be the perfect place for someone who has lost their path. I'm not so sure how the Ronso are nowadays however, when I was younger they didn't mind youths coming to strengthen their bodies, but I hear they've become more protective of their territory as of late."

Paine didn't reply, mostly out of pride. After all, this was the man who had just somewhat rejected her feelings for him (even if they were feelings for a different broken man from almost three years ago), and she didn't really want him to see that she was even considering his suggestion.

But she had to admit, the thought was certainly alluring. She wasn't completely certain what it was that she wanted from life now, but the mere thought of the luxury of solitude left her with an unaccustomed anticipation.

"I am tired now," she suddenly declared, and the pair bid each other farewell before going their separate ways. Crawling back into her bed, Paine's mind was whirling through a steady onslaught of possibilities; every single thought singled on one subject:

Mount Gagazet.