She stooped to grab her wares once more. "When you get to be as old as I am, the perception tends to go along with the eyesight." She started towards the door that led to the interior of the ship. "You just begin to recognize the things that have always gone on right in front of your eyes. Enjoy your trip, young man."

            He pulled the door open, propping it ajar with his back and taking her basket for her. She gave him another smile and pinched his cheek. "Why, thank you. Such a nice boy. Too bad I'm not about forty years younger!" She took her pottery from him and walked away laughing wholeheartedly, leaving Baralai standing there against the door…not sure whether to be flattered or disturbed.

            Dismissing the matter with a shrug, he went back outside. It was now several hours past noon, so the sweltering heat that had kept him sequestered to the shade had diminished significantly. He found a comfortable-looking spot near some of the ship's rigging and sat down, crossing his legs.

            Baralai propped his chin on his hands and his elbows on his knees and just stared out at the white ripples of wake that the ship was sending out on its starboard side. Nothing's even really happened between us yet, and she's already changing me. He had never been one to wear his heart on his sleeve in the past, always keeping his emotions closely guarded. He gave a wry smile to nobody in particular. From what little he'd seen of Paine over the last few months, she seemed to have gone in the opposite direction of his own transformation.

            She had, of course, had a mysterious nature back in the days with the squad—that was probably one of the qualities that had drawn him to her—but they could almost always tell what she was feeling at any given time. Now…he thought of her eyes, how they had been a swirl of a million emotions and still empty. Would there be any reason for this trip other than to clear his heart from these pent-up emotions?

            Maybe not…but he at least owed it to her, to someone whom he'd considered a close friend all of these years, to tell her what he'd been harboring for so long. If nothing else, he would know that he had tried.

            And there would be no more "what ifs." That was a comfort.

            The first sound to hit her ears was the musical chirping of some exotic bird. Yawning, Paine awoke to the soft fibers of a thickly woven blanket pressed against one cheek, with sunlight streaming in from the doorway to warm the other. She sat up, feeling fully rested for the first time since the whole ordeal had started several months before. She extended both arms out to her sides, enjoying the feeling of elongated muscles and stretching tendons.

            She walked to the entrance of the hut and pulled the reed tapestry over the opening before changing out of the plain cotton shift that Lulu had lent her to sleep in, saying she didn't want the sheets ruined by catching on any of Paine's buckles. She smiled at the thought. Considering the older woman's usual choice of attire, she supposed that she knew what she was talking about.

            Pulling on the two elbow-length gloves, she ventured out into the village square. From what she could tell of the sun's position, she had overslept for quite a while. When she saw how beautiful the day looked, she wanted to chastise herself for her disappointment in wasting valuable working time.

            "Hey there, sleepyhead!" Hmm…annoying voice, lack of respect…Yeah, she definitely knew who was standing there even before she turned around to face her.

            "Really. Rikku, when did you wake up?"