(Authors Note: Whoa, I am so late. Deepest apologies.)

The StarSong was truly an incredible ship. While not especially large, when compared to the cruisers and pleasure yachts that cluttered the Travel-lines, it had more than ample space for the four occupants, as well as a few hidden surprises.

One such surprise was an excercise/sparring room. It had a transparent glass roof, over which was a 3D imager, which could make the 'sky' appear to be any time, and under any conditions. Paine was especially intrigued by this feature because it allowed her to practice staying focused among a changing environment...something she had learned the value of on the squallid surface of the Dead Planet.

The Sparring Room didn't boast many weapons (as she would expect from someone as aggressively pacifistic as chaos), but it held enough to give a good feel for a variety of types. Being more used to a far-reaching weapon, Paine had chosen a long staff, three inches taller than she was. She set the mode of the Atmospheric Emulator onto 'Random'. As she practiced a few warm up moves, spinning the staff between her hands, the sky looked like a generic foggy day, the sun was hidden behind a thick blanket of gray, but it was still light enough to see well.

The clouds moved over as an artificial wind picked up, and Paine began a more intricate pattern, getting lost in the dance, the rythm of movement and the absolute control of muscles and joints. She spun the staff rapidly and tossed it in the air, momentarily watching it rotating in the air before it began it's descent and she grabbed it in mid-arc. She leapt up herself, thrusting the staff down, and using it to vault herself over, pausing only a moment to balance herself on the narrow end. As she landed, slightly harder than she had meant to, she was are of something whistling towards her. Without seeing the possible assailant, she bent her body over sideways. A blur passed before her eyes as she brought up her stick in defense. It shouldn't have surprised her, but it did, and for a moment she coudln't stop the look of being caught unawares from her face. Above, the clouds had moved off and the sun had begun to shine, illuminating a face, marked by an old scar, and shadowing eyes that betrayed many more. Immediately, Paine dropped her defensive guard and backed away to show she wasn't interested in playing.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded. Leon twirled his matching staff easily, making no other movement and looking as if he was right at home.

"chaos told me I might be interested in this part of the ship," Leon answered, much sooner than Paine had expected as he scanned the room, "and he was right, this is quite something."

A white puffy cloud momentarily passed over the sun, darkening the room for a second and a half before moving along its merry way. Paine couldn't tell if he was goading her or if his intentions were purely innocent. However, given her experiences with him before, she guessed there was something hidden behind his disinterested expression. He was facing her but he wasn't looking directly at her as he seemed to take great interest in the weapons wall and one of the mats. It wasn't until she noticed a muscle in his jaw twitch has he stared intently at an air vent that she realized what was going on.

He wants me to attack him.

Why he would want her to instigate a battle was beyond her comprehension, but as much as she'd love to take the oppurtunity to vent her frustrations on his face, she felt that she had played into his hands enough for one day. She'd not give him the satisfaction of reacting as he wanted her to, as he expected her to. Instead, she sauntered around him, not showing him her back and keeping him in her sights.
"So are you going to tell me why you're staying?" she asked, as casually as possible.
"Hadn't planned on it, no," he replied, an unusually long-winded answer for him. She whisked her staff around, noticing the way he followed it with his eyes, obviously alert.

"What'd you do with my ship?" he asked, matching her steps as if they were doing some kind of non-physical dance. Paine shrugged.
"I left Rinoa with Cid and Yuffie," she answered, frowning as she noticed him flinch, some old pain surfacing in his eyes, though he masked it immediately.

The weather changed to a light snow fall, and to match the holographic images, the temperature in the room dropped to a chilly degree, makinmg Paine's hair stick up more so than usual. She made a slow arc, staring at her staff as she tilted it back and forth.

"What kind of name is that anyway? A person?"

"Yes."

Paine almost dropped her staff in mid-pattern, Leon's voice took her so by surprse. Now her interest was more than piqued if she had only just gotten a taste of the layers of emotion that one word betrayed. It did occur to her that this was undoubtedly a subject he did not want pressed and she was prying into someone else's business, a trait she had frequently chided others for. Unfortunately, for Leon, Paine knew his buttons and how to get what she wanted, how to make him lose control.

She turned her back to him, as if she was going to leave, then suddenly reverse-thrust her staff, so that the end hurtled right for his face. He dodge, but just in time, and he could feel the smooth grain of thte metallic-wood alloy rub against his skin. He countered with a swinging hook, aimed at her head. She bent herself in half, using the momentum to start off a spin-kick which connected with Leon's midsection, who-in midswing- did not have good balance and so he staggered a few steps backwards. She straightened as she asked:

"So who was she?"

In answer, Leon snarled, blue fiery eyes blazing, and lunged forward, bringing the staff straight down with a force that could shatter her shoulder. She brought up her staff, and blocked it but the force was still enough to turn her arm muscles to jello. He tried to push her down, imposing his superior strength upon her. Their faces were only a few centimeters apart, and she could feel the heat of his wrath emanating off his skin. The nerve had quite obviously been struck. To accentuate this, a storm had been created, flashes of 'lightning' and the sound of pounding rain adding a dramatic effect to the duel. Every few minutes, there would be another blinding light slashing through the air, but that didn't stop either of them. If this kept up, he would have her bent over backwards and she wouldn't allow that. Instead, she gave a sardonic smile and asked, "Another ward, like that wench with the pleasure ship?"

Her gamble worked, his emotions got in the way and he lost focus for a moment, which she used to slide out from under his weapon. What she hadn't expected was how fast he would recover his vaunted self-control. As her side was exposed he lashed out with the narrow end of his staff and jabbed it hard into her ribs with enough backing that had she been able to think past the pain of the moment, she'd know it would leave quite a bruise. She lost her balance and rolled, trying to get away from any follow up attack. Each breath was a wave of agonized difficulty, and Paine struggled to regain herself. She had just opened her eyes when she felt a heavy weight on her chest. She tilted her head back, when she felt the hard wood push against her esophagus, forcing her head against the floor. Leon had one knee on her torso, keeping her from moving, sometimes even from breathing. She tried to struggle, but he just pressed down harder until she stopped moving altogether, her eyes closed and mouth open as she tried to breathe. he leaned over her so that she could feel his heavy breathing through her hair. She was almost afraid to open her eyes again, afraid she'd see the murder, yet at the same time, a small part of her cheered that she'd been right all along. Finally, she did, but only because she had reached the point where if she didn't get more oxygen she would pass out, and her eyes sought his. The holographic storm abated, though the sky stayed darkened, a rolling mass of oblivion. He saw the pain she was in, but for a moment, his expression stayed hard as diamond, eyes glittering black and mouth held back in a low growl. Then slowly as she gasped mutely, he leaned back,easing his weight off his knee, letting a bit more air get into her lungs. As she sucked in air (but quietly, because she had her pride), he looked away, his gaze going somewhere off into the distance. She raised her head a bit as he pulled the staff away from her neck, and looked at him, as he hadn't fully gotten off of her yet. He looked back at her without turning his head, just glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Rinoa...was my wife."

Leon stood up, and Paine propped herself up on her elbows, wanting to say something, but no words would come. He stood over her for a moment, his outline blocking out the light had begun to shine through the holo-vid window, so his face was shadowed in silloutte. Then he slowly turned and walked away. Paine stayed where she was, unable to move, and not just from the still stabbing pain in her side.

She finally made her way to her room where she pulled an ice pack from a storage bin. She sat on the end of her bed and pressed it against her side, flinching from the new painful sensations. She didn't know why this new knowledge surprised her, perhaps because she didn't believe Leon was capable of such length of emotion necessary for such a relationship. She asked herself if it changed anything. Technically, no, it didn't. But then she would remember...the pain and regret she heard in his voice could only mean one thing: he had lost her, she had been forcefully stolen from him. She had to have died. And Paine could understand what that would do to a person, the way their whole universe would be changed. So in that way...it changed everything.