I'm one of those rare breeds in the Final Fantasy fandom: I write serious stories for FFX-2, and I'm mighty proud of them. I admit that there isn't much to take seriously in that game, but that's why we should acknowledge and respect what little there is. Case in point: the relationships between Nooj and Paine, and Nooj and Leblanc. Which one is the romantic one is the topic of very unnecessary debate. Canon answers this question quite clearly.

There is absolutely nothing romantic between Nooj and Leblanc. Furthermore, Leblanc is not some tragic romantic figure, she's the game's comedy relief, along with her goons. Her thing for Nooj is a running gag, like Brother's crush on Yuna. Leblanc fans are taking things way too seriously. Think about it: This is a character totally devoid of depth, development, and back story. She just suddenly appears in Spira with an army of faceless followers to provide a few laughs during tense situations.

In their only one scene together in the entire game, Nooj treats Leblanc indifferently. All he cares about is Vegnagun. Her housewife act doesn't faze him. Some fans wonder why Nooj asked Leblanc to fetch him a sphere in the first place, but it really doesn't matter, because after Ch. 2 he never visits her again.

And he never mentions her at all until Gippal brings her up at the end of Ch. 4. Leblanc fans like to make a big deal out of Nooj's reply being cut off. But the line "well, she" isn't all that mysterious. It's an indifferent response, like a shrug. And note the long pause before Nooj speaks, like he has to think about his answer. He never gave Leblanc any thought before. (In the Japanese version of X-2, Nooj's line is "aitsu ha," aitsu being a term that conveys disgust, contempt, etc.)

And the sphere Nooj leaves Leblanc isn't anything special either. It very authoritatively told her to go back and wait for his return when there wasn't going to be one. Nooj planned on killing himself to destroy Shuyin. He didn't want Leblanc interfering in his affairs.

But Leblanc doesn't obey orders, leading to Nooj's disgusted tone of voice when she arrives at Vegnagun. He's clearly unpleasantly surprised. Leblanc says something characteristically selfish; Nooj -- along with Yuna, Rikku, and Paine -- shakes his head sadly.

Leblanc follows Nooj around during the final battles, but he never acknowledges her existence.

The Nooj/Paine relationship is a different story. These are two characters who behave in a way typical of romances in FFX and X-2. They're very emotional around each other. They speak to and about each other in gentle tones. They show concern and affection for each other that surpasses what they show to other characters.

The game itself emphasizes their relationship over Baralai and Gippal. When Gippal recognizes Paine, she reacts casually and Yuna and Rikku take no notice. Baralai doesn't even acknowledge her until we fight him late in Ch. 2. But at the slightest emotional display from Nooj at the Den of Woe, regardless of what scene you got, Yuna and Rikku jump all over it. And Paine never denies their accusations.

Rikku: "C'mon, there was something between you two, right?"
Paine: ... "Who cares what happened in the past?"
Yuna: "There WAS something!"

In the Youth League version of that scene, Nooj hits on Paine (the famous "Perhaps this is fate"). But of course she blows him off because of the shooting.

In the New Yevon scene, when Nooj dismisses the Gullwings as "kids playing pirates," Rikku gets mad and starts to approach him, but Paine stops her. Paine's defense of Nooj is unusual at the time, since her connection to him is not yet apparent.

Paine defends Nooj again, twice, during the scenes in the Bevelle Underground in Ch. 3. First she stops Baralai from shooting him. In the interest of her safety, Nooj shouts, "Paine! Get out of here!" He's too late, as a fiend sneaks up on the girls. After the battle, Paine admits that Nooj had shot her two years ago, but quickly adds, "It was an accident. At least that's how I see it."

Nooj doesn't forget Paine later on. He gives her Crimson Sphere 2 through Yuna at the end of Ch. 3.

After clearing the Den of Woe in Ch. 5, Paine finally sees that it was Shuyin who made Nooj shoot her and their friends. Yuna says of Nooj, "Let's go find him, Paine." And Paine replies with much resolve and eagerness, "Agreed. We've got to free him from Shuyin." But then Rikku reminds them both that Shuyin is using Baralai now. Paine gets disappointed. Listen to her inflection when she says, "I guess it's Baralai we're saving, then."

The revelation that Nooj was the owner of Paine's Sphere near the game's end is no small hint. Gippal explains that Nooj found it in Paine's sphere camera two years ago. He kept it ever since, like a treasure. The sphere deals with Paine's dream of flying an airship. She shyly nominates him as captain.

When Vegnagun starts up and the characters get ready to fight it, we get brief glimpses of them in three groups: Leblanc, her goons, and Gippal (the comedy relief); Yuna and Rikku (the only characters from FFX); and Nooj and Paine, standing side by side.

And as Nooj goes off to fight Vegnagun with Gippal, he tells Paine very softly that he'll see her later. The scene is emphasized with a dramatic closeup of Paine, who nods understandingly.

During a later segment of the fight, Nooj gives Paine a word of encouragement as she leads her friends into battle.

There's another thing to note about the Den scene in Ch. 2. In giving Paine a Crimson Sphere, Nooj shows a connection between him, her, and the Den of Woe. He becomes the catalyst for the revelation of Paine's past. This is fitting, because most of her interaction in those spheres was with him. And he shows a change in attitude towards her that is very revealing.

In Sphere 2, we see that Paine had crush on Nooj two years ago. She stops his suicide attempt, then tries to reach out to him. She was the only one who knew about his death wish. To everyone else he was Nooj the great Crusader, a legend of sorts; to her he was a man trapped in a shell and she wanted to break it. Initially Nooj shuts her out, like he does everyone else.

Then in Sphere 4, there is a brief closeup of Nooj in Paine's recording, before everyone enters the Den of Woe. Obviously the two spoke to each other. Inside, Paine stays beside Nooj while Baralai and Gippal walk off. Nooj gives Paine a look, like he's watching over her.

Sphere 8 shows Paine approaching Nooj. His first words at seeing her are "I'm glad you're all right." He sounds happy and relieved. Paine, using that same tone of voice she always uses with him, teases him a bit, to which Nooj responds in kind (She: "I kept you from dying." He: "You can owe me one."). When the guys agree to disband, Nooj turns to Paine, smiles, and affectionately asks her to stop recording. He reaches out and ruffles her hair. Paine giggles.

Judging by their behavior, at some point they became much more than friends.

There are two more things I'd like to point out. One is that in Ch. 4, Paine figures out Lenne's message to Shuyin: "The man she loved, he struggled to save her. He fought till his very last breath for her. I think that Lenne's final words might have been happy ones: 'I love you.'" She knew what it was like to have loved and lost.

In Ch. 5, after Yuna's speech at Vegnagun, Nooj calls love "the ultimate illusion." He wouldn't be so skeptical about love if he hadn't experienced it before (and seen it end tragically).

Nooj and Paine don't get together at the end of FFX-2, at least not that we can see. But Last Mission seems to hint that in three months' time, they finally reconcile.

In Last Mission, Paine never says what she's doing and where she's living. Her story goes that after the girls split up, she went off by herself for "a long time." She became very lonely. When asked about Nooj, Baralai, and Gippal in an early scene, she replies as follows.

Of Gippal: "I haven't seen him in a while." Of Baralai: "It seems he's having trouble dissolving New Yevon." As for Nooj, Paine is as mum on his whereabouts as she is on her own, but she has a lot to say regarding his thoughts and feelings on different subjects: "Nooj said, 'Spira splintered the moment Sin was destroyed, because people like us allowed it to happen,'" and Nooj "thinks Baralai is being used by the old people just because he promised to stand by them." At one point she giggles a bit when she says his name (the line "Nuji wa" -- "Nooj said").

Near the end of the game, Paine opens up about what happened after the shooting. A concerned Yuna asks her afterwards, "Have you talked to Nooj about it?" Paine replies, "That's water under the bridge now."

If you're wondering about Leblanc, she's at Mount Gagazet badgering Kimahri about moving there.

There's a YRP "yuri subtext" rumor, but that's not surprising. It's the first Final Fantasy game with an all-female team, and for some people that's all it takes. But the girls don't do anything to prove that rumor (I've heard stuff like "interacting" and "standing in a group," but those are just general actions taken out of context). In the FFX-2 Ultimanias the YRP relationship is defined as a "sisterly friendship bond." In interviews with the game's cast and crew, they are always referred to as friends. Paine wanted Rikku to back off in the hot springs scene, and nothing like that ever happens again. Enjoy the eye candy, then move on.

(Though if one wants to scream "yuri subtext," one ought to take another look at Leblanc's love of lesbian massages. That should raise a few flags, but I digress.)

The Nooj/Paine romance gets attention outside of FFX-2. In the FFX-2 Ultimania Omega, the seiyuu for Paine and the guys are asked a question: Which man from Paine's past is her sweetheart? Things start out in jest, until Megumi Toyoguchi concludes that, from playing the game, she feels that it's Nooj. The other seiyuu agree with her. Kanna Nobutoshi (Nooj) brings up the scene in the Den of Woe, "when Nooj skipped over Yuna and Rikku and gave the sphere to Paine. I think that shows significance, especially when he said 'This must be fate.'"

In the DVD included in Paine's Vocal Collection, Nooj appears in "FFX-2 Special Movie: Paine Version."

If you think about it, romantic love is a big thing in FFX-2. All its heroines had somebody at some point: Yuna had Tidus, Lenne had Shuyin, and even Rikku had somebody. As a heroine herself, why would Paine be an exception? And as nothing more than comedy relief, why would Leblanc suddenly end up with a character who not only cares nothing for her in the game, but is so far beyond her in depth? Leblanc is the fan girl stalking Nooj the celebrity, and stalkers don't get happy endings.

Thanks to Setsuna Kou for contributing to this piece.