For The One He Loves
Rating: T-M
Summary: What do you do when the girl you love disappears? Do you try to find her or do you forget she ever existed? Would you give your life to find her or would you live your life without her? Baralai would do anything for Yuna, even give his life.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Rights go to their respective owners.
Thanks to Spiritgununicorn for writing the intro for me.
Beta Story
As he trudged through the town one late afternoon, Baralai could hear the frantic whispers that were followed by people pointing and staring at him like he'd committed a crime. He looked down at only his own two feet as they hit against the sidewalk with fervor. He needed to get out of this town, away from these people. He needed to escape from everyone especially himself.
Baralai was used to the treatment now, especially since he couldn't just stop himself from blowing up sometimes.
Case in point, he blew up at the one person he cares for more than his own mother, but he never had the courage to say it to; Yuna, the one person he had never meant to hurt and yet his words had done so much damage. He'd meant to smile at her and give her a hug, bask in her happiness and the glow that she always seemed to have, and yet, when she began to speak his heart didn't just hurt, it plummeted into his stomach and started to fester that day.
"Baralai!" she yelled out his name, running up to him and gripping him in a tight hug unexpectedly.
She smiled warmly and smelled of flowers. Baralai couldn't help but be enamored by her beauty.
He licked at his lips and gave her a small smile of his own, "Yuna…" whispered from his lips as she finally let him go.
"How have you been?"
He shrugged, as if that were going to explain what he felt.
Yuna giggled, covering her mouth for a moment before tugging on his arm. "Why don't we walk together? I could use some company and we really need to catch up!"
He reluctantly agreed as he walked with her, their conversations ranging from family, work, and school all in one.
However, their conversation grew to a striking halt as Yuna abruptly told him, "I've got a boyfriend now," with a smile.
It hurt; she looked so happy but it hurts.
Baralai wrung his hands together after she let him go. Yuna got a wistful look on her countenance and suddenly he felt very uncomfortable.
"Oh…"
Although Yuna seemed to be looking at Baralai, it felt like she was looking through him.
"He kind of reminds me of you." She smiled, taking his hands in hers and playing with his fingers. "He treats me well. He's thoughtful and kind and smart and gracious…" She kept her eyes on Baralai's hands in hers for a moment, letting them lace through together, and his heart seemed to jump back into his throat again.
"Then why not just date me," Baralai snapped.
Baralai let go of Yuna; their hands no longer interlocked, and she stared at him in shock and confusion. Her eyes darted from their hands to his face, wondering why he had gotten angry at her all of a sudden. Meanwhile, Baralai flinched at his own tone; he didn't mean to yell at Yuna, but she'd suddenly gotten so happy for some random jerk and compared the two of them. That made no sense to him.
He sighed heavily as Yuna took a step back.
"I'm…I'm sorry?" she looked down at the floor, her right hand gripping her arm and looking very fragile.
"You heard me," he said in a menacing tone as he stared at the ground. His hands had suddenly bawled into fists, and he didn't know whether he wanted to punch himself or something else in the vicinity. "Why don't you just date me then," he yelled at her as he directed with a deadly finger at her. "Am I not good enough for you?"
Yuna flinched again, taking several steps back, and suddenly winded by his words. Tears were stinging the corners of her eyes and she didn't understand where his happy and calm disposition had gone to. She wasn't going to cry however, that wouldn't bode well for her. Instead she took a deep breath and let go of her arm, trying to regain some composure.
"I…I didn't know that you felt that way about me but I'm—"
He cut her off.
"You're what? Sorry," he yelled in her face now.
She was about to speak.
"Save it," he said raising a hand, "I don't want to hear it! I hope you and him have happy lives!"
Baralai turned around, suddenly walking in the same direction that he and Yuna had come from. He needed to be away from her; he didn't want to hear anything about that stupid boyfriend of hers. He hadn't even got his name or what he looked like, but Baralai knew that he must be a jerk. He took Yuna away from him and right from under his nose, too.
And so Baralai was left to wander through the small town, alone. Whispers of his outburst began to ring through the streets and into home and businesses of the small town. He was always the talk of the town, but now that he'd purposely hurt someone as innocent and lovely as Yuna, he'd might as well have committed murder.
Worse yet, he didn't even know how to take responsibility for it. other So he piled on the guilt that was in the pit of his stomach. It toiled around and he braced himself against the wall of a small diner, suddenly he was too wary to continue walking.
Baralai slide against the wall and onto the pavement, huddling his knees against his chest, sighing he began to cry.
"I'm so sorry, Yuna…"
It had taken him a few hours to compose himself outside the diner, but Baralai knew he had to go apologise to Yuna. It was one of the few things he didn't know how to do anymore.
Brushing himself off, he checked to see if anyone had been watching him. Never did he want anyone to see him cry. The town and his outrages anger had given him the self-image of a bad, troubled, outsider and bad, troubled outsiders didn't cry. Besides it was just another thing the town could use against him.
No one seemed to be watching so Baralai trudged off into the night.
So enough he end up at Yuna's door. Taking a deep breath, Baralai closed his eyes and raised his fist to knock on the door.
"Hmm, Tidus, stop it." Baralai froze. That was clearly Yuna giggled.
"No way baby. You're too tempting." Yuna giggled harder and then quickly quieted. And that was a man's voice. Her boyfriend, Tidus, Baralai deduced.
Baralai could feel his anger rising. What were they doing in there? He wanted to bust down the door and beat the crap out of the man known as Tidus. He'd stolen HIS girl and was doing Yevon knows what to her right now.
Like a bucket overflowing with water, Baralai's anger had overflown through his chest, coursed down his right arm and to his fist which had been pulled back to knock on the door, and was currently flying through the wooden door Baralai intended to knock on.
The house alarm went off. Baralai could hear it, and like any reasonable human-being, he ran. He ran as if the great beast known as Sin was behind him and the only place Sin was not going to get him was in his bedroom at his mother's house.
Baralai had made it to his room in record time. Breathing heavily, he paced his room as he threw off his jacket. What did he just do? Pulling at his hair, Baralai could believe he had done something as stupid as this, again.
Yes, again! The first time being when he went to his father's house after the divorce and nearly beat him to death. The only reason he stop was the cops had arrived and pulled him off. The consequences then had been heavy and might have been heavier if he were older. The consequences now will be just as heavy if not worse now that he is 18.
"I'm gonna get prison time," Baralai said as he paced his room, trying to rip his hair out of his head. "I almost go it last time, but I'm definitely going to get it this time. Why am I so stupid?" Baralai picked up his nightstand and threw it across the room. Throwing everything off his work desk, Baralai flipped it before moving to the dresser and knocking that over, too. One thing after another was either ripped, torn, flipped or toppled leaving his room in a general state of trashed.
Exhausted from running and finally out of fuel from trashing his room, Baralai fell to the floor. He didn't want to go to prison . Nooj went to prison and he's never been the same, physically and mentally.
Baralai could see the all too familiar lights of cop cars outside his window. They were here for him. He knew it. When something goes wrong, he's the first one they see. That's how its been. The most recent cases being the brutal disembowelment of several furry friends. Those cases were over 10 months old and they were still trying to pin it on him.
Curling up in a ball, Baralai figured if he stayed quiet they would leave. He could hear them downstairs talking to his mother. She was a good liar for her innocent looks.
Baralai waited. Soon he heard the door close and two car doors slam. The red and blue lights slowly disappeared into the night. Baralai breathed slowly. He hadn't realized he had held his breath.
Sitting up on the floor, Baralai waited for his mother. As if on cue, he could hear his mother ascend the steps. The door opened and Baralai looked up at her. She looked around the room and then at him before shutting the door and returning to cooking channel. All that meant was she is too tired to deal with this right now.
He'd get an ear full in the morning and he'd probably throw a cup or two before leaving for school. She'd sit and cry at the table, wonder where her joyful little boy went before getting ready for work down at the docks. He'd feel bad about the cups and buy four new ones to break later in the week. It was sad how he knew this. It was sad how upset he made his mother. He was sad.
Baralai sighed. Setting his bed in its proper position, Baralai climbed in. He was exhausted and he had school tomorrow. Curling up, he held himself and clenched his eyes shut. He felt like crying but all he could think about was Tidus and Yuna, together.
Baralai fell asleep angry and upset. He's dreams filled of murdering Tidus and taking Yuna for his own. The most horrific and realistic, being the last, stuck in his mind but not because it was the last one before he woke up, but because of the feeling it left. The feeling that this might happen and that he had to do something to stop hit. He had to end Yuna's relationship with Tidus. He just had too or something bad might happen to her. And Baralai was not about to let that happen to her.
Thanks to his nightmare, Baralai was up early. He took a shower, made breakfast and sat on the couch plotting. He had to figure out how to get Tidus away from Yuna and keep her away from him without her getting hurt. Yevon knows if she got hurt, Baralai clenched his eyes shut. He didn't need to think about that right now.
Standing up, Baralai felt this strong urge to leave his house. He walked to the bus stop and sat on the bench. He couldn't stop thinking about his dream. He had to stop this thing know as "Yuna has a boyfriend," but how?
Then, like a gift dropped from the skies above, Yuna plopped down beside him on the bench. She sat quietly for a moment before elbowing Baralai in the arm. He turned to look at her and was welcomed by a warm smile.
"Morning Baralai," she greeted him in a cheerful voice.
"Hey," he responded quietly and turned away from her. He had yet to apologize for his outburst yesterday and the front door.
"So, you were at our house last night, right," Yuna asked him as she placed her hand on top of his. He pulled his hand away and nodded. "You busted a hole in our door. Does your hand hurt?"
Baralai shook his head. He hadn't really felt much pain when he punch the door, most of the pain he felt was in his heart and in his head. They were silent for what seemed like hours. Baralai watched her rock back and forth on the seat out of the corner of his was always so pretty. How could have yelled at her like that?
Baralai sighed and turned to her before speaking, "I, uh...um. I wanted to apologize for what I said and did yesterday. I didn't mean to-" She stopped him with a finger placed on his lips and a smile on her face.
"If you really want to apologize, I need you to do something for me," she paused to make sure he was listening, "I need you to respect my relationship with Tidus. He's a good man and I love him. You can not be mad at him all the time. Alright?"
Baralai looked down to his feet. His plans to destroy Tidus thrown right out the window replaced by her request. Try and respect her relationship with a clear jerk. How is he supposed to do that?
"Baralai," she said drawing his attention from his feet to her, "If you want me to continue being your friend and accept your apology, I need to know that you'll accept Tidus as my boyfriend and be nice to him." He was silent as he changed his focus from her face to her hand on the bench.
Sighing deeply, Baralai agreed to "be nice to HIM" and "nor be mad at HIM ALL the time." The bus arrived at the bus stop and Yuna happily took Baralai's hand and dragged him onto the bus. Then she forcefully pushed him in between her and HIM.
Baralai couldn't believe this. He had agreed to be nice to him and not be mad at him all the time. He didn't agree to sit, look, touch, smell or even speak to the jerk sitting next to him and now their sides were touching and Baralai could smell the strongest of the strong cologne radiating from this man child. The thought of Tidus alone made Baralai want to vomit and now he had to sit next to him for seven more bus stops.
Baralai sunk deeper and deeper into his seat as the couple kissed every three to five minutes. It was like he was just a barrier between them that they could easily get around and it was pissing him off. There were two more stops or about five minutes before they reached the school. Baralai figured he could deal with at least one more couple's kiss before bailing out the open bus window to his right.
He thought he could deal with one more kiss. That is until Tidus put his hand on his coat to lean across and kiss Yuna on the cheek.
"Okay, that's enough," Baralai blew up, shoving Tidus's head into the window, "Touch me again or learn across me one more time and I'm literally going to kick your ass out the back of this bus."
"Baralai," Yuna yelled beside him.
"No, no, Yuna. He's right. I should stop leaning across him to kiss you," Tidus said with a smirk before shoving Baralai over and into the seat in front of them face first. Before Yuna could even protest and apologize for Tidus's behavior, the bus came to a grinding halt as the bus driver filed to the back of the bus and examined the situation.
Not known for his pleasant attitude and bright smile, the bus driver grabbed both Tidus and Baralai and threw them off the bus. Seeing as the situation had been dealt with, the bus continued on its intended route without Tidus and Baralai.
This was bad, and after promising to be nice to Tidus, too. Baralai knew Yuna was mad at the both of them, and to prevent further upset, Baralai initiated a brisk walk to school, intending to leave Tidus behind. But Tidus placed a pretty big road block in front of Baralai when he spoke.
"So you love Yuna," Tidus inquired. Baralai slowed his sprint to a halt, causing Tidus to chuckle a bit. "She's a pretty nice girl. Obedient, kind, thoughtful and naive," he said with another chuckle, "She got big jugs and fine ass, too. No wonder you love her."
"Don't you dare talk about Yuna that way. She's not just tits and ass," Baralai snapped as he stormed up to Tidus.
Tidus just huffed in his face as he began to walk.
"You can have her when I'm done with her although she won't be the same. They never are after I'm done with them," Tidus said with another eeri chuckle.
"She not some toy you can just hand off to the next man who finds her and what the fuck do you mean by 'They never are after I'm done with them.' What are you going to do," Baralai asked catching up to Tidus.
Tidus walked with his hands behind his head, without a care in the world. The conversation was over according to him, but Baralai was still worried. He had a bad feeling that his nightmare was playing into this situation.
Grabbing Tidus by the shoulder, Baralai spun him around to face him.
"Answer me! What do you mean by that," Baralai shouted, fist raised and ready to strike if he was not supplied with a sufficient answer. Tidus stared into Baralai's eyes. His seemed to gloss over with no emotion, just emptiness. And then he spoke.
He spoke only so Baralai could hear his words. His voice cold and low, direct and efficient. He was swift and decisive with his attack as he caused Baralai to tremble and shake with fear, to fall to the ground and hug his body as he tried to recover from shock only to vomit on the side of the road.
Tidus then smile and walk away from the petrified Baralai. He had just made one of the most feared men in the town to fall to the ground, shake with fear, and threw up with a few simple words. A small feet in the world ahead of him. Tidus had much bigger plans, much bigger goals. Crippling Baralai was just a side quest of entertainment.
But what did he say to Baralai to cause him to break like he did? What did Tidus say that was so crippling to the most feared and hated man in the entire town?
"I'm going to murder her," he said with a smile.
And like that, Baralai's nightmare started to turn into a reality. It was that realization that brought Baralai to his knees. The feeling that he might just be helpless to save the woman he loves.
It had been about five minutes. Tidus was long gone and Baralai had had a stroke of clarity. The worst has not happened yet. He has to do everything he can to prevent a tragedy from happening.
A/N: Another Beta. Free floating butterflies always have to migrate, these are what my ideas are like. =P Wish they weren't though.