When had the idea of beautiful dark skinned children, with bright blue and green eyes entered his mind? The vision of taking them to a park as he walked hand in hand with his wife and they whispered sweet confessions to each other. Even now, as he sat with his glasses perched on his nose and a cup of tea in his hands - as he sat completely alone, the thought still seemed to appealing, it still made his heart tingle. But she was alone no longer. The thoughts of beautiful children and whispers of love would belong to another now.

And he didn't know why it hurt to lose something he never had.

--

"I'll go find her!"

Why had he such a thing? Why didn't he stay sat there, their accusing eyes would leave him eventually, it wasn't as though he had anything to gain by what they thought of him. Friends were a luxury Baralai could not afford. So why start caring now?

Baralai sighed and kicked the sand beneath his feet. He must have traced the entire area of Besaid a hundred times over. There could not be that many places to hide on an island so small. Maybe he should tell Lulu and Wakka, try and get their help… but then again… Lulu could probably cause a thousand times the damage he could ever imagine.

"Walking won't kill me but Lulu might."

Baralai ran his hands through his hair before staring at the sea. When had the sun gone down? He hadn't noticed…

Maybe Yuna was back already and his efforts were pointless… maybe Yuna really hated him. Baralai groaned at how much this bothered him. "Well, if they're all back they're not missing me." Before really realising what he was doing, Baralai had shed the heavy parts of his clothing (so he was left in his thin white shirt and baggy brown trousers) and ran into the sea, splashing as much water as possible to vent his frustration. When his anger began to cease he floating the length of the ocean on his back, hoping the current would drag him away… or under… either seemed appeasing to him.

"Oh Fu-" a voice gasped before quickly shushing themselves. Baralai sat up quickly, before coughing furiously as he swallowed a lung-full of water. He wiped his face before looking around, his inquisitive gaze was met by the angry stare of the Lady Summoner.

"Go away!" she yelled at him. Baralai sighed, no wonder he had been unable to see where she was hiding, hidden in the mountain was a small cove.

"And be burned by the towns people?" Baralai slowly waded towards her. "No thank you."

"No great loss, I'm sure," she replied, crossing her arms and turning her head away.

"That hurt," Baralai said, clutching his heart with a sly smile – ignoring the slight twinge this did indeed inflict. "Take it back," he laughed as he flung Yuna over his shoulder. Yuna squealed and promptly started kicking her arms and legs like a small child in the middle of a tantrum.

"I take it back!" Yuna yelled, realising her flailing was getting her nowhere.

"Now say I'm king of Spira!"

"…You're pushing it." Baralai laughed before putting Yuna down. Yuna stared up at Baralai, trying to suppress a smile, but failed as the corners of her mouth began to twitch.

Baralai bent down towards the young High Summoner, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face. "You're so much more beautiful when you smile." Yuna felt her heart quicken and her cheeks flush.

No Yuna! She screamed at herself.

So when Yuna covered her face in her hands, Baralai took this for embarrassment and chuckled.

Tentatively, Baralai put his hand to Yuna's cheek, causing her gasp suddenly. There was no more laughter from Baralai as he brought her body closer to his, Yuna could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She bent her head upwards so her eyes locked with Baralai's, his arms slowly wrapped around her waist and Yuna became suddenly aware that her arms were hanging limply at her sides.

Yuna whimpered slightly and broke her gaze with Baralai; she could feel her heart breaking in two.

The thought of Baralai this close to her made her heart jump and flutter, but the notation that she was forgetting him brought tears to her eyes.

"Yuna?" Baralai's voice seemed strained to Yuna's ears, as though he was trying hard to restrain himself. When Yuna looked up again, his eyes were round with concern. "Are you…?" Baralai slowly ran his hands up her back until he felt the soft skin of her neck. The sentence he was about to speak was completely lost from his mind as he bent his head closer and closer to Yuna.

Yuna screwed her eyes up; She didn't know what she should do. She could feel her fingertips tingle with longing to feel every inch of his skin, she could feel her body relax under his touch, but her heart cried for another, telling her these actions were wrong. When Yuna opened her eyes again, there was no longer a glowing moon stood in front of her, but instead the blazing sun and as their lips pressed together Yuna felt an explosion of sensation. A burning desire ran through her veins and her hands that had dangled at her sides shot up pulled the sun as close to her as possible, basking in his warmth and love if only a few moments.

When they finally broke apart both were gasping for breath.

Stay with me until the end. Please.

Not until the end... Always.

Always, then.

Yuna quickly looked up to see Baralai smiling down at her.

"I'm sorry!" She gasped. "I'm so sorry!" Yuna bowed quickly, trying to stop herself crying.

"Don't be…" Baralai stared at Yuna as he realised tears were beginning to run down her cheeks. Yuna quickly wiped then away with the back of her hand, but her sobbing would not cease. "Yuna…" As Baralai put his hand on her shoulder Yuna shrugged him away.

"No!" she gasped. "I'm sorry. But I can't!"

The fayth said it's pointless to keep dreaming. The dream will disappear, he said. What did he mean? And what is it that Yu Yevon is summoning from within Sin?

The dream of the fayth.

You won't...go away, will you?

"We – we should have been together," Yuna sobbed, "Forever."

Baralai nodded slowly before following Yuna to sit on the sand.

"I'm sorry for all this," she sighed. "But I'm not ready to say goodbye to him yet."

Baralai smiled and took Yuna's hand. "I understand you need time, just… don't close up. Just because one person is lost doesn't mean everyone else should disappear from your life too."

"I'm… I'm not trying to push anyone away."

"It's time," Baralai let go of Yuna's hand and stood up. "Time will heal your wounds, and until then I'll be waiting." Baralai smiled so sincerely at Yuna she thought she has started crying again, but before she could give him an answer it was only her left alone on the beach.

"Time," Yuna muttered to herself. "But I must stay strong too," Yuna nodded and shakily stood up. "I'll be strong for you too."

--

Baralai should have known. Two moons could exist in perfect harmony together but they would always be chasing after the sun.

--

"A pleasure, Lady Yuna. I am Baralai, Praetor of New Yevon."

"So, you're the chairman's son?"

"Ah. As it happens, the chairman has recently resigned. As did his son, the praetor. They were trying to take too much power. We had to ask them to leave. Now the younger members run the party-by mutual consensus, of course."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"So you see, Lady Yuna... It is not I that was meant to marry the High Summoner," Baralai explained a little smile tugging at his features and a bitterness to his voice.

"My!" was the only response Yuna could muster, and a strange sense of guilt and want took over her.

---

AN// Bet you didn't expect that ending xD Well, I really wanted to make it believeable. Which is why I added the ending bit with Yuna and Baralai in the game. And me talking about two moons and a sun. Yuna's name Night in Okinawan which is a contrast to Tidus's which means Sun, then there is me comparing Baralai to a moon in the previous chapter. So why I refear to Yuna as a moon at the end is because well... a moon is associated the night, think of night, there's the moon.

And... does Yuna end up with Tidus? I suppose you can assume that. Maybe it's someone else. Or maybe time will still go on and Baralai and Yuna do finally get together.

I used contrasting paragraphs, and open ended sentences. I hope you find this enjoyable ^_^

I also wanted to put a new spin on some of the characters. Showing Lulu and fiercer to Baralai and only caring about Yuna, the hyper/happiness of Rikku, and the depression Yuna feels.

None the less I hope you enjoyed the story.