June 29, 2011
Chapter 3: And the World Stood Still
It had taken Baralai and Paine by surprise when earlier that day she had gone into labor with their first child. Not long after Paine's water breaking, the praetor had been ejected from the room Paine had been taken to deliver their baby. As much as Baralai had protested and insisted he could be of help the stout and pudgy head priestess, with much persistence, shoved him outside the door. Forlorn and extremely frightened, he called upon the High Summoner and her friends to help them through this ordeal.
The whine of the airship docking on the outskirts of Bevelle elated the New Yevon leader. Strutting at an aggressive pace to the front gates of the temple, he greeted everyone with as much calm as he could.
"We came as fast as we could, how is Paine?" Yuna asked. Despite Baralai's best efforts to cover his worry, it was evident that he was flustered and scared.
"Uh, I'm – I'm not sure. I was requested to leave and upon being ushered from the room, I think one of the priestesses said something along the line of hemorrhaging. I – I wanted to help, but they outright refused."
A piece of Yuna's heart chipped away with each hitch of the praetor's voice as he desperately tried to paint a picture of the scene of the last few hours. Stepping forward, the songstress patted each of his shoulders. Looking Baralai in the eyes with warmth and passive confidence, she declared, "Everything will be fine. Take us to the delivery room."
It seemed like the simplest request, but it took Baralai several seconds to merely process the sentence, let alone execute the task.
-FFX-2-
The men had been herded in an outdoor seating area that overlooked the city. It was going on six hours since Paine had been stolen from her husband's arms. Baralai ambulated in a trance-like state, again and again. His pace rivaled an athlete's jog. The last of the sunset was creeping into the outside sitting area, highlighting the silken, red cushions and powerful gold of the carpet. His decorative robes and his undershirt were partially unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled up.
Tidus exhaled loudly, clutching the back of his neck, the sticky sweat sliding his palm down to the base of his neck. Gippal hadn't moved from his post against one of the archways. Even Nooj had made an appearance, although accidental. Having arrived to discuss with Gippal and Baralai developmental plans concerning the Calm Lands and along the Djose River, he was not prepared to find a weeping praetor and a stressed-out Albhed. Decidedly, it would have been in poor form to desert his friend in this most crucial time; yet, it was undoubtedly the foremost prominent idea in his mindset.
So, the men waited . . . and waited.
"What, in the name of Yevon, could be taking them so long?" Baralai swore, tilting his head to the sky.
"Who knows?" Gippal murmured. His arms were crossed, the puffs of his shoulder pads in his jacket wilting in the summer heat.
The low hum of the hymn played ominously in the back ground. Baralai dropped down onto an ottoman. His hands weakly holding his salted, sweat coated face. "What if she –"
"Don't," Nooj cut in vehemently. "Paine is strong and undoubtedly stubborn. She has been through worse." His voice was even, but Tidus, who had replaced Baralai in walking in circles around the furniture, noted the hiccup in Nooj's voice.
"How can you say that?" Baralai questioned. "How has she been in more danger? Something so miraculously small and innocent may result in the end of her."
"No negative talk here," Gippal supplied, pushing off the wall of the archway to enter the better lit area near the couches. The sun had submerged behind the rocky mountain ridges of Gagzet, as the men became attuned to the buzz of prickly bugs. "What's with you?" Gippal asked, his mind running comparable to the full speed of an airship.
Tidus never broke his stride, only slowing to look at them through glossy pupils for a lone beat. Not so many words had been spoken silently until then. Baralai was too preoccupied to buckle from Tidus' nonverbal answer as Gippal did, gulping loudly.
A burst of refuge air from the cool inside of the temple whooshed at the gentlemen when a priestess opened the chamber doors. "Praetor Baralai, your wife and son would like to see you?" came the high and worn voice of the elderly woman.
Before Nooj, Gippal, or Tidus could give their congratulations, the door was shut with Baralai far inside and on his way to see his wife.
It was distinctly quiet for a few moments when Gippal spoke, "He's unbelievable."
"His gentle mannerism is the greatest illusion any man has displayed," Nooj offered in his normal masked words.
"I don't know what I would do without Yuna," Tidus blurted out in a shaky voice. His forearms wiped clean the army of tears lining up in his eyes.
"I know," Nooj added, cupping his hands together. He sighed then stood, stretching like a well rested cat. Nooj nodded to both men and left to walk about the city and undo some of the tension built from the excitement of the day.
Rikku emerged first then Yuna. The High Summoner quickly side stepped Gippal, who tackled Rikku, lifting her off her feet in unnatural exuberance. Yuna was caught off guard having been distracted by her cousin and her cousin's husband when Tidus lunged and kissed her lips hard and unforgiving. The blitzball player's grip was strong and non-relinquishing, but his love filled her tired mind and weary body with rejuvenation and comfort. It was a struggle to move for both women, but Yuna and Rikku latched eye contact between the two, silently coming to the same answer.
The feisty Albhed whispered her 'I love you' to the Machine Faction Leader, who only squeezed tighter; almost daring for someone to take her. Yuna gently placed her arms around Tidus' waist similar to when they initially reunited, resting her head on his shoulder. Softly, sighing into his neck and constricting her arms around him. They knew, Rikku and Yuna, what was consuming viciously at their lovers' minds.
It could have been them. They could have been Paine, dangling on the line between life and . . . the unwelcomed travel to the Farplane. But, they weren't. They had narrowly escaped a slippery slope of fear, pain, and the ticklings of death. They were blessed.
-FFX-2-
Baralai cautiously peered into the room Paine was resting in. Her white complexion was now ashen from loss of blood; her dark eyes a further testament. Baralai tip-toed in the room and gently sat next to his exhausted wife, who cradled the newest addition to their family.
"I'm sorry," he spoke softly, his eyes absorbing the bundle lying peacefully in his mother's arms.
"Baralai," though hoarse, her voice was firm and foreboding. "I'll say this once, okay? You were in no way responsible for what happened. I'm fine." Baralai struck to contest, but Paine continued, "Its fine – we're fine."
Baralai nodded his head and tilted it forward to look at his son. Quietly the young new born slept, fingers and hands tightly curled into him. Every so often he would move his mouth up and down, testing his new abilities.
'There are moments when she will have you realize your future is contingent on you, and then at the same time, not at all.'
Wakka had gifted him that tidbit of knowledge on the praetor's last visit to the paradise island. Baralai thought Wakka was referring to the developmental meeting that was planned for earlier that day, but in the grey of his son's eyes stood the true answer. No taller than the length of his forearm, no heavier than a small pouch of spheres, the tiniest living thing – his son – was the definitive point in the future happiness of the New Yevon Leader and his wife. A baby, whose existence relied upon Paine and Baralai's nurturing and love, had all the power to shatter his world, and he didn't even know it.
"He's early, Paine," Baralai declared, ambiguously. Paine snorted, not answering. She knew Baralai would come full circle with his elusive opinion. "What is his name? I mean, we hadn't decided, yet."
Paine looked pensively at their son, her vitality rising momentarily for this new cause. "Eri."
"Eri?" Baralai repeated, trying out the name. "Luck?"
"Yeah, what else would you call it?" she asked, flashes of teasing and flitting mockery in her eyes.
"Eri, it is then," Baralai smiled, settling down for the night with his wife and son. They had been separated enough that day . . . for a lifetime, even.
It could be surmised they had won this battle against Death because of whom they had on their side.
They had Luck.
Eri.
~End Chapter 3
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