Chapter 8:
"I can't believe the arrogance of that man!" Baralai thought to himself as he paced the floor in the lounge of his office. The meeting he had with Chairman Tadao did not go as well as he'd hoped. Scratch that...it went a lot better than he thought, but it still wasn't what he wanted. In a way he hoped that Tadao would have thought about his reasoning while the praetor was away and formed another opinion knowing one of his own was out there trying to keep the peace. "I didn't even get to tell him about Rikku, and how am I even going to go about doing that now?"
Little did Baralai know the Chairman was being filled in at that very moment; a messenger for Tadao handed the old man a sphere...the one he used to film the Praetor and Al-Bhed woman his second evening at Home. The sphere caught him eating with her, the dance she did just for him and their moment in the sand before she ran off. Of course to anyone else it was an innocent enough evening, but to Tadao it meant everything wrong.
"I can't leave this matter go any longer." Baralai left his office and made his way back to the Chairman's office, opening up the door without knocking. "I have to tell you something now." He informed the man still seated at the helm of his desk before him; Tadao's messenger stood to his right, and the Chairman held the glowing orb in one of his old, wrinkled hands.
"No need to. I saw all I need to know right here." Tadao shook the sphere in the air and tossed it over to Baralai who caught it and clicked it on. He watched as the younger man's face went from curious to furious in a matter of seconds the longer his eyes lingered on the images.
"You had me spied on?"
"It was for my observation and information." Tadao declared angrily. "It seems I had more interest than you thought, eh young man?" He paused, steepling his fingers together. "Who is this..." Tadao couldn't get himself to form the word.
"Woman. She's a woman, Tadao!" Baralai interjected, tossing the sphere into a wastebasket. "Rikku helped bring the Eternal Calm to Spira twice...she helped to save me not only from Shuyin, but from destroying the world, yet you still refuse to acknowledge her because she's an Al-Bhed." There was no gauging the storms of hate and fury that brewed in Baralai's deep brown eyes and Tadao grew nervous; no one had seen the Praetor so angry since he was possessed. "Everyone tends to forget that Lord Braska took an Al-Bhed wife...Rikku's Aunt no less!"
"He was looked down upon after that, boy. You tend to forget that." Was the Chairman's reply. "It wasn't until Lady Yuna was born that the disgust had eased, but it was never erased from the people's memories. If he and his two...other outcasts he called friends had not defeated Sin he would not be remembered or revered as he is today."
Baralai couldn't argue that point. It was true that Braska had a lot riding on his pilgrimage and no one had faith in him and his friends because he married an Al-Bhed, Auron had another forbidden relationship with a Monk's daughter, and Jecht, who was not even of their world, was a useless drunk.
"They were only what everyone else in this world is-" Baralai stated, approaching his superior with a lightning speed; his eyes still full of anger. "That they were human just like us...and Rikku and her people are no different!"
"Guards!" The Chairman called, rising from his seat. Two warrior monks immediately stood in the doorway.
"Yes sir! What's the problem?" The one on the left asked; his rifle settled on his right shoulder.
"Yes Chairman..." Baralai continued- his demeanor suddenly calm. "What is the problem?"
Tadao gulped, slipping back behind his desk, his eyes not wavering from Baralai's. "It's nothing. The praetor was just leaving." He turned his attention to a stack of papers in front of him, picking them up and pressing them on the desk's surface to even them out. "Good day, Baralai. I'll talk with you later."
"Hear this now, Chairman. I will make my relationship with Rikku work, and it will be accepted among New Yevon and its people as it should be, including anyone else faced with the same prejudice. We will be acknowledged. Good day to you." The guards stepped aside, allowing Baralai to pass through and bowed to Tadao before exiting themselves. He then excused his messenger and remained at his desk for another half hour to calm down before leaving himself. He was getting too old for this.
~X~
Baralai softly tapped on the wooden entry surface of Isaaru's chambers and the other Praetor looked up from the book he was reading with a smile on his face. "Baralai! Come in! It is wonderful to see you."
"I'm sorry to intrude like this, Isaaru." Baralai began as his older friend stood up to hug him. "I have something to talk to you about."
"Come. Sit here and I'll pour you some tea." Isaaru led Baralai to the seat across from the one he was just reading in, took a cup and saucer from the tray in front of them, and handed it to Baralai. "I think I know what this is about. The halls are buzzing, and your argument with the Chairman has been echoing throughout the temple."
The white haired man laughed, but not in an amused way. He didn't realize their voices had travelled so far. "I'm sorry for all the commotion." Baralai said remorsefully. "I just do not get along with that man, and it brings out such anger in me whenever we meet." He held the saucer with one hand and the cup in the other shakily as he brought it to his lips to drink. "It was never my intent for this to happen."
"What? For you to fall in love?"
"Yes...I mean, no! Not with an Al-Bhed...Rikku of all people." He sighed, placing the cup down in front of him. "It wasn't a sudden thing, really. I was fascinated by her when I first met her here before I was..." Baralai wouldn't say the word "possessed" for fear he would be again, although he knew that wouldn't be possible. "…Being with her for that week...getting to be among the Al-Bheds has only proved to me what I already thought, that they are wonderful people like us."
"It was our religion that forced us to believe they were an enemy." Isaaru pointed out, understanding radiated in his rich, sapphire eyes. "Now that our religion has been reduced to a philosophy of acceptance and coping, our people must learn to not be afraid of them any longer, but it is hard for some I suppose." He smiled at Baralai again, hoping to bring his comrade down from his angry chair. It bothered Isaaru to see him so tense and uneasy.
"What should I do?" He asked, staring down sadly at his half empty cup.
"What do you want to do?"
"Honestly?"
"Yes, Honestly." Isaaru replied, sipping his tea.
"I want to pursue a relationship with Rikku. Not because I'm trying to prove some kind of point, but because I have genuine feelings for her, and I think she does for me. I want to see this through, and I want the support of New Yevon and its people." Baralai stood up and Isaaru followed suit. "Not only that...I want everyone who is in a relationship such as mine and the one Lord Braska had without being frowned upon."
"That sounds about right." The former Summoner-turned-Praetor reached out for Baralai's hand, encasing it in both of his. "I know you'll have the support of the temple, and eventually the people will see that. I will be sure to help spread the word."
"Your support always means so much to me, Isaaru. I won't forget it." He truly smiled at Isaaru, his resolve once again returning and kindness replaced the anger in his eyes. The two said their goodbyes and Baralai left Isaaru's chambers to head off into his own. "I promised her we would write, so I am going to do that right now." His pace quickened, and as he sat alone at his conference room table, Baralai began the correspondence between the two of them.
