Chapter 14:

"Back to reality…" Baralai thought to himself as he stepped back into his chambers at the temple, catching a quick glance around the room after turning the lights on. It had only been a couple of days, but the praetor felt better having seen Rikku and spent time with her, especially after the previous night. Setting his bag down onto the bed, Baralai sat himself next to it as he daydreamed about his spontaneous actions.

~X~

The night before; Rikku's room

"Marry me."

"Wha?"

"I know we've only been together for a few weeks but this feels…right."

Baralai and Rikku sat together on the couch, sharing a bowl of take out noodles when he blurted out those two words, startling the young woman. She sucked up a long noodle from the bowl as she looked at Baralai with wide eyes.

"For real?" She asked, setting the bowl down onto the table in front of them. He took her hand. Rikku was speechless- she had never been in a situation where anyone had ever wanted her to be theirs, and for forever no less. "Wow Lai…I don't know what to say."

"Say yes, and make me the luckiest guy in Spira." Baralai brought her hands up to his lips, kissing them gently. "Of course I'll get you a proper ring…but for now…" He reached into the bowl of noodles and fished one of them out, wrapping it loosely around her ring finger. "Here!"

Rikku giggled madly at his gesture, wrapping her arms around his neck as she pushed him backwards onto the couch. "Oh I love it! Yes! Yes! I'll marry you, Baralai!"

~X~

Baralai smiled at the memory, and began to unpack his bag when there was a knock at the door. "It's open!" He shouted, and Isaaru strolled in, closing the door behind him. Taking a seat on the bed by where Baralai was emptying the suitcase, he couldn't help but notice the upbeat demeanor of his friend.

"So I take it those couple of days served you well?" Isaaru asked, nudging Baralai playfully. "You look even more refreshed than before! I'm glad."

"Isaaru, could I meet with you and Chairman Tadao as soon as you both have a moment free? I need to talk to you about something." Baralai tried sounding serious, but there was no way he could even try to pretend. He couldn't be any happier than he was at that moment and Isaaru grinned madly.

"You've asked Rikku to marry you!"

"How did you know?"

"It's written all over your face, my friend. Is this why you want to meet with us?" Isaaru stood up, taking Baralai's empty bag and placing it in the closet for him.

"Yes, it is. I want to do it formally. I expect Tadao is not going to be pleased with my declaration, which is why I need you there with me for support. I can count on you, can't I?"

Isaaru put a hand on Baralai's shoulder, bringing him in for a hug. "Of course you can, Baralai. I will do whatever you need me to do. Just ask. As a matter of fact, I think we should have an assembly to tell all acolytes in the temple, that way rumors will be kept to a minimum."

"That sounds like a great idea." Baralai agreed. "I'll have Tarun announce the meeting over the intercom system tonight, that way first thing tomorrow everyone will be together. I guess for now it's back to completing paperwork, right?" He walked by Isaaru's side as they left his chambers.

~X~

Home: That same day

"He did what?!" Paine exclaimed, dropping the hammer from her hand in surprise. "Are you serious?"

"It's true!" Rikku beamed, flashing Paine her left hand. "See?" She still had the noodle wrapped around her finger although it was shriveled up.

Paine picked up her hammer and raised her eyebrow, a little confused. "That's a dried noodle…"

"He didn't have a ring for me, so he put this on instead! It was so romantic!!" If Paine didn't know any better she could have sworn Rikku had stars in her eyes as she mooned over the now brittle piece of pasta on her finger and she put a hand to her head, shaking it while letting out a laugh.

"But I don't think he expected you to keep it on your…anyway, congratulations Rikku! I hope you'll always be happy together." Paine uncharacteristically put her arms around her friend, allowing Rikku to hug her. "So have you made any plans?"

Rikku shook her head, resuming her work as she dipped her brush into the can of beige paint. "None yet. It was all so sudden, but I think we'll get something together soon!" She stared dreamily at the siding she was painting, treating it as if she were creating a fancy mural. "So how's Nooj?"

"He's good." Paine resumed her hammering, a nail sticking out of her mouth. "It was nice to see him again." It was all she would allow herself to say about it, and her face flushed as she thought of her time spent with the Meyvn, glad Rikku was up too high to see her lest she never hear the end of it. As she stuck a few more nails into her mouth to hammer siding into the matching shed she was building, Keke approached from behind her.

"Hello girls!" She said cheerfully, with a tray of food in her hands. "Would you both care for a sandwich and something to drink?" Keke looked up at Rikku painting up on the scaffolding, and before she could get out the word "sandwich" the lift was lowered and the girl eyed the food, drooling.

"I'm starving! Thanks Keke!" Rikku swiped a sandwich off of the tray, shoving half of it into her mouth quickly.

"Rikku, don't you even want to taste it?" Paine sighed, taking a sandwich for herself. "Thank you, Keke. How are you today?" She took a bite, seating herself on one of the rungs of the ladder she was using. "What brings you by?"

"Well I hear congratulations are in order!" Keke said, taking a sip of her drink. She seated herself next to Rikku, eyeing the noodle on her finger. "Unique taste in jewelry that Praetor has…"

"Yeah." Rikku responded dreamily, inhaling the rest of her lunch. "It was short notice. He said something about telling Isaaru about us either today or tomorrow. He's really worried about that chairman that's working with him. What was his name Paine? To do? Today?"

"Tadao." Paine replied, taking another bite of the sandwich. "He's the last one from the old Maesters' time. He keeps giving Baralai a tough time for some reason."

Keke set her glass down and wiped her face with a napkin she had set next to her plate. "He doesn't approve of the Praetor and Rikku?" She asked curiously.

"Not really." Was Rikku's reply, as she tossed back a few stray braids from her face. "He's afraid the people aren't ready for an al-bhed in the temple."

"I can understand that." Keke replied, standing up, leaning against the scaffolding Rikku sat on. "It's not the first time something like this has happened." Her eyes grew sad and she gazed off into the sand while piquing the girls' interest.

"What happened, Keke?" Rikku asked, wide eyed with curiosity.

"Well," The older al-bhed began, trying to recall her memories. "Years ago there was a young al-bhed woman named Caleha, and she fell in love with a Yevonite named Petrik. He worked under the three Maesters as a priest, hoping one day to be a Maester himself. Despite his best efforts to sway them into acknowledging his love for her, they didn't approve of it, telling him he was performing the highest form of blasphemy. He didn't care though, and he met up with Caleha whenever he could steal a moment away from the temple." Keke looked at Rikku who seemed to have a look in her eyes begging for the story to have a happy ending and she continued.

"A week or two passed since the two spoke to one another, and Petrik stopped corresponding, worrying Caleha. She couldn't take not hearing from him another day, so Caleha went to Bevelle temple where she was halted at the door by a budding priest and he handed the young woman a sphere. When she clicked it on, there was an image of Petrik with another woman and the priest broke the news that he had been engaged to her all that time. Caleha was so devastated she wrote Petrik a letter telling him she no longer loved him- that she had fallen in love with another al-bhed despite the fact that that wasn't even close to being true."

Paine shook her head sadly, and Rikku pouted; tears streamed down her cheeks. "So Petrik and Caleha never got to be together…that's so sad! Why did he lie to her though? I thought you said he loved her…"

"It probably had to do with the Maesters," Keke concluded, her head hung low. "In the end I believe they were going to make things hard for the couple. This other woman was probably brought on because of that disapproval, but no one ever found out the real reason. Caleha disappeared shortly after that, and Petrik…well I don't remember what happened to him." Keke looked to Rikku, reaching for her hand. "Rikku child, I don't want you to go through what Caleha did…I truly hope this time is different- that he will fight for his right to love you and still be Praetor." The woman rose out of her seat, placing a hand to Rikku's shoulder. "Anyway…this is supposed to be a happy occasion. I hope I haven't ruined it for you, dear."

"Oh no!" Rikku assured, "I won't let that happen to me and Lai. I refuse to let anyone tell me who I can and can't love!"

Keke smiled at Rikku, patting her warmly before she left-

"Be sure to stand by those words… you might have to defend them one day."