Somehow looking in his penetrating glassy brown eyes the idea that Baralai was the spawn of a fiend was no longer so difficult to fathom. Perhaps the darkness had always existed there, it would explan the facility in which Shuyin was able to control Baralai. In his glance Yuna finally saw the abyss, a void she had seen in Shuyin. Baralai's spirit was broken.
"Baralai..." Yuna comenced slowly walking away from the cool steel railing baracading her from the "cages".
Baralai frowned. He approached Yuna his hands trembled as he felt cool droplets of moisture fall on the crown of his head. " Remember the vows we took Yuna." Baralai worked his way in rather slowly with holding the angst that was visibly seeping out through his eyes. " Explain, something to me..." Baralai was trying to be as intimidating as he could, in order to provoke guilt causing Yuna to perhaps give him reason for his fury.
Yuna stood rigidly not moving a single millimeter. Not flinching, or for that matter she didn't even appear to be breathing. Her expression emotionless, unflappable. Baralai took this with great indignity. "By not responding, Yuna, you realize that you only give yourself away." Yuna shrilly turned her back to Baralai's persistent , but rather futile attempt to coax her into speaking. "Yuna! I'm your husbund did you forget?!" Baralai released a bit of stream. Yuna eyed Baralai as he continued to pace in circles around her." Did you forget that Cid was my uncle before you imprisoned him?!" Yuna's voice was stressed and high-pitched.
" Your accomplice, you mean. Don't worry Yuna at least I didn't kill him." Baralai pressed tightly on Yuna's wrist.
" What, my accomplice?! What non-sense are you speaking." Yuna squinted.
" Of course I should have known. That no one could really ever feel anything for me. But the fact that you used me, Yuna that leaves a hurt inside you just can't imagine. I should have known that you, a half Al-Bhed."
"Your the one to talk about lineage. My mother may have been Al-bhed but at least she wasn't some common street walker!"
"Are you implying...?!"
" Yes Baralai, let's take a glance at your family tree!" Yuna laughed sarcastically.
" Your mother for instance, what shall we tell our children? Let's see, your grandmother, mother of the Preator of New Yevon a whore!"
" YUNA! STOP! Dare speak about my mother once more and I'll..."
" You'll do what?! I don't fear you Baralai! You have the nerve to speak about my lineage yet look at yours. However no one holds that against you!"
" You have no idea how hard my life has been! You can't speak for my mother."
" But I can speak for your father! Baronaile was it?"
Baralai's look appeared as if it was about to shatter into a million pieces. His coffee hued skin appeared as if it had been drenched in some very heavy cream, Yuna could literally even hear the viens in his neck pop all at the mere mention of that name.
" Who told you about him." Baralai turned away from Yuna shamefully bowing his head as if defeated by a much stronger and intimadating enemy.
" That isn't the point." Yuna stood back from Baralai softening her tone a bit. Baralai's head swung down to his chest. Tears emerging from his eyes. " You didn't trust me enough to..."
" Tell you... you have no idea what it's like to be ashamed of who you are. NO IDEA! No idea what it's like knowing that your parents set a great precedent, however what have my parent set for me?! My father was Sin! My mother..."
" Preator Baralai." Fiohn intruded. "You're mother was a grand woman."
Baralai ignored Fiohn's attempt to comfort him however Baralai watched a delighted grin dance along Fiohn's lips as if he were almost excited to witness this.
Yuna couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Baralai. Thinking that perhaps it was a mistake to mention his father. In Baralai's eyes grew a deep silence. One that indicated to Yuna that the confrontation was winding down. She felt that nothing was yet settled this conversation only conduced to a long and weary silence between them. " Now you know the truth." He gasped defeatedly, sobbing under each breath. He just needed to know the truth once and for all.
" You didn't marry for love did you?"
Yuna knew that the great facade was over. After tonight she could no longer pretend anything was like before.
"No." Yuna's simple and rather painful reply. The calmness in which that words resonated throughout the room calmed the impaitent pulsing of Baralai's heart.
" Do you except the punishment that must be administered." Baralai slipped into an authoritory tone of voice. One dry of any strong binding emotion.
"Yes, it was my idea to marry you. I'm the one who lied. It was all my doing. Please don't punish the Al-Bhed or Cid." Yuna's eyes were serene, accepting of her fault. Cid had given her a reason to lie, she only could protect the Al-Bhed with her sacrifice.
Baralai breathed in deeply and gently walked towards Yuna's serene face. Lightly he touched his lips to hers , as if for the last time. Their marriage was officailly broken at this point. Cid was kicked back to conciousness and the cage lowered to allow him a risky escape. Cid and Yuna faced eachother. Yuna's face devoid of sentiment and Cid his usually charismatic self was expressionless. "Thank you Yuna." he uttered. Yuna turned away about to cry. " Don't worry." he whispered." I have a plan." Cid winked.
Yuna was escorted to her prison were she caught her last glance of Baralai. He stood as if half his body were simply missing. He was hunched over, his shoulders slouching. With only her Uncle's words to comfort her she walked into her prison.
A cool draft was felt though the temple that night. Baralai was tired, crying almost. Tromell greeted him warmly. "I'm sorry to hear about Lady Yuna." Baralai ignored Tromell and fell into a large chair. " Is there anything I can do?"
Baralai remained still. " the only thing you could do for me now is to make Yuna fall in love with me. If you can't you're useless to me at the moment."
"I think this should be a relief to you, you did the correct thing. She deserved to be imprisioned."
" Have you ever loved someone."
" No, sir."
" Than you could never understand. The pain of betrayal is a great one however what hurts me more is the fact that I'm the one who imprisioned her."
"Sir, I'm sure you'll find another."
Baralai stood indignantly. With great premise. " NO! THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER! You fail to understand how much I LOVE her. I care for her so much that I would contempate sending this whole damn religion to HELL at her command!"
" You'd betray your religion for this woman, but she is untrustworthy, she mislead you."
" DAMN LOVE! DAMN IT ALL!" the force of Baralai's words reverberated thoughout the temple. " I love her. I still do! I want more than anything to go down there and hold her in my arms, make love to her!"
Tromell gasped slightly it was a rarity for a Preator to express such a cardinal desire so fervently.
" However the thought that she doesn't love me back drives me insane! It fills me with grief, despair, horror to think about how she used me! She brings out the very worst in me."
" then, she isn't good for you."
" ...but even though she's hurt me, I love her."
Yuna was sobbing uncontrollably in her lonely cage. She knew she deserved this but she couldn't help but resent Baralai. If he truly loved her he wouldn't have caged her like this. Her head became clouded with doubt. She didn't know how much she could stand. She flashed to her wedding day the tented dome, the mirthful colors of pink looked so vibrant compared to the steel bars and dull surroundings. " Does Cid really have a plan?" Yuna bit her lip as she whispered to herself. Darkness embedded the cage as Yuna sat contemplating in silence.
"Baralai..." Yuna comenced slowly walking away from the cool steel railing baracading her from the "cages".
Baralai frowned. He approached Yuna his hands trembled as he felt cool droplets of moisture fall on the crown of his head. " Remember the vows we took Yuna." Baralai worked his way in rather slowly with holding the angst that was visibly seeping out through his eyes. " Explain, something to me..." Baralai was trying to be as intimidating as he could, in order to provoke guilt causing Yuna to perhaps give him reason for his fury.
Yuna stood rigidly not moving a single millimeter. Not flinching, or for that matter she didn't even appear to be breathing. Her expression emotionless, unflappable. Baralai took this with great indignity. "By not responding, Yuna, you realize that you only give yourself away." Yuna shrilly turned her back to Baralai's persistent , but rather futile attempt to coax her into speaking. "Yuna! I'm your husbund did you forget?!" Baralai released a bit of stream. Yuna eyed Baralai as he continued to pace in circles around her." Did you forget that Cid was my uncle before you imprisoned him?!" Yuna's voice was stressed and high-pitched.
" Your accomplice, you mean. Don't worry Yuna at least I didn't kill him." Baralai pressed tightly on Yuna's wrist.
" What, my accomplice?! What non-sense are you speaking." Yuna squinted.
" Of course I should have known. That no one could really ever feel anything for me. But the fact that you used me, Yuna that leaves a hurt inside you just can't imagine. I should have known that you, a half Al-Bhed."
"Your the one to talk about lineage. My mother may have been Al-bhed but at least she wasn't some common street walker!"
"Are you implying...?!"
" Yes Baralai, let's take a glance at your family tree!" Yuna laughed sarcastically.
" Your mother for instance, what shall we tell our children? Let's see, your grandmother, mother of the Preator of New Yevon a whore!"
" YUNA! STOP! Dare speak about my mother once more and I'll..."
" You'll do what?! I don't fear you Baralai! You have the nerve to speak about my lineage yet look at yours. However no one holds that against you!"
" You have no idea how hard my life has been! You can't speak for my mother."
" But I can speak for your father! Baronaile was it?"
Baralai's look appeared as if it was about to shatter into a million pieces. His coffee hued skin appeared as if it had been drenched in some very heavy cream, Yuna could literally even hear the viens in his neck pop all at the mere mention of that name.
" Who told you about him." Baralai turned away from Yuna shamefully bowing his head as if defeated by a much stronger and intimadating enemy.
" That isn't the point." Yuna stood back from Baralai softening her tone a bit. Baralai's head swung down to his chest. Tears emerging from his eyes. " You didn't trust me enough to..."
" Tell you... you have no idea what it's like to be ashamed of who you are. NO IDEA! No idea what it's like knowing that your parents set a great precedent, however what have my parent set for me?! My father was Sin! My mother..."
" Preator Baralai." Fiohn intruded. "You're mother was a grand woman."
Baralai ignored Fiohn's attempt to comfort him however Baralai watched a delighted grin dance along Fiohn's lips as if he were almost excited to witness this.
Yuna couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Baralai. Thinking that perhaps it was a mistake to mention his father. In Baralai's eyes grew a deep silence. One that indicated to Yuna that the confrontation was winding down. She felt that nothing was yet settled this conversation only conduced to a long and weary silence between them. " Now you know the truth." He gasped defeatedly, sobbing under each breath. He just needed to know the truth once and for all.
" You didn't marry for love did you?"
Yuna knew that the great facade was over. After tonight she could no longer pretend anything was like before.
"No." Yuna's simple and rather painful reply. The calmness in which that words resonated throughout the room calmed the impaitent pulsing of Baralai's heart.
" Do you except the punishment that must be administered." Baralai slipped into an authoritory tone of voice. One dry of any strong binding emotion.
"Yes, it was my idea to marry you. I'm the one who lied. It was all my doing. Please don't punish the Al-Bhed or Cid." Yuna's eyes were serene, accepting of her fault. Cid had given her a reason to lie, she only could protect the Al-Bhed with her sacrifice.
Baralai breathed in deeply and gently walked towards Yuna's serene face. Lightly he touched his lips to hers , as if for the last time. Their marriage was officailly broken at this point. Cid was kicked back to conciousness and the cage lowered to allow him a risky escape. Cid and Yuna faced eachother. Yuna's face devoid of sentiment and Cid his usually charismatic self was expressionless. "Thank you Yuna." he uttered. Yuna turned away about to cry. " Don't worry." he whispered." I have a plan." Cid winked.
Yuna was escorted to her prison were she caught her last glance of Baralai. He stood as if half his body were simply missing. He was hunched over, his shoulders slouching. With only her Uncle's words to comfort her she walked into her prison.
A cool draft was felt though the temple that night. Baralai was tired, crying almost. Tromell greeted him warmly. "I'm sorry to hear about Lady Yuna." Baralai ignored Tromell and fell into a large chair. " Is there anything I can do?"
Baralai remained still. " the only thing you could do for me now is to make Yuna fall in love with me. If you can't you're useless to me at the moment."
"I think this should be a relief to you, you did the correct thing. She deserved to be imprisioned."
" Have you ever loved someone."
" No, sir."
" Than you could never understand. The pain of betrayal is a great one however what hurts me more is the fact that I'm the one who imprisioned her."
"Sir, I'm sure you'll find another."
Baralai stood indignantly. With great premise. " NO! THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER! You fail to understand how much I LOVE her. I care for her so much that I would contempate sending this whole damn religion to HELL at her command!"
" You'd betray your religion for this woman, but she is untrustworthy, she mislead you."
" DAMN LOVE! DAMN IT ALL!" the force of Baralai's words reverberated thoughout the temple. " I love her. I still do! I want more than anything to go down there and hold her in my arms, make love to her!"
Tromell gasped slightly it was a rarity for a Preator to express such a cardinal desire so fervently.
" However the thought that she doesn't love me back drives me insane! It fills me with grief, despair, horror to think about how she used me! She brings out the very worst in me."
" then, she isn't good for you."
" ...but even though she's hurt me, I love her."
Yuna was sobbing uncontrollably in her lonely cage. She knew she deserved this but she couldn't help but resent Baralai. If he truly loved her he wouldn't have caged her like this. Her head became clouded with doubt. She didn't know how much she could stand. She flashed to her wedding day the tented dome, the mirthful colors of pink looked so vibrant compared to the steel bars and dull surroundings. " Does Cid really have a plan?" Yuna bit her lip as she whispered to herself. Darkness embedded the cage as Yuna sat contemplating in silence.