It was now early hours of the morning, around two or so. The sky was pitch black and the rain had begun to pour again as the boat flew across the seas towards Bevelle. Gippal and Baralai were still in the lounge, although they were now rugged up in an armchair each and the room was cleaned of any evidence of the fight. Gippal had been diagnosed, by Baralai's personal doctor, with a broken rib and was well bandaged. He was suspected of having a milder case of hypothermia and also sported a couple of stitches in his lip. Baralai was better off, with light bandages for his cut knuckles. Despite their weariness they refused to go to bed, instead they forced themselves to stay awake and drink coffee so that they would be there if anything changed. The minutes ticked on, and the boat was anchored in the cove of a small, remote island to wait until the storm died down a little. Shortly afterwards Celsius landed in the water beside them.

The Gullwings filed in onto the ship and were seated by helpful staff and handed cups of coffee. Buddy and Brother were strangely silent and not their usual dynamic selves, although Brother had several marks that suggested that the silence was beating induced. Paine was increasingly grave with a look of intense worry on her face, her red eyes glassy. She was showing her affectionate side by cradling Shinra on her lap and humming in what she hoped was a soothing manner. The little kid was distraught. He wasn't the most emotional kid anyway, but all of his scientific practices hadn't prepared him for this. Rikku came into the room, like a zombie. All of her usual verve was lost. She was pale and stumbled blindly into Gippal's arms, a few tears sliding down her cheeks. He adjusted her position gently so she wasn't pressing on the bandages and stroked her braids.

Everyone sat together in silence with the flames casting eerie shadows across their faces. They were all experiencing mixed emotions. If this had happened before the final vanquishing of Sin, everyone could have found comfort in praying to Yevon for Yuna's good fortune. They knew now of Yevon's folly, but with that knowledge was the lack of security. As Daylight appeared Brother, Buddy and Shinra grudgingly flew Celsius back to Bikanel Desert to complete the job. Rikku had long since fallen asleep and Paine was nodding off. Baralai eased himself out of his chair and stumbled out of the lounge, through the main cabin and up onto the deck. He ignored the pelting rain that had started up again and was stabbing into his skin like daggers in Shiva's icy grip. Step by step he crossed the slippery deck until he was right up in the Bow. He clutched the railing in his hands, feeling the cold metal plating bite into him.

Baralai closed his eyes and felt the wind and rain tear at his hair and clothes like ravaging fingers. He pressed his mind through the levels of his consciousness and self-consciousness, the memories and dreams flying past him in fast forward. Then there was black. Baralai didn't understand... Shuyin used to be here, waiting. Feeling helpless, The Praetor wrenched vainly at the railing. He'd cursed the damned double awareness before, but now that he needed it, It wasn't there. It was a serious case of 'Be careful what you wish for' or 'You don't appreciate what you have until it's gone.' He needed strength. He needed unyielding determination. He needed the faith to fight against the odds, to keep fighting until he was utterly spent if need be. He needed to know that any risk can, and should, be made to make his love span the ages... That no matter what he might lose, the rewards would be infinitely greater. Baralai knew that Shuyin possessed this knowledge and he wanted it. No, it was more then that. He needed that knowledge. Baralai stepped back from the railing, feeling strangely satisfied. Maybe his knowledge he had ever obtained from Shuyin was just a spark, but he knew well from an unfortunate childhood misdemeanour that even a spark could cause a bonfire if it had the right fuel.

After changing into dry clothes Baralai returned to the lounge, noting Paine and Rikku had succumbed to the urges of sleep and gone off to the guestrooms. Gippal glanced at him once and looked back at the ceiling, obviously trying to look inconspicuous. There was an awkward silence for a few moments, but Gippal stood up and scratched the back of his neck.

"I , uh, I'm off to bed..." He said, looking slightly to the left of Baralai's face, before cautiously edging around him, to the door.

Without looking back, Baralai spoke.

"Sleep well."

Gippal stopped briefly.

"You too."

Stepping out of his steaming shower, Gippal wrapped a towel around his waist and began rubbing a towel through his blond mop of hair. He paused in front of the mirror to wipe off the condensation. Grimly he stared back at his reflection. One electric blue eye and one milky white eye stared back at him. He swore inwardly at the loss of his eye patch. He hated that hideous blank eye, but the thought of a glass eye... Never. He vaguely remembered being the victim of an unfortunate virus that had invaded home when he was 13 or so. It was a particularly vigorous disease and he was lucky when he thought about it. The curious trait of the disease was that even though it wasn't particularly deadly, it left sufferers with some kind of disfigurement. Some people suffered from pigment changes and developed patches of extra dark or extra pale skin or had radical hair colour changes. It was responsible for the well-known fondness between Al-Bhed's and their tattoos. Some suffered some more serious forms of disfigurement in their features, so Gippal was thankful for the fact that he was untouched, except for that damned eye. Looking away, he pulled on his boxers and dried his hair some more, before climbing into bed with Rikku.

Gippal was tired and running on borrowed time and the bed was warm and comfortable, but he just couldn't sleep. He shifted a few times to make his rib comfortable before linking his arms behind his head and settling down. He just didn't understand why the Machina had crashed. It was an uncomfortable realisation for Gippal, that it was actually his fault. It must have been him. After all, It was only the week previously that Rikku had offered to service the mini air ship, personally. Rikku was definitely a true daughter of the Al-Bhed, with her intimate knowledge of Machina mechanics. Gippal shifted uncomfortably. When he'd lost the vision in his disfigured eye, it hadn't taken that long for him to regain all of the skills that had been weakened by the virus's effects. He re-learned to judge depth and distance and quickly became a master shooter again. He also had the added advantage of not needing to squint to use the scope. He could hover with the best of them and had passed his flying test with flying colours. Could it be possible that everyone had given him too much credit? Did Gippal have undeserved faith in his own abilities? As Rikku whimpered in her sleep and snuggled closer to him, tears squeezing out from between her closed eyelids, Gippal began to think about finding another career choice. He didn't think he was safe around Machina any more.

A/N: I know this fiction is about Baralai and Yuna, but there is a point to all of this Gippal-ness. I swear.

:: Cowers::