DISCLAIMER: As usual, all these characters do not belong to me. They belong to Square-Enix. Details are a little sketchy now, but bit by bit everything will make sense with each chapter. Please be patient.

Chapter 3

The alcohol haze that Baralai had kept himself almost perpetually in had kept away the memories. Now that it was gone, the memories had started to flow back and he started to remember. Forget her. That was what he wanted all along. Baralai gritted his teeth as he pushed his body against the bed, using the motion to propel himself upwards as he leans unsteadily against the bed.

Baralai cursed himself inwardly as he found his eyes again drawn to the figure on the bed and he stared at her. Her face seemed paler than before and even her lips were a sickly translucent colour now. The blood had stained almost the entire side of the bandage where her wound was and it looked as though she was not breathing.

His heart skipped a beat at that. He knew that he had to get the bonds off. He knew that it was the only way he could escape. Yet despite all he knew, Baralai leaned forward towards Rikku. He just had to make sure that she was well. The unsteadiness from his bound legs had him falling forward. He swiftly angled his fall so that he hit the soft portion of the bed beside her. Somehow, he did not want to cause her hurt and his confusion rose as he inwardly rails at himself.

Up close, Baralai could smell her scent, a scent of freshness that he used to love. It was something he could not describe. It was just part of her. It was Rikku's scent. He did not want to remember that, but he did. He remembered how he loved to hold her in his arms as they basked in the moonlight.

Rikku sat between his stretched out legs, her back lightly pressed against his front as his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close to him. Leaning back, Rikku smiled happily as she points to the stars asking, "what is that called? What about that?"

Each question was peppered with a patient reply from Baralai as he explained the constellations to her. He loved holding her. Her soft warm body against his, she was so vibrant and energetic. He interrupted her next question with a shy kiss to the corner of her mouth.

Rikku blushed at that and fell silent. She fell asleep that night in his arms, looking like an angel curling up against him. The braids of her blonde hair reflected off the moonlight, illuminating her in a surreal manner. Watching her, it was the night that he admitted to himself that he wanted her to stay with him.

It was a forever for him.

The sound of incoming voices wrenched him out from his thoughts as Baralai struggled to push himself away from the bed. "She's in here! You have to come quick!" Gippal called out as he dragged Yuna in by with one hand while Tidus held onto her other free hand. It looked as though the two men were having a tug-of-war with Yuna as the main prize.

"Don't you understand, Gippal? Yuna is exhausted. She has no mana left. There's no ether left in the camp to rejuvenate her, there's no way she can heal Rikku unless she gets enough -rest- which you are not giving her!" Tidus points out to the Al-Bhed man as he gives an insistant tug on Yuna's hand. Tidus found Yuna being thrown against him with that tug as Gippal releases her hand abruptly.

"What are you doing to her?" Gippal demands angrily as he flew to the bedside and proceeded to pull Baralai up by his collar. "Why? Is it not enough that you stabbed her in the back of her head, now you're trying to finish the job?" Gippal kicks him as Baralai grunted with that blow. Gippal half-dragged and moved Baralai to the corner as he releases the man unceremoniously on the ground, not caring if Baralai got hurt even more in the process and continued to heap abuse upon him.

With a slight shake of her head, Yuna pushes herself off Tidus as she makes her way towards Rikku. She sits quietly on the edge of the bed as she places her hand lightly on Rikku's forehead and closed her eyes.

"Yuna…your mana.. " Tidus begins.

"I know… Let me just pray for her. Hopefully it would provide a little relief to her." Yuna softly replied to him as she changed into her white mage dress sphere. Her hands clasped together as she prays softly for Rikku. A light soft glow surrounds Rikku's body. Though it was to be the last of her strength as Yuna stumbles backwards right into Tidus's strong arms as he caught her and supported her.

Tidus cradles her quietly and says firmly, "You need time to rest, Yuna, you've been healing non-stop for the past two days. I'm bringing you back to rest." Tidus says as he bends down to lift her up into his arms. Yuna turns to look at him and murmurs something softly to him. Tidus turned towards Baralai and shrugged lightly, "I don't know." Quietly, they both exit the tent.

Baralai took the brunt of the kicks from Gippal. He knew he deserved it. He was the one that delivered that blow. It had also ceased to hurt a couple of kicks ago. His body was numb.

"Stop it... Gippal." The weak voice came from the bed. Rikku was struggling to sit up as she spoke, "He is of no use to us if you kill him. Remember? We don't want to kill him."

Gippal stopped as he turns to make his way towards Rikku, sinking on the bed beside her as he reached out to help her, allowing her to lean against him as she sat up. Quietly, he spoke to her, "Fro yna oui cdemm bnudaldehk res? Ra lyicat dryd fyn wuha oui caa uid drana?" (Why are you still protecting him? He caused that war zone you see out there?)

Leaning gratefully towards him, Rikku looks up and says softly, "Dryd'c fro fa'ja lybdinat res. Ev fa ryja res rana, fa syo pa ypma du luhjehla res du cekh y bayla dnaydo yht ev ra cekhc y bayla dnaydo, Nooj femm cekh dra bayla dnaydo yc famm yht fa lyh aht drec fyn. Sunaujan, Nooj femm hud syga yho suja huf dryd ra ghufc dryd Baralai ec hud ynuiht du keja untanc." (That's why we've captured him. If we have him here, we may be able to convince him to sign a peace treaty and if he signs a peace treaty, Nooj will sign the peace treaty as well and we can end this war. Moreover, Nooj will not make any move now that he knows that Baralai is not around to give orders.")

The flames of anger rose in Baralai as he watched the two of them, his eyes darkening with rage. His hands curved into fists and an ugly sneer crosses his face, twisting it into something unrecognizable.

"It is amusing to watch the two of you speak so lovingly to each other, why don't you do it elsewhere? Isn't this my prisoner's quarters or I demand to be moved to another quarters where I don't need to listen to two lovebirds cooing to each other in their own language. Just remember, I had her first." Baralai spoke bitterly, regretting the words almost as soon as they were out of his mouth.

Rikku looked as though she had been kicked in her teeth. Gippal took a step towards Baralai fully intending to make him regret his words and found Rikku holding him back as she said softly, "Gippal… I'm sorry, I'm feeing a little woosy and would like to return to my tent. Would you help me please? "

Gippal looked torn between heading over to punch Baralai and assisting Rikku. With an exasperated sigh, Gippal threw his arms around her waist and lent her his shoulders for support while she stood up. "Cid's gal, you really should eat more, you're entirely too skinny for your own good." Gippal grinned as he made his way out of the tent together with her.

Rikku laughs as she says, "Only if you decide to cook, Gippal..."

"You know that I don't cook..."

Their voices faded as they moved away from the tent. Baralai leaned his forehead against the pole of the tent. Now his head, his jaw and his stomach was hurting. Why did he get angry? He did not understand it. He did not love her anymore. His heart was his to control now. Never will he ever give it away to anyone.