Part Three

Yunie,

I hope I didn't make you mad somehow! You seemed so angry when you left that I was scared to ask you what was wrong! Paine's been no help, but she says that you didn't even say anything to her before you left either. Gippal says you probably figured that it was time to make the move on Baralai… I hope he's right! Good luck with that lidea, he'd be a great husband, Yunie! I hope you got to Bevelle okay, let me know if you receive this!

Love,

Rikku

"Is all well?"

Yuna looked up from the letter and smiled at Baralai. "Yes, Rikku is just concerned about my trip."

Baralai laughed, that shallow sound he made when he wasn't sure what else to say. Yuna had already learned to gauge the meanings of the little sounds that he made. The shallow laugh was an indication that he didn't know how to respond and was ready to move onto another topic. "Did you enjoy your breakfast?"

Yuna smiled, more because she was proud of herself for figuring Baralai out than because she was happy that the Praetor was concerned about the quality of her pancakes. "Of course," she replied, starting to walk down the long hallway with its bright stained glass windows. "Everything about Bevelle is just as I remember it, before things got bad."

As they passed a crimson and sapphire window depicting Yunalesca, her arms outreached and face lifted to welcome the morning sun, Yuna noted that Baralai was walking with his elbow slightly extended – an invitation for her to take his arm. "We are trying to restore Bevelle to its glory, before the corruption of Yevon and the destruction caused by the last battle with Sin." He smiled as though he was proud of the progress.

Yuna tucked the letter from Rikku into the back pocket of her shorts and then put her hand in the crook of Baralai's elbow before she even realized what she was doing. His arm was warm, and the material of his robe was surprisingly soft. Yuna had expected it to be made of coarse wool or something similar, but it had the soft texture of cashmere. "Bevelle is as beautiful as ever," she replied, smiling down at the ground instead of at Baralai. She was so close to him that she could feel his body swaying as he walked. "But what of New Yevon?"

Baralai sighed, and Yuna could feel his elbow tighten around her hand just a little bit. "It's tiring," he replied finally, pausing next to a window and looking up at the dark blue glass depiction of the symbol of Yevon. The varying shades of blue in the glass cast a soft glow across Baralai's features, with a line of aqua crossing the olive brown of his cheeks and mouth. "Sometimes I feel as though it's an insurmountable task, to join New Yevon with the rest of a progressive Spira."

Yuna reached over and patted his arm, her hand crossing through a patch of sky blue light. "The temples aren't made to be progressive, Baralai," she replied, turning her eyes back up to the window. "Joining them with the liberal sort of people of the Youth League or the Machine Faction is like putting oil in water."

"It is what the people want."

"Clearly, it isn't working."

"What else are we supposed to do?"

"There is such a thing as..." Yuna paused for a moment, then turned to Baralai and slipped her hand out of his arm, placing it on his shoulder. "Peaceful coexistence." She smiled brightly, looking up and meeting the gaze of his gentle brown eyes. "Why can't you three get along?"

"It's impossible," Baralai informed her, looking down into that collar of his and shaking his head. "The three factions are completely different, and everyone is struggling to find a new leader of Spira."

"Why do we need one single leader?"

Baralai appeared to falter, turning his eyes away from Yuna's features. "Because… because Spira needs to be united under one banner… and… it's the way it's always been…"

"'It's the way it's always been'," Yuna repeated, keeping her hands on Baralai's shoulders, forcing him to look at her. "And Yevon controlled Spira into believing in false hope, in continuing in a terrible cycle of death and destruction without questioning. This is what happens when there is one person or one organization controlling all of Spira!"

Baralai's mouth opened slightly as though he wanted to say something to respond to Yuna's outburst but changed his mind at the last moment.

Yuna paused only slightly, then took her arms off of Baralai's shoulders and turned away from him. "Why not have the three of you run Spira… together?"

"Together?" Baralai finally managed to say. "The three factions? Impossible."

"Not so!" Yuna insisted, thrusting her hands down at her sides and staring up at the window, the blue light shading both of her eyes. Her back was still to Baralai. "The three of you could rule Spira as a triumvirate. Just by your different orientation it's automatically a system of checks and balances – and the three of you are together in your search for truth. You know what is good for Spira, and you're all searching for it!" She suddenly turned back to Baralai, her long braid curling around her hips as she did so. "So, instead of fighting, why not work together? If anyone can do it, it would be the three of you."

Baralai appeared to be thrown by what Yuna had said. He had turned his head to the side as she spoke, his collar obscuring the lower half of his face. "Yuna," he said, his voice almost getting lost in the soft material of his robe. "What you speak of… it would require the support of everyone of Spira. It would be difficult to get the support of so many people."

"No," Yuna replied, shaking her head. "They would follow you three. Everyone on Spira follows one of you three, and so you would have the support of—"

"Yuna," Baralai repeated, her name sounding as clear as the first tone of the bells from the temple on a clear Sunday morning, "You would support such a system?"

She nodded.

"Then we'll need your voice behind it." Baralai now put his hands on Yuna's shoulders, and she could feel her back stiffen under his touch.

Tidus. She could see Shuyin – Tidus! – in his form, with his hands on her shoulders. Baralai's form disappeared, replaced by Shuyin, replaced by Tidus…

There he was, his beautiful blue eyes staring into hers, promising her "Forever". Forever… no, Tidus wasn't there for her forever. And Shuyin… Shuyin was just using her for Lenne…

And Gippal was just using her, too.

Everyone was just using her. What would make Baralai any different? He was just using her to give New Yevon a good name, to try to put together a leadership for Spira…

"Yuna?"

She snapped back to reality, and found herself staring right into Baralai's eyes. They were brown… brown. Not blue like Tidus's, and not that ethereal shade of aqua like Shuyin's.

They were just brown. They matched his skin perfectly, a contrast to his stark white hair above that blue bandana. Even in the blue hue of the light from the window, his hair was still white, and the whiteness was even accentuated by the addition of the blue. Nothing about Baralai was blue, nothing was there to remind Yuna of the colour of Tidus's eyes… except that bandana.

"Baralai?" Yuna asked randomly, feeling her voice shake and hating herself for it.

"You felt faint… are you alright?"

Yuna bit her lower lip, her eyes being drawn to the blue of that bandana. "Would you… take your bandana off?"

Baralai blinked. "Take my… bandana off?" He put his hand to the cloth that covered his forehead. "Why?"

Yuna didn't think that 'because it reminds me of my ex' would be a good response, so she simply smiled and looked down at the floor. "I like your hair," she said lamely.

"You… like my hair?" Baralai ran a hand through his hair and looked away.

Yuna realized how stupid that had sounded and struggled for a way to recover from it. "I… mean… that I just think you'd look really good, you know, with your hair down." She smiled hopefully.

Baralai stared at her for a moment, then shook his head and offered his arm again. Yuna tried to divert some of the blood rushing to her cheeks by putting her hand in the crook of his elbow again and walking down the hallway. She thought for sure that Baralai had thought her to be completely inane, going from political talk to complimenting him on his hair…

Yuna hung her head, watching the floor as they walked. Sixteen steps and two windows later, Baralai's voice came to her as her right foot landed in a pane of yellow light on the gray carpet. "My hair hangs in my eyes," he said, his tone gentle and amused.

She didn't even realize that she had been holding her breath until she exhaled, looking up at Baralai's face. He wore a small smile, looking straight ahead down the hallway.

It occurred to Yuna that Baralai was trying desperately hard not to laugh.

Gippal,

If I asked you to rule Spira with me, what would you say?

Baralai