Author's note: lidea is Al Bhed for "cutie". Enjoy.

Part Four

Baralai,

You're crazy… but what else is new? Are you back to the old threesome at the top idea?

You know Nooj is up for it. He's always wanted a hack at running Spira. As for me… well, someone's gotta watch out for the interests of the Al Bhed. So yeah, but you know, we're currently stuck on Besaid thanks to Brother's fantastic piloting.

Send Yuna my heart, but keep some for yourself, lidea.

Gippal

Yuna realized that her chin was resting on Baralai's shoulder, and that she had been reading over his shoulder. Judging by the look he gave her, Yuna knew she wasn't in trouble. "Baralai, it's late," she reminded him, looking up out the large picture window that spanned the entire east wall of his office. The lights of Bevelle were all on, lighting up the city like a field of stars on a dark indigo background. "You've been doing work all day."

Baralai put Gippal's letter down on his desk. "The mail arrived late," he tried to explain.

"That's no excuse," Yuna chided, taking Baralai by the elbow and trying to lift him to his feet. Unfortunately, Baralai was larger and heavier than Yuna could handle, and he merely remained seated and looked at her. "Come on. Show me around Bevelle?"

"Weren't you born in Bevelle?"

He had caught her. "Yes, but…" Yuna looked away, searching the window for something to say. "I haven't really been here for more than a few minutes since you took over, since the Calm. Surely things must have changed." She smiled cutely, hoping to distract him. "Show me?"

Baralai sighed and cast his eyes back toward the desk. Yuna could see the indecision etched on his face, mirroring the lines of shadow cast by the open blinds from the window. "Yuna," he said, still looking down.

"Please?" She batted her eyelashes.

Baralai sighed. Yuna knew he was giving in; she could tell by the way he sighed and shook his head.

"Alright," he finally said.

Yuna clasped her hands together. "Oh, thank you," she said, taking Baralai by the arm again and lifting him to his feet – with a little bit of help from Baralai himself this time. "And it seems like it's such a nice night."

"A little cold," Baralai replied, standing up and straightening his robe. "But I'm sure it'll be nice. Come, Lady Yuna." He offered his arm.

Yuna smiled and placed her hand in the crook of his elbow, and the two of them walked out of the office together, Baralai's robe floating in the air behind them.

"Gippal sent you 'his heart'," Baralai informed Yuna as they walked down the Highbridge and toward the actual city of Bevelle.

"I read," Yuna replied in a low voice. Had Baralai not noticed that she had been looking over his shoulder at Gippal's response?

His footsteps slowed to a stop, and the two of them stood at the very edge of the Highbridge, looking out over the glittering lights of the inner city. A blue and lavender lift hovered a few paces in front of them for transport down into the streets, and behind them was the main concourse of the airship docks. Things were quiet at this time of night when many of the bright lights of the city were turned off and the stars could be seen twinkling in the sky above. Normally, in other parts of Spira, the night sky appeared to be such a deep blue color that it was nearly black; here in Bevelle, however, due to the fuel emissions from the airships that constantly circled the city and the perpetual existence of light from the various buildings, the sky appeared to be more of a purple color than in other areas. The different color gave Bevelle a distinctly different feeling from the rest of Spira, like it was somehow blessed even though the cause of the difference was pollution in the air.

Yuna had her face turned to the sky, staring up at the twinkling lights of the stars and ignoring her thoughts about the cause of the purple field they laid on. Bevelle itself looked like a mirror of the sky, the patterns of lights below forming patterns reflecting the ones above. She almost didn't hear Baralai's voice. "Are you and Gippal…?"

Yuna could feel her heart racing as she lowered her eyes from the violet heavens. "Are we what?"

"Together?"

That word hung in the air between them, threatening to crystallize and fall to the ground, shattering and sending pieces all across the purple tile of the Highbridge.

"No," Yuna responded, unlocking her hand from Baralai's elbow and folding her fingers together. "We're not."

"Then why did he write that?"

"Why did he tell you to keep a 'piece for yourself'?"

Baralai was silent then, and Yuna could feel the change in the mood. The atmosphere was heavier and darker, but it was far from hostile. "He's with Rikku," Yuna continued, forcing her voice to come out and willing it not to shake.

Nodding, Baralai turned his own eyes up to the sky. "He's been with her for a long time now," he agreed, the purple of the heavens reflecting in his deep brown eyes. "Perhaps because he can't actually have her."

Yuna wasn't prepared for that. "What… do you mean?" She turned to face Baralai.

He was leaning against the rail, his hands spread more than his body's width apart, looking up at the sky still. "Gippal pursues until he gets what he wants," he informed Yuna, then turned his eyes to her. Yuna could barely keep her concentration on what he was saying as she realized that his eyes still held traces of the hue of the sky. "He'll only pursue until he has it, and then he'll let it get away again. My guess is that Rikku won't give in to him, not fully anyway."

Yuna could feel her eyes widening. "So that's why he…!" She clasped her hand over her mouth. No one was supposed to know about that!

Baralai seemed to understand, however, though he didn't finish her sentence. Yuna's heart fluttered in her chest like a hummingbird on a lilac. "Gippal is like that," he said, and it appeared that he was trying to console Yuna in some way. "He'll break your heart and you won't even notice."

Like being struck by a low-flying kite in high winds that sometimes dominated Bevelle's purple sky, Yuna realized suddenly that Baralai was speaking from experience. It knocked the wind out of her, but not before she could babble her surprise. "You and… Gippal…?"

Baralai nodded simply. "He pursued until he got what he wanted."

Yuna put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm… really sorry." She looked at him, imagining the way he and Gippal must have looked together, and finding a smile on her face in spite of how mad she should have been at Gippal. It was impossible to be upset with the man… either of them. "But, I have to wonder—"

"I know what you're thinking," he replied, turning to face her. "I assure you that right at this moment, I am far more interested in you than anyone else."

Yuna couldn't breathe. The combination of the realization that Gippal and Baralai had slept together with Baralai admitting fully his interest in her made Yuna's stomach do flips inside of her body. All she could do was look up at him, gazing at that sweet smile he was wearing that carried with it the mystical hue of Bevelle's night sky, knowing suddenly that it was all for her.

Baralai gazed back at her for a moment, their eyes meeting in mutual agreement somewhere in the inches separating their bodies, before he looked away slowly. Yuna found herself gazing at his ethereal white hair which perfectly absorbed the purple color surrounding them, wondering how it came to be that shade and if it was natural or not.

"Come, Lady Yuna," Baralai said, offering his arm and taking a step back from her. "It's late and becoming cold, I wouldn't want you to fall ill."

Yuna had to smile. The tension of the moment had been abated, and once again she took his arm, and they proceeded down the lavender tile of the Highbridge and back to the temple.

Rikku,

Don't ever let Gippal break your heart. Hold him firmly with both hands, and don't ever give in to him.

Things are fine here in Bevelle. Don't worry about me.

Love,

Yuna