Chapter Three

Luca was still as Gippal remembered it: busy, energetic, and yet still calm and relaxing all at the same time. As Paine brought the Celsius near Luca, he eagerly moved closer to get a better look at the large Blitzball Stadium that was generally the main attraction of the seaside city. Blitzball season didn't start up for a month or two but Gippal knew that teams had been practicing non-stop for the start up of the tournament again. He had friends on the Al Bhed Psyches who'd done nothing but practice since last Season. Seeing as the Al Bhed Psyches had taken the championship, it wasn't a big surprise; they had to defend their title against whoever played this time.

"Looks even busier than usual," Nooj remarked.

"Of course. High Summoner Yuna is getting married. Everyone wants to see, invitation or no," Baralai answered placidly as he peered down at the people cluttering the walkways.

This was why Gippal had been surprised when he first heard that Yuna's wedding would be held in Luca. When he asked Paine about why the wedding was being held in Luca instead of Besaid like it had originally been planned, he learned that the High Summoner had known that many people would be there to witness her marriage to the love of her life, someone named Tidus. So, wanting to keep the sanctity and peacefulness of Besaid in tact, Yuna had decided to move it to Luca.

"The wedding isn't even until the day after tomorrow!" Gippal commented.

When they all went to the engine room to get off of the Celsius, Gippal nearly had a heart attack when he saw another person suddenly appear behind them out of nowhere. His heart pounded even as he recognized who it was. Cool, icy amber eyes flicked casually over him in mild amusement before they settled on Baralai.

"Geez! Mako! Can you not do that?" Gippal demanded of the woman, who barely acknowledged him. Not that it was surprising. While she didn't seem fonder or nicer to any of the others aside from Baralai, she seemed to have taken an instant disliking to Gippal the moment they'd met. Instead of replying to him, her focus was on Baralai.

"Are you feeling well?" She asked softly to the young Praetor of New Yevon.

Baralai nodded. "Yes, I'm fine, sister."

Mako blinked simply and relaxed just a bit as she fell into step behind Baralai's slower hobble. Gippal winced at how Baralai walked with a slight limp now. How could it have slipped his mind that the young Praetor's gait was not as casual as before? A year ago, a faction of radicals had attempted to assassinate Baralai during a world leaders' conference outside of Bevelle. The men had not been associated with the Youth League but they had claimed that ridding Spira of New Yevon's tyranny was for the best of all.

They had all been captured or killed trying to flee of course. However, Baralai had been shot several times in his right hip, causing severe nerve and muscle damage. He'd been in the hospital with healers for nearly half a year. The incident almost caused the tentative alliance that was forming between the Youth League and New Yevon to crumble, as the members of New Yevon automatically assumed that this had been the work of the Youth League. Thankfully, in the end Baralai pulled through and the act was classified as an independent action. So the Eternal Calm continued.

At the time, Mako had been working with relief groups to help rebuild places that had been destroyed by Sin before Yuna defeated him. Upon hearing of the assassination attempt, the white-haired woman had rushed back to Bevelle to be with her brother. Now she headed the Royal Guard, the elite protection unit that defended Bevelle. It was rare to see Baralai in public without Mako hovering protectively nearby.

They were let off at the hotel in which had been reserved for Yuna's guests, courtesy of the Al Bhed businessman Rin. Gippal whistled appreciatively as he entered the luxurious hotel. "Being a celebrity really has its perks. I can't believe Rin isn't charging Yuna or any of her guests anything!"

Paine shrugged. "She offered to pay several times but he kept insisting. He said it was his present to Spira's savior. I'll bet anything that is a convenient tourist lure though. Who wouldn't want to stay at the hotel Lady Yuna stayed at?"

They were led to their rooms. Gippal and Baralai would be sharing one, which was fine by the both of them. They had a lot to catch up on. Before either of them could enter the room, Mako walked right past Gippal and entered. He watched incredulously as she thoroughly checked the room: looking under the beds, in the closet, the bathroom, the windows. She even checked the light and CommSphere for anything fishy! Once she seemed satisfied with her inspection, she exited, coolly brushing past Gippal as if he was not even there and walked right back to her original position at Baralai's side. It was as if her little investigation of the hotel room had not occurred.

Gippal stared at her, scratching the back of his neck, "Unbelievable."

"It's safe," Mako was saying to Baralai quietly, her brown eyes actually reflecting concern for him. "Are you sure you'll be all right?"

Baralai smiled and gently patted his sister's hand, "I will be fine. Don't worry. I'll call you if I need anything."

Mako nodded but it didn't look to Gippal that she was satisfied with this. She graced him with a single neutral glance before she walked off with Paine, who she would be rooming with for the duration of their stay in Luca. Gippal frowned. "Geez, what's her deal?"

"She's...protective," Baralai smiled with a sheepish shrug. "And she, uh, has some bad history with the Al Bhed. So you'll have to forgive her for any callousness towards you."

"You don't say," Gippal turned to their silent companion. "Who are you rooming with, Noojster? Got a room to yourself? Or are you sharing with some cute Youth League girl you haven't told us about?"

"Not on your life!" a new voice suddenly broke in. They all turned to find a slim figure dressed in lively bright magenta clothing, flanked by two men: one tall with a face as if he'd licked one too many lemons and a short, fat one that looked eerily similar to an overweight bug. She smiled confidently and ran a perfectly manicured hand through her short blond hair while the other rested on one nicely chiseled hip.

"Leblanc!" The ever calm Nooj actually sounded surprised.

"Noojie-Woojie," Leblanc purred, "I'm surprised with you, love. I didn't expect to see you here at the Dullwing leader's wedding. Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

She sidled up to him and easily slipped her arms around one of his arms, smiling seductively at him. Nooj blinked awkwardly at her. "Oh...I...didn't expect to see you here either."

"Well you know how it is. The girl's save this world twice now. I thought the least I could do was be a doll and grace her wedding with my appearance," Leblanc explained indulgently as she continued to stare at Nooj with round, love-stricken eyes. How funny it was to see the stoic Youth League leader befuddled by the woman. Gippal resisted the urge to laugh out loud at the slightly panicked tenseness that had taken Nooj's body language. The older man would never admit it, but he felt for Leblanc, perhaps more than he truly realized.

Gippal exchanged amused grins with Baralai and knew that he was thinking along the same lines.

"But I must admit, Noojie...I'm a bit hurt. Why didn't you tell me you were going to the wedding? Surely you didn't want to go by yourself!" Leblanc pouted and watched Nooj's face closely.

"...We're both here now," Nooj answered after a moment. It was far from an adequate answer but Leblanc seemed happy as a clam.

"You're right, darling! Let's make the best of it. Just the two of us. We haven't had any alone time!" She turned to look at the two men that were always seen with her. "Logos. Ormi. You two are free to do whatever you want until the rehearsal. Make sure to be on time, understood?"

"Yes boss!" the two chorused in unison and scuttled off.

Gippal chuckled to himself while he and Baralai watched the leader of the notorious Leblanc Syndicate drag her 'Noojie-Woojie' off. The Al Bhed turned to his friend. "So, what should we do? I haven't been in Luca in ages. Want to go sight seeing?"

Baralai nodded. "Sure. But first, let me go tell Mako." At Gippal's expression, he added, "She'll just find us if I don't tell her where we're going."

He disappeared down the hall towards Mako and Paine's room. Gippal wandered over to a wide, partially open window that overlooked a portion of Luca. They weren't very high up but they were high enough to provide a spectacular view. Luca was built like a collection of ports, so the clear blue sea surrounded them on all sides. From Gippal's view, he could see a line of small shops lining the side of one docking area, the vendors calling out in loud voices to sell their items as each tried to out do the other. A large ship was docked and men were marching up and down the ramp carrying items like a line of ants. He could smell the salty sea breeze as it rustled lightly through the curtains. Somewhere, gulls could be heard squawking to one another followed by the loud wailing of a docking ship horn.

Gippal felt someone approaching him from behind. He turned thinking it was Baralai. He was surprised to find that it wasn't. It was Cid.

"Cid!" He cried, surprised to see the Al Bhed leader.

Cid was walking purposefully down the hall even though he seemed distracted by something. Gippal's voice startled him to a stop. "Eh? Who...oh! It's you! What are you doin' here, boy?"

Gippal frowned at being called 'boy' but didn't comment. "Same as you, I'd imagine, old man. I'm here for Yuna's wedding. Aren't you?"

"Of course I am!" Cid barked indignantly. "I'm walking her down the aisle! Why else would I be here?"

"Okay, okay. No need to freak out," Gippal said, holding his hands up as if to fend Cid off. He smirked after a moment. "You nervous?"

"Nervous? Nervous about what? Giving my little niece away to that good-fer-nothin' Blitzball boy of hers? Give me a break!"

"Protective much? Yuna's a grown woman, Cid. She's saved Spira TWICE. If she can do that, I think you can walk her down an aisle to marry her off."

Cid grunted and crossed his arms stubbornly. So that was where Brother and Rikku got that look from... "You think you're so smart, don't you, boy?"

"Well...actually..." Gippal grinned. Cid didn't look amused. Sighing, Gippal patted the older Al Bhed on the shoulder comfortingly. "Come on, Cid. Cheer up. This is a HAPPY occasion! That means this is GOOD. Don't spoil it acting like a baby." He steered Cid towards the window he'd been looking out and gestured with his other hand. "Look around you! Do you think this is the place to be unhappy? Man, get out there and do some relaxing! But don't walk around sulking about Yuna getting hitched. You're only going to make yourself and everyone around you miserable. Trust me, Brother's doing enough of that."

Cid was quiet. Still, he seemed to take Gippal's words to heart. "Speaking of which, where is Brother?"

"Hmm? Oh, last I checked, he was still on the Celsius. Buddy's been trying to talk him into leaving and joining the rest of us. He's...uh...a bit upset about Yuna's wedding, as well."

"What?! He's lolligaggin' on the ship when his sorry ass should be down here getting ready for the wedding rehearsal? I'm gonna' go get him!" Cid growled, doing a complete 180 on the situation.

Gippal grinned again when he saw the change in attitude. "Yeah, you do that."

As Cid stormed off, Gippal heard him mutter, "First his cousin wants to get married young, then his sister goes running off on her own, and now he falls to pieces. Is this family goin' nuts?"

Gippal chuckled. Cid and his family were more hilarious than they knew.

"Sorry about that. I had to talk her out of actually going with us," Baralai said the moment he found Gippal.

The wedding rehearsal was in a few hours so they had some time to kill. As the two of them wandered around Luca, they talked, falling comfortably into their patterns of conversation and jokes. It felt so wonderful just to hang out that Gippal realized how much he had actually missed it. Now that life was so hectic being the head of the Machine Faction and with endless responsibilities piling onto his shoulders daily, it felt good to kick back and enjoy some time with a friend like any other person.

"So tell me, Baralai. I hear Paine's been going to Bevelle to help you out a lot now a days," Gippal slyly remarked, eyes twinkling at his friend. "Anything I should know?"

Baralai blushed a little. "What do you mean?"

"Oh come on...you can tell me..." Gippal teased on. The young Praetor's reaction had piqued his curiosity. Was there something going on between Baralai and Paine? He'd only been joking!

"There's nothing to tell," Baralai insisted too quickly but was smiling to himself at some private thought. Gippal gave him a dubious glance. Right. Of course there wasn't anything to tell.

"Gippal! Baralai! You made it!"

They both turned to find the bride waving to them as she came walking to them. Following her was her maid of honor Lulu and Lulu's family: husband Wakka who was holding their two-year-old son Vidina. Yuna smiled beautifully and bowed her head. Gippal chuckled to himself. Always the polite one, Spira's 'savior' was.

"You're looking well, Yuna," Baralai respectfully stated.

"As are you, Baralai. I'm glad to see that you've recovered," Yuna smiled brightly and then turned to Gippal. "How are you, Gippal?"

"Wonderful! I can't believe I'm actually at a celebrity wedding!" He gave her his trademark grin that most described as cocky or arrogant. But Yuna, who was used to it from their long association, only smiled wider.

"I'm honored that you two came," she said with a bow of her head. Then she motioned to Lulu and Wakka. "You remember Lulu and Wakka, don't you? Oh, and Vidina."

Gippal laughed and bounded forwards towards Wakka and Vidina. He'd met them a year ago on a trip to Besaid. "Of course! How could I forget such a cute little trooper?"

Wakka looked vaguely offended. "Hey now--"

"He was talking about Vidina, Wakka," Lulu inserted.

"O-Oh," Wakka's cheeks colored. Vidina giggled playfully as Gippal tickled him.

"So after tomorrow is the big day. You must be excited," Baralai was saying to Yuna.

"Oh yes. Very excited...and a bit nervous," Yuna smiled and began toying with her necklace slightly, a nervous habit that Gippal had noticed that she had from the first time they'd met.

"Ah, what's there to be nervous about? You're going to be beautiful, ya?" Wakka piped up.

"Wakka's right, Yuna. No use worrying now. Let's go get ready for the wedding rehearsal," Lulu added in her husky, quiet voice.

Yuna nodded, another peaceful smile on her face. "You're right. Thank you. Yes, let's go." She bowed again to Gippal and Baralai. "I will see you two at the rehearsal."

As she left, Gippal grinned at his friend. "You know, sometimes it's STILL hard to believe that little thing took down two of the biggest baddies to ever threaten this planet."

Baralai just laughed and they continued on their tour.