Dear Readers:
Newly updated chapter! This is going quickly. Soon I can write new chapters! Review and give me your opinion.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, nor will I ever.

Worried and Needing Hope

Baralai slept really well most night knowing that he was making some head way in his relationship with Paine. He had dreamt about her all night and it showed. Climbing out of his bed as the sun rose, he decided to take a quick shower before he went and made breakfast for himself and Nooj, who he was sure, was still asleep on his couch.

He stepped into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror above the sink. There was something different about him that showed in his face, a kind of hope he guessed. He pulled the shower curtain back and stepped into the tub. Pulling it closed with one hand, he used the other to turn on the water. The cold water hit him like a thunder bolt hit the ground. He jumped back and nearly fell out of the tub, but he caught himself on the ledge of the tub.

He reached one hand out towards the water to see if it had warmed up yet and held it there until it did. When he felt his hand slowly warm up, he stepped underneath the water. His body must be intensified from last night, because he felt every little drop of water hit his body and slide down it. As he soaped up his body he thought about what had happened last night and for the first time since then he kind of bad about what he had done. She hadn't been expecting it and he should have had her consent, but he just couldn't resist those beautiful lips. As he finished his shower he wondered what she was doing at that exact moment.

He turned the water off and pushed the shower curtain back. Slipping his feet out of the tub he landed on the green bathroom rug that took up most of the bathroom floor. He was still thinking about Paine as he was reaching for a towel. For some reason he just couldn't get her out of his mind and he was beginning to think that it had nothing to do with what happened last night. It was a bad feeling. He thought on it for a few seconds and then shrugged it off. "She's alright! She's at home probably sleeping like a princess."

He dried his body off quickly and decided he didn't want to shave. A goatee might be a nice change for him. So he went into his room and then to his closet. A nice pair of jeans and a t-shirt, hey I am a guy, he thought happily. After he threw on his clothes he headed downstairs to cook a huge breakfast. For some reason he was hungry, really hungry. As his feet touched the floor he looked over towards the couch and saw Nooj sprawled out over not only the couch but his coffee table too. "That will change once I start rattling around in the kitchen." He mumbled to himself. Nooj was the only person he knew that could eat tons of food and not gain weight. He could put it away alright.

Walking a little faster in his bare feet, he made his way around his kitchen table and towards the fridge. Opening the door sent a rush of cold air towards his feet, making him shiver. He grabbed the eggs and milk with one hand and the cheese and bacon with the other. Closing the door with his foot he placed those items on the counter then went to the cabinet for more, bread, flour, sugar, syrup, griddle, frying pan, a couple of bowls, a few spoons and a spatula. When he had it all out, he started on the task of assembling it all. He was halfway through making the pancake batter when Nooj came stumbling into the kitchen and asked, "Is that breakfast?"

Laughing at his friend Baralai managed to say, "Not like this unless you like everything raw!"

"I'll make us some coffee." Nooj offered as he dragged his feet towards the coffee maker.

"Sure! You do that while I cook us a huge five course breakfast." Laughing at his own joke lifted his spirit even more.

"It's too early in the morning for you to start picking on me Baralai, but since you were so kind in allowing me to stay the night, I will let it slid." Scooping the coffee grounds into a filter, he didn't even look up at him.

"Whatever. So what exactly happened between you and LeBlanc?" He asked over his shoulder.

"I haven't had a cup of coffee yet and you are asking me a question I have to think about? What kind of friend are you?" Nooj laughed lightly.

"Sorry." When he finished the pancake batter, he poured it onto the griddle and then started on the bacon. Piece by piece his breakfast was coming together and half an hour later he was sitting down with one of his good friends eating a delicious breakfast.

"What did you do to Paine last night? She ran out of here like a bat out of hell, slamming doors behind her." Nooj shouldn't have butted into his friend's affairs but he didn't want him to get hurt.

"I wish I knew." He didn't tell him about the kiss because he wasn't sure how Paine would react. It would be better if she was the first to tell as most girls do. "What about you and LeBlanc?"

"Oh, her." Nooj grabbed another two pancakes and placed them on his plate. "She wants to have a wedding."

Nearly choking on his food Baralai said, "Wedding? Since when are you ready to be married and when did you ask her?"

"That's just it Baralai I didn't." The next twenty minutes Baralai spent listening to Nooj go on and on about how he liked his bachelorhood and how he wanted to keep it. Nooj decided to leave after the dishes were cleaned up which gave Baralai some time to find out what to do about Paine. He sat down on his couch and flipped on the television. Flipping through the channels, he forgot about the time. When he finally looked up at the clock it was four o'clock in the afternoon. He turned off the television, stood up and stretched.

"It's time to see go out!" He decided to leave Paine alone, since she might take what happened last night badly. Grabbing his keys to his Delvine (ship), he headed over Luca for a little shopping. He passed Paine's house on his way out, but didn't see a light on or any movement. "Maybe she's out." He wasn't too worried since Paine was always out and plus she helped save Spira.

Six hours later he came back with his mini ship full of items, even though he was went to do a little shopping. As he parked he noticed that Paine's house was dark. "She's probably sleeping so I won't wake her. I'll talk to her tomorrow." He started to unload everything and taking it into his house.

It was dark, but Paine could just make out her surroundings. She was in a room that had a bed and what appeared to be a door. She was on the cold hard ground, but she didn't have enough strength to get up. She had a splitting head ache and from the feel of it she was really bruised. The last things she remembered were being kissed by Baralai and running away as fast as she could. After that it got kind of blurry. She decided to lie back down since she didn't have much strength. What ever took her could be beat if she was weak. Less than a minute later she was asleep again.

When Paine woke up she was again in the dark. She looked around and saw a shape near the door that looked like a tray. She slowly crawled her way towards it. As she crawled, her energy drained almost completely. Stopping ever so often to catch her breathe, she made it there only having to stop five times. She put her face up close to get a good look. The moment she noticed what it was her stomach started growling. Grabbing the tray up, she gobbled down the food forgetting to savor the taste of it. Another small object was sitting to the right of where the tray was. She picked it up and sniffed water. She took a gulp of water then one of food.

After she had finished she suddenly felt the pain throughout her body. She felt like someone had beaten her almost to death, but had stopped right on the brink. Reaching up to cup her ribs she could feel the bones move as she lightly touched her skin. Yelping in pain caused her to jerk back her hand. Tears fell from her eyes as she realized that she was lucky to be alive, at least for now. Deciding she had to do something besides sit on the cold ground, she slowly and carefully got to her knees and then her feet.

She walked to the door although every bone in her body hurt. "Hey I've got to try the door. Some idiot might have left it unlocked." Her voice cracked as she said it. Small steps finally got her to the door. She ran her hand down it checking for a handle. The right side, the middle and then the left proved there was no handle. Her tears kept on falling. "I just want to go home." She said it softly. She made her way to the thing that took the shape of a bed. When she got there she felt it with her hands and came to the conclusion that it was softer than the floor. She sank down into it and lay down. With tears streaming out of her eyes she drifted off to sleep once again hoping whatever took her stayed away until she was healed.

The children were in the new Besaid School for Youth and the adults were home enjoying their time without there children. The streets were quiet and Baralai began to get worried. It had been two days and he hadn't seen Paine once. He used his commsphere to ask everyone if they had seen her and he even tried to get a hold of her through it too, but no one knew where she was. He even went as far as breaking into her house to see if she was avoiding him. Her house was completely empty.

He went home and sat on his couch, staring at the wall. For more than three hours he just stared, hoping that she was alright. "Paine I will find you, I swear." He jumped up and walked towards Gippal's house. It was just three houses down, but it felt like it was three miles.

He banged on the door and barged in. Rikku was on top of Gippal on the couch and jumped off when she saw him. Gippal groaned from the absence of her weight, a problem she had caused and the fact that they got interrupted again. "What do you want man?" He looked up and regretted saying it. The look on his friends face wasn't good.

"She's gone Gippal! Someone took her. I have to find her." Baralai didn't bother sitting down, instead he paced around the room. Rikku was sitting there looking at him with pure hatred, but Gippal said alright. She was now looking at both of them with hatred.

"Fine! I am leaving. I hope you have more fun looking for Paine who just probably went on a vacation." Rikku stormed out of his house and slammed the open door.

Gippal walked over to his sphere and tapped it. Brother answered and they started to talk back and forth between each other. They agreed that they needed to round everyone up to look together. Thirty minutes later they were all on the Celsius, getting ready to leave. Baralai didn't know when he would find her, but he swore that he would.

Everyone that matter to him was on the Celsius, heading somewhere. He couldn't just sit around a wait for her any more. He was dieing slowly inside and he knew that if he didn't find her he would die completely. It had been two days since he had seen her and the fact that she had ran away from him after he kissed her hadn't made it any better. He felt really bad that he didn't run after her. If he had, maybe she wouldn't be lost or kidnapped or whatever she was. Or he might be with her, but at least he would be there to help her, to keep her from harm.

"Baralai are you alright?" Yuna had come up beside him unknowingly.

"No I am not alright!" He said annoyingly. How could anyone not see I am not alright? I am worried and I am dying. Hell no I am not alright! Although he thought those things, he didn't say them out loud. He knew that they would hurt her feelings, because she was worried for not only him but Paine as well. "I will be fine. Really. I just would like some time to think." He reached out, took Yuna's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Yuna?"

"What Baralai?"

"Thanks for caring about her so much."

"It's not just her I care about Baralai. I care about you too." She gave him a quick hug and walked towards the door. Glancing over her shoulder she said "If you need anything just ask!"

What I want Yuna is for Paine to be back, whether it's in my arms or not? I just want her back! He felt as if he was going to cry, but the tears he was feeling would not come out.

Paine woke up once again, but this time something was different. There was light! She looked around the best she could, but that wasn't far. Considering she was in pain, she had a small view of the light. She slowly turned over towards it. The further she turned the more she liked what she saw. The door to her room was ajar. Maybe I will be able to escape. Maybe I will be able to once and for all find out what has had me locked up. Finally she was turned over on her side and she began to push up slowly. When she made it to sitting position, she had to relax her muscles as far as she could before attempting to get up and walk. The pain was horrendous and it was shooting throughout her whole body.

When the pain was bearable, she stood up unhurriedly and walked towards the door in small shuffles. Making it to the door was a huge accomplishment for her. She was afraid of what she would see when she looked out the door.

As she gently leaned her head out, she looked down the right side of the hallway. She saw more doors and a dead end. Turning her head to the left she saw more doors and there was no dead end. The hallway turned to both the left and the right. Although it was really painful she looked towards the ceiling and saw an opening above her. What if...

Baralai couldn't take it much longer. He was about to pull his hair out and everyone else's for that matter. They had checked the whole island of Besaid already and were headed towards Kilika. "I will find you Paine! Even if I have to die!"