Chapter V:

Fake Blood

Josiah returned with Gippal an hour later with the developed photos and we crowded around him to see how they came out. Josiah immediately handed me the pictures and I quickly flipped through them, smiling and nodding my head in approval.

"When can we show him these?" I asked, looking at Gippal and Rikku.

Gippal looked down in thought and scratched his head. "We were thinking of bringing him here actually. That way you can really scare the shit out of him when we spill the whole story to him."

I nodded and looked down at the pictures. "I think that's a better idea too. Call him, Rikku."

She immediately went over to the phone and picked it up, redialing the number that Baralai had called from the other day. As the phone rang she signaled for everyone, including me, to be quiet.

"Yeah, may I speak to the Praetor, please?" She asked as someone picked up on the other end. "Thanks," Rikku remained silent until Baralai picked up the phone. "Hi, Baralai, it's Rikku." She paused, listening to him reply. "Oh, me? Not very good actually. Why? Well, that's what I called you about. I'd like you to come down to Besaid as fast as you can. Important?" She nodded her head exuberantly, causing her many braids to fly about her head. "Yeah, I'd call it that." She was silent, listening. "Okay, thanks, Baralai. We'll be here."

She hung up the phone and looked at me. "He'll be here in a few hours."

I nodded. "Should I take a shower and get all of this make-up off of me?"

Gippal stepped forward and put a hand on my shoulder. "No, keep it on. You know, just to freak Baralai out even more."

I smirked. Gippal was becoming my new best friend. "Alright," I said, turning and looking at Josiah. "Thanks for everything. You were a big help."

"Hey, no problem," he said, closing his case and lifting it off the floor. "I'd better get home. My wife will be wondering where I am."

Gippal looked at the clock that was hanging on the wall. "The next boat should be leaving in about a half an hour."

Josiah nodded. "I'll see you guys around." Gippal left with Josiah, presumably to walk him to the beach.

I turned to Rikku. "Well, what should I do until Baralai gets here?"

"Nothing, yet," she said, placing a hand on her hip. "I have to give you that receiver and put those earrings in before I forget and when Baralai gets here you jet back to your room and make sure Jordan doesn't cry when he wakes up. Then you sit back and listen to his reaction and come out when you think he fully understands what's happened."

"Doesn't sound that hard."

"Okay, good. Come on," Rikku said, grabbing my hand and leading me back to her bedroom.

She flipped on the light switch and grabbed the receiver, handing it to me. "Alright, you just flip this switch right here to turn it on. That's all you have to do."

I nodded. "What would I do without you guys?"

Rikku smiled and gave me a hug. "You'd probably be back at home with Baralai still putting up with his crap."

"Yeah, probably," I said, examining the black box I held in my hands. "I'm gonna go put this in my room."

Rikku nodded. "Okay," she said, putting the earrings that would relay everything that Baralai said back to me in her ears.

I set the receiver on my bed then stood next to Jordan's sleeping body and watched him sleep. If Baralai and I never reconciled then the only people I'd have left are my teammates, new and old, and my son. My heart ached at that thought. I wanted Baralai to be a part of Jordan's life. I wanted it more than anything. I sighed as I played with a few strands of his alabaster hair. Tricking Baralai like this was probably the only way to find out if he really did love me or not. A part of me didn't want to go through with it, but, then again, the other part was all for it. I sighed and walked out of my room for the time being; it would be a while before Baralai arrived anyways.

I walked into the kitchen and saw Gippal standing next to the sink, burning some newspapers. He looked at me and held up a porcelain urn. "How's this?" He asked, walking over and handing it to me.

I looked it over. "This'll do. Where did you get it?" I asked, tracing my finger over the paint.

"Actually," Gippal said, scratching the back of his head. "It's a family heirloom."

I frowned and looked up at him. "Then we shouldn't be using it for something like this." I started to hand it back to him so he could put it where he got it but he stuck his hand out and shook his head.

"No, I want to use it for this. We've known each other for a while, right?" He inquired, coming closer and slinging one of his long arms over my shoulders.

"Yes, we have."

"Then all the more reason for us to use it." I handed him the urn and he returned to the sink and put the burnt paper in it. "This'll be perfect." He walked back toward me. "This plan is fool proof. Baralai will be eating out of the palm of your hand by tonight."

"Let's hope so," I said, crossing my arms.

Rikku came running in the door mere seconds later with a flustered look on her face. "Okay, time for the plan to come into action! Baralai just arrived!" She rushed over to Gippal and grabbed the urn out of his hand then hastily pushed him over to a chair. She quickly sat down and placed the urn on the floor behind her chair. "Hurry, Paine! Get your rear in that room!"

I nodded and strode down the hallway into my room. Every nerve in my body was jumping in anticipation. I couldn't wait to see how he reacted. I closed the door and sat down cross-legged on the bed with Jordan in my arms and the receiver in front of me. I could hear Rikku and Gippal talking on the other end clear as a bell.

"Okay, put on your 'sad, somebody just died' face. We can't mess this up," Rikku said quickly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Gippal replied.

I sat waiting, staring down at the black box like it would suddenly come to life and start jumping around the room. Moments later a knock came to the door and I heard Gippal's loud, clomping footsteps. He opened the door and greeted Baralai.

"Hey, Lai," he said, his voice solemn. "Come on in. Go ahead and sit down."

"What's wrong, Gippal?" Baralai asked. The scrapping sounds of a chair's legs ground across the floor as Baralai and Gippal sat with Rikku at the table. "What did you call me here for? Have you heard anything about Paine? Is she here?"

"Well," Gippal said, clearing his throat. He got up from the table and rummaged around for the pictures that he put in a drawer somewhere. He returned to the table. "We got these yesterday."

Gippal dropped the pictures down onto the tabletop and allowed Baralai to look at them. Many silent moments passed and the tension felt so thick that I could very well have cut it with a knife. I held my breath as I heard someone start to speak.

"Who…who did this to her?" Baralai asked, his voice thick like he was holding back tears.

"We don't know. Tell him, Rikku."

There was a few seconds of silence before Rikku took a deep breath. "It was so scary. I was in the market buying some groceries for dinner when I heard screams coming from the Inn. God, Baralai, they were the worst screams I've ever heard in my life. Everyone in the market heard it. I rushed to the Inn along with everyone else and managed to get inside the room where the screams came from. That's when I saw her." Rikku started sobbing and a few seconds later I heard a clinking sound on the top of the table. I presumed she put the urn in front of him. "We had her cremated."

Baralai was silent again for many moments before speaking. "Did they catch the person that did this?" I surprised how much venom I could hear in his voice. He sounded downright vengeful.

Gippal spoke up again. "No. The room was empty when they found them. No one said anything about hearing Jordan scream. Whoever he was, he must have taken care of Jordan before he attacked Paine."

"I don't understand," Baralai said, his voice cracking. "If she was here, why didn't she come to see you?"

"We don't know. Maybe she just wanted to be alone for a little. Baralai, if Rikku or I would have known she was here we would have called you right away."

"I can't believe it," Baralai muttered. "This is all my fault. I caused this to happen. If I would have just listened to her and stopped drinking and started treating her the way I did when we first got married she'd still be here. Her and my son would still be alive."

That's when Baralai totally broke down. My eyes began to tear up as I listened to his sobs. I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to prevent my own cries from bursting out of my mouth. Jordan started stirring in my arms and I immediately started feeding him after he completely woke up to make sure he didn't start making any noise. Baralai spoke up again, stumbling through every word.

"I wish I would have told her how much I loved her," he said, his voice cracking. "I shouldn't have treated her so bad. I knew what I was doing was wrong but I couldn't stop myself. Every day after work I was so stressed out that getting drunk was the only way for me to calm down."

Gippal and Rikku were silent for a few more moments before Gippal decided to break that silence again. "I'm sure she knew you still loved her."

"How could she know that? For four months I acted like we weren't even married. I acted like we just so happened to share a bed and have a baby. During that time I never told her that I loved her. I never kissed her. I don't even deserve to be alive right now."

"Hey, don't talk like that!" Gippal said, his voice becoming angry. "Come on, Lai. Let's get you a room somewhere. You need to sit and calm down for a little. We can talk more when you're ready."

I frowned. I saw the logic in Gippal's reasoning but I kinda wanted to give Baralai the shock of his life. My thoughts were interrupted as all three rose from their chairs.

"Yeah, thanks Gippal." Baralai's voice sounded as though he would break down and crumble again any second. The door opened and the room grew quiet.

I was getting ready to get up and walk out of the room when I heard Gippal's voice over the receiver. "Leave Jordan with Rylee in her room and follow us to the Crusader's Lodge. I have another plan."

I rolled my eyes as I walked out of my room and into Rylee's. She was lying tranquilly in her crib so I decided to put Jordan in along with her. Once I made sure they would be all right I left the house and circled around the village to the Crusader's Lodge so I came up behind it. I walked toward the small opening in the back that served as a window and listened in.

"You can rest here, Baralai. You got the whole lodge to yourself. Come find us when you want to talk about it some more."

"Okay, I will. Thanks again, Gippal. I just need to rest right now." Baralai's voice had relaxed somewhat but he still stumbled over his words like he had a stuttering problem.

"Take your time about it," Gippal said as he turned to leave the lodge.

I got up from where I had sat down and walked around the side then concealed myself in a bush. Gippal and Rikku emerged a few seconds later. Rikku continued to walk toward their hut as Gippal hung back and stretched his arms. I picked up a small stone and chucked it in his direction. It hit him in the arm but he didn't seem to notice it. I was getting ready to throw another one when he slowly started to walk towards were I was.

He came to a stop directly in front of the bush and turned his back to me, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Well, are you convinced?"

"I'm not so sure. What did you have in mind?" I asked, keeping my voice down.

"After I leave, sneak into the lodge and give him the scare of his life. He should be asleep by now so you don't have to worry about him hearing you walk in. You didn't take the make-up off did you?"

"No, I still got it on."

"Good. After I walk away wait until I'm back inside my hut before you come out. Think about what you're gonna say to him too. I wouldn't want you to freeze when you go in there."

"I'm already thinking."

"Good. Come back to the house after you're done. Rikku's gonna wanna hear about this." Gippal walked away before I got the chance to reply. I watched him slowly walk back to his hut and waited for at least thirty seconds after he disappeared behind the door. I made sure no one else was walking around in the plaza or around the temple before I slowly snuck out from behind the bush.

I swiftly but quietly made my way inside the Crusader's Lodge and crept into the back room where Baralai was sleeping. He was lying in the back bed with his back towards the door. He was curled up into a ball and my demeanor changed at how utterly pathetic he looked. For a second I was having second thoughts about doing this to him, but I quickly pushed my conscience to the back of my mind.

I took a deep breath then slowly let it out as I came to stand in front of Baralai's bed.