FF_Zodiac: Remembrance (Yuna/Baralai, FFX-2) (PG)
Title: Remembrance
Author: stardust808
Fandom: Final Fantasy X-2
Characters: Yuna/Baralai, Nooj, Paine, Gippal, Rikku, LeBlanc
Zodiac Sign: Cancer
Spoilers: aftermath of the final battle
Rating/Warnings: PG for blood
Summary: All the important men in her life have come and gone, becoming ghosts of the past. But not him. Not Baralai. Yuna made sure of this. Part 1/2.
Author's Notes: I intended this scene to be the beginning of Chapter 2 for Agape in Fugue Minor, and it only covers half the content of its entirety (and still will be, I'm just getting myself motivated). Expect the "sequel" before the month's end!
Word Count: 1350~
“Journeys end in lovers meeting, Every wise man’s son doth know.”
(Feste) Twelfth Night (II, iii, 44-45)
Yuna’s the last to leave after lingering pyreflies dispel the loving illusionary embrace. Fists clench due to unbidden envy. Deceased Lenne may be, her emotions mature still. Such courage it took to admit the reality, to let go of what they have for rest.
Descending the crooked path to where everyone’s gathered, Yuna almost gasps at the sight. Surrounded by friends and loved ones, his body looks so broken and it frightens her to face him after all this time.
Handsome politician by trade, a silver-tongue, someone cold-hearted, calculated, and compassionate; hypocrisy does the golden heart injustice.
Beneath the grounds of Bevelle, Baralai fought the Gullwings to safeguard a secret, to spare them from certain doom. That encounter taught her how hands meant to hold pens and important papers can break bones and brandish guns; eyes meant to charm friends and disarm strangers can freeze bodies and stop hearts; words meant to exude confidence and emphasize humility can weave perilous spells and swear impossible pledges.
Remorse had gleamed on the pistol then, and she had beat him to the trigger. Never meant to kill, only protect, and Yuna wonders if that ever re-opened the wound of his betrayal. Yes, she knew. She knew about it even though he never told her, never entrusted his secrets to anyone, but she knew.
Her memories with Baralai are few, yet intimate knowledge surpasses her expectations. In the Crimson Spheres, Yuna saw a different side of him, a dynamic young man, a team player, a very sensitive soul. Baralai cracks jokes when he’s about the die. Baralai proves himself open-minded to change and steadfast in his broken beliefs. Baralai doesn’t hesitate to take prudent risks, to seek support in corruption to fulfill his own agendas. Beyond the heartfelt salute, the laughter, the blood-curdling screams, Yuna saw a human being, not a shepherd who sows the seeds of Yevon. Humble, benevolent, and dignified, a man like her father.
Maybe because of the resemblance, Yuna feared losing him. He shouldn’t die for the consequences of others. He still has so many years to live, so many more days to cherish alongside friends. Now that they’ve managed to maintain the Eternal Calm, Baralai has a new life to look forward to unburdened by past injustices. ‘Wake up, so you can see Spira again.’
It startles her to feel the fond smile on her face, and she lifts a hand to touch her cheek. For a fleeting moment, Yuna wonders if Tidus had thought the same towards her in his final hours... and wished for her happiness.
Clasping her hands together, she approaches the unconscious Praetor, whose serene smile does not belong in the grey landscape of glowing clouds and wild thunder claps. Whenever he shall awaken, what will she say to him? What will he say to her? So much has happened since they’ve seen each other last, but every time they stood at opposite ends. Yuna can only recall one instance where they stood side by side as friends and she had felt very attracted to him then. Now even that feels like a distant dream...
Rikku stands by her side while the others bicker about who should carry Baralai, but she tunes out the noise around her. Weary from the fight, the aftermath provides reprieve from the previous chaos and Yuna contents herself with silence. No words can begin to describe how she feels right now. She just wants to return home, back in Besaid where life held sway for the future (as much as that scares and comforts her).
Nooj staggers, foregoing his cane to gather Baralai’s limp body in his arms. Paine and Gippal exchange skeptical looks, shaking their heads his stubbornness, before moving to help. Baralai’s arms hang around his neck, head lolling on his shoulder while Nooj hoists his legs around his hips. Steading him on his back, the four depart followed by LeBlanc and her goons.
“C’mon, Yunie. Let’s hurry. This place will probably collapse in any minute!” And at Rikku’s prompting, Yuna descends musical platforms and unstable gateways to reach the portal Shuyin had erected. Exiting Vegnagun’s nest, she steps foot into mist and squints to see everyone stopping to place Baralai down on the flowerbed. Closing in on them, Yuna gapes and feels the tears well in her eyes.
How did she not notice sooner, clothes scorched and torn beyond recognition and soaked to the bone with blood? Yuna recognizes broken knees, and the head injuries which have bled out into blue cloth now dyed purple. Paine helps Nooj remove layers off his robes to assess the damage while Gippal tends to him, withdrawing a screwdriver from his belt to extract a bullet lodged in his shoulder. When they discard his tunic, dread clogs her throat to see bruises litter every centimeter of his torso.
Minuscule lead soon drops from inside the wound and Gippal sighs, wiping his forehead. Nooj pulls up his pants to check for inflammation and Paine holds his head on her lap, gazing far away into a memory. It mystifies Yuna how in sync they are with their movements, communicating without need for words.
Sitting cross-legged beside them, Gippal pokes his face. “He sure looks happy.”
“I think it’s obvious why.” Paine rolls her eyes.
“Yuna. Could you heal him for us?” Nooj says, the glare in his glasses concealing the emotion, but not the concerned tenor in his calm voice. “I doubt we have enough time to wait until we reach the surface to give him proper medical attention.”
“Sure. Of course.” Looking at him now, Yuna sulks in the ocean of her sympathy and sets herself to work. Sphere waves coalesce into white robes, and gloved hands hover over his breast. His heart beats strong and fast, even before she pours healing energy into his bloodstream.
Moving to his cranium, her chaste ministrations flow in motion with her smooth breathing - sealing cuts on her way down to his face, and his shoulders, and his arms, and his entire torso, and the whole length of his legs. Yuna frowns, sensing something amiss in the process. An abundant amount of mana still remains in her inner reservoir, and no broken bones were to be had where there should be.
“He’s sustained no mortal injuries. I don’t understand this...”
“Oh, that.” Gippal waves it off, nonplussed. “He probably did some of that complicated magic again. I always thought he was trolling us,” Paine and Nooj raises an eyebrow at this new slang, “refusing to heal us back then when we came close to death many times.”
“But apparently he can’t conjure Cure spells,” Paine says, chipping in. “I don’t get it. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”
Nooj chuckles. “I had asked, and he told me ‘simple things are hard’ with such a straight face I actually laughed.”
“You, the Nooj, laughing? Ha. You make me laugh, Noojster. You really do.”
Yuna watches on, fascinated by this real scene of friendship despite the dry and worn enthusiasm behind the humor. Instead of witnessing clips of the past, she sees them together in the flesh, alive and well and wishing for a celebration in the name of their tense reunion. Rikku and LeBlanc seem to belong right in with the hilarity -
“What’re we going to do with this chump? He’s still sleeping. What if he’s not right in the head after he wakes up?”
“I thought you liked pretty boys, LeBlanc.” Rikku giggles and she huffs, exasperated.
“I like my men manly, and Noojie-Woojie has this most Godly smile...”
Paine scoffs, crossing her arms, spying an opportunity for payback. “Your hostile attitude towards Baralai makes me suspect you two have a history. He did mention an opera singer one time..."
"...'A flighty lady that would not stop pestering me to marry her.'" Gippal sings the words, snickering.
Paine smirks. "Your love for spotlight and exposure sure fits the bill.”
“What?! Never!”
“And your voice. Ugh...”
LeBlanc shrieks, unable to form coherent words.
- and Yuna smiles, resigned to stay by his side until they return to see the sun again.