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Silver Wings 2: 1000 Confessions	By : akksgurl Category: Final Fantasy X > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 709 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 and make no money from writing this story. Final Fantasy X and X-2 and characters belong to Square Enix.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
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Chapter Eight: End of the Line
~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~
The
sound of footsteps on the stairs caused Shuyin to quickly put the ring in his
pocket and turn his back on the approaching person. He gazed out the
window and noted that the trio of females were climbing the sand dunes so he
realized that chances are his unwelcomed guest was either Baralai or Gippal.
It
was the former. He could sense Baralai�s presence as soon as the former
priest stepped onto the landing. He supposed it had to do with the fact
that he had possessed Baralai but never Gippal. Straightening himself, he
prepared to do his best Tidus impression when the sudden drop of the open locket
in front of his eyes caused him to stop in mid-breath. He hadn�t seen
Lenne�s beautiful face in so long that he had almost forgotten how truly
breathtaking she was. All he had were memories of their time together,
but seeing her filled his heart with a joy he thought had died right along with
her. However, his joy was short-lived when Baralai hissed, �Look
familiar, Shuyin?�
Shuyin
was impressed with Baralai�s intelligence and he turned slowly to him with a
wide grin, �I�m impressed, Baralai. I didn�t think you�d get it so
quickly.�
�You
underestimated me, Shuyin.� Baralai replied as he pulled the necklace away from
Shuyin�s unwavering gaze, �Now where is Tidus?�
�He�s
sleeping.�
Baralai,
in a quick move, shoved Shuyin against the wall, �Where is he?� he asked again,
each word measured and laden with meaning.
Shuyin
started laughing at the sheer absurdity of Baralai�s actions. Who did
this former priest think he was? With his free hand, Shuyin shoved
Baralai easily off of him and went back to his perch at the window.
�Fine,�
Baralai said, �I guess I�ll just have to let Yuna decide what to do about you.�
Shuyin
heard Baralai�s footsteps going toward the stairs and he panicked. He
couldn�t let that damned priest tell Yuna or anyone else about his plans.
Baralai had barely taken two steps when Shuyin noticed a black belt lying
partially visible under a nearby bed. In a quick move, he grabbed the
belt and lassoed Baralai, tightening it around his neck until Baralai�s breath
was coming out in small gasps, �I don�t think so, Baralai.� Shuyin whispered
into Baralai�s face as he pulled on the belt and forced the former priest to
his knees.
Baralai
struggled to loosen the belt from around his neck as panic set in. He
hadn�t thought about what would happen after confronting Shuyin. He
hadn�t thought that far in advance. Now all he could think about was how
stupid he had been to lie to the girls and to not tell them his plans. He
slid his fingers between his neck and the belt and managed to murmur, �Why��
�Why?�
Shuyin asked, incredulous, as if the mere thought of this question was beyond
his comprehension. In fact, it was. Shuyin couldn�t understand why
Baralai didn�t understand Shuyin�s desperation. Kneeling before the
wheezing man, Shuyin replied, �I was left in a cave to starve to death. I
starvedto death. I lived on dirt for weeks! By the end I
weighed about 70 pounds and all I could think about was being with Lenne
again. You�re asking me why!!�
Baralai�s
mind was reeling. He starved in a cave? How was that even
possible? Everyone knew that he and Lenne had been shot and killed by the
Bevelle soldiers after he had tried to activate Vegnagun the first time.
His confusion filled brown eyes connected with the blue ones that, to his
surprise, were brimming with tears. Shuyin chocked out, �I didn�t die
with her if that�s what you�re wondering. I survived. I survived
and she died and I�ve had to live with that for 1000 years!�
Baralai
pulled back and felt the belt loosen a little more, �Please�.� He gasped, ��don�t��
�Don�t
what?!� shrieked Shuyin, �Don�t fight to have my life back?! Don�t fight
to be with the woman I love more than anything?!� He gripped the belt
tightly and pulled, cutting off the little oxygen that Baralai was
receiving. Tears started flowing freely from his eyes and he strained to
remain calm as Baralai clawed at the belt, trying to gain a breath of air,
�Sucks, doesn�t it?� Shuyin hissed harshly, �I didn�t live long enough to know
what it felt like to suffocate.�
He
loosened the belt again and Baralai greedily sucked oxygen into his
lungs. He prayed that someone � anyone � would come in and see what was
going on but with each tick of the clock, that seemed like less and less of a
possibility. Shuyin wiped tears from his face with the back of his hand,
�I was killed by people like you.� he said sharply, �People who have
their heads up their asses and follow other idiots around without ever
questioning anything!�
Taking
the moment that Shuyin loosened his grip on the belt to blink away tears,
Baralai leapt to his feet and made a break for the stairs, taking them two at a
time while trying to undo the belt from around his neck, but Shuyin was faster
then he had expected and Baralai didn�t make it to the door before he was
pulled backward onto his rear by Shuyin�s grip on the belt. Shuyin spun
Baralai around to face him and the terrified ex-priest stammered, �I�I won�t
tell her�I swear�.No...nobody will ever know.�
�I
wish I could believe you.� Replied Shuyin as he tightened the belt around
Baralai�s neck, cutting off the man�s oxygen again. Shuyin started to cry
as Baralai clawed helplessly at the belt and then at his arms, �I�m not a
killer, Baralai.� He wailed, �I hate this! I hate this!� Baralai�s
face took on a shade of blue that Shuyin never knew existed and the priest
started losing feeling in his arms and legs which slowly stopped their
struggle. His eyes stared pleadingly at Shuyin who whispered, �You leave
me no choice. I can�t let you tell anyone what you know.� Tenderly patting
Baralai on the head, Shuyin said, �Enjoy the Farplane, Baralai. Give Zaon
and Yunalesca my regards.� And with a quick snap of his wrists, he twisted the
belt and broke Baralai�s neck.
As
Baralai�s body slumped to the floor lifeless, Shuyin dropped next to him and
let his breath come out in ragged sobs. He had never taken a life before,
not even 1000 years ago, and he couldn�t believe what he�d just done. How
would Lenne forgive him? How would he forgive himself?
�Where
is everybody today?� came Rikku�s voice from just down the hall.
�Maybe
Gippal and Baralai are in the crew quarters?� suggested Yuna.
Shuyin
felt his panic rise. He hadn�t thought about the aftermath of murdering
Baralai. He had killed him in the heat of the moment when he felt that he
had no other alternative. However, if anyone found him standing over the
corpse, his cover would be blow and Baralai would have died in vain. Quickly
throwing Baralai over his shoulder and trying to ignore the odd angle his head
hung in, Shuyin jogged up the stairs and dropped Baralai to the side of the
farthest bed on the right. His escape was the large bay window on the
side of the ship. If he could climb down and then come back to the ship
no one would think he had anything to do with the death.
Shuyin
took a step toward the window, hearing the voices closing in, when he realized
that he hadn�t retrieved the locket from Baralai. Spinning and quickly
digging into the pockets, he grabbed the golden necklace and put it around his
neck and escaped out the window just as the door to the crew�s quarters opened.
�Baralai?!�
called Rikku, �Gippal?!�
Paine
frowned, �Do you think Baralai�s still looking for him?�
�I
guess that�s a possibility.� Yuna replied as she started up the stairs,
followed by Rikku and Paine.
Shuyin
ducked just beyond their view as they reached the landing. Baralai was
well hidden except for his hand which stuck out from under the bed, but none of
the girls noticed yet. Clutching the necklace that hung around his neck,
Shuyin began to tentatively slide down the hull of the Celsius. He
couldn�t hang around and wait for the discovery. He had to appear like he
was just coming back.
His
feet hit the ground and he climbed up the gangplank back to the Celsius just as
Gippal came up from the engine room entrance. Shuyin momentarily felt
himself panic when he realized that Gippal might have been in the ship the
entire time, but he calmed when the eye-patch wearing man smiled at him.
YRP�s screams invaded their comfortable silence and the two men broke out into
a run. Following Gippal to the landing of the crew�s quarters, Shuyin
took in the scene. The girls had apparently found and then moved
Baralai�s body out from its hiding place. His head was at an even
stranger angle then it had been when Shuyin had dropped him there. No one
had made a move to remove the belt that was wrapped around his neck and Paine
had just sat the phone back on its cradle, �Cid will be here with the Al Bhed
police in a minute.� She said.
Time
seemed to stand still for the group as they waited for the authorities to trek
through the sand to their ship. As his crystalline eyes gazed at
Baralai�s body, Shuyin felt as though he�d be sick. He�d just committed a
cold blooded crime. He was a murderer.
�Okay,
where is he?� came Cid�s voice. Rikku�s father was a portly bald man with
a tendency to shout and tell it like it was. He was followed by two
incredibly muscular Al Bhed men whom Shuyin assumed were the police
officers. Cid stopped in the space that a sobbing Rikku and Yuna had
formed in the half circle around Baralai and he shook his head, �Poor bastard.�
Rikku
backed up to let the officer�s through and smacked into Gippal�s hard
chest. She let him wrap his arms around her and she turned to embrace
him. The both of them had lost a friend that day and Rikku didn�t
understand why. As she ran her hands down his sides, her fingers hitched
in his belt loops and her breath caught in her throat. The last words she
heard Gippal say to Baralai echoed in her head.
�Stay away from her or you�ll regret it.�
�Stay away from her or you�ll regret it.�
�Stay away from her or you�ll regret it.�
Rikku
felt her hands; her whole body starting to shake and she forcibly pried
Gippal�s arms from her body. She knew the color had drained from her face
from the look in his eyes but she didn�t care. Once she was at a safe
distance, she let her eyes graze his waist and realized that he indeed wasn�t
wearing his belt. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw why.
His
belt was wrapped firmly around Baralai�s neck.
�Rikku,
what is it?� Gippal asked as he took a step toward her.
Shrieking
in a high pitched wail, Rikku held her hands out in front of her, �Don�t get
near me! Stay away from me!�
�Rikku?�
whispered Yuna, �What is wrong with you?�
Rikku�s
entire body continued its uncontrollable trembling as she pointed to Gippal�s
waist, �Where�s your belt, Gippal?� she asked for the second time that day.
It
was at that moment that Shuyin realized what he had done. The belt he had
grabbed belonged to�Gippal. It was also at that moment that Gippal�s face
lost all color as he realized what Rikku was insinuating, �Ri�Rikku,� he
managed, �You don�t seriously think that I��
He
made to reach out to her, but Cid was faster and smacked his hand away, �Don�t
touch my daughter.� He hissed. Cid motioned for his officers to move in
and faster then Gippal could react, the men each held one of his arms behind
his back. Ignoring Gippal�s shouts and struggles, Cid turned back to
Rikku, �What makes you think Gippal did this?�
The
tears streamed down Rikku�s pretty face and she could barely form coherent
sentences, but Paine had followed her line of thought. She, in fact, had
thought the same thing briefly herself. With a frown, she said, �Gippal
threatened Baralai this afternoon. He went missing and Baralai went to
look for him. That�s also Gippal�s belt.�
�Paine!�
Gippal shrieked, �You know I wouldn�t do this! Baralai was like my
brother!!�
�Yeah,
a brother you threatened!� Rikku shouted back, finally regaining her
voice. Her upset was diminished only by her anger as she stormed up and
slapped Gippal hard across the face, �Did you honestly think we�d be too stupid
to figure it out!!�
�Rikku,�
said Cid, �are you accusing Gippal of this? You know what will happen if
you do.�
Rikku
had to hide a shudder. Al Bhed prisoners got no justice. It wasn�t
like being tried in a court of Yevon. In a court of Yevon you were
innocent until proven guilty. In an Al Bhed prison, you were
guilty. There was no innocence. Gippal�s fate most probably
included the death chamber. The fact that Cid was asking for his
daughter�s final say was quite a gesture. Rikku had this one final chance
to take back her suspicions and let the man who had probably brutally murdered
Baralai walk free. This was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn�t
form the words. As much as she loved Gippal, she couldn�t let him walk
free if he had murdered Baralai. She knew that her father adored Gippal
and would do everything he could to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he
was guilty before he was condemned and that was the thought she clung to.
Ignoring his pleading eyes, she whispered, �Take him away, Pop.�
�Rikku!!!!�
screamed Gippal as the muscular men started to pull him backward down the
stairs. The Al Bhed struggled with them, �Rikku!!! E fuimth'd tu
drec! Oui ghuf sa! Rikku!!!�
His
voice echoed through the corridors as the men struggled to drag him from the
Celsius and when his voice could no longer be heard, Rikku burst into tears.
~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~
AL BHED TRANSLATION:
E fuimth'd tu drec! Oui ghuf sa!: I
wouldn�t do this! You know me!
~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~
Notes: I really hope that nobody was turned away
by this chapter. Killing him wasn�t what I wanted to do initially with
this story. I wanted to ultimately have the triangle end with a
Rikku/Gippal, but I just couldn�t seem to figure out a really fantastic way to end
the triangle. Everything I thought of seemed so trite and overdone.
This idea came to me and I thought it was a really good idea. I had
wanted Baralai to figure out that Tidus was Shuyin and I was initially going to
only have Shuyin hurt Baralai, maybe by pushing him down stairs or something,
but that didn�t seem to work. Shuyin couldn�t let Baralai live knowing
his secret. I wanted Baralai to figure it out and by doing so, Baralai
had to die. I hope that you all bear with me because I�ve got some good
stuff coming up.
Thanks
for reading!
Akksgurl
Author�s Notes: I�m really glad that everybody
seems to like the twist that happened in chapter 8. I was pretty nervous
about it not being well received, but it looks like it has been and I�m
glad. Anyway, this chapter is going to focus mainly on Shuyin and Yuna
with, quite possibly, another twist no one is expecting. We�ll get more
into Gippal in the chapters that follow but for now just assume that dear
Gippal is locked away in an Al Bhed holding cell. *sniff*.
- 7
- 8
- 9
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Silver Wings 2: 1000 Confessions