Disclaimer: I don't own FFX-2 or its respective characters. Square does.

A/N: This is the final chapter. It's shorter than most of my chapters because of that. And whoa, I did so much editing/revising on WC! I mean it. It took me a long time. One error that really made me laugh was when I said I use Nooj as "coming relief" instead of "comic relief." XD My mind must've been in the gutter... When I did the Al Bhed translations, the translator I used (I posted its link in an earlier chapter) didn't put the contractions in. I don't know why! It never did it before. Oh, well. So now I direct you to a better translating site: http:albhed. netfirms. com/. (It's spaced out all oddly like that to get it to show up right.) And thank you very much to all those who read or read/reviewed this fic. This chapter not only switches from present to past, but vice versa as well.

Thanks to: Jade Samurai, JokaJoker, LucidSamurai (Yes, you get two "thank you"s, 'cause you gave me two different reviews and under different names, too!), Jade Pheonix, Rageful Fairy (Yay! Thanks for the "awesome" comment!), Kirie Himuro (Yep, I double-checked on Google and in the dictionary. I only knew something like that because of weird school literature tests, though.), Angelus Errare (I've come to the conclusion you're psychic…), New Guy, Eternal-Darkness2 (After ten minutes of strange noises, the people outside the changing room have decided it's time to investigate! Oh, watch out, Baralai and Gippal! XD), Wai-Aki, Happy Cabbage (I'm glad you think I've got their personalities down. :D), Yuuka Yagami (Erm, I don't know what the second one means? Are the sweatdrops a bad thing? I only speak English and a little bit of Spanish, and neither of those are used, so I've narrowed it down to too many ellipses and the masturbation. Maybe it's both. Maybe it's neither. If it's the masturbation, I'd just like to say that that's normal, peeps.), Magenta Fox (– dies – Your review made me crack up. You have a good sense of humor…), Hidama (I like the nickname Lai-kun. It's cute.), and DemonButtercup.

Chapter Ten – Memento

Gippal was usually in agreement with Baralai. Usually. Not now.

"You need to get out of bed, Gippal. It's been two days. Neona's worried about you." Baralai paused, probably looking at him thoughtfully, but Gippal couldn't tell, because he had his head buried under a pillow. "I'm worried about you."

He hadn't cried at the funeral. It was as if he gave in to tears, it would cement the fact that Anyata was dead. But of course she was. He knew that, saw her lifeless face, touched her cold skin while Neona sobbed by the bedside. Her eyes were so glassy, like the eyes of fish. Fish she most likely never got to see, living her whole life in the desert.

"…Where is he…?"

Voices fading out and in again. It was a child this time. Neona.

"…Over here…"

"Gippal?" Small hands were tugging at the sheets and the pillow over his head. "E tuh'd fyhd oui du cdyo eh pat ymm tyo mega Knyhtsy tet. Bmayca tuh'd. (I don't want you stay in bed like Grandma did. Please don't.)"

"Neona…" he mumbled. "I won't." Sitting up and pushing the sheets off his body, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and blinked, bleary-eyed, at the girl in overalls and one very tired looking man. "Well, are you coming for breakfast or not?" he called to Baralai and Neona.

They just stared.

---

"You don't…have to make my breakfast…" Neona murmured, gazing at the sizzling eggs with wide eyes.

"It's okay." He cautiously flipped an egg with the spatula. "You've been here for two days, and I haven't fed you or anything."

"Baralai did," she informed him solemnly.

"Oh. That's good, then." He smiled gently at Baralai, who returned the gesture as he mixed the pancake batter distractedly.

"That ready?" Gippal asked, reaching out for it.

"Yes."

Their eyes met briefly, and Gippal could see that he was full of unanswered questions.

"Here's a ladle," Baralai offered.

A ladle…

"Gippal?" Baralai's voice sounded concerned. He was waiting, holding out the ladle, but…

"She –" He let out a short, miserable laugh. "She always did like using her ladle. That – That stupid ladle…" Letting out a choking sob, he collapsed against Baralai.

"Oh, Gippal…" Baralai exhaled, the breath tickling Gippal's scalp as a hand smoothed over his back and another held his head. It was like Baralai knew this was coming.

It felt good to cry. He should have done it in the first place, he realized. It was comforting to bury his face in Baralai's coat, and thankfully, he didn't seem to mind being used as a giant human tissue. Numbly, Gippal noted that he smelled nice.

"It's just…I miss her so much," he whispered hoarsely.

"Gippal…" A tug on his sleeve.

He glanced down to see Neona's quivering lips and cheeks streaked with tears.

"Dra akkc yna pinhehk. (The eggs are burning.)"

---

"No," Baralai refused flatly, casting wary glances around the store.

"Not for twenty gil?" Gippal continued. "C'mon, Baralai. Not for thirty?"

"No amount of gil will convince me to wear those on my head and…" He reddened. "…quack like a duck."

Gippal held the underwear high. "Well, she needs them. We have to buy some. I think these are the right kind… They've got little ducks on them! Ahaha!"

"You're insane."

"Thank you."

Grabbing the underwear from Gippal and placing them into the shopping basket gingerly, he looked around racks of clothing. "Where…did she go? Shouldn't she say if she likes it?"

"I think so, too," Gippal agreed. He searched the scene briefly, but there was no Neona to be found. Then he noticed a head poking of the clothing hanging on the racks.

"Guys… Why does this have a pocket?" She brandished a pair of boxer briefs.

Uh-oh. The men's underwear section was right next to this one.

"Pocket…?" Baralai appeared to be momentarily puzzled before a look of understanding passed over his face. "Oh. Erm… Gippal? I'm sure you could explain this…" He started to walk away, obviously just pretending – for Gippal knew this man well – to look through more clothes.

"What? No way." He snatched Baralai's wrist. "Not so fas –"

A high-pitched squeak "pbbbfft"ed throughout the store, causing more than a few heads to shoot up from their in-store inspections. Neona giggled, pointing at Baralai.

Baralai lowered his face into his collar. "I stepped on something…"

Gippal pulled up a pair of underwear wrapped in a squeaky material, laughing slightly as he observed Baralai's embarrassment. It was very cute when his cheeks flushed like that, and Gippal was willing to use any means to extract this reaction. But of course, he would never tell him, because there was a chance it would change the exact way Baralai blushed.

"It could be worse, Baralai," Gippal pointed out. "At least I convinced Rikku and Yuna not to come. They kept saying that we'd need help, just because we're not girls." He smirked. "Little do they know that you used to wear a skirt, and I have better taste in guys than Rikku does." Gippal emphasized the last bit with a poke to Baralai's ribs.

Baralai raised an eyebrow, smiling. "Wait…"

They were heading for the checkout line now, with Neona almost hanging onto Gippal's pant leg.

"Didn't Rikku like you?"

Gippal stopped in his tracks. "Hey! Well…" But he couldn't think of anything to say.

Baralai had him there.

---

Fingertips skating under Baralai's shirt, Gippal pulled him down for a kiss. He tickled the roof of Baralai's mouth with his tongue, pulling away for air only when the fly of his pants was spread further open and –

"What are you guys doing?"

Gippal whipped his head to the side to see…Neona. Hastily pushing Baralai off him (which he greatly regretted having to do), he fumbled with his pants, mentally cursing his usual lack of underwear. It would have made him feel safer, for sure.

"Neona, um… Well, uh… Y'know…when you really care about someone…" He felt his face grow hot, but at least he was comforted by the fact that he wasn't alone.

Baralai looked quite flustered, though it probably wasn't entirely from embarrassment.

"You're a boy," Neona informed Baralai, eyebrows wrinkling in puzzlement.

"He is."

"I am."

"But you only do…that –" She stunk out her tongue, making a disgusted face. "– if you want to have a baby, and only girls and boys can have them."

"But…we still love each other, so it doesn't matter," Gippal explained. Not only did he not want to go more in-depth on the subject, he had a feeling it would be a bad idea.

Baralai smiled faintly. "You'll understand some day…"

"Ew, gross!" she squealed. "Never!"

"Well, Neona…" Gippal began seriously, in as firm of a tone as he could manage. "I'm afraid you'll have to be punished for not knocking. Come here."

"Fryd?! (What?!)" Her mouth dropped open as her eyes widened.

She wasn't the only surprised one. "Gippal…" Baralai protested, keeping his voice low. "I really don't think that's necessary…"

Gippal merely held up his hand in response. "I've got this."

"Gippal –"

"Neona," Gippal interrupted. "Come closer."

"N…no."

"Yeah. Come here," he insisted.

She obeyed, staring at her feet as she did so.

"Now it's time for…" His expression darkened. "…tickling!"

"Hu! Gippal, huuuuuu! (No! Gippal, noooooo!)" she screamed, flailing as he yanked her to the bed and pinned her arms down.

"Hahaha, nothing can save you now!" He laughed maniacally and attacked her armpits.

"Gippal?" Baralai let out a relieved and humored laugh.

"Baralai, pull up her shirt!"

"What?!" His face went from showing amusement to shock.

"No, not all the way! Just so that her stomach shows!"

Baralai hesitantly did just that, though it appeared he had no idea what was about to happen… It was evident that Neona knew, however, for her struggles became more desperate after the request.

"Blow on her stomach!"

"Huuuu! Bmayca Baralai! Bmayca! (Noooo! Please, Baralai! Please!)" Neona pleaded.

Gippal grinned at him, urging him on, and Baralai smiled as well, now aware of the plan.

"Guys? Guy – Ahhhhhh!"

--- Past:

"Won't the others think we've killed you?"

Gippal smiled and lazily traced invisible patterns on Baralai's skin. "They'll think I haven't come back yet because of…extensive negotiating."

"It is unusual for an Al Bhed to try gaining a temple from Yevonites…" Baralai noted, stretching underneath the covers.

"This has never been done before, huh?"

"Sure hasn't." Baralai turned on his side, facing Gippal, and propped his head up with a hand. "I'm going to have to go into work today…"

"Aw, no," Gippal objected. "Say you're sick."

"I can't. The paperwork…" Baralai's pillar of support slid out from underneath his chin and caused his head to smack into the pillow. It was as if he was exhausted just from thinking about the piles of work.

"Screw that." Gippal brushed strands of hair away from the brown eyes he was always so easily entranced by. "It's been a long time. We have some catching up to do. Besides," he mused, "you look like you could use a break."

"There are many things we have to talk about…" Baralai agreed quietly. "You're right about that…"

"Like this scarring of your palm…?" Gippal caressed his hand, studying it. "Baralai, what –?"

But Baralai had already snatched his hand away. "Gippal… There are certain things I can't tell you. At least, not yet." He drew in a quaky breath. "But it's all just letters and lies to me… They won't let me be."

Concern swallowing him up, Gippal wrapped his arms around Baralai. "Letters?" That was the part he least understood. Lies in Bevelle Temple, on the other hand, were nothing new…

"I wrote you –" Baralai swallowed. "– around twenty, thirty letters. Whenever things became more…difficult, that was what comforted me, as pathetic as that sounds… I thought I could never send them to you, not just for fear of your safety, but because I couldn't. Even if you were safe, I felt I would always be – always trapped."

"Baralai…" A thick syrup of dread was beginning to coat his stomach. "Why? What did those bastards…?"

Baralai shook his head slowly, eyes beginning to redden with the prospect of tears. "Please believe me when I say that I tried. I gave it my all…" His voice cracked. "I fought as hard as I could. Not just for me, but for you."

"What…are you saying?" Gippal didn't have to ask. He already knew, but the question of who had done it was continuing to torment him. Whoever it was, he would pay. Gippal would find and destroy him for what he had done.

"Seymour, he…threatened me when I told him I didn't care, that I would rather die and be caught than…than let him –" Baralai gripped the sheets with a hand and stared hard at them. "– force himself upon me."

"Baralai…" There was nothing he could say but Baralai's name. Nothing at all… The man who had done that to him was dead, and now there was no chance for Gippal to make him suffer as he had made Baralai suffer.

"The scar on my hip came from when he threw a knife at me as I tried to escape." His voice was so mechanical, so unlike him. "The scarring on my palm was from when, even after that, I was so determined to be rid of him that I ignored my wound and grabbed the door handle. He used…some kind of spell that made it heat up, and –" He turned his palm upward and gazed at it. "After that, something hit my head, and I remember waking up…with my wrists bound to a bed. I was there for three days and was given no food and little water. I was only good for…being a whore."

"Don't say that…" Gippal pressed his tear-streaked face on Baralai's chest. "That's…not true."

"No one even noticed I was gone, Gippal." Baralai cupped Gippal's face with one hand and ran his thumb across his lips. "No one."

"I would have, and I still…" Gippal embraced him tightly. "I still love you. Nothing will change that, you know."

"I know." Baralai's muscles began to relax underneath Gippal's hold. "I know…" he repeated softly. "I have the letters if you want to read them…"

"I will, but get some sleep first, okay?" Gippal smoothed his hair, coaxing his head to the pillow.

"All right, I'll stay here. Just this once." His eyes drifted closed. "Gippal?" He was completely motionless, except for his mouth, eyes still shut.

"Yes?" Gippal was taken aback by the weakness in his own voice. But then again, he really shouldn't have been. Baralai was his weakness.

"I love you, too."

---

"Oui duug muhkan dryh aqbaldat (You took longer than expected)," Nhadala muttered as Gippal surveyed the latest machina supplies, so far unused in any machina, for they had only just gotten permission.

"Oayr, famm – (Yeah, well –)" He couldn't come up with a decent excuse. Baralai had that effect on him, and he wasn't quite sure why.

Nhadala sighed loudly. "E's hud cina E fyhd du fung uh drec machina huf, ghufehk dryd drec taym fyc byet vun fedr bealac uv ouin ycc. (I'm not sure I want to work on this machina now, knowing that this deal was paid for with pieces of your ass.)"

"Fryd?! (What?!)" Gippal's head whipped to the side so fast, he thought he felt something snap in his neck. "Ow…"

"Tu oui hud drehg E lyh caa druca syngc uh ouin halg? (Do you not think I can see those marks on your neck?)" She laughed. "E's bnaddo cina drana'c y fruma syb uv Spira nekrd drana. (I'm pretty sure there's a whole map of Spira right there.)"

He snorted. "Ed'c hud fryd oui drehg. Fa'na umt vneahtc. (It's not what you think. We're old friends.)"

"Ev dryd'c fryd vneahtc tu, drah oui yht E ryja cusa fung du tu. (If that's what friends do, then you and I have some work to do.)"

Gippal grimaced. "Hu, dryhgc. (No, thanks.)"

"Muug, Gippal. Rana'c cusa rambvim ytjela vnus sa du oui. (Look, Gippal. Here's some helpful advice from me to you.)" She patted him on the shoulder. "Tuh'd cryna patc fedr Yevonites. Uhla drao'na drnuikr fedr oui, oui'mm fyga ib fedr y gheva cdelgehk uid uv ouin pylg. (Don't share beds with Yevonites. Once they're through with you, you'll wake up with a knife sticking out of your back.)"

Gippal narrowed his eyes. "Drao syga zitksahdc. Fa syga zitksahdc. E's celg uv ed. Yht Baralai fuimt hajan, hajan tu dryd. (They make judgments. We make judgments. I'm sick of it. And Baralai would never, never do that.)"

"Yevonites yna cilr robulnedac (Yevonites are such hypocrites)," she grumbled. "Drao tahuihla fryd oui'na tuehk fedr y syh, yht oad, drec syh ec y Yevonite. (They denounce what you're doing with a man, and yet, this man is a Yevonite.)"

"Ra'c hud naymmo (He's not really)," he argued. "Ra tuach'd pameaja eh dra daylrehkc. Drao haatat y maytan, yht ra cdabbat ib. (He doesn't believe in the teachings. They needed a leader, and he stepped up.)"

"So, kaddehk tavahceja! (My, getting defensive!)" She laughed. "Oui naymmo tu lyna vun drec syh, tuh'd oui? Yht fyed, oui cyet Baralai? Uin Gippal'c kaddehk clnafat po yh esbundyhd maytan huf! (You really do care for this man, don't you? And wait, you said Baralai? Our Gippal's getting screwed by an important leader now!)"

He grinned. "Fryd sygac oui drehg E's uh puddus? (What makes you think I'm on bottom?)"

"Oui fana fymgehk geht uv cdnyhkamo… (You were walking kind of strangely…)"

"Ugyo, cu ed'c ajah padfaah ic. Cusadesac ra'mm pa uh dra puddus, yht cusadesac E fe – (Okay, so it's even between us. Sometimes he'll –)"

"Gippal." She covered her ears. "Hu suna. E ryja y vaamehk dryd uhla oui cdynd, oui fuh'd ghuf frah du cdub kejehk tadyemc. (No more. I have a feeling that once you start, you won't know when to stop giving details.)"

"Oui caasat kysa y vaf caluhtc yku! (You seemed game a few seconds ago!)"

"Hu. (No.)"

--- Present:

"Mmm? Why is Neona here?" Baralai asked sleepily.

It was the middle of the night, and Gippal's attempts to resettle himself in bed had probably been the deciding factor in waking Baralai up.

"Neona had a nightmare," Gippal explained. "So I told her she could spend the night here. Oh, that reminds me… She gave me something today."

"What'd she give you?" Baralai questioned. He usually had difficulty getting back to sleep, anyway, so he could ask away and not be too tired to wait for the answers.

Gippal stood up and walked over to the drawer by the bed.

"Gippal?"

"Here." He placed the object in Baralai's arms.

"What is it?"

Gippal turned on the lamp.

"Won't that wake her up?" Baralai glanced at the sleeping girl.

"She can sleep through natural disasters." Gippal laughed.

Baralai turned back to the object… "I…can't believe it."

"Believe it." He beamed. "Neona gave me back my old stuffed cactuar that Anyata had been keeping."

It was a ratty thing, riddled with holes that stuffing was poking out of, but it had been Gippal's most loved possession as a child.

"And –"

A photograph dropped on Baralai's lap. A black-and-white photograph of a little Al Bhed boy with a bandage over one eye. Baralai exhaled, bringing a hand up to his mouth shakily. "Gippal, it's…"

"I want you to have it," Gippal told him seriously, gaze flickering up to meet Baralai's.

"Oh, Gippal… I can't accept this…" he whispered. "It belongs to you…"

"Yes, you can." He pressed the picture into Baralai's hand and gently closed his fingers over it. "It's what started it all, even though I'm sure we eventually would have gotten together without it. I want you to have it… You should keep it."

So Baralai did.