A/N: I’ve deleted the original The Lost Three Words and am in the middle of rewriting it, as The Lost Three Words Rewritten. This is the sequel to the story, and I’m sorry for the long delays, but I think I’m going to finish the prequel before starting this again. This story, like the prequel, is Gippal/Baralai, so if ya don’t fancy male/male slash... this story is probably not for you.

And oh, the Al Bhed translations are at the bottom of each page, if the language is spoken in chapter in question :p At least I try to remember them...

Characters, places etc belong to Square. Nadja (AGH! She's still here!) and the other OCs belong to me.

Chapter One

Dear Lai (and uh, the others, too or else Paine'll kick my ass...)

I’ve been here in Djose for a few days now, but this is my first chance to write to you guys, they put us straight to work when we arrived! Machina after machina to repair, you know... It's hard, but I love it. I can't just sit still doing nothing, y'know, so I'm glad that's not the case here (not that it was like that there, either!). Nadja's visiting Bikanel right now, they have opened a kind-of-an excavation site there, but I doubt that you want to hear about it... Even though it’s interesting... What? It really is!

Oh! Guess what? I told you about my best friend, Rikku, right? Well she's here too, I was so surprised! She said that they have missed me, but I think that's bullshit. She's just trying to cheer me up, I guess, ‘cause no one would miss me back home... But that's what friends are for, right?

Anyway, how are you guys doing there in Bevelle? Paine and Nooj still the same after I left? Miss me much? Heh, guess those two couldn't change even if they wanted to... And your parents, remember to say hi to them for me, even if they’re still angry at me, I can never thank them enough for letting me stay there.

(Don’t read the next part to the others, ok? I’ll lose the very last pieces of my manliness if someone else reads this!)

So... I miss you. I really do. It's really hard being without you. Funny, isn't it, since we haven't known each other that long and it's only a few days when we last saw each other? Feels like a freaking eternity, though. Well, shows us that life's full of surprises. Every morning I wake up, wondering if you're awake already so that we can go get Nooj and Paine and go down to the beach or something. And I still haven't gotten used to the food in here. I probably haven't told you, but the Al Bhed really know how to use fiends as food... Oh hell, how I miss your mother's cooking...

(Now you can read aloud again.)

Umm, I'm planning to come to Bevelle when I take my vacation, so be sure to be free when I'm there! I’ll let you know once I know when I’m free to come there.

Oh, almost forgot to ask: how's it going at the temple? Becoming the High Priest anytime soon, eh?

Don't forget to write!

Love, Gippal

P.S. I swear if I find out that you have found some pretty nun from there, I'll... cry. I've gotta ask Paine about that... oh no, wait, there was that chastity-thing, wasn’t there? Wonderful!

Love you.

And that was the first and last letter he had received from Gippal. He had read it at least 10 000 times, and every time he was in tears. He kept the letter in his top drawer in the office-like room where he stayed at the temple, so that he could read it whenever he was about to go berserk with all the paperwork and rip the papers into many, many small-tiny pieces.

Baralai sighed and put the letter back into the drawer. Two years. It had been almost two damn years since he had heard from Gippal. Two long years... He sighed and let his head fall against his arms that were crossed on the table.

He had tried to contact Gippal, but he never got an answer. After the fifth letter they had sent, he gave up. Every time he sent a letter, he thought, ‘This time he'll answer, I'm sure!’ But then, after days that turned into weeks, weeks that soon turned into months, his hopes were crushed again. He had no idea why Gippal didn’t answer their letters, but the reason didn't really matter. Unless something had happened... At first he had thought that it might have been the reason, maybe something had happened to Gippal? But after Paine and Nooj convinced him that the Al Bhed was simply too stubborn to let anything happen to himself, he had calmed down and agreed with them, promising not to do anything ‘stupid’, as Paine had said.

One day Paine had barged into his office with a video tape, telling him that he had to see it. It turned out to be an interview of some sort, from Luca where a promising reporter named Shelinda was interviewing the leader of the newly formed Machine Faction. You guessed it: he was damn surprised to see Gippal on the screen. He had thought that it must have been a coincidence, but there couldn't be two Al Bhed men with their right eye missing, with exactly the same confident grin and same voice. Right?

So... Gippal had time to visit Luca, but not Bevelle, where his friends were worrying sick about him? Baralai had watched the five-minute interview silently, and right after that excused himself and then burst into tears. He missed Gippal so much, but what could he do? He was just as stuck in Bevelle as Gippal seemed to be in Djose... He should have known from the beginning that it wasn't going to work.

Why was being in love so damn hard?

“Hey, Baralai... Shh, why are you crying?”

That was a funny thing. One, he hadn't realized that he had actually started to cry, and two, he had no idea when or why Paine had entered the room. He supposed that it was a good thing though, that it was Paine and not a priest. To see their leader crying helplessly was not exactly the most encouraging thing... They’d force him to take a vacation or something. On the other hand... maybe a vacation really was what he needed.

Paine sighed and embraced her friend gently. It wasn't the first time she had found Baralai like this, alone in his office and crying. And she didn't have to think twice of the reason. “Thinking about him again, aren't you?” she asked and stood up straight. “You know what, I've had enough.”

Baralai looked up from his arms, facing a plotting Paine, which couldn't be a good thing. “What... are you planning?” he asked suspiciously, wiping his eyes in embarrassment.

“I've had enough of this, and I mean it,” Paine repeated and shoved a pile of papers aside and sat onto the table, ignoring Baralai’s cringe as some of the papers glided off the table and fell onto the floor haphazardly. “How long has it been since we heard from him? Two years, huh?” She threw her arms up in frustration. “Seriously, who does he think he is!? Damned little prick, thinking he can just ignore us!”

Baralai sighed, nodding slightly at his friend’s words. Paine was right, sort of... Gippal could at least have told them the reason for the unanswered letters. If he was mad about something – Baralai had no idea what that could be, though – or busy, he could have told them so!

“You know what, Baralai?” Paine hopped down from the table and took a tight hold of his arm. “You’re taking a vacation.”

“Wh...what...” Baralai’s eyes widened when Paine dragged him up from the chair and started to pull him after her. “I am...?”

“Yeah, I think the temple's not gonna fall down if you're away for a week... Maybe two... And we're gonna go get Nooj, now!”

“Whoa, wait a second!” Baralai pulled Paine back when she attempted to walk out of the office, dragging him behind her. While he could admit that he was stressed, and could use a vacation, this was not the time! “Why? What are you planning to do?”

Paine smirked. “No, the question is what we are going to do,” she said and then she started to drag Baralai behind her again.

“Well, yes, that's what I was afraid of...” Baralai sighed, but allowed himself to be led by the determined girl. “If only you told me what, uh, we are going to do.”

Paine stopped and turned to look at him like he had suddenly grown an extra head. “Are you stupid or what?” she asked as though it was obvious. She rolled her eyes when Baralai only looked at her quizzically. “We're going to Djose!”

tbc…