Author: Characters intentionally left unnamed.
Disclaimer: Legend of Dragoon does not belong to me. Not now, not ever. If it had...well, the main relationship would have been different.
"At some point in his life, a man is faced with a decision that he'd rather not make–between duty and desire. But how do you choose?"
"You're thinking too hard."
"Maybe. Though I think this choice was never really in my hands."
"That's not true! There's always a choice. We fought for that choice."
"How would you decide, then?"
A long, awkward pause.
"Well...if I could, I'd follow my heart."
"Could. Your hands are bound, too, aren't they?"
"Maybe."
A sad, shared silence.
"It's always possible to ignore duty."
"But I can't. There's no-one else to fill my position–I have no close cousins, and after fighting so hard only to abandon everyone..."
A grunt of comprehension.
"What duty is binding you?"
"It's not so much duty as...expectation."
"Expectation. Almost as bad, if not worse."
A snort of agreement.
"What is expected of you?"
"Marriage," the word was said softly, sadly. "I don't want to be married. I still have the itch to explore...to wander...but I can't do that if I'm married. People also expect babies. Which is just..."
A small chuckle. "You don't think you'd make a good father."
"I never had one, really. Father left when I was still a child, and the village in general raised me. I...don't know...it's such a responsibility."
"I'm in much the same conundrum."
"What?"
"I'm facing the same problem. I never had a father, either."
"Ah. Right."
The dying fire was poked back to life as silence fell again.
"I–"
"Shh. Don't say anything. It'll only make it harder to bear."
"But, there has to be a way to get around this! We changed the entire world's fate. Surely we can change ours."
"Of course there is a way to circumvent the problem."
"What?"
"Shh, be quiet. There's always a way to change things. The question is whether or not we're capable of doing it. Of sacrificing for it."
"Sacrificing." The word was said with a world of loathing. "There have been enough sacrifices."
"It's the way of the world."
An angry silence.
"Listen. We will find ways to be together. It just can't be...in the open."
A frustrated growl. "That's dumb."
"Duty versus desire, again."
A choice swear word followed by a chuckle.
"Hush. We'll have to plan carefully for the time we can listen to desire rather than duty. Until then, we'll have to wait."
"I hate waiting," was the dark grumble.
Another soft chuckle. "I know. Now, rest. We've still got a ways to travel before we make it back to Serdio."