Disclaimer: Not affiliated with Square in any incarnation. Taking the characters round the block for a stretch of the legs. Creative value only.
Notes: A first kiss challenge response. These versions of Braska and Auron are in no way connected to any of my previous versions. They're hanging ten on their own.
And Some May Find Peace
I wasn't as if he hadn't thought about doing it at least a hundred times. Perhaps even a thousand. He thought about it when that one stray lock of hair would work loose from the tie and flop into Auron's face. Just brush it back with a casual gesture, he would tell himself, then dart forward for the kiss. There were all the times when Auron, confused or dazed from a magic attack, would look up at him with wide and hopeful eyes as he awaited a healing cast. Take his face in your hands, he would think, and just do it.
He never did.
There were moments of panic when Auron was out cold or evenings when he was sleeping while Braska was on watch. What a simple thing it would have been to steal a kiss. Auron would never have even known but it might have sated his curiosity. Braska, however, was far too honorable for that to have ever been a realistic option.
Rarely, the urge would come when they argued. Auron, so earnest and intense, would begin to flush with the effort of holding his tongue. It was not proper for him to question the judgment of a Summoner -- particularly not one so many years his senior -- but he often could not help himself. Braska would watch with a certain fond amusement as the young man sulked, then brooded, and finally gave voice to his frustration. He was so vibrant in his anger. So alive. In those moments Braska thought he had never seen anyone so noble or righteous. He longed to silence Auron's words with his mouth -- to find out what such valiance tasted of -- but he didn't.
In the end, their first kiss was also their last. As they stood together in the Calm Lands, a great gale of wind and sound all but flattening the grass around them as Sin approached, Braska turned. There was so much he wished to say to Auron but even a shout would have been lost to the din. So, Braska did the one thing he had ached for so long to do.
He kissed him.
He gave to Auron in that single kiss all the love he held in his heart. He kissed him long and deep; held him close. He made of it both a promise and a pledge. And he made it last, for he knew it was all they would ever have.
It broke his heart to leave Auron there in the field, but he did what he felt was right. History might argue his choice, even Auron did, but it was his to make.
And because of a single kiss, he did it without regret.
oO0Oo