Hello! （‐＾▽＾‐）
Ah hem... there isn't a lot of fe7 fics out here... at all. So I decided to give my contribution, since I really really really love these two and wanted to explore the events in between 7 and 6. It makes me sad that like... no one from 7 really gets a nice ending :( but oh well. I promise there will be fluff (but of course, a lot of angst too :).

In unrelated news, I graduated high school recently! (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑ (so I can spend more time writing fic instead of doing schoolwork, at least until college starts... eheh)

"No point in talking to you, is there? It's just like your friend Sonia said: you truly are soulless."

Was soulless.

"You are death incarnate. You feel nothing, fear nothing, desire nothing... You kill. Nothing more."

Wrong. He was more now, now that she breathed life into him, pulled him out of Nergal's chains and made him human for the first time. Nino was pure and good, an angel of life, the light to his shadow. She didn't deserve anything that was thrust upon her, and yet she handled it all with and sparkling eyes and a beaming face – he had to protect her. The thought of losing her… it was too much.

He loved her.

"But, you and Nino... I just don't understand the way life works. Can I ask you just one question? Do you plan to wed this child?"

Of course. There was no one else in the world who mattered.

"You've become human, but that makes you less perfect. Someday... you'll die. No doubt trying to protect that girl."

So be it.

If that was the cost of his humanity, of caring for her, of loving her... so be it.

The sky was not black yet, but a deep, sapphire blue as they set up camp that evening. Tomorrow, Eliwood had said, they would advance to the Dragon's Gate. Tonight, Nino was on patrol orders with Jaffar, meandering around the stream next to the tents and keeping a keen eye for any remaining morphs. Well, Jaffar kept a keen eye. He was far better at this whole "keeping watch" thing than Nino, who kept getting distracted by frogs in the water and pretty, twinkling stars in the sky.

"Nino, about earlier..."

At her name, Nino stopped walking, nearly in shock. "What?" she asked. It wasn't like Jaffar to break the silence – usually, that was her job.

He turned to face her, but couldn't meet her eyes. His face was darkened by the tones of evening, only illuminated by the light floating over from the camp. "I am sorry but... I will not be able to keep our promise."

"But... what do you mean?"

Jaffar paused and took a breath before answering. "I said that I would always be your friend, that I would always be by your side... but something has changed."

Fuming, Nino clenched her fists at her side. "N-no!" she stammered. "How could you?! Y-you promised! You said...!"

"...Relax."

"I won't! What, am I a bother to you?!" Suddenly, her delicate, bell chime of a voice rose to a near shout. Was she overreacting? It wasn't as if she'd never been rejected before. "You just want to be rid of me?! Then why did you save me in the first place?! Why were you so nice to me?! How could you let me trust you... and then... betray me?!"

"Nino, listen to what..."

"Jaffar, I hate you!" She didn't let him finish. This was exactly what happened with Sonia... it was the same hurting, the same betrayal, and Nino couldn't handle it once more. Not from Jaffar. "How could you?!"

With that, she turned to run away, but was held back by the firm grip of Jaffar's calloused hand on her upper arm. "Nino! Stop!" he exclaimed, pulling her close, separated by mere inches.

"Let me go! Don't touch me!" Nino retorted, fighting and squirming in Jaffar's hold.

"I love you..."

No one had ever told Nino anything like that ever before. Not the way Jaffar just said it, genuine and soft in the starlight, those three words… Cautiously, she turned to face him, her lips parted in surprise. Jaffar's face, she noticed, was flushed pink – was the assassin himself actually capable of blushing?

"I... love you..." he repeated, loosening his fingers from Nino's arm and trailing them down to connect with her hand.

She was so close, so near to his body. "Jaffar..." she whispered, warmth flooding her cheeks.

"That is why I can't just be your friend. That is all I wanted to say..."

Nino's gaze shifted upwards to meet his through her eyelashes. "...Really...?"

"Do I look like the joking type to you?"

"...No. But..." She finally unclenched her free hand, only to begin nervously thumbing at the end of her skirt. "It's just that... It's just so hard to..."

"...love me?"

"No!" she squeaked. "That's not what I meant. I mean, I... Jaffar, I..."

I've never been so close to anyone. Not like this.

Both her hands were in his now.

"I love you... too."

All at once, Nino was swept into an embrace, her face pressed against the rough fabric of Jaffar's shirt. She turned to the side to rest her cheek against him comfortably.

"Nino..." The deep tones of Jaffar's voice resounded in his chest and in Nino's ear. "When this battle has ended, we... should live together."

"Together? Like... like as a family?"

"Yes. Nino, please... marry me. I will protect you, always... with my life."

Not like Sonia. Like a real family, like real love.

She wrapped her arms around his waist, emotion sticking to her throat, threatening to burn her from the inside out. Her voice couldn't manage above a murmur. "Yes... Let's always be together..." Holding back tears proved difficult – how Jaffar had frightened her! And so a few escaped her, pooling up under her eyes and spilling onto Jaffar's clothes. "Jaffar... Don't ever leave me... Ever."

"I won't."

Nino sniffled and looked up at Jaffar, bearing into his deep, dark eyes with the conviction of a lion. "No. You have to promise."

Slowly, Jaffar's lips lifted into a smile. "I promise. On my honor... On my heart."

And so he kissed her.