Collateral Damage
A/N: I originally thought of publishing it with my little anthology of Basch/Ashe ficlets, but I decided it didn't really fit the general theme and mood. I published this as a oneshot instead.
I wrote this to sort of get over my dry spell. Here's to more fics in the future.
It was beautiful and bittersweet.
Yet it left him with a dull, empty pain aas they both lie naked under his sheets.
It was the eve of her wedding. With his arms wrapped around her waist, he pulled her closer. She responded by gently squeezing his hand and entangling her fingers with his.
They laid like this in silence for a long time.
He knew she was awake. She was still, too still. He could not feel the gentle rise and fall of her breath, nor can he hear her quiet snores. He couldn't think what could be keeping her from sleep. Anxiety? Nerves? Cold feet? But Basch, he refused sleep. The Nabradian Prince had already taken away his everything. This moment, this silent night of dreadful yet bittersweet foreboding, was the last he would have with his Princess. He refused to let anyone or anything take even this away.
For Dalmasca.
Ashe did this (or was coerced to do this) to protect the future of Dalmasca. She was, above all else, the Princess. This was and will always be her duty.
When Basch was tasked to protect Ashelia, his unspoken task was to secure the future of Dalmasca; to make sure she gets there. This was his duty. He dreaded the day it will have to end.
Basch fon Ronsenburg and Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca.
Fate and duty drove them together. Though it was rather unfortunate that they fell in love with each other. In their world where duty comes before all else, broken hearts are merely occupational hazards. The Knight and Princess were simply collateral damage.
It was cruel how slow yet fast time moved around him. He knew the morning drew near. In a few hours, his most difficult test of loyalty would come. Though it's not like he has any other choice but to pas it. What else could he do? Stop the wedding because he loves her? No. To rob Dalmasca of a bright future because of something so selfish is a burden his pride and conscience could not and would not bear.
As time passed, his eyes failed him. He has succumbed to sleep. He has let what little was left of his moment slip through heavy eyelids.
And he realized this only when he was woken by the sun shining on his half-empty bed.
