A Generation of Aeons: Through Kiron's Eyes

by Haru no Yo

[One Shot] Based off A Generation of Aeons. Lenne and Takoire both lay unconscious, another attack has been made on my life, the assassins have still not been caught, my father is calling me back to Zanarkand... and all I can think of is Seru

A Generation of Aeons

Through Kiron's Eyes

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X, X-2, or any of Square-Enix's characters.

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The sphere screen flickered to life, and I watched Yunalesca's face graze the screen. Her eyes look weathered, worn, and deprived of sleep… as if she had been placed under considerable pressure the last few days.

But I knew the reason for her tired state.

"Kiron, why aren't you on your way home yet?"

I frowned.

Lenne and Takoire had both been unconscious for more than a day and a half. Zaon watched the hall with the eyes of a hawk, giving no better protection to anyone other than myself or Yuanlesca, but not by much. Seru had been staying with Takoire through the many hours while I did the same with Lenne, but nothing changed. The condition, described at best, was unstable to say the least. Following Seru's orders, I tried to force liquids into Lenne while she did the same for Takoire, but it seemed my services were not enough because Seru was eventually forced to intervene when Lenne became feverish. My childhood friend, however, saved the day, and Lenne returned to the same unknown state as Takoire who only seemed to stir restlessly in his dreams.

Sometimes, I found myself wondering about Lenne, you know?

I remembered when I had first met her, I had been infatuated. It took me awhile to understand my feelings for Lenne, but I finally did. She was such a unique person, unlike almost any I had met before. I remembered that day in Kilika when she told me her story.

To be honest, I thought she was nuts.

Nuts, crazy, cuckoo, wacko… whatever you wanted to call it. Of course, me being the arrogant Zanarkand prince of the time, didn't care. I was infatuated with her. I'm not proud, either, of what I did to Takoire. I was, to put it blatantly, a complete asshole to him. I knew his secret.

When he first came to Zanarkand and kneeled before my father, sister, and I, I couldn't help but laugh at the time. I had heard many storied of my Bevelle counterpart. He was supposedly very young, but a brilliant strategist if there ever was one. Men would follow him blindly after meeting him only once, and he was the pride of the Bevelle family, although he was not their heir.

When he stood there, I laughed at both him and myself for believing such ridiculous stories. He was pathetic.

Yunalesca eventually talked Father into letting him stay, she was a high summoner at the time. Not long after, he joined the Abes. I laughed at him again. Who knew that a former Bevelle noble could play blitzball, let alone lead them to victory?

For some time, I lost interest in blitzball and ignored the blitzball player who had been promoted to the rank of hero in the city. I did note, however, that whenever the Abes would play outside Zanarkand, he asked not to be giving special treatment by the announcers, and they allowed him the leisure every time.

But then I saw him as Lenne's guardian.

I taunted him, made fun of him… all in front of Lenne. I got a kick out of it at the time. I held everything he held close in my hand, and I got a kick out of it.

Then… then Lenne and Takoire became my friends, and I got to know them.

My family had never taken the Prophecies of Lore very seriously. Maybe because they clearly hadn't been meant for us, or as citizens of Zanarkand, we took pride in the fact that we never clung to the past, but that was the truth. The prophecies were a bedtime story… but Lenne began to make me question that belief.

I started to believe Lenne's story.

She was my friend, she had saved my life more than once, so hadn't she earned my trust as well?

Then Zaon, Seru, Lenne, Takoire, and I came to Bevelle.

The first time I ever talked to him, I wondered, Is that how I used to act? He was my new Bevelle counterpart. Takoire's sole brother: Lord Sareth of Bevelle.

I didn't like him at all.

I didn't have time to think about it, though, I was distracted by other things… things like Seru.

I learned that she had once lived in Bevelle as royalty… but that wasn't what hurt me the most. It hurt that she lied to me about her heritage, but I found I could forgive her for that, what surprised me the most was the fact that I couldn't forgive her because she never told me about her and Takoire… How they had been engaged. I didn't understand.

Even at the time I thought back on it, I still didn't understand.

"My friends are still sick, and I'm not leaving until they're at least awake," I answered my sister.

Yunalesca sighed heavily. I could see her resist the urge to rub her already red eyes. "Sir Ristow, Sir Jole, and I cannot keep father calm for much longer. Gossip travels fast through Spira, and tends to be exaggerated because of it."

I clenched my teeth. "I don't care! My friends are sick, and I'm not leaving Bevelle until I'm sure they'll be fine!"

I watched as Yunalesca allowed her head to fall in exhaustion. "Kiron, it's bad enough that you're in Bevelle as well as Takoire, he's nervous beyond all belief. And…" my sister's face nearly cried out how frustrated she is, "Kiron, what's upsetting him the most is Seru. He thinks Seru is a spy, and a traitor to Zanarkand."

It felt like someone had knocked all the wind from my lungs. "Seru…?"

"Brother," I heard her say, "even with Sir Ristow and Sir Jole's help, I can't promise you that she'll be able to stay your guardian…"

My thoughts immediately went to Seru.

I remembered I was fourteen when I met Seru. I had been… trying to run away from my tutors again. I wasn't looking where I was going, and I ran into her and knocked her down. She looked so scared. I could still remember the exact way she looked that day. She was wearing the traditional, plain gray uniform of the palace servants. Her fair, light brown hair was strewn astray, and the flush in her cheeks told me she had been working hard before I interrupted her. She kept her blue eyes hidden from me as if she were to look at me, she would have perished on the spot. I almost wanted to laugh.

Almost.

I felt bad; she looked so helpless. I excused her from work that day, but for some reason, I wanted to keep her around me. So, she took me to the only place my father and tutors wouldn't look: the servants' quarters. Then I just started talking to her.

After that day, I started looking for her intentionally. Six months passed before she started opening up and finally began to trust me. Things went on like that for about a year after that.

I remember about a year and a half later, I was able to get Seru and her mother assigned to the royal family. Sir Jole took notice of her. He took her under his wing.

Right around this time, Yunalesca became a high summoner. She had three guardians. Tanay and Ralia had been friends with Yunalesca since they were children, both very competent mages. Tanay the white mage, and Ralia the black. Tanay was always a quiet one, much quieter than Seru, that was for sure. While Ralia, she was always giggling about something, keeping up with all the current palace gossip. I never took a liking to either of them for some reason. Alor was my sister's third and last guardian. He had been assigned to her from the Zanarkand army. I liked Alor, though, right away.

Alor was a soldier through and through. The only man I can think of so obsessed with the military is my own guardian, friend, and future brother in-law, Zaon. All lieutenant colonels in the Zanarkand army are personally promoted by my father, his personal wish to see all aspiring officers. Alor caught his eye. Well, not only in the sense of his shortly cut, flaming red hair that never seemed to be able to be tamed, but in the sense that the young man had aspired to the rank of lieutenant colonel in just two short years following his formal training as an officer in our army.

But my instant liking for Alor suddenly went down when I first saw him lay eyes on Seru. He was to come before my father, Yunalesca, and myself a month before Yunalesca was to leave her pilgrimage. Seru happened to be in the room running an errand. I saw him look at her and smile at her. Instead of looking down immediately like I knew she always did, she smiled back at him.

I didn't like it.

Then, three months ago, I started out on my pilgrimage. Zaon had been assigned to me, but I knew I wanted Seru to come with me. I didn't know why.

Sir Ristow, Sir Jole, and Yunalesca were able to convince my father to allow Seru to be my guardian. Well, he mostly agreed because he knew neither between the two of us, Zaon and I had no talent when it came to magic, but Seru, she had the gift…

"Yunalesca," I said acidly, "father wouldn't even think about it, would he? Seru wears my summoner's brand."

I felt numb as I watched Yunalesca shake her head. "Father's more furious than I've ever seen him. You know when father sets his mind on something, it gets done."

I ground my teeth and felt the anger swell up inside of me. "He can't. I won't let him!"

"Kiron…" she said to me sympathetically, "I don't think you have a choice in the matter."

My breathing suddenly became uneven and rugged. "I won't let him!"

I slammed on the sphere screen console with my fist without warning. It blinked closed.

I held my head in my hands.

Take away Seru? He wouldn't. He couldn't.

"I won't let him!" I yelled again. This time, no one was there to hear my tantrum.

Panicked thoughts suddenly engulfed, and I had no choice but to follow my urgency of finding my guardian.

I ran out of my room, or maybe sprinted is a better word, and raced across the hall. The door to Seru's room was open. I ran the few steps to her doorway and reached for the breath that seemed to escape me.

I remember it so clearly… she was standing by her window, looking out on the city below with her arms crossed.

Without thinking, I strode towards her, turned her by her shoulders so I could see her face, and encircled her close to me. I buried my face in her hair, her hair that smelled like a field of flowers, and let my body fit against hers.

I flashed cold for a second. I could feel Seru's body stiffen against mine. What was I doing? What the hell had I been thinking? How was I going to explain this?

Then I felt her body relax against mine. I felt her wrap her arms around me and her head rests on my shoulder.

Cheribum, if I could have just held her like that forever…

"My father wants to take you away from me, Seru…"

I felt her sigh against my skin, and it sent a shiver down my spine. "So, he's heard…"

I ran my hand through her hair; it feels like I'm running the finest silk through my fingers.

"My father's called us back to Zanarkand," I heard myself say in a daze. "I tried to picture my life in Zanarkand without you, Seru, and it doesn't work. I don't know whether or not I've changed since we left. I don't know if you could ever feel what I do for you, but you're all I need. You've always been there for me. You've been my best friend, my guardian, and I don't care if I'm being a selfish, stuck-up Zanarkand prince, but there's only one more thing that I want you to be."

She lifted her head to look at me.

And I kissed her.

I don't know what was possessing me to do it, but suddenly everything made sense. Why I felt jealous of Takoire and Alor, and why I wanted Seru with me on my pilgrimage.

And then, Seru wraps her arms around me, and I feel her kiss me back.

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Author's Notes: This one-shot has been updated as of 3 Jan 06 because I thought I could make a few tweaks here and there to make it better.

If you haven't read this before, it is a one-shot based off my story A Generation of Aeons. It takes place while Takoire and Lenne are unconscious in Bevelle. If you haven't read the original story, I ask that you give it a shot and tell me what you think, and it might make this one-shot a little easier to understand. R&R