A/N: I had a really hard time writing this-two different endings, this one and another one that forced me to write a multichap fict, which I was not prepared to do, so I stuck with this albeit more fluffy one. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Final Fantasy III.
By the time Luneth had realized it, he had fallen in love with Ingus. Maybe it was the constant challenge of having to prove himself as something other than just a kid with no responsibilities, and that he always loved challenges, or maybe it was the way Ingus pushed him to be better than he was. Regardless, he had fallen in love with him.
It had flustered him through their journey, which was already fantastic enough—but to fall in love with the one companion that refused to recognize him as anything more than just a temporary comrade? If it had to be anyone, it should have been anyone but Ingus. Luneth could never see himself with Arc, but if it had happened—after all, he couldn't have seen himself in love with Ingus, but where was he now? —Arc would make the experience much less humiliating. He could have seen himself with Refia—she was pretty, and even though she had a volcano for a temper, she had proven through their journey she loved each of them deeply.
But Ingus? The guy who refused to speak informally and didn't see anyone but Princess Sara? Stupid.
Originally, Luneth had rejected the idea of love and Ingus in the same sentence, but it became too much to ignore—the snatches of moments when he realized he had been staring at Ingus for too long, or how Ingus's stark profile struck him with agonizing pain after a particularly fierce argument. The fights were worse after he finally grasped that he was in love, because not only was he in pain after them, but that he knew Ingus was, too. He felt needlessly guilty, which made his responses sharper, which hurt Ingus more, which made him feel guiltier. It was a vicious cycle.
He learned to avoid Ingus when he wanted to pick a fight, or when he knew Ingus was looking for one. He learned to funnel his temper into training, during which he had finally accepted that this condition of being in love with Ingus wasn't going away anytime soon.
Most of the time, he had forced himself not to think about it, which wasn't hard during battles—false moves cost a lot, and the times he had let himself look for Ingus were the times that their party was hurt the most.
However, outside of battles, it was impossible. There was no point when Luneth made the conscious decision to not tell Ingus—if there was, it was when he had accepted that he was in love with him. He knew that to tell—to confess—to Ingus would be the end of comfortable days within the party, and to be inevitably rejected would be more painful than keeping his unrequited love. And, surprisingly, Luneth had realized that he wanted to be in love with Ingus. It was because of this that letting Ingus know about his feelings came to mean, to Luneth at least, giving up on loving him. So, for his own sake, he learned how to hide his feelings—the blushes, the dreams, and the fierce possessiveness—all of them.
The possibility that Luneth had let this affect his interactions with Ingus was, well, a possibility. Regardless of it, they had become friends somewhere along the line, and this made Luneth even more determined to shut himself up, because being friends with Ingus was already much better than being enemies, and this meant that he had that much more to lose—like those occasional smiles and pats on the back when Luneth had to fight the urge to say everything, to lose everything.
Arc found out around then, too. Luneth knew Arc knew, but thankfully, his childhood friend recognized it was something to be left unspoken. It wasn't something to be talked about, especially because he went to such great lengths to hide it—Ingus wasn't perceptive in stuff about love, but Refia would definitely find out, and if she found out, it would only be a matter of time before everyone knew. Maybe the denseness was because Ingus loved Sara, but Luneth didn't let himself think of Sara too often. Luneth had learned that jealousy was one of the ugliest feelings he could experience.
Luneth learned a lot from loving Ingus.
And so, at the end, on a bright day that had dawned after the restoration of the balance of the world, he decided to let it go.
It was on the airship headed for home, to Ur, in Luneth and Ingus's shared room. Luneth was lounging in his bed, exhaustion still plaguing his entire being—the final battle had been no walk in the park. But, ever contrary to his fatigue, Ingus sat across the small room at his desk, back straight, undoubtedly writing some report to King Sasune. It would just be a matter of time before Ingus would finish and leave to spend more time with Sara—the princess, though bold, didn't come into their room. Arc was piloting the ship with Refia, who had announced that they'd reach home in a matter of minutes.
He could stop pretending. Something twisted painfully in his chest at this realization, but it was smaller than the overwhelming joy he felt by finally being able to stop after all this time. It was ending—he was letting it end, but somehow, it was still so satisfying to have let it go now.
He would stop loving Ingus after this, because he didn't want to. If all that there would be after this last trip home was nothing but snatches of conversation between business and Sara—no, he didn't want to. He had loved Ingus during their journey because they could die at any moment, and to love Ingus was something he wouldn't give up for death. But he could give it up for life, and for a future—and maybe someone else, even if he couldn't imagine it now.
Unabashed, Luneth stared at Ingus's back, which was less than a few feet away. The sunlight pouring in from the open window bathed his figure in a warm glow, and Luneth grinned in delight.
"I'm so tired," he complained loudly, rolling over in his bed, but it didn't sound like a complaint to either of them.
Ingus turned to look at him, a quizzical eyebrow raised, but once he saw Luneth's grin, he smiled affectionately.
Holy mother of—
Luneth felt his face flush, and almost immediately, Ingus's smile was replaced with faint, but very real concern.
"Luneth," Ingus started, "you're red."
Luneth waved a dismissive hand, but he didn't hide his face. "I just really like your smile," he said, which was the truth, even though it was so damn corny.
Ingus looked surprised, and Luneth grinned. Even Ingus wouldn't miss that big of a hint. "Take it as it is," he said. "I don't expect anything from you."
Ingus looked even more surprised—dumbfounded, it was beginning to look like. Was Ingus this dense?
"…What do you mean by that?" …Oh yes, he was.
This time, Luneth did cover his face with his hand. This was embarrassing. With a grunt, he sat up. "Has no one ever confessed to you before?" Luneth asked, hand over his rapidly glowing face. Ingus was going to make this painfully blunt, as he always did.
"…Yes, they have."
Luneth lowered his hand to raise his eyes to Ingus's. Surprisingly, Ingus's face was flushed, even though he was asking such embarrassing questions with calm. "Then why are you so surprised?"
"I never expected it from you," Ingus said.
"That makes two of us," Luneth shrugged.
Ingus remained silent after that, breaking eye contact to stare at the interestingly absorbing floor.
Well, nothing to lose now.
"I love you," Luneth said.
Across the silence, he could hear Ingus's breath hitch. What? But it hadn't been his imagination.
"I love you," Luneth repeated, as something he had never allowed to grow, hope, began to make his heart beat faster in anticipation.
Ingus's face got redder.
"I love you," Luneth said again. He would say it again and again until Ingus told him to stop, or to give it up, or anything to suggest that he didn't feel the same. Had he missed something over those months of travelling with Ingus? Was this even possible?
Slowly, Ingus raised his head to face Luneth.
"I love you," Luneth said.
Ingus didn't get nearly as red as Luneth had hoped, his composure stayed in better shape than he had thought it would, and his eyes had returned to its usual directness.
Luneth was about to repeat himself once more, but before he could, Ingus's hand had reached out and grabbed Luneth by the collar before pulling him forward into a clumsy, bruising kiss.
A second later, Ingus's hold loosened, and he said against Luneth's lips, "If this is not serious, I will kill you."
Luneth just pushed Ingus back into his chair, and resumed kissing him.
It was a short ride to Ur.