Better Late Than Never
Chapter One: A Promise Made

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Alright, so Guy's comments on how he feels it's his fault Luke turned out the way he did had me thinking...obviously, Luke wasn't disciplined too much as a kid, and obviously Guy was a bit too soft-hearted and didn't help with that. This lead me to thinking...you know, at the beginning of the game, here and there I really couldn't help but think Luke could use a spanking. I mean, really, he got scolded every now and then, but really, someone seriously needed to beat some sense into that kid.

And then I got myself thinking...once all is said and done, even when Luke's willing to change, he's got a lot of guilt, and he's still bound to mess up a lot...really, if someone disciplined him, no it wouldn't fix everything, but it would help him a bit. One idea lead to another, and well now...now we have this.

...right, now that I feel like a pervert. This fic is not meant to be sexual in any way, although there might be a bit of Guy/Luke...yeah, okay. If either Guy/Luke or spanking is really not your thing, I'd highly suggest you steer clear.

Warnings: Corporal punishment be mentioned and happening later on... and possibly Guy/Luke, or at least hinting at it. If either of those bother you, by all means, leave.

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It had started out simply enough, really. Ten-year old Luke fon Fabre had just returned from his bath, looking clean, warm, and quite pink at the cheeks in his pajamas, and of course the then fourteen-year old Guy had been charged with the task of getting the little scamp to bed.

Of course, this task was never easy, and the decently long game of "tag-you're-it-because-if-Guy-catches-me-I'll-have-to-go-to-bed" that proceeded Luke finally settling down was one Guy had long become used to. However, finally the boy seemed to have grown tired of ducking behind his curtains and weaving around furniture, and with a loud yawn the redhead unceremoniously plopped down on the floor.

Guy let out a laugh as he reached down and scooped the boy up. "Looks like someone's ready for bed." He said with a grin. At ten, Luke was still small enough that this wasn't much trouble for Guy, something that the blond couldn't help but marvel at.

Luke pouted. "No I'm not!" He exclaimed...but the yawn following these words seemed to say otherwise.

The blond chuckled. "Uh huh, sure. Come on, let's get you in bed." With that, he began to make the short journey across the rather messy room, stepping over various stuffed animals and other toys. It was childish...but Guy supposed this was one of the few perks of Luke's amnesia. While the boy's body was that of a ten-year old, his mind was far younger...and though it seemed kind of selfish, Guy preferred this to the snobby, "I don't need you but play with me anyway since you're my babysitter" air the boy had carried before his kidnapping. It was something he couldn't help but enjoy...the feeling of this tiny, innocent little life needing him like this.

Luke bore his journey to the bed in silence for a moment...then quite suddenly opened his mouth and asked the question that would turn the entire evening upside down: "Guy, what's a spanking?"

Guy paused in his walk, blinking. "Wha?" He glanced down at Luke.

"What's a spanking?" The boy repeated, blinking innocently.

"A spanking?" Guy repeated, brow furrowing.

"Yeah! I heard the maids talking about it while they were giving me my bath!" Luke said with a grin, bouncing in Guy's arms. "One of them was saying their daughter had taken something from the kitchen, and then the other one was all 'that's the third time this week!' and she was all 'I know, and you'd better believe she'll be getting a sound spanking once we're done!'"

Guy winced. "Huh. Well, that explains why Rose seemed so cross...and why her daughter didn't feel like sitting down..."

"What happened to her?" Luke asked, cocking his head to the side.

Guy scratched his head as he looked down at Luke, feeling a slight blush come to his face. How could Luke be so cute when they were discussing such an awkward subject? "Um...well, she did something bad, so..." The blond trailed off, then sighed and shook his head. "Look, don't worry about it, okay? You'll probably never experience it."

Luke huffed. "Why not!?"

"Because you..." Guy trailed off, frowning. "Just...look, it doesn't matter, alright?"

"Yes it does!" Luke pouted. "It's not fair, I want one!"

"What!?" The blond sputtered, eyes widening.

"I want a spanking!" The redhead declared, crossing his arms before him. "It's not fair that everyone else gets one and I don't!"

"Gah...Luke, you don't want to get one!" Guy cried, slapping his forehead with his free hand. He forgot...when it came to Luke not knowing anything, he really didn't know anything!

"Why not!?" Luke demanded.

"B-because...it's a punishment, alright?" The blond muttered, allowing his hand to slid down his face and flop back to his side for a moment before reaching up to support Luke's weight again.

"...A punishment?" The redhead repeated, sounding confused.

Guy sighed and scratched his head. "Yeah...like when you do something bad, so there's a consequence for it."

"Conse...conse...what?" Luke stumbled over the word.

The blond gave another sigh and set the redhead down. "Look, it's like this, alright?" He began, kneeling down at Luke's eye level. "When a kid does something that could get them hurt or say something mean or something like that...that's a bad thing, right?" Luke nodded enthusiastically. "Well, the kid's parents don't want that kid to get hurt...so they have to make sure they don't do it again, you know? So...they punish them." Luke's brow furrowed, confusion evident on his face.

"Punish?"

"Yeah...like they might take away something the kid really likes for awhile, or they might send them to their room or give them a time-out." Guy shrugged as he stood again.

Luke frowned. "That doesn't sound fun!" He said.

"'Well, no, it isn't. It isn't supposed to be, it's supposed to keep the kid from doing it again." Guy stated.

"Oh..." Luke nodded, though he was still frowning. "Then what's spanking?"

"Spanking is..." Guy trailed off for a moment, then sunk down in a nearby chair. "Well, the parent will sit like this...then they'll take the kid and lay them over their lap..." The blond gestured. "And then..."

"Then what?"

"Well...they hit their bottom. Repeatedly, until that kid is crying and is damn sorry they ever did whatever it was they did." Guy said, crossing his arms and nodding.

Luke's eyes widened. "They hit them!? That's mean!" He cried.

"No, no...it's not like that, Luke." Guy shook his head. "I mean, it sounds bad, but--"

"But it must hurt a lot!"

"Well, yeah." The blond nodded. "Of course it does...and it's not like the parent wants to hurt their kid...but, well, if they don't, the kid will never learn. Then they might go on to do even worse stuff and get really hurt, you know?"

Luke was silent for a moment, appearing thoughtful. "Nope." He finally said bluntly.

"Well...look at it this way Luke. Say a person falls in front of a horse or something like that, and someone else pulls them out of the way...but to do so they kind of have to twist the other person's arm a bit. It hurts, yeah, but if that didn't happen, something much worse would...and if you really care for someone, sometimes you have to do things like that." Guy explained.

The ten-year old frowned. "So...it's...actually a nice thing?"

Guy frowned as well. "Well...I suppose it is. You'd have to really, really love someone to be willing to do that."

His charge nodded, still appearing thoughtful. "Guy?" The boy glanced up to his babysitter again. "Did your parents ever spank you when you were little?"

Guy felt his heart twist at those words. He gazed down at those innocent green eyes, that cute little nose, the tiny mouth beneath it, so unaware of the painful words it was spewing. He stared down at that red hair, so close to the color of flames...brighter than the blooded color of the one behind Hod's demise. The face was so alike the one he hated, the one who took everything from him...he wanted nothing more than to smash it inwards, nothing more than to destroy that smile, than to take the light from those eyes forever...

"Yeah...they did..." The blond trailed off, gazing darkly as if staring at something ugly that didn't belong in the happy, colorful room. "They did..."

"Guy?"

He wanted to destroy that voice... and yet...he didn't. Something strange twisted within him, flinching at his own harsh thoughts. This boy is innocent.whispered. This boy is innocent and he needs you.

"Guy?" Luke repeated, tugging at Guy's sleeve.

Guy shook his head, forcing a smile to his face again. He would have to let those voices fight it out...but not today. "Sorry...yeah, they did spank me...only because they really loved me, though. I'm glad they did...it hurt then, but it showed they really...cared." He said, struggling to keep his voice from cracking.

"Really cared..." Luke frowned thoughtfully for another moment. "Guy?"

"Yeah?" The blond asked without really paying attention. He was lost somewhere else, a place that had vanished long before Luke could remember.

"Guy...would you spank me?"

THAT snapped Guy out of it. The blond blinked, staring at Luke with wide eyes. "What?"

"Would you spank me?" The boy asked. "No one ever...I want..." He bit his lip and blushed as he looked away.

This time Guy reallysmiled and reached down to ruffle Luke's hair. "Aww...Luke, I could never spank you. You're a good kid."

"No!" The boy shook off Guy's hand, backing up a few steps as he glared up at the blond. "I-I...I want to be cared for like you were!"

His babysitter stared down at him, blinking. "What are you talking about, Luke? I already do care for you." Guy said.

Luke shook his head again. "No!" He stomped his foot. "I want what you, what everyone else had! I want that!"

"But..." Guy trailed off, scratching his head and chuckling. "I'm not sure if you know what you're asking for, Luke."

"I do." Luke said calmly, his childish face one of determination, hands clenched into fists at his sides. "And I want you to." Big words, for such a small child...but it was clear Luke was serious.

Guy frowned. "Well..." Technically, yes, Luke's father had given Guy permission to punish Luke if he needed to...but Guy had never felt the need to. He always felt Luke deserved some slack since he was just a kid...and strangely enough, though he had once thought he would jump at the chance for this sort of thing...now, the idea of hurting the boy in any way just seemed awful.

"Please, Guy?"

The blond was silent for a moment...then finally he gave a sigh. "Fine. If you everdo anything to deserve something like...a spanking, well, I'll give it to you." He muttered.

Luke stared at him for a moment. "Promise?"

"...Promise." He doubted it would ever come to that anyway.

The redhead beamed and clapped his hands. "Yay! Guy really cares about me!" He cheered, running around in circles.

Guy chuckled and shook his head. "You sure are a weird kid..."

"Am not!" Luke shot back, pausing in his running to stick out his tongue.

The blond laughed, putting his hands on his hips. "Whatever you say, Master. Now then...I think it's about time you got to bed, you've dilly-dallyed long enough."

Luke blinked. "Bed?" He repeated, looking confused. Clearly, he had already forgotten.

"That's right." Guy nodded and walked over to Luke, ushering him in the right direction. "Time for bed, buddy."

"Awwww!" Luke pouted, digging his heels into the carpeted floor. "But I wanted to stay up!"

"After you were so tired just a bit ago? I think not!" Guy laughed, giving Luke a gentle push. "Come on, into bed with you."

"But I don't wanna!" Luke whined, his lower lip jutting out as he fought against Guy's insistent hand on his back.

"Hey, hey, no fighting!" Guy said, though his eyes were twinkling. "You know what happens to kids like that?"

"What?" Luke huffed even as he struggled.

"They getspanked!" At this the blond gave the boy a light swat on the seat of his pants, not enough to hurt in the least. It was enough to propel the boy forward with a light yelp, however, followed by a giggle. "Yeah, that's right, you little monster! Get in bed!" Guy said with a grin, pointing to the bed. "Unless you want some more."

"No, nooooo!" Luke cried through fits of giggles. His tiny feet pattered across the floor and he leaped onto the bed, still laughing. "I'm in bed, see?"

"I can see that." Guy said with a grin, walking over and pulling back the covers so Luke could snuggle beneath them. "Good boy." He murmured. "Now how about a story, since you seem pretty darn awake?"

"Yaaay!"

Several storybooks later, Luke was finally fast asleep, his face the sort that would make angels jealous. Guy gave a sigh as he closed the book and slid it back on the shelf, his eyes never straying from his charge. "You'd never guess he was such a rascal when he was awake..." The blond muttered, standing and stretching. He paused to gaze down at Luke for a moment, then reached out to stroke the boy's hair, crimson locks twisting through calloused fingers.

"...I already care for you more than I should...I don't think I could bring myself to take that smile from you." The blond murmured, his expression sad. With that, he turned and left the room.

Guy assumed that would be the end of it. Luke's attention didn't stay on one subject very long, and the promise was never discussed again...

...Maybe that had been the problem.

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To Be Continued...

Not sure if I should continue this or not...anyone interested?