(This is for my fellow writers-and you know who you are-who want a good Auryuna! As Yuna's really little it's just sort of setting the scene for future romance. Tell me if you like it!)
"Hey Braska! Over here!"
The 28 year old Summoner looked around the dining room of Bevelle Temple for the source of the voice, and found it in a dark skinned man with long brown hair who was waving him over. 3 years Braska's senior, Jecht was his second and newest guardian.
"Where's whatshisname, Auron?" Jecht asked as Braska joined him at the small table. "I thought you were saying goodnight to little Yuna."
Braska smiled. "Yuna wanted Auron to put her to bed tonight," he said, in his naturally soft spoken voice that made him difficult to hear over the din of conversation and the clatter of knives and forks. "He's reading her a bedtime story now, and he'll join us when he's done."
Jecht snorted. "That guy? Reading bedtime stories? Somehow I find that hard to believe."
Braska chuckled softly. "I've known Auron since before Yuna was born, before I even got married," he said. "He's been like a second father to Yuna. She's grown very fond of him."
Jecht snorted again. "Obviously," he said with a laugh.
Braska frowned. "Jecht…"
"What?" Jecht asked, eyes wide with feigned innocence. "It's not bad or anything. All the kids go through the phase at some point. My boy's got passing daydreams about the twenty-something girl next door. Heck, I used to have a crush on my Mother's best friend. It happens."
Braska let out a very Auron-like "Hmph," and focused his gaze on the table, but his amused grin (contradicted by his ever-serious and resolved eyes) was easy to see.
"Speak of the devil! Here he comes now." Braska looked up to find Auron striding across the room towards them.
He looks… strange. It took Braska a moment to figure out what exactly was bothering his best friend. Auron looked shaken, stunned, like somebody had caught him off guard with a question that he had no idea how to answer. For the usually composed and immaculate Auron, that was very unusual.
Auron sat down but didn't speak. After several moments, Braska broke the silence.
"Auron? Is something wrong?"
Auron shook his head and seemed to come out of a deep reverie. "No, nothing's wrong," he said. "Yuna just said something very strange just now."
"What exactly do you mean by 'strange'?" Jecht asked him curiously.
"I think… she had a premonition," Auron said finally. "Only it's impossible."
A premonition? Yuna? It was possible, of course. Every once in a long while, a person received a glance of the future that was undeniably real. Rumor went that they were messages or warnings sent by the Fayth. Almost without exception, they only came to Summoners and Apprentice Summoners. Braska had received one before, just recently. It had compelled him to pick Jecht as a guardian over Auron's objections. For some reason, the higher powers had wanted Jecht to be on Braska's pilgrimage. The Fayth must want Yuna to know or do something as well.
"What's impossible?" Braska enquired eventually. "The fact that she saw the future, or what she predicted?"
"Both," was Auron's reply. "She's only seven. She's not even an Apprentice Summoner. And yet…" he lapsed into silent contemplation.
"And yet what? Tell us!" Jecht said impatiently. Auron glared at him for a moment and, speaking primarily to Braska, recounted the story.
(20 minutes prior…)
"Please?" the little girl asked, looking at her father and his guardian with the sort of adorable gaze that only children possess.
Well… we are leaving tomorrow… Auron could feel himself giving in to those irresistible mismatched irises. He turned to his Summoner and silently asked his opinion.
"Go on ahead," Braska said, giving his 25 year old friend a smile. He then crossed the room to Yuna's bed and hugged his daughter tightly.
"Goodnight Yuna," he said gently. "I'll wake you to say goodbye before we leave tomorrow." He then straightened and walked back past Auron, giving him a small storybook that had been in his hand as he went.
"I'll be in the dining room with Jecht," he said. With a small smile, Braska left the room, shutting the door softly behind him. Yuna sat up in bed and beamed at Auron, and when he sat down on the edge of the bed the girl crawled into his lap and proceeded to sit and make herself comfortable while he read one of her favorite stories—Chocobo Little.
"Now that Chocobo Little finally knew the sky wasn't falling, he and his friends were able to go back home and they lived happily ever after—The End." Auron put the book down and gently dislodged Yuna from his lap. The little girl obediently got back into bed and Auron pulled the covers over her.
"Goodnight Yuna," he said. For a long moment, she didn't reply. Her eyes had a glazed look; she seemed to be staring into space. Then abruptly she shook her head and smiled.
"Sir Auron?" she asked.
"Yes?"
"Do you love me?"
Auron blinked at the unexpected question. "Of course," he said after a moment, puzzled at the little girl's behavior.
"That's good," Yuna said with a smile. "Because we're going to get married someday."
What? Where in Spira did she get that from? "What makes you say that?" he asked eventually.
"I just know," she said serenely. "When I'm all grownup we're going to get married. I saw it."
Auron just stared, completely flabbergasted. What she was describing—and Yuna wasn't the sort of girl to just make up something like this—sounded exactly like a premonition. But she was just a little girl. She wasn't a Summoner or even an Apprentice Summoner. And the very idea of them getting married—he was 18 years older than her. Sure he loved her, but she was practically his daughter. It was impossible—or so he thought.
"Go to sleep," he said after a while. "You need your rest." Yuna nodded and smiled happily, seemingly already having forgotten her vision. Auron blew out her lamp and turned to leave. At the doorway, he stopped and turned.
"Goodnight Yuna," he said.
"'Night Sir Auron," she replied. Auron left the room, closing the door gently behind him.
"Wow," Jecht said eventually.
"I didn't know what to say to her," Auron said. "She seemed so serious."
"That's probably because she was," Braska said eventually. "The Fayth do strange things. I think that if they mean something to occur, they will see to it and nobody will be able to prevent it from happening. Have you ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy?"
"Yes," Auron said promptly. "You try to avoid what you know will be your future and in the process that's how you make it come true. I know." Then he sighed. "You're right. I won't worry about it."
Braska stood up and stretched. "Well then," he said. "We should get to bed as well. We have a long day ahead of us." Auron nodded and Jecht shrugged, and the 3 men left the room.
The next morning, the sun rose upon Jecht and Auron standing patiently in the corridor as they gave Braska privacy to be with his daughter for the last time. When he emerged, eyes brighter than usual but otherwise perfectly composed, he nodded to them.
"Yuna wants to say goodbye to you," he said. "I don't know how she managed to do it, but she's got something for both of you."
Auron looked at Jecht; Jecht shrugged and went back down the hallway to Yuna's room. When he emerged a few minutes later, he was spinning a blitzball on one finger.
"She's a good kid," Jecht said gruffly. After a moment, Auron took the same route Jecht had and walked into the small room to find a remarkably composed Yuna. He might have expected her to be crying, but she seemed to be trying to do her best to remain calm.
"Sir Auron!" she exclaimed. "I got a present for you." She jumped off her bed and reached into the pocket of her dressing gown, drawing out a small round disc or coin on a chain.
"It's an Al Bhed vneahtcreb (friendship) coin," she said. Looking closer, Auron could see that hanging from the chain was a gold medallion slightly smaller than his palm. "Mommy gave it to me, but it's for you now. I put your name on it too. Look!" He turned it over, and saw that his name had been clumsily scratched into the metal on one side. "It's good luck," she continued. "It'll keep you safe on the pilgrimage."
The importance and sincerity behind Yuna's gift touched Auron deeply. "Thank you," he said eventually. He slipped the chain over his head and tucked the medallion inside his black shirt out of sight. "I'll keep it safe for you."
Yuna cocked her head to one side. "Promise?" she asked.
Auron smiled. She is so adorable. "You have my word," he said.
She smiled then and hugged him. "Bye, Sir Auron," she said, her words muffled into his red jacket. After a few moments, Auron gingerly detached her from him and stepped back to the door. When he got there, he turned back.
Yuna was giving him a sad sort of half smile. She didn't say anything, but Auron could see it all in her eyes. They burned with the same intensity, sincerity, and resolve that Braska's did. Given that she had just experienced a premonition, Auron was pretty sure she would follow in Braska's footsteps and become a Summoner. Yuna and her premonition was an unanswered question that Auron was leaving behind here in Bevelle. But one day he knew he'd return. He'd come back to answer it.
"Goodbye, Yuna," he told her softly. "I will return someday to take care of you. I promise."