There was Luneth and then there was me, always the best friend to the most handsome and brave warrior hero and nothing else.
Compared to the heroic Luneth, I confess myself to be rather plain, an ordinary simpleton. As if have been told many a time that I am naturally shy and intelligent boy and as a result of this I suffered my fair share of teasing in my younger years from the other children, mainly because of my more feminine features, passive spirit and lack of proper parents. All of them remembered that Nina, my adoptive mother was barren as well as I did. Worst of all, Nina would laugh off my claims of bullying and never gave them any real merit, regarding them only as a bid for attention. Nina was never a cruel woman, by any regards she was among the kindest I've ever known but she did suffer from a naivety when it came to such matters as the blunt cruelty of children, choosing instead to believe the best of human nature.
In this time Luneth was my rock, believing me when no one else did, having seen the problem first hand time and time again. True the other boy was my foster brother and friend but it still always had surprised me when he chose my side over that of the more popular and better suited to be his friend boys in our village. None of those boys dared tease Luneth about his equally inadequate parentage; he was too handsome, too popular and well-idolized. He charmed all he met and this same violet-eyed boy with not a fear or unfulfilled want in the world- protected him, above all.
Even now compared to everyone's favourite ethereal warrior I am plain looking. How could my own drab yet soft ordinary hair the same brown all the way through compare to his looks. Even my slightly unusual honey-golden eyes never made me the one to stick out in a crowd. Women have never paid me much mind- not next to Luneth anyway.
The man has an aura that surrounds him so that you can and always will be able to pick him from the crowd. His visage was always more enticing, ensnaring than my own. His silvery hair had such a colouring that it seemed to slip through the light from white to silver to a luscious grey with no effort at all as it elegantly framed his face, a few strands always daring to fall in his hypnotizing eyes. His eyes had to be his most dominant and drawing feature, they were that startling shade of vibrant violet and were filled with such a mix of wit, daring, and curiosity that it made everyone and anyone stop in their tracks; whether they be King or Commander, Knight or Demon. They still make me stop in my tracks and I've known the silver haired man since we were both babes. Especially when he shoots me that piercing searching look that makes me feel as if my very soul in all its entirety was being searched; not a single though or emotion escaping the same study. It scares me a lot because Luneth is the last person I want to see my emotions… the very last.
He also never ceases to puzzle me with than one emotion that saturates that look, it's the one emotion I can never place and has always accompanies a look of curiosity; and that it is always directed at me.
As a result of Luneth's casually dashing good looks women were drawn to him like bees to honey- showering with affection, while I watched on seeing what I could never have. Princess Sara, the Priestess Aria and even their fellow Warrior of the Light, Refia, had at one point doted on him. Refia did so of course before she realized the silver-haired hero was not interested, and before she met the comedic but lovable Desch.
Luneth as his name implied was a child of the moon and stars, all silvery and darkly enigmatic… of the night. Yet I have always been the exact opposite, warm colours and a more homely outlook- a child of the sun and of the day. Even our skins were opposites, his pearly white juxtaposed against my light tan whenever he brushed past.
If you were to presume because of al these reasons I would be insanely jealous of my friend, you would be sadly mistaken.
It would be so much easier if I was jealous of him, it would make my world so much less complicated.
Because I am, so to say, hopelessly in love with his every feature, hopelessly in love with Luneth, the most perfect man in all creation.
And with all those beautiful women in his life pleading for his affections there is no way he could pick me, his ordinary plain male best friend.
I could never ever tell him the truth because everything would break my life which he upholds, without him. The last Warrior of the Light would be alone, because all the admirers of their bravery would ultimately side with Luneth over me. So I grin and bear it and watch him go about his life in encouraging silence.
I sigh gently into the breeze that sweeps before my gaze at the room in which I am staying in Castle Sasune. We stop here mainly so that Ingus, who complains often about his separation from his beloved Princess Sara, can see her for longer than a few moments. Its autumn now, the season of my birth and the hues of the colourful leaves that once covered the bare trees, dance upon the warm wind as it ruffles the loose shirt I wear almost teasingly.
Everything is quiet until a warm pair of arms clasp around my waist another warm body pulling me close…. I crane my neck to see my attacker…
"Oh, it's only you Luneth, and what pray tell are you doing?"
I could feel his smile dancing his lips just behind my head as he leaned towards my ear. I could feel his wiry muscles shift as he moved and the tickle of his silky hair on the back of my neck, tense as it was. He was too close, and my self control was failing, O how I longed to reach out and touch it. I was painfully aware of my position which bordered on non-platonic and touching him as I wished would immediately set off alarm bells in any straight man's head.
"Something I should have done a long time ago" his soft almost husky whisper was the last thing I had expected and I turned to face him with a look I hoped was innocently puzzled. He however did not relinquish his grip on my waist.
He laughed softly and raised one of his long fingered hands to gently bury it in my hair drawing me ever closer. This set off alarm bells in my head, not the straight man alarm bells, I doubted I had ever had those, but the hopeful bells that chimed that maybe he had feelings for me too. I chided the sills bells for their wistfulness, in my dreams maybe. Whatever Luneth had planned I knew I wouldn't be able to resist if I wanted to, the mere heat of his presence had already made my heart stop and my legs go weak at the knees.
I was reminded of a rag doll as he deafly pushed me down onto the bed pulling himself down with me so his silvery face hovered in within my sight, his violet eyes gleaming with fierce possessiveness and curiosity as he examined every inch of me that his eyes could reach. And there was that emotion again that one that darted across his eyes unrefined as he gazed upon me.
"I never told you" he whispered and I suddenly felt a shiver race at the closeness f our bodies his delicate nose only inches from mine. In the warm night his even warmer breath was entirely unpleasant rather like a hot shower is enjoyable even on the warmest of days. "How beautiful you are"
Of all things…. That was the last I expected him to say.
"W-W-What?" I hear myself stammer as the words caught in my dry throat. Please let this not be a dream… not this time. None of my other dreams of this moment had been so vivid so alive and so clear. I could have never anticipated the dashing of freckles on his nose that I never knew existed or the flecks of dark blue in the violet of his eyes- both of which my mind could have never created on its own.
"I was afraid to scare you away. You've always been so shy. But I've wanted for so long"
My brain was in overload and the only thing its shell-shocked consciousness was able to compute enough to say was "Why me? Why of all the people me?"
Luneth laughed "You are an angel. You may not realize this but you are everything I've ever wanted, kind, intelligent and above all beautiful"
"But I'm so-so ordinary and you, your special like some sort of heavenly being"
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and to me, well, you've always been the most beautiful creature to grace this earth"
The kiss I received next I am sure I will remember for all time. As his lips sealed mine it felt like liquid fire erupted where the skin met, such energy and life and longing all shown in that single action. As I reciprocated, I felt him sigh in relief as if a great burden had been lifted off his chest. Just moments later I had everything I had ever wanted, lying there in his arms, having sweet nothing whispered into my ears.
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From a distance you can see the candle go out in Arc's room which is visible from the castle garden below. The only signs of life now are the muffled sounds of activity that signified the boy's veiled passion.
Two figures distantly move out from the garden purposely looking for the best vantage point to see said window. Their ears are greeted with a muffled moan that echoes out of the stone window, so carelessly left open. Refia giggled "I see Luneth has finally decided to do something about Arc"
Her companion and lover Desch smirked "It's about time too. Tonight was his deadline; I didn't want to have to intervene" Refia hit him playfully on the arm
"What deadline?"
"He lost to me sparring" Desch said proudly puffing up his chest "So I told him he had to confess to Arc by the end of the week or…I'd tell him myself. I then continued to remind him how unromantic and impersonal such a way of discovery I would make it"
"You're evil"
"But you love me" he shot her a winning smile
Refia sighed in defeat and pushed one of her orange bangs back behind an ear "You know I do" She glanced up again at the window "Do you think Arc will want this?"
"Judging by those longing looks he gives our hero, I'd say he wants it as much as Luneth if not more" the teal haired man replied "He was less likely to admit it though"
"What are you two talking about?" Ingus butted in rudely coming up from behind the duo with a yawn "A midnight rendezvous?"
Refia's reply was crisp "Luneth is finally making his move on Arc"
"It's about time" Ingus huffed haughtily "All that sexual tension was starting to annoy me" he drawled.
Refia sighed but Desch, who had never made a secret of his dislike for the blond soldier took a more proactive rebut "Go and snog your princess, prissy boy"
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I realize now what I never subbed into the equation of Luneth and I was Luneth's insatiable curiosity and perchance for getting his own way. And those of all facts ultimately lead to my demise into bliss where he was concerned.
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Authoress' note: This is my first FFIII fanfic so be nice.
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