Moments in Time by Mydnyte Houre

This will be an 18-part (as of now) series of short scenes involving Auron and Lulu. Given the pairing, it's obviously AU, and it's really only the characters that tie in with the actual gameplay. Most of the scenes will be based heavily on emotion and thought, not dialogue, but they're not entirely abstract. The plot will rarely match up with actual events of the game, but events and settings are unnecessary for what I hope to convey.

Here's the fun part: I'm a songwriter, and I'm going to use one of my original songs as the basis for each chapter. I'll make a selection of the lyrics available at the end of each, but the full songs are available on my FictionPress page (Red Rose Drowning). They merely provide a general focus for the elements of each scene. The chapters will alternate between Lulu's and Auron's POVs, but all will be in third person.

The rating is officially 'T,' for mild language and some sexual themes. One chapter will likely be rated 'M,' but I will give you plenty of warning and the plot will still make sense if you choose to skip that scene. Finally, I promise I won't have another big note like this until said chapter.

All characters and related events, descriptions, etc. are the property of Final Fantasy, but it should go without saying that all lyrics are mine and may not be used without permission.

Beautiful Boy

Captivation.

It was a feeling that caught her by surprise. Even in her youth, she had only experienced attraction, temptation at best. Chappu had charmed her, but she had never felt the inexplicable magnetism towards him that this man seemed to wield as effortlessly as the sword on his shoulder. He fascinated her beyond words, with a force that seemed to bore a path through her eyes into the depths of her soul. Her chest was flooded with infatuation, drowning every heartbeat with a stronger pulse that threatened to overwhelm her. Anyone who cared to look at her would have seen it in an instant, but all eyes were fastened on him.

He had happened upon them by chance, it seemed, but Lulu had ceased to trust in the accidental nature of fate. She felt awed by his presence, overcome by a rare moment of intimidation. His face was carved of stone, his flesh marred by the crevices and scars of a thousand battles. It was his eyes that drew her gaze. Hidden behind glasses that revealed only her own reflection, they seemed to defy reality; they held every colour and yet none, they roved over the scene and yet stood frozen. The right eye was forced shut, slit by a hard grey line of scar tissue that slashed down past the high collar that concealed his cheek.

He seemed so impenetrable. His entire being was a mask of cryptic words and inscrutable sighs. Lulu suddenly felt that her position of the cold, emotionless guardian was being usurped, but she was powerless against that most legendary of legends. Auron was a fortress, protected from within by quiet fury and guarded on the surface by his scathing blade. She wanted to pry into the recesses of his consciousness. She wanted to shroud herself in his past, entangle herself within the smoky lines of his memory, and fade into the darkest corners of his memory.

Lulu slipped away to the back of the group, fearful that her emotions might escape the cage she had spent years building. Her fascination with Auron seemed to stretch through the air to where he stood, and as she glanced over her shoulder, his eye fastened on her. One enigmatic orb slid into place as though it had locked into some secret keyhole in her spirit that she had never been aware of. Amethyst lips parted and closed again. She did not move. She could not breathe. Her heart seemed to leap into her throat and pause there, letting her pulse shudder to a halt as her veins ceased to flow. His gaze held her in his grip, and she suddenly realized that he was breathtakingly beautiful.

Sir Auron. It is truly an honour.

Please, I wish no honour. I only wish to fulfill my promise to Braska.

But he was isolated, an island of strength that refused to be infiltrated. She had no hope of captivating him the same way he had captivated her.

"Beautiful boy
Tell me your name
I'm in love
Oh yeah
With a boy I just met on the street
In the dark
Oh yeah, oh yeah

Where are you going?
Beautiful boy,
Where are you going?

Where are you now?
Beautiful boy,
What are you doing tonight?"