Gooseflesh

Lulu blinked, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Damnit. It's still night. The closer they got to Zanarkand the more restless her sleep became, the same for everyone else- though perhaps not so completely. She looked over to the horizon to see that the sun had only just set; she couldn't have had more than two hours of sleep.

With a soft sigh she let her eyes drift around the campsite. It was cold, too cold. Lulu could feel her skin erupt with gooseflesh as she shifted in the snow. She didn't see how Kimahri could be content to live in such a place and all she could think of at that moment was how much she wanted his fluffy blue coat.

Lulu felt herself jump in surprise as Rikku let out a slightly feverish groan; some hidden motherly instinct forced her to lean over a put a hand to the younger girl's forehead. Unguarded by her usual stoic fearlessness, she jumped again a deep chuckle sounded from behind her.

'Die, Wakka,' she said instinctively, moving her hand from Rikku's head and turning to face him with an irritated mix of sadness and extreme annoyance crossing over her pretty face.

Wakka grinned sheepishly, 'sorry, Lu, but dat was kinda sweet, ya? Like a little mother,' he chuckled again but his face fell in a way that was almost comical under the harsh glare that ensued his teasing. 'Hey, I'm just teasing, ya! Don't be mad!'

Lulu nodded, her eyes suddenly tired. Even in the darkness of the night Wakka could see the sadness in her eyes and his heart twisted painfully.

'Lu?'

'What?' Lulu turned her eyes on him again as he moved to her side and put an arm around her shoulders. She immediately shied away from the touch.

Wakka gave another small chuckle and Lulu glared at him, still trying to move out of his grasp but slower now and less sure that it was what she wanted to do.

Eventually she sank into his arms with a soft sigh.

Wakka gave her a surprised look, which she missed, watching the ground as intently as if she could actually see something there, and he let his other arm come around to encircle her.

A soft hmph was her only objection.

'Heh, you're freezing, Lu,' said Wakka, grinning in amusement.

'You're just too fat to feel the cold,' teased Lulu, almost smilingly, as she poked him in the belly.

To her horror, her finger came into contact with hard muscle that made her mouth run dry and her face go embarrassingly red. She looked down again to hide her blush.

'Too fat am I?' said Wakka, making to tickle her but pausing upon feeling how very skinny she was- her bones so frail that it seemed that his slight touch ought to have broken them.

Lulu shrank away slightly but her few minutes of almost-warmth in his arms had left her unprepared for the sudden cold wind that blew over them a few moments later, bringing small but painfully cold snowflakes in its wake.

Lulu found herself unable to protest as his somehow warm hands ran over her bare shoulders in an attempt to warm them. She knew he was dressed even less warmly than her but wasn't prepared to complain at the warmth, on the contrary she thanked it- or maybe she thanked him.

'Thank you…' she said softly, to either him or the warmth- whichever was listening, she supposed.

Wakka pulled her into his lap soundlessly and clasped his hands around her front.

As the darkness hit her anew, Lulu looked up from her hands, folded neatly in her lap, and brought her eyes to look straight ahead, 'why are you still awake anyway?' she asked, truly curious.

'Why are you?' asked Wakka, his breath warm against her neck.

Lulu could not reply- for one reason she feared her answer would make her appear weak in his eyes and for another, she found herself unable to do so much as breath with him so close as he was.

Lulu shrugged and his arms moved from around her shoulders to her waist as she fiddled with the cold snow.

Suddenly embarrassed, Wakka looked around for something to fiddle with, himself, but found only the edge of the dress he had always secretly admired. With its forty odd intertwining, overlapping, interlacing, overlying belts and delicate patterns it was a work of art in itself, though he could not help but notice how much better it looked on her than it would lying by itself in the snow… or how much better she would without it.

Wakka fought the blush from his cheeks and succeeded in driving it away, unlike Lulu, whose head was turned away in a vain attempt to hide it. He touched her cheek lightly, causing it to go even redder, 'you're not cold anymore, huh? You're burning hot- feeling sick or something?'

Lulu shook her head violently and Wakka let his hand fall back to a fold in her dress, though he could no longer keep his eyes on it- intent, as they were, on watching the vague outline of her face.

Lulu's eyes fluttered shut but she forced them to open again- despite that she felt she could almost fall asleep now in his arms… it was then she realised she had never been this close anyone before- no one but her mother- and cursed Wakka's ability to distract her.

Pulling away slightly, she felt Wakka's arms move to bind her to him and try as she might, she could not move. Now as one hand drifted over her bare shoulder, his other around her waist to hold her in his lap, she did not think so much about how warm it was but how cold she should be and how very bare her shoulder was. Gooseflesh sprang up over her skin again, not from the cold but from his touch and she tried desperately to distract herself.

Noting her discomfort, Wakka let his arms fall from around her for a moment- when he saw that she was hesitant to move, he let them come back around her. His lips moved to the side of her neck, leading a soft trail of kisses from her collarbone to where they halted a moment at her chin.

There was no hope for distraction now and Lulu had to fight every instinct and sense, which after so many years of leading her straight now urged her to turn her head and kiss him.

Fervently, passionately, lovingly.

She damned those thoughts silently but as Wakka's mouth hovered by her chin she could no more think of damning than she could of any other horrible entity- for though she loathed to admit it, Lulu could not see how this could be any manner of bad thing.

Damn, Damn, Damn, her thoughts called to her. But as anyone who had ever been so very much in love would know, thoughts are probably the hardest things to have at such a time- save for good judgement, of course.

Wakka's thoughts, too, were blurred. He tried to keep Lulu's expression in mind- did she want this?

A long moment passed in which a silent battle between Lulu's good judgement and her feelings raged- all the while her face remained impassive. Feelings won out- though her judgement made her slow in her movements as she brushed away the hair that covered her left eye.

Wakka's eyes bore into her own, glowing crimson in the darkness- though her left one was decidedly brighter and almost jovial in its expression. He soon realised, however, that it was not only her eye that was glowing but all of her, shimmering with an entity of trust, affection and –dare he think?- Love.

She turned slightly in his lap, her knee digging almost painfully into his thigh- though there was nothing in the world that could possibly cause him to care about that now.

With a feverish temerity that Lulu didn't know she possessed, the black mage lifted herself a little higher to find his lips. At her kiss, Wakka felt his heart skip a beat, something he had once thought to be a figure of speech, and he too gained a sudden burst of audacity- pressing his lips harder against hers, his arms tight around her.

Lulu couldn't breath and not just because of his mouth on hers either, or how tightly he held her. Even if she had been back home on Besaid, thinking of this moment- as she would many times in the years that followed- she knew that even then she would be breathless. Because this was where it began- the happiness that would bring her the only family she had ever truly known. A family she would not be afraid to shed tears for.

Lulu opened her mouth slightly and Wakka's tongue darted in. She almost cried…such a feeling of happiness she couldn't possibly describe.

Rikku, awoken a long time ago by Lulu's hand on her head, gawped in the background, though even if they had seen her they probably wouldn't have stopped- for at that moment there was no embarrassment and no passion could remain hidden. Years of unspoken truths flooded out in the form of a hungry kiss that left them breathless.

Rikku shut her eyes tight as she saw the dim figures of her friends break apart, wanting to hear everything that was spoken and afraid they would see she was awake… not that much could be seen in the darkness and for certes the thoughts of the pair were far from their Al Bhed friend.

Lulu tried to say something- anything but it was all she could do to remember to breath, 'oh Yevon…' she whispered eventually, her breathing still laboured and taken in short gasps.

Wakka, chin resting on her head, also searched for something could say but it seemed that all had been said, 'oh Yevon is right,' he said, his hands tangled in her hair.

'Ow!' choked Lulu softly, though she didn't really mind, 'Wakka, stop pulling!'

Wakka gave a cheeky tug on the end of a braid and Lulu gave him a sceptical look, which he mocked with a soft chuckle.

When all became pitch black half an hour later and Wakka could no longer see the woman in his arms, it was suggested by one or the other that they go to sleep.

'Come on,' said the same, though neither knew which of them was speaking.

Eventually Wakka gave an invisible nod and took her hand, pulling her next to him as he lay down. Lulu rested her head on his chest to keep the side of her face from the cold snow beneath them and let herself be warmed by his strong arms around her.

They were slow to fall to sleep, each thinking just how wonderful they felt and having thoughts that they both knew they shouldn't be having… all the same, Lulu soon felt Wakka's heart slow and his breathing lessen and by that knew he, at least, must have reached the shores of sleep.

Anxious for some reason, most likely feeling Rikku's gaze on her in the darkness, Lulu lay restless a few moments more before drifting into the first good sleep she'd had in weeks- made all the more perfect by him at her side.