Whole years are lost in the blink of an eye,
We once had it all but events conspired,
Oh sometimes…
Sometimes - Ash
Tidus snickered as Rikku clung on to Kimahri, yelping with each prong of lightning that struck the ground. Yuna looked over to the young blitzer, smiling apologetically for her cousin's antics. He shrugged off her reparations with a wave of the hand, thinking them unnecessary. The young summoner grinned as Tidus tipped a nod to Auron who was watching the Al Bhed with mounting frustration.
"Rikku, you need to pick up the pace or we're never going to get across. The slower you go, the longer we'll be here."
"But I'm scared! I know we have to go across and I know we'd be out quicker if I hurried but I just can't! There's a travel agency coming up soon, can we stop there? Please?" Rikku whimpered, a small scream bubbling up in her throat as a bolt missed her by inches.
Stoical as ever, Auron replied. "No."
The young girls spiralling eyes widened in horror. "Auron, please! Meanie!" She covered her ears as the thunder rumbled ominously overhead. "I wanna go home! I hate lightning! I hate thunder! Let's go rest over there! Please?"
Auron sighed, rubbing at his temples. "This storm never stops. Better to cross quickly."
"I know but…just for a little while?"
The older Guardian looked at her over the top of his glasses. "You wish to further delay Yuna's pilgrimage?"
Tidus rubbed at the back of his head. "Heh, well? What now?"
The Al Bhed began to plead to anyone who cared to listen. "Pretty please? Just a few minutes? I'm scared of lightning! Let's rest, please? Pretty please? I'm too young to die!"
Auron ignored the girl as best he could, but still she continued to wail. "You're mean...cruel! Your moms would be ashamed of you! Are you having fun doing this to me?"
Yuna broke first, cutting in tentatively. "Sir Auron, I, I am quite tired. May we rest, if only for a few hours?"
The sarcasm bit into his thoughts. Ah, the joys of guarding a young summoner… "Fine. If that is what you wish, we rest. Tidus, go on ahead to the inn and secure us lodgings." He gestured to Rikku. "She's worse than the storm."
The blond saluted him, earning laughter from the group minus Auron and ran ahead. He squinted against the driving rain, dodging fiends and lightning alike as he dashed to the agency. It came into sight as he rounded a corner and he sighed in relief, the joy short lived as electricity coursed through his body. He grumbled and entered the inn, rubbing at his blackened face. The woman behind the counter looked familiar, though he couldn't quite place her face as he returned her grin.
"Hi!"
"Hey yourself. Get a bit of a jolt I take it?" She gestured to his frazzled appearance and they laughed together easily.
He scratched his head; "You could say that. Uh, do you have any rooms for the night? It's for a summoner and her Guardians."
The mention of a pilgrimage usually brought with it special rates and exceptions. Her eyes sparkled merrily as she smiled at him, opening the reservation book. "One of those, eh? Ok, let's see what I can do…how many are in the party?"
"Um…well, there's the summoner of course, me…" He mentally counted before pronouncing triumphantly, "Seven! There's seven of us."
She frowned slightly. "That…could be a problem. We only have three twin rooms, you see? I suppose I could let one of you share with me, but only for tonight. How does that sound?"
He winked at her, turning on his charm. "That's great! Thanks uh…"
"Lesca."
He offered his hand which she duly shook, trying hard to keep a straight face. "Pleased to meet ya, Lesca. I'm Tidus."
Could it be…? Lesca raised an eyebrow. "Tidus? Interesting. Well, gimme two minutes and I'll get your keys, ok?"
"Sure."
Lesca bent over, the tiny skirt she was wearing riding higher and higher to expose more taught flesh. The blond boy gulped, smirking as he ogled the sight. His viewing pleasure was cut short by a slap to the back of his head. Tidus turned to see Auron glaring at him and smiled weakly as he rubbed the back of his head, cursing the older man in his mind for walking in on his titillation.
Lesca straightened up with a bright smile, the grin quickly turning to shock as she noticed the red robed man standing beside the blitzer.
Her throat became dry as she stammered out her words. "A, Auron?" It, it can't be!
Tidus turned to see the same stunned look reflected in Auron's eye. "Lesca?" Please let this be real…
Kimahri walked in, a jittery Rikku still hiding behind the blue mountain as Auron and Lesca continued to stare at each other in disbelief. Lesca shook her head slightly as the surprise mellowed, anger taking her firmly in its grasp. She turned to the Ronso and narrowed her eyes. "You, oui meyn!"
She turned on her heel, trying desperately to escape the situation before the tears began to fall. Auron's heart leapt as he caught her arm, noticing she still wore his ring. He whirled her to face him. "Lesca, wait! I,"
The sentence was cut short as her fist connected neatly with his jaw, the sound of bone on bone sickening the others present. The grip weakened and she shook her arm free, hissing as she left. "Pycdynt!"
Auron stumbled backwards nursing his jaw, dazed from the blow and the meeting that had just occurred. Tidus caught him, sitting the Guardian gently on the floor before turning to face the cowering Rikku behind Kimahri.
"Jeez! Did you see that?"
She shook her head, blond wisps of hair bobbing about her face. "Nuh uh. I was behind this big lug. I did hear it all though…"
Tidus leaned in closer, eager to know what had been said. "And?"
Rikku looked nervously at Auron before deciding it was safe to tell the older boy. "Well, she called Kimahri a liar and as for Auron…"
"Yeah?"
The Al Bhed blushed and stifled her giggles. "She called him a bastard!"
The lad raised an eyebrow as he walked over to the prone man, punching his shoulder lightly. "Jeez, Auron! What the hell did you and Kimahri do to her? She's pretty pissed…"
His reward was a glower from below knotted eyebrows. "It's none of your business. Take Yuna and the others to their rooms when they arrive; I have something I need to attend to."
"Oh yeah?"
The older man growled, cutting short any other questions that may have been planned as he strode through to the room Lesca had exited to.
~*~*~
Bastard! Fucking bastard! I can't believe him! He said he loved me, he said he wanted us to be together!
She paced frantically, her thoughts fevered and irrational. The other Al Bhed watched her fearfully, not knowing what else to do. They knew better than to get in the way when she was in such a mood. She stopped and glared at the door before beginning the striding anew. "Go deal with that summoner's party. She'll need her rest with that bastard guarding her!" She barked. One of the women slunk dutifully away as Lesca continued to rave internally.
Liar. He got the Ronso to lie for him because he's too chocobo shit to come back and face me like a man. Asshole. The thoughts were vehemently acidic and she made obscene gestures to the room where her husband stood. Hot tears of anger and sorrow coursed down her flushed cheeks, the salt water unnoticed as she continued her internal rant.
I thought about him, mourned him, loved him every day for ten fucking years! I fell to pieces thinking he was a damn fiend! I raised his son! Damn you Auron! Bastard!
The door opened and a flash of red entered. The other workers rushed to the man, trying to push him back. "Sir, please! Staff only in here."
"Leave us. Now." Lesca felt an involuntary shiver run it's fingers up her spine at the sound of his voice. Roughened and gravelled with age, but still the voice that had the power to reduce her to a quivering mass on the floor. The other women looked at each other nervously as they took in the sight of the legendary Guardian of Lord Braska before doing as he asked.
Lesca tried to follow them out, but was caught and held firmly against the wall. Her struggle was futile as he grasped both of her slim wrists in one of his own callused hands, effectively stopping any attempted movement. He used the other hand to lift her chin up, forcing her defiant eyes to meet his own. Again the shiver as her eyes flashed darkly at him in anger. His heart skipped a beat as her verdant oculars pierced through the walls he had spent ten years building up around himself.
"Lesca?" He said softly. His warm breath blasted her face and she closed her eyes for a moment, revealing in his touch before opening her eyelids to reveal what she hoped was a cold, hard, emotionless stare.
"What?" She spat, the venom almost tangible. She was satisfied when he recoiled slightly before reasserting himself.
Auron trailed a finger lovingly down her cheek. "Why? Why this? What have I done to make you hate me so much?"
His wife laughed harshly in disbelief. "What have you done? Are you serious? Fine, I'll list it for you. You never came home to me. You had Kimahri lie to me and tell me you were dead. I mourned you every day for ten years. Ten years, Auron! I went to the Farplane and you weren't there, I nearly broke down because I thought you were a fiend! If you had decided that we were a mistake, the least you could have done was be man enough to come and tell me instead of leaving me wondering for a decade."
"I…" He hesitated. Do I tell her now, face further rejection? No, it can wait. "He wasn't lying. I was in a sense dead, but to Spira. Sin took me to Jecht's Zanarkand; I only just managed to come back with Jecht's son a few months ago. I was fulfilling a promise I made to Jecht."
"What about the promise you made to me? Our wedding vows? Or are they easily forgotten in comparison to a pledge to a man you barely knew?"
Auron changed his tactics, pleading with her to listen to reason. "Lesca, please! You have no idea what it was like watching them die, having to leave you…it was as if my heart had been ripped from my chest and speared on a pole! It had to be done, I had to make good that promise, whether I liked it or not."
She sneered at him, tossing her hair back from her eyes. "You know what I think of your promise to Jecht? I think you can shove it so far up your ass it comes out of your mouth! For the sake of the God's, Auron! Did you really expect that after ten years I'd welcome you back with open arms, no questions asked? If you did you're an even bigger fool than I thought.
Just like all the rest, you expect the dutiful little wifey to sit at home, uncomplaining while you rush off to do Gods knows what, Gods knows where. You bastard. You selfish, unthinking, uncaring, lying bastard! Well, Auron, if you think that I'm going to act like I'm happy to see you, you have another thing coming. For one thing…"
He began to tune her out, smiling slightly as she continued her rant. So this is what our arguments would have been like…I still wish I had experienced one before now. He looked back to her; her face flushed from the exertion of shouting at him.
"Are you done?" Auron drawled lazily.
The steam rising from her was almost visible as the rage bubbled up within her once again. "No, I am not done! Don't you even care? You're not listening to a word I'm saying, are you?"
The Guardian shook his head, the smile stretching to a grin. Lesca's nose screwed up as she struggled in vain against his grip. "Damn you, Auron! You left me! You left me for your own selfish desires and I am…"
He cut her off with a kiss, his laughter making her lips tingle as he caressed them gently with his own. This ought to shut her up. Maybe now she'll listen instead of shout. Much as I have missed your voice, darling, you need to hear me too. She felt her struggle subside against her will as she melted into his embrace. Damn you, Auron… He pulled back from her slightly, searching her eyes intently. "Lesca, I wanted to stay but I couldn't. I love you so much, so much…Take me back, I'll never leave you again. I promise, you have my word."
The scepticism made her hold back from shrieking her acceptance. "You broke your promise before, how do I know you won't do it again."
He sighed in irritation, claiming a kiss from her yet again. "Look at me. I love you. I will stay; I have no will to go! I never did."
He watched as she digested the information. She cleared her throat; eyes shining brightly with unshed tears as the suspicion began to subside. "So you didn't want to leave me? You…still love me?"
"More than life. I have missed you so much, Lesca. Every day was torture." His heart ached to see her upset and he set her arms free.
She looked at him, and suddenly the wall of anger and resentment she had hastily erected in the past hour to save herself from the all to familiar pain came crumbling down, leaving her feeling horribly exposed. She fell into his arms, the tears staining her face as she whispered into his embrace. "I love you."
She wrapped her arms around his form, sighing contentedly as he rested his head upon her shoulder, her own head pressed against his chest. The familiar heartbeat was music to her ears, the rise and fall of his chest a comfort after so many years of unavoidable pain. She giggled a little as she found it hard to make her arms meet as they had done a decade before, the muscle he had gained adding to his mass.
"You bulked up."
A small smile turned the corners of his mouth upward as he ran a hand over her slim waist to her shapely hips. "I got older, trained more. You…have curves."
She winked. "I got older too."
"I like."
"I love."
The rich chuckle resonated in his chest, vibrating pleasantly against her ear. "Still have to go one better, my love?"
"You know it."
He pulled back and she frowned, noticing for the first time the scar that lined his face. Auron stiffened as she ran a gentle finger down the mark to his lip, tracing the contours tenderly.
She smiled a little sadly. "What happened?"
"Yunalesca. I tried to avenge your father and Jecht and…"
Lesca barked a bitter laugh. "You should be glad that's all she did."
It's not all she did… "Meaning?" He inquired smoothly.
The summoner blushed. "Nothing, I've just heard she can be pretty harsh." Experienced it as well.
"Lesca, the summoner I'm guarding…"
The woman raised an eyebrow. "What about her?"
Auron rubbed his temples before looking into her questioning eyes. "It's Yuna."
~*~*~
Lesca dashed in and out of the rooms, using her master key with impunity. She gasped slightly as she opened the door to find both her sister and her cousin chatting idly in the darkness. They looked up, squinting in the dim light to try and identify the intruder.
"Yunie? Rikku?" Lesca croaked.
The young summoner gave a cry of joy as she recognised the voice, her cousin grinning inanely as she too figured out who called on her. Yuna rushed to the woman, embracing her warmly as Auron watched the reunion from the safety of the doorframe.
"Lesca! Yevon, it's so good to see you! I thought you were dead, we all did! Luzzu said that you had died a noble death and when you didn't come back after your pilgrim…"
Her sentence was caught short by the panic that appeared in Lesca's eyes, pleading with her not to continue. Auron raised an unseen eyebrow, making a mental note to inquire about his wife's assumed demise later. The younger girl nodded ever so slightly to indicate her comprehension before continuing. "Why did you not come back to Besaid?"
The elder sister hung her head. "I couldn't. I failed, you know I did."
Yuna's eyes shone with joy. "I'm glad you failed."
"Me too!" Rikku cut in, hugging her two cousins tightly.
"Why are you doing this Yuna? The pilgrimages have to be stopped; they're a false tradition that will lead to the death of the summoner! I won't let you throw your life away." Like I did.
Yuna shook her head, smiling. "No Lesca. I want to do this; I need to do this. It's a family tradition, isn't it? Please, Rikku has accepted it…can't you try to do the same?"
Lesca slammed her fist on the bed, sinking heavily onto its warmth. "I…Rikku, you're Yuna's Guardian?"
The young Al Bhed grinned. "Yup! Me, Mr. Grumpy over there, Tidus, Kimahri, Wakka and Lulu."
The older summoner thought back to the days of her own pilgrimage and remembered the teenagers who watched over the young Yuna. Wakka, Lulu and… "Chappu? What about him, Wakka's brother?"
Yuna's smile faded slightly. "He was killed by Sin. He joined the crusaders and, well…He fought with a machina weapon and died." She made a slight face. "Wakka's hated the Al Bhed ever since, so please don't reveal our lineage to him."
Lesca rolled her eyes. "Ok, on one condition."
"Which is?"
"Let me be your Guardian."
Yuna turned to Auron. "Sir Auron? You remember my sister, do you not?"
He chuckled slightly. "Better than you know, Yuna."
A slight frown of puzzlement crossed her face before she let the remark pass. "Well, you will remember that she would be an excellent Guardian. May she please join us?"
The red robed man nodded his head. "Of course."
Rikku and Yuna exchanged worried looks, he had not agreed so readily to anyone else becoming a Guardian. Yuna shrugged and smiled beatifically at her father's friend. "Thank you, Sir Auron."
Lesca stood and brushed down her skirt. "Well, it's late and we'll have a long day ahead of us. We still have to cross the rest of the plains and then onto Macalania forest. There's no travel agency there, so we'll need camping equipment…"
Auron snorted at her suggestion and she stuck out her tongue at him as she continued. "Because such a young summoner needs her rest. It's too long a journey without stopping. I'll sort that out, Yunie, don't worry. Good night kids."
She closed the door gently behind her, sighing as she leant against the frame. Auron raised an eyebrow. "Kids?"
"A lot has happened in ten years Auron. I feel so old, they are just kids to me now."
He nodded slowly, knowing exactly how she felt. He was sure that raising Tidus had added years to his life. Lesca bit her lip, eyeing him nervously. "Auron? There aren't any rooms left, but if you don't mind you could share…with me, that is if you don't mind…" She trailed off uncertainly, searching his face for a reaction.
He inwardly grinned, nodding as he tried to keep his cheer from showing. "That'd be…great."
She fumbled with the lock, exhaling sharply in frustration as the key refused to turn in the door. Her husband prised the lock opener from her hand gently and opened the door with ease. As an afterthought, he scooped her up, carrying her over the threshold. She laughed, eyes twinkling in amusement.
"What was that for?"
He set her down, his good eye travelling hungrily over her body. Stop it. Now. Oh Gods, but I can't…He groaned internally. "Well, I never got to do that since we never had a honeymoon so…"
Lesca pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him. "Let's not talk of it anymore, ok? It's too painful to think of what could have been. What matters is the here and now. We're together, that's the important thing."
He nuzzled her neck, growling as he removed the hindrance of his collar. The barriers melted to nothing, the usually stoic man trailing soft kisses up Lesca's neck to trace the outline of her jaw, moving over to capture her full lips greedily. She pulled back suddenly and he looked at her in confusion, horror written on her face.
"What is it, Lesca? What's wrong?"
She gestured sheepishly to his jaw. "Are you ok?"
He rolled his eye. "I'm fine, I used a healing potion. Now…"
He caught her in his arms once more, his eyebrows lifting in shock as she pulled him down on top of her as they tumbled to the bed. He opened his mouth to ask the question and she silenced him with a kiss. "Don't dare ask if I'm sure. I'm sure." She shook her head, mumbling, as their kissing became more feverish. "Silly Auron…"
~*~*~
A groan escaped the lips of Lesca as she woke from her fatigued sleep. Eyes still firmly closed, she reached over to the other side of the bed, eyebrows shooting up in shock as she realised the other half was cold and empty. It wasn't a dream, please tell me it wasn't a dream. Her oculars snapped open and she breathed a sigh of relief as her eyes adjusted to the dim light to find Auron sitting on the foot of the bed, watching her intently. She grinned lazily, stretching the length of her sore body before sitting up, wrapping the covers tightly around her shivering, naked body. Her husband quirked a smile, leaning over to wrap his coat around her shoulders. She lay back down, inhaling his scent from the garment deeply.
"What time is it?" She yawned,
"Six am."
A moan. "I have not been up this early since our…" son used to wake me with his wet little kisses. She choked and turned it into a cough. "Our first days together."
"You were never up that early then!"
"This is the second time we've woken up in the same room, my love. How would you know?" She stuck her tongue out and he shook his head good-naturedly.
"I suppose. Lesca, there is one more thing you should know about Yuna. The Guado maester has asked for her hand."
Her eyes narrowed. "Seymour? I won't allow it. The man is an ass. There's something not right about him, Auron. There're rumours he killed Jyscal."
He shrugged. "I heard. But it is Yuna's decision."
Lesca sighed and wrapped the coat around her as she rose from the bed, shaking as the chill air bit at her tender flesh. "I know. That's the problem."
Thanks to:
The Angel of The Lion
Wi11
Refugee
Pierson
This chapter is for my knights! ;)
