FOUR

Luzzu sighed as he pulled off his breastplate, laying it across the floor beside his new, more comfortable cot. Sitting bare-chested in the lodge he could feel the eyes of some of the other Crusaders on his body as they were getting ready for bed.

He was never one to be conceited but he knew they were looking.

His was a physique not to be ignored.

Sighing again, Luzzu laid back, propping his now bare feet on top of the thin bedding as he looked up at the ceiling, his arms behind his head, exposing a light sprinkling of light red hair under his arms. The lantern beside his bed was the only current light source in the entire lodge, lighting up most of his cot and the occupied cot right next to his.

A heavyset man aged around his mid-forties turned on his side away from the light.

Luzzu looked at the small table. On top of it under the lantern was the piece of paper that he left there earlier that day: the letter that had been pinned to his bag.

With a smile of curiosity, Luzzu stretched out his right arm and picked up the letter with his right hand and brought it to his face. Angling the piece of paper in the light to suit him, he began to unfold the letter casually.

When it was finally unfolded, Luzzu cleared his throat and shifted on his cot, deciphering the slopped on words almost as quickly as his own handwriting. He chuckled and began to read quietly to himself:

"'Captain,

If you're reading this then you finally know that we actually do give a damn about you! Me and the rest of us here were all really hoping that you wouldn't leave us but I guess it was time for a change. We wanted to throw you a going away party but because of sissy Ivan and that we know you don't do parties, we dropped that idea. Instead, we simply got you that sphere with all of us in that shot we took just before Djose. You know the one, when ALL of us were around. Anyway, you give them hell there in Besaid! Show those hicks what us Lucans are made of!

Respectfully,

Aera and the rest of the 5th Lucan Regiment"


I remember smiling at that letter, thinking of all the good memories that I had experienced over the years. Looking back on that letter, I realize now that that was the last I would ever be able to hear from my old regiment.

Only a week later they, along with three other regiments, would be out scouting the seas, protecting the Lucan shoreline from fiends…

Sin would arrive…

No survivors.


Gatta grunted loudly as he lifted up a huge barrel and stacked it on top of a pile of barrels, sighing as the weight was soon lifted from his shoulders upon the sound of crashing the barrels made against one another. Sighing heavily, he brought the rag that was across his bare shoulders and wiped his sweaty brow.

It had been one month since he had joined the Crusaders as a cadet and Captain Luzzu already had the young man performing several laborious tasks including loading the ferry with all manner of supplies very nearly by himself to be sent to Kilika.

The coastal village had been devastated recently by a hurricane that narrowly missed Besaid itself, prompting the people to help their island neighbors as much as possible.

"This is a lot of stuff."

Gatta turned around and found Chappu walking across the dock with Lulu still standing amongst the sands.

"Hey, Chappu." Gatta greeted his friend warmly as he stepped off of the ferry then looked up and called, "Hi, Lulu!" waving his arm in the air.

Lulu nodded and lifted a delicate hand in acknowledgment before returning it to her side.

Gatta knew that was the solemn young woman's way of greeting and accepted it as if she had spoken it.

"So, what's new, ya? See you're working pretty hard here."

"Ah, you know. Just loading this ship up for its trip to Kilika. Need to get some food to the people. The hurricane took most of it with it."

"Oh, yeah. Well, it's pretty hot out here. When are you gonna take a break?"

Gatta chuckled. "There's no break for the dedicated Crusader, Chappu. I don't want to wait for too long and rest too much before I'm finished with this job. Luzzu's counting on me."

Chappu instantly chuckled and nudged Gatta in the arm with his elbow. "Luzzu again, bro? Come on! You know you like him. Why don't you just tell him instead of walking around with your tail between your butt, ya?"

Gatta sneered at Chappu, "What are you, crazy? He's my superior officer! And not only that he seems like he wouldn't be up for anything I'd have to offer. I bet if I even mentioned anything remotely funny he would not only expel me from the Crusaders but he'd probably beat me to a pulp too."

"Huh? What makes you say that?"

"Well…I don't know, really. I guess…it's just that his tone, the way he acts, you know?" Gatta sighed and sat down on the dock, wiping his brown, sweaty chest with the rag, "He's just so…rigid. I don't think he would appreciate it if I suggested something like that."

"Who?" a voice called.

Gatta and Chappu turned in the direction of the voice to find Luzzu standing at the railing of the ship, holding a treasure chest in his arms.

Gatta swallowed, fearful that Luzzu may have heard too much.

"Uh…beg your pardon, sir?" Gatta said, quickly standing erect on the dock.

Luzzu placed the chest down and sighed, wiping his hands on the sides of his pants. "Well, you spoke of your interest in another man. So who is this fellow?"

"My brother! Wakka!" Chappu answered suddenly.

Gatta spun around to look at Chappu before slugging him one across the shoulder.

"OW! Hey! I'm not a liar, ya? I had to tell him!"

Gatta sighed incredulously before hanging his head down. "I-I apologize, sir. I probably should have told you sooner. I-I prefer the company of other men, sir."

Luzzu, however, did not bat an eyelash upon hearing Gatta's confession.

"So?"

Gatta looked up at Luzzu for a moment, not entirely sure of what he heard was right. "Sir?"

"I said, 'so?' as in 'why should it matter to me?' Gatta, if you're afraid that I'm going to retaliate against you because of your tastes, then you're sadly mistaken. I have a surprisingly open mind for a Captain of the Crusaders. So get back to work, cadet. And uh…good luck with Wakka."

And just as quickly as he appeared, Luzzu bent down and took the treasure chest in his gleaming arms and walked out of sight, his footsteps across the deck the only indication of his presence.

Gatta was left totally speechless, unable to fully comprehend what had just taken place.

Chappu made his way over to Gatta and snaked a lean arm about his friend's shoulders.

"Hey, bro…if THAT wasn't something that tells you right off how Luzzu feels about man love then I don't know what is, ya?" Chappu said in a low voice, a wide grin on his face.

Gatta nodded in agreement and emitted a slight chuckle.

"Yeah…"


It was evening once again and the ferry had since taken off, leaving Gatta, the up-and-coming cadet and Luzzu, the rising commander behind. They watched as the ferry disappeared with a couple of the local Crusaders and finally turned to walk back to the path.

Gatta sighed, placing his arms behind his head.

"Long day that was, huh, sir?"

"Yes. Stocking up all of those supplies was very hard work considering the heat and the sheer weight of it all. My back is killing me."

"I know what you mean, sir. I don't think I would've been up to going to Kilika after all of that lifting. And to think, the guys have to get all of the cargo out before daybreak, too."

Luzzu chuckled and shook his head.

"Poor saps." Luzzu sighed and secretly noticed that Gatta was rubbing his arm gingerly. He remembered that the teen had taken a spill earlier, landing right on that very arm. He also remembered how he wanted to rush over to him to see if he was all right…but quickly decided against it, seeing as how the young man and a few others were laughing at his clumsiness.

"Is your arm still bothering you?"

"Just a little bit, sir. I'll be fine."

Luzzu nodded as they approached the beach crossing and stopped just in front of the tides, looking out at the horizon once again.

Gatta had continued walking until he noticed that his commanding officer was no longer at his side. His walking ceased and he turned to find Luzzu sitting in the sands, staring out at the sea.

"…Sir?"

Luzzu motioned for Gatta to join beside him and, after a bit of hesitation, Gatta walked slowly toward the older man, sitting almost a yard away from him.

Luzzu noticed Gatta's distance and chuckled.

"I won't bite, Gatta. You can sit closer if you like. I just want to talk."

"Oh! Yes, sir!" Gatta said quickly but then composed himself a bit and replied more seriously, "I mean…thank you, sir. I just wanted to give you some space."

Luzzu nodded and turned his head back toward the sea but still watched from the corner of his eye as Gatta slid a bit closer to him.

"So…you've taken to Wakka, huh?"

Gatta was totally taken aback by Luzzu's sudden inquiry. Did this man absolutely revel in awkward moments?

"Um…well, actually, sir…"

"No need to explain, cadet. I know perfectly well the whims of the heart."

Gatta inwardly sighed, thinking that a boring lecture from another adult was about to rear its ugly head.


"We love people…for different reasons. It doesn't necessarily matter who we love, whether they be of different ethnicity, man, or woman. It's the love that really matters in the long run.

"You know that it's love when you can look at that certain person's face, look into their eyes and see their souls. That very passion that ignites their life and keeps it burning for as long as they will it to. It excites you and endears their memory unto you.

"I've only been in love once before in my life and that passion that I saw in their eyes burned strong. But I never thought that I would lose sight of it…not ever."

...I'm sorry, Gatta.


"Amazing what you can see just by looking in someone's eyes, huh?" Luzzu inquired.

Gatta nodded, still looking at the sea but now with all that Luzzu had said occupying his mind. He had never thought of his commanding officer to be such a romantic. But after hearing the man and his personal experience of love…

Luzzu looked over at Gatta who had half of his head buried about his arms as he looked out at the blazing sunset.

"Do you see that passionate fire in Wakka's eyes when you look at him?"

Gatta lifted his head, looking up at the older man. He had unconsciously slid closer to Luzzu since he had began his explanation of the whims of the heart and was only a few inches away from his commanding officer, his eyes suddenly fixated upon the older man's blue eyes.

"…No."

"Oh…well, maybe it's different with you."

"No, it's not that. I can see passion…I can see…the fire, you know? But…it's not inside Wakka's eyes."

Luzzu did not feel the need to turn away to stare at the sea any longer. His own personal show of beauty sat in front of him, his hand creeping slowly over his.

"Then whose eyes…?"

Gatta drew close to Luzzu, his lips only inches away from the older man's. He looked Luzzu up and down his face with his darting brown eyes before he finally fixated them back up the man's face.

"They're yours."

They kissed. It was closed-mouthed, romantic, and sensual all at once. It was as if the both of them wanted to let go onto each other but at the same time held fast to their own resolves, not wanting to let the other in until they felt the time was right.

They both let go.

As Gatta brought his left hand up to slowly connect with Luzzu's cheek, Luzzu brought his right hand against Gatta's taut brown chest, grazing a darkened nipple slightly with his fingers.

Gatta moaned and opened his mouth promptly after Luzzu, suddenly concentrating in the immediate battle over whose tongue would prove dominant in the passionate kiss as they wrestled for what seemed to Gatta like ages.

To Luzzu, however, it seemed only moments before he was declared the victor and he had Gatta almost completely under his control, placing his hand firmly on the young man's chest as he pushed him down onto the cooling sands and slid his own body on top of his partner's.

They finally broke the kiss and looked into each other's eyes, waiting for each other to say something. But when the words did not come, Luzzu opted to say something of a more physical manner as he ground his hips and thus his throbbing erection into Gatta's own twitching crotch.

Gatta moaned in response and placed a hand on Luzzu's head, tugging at the spiky red hair before forcing the older man's lips to connect once again with his own. As he did so, he let a free hand trail about Luzzu's purple fabric pants to the drawstring, pulling it free from its knot and allowing the older man's exceptional member to be released from its restraints.

Luzzu parted the kiss, much to the chagrin of Gatta who laid on the sands, his chest rising and falling heavily.

"…Are you sure? I-I'm kinda big."

Gatta looked into Luzzu's eyes: burning, passionate, longing. He smirked and tousled about with Luzzu until he was on top of him, straddling the man's hips, their erections pressing against one another's, obstructed only by the thin piece of canvas material that made up Gatta's pants.

"I think I can take it, sir." Gatta whispered with a smile.


That first time would be the beginning of a number of times Gatta and I would share together. I still don't understand completely how or why we made love right then, right there on that beach that afternoon. It certainly was not the most discreet of spots. We could have been spotted at any moment if some well-intentioned Crusader had happened to stumble upon our love making, when they only originally intended to search for us.

I think that's what made the first time all the more enjoyable for the both of us. The simple fact that we could have been discovered fueled my actions during that afternoon and into the evening, causing me to drive myself harder into Gatta until he literally screamed out my name.

It was a miracle that no one ever heard us!


Luzzu and Gatta sat beside a rock wall, staring out once again at the now moonlit sea, the waves gently lapping at their bare feet as the two men sat together, hands intertwined with one another's, their naked bodies covered with their own wrinkled clothing.

Luzzu chuckled, his muscular chest heaving slightly with his quiet laughter as he drew Gatta closer to him. Sighing, he slumped further toward the ground.

"That…was amazing." Gatta panted with a smile.

Luzzu smiled, holding the young cadet's hand in his in the air a short while before finally letting their clenched fists drop to the blue sands.

"...yeah," Luzzu finally replied with a deep exhale.

Gatta noticed that Luzzu was not fully engrossed in their light talk as the man was still looking out at sea rather than at him. Though not terribly offended, Gatta became slightly puzzled.

'Was I not good enough? Did I say or do something to upset him?'

"…You're thinking too much again, cadet," Luzzu said suddenly, disrupting Gatta's train of thought.

Gatta realized that he was pondering for more than a mere moment but wondered how in Spira Luzzu knew.

"You don't have to be anxious about anything right now, Gatta," Luzzu continued, looking down upon the younger man, a warm smile spread across his handsome features, "I really did enjoy our moment together…I never thought I would feel anything like this ever again."

Gatta returned the smile and cuddled even closer to Luzzu, his head soon resting against the red-haired man's broad chest.

"I'm glad."

Luzzu looked down at Gatta a moment longer before he placed a gentle hand atop the younger man's head, caressing the long, dark, and silky brown hair between his fingers. And as the waves lapped at his feet, and with Gatta's soft snore lulling him to follow, he slowly drifted off into slumber.