(no subject)
So I'm with the Buddhists now. My internets are severely limited.
But! The third and final chapter of A Song Played On Muted Strings.
Also known as Prologue II of wages_of.
With thanks to auronlu, who challenged us to this and especially to hinikuish for her endless well of patience. Also (I never write anymore, so I'm going to dedicate this to as many as I damn well please!) to aulu, because this sad excuse for a modly being can hear the neglected community whimpering like a thousand orphans.
Okay. If you haven't read part one or two, you can read part one here. and part two here
Title:A Song Played On Muted Stings, Part 3. Harmony.
Fandom: Final Fantasy X
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Auron/Lulu
Warnings:Excessive poetics.
All feedback welcomed.
"You know, I never really believed you'd make it back to us. But I should have known better than to doubt the Legendary Sir Auron. That's what they're calling you these days, you know --Legendary Guardian to High Summoner Braska. This is something to tell the grandkids. By Yevon, this is something my great-great-grandkids will be telling their grandkids --old gramps Kinoc chummed around with the The Sir Auron! You know the Brotherhood wants you to return, right? They're ready too forget this whole business with Father Milo's daughter. Bygones be bygones and all that. They want to make you commander -you'd have a whole career ahead of you."
Kinoc never did understand what brought Auron to Besaid --Yevon bless him, his old friend had never been rich in empathy. Auron left behind the last of his spirit in Zanarkand; some manner of futile vigil to Braska's corpse and Jecht's guttering soul. He remembered the night well, steely-cold and iron-black, blasting through fiends in a teary rage. The flame of life extinguished; hope and love were no longer his to hold.
And yet. Here he was, on the dock with this girl -this woman, heart pliant to her every breath.
Lulu blinked at him, her voice sandy with tears and surprise. "You fell in love with me?"
With her so utterly in the here-and-now, with her near enough to feel her radiant warmth on his face, Auron needled with regret. "I-I...I need to leave."
Lulu grabbed the long dark braid along his spine and tugged, anchoring him. "No." Her voice was hardening back into her dark, slightly teasing alto. Auron shivered as the skin at the base of his neck goosefleshed. "I'm not going to let you go with that."
"Lulu, I am an idiot, an old man..." Lulu clapped a hand over his mouth, firmly. Auron jerked in surprise.
"Auron, you're 32. I'm 20. I'm not a child. And you," She paused and let the braid slip from her hand as she traced the contour of his cheek. "are no old man."
Auron gripped her wrist delicately between his thumb and index finger to pull her hand away from his face, but made no effort to move off the dock. He turned his head away from her, stray hairs wildly haloing his head in silver.
And so the two sat like that for a while and in their silence the ocean grew louder. I will love her as you loved the world, my Lord.
"Lulu, are you certain?"
"Yes. Auron, I--. You know, Ginnem. She always talked about the afterward. Did Braska do that?" Lulu continued without pausing for an answer. "She said she was going to retire to a little cottage on the edge of the Calm Lands and keep bees. And we'd laugh at the thought of her in a beekeeper's veil. And then she asked me if I was going to return to Besaid and I said no. I meant it, too. I didn't want to come back here. I didn't want to leave this world I was just discovering and go back to this desolate little island. So I said I'd deliver her honey to the edges of Spira. I wanted nothing but the edges of Spira. But then, after the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth --all I wanted was to return here. To Chappu, Yuna, Wakka and you." Her voice threatened to break again as she set her sharp chin upon his shoulder "Especially you."
Quavering now, he lay a hand upon her head and gently worked his fingers into her braids. He had been strong once. No more.
"I love you."
The lovers leaned into a kiss, the sea sighing a chorus behind them.
Two trembling bodies, born again to the earth as though they'd dropped from the moon, speaking only in the language of lovers. And so they stayed, body touching body until the syrupy light of dawn brought the morning into them and as with the rest of the world. It brought back the songbirds with their morning melodies and it brought back the laughing children with their blitzballs and best moves. As for the lovers, it brought back hope, love and life.
By that afternoon Sin had destroyed two villages. They say the death toll was over a thousand.
But! The third and final chapter of A Song Played On Muted Strings.
Also known as Prologue II of wages_of.
With thanks to auronlu, who challenged us to this and especially to hinikuish for her endless well of patience. Also (I never write anymore, so I'm going to dedicate this to as many as I damn well please!) to aulu, because this sad excuse for a modly being can hear the neglected community whimpering like a thousand orphans.
Okay. If you haven't read part one or two, you can read part one here. and part two here
Title:A Song Played On Muted Stings, Part 3. Harmony.
Fandom: Final Fantasy X
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Auron/Lulu
Warnings:Excessive poetics.
All feedback welcomed.
"You know, I never really believed you'd make it back to us. But I should have known better than to doubt the Legendary Sir Auron. That's what they're calling you these days, you know --Legendary Guardian to High Summoner Braska. This is something to tell the grandkids. By Yevon, this is something my great-great-grandkids will be telling their grandkids --old gramps Kinoc chummed around with the The Sir Auron! You know the Brotherhood wants you to return, right? They're ready too forget this whole business with Father Milo's daughter. Bygones be bygones and all that. They want to make you commander -you'd have a whole career ahead of you."
Kinoc never did understand what brought Auron to Besaid --Yevon bless him, his old friend had never been rich in empathy. Auron left behind the last of his spirit in Zanarkand; some manner of futile vigil to Braska's corpse and Jecht's guttering soul. He remembered the night well, steely-cold and iron-black, blasting through fiends in a teary rage. The flame of life extinguished; hope and love were no longer his to hold.
And yet. Here he was, on the dock with this girl -this woman, heart pliant to her every breath.
Lulu blinked at him, her voice sandy with tears and surprise. "You fell in love with me?"
With her so utterly in the here-and-now, with her near enough to feel her radiant warmth on his face, Auron needled with regret. "I-I...I need to leave."
Lulu grabbed the long dark braid along his spine and tugged, anchoring him. "No." Her voice was hardening back into her dark, slightly teasing alto. Auron shivered as the skin at the base of his neck goosefleshed. "I'm not going to let you go with that."
"Lulu, I am an idiot, an old man..." Lulu clapped a hand over his mouth, firmly. Auron jerked in surprise.
"Auron, you're 32. I'm 20. I'm not a child. And you," She paused and let the braid slip from her hand as she traced the contour of his cheek. "are no old man."
Auron gripped her wrist delicately between his thumb and index finger to pull her hand away from his face, but made no effort to move off the dock. He turned his head away from her, stray hairs wildly haloing his head in silver.
And so the two sat like that for a while and in their silence the ocean grew louder. I will love her as you loved the world, my Lord.
"Lulu, are you certain?"
"Yes. Auron, I--. You know, Ginnem. She always talked about the afterward. Did Braska do that?" Lulu continued without pausing for an answer. "She said she was going to retire to a little cottage on the edge of the Calm Lands and keep bees. And we'd laugh at the thought of her in a beekeeper's veil. And then she asked me if I was going to return to Besaid and I said no. I meant it, too. I didn't want to come back here. I didn't want to leave this world I was just discovering and go back to this desolate little island. So I said I'd deliver her honey to the edges of Spira. I wanted nothing but the edges of Spira. But then, after the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth --all I wanted was to return here. To Chappu, Yuna, Wakka and you." Her voice threatened to break again as she set her sharp chin upon his shoulder "Especially you."
Quavering now, he lay a hand upon her head and gently worked his fingers into her braids. He had been strong once. No more.
"I love you."
The lovers leaned into a kiss, the sea sighing a chorus behind them.
Two trembling bodies, born again to the earth as though they'd dropped from the moon, speaking only in the language of lovers. And so they stayed, body touching body until the syrupy light of dawn brought the morning into them and as with the rest of the world. It brought back the songbirds with their morning melodies and it brought back the laughing children with their blitzballs and best moves. As for the lovers, it brought back hope, love and life.
By that afternoon Sin had destroyed two villages. They say the death toll was over a thousand.