If Only for a Moment

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X or any of the characters there within.

Crimson eyes raked around the surroundings of death and decay; red-coloured eyes meeting blood-stained sands on what should have been a beautiful touring beach. Amethyst painted lips parted in regretful remorse. So many lives had been taken this day, snatched up before their time, taken—no—stolen before they had barely begot to live. She knew the endeavor was a futile validation; death beseeching death to infinite ends, all inevitably spiraling into hopeless despair. She closed her eyes, willing herself to forget the gruesome demonstration of Sin's devastating supremacy. So much death.

And then there was Yuna. Yuna had fallen prey to this spiral. One life for the greater good; one life to bring the Calm seemed a small price to pay for peace. One life for reconciliation, one life to pick up the pieces and begin anew—one life in chance that Sin might not recur to haunt all of mankind.

She inhaled softly, a pleasant swell of her bosom, releasing tension she felt cramping her limbs leaving her as she exhaled.

She opened her eyes again and the grisly scene seemed less tangible to her—it was as if she were a spectator of a world beyond her; a unique detachment she found herself exercising far more often with the passing of this pilgrimage. It was her third. But her past failures had, in bitter retrospect, given her happiness to know that if they withdrew, the summoners would live to know another day. Her first pilgrimage of acting guardian had not proven so.

Lulu's gaze drew away from the carnage and fell instead, across the waters in which Sin had fled.

I will protect her, she thought, I will protect her with my life.

She shook her head lightly, beads clinking softly in her raven hair, as her thoughts strayed to that of her deceased lover. Chappu. A wave of sickness passed over her then; she crossed her arms tightly over her stomach, waiting patiently for the feeling to pass. It had subsided, but had not left her entirely.

A break of sweat had formed on her brow which she had dismissed earlier as tire from the battle with the Sinspawn. The party had called upon her aid to attack the creatures muzzle. The fight had been a savage massacre and, Lulu thought with rising indignation, could have been finished much more quickly had she learned any stronger spells. This once, it seemed, their strategy had been enough to pass through with minor scrapes and bruises. The highroad had not been so kind to Wakka's brother.

Chappu.

She took a hesitant step forward, toward the shifting waters.

Wait.

Another step. To an outsider her intentions may not have been made clear, but the horrible idea had presented itself, rearing its ugly head above the tossing waves, planting the wicked seed and nurturing it to grow in her breast. A horrific inspiration dawned on her.

Life and death. They are one and the same.

Her feverish thoughts were getting the better of her, she knew, but she could not stop her feet from walking. This forced march would be her last.

Wait for me! She cried in her mind, for her lips were no longer hers to command. Take me as well you cursed creature, how dare you leave me to wither here alone. You have taken all else from me; all that is left to take is I!

The water had come up to her ankles, soaking at her dress and lapping higher as the inescapable advance went on. She struggled heatedly against the overwhelming emotion, the choking temptation in desperate attempt to turn back; to walk back up the sands and finish what she had begun. But her legs continued to force her onward, gripped by her most secret of desires. She would join them all and leave this relentless, unforgiving world, free as the pyrflies. A solitary tear slipped from her eye, rolling down an alabaster cheek. No one to help her as she steadily trod forward to her impending doom. The darkness stretching to swallow her whole.

Quite suddenly, something smooth fell on her open shoulder, holding her firmly but not so tightly that her arm sored. She froze in place, turning in startled surprise and relief as her eyes traveled over the red cloaked, hard-eyed legendary guardian—

"Sir Auron."

The sound of her voice startled her; it held an air of calm finality and cold indifference which detained none of her usual necessity to feign.

"Come." He rumbled gruffly, gloved hand sliding from her shoulder, but not before asserting a pressure into her shoulder-blade which allowed for no argument. Feeling as though a great gift had been taken from her and at once an immense load lifted from her shoulders; Lulu shied out of the water as if it were suddenly scalding. She stayed close to the red-cloaked guardian, heaving a sigh of release which left her lungs as only a cough of embarrassed displeasure. He turned to her at the sound. Refusing to meet his gaze lest her own foolishness betray her, she turned her head so he could see only her profile, hidden by a curtain of raven hair. Lulu cleared her throat, but said nothing and after a long pause, it was Auron who spoke first.

"I assume that you were intending to go tête-à-tête with Sin."

Lulu heard a rumble in his throat and understood that the chuckle was directed at her expense. Heat rising in her cheeks, she turned sharply to face him, her anger rising swiftly within her breast as quickly as the pink azure had flooded her cheeks.

"Indeed." She mumbled coldly. "And why, may I ask, have you impended upon my solitude?"

Auron's gaze, which had been looking out to see turned part-way to face her, surveying Lulu as would a weapon's master his weapons. "Something troubles you."

The sudden change of subject surprised her, but she kept her composure in check. Lulu instead retaliated with a single-worded reply.

"Perhaps."

Auron bowed his head slightly and shut his one eye, the air around his yukuta sighing softly as if in his reply.

"It is unwise to dwell in the past."

Lulu blinked. He could not possibly have known...She shook her head gently, beads murmuring together as she brushed the perspiration from her brow. There was little to be hidden from this man's eye.

"You are right." She sighed, gazing at him fully to see her reflection in his dark-

tinted sunglasses. He had turned fully to her now, gazing at her over the high rim of his attire. She paused in her breath, eyes roaming over what little of his obscured face she could see. With slight hesitance, she reached up and removed the sunglasses from his face with her right hand. His brow furrowed slightly as the sun fell into his good eye. After a moment's adjustment to the light, his gaze met the black mage's. Chestnut meeting crimson.

Lulu folded her arms, safely tucking the silver rims of her fellow guardian beneath the cover of her long sleeves.

"Tell me, sir Auron, what can be said of you?" Auron's brown eye traveled over her face for any sign of reprieve that perhaps the question could be avoided. He found none. His eye returned her curiosity of the strange inquiry. "Are you to tell me that you yourself have never thought of why things have come to pass? That you have never wondered why the past continues to recur to us?"

A rustle of wind ruffled her hair, every now and then exposing her shielded eye to provide her deep interest.

"It is a most dangerous past-time. For the good of the company, it would be best to remain focused."

Lulu was not swayed.

"You have not answered my question." She persisted; a soft smile hinting at the corner of her painted lips. The legendary guardian evading an outright question was all too preposterous. She had learned the ways of the somber guardian. Auron surveyed Lulu again, but this time with not quite such a hard gaze. This woman was as much mystery to him as he was to her. Another chuckle rumbled in his throat, as Lulu stood by, posing that of perfect indifference.

"I suppose I have not...Yes, Lulu, I have dwelled in the past, perhaps somewhat unhealthily."

Lulu's eyes widened slightly at the use of her name and the camaraderie Auron had allowed flow into it. His statement intrigued her and she remained still, in silent consent for him continue.

Auron blinked once, "but as I said before, to digress in the past is dangerous, primarily on a pilgrimage. Yuna looks to her guardians for protection and strength. We are her light were there is darkness, we are her support when other's give way, we are her aid when there is none to be found. And perhaps," his voice softened, "it is not such a terrible thing to endure." At this he reached out and brushed the curtain of hair which obscured half of Lulu's face past the crown of her hair and drew it behind her ear. Her crimson eyes filled with the only registered emotion on her face. His gloved knuckles caressed her cheek.

"Life is a most precious gift—it is something which should not be thrown away so thoughtlessly. Many here have perished today, but it would seem that our stories will have more chapters to be written. Lulu, you are a woman of great beauty and intelligence. Be contented."

Lulu's breath caught in her throat, her eyes glassing over with unspent emotion. Auron's hand slid softly down her left forearm and he retreated; sunglasses once again, firmly in place. His clam, stoic demeanor returning. He strode forward, a silent motion for her to follow.

Struck by her fellow guardian's words, Lulu swallowed back the gratified sensation that swept through her and shut her eyes to halt the tears. Yuna would need the both of them now. She strode briskly to Auron and silently matched his pace, both walked side by side; neither speaking.

He had granted her a reason to continue and sparked a light on the path she had so long before forsaken; and, if only for a moment, had reminded her the joy of existence.

A/N: I just love these Auron and Lulu pairings. Those two are a force to be reckoned with. Right, anyway, I'm terribly sorry if they seemed a little out of character. I knew they would be when I wrote this...--; My idea didn't allow either of them to be fully into character. I hope that I may be forgiven and that all who have read will review and not despise me! All feedback is appreciated, but I prefer constructive criticism to flames. Thank you!

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