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We're Home
By Lady Cato
"The view is beautiful tonight, isn't it?" said the paladin softly, chain mail clinking as he walked up beside her. The slight breeze upon the castle parapet caused the woman's golden hair to rise into the current and shimmer in the moonlight. He caught his breath simply gazing at her, enjoying the night's light which made her white robes radiate and her beauty captivate him.
The lady turned to look at him, smiling. "I'm just glad to at last be home." Quietly, she turned to observe the panorama spread before her. Beyond the castle's walls, smoke and silence came from the town that so was bustling during the day. Past the thousands of buildings, the darkness of the forest and the looming mountains to the south were visible under the light of a solitary moon. Beyond those mountains, she knew, lay an ocean
and continents where so many had sacrificed their lives to preserve their freedom.
The paladin laid his gloved hands on the cool parapet stone. A wry, humorous look creased the corners of his mouth. "Guess these gloves finally got worn out, hmm? The cold is seeping through them."
She turned to face him, smiling still, and took a gloved hand into her two palms. "Well," she said after a mock examination. "I only counted ten holes. That's not bad considering we bought them--oh, where was it? Eblan?"
"I can't remember," he said, tugging them off each hand. "This could have been a pair from a treasure chest." He placed the two gloves in a pouch at his waist, and then glimpsed back at the sky.
A saddened expression shadowed her face. "Beloved," she said, gently moving her body next to his. "What he did was for the best. He'll be at peace, slumbering for so long. You know that. It would have hurt him too much, facing the crimes he committed against his own will. Up there--if the Hatred is rekindled, he and your uncle could stop him, or at least warn us--Beloved?"
Almost in a daze, he looked back down at her, blue and brown eyes locking in a silent exchange of appreciation and affection.
"Where would I be without your love?" he said, running a hand through her hair. She closed her eyes to savor his touch. Shivering, she laid her head against his armored chest.
The crystal mail that lined his body clinked as he tenderly placed his arms around her waist. The distant squawk of a chocobo, barely audible even in the silence of the night, caused the paladin to leap to alertness, hand on hilt.
She smiled softly and shook her head. "This isn't the Tower, the Giant, or any of the other light-forsaken places we've fought through. We're home. We're together." With the gentleness of her healing art, she coaxed his fingers from the hilt and into her own hands.
"We're home."
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