Final Fantasy XII (Ashe/Basch) [week 3, prompt 3]
Title: Nowhere Else Author: Laylah Rating: worksafe Word Count: 200 Summary: There are many reasons they should refrain.
There are many reasons they should refrain: she is heir to a struggling kingdom, and he a commoner from a land no longer free. She is young enough that he once stood guard outside her nursery. The strain of their quest draws them too close too fast, and he can see she also has had her heart broken that way before, wonders if they think then of the same man.
She listens to his objections, her eyes cast down, her legs folded before her. Too often he has been fated to bear her ill tidings, when he would rather anything else. "You argue well," she says softly. "I have little answer to make, save this." She pulls him down, curls close against him on the floor of his tent. Her skin is chilled. "I can be so weak nowhere else, Basch. Give me sanctuary, if nothing else."
He wraps his arms around her, as the Tchita rain drums harder on the canvas. "I do not argue from my heart," he admits, breathing the words into her hair. "If this is your choice, majesty, then it is welcome."
"If it is welcome," she says, kissing his mouth, "call me by name."