Final Fantasy X: Common Ground
Jecht was missing from his pallet when Auron went to wake him for guard duty. Auron stood looking at the empty blankets for a moment, listening to the trees around them. A stray pyrefly swept by on the breeze in the air, and a few feet away from where he stood, Braska made a small noise in his sleep. Auron winced to hear it, but he knew his friend had not slept peacefully in a long time.
Auron regretted that his protection and his sword could not extend to Braska's sleep, as well. Auron looked from Braska's sleeping form to the path a few feet away, leading into the forest. Auron could not leave Braska unprotected. There was only one place Jecht would go late at night, but even so—
"I can hear you worrying from over here."
Auron turned around to see Jecht step from the trees. Water dripped off of him, and Auron had been correct—he had been swimming. He had been seeking water for a week now, whenever he could. This wasn't the first time Auron had missed him sneaking off to swim by himself.
"Braska has spoken to you about going off by yourself."
"Why do you think I do it at night?" Jecht grabbed his sheet off his bedroll and rubbed at himself with it. "Braska worries too much about everyone else. I'm not gonna get in any more trouble." Jecht stared at him. "And I'm not going off to drink, either, so don't bother accusing me of that again."
Auron frowned. "I hadn't thought of it. Are you?"
Jecht didn't bother to reply. "Water's nice. Maybe you could try it. You'd think relaxing was a sin, the way you've been glaring at me."
"It isn't time for us to relax," Auron said. "We are Guardians."
Jecht threw the sheet down; he cast a look towards Braska as he turned to his side under his blankets. "No reason for acting like we're already dead. We still gotta live."
"You've done enough of that for all of us." It was a horrible thing to say, and Auron regretted it the moment Jecht's face went from casual to hurt and angry. Braska had asked Auron to be kind and to trust Braska's words even if he couldn't trust Jecht's.
"Yeah, well, that's over now." Jecht pulled up his sword. "I'm not going to beat my brains out getting you to trust me. But I said I was done, and I am. You want to nag me about the past, you might as well, since you nag me about everything else, anyway." He shrugged. "We're in it for Braska, right? I'll keep my word for him."
Auron didn't know what to say. "For Braska," he said, and it was almost a question. If they could find no common ground elsewhere, Auron thought, then—
"Then we agree. That's one thing." Jecht grinned, but it held no humor, and he didn?t speak to Auron again before hefting his sword and turning his back, settling in for his guard shift.
Auron went to his bedroll, but instead of rest, found only regrets.