The first time Auron ever saw her she was all of three years old: the hem of her skirt was covered in mud, her little hands were caked with dirt, she had smudges on her face that looked disturbingly like Al Bhed war markings, and the smile that stretched from ear to ear made her look positively radiant.

It was because of that brightness that he really, really didn't mind her running up to him, flinging her arms open with all the trust of a child and giving a big, huge, slobbering kiss on his eye.

It was because of respect for that innocence that he said nothing, ten years later, when she somehow managed to have her first real kiss with Tidus' nose instead of his lips.