Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy XII or its characters; they belong to Square Enix. I'm not making any money from this endeavor, so don't sue me!
I wrote this for the lovely frankannestein, who's been kind enough to review all of my stories. Go read her stories after you finish this one!
AN: I make several references to one of my other stories, Canopic Jar, here, but you don't need to read that story to understand this one.
For Old Times' Sake
"That's enough for tonight." She slammed her fist down on the table in frustration. "We can revisit this topic in the morning." Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca, Queen of Dalmasca, had never been fond of lengthy meetings, especially when said meetings were about finding her a husband. This one was about to make her lose her temper. Her advisors insisted that she'd put this off long enough and refused let her change the subject today. Her mourning widow card was all played out. A second marriage still felt unthinkable, especially when the eligible men being pushed on her left so much to be desired.
Al-Cid Margrace, in particular, was obnoxiously persistent. He pressed his suit at every opportunity and had far too much free time to squander in attempts to woo her. She had to wonder if he had any princely duties to attend at all. She'd taken him up on his offer to visit Rozarria shortly after regaining her throne, which he'd taken as a signal that she wanted to court him. Ashe didn't dislike Al-Cid, per se, but she didn't think she wanted to marry him. Her other options hailed from small kingdoms of no great importance, and choosing one of them over Al-Cid would be a mortal insult to Rozarria at a time they couldn't afford such a slight.
Ashe had a feeling Al-Cid was only so interested because marrying her would essentially make him a king. Al-Cid stood virtually no chance of ever ruling Rozarria himself, so becoming a king-consort to a woman with her own kingdom was his best hope for a taste of power. Traditionally, queens in Ivalice left the ruling to their husbands once they were wed, and Al-Cid likely expected that she'd do the same.
There was also the issue of Al Cid's "little birds," who followed him around everywhere he went to fuss over him and hold his sunglasses on the rare occasion that he took them off. Ashe was under no delusions about the nature of Al-Cid's relationship with those ever silent women, whom he claimed were just his maids, and figured he expected to be allowed to keep them around after they married.
Ashe's advisors thought a match with a Rozarrian was for the best politically, as things had been strained with the great empire to the west of Dalmasca ever since Ashe signed that treaty allying her kingdom with Larsa Solidor's Archadian Empire. Rozarria and Archadia had centuries of ill will between them, and a marriage alliance between an Archadian ally and a pacifist Rozarrian prince could go a long way in easing tensions between the great empires. It was undoubtedly best for Dalmasca, which was stuck between the two rivals and would likely be the battleground if they ever came to blows. It wasn't like any of Ashe's other options were any more appealing, so she figured she'd eventually marry Al-Cid. That didn't mean she wouldn't try to put it off for as long as she could. She found one "urgent" issue after another to use as excuses to put off getting engaged.
Once she was married, the world would expect Ashe to start popping out babies like a good little brood mare and that she'd let her husband rule her kingdom for her. Ivalice was in for a surprise! She hadn't fought so hard to get her kingdom back just to hand it over to her husband while she suckled babes.
Continuing the Dynast King's line was important, to be sure, but she wasn't going to shirk her other duties or trust anyone else to administer her kingdom for her. Ivalice was not used to female monarchs ruling in their own right, but Ashe planned to change that. She and Rasler had made a pact to rule as equals all those years ago, which had been revolutionary at the time, but it was not nearly as audacious as a queen ruling in her own right. She wondered what he'd think if he could see her now. Even seven years after his death, she couldn't imagine having the kind of relationship she'd had with Rasler with anyone else.
Rasler would always be her first love, but he wasn't the one holding her back from committing to another now, not really. In truth, the Queen's heart had been stolen by a sky pirate. She still wasn't sure how that happened. Had he made the first move or had she? Perhaps it had been mutual. All she knew was that one fateful night during their adventures they'd gone from being friends to sharing a bedroll.
And then he'd pulled that disappearing act with the Skyfortress Bahamut. She'd been mad enough to spit nails when Vaan and Penelo visited to show her the note and give her back her ring, which they found in place of the Strahl a year later. How could he let her think he was dead for so long? It had hurt as much as losing Rasler, but she'd had to hide it, lest her advisors guess at the truth of her relationship with the pirate. She officially pardoned all of his crimes in Dalmasca post mortem, or so she thought, as her first act as Queen.
Ashe shouldn't have been so shocked that night she found Balthier plundering through her boudoir the night before he left to explore the Cache of Glabados with Vaan. Of course he'd just invite himself into a Queen's private chambers. She'd marched up to him and slapped him once on each cheek for making her worry. Then she kissed him and it was like the past year had never happened. Her grief, worry and fear had melted into nothingness.
Her advisors were scandalized when their queen insisted on personally joining her old party to rid the world of the Judge of Wings and Feolthanos, but she could hardly pass up another chance to go questing at Balthier's side. Ashe was a hands-on kind of person and didn't believe in relying on others to do all of the dirty work while she safely flounced around her palace in pretty gowns. It had been wonderful to get the gang back together and go back to beating the tar out of monsters instead of passing days affixing her royal seal to document after document or listening to courtiers argue about small matters of policy.
There were days that Ashe yearned for a simpler life. If she wasn't a Queen, she'd be a sky pirate in a heartbeat now, but her duties kept her feet firmly planted on the ground. It was a shame she couldn't even go Mark hunting for fun anymore. Fighting monsters was an excellent source of stress relief and gods knew she had enough stress. Mock dueling against the recently reestablished Order of Dalmasca to keep her skills sharp just wasn't the same.
Balthier was the light of her life. His visits weren't as frequent as she would like, but they were enough to get her through the boring days holding court, hosting banquets, and, of course, enduring Al-Cid's endless attempts at courtship. The idea of marrying her pirate had crossed Ashe's mind more than once, but she couldn't imagine Balthier as a consort and didn't have the heart to ask him to give up the freedom he so cherished. It would feel too much like neutering him. There was also the fact that he was Cidolfus Bunansa's son. The Dalmascan people despised the late Dr. Cid nearly as much as they hated the memory of Vayne Solidor, and they surely would not accept their queen marrying the son of such a man, even if she was madly in love with him. In daydreams she deluded herself into believing they could keep his past and true identity hidden and live happily ever after, but the realistic part of her knew some busybody would eventually dig up the truth no matter how careful they were.
It was quite the quandary, but it didn't make her enjoy his visits any less. Balthier listened to her gripe about the endless tedium that came with ruling a kingdom and about her advisors' constant pressure to wed and he regaled her with tales of adventures past after they made love. He always managed to turn up when she most needed to see him.
That is why the Queen of Dalmasca was not at all surprised to find her favorite sky pirate awaiting her in her bedchamber on this particular night. He took one look at her and knew what kind of day she had. "Marriage talks again, dear?"
"Of course." Ashe sighed. She paused to take in his attire. She hadn't seen him wearing that gold vest in ages. A wave of nostalgia rolled through her. What she wouldn't give to be out adventuring with her friends right now instead of contemplating matrimony with a boring prince. She moved to kiss him, like she always did. His lips never failed to breathe new life into her, no matter how stressful her day had been.
He pulled away abruptly as her hands began trying to unbutton the vest. "Now now, there will be plenty of time for that later. I have a special surprise for you tonight." When she arched a brow at him skeptically, he continued, "We're going on a date."
"A date?" Ashe was familiar with the concept of dating, where two lovers spent time alone together doing something special, but it was a practice of commoners. It sounded a lot more fun than the awkwardness of royal courtship, which was constantly supervised.
Ashe was put out by his resistance to her advances at first, but curiosity won out when he passed her a bundle of clothing. A tiny pink skirt similar to the one she'd worn on their quest to restore Dalmasca tumbled out of the bag, along with a midriff-baring white top and some quality light armor. A pair of thigh-high armored boots in her size awaited her by the bed. "What's all this?"
"We thought Her Majesty could use an adventure to take the edge off of these marriage negotiations." His eyes sparkled with mischief.
"We?" Ashe managed, confused about who else could be involved.
"Vaan and Penelo said you were unusually tense when they visited here last month, so we decided to organize a reunion of sorts." Balthier said. At her quizzical look, he continued, "Remember how beating the living hell out of a tough monster always made you feel better during the journey? We found a Hunt to take you on tonight."
"You know I can't leave the palace on my own now!" Ashe scolded. There was no way she could leave with him without the guards catching them. He might be adept at climbing out of windows and scaling ramparts to sneak in and out of the Royal Palace unseen, but that wasn't an option for her. She couldn't risk breaking her neck for a jaunt in the desert or wherever thins Hunt might be. As tempting as this sounded, she couldn't imagine that it could work.
"You won't be gone long enough for anyone to notice, dear. I drugged the guards' dinner, so they won't be a problem. The ones who drew first watch should be taking a little nap right about now." He laughed at the horrified look on her face. "Surely you didn't think I'd let something as trifling as your Palace Guard get in my way. And never fear; you won't have to scale any buttresses tonight." He always knew what she was worried about before she could articulate it.
Ashe felt torn between slapping him for drugging her guards and thanking him for so cleverly pointing out the holes in her security for her. It was bad enough that he'd was able to get in and out for these little visits with impunity, but it was downright scandalous that he could incapacitate every guard in the palace like this. If Balthier could manage it, someone with a similar skill set and more sinister motives could do it just as easily. This would be the perfect excuse to put off the inevitable with Al-Cid a while longer! A full security overhaul could take weeks, and she could have Balthier come and test it again when it was done. Perhaps he'd have some ideas about how he could make her palace pirateproof. She'd have to ask him later.
She knew she should argue with him about this some more, but she wanted to go on this little adventure. As she changed clothes, she questioned him about what he had planned. Apparently, he and Vaan had managed to get everyone back together for one night. When she pointed out that a date was supposed to be a time for lovers to do something alone together, he insisted that she should consider it a triple date, with the six party members as three couples. Even Basch would be there, as Larsa had been pressuring him to take a vacation for months now and had been more than happy to give him time off on such a short notice. The thought of Basch and Fran as a couple made Ashe dissolve into laughter. She couldn't imagine her stoic knight paired up with the stunning Viera.
"You know, Fran likes her men bit older. I was too young for her." Balthier whined.
"What kind of hunt is this?" The concept of Balthier being attracted to Fran always made her uncomfortable. She knew from talking to Fran that they'd been lovers at one point, but Balthier's immaturity had put the Viera off before long. She tried not to think about it, even though she trusted her friend not to steal her man.
"Remember that Bill you posted with Montblanc a few days ago about that giant turtle terrorizing the Garamscythe Waterway? It's that one. We tried to find one in a less smelly location, but the local hunters have a good handle on things in the desert right now."
"So, a turtle, huh? What will I do about a weapon?" Ashe asked once she was dressed. Turtles always made satisfying opponents.
"I took the liberty of retrieving this from the armory for you earlier." He passed her the Zodiac Spear, which he'd concealed behind a curtain to keep her from seeing it before now.
"You traipsed into the Palace armory in broad daylight and stole the most valuable weapon there?" Ashe was aghast. It appeared that she'd have to do a complete security overhaul.
Balthier chuckled again. Ashe was cute when she got worked up like this. With her dressed like that, scolding him, he could almost believe that he'd time traveled five years into the past. "Technically I didn't steal it. I saved us some time by gathering all of your equipment for you."
Ashe glared at him. "You and your technicalities! It would seem that something from your Judge days stuck after all."
He laughed. "So it appears. Shall we be on our way, my love?" He asked, gesturing toward the door. She giggled and gave him a peck on the cheek. There would be time to chastise him more later if she felt the need. Right now, she needed to answer adventure's call.
The guards were she kept outside her chambers were slumped over snoring thanks to Balthier's sleeping drug. They moved silently through the palace halls, but had to duck into the treasury to avoid being seen by an advisor bound for the library at this late hour.
"Hey, let's take the Canopic Jar with us for old times' sake." Ashe suggested, removing the menacing artifact from its pedestal in the middle of the treasury.
"Penelo won't be pleased." Balthier warned.
"I wasn't party to that little deal she and Vaan made over this thing. He might be barred from using it under the terms of their agreement, but I'm not." The queen asserted.
"Now who's relying on technicalities?" Balthier teased as he tucked the morbid urn away in his bag. They went back into the main hallways of the palace.
"Take the stairs here, love." He said, guiding her down a stairway to the right.
"We're going in the cellars?" Ashe queried.
"There's an entrance to the sewers down there. How did you think Vaan got in the night of the fete?"
"How did I not know about this?" Ashe whimpered. Yet another security issue for her to address; this night just kept getting better! The passage the Resistance used the night of the fete opened into the Palace gardens. It had been destroyed during the battle. She hadn't known there was a way in via the cellars before now. She'd always assumed that Vaan used the same route as the Resistance that night, but arrived earlier and blended in with the servants until it was time to make his move.
"Never fear, it's been blocked since Vayne put up a grate to seal it off from the rest of the sewer. Vaan and Basch should have the way open for us by the time we get down there." Ashe hadn't been in the cellars since she was a child, so coming down here felt like exploring a new place. Sure enough, there was a trap door in a small storage room concealing some stairs leading down to the sewers.
The Garamscythe Waterway smelled just as foul as she remembered, but it was the smell of adventure, so the queen didn't mind. Much to her delight, the rest of the party waited at the bottom of the stairs for them. Enthusiastic hugs were exchanged and Ashe caught up with everyone as best she could. Gods she missed these people! Ever-dutiful Basch was the one to break up the reunion by reminding them that Balthier's drug would only keep the guards knocked out for a few hours and that they needed to get moving.
"Is the turtle still in the Overflow Cloaca?" Ashe asked. She'd never been in this part of the sewer system before and had to rely on Vaan to lead the way across the unfamiliar catwalks. They fought rats and bats along the way, though none of them posed a challenge. Weaker monsters must congregate in this part of the waterway, she thought, while Malboros and those yucky toad things ruled the other parts.
"Yeah, he's still there alright. We'll cross into that part of the sewers by going through Storehouse No. 5." Vaan replied.
"I-is that an arcana?" Penelo shrieked as an ugly greenish-gray stone with just a hint of shimmer appeared next to the body of the Dire Rat she'd just dispatched. It was easily the ugliest arcana they'd ever found.
Ashe stooped down to grab it. "You bet it is! An adventure just isn't the same without our trusty Canopic Jar and the arguments it generates. And besides, I needed to work on those 25,000 monsters I need to kill to get my gil back on it." The party indulged in a good-natured debate about the Canopic Jar as they walked, with Penelo learning a valuable lesson about making sure to include all necessary parties anytime she negotiated a bargain. She wondered if Ashe planned to make her some kind of diplomat someday once she tired of sky pirating and wanted a more stable lifestyle. The queen managed to work a lesson like this in every time the younger woman saw her.
Ashe felt another wave of nostalgia as they emerged in Storehouse 5. She wouldn't have believed at the time that she'd ever look back so fondly on her days of adventuring. They passed to the other entrance that led to the main part of the Garamscythe. She felt a rush when she heard the turtle stomping around in the cloaca. It had been too long since she'd felt the thrill of battle. For right now, she could forget about Al-Cid, her duties, the problems with Palace security, and everything else going on in her life to focus on beating up the giant grey and green turtle. This one looked like a Gil Snapper, but it was the wrong color and lacked the leg shackles characteristic of wild turtles in Ivalice. Perhaps it was a pet that some wealthy Rabanastran discarded in the sewers after it got too big to keep any longer. That would be less alarming than a turtle getting in through the entrance to Lowtown at the South Gate and making its way through Lowtown and into the Garamscythe Waterway without anyone seeing it.
The unshackled turtle was agile for its size and relied heavily on advanced magicks to fight. It was a relief when Penelo managed to silence it after numerous failed attempts. The turtle's flailing legs were no less dangerous. She was touched by how the rest of the party took supporting roles and let her do most of the attacking with her spear. This was the best kind of stress relief in Ivalice. Ashe could feel the tension leaving her body as she fought. Fran and Penelo kept up the healing spells any time she got so much as a scratch. Vaan dashed in and stole a lump of metal from the edge of the turtle's shell early in the battle, but didn't interfere otherwise. Spears weren't her favorite weapon, but the Zodiac Spear was so strong that she was able to make mincemeat out of the turtle in no time. She was a little disappointed that the fight ended so soon.
With the turtle vanquished, Ashe persuaded the others to help her hunt Malboros, which were reportedly out of control in part of the Waterway. She'd been meaning to hire some hunters to clear them out, but since she was here right now, she could just do it herself. Chopping up the repulsive plant monsters always made Ashe feel better back in her questing days, and she was pleased to find it still satisfied her, even if it made her stinky. Penelo and Vaan, who still sold loot to augment their pirating income, gained a bag full of Malboro parts to sell for their trouble.
It was much too soon that Balthier informed her it was time to return to the Palace. They had just enough time to get back before the watch was set to change. Vaan said he'd come report the hunt in the morning, but that she didn't need to give them a bounty, as making her smile was bounty enough for him and Penelo. She intended to give them a handsome reward anyway. An evening laughing and joking with her friends while fighting monsters qualified as the best date ever in Ashe's mind, even if it resulted in her reeking to high heaven. It was certainly better than Al-Cid's endless flowers and bad poetry. She told Balthier as much as they ascended the stairs back into the Palace cellars.
"Hey, we should try to do this more often!" Vaan called after them.
"Yeah, at least once a year or something like that!" Penelo agreed.
Ashe stopped and looked back at her friends. She couldn't make any promises, as it would be considerably harder to sneak out like this after she got married. She made herself smile and say "I'd like that!" There was no need to spoil a fun outing with a serious discussion about the realities of a queen's life. Maybe she could find a way to make it work. Ashe wasn't going to ruin a good night with weighty thoughts about her future. She intended to enjoy the here and now while she still could. The thought of drugging Al-Cid sometime in the future to get away for a night of hunting made her smile.
Hope you enjoyed my take on life after the game! Leave me a review to know what you thought!