Disclaimer: I do not own Basch, Larsa, or Penelo. Nor Archades. Or anything else related to the game in this story. Square-Enix does.

She tip-toed softly on the marble floors, making her way through the giant hallway to the voices she heard further down and around the corner. The sun leaked through the open archways on the other side of the hall, leaving beautiful shadows of the arches on the floor. Although, those made it harder for getting around undetected.

The Imperial Palace wasn't as heavily guarded as she'd thought. Maybe everyone -was- finally calming down after everything. Slipping through their defenses, or what little bit there was, happened to be just about one the easiest things she'd done. This, however, was proving to make up for the lack of challenge for earlier. There were a far less number of shadows to conceal herself in, and there was also the occasional palace staff that she had to get by without blowing her cover.

As she creeped further, the voices got louder.

"-- needs to be fixed along with the plumbing in the second floor staff quarters."

That was definitely Larsa. He sounded like he'd grown up some more since she'd last seen him.

" Yes My Lord."

An unidentifiable voice followed by a clang of metal. Probably a soldier saluting. A different clang of metal -- the soldier walking -- was coming her way. She ran across the hall and hid behind a column that was holding up part of an arch. She waited for him to disappear before continuing her trek through the hall to the familiar voice. She saw around the corner, reading what appeared to be a list of some sort. He was far enough away that he wouldn't have seen her in his peripheral view.

Good. Now for the final attack.

She walked out to the middle of the hallway. She cleared her throat. It had the desired effect as he turned his head, then the rest of his body. His eyes narrowed.

" Yes?"

Dear Lord, the boy had grown even more handsome since she'd last seen him. Long, dark hair pulled back into a low ponytail, long legs clad in what could only be the best for the Emperor; torso covered in the colors of his Empire in a vest and white sleeves covered his arms. His eyes even seemed to be more knowledgable. She'd known her brother-figure would be a knockout one day. Vaan owed her 50 gil now.

She slowly began a dance, arms moving gracefully, legs following in suit. A twirl here and a pivot there and acknowlegdment covered his face. His beautiful lips curved into a beautiful smile as he ran to her full-speed, arms outstretched. She laughed as he picked her up and spun, hugging her close. Once he ler her back down, he spoke.

" To what do I owe this pleasurable visit?"

She shrugged as a smile covered her face.

" Felt like it. Why? Did I come at a bad time?"

He wrapped an arm around her as they began walking down the hall. He shook his head.

" Oh no, my dear Penelo. Infact, I was planning on having a bit of a party tonight. Would you like to come?"

Penelo nodded under her hooded cloak. She slipped an arm around him as well, keeping her eyes open for any sight of a bulking, metal figure anywhere. Larsa seemed to be reading her thoughts.

" He's probably on his way here now, you know. If he's not in a meeting with the Council, then he's at my side. This party is really kind of for him, actually. He needs a break. Will you help me?"

She smiled and nodded.

" But don't tell him it's me, okay? I mean, if we do see him. I wanna surprise him." She winked to Larsa, and he chuckled.

" I think he would very much love that, my dear. Hmm. Speaking of. Here he is." Larsa's arm dropped from her, and her's followed soon after. They both looked forward to the armored figure further down the obscenely long hall. She gasped softly as an idea came to her. She looked to Larsa and winked. He looked confused, but didn't have time to voice his confusion. She pushed Larsa roughly against the wall, whispering for him to hold still. The clanking of metal hitting the floor became louder and faster as the Judge ran to his Lord's aid.

Penelo grinned under her hood before confusing the Judge by slowly dancing her way down the hall to him, hips swiveling, arms lashing out from under the cloak gracefully. Her feet moved quickly in circles as she spun before her hands rested on the string tying the cloak to her body. She stopped all movement suddenly, and her hands slowly untied the cloak. As it fell to the floor, she lowered her hands to rest on her hips. Adorned in what she believed to be her best outfit yet, she waited for some kind of reaction.

------

Basch watched as the cloak fell, following its movement with his eyes. Once it was grounded, he trailed his vision up, up, up the figure who had attacked his charge. Small, dainty barefeet. Light green pants that were loose around the legs, but bunched around wonderful hips. Small, womanly hands graced those hips. Exposed midriff composed of beautifully tanned skin. A leather top covered what needed to be covered, and tied in the front. Again to the hands, his eyes travelled further up the thin, but toned arms. Pale blue tatoos trailed up the limbs to the shoulders. Shoulders that weren't covered. A graceful neck was uncovered, then his sight moved further up to the coyly smiling pink lips, then even further up to the laughing honey brown eyes. Blonde wisps of hair fell around her face. He choked down a swallow. His heart ran faster. The armor suddenly became much too hot for his liking. He raised his hands cautiously to the helmet, grasping the horns before lifting it from his head. He saw that she was really there. Really on the other end of the hall. Really in Archades.

Dear Merciful Gods he thought. Thank you.

He dropped the helmet at his side, and sped off, running at top speed. He was thrilled to see she was doing the same. As they came closer, she stopped for only a moment to jump into his arms. Her thin arms tightened themselves around his neck, while his bulking arms wrapped around her waist. He closed his eyes and felt as though he were breathing in a bit of fresh air. It was as though a weight had lifted itself off of him. He raised his head from her neck and opened his eyes. Larsa was nowhere to be found. The boy wanted to give them some privacy. He'd have to remember to thank him later.

He felt her pull her head away, and looked into her eyes. Neither let go of the other as they held on tighter. She began speaking softly.

" Did you not get my letters?"

He let out a breath and nodded. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a table against the wall. He made his way to it, sitting her down on it, but never relinquishing his hold on her waist.

" I did, in fact get them. I'm guessing you didn't get mine. I was wondering why you seemed so upset these past few letters. I thought I had said something to upset you. Where was I supposed to send them?"

She huffed." Migelo's. You know that. Then once a week, I tell Vaan to get...the...mail...Oh that bastard! Vaan hasn't been getting it. He leaves, but comes back empty-handed everytime! You're only getting my letters because -I- send them, not Vaan." She looked to the side and pouted. " Stupid Vaan."

He laughed, holding her closer, placing a soft kiss to each temple. He could feel her smile against his cheek. He breathed out softly, not wanting to disturb their peace. Her hands found their way to his face, pushing him away gently so she could look into his eyes.

Soft, forest green had never looked so happily towards her before. The occasional holding, or a kiss to the cheek here or there was normal, but never on the mouth, and never had they felt so passionate as they had right now. They weren't even sure what they were themselves. They were exclusive to each other, and each other alone. Had been since everything in Lemures had ended. That was about a year ago, and this was only the third time since then that they'd seen each other. She smiled and rested her head against his chest, reeling back from him as her head hit harder than she'd planned. Her hand flew to her forehead, her eyes scrunched shut. She sucked in a breath through her teeth as she felt his gloved hand pull her hand gently from her head. Instead of his gloved hand, she felt his soft lips press a kiss to her injury, letting his mouth linger longer than was necessary. She pushed him back again to look at him more seriously this time.

" I missed you," she whispered,"...Basch."

He felt his heart jump. It was suddenly hard to breathe. How could one woman have such an effect on him by merely speaking his name? He felt he couldn't stand it anymore. He had to do something. He took a deep a breath.

" Forgive me," he whispered roughly before lowering his mouth to her's, claiming his lips with his own. Her eyes shot wide open, dazed for a moment before slowly shutting. She allowed the mind in her arms to move around his neck; the mind in her hands to move through his soft blonde hair. Her head tilted unknowingly. She felt his hands tread over her back before they left her for a moment. She heard something coming off behind her, then his hands were back again, only bare. The sensually warm skin of hands against the drawn-taught muscles of her back was a pleasure she'd never known. One that caused a noise to escape from her throat without her warranting it. His lips released her's, both of them taking much needed breaths. His fingers dug in to her back softly, gently kneading the muscle. She dropped her hands from his hair to his shoulders. Their foreheads met, both still breathing quickly. He spoke first.

" Does this mean...?" His question was obvious to her. She nodded. " Yeah, I'm your's. And you?" Basch nodded as well, bringing his hand to rest on her cheek. She smiled softly.

" I guess I can forgive Vaan for just this once...Ya know. Seeing as I'm in such a good mood now."

Basch chuckled softly. His little Dalmascan Dancer was truly one of a kind.