The exertion was pouring out of Penelo in waves. She had never been much of a fighter, but at the moment, she had no choice. The fight had been going on for how long now? She couldn't remember what time she and Vaan had walked into battle, but she knew it had been long enough. The longer they spent trying to rid the area of fiends, the quicker it dawned on them that they needed to bolt. Without Penelo using her magick, they needed to use more items. They hadn't thought it through well enough, because they were dangerously unprepared and had less items in stock than usual. It was times like these when having someone like Larsa in the party was a blessing. Now though, it was only Vaan and Penelo, and either of them had hundreds of Hi-Potions to use.
But Vaan wouldn't give up, no matter how much Penelo pleaded with him to run. Flee, anything to get them away from the countless enemies that were surrounding them. The more they defeated, the more popped up. Why had they even decided to come to the Necrohol of Nabudis anyways? Penelo's mind was so fatigued that she couldn't even remember the stupid reason. Knowing Vaan, it was probably something to do with treasure. Though if she let her mind stray from the battle for even a moment now, one of them wouldn't just end up getting knocked out. They would end up dying.
Penelo shouldn't have turned her back on the blonde-haired male. She spun around and shot a thundaga spell at the lingering enemies behind her to lessen the damage on her end, but when she turned back around, it seemed as though time around her froze.
There was the boy she'd known for all her life, with a spear straight through his chest. A million thoughts ran through her head at that moment, though only a scream ripped through her mind, "VAAN!"
With all of her fatigue, and the threat of her own impending death forgotten, Penelo dropped her staff, and ran over to her childhood friend, and caught him as he fell to the ground limp. Tears were streaming down her face, and she was muttering over and over again, "You can't die on me Vaan, you can't die on me!"
In his final breath, the Sky-Pirate reached up and touched her face, and spoke softly, "I'll be with Reks now."
She couldn't cure this, she couldn't help him, he was dying in her arms right now, and she couldn't do a thing to help him. "Vaan..." She watched as the life left the male's eyes and his arm fell back down limp beside him. No more mana. No Phoenix Downs. Penelo let out a scream that nearly ricocheted off of the dead walls of the Necrohol, and the tears came streaming down her face faster and faster.
She couldn't stay here. She was reminded of that fact when she was attacked by another enemy, and the sharp pain shot through her shoulder. When she felt her own blood run down her arm, she knew it was best to leave. But she couldn't just leave Vaan.
She tore herself away from the boy and ran. She stood on her feet and ran, not even grabbing her discarded staff. Her heart ached and her mind pounded, but she couldn't allow herself to die here, even though she would rather do that than live a life without Vaan. She couldn't abandon those children back in Rabanastre, or Migelo.
She was shaking so furiously that she could barely stand to walk. She thanked the gods that she had trained herself to keep going even during the most strenuous acts, or she knew she'd be back there in the Necrohol still. Dead. With Vaan.
The thought sent her another fresh batch of tears running down her face. Stop thinking about it. Va-he wouldn't want you to be like this. Just stop, find help, get to someone!
Chanting those thoughts in her mind over and over again, Penelo made it to the teleport Crystal in the Salikawood, knowing for a fact that she wouldn't be able to fly the airship in her condition.
The next thing Penelo remembered was Migelo's throaty voice in her ear, trying to calm her down. "Penelo? Penelo, what happened? Calm down, girl, you need to breathe. Tell old Migelo what happened now, come on."
Penelo's arms shook and she wrapped them around her to stop the violent movements. She was so cold, even though it seemed like it was hotter than hellfire in the shop. Her voice shook and she stuttered many times, but she was finally able to tell the disgruntled Baanga what had happened.
At first, Migelo didn't quite understand. When the thought finally registered in his mind, he shook his head and muttered silently, "I knew I should have kept a better eye on him."
"What about the Orphans?" Penelo asked quietly, while barely able to look Migelo in the eye. "Filo, and Kytes? I can't just tell them that-" she swallowed back more tears. Those kids have been through enough. Wasn't their parents dying from the war or famine enough? When would they get a break? They didn't deserve this; but she couldn't not tell them either, could she?
Migelo was quiet at first, almost as though he were at a loss on what to say. When he spoke again, he seemed to have aged ten years. "I'll tell them when I get a chance. There's no reason you should have this responsibility."
Penelo shook her head, "Migelo, this is my fault! If I had tried harder to convince him that we shouldn't have gone, or maybe carried some more phoenix downs, then he would still be here, laughing away as though nothing were wrong. I could have-"
He cut her off by slamming his fist down onto a table, "This is not your fault! That boy is-was-at just as much liability as you are for this if you want to keep thinking that."
The ache in Penelo's chest only grew, "Then maybe I should have died along with him," she snapped while more tears streamed down her face.
Her childhood friend was gone, just like that. He'd left her just like her family had. Vaan was her friend, her family, and her partner. There was no point in Sky-pirating if he wasn't there, chipper as ever and trying to convince her to do something completely stupid.
I'm sorry, Vaan. I wasn't there for you in time, I wasn't good enough. Penelo slid to the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees, and buried her face in the soft fabric of her pantaloons.
I never even got to tell you that I loved you.