A/N: Yay, new story! Final Fantasy XII no less. It's ultimately a Basch/Ashe fic, but there's quite a build up to that, focusing on the rest of the gang first. Please let me know if I made any spelling/grammatical errors, I don't have a BETA... hell, I didn't even use Microsoft Word for this, all I had was FF . net's proofread option. :(
Anyway, I hope you like it! ^^
Title: Even Destiny Needs A Little Push
Rating: T
Warnings: A little mild language and mild sexual references.
Disclaimer: If I owned FFXII Vaan would have at least gotten some love...
CHAPTER 1 - DALMASCA'S HEAT MUST BE GETTING TO THEM
"Can't you see it? They'd be perfect for each other!"
Balthier, perched on a chair in Migelo's store in Rabanastre, raised an eyebrow at the highly enthusiastic blonde girl who was leaning over him. The sight would have been a bit more enjoyable if she hadn't called him there for such a ridiculous reason.
"Really?" he asked flatly, "Matchmaking?
The pirate glanced at his partner who just shrugged, giving him a 'you're on your own' look. Silently cursing the fact that she was so quiet and so all the crazy individuals preferred to bother not-so-quiet him, he cleared his throat before continuing, "I would hate to burst your bubble, but I do believe that the queen and the captain can decide for themselves."
"No, you don't understand." she continued, leaning further over the man beneath her, "You know how they are; Ashe is incredibly stubborn and Basch wouldn't try anything if he thought she'd disapprove."
"And if she does disapprove? Our interference would drive a wedge between them, would it not?" he asked.
She blinked, "No, that's why we need to get involved."
Balthier bit the inside of his lip to stop himself from insulting the girl. Clearly, she had missed his point completely. She was smart, as far as he remembered, what could have happened over the past year to change that? Wait...
Vaan...
"What happened to the thief?" he asked out of nowhere.
The girl stood up straight, "Pirate." she corrected proudly, "He should still be at the Sandsea. Legally, this time."
Balthier couldn't stop the smile that tugged at his lips; their little thief was an eighteen year old sky pirate. He had taught him well, even if he'd never admit it.
"If Vaan hasn't changed, he should be eager to help with your plan." Fran, sitting comfortably on the counter, finally spoke.
"Well, yeah... if I'd asked him..." the girl mumbled.
The pirate, once again, had to bite his lip, this time to stop himself from asking the obvious. That would be prying. And after so blatantly stating that they shouldn't get involved with things that don't concern them - i. e. Basch and Ashe - that would be very hypocritical. Instead, he decided to take a different approach, "I'll ask him. I've been meaning to drop by there anyway."
He made his way out the door without a single word of protest from the girls and stepped into the cooling Dalmascan night, laughing inwardly. There was no way he could avoid getting tangled in the whole situation somehow. Oh well. He always did have a soft spot for Penelo.
Balthier tapped his foot angrily. What the hell could Vaan have been doing upstairs for over an hour? Probably heard that he was waiting for him and stayed up there just to irritate him. Good job, Vaan, good freaking job.
At first, an Archadian gentry, with his gold-lined vest and leather pants, had drawn quite a bit of attention in Rabanastre's famed 'Sandsea' tavern. Balthier had found out that Vaan was upstairs and so decided to pass the time by sipping on the royal capital's wine and making the Dalmascan women swoon with his polished accent and equally polished words. After a while, however, Vaan still had not surfaced and the pirate had become rather agitated. The teen had always been a pain in the ass, but this just overdid it. Balthier was about ready to stomp upstairs and drag the boy down by his too long platinum blonde hair, but a leading man would not allow himself to do such a thing. Yes, he did have a temper - which he wholeheartedly blamed his psychotic father for - but had learned to control it. After all, what does the leading man do? He acts.
At last, the door to the stairwell clicked open and Vaan came stumbling out, smoothing his hair back into place.
Balthier's jaw dropped, speechless at the sight of him. Clearly he was getting his money's worth of the whole sky pirate gig; he was a mess of mismatched buttons, unbrushed hair and lipstick smudges and Balthier couldn't help but be a little proud of the boy. Of course, he was nowhere near the leading man's level of smooth - he actually took the time to do himself back up afterwards - but he was well on his way.
Vaan froze, spotting his ex-comrade, "Balthier?"
"Vaan." The other replied, trying to wipe the smirk off his face and look angry, to no avail.
"What do you want?" Vaan folded his arms and scowled, making Balthier chuckle. He just looked so funny trying to be stern when he looked the way he did.
The older pirate put a hand under his chin, "Well, at least you wear a shirt nowdays. Or, try to anyway."
The teen looked down and groaned, redoing his shirt buttons properly. The smirk that hadn't left Balthier's face only grew wider as a feint red stained Vaan's cheeks. He did have a lot to learn.
He glanced up from his hurried, seemingly difficult task, "Well? Is there a reason you've invaded my town?"
Balthier quirked an eyebrow. Mouthy little thief, wasn't he? "Yes, actually, your gir-... Penelo has a mission she'd like you to assist with." he replied, wondering if, after seeing Vaan like that, he should refer to her as his girl.
"And she called you here to tell me."
Balthier clenched his fist. Correction: mouthy, sarcastic little thief. He let out a sigh, "Vaan, please, you've just kept me waiting for over an hour, so I'm a little less than happy to see you. The women are at your friends shop so go... see..." he trailed off, noticing that Vaan had finished his task and had his shirt securely in place.
Still, anyone who looked at him would know exactly what he'd been doing.
The Archadian sighed, grabbing Vaan's arm and dragging him into a nearby bathroom, despite the boy's horrified protests.
"Took you long enough." Penelo commented as the two pirates strolled into the, now mostly empty, store, "What were you doing for so long?"
Under other circumstances, Balthier would have replied with 'I believe the correct question is not what but who' but decided to keep his mouth shut. Vaan just shrugged, grinning sheepishly.
Fran tilted her head curiously at the guys while Penelo continued, "So, uh, Balthier told you, right? Our plan?"
"Yeah, to get Ashe and Basch together. Vaan replied, interlocking his fingers behind his head.
Balthier pulled a chair, "I think you're forgetting who you're dealing with here. Ashe is not the fallen princess, Resistance member that she was when we knew her. She is Queen."
"I think we noticed, thanks."
Balthier briefly wondered why he'd never taken the time to shoot Vaan in the back, "Well, has Her Majesty kept in touch with any of you?"
Silence.
"My point. Besides, Queens marry royalty, not the knights of other kingdoms. If anything, she's more likely to end up with the child Emperor."
Penelo shot him a look that had him retracting his words immediately, "You know, for a ladies' man, you're incredibly unromantic."
Stab.
Vaan laughed, "So what if Ashe is Queen? She's still Ashe, right?" he beamed, "All of us, including Captain Basch, helped her get her kingdom back. That's gotta count for something, right?"
Balthier deadpanned. Apparently, even though Vaan had 'grown up' in a sense, he was, unfortunately, still idealistic Vaan.
The young pirate slung his arm around his childhood friend's shoulders, "Like... Ashe's knight in shining armor."
Penelo brought her hands together, "Yeah..." she breathed out dreamily, "Love overcoming national and political barriers. It's perfect."
Since when had Rabanastre's orphans become so cliché romantic? Balthier glanced at Fran who smirked slightly at him.
"Even the carefree young thief knows how to romance better than you."
Stab stab.
He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. If Vaan had pissed him off back then, his newfound sky pirate attitude had just increased that tenfold. Balthier glared as hard as he possibly could, without sabotaging his elegance, at his young ex-not-apprentice, not that Vaan noticed. Which just riled Balthier up even more.
Instead, the boy loosened his grip on his friend and turned to face her, "Where do you suppose we start?"
"Well, a few people from the Archadian Empire and Rozzarian Kingdom, including their leaders, are going to be here in Rabanastre tomorrow." she explained.
Balthier narrowed his eyes, "Convenient timing."
Penelo blinked at him, "No, not really. I specifically called you here today because of that."
Ah, of course. Smart Penelo returns. Where were you a few hours ago?
"Right." Balthier started, "Regardless, it makes little difference if they're both here or not. She's still Queen and he's still a royal knight, I sincerely doubt that officials would let four law-breakers anywhere near them."
Vaan cocked his head to the side, "You're being unusually pessimistic."
"Well, someone has to stay realistic." he replied bluntly.
"Anyway, I wouldn't put too much faith in Ashe," Vaan continued, ignoring the , already miffed, pirate outright, "but Basch will listen if we ask nicely."
Balthier smirked, "Yes, all we need to do is have Vaan bat his eyelashes at him and mention either if their estranged brothers and he'll be putty in our hands."
Instantly, Fran shot him a look of disapproval while Vaan's face dropped into a scowl, "My brother was not estranged. Don't you ever mock him."
The pirate pursed his lips together. Vaan hadn't shouted, hadn't lashed out, hadn't attacked him; he was dead serious and, much to Balthier's horror, kind of intimidating.
Without another word, Vaan took ahold of Penelo's hand and stomped out the door. The girl tried to turn around as she shouted back the address of somewhere the pair could stay for the night, but had been dragged too far away before she could complete her sentence.
Balthier sighed.
Well, this trip to Rabanastre had started out wonderfully.
A/N: I know, a Basch/Ashe fic with no sign of either of them yet. We'll get there.
Please review and let me know what you thought. Reviews make me veryhappy :DD
-Shandi