Hey guys, I know my last fic ended on a depressing note so I wanted to write something with a happy ending. This is one again a Balthier/Vaan pairing, Rated T to begin with but that may change I don't know. Hope you guys enjoy, Review Please!
Who Are You and Who am I?
Balthier was everything that Vaan wanted to be when he got older. The sky pirate was dashing, charming, handsome, and brave, but Vaan didn't like being around the older man much anymore. He was cocky, not that he didn't have reason to be, but Vaan often wished Balthier was a little more…caring. Penelo had always joked about him having a crush on the pirate, and for a while Vaan had started to think that she might have been right, but these days he found that he could barely stand to even be around him.
They were in the Ozmone Plains, resting more than anything. Basch was teaching him and Penelo some new sword techniques and Fran and Ashe were sitting nearby chatting. The pirate, as usual, was off by himself a short distance, cleaning one of his prize guns. Nothing eventful had happened in weeks, and Vaan was starting to get more than a little bored. There was good hunting in the plains, and they had gotten some good battle experience here. None of the fiends were too hard to beat, but not so easy that it was painfully dull to fight them.
A screech erupted from above them, and the six of them snapped to attention as a giant Zu bird swooped down at them. No one panicked, the birds were easy enough to defeat if you had long range weapons. Vaan's sword wasn't much use in this fight, and so he found himself watching Balthier. The older man held his gun in one hand, aiming perfectly and stepping calmly out of the way of a blow at the last second. He was so graceful; the sweat that ran down his brow glistened as though it were diamond droplets. His fighting seemed so effortless, as if the pirate didn't have a care in the world. The bird was almost finished off now, and Vaan waited for the blow that would bring it to the ground. It lashed out a final time in its death throes, but something was wrong. As it lashed out, its strong beak made contact with Balthier's temple. The bird and the pirate fell at the same time, and Vaan seemed to see it all happen in slow motion. The gun fell from the pirate's hand just a split second before he hit the ground himself, crimson blood running down the right side of his face. Once again the boy marveled at how graceful the other man could be even when injured, he hadn't so much as grunt as he hit the ground.
It had, in a way, been a freak accident and Fran knew that Balthier would be a little embarrassed when he woke up. They had carried the injured man back to the Strahl and the wound had been no match for Fran's healing skills. She had told them all that Balthier would be fine when he woke up; he just needed to sleep now. Vaan had not thought much more about the incident since they had left the pirate in his bed and Fran had healed him, it was dark outside now and everyone was asleep he supposed…everyone except him. He was wide awake, and bored. Maybe Penelo was awake, at least then he'd have someone to talk to. He slipped out of his room and quietly made his way down the hall towards Penelo's room. He heard a slight noise coming from the main room of the Strahl and turned around, glad to know that someone else was awake. He was almost down the hall when someone ran past the door of the main room. His interest peaked; he moved on slowly toward the door. When he entered the room he didn't see anyone, he didn't see Balthier sneak up behind him and put the gun to the back of his head, but he felt it. "Turn around," ordered the pirate, but there was something different about his voice…it sounded…unsure. "Balthier? What the…" started Vaan in a startled voice as he slowly turned around to face the older man. "Shut up!," shouted the pirate, still pointing the gun at the boy's head, "Who are you?" "What?" asked the blonde boy, becoming more and more confused. "Tell me who you are before I blow your goddamn brains out kid," warned the pirate, he emphasized his point by cocking the gun. Vaan's mouth hung open, unable to comprehend what was going on. Balthier was not wearing his usual gold vest, and his normally perfectly ironed white shirt was wrinkled and unbuttoned. He had a strange look in his eyes, as if he were…scared. Oh god, thought Vaan, he really has no idea who I am. "Balthier," he stammered, slowly reaching for the alarm button that he knew was on the wall beside him, "Just calm down, Ok. I'm Vaan…you…you know me." The pirate looked at his skeptically, "What did you call me?" Once again the boy was taken aback, "Balthier…that's…that's…your name." The brunette eyed him warily, but didn't answer. He flinched when Vaan hit the alarm, and then he tackled the boy.
That's the scene the others found when they got there. It was Basch's strong arms that finally pulled the pirate off of the boy, and not knowing the situation…let him go so that he could help Vaan up. Balthier's first move was to go for the gun, and now he stood pointing it at all five of his shocked comrades. "Balthier, what the fuck are…" started Basch only to be interrupted by Vaan, "He doesn't know who we are, or who he is I don't think." Basch muttered a string of curses under his breath and began to approach the pirate cautiously, "Balthier, we are your friends. We are not going to hurt you." Balthier tensed, but made no move to pull the trigger, "I don't believe you, prove it," he said. It was Fran's turn to intervene. She approached him slowly, but he shied away. "Balthier, you must let me tell you what I know in secret. You would not be happy for it to be said aloud." The brunette still would not go near her, "Say what you have to say, but stay away from me." Vaan was shocked, was Balthier afraid of Fran? Fran sighed, "Very well then. I can prove that you and I are close, and then you can accept my vouching for the others. Is this satisfactory to you?" The pirate, who seemed as if he were shaking slightly in fear of the others now, nodded his head slowly, but refused to lower the gun. The Viera sighed and looked at the others, "In his right mind he would not want this information to be known to you, keep that in mind," she warned. They nodded in unison and watched her turn back to the pirate apologetically, "Take off your shirt, Balthier, and look at your back in the mirror. On it are seven scars that reach from the top of your left shoulder all the way down to your lower back. They are quite old, but will never heal." She stood there silently a moment, watching the pirate intently. Balthier himself looked as though he didn't believe her, but after a moment he laid the gun down and slipped the shirt off. When he turned to walk toward the mirror Vaan's heart skipped a beat, he'd always assumed that the flawless skin he was used to seeing on the pirate's face covered his entire body…he'd been wrong. Even Basch looked down at the ground, suddenly feeling guilty at how embarrassed of his own scar he was, because it was nothing compared to the pirate's back. Balthier stood with his back to the mirror now, his head craned around examining the scars. He touched them lightly with his fingers, as much of them as he could reach anyway, before looking back at the others. "Who are you," he asked, the fear evident in his voice, "And who am I?"
To be continued…
Hope you guys enjoyed. I am going to immediately start work on Chapter 2 so stay tuned. Review please!