Disclaimer: Square Enix owns Final Fantasy XII and all characters within. William Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" obviously belongs to William Shakespeare because really, what kind of idiot would I be to say otherwise.
"Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more."
The library in the palace is a perfect place to sit and think of anything you wish. He comes in to relax, she comes in to read, and their paths eventually coincided enough times to realize that sitting with each other while in the same building wasn't a horrid thing. She liked to read old plays and poems, though for reasons she didn't fully explain, but he can take a guess. It is to reminisce. In her voice, he hears the life she once knew before her days as Judge and a mentor and a soldier. There is a sort of powerful softness in her voice that tells him of all the things she might have been before, all the things she could have been, had it not been for her current pursuits.
"Men were deceivers ever."
He knows that the days of youth are gone, and thus no man smiles as much in his adult years as he would as a child. But still, her face looks a bit too hardened to excuse her expression as a naturally occurring one like that of everyone other person. Even as she sits here and reads aloud, her face does not match what she says, nor does it match the tone she says it in. Her voice can command hundreds of men to shake in fear, to follow her every whim, but it is being used instead for mild-mannered dialogue. Ah well, there are two sides to every person, he supposes.
"One foot in sea and one on shore."
Judges are not whole beings. Half is locked away for others never to see, and the other half serves the higher powers that be of Arcadia. The first half is seldom exposed, except for when pursuing personal hobbies, which is why he takes pleasure in hearing her read. When she reads he hears the warm winds of young summers, those days when she was still looked upon by a parent's fond smile. He imagines her in one of those memories she so rarely and fondly spoke of, sitting in the grass in a summer dress, long brown hair falling freely, unhindered by metal armor and duty. He imagines what she might have looked like when she smiled without a care, but when he looks at her face again he realizes that now, smiling like that would be impossible. Such a shame, really. She seemed the type to have a smile worth noting.
"To one thing constant never."
No Judge speaks very freely of their past. She has not shared more than two or three instances of who she was, even though they've worked together for a few years now. He only knew the names of her family and their faces, as they came to the parties and balls that were thrown at the palace. Names and faces that held such power, but had no memories tied to them on his end. Whenever she talked with them, he wondered if she ever yearned for the days when she was still a large part of their lives.
"Then sigh not so, but let them go..."
He supposes it doesn't really matter now. Each Judge came from a place they probably hadn't wanted to be in or could not be in any longer, and found their way here. A nest of vipers, he'd once heard this palace called. House Solidor: a host of poisonous snakes that always strike with the intention of killing. He's not so sure what to make of this…title, at first. But he supposes that this too, matters very little. Every royal needs a protector, and every protector needs a place to be of use. And so each Judge found their way to their rank, and gained a life they might not have had had it not been for that chance meeting that led them here.
"…and be you blithe and bonny."
This part always makes him smile in amusement, just a little. Drace's voice is rather sharp for a woman's, echoing the pride that she and others have put into her. It doesn't sound as though it should be speaking of such trifles as being "blithe and bonny". Personal happiness is not a Judge's first priority.
"Converting all your sounds of woe..."
Life is not ideal by any means (especially in this country), but all things considered, it is good. Compared to where he'd come from before, wanting in family and house, living here and being of use here was not the worst thing in Ivalice. For years he'd struggled, not knowing where to put himself until he found his way to Archades. And here he walked the treacherous path, helping a country that many considered an enemy. But there were things worth fighting for, even here.
"...into hey nonny, nonny."
And at this part, she is the first to laugh. She knows that she sounds downright foolish, such a childish song having no place in the mouth of an adult. But he laughs along with her, and both reach the conclusion that maybe it was possible, even for a few precious lines of words, to escape one's self and step outside of the usual in order to achieve a little more freedom.
"Sing no more ditties, sing no more..."
He leans back in his seat and crosses his arms, watching her with slight amusement as she rests her cheek against the knuckles of one of her hands, her eyes looking at the words on the pages with a sort of rueful playfulness. He notes that this is not a bad look for her. It tells him that there's still a Hume in there, somewhere inside all that armor.
"...of dumps so dull and heavy."
The window near the table they are sitting at offers a splendid view of Archades, and he gazes outside with a degree of contentment as she continues to read. It is the height of summer, and therefore hot, but it looks pleasant enough when one is not in the heat itself. Most things look pleasant from the distance, he muses with a degree of irony.
"The fraud of men was ever so, since summer was first leafy..."
Hmm, yes. Men were frauds, weren't they? Mortals make many mistakes, several of them terrible. He'd once wished, when he was a boy, that he could be immortal so that he could live forever. Then there was a time, when he grew older, that he'd wished to be immortal so that he could figure out how to do everything right. But now, he finds it's not so bad to be mortal. Mistakes disregarded, he has time enough to appreciate whatever pleasant things come his way. Having all the time in the world would make him take several things and people for granted, and would leave him to live with his mistakes for as long as eternity lasted.
"Then sigh not so, but let them go..."
He closes his eyes and smiles. Drace has probably noticed, because her voice becomes a little softer, as if savoring each line she reads. Yes, this part of the play, when a man sings of life, is nearly over. Then the dialogue will resume, along with the chaos to follow, when not a single man escapes the story without making a great fuss over nothing in particular.
"...and be you blithe and bonny."
A sort of happiness enters her voice at this point, but it is pure and intentional this time, as if to reassure them both that their lives will work out like these lines she's reading. As if being happy was achieved by reassurance from someone else, not through numerous other things empty of value.
"Converting all your sounds of woe..."
He opens in his eyes, somehow finding a genuine smile gracing his lips. Every man with a head on his shoulders knows that happiness is not achieved simply by saying and not doing. But perhaps, with these words written on pages by a man who lived and experienced things before they did, there is some reassurance that happiness comes for all at some point. Until then, maybe one should look for those little rays of sunshine in between the gray clouds. He smirks to himself for a moment before reclaiming his previous smile. Perhaps it is best that this part of the play ends. Why read about what could be done instead of doing it? Rationality will be made whole again. And life outside the pages will, once again, continue as it always has.
"...into hey nonny, nonny."
A/N: This was inspired by my rewatching the 1993 film based on William Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" (which I absolutely adore), and Drace and Gabranth/Noah had been on the brain at the time, which eventually led to a personal headcanon that Drace likes to read Shakespeare and things similar to his writing. This would be just about the only element from the real world that has entered my headcanons and doesn't exist in the canonical world of the characters.
I know it was a bit lengthy, but I hope you enjoyed it~. Thanks for reading!