Summary – Tonight, she came to see him and asked him something's special...
Spoilers – Set after Ridorana Cataract/The Pharos and before the final battle at the Sky Fortress Bahamut.
Disclaimer – This story is my idea. All Final Fantasy XII characters/plot belong to SquareEnix.
Author's Note –Two of my fics are still WIPs or on hiatus...please be patient. I made this as a one-time stand-alone story.
Also, I would like to thank Cloud Strife (the proofreader) who help all the errors, mistakes, etcetra.
The Last Kiss
We could fly
You and I
On a cloud
Kissing, kissing
- Bliss: 'Kissing'
Balfonheim Port is a bustling town where the roaring sounds of laughter and music fill each night. It was a warm evening with a light of cool breeze whispering across the wharf. It's a place heaving with bars, brothels and other less reputable establishments. And it's a haven for sky pirates, adventurers, wayfarers and other locals of Ivalice.
Ashelia B'Nargin Dalmasca is one of the wayfarers, but she is also the sole surviving member of the Royal family who fought against the Empire who taking over her kingdom for four tormented years. She is a Princess who lost everything she loved: Her family. Her bridegroom. Her kingdom. Everything. All that is left to her is a struggle for survival. Her weapon of choice is to save Dalmasca without surrender or defeat or even sacrifice, Ashe continued to carry the torch…and she wants to take it back.
Her comrades. Her friends. They are the only lucky ones she has left after their dangerous journey. She shared her hopes and courage with them, and her dream to reclaim her world from domination and conquering.
Captain Basch fon Rosenberg, was the only knight she cared for when she was very young, despite he's being wrongfully accused as her father's murderer. She trusts and believes in him, and silently accepted him as a protector after Vossler's death. For Vaan and Penelo, orphans of Dalmasca who bring balance of their spirit and the days of adventure during their first taste of the outer worlds. Although they still look very young, but their eagerness and courage growing faster, as they quick mature.
And as for Fran and Balthier, they were two sky pirates whose loyalty for the Princess. The Viera, Fran, is a strong and brave part of the group because of her cool words of wisdom and wit, and she's very sensitive to the Mist while she's sensing it, Ashe and her group always make sure to ask the Viera if she's perfectly fine whenever they're in a thick area of Mist. It was Balthier's 'leading man' quality that aroused Ashe's curiosity. This sophisticated, cocky, and quite charming of a pirate who's ran away to cut the ties to the past. He shared with the Princess during their long journey to Archades to find some answers. Despite as a citizen of the Archadian Empire/Ashe's enemies, their mutual friendship became personal, embodying the true meaning of companionship and intellectual attachment without being found out by their fellow allies, especially the eager Captain Basch.
For Ashe, her feelings come out cool but sympathetic towards Balthier. She had never felt like this with a passion that made her intent for the two years since Prince Rasler's death. She wanted to speak to him for a while privately before others were asleep from exhaustion and bereavement: at the Pharos the day after and then Al-Cid Malgrace appeared and announced to her and her comrades that the Great War has begun as the Resistance and Rozzaria formed up together against the Empire.
It was half past midnight as Ashe walked alone from Reddas's manse to the cobbled streets between Quayside Court and Gallerina Place. She could hear a group of men outside from a different pub, and was cognizant of loud music; all the raucous fun of a night in full swing. She walked away from them but one of them sang to her. Luckily, another reveler grabbed his friend and they walked away from her.
She was finally safe as she reached at the Aerodrome with a sigh of both relief and exhaustion. She walked through the hallway and quietly sneaked inside the hangar where the Strahl was located. It was dark and quiet as Ashe watched the airship looming in the moonbeams above the sky roof of the hangar.
She saw the opened hatch of the Strahl and she carefully climbed inside. There she walked in from the emptied hallway and to the cockpit where she found Balthier, leaning on the pilot's seat, resting his hands behind the back of his head with his feet crossed on top of the control panel.
"I could hear your lovely footsteps as you approached me, Princess." he said in his rich upper-crust Archadian accent; he sat there without turning to her.
"Oh. Just as I might expect, Balthier." said Ashe as she moved slowly to the co-pilot's seat. "Mind if I join you?"
Balthier turned and gave her a simple suave smile. "Please do."
She nodded gently and sat on the seat next to him.
They remained quiet for a while after the confrontation against Judge Gabranth, then the sacrifice of Dr. Cid at the Pharos of Ridorana Cataract, silence in a moment since the loss of their fellow ally, the Pirate Lord Reddas, who had taken his sword to destroy the Sun Cryst. Ashe's expression had been grim on her delicate face as she walked on the streets of Balfonheim before reaching the Aerodrome, glimpsing the other sky pirates gathered in celebration of Reddas's life. Some cheered, toasted their mugs of ale, and sang for him; others broke into tears and prayed to the Gods to thank him.
She felt the sense of belief creating the last sacrifice. Despite her grief, her dangerous and perilous journey to reclaim Dalmasca's independence continued, and Princess Ashe had her own agenda: live or die. Her friends still ahead of her, a few steps to the path of glory.
Tomorrow, they're ready to leave Balfonheim Port. And this would be their final journey to the war zone where the world-dominating madman and his floating death ship were en route to the heart of the Dalmascan Territory.
"Can't sleep?" asked Balthier.
She glanced at him. "No." she answered as she crooked her neck. "You?"
He shook his head lightly. "Nope."
"Oh." she paused.
They lay quiet and tranquil without remorse as they could see the rays of moonbeams outside from the opened roof above.
Then, seconds later, her eyes lowered lazily to the control panels. "It's so peaceful and quiet around here."
"Yes, it is. Because, we're in my ship."
"Oh, right." she acknowledged sheepishly.
And it was still quiet between them as Ashe began to move her mouth to speak to him, but she thought better of it, then felt her face burn and her cheeks flushed red. She did not answer, but reluctantly as she stood up, said, "I should go back."
"Something wrong?" Balthier asked.
"I don't want to disturb you."
"Disturb me?" his eyes gave an odd look. "How come?"
She felt confused. "Well…I…"
"I know how you feel. It's because you're feeling anxious for tomorrow's battle." the sky pirate explained. "Just relax, Princess. And please, why don't you just stay for a while and make yourself comfortable. All right? Just rela..."
"Okay, okay. Fine." she sighed woefully, and sat back in her seat.
"Good. That's more like it."
"And what in Gods' name are you, Balthier? A sky pirate or a psychiatrist?"
"Maybe I'll make it both." he jested with a light chuckled.
She lowered her head and clenched her fist. "I'm sorry…I don't know what am I worrying about. But…there's something missing from what I'm thinking of…"
"Of what exactly?"
She closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. "Nothing."
"Nothing?"
Ashe gave a slightly stern look and said nothing. Balthier hesitated, and with a groan and back on his same place.
They sat in silence again for a moment, then…
"Do you think is going to be the last battle?" asked Balthier, his hands rested behind his head.
"Yes indeed." Ashe said firmly as her eyes closed. "War is going to be on the horizon soon. Just as Al-Cid said."
He scoffed with a grin. "Oh, so that's why you're worried about him, Princess." he sneered. "And I don't know why you've been courting that foppish prick of a Prince."
Her eyes opened and she leaned towards him. "That's none of your business, pirate." she hissed, and then she gave him a coy look. "And what about you. You've were sitting here alone for hours right after Al-Cid left, and everyone including Fran asked where you had gone. And I know why - you're upset or you're jealous. I could see that in your face this afternoon between me and..."
"Hell no!" he beamed as he moved towards her. Face to face. "I'm not bloody jealous!"
"Yes you are."
"You know why?" He raised his eyebrows wickedly. "I saw you slyly the other day at the Kiltias Temple and then at Reddas's manse with this same pompous Rozzarian twit kissing your hand again."
"You've misunderstood, Balthier. I'm being polite as a royal, not a teaser, and besides, he's now our important ally. End of story."
"Forgive me, Princess. I don't want to spoiled your love life."
"That is not what I'm concerned about it, you philanderer." she retorted sweetly, but with anger. "Or I don't want to spoiled your aim to save your precious head of yours."
"Oh, you've noticed that."
"That's right, you worthless, miscreant, good-for-nothing, bastardly scoundrel!"
He gave flashed her his wicked grin. "Careful, Princess. Don't let that royal bad-mouthed attitude burst out loud while you keep me forever scorned."
"What was that, pirate?"
And then suddenly, they paused in a moment of argument. They brushed each other off and leaned back into their seat, and there was silence again.
Calmly, hesitantly, Balthier spoke after a while. "Look, I'm sorry. I came here and I have needed to be alone for a while since we left Ridorana…" then his face went stern as Ashe turned at him. "You did everything you could, Princess. I know what your anger was against. It is your choice for revenge wise?"
She saw everything that had happened that day at the Pharos Lighthouse. The Sun Cryst awoke and rose, as Ashe almost took a step against it. The Mist burns her with anger and retribution more than fear. Revenge? That's the Occurian's words for her. No. This will never happen and she had given up seeking revenge. For her sake, the Sun Cryst will be damned into oblivion.
"I don't know, Balthier. In my heart, I don't want to take some advantages by hurting anyone and going down the wrong path." she said solemnly. "I learned everything. And all I want is to bring my birthright and my kingdom back. I want this whole war ending in peace."
Balthier smiled sadly with both of his arms folded against his chest. "I understand now. Don't you worry and we're here to fight along with you. With a bit of luck, of course. And we'll stumble against Vayne and defeat him for eternity."
She chuckled sheepishly, and then she lay back to the seat and went quiet. She turned her head back to Balthier, who leaned back in his favorite seated position. His face frowned into silence and his weariness showed. The Princess had never seen this charming sky pirate affected by grief and bitterness.
So, Ashe had finally learned what had happened to him. "I know how you feel."
"Huh?"
She leaned forward slightly from her seat. "What I mean is about your father." she said slowly and somberly. "I'm terribly sorry."
He forced a sad smile again. "It's alright, Princess." he said, staring at the console.
"You hated him so much."
"I hated more what he was about to become." he answered grimly. "So much for the bitter end... I wanted to see him again one last time."
"You did your all to save him, Balthier." comforts Ashe. "As for me, I don't want to hurt your feelings against him."
He shook his head lightly at her. "You don't have to." he said in confidant but simple way.
"Is he a good father?"
"Yes, he is."
"And he cares for you?"
Balthier nodded and sighed, he turned to the window, watching to the moonbeams above the hangar. "My father was a brilliant man. But then the moment came later on of what I feared would happen to him six years ago. It was like an entity that entered his body...like becoming a monster."
Comprehending, Ashe recalled being with Balthier at the Phon Coast before their journey to Archades. He had told his past story when he had been posted as a judge by his father, the Nethicite that Dr. Cid obsessed over, and his fellow shadow called Venat, who appeared everywhere from the Draklor Laboratory to the Pharos Lighthouse, as Cid was immolated by his own son.
"My father is not a monster, Princess." he continued and exhaled in grief. "I wanted to help him as long as I could. Everything, including sharing memories with my mother."
"Is your mother..."
"She died when I was fifteen."
Her eyes lowered. "I'm sorry."
He grinned calmly and nodded.
After exchanging these sympathies, they sat in silence again as Ashe moved forward with both arms placed against on her lap. "Tell me about her." she said.
He glanced. "Who?"
"Your mother."
The sky pirate withdrew. "It's embarrassing."
"Why not?"
He raised his brows in hesitation. "I told you it's embarrassing."
"Promise I won't tell. Cross my heart." vowed Ashe as her index finger drew an x over her heart. "Swear to Gods."
Finally, he gave up and cleared his throat. "She was very beautiful, vibrant, charming. And a little more demanding than my father."
"Demanding?"
"Oh, yes she was. My mother treated me too much when I was very young." And then he scoffed sarcastically and continued. "Funny, how can a parent's strict nature be maintained through the bloody nerves? Like she's asking me where am I going, spying on me when I was with my friends. And even if I picked a single fruit from one of the kitchen basket–I had to ask her first before take any...every single day."
She snickered. "How cruel."
"All I have to do is hide fast as I could, and when she called me she would say 'Little Ffamran' to me!" He buried his face in his hands with a wary look and groaned himself. "Gods! I was thirteen and she was still calling me that."
He paused as he saw the Princess snicker then laugh. "Oh, I'm sorry." She stopped as she covered her laughter, but couldn't keep in a slight giggle. "I didn't mean to."
For the first time in two years, Princess Ashelia B'Nargin Dalmasca laughed. And as for Balthier, formerly known as 'Ffamran Mied Bunansa,' the prodigal son turned sky pirate, had made himself laugh as well.
Their laughter faded as Balthier rubbed his chin. "Tell me about your mother, Princess?"
"She wasn't too demanding." she sneered. "And is a good mother. She loves me and my father very much."
"Besides that."
"Besides what?"
"Describe her." he replied in his smooth and suave voice.
"Well..." she began as she leaned back on her seat, wrapping her arms around her chest. "She was very beautiful. So beautiful and sophisticated. I was very young–about three years old–when I saw her face before she passed away in her deathbed, and I can't described closely what my mother supposed to be and what she looked like."
"She has your eyes, Princess." Balthier explained. "It's like passing a gene of a beautiful woman. Scientifically speaking I'd say."
She turned at him. "You sound like your father."
The sky pirate raised his eyes and looked back to his seat. "Thanks for reminding me about that."
"I apologize."
His eyes met hers. "How did she die?"
"The same that happened to your mother, Balthier. But it was a different rare illness." Sadly, she lowered her head with her lips tightened. Both her hands rested against her lap. "I was there with my father. He carried me and sat next to her bed. She smiled at us before she took her final nap."
"I'm sorry, Princess."
Ashe looked up at Balthier with his mouth crooked in one of his rare gentle smiles. She could feel the way he smiled at her during the journey to Jahara the following the week somewhere at the Phon Coast. It's like he comforted her and it felt safe with him. It was all she would ever remember of the beginning of a platonic relationship with a sky pirate.
Moreover, there was happiness between them. Their relationship is almost as close as before. It's had been two years since Rasler's death. Ashe felt blindly as she would realize that she would wait to speak to him tonight.
"When this war is over." he asked. "Will you be restoring your kingdom?"
"Yes, I have to."
He smirked. "Ah, a Princess is much better than a Queen."
Her eyes stern. "Is there anything wrong with that?"
"No, you have to." he chucked with a glee. "Your people need you and it's your duty to becoming Queen. It's in your hands, Princess."
"Thank you, Balthier."
And there's something else. As she thought this she shivered. Tonight is their final rest at Balfonheim before they fight to live or die at dawn. She was afraid that her thoughts would be of never seeing him again.
"Are you going elsewhere afterwards?" Asked Ashe.
He sighed. I'll live or die as a happy man. "I might be going elsewhere. You know...something more valuable?"
"And you still have my ring?" she inquired. She had given him Rasler's wedding ring. As a compensation for the treasure that Balthier failed to get in Raithwall's Tomb.
"I still have it." he raised his hand with four metal rings of different colors. The fifth one on his last little finger was her silver ring. "See?"
She sighed woefully. "It figures."
"I promise, Princess. I'll return it to you as I finally found it." he vowed.
She turned away from him as she shifted back to her seat. "I'm glad you and Fran to held hands and I wanted to say thank you for everything." added Ashe. "I'm glad the two of you as I didn't noticed as thieves, outlaws or whatsoever...I mean, I know you've hated the Empire too much."
He sighed slightly. "Well it's my job to steal the Imperial's treasure from the innocent citizens of Ivalice."
"Robbing from the rich and giving to the poor?"
"Exactly."
Then, she was calmed. She turned at him. "And I want to know about you, Balthier."
"Well, you know everything about me, Princess."
"And it's about you and Fran." she replied with a less resentful voice. "Do you love her?"
The Princess was quietly inconsolable over what she had witnessed between the sky pirate and his Viera partner at the Pharos lighthouse. He came close to Fran, shrouded in an outbreak of Mist around her body. He was kneeling down next to her as his arms were around her shoulders, and Fran's hand was on his cheek. Lovingly. Ashe had finally understand with a little less heartbreak as she looked away from them while she's paying attention to destroying the Sun Cryst.
"Yes, but it's not that way between us." he answered clearly. "She's my best friend and the best partner I have."
She exhaled slightly with a little sigh and looked at him. Then, the touch of his hand warmed hers, making her calm. The communication of physical gravitation surrounded them. With intense passion, she wanted to touch him: to shrink from her fears and emotions into the comfort of his arms.
"Princess." he chuckled kindly. "I'm so glad I'm on your side. I'm still your shield as if you need a hand."
"Thank you, but I didn't mean too much on purpose–"
"No, you're not." he beamed.
Her eyes closed. "I'm grateful."
"I'm also to thank you for sharing this moment tonight. And it's my first time with a person who is blithe to me."
"Am I?" her voice tense, unaccustomed to her shyness. "And you are blithe to me, Balthier."
"We're all blithe, Princess."
They both shared an easy laugh until Ashe became disconsolate and returned her smile to him. Her mouth parted as she had began to speak, but she hesitated. She stood up from her seat as Balthier followed. She sighed finally with a facile appearance.
Balthier gave an odd look. "Is there anything wrong?"
Her eyes rose to his, but then turned away. "Balthier, there is..." then her voice began to stutter with hesitation and confusion as the sky pirate stood, waiting to move. "...I...uh."
"Princess? Hello?"
Her breath trembled and she stood patiently. "Sorry. Just forget about it." she said crisply. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."
Ashe was uneasy over her words, as she had to question him with moving away from him. She stopped again and turned to him, but she paused a moment and then started to leave.
"I think you're saying something." he said. "Or you've been hiding."
"No, I'm not hiding."
"Then why do you look so tense?"
She stopped again without looking at him, but... "Look, I'm not tense." she retorted.
"Yes, you are."
Her heart was racing before she replied wordlessly, walking, or even storming, her feet away from the cockpit like an anxious child. Then she gave up. Surrender. She turned, looking at him nervously and yet quiescently one last time.
"Oh, crap. I mean..." her voice loosened, but she cleared it. "I mean..."
Balthier sighed in dismay, his arms folded against his chest. "I know you've been worried about tomorrow... or is there anything else you wanted to tell me."
She looked agitated again. "Balthier, I..." She paused.
"Princess, just say it and let me help you."
She groaned. "Can you trust me?"
"I trusted you as a friend."
She took a breath and began. "What I mean is...I can't be sure that we'll be seeing each other again when this is over."
"If you talking about your ring. I told you, I promise I'll give it back to you." he answered reluctantly.
"I know, but that's not what I'm asking for." she answered back.
"Or you're planning to steal my airship again." he jested.
She shook her head. "Absolutely not."
"So then... what is it you've to tell me?"
Then the truth revealed as her eyes met his. "I need to ask you a favor tonight, Balthier. And what I'm asking is this...will you kiss me?"
Balthier's face went blank. He still stood, facing her in a moment of silence.
So there. The agitated but fearsome Princess Ashelia continued as she felt her heartbeat slowing her down. "I want so many things tonight." then her face lowered down. Sadly. "And I wanted to tell you my deepest feelings about you because you're the one who gave me so much hope and cared for me during our journey before it was about to end. And I feared that we might never see each other again. I know...I know you understand this, why I came here and asked you here tonight...will you?"
For six years of Balther's life, he never had a strong feeling like this, not falling in love. For him, he had flirted with every woman without love, and had taken and discarded with ease.
A simple smile crooked the corners of his mouth as he move towards her. His hand took her chin and rose slowly and his eyes met hers, intimately close. He took a breath and relaxed in soft sedation.
"Then perhaps as a leading man, it's a first time I've never kissed a royal. But...in that case." his head move closer to hers. Slowly. "Our first..." he murmured, and moved closer as Ashe's lips trembled. "...and last kiss."
His lips brush hers with a soft, slow, and gentle touch. Ashe gave a slight gasp with a shiver down her spine and then it soothed and warmed inside her body as her eyes closed deeply.
For the past two years, she'd never been kissed like this, like Rasler had once shared with her. It was the kiss she wanted to bear. A kiss that took her on a journey through time and space: she traveled across the vast desert of Estersand, to the clear turquoise seas of the Phon Coast, and to the heavenly skies of Ivalice.
It was like born-again or been baptized. The kiss awakened the memory of pure passion and a sweet sense of temptations. It was blessedness. Desirable. Delirious. And she felt possessive like never before.
Balthier moved gently with his hand resting around the nape of her neck and to the back of her head, helping her to kiss more carefully. His other hand was on the small of her back, pressing her body close to his.
Wanting more of this intense kiss, Ashe moved one arm and slid it slowly around his neck. The other was gently clutched on one of the metal clasps of the back of his vest. She was relaxed then, but her body jolted with the hot touch of his tongue languorously stroking her lower lip then her tongue, making her moan softly. Her hand clutched tightly on the clasp as it popped out, suddenly free. She ignored it as her same hand slid inside under his vest to meet the soft silk of his shirt. His hard lean back. Moving her hand over it slowly. Touching it more. Wanting it more...
She becomes greedier because of this kiss. She wanted badly the sweetest taste of his tongue. She wanted more of the touch of his body welcoming her. Inviting her. Wanting it more...
They broke apart from their kisses afterwards. Balthier leaned his forehead gently against hers as their eyes closed for a moment. Their mouths opened and parted as they breathed, waiting to say a word.
Ashe smiled peacefully with tears on her eyes. "Thank you, Balthier." she whispered.
"You're welcome, Princess." replied Balthier with a whisper.
"Sorry about your vest...I didn't mean to do this." she said to him in an apologetic manner. "Shall I put it back for you?"
"There's no need for that." he chuckled lightly. "No need. And I'm glad we're safe here without Basch."
"He'd already know about us."
They looked at each other as Balthier smiles at her. "We'll end this tomorrow." he declared. "And I'm right behind you. No matter what."
"We'll pray for all of us in the end." she answered softly.
"I won't fail you." promised Balthier as Ashe took a breath with a gently warm sense of relief.
She pulled away gently until she met his gaze. She stared at him as he flashed a little grin at her. Their eyes met again, giving a last glimpse of tenderness and endearment.
"Goodnight, Princess." said Balthier while he held her hand and kissed it softly on the skin of her knuckle.
"Goodnight, Balthier." replied Ashe finally, then she walked away to the nearest exit from the cockpit. But she was surprised when her hand was still holding on to his.
She turned slowly to Balthier, still staring without speaking or even smiling back. Wordlessly, he pulled her gently and slowly while he stepped closer to her. His eyes lowered down to her hands he was holding, then he released one of her armguards carefully free from her skin and placed it there on the passenger seat. His fingers laced and intertwined with hers. His other hand brushed Ashe's faded scar from the day that summoning an Esper had gone violently out of control. Ashe almost painfully dismembered her own arm; she would never forget that accident what could have happened.
Balthier took an audacious breath as his eyes stared at her. He still held her same hand, stroking and caressing the soft satin of her milky skin.
"You know," he said, his voice sounding abandoned. "There's something I wanted to tell you tonight."
She was speechless as Balthier continued, brushing her cheek lovingly with his other hand. "These are same words that you said to me..." he leaned closer to her. "Ashe."
"Balthier." she whimpered.
He returned his lips to hers, their hands still held. Their bodies pressed against each other, with every beat of their hearts felt by the other. Slowly, they began to take their clothing off each other, one by one. Layer by layer.
This time, the warm touch burned with desire and lust invitingly. Lovingly. Enticingly. Forbiddingly. It took over their senses. They wanted more as they continued with their intense kisses and lovemaking. It was so vivid; they would never forget this tonight.
Tonight, their last kiss is the last moment of their lives.
The Strahl stood in silence in the darkened hangar, surrounded by moonlight. So quiet and peaceful, until the humming sound came from the hatch as it suddenly moved upward and sealed itself.
Please R&R, KUPO!