Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy XII. Square Enix does. I just own this story.
The young man questioned himself. Do I really like her??? He thought. He knew he couldn't tell her. They had been friends for almost their whole lives. He could picture her saying:
"Vaan, I'm really flattered but you're like a brother to me. It would be awkward to love someone like you that reminds me of family right???" He continued to walkthrough the streets of Ranbanastre. It was Christmas and he loved how the town was decorated in lights, Christmas tree's, mistletoe's, and other decorations.
Vaan shook his head and looked into the sky. He couldn't help thinking about her. She was an excellent dancer and she never gave up hope. He wanted to spend his whole life with her. Vaan signed and continued to daydream.
"Daydreaming about a Penelo, aren't you? Ah, I remember myself at your age…" Said Balthier, about to break into a story.
"No!" he yelled
"No, what?" asked Penelo, walking up to them.
"Nothing…," Vaan mumbled.
"Perhaps I should leave you two love birds alone. Tata (sp?)," he walked away.
"What was that all about?" she said, Taking a bite of one of the apples she bought. She handed another one to Vaan.
"Nothing, it's not important"
"Are you okay?" she asked
"I'm fine. It's just…"
"It's just what" Penelo had a worried look in her eyes. Vaan just turned away.
"Want me to help you shop?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Really?" she said "You never like doing that."
Vaan looked up at her. "Yeah, well… It's Christmas today and all so I'm being nice for a change." He smirked at her. Penelo smiled back and they started walking. Her smile is so beautiful he thought.
"Hey, you don't like that Larso guy, do you?" he asked ten minutes later. He knew his name was Larsar but he didn't like that he was with Penelo. He hated how he looked at her like she was the only girl in the world for him. Penelo was the only girl in the world for him not Larsar.
"He's very nice" she said handing the man money for the food she got. "Why? You don't like him?" She asked
"That's not what I meant. I mean like like" he said.
"Vaan are you sure you're okay?" but he didn't answer
Vaan and Penelo got home and Penelo started to arrange the food. They lived together. It wouldn't be a big deal because their parents were dead.
"Penelo?" he asked walking into her room when she was done.
"Hi Vaan" She was reading a book
"Uhh… There's something I've been meaning to tell you" he said
"Yeah, me to" she looked down "You first" she said. She walked up to him.
"We've known each other for a very long time now and…" he looked away
"And…?" she asked
"Um… and…" Penelo didn't know what to say next. All of the sudden he pushed her to the wall and hovered over her and kissed her passionately on the lips.
"I love you" he whispered in her ear.
"I love you too" she said, hugging him. Vaan could feel her face bawling in his chest. If reminded him of when he hugged her last (A/N: In the video game when he found her)
It was like a movie playing in his head. He remembered exactly what he said: "it's ok. Were okay" and by the look of thing he could tell she was thinking the same thing. She started to cry but they both knew they were tears of joy. He still didn't want to see her cry so he used his thumb to wipe the tears away.
"Don't cry" he whispered, looking her straight in the eye. He lifted her chin and kissed her again.
"Awwwww" said a teary Balthier. Vaan and Penelo stopped and turned around. Balthier, Fran, Ashe, and Basch were in the hallway. They saw the whole thing.
"That was so cute!" he said wiping his tears with a handkerchief. Penelo had invited them for a Christmas party. Vaan just regretted telling Penelo to give them keys to the house. It was for emergences only.
"What are you doing here?" asked Vaan "The party doesn't start till 7:30 and its 6:00"
"Did't Penelo tell you?" asked Ashe "She said she was going to teach you how to dance and she said we could watch.
Vaan looked at Penelo. I'm not dancing!" he told her
"C'mon. It'll be fun" she said smiling.
"No. You're just trying to show off because I can't dance and you can."
"That's why she's trying to teach you, stupid." Said Basch
Vaan exhaled a deep breath and let Penelo and the rest of them lead him to the living room.
"Ouch!" Penelo wined for the 87th time. "You stepped on my foot again!"
"I told you I couldn't dance" he said. She was teaching him the waltz
"You will get it soon enough" Balthier said. Just try not to step on the girl's feet" he said laughing again and Vaan glared at him. Ashe chuckled and Bash and Fran rolled their eyes
again.
"This is why you don't let Balthier drink" Fran mumbled.
"Agreed" said Basch. "Especially when someone's trying to learn to dance" He was really putting Vaan down. He was also very annoying with his stupid laugh.
Why did I let him bring booze to a house with underage teens? Regretted Fran
After Vaan greeted all the guests and Penelo finished cooking and serving food, Vaan took her to his room.
"So what is it?" asked Penelo once they got there
"Close your eyes" said Vaan, smirking. He couldn't help it. He opened the tiny box. Penelo could feel him behind her putting something around her neck.
"Ok. Now you can open" he said
"Wow. Penelo said. By the look of it you could tell it was expensive. It was a sapphire necklace with a heart hanging down from it. It was engraved and it said 'love me forever'
"Thank you" she said hugging him.
"Merry Christmas" he said. And of course, hanging over them was mistletoe. You can guess what happened next.