Fandom: Kingdom Hearts x Final Fantasy XII

Pairing: Balthier x Yuffie Kisaragi

Theme set: Epsilon

Title: Star-Flecked Skies

Rating: PG-13

Warning[s]: Implied sex, language

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy XII, or any of the characters; they are property of Square-Enix. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Notes: Well, never thought you'd see this pairing, eh? It's one of my particular favorites, no matter how cracky it might seem. The crossover is with KH and not FFVII for the use of gummi ships to explain some things and for hints of Squall/Yuffie. Set in no particular time, although since not very many characters other than Balthy appear, it's probably after the FFXII game.

#01 - Motion

The ship rocks beneath her, cavorting wildly in the strong winds, and Yuffie grips the railing with all the strength in her arms, about to be sick again when he comes up behind her, putting a cool hand on her forehead, murmuring softly into her ear, and she relaxes, the airsickness passing (but she doesn't let on to that, and stays in the circle of his arms for several minutes).

#02 - Cool

He's all suave and power and cool smiles, completely in control of the situation, until she shows him she can punch as hard as any man, and the sudden "oh shit" look on his face is completely worth it.

#03 - Young

"You're so young," he murmurs into her ebony hair, shaking slightly, as if scared by the strength of his own desire.

#04 - Last

The last time Yuffie remembers being so completely swept off her feet, she was fifteen years old and the man was Squall, and, well, everyone knew what that led to, so it's only natural she's more reserved this time, more hesitant -- but only until Balthier kisses her, and then her world melts away.

#05 - Wrong

"You're a damn pirate!" she growls, anger making tears spark in her eyes, "and I'm supposed to fall in love with Squall, not you, not you--" and he gives her that look and all protests die soundless on her lips.

#06 - Gentle

The first time he touches her, it's so gentle she almost can't feel it, like she's porcelain and he's afraid of breaking her.

#07 - One

Running down the streets, feet bringing up puffs of dust and sand, breath jerking from her chest in sharp, hurtful gasps, all Yuffie can think is that he's the one, the only one, and if she doesn't make it in time, he'll be flying away, gone forever, a wisp of smoke and she pushes her legs faster.

#08 - Thousand

It was a one in a thousand chance that she'd end up on his planet when her gummi ship decided to die, one in a thousand stars, one in a thousand ships she could have crashed into, and Yuffie thanks those same stars every day that it was his she found.

#09 - King

He dresses up in robes he's stolen, draping pilfered jewelry over himself, laughing -- he's drunk, has to be it -- and she decides that he's more of a king than a leading man.

#10 - Learn

It takes her months to learn all about the ship, months before she stops being so seasick -- airsick, rather, why did she ever climb into a gummi in the first place? -- and it's a full year before she figures out the reason her heart hurts every time she looks at him.

#11 - Blur

"Blink, and I'm gone," she brags, chest puffed out, grin making her eyes sparkle, and Balthier makes a mental note that it might be funny if the young, clueless ninja was taught a lesson in speed; a week later he goes on that mental note, and she beats him so soundly he never once regrets it.

#12 - Wait

She's tired of waiting for her prince charming, so Yuffie decides that it's time to kiss him first and wake him from that sleep he must be in, because if he was awake he would have already realized how perfect and right she was for him.

#13 - Change

It was the way he looked at her, with eyes serious (not like him at all) and mouth pressed into a firm, tired line, that Yuffie knew things were about to irrevocably change.

#14 - Command

"You may be commander of this ship, but don't think you can boss me around, Balthier," she growls as she storms off, slamming the door to the hold loudly enough that the entire ship hears it; wincing, Balthier stares at the door and chews his lip thoughtfully.

#15 - Hold

When he holds her, the entire world is right.

#16 - Need

She needs him like the flowers need sun, needs him as much as she needs air, so much it hurts sometimes, but the pain is worth it.

#17 - Vision

She descends slowly, fiddling with the long yards of violet silk that clings and drapes her forms, nearly shining with the brilliance of it all, and he realizes that he's never seen anything as beautiful as this scruffy ninja in a princess's dress.

#18 - Attention

"Well," he pants, staring at her with wide eyes, lips swollen from her kiss, "you have my attention."

#19 - Soul

She sits like a child, arms wrapped around her legs, solemn look on her face, and speaks softly, telling him secrets no one else has heard before, baring herself before him, not aware of the tears in her own eyes or the way he looks at her, just knowing that she can't stop speaking even if she wanted to, and she knows that she went to the right person because not a single sound escapes his lips, not even when she falls silent and cries into the night sky.

#20 - Picture

They're not picture-perfect, not like Rinoa and Squall are, but she thinks they have their own sort of charm, anger and fighting and pouting and way too many glittering chains and all.

#21 - Fool

She was a fool to fall for him, fall so hard it hurt, but then he was just as much a fool for catching her.

#22 - Mad

When she grins sometimes, Balthier thinks of the Cheshire Cat, madness glinting in her eyes and a stupid, stupid plan written plain across her face, as bright as daylight and as obvious as stolen gold.

#23 - Child

"But I want--" "You're such a child--" and the entire ship always knew when they were fighting, but that's okay, because it ended right... usually.

#24 - Now

"Why worry about the future," she asks, balancing on the rail of the ship, arms extended and tongue sticking out in concentration, "when we're together in the here and now and happy?"

#25 - Shadow

There was sometimes a shadow in her eyes, flickering forth rarely, shadows that told of past loves and lives and regrets and adventures, and he wonders if she misses them, if she'll go back to them, and hopes to God that she won't.

#26 - Goodbye

They both knew the time would come eventually, but they kept putting it off, never talking about it, rarely thinking about it, believing that if they just didn't say it aloud it wouldn't true, but it was, damn it, and when she left it was like a huge, gaping universe appeared in his chest, black and absolute and sucking the essence of him into it, drying him out and leaving him wrung and exhausted and so aching that he wanted to scream.

#27 - Hide

It's the storm that scares her, scares her down to the core-bone of her being that she doesn't like to look too closely at, but she waits it out, arms over her head, knowing he'll come for her.

#28 - Fortune

"This is not a fortune, damn it," she yells, throwing down the cookie and giving him a look that clearly says, despite all logic, that this is his fault; he smiles, and buys her another cookie anyway.

#29 - Safe

It's raining, and the enemies aren't drawing away but pressing closer, armor dark and slick, faces masked, weapons shining in the streetlights, and he nearly gets himself skewered because all he can think of is whether or not she's safe.

#30 - Ghost

It's Squall's ghost that lurks in her soul, he's sure of it; a ghost that isn't dead, but the remnants of whatever it is they shared, and it stops her, sometimes, from giving herself completely to him, and they both know that she'll never become truly his until she gets rid of the ghost, and they both know, too, that she's not ready for that yet.

#31 - Book

She frowns at it, all pouting lips and huge eyes, and complains about the lack of pictures in this "marvelous" book of his.

#32 - Eye

When she really wants something, she'll bat her eyes at him because she knows he can't resist that (usually because he's laughing too hard to put up a good fight).

#33 - Never

The first time he hits on her, she says she'll never date a pirate, but it's for a reason he could never guess; later, he learns that she's afraid she'll steal all his money and treasure, and of course that would never let them work.

#34 - Sing

"Yuffie, please, please, I beg of you, stop singing plea--ouch!"

#35 - Sudden

The knowledge comes to Yuffie suddenly, without pretense, without warning, and, staring at Balthier, she doesn't see Squall standing behind him, doesn't hear Squall in her ear, doesn't feel the damn man anywhere, and she starts crying just because it's taken so long for her to forget him that she misses it, damn it all.

#36 - Stop

"Just stop it, Yuffie," and he regrets the words and his harsh tone immediately when her eyes go flat and she jerks away before he can stop her.

#37 - Time

Time and time again they argue, clashing over the littlest things, over his womanizing and her not telling anyone what she's doing or where she's going, and time and time again they come back together, whispering apologies in the night, knowing that despite all the little annoyances, they love each other too damn much to stay apart for long.

#38 - Wash

The first time they take a bath together, it doesn't end too well; apparently Yuffie is possessive about her pomegranate shampoo, and Balthier ends up smelling like too strong women's soap all day because she threw the bottle at him in her own parody of revenge.

#39 - Torn

"Tch," Balthier growls, yanking at his sleeve, "that was my best shirt, too--" only to stop talking because Yuffie is laughing too hard.

#40 - History

The history of their land confuses her nearly to tears, just because she wants to understand more about it so she can know more about him, so he patiently sits down with her and begins plotting out the royal lineage and how they all got into this mess yet again.

#41 - Power

For a while, she believes that power is making someone do your will, or carry out your will despite protests; after she spends time with Balthier, entangled in their crazy, loving, often stupid relationship, she comes to understand that real power is making someone stop talking with a look, or managing to get him to give in when she says please, and, most importantly, that power often isn't that important at all.

#42 - Bother

"Oh bother," and Yuffie suddenly thinks of a strange little yellow bear she knew once upon a time, and thinking of Balthier in a bear suit reduces her to a wiggling mass of laughter incapable of coherent thought for the rest of the day.

#43 - God

If there really is a God, Yuffie thinks, sitting on the deck with him, staring up at the star-flecked sky, then He must have brought them together, because no one else would look at them and see how well they fit, especially when worlds separated them.

#44 - Wall

He presses himself against the wall, grinning thinly, sweat dribbling down his face, wondering where his spear went and how long he'll last without it, when a blur of black jumps in front of him, tossing a saucy grin over a sunburnt shoulder.

#45 - Naked

"Balthier, do you have any-- why the hell are you naked..." but really it was her own fault for walking into his rooms without knocking.

#46 - Drive

She isn't exactly sure what drives him, sometimes, and when she asks Vaan and Fran, they can't give her a coherent answer, but it doesn't matter, in the end; he's Balthier, the leading man, and he can do what he damn well pleases.

#47 - Harm

She winces, yelping aloud as he cleans the cuts she received -- not from any battle, but from her "ninja skills" failing and dumping her into a fence -- but his touch is gentle and warm and she decides perhaps the cuts are worth it.

#48 - Precious

To Balthier, Yuffie is far more precious than any stone or jewel or treasure, and for a sky pirate, that's saying a lot.

#49 - Hunger

He can't get enough of her, biting her lip and kissing her deeply, feeling her skin against his, drinking in every bit of her essence to sate the desire that clammers in his head, yelling that he wants to be with her forever and ever and ever, to never let her go as long as they both live.

#50 - Believe

"Believe it," she whispers into his chest, holding onto him so tight he can't breathe, can't breathe because she's really staying, staying with him no matter the fact that she has the chance to go back and restart her old life, but no, she's choosing him over all her friends and even Squall, choosing to stay in this hot and dry and stupid land just because of him, and he wonders if his heart has stopped he's so damn happy, and he barely catches the last of her whisper: "I'm never leaving you."