A/N: Another drabble~ Since I'm so hopelessly stuck with "On Treasury", I decided to focus my attention to this little piece of love, first. It was already on my computer for quite a while, but I've re-written a few bits.

So while you're awaiting the glorious chapter 10 of above-named story, I hope you'll enjoy this!

RedGoldX3, here's your angsty one xD

Pairing: Balthier/Vaan?

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: FFXII is owned by Square-Enix, should it belong to me, then the entire storyline would've looked different. And specific characters would be wearing less clothes :3

A summer in Balfonheim
~~~

Balthier wiped away the sweatdrops that had formed on his forehead. After their latest journey, the Strahl had been heavily damaged, and the crew had been working on the repairs for quite some time now.

"Thank the gods that at least the skystone hadn't suffered any damage," Balthier said to himself as he grabbed a nearby wrench. Even thought they didn't need to worry about money, skystones were very rare these days and purchasing one would take an unnecessary big bite out of their budget.

The summer so far had been very weary. The heat had reached Balfonheim and had driven off the slightest breeze. The brunette had spend most of his days inside the same hangar he was now, working on his airship. If the work had become a bit too much, then he had seated himself nearby the ocean, drink in his hand, thinking about the past.

The pirate stood up and stretched himself, wiping his hands off on his, already dirty, shirt. He walked to the other side of the airship, to find Fran working on the Strahl's engine.

"Fran, I'm going for a drink. Will you be fine by yourself?" he asked his co-pilot, who raised her eyebrow in reply.

Of course Balthier knew the Viera could handle being on her own, it was more out of politeness that he had asked the question.

"Of course," the pirate answered his own question with a laugh. He gave her a small nod and walked for the hangar's exit.

Fran had been his partner for so many years. From when he was still young and reckless, up until now. Throughout the years, it had became obvious that he could trust her with his life and the pirate found it hard to imagine a life without the Viera. Everything Balthier ever needed, he could find at his side at the right time. Fran, their mechanic Nono, his airship and the members of Reddas' former crew were also around if he ever needed them. Ah yes, the pirate had everything and everyone. Everyone except for one person.

The aerodrome in Balfonheim was as crowded as ever. Sky pirates, merchants, wayfarers and the occasional Imperial Soldier were walking trough the aerodrome's hallways.

"I'm sorry sir, but if you want to travel to Rabanastre, you'll have to go to Archades or Bhujerba first; there are no direct flights," Balthier overheard a flight attendant explain to a costumer.

Rabanastre.
How long had it been since he last set foot on Dalmascan ground.

After Lady Ashe had officially been crowned Queen and a peace-treaty had been sighed with Larsa, who was now the Emperor of Archadia, the war had been halted and Balthier's part in the story was over. He had escaped from Archadian politics a long time ago, it was of no use to linger around any longer. Leaving nothing but good memories behind, the skypirate had returned to what he held most the dear; the sky.

Or at least, he thought that it was the endless blue that was most dear to him. But it seemed that he had left a piece of his hart behind in Rabanastre. In the form of a young, blonde teen. The last time he had seen Vaan was when he entrusted the kid with the Strahl, to nobly save Rabanastre from destruction. He thought of it as a clean cut. When the pirate went to get his airship back, all he left was a friendly note to express his gratitude. Should they have stayed and paid the teen a visit, it would've only complicated things.

Besides, Vaan would grow to be a better skypirate if the brunette wasn't around anymore, so had Balthier told himself.

With a deep sigh, the pirate exited the aerodrome and headed for The Whitecap. In the beginning it hadn't been any problem. There were enough treasuries to be found, continents to travel to and above all, there were enough women who longed for his attention. But after a while, all the adventure, freedom and attention, just couldn't please him anymore. Wasn't there some wise saying about how you desire the things you do not have? Reluctantly, Balthier had admitted that this applied to him as well.

It could've been different of course. There had been that one time when the both of them, street orphan and skypirate, had succumbed to their lusts and ended up waking up next to each other. Without clothes.

Ashamed of what the other would think or how the rest of the party would react, they had blamed everything on the amount of liquor they'd had the night before. With pain in their hearts and a distance between them that hadn't been there before, they had left for the next stage of their journey. The others blamed their odd behavior on the weariness caused by the fear of an impending war.

Over the past years, Balthier had tried his very best to forget about the blonde teen and had thus stayed as far away as humanly possible from Dalmasca and it's capital. Flying over it and taking a glimpse at it's endless deserts was enough for the pirate to take a trip down memory lane. Not even the strongest Bhujerban Madhu could prevent this from happening.

As the skypirate wanted to enter The Whitecap tavern, a blonde-haired, younger pirate stepped outside. The brunette made way for the younger man and for a moment, they made eye contact. But that brief glimpse was enough to travel four years back in time and to dig those carefully buried emotions back up.

"Balthier?" the blonde asked hesitatingly.

If there still had been any doubt, than it would've been completely cleared up now. That voice was still exactly the same as it had been all those years ago; honest and friendly, with a hint of mischief hidden somewhere below.

Nonetheless, Balthier had to blink twice to make sure that his eyes weren't deceiving him. Before him stood that street orphan he had left in Rabanastre back then. Even though he looked a bit more manly, Vaan was still the same. His sun-kissed skin, those messy blonde locks, his naive and boyish smile and that odd and revealing sense of clothing style - which, according to Balthier, was a habit all Dalmascans had.

The skypirate nodded and grinned, "The one and only."

It was only then that he realized the boy wasn't alone; he was flanked by a Viera. She was as gracious as all Vieras the brunette had ever seen. Trademarked by her ears, her long limbs and the silvery hear, only she had cut it short.
Balthier's grin widened; a skypirate and a Viera, now where have we seen that before?

Vaan scratched the back of his head and let out a nervous laughter, as if he knew what the other pirate was thinking about. The blonde looked from Balthier to the Viera and back; "Balthier, this is Eir. Eir, Balthier." The Viera gave a small nod, which the Archadian replied with a similar gesture.

The pirate looked at Vaan again and put up a neutral face; "It's been a while. Even though you haven't changed a bit."

Vaan didn't seem pleased with that statement; "I did change. Skypirate now, you know. I even got my own airship," the Rabanastran said with a laugh.

Balthier smiled in response, "And of course, in his attempt to travel to all the continents, our dashing young skypirate had to make port in Balfonheim."

Crossing his arms and letting out a superficial laugh, Vaan responded; "Actually this isn't my first time in Balfonheim. But I never knew you would be here too."

"Most pirates live here, shouldn't you have noticed," Balthier replied with a wink.

The blonde let out a small laughter as he narrowed his eyes; "Yes, but you aren't like most skypirates."

This made the older one grin, "Cunning reply. Seems you're a better pirate than I thought you would've been."

Eir, the Viera that was accompanying Vaan, carefully put her hand on his shoulder, "I see you have much to discuss about. I will join you again later," she told him and took off, leaving Vaan and Balthier alone in front of the tavern.

An uncomfortable silence fell in between them. The brunette took use of that moment to study the blonde's features again. The years really had done good for the teen, he looked even better than he had done those years ago.

"So eh, you want to go grab a drink or-"Vaan suggested, but he cut himself off mid-sentence, as if he realized what had happened the last time the two of them had drinks together.

In an attempt to salvage the situation, Balthier put up a weak smile and came up with another suggestion; "How about it we just had a little chat instead?"

The blonde nodded in agreement and followed as the brunette lead the way. Entering Saccio Lane, which was one of the numerous places in Balfonheim where you could see the ocean stretching on endlessly into the distance, Balthier halted, "How about here?" he asked the other.

A couple of feet away from them, some men were pushing each other into the water and their laughs were carried on the light breeze. One of the men waved at Balthier, who replied the gesture before turning his attention back to Vaan, who had seated himself down at the edge of the pier.
The brunette followed his example. "I never grow tired of the view," Balthier tried to start up the conversation.

The younger one nodded abscently, "Yes, it's pretty," he nearly whispered as he gazed towards the horizon. "So, how's Fran doing?" he asked lightly, looking back at Balthier.

"As good as ever," the latter replied with a smile. "How about Penelo?" the brunette asked in return, "I'd always thought she'd turn out to be your partner in crime."

Vaan shook his head, "She preferred being on solid ground. Last time I heard from her was when she sent me a note, saying that she was staying in Archades."

The brunette had to laugh, "Big friends with the emperor is she!?" He had hoped that the blonde would loosen up a bit, but it seemed that the boy still behaved as cold as he did before. Balthier realized that he could use all the small talk in the world; it wasn't going to help him.

Vaan sighed and was staring at his lap. The air that hung around them was filled with tension, "You know, I lied about not knowing you were here," the blonde said in a flat tone, catching the brunette off guard. "I've seen you here a couple of times before and I knew the Strahl had suffered quite the damage," Vaan continued.

Balthier raised his eyebrows and sat up straight, looking at the younger one with a confused face, "So why didn't you say something?"

Vaan abruptly turned his face towards the Archadian, revealing the tears that were welling up in his eyes. "What should I've said?" he asked the other, trying to keep his voice from shaking too much; "It was you who had left without saying anything!"

A sudden burst of guilt struck Balthier heavily in the chest. "I-I didn't think there was anything left to be said," he admitted hesitatingly.

Furiously, the blonde jumped onto his feet, tears now rolling down his cheeks; "Oh, I don't know!" he shouted, "How about "I love you Vaan"!?"

The older pirate jumped back onto his feet as well. "Vaan!" he hissed trough his teeth, in an attempt to hush him.

"What, Balthier!?" the blonde replied. "I'm not that naive seventeen year old boy anymore, so don't you even try to play those tricks of yours on me," he cried out to the other pirate.

The brunette was left speechless, he had no idea about those cramped up feelings. Meanwhile, Vaan seemed to have calmed down a bit and he wiped away his tears.

"So, what's it gonna be? Are you finally going to tell me how things really are?" the Rabanastran crossed his arms defensively and coldly looked Balthier in the eye.

"Do you, or do you not, love me?"

It sounded like such an easy question to answer, but inside, Balthier was being shredded into pieces. He now finally had the chance to admit his true feelings. He could tell the boy that he never stopped loving him, and that he never will.
But how would Vaan react? After all those years of not giving the blonde any sign of life, it seemed not very likely he would throw himself into Balthier's arms and kiss him passionately.

The brown-haired pirate asked himself if it was worth ripping those old wounds open again to be able to fully heal them. Wouldn't it be easier to live with the scars they had left behind?

The Archadian took a deep breath. "I do not love you Vaan. Never have, never will," he spitted the words out as if they were venom.

Balthier's heart nearly broke into a thousand pieces, but it was for the best. This way, Vaan could go on with his life properly. The brunette was sure the boy would turn out to be a fine lad, with a family and a decent job. It wasn't because he ruined his own chance of having all that, that he had to drag the boy with him down as well.
Yes, it surely was all in the blonde's best interest.

"I see," Vaan whispered. He blankly stared at the brunette; "In that case, you'll never see me again," he said without blinking.

The blonde then turned around and walked away. Towards the aerodrome and out of Balthier's life.

A/N: I knooooow D:

And now I should really continue studying for my Philosophy exam ._.

Side note: "Eir" is a Norse myth name of a goddess of healing and medicine. Therefore it means as much as: help or mercy.
Disclaimer-ish: The idea of giving Vaan a Viera as a partner, isn't mine. I read it in one of difficile's stories. I hope you can forgive me XD;; Go check out her stories, she's the ultimate master when it comes to Balthier/Vaan fanfic ^^