I do not own any FFXII characters, just Rulia.
"Wow..they had described it to me, but never had I imagined it to be so beautiful.."
Larsa ran his fingers over the silken clothing - it was jewelled, but despite each jewel being incredibly tiny,
they all shone so brilliantly. The dress had arrived, and it was silver, a perfect colour to bring out someone's true beauty.
"Zargabaath..you shall deliver it for me."
"At what time my lord? Rulia will be in for pretty much the rest of the day - I suggest asking her out for a walk, or, to talk to her in private about..what will be happening on the evening?"
"Just what I was thinking - be careful carrying it, and don't try to wear it, it won't fit you!"
Snorting, Zargabaath looked away, waving his hand in distgust.
"..It's far too small for me anyway."
"Haha! Zargabaath, is this a new you I am seeing? You seem to be coming out of your shell more..which I like.
For now, the dress will stay..aha - in this cupboard! Then, I will see you before I talk Rulia out for a walk, and you will take it to her room. I can't wait to see her face the next day - will she look amused..or bemused I wonder?"
"Time will tell, and I just hope that if she is not happy..."
Basch had begun, but he had quickly shook his head.
"Nay, she will be happy. We..cleared the air last night - I think she will accept the gift, as a way of accepting change."
"Well then..that's settled! Magisters Zargabaath and Basch - you can begin your main tasks for the day!"
"What a day..dealing with blasted petty criminals..oh, the joys of being a Magister. Hmph, at least it wasn't as bad as before when Bergan dealt with such cases.."
Zargabaath had a tiring day, and was on his way to deliver the dress - several lesser judges looked at him briefly, but soon carried on their way when the Magister almost barked at them to carry on moving.
He had to be careful not to dirty it, let it fall - oh, if only Drace were here..to see him doing this would make her smile. Drace - he was very fond of her as well as Rulia.
"I'll take care of her Drace..don't you worry."
Fumbling with a key which was in a pouch on his side, Zargabaath came to a door, and hurriedly opened it - Rulia's room greeted him with a cold air - she had left the window open.
Closing it quickly, he gently laid out the dress on the bed, and looked longingly at it. He pictured her wearing it..at the event tomorrow. He pictured her..and Basch, smiling together. Joking, drinking some Red Wine (at this point, Zargabaath was imagining them drinking Rose of Archades, a particular favourite of his), and eating from a side buffet.
Zargabaath would then make his grand entrance - he would have a long dark red coat, with gold buttons, gold edges - black boots, with black suit trousers to match. Rulia would turn to face him, and he would take her hand, kissing it softly, before asking her for a dance.
He then was brought back to reality - he had to be away from the room before Rulia made her way back - if he was spotted, she would find out what he was up to. Placing a note on the dress, he left, and locked up once more.
Now all he had to do was look forward to seeing her reaction tomorrow at breakfast. He simply could not wait.
Rulia was somewhat late that morning, and Basch, Larsa, Zargabaath, were beginning to worry - had she reacted in a bad way?
"Ugh, why oh why did I sleep in? Sorry for the lateness my lord.."
Zargabaath almost jumped as the door flew open, a slightly stroppy Rulia coming through them, her helm dumped on the table so hard that it nearly rolled off.
She sat back, and closed her eyes for a moment, before opening them with a slight smile.
"..I had an inkling something was going on behind my back. No need to look so petrified boys - it's..very beautiful. I have yet to try it on..but when I have some free time later, I will. I do hope you three have something as equally charming to wear!"
When she uttered that, her gaze immediately drifted over to Zargabaath, who blushed.
"Zargabaath blushing? Now that's the first! Look! Look at how red his cheeks are going!"
"Are-are we quite done yet making fun of me?"
Pretending to be somewhat offended that he was being made fun of, the elder man sat upright and almost growled a response.
Larsa and Rulia were still giggling, but soon stopped as their breakfast pots were being cleared away.
"Is there anyone in particular invited tonight?"
Basch spoke as the Magisters place their helms back on, striding out the hall.
"Al-Cid insisted on coming when I last met him - "
"Oh dear.."
Rulia sighed heavily - her last encounter with the handsome Rozarrian left her feeling incredibly embarrassed.
He was far too flirtatious, and when Al-Cid made a move on her, she had slapped him right across the face - he simply purred in response, calling her feisty.
"Now now, he had promised not to do what he did last time!"
"He better keep his promise..that flirtatious little perve.."
"Haha! Anyway, as I was saying..Al-Cid is coming, as well as the Marquis, Lady Ashe, hopefully Vaan and Pennelo! Fran and Balthier..I did ask them, but, they said they may not be able to come along. Al-Cid is firmly sure you like him - but I told him that you were in love with someone else!"
"You did?! Who did you say?!"
"..I did not reveal the name!"
Larsa winked, tapping the end of his nose gently. He began humming, and quickened his pace.
"Dear me..I just hope he does not start asking me questions about who it is…"
"I'll keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't step out of line."
Zargabaath murmured as he led the group down the corridor, his gaze focused on the path ahead.
"Your task for today Rulia is to sit in on the usual sentencing sessions, but this time you will be the one in charge, so be thankful you are in the limelight my dear - I took into consideration your complaints about how being sat on the sidelines for most of the time made you fall asleep. As for you Basch, both you and I are to escort Larsa to a conference today - the young lord wishes to speak with the Archadian people about the changes which have occurred recently, and how everyone is finding them."
"Will do that your honour!"
Rulia bowed slightly to Zargabaath as he had turned to them, before going a seperate way to attend to her duties.
"Now that she has gone..I have something to show you."
Larsa grinned ecstactically, reaching into a pocket, and pulling out a pearl necklace.
"A long time ago, when we were attending a play..the Magisters, my brother and father - Gabranth came to me. He gave me something that he had found on his travels - a simple pearl necklace. He..told me he had planned to give it to Rulia on her 19th birthday..and when that time had come, she had worn it every day..every day up until his death. On the night of his funeral..she..threw it away. Her excuse? She never told me. Anyway, I picked up the necklace, and kept it with me. I thought..if she was going to move on, maybe she will take this back, and remember it as..a beautiful memory from the past of which she should remember. Though she has to move on, she must remember Gabranth."
He thumbed the pearls, appreciating their beauty, before putting it away - as he did so, Zargabaath stopped him.
"Allow me Larsa - you have done too much already. I will meet her tonight, after she has made herself ready, and I will..present her with it."
Larsa had done so much already, both he and Basch knew that. To allow Basch to present it..would be incredibly awkward for obvious reasons.
"Alright then. Let us be going on our way."
It wasn't as fun as she had hoped - a lot of the crimes were very petty, but at least it showed order was well maintained, and no major incidents happened inside Archades.
However, Rulia had to banish a group of hunters from the city as their recent drunken fuelled crimes made several pub landlords terrified for their lives - if they were to mess about again, then they would be banned for even longer - a year.
She knew that it wasn't always going to be "fun", and she smirked at this thought.
As she retired to her room, she heard joyful voices coming from the entrance - sneaking round the corner, she had noticed Al-Cid, his strange female servant, and Vaan and Pennelo. Pennelo had spun around quickly, catching Rulia watching them.
"Hey, look who it is! Rulia, come on over!"
Rulia quickly snapped her head back, and walked off, her cape twirling around, almost snapping as she walked off.
Pennelo started chasing after her, but Rulia had disappeared into her room.
Frowning, and wrinkling her nose, Pennelo turned to face her friends.
"Don't tell me - Al-Cids ugly face scared her off?"
Vaan joked, soon receiving a quick slap across the back of his head - he rubbed it, wincing at how surprisingly strong the hit was.
"She is probably too shy to admit her feelings of love -"
"You're such a dork - she doesn't like you! You just don't get it!"
"Ah - your words are..pitiful my boy, you know nothing of women!"
"Ha! You think your womanising skills are superior everybody else's? Can she speak up for you?"
Vaan had retorted, throwing his finger at the girl beside him who looked terribly startled.
Pennelo in the end just sank against the wall, gritting her teeth as she had to endure the pointless bickering of two immature men.
"..Good lord, does he always have to be a pain. Greetings Pennelo."
The young girl almost jumped as the smooth, but irritated voice of Zargabaath snuck over - he had clearly seen Rulia rush past him, and with hearing the bickering from the distance, he had decided to investigate.
"Hey Zargabaath! You've come to save me!"
She joked, holding her hands together, an emphatic grin on her face.
From under the helm, Zargabaath chuckled - Pennelo was one of the few he could withstand - he found Vaan incredibly irritating, and always questioned Pennelo as to why she didn't just ditch him and travel on her own.
"We're best friends, and we can't just ditch each other after all we've been through!"
Was what she usually would say - he had always commended her will to stick by him - she was like Rulia in a way - bubbly, friendly, but Rulia was more susceptible to depression.
"If you say so Pennelo!"
He said in a friendly tone, nodding slightly. He took a few steps forward and almost barked out to the others that they needed to come with him to the main hall.
The bickering subdued, and all five of them made their way to where they were supposed to be.
It was a bit of an awkward dress to put on, but finally, it was on. Rulia was surprised at how good a fit it was, and she admired the jewels glinting in the light her lamps had given her.
Turning to face her mirror, she brushed her hair slowly, all the while thinking about what Noah would have said - Drace would have commented on how grown up she looked.
"I'm going to enjoy myself - and eat plenty, and drink plenty!"
Hands on her hips, she tilted her head to one side and admired herself once more - the dress really did suit her.
Suddenly, she heard a couple of knocks at the door - it was Zargabaath.
"Are you ready my lady?"
"I am!"
With that, she opened the door gingerly, and showed herself.
Zargabaath was momentarily stunned - if she only she dressed more like this! A desire to caress her face and kiss her so gently on the lips was arising deep from within his heart.
Her hair shone so brilliantly, just like the dress - she herself was a jewel, something to be treasured.
Rulia could tell he was pleased, and so she took his arm, squeezing it gently.
"Come on Zargabaath, let us show everybody how good we look together."
His cheeks flushed their most brightest red, but this time he did not try to deny how he felt.
"I believe we would make a good couple my dear!"
A hand was brought up to Rulia's cheek, cupping it, admiring her sweet gaze. He soon remembered what he had to give her, and so drawing that hand away, he reached into his coat pocket, and withdrew the necklace.
"Close your eyes..there is something I must give you."
As she did that, Zargabaath walked around to the back of her, and placed the trinket around her neck.
"That..is.."
"Indeed. You wanted to forget Gabranth, but we must never forget our friends at all Rulia. We must, even though we have to move on, remember them as much as we can, remember the good times. Are we agreed?"
A moments silence.
"Rulia?"
"I..agree. Now I feel foolish for ever having thrown it away."
"Now you will be able to wear it as often as you can, but I wouldn't recommend wearing such a pretty little thing while you are on duty."
"Especially if I'm dealing with tough crowds.."
Slipping her hand through Zargabaaths arm again, she rested her head on him, and sighed.
Then she laughed - she laughed out, which startled the young womans partner.
"This is the night when we are supposed to be having great fun, so let us go my love, and enjoy the night while it lasts - it is not going to wait for us forever!"
"Haha! You are most right. Come my dear, off to the people we go."
By the time they had reached there, Vaan and Balthier had already made their way to the buffet of food, Fran had been left talking to Pennelo and Ashe, and Larsa was meeting with other guests.
Basch kept his beady eye on Al-Cid, advancing when he saw fit to warn the flamboyant man that he should keep in line and not make a show of himself.
Zargabaath and Rulia had snuck in unnoticed, that was until Fran's ears picked up their contented voices.
"Zargabaath and his lady arrive at last."
She stepped forward, smiling briefly. A long hand held one of Rulia's tiny hands, and a moment later, Fran's other hand then came to rest on top.
"Larsa and Basch will be proud of you, and I assume Zargabaath even more so?"
She eyed him and he nodded in response.
"Zargabaath! Rulia! I knew you would both look the perfect couple! Have you given her a kiss yet? It is Valentine's Day you know!"
Larsa was delighted to see them at last, and ran to Fran's side, watching two of his beloved Magisters so close together..
"Larsa, we are not a couple - "
"We are now.."
With a kiss, Zargabaath had interrupted Rulia, his fingers running through the bottom of her hair. His forehead pressed against hers, his tongue gently touched hers, lips pressed against hers - locking her into a passionate embrace.
"I have waited..too long..for this moment. I love you, and I am not afraid to show you now..how much you mean to me."
He panted between breaths, face still close to hers, fingers nervously twitching.
Tears fell lightly down Rulia's face, and Zargabaath nuzzled her affectionately.
"I love you also..too much, and I denied myself happiness for too long. I am yours Zargabaath, and you are mine."
A few cheers rose up from Pennelo, Ashe and Vaan, plus a wolfwhistle from Balthier - a round of applause also came from the very enthusiastic audience.
Al-Cid, though somewhat disappointed, was truly happy for them both - he had thought to himself that she was much better for someone who had known her so long. Plenty more fish in the sea, he had sighed before shaking these feelings of disappointment off his shoulders.
"I think this calls for the dancing to begin! I must insist that everyone take part in the first dance, understood? Even you Fran!"
Larsa knew that Fran was not one for this sort of thing, but she nodded gracefully.
"Only if it is with you Emperor, I think you will have more grace and balance then my partner."
Glancing over her shoulder, she could see her upbeat partner could not keep his own balance, thanks to the influence of alcohol.
As everyone made their way over, Zargabaath caressed Rulia's face once more, and led her to the floor for her first dance - greeted by Basch on the way, all three Magisters knew they had succeeded in making this a night to remember.
I thought I would end it here, seems nice to do anyway. This is my first FFXII fic ever - well I did do another one, but people won't be interested in a GhisxOC fic will they . lol!
I have not written in a long time, and I do hope this story is nice a representation of Basch, Zargabaath, Larsa, and my OC Rulia.
Rulia is not a Mary Sue.. . She isn't weak, and she has a colourful personality ;;
To pronounce her name just think of Julia but replace the J with R lol
Anyway, hope you enjoy and please review!
Also I hope to do some other stories in the future - if you are interested in future projects let me know in your comments what else you would like to see!