He turned with a satisfied smile to face Fran, but it was struck from his countenance and he gasped silently when he saw her lying motionless among the rubble. Slowly getting to his feet, he ignored the persistent questions from his headset as the tumult and the din all around subsided into a hush. It was only him and Fran now, and he effortlessly moved her arm around his neck, bending forward to lift her beautiful body while his mind flew back to memories of the first time he had taken her into his shaking arms. As he bent down, she began to speak unsteadily and their eyes met in a breathless moment as her teasing words slipped into his heart: "I'd say you were in more of a...supporting role." She let her head fall against his shoulder, and his heartbeat returned with a surge of overwhelming adoration as he countered jauntily, "Fran, please." He straightened and started to move forward, suddenly, ridiculously content even while the Bahamut's ruins raged around him. The words of the worried group back in the Strahl gradually returned to his ears, and he called back imperturbably into the microphone: "Vaan, the Strahl's in your hands! You'd better take good care of her, you hear? If there's one scratch on here when I get back-." There was a indistinct crash and then static, and Ashe whispered fearingly, "Balthier..." But there was no reply from the discarded microphone, and seconds later, it was unceremoniously destroyed by a large block.
Meanwhile, Balthier had managed to bring Fran out of the turmoil of the Bahamut. He felt physically exhausted, but his mind still lingered on that thrilling moment when he had felt her supple back press against his arms and looked into those dazzling eyes so close to his lips. As he lowered the Viera gently onto the ground, he let himself go, leaning against a quiet tree and closing his eyelids for a moment, breathing in deeply while daydreaming of Elysium. A soft hand laid itself upon his arm, and he smiled, his eyes still closed as he savored the feel of Fran's slender fingers running down his arm. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yes...are you?" The hand gently closed against his muscles, soothingly massaging his sore flesh.
"Now then, Fran, I'm the leading--" but he got no further as her other hand firmly muffled his words, pressing against his lips lightly, yet with strength in the way that only Fran could do. His eyes flashed, and his arm shot out, wrapping around her waist and locking her body against his. She was caught by surprise, and the warning in her ruby eyes enticed him more than ever.
"Pirate..." her tongue twisted around the word, painting it with her exotic accent. One of her hands was pressed against his chest, pushing away from him, the long, curved fingernails digging into his shirt.
He did not reply, his free hand removing her helmet as smoothly as he would steal a precious gem from some royal treasury. Her loosened curls veiled the edge of her delicate face, and he eased them away with his hand, tracing his finger down her jaw to her pointed chin. She did not resist, but he felt the fiery Viera strength in the tense muscles beneath the sun-kissed skin of her thighs now meeting his own. "One kiss, my lady fair," he whispered in a husky voice.
"You've had your kisses enough, pirate." Hearing that sensuous voice burned the blood within him with a rawness that throbbed through his veins, and he could scarcely keep from breaking through the fences of chivalrous propriety. Fran seemed to discern this appalling desire, and she relaxed slightly, smiling ever so archly at his weakness.
It was the last straw. Unable to resist her innocently unguarded moment, his mouth warmed hers without warning, and he kissed her with all the sweet intensity of love he could without sullying her purity or abusing his advantage. She froze stiffly at first, but his power won over her, enveloping her heart in a giddy rush of emotion, and she yielded to his kiss, returning it with shy ardor, but letting him for once be the leading man. As Balthier enclosed Fran in his arms, all thoughts flew from his mind and he felt himself to be amongst the clouds in heaven again. The stars above them shimmered in a sublime night sky, and the magic of that dulcet moment pierced the air around them in a cool breeze, dancing with the feathery leaves of the witness tree. When at last their lips unlocked, her arms moved to encircle his neck hesitatingly, and she gazed wonderingly up at him for a moment, before resting against his pulsating chest. In the idyllic hush, the world was almost perfect--except for one thing--but the old fear was gone, and she now knew with pearly clarity that it was real, meant to be. The word so tightly sealed in her soul now slipped into her mouth, finally liberated from its reluctant chains.
"I...love you," she whispered softly, closing her eyes.
She did not see the vibrant smile that flooded his face, but it flowed through his gentle voice as he whispered back in her ears, "My darling lady, I love you more."