Note: I want to thank my two best friends, Lana Goines and Wesley Dixon. Without them, AngelHeart wouldn't be possible. I don't have Internet on my home computer anymore; I only have it on my cell. I write chapters of AngelHeart, send it to them, they read it, give me their thoughts, and post it on . Thanks so much Wesley and Lana! I love you guys! By the way guys, Yuna told the gang the whole story of what happened to her but I decided to spread it out throughout the course of the story because part three contains a little surprise.
Chapter 7:
Intersecting Paths
"How many hits like that is a beauty like you going to take?" Balthier said, back-jumping avoiding the upward swipe of the razor sharp bladed fan.
"Oh, I don't know. How many are you prepared to dish out?" she yelled back in rebuttal, taking another unsuccessful swing at Balthier.
After hearing Yuna's story it was decided that the present warriors of Cosmos were to split up and find Rinoa. Lightning was to travel with Squall, Quistis with Jecht, and Balthier with Fran. It had gotten late and Balthier and Fran decided to set up camp in some nearby forests. Little did they know that a horde of manikins were waiting there. When they awoke they were surrounded. Fran told Balthier that she could manipulate the mist and create a portal to take her and half the manikins elsewhere, stating that their survival chances were greater if they only had to deal with half the manikins each. After putting up an argument, Balthier gave in and let Fran do it.
She was right; it was much easier to defeat half the manikins by himself. After defeating them, Balthier decided he'd check out a nearby tower, maybe he'd find their little missing princess in there. He wished he knew where Fran ended up but he knew she could take care of herself. A few manikins would need the help of a fully armed air fortress to take Fran down. As for him, well, he couldn't die. He was the leading man.
He wandered the many floor of the tower, not knowing it belonged to the maniacal clown, Kefka. To his luck Kefka wasn't in. Instead, he was attacked by a woman. She wore pink and was barely clothed to say the least. She had a short blonde haircut and had a pink heart in the middle of her chest. Balthier didn't need introductions with this woman; he knew her all to well from the previous cycle when she was a warrior of Cosmos. Leblanc.
"Boy, don't I love running into you" she said, taking another swing at Balthier.
"You sure have a lovely way of showing it, love." Balthier said dodging and willing his shotgun to turn into a shield. Leblanc took another swing at Balthier and he held up his shield, allowing Leblanc to hit it instead. She jumped back, creating some distance between Balthier and herself and laughed.
"You're cute but I don't see what Cosmos could possibly use you for. You never finish what you start" she said.
"I say you've already taken a pretty brutal beating from me. What's the need to go on? Besides, a gentleman knows his limits."
"I'm a warrior of Chaos, Balthier. Drop the goody-goody act and fight already!" she swung her fan towards him, creating a spiraling blade of wind that was hurling at Balthier.
Balthier's eyes widened and he had to think quickly to avoid being butchered. He jumped to the side, rolling as he hit the nearby ground. "Ugh!" Leblanc screamed. She placed two fingers on the tattooed red heart in the center of her chest and it started to glow. It pulsated like a normal heartbeat and the tips of Leblanc's two fingers glowed red and pink. She brought her fingers to her pink lips and kissed them sensually making the light on her fingertips pulsate and Balthier heard the sound of another heartbeat. She then raised the very two fingers high above her head and the light surrounding them pulsated again, creating the sound of another heartbeat. Leblanc closed her eyes. "No love lost!" she shouted.
The pink and red lights surrounded her, casting haste, protect, and shell on her. She pointed her fan at Balthier across the room. "This is goodbye, love!" she sang. Balthier's eyes widened as Leblanc darted at him, kicking him into the wall behind him. Leblanc was a pink blur. She moved so fast that he didn't see her until he hit the ground and saw her standing above him. She smiled down at him. She thrust her fan upward, creating a wind so powerful it launched Balthier into the air. He tried to catch himself while he was airborne by backflipping in the air, willing his shield to turn back into his favorite shotgun, and taking a shot at Leblanc. The bullet was instantly repelled by the protect spell Leblanc had casted upon herself. "Damn!" Balthier said before he felt himself get punched in the stomach and flung across the room, hitting the wall. Cracks in the wall outstretched behind Balthier and he groaned and hit the ground with a thud.
The all too fast Leblanc was visible again, due to her not moving, across the room. Ignoring the pain, Balthier forced himself to his feet. "Stop it, Leblanc!" he yelled across the room. "This is not who you are!"
"Oh Balthier, this is so who I am. I may not be all evil but that doesn't mean I won't enjoy beating the hell out of you." She said
"I don't want to hurt you, love."
"Oh yes! I can tell by the way you tried to shoot me."
"I had no choice."
She laughed darkly. "You still don't."
Balthier knew why Leblanc was doing what she was doing. He knew normally, even if she was on Chaos's side now, she would never hurt him. He decided to tread in dangerous waters. "Leblanc!" he called out. "I'm sorry! I should have protected you like I promised to during the last cycle. I've never been able to forgive myself. You were all I had. I'm sorry I let you die."
Leblanc stopped in her tracks in the middle of initiating another attack. She dropped the arm holding her fan to her side. Her eyes widened and her face softened. She wore a look of complete shock. She allowed a single tear to fall down her face as she laughed in aggravation. "Do you know how amazingly pissed off I was when I woke up this cycle on Chaos's side? All I remembered was getting impaled by Sephiroth's big assed sword while you were busy saving your little bunny-eared friend from manikins." Leblanc swallowed back the hard lump forming in her throat, trying to stave off the coming tears. "I've had to live with that memory all. This. Time! And fight alongside the maniac that killed me!"
"I know. It's my fault. And for that- I apologize."
"My ass! It's not enough, Balthier!" Leblanc screamed. "I won't rest until you're dead!" she quickly lifted her fan, readying another wind blade attack.
Balthier came up with a resolve. He knew he wouldn't be able to get through to Leblanc and with Rinoa missing and rumored to be kidnapped by warriors of Chaos, he couldn't afford to die. That and Fran was still out there. He couldn't die, he wouldn't die until he knew Rinoa was with Cosmos and Fran was safe. He decided he would have to kill Leblanc himself and beg Cosmos to revive Leblanc on her side next cycle. Then he would keep his promise and keep her safe. Having come up with his decision, he swallowed back the tears that were moistening his eyes.
With his remaining strength, Balthier vaulted himself over the wind blade and when he landed he closed his eyes and held his hand in front of his face. Fires of war, come to me. He said mentally. And several flaming orbs appeared around him. I'm sorry, Leblanc. He thought and held his hand out to Leblanc, willing the flames to attack her. The flames all flew to Leblanc meeting together before impact upon the wall behind her, creating a massive explosion. Leblanc was blown forward from the powerful force of the explosion. Balthier jumped into the air and caught her. He landed and laid her gently on the ground. How could that have happened? He thought. I never miss!
Leblanc chuckled softly. "You big softie." She said lowly. "You couldn't hurt me if you tried. And I seriously doubt that you tried just then." She groaned. "Ugh. I'm such a screw-up"
Balthier couldn't help but smile down at her as he held her in his arms. Leblanc started to groan in pain and Balthier couldn't stand the sound. The sound of Leblanc dying was breaking his heart. He stood up and reached into one of the pouches strapped to him. Leblanc groaned. "What are you doing?"
He ignored her, knowing that if she knew what he was up to, she'd forced him to not do what he was preparing to do. He found a potion and –ignoring his own pain and injuries-doused Leblanc in its medicinal glowing liquid. The liquid seeped into Leblanc's skin and healed her injuries, its light shining from inside her. Her closing eyes shot opened and she glared at Balthier as his fell to the ground.
"W-what the hell did you just do?" she yelled at him. Leblanc knelt down next to him. He met her eyes and smiled the smile that always made Leblanc's heart melt. "Keeping a promise" he said. Leblanc smiled and laughed as tears fell down her face. She stood up and tried to cast the Cure spell on him. She held out her hand and the soft magical blue light formed in her hand but quickly died out. "No!" she yelled. "I can't be out!" She groaned angrily and stopped in her tracks when she started to hear footsteps. Oh no she mouthed.
Leblanc's mind instantly went to the portal potion Kefka had made for her. She was glad she still had it. She smashed the vial of purple liquid on the floor and a purple portal formed. She ran over to Balthier and tried taking him over to the portal but he was too heavy. She knew she wouldn't make it in time. Balthier started to summon some reserved strength and tried standing up. With half his weight supported by Leblanc, they both limped over to the portal. Before the footsteps got louder and closer and before Leblanc could shove him into the portal, Balthier grabbed Leblanc's chin and gently pulled her to him, allowing their lips to meet. Leblanc closed her eyes and almost lost herself in the feel of Balthier's soft lips against hers. She quickly pulled back. "This is goodbye, love." She whispered to him.
"My ass, it is" he mimicked her in the accent she adored so much. She smiled and shoved him into the portal just as it began to close. She exhaled deeply. She forgot to breathe when Balthier kissed her. She brought her fingers up to her lips, still feeling his kiss there.
She heard the footsteps approach her and felt the aura of someone very powerful in the room. She spun around and saw Tidus standing in the doorway with a small raven haired girl wearing a blue sleeveless duster sweater behind him. She had her hand up to her fast-beating heart and exhaled deeply. "Oh jeeze, kid. You scared the hell out of me! I thought you were Kefka!" Her eyes went to the girl. "Who's she? Your new girlfriend?"
"Hah-hah. Very funny Leblanc" Tidus said sarcastically. "I need your help."
"With what?" Leblanc asked, crossing her arms across her half-exposed chest.
Tidus jerked his chin at Rinoa behind him. Leblanc rolled her eyes and raised a brow at him, still not getting the point. "Well who is she?"
Tidus gave Leblanc a look, raising both his brows at her. It took a while for it to register in Leblanc's mind but finally it did and her jaw dropped. "It's her?" she exclaimed.
