Summary: It isn't easy for a young woman who had lost so much in just two short years and yet still have a will to live, and a desire to love.

Author's Note: Sorry for not updating in so long, but here it is. I also decided that now I will make Ashe interact with everyone in her party as much as possible, not only Balthier. That way it would give this story more of a realistic feel. Ahhh and okay I lied, I won't make my fanfic entirely based on the actual dialogues anymore, cuz I just think Balthier and Ashe are too cute together to have only the game scripts for their conversations!

Disclaimer: Okie same old same old, "I do not own Final Fantasy XII nor its characters so please don't sue." Let's get to the good stuff now shall we?

The Leading Lady

Author: Wakamoley

Chapter Seven: Discovery

As the group was looking for a way to get past the Golmore Jungle, they came upon a magicked barrier. Vaan gasped as he tried to touch the luminescent blue fence.

"What is it?" he asked.

"The Jungle denies us our passage," Fran replied.

"What have we done?" Ashe asked Fran as she turned toward her.

"We? No. I." Fran answered quickly and walked the other way.

"What's that mean? How are we supposed to get through that?" Vaan tried to speak to the Viera, but she ignored him.

Balthier followed Fran and they talked about something as they walked, but Ashe couldn't really tell what it was.

After Fran and Balthier walked down a small stairway, they stopped talking as Fran began to wave her index finger to what seemed like a summon of some sort of spell. Her finger made various lights. After she was done, a hidden passage that leads into a secret area of the jungle appeared.

Ashe walked down to the downstairs' chasm, and she heard Fran saying that they would seek help from the Viera who dwelled ahead. Penelo thought that everyone would be happy to see Fran after so long, but she was wrong. The truth was that Fran was unwelcomed, an unsought guest in their wood.

When everyone went deeper into the passage, Ashe came up behind Fran; her face donned a curious expression.

"What had happened with you and the other Vieras?" Ashe asked.

Fran looked down at Ashe for a short moment, as the princess was still waiting for Fran's answer.

Fran then turned to look in the woods and began to speak, "All Vieras came from the Wood, and we had been under the Wood's care and guidance ever since. They obeyed the Wood and swore to never leave her," the tall Viera said as she stared blankly into space. "But I was one of the few that decided to go against the rules."

"And you left? But for what?" the inquisitive princess looked up to Fran.

"There wasn't much freedom in the Wood, we always had to eat the same food, practice the same rituals, and there wasn't much that we could do to entertain ourselves," Fran answered her as she looked down at her own feet.

"I understand how you feel, Fran," Ashe told her, "I, too, was annoyed by the lack of freedom when I was living in the palace." Ashe then started to follow the others into the path that the passage had made, picking up her pace.

Fran looked at Ashe as if it was the princess who knew quite well about the tall Viera's situations.

"I was foolish when I left the wood, I was young back then and didn't know any better," Fran told Ashe, "My heart desired freedom, but to compensate for that I had to give up the Wood's love for me." Fran said as she lowered her head and her silver eyebrows came down with it.

"What exactly do you mean?" Ashe spoke.

"I can no longer hear Her words, the words that would guide us Vieras from harm's way," her expression was hard to read, yet obvious at the same time.

"I'm sorry," Ashe said, she sounded truly apologetic.

"It was my choice, so this is what I get, but no more will I be bothered by the fact that I can hear the Wood no longer," Fran looked up at the woven branches in front of them, and gave a slight sigh, "Please don't mind me, and let us continue on our way."

Ashe nodded her head and followed Fran deeper into the secret passage.

Up to this point in her adventure, Ashe never understood her companions' life story unless she had talked to them personally. The things that she had found out about their life gave Ashe a whole different perspective that she had used to look upon them. She had also learned that never to judge a person before she gets a chance to know them first.

o-0-O-0-o

Eruyt village was where the party learned that they had to go to the Henne Mines to find Mjrn, the Viera Fran wanted them to see. The Henne Mines was dark and reeked of the smell of dead bats. It was also the place where many researchers from Archadia have died. The unknown entity had taken their lives, leaving corpses in and around the mine.

This was a treacherous place that might be too dangerous for anyone to set foot on, so the party had too be really careful exploring it. If anyone wasn't cast with Libra, they could step on the traps which could kill them instantly.

As Ashe was walking, she thought she heard someone scream, so she stayed back to check it out as the rest of the party continued on. They were oblivious to the fact that Ashe was missing.

She followed the noise into a deeper cave-like area. It stank in here even more than the path she was previously walking on. She knew that it was very dangerous to go on alone like this, but her curiosity just took over her completely.

When she reached a dead end, she saw nothing but a dead soldier lying on the ground. His wounds were fresh and blood splattered the floor, and one of his arms was missing. Two years ago, Ashe would've been terrified at the sight of this, but now she was so used to seeing dead people during the war, it was normal for her.

Little did she know that behind her was a hungry fiend, waiting to feed on her just like it did the soldier. Ashe was still examining the corpse and oblivious of the monster behind her.

After Ashe was done investigating his wounds, she felt some sort of heavy breathing behind her; she then hoped it'd be one of her allies. As she turned around, the creature had already started to jump toward her. It was huge and muscular, with teeth sharper than the blade she was carrying. Its claws were aiming for her throat, but quickly Ashe brought up her shield and blocked its fatal attack.

The creature was not one of the regular kinds like the rest of the monsters in this mine. This creature was fast and had an incredible amount of stamina, which were only small additions to its ferocious temperament. It could instantly kill anyone with one slap of its paw. Ashe knew she was in great trouble, but if she ran the monster would only chased after her and she won't be fast enough to escape.

Ashe raised her sword and slashed it across the creature's face, making it blind for a moment. It howled loudly as the noise echoed throughout the cave. The monster then started to bite, and unfortunately it hit Ashe on her left forearm, making her unable to continue holding her shield. The absence of the shield had made Ashe more vulnerable to this lethal creature. Ashe was hurt terribly and she tried her best to cast a quick curative spell, but the monster was way quicker than her as it raised its right paw and slapped her hard, and the momentum knocked her off the ground. She stumbled wildly and fell hard on the floor. Ashe knew that this would be the end of her life, as the monster readied itself into a jumping position. She was losing a lot of blood and she felt dizzy and lightheaded, therefore this all became a dream-like state.

Suddenly, she heard gunshots coming out of nowhere. She tried her best to regain consciousness, and vaguely saw a silhouette of a male figure behind the large fiend. He was shooting three times into its back, missing not a shot. The monster's blood splattered on Ashe's clothing, and she did not seemed to care as she was losing too much of her own blood. She then heard a loud thump as the monster fell next to her, dead.

"Ashe, give me your hand," the man said, but Ashe had then already fell into an unconscious state. She wouldn't be able to give him her hand anyways since her left arm was badly damaged, and her right arm numb. They were both bleeding uncontrollably.

She then felt something cool surrounding her, its green light had recovered her health to a certain point, enough where she could regain her consciousness for a moment. She half opened her eyes and saw Balthier's face. He was giving her a kind smile, not one of his trademark smirks.

"Are you all right, princess?" he asked her. He was still referring to Ashe as her royal station sometimes, but she didn't seem to care, because he still called her by her name other times. "We've been so worried, and we've been looking all over for you," he continued, "After all, we wouldn't want anything to happen to our future queen now would we?"

Ashe didn't respond, since she was still too tired to speak up. Her eyes were closed once again.

Balthier then raised his hand to feel her forehead, "My, your temperature has gone above normal, I think you might've caught a virus from the fiend," he informed the young woman.

Balthier then reached into his side pocket and pulled out a piece of white cloth. He used it to wipe the blood off of her arms and threw it on the ground. He then took out another, and this time he tore it in two. He wrapped one around Ashe's left arm and tightened it, and the other around her right arm, using them as bandages.

"That should hold your blood," he said, "Come on, let us go back to the others and we'll figure out a way to cure your disease, because I think Larsa might have some antidote with him."

Balthier knew quite well that Ashe won't be able to move, so he put his rifle on his back, and slid one of his hands behind her back, and the other under her legs. He picked her up with ease as his arms were strong enough to carry even Basch.

"Hold on now, princess, you have to stay with me until you are healthy again," he told her as he smiled.

Ashe felt comfortable in his arms. She laid her head on his chest, and she felt warm and secured. She still refused to open her eyes, as she was still exhausted from her loss of blood, and the unknown disease that made her unconscious on some part. She was still very fortunate to survive a deadly attack from a monster that strong.

Balthier was mumbling something to Ashe, but she couldn't quite get what it was in her dream-like state. Ashe didn't want to get dropped off from his arms, as they provided her great comfort and security. She wanted him to carry her for at least another hour or two. Just staying there, like a baby in her mother's arms.

When Balthier had found the other people at the camp they had set up, he hastily informed them that Ashe was injured badly, and she was also sick and wouldn't wake up. Penelo quickly rushed by Ashe's side as soon as she heard that, and Larsa came with her. Penelo then started to cast a Cura spell, focusing it only on Ashe, while Larsa searched through his bag of potions for a remedy. The children soon brought a considerable amount of Ashe's health up, and her body temperature returned to normal.

As Basch and Balthier stood there watching them, Basch turned to Balthier, "Thank you for rescuing the princess, if it wasn't for you our princess could've been dead by now. I am greatly indebted to you."

"You all did your part too, I wasn't the only one doing the search you know? I guess I got lucky and found the princess in time. And I'm glad to see someone so loyal to her like you," Balthier replied, his back leaned against the rock wall.

Basch smiled and gave Balthier three pats on his shoulder.

After Ashe had woken up, she was surprised that she wasn't in a dangerous situation anymore. She thought that all that had happened was a dream, but now she knew they were just as real as the wounds on her arms. Someone had changed Ashe into her sleeping gown, probably Penelo, who was laying down sleeping next to her and Fran.

Ashe smiled at the thought of the great friends she had made in this adventure, and she was grateful that they would save her life like that. Ashe then kissed the sleeping Penelo on the forehead for taking care of her.

The princess then thought of Balthier and how he rescued her from that ferocious fiend. She was mad at him for taking her ring a few days earlier, but now they were more than even since he bravely saved her life. If it wasn't for him, the Dalmascan bloodline would have ended in that moment, the very moment right before he shot that beast.

She thought that it'd be appropriate to go look for her savior and thank him for what he'd done. Luckily, when she got out of the tent, he was standing outside to keep guard. Balthier was unaware of Ashe's presence. She then stepped quietly behind the tall man, and she smiled as she raised her hands and covered his eyes.

"Hmm, I wonder who this could be?" Balthier said. "Soft hands, smells good, gentle? It could only be you, princess," he then took her hands off his eyes and turned around as he smiled and winked at her.

Ashe then giggled slightly and gave Balthier a friendly hug, "Thank you so much for saving my life, Balthier, and I'm so sorry for being mad at you these past days."

He then wrapped his arms around her back to return her favor, "It's okay, Ashe, you have your reasons, but me saving your life is a must, because I'm sure that everyone in the group would be glad to have the honor of rescuing the great princess," Balthier went back to using his smirk and charm to put blushes on the girl's cheeks.

Ashe looked up at him and let go of his back, "You just know the right things to say, don't you?"

Balthier winked at her and smiled, "It's my natural instincts." He let one of his arms go and left the other on her shoulder, "You should go back and get your rest, princess. By tomorrow morning you should fully recover, and only then we'll continue looking for Mjrn."

Ashe never really admitted to herself that she had a crush on Balthier, but she'd always felt comforted and secured around him. She was actually glad to see him, even when she was mad at him. Could it be true that the feelings she had toward Rasler two years ago was happening all over again, this time to a different man?

"No," she told him in a soft voice, "I want to stay here with you, because I...feel safe when I'm around you."

It took her a lot of courage to say those words, because if he would awkwardly respond, she would know he was never interested in her. Also if that was to happen, Ashe would not be able to spare the embarrassment.

However, her comment had made Balthier's jaw slightly dropped in surprise, but it quickly turned into a smile.

"You're welcomed to, Ashe, I wouldn't mind company around me anyways, but you must still get your sleep, all right?" he told her as he playfully poked her nose.

Ashe was really glad that Balthier accepted her words. She giggled again and the two of them sat down against a wall with each other, shoulder to shoulder. Ashe then leaned her head on his broad shoulder, and began to close her eyes, while he still had his wide open to keep watch.

"Good night, Balthier," she told him. She then hugged his muscular left arm as he had his right arm holding his gun, ready to protect her anytime.

"You too, princess, may you have sweet dreams."

She knew quite well she would.