A/N: Thank you to Drink. Juice for reviewing the last chapter. :)

This prompt, along with "Morgue," were two that I stared at when I took on this prompt table and wondered what I was going to do with them--but I have now done both. Woohoo. I know I just updated this story...like twelve hours ago, but I had this prompt half-written and finished it this morning so I figured I'd stick it up, too.

Prompt #49 - Bones

Penelo hated Raithwall's Tomb before she even set foot in it. Getting there had been bad enough, what with days and days of trekking across sandseas with the locals casting all manner of spells at them. Trying to find places to camp hadn't always been easy, and until they got their hands on a map, they'd found themselves taking wrong turns, hitting the outskirts of the Zertinan Caverns, which was even worse.

By the time they actually arrived at the tomb and had to fight the flying monstrosity guarding the place, she was wondering if things were only going to get worse from there on out. She kept telling herself they just had to get into Raithwall's Tomb, get the Dawn Shard, and then Ashe would have what she needed. Then, of course, there was still Vayne and the matter of the Archadian troops in Dalmasca, but right now all Penelo could do was take things one step at a time.

As the injured party crawled up the steps of the tomb to touch the crystal at the top, desperate for revitalization, Penelo sighed in relief and promptly collapsed in front of the crystal, trembling. Part of her wanted nothing more than to curl up in a little ball and cry. She was tired and covered in sweat and some sort of fluids from that insane avian. She smelled and she had sand in her clothing. It was itchy and annoying, and she stared at the gate crystal in front of her, wanting nothing more than to use it to jump back to Rabanastre for even an hour, so she could get clean and changed.

Ashe, however, looked ready to plunge straight into the tomb without hesitation, at least until Basch said, "Milady, perhaps we should rest before we attempt to broach the tomb."

Ashe looked at Basch with narrowed eyes. "I am not in need of--" She stopped, her eyes trailing over the rest of the party, at Balthier, who was making a valiant effort to stand straight and not quite succeeding, at Vaan, who was stretched out on his stomach on the topmost stair, eyes closed and very likely already asleep, and at Penelo, who tried not to look like a pathetic, desperate waif, knowing she probably failed miserably. Fran was the only one who managed to look unaffected. Finally, Ashe nodded slowly. "Very well. We shall rest for today and enter the tomb first thing on the morrow."

Penelo sighed in relief and happily trudged back down the stairs to make camp at the bottom. The first thing she did was cast a very mild water spell right above her head so that it all came crashing down on her, soaking her hair and washing the slime and sweat off of her clothes and body. Then she climbed into her little tent and completely stripped so she could dry off and wipe off the sand and remnants of bird bits that she may have missed with the water.

Happy because she was much cleaner and no longer smelled, she laid her clothes on the ground to dry, wrapped herself in a blanket and spread out flat on her stomach.

She was out cold before she even realized her eyes were closed. She wasn't even sure how long she slept, but she jolted awake because there was some kind of screeching in the distance. Night had set in; it was completely dark in the tent. Her first, disoriented thought was that the noise was one of the Urutan-Yensa, but it didn't sound right. She laid very still, her ear pressed to the ground because she was still on her stomach, and chills ran up her spine when she realized the noise was coming from under her.

Swallowing, she pushed herself up and looked around the tent, straining to see in the blackness. Quietly, Penelo felt for her clothes and found them dry. She tugged them on and crawled out of the tent. It was dark except for the starlight from above, and she gasped and almost screamed when she bumped into someone sitting right next to the tent. When she saw it was Vaan, she smacked his shoulder and hissed, "Are you trying to scare me to death?"

She glanced around; everyone looked to be in tents, except for Fran, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs leading up to Raithwall's Tomb, her head cocked to the side as if she was listening to something.

"Vaan?" Penelo settled next to him and touched his shoulder.

He glanced at her. "There's something screaming under the ground." He nodded over at Fran. "She says it's coming from the tomb."

"I heard it." Penelo shivered and looked sideways at Vaan. "Are you scared?"

"Pff. Me?"

Penelo laced her fingers through his. "I'm scared, too."

Vaan's fingers tightened on hers. "Things in tombs are supposed to be dead."

"They probably are."

"Thanks, Penelo," Vaan said sarcastically. "That helps a lot."

She felt a shiver run through his body, and she shuddered herself. She leaned into Vaan, and they were both silent for a few minutes, until Penelo whispered, "I kind of don't want to go in there."

"You don't have to," Vaan said quickly, as if he had been waiting for just this opportunity to say something. "You could--"

"I'm not going back to Rabanastre, Vaan," Penelo cut him off. "I'm not leaving you."

Vaan's shoulders slumped. "I knew you'd say that."

Penelo felt a pang of hurt, though she knew that Vaan wasn't trying to get rid of her because he didn't want her there. He was just scared and didn't want anything to happen to her. "We'll be okay if we stick together, don't you think?"

Vaan nodded slowly. "I guess."

Penelo nudged him. "We will. Now come on. We should try to get some sleep." She turned to go back into her tent, tugging on his hand. He followed her without a word and curled up facing her, their hands clasped in between them. They finally fell asleep despite the occasional wails and moans coming from beneath them, and Penelo's last thought before she slipped into slumber was that she could face anything as long as Vaan was beside her.

:--:--:

The next morning, they entered Raithwall's Tomb, and the first thing they ran into was some crazy wall with huge spider-like legs. They ran from that one only to be faced with a second one. Penelo wasn't fond of bugs, particularly large ones, and this thing not only had those horrible, wiggling legs chasing her, but it also cast spell after spell at the party.

It cast a spell that she had never seen before, and had no idea what it was, but one second, Vaan was standing next to her, fighting the giant monstrosity, and the next second he was gone.

Just disappeared.

She had never been more panicked in her entire life. She stood there like a frozen idiot, screaming his name, and even when Basch shook her shoulder and told her to keep fighting, even when she resumed whacking away at the stupid, evil wall, tears blinded her eyes and she could hardly see what she was doing.

When Vaan finally reappeared, dazed and having no memory of where he had been, she threw herself on him and sobbed so hard she dragged them both to the floor of Raithwall's Tomb, while the others watched sympathetically or averted their eyes.

It was the only time on the long, hard journey that she was seriously tempted to really return to Rabanastre and just stay there, but she didn't, because she knew that Vaan would not go with her. She wouldn't leave him. Not now, not ever.

They looked at each other for a moment, and then Penelo wiped her eyes and Vaan helped her to her feet. She was terrified, though; she was always terrified. She didn't want to do this without him. Not just the tomb; she didn't want to try to get through each day in her life without him.

She vaguely wondered if she had said something like that out loud, because she heard Vaan whisper beside her, "Me, neither." He took her hand and squeezed it briefly. She gripped his hand back, and then they took a deep breath and plunged onward.

Just like they always did.