Back at the Palace

Same Day

Fran had finished off the last of the group that had come after them. They had been ambushed in the hallway that lead out of Ashe's quarters. Her Verian instincts combined with her deep knowledge and experience in the ways of combat and the Hume world knew that a siege of the palace was inevitable and she had sent word ahead to Basch.

She had begun to move Ashe down the hallway when half a dozen Rozzarian soldiers appeared, crashing in through various windows. She knew this was no ordinary assault. Someone had gotten them in past the guards and or had lead them straight through the ones stationed around the palace. Their invasion of the royal grounds was no as significant as their knowledge of where Ashe was being kept. They had been betrayed.

Thrusting Ashe into a corner she began to fight the advancing horde, proving their skills to be inexperienced when up against hers. It was over quickly, delayed slightly by a persistent soldier.

Ashe was, not surprisingly, proving difficult to move at a rapid pace. After looking around briefly she ushered Ashe along the chaotic corridors, before coming to a halt in front of a familiar door. She opened it soundlessly, had Ashe enter before her then slipped in, closing it behind her. She knew where these quarters lead. She and Balthier had traversed them often. Without looking back, she hurried Ashe along.

Ashe was becoming more and more pained while she rushed along. She felt like a trotting chcocobo rather than a Queen running for her life.

Both Ashe and Fran rounded a corner that revealed another door. When they came out they found themselves in an empty Cathedral. The sounds of the ongoing conflict around them sounded muffled and distant. Ashe's heart seemed to sink at the sight. This is where she had been married, and this is where she had come to mourn the groom.

She felt a tinge of guilt as she walked around the incredible altar. It was so large that she felt like a moogle next to the Bahamut which now lay on the outskirts of Dalmasca, grown over by six years of foliage.

Suddenly there was a crashing sound that reverberated and echoed throughout the vicinity, magnified by the vastness of the Cathedral to the point of sounding like the building was going to collapse in on itself.

Fran seized Ashe into the shadows once again and stood in front of her, weapon at the ready. Looking from behind Fran's back, Ashe's heart leapt at the sight. It was Basch. He had broken down a side door that had, only moments before, been guarded or was going to be taken down, by a couple of Al Cid's insurgents.

He looked like the warrior she knew from her childhood. His hair was wild and he was breathing heavily. It was obvious that he had been fighting his way through the palace, for his sword was dripping with blood, his brow shining with perspiration, and his gaze determined, but deadly. As fierce and dangerous as he looked, Ashe could not have been less preoccupied with his grizzly appearance. She could not believe that he had come from the front lines and that he had been able to find them so quickly.

Fran moved aside cautiously, eyeing Basch with a reserved astonishment. But, Ashe rushed to him without a moment's hesitation. Neither Fran nor Basch were prepared for what happened next.

Ashe collapsed in Basch's arms. Just seconds before she had been standing in front of him. Now she lay there, supported by Basch. Fran ran as fast as she could, kneeling down with Basch as he kept Ashe sitting up. She had gone pale, and a wet spot had begun to grow on her dress. Fran had the answer as soon as she laid eyes on her.

" The baby," she said with surprising sureness.

"Is on its way"

As if to confirm the statement, Ashe let out a small cry, her hands clutched the front of Basch's armor, blindly seeking something, anything to hold on to. Basch looked down at the woman in his arms, then back to the one across from him with alarm. He had just arrived, how could this have all progressed in a single minuet?

The sounds of approaching soldiers signaled they needed to move.

Fast.

"Where can we go? The palace is no longer safe," said Basch frantically.

" Get her to the Air Docks, I will summon for Balthier and we will take her to a safer place."

"But Balthier is on the front lines leading the Air Fleet"

" Have you forgotten there are two others in charge of their own airship?"

In his haste he had forgotten. He cursed himself silently.

Vann and Panelo. Of course!

" I see." He said after a pause that gave Fran the answer to her question.

"Come we must hurry" she said in her smooth voice.

Tenderly, Basch lifted Ashe into his arms, cradling her against him. Even through the bursts of pain, Ashe was surprised he was able to pick her up, as well as run, but the thought was pushed out of her mind when the baby reminded her how precarious the situation was.

They made their way back into the door Ashe and Fran had come out of, weaving their way through, Ashe trying to keep quiet the entire way. Moaning quietly into Basch's armor when a contraction became too painful to bear in silence.

After what had seemed an eternity to the trio, Fran found what she was looking for. Holding the exit open she allowed Basch to pass along then followed.

They were feet away from the signal station when a voice boomed out of nowhere.

" At last, the secret that has been evading us all has been revealed, and its discovery will be the final descent to the empire it has all but destroyed"