After Midnight
Chapter 3
by Rena-Chan44
Story Name: After Midnight
Author: Rena-Chan44
Summary: From the moment I met him, I had always tried to tell myself it was just a petty little crush. Boy, was I ever wrong. Penelo x Balthier
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasty XII, or any of its characters. Square Enix, does. So please don't sue. Only the plot of this story is mine.
Special Thanks: Thanks for the great suggestion for the story, Wakamoley (AKA Wendy).I hope you don't mind that I used it in the story. I would also like to thank my awesome friends Sarah and Riley for helping me out with half of this story. It made it alot better, and helped me get it out faster. :D
X-X-X-X
I must've done something really terrible yesterday, (does sneaking out count?) because I was having terrible luck this morning.
I woke up late, I slipped on a pool of water in the bathroom, and I successfully convinced all of my comrades that I suffered from mental problems at breakfast.
By the time I had actually gotten down for breakfast, everyone else was already there; clearly waiting for me.
"Oh...hello. So sorry I am late." Was all I said before sitting down at the last available place at the table, which conveniently just so happened to be in between Balthier and Vaan.
"So wonderful of you to join us." Balthier said with a teasing smile on his face.
I blushed and Vaan just made it worse. "…Penelo? About last night...what were you doing out there anyways?"
I gave him a look. I did not want him bringing that up here. Not now.
But it looked like the two men on either side of me had other plans.
"Oh? Penelo...where you sneaking out?" Balthier asked knowingly. I could tell from the look in his eyes. He knew.
"I don't know!" Vaan exclaimed, "She said she heard a noise, but I don't know..."
"Hmm..." Balthier pondered, "Maybe she was looking for someone."
Gods, help. He knows. I thought frantically. He knew and he was going to dig my grave with it. I had to do something.
"No!!" I yelled out a little too loudly.
Everyone else turned at me again.
"I mean...uh...never mind." was all I could choke out.
Luckily for me, the food arrived and the attention was no longer directed towards me.
I ate in silence, trying to ignore the subject that I knew would probably come up again. I hoped he would cut me some slack and just drop it. He already knew...why tell Vaan about it.
Another stroke of luck; Ashe spoke up and said, "Where are we traveling to next?"
I watched as everyone discussed where we wanted to go next. As usual, Vaan was full of suggestions.
"Well," He suggested full of in enthusiasm, "We could take the Strahl to Nalbina, and then travel on foot through the Mosphoran Highwaste so we can get to the Phon Coast. It's really nice there, and we haven't seen it in awhile."
"Is there anything we needed in the Phon Coast?" Ashe asked.
"Well..." Vaan continued, "Last time we past through, we were in such a rush we barely had time to hunt all the fiends and find all the treasure and stuff."
That seemed to convince a certain sky pirate and his Viera partner.
"Treasure, you say?" he replied with his signature grin, "Then what are we waiting for?"
"Is there anyone that does not want to go?" Ashe questioned.
No one objected. I certainly wasn't going to object...I got to watch Balthier pilot his airship.
"I'll get the airship then." Balthier said matter-of-factly and got up to leave.
I watched as Fran got up automatically to give him a hand. He grinned and they left.
"It always works." Vaan joked, "They would jump into a pool of burning lava if someone told them they could find treasure down there."
I laughed, "What do you mean, Vaan? There is treasure down there, isn't there?"
"Bound to be." he answered.
"Well you better hope so." Basch added, "Because they will be cross with you for lying to them."
We finished eating quickly and continued exchanging small talk until the door opened behind me suddenly.
Balthier walked in again, his usual grin nowhere to be seen.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Airship's broken."
"What?!" Vaan yelled, unhappy that his plans were broken.
He sighed. "Fran tried to start it up and something exploded."
"What do we have to do next?" Vaan urged.
"Repair it, of course. But we don't have near enough the money we would need to replace the broken piece."
Fran entered the room.
"I removed the broken piece and brought it to somewhere where it can be fixed...the repair price is quite large." She said solemnly.
I looked around. Everyone seemed to be contemplating what to do next. I felt bad and wanted to help somehow.
"We could complete some more marks for gil." I suggested quietly, "Or bring it to that moogle, Nono. Didn't he say he'd give us a discount next time we needed something fixed?"
I saw Balthier grin again. I smiled.
"Or we could do both."
"Well, then, it's settled." Vaan quipped eagerly, "Let's go look for some more marks to hunt. Penelo?"
I turned to the mention of my name. "Let's go!" he said, motioning for the door.
I got up. "Coming!" He ran out the door without me. So much for waiting for me.
I walked out the door, and as I passed Balthier, I swear I heard him mutter purposely so I could hear him, "Hm...cute and smart."
X-X-X-X
There had been plenty more marks on the board in the Sandsea--so many in fact, that I was sure we'd have enough money to replace the broken part in the Strahl.
I was still beaming over what I was sure I had heard Balthier say about me on my way out. Did he actually mean it? I mean, saying I was smart was one thing, but cute? I had never had a man call me anything close to that before in my entire life. Unless you count when you were five and your parents told you how cute you were every day. It wasn't the same kind of cute at all.
It was late in the afternoon, and we were completing the last hunt of the day. We saved this one for last, because the poster had asked us to hunt a rare type of cacti in the Westersand that only came out of hiding at night. The sun would set soon, so we where waiting around for a while until it was dark enough.
We, as a group, had been lucky so far--no sandstorms, meaning no elementals. All the fiends had been fairly easy and all of are hunts where successful. Everything was going well, and it seemed as if my bad luck from this morning was finally gone.
I was wrong.
I noticed a treasure pot in a far corner next to a weird looking rock, so I ran over to it. Maybe it had some extra gil inside. I was about to reach inside when suddenly, the 'weird rock' moved...and stood up. It wasn't a weird rock. It was a Tyranorox...I think.
I gasped and backed away, but it seemed really, really mad that I woke it up. I ran as fast as my legs could take me just to get away. But it just kept running after me, forcing me to speed up. I don't know how long I ran for, but when it finally retreated, I had no idea where I was, nor where everyone else was.
This could not be good. I'd heard the stories of travelers getting lost in the Westersands and never coming back; trapped in sandstorms and facing sudden death. This couldn't happen to me. I wouldn't let it.
I would find the group...or they'd find me, right? I couldn't be that far away. I tried to remember the stories I had heard, and what the people tried to do to keep themselves safe when they were lost. How did it go again...find shelter? I wasn't sure, but it was the only thing I had. So I set off, searching the area for a shelter of some sort. I hoped I could find a cave like we had done in the Estersands. It would be hard without Fran's guidance.
I walked along, tracing my hand along the large rocks 'walls'. Eventually, they would be a cave if I continued along here, right?
I walked and walked, until I found what I was looking for. It was very small, and wouldn't fit more than two people. But I was by myself, so it would do. I entered and sat on the ground, wrapping my hands around my legs. Someone would find me. They just had to.
It was after midnight again so I lay down on the ground, closed my eyes, hoping someone would come for me.
X-X-X-X
I thought I heard something, so I opened my eyes, seeing that I had been asleep. I had never noticed how tired I was until now.
I heard someone calling my name so I got up and ran to the entrance of the cave. I looked around quickly. No one was there. I sighed in disappointment. I checked outside, just incase.
My eyes widened at the sight before me. There was someone in the distance, looking around. He looked familiar. Balthier? It couldn't be. I hadn't seen anyone in so long...it probably just a hallucination. I called out his name, just to be sure.
"Balthier?"
The figure turned to face me.
I gasped. So it was him! I hadn't expected to see anyone come for me so soon, no less Balthier of all people.
I was so happy, after being lonely and scared for so long, I didn't notice what I doing. The next thing I knew, I was running over and wrapping my arms around him. He stumbled back a bit.
I heard a cough and gasp from behind him. I looked up. My comrades were watching me make a fool of myself. Where had they come from? I had proved, once again that I was insane. I blushed.
"Well, it would seem we have found Penelo." Balthier pointed out. I flushed an even darker shade of red and let go quickly.
I backed away, folding my arms across my chest awkwardly. "Uh...hehe...hi guys?"
Fran put her hand on her forehead and sighed and Basch looked away. Ashe looked down awkwardly making me blush even more.
When Vaan finally broke the silence, his comment only made it worse. "What about the rest of us?" Vaan said sarcastically, "Don't we get a hug?"
I wanted to die right there. This couldn't get any worse.
"We should be heading back now." Balthier said. I silently thanked him. He led the way and everyone finally stopped staring at me and followed him.
I fell behind to the back of the group as usual and watched my friends break into little groups of two. No doubt at least some of them were talking about what they had just seen. Balthier and Fran were at the front of the group, whispering about something. Fran glanced at me from the corner of her eye.
Someone put their hand on my shoulder. It was Vaan. Great…just what I needed; another lecture from Vaan.
"I have a question." he said too pleasantly. Something was wrong.
"...yes?"
"Do you like Balthier?" he yelled a little too loudly.
The group turned and stared. Again.
X-X-X-X
a/n: Nice cliffhanger, yes? Next chapter's going to have a whole bunch of drama and...other things. ;)
Thanks again to Riley and Sarah for the help and to 'Wakamoley (AKA Wendy)' who gave me the suggestion of Balthier's airship breaking.
Please review:D