A/N: Thank you so very much to everyone who reviewed: kissychan, TheAngel'sLover, Drink. Juice, a-alexiel, and Baschashe. :)

Moving on…I tried to portray what I thought Ashe's attitude might have been at this point in her life. Watching the opening sequence to FFXII, it's obvious that she's not quite as…hardened, perhaps, as she is two years later in the game. This chapter is a bit shorter than my other ones, but I portrayed everything I needed to. And I suspect the next few chapters might make up for it in length. We'll see. ;)


Year 704

Basch had been standing outside the door all morning, while maidservants bustled in and out, all in a state of harried anticipation. As he watched them come and go, he wondered how Ashelia was faring amidst the preparations, knowing how much she disliked being fussed over.

Finally, the servants began trickling out, until the last one, her elderly former caretaker Alys, stepped out the door and smiled at Basch. "Her majesty is ready. Just in time, I think?"

It was indeed time for Basch to escort Ashe to the front hall. He and Vossler were leading those responsible for the protection of Ashe and Rasler this day, should someone attempt to disrupt their wedding. Most of the citizens of Nabradia and Dalmasca were ecstatic about the marriage, but Basch was well aware that there would always be some who were unhappy no matter what was done. This always had the potential to translate into violence against leadership, and that potential always grew in the midst of large events. The parade was going to be the worst of it, as Ashe and Rasler would be moving slowly through a crowd of thousands of people.

"I had no doubts her majesty would be ready on time," Basch said, and Alys smiled and patted his hand with her gnarled fingers before moving on down the hall to join the other servants heading out to watch the parade.

Basch stepped into the room and stood by the doorway. Ashe was standing perfectly still in front of a mirror, staring at it in a way that made Basch wonder if she was truly seeing her appearance or if her mind was elsewhere. He waited at the edge of the room, and when she didn't seem to notice him, he cleared his throat. "My lady? It's time. Vossler is waiting with your father and Lord Rasler."

Ashe blinked and moved her eyes away from her reflection. For a moment, she stared at him as though she wasn't entirely certain of why he was there, but then her eyes cleared and a faint smile touched her lips. "Already?" She twisted her hands together, a nervous habit she'd had as long as Basch had known her. "Very well." She smoothed her dress. "Do I look presentable, Captain?"

Basch wasn't entirely sure how to appropriately answer that. "Aye, my lady." In truth, she looked quite lovely. She looked…very grown up.

"Have you seen Rasler as of yet?"

"I saw him a short time ago, Princess."

Ashe nodded, still not moving to follow him out the door. Instead, she looked back at the mirror. "Everyone has been saying how like my mother I am in this dress." She paused. "My mother married quite young. She was only fifteen."

"I have heard."

Ashe reached out and touched the glass, as though in touching her reflection she somehow could reach her mother, long dead. "She loved my father very much." She closed her eyes for a brief moment, and then again turned away from the mirror, facing Basch directly. "I am…uncertain."

Basch caught a brief glimpse of the sudden fear on Ashe's face before she covered it again with a calm expression. Even then, he could see it a little in her eyes. She was still talking, very softly. "I…always knew that my marriage would be for the benefit of Dalmasca. This, I do not regret."

Basch simply watched her, allowing her to speak her mind. It had often been this way over the years, that when Ashe had the need to work through something, he ended up being the one to listen and offer what words he could give. He had sometimes wondered how he had ended up in that role, and supposed he had spent so much time as her protector that he was one of the few people around whom she was truly comfortable.

Then, abruptly, she asked him, "Have you ever loved, Basch?"

Loved? He had fled to Dalmasca when he was Ashe's age and had then devoted his life to serving the country. Over time he had come to love Dalmasca as his own, and to fiercely care for its leaders, including the young woman now standing in her wedding dress before him. Yet he had not loved as she meant it. There had been a time or two when he could have possibly loved in that way, but his duties to king and country had always kept him at a distance. "Not as such."

"I do care for Rasler." Ashe closed her eyes. "Sometimes…I just wish…" She shook her head and opened her eyes. "Sometimes I wish I was not bound so by duty and birthright."

"We are all bound by something, Ashelia," he told her quietly. "We all have a duty to fulfill, sometimes of our choosing, and sometimes because it is thrust upon us, which does not make it any less important."

"I know." Ashe took a deep breath. She straightened and looked at him. "I am ready." She walked toward him, her wedding veil flowing behind her as she moved. "Rasler is a good man," she said.

"He is. I believe he cares deeply for you, Princess."

"I believe so as well." She rested her fingertips on his arm, though he did not feel it beneath his armor. "You are a good man, too, Basch. I thank you. I--do not know what I would have done without your advice through the years." She offered him a small smile, though he could tell she was still very anxious.

He began to bow in acknowledgment of her thanks, but familiar words dropped from her mouth before he could complete the gesture. "By the gods, Basch, do not start bowing to me on this day!" She took a deep breath and then let it out.

A smile twitched Basch's lips. "Yes, Majesty."

As Basch escorted her to the front hall where her groom awaited, he felt a deep pride for the young princess. Not just the pride of a knight in his sovereign, but a personal pride in who she had grown into. He had been catching glimpses the past few years of the woman she would one day become, but he saw now, more than ever before, that she was not a child anymore. He knew that she would one day be as worthy a queen as she was a princess.

It was the first time he truly ceased to see her as a girl and began to see her as a woman.