"Fran! Fran!"
Fran heard him coming long before he called out for her. She had heard his familiar footsteps as they sprinted through the Aerodrome to The Strahl, where she sat in the cockpit. Whatever it was, it was clearly urgent.
Fran swiveled in her chair as her dear friend and partner reached the bridge. Balthier stopped in the doorway, breathing heavily from his rush as he leant on the frame for support. He could only stare at her but, through his pants, she could spot a smile fighting to come through, and on reading the look in his eyes, she knew why he was there. Why he had run all the way down here to find her.
He knew.
Fran herself, had been suspicious. She, with her highly toned Viera senses, had detected a change within the Queen as she watched her throw herself into her husband's arms upon coming to greet him and his partner home after a long, three-week trip excavating tombs, but considering how Ashe had been drinking with dinner, Fran realised that the Queen didn't even know.
Until now, that is.
Fran simply looked at her friend. His face held such a curious expression, so full of different emotions. It reminded her of the look he wore when he told her he was getting married, though that look contained a distinct edge of smugness that was always kind of expected with Balthier. There was no such edge today. Instead, she saw joy, and shock, and panic, but above all else, she saw happiness. Complete and utterly pure happiness.
As his breathing began to slow, his smile started to form properly, gradually getting wider and wider, until his face was nothing but smiles and teeth. Fran felt her own mouth mirroring his own, eventually giving him the biggest grin she had ever offered anyone. She swung out of her chair as Balthier stepped forward and they met each other in a powerful, bone-shattering embrace.
Viera, under normal circumstances, are not a race that seek out physical contact like Humes do, but since leaving the Wood so many years ago, Fran had found her habits had changed and was much more lenient. Besides, this was Balthier, and these were not normal circumstances.
The two friends simply held each other, Fran taking a moment to laugh inwardly at just how much taller she was then Balthier, who was not short himself. After a time, Balthier finally spoke.
"How long have you known?" He asked, as they continued their hug. Fran smiled to herself and at their near psychic ability to read each other.
"It came to my attention when the Queen welcomed you home yesterday." Balthier pulled back and fixed his friend with an exasperated stare.
"And you never thought to mention it to us?" He sighed. Fran returned his stare.
"It is not something one can simply drop into casual conversation." She stated. Balthier just rolled his eyes and pulled her back into the hug.
"Apparently we're not suppose to tell anyone for a couple of months," He said after another moment's quiet. "But Ashe knew I had to tell you." Fran found herself moved by the sentiment. "I mean, especially considering I figured you'd already know." Fran gave him a shove away from her, but kept a knowing smirk on her face as she sat back down.
"What? I was right, wasn't I?" He grinned and sat in his own chair.
They sat together in The Strahl for a couple of hours, just talking, Fran watching Balthier go from giddy, to terrified, to giddy again, all with a smile firmly on her face. When he realised he had to get back to his wife, he left Fran with his ship, knowing she would join himself and Ashe at dinner that evening, and as Fran watched her best friend leave the Aerodrome, virtually walking on air, she couldn't help but share in the obvious joy that he felt.
She wondered if she should have told him it was twins.