He caught her by the wrist.
"Princess…"
Ashe froze her steps, turning towards him. "Nothing you can say can change this, Balthier… I do not deserve your words, you do not deserve my time."
"As long as your heart is beating, you need to realize your worth to me, Princess." He lifted her wrist gently to his mouth and kissed her pulse, the flutter of her life increasing in speed as her face flushed. "And I can feel your heartbeat. You're stronger than this Princess."
"It… this is for my people. They come before anything else, Balthier." Ashe's eyes grew stormy, the attraction she felt from his gesture wearing off. "Or have you forgotten that in the time you had disappeared, for all I knew dead?"
He dropped her wrist, crossing his arms. "You know as well as I why I stayed away, Ashe." Her name came out less gently than his other words.
"Do I? You say you were off recovering, yet Fran spoke of times off pirating. You could… you could have at least sent word!"
"I thought we had gotten past this," Balthier sighed. "I thought we were okay…"
She turned. "We were never okay. Not since you left, since I was left alone. And then you live, but you do not even visit. You send word through Penelo, my ring through Penelo. Did you even think how that made me feel? After everything we had been through… after everything I had given to you… I felt like I was just a notch on your belt."
"You were never just a fling… Never." Balthier wrapped his arms around her but she shrugged him off.
"I do not want your lies, Pirate. I want to hear the truth, and that is all I will take."
"The truth? The truth, like how you said you cared for me as much as I care for you?" Balthier scoffed. "I have told you nothing but the truth. If anything you are the one who has lied!"
"I lie? I do still care for you, yet I cannot risk having you play with my heart… I cannot risk waking to an empty bed and open window, finding you have flown off… This makes sense to me. Please, for my people, I must do this." Her eyes were conflicted, and she placed a hand softly on his arm. "Please, do not make this any more difficult for me."
He took her hand and kissed it. "Then goodbye, Ashe. I had hoped… but no. Anyhow, you look lovely in white." His face then scrunched. "And if that Rozarrian Prince makes you happy then…"
He stopped abruptly and turned, exiting her room as he had entered, through the window she had left open.
AN: Hi guys! I just wanted to let you all know I'm really grateful for all the support you have given these little one-shots! Please know that if you want to send me prompts you can do so any time, and I will write them as I receive them/feel the inspiration for them! Thank you once again for your support! (In case you were wondering, this was a little piece I wrote on my blog over a year ago that I just found in my archives... I'll have to see what else is lurking on there.)