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5. That which lives to breathe

Bal/Vaan - post-canon

Disclaimers still apply.

Had to bring out a bit of lighter fare (aka ridiculous fluff) after the suffocating angst of the last part. This was actually a lot of fun to write, and it brought back all my memories of running around aimlessly doing silly side quests. Humour me, please.

--

Vaan looks ridiculous sitting in the Cockatrice pen, feathers clinging to his mess of hair.

The birds cluck excitedly over him as if he is a long lost chick returned from a far journey, and Balthier tells Vaan so.

"They remember me," Vaan says.

Balthier scoffs. "Of course they do. Given the multitude of their number who have wandered every corner of Ivalice, they must possess memories long as the day during the Dry to recall each lost member."

"You helped to return them, though."

"Only when I could no longer stand the altruistic whingeings of our beloved princess."

Vaan stands, wiping his hands of dust, and he gives Balthier a doubtful look. "I hope you never let Basch hear you talk like that about her."

"But of course. I am no fool. The sky pirate combines dashing bravery with a healthy dose of self-preservation." He raises his brows at Vaan significantly. "A lesson you have yet to learn, Vaan."

But Vaan is looking at the ground, and his lips part and twitch.

Ah. Balthier bites his tongue.

"Basch was a good man," he says finally.

Vaan tugs the feathers from his hair and clothes, and his eyes dart over Balthier and away again. "Come on, I want to bring Dalan a sun stone."

--

The dark crystals are few and far between, and Balthier glances often at the wall of sooty cloud, flickering of lightning, rolling in from the coast in the east.

"Will you cease this, Vaan. It is but a simple matter to purchase a sun stone instead of traipsing about these plains while the Rains bear down upon us. You may not even be able to complete the stone before the light fades."

Vaan sends a Hyena flying with a swipe of his sword and moves on toward the glimmer on the horizon. He frowns at Balthier over his shoulder. "But there will be none of good enough quality like I can make myself."

"I do hope a Cockatrice has not Petrified your mind. Dalan will be pleased to see you no matter what manner of gift you bring."

"I want to give him a sun stone."

Balthier lets his head fall forward as he groans.

--

The last flickers of light fade from the dark crystal as the stone in Vaan's hand takes on a steady, warm glow. Vaan smiles and tucks it into a pocket, glancing back at Balthier.

Balthier slings his gun over his shoulder. "Yes, yes, hurrah. Now if you're quite finished..."

There is a Giza Rabbit at their feet, which has followed them half the length of the Plains upon spotting them nearly an hour past. It shakes its plume of a tail and peers up at Balthier, dancing away and back when Balthier shoos at it absently. It chatters rapidly and hops up to Vaan's boot.

The sky blackens as Balthier hurries, and the beast is still following them several minutes later when its squeaking abruptly shifts and becomes shrilly discordant. It dashes away, shooting down into a hollow half-hidden behind a baked red stone, and Balthier looks up when the sky rips open and rain pours down on them.

He levels narrowed eyes at Vaan, who shrugs and continues walking despite the water plastering his hair down against his skull.

--

Vaan has somehow angered a Wooly Gator in passing, and Balthier casts a wind spell impatiently. It shreds the monster where it rears, and it thuds to the ground, splashing up a spray of mud.

Lightning arcs over Balthier's arms, stinging and spitting, and he bites back a curse.

Spinning around, Balthier backs away quickly, keeping a wary eye on Mardu as it roils and grows, roaring and blinding in its brightness.

He sees the shimmer of Reflect, and Balthier clenches his hand, gathering magick. He feels the blisters from the burns stretch and begin to harden.

Mardu darkens and falls back briefly when the Dispel hits. In as much as it could, Balthier thinks it looks furious.

"I can't see in the rain!" Vaan shouts over the thunderous noise of the Entite. "Cover me for a bit, and I'll summon Mateus!"

Balthier nods, shots from the Fomalhaut striking straight to Mardu's core.

A chill gathers, and he feels as if the ground hardens and ices under his feet. Then, Vaan is gasping for breath and stumbling, and the cold is washed away by rain.

"What happened?" Balthier steadies Vaan and tugs him along as he continues backing away.

"I don't know! The esper refused me."

"Can they do that?" Balthier is genuinely surprised.

"It's never happened before. I still have the mark of the contract, so it should have worked."

Balthier frowns, but he shakes his head. "Very well. We do not need the summon." Balthier looks up at the blinding light, and he draws deep upon his magick reserves. There is a glow beside him, and he knows Vaan is doing the same. Ice forms in towering pillars and slams into the Entite again and again.

--

Rabanastre towers over the flat plains ahead, and the rain has lessened to a caressing patter.

Balthier turns his face up into the sky and lets the water tap onto his closed eyelids. The coolness is soothing and welcome after the exhaustion of having his magick depleted and the prickle of healed skin, but there is something giddy in him at having seen Mardu wisp away into nothing.

"Ready?" he asks Vaan.

Vaan looks at him steadily with eyes like the sky, and he bites his lip. He nods, water trickling down his nose and cheeks.

Vaan steps closer to him, and Balthier smiles, lifting one corner of his mouth, before he closes his eyes.

The kiss is soft as the rain.

--

TBC