I stand on the balcony leading out from the deck, I had to get away from Penelo and Kytes as they wouldn’t give me the end of it all, Filo went off to make fun of Vaan, and I suppose that Llyud is right where I left him, I breathe in the warm air, the airship is stationary right now, Vaan says that we will be departing soon so get some air whilst you can.
I look back through the tinted windows of the airship, I can vaguely make out the shape of Penelo talking to Llyud, I know it’s Llyud ‘cause I can see the wings, unless we have an aegyl stowaway the slipped on-board.
I turn back around and look out over the land, Lemures is a beautiful place, maybe one day I’ll come back here and settle down, no, I don’t think I ever will, I’d rather live my life in the skies, I am staring out into space when a noise brings me back down to Earth.
“It’s only me” I hear Vaan say, I turn around and see him furiously blushing,
“Wow Vaan, I didn’t know you could turn that colour” I say blankly, he turns around and curses,
“Are you leaving?” I ask him, I hope he goes; he’s caused me enough embarrassment, and unwanted ‘feelings’ for him.
“Um, no, um, not exactly” he finally manages to get out.
“Well then what are you here for?” I ask, the sooner he tells me the sooner he leaves, so I might as well hear him out.
“Well, I wanted to make sure you were OK, after what I called you on the deck” he returns once more to his shade of red.
“Yeah, I am fine, but why?” I ask him, looking into his blue eyes,
“Well, I’ve always called you Ali in my head and I guess it just slipped out...” Vaan trails away,
“That’s sweet” I say, revealing my light-hearted and carefree nature to him, even though I’m supposed to be in a bad mood, he smiles, flashing his brilliantly white teeth at me.
“That’s ok then?” He asks, laughing,
“Yeah, but if you call it me again I will make you sorry for it” I warn, then I burst out laughing, Vaan follows suit, laughing until he is crying, why is he trying so hard? It was never that funny, that only makes me laugh more, so I have to lean back on the railings, Vaan walks over to me and leans beside me,
“I’m gonna miss this place” he tells me, looking over the lakes and valleys, a couple of birds fly overhead, their exotic calls echoing across the vast space.
“Yeah, me too, I was thinking about maybe coming back here to settle down one day, but then I realised my place is here in the skies” I finish.
“You can if you want too” Vaan tells me, turning to face me, this is weird...
“Yeah, but I’d much rather stay in an airship, not held back by anything.. or ANYONE” I say, trying to convince myself as well as warning Vaan to keep his distance.
He doesn’t seem to notice and walks closer to me, I press myself up against the barrier, hoping somehow that I will melt through it, Vaan holds my arms and puts his face close to mine,
“You know we never finished what we started in the under quarters of the ship” he says, tickling my face with his hair, I feel my body give way, I can’t fight it anymore, Vaan seems to sense it and draws me closer to him, what am I doing? I- I can’t do this, I....
Vaan seizes the moment and kisses me, his soft lips brushing mine, my thoughts just melt away with the kiss, and I am shocked to notice that I am kissing him back!
After what seems like hours we pull away from each other, breathing heavily,
“Wow..” Is all Vaan can say, I just stare with my mouth hanging open like a brain-wiped goldfish.
“Y-yeah” I splutter, Vaan takes my hand in his,
“It’s getting cold out, let’s go inside” he says and we walk back into the airship.