Alright, here’s Chapter 2, Snow. Hopefully, this’ll be the last chapter. Please let it be so! It’ll throw off the name of the fanfic. Now, I got a complaint about not separating paragraphs for dialogue and story. I was being lazy and I promise to fix that in this chapter. Well, here’s the disclaimer!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except myself and my OCs, other then them, I own nothing related to Final Fantasy or Final Fantasy itself.

Shonen-ai
Pairings: Balthier x Vaan, Slight one sided Basch x Vaan

If you don’t like it, then don’t read it.

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((Vaan’s POV))

Paramina Rift (Frozen Brook (Blizzard)) – Stilshrine of Miriam (Walk of Sky)

I sneezed and sniffed. It was cold. So very, very cold. I saw Balthier shake his head and smile. It pissed me off a little that he was so smug. I saw Basch look at me with concerned eyes. Basch frightened me a little sometimes. But, he was a skilled fighter and an even bigger worrywart. I noticed Balthier glaring at Basch. The evil eye again. It was the 5th time since we left for the Stilshrine of Miriam and Fran insisted that Balthier, Basch and I take the lead. We were only at the Frozen Brook area too. I sneezed again.

“Not used to the cold, eh thief?” Balthier asked me. He always seemed to melt my heart. I nodded slowly. I couldn’t help but feel guilty. He was worried so much about me yet I always seemed to get into trouble. I was surprised Fran wasn’t cold, same with Ashe and Penelo. It was unfair. I felt an arm grab my waist and pull me close, a warm body next to mine. I blushed deeply and I noticed with was Balthier smiling with his soft smile. I melted in his arms, almost literally.

“Be careful Vaan, you almost landed in the freezing waters.” He said softly and pointing to the small hole in the ice. My blush reddened and Balthier chuckled a little. He was slightly pissing me off. Why was I so tense about this? He was so uptight and I was so clumsy. I mean, I almost froze to my death and he laughs at me. I threw all those feelings away when he playfully nipped at my ear. I could see Basch in the corner of my eye. He seemed, almost jealous. My mind thought about that. That was completely wrong. I respected Basch but nothing more but he seemed to want it further. I think Balthier was challenging Basch. Though, that wouldn’t surprise me. Balthier had released me a few second later. I broke my thoughts and tried to concentrate. The damned pirate was always in my mind. I watched as Balthier walked ahead, must have switched leaders again. I smiled. It was fun having Balthier as our leader, mainly because we’d always find ourselves with so much treasure or experience gained. I guess Balthier was like that. I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Basch.

“What is going on between you two?” he asked with his gruff voice. I was too scared to reply right away, since he snuck up on me again. It was the 7th time he’s asked me about me and Balthier.

“Nothing’s going on. He’s just playing around.” I said, completely lying to him. I didn’t want Balthier to be in trouble, like I was in Giza. Penelo had it all wrong. He came onto me. I just switched, completely by accident. Okay, so I switched on purpose. Forget he details. I only switched because I hate being pinned like that. I started walking faster to avoid Basch’s questions but he grabbed my arm again, and gripped.

"Something is going on. Don't lie to me Vaan." he said, his grip tightening. I winced. Why was he being so rough? That wasn't the Basch I knew. I had to break free. I didn't know what to do, so I lied again.

“I already told you Basch. Nothing is going on between me and Balthier.” I liewd again but, he didn’t buy it for one second. I could tell by the look in his eyes. "Why do you have to keep asking me about Balthier and I? Nothing happened and that's that!" I had snapped and his grip loosened. I could tell he was disappointed in me.

"Even if nothing is going on please Vaan, for your sake, do not let this go too far." he told me, his grip wasn't as hard as it was before I snapped. He was acting like my father, and it pissed me off.

I lowered my gaze and removed my arm from his grip and ran. "Vaan!" I heard him yell but I paid no heed.

I had run far. Probably all the way to the Spine of the Iceworm. The Garuda-egi's and the Twintanias were already eliminated. The wind spicked up, snow falling on every path. It was almost a blizzard. I shivered. I started walking foreward, not moving very fast due to the cold. I looked up and noticed a Garuda-egi heading straight for me. I gasped, I was not prepared for this. I started running. I couldn't take it on by myself! I heard a few gunshots and the beast was killed. I stopped running and stared, dumbfounded. I didn't even notice the figure behind me or the fact that the blizzard, got worse.

“Get out of the blizzard! You'll die out there Vaan.” Someone said as they grabbed my arm. I looked back and noticed that it was Balthier, sitting behind a rock. Why was he hiding behind a rock? Then again, there was a blizzard now so he must have been taking cover. I was happy and surprised to see him. How'd he get so far ahead? I could tell he was worried. He wasn't as good as he thought about hiding his worry.

“What’s wrong Vaan?” He asked me as I sat down next to him, away from the freezing wind. I shook my head. I didn’t him to worry more than he already was. I was hiding my face from his, I couldn't let him see me. I was breaking down. I felt Balthier’s arm around my shoulder and he pulled me close, until my head was resting on his arm. I could feel a small blush creep onto my face.

“You can tell me anything, Vaan. Whether you tell me anything or not, is completely up to you.” I bit my lip. What was I supposed to tell him? That Basch was pestering me for answers to his questions? That wouldn’t help. It would only cause them to start fighting. And it would be my fault. It was Balthier who started it. He and he alone caused this but his gaze always melted my anger toward him away. I looked up to meet his gaze. I was almost at the verge of tears but I had no reason to cry. I was right. He was concerned. I could see it in his eyes. He wiped away the forming tears and his lips met mine. A quick kiss but just the same as the previous one, calming and meaningful. The blizzard died down a bit too, down to a light snow.

“Now, no tears. Alright?” he asked, smiling. I nodded, but tears were already forming. He chuckled as he stood up. I wasn’t mad, but I couldn’t forgive him for getting me in trouble. He helped me up and we were greeted by Penelo, Ashe, Fran and Basch. I could tell Penelo thought I did something. She dragged me off for another lecture. I heard Balthier chuckle again.
“Alright Vaan. What did you do now?” Penelo asked me, furious with me. I stayed silent as she yammered on and on about the same crap she told me in Giza.
“Are you even listening to me?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m listening.” I didn’t want to hear about it later so I just agreed with everything she said. It felt like forever until I heard Balthier calling us back. I took that chance and ran away from the fuming Penelo and she chased me back to our little group. I looked at Balthier and smiled. He smiled back, his usual half smile. He had had a talking to from Fran. But, it didn’t seem bad. I could tell he was lectured by his look. He always seemed to have the same stature after a lecture. All his weight on one leg, arms crossed with a bored look. Fran walked past me and whispered, “Good luck.” I wondered what she meant but, I didn’t ask, or even thought about asking.

Basch, Balthier and I were soon the frontline again. It was like nothing ever happened between us. Basch didn’t ask questions and Balthier watched my back. Occasinally, Basch recieved the evil eye from Balthier but, nothing more. No fighting between us, just between us and the fiends. It was tough but we made it to the Stilshrine in one piece. I stopped when I noticed just how big it was. I could hear Balthier chuckle behind me.

I hope he knows I’ll never forgive him. I heard him walk up to me from behind, the footsteps stopped and he kissed my neck.

“I forgive him.” I said quietly as he continued onwards with the rest of the group and I followed shortly after.

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Whatcha think? This chapter was excruciatingly hard because I couldn’t seem to get into Vaan’s mind. Whoooo creepy ninja magic. Nah. Well, I tried my best but Vaan’s POV is hard. Why was Balthier’s so easy though? Hmm. I dunno. Well, hopefully this is the last chapter of Rain & Snow. Hoped you enjoyed it. If you can figure out what the last part was referencing, I’ll attempt another Balthier x Vaan fic. Good luck.

Thanks DoubleWind for such a nice review. I hope you like this part too. Though, it's not as great as the last chapter, it's good in it's own way. Vaan was hard to write as.