This was lovely3

Wow, that was a nice piece of work here.

I really like the way you described their relationship right from the beginning.

Good job.

hey! this was beautifully written! I loved the way you portrayed Vaan and Penelo's emotions and also how you showed your own version of how Penelo's parents died. Great great job, keep up the awesome work! :)

Beautiful, might be the most compatible word to describe this story. :D

I love how you pictured Vaan's feelings in this - how he changed from running away, to running towards his dreams. :) The ending made me smile the biggest. _

It was a pleasant read, indeed. Thank you for sharing! _

how could i miss this? It was very good, and touching. Keep up the great work.

Wo, you wrote again! I can't believe how long its been since I last read a story of yours...

I actually had read this one a while ago, but I wanted to give it a decent review, haha.

You addressed the idea of Vaan running away so smoothly and so well; a lot of the time people forget that Vaan wants to become a sky-pirate because he's trying to run away from the past that haunts him so much.

But when Penelo needs him the most, he is able to stay with her instead of settling his own score. I love the point of running toward, vs. running away.

All in all, lovely return to the fandom! ]

Great story. I like the explanation of how Vaan and Penolo came to be where they were. I like the terror you wove into the piece from Vaan plan of escape and Penolo's terrifying flea for her life, where her last memories of her parents were of them being slain.

BANDA BAN, NOT A FAN OF ANGST, SO I'M GLAD IT HAS A HAPPY ENDING, YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Beautiful. Simply beautiful. While I was reading your "Me Without You" it made me want to write something for them. I'm just glad you wrote this as I never did write one... yours would be a ton better anyway.

"Well, maybe he'd run from the occasional monster or two if he really didn't want to deal with them, but he wouldn't be running from himself ever again." I loved that part! It was such a nice comic relief and so very Vaan.

You know they really should make a prequel for XII or have a cutscene about some of the past. They did do that for what happened in between FFX and FFX-2. This seems to represent XII's start perfectly. I almost can't believe it's not real! It's just amazing how great this fits in with the game. Vaan even admitted to Ashe he'd kept running away even through his dreams of being a sky pirate and things after he lost everything. It's nice to see this writing of what that time may have been like for Vaan and Penelo.

I can so easily relate to Vaan and Penelo's confusion on whether or not to listen to Penelo's mother. But I loved Vaan's resolve. I can't even imagine how hard the situation would have been for Penelo's mom. I somewhat wonder if you relate to her there. Being a mother you love and are protective of your kids immensely. Have you gone through something like that? I actually sort of hope not. LOL. It just seemed to have so much conviction and reality, what you wrote for Penelo's mother to say. But of course you always are a spectacular writer that way.

Love this piece, Laur. Hope you write more. Vaan and Penelo ARE easy to miss. Glad you got some of your Muse back for them. This piece should go down in history as being the real beginning of FFXII! LOL.

When I saw you had updated for FFXII I completely spazzed! I’ve been dieing for some good VaanPen lately and I’ve read all the IC and good stuff on this site….oh uncountable times! (Which is actually quite a lot now because after you posted the Me Without You shorts there’s been a stream of REALLY good VaanPen’s!)

And you’ve done it again! I can’t pick out a favourite part…I loved it all! Like Penelo walking in and lying down next to Vaan like it was the most natural thing it the world.

And Vaan hiding his fear and saved Penelo from the imperials in the house, and how the both switched positions outside and she saved him, I can just see them doing that. I know I say this a lot about your fics, but it’s just so them!

And you description of their time in Lowtown, despite all their grief they just carried on. That’s the thing I think I like most about Vaan and Penelo, Vaan may try to avoid his problems, and Penelo may doubt herself. But they don’t give up, and you got that really well in this story.

The ending was just so many shades of epic as well. You really highlight how unorthodox Vaan and Penelo’s “one day” was and unorthodox is just so normal with Vaan and Penelo XD!

(How have you been anyways?)

~Feeny

Don't know FFXII, but really, what I read here is a universal story of gettin' on as best you can, of true grit, of using the cards your dealt. The story is familiar, the packaging is different. Thanks for the interlude in my day, Qwi-Xux. Another cuppa and this story and I'm good to go! mc

I miss Vaan and Penelo too! Thank you for a lovely story.

Ha ha! I've been waiting and watching my author alerts for this day. Finally a return to good old ff12 XD

As per usual, a wonderfully written story with the perfect level of sappiness