Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XII and Balthier and Penelo belong to SquareEnix. I only write about them when my muse dictates to do so.

Lost Time

Chapter One

The music in the Whitecap Bar played, beating in a slow steady rhythm in the background. Bar maids started to light the various candles around the darkening establishment as the sun began to set in Balfonheim Port. As each of the maids passed the bar, they threw lusty glances at one lone figure, hoping to catch his eye.

"Hey there stranger, can I buy you another drink?" A tall, slender, red haired hume woman indicated to the deep garnet colored liquid that the man was currently nursing.

Recognizing the seductive tone in her voice and being the gentleman that he was, he decided to play along. "Much thanks for the kind invitation. It 'tis such an honor, but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to decline for now," he politely replied back, trying his best to give her a charming smile.

"Well then, let me know when you feel like sharing drinks with me. Keep in mind," the woman lightly placed a hand on his shoulder, whispering near his ear, "I would love to share more than that with you." She pulled away from him then, throwing one last look at him over her shoulder.

Balthier kept his usual cocky grin on his face until the woman was far enough away and then let out an exasperated sigh. Normally Balthier would at least entertain any woman interested, even if it was just for a little. Buy her a couple of drinks, whisper sweet nothings in her ear and draw her close into his embrace. Though he hardly ever slept with any of these women, he believed that all women deserved some lavish praise and attention from time to time. But not tonight, he didn't want to play that game anymore.

The cause for this change in his behavior: Fran. It has been a few months since the lone sky pirate has seen the viera. They had been in Bhujerba searching for some hidden treasure in the Lhusu Mines when they ran into Fran's sister, Mjrn. The vieras immediately embraced, having not seen each other since their run in during the war. The three had dined together at the local pub, giving the sisters a chance to catch up with one another. Balthier wasn't surprised to hear that Mjrn had decided to leave the Wood and travel the world like Fran. She had apparently done some training in the Garif Village and has been hunting various marks around Ivalice for the Hunt Club in Phon Coast as well.

After receiving a quick glance from Fran, Balthier knew that she wanted to have a private chat with her sister. He guessed that she would try to talk Mjrn into going back to the Wood, but he was betting that the younger one wouldn't give up on her dream so easily.

The next morning as Balthier was checking his maps, a quick knock rapped on his door.

"Ahh, good. Fran please come over and look at the maps with me. I figured that the best route to take to…"

"I can't."

"What do you mean you can't? Are you finally needing spectacles after all these decades?" Balthier jested, but could see the viera wasn't amused and instead looked extremely serious.

"I've decided to travel with my sister for a bit. She is still young and needs some guidance in this world beyond the Wood."

"Well, certainly it is understandable that you would want to keep your sister close to you, but to quit sky pirating is a bit much, Fran. I know," Balthier clapped his hands together, "Mjrn could join us. You could watch over your sister and we could still continue to travel together."

"I thought of that too, Balthier," Fran sighed. "Except it has been years since I've been able to spend time with Mjrn like this. You and I have been together for a long time now and finally it is time for me to return to her."

Balthier looked down to the floor, a downcast expression smearing his features. "I understand. A new act has started in your life that doesn't include me. Just know it has been a delight working with you all these years. And if you ever need a leading man again," he looked up to meet his comrade's eyes and gave her a soft smile which she returned. He had left Bhujerba soon after, trying to speed away from the pain he felt in his heart.

There were only a couple other women in his life that could hold a torch to Fran. One was currently the Queen of Dalmasca and the other was the young Penelo. Both of whom he hasn't seen for a little more than two years since they had defeated Vayne. He had been unable to attend Ashe's coronation due to the bounty on his head, forced to stay underground a bit longer to elude the head hunters. While he had seen Penelo during her and Vaan's first sky pirating adventure with him and Fran in the Giruvegan. She was still the same bubbly, cheerful girl that he had given his handkerchief to, but how she was now after the last two years he had no clue.

Balthier let out another heavy sigh and watched the garnet liquid as he swirled it around the glass tumbler. Of course he had tried to find another partner to replace Fran. He had spoken to many women, trying to find someone as strong willed and independent as the viera. But most have come up short; only wanting to have some sort of passionate, romanticized love affair or been too seedy and untrustworthy characters that would betray him at any given moment.

He even considered asking another male to join him, but quickly dismissed the idea when he thought of how smelly his precious Strahl would be with man sweat. He knew from his previous experiences with his fellow male sky pirates that most did not take regular baths like he did. Finally, after much time had passed, the sky pirate had grown weary of the flirtatious games he played with women and resigned himself to the thought of flying solo until he found his new leading lady.

"Attention ladies and gentlemen, please give a round of applause to the Dancers 5!" People began to clap loudly throughout the tavern. Balthier took a deep gulp from his glass, feeling the liquid burn down his throat. He noticed from the corner of his eyes a group of women quickly assemble in the middle of the lower floor of the tavern. The tempo of the music changed and the women began to dance slowly along with the new beat.

With nothing else to amuse himself with, Balthier turned around to watch the little performance. Two hume women danced in synch at the far sides of the group, while two tall vieras danced in the center. Their hips swayed to the beat from side to side when from the center of the group emerged a familiar blonde.

Balthier sat up straighter in his stool, craning his neck higher for a better view of the new dancer. After all this time, he could still recognize her from anywhere. Though her once shoulder length hair was now skimming her hips, she still braided a couple of strands of her blonde hair on each side to frame her face. He also noted that she wore different clothes from the last time he had seen her. Instead of her one piece black and white attire, she now wore a light shimmery silver top, which Balthier observed, exposed her slim midriff as well as a bit of her cleavage. Her new pink short skirt flowed with her movements easily as she spun around similarly as she did in her quickening, Evanescence. Balthier whistled low in approval as the skirt flitted about her legs thanks to the high cut slit on the left side, revealing more of the young woman's skin to Balthier than he had ever seen of her before. The dancer gracefully raised her arms above her, her many bracelets lightly chiming together like bells as they rolled down her arms. As she spun around again, her eyes suddenly locked onto his. He raised his glass in greeting to her, while she smiled back in return.

Soon after their performance ended and received much approval as was evident by the loud clapping and whistles from many of the male patrons, the lithe blonde made her way over to the bar counter and embraced the sky pirate.

"Hello to you too, my dear Penelo," Balthier replied as he returned the tight hug.

Penelo pulled away, but kept her hands on his shoulders. "Oh Balthier, it has been much too long," she leaned in again and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Well then," Balthier said as he softly gazed back at the young woman before him, "maybe I should disappear for awhile and come back if that's the type of greeting I get."

"It's just because I've missed you so much," Penelo slightly blushed, feeling like the same silly young seventeen year old girl that had a crush before on the dashing sky pirate.

"If you ever feel like you miss me again, you have my permission to kiss me anytime," Balthier half joked with the dancer. She giggled in response and pulled out the chair next to him at the counter

"Where's Fran?" a pained look crossed Balthier's face briefly, making Penelo inwardly grimace, detecting that something had happened.

"She's traveling around Ivalice with her sister."

"Oh," Penelo nodded, surprised that the two had separated.

"How about you? What brings a girl like you to this part of the world? I didn't think Vaan would let you out of his sight," Balithier glanced around the tavern, looking for the apprentice sky pirate. "Where's Vaan anyway? Is he here with you?" he asked, taking a sip from his drink.

"Last I heard from him he was with Ashe," Balthier quirked an eyebrow at this. "Well, not with her in that way yet, but serving her as one of her guards."

"Ahh, so he's run off in hopes of being the queen's young paramour."

"Yeah, I guess. I knew that it would happen eventually. They always did seem to share something special during our journey. I'm just happy that at least he has taken the first step in getting closer to her. As for myself," Penelo stood up briefly from her stool and turned around, showing off her outfit, "I decided to join a little dancing troupe that travels around Ivalice. You like?"

"I do, I do." Balthier responded as he eyed Penelo's attire up and down. Penelo giggled lightly as she sat back down on her stool.

Turning to the barkeep, Penelo called out, "Excuse me, Zech, can I please get a bottle of Bhujerban Madhu?"

"Sure thing," Zech put down his washcloth and disappeared around to the backroom to get a bottle.

"Bhujerban Madhu, eh? Are you sure you can handle that?" Balthier leaned one elbow on the wooden counter and cocked a questioning eyebrow at Penelo.

"What? I'm a lot tougher than I look actually. You do realize that I am now nineteen and have been legally able to drink whatever I want for more than year right? I'm not exactly the same girl that used to go around trying to restore peace to the world with you, you know," Penelo placed one elbow also on the counter, mirroring Balthier's posture as she leaned in closer.

"Obviously not," Balthier replied. Looking into her eyes, he could still see the same sweet girl that was once kidnapped because of him. But something was also alight in her eyes that he had never seen there before. Something a bit more playful and flirty even.

"Good, I'm glad you noticed." They continued to gaze at each other, a small smile gracing their lips. Zech came back and uncorked the bottle of the Madhu, pouring the amber liquid into two tall wine glasses. "Thanks Zech, just put it on my tab," Penelo said as she picked up her glass.

"So, shall we make a toast?" Penelo asked as she brought her glass to Balthier's.

"Hmm? How about to good friends?" Balthier suggested.

"Nah, too simple. This occasion deserves something more than that." Penelo paused, thinking. "How about to making up for lost time?"

"Sounds absolutely perfect," Balthier declared as he and Penelo both drew in closer to one another, raising their glasses higher. "So to good friends and to making up for lost time this memorable night," Balthier whispered in a low, smooth voice as he and Penelo clinked their glasses together, taking a long sip from their glasses, both smiling at the thought of the night that they had ahead of them.

Author's Notes:

Hello again dear readers. Here's yet again another new story for you all to enjoy. I must warn any of my underage readers that the fourth chapter may have a light lemon to it, therefore the rating will go higher. I promise that I will try to keep as tasteful as possible, with nothing too excessive.

As for Penelo's character, I decided to change her up a bit from how I depicted in her in my other fic. She's not exactly the same shy, reserved girl, but instead is nineteen and is enjoying her young adulthood. So yes, she drinks a little with good friends and is a bit touchier with Balthier, but she seemed pretty touchy with Vaan in the game, right? So it could happen with Balthier, especially if she sees him as a close long lost friend. Her appearance is inspired by the ending of the game, except for the bright pink balloon pants. Those were much too big for me. Kinda reminded my of MC Hammer's parachute pants..lol!

Anyhow, please be kind and leave me a little tip for my effort by ways of a review.

Till next time!