(no subject)

[leatheredlion.livejournal.com]

Who: Fran & Squall
When: While Balthier is with Al-Cid
Where: The Strahl
What: Talking
Rating: PG-13



Balthier had pulled a disappearing act. Again. Outwardly, Fran tried to seem unaffected, trying to carry on her day as normal. For Krja’s sake. For Squall’s sake. Yet an uneasiness loomed in her heart. She hated this feeling. She hated not trusting Balthier. What kind of future could be built on distrust? Had she made a mistake coming back? When they were together she felt so happy, yet at times like these... her world was completely empty. When had she come to rely on Balthier so much? She had lived a long, happy life before him, so why did she now need him like she needed air?

With a sigh she turned her thoughts back to the task at hand. Which, currently, was exercising Squall’s legs. She was knelt at the foot of bed, one hand supporting Squall’s left ankle, the other just below his left knee as she stretched and worked the leg, almost like a bicycle movement. She had been doing this twice daily with him to keep the muscles strong. Usually, it was a time in which they talked and joked, but today she worked in complete silence, save for asking if there was any feeling in his legs or pain in his back.

Squall frowned a little. He wasn’t an idiot; he knew something was wrong. And he had a very good idea that it involved Balthier and his mysterious disappearing act. He was getting better and better at reading the 'unreadable Fran'. He shifted himself to sit up a little, reaching out to rest his hand on top of hers. "Fran... Stop." He murmured.

Fran blinked at him, lowering his leg back to the bed carefully. "Does it hurt?" She asked, tilting her head a little, looking at him with those sad eyes.

Squall shook his head. "No. It’s fine. But... I’m more worried about you. I can tell you’re hurting." He saw Fran tense and try to pull away, so he curled his fingers around her wrist lightly, stopping her. "Ah ah! Don’t run away from me. Talk to me. I know I am part of the problem, but you can still talk to me. Don’t hide behind your silence, Fran."

The Viera sighed and shifted to sit on the bed beside Squall, pulling her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "I do not know where to begin..."

Squall offered her a smile, resting his hand on her arm. "Just say what comes to you. I’ll listen." He reassured her, rubbing her arm tenderly.

Her head soon came to rest on Squall’s shoulder. The position mimicking the one they had found themselves in many times during the time Balthier disappeared for a month or more, only this time they weren’t sat on the floor in Squall’s office. "I am sorry. I do not wish to drag you into the middle of this, Squall. Besides, you have enough to worry about..."

Squall gave Fran a gentle nudge. "I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t want to help." He pressed a soft kiss against Fran’s ear gently. "Now, come on, talk to me, maybe just talking about it will help if nothing else."

Fran let out a heavy sigh. "I am just being foolish. Letting my imagination run away with itself no doubt... I am neither his keeper nor mother. If he wishes to leave, he is free to whenever he so chooses. Yet... I cannot help but wonder where he goes to... Whether he goes to another’s bed. Despite his promise, I cannot shake the thoughts. And I hate myself for that. I hate myself so much for not trusting his words. I look in the mirror and all I see is a twisted, bitter, jaded monster staring back at me." She hugged her knees tighter. "He says he loves me, and I know he does. Yet, why am I scared that every time he walks out that door he might not come back?"

Squall ran his fingertips along Fran’s ear, feeling it twitch beneath his touch. He let out a long sigh, before speaking, trying to find the right words. "I don’t have the answers, Fran... But you really need to start talking to Balthier before you end up pushing him away. Your silence hurts him. Talk to him."

Fran shook her head. "I cannot. Every time I try we end up arguing. All I do is anger him. I can never find the right words to express what I wish to say and he takes my words the wrong way."

His arm slid down, curling around Fran’s waist as he drew her closer to him, nudging her ear with his chin. "Fran... even arguing has to be better than this, right? Just talk to him, make him listen until he understands what it is you’re trying to say to him." Squall let out another sigh. "If you can’t talk to him, write it down in a letter. Just... don’t keep it bottled up inside. He hurts so much when you do that."

"I hurt him?" Fran asked, tilting her head to look at Squall, frowning as he nodded. "I have only ever tried to protect him... I do not wish to harm him. He must despise me."

"That’s where the problem lies... What you see as protection he sees as mothering and treating him as a child. He doesn’t despise you, Fran, but you need to learn to talk to each other. Gods~ I should bang your heads together until you both see sense. You love him. He loves you. So stop arguing and remember what it is that brought you together in the first place." Squall huffed.

"Are we... really so bad?" Fran asked, watching the teen. "I imagine things must look very different from outside. Foolish, mayhaps?"

"I wouldn’t call either of you foolish. But you just need to learn to talk to each other. Balthier is just as bad as you are." Squall shifted to lay down, nudging Fran to lay with him. "Things won’t seem half as bad if you communicate with each other." He held her head against his chest, toying with her hair. "You may even find that most of the problems you have just... vanish, as soon as you talk."

Fran gave a sigh and nuzzled Squall’s chest more. "I hope you are right. I cannot stand the thought of losing him again, yet I cannot continue to live like this either." She closed her eyes, resting her hand on Squall’s stomach. It was strange... he was competition for Balthier’s affections yet she held no ill will against him. In fact she felt safe in his embrace.

Squall continued to toy with Fran’s hair, running his fingers lazily through the ivory locks. "It’ll all work out in the end." He whispered, closing his eyes and soon drifting to sleep.