Title: She Knows
Fandom: Final Fantasy XII
Claim: General Series
Prompt: #9 - Secrets
Characters/Pairings: Penelo/Ashe
Rating: Adult
Summary: Penelo knows many secrets
Author's Notes: Takes place 3-4 years after the game. Spoilers everywhere.
Maybe it's because she looks so young - all twin plaits and smiles, radiating innocence - but people can't help but tell her things, things they'd rather that other people didn't know. She knows, for example, where Basch goes in his spare time (the Khus Skygrounds in Berjerba, where he looks out over the clouds, and thinks about his brother and all the other lives lost that day) and how he ends up getting that time off (Larsa prefers to be alone when he goes down to Old Archades, to try to encourage those who want to make the trip to the city proper, in the hope that they can make a better life for themselves - if he gives Basch the time off, it's easier for Larsa to go down there alone). She knows that Vaan has started to put money aside for Migelo, to say thank you for trying to keep him out of trouble when he was younger, and that Balthier and Fran are planning to buy Vaan a new skyship for his 21st birthday.
But these secrets are nothing compared to what she knows about Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca.
She knows that Ashe sometimes walks through the old Lowtown - now fully converted into storage space - and worries about what it could revert back to if she fails her people. She knows that Ashe goes out into the Estersand, just to keep her skills sharp. She knows that, during the Dry, Ashe goes down to the Nomad Village to listen to Brunoa's stories, and to watch the children play in the sun.
She also knows how soft Ashe's lips are, how she kisses, how she looks with pupils blown just before leading Penelo towards her bed. She knows that Ashe has recently taken to wearing clothes that are easier to take off in a hurry, how warm her bare skin is, how smooth it feels next to her own. She knows how Ashe moans when she's close, how she begs Penelo to make her come, how she shouts out when she finally does. She knows how Ashe looks when she's sleeping afterwards: beautiful, peaceful, almost angelic.
Penelo smiles whenever this happens. She knows that will find out the other secrets she keeps sooner or later, but she plans on keeping what she knows about Ashe to herself for as long as possible.