“Va’an, I’m scared. Those creepy men are back again!” Va’an looked down to see Penelo clutching at his sleeve. He sighed, and gave her a tight hug. “It’s okay. They’ll go away again soon. They’re fighting on our side, anyway. They’re the good guys, you know.” Penelo sniffed. “I know…but they still creep me out.” Va’an nodded. Honestly, the soldiers scared him, too, but he also respected them. His big brother, Reks, had joined their ranks a few months ago – and anything Reks liked, Va’an liked.
Va’an poked his head out of the alleyway he and Penelo were currently seeking refuge in, and saw that the soldiers had passed by already. “Okay, let’s go,” he said to Penelo, with a jerk of his head to emphasise his point. Penelo took his hand and he led her through the busy market streets. His stomach was rumbling; he decided to get something to eat on one of the nearby stalls. The fruit here always looked so juicily mouth-watering…but it was so expensive.
Checking back at Penelo, he made a quick decision. His free hand flicked out and pulled a fruit off the nearest stall, thrusting it into his pocket with a well-practised smoothness. “Hey!” Penelo trilled, but Va’an glared at her. She fell silent, and they picked their way out of the markets, and sat on the side of a bridge, Va’an dangling his legs over the side. “I saw what you did,” Penelo said accusingly, her hands on her hips and her lips tight. Va’an shrugged, and laughed as her own stomach growled. She clutched at it, and then went back to glaring at him.
“Here,” Va’an said, and threw the fruit to Penelo, who caught it easily. “You need this more than I do, right?” Penelo blushed, and thanked him. “But you mustn’t do it again!” she warned. Va’an was barely listening; he was busy watching an airship pass overhead. “When I’m a sky pirate, I’ll have all the food I could possibly eat. I won’t ever go hungry!” He jumped up to stand on the edge of the bridge. Penelo squealed and pulled him back down, and he collapsed onto her, laughing happily.
This was how Va’an and Penelo spent most of their seemingly carefree and sun-soaked days. Va’an’s parents had died a few years ago, and now he was fourteen. His older brother, Reks, was the only family he had left now, and at age sixteen he had already joined the army. Va’an lived with Penelo and her parents at the moment, but they both knew it couldn’t be permanent. And yet Va’an was ever hopeful, dreaming of the day that he would become a sky pirate and rule the skies of Ivalice.
Va’an and Penelo soon set off for home, threading through the busy streets of Rabanastre with an air of ease acquired by living there. They were walking quickly, so it was a shock when someone stopped them; usually nobody had time for a pair of kids with somewhere to go. Va’an was about to lay into whoever it was when he saw it was a soldier. “Son, are you Va’an of Rabanastre?” Too confused to wonder why he was asking, Va’an simply nodded.
“I’m afraid I have some bad news,” the soldier said. His voice was cold and clinical, and gave nothing away. “Your brother, Reks…he died last week.” Va’an couldn’t believe it; the words didn’t sink in as the soldier was swallowed into the crowd. “Could you believe that joker?” Va’an laughed to Penelo, trying to blink back the tears in his eyes. “I…I’m so sorry, Va’an.” Tears flowed freely down Penelo’s face, and seeing that finally made it reality. But at the sight of Penelo crying, Va’an immediately took on the role of her big brother once more and put his arm around her shoulders. “It’s okay, you know. We’ll be alright,” he murmured in her ear. She shook her head weakly, shaking with suppressed sobs.
“…We’ll be just fine…” Va’an muttered, trying to convince himself as much as Penelo. But right now, his previously unfaltering hope was flickering. The light of sky piracy was threatening to fail on him completely. Now the only thing he had left in this world was the fragile, young girl weeping into his arms.
