E P I S T L E S - A Final Fantasy XII Fanfiction

9. THE GOLDEN RING I

Vaan opened his eyes then closed again. He felt the blue sky of Dalmasca looked down on him. The sky of that day. His mind was vacant. It has been three days and he still could not shake the thought out of his mind.

"Vaan," he heard Kytes called, an indication that he had overslept.

"Coming," Vaan shouted back in rough voice.

It's time to work. Against his expection, he was greeted by his folks – the full crew of Penelo, Migelo, Kytes, Filo and even Larsa.

"Good morning," Larsa greeted him with smiles. He started to act as if this was his home.

"Right timing, Vaan!" said Penelo. Her 'right timing' never seemed right to Vaan. He gazed at all small, round, rolled dough and little, circle, wrapped ones with big belly .They were gathering for making ombis and he had no doubt that Penelo was asking his help. "Lend us a hand," she confirmed his deduction.

Ombi was stuffed dough with meat fillings. It was boiled then served in broth. Making ombi was the perfect time for family to get together. But Vaan's ability in wrapping ombis was so good that he felt embarrassed doing.

"You seem have a fine crew here," he replied. Penelo and Migelo were in charge of rolling the dough; Larsa, Kytes and Filo wrapping (though the latter two seemed more like playing).

"You don't count Filo, do you?" said Kytes.

"Did you cross out Kytes?" said Filo, neatly at the same time.

Both of them were poor wrapper, maybe only better than Vaan. "Don't expect more from me. And I don't wanna take my gauntlet off," Vaan said, especially shortly after putting them on.

Penelo winced at his refusal. Obviously, she did not expect much from his terrible wrapping skill, what she really wanted was a time for he to solve his misunderstanding of Larsa's doing. Thus Vaan need not do anything, just sit here with them was enough, but he seemed unacknowledged of her intention.

"Ah," Larsa cried suddenly, "I forgot to remove my gloves."

That was something everyone but Vaan noticed, but they did not ask as they thought he did deliberately avoid contact with dust and flour.

"Have ever taken them off?" Vaan sat down on the chair next to Larsa and asked. The ombis laying on his left hand side were wrapped nicely and neatly and piqued Vaan's curiosity on how he did everything without taking his gloves off.

"I've been asked not to remove my gloves unless in extreme necessity."

"But your ombis look good," Kytes commented, "can't believe it's your first try!"

"Actually, this is not my first attempt."

"You told me your mother used to make ombis for you," said Penelo rolling the lasts of her dough, "it's amazing to hear that the em... Archadians know how to make ombis."

"Serious?" cried Vaan in surprise, "I mean omibis are common folk's things, but you're..." That was not to mention it was Dalmascan food. He caught a moon-eyed gaze of Migelo. It was hard when Migelo was with them. He did not hope to let Migelo know Larsa's identity, or Migelo would fluster with formalities like 'your majestic', 'my lord' if he were not scared to death.

"Say, you didn't talk much about your mother. How is she?" Vaan changed the subject. Family matter was also something he want to know, especially the late empress of Archadia, she held vital clues.

"She is no more."

"Sorry," Vaan said. No wonder why he did not say much about her.

"'Tis fine. 'Twas long ago."