~Airships are Meant to Fly~ ~Vaan x Reader One-shot~

     A girl with [color] eyes walks home after a rather difficult day at work in the Traverse Town Hair Salon. "Xemnas didn't work at all today," she grumbles under her breath, exhaustion and a headache causing her to massage her temples, frustrated. "Would it really kill him to put down the issue of Twilight Town's Weekly Top Fashion Tips? I mean, I know the guy wants to be a fashionista, but really?"


     Walking up the slate-colored paved pathway to her front door, she notices her chic, intricately patterned white and black marble bird bath she got on her birthday is missing, a spot of grass pressed down left to mark the place where the proud stone previously stood. Her eyes flicker automatically to the small one-story beige house just to the left of her own.    


      She runs a hand through her short [color] hair angrily and makes her way to the residence, taking long heated strides, already fed up with situation that never seem to stop happening.


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*Flashback: **The loud, melodious ringing of the doorbell awakens the slumbering boy inside from his sleep. He groans tiredly rubbing his tear-stained grey colored eyes that are turning red and slowly pushes himself off the small couch, an instruction manual on building airships falling off of his lap and tumbling to the dull-carpeted floor with a soft thud. It lands cover-side up next to a sympathy letter inscribed with the name of the infantry leader Captain Basch that's been reread countless times, long before the boy's arrival to Traverse Town the day before.    


     He slowly gets up, steps unsure and wobbly. The doorbell rings again, though this time quieter than before, as if contemplating whether or not the car in the driveway really meant anyone was home.
      He stumbles to the front door calling out, "Wait! Just a minute, please," picking up a nearby shirt laying on the ground by the door and pulling it on over his head to cover his bare chest, ultimately avoiding a possible awkward encounter with the landlord.
     Unlocking the front door and turning the doorknob, he opens the door slowly, the aging hinges letting out a protesting creak. Once fully open, he raises his eyebrows in surprise at the sight of a girl around his age with long [color] hair and pretty [color] eyes standing on his front porch with her hands in her light jacket's pockets, instead of the 40 year old stocky man that is his landlord.


     "Hi!" she greets waving, smiling brightly with shining [color] eyes. Her breath escapes her lips in a white vapor from the icy environment. "I'm [Name] [Surname], your neighbor. I'm just stopping by to welcome you to the neighborhood. I live," she turns 90̊ counter-clockwise and points to the pale blue two-story house to the right of his. "Right there, in case you need anything. Come on over whenever you need something, or if you just want someone to talk to." The boy stands there with his mouth hanging slightly open, entranced by the kind gesture.


     [Name] lets out a nervous laugh, but the warm smile never lives her face. She rubs her arms and shivers slightly. "Are you okay? You know, I've seen a couple movies before, and this is usually where the freezing girl is either invited inside out of the cold, or the mysterious neighbor introduces himself. So tell me mysterious neighbor, which one will it be?" He clears his throat and quickly steps aside, ushering her into the untidy living room. "Oh, uh, I'm Vaan. Vaan... Ratsbane. Why don't you come inside? I-I'm sorry for the mess. I didn't expect to have any company, Miss [Surname]." She giggles at this. "No need for formalities. Please just call me [Name]. Oh, and don't worry about the mess. Believe it or not, I've seen much, much worse at my friend Yuffie's house. This place doesn't seem to have shurikens on the floor or stuck in the walls, so you're already beating her in house cleanliness and overall safety," She says, grinning up at the boy. He chuckles in response, walking over to sit on the three person dark green couch in the corner of the room where he had been sleeping not five minutes before.


     She sits down beside him and looks around the room, taking in the environment when her eyes curiously settle on the airship manual by Vaan's feet. "Building an Airship for Dummies," she reads picking up the book. "Oh that," he laugh timidly, awkwardly scratching the back of his blonde head. "I found that in one of my moving boxes I unpacked a couple hours ago and wanted to see what it said."She raises an eyebrow and looks at him skeptically. "I think that the whole idea of travelling and airships is just so intriguing. I've wanted to travel since I was a little girl." She says with a small smile lighting her features. He stares at her shocked, then speaks. "I know how you feel. It's a dream of mine. Scratch that, a goal. One of these days I'll fly an airship of my own. I'll be a sky pirate, free to go where I will." His voice dripping hopeful determination at the idea, his eyes looking far off into his vision. "All this coming from a guy who just found the book in a box? Wow, you think fast!" She waves her hand fluidly in front of his face, snapping him out of his trance. "Well, since we both basically have the same dream, maybe we can travel together sometime."She beams at him, a distinct twinkle in her eyes. The boy finds himself smiling too. He also finds that he really, really likes seeing this girl smile. He really likes her in general. "I'd like that."


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Current time:   A harsh pounding on the door rouses the blonde boy inside from his nap on the couch. A grin spreads across his face as pushes himself up and off of the couch. "Vaan! Open up!" He hears a feminine voice yell from the other side, accompanied by more of the ruthless knocking. His eyes light up and his grin grows wider. He swiftly searches the room for anything out of place. The living room is much more decorative than it was the first time they met. Deciding that nothing was disorganized, he speedily steps to the front door.


     "[Name]! How are you? Oh, you got a haircut? It looks cute!" He merrily chimes after opening the door to reveal her irritated form. Her cheeks bloom red, but the mad look on her face doesn't drop. "Don't try distracting me, Vaan. I know you took my bird bath. Give it back!" His face shows mock hurt as he holds a hand over his heart. "I'm offended that you assume outright that I stole it. You know, you should really-""VAAN!" "Alright, alright! I'm sorry. Come on inside and I'll go get it." He states, stepping to the side to allow her entrance to the room. She walks in slowly looking around. "I don't understand why you keep on doing this. This is the fifth time you've taken something of mine this month! It's starting to get old."


     I only do it to see you, he thinks to himself sadly. You're always so busy. We never hang out like we used to. "Vaan? Are you listening?" She says snapping her fingers to try and get his attention. "Yeah... just follow me to the yard where I left it." He says a bit deflated, moving to the sliding glass door leading to his small backyard. Her gaze softens. "Hey," She says gently stepping in front of him to stop him from progressing any further to the destination. "Are you okay? I'm sorry if I yelled, it's just that this is happening too often for my liking. I don't exactly like finding my things gone when I get home, you know what I mean?" He nods in response. "Why do you take my stuff anyway? You never took anything until six weeks ago." He looks around anxiously, both hands behind his head. "If I tell you, do you promise not to hate me?" She blinks surprise evident in her facial features. "Hate you? I could never hate you. Be annoyed with you, yes. But hate you? I don't think that is physically possible. You're too much of a likeable person." A sigh of relief escapes his lips at this and his tensed body relaxes."The truth is... You're always so busy. This seemed like the only way to see you, honestly. I miss talking with you...I miss you." He mumbles the last part so quietly that she can't quite catch it. "Oh, well I'm glad you told me. I'll try to visit more often, okay?" She smiles warmly at him. He beams. "Awesome. I'll go get the bird bath. Be right back."


     He leaves her in the living room and jogs out the sliding glass door and to the back left corner of the yard where he stops beside the bird bath. A couple yards to the right of the bath, he sees the small two-person airship he's been constructing since he met [Name] that first day. He smirks at the progress he's made. It wouldn't be long until it was completely finished and functioning correctly. Soon we can travel together... Just like we said we would.


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Why hello there! Number XV here! I apologize if Vaan is really OOC here. I haven't actually ever played FFXII, so I made this based on what I got off of a Wikia article on Vaan. Please tell me whether or not he was if you can! I would just like to thank all that decide to spend their time reading this. It really means a lot to me. And I will hopefully be writing more one shots soon, if I get some nice feedback on this one. Thank you again!*


I do not own Vaan, Traverse Town, or Twilight Town! They belong to their original creators!

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