Final Fantasy Final Fantasy Tactics: As He Fights (Ramza/Alma)

Myst Knight

Final Fantasy Tactics fan
#1
Hold onto your Folgers coffee, it's another Ramza/Alma fanfic from Myst Knight! As always, the Ideologically Sensitive Material gives it an OLDER TEEN rated, so be prepared.

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As He Fights

A Final Fantasy Tactics Fanfiction by Myst Knight


Disclaimer: Final Fantasy Tactics is owned by Square Enix. I write this without consent, and am making no money off of it.


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Harsh gales tore across the dusty battlefield, flapping Alma's skirts and bringing the stench of blood and death to her senses. Standing outside the vortex of violence, her hand shielding her eyes, the young girl peered into the milieu of fighting men, of which her brother Ramza was one. That brother was currently equipped with the purple-hued Chaos Blade, a little knick-knack from the Deep Dungeon, and he was making good use of it on the monster hoards. With violet flashes of vicious fury, Ramza hewed monsters on either side as he fought for his men, for his honor, and for his little sister.

It had been only a scant few months since the Lion War concluded, and yet Ramza and his group of warriors could never rest. Although they had left behind Ivalice and its political intrigues, they couldn't leave behind their fighting spirit or desire to help people. So they traveled the countryside as mercenaries, offering their services at a cheap price to the various farms and villages, as well as getting into scraps with roaming monsters. That left Alma, kid sister of Ramza, as the lone non-combatant of the group, the only one that still had to be protected.

Alma clasped her hands together and watched the battle before her. Watched, and worried. Although Ramza's unit clearly had the advantage, the monsters were still numerous, and any one of them could slip through her brother's guard and land a lucky blow. She would go to him if she could, but the battle swirled something fierce, and she could find nary a path to him.

The winds stirred again, blowing up Alma's skirts and petticoats and forcing her to hold them down with her hands, lest her thighs become exposed. The young girl sighed as she pressed her petticoats down, feeling the fluff and lace rub lightly against her soft, bare legs. Go to him, right! Here she stood, in the midst of a fierce battle, and she was still dressed as a high-born brat who knew naught of war and armed conflict. What made her think she could manage herself in a battle, when she could scarcely manage her own skirts?

Why am I here? Alma's thoughts turned wistful, even as violence erupted all around her. What can I even do for Brother? She could've left Ramza group long ago, and settled down under a new name with a handsome suitor, several of which were interested in her. She had no place in her older brother's world of war, and yet she could not bear to leave his side for even a moment, even as she was now.

She remembered the last suitor that had sought her affections. He was handsome and kind, with fair features and a bright future to offer a potential wife. They took to each other well, and even had shared interests in music and the arts.

But he wasn't Ramza.

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*****
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"And I hope I will see you again, should you ever pass by our humble city." The elegant young lord kissed Alma's hand, seeing the two siblings off that morning.

"Thank you for taking care of my brother and I," Alma said, nodding to him with a sweet smile. "It was only a short while, but we will remember your hospitality forever."

"We are in your debt," Ramza said, nodding as well. "May God regard you favorably."

The young lord gave Ramza a narrow look that Alma found quite curious when she thought back on it a few day later. It was something akin to a rival sizing up his competition, a man sensing his better. But Ramza's my brother... Alma blinked a few times at the sudden frostiness from the once-benevolent man. How could he be so threatened?

It wasn't too complicated an arrangement. Ramza and his crew had saved the young lord from a gang of roving thugs, who offered them a weekend stay in his manor, along with gil and provisions for the road ahead. Alma had taken it upon herself to treat the young lord's injuries, and a friendship had blossomed between the two. Ramza had calmly made himself scarce, letting the relationship play out however it was going to, and certainly didn't give out any hostile intent.

And yet, with the way he was glaring at Ramza just now, it was as if a competition had played out for the young Alma. A competition he had lost.

The moment passed, and the young lord's elegant smile was back. "Please take care of Lady Alma in my stead, Sir Ruglia," he told the other man, whose eyes widened at the demand. "She is quite the woman, you know." Then, with an aristocratic swish of his cape, the young lord strode back into his manor, leaving two servants to shut the doors behind him.

After the lord had made his exit, Ramza and Alma were once again traveling the brick walkway leading out of the town, where the rest of Ramza's army were waiting for them. "It was dumb luck he was around to offer us shelter for the weekend," Ramza said, readjusting the Chaos Blade slung to his back. "Otherwise, we would've had to do mercenary work again to make ends meet."

"I would've helped too, Brother Ramza," Alma pointed out, her cheeks puffing up. "Orbonne Monastery did teach me the basics of etiquette. I could've been a waitress at a restaurant, or tavern."

"I don't like the way those men stare at you," Ramza said, a low growl permeating his otherwise calm voice. "Men like that are best avoided, Alma."

"I'd just let them know that my brother take cares of me." Alma's sly grin brought a blush to Ramza's face. "And that he can take care of THEM."

The young man lowered his head for a moment, then coughed into his hand in a show of regaining composure. "That young lord took quite a liking to you," he mentioned, glancing over at his sister. "Why didn't you stay with him? He could've taken care of you, much better than I can."

"But then I would've be able to take care of YOU," Alma said, shaking a finger at him. "Brother Ramza still doesn't have a woman in his life yet. It's up to his cute little sister to take up the extra load."

Ramza blushed for the second time that morning. "I just don't have time for a relationship," he said, as if trying to convince himself rather than Alma. "I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"Not even with Lady Agrias?" Alma pressed him further. "She's very much like you, including being stubborn."

"That's just a close friendship." Ramza denied Alma's insinuation, frowning. "And Agrias has her hands full with Mustadio anyway."

Alma sighed, and shook her head. "Well, however it goes, I will be by your side as long as you need me," she said, reaching out to take his hand in a rather bold gesture. "I will watch as you fight, and then heal you."

To her astonishment, Ramza's fingers squeezed back. "We will take care of each other," he told her, staring into her with crystalline eyes the same color as her own.

Alma blinked a bit at Ramza's change in attitude, staring into his face, his soft, yet strong features framed by gentle blond hair. Brother Ramza is so strong, and so handsome, she considered, while desperately hoping those thoughts didn't show on her face. Have I always thought so? Pushing aside the thoughts for the moment (lest she start blushing), she instead met Ramza's gaze with a loving smile, and continued to hold onto his hand. Together, the two siblings strolled down the road, and all thoughts of the young noble lord vanished from their minds as they headed towards their own, unique destiny, little knowing that both of them already had somebody to love.

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*****
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It was like that everywhere they went. No matter what city they visited, Alma rejected every suitor that expressed interest in her, as her brother always took top priority in her life. And although Ramza often grumbled about her safely, each time she chose him over the local heartthrob, Ramza complained a little less. She could tell he enjoyed having her affection all to himself; his gruff demeanor was no guise for her knowing eyes. He even began teaching her some quick self-defense techniques, should she find herself in a perilous situation he couldn't immediately rescue her from.

An explosion of ethereal energy crashed from the battle-zone, and Alma spun back around to watch the army's fight against the monsters once more. One of the monsters was slinging around some moderately powerful spells, and a few members of Ramza's militia were injured from the magical assault. Worse still, Ramza himself was fighting no less than five monsters at the same time, all armed with crude weapons fashioned from bone and branches. He was holding his own, as expected from the man who had slain a god, but Alma knew even he could be worn down with enough successive attacks.

The young girl gulped, feeling sudden nervousness bounding in her chest. Even after all this time, battle was not something people like her were accustomed to. But Ramza needed her help, and she was far from the kind of woman to shirk from danger when her loved ones needed help. So Alma swallowed her fear, set her jaw, and rushed forward to aid her brother and his friends.

As Alma made her way across the battlefield towards Ramza, she did her best to ignore the sounds of clashing swords and battle cries. With a good pace going, she picked up her skirt and leapt over a dead goblin had been felled by one of Ramza's men, avoiding the carnage with a modicum of feminine grace. Looking about her, she charted the quickest path to Ramza that also avoided the epicenters of combat. However, even her single-minded zeal was no match for her care-giving nature, and she was stopped by the sight of a downed soldier.

Beneath her, bleeding from a moderately deep knife wound in the forearm, was a young man with spiky blond hair and a single pauldron affixed to his left shoulder. Alma recognized him as Cloud Strife, the somewhat-selfish mercenary from another world, brought to her own world by Mustadio's mechanical machinations. "Are you alright?" she asked, dropping into a pool of skirts. "You're Cloud, right? Hang on, help is here!"

"Ugh..." The young foreigner turned a bleary-eyed gaze towards Alma. "Get out of here...It's just a scratch."

Alma ignored his mumbling, and tore off a piece of her dust cloak with her teeth. "Please don't talk," she instructed him, as she applied a makeshift tourniquet using the scrap of cloth. After securing the knot, she set about casting a quick healing spell. When she muttered the magic words, green life force began to flow from the holy ether and into Cloud's wound, stimulating the production of blood and the binding of tissue.

"You're be okay," she said, offering a gentle smile for the fallen soldier. "Rest for a moment."

At this, Cloud turned to her once again, and managed to look her in the eyes. "Your touch..." he said. stumbling with the words. "It's like...a mother's...so warm."

At this, Alma turned red, and she averted her gaze. Without looking at Cloud, she continued pouring her Cure spell into his would, her movements noticeably nervous now. The young mercenary's words reminded her of something very similar that Ramza had once told her, in a very similar situation. Words that told of a warm, familial love, and perhaps something that crossed the boundaries of brother and sister.

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*****
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"Brother Ramza!" Alma cried, her skirts swinging as she rushed to Ramza's aid. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Ramza made an expression in-between a smile and a wince, sitting on the log next to the campfire. "I'm okay," he said, though he kept pressure on the wound in his arm. "It's nothing life-threatening."

The noble girl scowled. "You are NOT okay!" she barked back, putting her hands on her hips. "Let me see." In a huff, Alma swept her skirts under her haunches to sit beside Ramza, bringing out a small First-Aid Kit full of potions and tonics. Taking her brother's arm into her gentle hands, she pulled out a wad of bandages from the First-Aid Kit, and set to work treating his injury. Ramza, for his part, didn't kick up a fuss, but merely let Alma go about her duties with nary a complaint.

"Oooh..." Ramza let out a low sigh as Alma worked her healing magic on his injury. "You're not unskilled. Did they teach First Aid at Orbonne?"

"Mother used to do this for Father all the time," Alma answered with a smile, and began tightening the bandage on his arm. "Or don't you remember, Ramza?"

Ramza smiled in kind, and chuckled. "I remember it well," he said, his gaze growing distant as he looked beyond the current moment and into the mire of memory. "Father would come in battered and bruised from the Fifty Years' War, and Mother would brook no argument as she tended to him. She always criticized his recklessness, but love was in every action she took."

Alma giggled, as a sudden impulse overtook her. "She would also do this," she said, and leaned forward and kissed Ramza on the cheek.

Ramza jolted at his sister's affection, and put a hand in his cheek. "A-Alma...!" he gasped, blushing a bit and leaning away from her.

Alma laughed, and blushed as well. "I'm sorry, brother," she said, gazing at him through tousled bands. "It's just you looked so much like Father. You...you look like a real man now." Her blush deepened, failing to catch her words before she exposed too much of her feelings.

But Ramza just stared at her, an unreadable emotion on his face. And then, with the very arm that Alma has healed, he pulled his sister close and kissed her in turn, this time on the lips. Alma let out a small "eep!", as she stared at Ramza, his face only inches from his own. "B-Brother..." she stammered, her eyelashes fluttering as she tried to keep her heart from racing.

"Thank you for always being there," he told her with glowing sincerity.

Alma stared at him a moment more, before breaking into a beaming smile. With a sigh, she leaned against Ramza, who put his arm gently around her shoulders. She sidled up against him and snuggled, her skirts falling into his lap and resting there in heaps of cloth and lace. She could feel his warm body against her, their thighs touching in a way that would've made her even more flustered, had she not been so content right then.

Suitors, potential husbands, security. None of it mattered. When it came down to it, she was her brother's girl, and would do anything to help him and his mission. He had once followed her into Hell itself to rescue her, and that kind of love was worth following him too...whatever shape that love would take in the future.

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And so it went as she continued to cross the battlefield to reach her brother. Every time she came across a wounded soldier, she would do her best to heal their injuries, making sure they were on their feet before moving to the next one. She went from Cloud Strife, to Mustadio, Agrias, Rafa, and Malak, offering each a portion of her Cure spell as she gradually worked her way towards Ramza. She would do all she could to be of the very best help to Ramza and his army, noble girl or not.

Finally, Ramza was before her, still fighting off the goblins. The brave warrior had reduced his opponents from five to two, but was still struggling, as the monsters were wielding jagged pole-arms and trying to keep him at a distance. With a whirling slash, Ramza cleared out some room for himself, the wide arc forcing the goblins to back out of his zone. "Alma!" he shouted, upon noticing the girl's arrival.

"Brother Ramza!" Alma cried, and raised her Healing Staff to the heavens. She began muttering an incantation, gathering magic upon the tip of her staff into a ball of swirling orange energy. Magical winds began to form around her, ruffing her skirts into an explosion of red cloth and white lace as the energy reached its apex. And then, for the first time in her young life, she uttered a combat spell, ignoring her fear and putting all her heart into helping her Ramza.

"Smoldering flames far below, punish the wicked!!!" Alma bellowed, her blond ponytail flying behind her as she thrust her staff forward. "Fire 4!!!"

With a burst of rolling embers, the large fireball exploded from her staff and impacted against one of the goblins, throwing it back onto the ground in a heap. With a gasp of surprise, the other goblin turned to watch his comrade fall, with something akin to concern on his beastly features. Quick on the uptake, Ramza quickly bolted into action, and slew the distracted goblin with a single cut across the chest. Not even waiting for the corpse to fall, he set upon other goblin and drove his sword into its prone form, ending its life in a bone-crushing instant.

It was over. Ramza shook the Chaos Blade free of the blood that had accumulated upon it, and set it back upon the harness on his back. Gradually, the other soldiers in Ramza's army began to gather around the two siblings, having finished off their own foes and newly refreshed from Alma's healing magic. Alma sighed with relief, glad her brother was hale once more, as well as the entirety of his unit.

Ramza was approaching her with swift strides, a blank expression on her face. "Alma," he said in an emotionless voice, tension developing in his wiry shoulders.

Alma gulped, and shuffled her foot in the dirt, feeling once again like a schoolgirl at Orbonne Monastery. Perhaps she had been a bit too bold in the heat of battle? "Brother, I, I..." she stuttered, trying to find the right words to explain herself.

Ramza swept her up in a grand embrace, bringing her lithe form close to his armored chest. "You were fantastic," he told her, as he gripped the back of her head with his hand. "Thank you, Alma."

Alma was flabbergasted at her brother's sudden show of affection, but soon melted into his embrace, throwing her own arms around him. She left Ramza hold her for a moment, and then looked up to find Ramza's army regarding her with warm affection. Agrias, Mustadio, Rafa, and Malak were sporting brilliant grins, a touch of bemusement for the loving siblings. And as for Cloud, he gave but a single nod with crossed arms, a ghost of a smile on his face.

With a soft smile on her face, Alma buried her face back into Ramza's shoulder. She felt her skirts rustle in the breeze, the air still smelling of death, but she was no longer afraid. No matter what, she would always be at her brother side, now and forever.

An angel of true love, aiding him as he fights.

'Fin'

 
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