Author's Note: I wanted to make a very different fic with these three, but instead a more positive idea appeared in my head before falling asleep. Then I talked it over in a night time walk with my own versions of Yeul and Noel. Written on paper at candle light, finished typing to Shudder Before the Beautiful by Nightwish, and if you've fought Bhunivelze, you should agree it's absolutely epic.

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy XIII or anything in the Nova Fabula Crystallis story, they belong to Square Enix. I'm very thankful for everything the hundreds of people who worked to make these possible.

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The fiends had taken their former home in an abandoned village, and they kept coming until it was useless to keep fighting anymore. It was the second day they had walked to the nearest location Noel had mapped out. He knew it was deserted, but he couldn't help but keep a spark of hope that just maybe, they would find someone else hiding in there when they finally reached it. It had been pretty much the only faint hope that cauterized his fury of leaving home behind and starting anew yet again.

As night time fell, they took shelter on the base of a tall rock hill that cut the cold wind during the night, and set camp there. The night wasn't too cold, but when the wind turned, a chilly gush would still make its way to their skins and leave goosebumps. They still had enough food from the previous's day hunt, and the last fiend they found had been six hours ago. The night was obviously a very different scenario, but everything seemed peaceful so far.

Yeul was already sleeping, hugging her pillow and protected from any cold beneath the warm blanket. A small smile crossed Noel's face seeing her resting so peacefully. He was finishing to peek the meat of a roasted bone when Caius returned with a couple of weak branches that he immediately tossed to the fire. Noel had long given up on alerting him that fires couldn't keep burning for more than stricly necessary, and even so it was risky. Caius might not be a hunter, but the constant living together - besides common sense - told that the warm fire had a much more worse price of attracting attention from miles afar. The older man replied him only once that he didn't want Yeul to fall asleep in the darkness.

She was resting now, so they ought to put out the fire, but Caius didn't seem too eager on it. Noel shrugged to his own thoughts and burried the bone deep in the pale sand and dust beneath him, keeping the scent from being caught anywhere near, and relaxed against the rock, looking up. The fire's light kept him from having a clear gaze of the sky and any stars.

Where had it been that Cocoon once stood, high in the sky? Was there a way of ever knowing?

No use. He had a lot better focus on the abandoned village ahead of them than on a long gone haven.

"I'm thinking of going ahead by sunrise," he told Caius soon after. "We're not far now, like I said. I'll just get rid of the nearby fiends and be done with it."

"We shouldn't have left the village," Caius said, not turning to Noel.

"Yeul was the one to say we oughta. I didn't want to leave it either, but you saw how many they were."

"I know, but she liked it there," Caius moved his gaze from the fire to Yeul. He wanted to tuck her hair beneath the blanket, but feared it would wake her up. "So little time, and yet she cannot even keep something so simple as a home. It's a luxury, when it shouldn't. It angers me."

"I don't think it's fair either, but Yeul sees this as an adventure, doesn't she? You keep cheering her up, and yet you're always this way after. We'll make a new home there, Yeul will be happy. And besides, what if there's someone else in those ruins?"

"You've been to the village, Noel. You know it's deserted."

"I know, but still."

"Yeul hasn't seen any vision in a long time. I fear that if she should see one, even if it included finding someone else, it would be too much. Even though she would be happy."

"Doesn't she look happy to you?" Noel cut, not raising his voice. "We may not live in paradise, but you can't say that Yeul is not happy."

"She is a child. Children will always find a form of hope and happiness in the midst of chaos, so long as they are not alone."

"You just have a way of turning everything... But at least you just said she's happy."

"I am happy."

Both of them blinked and looked down at the peacefully sleeping form, clearly not so sleeping anymore.

"Don't you think it's much past time to be awake, Yeul?" Caius asked, his strong voice not masking his smile.

"Eavesdropping grown ups' conversations!" Noel teased, making Yeul giggle softly. She didn't open her eyes, cuddled on her pillow. "Pretending to be asleep so we'll let our guards down! Not exactly the main strategy I'd use for hunting, but still, you're turning stealthy."

"I wouldn't mind going with you on a hunting trip," Yeul said, still smiling. "I am happy. You two weren't arguing like usual, and it wasn't just because I was around. It was genuine. So, I'm happy."

Noel bit back what he was going to say and glanced at Caius, whom was still looking at Yeul.

"It's not arguing, Yeul. Somethings simply are too complicated and demand decisions, in which Noel and I disagree."

"I like when you don't disagree too much, then."

"And I too like when you take your rest," Caius added. Yeul giggled again, ruffling to find a cozy pose beneath the blanket.

"I can't sleep. Can you tell me a story?"

This time, both men stared at each other and Noel immediately evaded the task with an embarassed shrug that silently said 'I have no idea what to tell that don't involve monster disemboweling'. Caius sighed, knowing that was pretty much the exact thoughts of the younger man.

"Very well then, on the condition that you will actually rest this time."

"Agreed," the girl said, sinking her head on the pillow, still not opening her eyes. Noel grinned and leaned back on the cliff, wanting to see what would come out of that 'story'.

"There was a princess..."

"Shouldn't it begin with 'Once upon a time'?'"

"Will the young lady allow the story to unfold before asking questions?" Caius rebuked, sounding too much like a parent - and therefore, not angry at all, just pretending. Yeul giggled and Noel grinned, amused by the first fail on Yeul's storytelling test.

Noel guessed that the kindness wouldn't extend to him should he decide to make amends on Caius's story.

"As I was saying, once there was princess," he emphasized the word, much to Yeul's approval, "who lived in a faraway land with little sunlight. There was a legend that one day, her domain would meet the sun no more, but the princess wouldn't linger on that sad expectation. She was only allowed to leave the safeplace by day, otherwise she might get lost and never return to safety. And so, she went out everyday under the sunlight."

«Unfortunately, she did not have any friends in her castle, hence she left in search for someone to play together with. Many days went by, and she would have to return before night fell. Until one day, she met two children playing tag, and invited her to join. Just like that, the princess found friends and played for hours."

"I was starting to think the princess would be doomed to be alone forever," Noel commented out loud, more to tease him than anything else. When Caius sighed, Yeul peeked between the eyelashes and smiled seeing the 'oops' face Noel made. He replied to her by sinking his head between his shoulders and placing a finger over his lips, only to make her smile wider.

Caius decided to ignore it and proceeded with the story. He was most likely making it up as he went, but he never stumbled on the words or got lost in thought. Noel was quite releaved it wasn't his task, otherwise besides being a poor attempt of a toned-down hunter's story, it would be a pretty annoying.

Caius described the two friends the princess found, and Noel was almost ready to interrupt him again asking for a description of the princess he had neglected in sharing, but he immediately decided not to test his luck twice.

One of the friends wanted the princess to stay playing with them when the sun started to descend, saying they could take her back to the castle even after night fell, while the other immediately offered to escort her back like while there was still light. They wouldn't decide which was the best option, so the princess decided to return home, fiercely protected by her new friends, who vowed that whatever her choice, they would always be there for her.

Each day, they were reunited under sunlight, played for hours, and would walk with her back to her safeplace. The princess was very happy, and dreaded the amount of night hours that kept her away from her friends.

The story continued in a joyful manner, until Caius presented the plot twist, as one day, the sun didn't rise again. The legend was true, and an eternal night befell the princess's land.

"As such, the princess could not leave her castle. She had always be warned she would get lost in the chaotic darkness. The princess became very sad, and scared at the idea of being alone. That fear was greater than the darkness, so decided to leave and look for them all the same."

«When she stepped outside, she searched and searched to no avail. And when she attempted to return, tired and sad, the night kept her outside. She was alone and lost."

«However, the princess had forgotten a very important thing. Her friends vowed to protect her, and they would never leave her alone. The friends too searched for her without seeing in the night, struggling in the chaos to be reunited with the princess. And so it was."

«The light never shone again, but the princess was not afraid, for she was not alone and would never be."

Yeul's breathing was calm and steady, arms locked around the pillow and one hand holding the other in a form of reasuring company. She didn't react to the story ending, and instead, exhaled softly.

"She's probably been out half way through. Now she'll want you to tell everything again tomorrow," Noel noted, and rested his hands behind his head. "Though, you can't even tell a bedtime story without all that somber tone. Why not leave it at the kids' playing and that's it? Eternal darkness... you really don't tell many stories do you."

"You shouldn't complain."

Noel hmphed.

"Besides, it was a good ending, and I included you too."

"Yeah, it was pretty noticeable, you know."

"It was intended to be so. Bedtime stories are to be reassuring, to have a good outcome in times of torment, are they not?"

"In eternal darkness?"

Caius raised his eyes to Noel. "Yeul needs to know there will always be someone with her. One of us will always keep her safe, no matter where she finds herself in."

"There you go again." Noel frowned. "Now don't forget to just make it even more dark and change the friends the next time you tell the story. Don't forget to separate everyone, and only one friend makes it out, all that."

"I know you care for Yeul too. Eventually you will understand that we can only both protect her if we don't do it together."

"Besides all that damn gloom, doesn't seems to be anything complicated now."

"For now." Caius breathed in and straightned his pose. "Go to sleep, Noel. I'll wake you in a couple of hours."

Noel nodded and lowered his back against the rock, trying to find a comfortable sitting that would allow him to rest his head without leaving his neck sore like most times.

"No bedtime story for me, though," he added, closing his eyes. "With your voice and imagination, I'll end up with nightmares."

"That coming from the disemboweling hunter hardly comes as an insult."

"It's not an insult, it's an observation. And tomorrow, work on that final part and make it happier, or I'll change it for you."

Caius's lips curled however slightly and he gave a soft snort, leaving only the low constant wood crepitate.

Some minutes later, Yeul opened her eyes, seeing Noel resting soundlessly in front of her. She didn't want to alert Caius, so she smiled softly, squeezed her hands one over the other and closed her eyes again.

~おわり~

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