He was in that field again, the one filled with countless blue flowers that covered the ground for as far as the eye could see.

"Here, this is for you, Noctis."

He craned his head to find twelve-year-old Lunafreya smiling down at him.

"O-oh…thanks, Luna."

Noctis expressed his gratitude softly and took the delicate blue flower offered to him. She looked as beautiful as he remembered, golden bangs blowing in the wind just above her cerulean eyes. He felt flustered and tongue-tied like he had the first time they met.

"These sylleblossoms…they're beautiful, aren't they?" Her expression was so tender but in her eyes there was a sadness that wrung his heart. Something was wrong, so painfully wrong…but he couldn't remember what it was. In this paradise-like place full of bliss and sweet smelling petals, the agony in his chest had been all but numbed.

"Yeah, I like them." He returned her smile cheerfully. It was so nice here and he felt so happy. The warm wind blew across his cheek, rustling the feathery petals of the flowers and he absentmindedly brushed his fingers across them.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "that I couldn't do more."

The air rippled around them and their forms shifted with the increasingly violent winds. Noctis looked around in a panic as the flowers began to disintegrate into ashes and blow away.

A cold tear rolled down his cheek and he remembered. Luna had already turned and began walking away.

"Wait!" He shouted and ran as fast as he could after her ethereal silhouette. But no matter how hard he pumped his legs, the distance between them never decreased. He could feel his lungs screaming at him to stop and his entire chest cavity burned with pain. Noctis gritted his teeth and kept running. He wouldn't stop, no matter what. They'd already missed each other once.

"Be strong, Noct…" Luna said gently as she looked back, one last time.

A flash of light blinded him and he screamed in pain and heartbreak.

000

"Hey, wake up. We've arrived."

Noctis woke to Gladio shaking him roughly. He didn't remember falling asleep on one of the empty seats in the train's far end but that appeared to be exactly what had happened. Gladio was glaring down at him, arms crossed. Ever since the events in Altissa, his retainer seemed to be wearing a perpetual scowl. Or maybe it was just around him, Noctis didn't know.

Ignis stood at the door, waiting and looking ever so frail. Noctis grumbled and stood up, ignoring Gladio's disapproving expression to join his other retainer.

The station outside was filled with drained-looking citizens and hushed whispers. The sky was so dark that it made him wonder if daylight ever existed.

Tenebrae. The fog of sleep finally lifted from his mind and he was reminded of his purpose and his destination. The dream he just had felt so real that he was jolted by the harsh reality in front of him.

People were scared and suffering, Prompto was still missing and they had the daunting task of taking back the crystal with only the three of them. Everything was bleak and filled with despair that tortured them, like these nights that only seemed to drag on.

Still, as he scanned the crowd, he'd find a determined face for every few crying and exhausted ones.

He thought about how Prompto had confessed to feeling inferior and yet the blonde still continued alongside them so resiliently and hung on even when he was scared. He thought about Gladio and his blunt ways of encouragement that got him through the tough times in the past. They were all fighting so hard to see a brighter tomorrow, despite everything that's happened.

Luna's face and the things she said in the dream surfaced from his memories.

Taking a deep breath, Noctis stepped off the train, Ignis's words echoing in his mind.

Because he was a king and a king pushed onwards, accepting the consequences. So he'll do just that and honour the strength and sacrifices of the people around him and never look back.

The only path he had was right in front of him.

A/N:

Am I the only one that felt really sad after chapter 9? :')

Wrote this to cope tbh and also bc the game didn't really expand on noct and his feelings. Aaanyways, leave me your thoughts in the reviews? Anything about the game or this small oneshot is fine.

I'm suffering from post-game depression rn :'D