Eternal Dawn

By: Strange and Intoxicating -rsa-

Author Notes: Thank you guys so much for loving "Too Much is Never Enough." I wanted to make sure that the story about the Eternal Roadtrip didn't end. So many of you guys have told me that you loved "Too Much" and wanted to see more of that world, and I wanted there to be more of it, too.

Thank you guys so much for supporting me and my stories. I love you guys.

Warning: SPOILERS, Sex, mentions of mental illness and PTSD, some violence and blood (they're going to fight monsters because of course the Beyond wouldn't be fun without some monster fighting.) This is going to be a lot of healing; emotional porn... and also the physical porn.

Chapter One: The Beyond

"Iggy."

Noctis rested his head against his lover's chest, listening to his heartbeat. It was a sound that he had almost forgotten, their last night seemingly so far away and yet right there on the edges of his memories. It had been him and Iggy, then Gladio, then Prompto… and Noctis had never once regretted that. He had known that he needed to follow his heart, that there would be no hiding who he was—at least to himself. And so he had embraced each of them, and then lost them when he accepted his destiny.

Death had been painful, but the eternal dawn had been beautiful. Solemn, lonely, but beautiful.

Yet when they returned to him into the Beyond it had been the holes inside him filling, and listening to Ignis's heart against his ear whispered to him of what the future would hold. They could do whatever they wanted, be whoever they wanted.

This was his eternal gift. He was allowed to be happy.

Yet…

"Yes, Love?" Ignis whispered against his hair, and Noctis was careful to turn his body away from Prompto, feeling the blond shift in his sleep. Gladio on the other side of Prompto let out a grunt and then twisted his arm around Noctis and Prompto yet again.

"I still don't know if this is real or fantasy…" It was like his father's sword piercing into the soft flesh of his belly. Even admitting the words took the breath from his lungs. Ignis was not much better; his heart seemed to skip a beat and then he felt Ignis's hands rest themselves in his hair.

The tent had been their home for all that time through Lucis, before things had gone to hell and back. Yet, even with the expansions of time and the magic of the Beyond it still felt the same.

It was so perfect, like a never-ending dream.

It was like the Crystal.

"Why do you think so?"

Noctis looked up through the darkness, barely able to make out Ignis's eyes. They were perfect, unscarred and unmarred by the damage of Altissia. He couldn't look at them without remembering when he woke to find Luna was dead and Ignis blind, Gladio furious and Prompto so lethargic. Like pieces of dust from a shattered glass that was too small to put the pieces back together, Noctis could remember each feather-stroke of his scars.

He reached up to touch the skin; he wanted to remember what the scars felt like and yet wanted nothing more than to never feel them again.

"When I was in the Crystal… it gave me the chance to relive our moments. Yet I was real, and you were all just… memories. It… It was messed up, Iggy. It wasn't you, not the real you."

Ignis let his hand trace down to Noctis's cheek, cupping it in his palm. "If it were even a shadow of myself, I can assure you that I loved you no matter what you may believe."

Noctis sighed and tried to pull away from Ignis, but Ignis refused to let go. "Please, Noct. Let me finish." The chamberlain let the pad of his thumb run over the corner of Noctis's mouth, barely touching against his lips. It reminded Noctis of stolen kisses in the Citadel when they were nothing but teenagers trying to learn the feeling of heat on skin and what passion meant. Such innocence, reaching out blindly for what would bring comfort.

Ignis was always that, like a blanket he had long ago wrapped around his shoulders. Noctis could be hidden in the comfort of the known, of the promises Ignis had sworn to him when the biggest worry had been skinned knees and busted lips.

He loved Gladio and Prompto, always would, but each of their loves were different.

Ignis would always be his first love. Even before he knew what love was, Ignis had been with him. Ignis would always be with him…

Or, Noctis had dreamed it that way.

"I have always loved you, and I always will love you. Even if I were to forget myself, I could never dare to forget you."

"Iggy, did I make you come here?" It was a question he had wondered about. Gladio and Prompto… when he had tried to ask Prompto about it when the man first arrived, Prompto just grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed him until it was hard for Noctis to remember what they were talking about. He tried to bring it up with Gladio, but his Shield told him that he would always be with Noctis, that it was his job. He had smiled, his brown eyes so bright that it had taken away his breath, and mentioned that Noct was bound to get himself into trouble if Gladio wasn't there.

Neither of them had answered, though. Not like he knew Ignis would answer. Even if it hurt, Ignis would never lie to him.

Ignis's hand stopped. "Do you think that we would be here with you if we didn't want to be, Noct?"

"I don't know. Did I?" In the Crystal, he could make whatever he wanted come, he could make them do whatever he wanted. Bahamut had called it a simple comfort, something Noctis needed to understand so that when it was gone he would be able to remember those moments to draw strength from them.

It hadn't worked; when he was on the dais as his ancestors pierced him again and again it wasn't the false memories in the Crystal he had drawn from. No, it was when they had first started their travels—when the Regalia had died on the road to Hammerhead, the dinners Ignis would cook, the funny pictures Prompto would take, the training he and Gladio would do before they all fell into a heap inside the tent. He could remember the way they would make love under the stars, how there was nothing that could have taken them away.

And then it was the silence, the waiting and hope that they would one day find him. And then they were there. One by one, they had returned to him.

But Noctis wasn't sure if they were figments of his imagination… Or, if not… Had he taken them from their own Beyond? Had he forced them into his idea of what would be the perfect eternity?

The first question was easier than the last. There were things that they said, that they did, that seemed so different than the magic from the Crystal. It always seemed just a little off inside the Crystal. Comfort or not, Noctis knew that those were just shadows of his lovers.

This seemed real; it was in their quirks, in their willingness to butt heads and cause fights. It was in the way Prompto would complain about his shoes getting water in them or how Gladio would sometimes hit just a little too hard during their training. It would leave him bruised and sore—just a little. Just enough that it reminded Noctis of being alive.

Now, with Ignis… it was in the way that Ignis looked at him.

Not even Noctis could make Ignis look at him like that; it was the way a man who had been blind for decades would drink in everything around him. It was truth, and it sung to him.

"Noct, if I did not want to be here then I would not be here. I don't believe the Beyond would force us into another's Beyond, but more so than that... the only place I have wanted to be since you departed was to be by your side. We all felt that way, of that I assure you." Ignis's voice was so clear and cool it felt like Noctis could drown in it.

"I shouldn't need you to make me feel better."

Ignis pulled him closer and tucked Noctis's head under his chin. Noctis was careful to rest his hands on Ignis's chest, letting his fingers flutter across the other man's skin.

"There is nothing I would rather do than bring you comfort, Noct. Just by being here with you… you can't comprehend the…" Ignis trailed off, leaning down to pepper Noctis's scalp with kisses. He could feel Ignis breathing against his skin and it felt right. "It's hard to put into proper words, but I assure you there is nothing that could keep me from you. Do not doubt me, Love."

Noctis didn't want to, but the stinging rawness of Ignis's words reminded him that while Noctis had died, Ignis had lived. Ignis had lived far longer than him... longer than Gladio, than Prompto.

"Tell me more about it, about home," Noctis asked after a moment, his words but a whisper against Ignis's chest.

The man chuckled and rested his hands, letting them slide down to Noctis's side. "Of course, anything you'd like to hear."

In the morning, Noctis found himself wrapped in two sets of arms. For a moment panic set into his stomach when he opened his eyes. Had he been so desperate for Ignis's that he had dreamed of the man? He could only feel Prompto and Gladio…

Wait.

Noctis turned around, seeing the soft brown hair he had thought was the memory of a time so long ago. Ignis was asleep, his face relaxed in a way that was difficult for the man to reach during the waking hours. So peaceful and content…

Noctis couldn't help but to swallow loudly. He felt the body behind him snuggle closer.

"He looks good like that," Prompto whispered against the back of Noctis's neck. He yawned and tugged a little at Noctis's waist. "Super peaceful, like a baby."

"Don't let him hear you say that," Noctis warned, but it was the truth.

Prompto chuckled ever so slightly and Noctis could feel the man's breath blow at the hairs at the base of his skull. "Think he'd kill me? Pretty sure him and the big guy would string me up."

Noctis took in Ignis for another moment before adjusting his position and turning just the slightest. He could see Prompto behind him in the corner of his eye; his blond hair was a mess and his eyes were crusted a bit from sleep.

"Yeah, he'd kill you."

Prompto lifted up his arm and then dropped it, causing Noctis to let go of the air in his lungs with a small wheeze and a laugh.

Ignis didn't stir.

"Man, I thought Iggy was a light sleeper."

Noctis made himself comfortable again against Prompto. "He used to be a really heavy sleeper when we were kids." Ignis used to be able to sleep through nearly anything other than Noctis crying. That would wake him up in moments. "Could probably sleep through a bomb going off."

"Let's not drop a bomb, 'kay?" Prompto nuzzled closer and Noctis smiled as he felt a little nip at his neck.

"Hmm."

Noctis shifted onto his back as he felt Prompto's hand slide down his stomach and toward his underwear. He allowed his eyelids to flutter closed as he felt the warmth of Prompto's hands on him. The blond ran his fingers over the trail of dark hair from his belly button down, lightly teasing the pads of his thumbs against the elastic—

"Time for breakfast, you can jerk him off later."

Noctis snapped his eyes open to see Gladio standing above him, the light of the dawn dusting across his cheek. He smiled down at them and showed off a plate of something (what it was was Noctis could only guess… there were reasons why Ignis had been their main cook) and wolf-whistled so loudly that Ignis seemed to jump out of his skin as he woke.

Shit.

It clearly wasn't the thing to do, as Ignis gasped and summoned his daggers. He pushed himself away from the others, into the corner of the tent. A few things from the nearby stand crashed, the sound only making Ignis even more panicked. His eyes were blinking rapidly as his breath coming out in labored, pained gasps. Even his glasses, the ones that had been stolen by that damned black chocobo once upon a time, fell uselessly at his feet.

Noctis tried to jump up but Prompto caught him and pulled him down, not letting him go to Ignis… Even though Prompto clearly wanted to do the same.

"Shit, Iggy," Gladio whispered, gobsmacked. "I… I didn't... "

Ignis's lips parted as he tried to steady his breath, though Noctis could see the terror only fading as Ignis's eyes adjusted to sight. How long… how long had he been alive without his sight? How many years had passed between Noctis's death and Ignis? What had happened between that time? The night before Ignis had told him only bits and pieces: Rebuilding Insomnia, the Gardens for Lady Lunafreya, Iris's political win, her plans for the future of Lucis... And yet Noctis had been hesitant to ask about his death or the pain, because that was something that he knew from experience wasn't what anyone wanted to be pushed into.

"My… my…" Ignis's voice shuddered as he spoke. He tried to formulate words that were clearly stuck inside his throat, but couldn't get them out.

It reminded Noctis of a time when things had been simpler and the only thing he had been worried about was when Ignis was accidentally turned into a frog. Yet at that time Ignis's lack of speech has been nothing but hilarious; this was anything but.

Noctis squirmed against Prompto until the man let go, and Noctis slowly walked forward on his knees, hands out before him. He was slow to reach for the glasses near Ignis's feet, then equally and deliberately slow as he brought them up.

"Your glasses," Noctis whispered, though it was hard to keep the sound of his heart shattering from his voice. He did his best, but he cracked on the intonation.

Ignis swallowed and was careful to accept them. It reminded Noctis of a stray dog that used to live near the East wall of the Citadel. It had been kicked too many times to be anything but wary.

"My... apologies."

Noctis shook his head.

"Hey, guys. Give me and Iggy a second?"

Noctis turned to Gladio and nodded. The vestiges of sleep were long gone. He didn't even want to crawl back into bed.

"Yeah. Just… yeah."

Prompto took the congealed mess from Gladio and Noctis was careful in backing away from Ignis, switching places with the Shield. He hoped that Gladio would be able to do something more.

Noctis didn't look away from Iggy until he had completely exited the tent and felt Prompto wrap his arms around his waist.

"What the hell was that?"

Prompto rested his forehead on Noctis's shoulder, gently kissing the back of his t-shirt. "He got like that sometimes. After, um, well… when you went into the Crystal."

Noctis swallowed. "And you guys... "

Prompto dug his chin gently into the curve of Noctis's collarbone. "We did the best we could. We did our best, but if anyone brought it up he would close himself off and then leave. The fastest way to make him disappear for a couple weeks was to bring it up and make him uncomfortable."

He could see it; the three of them trying so hard to be together but everything being too much. It was the weight of a behemoth on his chest, to know that during the World of Ruin as he slept away a decade that they had been fighting against that daemon.

"Iggy likes to pretend he's level-headed, but he can be just as bad as us."

"Worse," Prompto admitted. "It got worse after—" Prompto cut himself off.

"It's okay to say it, Prom."

Prompto swallowed so hard it made even Noctis's throat hurt.

"After you, um… after you died."

Noctis squeezed his eyes shut.

"We all were a mess, but Iggy took it the worst. It was touch and go for a while. We kinda…. Well, we didn't think that I was gunna be the first one to come and find you."

Oh.

Oh.

Prompto pulled him tighter. "Gladio probably feels like an asshole right now. Big noises and all that. But he's good at getting Ignis to calm down after a bad morning."

Noctis opened his eyes to look back at the tent, wishing that he could go back inside and yet understanding that he wasn't what Ignis or Gladio needed at that moment.

"I guess… I guess we should try to eat what Gladio made."

Prompto snorted. "Aw, man. Please don't make me eat that. I think it's moving."

So, the two of them opted instead to crack open a few energy bars and set up the coffee, the smell of Ebony covering up the burning tire smell of whatever Gladio had set aside for them to eat. Noctis thought about tossing it out but after reaching toward the bucket only for whatever was inside to bubble threateningly at him in response, well. It was best to leave that for Gladio.

He wasn't sure how long it took for Gladio and Ignis to finish their conversation, but it was long enough that Prompto stretched out his arms and declared that it was time for lunch.

One of Ignis's perfectly trimmed eyebrows rose. He had calmed himself, the terror from that morning faded from his face. He still looked a little paler than Noctis was comfortable with, but they could bring a bit of life back into them over the course of the day. "Oh? And in all this time you didn't think to perhaps try cooking something yourselves?"

"Gladio tried." Noctis held out the small mug of steaming coffee to Ignis, who took it with a quirk of his lips.

"Ah. Everything seems so much clearer now."

Gladio didn't even have the decency to look embarrassed. "Hey, if you don't like it then you don't gotta eat it." Noctis caught Gladio's eye and saw the slight tilt of his lover's chin toward Ignis. Noctis nodded. They would talk about it later.

"It doesn't mean much when it tries to bite off your finger," Prompto joked as he pointed Ignis toward the pot of offensive food.

"Gladio, from now on it's best if you stuck with grilling."

"But only dead things! Very dead things!"

Noctis laughed at the confused face Ignis gave him as Gladio groaned good-naturedly.

"Oh, Six, what did he try to do?"

Prompto's cackle was enough for Ignis to tip his head back and down his entire coffee in one shot.

And so the four settled into what had been so common of a task so many years before. The weight of the passage of time seemed a distant thought as Noctis filled in Ignis on the infamously dubbed "Slow-Roasting a Live Behemoth with a Fire Spell" incident while he directed Prompto to cutting up vegetables and Gladio to getting rid of the toxic sludge e had tried to pass off as breakfast.

Noctis knew that it would take time, but in that moment as Ignis stirred something into his boiling pot of soup while Prompto and Gladio wrestled on the campground floor reenacting the infamous battle, he felt a peace overcome him. He sat himself down in one of the chairs next to where Ignis busied himself with cooking.

It was something he never expected to get. All three of them had come back to him. Maybe they weren't exactly as they had once been, but Noctis knew that they had a future that was boundless and vast. They could be themselves, could continue on into the promise of the Beyond.

Gladio looked to Noctis at that moment and threw an arm over his shoulder, and Noctis couldn't help but laugh as the man pulled him up from the chair and used him as a prop within their tale.

He could get used to this.

Please Review!