She lay still, as if made of stone. Neither wind nor rain would have the ability to move her. He was reluctant to lift the statue of a girl into his arms. 'What happened to you?' he thought.

Lingering in the air, the scent was becoming second nature to him. It was blood, quickly cooling, metallic liquid that once sustained life.

She was dyed red, as if crimson teardrops were overflowing from her body's pain and sorrow. 'Her hair was pink once,' he told himself.

Now, the bloody locks were matted to her porcelain skin.

He allowed salty tears to drip down his face. He placed the girl onto his lap. Hovering inches from her pale face, his hand froze in place. Her eyes had to be closed. It's only normal that the eyes of a corpse are closed.

He couldn't close them. Piercing, they stared at him. Accusingly, they judged him. His hand shook before he was finally able to guide her eyelids over her eyes for the final time. 'You promised,' he could hear her voice whisper.

Eyelids snapped open to be greeted by a small, chocolate brown feline with bright green eyes hovering over Noctis's face.

"Meow?" the sweet sound came from its mouth. Harmless, truly.

Noctis bolted upright and scooted away from the feline, falling off the edge of his mattress onto the ground, tangled in blankets.

"Aw, is Noct afraid of big, bad Serah?" questioned a pink-haired woman as she lifted the tiny cat off of the bed.

It took only one look at the tall woman standing in front of Noctis, wearing torn jeans and a sleeveless black shirt, to calm Noctis down from his nightmare. She's alive. He sighed in relief.

"Of course I'm not afraid of Serah. She's just a cat, after all." Noctis picked himself up off of the floor and stretched. Despite his many attempts at persuasion, Lightning refused to wear any of the dresses he picked out for her, even though he would say that they're befitting for a royal woman and many other women would kill to have the opportunity to wear such fine clothes.

'Tch,' she would say. 'Maybe that's why in most fairy tales, the woman gets captured. She would never be able to fight her captors in dresses like that. They're far too restricting.'

She may have had a point, but Noctis would never have let anyone capture her.

Startled from his daydreams by Lightning snapping her fingers in front of his face, Noctis blinked. "What?"

"Well, I came here to wake you up, but it looks like Serah did the job for me. So, get ready and head down to the dining room to join everyone for breakfast." Lightning said bluntly before walking out of the room, taking the purring Serah with her.

While enjoying some fluffy pancakes, Noctis felt Serah lying on his feet. Lazy cat, he thought to himself.

It had been his idea to keep the stray cat, but Noctis had no idea that it would become so protective. There were times that Noctis had to leave the room because Serah wanted Light all to herself.

Maybe he made the situation worse by letting Light name that kitty. He should have suggested a name that doesn't 'sound familiar' to Light.

Noctis accepted the past and looked around the table. His blonde friend, Prompto, was having an animated conversation with their scarred friend, Gladiolus. Ignis merely pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his index finger and continued eating.

Lightning had long since abandoned her plate and opted to absentmindedly stare out the window.

Thinking nothing of her behavior, Noctis ate his breakfast and listened to Prompto and Gladiolus.

Prompto made a half circle in the air with his hands. "Then, the clouds split to let just enough sunlight through to create a rainbow."

Gladiolus chuckled. "Bullshit!" he cried. "Moogles aren't native to this kingdom's forests."

"How would you know? Have you ever been to the forests here?" Prompto pouted, he didn't like having his stories doubted.

"Well, Prompto, there is a plethora of books in the Royal Library about this kingdom's origins and inhabitants. If you would have taken a moment to inquire about the types of species the forests host, then you could have chosen one that would have made your story more… plausible." Ignis stated, never looking up from his plate.

Always the scholar. Noctis smirked. No matter how much time passed, Ignis never changed.

Prompto, arms crossed, sat in defeat. "Fine! I just won't tell you guys any more stories. Then, the day will come when you're begging for my entertainment!"

"Uh-huh." Gladiolus uttered before refilling his plate with fresh pancakes brought out of the kitchen by servants. "Just keep telling yourself that."

Noctis wandered through the twisting halls of his home: the castle. Where did Lightning go? He wondered to himself. He hadn't seen her since breakfast, she ate and left. Thinking it was better to leave her alone; Noctis suppressed the desire to ask her if something was wrong, while she was miles away in her own mind.

A pink haired figure tore Noctis from his thoughts. Sitting between rows of books, Lightning sat flipping through pages. Various books were scattered about her, some open, others closed. She was tense and looked through the pages with a scrutinizing gaze.

Noctis had not realized that he drifted to the Royal Library. For perhaps the first time, he thanked his mind for the lapse that lead him there.

Quietly, Noctis sat beside Light. When she didn't make any action that acknowledged him, Noctis cleared his throat rather loudly. Startled, Light snapped her head up and looked at the source of the sound, who was now desperately trying to suppress his laughter.

Lightning spoke in a low tone. "What?"

Clearing his throat, Noctis finally fought his fit of laughter. "You've seemed… withdrawn lately."

"So?"

"Well, I just want to know if something is wrong."

Lighting snapped shut the book in her hands and faced Noctis. From the book rose puffs of dust. "I'm just thinking about my past, that's all."

"Did you find anything?" Noctis nearly shouted. He knew Light had been searching for who she had been. Since her arrival, she couldn't remember anything, but she decided to call herself Lightning. Noctis always assumed it was because of the lightning bolt necklace she wore.

Standing, Light murmured words so softly that Noctis almost missed them. "I hope not."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this first chapter.