The Prince and the Lone Wolf

by Pokebrawler09

After a training accident in Cornelia, Cloud takes Noctis back to Materia's base to heal his wounds. When the Prince wakes up from his injuries, he and Cloud spend the rest of the day getting to know each other and learn how they became heroes.

At Materia's base

It's been a few days since the heroes have been here and finding the crystals to their homes, so Materia decided to call them back to her base and talk to them. She pointed her staff towards the sky and a little glimmer of light shine in the middle of it. "Warriors of Light; please come forth to me." she said. Her staff glew brightly and she saw 18 silhouettes shine onto her floor. Their lights faded and revealed the 18 Warriors that she had called upon to help her fight. They all looked up at her, wondering if something or someone had come here to attack her, but her power had flown around the room, giving them a sign of peace. "I see that some of you have found the Crystals of your home worlds." she asked them. "Yes, some of us have found them. But we will find the others soon as we help you defeat Spiritus." said Warrior of Light. She lightly smiled at him and then turned to see two of the Warriors looking at each other. The others turned to them too; thinking they felt tension in the air by the way the two Warriors were looking at each other, but once they all looked a little closer, they saw looks of curiosity on their faces as if they were studying each other. Materia walked down to the two Warriors and saw their eyes turn to her. "Are you two alright? You both have been looking at each other ever since I called you here." she said.

The two Warriors blinked their eyes once and then looked back at each other. She turned back to the other Warriors and saw Cecil Harvey, Bartz Klauser, and Warrior of Light walk upto her. "I believe that these two haven't formally introduced themselves to each other." said Cecil. "Is that right? Well then...how about you two introduce yourselves to each other." said Materia. The two Warriors looked at her for a couple seconds and then looked back at each other. "Hey, I'm Noctis." said Noctis. He extended his hand toward the hero in front of him, seeing his blue eyes look at him all surprised. "I'm Cloud." said Cloud. Cloud extended his hand to Noctis and they both shook hands. They let their hands go and then Cloud began to walk away from the group, leaving everyone curious to why he started leaving. "Is he okay?" Noctis asked Materia. "Hm..? He seems to be okay...I guess that he is focused on his training and finding his Crystal." she replied. Noctis looked back at the entrance where Cloud had left and began to wonder if he did something wrong to make Cloud leave all of a sudden. "So Materia, what did you call us for?" Cecil asked her. "Oh...I was wondering if you all would like to train with each other for a little while before you all set off to fight your enemies?" she said. "We would all like that." said Warrior of Light. "We all shall head to Cornelia immediately to train." said Cecil. Everyone left the base, except for Noctis. "Are you going with them?" Materia asked him. He turned to her and she saw a worried look on his face. "You're worried about Cloud?" she asked him. His eyes lightly widened in shock and he began to blush shyly. "I...uh...yeah." he said in a shy tone. She lightly smiled at him and he looked at her confusingly. "Is something wrong?" he asked her. "No, nothing's wrong. It's just nice to see that you care about someone like him." she said. "Uh...thanks?" he said in a confused tone. "If you're going to look for him, he should be in Cornelia right now, training with Squall and Lightning." she said. He nodded his head and left to Cornelia, hoping for a chance to talk to Cloud and know about him a little bit.

Cornelia

Cloud and Lightning clashed swords and then backed away from each other. "You have gotten stronger Lightning." said Cloud. "Same goes to you Cloud." Lightning replied. They charged at each other and clashed swords again a few more times and then saw Squall above them, shooting a couple bullets from his gunblade, making them hit the bullets and jump away as Squall landed on his feet. "When did you think to do that Squall?" Lightning asked him. "It was all natural to me. Pure instinct." said Squall. Cloud and Lightning nodded their heads and then heard something rustle behind them. The three Warriors held out their swords to the rustling tree and saw Noctis appear from behind it. Cloud looked at him surprisingly and began to wonder why Noctis came to this spot. "Well, well. Looks like the Prince has graced us with his presence." said Squall as he tapped his gunblade on his shoulder. Noctis looked at him angrily and crossed his arms. "Don't call me Prince." said Noctis angrily. Cloud's eyes widened in shock to see Noctis all mad all of a sudden. "Looks like I touched a nerve in you little royal boy." said Squall.

"Squall, stop it." said Lightning. She walked up and stood in front of Noctis, guarding him from Squall. "You're really going to protect this first timer now Lightning?" Squall asked her. "Leave him alone. He's done nothing wrong here." she replied. Noctis scoffed angrily and began to walk away. As he walked, he felt a hand on his shoulder; stopping him from walking. He turned his head and saw it was Cloud who stopped him, seeing a new look in his eyes. "You too Cloud? I guess that the Lone Wolf really does care after all." said Squall. Cloud turned to Squall and pointed his Fusion Swords at him. "Stop teasing him now, or else." said Cloud. "Or else what Cloud?" Squall asked him. "You know what I mean." Cloud replied. "Alright you two, break it up and knock it off." said Lightning. Cloud pulled back his sword and put it on his back. "You two can go train on your own somewhere, while I handle Squall myself." she said. "Got it. Thanks." said Cloud. He lifted his hand off Noctis's shoulder and began walking away, leaving Noctis speechless. After walking a few feet, Cloud stopped and turned back to Noctis, seeing him staring at him. "You coming along or not?" Cloud asked him. Noctis was shocked to hear Cloud's response for a second, and then walked upto him quietly. "Yeah." said Noctis. "Good. Let's go." said Cloud. They left the area and went somewhere else to train.

They spent a few minutes walking through the area silently and they slightly looked at each other as they found a spot for them to train. "This spot is good." said Noctis. They looked out and saw the sun shine beautifully all over the area and saw a patch of yellow flowers a couple feet away. Cloud walked over to them, knelt down on his right knee, picked up one of the flowers, and looked at it silently. Noctis walked over to him, sat on the grass, and looked at Cloud and the flower in his hand. When he looked at him, he saw a little bit of sorrow in his eyes; knowing that something tragic has happened to him. "Does that flower mean something to you?" Noctis asked. Cloud blinked his eyes and then turned to Noctis, staring at him confusingly. "I get it, it's personal. I'm sorry for asking that." said Noctis. He began to stand up and saw Cloud stand up too and put the flower in his pocket. They walked away from the flowers and stood a few feet away from each other to start their training. "I heard you fought against Lightning yesterday." said Cloud. "Yeah, and I have to admit, she's pretty tough." said Noctis. "I also heard that you have a special power." Cloud replied. Noctis was surprised to hear that from him. "Uh...yeah. The Power of Kings." Noctis replied. Cloud lightly smirked at him and took out his Fusion Swords, staring Noctis down. "Show me...the power of Kings. Let me see if you have what it takes to win against me." said Cloud. Noctis blinked his eyes, made a little smirk, and then used some magic, making his Engine Blade appear in his hand, and got into his battle stance. "You got it." said Noctis.

They charged at each other and clashed swords. They backed away from each other and then Cloud summoned meteors from the sky. Noctis dodged them with ease and then warp-striked behind Cloud, hitting him in the back, knocking him down to the ground. Noctis landed on his feet and began looking for Cloud. He walked upto where Cloud had landed and saw that he was gone. "Where the hell did he go?" he said to himself. He turned around and felt a gust of wind pulling him back, and then saw Cloud appear in front of him. "Right here!" said Cloud. Cloud slashed him two times and made him fly a few feet, hitting a tree and making it fall. Cloud landed on his feet and began walking towards Noctis. "I have to admit Noctis, you're a pretty good fighter. You've got some skills, I'm impressed." said Cloud. Noctis got back up slowly and surrounded himself with his royal arms, leaving Cloud in shock. Noctis lifted up his head and his eyes glew red. "You said you want to see the Power of Kings right? Well, let me show you the Power of the True King!" said Noctis. He launched all of his royal arms at Cloud and watched try to deflect them three times, but to no avail as they kept coming back at him and hitting him with ease. Cloud was pushed back from the weapons and looked at Noctis, seeing deep in his eyes that this power was draining his energy a little bit, making him worry about him. Noctis summoned two Daggers in his hands and threw them towards Cloud and watched him hit them and make them fade away.

"Noctis stop! You're losing control of yourself!" said Cloud in a slight worried tone. Noctis didn't listen and summoned his Two-Handed Sword and started to charge at him. "I'll make this quick." said Noctis. Cloud's sword began to surround itself with mysterious energy and then all of a sudden, Noctis's power and weapons had disappeared. His eyes turned back to blue and then he fell to the ground, losing consciousness. Cloud watched his sword's energy disappear and then put it on his back as he looked at Noctis. He walked upto him and slightly lifted him up, putting his arm on his shoulders. "Cloud!" said a voice. He looked ahead and saw Lightning appear in front of him and saw the condition that Noctis was in. "Let's get him back to base. It'll be safe to heal him there instead of here." said Lightning. "Right." Cloud replied. She walked upto Noctis and put his other arm on her shoulders and then her and Cloud started walking back to Materia's base, praying for Noctis to wake up soon.

Materia's base- Healing area

"Is he going to be okay?" Cloud asked Materia. She looked down at Noctis for a couple seconds and then used her staff to check his energy and saw that his energy has begun flowing through his body again, making her breathe a sigh of relief. "Yes, he's going to be okay. His energy is starting to flow through him again and beginning to heal him." said Materia. Cloud breathed a little sigh of relief knowing now that Noctis is going to be fine. "But what caused him to be in this condition?" Lightning asked her. "Hm..? It seems to be that the Power of Kings had caused him to be in this state." Materia replied. After she said that, Cloud began to have flashbacks of Noctis using the Power of Kings and seeing him lose control of himself and being reckless with his Power. "From what I see in his energy, he hasn't fully mastered this power yet. He's been cautious of using this Power ever since he got here, taking mental advice from his friends back home to not lose control of this and himself, but it seems that didn't go according to plan in his head." said Materia. Cloud silently closed his eyes and put his head down slowly. "It's all my fault." he said.

Lightning and Materia looked at him in shock, wondering why he said that. "I was the one who asked him to show that Power when we were training together. I thought that he had it under control, but all of a sudden, his eyes turned red and he lost control of himself and became reckless with it. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen to me. I'm sorry." said Cloud. "Cloud...don't blame yourself for all this. It's my fault." said Lightning. Cloud opened his eyes and looked at Lightning, wondering why she said it was her fault. "I asked him about that Power first when I met him and he demonstrated it to me...and I remember that after he used it, he began to feel exhausted." she said. "But why?" Cloud asked her. "Because every time he uses this Power, it's slowly killing him." said Materia. Cloud and Lightning looked at her in shock. "It's...killing him?" Lightning asked her. Materia sadly nodded her head yes to her question. "But...I created a life seal so that every time he uses the Power of Kings, It won't kill him and help restore his energy faster." said Materia. Cloud let out a little sigh of relief and showed a little smile. "Good to hear." he said. Lightning lightly smiled and nodded her head following Cloud's response.

"He should wake up soon, let's give him a little more rest." said Materia. She and Lightning began to leave the room, but Lightning stopped and looked back, seeing Cloud staying by Noctis's side. "You've got a caring heart heart Cloud. I'm glad to see this side of you." she said. "Thanks." said Cloud shyly. "Keep a good eye on him for us." she asked him. "I will." he said. She lightly smiled at him and then left the room. After a few minutes, Cloud looked back at Noctis, seeing him starting to wake up. "Where the hell am I?" said Noctis as he touched his head. "In the healing room." said Cloud. Noctis turned to the door and saw Cloud standing near it. "Cloud?" said Noctis. "You feeling better?" Cloud asked him. "I...I think so...but I don't remember what happened to get me here." said Noctis as he began to sit up. "You lost your self control when you used the Power of Kings." said Cloud. Noctis's eyes widened in shock to what Cloud had said. "After I hit you and watched you hit a tree, you surrounded yourself with so many weapons and your eyes glew bright red and you lost full control of yourself. All of a sudden, you turned violent and fought recklessly against me." said Cloud.

Noctis looked away from him and looked down at his hands in shock. He clutched them into fists and lowered his head, shedding a tear on his face. "Dammit." said Noctis in a slight upset tone and shed another tear. When Cloud saw Noctis beginning to cry, he walked over to him and sat down next to him; thinking of a way to comfort him. "I promised them that I wouldn't lose control...but I failed them. I let them down big time. Ignis, Gladio, Prompto, Luna, and Dad...I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I let you down." said Noctis sadly. Cloud was surprised to hear him say those words and it made him feel bad for him. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and put his hand on Noctis's shoulder. Noctis turned to him, wondering what he was doing. "Noctis...you didn't let them down." said Cloud. "Huh?" said Noctis. "You never failed them. I can tell that you want to live up and go beyond their expectations of being a hero and king to them. You would do anything in the world to save them from whatever danger comes their way. You're a hero like us, your power is very unique, you have a caring heart even when you reserve your emotions, and even though you're destined to defeat some kind of darkness; I know that you can defeat it with all of your power and with your friends by your side. You're a special hero Noctis and I know that you will do everything to protect your world and your people, no matter what." said Cloud.

The Prince's eyes widened surprised for a moment after taking in Cloud's words and then began to emotionally feel happy and thankful for those kind words that Cloud had said. "Cloud?" said Noctis. "Yeah?" Cloud replied. "Thank you for those words. It truly means alot to me to hear what you had to say. From now on, I will always believe in myself and in my friends in whatever comes our way through our journey and I will stand by them until the very end." said Noctis. "You're welcome." said Cloud. They both lightly smiled at each other and then Noctis turned to one of the tables and saw a piece of paper. He stood up, walked to the table, picked up the paper, and saw two words on it that made him curious. "Life Seal?" Noctis read aloud. He turned to Cloud, hoping for an answer from him about this life seal. "Do you know anything about this?" he asked him. "I..." said Cloud. "Don't worry Cloud, I'll explain it." said a voice. They turned to the door and saw Materia standing by it. "It's an energy seal that protects your soul from losing its energy and to help you restore your energy faster to heal any wounds you have taken in battle. Ever since I learned what your Power does to you in your world and hearing of your destiny with it, I used my power to talk to the Astrals of your world to give me permission to put the Life Seal in you so that you won't lose your life. Bahamut told me that he made a big mistake of putting that terrible fate on you, he never wanted to see you lose your life as the Chosen King, but the pure anger and rage of Ifrit and your ancestor made him put this fate onto you. So I asked Bahamut if I could put in the Life Seal in your soul and rewrite your destiny, and he said yes. So now with the Seal in you, you will live on to be the Chosen King in your world." she said.

Both Cloud and Noctis were surprised to hear what she had said. "Materia...thank you." said Noctis. Materia lightly smiled and did a little bow to him. "Anything for the King of Light." said Materia. She turned to the door and began to leave, but then turned back to the two heroes. "And Noctis, you better check that blue flower in your jacket. You don't want it to wilt don't you?" she said. Both boy's eyes widened in shock and then watched Materia leave the room. After a couple minutes, the boys looked at each other silently, wondering what to say. Noctis turned to his jacket, opened its top left pocket, and took out the blue flower Materia had mentioned. "Does that flower mean something to you?" Cloud asked him. Noctis's eyes widened in shock to hear Cloud say that, making himself remember when he asked Cloud that same question at the spot they trained. "I understand if it's personal...I'm sorry to ask you that." said Cloud. "No, it's okay. I don't mind talking about it...just not here. I don't want anyone else to hear about it." Noctis replied. Cloud knew that Noctis felt uncomfortable in the room after saying that, so he began to think of somewhere to go and talk about it. "I know of a place." he said. "Huh?" said Noctis. Cloud looked down to his pocket and took out the yellow flower he picked at the spot, and noticed Noctis looking at him curiously. "Our training spot?" Noctis asked him. "No...Midgar." Cloud replied. "Midgar?" said Noctis curiously. "A big city in my world. It's known for extracting Mako energy and using it for things that you would never imagine." said Cloud. Noctis was intrigued of what Cloud had said about Midgar, but felt curious about Mako energy. Deep in his mind, he wanted to know how this energy worked in machines and people. Did it make them stronger or turn them into monsters? He had many questions about it, but he wanted to save them once they got to Midgar. "Come on, let's go." said Cloud as he began to walk out of the room. Noctis followed him and they both walked to a portal showing Midgar and they walked inside it, seeing the giant city ahead.

Midgar

The sky was dark within the night sky and streams of light green energy were slowly flowing through many parts of the city, giving off light around tall steel beams and chain fences within the quiet area of the city. Cloud and Noctis walked through the portal and saw the area of Midgar they were in, seeing the little streams of Mako energy passing by them. "Is this how you remember Midgar?" Noctis asked Cloud. Cloud nodded his head silently to his question and began walking to one of the tall steel beams. Noctis followed silently and they climbed up on one of the beams and sat down quietly, looking out to the city. As they looked out, Noctis quietly turned to Cloud and saw his eyes begin to glow a light green color; making him speechless to what he is seeing. Cloud blinked his eyes once and then turned to Noctis; seeing a surprised look on his face. "You alright?" Cloud asked him. "Uh...yeah..? I just...never thought I'd see your eyes glow." said Noctis. Cloud raised his left eyebrow curiously at him for a moment, and watched Noctis looking into his eyes. "I guess I should tell you the truth about this place." said Cloud. "Hm?" Noctis replied. Cloud turned away from him and looked at the city; ready to tell his story.

"This city was using Mako energy for dangerous purposes. The energy you see around us is this world's blood, we call it the Lifestream. The Lifestream is a river of spiritual energy coursing through the Planet and is considered to be its "blood" and as a swell of souls, a river of the dead's memories. It is the sum of all living things on the Planet and each new life (plants, animals, and human beings) is "blessed" with spiritual energy prior to birth. Upon the organism's death, its spiritual energy returns to the Lifestream, taking with it the memories of its lifetime allowing the Lifestream as a whole to grow and the cycle to continue. The Lifestream's energy was being extracted and processed by the Shinra Electric Power Company to create Mako energy for electricity, and further for condensing it into Materia without even knowing that they were killing the Planet. They had their elite fighting force, SOLDIER, go on missions to find and take Materia and give to Shinra and watched the built Reactors keep the stolen energy and the scientists used it to create monsters." said Cloud. Noctis's eyes widened in shock to hear about what Shinra had done with Mako energy. "Monsters?" Noctis asked him. "Yeah." Cloud replied. "How do you know about that?" Noctis asked again. "Because I was one of their experiments." Cloud replied again. "You worked for them?!" said Noctis in shock. Cloud sadly nodded his head yes to his response.

"When I was 13, I left my hometown to join SOLDIER, to be a hero like Sephiroth used to be. When I made it Midgar and the Shinra building, I tried out for SOLDIER..." said Cloud. "Did you pass?" Noctis asked him. "No...I failed. They put me as a infantryman instead. During that time, I met a really good friend there. His name was Zack Fair. He was in SOLDIER's 1st Class and he was one of the best fighters I've ever known. He always helped me to become a better person and made sure to help me train to get me into the SOLDIER program...but one day, we went to my hometown for a mission about a broken Reactor. Once we got there, that's when Sephiroth learned that he was a monster. He was experimented on way before he was born. His father, Doctor Hojo, put Jenova cells in Sephiroth, thinking that he will be a hero to the Planet...little did Hojo know was that he made a monster." said Cloud. "So...what happened after he found out the truth of himself?" Noctis asked. Cloud closed his eyes and clutched his right hand into a fist, knowing the next part of his story is pulling on his heart strings. "He...he went berserk. He drove himself into madness and burnt down my town. I tried to fight him at the Reactor...but I lost. I was no match against him. After the fight...I was taken to the Shinra Mansion and was experimented on for four years. Hojo put Jenova cells in me and wanted me to become a Sephiroth clone." said Cloud. Noctis could tell that Cloud felt upset of telling that part of his story. It made him see that Cloud's life was a little harder than his own. He put his hand on Cloud's shoulder, making him look at him.

"After Zack and I escaped, we went on the run for a year. He was perfectly fine, but I wasn't. I couldn't move for a year...I had a severe case of Mako addiction which left me feeble throughout the journey. Once Zack and I were near Midgar, the company we worked for betrayed us and took down Zack with no mercy. I finally crawled over to him and saw bullet wounds on his chest...I thought that he could be them...but he wasn't strong enough against them. He handed me the Buster Sword and told me that I am his living legacy. He passed away with a smile on his face. When that happened, my mind was really hazy to understand what had happened and it began to hallucinate my memories as Zack's memories and I developed a false persona, pretending like he never existed. I became a mercenary and only cared about getting paid, but then...I met someone at Midgar." said Cloud. "Who was this "someone"?" said Noctis. "Her name was Aerith. She lived in the slums, under the city, selling flowers around the slums; trying to make a living by selling them. We went on a journey together with my childhood friend Tifa and her team to stop Sephiroth from destroying the world. During all that...I began to fall in love with her, but I didn't know how to tell her my feelings for her. Deep inside myself, I was afraid to tell her how I feel, so I kept on fighting just to hide those feelings...then one day...Sephiroth stabbed her in the back, killing her right in front of me." said Cloud. Noctis's eyes widened in shock and sadness as he felt his heart break for the blonde hero.

"Cloud...I'm so sorry that happened to you." said Noctis sadly. Cloud blinked his eyes and showed a little smile. "It's okay. I always blamed myself for it, but I've had visions of her and I heard her say "I never blamed you. Not once. You came for me...that's all that matters.". After her death, I began to stay away from my team and I fell into the Lifestream, putting myself in a week long coma. Once I woke up from it, I defeated Sephiroth once and for all and the Planet was saved, mostly thanks to her. Two years later...I started my own delivery service and helped out many people...but during that time...I was going through a disease called "Geostigma" and it was slowly killing me. Little did I know was that Sephiroth returned by his three Remnants of himself. I defeated him again and he never returned. I was healed at the Church where our journey began and saw her one last time with Zack. They let me know that everything was alright and I was not to blame for their lives being taken away. After that, things in my world have slowly started turning back to normal...then I came here by Materia." said Cloud. Noctis released his hand from Cloud's shoulder and saw the Mako light in Cloud's eyes shine once more. Cloud turned to him again, waiting for him to say something. "Can't stop looking at my eyes huh?" he asked him. Noctis nodded his head yes, making Cloud lightly laugh. "What's so funny?" Noctis asked him. "Nothing, just liking the way you're curious about my eyes." Cloud replied. Noctis began to feel embarrassed and felt his face begin to turn red; looking away shyly. Cloud lightly laughed again and lightly punched the Prince's arm; showing off his playful side. Noctis looked at him all surprised to see this side of Cloud come out. It surprisingly put him at ease just to see Cloud happy and playful. He lightly smiled back and lightly punched Cloud's arm playfully; making him lightly laugh himself. "So, everytime you look at that yellow flower...you think of Aerith?" said Noctis. "Yeah...it lets me know that she's always with me, guiding me to a brighter future." said Cloud. The two heroes lightly smiled at each other and watched the Mako glow in Cloud's eyes disappear.

After that, they looked back to the city silently. "Hey Cloud?" said Noctis. "Yeah?" said Cloud. "Why did Squall call you a "Lone Wolf"?" Noctis asked. "Because I like to be alone." Cloud replied. "After all the trauma you went through...it made you want to do things alone?" said Noctis. Cloud nodded his head yes. "But you know that you're not really alone right? You have people that actually care about you and help you through anything you're going through." said Noctis. "Like you?" Cloud asked him. "Huh?" Noctis replied in a confused tone. "You know what it's like to reserve your emotions from people sometimes. You must've had some emotional trauma when you were a kid right? And you have people that care about you too." Cloud asked. The Prince's eyes widened in shock to what Cloud had said. He felt his heart sink into his stomach as he began to remember his childhood. He lightly put his head down, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "I guess it's fair that I tell you my story after you told me yours." said Noctis. Cloud turned to him and saw him lift his head up and open his eyes. "It all started when I was an infant...my mother had passed away and it devastated my father completely. He had to rule our kingdom on his own, leaving me alone in the Citadel most of the time. I wasn't bitter about that at all. Sacrifices had to be made and I accepted that. After I turned five, my father had heard from the Past Kings that I was the Chosen King prophesied to sacrifice myself to save the world. After hearing that, my father made sure that I would live a full, normal life. He put me in regular schools, hoping to see me make some friends, but I didn't. When I was eight, I was attacked by a snake-like daemon. I was completely traumatized of the daemon and what it had done, I passed out from my injuries and went into a coma for quite sometime. My father saved me from being attacked more and took me back home, making sure that I would wake up from my coma." said Noctis.

Cloud's eyes widened in shock to hear about Noctis being attacked by the daemon he had talked about. He felt his heart sink a little bit as he looked at him. "Cloud? You alright?" Noctis asked. "Uh...yeah...I'm alright..." Cloud replied in a slight nervous tone. "My injuries weren't that bad. I only got a scar on the left side of my face. Not like Squall's scar though...just smaller than his." said Noctis. "Can I see it?" Cloud asked him. Noctis brushed some of his hair and showed Cloud the scar for the first time. "You know, you're the first person who asked me to show my scar." said Noctis. "Really? I thought your three friends were the first ones to see it." said Cloud. Noctis shook his no to his response. "They never asked me to show them the scar. You're the only one one who has ever asked me." Noctis replied. Cloud was genuinely surprised of his response, making him lightly smile at the young Prince. "I kinda feel honored." said Cloud. "I'm glad you think that." Noctis replied. They lightly laughed for a moment and then looked at each other again. "So...when you woke up from your coma...what happened then?" Cloud asked him. Before Noctis spoke, he took out the blue flower from his jacket and held it in his hand. "I spent time healing in Tenebrae and met my fiancé, Lunafreya. She was the one who told me about the Crystal of Lucis and how my father is its sworn protector. During all that, the imperial army invaded Tenebrae. My father and I escaped unharmed and we tried to take Luna with us, but...she chose to stay behind with her brother, Ravus, and they were basically kept hostage under the imperial army. I haven't seen her in 12 years...but we secretly kept in contact by her dog, Umbra, and a red book that we use to write secret messages to each other." said Noctis. "How does Umbra get to your country and back to Tenebrae?" Cloud asked. "He's a magical dog." Noctis replied. "What?" said Cloud skeptically. "What? You don't believe in Magic?" said Noctis.

"No...I do believe in Magic...it's just...I've never heard of a magical dog before." Cloud replied. "I haven't even told you why he's magical." said Noctis. "Huh?" said Cloud. "It's because he's immortal. He's a Messenger...a Spirit of the Gods in my world." said Noctis. Cloud looked at Noctis curiously, wondering what things in his world are like and began thinking about wanting to go there and explore it himself. "So...did you fully recover from the daemon attack?" said Cloud. Noctis shook his head no to his response. "I don't think I ever will." Noctis replied. Cloud began to feel bad for him again and wanted to do something to make him feel better from the pain. He closed his eyes and began thinking of the Church where he met Aerith and the Holy Water that healed him from his Geostigma. After a couple seconds, a little portal appeared over Noctis's head. Cloud opened his eyes and saw the portal above Noctis. Cloud stared at it in complete shock. "Hey, what's wrong?" Noctis asked him. Cloud pointed up and Noctis looked up, seeing the little portal above his head. As he looked up, water began pouring down from it and it left the Prince soaking wet from all the water that poured all over him. Deep inside his breath, Cloud wanted to burst out a laugh, but he understood that Noctis might've been embarrassed enough today. After about a minute, the water stopped and the portal disappeared. Noctis began shaking off some of the water in his hair, but then started to feel a healing energy all over his body, leaving both heroes speechless. The energy kept on healing the Prince's wounds for a couple minutes and then disappeared. "What was that about?" said Noctis. "That was the Water that healed me from Geostigma. I thought about it after you said you don't think you'll ever heal from your wounds...so the Water came through that portal to help you heal those injuries." said Cloud. "You think Aerith was trying to be nice and wanted to help me?" Noctis asked him. Cloud nodded his head yes to his question. "Well...if you have visions of her again...tell her I said thank you for helping me. I really appreciate it." said Noctis sincerely. "I will." Cloud replied.

They lightly smiled at each other and then looked up to the sky. "After coming back home, I began having a normal life again...except, I began to feel alot stressed. My father was slowly losing his life by the Crystal. I was too stubborn to truly understand because everyone was putting so much pressure on me to follow his footsteps...but to be honest, I wasn't truly ready to rule the kingdom. I feared of how people expect me to be a perfect King like my father...but I know that I can't be like him in many ways. But...now that I remember what you said to me back at the healing room...I realize that I shouldn't be afraid of what people think. The only thing I should do as King is to make my people happy and make sure that they'll be safe from further harm." said Noctis. Cloud lightly smiled at him and patted Noctis on the back as a sign of thanks; making the Prince lightly smile back. "After I turned 20, I was betrothed to Luna and was set to marry her in Altissia. My father told me and my three best friends to head out to Altissia to marry her as he dealt with the leader of Niflheim and the imperial army, but they betrayed us and took my father's life away. I learned about his death the next morning and it completely broke me down. I was so mad and upset that I didn't come back home to protect me, but he made sure that I left before it all happened, knowing that one day I will come home and reclaim the Throne. So, my friends and I set off on a journey to gain the trust of my world's Gods and find all the Royal Arms to master my Power and find Luna in Altissia." said Noctis. "Wow...you've got quite a story Noctis." said Cloud. "Thanks Cloud. You've got quite a story too." Noctis replied. They both stood up and went back to Materia's base.

Materia's base

Both heroes walked through the base, seeing everyone practice and interact with each other. They also had thoughts if anyone noticed that they had left for awhile, but they really didn't care if they noticed. "Hey Cloud?" said Noctis. "Yeah?" said Cloud. "I've heard a few rumors around here that you are in another fighting tournament?" Noctis asked. "Oh, you mean Smash Bros.? Yeah I'm in it. Why?" said Cloud. "Just heard that there is going to be a new tournament this year...you think they'll let you come back?" said Noctis. "Hm..? I would love to be in the tournament again, but I don't really know who's going to make it this time." Cloud replied. "Well, no matter what I'll be rooting for you to get back in there and win it all!" said Noctis. Cloud lightly smiled at him and they both did an arm bump, showing a sign of their friendship. As they looked at their teammates, Materia smiled at the two heroes; seeing how they have bonded. "The Prince and the Lone Wolf. I know that you two will fight on until the very end, as long as you both stand by each other." said Materia to herself. She looked out to the entrance, ready to finish her plans to take down Spiritus.

Thank you for reading the story! I've wanted to make a Cloud and Noctis story for a while since they are my two favorite Final Fantasy protagonists and I just really wanted to see how these two would interact with each other. I can see them actually being good friends and would fight alongside each other, taking down their enemies from their worlds. Now about the parts where Noctis lost control of his Power and the Life Seal...

When I saw Noctis using his Royal Arms in Final Fantasy XV, I always thought that when he first used them that the weapon's power was too overwhelmed and it made Noctis lose control of himself everytime he used them until he got the Ring of the Lucii or master it before he got to Altissia. And about the Life Seal...I put it in their just because I think Noctis deserves a chance to be the King of Lucis. That's all I have to say about the Life Seal part because I don't want to spoil the main story of Final Fantasy XV for people who haven't played it yet.

So, thank you for reading and have a beautiful day!