Cherry Blossoms

By: Strange and Intoxicating -rsa-

Author Notes: This is kind of... rushed? I dunno. I'm not entirely happy with this story, but it isn't terrible. I won't let my complaints deter you. I don't really feel confident in writing like a 15 year old girl anymore...

Kink Meme Prompt: Gladio and Noctis are finally ready to come out about the relationship they've been keeping secret. That awkward moment when you have to tell your sister that you're seeing the prince she's had a crush on since she first met him. Yikes.

Cherry Blossoms

Iris looked down at her Chocobucks Frappuccino, the petal pink slush making her think of the first time she could remember seeing Prince Noctis.

They had been children, so young and she had been so incredibly naive. The pink cherry blossoms, illuminating in the blazing April sunlight, floated around Noctis's head like a crown. He was wearing the traditional black of the Lucis family, the pink contrasting as it fell like snow across his shoulders. It had dusted through his hair and she had watched Gladio pull out a piece from Noctis's hair, throwing them to the ground. He had been picking on Prince Noctis, bumping shoulders...

Growing up, that memory had stayed with her. She had watched Noctis grow, each year attending the Spring Cherry Blossom festival in his formal black suit. He grew more handsome, more spirited, more lovely. She had grown, too. From a little girl with skinned hands from falling to a young woman. She had hoped that one day Noctis would look at her and notice, to see that she wasn't a little girl anymore. She wasn't a little girl and he wasn't a little boy.

Accordo had fallen. Tenebrae had fallen. Niflheim had no royal family except for Iedolas...

And Iris… Iris had dreamed of her black wedding gown. She had drawn it a thousand times in her mind before taking her pen to paper. A long, lace neckline that cascaded into a wave of black silk. A soft, lightly-tied corset her best friend would help her into, wiping away the tears from both their eyes. The sudden drop of black silk that trailed behind her. It would be long enough to leave a beautiful trail through Insomnia's Citadel, the light pink cherry blossoms embroidered into the fabric leaving a feeling of gentleness.

A new spring.

And dad would be there, tucking her mother's veil into her tightly-wound curls. Gladio would kiss her cheek and they both would lead her down the aisle toward Noctis.

Noctis… he would leave his hair down, the disheveled mess that Iris had dreamed of running her hands through. And his smile would be wide, because she was beautiful and he loved her.

Except he didn't.

Iris reached out and took the straw, turning it around and around in circles, letting the bottom drag against the plastic cup. It made a screeching sound, and she only stopped when Gladio grabbed her hand.

"Ir," he said, and for the first time in her entire life she hated that nickname. She hated the way is sounded like venom and pain and pity. She didn't want Gladio's pity. She didn't need it. She…

"How long?" Iris asked, dully.

"About a year."

Iris took in a deep breath and let go of the straw, shaking off her brother's hand. "Oh."

"Don't 'Oh,' me, Iris. You look like I just killed your cat."

Blunt as always, and never good with his words. She loved him, she did. He was her big brother and always would be, but he was such a… Such a…

"You're a jerk." She didn't mean to say it, but she can't take back the words.

"I… yeah. I guess I am. You're right."

"I… I thought it was Ignis," she admitted, but Gladio sighed and rested his hands back on the cafe table.

All the secret letters that Gladio would read when he thought no one was looking. The late nights, sneaking out of his room. The love bites on his neck, the condoms Iris found hidden under the bathroom sink...

Iris now understood why he wanted to do this in public, and it took everything in her to not snap in fury. She was her father's daughter; she would never… never let herself lose control.

Even if she wanted to.

"Me and Iggy?" Gladio laughed uncomfortably after a moment, only stopping when she sent him a look. "Uh… No. We were never like that. Noctis… he makes me…" Gladio tapped his fingers on the table, his coffee jumping at the pressure. "I don't know, Iris. He makes me crazy. I wanna kill him half the time and the rest I just wanna—"

Iris flinched. She didn't want to think about her brother and Noctis. Her big, strong brother who was supposed to walk her down the aisle. Noctis, the cherry blossom petals in his hair as he lifted her black veil. Noctis, whose fingers would gently trace her cheeks as he lifted her face to his. The kiss that would shake her world, would join them as man and wife.

"You'll never marry him."

Gladio looked like she had punched him. She knew how much her words hurt and she wanted them to. She wanted him to hurt, because the way she felt right now…

Iris wanted him to feel it, too.

"You… you can't give him an heir. You're just a Shield."

She couldn't stop herself, couldn't keep her mouth closed. It was years upon years of soft cherry blossoms and her entire childhood, and she hurt.

"Iris, please… I didn't do this to hurt you."

Yet Iris felt her anger bubbling up to the surface, her Amicitia blood boiling. "No! You don't get to just tell me that and then just… just…" Iris couldn't look at him anymore. His face was so solemn… she had never seen him so defeated.

And she wanted just that one last twist of the knife, because it couldn't possibly cover everything she felt right at that moment.

"I hate you."

She threw her chair back and grabbed her school bag and ran. She knocked into someone, feeling the man's hot coffee splash across her school shirt, but she didn't stop.

Gladio was yelling something and she just… she hoped he would understand not to follow. She didn't want him to come after her. She wanted him to just… to just leave her alone.

She didn't stop running until she was well inside of Insomnia Park, ducking below the thick bramble to get to the small creek she considered a home away from home. Her feet had taken her there without even thinking, and…

Dad knew where she would be. It was where he taught her how to fish. It was a place he had found her after more than one fight, after more than one bad day. Gladio didn't know about it, and that left Iris with the comfort of her own loneliness to cradle her as she sobbed out her heart.

It wasn't just that she would never have that black dress on her wedding day, cradled in Prince Noctis's arms. It wasn't just the years of watching from afar, begging her father and Gladio to tell her more about him. It wasn't just the image of the perfect man she had created and fantasized about since she was three years old. No…

Gladio had lied to her. For a year he had listened to her go on and on about Noctis…. For twelve years he had listened to her babble on and on and never once did he mention it. Never once did he try to tell her, not until today in Chocobucks…

Why?

Iris grabbed at the ground, letting her fingers dig into the cool dirt and she screamed.

What else was she supposed to do?

It was well after dark when Iris managed to make her way back home. She could see the lights were still on and knew that no matter what she did there wasn't going to be a way to get out of the confrontation. If Gladio said what he wanted to say, if he railed into her like she deserved… It would probably be another few hours of crying.

All Iris wanted to do was go to bed. Handling any more emotion… she was fifteen, but she felt like she were fifty at that moment.

She took in a handful of deep breaths before pushing open the door.

Gladio was waiting in the living room. He was busy wearing a hole into the floor, face etched into a permanent frown.

"Iris."

Gladio stopped his pacing, shoulders sagging, when Iris threw her bag onto the couch.

"What?" she snapped, and the anger that she thought she had hidden bubbled back up. Instead of showing her heartbreak, she did what all Amicitias did. Iris bit down on her lip, taking in a few controlled breaths. "I'm going to bed."

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," Gladio began. "I knew you'd get upset and that's why I didn't say anything in the first place."

"That doesn't make it any better," Iris grumbled, crossing her arms in front of herself. "You're… you're not supposed to hurt your sister…"

Gladio shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. "I didn't mean to."

There was an honesty in his voice that Iris understood, and for a moment she tried to remember the last time she'd heard him use it.

"You… You said you were in love with him. That he loved you."

Gladio swallowed. "Yeah… figured it out about a year ago. You remember that Gala we had to go to? The one for the Coronation Anniversary?"

Iris remembered. It was the first time she had danced with Noctis. He was actually an amazing dancer, leading her through the Citadel's ballroom while her pink dress twisted and twirled through the night air. She had seen some of the pictures; her smile was bright and glowing while Noctis… it always looked like he was staring off to the side. Every picture…

He never even looked at her. Not once.

Iris nodded hesitantly and Gladio continued. "After the Gala, we were talking and it kinda just happened. And then it was all new, and we just wanted… we just wanted to be happy. For a little while."

"I… I guess it was never going to be me," Iris replied, feeling her heart crawling into her throat.

"He really does like you, Iris. Who wouldn't? Just…"

"No offense, Gladdy, but that doesn't exactly make me feel better."

Gladio sighed. "I don't know what to say. I never did this to hurt you… It just happened and I knew how angry you'd get so I didn't bring it up."

"Then why now?"

Gladio's mouth went slack. "Noctis and I… we've been thinking about it. About coming out… figured it was time. He's going to be twenty-one soon. Who knows how long we've got."

The sorrow in Gladio's voice was a jolt to Iris. It was true, and she had even thrown it in Gladio's face earlier in the day. It didn't matter how much they loved one another, not when Noctis was a prince and would need to have babies to keep the Lucis line going…

Iris felt sick.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Gladdy."

Gladio opened his arms for her, and Iris was quick to wrap her arms around her brother. Her heart ached, was cracked and broken, but Gladio's pain was worse. She had her dream taken, sure… but Gladio was going to lose reality.

"It's fine. You were right. I'm just a Shield."

For such a big man, Iris had never heard Gladio sound so tiny.

"I shouldn't have said that." Iris wished she could pull back her words, but it was already too late. She had but him open with broken glass then poured salt in his wounds. "I'm a bad sister."

Gladio's hoodie was warm and his arms were warmer. "Nah, not bad."

Iris looked up at Gladio, her eyes wide. "Maybe… maybe one day… maybe I can marry him. And you can keep him." The thought of Prince Noctis had never been Noctis Noctis. It wasn't the same person Gladio knew, that Gladio loved, not really… "You've been so happy this year. There are good doctors that could take care of things, right?"

"Yeah. Maybe."

Iris looked out the window at the moonlight, the cherry blossom tree dripping its petals across the lawn.

They sparkled like broken glass.

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