Disclaimer: FF Versus XIII doesn't belong to me. If it did, I would've spoiled you guys with a lot of Versus info by now.
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"DEFINING THY LOSS"
-ロルデスちゃん (rorudesu-chan)-
A blonde-haired lady in a white coat walked in. She eyed at the man sitting alone in one corner of the moon lit room. He arched his back as he drank a bottle of alcoholic drink. She was sure it was alcohol. Because she knew he had a problem again.
"Noct!" she furiously approached him. "What do you think you're doing?"
He glanced at her once, after tipping the bottle from his lips. "What does it look like I'm doing?"
"You're getting yourself drunk again."
"So?" he leaned his back heavy against the wall so he could face her. "What's it to you?"
"It's everything to me."
"Is it?"
"Tell me what happened."
He shrugged. "Nothing much really, Stella."
"That," she pointed at the alcoholic drink. "is not 'nothing'. I thought you said that the treaty will fix things."
"I did." He placed down the bottle and began fumbling into his black trench coat. "But it turns out that I was just being played."
Stella was confused. She tried to put the pieces in her head together as she stepped toward the window. But she turned around immediately the moment she smelled something burning.
Noctis pressed the lit cigarette between his lips, tossing the lighter onto the table. He sucked the stick and watched his trouble vaporize into the air.
"You don't smoke." Stella sharply said. She reached for the cigarette, pulled it brusquely from his mouth and stomped on it hard against the carpeted floor.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" her tone rose. "Why aren't you telling me anything, Noct?"
His deep ochre eyes glazed at her. "Because I don't have to, Stella. It's not going to change anything. I lost."
Stella frowned and listened to her upset man.
"I lost my title, my family's fortune, my people's loyalty and I lost… you."
Noctis' head snapped to the side at once. He felt his left cheek burn as he realized that Stella had slapped him. He turned his head back, ready to reprimand her.
But as soon as he did, a pair of lips captured his mouth. Stella's hands gently held his face. He closed his eyes and brushed his lips against hers, forgiving her of what she just did. His arms reached out to snare her waist but she pulled back from the kiss.
"No one loses me unless I tell them so," she said softly, placing her hands on his nape.
Noctis looked deeply into her bright blue eyes, wanting more of the sweet ecstasy. He grabbed a handful of her blonde tresses, pulling her back again, but this time, into a ravenous kiss. Stella felt her knees weakening at the taste of their contact. He reeked of alcohol and a little bit of smoke, but she cared less about it. She brought her arms around his neck and sat on his thighs. Her fingers toyed with his raven blue spikes as she gave more of herself into the kiss.
Noctis soon broke the intimacy between their lips. She let out a soft sigh as he began tracing her smooth neck with his soft kisses.
He whispered against her skin, "Let's get out of here."
A hand crept under Stella's coat, stroking her thigh seductively. "Let's forget everything. Let's not give a damn about anything anymore."
Stella's eyes suddenly fluttered open. She pushed Noctis off her and looked back at him with a perplexed expression.
"Forget everything?" she asked befuddled. "Not give a damn about anything anymore?"
"Exactly." Noctis tried to pull her back in to another tempting kiss but Stella pushed herself off him.
"No," Stella straightened her coat as she stood back to her feet. "This isn't you."
"What are you talking about? It's me."
"No, it's not. The Noct I know is going to do something about this mess. He's going to try and win the loyalty of his people back, his family's fortune and his title."
"Don't be so naïve, Stella," he laughed, reaching for his unfinished alcohol. "Like I said, I was just being played. That treaty signing was itself a set up."
"What about the High Minister?" Stella asked as she watched Noctis gulp a mouthful of his drink. "He should've done something the moment he knew you were already losing your birthright."
"The High Minister… was in on the whole thing." Noctis replied disgustedly. "A demonic associate of that backstabber Marius."
"That's a lie."
"A lie?" Noctis scoffed. "The High Minister himself preached to my people that the Caelum family had been secretly murdering anyone who stood against their way to power. That's the lie, Stella."
The blonde was surprised with the revelation as her forehead creased. "And you're just going to let him get away with it?"
"You don't understand anything, don't you?" He smirked coldly as he leaned back on the chair. "Of course, you wouldn't… You left the night when Marius told me about the conditions of the treaty that I was about to sign the next day. You left me at a time when I needed you the most, Stella."
"Because Tenebrae was in terrible need of me!" Stella protested. "I didn't leave you because I didn't care. I left because I knew you were strong enough to handle things on your own, even for just a short while."
Noctis kept still, feeling guilty of his accusation.
"You don't need anyone besides yourself to know the difference between right and wrong. Why did you even go to the cathedral when you realized that the treaty was only going to take your grandfather's crown away from you?"
Noctis glanced away. Stella waited for a reply but she soon realized that she wasn't going to receive any.
"Because you didn't realize it, did you?"
"I was afraid that if I made the wrong choice, I would fail as the next Caelum successor. Just like what happened to my father."
"But now, what you've feared all your life has already taken place."
"And that's why I told you to forget everything." Noctis rose to his feet and looked deep into Stella's worry-filled eyes. "Because there's nothing I can do anymore to stop Marius."
He stepped forward and grabbed Stella by the waist. "Now since you're back anyway," he trailed his lips against her neck.
"Get off of me, Noct." Stella shoved him backward and removed his hold from her sides. She spun on her heels and moved away. But a hand strongly grabbed her arm, stopping her.
"Let go of me," she said sternly without looking at him. "If you're not going to do anything, I will."
"You're not planning to sell yourself to Marius, are you?"
"I am not a whore!" she spat, pulling her arm abruptly from his hold. Noctis realized the mistake in his words as he watched Stella storm off.
"See. I told you I already lost you before," were his parting words to her.
Stella halted and quickly turned around. "You're wrong. You just lost me now."
Noctis watched as his life's greatest conquest walked away from him. He grimaced at the pain his heart felt as he realized that he had been holding on to the liquor bottle the moment he stood up. Out of anger at himself, Noctis threw the alcoholic drink toward the wall beside him. The bottle half shattered into shards, leaving the neck broken off from its body. It rolled to his feet but he didn't bother crushing it with a boot. Now, he decided that he wasn't going to allow himself to lose everything. He was going to find a way to gain the trust of his people that was taken by deceit, retrieve his family's fortune that were stolen to him by a huge cheat and obtain the title of 'king' that had always been rightfully his.
But before all those, he first had to win Stella back.
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a/n: Finally! *throws confetti in air* My first one shot in 4 months! Ah.. I love summer. :) Please review!! Thank you.