Title: Hands of a Healer
Author: Warangel88
Pairing: Stella/Noctis
Warnings/Spoilers: Slightly AU, Possiable OOC
Author Notes: This used to be a part of my 50 themes but I decided to give up on my 50 themes challange mostly because of the fact it would probably remain incomplete because I have gotten a bit busy but I decided on what I have done as seperate oneshots. Thanks Alex for Betaing
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy Versus XIII
Noctis knew that he was dying.
The wound was deep and he was already lying in a puddle of his own blood. Perhaps it was only fitting for him to die on a battlefield surrounded by soldiers who were loyal to both him and Tenebraean soldiers, most of whom had probably died by his hand.
Not that he necessarily enjoyed taking the life of another. He had only met a few people who really enjoyed it during the war, and most of them he ended up killing, although he supposed it was kill or be killed.
Noctis certainty didn't have a death wish, but he also figured that he had no choice in the matter, and it would probably be a miracle of he did survive.
He silently prayed that his friends were still alive and were able to get back home to their wives or girlfriends, something he was honestly a bit jealous of. It wasn't that he couldn't get a girlfriend--many young women had tried to flirt with him both at home and during his travels with his friends--but there had really only been one woman that he was interested in.
She was also the person that had proved to be quite a rival in the skills of fighting, although it seemed like neither of them wanted to kill each other. Stella had always been one to wear her emotions freely, so it was easy to tell what the Tenebraean Princess was thinking.
Strangely enough, she was the only person that he wanted to think of as the death-goddess, slowly taking him to the afterlife, and it was memories of her that filled his mind: Their first meeting at that party six months before the war took place, all of their meetings and half-hearted fights during the war, and the few occasions they had even talked to each other--more like friends than enemies.
Noctis began to realize that the pain was slowly fading, almost as if thinking of her slowly eased the pain, or maybe the real reason was that he had finally crossed into the afterlife.
"Lord Noct," a soft, familiar voice called to him. He opened his eyes and saw a familiar blonde leaning over him.
Stella's golden locks cascaded over her shoulders, and he noticed that she was wearing the white dress that she wore during their first meeting.
Of course that was probably more his imagination than anything else, because he knew that Stella would never wear that dress in a place like this.
"Am I dead?" he half-wondered aloud, and his voice sounded like a hoarse whisper even to his own ears.
"Do you want to be dead?" the blonde princess from Tenebrae asked, and he could hear a hint of teasing in her voice.
"No, there are a few things left that I need to do in this world," he said and tried to get up, but she gently pressed him back to the ground.
"You shouldn't try to move," Stella explained. "Despite the fact that I used my strongest white magic spells, the wound on your stomach is still not healed yet."
Noctis nodded and watched Stella through half-closed eyes summon a Cureaga spell, and in the back of his mind he wondered how many spells she had used on him or anyone else.
"Do you know if my friends are alive?" he asked, trying to strike up a conversation with the blonde.
"Hmm, I didn't see either of them," she answered, resting her hand in her lap and watching him slowly rise to a sitting position.
He nodded and figured that could be a good sign that they were still alive, and were probably in the nearest town. He made a mental note to call them later to let them know that he was still alive. He would probably skip the part about him coming close to dying.
"Thank you," he said softly, and in the back of his mind he wondered if he should ask why she saved him--but decided it was because she cared for him on some level, despite the fact they were supposed to be enemies.
"You're welcome," she replied, rocking on the back of her heels to stand up. "Maybe you can return the favor someday, but for now I think you should go find your friends. I'm sure that they are worried about you."
Noctis nodded and watched Stella disappear from the battlefield. Maybe one day he would be able to tell her that she was the last person he thought about. Maybe one day he would be able to return the favor, but for now he thought he should probably call his friends and let them know he is alright.
-the end
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