Disclaimer: Final Fantasy does not belong to me.

Hello again everyone! I'd like to thank you all for the reviews! I received various points of views and many strong points which I will very well consider! This chapter starts off with Lightning and Noctis's friends but will have a transition to more Lightning and Noctis! From that point on the story will focus more on our two protagonists! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 3: Start your Engines

"They're staring again…" Hope said as he looked at Lightning and Noctis staring at the other from across the room. Ever since the two entered the classroom at the end of the lunch break, they sat down, unpacked their things and locked eyes with one another.

Despite them seemingly to be focused on the other - much to their friend's surprise - whenever Lightning and Noctis were called on to answer a question about the lecture, they would look at Amodar, respond with a flawless answer and then sit down and stare at the other once again. After a while they stopped staring at one another and turned their attention to the clock and counted the minutes down; after five minutes a notice would be announced on the intercom signaling cadets to head to the sparring arenas. There were only five minutes left before everyone would head towards the arenas; everyone was filled with excitement.

Lightning drummed her fingers on her desk impatiently and grumbled, "This seems like the longest five minutes ever…" She glanced at the clock once again, "Tch… Only one minute has passed, are you kidding me?" She muttered with an annoyed tone in her voice. She turned her head and stared out the window and sighed.

Snow was focused on his pencil which he was balancing on the point of his finger and said, "You sure are impatient when you really want something sis- whoa! I reached the 10 second mark, a few more and I'll break my record!"

Before Snow could reach his designated pencil balancing goal, Lightning took the writing utensil and snapped it in half before discarding the remnants on the man's desk. "Do not call me 'sis.'" The woman said coldly.

Hope shivered at the tone of Lightning's voice and stuttered, "Y-You better listen to her next time Snow."

The dirty blonde grinned foolishly and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything he was interrupted by Fang's laughter, "Looks like that's not happening. You better have medical insurance Snow." Fang shook her head, "You must be a glutton for punishment."

Snow rocked back and forth on his chair with his hands behind his head and gave everyone a wide grin, "You bet, love makes you do crazy things!"

Lightning groaned wondering about how her sister ever became attracted to the immature man.

Vanille clasped her hands together and smiled, "Love is great!"

Snow gave Vanille a thumbs up and Fang rolled her eyes. She looked at the jittery redhead and spoke as if giving her a lecture. "Vanille, what do you know about the new transfer?"

Vanille placed her finger over her lips and pondered for a moment, "I know that he's funny, and he has a really nice smile!" She suddenly blushed, "A-And I think he might like me too!" At that moment Vanille turned her head and caught Prompto staring at her, but he quickly turned around after being spotted.

Fang sighed completely disappointed at the lack of relative information in the Vanille's answer and pinched her on the cheek. "Ouch! Let go Fang!" Vanille clenched onto her skirt trying to endure the stinging pain.

Fang stared in Vanille's eyes as if she was a parent scolding her child, "'Think' isn't good enough…" the dark haired woman sighed again but then smiled sincerely,"…listen Vanille, I just want you to be safe okay?" She said in a reassuring tone.

Vanille pouted and rubbed her sore cheek, "Nnn, you really need to stop pinching my cheeks!" She winced as she touched the reddened area.

Fang chuckled in response, "It's my job to look over you."

Vanille smiled at Fang before saying, "You do a really good job."

Lightning smiled at the two; they reminded her of her sister Serah and herself. Lightning promised that she would always look out for Serah which is precisely why she was so strict on Snow. The star cadet never really thought about love beyond family and friendly relations.

'That kind of love is probably a distraction.' Lightning thought to herself silently and turned her attention back to the window.

Paradigm Shift

"She almost saw me staring at her! That would have ruined everything wouldn't it?!" Prompto asked Gladiolus while Amodar was giving a lecture about the various branches of Guardian Corps.

"You really can't take your eyes off her huh Prompto?" Gladiolus asked the nerve racked blonde.

Prompto took a deep breath in order to calm himself down, "I-I can't help it, she's really cute!" He took another deep breath and smiled like a lovestruck child.

Ignis interjected, "But you know nothing of her. How is it that you can so easily lose control of your emotions when you lack crucial information?"

Prompto crossed his arms and closed his eyes, "That'll change in the future!" The blonde grinned mischievously, "Anyways, enough about me, how come you were so red when Rikku patted you on the head Ignis?" He was waiting for an opportunity to get a rise out of his friend.

Ignis lost composure for a moment, "I merely lost focus, nothing more. I never asked her to put my glasses on for me! I could have done it myself!"

Prompto leaned back in his seat and stared at the ceiling, "Yeah yeah… I'm sure you liked it~"

Ignis ignored the comment and jotted some notes down in his notebook.

Amodar was in the middle of the lecture when he spotted Prompto sitting down in a leisurely manner. "Prompto!"

"Wah!" The surprised blonde lost his balance and his seat fell back sending the man crashing down on the floor. He quickly stood up and saluted Amodar. Prompto had no idea what was going on panicked and blurted out "Bresha Ruins!" Several cadets giggled while Ignis rubbed his temples.

Amodar couldn't help but smile, "Prompto, I didn't even ask a question yet."

Prompto blinked several times before grinning and scratching the back of his head, "Whoops." More cadets laughed along with Prompto himself.

Amodar chuckled and then cleared his throat, "Anyways, let's get back to the lecture shall we?"

Prompto nodded and sat back in his seat when all of a sudden a thought appeared in his head. He looked at Gladiolus and whispered, "Hey, Gladiolus!"

The man responded with a soft, "Hmm?"

"Do you have anyone you're interested in?"

Gladiolus crossed his arms and closed his eyes and sat in silence for a while before answering, "You could say that." He said with a grin.

Prompto's face lit up with excitement, "Wanna tell meeeee?" the blonde whispered eagerly.

Gladiolus shrugged, "Sure, but you won't like it."

Prompto scoffed, "She's not that mean is she?"

Gladiolus replied with a grin, "You'll just have to see later on."

Prompto whined like a child who couldn't buy a new toy, "Aww c'monnn, Noct has eyes for the star soldier of the class, and even Ignis has someone he's into!"

Noctis failed to hear what Prompto said as he was staring out of the window into his own dream world while Ignis heard very clearly.

Ignis snapped at Prompto once again, "I am not interested in her!"

Prompto rolled his eyes, "Pfffft, keep telling yourself that."

Noctis suddenly interrupted the three's conversation, "It's time." He said abruptly as he closed his eyes waiting for an announcement.

Sure enough, right on cue to the prince's prediction the intercom went off and woman's voice rung through the classrooms and halls. "All cadets and supervisors, please make way to the sparring arenas, it is time for evaluation." Such a simple statement triggered an explosion of excitement.

Lightning looked at Amodar and saw him nod at her, a silent signal giving her the okay to lead the class. She quickly stood up from her desk, slung her bag over her shoulder and began walking towards the door with her friends following suite. Before stepping outside she said in a clear commanding tone, "Let's move!"

Noctis smirked and glanced at his friends who were smiling as well. "Let's go guys." The dark haired man said as he slung his bag over his shoulder just like Lightning.

Gladiolus punched the palm of his left hand with his right fist, "I was getting tired of waiting." He said, relieved to be standing rather than sitting in his desk.

Ignis merely adjusted his glasses and slid his chair in his desk.

Prompto's tone had suddenly changed from playful to serious as he slowly rose from his seat. He adjusted his cap and smiled mischievously as he turned to face his friends. "Let's go wild guys."

Noctis chuckled, faced the door and began walking, "No need to tell me twice."

Paradigm Shift

All of the cadets were struck in awe as they entered the sparring arena; the large stadium was built in the shape of a dome with the roof enabled to open up transforming the place into a huge amphitheater. Lightning scanned the area and heard murmurs from the crowd of cadets around her.

"You can fit a blitzball stadium in here!"

"Do you think this is big enough to hold a chocobo racing track?"

"Of course it is!"

Lightning smiled finding the cadets comments to be amusing; seeing the arena was a part of her daily routine, in addition she had seen the amphitheater on various occasions seeing as how she was a returning cadet. She felt someone's hand on her shoulder and turned around to see Fang grinning at her.

"Hey Sunshine, did you get a look the little cubs faces?" The woman seemed to be as amused as Lightning as they observed the incoming flux of students. Vanille could be seen chatting amongst various cadets along with Hope.

"She's probably boosting their morale with one of her goofy pep talks." Fang said to Lightning after seeing the energetic redhead high five one of the new cadets.

Lightning nodded in agreement before scanning her surroundings once again for the person she was looking for. There was so much activity going on in the arena: Fang had gone to Vanille and Hope, Sazh was seen directing some of the new cadets to designated areas, and Snow was boasting to various cadets.

It only took a few seconds before Lightning spotted someone with messy hair the color of the night sky in the distance. "Found you." The words left Lightning's mouth on instinct and coincidentally, as if he could hear her, Noctis turned to her direction. His azure eyes met her aqua eyes and the feeling returned, they felt like they were the only ones in the room.

The two individuals were brought back to reality when Amodar's voice boomed through the arena.

"Attention cadets! Please turn your attention to the holo-screens." At that moment, a large holo-screen appeared in the center of the stadium with the photos of various instructors with a description detailing the weapon or weapons they specialize in. "These are the instructors which will be testing your weapon expertise in the weapon you prefer. Please find the instructor and line up in their designated area and wait for your name to be called. Their methods of testing you will be up to them! Everyone will be using specialized Guardian Corp weapons or GC weapons which will deliver a non-fatal shock to whoever is hit by them. Peacekeepers may also be utilized. Now everyone, start your engines and begin!"

Paradigm Shift

What initially started off as nerve racking indecisiveness soon became an eruption of action as the evaluations began. Noctis began walking around the arena, not to find an instructor, but to follow the only person in the crowd with hair the color of a sweet cherry blossom. He knew Lightning knew that he was following her; the only thing of concern at the moment was locating the instructor that would evaluate them. He figured since she was a veteran cadet she would know the perfect instructor. Along the way Noctis saw a large crowd of people spectating an evaluation. Upon further speculation Noctis saw that it was Prompto running around an obstacle course, ducking behind walls and using several firearms against robotic flies. He recalled the mechs to be the artificially created beasts called Peacekeepers Amodar was speaking of. A man with long black hair could be seen standing on top of a large pillar overlooking the obstacle course. Noctis read the name aloud to himself, "Vincent Valentine, firearms expert. Hmph, show him what you can do Prompto." He said to his friend silently.

Noctis continued to follow Lightning and saw Gladiolus battling head to head against his instructor Angeal Hewley with greatswords. Ignis was off battling another instructor named Auron with katanas. They both had large crowds watching them.

He averted his attention back to Lightning and saw that she was speaking with Amodar himself. Lightning suddenly pointed towards Noctis's direction without turning his way directing the commanding officer's attention to the dark haired man; Amodar spotted the man through the crowd of anxious cadets. He beckoned Noctis to come with a wave of his hand and Noctis complied.

They were finally face to face. Their hands twitched in anticipation as they stared at one another again silently. Amodar broke the silence suddenly as he spoke, "So Noctis, since Ms. Lightning here is a high enough rank, and I know her capabilities with a sword, I'll be evaluating you as you fight her. Does that sound good?" He asked as he scribbled some things on a clipboard.

Noctis stretched his arms and turned to Amodar before responding, "Perfect." Noctis then averted his gaze back to Lightning, "Don't disappoint me." He said smugly.

Lightning found his overconfidence to be overbearing and glared at him. "Save it." She said bluntly as she walked towards the weapon's armory. She didn't expect the man to be this smug. The young soldier strapped a holster on her left thigh and slid a gun in it making sure the weapon was secure. Noctis found himself staring at her legs as she did so but quickly brushed his thoughts away leaving himself wondering why he was staring in the first place. He walked towards the armory himself and noticed Lightning picking out a sword to accompany her gun.

'A firearm… Isn't this supposed to be a battle with swords?' The man pondered the question in his mind for a moment. 'No matter, I'll just have to change my tactics.' He concluded in his head silently.

Lightning saw Noctis select a decent broadsword for himself as well as a spear. She then noticed him glancing at throwing knives. After securing her sword in its sheath she turned to Noctis and crossed her arms. "Go ahead and take them. I'll be using three weapons." She revealed to him calmly.

'Three?' He scanned her and saw the sword and gun, but nothing more.

Lightning could see the faint confusion on his face and she pointed at her gloved left hand.

Noctis couldn't tell anything special about the glove but if she was confident enough as of to give him a third weapon he decided that it would be her mistake. He carefully secured three throwing knives on a belt holster and walked towards the evaluation area along with the female soldier.

They stood a few meters away from one another on the established arena and took up a battle stance.

Lightning eyed Noctis carefully, 'I suppose he isn't an amateur being a noble and all, his stance is pretty good.'

Noctis was thinking the same thing about Lightning seeing as how he couldn't see any clear openings for an attack.

Amodar smiled seeing the fire in both of their eyes. The commanding officer took a seat a safe distance away from the two cadets before announcing the start of the evaluation. "On the count of three you two," he took one final look at Lightning, then at Noctis before beginning his countdown, "One… two… three! Begin!"

Noctis immediately leapt forward spear in hand when Amodar announced the start of the battle. Rather than aiming for Lightning's body he directed the spear point towards her leg holster.

Lightning foresaw the pre-emptive strike and needed only to turn her body a bit to avoid the blow, saving her firearm in the process. Time seem to slow down for Noctis as he saw Lightning avoid the attack smoothly and as quick as he could blink, Lightning had drawn her sword and cut through the spear shaft easily rendering the weapon useless.

Lightning taunted him as she placed her hand on the grip of her gun and sheathed her sword, "Is that all?" She felt satisfied giving the man a taste of his own medicine.

Noctis jumped away quickly and scowled only to have Lightning draw her firearm and fire several shots at him. The man quickly drew his sword and deflected some bullets while dodging others. He knew the small gun was only able to carry a limited amount of ammo, due to this the damage inflicted would be minor, but nevertheless it was a dangerous weapon in the hands of an expert. Noctis drew one throwing knife from his belt and held it securely in his left hand and held his broadsword in his right.

Lightning aimed her gun at Noctis and shut one eye, sharpening her focus. She took a deep breath to steady the gun and then fired several shots. Noctis dodged them all and threw one knife aimed towards Lightning's left shoulder – the arm she held her gun with. She dodged the knife with the same fluid motion as the spear but then noticed another knife heading straight for her. Rather than dodging it this time she drew her sword and deflected the knife. She didn't notice how close the prince was to her. He had ducked and was a few meters away from her, third knife in hand. Lightning was the one caught off guard now. The female soldier jumped away and pointed her gun at Noctis.

Before she could pull the trigger the prince lunged forward quickly and thrust the knife into the barrel of her gun. He got up close to her face and smiled victoriously, "One weapon down."

Lightning stared at the man in disbelief, 'He sacrificed one weapon to take out one of mine, smart or reckless?' She then noticed how close his face was to hers and blushed a bit.

Noctis lost focus for a moment as he lost his bravado and blushed too. Lightning then shook her head remembering to cut off distractions while in battle. She never felt such embarrassment before so the feeling was foreign to her. She erased the small feelings of embarrassment and glared at him. She then took the opportunity to pull a reversal.

Before Noctis could recover Lightning shoved the man away a short distance and followed up with a powerful kick to the chest sending the man flying back a few meters.

She pointed her sword at him, "Lose focus and it'll cost you." She said coldly as the man collected himself.

Noctis gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the handle of his sword. He scolded himself silently for letting emotions get the better of him; it had cost him a bit of his pride. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes; when he opened them he glared at the soldier and pointed his sword at her.

All smugness was replaced with seriousness when he spoke to her again, "I don't need a lecture."

Lightning scoffed and repositioned herself in her battle stance. Noctis charged after her once more and swung his sword; Lightning saw the incoming attack and raised her sword in order to block the blow but what happened next shocked her. Noctis seemed to be aiming for her right side but at the last moment, he kicked off the ground with his left foot, causing him to dart over to her left. Lightning was surprised at his maneuver; she didn't have time to deflect the blow and instead swung her sword against Noctis's left arm.

The two felt a sharp surge of electricity course through their arms as the blades made contact. And they jumped back in unison.

Amodar smiled at the two and was joined by other instructors and cadets as they watched the battle unfold between the two skilled warriors.

"Pretty good." Lightning complimented the man which was rare to do so for anyone.

Noctis slowly clenched and unclenched his left fist trying to shake off the numbing feeling. He gave her a sincere smile. "It's been a while since someone has actually delivered a successful blow to me."

Lightning smirked, "First time for everything. Expect more to follow Mr. Prince."

Noctis beckoned her with his hand. "Come and try." He said confidently.

Lightning took the invitation and ran at the man with her blade gripped tightly in her hand. She swung right and Noctis blocked the blow with his own sword. She then grabbed his wrist with her free hand surprising the man and pulled him towards her. He lost his balance and drove her right knee into his stomach knocking the wind out of him.

Noctis coughed and fell to his knees trying to regain his breath; he then saw Lightning wind her leg up for another kick. Before her foot could make contact with the side of his face he held his arms up and blocked the fervent blow. He quickly grabbed her ankle and pulled the soldier down causing her to fall right on her back.

Lightning grunted with pain and opened her eyes to see Noctis's face close to hers again; he had her pinned to the floor.

Noctis smirked, "It looks like I win~" the man said victoriously.

There were some gasps in the crowd as they wondered if the star cadet had really been defeated by the prince.

Prompto and Gladiolus could be heard cheering in the crowd as Ignis observed silently.

"Way to go Noct!" Prompto cheered.

Lightning's friends knew different.

Sazh scratched the back of his head, "Now that was some evaluation."

Fang chuckled lightly, "It was a pretty good attempt."

Vanille giggled and shouted so that everyone heard, "Sorry Mr. Prince, but it's Light's win!"

Noctis and his friends were dumbfounded. It was Lightning's turn to smirk at Noctis. She quickly snapped her fingers and a blue electrical aura began to encase her body.

Noctis eyes widened, "That's your third weapon?!" Noctis said in disbelief. He was quickly repelled from Lightning's body and his sword was blown away. Lightning found an opening and leapt on Noctis straddling him and pinning him to the floor. She held her blade in front of his neck.

"AMP Grav-con unit." Were the words that left the prince's mouth.

Lightning nodded, "That was a good battle, but you need to recall information about your opponent.

Noctis turned his head away from her trying to take in his bitter loss. 'I was too overconfident… my emotions clouded my judgment.'

Lightning felt somewhat sorry for the defeated prince. She never meant to hurt his pride so much. They were silent together for a moment, unaware of the position they were in.

Reality hit Noctis suddenly and his damaged pride was temporarily replaced with the familiar feeling of embarrassment once more.

He turned his head back to Lightning and cleared his throat. "Lightning?"

Lightning looked into the man's eyes, "What is it?" She asked.

"Would you mind getting off me now?" Noctis turned his head to the side again trying to hide his faint blush.

Lightning blinked several times oblivious to what was going on until she realized she had the man pinned down. She quickly stood up and adjusted her cap as she sheathed her sword, a faint hint of red could be seen across her face.

Noctis stood up slowly dusted himself off and sighed. "I still can't believe it… it's been so long since I actually had to admit defeat."

They met one another's gaze once again. "I'll win next time." Noctis told Lightning with the same seriousness in his voice.

Lightning placed a hand on her hip and closed her eyes. "We'll see."

All of the cadets and instructors let out a storm of applause for the two combatants. Amodar's voice could be heard booming in the stadium once again. "Well done you two! That was really great! With that concludes the evaluations! We'll have the results in during the weekend!"

Noctis and Lightning nodded at the commanding officer before looking at the other once again. Without saying anything they turned around and walked off in opposite directions towards their friends.

"Looks like you had fun out there Light!" Hope said as he saw Lightning walking towards them. She smiled at the boy softly and nodded. "It was I suppose. He surprised me, though I hope he's less smug in our next fight." Lightning handed her sword and holster to Sazh. "Can you take care of these for me?"

Sazh nodded, "Mind helping me?" He asked Hope. The boy nodded and they both walked off to return the damaged equipment.

Lightning stretched as she walked towards the arena's exit. "It was definitely interesting."

Paradigm shift

"Yo! Noct! That was some fight!" Prompto said has he brought one arm around Noctis's neck. "Too bad for the loss."

Noctis looked away and scoffed, "I just made a few mistakes is all." He said plainly.

Ignis walked up to the man, "Right, but it's good to learn from those mistakes."

Noctis groaned he hated losing arguments, but reluctantly nodded; he was overconfident.

Gladiolus suddenly interrupted, "Hey Noct, hate to say this after that match but…." He looked over at Prompto and the blonde grinned.

Both of the men grinned at Noctis and announced in unison, "You're responsible for dinner tonight!"

Noctis blinked cluelessly. "What?"

End Chapter

Thank you for all the feedback! All of you make wonderful points and I will try to take them into account. I now have a reason for putting in some of the other Final Fantasy characters and I will try not to add anymore to refrain from steering the main plot away. From this point forward expect the story to focus more on Lightning and Noctis for they have had their first face to face encounter! Many thanks for the reviews! They help so much and show me that you all like the story!