Chapter 7 – Chocobos and Fried Food
Noctis and his friends met up with Lightning just outside the training center. Prompto immediately came up to her and exclaimed, "Heya, Light! That was awesome! You totally kicked Noctis' ass!" Noctis blushed and shrugged his shoulders.
"Yeah…" She responded, still pondering Solis' words. Noctis heard her plain tone clearly. "Something wrong?"
Lightning shook her head. "No, it's nothing. Just thinking."
Ignis looked over to Noctis. "There are some maps to the castle in the library. We should all get Lightning's winnings together." He suggested, pushing up his glasses.
"I'm up for that." Gladiolus agreed. They all looked to Lightning for her approval. She nodded. "Lead the way."
The library was massive. It had monstrous wooden shelves that stood at fifty feet tall, the high ceiling looming above it. Each one's shelves were stocked with hundreds upon hundreds of books about various subjects. The walls were a blue-green, complimenting the seaweed green marble floor. Several tables were set up with chairs. Some antique couches inhabited the room's perimeter. The place must have been able to fit at least two hundred people in it, including the furniture and large bookcases. Lightning's boots clicked against the polished stone floor as she walked. Noctis' black boots did the same as he walked beside her, Prompto, Ignis, and Gladiolus close by. The four guys spoke with each other, although, Lightning wasn't talking much. Noctis wanted her to be included in their fun.
"You sure you want a map? It would be much more fun for me to lead you to wherever you need to go." Noctis smiled over at Lightning, abandoning the boys' conversation.
"Really? It doesn't sound so great to me." She had a little acid in her tone.
"Why not?"
With the same acidic voice, she explained, "Because I would look so helpless. And I can take care of myself. I don't need you to chaperone me."
Noctis leaned over to her slightly, then whispered his response so his friends could not hear. "I don't want to baby sit you; It would be fun because I would get to see you more."
Lightning nearly stopped dead in her tracks. Partially for what he said, but also because she liked the idea of having him around so much. What was happening? Lightning's feelings always stirred when he was near her. But how come, dammit? Lightning couldn't answer him. She had no idea what to say anymore. She hated him when they met. But now…
Noctis felt her discomfort. "Sorry, that may have not been something you wanted to hear.
Lightning shook her head. "Actually… it's okay."
Prompto, Ignis and Gladiolus sensed the moment Noctis and Lightning were having. They shared the same idea. Prompto decided to come up with the excuse. "Well Noct, we still want to do a little planning for guys' night tonight."
Gladiolus added, "Yeah, so we'll take care of that."
Ignis concluded, "But you should make sure Lightning gets her map. So you do that yourself. After all, you know exactly where they are."
The three exited the library so quickly that Lightning and Noctis weren't even sure why they left yet. Lightning asked, "Guys' night?"
Noctis answered, "We like to get out a few times a month. So we plan a guys' night where we just hang out. You know, take a break." He turned and started walking. "Now, let's find that map."
Lightning followed. He took her into a closet after unlocking the door with a set of keys he had with him. The room had a lower ceiling with smaller bookcases, but these shelves contained more ancient looking books and scrolls. He walked over to a shelf on the bookcase in the far corner of the square room. He scanned the shelf that held multiple rolled up scrolls. He selected one and handed it to her. "That should pay my debt."
She opened it to reveal the detailed guide of the castle's rooms. "I would expect a palace as large as this one to have secret passages or something."
Noctis smirked, "If it was on the map, then it wouldn't be a secret, now would it?" He held the door open to let her out first. After letting her leave, Noctis locked the door again. Lightning didn't think sealing the door was necessary. "Why do you have to lock it?"
He became serious. "It was actually careless of me to let you in. Some of those documents are far too important to leave lying around." He gestured to the map in her hands. "If an enemy got a hold of that, it would be easy for them to make a plan to invade the castle. To keep these files safe from spies or intruders, we keep them in many locked rooms. Only my father and I have the keys. Servants need special permission to access these rooms."
"Then why did you offer me such an important prize for our fight?"
He relaxed again and gave her yet another smile. He did that a lot around her. "I trust you enough to let you keep it. We have some more copies, so it's yours. Just be careful with it."
Lightning was so shocked by her heart fluttering from his smile. It got worse when he said her trusted her so much. She flushed. "Well… Thanks."
Noctis, realizing what he said, asked, "Uh… okay… W-Well, you're free to go where you please. I've slacked off for too long and need to get some work done." He stuttered. Lightning was feeling tired from the long day. Her waist and shoulder burned from her wounds. It was probably a bad idea to fight so hard when she was injured. Opening her wounds only prolonged her stay.
The evening was fast approaching. "I was hoping to just rest in my room."
"That's fine. I'll go with you."
Noctis had confused Lightning again. "But I have the map. I can find my own way."
"I know. I just want to go with you. I'd much rather spend my time with you than paperwork anyway."
He was starting to sound strange. Why did he want to be with her so much? He advanced forward, leading Lightning out, but she stopped him. "I want to find my own way." She said.
Lightning was focused on the map as they walked. Noctis liked how she took charge. He liked to watch her work and concentrate. She was so skilled and passionate about everything she did. Despite his light feeling, he still felt guilty.
"Hey, remember what I said earlier?"
She didn't turn her attention from her map. "What about it?" Why was he bringing it up?
He thought maybe he shouldn't have unearthed the subject again. "Well… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ordered you around like that. It's just that you treated my father like anyone else. I just think for what he's done, he deserves a little more respect. But that didn't give me any reason to command you to do anything."
"Forget it. I would have done the same thing if it were my father." Lightning was still staring at her map. Noctis began to laugh. That actually made her look up. "What's so funny?"
Noctis said in between chuckles, "You're just hard to figure out." Lightning raised an eyebrow and stopped advancing so she could face him. He stopped snickering to explain, "It's just, you're concealed and defensive at times, but at others, you're…" He broke off. "Sorry, I'm not good with words."
Lightning wanted to know what he thought. She could tell he was having some emotional strain. Lightning often noticed he would open up for a while, but soon shut down later. "What were you going to say?"
He peered down at her icy blue eyes. "You can be sincere and… kind." Their gazes locked for those moments. Lightning and Noctis were unaware of anything other than each other. Lightning felt exceptionally awkward with them just staring at each other. But she also didn't want to look away. She wanted to stand there with him forever. Even so, she went back to her map. She didn't say anything as she continued to search for her room, not checking if Noctis was following her.
Noctis indeed did tail her. He felt the same feeling Lightning had. He wanted to stay with her, even though he felt so strange just looking at her. Over all, he felt so weak for exposing his emotions. He was never one to express himself. For some reason, he enjoyed talking with Lightning. Sharing his thoughts seemed natural when he was with her. After a few turns, Lightning successfully made it to her quarters.
Noctis was proud of her for finding it on her own. "Good job." He congratulated her.
"It's no big deal." She came to the door and turned the gold knob. Noctis had to ask her; he wasn't sure why though.
"Before you go," He said, she halted in the doorway and looked at him, awaiting his request. He nervously asked, "Remember how I said me and the guys were hanging out tonight? We're not doing anything… inappropriate. What I'm trying to ask is…" He paused. Why did he want to invite her again? "Do you want to come with us? Just so we can all loosen up and have fun?"
Lightning thought he was getting weirder and weirder. First he compliments me a lot, then he says he likes being with me, and now he's inviting me to a… guys' night out? Lightning thought he was getting too particularly close to her now. But she liked the idea of getting to scope out the city. That way she would have a chance to escape if things went wrong later. Spending time with Noctis sounded fun, too. Lightning caught herself thinking that way about him a lot now. She wanted to stop; quit allowing herself to know him too well. She couldn't leave if she became too caring for everyone here. She wanted to go for reconnaissance reasons, but the thought of befriending the guys made her worry. She couldn't decide now. "I'll think about it."
Noctis was slightly disappointed to hear her response, but not all hope was lost. She could change her mind later. "Okay. We were going out for dinner before doing other things. I'll come by again before then to see if you're coming."
Lightning nodded before shutting the door. Lightning listened for Noctis' fading footsteps to completely vanish. After, she went to black curtains covering the glass door that played as a barrier between Lightning and the outside world. She moved the cloth aside, opened the door, and stepped out onto the grey, stone platform. She could barely see over the castle's gates to the city. People wandered about, going where ever they had business. Lightning found herself wondering what her friends were doing now. Looking for her? Going about their usual business? Had they decided to forget her?
Meanwhile…
Fang searched for hours. She sent men out investigating the Mah'habara instead of killing monsters. She and Snow, being her second in command, both looked though every nook and cranny of the long tunnels. But nothing was found. After about fifty P.L.R. members at once went to find Lightning and came back empty-handed, Fang decided to look for her herself.
Fang arrived at the place Vanille said Lightning was sucked into a strange portal. The wall where this so-called gate had been was still unscathed, showing no signs of anything abnormal. Fang sighed and sat down on a nearby rock. She never took her eyes off of that wall. "Lightning," She mumbled, "Where are you?"
Fang became angry again. It was her fault Serah had lost her only sister. Her fault Hope didn't have his combat teacher to help him on the battlefield. Her fault Vanille felt awful for not being able to save Lightning. She was to blame for it all. Fang abruptly stood, cursing herself. "Why didn't I go? She yelled. "Why was I stupid enough so send her, dammit!" She came closer to the wall, glaring at it. She pulled up her arm, her hand in a fist, and punched it with all her might. A great shock went through her body, her right shoulder burning the most. She yelped in pain before stumbling back. What was that? She reached out and touched it again. It burned her, just as before, especially where her brand used to be. Fang was puzzled. None of her men reported that power emanating from the wall. None of them were ever L'Cie either.
Lightning missing, a disappearing portal, a power that scorned L'Cie only; What did it all mean? How did all of this add up?
Serah and Snow walked along the shoreline of New Bodhum with Sazh. Each of them reported what they had found while searching for Lightning: Nothing.
"Gone without a trace." The black man said. "Man, that's just nuts!"
Snow agreed, "None of this makes sense."
Serah added, "And not finding any evidence of where she may be is strange too. We've called her communicator several times. She normally answers, but nothing now." Serah's voice was weakened and sad.
Snow held her hand. "Don't worry guys. I promise I will find her. Even if it's the last thing I do." Snow smirked. "Just leave it to the hero."
Sazh rolled his eyes, knowing all too well how arrogant Snow could be. Serah smiled, "I believe you. And I'm going to do everything I can to help!" But Serah wasn't fully sure if she did believe her husband. Lightning had been gone for over a week now…
"You did what?" Gladiolus screamed at the prince. He had crashed guys' night and all.
"I thought she needed to get out, so I guessed she may want to go to guys' night with us," Noctis explained. "Besides, it's not like we do anything that'll offend her or something."
Gladiolus looked down at his shorter friend. "I don't mean that! It's just that the last time we tried hanging out with her you got slapped."
"But it's different now. She's gotten more used to us. She's been here for a week and hasn't seen anything other than the inside walls. Doesn't she deserve to get out?"
Ignis pushed up his glasses. "He's right. She's seemed to have adapted to everything. And it's not fair to lock her up. She's a guest, not a prisoner."
Prompto, always being the one to make friends, concurred. In a hyper tone, he said, "Yeah! It'd be more fun with her! The more, the merrier!"
Gladiolus clarified, "I'm not against her coming, actually, I'm all for it. I just don't want another misunderstanding."
Noctis felt the same. He didn't like seeing his friends upset; especially not Lightning. "Don't get all hyped yet. She hasn't said yes, but she's still thinking about it."
Prompto questioned, "We're leaving in a half hour. Shouldn't you check back now?" Noctis nodded. Just then, King Caelum entered the room they were conversing in.
"Noctis, may I talk with you?" He asked. Noctis reluctantly followed his father out. Ignis was the first to speak after Noctis' exit, "So, who wants to go see what Lightning has decided?"
Prompto jumped from his seat, nearly dropping his shotgun on the way up. "I will!" Without another word, he left for Lightning's room.
Gladiolus and Ignis sighed in unison, "Same old Prompt."
Back in Lightning's room, she and Wen were talking. They bounced from topic to topic, just enjoying each other's company. Wen said, "I don't think they're avoiding you, just afraid of what may happen. Most likely because of last time."
Lightning responded, "I guess so. But still…" The boys weren't talking to her as much anymore. It was nice to have some peace, but she was curious as to why the sudden shift of character.
"On a different note, I overheard Noctis say to his father that he invited you out with him and his friends tonight."
"He did. I don't know if I'll be going."
"Why not?"
"It's just… awkward." She couldn't say why. Lightning didn't want to reveal all the secret stirrings Noctis made in her.
Wen shook her head. "I think it's sweet. He's been trying to make friends with you the whole time you've stayed here."
"But I don't want to make so many friends."
Wen tilted her head, "But we're not that bad. We want to be here for you."
Lightning didn't want to hear this. "It will just me be more difficult to leave if I make friends."
"Well, maybe that's true, but you could always come back."
Lightning never considered that. "I don't know if I can." She wasn't lying: She wasn't even sure if she could go home at all.
Wen reassured her, "Of course you can. Then we can meet your friends and family."
Lightning looked down. "How do I know they haven't left me behind yet? They haven't contacted me or spoken to me at all since I came here."
Wen became stern. "None of that angst now. I'm positive they are longing for you. I know I would." Wen smiled again.
"Thanks, Wen. You've been a great help." Lightning was glad she had someone to smack her out of her ruts. Normally it would be Fang or Serah. Sometimes Hope.
"It is my pleasure."
A knock sounded at the door. Wen and Lightning stood simultaneously. Wen apologized, "I must be going. My break is probably over by now." Lightning opened the door to see Prompto. He greeted, "Hiya, ladies!" He moved aside for Wen to leave. Lightning answered him with a "Hi."
So far so good, Prompto thought. She at least said "hi" back. "Well, we need to know if you're going out with us. We're leaving in about twenty minutes. Noct would have come, but he was busy."
Lightning remembered what Wen had told her. She encouraged her to make friends. Maybe she should. "Fine, I'll go."
Prompto plastered on a huge grin, "Awesome! Let's go!" He seized her arm and dragged her back to the other guys. Noctis had returned by the time they arrived. As soon as they entered, Prompto exclaimed, "She's coming with!"
Noctis brightened. He was glad she would get to have some fun with them. "Great." He said. "We can go now."
They all walked out of the room. Noctis was beside Lightning the whole time they were on their way outside. "I'm happy you're coming."
There he went again. Lightning knew would say something like that. He always got so nice around her. "It's nothing, really."
"On the contrary; we have to pack weeks' worth of fun into a few hours. It's no small matter."
Great, Lightning thought. Maybe I shouldn't have come. By now they had made it to the castle's courtyard. An elegant black car awaited them near the gate's doors. The great barrier opened before all of them got in. Ignis climbed into the driver's seat as Prompto called "shotgun." As they took their seats in the car, Lightning looked out to the open gates. She had her weapon, there wasn't anything valuable to her in the castle, and he had an easy opportunity to escape and get home. She analyzed her options, trying to figure out what she should do. Then Solis' words dawned on her.
What did her heart want?
Noctis saw Lightning staring out to the city streets as he was preparing to get into the vehicle. He was afraid she would actually run off on them. The other three joined him at his pondering. Would she run? Does she really want to go or use this as a way to get home? Noctis spoke, "Hey!"
Lightning looked back at them. She peered at Noctis as he said, "Something wrong?"
He said that to her often. But she liked how he was always concerned. She realized she didn't want to leave. She would rather stay with the guys; with Noctis. "Yeah." She answered. She came over to the car. Noctis smiled. She had a chance to run away and escape his clutches. But she chose to stay. She wanted to stay. He stepped into the car. Gladiolus sat on his right, Lightning on his left. He couldn't be any more pleased. His friends were going out, he could have a break from all his royal duties, and the one he started to consider special to him was coming with him.
Lightning didn't expect so many people to be out and about at this time of the evening. The town square was bustling with so many chatting citizens that it was hard to even move without bumping into someone. Noctis didn't want his identity to be discovered. The surrounding people would surely overreact and ruin their fun night, so he had to wear a hooded jacket to hide his face. Lightning thought it looked good on him. Since weapons weren't allowed in the city, as Lightning learned the hard way, Prompto left his shotgun in their car.
The five headed for the town square. A fair was being held there. Lightning wasn't sure what for, but all she knew was it attracted a lot of attention. There were so many food stands around that the common area was full of exotic smells. Game booths were surrounded by small children and their joyful parents. There was a surplus of candy and sweets stands nearby.
Noctis turned to Lightning, "There is plenty of food around here. Pick what you like." She looked around to see what options were available. She saw mostly fried food and junk food booths around her. She didn't want to pig out now, especially since she wouldn't be doing much around the castle. The bad food and lack of exercise wouldn't give her good health. Gladiolus and Prompto were buying anything edible. Noctis had a few things. Ignis chose one or two. Lightning, however, didn't select anything yet. She wasn't sure what to get.
Noctis noticed her dilemma. "Here," he gave her a plastic plate of various meats Lightning hadn't seen before. "It's wyvern and behemoth meat. It's a lot better than it sounds. Try some."
Lightning took the plate from him. She picked up the fork he gave her and used it to stab a piece of meat. Lightning thought it was very good. Somewhat better than some meat she tried at home. Noctis looked down to her. "Well? How is it?"
"It's great."
"You can feel free to pick more. It's all on me."
Lightning didn't want to put him through the trouble of paying. "I'll be fine."
She chose a bad time to be stubborn. Noctis just had to choose something for her. Even Prompto and Gladiolus ushered her to try the things they got. After a while, Lightning started feeling full. She even found herself laughing at their foolishness. Noctis realized he was constantly smiling. Having Lightning with him brightened his mood.
Gladiolus caught Noctis' overwhelming joy. He pulled him into a headlock. "Awww! Look at Noctis getting all soft!"
Prompto teased him with Gladiolus. Lightning stood back with Ignis. Neither of them were the talkative type. It was odd to just stand there in silence. Ignis, always being the skeptical one, assumed, "You were thinking about running at the palace gates."
He reminded Lightning of herself; she was always blunt like that. "What of it?"
He made eye contact with her this time. "It was a perfect opportunity. No one was there to stop you. But you still didn't take the chance. Why?"
Lightning watched Prompto and Gladiolus mess around with Noctis. "I don't know. I just… couldn't."
Ignis smiled. It was the first time she had seen him smile since she had met him. "Glad to see you're finally warming up to us."
Lightning never would have guessed he would tease her like the other guys. She shot him a glare. The other three returned by then. Prompto said, "So, what'cha guys doing over here now?"
Ignis said, "Questioning your ability to have an attention span that's longer than a squirrel's."
Lightning chuckled as everyone but Prompto laughed. He put on a face that a child would if he didn't get a toy he wanted.
After leaving the town square, they wandered through the streets, finishing the food they bought. It was a short time before they heard birds from around a corner. Prompto suddenly veered off in another direction. The rest followed him, trying to find the cause of his strange behavior. They quickly found it.
"OOOHHH YEAH!" Prompto yelled. A corral of chocobos was in a rounded area of the city. The space was vast. Many people played with and petted the chocobos. They all kweed at the interested humans. Prompto was getting very excited. "I love chocobos! They're just so cool!"
Lightning saw so many colored birds that she felt like she was in a circus. She had only seen yellow, a white, and a black chocobo. Now she saw blue, green, purple, red, even orange chocobos. Any color you could imagine decorated at least one chocobo's feathers.
Noctis liked seeing Lightning so delighted by something familiar. Everyone loved chocobos. "Having fun?" He asked Lightning.
"Actually, yeah. I really like chocobos. They're so fun." Lightning whistled at one to catch its attention. It approached her curiously. She brought her hand to its beak. She stroked its feathers as it kweed. Noctis hadn't seen this side of her before. She seemed so childlike with her guard down. Noctis petted the chocobo too. He couldn't help but stare at her. He'd only known her for a week. But he felt so drawn to her. Almost as if fate had intended for them to meet.
Prompto burst through a few chocobos and ran into Lightning and Noctis. They dodged him seconds before they collided. Gladiolus and Ignis were laughing close behind. Prompto got back to his feet, and then said, "Man, I love chocobos! They just make me so happy. I feel like… skipping!" He started to prance around the chocobos. All of his friends gave their friend weird looks. He truly was insane. He came back to them and grabbed Gladiolus' and Noctis' arms, forcing them to skip with him. They tried to break free, but he wouldn't allow them to. Lightning and Ignis nearly fell over with laughter as they watched their companions make complete idiots of themselves. After getting away from Prompto, Noctis saw Lightning laughing at him and blushed. But he, too, began to laugh at himself.
He liked Lightning's laugh. He cherished the sound. He knew he wouldn't get to hear it often. Regardless, he wanted to change that…by making her happy.
Their night out ended a lot later than they anticipated. Prompto was worn out from prancing about the chocobos. Gladiolus and Ignis were both wiped from keeping an eye on Prompto all night. Noctis, however, was wide awake, fascinated with the new Lightning he saw. He was escorting her back to her room, recalling all that they had done together. Once they reached the door, Lightning found it best to show her gratitude.
"Thanks for inviting me. It helped me feel a little more comfortable around here."
Noctis couldn't have been happier with that. "You welcome. Maybe we could do it again."
Lightning granted him a small smile. "We should."
They stared at each other again, just as they did hours ago. Only this time, Noctis had the urge to lean closer to her. He couldn't bring himself to do it. He was too shy, not only that, but he didn't want to ruin her newly found comfort. Lightning broke their gaze.
"Well, I'll be going to bed." Lightning said. "I will see you in the morning."
"Yeah…" Noctis was still lost in her eyes. "Good night."
"Good night, Noctis."
Noctis was shocked by that. Lightning noticed his surprise. "What?" She asked.
"Nothing, it's just… you've never called me by my name before." He liked the way she said it too.
Lightning never noticed.
"I prefer Noct. Anyway, I'll be seeing you tomorrow, Light."
"See you." Lightning went to her room. She felt so different. She had never experienced these feelings before. She… liked them.
Noctis was overjoyed by her getting used to him. This night had strengthened his feelings for Lightning. From showing her the watchman's post, fighting her, going to guys' night with her, and having her call him by his name, Noctis was positive that this had to have been the best day of his life.
