Prompto was quick to send Ignis a message: Hey Iggy! Sorry for the late message but Ravus and Luna had a bad night and I want to help them. Do you think you can help me make food for a picnic? You, Noct and Gladio are invited too! He sent the text and then he went to sleep, thinking about all the things he wanted to do with his friends.

The next morning was sunny and bright, the temperature perfect for a picnic in Prompto's opinion and he woke up with a surplus of energy to spend. The first thing he did was check his phone, finding a reply from Ignis telling the young boy that Ignis would be delighted to help with the picnic planning and that he had already cleared the lunch schedule for the other two. A quick reply to ask Ignis to meet him at 11 to make the preparation and Prompto got out of his bed to start his day.

His mother was the only one up and she motioned for Prompto to keep quiet before giving him a quick kiss, "Your father is still sleeping. Let's not disturb him just yet." She whispered to her son. Prompto nodded in understanding, hanging on to the table and kitchen counter as he moved slowly to make his breakfast. Sylva smiled at her son, watching his unsteady steps with a proud smile; he had worked so hard to get to where he was now. Prompto caught the smile and tilted his head in confusion to which his mom grinned and told him, "I heard you helped your father out last night and are planning something for Luna and Ravus."

Prompto blushed slightly as he made his way back to the table with some toast in hand, "Its a half day today for everyone so I thought it would be nice to have a picnic." His mom nodded in agreement," That would be quite fun. Is it only for you kids?" Prompto thought about then shook his head, "I don't see why it should. I'm sure Noct would love it if his dad could be there." Sylva grinned and declared, "Then you leave the adults to me and just worry about yourselves. Do you want me to go pick you up after school?" Prompto shook his head, " Nope, Ignis is going to help me prepare the food for the picnic at 11. Gladio can bring Noct back after they're done."

Prompto and his mom continued chatting until Prompto had to get ready for school, Sylva dealing with the dishes and counting who she could convince to join in on the picnic. As Prompto left their apartment to meet up with his friends, Sylva sent a flurry of messages to Cor, Ventus and Clarus to let them know to clear their lunch hour for a picnic with the children at the back garden.

Lance woke up to a cold bed, yawning as he pushed himself up and glancing at the clock showing the time to be a little after 8:30. The man shuffled out of his room and found his wife just about to leave for her work. Sylva chuckled at the sight of a sleepy Lance, his hair all over the place as the man dragged the nurse into a passionate morning kiss. She playfully pinched his arm in retaliation, "You have horrible morning breath love. Try to be a bit more awake for the picnic, it will be at the inner garden at midday." Lance nodded and wished his wife a good morning, leaning on the door to watch her walk away before going to start his own day. Half an hour later, Lance had checked on Ravus and Luna, both children staying at the Citadel instead of going to school, and had decided to bring them both to his office so they wouldn't be alone after last night's events.

The morning passed by quickly and Prompto bid Noct goodbye as he left to meet with Ignis, ignoring the scowl the prince through his way at his friend's early departure. Ignis was waiting for Prompto by the gated school entrance, a royal car already there to drive them wherever they wanted. " Hey Iggy! I hope I didn't make you wait." Said Prompto as he approached. Ignis smiled at the younger boy and shook his head, ''No you did not Prompto. arrived mere moments ago myself. Shall we get going? I have prepared a small list of things we need to buy in order to prepare the food for the picnic." Prompto nodded and with practiced ease moved from his wheelchair into the car, allowing Ignis to stow his chair in the trunk before joining him inside.

Prompto leaned into Ignis and watched the adviser take out a small notebook, opening it to a marked page filled with a list of ingredients and suggested recipes. "Now then, do you know how many we shall be for the picnic?" Asked Ignis. Prompto nodded, " Well, there is us four plus Ravus and Luna and Gladio said he'd bring Iris too right?" Ignis nodded in confirmation as Prompto continued, "So that's seven and we have to add my parents, Noct and Gladio's dads, your uncle and mine too! So a total of thirteen!" Ignis hummed then scratched off a few of the suggestions written down, "In that case, what do you think of making some Spicy anak wraps and a toasted green bean almond salad with fruit smoothies?" Prompto grinned, " That sounds perfect but you know Noct won't eat any veggies." Ignis smiled, leaned forward to give instructions to the driver before turning back to the younger boy with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes, " He won't eat them but he'll be drinking them." Prompto was a bit confused and it showed as Ignis chuckled and said, "You'll see when we make the smoothies." Prompto stared at the future adviser with a surprising thought; He looks like mom when he has that look in his eyes.

They stopped at a grocery store, taking ten minutes to buys what they needed including several kinds of veggies and fruits for the smoothies Ignis was planning on making. The driver helped to bring everything into the car then to one of the Citadel's kitchen where Prompto was surprised to find a few cooks already starting on some of the preparation for their picnic. Ignis simply smiled and greeting some of the cooks by name before emptying the grocery bags unto the center island for the cooks to use before he grabbed the only bag he didn't empty and turned to Prompto, ''We will leave the cooks to do most of the basic preparation for the ingredients for us. We shall be making the smoothies then assembling everything into proper sized portions for each one of us.''

Prompto nodded looking at the squash, beets, oranges, mango, strawberries and many more fruits that Ignis was putting on a table beside a pair of blenders. Ignis turned to the blond and asked, ''Are you well enough to help me cut all of these into smaller pieces?'' Prompto smiled and pushed himself off his chair to stand beside Ignis, reaching for one of the knifes laid beside a wooden cutting board, ''I'm good Iggy! How do you want me to cut them?'' Ignis smiled fondly at the cheery boy, a hand reaching out to pat him of the head before the future adviser returned his focus to the food in front of them. Ignis guided Prompto on how to properly skin and prepare their bounty to be used in making 3 types of smoothies for their picnic. By midday, everything was ready for the picnic and Gladio had dropped by to let them know Noct had gotten Ravus and Luna into the garden and were waiting for them.

Prompto told Ignis to go ahead, he needed to grab something from his room before meeting his friends for lunch. Ignis was a bit curious but agreed, ''Very well Prompto, we shall await you in the garden.'' Prompto nodded and headed back to his apartment, moving quickly to grab the thick folder he had tucked away on his desk before heading outside into the sunny garden. ''There you are Prompto! Hurry up! I'm hungry!'' Called out Noctis when he spotted his friend arriving. Luna chuckled at Noct's impatience, leaning curled up on Ravus' side. Both Nox Fleuret had dark bags under their eyes, showing the strain of repeated nightmares on their bodies to the worry of everyone around them. Prompto grinned as he looked around, Ventus and Ignis were talking together while setting out the box lunches over the blankets that covered a portion of the grass in the garden. It seemed like Prompto was the last to arrive as everyone else was sitting on the blankets and chatting softly to each other but Prompto didn't mind the looks he got from his friends and family as he got out of the wheelchair to walk the few steps from the stone pathway unto the blankets.

Luna greeted him as he sat down, ''Ignis told us you went to get something before coming, what was it?'' Noct and Ravus both looked interested but before Prompto could answer Gladio and Ignis dropped down to sit beside them, carrying between them enough boxes for all of their small group. Ignis started to divide the boxes, ignoring the grimace of disgust that Noct gave when he opened the box to see the green bean salad sitting beside the wrap. Ravus grinned and teased Noct in a tired but clearly amused voice, '' Whats the matter Noctis? The prince of Lucis can't stand some greens?'' Noct glared at Ravus sticking his tongue out in annoyance at the older teen's teasing before muttering, ''Luna do you want them?'' Luna chuckled even as Ignis sighed, sitting between Noctis and Luna, before admonishing the prince, ''Your Highness, you should at least give it a try before deciding whether you enjoy it or not. Here, perhaps this will help make the taste more pleasant.'' With those words, Ignis passed a cup filled with the vegetable and fruit smoothie Ignis and Prompto had prepared for everyone. Prompto had to duck his head as he watched Noctis drink some of the smoothie and grinned, eyes alight with pleasure and ignorant that the juice contained more vegetable then the small portion of green beans salad present in his lunch box.

Sitting a bit further away from their children, Regis leaned his head back to bask in the warm sunlight of midday, listening half-heartedly as Ventus, Cor and Clarus were discussing how to divide this week's paperwork from the Kingsglaive as they had yet to find anyone to take over Drautos' position as head of the Kingsglaive. He only opened his eyes and concentrated on the conversation when Lance spoke up and proposed an unexpected solution to their dilemma, '' Why not ask Ravus to help out with the Kingsglaive?'' proposed the newly appointed Immigration adviser to the Crown. Lance looked up with a half a wrap in hand only to blush as he was meet with the half-outraged half-shocked expressions of the men; he looked over to where Ravus was reaching to tease Noctis with some of the green beans and explained his reasoning a bit more, '' I believe it might be helpful for him as many of the Kingsglaive have had similar experiences concerning the Niflheim empire as he has. I believe interacting with people with similar experience might help him heal from the trauma in a safer and more peaceful way then what he is currently experiencing.'' Cor frowned but nodded, ''It might certainly help if he can see that he isn't alone in his experience, maybe even help the prince open up about what happened to him in a way that doesn't involve nightmares and panic attacks.'' The Marshall looked over at Clarus and with a look asked the Shield to share his own thoughts, Clarus was frowning even as he gave voice to his thoughts, ''I can see the merits of giving Prince Ravus something to keep his mind occupied and the help would be welcomed but would it be wise to put him amidst such a group of people?'' Ventus nodded his agreement to Clarus' words.

Sylva stayed silent, eating her meal while looking at the children playfully talking and teasing each other, their voices a soft murmur carried by the wind to where the adults were talking. Regis looked over to where Ravus was sitting, Luna still by his side as she had not left it since last night. The King was quite worried about the siblings, the frequent nightmares more prevalent for Ravus then Luna were a clear indication of the traumatising year spent at the mercy of their invaders and Regis wanted nothing more than to help them feel safe and at home within the Crown City. He looked back to his advisers and friends, all of them looking at him expectantly for his decision on the matter, ''What about you Sylva? What do you think of your husband's proposal?'' Sylva smiled peacefully, not looking away from the children even as she answered, ''I think you should ask Ravus what he wants before making the decision for him but it wouldn't hurt to offer him something useful to do that doesn't involve school or keeping an eye on Luna.'' Lance chuckled as Cor sighed, ''I never thought it see the day you'd be the voice of reason.'' Sylva turned around with deliberate slowness to pin her childhood friend with a deadly stare that promised retribution for his comment and Cor meet it with casual and practiced disinterest, both of them ignoring the laughter that bubbled around them as the discussion turned from serious to how good the food was.

The food quickly disappeared among everyone and as time passed by much too quickly, the king and his retinue found themselves returning to their work leaving behind the children to continue enjoying the nice weather under the watchful eyes of maids and guards. Prompto waved goodbye to his parents as they too left to return to work and waited another few minutes before fishing out the folder he had brought from his room and putting it in the middle of the loose circle formed by his friends. The conversation stopped, even Iris stopped chatting at Noctis to turn and stare with innocent curiosity at the folder. Prompto gulped, nervous now that he had everyone staring at him, and forced himself to take a deep breath before explaining what the folder was, ''Umm… We'll you guys know that I'm adopted right?'' Noct nodded even as Ignis replied steadily, ''Yes we are aware of this fact Prompto. I assume this has to do with whatever is in that folder?'' Prompto nodded, tilting his head to stare at his hands before continuing, '' Yes it does. It turns out I'm from Niflheim.'' Prompto flinched at the reaction Ravus had, drawing himself up and away from Prompto and grabbing Luna to drag her back as well.

Luna did the opposite, reaching out to grab Prompto's hand, ignoring the worry emanating from her brother and his attempts to get her to move away. Noctis glared at Ravus and grabbed Prompto's other hand to squeeze it gently. Iris tilted her head and asked her brother, ''Is that a bad thing Gladdy?'' Gladio shook his head with a sigh and his own glare at the older prince even if he understood the source of the reaction, '' Not at all Iris, where a person comes from doesn't matter. Only what they choose to do with themselves. Prompto is my friend and I don't see that changing anything soon.'' Iris nodded with the wise understanding of a child and looked over to a blushing Prompto, getting up so she could hug the blond boy. Prompto smiled a bit teary eyed at the support he was getting and it helped him continue what he wanted to say to their group, ''Thank you but there is more….'' Prompto motioned with head towards the folder and Ignis opened it for all to see. Gladio leaned in to read what was on the first page, followed closely by Ignis, Luna, Noct and even Ravus while Iris just made herself comfortable sitting on Prompto's lap, allowing the nervous boy to hug her tightly.

Prompto closed his eyes, he didn't really want to see the guys reactions when they realized Prompto had been slated to be an MT and was actually infected with the Star Scourge. His anxiety kicking in as he buried his head in Iris' soft hair and forced himself to simply breath while he waited for a reaction, any reaction at all. It finally came in the form of Noctis throwing himself at Prompto to hug him as tightly as he could, Prompto falling backwards on his back from the force and Iris protesting being squished between the two boys. ''Sorry Iris.'' Noct mumbled as he shifted so he wasn't on top of the young girl but without letting go of Prompto. Prompto was too shocked by the sudden hug to move or say anything even as he felt himself being picked up by Gladio and pulled along with Noct into another hug. Prompto looked from Noctis to Gladio and then to where Ignis was still browsing through the files but meet his eyes with a sad but sincere smile of comfort. Prompto felt a few tears slide down his cheeks as he realised he had nothing to worry about despite what his anxiety told him. ''Its ok Prom. I don't care where you were born! You're a citizen of Lucis and my best friend!'' Prompto was finally able to return Noct's hug, hiding his face in his friend's neck with a choked sob of relief. ''Thank you!'' He whispered before gathering his courage to look at how Luna and Ravus were reacting.

Luna had a hand grasping her brother's sleeve, a hand over her mouth in shock at what she was reading while Ravus had a single sheet of paper grasped in trembling hands. The paper was easily recognizable to Prompto, it was one he had spent many hours reading and rereading, the weekly status update spanning the 8 months and 6 days he had spent in the MT nursery with the details of Scourge administration and physical reviews he had endured during those months. Prompto hesitated before he forced himself to look at Ravus' face. His eyes widened as he took in the horrified expression plastered for all to see on the Tenebraen Prince, just then Ravus turned and meet Prompto's eyes with almost unbearable sadness in his eyes. Ravus opened his mouth trying to speak but he couldn't find the proper words to express himself toward the young boy. Prompto offered the prince a smile and motioned for the older prince to come over, Ravus did so after sharing a look with his sister. As soon as Ravus was close enough, Prompto pulled him into a hug of his own and felt Ravus shudder against him before the the mumbled words of regret started, '' I'm sorry! I'm so sorry I shouldn't have reacted like that. Please forgive me!'' Prompto hugged Ravus close and replied, voice shaking only a little, ''I forgive you. Can we still be friends?'' Prompto felt more then heard Ravus reply in the nod he gave.

Luna joined the hug soon after, one arm around her brother and the other around Prompto with Noctis half squished between all of them while Iris pouted at being left out of the group hug only to be lifted by Gladio and both joined in on what was fast becoming a cuddle session in the peaceful afternoon. After a while, Ignis finished reading through all the documents; his face turned into a worried frown as he processed all the information he had just read while gazing in worry at Prompto smiling face. '' Prompto, I appreciate the trust you have put in us by showing us these documents but I must ask why?'' Ignis' voice was carefully devoid of all emotions and Prompto looked over to meet Ignis' gaze with a bashful look of his own. Prompto pushed himself out of the cuddle pile until he was sitting up, Noctis' head on his lap and finger threading through the raven locks before he answered, '' Because I need some help with something if you guys are up to it.''

Prompto's statement had everyone rising from the delightful stupor of a good cuddle session and made Prompto feel a bit sorry for interrupting the calm and lovely atmosphere that had surrounded the group. Ignis shifted and asked, ''Of course, what would you like us to help you with?'' Prompto sighed, a hand lifting to cup the back of his head before he explained his request, ''You saw the report Ignis, including the one about the programming imbedded in all MT candidates. I can't allow that to happen to me.'' Ignis tensed and was about to say something when Gladio beat him to it, ''Dont you dare even consider that!'' Prompto turned around to look at Gladio who had an angry expression and was staring at Prompto. Ravus nodded from where he was and added, ''And you had better not be asking us to take you out on the tiny chance it does happen.'' The prince looked just as angry at the idea. Prompto looked at the subsequent nods from everywhere around him, even Iris who obviously didn't understand what what was going on.

Prompto smiled, grateful to have found such great friends, ''That's not it! I just want you guys to help me look into what they were able to do before I escaped since they only marked that it had been started but not at what level they had done by that time.'' There was a sigh of relief coming from everyone and Noctis got up to wrap his arms around Prompto once again. Ignis frowned, ''And how do you plan to find that?'' Prompto shifted then answered, ''By forcing the programming to surface.'' Prompto flinched at the multiple roars of ''WHAT!'' that resounded loudly enough to make the guards and maids look over to them in worry only to be waved off by Ignis. Noctis looked at Prompto like he was going crazy and Prompto hurried to explain, ''Just listen to me please! The more I know about what was done to me when I was still in Niflheim the better. That way we can make sure it never happens! I know it sounds crazy but I trust you guys to make sure I'm okay no matter what happens. So please? Help me with this?'' Ignis shared a look with Gladio, both teenagers feeling conflicted with the request while the others tried to talk Prompto out of it. In the end, Ignis asked Prompto to explain what he had in mind in more details and the group spent the rest of their afternoon hashing out details and schedule on how to accomplish what Prompto was adamant on doing without any of their parents knowing about it.