a/n: ch12! hope you'll like it! :D
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Disclaimer: SquareEnix owns final fantasy versus xiii
"Oblivious Fate"
By: rorudesu-chan
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Chapter 12: Unrequited Questions
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"Why can't you practice with us again, Noct?!"
"I told you Celer, there's still something I have to do."
"But its Friday night for goodness sakes! What else do you need to do on a Friday except practice for our next air soft game??"
"Just let him go, Celer."
"Are you kidding me, Lacertus? We have to win that game no matter what! Have you ever heard of the saying, 'Practice play makes more perfect for the next game and wins it'?"
"It's just one night Celer. What are you, his mother?.... Oh. Sorry, Noct."
"It's fine, Lacertus."
"You usually say your reason if you can't go with us. But how come I don't hear one right now?"
"There's really no need for one. I'm just meeting up with somebody."
"Somebody???"
"…Stella."
"Whaaaaaa—?! NO WAY! Haha! So the two of you are going out on a date?!"
"Why would you think of it as such?"
"Duh… Why would I NOT think of it as such, Noct??"
"Because he said it himself that it wasn't a date, Celer."
"Don't get jealous of him, Sal!"
"Wow Noct! Your first date! Ha! How does His Majesty feel?"
"Like a liar, Lacertus."
"A liar?"
"You guys seem to doubt my every word."
"Uh-huh… Say, Noct... Do you like her?"
"That's completely absurd, Celer!"
"But what if he'll like her? What if that happens, Lacertus?"
"Yeah right! Stella's the Tenebraean Ambassador. Te-ne-bu-rae. Crystal. Crystal needs Tenebrae's kingdom. Am I getting some sense into that brain of yours??"
"If he had one Lacertus, it would."
"Shut up, Sal! Can't you see that I'm just testing Noct's vulnerability?"
"I don't need to undergo any of that. I'm confident with my own capabilities."
"That's the way to say it, Noct!"
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The predator can never befriend its prey. Much like the Caelum Prince who cannot have any other ties with the Tenebraean Ambassador except for a false one.
Noctis knew this. He knew this exceptionally well. And as he hunched over while sitting near the park's fountain edge, flashbacks of early this afternoon played in his thoughts. Noctis was waiting for Stella to arrive, just what any boy would do for a girl during a date or in their case, a 'meeting'.
"Finally! I found you…"
Enigmatic cobalt irises darted towards the direction of the lyrical voice.
"But what if he'll like her? What if that happens, Lacertus?"
A fragment of memory echoed within the Prince's mind.
Stella stood right before Noctis. Stunned. It was one word that completely caught him off guard. It was ridiculous actually, for an unpredictable guy like the Prince, to have been easily captivated by how the Ambassador looked simply beautiful for their date, rather, their meeting. The Ambassador wore her signature ruffled skirt which complemented well with a baby blue fitted blouse. Meanwhile, Noctis had a simple casual look on. Even if it seemed ordinary, the Prince's beguiling façade completely changed that kind of idea. He wore his jeans and shirt. It wasn't the other way around.
"Good, you're here." Noctis stood up, eyes looking past her face.
"I don't think I took that long to wait for, right?" Stella grinned playfully.
"It was bearable in a way."
"So, where are we going?"
"Just follow my lead, Stella." Noctis smiled darkly.
The Ambassador found herself sitting across the table with the Prince in the Seventh Heaven Café. A petite waitress with flaxen curls took their order. As she jotted down the pair's dinner, her rounded eyes seemed to glance restlessly at them. He had a serious disposition, carefully patterned with his aloof yet attractive face. She, on the other hand, had a vivacious temperament. It was something that she was already entwined together with that enthralling look she possessed.
After the waitress was finished with her awe in clandestine, she generously offered them a cup of coffee while they waited for their orders. Noctis gladly helped himself as Stella let her empty mug remain untouched.
"What's first," Noctis' alluring voice caught her attention. "Of the twenty things that I must know about you?"
Stella thought quickly before giving a verbal response. "Would you like something positive or negative?"
"Whatever is fine with you." The Prince raised his cup of espresso and blew the heat gently before sipping in the warm bittersweet liquid.
"Hmm… I dislike the taste of coffee."
As if what Stella said was something that came from another dimension, Noctis' dubious eyes quickly turned to her as soon as he placed the cup down on the table.
"Was there something surprising about what I said?"
"Actually, there is." He stated, with a rather serious pitch. "Coffee is somewhat an important necessity for politically-involved individuals such as you and me."
Stella laughed. "Really?"
"You can't stand two nights of signing stacks of papers without having something to keep you awake. Let alone, one night." The Prince replied.
"Is that what you believe in, Noct?" Her eyebrows rose playfully. "I can stand three nights, you know."
Skepticism painted Noctis' expression. "Unbelievable."
"Tea is fine. But coffee isn't."
"Sure it is. Alright, what's next then?"
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Night and Day.
Blue and Red.
Cold and Warm.
Noctis and Stella.
They were opposites in almost everything. Stella liked what Noctis didn't and vice versa. But instead of storming politely out of the café, ranting about how the other was entirely different from him or her, it was again the opposite.
It was queer at first. But as the Prince and his 'date' slowly finished their café-style dinner, Noctis grew more interested with what the once unknown Stella uncovered about herself. But the word interested was an understatement. Noctis was intrigued. Intrigued on how a person so different from him could ever exist. It did sound quite ridiculous but he is Noctis Lucius Caelum. No questions should be further asked.
"So that's the twentieth right?" He assured after the diplomat successfully stated twenty helpful facts about her.
"It would seem so, Noct." Stella smiled and leaned backwards. "Now you know a lot about me."
"I'm rather relieved."
"That's good to hear. You aren't regretting anything, are you?"
"Maybe not, for now." Noctis stated with a teasing pitch.
"You're evil…" Her head shook sideways as she chuckled gently. "Can we leave this place, Noct?" The Ambassador pulled herself up from the chair. "We've been sitting for more than an hour."
"I was waiting for you to realize that." Noctis grinned and signaled a nearby waiter for their bill in which he insisted at Stella to bear on his own.
"I'll wait for you outside." She smirked as her feet sauntered towards the exit door.
Like what she told the Prince earlier, Stella waited outside the Seventh Heaven. With her hands interlaced gracefully behind her back, the diplomat's glimmering irises stared upon the crescent form of the evening's moon.
Her thoughts were deep. She wasn't so sure of herself anymore. She was sharing things that she never thought she would. The Ambassador's mind was always set upon having no intentions of telling anyone about herself. Especially not to the Prince, who was her mission's target. Yet here she was right now, standing under the vast starry night. If those twinkling dots in the sky could speak, she would've been already in trouble for breaking not the rule of getting close to the Crystal's Prince. That was the primary step leading to her objective. But the stars would taunt her for breaking one of the other rules she imposed upon herself—not to let anyone know about her 'real' self.
Real—True. Valid. Genuine. Even with the possibly infinite synonyms there was to the word 'real', it couldn't be used to describe Stella's identity. She knew nothing except those twenty things she told Noctis plus a little bit more, about her. This hurt her. But it didn't matter anymore. Stella was sensitive enough to feel that she was getting close to the Heir of the Crystal. Knowing so, made her very pleased.
Noctis pushed the glass door of the café open. As he stepped outside, his cobalt eyes spotted the Ambassador standing in one corner. He stared at the image of girl whose gaze was fixed intently upon the night sky. Noctis thought that he must've looked liked that every time he gaped outside the classroom windows during those 'boring' subject hours. He must've seemed aloof, the Prince realized this honestly.
But Stella. Stella looked like she wasn't just staring. The Ambassador looked as if her eyes were gazing past those stars and the moon. Maybe like that night in the balcony, she was again taken away from reality.
Noctis didn't want to disturb her. He gently averted his gaze from her and grinned contently. The Prince walked from the café's patio, but before his feet could lead him towards the parking lot, a familiar voice forcefully halted him in his steps.
"Hey," She called out. "You're not leaving without me, are you?"
He turned around and saw Stella with a smile across her face. "You seemed to be enjoying the moon's scenery." Noctis replied.
"I am." Stella walked down from the patio steps. "But that doesn't mean you have to go without saying goodbye."
"I wasn't actually going anywhere except to the car."
"So… You're planning to leave me here, standing and staring at the sky like a complete fool?" The Ambassador raised her eyebrows in inquiry.
"Well," Noctis spun around, thinking that a laughing face would greet him. "You guessed right." He joked.
But he was wrong. A teased Stella who kept a half smiling façade met him, instead.
"Oh. I see." She ambled past him coldly. This surprisingly made Noctis a bit… frantic.
"Stella, I—"
She sauntered on.
He followed.
But then, she stopped and so did he.
"I'm just fooling around, Noct." Stella twisted on her heels and threw the Prince a playful chuckle. "If you want to let me look like a fool, would you at least join me? I hate being alone."
The Prince felt comforted upon hearing that as his dark laughter proved so. "We'll see what happens. Maybe next time I'll be like a complete dope like you Stella, because I'll be beside you."
"Thank you."
"Or maybe I won't be."
"Will you just make up your mind?"
"When the time is right, I will."
They shared laughter underneath the canvas of a Friday night. It felt wrong. Not because they both agreed that the two of them would one day act like a pair of fools who were staring upon the moon. But because they secretly felt something forming between them.
A bond.
Noctis denied it. Stella did as well. They tried. But denial wasn't welcoming them into its persuading embrace.
Wasn't this what they both secretly wanted?
The Prince had to get close to Tenebrae's diplomat in order for him to take hold of her land in which the Crystal gravely needed. The Ambassador needed to do so as well, in order to acquire the Crystal that the Caelum heir protected—the exchange for the Crystal was her 'true' identity.
But. What was thisbond exactly?
It was difficult to decipher. Noctis was confused as much as Stella wanted a clear answer. Beneath their joyful faces, lied a mission that they'd never dare speak of to one another. Never.
But again. This bond. Whatever it was, he could try. She could try too. Right?
To be friends.
Not just for the sake of whatever heavy and important obligation that both their hearts carried, it wouldn't be wrong to at least befriend the enemy. Right?
Wrong.
It was stupid to think so. But not only stupid, it was dangerous as well. It was reckless, careless and irresponsible. Befriend the enemy? Besides for the needed success of the mission, would they dare do so? Of course not. It just couldn't be done.
The Prince realized this. And as he did, the corners of mouth slowly pulled his lips into a narrow frown.
"Are you alright?" Stella asked sincerely.
Unfortunately, the Ambassador did not realize what the monarch did.
"Yeah," Noctis replied truthfully. But the aversion of his eyes from her made his answer a lie.
Her flaw was the one to be blamed. But what was crafted along with a person's nature, was that something to be accused for? She was just a little bit too friendly. He wasn't. That was why he was able to fully understand what she wasn't able to do so.
But did Noctis really comprehend? Or was he just running away again, like before? Escaping from something that he knew his heart wouldn't have the confidence to face.
"Hey," Stella began. "This 'meeting' was fun." She smiled.
Noctis turned to her to give a glance. "It was." Then, he looked away immediately.
"Thanks for the dinner. But, you didn't need to pay for everything you know. We could've divided the tab."
"I insisted remember?"
"Yes, you did." Her azure pupils squinted. "You're quite a stubborn person, aren't you?"
"I might be." Noctis beamed that alluring grin on his mouth.
"I have to go now." Stella started to put a heel one after the other, backwards.
"I can give you a ride home." The Prince's voice persisted.
"No need." She shook her head sideways. "I have my car parked not too far from here."
"If that's the case then…" Noctis slipped a hand underneath the handle of his car's front door but he hesitated to open it before Stella could leave.
"I'll see you in the dance practice." The diplomat kindly reminded.
"It starts tomorrow at school."
"Don't worry, I didn't forget that." She said in certainty. "I really hope you'll be fine with this."
"Let's not make any repetitions, Stella."
"That's not what I meant." The Ambassador responded. "We're going to dance together. I don't want you to feel uneasy with me."
"I see." Noctis gave her answer a quick thought. "It's going to be fine. Because after this 'meeting' we had, I seemed to know more of who you really are."
Stella pursed her lips. She casted her gaze down as a reaction to what he said. The Prince became curious on what he noticed. But before he could ask, the diplomat suddenly smiled and turned her head towards him.
"I'm glad to hear that." Her eyes peered in a forced delight. "I really must be going now. Good night, Noct." Stella hurriedly spun around and slowly sauntered away.
"Good night…" Noctis mumbled. His deep shaded irises watched as the kind Ambassador disappeared in sight. Finally, his hand yanked the car door open and the Prince slid himself inside before thrusting the key into the ignition.
Their 'meeting' was adjourned. The starry heavens looked down upon them as they went on their separate ways home. There were so many questions with so little answers. There was denial and confusion. Both lingered within Noctis and Stella's thoughts. If either of them would succumb to their own temptations, failure was a possible consequence. Meanwhile, betrayal was another.
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a/n: i hope you enjoyed this chapter! TELL ME YOUR FAVORITE PART (of this chap) AND THE REASON WHY YOU LIKED IT! Review! Critique! Thanks!
