Author's Note: Trying something a little different by putting my notes up here. Anyway, thanks so much for all the reveiws guys! Its what keeps me writting. Thanks LeRouge The Rouge, , Dawn, .f.R.1.3.D.a., Fefisgbf13, gagboy, and Sunflower. You're comments mean so much to me.

All characters and locations owned by Square Enix.

Stella returned from checking on Lightning back to her bedroom. She had a small smile on her face. In her hand was a small ivory and gold coffee mug of morning tea that she had grabbed from the kitchen. At least, she thought to herself, Lightning was awake and well. Perhaps now she could work on making Noctis feel better.

Walking into the bedroom, she found the prince sitting on the bed. He finally returned home after three days, though that was becoming the norm for his schedule.

"Hey Noct," she said.

Noctis looked up at Stella. His face looked gaunt and tired. "Morning."

"You doing better from a few nights ago?" The princess reached the bed and sat beside Noctis. She started rubbing his back, sensing that he needed some affection.

Noctis nodded yes.

"Good. For your sake, I am not letting you near Lightning unless I am around."

"Is she still in the guest room?" Noctis asked, his voice sounding tired.

"Yes."

"I'll be in the study then." The prince then stood up and walked out of the room. Stella watched him leave. She then took a deep breath and sipped some tea.

Today is going to be better.

Noctis calmly walked to the study. Lightning was still on his mind. The thought that she was in the apartment boggled his mind. He tried not to think about her.

Yet Noctis wanted her to be punished, to suffer what he was going through right now.

There was only one thing to do now to calm him down: play the piano.

Two years after his interest in the instrument had been renewed he was still a terrible player. He sighed. It was about the only thing he could really do to relax now and get away from his life at the moment.

Noctis reached the study, which was covered with walls of books and papers, along with odd assortments of pictures, objects, and boxes. The prince and princess were still adjusting to life in the new apartment on the 58th floor of one of the Tenebrae skyscrapers. Noctis had wanted to live without Stella, at least until the two were married, but Stella and his father had insisted on living with her.

Scanning a series of books, he found a small black binder with printed out scores. The scores in hand, Noctis navigated the boxes and tables that were in the room over to the onyx grand piano. He then sat on the stool, placed the binder on the piano sheet holder, and flipped a few pages until he found a score he could play without sounding terrible.

'In Dreams' by Howard Shore.

Noctis exhaled, relaxed his hands, and started to slowly play.

Re mi so la la mi fa mi re…

His hands did not have the ability to gracefully play the piano, but they were at least hitting the right keys, most of the time anyway. He stopped a few times, trying to remember what key to hit next.

Finishing the bridge, he began the melody line. It included lyrics that Noctis normally ignored. But for some reason, he decided to sing. At least it could help him play the right piano notes.

When the cold of winter comes…

His voice was a little high for his age, and he struggled to hit the notes and pitch. He was also singing in a whisper, a little embarrassed that he was actually.


Starless night will cover day…In the veiling of the sun…We will walk in bitter rain…

Since meeting with Stella, Lightning had spent most of her time sleeping. Her dreams had been spotted by images of Cid and Hojo glaring over her, Lorelei knocking her out, and Noctis sleeping before she tried to steal the crystal. All of the raw emotions that she had experienced were coming back to her, in all their pain and terror. She tried to scream, but she couldn't. She tried to apologize to Noctis, but her voice refused to open.

And then, her ears were filled with the sound of a simple piano tune.

Re mi so la la mi fa mi re…

Her eyes shot open. Lightning got her bearings again. She was in the guest room of an apartment in Tenebrae. She then tried to sit up in the bed. Struggling for a moment, as she pushed herself up, she winced as some of her muscles screamed in agony. They were dulled, thankfully.

Re mi so la la mi fa mi re…

The tune crossed her hearing again. She wondered who exactly was playing. Curious, she stepped out of bed, her legs numb and unresponsive at first. The first few steps across the room were a little bit of struggle, as she relearned how to walk again. But after a few wobbles, she managed to successfully walk out of the room and into the hallway.

Glancing around, she saw that no one was there. She then walked forward, trying to listen for the tune. After a few seconds of silence as though the player was trying to work through a key change. The piano was then added with a simple person singing.

When the cold of winter comes…

It was slow, and a little off key, but it was nonetheless, a singing voice. She wondered who exactly was signing.

Starless night will cover day…

But that line, she had found a decorated oak door and pressed her ears to it. She heard the singing and piano playing in there.

In the veiling of the sun…

Quietly, she opened the door so that she could see who was inside.

She saw a figure, wearing a deep blue blazer sitting at what appeared to be a grand piano. The person was facing away, but she could still see a mass of short deep black and blue hair tousled about.

Lightning knew who it was: Noctis.

We will walk in bitter rain…

She moved her body away from the door. She didn't want to see him again. He likely hated her, hated her for everything that she had done to him. But they would have to meet, and she would rather meet on her terms than his.

Holding her thoughts in her head, Lightning gingerly opened the door to the room and quietly walked over to the piano as best she could. The player seemed too preoccupied with playing to notice her walking up behind him.

But in dreams…I can hear your name…

Noctis continued to play, trying to stay as focused as possible. He liked the next part of the song, but it was always a struggle to play.

But in dreams…I can hear your name…

And in dreams…We will meet again…

He then stopped and stared at the score. He hit a few notes, trying to get the right note.

Do, So, FA…

He could not see that note.

La.

That caught his attention.

Noctis looked across the piano to see a slender pale finger of the key. It wasn't his. He mouth opened slightly as his eyes followed the finger, up the arm, into the eyes of a woman a year younger than him, with rosy blond hair and familiar eyes.

Her face looked tired, lacking some of the youthfulness that he recalled her having years ago. The curves of her face had been replaced by angles. Her eyes were different. They were still blue, but spots around the pupils were colored yellow. Was she cursed?

"Hello Noctis," she whispered. He eyes looked away from the prince, ashamed that she was even there.

Noctis tried to say something, but he couldn't. He was not sure what she should say, whether to scream at Lightning, greet her, or show pity. What she had done was unforgivable in his eyes, but she was still a human. He could tell she was just as uncomfortable as he was, and decided instead of being impolite, the prince thought it would be best to show some kindness to her. After all, she had been courageous in coming to see him.

He tried to say hello, but instead all he managed was a small, "He…hey."

Lightning nervously pressed her lips together. She then looked back at Noctis, a little scared by scarlet color of his eyes. She tried to say something, anything in response, but she could not.

The awkward situation was relieved somewhat by the sound of the door opening.

"Good to see you two are here," spoke a kind voice. It was Stella, holding a tray with three mugs on top of it, with a medium sized tea pot. She walked over, eyes focused on the tray. She then placed the tray on a cleared table and then looked over at the two occupants in the study.

"I think it's time we talk about what happened these past two years."

At the NORA base, Snow had woken from his extended nap, which was about 24 hours. It was understandable to sleep that long, since he had been up for nearly four days straight since the first information about Narshe's attack was first heard of. But now, Snow was up and ready to meet with the heads of his team.

Putting on his shirt, long tattered trench coat that he refused to get rid of, no matter how much Sazh insisted he get a new coat, his black bandana, and gloves. He then walked out of his tent, and into the tent of Maqui, the team's young computer nerd. The boy was only 14, but the orphan had a skill for computers and had immortalized Snow as a hero. The leader was sure that the boy's dream was to be him, and he tried everything in his power to treat Margui like a little brother. It, in some ways, filled the whole of his lost sibling.

"You got information?" he asked.

Maqui nodded his head. "Yeah. Just got something from the news wire."

He then handed Snow a piece of printed paper.

"They're doing something with a new type of armor."

"New armor?"

"It's only in the early stages of development," Larsus said, "but it appears to be quite effective. The basic idea is to enhance a soldier's senses and raise their strength."

Snow looked at Larsus. "That's impossible."

"I'm afraid it's been made a reality now Snow. Troops wearing this new armor were spotted by an Avalanche scout leaving Narshe."

"And from what I've gathered," began Yuge, "the names Cid and Hojo have been floating around."

"Psh, those two old guys again?" Gadot chuckled.

"They may be old," responded Sazh, "but it's never a good sign when either shows their face. Those two are the top scientists of the Algentian army."

The man then rubbed his chin, remembering what had happened earlier in his life. Sazh knew better. He had witnessed first hand the terrors of those two men and their inventions.

"There's also information about Lorelei," continued Maqui.

Snow looked at Maqui with curiosity. "What is she up to now?"

"Ever since King Philip passed away, she has apparently been getting close to King Trion."

"How much do you want to bet that Lorelei killed Philip herself?" said Gadot.

"Wouldn't surprise me. But apparently I don't like the fact that she's getting close with the king."

Larsus nodded his head. "She's too much of a threat to not let her out of sight."

"So, what do we do now?" Leberu asked.

Snow crossed his arms, his face in a state of wonder. "Let's see what else we can find out about this new armor. In the meantime, I don't think anyone will be trying to find their way through the forest, so we're safe for now."

Maqui began typing on his computer. "I'm letting Avalance, the Returners and the WR know that we're staying here."

"And I've let Team Oriens know the details," Lasrus added.

"Good," said Snow. "Let me know if anything else comes up." With that, he exited the tent to do a few tasks around the camp.