Disclaimer: Final Fantasy does not belong to me.
Xethear: Hello everyone! Glad you all enjoyed the holiday special! Lots of people want emerald quiche now, and I admit, I do as well, but now back to the plot!
Chapter 24: Secrets
Lightning felt drained on the walk back to their friends. Serah had been subtly asking Lightning the details of her kiss with Noctis every time she would start a conversation with her sister only to dismiss the matter when Lightning gave her an unamused stare.
"Was it sweet? Like the striped apples we ate?" Serah asked curiously as she scanned the shore for shells.
Lightning refused to respond and quickened her pace in hopes to reach their beach spot faster – and with it a hopeful halt to Serah's questions.
Serah noticed a seashell sticking out of the sand and quickly pulled it out to show her sister. When she looked up however, Lightning was taking off full sprint towards their beach spot. Serah jumped and quickly ran after her sister. "Light! Wait for me!" She shouted after her sister.
The two Farrons saw the blitz sphere come into view from a distance and with it, several people fly out in different directions of the sphere, Lightning noticed Noctis being one of them.
"How many times have I been launched out of there now…" Noctis murmured to himself and threw his arm over his face to shield his eyes from the sun. "I managed to even the score only to drop us down again. What would she say?"
"I would say that that was a pretty rocky landing."
Noctis went stiff and slowly moved his arm away from his face to see Lightning looking down at him with a smirk. He quickly jolted up and rolled his shoulder as if he was warming up for a sparring match. "Ahaha, when did you get here Light?" He asked nervously.
She held out her hand. "About a minute or two ago, just in time to see you flying out of that stadium." Noctis scratched the back of his head and blushed as he took Lightning's hand. "So umm…" she trailed off as she helped Lightning to his feet. "I… told Serah." She finished.
Noctis brushed away the sand that snuck into the folds in his swimming trunks. "Hmm? Told her what?"
Lightning looked away and crossed her arms. "W-What happened at the secret beach." She said nervously. Her eyes slowly moved towards Noctis's direction and she saw his face turn completely red.
Noctis looked over at Serah who was in the middle of a conversation with Snow who had just been launched out of the stadium when she noticed him looking at her and quickly gave the prince a playful wink before placing her finger over her lips silently telling him she would keep their secret. Noctis practically passed out from embarrassment if not for being hit directly on the chest with a rogue blitzball which sent him falling to the ground. "Sorry about that!" Rikku shouted.
Noctis slowly pushed himself up and rubbed his chest. "Wow, that was some hit…" Lightning picked the blitzball up and tossed it back to Rikku and helped Noctis up once again. "So, are you up for a match Light?" Noctis asked curiously.
Lightning shrugged. "Sure why not."
Paradigm Shift
Playing blitzball was unlike anything Lightning had ever tried. It was a whole new world in the blitz sphere where it seemed like you could fly. It took several tries for the skilled swordswoman to get accustomed to the new world as she swam in different directions. Little to their friend's surprise, once Noctis had entered the sphere along with her, they created a swimming training match on the spot to see who could circle the sphere faster. After their swimming training which resulted in Lightning finishing first, the two along with Rikku and Yuna faced off against Tidus, Paine, Prompto, and Gladiolus with Wakka and Snow volunteering as referees and the rest of their friends spectating.
The group played several matches until the sun began to set bathing the whole beach in a warm, fiery sunset. "I can't believe we won!" Prompto cheered as he exited the blitz stadium.
Tidus puffed out his chest. "Star player of the Zanarkand Abes here!"
Prompto threw his arm over Tidus's neck. "That Jecht shot Mark III was awesome!"
Tidus rubbed his finger under his nose. "Took me a while to get it right, but it's worth it!"
Noctis and Lightning exited the stadium with satisfied smiles on their faces. "We sure gave them a run for their gil." Noctis commented as he dried his hair off with a towel Wakka tossed him.
"That was good training, I learned a lot from watching Yuna and Rikku." Lightning informed Noctis of her observations. "Next time, we'll win." She said with confidence as she let her towel rest around her neck.
Noctis threw his towel over his shoulder and punched the palm of his hand. "Definitely." The two were congratulated by their friends upon reuniting with them being praised for their performance.
"Now it was a bit of a shaky start, but you all pulled through." Sazh finished giving both Noctis and Lightning a pat on their shoulders. "Sure you all worked up an appetite so let's get grillin.'"
Noctis smiled and gave the man a nod which was followed by the enthusiastic cheers of Prompto, Gladiolus, Tidus and Snow who were ready to eat. Noctis shook his head and laughed. "I can't believe they're already hungry." He turned to Lightning who was busy admiring the sunset and gave her a light tap on the shoulder.
"Hmm?" She spoke without turning away from the sunset.
Noctis laughed and walked up beside her. "Sorry to interrupt Ms. Farron, but would you care to help me with dinner?"
Lightning yawned and stretched her arms. "Sure. But call me Ms. Farron again and you'll be getting all the burned portions Prince Caelum."
"Fair enough." Noctis said with a light chuckle. The duo waited and reviewed the blitzball match they had together as their friends gathered all the items needed for the barbecue. They had divided the tasks so that preparation went smoothly: Noctis and Lightning would do the cooking, whilst one group gathered the grill, charcoal and other tools and kitchenware while the remaining group returned to Café NORA in order to get the fish they had left for Team NORA to store away.
"He gathered up a lot of momentum with that spin enough to practically ensure no one could stop the blitzball in those conditions." Lightning finished explaining to Noctis as she recalled Tidus's Jecht Shot.
Noctis nodded. "He also made it so that we were fatigued with all the swimming and then the initial blitzball impacts before the actual shot lowered our stamina." He added.
The two exchanged strategies with one another for several minutes until their friends called them over.
"Grill is set up Noct!" Gladiolus shouted and waved a pair of tongs at Noctis and Lightning.
Lightning examined the grill in order to familiarize herself with the cooking equipment as her nerves were beginning to creep up on her already making her worry about burning the food.
"We also added some meat and veggies in there along with the fish." Prompto told the prince quickly before taking off in the opposite direction giving the prince no time to protest about the extra food needed to be cooked.
Noctis sighed and stared at the plates of raw food lying on the foldable table next to the grill. "I suppose it can't be helped, I'm pretty hungry now as well." He noticed Lightning crouching down, her hand hovering over one of the grill's dials. He laughed and slowly crept up on her. "Having fun Light?" He whispered into her ear.
Lightning quickly spun around and placed a hand over her ear. "D-Don't do that!" She saw a look of confusion on her face. "It tickled…" She said softly before turning her attention back to the grill.
Noctis blinked several times contemplating what Lightning had just said. "Are your ears sensitive by any chance Light?"
"Not really, I'm not entirely sure why it… was ticklish." Lightning began to divide sections of the grill in her head and mapped out where each food would go. She grabbed the pair of tongs resting beside the grill and was about to pick up a fish when Noctis interrupted her.
"One moment Light, let me try something." He said as he made her way towards her. "Excuse me…"
"Hmm? Did I forget to— Ahh!" Lightning's whole body shook as if electricity had just gone through her. Without warning, Noctis had wrapped his arms around her waist and gently bit down on her right ear. Her faced burned with a mix of emotions as the sensation of Noctis's touch amplified with each passing second.
She quickly elbowed Noctis in the ribs causing him to take several steps back and clutch his sides. She raised the tongs up in a defensive stance with one hand using the kitchenware as a makeshift sword and covered her ear with her other hand. "What was that for?!"
Noctis rubbed his ribs and stared at Lightning with wide eyes, failing to predict her reaction. She was glaring at him with piercing eyes, yet her cheeks were flushed red. 'T-Too cute.' He thought to himself as he continued to stare at the blushing beauty before him. "I-I was… curious." He explained vaguely and suddenly found himself trying to avoid her stare. "Looks like your ears are sensitive Light." He scratched his cheek. "And you forgot to light the grill." He glanced back at her but all he saw was her footprints in the sand. "Light?" He called out.
Suddenly Noctis's vision went dark and he felt a sharp pain surge through his left ear. "How do you like it?" Lightning had covered Noctis's eyes with one arm and had latched onto his left ear and delivered a sharp bite to the appendage.
"O-Okay! I'm sorry!" He apologized as he tried to endure the pain. Slowly, he felt Lightning's bite weaken and her arm move down his neck granting him his sight. Soon her bite became a soft nibble and Noctis felt soothed. The sensation became something else as soon as he felt her chest pressed against his back and he immediately tensed up.
"Remind me to never do that again." Noctis said as he felt slight pain linger in his ear once Lightning had released him.
"Do your best to remember it." Lightning huffed, sounding slightly annoyed. "I can't believe how much it tickled…" She murmured to herself softly, careful not to let Noctis hear.
The two spent a good amount of time familiarizing themselves with the equipment before actually starting to grill. Lightning had sliced each food item with finesse and stacked them up in individual piles while Noctis lit the grill. At first, Lightning ended up burning several vegetables and even Noctis had trouble cooking the meat on an unfamiliar grill, but after trial and error and Noctis stopping a stubborn Lightning from eating the burnt food, the two were able to get a good grasp on things.
"Do you always eat burnt food?" Noctis asked curiously as he flipped a fish.
Lightning counted out the remaining bits of food needed to be cooked. "I don't want it to go to waste." She answered noting the number of vegetables still needed to be cooked.
Noctis smiled at Lightning's noble intentions. "True, but at times it simply becomes inedible." He handed her the pair of tongs and she took them without hesitation and transferred the cooked fish onto a separate plate. The smell of the freshly cooked food made their stomachs grumble in anticipation.
"Heyyyy!" Prompto shouted from a distance and waved at the duo. "Is dinner ready yet?!"
"Almost!" Noctis shouted back. He saw Prompto's thumbs up silhouette against the bonfire their friends had started and he smiled. "A meal gathered around a warm fire will be nice."
"A good setting for sharing stories." Lightning added as she observed the flames of the grill nip at the vegetables. "Like the story of little sensitive Noct who cried all the time." She said playfully.
"I did not!" Noctis protested and turned to face Lightning. The soft lights emitted by the embers of the flames were reflected in Lightning's eyes. She let out a soft laugh, satisfied with the reaction she obtained from the prince but stopped when she found him staring. He was completely captivated by her beauty once again.
"What are you staring at?" She asked curiously.
Noctis shook his head and patted his cheeks as if waking himself up from a dream. "N-Nothing!" He responded nervously and turned away from her.
Lightning shrugged and continued to tend to the food and in a matter of minutes the whole meal was prepared.
The whole group gathered around the fire and sat on logs that Gladiolus, Prompto and Snow brought back from the forest located near the beach. Noctis and Lightning made sure all their friends had something to eat before taking a seat beside one another and serving themselves.
"Whew! This was definitely worth the wait!" Prompto said with satisfaction as he finished his first fish. "More please!" The blond held out his empty plate and grinned. He looked over at Noctis who started to chuckle. Prompto tilted his head off to the side wondering why the prince was laughing and froze up when he turned to Lightning. She was glaring at him.
"You can serve yourself." Lightning said menacingly. Prompto shivered and gave her an obedient nod before going over to the table and taking food for himself.
"Hmph." Lightning huffed and continued to eat her meal. She noticed Noctis from the corner of her eye, he was smiling at her with amusement. She raised an eyebrow, "What?"
"Have I ever mentioned you look really cute when your angry?" He paused. "Scratch that… I suppose I can't really say that considering you always look cute but— mmphh!"
Before the prince had a chance to finish his sentence Lightning had shoved a forkful of vegetables into his mouth. "You talk too much." Lightning remarked before returning to her meal.
Serah giggled and watched the two converse with one another.
"What's so funny Serah?" Snow whispered to the woman.
"Oh nothing~" Serah responded vaguely, though her answer seemed to satisfy the man.
"So Ignis." Lightning suddenly addressed the man without warning.
Ignis turned to Lightning, "Hmm?"
Lightning looked over at Noctis for a moment and smirked. "Is it true Noctis cried a lot when he you were all kids?"
Noctis practically gagged on his food when he heard Lightning's question. He quickly panicked and waved his arms at Ignis signaling him not to answer her question while Gladiolus and Prompto laughed in the background.
"Whoa! Didn't think Lightning would find that one just after a day with you Noct!" Prompto continued to laugh when he saw the expression on Noctis's face.
The prince quickly downed his bottle of water helping the food go down and gasped. "I did not!"
"One time, Gladiolus switched out Noct's favorite Beef Stew with Pea Soup and he ran to the queen and complained." Prompto grinned when he saw the look of horror on Noctis's face.
Gladiolus chuckled, "I remember that. The queen comforted Noct for a while and wiped away the tears in his eyes and called him 'my little prince.'" Gladiolus smiled softly and stared into the warm fire. "Then she had Prompto and I wash dishes under Ignis's supervision."
Noctis nodded in satisfaction. "Served you two right."
Serah noticed Noctis mumble to himself about his friends revealing his secrets and saw the small smile on her sister's face. 'That's not fair Light~ I'm sure the prince would like to see you flustered too.' Serah quickly slipped away from the fire's illumination and slowly snuck up behind her sister. She was about to place her hand on her sister's shoulder in an attempt to startle her when Lightning's hand quickly shot up and grabbed Serah by the wrist.
"Good, but not good enough." Lightning said with a smile.
Serah chuckled. "Darn it, sharp as ever Light!" She turned to Noctis. "So Noct, did you know my sister is actually pretty ticklish?"
Lightning's eyes grew wide and she quickly placed her hand over her sister's mouth muffling her voice.
Noctis's ears perked up as he recalled the early incident with Lightning's ears. "Could her ears be one?" He smiled when Serah nodded.
"Serah no!" Lightning said to her sister in a low voice. Her face was beginning to turn red with embarrassment. Serah gave her sister a small nod; Lightning could tell she was smiling. Ever so slowly, Lightning moved her hand away from her sister's mouth and revealed the smile on Serah's mouth. Lightning sighed when Serah didn't speak thinking she wouldn't reveal her secret.
"There's also another~" Serah blurted out and quickly darted behind her sister and ran her finger down her back.
Lightning's face burned red as the tickling sensation threatened to elicit a laugh from her lips. "Hnnn—ahh! Serah!"
Noctis blushed we he saw Lightning's reaction and he vowed to keep that satisfying secret to himself.
"Wow, never knew Sunshine had that side to her." Fang laughed.
Lightning shot everyone a menacing glare. "If any of you try something funny you will all wake up in full body casts." The woman's words caused a shiver to go down everyone else's backs.
"Since you two did it, might as well go all out with these little secrets ehh?" Fang proposed.
Vanille's body stiffened and she turned towards Fang slowly like a robot. "Y-You wouldn't dare Fang!"
Fang grinned, "When we were kids Vanille hmmrph—!"
"I-I want to hear this! Prompto shouted excitedly.
Vanille shook her head in protest and soon the whole group began to exchange secrets without the consent of the owner and despite it all, everyone ended up having a good laugh.
Paradigm Shift
'This has got to be another of Serah's schemes…' Lightning thought to herself silently as she walked the calm streets of Bodhum alongside Noctis. After the group had dinner, they had packed up their things, bid farewell to Lebreau and the others with plans to come back and decided to return home. That was when Rikku proposed a sleep over at her house. The energetic blonde lived in a large apartment complex along with her cousin and said there was more than enough room to accommodate everyone and in fact, it got lonely at times in the middle of the night when she was the only one awake. They also lived next door to Tidus and Wakka.
Serah immediately agreed along with Vanille and Fang and Snow, Gladiolus and Prompto wanted to see what Tidus and Wakka's apartment looked like. Ignis was reluctant, but was dragged along with Hope, Sazh and Dajh. Noctis agreed without giving the idea much thought and Lightning had said she would rather rest in her own bed. As soon as the group reached the designated address, the landlord conveniently came over and denied Noctis and Lightning entrance and told them that the rooms were over capacity; Lightning found the explanation highly suspicious seeing as how all their friends were able to get in without a problem.
'No worries Light! Noctis can stay over at our place and keep you company!' Serah's words continued to replay in Lightning's head while she and Noctis made their way to her house.
"The breeze feels nice." Noctis closed his eyes and outstretched his hands to take in the cool night air. He turned his head towards the sky and opened his eyes and admired the myriad of bright stars spread across the dark blue canvas.
Lightning smiled and the two stopped for a moment to look at the stars. "Know any of the constellations?" Lightning asked curiously.
Noctis gave her a nod and rubbed his chin trying to recall the constellations he had learned back in Tenebrae. "I remember Leviathan, and Odin, two of the most powerful beings in Eidolon Lore." He pointed up at the bright blue star in the sky followed by one of the brightest stars in the sky.
"Very nice. Were you one of the kids who wrote notes on their hands in order to memorize things?" Lightning teased.
Noctis blushed recalling taking a test when he was a child about Eidolon Lore and was unable to fit 'Leviathan' on his index finger. "O-Of course not! That was Prompto." He said failing to mask his blatant lie.
Lightning laughed softly and took Noctis's wrist and motioned his hand to another constellation. "That's the moogle, Serah's favorite constellation. I can show you more, but let's get to my house first. I don't plan on standing here all night."
Noctis grinned, "I agree."
Paradigm Shift
"Can you all be quiet for five seconds?!" Ignis shouted over the voices of Gladiolus, Prompto, Snow, Tidus and Wakka who were in the middle of watching a blitzball battle on tv. The man covered the receiving end of his phone in order to muffle the noise being produced in the room. The men disregarded Ignis's voice and continued to shout and cheer for the teams they were rooting for. "For the love of Etro…" Fed up with the noise, Ignis silently slipped outside in order to continue with his phone call.
"Forgive me, where were we?" Ignis leaned against the railing of the apartment terrace. "Yes, I would say the prince has learned a lot, we all have learned— pardon?" Ignis's mood suddenly changed. "But this news is so sudden. How— When are we to— …that's not. I understand, I will inform them." Ignis shut his phone as soon as the person on the other end of the call hung up. His arm dropped down to the side of his body. "Why now of all times…" He clenched his phone tightly and quickly flipped the phone open again and clicked through his messages.
"You four are to return to Tenebrae on the specified date…"
Paradigm Shift
By the time the two had reached Lightning's house the clock had struck 8:00 p.m. Noctis waited patiently behind Lightning as she fumbled around her bag to search for the house keys. Though he didn't show it, he was excited to see what Lightning's house was like. As soon as she unlocked the door, Lightning threw her keys back inside her bag and walked inside, followed by a curious Lightning.
"You can set your things by the couch over there." Lightning directed Noctis with a small wave of her hand. "My room is down the hall. I'll be right back." She informed him casually before heading in the direction of her room.
Noctis surveyed the room with interest. The space was very open with the living room and kitchen being interconnected without the separation of walls unlike the house he was staying at with his friends. He assumed that there wasn't much need for walls considering it was mainly just Serah and herself staying in the house. The thought occurred to him that walls would have been useless anyway in the company of his friends whose voices echoed throughout their house when they were watching chocobo racing.
The prince carefully set his bag down beside the couch and walked over to the kitchen. He ran his hand down the cool, smooth countertop and admired its pristine condition. He had just walked over to the stove when he heard a door close. "I'll be taking a quick shower, feel free to watch tv or rest on the couch." Lightning's voice echoed down the hall quickly followed by the sound of another door opening and closing.
Though Noctis didn't like an abundance of noise, he still preferred the sound of his friends bickering over absolute silence and after Lightning's approval he quickly found the remote and brought the tv to life. Not long after, the whole room was filled with the sounds of chocobo's cries, people cheering and the sound of a pot bubbling. Noctis looked down into the contents of the large cooking pot and smiled with satisfaction after sampling the bubbling sauce for his beef stew. He carefully adjusted the heat of the stove so that it was at a temperature fit to simmer the stew before walking over to the refrigerator. "Is there anything else I should add?" He asked himself silently as he surveyed the contents of the refrigerator. He had told himself earlier that he would simply tell Lightning he would repay her for all the ingredients he used. He was completely engrossed in thought that he failed to notice Lightning walk in the room.
"Raiding my fridge?" Noctis jolted up startled by Lightning's voice and banged his head against the the top of the fridge.
"Oww…" He brought his hands to the top of his head and closed his eyes as he endured the temporary pain.
Lightning quickly crouched down. "S-Sorry, I didn't know you would react like that, you okay?"
"Y-Yeah, it was my fault." Noctis shrugged the pain away and gave Lightning a smile which quickly turned into a flustered gasp. Lightning had changed into another tank top and shorts. A damp towel rested on her head which told him she was in the middle of drying her hair in addition to reminding him of their first night in Nautilus. He froze in place as his face grew redder with each pacing second.
"Noct? You okay? You're turning red." Lightning placed her hand against Noctis's forehead to feel his temperature. Physical contact with her only made his temperature rise even more.
"I-I'm okay!" He quickly stood up and saluted her.
Lightning gave him and amused smile and stood up. "I suppose so, seeing as how you have energy to do that. So…" She walked over to the stove and looked inside the pot and closed her eyes. "It smells good, what is it?"
"Oh right, I hope you don't mind but I sort of did raid the fridge." He walked over to the stove and stirred the contents in the pot. "It's beef stew." He picked up the clean spoon he had set on the counter and dipped it into the thick, bubbling sauce and gently blew on the spoonful of sauce before holding it up to Lightning's lips.
Lightning blushed, but unlike their first night in Nautilus she didn't hesitate to sample the dish Noctis offered her.
"How is it?" He asked her curiously as he continued to stir the stew. He took a spoonful for himself and sampled the dish once again.
"It's terrible." Lightning's unexpected comment almost caused Noctis to spit out the spoonful of sauce he had sampled but instead he ended up coughing into his hand.
"W-What?" He was in disbelief but when he looked at Lightning he saw that she was smiling.
"I was only joking. It's delicious." She gave him a small flick on the forehead.
Noctis let out a sigh of relief and rubbed his forehead. "You scared me for a moment."
Lightning looked into the pot curiously in tried to discern the ingredients. "Sorry, I couldn't help it." She teased.
"It'll be ready in a few more minutes Light." He informed her as he made his way to the couch.
Lightning placed the lid back onto the pot and allowed the stew to simmer before joining Noctis on the couch. As soon as she sat down her stomach growled. "Wow." Noctis laughed when he saw Lightning cover her stomach with her arms. He leaned down so that he was eye level with Lightning's stomach and cupped his hands over his mouth. "Just a little longer now, please be patient!"
Lightning responded by punching the prince lightly on the side of the head. "What do you think you're doing?"
Noctis rubbed the side of his head and gave her a grin. "Trying to calm your hunger."
"Idiot." She murmured softly. "Though maybe 'weirdo' or 'strange one' would be better in this situation."
Noctis let out a laugh. "Sorry, not sure what came over me."
After several minutes of conversing and watching chocobos race the stew was ready to be eaten. The two ladled in a healthy amount into their bowls and returned to the couch to eat and watch television together.
"You know, my mom would occasionally make stew for Serah and I when we were kids." Noctis glanced at Lightning and saw a solemn smile appeared on her face as she stared into her bowl. "Be sure to eat everything if you want to grow up big and strong." An image of her mother's smiling face appeared in Lightning's head as she visualized her mother cooking early in the morning. "Serah would always try to sneak her portion of vegetables in my bowl." She laughed as she reminisced. "Dad would easily catch her. 'Serah, if you don't eat your vegetables you'll turn into cactuar.'" She said in a deep voice attempting to mimic her father.
Noctis chuckled and caught Lightning in a transfixed gaze. For a moment he thought her eyes had gone glassy, but in another moment they were back to normal. She refused to let tears fall.
"Thanks for the stew Noct." She said with a cheerful tone trying to mask her emotions. She held out her hand for Noctis's bowl.
"Oh, it's alright, I can wash the dishes Light." He offered politely.
Lightning shook her head and took the bowl from him. "You've done a lot today. I'll wash the dishes, you've earned some rest and besides…" She walked over to the sink and gently lowered the dishes down before slipping on an apron and turning on the tap. "Once we get back to the academy there'll be no rest for you."
Noctis smiled, but couldn't help but feel Lightning was bottling something up. "My mother used to cook us stew as well." He fell back against the couch and stared at the ceiling. "That's probably why I got so upset when Gladiolus switched my beef stew with pea stew." He turned around and watched Lightning over the counter wash the dishes. "I could only assume they ate it afterwards."
He heard Lightning chuckle and he stood up from the couch. "She told us lots of things, some complicated which I never understood until I grew older." He walked over to Lightning and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. "One of them is that, 'bottling things up isn't always good, it's okay to cry, but don't back yourself into a corner.'" He noticed Lightning's grip tighten around the sponge in her hand. "She told me this after my pet wind drake Aquila passed away. I continued to blame myself and didn't know what to do."
"Crying… wouldn't do anything anyways." Lightning murmured through clenched teeth. She felt Noctis's arms tighten around her.
"Despite it, I cried regardless." He rested his head on Lightning's shoulder without releasing her from his embrace. "But you know…" He let out a warm sigh. "The next day, while I was crying in my room, I heard a tap on my window. When I inspected it, I was greeted with a small wind drake with the same eyes as Aquila. And I'm sure that he was Aquila's son." He paused and listened to Lightning's subtle breathing. "I named him Venti. He's back in Tenebrae and he's gotten really big. I prefer riding on his back than some of the airbikes here. I'm sure he wouldn't mind another passenger… though he did throw Gladiolus off that one time."
Lightning bit down on her lower lip to keep from laughing, but laughed anyway much to Noctis's relief. "That's a nice sound~" He said softly.
"My dad… said the same thing. I remember him reading bedtime stories to Serah and I along with mom." Her knuckles turned white as her grip around the sponge tightened. "I used to say, 'I'm too old for these stories.' But I really enjoyed them and I'm sure it was obvious that I showed it." Noctis imagined Lightning as a little girl acting as proud as she did now and he chuckled. "Whenever we went to school, they would both see us off. 'Claire, be sure to take care of Serah.'" She knew what Noctis was thinking after she finished her sentence. "I changed my name after they passed… and I vowed to take care of Serah and never show her my weaker self. Claire… used to cry all the time."
"Crying isn't a weakness. I used to tell myself it was and for a long while, I believed it. In fact just recently, in my time in Bodhum, I was reminded of lots of the lessons my mother taught me. It's alright to cry Claire, just don't lose yourself to sadness." Noctis remained silent after repeating his mother's words. The only sound heard in the room were the faint sounds coming from the tv. Just then Noctis heard Lightning's voice and he saw droplets fall into the bowl in Lightning's hands despite the tap being shut off. For the first time in years, gentle, bitter sweet tears fell from Lightning's eyes.
"I miss them." She choked the words out softly.
Noctis held her securely in his arms. "I know the feeling. I miss my mother too. Another thing she told me was, 'There are no goodbyes with people you hold dear. Only hello's and 'til we meet again.'"
The two stood together in comforting silence for a moment until Lightning spoke. "Hey Noct? Can I ask for a favor?"
"Anything." He responded softly.
"Call me Claire, when we're alone." As she ended her sentence, a glowing smile appeared on her face behind her crystal like tears.
End Chapter
Xethear: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, more events are soon to unfold.
Prompto: S-Stop cutting onions near me Ignis! Gladiolus can you get me the tissue box?!
Ignis: There are no onions around your vicinity Prompto.
Prompto: *blows nose* I-I know, but I always get choked up when Noctis tells that story.
Gladiolus: You're not the only one. *blows nose*
Xethear: Aren't you guys supposed to be at Tidus and Wakka's?