Disclaimer: I felt like writing something simple and sweet today so…enjoy!

NOTICE: These drabbles contain Lightis and some other couples depending on the story, and are in no particular order, nor do they tell a specific tale of just one story. Some of the drabbles might have a second part in later chapters, and if readers become fond of a certain drabble story, that drabble might have the chance to become a new full story.

CHRONICLES

Chapter XXXVI: Tiny

Rating: K

Genre: Family, Friendship

Characters: Noctis, Little Lightning

Pair: Lightis (Friendship)

Notes: No matter how hard he tried, he could never resist that little smile.

CAUTION: Part of the Little Warrior arc.

The sound of loud wailing was what made Noctis jump up from his slumber. He looked beside him and saw his new housemate squirming and crying her little eyes out.

He hoped to Etro she did not need changing; it was his least favorite chore to do on his little friend. He sighed in relief when he realized it was not a diaper change she needed.

Noctis picked the baby up and carried her to the living room, placing her on the couch and left for the kitchen to prepare a bottle of warm milk.

The infant stared at the dimly-lit surroundings. It was as if she still had no idea where she was. Noctis returned with her baby bottle and settled her on his lap while he fed her.
The little warrior had a huge appetite for someone so small; it boggled Noctis' mind every time he noticed how hungry she was even after finishing a whole bottle.

He laughed to himself when he remembered the time Prompto tried to feed the baby. She had squirmed in her seat and threw baby food at his face before laughing at his dismay. Vanille had to step in and feed the baby herself. And though the infant put up a fight still, she allowed Vanille to stuff her with the strange gunk known as baby food.
Prompto had been wondering what he did wrong and Ignis bluntly stated perhaps the child did not like him. Noctis had laughed at the dramatic face his friend made; Prompto had been looking forward to being an uncle figure for the Immortal family's newest member.

"You've made things interesting for us, Éclair. You know that?" He said gently, rocking her in her arms as she drank the milk.

When naming her, she expressed her dislike of any name by crying her lungs out. Every name the gang had suggested only made Lightning cry even more.
Noctis had been the only one who kept silent until he thought of what might suit the tot. When he picked her up, he announced "Lightning". The baby started to giggle before staring at him in wonder. Ignis had stated that Lightning was a name one would call a pet, not a person.

Still, Noctis had insisted he call her that as she had been brave enough to face the storm he had found her under that night then said the actual name he planned to give her was "Éclair" with Lightning as some sort of nick name. They questioned him about the choice of name, Noctis had blushed and said her soft skin reminded him of an éclair. When the tot had started laughing, the gang could not resist and relented.

Taking care of Lightning had been a challenge; she kept the Immortal up all night with her crying for either food or a diaper change.

Sometimes she would even yank at his hair for no reason except for the fact that she was still full of energy and did not want to sleep but would rather play. She would cry in protest when Noctis rocked her to sleep; she kicked and punched but her tiny feet and fists did nothing to the dark-haired Immortal and she would soon fall asleep.

Lightning was halfway finished with her midnight snack now and Noctis could not help but play with that little tuft of hair on her head that he had grown very fond of.
Little Lightning loved it when he played with the tuft; she always reacted as if somebody had tickled her and it warmed the Immortal's heart to hear her tiny giggles and see her irresistible smile.

Despite how challenging it had been taking care of the abandoned baby, it had been fun and Noctis found himself loving the infant more and more. It still puzzles his mind as to why her parents left her alone in that alley.

Finally, Lightning let go of the bottle and burped. She started squirming a bit, but it wasn't in complaint. She snuggled up against Noctis' warm chest and nestled down comfortably as if he were the most comfortable bed in the world.
This was the first time something so tiny expressed such innocent love and affection towards him; it made Noctis feel warm, like he had been sleeping beside a warm fire.
Lightning yawned and fisted her tiny hand into his shirt. Noctis smiled warmly and cradled her in his arms.

"I'll take good care of you Éclair."

"…"

"It's gonna be a while before you actually learn how to talk. But…a long time is very short to me."

The baby girl buried her face in his shirt, her tiny toes curling in pleasure from the warmth her new guardian provided.
How could something so small have such an impact on his immortal life? It had been a mere few weeks and already Lightning had become like a huge part in his life. Noctis sighed and stroked her chubby little arms with a gentle finger, marveling at how soft a baby's skin was. This new companion of his was so pure and innocent, and powerless.

Despite how helpless the infant was, she already had power over him; her little smile and tingling laugh was enough to make Noctis feel like the strongest being in the world, stronger than he was now.

He would take care of this little treasure; he would make sure she would remain the pure-hearted little warrior that she was. She was going to grow up soon, Noctis knew. And being an Immortal meant it would not take long and since he lived for an eternity, Lightning growing up would come all too soon.
His heart ached at the thought of seeing this little one grow and soon he would have to leave her behind; she was now a part of his partially boring and lonely life. This helpless little orphan had made a place in his heart and in the gang's as well.

He kissed the tip of Lightning's nose and the baby twitched from the soft touch.

"You'll grow to be strong in the future. I can feel it." Noctis whispered as he caressed Lightning's soft skin. He sighed to himself; he may never get the chance to be a father since there was no point in creating a family if they were to die out one day. And he was no polygamist—those kinds had always disgusted him.
Despite all that, Lightning had filled that little void. True Noctis had decided he was not going to be a father to her, but a brother instead. But it still made him feel complete and joyful inside that he had somebody to take care of, somebody who truly needed him, somebody who loved him with sweet and caring innocence.

He found it rather strange though that the little infant would take a liking to him when they still barely knew each other; she disliked anyone else to hold her and would cry to let them know she did not want to be in their arms. If she did like the person and allowed them to hold her, she still insisted she liked Noctis the best.

The first time he and the gang discovered this little quirk of hers, Noctis had blushed, having never been wanted in such a way and for such a simple innocent reason.

Now it seems this cute spoiled girl was stuck on him and he did not mind in the least. She was an odd little thing; she seemed different from other babies he ever encountered. She did not cry unless she wanted something and she only cried when frightened but only on very rare occasions.
Also it would seem that the storm she had been abandoned in did not traumatize her; she acted calm and peaceful whenever it rained hard, sleeping in Noctis' arms instead of wailing over the storm.

Noctis was still a novice when it came to caring for an infant but he was learning fast. But no matter how good he became at it, he still despised the chore of changing a dirty diaper.

Once he had to ask assistance from Prompto and Lightning only caused her 'adopted uncle' more grief by peeing in his face.
The gang had laughed while the blond dashed to the sink to wash his face and the bad taste that entered his mouth. Noctis had scolded the infant lightly but she giggled at him requested that he pick her up. Much to his own dismay, Noctis had found himself obeying her little order.

Ignis had tried his hand at caring for the tot and had tried coaxing her with a rattle.

Once Lightning had her tiny hands on the toy, she had thrown it in Ignis' face, causing his glasses to fall off. Despite how offending that was, even Ignis could not stay mad at the baby when she made such an innocent expression with her big blue eyes.
She was a little nicer to Gladiolus as she allowed him to lull her to sleep when it was naptime for her. Noctis had to take her from Gladiolus when she kept on squirming in her sleep.

However, she refused to have a bath unless Noctis were the one to clean her up.

The gang had teased him how a little lady wanted him in the bath with her. He'd rolled his eyes and just took a bath while bringing Lightning along.
The baby had enjoyed her bath time and Noctis had been amused with the way she splashed around, pounding her tiny fists against the water, causing to fly in different directions. She even tried punching the bubbles she saw around the tub but only ended up getting herself covered in bubbles.

As if sensing his musings, Lightning opened her eyes to stare up at her savior.

Noctis smiled at her reassuringly and kissed the tip of her nose again. The baby touched his face, her soft baby hand relaxing him with its gentle touch; it was like a feather caressing his cheek.
Carefully, the Immortal held the tiny hand to his face, savoring the special connection he felt between himself and the infant in his arms.

In such a short span of time, this little girl had become the light of his life and apple of his eye. It was strange at first, but seeing her smile, seeing her safe and happy made Noctis' heart jump for joy.
"My cute spoiled girl Éclair… You'll grow up into a fine woman one day." He whispered to her and she gave him a curious stare. She may not understand what he was saying now, but in time she would.

He stared out of the window while gently rocking his infant companion to sleep. She tried resisting the sleepy temptation but squirmed a bit.
Noctis shook his head at her. "It's almost eleven Éclair, you need to go to sleep now." "Abba-ba…" The infant babbled, staring up at him with those irresistible blue eyes of hers. Noctis chuckled.

"You're too cute for your own good…"

"Daa!"

"No. I'm Noctis. Can you say Noctis?"

"Baa!"

"You'll learn." He reassured, nuzzling his nose against Lightning's tiny head. The baby loved the attention and babbled in protest when he pulled away. "Bedtime now Éclair." He announced and walked back to the bedroom.
Lightning's chubby face pouted and Noctis had to laugh. "We can play some more tomorrow. Right now it's too dark and you need to sleep if you want to become tall and strong."

The baby grabbed the front of his shirt and tried chewing on it. However, due to her lack of teeth she ended up gumming it instead. The Immortal shook his head. "Time for bed."

He carefully placed the infant back down on the mattress, laying her head down on one of his soft pillows while he laid down on his side of the bed.
He yawned and closed his eyes, ready to fall back to sleep. He stroked the baby's head tenderly and kissed the top of her head before falling asleep.

Lightning rolled around on the bed until she was able to roll onto her belly.

The precious tot crawled over to Noctis and stared at him with a big baby smile on her face. She crawled closer and pressed her face against his, her little lips brushing against his cheek as she nestled close to her new friend and fell asleep right beside him.

This chapter is short I know. But I felt like doing something that was kinda cute, simple and just plain sweet.

There had been too much going on lately so I decided that these too needed a break and just write a chapter about them being at home and just resting.
As usual Baby Lightning/Éclair is the cutest thing in the world. And at the same time a "cute spoiled girl".

I hope you all felt relaxed enough after reading this simple chapter. If you have any questions please tell me so I can answer them as best as I can in the next chapter I make.

Oh yes and one of you readers has told me your concern over how Noctis acted in the new arc "Desperado". You stated that if Noctis did love horses, he would not try to break the Storm Mare's spirit and treat it like some trophy.

Well here is the explanation: Noctis does love horses, however he is still learning to be a true handler of horses. He may display signs of expertise but in truth he is still a novice who only learned from books and the sorts. He still needs to learn about the spirit of horses and how to connect with them.
Not only that but Noctis is still very much concerned with his pride and ego and of course there would be rival horse tamers who would look down upon him. Due to this, he thinks taming the wildest and legendary horse would prove to them he can be the best. But please don't worry; he will learn.

As of right now "Desperado" Noctis is still young and inexperienced despite how well he had been doing in his dream job. It just takes time and sooner or later somebody will have stepped in and showed him that horses are more than they seem and that we can all connect to them on levels that can go beyond.

I hope that answers your concerns.

Well time for me to get off and start working on some other stuff. But I will see you guys again as always!

Until then…