"Miss Valentine!" Prompto yelled at the top of his lungs. "Noctis is in the car!"

Jasmine entered the foyer from one of the hallways, a look of slight annoyance on her face as she dragged with her two satchels full of groceries.

"I was in the office," she told him with a raised brow. "You don't have to yell. Plus, what if he heard you?"

Prompto laughed good-naturedly, not taking Jasmine's tone to heart. "My apologies, Miss Valentine. I was sure that it wouldn't be an issue. Besides, Ignis already texted me and let me know the coast was clear."

Jasmine sighed loudly. Getting Noctis out of the apartment was more challenging than she'd thought it would be.

"Who knew getting him out of the house for his birthday would be such a hassle?" She asked herself out loud.

Today was Noctis' birthday and the group decided to help him celebrate. In the past, the prince usually spent his birthday traveling but SOLDIER prevented him from doing so this year. In addition to that, Noctis had stated earlier that he didn't want to go to a club or a lounge, so the group decided to change things up a bit.

"Well, Noct will probably enjoy this," Prompto said with confidence.

Jasmine headed for the kitchen and Prompto followed. As she took all the groceries out and set them on the counter, Prompto pulled up a chair at the bar.

"So, what's the plan again?" She asked as she sorted out the ingredients.

"We're gonna take him to the shooting range, and then to the track to race those high-end cars."

Jasmine chuckled. Even though she was getting used to the prince's extravagant lifestyle, she was always surprised every now and then. "Sounds fancy."

"Noctis is a simple guy: he likes shooting guns and he likes fast cars."

"Is that your gift to him?"

Prompto was beaming. "Yup! I think I did a good job!"

Jasmine cracked a smile once she took inventory of all the items. "Well, it'll be a good birthday for him. I hope he enjoys himself. What did the others get him?"

"Gladiolus modified his car and I think Ignis bought him a watch," Prompto replied cheerfully. "Did Noctis even see you today?"

Once she tied her hair back in a low hanging ponytail, Jasmine started putting all the perishable items away in their large refrigerator. "Nope," she answered. "I left the house before he woke up and left a note saying I went to go see Tifa. Didn't even say happy birthday."

Prompto laughed heartily, his voice filling the heavy silence of the otherwise quiet penthouse apartment. "That probably pissed him off."

Shrugging a shoulder, Jasmine went back to her task at hand. "I'm sure it did but he won't stay mad for long, especially since I'm cooking a four-course dinner for everyone tonight."

The blonde's mouth began to water. While the prince and his partner often went out for meals nowadays, it was no secret that Jasmine was an excellent cook – something she most likely inherited from Tifa. Part of the reason why Prompto and the others lured Noctis away was so that Jasmine could cook an enormous meal for the prince's birthday instead of going out to a nice restaurant like Noctis was initially told.

"I think he'll appreciate it," Prompto began. He cleared his throat and grinned. "He won't tell you this, but he really does love your cooking."

Jasmine cracked a small smile. "Well, I'm glad. Otherwise, all of this would be a complete waste."

"He's not good at expressing himself," he reminded her. "Especially when it comes to you," Prompto added under his breath. "By the way, Miss Valentine, how are you and Noctis doing?"

Jasmine bent down and put the vegetables in the lowest drawer. "We're the same as usual," she answered plainly. "Nothing bad happened if that's what you mean."

Prompto held back his groan. That was not what he was looking for in an answer. He cleared his throat and pressed on. "That's not what I mean. I meant, how have things been with you two?"

Although she did a great job of hiding it, Jasmine became uncomfortable by Prompto's statement. She knew exactly what he meant.

"The same," she said plainly after she closed the refrigerator door. "We're just friends, Prompto. I don't think that'll change any time soon."

Deflated, Prompto let out a long sigh. "I see."

Jasmine gave him a rueful smile, knowing full well what he was trying to get at and what he was looking for. "You're trying to see if I have feelings for Noctis, right? Why?"

Prompto looked over his shoulder even though he knew that the others were long gone. "Look, Miss Valentine," he started quietly, his voice barely above a whisper, "I think you know that Noctis has a soft spot for you."

Jasmine did a quick once over of their kitchen and the living room, counting at least six bouquets of lilies and roses – her favorite flowers. For the past few months, he'd been coming home and filling the apartment with flowers every other week. When she'd initially asked why, Noctis would always say, "I don't know…I know you like them" and keep it pushing. He's also been more involved and attempted to make an effort to get to know her better over time which was a surprise to her.

Deep down, Jasmine had her guard ALL the way up and refused to allow herself to imagine being in a romantic relationship.

While Jasmine usually preferred to keep her thoughts to herself on the matter, she knew that eventually, she would have to address the issue since it was the elephant in the room.

"If I'm being honest, Prompto," Jasmine said slowly as she got up and leaned against the refrigerator, "I think Noctis is great: he's smart, he's loyal, and I do know that he takes care of me. But it's hard for me to place my feelings since he hasn't told me anything himself personally. Plus, you know we're not supposed to be anything other than friends."

"Wait," Prompto tried to break down Jasmine's cryptic message and word his reply carefully, "so you don't have an answer on whether or not you like Noctis…and in part it's because you're waiting for him to say something himself, correct?"

Jasmine groaned inwardly. This was NOT a conversation she wanted to have, especially not now.

"Prompto," she said with a heavy sigh, "why are you doing this to me? You know I'm not even allowed to like Noctis. He's a prince and you know that Tseng would wring my neck if he found out that I was seeing Noctis."

Prompto scoffed and gave her an all-knowing smile. "Since when do you listen to Tseng 24/7?"

"Fair enough," Jasmine replied after rethinking the statement. There's been way too many times where she's broken the rules within SOLIDER and gone against Tseng's orders (much to her boss' chagrin) that even she had to admit that her previous statement really didn't have any hold.

"And to answer your question," Prompto cleared his throat loudly before checking his watch. Soon he'd have to go as to not draw up any suspicion from Noctis and the others downstairs. "I'm doing this because one: I'm curious. Two: because I think deep down you both really do care about each other. Three: because I do think there's something potentially there. You're both scared to approach this topic for reasons that really don't matter."

Jasmine rolled her eyes. "But I'm not a princess, Prompto. There's no point in entertaining something that would probably never happen. I know everything is normal on this side of the world, but it doesn't change the fact you guys come from a place I can't relate to or understand."

Prompto realized that Jasmine probably wouldn't give him a straight answer, at least not now. He could tell that she wasn't going to budge. However, that didn't mean that he couldn't get at least one thing out of her.

"Do you think he's attractive?" Prompto asked slyly.

The sudden shift in Prompto's tone and attitude threw Jasmine off. "Huh?" she batted her eyes as if she were confused. "Why?"

"It's just a question," he pressed.

"Yes," Jasmine grumbled bitterly, heavily annoyed that she even had to deal with this.

Prompto's grin spread from ear to ear and Jasmine immediately regretted telling him that, even though it was the truth. He turned on his heel and headed for the door, his excitement almost too hard to contain as he headed for the door.

"Prompto," Jasmine warned as she went back to putting away the groceries, "if you do anything stupid, you'll regret it."

"I won't do anything stupid. I promise, Miss Valentine!"

As soon as the door shut, Jasmine sighed. "He's gonna do something stupid. I know it."

"Wait," Tifa said to Jasmine as she assisted her in the kitchen, "you went out on a date with Riku?"

Jasmine pulled the tails off the shrimp and threw them into the trash can. "It wasn't a date, Tifa. Me, him and Sora all went to the festival together and once we got Sora home he and I talked for a bit."

Tifa mulled the thought over in her head as she turned on the water from the sink and filled up a pot. "Then what happened?"

She slowed down indefinitely when she thought about her conversation with Riku that night. One thing that threw her off for sure was when he told her that he wanted her to be happy whether they were together or not. And while it was honestly the most mature and loving thing he could have said to her, there was a part of her that felt scared. This was the first time that it (the idea) had ever been seriously put on the table that she and Riku would not be together romantically.

And while things seemed to work out for her and Roxas when they split, deep down Jasmine couldn't seem to fathom the idea of being with anyone else other than Riku. Sure, they had their fights and their relationship (including friendship) had its ups and downs, the idea of both of them branching out to find other people just seemed unreal.

In the past, Riku dated while Jasmine remained single. And while that relationship wasn't completely sincere - at least from Riku's end - it was still a working relationship until Jasmine came back into the picture.

Jasmine knew that every part of her loved Riku, even to hell and back, but what if things never worked themselves out? What if they could never get over their past and find a way to make it work?

"We just talked about working on things. He told me that he just wanted me to happy even if we don't end up together in the long run," Jasmine replied.

Tifa's eyes widened. "Wow," she said in disbelief. "That's really mature of him."

"To be honest, it kind of freaked me out."

"Why?"

Jasmine paused, her heart sinking as the thought replayed over in her mind. "Because it made me think about how we might not end up together."

"Oh…" Tifa's voice trailed off. She understood where Jasmine was coming from. "You don't have anything to worry about," she said finally. "I think it goes without saying that Riku still wants to have a shot with you. He still loves you, Jasmine. You know that."

Without saying anything, Jasmine nodded her head.

"But," Tifa's voice was stern, which also threw Jasmine for a loop. "You also have to be prepared for the alternative." She turned off the water and dried her hands. "There is also the slight chance that you guys might not be together right away. The same thing happened with me and Cloud. And it was hard."

The beautiful SOLDIER walked over to her god-daughter and pulled her into a hug, which initially caught her off guard.

"But you've got to have faith," Tifa told her with a kind smile. "And if you want to be with him, you should do it."

Jasmine practically melted in Tifa's arms, remarking how she'd never felt safer than with anyone else but her. Tifa was so strong, so courageous and powerful even, but she was also the softest, most caring, and the warmest person she'd ever met. It was like there was magic in her to heal others.

"Thanks, Tifa," Jasmine said softly, not wanting to break away from her god-mother. "I needed that."

Tifa pulled away and stared at Jasmine. Despite how hard the young girl was on herself, she was coming along quite nicely. "Any time."

Now that the issue with Riku was (slightly) resolved, Jasmine had other news to share with her. "Prompto came to talk to me before he left."

"Oh? What for? The party?" Tifa asked curiously.

Jasmine grumbled and went back to her task. "This is so embarrassing."

Tifa lifted an eyebrow in suspicion. "What? Is this about Noctis?"

"Yeah."

"Did he finally tell you that Noctis likes you?"

Jasmine was so annoyed that she (unconsciously) started throwing the shrimp tails into the garbage. "Why does everyone seem to think this?"

"Because it's true," Tifa stated matter-of-factly. "I think if Riku wasn't in the picture you guys might have a chance."

"Ugh! Come on, Tifa!"

"What?" Tifa tried to silence her good-natured laugh. "I think it's cute. Zack was the one to bring it up to me."

Jasmine was so embarrassed that she wanted to throw herself into the trash can. "How and why would Zack know about this?"

"Remember our last all-call meeting at headquarters?"

Jasmine nodded.

"It was the way he was hovering around you," Tifa elaborated. "He said that you two were practically glued at the hip and that he couldn't take his eyes off you."

Jasmine then replied, "It was probably because he's never seen me in a full-on, suit-and-tie before."

"Really, Jasmine?"

"Tifa," Jasmine breathed out, "I don't always do the right thing and have bad ideas but going out with Noctis would be the WORST idea period."

"Actually…I think that would be a fun time!" A male voice boomed from the entryway. Heavy footsteps approached the pair. The redheaded, green-eyed man set a huge case of alcohol on the island in the kitchen and gave Jasmine a mischievous grin. "You know, I think you should be a bit more open, Cat Eyes. Might do you some good to broaden those horizons of yours."

Jasmine frowned and glared at Axel. She knew that he was coming by with the liquor, but she didn't expect him to be early. "I didn't think you'd be here so soon. I thought you were gonna text me."

Axel hopped on the nearby barstool and greeted Tifa cheerfully. "I did," he pointed to the cell phone on Jasmine's right. "Check your messages. It's a good thing you let the doorman know I was coming. Security around this place is pretty tight, even by high profile standards."

Jasmine ignored the pleasantries and tried to control her breathing. This was NOT a conversation she wanted Axel to hear.

"None of what I said leaves this room, Axel," Jasmine warned.

Axel smirked. "Me? I'm insulted! How many of your secrets have I kept up to this point."

Tifa agreed with Axel. "I wouldn't worry about it, Jaz. You know Axel has your back."

Jasmine's only response was a groan. She was so embarrassed that Axel of all people had to hear about this conversation. Even though the rumors of her and Noctis had been floating around since, well…they became partners in the first place. But ever since Jasmine came back, the rumors seemed to hit a little bit differently.

Tifa looked around the kitchen and opened Jasmine's drawers. Her brow furrowed, and she immediately took off her apron. "I'll be right back," she announced. "I left some of my catering tools in my car."

"Do you need help?" Axel asked.

"Oh no," she declined politely. "Thank you, Axel. I'll be right back guys."

Tifa grabbed Jasmine's keys from the counter and made her way out. Once she left, the heaviness in the room returned.

"Don't worry about it," Axel told Jasmine calmly with a friendly smile. "I won't say anything to Noctis or the others about what you said earlier."

Feeling relieved, Jasmine exhaled. She then washed her hands in the sink. "Thanks, Axel. I appreciate that. And thanks for bringing the alcohol. I think Tifa would've been down especially since I can't legally buy it yet."

"Not a problem." Axel patted the case. "It's my gift to the prince. It's the top-shelf goods only." He opened the lid and pulled out a matte black bottle. "This one right here? It's easily $300 a shot."

Jasmine whipped around and stared at Axel, mouth agape. "Who is paying $300 a shot?!"

Axel chuckled and set the bottle down. "C'mon, Cat Eyes. You know what island this is. Or are you still not used to the fabulous and wealthy lifestyle?"

"It's a shot," she argued. "It's gone in two seconds!"

The redhead shrugged his shoulders. "So? People want what they want. Besides, it's Noctis' birthday. I thought I'd give him something nice."

"I'm sure he'll appreciate it. But," Jasmine's voice trailed off. "You're here so early. The party doesn't start for another hour and a half."

Axel yawned and stretched his arms out. "The club that I own is close to here and it would be such a pain to drive all the way back to my house. Remember? I'm on the Destiny Islands."

"Oh yeah, that's right. Well, you can make yourself at home."

"Thanks! Plus, I wanted to talk to you anyway. It's been a while," Axel said casually. "Reno and Rude say 'hi' by the way."

Jasmine's face lit up. "I'll call them tomorrow. Reno asked to take me to breakfast not long ago. It'll be good to see a familiar face."

"I'll let him know. I know you're technically still on the leash and not allowed to do too much."

"It's because I'm tied to Noctis," Jasmine explained. "As long as I'm with him, I still need to stay off the radar a bit."

"Especially since you were pretty high profile not long ago," Axel recalled. He then cleared his throat loudly before asking for a glass of water.

Jasmine went into the cabinets and pulled out a glass. She then headed to the refrigerator and pulled out a jug of filtered water, setting the glass down in front of Axel once it was full. "Don't remind me," she said sadly. "It's not that I don't get it, especially with the job now and with who I'm around. But it's hard sometimes. I feel like I'm kinda stuck in SOLDIER and don't have too many options."

"Don't you see your friends every now and then?"

"Yeah. But even then, I have to let Tseng know so he can monitor me. I think he makes me check and make sure I'm not spilling any confidential information."

Axel downed the glass, almost immediately. "Damn," he swore. "I don't think any of us had it like that. Except for me."

Jasmine chuckled. "Duh. Because you were with SHINRA for a while. Of course, they'd be watching you."

"Hey! Every part of me gets it. So, I also get how you must feel. You kinda have to stick to the same group of people all the time."

"I mean Noctis and the others are cool. It's just a little weird sometimes because I'm the only girl," Jasmine explained. "I live with Noctis, work with him, and when we all get together and hang out with him and the boys."

"It's almost like you two are unhappily married," Axel joked.

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

"Because you guys live together, you spend all the other time together, you don't have sex and it gets awkward between you two," Axel said flatly.

Jasmine's cheeks turned bright red. "Chill out, Axel."

"Am I wrong though?"

Jasmine's face was still hot from embarrassment. "We're not dating, Axel. I won't sleep with him if I'm not dating him."

Axel's grin then spread from ear to ear and he locked his eyes with Jasmine's. He took a brief pause and then said, "So, since you're sleeping with Ventus, does that mean you're dating him? I'm just trying to see if this is just a Noctis issue or if that's your stance with all guys."

Jasmine's blood ran cold and she felt her entire body tense up. "W-What did you say?" she asked weakly.

Axel laughed and grinned, clearly entertained by the shock on Jasmine's face.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?"

Author's Note: Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing well. I've been working on this chapter for a while and I just got it finished today. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I loved writing it. Who saw this coming? Do any of you have any ideas as to how Axel found out about Jasmine and Ventus? How do you think this will impact any of the other characters and the story going forward? I'd love to hear you guys' thoughts on this!

Also, as usual, I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed the chapter!

Rynxenvy: Aww I'm glad that I could surprise you and that you liked the chapter! How did you feel about this one?

Hopefuldreamer1991: I know right? Sora really is the best!

Sarah K.R.: Happy New Year to you too! Thank you (again) for being so supportive and still following me after all these years. I really do appreciate it and every single one of you for believing in the story.

What did you guys think of the chapter? Any ideas as to where it may be going? I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts on this. I'm brainstorming the next chapter now and I would like to get it up faster than I did the last two.

Until next time! Take care!