Rue threw her sword as hard as she could, having braced herself long enough. It was the squeeze of her stomach that signaled the warp through time just before it happened. She suddenly found herself across the room, clutching her sword to her chest as she stumbled, catching her balance before she fell. Relir shouted, throwing a fist in the air, and Dex shot her proud smile. Taking a deep breath, she bowed jokingly, earning an eye roll from Arius. She knew he meant well. Rayne thumped a hand down on her back, laughing.

"Finally."

"Shut up. You haven't figured it out after, like, twenty years," Rue scoffed, shrugging Rayne away.

"Hey, don't pull that. I have a thousand more important things to do than learn how to warp."

"Yeah, me too," she puffed, wiping the sweat off her face. "Like watching TV with my cat."

"And Iggy?" Rayne added under her breath, grinning.

Rue felt her heart skip a beat as she rolled her eyes and stepped back in line. If she wasn't red from the exercise, she would've been red from the comment. It was strange knowing the world discovered her little secret—and it was revealed in a moment of drunken idiocy, no less. Relir clapped a hand down on her back, shaking her friend.

"Look at you go! No improvements, my ass."

"Try telling that to Rayne," Rue mumbled, rolling her sore shoulder. "Every time I talk back, she threatens to uninvite me to her wedding."

"First of all, unnecessary," Dex commented, lowering his head the slightest bit so they could hear him. "And secondly, she would never get married without Ignis Scientia's sweetheart present."

"Shh," Rue hissed, glancing around to see if any glaives heard. "I don't want—"

"They're gonna find out eventually," Relir shrugged.

"Okay, but not now."

Rue shot them both stern looks before paying attention again, listening to Rayne lecture them about posture and strength training and all the jazz she usually lectured them on before setting them free for the day. As everyone headed out the door, Rue twisted the bands on her arms slowly, shooting Ari a thin smile. He merely stared a moment longer before leaving, too. Sighing, Rue headed toward Rayne, pulling her hair out of the tight ponytail on the back of her head.

"Got anything fun planned for tonight?" Rayne asked, glancing up at Rue as she put a training sword back on the wall rack.

"No," Rue shook her head, tired. "But I don't usually have plans until five minutes before they're happening."

"A spontaneous one," Rayne muttered. "Should've known."

"Why do you ask?"

"Just wanted to know if you're doin' anything with our good pal Ignis."

"Why would I be doing something with our 'pal' Ignis?" Rayne paused, frowning at her gloved hand.

"Because…?"

"Because what?" Rue demanded. "Some of us can go a day without seeing our boy-toys."

"Oh, is that what he is?" Rayne snorted, shaking her head. Rue sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck.

"But... We'll probably wind up hanging out at some point tonight."

"See, here's the thing," Rayne laughed, leaning forward on her sword. "Those of us who can't go a day without our boy-toys? We live with them and cut the commute."

"A bit early, don't you think?" Rue countered, raising an eyebrow. Rayne shrugged.

"Yeah, but something tells me you'll be together a long time."

"Cool. I'm not forcing it on some weird notion you have." Rue headed for the door and Rayne followed.

"Oh, c'mon. When's my intuition ever been wrong?"

"Is nosiness part of your special powers, too?" Rue countered, earning a grin.

"Could be. Haven't look into it yet." She jerked her head toward the stairs. "Why don't you go ask Ignis if he wants to see you before you go home and text him?"

"Why don't you mind your own business?"

"Why don't you mind your own business?" Rayne mocked in a childish voice, laughing when Rue rolled her eyes. "Hey, I'm just trying to help."

"Yeah, well, I don't need it."

"Try telling me that when he gets into a depressive slump you can't drag him out of," Rayne muttered, turning the corner. "I'm gonna go harass Gladio until he gets his butt out of that office."

"Has he been in there all day?"

"Yeah. Cor made him organize a ton of shit," Rayne scoffed. "Ridiculous if you ask me."

"Well, if it wasn't Gladio, it'd be Ignis," Rue pointed out, watching Rayne head down the hall as she pressed a hand to Ignis's door. "See ya."

"See ya, bitch."

"Bitch," Rue repeated under her breath, knocking.

"Come in." As Rue shut the door behind her, Ignis caught her eye. "Anyone could hear you both from a mile away."

"How would you know that?" Rue walked further into the room, walking around the side of his desk. "Have you tested that hypothesis, Mr. Scientia?"

"No." He sighed, touching his glasses and glancing up at her when she pressed a hand to the back of his chair, eyes narrowed as she read his screen.

"You been doing this all day?"

"Yes, I have. Cor—"

"Split this with Gladio."

"Yes." He sighed again and she offered him a sympathetic smile.

"Well, are you done yet?"

"Nearly. There's one entry left."

"Let me do it. You get your stuff ready to go."

"… Are you coming with me?"

"Yup."

Rue pushed him out of his seat and sat down, glancing down at the paper beside her and typing the information into the computer. Behind her, Ignis stood and pulled his jacket on, watching her type. Despite his best efforts, he still couldn't trust that she wouldn't make any errors. Scanning over the words in the document, Rue saved the work and turned the computer off, satisfied. Ignis must have been, too, because he made no comments about corrections. Rue stood, smiling.

"Thank you," Ignis said, watching her stretch her arms over her head with a yawn.

"Glad I don't have that job anymore," she huffed, walking over and straightening the front of his jacket even though it was fine. "Though, it would be nice to work with you."

"I'd be your boss," Ignis reminded her. Her lips twitched into a crooked smile.

"Yeah, isn't that cute?" Ignis frowned and she laughed, running her fingers through the hair on the back of his head and pressing his forehead to hers. "Your hair's getting long."

"Is it?" He raised an eyebrow. "Does it bother you?"

"Not at all," she scoffed. "Have you seen pictures of Casper?"

"You don't exactly have your wedding photos hung about your home."

"I could," she shrugged, laughing at the look on his face. "What, is that not appealing?"

"Not really."

"I could build a whole shrine to him in my room, if you like. Sacrifice to him before bed, yeah?"

"Absolutely not." Ignis might have rolled his eyes if he had it in him. "What does one sacrifice to Casper's shrine?"

"Your head," Rue muttered, standing on her toes to kiss him. Ignis frowned, pulling away. "I'm not being serious, Ignis."

"It's a strange gift."

"Who said it was a gift? We're sacrificing a lot here."

Ignis puffed out a short laugh and let her pull him back in again, resting a hand on her back. Smiling, Rue dug her fingers further into his hair and pulled him deeper. For all this trash he's dealt with the past few days, he's in a good mood. She could hear Rayne's heavy steps coming from a mile away, but she chose to ignore them, grinning at the prospect of catching Ignis off guard. When he tried to pull away, she forced him back down, laughing when Rayne opened the door and groaned.

"Okay, gross. Guessing you're getting a room?"

Rue pulled away, crossing her arms. Ignis took a deep breath and stared hard at his desk.

"Don't even start."

"You keep that bullshit up, you're uninvited."

"I'm sure I am."

"You are!"

"What did you need?" Ignis cut in, raising an eyebrow. Rayne shrugged.

"Just wanted to let you know that we were heading out for the day."

"Since when do you say goodbye?" Rue accused. Rayne grinned from ear to ear.

"What can I say? It's fun catching Ignis in the act."

"In what act?" Ignis muttered quietly enough that only Rue heard, and she laughed, reaching behind her to take his phone off the desk and hand it over.

"Well, shall we?"

"Hey, what happened to not needing to see your 'boy-toy' every day?" Rayne accused, her face smug when Ignis frowned at Rue.

"Yeah, yeah. Save your 'I told you so's' for a better day," Rue retorted, dragging Ignis out of his office by the arm and ushering Rayne out of their way. The warrior laughed, shaking her head and glancing over her shoulder at Gladio. Noct's shield shrugged.

"Can't be helped," he said under his breath.

Rue plopped into the passenger seat, smiling. Her heart was light, alive with the excitement that only a good day surrounded by good friends could bring. It wasn't the inescapable darkness her workdays used to be, and it wasn't filled with the anxiety of tiptoeing about with her secrets in a coffin on her back. They knew almost all there was to know, and somehow, that was less terrifying than she thought it would be.

"So, what's for dinner?" she dragged out, turning to look at Ignis. He kept his eyes on the road, quiet. "I'm starving."

"That's a first." His eyes flitted to hers in the rearview mirror and she rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure. I'll have to see what I have."

"You don't even know? That's a first."

"I've been busy."

"I know." She reached out and pried a hand off the steering wheel, lacing her fingers through his. Ignis took a deep breath and turned onto his street. "It's no fair; you get to have all the fun. All I do is work out and play guard."

"I listen to the woes of disgruntled taxpayers and to Noct's complaining about his neck. I'd hardly call that fun."

"What's wrong with his neck? He playing too rough with a new suitor?" Ignis's brows pinched together and he shot her a look from the corner of his eye. She snickered, shaking her head. "What, don't like that image?"

"Not particularly." He paused, pulling into the driveway smoothly.

"I don't know... He wasn't happy that I didn't tell him about you."

"Like any friend would be," she shrugged. "If Relir hadn't seen us in my driveway, she would've decapitated me. Then my neck would've hurt." Rue raised an eyebrow, shooting him a pointed look. "You didn't decapitate him, did you?" Ignis sighed, opening his door.

"Unfortunately, no."

"Damn, Scientia. Bordering on treason there, pal."

"It's a line I'm willing to cross if need be."

"You need more sleep."

"For once, that's not unreasonable."

Ignis unlocked his door and pried off his shoes, watching as Rue headed to the kitchen to peek into his fridge. She chewed on her lip, looking its contents over and over. The lights weren't on yet, and the glow from the refrigerator made her look oddly angelic, a bright halo they both knew didn't exist. Had she still been with Eren at this point, Ignis might've found himself struggling not to wrongfully kiss her again. He shook the thought from his head, straightening her shoes by the door.

Dissatisfied, Rue slammed the door shut and frowned, thinking. Ignis raised an eyebrow, waiting. Dropping the hand that was twisting her hair around, Rue pressed both her hands to the counter and cocked her head to the side.

"Should we just get something delivered?"

"And give the public my address?"

"Ignis, you're not exactly secretive about where you live," she countered, heading toward the couch and flopping onto one of the cushioned seats. She patted the seat beside her and Ignis obeyed. "Besides, you really don't have anything but cucumbers and some pasta from, like, a week ago."

"I haven't had—"

"Dude, it's fine," she laughed, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair gently, careful not to mess it up. "I get it, but I just want bad food."

"You're like Gladio and his Cup Noodle infatuation," Ignis sighed, leaning his head back to stare up at the ceiling. The feeling of her hand was calming, but his chest was tight, and his heart was doing all sorts of tricks.

"No, Gladio has an infatuation with Rayne's ass," Rue corrected, kneeling to catch his eye. "He has an ongoing love affair with Cup Noodle." Ignis puffed out a short laugh, shaking his head.

"I suppose you're right."

Ignis glanced up at her through the glare in his glasses, and suddenly, he couldn't breathe, finding himself lost for words—something only she seemed to trigger. And I almost lost her to a reckless driver of all things. Clearing the thought from his head, he craned his neck up to kiss her. He felt her smile and the pressure in his chest burst into a blossoming ache. Hopeless.

Rue pulled him closer by the back of his head, moving to slide a leg across his lap. Startled, she held tightly to Ignis when he turned, pressing her back into the couch. When he laughed, she smacked the back of his head. Goosebumps crawled across her skin. Ignis left a trail of kisses down the side of her neck, running his hands up her sides. As much fun as she was having, her stomach was growling angrily. Reluctantly, she drew away.

"We gotta order that food before I waste away to nothing."

"Now?"

"Yeah, now," she scoffed, digging into his pocket for his phone. "I do not care what it is," she said sternly, pushing it into his face. Sighing, Ignis sat up and fixed his glasses.

"No preferences?"

"Only qualification is bad," she reminded him with a shrug. Yawning, she slumped down against the couch cushions and squeezed her eyes shut. "Wake me when sustenance arrives."

Rue stopped scrolling through her phone, pausing to gnaw on her cheek and stare at the ceiling. The silence went from comfortable to heavy and Ignis looked up from his own device, eyebrow raised.

"What is it?"

"Do you ever wonder what happened to your parents?"

"Yes," Ignis admitted, touching his glasses. "Though, I suppose they met their demise long ago."

"And that doesn't bother you?"

"Not particularly. Why?"

"It's my mom," she sighed, ruffling her hair. "My dad never so much as told me her name. I don't know who she was, what she looked like, what she liked to do… Nothing." She huffed, looking over at Ignis. "Like, why all the secrets? I know he was married more than once; maybe he just didn't know which one was mine?" Resting her chin on her hand, she slumped her shoulders forward. "Maybe I have secret siblings somewhere, too. But if that's true, they're more likely to be from the random women than any of his real partners."

"…" Ignis touched his glasses once more. "Perhaps we could find something on the database."

"Maybe…" She perked up, looking at him sharply. "Wait, you're serious? How would we find her?"

"If she was your father's wife, she would be on his registry," he pointed out. She shook her head in disbelief.

"Gods, it's that obvious, isn't it? I'm stupid."

Frowning at her choice of words, Ignis stood, heading to the door. Rue leaned back, trying to see what he was doing.

"Where are you going?"

"Do you want to go see?"

"What?"

"We can check your father's database for any names or faces that seem familiar," Ignis explained, waiting by the door.

"What, now?"

"Would you rather search alone without the keys?"

"Well—"

Rue cut herself off with a giddy eye roll, hurrying to the door and tugging her shoes on. Ignis eyed her pajamas before shaking his head and heading out into the dark of the night, car keys in hand. Quickly, Rue plopped into the passenger seat, leaning across the console to press a kiss to Ignis's cheek when he started the car.

"Thanks for the adventure."

"… You're welcome."

The Citadel parking garage was almost completely empty, save for the few vehicles of the guards that were stationed for the night shift. Ignis led the way inside, nodding to the guard that eyed the pristine advisor and the woman that chased him in a dingy sweater and shorts. Rue hugged her arms to her body, somehow surprised that the inside of the Citadel looked the same at night as it did during the day, save for the eerie silence surrounding every footstep.

"It's so dead," she said. Ignis raised an eyebrow.

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Isn't anyone else here?"

"At this hour? Only the guards and Noctis should be here."

"Noctis?"

"This is where he lives…" Ignis frowned and she pressed her lips together.

"Yeah, I knew that."

Ignis unlocked the office and attempted to flip the lights on only to realize that the supplementary power had been shut off for the night. Rue sat down into his rolling desk chair, scooting away so that he could type his password in and bring up the city's information docks. Who the hell keeps their laptop so far away from home? The bright glow of the screen burned their eyes as he flipped from page to page, easily navigating the pages as if he had them memorized.

"What was his name?"

"Mallus Corden."

Rue's heart nearly burst at the sight of the collection of photos of her father that appeared. They were normal pictures of a businessman and his staff, but they stung. Those were the people he deemed more important than his own daughter, who he left to believe was worthless. Ignis clicked something else and brought up a list of known family members. The list was short; Rue tried to ignore her own little tree, but she couldn't. Casper Ventus, Rue Ventus, Analiese Ventus. Should've legally changed our names when I got the chance.

"Do you recognize any of these?" Ignis asked, eyeing Casper's name with a scowl.

"Uh…" Rue leaned forward, squinting at the words. The brightness was really starting to hurt her eyes. "Sasha was his wife when I was a kid, but that was only, like, two years of my life. They didn't make it very long."

"Alright…" Ignis frowned. "There are only three names to choose from, Rue."

"Yeah, yeah." She was nervous. "I dunno, maybe look them up. It's not Sasha, though."

Her heart sank when she realized she didn't recognize any of the faces Ignis pulled up. She knew her father wouldn't ever show her her mother's face, but she'd hoped that there'd be one picture she would recognize from somewhere deep in her memories. Ignis watched as she sank back into the seat and shook her head, defeated.

"What makes you so sure they were married?" he asked.

"I don't know," she sighed. "I just… wanted to hope that I could find something."

"And what would that fix?"

"A whole lifetime of questions?" Rue shook her head. "No, it doesn't really matter. Thanks for trying."

"He did his best to keep her hidden," Ignis mused, closing down the program. "It makes me wonder why he was so afraid."

"He didn't tell me anything about his life before me. Ever." Rue shrugged. "He was just like that. Didn't trust that I'd keep those things to myself."

"It's ridiculous," he muttered.

"Yeah." Rue huffed a dry laugh, glancing up at him. "But, I mean, he died with his secrets, and I guess that's all he ever wanted."

"Pardon me, but he seems like an incredibly selfish man."

"Oh, he was."

Rue stood, stretching. When her eyes met Ignis's, she offered a sympathetic smile, knowing he felt defeated. She pulled him into a tight hug, tucking her head under his chin. His warmth was what she needed.

"Thanks for trying," she repeated softly.

"I'm sorry I couldn't find—"

"Don't apologize," she interrupted. "It's not your fault."

"But—"

"Shut up."

Laughing, she shook her head, closing her eyes contently. The quiet settled calmly and nothing felt more like home than that. It really was ridiculous. They stood in Ignis's office late at night, unable to even turn the lights on, searching for a random woman with no clues in hopes of uncovering her father's stupid secrets, and this was the closest to a home she'd felt in a long time. She started to speak before she knew what she was saying, but even after the words came out and his heart pounded against her ear, she didn't regret them. It just felt right.

"I love you, Iggy." Rue only held him tighter. She wasn't waiting for an answer or an affirmation; she just wanted him to know. "Thank you."

Ignis swallowed hard and stared into the darkness, feeling his head go light with the rush of blood pumping through his veins. He wished he could find a way to speak, but nothing would come. How does she do that every time?

"I—" he stammered. She laughed, pulling away and pressing a chaste kiss to his lips.

"Don't hurt yourself. Let's go get some sleep."

Still hardly able to think straight, Ignis nodded, shutting down his computer and locking the door behind him, making sure to bring his notebook and the memory of that moment with him, tucked away, but never forgotten.

THE NEXT TIME I UPDATE IT'LL BE THE LAST CHAPTER! GET READY MY DUDES!