Author's Note: This one is longer.
You've been warned haha.
Noctis was completely and utterly unsure of what to say to Jasmine.
She was awake and alert but, as Tifa and Axel explained earlier, she looked incredibly ill from her skin tone to her slightly haggard breathing, to the empty look in her eyes.
"What do I do?" He thought to himself miserably as he tried to figure out how to properly handle this situation.
Should he hug her?
Should he get to the point and tell her about the Queen's Candidate proposal?
Should he tell her that he's attracted to her?
Everything that he would've wanted to do seemed inappropriate right now.
"I get to go home after I talk to Tseng," Jasmine announced.
The prince sat next to her in the same chair that he'd been in since she'd arrived at the hospital.
It was so fascinating how when she was unconscious, he was able to be more open about his concern for her. But now that she was up and about, he felt himself shrink back to his normal façade. Prompto was right: there was definitely something else that Noctis felt for Jasmine besides friendship.
"I heard. I had Prompto and the others get Tseng. I'm not sure how much time we'll have before he shows up but, as soon as you're done, we can go home."
Once Noctis finished, Jasmine's mind drifted and she recalled her conversation with Axel.
While it was true she and Noctis bumped heads in the past, there was no denying the obvious shift in their relationship recently.
And even though she knew she had the emotional range of a teaspoon at the moment, she still recognized Noctis's dedication to her during this difficult (and rather inconvenient) time.
So she straightened up, rested her back against the frame of her bed, and looked Noctis right in the eye.
"Thank you for coming and staying with me," she said graciously.
"You don't have to thank me for that, Jasmine," Noctis insisted, surprised that she would even call that to attention.
"I do," she argued. "You've been preparing for your mission and ended up waiting on me here. I know it's not the most ideal situation."
Noctis felt the tension ease up, albeit slightly.
He folded his hands in his lap and exhaled.
"I wasn't going to leave you here by yourself," Noctis told the younger, raven-haired girl.
"But I wasn't by myself," Jasmine corrected him. "I had Tifa and the others. And that's the point. You have more important things to do than wait on me."
Noctis rolled his eyes. Even out of it, Jasmine had to argue with him. Or…maybe she was just grateful. After all, the last time she ended up in the hospital he was nowhere to be found. Perhaps she was just shocked that he even showed up to begin with.
"I meant it when I said I was gonna do better," Noctis explained, his confidence slowly but surely returning to him. "That also means I show up for you."
Jasmine shifted uncomfortably in the hospital bed. She turned to the side in an attempt to hide her flushed cheeks.
"Well…it's appreciated," she said softly, brushing her much too long bangs out of her eyes.
Noctis could hear his heart beating louder and faster with each second. He didn't have much time left before Tseng would burst in and he had to get the ball rolling on this inquiry. While he didn't plan on completely bombarding Jasmine with everything, Noctis had to be upfront.
"Jasmine," Noctis looked away from Jasmine, "there's something I wanted to ask you…"
The young woman stared at Noctis blankly during the pause but gave him a rueful smile. "I think I know what it is. But…" Jasmine looked over Noctis' shoulder and spotted Tseng waiting impatiently by the door. "I don't think we should talk about it here. Tseng is outside and I don't want him getting suspicious."
The prince turned around and, sure enough, Tseng was right outside the door. Noctis cursed under his breath. He had just worked up the nerve to tell her how he feels and now the moment was gone thanks to their boss.
Noctis sighed.
Even though he wanted to get this out in the open, Jasmine was right.
Now was not the right time to have this conversation.
He hadn't planned on going into extreme details at SOLDIER, but he did want to tell her how much he cared about her.
Noctis shifted his gaze back to Jasmine and reflected on the time they spent together. While their relationship had some rocky moments, over time Noctis began to really value, respect, and care for Jasmine.
She was attentive and wise for her years, she was extremely hard working and always trying to find ways to better herself and, despite her more reserved nature, she was kind and cared deeply for others. In addition to that, she was intelligent, strong, and gorgeous. He couldn't have picked a better partner if he tried.
"Okay," Noctis finally conceded. "We'll talk once we get home."
"I'd like that," Jasmine replied softly.
Noctis rose to his feet and pushed his chair to the side. "As soon as you're done I'll have Ignis get the car and your things. But…" Just before Noctis left, he leaned down and wrapped Jasmine in his arms, being careful as to not squeeze too tight or disturb the IVs.
Initially startled by the action, (in front of Tseng no doubt) Jasmine slowly but surely returned the hug and sighed into Noctis' broad chest.
Despite the warm moment they were sharing, Jasmine was still unable to feel anything.
It was like she knew what she should feel, but she couldn't summon any emotions at all.
She'd dealt with this before when her parents passed away, but this time was much more extreme.
"Thanks, Noctis," she whispered, pulling away as she heard the knock on her door.
Noctis could feel Tseng's eyes on them from the window looking into Jasmine's room. Despite breaking the embrace the prince kept his hands on Jasmine's shoulders.
"If he gives you a hard time, let me know and I'll handle it," he said in a low, slightly menacing voice. "I talked to Axel for a bit. I'm tired of him putting you in these situations."
Before Jasmine could reply, she was cut off when Noctis placed a kiss at the top of her head.
Unable to do more than nod her head and try to regain her composure, Jasmine agreed to let Noctis know how the conversation went.
Once Noctis took his leave, Jasmine exhaled.
From here, she could see the curious/irritated look on Tseng's face.
But for the first time since she'd started working with SOLDIER, she didn't care about upsetting Tseng.
After all, he'd deliberately put her in danger on numerous occasions – not just this one.
And because of it, now Terra and Ventus were nowhere to be found.
Jasmine took a deep breath.
Tseng owed her.
And it wasn't as if she initiated anything with Noctis.
But even if Tseng questioned it, she didn't care.
At this point, she didn't have it in her.
Or much of anything in her for that matter.
"Sora called you when you first got to the hospital," Tifa explained as she tucked Jasmine into bed later that night.
Jasmine's expression darkened. "What did you tell him?"
Tifa glanced at the clock on Jasmine's bedside table. It was only 6 o'clock at night but Jasmine had already expressed how drained she was feeling. And it made sense. After everything she went through, it would be bizarre for her to NOT be exhausted. Wanting to make it easy on Noctis and the others, Tifa elected to start spending the night at the apartment a few days early just so that Noctis could prepare for his trip without having to tend to Jasmine. Though, Tifa had a feeling that Noctis wanted to be the one who cared for her.
"Well he was actually calling for Ven," Tifa explained.
At the mention of Ven's name, Jasmine felt a heaviness deep within her stomach. But even though she was still unable to emote, she was still deeply concerned about her friends' well-being.
"So," Tifa sat next to Jasmine and rested against the latter's headboard, "I just told them what I was supposed to say – that Ventus and Terra are still on an extended assignment. After all, the only ones who are supposed to know are Ventus' family – and even with that we just tell them that they went missing but we sent out a search party. Kind of what we did when you disappeared."
Jasmine, who was originally upright, slid down further into the covers and focused her gaze on the ceiling above.
This was a horrible situation. Even though Jasmine was still quite numb to everything going on, she was still quite concerned about her friends' safety.
"Sora and Riku want to come by and see you," Tifa continued, noting the strange pained look on Jasmine's face. "I imagine Naminé and Roxas and the others will want to visit soon as well. I'm sure they're worried about you."
"Do they know I was in the hospital?" Jasmine asked quietly.
Tifa revealed what she told Sora that day he called. "He knows you were in the hospital, but I couldn't give specifics. Since we really don't know what's going on, and because we're not supposed to say much, I just said there was a fire but that you're making a good recovery. You really do have great friends, Jasmine."
The younger, raven-haired girl thought back on her friendship with Sora and the others.
Even when things were rocky, Sora and the others always had her back and were there for her.
"I don't think it would be good for them to come over while Noctis is here," Tifa suggested. "Why not have them visit when it's just the two of us?"
Jasmine thought that would be for the best too. "Good idea. I still don't feel that well."
"So tell me…" Tifa looked over her shoulder, making sure that the door to Jasmine's bedroom was closed. "I know you might not want to go too deep into it now, but I do think there's something you should know…"
Jasmine sighed heavily. She knew this was coming. "If it's about the Queen's Candidate thing, Ventus and Axel already gave me the heads up."
Tifa exhaled, secretly happy that Jasmine as already looped in on what was going on. At least she didn't have to completely blindside her goddaughter.
"Did you know that he already asked me and Vincent for our blessing?"
Jasmine's eyes widened. She didn't think Noctis had already asked Tifa and her uncle. Then again, it only seemed right to reach out to them given the situation.
"No," Jasmine replied, feeling her heart rate pick up.
Tifa grabbed Jasmine's hand and became even more concerned. Her hands were cold as ice. Even though the heat was on in the apartment and Jasmine was under blankets, the girl's temperature seemed to be unusually low.
This was something else she would have to watch out for.
"Jasmine," Tifa began slowly, keeping her volume low for fear of anyone walking in and hearing her. "I know this isn't the right time, but is this something you would even want? Noctis is a good guy and I do know that he cares for you, and I recognize that you're an adult now who can make your own decisions, but I want you to really think this through."
"I really don't know, Tifa," Jasmine replied sullenly. "I'm not in love with him."
Tifa gave Jasmine's icy hand a squeeze. "That's what I thought."
"And what did you tell him?" Jasmine asked curiously.
Tifa sighed once more. "I told him that if you agreed I'd back the both of you up and support your decision."
Jasmine's eyes widened. She honestly hadn't expected that answer.
"Why did you say yes?"
"I figured that it was really up to you," Tifa said with a soft smile. "As I said, you're an adult now. And while I'm not a hundred percent sold on this idea, I wasn't going to stop you if this was something you wanted."
Jasmine recalled earlier in the day at the hospital. Even out of it, she could see Vincent glaring at Noctis up until they left for home. No wonder her uncle became visibly annoyed whenever Noctis was around.
"And I'm sure Vincent said no," Jasmine said dryly.
Tifa chuckled, having recalled her conversation with the eldest Valentine. "You know him well. He's not a fan but I told him that he should support you no matter the decision."
Jasmine rolled her eyes. "I'm sure he took that well," she said sarcastically.
"I almost didn't want to bring it up," Tifa started slowly, feeling a bit guilty for breaking the news to Jasmine before Noctis could pop the question himself, "but I wanted to get a feel for what your thoughts were considering how big of a decision this would be."
"Prompto had been teasing me about it for some time," Jasmine explained. "And with Axel and Ven giving me the heads up, it wouldn't have been much of a shock even though it's still hard to believe this is even happening."
Tifa breathed a sigh of relief.
At least they didn't have to jump THAT hurdle.
"How do you manage to get yourself in these situations?" Tifa teased, hoping to lighten the mood. "Who would've thought that you'd be proposed to three times before your 20th birthday?"
"Not me," Jasmine replied blandly. "Although with Noctis, part of me really thinks this has more to do with me just being his friend and being close by."
Deep down, Tifa had the same suspicion. While Noctis probably did harbor romantic feelings for Jasmine, there was a good chance that the prince cooked up this plan mainly because Jasmine seemed to be the closest woman to him right now. And with him ascending the throne in the near future, Noctis needed to have someone by his side sooner rather than later.
"But you don't feel that way for him, do you, Jasmine?"
The hazel-eyes girl huffed. "No. I'd been trying so hard to keep things strictly business between me and Noctis that I never tried to let things go past surface level. Not that I could never feel that way for him, but with Tseng on my back all the time, I just never wanted to let it get to that point."
Tifa took one of Jasmine's hands and rubbed it between hers in an attempt to warm the girl up as well as console her.
"Just think about this carefully," Tifa advised. "If you do decide to pursue Noctis, and you do agree to be his candidate, AND if he does choose you, this won't be something you back out of. It's not like if you were just getting married to a regular guy – once you say, "I do" you're his queen forever and you won't be able to divorce him down the line."
"That's what I was thinking," Jasmine said solemnly.
"And even though I doubt Noctis will try and keep you away from your friends and family, but you might have to give up everything else if you choose to go through with this. You haven't even finished college yet. You gave up your singing career to be in SOLDIER. Do you even know if you want to have kids?"
Jasmine was unable to answer that question.
"Well with him you'd have no choice," Tifa explained. "And I'm sure he'd want to start a family right away."
"Ugh." Jasmine pulled back and tugged the blankets over her face and slid even further down into her bed. "Tifa, I just lost my friends and now I have to face Noctis. I can't do this."
"By the way," Tifa leaned over and rested her hand over the top of Jasmine's head. "How are you feeling in regard to that? I already have the report from Axel and Tseng but I wanted to ask you about how you're doing. I know you and Ven were exceptionally close."
"That's putting it lightly," Jasmine grumbled, her voice muffled by the bedsheets.
Tifa sensed something underlying in Jasmine's comment and pressed her about it gently.
Jasmine pursed her lips, debating if she should spill the beans.
While Jasmine hadn't wanted Tifa to be privy to her "affairs" with Ventus, it already seemed as though the secret was slowly but surely getting out. And she couldn't lie to Tifa, even if she tried. After all, that was her godmother. She didn't want to keep secrets, especially now when she was seemingly backed into a corner from all angles.
"Tifa…promise not to get mad or say anything?" Jasmine asked hesitantly.
"Of course, dear," Tifa replied sweetly.
"I didn't do anything wrong," Jasmine added.
Tifa rolled her eyes and chuckled. "I'm sure you didn't, Jasmine. Now, tell me what's going on."
Jasmine took a deep breath and peaked her head out from under the covers. She leaned close to Tifa and checked to make sure that the door was still shut. She would hate for Noctis of all people or the others to hear this.
"Me and Ven…we'd been sleeping together for months," she revealed.
Tifa reeled back, her eyes wide in shock. "Jasmine, are you serious?"
Sheepishly, Jasmine confirmed it. "Yeah," her cheeks were stained red from embarrassment. "But I cut it off right before the mission. We were never dating and it kinda just happened. To be honest, I thought I liked him and that he liked me, but with everything going on we decided to remain friends. That's the honest truth."
While Tifa herself had noticed the rather playful nature of Jasmine and Ventus' relationship, she hadn't expected that it developed into this.
"I believe you," Tifa said finally. "So what happened? Where do you guys stand?"
Jasmine's mood darkened and she turned away from Tifa. "We got into a fight the night before the mission. He started acting really strange and called out Riku and Noctis. But, Ventus had other things going on, which was a huge part of why we never started dating, and I broke it off with him."
"And this was right before you left?"
"Uh-huh," Jasmine replied. "He came to apologize to me in Traverse Town and, for the most part, we patched things up but it still wasn't the same. He was the one who found me. If it wasn't for Ven, I would've never gotten home. And I feel guilty because if he wasn't looking after me he wouldn't be where he is now."
As Jasmine spoke, Tifa noticed the change in Jasmine's mood. While she wasn't emoting much, she could feel the heaviness in her young niece as she recalled the Traverse Town incident with Ven. Whether Jasmine had true feelings for Ven remained to be known, she was still very upfront about feeling guilty for how things went down.
And it made sense.
After all, Ventus was Jasmine's good friend above all else.
"Oh sweetie," Tifa grabbed Jasmine and pulled the taller girl into her arms, "I had no idea. I'm so sorry."
"I think…" Jasmine began distantly, "Part of why I feel so numb inside is because I wish it was him here instead of me. I've always been lucky that I never got into something I couldn't get out of. And I was so sure that I wouldn't make it out of there. I'm glad I did, but I wish Ven didn't make that sacrifice. Even though we weren't on the best of terms, he made sure that I was safe."
Tifa stroked Jasmine's long flowing hair back out of her face.
'What a horrible situation,' Tifa lamented. Her heart ached for her niece. While the initial trauma of the incident was bad enough, after hearing about just what she'd been going through with Ven, Tifa understood why Jasmine seemed so lost and distant.
"You know what you have to do, right?" Tifa asked quietly.
"What's that, Tifa?" Jasmine asked, feeling comforted by Tifa's gentle touch.
The elder SOLDIER woman gave Jasmine a squeeze. "You have to do your best to get better so that you and a few others can go bring Terra and Ventus back."
Jasmine latched onto Tifa for dear life, feeling the weight of the situation crashing down on her. It seemed like such an impossible task. After all, this was SHINRA and they were nothing to laugh at. But even so, Jasmine knew that she had to find a way to get to Ventus even if it was the last thing she ever did.
Before Jasmine could say anything, a harsh knock interrupted her.
"Who is it?" Tifa called, still holding onto her goddaughter.
"It's Noctis. May I come in?"
Jasmine felt her cheeks sting. While she had done a great job at the hospital holding it together, now that she was slightly aggravated she didn't know how she would be with Noctis.
Tifa looked to Jasmine for permission to let Noctis in the room and reluctantly, Jasmine agreed.
"It's open!" Tifa called out.
The door slowly creaked open and Noctis appeared in the doorway, holding what appeared to be a blanket in his arms.
"What brings you in, Your Highness?" Tifa asked, bowing her head before the prince.
Sheepishly, Noctis approached the pair and stopped when he was at Jasmine's bedside. "I know Jasmine didn't want to eat and said she wanted to sleep, but I wanted to bring her something that might help her get some rest."
"How thoughtful," Tifa said with a smile. "What is that?" She asked, looking at what appeared to be a very heavy purple blanket.
"It's a weighted blanket," Noctis replied, turning his attention to Jasmine. "I know you say you have trouble sleeping sometimes and wake up a lot during the night. It's supposed to help you fall asleep faster and sleep through the night."
"That's very kind of you, Your Highness," Tifa exclaimed. "Isn't that nice of him, Jasmine?"
"Yeah," Jasmine's cheeks were still red from her big reveal to Tifa, but now she was embarrassed for a completely different reason. "Thank you, Noctis."
"Of course."
Noctis then turned his attention to Tifa. "I hate to do this, but could I get a moment alone with Jasmine?"
Jasmine's heart skipped a beat and she swore internally when Tifa released her hold on Jasmine.
"Of course! I was actually thinking of making myself some tea." Tifa looked to her niece, whose eyes begged her to stay. "I'll be in the kitchen."
"If you need anything, feel free to let me know and I'll make sure it's taken care of," Noctis told Tifa kindly.
Tifa smiled warmly. "You're such a gentleman. I appreciate your generosity. I'll check in on you later, Jasmine."
Once Tifa left the room, closing the door behind her, the air in Jasmine's bedroom became thick and heavy.
Feeling the need to break the tension early on, Jasmine spoke up first.
"It was nice of you to let Tifa stay here for a bit," Jasmine said graciously.
"Well, even though I have to leave, I wanted to make sure that you were in good hands. After all, she's your godmother and she's a really well-respected member of SOLDIER," Noctis explained. "I thought it would be good for her to watch out for you while you recover."
Jasmine nodded her head in the direction of the blanket. "That was also nice of you, Noctis. I'm more than sure the pain pills will knock me out though so you didn't have to go through the trouble."
Noctis rolled his eyes. He almost forgot that Jasmine had a hard time accepting gifts.
"It was Gladiolus' idea," he said. "He swears by them and thought it might help you."
Not wanting to seem ungrateful, Jasmine said thank you for the gift. "I appreciate you guys looking out for me. I really do."
Sighing in relief, Noctis realized that there was another matter to attend to.
"I wanted to ask you something," Noctis said slowly.
Jasmine sat straight up and played with the ends of her tailbone length-black hair. "Ask."
"This is completely up to you," he prefaced. "I know you're probably not feeling all that well so if you say no, we'll understand."
"Just ask," Jasmine said with a hollow laugh.
"Well, seeing as tomorrow is our last full day here for the week, the team and I wanted to take you to a dinner as a thank you for helping us locate the king," Noctis said. "I told everyone that it was completely up to you as I know you're probably exhausted from everything that happened, but we all wanted to at least spend the evening with you seeing as we lost so much time."
As kind as the thought and gesture was, even the very mention of food was enough to make Jasmine nauseous. Ever since she woke up in the hospital, she'd struggled with keeping down her food. But, given the fact that Noctis and the others would be gone for some time, it seemed like this was her only real chance to spend time with her team.
And if the past few days taught her anything, it was that no day was ever guaranteed.
Then, the thought hit her.
What if Noctis and the others went missing just like Ventus and Terra?
What if they ran into trouble on their mission and got hurt?
Or worse…
What if something happened to them that they couldn't bounce back from?
"Yeah," Jasmine said after thinking it over. "Let's do it."
Noctis' face lit up. "Now are you sure? We can do something small for you here if you like if you don't feel like going out."
"I think I can handle a dinner," Jasmine said, not completely sure she'd be up for the activity.
"Great…" Noctis set the blanket at the end of her bed for a moment. "Now, there's something else we need to talk about…"
'Oh boy,' Jasmine groaned internally, 'here it comes.'
"Once we rescue my father, the initial thought was to bring him back to Lucis. However, I think it would be better if he stayed here and recovered with SOLDIER surveillance."
Jasmine's stomach dropped to the floor. The king? Staying at her and Noctis' apartment?
"I think that's a good idea," Jasmine began, feeling uneasy about the arrangement. "But if that's the case, I should stay somewhere else."
Noctis looked appalled as if Jasmine had said something offensive.
"Why the hell would you do that?" He asked. "You live here. Why should you have to leave?"
Jasmine coughed. Truth be told, her voice was still shaky, and she'd definitely over-exerted herself today with all the conversations she'd had. Once the spell had passed, she gathered her thoughts.
"Isn't it a bit inappropriate? After all, it doesn't look good that we're living together in the first place. Wouldn't your dad think something was going on between us?"
It took everything in Noctis' power to keep him from making a face.
Either Jasmine genuinely didn't want to see him as anything other than a work partner or she was truly unaware of his advances towards her.
However, instead of having a reaction, Noctis kept his cool.
"Why would you have to move? And think about it: he'll have to go back to Lucis at some point. I just want him somewhere safe for the time being. Plus, I wanted him to meet the woman who saved his life. I want you two to get to know each other."
Jasmine opened her mouth to protest but immediately she started coughing uncontrollably, earning Noctis's rightful concern.
"Jasmine, you should get some rest," the prince urged, "but we did talk about this, remember?"
Noctis was right. Not long after Noctis' father had been found, the prince had brought up the idea of the king staying with them temporarily. Jasmine probably wasn't thinking about that in light of what happened and forgot about the conversation entirely.
"Don't worry," he said softly, hoping to reassure her. "He's going to love you. As a matter of fact, I think the two of you will get along really well."
The idea of the Queen's Candidate conversation popped back into Jasmine's head and her stomach twisted up.
"You think so?" She asked after that stream of coughs subsided.
"Of course," Noctis replied with a warm smile. "Now, you should lay down and get some sleep. You can try eating again later. Tifa made something for you and once you wake up, you can eat, take your medicine and go back to sleep."
Jasmine fiddled with her sheets, unable to take it anymore. She had to get to the bottom of this Queen's Candidate nonsense as well as finally get a straight answer from Noctis as to why he'd been treating her so differently over the last few months.
"Noctis, when were we gonna talk about what we started at the hospital?" She asked earnestly.
"You need your rest," the prince said simply, not wanting to go deep into this right now. "We have all day tomorrow. Anything you wanna know, I'll gladly tell you then. But you've had a long day and I don't want to start up a long conversation."
Jasmine grimaced inwardly.
Tomorrow would be the day then.
Noctis wasn't going to budge on this Queen's Candidate thing and fighting him on it would be useless.
Before Jasmine could say anything else, Noctis opened up the blanket and covered her body with it from her chest to over her feet.
"Now if it gets too hot, let me know and I'll take off your comforter," he instructed.
Jasmine immediately felt relieved as soon as Noctis tucked her in. It almost felt like her entire body was being embraced. It wasn't so light to where she could squirm around but it wasn't too heavy either. It felt…safe and comforting.
"Noctis," Jasmine said as her body began to relax, "thank you for thinking of me and taking care of me."
"Jasmine," Noctis said with an exasperated sigh. He kneeled down on one knee and placed a hand over where Jasmine's left hand was supposed to be. "For the last time, you don't have to thank me for doing what I'm supposed to do."
"But you're a prince," she protested. "You shouldn't have to wait on me."
"So what? I'm supposed to take care of people as a king, why wouldn't I start now?"
Jasmine pursed her lips.
His argument was solid enough.
"Besides," Noctis hesitated, seemingly unsure of himself at this moment, "I really care about you, Jasmine." He took a deep breath, turned to face her, and allowed himself to speak right from the heart. "You mean a lot to me and I want to get better at showing it to you if you'll let me."
Jasmine was taken back by how straightforward and sweet Noctis was being. Beforehand, if he did something nice for her, he barely acknowledged it or brushed it off as nothing. Now, he was actively communicating his desire to please her directly. "You mean a lot to me too," she confessed.
Noctis inhaled. While he was touched by her words, it was clear that she didn't fully grasp the weight of what he was trying to convey to her.
"It's more than that," Noctis explained. "Jasmine…I like you as more than a friend. I don't know if you already knew that, but that's how I feel. You're smart, you're strong and I think you're beautiful. I wanted to tell you for a while now, but I didn't know how to tell you."
"But Noctis," Jasmine said sadly, "we're not supposed to be together. What made you want to tell me now?"
"Honestly? I knew that if I didn't say it now, who knows when I would've been able to," he replied. "I was always going to tell you, but when I saw your SOS and heard you were in trouble I panicked. After everything that's happened, it made me realize that I could lose you. I just wish we weren't in this situation and I could've told you at a more appropriate time."
Jasmine hesitated.
She wanted to address the elephant in the room, but she struggled with getting over the shock of Noctis, aka Crown Prince Caelum of the Lucian Empire, confessing his feelings for her.
"Then," Jasmine trailed off, "where do we go from here?"
Noctis sighed and gave her a comforting smile. "It's up to you, Jasmine. I think you know what I want to ask you ultimately."
Jasmine inhaled sharply.
Here it was.
Axel and the others were right.
"However, I'm don't need an answer on that right now. That's something I wanted to address when I came back. I just wanted to tell you how I felt and see if you were at least interested in the idea of dating me."
Jasmine was at a loss.
She didn't know what to say or how to react.
And then, she recalled what Axel told her.
"I'm not telling you to jump into bed with the prince, but I do think you should give him a chance."
It was true. Jasmine wasn't romantically attracted to Noctis - at least not right now. Ever since she'd arrived at Radiant Garden, she'd been instructed to maintain her distance from him and keep things on a friendly basis – nothing more. And that's what she did.
But now things were different.
Noctis, the prince, was willing to put his contract with SOLDIER on the line for a shot with her.
"And if someone else is willing to give you better, I think that's the team to be on."
Jasmine knew deep in her heart that she wasn't ready for anything serious right now, especially in light of recent events.
But if Noctis, who for all in the world struggled at interpersonal relationships and communicating his feelings, was able to face his fears and tell her how he felt, then maybe, just maybe, she could give him a chance.
Jasmine took a deep breath.
"I don't know if I'm in the same place as you," she answered honestly, trying her best to cushion the blow.
Noctis cringed inwardly.
He half expected this.
After all, Jasmine had faced a great deal of scrutiny in the past for simply being linked to his team. He would've been surprised if she outright said that she had feelings for him too. Plus, Prompto had warned him earlier that he might face rejection.
"But," she said suddenly. Jasmine dug deep within herself to give Noctis a warm, kind smile despite the emptiness she felt inside. "I wouldn't mind giving it a chance. I just don't want SOLDIER finding out unless they have to, and I wouldn't want to start dating officially until you got back home."
Noctis breathed a sigh of relief.
It wasn't a full-on acceptance of the Queen's Candidate position, but there was at least a sliver of a chance of them having something more than a friendship.
"We can do that," Noctis told her, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "But…I really do think I should let you get your rest."
"Thank you, Noctis."
Feeling more confident than he had before, Noctis kissed Jasmine's cheek with zero hesitation.
"I'll check on you later," he said as he headed out. "Sleep well, Jasmine."
Finding herself at a loss for words, Jasmine just mumbled a short "okay" before Noctis left the room. Literally, no more than thirty seconds later, the door swung open again and Tifa appeared before Jasmine with a Cheshire cat grin from ear to ear.
She shut the door behind her and leaned against it, folding her arms over her chest.
"You made that man so happy," she teased. "Here I was thinking you'd turn him down. Only you could turn down a prince."
Jasmine snatched a pillow and immediately covered her face.
This was going to be eventful.
That much she knew for sure.
She didn't know much else.
But that part was very much obvious to Jasmine.