A/N: Heyo! So I wrote this originally as a one-shot-one-chapter sort of deal so the second part to this continues from this part! Sorry if it's confusing, but it seemed better to break it up like that... (^-^;) Also, the title of this comes from FF8's song "Eyes on Me" by Faye Wong.

PART I

LUNA

I don't know how I could miss him so much. His kindness. His patience. His courage.

Each night the roars of that daemon and the nausea of flight rip through my vision, sending a jolting shock through to my fingertips. A tight grip on my arm is all that keeps me from being devoured... Those steely green-grey eyes weighted with a burden of responsibility pierce me- urging me of something with such conviction... The intensity at the heart of his pupils... the humanity-those eyes- not of a Glaive... but of a king.

I wake up in a cold sweat, the smell of metal and flame still fresh in my nose. My senses are numb for an instant, everything settling in a misty haze...

There's an unmistakable fluorescence in my cavernous room; a calming, soft white which floods between the parting in the thick drapery shielding the window.

Luna...

I turn at the sound of my name, the drowsiness of sleep vacating as if it were never there, to begin with. The voice is one that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. It was a clear voice. Crisp and yet sonorous. Familiar. I scan the dark recesses where the shadows collect in the corners near the door.

No one.

Of course no one. Never anyone.

I allow the weight of sleep to pull at my eyelids again settling into the soft down of my pillow. Swallowing the cotton of the name that lies dry on my tongue, I fall victim to the void of sleep once more.

THE DUTY OF AN ORACLE

"Why does the girl weep?..." The softness of Gentiana's voice billows in from across the courtyard. Her tone: gentle, nonaccusatory...

"Ravus doesn't understand." I wipe my eyes before turning to face her. "He..." I brush my fingers one more time across my damp face. "He could never understand. If he could only see- see what I do, he might..."

"Be that as it may-"

"Is it so hard to understand?!" I cut her off and almost instantaneously feel ashamed.

A sudden gust rustles stray flowers from the field sending a sparse flurry of petals through the air.

"All... anybody ever wants is to stand beside their beloved... right...?" I exhale sharply, the sound clashing harshly against the calm of the air, the crispness stinging my lungs. I search her sorrowful eyes for an answer.

I wish there were an answer.

The leaves rustle and the dense flower thickets at my feet catch the brilliance of the fast approaching dusk. They shimmer with a dust of orange caught from the sky; their earthy floral fragrance intertwining with the gentle breeze that wafts to greet my nose.

I wipe the stray tears that have found their way to my cheeks once more before reaching down towards the familiar beauty of the blooms. With a gentle tug, the stem snaps in my fingers; the delicate blossom and crisp break flashes memories of happier times through my vision... Times with him... Our youth- our days here in Tenebrae too- filled with days of joy and little to worry over... The war: nothing but a faraway tale.

Petals catch gracefully on the hand of the wind as they flutter downfield.

"To laugh together... grow old together... to hold his hand and feel his closeness... even if it were just once more, Gentiana..." I let a stale breath out. Between my forefinger and thumb, I pass the velvety petal before releasing it to drift away. "If in his palm I could feel the promise of time- of happiness together... Together until we're old and frail..." My eyes burn and my vision blurs. "If I could feel that bliss and comfort just once more...The security of a future... I would have it in my heart to forgive my fate."

Meeting Gentiana's eyes pains me. That deep mahogany... with that unmistakable despair. That sorrowful expression has become commonplace these days.

"I speak of this too much." I resign. "It's a silly thing, isn't it? To get worked up over something I cannot change..."

"She is no different. She cries, she struggles, she loves... the Oracle is too a human. And as such, her love too has a bond unbreakable. The Chosen King knows her love..."

I nod. When Gentiana speaks, it only ever is the truth. There's no point in refuting.

"Longing for Noctis and worry over fate shared: that is what weighs heavy on her mind."

I nod again. Plagued by dreams of Nyx... daemons... the ring of the Lucii, there's little room for ignorance... I lay my hand over the pocket in my skirt where the ring resides.

Carrying the ring everywhere with me isn't doing me any service. I know it must find itself in the hand of its rightful owner...

As such is the duty of the oracle.

JOURNEY

I sit at the solid oak desk, imagining my speech for tomorrow... the words I've drafted onto the parchment long for something more.

More feeling.

More life...

All things I can't find in myself right now.

The gleam of the crystal in the small box to the side of my memo and that's all it takes for me to draw the ring into my hands. I run my fingers along the engravings of the relic shrouded in omen. Feel the closeness to Nyx... to Lucis... and the countless Kings taken at the mercy of that glimmer encrusted at its center.

I'm startled out of my trance as the vibrations of an incoming call sound out against the hollow wood of the bureau. I set down the cursed ring to tend to the buzzing.

The profile icon of Prompto riding a Chocobo grins up at me.

"Pff, " I stifle a laugh. That photo always gets me.

"Heya! You picked up! (Noct, Noct! Wake up!)" I imagine him elbowing Noctis in the face to wake him.

Prompto's energy... The mention of Noctis too... it brings warmth to my face to imagine Prompto harassing him out of a midday nap.

"Let him sleep, it's alright," I giggle.

"Hear that?! Noct! She knows you're sleeping! You shouldn't let your bride-to-be think you're lazy~!" His voice is a bit distant like he's holding the receiver a ways from his face.

"It's really alright, we can say 'hi' when you all arrive here in Altissia," I reassure him, knowing full well all I'm saying is going in one ear and out the other for Prompto.

There's a harsh brush of noise against the receiver on the other end and scuffling noises.

"Hey, I'm awake so let's say 'hi' now."

His voice... It makes my heart skip beats...

("The most romantic thing you can say, huh Noct?" Definitely sounded like Gladious in the background.) There's some laughing, a 'shut up' flies and then he returns to me.

"Sorry." He mutters. He lowers his voice before continuing. "You... you know I've missed you."

("Ooooh Noct's being all lovey dovey~" Prompto that time. That elicits another 'shut up' through gritted teeth. ) I stifle a laugh myself.

"We'll have plenty of time to catch up when you arrive. You rest up... it's been a long journey for you hasn't it..."

I hear the smile in his voice this time as he continues, "Ha-! Well, it's more like we're about to have a lifetime to catch up with each other. I mean, I don't really plan on missing another day without you once I get there."

I rub the back of my neck where the heat seems to have collected. He's always been one to say the most romantic things while completely oblivious. "I'm sure if you told all that you've been up to it'd be enough to last a couple of years!"

"Probably longer." That warmth again in his voice radiates fondness even over the line.

There's a pause and the mood changes along with it.

"Hey listen, it's not been easy... For you, I mean," He says. "With Ravus...he probably-"

Whether it's the handling of the siege or the wedding Ravus has more of a problem with... "knowing Ravus, he most definitely doesn't approve."

"I'm alright." I give him a reply too quickly and he catches on just as easily.

"I know... But Cor said you were there."

By there, I know he means Lucis and he most definitely is speaking of the siege. There's no denying; I was there. There to watch King Regis, his father, be slain at the hand of General Glauca. There to watch Nyx make the ultimate sacrifice. There to turn back on the nation that took me in... and abandon the very people that looked after me as one of their own.

I faintly hear his exhale on the other end and realize he's waiting for me to confirm. "L-let us speak of that... In person..." I swallow the lump in my throat and shove the words out quickly.

Part of me is scared... If he blames me for what happened there... I'm just not ready to hear it...

The other part of me is terrified to give him that cursed ring.

There's some hesitation in his voice before he sighs loud enough into the receiver to make me draw my ear away from the speaker. "Ahhhh, Luna." From the sound of the rustling, he must be raking his hand through his hair. "Just... don't hold anything back, okay?" He leaves it at that, knowing I wouldn't say anything with prying ears on his end.

"Of course." I try to swallow my unease.

After a moment of tense silence dissipating into a comfortable quiet, I can hear the hypnotic slosh of waves against plaster."You're on your way here?" I feel the tug of a smile at my lips. "I mean... on the boat- finally?"

"Yup, we're on the water now. Just a sea away~"

"Well, we'll sea each other soon enough then," I grin.

"Ugh, not you too...!" He sighs but laughter seeps in, "You know, I can't catch a break between you and the guys making puns."

I sputter and roll my eyes, "Do have a safe journey, Your Highness."

For some reason it feels like the sooner I wrap up our conversation the sooner I'll see him in the flesh.

"Wait Luna- you still there?"

"Yes-?" I wouldn't just hang up-

His voice is low, close to the receiver. "I love you."

My mouth goes dry.

"W-what?" His hushed tone finds itself in my own voice.

"I love you. Can't wait to see you again."

Saying it twice?! He really must be tired.

I can't even recall if I said bye... maybe he did, but all my mind could circle around were those words... and the sinking weight of the omen clouding the skies of Altissia.