"I'm guessing you didn't tell Riku that you and Noctis were going out," Tifa surmised as the pair sat down for dinner.

Jasmine grimaced and gripped her fork tighter. While she intended to bring the subject up (hence the main reason why Jasmine called him over), they never touched that topic. She and Riku seemed to finally be on solid ground, and it almost didn't feel right bringing it up at that moment.

"No," she replied as she went back to eating her vegetables. "I didn't talk about the Ventus thing either."

Tifa reached for the glass of white wine to her right and pursed her lips. "Wasn't that what you wanted to talk to him about anyway? Were you gonna bring up Ven too?"

"Not really," Jasmine admitted. "It seemed like we needed to clear the air first. Oddly enough, it was the first truly civil conversation we've had in years. I figure it'll just come up naturally."

Tifa took a sip, her eyes lighting up when Jasmine told her about her chat with Riku. "Well, I'm happy that you'll be hanging out with your friends. It'll be good for you."

Jasmine tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and stared at her picked-over plate of food. Earlier, she'd been somewhat excited about hanging out with her friends. But now that Riku was gone, the uneasiness she felt earlier seemed to resurface.

"It's been so long," Jasmine picked her knife and started slicing small, bite-sized pieces of what was left of her steak. "I just hope it's not awkward. We keep trying to be friends but it's just not the same."

Before Tifa could offer Jasmine any advice the doorbell rang.

"Who is that supposed to be?" Jasmine asked.

Tifa got up and carried her glass of wine with her. "That would be Axel," she informed Jasmine. "He said he was gonna drop by tonight to check on you."

"That's nice of him," Jasmine remarked blandly.

Tifa flashed Jasmine a smile. "He cares about you, Jaz. Don't sound so surprised."

When Tifa disappeared to let Axel in, Jasmine pulled out her phone and checked her messages. At the very top of her notifications was a text from Noctis. He told her earlier he'd be calling her later with news about the king.

Glancing over her shoulder before she did so, Jasmine opened the text.

'Let's do a video call after dinner. Are you going to be up much longer?'

Jasmine read the time at the top of her phone screen. It was only 6 o'clock. While she was admittedly tired from her chat with Riku earlier in the day, she knew she needed to talk to Noctis.

On and off since he'd been away, she found herself missing a lot of his calls and messages. It wasn't like she was ignoring him on purpose. She was recovering. But she didn't want him to think that she was blowing him off.

After all, they were in the very early stages of dating.

'I'll be up a little longer. Axel's here so I'll let you know when I'm free, then we can hop on a call. That okay?'

Jasmine sent the message and Noctis replied so fast that she didn't even have the chance to put her phone down.

'That's perfect. Just let me know.'

Before Jasmine could reply, she felt a looming presence hanging over her shoulder. She turned around and, to her ire, saw Axel hovering over her as she texted Noctis.

"Aww," he teased, his bright green eyes shining mischievously. "Are you texting your boyfriend? Be sure to add LOTS of hearts," he snickered.

Jasmine side-eyed the redhead and scooted away from him. "Don't you have someone else to bother?"

Instead of taking offense, Axel burst into a fit of laughter and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Nope. Just you, Cat Eyes. Though I will say you have a bit more spunk today. I'm glad to see it." The redhead pulled up a chair next to Jasmine and smiled as Tifa handed him a glass of red wine, thanking her as she did so. "How's it going?"

"About the same honestly," Jasmine replied. "The doctors didn't tell me anything new."

Axel took a steady sip from the glass. "Are you gonna get a second opinion?"

"That's the plan," Tifa answered, taking a seat across from Axel. "Next week we're gonna see someone else."

Axel set the wine glass down and leaned back in his chair. "I'm gonna see a different specialist too."

"What location are you going to?" Tifa asked curiously.

"The one right outside of Traverse Town. They have pretty decent doctors who don't have their heads shoved up Tseng's ass. I figure they'll be able to be honest and tell me why the hell I'm coughing up blood."

Tifa looked to Jasmine, both silently acknowledging that as one of Jasmine's symptoms. "We might want to try that one. It's worth a shot."

"Yeah," Jasmine said distantly.

Upon hearing Axel mention Traverse Town, Jasmine's body immediately became tense. Today was the first day she didn't have a nightmare about the incident. Perhaps (in part it) was because she didn't take a nap or maybe it was because she was too preoccupied with her visit with Riku. But now, the memories were slowly coming back to her at the mention of the "world".

Jasmine set her fork down and rested her hands in her lap.

Slowly and with caution, she asked Axel, "Have you heard anything about Terra or Ven?"

The room became pin-drop silent at the mention of the two. Tifa looked to Axel for answers while Jasmine kept her eyes glued to her hands. Axel cleared his throat and shifted in his seat so that he was directly facing Jasmine.

"Nothing yet," he replied sadly. "They're sending out teams this weekend for them. We should know more by Monday."

That wasn't the answer Jasmine was looking for.

But it wasn't bad news per se so she quickly moved on.

"What about Aqua?" Jasmine asked. "Is she awake yet?"

"Not yet. She's still in a coma so they're gonna keep her on Radiant Garden for treatment. If you like, I can take you down to see her," he offered.

Jasmine thought about it. Aqua didn't have much in the way of family from what she knew. And the few family members she knew of lived far away. It didn't take much for Jasmine to agree to go down there and see Aqua. She remembered what it was like to be alone in a hospital. Even if the girl was unconscious, Jasmine still wanted to be there for Aqua.

"I'd like that," Jasmine said finally.

"And what about you?" Axel asked carefully. "How are YOU handling that?"

Jasmine raised an eyebrow in confusion, not knowing exactly what he was referring to. "What do you mean?"

Axel sighed. He hoped he wouldn't have to spell it out for her. "About Ven," he answered, his eyes darting quickly to Tifa and then back to Jasmine. "I know you guys were close…"

"Tifa already knows what happened between me and Ven. All of it," Jasmine revealed. "You don't have to be discreet for my sake."

The redhead looked to Tifa, who nodded her head to confirm. "Gotcha. I know we're supposed to be Team Noctis or whatever, but I still wanted to see how you were doing with that."

"Fine," Jasmine replied blandly.

Axel was taken back by how curt she was when Axel brought up Ven's name. Yes they'd had a falling out and yes, Jasmine was technically "seeing" Noctis, but even at the hospital, Jasmine didn't appear overly concerned about Ven. He expected her to be shaken up for sure but he also thought she would be a bit more worried than this.

"Well...since you're ignoring Tseng right now, he told me to give you a message. Once your month is up, he's gonna ask if you and your team wanted to try and find Ven and Terra," Axel explained. Before Jasmine could reply, Axel held up his hands. "We just wanted to put it on your radar. He doesn't need an answer right now."

Jasmine sighed heavily. "I'll think about it."

When Jasmine wasn't paying attention, Axel and Tifa exchanged confused glances.

It was almost as if Jasmine didn't want to go looking for Ventus. In fact, this was the first time since she got back that she even inquired about the two. This level of aloofness was very much unlike her.

Axel pursed his lips and studied Jasmine's unreadable expression.

Either something else had gone down between Jasmine and Ven that he didn't know about, or she was still not fully there.

He secretly hoped it was the latter.

"I know you're in recovery mode," Axel began, standing up and placing a hand on Jasmine's shoulder, "but remember this: Ven would go to hell and back for you if you went missing. I know you're trying to be loyal to the prince, but if anyone should be on this assignment, it should be you."

Jasmine tensed as she took in the weight of Axel's words.

While she understood what he was telling her, it was as if the gravity of it all didn't hit her yet.

"I…" Jasmine said carefully, "I just wanna get better first, Axel. That's all."

Knowing this was the best he was going to get for now, Axel let it go. "Understandable. Just keep that in mind, Cat Eyes. That's all I'm saying."

Later that night, Jasmine retreated to her room while Tifa and Axel chatted in the living room.

She wanted peace while she hopped on her call with Noctis and didn't want anyone walking in on her conversation.

Putting the talk with Axel behind her, Jasmine headed over to her desk and turned on the large, thin computer monitor. While it started up, she ran her hands through her hair and leaned forward, trying her best to put it up into a slightly neater bun. She didn't know what kind of environment Noctis was going to be in when he called and, if by chance one of the boys or someone else was nearby and could see her, she wanted to attempt to look somewhat presentable.

In truth, Jasmine had no idea why Noctis wanted to do a video chat. After all, they normally communicated through text or the occasional phone call. Why go through all the trouble when they were on a mission?

Jasmine loaded up the app she used to make video calls and didn't have to wait long before Noctis appeared on the screen in, what appeared to be, a hotel room.

"Hi Jasmine," the prince greeted calmly albeit nervously. "Thanks for calling."

Jasmine brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah," she said cautiously. "Of course. Is everything okay? How's the mission going?"

Just then, Noctis exhaled a deep sigh and once he finished, a look of relief washed over his face. "Everything is great: we found the king. He's safe now and resting in another room."

Jasmine's jaw dropped at hearing the news.

"You found him?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah," Noctis replied, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Your lead took us right to him. We had to break him out and it got a little messy but everyone is safe. He's a little banged up and he'll need to see a doctor, but he's fine."

Jasmine closed her eyes, thankful for the intel she'd gotten earlier.

"I'm glad to hear that," she said. She mustered up what little energy she had and offered the prince a smile. "I'm happy you were able to find him. I really am."

"We couldn't have done it without you," Noctis told Jasmine graciously. "You have no idea how much this means to all of us…to me…" he added softly.

Jasmine folded her hands in her lap and looked away from the screen for a moment to gather herself. "I was lucky. I'm just glad it worked out." She cleared her throat and turned back to the screen. "When are you coming back? I need to have the apartment prepped the day before you guys come back."

Noctis' smile faltered slightly.

"Well, that's why I wanted to talk to you…"

Jasmine's heart dropped all the way down to her stomach.

"We're going to stay out this way for another week," Noctis announced, easing Jasmine's nerves in one moment while shooting up her anxiety the next. "He wants to get back to the country, just to see the state of everything. After that we'll come straight back to Radiant Garden so he can recover."

Jasmine shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Don't you think we should get him back to SOLDIER where he'll be safe?"

Noctis leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Honestly? I said the same thing. But he really wants to see the country considering he's been locked up for years. He's stubborn – really stubborn, but part of me gets it."

Jasmine gave another sigh but made sure to keep her facial expression neutral. While she understood why the king would want to see his kingdom, it was risky for him to be out in the open after he'd JUST been rescued. After all, there were clearly people who wanted to hurt him and once he was out, they'd surely come looking for him.

And even though she'd never admit it out loud, Jasmine was ready for Noctis and the others to come home.

Just then, Noctis' face seemed to turn a light shade of pink, catching Jasmine off guard. She scooted closer to the screen just as Noctis turned his face away from her.

"My father asked about how we were able to rescue him so Prompto and the others told them about you," he said nervously.

A quick "oh" escaped Jasmine's lips and she fell silent.

"Don't worry, I didn't let Prompto get too carried away," Noctis reassured her, noticing how tense she'd become.

Jasmine breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good."

Noctis continued on. "I showed him your picture. He had questions but I told him we could talk about it tomorrow."

Jasmine's stomach flipped. There was a lot going on with just that one statement.

"Y-you," she stammered, "you showed him my picture?"

As the reality of what Jasmine said sunk in, the already red-faced prince became more flustered than she'd ever seen before.

"…was that wrong of me?" He asked sheepishly.

Jasmine crossed one leg over the other and struggled to find the words to say. She wasn't mad at him – quite the contrary. If anything, she was flattered that had a photo of her with him to begin with. AND to show it to his father without her asking?

"No," she answered softly. "I'm just…surprised."

Noctis cleared his throat in an attempt to change the subject. "Will you be alright for another week? I still don't feel right leaving you alone but I – "

Jasmine put up her hand to cut Noctis off. She already knew where he was going and wanted to stop him before he talked himself out of it. "You don't have to explain. I'll be okay," she reassured him. "I'll talk to Tifa and ask if she could stay a bit longer. And even if she can't, I'll be fine, Noctis."

The prince still wasn't convinced.

But he knew he really couldn't argue with her. After all, he had to stay with his father. Perhaps the extra week away would be good for everyone – including Jasmine.

"I'll talk to Tifa later on," he said after he mulled over the thought. "But even if she can't stay, I'll make sure you're taken care of."

Jasmine's face began to get hot again much to her dismay.

It had been some time since she'd received this kind of attention from someone (aside from Ventus to a degree). Thinking back on where she and Noctis began their partnership, she never in a million years would've imagined that they'd be anything other than coworkers or even friends. And now they were technically dating.

Noctis studied Jasmine's strange, thoughtful expression.

"Is something wrong?" he asked earnestly.

"No," Jasmine replied. "It's just that…if you would've told me when we first met that now we'd be…doing this," Jasmine lowered her voice pointed back and forth between herself and the monitor. "I'd say that you were insane. But…I really do appreciate the concern."

Noctis picked up on what Jasmine meant, thinking back on their early days as partners. They were both so distrustful of one another, always keeping to themselves and cordial at best. Noctis was more than a bit reserved while Jasmine was quite cold.

The prince inhaled and recalled one of their earlier conversations.

"You can be a difficult woman, but I know that you aren't as harsh as you like to put on."

"And I know you're not as harsh as you like to appear too. Seems to me like we both have things we'd like to keep hidden from one another."

Noctis scoffed.

How far they'd come indeed…

"I prefer this," Noctis admitted, albeit bashfully. "But," the prince switched subjects again, knowing he had to wrap up the conversation, "I'll let you go for the night. Once I talk to my father and figure out the plan, I'll let you know."

"Are you gonna visit your kingdom? Or are you staying on the outskirts?"

"At some point. My father really wants to go even though I'm not sold on the idea. But…it'll be nice to see home."

Jasmine nodded in understanding. Noctis hadn't been back to his homeland in a few years, ever since the capital city where he lived was attacked. It would be good for them to go back home, even if it was just temporary.

"Good," Jasmine said, offering the prince a small smile. "I'm glad you'll be able to go home for a bit. It'll be good for you."

"And once it's safe and everything has officially settled," Noctis started, "you'll be able to see it for yourself. You'll love the castle."

The thought of visiting Noctis' homeland, especially in light of recent developments, was a bit overwhelming. But Jasmine was careful to not let Noctis see her trepidation and did her best to exit the conversation tactfully. So, she used his earlier comment to her advantage and told him that she needed to get to bed.

"One day," she told him. "But you're right: I should go to bed. I'm sure you guys do too. Just keep me in the loop and let me know when you're coming back, that way I can take care of stuff here."

Noctis nodded his head in understanding. "I will. In the meantime, goodnight, Jasmine."

Jasmine muttered a quick "goodnight" before she clicked out of the video call.

Once she was sure the audio was off she gave a deep, heavy, exasperated sigh.

She didn't want to say it, but Jasmine had a sense that something bad was going to happen. She wanted him and the others to just come back to Radiant Garden. After all, the king (despite being in Noctis and the group's care) was still a target and very much in danger.

She just hoped that she was wrong about this "feeling" she had.

Trying to ease her mind, her thoughts shifted to another important topic: her visit with Riku.

Jasmine knew she should've told Noctis that Riku came by the apartment. If she were in his shoes, she'd want to know if he was spending time with an ex. But, as with Riku, it just didn't seem like the right time to force that conversation.

As a matter of fact, this presented an even bigger conversation: Jasmine coming clean to Noctis about her fling with Ventus.

Just thinking about that talk gave her a headache.

She'd been downplaying her "friendship" with Ventus to Noctis and the guys for a long time. While in the past she had every right to withhold information on her affair with the blond it would be wrong of her to continue with her…courtship, for lack of a better term, without coming clean about her past. And even though she wasn't technically lying when she said that she and Ventus were just friends, she definitely stretched the truth on that one and needed to apologize for gaslighting Noctis into thinking he was crazy for questioning how platonic that "friendship" truly was.

'This is gonna suck,' she thought grimly to herself. 'Let's hope Noctis doesn't have the same temper as Riku did.'

Author's Note: Hi all! Hope you've been well! It's definitely been some time but I think I finally got this chapter down where I wanted it to be. To be truthful, it's been hard balancing life even more so lately. But I do hope to not take so many long breaks.

In any case, I wanted to thank everyone who keeps reading, reviewing, sending messages and all that good stuff. I appreciate you guys.

rawrrbreee: I'm glad you enjoyed that Riku/Faye moment. We can only hope that the two of them matured during their time apart. Thank you for the review! I'm glad you enjoyed the double update!

Let me know what you guys thought of the last chapter. I always look forward to the messages and reviews. In the meantime, take care everyone!