Originally posted on my AO3.
Long A/N explanation dump:
I started this around the time I started the Uncle Ardyn AU "Ties and Binds" and partially because of an earlier AU where I have Noctis call Drautos "Uncle" so he can address something to Ardyn (with the implication he calls all of his father's friends something like that). As I've talked about in The Spare and elsewhere, I've been somewhat intrigued about how Drautos felt about Noctis/what he would have done to/with him if he'd lived because it's not super clear he also hated Noctis (who had yet to become King and had very little participation in Lucian politics in general, and therefore was, by Drautos' shaky as hell reasoning, not yet his real enemy).
So, yeah, Aulea was country bumpkin type nobility who met Regis while visiting Insomnia and they became friends, after the Wall was retracted, Regis went to help evacuate some people and saved Titus' life (since a vague version of that is canon), and Aulea ends up back in his life. They get married, Titus joins the Kingsguard, Aulea dies under suspicious circumstances, Titus loses more and more access to Noctis, and Titus' resentment of Regis increases year by year.
Also the irony of Noctis' two uncles by blood being who brought down Insomnia is just very fun.
(And I had the feeling that I was SURE I'd read a fic that had him as Aulea's brother and after a fairly long search to find which one, it was What Stays and What Fades by fallintosanity on AO3, though it's handled differently there)
1
"Titus, you made it."
He huffed out a laugh, shoving the bundle of flowers he'd brought along to have something with him at Clarus and continuing to the bed. "As if I would have missed this?"
Aulea looked exhausted, hair matted on her forehead and bags under her eyes. Her labor had been a long one, the only reason Titus had even made it back in time to visit as soon as they started letting other people inside the room.
"Come closer." He did, stepping right up to Regis' side, staring down at her and the bundle in her arms.
"You're well?"
"I'm fine, Titus, you can stop acting like I'm about to drop over any second. Finally. After months."
He scowled. "Aulea–"
"You can ask the midwife, if you're that concerned."
Some of his nerves dissipated at the words, she wouldn't be suggesting an expert's opinion if she wasn't actually well.
"Is that him?"
"Noctis Lucis Caelum," Aulea breathed out, brushing a hand over the surprisingly thick, dark hair on the babe's head. "Prince of Lucis." When he dragged his gaze from Aulea's son again, he shifted his arms enough to hold him out towards Titus. "Here, I bet he'd like to meet you."
"What? No fair, you're letting him have first dibs?" Sophiar joked.
Regis beside them shook his head, giving him a good natured glare. "He is Noctis' actual uncle, I think it's very fair."
That startled not just Sophiar, but most of the others, but Titus couldn't care less about what information they did or didn't lack. All he could do was take Noctis and hold him close, staring down at the tiny child in his arms as he stared back up at Titus, calm as could be.
It was hard to believe such a child could come from his little sister, who had been screaming at the top of her lungs as soon as they were capable of that and getting into every sort of trouble she could.
"Hello, Noctis," he murmured, voice soft in a way he never had to make it anymore. "I'm your Uncle Titus. I'm here to always keep you safe."