Final Fantasy XV - Kingdom Hearts

Part 57

Summary: Two warriors of Light, the Chosen King and Keyblade Master, face an unseen Darkness.

*Three days later…*

With a pain-filled hiss, Noctis weakly cracked open his eyes. Smells of sterilized air filled his nostrils; the comfort of a warm bed enveloped his body with gentle hums of machines beeping beside him. He hears the voices of people around him, yet they all faded into the background when a warmth spreads from his forehead to his torso.

A light sigh of relief leaves his dry mouth while his fuzzy vision clears up. A gentle glow hangs over his eyes with a warmth radiating from it and familiarity. When his vision is cleared, above him he sees a face he never knew he'd dreamed of seeing so soon, along with that loving smile.

'Good morning', greets Lunafreya, smiling softly.

Noctis breathes out her name, his voice hoarse and dry while tainted by sleep. This prompts Lunafreya to hand him a glass of crystal-clear cold water and with her aid, he guzzles it down in a matter of seconds. Once his throat was moist and after a cough or two, followed by a hiss of pain, Noctis looks down at his form and sees he is close to looking like a mummy with all the wrapping. He spots patches of dried blood with the itchy sensation of what he believed were stitches holding him together, irritation on his sleeping legs.

He looked around to see the room is small enough for just one patient, a window overviewing the city on his left with the jasmine-scented air with the sun slowly setting. The room itself is closer to a hotel room with how comfortable it appeared and were it not for the machines and smells Noctis thought he was on a holiday with Lunafreya.

Noctis looks at his light as she strokes his hair. 'I hope you had a pleasant slumber', she says, 'After what has occurred'. The king grunts out weakly, still in aching pain as his lover gentle assuages his worries. 'How…did you get here?', he asked, laying down. 'Cindy had returned to Eos for my assistance once the battle had been won', explains Lunafreya, 'The moment this Genesis and the heartless had been routed, she came back under the request of the mayor'. Noctis looks at the woman's attire as she explained.

A huge far cry from the normally regal look she always dons, even with her adventuring clothes back on Eos. A simple pink t-shirt with terrible colors that spelled something, but he couldn't for the life of him understand it. A pair of shorts that were (to his secret delight) short for her, exposing her wonderful legs with a belt. Truth be told she looked closer to a slumber party then visiting him in this fancy hospital.

He must have been staring for some time because the previous Oracle looks down at her attire with a hue of pink, clearing her throat. 'M-My own clothes are being washed at this moment, one of Sora's friends loaned me these…', she explains with clear embarrassment in her voice, 'I believe it was… "Yuna" who gave me these'. Noctis rolled eyes his eyes, she couldn't have gone to Aerith or…anyone else?

She clears her throat and looks back up to him. 'I must admit, when they told me of your condition, I feared the worst', she says as she gently strokes his dirty hair. He sighs in peace when he feels her soft fingers brush through his hair and massage his scalp gently, missing this from just those few days apart from her. He didn't want to imagine how bad his state was, even Ardyn hadn't put him on the edge like this where he had to be hospitalized.

'How long was I out?', he asks, hoping to keep those negative thoughts from plaguing the woman. At this question, the former bride of his majesty's smile turned into a cheeky smirk. 'Oh nothing out of the ordinary, merely three days', she says with a casual tone. 'Oh? Just three? Heh, guess I wasn't that tired…', sighed Noctis, chuckling. His smile faded as forlorn takes over his mood, sinking into the bed as he stared up at the ceiling. His silence takes away the smirk from the woman as she frowns.

The fight with the man in red, the power he displayed was nothing the king ever dreamed could exist. His royal arms reduced to worthless tools, every trick he had thrown out the window, and the gap of power between them only deepened his doubts about the battle that is coming forth. Shame settled in his stomach that he had to rely on Sora to once more save him, and even then had it not been Sora, either Aqua or Riku could have been the ones to put that man down.

Noctis looks at his right hand, clenching it in frustration. If that is the power of someone not allied with Xehanort, then just how powerful were he and his Organization? Would he even stand a chance against them in this state now?

His thoughts broke apart when he looked at his right hand, a horrible memory replayed in his mind along with a scream in the back of his mind. 'Prompto…', he gasps. 'PROMPTO!'. He shoots up in his bed, in his haste he not only startled Lunafreya but irritated his wound. He gasps out in pain, clutching it as Lunafreya quickly holds him down by the shoulders. 'Noctis, please! You're still-

'Luna! Prompto! H-he needs' starts the king, but his words were halted by a knock on the door. 'Luna? Everything ok in there?'. Noctis turned to the door as Lunafreya helps him lie back down with a small pout. 'Yes, Prompto, please come in', she said with a small sigh. The door opened with Prompto using his elbow and back against the door, looking like he was carrying something in his arms…arm.

'Sorry I was late', apologized the gunner, 'Donald and Goofy needed some help with some of the supplies'. He turned around with a little jump to keep his balance, grinning brightly at Noctis. 'Noct? Hey! When did you wake up?', he asked.

The king's jaw was hanging, the man looked perfectly fine and his attitude was…well, Prompto. He shakes his head as memories kept hammering in his head about what happened. 'Prompto…I, I'm sorry', he says weakly. Prompto blinked, then made an "oh" look on his face, his bright smile gone and in its place was a look. He frowns as he approaches his king, 'Yeah, that was pretty freaky huh? I mean…it was all a blur for me', he laughs weakly.

That was putting it very mildly, and Noctis knew the guy was trying to lighten the atmosphere between them. After all, it was because Noctis had been in a situation that he couldn't get himself out of and Prompto had paid for his shortcomings. Lunafreya had said nothing during their exchange, likely letting them speak as she quietly sat on the chair. Prompto puts down the bag of food on the small table by the bed, likely breakfast or lunch for her grace, not facing Noctis. Noctis could not even imagine seeing his friend's stump.

'Noct…what happened wasn't your fault, ya know?', says the gunner. Noctis didn't look at him, eyes glued to the end of the bed as his best friend turned his head to him. Prompto heaves a sigh as he runs his left hand through his hair. Letting it fall to his side, he playfully punches the king's arm. 'You'd do it for me, and probably act all cool and say "meh, just a flesh wound", wouldn't you?', he teases. Noctis' lips twitched; he wasn't entirely wrong on that. '…I'd probably be a lot worse than you are right now', confesses the king.

'Nah, you've got Iggy! You could have no arms or legs and he'd turn it into a miracle of laziness!', joked the gunner. Noctis snickers before he shudders, that was not an image he needed in his life. 'Besides, all things considered. It worked out!', Prompto says confidently. When Noctis turned his head to look at him, to his shock he sees Prompto lifting a new limb for a right arm.

The limb was entirely robotic, but unlike those shows where it looked cartoonishly like a cannon, it is a black metallic skeletal limb with several blue and red wires that looked like veins. He sees what looked to be a socket around where his elbow used to be with some patches of bruises and some scarring. Prompto flexes his metal skeletal fingers, making like clinking noises before his wrist rotates entirely as he grinned.

'Check this out! Cindy and Cid made this for me!', he says with the glee of a child, 'A freaking robotic limb!'.

Noctis stares at the limb before looking at the smiling Lunafreya, shrugging in response. 'I was told about his predicament, and after healing him Cindy immediately went to work on his limb', she explained. Prompto grinned at his king as he clenches his metal limb, saying: 'This is just the skeleton work, Cindy's finishing off the structure with some kickass stuff!'. Noctis laughs, shaking his head while a large weight lifts from his chest as he grinned at his best friend.

'Holy shit…your dream came true, you're halfway to becoming a Jedi…', Noctis jokes. Prompto's smile grew even more, not as big as Sora's smiles but close enough. 'Dude…do you think Aqua knows any telekinetic powers? *GASP* Maybe she can teach me how to fight like a Jedi!?', he asked. The king shakes his head as he laughs with Prompto's ramblings, then he looks at a visibly confused Lunafreya as she watches the exchange between them.

The divine woman looks to the king for answers to this banter, which prompted Noctis to say: 'A movie he loves to watch'. Lunafreya makes an "ahh" noise before nodding with lingering confusion on her face. He turned back to Prompto when the blond lifts a chair over to the bed and settles down before Noctis, his smile dampened. 'So…a few things happened since you went for your nap', Prompto says.

*Fifteen Minutes later…*

Once Prompto had finished the summary of their current predicament, the king grunts out in frustration just as Lunafreya finishes healing him. After Sora had defeated Genesis, what remained able fighters had cleansed the city of heartless and any traces of Maleficent's forces had quickly been dealt with.

Much of the destruction was being handled by the workforces of the city, with Zack leading the construction work while Cid was fixed on repairing the town's defenses, something on the lines of making sure not even another MCP could take down their systems. What that meant went over the three's heads but so far after the rebooting nothing has been seen and very likely whatever caused the town to lose their defenses had been dealt with.

Then came the news of Ardyn…

'And Sora was sure he's working with Xehanort now?', Noctis questions as he got dressed behind the curtains. 'Yup, golden eyes and everything', Prompto affirmed, 'But Aqua says Sora didn't say anything else before he collapsed'.

Not surprising given how bad the boy's state was from what Lunafreya told him. He hated how worried she looked when describing his condition and judging from her relief when she told him he'd live to see another day strongly implied he was just an inch away from meeting his old man. 'How the hell did he survive against me and Sora? We beat the hell out of him and even took the blight from him!', the king says as he throws on a jacket left for him.

'It is possible when the keyhole was revealed it only took away the blight', Lunafreya theorized, 'However we cannot discount that Xigbar may have anticipated this outcome and perhaps, rescued Ardyn'.

'So what? You think that one-eyed creep planned on bringing Ardyn into the fray, to begin with?', Prompto asks as his metal wrist started to rotate again. He groans and tries to make it stop as Lunafreya replied. 'It is possible after he discovered Noctis carried a keyblade, he believed it'd be wise to bolster the Organization with someone who could match the king'.

Throwing on the jacket, Noctis walks around the curtain to join the other two. 'How are the others?', he asks as they leave the room. Once Lunafreya assured the blonde gunner that their king is fit for walking anyways, they leave the room and Prompto guides them to Sora's room. 'Well Donald and Goofy were a little roughed up but they've been helping Mickey deal with any of the heartless still hanging around the city, so I guess they're doing good', he explains.

'Axel's been mostly hanging around with Tifa and Irvine with some repairs here and there. Riku and Sora are still in their beds, taken a worse beaten than any of us'. Noctis frowns with worry but he turned to Lunafreya once she takes his hand and graces him with a loving smile. 'Luckily for them, they have been monitored by Aerith and Aqua', she assures, 'Their magic has healed their most severe wounds'.

The three walked down the hall of what Noctis learned to be the main castle, with many workers and doctors with their nurses racing down to meet their patients and a few of the guards were either stationed at the doors of certain patients or were patrolling. After the battle, many of the more severely wounded party members were immediately transferred to the castle's medical ward not just for better comforts and easier workplaces for the doctors but also to keep them safe.

From what Prompto was told Cid had designed a powerful security system that could track anything that even breathed darkness and all the guards here were trained by Zack himself to be efficient and capable of dealing with any heartless that could be bold or stupid enough to make their way here. When asking about his royal retinue, Prompto says after Noctis was safe and taken care of, Gladiolus had offered to act as a bodyguard for Riku and Sora while Ignis lent a hand or two to the RC and their search and rescue operations.

'Oh? So he leaves his king to fend for himself?', Noctis jokes with sarcasm. 'Pfft, no! We had Luna act as a bodyguard for you!', Prompto says with confidence. At this titbit of information, he glanced at Lunafreya's smiling face that was adorned with hues of red. 'A-a choice that, in hindsight, may not have been the wisest…but we had little options…', she muses quietly while shyly ducking away from Noctis' smirking face.

'I never felt safer…', Noctis praises with a gentle pat on her back.

As they reached near the end of the hall, Noctis spots Gladiolus standing in front of likely Sora and Riku's room. He had his arms crossed and back against the door with his head down, glaring at the floor with his fists clenched tightly over his arms. When they got closer to him he raises his head to greet them with a firm nod.

'Up and at them?', he asked Noctis. 'Think I've had enough of a snooze…', the king says with mild amusement, 'You ok?'.

'Other than losing another shield and getting my ass handed to me by another super-powered rock star? Peachy', he grunts out, pushing himself off the door. He opened the door for them to enter with him in tow. Inside the room was much bigger than Noctis given there is two bed occupying the room, a large window showing off the city and landscape of the world beyond the walls. The room carried a warm scent of vanilla with low music being played over the head of the occupants.

He sees Sora and Riku in their beds, both awake to make small talk with Aerith, Aqua and Kairi. The princess of light was beside Sora, talking to him while holding a bowl of soup for him while Riku was going over the recent changes that had occurred since the battle concluded with Aqua frowning with worry with each new update she revealed to the two boys. When the door closed, they all looked at the royal party, Sora giving the king and Prompto big grins and a wave.

'Hey there!', he says before flinching in pain. Kairi places the soup on the lamp table near them and immediately places her hands on him with worry and a frown. 'Hey now, remember Aerith said no strenuous movement!', Kairi lectured as she gently lays him back down. The boy chuckles as a sheepish smile appeared on his face at the pouting redhead. The other occupants just snickered at the strictness of Kairi, surprised she wasn't watching over him like a hawk.

Aqua turned on the four with a tired smile. 'I'm glad to see you've woken up, Noct', she greets, 'You had us worried'. Noctis smiles back at her with a nod. 'I know. Thanks for rescue', he says with a small bow to the master. She, in turn, grants a warmer smile before turning to Prompto and Gladiolus. 'And you two? Anything come up?', she questions.

'Other than my new scar itching?', Gladiolus grunts out with scratching that healed mark, 'Think my feet fell asleep earlier'. Noctis glances back at him, looking at his newly acquired scar that rests as a slash on his six-pack. It had healed as far as he can see and there were smaller marks on him that would fade away over time. 'Just be grateful it wasn't your face again, I doubt Aqua could stomach any more of it if she had to wake up that every day', Noctis teases.

Gladiolus scoffs at this with a smug look. 'I'm still wondering how Luna wakes up to your grouchy ass', he counters, 'It's like waking up a bear'.

'Least she's got something handsome to look at it', replied Noctis.

'Pfft, Aqua happens to like my scars', says Gladiolus.

'…they are attractive, I admit…', Aqua quietly says low enough for Aerith and Riku to hear. Even the princess of Tenebrae couldn't help but giggle at the two bantering, placing a hand on her lips to quiet her giggles. 'Oh Gladio, Noctis is more akin to a cat if we are to compare him to animals', she remarks, 'I'd often wake to find him cuddling into me'. This elects laughter from the party, especially when Noctis turned bright red and crosses his arms, growling at them all. 'Why'd you tell them that?', he questioned.

'Because you DO act like a cat!', Lunafreya teases, 'I'm surprised I don't hear you purr whenever you cuddle with me!'.

'I DO NOT ACT LIKE A CAT!', growled the king. 'You are certainly picky with your food, like a cat', Riku remarks with a grunt, 'I've never met anyone with such fussy eating habits'. 'When did this turn into "pick on Noct" day?', questions his majesty, running a hand through his hair.

Aqua giggles as the party continues to tease the cat king while she looks at Prompto and his limb. 'What about you? How's your hand?', she asks with genuine concern. He nodded to her as he raises his hand and twists his wrist. 'Still feels pretty weird', he confesses, 'Cindy says she's working on making it look, ya know, normal? But it's still in the rough stages of development'. He goes into detail about how it took him an entire day to adjust to not being able to feel things with the metallic limbs while after several failed attempts of trying to hold a cup and even grab things.

'Kinda nervous of using a gun with this…', Prompto says with a nervous smile. At that, Aqua frowns as she uncrosses her arms with a sigh. 'That…brings us to our current problem', she says. The tone shifts as all eyes went to the blue-haired master. She retells the others what Sora had been told by Ardyn, about how they had seven days to prepare for the war to commence, and now they were down to four days remaining.

'And you're sure you couldn't get an idea on what's changed with that guy?', Gladiolus asks Sora, 'Anything off or weirder?'. Sora shakes his head as Kairi begins to finish off the healing at long last. 'I couldn't get an idea on him…', he says with a sigh, 'But I was pretty worn out…'.

'Either way, Xehanort has another vessel with him', Aqua states, 'One who is potentially as strong if not stronger then Noctis'. 'And for all we know, Xigbar could have amplified his power with the darkness at his disposal', Riku added as he gets out of the bed. 'All the more of a reason to get started on the training, right?', Noctis asks looking at the masters, 'I mean, how long are we gonna get in that place?'.

'Before? It'd be a month per day inside', Aqua explained, 'But after Sora told us the time limit, I asked Merlin if there were a way for him to slow down time even more for us'. She gestures to Aerith, 'Thanks to Fairy Godmother and Merlin, they have found a way to slow down time for us within the forest'.

'So instead of getting one month in a day…we get a year', Riku sighed. 'A year!? In just one day!?', Prompto said, grabbing his hair, 'How the heck are we gonna survive!?'.

Aqua rolls her eyes at him. 'We're not going in with supplies, Prompto', she chastises, 'Merlin has already prepared several methods of supplies for us, along with other conveniences'. After she managed to track down the spoony wizard and gave him the rundown of their situation and after he extended the longevity of the forest, he used his magic to create magical household appliances like fridges and freezers for them.

The best thing about them was simple, they would replenish after a day, basically creating an unlimited supply of food for years on end. And of course, Ignis was the one who listed off the supplies they'd be needing and may have added extra vegetables. She had a wondering feeling that perhaps in the year of being together they might finally convince Ventus and Noctis to eat their vegetables. Unlikely she feared but stranger things have occurred.

'But we won't be starting today or tomorrow…', she says with a sigh. 'Why not?', Sora asks, letting Kairi unashamedly ruffle his hair. 'Well first off, I need to go back to Land of Departure', Aqua explains, 'If we're going to be training Noct to use the keyblade more efficiently along with Kairi, Ven, and Axel, then we'll need the books and a few lessons Eraqus had left for us'.

'Do they include summoning tea-cups that attack heartless and summoning giant lions of fire?', Noctis asks with a smirk. This makes the former Oracle look at him with a bizarre look before turning to Sora. Kairi grinned. 'Magical tea-cups!', she cheers. 'No', Aqua said deadpanned, 'I…never knew we could do that'. She clears her throat and resumes, 'But aside from that there are some lessons that could be taught to Gladio and the others, such as magic and other methods of combat'.

'Like the ones you and Donald use?', Gladiolus asked. She nods. 'But more then that, the three of you will need to train your bodies', she elaborates, 'This way whatever training we take on you can join suit'.

'Least that way you guys can take hits just like we can', Riku adds in with wisdom.

'Okay, but why can't you guys go today?', Sora asks. Aqua sighed tiredly while running a hand through her hair. 'Rikku and Yuffie…have already organized a party to celebrate the victory', she groaned.

'Ooh fun!', Kairi said with a smile, 'Wonder what they have in mind for it?'.

*Night*

Looking back on her words Kairi realized that maybe she should have considered the difference of ages when parties are involved.

After everyone had gathered up and healed, they arrived at Tifa's bar with the other members of the RC had already arrived. The moment they entered Kairi realized that this party wasn't just a regular fun type where there'd be cakes, sodas, and small get-togethers. Her naivety is truly something to pity had anyone not known her so well or worst of all think she's worse than Sora's naivety. The first thing she noticed was the worrying fact Rikku and Yuffie were already intoxicated.

And from what Leon had told her, they went through a bottle together. Lightweights…

Next, she sees the food was expensive-looking without the Ignis touch (which was a disappointment since she misses his cooking). The music was loud and more upbeat, the sort Gladiolus remarks you'd hear in some night club and given the explicit language that spewed from it Kairi was surprised Aerith was perfectly fine with it. Maybe it was because she was too busy keeping an eye on Yuffie and prevent her from stealing.

That explains why Leon threatened to tie her hands up and leave her outside…

So far the princess had been trying to keep close to her friends, more so with Sora who is equally uncomfortable as she is. Everybody else bar the lack of residents from Disney Castle who had to go back for something. Not sure what the story was but from what Kairi could glean from the short interaction she had with them before they left, it was mostly a precaution to protect their home from Maleficent.

Standing against a table with an assortment of party food and drinks with her hands fiddling together as she tried to adjust to the noise. It was like she stumbled into the wrong building given how out of place she felt. Her eyes scanned the bar that on the surface and truthfully wasn't one of those scummy filthy hole bars for degenerates, if anything were it not for the music and booze Kairi would even say it was homey.

Tifa took over this place after her search for Cloud turned up fruitless and started to turn it into a home/working place. Good reputation too from what Aerith says, and any drunken brutes that would often plague a nice place like this were often dealt with swiftly by the owner. She spots Axel chatting up with Riku and Ignis by the counter as Tifa, inebriated after her sixth glass. The woman kept screaming "Seventh Heaven", slurred and as excited as a kid while Ignis, ever the gentleman, kept her from collapsing or smash her face-first into the counter.

At least Axel wasn't drinking like nearly everybody else she thought, the man had a rather strong dislike to the stuff. She asked him why and he says it had something to do with Xaldin scarring him with alcohol horror stories. That was enough for her.

Nearby a window she spots Prompto hanging out with Cindy, Cid, and Leon, making small talk while Cindy was going on and on about the robot limb she was working on for Prompto. Based on her excited she was talking and all her hand gestures, Kairi wondered if that was just her being super excited or like almost everyone, she was slightly or heavily drunk.

Surprisingly after two hours in Noctis and Lunafreya had retired to their room. Kairi figured all this was a bit much for the poor Oracle given her little experiences with social gatherings as such. Lucky her, she gets to snuggle with her boyfriend while everyone else (mostly her very likely) had to force themselves through this. Leaning against the table with a huff, she turned to see Sora appear before her with two red cups.

'Sorry I took a while', he apologizes whilst handing her a drink, 'Had to get past a clingy Yuffie…'. Kairi nods in understanding, she was clung to by Yuffie earlier and it took Aerith tickling her to free the poor redhead. Looking at her drink with a sudden surge of concern tackling her, seeing it was a cherry-colored liquid. She looked at Sora who equally had hesitation in his eyes, both wondering if there was a substance of alcohol within the drinks.

'Do you think Aerith is right about these being the only non-alcoholic beverages?', Kairi questioned. Those movies where the drinks were spiked by other stupid students suddenly plays in her mind before Sora scratched his neck. 'Well…I mean, Rikku and Yuffie were pretty drunk when we came here, so maybe they didn't get around to it yet?', he suggests. Kairi didn't put it past those two for being reckless, but a part of her figured one small drink wouldn't hurt.

With reluctance and after a quick count to three, the two keyblade users took swigs of their drinks. Immediately the drink tasted way too sweet for Kairi's tongue, but she drank the whole thing down because the heat of the bar had made her very thirsty and while sweet it tasted nice. After that, the two teens cough from quickly swallowing their beverages, shuddering. 'WHOA…that was sweet…', Sora groaned.

Kairi nodded wholeheartedly, but after the drink settled in her stomach, she sighed and felt warmer. 'That was nice…', she mused, looking at her empty cup. Licking her lips, she turned behind her to see the exact drink was in a large bowl right behind her, they must have had more than one, and she grabbed the ladle and scoops up another cup's worth. This makes Sora raise a brow at her as she scoops up another and offered it to Sora.

'We may as well enjoy ourselves', she says, 'After tomorrow we're gonna be working our butts off to get ready for the clash'. Seeing her point Sora allows his own to be refilled…

Nearby with her cup of Radiant Garden's finest brew, Aqua smiled and listens intently to the exchange between Gladiolus and a very drunk Yuffie. The shield mostly adding his own two munny to Yuffie's rant about how despite being outgoing, cheerful and cute she has yet to land a quote: "Smoking hot boyfriend". Gladiolus smirked at Aqua as he jokingly said Riku and Sora would've been perfect had they not been taken. Yuffie, likely bravery stemming from the booze running through her, claimed she could win Sora over if she wanted.

Aqua kindly warned her if she even attempted to flirt with that boy, she'd never be seen again.

This did nothing to convince Yuffie as she drunkenly claimed she would win Sora over and marched off in the complete opposite direction of Sora. Aqua muses that was probably her sub-conscious working overtime to preserve herself a little longer.

Leaning against the wall with Gladiolus by her side, she sighed tiredly as the noise of the party slowly winds down with voices of the occupants taking over the music. The drink in her hand only touched her lips once as she decided it'd be best to have a clear head for the early morning rise. Arrangements had been made and there is a ship waiting for herself and Gladiolus to take them to her homeworld. She looks at her drink in thought as Gladiolus downs his, humming with approval.

'Hmm…not bad…might ask Tifa if she's got more', he says to himself. Aqua hums in response, eyes half-closed as her thoughts wander. Its been so long since she had returned home, she didn't spend any longer than needed after they awoke Ventus from his slumber. Part of the reason was for her to bring him up to speed and gather the guardians, but the real reason was to escape the memories of her home. Only a few hours back into the realm of light, she refused to allow the sadness and anger she built up to taint her memories.

Bringing Gladiolus with her isn't just for the company, but to help her if she needed somebody to bring her back down to earth. The last thing she wanted to have was a break down in her home. She lifts her drink up and starts to sip again.

'Heads up, Zack's coming'.

Aqua's eyes shoot open as she spits out her drink in shock. This makes the shield jump back in surprise with a "whoa shit" escaping him. She coughs and punches her chest to clear her throat as she looks up in shock to see the familiar young man nodding to Tifa before he approaches her and Gladiolus. "CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAP!" was all she could think when to her dismay, this was indeed the same Zack she had met all those years ago.

Just more muscular, older and admittedly more handsome.

'Hey Gladio, enjoying the party?', he asks with a warrior's arm bump. 'You know it', the shield says, showing his cup while Aqua looked like a deer caught in the headlights and looking close to booking it. Zack then turns to Aqua with that smile before he raises a brow as a look of recognition appeared. 'Hey, wait…haven't I seen you before?', he asked. If someone could read Aqua's mind all they would have heard was her screaming on the inside as her cheeks went rosy.

'I-I-I…uh…', she stuttered before Zack grinned. 'Oh yeah! Aqua right? We met at the coliseum a few years back', he says with memory. Aqua's internal screaming got quite louder at this moment. Gladiolus raises a brow at the exchange, suddenly feeling like Zack needed to leave right now. 'O-O-Oh yes!', Aqua says shyly and awkwardly with a smile that looked like a mad patient was trying to blend in, 'Z-Zack, it's good to see you!'.

'Man, what are you Ven using to look like you haven't aged at all?', he jokes, 'Only thing that changed is your armor!'. Flashbacks flashed in her mind to that question and she quickly pushes them aside as she giggles awkwardly. 'Oh, you know…being healthy…herbal oils and skincare…', she listed hap-hazardously. Zack chuckles at her lame excuse, not buying but certainly not pushing it the subject further.

'Fair enough, but hey, remember that promise I made?', he asked.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!", she screams mentally.

'W-What promise exactly?', she squeaks.

'That once I become a true hero, I'd take you out on a date?', he reminds with a grin. "Date?", Gladiolus mentally growls as his grip on the plastic red cup grows a bit too tight for the poor thing with an eye twitch. This question turns Aqua's cheeks from rosy to flat out scarlet to the tip of her ears. 'O-O-O-OH! T-T-THAT ONE!', she says a bit to hi-pitched for her liken. Zack nods casually, unaware of the growing embarrassment of Aqua and the seething rage that was Gladiolus.

'Yeah?', Zack asks with a grin. 'I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I CAN'T!', she blurts out, shaking. 'Huh? Aww, why not?', Zack asks with a small puppy pout. 'OH WELL! B-B-B-BECAUSE, BECAUSE!', she tries but her mind was overloaded with panic and heat from the embarrassment. Next thing she knows an arm wraps around her shoulders and holds her close, making her squeak a little as she accidentally rests her head on Gladiolus chest.

'Sorry buddy, but Blue and I are dating', Gladiolus says while reeling in both his temper and smugness. As infuriating as it was to see this guy openly ask his girl to go out with him, he needed to remember that the guy probably didn't know they were an item given how shy Aqua is with subject matters like this. Remembering that Gladiolus IS her boyfriend; therefore she had an excuse to say no to Zack's offer, Aqua quickly mustered what little pride and dignity she had before Zack and cleared her throat.

'Y-Yes! Gladio and I have been dating for a few months now!', she says, laughing. Zack blinks in surprise at this, before he grinned and waves it off. 'Ahh, shame! Looks like I took way too long then!', he says with a laugh. He gives Gladiolus a nod and smiles back Aqua before bidding them both goodnight and heads off to talk to the others. Aqua heaves a sigh of relief and falls onto Gladiolus.

Never has romance seem both so exhausting and terrifying at the same time…

'…so, was that the guy you had to come up with some lame-ass excuse to say no?', he asked with a smirk.

'…shut up', she pouts.

*Later…*

Smiling like a complete and utter moron, Kairi was giggling profusely with Sora as they clumsily walked their way back to their room. Both were trying hard to be quiet as to not disturb their sleeping friends but were failing horribly with every step they took.

'S-SH-SHHHH!', Kairi giggles while placing a finger on her lips to try and silence both her and Sora but failing. Sora just laughed at her attempt to enforce silence between the two of them, both were getting closer and closer to their room. 'S-Stop making me laugh Kai!', Sora laughed, 'We're supposed to be quiet!'.

'HUSH!', she fumbles with giggles, 'You're being loud too!'.

'YOU HUSH!', Sora counters.

'NO YOU!', Kairi retorts.

'BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!', shouted Noctis from his bedroom.

They both clasped their mouths to pathetically stifle their giggles, jogging back to their rooms. Kairi couldn't help laughing, she didn't know why she was feeling so giggly or why seemingly anything was so funny to her. She knew perhaps because they weren't used to alcohol despite only having two cups each of it, they were feeling what she thought was the "buzz" of the drinks. She feels a warmth in her stomach, her vision wasn't blurry, nor did she feel as if she had no control over anything, she still had awareness and memory of the castle around her.

Once they were in their room at long last, they unleashed their laughter without restraint the moment Sora closed the door. She holds her stomach as Sora falls to the ground laughing, she was convinced there was no alcohol in their drinks but liquified laughing gas. It had to be, there was no way anyone who was buzzed could be this giggly.

'W-WH-WHY ARE WE LAUGHING SO MUCH!?', Kairi questions as tears formed in her eyes. 'I DON'T KNOW!', Sora replied as he rolled on the floor. Maybe Kairi should be concerned about this amount of laughter the expelled from their bodies but she couldn't care less why. Soon they managed to collect themselves when they needed to breathe, Kairi leaned against the wall while Sora laid on the floor on his back.

Panting as the buzz begins to leave her, Kairi looks at the patio outside their room as the moon shined down on the city. Silence lingered in the room as her body begins to crave for sleep while Sora gets back to his feet. She runs a hand through her hair and sighs. 'Bedtime I think', she hums. The boy doesn't say anything while Kairi approached the dresser nearby for the PJS.

Then when she touched the dresser handle, suddenly she is turned around and held by the shoulders by Sora. She opened her mouth to speak but he covers her mouth with his, making her gasp. He holds her close to him as he kisses her, pressing their bodies close together. With his arm wrapped around her back and a hand placed on the back of her head, Sora spreads warmth into her. Slowly hypnotized by this, Kairi lets her eyes close halfway before she wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.

There is something different about it, the kiss was not just a simple display of affection they'd normally exchange. She feels a powerful passion in it like Sora was trying to communicate something through this act. He deepens the kiss as he runs his hand through her hair, earning a soft moan from her. The feeling of his wonderful hands through rugged still retains a delicate softness she knows he'll always have prompted her to run her hands through that wild spiky hair of his.

Then his hands reached down to her hips and suddenly he hoists her up. Instinctively and a bit startled, Kairi throws her legs around his waist as he sits her on the dresser desk. 'S-Sora!', she gasped but his name is all she was able to get out before his lips begin to go for her neck. Kairi moans as he gently kisses, sucks and nibbles her neck, her breath low and sharp. He lets a small growl emit from him, which made her shiver in delight.

His hands run down her back and gently grip her hips, earning more gasps from Kairi as she runs her hands through his hair. She moans his name like a mantra, feeling him suck her flesh while worshiping her form. He growled her name as he raises his head to face her. In his eyes, she spots the flames of passion within them, love only for her glowed within those sky-blue eyes that made her feel like she was soaring through the clouds.

He carried her to the bed, laying her down gently while she unwrapped her legs. Panting she stares up at the ceiling as waves of warmth washes over her body while she hears her heart beaten madly within her. Kairi hears something being thrown aside and looks to Sora, now bare-chested with only his chain dangling from his neck as his eyes glowed within the darkness of their room, the moon's light shining down on his form.

Kairi feels her cheeks go dark red as Sora crawls to her, grinning with his cheek's bright red from his activities. Slowly he caresses her cheek like he was trying to encourage her. She swallows dryly as she removes her dress and drops off the bed, now wearing a simple white shirt with her underwear, they took their boots off the moment they got into the room. Her heartbeat increases to a new tempo as Sora hovers over her.

Staring into his eyes she feels hesitation leave her as he leaned in and kisses her again. She wraps her arms and legs around him as he sits upon his knees with her holding onto him. Kissing her neck as she runs her hands through his hair, feeling his hot breath on her bare flesh before he kisses her stomach through the cloth, adding fuel to the fire within her. Never had Sora made her feel like this, the kisses weren't the same innocent ones they exchange nor were they playful and sweet. These were full of passion and love with a hint of desperation.

Maybe it was the long separation back at Eos, they had so little time to make up for their distance so maybe this was the result. The built-up desire for each other's company once again had finally been brought out, and Sora wanted to show her how much he missed her. He breathes her name out as he rested his head against her smooth taut stomach, allowing her to pet him. She shifts slightly to get his attention, prompting him to lower her back to the bed on her knees. She smiles softly and beautifully at him.

Gently she cups his cheeks and kisses him. She had forgotten this wonderous feeling of the bond they shared. The way his touches felt, how safe she feels in his arms and how even at her worst he always kicked her into gear. She guides him to lay down with her, throwing the sheets over their bodies as she entangled their legs and wraps her arms around him. Staring deep into his blue eyes she says: 'I love you'.

He smiles warmly at her, before uttering the same words.

Together they fell into blissful sleep…

A/N: Finally! Done and done!

Expositions aside, the team has some down time and hype for the training. I didn't do too much with this one as its to help build up the training to come…and give an excuse for fluff for the pairings (unashamedly).

Next time is gonna be structured a little differently, if any of you have seen Avatar the Last Airbender, the episode "Tales of Ba-Sing-Sei" (Apologizes if I spell it wrong), it's gonna be like that. We'll have our heroes do their own thing, some fluff, some drama, foreshadowing and some fun times. Excluding the Disney trio because obvious.

QUESTIONS!

Q1: Thoughts on chapter?

Q2: Happy to see Lunafreya again?

Q3: Was the small party ok?

Q4: How was Aqua's reaction to Zack?

Q5: Happy with Sora and Kairi having fun?

Q6: Whose tale are you excited for in the next chapter?

Q7: Anyone hype for the training?

Thanks for reading everyone! Stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!