~Noctis~

"We are quickly approaching. Are we all ready?" Ignis asks everyone, tilting his neck to the side to pop the developing kink and straightening the collar of his uniform. We all summon our various weapons under the cover of our coats, hiding the process from any prying eyes nearby. Minus Gladio whose weapon is crazy huge and can never be concealed. Not that it matters on there being any prying eyes, since we're alone in this railcar.

"Hey, let me get this shot," Prompto sets his camera on the table beside ours, propping it up on a folded up discarded newspaper before setting the delay. Leaning back into my chest, his hair tickles the tip of my nose as he holds his arm out towards Ignis and Gladiolus, both posing for the camera. Leave it to the blonde to pick a tense moment to distract us with a photo opportunity. Just before the camera flashes, my eyes find the tiny device, but not in time to smile before the shot is taken. Prompto scurries up, leaning across the aisle to reach his camera and check the picture it just took.

"Whoa! Love the lighting!" he states with a thumbs-up at us, but pocketing it before any of us could see the shot. Why he has a thing about showing us the pictures he took during the day when we are all about to fall asleep, I'm not sure. The train speeds through some snowy mountains, rocketing us closer to the end of our journey which we all are anxious for.

"I don't know about you, but I'll probably never camp again after this is over," I whisper to the blonde beside me, earning a few chuckles out of him as he eyes Gladio.

"What?" The larger man asks, crossing his arms in front of his massive chest and wondering what the two of us are making fun of him for this time.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all big guy." Prompto brushes the situation off, beaming a smile at him to seal the deal. I bite my tongue trying not to laugh, knowing Gladio is the last person to fall for that face.

"Focus, we are nearly there." Ignis mentions, snapping us all back to attention. I glance out the window, watching floating snowflakes turn into white streaks as we fly by them.

Wait.

The train suddenly comes to a dead stop, jolting all of us forward aggressively. Prompto and I grip our stomachs, trying to ease the searing pain from colliding with the edge of the table we're sitting at. Gladiolus and Ignis hold the back of their heads after smashing into the wall behind their seats.

"What the hell?" Gladio mutters through clenched teeth as he brings his hand in front of him to check the magnitude of the injury.

"Did you hear that?" Prompto asks as he struggles for air after having it knocked out of him.

"I know what I did not hear," Ignis mentions, slowly leaning from his bench seat into the aisle to check the front and back of the railcar. "I did not hear any brakes." The lights on the train begin to flicker while an eerie crackling sound comes from the back of the railcar. Ignis's eyes lock onto something behind us, quickly making him stand to his feet and face it in the aisle. Without hesitation, the rest of us follow, holding our various weapons at the ready. The crackling noise follows down the length of the car and we see frosty ice spider-webbing along the walls and over the glass windows. We notice a familiar figure standing at the other end of the car facing us. She takes a few steps towards us, her hands folded in front of her and her eyes closed as they always are.

"Gentiana?" Gladiolus calls to her but cuts short when he notices what the rest of us have already seen. We release our weapons out of sight as we watch the ice collecting along the sides of the rail car, trailing across the walls and down the floor, up to where the woman stands, only coming closer when she approaches us. Her arms, although resting in front of her, have a blindingly white light swirling and spiraling around each of them.

You are not ready. Not yet.

I gasp, having heard her voice in my mind but watch her mouth stay closed with my eyes. What the hell? She stops now, standing a few feet away from us. Slowly, she raises one of her hands and points to Prompto without opening her eyes.

It is incomplete.

Prompto shoots us all a wary glance before his gun materializes in front of him, without him calling for it. Our eyes grow wide as it sits in midair, held by the slightest puff of frost. "W-What's incomplete?" the blonde asks, his breath freezing as soon as it leaves his lips. His gun rotates in front of his eyes, before floating over his heart, disappearing once it collides with his jacket. Gentiana smiles at us, lowering her hand back in front of her.

Soon.

Before any of us could ask another question, the woman disappears, leaving her frosty trail along the floors and walls behind. The train remains in place, failing to continue on once she left. "Looks like we'll be walking back," Ignis mutters after a few moments, pressing his glasses back up on his nose.

"Walking back?" Prompto and I whine in unison, gripping our jackets closer to our bodies in preparation.

"We cannot go any further. Not until we complete whatever it is that is incomplete. She will not allow it." Ignis places one of his gloved fingers on his lips as he begins strategizing. Why won't she allow it? What are we missing?

"Hey, you ok?" the blonde suddenly asks, catching me off guard. I cross my hands behind my head, holding my arms up and shrug to hide the remaining tension.

"Yeah, why?"

"Just wondering, since the last few times we've seen her you said you felt off." Prompto eyes me, trying to read if I'm lying or not. I shrug my shoulders and smirk at him.

"Seems like this time was different somehow. I feel fine." He nods at me and returns a smile, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "Well, as fine as we can be after seeing ice follow her up the walls," I mention, quirking my eyebrow at Ignis. Maybe he's coming up with something?

"Indeed. As well as witnessing someone summon one of our weapons without us," he points out, still tapping his finger across his lips. Maybe not.

"So, where do we go from here then?" Gladio asks, his frustrations with the situation voiced clearly.

"I'm not sure," Ignis admits with a sigh, dropping his arms back to his sides.

You haven't seen everything you need to see. It is not only one you must fight, but three.

"Three? What does that mean?" Gladiolus asks the air around us, staring at the roof since Gentiana is nowhere to be seen.

Pieces are still missing for both weapon and heart, to receive the pieces needed, you must return to the start.

The ice across the surfaces of the rail car abruptly vanishes, leaving only the frost from the outside air to be felt. "Back to the start? Like, back to Lucis?" Prompto whispers, afraid she may speak within our minds again and startle him.

"Back to Insomnia," Ignis confirms, frowning at her words. Missing pieces? What missing pieces? And what do we need to see?

"Well, let's go. Once we get there, maybe she'll show up and tell us what we are missing out on." Gladiolus announces, forcing the railcar door open and jumping down into a knee-high snow drift.

"Brr, do we have to?" Prompto whines, clutching his collar over his mouth to seal in as much warmth as possible.

"Once we have cell phone signal, perhaps we can call Cindy and ask for a lift back to the car or Hammerhead?" Ignis mentions, looking at me for confirmation. I quickly agree before sinking into the hood of my jacket and hopping out of the train as well. It looks like we're in for a hell of a stroll.

~Irvine~

A sliver of sunlight shines through the drawn curtains across my eyes, alerting me that it is morning. I huff, clutching the extra pillow on my bed over my eyes in denial. I hate mornings. Why can't mornings happen at a more reasonable time, like say around noon? I childishly argue with myself for a few moments before succumbing to my fate, flinging the covers across the bed along with the pillow shielding my eyes.

"Damn it." I mumble when the sun hits my face again. I shift out of the bed to avoid the brightness in my eyes and make my way to the bathroom. Taking a quick shower would wake up any normal person, but the only thing I can think of during the washing is what will truly wake me up: coffee. I blow dry my hair to avoid my biggest pet peeve of wet hair clinging to me before I get dressed. Glancing at the clock on the nightstand, I see it is not as early as I thought. Everyone should be up by now, I wonder what they're doing? My phone screen catches my attention when it lights up. Unplugging it from the charger, I check the screen to see several text messages from a particular brunette and I smirk.

"Selphie, ever persistent I see," I say aloud, quickly scanning the missed messages. It's true, she and I have feelings for each other. We have since the moment we met again as adults after all those years apart, but I refrain from letting us become anything more than flirtations. I know Selphie, and I know what she wants from me. She wants someone stable and devoted to her and while I can admit I am both of those things, I cannot say I am solely devoted to her. My wandering eye has gotten me into plenty of trouble in the past. Bottom line is she deserves someone better than me, someone who can commit to her without fear of straying and I am not to that point just yet. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop the girl from trying to start something between us. Even with her knowing all the details of my feelings she is still constantly telling me I don't truly know how I would treat her until we are in a relationship together. It also doesn't stop her from blowing up my phone all night asking to come to my room. I tap in my text box and start to reply.

"What are you doing?" I say out loud as I type the words before sending the message to her, setting my phone down beside me to put on my boots. By now she's probably already had breakfast, coffee, and is doing laps around Esthar. I smile at the images of it, thinking of how energized she is regularly but she insists on getting caffeinated regardless. A few light knocks on the door grab my attention. After tugging on my second boot, I get up and answer it. There she stands in her traditional yellow dress smiling as brightly as the sun and holding two large mugs of coffee. I gasp excitedly at the sight, causing a slight blush to appear on her cheeks. She hands me one of the mugs when I step aside to invite her into my room.

"I love you," I inform her, quickly shutting the door with a press of the button before gripping the mug with two hands. Caffeinated warmth travels down my throat, warming my insides and showing me colors that are too faded in my just woken up view of the world and I groan. I love her.

"I know," she replies, taking a sip of her own mug and smiling at me again. We enjoy our moment together before she abruptly punches my arm, jostling the slightly less full mug in my grasp. I stare at her, thanking Hyne she didn't cause any to spill out but warning her with a gaze that promises harm if she does it again. Her face remains stern, immune to my threatening eyes as she only frowns harder at me. "You ignored me last night," she mentions, both of us knowing I knew why she had hit me. Just like she predicts what I am going to respond with.

"You know why," we say in unison, both holding our angry glares at each other. She mimics my movements when I bring the cup back up to my lips and take another drink. By the time the mug touches my mouth we are both smiling at each other again, humored by her behavior. Most people would find this tiny creature to be irritating or annoying with how hyperactive and juvenile she behaves, but I find everything she does to be perfect. I was not lying when I told her I love her.

"So, what's on the agenda for today? Did you have breakfast with the bosses this morning?" I ask her, turning and heading for the bed.

"No I didn't, they're having breakfast now. I came to wake you so we could all figure it out together," she says before alerting me that she is about to do something with a giggle. I stop myself from sitting on the bed and watch her do a running leap into the comforter, holding her coffee skillfully and not losing a drop. Once she's landed, I settle down beside her, sipping my drink as if nothing happened, making her giggle even more. "Besides, I like our morning cup of coffee together, without everyone else around," she mentions with another blush, attempting to hide it with her mug as she takes another drink. I grin at her, remembering the numerous times she told me all about my "coffeegasm" as she calls it, when I take the first drink just after waking up and how it is the highlight of her day. To be fair, I feel the same way. I enjoy her reactions to the first sip as well, both her first sip and mine. When she takes the first sip, her nose crinkles up adorably and she sighs, her neck and shoulders relaxing before an innocent smile appears. She watches me take my first drink, her eyes taking in every detail right up to when I groan, then they widen and her face flushes, reacting to the images that flood her mind just as they flood mine. We finish the last few gulps of coffee and set the mugs down on the nightstand before turning to face each other.

"We should-" I begin, but the sentence becomes muffled when her lips smash against mine, smiling at the other morning tradition the two of us share together when we can. It isn't very often we both are in the same place at the same time. Sometimes she or I are off on a mission far away from each other, making these moments all the more rare. If we are both in Garden by chance, one of us could get up before the other and get called away by Squall and Quistis to do something, making us miss the chance to have coffee together. So when we do get the chance to do it, we go all out. Or at least, she tries to go all out and I use every ounce of willpower to keep it to making out only. "Selph," I warn as she leans back on the bed, gripping my shoulders to pull me down on top of her.

"Mmm?" she hums innocently, her hands now sliding up my neck to my face and her tongue toying with mine. I keep my arms straight, holding myself above her so I won't feel her body against my own. I know that contact is all it would take for me to give in.

"Come on, we gotta go," I tell myself more than her. Her arms wrap around the back of my neck and her lips now trail tiny kisses up the side of my face. Feeling she was agreeing with me, I start to shift away but the sly little minx knows my plans. She leans with me, hooking her foot behind mine and bringing me back to her before sliding her leg further and bringing her other leg up behind me, trapping me between them. Her arms still linked behind my neck, she pulls herself up to my ear.

"No we don't Irvine." She moans before lining my ear with the tip of her tongue and nibbling on my earlobe. I groan at her, knowing I am quickly losing this battle, especially when she says my name in that voice. I slowly lower myself down on top of her, turning my head so our mouths could meet once again. Every inch of her is on fire, I feel as she tightens her limbs around me to be as close as possible. I moan out in defeat against her lips when she suddenly flips us on the bed, her now pressing me down into the mattress when she unhooks her limbs from around me. She half whines, half moans in my mouth while her hips begin to rock. I begin to accept this loss as a very big win when she suddenly hops off of me and stands next to the bed, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. I eye her suspiciously, wondering if I'm supposed to sit up and undress her or undress myself while she undresses herself. "Don't ignore me again," she says while running her hands through her hair. She smiles and winks, turning and leaving my room before the haze of lust can lift. I stare at the door for a few moments, wondering if she is teasing and will come bursting back in. After those moments pass, my stare shifts to my ceiling, seeing how she played me. With the heat of the moment refusing to leave me, I sigh and get up, heading towards the bathroom. I smirk as I turn on the cold water for the shower and start taking my clothes off. I really do love her.