Xethear: Hey everyone, sorry for the late update. Been busy with school and a job kinda like Noct and Light haha. Thanks for your patience and glad to see the reactions from the previous chapters. Here's the next one!
Note: Hope is around 19 years old in this fic, so his older form.
Chapter 4: Stand Tall
After Lightning's phone call detailing her disguise within the Glaive due to her situation, she returned to the living room where Noctis had dinner set up on the coffee table. He had reheated their meal in the oven so that the steaks were piping hot.
The smell lingering from the meat danced around Lightning's nose like mischievous pixies. It quickly drew her back to the couch where she greedily seized her utensils and cut into the dish.
"I have a confession." Noctis said as the couple began their meal. He watched as a look of utter bliss washed over Lightning's face after she took her first bite. "I didn't cook this. Iris and Ignis did."
"Yeah, I figured." Lightning said with a smirk.
Noctis raised his brow skeptically. "And what do you mean by that Ms. Bedhead."
Lightning leaned forward towards Noctis, "I mean it tastes too good…" She closed the distance between their faces as she continued to speak, "Too chef-y," Noctis could feel her warm breath brush over his lips now, "Too luxurious to have been made by my klutz of a boyfriend." She finished and quickly drew back and returned to her meal.
Noctis's face grew a faint hint of pink from being teased. "You know one of these days, I'll make you eat those words and my food with an amazing recipe I cooked by myself."
"Why wait? I'll eat your food right now."
"Huh?" Before Noctis could react, Lightning cut a piece of his steak away and banished it into her mouth.
"Payback from this morning." She boasted proudly as she chewed. She couldn't get over how tender the meat was and how perfectly it was season. She knew Ignis and Iris were great cooks but together they were outstanding.
There was an audible clatter as the sound of Noctis's fork falling on his plate caused Lightning to pause. She turned and saw her boyfriend slowly creeping towards her side of the couch with his hands held in front of him. He was wiggling his fingers which caused Lightning to tense up. "You. Wouldn't. Dare."
Lightning's threatening tone fell on deaf ears as Noctis expended no chance to let his girlfriend escape as he pounced on top of her and ran his fingers up and down her sides relentlessly causing the woman to enter a fit of uncontrollable laughter. "How's this for payback?!"
"Hahaha! I— haha! I'm gonna— haha! Clobber you later you big knucklehead! Hahaha!"
'This is worth it.' Noctis thought to himself, feeling a sense of accomplishment well up inside him. In normal circumstances he would never be so forward. His friends knew him more to be the one to dismiss matters of intimacy with a few words for a response, a scoff, or pretending to nod off. And it was his strategy during the first few weeks when he tried courting Lightning. Of course that strategy bore no fruit since Lightning was such a bold, blunt, and forward woman. The old Noctis was like a cat not wanting to be disturbed whilst Lightning was like a tiger with her head held high.
It took some encouragement from his friends (along with an elaborate setup to get him alone with Lightning in the popular café in the town plaza) for him to muster enough courage to ask Lightning out for a movie, dinner and to Lightning's preference, a small sparring match. Noctis then discovered from Serah that whenever someone would try to romance Lightning, she would gauge their skill with their weapon of choice and it was very understandable due to the circumstances involving their world of Eos. It was a land inhabited by various monsters and daemons and Lightning wanted someone strong and trustworthy to depend on.
After several minutes of merciless tickling the two finally continued their meal. Lightning was blushing furiously and had taken to eating her meal at the very edge of the couch as far away from Noctis as she could. Noctis on the other hand had a content smile on his face relishing the fresh memory of his girlfriend's smile and laugh in his head.
Whenever Lightning was immersed in something (be it her food or the tv show) Noctis would take the opportunity to inch a little closer to her on the couch until she finally noticed when he was a foot away from her.
She pouted and nudged him away with her foot but he ended up wrapping his arms around her waist and lied his head down on her lap. "Hey Light?"
The man received no response. He looked up and saw Lightning staring at the tv while she continued her meal making it obvious she was ignoring him. He smirked and nuzzled her abdomen causing her to jump. "Hnngh!" She glared at him and pinched his nose. "Don't do that!" Her blush deepened with every word. "What do you want?"
"Lestallum's power originated from the Disc right?" His voice sounded nasally due to his nostrils being closed off.
Lightning laughed and nodded. "Disc of Cauthess yeah."
"Cool." He said in his nasally tone once more allowing Lightning one more chuckle before she withdrew her hand. "That was one of the questions on the assignment." Lightning hummed in response as she took another bite of her food when suddenly something dawned on Noctis. "Hey Light?"
"What now you troublemaker?"
"Did Gladio tell you his last name?"
Lightning's body grew rigid from the realization of her slip up. She kept a poker face but her mind was rapidly searching for a scapegoat excuse. "Oh… umm, one of my coworkers told me because they had connections with his father."
Noctis's eyes grew wide. "Wow, that's some coworker." 'Crap! I never thought of looking into Light's job. If her coworker knows Gladio he or she may know me. Gotta talk to this coworker as soon as possible.' "By the way Light, after my jog with Gladio tomorrow, I'm going to go meet his dad. Seems like he has some business with us, might be home late." 'Or rather my dad has business with us…'
Lightning looked down at Noctis while she was in the middle of chewing her food. "Got it." She swallowed. "I have some business to tend to myself. It looks like I'm getting that promotion."
"Wha—?!" Noctis jolted up. "You shoulda told me sooner!"
"Well I kinda just found out."
Noctis shook his head, "No matter, we're definitely celebrating sometime! I'll see if I can come home early tomorrow!"
Lightning blushed, she wasn't used to high matters of praise from someone before, aside from her sister. Though Noctis's words made her happy, she was stubborn to show it despite her blush. She simply shrugged and continued on with her meal. "It's no big deal." She said coyly.
Noctis narrowed his gaze and walked around the couch and crouched down by the armrest next to Lightning. "Hey Light?"
Lightning turned to face the man, "What's with all the questions— mmph!" Without warning, Noctis had closed his eyes, dipped forward and placed a tender kiss on Lightning's lips.
The warm sensation shook Lightning causing a pleasurable shiver to jolt her body. She stared wide-eyed but soon began to enter a dream like trance as her vision grew misty. She was locked within his spell and she didn't mind it at all. Her eyes slowly began to close until she saw him slowly open his. His deep azure reflected in her pale aqua. She was melting from his touch but regained her strength after several seconds of indulgence. She shoved him away and covered her mouth with the back of her hand. Her chest was pounding and her face was burning. Though she could push him away all she wanted, there was no denying how she truly felt as it was painted vividly red across her face.
"You've beautiful eyes Ms. Bedhead." Noctis grinned, "Congrats on the promotion~"
All Lightning could do was stare back in shock before quickly turning away. She averted her gaze down to her plate to hide her eyes behind her fringe as she tried to calm her beating heart. The occasions where Noctis was bold made her feel tingly inside. She could only praise herself silently for her unexpected reward while her face continued to grow warm.
"C'mon! You can do better than that Noct!" Gladiolus shouted meters ahead from a panting Noctis.
"Easy for you to say you muscle head… guh…!" Noctis placed his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. In addition to waking up at dawn, Gladiolus had decided to run on the beach with Noctis in compliance with their coliseum wager. Running on sand was proving harder than expected to the prince whose forehead, face and neck already trickled with sweat. "This feels gross…" He complained as he caught up with Gladiolus. He could feel the sweat matting his hair causing it to stick to his face.
"Gotta keep the future king in good shape. Betcha Light would like some muscle on that scrawny body of yours."
Noctis's cheeks grew a slight hint of red as he suddenly increased his pace. "Hey! I got muscle…! You just can't see it."
The prince's burst of strength caused Gladiolus to smirk. 'Just gotta mention his girlfriend and he gets all sorts of reserved strength.'
The two continued on along the beach as the sun began to rise over the horizon. The cool, crisp air refreshed Noctis as he continued to jog and he had to admit, it felt nice. "Maybe this isn't so bad every now and then."
"Same time tomorrow then?"
"Ahaha, no." The two shared a laugh and decided to rest by a nearby campsite near a cove. "By the way Gladio, do you know any of Light's coworkers?"
Gladiolus had just finished splashing water on his face and hair. "Huh? Don't think so. I'm not sure I've ever been to her job. Where does she work again?"
"Some retail place."
"You ever been there?"
Noctis shook his head, "Can't say I have. My school life balanced with the whole prince-king prep work life keeps me pretty busy. And it seems the same with Light."
Gladiolus rubbed his chin, "Yeah, guess that makes sense. Maybe it was at some clothing store Iris dragged me to…"
"Maybe… we can ask Iris if any stores come into mind later."
Gladiolus nodded, "Yeah. Alright, break times over! Hop to it!"
Noctis groaned but gave his friend a reluctant nod and began to run again.
Lightning stared at herself in the mirror. Her rose colored hair was masked by a platinum blonde wig that framed her face and sported a ponytail. Her new armor signifying Glaive membership was made of a light, flexible metal colored mostly black with red edges. The heels of her light cocoa boots were adorned with a fixture which could link with her spear to keep her footing for her lightning crash attack she used against Tredd now dubbed "Highwind." Snow had suggested other names but the other Glaive members liked the sound of Highwind which also became part of Lightning's alias. She was actually quite impressed with her new identity. It wasn't the first time she changed her name after all. "Hello Aranea." She told her reflection as she placed her mask over her face.
"Glaive Highwind, to the briefing quarters." A voice through the intercom sounded.
"Let's see what the new day has in store for us." Lightning twirled her spear and attached it to the holster on her back before making her way towards the conference room. Her heels clicked along the smooth surface of the hallways as she rounded corners and waved hello to fellow soldiers. It was a sound that she found solace in. Something small and simple. It was a sound she attributed to the start of her day ever since she joined the Glaive's as a cadet.
Before she knew it, she was standing in front of a black onyx door with a silver doorknob. "Aranea Highwind reporting in." She annunciated clearly as she passed through the threshold. There awaiting in the rectangular room was Captain Titus, Nyx and all other Glaive members including her friends who all seemed to have passed their exams. The room itself was quite large as it had to house all Glaive members. A large circular fixture was centered in the room which Lightning immediately recognized as a tool to initiate holograms.
Captain Titus gave Lightning a nod already aware of her identity change and reasoning behind it. "Right then. That's everyone. We will now begin the briefing." Titus raised his hand as all Glaives gathered around the fixture. The wall sconces in the room grew dimmer as the panels on the surface of the fixture lit up detailing an elaborate reconstruction of the Citadel. From the corner of her eye Lightning noticed Tredd giving her the stink eye, however it didn't bother her; in fact, it was a simple reminder of her success.
"Now as you all know, Lucis and Niflheim have agreed to a peace treaty. All lands beyond the walls of Insomnia are to be surrendered and an arranged marriage is in the works." Several magitek engines appeared on the holo-grid as Titus continued speaking. "Now we have suspicions that the Niflheim forces are planning an attack once inside the walls of Insomnia so we need to be prepared. You'll find your assigned stations on your desks. We mobilize in several days." He then turned to Lightning. "As for you Aranea, you will select to other members to come alongside you in an infiltration mission that will be executed tonight."
Lightning froze for several seconds before looking up to meet the Captain's eyes. "Tonight?" She repeated. "That's quite short notice Captain. Shouldn't we have been given more time to prepare?"
Titus nodded and handed Lightning a vanilla folder. "Yes and that time is now. Glaive Crowe is already out on the field. We were informed of the opportune moment for reconnaissance today and it's best we not waste it."
Lightning could feel a sense of guilt wash over her. "I take it there's no possible way to execute the mission tomorrow?" She asked sounding hopeful. She really wanted to spend the rest of the day with Noctis because he wanted to celebrate her promotion and though she wouldn't openly admit it, she was looking forward to it.
"I take it you had plans of sorts Highwind? I'm sure you know that your job comes first in this profession."
Lightning sighed, "Yes sir." She had seen her fair share of infiltration missions back in her hometown of Bodhum. She once had to disguise herself as a passenger on a train suspected of executing kidnappings and along with her friends, managed to bring the culprits to justice. 'I'll just have to tell him another time I suppose.'
She turned to her friends. "Hope, I could use your strategy, and Fang, I'm sure you're up for it."
Fang grinned and bashed her knuckles together. "You know it Sunshine."
"You can always count on me Ligh— I mean Aranea." Hope gave Lightning a shy smile as he adjusted his collar.
"Very well." Titus said with a smile. "The rest save for you three are excused."
Once all other Glaive members had vacated the area Titus addressed the three in the room. "Now, this is a particularly risky mission but it was assigned to you Aranea for your overall performance levels of past tasks along with your Glaive trial. You truly exceeded expectations.
Lightning smiled and gave her commanding officer a small bow. "Thanks for the kind words."
Titus raised his hand and chuckled. "Right, now the task at hand is to pose as a mercenary for Niflheim's army. You will enter as a sell sword along with your companions and relay information of Niflheim's plans should they have any, to us. Our pilot Sazh will fly you out tonight on a Niflheim magitek engine we commandeered so that your disguise remains intact. If you've any loose ends to tie up, now would be the time because you won't be returning until the peace treaty signing."
Lightning simply nodded as she had already began to formulate an excuse to tell Noctis.
"To Tenebrae huh?" Noctis looked up at his father from the bottom steps of the throne as his friends stood behind him. "It's been a while since I've seen Luna. Sure I'll go see her dad, but I will not marry her."
King Regis pushed himself off the throne, cane in hand and slowly walked down the steps alongside Clarus Amicitia to meet his son face to face.
Noctis watched standing stiffly in place. The king's words still shook him. 'There will be a peace signing but in addition to ceding lands beyond Insomnia to Niflheim, you must discuss marriage with Lady Lunafreya so that Lucis may stand tall with Tenebrae should problems arise.'
The prince flinched each time the king's knee braced squeaked and his cane tap on the staircase. He averted his gaze to distance himself from his father's stern look expecting a scolding. The last thing he anticipated was feeling a comforting squeeze on his shoulder. "I understand my son." Noctis gasped and quickly looked up to see his father's smiling face. "You must understand that I never want to wish you ill. I wish nothing but happiness. I now merely ask that you speak with Lady Lunafreya of this matter. Perhaps the two of you may reach an accord seeing as how you both have been friends for such a long time."
Noctis couldn't help but smile. "Thanks dad."
King Regis then leaned forward to whisper. "And between you and me Noct, I hear she may actually fancy you."
Noctis scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Dad quit it. Besides, you know I have a girlfriend."
"Whom I've yet to meet mind you. Come now, when will you let your father meet this young lass. I hear she's had quite the positive influence on you." King Regis glanced over Noctis's shoulder which prompted the prince to turn around and inspect his friends.
"Alright, who told him what?" He watched as his friends decided to dismiss his question with small talk amongst themselves, whistling and other distractions. "You guys are the greatest." The prince sighed as his sarcasm lingered.
King Regis chuckled. "Make haste now my son. You leave at dusk today. I've arranged lodgings at Hammerhead just a little ways off of Insomnia. You must arrive there before nightfall for the daemons spawn with the cover of darkness. There will be a man there named Cid, he will care for you. He's a good man, I've known him for quite a time and—"
"Whoa slow down there dad." Noctis scrunched his face as he stared at his father with his mouth slightly agape. "Leave today? That's short notice don't you think?"
King Regis exchanged a knowing glance with Clarus who practically exuded an aura that shouted "I told you so." Regis sighed and nodded. "For that I apologize Noct. However, we need to make sure you are out of Insomnia before Niflheim arrives." He then directed his attention to the three Crownsguard members behind Noctis. "I trust you will keep him safe?"
Gladiolus and Ignis bowed in unison with Prompto following several seconds behind having been unaccustomed to a royal summons. "You can count on us your majesty." Gladiolus looked up at his father and saw a proud smile on his face.
"It is our utmost honor Highness." Ignis emphasized.
"Y-Yeah! Me too!" Prompto sputtered nervously and hid his embarrassment with a deeper bow.
Noctis couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But—!" He clenched his fists and stared at the ground. "What am I supposed to tell Light?"
King Regis furrowed his brow, "Noct, the best advice I can give you right now, is to tell her the truth."
"Tch…"
"Ultimately the decision is up to you Noct. Stand tall and walk forward my son."
Noctis felt his father squeeze his shoulder and looked up to be met with a comforting smile. He let out a deep sigh, "Alright… I'll tell her the truth."
Lightning paced back and forth inside the apartment complex as she stared at her half-finished letter. She tapped her pen against her thigh and clicked her tongue in rhythm before crumpling the piece of paper in her hands and chucking it towards the waste bin which was already surrounded by several other failed letter attempts.
"Hey Noct, I know this is sudden and not how I usually tell you stuff but I thought it'd be kind of amusing, you know, knowing that you and Luna do this stuff. Anyways, I just wanted to tell you that I'll be away for a few days on a business trip and I have no idea what else to say and— ugh!"
Lightning punched the wall in frustration and cursed her job under her breath. "Couldn't they have given me more of a heads up? Dammit…" She had no idea when Noctis would be home and time was of the essence. She wanted to tell him what she would be doing but at any point if the Glaive called her she would have to deploy immediately since their opportunity of infiltration was already small as is.
She stepped out onto the balcony embracing the chilly dusk air and looked to see if Noctis was anywhere in sight. He wasn't.
The sun was already setting behind the mountains in the distance which made Lightning all the more antsy.
Just as she was about to make her way inside the apartment, Fang appeared before her in a flash of blue light with her spear resting on her shoulder. She was dressed in her Glaive attire. The young woman pushed her helm visor (which was shaped like the skull of a dragon) up and winked at her friend. "You ready Sunshine? It's time. They sent yours truly to come and get ya."
Lightning gave one more glance out from the balcony towards Noctis's school and gave a reluctant sigh to her friend. "Just give me a sec." She said and quickly finished up the letter she had started. After finishing, she carefully set the letter on the kitchen counter and grabbed her belongings and joined Fang out on the balcony. After locking the sliding window, she took a deep breath and threw her spear towards the Glaive headquarters and blinked with a flash of brilliant white and blue.
"Hey Light, I'm home!" Noctis annunciated as he unlocked the door.
"Keep it brief Noct. We'll have to leave soon." Ignis said in a hurried manner as he tapped on his pocket watch.
"I know, I know." Noctis answered in a disgruntled tone. "Ms. Bedhead! I'm home!" He repeated as he checked to see if her work boots were by the doorstep. They were, which meant she should be home from work. "Hmm…" Noctis immediately took up a hunched position and hugged the wall. 'So, an ambush huh?' He peeked out from the corner and saw a partially empty kitchen and living room.
"Alright… either behind the couch or counter top." Noctis took off running in the room and leapt over the couch and was met with the soft cushions. "Damn!" He quickly grabbed a pillow and shielded himself from the direction of the kitchen waiting for Lightning to appear, but she didn't.
The prince tossed the pillow aside and scanned his surroundings. "Light...? You home? I gotta tell you something. It's pretty important." It was then when he noticed a vanilla envelope on the counter top, similar to those he exchanged with Stella. "I wasn't expecting a letter today Luna."
After ripping the seal open Noctis removed the letter and read in his mind.
'Hey Noct,
I know this is sudden and not how I usually tell you stuff but I thought it'd be kind of amusing, you know, knowing that you and Luna do this stuff. Anyways, I just wanted to tell you that I'll be away for a few days on a business trip. It's part of my promotion. I wanted to tell you in person but they wanted me to leave right away and I didn't know what time you'd be home. I'll take a raincheck on that celebration. But I'm looking forward to it. See you when I get back.
Love,
Ms. Bedhead'
End Chapter:
Xethear: Where will their separate missions take our two heroes? Find out next time on "Our Hidden Agendas."
