Prompt: #41 Misunderstood

Summary: How drastically things can change.

A/N: This is from Adventum Aduro.

Additional Notes: Perperam is Latin for "wrongly, falsely".

Perperam

Things had changed. That was putting it rather mildly. Things had irrevocably been altered. Now, to be fair, that was to be expected with the many changes that had come over her life within the last few years. Nothing so drastic as the last couple of months though. Living in Nihilsomno and being so close to Noctis on such a regular basis was taking some getting used to. It was definitely not in the bad sense of the word. Far from it in fact. She has learned a great deal about herself through being with him. They were more alike than she could have ever imagined. The initial feeling of wholeness whenever she was around him had solidified to something completely raw and real. It was exciting. He had been the one afraid and so would she if she had not felt the rightness of it all to begin with. It was an adventure that she would have never dreamed possible for herself. To be involved with something so grand as to affect the entire planet with her gift and his gift, combined, was astounding. What a privilege!

Noctis had definitely simplified the terms that night when he had touched her. That touch. The sensations of that touch, of his skin in contact with hers. She does not think she will ever forget the feel of that touch of his hand lingering over her arm. To say that it had tingled would not have been accurate enough a description. It had been more like, every atom in her body had become fully charged and alive. To see evidence of this fact in the Crystal that she had been wearing around her neck, had rendered her speechless. She still wore that Crystal around her neck as a reminder to herself that this was real. That this was not a dream. This was a reality. This was her reality, with Noctis. They could only do this together and not even they could stand in the way of what they were meant to do, of what they were meant to be to each other. She was humbled and she was thankful. Humbled in the face of such power. Thankful for the new hope for survival.

The months following their reunion had been, rather bumpy. With the knowledge of these possibilities, the peace conference had initially been in a riotous uproar. At first, they had accused Noctis of lying. He was making up a falsehood so that Nihilsomno would have yet more power and more reason to keep the outside world from entering within their borders. When it had gotten to the point where objects would be thrown, she had stepped up and stood next to Noctis in a show of her full support. She had known that Noctis would have foreseen this reaction and would have planned something in advance. She had not been disappointed. As soon as she had stood beisde him, Phil had brought out a dead Crystal. Well, not exactly dead. It had merely been waiting for an energy source to give it life. A life that only she and Noctis could provide it. A demonstration would be the only way to convince them of the truth.

The general feelings about the room had been filled with obvious doubt and distrust. Some dignitaries had sneered. Some had looked critical. Many had been skeptical. Others had not really known what to think. They were all stumbling back when Noctis reached for her hand so that she could face him. Those powerful eyes had looked down into hers and she had lost any apprehension that she may have had a moment before. Everything had fallen away but him. The touch of his hand holding hers was the only thing that kept her grounded as she looked back at him. He did not say anything. His face was focused, alert and appealing. He had been appealing to her to help him, to trust him. Of course she would help him in response to his silent plea. She knew she always would, no matter the circumstance. It had just taken her longer to trust him enough to do what they needed to prove. As she continued to stare into his eyes, she realized that the color within them had begun to change. Dark blue swirled and blurred until there was a muted red. Then the muted became vibrant and she could feel her own eyes change as an incredible heat rushed through her entire body.

There was no way to describe the feeling. Just that it was hot. Her body had felt as if it had been engulfed in a flame of scorching fire. Yet the sensation had not left her burnt. Instead, she had felt elated and free. The feeling had been sheer ecstasy as opposed to agony. Her entire body had been shooting off beams of light. However, more euphoric to her was not the feelings coursing through her heated body, but the vision Noctis had made. While she felt this rushing boil, he was white light. He was an almost chilling pale glow with midnight hair. He was a cold brightness to her heated hues. She had never seen a more beautiful thing as he looked at that moment. He was the moon as she was the sun. They both resembled what they were and the flow of energy that began to swirl around them had caused her hair to flow in thick tendrils around her body. She could the power build and build until it was released and shooting forth into the awaiting Crystal. The formerly vacant rock that had gleamed and shone as brightly as a twinkling star in the night sky.

As soon as the energy had left their joined hands, she felt her becoming herself again and no longer the harsh sun. Noctis too had begun to transform back into himself and she momentarily mourned the loss of the vision he had made before her. Those eyes. Those precious and all seeing eyes had looked at her as if she had taken his breathe away with her exquisite beauty. When it was he that was exquisite. She had felt him squeeze her hand in reassurance before letting it go and turning to address the gawking mouths of the diplomats watching. There had been little doubts after that. What had followed was a riot of a different source. It had been a celebration of hope to their world. A whole beginning to light from the descending towards darkness.

That had been months ago. One would have thought the world would have become new by now. It had been well on its way to becoming something better than it had been before. Only, now, something had changed. Not just changed. It had morphed into something that was becoming darker instead of lighter. A shift in the opposite direction and it was so drastic that she almost felt dizzy with its rapidity. 'Sudden' did not seem quite accurate enough. 'Quickly' was not it either. 'Instantaneous'? That was closer. Because the change had felt instant. In a flash of time and in the blink of an eye, things were altered again. This time, it had been her own whimsical foolishness that had caused it. What had been a comment made in a moment of melancholy had wounded Noctis more than any blade could.

She could make as many excuses as she liked. It did not take away the fact that she had hurt him. She had hurt him in the worst possible way. Would she always hurt him? Was she to always be the source of his pain? She had cut him when he had found out that she had, indeed, stolen his Crystal. Even though it had not been of her own actions that she had done it, she had done it just the same. He had forgiven her that. How he could have was still a mystery to her. How he would be able to forgive her for this, which from the look that had been on his face, seemed to have struck him harder than her first betrayal. Her betrayal that was not actual betrayal. That he had perceived it to be, made it so. In a sense, she had betrayed him. She knew that. It is the reason that she does not run to him now. Because deep down, she had meant it, despite the misunderstanding and that had been the betrayal. He knows this too and to lie now would only further the distance that had developed between them.

A misunderstanding became the twist of a knife, in a heart that had just healed. To reopen wounds still raw from the first inflictions. How many scars could one heart endure? How many scars would her own heart be able to heal? It is the question that makes her realize that she loved Noctis. She had loved. She did love. She loved him not in the sense of fancy or superficial inclinations. She had loved the boy he had been. To have been so young and having such a burden to carry on his own. How could her little heart not have loved him then? She had loved the young man that had met her at the top of those stairs. The dark, overpowering figure that looked upon her as if she were the most fascinating creature he had ever beheld. She loves the man he has grown to become. The ever present power. The all encompassing passion. The focused intent. This was a man. This was a King. This was her moon. She needed him to understand this. He could misunderstand, misconstrue everything else, but not this. This he had to know and this he had to understand.

End Note:

I know everyone must be asking, "What did she say to Noctis?". Well, we shall just have to wait and see. The next in line is Prompt #25 Roam. It is a continuation of #5 Spirit (Chapter One: Spiritus).