Water Under the Bridge
Be Waiting
There were three moments where Ignis should have told Aranea his looming secret.
The first should have been that very night when she informed him of her pregnancy. Of course, he slogged to her door with the intention that he would tell her that his promises were all a lie and that he would probably perish alongside his friends—though, the hope was that it would happen later rather than sooner, but even that killed Ignis to even think about.
What kind of advisor was he that he would silently pray for his prince—no, his king, he corrected—to stay away for a little while longer?
A shitty one, that's for sure.
Instead of telling her, Ignis and Aranea stayed up all night after she told him she was pregnant, talking about everything except the reason why Ignis looked so spooked. Sometime during their conversation, they moved to talk in Aranea's bed. Ignis sat upright, his back pressed against the headboard while Aranea rested comfortably into him, her head on his chest. He had one hand playing with her hair while his other hand never left the nearly indiscernible bump of her stomach.
Funny, he thought with a mix of sarcasm and humor, how he could have been so blind to the real reason she was sick. It wasn't like they were very careful when they had sex so it wasn't that it was a huge shock; but nonetheless, it was still a surprise—a happy one, no less.
Their talk went from what they should do, what should happen from here, to more fun and heartwarming topics, like who the baby would look like more. Would they have Ignis' green eyes? Aranea's spunky personality? Would they favor one over the other, or be a perfect blend of the two? Boy names. Girl names. Everything.
Ignis tried so hard not to get caught up in the frivolity of the matter, but it was extremely difficult. He wanted to remain as grounded as possible, especially knowing what exactly was in store for him in the future—though how soon that future would happen upon him remained to be seen. Aranea and Ignis rambled quietly until her alarm went off in what would have been when the sun's rays came up. She had to meet Cor to strategize how they planned to take back Insomnia one day, but neither she nor Ignis wanted to part. So, she allowed herself to be late for once and they talked for a while longer. It wasn't until Ignis gently prodded her to leave that they said their goodbyes.
He padded back to his room, trying to keep as quiet as possible upon entering, but he was a little louder than he meant to be. Gladio and Prompto were both stirring in their beds—Prompto having taken up residence in Ignis' bed for the night—as he crossed the threshold, exhaustion apparent across his features.
"Hey, Iggy, everything ok?" Prompto questioned, sleep croaking his voice.
Gladio moved to the edge of his bed, kicking his feet over so they were planted firmly on the ground. "You were gone all night. What happened?"
Both men, only half awake, sat and waited for Ignis to divulge what it was that kept him away. He stayed quiet for a moment before a spread its way across his lips. "We're having a baby," he whispered.
At first, the two men blinked. It took a second for that to settle, but then they were cheering. Ignis braced himself as Prompto and Gladio both jumped up, sheets and blankets falling to the wayside as they continued their screaming. They stampeded to him; Gladio effortlessly lifting him up from the ground in a giant bear hug while Prompto hugged him from behind so tight that it nearly cut off Ignis' ability to breathe.
"Dude! Ignis! You're going to be a dad! Which means I'm going to be an uncle!" Prompto cried, unable to contain his elation.
Gladio still had Ignis in a tight embrace, ruffling his hair. "Here I thought, of the four of us—Noct included—that I'd be the first one to have a kid," he joked.
"I think we all thought that, big guy. Remember when we first got to Galdin Quay and you met those girls who were there for some bachelorette party? You went on and on about how you could get with all of them and—"
Ignis wriggled his way out from under Gladio's squeeze on him just as Gladio shushed Prompto, mumbling that he was a sex-crazed young adult male at the time and that he was different now.
"Yeah, yeah. Wanting to propose to your secret girlfriend and all that. We get it, you've changed," Prompto returned his interest to Ignis. "Well? How far along is she?"
"Fourteen-ish weeks?" Ignis said with a slightly unsure tone.
"Is she ok?
"Is that why she's been sick?"
"How is she feeling now?"
"Are you nervous to be a dad?"
"Is it a boy or a girl?"
Ignis let out a laugh with every question thrown his way. "It's far too early to tell if the child is a boy or girl. Let's just hope that those blasted machines are decent enough to get even a halfway passable ultrasound. . . for Aranea, obviously."
Gladio was the first one to sober up from the excitement with this news. "Ignis," he started, sadly. "Does Aranea even know? Everything yesterday? Will you be around for the birth? Will Noctis be home by then?"
And Ignis' world came crashing down. For a brief moment, he'd almost forgotten about the entirety of yesterday's bad news, but Gladio's questions brought him right back to reality. A frightening and wretched reality.
"I couldn't tell her. I . . ." He was lightheaded and heavy at the same time. The feather-light touch of Prompto's fingers was on his arm, beckoning him to have a seat, but he brushed them aside. "I should shower. I need to be alone, if you don't mind." So, Ignis excused himself to the bathroom, locking the door and turning the shower on to the highest temperature it would go.
Once he stripped nude, piling his clothes to the side, he carefully stepped over the tub and into the stream of water. The temperature of the water would no doubt shade his skin red and turn it raw, but he couldn't feel it. The burn couldn't touch the pain inside, scorching his heart. Then, he let his back rest against the cool tile of the wall and he slid down it, wrapping his arms around his legs and pulling his knees close to his chest.
Breathe. Just breathe.
He didn't cry. It wasn't that he was being strong or fighting back the urge to. No; all those tears were shed earlier when he learned of Noctis' fate, as well as his own. Of Gladio and Prompto's. And then, to be told that he would be a father to a child he may never come to know . . . there were no more tears for Ignis anymore. They were spent.
So, he sat under the showerhead until the water ran cold, ignoring the worried knocking from Prompto and Gladio, with his forehead resting on his knees and praying for the millionth time in the last 24 hours to the Gods that put him on this ill-fated path.
The second time that Ignis should have told Aranea what he knew was when he was by her bedside at the medical center as they learned the gender of their child.
Earlier that week, Aranea was tasked, along with Gladio and Biggs, to fight off an unruly bunch of daemons close to Ravatogh. It was a mission that Aranea fought hard for Ignis to come along with, arguing that Ignis would be a great asset to the operation but Cor wasn't having it.
"Stay close. I don't need all my best fighters to head out at the same time," he said, barely looking up from a map of the world spread open on his desk. So, as a result, Ignis was to remain behind, fighting daemons within the vicinity, while Gladio, Biggs, and Aranea moved out to the far corners of Lucis.
"It won't be long," she reassured at the vehicle compound. He'd come to say goodbye and wish her luck. She ran a hand down his cheek while taking extra care to brush her thumb along the scar on his lip.
He put on a brave face, but there were certainly some cracks in his composure. He'd tried to talk her out of fighting these days, worried that something would happen to her or the baby. Aranea was too stubborn to listen, citing that she was a warrior at heart and she'd just go stir-crazy, and Ignis eventually caved to her will, as he always seemed to do. "I understand, my love. Just hurry home."
"Ugh, seriously; you're such a sap. If I didn't enjoy your company so much, I'd kick you to the curb."
"Let's not forget that I'm the father of the child you're carrying. That's also a good reason to keep me around."
"Actually, I only keep you around because you're great in bed."
Another peck on the lips and she was climbing in the car—a little less gracefully than she would've liked—alongside the Shield and her longtime cohort. They made the drive to Ravatogh and parked close to some protective ruins where Gladio made camp for the evening. The three made small talk and cracked jokes here and there before retiring to bed.
When they awoke, they cleaned up but didn't pack everything away—all assuming they'd be back that evening to camp another night. With weapons in hand, they crept a mile or so away and saw the daemons making a home of the small rest stop up ahead.
"Got a strategy you want us to follow, oh fearless leader?" Gladio asked, shouldering his large sword. Biggs also looked to Aranea, poised to fire his machine gun with a single command if told to do so.
Aranea adjusted her armor, tugging at it so it covered her stomach just a little more. Something about the rush and thrill of battle would never get old, but Aranea couldn't rid the nagging voice in the back of her head that this wasn't a good idea.
Maybe she should have listened to Ignis and sat this one out, but she was independent and tenacious to a fault—something that Ignis never failed to let her forget. It was funny at first when he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose at her obstinate personality, but right now it was downright irritating to her as his accented voice scolded her in her head.
She couldn't afford to waver, not when daemons were in front of them, dangerous and waiting. Walking ahead, she said over her shoulder, "Yeah. Don't die."
"Great plan." Gladio shook his head and smirked and, together, the three of them came up on the daemons, ready to vanquish them so they would no longer be a nuisance—at least, for the time being, until more daemons would inevitably spawn or appear from the shadows beyond, born from those afflicted with the Scourge.
The fight started out relatively in their favor. The Nagarani and the Mindflayer were on the weaker end, with Gladio making quick work of the Mindflayer and Aranea tag-teaming with Biggs to end the Nagarani. It was almost fun and Aranea allowed her nerves to settle. Ignis was just anxious and paranoid. Everything was fine! He worried too much.
Aranea kept up for a while. She was so lost in fighting the Nagarani that she almost didn't hear Gladio shouting to her, pointing frantically at the group of daemons that chose that moment to ambush them. The daemons were hungry for the trio's blood and lives—or, desperate to be put them out of their misery. Either way, Aranea, Biggs, and Gladio were greatly outnumbered now, but it wasn't anything they hadn't survived before. Aranea delegated Biggs to shoot at two Bussemands from the outer edges of the skirmish and commanded Gladio to attack the Imps with a sweeping motion of his sword.
Then, everything happened so quick. It was a blur and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. Before she could return to her own battle, the tail of the Nagarani she was dealing with before swung around, right outside of Aranea's field of vision, and whipped her to the side. She smashed, hard, against a rock and slumped to the ground on her back. Colliding with the rock was enough to cause her to see stars and knock the wind out of her. On instinct, her hand flew to her stomach and she began to panic as faint aches of cramping throbbed in her lower belly.
"No. No no no please no," she begged to no one in particular. The cramps remained dull, but they were there and it terrified her that maybe she really had fucked up.
Gladio paused as the Imps disappeared in a purple and black haze, yelling out to see of Aranea was alright. When she didn't immediately respond, he abandoned his attack on the rest of the daemons and ran to Aranea's side, eyes searching hers.
"It hurts," was all she said, dazed. There was no blood and no apparent trauma, but Gladio knew she wouldn't show any sign of weakness in front of anyone unless it was truly an emergency.
"Can you walk?" he asked, grimacing when she nodded but then shook her head. He could tell she was petrified and something was seriously wrong. Without a second thought, Gladio scooped her up into his arms, calling to Biggs that they were retreating. There was nothing on Eos worth sacrificing a pregnant woman and her child over. The three ran the long distance to where they'd parked their car and Gladio gently placed her in the backseat while Biggs started up the vehicle. They left their camping supplies at the site, agreeing that it would take too long to load back up. It was imperative that they return to Lestallum to get Aranea medical attention.
Luckily, about midway through the drive, the cramping subsided. When they got back to the city and while the medic evaluated Aranea, Gladio sprinted to the Levelle, thundering up the stairs to the shared bedroom. "Ignis," he panted, a stitch forming in his side. Luckily, the advisor wasn't out and about. He was sitting at the table, listening to the only audiobook that Prompto had ever managed to upload on his phone. When Gladio burst through the door, he jumped and let out an incensed yelp. "Ignis, you need to come with me. Daemon hunting went bad and Aranea's at the medical center."
"What?!"
"I think she's ok, but she definitely took a hard hit so she's being evaluated right now."
Gladio bolted and Ignis was quick to throw his phone aside as he hurried close behind. When they made it to the medical center, Ignis was nothing if not completely beside himself, a far cry from the composed and reassured man that everyone else knew. He allowed Gladio to lead him to Aranea's bedside and questions immediately fell from the advisor's mouth.
"Aranea, what happened? Are you ok? Are you in pain? How's our—"
"Mr. Scientia?" the medic interrupted, clicking a pen and writing some notes on a clipboard. Even during the darkness, modern medicine remained above average. While most of the professional doctors had perished or disappeared over time, a handful of medics remained prepared and ready to treat anyone who came through with any ailment that arose. Pregnancy was no exception.
"Yes?" Ignis responded a little brasher than he meant to. Aranea yanked on his hand as if to tell him to calm down, but Ignis ignored her gesture.
"Well, it seems that Ms. Highwind is going to be ok. The hit she took was probably more of a shock to the system than anything, but we can't have any more incidences like that, understood? I'm ordering her to modified bedrest for the duration of her pregnancy. That means no battles, no daemon hunting. No strenuous activities or exercise—"
"Does that include fucking my husband's brain's out?"
The medic remained stone-faced while Ignis turned about fifty shades of red, both from Aranea's lack of couth and from being called her 'husband'—though, he admitted to himself, it did have a nice ring to it coming from her. Still, he hissed at her under his breath. "Darling, please. This is serious."
"Oh, fuck, Ignis; have a sense of humor."
"A little hard to have a sense of humor while you're in a hospital bed because you were careless," he snapped. "What were you thinking? Why didn't you listen to me when I asked you to stay behind?"
She looked incensed. "I'm fine, darling," she spat back, using his term of endearment as a sarcastic retort. "And our baby is fine, too, so calm the fuck down."
The medic cleared his throat and brought the attention back to him. "As I was saying, you may indulge in sexual intercourse, if you wish, but just be mindful of what it is you are doing. No . . . questionable . . . acrobatics in the bedroom, if you will," he informed.
"What, because we both wield lances, you think us as acrobatic in the bedroom?" Aranea snorted. "Because I mean . . . yeah, you're right; we are."
"Aranea . . . " Another low warning before turning back to the medic.
He chuckled. "As long as you are aware of your body and the limitations, your daughter will be perfectly healthy upon arrival."
The couple turned in sync to the medic, eyes wide and jaws partially dropped.
Ignis gaped at this revelation. "Daughter?"
"Sorry, doc, but what the fuck? What did you say?" Aranea said.
The medic's eyes flickered across the paperwork on his clipboard and he hummed. "Well, yes. The ultrasound showed her growing at an acceptable rate, though maybe a little on the smaller side for now. We can keep an eye on that, though. Nothing to be alarmed about. But, yes, she is a she. A still healthy and happy 'she'," he smiled to the shocked faces. "Let me go check to make sure your other scans look ok and run this paperwork through before I discharge you, ok?"
He bowed his head in a farewell gesture before leaving the parents alone in stunned silence. Their spat over Aranea's 'carelessness' was now a distant memory in light of the news they just received. Ignis continued to keep his face to where the medic stood seconds before and Aranea had her eyes on him. He was shaking. "A . . . girl?"
His hand was brushing her stomach and Aranea couldn't help but smile as his fingers skirted her shirt, stretching just a little bit to accommodate her belly as it grew every day. "We're having a girl," she breathed while Ignis laughed quietly. "Think you can handle two girls in one household?"
He quirked one eyebrow down at her. "One household? Commodore, are you insinuating that we move in together?"
Aranea shrugged. "Eh, figure if I'm going to be on modified bed rest and we have a kid coming soon, we should probably figure out this whole living situation. I mean, I sure as hell am not going to be the only one waking up in the middle of the night when she's hungry. You helped create this thing, so you're going to help take care of it."
That was the second time that Ignis should have told her about his plight. He could tell her that there may never be a moment where he gets to wake up and feed his daughter, that he may never get to rock her to sleep or hear her laugh. Her first words. The silly pictures she'd draw. Her first steps.
But Aranea sounded so damn at peace and he wasn't about to tell her after the scare they just had. It was still a fragile moment and Ignis thought he could bear the weight of the prophecy and his fate just a little while longer.
So, he swallowed forcefully and rolled his eye at the same time, acting as though moving in with her would be a chore. "I suppose I have no choice."
She smirked and settled back into her pillow.
The third moment that Ignis should have told Aranea came about a month and a half later, right before Prompto knocked on their door.
It wasn't long after Aranea's scare that Cor gave his approval for Aranea and Ignis to take up residence in one of the vacant apartment spaces across the courtyard of the Levelle. It had belonged to a daemon hunter who lost their life far too young and it remained uninhabited until the two made it their home. It had a kitchen, one bedroom, a loft they'd convert to the baby's room, and running water. That was all they'd really need.
Ignis dreaded packing his belongings. Of course, he was excited to share a home with Aranea, but that didn't mean he wasn't sad about the fact that he was leaving Gladio and Prompto. The three cohabitated so well that it was a little upsetting for it to come to an end, but he kept telling them that he was literally just across the street. He'd still cook for them if they wanted and he hoped they'd still find time to spar with him. It was almost pathetic how woeful they were about this because, really, it was just across the courtyard; not even a few minutes' walk away.
They all knew this was for the best and it was silly to ever think that it would stay the three of them forever. Except, there wasn't going to be a forever for them and Gladio and Prompto wanted Ignis to live out these days the way he wanted to. They knew Ignis was still figuring out how to tell Aranea the truth, but they kept their comments to themselves. However, the baby was getting to a point where stress wouldn't prove detrimental and they all knew they were running out of time. Call it a hunch, but they knew Noctis' return was on the horizon.
At first, it was incredibly strange to wake up next to Aranea and not to the snores of his brothers, but Ignis loved being able to roll over and pull Aranea into his chest. Aranea hated cuddling and she pushed Ignis away a lot, claiming that she couldn't sleep while squished up against someone, but Ignis would give her a look and she would relent. It was also nice to make love whenever they wanted without the fear of being walked in on or knowing they'd have to part afterward to their respective rooms.
Of course, living with each other didn't come without its pitfalls. Ignis had to relearn his living spaces' layout and nuances, mapping everything out in his head with exact paces from one end of a room to the other. He'd run his hand along the walls, counting the steps from the bathroom to the bedroom. The path from the bedroom to the loft. The distance from the loft to the front door.
Because of his handicap, everything needed to remain a certain way. If there was a mug here, a piece of furniture there, it completely threw him off and he would fail at hiding his annoyance. Aranea, on the other hand, was a lot messier than Ignis realized. She left her clothes on the floor, forget to make the bed, and dishes would pile up before Ignis would grumble, realizing she hadn't done them yet again.
They bickered a lot more. Hormones, fatigue, the quickened pace of their relationship, and moving in so suddenly wore them down. Ignis was always one breath away from hurling a sarcastic comment while Aranea made no qualms at hiding the fact that she hated how much of a neat freak he was and how conforming to a routine was so boring.
One blowout fight—born from Ignis' ever growing stress at the secret he was keeping, Aranea's desperation to figuring out why he was so stand-offish and cross, and all the little squabbles they continued to have—led to Aranea slamming the door to their bedroom and Ignis leaving the apartment for an hour to throw his daggers at the tree where they trained in the field outside of Lestallum.
With every throw and every satisfying thud of his daggers in the trunk of the trees, Ignis felt the anger fade and the sorrow return. Aranea didn't know, but he thought she had a hunch that something was amiss and she was left in the dark. He wondered if she'd tried to get any information from Prompto and Gladio, but then shook his head, knowing full well that they would cave in a heartbeat due to her ever-increasing wrath brought on by the pregnancy hormones. But she definitely knew something was up. The tension and depression was high and Ignis would be surprised if Aranea hadn't picked up on it.
He couldn't hide this from her anymore. Noctis was going to return and Aranea would have to go on in life without Ignis by her side. With a resigned sigh, Ignis convinced himself that she needed to know right now. They couldn't go on with him ready to blow up at any given second because he was so tense and wrought with despair. Dismissing his daggers, he sauntered back to the apartment, knocked softly on the bedroom door, and climbed into bed with his lover while holding her stomach and kissing her neck.
"I'm sorry," he whispered into her ear.
"Yeah, well, you're still an asshole."
Ignis couldn't deny that he hadn't been the easiest to get along with over the last couple of weeks, but he was trying to make amends and Aranea wasn't exactly making it easy for him. He tried again. "I really am sorry, my love. Please, forgive my lack of patience as of late. It isn't you that I'm angry with. It's my own overanalytical mind putting me through hell and back."
It was that moment that he felt the baby kick. Ignis thought his heart stopped. He heard the bed creak as Aranea shifted to look at him over her shoulder, an obvious smirk no-doubt on those gorgeous lips. "She thinks you're an asshole, too, for leaving the apartment like that."
He chuckled. "Already has a personality like her mother."
"What? Awesome and badass?"
"That, and she's not afraid to let me know when I'm allowing myself to become too caught up in the stresses of the everyday. A wonderful trait to have, might I add."
They smiled and Aranea took Ignis' hand in hers, guiding him to where the baby was kicking. A couple more soft thumps and Ignis wanted to cry, both of sheer exhilaration and painful mourning. His fingers twitched and Aranea shifted so she was facing him, sensing his internal struggles. She had one hand under her head while the other hand lazily moved through his dark, unstyled hair. "Specs, talk to me, please. Don't make me force you to tell me why you've been a weirdo."
He felt a lump form in his throat and he tried to smile, but it was pointless. This wasn't happy or cheerful or anything like that. It was unbearable. There was nothing to smile about. "It's so hard," he started, his voice barely audible that he almost wondered if he said that aloud or if he merely thought it.
"What is?"
"What I have to tell you."
A soft grin. "What can be so hard that you are allowing it to consume you like this? Is it your studies? I noticed you and Talcott don't meet up as much anymore. If you're frustrated with that, don't worry; you're fucking brilliant. You always solve whatever puzzle or issue comes up. You'll be fine."
Ignis placed a hand on her arm to keep him anchored, worried that the stress and anxiety would whisk him away to some dark and foreign recess of his mind. He opened his mouth, the secret on the tip of his tongue, but a knock at the door stopped him before the words fell from his lips. His face contorted to confusion and he rolled off the bed and padded to the door with Aranea close behind.
Another knock, this time more frantic, but Ignis opened the door and the noise stopped. There was a weird silence and the advisor wasn't sure who exactly was standing before him until Aranea greeted Prompto from behind Ignis' shoulder.
"Oh, hey Aranea! You look good! You have that pregnancy glow, you know? Hmm, nice place you got here. Spacious! Oh, wow! Is that a loft?! I always wanted a loft! I thought it would be a great room to play video games in or something! Is that where you're putting the baby? Shit, maybe I should move in—"
"Prompto," Ignis cut him off, standing aside so he could enter the apartment, "can we help you?"
"Oh, yeah. Whoops, sorry. Nervous, I guess."
Ignis closed the door and Prompto was standing between the open-concept kitchen and the living room, rubbing a piece of paper in his fingers uneasily. Aranea had her arms crossed, hip resting against the countertop. Prompto continued to play with the piece of paper, reading it over and over before taking a deep breath. "Umbra just came by. Haven't seen the little guy in a while, so I almost forgot who he was, but nope; definitely Umbra. Anyway, he had something for us."
"Yes?"
Prompto picked up Ignis' arm and placed the piece of paper in his hand. Ignis turned his head to Prompto, who had gone unusually quiet. His heart pounded in his throat, while his stomach fell somewhere around his feet. "What is it?" he whispered, but it was obvious what exactly it was.
Prompto moved aside as Aranea casually strolled to Ignis' side, leaning over to read what the paper said. "All it says is, 'Be waiting; in Hammerhead.'"
Ignis knew he caught Prompto's stare and they all stood in the middle of the living room. Ignis found the moment bittersweet.
"He's back."
Noctis was home.
Author's Note: We have three more chapters until the end. I can't believe we're staring the ending right in the face. Three more chapters. It's crazy to me.
Noctis is coming back!
And I'm headed out on vacation for a few days later this week, but I'm still going to try to get the next chapter out on Sunday, like always :) If not, then it'll come shortly after.
Wow. Sorry, I'm still in shock that we're almost done. It's bittersweet. But I do have another story lined up to start and I have a rather . . . erm . . . explicit one-shot that I've almost completed (both HighSpecs, of course), so I'm not done once this story is finished :)
Thank you guys! I love you all bunches!