Prompto jolted awake as the truck hit a dip in the road. It had been a few hours and he knew they had to be getting close to Lestallum. Iris, who sat next to him, was awake and staring at the wall across from her. Gladio, who sat on the bench across from him, was still asleep and leaning slightly to the left. Gladio had fallen asleep about ten minutes after the trip started. "Guess he didn't get much sleep last night, huh?" Prompto asked in Iris' direction, hoping to bring her out of her revere.

She blinked several times then looked over to him, eyes still slightly glossy. "Guess not. I think the last few hunts took a lot of him too." Her eyes went back to the spot on the wall.

Prompto considered humor in an attempt to help, but thought better of it. "I'm sorry if you feel caught in the middle of this, Iris." He had noticed the palatable tension since Gladio had been back this time. It seemed as if she felt caught between two worlds: wanting to be a good little sister and being a good friend to the people she spent most of her time with.

Iris turned toward Prompto suddenly with surprise in her eyes, but didn't speak. Prompto suddenly felt uncomfortable and shifted his weight on the bench. "Well, I mean, I know we aren't getting along the best, and I'm sorry that you have to deal with that. And not talking about it probably doesn't help. One of us just needs to speak up I guess, but it isn't your fault." Prompto felt humbled by his own words, wishing someone would have said the last part to him when he was younger. It felt odd to try to comfort Iris, but Noct had done it so much for him he felt it natural to extend that to someone else.

Iris looked to the floor. "I just wish things were back to the way they were and should be."

Prompto nodded. "I wish we could all go home, nothing touched or changed, the sun shining bright, Noct and Luna as King and Queen…" He smiled at the thought but stopped when he notice Iris visibly flinch at the last part. "I'm sorry, Iris. He did care about you, you know. And that moogle sure did get a lot of use during several fights." His comment didn't seem to help. He sighed. "Sometimes what we want will always be out of reach, but that doesn't mean we can't keep trying or lose hope. I bet he would be impressed by your improved fighting skills."

"I'm sorry about Cindy. It's not that she doesn't like you, she's just really focused on her job."

Prompto felt his cheeks flush and he absentmindedly tugged at one of the ends of the bandana on his arm. It was much easier to give advice and then to receive. "I know, she reminds me of that a lot." He continued his thought when Iris looked at him again. "You know, we don't need them to be awesome. That's what friends are for," he smiled. She nodded and for the first time in a while, he saw her smile too.

A ringing phone brought their conversation to a close. Gladio suddenly woke up and answered his phone. "Aranea? " He paused for a moment. "Yeah we aren't there yet. Ignis awake yet?" Gladio's eyes narrowed and he nodded. "I'll call you when we are headed back." He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket.

"Is Ignis okay?" Iris asked before Prompto could say anything.

"Still not up. She said nothing has changed."

Prompto was glad Ignis wasn't getting worse, but he would feel a tremendous relief when his friend finally woke up. He hoped Iggy would be up by the time they returned. He still felt slightly guilty going without him, but there hadn't been much of a choice; he hoped Ignis would understand. The wise instructor was one of the few friends he had left and he didn't want to lose him too. The truck suddenly made a very sharp turn that caused Gladio to leave his seat and fly in their direction.

Back at Hammerhead

Aranea glanced at the clock on the wall. It had been six hours and Ignis had yet to stir. Cindy had finally called it quits and left the garage for the evening. On her way out, she'd said something to Aranea about going to spend time with Cid and not returning for a while. Cindy seemed nice enough and had given her space over the course of the afternoon and evening. Aranea considered going to bed, but as much as she hated to admit it, she didn't want Ignis to wake up alone – she could only imagine how disorienting that would be.

Over the course of the last several hours she had taken a nap, made a phone call to Gladio to check on their progress, and mapped out where she planned to go next. For a few of those hours she had been somewhat able to ignore the man on the bed in front of her, but now she couldn't help but stare at him. She stood up from the chair with the thought that she would at least take a walk, but the sight of his face without his glasses made her pause.

Both of Ignis' eyes were closed, one of them permanently from the altercation in Altissia that he refused to speak of. She had seen his scars without his darkened glasses for the first time last night, but in the dim firelight she hadn't really gotten a good look. Against her better judgment, she drew closer to him, her eyes searching his face. His left eye and side of his face held more puckered scaring than the right. Part of her wanted to reach out and gently touch it, but she wouldn't dare. He never talked about injury, even when she had tried to bring it up, so she couldn't imagine he would be comfortable with her touching it. His glasses sat right next to him on the side table, and she had no doubt that shortly after waking he would put them on.

Aranea let her eyes briefly wander to his newer injuries, the ones she had caused. She flinched at the memory of the sound his body had made when it hit the ground. She had let her emotions get out of control, but whenever she was around him she had mixed feelings. Part of her wanted to punch him for being so frustrating and the other wanted nothing more than to spend all of her time with him. She shook her head in an attempt to empty them of her thoughts as she continued to look at him. There were scattered bruises on his shoulders and Aranea was grateful she couldn't see what she had done to his ribs.

What was it about this man that had so much of her attention? She knew part of it was how he had accepted and trusted her almost right away. Even before the crystal, when she grew weak in battle, he would run over and tend to her just like his other companions. He'd shown her a kindness not many men had. He was fairly tight-lipped about personal information about himself, but always told her stories about their journeys in a way that made her feel like she had experienced them with him. She also couldn't forget about his delicious cooking and the way he looked while he did it. Aranea couldn't help but smile at the memories.

Fear suddenly settled in that he wouldn't forgive her for this. She still wasn't sure she could forgive herself. Her temper had always been hard to control and since Eos had gone dark it had only gotten worse. Deep down she knew he hadn't deserved what she had done and she wished she could take it back. She had engaged in the skirmish with the goal of reminding him that she was strong physically and emotionally, but it had gotten out of hand when he had told her not to take it easy on him and that he could handle it. She had trusted him and now he had a concussion.

Aranea let out a sigh and allowed herself to gently touch his right hand with her fingertips. If there was only away to get him to admit his feelings for her, if they did indeed exist. It had been so long since she had truly been with someone and she knew that was part of the problem. She wondered if it was the same for him. Ignis' hand suddenly jerked, causing her to pull away and quickly sit back in the chair just in case he decided to wake up.

Ignis slowly felt himself regaining consciousness, though all he saw was blackness. He had gotten mostly used to the darkness, but at times of disorientation he felt it irksome. In total darkness it took him longer to get his bearings. He felt himself laying on something soft, covered to his waist in a blanket, and his head throbbed with his heartbeat. He took a deep breath and tried to sit upright.

The throbbing pain in his head turned sharp and a pain in the area of his ribs took his breath away. Ignis immediately laid back down as the memories of what occurred started to flood back.

"Don't do that. It'll make it worse."

Her voice made him jump slightly, scattering his thoughts. Why is Aranea here? And where am I? His arrogance got the better of him so he didn't dare ask. Ignis felt his brows knit together has he quickly tried to put his scattered memories together. Training with Prompto, Aranea and Iris, dueling with Aranea… That was it. He froze. He didn't know what to say first.

"I'm sorry."

At first he wasn't sure he'd heard it, it was so quiet. It was nice to hear but he still felt his blood boiling. He knew keeping a level head was one of his strongest attributes but it was a challenge for even him to stay calm. Another memory hit him and he couldn't help but ask. "They already left didn't they?" His own voice sounded foreign to him, likely due to hours of lack of use, so he gently cleared is throat.

"I'm sorry," he heard again, this time a little louder.

He tightened his jaw in disappointment, but quickly released it due to the pain. That was his chance to prove himself to Gladio, and now he was stuck behind. He vaguely wondered if Gladio was secretly grateful for an excuse to leave him behind. "How long until I'm healed?" he asked hesitantly.

"Iris said you need to rest in bed for at least three days, maybe more."

"Was this really necessary?" The words came out before he had fully thought about the possible repercussions; the pain was messing with his ability to think.

"You tell me. You are the one who said not to take it easy on you," Aranea scoffed.

He could tell she was trying to keep her voice at a lower volume but it still made his head throb. He did not want to have this discussion in his current state but it appeared he had little choice. "I wasn't aware that meant knocking me unconscious."

"Neither did I," she said quietly. "I… why did you say that last night?"

It took Ignis a few moments to recall the incident from the previous evening, and he felt his cheeks flush at the memory. "It was uncalled for, I apologize. It was an unnecessary burden for me to place on you."

"And the formality yet again." Though he couldn't see, he turned his head in her direction and imagined her arms crossed in front of her with a facial expression to match. "You know what? I actually appreciated such a bold remark from you. At least it let me know how you really feel."

Ignis knew she was right. He had meant what he said, and it seemed he didn't do that enough. "That is… uncomfortable for me." Ignis felt the bed dip down as Aranea sat by his arm.

"Why?"

Ignis sighed at the question he had been asking himself all morning before he had been knocked unconscious. He lifted his hand to his forehead in an attempt to stifle the pain long enough for him to answer. "When Noct returns, we have to fight with him, no matter the cost." The silence stretched for some time and he hoped she was just processing and fully understood what he was trying to tell her. It felt wrong to be honest about his feelings when he wasn't sure how much longer he would be around.

"But you don't know how long until he returns."

It wasn't a question. He had thought about the possibility, but it still didn't seem fair to Aranea.

"I can handle it, you know."

"Yes, I'm sure you can," he said dismissively. He paused for a time before answering her unspoken question. "I'll consider it." Ignis felt her weight leave the bed and her hand gently brush his. She was not going to make it easy for him to keep going the way things had been. He had to make a decision.