A loud knocking sound woke Y/N from her sleep. She picked her head up and opened her eyes, looking around. Her eyes seemed to feel almost glued shut and felt really crusty and sticky. She brought her fingers to her eyes to try and wipe them and noticed they came away from her face black. Great. She slept in her make-up. She tried looking around a bit more and was having trouble placing where she was. She was sideways in a bed she didn't recognize and wearing one of her elaborate traditional gowns. Did she get drunk at a gala last night? It wasn't out of the ordinary for her to sneak alcohol at the events her mother put on.

A glance to her left answered her questions. The stack of boxes and suitcases reminded her of where she was and what had happened last night. Her raw throat wasn't from the burn of alcohol…it was from crying. Another knock startled her. She was the furthest from presentable. She wasn't even sure who was on the other side of the door. Eos forbid it be the King or Ignis. None of them could see her like this.

"Princess Y/N?..." an unfamiliar voice sounded through the door. She knew it wasn't Ignis. He had a distinct Altissian accent. Funny, she was told he was born here but he still managed to have an accent. It wasn't the King or any other person she remembered meeting last night.

She stood up and hesitantly made her way to the door, unsure of what she should do.

"Um…yes?" she asked through the door, still not daring to open it.

"I have a delivery for you Miss," the voice replied.

A delivery? Did she forget a box at home or something? Did LeAnn send something? She wasn't expecting anything. It was literally only her first day here.

"Umm…okay. I'm going to unlock the door and go into the bathroom. You can just bring it in for me…?" she trailed off at the end. She really didn't want anyone seeing her in this state. Not even some random delivery mailman.

"Of course Miss. As you wish."

"Okay. Just, give me a minute to get into the bathroom before you come in," she said as she unlocked the door with a click and dashed into the bathroom.

With her back against the door, she glanced over at the mirror to her right. Wow. She was a hell of a sight. Mascara and eyeliner was all down her cheeks. She was really glad she didn't open the door now. She walked over to the sink and ran the water, hoping to wash her face a bit. She looked around and found a neatly folded wash cloth and bar of soap. She never used bar soap on her face, but these were desperate times. She had no idea which box was her toiletries and wanted to at least clean up a bit before she went looking.

As she was vigorously scrubbing the stubborn makeup from her face, she could here multiple feet going in and out of her room on the other side of the wall. What kind of delivery was this that it required multiple people and multiple trips?

When she was done cleaning her face the best she could without makeup remover, she went about removing the many layers of her gown, starting with the corset top. It was a bit harder to do on her own. She was used to the ladies in waiting at the castle helping her untie and unbuckle every piece of the multi-layered outfit she had on. A few times she got frustrated and just pulled the clothing item off her body as best she could. She definitely wouldn't be able to wear a traditional gown today. There was no one to help her in it that she was aware of. Too bad her mother didn't send one of her ladies with her to the Citadel instead of Bernard. She'd have to wear a slightly smaller gown today that zipped instead and forgo the corset.

Not something she was entirely comfortable with around people she didn't know. Her shape was something she was very self-conscious about. The corset gave her the security and illusion of a taunt stomach and slim waist shape. She wasn't fat by any means. But she was what she would call…soft. At least she would have dress' long skirt to hide her wide hips and thicker thighs.

A light rapping on the bathroom door startled her out of her musings.

"We are all done Miss. Have a great day!" the same voice from earlier informed her.

"T-thank you!" she stuttered a bit. When she heard the door shut, she ventured back into her room. But before she made it too far in, she stopped in her tracks.

On almost every surface throughout her room were multiple vases full of large bouquets of flowers. The dresser, the night stands, the small corner tables. She counted eight vases, each containing a different color and type of flower. Some were flowers she had never seen before. A large white envelope next to the vase closest to the door caught her eye. Her name was written on the outside in beautiful handwriting she didn't recognize. She carefully opened the envelope and took out the note inside.

Princess Y/N,

A thousand apologies for not greeting you properly yesterday upon your arrival. My head was swimming with all the possible ways I would feel upon seeing your face, and none of them compared to the real thing. My nerves must have caused the gift I wished to give you to slip my mind. I hope you weren't terribly offended at my empty hands that greeted you. I'm not sure what your favorite flower is, so I got you flowers from every corner of Eos, hoping at least one is pleasing to you. I had a lovely dinner with you last night. I only wish I could have gotten to know you more. Maybe without the pressure of other eyes watching, we can soon get some time together to do just that. I hope you slept well and look forward to our next meeting.

Your's,

Ignis Sciencia

Y/N wasn't sure what to do. She read the letter again. No boy had ever gotten her flowers, let alone ones from all over the world. As much as she wanted to smile and appreciate the gift, she couldn't help but wonder if he did this cause he saw her disappointment at seeing Luna get flowers and she didn't. Even that animal Noctis got his woman flowers. He also wasn't very talkative at dinner. For wanting to get to know her, he didn't say much. He sure talked to Luna though, she thought rolling her eyes.

She glanced at her boxes and suitcases and let out a long sigh. She really needed to at least go through some of her stuff and find something to wear today. She glances at the ticking clock on the wall above the dresser and noticed it was around eight in the morning. She had no idea when breakfast was served around here. She should try and get ready as soon as possible. She would worry about putting her things away later. Maybe she should call Bernard and see if he was up and moving yet.

She walked over to her purse sitting beside her largest suitcase and dug out her phone from inside. She hadn't charged it since yesterday morning when she packed up her charger. The boat didn't have any electricity and she didn't have much of a moment to find an outlet any other time. Plus her mind was too preoccupied to think about being on her phone. She noticed it barely had a few bars of life left. She also noticed the many notifications she had. Deciding to plug it before answering everyone, she dug her charger out of her purse and looked around for an outlet, preferably by the bed so she could lay down.

Phone plugged in, she laid on her stomach in her underwear and opened her messages. Her mother of course wanted to know how the trip went. She would call her later. She didn't feel like making nice right now with her. A few random texts from some friends she had. All wishing her well and telling her to send them gifts. Mooches! She rolled her eyes at them before opening her conversation with LeAnn, her best friend. A slew of messages were sent all day long it had seemed. They ranged from sad crying emojis, to sexual innuendos about her wedding night, to texts begging her to jump ship and swim back home, to random comments throughout the day she knew were sent by her friend to keep her from being upset. She was so worried Y/N would stop being her friend after she moved away and felt the need to constantly be in contact with her. Instead of texting back, she decided to call. Screw the time difference.

"Fuck off, who is this?" a groggy voice croaked through the line.

"My first call to you from a distant land and this is how you greet me?" Y/N teased.

"ASTRALS WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" her friend shouted, suddenly sounding very awake.

"Sorry, no service in the middle of the ocean and I was too much of a wreck on the car ride here."

"Whatever! No worries! Tell me everything!" her friend pushed.

"Nothing to tell, honestly," Y/N sighed.

"What?! No way! It's a completely different country with people you've never met. One of which is your FIANCE! Give me something here! Let's start simple. How is Lucis? What's it like?"

"Dry and hot. Like scorching hot!" Y/N complained.

"Ew, really?"

"It's a literal desert here! I don't even think I saw grass!"

"I know they have grass somewhere! I've seen pictures," her friend argued.

"Well, I didn't see any on the way over here! I think there's some in the park or something, maybe. Insomnia is a lot different than every place I passed on the way here."

"How so?"

"It's so…big. And there are buildings everywhere. All made out of metal and steel and glass. And roads with so many cars on them. Multi-laned roads and vast highways and traffic everywhere. Everything is grey and black and…black. It's so dark looking here."

"What's the Citadel like?"

"Big. That's honestly all I can say. Big. I didn't take any time to look at it much. It's huge from the outside. The halls are wide and long and I have no idea what wing I'm even possibly in right now. We seriously arrived, had dinner, and I went right to my room, where I cried myself to sleep."

"So dramatic!" her friend giggled through the phone. Y/N knew her friend wasn't the codling type, so her response wasn't meant to be offensive. More teasing. "It couldn't have been that bad! What about Ignis? Tell me ALL about him."

"He's tall. A fucking string bean," she paused hearing her friend snort. "I'm serious! He's as big a round as my wrist! I'm gonna look like a cow next to him with these thunder thighs!"

"You hide your body under those elaborate dresses you always wear! I'm sure nobody will notice your thighs!"

"He will! When he sees me without the dresses!"

"Sooo…thinking about him naked already, eh?" her friend cooed.

"That's not…urgh, no!"

"That bad then, eh?"

"No, he wasn't…bad per se. Just…I don't know. He didn't say much at dinner. It was quite awkward."

"So what else? Tell me more about him!" her friend pushed.

"I don't know what else to say. Like I said, he didn't say much. He shook my hand which was…weird. I think it was a flub though. The size of his eyes after he did it was almost comical. He also forgot flowers!"

"Were you expecting flowers?" her friend asked, skeptically.

"Well, not exactly. But Luna got flowers. Thought maybe if that brain dead Prince could remember them, he would."

"Brain dead Prince?" her friend laughed.

"Oh my Astrals, LeAnn! You have no idea! You would never guess this guy was a prince! Zero manners, zero tack or couth. What Luna is so head over heels about, I'm not certain. Speaking of her, they all just LOVE her. It's sickening. They doted on her left and right. I felt like I was interrupting a family reunion."

"What does the Prince even look like? No one really knows!"

"Short. Black hair. Like some emo teenage high school boy off the streets. He wore fucking jeans to dinner last night!"

"Seriously?" LeAnn asked.

"And he was living in some apartment across the city. I'm telling you, everything is so bizarre here!"

"So what's the deal with everyone loving that Luna chick?"

"Other than the fact she's sweet and bubbly and skinny and perfect? Get this! She's known Prince Noctis since they were kids! They are literal childhood sweethearts! Hence the reason everyone couldn't stop giving her all their attention. She's apparently been missed around here," Y/N rolled her eyes.

"Oh so you're REALLY out of place then!"

"You have no idea!"

"So what you need to do is really click with Ignis and the two of you show up the Prince and this Luna chick and become the power couple of the Citadel!"

"I'm sure that will happen!" she spat sarcastically and rolled her eyes again. They were gonna stay in the back of her head if she did it much more.

"He can't be that bad! All you've told me about him is that he's skinny."

"Like I said, he didn't say much. It's weird though, he has a slight Altissian accent! He wasn't even born there! He seems a bit stiff. And speaking of stiff, his hair that does the flippy thing in the front doesn't look stiff and gel logged like you would think! I have no idea how he stands it up like that and still gets it to look so soft."

"So he's a tall, skinny, hand shaking, flower forgetting nerd with an accent…interesting."

"He at least tried to make up for the flower thing this morning-"

"How so?" her friend interrupted.

"By having I think one of every flower found on the plant delivered to my room this morning with a note apologizing."

"Oh come on, Y/N! That's sweet!"

"It's an afterthought!" Y/N argued.

"But still a thought!"

This caused Y/N to pause. She really didn't want to see these flowers as anything more than an overzealous attempt at making up for being an absent minded dufus.

"Whatever. What would he have done if I were allergic?"

"Then he would have felt equally bad if he handed them to you when you got there and you started sneezing in his face."

"Urgh, stop trying to make this sound good! It's not good. Nothing here is good! I cried myself to sleep last night. I'm probably gonna do it again tonight! And I don't want to be here!" Y/N retorted. She could start to feel fresh tears well up in her eyes during her short outburst. "I have to go. I need to see if I missed breakfast or not."

"Don't go cause you're mad at me!" LeAnn begged.

"I'm not. And I'm not mad at you. I just miss you," Y/N quietly told her friend.

"I miss you too! You better call me tonight before bed! I'm making sure you go to bed with dry eyes! Promise!" her friend sweetly told her.

"Thanks. I'll call you later. My phone has to charge so I probably won't have it on me for a while."

"Okay. I'll try not to bug you too much. DON'T FORGET TO CALL ME!"

"I won't! Now go back to sleep. Sorry I woke you."

"You're lucky I love ya! Bye babe!"

"Bye," Y/N whispered before hanging up.

Talking to her friend made her feel a little better, but not for long. Reality smacked her in the face the moment she hung up the phone. At least while talking to her friend she could pretend she wasn't where she was right now.

She stood up and looked at the boxes in front of her. Time to start digging and find something to wear. She could also really use a shower.

Ignis was sitting at his desk typing when Gladio walked in the pristine office. The large man gave his friend an odd look before slowly walking over to the dark wooden desk.

"What ya up to, Iggy?" Gladio asked.

"Just getting some reports done."

"Those wouldn't happen to be the reports Noct was supposed to have gotten done…are they?"

"He still doesn't seem to quite have the hang of it yet. Plus he's out with Luna today. King Regis invited the two of them out to the gardens to reacquaint."

"Yeah…speaking of fiancés, uh, where's yours?" Gladio asked, picking up a trinket that was sitting on the corner of his desk and toying with it.

"I'm not quite certain," Ignis replied, still typing away on his keyboard.

"You haven't seen her yet?" Gladio asked. It was quickly approaching noon and he figured Ignis would have greeted her with breakfast in bed.

"No, Gladio, I have not. She wasn't at breakfast this morning and I haven't heard from her."

"You didn't give her your cell number or anything?"

Ignis stopped typing and stared at his fingers for a moment. He maybe should have included his cell number in the note he gave her with the delivery this morning. Why didn't he think to do that? He wanted to give it to her last night but she went into her room before he had the chance to offer it to her. Gladio's laughter brought him out of his musings.

"Iggy, that's like one of the first things you do with a girl, is give her your number!"

"I haven't yet had the chance," Ignis adjusted his glasses and went back to typing.

"What the hell did you guys do last night when you walked her to her room? Did ya kiss her?" he asked, raising and lowering his eyebrows.

"No Gladio, I did not," Ignis sighed.

"Yeah, kinda figured. Did she stand there awkwardly though? Fiddle with her hands or hair and look around a bit? Did you notice her looking more at your lips than your eyes?"

"What does any of that matter?"

"It's all signd she was waiting on you to kiss her! She was too afraid to make the move herself!"

Ignis filed the information away to possibly use later.

"No, she did none of that. I walked her to her room and she simply went to bed."

"Oh, I forgot that old butler man was with her-"

"Bernard," Ignis corrected. "He's supposedly a body guard but from what I hear, he's hardly qualified as such."

"Yeah my dad is all in a twist about him. Physically he says we have nothing to worry about though."

"As I've heard."

"So was he like, dampening the mood or something?"

"No, he retired to his room right away. Again, hardly a body guard to leave her out with a stranger in the hallway."

"He was probably watching through the peephole or something," Gladio shrugged. "So she just like, went into her room? Not even a goodnight?"

"The guest rooms don't have peepholes. And she wished me a goodnight, yes. It was simple. Nothing to fuss over. Not sure why you even care to begin with," Ignis side glanced at his friend for a moment.

"Hey, you don't think she got lost this morning or anything, do you? I mean, this place is huge! We've all gotten lost a time or two."

Ignis once again stopped typing. What if she had ventured to breakfast and took a wrong turn? She could be anywhere and unsure of who to ask for help. He really should have given her his phone number in the letter he wrote. Or maybe she hated the flowers and was just avoiding him. He should have kept it simple. Just picked out an Altissian bouquet that she would be sure to like. He should maybe go check on her. See if she would like escorted to lunch. Hopefully she would be in her room. Clicking a few times to shut down his computer, he rose from his chair.

"Bernard would probably have been with her. I'm sure she's not wandering the halls as we speak. But, speaking of her, I'm going to go pay her a visit and see if she is hungry for lunch."

"That a boy, Iggy! You gonna cook for her?" Gladio got excited, putting the trinket back down on the desk.

"No, not yet. I would first like to get to know her a bit and see what she likes and doesn't like."

"Doesn't she like pasta, or whatever? I thought she said that last night? Or were you too busy staring at her to hear her?" Gladio chuckled.

"No, Gladiolus. I heard her. I believe I was the one who asked her what she liked," Ignis replied, tidying up some of the papers on his desk before pushing in his chair. "And pasta is a bit vague. There are many types of pasta dishes. I first need to learn her particular tastes to cater the past dish to her liking."

"Want me to go with you? Help ya out a bit?" Gladio asked, suggestively.

"Please don't Gladio," Ignis sighed.

"Alright! But remember…I'm here if ya need me!" his friend called to him as he walked down the hall.

Ignis made his way to where the single rooms were for guests to stay. Few staff members used them as well. There was a staff eating quarters off the kitchen and some people just stayed right there in the Citadel. Usually the glaives, younger single workers, or widowed elderly workers. He hoped she was in her room. He was sure if she truly was lost, someone would have spotted her and helped her by now. Unless of course, she was exploring on her own. That was entirely a possibility. He would probably be getting to know his new home on his first full day in it.

As he rounded the corner, he could feel his stomach tying up a bit. He was still so nervous to be around her. He knew this was such a delicate situation and any wrong move could ruin everything. She didn't have the authority to refuse the union, but she could run off or, Astrals forbid, attempt to harm herself and demand to be returned home. Or she could live completely miserable with him. That was one of his worst fears. That she would never learn to love him. Especially when he had already fallen so hard for her.

As he approached her door, he rubbed his sweaty palms on his pants before raising his hand to knock. He stood a moment, hearing her rustling around on the other side. When the door opened, her beautiful face greeted him. She was wearing a gorgeous blue gown that went to the floor. It wasn't as elaborate or full as her dress yesterday, but still looked stunning on her. Her hair was pulled back in a bun on her head.

"Yes?" she asked, unsure of why he was there.

"Good afternoon, Princess Y/N. I missed seeing you at breakfast this morning," he greeted.

"Yeah, I slept in. Apparently breakfast was over by the time I made it to the dining hall."

Ignis suddenly feared she hadn't eaten, afraid that once the meal was served she assumed she was too late.

"Did you not eat anything this morning?" he asked, concerned.

"No, I got something small. A staff member saw me wandering in and asked if I wanted anything."

"Oh, good. You are free to eat whenever you wish. The staff is always on hand to make you something. However, the King and Prince are seated at the table by seven in the morning if you ever wish to join us."

"I'll keep that in mind," she responded, still standing with the door only half open. "Did you need something specific or…"

"Yes! Of course," Ignis coughed into his hand out of nervousness. "I came to see if you wished to be escorted to lunch. The King and Prince sit at noon. You are more than welcome to join us."

"You keep saying 'us'. Do you always eat with them too, or is there some kind of special group that does…"

"I always accompany Prince Noctis to his meals, yes. He has always asked it of me. Other than that, it's just the King, his shield, and the Prince's shield. Luna will also be joining us now, of course. If anyone else happens to join us for special occasions, more security may be in the room. But you are more than welcome to with your standing. You are a member of the royal court-"

"Not for long," Y/N tsked, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

"You hold a higher standing here than you assume, I am sure, Princess Y/N," Ignis assured her.

"I think I'm just going to stay in my room. I have a lot of stuff to put away."

"Yes, of course!" Ignis almost forgot about all of the unpacking she was sure to have to do. "Would you like me to bring you something back?"

"No, I'll probably order something later. I'm kind of on a roll right now and don't want to lose momentum."

"Certainly. Well, I will leave you to it then," Ignis bowed.

"Thanks," Y/N said before shutting the door.

Ignis was a bit surprised at how blunt and short she was, but knew she was still dealing with a lot of emotions and chose not to dwell on it. As he started to walk away he realized he once again forgot to give her his cell number. He didn't dare bother her again though. He would just have to wait until dinner.

She also didn't bring up the flowers. He did send them to the right place, right? Her door number was the same as what he had given the florist. Maybe she truly didn't like them. Maybe it was too overwhelming. He really should have just stuck with a singular bouquet. He was trying to think of a way to make it up to her tomorrow. Anything else today would definitely be gift overload.

Maybe Ignis really should get ahold of Gladio. No. His friend would just tell him to buy a box of condoms and chocolates and show up to her doorstep naked. He needed to do some more research. He assumed this would all maybe flow when she got here. That was far from the case so far.