light of lucis

were  she  self-aware  enough  to  understand,   Kateryna  would  know  that  one  of  the  many  reasons  she  likes  Noctis  so  much  is  the  sound  of  his  voice.   (   He’s  quiet,   like  herself   —   but,   when  he  does  speak,   he  speaks  like  it’s  easy.   He  doesn’t  stumble  end-over-end  over  words  like  she  does,   like  her  father  does,   and  he  doesn’t  seem  to  have  to  think  as  hard  as  Mister  Ignis   —   not  to  mention  that  his  voice  is  an  even,   comforting  pitch,   airy  and  friendly.   )

Hey,   Peanut. 

Good,   he  still  remembers  her!   She  whines  a  bit  more  urgently  now,   eager  to  be  held   —   and,   as  soon  as  Noctis’s  thumbs  are  hooked  beneath  her  arms  and  she’s  been  hoisted  onto  his  hip,   she  buries  her  face  into  the  crook  of  his  throat   (   covers  what  remains  with  Ellie’s  “tail”,   doesn’t  want  to  be  seen  by  anyone!   )

You  came  all  this  way  to  free  me,   huh?

Slowly,   she  pulls  Ellie’s  “tail”  back  just  enough  for  her  bright  eyes  to  shine  through  the  shadow   —   for  Noctis  to  be  able  to  see  the  way  that  she  nods  in  affirmation.   (   He  gives  her  a  smile,   and  she  hums  a  soft  thanks,   reassured.   )

I’m  in  your  debt.   Let’s  get  out  of  here,   then,   huh?

Another  nod,   and  she  disappears  once  more  beneath  her  blanket,    fastens  her  arms  securely  ‘round  Noctis’s  neck. 

What’s  this?   Our  meeting  cut  short  by  a  toddler? One  of  the  Kingsglaive’s  daughters.   A  very  shy  thing,   but  she’s  taken  quite  a  liking  to  the  prince. Do  all  ‘glaive  children  have  run  of  the  castle?

Come  now,   Noctis  intervenes   —   likely  because  Kateryna  has  begun  to  tremble  and  cry  with  a  fear  that  she’s  being  reprimanded.   You  all  know  Kat’s  an  honorary  princess,   here.   I  operate  on  her  time.

She  clutches  Noctis  even  tighter,   and  stills   —   comforted,   childishly  so,   by  the  idea.   He  bids  farewell  to  his  father,   strolls  right  out  of  the  room   —   and,   somewhere  in  the  inaccessible  depths  of  her  mind,   she  knows  that  Noctis  can  only  do  these  things  because  he  is  important  in  a  way  that  she  is  not   /   in  a  way  that  no  one  else  is  or  could  be.   (   It  frightens  her   —   because,   if  he’s  important,   then  he’ll  go  away  one  day.   That’s  what  happened  to  Mommy,   she  thinks.   )

I’m  sorry  I  was  late,   he  offers,   once  they’re   (   safely!   )   in  his  room,   once  she’s  seated  ‘pon  the  edge  of  his  bed  and  pulling  Ellie  away  from  her  face  just  in  time  to  see  Noctis  brandishing  a  movie   —   an  animated  tale  about  a  frog  that  dances  and  sings.   (   She  hopes  it’ll  ease  her  fear  of  the  amphibians;   Noctis  really  likes  frogs,   so  she  wants  to  like  them,   too,   but  it  scares  her  when  they  jump  so  high  and  fast!   )   She  proffers  a  grateful  smile  in  return,   settles  more  comfortably  atop  the  bed  while  he  sets  it  up.

❝   It’s  okay.   ❞   She  fidgets  with  Ellie’s  ears,   nervous,   before  asking:   ❝   A—Are  you  in  trouble  because  of  me,   Uncle  Noctis?   ❞

She  alternates  her  gaze  between  the  movie  previews  and  watching  Noctis  don  his  matching  onesie,   can’t  suppress  a  girlish  giggle  at  how  happy  it  makes  her  to  see!   (   and,   how  silly  the  over-sized  trunk  looks  as  it  wags  left  and  right  with  his  steps,   like  a  dog’s  tail.   )

He  sits  behind  her,   and  she  crawls  along  the  space  between  them  until  she’s  clambering  into  his  lap,   reclining  against  his  chest,   reaching  for  a  juice  box  as  soon  as  it’s  been  readied  for  her.

❝   It  was  okay.   I—I  got  to  see  Mister  Ignis!   Papá  had  to  train  with  the  other  Kings-gave,   s—so  he  said  I  could  see  if  Mister  Ignis  would  watch  me,   a—and  he  did!   He   —   He   let  me  put  a  “wax  seal”  on  a  letter.   He  writes  lots  of  letters.   Does  he  have  lots  of  friends?   ❞

Haven’t  seen  your  Papá  in  a  while.   You’ll  tell  him  I  said  not  to  work  too  hard,   right? 

❝   I’ll  tell  him.   He   —   He  wanted  me  to  tell  you  “hi”.   He  wants  to  cook  for  you  before  you  have  to  leave.   He  wants  to  be  better  than  Mister  Ignis.   ❞   She  allows  that  to  hang  in  the  air  for  a  moment,   and  then:   ❝   A—Are  you  gonna  miss  me  when  you  leave,   Uncle  Noctis?   Will   —   Will  Miss  Luna-free-uh  let  me  see  you?   ❞   @caelumdevium!

SHY  AS  KAT  IS,   he  feels  incredibly  lucky  that  they  gravitated  toward  each  other  as  much  as  they  have.   beneath his  ‘ cool ’  exterior,  he truly always has been just  shy  ------  and he thinks kat can pick up on it in a way that few others have been able to,  a kindred spirit.   noctis never really imagined himself to be good with children,  either.   but kat and he have stuck together like glue.   he’d do anything for her.

that includes wearing a silly elephant onesie,  trunk and all.   his father had expected him to be  ‘ too  cool ’  to wear it.   but,  for kat,  wearing it  is  what’s cool.

are  you  in  trouble  because  of  me,   uncle  noctis  ?

he has no siblings  ------  noctis never really thought he’d be an uncle to anyone   (  used to think it would make him  sound  old,  anyway  ).   but he feels warm,  hearing it.   it was daunting at first,  knowing any kid could possibly look up to him.   with kat,  it’s endearing,  it makes him want to do his best.

noctis shakes his head.   “  nah.   they’ll be fine out there.   dad gets it.   don’t you worry,  peanut.  ”

and he hopes she  isn’t  worrying any longer,  as he hears her giggle at his onesie,  and he bobs his head,  lets the trunk bounce as he exaggerates another shake of the head.

she climbs upon his lap,  lays back against his chest,  passes her the juice box she’s reaching for once it’s ready for consumption.   he  hopes  she enjoys the movie,  knows she isn’t the greatest fan of frogs and that’s precisely why he asked for her permission to trust in his choice of film,  to show that frogs like blueberry can be heroes  and  aren’t all scary.

then again,  noctis also thinks blueberry is rather  lazy.

i  got  to  see  mister  ignis  !

“  that’s great.   i know iggy’s been wondering when the next time he’d get to see you would be.  ”

he   let  me  put  a  “  wax  seal  ”  on  a  letter.   he  writes  lots  of  letters.   does  he  have  lots  of  friends  ?

there’s guilt,  now,  that pulls at noctis’s heart at the very notion that he’s going to have to find a  delicate  way to phrase this.   for he doesn’t wish to imply that ignis doesn’t have any friends  ---  although they certainly are few in number,  and the fault there lies with him and his father  ------  because  nobody  should be given such a massive responsibility at such a young age,  and noctis is  convinced  that he’s effectively ruined ignis’s life.

and that’s not something he really wants to unpack in front of a child.

“  well  ---  yeah,  he has friends.   he’s one of my best friends,  after all.   but a lot of those letters he writes are actually for  me,  and dad.   he’s,  ah  ---  he’s real helpful,  like that.  ”

he hopes that suffices.   knows that he of all people has to put in  effort  to sound convincing about anything.   but she brings up her father,  and he allows the conversation for now to flow in that direction.

“  you tell him i said hi,  too.  ”

he  wants  to  cook  for  you  before  you  have  to  leave.   he  wants  to  be  better  than  mister  ignis.

and that elicits a  real,  genuine chuckle.

“  is that right  ?   ignis is a real good cook,  he’s got some tough competition.   but i bet you like your dad’s cooking,  huh  ?   maybe he’ll give iggy a run for his money.   but don’t tell him i said that.  ”

are  you  gonna  miss  me  when  you  leave,   uncle  noctis  ?   will  miss  luna - free - uh  let  me  see  you  ?

his answer requires no further thought.   then again,  perhaps that’s because he doesn’t quite want to  think  about his wedding  ---  isn’t ready to think about what that will mean for he and ignis.   that’s a handful of rules the two of them must be breaking  ---  and if this peace treaty is to be carried out  successfully  ------

he wonders what luna would think,  if she knew.   wonders if she’d understand,  or if she’d be heartbroken.   noctis  does  love luna,  make no mistake.   but he doesn’t think he loves her like the way he loves ignis.   he wishes he’d just come to the conclusion sooner.

but,  as for kat,  that  requires no hesitation or thought,  either.   most importantly  ---

“  of course i will,  peanut.   you’re the coolest kid i know.   i’ll miss our movie nights,  too.   watching movies with prompto just isn’t the same.   but  ---  i don’t think i’ll be gone terribly long.   and i  know  luna will let you see me  ---  i’m sure luna would like to meet you herself,  too.   i know she’ll appreciate you keeping me company all this time.   by the way  ------  ”

now that he thinks of it  ---  he reaches into the pocket of his onesie,  where he’s stowed away a piece of jewelry that he found while he was out and about with prompto one weekend,  just for this occasion.   it’s a necklace,  silver,  with a small elephant charm hanging from it.

THE  FALLING  AIRCRAFT  SEEMS  TO  HAVE  COME  FROM  NOWHERE.   they’re in the regalia,  en route to lestallum  —  when out of the corner of their periphery,  there it is.   it lands  dangerously  close to the meteor,  quite close to their location  —  and,  of course,  they can’t just  ignore  it.   prompto was quite vocal about that fact.

that’s the short of how they found themselves stood in front of the remnants of the crash,  waiting to see if there are any living beings that will emerge.

“  this doesn’t look like anything we’ve seen in an imperial base,  does it  ?  ”   noctis asks aloud,  almost tempted to pick around at the scraps himself,  just to see if there’s any hint as to where it  came  from.   it certainly doesn’t look like anything the empire owns.   and given the state of the thing,  noctis doesn’t think he’d be particularly  concerned  if it was imperial - made  —  if only that they were losing their edge.

you  thinkin’  what  i’m  thinkin’,   noct  ?!“  if you’re thinking  aliens  ——  ”let’s  not  get  too  ahead  of  ourselves,   here.

there’s suddenly the crackling of glass  —  noctis spots a broken window,  and then  ——

what  in  the  world  —ohmygosh  !   it’s  a  giant  cat  alien  !   we  were  right  !

giant cat alien,  indeed,  and she’s crawling right through the broken window,  right onto the grass,  and he spots blood oozing from one of her legs,  deep purple.

she makes eye contact with the four of them,  growls  ---  prompto yelps,  inches behind gladio for protection  ---  but her attempt to stand fails,  she collapses,  and noctis steps forward,  almost on  instinct,  to help  ------

noct,  don’t  ---

“  i’m  fine,  igs.   but it’s hurt.  ”   and he’s  drawn  to her,  immediately so,  as he is drawn to most other felines   (  save for the coeurl  ;   unfortunately he can’t quite get them to  not  attack on sight  ).

you  gotta  be  kidding,   noct.   it’s  got  almost  two  and  a  half  feet  on  you.

“  okay.  ”   he’s still kneeling down in front of her,  regardless of gladio’s warning,  pulls out an elixir,  and bandages.   “  uh  ---  can i help  ?   i’ve got something for your leg,  ”   he says to the cat - alien,  hopes she understands.   he proffers the elixir to her,  just so she can get a good look at it.   hopes,  again,  she’ll understand  ---  it’s harmless.