THE night air felt chilly as it ever so often blew across his face. The cool air was the only thing that he could feel at the moment. Everything else felt numb to him as he stood there staring out over the city from the top of the citadel's north tower. But that seemed to be a norm for him anymore. He seemed to be numb to everyone and everything. The only thing that he had any feelings for was you. But after what just happened with you and Noctis, he felt like he lost even that. And he didn't blame Noctis for being upset with him. After all, he had hurt you during a simple training session.

He dropped his head in frustration as he recalled the events from a few hours ago. From him grabbing you and Noctis slamming into the far wall as he tried to get to you. To Noctis slamming right into him and knocking him up against the wall.  He clinched his jaw as recalled waking up to Noctis glaring at him as he carried your limp body out of the training room.

Paul could once again feel his rage start to surface again at the knowledge that he had lost control again. He knew better then to go that hard on young trainees. And especially with the two of you. But it was just like what he had done to you in Altissia, when he had pushed you harder then anyone else. And at times, almost to your breaking point.

At first he had it in his head that it was the only way that he could keep you safe. But then later on, he couldn't tell if it was to make you better; or if it was to make him feel better by thinking that he could train you to survive anything. Either way, he knew now that he never should have pushed that hard. He just wished that he had thought about that before, when you had been doubled over in pain as you threw up after those extreme training session.

He drained the beer bottle in his hand. Then he traded it out for another one from the box. He put the top of the bottle on the edge of the railing, then popped the top off by tapping the bottle down. The cap fell and landed on the ground by his feet silently as the sound of it hitting the concrete roof was blown away with the breeze.

He put the bottle to his lips and let the cool liquid slide down his throat as he tried to forget the glare that Noctis gave him. But the look was still there.  And your lump body seemed to be forever engraved in his mind with each bottle that he drank. Despite his best effort to make it disappear like the beers in his hand.

He stared off in the direction towards his house as he recalled each harsh word that the two of you had exchanged over the past few years. He would rather hear all of those words again if it meant that he would hear your voice again. He took a long drink as he seemed to be falling further and further away from anything resembling happiness.

Which is why he didn't smile or even react as he heard someone walking towards him as he leaned up against the railing as he downed half of his beer. He tried to ignore the person as they came walking up. For even though he knew that someone would eventually come looking for him. He had hoped that it would be you coming to check on him.  But with a quick glanced back, his heart broke when he realized that it wasn't you.

Now he wasn't sure how long that he had been up there. But as he glanced over at the half drunk 24-case of beer, he figured that he had been there for a few hours now. Well that, and the fact that after he had left the training room. He had gotten in his car and had driven to the local liquor store so that he could drown out his mistakes once again.

Of course when he got there, he changed his mind. Hard liquor usually didn't agree with him, unless it was in a mixed drink. And even then, he had learned to only drink certain ones. Otherwise another side of him, that he didn't particular like, would come out and make things a hundred times worse. And he had sworn to Lynn that he would never let that side of him out again. Not after almost hitting her one night, shortly after losing their son.

So he decided that instead of liquor, he would go with his favorite beer and leave it at that. Once the case is done, that would be the end of it. Of course he hadn't counted on drinking this much so far. But he also expected to be feeling something at this point. A buzz, a drunk, or anything, other than the pain and shame that he was still feeling.

"I thought I might find you up here." He heard Korn's familiar voice say from behind him.

"What, did the maids tell you?" He asked coldly as he took a drink. "Or did you look at the security cameras instead?"

"With you I don't have to use either one." Korn said as he came over to the railing and stood beside him. "You always do the same thing Paul."

"Tst. And what would that be?" Paul asked as he looked down as he waited for the heavy blow to his ego.

"You hide yourself away so that you can slowly destroy yourself." Korn said as he crossed his arms as he looked at Paul.

Paul continued to look away from him as he took another drink.

"Well I can't very well do it in public. And I certainly won't do it in front of my daughter." Paul returned coldly.

"You shouldn't be handling it this way at all." Korn stated as he looked at his old friend.

"Then how would you have me handle it? Huh?" Paul sternly asked as he started to round on Korn as he turned and face him.

"Come on. Bestow upon me some of your bright wisdom." Paul said a sarcastic tone.

"I would be trying to clear things up with my daughter first and foremost." Korn began to say in a normal tone as he tried to ignore Paul's harsh tone.  "Don't let things go too long without talking to her.  You know that it will only get worse."

"She doesn't want to talk to me." Paul interrupted as he leaned back up against the railing.

"Then I would at least try to explain things to Noctis." Korn continued.  "It's the least that you can do for your actions."

"I don't think he wants to see me at the moment either." Paul said in a flat tone before he took a long drink.

"Then perhaps instead of training all the time, you should start going out again." Korn said as he looked at his broken friend.

Paul was taken back as he looked at Korn with a surprised look. "Tst.  And why would I want to do that?"

"It's been three years Paul." Korn said as he watched him carefully. "Don't you think that it's time to let Lynn go and start living again? Even if it is only a dinner date every once in a while."

"I don't think that I'm ready for that yet." Paul said before he took a long drink.

"It doesn't have to be anything serious you know. Hell even just getting laid would do you some good." Korn said with a smile.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Paul said as he gave him a stern look.

"I'm just saying that you need to go out once in awhile. It's not healthy to work as hard as you do and not take a break once in a while." Korn said as he walked up and put his hand on his shoulder.  "It only stresses you out more."

"Your one to talk." Paul said back to him. "When was the last time you went out?"

"Last week actually." Korn said as he gave him a slight smile.

"Your kidding?" Paul said as he crossed his arms in front of himself as he gave Korn an unconvinced look.

"Not at all." Korn said as he smiled back. "I took a beautiful young woman out for dinner before we attended the symphony."

"You? At a symphony?" Paul half laughed and half smiled. "I must meet the women who would talk you into going to one of those."

"You have met her." Korn replied with a smile. "You might not know her as well as I do of course. But you have meet her before. She just might be better known to you as (y/n)'s middle school choir director."

"Mary?" Paul asked as he looked at Korn in disbelief. "Your dating Mary Julius?"

Korn gave Paul a slight smile as he crossed his arms as he looked at him. Paul smiled back at him and gave him a slight laugh.

"That makes sense.   You did seem to be taken by her." Paul replied with a slight smile before he finished off his beer and traded it out for another one as he grabbed an additional one. 

He opened up both of them, then handed one of them to Korn.

"Here." Paul said as he held out the bottle to Korn.

"Thank you." Korn said as he took the long necked bottle from him.

"I must say that I'm impressed that you stepped out of your usually comfort zone to reach her like that." Paul said as they clicked bottles before he raised his and take a drink.

"It just seemed to be the right person." Korn said as he returned then took a drink. "Perhaps it's your turn now to find someone."

"Perhaps later." Paul said as he looked at the bottle before he look a long drink. "I would be afraid of putting them in danger at this point."

"You do know that you're protected here?" Korn said as he watched Paul carefully. "You and your daughter."

"Here yes." Paul said as he gestured to the citadel building. "But not out there." He continued as he turned back around and looked at the city.

"I can't even protect my own daughter out there. So why would I want to drag a innocent person into the hell that we have had to live through for the past several years." Paul said as he dropped his eyes again. "Hell, I couldn't even protect my own wife when it really counted."

"You can't keep beating yourself up over that." Korn said to him as he watched him. "You have to know by now, that what happened to Lynn isn't your fault. None of it."

Paul didn't say anything as he kept his head down. He didn't quite share Korn's view on what had happened back then. He had run every second of those days through his head over and over again as he tried to figure out where everything went wrong. From them breaking into his house by forcing their way in by knife point. To him breaking through the Nif headquarters elevator walls with one of their robots so that he could make his escape with Lynn's body;all so that he could bring her home for a proper burial. None of it seemed to make any sense. Not then and certainly not now.

At first all you could hear was screams. Panicky screams coming from men, women and children. They seemed to be coming from the streets below. Then you saw people running from one of the streets as they tried to escape . But why are they running? You wondered. Why are they so afraid?

Then as if to answer your question, you saw the trees suddenly ignited as a huge being came walking out of the side street. Your breath caught as you stared at the horns and sword that it carried. Flames danced off of his body as he slowly walked out onto the main street. There was no mistaken, it was Ifrit.

You seemed to be transfixed as you watched the civilians run away from him, while the glaives ran towards the deity. Only for him to blast an inferno wave of flames at them with the wave of his hand. The blast incinerating half of them in one sweep. Then he turned and seem to look you right in the eye. You could feel the heat from his gaze and presences as if your face  was right beside the blaze.

"Ahhhhh!" You screamed as you tried to sit straight up in bed.

Noctis jumped and immediately pushed off of you and started to look around with his hand ready to summon his sword at the first glimpse of danger.  "What's wrong?  What happened?"

You were silent for a moment as you looked around the dark bedroom. There was no deity, no flames, no threat. But you could still feel the heat from the flames as if it was burning your very skin.  Noctis looked around before he meet your eyes.

"I don't see anything." He said before leaned back towards you.

He could see your body trembling as you looked around.

"(Y/n)? Are you okay? Your shaking." He said As he placed his hand on your cheek.

"No, I'm fine."  You quietly responded as you dropped your gaze.  "It was just a dream."

You wanted to avoid eye contact. Getting him upset over a vision or dream or whatever it was, just wasn't worth it. Besides, it's not like there was anything that could be done about it.

Noctis sighed as he watched you. 

"Are you sure?" He asked as he lifted your chin back up.  "You know that I'm here to protect you.  And I'm not about to let anything hurt you.  I promise."

You closed your eyes and placed your hand on his chest.  He tucked you against his chest and kissed your hair.  You could still feel your body shaking.  But Noctis' firm grip was keeping you from totally freaking out.

But was it just a dream?  Or was that real? Did I really just see a  vision of Ifrit in Insomnia? By why? How? You thought as your mind started going a hundred miles an hour.

Then you both jumped as Snowball jumped onto the bed. She meowed at the two of you, then walked up and started rubbing up against you. You started to absently pet her with shaking hands as you tried to calm down. She purred and nudged you as if trying to distract you. But you just couldn't seem to get the images out of your head.

Why now? You thought to yourself. Why am I seeing this now? I haven't seen any images in so long. I still remember them all sure. And hell, there isn't a detail of any of them that I could possible forget. But why now? After all this time?

Suddenly there was knocking on Noctis' door. Both of you jump and Snowball went racing off. While Noctis pulled you closer as they knocked again.  You could feel how tense he was as his muscles flex around you.

"Is everything okay in there?  I heard a scream." You heard your dad say through the door before he knocked harder.  "(Y/N)!  Answer me!  Are you okay?"

"I'm fine dad."  You shouted towards the door.  "I just had a nightmare is all."

"I want to see for myself."  He replied in a firm tone.

You sighed as you rolled your eyes.  You had a feeling that he was going to say that.  He was always paranoid when it came to something like this.  But Noctis seemed to understand as he got up and walked over the door to let him in.

Noctis opened the door to see your dad standing there in the same clothes from earlier.  Except now he had bags under his eyes and his hair was a mess.  Noctis narrowed his eyes at him as he held the door open.  But Paul didn't back down as he looked right back.

"Step aside your highness."  He said in a firm tone.  "I need to see my daughter."

"She already told you that she was fine."  Noctis replied in flat tone.

"With all regards, she's my daughter."

"And she's my retainer."

"Not officially she's not."  Paul replied as he stepped forward.  "Now step aside your highness.  I really don't want to use force."

Noctis narrowed his eyes more.  "And why should I after earlier?  Why do you really want to see her?"

"I want to apologize to her."  Paul replied as he slightly dropped his eyes before he looked back up at Noctis.  "And to you.  I never should have put you in the middle like that.  And for that I'm sorry.  I know that you fought back to save her.  And that never should have been the case.  Can you forgive a man for trying to protect his family?"

Noctis dropped his scowl.  "No.  I suppose not."

"Then do you accept my apology?"

"I don't agree with your methods."  Noctis said as he gave Paul a stern look before his gaze softened again.  "But I do understand why you want to protect her."

"Thank you, your highness."  Paul replied as he gave Noctis a slight bow.  "Now can I see my daughter?" 

"Fine."  Noctis said as he stepped off to the side. "But make it quick.  It's late enough already."

"I know."  Paul answered as he walked past Noctis and into the room.

You were still sitting on the bed when you dad walked up to you.  You weren't sure what they had been talking about.  All you had heard was low murmurs coming from the entry way.  But based on the look on their faces you could tell that it had been a tense conversation.

"Hey kiddo."  Your dad said as he walked over to the bed.  "How are you feeling?"

"Better than you, by the looks of it."  You said as you examined his scruffy appearance.  "Have you sleep at all?"

"That's not important."  He replied as he tried to brush you off.

"Dad.."  You replied in a firm tone.  "Didn't we already..."

"Stop honey."  Your dad replied as he sat down beside you.  "I didn't come here for that."

"No, instead you came to spy on us.  Didn't you?"  You asked as you watched him as a faint hint of beer drift from him.

"If I really wanted to spy on you, I wouldn't be sitting here."  He replied as he glanced at you before he took you hand.  "No, I'm here to apologize."

"Really?"  You asked as you gave him a stunned look.  My dad's apologizing?

"Yeah.  I never should have been that rough on the two of you."  Your dad said as he slowly rubbed your hand.  

"And I certainly shouldn't have grabbed you like that."  He continued as he cupped your cheek and stared at you with a pleading gaze."  I'm sorry kiddo.  Do you forgive me?"

You felt your heart melt as you felt the sincerity in his tone.  And as he looked at you, you could see the truth behind those words.  You could feel your heart breaking as he sat there searching your eyes for forgiveness.

You quickly wrapped your arms around him and gave him a hug.  "Of course I forgive you dad."

His arms wrapped you and held you close to him.  You couldn't say anything as you felt your throat start to swell shut.  But he still held you close as he slowly stroked your hair.  It felt nice to feel his firm hold on you again.

"Thank you." Paul said softly with a reassuring smile. 

Then your dad slowly released you.  "But how about you head to your room for the rest of the night?  I'm sure that Noctis could use a good night's sleep after yesterday."

"I'm fine."  Noctis said in a firm tone.  "And she's not going anywhere."

"No it's okay Noctis.  My dad is right."  You replied as you looked back at him.  "And besides, I still have to get a shower and everything in the morning."

"Fine." Noctis said in a stern voice. "But if I hear anything coming from your room, your coming back and you won't leave until morning."

"I don't think anything else is going to happen tonight." Paul answered. "Because I'll be staying in her room for the remainder of the night."

Noctis dropped his gaze for a moment. He knew that he should have felt better that your dad was with you. But at the sametime, he had gotten so use to looking out for you, that even having your dad take his place wasn't really putting him at ease.

"And I'm fine now Noctis." You quietly said as you slid off Noctis' bed. "It was just a nightmare. I'm better now. Really."

Noctis narrowed his eyes as he watched you. He could tell that you weren't being quite honest. And he could sense that you were hiding something from him. Which was odd for you. He had never known you to hide anything from anyone.  And especially from him.

"Are you sure?" Noctis asked as he watched you closely.

"Yeah.  But thanks for looking after me." You quietly said as you walked up to him as your dad turned and started to head out of the room.

"I'll see you in the morning." You said before you gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Night princess." He returned as you turned on your heal and headed for the door.

"Good night your highness."  You said with a smile before you walked out the door.

You quietly entered your room and climbed into bed. You pulled the covers tightly around yourself as you tried to stay calm. It felt like only a few minutes as you laid like that for hours as you kept playing the vision through your mind over and over again as you memorized as many details as possible. You had done the same thing with all of the other visions. They all meant something.  You just weren't quite sure what that something was about.

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

Finally you gave up and looked over at your alarm clock. The bright green numbers told you that it was four in the morning. You sighed to yourself. So much for getting some sleep. For you had once again spent more time laying awake then you had asleep. Oh course you were grateful for the few hours that you had gotten. Especially the hours that you had spent with Noctis.

You rolled over on your bed so that you were facing the main part of the room. You could just make out the silhouette of the couch from your bed as it sat there in front of the tv and in your line of sight to the porch. You dropped your head as you remembered crawling out of bed and joining Noctis in his bed when you had been upset from the last dream. This time though, you knew that dad would be upset if you went to Noctis' room again in the same night.

You sighed to yourself as you sat up and swung your feet out to place them on the floor by the bed. You slowly slid off of the bed and headed to the bathroom to use the restroom. After a few minutes you walked back out so that you could head down to the gym.

You figured you might as well start your day. Besides, you figured that you might be able to think clearer once you calmed back down your jitters through physical exercise. Busy body, clear mind. It was one thing that Monica had taught you.

You walked over and turned on your bedside light. Then you stood in front of your suitcase as you pulled out your workout clothes. That was when you heard something stir on the couch. You froze in place for a moment as you watched someone sit up. You were slightly relieved to hear your dad groan as he sat up. But then you turned away from him again since you were slightly upset that he hadn't gone back to his own room.

"Is it that time already?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"If your talking about training time? Then yes." You said coldly as you took your clothes and started to walk them into the bathroom.

"No."  He calmly said as he stretched out.  "That's not what I'm talking about."

You stopped in your tracks and turned back to face him. He was giving you a slightly hurt look as he watched your face. You hadn't seen that look before. Never in his life had he shown you any signs of weakness.  At least not until that moment.  Which left you stunned as you stared at him.

"Then what do you mean?" You quietly asked.

"Somehow, I seemed to have missed you stepping through the door where you become that quiet teenager who no longer wants to talk to her parents anymore?" Paul said as the hurt in his eyes seemed to intensify with his tone.

"I had hoped that you wouldn't be one of those."  He continued before he dropped his head. 

"But I guess that I haven't given you much of a choice now have I." He finished as he dropped his head.

"That's not it." You said as you watched him rub his hands over his face.

"Then what is it?" He asked as he slowly raised his head.

You dropped your head and slowly made your way over to the couch. He watched you as you walked over and sat on the other side of the couch from him. You weren't quite sure where to begin. There was so much that was making you frustrated with him. But at the same time, maybe he could help you figure out what these visions were about.

"I'm not quite sure how to talk to you anymore." You said as you kept your head down. "Because it seems like every time I try to help you, you shut the door in my face. Then you push me further away from you. When all I'm trying to do is help."

Paul dropped his head as he clenched his teeth together.  Your words cut him deeper then any knife could have cut into his flesh. But he knew that you were right. He had been pushing you away again. But this time the words were harsher and the reactions were much stronger.

"I don't mean to push you away."  Your dad said as leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "But at the same time, I'm suppose to be the one in control of everything. I'm supposed to be the one that you come to for your problems. Not the other way around."

"Who says you can't come to me?" You said as you set your clothes down on the table and slid up closer to him. "I may not be mom, but I still know you better than anyone else in this place."

"I suppose you do." He said as he slowly looked back up at you. "But there are still things that I can't talk to you about."

"That's fine." You said as you placed your hand on his arm. "There's things I won't talk to you about either."

Your dad raised his eyebrow as he looked at you.

"But that's what our friends are for."  You continued as you wrapped your arms around his.

Paul slightly smiled as he moved your hair behind your ear. "Very true."

"But we can talk about us as a family." You said as you placed your head on his shoulder. "You keep saying that you want to protect me.  Well I want to do the same for you. We're all that's left after all. There isn't anyone else left in our family.  That's why I can't just stand by and watch you disappear right in front of me."

Your dad wrapped his other arm around you and pulled you closer to him.  He closed his eyes and swallowed his pride as his heart started to break at the thought of losing you again. After a moment he leaned back and looked at you.  He saw the tears starting to form in your eyes as you looked at him.

"I love you dad." You quietly said as a tear escaped and rolled down your cheek. "And nothing will ever change that.  So please, let me help you.  We are stronger if we stay together.  Isn't that what mom use to say?"

You watched him search your face as he cupped your cheek.  "Yeah.  She did."

"Thank you kiddo for reminding me."  He continued before he pulled you close to him again.  "Thank you."

You reached over and wrapped your arms around his neck in the biggest hug that you could give him.  "Anytime dad."

He placed his hand on the back of your head and gently started to stroke your hair as a single tear rolled down his cheek. You felt your throat tighten up as you tried to keep the tears in. But then his arms tightened around you and you could feel him start to tremble from all the pinned up pain that he had been hiding for so long. You pulled him closer as you held him close.

You held each other for what seemed like an eternity before he released you. You slowly sat back and gave him a loving smile.  He smiled back as he wiped away a few stray tears from your cheeks.  You smiled back as you saw a few on his cheek as well.

"How about we redo our training session from yesterday?"  Your dad said with his usual fatherly smile.  "But this time, we'll do it right way."

You smiled back at him and nodded.  "I would really like that."

******Author Note******

Awww.  *Sniff*  Now that we have made up with dad, we can now continue training.  Then we can head out to do some shopping.  Let's just hope that Noctis can handle a simple shopping spree.  

But what a minute?  What the hell is that guy doing?

Please be sure to keep an eye out for the next chapter as we get ready for the Founder's Day Celebration and a ball to remember.

Thanks for reading.  :)

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