YOU nervously stared out the side window as the car headed to the house. You had been trying to stay calm for the whole trip. But it seemed that the closer that you got, the more nervous that you became. Your heart was racing and your hands were shaking as the house came into view. You glanced over at your dad as he sat next to you. He seemed to be in a daze again as he stared at the house.

........Lynn was standing in the front yard facing the house as her eyes were full of love and excitement. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. She clasped his hands and squeezed tight. He tightened his grip on her as he held her firmly to him.

"Are you sure that we can afford this?" Lynn asked as she stared at the house as if it was a dream that might end.

"I'm positive we can. That's why we got it." Paul had said as he kissed her hard on the cheek as he squeezed her tight.

She slightly giggled as she rocked off to the side. He then slightly loosened his grip and lowered his head to her ear. He loved how soft she felt and he couldn't wait to feel more of her. Her perfume filled his senses and was starting to drive him crazy.

"With both of us working for the citadel, we will have more than enough." Paul whispered in her ear before he gently nibbled on her earlobe.

Lynn giggled as she tried to shy away from him.

"Stop." She teased to him.

"Why?" He asked before he lightly kissed her earlobe. "I'm allowed to kiss my new bride in front of our new home."

"But what will the neighbors think?" She asked as she glanced back towards him.

"Their going to be jealous of course." Paul said before he gently kissed her neck.

"And why is that?" She asked with a heated breath as she was starting to fall under his enchantment.

"Because their going to wish that they could have as much fun as we will be having tonight." He said in a deep voice as he hungrily kissed her neck.

She moaned against him as she rolled her head to the side so that he had full access to her neck. He leaned her over a bit more as he continued to kiss her neck. She seemed to tilt to one side as he leaned her over. Then suddenly she was in the air as he picked her up in the bridle carry. Then he walked towards the house and carried her inside.............

"We've been keeping up with the place for you." Korn said from the front seat as he started to get out.

Paul looked away from the house for a moment as Korn's voice once more jarred his out of his memories, as the car was at a stop in front of the house. He then opened the car door and climbed out. He felt his body start to shake as he stared at the house that had brought them joy for over twenty years. But now he felt his strength starting to fail him because now he was going to try to live in it without the one person who truly made it a home.

"We've had one of the gardeners from the citadel take care of the yard for you." Korn explained as everyone else climb out of the car.

"It looks good." Paul absently commented as he looked around the front yard at the clean cut yard and well trimmed bushes that lined the front of the house.

"We also made a few adjustments to the security. For one, we had motion detection lights installed around the outside of the house." Korn explained as he pointed out the new lights that hung on the outside wall.

Paul looked around the front of the house and could see the new lights and other sensors that now seem to litter his house. He dropped his head as he slightly smiled a bit as he thought about how Lynn had told him that she wanted more lights out front. But she wanted it more for when they came home at night so that they could see as they entered the house or for any guests so that they could see when they came to visit. But now the lights were to see if there was any intruders coming to pay a visit instead.

As everyone approached the door, Korn turned to Paul and handed him the keys to the house. Paul looked down at the keys and slightly smiled. He already knew that they had to rekey the entire house so that no one had access who shouldn't while he was gone. He slowly rubbed the metal between his fingers as he remembered the first set of keys. He took a deep breath then looked back up at the door. Then with trembling hands, he unlocked the door and walked into the house.

But as soon as Paul walked in, he was greeted with a ear piercing beep. He quickly looked around to see if the fire alarm was going off of something. But then he watched as Korn walked over to a panel by the stairs and punched in a code. Then the alarm stopped. You and your dad looked at Korn in shook as he closed up the panel and walked back over with two slips of paper. He handed one to each of you.

You looked down and saw a phone number written on it, but nothing else. You looked back up and gave Korn a confused look. Your dad must have given him the same look, since Korn just stood there with a smile before gesturing to the two of you to walk over to the panel on the wall. Then he explain that the numbers were how you each would deactivate the system when you came in. This way the system knew who was home and who wasn't. He then reached in his inside coat pocket and pulled out two brand new cell phones and handed each of you one.

"Those numbers aren't just made up numbers." Korn started to explain as you looked at the new phone. "Those are also your new phone numbers."

You slightly smiled as you looked at the phone in your hand. It reminded you of the one that Ignis carried with him everywhere. You then looked up at Ignis, who smiled back at you as if to confirm your hunches. You then unlocked it and started glancing though it's menu and checking the different settings and features.

"We had to issue you these since your last phones had been bugged." Korn explained as he looked at you.

"In fact yours," he said as he gestured towards you, "had a tracking bug in it that was telling the empire where you were at and to whom you were talking with."

You quickly looked back up at him in shock. Bugged? Seriously?

"Somehow, someone had gotten a hold of your phone and had planted a bug in the back panel when you weren't looking or were aware of it." Korn explained as he gave you a nervous look. "Which is why Noctis has a new phone as well."

You dropped your head for a minute.

That does explain a few things. You thought as you looked at the new phone as you tried to remember who had had access to your old phone.

"We have even had the whole place cleaned up for you and had replaced all of the carpeting in the dining room and living room." Korn continued as everyone came around to the living room.

"Thank you for that." Paul said as he looked at Korn. "That was actually going to be one of the first things that I was going to do."

"I figured as much." Korn beamed back.

"I even had the glass replaced in the china cabinet as well, since the one glass pane was broken." Korn continued as he pointed to the now fixed china cabinet.

Paul looked over at the china cabinet. But he had to quickly close his eyes as he once again felt himself being slammed up against it as the intruder wrestled with him as they tried to hold a dagger to his throat. He dropped his head as he felt his breath leave him again. Then as he opened his eyes, he could feel himself pinned against the floor as blood dropped from him onto the carpeting as he struggled to get up.

Paul felt his heart rate spike as he remembered the pain and embarrassment as he had struggled to get up but couldn't seem to move. He hands started to shake and his breathe seemed to escape him as he tried to breath. He could feel the steel of the sword as if it was sticking through him again as it was being moved back and forth if he tried to get up. He could even smell the fresh dirt that the other intruders had dragged in on their shoes as they rushed in and grabbed Lynn.

"Dad?" You asked as you saw him standing there shaking. "Are you okay?"

He slowly looked up at you as he followed your voice. But he didn't see you. He saw Lynn as she gave him a horrified look as they restrained her. He felt his stomach flip as he could hear her crying out again as they ripped her clothes off. Suddenly he felt his breakfast starting to rise to the back of his throat as the tension disagreed with his stomach. He tried to swallow it back down as everything started to come back up. But it wasn't working.

He quickly turned to the sliding glass door that was right beside him. He threw it open and ran across the deck and over to the railing as everything in his stomach came back up again. He tightly gripped the railing as the convolutions took over and emptied his entire stomach onto the fresh cut grass. He could feel the pain from his stomach and shoulder both adding insult to injury as he stood there trembling.

He stood there for a few moments after the motions subsided as he tried to steady himself again. He cleared his throat and mouth by spitting a few times to try and rid himself of the foul taste of regurgitated eggs and orange juice. He then leaned heavy on the railing as he tried to calm back down again. His breath was short and his palms were still sweaty as he tried to calm down his heartbeat that was pounding as hard as he was shaking.

Then he jumped when he felt two arms wrap around his waist and pull him in for a full embrace. Instantly he felt tears starting to form as he looked down and saw your hands on his chest. He reached one hand up and tightly clasped one of yours as he took several deep breaths as he fought to control his tears. He hated for you to see him at his weak moments. And this one definitely one of those moments.

But at the same time, this was what he needed. He needed that comfort to tell him that it was okay. And that had usually done by embracing Lynn behind closed doors and out of sight. He dropped his head and closed his eyes tightly as he reminded himself that this would have to do from now on, as a few stray tears fell.

You tightly held him from behind as you tried to comfort him as he had you all these years. You knew that you weren't your mom, but perhaps just the notion would be enough. You weren't sure what else that you could do after you saw him fly out of the room and to the railing. But then after you saw him throw up, something told you that the best thing was just to hold him as best you could, so that he knew it was okay.

After a few moments Korn stepped up and placed a hand on Ignis' shoulder. Ignis glanced briefly up at his uncle before looking back at you and your dad again as you held each other. The scene was familiar to them since it reminded them both of how they had been after Korn had to tell Ignis about his dad. For it had been Ignis at the railing and Korn comforting him as they both thought about what had happened to Korn's now late brother.

"I love you dad." You said through tears as you felt him slowly starting to calm down.

"I love you too honey." He said in a rough voice as he tightly gripped your hand.

Then he stood back up as he finally felt that he had enough control of himself to move again. You loosened your grip on him as he slowly turned around and faced you. He then looked down at you with pride and sadness. He then ran his hand through your hair so that he could see you again. He slightly smiled at you as he could see Lynn in your facial features. They were right when they said that you had your mother's eyes. He then placed his hand on your cheek and pulled you close to his chest as he hugged you tightly.

You tightened your grip on him again as you let his body envelope you as you both took comfort in each other's warmth and support. You didn't like to see your dad upset. But you knew that there still needed to be a lot of healing for both of you, now that you were back. For the house just wasn't the same as before. For once again the household had been ripped apart at the seams. And now you both faced the hard part of putting back together what was left.

After a few moments you felt him calm back down to normal. You smiled as you felt your own heart rate dropped now that you knew that he was calmer again. Then you loosened your grip on him and pulled away enough so that you could look at him again. You could still see the pain in his eyes as he looked at you, but it was less than before as his eyes started to show his usual calm and in control look.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have had that rum at the lightkeepers house yesterday." He said as he ran his hand through your hair again.

"Perhaps." You said back with a smile, even though you knew that that wasn't what happened.

"Come on," he said as he moved your hair behind your ear, "let's have a look at the rest of the house. We will need to see what we need to go shopping for.  Besides clothes of course."

"Of course." You smiled back.

You dropped your hands from his back, but grabbed his hand as you both turned back to the sliding glass door. Ignis and Korn both stood there with slight smiles as you both approached. Ignis slid the door open so that you could both enter. Then as soon as you were back inside, Paul closed the door behind him and locked it again. Then he turned towards the kitchen so that he didn't have to look at the china cabinet again for now.

After a quick glance through the cupboards, running the faucet to check the pipes and a check of the appliances you both started making a grocery list of everything that you needed to get started again. For the cleaning crew had gone through and thrown out everything in the refrigerator and had scrubbed all of the appliances for you. The list also included getting some cleaning products that were low so that all of the kitchen cupboards could be completely cleaned out before it was restocked with food and cooking supplies.

It was decided that you would come back after lunch with the supplies and do a deep clean. You smiled when Ignis said that he would come back to help as well. Korn didn't argue, in fact he said that he would help as well, much to your surprise. Then you remembered the freezer in the garage.

"Has anyone checked that?" You asked Korn.

"It's been locked this whole time." Korn said. "And we had no idea where the key was.

"That's not good." Paul said as gave you a gross look.

You slightly giggled at his expression. "Not at all."

And with that, Paul opened up the garage door that was off of the kitchen. The smell of oil and grease filled his senses again. He loved the smell of his garage. He had spend a lot of time working on his cars in his garage or on various other projects.  And he took a lot of pride in the set up that he had done.  It was the perfect place to gave him a great area to work on any car. Let alone a great space that he could work on the various projects that he had to get done around the house.

(Courtesy of Pinterest)

One wall was tool boxes, cabinets, and his stationary workbench counter. Where the other wall had his moving tool box that he could pull out to use for big projects. He smiled to see that everything was still as he had left it. Then he turned and saw something that took his breath away. For sitting in the garage was a beautiful new car.

He slowly walked over to the car. It was the same kind that he had had before, but this was the latest model. He walked down it as he admired the smooth sides of the car and the slick style and feel that the car was putting off. He had wanted to get one of these once the old car had bit the dust. But he never imagined how good it would look in his garage.

"What do you think?" Korn asked as he walked into the garage.

"I think that someone must be really missing this baby for it to be hiding in my garage." Paul said as he glanced through the passenger window at the interior.

He smiled as he saw that the car had a standard transmission, opposed to be being an automatic. He much preferred a standard oppose to the other. He like to have more control over his car's engine so that he knew the wear and tear that was being put onto it. That and he loved the thrill of bringing up the RPMs of the car's engine so that he could hear and feel their full power as he moved the shifter from one gear to the next. It was always a turn on for him when it came to cars.

"Only if that person is the dealer." Korn chuckled at him.

"Your kidding?" Paul asked as he placed one hand on the roof as he stood back up.

"No, my friend I'm not.  She's all yours." Korn said with a huge smile.

Paul slowly turned to face Korn with a look of shock on his face. 

"I can't except this." He said in a slightly hurt voice.

"That's not really a choice for you." Korn answered at he smiled back at Paul.

"That's a gift from your king." Korn explained at he nodded towards the car.

"He wanted to replace the one that you lost at his expense." Korn said as he walked up to him.

"He wanted to fix up your old ride at first. But the Nif had burnt it to the point that there was no way to salvage it." Korn explained as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll be sure to thank his majesty when I see him tonight." Paul said as he dropped his gaze.

Then he remembered what Korn told him about his old car. Plus he recalled the phone call from the night before as he had tried to explain to the insurance company what happened and why it had taken so long for the claim to be started. That in itself was a tricky conversation. He couldn't give them specifics, which didn't really settle well with them. They ended up having to go off of the police report since Paul couldn't say anything otherwise.

"You should have been given a set of keys before you left Altissia yesterday." Korn said as he dropped his hand.

"Yeah." Paul said as he was pulled out of thought again as he remembered the keys that Weskham had handed him.

He then reached in his pocket and pulled them out and found what looked like a car key.  Then he hit the door lock key. Then his face lite up to the satisfying sound of the locks disengaging. Your face lite up as you looked at the car then at your dad. You knew that he had been wanting one just like this. Your heart slightly fluttered at the thought that they had tried to put things back in place as best as they could for the two of you.

"Why don't you take it for a spin?" Korn suggested as he watched Paul open up the door and climbed inside.

Paul paused for a minute after he sat down on the seat.  Then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the new car smell that drift up towards him.  He slightly smiled as he let the scent fill up his senses.

"Very tempting." He said as he ran his hands over the smooth leather steering wheel.

"But we still have to check the rest of the house first." He said as he did a quick glance around the car again before he climbed back out of the car and closed the door again.

"But we will when we go shopping." Your dad said as he looked back at you.

"Perhaps that will start with a hamburger first?" He finished as he gave you a smile.

You gave him a huge grin.

"That sounds like a great time." You beamed back at him.

"Then let's hurry up and check the rest of the house." He tried to joke back.

"Oh freezer? Almost forgot." You said as you reached over and grabbed a strange circle key off the peg board that was above the rolling workbench.

Then you walked over to the freezer and unlocked it. You were glad to see that the freezer was empty for the most part. But then you got grossed out when you saw the expiration dates on the few food items that were still there. Your dad came over after a moment and stood behind you as you held the door open.

"Well at least the freezer itself works well." He said he looked at the door trim and shelving inside.

"Can't say that I'm pleased with the food though." He said as he pulled out a rack of ribs that he had been waiting to smoke up before everything hit the fan.

"Well, it looks like this might be a very expensive shopping trip." He though as he put the ribs back before he closed and locked the freezer door back up.

After leaving the garage, you each went to your rooms to check on things there. You already had a feeling that nothing was going to fit anymore as far as your clothing was concerned. But you weren't even thinking of your clothes when you first walked in. For right as you stepped into your room, you were reminded of your mom as soon as you looked over at your vanity and saw the heart pendent that she had given you for your 12th birthday. You slowly walked over and gently picked it up and held it in your hands.

.........."It's beautiful mom." You had told her as she put it on you.

"Just like you honey." She had said with a smile.

"I just wanted to give you something to help you feel better about stepping into the world as a beautiful young lady.  Just like my mom did for me." She had said as she had moved your hair back around your neck after she hooked the clasp............

You clutched the necklace in your hand as you tried not to cry again as you remembered how this was the last thing that she had bought you for your birthday. As you stood there, you felt a hand on your shoulder as you started to break down.  You turned around and saw Ignis quietly standing behind you. Ignis then slowly wrapped his arms around you as you were losing the battle with your emotions. Ignis dropped his head down by your cheek as he held you tight. He hated seeing you hurting like this. But he understood it all the same as he held you.

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

Each area that Paul looked at brought him a brief glimpse of Lynn as if her ghost was warping to different areas in the room. Whether it was checking her makeup in the mirror of her vanity, or pulling clothes out of the closet to wear for work. To standing in front of the sliding glass door that led out to their private patio off the back of their room or laying naked on the bed as if eagerly waiting for him to touch her. He was staring at the bed when Korn knocked on the door.

"Camelia had mentioned to me that she was going to be giving you a couple cards before you left. Did you ever open them up to see what they were about?" Korn asked as he stood in the doorway as he watched Paul.

Paul turned around and gave Korn a very suspicious look. "Are you spying on me or something?"

"Absolutely not." Korn said as he chuckled at him. "Like I said, she had mentioned it to me and I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to be duplicating her efforts. There is such a thing of too much of the good thing."

Paul paused for a minute, then reached in his jacket pocket and grabbed the card that she had given him. He opened it up to see that it was a farewell card that had been signed by the entire estate and security teams. And inside there was a card that was for the amount of 1,000 yen for him to use to get the house back in order. He inhaled a short raspy breath as he pictured everyone from Altissia that had helped him over the last three years.

"Dad?" He heard coming from behind Korn.

Then as you came walking in you held out your hand that had your card from Camelia. He could see the tears in your eyes as you walked in and handed him the card. He took the card from your shaking hands and read the inscription.

Dear (y/n),

I've never met a more determined family then yours. And a lot of that started with your parents. I see a lot of your mother in you and I know that she would be proud of you for what you have done so far. I know that nothing will bring her back. But that doesn't mean that her daughter shouldn't look her best as she shows the world what a strong young woman can do.

Please accept this gift as my way of giving you a push in the right direction to show the world what we already know. And please let me know if you need anything else.

Love,

Camelia

Paul looked back up at you. You then handed him a card that she gave you for 5,000 yen to use to buy a whole new wardrobe. Paul smiled at the cards as he gave them back to you. He then looked back at you with a huge smile.

"Looks like you can get a full wardrobe, plus some with that." He said as he gave you a huge grin.

"Looks like the old food won't be the only stuff that we will be getting rid of today." He said with a huge smile.

"She also gave us each a pass so that we can visit Altissia anytime we want." You said as you showed him the two passports that had been in your envelope.

He took both passports in his hand and smiled.

"That Camelia." Paul quietly said as he looked at them both. "She did always want us to visit her more often. Perhaps we can take her up on that offer later."

"I want to ask you a favor."  You quietly said to your dad as you slightly dropped your head.

"It depends on the favor." Paul started to say as he gave you a nervous look. "If it's to drive the car today, the answer is no."

"No, it's not that." You said as you shook your head.

"I was hoping that you would let me go through mom's clothes before you got rid of them?" You asked as you felt your heart rate increase.

Paul's heart stopped at your request. He hadn't even thought about getting rid of Lynn's clothes and personal items. He knew that he should be thinking about that. But he couldn't bring himself to part with any of it just yet. You both had just gotten back after all. But as he looked at you, he knew that you were right. Almost all of her belongings were going to need to go if he was going to truly move on without her.

"I promise that they won't go anywhere until you have gone through them." He said as he pulled you close with one arm.

"Thanks dad." You replied as he gave you a kiss on your head as he stared at the closet.

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

After checking the rest of the house, you soon found yourself climbing into the backseat of the new car. The cool leather felt soft on your bear legs as you sat down on it with you shorts and sat back against the seat in your t-shirt. You had a huge smile on your face as you looked over at Ignis as you both were slightly excited to be heading out in the new car. You were perhaps more excited than him since he was use to getting in very elaborate and expensive cars. But he did enjoy seeing you light up with the thrill of it all.

"Is everyone ready?" Paul asked as he hit the garage door opener which brought the door lift to life as it slowly pulled the door up to reveal the warm afternoon sun.

"Yeah." You excited replied.

"I won't remind you to keep to the speed limit while your driving." Korn said as he gave Paul a friendly look.

"Good. I don't need a reminder. Just sit back and let me drive." He said as he turned over the engine and slowly showed a fully satisfied grin as the roar of the engine filled the garage.

Then with that smile still on his face, he put the car in gear and pulled out of the garage.

******Author note******

I do apologize for this one being posted a bit late. I was had taken a bit of a break top update my main story line for a moment.  And I certainly wanted to get that one just right.

The reason I decided to use yen instead of the usual Final Fantasy Gil was because it was referenced in Episode Ardyn as being the currency that was used within Insomnia. The currency doesn't actually change to Gil until they leave the city limits.  And that doesn't started until they get to Hammerhead.

I am slightly familiar with how much of a difference there is between yen and the US dollar. But with currency flocculating on a daily bases and with not being in Japan for over years now, my pricing may be a bit off. So I apologize for any confusion in this aspect.

Either way, I do hope that you enjoyed this chapter as they faced some of the challenges that they will have to deal with as we try to move forward.  And be sure to come back for the next chapter as they start to make preparations for the 750th Founder's Day celebration.

Thanks for reading. :)

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