THE ride home was quiet for the most part, aside from the traffic and the music playing on the radio.  You quietly hummed along to some of your favorite songs as the car passed by the many people and buildings that lined the streets.  You loved to watch people as they walked around tended to their many errands for the day.  You liked to imagine what their destinations and plans where for that day.  

Some you could tell where shopping for new clothes while others were pickup up their dry cleaning.  Many were eating at the various restaurants that were throughout the city. This made you smile to yourself as you thought about what you would make for dinner that night.  Perhaps your favorite, spaghetti.

Then in what seemed like no time at all, the car pulled up in front of the house.  Ignis climbed out first then held out his hand in an attempt to help you get out.  You looked at his hand at first. Then you looked up at him, out of confusion.  He smiled back at you when he saw your confusion.

"Would you like a hand getting out?"  He asked with a smile.

"Oh."  You answered blushing as you realized how silly you must look like now.

Then you slid over to the door and placed on hand on the car door and the other in his hand and stepped out of the car.

"Thank you Ignis."  You said once you were standing outside of the car.

"It's my pleasure."  He said as he closed the door.  

Then he walked over to the car's front passenger door to talk to Tredd.

"I'll go unlock the door."  You said as you started towards the house.

"Very well."  Ignis said before leaning his head toward the front passenger window as Tredd lowered it so that they could talk.

"Careful Ignis.  You know that your uncle wouldn't be pleased with you if you got distracted at this point."  Tredd warned Ignis as soon as you were out of ear shot.

Ignis stopped and looked at him with a irritated look.  "I'm not distracted.  I'm just helping her out with her studies.  It'll help me to learn how to teach and train Noctis later on."

"Yeah.  You keep telling yourself that."  Tredd said with a sly smile.  "Just don't forget what your role is to Noctis and to the King.  Girls at your age can cause more problems than you think."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind."  Ignis returned.  "I'll call when we're done."

"You do that."  Tredd said back as Ignis turned towards the house.  

"And I'm serious Ignis.  Don't get distracted!"  He shouted after him as Ignis started up the driveway.  

Then he put the car in drive and pulled away. 

Ignis paused at the front door and thought about what Tredd had just said.  

Am I getting distracted?  Is she somehow having that effect on me?  He wondered as he stared down at the ground as he thought about the recent events.

"Ignis?"  You asked after you opened the door to let him in.  "Are you ok?"

"Yes.  My apologies.  I was lost in thought there for a minute."  He said as he raised his gaze to look at you.

"Well, come on in."  You said with a smile as you went back into the house.

Ignis turned and looked at where the car had been just a moment ago.  

"I'm serious Ignis.  Don't get distract."  He heard in his head.

Ignis shook his head.  

I'm not distracted. He thought to himself then went through the door and into your house.

When he entered he looked around and saw a large living room just off to the left that had a light brown sectional couch that stretched further into the room and out of sight.  There were doors right in front of the entrance that looked like coat closets.  To the right was a staircase the wrapped against the wall and led to the second floor.  He smiled at how quaint the house was.  

He couldn't remember the last time that he had been in a normal house.  For compared to his uncle's rooftop penthouse condo and to the Citadel, this was much smaller by comparison.   He turned to the left and saw a coat rack on the wall next to the front door and shoes on the floor under the coats.  Next to the coat rack was a small table that held your now discarded house key.  He took off his jacket and shoes and stood there for a minute as he straighten out his shirt.

"Hey."  You said as you poked your head around the corner of the wall behind the closet.  "Are you thirsty?  I can get you a glass of iced tea?"

Ignis turned to face you and smiled.  "Sure."

"Well come on.  The kitchen is this way."  You said as you gestured for him to follow then moved out of view again.

Ignis smiled then moved into the living room to follow.  He was surprised by a dining room that was hidden from the front door by the entrance wall.  The table was made from a tan wood and looked like it was large enough to seat about six people.  The chairs were made up from a simple tan wooden frame and tan leather cushions for the seats.  On the table was a simple flower arrangement.  He paused for a minute when he realized that the flowers were the ones that he had given you.

"They look good there don't they?'  You asked as you walked in with two glasses of iced tea.

"Indeed."  He responded as if in a daze.  "They look splendid there."

"My mom and I don't get flowers very often.  So when one of us gets them, we like to share them with the whole house."  You said as you walked up beside Ignis.  

"Here's your tea."  You said as you handed him a glass.

"Why thank you."  He responded as he took the glass from your hand.

"I can say that your flowers have been the best though.  I've never had flowers last this long before."  You said as you smiled while looking at them.

"Thank you"  He said as he watched your reaction.  

Then he took a drink as he looked back at the flowers.  The sweetness of the sugar that lightly flavored the smooth tea made his taste buds dance as the liquid slide over his tongue and down his throat.  Even the ice was just enough to cool down the liquid without freezing his mouth.  His eyes shot open with surprise as he drank.  Then he closed them as he swallow while savoring the exquisite taste.

"This tea is truly splendid."  He said as he looked over at you as you slowly drank yours.  "What kind is it?"

You smiled as you looked down.  "It's our sweetened sun tea.  We make it all the time.  It's one of my favorites."

"I can see why."  He said as he tried to figure out the ingredients in his head.

"I figured that we can study at the breakfast bar in the kitchen since later I have to get dinner ready."  You said as you led the way into the kitchen that was just off of the dining room.  "How's that sound?" 

"That sounds like a brilliant idea.  We can kill two birds with one stone."  He said as he walked into the kitchen.

When he walked in he was surprise once again by how the house was laid out.  For the kitchen was made up of white cabinets that stretched along the two back walls.  Most of the cabinets door were solid white while several others had glassdoors so that you could see the contents within.  The countertop was a black marble that stretched out to the breakfast bar that was attached to the wall on one side.  The silver sink and faucet gave it the appearance of a modern kitchen.  The appliances that sat on the counter were all black and silver, and matched the dishwasher, stove and refrigerator.  Even the chairs that were in front of the bar seemed to match with their black fabric seat covers and silver frames.

Ignis could feel the family atmosphere that the room brought out as he looked around and saw various things that were hanging up.  There were old school pictures on the refrigerator as well as the family schedule.  The towels all had a silly fat chef in an apron on them as they hung off of several cabinet handles.  He glanced at one of the school pictures from last year and smiled as it showed you in pig tails.

"That was from the beginning of last year."  You said as you saw him spot the picture.

"I remember how you loved your pig tails."  He said.  "But what happened to the pictures that were done at the end of the year?"

"I didn't do them."  You said coldly as you walked over to the breakfast bar and put down your backpack. 

Then you quietly pulled out the books and papers that you had to get done. 

"Which topic do we want to start with?'  You asked as you tried to change the subject.

Ignis followed you with his eyes and could tell that you weren't going to elaborate on the answer.  But after hearing your tone, he didn't think that he wanted you to.

"Well let's see.  Which one do you have the most work for?"  He asked as he turned and walked over to you.

"I think they are all about the same, except for Computer Technology.  That one will be a lot of research."  You said as you looked at the book for that class.

"How about we start with one that you struggle with?"  He suggested.

"Math it is then."  You said as you pulled out the math book.

"Very good."  He said.

Then both of you sat down at the bar and started working on the math homework together.  For several hours you both went through paper after paper for each class trying to get them all done.  But eventually you had to take a break before your head exploded.  So you put away the books for a bit and went to grab the ingredients for dinner.  

You grabbed an onion, some peppers, garlic, noodles, tomato sauce, and ground garula meat.  Then you pulled out a large pot, frying pan, and a strainer.  You set the pan on the stove, the strainer in the sink, and the pot under the faucet and started to fill it halfway with water.   As you were getting everything ready, Ignis was checking over the papers to make sure that they were right and that you hadn't forgotten something.

You glanced over at him every once in a while to see him carefully checking each paper and each answer.   It made you nervous and glad at the same time.  You didn't want to look bad in front of him if you got something wrong.  But then again, if he caught it, then it would have been caught by the teacher anyway.  And it was much easier to correct if he caught it now, then when the teacher would check it and mark it wrong.

Once  the pot was half way full of water, you put it on the stove and turn on the burner so that you could bring the water up to a boil.  Then you placed the ground garula meat in the pan and started to fry it it.  As it started to heat up, you added your usual seasonings to the meat to help bring out the best flavor.  You didn't mind garula meat, but if it wasn't cooked right, it would have a way to gamey taste.  While that was browning, you cut up the onion, peppers, and garlic and added it to the meat to be cooked up.

Ignis stopped and looked up when he smelled the meat cooking up.  He didn't say anything but just watched as you fried up the meat and veggies until the meat was a nice brown color.  Then you drained the fat from the meat, which luckily there wasn't that much.  Then you added in the tomato sauce and a few other seasonings to help accent the flavor. 

As the meat sauce simmered you noticed that the water was finally boiling.  So you added in the noodles and slowly stirred them in as they soften in the hot water.  Once they were all in, you lowered the temperature so that it wouldn't boil over.  Then you went back to stirring the sauce so that it wouldn't burn.

"What was it that your adding to the sauce?"  He asked as he intently watched you stirring it carefully.

"Oh.  You know, just a few different seasonings that we have."  You said as you stayed focused on the food in front of you.

"You do like spaghetti right?"  You asked as you turned around really quick as it dawned on you that he might not be able to eat certain foods.  

You hadn't even thought to ask him if he had any allergies.

"I do."  He returned when he saw the worried look on your face.  "I was just wondering which seasonings that you use in yours."

"Well."  You started as you turned back around and took a spoon from the drawer and scooped out a bit of the sauce and turned towards him with the spoon.  

"Let's see if you can figure them out.  Here try it."  You said as you approached him with the spoon.

He slowly open his mouth as you placed the spoon up to his mouth.  He smelled it first and could smell the garlic, of course, a hint of oregano, basil, and something else. But he wasn't sure what that was.  Having his curiosity pegged,  he placed his mouth on the spoon and sipped on the spoon as he tasted the sauce.  

The taste did indeed confirm what he had smelled, but what he couldn't identify had his taste budds soaring once again.  The favor was spicy and smooth, but not spicy enough to give up any heat that would ruin the exquisite taste.  He closed his eyes as he tried to picture each ingredient.  But not one ingredient came to mind that would make something taste as amazing as this.

You pulled away the spoon as he closed his mouth on it so that he would get a decent amount to taste.  Then you watched his face as he tried to figure out what you did.  You smiled to yourself, then turned around and placed the spoon in the sink before once again focused on stirring the food so that it wouldn't burn.  

Seeing that the noodles were done, you turned the temperature way down and then you took the pot over to sink and drained off the water.  Then you put the noodles back in the pot and brought it back over to the stove and set it back down on the burner.  Then you poured the contents from the saucepan over the noodles and stirred then together.

Then you turning down the temperature on the spaghetti so that it would stay warm.  Then you pulled out a large bowl and all of the fresh vegetables out of the refrigerator and started making a fresh tossed salad for everyone to share.  Ignis was now watching you again but was still puzzled as to why he couldn't figure out what all of the ingredients were.  He sat there in silence for a few as he watched you cut up the vegetables for the salad. Then he glanced behind you to see if he could read any of the labels. But that proved fruitless.

"Well, did you figure them out?"  You asked him once you were done with the salad.

"For the most part."  He answered back as he watched you carry the salad into the dining room. 

"Do you need any help with that?" He asked.  

He was starting to feel a little useless as he watched you preparing dinner.

"That's okay.  I got it.  You just relax.  I think that you've already helped me enough today."  You said as you returned before walking back out with the bread, butter dish and a butter knife.

"You only said that I couldn't cook. You never said that I couldn't help set the table for dinner." Ignis pointed out as he walked around the island.

You had just walked back in to grab the dishes when he came up and grabbed your wrist. 

"Let me help." He requested as he looked you in the eyes. "I don't mind. In fact, I insist."

You smiled back at him. "You're very persistent aren't you.  Alright, fine. You can grab the plates while I get the silverware. The plates are in the cabinet by the stove."

"Got it." He said as he walked over to the cabinet and started grabbing the plates.

You pulled out the drawer and grabbed the silverware along with a hot mat for the pot then walked back in the dining room. Ignis soon followed with the plates and was surprised to see the table had already been transformed into a formal layout. Each place had a placemat, folded napkin, and was now getting the silverware in the proper order as you placing it down on each one. He noticed that the flowers now seem to be in the right place as they added the perfect touch to the look of the table. He now wondered if you had been trained in formal dining, or if this was what your mother had taught you over the years. For he had to hand it to you, you knew how to place the perfect setting.

He carefully and precisely laid down each plate for each place as he moved around the table. He caught up to you on the last setting as you were placing down the last of the silverware. He leaned down and placed the plate right in front of a you as you finished up with the silverware. Then as he was leaning back up, his hand brushed yours as he stepped back. You paused and stayed there for a while while you waited for your skin to stop tingling from his touch.

How was it that a simple touch from him could make you body react like that. You thought as you took a deep breath to try and get back under control.

When you stood back up you saw him standing off to the side as he looked at the table, as if studying it.

"What?" You asked as you looked at him. 

"Did I miss something?" You asked as you turned around and looked at the table again.

"No. Not at all." He said as he smiled. "I was just admiring it in fact."

You smiled back at him. "Your funny." You said as you walked back into the kitchen to get the drinks.

After a few minutes you came back in with glasses and a pitcher of iced tea. He smiled as he saw you, then helped by grabbing the clean glasses and placing them at the head chairs and then placing yours and his on the side settings.

"There." You said as you put the pitcher down on a towel so the it won't get the table cloth wet. "Now all we need is for my parents to get home." You said as you stood back and looked at the table one more time.

Then right at that moment, as if on cue, the front door opened and in walked both of your parents. They were talking to each other as they stepped through the door.

"I'm sure that everything's ok." Your mom was saying.

"Yes dear. But.." Your dad was saying as he walked in. But then he cut off as soon as he saw the two of you standing there. 

"Ah there you are."  He said with a smile as he looked at the two of you.

"Hi mom, hi dad.  So this is Ignis."  You said as they closed the door behind them.

"Good evening, Mr. (L/N) and Mrs. (L/N)." Ignis greet them as he bowed to each of them. "Welcome home."

"Hi honey." You mom answered as she looked at you.

"Well hello dear. So your name is Ignis?"  Your mom asked with a smile.  "Well I'm glad to finally have a name to go along with the face."

"Good to see you again Ignis."  Your dad said as he took his coat off and hung it up. "I hope that you were able to get a lot of studying done today?"

"We were." You answered. 

"But we didn't finish it. There's just too much for one night." you said as you looked down.

"Well that's to be expected." You mother chimed in as she glanced at your dad and gave him a warning look. "You did practically miss the whole first week of school."

"Well then I suppose it's safe to assume that we will be seeing a lot of you for the next few days?" Your dad asked Ignis in a serious tone.

"Only if your comfortable with it Mr. (L/N)." Ignis answered as if he were an adult himself.

"He's fine with it." Your mother said as she put her hand on your dad's shoulder. 

"Aren't you Paul?" She asked your dad as she gave his a side glance.

"Only as long as she doesn't miss the bus again. You do still have chores that you have to do young lady." He answered as he looked at you.

"Dad you act like I miss the bus all the time." You returned as you slightly rolled your eyes. 

"That was the first time and it will be the last time. I promise." You said with a smile.

"Uh huh. And what about your chores?" He asked as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

You just smiled and shook your head. 

"You mean like dinner tonight?" You asked as you cocked your head to the side and gestured to the set table. "I think I can handle a few chores, no matter what they are."

With that your dad dropped his arms and smiled back at you. "Alright, fine. But only until you get caught back up."

"That was the plan dad." You said with a bit of sass. 

He gave you a warning look.

"As fast as she has been picking up on the work, she will be back on track in no time." Ignis reassured your dad.

"Good." Your dad returned.

"Well, are we ready to eat then?"   Your mom asked as she was trying to get them back on track.

"Sounds good."  Your dad said.  And with that you went back into the kitchen and grabbed the pot off of the stove.

Your brought the pot out and set it on the hot pad that you had put out earlier. Then you served everyone the spaghetti while your mom served the salad and your dad poured drinks. Ignis sat there for a minute as he watched how you each did a part in taking care of everyone else. He had never experienced that before. He had gotten use to having to be the one serving. The scene before him threw him off.

Is this how a normal family acts at dinner? Ignis thought. 

It had been so long since he had last been with his parents that he couldn't remember how they behaved at meals anymore. Normally his uncle would be ordering him around to ensure that he didn't miss anything. He considered it part of Ignis' training on how to properly serve the royal family their food by preparing and serving each night. His uncle was very strict and was constantly testing Ignis' skills.  

His uncle had told him that it was to make sure that he would be ready when the time came for him to step into his position as the King's Royal Advisor. This kept Ignis constantly on his toes and always thinking of how to improve his performance.  So the scene in front of him seemed to be straight out of a story book.

Dinner went well and everyone loved your spaghetti and salad. Once it was done you started clearing the table as Ignis and your dad talked. You shook your head as you thought to yourself that you probably should have warned Ignis that your dad was going to be asking a lot of questions. After all, you are their only child now.

You had just finished putting away the food and you were getting ready to start the dishes when Ignis came back into the kitchen.

"Would you like a hand with that?" He asked as he started to roll up his sleeves.

"You just don't quite do you?" You smiled at him.

He looked down for a minute before looking back at you. "My apologies. I'm just use to be the one who's doing all of the work."

"Well consider it my thank you to you for helping me out with my homework." You said as you put the last of the dirty dishes in the sink.

"Everyone needs a break once in awhile. Even Ignis Scientia." You said with a smile as you starting washing the dishes.

Ignis quietly smiled at you as you turned on the water and started rinsing off the dishes.  "Very well then." He said at last. "I do suppose that I should give Tredd a call so that I can head home."

"Ok. The sounds good." You said with a hint sadness in your voice as you turned your attention back to the dishes.

Ignis stepped out onto the deck that was just outside the kitchen as he pulled out his phone so that he could call Tredd.

Right as you finished the dishes, Ignis walked backing into the kitchen. 

"Well Tredd should be here in a minute. I suppose that I should go outside and wait for him."  Ignis said as he put his phone back in his pocket.

"Hold on. Let me grab my jacket and I'll wait with you." You said as you quickly dried your hands and ran to get your coat before he could argue.

"I'm going to wait outside with Ignis for his ride to arrive." Your said to your parents as you grabbed your coat and put it on.

"Alright." Your dad answered. "Don't forget to turn on the outside light so that they can see the place."

"Alright dad." You said with a smile as you flicked on the outside light switch.

"It was very nice seeing you again Ignis." You mom said as she walked over to the two of you.

"You too ma'am. I really appreciate you allow me to tutor your daughter." Ignis said with a smile.

"It should be me thanking you." She said as she smiled at him. "I was afraid that she was going to struggle with getting caught back up. So thank you Ignis. Will you be by tomorrow?" She asked.

"Perhaps for a bit." He said as he pushed his glasses back up on his face. "But regrettable I won't be able to stay for dinner. I have some other affairs that I have to tend to tomorrow night."

"Sounds good. Well just let us know." She said with a smile.

"Will do. Have a good evening." Ignis said as he opened up the door and held it open for you. "Shall we."

You smiled and walked out the door. "I'll be right back mom."

"Alright. Good night Ignis." She said as she stood there while you walked out the front door.

"I'm sorry if my family came off as a bit over protective."  You said as soon as the door closed and you were walking towards the driveway.

"Not at all."  He said as he walked beside you to the end of the driveway.  "It must be hard being the only child."

"It is.  But I wasn't always the only one."  You said as you looked down.

Ignis looked at you for a moment, not quite sure what to say. He felt a bit shocked though, as he started to realize that you had something in common.  And that was something that seemed to hurt both of you to the core.

"I can understand why they would be so protective of you then." He quietly said.

"Yeah."  You said still looking down. 

"That's why I try so hard to please them and make them happy.  I know that my older brother would have wanted it that way." You said as a tear ran down your cheek.

Ignis looked down himself before looking back at you.  "I think that's very noble of you.  Your brother would be pleased with you."

"I would like to think so."   You said as you looked up at the stars that were just starting to appear in the sky.  

You paused for a minute as you just looked at the stars.   Ignis turned his gaze to them as well.

"You know who else would be pleased?"  You said after a minute.

"Who?"  Ignis asked as he turned and looked at you.

"Your mom.  I think that she would be very proud of you.  It's easy to tell, that you have worked very hard to learn everything that you can.  And it doesn't look like your about to stop now." You said with a smile as tears started to fill your eyes. "She would be very proud."

Ignis smiled then looked down and grabbed your hand. He slowly brought it to his lips and gentle kissed the top. 

"Thank you." He said as he slowly dropped your hand.

Just then Tredd pulling up in the car and stopped right in front of the driveway. Ignis released your hand and turned towards you.

"I'll see you tomorrow. We'll continue where we left off when I come over." He said as he looked down at the ground as if he was afraid to make eye contact.

You smiled back. "I'll see you in choir then."

"Sounds good." He said as he looked up and smiled. Then he walked to the car and opened the back door. 

"Good night." He said then slid into the back seat.

"Night." You said as you gave a slight wave.

Once the door was closed, Ignis put on his seat belt and the car started to move.

"Thank you Tredd for the ride back." Ignis said to Tredd.

"Not a problem little man." He returned with a smirk. "Just as long as this doesn't lead to you falling behind in your own studies and training."

"I can assure you it won't." Ignis firmly stated. But then he looked out the window as they headed back, wondering if he would be able to keep his promise.

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

There isn't any real truth behind the background of Ignis, so this is just my rendition for this story. Each person has their own opinion, which is what makes this fun to come up with my own side.

I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you in the next one.

Thanks for reading.  :)

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