YOU glanced back towards the trees that covered the back of the park that was by the Citadel's security fence-line. You didn't know why, but you would always see Noct coming from the treeline when he came to meet you. You would watch the trees while you waited for him to show up. Then you would get excited every time you saw him emerge from the trees. You smiled to yourself as you thought back to those long summer days. The two of you had spent hours playing in the park.

That first encounter with Noctis had led to a unique bond between the two of you. To you, he was a special friend that you got to see every time you went to the park. For Noctis, you were that friend that he had always wanted. A friend that would treat him just like any other kid for once.

He didn't have to worry about you treating him differently just because of who he is. In fact, he never mentioned that he was the Prince of Lucis. Not once. Because all he wanted, was to just be free to act any way he wanted, without the constant reminder of the image that he was projecting. And that was how he liked it to be. That time that he got to spend with you, was priceless to Noctis. For that was when Noctis really got to act and play like every other child.

The two of you would spend hours playing in the grass at the park or swinging on the swings by the playground. You both had even tried to fish in the pond once. But after a few hours, you both realized that there weren't any fish in there. So, you resorted to skipping rocks instead. You had thought that you were doing really good when you got it to skip twice. But then Noctis got his to skip four times before it stopped.

You had it admit that it was a bit funny, that even though you were a just over a year older than him, you both still loved to play the same types of games at the park. And the number one favorite was hide and go seek. Although Noctis always seemed to win that one. But you were never quite sure why.

Well as fate would have it, it just so happened to be that during one of those play dates, was when you first meet one of his closet companions, Ignis Scientia. Now Ignis was in training to be the royal family Advisor, as he served as Noctis' royal retainer. He was also preparing to train for the Crownsguard so that he could protect Noctis when he got older. This all had him working very closely with his uncle who worked at the Citadel, where the royal family lived. His duties kept him busy with training and studying his various lessons, all while still tending to his normal academic studies at the local middle school. But his top and foremost priority was always taking care of Prince Noctis.

The day you first met Ignis had been on a hot mid-summer day. And just like most, you and Noctis had decided the day before to meet in the park after lunch so that you could play. Well Ignis had decided to follow Noctis that day since he had noticed that the young prince seemed to be going to the garden a lot lately. But he couldn't seem to locate him once he entered the garden.

This greatly puzzled Ignis and made him very concerned. Because what kind of royal retainer was he if he couldn't even keep track of one prince? Which is why he had to find out what Noctis was doing after he entered the garden. Especially since the garden itself seemed to cover up how he has been able to disappear the way that he was.

Which is why Ignis had decided that on that day, he was going to find out where Noctis had been disappearing to all summer. And Ignis knew the best way to figure it out, was to follow Noctis at a safe distance. This way he could see which direction he headed once he entered the garden. And if he carefully calculated it correctly and was stealthy enough, he should be able to figure out where Noctis had been running off to.

This led to Ignis peering around the corner of the wall that led into the dining room from the hallway as he watched Noctis walk into the garden and glance around the area to see if anyone was watching. Ignis quickly slid back behind the wall and waited a few minutes to ensure that Noctis couldn't see him. Then he peered back around the corner to see which direction that Noctis headed for. (Noctis wasn't the only one who could play hide and go seek.) After Noctis felt confident that no one was following him, he set off towards the back of the garden enclosure.

Ignis came out from around the corner and quietly slipped through the dining room and into the garden. Ignis stayed hidden as he moved from tree to tree, bush to bush, and from boulder to boulder as he followed Noctis. Noctis made his way towards of three-story tall glass enclosure that surrounded the garden. But Noctis was careful not to damage any of the plants as he made his way back towards the windows in the back.

During his many escapes, he had discovered a damaged window that he could use as a means of exiting the garden. The latch on the window was bent out enough that no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't lock the window. Because the inter hook simply couldn't catch the window frame. Hence this also prevented the window from ever being locked from the inside. Which made it the perfect escape route.

Noctis crouched next to the window and did one last glance around the garden. Ignis was only about 10 yards from Noctis when he saw him crouch next to the window. Ignis quickly took cover behind one of the many boulders. He intently watched as Noctis took the handle of the broken window, what appeared to be locked, and pushed it open. He then carefully slid through the opening and out of the garden. Then shut the window behind him after he was out.

"Very clever Noctis." Ignis stated to himself as he made a mental note to get that fixed when they got back.

Ignis then made his way over to the window and left a marker by the window so that he would know which one needed to be fixed. Then he crouched down and slowly cracked open the window to see if he could spot Noctis. He had hoped to determine which direction that Noctis was heading towards without being seen. But he didn't see Noctis anywhere.

So, he simply slipped out of the window. But he left it open so that he would know which one to use when he returned. Once outside, he stood up and brushed off his blue jeans and his short sleeve, navy blue, pull-over shirt. He glanced around the area to see if he could figure out where Noctis had headed. And that was when he noticed the stairs leading down to the underground maintenance tunnels.

Well that explains a lot. Ignis thought.

He had remembered learning about the various tunnels that ran underneath the Citadel and how they wrapped around the entire perimeter of the premises. Of course the question now was which tunnel was Noctis using, and where was he heading? As Ignis approached the stairs he was almost overwhelmed by the distinct smell of mildew and dirty storm water. Ignis quickly put his hand over his nose and mouth.

"Well this certainly isn't how I pictured spending my afternoon." Ignis said out loud as he sighed to himself. "But I best get going before I lose sight of him again."

After one last glance at the grounds around him he was able to remember the Citadel grounds layout that he had had to memorize. Ignis quickly recalled the maintenance tunnel layout in his head. Then he picked a reference point and then matched it up the tunnel system layout. Luckily for Ignis, his photographic memory made the task fairly simple and fast to do. Then once he had the mental map in his head, he went down the stairs to continued his pursuit of the disappearing prince.

As Ignis was descending the stairs he heard the sound of Noctis running down the tunnel. He bent down just in time to see Noctis take the last turn on the left. After he disappeared around the corner, Ignis took off at a slight jog so as not to fall too far behind. But he watched his steps so as not to make any noise that might arouse Noctis' suspicion that he was being followed.

Once he reached the end of the straightaway. He put his back up against the wall and peered around the corner. The last thing he saw was Noctis' shoe as it followed him through the open door that was about halfway down the hallway.

Suddenly Ignis' heart stopped as a car drove past one the open-air vents that was just above the various pipes that ran the length of the tunnel. It was at that startling moment that he realized that they were outside of the Citadel walls. He raced to the door and peered outside in shock. He was looking at the open expansion of the park that laid on the other side of the Citadel's security gates. That was when he realized just how easy that was to get off of the premises. Ignis knew at this point that he would have to tell King Regis about this so that all of the doors could be checked and re-keyed to prevent any unwanted visitors.

But just as he was about to get a better look at the locks to see if they had been broken, he heard laughter coming from the clearing. He turned around to see Noctis running up to a girl with long (h/c) hair, who was wearing blue jean shorts and a (f/c) t-shirt. He watched as you and Noctis waved at each other before giving each other a warm embrace. Ignis could tell that you were slightly older than Noctis, but still younger then he was. You stood just slightly taller than Noctis, but you were both very slim. Ignis figured that you must be in 5th or 6th grade just based on your height compared to Noctis.

Ignis watched as you both turned away from him and took off running as you started to race each other to the playground. While feeling slightly left out, but determined to bring Noctis home. Ignis heading in the same direction. It was time to put an end to this and get back to the safety of the Citadel walls.

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

You and Noctis were breathing hard when you finally reached the swings.

"I won!" You shouted at him as you touched the chain to the closest swing.

"I let you win." Noctis said with a smile while trying to catch his breath as he slowed down to a walk. "I didn't want to hear you whining about it again like yesterday."

"I wouldn't have whined about it if you hadn't cheated." You pouted back with your hands on your hips.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I told the ground to move and make you trip over your own feet." Noctis replied with a smile.

Then he hopped onto the closest swing and started pumping his legs back and forth to make the swing start to go higher. You dropped your hands and blushed as he smiled back at you as he kept swinging back and forth.

"Okay, fine. Perhaps I should have tied my shoes. But still." You stated as you got on the swing next to his.

"I bet I can go higher than you." You challenged Noctis with a smile and a slight twitch of your eyebrow.

"Oh, you're on." He stated as he smiled back.

Then you both started pushing the swings higher and higher as you teased each other and laughed at the silly taunts. You were both swinging back and forth really high when Ignis walked up to both of you. He stopped at the side of the swingset by Noctis so that he was out of range of you swinging. The last thing he wanted was to be hit by either of you as your feet swung out in front of you.

"So, this is where you have been running off to all summer your highness." Ignis said in a flat tone as he staring at Noctis with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Noctis immediately froze in mid swing. Then he slowly looked over and saw who had just said that.

"Would you mind telling me what you're doing out here?" Ignis continued as he gave Noctis a firm look.

"We're playing on the swings." You said to Ignis in a matter-of-fact tone. "Can't you tell?"

"There's one more if you want to join us." You said as you continued to swing without so much as a glance at who was talking as you continued to push the swing higher and higher.

Ignis studied you with his emerald green eyes for a few minutes. He intently watched you as your (h/c) hair flew behind you as you flew up into the air. Only for your hair to fly back into your face as you came back down. He could tell by the way that you were behaving and dressed that you couldn't possibly be a noble or from a family of high standing. Not with your

Your sharp tongue and straight forward remarks also led him to believe that you had no idea who you were even playing with and of the severity of the situation. He looked over at Noctis who had his head down in defeat as he let the swing slowly lose height. Ignis walked over to Noctis' swing so that he could talk to him in a more hushed tone.

"Your highness. What are you doing outside of the Citadel walls?" Ignis asked in a hushed voice so that you wouldn't hear. "You know it's not safe to be out here like this. And who is this girl?"

Noctis raised his head and dragged his feet to bring his swing to a stop.

"What do you want Iggy?" He asked in a monotone voice.

"Are you here to drag me home and ruin a great summer day?" He asked as he looked up at Ignis with an irritated look.

"Well I..." Ignis started to say before Noctis interrupted him.

"Look, I'm just here having fun with someone who doesn't order, or badger me around, like someone I know. This girl has actually treated me like a real friend. And I consider her my friend as well. She's not someone that has been ordered to play with me just to keep me out of trouble. In fact, she doesn't even know that I'm the prince and I want to keep it that way." He ended with a hint of aggression in his voice.

Ignis had never seen Noctis act like this before towards him. He was taken back as he let the words sink in.

Is that how he really feels? Ignis thought to himself. Does he feel that he doesn't have any real friends to play with?

That's when he it occurred to him that perhaps Noctis just wanted to play with someone other than those that served within the confinements of the Citadel walls. He had never thought about how isolated it must be for him within those walls. He dropped his gaze for a moment. When he had first arrived at the swing set, all he had wanted to do was get Noctis to return to the Citadel. But after seeing Noctis and you both playing without a care in the world, he felt like he was starting to understand why Noctis hadn't told you the truth about who he was.

"You know that this can't continue." Ignis quietly stated with sincerity. "She's going to find out once you start attending public schools in the fall."

"I know." He sadly stated as he hung his head. "It won't be the same after that. All of the rules will change everything. I don't even know if she will talk to me afterwards."

"If she's a real friend, she will still talk to you." Ignis said with a faint smile.

But he knew in the back of his mind that it won't be the same. Nothing ever was after getting involved with the royal family. He knew that fact all to well.

"What are you two talking about?" You said from behind them.

You had noticed that they had stopped playing and were just whispering back and forth. Which was why you had stopped swinging and had been watching them for the past few moments. You had no idea what they were talking about. But based on Noctis' reaction, it probable meant that he was going to have to leave.

"Do you still want to play?" You quietly asked as you gave Noctis a sad look. "Or do you have to go home already?"

Noctis and Ignis both turned their attention back to you. Noctis sighed as he gave you a faint smile back. His sad look seemed to hit you right in the heart.

"I'm sorry (y/n)." Noctis sadly stated. "But it looks like I will have to go back sooner than planned."

"Oh.... I see." You said as you dropped your gaze as you felt your heart drop. "That's okay.... I guess."

"Now hold on Noct." Ignis interjected as he felt your disappointment hit his own heart.

"Mom said that we just have to be back by dinner." Ignis stated as he gave Noctis a slight nod.

Noctis stared back at Ignis with a confused look. Mom?

"Are you sure?" He asks Ignis in surprise. "I thought that 'mom' needed us back early?"

"I think that we will be ok." Ignis replied back.

"I'll just let 'dad' know where we are, so that he doesn't get worried." Ignis said as he gave Noctis a slight smile.

Noctis smiled back at Ignis with a sigh of relief. "Thank you Ignis."

"Your welcome." He replied back with a smile.

"Just let me give him a call." Ignis stated as he pulled his phone out and started dialing a number as he walked a short distance away.

Ignis was relieved to know that Noctis wasn't doing anything that could get him into serious danger. But being outside the gates did have its risks. And it was those risks that he was going to try to minimize as much as possible. Then perhaps he would feel a bit more secure about the whole situation.

Perhaps just this one last time. Ignis thought. Then perhaps I could try to be more like a friend, as well as his retainer. I don't like the idea that he doesn't feel that he has any true friends. But that will change today.

"Hey Gladio? It's Ignis. Can we talk?" Ignis asked as he walked away.

"So, who's the kill joy?" You asked as you came to a stop and looked at Noctis.

Noctis half laughed as he rubbed the back of his head.

"That's Ignis. He's my royal aaaaadvocate for our parents." Noctis stumbled in an effort to not give anything away.

You started giggling at his remark. "That's a funny title for a brother."

Noctis smiled to himself. He had never looked at Ignis as a brother before. But now that he thought about it. Ignis had been around for most of his life. And he did boss him around like a older brother would. He slightly laughed to himself. Perhaps there was something to that.

"Okay. Gladiolus is going to join us as well." Ignis stated as he walked back over. "He told dad that we would be having a fun training session before dinner."

"Gladiolus is joining us now?" Noctis responded with a bit of dread in his voice as he got off of the swing.

"Dad told him that he had to." Ignis said with a stern voice. "He wanted to make sure that we didn't get into trouble."

"Who's Gladiolus?" You asked as you got off of your swing and joined them. "Is he another brother?"

Brother? Ignis thought as he gave you a curious look.

"You might say that." Noctis stated as he dropped his head for a moment. "He's just a bit bigger than us though."

"Well," you said with a smile. "We can still play while we are waiting for him to show up."

Then you walked up to Ignis and looked through his silver-rimmed glasses and into his bright emerald green eyes. "You did want to play. Right?"

Ignis gave you a surprised look. Then you watched as the corners of his mouth twitched to a slight smile.

"Are you asking me to play with you?" Ignis asked with a hint of uncertainty.

"Well that is why we're here." You slightly teased him as you bend down and gave him a smile.

"Well sure but..." He started to say.

"Well then. Let's play." You interrupted as you stood back up and smiled at him.

Ignis gave you a curious look as he tried to figure out what you meant by play. "What game did you have in mind?"

"Tag!" You said as you tapped him on the shoulder.

"And your it!" You said with a smile.

Then in a flash, you took off running. And with that, even Noctis grinned broadly and started running from him as well. Ignis stood there stunned for a moment as he watched the two of you.

"What? Hey? Wait a minute?" Ignis stammered while watching the two of you laughing as you ran from him.

"Oh, come on Iggy." Noctis teased. "Show us what you got."

"Certainly." Ignis stated in a determined voice as he pushed his glasses back up on the bridge of his nose.

Then he started chasing after Noctis. He darted and dashed and quickly tagged Noctis. To which Noctis just laughed. Then he turned and started to chase after you and tagged you fairly quickly on your shoulder. You slumped over as if you were tired. Ignis came over to check on you and see if Noctis had hit you too hard. To which you laughed at him as you tagged him again and ran off. He shook his head as he grinned and took off at a ran to continue the game.

This continued for awhile until Noctis put up his hand as he was panting very hard. His jet black hair looked like it had been through the rise cycle of a washing machine. But that wasn't really anything special since it seemed to always look like that.

"Okay. I give for now." He said as he heavily exhaled.

His chest was heaving from his breathing as he slowly walked over the pond's edge. Then he flopped down in the soft green grass to relax and to catch his breath. You slowly walked over and sat next to him. Your heart was still racing as you propped yourself up with your hands as you stretched your legs out in front of you.

"You know for a boy." You teased as you were trying to catch your breath as well.

"You run out of breath fast." You said as you smiled down at him.

"I don't want to hear it." He teased back as he push you on your upper arm and caused to you rock to the side. "You run like a girl."

"Oh course I do." You smiled back proudly.

"I wouldn't want to run like you." You teased as you tapped his shoulder.

Noctis slightly laughed as he cover his eyes with his arm.

"You're pretty quick on your feet." Ignis stated as he sat down next to you.

"Thanks." You said as you smiled at him.

"You pretty quick yourself." You stated as you dropped your gaze as you were trying to hide your cheeks as they started to heat up.

"You know." Ignis said as he turned to face you straight on. "I never did get your name."

"Oh. I'm sorry." You blushed as you turned to face him.

"I'm (y/n). (Y/n) (L/n)." You said as you held out your hand.

Ignis reached out and grasped your hand. Instantly your heart leaped. You could practically feel a pull to him through his strong grip.

"Very nice to meet you (y/n). I'm Ignis. Ignis Scientia." He stated with a smooth accented tone as he watched your eyes.

He couldn't help the slight tingle in his hand as his thumb felt your soft skin on the back of your hand.

"It's very nice to meet you Ignis." You said with a big smile and a firm handshake as a means of warding off the tingling that he seemed to be sending through your hand.

"That's a strong hand shake you have there." Ignis stated as he glanced at your hands.

How can they be so soft and gentle? Yet so firm and strong? He thought to himself.

"Well, my dad always told me that you should always give someone a firm hand shake when you first meet them." You said as you loosened your grip.

"This way they know that you are confident in yourself." You stated as you released his hand.

But you dropped your eyes after you made the statement as you tried to keep him from seeing your cheeks heating up again. You didn't know why but you suddenly felt very shy around him and couldn't stop from blushing.

Ignis released your hand as he looked at you. He had never met anyone like you before. And he wasn't quite sure what to make of you. You were formal, but not. You were confident, but not. The whole situation intrigued him. But before he could think about it further, he was interrupted by movement from behind him.

"Ignis, Prince Noctis is that you?" Came a loud cracking voice from behind you.

You turned around to see a kid running up towards the group. He was wearing a gray muscle shirt and black shorts. He had black hair that was shaved on the sides and cut really short on top. It reminded you of the top of a pencil. A really strong pencil. For he looked like he should be on the school's football team as one of their linebackers.

As Gladiolus ran up, he was stopped short by Ignis, who had quickly gotten up to meet up with him before Gladio could reach the group. Ignis then appeared to whisper something to him before they both started walking slowly back over to join you and Noctis.

"Hey guys." The kid stated. "Sorry for the delay. I had to find the place first."

"No worries Gladio." Ignis stated. "We were just playing tag before you arrived."

"Really?" Gladiolus said in surprise as he looked over at Noctis. "Huh. I never thought that you would want to run for fun Noct."

Noctis shot him a stern look. "Why the shock?"

"Just because I would rather play tag, then get chased around by you for hours." Noctis said as he crossed his arms.

Gladiolus chuckled at Noctis' reaction.

"What?" Gladiolus stated as he went up to Noctis and rubbed his head.

"You don't like to play with your 'BIG' brother Gladio?" Gladiolus asked with a big smile.

"Knock it off." Noctis stated as he pushed him off. "It's too hot for that."

Gladio laughed as he released Noctis.

"Speaking of hot." You stated in a dreamy state as you stared out at the pond that was in front of you. "Who wants to go swimming? That water looks nice and cool today."

All of them turned to look out at the pond that sat in front of where you all had stopped. They then looked at you as if in shock of the suggestion. But all they saw was you still staring at the water with a slight smile. Then they each looked back at the pond again. The dark water seemed to sparkle in the sunshine as the small pier jetted out in it. The pier looked like the perfect place to jump straight in.

All of you sat there for a few minutes in silence. The whole scene seemed to captive each of you in it's tranquil glory. Until finally you could stand the blazing sun beating down on you anymore.

"I'm going in." You suddenly stated as you got up and took off at a slight jog to the pier.

They sat there for a few minutes before they realized what you had just said. You stopped just before the end of the pier, where you took off your shoes and socks. Then you backed up a bit before you took off running and leaped into the water. The cool water rushed over your head as you felt your body enter the water.

The water felt great as it instantly dropped your body temperature. Compared to the humidity in the air that had been baking you just a few seconds ago, the water was a great relief. You came back up to the surface and took a deep breath of fresh air. The warm heat hit your face and started to dry your exposed skin. You looked back towards the shore and saw that they were still sitting there as if in shock.

"Come on in!" You shouted as you threw your arms into the air.

"The water feels Great!" You shouted as you slammed your arms back down into the water and splashed it before you laid out onto your back and into a lazy float.

Next thing you knew, you heard the dull thumping of feet running down the pier. They got to the end and stood there for a few minutes. You looked up and saw that Noctis and the new kid where taking their shirts off and were putting them on their discarded socks and shoes. Ignis was still standing fully clothed.

"Your clothes will be soaked!" Ignis stated in shock to the other two.

"Not all of them." Stated Noctis as he took a few steps back.

Then he took a running leap and jumped into the water right near where you were at.

"You really need to learn how to relax and enjoy yourself Iggy." Gladio stated.

"Even we deserve some fun." He smiled to Ignis as he patted him on the shoulder before running and doing a cannonball into the water.

The pat was hard enough that Ignis ended up slumping over slightly as he grunted under the strike. And the splash was enough to spray some water back at the unprepared Ignis. You missed his reaction as the water came flying up over your head again. This caused everyone in the water to laugh and start a splash war. Everyone was laughing as each person was splashing. The splashing continued for a few minutes before you noticed that Ignis had started walking away.

"Aren't you coming in Ignis?" You yelled after him.

But you don't think that he heard you, since the other two were being so loud in the water as they were trying to dunk each other. And you didn't want Ignis to feel left out, so you swam to the ladder and got out. You clothes were dripping wet as you crawled out of the water. You stopped to wring out your hair. Your (h/c) was dripping water on the ground as you wrong it out with your hands.

"Ignis." You called to the figure walking further down the pier. "Aren't you going to join us? You look like you could use a dip."

Ignis stopped in his tracks and turned around to see you giving your hair one final twist. Then he watched as you walked up to him as you grabbed your shirt and started to wring it out in your hands.

"Is everything okay?" You asked him with a concerned look on your face as you came to a stop in front of him. "Don't you want to come in?"

"No I do not." He replied in a flat tone.

"Is it because you can't you swim?" You asked as you searched his face. "I can teach you if you like."

"Of course I can swim. What kind of question is that?" He asked as if he was offended.

"Well, it's just that you don't seem to want to join us." You said as you placed a hand on his upper arm.

He stared at you as you gave him a concerned look.

Why should she care? He thought. We just met. It's not like she has any ties to us.

"Oh your missing out Iggy." Gladio shouted from the water.

"This feels great." He stated as he got out of the water himself.

"You're truly missing out. This does feel amazing." Noctis added as he laid back into a float.

"No thank you." He retorted back.

"I have no desire to swim around in filthy water." He stated as he turned his back towards you as he was getting ready to leave the pier.

"Okay. If you insist. But first." You stated as you wrapped your arms around his waist and gave him a huge hug from behind.

You grinned as you knew full well that that would get him wet considering you were still drenched.

"Thank you." You quietly said.

Ignis froze in place to your words.

"Thank you for letting Noctis play with me for a little while longer." You said as you squeezed him slightly. "It was very nice of you."

Ignis slowly looked back over his shoulder at you in shock as you hugged him. He could feel your heat through his shirt that was slowly becoming wet from your drenched clothes that clung to your body. He could tell that you were being sincere. Even though he was a bit surprised by how much you seemed to really care about Noctis.

"Your very welcome (y/n)." Ignis softly answered as he rubbed the back of your hands while slightly smiling.

Perhaps there's something more to this girl. He thought to himself as he could feel his clothes getting wetter by the second.

****Authors Note****

Thank you very much for reading. I hope that your enjoying the story so far. In case you're wondering. This takes place before Iris gets lost. (For those who have watched the Anime series.) But it is just before Noctis meets Prompto. I am working on Chapter 3 now and I hope to have it done soon. See you then.

Thanks for reading. :)

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