YOU walked over to the weapons stand and grabbed the black and brown bow again that you had held earlier. Then you went over and grabbed a quiver that was full of arrows from the back of the stand. Than you looked over to a table that had been set up by the weapons stand. You smiled when you saw that they had the arm bracers and shooters gloves. You weren't surprised that everything was black leather, it seemed to be the signature with the royal family

You grabbed one of each and proceeded to put the bracer and shooter glove on. Noctis followed suit. Then he handed you a simple black belt for the quiver. You smiled back at him as you took the belt from him.

"Where was it that you said that you learned how to do this?" Noctis asked as he finished putting on his belt and quiver.

"It was at summer camp." You quietly said as you made a few adjustments to the belt as it held the quiver against your right hip.

"When did you...?" Noctis started to ask.

"I'm going to get in some practice shots before they arrive." You said as you walked away and entered the roped off area.

Noctis was taken back by your action as he watched you walk away. He didn't like that reaction, for he knew that meant that you were hiding something about this "summer camp". But he wasn't quite sure if he should pressure you to talk about it or not. You seemed to trying to avoid the subject. But he wanted to try, but only once. He would know if you wanted to talk about just based on your reaction to him asking once more. If you shot him down, then he would back off.

He glanced over at Ignis and Gladio as they had finally released each other and were just talking. They seemed to be in a deep conversation that didn't look like it was going to end anytime soon. Noctis dropped his gaze for a bit then looked over at you. He stood there and watched as you took out one arrow and placed the feathered end in between the two nubs.

You laid the shaft against the guide in the bow as you moved your left foot forward and your right back. Then you raised the bow until your arms were parallel with the ground. Then you pointed your left fore finger as you aimed at the first target and drew back the arrow so that the feather was near your eye. Then you lined up the arrow with the target then you angled the tip up a bit to account for the 50 yards and for the arch of the arrow. Then you released the arrow.

Funk.

You smiled to yourself at the satisfying sound of a arrow striking a hay barrel. Keeping your stance, you grabbed another arrow and continued to shoot.

"I understand your concern Gladio." Ignis was telling his best friend. "But this is my life. Not yours and not my uncle's."

"But you're forgetting the bigger picture." Gladio argued back.

"I have never forgotten the bigger picture." Ignis sternly replied back at him.

"Then what do you call what just happened?" Gladio argued back. "And you even said yourself that you got distracted. The Ignis I know would never be distracted by anything or anyone. Your losing your edge. And you and I both know that if you lose your edge while on duty, you put everyone at risk. I for one don't want to end up dead because you were distracted. And I know that Noctis doesn't wants that either."

"Noctis has and will always be my first priority. I have sworn to put my own life on the line for him and nothing will change that!" Ignis yelled back.

"You would do well not to forget that. Now stop fucking around with that bitch you call your girlfriend and get your head out of your ass!" Gladio shouted back.

Ignis glared at Gladio as silence fell over the group.

The words stopped you in your tracks. Your heart seemed to be beating out of your chest now.

Is that how they see me now? You thought as you lowered your eyes. Is that really what Gladio thinks of me?

I never wanted to get in the way of his training. I just wanted to learn so that we could both help out Noctis. You thought as you heart dropped.

You lowered the bow as you turned around and started walking out of the roped off area. As you walked out, you removed the gloves and undid the belt.

Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea. You thought as you walked out of the roped off area. I never should have considered being apart of this.

Noctis followed you with his eyes as you came out. He watched as you put the gloves back down on the table, hung back up the quiver, and put the bow back on the stand. Then you turned to walk towards the house. But Noctis grabbed your hand as you tried to walk away.

"(Y/n)?" Noctis said. "Wait a minute."

"No Noctis." You returned without looking at him. "If I'm distracting him, then I'm backing out. I never wanted to get in the way of his training. And I don't want to be the reason that someone gets hurt. Especially you." You said as you slightly squeezed his hand.

"Perhaps it would be best if I'm just your phone friend. So, if it's ok with you, I'm going to go call my dad to have him come and pick me up." You said as you released his hand and started walking towards your bag.

You were lost in your thoughts as you walked towards your bag. You had never intended on making them fight like this. But that was what was going on. Which meant it was time to step away before the damage was permanent.

You were about three steps away from your bag when you heard Monica calling your name. But you didn't stop until you reached your bag. Monica came running up to you. You sighed and reached down to grab your phone from your side pouch. She stopped when she finally reached you.

"(Y/n)?" Monica said again. "Why did you walk away?"

You turned around with tears in your eyes.

"I can't do this Monica." You said as the tears started. "I never wanted any of this to happen."

"What do you mean?" Monica asked as she stared at you in surprise.

You stared at Monica in surprise.

"Didn't you just hear Gladio?" You asked as you gestured back towards him as you kept your eyes on her.

Monica looked back at you with a weak smile as tears started to come to her eyes. "I did. But apparently you didn't see what happened after that."

You looked at her in surprise. Then you turned and looked back over at them. You were surprised to see Gladio laying on the ground and Ignis standing over him as he rubbed his right hand. You stood there in shock as you watched Cor walk over to Ignis to check on him.

Ignis just simply shook his head. Then Ignis walked over to Gladio as he laid on the ground. Cor just stayed off to the side as he watched them. You watched as Gladio pushed himself up into a sitting position while rubbing the left side of his face.

Holy shit! You thought to yourself. Did Ignis punch Gladio?

You looked at Monica with your jaw dropped.

"Did he...?" You started to ask but the words wouldn't come out.

"Yeah he did." Monica said as she dropped her gaze with a slight laugh.

"Apparently Ignis didn't like what Gladio had said about you." Monica said as she looked back up at you with smile.

"Ignis must really care about you to punch his best friend like that. Even if he did deserve it." She said before looking back at them.

You smiled as you dropped your eyes as you felt your cheeks heating up. "I suppose he does."

"Well come on." Monica said as she grabbed your hand. "Let's head back over before it gets out of hand."

"Yeah." You replied.

Then you and Monica walked back over to the target range.

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

Gladio sat there rubbing his face as he looked up at his best friend. He was half in shock and half pissed off, even though he knew that he had gone too far. But he had never expected Ignis to punch him like that. He wasn't quite sure what to think now. Ignis did seem to still be serious about training.  But Gladio couldn't help but to be worried about what would happen in a real situation.

"Since when did you learn to hit so hard?" Gladio asked Ignis as he continued to rub his face.

"Well before you learned to be disrespectful and to question my integrity." Ignis stated as he gave Gladio a stern look. "And you would do well not to question it again."

"But how do I know that you'll follow through on everything?" Gladio asked as he stared back at Ignis as he dropped his hand.

"Tell me one time when I haven't." Ignis said to Gladio. "Tell me one incident where I haven't kept my word or completed a task for you or Noctis."

Gladio dropped his gaze.

"Well I....". Gladio stammered.

"You can't, because there isn't one." Ignis said as his temper was starting to get high. "So then why are you questioning me now? Why do you doubt me?"

"I don't want to." Gladio said as he kept his head down.

"But after earlier.......I've never hit you like that before." Gladio said as he looked back at his friend. "You have always blocked. But you lost your focus during the fight. You let her distract you."

"Well I never expected her to call out like that.  Of course, I've also never had anyone worry about me like that because my opponent decided to go harder and faster on me during a simple training session." Ignis added as he crossed his arms and stared down at Gladio. "Would you mind telling me why you did it? This is just training after all. Right?"

"I was trying to get you to focus more by driving you harder." Gladio said quietly.

"That may work for you." Ignis stated as he straighten his glasses.

"But you should know by now, that that doesn't work for me." Ignis said with a slight smile.

"I'll be sure to remember that next time." Gladio said as he slightly smiled back.

"Are you two done or what?" Noctis said to them. "I want you two to see this before she comes back."

Gladio and Ignis looked at each other with a puzzled look.

"On our way." Ignis returned.

Then Ignis held out his hand to Gladio. Gladio smiled back and grabbed his wrist. Then Ignis pulled him up and they walked over to Noctis together. They stopped and stood right by Noctis.

"What's up?" Gladio asked as he looked at the young prince.

"I thought that you might want to see what that 'bitch', as you called her, was doing while you two were arguing." Noctis said as he nodded towards the archery range.

They both gave Noctis a confused look. But then they looked at the range, Ignis grinned while Gladio's jaw dropped. For on the 50 yard target, you had gotten two bullseyes. On the 100 yard target, you had gotten two very close to the bullseye. Then on the 200 yard, you had gotten another one just shy of hitting the bullseye.

"If this was just her warming up...". Noctis said then he turn to the other two. "..imagine what she can do when she is really going."

Just then you and Monica walked up to the group. You kept your eyes down as you stopped by Monica. You were too nervous to make eye contact with any of them. You were afraid that the reaction wasn't going to be a good one. Although as you stood there, you heard nothing but silence. But you felt like everyone was staring at you.

"Did you do all of those shots?" Gladio asked.

You furrowed your eyebrow.

Is he asking caused he's impressed, or is he implying that I cheated? You thought as you looked up at him with a stern look.

You were still upset with him for calling you a bitch. That wasn't something that you took lightly and you weren't about to forget it so easily either.

"What? You doubt me?" You asked in an undertone.

"I doubt you can do it with an audience." Gladio said as he crossed his arms.

You narrowed your eyes and stormed into the roped off area and grabbed the equipment that you had just put down earlier. You put back on the gloves as you went out to the range and collected all of the arrows that you had shot earlier. Once you had them all, you walked back to the roped off area. You kept your eyes down as you stepped back into the roped off area so that you could concentrate. You put the arrows back into the quiver and put the belt back on your waist. But this time you made sure that the quiver was more on the back side of your right hip, oppose to right on your side.

You walked back up to the line and took your stance again. Your took out the first arrow and placed the feather end on the string and laid the shaft against the arrow guide. You held the arrow in place with your left fore finger as you raised the bow up. Then you drew back the string as you aimed for the 50yrd target. Then you took a breath and released the arrow.

Funk.

"Bullseye." Ignis said after the arrow struck the center of the target.

"Beginners luck." Gladio retorted.

You turned and glared at him.

"Ignore him." Noctis said. "He's just trying to mess you up."

"Trying?" Gladio started. "I'll show you trying."

You glared at Gladio again. But he just gave you a devilish grin back.

So that's how you want to play. You thought as you narrowed your eyes.

Fine. You thought.

Then you turned back around and got your next arrow ready. You drew back the string as you aimed for the 100yrd target. You took a breath and released the arrow.

"Don't loose your focus!" Gladio practically shouted.

Funk.

"Bullseye." Ignis said as he turned to Gladio as your arrow sat right in the middle of the target.

"So what." Gladio said as he looked at Ignis. "She has already done that one before. It's not like its a challenge."

You tensed up as you grabbed the next arrow. You put the arrow on the bow and took aim at the 200 yard target. You drew back and held your breath again as you released the arrow.

Funk.

"Bullseye." Ignis said with a smile as your arrow had made it into the center that time.

"Huh." Gladio retorted. "I still say beginners luck."

"Oh yeah big guy." Noctis said as he looked at Gladio. "I want to see you do that."

"Gladly." Gladio said as he walked up and got dressed out.

You paused as you watched him getting his gear on. Then you slightly smiled when you saw Ignis step up to get dressed out as well. Then you looked down for a minute as you tried to hide your smile. Then you felt someone step to your left side. You glanced over and saw Noctis with his gear ready to go.

"What?" He asked with a smile. "You didn't think that I was just going to stand there all night and not shot did you?"

You smiled back at him as he grabbed his first arrow. Then you watched as he put his arrow on the bow and took aim at the first target. But you noticed that his arm was a bit off. So you placed your bow down and stepped over to him to help get him straightened out.

"You have to keep your arm straight and parallel with the ground before you angle up." You said as you reached up and straightened out his arms.

Noctis let you move his arms into place as he watched want you did.

"Looks like I can still use a few lessons from you." Noctis said as he smiled back at you. "I guess this means that you'll have to stick around more."

You smiled back at him as you released his arm.

"I guess so." You answered.

"Now just aim for the target and let it fly." You said as you stood back.

Noctis smiled at you then pulled the arrow back. Then he relaxed and released the arrow.

Funk.

You glanced at the target and saw that he was close to the center.

"Nice shot Noctis." You said with a smile.

"Thanks."  He smiled back, then got his next arrow ready.

You turned around and grabbed your bow again and readied yourself to shoot again. Then you looked over at Ignis as he pulled back his arm to fire his first arrow. You felt your breath catch as you watched him as he carefully lined up for his shoot. You could feel your heart racing as he released the arrow which shot straight at the target.

Funk.

He paused as he looked at the target. Then he slowly lowered his bow as he looked back at you and smiled. You smiled back as you felt your cheeks heat up. Then you dropped your head as you tried to hide the redness, as you grabbed your next arrow. You had never seen anyone look so good as they shot. He truly did look comfortable with any type of weapon.

Everyone continued to shoot for the next few hours on the archery range. You don't know if you had impressed Gladio or not. For after awhile you were just enjoying the fun of shooting again. You continued to give Noctis pointers as you continued to hit your target. He chuckled a couple times though when you were slightly off, but that was due to him messing with you as you tried to line up. But this time it was all in good fun.

"I think that just about wraps up everything." Cor said after a while. "Let's go ahead and gather up everything and call it a night."

Everyone agreed as they put their bows back on the weapons stand and proceeded onto the range to retrieve the arrows.

"You mentioned that you learned how to shoot while at summer camp." Noctis said as you both were walking out.

You swallowed hard as you kept your eyes down. You knew that he was going to ask you about this. You knew it from the moment that you saw the range. But you still weren't sure if you wanted to share it with him or not. But why wouldn't you, you had already shared everything else with him since the two of you talked on the phone almost every night. And besides, you had already told Ignis, why wouldn't you tell Noctis.

Perhaps it's time to fill him in. You thought as you dropped your head as you reached down to grab a few arrows that had missed their mark.

You glanced over at Noctis as he glanced back at you before stopping to pick up a couple arrows himself. You sighed as you picked up a couple more arrows.

"Yeah." You said finally as you picked up a couple more arrows.

"There was this summer camp that I had gone to one year. My parents thought it would be fun." You quietly said as you grabbed another arrow.

"It doesn't sound like you had a good time." Noctis said as he watched your reaction.

"For the most part, I was lonely. I couldn't seem to make any friends while I was there. No matter what I did." You said as you kept your gaze down.

"Now that's hard to believe, considering its you." Noctis said with a smile. "I've always pictured you to be the one with all the friends."

You sadly shook your head. "Sadly enough, no. I don't have any outside of everyone here."

"Did anyone try to help you out?" Noctis asked as he bent down to grab an arrow that he spotted on the ground.

You froze as you flashed back to that dreadful night. Your heart skipped a beat as you felt your skin start to crawl as you heard his voice again. You tried to breathe but you could only get shallow breaths as you smelled the spicy cologne. Then you felt someone touch your back and you jumped out of your skin.

"Woah." Noctis said as he jerked his hand back.

"Are you alright?" He asked as he gave you a concerned look.

You shook your head as you tried to get that moment off your mind. Your hands were shaking and sweating. You shook them out as you tried to calm back down. Your heart was still racing as it seemed to be trying to beat out of your chest.

Your vision seemed to be playing tricks on you as you tried to look around. But it appeared as if you were back at camp. You could hear the other kids in the background. But it was as if they were in a cave for everything seemed to echo. Then everything seemed to get dark, you could feel your body started to give out on you again. But just as you were about to collapse, you felt someone grab you from the front and wrap their arms around you.

"Steady love." You heard a familiar voice say.

"I got you." He said as he tightened his grip on you.

He held you up by having one arm wrapped around your waist and the other one was on your back as he hugged you close to him.

"Not to worry." The voice said in a the familiar accent.

"He's not here, and will never touch you again." He said then gave you a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Not if I'm with you."

You closed your eyes as you took long labored breaths as you tried to calm back down. You felt your body shaking against his. But he never released you and never moved his hands from where he had first grabbed you so that he could hold you up. Instead he just tighten his grip enough to keep you from falling. You felt your body slowly starting to calm down as he held you up.

"I could smell him again." You whispered.

"I could smell that nasty cologne of his." You said as you started to shake again.

"Well I can assure you..." The voice calmly said.

"He's not here." He said as he pulled you closer and started rubbing your back.

You raised your gaze up so that your head was right next to his neck. You inhaled and smelled his muscular cologne mixed with his natural scent. Then you did something that you never would have done before. But you felt that you had to. You just had to make sure that he was indeed holding you. So you leaned in and kissed his neck.

You could taste the natural salt on his skin as you felt the warmth from his body through your lips. You felt a shift in his body as you kissed it again while covering more of his skin with your mouth. He tighten his grip on you and lowered his head closer to your ear.

"Please love." He quietly said with a hint of hunger in his voice. "Not now."

"I just had to make sure it was you." You quietly said.

"And?" He asked as he struggled to keep his body calm.

You blinked your eyes as everything came back into focus. Then you looked up at Ignis as he held you.

"I never realized how tantalizing you tasted." You whispered as you smiled at him.

Ignis gave you a seductive look back.

"I could say the same about you. But that is for a later time." He said as he loosened his grip on you. "Do you feel alright now?"

"Yeah." You said as you looked back down.

Ignis released you and you stepped back as you took a deep breath. Then you looked around and saw Noctis standing just off to the side. He nervously looked down when you glanced at him. You dropped your eyes as you walked over to him. Noctis shifted nervously as you approached. You walked up and grabbed his hand.

"I'm sorry that you saw that." You quietly said as you kept your eyes down. Then you glanced up.

"Did I do something to you to cause it?" Noctis asked as he looked up at you with a worried look.

You slightly smiled as you looked at him. Tears started to develop in your eyes.

"No." You said as you tried to reassure him.

"At least not intentionally." You said as you dropped your eyes again.

Noctis dropped his eyes. You squeezed his hand. "But its ok." You said after a bit. "There was no way that you would have know that that would trigger a reaction like that. In fact, I didn't know I would react like that."

"But why did it happen?" Noctis asked as he looked at you.

"How about I take the rest of your equipment so that you two can take a walk while you talk?" Ignis half asked and half gestured as he held out his hand so that you could hand him the equipment.

"You could take her up to your favorite spot. It's nice an quite there right now." Ignis finished as he smiled at Noctis.

Noctis slight nodded.

"That sounds like a good idea." He quietly said.

And with that you handed Ignis your equipment. But before you turned to follow Noctis, you leaned up and gave Ignis a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you Ignis." You said.

Ignis slowly closed his eyes then looked back at you.

"Your welcome love." He quietly answered. "I'll join you two after everything is put away."

"Okay." You said with a smile.

Then you walked away from Ignis and joined Noctis as he proceed to walk towards the trees.

Ignis watched you two walk a short distance away before Gladio joined his side.

"Now where are they going?" Gladio asked as he watched you two continue towards the trees.

"To have a long overdue talk." Ignis said with a smile. "Now, let's get this stuff put away shall we?"

Gladio grunted as he watched you and Noctis walk away. Then he turned around so that he could continue to tear down for the night.

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

Ok so to be completely honest, I had to look up the actual terms used for the equipment. I knew the quiver. But I had always known the bracer was called the arm guard. But either way, I do hope that you enjoyed that one. I wanted to have one chapter to show when Ignis finally got Gladio to lay off of him.

Be sure to come back for the next chapter. For not only does our character share her story, but Noctis also reveals a bit about his past as well.

Thanks for reading. :)

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