YOU could hear the birds singing in the trees as you approached the woods that were right beside the house. You looked up as you tried to catch a glimpse of them. But all you could make out was the occasional movement in the treetops. You smiled to yourself as you looked in front of yourself again. Then you glanced over at Noctis. He hadn't said anything since you had walked away from Ignis. He had kept his gaze down and was walking kind of slow.

"So where are we going?" You asked as you tried to break the silence.

Noctis glanced over at you for a moment with a straight face.  It was as if he was searching your face before he turned his gaze back down.

"To one of my favorite thinking spots." Noctis quietly said.

"Really?'' You asked as you fell in step with him. "All the way out here?"

Noctis nodded with a simple smile.

"Well this is the royal family's summer cottage after all.  And my parents use to bring me here all the time when I was younger so that we could spend a day or two outside of Insomnia.  There were even a couple full summers when I was really little." He said as he continued to walk.

"Wow.  That's cool.  But why out here?  Why not some place back inside the walls?"

""Well you see, my mom didn't really like the city. She preferred to be here and away form from everyone else. She use to say that she couldn't hear the world there.  What with the streets being as busy as they are around the citadel." Noctis continued as he glanced forward as if in a daze.

"She would spend all day outside in the sun. She hated being stuck inside of a building. She much preferred to be outside in an open field." Noctis said as he looked at you and gave you a weak smile.

"That's why there's a garden in the Citadel. My dad had it added for her so that she could be happy within the walls." Noctis said then he looked back down to the ground.

"You miss her a lot, don't you?" You said as you glanced at him.

"Everyday." Noctis quietly said.

You dropped your eyes as you felt your heart start to break for him as a few tears started to form.

"They say that it gets easier over time." You commented as you kept walking as you fought back the tears.

"Yeah." Noctis replied. "That's what they say."

"I personally think that anyone who says that, hasn't lost very close family member. And has no clue how much it hurts." You said as you kept looking down. "If they did, then they wouldn't be saying that at all."

Noctis looked over at you with a curious look. "What do you mean?" Noctis asked.

"Well,..." You started to say as you raised your eyes.

But then you stopped in your tracks when you saw a pond come into view. Then you turned and looked at Noctis.

"Oh my six Noct. Is this the place?" You asked as you looked into Noctis' bright blue eyes.

Noctis simply nodded back at you. You grinned back, then you broke into a jog. Noctis smiled and did the same. Then you laughed as you broke into a run.

You ran down the dirt trail that led up to a hidden pond. You stopped when you reached the waters edge. You glanced around the pond and saw that one side had a high rock cliff overlooked the water as trees lined the outside of the pond. They seemed to be keeping this place secret as well as cool compared to the field that you were just in.

You looked out on the water and noticed that you could see a few fish swimming around, even though the water was slightly murky. You slowly walked around the edge of the pond until you came across a small floating dock that was anchored to the shoreline. You tried not to step in the mud as you carefully walked over to the dock. But the mud seemed to completely surround the pond.

So you tried to keep to the rocks for the most part. But you noticed that some of the rocks had a thin layer of green moss on them, while others were smoothed out and almost perfectly flat and covered in glass. So you were sure to take your time so that you didn't slip and fall.

Finally you made it over to the dock. You carefully stepped onto the wooden boards and walked out to the edge. You glanced down at the water. You couldn't see very far down since the water was so cloudy. But occasional you thought that you saw a fin from one of the fish that called the pond home.

Then you closed your eyes as you leaned your head back so that you were facing straight up to the sky. You could hear the quiet croaking sounds of a few frogs that also called the pond home. A slight smile crept across your face as you enjoyed the soothing sound. Never had you heard anything so peaceful in your life. You were starting to understand what his mom had seen in the place. You stood there for a few minutes admiring the peace and quiet as Noctis came walking up to you.

You heard Noctis' shoes on the dock as he walked up beside you and stood next to you. "Can you hear them?" You asked.

"Huh?" Noctis asked as he looked at you.

"The frogs." You said. "Can you hear them ? It's like they're having their own conversations. I never knew that they could be so loud."

Noctis smiled as he looked away from you as tears started to form in his eyes.

"Yeah. My mom use to say that you could tell that all was well with the world just by hearing the songs from the animals around you. There were the occasional ones that were a bit louder then the others. But for the most part they were peaceful. And she really liked this pond in particular because of the animals." He said as he looked out over the water.

"Well I can see why she liked this place." You said as you smiled.

Then you lowered your head as you opened your eyes.

"I can also see why you use this place to think too." You said as you glanced at the pond again.

"It must remind you of all the good times that you spent with her when you were here." You said as you looked down.

"Yeah." Noctis said as he looked out over the pond.

"You know your mom was very beautiful, Noctis." You said as you gave him a sad smile.

"But how..." Noctis started to say as he gave you a surprised look.

"She always had a smile on when she was with you and your dad." You said as you slightly looked down.

"I don't think that there was ever a picture of her where she wasn't smiling. She always looked like the perfect mom, you know."

Noctis just stared at you as he felt his heart starting to break as he remembered her smile, her glances, her scent, and her warm embrace when he was upset. He had almost forgotten that there was a time when she use to stand with him and his dad in front of the people of Insomnia. She would usually be holding his hand to help keep him calm. Since Noctis has never been one for big crowds. In fact he tried to avoid them for the most part, since they made him uncomfortable. But his mom would hold his hand so that he would feel safe during the large events that Insomnia would celebrate.

"I still remember the picture that they showed at her funeral. She was holding you for the first time as she kissed your dad." You said as a few tears rolled down your cheeks.

"I didn't understand the meaning of it at first." You said as you dropped your eyes.

"That was until I saw a similar picture at my brothers funeral. My parents were in a similar pose as they were holding my brother when he was a baby. I understood then as I stared at that picture during the ceremony." You said as more tears rolled down your cheeks.

"Never again would there be a happier moment with them. Never again would we be able to hold them in our arms. Never again would we hear their voice as they called out to us. For all we had left now, are the memories that we had made with them while they were here. Just fragments in time that were blessed by having them here." You said as you could feel the pain of losing your brother come back.

Noctis dropped his head as he tried to keep the tears from rolling down his cheeks. He quietly listen as he tried to keep his emotions under control. He had had a few years to mourn the loss of his mother. Plus they did have a memorial in the Citadel for her. It was at the opposite side of the hall from the living quarters. He could go there whenever he wanted. Oh course he knew that it wasn't the same thing. But it had helped.

"Before my brother died, he use to take me fishing all the time." You said as you looked out and saw a fish jump out of the water.

"It was his favorite thing to do on a summer day. His favorite spot was by this little restaurant that sat by the seaside. There was a pier there that we would spread hours at. Sometimes we would even go just to swim in the water or even just collect seashells.

"He loved that place so much, that he was hired as one of cooks over there. He could make all kinds of different dishes. I loved to watch him cook. He even taught me a few." You said as dropped your eyes as you smiled to yourself as you recalled some of the images in your head.

Noctis looked over and gave you a surprised look. "I didn't know you had a brother."

You looked at Noctis with a sad smile.

"Yeah. Well we don't talk about him much anymore." You said as you looked down. "It still hurts to much."

"Can you tell me what happened?" Noctis asked as he grabbed your hand. "They say that talking about them can keep their memory alive."

You looked back at him as you felt your throat start to tighten as you fought back the tears.

"It was almost exactly three years ago. He was on his way home after working at the restaurant, when they say he lost control of his car and crashed. My parents told me that his car was in such bad shape that they had to rip the roof off of his car to get him out. The ambulance rushed him to the hospital, where my parents told me that they rushed him into surgery shortly after he arrived. But they said that his injuries were too severe and they couldn't keep him stable." You dropped your head and closed your eyes as the tears poured. "He died in the operating room."

Noctis pulled you closer to him and wrapped his arms around you. He could feel your body shaking as you cried. He closed his eyes as well as a few tears ran down his own cheeks. He knew your pain all to well.

"His funeral was the hardest thing that I have ever had to go through." You quietly said against his chest once you could talk again.

"I didn't even get to look at his face one last time. They said the injuries were so severe that we had to go with a closed casket." You paused as you tried to talk again.

"The day he died, I had had a fight with him and hadn't given him a goodbye kiss as I usually would have." Your felt your throat tighten up.

"I never got to apologize or give him one final kiss." You said then crumbled in his arms as you felt all of the emotion come back over you again.

You and Noctis stood there as he held you for what seemed like an hour as you cried from all the hurt that you had been hiding for years. He kept a tight hold on you as he tried to comfort you. He knew how you must be feeling for he had gone through the same thing after his mother was killed. But in his case, he had almost died at the sametime.

"I'm so sorry for your loss (y/n). It's not easy losing a close family member." He quietly said as he held you close.

Then after a short pause he continued.

"When my mother died, I was laying next to her. I had been struck with the same hit that had taken her life. I had no idea that that was what had really happened at first though. All I knew was that I felt something liquid around me. But when I raised my hand up to see what it was, that was when I realized that I was laying in a pool of our blood." He said as he could once again see his hand covered blood.

"That was when I looked at her. I couldn't see her face, but I could still tell that she was gone though." He quietly said. "There have been many times when I wish that I hadn't seen her like that."

You looked up at him in shock as you pictured the image in your head.

"What was it that attacked you?" You asked as you watched his face.

Noctis froze as the horrible image that had plagued him with nightmares for years, came back into his head.

Noctis felt his heart rate shot up and his body start to shake. That daemon had changed his whole world when it had taken his mother from him. The daemon was nothing more than a woman's body with a rattlesnake's tail. But the size of her was overpowering. She seemed to reach to the heavens as he laid there on the ground unable to fight back.

"It was a daemon." He quietly said.

Your eyes shot wide open as you look at him as he stared as if transfixed by something in front of him.

"I thought that those were only a myth?" You said as you searched his face.

Noctis took a rugged deep breath as he looked back down.

"I can assure you that this one was very much alive. And if my dad hadn't caught up with us when he did......" His voice trailed off as he recalled watching his dad fight off the monster.

He became lost in thought until he felt a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Well I for one am very glad that he did and that you are here with us now." You said as you looked back after kissing him.

He smiled back at you and pulled you in closer to him.

"Me too." He quietly said as he buried his face in your hair as it layed across your shoulder.

He held you for a few then released you so that he was only hold your hands.

"There is still one thing that you haven't explained to me though." Noctis said as he looked you right in the eye.

You glanced up at him with a questioning look. "And what would that be?"

"What happened to you on the field just now?" Noctis said as he searched your face for any reaction. "Why did you freeze like that?"

Your body froze as you realized that the time had come to tell him what had happened that day at camp. You had been trying to avoid the subject. But it looked like it was time to fill him in. You look a labored breath before you turned back to him.

"How about we sit down somewhere so that I can explain?" You asked a you started to walk to a flat rock that was just to the right from the dock. The rock had part of it that was slightly higher than the rest that made it look more like sitting on a chair then some of the other rocks. The rock also had a slight layer of moss on it which made it a bit softer then sitting on the hard rock.

Meanwhile back at the training field......................

"Alright. I think that's everything." Cor said as he locked up the shed.

"Good. I'll go get Noct and (y/n) then." Gladio said as he started walking towards the woods.

"I'll go get them in a minute Gladio." Ignis said as he straightened his glasses.

"I think that Monica wanted to talk to you about something." Ignis said as he gestured towards the house where Monica had entered shortly after everyone started packing up the rest of the equipment.

Gladio looked towards the house, then back at Ignis with a questioning look. Ignis just simply nodded. Gladio dropped his eyes then proceeded towards the house. As he walked away, Cor walked up to Ignis and stood beside him.

"If I didn't know better I would say that you trying to play matchmaker." Cor said to Ignis.

"Not a matchmaker. But perhaps a mediator would best describe it." Ignis said as he watched Gladio enter the house.

"They each have something that they need to talk about with each other before we go any further with the training. If not, then there will always be a doubt or a hesitation on the field. We all have to be open with each other if we are to work as a team. There were still a few secrets that needed to be shared with the right people." Ignis said as he straighten his glasses.

"Huh. You sound more and more like your dad everyday." Cor said as he looked at Ignis.

Ignis looked at Cor in surprise. "Really?" Ignis asked as if pleading for it to be true.

Cor nodded back at him with a smile. "Your dad was always the one trying to keep us all in line. He would be proud of the young man that you are becoming."

Ignis smiled back at Cor as a tear started to develop in his eye. "Thank you for that."

Back at the pond.............

"That does explain a lot." Noctis said as he looked at his feet as they propped up his knees in front of himself as he sat beside you with his arms on his knees and his hands clasped. "Is that why you ran out of the training room that first day as well?"

"Yeah." You replied as you looked at your hands as they sat in your lap while you sat indian style.

"I never imagined that I would react like that with Monica. I mean she's a girl. How was I supposed to know that I would end up in the same state? Then today, no one was even touching me. But your question and the field seemed to be just enough to set it off again." You said as you nervously rubbed your hands.

"Well like Ignis said earlier." Noctis said as he reached over and grabbed your hand. "He's not here. And we will never let him touch you again."

You smiled then leaned over and hugged Noctis. He pulled you in tight as he hugged you back. You both found comfort in the each others embrace. For both of you had already been through a lot. But together you were much stronger than you were alone.

After a few minutes you heard someone approached from the dirt path. You released Noctis and looked over to see Ignis walking up to the two of you. You smiled at him when he meet your gaze. He smiled back as he stopped just at the base of the rock.

"Am I interrupted anything?" Ignis quietly asked as he looked between the two of you.

"No." Noctis said as he smiled back at Ignis. "We were just getting ready to head back."

"That would be a good idea." Ignis said as he looked around and saw that the sun was starting to go down. "It looks like its getting dark."

Just as Ignis said that you could start to see the faint lights of the fireflies as they were flying calming around the pond.

"Look." You said as you pointed out to the water. "Fireflies."

They both turned and looked at the small lights as they slowly danced across the water.

"My mother use to say that fireflies were spirits from the past that would come to visit us to make sure that were ok." Ignis said as he stared at the small bugs as they lazily flew around the pond.

Each of you watched the bugs in silence and wondered if this was true as you each pictured the loved ones who had already departed from the world.

After a few minutes you heard Cor calling from the house. "Come on back in! Dinner's almost ready."

"I suppose it's time." Ignis said after he cleared his throat. "Shall we?"

"Yeah." You and Noctis both said as you stood back up so that you could climb down from the rock.

Noctis climbed down first then helped you down. Then the three of you walked back to the house in silence as you thought about today's events. As you approached the house you could see Monica and Gladio talking inside the house. Monica seemed to be a bit upset with Gladio.

"Perhaps we should give those two a few minutes." You said as you nodded towards the window.

Noctis and Ignis both looked up at the window as they watched them shouting at each other.

"Perhaps you're right." Ignis said as he looked away.

Then everyone walked over to the picnic table and took a seat. Everyone sat for a few minutes in silence as you waited patiently for the all clear.

"You have got to stop!" Monica was saying to Gladio. "She's not going anywhere. If you would have been paying attention to anyone other than yourself you would have realized that by now. She's not going anywhere." Monica sternly said.

Then she soften her voice and she looked at him lovingly. "And neither am I Gladiolus."

Gladio looked up at her as his heart skipped.

"I just don't want anyone to get hurt." He returned as he walked up to her. "Especially you." He said as he ran his fingers across her cheek. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything happened to you."

Monica closed her eyes as she placed her hand on his hand that was still on her face.

"Yes you would." She quietly said. "For I would be living through you."

Gladio closed his eyes then he leaned in and gently kissed her on her lips. Then he slowly wrapped his free arm around her waist as he brought her close to him. She released his hand as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hungerly kissed him back. Gladio deepened the kiss by slipped his tongue into her mouth as he pulled her closer to him.

Gladio felt his heart rate increase as he continued to explore her mouth. His hands started to caress her curves as his fingers started rubbing into the small of her back. She deepened the kiss more as her body started to react to his touch

"I hate to interrupt, but we do have a hungry crew waiting to eat sometime tonight." Cor said as he stood in the doorway.

Gladio and Monica immediately broke away. Monica quickly turned around to go back to cooking while Gladio turned to leave the room.

"We just needed to talk about something is all." Gladio tried to explain.

"Save it." Cor interrupted. "Whatever you two have going on in your personal lives is not my concern. My only focus is the training for the three that are sitting outside right now. So just keep it behind closed doors if you can. We don't need the others seeing you acting like that. Your suppose to be their combat trainers. Not their demonstrators on how to make out in the kitchen " Cor said as he walked away.

Gladio and Monica both looked down for a moment.

"I need to finish cooking dinner." Monica quietly said as she went back to the stove to stir the food that was cooking.

"I'll go get (y/n) and Ignis to help you. You know I'm worthless in the kitchen." Gladio said as he smiled at Monica.

"I wouldn't say that you worthless in the kitchen." Monica said as she smiled back at Gladio. "But those two would make it easier and quicker."

Gladio stepped back over to her and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"We'll continue our discussion later." He quietly said against her lips in a husky voice.

"I'll hold you to it." Monica seductively responded back and gave him a quick kiss in return.

Then Gladio stepped back and smiled before he turned on his heel and headed out of the room.

"Ignis! (Y/n)!" Gladio shouted from the front door as he stepped outside. "Monica needs your help in the kitchen."

"Roger." Ignis replied as he got up from the table.

"We'll see you in a bit Noct." You said to Noctis as you followed Ignis.

"Yeah." Noctis returned as he watched you walk away and Gladio walk towards him.

"You and I have a date with gather some firewood." Gladio said to Noctis as he stopped in front of Noctis.

Noctis dropped his head. "I had a feeling you were going to say something like that." Noctis said as he got to help out Gladio.

"(Y/n), a moment please?" Ignis asked as the two of you approached the house.

"Sure Ignis." You said as you stopped. "What's up?"

"Did you finally tell him?" Ignis asked as he stopped and stood in front of you. "Did you tell him what happened at camp?"

"Yeah." You said as lowered you head with a slight smile.

"And then some." You replied as you looked back up with a slight tear in your eye.

"Really?" Ignis asked.

Did I miss something else? He thought as he felt a bit left out.

"Yeah." You replied as you glanced away with a smile.

"I told him about my brother too." You said as you looked back up at Ignis.

Your noticed that he looked a bit hurt that you hadn't told him as well.

You reached over and grabbed his hand. "If you like I can tell you about him as well after dinner?"

"That will be up to you." Ignis returned.

"But I would love to hear about him." Ignis said in his soothing voice.

"After dinner then." You replied as you smiled back at him. "In the meantime, let's go help out Monica."

"Right." Ignis smiled back then led the two of you into the house.

The dinner was a dish that you hadn't seen in a long time, tender Roast Stew. You figured that Monica had to of put it on during lunch so that it would be ready by time dinner came around. She just needed help from you and Ignis with getting the veggies prepared for the stew. The meat had been cooking for awhile and smelled like heaven.

When the stew was finished cooking it was brought out to the dining room Everyone sat around the dining room table with big grins on their faces and empty stomachs to fill up. The room was silent at first as everyone enjoyed their meal. Then slowly everyone started to talk as they finished up their food. The conversations were mainly about the training session from the day and what the next stage would entail.

"We will come out here once a month to work with the various targets so that you can each hone in your skills for your weapons." Cor was explaining.

"I think I know which weapons will be the primary for each of you. But we never want to forget how to use the others as well. At least not until you have decided on your secondary. That being said though. Each of you have a lot of potential and I can see great things coming from you. And I mean all of you." He finished as he looked at you last.

"Thank you for the kind words." Ignis replied. "It means a lot coming from you." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"I just call it how I see it." Cor replied as he looked around the table.

Just then Cor's phone started to ring. He pulled it out and looked at the name.

"If you'll pardon me." He said and got up as he answered the phone.

"Cor here......". he said as he left the room.

"Even outside of the city he's always on call." Gladio said as he followed Cor out with his eyes.

"He is the Marshall." Ignis said as he watched as well before turning towards Gladio. "His duties don't just reside with the confines of the city walls."

"My dad's job is the same way." You said as you stood up and started gathering up dishes. "He gets calls all day and all night. There have even been times when he hasn't come home for a few days. He once told me about one task that he had to go on when I was really little. I had to stay with a family friend in Lestallum. For some reason both of my parents had to go. They said it was something about blending in or something like that. But he said that they were gone for about a month. I never would have known if they hadn't told me." You said as you walked into the kitchen carrying a stack of dirty dishes. Ignis followed behind with the rest of the dishes.

"Sometimes jobs can take us away from those we care about." Ignis said as if to himself.

The two of you put the dishes in the sink then went about putting what was left of dinner away. After all of the food had been put away, you both did the dishes. He's washed and rinsed. You dried and put them away. You smiled at each other as you worked.

"I miss doing dishes with someone." You said after a bit.

"Really?" Ignis asked as he gave you a curious look.

"Yeah." you smiled back as you grabbed another plate.

"My brother and I use to do dishes together all the time. It was my favorite chore growing up. That was until he got a job and wasn't home from work in time to eat dinner with us." You said quietly as you looked back down. "But at least he still let me cook with him on the weekends that he was off. Which after a while even that became every other weekend."

"Is he the reason you like to cook so much?" Ignis asked as he watched your face while he put another plate in the dish strainer.

"He's one of the main reasons." You said as you gave him a seductive looks.

Ignis looked down as he tried to hide a grin as you saw a bit of red on his cheeks. He then cleared his throat then turned back to the dishes. You smiled back at him. You had never seen him flustered before, but you loved it all the same.

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

I do hope that you liked this chapter. I know that it this one got a bit deep. But it needed to be in order to set up for the next phase. Trust me, you'll see why as we go along.

So be sure to keep an eye out for the next chapter as the excitement starts to build. See what happened when the group gets some surprising news.

FYI: For those who have played the game, yes that is the pond in between the Fociaugh Hollow and the Costlemark Tower. It's the one over by the barns that are located in the Kettier Highland area. And yes I know that there isn't a house there. But I'll get to that later on, trust me. It will all be explained in due time. Just keep reading and you'll soon see.

Thanks for reading. :)

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