"SEE miss (y/n). Snowball is fine." The veterinarian was saying as he handed you a now wet, but clean cat.

"None of that blood was from her. She's as fit as a fiddle." He said after you pulled her into your arms as the tears started again.

"Thank you." You said through your tears as you held her tight.

You then walked over to the couch and sat down Indian style with her still in your arms. You held Snowball as she was wrapped up in a clean white towel. Only her head was sticking out as she purred against you. You continued to dry her off with the towel as you were petting her at the same time. You couldn't believe that she had gotten out of the house, let alone found her way to the citadel. Your heart was still racing as you gently stroked her fur as you slowly dried her off. She soon had her eyes closed as she happily purred in your arms.

Cats must truly have nine lives. You thought to yourself as you held her tight.

And at least I still have her. You thought as you lost yourself in the rhythm of her constant purring while you were petting her.

"Thank you for stopping by this late at night." King Regis was telling the veterinarian as he was cleaning up to head out.

"It was my pleasure your Majesty." He said as he closed up his bag. "I did take a sample of the blood, as you requested, and handed it to the young man with glasses who was standing here a few minutes ago."

King Regis nodded as he looked down for a moment. "Thank you."

"If you don't mind me asking....?" The veterinarian started to ask.

"Currently I do." The King quickly returned as he looked back up.

"But thank you for your concern." He said with a smile.

The veterinarian closed his mouth and bowed to the King. "Oh course your Majesty. Just let me know if there are any changes."

"We will. Thank you." King Regis said and escorted the veterinarian out of the room.

Once the veterinarian was out the door, King Regis closed the door and walked over to you as you absently dried off your cat as you stroked her fur. He sat on the opposite end of the couch of you. He crossed his legs and put his arm over the back of the couch as he looked over at you. You continued to look forward as you just blankly stared at the floor.

"Nyx informed me about the conversation that you had in the car with them before you arrived." King Regis began as he watched you. "You must have a lot of questions."

You simply dropped your eyes as you tried to control the tears from forming in your eyes. You didn't dare to attempt to make eye contact. You were afraid to. You didn't want him to see how torn apart that you were really feeling.

"If you want. I can try and answer some of them for you." King Regis said in a calm voice as he tried to read you.

"There's only one question that I want answered." You quietly said as you looked at the floor as you continued to pet your cat.

"And that would be 'Why?' Why did they lie to me? Why didn't they tell me the truth about their jobs? Why did they feel that they had to hide this from me? Why are they missing? Why?......." You said as you trailed off as your throat tighten to the point that you couldn't talk anymore.

You dropped your head as you lip quivered as you fought to keep from breaking down again. King Regis looked down. Then he dropped his hand to your shoulder.

"Because they had to." He quietly said as he raised his eyes back up to watch you.

You slowly looked back up at him as tears slowly started streaming from your now bloodshot eyes. Your jaw was hanging open as you looked at him.

But why? You thought as you gave him a pleading look.

"Your mom and dad have been undercover for a long time now, so that they could protect you." King Regis said as he continued. "You see. Right after you were born, they had volunteered to go out on a rescue mission to Niflheim. There had been a rumor that the Imperial Army was using babies in their experiments to create an army of more powerful soldiers."

"Well this threat was enough to push your mother to find out the truth.: King Regis continued as he sat up and dropped his hand down to his lap. "Once she did, your mom and dad sent you to stay with their closest friend in Altissia so that they could go and see for themselves."

"Now I don't recall the exact details. But based on their report, they had confirmed that there were babies at the production site. And what they saw was that the whole plan was scheduled for destruction. Apparently there had been some issues with some of the 'test subjects'. So the Imperial Army had decided to scrub the whole experiment and was going to kill all of babies that were being used as a result." King Regis said as he dropped his head as he leaned forward on his knees.

"Well your parents couldn't bear the thought of this and risked everything to try and save them. But unfortunately they were only able to get one child out alive." King Regis said as he sat back and remembered reading the report.

"After they had brought the baby back here to Insomnia. They had put in to be the child's caregivers so that they could raise him themselves. But due to the high risk of the child being discovered, it was deemed best for him to live with someone else. So he was adopted by a couple who had just lost their baby boy to SIDS. This worked out well for the child since he looked like them and they already had everything that he was going to need.

"Unfortunately though, things didn't go so well for your parents. For during another mission, one of the guards from the Imperial Army recognized your dad. They threw a full assault on him because of that. We barely got him out of there." King Regis continued as he looked off in the distance. "That's when it was decided that we needed to put them undercover for a few years. Or at least until things had calmed down. We didn't need two of our finest being targeted like that."

King Regis then went quiet for a moment before he continued.

"Apparently though, it looks like we didn't have them hidden well enough." He said as he slumped back on the couch. "The attack on you tonight though, that's a concern that really troubles me. For it is enough proof to me that there is a leak somewhere within the intelligence division. They were the only ones who knew your location."

"My dad was on the team that got the area ready for us." You said as you dropped your head back down.

"Do you think that's how they figured out the truth about him and my mom?" You asked as you gave the King a scared side glance.

"Perhaps." He said as he rubbed his chin.

"But we won't know for sure until we have done a full internal investigation." King Regis said as he thought about the fact that your dad was on that team.

That was a fact that seemed to have been missing from the report he was given. Which made him even more concerned. Because that wasn't something that would normally occur from any report that came from the intelligence office. And was certainly was a good starting point he though as he looked over at you as he saw you slowly scratching your cat behind her ears while she purred her contentment.

King Regis gave you a sympathetic look as he slightly raise one corner of his mouth.

"That's right." King Regis confirmed.

"Those would in fact be magitek soldiers. They are humanoid robots that the imperial Army has created for war. I'm sorry that you had to see them the way that you did." King Regis said as he dropped his eyes again.

"And no child should have to fight those things like you did today. Even if it was brilliant, as Ignis described it." He finished with a smile.

You slightly smiled as you dropped your eyes again. 

"Do you think they were the ones to take my parents?" You asked as you tried to picture your parents taking on machines like the ones that you had just seen.

"Perhaps not the machines, but I can almost guarantee that it was the Imperial Army. The magitek troops can't function within the wall due to the shield I put up. So they can never penetrate the walls of Insomnia." King Regis said as he thought about it. "No, this time I think it was a person who works within the wall."

You turned and stared at King Regis as the color drained from your face. He looked up and saw your face. He could understand your concerns considering what you had just gone through. He reached over and rubbed your back.

"But not to worry. You'll be safe here tonight with us. Beside, that is one of the reasons why I have allowed Ignis to spend the night in the room with you." He said as he dropped his hand back down. "You'll stay here as long as possible. But if things do get to be too risky. Then I may have to have you stay with your godmother in Altissia for a spell. I pray that it won't come down to that. But that would be our only option at that point."

"Do you think they're ok?" You asked as you petted the side of your cat that had been covered in blood. 

"My parents I mean." You said as you looked back up at him. "Do you think they're still alive?"

"I don't know. But I pray to the six that they are alive and fighting to get back here." King Regis said with a smile. "But if I know Paul and Lynn, their alive and well.  And they won't quit until they are free and on their way back to you."

You smiled to yourself as you looked back down at your cat who was now happily sleeping in your lap. As much as it hurt, you knew that he was right. Your parents were as brilliant as they were stubborn. They weren't about to roll over and quit.

"Well let me take my leave so that you can get some sleep." King Regis said as hs stood up. "If you need me, my room is just at the end of the hallway. You can either get me there or you can send Ignis to come get me if you like."

"Thank you." You said as you gave him a slight smile. 

"I do have one last question though." You said as you turned to face him.

"Anything." King Regis said as he turned back around to face you.

"Was my brother's accident, really an accident?" You asked as you looked at the ground. 

"Or was he also attacked on his way home?" You asked as you looked back up with moisture starting to form on the edge of your eyes again.

King Regis dropped his head as he tried to figure out the best way to tell you the truth. He didn't want to scare you. But he also didn't want to lie to you at this point. You had a right to know the truth. Besides, if you knew the truth, then you could be better prepared for anything to happen. He just had to figure out the best way to tell you.

You watched as he nervously swallowed a few times before he looked back up at you. You started to feel your heart drop when you saw the sad look in his eyes. You took a short raspy breath as you tried to brace yourself.

"I have never lied to you. And I'm not about to start now." He said as he sadly looked at you. "He was indeed ambushed. Just as you were. They had jumped down on top of his car from the cliffs that are just on either side of the road as you heading towards Galdin Quay. He tried to fight them off. But it just wasn't enough. There were way too many of them, he was simply outnumbered. I'm sorry that we couldn't get to him faster. He was a brilliant tactician and fighter."

"What?" You barely said as you tried to register what he had just said. 

"No. No, he was a cook. He cooked for the Galdin Quay restaurant." You said with a pleading voice.

King Regis smiled. "He did. And he was also one of the most brilliant students going through the same training that you and Ignis are doing. Mind you he didn't have the desire to directly serve me or Noctis as you do. No, he was more looking at traveling around and setting up connections within the neighboring countries as a means of keeping us informed on the Imperial Army's actions."

You sat there with your mouth open as you thought about how busy your brother had been the last few years. It was starting to make sense now. What better way to make connections then at one of the major hubs of transportation from here to Altissia. 

You wouldn't be surprised if he had connections on the train from Altissia as well.  You had heard that the train leads to Tenebrae and beyond. You sat there with a proud smile on your face. Seems you were the last one to jump onto the protection detail in your family. And here you thought you were the first. You looked down and smiled as a few tears fell from your eyes again.

"You should be proud of them. They have all been brilliant and some of my finest." King Regis said as he looked at you.

"I don't think that I could be prouder of them, then I am right now." You said as you tried to control your emotions. 

Then you looked back up with tears in your eyes. "Thank you for telling me the truth."

King Regis smiled as he nodded back at you. Then he headed to the door and opened it up. 

"I shall see you in the morning. Sleep as long as you like tomorrow though. There won't be any plans for you for tomorrow. Okay?" He said as he held the door open.

"Yes sir." You replied. 

"Uh....sorry. I mean your majesty." You said as you nervously nodded.

King Regis simply smiled back. 

"No need for formalities when it's just us alright?" He said with a smile. 

You smiled back and nodded. 

"Good night (y/n)." He said then walked out.

You turned your attention back to your cat as you quietly stroked her fur as she contently slept on your lap. You paused for a minute when you heard talking in the hallway. You turned your head towards the door as you saw it open up again. But this time you were greeted with a warm smile of a familiar sandy blond haired friend with glasses.

"My apologies for being late." Ignis said as he walked in carrying a small duffle bag. "It took a bit longer than I expected."

You smiled back at him before you dropped your gaze as you continued to pet your cat. "It's okay. The king and I were just talking."

"Really? I hope that he was able to clear up a few things for you." Ignis said as he closed the door behind him.  

He then took his shoes off and left them by the door. Then he walked over to the couch and set his bag down on the ground behind the couch and out of the way. 

"If your willing? I would love to hear what he told you?" He asked as he sat down beside you and he put his arm across the back of the couch behind you.

You leaned your head against him as you got comfortable. 

"I would really like that." You said as you reached over and grabbed his hand.

You interlaced your fingers over his hand. Then you brought it over to your opposite side as you were trying to wrap him around you. Ignis slightly shifted beside you as he leaned closer so that he could wrap his arm around your waist. He slightly dropped his head so that he face was right next to yours. 

He closed his eyes for a moment as he caught a slight scent of your perfume from that morning. He had never had a scent that could calm him down and rouse him up at the same time as the one that he caught off of you. And he silently hoped that he would always be able to smell it. But just incase this was not in his future, then he wanted to savor it every chance he got to.

"So what were you able to find out?" Ignis quietly asked as opened back up his eyes as he held you close.

"Well it seems that Noctis wasn't the only one keeping secrets from me." You quietly said. 

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

Then for the next half hour or so, you told Ignis everything that you had just learned from King Regis about your family. And this time, as you talked, you could feel that you were finally telling the full truth that you yourself had just found out about them.  

Ignis just sat there quietly as you talked. He didn't argue it or think that you were lying. In fact it seemed to answer a lot of his questions as well.  Although, there was the fact that your parents had ended up where they are because they had rescued a child. He just couldn't imagine what they must have had to do in order to get that baby out of Niflheim. He knew all too well how fortified that base was just from his studies.

"I learned about that mission during one of my lessons with my uncle." Ignis said once you had finished.

"Really?" You quietly asked as you slightly held you breath.

"They say that that was the most strategically planned mission to ever come out of the war room." He said quietly in your ear. 

"Your parents are brilliant for coming up with that plan. It's a shame that they were only able to save one baby. Which still doesn't make much sense to me since the plan was flawless and should have been able to save them all. They had everything down to the second. But it was right at the critical point on the excursion that the whole plan started to fall apart. For some reason, right as they were getting ready to open up the final gates so that they could get the babies out was when it collapsed. The security alarm went off and all of the fluid-filled chambers that the babies were in had a massive jolt of electricity sent through them. Your parents were only able to save the one that was closest to them by smashing the glass on the chamber before slamming it to the ground at the last minute. The baby was bruised a bit. But at least he was alive." Ignis finished.

Then Ignis dropped his head a bit as he thought about what had happened tonight. He had almost seen death himself first hand tonight. If you hadn't taken out the soldier that was coming after him, he might not be there now. Then he thought that you were going to be next until you warped off of the walkway.

"You know." Ignis began. 

"I never did thank you properly for saving me earlier." Ignis said as he brought his hand up to your chin as he shifted so that he was turned towards you . "If you hadn't taken out that soldier like you did, I might not be here myself."

You slightly blushed as you looked into his deep green eyes. You hadn't really thought about it in that sense. You had just reacted to the threat that was after him. You didn't want him to get hurt. So you attacked instead to protect him.

"You would have taken him down." You said with a smile. "Your too brilliant to be beaten by those tin cans."

Ignis smiled back at you. 

"Thank you for the vote of confidence." He said back with grin. 

"But I am still in your debt for saving me. And for that I thank you." Ignis said as he slowly ran his fingers through your hair as he pushed it back behind your ear.

You smiled back at him. "Let's just say that that makes us even for you saving me at the pool."

Ignis gave you a warm smile then he leaned into you and slowing started kissing you on your soft lips. This kiss wasn't like the others though.  You felt something different then the heat from before. No this kiss was long and passionate. He may not of said it, but he showed his feelings for you with every motion.  It was as if he was afraid that you might disappear, so he wanted to savor every moment. 

You closed your eyes as you returned the same passion to his soft touch as he gently kissed you. Then after a few minutes he released you. He placed his forehead against yours. He was taking short broken breaths as if he couldn't catch his breath.

You opened your eyes and saw that he looked like he was fighting off his emotions. 

 "Are you ok?" You asked as you raised your hand up and placed it on his cheek.

Ignis reached up and placed his hand on yours. He tightly gripped your hand as he swallowed hard and dropped his head a bit more. You could see him really struggling with keeping his head straight. You could almost feel a tremor going through his body as he held you.

"We almost lost you tonight." He quietly said as he wrapped his fingers around yours. 

And this time I couldn't get to you. He thought as he tried to continue but seemed unable to speak anymore. 

 Instead he looked up and pressed his lips to your forehead. He stayed there for a few moments as a tear ran down his cheek.

You sat there in shook as you thought about what he had just said. You hadn't even thought about that. All you had been concerned with was getting away from those machines. The thought of it now sent a chill down your spin. You had watched as the magitek troops had destroyed the walkway that you had been standing on mere seconds before that.  If you hadn't moved when you did, they would have skewed you like a kabob.  You dropped your head down which made Ignis back up a bit.

"You would have zapped, or warped as Nyx called it, off of that faster than I did if it was you."  You said as you looked back up at him.

Ignis slowly shook his head as he looked at you.  

"I can't do what you did."  Ignis said as he looked at you as he watched your reaction.

"Of course you can."  You said as you looked at him.

"No I can't."  Ignis stated again.  "Neither can Gladio.  In fact the only person in this group, besides you now, who can do that, is Noctis himself."

You stared at Ignis with disbelief.  "But how can that be?"  You asked as you stared at him.

Ignis slightly dropped his head.  "There are only a few people in this world who will gain the ability to warp as you did tonight.  But that is usually learned during the full ceremony.  Which is why this is a very rare occurrence.  Did you feel anything go a miss when Noctis was drawing the power out of the crystal earlier?"

You dropped your eyes as you thought about it.   

"Wait."  You said then you looked right back up at Ignis.  

"At one point, Gladio had tried to crush our hands from the pain.  That added pressure caused by thumb to fall and land directly on the crystal.  After that, the pain felt like knives were slicing at me instead of pins poking me."  You said as you slightly shuttered as you remembered the pain.

"That must also mean that you had the ability from the beginning and had no idea."  Ignis said as he looked back at you with a slight smile.  "That's a good skill to have.  And I know that you will put it to good use."

You sighed as you leaned back against him.  "Once I learn how to use it that is."

"Well I know of one person who would love to teach it to you."  Ignis said with a smile.

You looked up at Ignis with a smile.  

"Noctis."  You both said at the same time.

"Speaking of Noctis."  You began.  

"Can I see him?"  You asked as you watched Ignis expression.  "I just want to make sure that he's ok."

"We certainly can go see if he's awake yet."  Ignis said with a smile.  "I had already planned on checking on him before turning in for the night anyway.  So let's go."

You smiled back at Ignis as you nodded.  Then you picked up your sleeping cat and cradled her in your arms as you stood up.  Ignis waited until you had moved past him, then he stood up himself to follow you.  Then Ignis reached for the door handle and opened it up to let in the faint lighting that ran the length of the hallway.  Ignis led the way to Noctis' room as you carefully carried Snowball so that she wouldn't jump down and get lost.  You headed further down the hallway towards where the king had said his chambers were located.  But you only went down two doors before Ignis stopped at a door and rapped on the door with the knocker.

Thunk Thunk Thunk.

The sound seemed to echo in the quiet hallway.  When no one answered, Ignis held up one finger to let you know to wait a minute while he peeked in.  You just nodded back.  He smiled then slipped into the room to see if Noctis was decent.  The last thing you needed to see was Noctis with his pants down or something.  That would be embarrassing for all parties.

You stood in the hallway for a few minutes before the door opened up wide as Ignis held it open for you.  

"He was waiting for you."  Ignis said with a smile. 

You smiled back as you dropped your eyes.  "I had a feeling he was."  You said as you walked into the room.

You looked around and noticed that his room was similar to the one that you were in.  Only much longer to accommodate the double door balcony and the vanity was replaced with a giant wardrobe.  You also noticed that he had a slightly bigger TV and desk.  Plus he had two chairs on either side of his couch.  You wondered how much time that he actually spent in his room during the week.  What with all the training, lessons, and of course school.

You looked over at the bed and saw a lump just off to one side.  You smiled to yourself and walked over to his bed.  You came around to the side that he was on.  You saw his head just above the comforter as it laid on his pillow.  He turned his head to the side and smiled as he saw you approaching.  When you reached him he slowly pushed himself up. 

"Please...lay back down."  You said as you watched him struggle to sit up.

"I don't want to be rude."  He said as he forced himself up.

"Then let me help you at least."  You said as you set Snowball down on the bed.  

Then you reached under Noctis' arms as you sat down on the bed and gently pulled him up to a sitting position.  Noctis sat there for a moment, then he reached his arms around you and gave you a hug.  

"All you had to do was ask and I would have given you a hug."  He said as he gave you a gentle squeeze before releasing you.

"Oh ha ha."  You said with a smile.  

"But I'm glad to see that your  starting to feel a bit better now."  You said as you stood up and arranged his pillows behind him so that he could lean back against them for support.

"Yeah. That took a lot more out of me then I thought it would."  He said as he rubbed the back on his head.  

"And apparently it seems that I missed out on quite a bit of excitement."  He said as he glance back at you.

"You might say that."  You quietly said as you finished getting the pillows set-up. 

 "Here, let me help you scoot back."  You said as you reached under his arms again and slightly lifted him so that he could scoot his feet back to push his body towards the back of the bed.

Then you released him once he was against the pillows.  He looked around then got comfortable again. Then he glanced back at Ignis who was leaning up against the bedpost with his arms crossed. The two of exchanged a smile. Then Noctis nodded towards Ignis.

"You gonna have a seat or what?" Noctis asked as he looked at Ignis. "You know I hate it when people are standing over me."

Ignis smiled back. 

"Of course." He said, then took a seat right behind you on the bed.

"Alright." Noctis said as sat back. "Now what happened? No one seems to want to tell me what the heck happened. All I know is one minute I'm standing in front of your guys. Then the next I'm looking at my dad as he stood over me after he had put me in my bed."

"Well I think between the two of us, we should be able to fill in that gap for you." Ignis said as he moved up and reached his hand around your waist.

"There are also a few other things that we were able to find out that you might find interesting." You said as smiled at Ignis and interlaced your fingers with his as you pulled him closer.

Noctis sat there with a questioning look. He knew that you two had been getting close. But it seems like that that has even changed a bit. Now he was really starting to wonder what had happened tonight.

You saw Noctis' confusion, so you reached over and grabbed his hand. You weren't quite sure how he was going to handle everything that you were about to tell him. Especially since you were still trying to process it yourself. You had thought that your world had been turned upside down when you brother died. Little did you know how wrong you were.

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

Well I hope this helped to clear up a few things for everyone. (I know that it did for our character.) But not to worry, the excitement is just beginning. ;)

I do hope that you enjoyed this chapter and I hope to see you in the next. After all, we still have a diving tryout for a certain person. See you in the next chapter

Thanks for reading. :)

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