Chapter Text
Lisa’s dad had been in the meeting room for ages. Looking out the window and counting tiny, strange looking people walk by was only interesting for so long, and she was slumped against a wall in boredom, a potted plant’s leaves sulking above her the only company she seemed to have in the sleek lobby.
She was excited when she first found out she and her family were going to be the first people to visit Noctis, but right now she would much rather be at home in Solia. Home had beaches and grass and familiarity, and here it was all cold floors and icy, pale people in suits. Of course, when her dad finally emerged from the meeting, Lisa would be all smiles. Although she was only ten, the Chancellor’s daughter certainly couldn’t show the people of Noctis that she was bored out of her skull.
“Hey! You know what that plant’s called?” Lisa jumped at the unfamiliar voice right behind her ear. Turning to see a girl around her age, Lisa cleared her throat at the buoyant looking Astri girl.
“Excuse me?” Lisa’s voice was saturated with years of strict parental conditioning – calm, collected and neutral.
“Ha! You don’t know! I knew you wouldn’t! See, it’s a special kind of carnation – the ones we have here are white, but I wanted these flowers to be purple, like my hair! I had to train pretty hard to master that spell, but I got it eventually! I was trying a couple nights ago, and I thought it hadn’t worked, but it did! I woke up in the morning and there it was!” The girl rambled excitedly, her lilac pigtails bobbing with her words.
Lisa, overwhelmed, took a moment to take in what the girl had said to her. She stood, finding the piercing violet eyes opposite hers to be considerably closer to the ground than her own earthy brown ones.
“Sorry? You mastered a … spell… to do what?”
“To change the flowers on that plant there from white to purple! I have special powers, you see,” the girl exclaimed, clearly proud.
“Ah. That sounds exciting.” Lisa replied, sickly sweet smile plastered across her face. She subtly reached a hand over to the blossoming plant and touched a flower. To her absolute lack of surprise, her fingers came away stained lavender. Whoever this girl was, she clearly had kind parents, and a few screws missing.
Lisa decided it was time to get her things and make a rushed excuse to get away from whatever this conversation was turning into. She didn’t really fancy hearing about all of the “spells” this girl believed she could do, and she was less than looking forward to the questions about her alien looking appearance and her home planet of Solia that were sure to come at some point. However, something made her want to stay. She’s interesting at least. Talking to her is better than staring at those sad looking carnations, Lisa told herself.
“Hey! I didn’t get your name! I’m Ako, I’m the daughter of the General of Noctis, but I’m sure you know that. Why haven’t I seen you around here? I would remember if I'd seen someone like you... I mean, I thought I knew all the Astri in this city! I'm here 'cause my dad’s in that room there with some guy from that planet we just found. What’s it called again?”
“Solia. I live there, that’s why you won’t have seen me. The name’s Lisa, by the way. My dad’s the Chancellor of our planet, he’s in the room too. I was pretty bored waiting, ‘til you came along,” Lisa was finding that, to her surprise, her own voice had genuine warmth in it. This girl was interesting, if nothing else. Besides, her pigtails were pretty cute, and Lisa had never met anyone with such an interesting blue tinge to their skin.
“OH! You’re one of those Lumi people! I was wondering what those dots on your face were. And you’re so... yellow!! I can’t believe I didn’t realise!”
Lisa found herself quietly chuckling at Ako’s clear lack of observation, and her unabashed awe. For the daughter of Noctis’ leader, this girl was incredibly carefree. Ako laughed with her, seemingly purely because Lisa was laughing. This girl was something different to anything Lisa had seen before, and she wasn’t so sure it was such a bad thing.
Their mirth died down, and Lisa turned her gaze back to Ako. She couldn’t deny she was feeling a bit of wonder herself. Ako’s skin was iridescent. It looked sort of like how Lisa imagined the moon would look had it been bathed in a deep ocean.
Lisa found herself silent, gazing unashamedly at Ako. Normally, she stopped herself from looking at girls like this, but Ako’s reassuring gaze told her it was okay. Lisa lost herself in the smooth coolness of Ako’s legs, her sharply pointed yet delicate shoulders, her arms and the violet veins stretching across her wrists. She could feel Ako staring back at her, wordless for the first time since they had met.
Lisa felt strangely comfortable in front of Ako. Her sharp violet eyes had a warmth to them that Lisa had never felt before. Lisa felt Ako’s gaze track over her coffee coloured freckles, her chestnut brown hair, the earthy warmth of her tanned arms. They silently acknowledged one another, neither breaking away. Both of them could feel that this, this silent meeting of cool and warm, darkness and light, was something to be treasured. Each of them came from different planets, different worlds, and yet here they were.
The next hours passed quickly, Lisa and Ako immersed in one another’s unfamiliar faces and bodies. They found themselves sitting on the hard, cool floor together. Holding up one another’s hands, pointing to quirks on the other’s face or neck or eye or anywhere. Quietly whispering things neither of them really heard. Each of them completely lost in the innocent wonder of someone so like themselves, and yet so different in every way.
As the Imai family ship left Noctis behind, bound for Solia, Lisa looked down at a mass of ant like people for the second time that day. Despite herself, she found herself hoping to catch a glimpse of purple among the swirling greys and blues. Perhaps that Ako girl really could cast spells.