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The early Spring air was cool as Noctis stepped wearily into the car and collapsed into the passenger seat with a sigh. He was exhausted from his busy day of classes at Insomnia University and he was not looking forward to the drudgery of his scheduled royal duties this evening. He looked up to greet Ignis and reacted with mild alarm once he noticed that Gladio was the one behind the wheel.
“Hey Gladio,” Noctis said with concern. “Not that I’m not happy to see you and all, but where’s Iggy?”
Gladio chuckled, “Iggy’s fine, Princess, so don’t worry. He texted me this morning and said he got called into an unexpected meeting and he asked if I could pick you up from class for him.”
“Alright then, thanks Gladio,” Noctis said in relief. “I was worried he might have gotten sick or something. It’s unlike him not to reach out to me if his schedule changes.”
“Knowing Iggy, he most likely got dragged off to whatever this unplanned meeting was while you were still in class and he didn’t want to disturb your studies,” Gladio said with a smirk. “The poor guy will probably be stuck there all night and he’s most likely incredibly irritated by the disruption to his planned schedule.”
Noctis bit back a chuckle of amusement at the thought of his normally stoic advisor having his feathers ruffled and said with a sly smile, “I guess that clears the rest of my calendar for the day, since I was supposed to be reviewing foreign policy reform proposals with Specs.”
“We could always squeeze in an extra training session,” Gladio suggested.
Noctis groaned dramatically, “You’re no fun.”
Gladio winked playfully and retorted, “Training is always fun, Princess.”
“Yeah, for you, maybe.” Noctis bit back without heat before he conceded, “Fine, one extra training session but only if you join me and Prompto later tonight for pizza and video games.”
Gladio raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure, Noct? I wouldn’t want to intrude on your date night.”
Noctis laughed, “Don’t worry, it’s not a date night. It’s an, I have an unexpected night free from royal obligations and I want to hang out with my friends, night. In fact you should be honored that I invited you first. I’ll text Prom when he gets out of his advanced photography class and ask him over.”
“It’s a deal then,” Gladio agreed. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to hang out with Blondie. Hey, d’you want to listen to the radio on our way to the training facility?”
“Sure, why not?” Noctis said happily as he reached forward to switch on the radio. He felt bad that Ignis had gotten stuck in some gods awful meeting, but he was looking forward to the rare and unexpected night off. He nodded his head along to the tunes on the radio and was fantasizing about the triple meat-lovers pizza he was planning on ordering when the music abruptly cut out.
“We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming with an official news bulletin direct from the Citadel. It is with great pleasure that we wish Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum congratulations on his official engagement to the Oracle, Lady Lunafreya Nox Fleuret of Tenebrae. Their union will usher in a new era of peace and cooperation between the nation of Lucis and the Imperial Empire of Niflheim.”
With trembling hands, Noctis turned off the radio and stared at Gladio who looked nearly as shell-shocked as he felt. Gladio abruptly pulled over to the side of the road and they both reached for their phones. Noctis speed-dialed Ignis, which unsurprisingly went straight to voicemail. His voice cracked as he left a pleading message, “Specs, please tell me what the hell is going on and why the hell they’re announcing my engagement on the radio. It’s a mistake, right? There has to be a mistake. Call me as soon as you can.”
Gladio looked up from his own phone and said softly, “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but it’s not a mistake, Noct. The exact same announcement is on the Citadel’s official website.”
Noctis could feel the blood drain from his face in horror at Gladio’s words and he frantically texted Prompto.
No matter what you hear,
no matter what anyone tells you,
I swear to you on everything sacred
that I am going to do everything
in my power to fix it!
I love you more than anything, Prom.
Noctis looked up to meet Gladio’s concerned eyes and he felt his blind panic rapidly transform to pure rage as he instructed his Shield in a low, clipped, and furious tone, “Drive me to the Citadel. Now.”
**********
Noct?
I just got out of class.
What’s happening?
Are you safe?
You’re scaring the hell out of me, dude.
Comeon, Noct... answer me!
Are you home?
Thank gods, Noct!
Yeah, just got in. What’s wrong?
Okay good.
Just stay there, okay.
Don’t turn on the news.
Noct! Talk to me!
The Citadel formally announced my engagement
to Luna without my knowledge or consent.
I found out about it on the radio.
WTF?!
Yeah
That pretty much sums it up
Dude are you okay?
Not really.
Are you okay?
Are we okay?
I dunno, Noct you tell me.
You’re not breaking up with me, are you?
Gods, No!
I’m fighting this, Prom
I swear!
I’m on my way to the Citadel
to yell at my dad right now.
Okay...it will be okay
...right, Noct?
It has to be
I never play the whole
“I’m the Crown Prince” card
but I’m going to do it now.
Look I gotta go, we’re almost there.
I promise I’ll text you as soon as I know more.
I’ll be here.
I love you, Noct.
Love you too, Prom
**********
“Iggy’s phone is still going straight to voicemail,” Gladio informed Noctis quietly as they stepped onto the elevator. “If they have him in a secure meeting then he probably doesn’t even have access to it.”
“Thanks for trying,” Noctis said as he took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his nerves. He stepped off the elevator and approached the entrance to the secure conference hall. No matter how angry he was at his father, Noctis was still the Crown Prince and he was expected to behave in a manner befitting of the Crown. He controlled his temper and did his best to radiate a calm, authoritative, demeanor as he approached the head guard at her station.
“Hello, your Highness. How may I help you this evening?” the guard inquired politely.
“I need to request an audience with my father.” Noctis answered. “It is a matter of urgency.”
The guard bowed formally and said, “I will inform him that you are here at once, your Highness,” as she slipped into the conference hall.
Several minutes passed before the guard returned to the hall and closed the door behind her as she returned to her post. She met Noctis’ gaze compassionately and said, “I’m sorry, your Highness, but his Majesty, the King is busy and unable to meet with you at the present time. His Majesty has asked me to convey that he will be available next Tuesday to discuss the details of your forthcoming wedding with you.”
“His Majesty, is busy?!” Noctis hissed, as he gave free reign to his rage, no longer giving a damn if he made a scene. “Well it’s clear that His Majesty doesn’t care enough about his son to bother ensuring my consent regarding any potential nuptials and instead chose to make life altering decisions that affect me behind my back!”
Noctis felt Gladio place a well intended hand on his shoulder in an effort to calm him, but he shrugged it off with a violent jerk of his arm. At this point, Noctis didn’t give a shit about maintaining royal decorum. Since his father had decided to deliberately exclude him and to prioritize the council members over him, he hoped that all of them could hear every last word that he shouted. “Since his Majesty is so busy, you can tell him not to bother wasting his precious time with me on Tuesday. I’ll just find out the details the same way I found out that I was getting married in the first place, on the gods damned radio!”
Then, with one final furious glare at the conference room door that had been barred to him, Noctis turned on his heel and stormed off in the direction of the elevators, leaving a hallway full of stunned guards behind in his wake.
**********
Noctis sat on the large, plush couch and stared unseeingly out the window overlooking the bright city lights. It was late and Noctis was alone. Gladio had been reluctant to leave his side, but Noctis had insisted that he was safe in the Citadel and he begged his Shield to go and lend his support to Prompto while Noctis did his best to figure a way out of this mess.
“Noctis?”
He looked up at the sound of Ignis’ quiet voice as he entered Noctis’ private quarters looking uncharacteristically rumpled and fatigued. Ignis removed his spectacles wearily, set them safely on the coffee table, and met Noctis’ gaze with bloodshot eyes.
Noctis could feel all of the sadness and sympathy that radiated from his advisor in waves as he came to sit beside him on the couch. What remained of Noctis’ emotional defenses crumbled instantly and he unceremoniously launched himself into his first friend’s arms. Ignis held him close in a way that he hadn’t done since the two of them were children as Noctis buried his face against Ignis’ shoulder and sobbed. “Iggy, what am I going to do?”
“I cannot express how sorry I am, Noct,” Ignis said softly. “His Majesty should have had the decency to explain the situation to you himself, or at the very least allowed me leave to brief you before they released any information to the public.”
“I know that it’s not your fault, Specs,” Noctis said quietly.
Ignis sighed heavily, “Be that as it may, I should have been there for you.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” Noctis insisted as he wiped his tears and forced himself to pull away from the comfort of Ignis’ embrace. “My father is too much of a coward to face me and he’s the one that I blame for this mess. You’re here now and that’s what matters. Please tell me what you know and if there is anything we can do to stop the wedding from moving forward.”
Ignis rubbed at his tired eyes and recounted what he knew, “I was sequestered in secure meetings all day being briefed on the matter at hand. You must know that without betraying your confidence regarding the true nature of your relationship with Prompto, I did everything in my power to protest the wedding on your behalf. I argued with your father and the council that you should be entitled to have a say when it comes to your own marriage but in the end there was nothing that could be done.”
Ignis met Noctis’ eyes as he quietly continued to explain, “The truth of the matter is that we’re losing the war, Noctis. The treaty the Empire has proposed is our only chance at lasting peace and we have no choice but to take it. Regrettably, your marriage to Lady Lunafreya is a condition mandated by the Empire, and they have made it clear that we must accept all of their terms and conditions as they have been presented or else the peace treaty will be taken off the table.”
Noctis crumpled at Ignis’ words as the feeble hope he had left was wrenched from his grasp. Ignis gathered him tightly in his arms and he began to cry anew, lost in the tidal wave of emotion that threatened to drown him. Noctis clung desperately to the offered support and sobbed his heart out, mourning that his duty to the kingdom had shattered his dreams for the future. He allowed Ignis draw him back to lounge with him on the couch, soothingly pet his hair, and rock him back and forth in his arms until the well of his tears eventually ran dry.
**********
The early morning sun was warm, bright, and cheerful as it filtered through the glass windows of the car. Essentially it was everything that Noctis was not. His personal world had been completely and utterly shattered in the course of a single evening. He wanted to rage at the sun for daring to shine, to curse the world for continuing to spin along its axis, and to freeze the hands of time from marching ever forward.
It wasn’t fair. Noctis felt like he was being punished for having the audacity to pursue his own happiness. He had dared to be different and fell in love with someone who didn’t fit the mold of what was expected for the spouse of a future monarch. The worst part was that he had honestly believed that the world was ready to accept him despite his differences and that when they were ready to go public, the people would love Prompto as much he did and embrace him as Noctis’ chosen partner. The agonizing truth that he had finally been forced to accept in the wake of all of this was that at the end of the day, Noctis’ life was not, and would never be his own.
He hated his father and the Empire for forcing him into this position. He wanted to rally against his fate and to defy his father and his council. He wished he could just grab Prompto, run away with him and be happy. But like it or not, Noctis was a Prince with a duty to serve, protect, and safeguard the lives of all of his citizens. If he ran, then hundreds, and even thousands of innocent people could die as a result of his selfishness. The weight of the crown he was due to inherit had never felt heavier.
“Do you want me to wait for you?” Ignis asked quietly as he pulled the car up to Prompto’s apartment.
“No thanks, Specs,” Noctis answered sadly. “This is something I have to do on my own.”
Ignis nodded and said, “I understand Noct. I’ll be back to collect you this evening but if you need me for anything at all, don’t hesitate to call.”
“Thanks, Iggy...for everything.”
“Anytime, Noct.”
Noctis lingered on Prompto’s front step for a long moment to bolster his courage before finally taking a deep breath and letting himself inside.
“Hey Gladio, I thought that you left. Did you forget something?” Prompto called out as he wandered into the living room from the kitchen. Prompto stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Noctis standing there. Another wave of grief hit Noctis full force in his chest as Prompto ran a hand nervously through his hair and stated quietly, “I’m guessing from the look on your face that you lost the battle.”
A pained laugh escaped from his lips unbidden and Noctis replied bitterly, “I didn’t just lose the battle, Prom. I lost the whole gods damned war.” He threw his hands out to his sides palms up in a sarcastic gesture of surrender. “So in the name of peace, here I am, one sacrificial lamb at your service.”
For a long, uncomfortable moment, silence was deafening as they stood there staring at each other. They were only a few steps away from each other and yet it felt as if an entire ocean stood between them.
Prompto was the first one to find his voice again as he asked, “So...that’s it? Nothing else we can do?”
“I’m sorry.” Noctis’ voice cracked in his grief as he confirmed, “I don’t have a choice. The Niff’s have us between a rock and a hard place. If I don’t go through with the wedding, we’ll lose the war and a lot of innocent people will die.”
“End of the world as we know it, level of bad.” Prompto replied with a forced lighthearted tone that didn’t match his expression. He paused for a moment as it all sunk in and then asked softly, “So, when is the wedding?”
Noctis forced himself to look Prompto in the eyes as he answered solemnly, “I have to leave for Altissia in two weeks.”
Prompto nodded. His eyes were watering but he stoically bit his lip and took a tentative step forward. “C...can I still?” Prompto stammered as he reached out towards Noctis but remained agonizingly out of arm's reach. “Will you let me…?”
Noctis’ heart broke a million times all over again to see Prompto so unsure if he still had the right to hug him. Brokenly, he begged, “Please, Prom.”
The invisible wall between them shattered at his words and Prompto crossed the remaining distance in an instant. He pulled Noctis to him in a bone crunching hug and pleaded softly in his ear, “We still have today, right, Noct? Please tell me we still have today?”
Noctis knew without a doubt that they both needed this. They needed closure for the unexpected end of their relationship. An ending that neither of them wanted but both of them had no choice but to accept. Noctis tangled his hands in Prompto’s silky blond hair and kissed him softly in answer. He wanted to catalog each sensation of Prompto’s lips as they slid against his own. His heart ached as they moved together as one, unhurried.
Prompto cupped his face gently and Noctis felt as fragile as glass as they continued to kiss slowly. Noctis wanted to burn the slow, bitter-sweetness of this moment into his memory forever...something he could hold on to when his love and happiness were sacrificed in the name of the greater good and memories were all that he had left.
It was too much.
It wasn’t enough.
Noctis let out a choked sob up against Prompto’s lips as their kiss deepened and they stumbled blindly together onto the couch in a messy tangle of limbs. Neither one of them wanted to pull away from the other for so much as an instant, barely pausing for breath between kisses. Prompto’s face was wet and Noctis could taste the salt of his tears on his lips.
“I’m allowed to take a small entourage with me when I leave for Altissia. I know it isn’t fair to you for me to ask, but will you come with me?” Noctis asked as he rested his forehead against Prompto’s and lost his own battle against the silent tears streaming down his cheeks. “I don’t want to lose you.”
Prompto sucked in a heavy breath that sounded like a sob that had gotten caught in the back of his throat. Prompto exhaled slowly and with renewed composure and determination he vowed, “You’re not going to lose me. You’re my best friend, Noct, first and foremost. If you want me with you, then that’s where I’m going to be….ever at your side.”
“I don’t deserve you,” Noctis whispered.
“This isn’t your fault, Noct. It’s not like you chose this,” Prompto reassured him. “It’s going to suck, but we’ll be okay.”
Prompto cupped Noctis’ face in his hands, placed a soft kiss on his forehead, and asked, “We still have until the end of the day, right?”
“Yeah,” Noctis confirmed.
Prompto got up off the couch, gave Noctis a watery smile and said, “Then let’s make the most of it.”
Prompto was looking at him with shining eyes and unmistakable longing. He reached out a hand to Noctis and wordlessly urged him to take it. Noctis slid his hand into Prompto’s and allowed him to pull him to his feet and into his bedroom.
They undressed each other slowly, mapping each other’s bodies with soft touches. Prompto kissed him so softly, so sweetly, and so sadly that Noctis felt an ache echo throughout every fiber of his being. They fell back onto the bed and Prompto murmured “I love you,” as he left trails of kisses against Noctis’ fevered skin.
At the end of the day, Noctis was going to have to forsake this amazing man for the good of his people and his country. He was going to have to walk away from his love knowing that they would never again be able to share a kiss or an intimate caress. Tonight, when he walked through that door and Prompto was forced to become nothing more than his friend, Noctis would leave his heart behind in his care. It would never belong to another.
But right here, right now, he had Prompto in his arms and Noctis was going to take advantage of every last second that they had left.
“I’ll love you, always,” Noctis vowed. “When this is over, just know that you hold my heart, Prom. You always have and you always will.”
Prompto whimpered sadly against his lips and Noctis kissed him sweetly. He swallowed Prompto’s cry and poured as much of his love into their kiss as he could. For the rest of the day, he would make sure to give Prompto everything that he had and everything that he was. He held Prompto as close as he could possibly manage and knew that Prompto would understand in every kiss and every touch everything that Noctis couldn’t put into words. Together they would cherish every second that they had left until the sun set on this last precious day and their relationship was lost to them forever.
It wasn’t right, and it wasn’t fair...but it would have to be enough.