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“No, don’t try to get up yet.” The feminine voice was quiet, but firm. Noctis felt one hand resting on the center of his chest - skin on skin. It was a strange, almost jarring feeling after the nothingness of the Beyond that had engulfed him from the time his father’s glaive pierced his chest. “You’re still healing.”
“Luna.” There was relief in his voice as he recognized the person sitting beside him on the bed. The relief downed out the confusion, and despite her warning, Noctis attempted to sit up, hissed and relaxed back against the pillows.
“I tried to warn you.” She murmured. “You’re still almost more injury than anything else, Noctis.” He felt her card the fingers of one hand through his hair, an attempt at soothing him.
She so rarely said his name without some kind of title attached, some hint of formality. He melted a little at the sound of his name on her lips. “Lay with me then?” He asked, voice hesitant.
He felt her weight leave the edge of the bed, and Noctis expected that to be her refusal, without words. Instead, a moment later, he felt Luna settle on the other side of the bed. Noctis shifted slightly, turning to look at her, and he opened his eyes to meet hers finally. The light stung a little, and he grimaced at it, but kept his eyes open, anyway.
One hand gently brushed his hair out of his face.
“I don’t understand how you’re here.” He admitted carefully, now that the initial shock had faded away. “They said you died on the altar in Altissia.”
“It’s complicated.” Luna admitted softly. “And I’m not sure I can really explain. But we’re together now.”
Somehow. He was supposed to have died, too. Bringing the dawn. “Did… did I fail?”
“No, Noctis. No. You did exactly right. Dawn has broken, the Daemons are gone. The scourge is gone.”
It was a relief to hear it from her. Luna wouldn’t lie to him, not even to protect his feelings. Maybe he didn’t have to understand right now.
Luna settled down, her head resting on the pillow beside his. Noctis shifted, and their foreheads touched. For a moment, they said nothing. Just taking in the moment of being together again, for the first time since this horrible trial began.
Their moments on the altar had been bloodstained, and they’d been pulled apart so quickly.
“This may be a strange time to say this,” Noctis managed after drawing just a fraction away from her. “But I love you, Luna. I love you and I’m sorry it took me so long to come back to you.”
“I love you too.” She said gently. “But you have nothing to apologize for. Our duties kept us apart. We were always destined to be beholden to fate.”
“Not anymore.”
“No, not anymore.” Luna agreed, smiling a fraction before leaning in and brushing a kiss against his lips. Feather light. “Maybe after you have healed we can consider that wedding ceremony?”
“I’d like that, if that’s what you want.”
“It’s…” Lunafreya shifted again, sitting up just a bit and supporting her head on one hand. She looked uncertain of herself for a moment, before her expression seemed to smooth out. “It’s what I’ve always wanted, more than anything. More than I’ve ever wanted anything except maybe peace.”
It was Noctis’ turn to be quiet for a moment. Gentiana had told him that, in her own way. Had shared with him what Luna’s wishes were. And he’d heard from some citizens of Tenebrae how happy she’d seemed about the wedding. In the wake of something so awful, there might have been real joy.
And now… “Instead of cementing a lie of peace, our wedding… it will symbolize a new beginning. For us, Lucis and Tenebrae. For everyone.”
Luna nodded a little, finally allowing herself to lay back down properly. “I like the sound of that.”
“Then so it will be.” Noctis said, the firmness of his tone marred only by the yawn he let out as he finished the statement.
Lunafreya laughed, a warm sound that Noctis thought he would never hear enough of. “For now though, you should rest, my dearest Noctis.”
“Stay with me until I fall asleep?”
“Of course.”
And if Lunafreya happened to fall asleep laying beside him, well, no one would complain about that, either.