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He could vividly hear Luna's voice from that time...
In the same field of sylleblossoms stretched in every direction, flowers dancing gently as the breeze passed by.
Her back to him, as though shielding the truth, when she said, "Once you go back with everyone, please go to Tenebrae." Then she turned, her smile bright, her tone filled with enthusiasm. "Lots of flowers will be waiting for you."
At the time, it wasn't only her words that worried him— it was her face, that smile. It lifted her lips but her eyes, she looked like she was about to cry.
"What about you, Luna?"
Her smile faded. He could see now, could understand, how painful it had been for her to answer.
She only pressed her lips together in reply and shook her head, ever so slightly.
If he was honest, he often dreamed about it. But each time, the ending was different. Instead of reaching her, he would watch as she sank deeper and deeper. His screams, his pleas, washed away by the sea, as though the world conspired to silence him.
Now, Luna was laughing. He could see it clearly, hear it in her voice. Yet the image before overlapped with the memory that haunted him.
The farewell.
"You came here to see me," she said, voice trembling softly. "For me, that is good enough."
She reached out, a flower in her hand. The sylleblossoms, her favorite. The same one she was surrounded by now.
He swallowed, a lump rising in his throat at the memory of her surrounded by the same flowers, slipping further away no matter how hard he desperately he reached.
It felt burned into his mind. And seeing her now, picking up the same flower, brought it all back.
"Don't you find it pretty?" she asked, extending the flower to him playfully.
"It is," was all he could say because any more, and his voice would break.
Overjoyed by the sight, by the very ones she longed to make him see, she didn't notice his pensive mood. She went back and watched as Umbra ran across the field, bending down to gather pieces, soon having a bundle in her arms as if she could carry the whole field home with her.
"I don't have regrets."
"Just... I wanted to hear his voice. To be near him, to laugh like we did before, to hold his hand."
Her knees buckled, as if dealing with physical pain aside from the tears running down her face as she cried, "I wanted to live together."
He reached out and held her tight, burying his face on her neck, breathing her in as if to anchor himself to her. She was warm, so warm, and that warmth was proof, more precious than anything, that she was here. She was alive.
"Noctis?"
"I've seen you here once," he whispered. He felt her shift, wanting to meet his eyes, but he couldn't. Not with the tears that were on the verge of falling from his eyes. "The one with Gentiana."
"Oh," she whispered, remembering the moment as well.
The vision Shiva had given him before bestowing her blessings, pain and regret flowing back all at once. He felt the guilt even now. He was off running about, carefree while in contrast she bore the weight of the world. In pain, fulfilling her duty as the Oracle, helping not only him but everyone, everywhere.
"Luna," he tightened his hold. "You had it hard. I'm sorry, I wasn't there with you."
She broke free, and he didn't have the strength to deny her. Letting her see him, all of him, the boy who had once failed her. Failed to reach her, to save her. The one who failed to keep his promise.
"Don't say that." Then this time, she was the one to cradle his face in her hand, soft and gentle, brushing the tears away. "You helped me the best way you could."
He looked at her, unbelieving.
"It's true!" she added from the look he gave her. "Our letters were precious to me. It helped me."
He shook his head. "It wasn't enough."
"Noctis," she made him face her. "To me, it is."
"Then promise me, from now on, whatever you have in mind, whatever you wanna say, tell me. I'll make sure to listen." He then pleaded, "Don't carry all the burden to yourself. You have me."
"I swear."
He breathed a bit easier and hoped, he'd given her even a fraction of the comfort her mere presence gave him.
"I..." He started but faltered. Even now, he still struggled with words. Although he knew he wanted to, needed to, it doesn't make it any easier. "Luna, you must know. You're important to me."
She opened her lips to respond, but he pressed a finger gently, halting the words that would no doubt put him at ease. He wasn't finished.
Breathing deeply, he finally said the words, the very ones he'd failed to tell her then, "I love you."
"Noctis," she whispered, and in her haste, let the blossoms slip her embrace, it fluttered, carried by the wind, as she pulled him closer and closer.
Through a mix of tears and laughter, she returned the words, "I love you."
And for a while, the world only existed for the two of them.
Eventually, as he twirled a flower in his hand, he said, "Let's make it into a bookmark."
"That would be wonderful."
The smile that greeted his words was enough to make him forget, momentarily, the painful memories the sylleblossom carried.
Maybe one day, he'd learn to love it the same way she did.