Work Text:
During his walk through the Citadel along familiar routes, Ignis enters a spacious room that miraculously remained intact. It wasn't that he could still see anything, it was just that the almost complete absence of debris on the floor led him to that conclusion.
It was the room where the prince had taken dance lessons in the past. How long ago was that? Ten years? Fifteen years? Ignis wasn't sure. After a decade of darkness and the return of light, time still seemed like a strange concept.
Ignis was lost in reverie of the past which made him recall a melody that was often played in this room. He began to move and sway to a familiar imaginary rhythm. Then he sensed someone very close.
"Ignis, dance with me. I'm tired of these lessons."
Noctis.
Ignis gasped sharply when he felt the prince's hands on his shoulders. The advisor's arms immediately wrapped around his charge in response. It felt so real. He felt real.
"Ignis, come on. Just one dance." A soft laugh rang out in the air.
Ignis was a little sad that he couldn't see Noctis's wonderful smile. Despite this, the couple began to move in a dance known only to them. They danced carefree, as if nothing had happened and they were still teenagers with their whole future ahead of them.
An hour passed, accompanied by the sound of footsteps and quiet laughter here and there. Ignis hadn't felt this happy in quite some time.
Suddenly, the warmth disappeared. The advisor stopped in the middle of another turn.
"Noct? Where are you?"
There was only a ringing silence in response.
Ignis smiled sadly.
"Ah, how foolish of me. It was just an apparition."