t h i r t e e n

                                    

                                          
I had slept the whole car ride back to Lestallum. When I had woken up, Noctis was shaking me gently. "Are we back?" I ask groggily and Noctis smiles at me and nods. "Yeah. Come on. The others will be waiting to see us." he says and I nod. We get out of the car, then head to the Leville. When we get to the Leville, Akiko, Aileen, and Iris standing in the lobby looking upset. "Aileen. Akiko. What's wrong?" I ask them and they look at me with a sad look. "Oh, Gladdy." Iris says with a sad tone and she sniffles. "What's wrong?" Gladio asks her as we all stare at Iris. "I let you down. I never made it to Caem." Iris says and I look at Aileen and Akiko. "What happened?" I ask them and they look at me with a frown. "The empire came while you were gone." Aileen says and I widen my eyes as I stare at them. "Let us go up to our room. Explain everything to us there." Ignis tells them and they nod. When we were in the room, Iris sits on a chair, and Noctis tells me to sit on the chair beside him, since I was still a bit tired and since he was still worried about the prophecy. "Tell us what happened, Iris." I say to her sweetly and she looks down as tears rolled down her porcelain cheeks. "None of us said a word about Noct or Aura. They just showed up and... poor Jared." Iris says and I look at her and the girls with a frown seeing tears well up in their eyes and I know what it meant. 
                          
I cover my mouth with my hands as tears welled up in my own eyes figuring out what they were saying. "What do you mean? What happened to Jared?" Gladio asks her. "There was nothing we could do!" Akiko says as tears rolled down her fair skin. Prompto wraps his arm around her trying to comfort her until we heard the door open. I turn around to see Talcott standing there sobbing uncontrollably and hyperventilating. I stand up from my chair and walk over to him carefully. I kneel down in front of him and he looks into my amethyst colored eyes with his chocolate brown ones. "It's not right." I say to him with a frown and he looks down. "We should've been there." Noctis says lowering to Talcott's level, and squatting beside me and Talcott sobs more. "I... I couldn't stop them." Talcott sobs and I felt my heart break as I watched the boy in front of me break down. "But I won't let the empire get away with it. They'll pay for what they've done. I promise." Noctis tells Talcott. "I promise also." I say and he looks at both of us. "I believe in you, Your Highnesses." Talcott says with a bow and I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I couldn't help but embrace the boy in my arms. "Talcott, I know that it hurts a lot to lose your grandfather. He was wise and kind. You follow in his footsteps having the same personalities. Never lose that, Talcott. It shines brightly in you." I say and I pull away from him. He stares into my eyes once more and gives me a sad smile. "Thank you, Princess Aura." he says and he walks away slowly still sobbing. I frown as I watch him walk away, then I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn to see Noctis look at me and I put my hand on his feeling sympathy for Talcott. He and Noctis have something in common. They both lost someone they loved; Noctis lost his father, and Talcott lost his grandfather. Something they will never forget.
                          
"I'm taking Talcott, and we're going to Caem." Iris starts to say to us. "We... We can't just stay here and do nothing." Noctis and I stand up and turn to her.
                          
"I understand." Noctis says to her.
                          
"We all should get rest. We will need it in our travel to Caem." Ignis says and we nod.
                          
Everyone walks out of the room, except for Noctis and I. Noctis looks at me and walks up to me, "Aura." he calls me and I look at him. "I don't wanna be alone, Noct." I say as I hug my arms tightly and tears roll down my cheeks. Noctis holds me and I lay my head and hands on his chest. "You're not alone, Aura." he whispers into my ear and I look up into his blue eyes. He leans in slowly, his lips almost coming into contact with mine as my eyes flutter shut. His lips finally connect with mine and a flame  ignites in the kiss. But in that moment, as romantic as it had felt to be kissing Noctis, is the prophecy Jared had told me true? He was correct about our names and our love for each other, but couldn't it be some other prince and princess in a different time with a different darkness? I feel Noctis pull away and he looks at me in concern. "What's wrong?" he asks as if he knew what I was saying in my head, like some sort of telepathic person. "Nothing. I was just thinking. That's all." I say and he continues to look at me with concern, but then lets go of the matter. "I don't want to be alone tonight, Noctis." I say to him and he nods. "I understand. You can stay here, if you'd like?" he says making me smile and I nod. I crawl onto the bed and pull the covers over my body, and Noctis does the same. I feel Noctis' arm wrap around my waist and my eyes start to feel heavier with every passing second. "I love you, Aura." I hear Noctis whisper to me before sleep takes over.