A/N: I originally planned to write this back in June. I did the best that I could with the information we've been given so far in regards to the personalities of these characters so hopefully they don't seem to ooc. I normally don't write fanfics for games that are not even released yet, but sometimes you have to make some exceptions, right?

Summary: Stella meets up with Noctis face-to-face one last final time before her untimely departure.
Rating: K

Shades of Parting

Noctis stirred within his sleep this was the best amount of sleep that he's gotten in weeks, and his body just had to ruin it. Telling him that it was time for him to wake up. Noctis's eyes fluttered opened, as they did they had to adjust to the harsh bright beams of sunlight peeking through his bedroom's large ornate arched black curtained windows.

Judging from the amount of sunlight illuminating throughout his bedroom he gathered that it was most likely mid-morning.

Noctis untangled himself from his bed's covers still comfortably dressed in his black long-sleeved cotton pajamas. As soon as he was standing he let out a small yawn while stretching his arms upwards.

He mentally debated whether he should get dressed first or go downstairs to eat breakfast first. Getting dressed first ultimately won out. Noctis proceeded to make his way out of his bedroom to his bathroom, which was located a couple of doors down within his large living quarters area's hallway corridor.

But before reaching the bathroom he would have to pass by the drawing room as he usually did routinely each day. Typically, the room was empty but today was different someone was standing within the room. The door to the room was wide open.

Noctis stood in front of the drawing room's doorway surprised to see Stella of all people. What business could she possibly have with him on such short notice? He was not expecting her at all.

Noctis wondered how long she had been waiting for him. For a couple of hours he figured as she knew he prioritized his sleep. She probably didn't want to disturb him from his slumber.

Noctis crossed over the door's threshold into the room. Noctis's drawing room was quite lavish. The room was comprised of black linoleum flooring, with one large window dressed with black drapes which were adored with white colored intricate designs, a lone glossy black grand piano sat off to the right side of the room, three perfectly square black wall lamp fixtures hung on both the left and right sides of the room respectively, one long white sofa sat squarely within the middle of the room the sofa was accompanied by black pillows which were firmly pressed up against the sofa's backrest, two separate black sofa chairs sat a little ways away from each of the white long sofa's ends, lastly a black coffee table was situated atop of a dark grey rug a few inches in front of the room's long white sofa.

Stella's back was still turned towards Noctis even after he had entered the room. She was still staring outside of the window. "Stella?" Noctis finally called out. "So, the sleeping prince has finally decided to awaken from his slumber." She said turning to face him. Stella stepped out from behind the white sofa so that she was more in view.

She was clad in a beautiful formfitting one shoulder white Greek dress and white belted wedged ankle boots. Noctis's outfit of course paled in comparison to hers. He didn't like wearing all of those fancy suits he felt that they restricted his movements and felt uncomfortable. He opted for a more casual and comfortable look which he felt suited him best. Putting all of that aside he continued the conversation.

"What brings you here today so unexpectedly?" Noctis inquired. Stella placed both of her hands behind her back before speaking. A sad expression was clear on her face. "I've come to say goodbye. I don't want you to worry about me. I want you to live your own life." Noctis couldn't help but worry when she's suddenly saying statements like that. "Stella what are your reasoning's behind those statements?" Noctis and Stella have been friends since childhood she was the more assertive one of the two and faced her problems head on while Noctis was more reserved the exact opposite.

Not to mention Stella seemed off to him there was something that was clawing at her it was visible on her face. Noctis was still waiting for her response. He began to walk towards her closing the distance between them. When Stella outstretched one of her arms towards him in opposition to his advances. "Halt! Don't come any closer." She pleaded. Stella didn't want Noctis to make this departure harder for her than it already was.

Noctis stopped his advance towards her. After she slowly withdrew her outstretched arm she continued talking. "The truth is…I no longer have any part in this world and in your world. Soon I will disappear from here and everyone's memories. Someone else will take my place and you'll forget all about me."

Noctis stared at her in utter disbelief as Stella made her way back to stand in front of the room's window with her back once again turned towards him. A lone tear fell from her left eye. She couldn't let Noctis see her like this she had to be strong, but all the while this revelation was a tough pill for her to swallow.

She deeply wished that even if it was just a tiny fragment of her she hoped that she would remain somewhere inside of Noctis's memories and that he wouldn't forget her completely. If her wish could be granted she would be satisfied.

"Stella…?" Noctis began. But before he could string together his sentence that's when it started happening. Stella's body took on an ethereal glow, her body then slowly began vanishing into white particles she visibly was fading away right in front of his eyes.

When Noctis tried to speak no words came out it was like someone had pressed the mute button on his voice.

That's when Noctis began running towards her but to no avail. The distance kept growing between them no matter how hard he kept running to reach her they were drifting further and further apart. Stella bravely turned once more to face Noctis a small smile visible upon her lips. Her body was still vanishing at a rapid pace.

"Noctis, promise me one thing. Promise me that you'll keep me in your memories." Once she spoke her final words she completely vanished without one trace of her remaining.

The instant Stella's body entirely vanished volume had returned to Noctis's voice. Too little, too late.

"Stella!" Noctis desperately cried out in vain. How could he be so completely powerless in a situation like this? He couldn't even save her and he hated that. Feeling so powerless and not being able to protect the people who mattered to him.

Noctis sharply jolted awake from his dream or rather nightmare in this case sitting upright upon his bed. He looked towards one of the windows within his bedroom. Seeing that it was barely dawn a time which he deemed too early to get up. He laid his head back down on his pillow.

A strange feeling began to wash over him. He had a feeling that he couldn't help but to have forgotten someone…someone who was very important to him. The blonde-haired beauty from his dreams face rapidly with each passing second became blurrier and blurrier until he couldn't recall anything about her. How strange. His head suddenly felt fuzzy, like fragments of his memories had been erased and replaced with new ones. It was an odd sensation. He concluded that he was reading way too much into it, and should instead try to get in a couple of more minutes of sleep.

After all Prompto, Gladiolus, and Ignis would come bursting into his bedroom at any minute now to force him to wake up. Today was the day that they were going to start their road trip touring the union of states provinces so that Noctis would be familiar with them. They were possibly even visiting his fiancée lady Lunafreya Nox Fleuret too along the way. Noctis decided that it would be in everyone's best interest if he wasn't too sleep deprived for the trip effectively drifting back to sleep.

A/N: When it was announced back in June of this year that Stella's character had no place in the revised landscape of FFXV's story I was disappointed. She was one of the main characters that I found interesting and wanted to get to know more about. It may seem silly, but her departure from the game left a huge void in my heart. This fanfic in a sense is my way of sending Stella off. Even though I do admit that I have my own reservations about Lunafreya I do believe that she has the potential to be an awesome character. Many things about the game is still shrouded in mystery at this point. Square-Enix just needs to announce a solid release date, in addition to more info about the game; especially its characters lol.