Disclaimer: I do NOT own any part of Final Fantasy XV in any way, shape, or form. I own NOTHING!

CHAPTER TWO:

NOCTIS

"I want to do something nice for Iris's birthday," Gladio says as we sit around the campfire enjoying a nice helping of Cup Noodles.

"Do you have anything particular in mind?" Ignis inquires.

"I was thinking we could have a party in Lestallum. You know, get everyone to help out with decorations and all that. I thought we might even head back to Caem early to surprise her with presents before her actual birthday."

Prompto beams smugly. "Look at you being a good big brother."

"Well, she deserves it. She's done a lot for us lately. But even if that weren't the case, she deserves a night as a normal teenager. I think about that a lot. You know, how those years have been stolen from her. There's so much that she's missed out on." Gladio is oddly contemplative as he speaks, his dark eyes focused on the fire pit.

"Yeah…" Prompto agrees with a slow nod. "It's not fair."

In the heavy silence that follows, I can't keep my mind from going to thoughts of Luna and how she never got to do normal things either. Iggy once told me that Ravus mourned her never having a normal life, and I mourn that too. Luna never got to do a lot of the things we take for granted every day.

"So, what about it?" Gladio's pitch and demeanor shifts gears. "You guys wanna help?"

"Hell yeah!" Prompto is enthusiastic as ever.

"Of course." Ignis adjusts his glasses, more out of habit than actual need to improve his vision.

Gladio's eyes lock onto me. "Noct?"

Everyone is suddenly looking at me expectantly, causing me to shift uncomfortably in my seat.

"Yeah." I nod. "Count me in."

I failed Luna, but I won't let Gladio fail Iris. Ravus couldn't do these things for Luna, and I'm not about to let Gladio blow the opportunity to provide for Iris.

Life is too short.

"So…whatcha gettin' Iris?" Prompto asks through a mouthful of bread and soup.

"No idea," I reply instantly as I pick at my own food.

We've been shopping around Lestallum all day and nothing has really stood out to me. I've just been looming over various wares for what feels like hours. I've almost bought at least a dozen different things, but I can never actually follow through with purchasing anything. Eventually, I stopped for a lunch break with Prompto at Surgate's Beanmine. Gladio and Ignis are still shopping somewhere else in the city.

"Are you kidding?" Prompto scoffs playfully. "You've got it easy."

My brow knits together. "How?"

"Because, Iris likes you, and therefore you have this magical ability to make her love anything you give her."

"She likes you too," I counter.

"Yeah, but she likes you." Prompto wiggles his eyebrows as he takes another bite out of his bread.

I grimace. I like to think that we're past the whole crush thing. Iris has matured a lot over the years, but a part of me does feel guilty, like I'm leading her on with our new dynamic and proximity.

"Sorry…" Prompto says, suddenly uneasy. "I didn't mean to strike a nerve…"

"No big deal. It's not the worst nerve you could have hit." I shrug, picking at my food but still not eating it.

"It's just that you two have gotten closer so I thought you might be okay with talking about her," Promoto continues, eager to undo his mistake, but he's only making things even more awkward.

"What did you get her?" I decide to change the subject. I can no longer handle the current topic.

"I got her a scrapbook with some of her favorite pictures to put in it." He motions to his camera sitting on the table.

"That's really thoughtful. She'll love that."

"And Ignis got her some cooking utensils," he continues. "You know, some of the ones he has that she's been borrowing for a while."

"What about Gladio?" I cross my arms and recline into my seat. I've lost my appetite.

"I think he's getting her some clothing and materials so she can design some clothes of her own instead of just mending ours all the time."

"How am I supposed to compete with all that?" I pinch the bridge of my nose.

Prompto smirks. "I'm sure you'll think of something, and even if you can't, you can always offer to take her on a date."

I throw a spoon at him. "Shut up."

We manage to make it back to the Caem outpost the day before Iris's eighteenth birthday. However, the birthday girl is nowhere to be seen.

"She went back to bed after she logged the sunrise," Monica explains as she continues coating a small cupcake with icing in the kitchen. "She was out pretty late with Cor and the others."

"Good!" Gladio claps his hand together. "That'll give us time to get everything ready."

"You were smart to come in before her birthday," Monica replies. "She doesn't think you're coming in until later in the week."

"Woo! Sneak attack!" Prompto muses as he jumps on my back and messes with my hair. "She'll never see it comin'!"

We put up a few decorations. A few corny balloons are scattered throughout the place, and we also put up a banner that says: HAPPY BIRTHDAY. It is kind of crooked, and it looks like it was made by a five-year-old, but hey, it's a banner. Talcott and I even went out to pick some flowers for her.

The present-covered table actually looks better than our pitiful decorations do. Monica made some really nice cupcakes and put the flowers we picked in an elegant vase complete with a fancy ribbon wrapped around it. The tablecloth is white and lacy, and the table setting reminds me a little of the placement the servants always fixed for Father and me, but I shove the memory away as soon as it surfaces.

Once, everything is ready, there is nothing else for us to do but wait for Iris to get up.

Prompto takes pictures of everything while the rest of us chat around the table.

Eventually, we hear shuffling around upstairs, and everyone gathers around the table and assumes the surprise position.

"Happy Birthday!" everyone cries when Iris emerges from her room.

She's in a t-shirt, striped shorts, and high, colorful socks. Her hair is messy and her eyes are weary despite their widening with surprise.

Iris blinks a few times as she slowly realizes what's going on.

"Wow, you guys!" Her expression brightens as she comes down the stairs and eyes the spread on the table. "You didn't have to do all this…"

"No. But we wanted to." Gladio hauls an arm around her shoulder. "Happy Birthday, Iris."

"Thank you." Iris blushes a little and slowly takes a seat at the head of the table.

"Make a wish!" Talcott puts a red velvet cupcake – complete with birthday candle – in front of her.

She shifts around for a minute, like she isn't sure what she should wish for before finally blowing out the candle.

No one asks what she wished for.

After gorging ourselves with sugar, Iris opens her gifts.

Monica and Dustin combined efforts to get her a fancy sewing machine.

Ignis got her some really nice cookware.

Prompto, of course, has his scrapbook, picture frames, and photos.

Gladio got her some really fancy fabric for clothing along with a punching bag so she can harness her daemon killing skills.

Talcott got her a stuffed cactuar, a handwritten card, and a movie to watch on the shitty portable disk player they have.

And I end up standing around looking like a jackass.

"I didn't forget your gift," I explain lamely once everyone starts to scatter a bit. "It just…hasn't come in yet."

She chuckles and shakes her head. "That's fine, Noct. You didn't have to get me anything. Just the four of you making it back in one piece is enough."

"Not really, but it should be here sometime tomorrow. Hopefully, before your party." I drum my fingers along the table's clothed surface.

Iris grins. "Okay, but even if it doesn't, that's okay too. I promise, you didn't have to get me anything."

She's wrong. I feel strangely obligated, and a birthday gift is the least I can do.

On Iris's birthday, one of Dino's associates brings her gift to Caem. I head down to the roadside to meet him, thank him, and give him the required amount of gil so he'll leave before anyone sees.

My gift isn't as thoughtful as everyone else's, but it's a gift nonetheless, which is pretty good considering someone (usually Ignis) does this kind of thing for me.

A few days ago, I decided on getting her a designer dress from Altissia. I know it's been a while since she got anything nice like this. Now I have this ritzy designer dress in a bag on a hanger...

"Here." I hand the dress to Gladio as soon as I reenter our room at the outpost.

"What is it?" Gladio eyes my offering cynically, but he doesn't take it from me. He continues sitting on the couch, his thumb hovering over his phone's screen.

"It's Iris's present from me," I clarify, still holding the dress towards him, still hoping he'll take it.

"Then, why don't you give it to her?" He is clearly confused.

Because I don't need our relationship getting anymore complicated than it already is…

"…I don't want her getting the wrong idea," I admit sheepishly after a painful pause.

He goes from confused to suspicious in a milisecond. "What exactly is the wrong idea?"

I feel my face heating with a strange mix of irritation and embarrassment.

"I don't want to lead her on, okay? I don't want her reading too much into this because I don't want to hurt her. Happy?" I practically shove the dress into his chest.

Gladio rolls his eyes and throws it back at me.

"Just man up and give her the damn thing," he growls and starts messing with his phone again. "It's your gift."

I don't know if this is similar to the flower bouquet fiasco where Gladio wants Iris to get the wrong idea (because he knows it'll make her happy) or if he thinks it won't be a that big of a deal. Either way, I guess I'm giving this dress to her personally. Consequences be damned.

Reluctantly, I knock on the door to Iris's room. I'm getting extreme déjà vu. This is feeling more and more like the time Gladio made me give Iris flowers. However, this time I actually have to take credit for the item I'm holding behind my back. No coercion was required.

"Come in!"

I let myself in and see Iris is toying with her new sewing machine. I don't think she is actually sewing anything though. It mainly looks like she's trying to figure out how to thread it properly.

I shift uncomfortably from foot to foot, rolling around on the balls of my feet. Eventually, I clear my throat and take a few steps toward her.

Iris puts the sewing machine away and all of her attention is suddenly on me.

"Uh, here." I extend the bagged dress towards her.

Her eyes widen as she takes hold of the hanger and spreads the dress across the foot of the bed. Slowly, she unzips the bag and pulls the dress from its cocoon.

It's jade with a high collar that wraps around the neck like a chocker. It's short but not too short (I knew Gladio would kick my ass if it were even somewhat lewd). It's classy but could also pass for a party dress…I think. I wouldn't really know. I'm not up to date when it comes to this kind of thing, but when I was weighing my options Dino said this one was all the rage in Altissia this season. Whatever. I mainly picked it out because of the color.

"It's beautiful, Noct..." she breathes, running her fingertips along the rich, jade fabric of the dress.

It wasn't exactly easy to get. I had to call in a favor from Dino, who called in a favor from Altissia.

"But I don't know if I can accept this." Her eyes find mine, but her hands linger affectionately on the dress. "It looks really expensive…"

"Then…consider it a rental. Wear it to your party, and if you don't want to keep it, I'll return it."

There is a long pause where she continues to eye the dress, her expression soft yet contemplative.

"Okay." A nod. "That sounds fair."

I can't remember the last time I went to a party. We used to go out in Insomnia another lifetime ago. It had countless locations where any kind of event could be hosted. There were even places you could go to just let loose and have a good time. There was something for everyone, which was nice because you don't always feel like being in a crowded room with blasting music. Sometimes, you want a more wholesome atmosphere where you can still have fun. Prompto and I used to favor this place that had a bar, dancing, and several arcade machines in the back.

A part of me has to wonder how different things would be if Insomnia hadn't fallen. Where would Iris be having her party? Would we even be invited? Would it be school friends only? Maybe, but Insomnia did fall so I guess it doesn't matter. A party with a festival-like feel in Lestallum will have to do.

It's actually pretty lively. A lot of people are here. There is live music. There's more food and drinks than we'll ever need, but everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.

Gladio invited a lot of people Iris's age so there is definitely a sort of high school dance/party feel, but our typical crowd is here too.

Cor, Cid, Monia, Wiz, and Dustin have taken on the unofficial role of chaperone/wallflower. Sania has cornered Gladio with a likely one-sided conversation about native flora and fauna, much to Prompto's delight since he didn't want to compete with Gladio for Cindy's attention. Dino and Vyv have hit if off, but this may just be because they are both pretty buzzed. Takka has been wandering around sampling a lot of the food and has slowly become an extra caterer.

Even Arenea and her goons are here spending a lot of time with Holly, Dave, and Ignis. I'm not entirely sure why she is here. She and Iris aren't exactly close, but hey, I'm not questioning it. The more the merrier.

The whole point of this was to gain a sense of normalcy, and I think we've accomplished that – at least for a little while. Iris seems to be having fun with friends other than us that are actually closer to her age. She looks like a regular teenager and there is this weird sense of accomplishment accompanying that.

Iris is one of those people who can charge a room (or in this case, the area around the fountain by the Leville) with their presence, and she does so easily at her own party.

Everyone is drawn to her energy and appears to be having a good time. I think I've seen everyone dance at least once. I never would've taken Arenea for a dancer, but she has actually been dancing with everyone, including me. I think Ignis is her favorite dance partner though. I haven't shared this theory with anyone else, but I'm pretty sure they'd agree with me.

Needing a few moments to recharge (I've been cornered by Cor and Monica for what feels like hours), I help myself to a drink with the guys, but I don't indulge much. I can't keep from thinking back to my darker days when Iris hid any and all forms of liquor from me because she didn't want me to use it to escape. She didn't want me to become dependent on that kind of thing.

At the time, I'd been angry. We had a few ugly fights about my intake or the lack thereof, but now I'm grateful. It would have been really easy to sink into a liquor bottle and never come out…

'The world still needs you,' she'd insisted.

I don't know about that, but I do know that my friends and those I care about seem to need me, and that's what's kept me going.

"Where's Sweet Sixteen?" Arenea asks as she takes my drink from me and proceeds to finish it off.

"Uh…" I glance around, but Iris is nowhere in sight. "I'm not sure."

"She probably ran off with that cute guy she's been talking to. I know I would've gone for it." She snickers into the glass, her greenish eyes twinkling with mischief.

I cringe a little. Iris isn't supposed to like 'cute guys', and she definitely isn't supposed to run off with them.

"She better not have gone for it…" Gladio grinds his teeth in his mouth.

I start to say something snarky about him being a hypocrite. He'd gone for it multiple times by the time he was eighteen. Ultimately, I choose against it because I don't like the idea of it either. Some of the dances she'd had with a few of the guys lingering around were kind of hard to watch.

"Well, you did want her to have a night as a normal teenager..." Prompto drawls "and normal teenagers—"

Gladio covers his ears, almost spilling his drink on his shoulder. "I know what normal teenagers do!"

"Iris is a very responsible young lady, Gladio." Ignis puts a hand on his shoulder.

"I know, but the fact that she's growing up is still hard to swallow."

I take it upon myself to initiate a small search for Iris, just to make sure she is safe and to also give myself some space. I can't do crowds like I used to, and I wasn't all that great at crowds before.

I love my friends. I'm forever indebted to all of those who have supported me in spite of everything that's happened, but it's still hard to face them sometimes. The guilt and shame is almost too much to bear, and even when we're having fun, being around them is a constant reminder of all my shortcomings.

The further away I get from the hotel and the bazaar, the quieter the industrial city seems to get, which leads me to believe it's later than I realize. There is a steady stream of people still wandering around (Lestallum never really sleeps), but it's almost peaceful. I end up almost enjoying my quiet, little stroll through the city.

Lestallum has never been one of my favorite locations, but it has its strange charm at night when the heat isn't as intense, when the power plant seems to lull, and the sun isn't around to highlight all the pipes and garbage in the narrow, stone alleyways. And I have to admit the lights strung along the palm trees are a nice touch.

After wandering aimlessly a while, I find Iris on a bench near Pegglar Outlook. Her shoes are gone and she looks tired.

"Having fun?" I ask as I sit next to her.

"Oh, yeah! It's been a blast! But my feet are starting to hurt…" She wiggles her toes. She's used to boots and sneakers, not heels or flats.

"Well, you have been doing a lot of dancing…"

"A lot of people asked. I couldn't bring myself to say no," she admits as she puts her hands on the bench seat and leans forward a bit. Her eyes stay low though.

"Think you might have one more left for me?" I don't know why I do this to myself…and to her. I'd resolved to just play big brother tonight and supervise, but apparently, I can't help myself.

Iris has become a bright spot in my otherwise bleak world. After everything that happened, I found solace in her demeanor. She was bright. She was optimistic. She had everything that I'd lost, everything that had been beaten out of countless others. Somehow, she'd managed to hold onto it.

She is resilient, and I admire that.

"Of course," she replies without hesitation.

I realize that I also like feeling wanted. After being rejected by the Crystal, I felt I had disappointed everyone. It was so hard to look anyone in the eye. But when I saw Iris again and spoke to her, I didn't see the pity or the dismay. Everyone else was at a loss, walking on eggshells, but Iris was just happy to see me, to be near me, to listen to anything I said. She wasn't asking questions. Iris didn't want anything from me. When I was with her, I no longer felt like a prince, a dethroned king, or a failure. I didn't feel the pressure to be a Chosen King or to fulfill a prophecy for the greater good. Iris just wanted me happy…because she simply, foolishly, and wholeheartedly wanted me in the purest of ways.

These things were simple. They were things I used to find annoying, but in my weakened state, I'd needed them. The part of me the Crystal spat back out feed off them. I know it's selfish but selfishness is what got me here. The Crystal knew I couldn't let go-

"You know, I never really took you for the dancing type," she says, casting her gaze out towards the glowing Meteor in the distance.

"I'm not, but somewhere it's unwritten law for a prince to know how to dance and because of that, I was forced to learn." I inwardly cringe at the memory of countless hours in the ballroom learning how to waltz.

Iris sighs and looks up at the sky even though the lights of the city are hiding the stars. "You don't have to. I know Gladdy probably asked you to. I don't really want a pity dance."

I'm a bit taken back. "It's not pity."

"A humor dance then," she rephrases, her tone still rather flat.

"It's not that either," I argue.

Her brown eyes, which look almost hazel thanks to the unique hue of her dress, lock onto me. I privately give myself props for picking out a dress that compliments her complexion so well.

"Are you stray-catting me?"

"What?" I reel, my brow furrowed. "What the hell even is that?"

"It's when you feed a stray cat, and the cat keeps coming back, and then, you don't really know what to do with it." Iris starts swinging her legs back and forth under the bench. "So then you start feeding it out of a sense of pity and obligation. And don't say you don't have stray cat obligation tendencies because I know you do. That cat at the Caem outpost is proof. Monica is still making food for that thing."

"I don't recall ever feeding you Monica's cat food."

"Don't be a smartass," she says, but she's grinning, her voice quivering with mirth as she nudges me with her shoulder.

I groan. "Do you want the dance or not?"

Iris slouches into the bench and stares at the ground.

"Going once." I stand.

"Going twice…" I hold out my hand. She glares at it.

"Sold," she grumbles and puts her hand in mine.

I'm starting to regret my decision to ask her to dance. I feel like everyone is looking at us, even though a lot of people are still dancing near the fountain, and now that we are actually here, I don't know how to go about approaching this.

The social grace Iris had when dancing with everyone else is gone. She stands in front of me awkwardly, rubbing at her shoulders as if she's fighting off a chill.

"Are you cold?" I ask. "I guess I shouldn't have picked out a sleeveless dress…"

"What?" Her big, brown eyes are wide as she gazes up at me. "No. No. It's not the dress."

"Oh."

Iris moves first. She makes a decision for me and wraps her arms around my waist. It's a lot like a hug.

I smile a little and place a hand on the back of her head.

I can't help but be reminded of the first time I met her when we were kids. I saw her in the palace courtyard chasing after a cat. I didn't know who she was, but after ditching my caretakers, I'd run off after her.

When I'd finally caught up with her, she'd already taken one of my secret passages outside. It had gotten dark, and it was starting to rain. I could hear her crying.

Scared and covered in mud, she'd crashed into me just like this, and I'd put a hand on her head to comfort her, letting it glide down to the junction between her head and neck.

Unlike that night, she isn't lost, and it isn't raining so she smells a lot better. I probably do too. I'd gotten pretty dirty chasing after her.

Tonight, Iris smells like orchids and black currant.

Her hair is soft. Her skin is warm. Her breaths are smooth and even as they seep inside me and sync with the rhythm of my own breathing.

Briefly, I close my eyes and bask the moment because it isn't terrible.

Iris has fallen asleep in the lobby of the Leville. I can only assume it happened sometime after she thanked everyone for coming but before we finished cleaning up some of the mess left behind.

I can't help but find her endearing as she lies on the divan barefoot and still in the dress I got her. She looks so innocent, serene, and nothing short of content.

Absentmindedly, I sit on the divan next to her and brush some of the hair covering her face away, trying to get a better view of the tranquility blanketing her soft features, hoping against hope that maybe some of it will find its way into me. Her rich, brown curls coil around my fingers as if they don't want me to let go.

Her eyelashes are thick and black as they rest on top of her cheeks, the tropical climate of Lestallum giving her skin a subtle, rosy glow.

Iris is pretty. It's funny how I never really noticed before. Then again, I never really paid attention, and I had no desire to. Iris was just…Iris. That is all there was to it.

Honestly, I've never found too many women outside of Luna attractive. I'm not sure if it is out of some faithfulness to the woman I would grow to see as my first and only or the fact that I knew I shouldn't really be looking at other girls given the circumstances.

Women have always been pretty low on my priority list. There was always something else going on, something of greater importance. And if I'm honest, women are something that has always fallen just outside my realm of comprehension.

Did I notice girls? Yes. Did I look? Yep. Did I like looking? Sure. Am I a man? Yeah. Did I touch? Not really, but anything I did or didn't do always made me feel guilty and hollow (even before I was…engaged) because they weren't Luna. Our relationship (and sometimes the lack thereof) always complicated things.

I still feel guilty. It gnaws at my insides as I sit here next to Iris. I feel as though I'm being unfaithful, like I am committing some form of sin even though I haven't done anything aside from acknowledging the fact that Iris isn't ugly.

Prompto and Gladio enter the lobby, effectively saving me from myself. I stumble to my feet, trying not to look nervous or guilty but failing miserably. I look about as innocent as a thief as I clear my throat awkwardly and shove my hands in my pockets.

I tense as they approach us. I'm not sure why. I wasn't doing anything.

"Looks like it's past the baby's bedtime," Gladio teases even though Iris isn't conscious enough to defend herself.

He bends over and scoops her up into his arms before carrying her upstairs to the room we rented for the night so we wouldn't have to drive all the way back to Cape Caem.

Seeing that Iris left her shoes behind, I grab them and head up the stairs after Gladio.

I enter the room. Gladio already has Iris tucked in, but he is just sitting on the edge of the bed watching her.

"Hey," I say softly. "She left her shoes."

He points to the nearby dressing table. I do as instructed and place the shoes on its surface.

"Overall, I think tonight was a success." The corner of his mouth curves upward. "Thanks for helping out. I know it meant a lot to her."

"Yeah. Of course." I scratch at the back of my head.

"Now we just gotta beat up that kid Arenea was talking about." He rolls his broad shoulders for effect.

I snort.

"Even if you do beat him up," Ignis begins as he eases the room, "another young man will take his place. These things are inevitable."

"Maybe." Gladio rises to his feet and puts his hands on his hips. "But I can still try to scare off as many as I can." He throws a fist into his waiting palm.

Ignis sighs heavily and shakes his head in a blatant gesture of disapproval, but I can't keep from snickering.

I know Gladio is being overprotective and a bit unreasonable, but I kind of agree with him.

A/N: Thanks so much for reading!

I'm not gonna lie. I had fun with this one. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!