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[ would that she had made it sooner..

ten years seems not so very long a time, but for alisaie is has been as a lifetime. so much has happened, so much has changed, she has lost, and grown, and changed, she has faced endless threats to her home, and the perils and tribulations of motherhood. she has lived.

but she has never, ever forgotten her promise. she would find him. she would reach him. and so she has. she can only hope that she has not come too late.

securing a path to eos was not so difficult, but learning how to travel that path without giving up her life had taken years to unravel, and even having survived the storm, hydaelyn is ever a world in chaos. crisis after crisis, primal after primal, the battles never cease, and alisaie cannot well abandon her duty to the scions for her own personal endeavors. still, she works hard, she sleeps little, every spare moment is spent in research, poring over sharlayan's libraries, speaking with ul'dah's leading aetherologists, studying the paths of aether that connected hydaelyn to its shattered echoes and devising a way to travel those paths without becoming lost, undone by the lifestream. that she will be taking a very precious passenger is all the more reason she needs to be sure of it. risking her own life is one thing, but she will not risk louisoix's. it may take decades to secure her way to eos, for alisaie's recklessness does not extend to her son.

the last year is the hardest. they are so close, picking apart the details had taken agonizingly long, and those last few months seemed to stretch into centuries before at last, at last the path was ready.

it would seem that she has arrived none too soon. the world is black, and the journey dangerous, but she remembered prompto's tales of daemons and these ten years have only seen her grow her strength. she cuts down those in her path and pushes chobi hard, and it is weeks before she is at last able to trace prompto's steps to hammerhead, and then, to insomnia. the sky is alive over the city, flashing blue and red so brightly it can be seen from hammerhead. she leaves louisoix there, exhausted from the road, to sleep deeply while she rides hard to the crown city, fueled by desperation and adrenaline alone. she will not have worked so hard and come so very far to lose him, not now, not like this, not after all they have been through, how long they have waited.

the lights in the sky have quieted by the time she arrives, but alisaie knows not what that means - she knows only what she must do. keeping to the lights, she follows the trails of black blood and ichor toward what can only be the palace, and when they reach the stairs she leaps from chobi's back, rapier in hand, to dash up the main thoroughfare, her hair wild and her breath quick and her clothing torn and filthy.

please. please. let her not be too late. ]

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[ It's over.

They all know it the moment it comes. The moment the Starscourge is vanquished, and the daemons that had so very nearly overpowered them wither before their very eyes. They know what the cost was, as well. Noctis had tried to prepare them for it, and they knew full well it was the only way. Until he gave up his life to vanquish the darkness, the Starscourge would continue to rain upon the land, just as it had for these last ten years. This was the day they had all waited for. That so many were sure wouldn't come. It should feel joyful and victorious, and to be sure, the weight of what they have accomplished today is not lost on him. But Prompto is...tired. He's so damn tired, of losing the people most important to him. It's happened over and over again, and each time it makes his heart ache and bleed. It never gets easier, even as scars form. Even as he grows up. These ten years have felt so very, very long, and at the end of it...he doesn't feel relieved. Just...

Tired.

Things start happening quickly, of course, after the battle. The three of them all share a heavy burden in their hearts, their grief deep and bruising for what they have had to sacrifice today in order to see this through. They should rendezvous with the Glaives, send a message to Hammerhead and get the word out to places beyond that the light will return at last. But none of them are quick to leave the citadel. They will need time, and more time than they can really ask for right now, and though Prompto is reluctant to leave the side of the only two people he really has left now, he needs a moment to himself, too. After they share their fair share of tears with each other, he heads off to inform the Glaives. He'll move the quickest, and it'll give him time to think, to...wrap his mind around all this. It's only a start, but he needs it, all the same.

...Will they know, in Hydaelyn, he wonders? That in their sister world, the darkness had been vanquished. Will Alisaie look up into the sky and see a star twinkle back into life? Will she feel some resolve in his aether that she still carries with her?

He misses her so fiercely in that moment. He always misses her, his absence ever a gaping hole in his heart, but at times he feels it more keenly than others, when he doesn't let himself feel numb instead. He can't help but think, perhaps, that if he had her arms to run into right now, to hold him tight and let him weep and hold him up when he is unable to do so himself, then maybe, just maybe he would be okay. Eventually. His broken heart would heal, and she would be there to kiss his worries away. But she isn't here, and if she hasn't found a way to Eos by now...well, he's not one to lose hope, but gods, will it ever happen? Will he ever see her again? Or is she as lost to him as Noctis is now?

She'd probably kick his ass for feeling so mopey. He'll write another letter to her about it. Another letter, to join so many others, tucked away in a bag where it will never be delivered or read. It just...helps, still, to talk to her like she's there, even if he never hears an answer. Sometimes, he still swears he can feel her heart beating next to his.

Mid-journey, Prompto breaks off for a moment. Just...a moment, to clear his eyes of swimming tears, to let his grief out before he reaches the Glaive HQ. He shouldn't break at all, but he can't...he can't face them just yet. He can't tell them their king is dead. But really...it's more selfish than that. Every step he takes away from the citadel is another step into a world without Noctis, and a world without Alisaie, a world in which he faces a purposeless future without her at his side. What he wouldn't give...

He settles onto a fallen pillar, dropping his head into his hands, and weeps for it all. ]

[ it's so.. quiet, once the lights leave the sky, once the fight is over. everything is still and silent as the starscourge curls away and dissipates, and the city is ghostly, empty. no crawling daemons, no beasts, no people - it's a victory, she hopes, but it nevertheless feels lonely and somber. there is a weight in the air.

gods, what was the cost?

please let it not be too late.

she very nearly misses him. it's still so dark, even if the sky is now a deep, velvety blue, lightening at the horizon where it had been black, but prompto seems so small and still, dressed all in black, and alone. only his hair is visible from a distance, a fair blonde, though even that she can hardly see for how he holds his head in his hands.

is it him? truly? the ring she wears warms as she draws near, and with it comes a flood of emotion, of heat and pain and familiarity - even here, worlds away from el nysa, still the enchantment lingers. alisaie's breath catches, and she stops short a few stairs below him, tense and shocked, numbness sweeping from the crown of her head down to her feet. ]

.. Prompto?

[ Lost as he is in his turmoil, he doesn't notice that warmth that resonates in his ring when she nears. It's a sensation he's imagined dozens of times over, anyway, and she's never truly there when he's so sure she's going to be. How many times has he chased a shadow? Sworn he saw a braid whip around a corner, only to find no trace? She has been a ghost in his thoughts ever since they parted ways. It is no surprise that now, which his heart aches for her the most, that his mind twists itself into some vain hope that she is here at last.

But even if he ignores his ring, he cannot ignore his name on her voice. It catches a hold of his heart and stills it, an impossible question in the sound of it as it rings in his head, as his mind fills with static. His head snaps up immediately, his eyes watery and wide, utter shock and disbelief written upon his face. It...it can't be, she...

But there she is, before him. Older, taller, tired and worn as he is, but unmistakably her. His Alisaie. His love, his wife, his heart.

His breath catches in his throat, and in an instant he moves over to her, his entire body trembling. Is he dead? He must be, for her to appear to him like this, right now, but if it means being reunited with her at last...then he will go with her wherever she takes him. ]

Alisaie? [ He croaks, his voice waterlogged and desperate, but crackling with light, with hope. ] I-is it...it is really you?

[ he lifts his head, and at last, at last after ten long years she sees his face. he's older and broader, with lines where there once had been none, scruffier and more tired than he ever was on el nysa but it is surely, irrevocably him. he calls her name and her heart splits right down the middle.

her rapier clatters onto the stone stairs, the sound of it a loud crash in the silence, but all alisaie can hear is the rapid pounding of her heart. ]

Gods..

[ the word is a breathless rasp, and alisaie covers the rest of the distance between them to lift her hands to his face and cup his jaw between them, to tip her head forward to touch her brow to his. he looks so tired, mussed and worn and smudged with dirt, but he has never looked so wonderful, so perfect. alisaie's heart leaps into her throat, long-held tears stinging her eyes, her throat closing so tightly she can hardly speak. ]

Oh Gods, Prompto..

[ He's pictured this moment, over and over again, for years now. What it might be like when they reunited, what he might say, how he would hold her and kiss her and never let go over her again. They would smile and cry and his heart would ache just at the thought of it. But even with how often he has thought of it, he is unprepared for the moment she touches him, the moment she draws her brow to his, the sensation of her fingers against his skin blisteringly familiar and agonizing all at once. It's surreal, it's divine. It can't be happening and yet it is, and for all he has thought about this moment, he is woefully unprepared for the wave of emotion that rolls up from his heart, raw and untamed.

Reflexively, he winds his arms around her, and though they don't fit the same way he remembers, they still fit, and Prompto leans into her fully, breathing her in, the familiar scent of her skin behind the smoke and the dirt, and she's so warm and nostalgic and real that his tears begin anew, slipping unhindered down his cheeks, as he nuzzles his nose alongside hers, fingers desperate in her coat. ]

It's okay. It's okay. I-I'm here.

[ Even if she is, ostensibly, the one who is here for him. ]

[ his arms close around her, warm and tight and strong, and and alisaie's breath rushes from her - she had worked endlessly for years, and ridden here on sheer adrenaline and willpower but now, seeing him, hearing him, feeling the sweep of relief that he is alive -

alisaie slumps against him, burying her face in his shoulder, her arms looping around his shoulders and holding tightly, possibly painfully, but she cannot force herself to loosen her grip. ]

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

[ she whispers harshly into the shoulder of his coat, tears tracking down her dirty face, clearing pale paths. her heart is so full it aches, she's ecstatic and hurting, relieved and bereft, mourning the passage of time that has changed them both and yet reveling in the time they have now, that she is at last here. his arms around her are real and not a passing dream, not a memory that grows more distant by the day. ]

I tried.. I tried to come sooner -

[ gods, it has been so long. ]

[ He shudders beneath her touch, still unraveling at the very reality of this moment, basking in his utter existence, at how now, at his lowest point, she returns to him. He can't think this means anything but he has died and she is here to bring him to the beyond, but...she isn't trying to take him anywhere. She only clings to him as he clings to hear, her tears tickling his neck as he buries his nose into her hair. There is so much of it now—she has changed in so many ways, both small and significant. They have missed so much of one another lives, and though that knowledge cuts him deep, it is but a drop in the bucket compared with everything else he's feeling, experiencing. ]

D-don't apologize. We're together now.

[ And that is all that matters. Gods, nothing else can even compare in this moment. ]

I love you, I love you so much—

[ And though he is still desperate for breath in the wake of her appearance, though tears still stream from his eyes and he weeps freely, he presses his mouth to hers, warm, eager, and seeking, desperate to show her the love in his heart that had never once dimmed for all the time they have spent apart. ]

[ he finds her mouth with his, and it's like a hand around her heart, squeezing tightly. she hardly has to think at all to respond - her head turns and her lips part and her hands slip into his dusty hair, holding tightly.

it feels just as she remembered, warm and soft and wet, his taste familiar and sweet, though the scruff on his chin is a.. strange, new sensation, though not unpleasant. honestly, he could feel like sandpaper and still she would kiss him as if her life depended it, curling her tongue into his mouth and tasting him deep, bold and hungry and ferocious.

gods but it feels good. she missed him so keenly, that now, being with him, feels as being whole again. ]

I love you, too.

[ she whispers against his mouth, unwilling to part their lips even to speak, her hands slipping from his hair to frame his face again, her thumbs gliding over the ridges of his cheekbones. ]

I missed you, my love.

[ It's intense and messy and visceral, kissing her like this, like he's tasting a memory, her words and her lips and her breath so damned good that it staggers him, stars behind his eyelids and he seeks his fill in kissing her. He knows he'll never hit that threshold, though, that he will stand here and kiss her until his lips are chapped and bleeding and still he would ache for more. He will kiss her for every moment he was unable to while they were apart, for every missed opportunity, for every cold, lonesome night.

He breathes her in, still kissing her ferociously as one of his hands filters through her hair to rest on the back of her head. ]

I missed you, too, sweetheart.

[ More than he can ever say in words. But it doesn't matter. They're together now.

And so he kisses her again, deep and intense, dragging his teeth over her bottom lip, tasting her mouth, unwilling to relinquish the contact even though it makes his head spin. But they have waited so long for this, and far be it from him to end this kiss, every breath a whine of mingled relief and sorrow and passion. They deserve this moment to just be as they are, Prompto and Alisaie, husband and wife, reunited at last.

...When sunlight begins to filter from over the horizon, however, it is enough to wrest his attention away, for even just a moment, and Prompto gasps against her mouth at the feeling of warmth on his skin.

Gods, it's really happening at last. The light has returned to his life, in so many ways. ]

[ they're good kisses, fierce and full and hungry in a way that will never be sated - or so it feels, at least. how can they possibly make up for ten years' time? how could any number of kisses fill their aching hearts? they will find out. gods forfend, she will never allow them to be separated again. it may have been fate that drew them together to begin with, but it is she who will keep them bound. nothing will pull them apart again.

alisaie has not lingered long in this dark world, but long enough to understand the significance of the sun's light peering over the horizon. she knows the starscourge, what it is, how it affected his life before he arrived on el nysa, but gods, to think that he has lingered here in this black haze for ten years.. ten years alone, in the darkness, how had he found the courage to move forward? her love is so sensitive, so soft and sweet and reliant on the love of others, to think he had had to endure this for so long..

it makes that filtering light all the sweeter. their kiss breaks, and alisaie smiles, drawing her fingertips down his jaw, his neck, to rest at his collar. ]

You've done it.

[ They've done it.

It all comes together there in that moment, what it all meant, ultimately. Noctis's sacrifice, Ardyn's defeat, the sun rising once more after ten long, dark years. Alisaie here in his arms at last, holding to him so fiercely, unwilling to let go. It almost seems too good to be true, but then again...isn't it always darkest before the dawn?

A breathless, disbelieving laugh slips out of him. At last. At last. ]

I can't take all the credit.

[ But he will allow himself some of it, which is so very different from the young, fearful boy he once was. Before he had learned to love himself. Before he had met her.

His smile dims a little, thoughtful as he watches the reflection of the rising sun in her eyes. ]

Noct, he...he—he gave his life for this.

[ And now they have the chance to begin their life together anew. ]

[ his admission is heartrending, even if it is not.. surprising. in tracking down prompto she had learned plenty, how this world has been, what the king's retinue had been doing, and, of course, noctis's return, and how the boys returned to the crown city to face ardyn down once and for all.

these things seem always to require a noble sacrifice, in the end, and who better to lay down his life to usher in the dawn than the promised prince himself? it stings her heart - alisaie has always found needless sacrifice contemptible, and while she may not have been as close with noctis as prompto had been, still she knew him, cared for him, feels his loss keenly in her heart.

but in the end, he had done what he had needed to, he had made his choices and, selfishly, she cannot help but be glad that.. that prompto still yet lives. that he lives to see the sun rise, that he lives to pull the pieces of his life back together at last. alisaie smiles gently, unable to suppress the rush of pride in her breast; she had always believed in them, known that they would stop at nothing to bring back the light, to restore hope and warmth to the people. though her heart breaks for them she is still so proud, proud to know them, proud of what they have done.

still, noble as their cause may have been, prompto has still lost his best friend tonight, and expected or not, that does not take the sting out of it. she says nothing, because there is nothing to be said, but she draws close again nonetheless and touches her brow to his once more in a gesture of support, closeness, solidarity. ]

[ For how long they have been apart, every touch feels like a dream, an impossible gift, and when she touches her brow to his once more, his expression crumples. There's so much weighing on his heart all at once - Noctis's sacrifice, the end of the Starscourge, Alisaie's return - and it threatens to overwhelm him with emotion. But for how impossible it seemed only minutes ago to move forward, now he can see a path ahead of him once more, with someone at his side, to guide him along the way. Gods, how he's missed her...

He lifts his hands to cup her jaw and keep her near, nuzzling to her nose as he asks tremulously, quietly: ]

I-is this real?

[ Can it possibly be real? The end of the darkness, and the return of his wife from across worlds? ]

[ she can hardly blame him for questioning it. she would, too, were their places reversed, and it took her so damned long to arrive.. no doubt he had begun to question whether he would ever see her again at all. whether or not she would be entirely unable to find her way to eos. she'd begun to doubt it herself.

but for all misgivings it is real, his hands on her face are warm and solid, and beneath the odor of blood and grime she can still catch his scent, so achingly familiar even after so many long years.

alisaie smiles, her breath rushing, trembling, her hands moving over his own, fingertips grazing the backs of his knuckles as she turns her head to press soft kisses to his palm. gods, she has so much to tell him, so much to hear from him. ]

Aye, dearheart.

[ she whispers, lifting heavy eyelids to look into his face, her smile weary but lingering. ]

It was no easy task, but for better or worse, here I am. That I should arrive at so auspicious a time seems almost fateful, were I the sort to believe in such things.

[ For his part, Prompto can't think it anything but fate that would bring her here now, at this particular time and place, at the end and the beginning. Of course, he'd always believed in fate, from the moment they had been pulled from different worlds, perfectly matched despite the distance they had crossed to be together. How could it be anything but fate, to have her here with him now, her gentle kisses tickling his palm, reassuring him this is real?

They have waited for this moment for so long.

He exhales a shuddering breath, leaning forward to kiss her mouth again, feeling weightless and dizzy in her arms. Distantly, he recalls he was in the middle of something, though the Glaives will surely understand what has happened with the rising of the sun. Gladio and Ignis will no doubt be along shortly, too, and might have questions about finding Prompto kissing an elf woman in the ruined streets, but he can't bring himself to pull away or detach himself from her. But then again, he probably won't ever be able to let her go willingly again. ]

You're so...tall.

[ He mumbles into her mouth, his lips curling. ]

[ he kisses her again, and alisaie is sure that she will never be able to achieve anything else in life when all she wants is this - his arms, his skin, the press of his mouth. nothing else matters.

but of course, he's at last commenting on what she knew he inevitably would, and alisaie is pulling back enough to cock a brow, the edge of her smile sharp. ]

Are you sure you have not shrunk?

[ He levels her with a look, but of course, there's no real malice in it. He'd known the eventuality of her growthspurt would happen someday, he just happened expected it to be quite so...drastic. (He'd also hoped to be together with her while it happened, but—well, they're together now, at least.)

He nudges his nose playfully to hers, still speaking against her mouth. ]

Mm...hey, I did some growing, too! [ He chuckles, and it feels so good. ] Speaking of...you haven't mentioned the beard. What do you think of the beard? Huh? Alisaie?

[ He needs her full review. ]

[ he certainly has. prompto may not have grown much in terms of height, but he is.. broader, somehow, he has filled in, and while he remains slim he is more.. solid. stronger. even his face is more angular, a bit less round and soft.

and, of course, there's that. ]

Beard?

[ she crows, incredulous. ]

Is that what you call this little tuft? Is that not being a bit generous?

[ her fingertips drop to his chin, scratching through the coarse hair. ]

[ Try as he might, he can't suppress a grin—it's hardly surprising that she's teasing him about his beard, but it took a lot of work, okay! Let him have this! It feels nice to have her scratching at it, like a pup being scratched behind the ears, and he nips playfully at her thumb. ]

Hey, it's more beard than not, isn't it? Anyyyyway, you didn't answer the question!

[ Does that mean she hates it?? Because he'll shave if she does, but...that's ten years worth of work down the drain... ]

[ """beard"""

he's really giving it a lot of credit here.. nevertheless, she cannot help her smile. ]

It is.. strange, to be sure, but I think that it suits you.

[ it's a hallmark, perhaps, of how very long it has been, how much time they have spent apart, how much both of them have changed, inside and out. gods, she has so much to tell him.. and he to tell her, like as not. ]

I have left my things at Hammerhead. There is.. much that we must discuss, when you have the time to meet me there.

[ though the last thing she wants to do is leave his side, she has interrupted him at a very important time, and she cannot leave louis alone for too long - he is a capable boy, but he has been through much these last weeks, and to be alone on a strange world is much to ask of a young boy. ]

[ Immediately, he opens his mouth to protest, because as it is for Alisaie, the last thing Prompto wants now that she has returned is to let her out of his sight once more. When she leaves, will he realize this was all just some sweet hallucination? That she never truly returned at all? The thought of parting from her now is unbearable, and his brow pulls tight in concern. ]

W-won't you stay? I-it....it might be awhile longer, but I...I just...

[ His eyes meet hers, searching. ]

I'm not ready to let you go again.

[ Not now, and not ever. ]

[ of course she understands. alisaie hardly wants to be apart from him any more than he wants to be apart from her, but more important than both of them, is louisoix. she could tell him here, and now, but it does not seem.. quite right. prompto has much to do, it is better saved for when they return to hammerhead.

a soft sigh, and she relents. how can she not? besides, no doubt louis continues to sleep, exhausting as their journey had been, she has some time yet left to spare. dipping her head in a nod, alisaie weaves her fingers through his, squeezing gently. ]

All right, you win. But we must needs be quick about it.

[ His relief is instant, his smile brightening once more, as he squeezes her hand in his. Maybe this is some kind of dream, some sort of delusion brought on by the exhaustion and euphoria and grief, but all the same, he will not choose to end it. She feels so real, she's warm and near and her eyes are just as beautiful as he remembers. He wouldn't trade her presence with him right now for anything in the world.

So he leans in to press another soft kiss to her lips — he's going to have to get used to leaning up now — before stepping back, starting to walk so he can lead her towards where the Glaives will be waiting for his instruction. ]

Why, you got a hot date waitin' for you?

[ is it cindy

because, hot ]

[ sorry prompto your girl on girl dreams will have to wait for another time to be fulfilled..

but alisaie does smile in a knowing sort of way in reply, her fingers slipping into his while they walk. it's so easy to fall right back into, as if no time has passed at all. ]

.. something like that.

[ What's that supposed to mean?!?!

Unless he's the hot date, and she has some...plans for when they get back to where she's staying, wink wonk. It's truly remarkable, how much time has passed, and yet they step back into the same place they occupied like it was only yesterday they'd seen each other last. Alisaie had carved out a spot in his life at his side, and since they had parted, that space has remained empty, unoccupied, simply waiting to be filled by her again. So much has changed—they've changed—but it so quickly becomes apparent that the love between them has not, and Prompto can't help but smile, despite everything.

His thumb brushes her knuckles as they walk, gentle and sure, as he steals glances her way every few moments as if to just remind himself that this is real, and she is here. They see to several things in the city before they at last depart for Hammerhead, and in truth, there's so, so much more to be done. But Prompto is bone-tired and spent and gods, when was the last time he showered? They're dusty and sore both, and so, once the immediate plans have been made and they can cut away, Prompto walks out of Insomnia and back towards Hammerhead with Alisaie at his side.

For all he has lost...for all Eos has lost, the future is bright once more. ]

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