The Dawn

A/N: Warning spoilers ahead for the entire game! If you haven't seen the ending turn away now because this story is all centered on one of the best endings to a video game ever.

Also, this is heavy on the Promptis!

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He never thought he'd see this moment.

After years of fighting, struggling, and hoping for a miracle- he was shocked when this moment finally came. The dawn was everything he'd remembered. But with all the relief that filled him it was soon depleted in an instant. It meant it was over.

Sunlight burned through the dark shadow of clouded sky. A sky he never thought he'd glaze upon again. It was a shimmering golden color that faded into an ocean blue. The color compared to Galdin Quay's shore. It was a blue that only reminded him of bright blue eyes- he felt his heart clutch at the thought. His knees grew weak. His hands shook barely holding his grasp on the pistols he'd had since the beginning. They held an even heavier weight now knowing that he gave them to him.

He never thought he'd hate the light but now, in this moment, he wanted nothing but the haunting darkness to return if it would mean one more second beside him. The sky, the light, the silence, he hated it all with a burning passion and what it meant. He was gone. He finally truly lost him. Forever.

After ten years of waiting, one night could have never been enough. But if he was honest with himself, could any time really be enough time spent with him? He could change the fate of destiny he would never have let him go. Neither would his friends by his side now. He glanced over to see the faint drips streaming from under Ignis' glasses and then his pale eyes saw another tear gently slide and fall from Gladiolus' face. He never thought the day would come where he saw him weak and broken. Gladio was the steady hand that held him together, no, held them all together and even he was destroyed.

None of them would ever be able to celebrate in this warmth and light.

His grip gave out and his pistols fell from his grasp and instead of the weapon materializing into crystal dust and fading away, it clattered harshly to the stone pavement of Insomnia's streets. The sound echoed throughout the silence of the once crowded streets that he'd travelled along side of him.

That broke him. Everything Noctis was... had disappeared with him.

His heart shattered when his knees hit the concrete. His hands gripped tightly at the royal garments he wore for the special and last occasion. He wished he could grab his heart and rip it out to stop the pain. His fingers curled into the black jacket, tugging at it as if it would relieve all the agony and loss he felt in this moment.

He hadn't realized he was crying aloud- or at all, until Ignis placed a shaken hand on his shoulder and Gladiolus stood beside him. He was crying that loud, disgusting, and desperate cry. Tears were streaming down his freckled cheeks and falling to the same street that they once stood together as they departed Insomnia. A time when he believed the worse of their worries was going to be camping, spending hours in a car, and putting up with each other. Now he'd give anything to relive those perfect and precious moments.

He hated Arydan. He hated the light. And he hated himself the most; he couldn't protect the one thing he vowed to do. Not out of duty but out of something that meant so much more.

Love.

Scenes of Noct's rare smile, his laugh, and his words filled his mind. All of it was too much for him. For Ignis. For Gladio. He knew they were all reliving the same moments over and over and over again in their minds. But they had to accept it the same way Noctis had already accepted his fate.