The Sole Star (Final Fantasy XV Fanfic)

Chapter XLII

The following morning after breakfast, Prompto looked around for the girl. "Has anyone seen Lora?"

"I believe she slipped out right after breakfast," Ignis informed him.

Noctis smirked. "Now's your chance to go tell her while she's off by herself."

Gladio chuckled. "Go get her, loverboy."

Prompto nodded with determination. "Yeah, okay."

"Aww, that's so cute!" Iris gushed. "You two will be so sweet together!"

Prompto quickly left before he had to listen to anymore comments. He went outside and looked around. He finally spotted the girl around the side of the house. She stood in front of the white fence along the edge of the cape. Prompto gulped, his courage fading at the sight of her. She was so perfect. How could she ever accept someone like him? He pushed away the negative thoughts and slowly approached her. He could now see that she was staring down at her open locket.

"Hey, Lora," he greeted, causing her to turn her head to glance at him. "What're you doing out here?"

He stopped and stood beside her as she stared down at her mother's picture. "Just... thinking."

"Bout what?"

She sighed, refusing to meet his gaze. "About... where I should go from here."

The blond's eyes widened. "You're not thinking of parting ways, are you?"

"I don't know. Guess it depends on what I plan to do."

"Does this have anything to do with Purnima?" She turned her head away. Prompto placed a hand on the side of her face and made her meet his gaze. "Lora, you know you can tell me what's on your mind."

She smiled lightly, placing a hand over his. "I know." Her eyes darted to the side and her smile faded. "It's just... It seems like everything I do costs me someone I care about. That's why I don't want to go to Luminis, because I'm afraid of losing someone else."

Prompto's eyes widened. "Lora, it's not you. Sometimes these things just happen." He placed his free hand over hers that held the locket. He closed it before clutching her hand. "Everyone you lost - it was never your fault. Your decisions or actions had nothing to do with what happened to them." He grinned. "And I can guarantee that you won't be losing us anytime soon. We're tough enough to hold our own no matter the circumstance."

Lorelai smiled, the blond's hand drifting away from her face and back to his side. She gripped his other hand in her own and turned to look out at the view. Silence fell over the two momentarily, but their hands stayed connected. Prompto took sideways glances over at the girl, admiring her. Her black hair swayed in the sea breeze and her eyes seemed to shine with new hope. The gunman gulped, thinking over his next words carefully.

"L-Lora, I have a bit of a c-confession to make." She looked over at him with a smile, humming in response. "When you were unconscious, I had to give you an elixir... uh, m-mouth to mouth." His face was heating up. "E-Ever since, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it." Lorelai lightly traced her fingertips over her lips, oblivious to what had transpired while she was unconscious. Prompto gulped, noticing the shock on her face. "I guess what I'm trying to say is... I-I like you, a lot. I really really really like you, Lora."

He was surprised to suddenly hear her giggle at him. She squeezed his hand. "Prompto, I sort of already knew."

"Huh? You... did?"

She smiled. "Well yeah, you weren't very discreet, and I wasn't born yesterday. It was a bit obvious."

"Then why didn't you say anything?"