My Light

t w e n t y - s e v e n

10 years later*

There's nothing much to do these days. It's been 10 years since Noctis' disappearance. I had gone through the 9 months of pregnancy with the girls with the guys coming to visit every once in a while, not as much together now a days as before. But that had stopped a year after I gave birth to my baby boy, Kai. He acts almost like Noctis. He's caring and sweet but acts tough and brave. Given he's only 10-years-old, he always wants to protect me and the kingdom. When he was five, he had asked non-stop about Noctis. He wanted nothing more than to know who his father was, but I didn't know what to say. No kid would want to hear that their father had disappeared 5 years ago and never returned. So, I'd tell him stories about Noctis, our adventures before he disappeared, and how Noctis would act around me and his friends. As time flew by, Kai stopped asking about Noctis. I never wanted him to forget about his father, thinking that Noctis had abandoned us for no reason, but would he understand that Noctis still had a duty to fulfill as The Chosen King? But anyway, the light had vanished. It was night all the time and demons started to roam the whole place. Lestallum has light to keep people protected from the demons, but Akiko, Aileen, and I decided to stay in Alesia. We had found out that the choker that Maria had given me was filled with enough light to shine in the kingdom. I was the only one who could activate it. Though it had stayed dark outside, we had plenty of light to keep the demons away from Alesia and took in some people who needed shelter. For 10 years, it's been like this. Prompto would visit occasionally to see Akiko and Kai. Kai had considered Prompto to be a father figure considering that he had no father. It broke my heart to see that he thought that he didn't have a father to love him, but I knew at some point, Noctis would come back to be the father figure Kai needed. Akiko, Aileen, and I trained Kai on how to fight just in case something bad were to happen. He learned how to fight quickly, having more strength in fighting with a spear and a bow and arrows. I couldn't be more proud of him.

Right now, I was spending my time with Kai trying to help him with his tutoring that Aileen would give him. He liked the extra attention I'd give him whether it'd be doing homework or just playing with him. He's grown so much over these 10 years. I'd give anything to have him in my arms as a baby again. "Aurie!" I hear someone call me, and I turn to see Akiko dash in with Aileen behind her. "Apologies, Your Majesty, but we have big news for you." Aileen says with a bow. "And what is it?" I ask as I stand up from the chair I was sitting in. "It'd be better if you and Kai were to come with us." Akiko says and I stare at her in confusion. I follow the girls as Kai follows beside me until we stand at the front doors of the palace. We see four men stand there and they turn to stare at us. I immediately recognize Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis. But there's the one who's standing in front of them with shoulder-length raven hair and whose eyes seemed to be very familiar to me. "Aura." the man says and I widen my eyes once I hear the familiar voice. "Noctis?!" I ask in shock and he smiles at me. I stood there in shock as he walked up to me and stared at me from head to toe. "You still look beautiful as ever." he says and I feel my cheeks heat up.

Kai suddenly stands in between Noctis and I as he looks at Noctis with a glare. "Who are you? I've never seen you with my uncles before." Kai says to Noctis with a raised brow. "I think we should have a little talk. If you have some time, Noctis?" I ask him. He turns to the others and they nod. "Yeah, we have time." he says with a sincere smile and I nod. "Kai, come along." I say as I look down at my son and turn to walk to a private room. "Mother! Who is this man?! Why is he important?!" Kai asks with a bit of an attitude. "Kai, enough. Your questions will be answered soon. For now, just come along." I say in a stern voice and he obeys. Noctis walks up to me as I start to walk again and looks at me with a sly smile. "You're a great mom, as I had expected." he says to me as I keep walking. "I had help from the others. They helped me with Kai a lot." I respond with a straight face. "Aura... I'm sorry I had left for 10 years, but I'm back. I'm here now." he tells me as we walk into my bedroom with Kai behind me as he shuts the door. "I know, Noctis, but for how long?! We both know what you have to do to stop this darkness! I don't know if my heart can handle it another time." I say to him with furrowed brows.