Archive of Our Own ^beta

“This isn’t how I pictured this going.” The blond muttered to herself, hands laced over her wound.

It had all been false promises. Stella cursed herself for being so naïve. She had been educated better than that. She had never trusted Idola, the leader of the country that conquered her own. She really should have known better. The fact she wasn’t surprised that he’d shot her and left her for dead cemented the fact in her brain. Stella wondered absentmindedly what Etro would say when she reached the goddess' gates.

Stella wasn’t too heartbroken by the fact she’d leave this world. She knew she’d be mourned by the people of Tenebrae, but she’d let them down. Maybe this was the price of her being an idiot. She only wished that she could’ve thrown more of a wrench in Idola’s plans had she known earlier. Her only regret was that she hadn’t figured it out sooner. Well, maybe it wasn’t her only regret. The sole other would probably have to be making the raven-haired prince so upset.

His eyes flared red as he held her. Noctis had tried all sorts of healing magic but, although it had dulled the pain, it wasn’t enough to stop what had happened. He was just a little too late. Two minutes earlier and maybe things would’ve been different. She had tried to tell him not to hold her the way he was, the kind reminiscent of a lovers’ embrace that left thick blotches of blood everywhere, but he’d refused. He didn’t care about his damned clothes, he said.

“Damn it, Stella. You… You…” His voice broke then. Everything about Noctis seemed to have shattered. His cool façade and even his reckless side were gone now. His face looked terribly young to Stella as it was, all twisted and tear-filled. It reminded her of the little boy she used to know.

She reached up to him, trying to wipe the tears away without getting blood on his face. Noctis, being the same stubborn Noctis she knew, makes this impossible when he presses her hand against his cheek. Her fingers leave crimson streaks in their wake. He wouldn’t let go, though. He kissed the top of her hand just like he had when they were young. Because that’s what princes did to greet ladies they liked. Stella didn’t have enough energy to sob, but if she did she probably would have. If things had been just a little different, then this wouldn’t have happened. Nothing had changed between them. Maybe they were still the same. Maybe things would’ve been okay. Of all the things she’d miss when she was gone, she’d miss Noct the most.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered. Her vision was starting to get fuzzy around the edges. It wouldn’t be long until she met Etro.

Noctis shook his head. “That bastard’s going down. I swear to all the Gods I’ll-”

“Noct, I-” She coughed hard and spat up blood. He wiped it away and Stella decided she wouldn’t protest about that anymore. Her time was running out and she thought that the important things mattered more. Noctis’ people were at stake. “If you go to the south tower now you can catch up to-” another coughing fit. Damn, Stella thought to herself, dying is a horrible process.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Noctis said harshly, his words coming out jumbled and fast. “I love you and I don’t want to leave your side.”

Stella didn’t know whether the tears had started before or after Noct had said ‘I love you’. All she knew was that it hurt so terribly much to see him like this. “I love you, too. Maybe in another life-” she coughed up more blood. “Maybe in another life we could be lovers.”

“Why can’t we-” He was interrupted by another bloody cough on Stella’s behalf. There was a sound in his throat but he fought it down. His eyes weren’t red any longer. “Parks. We’ll have to go to parks.”

“And sleep in late.” Stella added hoarsely. She could barely breathe now, but she was smiling. “Go see movies.”

“And try those stupid junkfood things advertized all over the place.” Noct was halfway between a smile and a full-blown meltdown. “All those things that couples do and Stella please just stay with me we can do that stuff now-”

But they couldn’t, because Stella had stopped breathing. Etro was calling. Stella wanted to fight more than anything now, but it was all too late. She was already flying through the sky towards the gate. She tried to claw her way back to the ground, but the goddess herself scooped her up like a child. Etro had a motherly smile. “All is well, my darling. You’ve done more than enough.”

****

Stella woke up in an old band tee that she didn’t recognize because Noct’s taste in music was about three different shades of obscure. She made motions to get up, her goal being to make the coffee that her boyfriend would need to cure him of the zombie-like state he’d get in just after he wakes up. She looked at him for a long moment before pushing herself up off the bed. He was sleeping soundly.

Flashes of memories from a life that was definitely not hers run through her brain. This was the real world, twenty fourteen, after all. There was no magic. There were no monsters apart from the human kind and those in video games. Not to mention that while Noctis was well-off he was no royal, although he could have his moments of princelyness. Still, every time she picked up one of Noct’s fantasy video game cases she was glad it wasn’t her and him on the cover. She’d get a kind of chill down her spine when she saw them, which is why she never played. She’d felt as if she’d had enough of that for one lifetime.