Well, here it is! My first Fabula Nova Crystallis story! Woot woot, and all that classical jazz! I'm not sure of the title for this one... if you've got any better ideas, please let me know!

Anyway, please read it! I know it's incredibly weird, and I have no idea where the hell it came from. Here we go...

STUPIDLINEBUTTONWON'TWORKONTHISPARTOFTHESTORY

Noctis hated his tie. It felt like it was choking him. Damn it, all he wanted to do was to take it off.

"Such a noble gesture. It is good to know we can still trust the youth of today!" The man laughed heartily at his own joke.

Come to think of it, he'd rather like to punch this blithering idiot in front of him.

"Mm." Noctis nodded his head once in the hope that would be a sufficient reply.

"This trouble with the crystals..." The man tutted and shook his head. "Tragic."

"Very tragic." The young man looked around, in the hope that someone would turn up and offer him a life line out of this conversation. The man said nothing, and for one blissful second, it looked like Noctis could escape.

"But then again," The man continued suddenly in his wheezy voice, sinking Noctis' spirit. "I suppose it is human nature to do whatever it takes to survive."

"I guess so." Noctis cleared his throat slightly. "If you excuse me, I need to talk to my bodyguard."

"Oh," The man looked put out. "Of course. I shall see you later, your highness." Noctis walked away quickly, breathing out slowly. He hated these big functions. They may be necessary, but everyone took a particular interest in him. Being heir to the throne was not easy.

The fire escape door in the far corner of the hall offered him some solace. He quietly made his way over to the door, slipping and sliding between groups of politicians and businessmen.

He smiled slightly to himself as he reached the door. He rested his hand on the cold metal bar and pushed down gently on it, praying that it wouldn't squeak or let out some other noise that would alert others to his location.

Luckily, the maintenance at the hall was good, so the door opened without the slightest noise. Noctis slid around the door, and ducked out onto the metal fire escape, closing the door behind him.

The air was bitterly cold and damp from the rain that had fallen in the afternoon. A sharp contrast to the dry, dusty air in the hall. The fire escape was still wet.

Noctis pulled off his tie. There was no-one to impress out here.

That was what he thought, until he heard a creak from above him. Looking up, he saw through the metal mesh a pair of feet. Gritting his teeth, he walked over to the steps and clambered up them.

As he reached the top, he saw a woman giving him a curious look. She had sharp blue eyes and hair that could only be described as reddish pink.

"Who are you?" He asked, trying to look dignified. The woman scanned him with her eyes.

"More importantly, who are you?" Her voice had an edge to it, a tone of mistrust and bitterness.

"I am Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum." He said calmly. "And you are?"

"People call me Lightning." She replied. Noctis noticed her fingering what appeared to be a weapon, tucked away in a holster.

"Never seen you at one of these functions before." He said, keeping an eye on her hand, ready to retaliate at the first sign of attack.

"That is because I have never been to one." Lightning kept an eye on him. There was an uncomfortable silence between the two for a while, broken only by classical music drifting in from the building.

"I do have weapons." He said, figuring that was what she was looking for. She raised a single eyebrow. "But I'm not going to use them unless you give me a reason." She turned her head and looked out over the city.

"Fair enough." She said after a moment, leaning against the wall. Noctis nodded, noticing that she had removed her hand from her weapon.

"So why are you here?" He asked, wondering if this was a good way to start conversation.

"Does it matter?"

Obviously not.

She wasn't like the other women at this function, he realised. What she wore was different – The women often wore expensive dresses and skirts, similar to how the men wore flashy suits. What she was wearing were clearly everyday clothes. White coat, short skirt – or were they shorts?

Her attitude was different. Most women would talk non-stop to him, question him, or worse, pity him. She however, seemed to have conversation, polite or not, far down on her list of priorities.

"You dropped your tie." She stated, her words cutting into the air. Noctis glanced down to see the piece of navy material lying on the floor, wet through.

"Who cares? I hate the blasted thing." Noctis grumbled, although he picked up the tie.

"Hm." Lightning's lips curled up slightly. "You don't act like a prince." He could tell she wanted to end the conversation then and there. She wanted to have the last word. He, on the other hand, wanted to push it a little further.

"And you don't act like a lady." He shot back, feeling a small smirk on his face.

"So how is a lady supposed to act?" She asked. "Does what you say, when you say it?"

"Not exactly." Noctis couldn't stop the grin on his face growing. "Well, they're not supposed to be out on fire escapes in the middle of the night."

"And Princes are?"

"We have our reasons."

"Of course you do." She was definitely being patronizing, but in a sarcastic way. "When you have power, you can do whatever you want with it..." Her voice trailed off, the bitterness in it almost overwhelming. Noctis wondered what had happened to change the atmosphere from teasing to deadly serious.

"Yes, we can take over the fire escapes with ease whenever we want." Noctis said in a posh voice, puffing his chest out.

Lightning was silent for a second.

"Heh." She grinned slightly.

He smiled as he felt a swooping sensation in his stomach. He blinked. He had felt that before – it was unnerving, the way he felt when he was falling through the air.

Silence fell again, but it was more comfortable. There was no awkwardness or edge. Noctis glanced down at his watch.

"Ten to ten." He muttered, half aloud, half to himself. "Ugh... I have to give a speech at ten o'clock."

"Oh." Lightning nodded. "Good luck with that."

"Aren't you going to watch it?" Noctis asked. She blinked, and looked slightly startled.

"I... I don't think so." She stammered.

"Why?" Noctis stared at her. She bit her lip slightly.

"I'm not supposed to be here." She murmured.

"A gatecrasher? Tut tut." Noctis clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

"I'm sorry." She shrugged.

"If you stand at the back quietly, no-one would notice you." He decided. She stared at him.

"Why do you want me to listen to your speech so badly?" Noctis shrugged and shuffled his feet, feeling awkward and shy. To be blunt, he didn't know why – If it sucked, she would tell him it sucked. It'd be nice to have someone who would be blunt with him, instead of tip-toeing around him. "Fine." She sighed. "I'll listen to your silly speech."

Noctis slid between another group of people, heading towards the back of the hall as fast as his feet would carry him. He had the feeling Lightning wouldn't wait long.

"Ah, Noctis!" The man from earlier, whose name Noctis couldn't be bothered to remember, ran over. "I said I would catch you later on!"

"Yes, you did." Noctis gritted his teeth.

"Moving speech. Inspiring." He nodded. "Your uncle must be proud."

"You'd have to ask him." Noctis felt a gust of cold air around his feet. Lightning had obviously grown bored and gone back out onto the fire exit. "If you'd-"

"You certainly have a way with words." The man smiled, sympathetically. "You must have gotten that from your mother."

"Yes, I've been told that before." Noctis shuffled his feet. This conversation was a carbon copy of the dozen or so conversations he had had since his speech. He just wanted to see Lightning again.

"It is such a shame such responsibility should fall on someone so young." The man sighed, as if it were of great sadness to him. Rubbish. "Of course, if there were someone to share the responsibility with..." He trailed off.

He, like everyone else, was fishing for news of a girlfriend, marriage, whatever.

"If only." Without bothering to make an excuse, Noctis walked away, and headed to the fire exit. He pushed down on the bar, slipped out, closed the door, and ran up the stairs again.

Lightning was leaning against the wall.

"Thought you might have left." He said, relieved that she hadn't.

"I was considering it." Her voice was clipped.

"So...?"

"Not bad." Lightning looked at him. "You hated it though."

"What?" Noctis was startled by this. Mainly because she was right. He was good at speeches, but he hated them with a passion.

"You need to work on your body language. You were stiff. Awkward. You felt uncomfortable, with all the attention on you, probably because you're shy. Which," She carried on, oblivious to the glare Noctis was sending her. "Is why you act arrogant. To hide it, because what good is a shy prince?"

"Shut up." Noctis scowled. Lightning looked at him.

"Give me a reason."

"I have weapons."

"So do I. And I'm sure I could beat you." She pushed herself up from against the wall, one of her hands slipping back.

Noctis grabbed her other hand by the wrist tightly. Lightning scowled and pulled backwards. Noctis stumbled forwards and bumped into her, ending up face to face.

Noctis, on an impulse, he kissed her.

Lightning stiffened, clearly not used to close contact. Noctis was fully expecting to be pushed away, or hit in the face.

What he didn't expect was for her to kiss him back.

Noctis didn't know how long it was before she pulled away, shaking her head.

"Sorry." She muttered, before turning to head down the stairs.

"I'll see you again." Noctis said, a statement, not a question. She smiled slightly, with a sad look in her eyes.

"Maybe." And with that she left. Noctis stared out at the city, feeling the swooping sensation in his stomach again. He stayed there for a while, before heading back into the world he hated.

"Hey Noct!" His friend Felix jogged over to him, with his usual grin on his face. "What's up? You look like you've been slammed over the head with a brick!"

"Noth-" He began to speak, before a scream and an explosion of bullets came from outside. He, along with everyone else in the room, ran towards the exits.

A man, one of the senior men in the council, was lying on the ground, covered in bullets and blood.

"An assassin!" A hysterical woman shrieked. "I saw her! A female assassin, she leapt from the sky and shot him down!"

"A female assassin?" One of the other council men asked gruffly. "Come, come... you've had quite a shock. Are you sure you weren't mistaken?"

"She was female, I know she was!" The woman bellowed. "She had pinky red hair, and-"

"Blue eyes." Noctis whispered.

Lightning was an assassin from Pulse. Pulse was a rival country to his own Kingdom, they believed that the crystals should be liberated.

She had been sent to kill council members and anyone else in a position of authority.

That's why she agreed to listen to my speech – So she could eye out targets.

But then why didn't she kill me?

I should have called the guards the second I knew she was armed – But I couldn't. I just couldn't. And now I have yet more innocent blood on my hands.

Lightning...

What are you?

The Prince.

I couldn't miss such an opportunity.

And yet... You were too cold. Too empty. It made me weak, unsure. I questioned my orders.

It was my mission. And now I am paying for my weakness.

30 lashes on my back. They wouldn't stop bleeding – Vanille was the one who saved my life. If she hadn't found me abandoned in the forest, I would have bled to death.

They have given me another chance.

This is my final chance.

This time I must not fail. I must not hesitate.

We will meet again, for the last time. Ever.

Noctis...

I am sorry.

Weird, huh? I have no idea where the hell this came from... but I needed to put up a Final Fantasy XIII story, and this is the one I have that was nearest being finished. Should I carry it on? Or leave it here?

Yep, Felix is shot-gun guy! Felix - Happy, prosperous.

I know Anime used the same name in her story, but in my defense, I had chosen that name before I began reading her story. If there are any issues with me using the name, let me know and I'll change it.

Also, I'm trying to work out what FFXIII story I should put up - I've got a tonne that are half-way finished. Gimme a hand guys - which one should I focus on?

Alcohol and Party poppers (working title) - This is all Vanille's fault. I should never have let her throw this damn party. Or maybe it's Felix's fault - He's the one who brought in the bloody alcohol. (Genre: Humor/General. Lightning's POV, crossover with Versus. Warnings: A lot of language, alcohol)

What happened in the inn, STAYS in the inn - Lightning, Snow, Vanille and Sazh are spending the night at a -number 8- seedy inn. What could go wrong? Apart from Sazh being wacked out on anti-histimines, Vanille being waay too knowledgeable, Snow being drunk, and Lightning losing her patience and sanity? (Genre: Humor. Third person, pure FFXIII. Warnings: Language, innuendo, slight violence)

Noctis the Skirt Chaser (Working Title) - Noctis is in a very, very, very strange mood. At best, he's drunk. At worst... he's hormonal. (Genre: Humor. Third person, crossover with XIII. Warnings: Language, slight violence, Noctis trying to chat up Lightning.)

Painting Lightning's room is harder than you think - Vanille decides to cheer Lightning up by painting her room, with the help of an extremely reluctant Snow. What could possibly go wrong? "Explain. What happened. NOW." (Genre: Humor. Third person, pure XIII. Warnings: None I think!)

When Lightning Strikes - There are time when Snow thanks God she can't remember how screwed up her life was. And there are times he wished he had done more. (Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Friendship. Third person, pure XIII. Warnings: Will contain child abuse and self harming)

Stained - Lightning just wants to clean her weapon. But sometimes it can reflect more than the light. (Genre: Angst. Third person, songfic, pure XIII. Warnings: Will contain slight self harm)

Frozen - Lightning's so cold. It's freezing out here, and she's alone. It's dangerous - And they've finally gotten to her. (Genre: Hurt/Comfort. Third person, songfic, pure XIII. Warnings: Slight gore)

There are one or two others, but they aren't near being finished yet.

So, please let me know what you think! Please, please review!

Peace out, mes amies!

SunflowerWielder (*.*)