The cool wind blew gently against her skin, rustling her pink locks. Lightning kept her eyes shut and listened to her surroundings. Aside from the distant sound of the highway, it was a soundless night. Nothing out of the ordinary, not many people tended to be about at one in the morning. She was assigned the late night patrol much to her sister's chagrin. Serah was not particularly happy with this arrangement because it meant a sleeping Lightning from morning till noon, training, supper and then it was patrol again. Quality sister time became rare. The soldier girl sighed, she did feel extremely guilty when Serah voiced her concerns… but "a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do." Besides she wasn't leaving her completely alone, that blonde idiot was always by her side. When Lightning returned home every day she had to throw him out the house and he would crawl back still determined as ever to win her approval. Snow was resilient all right, and his annoying hero antics continuously grated on her nerves but at the same time it gifted her with a peace in mind that if Serah was in any trouble, he would be there to save her…and then boast about it in the end.

Being paid was the only upside to her patrol, not like there was any upside for the graveyard shift, well…maybe except one, but she would rather not talk about that. Since there was normally nothing to do, Lightning got extremely bored. To keep herself entertained she plotted various ways to bring Snow to his demise while making it look like an accident, which wasn't too challenging because he was an…idiot. There was no other simpler way of putting it. However, all the good ideas were already thought of and it was becoming increasingly difficult to create one that wasn't border line impossible or entirely sadistic.

She almost groaned out of frustration at the stupidity of her latest idea which involved kupo nuts, a moogle and- she was interrupted from her thoughts when her ears picked up the sound of shoes lightly landing on the ground. Relief swelled inside, she found her distraction from the sinking depths of stupidity. The soldier did not even have to second guess.

She knew who it was.

"Didn't think you were showing tonight."

"My meeting ran a little longer than usual" answered the quiet voice. She then felt the warm presence of the person as he settled beside her against the wall.

"Speaking of which, don't you have another one in the morning?" she asked.

"Maybe, but I can spare a few minutes here."

Lightning smirked to herself. He always ended up staying longer than a few minutes; in fact sometimes he would only leave when the early signs of the sunrise peaked over the horizon. In other words, when her shift ended.

"Just don't blame me when you fail to stay awake during the meeting."

She was met with silence. Light lifted her head and opened her eyes. They took a few seconds to adjust to the darkness; she turned and glanced at the figure next to her. The moon lit up his features. He had his head tilted up slightly so that he was looking at the stars. He looked tired as she noted the dark circles below his eyes. She shook her head disapprovingly. Her motherly instincts kicked in.

"You need sleep Noctis."

"It's Noct, and I'm fine."

"Well Noct, judging from the state you're in, I think you're far from fine. When was the last time you had a good night's sleep?"

"I don't need it" he shrugged

Stubborn ass. Lightning thought. She had no clue on why he was so adamant to accompany her during her patrol. It's not like she needed it. She was perfectly fine on her own.

"And I don't need you here."

Noctis's lips curled into a smug smile as he continued to gaze at the stars. Despite her words, he knew Lightning appreciated his company just as much as he appreciated hers.

Light glared at the prince as he failed to answer her again, but when she saw how his cheek was slightly raised from the side, she sighed loudly. Wipe that smug look off face you princely bast-

"I have a day next week off…" the smug prince trailed.

"Good for you." She answered curtly. She didn't mean for it to come out rude but she was rather ticked off at his stubborn attitude. Plus, 'holiday' wasn't a word in her dictionary.

The prince picked up on her annoyance and knew that it was her usual sign of ending a conversation, but he had to finish what he wanted to say. He coughed to clear his throat and his normal cool voice came out slightly strained. "I was wondering if you would, you know..."

No she didn't know.

"Um, are you busy next Saturday?" Noctis cursed himself. Of all the ways to phrase that question..

Lightning raised an eyebrow. Where exactly was he going with this?

"I am afraid I'm always busy. Danger never sleeps or takes a vacation apparently."

"I'll take care of it. I'm sure the city will survive for one day." She could hear the amusement in his voice. Now she was curious. The way he was dragging this out was testing her patience.

"Why do you ask?"

He lifted his arm to scratch his head. Lightning was an expert at reading body language. He was nervous which was something new. It made her curiosity grow even further.

"I- I was wondering..." Stuttering now? Interesting she noted. The usually cool prince losing his composure. This must be important. "Would you care to join me for dinner?"

Lightning's mind froze and she had to backtrack. His words hung in the air for a moment. She stood rigidly as she tried to process the question. Did Noctis Lucis Caelum ask her out…on a date? It seemed like a joke her scumbag brain would play on her. A fierce mental battled ensued. A part of her was screaming to accept while the other was convinced she had heard wrong. She knew the latter was incorrect, her hearing was impeccable but denial was a common thing. Torn between the two she was losing herself in inner turmoil. Suddenly out of nowhere she did something very out of character…she laughed… loudly. Her laughter broke through the silent night and seemed to echo around the castle grounds. The other soldiers on patrol who were dozing off became alert and scanned the area curiously for the mysterious sound. She didn't know what overcame her but couldn't help it; this whole situation was absolutely absurd.

While Lightning continued to laugh, Noctis furrowed his eyebrows and stared wordlessly at this spectacle. It wasn't the reaction he was hoping for and he didn't know if it was a good sign or not. However he did relax a little, he hardly witnessed her crack a smile so experiencing her laughter was a chance he would not waste. He decided he liked the sound...a lot. His lips turned up into a slight grin even though the girl in front of him chipped away at his ego.

The laughter died down quickly into quiet chuckles and Lightning took a deep breath to compose herself. She looked towards the prince to apologise for her behaviour but had to refrain from bursting again when she saw the look of utter confusion on his handsome face. Instead she cracked an awkward smile. She had put herself through enough embarrassment already.

"So is that a yes or no?"

"What do you think?"

"I'm actually not quite sure but I was hoping you were laughing out of pure delight at the prospect of having dinner with me. Most girls would."

Lightning wanted to say she wasn't like most girls but it sounded cliché so she kept her opinion to herself.

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"I'll grace you with my presence next Saturday."

She swore her heart skipped a beat when she saw the smile he gave her.

It had become a nightly routine for him to join her up on the tower. It was odd, normal people were intimidated by her and did all they could to get out of her way. He didn't though, then again, he wasn't normal. A tad strange is what she described him as, because just like her, he was not much of a talker. In fact they would stand every night in a comfortable silence which Light found she actually enjoyed. Weird. She didn't enjoy anyone's presence besides her sister's. It was sort of unnerving how different he made her feel.

She sighed contently. Not that she was complaining or anything.

A/N:

First fanfic. Don't judge me