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Collaboration Project IV: Learning

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Noctis' keen eyes observed the woman who stood by his side as always. She seemed rather tired; though that was no surprise to Noctis since he knew how stubborn she was when it came to working whether it was just a cover-up story or not. Lightning Farron was a complete workaholic. The prince frowned; he planned to change that soon.
Lightning was too uptight, too serious and firm. It was obvious that work was a big part of her life. Noctis could easily tell by how professional she was not matter what the circumstances.
The female soldier's eyes were sharp and ALWAYS kept a keen eye on her surroundings and the people in the area; this helped her flush out whoever planned to make one false move.
She was impressive as a soldier and comrade, but Noctis could not help but feel concerned when it came to her social life. Did she not have any friends aside from perhaps her family—something she vaguely mentioned?
The meeting was halfway over either way so it gave him time to think for a moment until his guests announced they would end the session for the day, much to the future king's relief.
Lightning was still there, leaning against the wall and staring blankly at nothing. Noctis sent a frown in her direction as he approached her. "The meeting's over; you can leave now." Lightning stared at him blankly. "… Fine." Despite her answer, she did not budge from the spot.
"Stop that and just take a break already." Noctis insisted, trying not to loosen his tongue to the point that he might say something offensive.
The strawberry-blonde soldier crossed her arms. "I am taking a break." "No, you are standing against the wall staring at nothing. That is not taking a break." Noctis retorted, glaring at her and pointing at the wall she was leaning up against.
"You know what? Just meet me outside at the palace gates later." Noctis said. Lightning raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?" "Just do it! Meet me in…three hours." Without another word, the dark prince left the room. Lightning rolled her eyes then walked over to the long table and sat on the large chair Noctis had been sitting on every time there was a meeting taking place. "Not bad." She mumbled as she settled down on the prince's chair for a short nap.


Noctis had expected her to be on time, but he did not expect her to be at the gates before him. Typical Lightning. He mentally groaned to himself and approached the soldier, giving her a look. "I said to MEET me at the gate, NOT wait for me at the gate." Lightning shrugged. "Same difference." With a groan, Noctis placed a hand on her shoulder and led her out of the gates.
"Listen, I know you're just doing your job as a soldier, but I want you to just take it easy today. Okay?" Noctis said, looking at her right in the eyes.
Lightning sighed; it was difficult to make a smartass comment when Noctis acted so concerned, especially towards her. It was just so odd the way it made her feel.
"Fine. Just for today." She relented. Noctis smiled lightly as he walked on but Lightning saw it; her face grew warm and flushed red. She shook her head at herself and followed Noctis around town.
He brought her back to where he first introduced her to dumplings and chuckled at the memory; Lightning had seemed a little insecure and unsure when it came to new experiences. But in the end, she relented and now she seemed to enjoy eating out when she felt like joining Noctis and the boys.
They shared little conversation, but neither minded it. The quiet was rather nice and comfortable and it did not bother the pair. However they did exchange several opinions from time to time when a short topic came into mind.
They continued their walk and the prince noticed the workaholic soldier began to slowly relax. For that he was glad; she needed to get out more often rather than just work all day and night; that was HIS duty not hers. But then again, this was Lightning after all.
The pair stopped at some point and Noctis grinned slightly.
"How about some éclairs?"
"What?"
"You always act like you're about to murder somebody every time you see one. It's about time you got over your issues with éclairs."
"I don't have issues with them. I just don't like it much."
Noctis frowned. "Éclairs are nice, you should try one." Éclairs were his favorite dessert and sometimes he liked to eat them for breakfast if he did not have the time for a big meal.
Lightning gave him a look. "No thanks. I don't like sweets much."
"Just for today." He insisted, intent on making her act as if she had been offended whenever somebody at an éclair. Which was odd behavior considering that it was only a sweet pastry and there was no reason to be upset whenever somebody ate one.
Lightning glared and Noctis was sure a vein had popped out from his head.
He grabbed the reluctant soldier and dragged her into the bakery. He left Lightning to sulk in the corner as he went up front to as for several éclairs. The baker glanced at Lightning and smirked at Noctis as he handed the prince his choice of pastries.
The female soldier scoffed as they left the bakery with a bag of éclairs. Noctis sighed and glanced at her. "The park is nice at the time of day."
Lightning said nothing as he led her to the park. Indeed it was rather nice but the soldier was in no mood for pleasantries. Noctis gestured for her to sit beside him on a bench while he dug into the bag of sweet treats. He held one éclair out to her while another one hung in his mouth, already half-eaten. The female soldier stared at the pastry as if it were a bane of her existence and pushed his hand away gently. "No."
"Just try ONE. Would it kill you eat one éclair, even just a bite?" The prince gave Lightning a look of impatience.
"Again; no thanks."
"What is wrong with éclairs? What do you have against pastry?"
"Nothing!"
"Then try one!"
"No!"
Noctis lost his patience entirely and pounced. He pinned Lightning on the grass and held an éclair over her. "Eat it!" "Get the hell off me!" Lightning growled and nearly managed to shove him off her. "Eat the damn éclair!" He insisted. The prince practically tried shoving the sweet pastry down her throat but Lightning kept turning away.
Finally, Noctis stood up and dumped the éclair back in the bag. "Fine! Be that way then!"
Lightning grunted and sat up, fixing her uniform and dusting some grass off her arms. The prince was still staring at her. "Can you at least tell me why you hate éclairs so much? They're just desserts." He watched as the soldier held still for a moment before she let out a sigh.
"I don't hate éclairs. I just… I just stopped enjoying them."
Her serious tone made Noctis stop and settle down. He nodded at her. "And why is that?" Lightning looked at him then at the grass before she moved over to sit beside him on the bench again. "It was a long time ago. When my parents were alive…they would take me out for treats. Éclairs were one of them." Noctis just listened, though he could not resist taking out and éclair to munch on while he listened; Lightning just ignored that fact.
"I enjoyed getting treats with them. But…it changed when they…left the world." Lightning sighed and rubbed her temples, pushing unwanted memories back from her mind.
Noctis stopped munching. "That's why you stopped enjoying éclairs? Because your parents were not around to enjoy them with you?" Lightning was silent for a moment. There was another reason why she stopped liking éclairs, including the word itself. But she did not feel ready to tell him the second reason; not yet.
Noctis sat back and sighed. "You know…just because they are gone it doesn't mean you have to stop enjoying things like a favorite snack. I know it must be very personal for you but…I don't think your parents would want you to stop enjoying what life has to offer."
He made sense, Lightning had to admit.
Still she lowered her head and felt herself fall back to those times she had to be strong to protect the only family she had left.
Noctis placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Okay, look… I won't try to make you eat these anymore. But at least try to have some once in a while. I may not understand what happened in your life completely, but…I understand you want to learn." Lightning flushed and cleared her throat. "Maybe."
The prince handed her the bag of éclairs with a small friendly smile. "Take it? Please?" Lightning took the bag of pastries from him and sighed. "I'll try, but no promises."
Noctis chuckled and pat her head, smiling at her even more. Lightning could have sworn her face was now on fire, but her mind reasoned that she was probably coming down with a fever. Perhaps she should relax more as he suggested.
Still, a small part of her rationalized that it was not a fever.


Once they returned to the palace, Noctis announced he would be in the study all night but allowed Lightning to come over and do her duty as a bodyguard, on the condition that she catch a few hours of sleep first before joining him later.
Lightning agreed as they parted ways down the hall.
The soldier stared at the bag of pastry. She remembered the last time he gave her a bag of éclairs, but instead of eating them, she gave it away to Prompto, Ignis, and Gladiolus. Noctis had seemed disappointed in that but he said nothing.
Now here she was again with another bag of éclairs. Maybe THIS TIME she would try some. And also to avoid upsetting the prince again.
She sat down on the bed and sighed as she took out one of the sweet pastries. She stared at it; she could not remember the last time she even touched one. It was sweet and delicious; at least that was what she remembered when she was a little girl. Even Serah liked these treats.
Reluctantly, Lightning took a bite and tasted the chocolate and creamy filling that had been inside the bread. "… Not bad."


That night, Noctis sat at a large oak desk, going over what seemed like dozens of paperwork. He sighed and rolled his neck and shoulders, trying to get rid of the kinks in his tired body.
A knock on the door interrupted the silence and Noctis looked up. "Come in." He said, trying not to sound tired.
Lightning entered and Noctis sighed in relief; glad it was her who entered instead of another servant with more paperwork to hand over to him.
The female soldier walked over to his desk and stared at the stack of papers beside him. "That busy?" "Yeah. Did you get some sleep like I told you?" Noctis raised an eyebrow at Lightning and looked her over. She rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, I slept. I…even ate one of the éclairs you gave me."
The dark prince seemed to perk up at that. "And…? How were they?" Lightning showed him the bag of éclairs and looked away from him.
"I thought it would be better if we shared them instead. Since you had nothing else to do but work on those papers." She said and Noctis could have sworn her face turned pink. His own face was now red. "I…well… Sure." He smiled and stood up from the leather chair.
He shared a couple of the treats with Lightning until she glanced at the paper stack again. "If you want, I could help with that."
Noctis was about to protest then stopped himself; might as well let Lightning have her way since she did follow his terms and conditions today. And she was trying her best to get over whatever she hated about his favorite pastry.
He nodded. "Sure. Think you can handle it?" "I've done paperwork before." She said with a shrug. Noctis chuckled. "Fair enough. You take half and I take the other half."
Lightning smiled. "Deal."
A new collab with my friend :iconchinzru: Hope you enjoy this new chapter!

In Learning, Noctis tries to convince Lightning to take a break and get over her dislike eclairs. Though reluctant at first, Lightning tries her best to make a first step.

Lightning makes a reference to Collaboration Project II in this chapter as well.

Take a look at chinzru's picture of "Learning" right here: [link]
© 2012 - 2024 LightningFang
Comments18
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Lightninga's avatar
Waaaaayyyyyy XD
Lightning have to learn to have relax and fun XD Our favourite soldier, always so worker XD
Very Good the fic XD