Chapter Text
Iris pierced her eyes, “And whose idea is it in the first place?” she asked.
After came back to the camp, the boys were immediately put on an open court, standing after their mother who was sitting up in camping chairs. Behind mothers, the spectators were watching. Some were cheering the boys like Vanille and Snow, muttering ‘be strong!’ silently. Some were trying to defend the boys without being too obvious, like Gladio and Prompto,
“Come on, at least they come back alive” Prompto tried to break the ice, “There must be some teamwork value th-”
“ARE YA LOST YA DAMN MIND?!” Cindy turned her body and yelled at her husband,
“If ya defend him every damn time, yo stupidity will run into him!” she said, “Do ya want that to happen?!”.
Everyone knew, that if her accent came out, that means her anger was a real deal.
Prompto fell silent immediately, “NO, MAM!” he exclaimed.
And of course, there were those who were completely enjoying the show, like Fang who was chuckling in full of amusement. Beside her, Aranea was thinking of blowing her husband to high heaven later. For she was sure it was due to Ignis’s gene that their daughter was such a perfectly behaved child. Sometimes, the three troublemakers’ antics were punching her in the face, reminding her how her motherhood was relatively easy compared to Lightning, Cindy, and Iris.
‘Yeah, definitely going to blow him with that trick’.
She turned to Ignis who was sitting with Cor in the back and caught his eyes. Aranea winked at him and slightly bit her lips. Ignis was caught off guard by her teasing and tried his best to cover his smile. His wife was surely a wild being.
Sitting beside him, Cor and Sazh were sweat dropping by the couple’s antic.
Oh, how amazing it was to be surrounded by lovely married couples.
They just wished that by the time the evening came, they wouldn’t hear them having a wrestling match inside their tent. But in retrospect, Cor was happy to witness the boys and their growing family, their difficulty as well as their joy being parents.
His life felt fulfilled that way.
Meanwhile, Sazh had a different thought. With Dajh going to university next spring, he would surely felt loneliness like never before. Sometimes, he looked up to the sky and tried to remember her late wife’s face, to only being disappointed at himself. He was at the point where he could no longer remember her face and even her voice.
How pathetic of him.
Ignis’s mind wondered to a dangerous place where his wife’s mouth was down there and before he couldn’t control his body, he cleared his throat and got up from his chair,
“Excuse me” he said to Cor and Sazh, “I still have some cooking to do” Ignis walked away from the scene.
At the same time, Serah also got up from her place and heading in the same direction as he did. When the two of them reached the cooking area, Noctis was there sitting on a chair with a can of cold ebony in his hand. He was facing toward the girls who were busy playing hopscotch on the flat, dry ground near the woods. Odin was with them, watching the girls attentively.
While Ignis busied himself cooking and finishing the dishes, the petite woman took a chair and put it beside Noctis’s chair.
“Good afternoon, Your Majesty” she playfully greeted him.
Noctis smiled, “That’s cute of you, sister” he answered, “But I prefer you call me ‘brother’ as usual”.
Serah smiled and then sat on the chair, “How’s the girls doing?” she asked.
“Having fun and behaving as usual” he replied.
“The opposite of the boys, it seems” she said.
The king chuckled, “They truly need some lecturing” he said, “I believe your dear sister is currently getting the job done”.
“Well, she is” Serah said, “Though I am feeling a little bit sorry for the boys”.
Noctis smiled, “That’s why I don’t go there” he said, “I will feel sorry for them and just stop it midway”,
“And then give Azrael some soft words that will absolutely be forgotten by tomorrow. Clearly, I am not qualified for the job”,
“Luckily, I have your sister. She always gets the things done around the house” he said.
Serah chuckled, “Yeah, she never wavered when she feels something truly needs to be resolved”.
Silent fell between them. Though Ignis felt Serah wanted to say something more.
And of course she was, “Reflecting from you and Light, every person was built and risen differently” she said.
“Indeed, that’s true” he replied.
“And so is a child. There are those who are strong mentally and physically, but there are also those who force themselves to be strong when they actually are not” she emphasized the words.
“Quite right” Noctis agreed.
“Yes. And such circumstances are brought by their environment. Whether it is at their own home and or the school” she emphasized some words again.
Ignis forced himself to keep his face straight and tried to divert his attention into chopping a loaf of bread for the dessert he was making. Six, he knew what she was trying to say. And he was giddy to know Noctis’s replies.
“Yeah…” he hesitated, “That could be the case”.
“Right?!” Serah exclaimed, “There’s this study that said Tenebrae has the highest rating in children’s happiness, and the biggest portion of it is because their education system is excellent”,
“Do you know that they don’t give their students homework?” she asked Noctis.
“I think Iggy mentioned it once” Noctis mumbled,
“Serah, could you just directly tell me what’s bugging your mind?” he asked his sister-in-law.
The pink-haired woman took a deep breath and released it slowly, “Before I say it, I want you to know that I speak not as your sister, but as your subject, Your Majesty” she said.
Noctis nodded and Serah began to talk again, “I am a teacher. The sole purpose of my job is to educate children. And I am happy to be one, as Lucis puts teachers in high regard. That’s a privilege that teachers in some countries don’t have. And I thank the government for it”,
“Though, as a teacher, I couldn’t help but see how the children are suffocated by the education system which is eradicated by the very same government”.
The man in front of her fell quiet for some seconds, “Well, first I’d like to say thank you that you appreciate the government regarding the teacher position in society” he said, knowing full well that Serah was serious about the two of them talked as a king and as a subject.
“Can you explain your view further?” he asked.
Serah nodded and then told Noctis about some studies that had been conducted, said how great the education system in Lucis was on the surface. This kingdom had the fastest growth among other countries after the war, thanks to the government who pumped the people’s education into a system where they could work and support the national agenda as soon as they were finishing school. And it is truly remarkable.
But that very same system was slowly rotting inside. The schools began to have a sense of competition against other schools, the university admission standard got higher every year, resulting in the students studying harder and harder to meet the new national standard. Education businesses popping out every day, benefiting themselves from the cutthroat system. The case of depression and anxiety among the students skyrocketed, and it was reported that the pressure to do well in school was the highest cause of suicide among youngsters.
“This kingdom is a wonderful country to live in” Serah said, “But some things truly need to be reevaluated”.
Noctis nodded, “Thank you for the insight, Serah” he said, “I’ll think about it”.
“MOMMY” Aqua yelled, looking at Serah. The girls were crunching down near the water, poking at something with twigs.
“MOMMY COME HERE” Aura yelled as well.
“AUNT SERAH, WE FOUND A CRAB!” Jophiel said.
“I am coming, darling” Serah replied, “Excuse me” she said while getting up from the chair and walked toward the girls.
Ignis then walked toward Noctis and stood behind his chair.
“Don’t say anything clever now, Iggy” he said.
The advisor smirked, “Come on, Noct. It’s time for you to admit, that our education system needs to be fixed. It’s been a year since I said it”.
“Yeah, you and Serah have the same idea. I get it” Noctis said.
Ignis shook his head slowly, “What exactly prevent you from taking action? I am sure you also notice it yourself”.
The king didn’t immediately reply to him. Instead, he waved to his daughter who was looking in their direction. Josephine also did the same thing and Ignis was waving back at her as well.
“Decline” Noctis said, “I am afraid that taking this particular rote will decline or growth”,
“Tenebrae sure does a lot of effort shaping their education and art department. But they don’t have any real industrial power. Most of their material comes from import and they invest money on other countries”,
“If you take them out of the investor list, they are finished. That’s why they work very hard and took a great deal in their international affairs. Looks great and honorable outside, but very weak inside”,
“And that’s the last thing I want for Lucis”.
“What kind of kingdom do you want Lucis to be?” Ignis asked.
The two of them kept watching their daughters playing with Serah, always making sure that their girls were within their eye.
“I want Lucis who could always stand on her own feet, who doesn’t necessarily need other countries to go on, who is strong and independent”.
Ignis nodded, understood, and agreed with what his king said, “Though I believe we are more than that, now. We are strong, independent, and feared”.
“In my eyes, we aren’t strong and feared enough” Noctis said.
He full well knew that Noctis had a lot of goals and ambitions for this kingdom. Some of them came from his own childhood trauma and grudge like wanted to always be one step ahead of Nifleheim. While others came from wanting to make this country became a better place for his family.
“We’ve reached the moon” Ignis said, “We could take a breath a little bit. We don’t have to always run”.
Noctis turned his head around, “Do you really think we could do that?” he asked.
Ignis nodded, “Yes” he replied, “We could do much more than that”.
“We need a lot of insight, though” he said.
The advisor smiled, “I’ll schedule an appointment with the experts and organize a survey for the teacher, students, and parents”,
“We’ll start our walk from that” he said.
“Make sure to get the voice from every level of society, Iggy” Noctis replied, “I don’t want to just hear from those who hold a privilege live”.
“Understood, Your Majesty”.
--
“Last question” Lightning said, “Why?” she asked,
“Why the three of you decided to do it?”.
The three boys in front of her kept silent, probably too afraid to answer her. Lightning understood that scolded and question them in front of everyone wasn’t the best course of action. But the thing was, she wasn’t just angry at them, but also disappointed.
Half an hour.
She shifted her eyes somewhere for only half an hour. By the time she and Noctis finished talking to the officer about a political matter, the boys were gone.
Her heart skipped a bit when she didn’t see them sitting on their spot across the lake. The others had started to look after them, and others were just realizing that they were gone.
“Come on, we don’t have all day” she said,
“Why? What was the reason that makes the three of you decided to get up and attempted to go to the behemoth’s nest?”.
“Was that for the sake of joking around?” Iris asked.
The three of them shook their head.
“We are bored” Azrael whispered while keeping his gaze down, “There’s nothing for us to do”.
“It’s not the camping we imagine it to be” Aeris said.
“And what kind of camping do you three want it to be?” Lightning asked.
“Ya’ll don’t think that camping means we’ll hunt a behemoth for dinner, do ya?” Cindy asked.
The boys shook their heads again.
“We-” Azrael stopped his words and fidgeting his eyes, “We thought we’ll go tracking in the woods”.
“Ad- ad- adventuring” little Hydra stuttered, clearly afraid to say anything more.
Lightning sighed, “Well, if that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get” she said.
The three boys suddenly rose their heads and looked at Lightning with a surprised face.
“But before that, you have to learn a crucial aspect of tracking. And that is teamwork and patient” she said.
Lightning rose from her seat and turned her body around, “Everybody, please enjoy your dinner to the fullest. Don’t worry about using too many plates and glasses”,
She turned her body around again, facing the boys one more time, “We already get our dishwashers” she said.
The boys sighed and groaned hearing Lightning’s words.
“Our precious, pampered boys are bored, and clearly looking for an activity that will take a lot of their time”,
“May this become a reminder that they aren’t the center of the world whose expectation had to be fulfilled by everybody around them” she said while holding her gaze specifically at her son.
Azrael looked at her mother’s eyes and could see how disappointed she was with him. He didn’t care about washing the dishes, but he did care about his mother’s opinion of him. For him, it would be better if his mother yelled on top of her lung to him.
But it wasn’t his mother’s style.
It was her eyes that said it all.
“Yes, Mam” he said to his mother, not even had the courage to protest.
“And clearly, no Switch for a week” Cindy said, pointing her finger to Aeris.
“Wha-” Aeris’s eyes went around, “Mooooooooom” he began to protest,
“Mooooooom” he kneeled down in front of Cindy and hugged her, “I am sooooorry” he whined.
“WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!’ Hydra started to scream and cry.
Iris sighed and open her arms for her only son. Hydra, with snout started to run from his nose walked to his mother, and climbed on her laps. Gladio came to them and offered a handkerchief. She thanked him and cleaned Hydra’s nose.
“Come on kiddo, every man should brace for every consequence for his action” Cor said to the little Amicitia.
The six years old boy tried to talk in between his sobs, “Haaaaaaa I just wan haaaa to see- haaaaaa”.
Iris patted his back gently. Her son was the person she loved the most in this world, and she did want to see him grew up as best as a man could be. Knowing full well that they had to teach him a lesson, she didn’t try to reduce the punishment.
Lightning sighed and started to walk away, while Aeris still persistently protested to his mother.
“Then ya need to show that ya are sorry” Cindy said while restricting herself to pat her son’s back.
Prompto then dragged his chair to right behind Cindy’s and hugged her shoulder from behind. He put his head on her shoulder and acted all cute to give his son some support. Who knows, maybe Cindy would reduce Aeris’s punishments.
“If you think that being cute with me will help this boy, you better give up” she said.
Clearly, no.
“Come on baby” he said to his wife, “I am sure our boy already learned his lesson”.
Cindy smacked his cheek, “OOouuu! That hurts!” Prompto whined.
“You think that hurts?” she asked, “Mmmm, now multiple that pain by ten and that’s how my heart hurts every time you take his side when I try to discipline him”.
“Mooooooom” Aeris whined again, “Not the Switch” he said.
Prompto sighed and shook his head, beginning to feel that his son didn’t deserve his support at all. All this boy care about right now was that his console got taken away.
Just like him…
When he was a boy.
God damn.
“I need to defeat Kefkaaaaa” Aeris said.
“Well, you could defeat him next week” Cindy’s words were final, “Whoever that is” she whispered.
“Moooooooom!” he whined again.
Same with the Argentums, Hydra was also surrounded by Aunt Iris, Uncle Gladio, and Granpa Cor. Azrael watched his friends having words with their family while looking at his mother’s back, walking away from him. His mother could be the warmest person who he wanted nothing but to be hugged by her. But sometimes, she could be a cold person who might hurt someone with nothing but her gaze.
She must be really angry at me…
He felt a huge arm circled shoulder and turned his head to the person. Uncle Snow smiled and tighten his hug. “You must know that your mother is really terrified at the thought of losing you” he said,
“That’s why she is really irritated”.
Azrael nodded, “I know” he whispered.
--
The night came and everyone retreated to their tent, except for Iris. She stayed outside, watching the fire that started to lose its spark. It reminded her of the thing she didn’t want to think about right now. But no matter how hard she denied her feeling, they always come back to the surface.
She missed him.
She missed her husband who was currently god-knows-where, doing god-knows-what.
When did everything go wrong?
Was it because they spent too much time apart?
Was it because both of them forget their own anniversary?
Six, that was pathetic
How could they forget the most important date in their marriage?
It would be better if the two of them shouted at each other and poured their heart out like two months ago. But since then, it was just a constant silence. They slowly drifted apart from each other for an unknown reason.
The only thing that kept them together was their only child, Hydra. Iris closed her eyes, remembering Hydra’s face whenever his father was home and playing video games with him, put him on his shoulder, or trained him. She also picturing that time when both of them fell asleep and got the same sleep position.
If she decided to separate from him, she knew that Hydra would be devastated.
And so was her.
Iris wanted this marriage to work out. She wanted to be happy with him and Hydra. She wanted them to be a happy family.
Why everything was so difficult?
Before she went on this trip, she messaged her husband that she wanted them to fix their relationship. And if he desired the same thing, he could come to this camp started from the first day. If he did come, that means he wished for the same thing as her, and would together find a way to work things out with her.
One more hour and it would be the end of the first day of the trip.
Iris silently cried, alone in the middle of the night. She was still hoping that somehow, a car would show up from the distance.
The fire amber was about to die out completely, while Iris still held her hands together, praying to all the gods above that her husband would come.
Please… Please… Please…
She kept her phone with her, eyes glued to the screen. Thirty more minutes and the first day would pass. Iris looked around the camp, realizing everyone might be asleep. The boys’ tent was rather far away from her place, stated between the Scientia’s tent and Cor’s tent.
Iris was always jealous of Aranea, she always did. The grey-haired woman seemed to always do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, and wherever she wanted. In every situation and decision, Aranea always held her head high. When Josephine was born and she declared that she would quit her job, Iris was shocked. Aranea was a mercenary, turned military commander, turned the empress’ advisor, turned grand ambassador.
And she showed no regret, nor sadness when she said that.
‘Why?’ Iris asked at that time.
‘I am done with the world’ the Mrs. Scientia answered, ‘And now I want to see how my daughter’s story unfold’
‘But isn’t it too much to sacrifice everything?’
‘What is the everything you are referring to?’ she asked Iris back.
It made Iris questioned herself. What was her everything? Was it her family? Her son? Her career?
She couldn’t answer it.
Amidst her deep thought, a flash of light caught her attention.
Oh. My. God.
Iris stood up immediately, looking at the light that was coming to the camp field.
God, let it be him. Let it be him…
The big jeep was parked where the other cars were, and Iris sprinted across the lot. There, her husband was climbing down from the jeep and looked at her. Even in the dark, Iris knew that he pressed his lips together and bit his lower lip. He turned around and got something from the car. She walked slowly toward the car, never took her eyes off of him, looking at his back with so much hope inside herself.
He slowly turned his body to her, with Tobi peacefully sleeping in his arms.
Her husband looked at her and Iris couldn’t say any word. He gulped and opened his mouth,
“Tobi was left alone” he said.
Iris’s tears slowly coming out of her eyes, “Yeah, we were already late and, in a hurry,” she said, “Hydra was upset throughout the way here”.
Her husband nodded, “Lonely isn’t a nice feeling, for everyone” he said.
“It is!” Iris agreed, “It's never nice, isn’t it? Being left alone”.
He stepped closer to Iris and kissed her cheek and then her ear. Then, he slowly moved to her cheeks again, trailing her tears and erased them with his lips. Before ended them with kissing the corner of her eyes, making sure she had no tears anymore.
Iris quickly wiped the remaining tear away and latched her arm to her husband’s.
“Have you eaten dinner?” she asked while they slowly walked toward the tents.
“I grabbed some on the way here” he replied, “I took the wrong turn and had to fill the gas”,
“Ended up having some pizza”.
Iris smiled, knowing that he might be hesitating whether he should come here or not. And in the end, he did come. It meant that he had set his heart.
“Should we take Tobi to Hydra’s tent?” she asked.
“He gets a different tent?”.
“He is with the boys”.
“Ah…, of course”.
“They must be pretty exhausted”.
“And why is that?” he asked.
Iris chuckled, “They were punished to wash all of the dishes”.
Her husband rose one of his eyebrows, “What happened to them?”.
She shook her head, “I am sure Hydra wants to tell the story himself”.
On the way to their tent, they came across Serah who was carrying the princess. Her husband then greeted them, “Your Royal Highness” he said to Jophiel, “My Lady” he greeted Serah.
“Why are you two awake at such an hour?” Iris asked.
“Joee woke up after hearing noises” Serah replied, “She wishes to be with her parents, now”.
Her husband quickly apologized, “I am so sorry, Your Highness”,
“I didn’t mean to”.
Jophiel became impatient in Serah’s arms, “Mommyyyy” she whined.
Serah patted her back, “Yes, yes darling. We’ll go to mommy” she said,
“Excuse me” The petite woman excused herself from Iris and her husband, and walked toward Lightning’s tent.
She put Jophiel down, and before she called into the tent, her sister merged from inside.
“Joee” Lightning said.
“Mommyyyy” the little girl went to her mother’s warm embrace.
“Suuuush, it’s okay dearest” she rubbed her back. “What happened?” Lightning asked Serah.
“She woke up because of the car’s sound” she replied.
“Is that Iris’s husband?”.
“Yes, it is”.
“Ah, good for her” Lightning mumbled, “Thank you, Serah” she said and the younger woman quickly turned around, walked away from the tent.
Lightning brought her daughter back to the tent and lied her beside Noctis.
The man sighed and opened his eyes, “Heeii, Joee my little joy” he greeted his daughter with a hoarse voice.
“Dada…” Joee crawled closer to Noctis and hugged her father.
Noctis turned his body and hugged her, patting her back gently. “My lovely daughter…” he mumbled before falling into his sleep again.
Jophiel, who was comfortably curling under her father’s arm also quickly fell back into her sleep. Lightning scooted closer and caressed her hair. Before she could fall asleep again, she heard a small voice from the outside.
“Mom…” it said.
Azrael.
Lightning smiled and went to the tent entrance. She opened the lid and there, her beloved son crunched down.
“El, what happens?” she asked.
He sat down on the ground and removing his shoes, “I couldn’t sleep, and then I saw Aunt Serah and Joee’s shadow passing through my tent”.
“Ah…” Lightning mumbled, “Come inside, then” she said.
Their tent became very crowded with two adults and two children inside. Her pillow would be used for her son and so, Lightning reached out for Noctis’s fishing vest and folded it into a puffy pillow. Azrael already lied beside his sister and Lightning went to his side, and caressed his head.
“Mom…” Azrael whispered to her.
“Yeah?”.
“Are you still mad at me?” he asked.
Lightning smiled, “No” she said, “I am no longer angry at you”,
“Are you perhaps angry to me for punishing you?” she asked him back.
Her son shook his head, “I am not angry”, he replied,
“I am actually afraid”.
She frowned her forehead upon hearing his answer, “Afraid of me?”.
Azrael shook his head again, “I am afraid that you hate me”.
Lightning hugged him after hearing the words, “El, Mommy would never ever hate you”,
“I could never hate you” she whispered.
“That’s good to hear” he mumbled.
“Oh my dear son” Lightning tightened her embrace, “I do sometimes mad at you for your behavior. But hate you? That’s the last thing I would ever feel”.
“I hope you learn something from your punishment tonight” she whispered, “and why you got it in the first place”.
Azrael nodded his head, “I am sorry to make you worry, Mom. I’ll listen to your warning, next time”.
She smiled, “What a wonderful son you are” Lightning said while kissing his cheek.
Her son turned his body toward her and hugged her back, “I love you, Mom” he whispered.
“I love you very much too, El” she replied.
To Azrael surprise, a hand coming from behind, and patted his arm gently. Lightning knew that Noctis was conscious the whole time, listening to their conversation.
“I love you too, son” he mumbled.
Lightning and Azrael chuckled quietly at the words, but their voice was enough to disturbed Jophiel’s sleep.
“UUUuuggghhh” she whined in her sleep.
Noctis gently patted her back again and caressed her hair, “Suuuuussshh sleep, sleep tight, my dearest daughter”.
Azrael smiled and lied on his back once again, seeking a comfortable position to sleep,
“Love you, Mom, Dad, Joee” he said, “Good night”.
Lightning smiled, “Good night” she said.
“Good Night” Noctis mumbled.
--
“OH. MY GOD. Papa! They are huuuuuuuuge!” Josephine yelled, looking at the group of catoblepas on the lake.
“Yes, they are” Ignis replied.
“I read from the book that their breath could freeze humans. Is that true?” she asked.
“Yes, that is indeed true”.
“Woaaaaaah” she clapped her little hands and turned her body back to look at the beasts again.
“Do you want to take a picture, sweety?” Aranea asked.
“Uhm!” Josephine nodded enthusiastically, “Let’s take pictures together!”.
After breakfast, all of them left the camp and went to the catoblepas lake in Alstor Slough. They set the range and let everybody went sightseeing around the area.
Hydra went absolutely ballistic went he was woken up by his father in the morning. And with their puppy in tow, the little family of Amicitia took a walk on their own. Dajh quietly went closer to the animals and was busy taking a few pictures of them, making sure the children didn’t see him. He knew he’ll get in trouble if one of them went with him.
“Fang, come on! Let’s take some pictures” Vanille dragged Fang’s arm.
“What is so interesting about them again?” she asked “Look at them, look at them! They are just a huge chunk of meat with a significantly long neck”
Vanille sighed heavily, “Don’t be a ninny!” she kept dragging Fang.
“Huuuuuh” the other woman also sighed heavily but didn’t push Vanille’s arms away.
Noctis and Snow were taking of the girls while Lightning and Cindy watched over their boys.
“When I was young, Uncle Promto took a picture of me right in front of their mouth” Noctis said,
“Like super close, right in front of them!”.
“Heeeeeeee, Uncle is lying!” Aqua exclaimed.
“What? I am not lying” he denied, “It’s true. I took down one of them as well!”.
“Impossible, Dada!” Jophiel said.
Noctis shook his head, “Why was it impossible?”.
“You’ll die!” his daughter yelled.
“I am alive, am I not?” he said, “I was really strong back then and that beast, is nothing to me!”.
From afar, he could hear Gladio laughed.
“Uncle Noct” Aura called him.
“Yes?”.
“You are…” she paused, “old” she said with a straight face.
Now, Snow was laughing.
Noctis sighed, “Thank you for reminding me, Aura”.
“You’re welcome” the younger twin said, “So please don’t go near them. You’ll die!”.
Azrael and Aeris were standing on a different side, with their mother standing rather far behind them.
“So?” Azrael asked.
Aeris turned his head to him, “So what?”.
“They do look like twice of your house, right?”.
“Nope” the blonde shook his head, “They look like three times bigger than my house”.
“I still want to see the behemoths, though” he whispered.
Azrael turned his head left and right, making sure nobody heard them. “Ask Uncle Talcott then” he said,
“I want to see them too”.
“Uncle Talcott is busy these days”.
“Should we ask Uncle Gladio?” Azrael asked, “He is the strongest. He could handle anything, should some things go wrong”.
Aeris nodded his head, “That might be a better option”.
“YEAH!” they exclaimed and bumped their fists to each other.
Right after that, their mother called them. All of them were heading to their car and ready to go to their next destination of the trip; chocobo ranch.
--
fin