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[shatteredlenses]

 

This is Ignis.  Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.  Storyteller willing, I may actually be able to read messages left for me soon.
...
And, no, your Highness, this doesn't mean I will be too busy to make sure you eat your vegetables. 

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[shatteredlenses]

"Oh..."

As Shion speaks, Ignis stops working completely, brushing the dirt from his hands and then holding one out in Shion's direction, not just for the usual pat or squeeze on the arm, but in offer of a hug. If Shion looks close enough, he might notice the hand is shaking a little.

"I...had to do the same for Ardyn and Prompto. Neither of them wanted to leave. Both of them wanted me to just let things go and..." Ignis presses his lips into a tight line as he violently pushes back the memory of Prompto's tears and Ardyn's pleas. He hadn't set out to save them, merely had fallen asleep due to exhaustion and been pulled in. Still, the net result had been the same, "Their worlds were perfect ones, though. Everything they always wanted or deserved and no pain or betrayal. I think I left part of my heart in each of them."

Ardyn's had been especially hard since they were together and happy and there was just so much that should have been. It was right where the Astrals and fate had made everything wrong in reality.

"I can't blame her for wanting to withdraw then. The dreams themselves were bad enough, but to have had similar experiences in that horrible place you came from had to have made it so much worse."

[savedbyasong]

Shion moved closer, stepping into Ignis' arm and wrapping his arms around his shoulders. He could feel Ignis shaking and he blinked hard to stop his tears from spilling.

It was cruel. The dreams dangling their hopes in front of them. Holding their desires hostage. He agreed with Ignis, part of his heart had been left in both Aster and Ceej's dreams.

"Not knowing what's true... Being fooled. I think she feels she should have realised, but it's so hard. She wanted to believe it... That made it harder."

Prompto had been caught to. And Ardyn. Shion didn't know the latter well at all except that Ignis loved him and that told him much of what he needed to know. Prompto though, he knew Prom and knew he probably would take such a thhing as hard as Aster did.

[shatteredlenses]

Ignis nods in agreement, taking a deep breath to try and calm himself after Shion settles against him. It scares him to think that if he hadn't stumbled into the flaw that made him realize Ardyn's dream world was wrong, he would have been completely happy to remain there. After having had to fight for so long, the peace and the happiness was a siren's song.

Very, very literally.

"So many of us are just so tired of fighting and seeing those we love hurt. Even when we don't care as much about ourselves, seeing them happy makes it hard to want to do anything but believe."

[savedbyasong]

"It's tempting just to stop. To not fight anymore." Ever since arriving here he's been fighting. Spurred by their victory in the Tower not allowing himself to give up and to stop struggling. They would find a way out, a way home. Then fight some more. It felt often that it would never end.

The dreams were it had ended, where peace could be found had been so painful to break. But necessary because as tempting as stopping was it was not something Shion could bring himself to do. Reno had taught him better than that.

"One day it will be reality. They won't have to struggle anymore. I promised myself I would make Aster's dream a reality. So I can't stop fighting yet."

[shatteredlenses]

"I promised Ardyn the same thing, but I'm starting to wonder if that promise is going to end up just another broken one among all those that have been made to him during the years," Ignis turns his blind gaze back toward the memorial they are constructing. It's been almost a year. Noctis has come and gone. Nyx has come and gone. Who will be next? Ardyn? Himself? What happens with their promises then?

He feels wetness at the corner of his eyes, but he doesn't dare wipe it away with how dirty his hands are.

"I don't want to stop fighting, but if it's hurting him in the process, wouldn't it be better if I did?"

[savedbyasong]

Shion's hands are a little cleaner as he hadn't been the one to plant the seed. But still he wiped them on his shirt before reaching out to wipe the tears from Igni's cheek.

Feeling like you would always let down those you loved, feeling that whatever you did you would hurt those you cared about. These were things Shion understood.

"Sometimes... The things that are necessary are things that hurt the most. Giving up because something is painful... Even..."

He took a shakey breath. "Even if it hurts someone you love. The pain would be worse if you stopped fighting for them... It's often. You want to do the kindest thing. The thing that will cause them least pain but that's not always the right thing..."

It was still something Shion struggled with. It was... It was what he was doing with Aster. Letting her hide because that was less painful for her than dragging her out.

Once again he was failing as her big brother.

[shatteredlenses]

"The easy way is not always the right way," Ignis' voice is soft when he finally answers. How many times has he given that advice? How many times has he lived it and probably will continue to live it? There is no way he can deny the truth of those words no matter how much he may want to.

Though Shion doesn't say out loud that he is in the same boat, it's not hard to realize he is, especially not with their earlier discussions. Ignis' arm tightens around the boy and then he gives him a small smile, "Lets finish this off and then we can head back to the cottage. I think we deserve a treat after all this hard work."

A treat and a rest. Good things to help soothe troubled souls.

[savedbyasong]

More often than not the easy way was the wrong way and the right way was the difficult painful path.

He hugged Ignis tightly in return and then moved to pick up the bowl that Ignis had written Soma's name with shells in. Very carefully he carried it over to where they had planted the apricot tree and set it next to the basket made for Asch.

"There. Once the tree grows it will provide shade for them both."