Beautiful Scars

Noctis' eyelids twitched before lazily opening. His blue gaze was somewhat hazy from the effects of sleep and he had to blink several times to clear it.

The first thing he felt was warmth. One he had never felt before. It came from the soft body resting on top of his. The lips of the prince of Lucis curved into a smile when he remembered what had happened the night before in that same exact bed. He knew she was awake when he noticed how the tips of her hair tickled his back, around his shoulder blades. He also felt her fine, snowy fingertips caressing his tanner skin. It was splendid, the touch of her. The touch of Tifa Lockhart.

"Tifa" he purred her name with a husky voice.

The monk, in response, placed a tender, soft kiss on his shoulder.

"Good morning, sleepyhead" she whispered against his skin and then continued to kiss his back devotedly.

Noctis lay still, enjoying her displays of affection. The terrace doors were open letting a soft, cool breeze blow into the room. The thin white curtains billowed in time with that breeze. The first thin golden rays of sunlight painted the wooden floor. There were no sounds from the outside so Noctis assumed that everyone was still asleep. It wasn't surprising after the great party they held the night before.

It had been a long time since Noctis had felt this good. This relaxed.

Tifa continued to kiss his skin, gradually moving down his spine until her delicate lips brushed against a rougher patch of flesh. She slowly pulled away, her hands still caressing his sides. There, in the middle of his back, was a large scar. She remembered noticing it at night when Noctis was making love to her, but now she saw it for what it was. It looked years old but somehow seemed recent. Her fingertips began to outline it. A tingle made Noctis stir slightly. He opened his eyes, noticing the girl's silent questioning. There was a paused silence in which the boy gathered the courage to talk about it. He had never done it with anyone before. But somehow... Somehow he wanted to talk about it. No. Not just talk about it. Tell about it. Tell Tifa. To the girl he had already decided he would open his heart to.

"A Marilith attacked me when I was a kid" he finally muttered.

"A Marilith?" Tifa repeated without understanding.

"Snake-bodied women" he explained.

Tifa then nodded "A Naga"

"Yes" the boy sighed against the pillow, again feeling her hands caress his wound. A new tingle jolted him and she stopped.

"Does it hurt?" she asked him, pulling her hands away several inches.

"No at all" he denied "In fact I like it very much" a smile tugged at his lips as he felt Tifa's fingertips touch his scar once again.

The young Caelum then continued with his story.

"When she attacked me, she didn't just physically wound me. The cut affected me more deeply" He closed his eyes tightly "The wound was infected with a plague we call Starscourge" Tifa did not know what that implied but the first thing that came to her mind was the Geostigma because it was also a disease that had spread like a plague. Just as Noctis' Marilith was a Naga to her, she supposed she could treat the Starscourge as a synonym for Geostigma.

Noctis swallowed saliva before continuing "I was in a coma for several weeks and when I woke up I couldn't walk"

Tifa's fingers paused for a moment. That story was like a parallel to hers, who had also fallen into a coma after falling from Mt. Nibel. She had not been incapacitated but she did remember spraining her ankle. She did remember her father, angry but even more worried about his little Pumpkin. A sad smile appeared on her lips as she remembered the tender nickname her dad used to call her.