ⁿᵒ ˢᵘʳʳᵉⁿᵈᵉʳ ✧ 𝙵𝙵𝚇𝚅

VIII

Bella wakes up in bed, groaning with the excitement of how soft it was. Kirara was against her head like she normally was. Bella sits up looking around and doesn't see Iris there, tilting her head she looks at the clock seeing it was around eight in the morning. Blinking a bit, she gets out of bed and brushes her hair quickly with Iris' brush.

Miraculously finding a hair-tye, she starts braiding her hair with some difficulty and when she finishes, she sets the hair-tye quickly rushing out with Kirara in tow. Going out to the lobby seeing no one around, she smiles a bit feeling the sun beating down on them, taking a deep breath, Bella begins her own little tour.

Kirara sitting on Bella's shoulder as they walk through the Main Thoroughfare once more, seeing how busy it was. People were buying stuff, vegetables, fruits, grains, potions, etc. It was amazing; back in Midgar, you didn't see much of this stuff. After the Meteor, it changed. Now, they moved to a place called Edge and it was just as busy as this place, but - not without it's... problems.

It's changed since then, for sure. But how much did it change now?

Letting out a huge sigh of annoyance, Bella walks to the Lookout over-looking the sights of Duscae, when she found the edge of it, she leaned against it. 

"What's on your mind, Bell?" questions the nekomata, looking at her best friend as she jumps down and sits on the ledge herself. "You seem distraught,"

"That's because I am," Bella tells her in a hushed voice keeping her eyes locked in the distance, seeing the clouds roll by. "I'm wondering how everyone is doing at home, I keep complaining I miss it but I can't help it - it's frustrating me not seeing Cloud-Cloud's face all the time."

"It's understandable that you miss them, but it also feels like you're not looking for a way home," Kirara tells her flicking her tail. 

"Where would I begin, Kirara?" asks Bella running a hand through her bangs gently. "I don't even know if there is a library to check out," 

"You never know until you try," Kirara states standing up leaning against her front paws to stretch out. "I believe there's a way, but you also don't wanna leave this place. Is it because of a certain prince?"

Bella tensed up and looks down at the ground, ignoring the red that was building on her face. "It's... It's not like that..."

"You sure?" asks Kirara sitting back down looking at her best friend. "'Cause I saw what happened at the river when you almost kissed him."

Bella's face exploded into a deep red making her cover it. "I regret ever doing that, Kirara... I already told you about how I feel about that," Bella sighs heavily, stomach churning with butterflies as she said this. "As strange as it sounds, when I laid my eyes on him, I found a place for my heart, my heart races every time he touches me, my stomach turns and I start to get sweaty..." Bella turns and sits against the wall while Kirara jumps down and sits next to Bella's side leaning against it. "I'm so afraid to fall for him because he's getting married, he probably loves the woman he's supposed to marry..."

"And you know this, how?"

"From what Gladiolus, Prompto, and Ignis all have been talking about her, she sounds lovely and right for Noctis..." Bella leans her head down against her knees. "I'm nothing but a broken person who will probably never find the right one, doomed to be alone for the rest of my life."

Kirara sighs jumping on her shoulder nuzzling against her cheek gently, making Bella look at her. "Now Isabella, you're a wonderful human being who was raised to have morals and raised to have manners and everything wasn't handed to you as Noctis has had," Kirara explains to her. "But seeing him look at you, it's a different story, I can see the infatuation with you, the longing to be with you but he knows it's wrong. And quite honestly, you look at him the same way, I can see it. The others may not notice it, but if he chooses to be with you, they can't stop him. They can try but they honestly won't succeed,"