[The choice of words isn't lost on him. His mind automatically travels back to that shared dream, after the revelation of the Tidemother. Their so brief reunion, tainted by the pain of a farewell. It takes a considerable amount of willpower not to focus on that, and instead on the woman before him. One who he never thought he would be able to so much as touch again until his own calling is fulfilled. That they are together now, their hands still holding onto one another...

It means more than words can say. And if Luna thought he would ever think less of her, she is sorely mistaken. She has done nothing to make him ever feel that way, and that admission does nothing to change that. Yet that she is beating herself up over their current circumstance, no matter how little choice they have in the matter, it is like a knife has cut into him.]

Hey. [His voice is quiet, authoritative yet attempting to be reassuring as he lifts his free hand to cup her cheek — if she will allow it.] We have no control over this — how we got here and how long we stay. Those at the Center said as much, right?

[He smiles warmly at her, but this time, it doesn't quite reach his eyes. His unwittingly mirroring the sad acceptance his father's held for all those years. Noctis knows, what lies in store for him when he returns home. Only the Draconian knows how long he will spend in stasis, slumbering as the Ring absorbs the Crystal's light.

The future she speaks of is one he will never see, either. Not while among the living. Yet he too shares that desire; that worry of what lies in store for their Star while they linger here.]

We will find a way back, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the time between.