#I took Iggy and Aranea's kids names from several of my fav fics about them so I hope the authors don't mind!

[seashellkittyatsunset]

Home is Where the Heart Is

          The sunlight beating down from the heavens was harsh against Ignis’ back as he ran, dodging around a couple of bushes that had the nerve to be growing in his path. Duscae was quite the beautiful region when things weren’t so hectic but that wasn’t the case this day. He could feel his panic building and try as he might it was hard to stifle. His heart was thundering in his chest and his head was throbbing from the exertion. It was supposed to have been a good day, spent with friends and family at their yearly camping trip, yet it had turned into this disaster.

         “Dude! Slow down!” A voice called out to the harried man and he turned, nearly colliding with a low branch in his haste. His old friend, Prompto, was hurrying to catch up with their older friend, Gladio, right on his heels. Ignis finally came to a stop as the other two reached him and all three of the companions paused to catch their breath.

         “Man, I thought I was a fast runner!” gasped Prompto, bent over at the waist with his hands on his knees and wiping his scruffy chin.

         “He’s giving you a run for you money, that’s for sure.” Gladio huffed along with them, running a hand through his hair, part of which had come out of his ponytail. “Iggy’s a man on a mission. Doesn’t get more serious than that.”

          “Quite right, which means we must keep moving.” Ignis was irritated at having had a delay, the trail growing colder with every second, and went to go back to his chase when a strong hand grabbed his right arm. Looking with his good eye, he could see it was Gladio.

          “We’ll find ‘em Iggy, but don’t run yourself ragged looking for them. We’re as worried as you are.” Though both he and Ignis bore similar troubled looks on their faces, Gladio was right. It would not be good to be in a frothing state at this moment.

          “Yeah! With us on the case it’ll be a cinch!” A smile cracked Prompto’s mien as he finally stood upright, throwing the two of them a thumbs up.

          “Right��” Taking a couple of deep breaths to calm himself, Ignis shoved his shades back up on his nose and squinted around, Prompto and Gladio doing the same. The brightness was not doing him any favors and was hurting his eyes something fierce; especially his left one which had just recently regained its sight. He closed it in hopes it would diminish the pain but kept his right eye open, searching. Finally he spotted a scrap of cloth lazily waving in the breeze off of a bush’s limb and hurried to grab it. Studying the flowery pattern, he knew they were on the right track.

          “This way! And don’t dally!” Ignis took off towards the thicker part of the forest with his comrades following close behind. They had spent the next couple of minutes running north until the scared kwehs of a chocobo and shouts of children reached their ears. His heart plummeting into his feet, Ignis was the first to break through the tree cover to the scene now unfolding.

          A vicious pack of Coeurls had cornered three black chocobos towards an outcropping of rocks, the birds trying to keep them away with angry squawks and pecks. Hidden behind the mounds were several mops of hair just barely visible over the top, trembling in fear. Jet blacks, dirty blondes, light brown, silvery blondes…

          With a roar, Gladio unstrapped his greatsword from his back and charged at the cats, taking a huge swipe at the group to make them scatter. Prompto wasn’t too far behind, unholstering his pistols with a steely look in his blue eyes as he started firing to further disrupt the pack. Ignis leapt into the fray last with a snarl, whipping out his daggers and expertly hitting the eye socket and neck joint of one of the offending animals and fully capturing the beasts’ attentions. They worked together like a well-oiled machine as they effectively dismantled the animals’ own unity, their years of experience hunting and fighting giving them the advantage. A well-aimed kick from Prompto sent a Coeurl staggering where Ignis awaited, his daggers giving off a flash as they sliced through the cat’s jugular. Seeing its brother’s fall, another was ready to pounce at the man’s exposed back before a gigantic blade came slicing through its spine, bisecting it clean in two as Gladio came up from the side. Within minutes of the fight starting it had ended, the dead bodies of the pack lying strewn across the clearing and the comrades standing none the worse for wear.

          Several curious heads soon popped up from behind the rocks, and seeing that the coast was clear and the three men that had come to save them, the kids rushed out all at once with their chocobo guardians following to greet their rescuers.

          “Daddy!” Two raven haired children were quickly swept up into Gladio’s embrace, the man giving them a huge bear hug with his sword planted forgotten in the ground.

          “Pops!” Twin blondies tackled their father Prompto to the dirt, with him barely having enough to time holster his guns before his girls were on top of him laughing.

          “Papa!” The remaining three, two sliver-blondes and one brunette, were encircled in Ignis’ arms in a warm embrace, his daggers safely strapped back to his legs. He crouched on his knees and buried his face into them, his heart finally relieved of its stress. The chocobos gave happy kwehs and nuzzled their masters along with the kids, ruffling their feathers in contentment now that the danger had passed.

          “Just what were you all doing out here?” Ignis looked down at his children, searching their faces for answers. His oldest, Lucie, was the first to speak up.

          “We’re really sorry, Papa…” she pouted, her green eye shining in apology while the other was covered by her eyepatch. The scrap of fabric he had found had belonged to her skirt, and he was grateful to see that his daughter was otherwise unharmed. She shoved some of her silver blond hair out of her face before she continued. “We were just taking Ebony, Midnight, and Blacky out for a ride when those Coeurls jumped us and the chocobos just took off…”

          “Yeah, but you sure showed them jerks what for, Daddy!” Belladonna, Galdio’s daughter, piped up from the shelter of her dad’s arms with a grin. Her older brother, Ratree, shushed her quickly. “Sissy! Don’t use a bad word!” She was quick to respond with her tongue out before earning a stern look from Galdio.

          “You rascals gave us one heck of a scare, that’s for sure.” He sighed, ruffling their hair before setting them down and sheathing his sword onto his back once more. He then picked them both up again with one arm, depositing them onto Midnight and grabbing the reins.

          “Awe, we didn’t mean ta!” Lillith frowned, her and her twin Cuprum having already clambered off of Prompto, allowing him to get up.

          Cuprum had her arms crossed, nodding in agreement with her sister. “Shucks, it’s not like we WANTED to scare ya n’ the uncles, Pops.”

          “We know, but that doesn’t make us any less worried about you kids.” Prompto huffed, helping his girls onto the back of Blacky who trilled quietly in preparation to return to their camp. “I swear, your mom was about to whack me with a wrench for letting you guys outta my sight…”

          “Auntie Cindy must’ve been kidding!” Ignis’ second child, Julian, was looking incredulous as he spoke, glancing down at his father for reassurance from the saddle on Ebony. He was practically the spitting image of the man, right down to the way he arched his eyebrow inquisitively. Except for his silvery hair, which he had inherited from his mother. “Right, Papa?”

          Ignis, letting out a small groan as he placed his youngest, Fraxinea, onto Ebony’s back behind her brother, just smirked at his son. “I’m afraid not, Julian. Your mother had much of the same sentiments and would have used her lance to skewer me, if she hadn’t been, ah, “indisposed” at the moment.” He chuckled, knowing that Aranea would’ve still done it anyways had he not taken off with Gladio and Prompto at that moment.

          “Is Orpheus giving her trouble again, Papa?” Lucie furrowed her eyebrows together and shifted in her seat uncomfortably. “He really needs to be born soon so he can stop giving Mama so much grief.” The oldest out of all the children, she always made it her business to look after everyone and so was maturing as quickly as her father did when he was her age, speech patterns and all.

          “He will come when he is ready, my dear.” Ignis gave her a kiss on the cheek, and took the lead of Ebony, guiding the small group back out of the forest.

          “At least Cereus isn’t doing that to our mom now!” Belladonna said in reference to her and Ratree’s youngest brother, who had just been born not a month ago. Ratree elbowed her and they nearly broke into a fistfight until Gladio stopped them.

          “ENOUGH, you two. Save the sass for when we get back to the campsite…” His long legs were keeping an even stride in the direction of the haven, though he was exasperated at his children’s usual antics.

          The warmth of the sun’s rays bathed them as they made their way towards their encampment at a much more leisurely pace than moments before. Ignis couldn’t help but smile at the sight of his children chattering on top of their ride. Fraxinea could only babble along with her siblings, her brown ponytail swinging in time with Ebony’s strides. In no time they were back to safety, the rest of their loved ones coming to greet them. Cindy instantly chastised Prompto whilst smothering their twins, causing him to just sheepishly apologize. Belladonna and Ratree cooed over their baby brother Cereus with their cousins Jared and Amaryllis begging them to come and play as their parents Iris and Talcott watched with matching grins. Gladio got a soft hug from his wife in gratitude for the rescue and a genuine smile from Cor for a job well done. Aranea lastly hobbled over to her small family, Biggs and Wedge close behind, and they along with the children devolved into a pile of hugs with Ignis in the middle.

          The scarred man counted his blessings as he pulled his wife close, feeling their son kick his side from within her; surrounded by the most precious people in his life. Giving Aranea a soft kiss and seeing the sunlight dance in her eyes as she laughed, perhaps he had been too harsh the sun…