#Someone wore a black dress with a TON of gold detailing. And the necklace looked worth a fortune

[twilit-tragedy]

Sometimes I wish I kept the habit of writing down my dreams. I usually let them gently float away from my recollection because I don't want to get frustrated trying to remember every detail in the morning instead of going about my day. But sometimes I wake up and think "damn, that's the whole setting of a fantasy book if I ever wanted to write one".

Today I managed to play out a action movie running from and sabotaging nobles during the French revolution AND witness a vaguely Love Never Dies love story where everyone and everything looked straight out of a palace-museum AND after a vague wedding / LND-inspired necklace gifting, I shit you not, a servant announces to "the court" (???) that Senator Aaron Burr is visiting. After which Leslie Odom Jr. walks in in full anachronistic regalia except "are those sneakers?" - I actually thought, mid-dream. Bro, what the actual fuck 😂.

[rainbowserenity]

5.“Wait a minute. Are you jealous?”Hope/Light :)

royal!AU tag

total nano count: 20435/50000

Oneof the first things Lightning had been taught regarding her newlyroyal status was that when it came to parties and dinner engagements,she was never late. Everyone else was simply early.

Ofcourse, she'd tried to argue that that made no sense in the contextof her introduction ball since there were a bunch of other royalsthere, but Sazh had just sighed in that exasperated fashion of histhat suggested she was taking years off of his life and told her tohush.

Ifonly she had such an opportunity tonight.

Eversince she'd been found as the long-lost princess of the kingdom ofEden, Lightning had been largely kept away from the public. She knewthat the press offices occasionally released photos to ensure thepeople that she, well, existed,but that was the extent of it. She'd yet to make any sort of contactwith other kingdoms or establish what kind of ruler she would be.

Andyet somehow, Sazh had thought it was a completely brilliantidea to figuratively throw herout to the tigers and have her put mere months of royal training tothe test, when the people she'd be talking with had been royal theirwhole lives.

Well,she supposed that she'd been royal her whole life, too. She justhadn't known it until a little while ago.

Lightningtucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and then dropped her hand,trying not to fuss. She was standing behind a set of double doors,waiting for someone to announce her. Already she could hear voicesmurmuring, probably enjoying the party.

Ofcourse they all would.They weren't the'guest of honor.' Ugh.

“Ladiesand gentlemen, our esteemed guests from far and wide!”

Hadshe been able to run in these shoes, Lightning would've made a breakfor it. After months, it was somehow just now hittingher that she'd gone from a mere soldier just barely above the povertyline to an actual princess whowas soon to be in charge of a whole kingdom and who guarded what wasarguably the most important fal'cie in the world. Howthe hell was she going to pull this off?!

Somethings in life you just do.

“Presentingtonight's guest of honor, Eden's long-lost daughter – Her RoyalHighness, Crown Princess Lightning Farron!”

Heavenforbid they just say 'Princess Lightning' or something.

Insteadof running like she wanted to, Lightning squared her shoulders andstood up straight, her head held high as the double doors opened andshe stepped into the glitz of the ballroom.

Shewas a floor above everyone, so it was all too easy to see the eyesstaring up at her. Honestly, she hoped she wasn't blinding them withher ensemble, though she had to admit, it was quite a work of art.

Hergown was a light blue color (the color a certain personal bodyguardhad said matched her eyes...no, wrong timeto think of that) with a sweetheart neckline. There was delicate laceembroidery in the back the detailed the brand of Phoenix, Eden'sfal'cie. The skirt was full, made possible by way too many layers offabric, though the top layer was covered with a gauzy sort of fabricin a peplumstyle until the hem, which was embedded with a repeating design ofPhoenix's brand in hundreds of tiny diamonds onthe top layer.

Ofcourse, that hadn't been enough. Her hair had been done in a sort ofreverse crown braid – the braid wasat the nape of her neckrather than the top of her head – and the few stubborn pieces ofhair that escaped had been expertly curled. Nestled at the top of herhead and held in by what felt like a pound of hairpins was abrilliant diamond and sapphire tiara – one that was traditionallyworn at introduction balls like this. In fact, when her maids hadbeen putting the tiara on, Lightning had recalled with a shiver ofseeing previous princesses wearing the same one.

Shewas wearing a minimum amount of jewelry to better show off the tiaraand gown, but there were tiny diamond and sapphire earrings hangingfrom her ears and her elbow-length gloves shimmered. Honestly, theearrings alone were probably worth more than her entire career as asoldier in the slums.

Itwas still difficult to think that she deserved to wear any of this.

Lightninggave a little wave and curtsy, the way that'd been drilled into herhead a thousand times. Everyone started applauding politely as shebegan to descend down the grand staircase. It was really unnerving tohave all those eyes on her, especially since she was walking soslowly in an attempt not to trip.

Onceshe was finally at the bottom of the stairs she let out a breath andput on a practiced smile. The 'media smile', it was called. Afterall, a princess needed to look calm and composed at all times.

“Thankyou all for your support tonight,” she said. The voice didn'treally feel like hers. It was coming out of her mouth, sure, but itjust felt like another media trick. Probably because this was thepart of the ball that would show up in magazines and the internet. “Iwelcome you to join me in bringing Eden into a new era. Phoenix willcontinue to light the skies and all of us under its light willcontinue to thrive in return.”

Therewas polite applause and the rigidity in Lightning's shouldersloosened somewhat. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sazh wipeimaginary sweat off his brow. She could absolutely relate.

Thehardest part was over. Now...she just had to get through the rest ofthe night.

Sigh.

Afterher little speech, everyone gradually fell into murmuredconversations and there was that pleasant buzz that seemed to alwaysaccompany successful gatherings...not that Lightning had been to verymany, but it was easy to sense.

Sazhscurried up to her before she could take a step. “You know whatyou've gotta do now, right?”

“Takeoff these stupid shoes and run back to my room?”

“Don'tgive me a heart attack. Go and mingle. Relations!Put all that damn paperwork I gave you to use!”

“Right.”This was the part she'd been dreading, even more than the hardestpart of being put on display and speaking to the crowd. She'd neverbeen all that great at small talk and even after extensively goingthrough paperwork describing the other royals and nobles that wouldbe at this ball, she was sure she'd screw up and unintentionallyoffend somebody.

Ormaybe intentionally. Whoknew, maybe some of these people could use a good social faux-pas.

Hereyes wandered as she walked through the crowds, consciously aware ofher tiny steps. Between the heels and how elaborate her dress was,every second was a test of not tripping. Ridiculous.

Shescanned the crowds, looking for a pair of green eyes and a mop ofsilver hair. Hope – her personal bodyguard – had been invitedspecifically by her, and despite some...tense moments between them,she did genuinely hope that he'd still taken her up on herinvitation.

Yeah,tense, she thoughtwith a sigh. The last time they'd been left alone in a room together,he'd almost kissed her. Tense wasone word for it.

“Soyou're Eden's princess, huh?”

Lightningturned around and saw a woman with wild black hair smirking at hercuriously. She was dressed in a deep blue outfit, where the top halfresembled a sari, but the bottom was a more traditional gown. Thedress was adorned with intricate embroidery that Lightning was awarewas the symbol of a fal'cie, though hell if she could remember whichone. Tons of bracelets and necklaces completed the look.

“Yes,”she finally replied with a bob of her head, aware that she'd beenstaring a second too long. “Princess Fang of Oerba, correct?”

“Noneed for the formality, sunshine.” Fang grinned and took a sip ofthe champagne flute she was holding. “If there's no cameras on us,no point in it.”

Lightningcouldn't help but smile. She liked Fang already. “All thingsconsidered, I should probably err on the side of caution.” As muchas she hated it.

“Suityourself. Want one?”

“Sure.”Lightning took the proffered champagne and took a tiny sip. It tastedway too expensive, but considering all the diamonds she was wearing,she shouldn't have been surprised. “Have you been to Eden often?”

“Lasttime was right before the last of the royal family croaked.” Fangshrugged one shoulder. “Though I guess technically they're yourfamily, too.”

Lightningpaused. She honestly hadn't really thought of it like that before.“Technically, I guess.They're very distant,though. Nobody knew about me until Sazh decided to poke around.”

Fangbarked out a laugh. “Of course it was him! He's good at that, eh?”

“Youknow Sazh?”

“Anyroyal that's got half a brain to speak of knows him.” Fang liftedher glass a bit as though in a toast. “Of course, he's long sincesettled in Eden, but he's coached all sorts of us over the years. Theguy's constantly grumblin' about us 'kids'.”

Lightning'ssmile widened a bit. “Sounds like him.”

“He'sjust pissed 'cause Vanille decided she'd rather spend time with merather than get schooled by him.” She finished her champagne.“Speakin' of which...”

“Vanille?”She didn't mean...

“Oi!Vanille!”

Agirl in a beautiful gown in colors of the sunrise suddenly appearedwith a wide smile on her face. She had a bounce to her step despitethe elaborate headdress she was wearing, which was dripping with goldpieces stamped with the symbol of Luxerion's fal'cie. Like Fang, shewore an alarming number of necklaces and bracelets.

Recognitionquickly dawned and Lightning couldn't hide her wide eyes. This wasDia Vanille – one of the royals her bodyguard had worked with...andclaimed to knew quite well.

Damnit.Where was he, then, tocoach her through this?

“Fang!”Vanille grinned and flung her arms around the other woman Lightningquirked an eyebrow when the hug turned into a kiss.

Wait.What?

“What,nobody ever mentioned that?” Fang said with a smirk when shenoticed Lightning's confused expression. “There's a reason the oldroyal family used to call me an 'old hag' for not being married. Theywere sorta prissy about it.”

“Oh.”Lightning blinked and shook her head a bit. “Well...I have noreason to be.” And that was the truth. She herself wasn't attractedto women, so what the hell did it matter to her if Fang and Vanillewere together? Had the old royal family honestly had a problem withit? The thought of being associated with such an archaic idea madeher uncomfortable.

“KnewI'd like ya.” Fang grinned and kissed Vanille again. “Sweetheart,don't be rude and say hello to the new princess.”

Eventhough Sazh probably would've had a heart attack if he'd heardsomething like that, Lightning just chuckled as Vanille turned with abright smile and held up her hands in a strange gesture – pinkyfingers crossed and her index fingers touching as she bowed.Lightning curtsied in return.

“It'sso nice to finally meet you!” Vanille grasped Lightning's hands,which took her by surprise, but all she could do was go with it.Plus, she could tell by instinct that Vanille was a good person. Heropinion had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Hopeapparently knew her quite well. “I've been wanting to meet Eden'snew princess ever since I heard about you! It's a terrible shame thatso much of the royal family perished, but...well, you're here now,aren't you?”

“Right.”Lightning's head was spinning. She was starting to get the vibe thatmost of the royals around here hadn't cared much for the old familythat had ruled over Eden and inwardly cursed herself for not payingmuch attention to the news when she was younger.

Thenagain, she'd been too busy trying to keep a roof over her head.

“Plus,I just love a good ball, don't you? It's so old-fashioned.” Vanillegrinned as the music from the live orchestra gradually changed. “Oh,Fang! Dance with me!”

Fangchuckled. “Can't disobey an order.” She winked as Vanille tuggedher out to the dance floor. “We'll talk later, eh?”

“Right,”Lightning echoed and watched as they scurried further into theballroom. Somehow, Vanille's bouncing became a lot more graceful asthey began to waltz, their gowns sweeping around them in perfectunison.

Eventually,she looked away and let out a breath. Okay. She'd met two of the mostimportant guests here and it actually hadn't been too bad. The restof the night would be a piece of cake. Practice made perfect, afterall, or so Sazh was constantly harping at her. Probably why he madeher repeat etiquette lessons constantly.

“Hel-loooo.Princess Lightning, right?”

Lightningturned and looked up – and up– at an unfamiliar tall man with shaggy blond hair, dressed in adark suit. It was precisely at this second that she remembered Sazhtelling her that these introduction balls were typically held to lookfor potential suitors.

“Yes,”she finally replied with a curtsy, though she was already a littleannoyed. Obviously that'swho she was – or had this guy missed the whole littleparade-and-speech earlier?

“SnowVilliers,” he introduced with a bow. “I'm the Patron of Yusnaan.”

Sheraised her eyebrows a little. Even she knew about Yusnaan – it wasthe only nation with a fal'cie that wasn't under any sort of formalrule. Snow had been elected by the people, but he wasn't bound to theduty. The only reason Yusnaan got away with this was because theirfal'cie, Pandaemonium, was in charge of a lot of the industry andfood production in that area of the world, which created tons of jobsfor the people. It was a notorious situation that was unlike anyother, but despite this, she hadn't heard much about the Patronhimself.

Honestly,she already wasn't all that impressed.

Still,she had to be polite. Relations and all that. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.”He grinned, and it was the sort of expression someone had when theywere trying way too hard to be charming. She resisted the urge toroll her eyes. “Would you care for a dance?”

Oh,crap.

Sheknew there were cameras in the room to take press photos, and she'dbeen warned more than once that several would probably be taken whileshe was on the dance floor – it just lookedmore interesting for the princess to be dancing or doing somethinginstead of standing around chatting. On top of that, it'd also beenheavily implied that whoever she was photographed dancing with wouldcreate 'human interest,' meaning people would jump to romanticconclusions.

Ofcourse, never mind that she'd never met any of these people in personbefore, nor did she have any intention of getting romanticallyinvolved with anyoneunless they happened to be her personal bodyguard -

Wait.

Sheinwardly shook herself. Obviously, the press would make whatever thehell comments it wanted, regardless of her actions. Better that theyget their photos out of the way now, right?

“Iwould be honored,” Lightning finally replied, using the wordsthat'd been drilled into her head. Snow offered his arm with atoo-charming grin that had zero effect on her, but she took the crookof his elbow anyway.

Themusic had flowed into something a bit more upbeat, so it was easy todistract herself with counting steps and remembering where the hellher hands were supposed to go. It was awkward, because she was soused to dancing with someone shorter, who she didn't have to race tokeep up with and could lead instead...

Gods.What the hell was wrong withher?

Eventhough Snow was a big lug who had zero grace and kept nearly steppingon her gown, she somehow managed to keep a pleasant smile on her facethe whole time they waltzed, if only for the cameras. She spottedFang and Vanille – who were still dancing – out of the corner ofher eye and they seemed amused for some reason.

“Eden'sreal lucky they found you,” Snow said at one point. “But man, Ican't imagine living all normally and then suddenly getting thrustinto this.”

Shehummed in agreement. It occurred to her that Snow was probably theonly person here who could somewhat relate to her, since he'd beenelected to his position. It was a frightening thought that she hadanything in common with the guy. “I suppose,” she finally said.“I'm just glad this means I get to give my sister a better life.”

“Youhave a sister?”

Howwas it that she'd been required to memorize a bunch of facts aboutthese visiting royals and important people, but they apparentlyhadn't had to do the same? Or maybe Snow just didn't care. “Yes.She's around here somewhere. They're just putting the spotlight on mefor obvious reasons.”

“CanI meet her?”

Thatsurprised her, but Lightning was so eager to stop dancing that sheimmediately agreed. “Sure.”

Oncethe dance was over, she led Snow into a crowd of guests. She thoughtshe'd spotted her sister here earlier...

“Serah?”

“Sis!”Serah, always a lot more personable, gracefully extracted herselffrom a five-person conversation and went up to Lightning, graspingher hands excitedly. “Light, you look so beautiful in that dress.Those seamstresses really outdid themselves!”

“Thankyou.” She smiled, maybe her first genuine one of the night. “Youlook beautiful too, Serah.” And she did. Serah's hair was free fromits usual side ponytail and had been swept up into an elaboratelybraided bun at the top of her head. A few tendrils around her facehad been curled to perfection. The updo perfectly showed off theglitzy pastel pink gown she was wearing. Like her sister's, it alsohad lace embroidery on the back with the symbol of Phoenix.

“You'rejust saying that,” Serah teased, but she looked happy all the same.Finally, she seemed to notice Snow and looked up. Way up.Snow was easily twice the size of her tiny sister. “And youare...?”

Snowgrinned, but unlike Lightning, Serah practically swooned at it. “Myname is Snow Villiers. I'm the Patron of Yusnaan.” He made a grand,sweeping bow. “It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Serahgiggled and immediately dropped into a curtsy. “The pleasure is allmine, Mr. Villiers. I'm Serah Farron, Princess of Eden.”

Eventhough it was completely uncouth, Lightning's mouth fell open as Snowand Serah giggled throughout their pleasantries, which eventuallyturned into a request for a dance – a much more enthusiastic one onSnow's part – and she stared, totally flabbergasted as Snow andSerah waltzed across the dance floor. It looked completely ridiculousbecause of their height difference, but...

“Excuseme, Your Highness?”

Onlya lifetime of training as soldier kept Lightning from jumping out ofher skin. Instead, she sucked in a quick breath and put on a smile asshe turned to the voice. Standing there was a girl who was dressed inwhat looked more like a uniform than a ballgown, though it was formalenough. She didn't look familiar, so Lightning simply nodded.

“Yes?”

“Myname is Alyssa,” the girl said after a quick bow. “I'm her arepresentative of Academia. The President sends his regrets that hecouldn't make an appearance.”

“Oh.”Lightning vaguely recalled Sazh saying that Academia's Presidenthadn't replied to the invitation to the ball, but she hadn't reallythought to question it. Academia was a relatively new nation. Theyboasted the world's only man-made fal'cie, which honestly just seemedcrazy, but she hadn'tgiven it much thought. The leader, their President, was a personshrouded in mystery. It was speculated that there wasn't aPresident at all, because nobody had ever seen the guy. Or girl.

Therefore,it hadn't been such a surprise that there hadn't been an answer tothe invitation, and beyond that, Lightning hadn't really had time tomuse about it. After all, she wasn't about to rule Academia, so whatbusiness was it of hers?

Asecond later, she reminded herself of appearances. “Please send myregards to him. It'd be great to meet someday.”

Alyssaseemed amused at this, but she simply nodded. “Of course,Your Highness. In fact, if I could be so bold, he didn't think muchof the old royals. He might finally be willing to show himself to thepublic if Academia and Eden decided to ally.”

Ugh.Politics. Still, Lightning's smile didn't falter. “We'll have tosee, but I'm definitely open to the idea.”

“Goodto hear!” Alyssa said. She opened her mouth like she was going tosay more, but she flicked her eyes to something in the distance andinstead bowed again. “Well then, thank you for your time, YourHighness. I should be off.”

“Niceto meet you.” Lightning sighed as Alyssa walked off. Gods, this wasexhausting.

“Areyou all right, Your Highness?”

Lightning'shead whipped over her should and she spun around at the familiarvoice, her smile immediately forming into something much moregenuine. Despite the awkwardness of the last time they'd been alonetogether, right now, she'd never been so glad to see a familiar face.

“Hope,”she greeted with a smirky smile, her dress rustling as she stepped upto him. “What have I told you a thousand times? Call me Light.”

“Ithought formality would be a little more appropriate here.” Hiseyes flicked over her appearance. “You look...”

Evenbefore he said the word, a blush formed on Lightning's face that hadnothing to do with any makeup. It wasn't the first time he'd saidanything like this to her. Hell, it wasn't the first time tonightthat anyone had said such a thing, but coming from him...

“...Absolutelystunning.”

...Itwas different.

“T-Thankyou,” she managed to reply, cursing her little stutter as she triednot to let the mood get...awkward. After all, they were in a ballroomwith dozens of people, not to mention cameras. “You look...verynice yourself.”

Thatwas putting it mildly. Though Hope always dressed in a neat andprofessional manner as her personal bodyguard, apparently he went theextra mile at a ball. His three-piece suit was perfectly tailored,like it'd been painted on his body, and his aqua tie brought out thebrilliant shades of green in his eyes.

Herheart was pounding. Not good.

Ifshe wasn't mistaken, Hope's cheeks flushed at her praise, but hemerely cleared his throat. “Thank you.”

Thesilence that followed was both awkward and comfortable in that wayshe usually was around Hope. It didn't matter that they were in aballroom full of people and that she was guest of honor all eyes wereon. The world always dwindled down to just the two of them when theywere together.

How?

“YourHighness!”

Lightningwas startled out of her stupor when someone called for her, andsomehow, she found herself away from Hope's side for the next fewhours. She talked to one of the noblemen of the Yaschas Massif andthen danced with the Primarch's son, who was even taller than Snow.At least the guy was quiet and courteous. Perhaps because thePrimarch worked so closely with the monarchy of Eden.

Fangand Vanille came to talk to her again to rescue her from a longconversation with a guest, and honestly, she was glad for it. Ifnothing else, she could say that she'd made friends of the two women.While that was good for relations and all, Lightning had never reallybeen all that close to other people, whether she was a princess ornot, so it was nice that there were people who sought her company.

Whenthe peak of the ball had inexplicably passed, made obvious by thefact that the cameras were finally gone, Lightning watched Fang andVanille go back to the dance floor. Serah was still offwith Snow somewhere, which almost made her want to go pry them apart,but Lightning was glad for a moment alone to breathe.

Thatmoment didn't last too long, but at least this time, the interruptionwas welcome.

“Thereyou are, Light.”

Shesmiled as Hope appeared beside her. “I'm sorry about before.”

Heshook his head. “Don't worry about it. I know what this event wasabout. It's important for you to mingle and make relations.”

“I'vehad about enough of that tonight,” she admitted. She wasridiculously glad that these balls weren't an everyday affair,because the thought of schmoozing and socializing like thisconstantly gave her a headache. Maybe she had a bit of confidence inthe political side of things, but the social aspects of being Eden'sprincess...ugh.

“Doesthat mean you're free from the rest of your obligations tonight?”

“UnlessSazh decides to spring something else on me.”

Hopechuckled, shifting where he was standing. He seemed weirdlynervous...at least until he turned to her and bowed at the waist.“Then will you please do me the honor of a dance?”

Lightningblinked in surprise. Hope wanted to dance with her? Why?

Okay,she did recall one of their dance lessons, and according to Sazh,they'd been totally coordinated. The orchestra was still playing andthere were still people on the dance floor. It wasn't totally out ofthe realm of possibility that Hope would want to dance with her.

Maybehe wanted to try and...

No,of course not. Their almost-kiss had been a total fluke. Despiteevidence to the contrary, she'd completely acknowledged it and movedon. This was just a princess dancing with her bodyguard.

Withthat thought, Lightning gave him a little smile and held out herhand. “I would be honored.”

Hopelooked just as surprised at her acceptance, but he quickly took herhand and led her out onto the dance floor with a little smile. Maybeit was just because she'd been waltzing all night, but the placementof their hands were perfectly in sync – automatic, like she'd donethis with him a thousand times before. The music began a simpleballad and they began to spin around the room, her dress glitteringin the light of the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

Aftera moment, Hope relaxed even further and chuckled sheepishly. “Ihave to admit, I wasn't sure if you'd agree to dance.”

Lightingsmirked, squeezing his hand a bit. “I promised you one awhile ago,did I?”

“...Youdid,” he answered slowly, recalling a memory. “But you've beenwith so many others tonight. I wasn't sure if you'd be up for it.”

Eventhough it was the sort of kind and courteous thing a bodyguard wouldsay, there was something in Hope's tone that made her search his eyesfor what he wasn't quite saying. Maybe it was from all these monthsof royal training, teaching her to look people in the eye and findwhat was beyond the surface, but it eventually came to her.

“Waita minute...were you jealous?”

Hopecleared his throat and ducked his head a bit like he needed to watchhis feet, which was stupid since they were waltzing together sobeautifully. Lightning couldn't help but smile with a slight smirk,since his lack of verbal reply was more than answer enough.

Aftera couple more spins around the ballroom, he finally spoke. “Iwouldn't say that,exactly. I...I simply remembered that you'd promised me a dance and Iwas hoping I'd get to take you up on your offer.” He looked at herfrom behind his bangs. “That's all.”

Thatwasn't all and theyboth knew it. Even though she kept trying to push it out of her mindfor both of their sakes, her mind again drifted to their almost-kiss.Her eyes flickered down to his lips without realizing it, and not forthe first time, she wondered what it would feel like to finally havethem meet hers.

Ofcourse, usually when she had this stupidly girly daydream, she wasalone in her room, which meant that she had to snap out of it. Now!

Sheforced herself to meet his eyes. “I wouldn't leave my personalbodyguard hanging.”

Herwords brought a brilliant smile to his face and they fell even morein sync as the music swelled and got a bit faster, bringing joy totheir steps in a way she hadn't felt all night. She felt as light asair as Hope spun her around, occasionally letting her take the leadsince that was her instinct. The fact that he let her withoutquestion spoke volumes of how well he knew her.

Ormaybe just how often he'd worked with her. He was herpersonal bodyguard, after all, but then why didn't this feel like abodyguard-and-charge dance? How was he – and not the palace, gowns,tiaras, or hoard of servants -  making her feel like an actualprincess for the firsttime since she'd found out about her royal blood?

Maybebecause, despite the friendliness of most of the other royals here,he was the only one who seemed to truly believe that she could do thejob and be better atit.

Ifit weren't for her stupid shoes, she honestly felt as though shecould've danced with him all night. As it was, she still wasn'tentirely used to being on her feet in heels for so long. Seriously,nobody could see her feet, so why couldn't she have worn somethingmore comfortable?

Lightningsqueezed Hope's hand to get his attention. Even though he was staringright at her, he looked a bit dazed. She couldn't help but wonder ifher expression was the same. “Can we stop? My feet are killing me.”

“Ofcourse.” He carefully guided her away from the rest of the peoplewaltzing – she saw Serah and Snow out of the corner of her eye,hmph – with a grace that she didn't really expect from a bodyguard.

Thenagain, he'd been surprising her since they day they'd met.

“Wouldyou like to sit, Your Highness?”

Sherolled her eyes. “Seriously? A few dances and you're going allformal on me again?”

Hesmiled. “Light. May I escort you to a seat?”

“Nowyou're just being ridiculous.” Impulsively, she flicked hisforehead, immediately regretting the action since that was definitelynot protocol.

Thankfully,he only blinked a few times before smiling again and offering her hisarm. “Well?”

“Ithink I just need to rest a minute.” How many hours had gone by,anyway? Sazh had mentioned offhand that the most splendid balls couldhave people dancing until dawn. She shuddered at the thought. “Canwe go somewhere quiet?”

“Ofcourse.”

Maybeit was from all the champagne that'd been served all night, buteverybody seemed too buzzed to notice the guest of honor basicallyescaping the party. Hope led her to a hidden hallway off in a cornerof the room, which further led to a door that opened up to thebalcony.

Sheinhaled deeply as they walked outside, glad for the fresh air. Themusic and hubbub seemed very far away. “Thank you.”

“You'rewelcome.” Hope wandered behind her, his hands behind his back asthey always seemed to be when they were around each other.

Shegestured to his formal stance. “You can relax a little. It's justus.”

Hopesmiled a bit sheepishly – and handsomely, can't forget that – andlet his arms fall to his sides. “Sorry. Force of habit.”

“Likeforgetting to call me 'Light'?”

“Exactly.”

Theychuckled. She felt more relaxed than she had in ages. Her eyeswandered over the dark, star-studded sky and she grasped the railingof the balcony as though afraid of falling. The world seemed so bigat that moment. It was hard to believe that she mattered so much inthe grand scheme of things – that princesses went down in historybooks, while the families that did just as much or even more got norecognition at all.

Andhow many families like that were there? More than there was royalty,of course. If she squinted, she could just barely make out the areawhere she and Serah had grown up. Further off were the slums, wherethey'd been forced to live when money got tight.

Somany hundreds and thousands of people lived like that, and yet,because she just happened to be from the right bloodline, she wasplucked from it all. It didn't seem fair that there were peoplestruggling to survive while she was literally wearing a dress coveredin diamonds.

“Light?”

Onlya lot of self-control kept her from jumping in surprise. “Yes?”

“Youlook lost in thought.” Hope approached her a bit cautiously tofinally stand beside her. “Are you all right?”

“Iwas just...thinking about the last time we talked.” And almostkissed, but no need to acknowledge that. Again.

Itmay have been her imagination, but she could've sworn Hope held hisbreath before responding. “You have?”

“Abouthow I could use my experience to help.” He visibly relaxed at herwords. “It just...it seems like such a huge undertaking. I wouldn'teven know where to start.”

“Atthe beginning.”

Sherolled her eyes. “I doubt it's that easy.”

“Probablynot,” he agreed. “But everything has a beginning.”

“Iguess.” The words were pretty generic, but still, he had a point.“I just hope that I can do anything at all. A lot of people I'vespoken to tonight apparently didn't like the old royal family thatmuch.”

Ifthis surprised Hope, he hid it well. Maybe he hadn't liked them,either. “Really.”

“Yes.”Lightning glanced back up at the stars. The moon that followedPhoenix was just a sliver in the sky. “And when I was working as asolider, we didn't really talk about the royals. They were a worldaway. Even though they made our laws and everything, it felt likenothing they did ever actually affected us.”

“Butyou know they did,” Hope pointed out. “And like I said, you'veseen both sides. I think that'll eventually come to be your biggeststrength.”

She'dknown ever since he'd said as much during their last privateconversation that he was right. Her empathy towards those who weredown in life – it wasn't anything any of Eden's previous royalsseemed to have. Maybe that was a reason they seemed to be so dislikedby a lot of the other kingdoms.

“It'sa lot to take in,” she finally said. “Even though it's beenawhile since I was crowned and everything, I don't think it's allreally hit me yet.” She never would have admitted this to anyoneelse, but Hope was different. He'd been different from the start.

Thoughwith how much she'd been rambling about her feelings aroundhim, she still hadn't discerned if this was a good or bad thing.

“Ofcourse not. It's a big change, especially when they do something likethis.” Hope made a sweeping gesture in the general direction of theballroom. “I don't think gatherings for soldiers in the Corps werequite so...”

“Expensive?”

“Iwas going to say 'elegant,' but yes, that too.”

Lightningsmirked, finally looking away from the sky to face him, though to hersurprise, Hope was already staring at her. Had he been looking at herthis whole time? There was something strangely intense in his gaze –something she'd felt since the moment they'd met, but hadn't wantedto put a name to until now.

Desire.

She'dalready halfway closed the space between them by the time he wasleaning in, and she tugged on his tie for good measure, an anchor tohold onto when their lips finally met.

Heheld on tightly, his fingers clinging to the fabric of her gown. Eventhough the kiss was strangely soft, there was an untapped passionsimmering between them that she could feel as though it was tangible.She'd never felt anything like it before...not that she had muchexperience to compare this to.

Maybeit was instinct. That was the one rule in life she always followed –to trust her instincts. And if her instincts wanted her to part herlips so the kiss could deepen? No way in hell was she about todisobey.

Hope'shands felt like they were burning on her body. She could feel everytouch, every movement of his fingertips as he traced the lace on herback, every little twitch as he pulled her even closer. Her handsmussed his perfectly coiffed hair, just begging for somethingto hold onto. For a second, she contemplated on taking off the stupidelbow-length gloves she was wearing, but that probably requiredbreaking the kiss and she was incredibly reluctant to do such athing.

Gods,kissing him was like nothing she'd ever experienced before. It didn'teven compare to, say, suddenly becoming the princess of the kingdomyou'd lived in your whole life. This was far more intense. Lightninghad never been a particularly romantic person or someone who boughtinto the whole idea that someone could be your other half, but withHope, all of those weird ideas felt like an actual reality.

Andit was all of this from just a kiss.

Okay,so it was a lot of kisses. But even so...

Eventually,one of them pulled away – she honestly couldn't tell who, since shewas already so lightheaded – and she resisted the urge to reconnecttheir lips as they both quietly gasped for air. All of this wascompletely unlike her.Maybe it was just the stress from everything catching up with her.Yeah. Except not.

“Light...”Hope murmured, his eyes only half-open. Clearly, he was just as dazedas she was. “Light, I...”

“Yes?”Her voice was husky in a way that she hadn't even known she'd beencapable of.

Somethingabout it, however, seemed to snap Hope out of his daze. He suddenlygasped and they flew apart, his eyes wide with something akin topanic, which was strange in itself since she'd never seen him lookanything but calm and collected.

“I...I'msorry,” he said, not quite looking at her. She could've sworn hewas trying to avoid staring at her lips. “I can't.”

“What?”

Hopestammered out something unintelligible, but before Lightning couldeven think to get him to elaborate, he turned and went back inside.

Yearsof training instantly kicked in and she followed, calling out hisname and demands for him to wait, just waita minute, but either Hope was way faster than she'd given him creditfor or he was using some secret passage that nobody had told herabout yet. When she finally made her way back to the ballroom, Hopehad completely vanished.

Andhe hadn't even left a shoe behind.

Lightninghad no idea how long she stood there, just staring into the crowdlike it was going to give her an answer, but eventually, someonetouched her arm and brought her mind back from wandering.

“Sis?”

“Serah?”Thank goodness it was her and not anybody else. Except Hope. Hopewould've been preferable, and she hated herself for thinking that.

“Areyou okay?” Serah cocked her head a little. “You look tired. Comesit down with me, okay?”

“Allright.” Lightning let Serah lead her around, not even wondering howher sister managed to extract herself from the Patron's side or ifthere was something else going on. There was only one person on hermind, and now, one question.

Whyhad Hope pulled away?

Ormore importantly...

Wouldhe return?

[taylorklaine]

A Comprehensive List of the Symbolism and Details in “Look What You Made Me Do”

I’m including everything, from the obvious to the minor details and symbols that at this point are only speculation, to big and small things that made the video amazing. Here we go.

The video, of course, opens with an aerial pan of a graveyard. The specific site that Taylor is buried at, supposedly, the graves spell out “TS”.

“Here Lies Taylor Swift’s Reputation”

Other names on the surrounding gravestones include “Nils Sjoberg”, the pseudonym she used when she wrote “This is What You Came For”, and Joseph Kahn, the director of LWYMMD as well as Blank Space and Bad Blood

Zombie Taylor is wearing the same dress Taylor wore in the “Out of the Woods” music video, which was the final true music video released from 1989 (the New Romantics video was all tour footage). People have taken this to mean either she never truly made it out of the woods or one of the many allusions to the death of her old self.

All the gravestones are tilted during the “tilted stage” line

The outfit that Taylor is wearing when she is being buried into the ground is from the 2014 Met Gala, which was the last public event Taylor attended before the 1989 era began.

While a lot of the public has speculated that Taylor bathing in a tub of diamonds is a jab at KKW’s robbery, a lot of fans see the comparisons to a performance of Blank Space at the Grammy Museum, and I can’t remember the exact quote, but it’s about what people see her as.

There’s also a single dollar bill in the tub, referencing the symbolic $1 she won in her recent assault case.

People think her makeup in this scene is also really similar to how her makeup looked in the Blank Space video, which was another song in which she portrayed a character that the media believed her to be, even though it wasn’t true.

The camera looks like it’s out of focus for a second, but if you look closely, Taylor is clapping along to the beat of the song in the mirror.

When Taylor fires her finger gun, a real spark shoots out of her fingers as if she’s shooting a real gun.

She wears a ton of snake jewelry, and tons of snakes slither up to her throne, a direct reference to post-KKW drama where everyone left snake emojis on all her Instagram posts.

On a couple of the columns as well as the gold skull she rests her hand on, there is an engraving of “Et tu, Brute?” which is a quote from a Shakespeare play. In the scene, Caesar is being stabbed to death, betrayed by his friend, Brutus.

One of the snakes serves Taylor tea (serving or spilling tea is now slang for spilling dirt on someone, or exposing something bad about them).

The entire crashing a car followed by a paparazzi swarm of her posing, to me, is just a general analogy of causing drama to get attention

BUT some fans have noticed that the car she drives is a Maserati, and have made comparisons to the “driving a new Maserati down a dead end street” line from Red. In addition, in the next scene, she’s holding a Grammy, alluding to when Random Access Memories beat Red for AOTY, but the announcer drew out the “rrr” sound making her and her team thinking for a split second she won. I’m sure there’s video online of her reaction.

One more thing about this scene: She’s sporting a haircut very similar to the one Katy Perry has. Katy has never won a Grammy.

(Also the leopard in the passenger seat has a 13 necklace)

People have made the obvious metaphoric comparisons to her in an orange outfit in a cage to being a prisoner. This is further emphasized by the armed guards that surround the cage. People also consider being caged a metaphor for being in a zoo and locked up and watched like an animal.

There’s a rat on her plate during the “feast”. People have made jokes about this being symbolic of Calvin Harris. I’m not sure why.

Taylor & co. infiltrate a safe wearing cat masks, giving some fans hope that she has not shed everything about her formal self.

Her sweater also reads “Blind for Love”, making comparisons to her long-standing reputation as a serial dater.

People believe Taylor and a crew of girls riding motor cycles is an allusion to the Bad Blood music video.

When Taylor burns the stack of money, and when she comes in with a baseball back, the banner in the background reads “stream.co”, a direct allusion to her letter to Apple Music and pulling her catalog from the Spotify music streaming surface, leading people to believe she did this to make more of a profit and that she’s money hungry. 

The next scene is the media portrayal of her squad. She is an evil dictator who recruits beautiful, plastic models for her cult. You can see the banner flashes “Squad U”, pictures, of cats, and Taylor’s lucky number 13.

Everyone also wears black leather, which people think is another allusion to Bad Blood.

And people think all of the bodies piled next to each other might be a reference to Kanye’s “Famous” video.

All of the men at Taylor’s beck and call is another reference to her being called a diva and “kidnapping men and holding them hostage in her house”, which is another paraphrased quote from the Grammy Museum performances.

The African-American back-up dancer who hold the pen during this scene is actually Todrick Hall, one of Taylor’s real life friends.

Taylor sawing the wings of the plane is believed to be a metaphor for her taking back the narrative.

All the male backup dancers are wearing “I <3 TS” crop tops, which her ex Tom Hiddleston was seen wearing while they were together.

There are also 8 backup dancers, and Taylor reportedly has 8 famous ex-boyfriends.

And now for everyone’s favorite part of the video: Taylor stands in front of a neon letter T in a jumpsuit that reads “rep”, short for reputation. This is the new Taylor, and she is standing on top of a mountain of people who are trying to save themselves from some kind of doom. But these people are actually older versions of Taylor from through the years. Some major ones include the ballerina outfit from Shake It Off, the ringleader outfit from WANEGBT on the Red tour, her nerdy Junior Jewels shirt from the YBWM video, and the sparkly dress, guitar, and 13 on her hand from the Fearless tour. Other ones that are not as visible are the iHeartRadio Awards, the 2015 VMAs, a polka dot shirt from WANEGBT, her 22/Everything Has Changed outfit from the Red tour, her Style outfit from the 1989 tour, WANEGBT pajamas, and several other looks from music videos and appearances she’s made over the years

Taylor’s Junior Jewels shirt has the names of her real life friends written on it, including Ed Sheeran, Selena Gomez, Gigi Hadid, Todrick Hall, Alana, Danielle, & Este Haim, Lena Dunham, etc.

When Reputation Taylor kicks YBWM Taylor in the face, the shoes she is wearing are very similar to the ones she wore in her most recent Vogue cover, which was one of her first interviews post-1989 era.

Then Taylor blasts her former selves off the mountain and they fall to their death. This is what I think is the general theme going into the Reputation era. In order to save herself, Taylor has to kill off her older selves and become someone new, someone the media already thinks she is, in order to keep any respect. Even before, when the song first came out, many people considered the message of the song very similar to Blank Space. Taylor is playing a character, someone who she most certainly is not but the media certainly believes her to be. She’s taking on this persona as a tongue-in-cheek clapback to how the media portrays her. And as she said with Blank Space, “If you don’t get the joke you don’t deserve to get the joke” (again I’m paraphrasing).

Towards the end of the song, the Maserati explodes and kills the paparazzi, but Taylor walks away unscathed.

She spray paints “reputation” onto the plane with no wings, more analogies to her taking back control of her own narrative.

When the songs ends, one of the backup dancers grabs her butt, which people think is another reference to her assault case.

And now the other fan favorite part: 15 different versions of Taylor stand in front of the plane and argue. iTunes lists 15 total tracks for reputation.

Shake It Off Taylor falls onto the floor in the same way she did at the end of the video. KKW Taylor is shaking her ass.

YBWM Taylor pulls a surprised face, and both Zombie and SIO Taylor call her annoying and that “she can’t be that surprised all the time”. People have been making fun of her since the very beginning for constantly being surprised whenever she wins awards.

Zombie Taylor gets very angry when Reputation Taylor calls her a bitch, which a lot of people think is another reference to “Famous”. After KKW leaked footage of Taylor approving some of the lyrics, Taylor defended herself by saying she never approved the “I made that bitch famous” line

Fearless Taylor simply says “y’all”, a reference to her country roots, and Red Taylor accuses her of being too nice and very fake. Another criticism she’s faced over the years,

Fearless Taylor starts to cry at this, and another Reputation Taylor rolls her eyes at her “playing the victim”. We all know this is something Taylor’s been called a lot over the years, but especially more recently after the Katy/KKW feuds.

Another new version of Taylor simply holds a snake and hisses at everyone, again referencing everyone calling her a snake after the KKW incident.

Met Gala Taylor observes another new Taylor in surprise. Since MG Taylor is pre-1989, some people think her attitude is more innocent and pure here, how she was before the 1989 era began and her reputation began to falter

This new Taylor is “getting receipts” of Fearless Taylor and is “going to edit this later”, direct references to Katy, Swish Swish, and KKW on Snapchat.

We round this out with one more Taylor--VMA Taylor, complete with silver dress, Moonman, and mic, exactly how she appears in the infamous photo of her and Kanye in 2009. She says she “would like to be excluded from this narrative”, a direct quote from Taylor’s statement after KKW’s snapchat leak.

Finally, one more detail that fans have picked up on is the last frame, in which all the Taylors are in the shot and yell at VMA Taylor to shut up. However, the 15th Taylor stands on the plane wing and doesn’t seem to be participating. People believe this is another symbol of how the reputation era is going to go, and Taylor’s mental state at this point. On the wing, she is alone, separated from everyone else, separated from all of her older selves. As she says in the song, “I don’t trust nobody and nobody trusts me.” After everything that’s happened, she can only rely on herself. She is the only one who is going to have any say from here on out. She destroyed the wings so no one else could fly it for her, but she’ll be damned if she flies that plane on anything but her own terms.

This bitch did not miss a single thing and I’m not exaggerating when I say this is the best video of her career so far. I love her so much, and I’ve never been more proud. Brava, @taylorswift. Brava.

(please feel free to add to this if you think i missed anything)