"You sure you've got everything you need?"

Angelica sighed, looking over at her mother. "Mom, chill. I double-checked, I've got everything."

Valerie laughed lightly, keeping her eyes on the road ahead of her. "Sorry, it's just that you've never been to any social gatherings before, let alone a slumber party. You've got such great friends."

Angelica smiled, gazing out the window. "I know."

Noctis had settled on a date for their party. After a lot of rearranging schedules, it had evolved into a slumber party on a night when everyone was free to attend. Though she didn't want to admit it, or even show it, Angelica was very excited for that night. It would give her a chance to enjoy the company of her friends without having any kind of work to do.

It was already sunset when Valerie parked in front of the prince's apartment. Angelica grabbed her bag from the backseat, and the two went to Noctis's door and knocked. It quickly opened to reveal Prompto's grinning face.

"Hey, Angel!" he greeted. "Glad you could make it!"

He stepped aside, letting them in. Angelica smiled lightly. "It's been a while, Prompto."

In the living room, the other three boys sat around, looking up from their card game. "Miss Val, I didn't expect you to show up," Noctis said.

She grinned. "Well I'm actually just dropping off Angel, but I figured it'd be nice to see you all, even if only for a moment." She looked over each of them, noticing they were already in their night clothes. While they all still wore pants, Gladio and Prompto had on tank tops, Noctis had on a simple T-shirt, and Ignis wore a button-up shirt. Valerie nudged her daughter and wiggled her eyebrows. "Don't do anything I wouldn't, Angel."

The girl's face heated up in embarrassment. "Mooom!" she whined. "Shut uuup!"

"You have my word, Miss Valerie," Ignis said, "you have nothing to worry about."

She laughed lightly. "I know, I'm only teasing. I trust you boys."

Angelica sighed. "See you tomorrow, Mom. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get changed."

Valerie watched her daughter walk down the small hall to the bathroom. As soon as she closed the door, the woman looked back to the group of boys. "But in all seriousness, I actually have a favor to ask of you all."

"Just name it, Miss Val," Noctis responded.

"I only ask that you all look out for Angel." Noticing the confused looks on their faces, she explained further, "Truth is, I've always seen a bit of a... darker side in Angel's eyes, ever since she was little." She glanced down at the floor. "I fear of what she could become without anyone to keep her on the right path. That's why I ask this of you - please, don't let her slip into the darkness."

"Why are you telling us this?" Gladio questioned with concern. "It's almost like you're saying that you won't be around anymore."

"No, it's nothing like that," she swiftly interrupted. "It's just... that you're the closest friends she's ever had. And in times when I'm not there for her, I want you to be." She bowed. "Will you do this for me, Prince Noctis?"

"Of course," he answered without hesitation. "Angel's been my friend since elementary school. I will do whatever I can to help. Hell, it's the least I can do after everything you both have done for me."

Valerie smiled. "Thank you, Your Highness. I hope you all have fun."

She turned and left the apartment. Prompto looked to his friends. "Why would she think that way about her own daughter?"

Ignis pushed up his glasses. "Because of who Miss Valerie used to be, I presume. She was once a ruthless assassin. She must fear that Angelica will follow that same path."

"I'll make sure she doesn't," Noctis said. "I owe her for always looking out for me."

"I'm sure her loyalty will shine through in the end," Gladio stated. "She's never disappointed before."

The sound of the bathroom door caused them all to fall into silence. Angelica stepped out in her pajamas. She wore a simple red tube top with black shorts and black knee high socks.

(This is what her pajamas look like)

She set her bag down on the floor and took a seat next to Gladio on the couch. "So, what are we doing?"

"Finishing up a friendly game of cards," Ignis replied. "You're welcome to join us in the next round."

She nodded and waited for them to finish before joining in the game. Ignis, as always, was the first to rid himself of all his cards. Angelica followed right after him. Gladiolus was the third to finish off his cards, then Noctis, and finally Prompto. Like always, the advisor's wits always came out on top, though the red-haired girl definitely gave him a run for his money. After that round, the group decided to move away from cards.

Gladio stood with a low groan as he stretched his arms. "Damn, my muscles are sore."

"How come?" Prompto asked.

"Overtraining."

Angelica pointed to the floor in front of her. "Here. Sit down."

Gladio raised an eyebrow but didn't question her. He complied and seated himself on the floor between her legs with his back to her. She placed her hands on his shoulders and began massaging them, instantly easing some of the tension and aching. The tattooed man let out a low groan of satisfaction.

"Now that feels good. I didn't know you gave shoulder rubs."

She smiled lightly. "What can I say, I have many skills. So, Iris didn't wanna join us?"

"She wanted to," Gladio answered. "But she had too much schoolwork."

Noctis and Prompto fetched a few snacks for the group, setting everything on the coffee table. Ignis turned on the TV so they had something to watch. After a short while, Angelica allowed Gladio to get up. He stretched his arms again.

"Nice job, Angel. You really eased the soreness."

Prompto suddenly shot his hand up like a child in school. "I wanna be next!"

"Do I look like a massage therapist to you?" the girl sarcastically questioned.

The blond pouted. "Aww, but I wanted a shoulder rub too!"

Angelica rolled her eyes and gave in. "Fine. Get over here." He cheered and hurried over to sit in front of her. She couldn't help but smile at his silliness. "You're such a child, Prompto."

He ignored her comment and hummed in content as her hands worked into his muscles. After a while, the five friends played some games and talked well into the night. By the time they went to bed, they were exhausted from all the fun they had. With all their sleeping bags spread out on the floor in Noctis's bedroom, everyone got situated in their bed, and out went the lights.

It was extremely early the following morning when Ignis was the first to get up. He was always an early riser, and that morning, he decided to make a big breakfast for his friends to enjoy. But despite how quiet he was in leaving the room, Angelica still heard him. She was often woken easily by even the softest of noises such as the faint footsteps of someone exiting the room.

Her eyes opened and she slowly propped herself up on her elbow. She noticed Ignis's sleeping bag was empty, but everyone else was still fast asleep. The time on the nearest clock read 6:00 a.m. She slowly got up and quietly left the room. She wasn't really surprised to see Ignis in the kitchen area.

"Ignis," she softly spoke, tiredly rubbing her eyes. The bespectacled man looked at her as she shuffled over to him. "You're up early."

"Apologies if I woke you, Angel. I merely wanted to get started on a special breakfast."

"Want me to help?"

He smiled kindly. "Thank you for the offer, but I can manage. You're welcome to go back to bed, if you like."

She stretched. "Too late. I'm already up, and I wanna help. I'm not as good a cook as my mom, but if you just give me instructions, I can do it."

He chuckled. "Very well, then. I shall accept your assistance."

Ignis gave her basic instructions to start with. After washing her hands, she fetched ingredients from the refrigerator and set them neatly on the counter. Ignis got started on mixing the batter for the pancakes he planned to make. He glanced over at Angelica cracking eggs and frying them on the stove.

"Angel, could you make one of those into an omelet for Noct?"

She nodded. "Sure." She glanced at him with a sly grin. "You trying to hide his vegetables in his breakfast?"

He chuckled. "Well, if it works."

She laughed lightly. "Clever." The two continued with their cooking until Angelica cleared her throat, earning the advisor's attention. "I'm... glad I was invited to this little slumber party," she sheepishly muttered. "I've never been invited to anything like this before."

Ignis looked at her, not all that surprised. "Never?"

She shook her head. "Back in school, I always heard about parties and dances and stuff, but I never attended. I was never welcomed." She smiled sadly. "Of course, who in their right mind would invite the most feared girl in school?"

Ignis thought back on what Valerie had told them. But studying Angelica's expression now, he didn't see anything dark about her. Instead, he saw someone who was lonely and used to being left out. He understood that she only ever wanted friends who saw her for who she really was.

Ever since she had admitted everything, Ignis could see a whole new side of her. She wasn't the cruel, antisocial girl she appeared to be, she was actually a very loyal and dependable person who cared deeply about those close to her, even if she wouldn't admit it.

"Well," he finally responded, "you can expect more days like this." She looked over at him in slight surprise. He flashed her a kind smile. "Any time we arrange anything of this sort, you'll always be welcomed to join us."

Her lightly freckled cheeks heated up slightly. "Thanks, Ignis. It's not often I get to talk to you one-on-one."

Angelica had finally begun cutting up the vegetables for Noctis's omelet. But Ignis immediately took notice of her errors. "Angel, you'll want to cut those into smaller pieces."

"How can you make them much smaller?" she asked, gazing down at the diced carrot in front of her.

"Well..." Ignis thought it better to show her. He moved to stand right behind her. He placed his hands over each of hers, directing her knife and free hand to the proper positions. At his height, he could easily lean his head over hers. "If you cut this way, you can effectively mince the chunks into even smaller pieces."

Angelica's eyes were wide and she had a faint blush the entire time. Feeling Ignis so close to her caused her heart to flutter. But she shoved all those mushy feelings into a bottle and stashed it away in the deepest confines of her mind. You know better than that, Angel! she mentally scolded herself. Your duty doesn't involve romance! She instead focused on following Ignis's instructions until he moved away and returned to his own task.

"The smaller the vegetables, the harder for Noct to avoid them," he told her. "He is smarter than he seems and will thoroughly inspect, and at times, dissect his meal."

Angelica couldn't help but laugh at that. Ignis smiled to himself at seeing her reaction. It was rare to see Angelica show any major signs of joy or delight. But seeing her response to a simple comment of his pleased him. He was rather proud of himself for bringing a smile to her face.

Not long after they had finished making breakfast, the others had woken up, or at least Prompto and Gladiolus had gotten up and drug the half-asleep prince out of bed. But they all enjoyed a big, delicious breakfast. And with Noctis still groggy, he ended up eating most of his omelet without picking through it for vegetables. It was a tiny success for Ignis and Angelica to trick him into eating something healthy.

And it wouldn't be long now until the ball. Once Angelica got home, she would begin working on her own dress. She had just finished Noctis's suit and now had a little less than a week to complete her own attire. But she was determined to finish it and was confident it would turn out wonderfully.