Chapter 2
Lightning kneeled in front of the crystal forms of her friends. Head bowed. Light she thought, the chamber was always so light. Not blindingly so, more like peaceful, a peaceful light that calmed her. There was always this faint sound too, like a soft hum, barely audible. She wasn't even sure it was real or just part of her imagination.
"Please..." She started. These prayers had become too common for her, but they were never answered. There were never any unearthly signs, no messages to say someone was listening. Nothing. Just the light and the constant ghostly hum. "Please wake up...we need you here" she opened her eyes. Still alone. Still no answers. Always the same. She sighed, defeated and went on to tell her latest stories to the slumbering women.
When she had ran out of things to say, she stood, straightening her clothes.
"Next time" she nodded at the women before walking away. Before she could exit the chamber a small but familiar frame obstructed her. "Serah?"
"Hey, Claire" Serah smiled cheerfully up at her sister. "We wanted to drop in and say hi" she nodded towards the crystal.
"It's been a while" Snow added.
Lightning nodded and tugged her sister into a quick hug. She pulled back and tucked a few strands of wayward pink hair from Serah’s eyes,
"I'll see you this weekend, okay?" "Sure" Serah beamed up at her.
"Guys?" Snow tried to interject.
"I'm sure it'll-"
"Guys!?" Louder this time.
Lightning shot him a glance and could see the faint blue glow in his eyes. She whirled round, sprinting towards the shining crystal. She dropped to her knees, hovering her hands just above, wanting to touch, but unsure of what to do.
"Call the others!" She yelled as the two ran up beside her. Snow fumbled with his phone as Serah kneeled beside her. As the crystal shattered into a million tiny pieces like dust, that fell or floated away, time stilled to a painfully slow pace. She lost awareness of her sister and Snow, her breath sounded loud in the deafening silence. And then Fang opened her eyes and sucked in air quickly. With shaking hands Lightning patted the woman down furiously. is this real? Could it really be? She was breathing fast now, panicked at the thought this was just some cruel trick and the woman before her would suddenly vanish. She cupped the tanned face harshly and stared into eyes as green and as wild as the forests outside.
"F-Fang?" She stammered.
"The one and only" the woman grinned. The soldier flung her arms around the woman, knocking the air clean out of her.
In the hours that followed, the whole gang had conjugated at Serah and Snows house. The food was plentiful and the drink was flowing. Vanille was giggling happily with Serah, Hope and the NORA kids. Sazh and Dajh were joking with Snow. Gadot, Lebreau and Fang were deep in conversation. And Lightning watched them all from her corner of the living room. All the smiles, jokes, dancing and laughing, and all she felt was numb. She'd started off the same, hanging around Fang like she'd turn back to crystal if she took her eyes off her. There were slight of hand touches, smiles and jokes, and Fang’s occasional flirt. But now that the initial shock had worn off all the other emotions in her had started to surface. Leaving wasn't an option, but this was.
"Here" Lebreau held out a drink for her. Lightning took it, taking a sip. "Bit different to how I imagined you'd act with this" she gestured to the room. Lightning shrugged. Blowing cold now I see, Lebreau thought. "Don't do this to yourself, Light" she said, hugging her with one arm.
"Was I worth the wait then?" Fang smirked arrogantly, interrupting them.
Lightning rolled her eyes and walked away.
"What?!" Fang shouted after her, Lebreau casting a sympathetic look in her direction.
“Lightning” the strange voice called, followed by a chorus of whispers that almost sounded like white noise. But if she strained her ears Lightning could make out the odd word here and there. The called, the damned, the praised, they all muttered.
“You must destroy it before it’s too late” the voice spoke clearly above the noise.
“Who are you?” Lightning called out to the nothingness, “destroy what?”. No answer came, like always, just a light that steadily grew from every direction. Lightning closed her eyes tightly against it as it became blinding.
When she opened them again the light had gone and she found herself in the dim living room of Serah’s house, laying on the mat she had used as her sleeping area hours before. The clock on the wall informing her it was 5:15. She stared at the ceiling listening to the group's breathing patterns. She should have been happy, she'd waited for this for so long. But her insecurities still nagged at her, like a scab she kept picking at, re-opening old wounds. She sighed inwardly and stood, making her way to Serah's spare room to change. Not fifteen minutes later she was in the kitchen area staring at her note.
Gone to work x
Short and to the point, as normal. She'd wanted to say sorry, to say she couldn't handle what was happening and that she didn't mean to bail. But her hand wouldn't write that, it couldn’t. She placed the note on the counter, leaned against the vase so it would easily be seen. She stopped to glanced at the sleeping forms of her friends, her family, as she headed for the door. She chewed her bottom lip for a moment and shook her head before quietly shutting the door behind her.
Foot steps toward the front door and a gentle click let Fang know it was okay to open her eyes again. She'd awoken earlier, eyes falling on the sleeping soldier. Her chest moving up and down rhythmically. Her face so peaceful. This had always been one of her favourite sights while they were travelling on Gran Pulse. Lightning looked so different while she slept, it was surreal. But she was always so far away, always just too far out of reach. She'd shut her eyes reflexively when the woman's breathing had changed and her eyes had twitched. Fang gave a quick look to her sleeping sibling and pulled the blanket up around her before standing and stretching lazily. She made her way over to the kitchen for some water and quickly spied the note Lightning had left. She ran her fingers over it tentatively. Lotta thinkin for three words, Sunshine. She smirked to herself, knowing the pinkette had been there long enough to write an essay. Never change do you.