AUTHOR'S NOTE: So this is another filler chapter until I get the actual chapter out for Worlds Collide. And yes, unlike On the Beat, this chapter will be used in the actual story, however it will be altered a bit from this one. Thanks for sticking with me! Read, review, and enjoy!

Write on,

WriteFF13

.:WORLDS COLLIDE: REVELATIONS:.

Chapter 1 – Acceptance

"Uh…no thanks. I think I'll skip…"

Tifa fixed Lightning with her "Excuse me?" look, but Lightning took it on with her own infamous Farron glare. Finally Tifa just smiled slyly. Lightning eyed her, wondering what was up her sleeve.

"Well, if you won't go, then I suppose I'll just have to happen to forget where I put your gunblade…" Tifa mused, taking on an infuriatingly fake expression.

WHAT.

Lightning whipped her head around the corner to peer in the hallway closet, where Tifa demanded that she and Cloud's weapons be stored, as they were deemed too "dangerous" around Denzel and Marlene. As if they both knew not to mess with them anyways.

Lightning narrowed her eyes. Cloud's fused sword was there, leaning against the wood panels of the wall, but the Blazefire Saber was nowhere to be found.

Lightning folded her arms and stared Tifa down.

Tifa looked away and acted as if she hadn't noticed anything.

"Oh well, I suppose it's lost. That's unfortunate, isn't it, Miss Farron?" she grinned mischievously at Lightning, then gestured towards the chair next to her bed. A pile of hideous fabric – as Lightning described it anyhow – was laid out, as if awaiting a woman to adorn it. "I guess that means you can't fight anymore. Shame. Although, I think I might remember where it was last if you just put it on and came to the party…"

That––!

Tifa put a hand on her hip and tapped her foot impatiently. Every thud on the floorboards was like a blow to Lightning's ego…slowly wearing her down.

Go to the damn party…or go without her gunblade for who knows how long?

Lightning gritted her teeth.

Damnit.

"And I thought Cloud was a handful," Lightning muttered, and furiously snatched the black fabric up, looking at it with disgust. "Now where's my gunblade?"

Tifa clapped and twirled her finger in a circle in front of Lightning's face. "Nuh-uh; not until you come to the party!"

"Fine."

"You'll look great, if that's what you're worried about," Tifa said, trying to reassure her.

"It's not the dress I'm particularly worried about…" Lightning muttered.

It's my own damn reputation.

Well hell, Lightning thought, if Cloud's in a tux, then I guess we'll both go through this party with wounded egos. We're even, anyways.

Tifa was already leaving the room and shutting the door, giving her privacy. Lightning could sense Tifa's smile from the other side of the door as she descended the stairs to the restaurant level.

Lightning sighed and looked at the dress.

I've gotten too soft. Since when have I ever let anyone besides Serah persuade me to do anything?

After un-strapping her pack and holster, she undressed and slipped the black dress on, feeling very uncomfortable. Lightning looked sorrowfully at her Guardian Corps uniform and back down at herself in the mirror that leaned against the wall.

It reflected a beautiful young woman, donned in a midnight black silk halter top that tied behind her neck, and only a few inches above her knees. Silky, pale-pink hair that spiked on the right side of her head and draped over her right shoulder framed a heart-shaped face and bright, blue eyes that pierced the relative darkness of the room. The black dress contrasted with her lighter skin to give her a radiant glow that no uniform ever could.

Is that…really me?

Years and years of training in the Guardian Corps had hardened Lightning into a cold, unforgiving soldier that had no time to stare at herself in the mirror. She applied little makeup, threw on her uniform, and that was it. The last time she remembered wearing a dress was sixteen years ago, when she was five years old.

Suddenly she laughed and shook her head, turning away from the mirror. She inspected the shoes that Tifa had dropped next to the dress and put them on.

Look at me, staring at my reflection in a mirror. What would the Lieutenant say? She thought as she strapped the small-heeled shoes on. They were black as well. The heel was about two inches tall, nothing to worry about too much, to Lightning's relief. Tifa had probably assumed that the tough soldier had probably never worn heels much before.

And she was right.

The pink-haired soldier wobbled unsteadily but after a few steps towards the door out of Tifa's room, she found them fairly easy to walk in. She had neatly folded her uniform and tucked it into a cubby in one of the drawers near the door. The only remaining accessories she still had on were her black armbands and lightning bolt necklace, which glinted in the light.

She creaked the door open and stepped out into the hallway, the dread of entering a party that was probably packed with the entire population of Edge beginning to turn her feet to lead. However, steeling her nerves, she descended the stairs to wait for Tifa Lockhart, her new–and temporary–arch nemesis…

Who was sitting at a bar stool in a purple dress and purple flats, running her hands through her hair and adjusting a sort of ring on her finger. Lightning fixed a frown on her face and allowed her footsteps to be heard, the heels clicking on the wood floor.

Tifa glanced over and beamed; she jumped up and put both hands on her hips. Her hair had been put back in a pony tail that was draped over her shoulder. A new set of earrings were in her ears; small wolf heads whose jaws were gaping wide open, their fur slicked back.

Cloud.

Tifa suddenly wrapped Lightning in a hug, grinning from ear to ear. Lightning was taken by surprise and awkwardly patted her on the back.

"You look amazing, Light!" she beamed, looking her up and down. Her chocolate-wine eyes stopped at her necklace, however, and the edge of her lip turned down. "Hmm…hold on."

She let go of Lightning's arms and dug in a hidden pocket in the folds of her purple dress – a strapless that accented Tifa's raven hair and creamy skin – and opened up her palm to reveal a small square box. She placed it in Lightning's hands.

The soldier looked at her in confusion.

"What is this?" she asked, opening the top.

Tifa smiled gently. "It's a gift from us – a welcoming into the Lockhart-Strife-Wallace family. You have Serah back in your world, but here, we're all your family."

Lightning didn't know what to say, so she shut her mouth and lifted a small piece of foam to reveal a fierce wolf head that was in mid-snarl. Its eyes glittered with obsidian stone; the entire head was intricately detailed and elegant. Lightning deftly picked it up and set the box down on the bar counter. A small chain was attached to the back of the head:

A necklace.

As she snapped the two chains together around her neck, a strange sense of warmth and belonging rushed through her, a kind of reassuring feeling that had been hiding since the day that she arrived here with Mog through the Historia Crux. The whole time she had been in Edge, she had felt like an outsider, an intruder that didn't belong.

Now, she could see that she'd been wrong. Everyone, even the more reluctant members of the once-AVALANCHE had accepted her from the very beginning and trusted her, even when she had not done the same. In many ways, this symbol of friendship was more than Lightning had ever imagined.

A strange feeling rose in the back of her throat.

She didn't recognize it, or that it was associated with this sudden emotion of acceptance. She was…a part of their family now, so to speak.

Lightning closed her eyes, her hair falling forward to shield her face.

This feeling…I haven't felt it nearly seven years. The warmth of a true family.

She clutched the wolf in her hand and looked up. A faint smile was on Lightning's face now. Tifa was glad. Although Lightning had known Cloud longer, Tifa was the only one who could read her expressions, and she had seen Lightning's happiness through her own eyes.

It's the least I can do. She's never experienced a proper family before; and had to grow up much, much too early.

"Thank you…Tifa."

The sudden words broke the silence and Tifa's thoughts. She smiled, however, and gave her another hug. Sometimes, when she met lonely people, those who were lost, she felt an emotion stir, and her natural motherly nature shone through, like now. It was times like these where she realized that in some ways, Lightning could be tamed, in a sense. She just needed the assurance that she was not alone in this battle.

Tifa unwrapped her arms around her friend and led her out the door. She opened it for her.

"Oh! I need to lock up really quick, and then we can head out," Tifa said.

"I think I'll head out first and wait for you there," Lightning said, facing away from her. She was gazing at the moon. Its pearl-white beams shot through her pink hair, casting a shadow behind her. "If you wouldn't mind."

Tifa was surprised. "Sure. You remember where it is, right?" Lightning nodded. "Great. Then I'll see you at the party!"

Lightning gave a small smile and slipped down the street, heels clicking softly.

As Tifa entered Seventh Heaven for the keys to lock up the bar, she thought of that small smile Lightning had allowed…

Tifa thought sadly:

That smile…was tinged with sadness… and pain.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Holy frijole, that was fun writing! Don't ask me why, it just was. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as you all wait for my next entry in the Worlds Collide fanfic. Let me know what you think! Were the characters kept in-character? Read, review, and enjoy!

-WriteFF13