I recently finished Final Fantasy XIII. This is the result.
From afar the memorial wall could very easily be mistaken for a simple cliff face, albeit smoother than the surrounding rock, but in order to fit all the names on the words had to be carved so very small.
Hope leaned forward and ran a thumb over a name. And then the one below it and gave a small hollow smile. It had only been one year and the feeling of loss was still quite strong. Sometimes he felt he would drown in it, other days he could sometimes go for quite a while without thinking about them at all. This always made him feel guilty.
With a sigh the teenager turned to go but interrupted by a chirp from his pocket. Extracting his phone, Hope checked the caller id before answering.
"Light," he greeted, his mood improving. He nodded to her question, "Yes, but I'll be home soon."
"How many times do I have to tell you, you can't sit on my head anymore?" Sazh lamented, rubbing a spot on the top of his skull.
Hina warked softly in a way that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. The chocobo chick could hardly be called that anymore she was growing so fast. Too big now to snuggle inside the pilot's afro, she would still sometimes forget herself and try to sit on his head.
Dajh laughed at his father and picked up his treasured pet, "Soon you'll be able to ride her instead," he placated.
Sazh made a disbelieving noise, "I think I'll stick to airships."
Lightning knew she was fidgeting but couldn't seem to help herself. When was the last time she'd worn a dress? She must have been a little girl, back when her mother was still alive. The thought made her sad for a moment. She thought about how proud her mother would have been today.
But then the ex-soldier looked up at her sister, resplendent in white, standing next a grinning Snow and she forgot her melancholy. She smiled.
At least until she caught sight of Hope and Sazh on the other side of the altar, trying hard to contain their mirth at her discomfort.
Snow missed the beach. He came to the realisation as he was helping with the excavation of the Mah'habara Subterra. The wind funnelling through the tunnels suddenly reminded him of waves on the shore. For some reason it made him broody and by the end of the day his companions had clearly noticed because Lightning came to talk to him about it. Snow wondered if she'd drawn the short straw.
"What's up?" she wanted to know, expressing her usual bluntness.
Snow didn't feign ignorance, "I want to find a beach," he said truthfully.
Lightning, to her credit, understood immediately. She even smiled, "Sure," she said.
Yeah, there's technically a beach in Oerba but poor, old Snow is trying to recapture a moment here. I will probably do some more of these. They're quite fun. But I better concentrate on The Tenth Fantasy first.