SPOILERS FOR LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII.
I was going to post this in the LR part, but no one goes there. So I decided to post it in the the regular verse. I wish it could be a joined saga, y'know? It would be easier then.
Also, this ship will never go down.
Summary: Once, she wasn't human. After all these years, she's the most human. A remake of 'Fine Then.' (Alternate Summary: Lightning has come to the New World and with it, a new life. Yet a blond from her old life is still haunting her.)
Lightning Farron walked towards the back of her house were her favorite flowers grew—justicia flowers. She kneeled in front of them; her mustard pants slightly stretching at the weight. She honestly didn't like the way these pants fit her. They barely gave her any room to move in and the pockets couldn't hold anything. She preferred her garbs from Nova Chrysalia. This New World, while odd, was incredibly peaceful. It has taken everyone she saved a while to adjust the need for no weapons. Still, old habits die-hard and Lightning kept her gunblade by her bed. She knew there was no reason to keep Omega Weapon, but it had been with her through everything; she just couldn't let it go.
Lightning thumbed the justicia flowers. She had a habit of calling them averia instead because of her mother. Her mother had loved these flowers and nearly named Lightning Averia because of that. However, her mother had thought the name Claire suited her better. Lightning had been so happy that the flowers existed in the New World and she had planted the flowers herself in her home in France.
Lightning heard his footsteps and sighed. There was only one person who visited her regularly. The others usually called or…texted as that were what it was called when one messages another via their phone. They only came together on days of the years that were holidays. Even her sister, Serah, was too busy teaching to visit. Not that Lightning minded. After all, as long as Serah was happy, she was happy. Lightning never thought of her own happiness.
There was one thing that would make her happy, but it was far too illogical and it would cause her sister far too much sadness and disappointment for Lightning to even mention it. After all, the great Lightning Farron wasn't weak when battling fal'Cie demons and a God who destroyed Nova Chrysalia. But when it came to her own feelings and desires, she did not know how she could've wanted something so impossible.
"Claire!" His voice filled her blood and she grew warm. A breeze picked up and her white cardigan blew around her. She slowly stood to greet a tall, blond running towards her. He was grinning at her and his blue eyes were wide with happiness. He was wearing a blue and white striped shirt and jeans with rolled up cuffs that were incredibly neat and straight. She saw that he had a bouquet of flowers in his hand. As he made her way to him, she raised a brow. Without waiting for an explanation, he held her waist in a tight hug and spun her in a circle. He set her down with an exuberant grin. She smiled lightly at him.
"Hello, Snow." This was her desire. This impossibly tall man with his humor and his strength was whom she wanted. And her sister had taken him from her. Snow and Lightning had met first and talked first. Yet, it was Serah who had charmed him. Lightning had only upset him. After their first journey together however, she felt herself gravitating to him. There was absolute no reason and she hadn't meant it. She felt as though she had betrayed her younger sister. She had done everything she could for Serah, and yet this is the one thing she wanted, selfishly.
"I know this is out of the blue, but I know your birthday is coming up and in case I couldn't make it, I wanted to at least give you this." Lightning raised a brow. Her birthday had passed a few months ago and he had been there. He didn't look at her and rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous habit he had as well as a sign of him lying. Lightning crossed her arms.
"You were there for my birthday. You bought me a brand new necklace that looked like my old lightning bolt one, remember?" Snow shifted uneasily and nodded at the grass. His face slightly flushed. She frowned. "Snow, why are you here?" She stepped forward, uncrossing her arms. He stiffened and she drew her hand back. He had never responded like that to her. She calmly touched his arm and he barely raised his head to look at her. Her stomach dropped and she felt herself have a slight blush. He looked at her with such a longing and need that it surprised her. She swallowed.
"…Can we go inside?" His voice was low and she nodded. He didn't wait her for her as he went through the always unlocked backdoor. She left the door slightly open. Snow sat on her kitchen table. He placed the bouquet of flowers beside him. A cat began to purr from behind him and rubbed its head against his waist before coming to sit in his lap. Lightning chuckled. Snow began to pet the black cat's head. It purred even louder.
"Sorry. It's the neighbor's cat. He comes to visit often." She moved to the refrigerator and poured some milk into a cat's bowl. She bit her lap for a moment before calling the cat. "C'mere, Snow." Both the cat and the man looked up at her. The cat jumped down from Snow's lap to get the milk. Snow raised a brow. She bit her lip and placed the milk on the counter and walked to the pantry to get some chocolate. She put a pot of boiling water on the stove while placing another pot on top of it and began to cut chocolate. Snow watched her. She didn't speak a word about the cat.
"So, I have some bad news." Snow began after a moment. He watched Lightning. She stopped chopping for a moment. "Serah's fine, don't worry." He watched her muscles visibly relax and the knife began to move once more. "But…there's a problem between us." The knife stopped again and she turned around to face him with an inquisitive look. He sighed and gestured to the stove. "Finish making the hot chocolate. Let me hear something about you." Lightning turned back to the chocolate and began to slide the chocolate into the pot. She stirred it slowly. She put the rest of the milk in another pot to heat it up.
Snow the cat stretched against her leg and scratched at her legs. Lightning hissed and Snow slid off the table. He pulled the small cat off of her leg. She thanked him. He cradled the cat like an infant and sat back on the table.
"No! Bad kitty." He patted its stomach a little harshly and the cat sneezed. Lightning chuckled. "Don't hurt Light, okay? I mean, Claire. Don't hurt her. She's very important to me." Lightning poured the melted chocolate and heated milk into two mugs. She mixed them together and handed the cleaner one to Snow. He smiled graciously and released the cat. The cat jumped out of Snow's lap and ran out of the door. She moved the flowers behind them and sat beside him on the table.
"So, why is he named Snow?" Lightning shrugged as she slowly sipped the hot drink, which filled her with heat that felt similar to Snow's presence.
"I think it's because he's an all black cat. It's like naming an all white cat Noir." Snow nodded and they sipped the hot chocolate in comfortable silence. Her father had always made hot chocolate no matter what the occasion and Lightning had grown fond of drinking it whenever she could. On other occasions, she would drink black coffee. If however, she went to a party, she would have at least one shot of vodka before leaving. "So, what is the bad news?" Snow sighed and set the drink down. She knew it must be serious because he always drank her hot chocolate and asked at least for seconds. Peering into the mug, she saw he had only drank a fourth of it.
"Don't hit me, okay?" Lightning blinked. If he was prefacing it with that, there must've been something terrible. "…Serah and I aren't getting married." The world slowed down and she could only see his face. His sky blue eyes seemed wiser and his blond hair haloed his face. His lips were pink as he inhaled and exhaled slowly. "We realize that we were rushing into marriage and we were only together for superficial reasons. We decided to break off the engagement and she gave me her necklace back. We decided to still be friends." He waited patiently; he didn't want to frighten the older Farron. Lightning turned her head and sipped the hot chocolate.
"So that's why you are here." She stated, but it came out harsher than she intended. Snow grimaced and nodded.
"I don't know much about flowers." He moved behind them and held the bouquet of flowers in front of her. She spotted three flowers: orchids, jasmines, and justicias. "I had to ask the florist what the flowers meant because I want them to be perfect." Lightning's brows furrowed. Perfect for what?
Snow pointed at the orchid. "They mean delicate beauty." Then his finger ran over a jasmine. "These mean grace and elegance." His finger stayed on the red justicias. "They mean the perfection of female loveliness." Lightning couldn't help but blush. Snow chuckled and hesitantly moved a lock of her hair behind her ear. "I know this is sudden, Light." Lightning did not look up at him. He was going to tell her something she has wanted to hear for centuries, but would she be able to accept him so readily? Could she truly have a new life without guild in this New World? She swallowed and looked up at the blond. He smiled at her and held out the necklace that always rested on her sister's neck.
"Will you marry me, Claire?"
She said no word and instead moved her hair to the side and turned around. He silently clasped it and rested his hand on her neck for a moment. She stood slowly and walked to the counter where there was an empty vase. She filled it with water and cut the flowers' stems at an angle. She let them float into the water. Snow came behind her and kissed her lightly on the cheek.
"Are you at least happy?" She turned around and Snow saw her eyes were full of tears. I've wanted you for years. Without letting her cry, he kissed her on the lips and she saw all of the memories they had together. She saw them when they were young and out of high school where she joined the Corps and he was running around with NORA. Then she saw him again when Serah and him dated and again with they were branded with Anima. They knew of Ragnarök and spoke together in synchronization often. Where as Lightning didn't even have to give a call for the next paradigm shift when he was there, she often had to scream with the others. She recalled the days when he first learned how to heal from her and not Hope. Snow remembered the day Lightning broke her arm and he was the one to set it. That day she tasted ice and golden strength. And ever since then, she couldn't get over him. It was months ago that Snow had tasted lightning sparks and rose petals and knew Serah wasn't going to be enough.
It took them a century before they realized that all the gods and fal'Cie had wanted Snow and Lightning to be the ones to carry out the fate of the world because they were the strongest, both together and separately. They could have been Ragnarök and they could've been the knights of the Goddess or time travelers. They were both the Savior and the Protector; they were what they have always been.
Lightning pulled away from Snow and looked into his blue eyes that mirrored hers. She nodded once.
"Yes."
Hey, look at that. It's a lot longer than my original work. Don't think I can make this a chaptered thing though. I'm really proud of this. Maybe 2014 really will be my year. And I was gonna stop it where he said "will you marry me?" but then I was like, "eh, fuck it." I like the way it with "yes" being the last word.