Every waking moment brought with it the feeling that there was something missing.
Every morning Claire would look out the open window, breathing in the air redolent with morning dew and fragrant flowers, feeling the light of the breaking sun still cool against her skin. It felt real but, at the same time, not. Just at the edge of her sight something lurked: a chessboard that formed her world, always a ghost in her periphery, formulating the trees, the bushes, the walls of the house, the sky, the clouds...everything. And every time, just when she was noticing it, a weight would descend upon her mind, and she could only close her eyes and shake her head until it lifted, and everything around her was returned to the way they ought to be.
Afterwards, she would turn her back to prepare for her day.
Every morning there was her sister in the kitchen, cooking up breakfast for the oaf that she called her husband, and Claire would wave a greeting to one but not the other as she made her way outside.
It wasn't that she found her sister's cooking horrendous—quite the opposite, actually—but there was something in the coffee shop downtown that drew her, that made her feel as though that piece that was missing had been found.
"Welcome, valued customer!" he would say, a smile lilting his voice, pale green eyes bright as they fell upon her.
There was something about his voice and his words that gave her a sense of déja vu, as though he would say something just like it to her every day at six a.m. sharp.
He knew her usual, so he just set to work without even bothering to ask, knowing a glare would be the only answer she would give him.
"Welcome home, Light," he said as he set her coffee with its three sugars and two creams in front of her along with a freshly baked apple muffin.
She felt warmed by his greeting, and she would almost smile, feeling as though she was more herself with that pet name, as though only the ones closest to her had the privilege of calling her that, despite the fact she couldn't recall ever being called anything other than 'Claire'. She settled instead for a nod, leaving money on the counter, and she made her way outside.
"We'll be together."
It was his voice, she could swear it was. She stopped, turning to look back. He stood waiting behind the counter, green gaze evenly meeting hers. Those words hung between them like a rope that tugged at her heart, an echo, a memory, compelling her to listen, urging her to reach out her hand, to call out his name—it was there, just at the tip of her tongue—
She felt a surge of desperation overcome her. Suddenly, the black and white chessboard tiles began to fill the edge of her vision, rising and overtaking the world, swallowing up the coffee shop. The last thing she saw was his eyes, still green, vivid and stark against the monochrome that had engulfed everything until finally the last tile fell into place. And then—
There was a flash of light. It seared an imprint of a face in her mind. Bhunivelze. There was an echo of laughter in his voice. And then—
There was blackness.
.
It was morning, and it brought with it the feeling that something was missing.
.
.
.
.
.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XIII and its sequels belong to Square Enix.
A/N: This piece was written months ago after I finished Lightning Returns (and subsequently got my first platinum for a game ever yay XD ), since I wanted to contribute something to the fandom, something with a happy ending. I left it brewing in my hard drive because it didn't meet my personal word count requirement and so I let it stew until I could think of something else to add and maybe deal with the happy ending I wanted to write about originally. And then totally forgot it was there. Found it again, and with a fresh perspective (and less hindered by personal writing rules), I thought it worked as is. At least I hope.
Maybe someday my muse will actually let me write that happy ending I originally wanted.
Thanks for reading :)
October/2014