Necklace
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII.
Spoiler for Lightning's real name, but everything else should be spoiler free.
A/N: It's probably been a year since I wrote any fanfiction. I was working on a fancic where Lightning has an incurable disease and how she deals with it. But then, it started becoming too long and I think it would have become a multi-chapter fic. Frankly, I'm no good at updating those so, I decided to just go with a simple one-shot. I might make it in the future, but for now, I guess I'll stick to my oneshots. I had the idea when I saw the necklace Lightning wore and the way she was holding it towards the end of the game. I'm actually basing it off of a cell-phone strap of Lightning's pendant, so just Google (Lightning final fantasy XIII cellphone) if you want to have an idea of what I'm describing.
Just so you know, this is set a few years before the events of the game.
"Sis!~" The younger Farron sister called out.
"What is it?" A disgruntled Lightning spoke
Lightning and Serah were window shopping in the Bodhum shopping district. It was one of the very few days Lightning had off, and she only got off work because her sister begged her to go shopping—complaining that they hadn't spent any time together in a while.
"I wanted to show you this necklace, it's really pretty and it kinda fits you don't you think?"
It was a necklace that was made of silver, in the slight shape of a black zig-zag. There was a yellow jewel encrusted on the right side and three smaller gems towards the bottom. The necklace as a whole, shone brilliantly in the warm sunlight. It really did fit her, and as much as she may have wanted it, she couldn't spend her money on something like that. She was still providing for both herself and Serah, so she couldn't go around and spend her money so blatantly. It's not like they were particularly poor either, but they simply had other more important things to spend it on.
"It's…okay. Not really my style"
Though, almost imperceptible, Sarah felt the longing gaze of her elder sister at the store window. Any normal person wouldn't have noticed, but they were sisters after all.
"Oh alright, let's go look at some other stuff okay?" Serah said with a slight glint in her eyes.
"Alright."
After awhile they went into several stores and ended up not buying much, except something Serah had bought when she managed to slip away for a couple of moments. She refused to disclose what it was and said that she would have to wait until they got home to know.
"Okay Serah, what did you end up buying at the store?"
Opening the small, plastic, shopping bag, Serah showed her elder sister the box she had bought earlier.
"Open it!" She said as she passed the small box , eagerly awaiting what kind of expression Lightning would have.
"It's…." Lightning couldn't help but smile inwardly. Although it was something akin to a waste of money, she really appreciated the gesture. Ever since their parents had died all those years ago, she thought she was pushing away her sister with all the work from the Guardian Corps. Lightning always believed that when she changed her name, she became a person that was cold and distant to everyone she knew---including her sister.
Though her elder sister was now "Lightning" , Serah always knew, that somewhere, Claire was suffering under the shell of Lightning. As cold as she may have been in recent years, she sometimes saw the remnants of her kind self behind the lonely persona. Although faint, Serah always knew somewhere, Claire was in there, reaching for a way out.
Lightning couldn't formulate a reply, but Serah helped her along.
"Here, let me put it on you. Then you can tell me what you think!"
Wordlessly she turned her back to Serah, a signal giving her permission to put the necklace around her. Serah moved the soft, light pink strands of her to the front of Claire's face, and hooked the chain.
"It's pretty right?" Serah lightly interjected.
At this, Claire nodded slightly. This was the best response she could come up with. There was no way she was going to say it was cute or pretty, she simply couldn't bring herself do it.
"Serah, I… thank you."
"Your welcome, I knew you'd like it! But, Claire, you have to be more honest with yourself. If you want it, you can get it, I mean it's not like we're poor or anything. And you deserve it, especially since…" Serah took a deep breath and continued.
"…Especially since you've been taking care of everything after our parents died. I really appreciate it and I'm all grown up you know? You should take some time for yourself and relax every once in a while."
"Besides, that persona will give you wrinkles when you're old!" Serah said while trying to change the mood of the conversation.
After that, Serah turned on her heel and walked off to the kitchen without another sound.
After Sarah left, Lightning glanced at the pendant and saw a word inscribed on the necklace. Upon closer inspection, she saw a single word inscribed on the side. Lightning.
Her little sister thought so much of her, and she never noticed.
With her eyes closed and fingers grasping the small necklace, Lightning whispered, "I'll try…," wondering if she would ever be able to give up the façade she had worked so hard to build up all these years.
But if anyone could do it…
"Claire, I'm making dinner and I'll call you when it's ready!" Serah shouted out from the kitchen.
Serah, with her heart-warming innocence, would be able to break the shell of the cold Lightning and maybe, just maybe… bring back Claire from the old days.
A/N: If anyone was wondering, Claire, or more specifically, "Eclair" means Lightning in French.