Above and Below
Legal Disclaimer: Square Enix owns the Final Fantasy series. I do not.
Notes:
I would like to present the first chapter of my attempt at a multi-chaptered post-canon story. The story will focus almost purely on Lightning after the events of the game, culminating in eventual Fang x Lightning. I don't have to much to say at the moment, as this is only the first chapter.
Comments, criticisms, and general reviews are always welcomed, but otherwise, please enjoy!
~Logos Minus Pity
Chapter 1: Return to Forever
Lightning stood on the dock of Bodhum Beach, looking out into the shadowed night sky. She studied the muted glow of the stars from their true heavens, their filtered light dimmed and refracted through the transparent crystal that had transformed the shell of the sphere-world of Cocoon. Bodhum had been one of the lucky settlements on Cocoon that had survived the destruction of Orphan, continuing to prosper with its cousin cities thanks to its fortunate position on the bottom curve of the now crystallized shell.
Two and a half months. It had been only two and a half months since the War of Revelations had ended, since they had defeated Orphan and completed their focus. It was barely anytime at all, and yet it felt like years had passed to Lightning. So many years had been spent in Bodhum—her entire life, really, discounting her brief but unforgettable journey as a Pulse l'Cie. She had been born in this quiet, sea-side town, and it was only several months ago she had still thought herself content to stay here forever. But things had changed since then.
"You're leaving for officer training?" asked Serah, her pale blue eyes going wide with surprise.
Lightning shrugged it off, letting her own gaze drift away.
"It was something Lieutenant Amodar brought up before this whole mess started," she explained, throwing an open-handed gesture to the Cocoon atmosphere. "He sent in a recommendation and everything. And I guess despite whatever biases there may still be in the new government, they thought that accepting a former l'Cie would be better then sticking with PSICOM's old policies. Former-PSICOM, I guess I should say."
With the dissolution of the Sanctum and the conclusion of the "War of Revelations" as historians were beginning to call it, the Public Safety and Intelligence Command had been dismantled; PSICOM had been too deeply tied to the Sanctum's puppet government to survive the dismantling of it.
The Guardian Corps, by contrast, had filled the void, taking on the role of both military protection and police law enforcement. All of the remaining Cavalry and Bodhum Regiment members had been immediately restored to their old posts, most with medals of honor. As for Lightning, she had at first resisted the call to return to the military, seeing no point in it. But her emerging frustration at having nothing else to do rapidly got the better of her, and soon enough she found herself back before Amodar's regional office, nearly begging to reinstated to the Bodhum Security Regiment (not the she ever begged for anything—but still, it was undoubtedly as close as she would come to it).
Initially, she had refused the offers of laurels and promotions, seeing no merit in it. After all, she still reasoned with herself, she was not one of the true individuals responsible for saving Cocoon.
But it seemed as though things would not just "go back" to how they had been before. Much to her utter surprise, she found herself becoming discontent with relatively peaceful return to the Bodhum Security Regiment. It had been precisely what she wanted at first—the very thing, she had believed, that she had always wanted from it—something to keep her busy, something to focus her free time on. And yet as the days melded into weeks, the ever present restlessness grew in her mind. She would never be able to say just how deeply thankful she was to have Serah back, to be allowed the chance back at a normal life. But it didn't help the way she felt.
She wasn't satisfied in Bodhum anymore.
She found herself constantly ill at ease, unable to relax and enjoy the simplicities of life that she had once found pleasure in. She knew that she should be happy, that she should make the most of what time she had been given back. But it simply seemed as though it was not to be.
It had, ultimately, been Amodar who had once again stepped in for her. He had called her into his office—the third time that week alone—his weathered face both caring and concerned.
Lots of things have changed.
That's what he had told her, before suggesting again that she pursue officer academy. So many things had changed, but his strong recommendation for her remained, and he was confident that whatever politics raged over the former l'Cie, the military would not hesitate to accept her into their more elite ranks. And unlike before, it suddenly struck her as an appealing option. She had felt the tiniest drop of excitement stir within her at the thought of moving beyond the sleepy little village she had lived in all of her life.
Lightning surveyed the night-darkened beach currently around her. Many things had changed in Bodhum over the past few months, yet deep inside of her she knew that it wasn't Bodhum that had truly changed, but her.
She sighed, turning back toward the loud and cheery setting that lay behind her. The Bodhum Café was abuzz with movement and people to celebrate the elder Farron's going away party. Serah had insisted on doing something in celebration of Lightning's promotion, and though Lightning was the least keen to do anything but leave Bodhum quietly, she finally gave in to her sister's persistent begging, not wanting to cause anymore strife between the two siblings than what the past years had already done.
With Lightning's half-hearted blessing, Serah had immediately gone to Snow, and between Snow's and the rest of NORA's enthusiastic desire to win over Lightning's personal respect, the end result had been a true party being thrown on Bodhum Beach the night before Lightning was due to leave for the officer military training academy.
Of course, Serah and Snow had to quite literally push the reticent Lightning into the mess of people who awaited at the café to celebrate with her. But once Lebreau had started handing out drinks from the bar, it had been far easier for Lightning to make her escape out on to the isolated and empty dock.
Lightning tossed back the glass of water she still held in her hand. She had never been one for drinking much, and she certainly had no desire to catch her early morning airship ride with a hangover. She also hated parties. Particularly ones where she was the guest of honor. She had never enjoyed being put in the social lime-light. And besides, she silently mused to herself, she could count on one hand the number of people present in the café who were actually her friends.
She turned back toward the crowded throng that flooded the café. Her lip automatically curled in distaste at the thought of venturing back in, but she steeled her resolve. If she kept hiding out for much longer, she knew Serah would worry soon. At the very least, she owed better than her last party performance for her sister—her notorious twenty-first birthday celebration.
She walked steadfastly back across the beach, taking a deep breath before stepping foot back into the crowded building, trying to blend in and move through the bodies as painlessly as possible. Nonetheless, despite her attempts to re-enter the café as stealthily as possible, it seemed as though stealth was either a futile attempt, or that her skills in that department were severely lacking.
"Yeeeah!" cheered Snow loudly—and rather drunkenly—as soon as he caught sight of her trying to slink through the mass of people. "Sis is back!"
"Moron," Lightning muttered briefly under her breath, but there was no true malice behind it. He was a moron, she knew, but a good one, nonetheless. She rolled her eyes at him, which ended with her gaze on an entirely different sight making its way toward her.
Oh no…
It took nearly all of her self control to keep from actually vocalizing her mental groan. Even then she wasn't sure if she'd succeeded, not that it would have dissuaded them.
Some people just never seemed to give up on her status as a happily single individual, and unfortunately the members of NORA were some of the top ranking people on that particular black list. Yuj and Lebreau in particular seemed to love to do nothing more than push her buttons once they had both had more than a fair share of drinks, and judging by the glazed twinkle in both of their eyes, they had certainly passed that point for the night.
"Light-er-ning!" yelled Yuj happily, making her visibly cringe. With the café as crowded as it was, there was no chance to escape She turned to face her imminent doom.
She clenched her jaw. Her body had already gone uncomfortably rigid as the two rapidly encroached on her personal space, Yuj grabbing her arm while Lebreau approached from her other side.
"It's Lightning," she managed through gritted teeth.
"Yep!" affirmed Yuj, as though he had said it perfectly only seconds earlier. He tugged against her arm. She felt her fingers twitch with the instinctive need to grab her gunblade. He winked at her suggestively.
"Still keeping to yourself?"
"It's been working for me so far," she responded sarcastically.
"What a tragedy! Is there no one who can melt this soldier's icy heart?" queried Lebreau. She leaned against Lightning, her breath heavy with consumed spirits.
Before Lightning could respond with a violent retort, Yuj back cut in, as if on cue. "Come on, there's gotta be someone here. What's your type? Short, tall? Pale, dark?"
"Man or woman?" interjected Lebreau, now slinging one arm around the sergeant's shoulders, her fingers trailing their own path.
Lightning fidgeted nervously, increasingly aware of how many other inhabitants of the bar had turned to look toward the scene Lebreau was creating, many eying Light with scarce-concealed interest.
She roughly threw Lebreau's arm off of her. She was trying not to use excessive force, but didn't know if anything less would get across. Her face easily fell into the iciest glare she could manage, her ire apparent.
"I swear by Etro, if you two don't stop spouting nonsense, you'll be on the receiving end of my fist," Lightning warned, hoping to any powers above and below that her threats would break through their drunken stupor. For once, it seemed as though her prayers would finally be answered.
Snow interrupted, his voice booming as he held both of his hands up in a placating gesture. "Whoa, now. Yuj, Lebreau, you better not take what the lady here says lightly. Sis sure doesn't know how to pull her punches. Speaking from personal experience, the only person to ever lay me out harder was Fang, I think."
Miraculously, the two NORA members disengaged themselves from Lightning immediately, both moving toward their leader as they voiced their disbelief.
"No way, Snow. No way anyone could have punched you harder than that time with Gadot," said Yuj, looking unconvinced.
Lightning barely heard their discussion, though. She suddenly thought of Fang and Vanille—two true friends of theirs who should have been here, but weren't. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear back the unexpected pang of regret that had struck her like a kick to the chest.
She looked around the room. It was filled with familiar faces, and yet she wouldn't miss any of them remotely. Except for one. And she had stopped needing "Lightning" a long time ago.
Suddenly she felt horribly claustrophobic in the café, almost as though she were physically suffocating. She couldn't stand to be here anymore; not in this place, with these people. The choking desire to run away nearly became overwhelming. She needed to leave, and now.
As she exited the building a small but firm hand grabbed her shoulder. Lightning whipped around to find herself staring back into eyes the very same hue and shape as her own, but brimming with worry.
"Claire, what's wrong?" asked Serah, concern flooding her voice.
The concern helped ground her more. She realized how heavily she was breathing, how flustered she must look, especially when compared to usual. Years of practice did not go to waste—she schooled her features quickly.
"It's okay," she said as reassuringly as she could. "Think I had too much to drink. Was going to head out."
It was a blatant lie, but she prayed that Serah would take it.
Serah's brow furrowed. She wasn't surprised that Lightning wanted to leave, but it was entirely uncharacteristic of her to make excuses, particularly one as weak as this.
"Okay. Are you sure you don't want company getting back home?"
Lightning forced a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine. Need to get rest before tomorrow. Don't leave early on my account."
Serah stared back for a long second before finally nodding her head in acceptance. "Alright. Good night, Claire—I'll see you in the morning before you go."
Lightning half stumbled out of the bar—as if she were actually drunk—all too desperate to remove herself from the situation and to break into a sprint back toward the safe comfort of home, like she would have many years ago, when her parents were still alive.
Those days were lost to her.
Instead, she walked calmly, the momentary stumble already stricken from memory. She sped up as she entered the house she and Serah shared, making a beeline for her room. It was nearly empty; what little luggage she had already neatly packed now standing attention by the doorway.
She collapsed into her bed, a sudden wave of exhaustion robbing her of any will she had left to keep her eyes open longer.
Sometime later, a rustling movement next to her awoke her from her nameless dreams. Lightning didn't even need to fully open her eyes to recognize who it was.
"Serah?" asked Lightning, her voice thick from sleep. "What—"
Her sister snuggled up against her, just like how she used to sleep with Lightning right after their parents died. But it had been years since she had slept over in Lightning's bed. Why the sudden change now?
"Claire, tell me more about Pulse," begged Serah. "I want to hear another story of your adventures."
It caught her off guard, this blindingly simple request. "Silly, I've already told you everything before, and you have Snow to tell you things, too, you know."
"I know, but…no one tells stories quite the way you do, Claire."
As if sensing her older sister hesitation, Serah pressed on. "Please? One last time before you leave?"
Lightning let out a sigh of acquiescence. "Alright, alright. What do you want to hear me talk about?"
There was a brief moment of ponderous silence before Serah finally decided. "Oh! Tell me about that giant building again! What was it called? The Watchtower?"
"Taejin's Tower," corrected Lightning automatically, her mind already recalling back images of the massive, Pulsian structure. She remembered the shock and awe she, Snow, Sahz, and Hope had all felt when they first laid eyes on the broken monolith, stunned that Pulse could possess such an unspoken level of architectural sophistication.
"We had finally made our way through Sulya Springs—you remember when I told you about the springs, right? With the fal'Cie Bismarck. Anyway, we were getting closer to Oerba with every step. All we had left to do was pass through the ancient monolith that Pulsians called Taejin's Tower. I still remember when we first rounded that worn cliff corner so that we could fully see it. It was colossal, Serah, bigger than anything I've ever seen in Cocoon, even in Eden…"
She continued on with her story, now almost completely unaware of Serah, her mind taken back to a place that had been forcibly locked away in her memories, trapped worlds away.
