WIND AND LIGHT.
THE DRAGOON AND THE SOLDIER.
Lightning readies her gunblade, as the pair of enemies faces her group.
Wait a minute… pair? Where is the third one?
As she finishes her thought, her senses go highwire and she´s forced to jump aside, as an explosion of air parts in half the rock she had been standing on top of. She falls on one knee, meters away from the explosion, and as she looks up, finds a purple armor standing in front of her, looming over her, as the threatening male figure whirls his dark lance over his head, ready for the next strike. Lightning moves fast and clashes her gunblade against the lance, blocking the attack and bringing her face inches from his enemy, seething in rage and pleasure.
"Kain Highwind… exactly the man I was looking for."
He smirks at her words, his eyes hidden behind the dragon-shaped helmet.
"Lightning… Your soothing voice brings so many memories into my head…"
Lightning grunts in anger at his words and pushes him hard, away from her, as she readies a powerful attack. But her instincts scream at her, and she turns to her left, while at the same time raises her shield protectively, just in time to avoid a direct fira spell to crash against her body. The power of the magic still makes her reel backwards.
"Kefka!"
The loathed joker smirks wickedly at her, while leering at her figure.
"It´s perfect, Highwind! We´ll make sure this lass doesn´t get to see tomorrow´s sunrise!"
"Two against one, ne? And here I thought you couldn´t fall lower than this, Highwind." She teases him, while she spins her gunblade with expertise, as if to show the level of her skill. "Fine then, let us dance together. I can easily defeat you both." Lightning sends a thundara spell towards the clown and immediately blocks an attack from the dragoon. Without breaking her momentum, the woman spins around to send a blizzara spell that the clown easily avoids, and returns the favor, but the pinkette steps aside to avoid both the attack and the pushing of the dark knight whirling his Commander´s Lance against her. Lightning blocks another attack from the Dragoon, when her instinct prickles, warning her of danger at her back, and she spins on her own axis, avoiding just barely an attack coming from behind her. The long blade still manages to pierce the skin of her right flank, making a deep cut, fortunately not deep enough to be of danger. Forcing her mind to ignore the pain, she clashes her weapon hard against the Commander´s Lance, obliging his owner backwards, and she does a somersault to avoid the second attack coming from the long sword, the infamous Masamune.
Her jump allows her to be face to face against her third opponent, unable to prevent her eyes to open wide in surprise at the enemy towering above her.
"Sephirot."
"Care if I join the dance? You said you could manage two partners." He looks down at her body, as his smile grows wider. "Mind if we step up the challenge and create a four-some?"
Seething at the dirty innuendo, Lightning slashes her gunblade against the man, but he manages to move easily out of her reach. Her futile efforts and the loss of concentration have negative consequences, because it leaves an easy opening for Kefka to strike her back with a powerful firaga spell. The woman yells for the burn flesh, but refuses to give in, and only allows a single knee to touch the ground. But the moment of weakness is used by the clown, who kicks her abused back, pushing her hard and flat, face first, against the ground, and falls on top of her, in a frenzy of laughter.
"Oops! I think you…"
But the man doesn´t finish his sentence. Lightning takes advantage of her smaller frame and manages to spin on her own axis under the man´s legs, striking hard his face with her shield, emitting a crushing sound that makes Sephirot flinch.
"AArrgh! My face!"
The impact makes the man release her and she jumps to attack Sephirot, who blocks her blade and slashes against her again. She blocks the attack easily, but the second strike manages to break her guard, as the pain on her flank and the burns in her back manifest themselves, slowing her movements. The platinum blond hits her with the grip of the Masamune, breaking her lip. The inertia of the strike make her turn around, but she follows it and with it, blocks an attack from the Commander´s Lance, directed at her shoulder. She spins slightly to block another attack from the Masamune with her shield, and shifts, making the two enemy weapons clash against each other, while she does a summersault, trying to get away from the men.
As she falls on one knee, the once-Savior faces her deadly enemies, evaluating her possibilities. Kain is one of the most formidable warriors she´s ever met, and Sephirot is plain insane, but plain perfect in battle, as well. And while Kefka might be a joker, his abilities as a wizard are legendary. The three men face her, all of them reading their attacks. Fighting three formidable enemies, with a bleeding flank and a charred back, and fight all of them at the same time… well…
She licks her lips, tasting her own blood, and smirks. "Right…"
No words of worry. No complaints. No doubts, no hesitation. She knows this is a battle she won´t allow herself to lose, no matter how dire her possibilities.
The pinkette rises slowly from the ground, eyes fixed on her enemies, as her grip on her gunblade tightens. Without breaking eye contact, she readies her stance, takes her position, and locks eyes with the strongest of them all.
Sephirot is the first one to attack, but his weapon doesn´t find her. Instead, it clashes against the Buster Sword, the moment Cloud steps in between his comrade and his enemy.
"Sorry, but today you won´t be fighting anyone but me, Sephirot."
The addressed man smiles evilly, and they start their own battle dance, clashing swords away from them.
Lightning looks back at the remaining opponents and readies her gunblade, but then Kefka smiles, looks behind her and runs without any explanation, laughing savagely and making ridiculous poses, as if tainting someone to follow.
Lightning grunts and is about to comply, but feels a soothing sensation over her abused skin, as it is healed by a powerful cura spell, and as she turns around, she finds the Esper, Terra Bradford, placing a reassuring hand on the taller woman´s shoulder.
"I´m sorry we couldn´t make it sooner, Lightning, we got too far away from the field during the battles, and they beat us to get to you." She had been glaring at the ridiculous joker (as much as someone like her could glare), and then turns to meet Lightning´s eyes, sending her a beautiful smile. "But we are here for you now. You won´t have to face them on your own again."
Before Lightning can thank her, or say any word, the magician runs to follow the clown.
Two down, one more to go.
The pinkette looks at Kain, the last enemy facing her, who evidently has his eyes fixed on her, even when she can´t see them, for the man still has them hidden underneath the shadows of his helmet.
"It´s just the two of us, now." He teases.
"I´ve been wanting this for long, Kain."
He smiles, a tinge of innuendo in his voice. "So have I." And with that, he turns around and flees from her.
"W-what? Hey!" Angry and confused, she follows him.
He runs fast, so Lightning pushes forward, sending some Ravager spells at him, but the man avoids them rather easily. She catches up with him, and they interchange a few blows, but a moment of inertia that sends the woman a few steps away from him, allow the man precious seconds to start his rushing away from her again.
"Stop this game, now! I mean it!"
She runs towards him, sending as many spells as she can, but furious to see none of them are connecting with his body.
After a few minutes of playing catch and run, they enter an area full of trees, the trunks and bushes so close to one another, that the two combatants can barely see the sunrays filtrating through the tree tops. So far are they from the battlefield, Lightning doesn´t even hear the battle raging in between her peers and her enemies.
"Where are we?"
She has barely finished the sentence, when she is forced to raise her blade, as the lance clashes hard against her weapon, sending tremors up her arms. They interchange a few blows, until the man jumps behind, still without uttering a word.
"What´s the meaning of all this, Kain? Why are you working with them?"
He still doesn´t speak, but takes his helmet off, tossing it aside, his upper armor following suit, which falls unceremoniously to the ground, as if teasing her to attack him unprotected, and Lightning is forced to hold her breath at the sight that meets her.
She hadn´t forgotten him. At all.
His deep violet eyes, the curve of his strong jaw, his muscular chest… his powerful arms… she shakes her head and forces herself to concentrate, as she readies her weapon.
He propels himself against her, the Commander´s Lance at the ready, and they both clash their weapons against one another, until Kain, in a swift motion, breaks her guard, puts the body of the lance against her chest, and, using sheer brute force, pushes her backwards, effectively trapping her against his body and a broad tree.
"I think you´re mine now." The man teases, smirking, but the raising of a delicate eyebrow is her response.
"I wouldn´t be so sure." She shifts her wrist slightly, just so that he´s able to notice the hilt of Lightning´s beloved knife, and then notices too the cold kiss of its blade, resting against his neck.
"You might try to choke me," she says, mirroring his smirk, "but I wonder how much you can do with the 4 minutes it takes for a human body to lose all its blood."
He smiles wider at her threat.
"I think I´ll take the risk."
But instead of forcing his lance against her throat, he slowly lowers his face towards hers, as if testing whether she´ll embed the blade into his throat, or allow him to be. He moves forward, and to his utter pleasure, he sees the blade is moving with him, following him in his trek towards her, no restriction whatsoever, until his lips press softly against hers, and after a moment he licks his lips, tasting her. Lightning doesn´t move at all, at first just lets him do, but the moment he presses his lips against hers once more, she parts them, allowing him entrance, and they both deepen the kiss. Lightning can´t place the moment his lance fell on the ground, only notices his warm chest pressed against hers, nothing but her own armor separating them, and she too, tosses aside the knife and the gunblade, so that she´s able to use both hands to press him further against her, one on his hair, grabbing handfuls of it, and the other on his back, desperately scratching skin. She can feel her heartbeat picking up pace, running as fast as his, and she can even hear the blood in her ears drumming at the same tempo as do his kisses. Their breaths already ragged, he breaks the kiss, only to capture her neck with his lips, sucking, biting, kissing, searching for ways of being closer to her. Of becoming one.
"We shouldn´t… this isn´t right…" She moans at his ears, but her actions don´t match her words, as her hands roam his back, prompting him to be closer.
"If you want me to…" he searches her lips once more, trapping them in a furious kiss, while softly, but firmly, he guides her body towards the ground "just say so… and I´ll stop…"
Her frame trapped again, this time in between the soft grass and the man´s body, Lightning isn´t able to speak, not even to think coherently, as she feels his enormous hands finding and massaging one of her breasts, and marveled at the idea of how her armor had disappeared into thin air without her noticing.
When did he become so skillful in undressing her so swiftly?
But even that thought blurs with her moans when his lips find the hardened nipple, and she bits her lips to prevent herself from screaming. Somewhere in her mind, she knows nobody should be listening to them… They were hiding from someone… right?
Incoherent thoughts are the only response, as he traps the other breast, caressing it and pinching it, while he sucks and kisses the first one, and Lightning is forced to arch her body, eager to feel more of him.
Her heart is about to explode, she can feel nothing but his hands and warm lips, making trails of kisses and caresses and traveling her body downwards, hear nothing but her own moans of pleasure, and the occasions when he calls her name in between ragged breathing, until they fuse into one being, seeking each other´s warmth and comfort, to quench one another´s need of being together.
When everything is finished, he collapses over her, and she envelops his body, receiving him in a warm, exhausted embrace. Once their breathing becomes a little more even, he chuckles against her flesh.
"What´s so funny?" She asks, whispering to his ear.
"I was thinking I… I wish I could stay like this with you, the whole day… forever, if possible."
She smiles at that. "Yeah… wouldn´t that be nice?"
He shifts over her, and stands on his elbows, so that he can plant soft kisses on her lips and face.
"You don't want that?"
She kisses him back, but his words bring a memory that creates a pressure in her chest, not related to his weight, and a dark shadow crosses behind her eyes. The moment already broken, she pushes him aside.
"I think it´s time to move. They´ll find us out."
She pushes him further away, and he finally complies, a look of hurt on his face. They start to dress wordlessly, a heavy silence weighing upon each of their shoulders, until Kain can´t stand it any longer and finally speaks up.
"I´m sorry, Lightning. I know you don´t like romance, and that I must´ve sound desperate, I just… I just had missed you for so long, and I…"
A delicate eyebrow rises. "Kain, why are you apologizing for?"
He sighs, trying to elaborate some more. "Well… I´m just saying that I understand you don´t want that type of commitment. You´re a free spirit, I get that; you´re a strong woman not attached to anyone, but I still care about you, and…"
"What makes you think I´m like that? What did I do to make you believe it?" Lightning interrupts him, raising her voice, a hard edge in it even when she´s doing her best effort not to sound as pissed off as she feels.
Uncharacteristically of him, Kain hesitates at sensing her tone. "Well… you… I thought you got angry at my words. So I thought you pushed me away because of them."
The pinkette looks at him, hard, as if trying to read his mind, until her eyes open wide, finally realization dawning on her. She rubs her temple with her fingers, feeling a headache threatening to appear.
"I wasn´t angry at your words, Kain. You misunderstood completely."
The man exhales; just realizing he had been holding his breath for long.
"Then what happened? You were happy for a moment, and the next, you just grunt at me as if in disgust, and push me away. I know you have a temper, but you had never done that before."
"I don´t have to explain myself to you." She spats, obviously defensive, but he´s not going to let her go again. Not after he just got her back.
"I know. That´s what I mean, I understand the way you are. But I want to know if you´re okay with this, of what we have. I want to know about you."
For a moment, Lightning just stands there without speaking, pondering his words and looking straight at him, as if evaluating the situation, obviously mulling over the importance of her next actions. Kain knows her, has known (and missed) that look, and knows it means she´s preparing for something important, and he understands her so well, that he knows the decision she takes in that moment, would be definitive for both of them. Her determination has always been absolute, a trait he adores of her the most. So he waits, not even a muscle moving. Her words will be the sentence he´s been waiting for, ever since he had laid eyes on her frame once again.
Finally, in what feels like an eternity, Lightning breaks eye contact with him and sighs, obviously coming to a decision, and then she extends a hand towards him, prompting him to approach her.
"Kain… I think we need to talk."
oooooooOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo
A/N:
I don´t own Final Fantasy, nor any of the characters portrayed here. I just write for my own pleasure.
Lightning´s last words… I think all men in the world fear those four words combined, right? Well, I´m guessing those words in other dimensions are also terrifying! XDD. What is Lightning going to tell him?
I started this because, first, in Dissidia NT I get all frustrated whenever the three opponents attack Lightning at the same time; it happens to me in almost every battle, and every time I get my ass, (well, HER ass) kicked without a doubt: they don´t give you even space to breathe! And with a Lightning being slower than a turtle… aargghh! Second, because I´ve noticed Sephirot and Kain are particularly vicious with her whenever they meet in battle, since they just won´t let her go, (I guess that´s the way the AI is programed: to attack the most powerful enemy). Third, I kinda hate that you have to run chasing Kain, and once you think you´ve catch up with him to exchange some blows, he does this summersault that lands on top of you, so fast, that he looks like a freaking blur on the screen! And last, but not least, I wrote this because, since Duodecim, I thought Lightning and Kain formed a beautiful couple, even when Lightning was kinda like an ass in that game, but at the same time it was cute to see Kain looking after her (if you choose to ignore he actually attacked her once, hehehe). Too bad this new game didn´t give them much screen time (or at all, in case of Kain).
I had intended this to be a one shot, but the chapter got really huge, and then ideas started to pop into my mind, so I really hope it wasn´t too exaggerated, or the characters way too OOC, for your taste. In other words, hope you liked it!