Nearly 12 AM in the morning, Claire lied in her bed, shifting restlessly. More nightmares, more and more reminders of what Raccoon and Rockfort had truly done to her: plaguing her mind with images of zombies and BOW's burned into her imagination. As it was now, almost seven months later, bad dreams still haunted her of the chronic destruction Umbrella began. She instead, attempted to focus on the heavy rain, crashing on her window pane …
She chuckled nervously, "If only life was like that, Umbrella as dirt, easily washed away and forgotten about…"
Or rather, the memories.
A knot formed in her stomach at the thought. How would she ever heal from this? She never asked for involvement in the whole mess, she never asked for her life to of been dramatically altered. All she ever needed was a job, a family, and a quite life. Until Umbrella's downfall, such a thought seemed like a fantasy.
A couple hours shy of 20 years old, and already she feared for the future.
Of course, it wasn't all bad. Raccoon was an unbelievable hell all on its own, but meeting him changed her. Upon arriving in the city, seeing someone else alive was a Saving Grace by itself, but he was more than just another survivor: he was the only thing that kept her sane throughout the escape. He was the only thing that kept her head down to earth in a situation such as Raccoon.
Leon Kennedy.
Claire sighed on turned on her side away from the window, "Leon…"
Unreachable. The last she heard of him was her aiding of escaping Rockfort. Without a word and without a sound, he disappeared into nowhere and out of her life once again. It was times like this when she truly realized how special of a person he was. After Raccoon, what do you say? "Hi, thanks for saving me life through that hell!" and walk away? It wasn't as easy as it sounded. Raccoon was traumatic for the two of them; stumbling into the city without a clue and to be that young…to of seen what they saw at the ages they retained. Anyone in the same situation would agree, Post-Traumatic Attachment seemed understandable, like clinging to a lifeline and never wanting to let go. Leon practically was her "lifeline"
Her eyelids were getting heavy now, come sun rise, she would already be 20, she could push away 19 and all the events that went with it. Starting anew seemed like a great gift…
But the only gift she ever needed was Leon's presence, even for only a while.
Dammit Kennedy, of all times, why now?
Because the feeling wouldn't fade, not now, not ever.
Memories of Claire came in floods once again, driving him out of bed and into his living room. Sleep seemed unachievable at this point, he looked at the electronic clock atop the TV: 2:54 AM flashed in bold red characters, almost taunting him. Shortly after Raccoon's destruction, he found a nice New York home in the suburbs, to lie low from Umbrella and keep as quite as possible. So far, words of the Raccoon city disaster hadn't passed his lips. Doing so would only cause a firestorm of paparazzi. Even so, satisfied with his quiet life, he'd lost connection with Claire after the Rockfort Island incident months ago.
He would say "It was for her own safety" because it's true. He had been a cop when the virus broke out, and still had ties tracing from the law enforcement agency. Being in contact with Claire would put her front and center on the spotlight for the haunting memories she may have still been suffering from. That's what he'd hate to see: Claire still suffering. That word alone made him twitch, to think someone like Claire to have to face what he did. To face what they both did. Blood, guns, monsters, zombies, fires, screams…a whole disarray of a vivid nightmare.
A low, drawn out beep beckoned Leon's attention to the front of him, from the clock: 3:00 AM
Leon sighed, shifting back and stared out the window at the constant downpour outside. Pondering on, he could almost pity himself. The worst part of all of this is he knew where Claire lived and knew she was okay. As much as wanted to meet her in person once again, his gut told him otherwise. Keeping his distance from her would benefit both of them.
But "how" would it benefit us?
A question without an answer, the silence spoke for itself. That was enough to prove for him that it wasn't a benefit to go on living behind a mirror only an eighth thick. Leon could only stare at himself every day, knowing Claire was probably doing the same. But as it was, the two of them were not as far as they thought they were, so close.
Besides, he knew it was her birthday today. What not a better gift than to show up at her doorstep?
Leon laughed himself at the idea, but it was worth a shot. Rising from the couch, he disappeared into the bathroom to ready himself for the coming day.
His decision had been made. After long months of contemplating, he was going to see her once again.
Sitting at the island in the kitchen, Claire sipped away at her cup of tea and flipped on the early morning news. Nothing really special, a robbery, a storm warning, none picked her interest. She looked out the kitchen window and sighed. The rain continued to fall in huge down pours, labeling the day really dark and depressing. She hadn't received any calls yet, from Chris or her friends either way, but it didn't really matter to her. Sitting at home all day sounded like relaxation to her.
Claire leaned her head back, staring off "Maybe if this rain clears, I'll run down to do some errands real quick…"
Sharply, she was cut off of her thoughts when her phone rang out from across the island. Reaching over she looked at the ID, curious of the caller.
UNKNOWN NAME
Pressing 'talk', she raised the phone to her ear, "Hello?"
The person on the other end was silent for a moment, before he spoke calmly.
"Hey…Claire"
Her breath caught in her throat at the astonishment of the voice. Dropping her cup on the counter, she spoke shakily.
"Le-Leon?"
"Yeah…" He paused, "Long time huh?"
"How did you…?" Claire searched for a way to finish that question, not before Leon began.
"I just knew." he answered, "Truth be told, I've been around longer than you think, just never approached you."
Claire's brow knit in confusion, 'closer than she thought?'
"Hope you don't mind me calling on short notice, I certainly wouldn't want to keep you from any other birthday calls"
She ran her hand through her hair, none of it seemed real, this all had to be a dream. He remembered my birthday.?
"Actually" he chuckled nervously, "I was wondering what I could have gotten for you, anything specific?"
"You don't have to get me anything…" Claire smiled sadly, "Maybe we could meet up, you know, catch up?"
"Great," he paused again, "I hope you're ready for a surprise"
"What?" Claire questioned, "What do you mean?"
"Why don't you look out your front door and find out?"
Instantly, Claire's gaze whipped to the door and clicked the phone off. Rushing to the door, she opened with sweaty palms, and the breath and been stolen from her immediately.
Leon Kennedy stood there, in person, on her doorstep. With the rain falling behind him and the puddles forming around her house, he looked almost looked like a ray of sunshine peeking through the grey, ugly clouds.
Claire forced herself to hold back tears of relief, "Leon?" her voice cracked up slightly.
He smiled warmly despite the heavy, dark rain in the background, "Claire…" He seemed just as awestruck as she was, happy to see her okay and still in one piece.
The two were silent. They were actually with each other in person, of which felt surreal. The fight with Umbrella tore them apart after Raccoon, more leaning toward the search for her brother.
"…Claire?" Leon asked softly, his gray eyes searching her blank ones.
Claire shook her head free from her spacing out, embarrassed by doing so.
"Yeah, sorry. I'm fine." She scratched the back of her head. "Well, hurry and come in before you get soaked!"
Claire ushered him inside the small 2 story house, promptly shutting the door behind him. Glancing around, he took in the sight of the living room. Claire lived in a cozy house, complete with gray carpets and framed pictures on the walls, most of her and Chris, but one of a young couple, most likely her deceased parents. Particularly, one thing caught his sight. There was a wide window with one at each side, folding out of the walls like a book, all framed with a sort of cherry wood. A bay window, a beautiful one indeed.
"Enjoy sightseeing?" Leon questioned humorously.
Claire turned away from the door to see him staring out of the window near the couch.
"I love that window" Claire approached the window as well, staring out as well.
Shaking trees, green fields, brilliant green carpeted hills…it was a beautiful sight, complemented by the rain shower.
Claire, sat down on the window's cushioned seat, legs tucked underneath, "Whenever I stare out, I just feel..so at ease. The scenery is picture perfect, and overwhelming situations just disappear. But all at the same time, staring at a sanctuary like this, it made me wonder if Sherry was safe, if you were safe…"
Leon sighed, thinking of Sherry. The poor dear was out there, somewhere, more likely to be in Umbrella's grasp.
"I've been wondering how you've been since we last talked in December." Claire continued, "I've been scared thinking that Umbrella got to you, the lack of communication…"
"Yeah, I know." he answered quickly, annoyed with himself. "It may just be me, but the paranoia is killing me. I can't think about calling or sending an email without thinking Umbrella is monitoring networks, or wire tapping."
Claire tore her gaze away from the glass to Leon's eyes. "Really?"
"I'm sorry Claire, can you ever forgive me?"
…Forgive him? Claire scanned the expression on his face, he was drowning in remorse and regret from the confession. The time away from each other had tampered with their friendship, hopefully not too bad.
"No…"Claire whispered, shaking her head.
Leon turned away from her and sighed. She has every right in the world to be angry at you. Cutting ties with her had done more damage than you thought.
"…you don't have anything to be sorry for."
Her sudden sentence made him whip his head in her direction. He was surprised to find her lips formed as a warm smile. The way the splattered drops outside magnified through onto her made her seem even more stunning than ever before.
"How could I be mad at you?" she placed her hand over his, "You were trying to protect me, and even if it fooled me into thinking something happened to you, all the same, you were trying to keep me out of Umbrella's spotlight. I thank you for that…"
Her tone was soft and even, not at all appalled at his actions, instead, very comfortable with him there next to her. Claire was without doubt important to him, and even if a deep part of him said they were just friends, it was a deeper part that wanted to deny that.
Leon's lips twisted into a half smile of his own, "Knowing Umbrella is after us, your brother, his teammates…it terrifies me to think what they could do at any given moment. That being said, I want to be around you and the others more often, I promise."
A sudden lightning strike lit up in the sky. Through the intense bright strip, Leon made a realization as it lit up the room, if only for a second: Claire was crying. She resisted sobbing, but the crystalline orb running down her cheek with a wet trail was very well hidden by the dimness of the room. Reaching out carefully, Leon wiped away the lone tear streaming with the pad of his thumb. Applying a small amount of pressure to the back of her head, he collected her into a warm embrace.
"Th-thank you Leon…" She whispered, looking up at him, "This is the best birthday gift I could ever ask for…"
"Really?" he scoffed, "…Because this was the real gift I intended on giving."
Confused of his words, her lips were left slightly parted as her eyes scanned him for a material object. To no avail, there was nothing. Leaning toward her, her expression was instead replaced by one of surprise when she found his lips softly touching hers. Blushing, she tried hard to keep her heated cheeks from brightening any more, but in the same sense, enjoying the loving gesture. Cuddling up against his chest, she felt everything melt away, the pain…the suffering...it all just melted away from behind her closed eyelids.
Parting away, Claire opened her eyes once again to find him there, a small blush printed on his face as well.
"Happy birthday, Claire." he responded, following his unexpected endeavor.
Claire couldn't resist her red tinted cheek, but smiled anyway, clearly happy of his gift. Leaning forward again, she wrapped her arms around his neck, enveloping him in another embrace. He held her for what felt like forever, and God, he loved every minute of it. Outside, the storm lightened up, a small amount of light shone through the clouds. Through the depressing scenery outside, the world in his and her head both illuminated in light of hope of the future. Even through the storm, he felt calmly at peace, even through the darkness, he felt harmony of the silent sun drops.