This is a little spin-off from another story of mine (The Story of Serah Farron, Chapter 4) Hope you enjoy it. Please review - let me know if you like it :)
The morning light was playfully penetrating the darkened room, teasing Lightning to rustle from her dreams as she peeked at the time from under her blankets.
'hmmmm… 9 o'clock….just a little longer' she thought, rolling over and pulling her blankets over her head to keep the morning light at bay. She wanted to finish her dreams but the damage was already done, she was awake and her dreams refused to return. Throwing the blankets to the side, she got up and proceeded to the kitchen for coffee.
As she read the newspaper and sipped her coffee on the veranda, her wits started to return from the sleepy haze still swirling in her head. 'Something was supposed to happen today' she thought 'what was it? Oh shit, he said he might come by today!' slapping her hand to forehead. 'Good Grief, what was I thinking? Maybe he won't come over, but what he does? Humph, I just won't answer the door, he'll go away and that will be the end of it.'
She heard a male voice call her name from the side of the veranda, arousing her from her thoughts. Turning her head towards the direction of the voice, she saw him leaning forward on the railing, grinning at her. 'Oh great, now what? I look like hell and I'm still in my pajamas.'
"There was no answer at the door" he calmly told her "took a chance you might be out here. Want some company?"
"Up to you" she replied in her usual stoic manner, hiding the emotional turmoil going on in the inside of her at the moment. She felt an attraction towards him, she knew it, but was determined to deny it so the feeling would go away.
"There's coffee in the kitchen" she told him as he entered, returning to her newspaper and pretending to read. "I could sure use some" he responded, as he slipped into the kitchen carrying a tote he had brought with him. "Have you had breakfast, yet?" he asked, as he stood in the doorway watching her pretend to read. It brought a smile to his face, as he sipped his coffee waiting for a response.
"No, I haven't" she replied, glancing up at him standing there. 'He is handsome, I'll give him that much, but I've been around handsome men before, why do I feel so attracted to this one?'
"I brought something for you then", as he turned back to kitchen, reappearing a short time later with two plates of bacon and eggs for them. As he slipped the plate in front of her, he caught the look of surprise in her face which was exactly what he was hoping for.
"Don't tell me you cooked this…" she said coyly, giving him a sideways glance, as she tasted the meal and found it to be as good as what Serah prepares.
"Oh HELL no!" he joked, "I stole it from Lebreau this morning, she always cooks more than the orders to keep up. What's really funny is she'll blame Snow for the missing food – she's probably chasing him down right now!"
Lightning almost choked on her food as she laughed. The picture in her head of Snow being chased by a pissed off Lebreau for missing food that she was eating delighted her immensely.
"That IS funny!" she remarked, still chuckling, "Do you do stuff like this to him all the time? I thought you two were really close"
"We are close, we grew up together. Snow's like a brother to me" Gadot replied, "But who's better to take the blame than your bro? Wait till I tell you some of the crap he's pulled on me!"
Lightning's anxiety vanished as the two them talked and laughed over breakfast. She felt at ease with him, even sharing some amusing stories from the GC with him. Then it hit her, 'He's not like the rest of them, he made no stupid remark about my pajama's or my appearance, no come-on-lines, no goofy posturing. He's just being himself – I can take it or leave it.'
"You haven't met Yuj or Maqui yet" he stated, "Those two you have to keep an eye on" then pointed to his hair. "See this? Yuj decided I needed a new 'updated' look. He bugged me about it for days, till I had enough and told him to lay off. The little sneak waited till one night Snow & I had a little too much to drink and when I woke up in the morning, this is what I saw in mirror. He hid out for a week, he knew I wanted to wring his neck."
Lightning was snickering at the story, "Is he the one with blue hair? Serah told me a little about him, he's into the fashion thing, right?"
"Yep, that's him" he replied "Snow almost ended up with curly, aqua-colored hair that night, but Yuj ran out of time to get to him. When Snow found out, he made it perfectly clear to Yuj that nothing better happen to him."
That vision in her head really made her laugh, infecting Gadot into laughter as well. "Snow with curly, aqua-colored hair," she sputtered out between laughing, "is hilarious!"
They continued talking into the early afternoon, when Gadot offered to take her to an out-of-the-way place he knew about for a late lunch. "I brought the bike, so it won't take long to get there. The restaurant sits on a bay, so the scenery's decent and food's pretty good."
Lightning agreed and excused herself to shower and dress. 'He's definitely different from the rest' she thought as she went upstairs to get ready. She dressed modestly in a pullover t-shirt and shorts. In her absence, Gadot had scraped the breakfast dishes, and cleaned up the table.
"You seem to know your way around here quite well" she remarked, observing how he seemed to know where everything was and where it belonged.
"Not going to lie to yah, I've been here a few times with Serah and Snow. I never turn down an invitation when Serah is cooking" he told her as a big grin appeared on his face. "Hope you don't mind…"
"No, it's fine" was her response, but she realized that Serah had never said anything about having anyone over. She suspected that Snow was there a lot in her absence, but had never considered that Serah was inviting some of her other friends over. 'Have I alienated Serah so much she doesn't tell me these things?'
Gadot and Lightning spent the afternoon together after the late lunch, walking along the trail by the bay and talking together about a variety of subjects. She couldn't remember the last time she had enjoyed herself this much. It had been a great day off, indeed. They came to cliff on the trail that overlooked the entire bay and decided to relax there awhile.
"This is one of my favorite places to come" Gadot remarked "just to get away from everything for a while." He sat down on a large rock, propping his foot up on the front of it and folding his muscular arms in front of him.
"I can see why" she responded "It's quiet and serene with no one screwing with yah" deciding to sit next to him on the rock. She felt a little awkward at first, but he made no advances towards her, and she soon felt at ease again as they chatted back and forth.
"Looks like we better start back" she observed "It'll start getting dark soon."
"Don't worry" he reassured her "I've walked out of here in the dark a few times and monsters don't seem to like here. But, you're right, we should go"
He stood up and held out his hand to help her up. She flashed him a glare as he said "I know you don't need help to get up, but I'm trying to be a gentleman and, quite frankly, I'd like to hold your hand for a little while, if you don't mind."
The glare instantly disappeared and was replaced with smirky smile 'At least he's honest about it.' She accepted his offer and placed her hand in his, as he gracefully assisted her up. His hands were twice the size as hers, but he gently clasped her hand in his and the two started walking back down the trail. It felt strange to her to be holding hands with someone, almost childish in fact, but it also felt kinda good at the same time.
Upon reaching the bike, the softness of the dusk light had just started settling in. The two them took off, leaving the serenity of this place to head back to Bodhum. Lightning glanced back to take in the beauty of the surroundings one last time, hoping someday to return and experience the calming effect the place had to offer.
Gadot set the bike down a short distance from the house as the twilight was slowly turning to darkness. The lights were on in the house, so they knew someone was there and Lightning was not ready to divulge her newly found friendship with her sister.
"I know this sounds silly" she told Gadot, "but I just don't want Serah and Snow to know anything about this right now. Between the two of them, they will pester me relentlessly, and I'll probably end up killing Snow for some stupid remark he'll make."
Gadot chuckled at her, "I know what you mean, they'll do the same thing to me, but I know how to handle Snow if he gives me shit over anything. What we do is our business and it stays that way, until we decide different, that OK with you?"
Lightning nodded and smiled at him as he took her hand and placed his other hand on top of it, reassuring her that he wasn't saying a word to anyone about what transpires between them.
Stepping closely into her, he leaned down to kiss her 'good-night'. She allowed her hand to caress his face, then slowly slide to the back of his neck as he pulled her closer to him. Her acute senses took over, making her aware of every breathe he took and the feel of his lips touching hers. She felt the strength his body possessed and the gentleness of his embrace. A wonderful tingling feeling ran down her back and spread itself to her limbs, as she relaxed in his arms.
"I had a great time today" he whispered to her, still embracing her closely "I'd like to see you again."
"Monday's my next day off" she whispered back, "and I had a wonderful time, too."
He slowly released from his embraced, "I'll see yah on Monday, then" he said, warmly smiling at her.
"Yes, Monday it is" she repeated and turned to walk towards the house, as he watched her until she was safely at the door. She heard the whirl of bike start up as she opened the door to enter and smiled at the thought of seeing him again.
"Hey Light! where have you been?" Serah asked "You're not usually out this late."
Before she could answer, Snow entered the room from the kitchen with a couple of drinks he had gotten for himself and Serah. For once, she was glad he was there so Serah wouldn't bother her about where she had been. The vision of Snow with curly, aqua-colored hair suddenly shot into her mind and she had to fight the impulse of bursting into laughter.
"Glad you're here" Snow told her, "Serah was getting worried"
"You know I can take care of myself, Serah" she remarked "You shouldn't worry about me. I'm going to bed, I've got an early day tomorrow."
"Good-night, Light" Serah warmly said to her sister. "Later" Snow offered to bid good-night to the soldier.
'I really did have a good time today and I really do like Gadot. I've never met anyone like him before' she thought as she climbed the stairs to reach her bedroom, looking forward to the dreams her sleep would bring to her tonight.