8-2-11
Silver Lining:
When one of Cosmos' strongest warriors finally breaks down, it is up to her two closest allies to bring her back up.
It was a peaceful night in the forest. The air was cool and crisp. You could hear the sound of an owl in the distance. The steady breeze slowly rustled the leaves of the trees in a rather hypnotic way. Somewhere in this forest stood a clearing. In the center of this clearing burned a small fire, not to provide warmth but to illuminate its surroundings. It is here, where the warriors of Cosmos were resting for the night.
It had been a long day. They needed to rest after fighting off the countless manikins, beings that looked like the warriors and their enemies. It was all they did. It was all they could do. Every day was the same thing. They had to survive. Several months ago, they were all summoned to this world, a world of the gods. In the process, they lost all their memories and became pawns used to fight in an endless war. They never wished to be here but they had no choice. They needed to live and fight. The more they fought, the more they remembered.
The warriors were all sitting by the fire. Despite not knowing each other for so long, they all considered each other family. They had all been through enough to know that they could all count on one another for help if they ever needed it. Each warrior became close to at least one member of the group. That included the ones who always told themselves they would remain solitary. Even if they did not remember much about their own lives, they wanted to remember the moments they had now. They wanted to remember all the friends they made in this world.
"I took out thirty manikins today! That so beats my previous record!" Zidane suddenly shouted.
He was a very energetic youth, much like Luneth. Zidane stood up and started doing, what he called, his happy dance. The others smiled at his boundless energy. Bartz stood up and spoke.
"Hey it's not a race to see who can defeat the most manikins."
Zidane frowned ever so slightly.
"Besides, I could beat more with my hands tied behind my back." he smirked.
Zidane perked up.
"What? Whoa there! Yeah right! I could beat more without laying a finger on them." he retorted.
The silly argument continued back and forth and the other warriors couldn't help but laugh at their carefree manners. It was one way of unwinding, especially if all they did was fight.
After the fun filled argument, the warriors took it among themselves to have an enjoyable chat.
"So how did you meet?" Laguna asked with a smirk.
He was referring to the blitzball player, Tidus and his secret lover, Yuna.
"Why do you want to know?" Tidus asked.
"Oh just curious." Laguna replied with a sweatdrop.
Across from them, Firion, Cecil and Kain were having a chat about honor. They were each telling each other what motivated them to fight so hard when they were faced with difficult odds. Warrior of Light was having a small conversation with Terra and Tifa about their lives back home. They drew it from the few memories they were able to recover. Poor Squall, was once again being thrown into an unwilling conversation by both Zidane and Bartz. Although he grew closer to the duo, their constant dragging of him into things was still annoying. Shantotto was busily verbally harassing Vaan about his carefree manner which, according to him, everyone loved. Cloud and Luneth were talking quietly to each other. The two had gotten very close. Luneth considered Cloud an older brother. Cloud was very protective of the boy and soon saw him as a younger sibling. The two were also closer to one more member of the team, however, she was not with them at the moment.
"Hey Cloud. Where's Lightning?" the boy asked.
Luneth and Cloud were both close to Lightning. They knew that underneath all that toughness and cold personality was a kind and caring person. She had a big sister personality when she was around them but once she was back with the rest of her comrades, her cold personality returned.
They both scanned the clearing for any sign of the pinkette but she was nowhere to be found.
"She should be close by. Stay here. I'll look for her." Cloud said to Luneth.
With that Cloud got up and walked into the forest.
Lightning was slowly walking through the forest, making sure she didn't stray too far from her allies. She was a loner and never really liked to be around her allies but she considered herself to be their protector. It was her who stayed awake for countless nights, watching over her comrades when they were to tired or strained to watch for themselves. It was her who fought and took down every enemy that came her way without complaint. She never needed any help and she didn't want the others to take care of her in any way. She was not weak and she wasn't afraid to let them know.
As she walked through the forest, a thought dawned on her. It was of the two only people who she considered as "friends". Cloud and Luneth. She first encountered them at Pandemonium. They were both traveling together in search of their crystals. The young onion knight wanted her to join the group but she denied, telling them she would rather be alone. It was only until she gave into Luneth's pestering that she finally went. It was strange to her though. The boy reminded her of someone but her memory failed to grasp who it might have been.
As they traveled together, she realized how close she was becoming to the two. Unintentionally, she would speak comforting words to Luneth when he was afraid. She also found herself telling Cloud little pieces about herself. It was something she was not used to but she did it anyway. She trusted them and in turn, they trusted her. She would do everything in her power to make sure they were never harmed.
She continued to process her thoughts when she heard a rustling in some nearby bushes. Acting upon instinct, she drew her sword. With a flick of her wrist, her sword turned into its gun form and she fired a shot right into the center of the bushes.
"Holy shit!" she heard a familiar voice yell out.
Lightning's eyes widened as she realized whose voice that was. She sheathed her blade and parted the bushes that were obstructing her view. It was Cloud. He was sprawled out on the floor. Lightning though she hit him until she saw a bullet hole pierced into a nearby tree. Cloud managed to swiftly duck out of the way of her bullet just in time.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Lightning asked dangerously.
"I was just looking for you. You didn't need to fire at me." Cloud explained.
"I didn't see you and why where you looking for me?"
"We didn't see you at camp so I thought I'd come to check and see if you were alright."
"I'm fine. Stop worrying about me."
"You know Lightning. It's ok for people to worry about you every once in a while. Our final battle with Chaos is coming soon. We need to look after each other."
Lightning remained silent for a moment then she turned away from him.
"Look. I don't need you to worry about me. I can take care of myself. I'm not weak. " she said, slightly irritated.
They both heard another rustling nearby but before Lightning could draw her blade, Cloud grabbed her arm.
"Wait." he told her.
Seconds later, Luneth popped out from behind the bush.
"Lightning! Cloud! There you are." he said happily.
"Luneth? How did you find us?" Cloud asked.
"I just followed you." was his simple reply.
"Go back to camp." Lightning told him, a little harsher than she wanted.
Luneth frowned.
"Why are you so mad? Did I do something?" he asked innocently.
Lightning could feel the guilt clawing at her like some hungry beast. Her lips turned into a small frown.
"No. No. I just…" she paused.
Cloud and Luneth looked at her with concern. She never acted this way before. She was never at a loss for words.
In truth, something was bothering Lightning. It was a thought that didn't come to her until recently. Going back home. She didn't know why it bothered her so much but something about it kept getting under her skin. It made her feel uneasy. She was snapped out of her thoughts by Cloud's voice.
"You didn't have to yell."
"I didn't mean to. I was just thinking of something."
"What?"
"None of your business."
This time it was Cloud who looked irritated.
"Why can't you ever tell us what's bothering you?" he said in a slight shout.
"Look. I don't need to hear this. I came out here to get some peace and quiet, not to be interrogated." she shot back angrily.
"We know you just came here to be away from the others. We know you don't like being around them all the time bu-"
Lightning cut him off harshly.
"You don't know anything about me you got that?"
Why was she so angry? She was always calm around Cloud and Luneth but this time she felt like anything could just tick her off. Cloud stared at her, equally angry.
"You're always talking about how you can take care of yourself. You never give anyone the chance to look out after you. You don't realize how much they care. You're heartless for being so blind. Forget it. I'm glad that this war is almost over. We'll be sent home and I won't have to hear any more of your crap. "
Before he could process it, Lightning punched him square in the jaw. The impact sent Cloud crashing to the ground. Cloud slowly staggered to his knees and clenched his jaw in pain. Luneth looked at Lightning fearfully.
"You think I'm heartless? You think I don't care? Let me tell you something Cloud. You don't know me. You don't know what I feel. I'm not some emotionless soldier."
She was about to punch Cloud again as he stood up, when a pair of small arms held her from behind, around her waist. It was Luneth.
"I'll miss you to." he said quietly.
She felt her fist come to a stop as Cloud stood up straight. Cloud stared at her. Lightning slowly let her fist drop beside her. She was shaking. He finally understood. Lightning wasn't mad at them. She was sad. She was sad because she didn't want to leave them. She wasn't heartless. She cared about them. Cloud told her that it would be their last days together because as soon as they defeated Chaos, they would all be sent home. She didn't want to go home.
It made perfect sense. Lightning probably never got along with anyone before but here, in this world, she has. She made friends and although she never admitted it, she knew they cared for her. Anger was the only way she knew how to express her emotion but Cloud didn't want it to be that way.
"Lightning…." he said softly.
Lightning turned around and knelt down so she was eye level with Luneth. The next thing she did shocked him. She hugged him. Luneth hugged her back. Cloud slowly walked up to the two, knelt down next to them and put a comforting hand on Lightning's back.
"I'm gonna miss you to sis." Cloud whispered.
Now Lightning knew why it bothered her so much to leave them. She would miss them to. The pain of losing them hurt her. She grew so close to them only to realize she would lose them in the end. Unable to take the pain in her heart any longer, she cried. First, it was one drop followed by another slow drop until her face was stained in tears.
She held Luneth tightly as Cloud gently stroked her back. They have never seen Lightning cry. No one ever did. She was always so strong but they both knew she bottled up her emotions. Now, she was finally releasing those emotions and although it pained Cloud to see her like this, he knew it would make her feel better.
They were like that for a while until Lightning pulled away from Luneth, sniffling a bit and wiping away the remainder of her tears.
"Better?" Luneth asked.
She nodded and smiled sadly.
"I'm sorry." she said looking down.
"It's ok Light." Luneth said with a smile.
She looked at Cloud. He nodded to her.
"Yeah. Don't worry."
"We won't tell anyone about what just happened." Luneth said with a playful grin.
Lightning found herself smiling at the comment. She couldn't believe. She finally cried after what seemed like years. She really did care for them.
"I can't believe the great Lightning Farron cried. It's a bit degrading don't you think?" Cloud joked.
Lightning playfully punched him in the arm.
"Just shut up."
With that they made their way back to camp. As they headed back, Luneth suddenly spoke up.
"You know? Even if we are sent back home, it's not goodbye. It never is. We could always find a way to meet each other again. Don't say goodbye. Just say until we meet again."
Lightning stared at Luneth, mouth slightly open. She never thought about it that way. He was right. Even if it was going to be hard, they could always find a way to see each other again someday. It would take a long time but it gave her a hint of hope.
Even though her thoughts were like gloomy grey clouds hanging above her head, Luneth's words and Cloud's friendship helped her believe that behind every grey cloud was a silver lining.
Yay! Done! I really love how this oneshot turned out. I know it's not the best oneshot ever but I really wanted to go for it. Lightning is my favorite character in Duodecim and I wanted her personality to match as much as possible but I wanted to make a scene where she finally sucks up her pride and shows her emotion and vulnerability. I know Cloud might be a little out of character but I really wanted to go for something touching. I hope you guys like it. Don't flame me . or kill me ^ ^" Constructive criticism is always welcomed though.