It had been six years since the fall of the fal'cie; an accomplishment which marked the end of the extensive journey for Lightning Farron and her companions. Shortly after the event Snow and Serah got married and a year later welcomed little Raine Villiers into their family.
Overall, Raine was a very quiet child; just like her mother had been. In fact, Raine was nearly identical to Serah in nearly all aspects, which was overall much to Lightning's relief. The only things that she received from her father were light blonde streaks in her hair and her love for wearing beanies. This was not the only thing that she loved, however; for if there was anything that she loved more than beanies it would've been her aunt Claire, who in turn had a soft spot for the child as well.
Today was already setting up to be a substantial day for the Villiers family; Serah had several houses that she had to show off around New Bodhum, and Snow had multiple meetings to attend at Team Nora's headquarters; which had since been transformed into a sort of patrol unit for the surrounding city and renamed Nora Incorporated in honor of Hope Estheim's late mother. On the side, Nora Inc. created weapon designs for the new military, and were in turn compensated for such ideas.
Since both parents had to go to work that day the responsibility of watching Raine fell to Lightning, whom gladly took up the opportunity to spend time with her niece. For Raine it meant that she would get to hear engaging stories of her aunt's past; which reflected on part of her mother's past as well.
As soon as Raine entered Lightning's house something cool and dangerous looking caught her eye, and she just had to know about it.
"Auntie, how did you get your cool sword?" inquired Raine after gazing upon the Omega weapon, which was mounted on the wall as a reminder of the past.
The unexpected question had taken Lightning by surprise. Usually when she asked about Lightning's past it always went something such as, "What was my daddy like before he married mommy?" or, "did having that tattoo hurt?" Which was her way of referring to Light's old l'cie mark.
Lightning picked the girl up and moved over to the couch with her. Sitting Raine in her lap, the woman smirked at the young girl's question and began her recollection; as a simple answer was simply never enough to quench the girl's curiosity.
"Well, I first got the basic model of Omega after I graduated from my basic training for the Guardian Corps. It was three months of intense training. The first month was all about learning the ropes- that is, conditioning your body, learning how to dismantle, reassemble, and upgrade weapons."
She paused to ensure that the little girl had been keeping up thus far before continuing; her smirk only growing larger as she saw how eager Raine was to hear her story.
"The second month involved nothing but more conditioning and survival techniques- learning how to fight and fight well. I remember this guy in my squadron named Kota, he was a hellof a soldier. Don't tell your mother I said that in front of you or I'll never hear the end of it." Raine giggled at her aunt before nodding so that the woman could continue.
"…Back to what I was saying, he was a great soldier. I remember he broke his ankle in basic during a training exercise and continued to run on it so he wouldn't get held back. Though Master Sergeant Hoff told him he was one of the dumbest people he had ever met, he ended up becoming special forces. We did a few missions together before he got sent off to his new squadron." Lightning's eyes lit up as she spoke; making the little girl wonder if her aunt missed the guardian corps at all.
"The last month was Guardian Corps core values and etiquette. We got our training weapons taken away and our strongest weapon type was assigned to us upon graduation. No one got a gunblade except for me. Most got a regular machine gun and others got swords, but I was a unique case, which is something that never happens in there. I received that one of a kind gunblade since I did exceptionally well on both marksmanship and hand to hand combat simulations and because of my leadership potential that Master Sgt. recognized in me. After a while I just kept upgrading my weapon until it became Omega, which really helped out while fighting for your mother... "She stopped and pondered about how far she and everyone else involved had come since that day before softly saying, "Okay Raine, there's your story! Are you hungry? I think I'll make us some lunch. "And rising from the couch to go to the kitchen.
Raine followed her aunt into the large kitchen and climbed into a lower chair Lightning bought for these type of visits and watched as she made sandwiches.
"Auntie, do you miss it?" Her blue eyes peering up at Lightning.
"Miss what?"
"Being a soldier lady." She said in her childish way.
For the second time that day Lightning had been taken off guard by her niece. For someone so young she had a way of getting to people. Lightning made a mental note to keep on her toes whenever the girl got serious.
"Sometimes I do." She responded while placing a sandwich in front of Raine with the crusts cut off- just the way she liked it. "The Corps helped me get stronger so that I could take care of your mom. It became my identity."
"Why don't you go back then?" questioned the little girl while she ate.
"I'm not sure. I never really thought about my future after completing my focus."
"Oh, well, I think you'd still be really good at it if you went back, Auntie!" She said as she finished her sandwich and walked towards the living room; thus officially ending her story time. "Can we go to the beach now?" She called from the other room.
For the first time in six years Lightning contemplated reinstating into the newly revamped Guardian Corps. She could be a leader again. It was what she was born to do.
"It couldn't do any harm to go and learn more about it. I've already completed basic training… and I don't need to adjust to the life style…" She reflected before walking into the living room and replying a simple, "Yes, we can." At this the little girl shouted, "Yay!" And ran outside to her aunt's car; already excited about squishing her toes in the sand and finding sand dollars.
Lightning made a second mental note to visit the Guardian Corps center and grabbed her keys; all while silently thanking her five year old niece.