I sat quietly in the back of the classroom, watching the clock insistently. The second hand softly clicked forward repeatedly, searching for a resting point that it would never find. One more minute. I tapped my pencil on my desk in rhythm with the tick-tock of the device. I sighed and looked down at the assigned work in front of me. The page was still blank. I looked over the first question before deciding it wasn't worth it. The bell rang.

I hurried from the school building as fast as I could. Once I was outside, I walked from the high school over to the middle school building next door. Serah came over to meet me like usual. "Hi sis!" she smiled tenderly.

I gave a soft smile back. "Hey Serah. How was your day?"

"Good, how was yours?"

"Fine," I replied. "C'mon." We both turned and started heading down the street. It was silent as Serah stared straight ahead and I watched hovercraft cruise lazily through the air. We both knew what was waiting at home.

"I'm gonna check on Mom today, ok?" Serah declared, her voice taking on a firmer tone like it always did when she talked about something serious.

"Ok, go for it," I told her. She nodded gravely, a determined look in her eyes. I looked skyward again, not wanting to recognize the familiar streets of our neighborhood. Like always, though, we arrived at our house and I entered our keycode and we stepped inside to complete silence. Serah slid her pack off and set it down. I dropped my bag next to hers. My twelve-year-old sister immediately scampered off to Mom's room. I headed into the kitchen to make some tea.

I stood over the sink, looking out the kitchen window at the blue, cloud-scattered sky. I mindlessly got Mom's tea ready without even looking down. I gazed at the ever-shifting clouds above and sighed. They sure weren't fireworks, but I needed something to wish on. Anything.

"Please," I whispered. "Please make Mom better. Please…"

I solemnly headed toward her bedroom and gently pushed the door open with my shoulder. Serah looked back from her spot on the floor by Mom's bed and my mother's eyes shifted tiredly over to me as I walked in. "I…brought your tea," I said, setting it gently on her nightstand. "Sorry to interrupt."

"That's okay," Mom weakly smiled. "You didn't interrupt anything. Serah and I were just talking."

"I was about to tell her a story," Serah explained.

"Well, I'll just wait outside until you're done." I motioned toward the door before slipping into the hall and pushing the door into an ajar position. I leaned against the wall, secretly listening in. Serah's stories could always calm me, no matter how outrageous or strange they were. She talked softly and I strained to pick up all the words.

"Once, there was no Pulse or Cocoon and no fal'Cie or l'Cie. Everyone just lived together peacefully in the same land. The houses were made of glass and the sun would shimmer like a rainbow off of them. Flowers grew everywhere, making the whole world smell wonderful."

I closed my eyes and let myself go to that place. I could almost sense the flowers' sweetness in my nose. I could see the radiant sun and the sparkling houses. I could feel the warmth and joy of it all on my skin.

"There was water too," Serah continued. "It flowed everywhere and gave everything life."

A fountain of crystal-clear liquid immediately sprung into my mind.

"Birds sand and butterflies roamed the skies and it was perfect."

I heard and saw it all: the birds, the light, the water, the music, the voices of the happy children of that place. I saw it all. It was perfect. After a moment, I opened my eyes slowly and took a deep breath. The storm inside me subdued once again. I was alright.

"Thank you," I heard Mom whisper and Serah got up to go. As she crept out the door, I greeted her with a smile.

"Nice story, sis."

"Thanks," she looked at me contently. Then she silently went down the hallway and into the living room. I turned to follow but I heard Mom's soft voice coming from her room.

"Claire…Claire, come here."

My heart raced. I noiselessly but urgently entered her room. "Is everything OK, Mom?"

"Come sit with me." She weakly motioned toward the floor beside her bed. I walked over and knelt by her. She took my hand in hers. "The doctors came again today." She stroked my hand soothingly. "They said my condition's getting even worse…and that I only have a few more days."

Every ounce of life in me ran dry. "Mom…"

"Listen, Claire. It's true that I won't be here soon, but I trust you with all my heart and soul. You'll take good care of Serah and of yourself. I know you will."

"Stop, Mom!" I couldn't take any more of this. Deep down, I knew this day would come but I never really wanted to think about it. Mom had a terminal illness. Of course she couldn't get better. I had just never wanted to say it. But it was inevitable now.

"It's OK, honey. It's just my time. Promise me you'll stay strong and protect Serah."

"Mom…"

"Promise me that."

I felt tears start to well up in my eyes. I squeezed my eyes shut and forced them away. Mom just kept staring at me with that hollow face that was once so full of life. I gritted my teeth. "I promise," I managed before I leapt up and stormed out of the room. I stomped through the living room, heading straight for the door.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Serah looked up with concern evident on her face. I yanked the front entrance open. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"For a walk," I muttered.

"Right now? But there's a storm!" she cried.

"Never stopped me before." I took a step outside.

"Claire, wait!"

I stopped dead. I glanced slightly back over my shoulder. "Claire isn't here anymore. My name's Lightning." And then I closed the door behind me.

I walked down the path through our yard toward the sidewalk. I glanced at Serah's beautiful flower garden that was being pelted by raindrops. It sat next to mine, which Serah had insisted that I plant. Mine was devoid of life and held nothing but dead, withered, and rejected flowers. I looked down at my boots as I began trudging down the street in the solace of the rain. Clouds watched me from above and cool water ran down my face to take the place of tears. A streak of lightning flashed above. Lightning. It was a fitting new name for me. It flashes bright, then fades away. It cannot protect. It only destroys.

The sky unleashed its thundering bellow. The distance between the lightning and the thunder indicated how close the storm was. Well, then I guess the worst is coming, I thought to myself. I can already hear the cloud's call ahead of me and it isn't far away. Looks like the storm is about to begin.

Well, Lightning happens to be one of my favorite FF characters ever and I think it would be interesting to see her past, especially from her perspective. Hence this story. Yes, her true name is actually Claire Farron. I looked it up, don't argue with me. Claire seems a little lame for such a BA person, but somehow, it fits. Hope you liked, this is my first FF fic so please don't be too harsh. ^.^' Do leave constructive criticism though, it helps alot! Thanks for reading:)