That introductory Chapter, ya know? Chapter two?
I don't own Final Fantasy yadda yadda is this really necessary?
Chapter two - A Bright Spark
Serah was a girl of her word,
And much to Vanille's amazement, Lightning was a hot topic at her school.
It had only been three weeks but Vanille had heard a lot. Comments ranged from how much she was hated to how much she was loved.
Lightning was popular, that was something Vanille couldn't deny, and being best friend's with her not-nearly-as-popular-but-still-popular sister, was rewarding.
Although the only people who knew her name were her friends, and her teachers.
"Lighting's sister's friend"
That was her new title.
Still, Vanille didn't seem to mind, being acknowledged in some way, no matter how, was always a nice feeling.
Vanille adjusted her glasses and stared at the equations on the board.
Her face scrunched together before she dropped her pencil in defeat.
"Too hard." She admitted to her silver-haired friend.
"It's not that bad.." He commented, turning around to face her.
Gripping his pencil, he moved it to her workbook. Scribbling down a few upside down symbols.
"Get it?" He asked, turning to face their mutual pink-haired friend. "How you doing, Serah?"
"I got it, Hope." The pink-haired girl smiled reassuringly at him.
Vanille flipped over her workbook, so she could read the symbols, which, she noted, was the quadratic formula.
"That's it?" She questioned.
"Yup, easy." The boy smiled, obviously proud of his intellect.
Vanille carried on with her work, if only she'd known from that start all she had to do was input the numbers into the formula. There she was, factoring everything and reflecting all the parabolas.
Math wasn't her best subject, in fact, nothing was her best subject (she was slightly above average in geography but that was it.).
Completely normal across all charts.
Unlike Lightning.
Vanille shook her head, perhaps it was all the talk of Lightning getting to her, but she found the tall beauty entering her mind more often than algebra solutions.
Although Vanille couldn't deny Lightning seemed to be perfect.
Athletic (without even trying)
Smart (without ever coming to class)
Beautiful (and it runs in the family it seems)
But Lightning did have flaws.
Lightning was cold, quick-tempered, and aloof.
Her fans quickly dismiss that fact as her being "cool" or "mysterious"
However her cold, stoic behaviour was something Vanille found so hard to overlook or dismiss as "cool". Since the assembly, Vanille found herself wanting to get to know the woman. She had a good enough grasp on who she thought Lightning was but it wasn't enough.
There was also one nagging thought in her mind...
"She seems lonely.."
"Huh?" The boy turned to face his friend, surprised by her sudden words.
"Lightning." Vanille continued, "She seems lonely.."
Serah faced Vanille upon hearing the name of her sister.
They gave her a questioning look.
"Like, everybody says it's just a 'I-don'give-a-crap-attitude' but I can't help but to think... there's more.."
She explained, earning a nod from Serah.
"I think so too," The younger Farron agreed. "She.. wasn't always like that." Serah leaned in and whispered, she didn't want anyone but the friends she trusted to hear.
But even so, she couldn't tell them everything. The Farron fought back the words and memories of the past.
"Nah, She's just cool like that.." Hope dismissed it, running his hand through his silver hair.
Vanille sighed.
She didn't know what bugged her more, the fact that whenever she voiced a concern about Lightning the only person who didn't dismiss it was Serah or the fact that it bothered her so much. The fact that Lighting was such a pest in her mind.
"Heh, can we watch the basketball game after school?" Hope laughed nervously, a smile gracing his face.
And both Serah and Vanille knew the cause.
I think what bugs me the most... is when this kid drools over her...,Vanille thought
Her heart pounded against her chest, she swore under her breath gripping the rubber ball like it were more valuable than it actually was.
Blocked from all over.
Passing was out of the question and the sweat stained Farron knew it. She tried to blow on her pink bangs, however the remained plastered uncomfortably on her face.
Damn it
The Farron knew a challenge when she saw one, and she knew exactly what she could and couldn't do.
Human's could easily tell impossible from the possible and Lighting was a better coach of that than most.
The opposing net was far, she knew she couldn't make the shot (a flaw she didn't like to admit). Still she set her self up for the shot.
The ball will be easily smacked down by the taller men in front of her.
Another factor Lightning had to work in.
The element of surprise, the phrase crossed Lightning until it manifested into an idea.
She turned like she was going to pass to the clueless tall tanned-woman only a short distance away.
Make it believable, Farron, Lightning repeated in her head as a mantra.
The group of surly men surrounding her moved ever so slightly, trying to block the "pass".
Perfect.
She took full advantage of the opening, she spun back quickly. Enough to have the men confused and quickly enough for her to shot into the air way above the men.
She bent her elbow and wrist in an all too familiar gesture, and before gravity could take effect, she made sure the ball wasn't in her hands, but the heading for the net instead.
The tanned-woman moved her long legs towards the ball, darting past a number of people.
The ball circled the rim of the net, as if it were allergic to the netting. And as some sorcery would have it, the ball wobbled falling off the rim and into the hands of the tanned-woman.
"Rebound!" yelled her teammates. The crowd was standing, completely taken by the game.
Rebound it was.
Her arms bent in the same gesture Lightning previously did, and the ball overcame it's allergy of the netting, resulting in a loud buzz which was drowned out by cheering.
Lighting internally cringed at the noise, she hated it.
The buzzing and the cheering.
She watched in amazement as her teammates soaked in the pride of winning.
Disgusting, she thought.
She didn't want to become like that. Getting excited over little winnings when there was so much more to be done. Working hard one moment then slacking the next, she hated it. You work hard on all fronts, because if you don't you can't protect those close to you. Emotions like happiness are only good for others, not for guardians.
Sometimes, even Lightning was scared of her own philosophy.
But she had no choice.
The world maybe bright to some, cheery and happy to the masses.
But they don't have to do what Lightning does.
Lightning shook at the thought of how vulnerable everyone truly was. She wouldn't allow that for herself. She made her way through the crowd of admiring fans she could care less about and made her way to her sister.
The older Farron gave her sister a quick hello, and walked off towards the shower rooms.
Vanille tilted her head, watching Lightning until she was no longer visible.
"Is she like that at home too?" Vanille asked
Serah sighed, "Sadly."
"What do you mean sadly? You get to live with her. What's sad about that?" Hope bombarded his friends with questions.
Vanille zoned out as Serah explained to Hope her concern for her sister.
Lightning was indeed mysterious, and it sparked a child-like curiosity in her.
Lightning was indeed very lost as well, and it sparked a mother-like care in her.
A small but bright spark.
A need to unravel Lightning Farron's persona.
Beyond what's dismissed as "cool" or "mysterious".
Deep into the psyche of the older woman.
And Vanille was more than happy to make that her mission, even though she had yet to realize what she really wanted.
"Hey there, partner." Vanille snapped out of her thoughts upon hearing an accent similar to hers.
She adjusted her glasses again, looking up at the taller, older woman until her eyes registered her.
"Fang!" She called out, wrapping her arms around her.
"Fang." Serah and Hope greeted her in union.
"You did a good job," Serah added,
"Only with your sister on the team" Fang admitted, "We usually lose."
"That's because you never do anything Fang..." Vanille let go and looked her friend in the eyes.
"Well why would I? Our team sucks." Fang bluntly stated. "No one's got any interest in basketball anymore."
Vanille let out a dry joke, "Because it's baseball season?"
If there were crickets, you'd hear them right about now.
Fang stuttered trying to think of a way to make sure Vanille didn't feels so embarrassed after no one had laughed, Serah couldn't help but to giggle and Hope's attention was elsewhere.
"Hey Serah?" Hope called out, breaking the troubling aura.
"Hmm?" The girl in question nodded.
"Where does your sister go after school?" Hope glanced at his friends puzzled. He had always assumed the sisters went home together, but watching the older Farron leave the school attired in her uniform without her sister, he realized that after all, he was only assuming.
Serah look at the ground as if she found it more interesting. "I don't know," She stated flatly.
Vanille's mind wondered to all the rumours she'd heard:
"She has a boyfriend that she meets."
"Drugs. For sure."
"I think she has a job."
"Saving cats from trees?"
Fang chuckled in a why-are-we-so-depressed kinda way. The group perked up and decided to drop the subject.
But something was pressing in Serah's mind, just where did her sister go after school? Lightning arrived home late, and the former thought that was the result of extra-circulars, but now attending the same school she realized that her thoughts were wrong.
She found out Lighting rarely went to class.
She wasn't active at the student council (Which Serah initially thought she went to, as meetings usually ran late, therefor explaining Lighting's late home-comings)
While she was deeply involved in sports here, she was otherwise never present.
The important detail of just what her sister spent all her day doing began troubling her.
Considering her sister's social group were delinquents (only by reputation, Serah was sure they must be kind people.)
She wondered if her sister was off doing "bad" things. The kind of things Lightning drilled into her younger sister not to do.
Serah shook her head, she needed to trust her sister. Trust that she was off doing something for the better.
She'd still have to talk to her about this.
Drugs; a product of human vice.
Lightning never worked out what she hated the most about them.
The smell, the taint that seemed to loom around it.
The fact that some would shorten their life for an hour of false pleasure.
Or the reality that Lightning fought to forget. The reason behind the lonely Farron house.
Lightning's nose cringed by habit, you'd think she was used to the smell.
She threw her crude smelling jacket on a trembling old man.
He looked up, still sprawled across the cold road.
"T-Thank you..." He manged to mutter.
Lightning scoffed and walked away.
Despicable,Her mind mused.
People consumed by greed.
Lost homes, families, lives.
Lightning would never succumb to human vices.
She had to be stronger than those who ruined her life.
Stronger than those who lost theirs to ruin.
Stronger than those who will also ruin her life one day.
She had to be strong enough to stop them.
She adjusted her mask, making sure it covered the whole of her face and hair.
"Money..." A man groaned from beneath her "Please." He gripped her leg in desperation.
She kicked him off without a second thought.
Truly despicable.
She knew this part of Cocoon well;
The most disgusting part.
She also knew the men approaching her in the distance were just as disparate as the man kissing her feet.
They were just more aggressive about it.
She bolted into the nearest alley, it was safer on the roads, and Lighting would even suggest that taking on the men was much safer than an alley but..
Lightning was after all, Lightning.
And she knew this part of Cocoon well.
OH NOSE
Well this chapter came of very.. introductory... ^_^; what's a better way to put that?
A huge thank you to both HollowPanda (That's a cool name btw) and Hubble36 (would it be insulting if I said that name was cute?) for reviewing!
Here virtual cookies of gratitude.
Well look forward to another (hopefully more proper than this) update! Support is always welcome!