Author's Note: ALRIGHTIE guys~ My second chapter is here. Yay yay!!! Sorry for all the delays, k?
Anyways, as you can easily notice, the writing in this chapter has improved MUCH. It's all thank to my AMAZING beta reader - IceBlazed and all her help. Without her, the early version of this thing SUCKED, and now it's SOOOOOO cool~ Thanks a lote, Ice x3333. I've read through all the corrections, and I'll try to improve myself next time. Ha, actually I'm gonna buy a Thesaurus dictionary to find words that can be used to replace "said", so no worries. Thank you for all your help, my friend x3333
That's enough talking. Read this chapter, please, guys, and make sure you do REVIEW it, k?
Lightning was on her way home, speeding so fast that she couldn't even see the road clearly. Not many people actually drove these days, so that wasn't really a big problem. The only thing on her mind now was what Rufus Shinra had told her earlier. Damn him. She had tried so hard to forget it and live on with Serah, her one and only family left. And now, all of a sudden, that man… he brought it all back. For what reason, really?
I don't know him, why should I believe in what he said? Come on, Lightning Farron, you know that they died of illness. You know it.
… Do I?
Suddenly:
What the!!!??? Some guy just scratched her bike! Her goddamn flawless black motorbike! Scratched! "Hey! Watch it!" He was even shouting at her! For scratching my bike! Lightning turned back to see who it was and shot him a dirty glare. Fuck, it was you in my way! And you fucking scratched my bike with that dirty old station wagon of yours!The guy even flipped the middle finger at her! Rude much?! That's it!
Light turned the bike, sped up, and soon was racing the rude guy. She braked right in front of him, making him fall hard just to stop. Lightning switched the engine off, stepped down from her own bike, and took her helmet off. She then examined the scratch. Ha! A nice seven-inch long scratch detailed the body, leaving red paint from that stupid thing on her bike. Great. All I ever I wanted.
Still checking out her ride, Lightning never noticed that the other had been next to her the whole time, crossing his hands, looking at her with that angry look in his eyes. He was huge, not as huge as Snow, but really buff, like Gadot. He had tattoos all over his arms, his hair was a green mohawk and even his lips were pierced. A punk.
The punk guy pointed his finger at Lightning. "You there! You fucking nuts or something? Stopping right in front of m—?" Immediately when Light gave him another furious glare, he shut up.
"You. Scratched. My. Bike!" Light coldly replied. "No one ever scratches my bike." Her voice was emotionless, making her all the more intimidating as she narrowed her eyes at him. She hadn't used this voice for such a long time. Ever since she first heard that her sister Serah had been dating Snow.
"Whoa, excuse me, Lady! Look at my damn car, for Eden's sake. Don't you even know who I am?" He replied haughtily and started laughing. Lightning glanced at his wagon. Wait. Isn't that…!? On its body, there was a familiar logo. Two snakes, no, two cobras biting each other's neck? Wasn't this… the symbol of that gang? The Cobras? The guys who had been racing around Crystal City, robbing from women and kids? Them?
Seeing that, Lightning already knew who he was. The punk continued laughing. "Hahahaha! I hope you know who you're dealing with, babe. Don't worry, sexy, I'm not gonna hurt ya; you're just one hot chick. Come here and have some fun with daddy, would ya?"
As he spoke, he walked closer to where Lightning was standing. The closer he was, the more disgusting his body and breath smelled. How long had it been since this man had showered properly? He chuckled, his stained, dirty teeth looking as if they were about to bite her, the way he kept clicking his teeth. Just thinking of what this man thought he could do to her disgusted Lightning.
"One fucking step further and you're dead." Calmly stated, she glared at the criminal with a ferocious look. Did Punky just ignore my warning? He stepped even closer now; ready to touch Lightning with his hand stretched out and reaching for her. "Watch your language, beauty. Some guys make take that dirty mouth of yours literally." He eyed her up and down lustfully as if she were a piece of candy. "Where have you been all my life, babe? To think I never noticed such a sexy chick right here…"
It was then that Light lashed out and kicked in the middle of his cocky face, making him grab his nose painfully. "Bitch! What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He looked at Lightning, half-scared, half-angry. Lightning, still showing no expression on her face, answered coldly yet angrily: "You deserve it. Now shut up."
"YOU'RE DEAD, WOMAN!" screamed the guy. He hauled back his fist, ready to punch Lightning. She dashed to avoid his attack and, before he could even acknowledge what had just happened, he received another kick, this time to the back of his head—and then another to his back.
In thirty seconds flat, the criminal was lying on the ground, bleeding from his mouth with bruises all over his body. While letting Odin crush his wagon, Lightning managed to phone the Guardian Corps hotline and told them that their leader – herself – had beaten up a guy in The Cobras and that he needed an ambulance. Lightning proceeded to leave.
What the hell is wrong with me today? I could've just frozen him with Blizzaga… Doesn't matter. He's a criminal…
Ten minutes later, at Lightning's apartment,
"Yo Sis! You're back?" Snow was sitting in the couch, playing video games with Hope.
"Hey Lightning!" Hope said as he saw Light walk in.
"Snow, why are you always here in my house? And Hope, aren't you supposed to be doing homework or something?" Lightning frowned at the two guys.
"Umh, Sis, it's Monday night, remember?" Snow asked, looking nervous.
Monday night. What's up with Monday night?
"Hey Sis, you're home early today aren't you? Oh, I know, you're preparing for tonight!" Serah walked into the house, followed by Fang and Vanille.
"Yeah I can't wait for it! A sleep over party on Monday night? Sounds cool!" Vanille cheerful piped.
Fang nodded: "Yeah. Whoever came up with this idea must be brilliant. Oh and I'm supposing Ms. Frown here isn't opposed to it." She patted on Light's back. "So Light, what're you gonna wear for the sleepover party? Pajamas? Or your pink night gown?"
Oh shoot! The third Monday night of the month? Holy shit. It was Serah's monthly party, in which they all gathered and had dinner together, played video games, watched movies, and finally slept in the living room, all together. Lightning had never approved of this idea of Serah's, but she never showed it. Her sister sometimes needed to have fun.
"Actually I'm not going to party with you people tonight. Sorry, Serah" Light said, as she examined Serah's face to make sure that her sister wouldn't burst into tears or something.
"Claire, it's the first time we have Fang and Vanille here. You gotta come."
Still, Light was stubborn. "I apologize, Serah, but I'm not in my good mood. I'll just ruin everything. So just let your sister stay in her room while you're partying, OK?" Light patted on Serah's head, trying to sound as calm as she could.
"But you'll be eating dinner with us right? Our big, happy family dinner." Serah as with her innocent tone and her puppy-dog face, giving Lightning only one option to choose from.
"Yes, I will, Serah." She sighed.
Light received a "YAY!" from both Vanille and Serah.
Light never noticed, but Fang was holding ten shopping bags, all bought with Lightning's cash. Also Vanille and Serah each had three or four bags on their days. Noticing that Lightning was staring at the things she was holding, Fang laughed "Yeah, sugar, you're one rich little girl. I never thought you'd have that much money. Remember the time when we fight about whose weapon to upgrade first just because we didn't have enough cash?"
… I do... It's been a year already?
Serah rushed over to Snow's side and started telling him everything about her day. Vanille and Fang helped carrying all the stuff upstairs. Hope continued to play his video game with Dajh, while Sazh kept babbling. "Hey! That's not how you do it. Gimme the controller and I'll show you how it's done." thus he kept being ignored.
"I'm going to take my shower, people. Just don't disturb me."
"Be quick, Light! You don't want Snow to eat all your food, do you?" Serah called as Light walked upstairs to her room and shut the door behind her.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Lightning punched at the wall of her bedroom every time she thought the word, she punched and punched until she couldn't feel the burning pain in her knuckles any more, far later when they'd gone numb. Light looked at her hand, tried to move her fingers to see if she could continue to use them. Shit, I need a shower.
"Cura." Light mumbled, casting magic on her broken fist. She never noticed how useful Cura was, when they were not fighting for their lives or anything at all. She just healed her bleeding knuckles with Cura, though it still hurt, no one would see any trace of blood whatsoever.
Lightning was now in her hot bath, smoking, and forcing herself to relax, but obviously she couldn't. That phone call with the unknown man called Rufus Shinra kept making her think.
"Hello? Who's there?"
"I'm sorry if I disturbed you, Miss Farron. My name is... Rufus Shinra."
Who?
"Who are you, and how do you even know my name, let alone have my number?"
"Ms. Farron, I know it may sound like I'm crazy, but I have information on your parents' murder, which I believe you may find interesting."
"I repeat, who are you?"
My parents' murder? Is he nuts or something? For Eden's sake, both my parents died of illness.
"I'm not from either Cocoon or Gran Pulse, Claire. I'm from a place called Gaia, and that's also where your parents..."
"Hey Light! Are you done with your shower? It's been almost an hour you know. We're starving here, Lightning!" Fang was right out there at her door, knocking and shouting. Light put off her cigarette, which had long since burned down, as fast as she could and screamed back.
"I'm drying my hair, Fang! You go eat first! Don't wait for me!!!"
"Alright, honey, honestly I did suggest that we dump you and start eating, but Serah sent me here to check on you. You sure?"
"Yes, Fang. Go eat already."
Crap, she didn't happen to notice the smell of my cigarette, did she?
Fifteen minutes later, Light arrived at the table where everyone was already eating. Her hair was dried by Aero, so she wondered if it was kinda spiky today. The damn hair-dryer broke, there was no other way. Thank God no one noticed. Lightning appeared in her white T-shirt and denim shorts. In a second, Light could have sworn she saw Sazh, Mr. Estheim and Snow's eyes widened and their expressions went slack, like they were drooling over her, though they all turned normal when she looked at them.
"Holy cow, Lightning, you just beat Vanille at bathing for so long." Fang said as Light sat down to her seat.
"I'll take that as a compliment, thank you, Fang." Light coldly replied.
"Ha, you're shameless, aren't you?"
"Another compliment? Why, aren't you pleasant today, Fang?"
Things were fine during dinner, nice food, nice talks ( Lightning didn't pay any attention to the conversations, though ) until Serah brought that topic up.
"Hey Sis! I still got your black card right here. You want it back?" She was singing and smiling at Light.
"No, actually, Serah, you can keep it, in case anything happens... I'm just not gonna be here for a few days." Light admitted with hesitation in her tone.
"What is it, Claire?" The way Serah sounded, Light could tell she was shocked.
"What do you mean, 'not here', Sis?" Snow added, just as bewildered.
"I just need to go somewhere for a few, days—uh no, weeks, Serah. Calm down, it's nothing big." Light tried to make it sound normal that she would leave and return.
She, however, failed. Serah kept asking. "But to where? Why? And when?"
"To Gaia. I have some things to take care of. As soon as possible, tomorrow would be good." Did I just say tomorrow?
"Wow, Lightning. You mean, Gaia, as in 'Gaia, the other side of the world?' That's not a place where little girls should be, Light." Sazh said, worried.
Then Fang added "No, seriously, Light. Even us Pulsians are afraid to go there." She looked at Vanille, and the younger girl nodded.
"It's suicide going there, Light."
Lightning looked at her teammates and frowned. "There are freaking commercial flights to Gaia every day, people, every-single-day. It's not that dangerous."
Fang sighed: "Babe, do you really think people travel to Gaia for sightseeing? Oh c'mon Light. Those freaks are bounty-hunters and criminals on the run, that's all."
"Ha! Whatever you say. I'm still going." Lightning said, half-smirking, half-frowning.
Suddenly Serah stood up and looked her sister in the eye. "No you're not, Claire. There's no way you're going to Gaia." Lightning, still sitting comfortably, wasn't quite capable of hiding her angry look: "What is it, Serah? You think you can stop me? I told you, I'm not doing anything dangerous." Liar.
"But you promised you'd never leave me again." The younger girl wiped her tears as she cried.
"That's enough, Serah. You know I'm not changing my mind, even if you cry." Lightning crossed her arms and looked away to avoid her sister's tears. I know she'd be like this. Just, be strong, Lightning.
Her sister, however, continued crying. "You're NOT going anywhere, Claire!" Her voice weakened to a plead. "Please don't go, Claire. Please. It's dangerous."
Lightning stood up this time, sounding even angrier. "I hate repeating myself all over again, Serah. I'm going to Gaia and that's final."
This time, Serah almost screamed at Light, which surprised everyone on the table: "IF YOU REALLY ARE GOING THERE CLAIRE, I WILL NEVER TALK TO YOU AGAIN. EVER! YOU PROMISED!" Light, looking a bit surprised, frowned and walked away.
"Fine. It's all settled, then. I'm taking the earliest flight tomorrow. And none of you needs to see me off."
I never thought it would end up like this...
As she paced up to her room, Lightning sighed. Tomorrow's not gonna be beautiful.
"Hey Light. What's up with you?" Fang asked, knocking on Light's bedroom door.
Lightning, now sitting on her bed, smoking to calm her nerves about what happened in the living room, answered shortly. "Nothing, Fang. Just go away."
Fang, still knocking, spoke with her abnormally serious voice. "Open the door, Light. I know something's up. We need to talk."
"You there all by yourself?" Light asked.
"Yeah. Don't need hide anything, Light. Just open up." Fang replied, already sounding like she knew what Lightning was doing.
Light unlocked the door, throwing Fang a come-in look, the cigarette still between her fingers. Fang followed her into the room, saying nothing. After making sure that the door was locked, she finally said. "What the heck happened to you?"
"Nothing. I've been smoking for almost half a year now. Makes me feel better, Fang."
Fang shook her head. "What happened to the old Lightning, then? You ain't like this, Light. You always loved your sister so much that you would die for her, Light. And you were always so strong and calm and smart and everything. Now you're back to being cold, emotionless, distant. You're not all here with us, even when you're sitting right in front of us."
"I'm still freaking the same, Fang. If you are just trying to tell me how much I've changed, then you've failed. Leave."
Fang picked up Light's cigarette pack and sighed: "No. I'm just trying to figure out why you're running away to Gaia, Light."
Lightning coldly glared at her warrior friend: "I'm not running away from anything, Fang. I just have things to deal with in Gaia. And I'll be back when I'm finished, OK?"
This time, the one frowning was Fang. "Oh, will you? I know something's on your mind, Lightning. I know you too well to tell that you're nowhere near fine. You're just trying to run away from your life, Light."
"I am not running away!"
"Then why don't you tell us what you're up to, Light? Maybe we can help." Fang patted on Light's shoulder and sat down next to her.
"I can't. It's something I have to do alone, Fang." Lightning sighed deeply.
"You're still one stubborn little soldier, aren't you Light? Alright, I'm not forcing you. But really, call me whenever you need, OK?" Fang walked to the door "Goodnight, Light. And good luck tomorrow."
"Night, Fang. ... Thank you." Light had already lit up another cigarette.
"Oh and Lightning." Fang paused the door "Serah's been crying like hell since dinner. Guess there's no party tonight. You really should do something about it, Light. She's just worried about you, you know?"
Lightning sighed, but didn't answer. Fang then closed the door behind her. Lightning inhaled deeply on the cigarette.
I'm sorry, Serah.
I'm sorry.
That's it for now. Ice, I hope you noticed the things I've added, lol x333. I promise I'm not that kinda lazy, laid back beta'ee, so no worries xPPPP.
Guys, I'm feeling terribly sorry for saying this, but I'm gonna have a nice 3-day-trip to the beach with my family, starting tomorrow, so I won't be writing anything this weekend. It's 1am here, and the train leaves at 7, but I'm still up finishing this chapter, so DO TREASURE it, LOL. haha jk x333
Anyway, ANY feedback is appreciated. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review, guys, ok? this is my first fanfiction, and Chapter 3 is the first chapter that has ever been beta-read, so I hope it's better than the other 2, LOL x33
Thank you for all your reviews and subscriptions. Kept me continue writing xDDD
Enjoy this chapter, and wait for the next one, ok?
EkureruRaito ~
and..
YOU'RE AMAZING, ICE. THANK YOU X333
[ and guys, sorry if the line break thingie didn't work O__O. I tried times, saved and line breaked and saved and there it was, man. So no line breaks for this chapter " I'll try to fix it when we get home " Sorry guys. ]