I must warn you, this isn't a Lightning x Squall romance fiction, though I also think this couple could fit. They're just best friends. It could be Ellone instead of Lightning, but Ellone isn't that much adventurous, is she?

Sweet as a lion – Chapter 4 – False hope

Light came back to herself, rolling on the hot cement, with shattered glass falling around her. She remembered how they had come out of the building. How they were panting on the ground. It was two years ago. And now, the upper part of that hated building was blowing up with Squall inside of it. She covered her face with her arms, to protect herself from the fragments. And she felt tears filling her eyes.

What's going on with me? What's wrong? It can't be only this nightmare, there must be something else… she thought angrily.

She was completely out of it!

After a few minutes, the explosion calmed down and Lightning got up to take a few steps away from the hideout of the Feds, soon followed by Sazh, who was still holding his son in his arms. Both of them looked alright. But what about Squall?

"He said he would catch up with us, but…"

Lightning realized how lost she would be if her friend was to be killed in a mission. She jumped as she heard a gunshot coming from the building, but soon, she widened her eyes at the sight of Squall jumping out from a window and controlling perfectly his fall to roll on the ground and get back on his feet, without even a scratch!

"Oh, I'm gonna kill him!" she thought out loud.

Sazh chuckled.

"Wait until we're back at the headquarters and after you've convinced the bosses not to kill me."

"What is daddy talking about?" Dajh asked, not too sure of what he had heard.

"Kweeee?"

"Uh… Daddy's joking. Let's just get out of here."

...

Date: 19 027 A.D. December 2th

Location: Planet Earth, United States, Boston

Hour: 10 h37 15 sec.

Notice: You got one message from … your brother. Call made at 16h02 21 sec.

"Beep."

"Hi, Light, it's Cloud. I hope everything's going fine on your side. Finally, I got myself a new mission. I'm sent on Pluto with the whole squad. A rescue mission… I should be back in a few weeks, with some luck. I hope we'll be all back for Christmas. Until my return, just try not to do anything rash, okay? Take care, sis. I… gotta leave, we're taking off. Bye."

"End of your messages."

Lightning sighed as she closed her phone. Cloud was out in the space and she wouldn't see him before weeks or even months. Just thinking about it, she felt lonely already. She looked at Squall, who was simply staring at the wall before them. Sazh was meeting with their bosses to get things explained on "his" case. And that meant that they had to wait until that Rufus Shinra would have decided that their Focus was completed or not. Then, they would have to fill a report. And get on onto the next case.

"Hey, Squall…" she started.

He didn't even flinch at his name, but jumped when Lightning's phone rang suddenly. She sighed and turned it on to answer. There wasn't a lot of people that did call her, so this could be just as important as Squall's problem.

"Hi, Lightning speaking."

"Claire, I'm so glad I finally got you! I called home again and again and neither Cloud or you were there to answer!"

"Serah!"

Lightning hadn't talk to her younger sister for weeks! They weren't getting along as well as before, not ever since Serah had started dating Snow…

"I got good news for you, Light, you won't believe me! Are you sitting down right now?"

"Huh, yes. Why should I…"

Squall raised his head, furrowing his eyebrows. Lightning's voice was a little weird. Usually, she would go so motherly when talking to her sister.

"You know, Snow and I have been together since a year and a few months now. And you'll never guess what's happening to us!"

"Just tell me, Serah!"

Lightning was tensed now. Squall readied himself. She could blow up at any time now.

"I'm pregnant!"

Lightning almost dropped the phone. That was way more than she could take. Serah, her Serah, pregnant? The sister that was almost a daughter for her, going to be a mother… When she had lost her own chance of having a real daughter? Her eyes lighted up with furry. Squall was now sitting straightly next to her. A few minutes went by, while Light just tried to take it in.

"Hey Light, are you okay?" Serah asked her.

"Yeah, yeah." she lied. "It's just, so unexpected." she managed to blurt out.

"I was really surprised too. But Snow's so happy. And… and I thought that you and Cloud would be too…"

Serah sounded sad now. Her sister wasn't approving what happened in her life. And Lightning realized what she had just done. How selfish could she be? Serah counted on her. Her opinion was important for her.

"I never thought it would come that soon. But I'm happy for you, Serah. The family's growing up. It's wonderful!"

"You really think so? I'm happy myself, but I'm a little scared too."

Lightning felt her heart sinking in her chest. She had felt the very same thing. And she wished from the bottom of her heart that nothing bad would happen to Serah's baby.

"It's normal, Serah, it's your first time having a baby. Everything's new. How many months has it been already?"

"Two months and a half."

Lightning smiled and Squall relaxed a bit. It was alright. But soon, he felt Light's hand on his fingers, trying to grab his own hand. And as he looked back at her, he saw that she was slightly trembling. He let her took his hand and held her palm gently. This was comforting for him too.

"You're going to be alright, Serah. And Cloud and I will both help you if you need anything."

"I'm not calling for your help, you got a lot of work already I wanna know if you want to be the aunt of my baby and if we'll see each other more often…"

"I… It's very nice to ask it. I'll be glad to see you and the baby, of course! But maybe, it will take some time. With my work, I wouldn't want to put you in danger."

"Oh, come one, Lightning, don't say things like that! You're always telling me that your job isn't as much dangerous as it seems. I'm gonna get worried."

"No, it's not that bad. But, I've got a big mission with Squall. So, I don't know when I'll be free to come and meet you."

"Ah, I see. Am I calling at a wrong time?"

"No, no, I'm glad to talk with you Serah."

"Thanks, Light. Do you know if Cloud's home?"

"Oh no, he won't be, the army sent him on Pluto for a few weeks."

"Oh my god! I hope that he'll be alright." Serah whispered.

"He'll be, don't worry, sis."

"I hope so. Well then, I guess I'll let you get back to work. Don't overexert yourself out there."

"Yeah. Take care too, Serah."

"Bye Light."

"Bye bye, Serah."

The ringtone died and Lightning hung up. She sighed once more, her smile fading. Had she used the right words? She looked up at Squall.

"Serah's pregnant." she said.

Her voice was weak and faint. Merely a whisper of her usual cold ton. Squall hadn't to hear anything more. Two years ago, Lightning had been pregnant herself and had never gotten the right to live that experience to its fullest. She had lost the baby after only three months. And she thought it was Noctis' fault. It had happened in the very building where Dajh was being held captive until that they'd rescued him. … Squall thought once more that he shouldn't have let Lightning come. She looked so down now. And so sad…

"They say it's normal to envy other people when they get what we couldn't have for ourselves."

"Even when these people are my sister and brother-in-law?"

"Especially your sister in your case, Lightning."

Saying that, he put one arm around her shoulders and let her lean on his ride side, even if it was a bit too nice coming from him.

"You'll have kids of your own, Light, if you really want to."

"Are you feeling right Squall?" she asked him.

"Yeah. I recently learned how important family can be to girls. I guess it's only normal you regret loosing that baby."

Lightning realized that Squall still had his own problems. And it sounded like one of Rinoa's reasons for leaving was the question of family.

"It's normal alright, but it's been two years."

"Sometimes, it takes a whole life to get over some things."

And she felt that he really was talking from experience.

Lightning woke up in peace that morning. She was lying in a warm embrace, two strong arms wrapped around her. It felt so familiar and safe like this. She had had no nightmare. But she knew she wasn't with Cloud. And still, she wasn't scared. Squall was holding her tight and they had slept together last night, but he was only her friend and they were both agreed with that fact. They did nothing but watch tv, talk and sleep yesterday night. Nothing else. Lightning was still wearing her brown shirt and her jeans. She smiled as she opened her eyes and see the white walls of Squall's living room. They had fallen asleep on the couch. Which wasn't a big surprise… This thing was so comfy. The TV was still on, but the sound was off and 3D actors were fighting against eachother in a semi apocalyptic world that looked like March.

"Hey, Squall." Lightning called her friend, turning her head to his side.

He simply held her even tighter to him, cuddling up against her. As every man, he was so vulnerable when he was sleeping.

"Morning, Squall." she insisted.

He mumbled something inaudible before to sigh and answer her with a : "Morning, Rinoa."

She was a bit taken aback, but she still smiled as she shook slightly her head, before to shake Squall up.

"It's Light," she whispered to him.

Squall looked at her with hazed eyes that suddenly brighten from the shock of reality sinking back in. He almost pushed her off the couch, backing away to the other side of the futon, trying to remember what could have gotten him in such a position with his job partner and best friend.

"Hey, I'm not mad." she wanted to reassure him.

Squall sat up, his hair a mess and his white shirt even worse. He looked terrified for a second, as if he could really have done something terrible, then he looked down and his hair fall over his eyes, letting only the lower part of his scar into sight. His mind was still a little sleepy, but he knew that nothing wrong had happened and that he was just overreacting. Lightning needed comfort, company. And he needed to know that he could give some. It wasn't sexual or anything. They just needed the presence of someone close. But…

"I really thought you were Rinoa." he said on a very low voice.

He raised his head and his eyes were now ice shards, as if he couldn't accept his mistake.

"Squall, it's normal, it hasn't been a day already that she left you." Lightning answered him, sitting up on the very edge of the couch.

"I don't care if it's normal. I almost threw her out of here myself, and now I mistake you for her…"

But I don't want her around anymore, so why would I call you by her name?he added in the back of his mind.

"Squall, you mistook me for her because you were used to having Rinoa around like this. It's not because you need her, and even if it was…"

He shook his head, trying to clear out his mind. He was thinking too much once more. He could see Rinoa's face talking to him, rejecting him. He could picture her with Seifer. It hurt. It hurt so deep. He didn't want to care. He wanted to erase her from his mind and to let all of those thoughts of being abandon, being alone, wanting Rinoa back, he wanted all of these thoughts gone. But he couldn't help it. He was thinking it all over, again and again.

Had he done something wrong? Had he really thrown her away of his life himself? Wasn't it her who had ran away from him? Shouldn't he try to help Lightning instead of running all those thoughts in his head?

"I hate feeling like this." he whispered.

And his freezing eyes melted slowly, even if he didn't shed a tear.

"Feeling like what?"

"A moron."

He lowered his head again and Lightning sighed. Squall was still so hard with himself on everything. He had been dumped and left by the girl of his life the very last day, and he was already beating himself up for not getting over it already.

"Hey, you know what, moron?" she jokingly asked him.

He looked right back at her, his teeth clenching at the word. He could use it himself, but to hear it in Light's mouth felt a bit too much.

"I've felt like that often lately. Just yesterday, when you were fighting against Seifer and I was just frozen, paralyzed by fear. And when Serah told me she was pregnant and the only thing I could think was how jealous I felt. You can't know how to act and to react to everything at every time. You know, I'm still lingering over things that happened to me years ago."

"It's not the same." he said, looking the other way.

The guys on the screen of the TV weren't fighting anymore. One of the two camps had won the fight, and the survivors were in a hospital, and a guy was clinging to a girl's hand. She was dying.

"It's the same thing!" She barked back.

He jumped at her strong voice.

"So it's the same?" he asked, thinking of the girl dying and feeling a sick feeling growing up in his chest.

He missed Rinoa. He really did. And he felt awful for missing her while she was already gone to another guy.

"I said it's the same thing because…! I'm still lingering over the past because I…"

Suddenly, Lightning didn't felt as much angry and her voice lowered to a whisper.

"Because I still haven't forgiven anyone for what that had happened. Not me, neither Noctis."

They both stood silent for a long moment. She seemed really surprised herself by what she had said and Squall couldn't believe she was finally admitting it. Because, he and Cloud and everyone else knew that even if Lightning had had her good times every now and then, ever since that accident from two years ago, she had never been the same. And they all knew the reason why. Even if she faked that she was alright, she was missing Noctis. And she had pushed him away herself. She would never admit that fact though. And Squall wasn't ready to try and point it out to her. He still wanted to live, even if it was a lonely life!

"Don't tell me you just figured that out."

He still wanted to live, alright, but he was a bit rash at sometimes…

"What does that mean!" she barked again, before to throw her right fist at his face.

Squall merely dodged and was saved by his phone that began to ring at that very moment. The weird little incident was immediately forgotten for professional cause, but Lightning cursed again herself inwardly as her partner answered the phone.

To be continued...

Yeah, I realize that Lighting may sound as the central character in this. But Squall always had trouble taking his own place, especially around woman. He knows out to push them away, that's for sure, but preventing them from talking? That's something else...