The Rendezvous
She was putting on her makeup carefully, nervously looking at the clock on her dresser. A knock sounded on the door and she hopped excitedly to answer it. Snow was waiting with a bouquet of flowers, "Hey, I brought these for you." Serah took them with a smile, "Are you ready to go?"
Serah grabbed her purse from the table near the door, and set the flowers there, "Yep, let's go."
They walked down the walkway towards Snow's car, he was obviously nervous, "You look pretty today, Serah."
She nudged him with her elbow, "You don't look so bad yourself. So where are we going?"
Snow opened the door for Serah, then took his own seat behind the wheel, "I thought we could go eat at this nice restaurant downtown, then a few drinks at The Bat and the Ball, then I'll bring you home. That sound good?"
Serah nodded, "Yeah, I just hope the restaurant has a TV, Claire's game is on and I want to watch."
-DSOF-
We are here in Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Lions to see them square off against the Texas Rangers. The Rangers on the field first, their opening pitcher, Lightning Farron, taking the mound. In her first game against the Giants she allowed no RBIs, let's see if she can repeat that tonight.
Serah sat in a booth across from Snow in a nice restaurant watching the Ranger's game on a TV in the corner. She was paying so much attention to it that she didn't even notice her drink arriving. "Hey, Serah, we're on a date, remember?"
She looked back at Snow, "I'm sorry, it's just that I always watch Claire's games."
"You and your sister are close, huh?"
Serah smiled at the question, "Of course, she's the only family I have left since..." Her smile faded, "I don't want to talk about that."
On the TV, Claire struck out number three to end the inning. "Wow, she's really good. I can see why they call her Lightning. You know I ran into her at the bar last week."
"Really?"
"Yeah, she remembered me, but I get the feeling that she doesn't like me."
Serah reassured him, "It's not just you, Claire doesn't like anybody." Next up to bat is Oerba Yun Fang, who hit two home runs in last week's game against the Giants. The outfielders are falling back, a good choice seeing as she is a power hitter. "Except her, I wonder what's going on with that."
"What do you mean?"
"We met Fang and her sister, Vanille, at the movies earlier this week. They're both really nice, but there seemed to be something going on between Fang and my sister."
Snow got a slight smirk on his face, "Do you think they're...?"
Serah shut him up with a look, "I don't know. I'm pretty sure Fang is, but I don't know about Claire." Serah shrugged, "I guess it's none of my business."
'Strike three, and that ends the inning stranding one runner on second and leaving the score tied at zero. Lightning Farron taking the mound.'
-DSOF-
Lightning wound up and threw a curveball, the batter made contact and got a base hit out of it, letting a runner score and leaving runners on first and second with one out. She cast a look to right field and noticed Fang was watching her. What the hell, Farron? Strike this guy out.
Don't you think I'm trying?
Well try harder, you're pitching like your drunk.
Shut up. Lightning returned her attention to the plate and the batter that stood there. She wound up and fired. "Strike one!" Alright, I'm getting my touch back. She remembered the accident, channeled those feelings of loss and anger into her arm and threw. "Strike two!" She brought all of her pain and regret to the surface and allowed it to take over, she threw another one down the center, "Strike Three, you're out!" No expression crossed her face, she was in the zone.
She struck out the next batter and they walked back to the dugout for the next inning. She sat down and took her hat off, Fang sat down beside her, "I see you got your groove back." Lightning merely nodded, her expression remained stoic, "You feeling alright? If you want to talk about something you can always talk to me."
Lightning kept her eyes on the game, "No. Leave me alone." Fang shrugged and did as she was told. Patience, Lightning, is a virtue and you're worth the wait.
-DSOF-
Serah sat next to Snow at The Bat and the Ball, sitting close in order to have a conversation over the shouting fans. It was the final inning, Lightning had given up a run to a bad pitch, but Fang had batted one in leaving the score tied at one. Fang was up to bat, and the crowd was hushed in anticipation. "So, what do you study at UT?"
Serah took her eyes off of the game, "Psychiatry, I guess after all those years of looking after Claire, I'm trying to get paid for it." She started laughing but was drowned out by the shouts of the bar patrons. Another home run from the Australian Sensation, Oerba Yun Fang, to win the game with the score Detroit one and the Rangers two.
The crowd got louder and Serah stood from the table, "It's getting late, Snow, I have class tomorrow morning, I should get home."
They rode in silence most of the way, Snow too nervous to speak and Serah lost in thought. The car pulled up in front of the Farron house and Snow opened the door for Serah. Serah leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Thanks for dinner, it was fun."
Snow blushed deeply, "Yeah, we'll have to do it again sometime."
Serah smiled at him as she walked to the door, "Sure, just give me a call. Bye, Snow."
"Bye, Serah." The door to the house closed fully before Snow found the will to move to the driver's seat. I'd love to do it again, but I'm going to have to get passed your sister first.
-RB-
Lightning sat in the seat on the plane that was to take her back to Arlington, her thoughts on the bad pitch that had cost her an RBI. She noticed someone sit beside her, "This seat is reserved."
"Expecting someone, sunshine?"
Lightning gave a small smirk, "What took you so long?"
She recieved a smirk in return, "Had to look my best sitting next to someone as famous as you." Lightning took a long pull from a flask in her pocket, "Should you be drinking on a plane?"
Lightning laid her head back and shrugged her shoulders, "Who cares?"
"What's going through your head, Lightning? What's got you talking like this?"
Lightning sighed, "While I was up there, on that mound, I could feel the weight of all the eyes that were on me and I hated it. All the cameras, the fans, all those eyes scrutinizing my every move. I just keep going back to that pitch, and it's driving me nuts."
"Do you really think anybody cares? We won, Claire, and that's what matters. Not that petty bullshit." Fang patted Lightning's hand, "You think too much, you need to learn to let it go."
Lightning turned her head to look at Fang, "You make it sound so easy." Fang started chuckling, "What?"
"I just called you Claire and you didn't hit me." As soon as the words left her mouth she got hit on the arm, "It was nice while it lasted. Look, sunshine, what's done is done. You can either keep punishing yourself over it, or you can let it make you stronger and move on. It's your choice, but I would prefer it if you chose the latter. You're prettier when you smile."
Lightning turned her head away, "You were great out there, by the way. You're one hell of a hitter."
Fang smiled as she got comfortable, "I already told you, Oerba Yun Fang never strikes out."
