A/N: Sorry it's a bit late, but it's here now.
~~~Space~~~
Lightning blinked her eyes repeatedly, thinking maybe she had gone a bit overboard. The mascara she had put on made her eyelashes stick together. To add to it, she couldn't rub her eyes when she was tired, an old habit of hers, since she had also put on a little eye shadow. It was silver and made her eyes pop, in her opinion.
She hadn't wanted to put on make up, but it was highly suggested that she looks as different as possible. The Nightingales couldn't do anything past dying her hair and putting on the miniscule amount of make up, she wouldn't let them. It was bad enough she couldn't wear her Guardian Corps vest, she loved that vest.
"It's just up ahead," Yeul walked through the crowded streets with her silent, steady steps. She wore a purple dress with a white hat covering her cobalt blue hair. She looked just like any civilian child. Actually, how did she discover her powers and become a criminal? Lightning thought idly.
The walk to wherever their destination was, Lightning wasn't sure, was uneventful. Drops of rain thumped on their silky umbrella and found their way off the edge to the water accumulating on the ground. Not that the weather was unusual, it rained most days in Eden. The conversation between the two Nightingales was minimal, just simple directions given by Yeul when necessary.
The stores lining the streets blended together in Light's mind and soon she found that it wasn't Yeul walking beside her, but Serah instead.
"C'mon Claire! Just one minute, I swear that's all it will take," Serah pleaded as she walked down the street alongside her big sister.
Claire let out a long sigh. She hated dresses. She hated Snow. She did not want to go with Serah to buy a dress for her date. Then again, how often had she really been present in Serah's life lately?
"Fine," she ground out between ground teeth, no louder than a whisper. But it was loud enough for Serah to hear, her face immediately brightened as she wrapped her arms around Claire in an overly tight hug.
"Oh, thank you!" Serah merrily skipped to the store, Claire in tow and began rummaging through the racks of dresses and hulled them to the fitting rooms while Claire waited.
The first few dresses were not for Serah. One was too short and was immediately shot down as an option by Claire. Another was too long and looked like it was suffocating Serah within folds of bright cotton. Others still just had cuts that didn't look right or out of place colors.
After what seemed like hours, Serah emerged wearing a pale pink dress that had many folds near the hem, coming modestly to her knees. It had no sleeves, but a small bit of lace instead. Serah twirled in the dress for Claire. "So? How do I look?"
Feeling a small smile creep onto her face, Claire nodded her approval, "Like a little rose."
"Is there something you want from here?" Yeul tore Light from her memories. She hadn't even realized that she had been standing in front of a shop with similar dresses to the ones in her memories or that her hand was pressed against the smooth, damp glass.
Slowly, Light shakes her head, seeing her reflection in the glass instead of the fabric behind it. "No, I was just…"
She steps away from the store and continues walking with Yeul silently by her side. "It was nothing," she finally adds.
And much to her relief, Yeul did not question her further.
~~~Space~~~
Serah was not happy.
Snow couldn't exactly say he was either, but right now Serah needed him. After the loss of her sister, she had been acting distant. Now, she didn't talk often and her smiles were rarer. He couldn't remember the last time he heard her laugh, it was far too long ago.
Claire went to the masquerade and vanished. No one knows what happened, but Snow knows Fang was there. She says she didn't see Claire, but there's a distance in her eyes like she's not focusing on him even though they make eye contact. Also, he noticed she had been drinking more. Sure a drink or two after a long task was one thing, but many more almost nightly? Something was bothering her.
Snow knocked at the bedroom door and awaited Serah's voice much like a child would await punishment from their parents. "Come in," was the muffled reply.
Snow opened the door and sat on a bed covered in a fluffy cream quilt. Serah sat quietly, lap gently illuminating the darkened room and book in hand, though she did place the book on the nightstand when Snow walked in. It never was in her nature to be distracted while someone was talking to her.
"When was the last time we went somewhere together?" Snow wrapped his arm around his fiancée.
"We're at Lebreau's bar almost every day."
"I meant when was the last time we went on a proper date?"
The question seemed to have caught Serah's interest as her eyes obtained a small glimmer, like the first stars that dot the coming night.
"Are you taking me on a date?"
Snow got off of the bed and lifted Serah from her spot. With her in his arms, he spun around once. "You're the only one I ever would," he gently set her on her feet before making his way to the door, stopping once he reached it and turning back. "We'll go to dinner in a couple hours, so you might want to start getting ready now."
"I don't take that long!" protested an irritated Serah, though Snow had left the room quickly after he had teased her.
She would simply take her time preparing herself for their date.
~~~Space~~~
"They are his favorites," Yeul comments as the worker puts them carefully into a paper bag.
Lightning inhales deeply, allowing the overwhelming scent of fresh bread and sweet pastries to fill her lungs. The particular pastry Yeul referred to appeared to be filled with a type of berry jelly, strawberry or cherry perhaps, and topped with creamy icing.
No wonder they're Prompto's favorites, they look delicious.
Once Yeul has the bag of pastries in hand, they leave the small bakery to the sound of the worker wishing them a good day and telling them to please return. "If there is nothing you wish to purchase, we may be returning home now," Yeul eyes the items they've purchase, minor things not nearly as sketchy as Light would have thought.
Pastries for Prompto, various fragments of amber, quartz, and the like for Yeul, sunglasses for Gladiolus (he had been complaining about his broken pair for weeks, according to Yeul), a few books for Ignis, who Light has yet to meet, and many pencils for Noctis.
Just before Light was going to say there was nothing she need, she caught sight of the window of a florist's shop. Bouquets ranging from simple to extravagant were on display and Light decided there was one thing she was going to purchase.
~~~Space~~~
Now Serah was the one waiting for Snow. He may have been taking his time in order to retaliate to her taking her time, but either way Serah was a little annoyed. Seeing that the rain from earlier in the day had stopped, she stepped out onto the front porch of the house.
Her foot brushed against something as she stepped into the cooling evening air. Looking down, Serah saw roughly a half dozen pale pink roses wrapped in matching pale paper resting on the wooden deck. She carefully picked them up and searched for a card or any sign of the sender. Though they did remind her of a time long passed.
She felt the soft fabric of a dress embracing her, but it was different from the one she currently wore.
"So, how do I look?" Her own voice echoed in her head.
"Like a rose."
"Hey, did you say something, Serah?" Snow inquired.
Serah turned around and looked at her fiancé. He gestured at the flowers in her arms. "Where'd you get those?"
A bright smile was Serah's silent response. Something in Snow's expression told her the he understood. These flowers are proof of life.
They are proof that Claire's alive.
~~~Space~~~
Crack.
Another pencil, broken into two from his hand's grasp. More unfinished words, statements, paragraphs, stories left on his paper. The pencil's remnants were thrown at the wall as Noctis rested his head upon his other hand, propping himself up with help from his elbow.
His room was plain and dimly lit. He hated the light. He turned the lamp off and made his way to his bed. Wrapped in it's soft fabric, he attempted to sleep, but that luxury never came easily anymore.
He couldn't think clearly anymore either, and that pissed him off. What could he do anymore?
For months, he had been planning the Nightingales next moves, each one like a game of chess, exposing the enemy's king and then capturing it. He was planning everything so carefully for them, success had to be guaranteed. The city would know them, because they would cause Eden's fall.
Then, she came into the picture. That stubborn, infuriating woman. Sometimes he wondered if he would just dispose of her and find someone else to take her place. But something told him that was a bad idea. She is a trained soldier after all, taking care of people used to be her job so she should have no problems guarding Yeul. That was the reason he told himself he kept her around for.
Deeper inside told him he was lying to himself. He wouldn't be able to kill her, no matter what the circumstance was. He wouldn't be able to torture her again either, at least he didn't think so. Hopefully, he wouldn't have a reason to anyway and the question could remain a mystery.
So many things about her intrigued him, but he warned himself that he couldn't get close to her, it would only cause trouble. But she was so strong if she would only relent to his torture because of threats to her sister. To have such love for another person to give up everything for them was a feeling he didn't know. He couldn't say he was fond of his family. They had treated him like he was a monster. Just because he was a little different, he never wanted to hurt them. Before that moment, he corrected himself.
But he wondered if maybe, she could help him.
~~~Space~~~
A/N: Thank you for reading, please review. I know how I want the story to end, but the journey to the ending is being planned on very loose structures. I'm very sorry if it ever gets confusing for this reason, but hope that it will not be that way.
