Don't Tempt Me

Author's Note: Welcome back all to this unfolding one-shot turned saga this is the evolution of Lightning and Sazh's relationship. In my own mind at least. Anyway, the good news is, I have an ending planned. The bad news is I'm still planning exactly how to get there lol. But I have ideas. So lucky for you, this story probably won't be done for a while. As usual, I own nothing related to FFXIII and as long as I can get a PS4 before FFXV comes out, I'm okay with that.

Chapter 10- Paradigm Shift

"Hope, time to get up for school."

"Can't I just skip it today?"

"No." was the answer the younger of the two received. Taking into account the look in Lightning's eyes, he knew not to push the situation even further. But man, he did not feel like going to school today. Things were really getting back to normal and that included everything he used to complain about before they became l'cie.

"Aw come on Light. Don't tell me you've never played hooky before?" Lightning stared at him more intently before answering. The funny thing was that she first played hooky at 12 to go to the beach with some friends because her crush was there. The second time was during her senior year of high school to get her navel pierced for no other reason other than she got tired of everyone saying she was too serious to do anything like that. And she was kind of into piercings. Needless to say, Serah's mouth dropped when she finally revealed it to her.

"I have once or twice." She replied with a barely noticeable smirk. Hope scoffed.

"See? Come on, I just feel like hanging out today."

"Is today Saturday?"

"No."

"Then you're going to school. You had almost a whole year to hang out after Cocoon fell. You need to continue your studies." With that being said, Lightning said nothing else as she turned around and went to finish getting ready for her morning jog. She chuckled to herself as she heard Hope groan in the background.

"Light!"

As she walked into the kitchen to cut some fruit she took in the sunshine flowing through her curtains. Lightning remembered the first sunrise she had ever witnessed on Gran Pulse and how memorized she was to see such a sight. She was the first person up that morning. Everyone was still sleeping and she was still bruised from her fight with Cid Raines the day before. Snow was keeping guard and she remembered slapping him in the back of the head vividly because he had fallen asleep. She smiled at the thought as she silently thanked Fang and Vanille for their sacrifice which she found herself doing almost every day for quite a while now. It had taken some time to reach this point but she was becoming more and more adjusted to this new life and found herself being less defensive around others. The feeling was different but not unwelcome. Today was going to be a good day. She could feel it.

An Hour Later

Grabbing her gunblade, Lightning opened the door to see the citizens of Genesis sprawling throughout the city streets. The original safe haven for Cocoon's refugees was slowly turning more into a metropolis than the rural settlement it had started as. As much as she missed the technological luxury of Cocoon, she had grown accustomed to the new normal and actually preferred living of the land as opposed to city life. She had given the possibility of leaving Genesis one day some thought but decided against it. All she had ever known was the military and protecting her sister. At this point, it was hard to envision any other kind of life. At the same time, the reality was there. She couldn't expect to revolve her own life around Serah forever.

"Morning Ms. Farron." Various people offered as she passed by. Lightning acknowledged them in return as she headed towards her destination. Walking up to the door she knocked twice before tying her hair back into a ponytail for her run. Waiting a moment, she knocked a bit more forcefully. It was 9 in the morning. He should be up by now.

The door slowly crept up open revealing the recent woken up Sazh Katzroy. Chocolina fluttered from behind him and zipped past Lightning in excitement. Or maybe it was irritation. She really couldn't tell. A slight smile formed on her lips nonetheless.

"I ain't deaf you know Lightning." Sazh greeted her with a yawn and opened the door inviting her in. She looked at him and took in his disheveled form. He looked like he had just rolled over from his bed. His normally well shaped afrom was now indented on one side and his voice a bit deeper than usual from just waking up. As cute as her friend may have looked first thing in the morning, it was still 9am. And she was still irritated by that fact.

"How are you still asleep? Didn't you have to take Dajh to school this morning?" She asked as she walked in. Sazh closed the door behind her and followed her into the kitchen where she went to take a seat.

"Yeah I did. After that I came home to engage in the art of sleeping in. Ever tried it?" Sazh told her with slight irritation before making the two of them some coffee. Lightning rested her gunblade across her crossed legs and gave him a look.

"You have a gift Sazh. Do you know that?"

"Yeah? What's that?" He asked without even turning around. Even so, Lighting could see the smirk on his face.

"Your ability to irritate me quicker than anyone else I know."

"That's definitely a lie. I believe Snow holds that title."

"Point duly noted. But I've learned how to ignore him. You, I haven't figured out to ignore just yet." She received a warm cup of coffee and the Chesire cat smile on Sazh's face as a reply as he sat down across from her. Taking a sip of his coffee, he seemed to wake up almost instantly.

"Good morning, Soldier Girl."

"Morning." She told him likewise as she sipped her own cup. Even before she and Sazh had started becoming really close, she would usually have a cup of coffee with him on the way to work. Most of the time it was on route, but since returning from the Faultwarrens, she would occasionally stop by or vice versa. It was nice. She found herself looking forward to these types of moments in life more and more.

"So, exactly why did you decide to wake me this morning? I thought you would be on your run by now." Sazh asked as he removed a hair pick from his a nearby drawer and started to pick out his hair.

"I wanted to see if you were up for joining me. You look like you could use it." She told him in such a straightforward manner, Sazh couldn't tell if she was being crass or sincere. It was hard to tell with her.

"You trying to say I'm out of shape woman?!" He shot back in an incredulous tone. Lightning's expression remained unchanged.

"It does look like you may have had one too many bottles of booze." She told him as her eyes pointed towards his abdomen. He really didn't look all that bad but she realized that messing was Sazh was pretty entertaining. Whereas Snow irritated her, for many reasons, she understood that his banter was just who he was. There was nothing special about it. Sazh had been the same way with her at first. But after getting to know each other on a deeper level, Lightning realized that their joking conversations were different. They made her feel better. Hell, if she didn't know better, she'd say it was borderline flirtation. Despite her many deficits in terms of romantic relationships, Lightning hadn't forgot how to flirt with a boy. That realization alone was something she was still trying to wrap her head around. And why the hell was she putting flirting and Sazh together in the same sentence? The man in question's voice brought her back to reality.

"Lightning."

"What?" She manage to get out shaking her head slightning.

"I was talking to you. You just zoned out."

"Sorry. What were you saying?"

"I said, I'll go with you. I don't have any plans." Sazh repeated as he picked up both of their empty mugs and put them in the sink. Lightning nodded.

"Just give me 5 minutes."

"Starting now." She told him immediately as she tapped her fingers on her gunblade. Sazh noticed this and rubbed a nervous hand across his hair.

"Okay, okay. I see you mean business." With that he proceeded towards the back of the house. Lightning's eyes followed him as he went. She closed them right after in slight frustration.

"Damn it." She whispered under her breath.

Ever since she had first admitted her attraction to Sazh to herself, she had been feeling some kind of way. It was something new yet strangely familiar. Lightning was pretty sure she didn't have a type. Hell, a lot of people still thought she was into women or was incapable of love period. Which, in reality, didn't really surprise her considering how she carried herself over the years. She had definitely defined her masculine side more as she considered strength a priority above all else. That same strength was very unsettling to a lot of men and she didn't ever give them an impression of interest.

She didn't know why she had the urge to do so, but she decided to peek back and take a look. Sazh's door was closed but she had seen enough of him after that cactuar had attacked him way back when to know how defined Sazh really was. For a man his age, he kept himself in decent shape, booze or not. This whole situation was an enigma to her. Perhaps it's possible that she's not really interested in Sazh so much as she is exploring herself more and Sazh is an attractive man. She had never taken to the time to entertain such trivial matters before but that was before things changed.

One thing Lightning did know though.

This was one battle she clearly didn't know how to fight by herself. And that was unnerving.

Yaschas Massif - Corridor

"Hey! Slow down."

"Keep up."

"Yeah. Tell that to my swollen knees." Sazh managed to get as he attempted to catch his breath. Lightning finally relented due to irritation and slowed down her pace.

"Your incessant whining is becoming unbearable." She told him with a quick roll of her eyes. This was something she was more comfortable with. Dealing with Sazh getting on her nerves. Sazh shot a her look.

"Really? You're the one who woke me up from a beautiful dream to join you on this hellacious run. You didn't mention anything about going uphill. Or climbing rocks. Or this corridor being infested with those damn poisonous floating flower things!." Lightning said nothing as he went on his tirade. Once he finished she sighed.

"You done yet?"

"Yeah I'm done. You got any water? I drank the last of mine a good while ago."

"That was dumb on your part. We still have to get back home." She chided him making the older man through up his hands as if he had just given up on everything.

"Never again will I join you on a run. Never." Sazh told her in all seriousness as he sat down on a nearby rock. Lightning joined him. She realized that she should have probably warned him. And her thought of being entertained by his presence did backfire because he whined the whole time. But despite all of that, she was glad to have some company for once. She wanted to talk to him anyway.

"You're full of it. But thank you. For coming anyway." She told him sincerely.

"Anyway, there was a reason to my madness as Serah would say. I would like your advice concerning something that has been on my mind."

"We couldn't have had this conversation after your run?" Sazh ventured. He received the cutting of Lightning's eyes as a response to his frankly, pretty stupid question.

"Please stop joking." She asked as she undid her ponytail and redid her hair to it was resting on her shoulder. Sazh nodded. He knew when it was serious when Lightning didn't issue a biting reply or hit him back. Now intrigued, he turned his focus to his friend. He was curious as to what was on her mind.

"Okay. So what on your mind?"

"Remember when you said that you weren't sure if you were ready to leave Genesis to head the new aviation base because of me?" Sazh nodded.

"Yeah. I do."

"I think that you should do what you want to. Don't let anything hold you back. I say that because I'm thinking of leaving as well. I just don't know if I can. The military is based here. And as long as I'm a part of the Guardian Corp, I'll have to remain here in Genesis until told otherwise."

"So in other words, you want to leave but the army won't let you. Are you sure it's just them?" Sazh asked.

"No, it's Serah too. I can't even bare the thought of being separated from her again. But I know I can't protect her forever. The whole reason I became who I am now was to give her the chance to live her life to the fullest. My parents lost theirs in an instant. I had no one else to protect me. It didn't matter. All that mattered to me was her."

"I know what you mean. When Relle died, I was tempted to drink myself into a coma and thought about joining her a couple of times. But Dajh, he was only 3 at the time. He was so young. He knew something bad had happened. When I went to tell him the news, I saw Relle in his eyes and I told myself that my purpose in life was to ensure that Dajh would be taken care of. My wife lives on through him. And that was all that mattered."

"I find myself asking what is it that I truly want in life. I'm still at a loss as to what that is." Lightning finished. Sazh looked at her and noticed how deep into thought Lightning was. This was really weighing on her.

"Have you spoken to Serah about this yet?"

"No, you're the first person I've told."

"May I ask, what brought this on?"

"Hope is leaving in a few months. His father has finished establishing the new settlement. Hope feels like it's important to be with his father now. I can't say I blame him. He's all he has left now. I can understand why he wants to be with him. Besides, Hope's becoming a man. He'll need that guidance."

"I know. He told me about it a few weeks ago. It seems like we're all making life changing choices doesn't it? I think I will go. As much as I will miss you and the others, this is what I want. A fresh start for Dajh and I plus I'll be achieving a dream of mine. My own hangar. Just me training recruits how to be the best and fixing planes. I wanted to retire this way. And if I go, I'll be able to." Lightning looked as Sazh and offered him a reassuring nod.

"That sounds like a plan. I wish I knew what it was I wanted in life. It's one thing to talk about living. It's another to actually do it. Where would I go? What would I do? Is there anything for me other than fighting and taking orders from others? It would be so easy to live life as it's given to me but I find that becoming more and more unnecessary."

"When you were a girl, before everything happened, what were you like?" Lightning gave him a look. She was caught off guard by his question.

"Go on. Sometimes to know where you're going, you need to look back at where you've been." He told her as he looked up at the sky. Lightning's eyes followed him upward.

"I remember being a bit standoffish, even then. I thought most of the kids in Bodhom were destined to become tanned seaside idiots. But I had some friends. We used to hang out at the beach a lot. I loved swimming. That and dancing. I used to do ballet. Believe it or not, I even had a boyfriend."

"You? The almighty Lightning was in love?" Sazh joked forgetting Lightning request earlier. She didn't mind it though. It was to be expected.

"Love? Ha. No. I was only 13. But I did like him a lot. He made me feel special. The sad thing is, I don't even remember his name. After my parents died, I retreated away for a while. I didn't swim, I didn't talk, I didn't' do anything. But when they threatened to take Serah away from me, I made up my mind right then, not to allow that to happen. I guess that's when I started to focus on getting stronger. I felt like I was too weak to protect her from anyone."

"I don't think you were weak. You were just scared. I don't know if I 've ever told you this but I was discharged from Psicom years ago."

"No, you never told me you were in Psicom. What did you do?"

"During the conflict years on Cocoon, I was captain of a squadron. We were closing in on an enemy who was transporting a prototype weapon. One that could potentially end the war. We had orders to destroy the target but was told to abort at the last minute. I was the only one to receive the message and instead of following orders, I commanded the squad to engage. I figured that we could take it down. I'd come up with some story to cover our ass and we'd become heroes. Live out my dream I thought. I was reckless and overconfident. Cost the lives of all of my squad. I was only one to survive. Life went to shit after that. Until I met Arella. She was the one who showed me what living was all about."

"I find it hard to believe you were so reckless and stupid."

"Well I was. But look at us now. We're still here living our lives. I think that all living really is. Going through the good and bad and still making something out of it at the end of the day."

"Perhaps you're right. I've been feeling many things over the last few months." Lightning agreed. She didn't want to divulge too much information about her feeling of attraction toward him. Not until she sorted them out and figured out what she wanted to do about them. It wasn't like it was a purely physical attraction either. She just enjoyed his company and he definitely wasn't hard on the eyes.

"Same here. You know what? I heard that they're opening up a night club in town in a couple of days. The first club on Pulse. Well probably not the first… I'm sure the original Pulisians knew how to get down . You should go out for a night and enjoy yourself."

"Sazh, you know me better than that. I don't get down." Lightning issued back.

"Keep telling yourself that. It'll be something different."

"Indeed it would. But I was trained to dance professionally. I wouldn't know what to do in a casual night club scene."

"Great. Cause opening night is a black tie event.. You can tell Serah and Snow about it too." Lightning looked at him and stared. He wasn't really serious about this was he?

"Are you going?"

"I was thinking about it."

"Are you going with anyone else?" Lightning asked. The skip in her chest didn't help matters any. But she wanted to know if he was just telling her about it or asking her to go with him.

"I was going to ask Yasmina, the lady at the grocery stand but she's playing hard to get."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"You don't have to. Old man Sazh can wear a suit rather there's a beautiful lady beside him or not." He said with a chuckle.

"Good to know you won't have to." Lightning told him in a reply. Sazh wasn't expecting that.

"Huh?

"That's a yes you dolt." At that Sazh smiled making Lightning smile back in kind. Apparently Sazh felt he was staring a bit too long because he focused his attentions elsewhere. Lightning could feel it as well. Regaining his composure Sazh slowly stretched his arms.

"I must say, this is a strange turn of events. Believe me when I say that I had no intentions of asking you for a night out. It just popped in there. I guess it's a date then, if you're okay with that. Or just two friends going out. Don't have to call it a date."

"You don't have to apologize. Maybe stepping outside of my current comfort zone every once in a while is what I need. I might just learn something else about myself. Besides, I've never been on a date before."

"Are you serious Soldier Girl?"

"Yes."

"Oh, I'm definitely taking you now. That's a shame Claire."

"I'm going to let that slide today." Lightning said as she reached for her gunblade and stood up.

"Thanks. I think. And can we walk back? There's a good chance I'm going to pass out." Sazh told her as he looked up to see her walking ahead. Lightning said nothing and started to jog. Sazh groaned behind her.

Lightning didn't attempt to hide the smile on her face as she continued forward. She was feeling pretty good about things. She enjoyed Sazh's conversation as always and despite her conflicting emotions, was becoming more and more sure of herself. She hadn't danced in years and she had never been on a date. Of course this was a challenge for her because she had no social skills but as long as she had Sazh along to help her through, Lightning figured there was a chance she might enjoy herself. She could feel more and more of her younger self shining through her each day and she was all the more happier for it. Maybe Sazh was right. By looking back at who she used to be, maybe she could find out you she wanted to be in the future. She was up for the challenge. Serah would definitely be proud of her once she spoke with her.

Today was definitely shaping up to be a good day.

Author's Note: Okay. This chapter is probably a turning point in the story. Besides the obvious reference to the battle system of FFXIII I chose the title of the chapter Paradigm Shift because it's a shift in Lightning's approach to life in general. Ever since she took on her name, her approach has been about being strong and protecting Serah and disregarding everything about her former self she considered weak. She's been gradually reevaluating that approach and it has allowed her to see that it's not just fighting battles that makes one strong but their ability to overcome. And embrace their mistakes. Of course, this is Lightning we're talking about so there's still some walls to break down but her admitting her feelings is something big. At first, I was afraid this was going into OOC territory but then again, this is an evolution of her character and she's not the same person she was at the end of FFXIII. She's had a chance to reflect and think about her own future rather than Serah's or Cocoon's. So going forwards, she's going to evolve further which to me is what makes a genuine romance between her and Sazh possible. To those who have stuck with this story. Thank you. Your support and kind words are greatly appreciated. Would love to hear what you guys think of it so far. Is it still worth your time to invest in this story or should I get a new hobby lol? Until next time, Hell Yeah.