Hello to everybody! I made this update pretty quickly, I guess. I had inspiration and time, so I used them. XD Today, we'll have a lot of Lightis and we're skipping Cloud's problems to see what's going on with Squall and Aeris. As for the bomb in last chapter (I mean, the Noctis' kid revelation) well, it was to catch everybody's attention. It worked, I'm happy. It won't be explained before the second or the third episode of the fic, but I had to place it for further event. I must say it isn't Noctis and Lightning's kid, it's only Noctis' and someone else, but Noctis really doesn't know about it and it isn't because he's a frivolous ladies man. I'll tell you more later over this! I hope you'll have a nice time reading.
Episode I – Soldiers and spies – Part X
Date: 19 027 A.D. December 8th
Location: Planet Earth, around the Atlas, Africa, post-wedding airship
Mission: Getting intel on Seymour Baldin, a mafia's baron who've never been caught up in anything before. Still known only as a drill instructor and trainer for the army, he's a harsh and independent man.
Agents chosen for the mission: Agent Lightning. Agent Raven. Agent Stella.
Warning to the superiors: Agent Stella isn't making contact with the agents in place over the possible leak. S.T.O.R.M is still with her and she had to stabilize his state. Still waiting for report over that.
Message from G.I. six. End of transmission.
…
Lightning and Noctis parted with Seymour and Rikku with a smile, after spending most of the day together. They had gone and watch a movie together, they had been to the pool for the whole afternoon and as they waved goodbye, Light felt strange, feeling Noctis' left arm still wrapped around her waist. They had played the perfect couple for all day long and it had never felt as a pretend. Every kiss and every smile were true to what she felt. She was sure what she was feeling anymore. At first, they both had tried to keep the mission first, but they decided they could take a break and have fun for real. They didn't have to consult each other, it was like a silent understanding. And as he kept the door to their room open for her and she dragged him in with her, everything felt right. They were married, at least, on paper…
They laughed, a bit nervous as the door closed behind them. Had they been fooling themselves out there or had it really been real?
"We had a nice day today, don't you think?" she asked him.
"We did. Though I can't tell if it was as nice for Seymour and Rikku. She looked different after your girl talk."
"Well, she did most of the talking and she confided to me over impressions she had on her husband. You remember, they've told us they'd met only six months ago. It was a quick decision they made, getting married after so little time. And he had a wife before, so I don't really know what a little girl as Rikku could be thinking…"
Noctis and Lightning tried to put some distance between them as they kept talking. He sat on a chair and started removing his boots while she dropped herself on the bed, wondering about how it would have feel like for her, getting married as such a young age. With a mafia criminal. She felt protective over Rikku, because the girl remembered her of Serah. Maybe was it because they had spend a whole day together, maybe was it because she hadn't seen her sister in months.
"She thinks that he's ashamed of her in public. She tries to be happy, to make him happy, but he doesn't like the attention they get from everyone around. She looked so depressed. So eager to be acknowledged by him as his wife."
Lightning sighed as she stared at the creamy white ceiling. The blue sheets of the bed were getting warm under her, as she felt her heart sinking in her chest.
"She loves him and she want to tell the whole world about it. But he doesn't feel the same way. If he does love her."
Noctis understood that Lightning was really sad about this. He had tried to be as attentive as he could all day long, but he was more cautious of Seymour's doing. He had observed many things that could change their mission and turned into prove. But he had forgotten one important thing. Rikku could be the clue in finding proves to accuse Seymour. At the same time, he wanted to forget the innocent girl. Because she sure looked innocent and sweet and that her heart would be broken if she were to learn her beloved husband was a crime's baron. He didn't want to cause something like that, but sometimes it was part of his work.
"I think he really does. He's just not the exhibition type for his feeling. He prefers to show off his skills and muscle than his heart."
"Like most guys."
"Hey! Don't say it as if it was bad. Or as if I was the kind of guy!"
She giggled at his reaction, which let him quite surprised. She laughed sometimes, but never like that.
"Why do you always react when I comment guys in general, as if I was attacking you? You weren't like that before."
"We're not before. And I'm a little on edge lately." he gently replied.
There were no bitter tone or words and Lightning realized Noctis was decided not to fight with her anymore. He was just warning her of his state of mind so that she wouldn't go and push his limits.
"Alright. I'll be careful of what I'll say of guys in general. How about you? What do we got on Seymour?"
"Well, except that antlion project referring to a ship launching in space somewhere, we don't have much. He's a training freak in the army and in his personal life. And he's a better swimmer than me, or so it seems."
Lightning laughed as she remembered how Rikku had gotten the two men in a terrible race in the pole. Noctis should have forfeited this one. He was a good swimmer, usually, but he had almost drowned while the guado was already on the other side of the pool. Actually, it was partly because Rikku had grabbed his leg and got Lightning to help her holding him back. Normally, Noctis would have slipped out of their grasp easily, but not this time. He was still weakened by his morning training and the wounds he had gotten from his famous explosion.
"You're not still mad about that, are you?" she asked, raising herself on one elbow to look at him better.
"No, I just wanted to hear you laugh another time."
She blinked and he gave her one of his warm smile, making her melt down inside.
They stared at each other for a long moment. She had so many questions in her mind. And maybe he would have answered her as she wanted if she dared to ask. But things were going to smoothly suddenly. It scared both of them. Where they still faking?
No, they both thought to themselves. And the word resounded in their head, as their eyes had shared it to make sure they wouldn't be worried about this question anymore. There was no faking anymore. They were friends. Close friends, because of everything that had been between them before. Really close friends. He broke the eye contact between them, to stretch his arms over his head and yawned deeply.
"Are we sleepy?"
"What about you?"
She nodded.
"We could try to fall asleep before that our neighborhood gets too feisty." she suggested, pointing the ceiling.
"Yes, maybe we should." he smirked.
"I'll get changed then."
Lightning swiftly got up and headed for her luggage. Last night, she was wearing a pair of shorts and a big t-shirt, but she seemed to have something else in her mind. And as Noctis understood she wasn't going to change in the bathroom, he felt his curiosity growing. It wasn't as if seeing her undressing herself was anything new. He had seen her naked a lot of times, to say the least. And she had been in a bikini for half of the day after all. It had been kinda hard to concentrate solely on Seymour at some point during the afternoon, but now, it felt more intimate.
He thought it was maybe a test and looked the other way, while removing his shirt and going to look in his own luggage for comfortable pants. It was an awkward moment, getting changed each on one side of the room, listening to the clothing being folded and shifted. Lightning wasn't really sure herself of what she was doing. She liked to be with Noctis, this was an undeniable fact. She liked to see him being so shy about her when they were alone. They knew each other so well, but after all this time, after all the bad things she had said, they were somewhat like strangers. Not entirely. But still, in a certain way, they were strangers. The moment turned even more awkward when they looked over their shoulders to meet the other's gaze and exchanged a shy smile.
"Hey, I've got ourselves something this morning while you were training, in case the couple above us gets too… noisy again." she said, choosing her words carefully.
"Buildup of wax for our ears?"
"No, I don't think they sell that. Come here," she said, sitting on their bed and pushing down the sheets.
Noctis wasn't really sure of this, but after all, she had been talking of being only friends for some times and this was bound to stay this way for a while, even if he wanted things to evolve as fast as possible. He sat next to her and she took the "something" from under her pillow. It was a nano music player. And two pairs of earphones were connected to it. He chuckled as he understood.
"If we listen to the music loudly enough, we won't hear them and we'll be able to keep on doing our mission without any other awkward moment like yesterday night. "
"You really are brilliant."
Just as he said that, they could hear a cringing noise from above their heads, soon followed by groans and panting.
"He sure doesn't lose any time." Lightning observed, looking a bit discouraged.
"Let's test this music player." Noctis simply replied.
With the earphones in their ears, they lied down, while Lightning was putting the music on. The first song was classic music, but as she raised the volume, they could erase the background noises and they both sighed from relief. It would be way easier to spend their night falling asleep to music instead of… bearing with the poor soundproof of the ceiling and walls.
"Is it the radio?" he asked her.
She red it on his lips and nodded. She quickly changed of channels until she found some music she liked. For some time, they dozed off with a few rock songs in the background. Then, after half an hour, Noctis grabbed the music player and chose another channel. Lightning frowned at first, but the music was nice. She couldn't get all the words all the time, it wasn't always English songs.
"It tells me something. What language is it?"
"French."
In his far away colony, it was the first spoken language, especially his mother's tongue. Noctis barely ever spoke in it anymore, it had been lost in almost every regions of Earth and most people talked English, when it wasn't Mandarin, but he still understood it.
"I see."
"If you mind, we can get back to rock songs."
"No. These ones are better to fall asleep."
"You mean they're boring."
"No, they're relaxing."
Noctis rolled on his back, looking at the ceiling. It was weird listening to songs and looking at each other. He had to concentrate to get the words coming to his ears. It had been so long since the last time he had heard French being spoken or sang. He missed it. Two years without any music. Two years that had slipped in his hands and his mind, without him even feeling it. He wanted to escape his thoughts in the music, in the meaning of the words that were buried so far in his memory. Lightning moved to get closer to him. He turned his head to look at her. She looked concerned. And she was, about him.
"I'm fine." he told her.
They could hear each other talking over the music, because they were really close. And they were reading on each other lips when the music's sound was too strong. They didn't want to hear the couple above them. To be reminded of what they could be sharing and couldn't just because of the past that had linked them before to break them apart.
"You look really far from here." she observed.
"Maybe I am. But I'm still glad to be here."
She blushed, since she could tell just by the way he was looking at her, he was happy being here because of her presence. She had missed hearing such sweet things. Cloud and Squall were both nice and pretty understanding, but they never felt the need to tell her things like that. They were strong and independent. They opened up before up, a bit, because she was a sister and a friend. But they never showed more than they should. Noctis could be hiding as much as he accepted to let out, but he was honest most of the time. All that he kept for himself was what truly hurt.
He hugged her and she turned around in his arms, to have her back pressed against his chest and feel his breathing on her neck and shoulder. She was wearing a light nightgown tonight. The fabric was soft against Noctis' naked torso. And he knew why she was turning her back to him. She wasn't going to provoke him. But as he held her, she put her hands over his arms, to keep them in place. So that he don't let go anytime soon. A new song started in the music player. She brought the cover over them as they shifted a little, so that their body would feel as comfortable as possible in this gentle hug. It felt as if he was all around her. And they both liked the feeling.
The song that had started sounded sad and touching, though Lightning couldn't understand any words. She knew many languages, but she had never learned French. Noctis held her a little tighter.
"You get the words, don't you?"
"Of course. It was one of my mom's favorite songs." he replied, and she could feel his voice vibrating through his chest into her.
Les parois de ma vie sont lisses,
je m'y accroche, mais je glisse
lentement, vers ma destinée…
mourir d'aimer
"It looks sad."
"It is."
She took back the music player and rewound the song, since the radio had become quite better since the past centuries.
"Would you translate it for me?"
"What?"
"How about it? It's not fair that I can understand it because it's in French."
"I don't sing very well."
"I don't mind."
She could guess he was smiling now. She let the song start and Noctis leaned his head over her shoulder, to whisper the lyrics in her ears. And his voice grew slowly, echoing through his chest, sounding bigger, stronger. Lightning closed her eyes.
Les parois de ma vie sont lisses,
je m'y accroche, mais je glisse
"Walls of my life are straight lines
I try to grab on, but I fall down"
lentement, vers ma destinée…
mourir d'aimer
"…slowly, to my destiny,
dying from love"
tandis que le monde me juge,
je ne vois pour moi qu'un refuge
"As everyone judges me
I can see one sole shelter for me"
tout issu m'étant condamné,
mourir d'aimer,
mourir d'aimer
"Every ways out are condemned
to die from love…"
And as she could guess now, she sang with him the second: "to die from love".
Somehow, as he continued to sing and translate the lyrics to her, Lightning felt that this song sounded like their story. They had been condemned in that mission that had almost killed both of them, two years ago. And lately, the folly taking over her, the fear paralyzing her when she should be fighting, wasn't it some kind of death?
de plein gré, s'enfoncer dans la nuit
payer l'amour au prix de sa vie
pêcher contre le corps mais non contre l'esprit
"by my will, diving into the night
paying love at the price of one's life
to sin against the flesh, but not your mind"
"Why does he say that?"
"His body dies, but not his spirit."
laissons le monde à ses problèmes
les gens haineux face à eux-mêmes
avec leurs petites idées
"let's leave the world with his problems
hateful people with themselves
and their petty ideals"
mourir d'aimer
And once more, she sang with him : "dying from love". They both shivered.
puisque notre amour ne peut vivre
mieux vaut en refermer le livre
et plutôt que de le brûler
"since our love can't live
it's best to shut its book
and instead of burning it…"
She removed one of her earphone, to listen to Noctis with more attention. She didn't like that part. Since our love can't live. It felt as a prediction for their future. One of her choice, since she wanted to be only friend with Noctis. But it wasn't entirely right.
mourir d'aimer,
"to die from love"
mourir d'aimer
"Dying from love" they sang together.
comme on donne par n'importe quoi
abandonné tout derrière soi
pour n'emporter que ce qui fut, qui fut de toi
"as we give for nothing in return
abandoning everything behind
so that I take only what's left… what's left of you"
Lightning felt even more concerned about the song. Maybe because it was Noctis singing it softly in her ears. Because there wasn't much left of her two days ago, when she was still apart from him, thinking he was maybe dead somewhere in space.
tu es le printemps, moi l'automne
ton cœur se prend, le mien se donne
"you are the spring, I'm the autumn
your heart is to be taken, mine is to be given"
This was right too and she shivered between his arms. Was this the true meaning of the words? Was he inventing something to make her feel like this? No, he wouldn't. His voice wouldn't be so shaken by the words.
et ma route est déjà tracée
"and my road is already marked"
For a moment, she was scared that this road would part from hers somewhere. But she was forgetting that Noctis was just translating.
mourir d'aimer
They sang together the last words, not minding if they were repeating it for the nth time.
"To die from love…"
They felt a little closer after listening to it all along.
"Your mom loved that song?"
"She loved everything that was sad. And she thought it wasn't that sad. It takes courage to die from love. Or so she used to say."
It was a touchy subject and she knew it.
"Thanks for singing it to me."
"It was surely torture. I had trouble finding the right words and…"
"I love it when you sing. It reminds me of my dad." she said without thinking.
If he had been anyone else, she would have taken it back, but she simply blushed and he slightly smiled.
"Well, I don't know many songs. And Aznavour doesn't really sing, though he was recognized through the world for his songs, even centuries after his death."
"How should I know? I don't listen to music that much and to French music even less."
"I know."
They remained silent for a moment. She had shut down the music player. There was no more noise above or around them. They removed the earphones and simply snuggled against each other. There was still a lot of pain inside of both of them. And the song had awakened it a little. At the same time, it felt easier to be together after sharing this moment. Time passed by slowly. They were thinking of the song, of them, of the past and of the near future.
"Do you think people can really die from love?"
There was a long pause as Noctis thought over Lightning's question.
"I think they won't die openly nowadays, if you see what I mean. They would die from the inside. Living their life while not being really alive."
She shivered. It remembered her of Squall's accident in which he almost got himself killed. Because he didn't care…
"Today, I felt really alive, for the first time in a long time." he told her.
If she'd known he'd been in a coma for two years, she would have understood differently. But as she felt his lips brushing against her neck and the butterfly kiss he let on her ear, she shivered. Had he been dead inside? As she had been since she had lose her baby? Would she ever get over it? Right now, he seemed to have forgotten everything. They were together. He was holding her. Kissing her gently. And she let him. As long as he didn't try anything more, as long as his hands remained still, she would be able to stand it. It was comforting. They were a couple of friends. They were married, only for a few days, but they still were. And for the time being, she didn't want to close herself and not to feel anything. She needed to feel. Not too much, but enough to feel alive.
"Noctis?"
"Yeah?"
"Hmmm… Goodnight."
"Yeah, sweet dreams, Light."
She smiled as she closed her eyes for the last time this day. And they both fell asleep, snuggled one against the other.
…
Date: 19 027 A.D. December 15th mid day
Location: Planet Earth, Boston Central Hospital
Mission: None
Agent: Squall
End of transmission.
…
It had been two weeks now since Squall was in the hospital. He was getting better, finally. Aeris was looking after him a lot and they had got to know each other, though the young man was still pretty close over himself and secretive. He always liked to wake up with Aeris standing or sitting next to his bed. He felt bad for putting her in this situation. It was certainly pretty boring to go on, looking some stranger sleeping all day long. He had gotten up by himself a few times, when nobody was there to keep an eye on him. His bruises and burns were finally healing. He had overcome the radiations effects and his body wasn't decaying anymore.
Actually, it was only a matter of time till he would get out of this hospital. Rinoa hadn't come back to meet him and Lightning had called him twice. She was getting along with Noctis. The way she talked about him, she sounded a bit unsure but pretty happy with how things were. If she was faking it on the phone, she was good, because Squall could have sworn she was happier than she had ever been since months. She sounded like the Lightning he used to know. And he was glad about that too. It meant she was finally healing.
This morning, as he woke up, Squall saw Aeris loosen braid on the sheets of his bed, before to let his eyes travel up to her sleeping face… She had fallen asleep, half sitting in her chair, half lying on the mat of his bed. That mustn't be too comfortable, but lately, she was getting really reluctant to leave him alone, even to go get some sleep herself. He felt a little guilty for it, but he liked the attention. They still didn't know very much over each other. She was an ancient, but Squall wasn't sure of what it truly meant. He knew that Jenova, the calamity, was an ancient. But just looking at Aeris told him how different she was from Jenova…
He shifted slowly, not to wake her up and picked her off her chair, to set her in a more comfortable position on his bed. As he touched her arm and their skin met, he suddenly felt images invading his mind and a screeching sound resounded in his head.
"Get away!" he heard.
He removed his hands, but the voice echoed in his skull. He blinked, trying to understand what was going on. It was a woman voice talking in his mind. It wasn't Aeris'. The said girl was suddenly glowing and her quiet face changed, contorting with pain.
"Get away from them, Aeris!" the voice yelled.
"Squall," she called for help.
His head was throbbing, now, it was hard to keep his eyes open. His breathing was uneasy. He felt his bruises burning him under his clothes. His body was getting heavy. The voice was yelling inside of him. He couldn't hear anything else, not even his heartbeat, which had turned erratic. This was getting kinda creepy. Was it the ancient powers of Aeris awakening? Was it because of the radiations he had exposed to? The doctors had said he could feel some changes in him after his recovery, but like this? Had he mutated into something? Was he turning crazy? The voice reminded him of Rinoa's.
"Get out of my head." he asked.
"They're going to kill her. Run Aeris, run!" Another voice joined the first one.
Run, run, run! Squall wanted to run as they say, but he couldn't understand why they were addressing their plea to Aeris. Was this one of her memory? Why was he hearing it? He had to stop this phenomenon, quick. But the noise and the voices were stronger than his will and he collapsed next to Aeris, forced into the pictures flashing under his eyes, forced into the noise and the commotion that had caused it. He loose contact. And the voices kept yelling at him, telling him to run. And he was running. With all his strength, he was.
"Squall!" Aeris called him.
He stopped abruptly, the ground under his feet feeling hot and unsteady. He realized that he wasn't wearing any shoe or sock. He felt naked under the wind that blew around him. The voices were calling his name. His eyes looked everywhere they could, searching for the people to whom belonged those voices. His heart was beating fast. He tried to tell himself this was a dream, but it felt so different from a simple dream. The blue sky above his head had nothing to do with Boston's Earth's sky. As far as he could see, he was surrounded by a cracking and desert soil. Only earth and sky, as far as the eyes could go. He felt dizzy as he turned around another time. He spotted a tree behind him and rushed to it, even if it was a dead and withered tree. He was panicking inside. His face was showing it, he was sure. There was nobody to see it but he felt as million of eyes were staring at him from above and underground.
The feeling was somewhat… mystic. His breaths were uneven, and as he looked around him, he could see other things farther, so far, each time that he closed his eyelids. He tried to focus on something, like the tree, but he still saw Aeris in the back of his mind. Aeris running and being chased by a gang of men. She was only a little girl at this time and her naked feet were hitting the cold ground softly as she ran for her life. He wanted to help her, to jump between her and her hunters. But he couldn't. He was stuck in this no man's land, next to that dead tree. He saw a younger Aeris, laughing and smiling with her parents. As they put her to sleep, he heard with her their worried discussion over her compromised future. Because she was an Ancient.
"She'll never be able to get friend with anyone. She has too much knowledge. She doesn't control her powers and they will fade on the people she'll meet. Every time I touch her, I can hear the cries of our planet." her mother whispered.
Aeris had no idea of it at that time. She was just an innocent little girl. She had terrible nightmares at night, of a planet being destroyed by evil people she couldn't see. She was scared of fire and magic, because she knew only their destructive power. She liked to play with the birds out the house, but her father always told her not to go out, because she could get lost. In fact, it was because he was afraid someone would notice her and try to use her incredible powers. She knew everything that had happened, from the beginning of the time. And this knowledge could serve to destroy all that ever was created. She had no conscience over it, she could barely remember her terrible dreams of the past of all pasts, but it was still printed in her brain and genes. Jenova had used her own capabilities of Ancient to destroy and conquer. And the Ancients had been hunted down, so that none of them could ever survive to one day become the ruler of the universe. Because, they had that power too.
"I can't stand not to take her by the hand just because I'm scared to see the past. It's too hard and she's noticing it, even if she pretends she's not. When she sleeps, it's even worse. If I stroke her head, I'll hear people talking in my head."
"It's not her fault; Aeris is one of the purest Ancient still alive in this universe. Her powers want to express themselves. Ancients' first resolve had been to share their knowledge to warn the people around them of the calamities that could occur if they repeated the mistakes of the past."
"I know, but… We can't keep her living like this forever…"
The clear vision faded with Aeris' tears. She didn't understood at that time, but Squall was a bit reassured, at least to learn that he wasn't going mad and just being enveloped by one of Aeris' ancient's transmitting visions. He couldn't try to understand or analyze what was going on or what he was learning. He just had to bear with things and wait till it stopped.
Another vision came, and he had to lean on the tree next to him as a violent cry hit his ears, almost making him loose his balance.
The house was on fire. Aeris was running and crying. Her parents were yelling her to run. She wanted to run back to them. But there were people all around the place, guys dressed in black and blue uniforms. They had special devices attached to their belts, looking like a mask and gauntlets covered with chains. They had no face in this vision, only a wide smile floating over their neck. It was a nightmare, Squall was quite sure of it. But part of it was the truth too.
Aeris was running fast enough as a little girl. The mask was closed over her face, blocking the light and locking her in the dark. The gauntlets were tied on her hands, and her hands were tied behind her back, as the men hands were searching and pinching her. She couldn't understand what was going on. She was crying, but the mask was so tight, she couldn't feel her tears rolling down on her cheeks. Her parents' yells of agony could be heard in the background. It was so unfair. Her heart was breaking inside. It was too hot under that mask, she was suffocating. She was raised in the air. Squall could see the guys carrying her on their shoulders, as a potatoes bag.
The vision faded. The voices remained for a moment. And at some point, Aeris' voice crushed all the others, till she was the only one talking. She said only one word.
"Squall!"
He tried to find her, but the sun was bright in the deserted land, almost blinding him as he looked around once more. The wind was blowing right through him. He felt empty. Stupid. His breathing was slowing down, but he was still on edge. Why had he to go through that?
"Squall? Are you alright? Squall, wake up!"
She slapped him in the face, which got him to awake entirely from the desert vision. She was kneeling on the mat, her head hanging above his, looking pretty worried and mad too. He was breathless as he realized he was back to his real body, in the real world. It felt a little better, since he was in control. But his cheek was burning from the slap she'd given him and he was astonished. She was mad?
"What did you see?"
"I… Aeris, what's going on?"
"Tell me what you saw!" she ordered him.
She looked panicked under her anger and it reassured him a bit. It was still the girl that he knew. He chose to be honest.
"I saw parts of your past. And people talking about Ancients and their powers. And I was in a deserted place for a moment. I didn't mean to…"
"You touched me when I was sleeping, didn't you?"
She backed away a little and he sat up. Squall didn't like the way her question sounded. It felt as if he had tried something terrible.
"I just grabbed your arm." he replied.
There was no denying it, if the discussion he had heard or seen or imagine between the two people he thought that were her parents, then, she already knew that when people touched her skin to skin while she was sleeping, she was sending visions in their mind.
"And why were you grabbing my arm?"
"Well, you weren't comfortable, sleeping like that. I tried to install you in a better position. I wasn't going to…" His voice turned uncertain and he wasn't able to look at her in the eyes anymore.
She blushed, realizing what he thought she was thinking.
"I'm not accusing you of anything Squall, I just… It's the first time since a long time that my power reacted to someone like that. I was got off guard."
"I'm sorry."
She knew that he wasn't saying those words often and felt really touched that he cared enough about her opinion to apologize, when it wasn't even his fault in the first place.
"What did you see exactly?"
He could understand why she would ask him to tell her precisely what had been under his eyes. It was partly her life that had been going on in those visions. It wasn't really fair to have your past throwing itself in people's mind. He tried to chose the right words to summarize what he had seen without hurting her. He certainly didn't need another crying woman now.
"I saw your parents talking about your powers as an ancient. The house burning and the guards taking you away… The rest were only voices and the desert."
She sighed with relief.
"So… No silver haired man?"
"Huh… no. Should there have been one?"
She quickly shook her head, realizing her mistake. As she looked up at him, she observed he was smiling lightly.
"What is it?"
"Nothing. I just thought it was funny that it's the first this happened. You've been taking care of me for two weeks and when I tried to rescue you…"
"Well, it only happens when I'm sleeping and if someone else's skin get in contact with mine. And any normal human would never be able to awaken my powers just with that." she replied, turning a little red in the face.
His smile faded at her last comment.
"Any normal human?"
"It's nothing to be worried about Squall. You're still human, it's just the radiations' effects. It seems you're more perceptive than before."
He still didn't like that. His eyes were turning cold.
"How do you know it?"
His voice was so rough she backed away to the edge of the bed.
"I… Only someone aware of spiritual energies and life forms can awaken my ancient powers."
"Spiritual? You mean like… ghosts?"
She shook her head. His voice was quiet but he looked kinda scared now.
"I mean like magic."
Squall didn't know what to think anymore as he stared at her. She tried to smile, to get him to smile in response. He was a bit shocked by what she had said. So he had mutated? His senses could perceive spiritual things? Magic? It made no sense!
"It's not something bad, Squall."
"But I can't control It." he retorted, looking down at his hands.
She took his big fingers in her small hands and he jumped a little at the touch, as if another vision was going to absorb him. But there was nothing this time.
"In time, you'll learn how to. It's not really dangerous. And maybe that I can help you getting use to it."
Their eyes met. And as he gazed in her emerald eyes, Squall remembered the little girl being pushed around and treated as dirt by those guards before the burning house. He had wanted to protect her from the first day they'd met. And the feeling was even stronger in his heart now. He wasn't going to push her away. He wouldn't let her in too deep either. But he felt that he could trust her. And she felt the same way. They both smiled. And then, Squall's stomach let out a terrible groan.
Their smiles broke into laughter.
To be continued.
So here it is, chapter 10 is complete.
I highly recommend you to listen to the Mourir d'aimer song, from Charles Aznavour, at least to get an idea of what the beat of the song was like. This isn't a publicity or anything, I don't like of support Aznavour, he was famous enough not to need more fan, but I liked this song a lot and thought that it fitted with Noctis and Lightning. I hope that you didn't mind the inclusion of a few French words in the fic. This shouldn't happen often. Hope you liked this chapter and please review!