It was almost lunch time when General Sephiroth Crescent knocked on the wooden front door of the Farron´s beach house.

He had come to talk to Lightning of course. And no... He so didn´t know what he was going to say.

Fate granted him a little more time to come up with something it seemed as it wasn´t the woman he´d been looking forward to seeing who opened the door, but her younger sister who appeared in the doorway instead.

'Is she here?' he asked, not much in the mood for wasting time with courtesies.

'Uh... No?' Serah replied very carefully, looking more than just surprised to see him.

He had a feeling she hadn´t answered him truthfully.

There was something in the Farron sisters´ eyes, that told you exactly when they were lying. Well... If you knew what you were looking for, that was.

'Please... I need to talk to her. It´s important.' he urged, elbowing his way inside without waiting for an invitation just to be greeted by the scent of roast beef sizzling in the oven.

Serah only gave one of those frustrated sighs he knew so well coming from her sister.

'She´s up in her room. Still asleep, I presume.' She said in a small voice.

'Still asleep?! It´s past 11 am!' the first class stated in bewilderment.

It was enough, he decided as he simply made past Serah and up the stairs to Lightning´s room.

The Lightning he knew never could have slept past 11 a.m. Not in a hundred years.

Something was off with her and he had to find out what.

'Hey! No! You can´t just... She´ll kill me for letting you in!' the girl´s protests followed him up he stairs.

General Sephiroth Crescent found he simply didn´t care.

The pink haired first class was probably going to kill him first.

There were the warm rays of the early midday sun caressing the soft skin of Claire Farron´s face, the distant sound of waves coming through the open window and the warmth of her cozy blanket and it was softly that she stirred in her sleep as finally she woke up to open her eyes to a pair of mako green ones staring at her intently.

Jolting up into a sitting position in an instant, she gave a small shocked yelp. Her eyes going huge with shock it was panickingly that she tried to pull up the covers to hide her naked body, was almost frantically that she made to scramble away from the intruder until she hit the headpiece of her bed with a painful thump.

She hadn´t even thought to put on her nightgown last night.

Shit!

'What the -' she panted once she managed to take in the situation.

There he was. General asshole. Sitting on her bed right next to her, staring holes into her head.

'Why are you running away from me?' the silver haired man inquired instantly.

'I... I´m not... What are you talking about?' the pink haired female sat there fumbling for words, still trying to determine whether this was real or she was in fact still asleep.

Dreaming.

'What happened last night...' the silver haired first class prompted.

Well... If this was a dream it was a fucking nightmare.

She only gave him a frustrated sigh.

'Why are you stalking me?!' the general demanded. And it made her look up into his eyes again.

Those beautifully slightly slitted mako green eyes.

'I´m... I´m not stalking you...' Claire Farron stammered.

It was a lie. Of course she had been stalking him. Or rather them.

And he knew that as well as she did.

'What?! You think I´m stupid or something?!' the silver haired man barked.

Claire Farron only averted her eyes in embarassement. Her gaze trailing to her bedside table and her clock, she realized it was 11:30 already.

'Shit it´s that late already?!' she cursed as she made to get up from the bed, draping the duvet around herself as she went to shield her body from the general´s curious glances.

'Don´t change the subject!' the tall man warned.

She only gave him an exasperated stare.

'I´m late for work!' she reasoned walking over to the closet to pull out some of her clothes.

'It´s Saturday.' Sephiroth pointed out.

'I promised Zack and Cloud to scout the woods with them today!' she quickly made to explain.

The silver haired first class, he only narrowed his eyes at her.

'Consider yourself suspended.' he said coolly.

'WHAT?! WHY?!'

He only gave one of his killer stares in return.

'Fine.' Lightning finally spat as turning away from him, she made to shed the duvet in exchange for some clothes.

The general didn´t move an inch.

'Would you mind leaving the room while I dress?' she snapped at him aggressively.

'Nothing I haven´t seen before.' the general contered, raising one of his silver brows at her.

AGH! That bastard! She screamed inside her head as she tossed one of her bras at him.

He dodged the lacy thing easily and gave her one of his mocking smirks.

Really?!

'Fine... Would you at least stop staring at me, please?' she finally said somewhat pleadingly.

It seemed to do the trick.

'Fine...'

The silver haired nuisance finally getting up from the bed, she watched her favourite first class turn away and make to stare out of the window and down to the beach below.

Seizing the opportunity she quickly dropped the duvet to the ground and hurried to put on her clothes, wrestling her sore swollen breasts into one of her already a few sizes too tight bras.

Ugh... She really needed to get herself new clothes. And soon.

And yes... She needed to set things straight, she thought as turning back to the room her eyes wandered to the silver haired man next to the window, her hand subconsciously wandering to her mommy belly.

It was still far too small to draw any attention yet.

Just a little bit fuller, just a little bit firmer, just a little bit more round.

Still, it would not stay like this forever.

Oh, Sephiroth...

Why was he even here?

'I´m... I´m done.' She said somewhat carefully, waiting for the First Class to turn back to face her.

'Good.'

Mako green killer eyes bored into her´s once more.

'Now would you kindly explain this to me, please?!'

'Explain what?!' she almost yelled, as throwing him one last dangerous look, she took her bag and hurried out of the room and over to the bathroom on the other side of the landing.

Sephiroth wasn´t sure she even heard the angry growl he sent her way when she threw the door shut in front of his face.

'Lightning please. Stop this. It´s ridiculous!' he tried to reason with her through five centimeters of heavy wood.

'Go away!' the woman inside cried. Then there was the unmistakable sound of something heavy smashing to the ground.

'No! I´ll stay right where I am! And I´m not going to leave until you come out again!' the general argued stubbornly.

Fuck, she could be troublesome sometimes.

Maybe Fang was right and that was what he loved about her so much.

'Come on.. Let me in...' he said a little later in a considerably softer voice this time.

He was done fighting with her.

He had come to end this ridiculous bullshit once and forever.

The woman who had vanished behind the bathroom door didn´t answer though, didn't give him any kind of lifesign.

'Oh, come on! Don´t do this to me! We´re going to talk now!' he began, his voice rising in volume again.

'I´m just so fed up with it! This whole shit, this charade, this farce! I can´t take it anymore! Why all this secrecy, huh?! Why all those games?! What for?! Why can´t we talk about it like grown-ups?!'

There was no answer still, and it made the general both angry and also very sad.

Why was she treating him like this again?

She did have feelings for him. She definitely did. Why else would she be so bothered about Fang.

Then why was she doing all this?

What was it she wanted to hear from him exactly?!

Fang´s words from the last night echoed through his head again.

Maybe she needs more.

It was giving a defeated sigh that the silver haired first class let his body sink down to the wood paneled floor right next to the doorway, made to lean his back against the door.

'Listen, Lightning. I love you.' he began carefully. The words slightly stuck in his throat, it took him some effort to finally get them out.

'It is true... I never thought I´d ever feel that way for someone. Never. But still, I do. I am here and I love you. And all I wish for is for the two of us to get along again.'

'I... I just want you close to me... I need you...'

The bathroom was silent. And so was the hall.

'I know you´re feeling something for me too. I know it... I see it every time you look at me. Every time you look at Fang...'

Nothing.

'Why can´t you just give this a chance?'

Still, there was no answer.

'The way you followed me to check if what?! I´d go upstairs with her?!' He gave a small dry chuckle.

'Really... I´d never... You ought to know better than that!'

…

'I haven´t forgotten about that night in Palumpolum, or the night after Serah´s wedding. I couldn´t, even if I wanted to.'

...

'I don't want to continue like this. I can't continue like this. The two of us not talking. It's a fucking nightmare. I want the two of us to be together... I don´t want this to be a secret anymore.'

There was a pause where he carefully considered his next words, but they left his lips without censor anyway.

He simply couldn´t help it.

Maybe she neeeds more. Some kind of proove.

'Claire... I want you to marry me.'

There was only deadly silence.

'Lightning?'

Nothing.

'Please talk to me!'

There was no answer. Just the gentle rolling of the waves coming from outside the house.

'Come on... Don´t do this to me!' he whispered against the wooden surface of the door, feeling increasingly stupid by the second and abandoned. So terribly abandoned.

There was no sound whatsoever coming from inside the bathroom and it made his racing heart sink further still.

Getting back on his feet, feeling a little weak on his legs, General Sephiroth Crescent carefully tried the handle of the door.

It gave way with a tiny click.

She hadn´t even locked it.

Fuck. He should have tried that earlier.

'Lightning?'

Giving the door a tentative little push, it opened to an empty bathroom.

The curtains flapping on the open window, the woman he had just asked to become his wife, she was nowhere to be seen.

Damn...

The look on Serah and Snow´s faces when finally he made it down the stairs was priceless.

Surely they´d heard every single word he'd said. Fuck, he must have yelled loud enough for all of Bodhum to hear him.

Everyone but Lightning it seemed.

How much had she heard exactly?

'She... She came climbing down the rain gutter about ten minutes ago.' Serah informed somewhat shyly, her huge blue eyes threatening to pop out of her head any second.

'Sorry I disturbed your lunch.' the general said, as wasting no time with explaining, he made towards the exit.

Making down the street as fast as she could without her running, Claire Farron turned around to see her parents´ beach house become smaller and smaller.

Having escaped the bathroom through the open window just minutes ago she was waiting for the silver haired general to follow, to pick up with her any second, but no matter how often she checked behind her back he simply wouldn´t come.

And it was a good thing too. Had he come out of the house right then he´d have seen her hurrying down the street. And there weren´t exactly a lot of places for her to hide before she would reach the main street.

Maintaining her swift pace, the bulging backpack she had packed in fortunate foresight the night before, bouncing heavily on her shoulders, Lightning continued to the next bend, the one that would lead her down to the trees and away from Sephiroth's immediate range of view. The sea breeze hitting her face and tousling her pinkish locks, she checked over her shoulder one more time, to then vanish behind the thickets and hurry down the well trodden path she knew would take her to the beach promenade and the nearest bus station.

Yes. There was a bus supposed to leave any minute. She was well aware. This bus she was going to board.

She didn´t care where it´d take her as long as it´d take her away from this horrible situation.

Away from him.

Away form all of this. This horrible wicked mess.

She was on a mission again after all. The mission to get herself and her child out of here and start a new life elsewhere. All by herself.

Not looking where she was going exactly the pink haired female staggered down the path to run straight into Zack Fair.

'WHOAA!'

Her dark haired comrade looking at her wide eyed, Lightning found the tip of his soldier longsword stopping just a few inches from her heart.

'Shit, Lightning! I thought you were a beast!' the puppy eyed first class let his sword drop to his side to brush sweat from his brow.

'I almost killed you there!'

Claire Farron gave a nervous tiny laugh. Reminding herself how to breathe, she quickly looked around as she took in the situation.

There was the main street not a hundred meters away. And there was the bus station.

She was almost there.

But how the fuck was she supposed to get past Zack?

'What are you doing here anyway?! I´ve been waiting for you all morning! We were supposed to be out clearing the streets of monsters, remember?!'

'I´m sorry Zack. I got suspended.' the pink haired female said as a way of excuse.

'You got what?!' her comrade´s mouth gaped open in astonishment.

'Yeah. I know...'

'But why?! I mean... How? I mean... What for?!' agitated puppy eyes studying her intendly, Lightning saw the bus take down the street, saw it pull over at the station, people spilling out of it, parasols clasped beneath their arms.

Claire Farron gave a heavy sigh.

'Roaming the streets by night.' she said. Her voice suddenly low, it came out as almost a whisper.

'Huh?!' Zack Fair only stared at her in total lack of comprehension.

How the fuck was being out at night any reason for getting suspended?! The dark haired first class couldn´t fathom.

'I´ve been spying on Sephiroth.' the pink haired female finally revealed, averted her gaze to her feet.

'What?! What were you spying on him for?' Zack Fair somehow didn´t get a thing.

From the corner of her eyes Lightning saw the bus pull out of the station and leaving.

No running away for her today it seemed. No escape.

It made her give a tiny sigh.

Not today. Maybe tomorrow then.

Yes. Tomorrow it was going to be.

'I wasn´t exactly spying on him. More like on Fang. And him.' she amitted carefully.

Oh, what was she doing here, revealing things like that to Zack?

She would have to stay at least another day now. Surely it would do her no good revealing all he secrets now.

'Ohw... Ehm. Okay?'

The black haired first class had suspected something going on between the two of them for quite some time of course but to hear something like this straigth out of Lightning´s mouth, that was something else entirely.

'I´d really appreciate it if you wouldn´t go running around telling everyone.' his comrade added at an afterthought.

'O-Okay.' Zack Fair agreed carefully.

Stepping past her friend and comrade, Lightning slowly made her way down to the beach.

She had to get her mind off things. She really had to.

The young man in question followed instanly.

'What... Were you spying on them for exactly?' he asked somewhat sheepishly, but this time he had stepped too far. The pink haired female only gave him one of her deadly stares.

He had pushed his luck too far indeed.