General Sephiroth Crescent arrived in a tangle of torn dirty clothes and with wild strands of silver hair sticking to his forhead.
He didn´t pause for a moment to look into Zack or Angeal´s desolate faces but went straight to his knees next to his comrade´s unconscious form.
'She´s barely there...' Angeal informed from somewhere to his side, scared blue eyes swimming in unshed tears.
The general didn´t need the burly first class to know that.
Their jenova cell bond.
He could barely feel it there.
It was almost gone.
The silver haired man crouched above his friend with worry and pain etched all over his usually stone carved features and it was very very carefully that he extended his hands to touch the pink haired female´s forarms.
'Why do you always have to try and slip away from me...'
Claire Farron´s eyes snapped open as she woke up with a jolt of pain.
The familiar current of the jenova connection tingled through her skin into every cell of her being and while her body protested in agony, she still felt the touch of the general´s hands on her arms. Warm. Soothing. Healing.
She thought she somehow heard his voice. That low husky voice she´d recognize anywhere. He was there. Was somehow there right with her. And though she couldn´t see him, blinded by the pain, the exhaustion of her terrible ordeals, she could still sense him, feel him there through their jenova bond.
'Sephiroth...' she weakly managed to force out his name.
'Don´t worry. I am here with you.'
His voice again. More distinct this time. Soft. Caring. Shushing her. His presence filling her with light, with hope, with warmth, it made her heart beat a tiny bit stronger, made breathing a little bit more bearable.
Giving his comrade´s face a worried glance, the silver haired man carefully began to remove the bandages Angeal had applied to her body, her legs, her arms.
The wounds he revealed there made the experienced war hero wince.
That gash in her leg was deep. And the tear in her side was nothing to joke about. The bruised flesh of her thorso hinting at her broken ribs, the silver haired man slowly closed his eyes, gave a long and deep drawn sigh.
In a way he was relieved. Relieved because she was still alive, still breathing. But in a way it was also so much worse than he had hoped, her injuries much worse than he had expected.
The power of the Jenova cells could heal them. He knew that from experience. And she would have been back to her old self already had he still been as strong as he´d been back in Midgar, back when he´d had his mako shots. But now. He wasn´t sure he´d be able to do it now. Whether he'd be able to do it at all.
The truth was he was weak. He was exhausted. He´d been running nonstop the entire day. Had fought a giant beast on top of it. Had not a single drop of mako in his poor starving cells. Didn't know how his body would react, what pushing him like that would do to him.
But still. There was no turning away now. What had to be done, had do be done.
There was no way he would let the love of his life die because he was scared of the toll healing her would take on his body.
Sure. The exhaustion might kill him. But the truth was he wouldn't want to life without her anyway. Couldn't even bear to think about it.
Yes. What had to be done, had to be done.
The pink haired warrior infront of him, she didn´t have much more time.
It was with utmost care that the silver haired first class reached out to touch the gash in his comrade's wounded thorso.
How many wounds would he be able to heal before the exhaustion would overwhelm him? Sephiroth didn't know.
He´d just concentrate on the more severe ones first. The most important ones. Just in case.
The skin of his palms coming to rest on the tortured flesh, the pink haired woman beneath him cried out in pain, weakly tried to wriggle away from him, away from the pain.
Yes. It hurt. He was aware. Could feel it through their jenova bond. But there was no way for him to heal her without actually touching her and he knew the process of the cells rearranging themselves, of forcing the bones of her ribs back together, of making the cells form new bone and tissue and skin, it wasn´t something that it felt very pleasant. Felt rather like having your flesh seared away and dowsed with a bucket of ice at the same time.
He could feel her agony, felt it reverberating through their jenova connection. It made him gasp in pain. Made him clench his teeth. Made him shut his eyes tightly as he fought for concentration, fought hard to not loose control over their bond, control over the cells he made to heal, to not loose consciousness himself even.
It were Zack and Angeal who came to his aid. The latter taking care of her legs, Zack Fair made to grasp her arms tightly, they quickly had her pinned to the ground.
It made working on her easier. At least a tiny little bit.
It had to do.
None of them knew how long it had taken exactly but in the end, finally, after what seemed like hours, the pink haired woman lay there with her wounds closed and her skin intact. There was still blood on her body all over her skin but there were no open gashes and there was only a set of big blue ugly bruises that told the story of her once broken ribs.
It was totally exhausted and his body wet with perspiration that General Sephiroth Crescent opened his eyes.
He was still on his knees, but he would have been down on the ground face first if it hadn't been for Genesis who was supporting him from behind.
The woman infront of him looked whole, looked unscathed, but there hadn´t been any weak cries or any wriggling away from him for at least the past fifteen minutes and her body was limp, face expressionless.
He had been thankful at the time she had stopped. Had been thankful when she had slipped into unconsciousness, thankful that she could escape the pain that Sephiroth knew had been too much to take. But now. Now he suddenly wanted her to toss and scream.
The woman infront of him had no open wounds, no injuries. But she looked dead, looked lifeless.
'She´s slipping away...' Angeal Hewley informed from somewhere to his right, voice dripping with worry, with pain. And he was right too of course. Sephiroth could feel it. Could feel it through their Jenova cell connection. Could feel her heartbeat getting weaker and weaker, felt her breathing flatten, almost stop.
No. He wouldn´t let her get away with that. No way.
'Don´t you dare leave me like that, Farron!'
Those words meant as a plea, they came out as a desperate growl and it was forcing Genesis away from him that he set to work again, that he forced all of his remaining strenght into making her heart beat, into making her lungs breathe, into making her body stay alive.
Never had he felt so exhausted. Never had he pushed his limits quite so far. Never had he gotten so close to burning himself out once and forever.
When finally her heart beat steadily and her chest rose and fell with a certain vigor, Sephiroth barely had the strenght left to breathe for himself.
Still it was done. The woman in his arms was safe. She was alive. And that was all that mattered.
It was several hours later and the night had already begun to give way to the first herolds of the sunrise, that General Sephiroth Crescent opened his eyes again.
He was still in the clearing of course, was still on the ground. But he wasn´t kneeling in the dirt as he´d been the last thing he remembered, but wrapped in a tangle of blankets and sleeping bags instead, just like the woman lying right next to him.
Lightning!
He sat up with a start. The world around him spinning, his eyes slowly managed to focus on his pink haired comrade, fell on her steadily rising and falling chest, fell on her relaxed face, her pale chapped lips.
She was alive. She still was. And he was up on his knees and next to her in a moment, hand on her arms checking on their jenova connection. It was as strong as it had ever been.
'She seems to be alright.' Zack Fair piped up from somewhere behind just a second before Sephiroth felt Angeal Hewley's hand on his shoulder.
'She didn´t wake up once but she´s been steady all night.' the burly first class informed.
'You look tired. Maybe you should get some more rest.' he suggested at an afterthought.
The silver haired general only shrugged him off.
'Please. Just leave us alone.' he said in an uncharacteristically breathy voice, before crawling a little bit closer he picked the pink haired woman up into his arms.
She was heavy. Much havier than he remembered and his knees almost gave way underneath him as he hoisted himself up into a standing position.
Fuck. He was a mass. Was wasted.
Never had he craved a mako shot so desperately. Hojo would have been delighted.
It was with his friends just staring after him that he slowly made his way down to the little creek merrily bubbling at the edge of the forrest, was very carefully that he set his female comrade down at it´s bank. Careful not to hurt her. But also careful not to fall straight on his face and make a complete fool of himself.
It was time for him to heal his own injuries. And for the both of them to clean up.
The others only watching from a distance it was slowly that the general began to remove the blankets Zack and Angeal had wrapped around their comrade´s body, began to clean her pale smooth skin of dried up blood, of sweat, of dirt, to disentangle her hair with his shaky tired fingers.
The other three man still stood gathered in the clearing, none of them daring to say a thing, until after quite a while Sephiroth came back to announce they´d be leaving for the village asap, carrying his former student on worryingly wobbly legs.
His comrades watched closely as they made their way back through the dense dark thickets, shared worried glances all the time. Angeal offered to carry the still unconscious woman for at least a dozen times but the stubborn silver haired first class, he wouldn´t hand her over, gave his friend an irritated growl instead and noone dared to raise their voice there after but just made to walk close beside him to be there and ready should his legs gave way eventually.
'Sephiroth...'
General Sephiroth Crescent woke up with a start.
He was tangled in a knot of bedsheets, his hair a ruffled mess spread all around him.
It was dark outside. Still early, the dawning of the new day just a tiny turquoise line on the far away horizon.
The house was quiet and so was the lawn outside. Still his heart was racing.
He'd thought he'd heard a sound.
Not moving a tiny inch, not daring to even breathe, he sat there in his bed alert, his ears pricked, listening hard for movement, for a current of air, for anything really that could betray the presence of another living thing.
There was not a single sound to be heard.
It creeped the silver haired first class out to no end.
Something was off. Was off terribly.
There was supposed to be sound, wasn't there?
There was supposed to be the rustle of the palm trees in the early morning winds, there was supposed to be the chirping of crickets and the chatter of some early birds, there was supposed to be the rushing of the waves at the very least.
But suddenly it was all gone. Was as if he had gone deaf and he would definitely have believed so if it hadn't been for the racket of his madly beating heart reverberating through his every thought, the wooshing sound of his breath as finally he allowed himself to take one.
No. This wasn't about his hearing abilities. This was something else entirely.
Pricking his ears up for sound again he found it was still quiet, calm, except for the familiar humming of a generator, the weirdly calming buzzing of refrigerators.
They were the noises of his childhood. The only background noises there had ever been.
There had been no wind in deepground. No palm trees and no crickets and no waves.
Just endless concrete walls. And the monotonous hum of electricity.
It made the silver haired man get up on his feet and check outside the window.
Yes. He was still in Bodhum. There was still the sea and the trees and the sky and the stars.
It was a huge relief.
Still, something here was off, was wrong.
It was when he turned back to the room that finally it happened.
'Sephiroth...'
A high pitched alien voice, calling to him from somewhere outside the room, beckoning him to follow out into the hall, to come closer.
This voice.
Something was off about it too, was strange.
He had sworn he'd never heard it, had never perceived it's tone. And still. It sounded so incredibly familiar, sounded like home.
It was slowly, warily that he stepped outside the room, carefully that he checked up and down the hall.
It was empty. No sign of the voice's owner. And still... He was so sure he'd heard it, had drank in it with the core of his very being.
Feeling slightly confused he opened the front door to check on the lawn outside but there was noone there to be seen either.
Was he imagining things? Suddenly he wasn't sure.
He had just locked up the door again, had just made to turn back to the hall again when suddenly he felt his heartbeat freeze.
He was not alone anymore.
The hall he could have sworn had been empty just a second ago was suddenly occupied.
He felt it with his supernatural perception, could see a shape there forming in his peripheral vision. But he wouldn't have needed any of those things to sense the presence of the enigma that had materialised in front of him.
The truth was he would have felt her anywhere. Could feel the yearning for her within every particle of his being. That persistent urge that promised more. More power, more wholeness, more strenght, promised him belonging, peace.
All the things that were supposed to be his from the beginning.
The reunion.
It was with bated breath that finally he turned to face her.
She was standing, no hovering, on the other side of the hall that let to the living room and kitchen maybe ten meters away from him.
Still the distance did nothing to diminish the effect that she had on him.
She was beautiful. Beautiful and scary at the same time.
A woman, tall and slender, with hair as fair as his, with skin as pale as snow. She just seemed to float there, staring at him with a single scrutinizing blood red eye.
The calamity that fell from the sky.
She stood before him completely naked. There was what resembled a wing protuding from her back and a big gaping hole in her abdomen from which fresh dark blood was oozing to the polished teak floor.
Sephiroth could only stare.
Suddenly the air was hard to breathe, his brain unable to form the tiniest coherent thought.
'Mother...?'
It was all he managed to choke out, all that he could think of really.
It made the alien woman in front of him give a reassuring smile.
Lifting one of her slender snow white arms, she slowly curled her finger, beckoning him forward.
Come closer.
It was the first thing since he'd woken up that had made sense.
His mother...
Jenova.
The calamity that fell from the sky...
How often had he dreamed of meeting her?
At least a trillion times.
Those had been the misguided dreams of a child of course, a child buried deep in the dungeons under the city of Midgar what felt like a million years ago. Dreams that included his mother coming and picking him up to carry him somewhere far away, somewhere safe. Away from deepground. Away from his duty and his pain.
Of course it never happpened.
His mother had never shown up.
But now she was here.
Finally she was here.
And she wanted him to come closer.
It was with his feet working on auto pilot that slowly his body set into motion.
She was here and he was ready.
Had been for quite some time now, he was aware.
And she was calling to him.
Was calling him from so many levels he could not even begin to understand.
Every cell of his body urging him to step forward, to close the distance between them, to walk up to her, to touch her, to become one with her... Suddenly the pull towards her was overwhelming.
All the wolrd around him fading to the background, suddenly it didn't matter where he was, the misterious vanishing of sounds, the crazy humming of the generators, suddenly they had no meaning, none at all.
There was only one thing that was important.
The reunion.
Crossing the hallway at a slow but even pace, it was as if obsessed that he made to reach out with his hand.
Only a tiny little bit.
The woman infront of him welcoming him with open arms it was the second that he touched her perfect marble skin that suddenly she flickered away into nothingness, was gone.
'NO!' Sephiroth heard his voice reverberate from the tall white walls of the hall.
Jenova. His mother, his destiny, suddenly she was gone. Was nowhere to be seen.
The loss was almost crippling, pained him so much he almost couldn't bear it, made every of his longing cells protest in agony.
'No please! Mother?!' the silver haired man called for her, called for the reunion really.
It was no use, the alien was gone.
Suddenly an eerie high pitched laughter erupted from somewhere right behind him.
It made the silver haired mans raging blood turn to ice in the matter of a moment.
That laughter, he would recognize it anywhere.
For the second time this morning, General Sephiroth Crescent almost didn't dare to trurn around.
It was with bated breath this time that he turned around to face professor Hojo. All in his immaculately laundered lab coat, and small round spectacles, he looked at him with the familiar malicious joy of anticipation sparkling in his small mean eyes and a syringe clutched inside his hand.
The image was one straight out of Sephiroth's very nightmares, one that instantly triggered a trauma response inside him.
Still, he was no child anymore.
'You...' It was with a low bestial growl that he lunged forward, ready to tear the man in front of him to pieces, but it was before he could even touch the hem of his lab coat, that the professor had vanished, just to reappear on the other side of the hall.
It made the silver haired first class give a confused groan.
'You are dead.' he stated stupidy, more to reassure himself, than anything else really.
It made the bespectabled scientist raise his hands triumphantly.
'No... You died in midgar...' Sephiroth stammered.
It made the professor laugh again.
One of those eerie high pitched crazy laughs.
'No matter where you go, you cannot escape me.' the man revealed, still cackling maniacally.
'And she cant either.' he added sonewhat secretively.
Smiling at the silver haired first class knowingly, professor Hojo finally stepped aside, revealing a dias and a bright green glowing tank.
There was a body floating in there, lifeless, dead.
A female body with pale cream skin and bright pink hair.
General Sephiroth shot up into a sitting position just to collapse again in a petty heap on the ground, world spinning, muscles complaining painfully.
There was blood on his tongue and his heart was pounding hard against his aching ribcage. There was a debilitating headache throbbing at his temples and his back was wet with sweat.
There was the sound of the waves outside, of the wind and of birds and of cars, and the voices of children playing on the beach. It had to be past midday already.
What the fuck was going on?
Looking around him desorientatedly he found himself on the fluffy pink rug of his bathroom, bright white marble shining down on him from the recently tiled walls. His right arm was throbbing painfully, caught in a makeshift tourniquet, turning slightly purple and there was a mako shot injection lying on the ground beside him, empty.
There was only one shot left to go.
It had taken them almost two days to reach Bodhum. Two days in which Claire Farron hadn´t so much as stirred and it was with everyone who knew her in great worry that she finally woke up on the morning of the third day, opening her ice blue eyes to worried mako green ones.
She was back in Bodhum. Back in her old bedroom. And the windows were open wide to let in the pleasantly cooling seabreeze.
She was safe. But only for the few seconds before the silver haired man infront of her was shoved to the side and she found herself tackled in hugs and kisses and 'Oh my god I was so scared for you's from her little sister who bouncing up and down infront of her instantly gave her a lecture about how she could have gotten herself killed and whatnot and how the fuck she dared to scare her like this.
Not able to do much but endure it in her battered state, Clair Farron only lay there, tried to take in the room around her and the people, tried to process the miracle she had experienced.
She had been dead. She was sure. But still she was here. Was there in her old bedroom with her sister and with Sephiroth.
Lightning 4.0.
Her eyes trailing to the silver haired man who´d gone over to look out of the window in order to give the sisters some space for their private moment, she studied his profile wonderingly.
He´d healed her. He´d somehow managed to heal her. To bring her back.
And he was here now. Here with her. Had been waiting for her to wake up.
'Oh yes. I almost forgot! You gotta eat! Wait I´ve got something ready for you downstairs!'
Her sister´s words bringing her back to the present, Claire Farron´s eyes followed the younger woman back to the door where she vanished from her sight.
The silver haired man from the windowsill was back by her side in almost no time at all.
'You came...' It was all the pink haired female managed. She wanted to say more but her throat dry and raspy she somehow couldn´t bring out the words.
'Here... Drink.' The general said as carefully he helped her to sit up and offered her the cup of water from her bedside table, held it for her all the time, her hands too weak to hold it by herself.
Shit how long had she been out? It had to have been days. Days she hadn´t drunk nor eaten. Days that had left her weak, completely drained.
'I promised I'd find you.'
Her gaze falling back onto his face, Lightning realized how tired, how exhausted he looked. His cheeks were hollow, and there was a hint of dark circles underneath his eyes. But there was also a smile on his lips, a smile that reached his pretty mako eyes, relief etched all over his gentle features.
Yes. The general was glad she was alive, was glad she´d woken up. And he was here. He was here with her.
Somehow she almost couldn't believe it.
Suddenly despite her muscles aching and her bones complaining painfully, despite her belly growling like a behemoth and her throat hurting as though she'd had a cold, the pink haired warrior felt happy, felt almost bubbling over with joy.
He was here. He was here with her. Because he cared. He still cared for her.
'Sephiroth... I... Thank you.'
It was all she had time for before Serah arrived with a steaming bowl of soup, some beef and crackers and it was only seconds before her sister elbowed the man away again to make space for the tray, shoved him away from the bed again, away from her.
'It´s okay.' he simply whispered. His mako eyes bright with relief, with happiness, with love? Was it with love there that he looked upon her?
Lightning wished it were. If only she could know for sure.
'Now eat.' Serah ordered from her bedside table and the pink haired patient hungrily complied.
She really didn´t need to be told twice.
'How is she?' Zack, Genesis, Angeal and Cloud inquired in unision as the silver haired warrior came down the stairs.
'She seems fine.' the general assured them.
They´d all been worried sick about learning of Lightnings condition, her 'accident', her injuries. Not only Serah and Snow and Cloud but also Maqui, Gadhot and Lebreau. Even Fang had asked about her the day before and Sephiroth was more than happy to tell them all that she´d finally woken up, that she seemed to be alright and on her way of recovery.
There had been difficulties of course. Serah and Snow had insisted on calling a doctor, on driving her to the hospital even first thing upon their arrival and it had taken a good deal of convincing from Angeal and himself to ensure them that leaving her be really was the best of options for the moment without revealing her jenova cell secret to anyone.
'Can I go up and see her?' Zack Fair asked somewhat timidly and the silver haired first class only shrugged his shoulders.
'If you want to hear one of Serah´s lectures about danger and responsibilities...'
'They´re worse than Angeal´s though.' he warned at an afterthought.
Trying hard to avoid his former trainer´s gaze Zack Fair quickly shook his head.
'Maybe later then.' he said before slipping back into his chair.
'How are you feeling?'
He was there again, leaning against her bedside table, long black coat discarded and back in one of those loose grey shirts and pair of black pants.
He looked better this time. Rested. The exhaustion was gone form his face and so were the dark circles underneath his eyes.
Lightning wished he´d stay forever.
'I´am fine. I just... I wish I could go outside for once. It´s getting boring sitting up in bed all day.' she confessed.
It was true. She was feeling so much better. So much better rested. But still. She was still weak. It was something she was reminded of painfully everytime she had to use the bathroom. It was only on the other side of the landing. But still, she couldn´t reach it without Serah´s help. Her legs were still too tired, her muscles still too weak. Not to mention the way her vision went blurry and dark at the edges whenever she tried to get up. And it was becoming a real nuisance too because she had to use the bathroom much more frequently than she ever could remember.
She knew what was to blame for that of course. Or rather who.
One of her hands subconsciously reaching down to touch her belly, the pink haired woman gave a resignated sigh.
Yes. The baby. It was still there. She´d felt it shortly after she had woken up. She had no idea how she had done it but somehow, miraculously, she hadn´t lost it in the whole ordeal. The tiny beast was giving her cramps again, was still standing between her and Sephiroth, solid and real like the walls of a wutai fortress.
She had to tell him. She was aware. She really had to. Maybe finally the moment had come to -
'Then let´s do it.' the man next to her suddenly said, tearing her from her disconcerting thoughts.
The pink haired woman blankly stared at him.
'I can´t... I... My legs... I don´t feel...'
Was there a way he could heal her dizziness, her weakness?
'So what?' The silver haired man asked and it was before she knew it that he´d pulled the blankets off, leaving her sitting perched against the backrest in only her nightclothes.
He had her scooped up into his arms in no time and they were out on the landing while her surprised 'No, wait!' still echoed from the walls of her bedroom.
They found themselves on the porch before Lightning could complain any further and it was with her arms wrapped tightly around her comrade's neck and her heart racing crazily that she found herself lowered in one of the Farron´s deckchairs, where Serah hastily made space for her.
'Never fucking do that again without a warning...' the pink haired female growled into her carrier´s ear as slowly, almost begrudgingly she let go of her former mentor´s neck.
Fuck, why did it have to feel so good to feel him close?!
The man infront her only gave her one of his handsome halfsmiles before he straightened up to follow Serah back into the kitchen.
'Enjoy yourself.' He called to her from the door and then he was gone, leaving the pink haired female all to herself.
Recovering from the shock of so unexpetedly being lifted and carried all around the house, Lightning took in the scenery, took a few breaths of clean fresh air.
It was good to be outside again. To see something else than her bedroom walls for once. Good to feel the sun on her skin and feel the breeze in her hair.
There were a few birds picking in the sand, and a pretty sailing boat anchoring not far from the shore. And there were Zack, Cloud, Genesis, Angeal and Snow busy hitting themselves over their heads with a set of fancy pool noodles somewhere in the shallow tides.
The sigh of them, it made her errupt in giggles.
Yes, it felt good to be outside again. To feel alive.
A clatter from the doorway told her Sephiroth was back, juggling a ridicuoulsly loaded tray stuffed with dishes and closely followed by Serah who instantly began to set the table.
'Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes.' her sister announced.
'I´m so happy you could come down and eat with us.' she added with twinkling kind blue eyes.
Dinner.
They were really going to have dinner? All of them together? Like in old times?
Claire Farron almost couldn´t believe it.
She had died. Yes that was it. She had to be dead and this was just some weird fancy dream. Some fantasy. The deathwish of her dying brain. It had to be. It was all too good to be true.
It went on though.
Serah and Sephiroth continued to carry out things from the kitchen, to set the table and load it with pots and pans. The aroma of seafood wafting over, Lightning watched it all in fascination, watched as though she saw it the first time in her life and it wasn´t until finally Lebreau joined to help her sister and Sephiroth went down to the beach to fetch the others, that Lightning realized how bleak and empty her life had become those past few weeks. Those months.
She´d cut herself off from everyone. Her comrades, her friends her family. Had hidden away in her bedroom, in the deepest recesses of her mind. Had run away from her responsibilities, her duties, and the people whome she loved.
This sunny evening on the porch, the prospect of the shared dinner, it made her soul laugh again, made her heart sing.
She´d needed this. She really had.
It was the sight of all of her friends making towards her, pool noodles forgotten, and crowding up around her to talk to her, to see how she was doing, to tell her how glad they were to see her, that brought tears to her eyes, that almost made her cry.
Suddenly Lightning felt overwhelmed with feelings.
It was Lebreau who saved her this time.
'Okay guys... Now that everyone´s gathered... There´s an announcement to make.'
Everyone looking around rather confused, wondering what was going on just like the others, Claire Farron found Zack Fair joining Lebreau´s side, cheeks flushed madly and grinning like a maniac.
'Zack and I... Well... We are engaged.' the brunette revealed in an excited voice.
There was wolf whistling from Cloud and Genesis, congratulations, and general approvement. Angeal Hewley and Snow walked over to pat Zack on the back while Serah and Cloud hurried over to whisper to Lebrau. Sephiroth was somewhere near the table, still clutching the dishes he was supposed to arrange on the tabletop, Claire Farron still perched on her deck chair withouth any options of joining the crowd really, and it was over the onrush of congratulations that their gazes met. Surprised icy blue on curious mako green ones.
Why was he looking at her like that?
Claire Farron didn't knw.
She didn´t have time to ponder it much longer as she was snatched by Snow and Angeal, the two of them carrying her over to the table and setting her down on the bench where she was instantly engaged in conversation with Genesis and Cloud, the both of them trying to figure out what had to be the most horrible scenario´s for Zack´s bachelor party.
It took some time for all of them to settle down in order to enjoy their dinner. And it wasn´t only dinner that they spent together. Lebreau had brought a cake too along with some bottles of wine and all of them set there talking and joking deep into the night until the moon stood high up in the sky and the pink haired warrior´s eyes began to close and her head began to droop.
It was one of the most beautiful evenings she could remember. Everyone seemed happy, seemed so cheerful. They talked about Zack and Lebreau and their upcoming wedding, about the beauty of the summer and about some of the old times too. They talked about everything it seemed. Everything except the ongoing attacks of the dogsters and what they had engaged there in the forest. Everything except the horrors that had happened the previous few days. It was as if none of it had ever happened. None of it was real.
It was almost midnight when Serah put the last dishes away and Genesis emptied the last remains of the final bottle. Claire Farron was fast alseep by then, body leaning against her favourite first class´s side, head resting heavily on his well trained shoulder. It was at a gesture from her younger sister that the general finally dared to move, that careful not to wake his comrade, he slowly put his arms around her to try and pick her up again.
And he was successfull too. The woman in his arms slept like a baby, didn´t open her eyes even once. She burried her face into his chest instead, fingered the collar of his shirt, squeezed it tightly. It was a bit of an effort to make her let go once he´d safely set her down onto her bed.
He covered her with the duvet once it was done, looked down onto her moonlit features with caring, with regret.
'I cannot stay with you Light. Not yet.' he whispered as he extended a hand to carefully remove some stray pinkish strands from her forhead.
It was true. He couldn´t stay there. As much as he wished. He had to go back to the forest. There was no way around.
He pulled his hand back with a sigh.
'I know you´d understand.'