Claire Farron couldn't even remember who had come up with the idea of a camping trip but it was only a week after Zack and Lebreau's engagement party that suddenly she found herself on one of Bodhum's most popular hiking trails, with a trekking backbag strapped unto her shoulders and her feet back in her good old combat boots.
It had been quite some time since they had done something together really, all her old comrades from soldier and Serah and Snow plus the whole bunch from the neighbourhood watch and Fang and it was suddenly excited by the idea that everyone had agreed readily and they had escaped into the wilderness only a few days after, with nothing but the things they could carry on their body and a few truckloads of booze, Maqui and Gadhot were dragging behind them in a massive handcart.
It was the first real holiday for all of them in quite some time.
And they had all earned it too.
Things had gotten back to normal ever since Lightning and her friends had managed to slay those terribly big beast. There hadn't been any more attacks or invasions, no more sightings even and somehow everything in the pretty seaside town had settled into it's usual peaceful harmony.
With all the monsters suddenly gone, not only from Bodhum but also the surrounding neighbourhoods, it was with everybody's spirits high that they ventured out into the thickets.
It was with newfound vigour that Snow and Lebreau lead them to the most spectacular forest paths, pointing out breathtaking waterfalls, and eerie dimlit caves, while Genesis and Angeal were hunting game and Cloud and Yuj were busy trainling a few meters behind them observing bunches of exotic flowers.
It left Lightning hiking together with Serah, Fang and Lebreau, while Zack and Sephiroth were left to stroll along somewhere at the rear, looking rather awkward with the grouping arrangements.
It was something the pink haired female found remotely entertaining, just like the hopeful glances the silver haired first class threw her whenever she had the guts to turn around.
The truth was things had turned out beautifully. At least much more beautifully than Lightning would have thought.
Sure, she had almost snuffed it. But still. The dogsters were finally gone. She was almost back to her old self. The horrible creatures in her belly had stopped giving her cramps for the most part and the terrible sinking feeling she'd been carrying around in her stomach for the past few weeks had passed. Finally felt comfortable around her family and friends again, comfortable around him.
They were getting along fine these days, Sephiroth and her, were talking civilly like normal people.
The silver haired first class had found out about the baby, babies actually, without causing her further distress and he was suddenly giving her space, had taken off the pressure, had accepted the fact that she hadn't brought up their relationship or further plans to discuss without the bat of an eyelid.
Somehow things couldn't have turned out any better.
Still... Things were not perfect.
There were still so many things she had to work out, things she had to yet set straight.
Well... One step after the other...
It took them the first half of the first day to reach their destined camping grounds and a good part of the other to set up all their tents.
Lightning was going to share her's with the girls while the guys were left to fight over the remaining three ones and it was already nightfall when finally everyone had settled and was ready for dinner.
'Ugh... I hate rabbit.' Lightning heard Genesis complain as he looked into the big brass cooking pot that had been set up at their makeshift stove.
'Here take another serving. They're real yummie.' Angeal contered, loading his friend's plate with yet another ladle of the steaming contents and making the scowl on the redhead's face twist into a grimace.
It made the pink haired female chuckle.
Oh how much she had missed that.
Her friends.
Their endless teasing.
The good mood.
She was sitting next to her sister and Lebreau right infront of the sky high camp fire that reminded more of a pyre than a fire really, the mountain of twigs crackling merrily in front of her pleasantly warming her legs.
Everyone around happily engaged in chatter or dining lavishly on Angeal's cooking skills, looking around all the happy faces Lightning found herself reminded of that bunker mission that she had attended back there all the way in Midgar, back when she had still been in SOLDIER.
They had been out together in the woods together back then. The mood had been joyful then too. It had felt almost like a camping trip like this, Lightning remembered as once more she let her gaze browse all her friends' cheerful faces until finally her eyes landed on Sephiroth.
Yes. Things were exactly like on that one mission.
Accept that nothing was the same.
The silver haired first class deeply engaged in conversation with Lightning's brother in law on the other side of the fire, it was with a painful twinge of longing that she let her eyes take in the perfectly carved features of his face.
Oh, how much she longed to touch his face. To feel his breath on her skin. To feel those lips on her own...
The silver haired first class had noticed.
It was with a little start that suddenly he looked up at her, was with positive surprise there in his pretty mako eyes that he gave her a friendly little smile, was with an equal twinge of longing that he kept looking back at her, Snow's undoubtedly fascinating story long forgotten.
It gave the pink haired first class googsebumps, made her heart give tiny flutters.
They were finally getting along for once. There was no fighting no bickering no teasing no stalking. Suddenly it was all gentle words and meaningful glances. Soothing occasional touches and lots of free space.
He hadn't asked her to move in with him again, hadn't pressured her, hadn't pushed. Hadn't attacked her with confessions of his love or followed her home and around the village and while it was a relief in oh so many ways, Lightning also didn't know where she stood with him. Not really.
'Whatever you want.' he had told her at Lebreau's party, but that had been a week ago and while Lightning was beginning to get clear about what it was she actually wanted, she had absolutely no idea what he wanted, whether he was still interested in her at all, whether he was still willing to try the whole living together and raising a family thing.
It should have been obvious really. It definitely had been. But suddenly without all the kisses and touches, without all those words of affection and whatnot, Lightning wasn't sure where she stood with him exactly.
Did he still feel the same about her? Did he still want her, pregnancy and all?
Well... Whatever his feelings about her, the urge to be close to him, to touch him, to feel him, was still irresistable, was torture.
That much Lightning knew for sure.
Surely he could feel it too?
They made it through their rabbit all in one piece, even Genesis who had been helped by Fang, clearing off most of his plate's contents, and it was to everyones huge delight that Lebreau revealed a basket of delicous cupcakes for desert.
It was dugging into her cake ravenously that Lightning's eyes fell back on Sephiroth.
The silver haired man nibbling at his desert tentatively, it was with her gaze trained on his handsome face again that she admired his camp fire lit profile.
After all those years she still loved to simply look at him. Loved the perfection of his haughty features, the perfect angle of his jaw, the pale complexion of his skin, the arch of his brows, the thin line of his narrow lips. The delicateness of his surprisingly gentle hands he now used to dissect his cupcake. Hands that had touched her like noone else ever had.
And she loved the way that he looked at her these days. With affection, with respect, with longing.
The truth was that she wanted him. Needed him really. More than anything else.
Her pregnancy hadn't change that. Not one tiny bit.
'Whatever you want.' he'd said.
Well... Preganancy or not, she definitely wanted him. Wanted him now.
It was only a few minutes after Angeal had cleaned off the plates that Genesis Rhapsodos took the stage to bless them all with one of his infamous inactments of loveless and it was to Sephiroth, Zack and Angeal's great dismay that noone seemed to make him stop.
'Infinite in mystery is the gift of the godess...'
Well, you all know how it goes...
The fools from the neighbourhoodwatch listening with rapt atttention, it was finally taking her chance, that Lightning got up from her seat.
Genesis' performance really was the perfect opportunity. The perfect opportunity to escape.
General Sephiroth Crescent watched the dance of the campfire's flames pensively.
Snow was recounting one of the neighbourhood watch's more enticing stories but the silver haired first class found it hard to listen.
His thoughts carrying him back to the pink haired female on the other side of the campfire and the pretty smiles she'd given him all day, he could'nt help but keep looking back at her, answer those smiles with some of his own's.
He'd been watching her all evening, all day really, had been hoping to make conversation with her, to maybe spend a little bit of time with her, to somehow get closer to her, had been waiting for her to come over or maybe drop him some kind of hint that she wanted to be approached, but she had sticked to the other girls all throughout the trip and she was doing so now, had done so all through dinner.
Sure. He wanted to go over and talk to her. To get away with her from the others, to be alone with her. But somehow accomplishing any of that had prooved much more complicated than he would have thought. Of course he could simply have called her out. He could simply have asked her to talk with him again, could have pulled her away from the others and into the woods, could have spilled out his heart and so much more. But he wouldn't. He simply couldn't.
He had promised her to accept whatever it was that she wanted to be or not to be between them. Had promised not to push her anymore or pressure her in any way and he wasn't going to break that. He was not going to screw up again.
They were back on speaking terms. Were back on sharing glances and even smiles and he so wasn't going to risk that over the urge of just hearing her voice again.
It was her turn now to take a step towards him, if she wanted. It was his turn to wait now. To wait until she was ready, until she had decided that she wanted him. If she decided that she wanted him.
No.
She would approach him in due time, he was sure of that, and he wasn't disappointed either.
It was right when Genesis got up for his obligatory poetry performance that finally the pink haired female got up from her seat as well and walked up to the treeline, where she stopped for a moment to turn back to him, throwing him a secretive little smile.
It was what he'd been waiting for for days. A tiny signal that would encourage him to carry on.
It was now or never.
The woman from his dreams vanishing into the bushes, it was without further ado that the first class followed.
'God...Why are you taking this book with you wherever you go? You must already know that damned thing by heart. Even I know it by heart already!' Zack's voice rang out from the group behind him and it was the last thing Sephiroth heard before he stepped past the first line of bushes and into a different reality entirely.
The voices of the others muffled by the thickets the path infront him lit only by the silvery sheen of the moon, it was only a few moments later that he was grabbed by his arm and pulled sideways into the thickets, a pair of hot soft lips crushing down on his.
Lightning.
Whatever he had expected. It hadn't been anything like this.
It was her who took control this time. Her who initiated things. Her who attacked him with kisses the second they had broken throught the treeline, her who pushed him with his back against the bark of a tree, and pulled at his clothes.
'I missed you.'
It was her who spoke those words now, her who pulled him closer as she gently bit down on his lip to make him groan.
It made the silver haired man's pulse go into overdrive.
Whatever he'd expected of that camping trip, never had it been something like this, never would he have dreamed things to turn out so marvellously.
'I missed you too.' he whispered against her soft pink lips.
And it was then that she was off again, off away from him and gone into the wilderness.
He caught up with her in an instant, reached out to touch her arm and it was only a few meters later that he found himself attacked with kisses again and pulled down onto the mercifully still warm rocks, where he found himself on his back with the pink haired woman right on top of him.
A genetically modified killer with the skills of a martial arts master and the strenght of a heavyweight olympic winner, able to kill him with her bare hands had she wanted to, she wasted no time but attacked him with kisses again and he loved every of second of it. Had longed for it, craved for it, for such a long time.
Pulling away from his face she began to work on his neck instead to then continue south, her soft wet lips leaving a wet shivering trail down to the hem of his shirt.
She gave him a tiny pause in which she almost ripped his shirt off to expose his perfect upper body to then continue on his collarbone and all the way down his chest.
The silver haired first class melting underneath her touch, there was a little shiver running through his body when she caresed his sides and his abdomen to then go down all the way to his pants.
It was only a second later that his pants were gone too and the pink haired warrior came down to kiss him where she had never kissed him before.
It made the silver ahired man's world erupt in bliss.
'Lightning..'
Her name tasting sweet on his tongue, it didn't make her stop one bit, not even in the slightest.
He was her's. All hers. Had been for a very long time now. Had been her's before he'd even realized, before he had allowed himself to dream. Whatever she wanted he'd give it to her, wherever she went he would follow.
They belonged together.
They really did.
Forever.
The camping trip was cut short by a bout of heavy rain.
It didn't rain often in Bodhum but when it did it poured.
And it wasn't only rain either.
It was in fact the most terrible storm Lighning had ever seen, except the one on top of that blasted mountain, back at new year's eve about a million years ago.
When she and Sephiroth returned from the woods, their clothes back on their bodies, the camp was already in an uproar.
The campfire had gone out all by itself and all the guys were busy tearing down the tents, while Serah and Lebreau were trying to hide away under some bushes.
It didn't do them any good. They were dripping with water as everyone else.
Only Genesis Rhapsodos seemed to enjoy the sudden change of weather.
Stepping out into the open, arms spread wide and looking up into the sky he let the raindrops slap against his face.
'Excellent! Time for a shower!' the redhead announced and began taking off his clothes infront of the others, which made everybody crinch in disgust and focus on their packing extra hard.
Everyone except Cloud Strife and Fang that was, who merely cocked their heads to watch with interest.
By the time all of them had gotten out of the forest and back to one of the cobbled streets leading back to the village, they were all soaked in water as thought hey had all taken a shower for real.
It was without much of a fuzz about saying goodbye that everyone just hurried home with their stuff clutched under their arms and held over their head protectively.
Zack and Lebreau had taken off at a run and were out of sight before Lightning even knew what happened and it was with her just standing there confusedly that she watched Serah and Snows retreating backs as they hurried down the main road, when suddenly her silver haired first class caught her hand and gently pulled her off the road and onto one of the familiar trodden paths that led away into the opposite direction.
Lightning didn't object. Following him felt only natural this time, felt right.
It was with their hair sticking to their faces in an icy sloggy mass and with the fabric of their clothes clutching at their bodies like something that came straight out of a fridge, that the two of them arrived at the general's beach house, both shivering with cold and grinning like two maniacs.
'Oh my god, I need to get out of these clothes.' was the first thing Lightning sid when they came bursting through the frontdoor and into the safety of the hall, dripping water all onto the polished teak floor.
'You could take a shower if you want to. Warm yourself up a bit.' the general offered as he made to unbuckle his boots.
He too was shivering. Trembling really. That blasted rain... It had left the both of them feeling as though doused with ice buckets.
So much to Bodhum being the all year summer paradise.
'That would be awesome.' Lightning confessed.
There was a small secretive smile playing at her lips and a mysterious sparkle in her eyes, the silver haired first class couldn't take his eyes off.
'Be my guest.' he answered as he led her to the bathroom.
Opening the door for her he watched her walk inside.
'Here, you can take whatever you want.' he said pointing towards the rack of towels and a multitude of bathroom products.
'I'll try and find some clothes for you.'
'Okay.' Claire Farron said, that secretive smile of her's intensifying before reaching for his still wet shirt she pulled him forwards and into another kiss.
It came unexpectedly and without warning. Still. The silver haired first class did not object as for the second time that day the woman from his dreams made to rip off his clothes and pulled him into the shower with her.
It was still raining when they made out of the bathroom and into the living room. It was cozy in there. Especially with the storm outside. They were both wearing one of Sephiroths plain T-shirts that served Lightning as a dress and it was with her thoughts going back to that ridiculous camping trip and everything that had happened since then, that the pink haired female leaned against the patio door watching the rain pour through the massive class fronts.
It probably was the only day of rain in all the history of Bodhum.
'Lightning.. Why didn't you tell me?'
He had approached her from behind, Lightning could see his reflection in the glass pane. He had reached out for her waist, rested his hand there gently.
He sounded curious but still, a little sad too. Lightning could tell.
He had every right to ask of course. He really had. Still, somehow she wished they would never have to talk about it, that somehow he never would have brought it up.
'I don't know. I thought you wouldn't care.' Lightning answered honestly.
She was done running.
No more beating around the bush. No more hiding behind false pretenses.
The man behind her looked offended, looked a little hurt.
'You thought that I wouldnt care?!' he asked somewhat taken aback, eyebrows arched up in disbelieve.
How could she have possibly thought that?! After everything they had gone through...
Claire Farron gave a tiny sigh.
'I thought you wouldn't be interested. That you wouldn't want it. I never even wanted it myself.' she confessed somewhat shyly, one of her hands going up to her belly subconsciously.
The silver haired man looking as though kicked in the stomach, he slowly took a step away from her, made to stare into the distance.
It was with his eyes glassy that he finally looked back.
'Why would you think such a thing?' he asked, completely perplexed, taken aback.
It was Lightning's turn to stare.
'You're a war hero. A legend. Every woman wants you and every guy wants to be like you. You probably have a hundred kids running about out there. Why would you care about mine.' Claire Farron answered finally.
It was harsh. She was aware. Still it felt like that summed up what she had been thinking perfectly.
'Is that how you think of me?' the silver haired first class demanded wistfully, his usually controlled features suddenly lit with emotion.
There was pain, was accusation in his handsome mako eyes.
'No.' the pink haired female answered honestly.
It made the man next her give a tiny frustrated sigh.
'Lightning, I love you. I want you to understand that. I told you so a hundred times in the past. And it hasn't changed one bit.' he told her, his speech gaining a little bit in volume, picking up in speed.
'I've never felt that way for anyone, I never even thought I possibly could. Why the fuck would I not care?! I've never cared more about anything else in the world. I've never wanted anything more in the world than I want this.' his voice had gotten softer near the last part and increasingly more distressed.
It made Lightning's hand reach out for his.
'Than I want you.' the silver haired man calrified as he pulled her closer.
'Than I want us.'
Bringing his free arm up to touch her belly too, it was leaning down again that he touched his lips to her forehead.
'I want this. I really do.' he said again, lips brushing against her temples.
'When will you understand this?'
Claire Farron felt her heart spead up, and take off in a set of crazy tiny flutters.
It was weird how everyting had turned out. Dogster attacks had gotten less and less. Fang suddenly was all eyes for Genesis. Sephiroth knew about the baby. Had in fact known all along. And he still wanted her. After everything that had happened between them, he still wanted her...
Lightning almost could not believe it.
It was all like in a dream, felt somewhat unreal.
There was still one thing though. One thing she had to make clear.
'I'd like to stay.' she said when finally they pulled apart.
The silver ahired first class looked at her with big green eyes.
'I'd like to give this a try. I really do.. If you would still have me that is.' she added somewhat nervously.
It made the man infront her arch his brows.
'Are you kidding?'
Claire Farron only bit her lip.
'I... There were some horrible things I've said to you...' she threw in somewhat shyly as she took a step away.
General Sephiroth Crescent dismissed it with a shake of his head.
'I earned worse than that...' he admitted, arms reaching out for her again.
'I shouldn't have attacked you like that. I shouldn't have pressured you like that...' he said as he pulled her closer.
'Fang...' Claire Farron threw in unexpectedly.
It made the general's eyes go huge, tortured.
'Lightning I swear... There never was nothing -'
'Fang told me...' Lightning interrupted instantly.
'You cried.'
The man infront her let his gaze trail to his feet, suddenly emberassed.
'She did, huh?' he muttered somwhat carefully.
'Well, I was kind of disappointed, to be honest.' Claire Farron confessed, a mischieveous glint stealing intself into her pretty plae blue eyes.
'I would have thought the mighty General Sephiroth Crescent incapable of crying.'
There was that trademark smirk of his fighting it's way back onto his features.
That pretty daring half smile, Lightning loved so much.
'You have no idea what I'm capable of.' he assured her as he pulled her back into a kiss.
It was both. A promise and a fact.
It was hours later that finally they retired to the comforts of the bedroom.
They were lying in Sephiroth's king size bed their bodies flush against each other their arms still around each other's thorsos and their legs entangled.
The silver haired first class already fast asleep, it was with her head resting on his firm toned chest, that Lightning listened to his heartbeat.
A constant steady thud.
It was so infinitely calming. Reassuring.
The gentle up and down of his chest...
The warmth of his body seeping into her's...
And their jenova bond tickling through her skin everywhere their bodies touched.
It was still there of course. Had never ceased.
Still. Suddenly it didn't seem so monstrous anymore, seemed familiar, felt secure.
It was a special bond they shared. A bond other couples could only dream of, a bond that ran deeper than anything Lightning could even begin to understand, a bond beyond words, and promises and feelings.
Still.
Did she go back to Sephiroth because her degenerated cells dictated it? Would she even have felt the same way about him had it not been for that horrible Jenova incident?
Lightning still didn't know.
Did it even matter?
Somehow she wasn't so sure anymore.
The answers to those questions. They had mattered to her. A lot. Had pestered her for quite some time now. Making choices based on what she wanted and not what some alien stem cells told her, that had been a huge thing for her.
Now that she was lying there with Sephiroth, their limbs entwined, carrying his child, suddenly Claire Farron wondered.
She wanted him. Wanted everything about him. There was no deying that. Had wanted him even before the jenova cell treament, even back when he had given her a hard time, in a weird abnormal kind of way, long before she even had acknowledged it herself.
And there was more of course.
She was happy now. Was happy with him. Was happy with listening to his heartbeat and the touch of his skin on her's.
What did it matter if the jenova cells wanted it too. Wasn't that more like an infinitely lucky coincident?
It was...
Still, it had always felt off, felt twisted. Had felt wrong until now.
True, all the circumstances were pointing towards the both of them to be together.
Her pregnancy, their jenova cell treatment, their shared history... They all lead towards a shard future. Getting together with him was just the next logical step.
Still, for once in her life she was doing something because she really wanted it, not because it was the right thing to do.
For the first time in her adult life those two things were the same, were identical.
For the first itme in her adult life everything felt right.
Claire Farron woke up to a room filled with sunshine and a pair of pretty mako eyes, looking shyly into her icy blue ones.
'Hey...' the silver haired first calss greeted somewhat insecurely, the second her eyes had fluttered open.
'Hey.' Claire Farron answered smiling up at him.
It was only a second later that he made to get up.
She was about to say something when he turned back towards her, silencing her with his intense mako gaze.
'No shared breakfast, I got it.' he assured her, one of his hand going up to comb through his silver hair.
He was nervous, she could tell.
'And I put your dried clothes here. So you can leave any time you want.' he pointed at a pile of neatly folded garments waiting on the dresser top.
For a few long seconds Claire Farron only stared.
'Actuallly... Breakfast would be nice.' she admitted somewhat sheepishly.
It made the silver haired man's features break into a smile. One that touched his eyes big style.
'You're serious?'
Claire Farron nodded her head.
'I am a pregnant woman, I could eat a pigsty.' she announced instantly.
'Make sure to leave some for Angeal.' the first class joked as he made out of the room.
It was only a few minutes later that the house filled with the scent of sizzling bacon and eggs and coffee and the hissing of the frying pan and the sound of dishes being set onto a counter.
It lured Lightning out into the hall and over to the kitchen.
'This smells awesome.' she announced as she entered the room in one of her lover's shirts that told him she was not going to leave anytime soon.
It made the silver haired man smile again.
One of these pretty sincere smiles Lightning loved to see so much, that had once come so rarely, seemed to come more often now.
'I hope it tastes awesome too. I'm not exactly a specialist when it comes to cooking.' the silver haired first class admitted as he transfered the contents of the pan onto the plates before him.
It made Lightning laugh.
'It can't be worse than my bread baking skills.' she reassured him as stepping closer she picked up one of the freshly fried slices of bacon and stuffed it into her mouth.
'It is delicious.' she announced, making the silver haired man's pretty smile intensify.
It was there and then that Lightning could finally begin to see it. An few small snippets of a potential future, a series of pictures of how their life could one day be.
A happy image of the two of them together, living in that beach house with their two kids running around between them.
How Sephiroth would be cooking them breakfast in the weekends and how she would prepare lunch boxes for all of them.
How they would make excursions with the kids in the vicinity and how they would play in the backyard and the beach, building sandcastles so high they couldn't reach the top, just like she and Serah had done with their parents like a million years ago.
How they might be a happy little family. All off them together. Just like her family had been when she'd still been a child. The family she thought she could never possibly have for herself. The family she had thought she'd lost forever.
It was sunday eleven pm and since their camping trip had been cancelled so unexpectedly they still had the whole half of the weekend infront of them.
The rain had eased, turned into a tiny trickle and the sun was starting to come out again, small patches of clear blue sky emerging from behind the clouds.
'Lets go into town today with the others.' Lightning said out of nowhere once they were done with breakfast and had cleared away the dishes.
'Into town?' the general asked in disbelieve.
'Yes. We could grab some food, I'm starving.' the pink haired female said decisively.
General Sephiroth Crescent only gave a tiny chuckle.
'But we just had breakfast...'
It made Lightning cock hair head.
'You're rivalling Angeal theses days you know that?' her lover said somewhat taken aback.
It made Lightning giggle.
It was true. She felt like she could eat a whole pig for real.
No matter what she put inside her, the two monsters growing in her belly seemed to get to it first.
And they were greedy too. Leaving almost nothing for herself.
'I'm serious. Let's do something... You know, normal.' It made the smile from cooking breakfast return to the silver haired man's face again.
It was lunchtime when they met up with the others. And Lightning's belly was already grumbling. Again.
Everybody had been planning for the camping trip that weekend, so everybody was still free and they all gathered at Lebreau's clubhouse, which due to the camping trip arrangements was technically closed, meaning they had the whole place for themselves.
It was late when Claire and Sephiroth arrived, and all the others were already there.
The two of them having held hands all the time on their way there, it was with a rush of pleasant surprise that Sephiroth realized she wasn't letting go once they had stepped inside.
All the others looking up from their tables to greet them, for a moment there he'd thought that she'd let go, that maybe she would push him away again.
But the pink haired female at his side she only held on tightly, pulled him after her towards the others and down onto one of the cozy benches next to Snow and her sister.
She didn't even let go there. Not for extended periods of time. Instead she sat there close to him, their thighs touching and their ellbows getting in their ways occassionally.
It made the silver haired man's heart sing with bliss, with happiness.
He almost could not believe his luck.
Somehow, miraculously, in the course of the previous twenty four hours, his life had turned upside down completely, and that in such a surprisingly nice way, it was almost too good to be true.
He had Lightning at his side. She had decided to make their relationship official, or she wouldn't let him hold her hand infront of all her friends. She'd said she wanted to move in with him, was willing to give it all a try.
Everything. Them. Their relationship. Kids. Family.
Suddenly all those things he'd wanted, all the things he'd thought lost forever, suddenly they all seemed feasible again, felt within reach. Felt probable even.
No. General Sephiroth Crescent definitely could not believe his luck.
The two of them having dinner with the others like in old times, Angeal emptying the kitchens as usual, with Lightning joining in the quest it was a lucky coincidence for real that there were no other guests around.
Genesis, Fang and Cloud were busy again getting drunk and Zack was busy making out with a pretty girl as usual, Lebreau this time, of course.
There were Gadhot, Maqui and Yuj telling some stories form the neighbourhoodwatch again, with the latter busy refilling Cloud's cup and of course Serah and Snow, listening to their friends' tales politely and sharing occasional private glances.
The only new addition was Fang. Sephiroth wasn't sure who had invited her to come along. Well. She wasn't much of a bother. Not to Lightning to his great relief, not to anyone. The brunette hunter was busy undressing Genesis Rhapsodos with her bright green eyes while the latter was bragging about one or the other heroic feats he had committed in the old days, like a hundred years ago.
Or more like before Sephiroth had met him. Because he couldn't remember the redhead doing anything even remotely resembling his recounts.
Exchanging doubtful glances with the pink haired warrior next to him, he couldn't help but drink in those pretty happy smiles she threw him everytime their gazes met.
They decided to go to the movies afterwards. All of them together.
It was one of those action movies on again, everyone seemed to enjoy so much these days and Cloud and Genesis were talking loudly in their seats until Fang finally made the latter shut up with some kisses. It left Cloud Strife to exchange baffled glances with Yuj who sat at his other side with Maqui and Gadhot and Angeal Hewley was stuffing his face with popcorn as was to be expected. Zack and Lebreau were making out as usual and Claire Farron was leaning against Sephiroth, had her head resting on his shoulder and her hand entwined with his.
The sight of them magicked a smile onto Serah Farron's lips.
Her sister and the general were sitting in the row infront of her and it was with genuine delight in her heart that she watched the happy couple's silhuette.
Yes they did look happy, had looked happy all day.
Lighting hadn't come home the night before and she had been absent the whole morning, to then arrive late for lunch, with the silver haired first class's hand clutched in her fingers and a secretive little smile displayed on both of their lips.
Surely it could only mean one thing.
That they had finally managed to overcome their difficulties, that they had finally made up and managed to resolve their conflict, whatever it had been about.
It made Serah feel so infinitely glad.
Finally her sister could experience all the pretty things she had with Snow, all those intimate shared moments and all the wonderful merits a serious relationship had to offer.
And who knew, with two kids growing inside her belly, maybe she was to get married too.
The thought of it, it made Serah's heart beat signigicantly faster.
Oh what a pretty wedding it would be. The two of them made such a perfect couple.
Him... The legendary war hero. Her, the fierce warrioress.
Both with pale immaculate skin and fair exotic hair.
It made Serah's wedding planner heart swoon over possible color choices for their wedding decorations already.
'Oh, it's all so romantic.' she whispered over just for Snow to hear.
The man besides her, head lulling back against his seat, mouth gaping open stupidly, he only gave an uncerimonious mighty snore.
Typical.