Time passed fast. And it was about two months later that she stood there in front of the mirror in their bedroom, dressed in one of the maternity dresses Serah had selected for her all those weeks ago. And she had begun to fill it out too. Suddenly the tent that could have accomodated Angeal Hewley had become the only thing she fit into.
Never would the pink haired first class have imagined she would have to wear something that plus sized, never would she have thought she'd do so voluntarily, but now that she looked at herself in the mirror, herself and her two unborn children, she found she didn't look ugly at all. She looked healthy, happy, good, looked radiant.
With her belly round as a balloon, and her face and arms and legs still relatively normal, she thought that she looked bautiful.
She was a pregnant woman. Was a mother to be. And her body now really showed it.
Suddenly it made her feel proud, strong, mature, made her pretty face beam.
Never would she have imagined her pregnancy would make her feel like that.
Happy. Peaceful. Hopeful for the future.
True, the little tykes there growing in her belly had stretched her limits quite a bit. At least her body's.
Her breasts felt sore and tender, had grown to about twice their size, the skin above her belly stretched, the weight of the two bodies inside her was putting considerate extra strain on the muscles of her back and her spine and she had to use the bathroom what seemed every half an hour now, but still, despite everything, she thought that it was worth it.
Yes. It definitely was.
She was about to make out and into the living room to grab herself some dinner when suddenly she felt a sticky wetness between her tights.
Reaching down beneath her belly to check, she found her fingers come back red.
She was bleeding. Not a lot. Just a few tiny droplets maybe. But still. She was bleeding.
The fact making her head spin, she had to hold on to the dresser for support.
What was going on?
It was much too early for her to go into into labour. Was something wrong with her, something wrong with the babies?
Suddenly her heart began to race, her mind began to reel.
'Sephiroth!'
His name leaving her lips in a desperate wail, it summoned the man up to her side in almost no time at all.
'What's wrong?!' he choked out the moment he came bursting through the doorway, mako eyes alert, features set in worry.
Oh, when had they gottten so easily scared, so careful, so apprehensive?
Somehow Claire Crescent wasn't sure.
It was with trembling sticky fingers that Lightning held out her bloody hand to him.
Icy blue eyes wide with fear, with shock, with terror really, it was only a moment later that she felt her husbands hands on her belly felt the reassuring sensation of the jenova bond tickling through her skin.
His eyes shut tight in concentration, eyebrows furrowed in wonder, Lightning watched his face with bated breath.
'They are okay.' he announced as finally, after what seemed an eternity, he made to look up into her eyes.
'Everything's alright.'
It made the pink haired female breathe a sigh of relief.
For a moment there she'd thought she'd loose them, loose her unborn children, her most valuable treasure, her happy future.
'Spotting can be normal in later stages of pregnancy.' the silver haired first class said as he reached up to stroke her cheek.
'It can also be a sign of some serious complications.' Lightning reminded him instantly.
'But it isn't in your case.' the silver haired first class assured.
'I'd feel that.' he told her sincerely.
'And you'd feel it too.'
One of his hands still resting on her belly, rubbing soothing patterns there, Sephiroth leaned forwards to plant a kiss straight on her lips.
'It is fine.' he said again as he took in her still troubled features.
And it was only as he took her hand to lead her over to the bathroom to get herself cleaned up that Lightning realized how scared she actually was of loosing her babies.
Something she had hoped for, even wished for only a few months ago. Suddenly she dreaded it with all her heart.
It was so weird how in such a short time all these things had changed. How everything had changed for the better.
They were lying on the couch again. As they were doing so often lately. It was the only thing Claire Farron seemed fit to do. With the tiny monsters inside her having grown so much, doing much of a walk was putting too much of strain on her back these days, was rendering her breathless, almost instantly. If only they wouldn't have to take up so much space inside her. It would have been such a huge relief.
The fact that the wheather in Bodhum was still hot and humid even though winter had arrived, it didn't make it easier for her one bit.
She was content lounging inside therefore, in the soothing air conditioning of the room, laying on the couch all day, letting her husband feed her and massage her belly. His touch always calmed the babies, soothed her aching bones. As did the jenova bond. Still. It never lasted for too long. Once he stopped the pains returned, it seemed. Once he was out of reach the torture continued.
Seriously... As much as she dreaded the ordeal of labour still ahead of her, sometimes Lightning found herself wishing she could fast forward to it asap.
'Are they boys or girls?' she asked, her hand going through her husband's hair again, making him look up with a loving smile.
'I thought you were sure they are boys.' he replied somehwat teasingly.
The pink haired woman only shrugged her shoulders.
There was silence for a bit.
'I cannot tell.' Sephiroth aswered sincerely.
It made Lightning give a frustrated sigh.
'Can't you use your jenova bond and ask?' she inquired somehwat impatiently.
It made his smile spread into a tiny smirk.
'I've been trying, but they will not tell.'
Claire Crescent rolled her eyes at him.
'Stubborn bastards just like their father.' she muttered somewhat teasingly.
It made the silver haired first class focus his attention back on her belly again.
He could spend hours it seemed touching her belly, head pressed to her skin, listening to his unborn children's heartbeat, listening to her own all the while, while she patiently sat there gently massaging his temples or his neck, combing through his hair.
It was just so peaceful, was so nice.
Was so much more than he had ever hoped for.
'How much longer will it be. ' Lightning asked him curiously.
It was true. She was longing for the day her children were born, was longing for it more with every single day of this ordeal, that blissful day when finally the excess weight would be liftet from her and her body would slowly start going back to normal, that blissfull day she would see her children's faces for the very first time, would finally find out about their gender.
A part of her was looking forwards to it like she never had to anything. But there was also another part, that tiny whiny part of her she tried to push away at most times, that feared that day like it feared nothing else.
She didn't have to be an expert to know that just like a pregnancy, giving labour was not a walk in the park either, was infact a ride through hell more likely.
'I don't know.' the general admitted truthfully.
'A few more weeks. Maybe two or three.'
It made Claire Farron swallow hard.
Two or three weeks more was a very long time when you were bursting at the seams, and your body hurt on every end. Still. That tiny repressed part of her cringed at the tought of impeding doom.
'I am scared.' Lightning admitted sometwhat reluctantly.
It was stupid of course. She had been a soldier, a warrior. She had thought in countless battles, had stomached quite a few potentially fatal injuries, had fucking died and resurrected. She had endured so many things already, surely she could endure this pregnancy, surely she could survive giving birth.
'I'll be there with you.' the first class promised.
Big green mako eyes looking up at her again, making her stare into his.
'I'll do everything I can to mend your pain. I'll do everything to keep you safe. All of you.' he said sincerely.
It made Lightning pull him up for another kiss.
They had decided against going to a hospital, had decided against seeing any doctors, against getting a midwife even. The risk was just too high. The risk of anyone finding out about their jenova secret, about their children's true identity.
And being honest with herself, Lightning couldn't see what good they could do.
Sephiroth was right of course. His presence alone was worth more than a whole team of trained doctors.
If something happened to her or the kids, there was noone better fit to help them than him. He could always heal her, heal her kids. Hell, he could cut the damn things out of her body with a blade and heal her back together in no time at all if the need arose. All that in the matter of a few seconds. Maybe a minute.
And he could heal their kids too if something was wrong with them, before any doctor would have found out what was going on in the first place.
And there was more.
She trusted him. Trusted him with all her heart.
He'd never let anything happen to them, never let harm come to them. She believed in that with every fibre of her being, believed in that like she did in nothing else.
As long as she was with him she was safe. And so were their kids. Nothing bad could happen to them, nothing could harm them, as long as they were all together.
Never had Claire felt more grateful for their jenova bond.
'Sephiroth. I cannot do it. I just can't.'
The silver haired first class looking up at her with huge green eyes it was with the brush of his warm smooth fingers that he took her wound away.
She had been careless again, had grazed her arm on the rough surface of the house facade as she'd lost her balance on her way down the steps to the back lawn, had infact almost fallen. Her unpleasant encounter with the wall the only thing that had kept her from tumbling down the stairs, it had resulted into the whole lenght of her forearm being grazed and open and raw.
It was just a petty price to pay, she knew.
She had been inattentive as she'd walked there, inattentive as she took the steps, had let her mind roam elsewhere instead of focusing on the task at hand. Now she mentally facepalmed herself for it.
Being inattentive while walking a set of stairs, it was something inacceptable now that she was with child.
She'd expected him to be angry therefore. She was infact angry with herself. Had expected him to lecture her on her carelessness, her inattention, at the very least, but instead the silver haired man of her dreams had simply seized the opportuniy to ake her practise her healing skills again.
Well. It was it's own kind of punishment.
The graze in her arm dotted with dirt particles from the wall sticking in her skin, the first few layers of epidermis gone completely, it was with her flesh burning in protest, that she tried to concentrate.
It was no use of course as usual. No matter how hard she tried, her attempts proved about as fruitful as would be teaching a Behemoth balett.
'You just have to try harder.' her silver haired torturer urged.
'You gotta focus.'
She was perched inside a beach chair now and he was kneeling right infront of her, holding her arm inside his hands, tracing soothing patterns on her palm, while all the time the skin on her forearm burned as though in flames.
He had stopped cutting himself after she had started to cry the last time he had tried to teach her and without going on missions anymore Lightning had not exactly had a lot of opportunities to practise.
'I can't... I... Please just mend it.' she finally said.
The silver haired first class looking up at her sympathetically, there was the by now familiar pressure of his hand on her wound and the short flare-up of pain, which then made to fade into nothingness.
'I'm sorry.' Lightning said somewhat disappointedly. She was disappointed at herself. Disappointed at her lack of caution, more than at ther lack of healing skills.
She had long given up upon the latter to be honest.
'It's okay.' her husband assured her somewhat understandingly.
Was he talking about the fact that she had gotten herself hurt, had infact almost fallen, or about her abysmal healing skills, the lack of effort she'd been putting into it from the beginning?
Somehow Claire Crescent wasn't sure.
But from then on he didn't let her take the stairs alone. Insisted to be at her side at all times, holding her hand and supporting her.
It made Lightning feel both very flattered and also very stupid.
She was a battle experienced warrior. Surely she could walk the stairs alone.
Still, she didn't say a thing, didn't open her mouth once to complain. Secretly appreciated his strong supportive arms everytime she took those steps.
It was nice to have him at her side after all. Was nice to see how much he cared.
It was another perfect sunny saturday afternoon. The sky was as cloudless as ever and the soft seabreeze was just enough to provide some relief from the humid all year summer air.
The Crescents had decided to invite people over for a BBQ, had infact been planning it for almost a fortnite and their cozy backyard was filled with convenient folding tables and camping chairs they had borrowed from the neighbourhood watch. The garden was bustling with people and there were tentative tiny smoke signals coming from the grill already.
Lightning found herself bombarded with congratulations and questions and curious gazes, was busy playing the tourguide on the Crescent estate for every new guest that arrived. Most of her friends had not seen their house yet, were eager to discover every room and cranny, kept her on her heels, and it was a nice change for her, having the chance to socialize for once, to do something else than just sit around all day, stuffing her belly and reading books about pregnancy and raising kids.
Because yes. That was what she was basically doing these days. Every day. All day long. That and taking long extensive shopping spree at the mall with Serah, Yuj and Cloud seemed like aeons ago and her weddingday like something from a different lifetime. The truth was the heavily pregnant woman didn't have a lot of chances to hang out with other people now that going out of the house had become more and more of an ordeal.
It had been with a decent amount of excitement therefore that she'd been looking forward to that day, had been with anticipation that she had awaited the first guests to arrive.
Well. They were almost complete now.
Angeal and Snow were over at the porch preparing the grill while she had been busy showing around Genesis, Fang and Snow's sister Cristal and they had just reached the backyard, when finally Zack and Lebreau arrived, the latter juggling two plates of cake she'd brought from work and a baby blue parcle Lightning suspected to contain more diapers.
Yes. For some strange reason people seemed to be mistaking the BBQ party for a baby shower and were besieging them with baby stuff for their already bursting nursery.
Well. She was not going to complain. All those things, they would soon come in handy, would soon be of use.
Also Lightning found it kind of sweet. The way they all seemed to look out for her, for her kids.
'Fuck, you've grown fat.' Zack stated as some kind of greeting, giving her one long critical once over and making Lebreau hit him over the head with one of her cake plates.
'Ouch! What?!' the taktless puppy yelped instantly.
Lebreau only shook her head.
'You can be such a dick sometimes.' she said, looking at her fiancé reproachfully.
'That's okay. I'm used to it.' Lightning said somewhat dismissively as ignoring Zack's last statement, she took one of the trays from her and brought them over to a side table bevor she went back to the other's to finish her tour of the back yard.
It was true of course, what Zack had sad. She had grown rather fat indeed. Her belly was filling the dress out nicely she had once thought of as a circus tent, and maneuvring around the house and garden had become incresingly more lebourious, more exhausting really. So had sitting and lying and lounging and everything, actually.
It really was time they two got out of her.
Time she'd loose some of those excess pounds.
'OMG what a lovely patch of land! You could build a vegetable patch here.' Snow's sister Crystal pointed out as they concluded their tour of the backyard at the patch of lawn between the house and the garden fence that ran the whole leght of their property.
'If you start right now you'll get you first harvest by summer.'
Oh Crystal...
Lightning wasn't sure who had brought her along exactly but it had probably been Angeal. The two of them seemed to be getting along exceptionally well ever since their meeting at Lightning's wedding. Seemed to have been spending time together too increasingly.
Claire Farrron only rollled her eyes.
Having her hands propped on the small of her back to try and support her aching back, she gave a ridiculed sigh.
In her current state she could barely move around anymore, let alone get down on her knees. She had no idea how long this would continue, how long her body would take to get back in shape after she'd finally given birth.
How in Etro's name was she supposed to build a vegetabele patch right now?!
'Maybe sometime later.' she said somewhat amicably, if only for Angeal's sake.
Turning around to head back to the house she found Cloud and Zack over at the porch with the guys from the neighbourhood watch teaching them to do squats, while Serah and Lebreau were busy giggling and staring at their well toned claves.
It made Lightning thankful for being indisposed like she was or they might have forced her doing squats too.
Zack and Cloud, they hadn't given up on their idea of their Bodhum fitness center, no, not at all, had actually begun looking at suitable places and had begun picking the furnishings, equipment and colors for the walls and floorboards and training suits for members with Yuj and Genesis.
They had brainstormed ideas for events too and begun designing names and logos.
Somehow it was all starting to take form and it was a good thing too. Lightning would definitely need a fitness center to get back in shape once the whole pregnancy ordeal was over.
And it would be over soon.
That much she knew for sure.
Somehow she could not await the day. The glorious day when finally the excess weight would be lifted from her and she would finally be able to get her body back in shape.
Well, she wouldn't have to wait too much longer.
A week or two at tops, a few days at best.
One could never know for sure. Not even with the jenova bond.
Entering the house through one of the living room's open glass panes she found Sephiroth busy preparing food stuff in the kitchen.
The sound of approching footsteps making him look up, he gave her one of his loving smiles, Lightning had come to adore so much.
'Did you just take those stairs all alone.' he asked her somewhat sternly, raising one of his eyesbrows in disaproval.
'I did.' Lightning answered, feeling rather daring.
It made the man infront her shake his head, made him focus on his work again.
Walking over to the kitchen counter Claire Crescent approached her husband on bare feet to gently hug him from behind, an increasingly difficult to accomplish task now that her belly had become so big.
It made the silver haired man turn around, made him look into her eyes.
'How is it going?' he asked her, arms coming up to hug her back.
'It's exhausting.' Claire Farron answered truthfully.
'I wish I could just go back to bed.'
It made the silver ahired first class emit a tiny chuckle.
'We haven't even eaten yet.' he tried to reason with her.
Claire Crescent only growned.
'Oh come on, all your friends are there. You've been looking forward to this so much. You should enjoy yourself.' her husband reminded.
'All my friends and Fang and Snow's sister.' Lightning corrected bitterly.
'Oh come on. Surely they can't be that bad.' Sephiroth said, raising his pretty silver brows at her.
'She suggested we should build a vegetable path in the back yard.' his wife offered as some way of explanation.
'I mean, really?'
'That's actually a nice idea.' the general answered, sounding fond of the idea.
It made Lightning pull a face at him.
'What, you do not like her?' Sephiroth inquired curiously, trying to stifle a smile that was threatening to spread on his face upon witnessing his wife's antics.
Claire Farron only shrugged her shoulders.
'Well... Angeal does.' she explained somewhat casually.
It made the silver haired first class finally grow pensive.
'It's good to see him in some company.' he finally said. 'I was kinda scared he wouldn't manage to find someone. He deserves it so much.'
'They both eat like horses.' his wife threw in somewhat incredulously.
'Well, at least they've got soemthing in common then.' Sephiroth smirked.
It made the pink haired female crack a smile.
'What about you, hungry?' he asked, turning around and picking up a strawberry to pop it into her mouth.
'All the time.' she answered as she munched them greedily.
Dinner was a cheery affair.
All the dishes that had been prepared going like hot cakes, everyone was busy supplying themselves with meat and fish and roasted veggies and bread and sauces and topings and of course wine. Well. Everyone except Lightning. Of course there was no wine for her. The expecting woman contented herself with a glass of juice instead.
Suddenly she was glad she hadn't gone back to sleep for real..
The good mood of her friends had somehow energized her and the plate of extra seafood her husband had set in front of her had liffted the mother to be's mood significantly.
Suddenly everything was exactly as it should be. Everything was nice, harmonious, beautiful.
Angeal Hewley and his newfound girlfriend dug in as thought they hadn't eaten in three days and Genesis was scrunching up his nose as usual and spiking his drink with the obligatory shot from his hidden hip flask, looking rather sullen at the current seating arrangements which had put him exactly opposite Gadhot who was disecting his grilled lobster with his hunting knife and sending pieces of crustacean flying everywhere.
Cloud and Yuj were sitting together somewhat aside, talking quietly and occassionally feeding each other forks of barbecued shellfish.
Zack and Lebreau were involved in a discussion with Serah and Fang, and Snow and Maqui were fighting over a piece of grilled chocobo Angeal and Crystal who had already finfished their first plates were already eying hungrily.
Somehow everything was as it used to be. And somehow everything was different.
Chewing on his piece of Gorgonopsid General Sephiroth Crescent couldn't help but be reminded of their shared dinners in Midgar, of those shared parties and nights spent out in the slums at seventh heaven. So many things had changed since then, had changed for the better.
Lightning and him were a married couple now. Awaiting their first children. They lived in a beach house in the paradisic village of Bodhum. They had all made so many new friends too, had extended their family to include Serah and Snow and Lebreau and the others from the neighbourhood watch as well.
They were hosting BBQ parties now, were thinking about vegetable patches. Things that would have seemed unimaginable merely a few months ago, preposterous really.
Yes, some things had really changed. A lot.
Yet so many things were still the same. Zack was still publicly displaying his fondness for pretty girls on every possibly occassion, Angeal was still eating like a pig, Genesis was still a diva and Cloud was still gay.
And there was of course the looming threat of death, of battle, of impeding doom, still dangling above his head like it had always used to. There was his mako addiction, the reactor, the beasts, the uncertainty of what would follow next.
Some things you couldn't leave behind it seemed, no matter how much time would pass, no matter how far you tried to run.
It was the thought of it that made him finish his dinner early, made him browse the tables to pick up some of the dishes and remains, the few left over pieces that had not fallen vitim to Crystal and Angeal.
Carrying them all back to the kitchen on his own he took a few moments to reflect on the happy scene outside, the unknown danger lurking at the heart of the forest waiting to descend on them.
It made his stomach churn uncomfortably, made the muscles in his chest constrict.
He'd been trying to push those thoughts away all day, had been doing so for weeks now, months. Had been trying to focus on all the good things instead, the pregnancy, the wedding, his relationship with Light, still it was no use. The problems would not solve themselves.
Coward. The voices in his head provided readily.
Somehow he thought that they were right.
The danger in the forests were real and so was the threat. It was time he looked it in the eye.
Still he found he couldn't do it. Could not do it alone.
The thought had occured to him before.
That maybe he should share his knowledge with the others. Zack, Genesis and Angeal. Should at least share it with her. Lightning.
Coward.
Liar.
Killer.
The voices in his head trying to distract him, he quickly reminded himself that he could not possibly do that.
No.
This was his fight, his problem, his responsibility.
He couldn't get involved any of the others, couldn't endanger them, could not endanger her.
He had almost lost her already in the last fight in the forest. But it really could have hit anybody. Genesis, Angeal, Zack even him.
It had been a lucky coincidence nobody had died then and somehow he wasn't sure they would be all that lucky again.
Plus there was something else.
The thing in the reactor wanted him. Him and nobody else. There was no reason to pull anyone else into this. He had no right to do that.
'Is everything alright?' Claire Crescent piped up form behind him.
It made him turn back to reality, made him turn around look at her a little startled.
'Have you taken those steps all by youself again?' he asked somewhat incredulously as he took in his wife's heavily pregnant form.
Claire Crescent gave him a mischievous smile.
'I'm actually more sure footed than you think.'
The silver haired fist class rewarded her ridiculous statement with a withering stare.
'Please stop doing that, it's dangerous.' he said somewhat pleadingly as the woman infront of him approached him.
Lightning only furrowed her forehead.
'Sephiroth what's worng?' she asked as she reached up for his face that just a minute ago had been lined with worry, with concern, with dread.
Something was bothering him, she could tell.
Something beyond the usual nightmares, the ptsd, the memories, the crushing self hate, the remorse.
Yes. There was something more. Something she could feel but couldn't put her finger on. Something she couldn't quite grasp, understand.
None of it made sense.
The silver haired frst class turned his face away, avoided her gaze by looking out into the back yard.
'I'm sorry Ligh, I cannot tell you.'
It was true, he couldn't. Couldn't even if he wanted.