"Life is simple. You make choices and you don't look back."
-Han Seoul-Oh
Have you ever loved someone?
I'm not talking about that pathetic 'I have a crush on somebody I totally want to shag' kind of love here or some kind of silly infatuation for another that might last a few weeks or so.
I'm talking about real love.
The kind of love that inseparably bonds you to another human being, fuses your fates, no matter how much you try to evade it, no matter what happens or what that other person does to you. That forges a bond you can never escape, that can't ever be severed. Not even by death.
I assume most of you haven't.
But let me assure you. It´s exactly this kind of love that drove people to do horrendous things in the past, things they'd never thought they'd possibly do even for themselves, for a beloved one.
It was exactly this kind of love that drove her away from home.
That drove her away from what she had left of her family, away from everything she had ever known.
Towards a hazy future.
Towards Midgar.
Leaving all her innocence and youth and dreams behind.
The pink haired woman was lucky and had the pleasure of occupying a seat next to the grimy old window this time.
The sky was a dreary grey colour and it had begun to pour down heavily a few minutes ago. There were large fat raindrops slapping against the dirty cracked glass impairing her vision, as eagerly her icy blue eyes were roaming the horizon. Still. After four days of travelling in that wrecked excuse for a train Claire Farron had finally gotten her first glance at Midgar.
Midgar...
The capital city of Gaia, nothing but a large mass of blinding white electric lights in the distance at that moment, to say it was huge would have been the understatement of the century.
No... Born and raised in the small town of Bodhum the young woman´s hungry eyes had never glimpsed a city quite this big before. Enormous, colossal, intimidating, those were the words she would have used to describe it's vibes.
Meeting her gaze with it´s million mako powered lamps, a monstrosity elevated from it's adjoining wasteland and surrounded by an eerie greenish glow, Midgar lay in wait for her hovering at least a hundred meters from the ground, like some diabolical beast ready to pounce, the top of what Lightning knew to be the Shin-Ra headquarters building resembling it's ugly head.
This, she knew, would be her final destination.
The thought of it instantly sent a shudder running down her spine and she couldn´t shake off that horrible feeling of foreboding that seemed to have settled somewhere in the pitch of her stomach ever since she had set foot on that damned vehicle.
It´s nothing, she kept telling herself again and again. It´s just your nerves...
You´ll be fine, don´t worry. Everything will work out fine.
Repeating those words to herself again and again like a mantra the pink haired girl took a few deep calming breaths, tried to steady her trembling hands, tried to picture a future where everything would run according to her plans, as the city now clearly visible from the window drew closer and closer.
She still wasn´t sure wether she could pull through with this. Still wasn´t sure wether she was doing the right thing. Still wasn´t sure wether she actually wanted this. But no matter which way Lightning turned it, there was no way around it either.
Traveling to Midgar and joining SOLDIER was the only sensible option she had left.
Her mother hadn´t left them any money when she had returned to the planet and her father... Well... Lightning couldn´t even remember his face anymore. She had only been a child.
Steering her mind away from the sadness that threatened to consume her every second these desolate days, the young woman forced the memories of her tragic past back into the deepest recesses of her heart and tried to think of Serah instead.
Serah, her little sister. Now she was all that she had left. And it was her responsibility to care for her now, wasn't it? Who else would make sure the girl had a warm place to sleep and enough to eat? That she got a decent education and a future? Yes, it was her duty now to provide for Serah, her duty to make sure she was safe. And she would do everything to ensure Serah´s safety, wouldn´t she?
She would.
After all she wanted her little sister to grow up whole, wanted to spare her the cruelties of this world, to be happy and cheery and safe.
Yes.
She would make sure Serah had the opportunity to get a good education, to grow and pursue her own dreams. And all that far away from the horrible truth, the pressure, the responsibilities, the hardship and the worries that had so suddenly become Claire Farron´s reality.
She wanted Serah to get the future she could never possibly have, no matter how hard it would be, no matter at what price it would come. The future that had been taken away from her the second her mother had died, that terrible day, when something inside her had been crushed, broken, shattered, never to be whole again.
Sacrificing her pathetic life and dreams for Serah´s future and safety was only a small price to pay, Claire Farron thought.
I will make it into SOLDIER. I will make it into SOLDIER, shekept repeating in her buzzing head, a futile attempt at trying to calm her tortured mind.
Truth be told, she was afraid, no, downright scared, at even the thought of the possibility that she might not make it into SOLDIER.
Joining SOLDIER was her Plan Z, her final hope, her last resort.
Of course there were still other ways to make some money. She was young and not bad looking after all. Many women before her had resorted to much more desperate measures than entering the military. But she couldn´t even bear to consider any of it.
Not yet, when there still were options.
The young pink haired woman was so immersed in her thoughts she didn´t even realize that the train to Midgar had pulled into the Sector 1 train station. It was the hustle and bustle of people trying to get off the train all at once that let her mind snap back to reality.
Relieved she would finally be able to take a breath of fresh unconditined air again Lightning got out fast, gingerly decending the steps onto the platform, just to choke on the unexpected reek of the heavily polluted air. Her lungs burning from the toxic fumes she would soon learn were considered normal morning air in Midgar, the putrid stench, a constant reminder of the permanently working Mako reactors surrounding the city.
I really am a faaaaaaaaaar way from home, Claire Farron thought, her longing to go back kicking in full force as quietly she made her way down the platform and up a set of stone steps leading to a crowded dingy street. And it was quickly stashing her depressing thoughts away that she turned left and set off towards what she knew had to be the Shin-Ra headquarters building.
For Serah.
