Summer passed fast and turned into early autumn. Not that it made much difference in Midgar exept the temperatures maybe.

There hadn't been any more incidents with the wutai but somehow the collective mood was tense, anxious.

The streets were quiet these days, even in the slums.

It seemed as though the whole city was holding it's breath, bracing itself for the blow that would surely come some of these days.

General Sephiroth Crescent was watching it all as a distant observer. He knew the wutai would attack one day or the other, was ready for them should they decide to come. He was not nervous, was not tense. He knew what wars were like. Had enough first hand experience. Especially with the wutai. And he knew there was no use in fretting over what could be. What would come would come, there was no way to change that now. Not anymore. And he would deal with stuff along the way.

Shin-Ra didn't think along the same line though. With all the signs pointing towards a new war against the wutai they were getting fidgety up there at HQ, were getting desperate.

Noone knew where the wutai forces lay gathered exactly or they would just have sent the turks to bomb hell out of that place again. And that was just the problem. With the enemy invisible like this all Shin-Ra really could do was wait.

Sephiroth and his comrades were hardly sent to misssions anymore, lest the wutai chose that point in time to attack. Which all in all would have been a very clever move in the general's opinion.

Maybe that was the reason they were stalling in the first place. After their infiltration of the main buidling had ended in a massacre for them maybe they were scared now of the Shin-Ra defense forces. President Shin-Ra certainly thought that.

But Sephiroth wasn't so sure.

The wutai weren't stupid. At least not that stupid. Of that Sephiroth was sure. Whatever they had wanted to achieve, it had had nothing to do with taking over HQ or killing the president.

There was no point at all in trying to take over HQ, considering they could never possibly hold it. And had they wanted to assasinate the president they could have easily done so by sending just a single man or a small well organized team.

No, that attack on HQ must have served a different purpose.

Firstly it had been a warning.

Hey guys. Here we are. And we have enough numbers to let them get slaughtered like this. Beware.

And secondly, and of that Sephiroth was sure as well, it had been a distraction manoeuvre.

While the whole entrance hall and lobby had been completely destroyed and the wutai had penetrated the building all the way up to skyview hall, president Shin-Ra had assured them all there was nothing the wutai had taken. Nothing at all.

General Sephiroth Crescent though had a feeling that this was far from the truth.

While most of the battle had taken place in the lobby and the exhibition room and some wutai had infiltrated the rest of the building to cause mayhem wherever they went, a not insignificant number of them had forced themselves entry to floor 45, the floor for advanced weaponry. They had gone straight up there with the elevators while the others had caused a diversion. That must have been the reason why the elevators had been stuck there too. The wutai must have blocked them once they'd reached the floor so noone would budge in on them too quickly. That had been the reason it had taken Lightning and Zack so long to arrive. The reason they had had to take the stairs.

All in all it did make sense. And it also did explain a lot of things.

Why Shin-Ra had been sending them out to gather that materia from the bunker for example.

That mission had been fishy busines from the beginning.

Sephiroth wasn't stupid.

They had known exactly where the materia was located. And they had sent him.

They had sent him to dig around in their buried Shin-Ra secrets because they knew he would not betray them. He was one of their dirtiest secrets himself after all, wasn't he?

That abandoned bunker, it had looked a lot like a once active underground test reactor hadn't it? With all those tubes and stuff...

And there was something else.

That mechanic killer machine he had faced there... Only Shin-Ra had the technology to build something like this. Noone else.

They had probably hidden that materia there because it was dangerous. So dangerous they were scared of it. And they had left that thing to guard it to make sure noone could take it.

Noone but him.

That was why they wanted him to find it. Not some turks or one of the others. Because they knew he was the only one who could deal with it.

Why didn't they insert a kill switch or something when assembling this thing?!

They could at least have given him a word of caution. A little forewarning would have been quite nice.

Either way. That thing, that materia, whatever it was, it was back at HQ now. And that could only mean one thing.

The wutai had taken something. Something valuable. A weapon. Or maybe plans on how to build them. Or maybe worse. Floor 45 also contained the Shin-Ra archives, didn't it? The place Shin-Ra kept all their important documents in. The wutai might have gathered knowledge. And it was scaring Shin-Ra's top rows shitless. That was why they were gathering everything they had, all their dirty secrets, all their crazy inventions wasn't it?

They were a) trying to keep things out of wutai hands and/or b) they were at this very moment trying desperately to create something new. Something that would give them the upper hand in the next wutai war once it began. And they were running out of time too.

Had they come up with something already? A new more terrible blend of mass destruction?

General Sephiroth Crescent had no idea.

All he knew was that the wutai would be coming. Sooner or later they would.

He was ready. He always was.

The only thing he had left to do now was prepare his student too.

Lightning was not ready for a war. Was far from it actually. Sephiroth was aware. And it was his duty to change that. To prepare her as best as he could. Prepare her for something nothing could possibly prepare you for.

Prepare her for the second wutai war.


Late summer turned to autumn and autumn turned to winter.

For Claire Farron it didn't matter much. She spent most of her time in Shin-Ra HQ these days anyway.

There were hardly any missions anymore and Sephiroth made her do extra shifts in the simulation training room almost every day.

They had progressed to battle simulations of the past wutai war now and when she wasn't fighting her way through hords of savage wutai troopers he made her run through other postwar wutai operations so she would get herself familiar with the enemy, could study their fighting style, their skills, their general behaviour.

A lot of wutai fought with spears instead of swords. So that was something Lightning had to take extra care of. Having been prepared for swordfight during most of her training in SOLDIER dealing with their long range weapons wasn't exactly the easiest of tasks and warranted the learning of a whole new set of advanced techniques and skills.

A wutai trooper could skewer you with that spear before you even had the chance to reach him if you weren't careful and Lightning could definitely see now why her sensei favoured his precious Masamune. A pain in the arse to handle that weapon might be in a normal swordfight but if you needed range Masamune was a gem.

Not that Lightning would have ever dared to handle a blade like that. She preferred to stick with her blazefire sabre. It had a few nice plus points too when it came to longe range use. It could shoot bullets after all. And as far as she knew the wutai weren't bullet proof yet. At least they weren't in the simulations.

All in all with Sephiroth's instructions she was getting better and better at evading their deadly strikes, at breaking their formations, at overpowering them even in close quarter combat. She was a mako enhanced super soldier after all. All the wutai had were numbers.

Still, Lightning was not looking forward to fighting in a war at all. One might not have believed it but there in fact were people who did.

The pink haired female passed them everyday. A group of young lanky second class soldiers meeting up in the dining hall or in a corner of the commons where they would stay up unitl late at night downing smuggled in whiskey and singing battle songs, bragging about how they could not wait for the wutai to arrive and how they would be promoted to first class once they took down a whole battalion of enemies all by themselves to anyone who'd listen.

Some people clearly couldn't wait to die.

Either way. All in all that time was not a cheery one.

There was no secret halloween party that year either, not much time for joy.

Since the wutai attack patrols were constantly roaming the corridors and the streets of Midgar. There were guards everywhere and heavy attilery had been installed at all the citygates.

On top of it all director Lazard had come up with the idea of daily morning assemblies where he read out shedules alound and ticked off everyone's name on an endless list.

With training, guarding and patrols noone had time for secret parties. And noone would have been in the mood either.

It was in the late hours of Christmas eve that Claire Farron found herself in the simulation training room running through one of those past wutai mission all by herself to get in some extra training.

It was the bleakest Christmas she had ever had.

Everyone was wearing tight expressions and there were no decorations or free givaway sweets in the buidling's entrance hall this year. No fake plastic christmas tree and no president Shin-Ra in a father Christmas costume.

Sheathing Blaze Edge, Lightning took a short break to marvel at the scenery.

She was standing on the top tower of an infiltrated wutai fortress and before her stretched out the wutai lands and forests, tinged into the golden hues of sundown as if painted by the hands of god.

Marveling at the beauty of it, the perfection, the pink haired female climbed up onto the banister and let her feet dangle down the other side, the animated wutai lifestock down below gazing up at her with surprisingly vivid eyes.

The wutai lands were peaceful, where so clean. There were no toxic mako fumes polluting the air and no clouds of exhaust gases darkening the sky.

Somehow Lightning couldn't blame them for not wanting Shin-Ra to plaster their forests with mako reactors.

Because really, that was what the wutai war was all about wasn't it?

All the wutai wanted was keep their land clean. And to stay out of Shin-Ra's world domintaion plans. Why couldn't Shin-Ra just leave them in peace?

'Because they're a bunch of megalomaniac assholes.' came Zack Fair's voice from right behind her.

It made Claire Farron jump and almost tumble down to the wutai stables.

'ZACK! What the fuck are you doing here?! You scared the living daylights out of me!' Claire Farron admitted accusingly.

'I came here to train. But what exactly are you doing here? Talking to your invisible friends?'

Lightning felt her cheeks flush pink.

Had she actually been talking aloud?!

She must have been.

'I've just been thinking.' she explained after some time.

'Thinking's never done anyone much good.' Zack Fair said joining her on top of the balustrade.

'But fuck. It is beautiful up here. I have never noticed.'

'Yes. It's weird right? We've been through all those training simulations a countles times already but we're always so preoccupied with the task at hand that we never stop to take in the scenery. It's a pitty really. And look what an amazing job they have done. The cows down there actually have eyes. And they look up at you from time to time when you sit down here. As if the 3D modelers actually anticipated somebody would sit here and look down.'

Her dark haired comrade only stared at her.

'Are you okay?' he asked after a short while.

'Yes... No... I don't know.' Lightning replied honestly.

She didn't really know for sure.

'There's so much going on these days. With the war ahead and everything. I don't know.'

'Yes... I know what you mean...' Zack said sympathetically.

'Imagine how Cloud must feel...'

They both sat there for some time in silence studying the sky and the trees and the fields, that beautiful scene caught in it's eternal sundown.

It was easy to loose time in a place like this, to loose all sense of reality, of self.

With all that beauty all that peace, it was easy to forget there was a war waiting out the doors of the simulation training room.

'Maybe we should leave. We aren't doing anything productive anyway. And we have a war to prepare for.' Lightning finally said after what felt like hours in a grave but determined voice.

'Hey cheer up. It's Chrismas!' Zack tried to lift the mood.

'I even got a christmas present for you!' He said as he got up to follow her down the wutai fortress's highest tower.

'It's in my pants.'

Claire Farron turned to give him the most incredulous look the world had ever seen in it's entire existence.

'Okay, okay. I'm only joking. But hey, you cracked a smile. Almost.'

They had made it to the deserted inner bailey of the fortress and had almost reached the gates when suddenly Zack caught her arm.

'Wait.'

Claire Farron turned to give her comrade a questioning look.

'What is it, another christmas present?' she began jokingly.

But her dark haired comrade didn't laugh. Instead he held his head cocked to the side, listening hard to the warm soft summer breeze.

It was then that Lightning did notice it too. Staying still herself she found the ground was shaking, vibrating slightly. Listening to the winds she could hear the distant sound of breathing, of leather rubbing against metal, of hurried footsteps. Lots of them.

'What in Etro's name is this?' she asked in confusion.

'The wutai cavalry.' Zack answered her gravely.

It was about two seconds later that the fortress's front gates burst open to let in a wave of heavily armed wutai forces all bent on eliminating their enemy targets.

Overwhelmed by sheer numbers the both of them found themselves back to back, cornered in the middle of the fortress's yard, their swords out ready, surrounded by about a hundred wutai fighters brandishing their spears at them.

Lightning had never been more suprised in her life. She hadn't reconed with a cavalry. She had in fact never stayed in this very simulation long enough to engage any of them.

Either way. Zack and her clearly were outnumbered. By a lot. And they were in the worst possible location of the fortress to deal with something like that too. It would have been a lot easier to deal with them from one of the watchtowers or in one of the corridors where only a certain number of them could come at you at once. But this...

They had to somehow scatter them. Lightning was aware. And so was Zack. Fighting outnumbered like that, it wasn't exactly an easy task. And their enemies carrying spears, it didn't make things any easier either.

'Honor and dreams.' Zack muttered and then he striked.

They fought bravely, battling the wutai back to back.

Lightning took three of them down with some well aimed shots, then brought up Blaze Edge's blade to shield herself from an incoming spear.

It was just in time that she managed to sidestep the deadly spearheads trust at her by several wutai troopers simultanously when she was suddenly hurled to the side by something heavy and feathery.

Suddenly there were mounted soldiers riding on blood red chocobos, slicing the air with thin long swords or stabbing at them from above with their usual deadly spears.

Loosing her balance from the impact Claire Farron tumbled to the ground and down a small step of stair leading to the wutai cellars.

Shit.

Twisting her ankle awkwardly, she came up back to her feet just in time to ready her weapon for the next assault.

Some wutai had followed down the stairs and they were approaching her now, brandishing their spears mencingly.

Taking aim, the pink haired female pulled the trigger. Pulled in repeatedly, but nothing happened.

She was out of ammo.

Fuck.

Retreating further into the belly of the wutai fortress, Lightning found more and more enemies following her from the grounds above.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

What had she gotten herself into again?

She needed to get out of there. Fast. And she needed to find Zack.

It was only a second later that her back hit solid wall.

And Lightning knew that she was screwed.

At least a dozend wutai troppers had gathered in front of her now. Shiny spearheads thrust in her direction. And she had no bullets left.

They were keeping their distance, were too far from her to do any damage with her sword, and they were closing in on her, cornering her.

There was no way to run for her, no way to bolt, and she saw no opportunity to break their formation again, not with all those spearheads pointed at her chest, not with several rows of them between her and the exit.

What was she going to do?

They were going to skewer her. To roast her on a stick like Angeal had done with that one boar for dinner.

Her heart racing crazily inside her chest, eyes darting back and thro among her enemies, to Lightning it all happened in slow motion.

There were the wutai fighters in their front row, getting down on one knee, spears still stretched out towards her and there were those behind them, pulling back their arms and readying their weapons for a throw.

She saw the sweat on their arms, the tone of their strained muscles, the well coordinated movement, it almost looked like a balette. A well rehearsed choreography. And it was.

The well rehearsed formation of a killer squad, tackling a fiend several times their strenght.

Witnessing it all with an odd feeling of detachment, Lightning watched the men infront her prepare for their strike, watched them moving in for the kill.

There was nothing she could do.

There was a command from one of the men in the front row and suddenly the spears hurtled towards her.

Claire Farron was ready.

Ready to die.

It was only a moment before those spears hit target that suddenly the formation to her side was broken and something impacted heavily with her shoulder, throwing her sideways and sending her flying through the air.

Rolling acrooss the ground several times the pink haired soldier finally landed hard with her back on the sterile concrete floor of the simulation training room, something heavy crashing on top of her and knocking all air out of her body.

For a second she lost all orientation, her ears went deaf and big bright stars exploded in her vision, then slowly, reluctantly her senses were coming back to her.

'Mission aborted.' big bluish letters spelled in front of her eyes.

She was sprawled on the grey hard floor of the simulation training room, her VR gear askew on her head and Zack Fair lying on top of her.

They were both breathing hard.

His face jammed tightly against her cheek, headgear pressing into her's uncomfortably, his arms wound around her tightly in a very protective kind of way, Lightning found her fingers buried deeply in the fabric of his worn out soldier shirt.

Somehow she didn't feel like letting go.

For a few minutes the two of them just lay there, holding on to each other tightly, waiting for their lungs to catch their breaths.

It took a while for reality to sink in.

They were in the simulation training room.

Not in that wutai fortress.

She was alive and breathing. Not perforated by wutai spears.

She had forgotten she'd been fighting in a simulation. Lightning almost couldn't believe it.

In the heat of battle everything had seemed so real.

Zack must have aborted the mission before things had gotten out of hand.

Zack...

It was just then that the guy lying on top of her lifted his head, propped himself up on his forarms and took off his gear to look at her.

His body was still pressed on top of her's as he regarded her with surprised sky blue eyes.

Sometimes Zack forgot his comrade was a girl.

Well.

Lying on top of her like that the dark haired second class realized in horror that his body definitely seemed to have noticed. Probably feeling it too his female comrade blushed deeply underneath him.

Expecting her to push him off, to teach him a lesson and threaten to castrate him maybe, Zack Fair couldn't have been more astonished when instead of being rude the woman beneath him simply moved to take off her headset and said: 'Thank you.'

Her pretty ice blue eyes looking up at him expectantly, Zack Fair fought the inexplicable urge to just lean down and kiss her.

'Well... Merry christmas.' Zack Fair said as he lingered on top of his friend a little longer, took his time to study his comrade's ice blue eyes, the shape of her small pinkish lips.

'Merry Christmas, Zack.' Lightning replied before finally they both made to get back onto their feet.


It was the evening of December 31th, that Claire Farron found herself in front of her private bathroom mirror, trying to style her hair into a fancy updoe to make herself look a bit more female, a bit more festive.

She couldn´t believe another year had passed that fast.

Anyways, this time she was not going to feel stupid and out of place in front of the whole Shin-Ra staff in her baggy SOLDIER uniform, while all the other girls sported festive gowns. No. This time she was prepared.

She hadn´t only made the effort to visit Midgar´s noblest tailor to obtain the most beautiful gown she had ever owned, she had also bought a small assembly of makeup, as well as matching shoes for the occasion.

It was the first time that she had actually used her wages to buy something for herself. She´d been provided with everything she needed from the Shin-Ra electric power company so she hadn't exactly needed anything. Until then that was.

She did feel a little bit guilty not sending all the money back to Serah. But she had received double wages for December anyway.

Watching her reflection in her bathroom mirror the pink haired second class wished her sister could be there to witness her transformation as carefully she put on the long dark purple dress, it´s silky fabric caressing her soft pale skin, and started to apply a light coat of makeup to her eyes and cheeks. She really could have needed some help with her hair and makeup. That much was for sure.

Serah always loved to do stuff like this.

Lightning herself had never had the time nor patience for any of it. Well, there was not really anyone she could have asked for help in SOLDIER. Though she could have tried Cloud or maybe Genesis she realized at an afterthought.

Looking back into the mirror, Claire Farron checked on her reflection one final time.

Her bangs fell around her face in soft pink curls and her eyelids were shaded in beautiful colors that matched her teint. She found she liked how the dress was accentuating her female attributes without being too revealing and she liked the matching kitten heeled shoes until she had put them on and made her way out of her private quarters and towards the elevators that was.

Walking in those things was a lot more difficult than she would have thought. The pink haired soldier was used to wearing her combat boots about 24/7 now.

She couldn´t help but feel awkward and self-conscious in her new clothes and she almost turned to go back to her room to change into her SOLDIER uniform, when suddenly a 'BING' announced the elevator´s arrival, it´s huge grey doors opening for her only a second later.

'Ah, good evening Mademoiselle...' she was promptly greeted by the sight of Heidegger's prominent belly protuding heavily from his forest green suit.

Oh no. Not this guy.

Martin Heidegger.

Lightning didn´t know a lot about him. All she´d heard was that he was some important member of the Public Safety Department and the rumours that he´d been after Lazard´s position for ages.

That and that he considered himself a real ladykiller.

Well, Lightning definitely didn't agree with the last part as being forced to share the elevator with the man in question she almost cringed in disgust as the fat old leech let his lascivious gaze unrestrictedly roam her body.

'What gives me the pleasure of sharing this ride with a beautiful lady like yourself?' the man inquired, inching closer with every word he said.

Pervert.

'Second Class SOLDIER Farron, making her way up to the New Year´s celebrations, Sir!' she informed him, quickly saluting and then hitting the 'up' button.

'Ahh...Farron. I´ve heard about you of course. So finally I have the pleasure of meeting you face to face.' her new companion said, his voice sickly-sweet, a wide grin forming on his face.

'The pleasure is on my side, Sir!' Lightning lied out of courtesy.

'Stand easy SOLDIER, no need to maintain formalities in here, heh?' Heidegger cooed, his eyes twinkling at her suggestively.

'Thank you, Sir.' Lightning stammered, trying hard to stay as neutral as she could as dearly she wished the elevators to speed up.

Next to that lecherous individual Lightning felt vulnerable, naked, and that damned tight cut dress revealing her cleavage was doing very little to comfort her.

She should have sticked with her uniform after all.

'A beautiful young lady like yourself isn´t going to attend this party alone, heh? You can join me of course! We could have a little... Private party...' Heidegger tried as to Lightning's horror he stepped a little closer still.

She was saved the discomfort of finding an answer to this no doubt immoral offer of his as to her great relief the elevator doors flew open and she found herself face to face with Cloud Strife, who leaning next to the elevators was presumably waiting for Tifa.

Never had she been happier to see him.

'There you are, Cloud!' she cried as she threw herself at him, eager to escape Heidegger´s advances, whom she quickly left to find himself another plaything.

'Hey Cloud! Who is that beauty you´ve brought?!' Lightning heard Zack ask playfully as he approached them from behind.

'Huh?! Wha -aat - Wait..Lightning?' her black haired comrade spluttered, obviously surprised, as he took in her appearance.

'Is that really you!?' he asked, rubbing at his eyes in disbelieve.

The pink haired female in the purple dress, she couldn´t stifle a giggle at her friend's childish antics, as hitting him on the shoulder hard, she confirmed her identity.

'Shit, I´ve got to call Aerith and tell her I´ve found myself another date!' Zack joked, twinkling his sky blue eyes at her in a very playful way.

'No, seriously Light. You look great!'

The female second class couldn´t help but blush.

Their shared evening in the simulation training room did not seem to have changed anything between them. Zack had infact never mentioned it thereafter. But still, Lightning could not help but think about it from time to time. Especially in moments like this. When he said things like that.

Eventhough she knew that Zack had to be joking. He would never possibly leave Aerith just because he liked how his comrade looked in a dress. That was preposterous. No. It was just his way of complimenting her. And Lightning appreciated it for what it was. A compliment.

'Thank you, Zack.'

And she couldn't help but feel her self-esteem boost either, as making her way over to where she had spied the Firsts at the bar, she caught Cloud whispering to Zack 'Fuck, she´s hot!' behind her back.

'Was she hiding all that under her uniform all the time?'

Lightning couldn´t help but smile.

She was not used to this kind of attention. And while it was a little bit weird in a way, it was a nice change to receive compliments for her appearance for once.

And she should receive more and more of them as the night continued.

Angeal told her how stunningly beautiful she looked and Genesis´ mouth gaped open in astonishment as he first laid eyes on her, probably mistaking her for the personification of the goddess of his beloved poem.

She couldn´t find Sephiroth anywhere. And she was a little disappointed to be honest. She would have loved to see his face when he laid eyes on her attire.

What would he think of it?

Somehow she would like to have found out.

But somehow she also understood.

It was just so like him to try and evade a social event like this.

And she couldn´t blame him either.

It hadn´t been that long ago that she would have prefered the privacy of her room or the gym as well.

Genesis turned to order shots for all of them and they took their first round of many more to come as they spent their time making fun of the other party guests, the atmosphere cheerful and festive, so unlike it had felt the year before.

This time Lightning was in the middle of the partying crowd as the countdown reached zero.

People screaming and shouting on the top of their lungs to greet the new year, she was provided with sparkling wine and hugged by Zack and Tifa as well as several other random people and she even received a peck on the cheek from Cloud, something all the others found rather amusing.

Lightning however didn´t mind. The alcohol making her ready to burst with bliss and happiness, feeling part of the crowd, belonging, she partied with her friends as the firework tinged their faces in glowing golds, reds and greens.

Caught up in their partying, she didn´t have time to think about Serah or Bodhum even once.


It was 4 o´clock in the morning and the crowd had finally begun to scatter. Lots of people had left for their beds already and those who remained were starting to feel tired or bored.

Claire Farron found herself pretty much wasted.

It seemed that Genesis´ continuous donation of shots had finally gotten to her.

Her feet hurting terribly in her kitten heeled shoes she felt slightly light-headed, dazed, but still, she felt comfortable and safe, protected, as she snuggled into the safety of Zack Fair's embrace as slowly they were swaying to a gently waltz in the middle of the dance floor.

She had her arms flung around her friend's neck and her chin resting on his shoulder. She could feel the warmth of his body and the stubble on his jaw tickling her cheek as his head rested against her own and she couldn't help but revel in the feeling of his strong arms around her.

It was almost like in the simulation training room, where Zack had saved her from the wutai spears and they had rolled away to land with him on top of her.

His body had been pressed against her's in a way that had made her feel his every heartbeat, made her feel his chest inflate with every breath of his, had made her feel every curve of his body. His weight on top of her had been heavy but in a comfy reassuring way and somehow Lightning hadn't wanted him to get up. She had infact never been that close to a boy before. And now she was doing it again, dancing with him on top of Shin-Ra HQ.

She didn´t remember the details about how they had ended up like that, what had led to them dancing like this in the first place, but she couldn´t help but feel content. Happy. Blissful almost. Something she couldn´t remember feeling for a very long time.

All she knew was that no matter what had happened, she didn´t want that song to stop.

Ever.

She wanted to stay like this with Zack forever.

Maybe she would.

Although they were moving slowly, Lightning managed to stumble over her own kitten heeled shoes once more.

But somehow it didn´t matter.

Zack was there with her and if she knew one thing, it was that her black haired comrade would never let her fall.


General Sephiroth Crescent could tell Angeal Hewley was hungry again as he found his comrade stuffing his mouth with what had to be all the peanuts and other snacks the bar had available.

It was with a little safety distance therefore that he took his place next to him, (he didn´t feel the wish to be sprinkled in chewed nut pieces anytime soon), his green mako eyes glued to the closely entwined couple of Lightning and Zack now gently swaying on the dance floor, unable to look away.

His gaze lingering on Zack Fair´s hand that was so insolently resting on the small of his protégé´s back, the general´s mako killer eyes involuntarily narrowed to tiny slits.

That hand...

Suddenly he felt like chopping it off with his Masamune.

"I always said they would make a nice couple." Genesis stated matter-of-factly from Angeal's other side and the silver haired first class found his chest tightening uncomfortably.

It was a weird feeling he had never felt before, followed by the almost irresistable urge to rip Zack´s head off.

What was wrong with him tonight?!

'Hey, Zack´s here with me after all!' a young sweet girl with a pink ribbon in her hair piped up from somewhere next to Genesis.

The redhead turning to look at her in surprise, he only gave her a 'Who are you, anyway?' kind of look.

'He´s just dancing with her out of pity. Because she has noone!' Aerith tried to explain, her voice full of spite.

Wow.

Aerith Gainsborough wasn´t one you would have expected to be of the bitchy kind.

'What kind of guy would want a girl like her in the first place?! She´s probably lesbian anyway!' the girl continued angrily.

Genesis Rhapsodos only raised an eyebrow at that.

With her homophobic behaviour Aerith had probably hit a nerve.

It was not that Genesis was gay or anything.

It was just that despite having a whole fanclub of horny women, that man was rarely seen in female company.

General Sephiroth Crescent found a soft tired sigh escaping his thin pale lips.

He didn´t know what was wrong with him.

Somehow he wasn´t his usual self lately.

It was irksome to say the very least. Confusing really.

He tried to blame it on the alcohol.

Although he hadn´t really had a lot...

Angeal Hewley seemed to catch on pretty fast though, as eagerly he followed the direction of the silver haired man´s gaze.

'Why don´t you just go over and ask her for a dance instead?' the burly first class suggested carefully, as turning into Sephiroth´s direction he made to block out the others from listening in on their little conversation with his broad black clad shoulder.

General Sephiroth Crescent gave one of his ridiculed snorts.

'You´ve got to be kidding...' the silver haired man growled.

The general´s face set in his usual blank mask, his black haired friend only kept looking at him knowingly.

Fuck, was it really that obvious?!

He really needed to get a grip on himself.

'Come on, it's obvious you're jealous.'

Tearing his eyes away from the source of his predicament Sephiroth made to incredulously stare at his comrade instead.

Angeal Hewley hadn´t really just said that, had he?!


Lightning was still revelling in the feeling of Zack´s arms around her body when suddenly the beautiful moment was interrupted by Aerith Gainsborough.

'Zack... Don´t you want to dance with ME?!'

There was accusation in her voice and maybe jealousy and finally Claire Farron realized that Zack wasn´t there with her but that he had come with Aerith after all. And that he was with Aerith in the first place!

Oh no, what was she doing...

Shaking her head confusedly the pink haired female took a few steps away from her comrade, a futile attempt at clearing her head and it was staggering slightly that she tried to keep her balance.

Who was she to take Zack away from Aerith?!

The two of them had been a couple for over a year.

What had she been thinking snuggling into Zack's shoulder like this in the first place?!

'I´m sorry.' the pink haired soldier managed as carefully she retreated further.

Zack Fair looking back at her over his shoulder. An apologetic look in his gentle sky blue eyes, Claire Farron watched as Aerith dragged him to the middle of the dance floor where she immediately started to make out with him, obviously marking her territory.

Ugh...

She hadn´t meant to steal her away from her or anything!

Or had she?!

Suddenly Lightning wasn´t sure.

Suddenly she felt nauseated. Felt like being sick. Her stomach cramping up dangerously Claire Farron quickly turned away.

What was going on?

Zack was her comrade. Was her friend.

Her best friend actually.

Never had she thought of him as anything more. Never had she actually considered it. Not until he'd landed on top of her in the simulation trainnig room that was.

Sure. It had been emberassing. A little. But she could not deny the fact that she had actually enjoyed the feeling of his weight on her, of his arms snug so tightly around her. Of them being so close together.

But he was still Zack of course.

Her friend. Her comrade.

Could there ever be more?

Lightning wasn´t sure.

Her gaze roaming the floor for a route of escape she found Heidegger amusing himself with Scarlet from the Weapon Development Department, who´s red dress had ridden up all the way to expose her thighs, and Cissnei from the Turks dancing with Tseng, both of them wearing their navy blue business suits.

She had heard somewhere that they were officially an item now.

Feeling kind of lost as she stood there on the dance floor all abandoned and alone, Claire Farron sudeenly felt tears stinging her eyes.

Why was she always ending up alone?

Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and cry.

Was that the effect of the alcohol?

It had to be!

Okay...

Get a grip on yourself, Farron.

She needed to pull herself together. Now.

Looking around desorientatedly she caught her sensei´s mako eyes, staring at her from his place at the bar.

Their gazes locking for a tiny moment, the pink haired soldier instantly felt humiliated. Felt pathetic as she stood there on the dance floor all alone, with no plan where to go to next, with noone to steady her as helplessly she staggered around, dizzy from all those drinks Genesis Rhapsodos had filled her up with.

Oh yes, she was pathetic.

Getting herself drunk like this and doing all kind of stupid things.

Like slow dancing with Zack, for example.

Had he been watching all that time?!

Lightning couldn´t help but feel her cheeks turn hot.

Suddenly she felt emberassed to no end.

Deciding she couldn´t stay there a second longer, she turned on her heels and as best as she could, hurried towards the exit.

She almost made it off the dancefloor. Almost.

It was just a few meters from where she could have escaped into the anonymity of the crowd that it happened.

One of her blasted kitten heels suddenly giving way beneath her, in her more than tipsy state the pink haired second class didn't react quick enough to regain her balance, and it was before she even realized what happened that she tumbled forwards and the hard floor of the helipad came hurtling towards her.

It was the very last moment before she would have hit the ground that suddenly out of the blue a pair of strong comforting arms closed around her and carefully helped her up again.

Relieved but utterly confused just the same, Claire Farrone slowly lifted her head to meet the vibrant turquoise gaze of Reno Sinclair, turk extra-ordinaire.

Feeling her whole body freeze in shock, for a few moments the pink haired female simply stood there staring at the man in front of her, taking in his dissheveled looks from his ruffled flaming red hair down to his crumpled dressshirt which he wore unbuttoned and it was right there that Lightning found in horror that with the fall and the helping up and everything, her sword hand had come to rest on his bare chest.

She pulled it back immediately.

'Are you okay?!' the turk enquired sounding sincerely concerned as he took in her horrified expression, mistaking it for shock or maybe pain.

Her stomach heaving and her vision spinning Lightning quickly tried to step away but the irritating individual sensing her distress, he didn't let her go.

'You might want to sit down for a bit, yo. Have a glass of water or something.'

Somehow his voice seemed oddly muffled, seemed to come from very very far away.

Suddenly Claire Farron couldn't help it. In that moment all of the evenings escapades united to come crushing down on her at once and her stomach giving one final mighty lurch, she threw up all over the turk's shiny polished shoes.

Never had she felt more emberassed in her life.

Never had she felt more horrified.

Looking up into the redhead's surprised big eyes, Claire Farron quickly took a step away.

'I'm sorry.' was all she managed to choke out before terrified she turned away and fled towards the elevators.


It was half past four when finally she made it to her private quarters.

Glad to finally have made it back savely, she took off her purple dress and let it fall to the ground to settle down on her bed, cold and empty.

The loneliness, the emptiness of her built for six room bringing depressing thoughts to the surface of her mind, she felt tears stinging her eyes again.

Suddenly she couldn't believe all the things that had happened. All the things that she had done.

Yes. She.

She had gotten herself drunk.

She had gotten herself end up in Reno's arms, had thrown up on his shoes.

She had slowdanced with Zack. And that in front of everyone else. Infront of Aerith even and worst of all in front of Sephiroth.

Somehow that last thought bothered her the most.

What was her sensei thinking of her now?

Claire Farron couldn't help but shake her head.

It probably hadn't come as a big surprise for him. He had known it all along.

That she was pathetic.

He had told her so on plenty of occassions.

And he was right. He was so damn right of course.

She was pathetic indeed.

What had she been thinking snuggling up to Zack like that?!

Zack was with Aerith. He had always been. She had known that, hadn't she? She had helped him figure out what to buy her for Valentine's day and she had watched them make out on every possible occasion. How could she possibly have forgotten?!

Remembering the feeling of Zack's arms around her, Claire Farron couldn't help but feel lost. Felt incredibly lonely.

Maybe being all alone wasn't as easy as she had once pictured.

Maybe watching all those happy couples all the time was finally getting to her.

She might not have wanted to put her feelings for someone on constant display like Zack and Aerith did, no, there simply was no way, but that didn't mean she wasn't craving closeness, intimacy, kind words and affection. That she didn't long for someone to talk to, to snuggle up to, or to hug. Someone who cared about her.

But that significant someone, he did not exist.

Noone cared about her. Except maybe for Reno, the fucked creep.

Hot tears escaping her eyes and running down her cheeks, Lightning burried her face under her blankets. Feeling her chest constrict with crushing sadness, she silently screamed into her pillow. Not a sound heard in the vacated room, her tears were falling freely now, hot and burning. The pink haired soldier didn´t care to hold them back.

She hated herself for feeling so weak.

Being lonely was not a bad thing.

Being lonely was not something dangerous.

Being lonely shouldn´t hurt.

But it did.

Now it did.

It was without going to the bathroom that she crawled deeper into her blankets and burried herself in her thin mattrass, blaming her emotional outburst on the excessive consumption of alcohol.

Thank you Genesis.


It was about five o´clock in the morning. Sephiroth, Cloud and Zack had already left to go to their beds and the sun had already started to rise when Genesis approached his childhood friend Angeal, who was casually leaning against the banister watching the sunrise, his forehead wrinkled in a frown as he was lost in thought contemplating the recent events.

'What is bothering you my dear friend?' Genesis Rhapsodos asked in his poetic voice, placing himself next to his fellow first class.

'It´s nothing...' Angeal Hewley assured his childhood friend.

'Nothing, huh?' the redhead wondered doubtfully.

'It´s just about Sephiroth and... And Lightning...' Angeal carefully voiced the subject of his musings.

'Sephiroth surrounded by women... What is so remarkable about that...?!' Genesis replied playfully.

'Yeah...What is remarkable about that...' Angeal pondered.

Sephiroth had himself surrounded with women whenever on public display. It was just something that went hand in hand with his good looks and war hero status.

And he'd certainly used it to his advantage on plenty of occasions.

But seeing Sephiroth care...

Seeing him show what could be interpreted as traces of jealousy, of feelings for someone, for another human being, that was something very remarkable indeed.

'I don´t know man.' he said after some time.

'You know what really is remarkable, my friend?' the redhead began.

'The way the author built up that poem. I mean, the gift of the godess...'

'Oh, shut up!' the burly first class grunted.


Luckily that night on the top of the Shin-Ra building didn´t seem to have changed anything between Zack and Lightning, just like the night in the simulation training room.

However the pink haired second class couldn´t shake off the feeling that ever since then, Angeal Hewley had been watching her very closely, his charismatic features going pensive whenever his kind eyes fell upon her.

Lightning still didn´t know what had driven her to do all those desperate things on the New Years Eve celebration, but well, if anybody, Genesis was the one to blame. The redhead had been handing out drinks like candy.

It still felt kind of awkward though when one day Zack approached her, Cloud following closely behind, to invite her to join their party on Valentine´s day.

Their pink haired comrade, she declined immediately.

No way.

New Year´s eve had been humiliating enough. She was certainly not going to attend their public make out session on her least favorite day of the year.

It would be just another reminder of her loneliness.

Just no way!

So instead of joining their little get together, she settled for a nice calm evening in the gym which she had all to herself. Everybody else had apparently left the nest for some celebration.

Feeling down again, she just decided to let the day end early as she went to sleep quarter past nine.


General Sephiroth Crescent didn´t know what had driven him to join that stupid party as he found himself squeezed against the counter of the run down bar in the heart of the sector seven slums.

Genesis was buying drinks like mad as usual. It was only a matter of time before he would start quoting from Loveless again.

The silver haired first class found he couldn´t wait.

Oh, how much he hated that damned poem by now...

It was in the middle of a discussion with Angeal about that ridiculously wide sword of his he never seemed to use, that Sephiroth saw the door to the bar open and a shock of spiky blonde hair appear in the doorway.

From his place at the bar he watched as Cloud Strife entered, closely followed by Zack who was coming hand in hand with... Aerith.

Feeling relief wash over him, General Sephiroth Crescent slowly let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

He had half expected Lightning to show up as Zack´s date.

Stupid.

Ridiculous, he knew.

What did it matter to him anyway?!

Zack could spend his night with whoever he fucking wanted!

Anyone but her, the general thought, his mako green eyes narrowing dangerously at the notion.

The western style doors swung shut behind the hem of Aerith's pretty dress and the silver haired first class realized he felt disappointed that Lightning wasn´t with them as he would have expected, disappointed when he comprehended that he wouldn´t be able to see her that night.

Because yes.

Part of him wanted to see her.

Part of him wished she were there.

And a part of him wondered where she was instead.

What she was doing now.

Was she meeting up with someone else?

He hadn´t seen that bastard Reno anywhere. And he´d seen the turk show interest in her before.

But no.

She´d never actually date someone like Reno.

Or would she?

Maybe it was someone else?

Or maybe she had just stayed back at the Shin-Ra headquarters alone?

General Sephiroth Crescent didn´t know.

And part of him wasn´t even sure he wanted to.

And then there was that other part of him entirely, telling all his other parts to shut up and just let it drop.

That it was none of his business.

That he was not to care.

Not about her.

Not about anybody.


It was late already, with midnight approaching fast. Genesis had already gotten past his 'quoting' phase and was now moving on to his 'insufferable jerk' mode relatively quickly.

Sephiroth had left him in Angeal´s care, who didn´t seem very happy with the circumstances at all, and headed to the bar to get himself something strong. Something that would sedate him enough to ensure the other guests´s survival should he have to stay there any longer.

He watched the big boobed barkeeper pour him his drink, not realizing he had taken a place next to Cloud, who apparently was drunk enough to attempt to engage him in a conversation.

Oh please...

But then he remembered. Of course. Cloud had something going on with that girl. Tifa. He faintly recognized her from the New Year´s Eve celebration.

Eager to escape Genesis' constant nagging, the general opted to listen to Cloud Strife instead, who was ranting on about how hard a time he was having, relieving the outskirts of the city of bugs and other vermin.

As if he cared...

The silver haired man nodded here and there to encourage the third class´ unceasing flow of words, barely even listening, as from the corner of his eyes he watched Genesis and Angeal, now talking animatedly to some middle aged women wearing barely anything but makeup and high-heels.

They obviously were fan girls, or maybe skanks, throwing themselves at his fellow First Class friends.

The redhead catching the general´s eye, excitedly he motioned for him to follow, as he turned to take after Angeal and the girls who were now making their way upstairs to where Sephiroth knew there were several separated rooms free for them to use. A service of the bar that they had used countless times in the past.

Well. They called it 7th heaven for a reason.

But somehow the silver haired first class wasn´t in the mood.

Things looked suspiciously like a foursome or maybe a fifesome.

No thanks.

Not tonight.

And he found that he felt ready to throw up as he watched his friends ascend the creaking wooden staircase closely following the fan girls, their faces lit in anticipation of what was about to come.

How could he have ever participated in stuff like this? How could he ever have enjoyed it?

Suddenly Sephiroth didn't know, couldn't even fathom.

Disgusted with himself and the things he'd done for fun in his past he quickly downed the drink in front of him.

No.

Never again.

Never again.


Claire Farron knew her plans of going to bed early where doomed the second her body hit her bunk, her mind restless and brooding.

Instead of escaping that dreadful day as fast as possible as she had planned, she now just lay there, tossing and turning but finding no peace.

Her mind kept wandering back to that terrible night under the firewors back all the way up on the heli pad. Back to her dance with Zack and her run in with Reno Sinclair.

But in the end it wasn't the fact that she had emberassed herself infront of the whole crowd when Aerith had come to shoo her away, not the fact that she had gotten herself drunk and stumbled around and thrown up all over Reno's shoes.

No.

In the end it was her sensei's gaze that kept her awake, the way he'd looked at her that kept her tortured.

Why did it bother her so much? The fact that he had seen her dance with Zack?

Claire Farron didn't understand, could not have explained it had her life depended on it.

And still, no matter what she did, she didn't seem able to forget the way he'd looked at her.

No matter how often she turned over underneath her blankets, no matter how often she adjusted her pillow, she found it was no use.

Every time she closed her eyes, instead of darkness, she found only those beautiful mako green eyes, boring into her own, reminding her of how pathetic and useless she was.