The following weeks were not easy for Lightning. What had happened at the New Years Eve Party, getting drunk infront of her sensei, slowdancing with Zack, throwing up on that turk's shoes... Fortunately noone seemed to have noticed the latter or if they had they at least had the decency not to bring it up.
Still. With everything that had happened with Zack on that blasted party and the way it had affected her, Lightning decided to distance herself again. Tried to stick to herself more and more to give herself some space to find out what it was she actually felt about her dark haired comrade. It wasn't a hard task either since they were sent on so many patrols and guard duty that they hardly ever saw each other in the common rooms.
With the general mood rather low in prospect of approaching war and frowns on everybody's foreheads Lightning was starting to feel lonely again, was beginning to feel sad, was beginning to long for her past again, for Serah, for Bodhum. For a life far away. That life she could never possibly have.
That life she suddenly wished she had never sacrificed for SOLDIER.
She was soon going to fight in a war. Fight for a cause she didn't really support. She was probably going to die. And the worst thing about it all was that she had broken her promise to Serah.
It was exactly a year ago now that she had promised her little sister that she would be there for her 17th birthday. Now the day had come. And she was still here. Stuck at Shin-Ra HQ.
Lightning hated herself for it. Hated Shin-Ra for it. Hated SOLDIER.
And it was showing in her training sessions too.
Her performance was suffering big style.
General Sephiroth Crescent wasn't pleased.
He'd been trying to prepare her for the war, but somehow Lightning's heart didn't seem to be in it anymore. And somehow it seemed to be getting worse and worse with every passing day.
They were in the simulation training room again and this time his apprentice was getting absolutely nowhere. No. She was having a hard time conquering a simulation of Midgar, fitted with numerous opponents waiting to get slayed. She had bested that damn thing about five times already. It should have been easy now, but somehow she was no good.
She had been hit by a few wutai strikes already and somehow it felt hard for her to concentrate with that little fact constantly present in the back of her mind: that today was Serah´s 17th birthday. The birthday she had promised she would attend.
No matter what she did, Lightning couldn´t stop the image of her sister´s disappointed face floating in front of her inner eyes again and again.
She had broken her promise.
She had let her down.
She had left her family for a carreer in the military. A carreer she'd begun to hate again.
And now she couldn't leave.
It was just when she made her way up the stairs from the sector 1 Train station, that Lightning was attacked by the huge Behemoth that lay there in wait for her.
She should have known it was there. She should have been prepared.
It had been there all the previous runs. But still it caught her off guard.
She was just too distracted.
Unable to focus.
The pink haired woman didn´t have time to mentally scold herself though.
The beast in front of her rearing up on it´s hind legs, lashing out with it´s massive paws, she instantly found herself thrown to the ground.
Shit.
There was no time to get up.
The giant thing moving to lunge at her, it was acting out of instinct that she brought up Blaze Edge to try and shield her face.
Gritting her teeth and ready for the impact she lay there on the ground.
The Behemoth´s paws were only inches from her throat, about to rip her to shreds, when suddenly the simulation froze and her sensei approached, obviously displeased with her pittiful performance.
'What is it with you today? You´ve mastered this simulation numerous times already.' he began, his mako eyes inquiring instant explication.
'If I remember correctly, you didn´t have any problems with this last time. I actually chose it as a warm up for you...'
The pink haired soldier opted to ignore his question.
She couldn´t help but feel embarrassed. Again.
She knew her performance wasn't top notch. Knew that he was used to so much better from her. Still. There was no way she could possibly help it. There was no way for her to simply wipe Serah off her mind. Or the wutai. Or the war. Or the way he had been looking at her, that tiny moment their gazes had locked at the New Year's Eve party.
Screw it.
Trying to get up from her position under the frozen charging beast and back to her feet, the panting second class gladly accepted the leather clad hand she was offered for support.
Her eyes carefully trained to the floor, it was without a word of complain that she let her sensei pull her up onto her legs.
'Thank you.' She said somewhat timidly.
She looked fragile these days, tired. As if something was eating her up from the inside. And General Sephiroth Crescent found he needed to find out what it was.
If this had anything to do with Zack Fair, he swore, in the name of Gaia he was so going to...
'You have something on your mind.' the silver haired man observed, his tone not betraying the anger that was rising inside him at the thought of the dark haired second class even in the slightest.
His voice was soft, gentle for once.
Claire Farron wouldn´t have thought it possible.
Completely astonished by the way he'd talked to her Lightning turned her head to look up into his eyes, found his expression curious, encouraging her to go ahead and spill the beans.
Since when did he care in the first place?
'What is it?' the man in front insisted.
Claire Farron only sighed in defeat.
She didn´t understand why he was so eager to find out, but now that he was, she knew he´d get the information out of her anyway.
This way or the other. General Sephiroth Crescent always got his way.
'It´s Serah´s Birthday...' she finally disclosed.
Her voice was barely a whisper and she felt tears stinging her eyes. Suddenly she was thankful for the stupid VR goggles to hide them from her sensei's view.
No way was she going to let him see her cry. She hadn't cried in front of him when he had beaten hell out of her and she wasn't going to let it happen now.
It was very quickly that she tried to force her emotions away.
The pink haired woman, she shuddered to imagine what her sensei would think of her if she dared to cry about something like this in front of him.
He wouldn´t understand.
He didn´t have family, did he?
Looking away again she slowly made to pick up Blaze Edge from where she had left it on the floor, brushing imaginary dust off it´s hilt.
'My little sister... I promised her I would be there for her Birthday this time...' she explained tantatively, as bringing up her gunblade, she positioned herself into fighting stance again, tried to get herself together and ready to engage the beast once more, hopefully ending this uncomfortable conversation.
'What are you doing here then? Why didn´t you ask Lazard for a few days off? I can´t remember you taking a day off since you joined.' her mentor asked, his forhead wrinkled in a frown as he came over to adjust her footing.
Lightning couldn´t help but smile.
She didn´t remember him taking a day off either.
She continued to watch her feet, contemplating her words, while the silver haired legend stepped around her, carefully inspecting her stance.
There was the sudden brush of her sensei´s arm against her side as he reached over from behind her to adjust her grip on her weapon and she couldn´t help but feel a shiver running through her body.
She hadn´t realized he´d been standing so close.
'I tried...' the pink haired female informed.
'But they didn´t let me go. They insisted on my presence. Lazard said I couldn´t leave now... With the Wutai war and everything...'
She could feel his body somewhere close behind her. Knew his chest was only centimeters from her back, his gloved hand resting on her own as he adjusted her grip on Blaze Edge´s hilt.
It was a weird feeling, him touching her like that. Him standing so close to her.
Weird. But strangely comforting all the same.
'You shouldn´t put your hands so close together... Put them like this to attack with optimal force...' the general instructed, lightly squeezing her hand to push it into the proper position.
She could feel his breath against the back of her neck, felt the tiny hair all over her body stand on end and her skin erupt in goosebumps.
Lightning couldn´t remember her sensei touching her like that before. Gentle. It was a completely new experience and she couldn´t help the fact that she enjoyed it.
It was a nice change for once.
The pink haired secon class wouldn't have thought it possible.
The general´s hand lingering on her own maybe a few seconds too long, Claire Farron felt her body shiver when he spoke again, his words tickling the sensitive skin of her neck once more.
'You can visit later. When the stuff with Wutai's settled. Maybe take a few weeks off or something. I'll talk to Lazard. He'll let you go.'
Lightning almost could not believe her ears.
Did he really mean what he had said there?
Would he really persuade Lazard? Would the director really let her go that long?
It certainly was possible.
General Sephiroth Crescent had persuaded director Lazard on her behalf on various occassions in the past.
He was good at persuading people. In his own way.
Still...
There was still the very likely possibility that she wasn't going to survive the war.
She had almost snuffed it in that training simulation with Zack and her recent battle simulations hadn't exactly ended in her favour either.
'I might not make it.' she said somewhat hesitantly.
It was true. They both were aware. That possibility was always there. Rode in their backseats on all their mission, dangled over their heads on every assignment, was their constant companion wherever they went, whatever they did.
It just was what came with a job in SOLDIER. Was a part of their daily lives.
'You will. I'll see to that.' the general assured and Lightning felt his hand again coming to rest on top of her's as gently he made her unclasp her fingers.
That casual case of body contact, it made the muscles of her arm go weak, made her heartrate speed up a notch or two.
They were both wearing their standard leather gloves but that fact did only very little to dampen her reaction.
His voice had gone so uncharacteristically soft she wished she could have seen his face, could have seen the expression in his unsually cold green eyes.
'You should try and loosen your swordhand up a bit. It's true that your grip shouldn't be too loose. But your grip on that hilt is far too rigid, far too stiff. Your muscles are all tensed up this way. You've got to allow some movement.'
With the touch of her sensei's reassuring hand on her's soothing her disturbing thoughts and the soft afternoon sun of the frozen Midgar simulation gently warming her pale skin, Claire Farron slowly closed her eyes.
The general was giving her more tips on how to hold her sword, but the pink haired female didn´t really listen.
Her mind floating elsewhere she suddenly felt the inexplicable pull to lean backwards.
To let her body relax against her sensei´s chest.
To feel his strong arms wrap around her.
To be held by him the way that Zack had held her. To just escape this bleak reality that was her life these days.
What would it feel like to be held by General Sephiroth Crescent?
Did anyone know that at all?
The pink haired soldier didn't know.
What she did know was that she certainly wasn't going to find out. Not in this life.
Still. She experienced a strange feeling of loss when finally her mentor stepped away from her to observe her stance from a small distance.
'Much better.' the tall man stated, obviously oblivious of what was going on inside her, of what he was doing to her.
His voice was business-like again, gone the gentle softness, the kindness and the sympathy she had thought she'd heard.
Had she been imagining it?
Suddenly she wasn't sure.
'Are you ready?' her sensei asked, as he made his way out of the battle range.
Oh what was wrong with her lately?!
First Zack. Now him.
Who would be next?
Angeal?
This was getting ridiculous.
Lightning felt her cheeks go red.
The man with the long silver hair had hurt her, cut her, beaten her, had humiliated her and taunted her countless times and now she was standing infront of him blushing like a schoolgirl because he had touched her hand.
Somehow she felt betrayed by her body.
Forcing her mind away from her daydreams (they were taking down alarming directions these days anyway) Claire Farron tried to concentrate on the batlle she was actually meant to prepare herself for right then.
'Ready.' she said, her voice determined, determined to stop her stupid infatuations at least, and the scene around her jumped back to life.
Lightning´s letters to Serah had gotten less and less over the past few months and they seemed to have ceased completely after she hadn´t shown up on her birthday like she had promised. Sending an expensive gift instead she had assured her sister that she would be there next time, but in the end she knew it was no use.
She had broken her promise.
She had disappointed her.
She didn´t want to bother her sister with her useless apologies and her feeble excuses.
Serah couldn´t possibly understand.
Lightning wanted to see her.
She wanted to be there for her, badly so.
But she couldn´t leave here.
Not just like that.
Because although she wanted to be with her sister, the truth was Lightning wanted to be with her comrades too.
Wanted to stand beside them when their time came to fight the wutai. When their time came to die.
It was where she belonged now.
Where she ought to be.
She was a member of SOLDIER now.
And somehow she would always be.
No matter where she would go, her comrades would always stay in her heart. And she knew they needed her.
Yes. She was needed there. Needed more than she was needed back in Bodhum that was.
And she knew her place was in SOLDIER now. Was with Zack and Cloud, and Genesis and Angeal and Sephiroth. Was with Shin-Ra.
As much as she wanted to she couldn't really imagine being anywhere else anymore. Doing anything else. She could daydream about it, yes. An she did. But deep in her heart she knew where she belonged now.
Knew she wouldn't go.
Serah probably wouldn't be able to understand that. Lightning was aware. But what was she to do?
She'd build herself a reputation, a life, a family. She had her honor now, had her duties, had responsibilities. She wasn't going to leave it all behind just for Serah's birthday.
Was she being selfish? Lightning didn't know. Trying to concentrate on the things at hand, she tried not to give it too much thought.
Spring passed and summer came.
There hadn't been as much as a stirr from the wutai ever since their attack on Shin-Ra HQ and somehow people were relaxing, were slowly dropping their guard and their frowns again and instead tried to enjoy the first few really warm days in the sun.
There were evenings off again to wander the Midgar streets and training in the outdoor training grounds. Not that Lightning was very fond of the latter ever since her running track escapade.
Still. Things were getting better.
They were sent on missions again too. And Zack and Cloud and her spent time again together in the common room or going out roaming the slums.
Either way. Encouraged by the fact that the wutai had not attacked again Shin-Ra had concocted a plan to strike at the wutai themselves this time. To strike quickly and where the wutai would feel it the most. Right at their heart.
It was for that very purpose that director Lazard had sent for his most experienced operatives – Genesis, Sephiroth and Angeal - for a top secret meeting in the briefing room planning the assassination of Godo Kisaragi, the man allegedly responsible for the attack on HQ and leader of the nation of Wutai.
The preemptive strike that would gain Shin-Ra the upper hand in the wutai conflict. And maybe quelch it alltogether. Once and for all.
It was for that very reason that about half a year after she had thrown up on Reno Sinclair's shoes Claire Farron was crouching on the dusty floor of a dirty rundown prison cell, looking up to watch the night sky through her small metal grilled window.
She hadn´t thought about Serah in a long time.
The pink haired second class gave a long bored sigh and tried to stretch her legs as far as the confining walls would allow.
Ligthning didn´t know how long she had been locked in there already, but in her opinion it had been far too long.
'Lightning are you awake?' she heard Zack´s voice from one of the neighboring cells.
For a second the pink haired woman considered pretending not to hear him, considered pretending to be asleep just so she wouldn't have to put up up with Zack's excited babble, but in the end she gave a grunt to indicate that she was listening.
Zack was her brother after all. Brother in arms.
'I think they are coming...' her dark haired comrade said.
The faint sound of helicopter rotors in the distance confirmed that he indeed was right.
Good.
They had been waiting for the first classes to arrive all night.
Their mission: to let themselves get captured by the wutai forces and hope they´d bring them inside their well protected fortress, which was infact the very fortress from the Shin-Ra training simulation, to then release themselves of their captivity and - disguised as wutai guards - let in the others and together, finish off the enemy.
At least that was what Lightning thought.
It was easy infiltration strategy.
Almost too easy.
The wutai knew the faces of Sephiroth and the others.
They´d heard of them after all.
But they knew neither Zack nor Lightning. A fact that would definitely change that night.
Slowly Claire Farron made to get up and take out the little package of C4 that Zack and her had managed to smuggle in, concealed in a hidden pocket of their SOLDIER fatigues.
It was very carefully that she placed it over the lock in the door the way she´d been instructed by an employee of the weapon development department and set the timer on 5 seconds.
'Ready?' she heard Zack´s voice again.
'Ready.' Lightning answered, her voice determined, as she hit the button on the timer and hurried off to the furthest away wall, shielding her head with her arms as a deafening bang indicated her liberation.
Climbing out of the cell she instantly teamed up with Zack to kill the first Wutai guards that came to investigate. It all felt a little like in that blasting training simulation.
Would she end up with Zack lying on top of her again?
Of course not.
What a stupid thing to think.
They put on the wutai's cloaks as fast as they could and stuffed their opponents' lifeless bodies back into their cells, then they made their way up the stairs.
It was only seconds before they encountered other Wutai guards.
'What happened?!' one of them yelled.
'An explosion!' Lightning choked out, trying the best she could to make her voice sound shocked and scared.
She figured Genesis´ acting talents had to have been useful at some point in his carrier.
She didn't seem to be doing too bad either. Their plan seemed to work.
'What about the captives!?' the other inquired, seemingly getting nervous.
'There are bodies inside the cells...' she heard Zack speak up.
It wasn´t exactly a lie.
The others hurrying past them to investigate, the two friends quickly made their way up to another corridor, then found their way outside into the yard.
Lightning could see the heavily secured gates at the other side of the court, where there'd once come the wutai cavalry bursting through to surround them, but those were not where the others were going to get inside. There was a hidden passage, a backdoor the wutai used to sneak in and out in case of emergency. This door, albeit protected, was going to be conquered easily. This door they needed to find.
But where to start?
Trying not to act conspicuous, the two of them sneaked along the shadows of the walls, when suddenly they were discovered by another wutai resident.
'Don´t dare to move you Shin-Ra lapdogs!' the two soldiers heard a fierce female voice shout out but looking around the yard, they realized they couldn´t make out it´s origin.
Turning to inspect the closer vicinity Lightning suddenly found herself attacked by a small girl.
The tiny figure lunging at her from one of the walls above, it was without thinking that she turned to welcome her new friend with a final blow of Blaze Edge.
It was Zack Fair who blocked her blade at the very last opportunity.
'Relax... It's only a child...' the black haired second class told his comrade, quickly trying to talk some reason into her. Checking his expression Lightning found he looked aghast at what she had been about to do just a moment ago.
Trying to calm her adrenaline infused body Claire Farron realized she had been about to kill an innocent child.
Theexpected pang of guilt, it didn´t come.
She isn´t innocent! , her inner voice justified instead.
She is Wutai... And she attacked me...
'Hey young Lady... What do you think you are doing here playing in the yards at night?' Zack asked in a playful tone, attempting to hold the girl at arms length.
She was struggling to get free with all her might. Tiny arms flailing wildly at her enemy.
'I am Yuffie Kisaragi! The most powerful Ninja in all of Wutai! And now I have blown your cover you are going to feel the wrath of Wutai´s greatest warrior! ME!' she yelled, kicking Zack in the shin hard with one of her sandals.
The second class yelping out in pain like the puppy that he was, releasing his grip to hold his throbbing leg instead, he dropped the small girl to the ground.
'For the glory of Wutai!' Yuffie Kisaragi roared triumphantly as she darted away towards the nearest building.
Claire Farron shook her head in bewilderment.
'You think she´ll alert the others..?' she asked somewhat cautiously, aiming Blaze Edge in the same direction, ready to fire a round of bullets into the girl's retreating back.
'She's only a child. What harm could she possibly do?' Zack Fair replied, busy rubbing his leg where the girl had hit him.
'Alarm the guards. Endanger the whole mission...' Claire Farron murmured, her arm steady, ready to shoot.
'What is wrong with you?! We're not killing kids, okay?' the puppy said sounding shocked as he quickly stepped forward and lowered Lightnings arm back to the ground.
Claire Farron only shrugged her shoulders.
'Come on, we better get going.'
Their backs pressed against the wall in order to stick to the shadows once again the two oft them slowly made their way over to what looked like some kind of temple.
'The great SOLDIER second class Zack – unable to defend himself against a ten year old girl...' Lightning teased her comrade, her voice hushed as they descended a narrow staircase at the backside of the building.
'At least I´m still human enough to know not to kill a child.' the young man retorted acidly.
'Sephiroth is finally rubbing off on you.'
That silenced Claire Farron.
'You think this is the place?' Zack asked a couple of minutes later, as they descended even further down the dimly lit stairs until they reached a low underground corridor.
'It´d better be.' Light told him, looking around in discomfort.
It was very dark and narrow.
Not much unlike the bunker she´d once been to with her mentor.
It was definitely no good place to get confronted in.
There wasn´t much space for many options.
Hurrying along the corridor the two of them went deeper and deeper into the earth until finally they found another flight of stairs that lead up and back to the surface.
Listening closely Lightning perceived voices somewhere close to the exit.
Signalling Zack to be silent and wait she quickly sneaked up to find the source of the commotion.
Hiding behind a rock she managed to make out a bunch of wutai guards engaged in a game of cards, their weapons carelessly tossed into a corner.
She mentally shook her head.
Some guards they were.
No wonder wutai hadn´t won this war yet.
They may outnumber them by far, but Shin-Ra had quality over quantity. That much was for sure.
She didn´t even bother to inform Zack of her discovery but just got up and approached.
Those meager creatures were no danger to her.
'Ohhh, what do we have here?!' one of the guys chanted upon spying her.
The poor bloke obviously drunk, he found himself excited to suddenly find himself in the unexpected company of a female.
The others quickly joined in wolf whistling.
The pink haired soldier second class just smiled at them as she took out Blaze Edge.
It took only a few seconds.
'Very impressive...' She heard Zack Fair´s sarcastic remark as he came up from behind, activating the tracker he had brought along. The device that was hopefully going to show their position to the others. The position of the secret entrance.
Having finished her job there, Lightning busied herself looking around, her eyes never leaving the tree line, while Zack was inspecting the empty bottles of rum surrounding the table that was now occupied by four dead guys. Four guys Claire Farron had killed without batting an eyelid. As if they were insects.
Because that just was what she did.
She was in SOLDIER after all.
'They didn´t even leave any for us...' Zack said in a fake sad voice.
Lightning rolled her eyes at him, continued watching the line of trees in front of them for any sign of the first clesses.
'...quietly but surely.' she heard Genesis´s theatric voice as finally the three of them approached from behind a bunch of trees.
'Good job, guys.' Angeal praised the two as Sephiroth brushed past them, not wasting a second to actually greet them.
'Come on, lets get this done. Im starving.' the burly first class announced as he and Genesis followed back into the tunnel, gesturing for Zack and Light to follow.
'I could eat a pig.'
'Angeal... You just literally ate a pig.' his red haired friend reminded, furrowing his forhead.
'Well. Make it a cow then.' came his comrade's swift reply.
Claire Farron didn't linger to listen in on the conversation any longer.
Darting past the two in front of her she quickly sped up to fall in step at her sensei's side.
'Where does it lead?' her mentor asked her.
His voice was cold and calculating.
Just like it always used to be.
'A temple, west of the main building.' the girl informed.
'Sir... What exactly is our mission?' she asked after some minutes spent walking in silence.
'Genesis and Angeal will keep the guards busy and you and Zack stay out of trouble, while I...' he suddenly trailed off.
'While you...?' his second class prompted.
The decorated war hero slowly turned around to face her.
One of his silver eyebrows riding up, Lightning could tell that for a second he contemplated whether to fill her in or not.
'None of your business.' he informed matter of factly.
Second Class Farron only gave a sigh.
Typical.
Do the drity work but don't ask questions.
What had she expected?
It was a few minutes later when they reached the main building, a high built structure decorated with complexly crafted ornaments, that their disguise was finally blown and they were engaged in battle by several wutai guards coming at them from every direction.
They were doing fine at fist, everything ran smoothly and according to plan until it turned out that the wutai had a number of beasts in their repertoire as well.
No matter how many they slayed, there seemed to be coming more and more, ready to throw themselves at them. It felt like they were fighting a giant Hydra and Lightning knew the situation was closing in on them. It didn´t take a strategist´s genius to understand that they needed to do whatever it was Sephiroth had to do in order to accomplish this mission and leave as long as they could still do so alive.
She was in the middle of battle against a bunch of foullanders as she spied her mentor leaving through a hidden door in the stone wall and acting out of instinct the pink haired female left the atrium to follow after him.
Up to the wall and through the stone door she went, pressing against the rock as the pathway already started to close again, then up to ascend a flight of stairs and down another corridor until finally she reached a balcony that overlooked a vast cathethral like room.
There was a massive staircase covered in red carpets at the other end of the room and a huge, gilded door, Claire Farron was sure she knew what had to lay behind.
The royal chambers.
She found Sephiroth standing at the banister, approached him cautiously.
'What exactly are you doing here?' he asked in his dry voice without bothering to look over his shoulder.
His mako killer eyes were fixed on the impressive door on the other side of the room.
'Your mission is to kill the leader of wutai...' Lightning murmured, ignoring his question, as realization dawned on her.
Stepping up to the banister as well, she looked down at the hall that lay beneath her.
'Kill the leader. And end the war.' the man beside her confirmed, sounding deep in thought.
Then very suddenly he looked over at her as if asking for advice.
Lightning could tell something was wrong. That something was bothering him, which in itself was strange enough.
'I wonder if it´s the right thing to do...' he continued quietly.
The pink haired female could only furrow her brow.
She had no idea what he was trying to say. What this was all about.
His orders from Lazard must have been clear.
They always were.
Why was he procrastinating?
Their musings were put short as they were greeted by a bunch of guards and two huge vajradhara suddenly appearing in the middle of the great hall.
Lightning had never seen a beast that big.
Well, not outside the simulation training room that was.
And there were two of them.
They were screwed.
Claire Farron almost shit her pants as the two troll like beasts approached them readying themselves for battle.
'The doors!' Sephiroth ordered, gesturing towards the gates with his head and his protégé only nodded in understanding.
Breaking into a run the pink haired second class took down three of the guards that blocked her way midjump and darting between the legs of the giant beasts without them even realizing, she made towards her target.
Hearing Sephiroth's battle behind her commence, she didn´t turn to watch even once.
This was it.
Her moment.
The moment Zack had been musing about for the past two years.
Her opportunity to do something that would promote her to first class.
Her golden moment.
She came rushing through the doors taking down the guards on the other side immediately and turned to face Godo Kisaragi for the very first time.
For the only time, really.
For a second she just stood there, staring at the old wizened man sitting cross-legged on a beautiful, elaborately woven rug in front of her.
His long black mustache nearly touching his chest, his demeanor calm and peaceful, the man just sat there quietly accepting his fate, as if he had been waiting for this to happen for a very long time.
His unfaltering brown eyes staring into her icy blue ones, Godo Kisaragi did nothing to defend himself, didn´t say a single word. The wisened man, he only watched in silence as Claire Farron drew her sword one last time.
There was no hate, no regret, only pity there in those warm deep pools of brown.
Pity for her.
The pink haired soldier second class didn´t care as with one violent thrust of her precious gunblade she neatly pierced her target's heart, twisted her blade like she´d been shown in training at least a thousand times, before she pulled it out again.
The wutai leader´s eyes now huge, staring, empty, his mouth gaping, there was a final gasp escaping his dying throat as finally his body fell forward to crumble to a heap on the marble floor.
Her blade stained red, blood spraying everywhere, Lightning made to clean her weapon of the wutai leader´s body juices.
It was a ritual she had seen Sephiroth do a hundred times already. Something he did whenever he ended a battle, one of the many habits she had adopted during her time in SOLDIER training.
You just didn't sheathe a dirty sword.
It was a sacrilege.
Claire Farron stayed to watch the twitching body on the ground, petrified, unable to move a muscle, unable to process what she had done, what all this meant.
She had killed Godo Kisaragi.
She had ended the wutai war.
She was a hero, just like Sephiroth.
Or was she?
For a few minutes she just stood there as if in trance, staring at the old man´s body whose soul had finally returned to the planet, until strong arms grabbed her from behind, dragging her out of the room, past two neatly beheaded vajradhara corpses and back to the atrium where the others were still fighting.
She´d done it!
It was over!
It was really over!
She had ended the war!
No matter how often Lightning tried to repeat the message inside her head, somehow she couldn´t believe it.
Somehow she had a feeling she´d just made things worse.
That man in the chamber, he had beed waiting for them to come. Had been waiting for her to kill him for a very long time now.
Had she made a mistake?
Had she really ended the war?!
It certainly didn´t seem like it as reaching the atrium she found Genesis, Angeal and Zack fighting hard to stand their ground, their enemies oblivious to the fact that there was nothing to guard there anymore.
Claire Farron felt her feet reluctant to move as General Sephiroth Crescent shoved her into the direction of the exit of the main building and towards the helicopter that had landed there, waiting to pick them up.
I can´t leave them! Lightning thought to herself as breaking away from her sensei´s grip, quickly she dashed back inside.
Zack was in there! And Genesis and Angeal!
Together they hurried to their aid.
The number of enemies still growing exponentially, all of them knew they had to get themselves out of there. And fast.
Numerous more fighters approached them.
Some of them followed by even more vajahadras.
This was getting bad.
Lightning didn´t think twice before she turned to fight one of the giant beasts.
It couldn´t be that hard. Her sensei had decapitated two of them single handed in barely more than a minute.
Then on the other hand, General Sephiroth Crescent seemed to have a talent for beheading practically anything with just a single blow of his deadly Masamune.
It should turn out Claire Farron didn´t posses any of her master´s powers.
It didn´t take her very long to get herself cornered instead.
Blaze Edge knocked out of her hand by one violent strike of the Vajhadras paw, she was planning to dodge it´s next blow by simply making a run for it, when suddenly she saw Zack about to be stabbed from behind in a fatal attack of one of the wutai fighters.
Everything around her seemed to go into slow motion.
'ZACK!'
She screamed her comrade's name at the top of her lungs as blinded by panic she threw herself in between Zack and his opponent, knocking her comrade out of the way in the process.
Having nothing else to defend herself with, she brought up her hands to shield her face from the oncoming assault. Receiving deep burning gashes in her palms as a reward, she staggered backwards, just to find the blade of the opposing party´s sword thrust into her direction.
The shiny smooth blade, it easily went throught the fabirc of her SOLDIER uniform and through her skin to burry itself deeply in her innards.
The pink haired female cried out in shock.
Unable to process what was happening, her brain incapable of handling the unbearable amount of pain the sharpened metal inflicted inside her body Claire Farron only watched, motionless, as the wielder of the sword thrust his weapon upwards, slashing her flesh up to her ribcage and excrutiatingly twisting it before he pulled it out.
Just like she had done with Kodo Kisaragi.
Karma is a bitch.
The sharp shiny blade now dripping with blood, oozing out of her body like water from a tab, Lightning found herself stumbling backwards.
The noise around her fading to the background she started to feel light headed, found heavy black dots blossoming in her vision.
Her hand wandering to the wound in her abdomen, she disbelievingly stared at her cothes drenched red in her blood.
She faintly registered Zack screaming her name.
The wutai trooper in front of her collapsing at her feet.
Slaughtered.
And then Zack again.
Catching her falling body from behind and half carrying her out of there.
She heard her heart beating like thunder.
Blood whooshing in her ears like a raging stream.
Her vision bluring as her mind zoomed in and out of focus.
And then suddenly there was Sephiroth, ushering them out of the building.
Covering them on their way out.
Zack Fair setting her trembling body down on the floor, the pink haired second class found her breaths shaky and irregular, found every single draw hurting like hell.
Then her sensei was at her side again. Inspecting her wounds then calling for Angeal, his voice full of concern as he took in her blood drenched cothes.
She faintly registered Zack´s face hovering behind him and then Angeal, pushing the others out of the way and bending over her helpless form.
Her consciousness was fading.
And so was her life.
And there were hands.
Big warm soothing hands pressing against her wounds.
And then.
Nothing.
Her long pinkish lashes fluttering open, Claire Farron came around a few minutes later on the floor of the Shin-Ra helicopter. The noise of the rotors slowly bringing her back to alertness, her back propped against one of the seats, she found herself resting on the floor sourrounded by the others, concern displayed on all of their faces.
They were obviously on their way back.
They had made it out alive.
All of them.
Looking around she found Blaze Edge resting against one of the helicopters cargo areas´ walls and Angeal Hewley sitting on the floor with her, his big warm hands still red with blood as he watched her very carefully.
She felt dizzy and faint but she was alive and mercifully the horrible pain in her upper body had faded, replaced now by a weird tingling numbness.
Drawing deep calming breaths she reached down to where seemingly only moments ago, there had been a gaping wound in her stomach, now nothing more than a painful memory.
Looking up into those dark blue eyes Lightning found them monitoring her closely, their owner ready to act again, should the need arise.
'Thank you, Angeal.'
