It was for her outstanding services to the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company during the Wutai war, that Claire Farron was recommended for First Class the day after they returned from the mission that had almost cost her life.
The news about her killing Godo Kisaragi, leader of Wutai until just a day ago, had spread like wildfire and everybody was expecting her promotion any day now. After all she had done, it was actually odd that they hadn´t upgraded her to First Class the second the soles of her combat boots had hit the helideck of Shin-Ra HQ.
On the other hand... Neither Director Lazard nor President Shin-Ra were espescially fond of her, were they?
The pink haired female herself, she didn´t give it too much thought. They couldn´t deny her her upgrade after everything she had accomplished, landing what probably was the most important hit in the entire wutai war.
To mark the occasion of her upcoming promotion, as well as the end of the war, our six heroes made their way down to Loveless Avenue, treating themselves to a generous dinner at the Goblin´s bar - some tasty burgers and the occasional cider - a little feast among comrades...no... friends. Family.
Cloud was in a good mood that day and so were Angeal and Zack, the former vigorously biting into his first burger (he had ordered two) and nearly finishing it too before the others had even had the time to touch their own.
Claire Farron had to stifle a giggle at her saviour´s rough eating manners.
Yes.
This man she owed her life to.
Angeal Hewley.
Devourer of whole pigs.
Everybody seemed cheerful that evening except for Genesis Rhapsodos who, for some strange reason, seemed slightly bitter. (He had in fact lost a horrendous amount of money that day, betting on Zack making First Class before Lightning, a fact the pink haired female couldn't have guessed.)
But upon taking a closer look, even an outsider could have seen that the cheeriness was only superficial.
Sephiroth on his part seemed absent-minded most of the time, as if he was deep in thought about something and didn´t join in on any of their conversations.
Lightning couldn´t help but wonder what was going on inside his head.
He always seemed so distant, seemed so reserved. Except for that one day in the simulation training room that was.
The pink haired second class still didn't know what had ridden him back then, couldn't comprehend.
Whatever it was, the silver haired first class had reverted to his usual self pretty quickly and all in all Lightning tried not to give it too much thought.
She still remembered the feeling of the silver haired man standing so close behind her though, the accidental brush of his arm against her side, the gentle pressure of his gloved hand above her's, the way her skin had erupted in goosegumps when she'd felt his breath on the back of her neck.
And the way he'd spoken to her. That soft gentle voice, she'd never heard from him before.
Had he been dropping his guard around her? Had she seen a glimpse of the real Sephiroth? The man beneath the mask?
Lightning wasn't sure.
What she knew for sure was that he had pushed the task of killing Godo Kisaragi on her because he had had doubts.
In the midst of battle it had seemed like a present. Like a welcome opportunity. She'd thought he'd granted her the chance to prove herself. To get herself promoted to first class. To earn herself some fame. But now in retrospect, Lightning remembered the brief conversation they had had before the Vajradharas had appeared.
Remembered what Sephiroth had said: 'I wonder if it´s the right thing to do...'.
Remembered the way that Godo Kisaragi had looked at her. With pity.
No matter how much she thought about it, Lightning found she couldn't make sense of any of it.
Still, the gaze in Godo Kisaragi's eyes was hounting her every minute of her sleepless nights.
And then there was Zack.
She could sense her comrade's disappointment for not having gotten his chance to shine in the wutai war himself. A fact he tried very hard to hide and Claire Farron couldn't helpt but feel sorry for him.
He should be sitting in her position. She was aware. He should have killed Godo Kisaragi and ended the war and he should have become the hero.
It was his dream to become a hero after all.
Not her's.
Never her's.
Thinking of Godo Kisaragi's eyes again, Lightning herself found she didn´t feel like a hero at all.
Sitting there eating her burger together with her friends, she realized the only dream she had was to be free. Free to leave. Free not to have to take orders from anybody. To do as she pleased or thought was best. Like all the other people had to feel out there in this world. All those civilians.
Unattainable dreams are the best kind, Director Lazard had once said to Zack.
Little did they know that evening that Zack would be recommended for First Class too following only a few days behind.
Once they were done eating and their plates were removed from their table, Genesis Rhapsodos ordered a round of shots for everybody.
It didn´t take long for them to arrive.
'To Lightning´s promotion.' Angeal announced, raising his glass for a toast and ripping Sephiroth out of his musings.
The others joined in and together the six of them raised their glasses.
Lightning couldn´t help but look at Sephiroth though.
Their gazes locking for a brief moment over the rim of their glasses, she found her sensei giving her a tiny nod, an indication of approval and respect. Maybe even pride.
Lightning felt her cheeks go pink.
Somehow it all felt unreal.
Soldier First Class Farron.
The pink haired woman couldn´t believe she´d made it this far.
Soon Sephiroth wouldn´t be her trainer anymore.
They would be of equal rank.
She felt an overwhelming leap of joy inside her as she let that fact sink in for the very first time.
They would be equals, Sephiroth and her.
Although technically that was true, a little voice inside her head kept telling her that this was of course not the case. It was preposterous in fact to even consider this. When it came to power or strength, she knew she was nowhere close to his abilities and could never possibly be. That was just physically out of question. Was impossible. Still, the thought comforted her. Amused her to no end.
It was a few days after her recommendation, that Claire Farron was called into Director Lazard´s bureau.
She made her way up there proudly, ready to receive her promotion, but she realized something was off the second that she opened the door.
Zack was there too, and so were Sephiroth and Angeal Hewley.
She sensed her sensei being upset about something immediately, the fact that she could actually tell, the result of years of trying to decipher him (a usually futile attempt).
Lightning took her seat there quietly, as the director revealed that Zack and her were to take part in a competition, some traditional bullshit that was held by Shin-Ra about every five years or so. A test for discipline and self-control in form of a three minutes breath hold.
Before anybody had time to complain, they were assured that it was an honor to participate and Lazard seemed intrigued by the fact that the ensuing ceremony would be the perfect occasion to feature their promotion. Or in other words: he let them know that in order to become First Class, they had to pass this stupid competition.
Ready to be ranked First, according to Lazard a challenge such as this should be dead easy to them anyway. But Lightning couldn´t shake off that sense of foreboding, nor could Sephiroth, as the director smiled at them maliciously.
'I´ve never heard anything about this stupid competition thing...' Claire Farron ranted as they made their way down to the dining hall that evening, Zack, Cloud and her.
'It isn´t that hard, really! Genesis told me everything about it! He even participated in this challenge himself when he was younger.' Cloud informed obviously elated. 'There is a water container where the participants get dunked and held under by some judge.'
The pink haired female looked over at her friend in discomfort.
Imagining being brutally forced under water by some huge guy for three minutes, it certainly didn´t seem to be anything to get all excited about, at least to her.
'You can always give a hand signal when you want to quit.' Cloud assured after noticing his friends´ appalled expression.
'...But then you get dishonored and thrown out...' he continued.
Yeaah...
Now that sounded very reassuring.
Lightning couldn't help but shake off the feeling Cloud was actually enjoying himself, handing her these horror news.
'Genesis said that it is common for people to rather drown in honor, than live with the shame of giving the quitting sign.' Blondie went on enthusiastically, apparently already looking forward to this torture he had already signed up to participate in voluntarily, possibly viewing it as his chance to grasp some honor himself for once.
'It is a huge competition with a lot of people...'
He seemed to go on like this forever.
'Even infantrymen can take part.'
Great.
Lightning was so not looking forward to this challenge, a test that turned out to be much more of a problem than she had initially thought.
The pink haired second had always known she was no good at holding her breath, had never been fond of water to begin with, but she should find out that she actually was in serious trouble when after that same evening she settled in front of her bathroom mirror to check on her breath holding abilities.
Looking at the clock in the corner of her room she took a deep breath and began.
10 seconds.
20 seconds.
30 seconds.
The arms of the clock didn´t seem to move at all.
Oh come on.
40 seconds.
There was a needy whoosh of air and a devastated groan.
How the fuck was she going to make 3 minutes?
It was impossible!
There were only two weeks left until the ceremony.
The next few days weren't fun.
With the prospect of death by drowning, or worse: expulsion, lying in wait of her just a fornight from now Claire Farron spent her waking hours in a state of terror and barely repressed fear.
All her further attempts at extending her breath holding skills had ended similiarly to the first and despite endless effort and tons of sleepless nights she was getting nowhere even close to where she knew she had to be.
There were only ten days left and slowly she was getting desperate.
What was she to do?!
It was one of her last private lessons with Sephiroth in the simulation training room, when finally the pink haired female broke.
She had had trouble again with the simplest things, had trouble again to concentrate and was again overwhelmed by that same behemoth pouncing at her from behind a corner of the sector one train station.
Pressing the button to abort the mission herself she took off her gear and threw it to the ground.
Screw it.
She didn't know how many trainings with Sephiroth she still had left. But it definitely weren't many.
Once she´d made first class she woulnd´t be his student anymore. And if she died, she wouldn't either.
This way or the other. He wouldn't be her trainer anymore.
And there were only ten days left until the competition ceremony.
It finally was time to voice her fears.
'I simply cannot do it!' she blurted out, dropping Blaze Edge to the ground.
The silver haired man bent over the training room buttons, Lightning was glad he had his back turned towards her.
She wouldn´t have had the guts to admit it to his face.
'You simply can´t do what?' her sensei asked somewhat incredulously as slowly he started to turn around and face her, his expression quizzical.
'You have bested this simulation fifty times before!'
'The challenge... I can´t possibly...' the girl trailed off as words eluded her.
The way the first class looked at her, it didn't help one bit.
'I can barely last a minute...' she finally managed to choke out.
The tall lean man infront of her, he only sighed as contemplating what she had just said, he measured her up with his eyes.
'I know it´s not exactly fair. With your slender built your lung volume is probably smaller than most of your comrade´s. This challenge isn´t a problem to most guys. But with a little practice, I´m sure you´ll be able to do it just fine.' he assured her.
Those words of his, thought meant in a good way surely, they did nothing to lift Lightning's morale.
The next few days weren´t fun at all. Trying to prepare herself for the challenge whenever she could, Lightning praticed every free moment, the image of her upcoming doom constantly present at the back of her mind, gnawing at her.
Sephiroth had been kind enough to teach her some breathing techniques to maximize her oxygen intake, all the while explaining the importance of staying calm and concentrated, where the prospect of air deprivation was actually freaking her out to no end.
Still, with only a week to go before the event, no matter how much she practiced, Lightning still hadn´t made it past the three minute threshold and she was beginning to loose her mind about it.
It was a disaster.
She had done everything, had practiced endlessly and still...
She always had to quit after about two minutes.
She had confided her fears to Zack who along with Cloud, with a little practice, had accomplished the three minutes breath hold on almost the same day he had started to try.
But all the weeping and worrying wouldn´t help her.
Ligthning knew.
The only thing she could do was try.
And that she did.
Over and over again.
Keeping all of Sephiroth tips in mind.
But still. No matter what she tried, she didn't seem to manage.
It was Sunday evening, a week from the challenge, that Lightning spent with her sensei in the training room once more, working on her breath holding technique.
She was watching her reflection in the glass pane of the window to the observation room, trying to keep her mind off the task at hand. Trying to steer her thoughts away from the fact that she needed to breathe. And soon.
'You´ve already made 2:15.' the silver haired General stated from somewhere behind her, keeping her up to date.
Lightning knew he´d actually meant to encourage her to go on.
To encourage her to make it this time.
There were only 45 seconds left after all.
But holding your breath for 45 seconds was a very long time when you´d refrained from breathing for two minutes already.
She wanted to make it. Really did. To finally get this done and over with but feeling the pressure in her chest build up Claire Farron found the urge to breathe was overwhelming. Knew, she couldn´t go on any longer.
She just couldn´t.
Looking at her sensei in an appologetic kind of way the pink haired soldier shook her head to indicate that she couldn't do it.
That she had to quit.
Now.
But General Sephiroth Crescent seemed to see things differently.
The silver haired first class watching in silence, he just didn´t have the patience to take his apprentice's bullshit any longer.
He didn't know what she was so scared of, didn't know where the problem lay exactly.
He didn't know why she was playing this cat and mouse game, but what he did know was that no matter how she thought about it, she could accomplish that three minutes breathhold easily.
She was not a normal human being. She was an mako enhanced super soldier. And it was about time she remembered that.
Watching her for over two minutes again, which in itself had proven the most boring task he had ever engaged in, only to have her give up with less than 45 seconds left to go... It was making him sick.
There definitely were better activities for him to spend his evenings with.
And there must have been for her too.
Also he was fed up with watching her beating herself up about this every fucked second of their training session. And doublessly beyond that too.
No.
He wouldn´t let her waste his time much longer. He´d been lenient with her for far too long.
This was making him angry.
If she was going to behave like this next week, then she wouldn´t only dishonor him as her trainer, she would also get herself expulsed from SOLDIER or worse, loose her life.
And there was just no way he would let that happen.
Not that close before the finish line.
As much as he would have liked her to get ready to do it at her own pace, they just didn´t have time for stuff like this.
The man in the black coat didn´t wait for his protégé to inhale and spoil all her progress again as quickly he moved forwards to cover her mouth and nose from behind with one of his leather gloved hands.
No way was he going to let her waste all of her previous accomplishments. Not this time.
The pink haired female bucking up against him in protest, pressing her struggling form to his chest with one of his forearms, the silver haired first class used his free arm to fend off her clawing hands as panickingly she lashed out at his arms, his face. A futile attempt at freeing herself, she should have known.
His panicking second class lashing out at him as hard as she could, nails digging deep into the thick leather of his uniform, the reflection of her eyes in the glass pane wild huge scalding pits of ice, no matter the pleading quality of the desperate tiny noises coming from her throat, the man in the dark uniform, he didn´t budge one bit.
No.
He´d had enough.
He knew she could do it.
Had known all along.
And he figured it was time for her to realize that too. To realize what her body was actually capable of.
'Don´t fight me... Fight the urge to breathe.' he instructed in what he hoped would pass as a calming voice.
'This is just your mind, making you panic, when actually you could go on much longer.' he told his student, watching her beautiful light blue eyes staring at him wide in shock in their reflection in the bullet proof glass, parting the training area from the adjourning observation room.
It didn´t do much difference.
About twenty seconds had passed and still her fingers were digging into the skin of his arm in a futile attempt to free herself.
Five seconds more and her body was still struggling against his hold, her huge watery eyes pleading to be released.
'See... You still have enough air to fight me...' Sephiroth observed, unable to restrain a chuckle.
'This is not about your physical abilities. This is about your mind controlling your body. About you controlling your mind.' he explained.
His last words seemed to somehow have hit a nerve though, as torturously slowly the pink haired second class let go of his arm. She was trying to calm herself down, he could tell. Was trying to get her panic under control. And she seemed to succeed too, the general observed in triumph, as feeling her body relax against his chest he found her eyes now focused, trained on the clock on the other side of the glass pane.
General Sephiroth Crescent let his free hand slide down to her wrist to check on her pulse.
Slow but steady.
Good.
This time she would make it.
Only a few seconds left.
He released her the moment the arm of the clock hit 12 for the third time.
The pink haired second class instantly stumbled away from him, staring at him, huge eyed and reproachful, apparently still shocked about her sensei acting so harshly, but somehow the man infront her found he didn´t care.
'YOU!...YOU!' she managed to throw at him accusingly between heavy pants for air.
General Sephiroth Crescent couldn't help but chuckle.
'See... You can do it easily.' he simply said.
'You just have to focus.'
After Sephiroth had, in a not so kind way, shown her what she was actually able to do, Lightning had spent most of her remaining days practicing for real, forcing her mind to overcome her antics. And after another week of training she found she finally felt able to do it.
It was still a demanding task for her and it was always close, but in the end she mastered the three minutes even without her sensei´s 'help'.
Still, the day before the challenge she was very nervous. Probably afraid even. And the dread she felt everytime she thought about what would happen should she fail in the next day´s task was almost killing her.
It was only reluctantly therefore, that she made her way down to the SOLDIER´s natatorium, located in the Shin-Ra headquarters' basement where her final session with Sephiroth was destined to take place.
She knew her sensei would be able to sense her fears. That he'd definitely wouldn't approve of her current mental state.
She couldn't blame him. She didn't approve of any of it either. But what was she supposed to do?
Lightning couldn't help it.
Some of them still had feelings after all, still had emotions.
Still. This last training session was important. Lightning was aware.
She hadn't tried out her new breathholding skills in a liquid medium yet and she definitely didn't want the time during the challenge ceremony to be her first time.
This was going to be her dry run.
If she could make it in there, she was going to make it anywhere.
She didn't bother to take off her boots as she joined her sensei in the uncomfortably cool waters of the Shin-Ra lap pool. They had trained in there in full gear too. And Lightning hadn't brought a bathing suite to Midgar. Not that she felt the desire to let any of her comrades see her in such revealing garment.
No definitely not.
And least of all him.
Her silver haired sensei was waiting in the waist deep water fully clothed in his uniform as usual.
What had she expected?
Swimming trunks?
Lightning wasn´t sure.
Her anxious mind scattering she briefly tried to picture Sephiroth in swimming trunks and failed quite terribly.
'You are nervous.' her trainer observed, one of his beautiful silver eyebrows arching upwards.
'Yes, I guess so...' Lighning sighed.
Ignoring her instructor's inquiring gaze, she instantly began the preparation regimen they had worked out for her as trying to calm herself down she took deep steadying breaths for several minutes to prep her body for the upcoming task.
'Tomorrow will be nothing else than what we´ll do today.' the general assured her, his voice gentle once again.
Lightning was a little startled to hear him use that tone of voice once more. After all that time she hadn't been sure whether she'd actually imagined that last time he'd used it.
It wasn't something you expected from someone like Sephiroth.
Still, she couldn't help but find she liked it, revelled in it really.
'Just make sure you stay calm and focused and you´ll make it easily.'
There. He'd been using that same voice again. And Lightning couldn't help but smile.
Sephiroth believed in her. He thought that she could make it.
It reassured her to no end.
She knew he was trying to talk some courage into her and somehow she was thankful. So infinitely thankful that he was there with her right now, taking the time to be at her side at this last most horrible rehearsal.
Checking the clock one last time Lightning timed her final breath for the moment that the clock´s long arm hit 12.
This would be her starting point.
Then she let her legs buckle.
Her body diving into the cool clear waters, the pink haired female slowly let her head sink beneath the surface.
Claire Farron hated to be under water. Had always hated it, ever since she'd been a kid.
It was just such a terrible feeling. Her ear passages filled with liquid numbing everything around her and the chlorine made her eyes burn when she tried to open them.
Trying to relax as best as she could, her SOLDIER gear acting as a natural set of diving weights keeping them submerged without effort, the pink haired second class took a cross legged position on the pools steely bottom. Her sensei following suit, Lightning watched him through her blurry vision as he took his place infront of her, facing her.
The first minute passed without any problems.
And so did the second.
Her troubles usually began somewhere at the beginning of the third minute and Lightning fould her lungs starting to protest somewhere at 2:20, when suddenly she felt her sensei´s hand close around her forearm, his thumb gently pressing against her wrist as carefully he monitored her pulse.
He had taken off his gloves for once and she could feel the soft touch of his fingers tingling on her pale smooth skin.
She couldn´t keep her gaze from going back to them, studying them. Beautiful attractive hands, delicately shaped she thought, for someone with his strength.
She couldn´t help but enjoy the feeling of one of them resting there on her forearm, admired the way his alabaster skin stood out in contrast against her own, though she wasn´t tan by any means.
For a brief moment she wondered how he could do all this so effortlessly. As if he needn´t breathe at all.
Feeling her body run out of air Claire Farron closed her eyes, forced her mind to relax, to overcome her body´s instincts, overcome the urge to breathe, and focused on his hand instead.
That handsome pale cool hand resting on her arm.
This time, with him there, Lightning realized she was able to stay focused, concentrated, completely calm and relaxed. Absorbed in the task. And suddenly she felt as if holding her breath even for such an extended period of time wasn´t that hard at all, felt as if she could hold her breath forever.
And maybe she would have.
Suddenly she felt so weightless, felt so free. Carefree almost. It was a beautiful and soothing feeling. Was like floating.
She only marginally noticed she was feeling dizzy and slightly light headed when suddenly she was pulled up to the surface by the man beside her.
Her head had barely broken the surface when she found herself sucking in deep needy breaths.
She hadn't even realized she'd needed oxygen that badly.
'And that's why you should never practice breathholding under water on your own.' the pink haired female heard her sensei's voice as if from somewhere far away.
He didn't sound out of breath at all.
Feeling off balance she staggered backwards disorientatedly to instantly feel her sensei´s strong arms at her sides, ready to steady her.
'Don´t push your limits.' he warned, his voice soft, as upon checking the watch Claire Farron realized she´d almost done four minutes.
Claire Farron felt ready to throw up as she entered the Exhibit Room which had been prepared to stage her ordeal, nervous blue eyes taking in the barrel of water placed in the center of the room, surrounded by rows and rows of seats for all the participants to prepare themselves and all the spectators to watch.
Cloud had been right. There certainly were a lot of people.
She shakily took her seat in the third row between Zack and Cloud, her gaze lingering on the heavy-built guy standing next to the water container (her executioner) all the time, while Director Lazard and President Shin-Ra were holding their speeches.
Holding her breath with Sephiroth in the natatorium had been one thing. Doing it again here, in front of all those people without the opportunity to quit, really, without anyone to pull her up in time, should the need arise, that was something different entirely.
A lot of guys took their turn before them. Second class as well as third. Infantrymen even.
Lightning watched in apprehension as one by one they were called to the front and took their places getting their heads dunked inside the barrel.
Everybody was nervous. It was easy to tell.
A few of them barely made it, but after hours of watching Lightning still hadn´t seen anyone die or - Etro forbid! - quit.
Still, she had a bad feeling about all of this.
Trying to calm down her tortured nerves she practiced her breathing techniques, maximizing the oxygen levels in her bloodstream in order to be optimally prepared for the challenge, once it would be her turn to get dunked.
Zack and Cloud went before her and both of them passed easily, with Blondie even proudly taking a bow in front of the cheering crowd.
Watching them, it looked so easy.
Why was she having such troubles with this in the first place?
It had to be all that water.
No.
No. No. No. No.
She could do this.
She could do this too.
After what she had accomplished in the SOLDIER natatorium this was going to be easy, wasn't it?
Her gaze wandering over to where her sensei sat a few rows away Lightning knew that she could do it. She had proven it to him the night before.
Yes.
It was easy.
Piece of cake as Zack would say.
Just three minutes and it would all be over.
She just had to focus.
General Sephiroth Crescent couldn´t deny the fact that he was nervous. None of them could.
Zack and Cloud had passed without incident exactly as the silver haired first class had assumed they would. But Lightning... He wasn´t so sure about Lightning.
They all knew that the pink haired second class had had huge difficulties preparing for this task. Especially when it came to overcoming her fears.
Yes. On one hand it was Claire´s anxiety that got him worried. He really hoped her nerves wouldn´t impair her abilities too much that day. On the other hand he knew she could do it easily. He´d been watching her preparing her body for what was about to come for at least an hour now, wisely using the time she had to spend on her seat to stock up on her body´s oxygen supply. That was not going to be the problem. Not really.
No. It was something else that bothered him. Bothered him a lot.
He just had a feeling that there was something going on there, something fishy, and unfortunately the general´s intuition seldom betrayed him.
He couldn´t shake off the feeling that somehow the whole thing seemed staged, an extensive masquerade to divert from the fact that a challenge such as this one would be the perfect opportunity to get rid of somebody Shin-Ra never wanted in their ranks to begin with.
Everybody knew the stories of soldiers who´d died in this challenge. Died or chosen the exile. Both weren´t an option today. Not for Lightning. Sephiroth knew that.
There was no way she would quit.
Not in this world.
Not if her life depended on it. Which unfortunately it did.
It was feeling slightly antsy therefore that he watched from the edge of his seat as the woman in question, called to the front, made her way up to the center, hoping against hope that all his initial suspicions would be proven wrong.
The pink haired woman took her place in front of the container on shaky trembling legs, nervous blue eyes searching the crowd, begging for some kind of mental support.
General Sephiroth Crescent could sense her apprehension.
It was contagious.
Returning her gaze he gave her one of his tight nods. A signal for her to carry on, to focus on the task, to maybe reassure her that she could do it and that everything would turn out alright. But as much as the silver haired man wanted his protégé to believe that, he still had a feeling that this was far from the truth.
And he wasn´t to be disappointed either, as from the corners of his vision he perceived President Shin-Ra suspiciously winking at his lackey next to the barrel, a burly built man, who in return lowered his head in understanding.
The black clad first class sighing in exasperation, his hand gripped the handle of his Masamune tightly as carefully he tried to calm his rising anger.
Oh, why were they doing this to her?
Why were they doing this to him?
She hadn´t done anything wrong. None of them had, or had they?!
No. They´d helped them win their war for them.
They'd carried out their orders.
They´d risked their lives for them.
Every single day.
On countless of occassions.
Never once had they complained.
And this was what they were getting in return?!
No... This wasn´t fair.
This so wasn´t!
This was...
'3!' Presidant Shin-Ra started the countdown for Lightning´s turn and everybody´s eyes turned to the woman infront now preparing herself with deep steadying breaths.
Pondering his options fast, General Sephiroth Crescent knew there was nothing he could do.
'2!'
If they planned to play this game unfair then there wasn´t much he could possibly do to change that.
Nothing that would be in Lightning's favour at least.
And so the silver haired first class watched in trepidation, no, in horror, as they did the countdown as with everybody else but instead of waiting for president Shin-Ra to count to 1, they dunked her in early, before she was even ready, before she´d even had time to properly breathe in.
'Go!'
Shit.
The general wouldn´t have thought they´d have the guts to do it that obviously.
He saw Zack getting up from his chair immediately, shouting for them to stop, that it wasn´t fair, felt a murmur going through the audience as people protested, but whatever they did, it would do no good.
The silver haired first class in the fifth row, he only closed his eyes and took a deep calming breath, unable to watch his comrade´s struggle against the Shin-Ra lackey´s grip, as panickingly she tried to get back to the surface again.
He so didn´t want to witness this. Found that in fact he couldn't.
It was a nightmare.
Really.
He knew for sure that Lightning wouldn´t quit in this life.
Fuck!
Claire Farron didn´t immediately realize what was going on until suddenly her face was submerged under the cold water´s surface, her body brutally forced into a stooping position and strong arms on the back of her head restraining her from straightening up again, from reaching the surface again to complain, to tell them that she hadn´t been ready, that this wasn´t fair. And she almost panicked when she realized that she wouldn´t have a chance to express her annoyance at this injustice, that she wouldn´t be released from this strain, until eventually three minutes had passed.
Yes. This was it. The only chance she would get. It was even worse than she would have imagined.
Still.
She had to take what she got. And work with it too. There was no way for her to change that.
Accepting that this would be the only chance she would get, after initially struggling to get back to the surface, after a few seconds Claire Farron surrendered and tried to stay calm and concentrated like her sensei had taught her, scolding herself for having wasted so much of her limited supply of air with fighting the inevitable already.
She had no idea how much time had passed already, how long she would still have to go.
She'd been planning to count in her head but that early start had completely thrown her.
Still, she just tried to stay calm.
Focused.
Concentrated.
Tried hard to think about something else, anything else really, forcing her brain to imagine that it was just another training session in the natatorium as the day before where she was peacefully sitting in the water with her mentor´s hand resting on her wrist, while she felt the pressure in her chest steadily build up.
Lightning knew she wasn´t going to last very long this time.
Knew it with every cell of her brain. But there was nothing for it. Nothing she could do.
General Sephiroth Crescent could tell his protégé was running out of air fast. Too fast. Dangerously fast in fact.
He had noticed the muscles in her upper body twitching, had seen her fingers drumming against the barrel´s side´s, an attempt to cope with the terrible tension constantly building in her chest. And he could only watch in horror as more quickly than he would have hoped the drumming turned into a nervous tapping he knew was going to transform into helpless hammering very very soon.
He couldn´t bear to look at her.
Didn´t want to see her suffer.
And he found he wished she´d just raise one of her hands to give the signal, to quit, wished it with all his heart. But he knew it just wasn´t going to happen. Not in this life.
He felt no desire to watch his protégé drown right there only feet away from him.
Without him able to do anything that wouldn't grant her a fate that was far worse than dying, at least in her opinion.
But he found he couldn´t avert his eyes either as his comrade´s chest and abdomen contracted in what had to be a very painful way, her lungs desperately clutching for air that wasn't there, the palms of her hands hitting the sides of the container hard, her nails leaving deep grooves in the wooden surface.
Suddenly Sephiroth was very thankful they hadn't used a container with tranparent walls.
The exhibit room had grown eerily silent. Noone dared to make a sound.
And it was a few seconds later that the poor girl lost her footing.
Her legs kicking out violently, the soles of her combat boots produced ugly squeaking sounds as they rubbed against the grey tiled floor.
She was suffocating.
Drowning really.
It was a cruel thing to watch.
The general´s eyes, having seen so many people suffer at his own hands, he now found them trained to the floor, unable to watch her die.
Her...
Why her of all people?!
He felt the almost irresistible urge to get up from his seat. To do something to end this torture. To save the girl he´d come to respect, to like, to maybe admire even, from her impending doom.
But he wasn´t the prince in shining armour.
And would never be.
No.
He was the mercenary soldier in the black leather coat. The killer. The monster really. And there was nothing he could do, that wouldn't make her hate him for for the rest of her entire life.
Nothing he could do to save her.
'Only 50 seconds left!' he suddenly heard Zack cry out.
'You can do it! Come on Light!' he found the puppy lead her on.
General Sephiroth Crescent only shook his head.
It wasn´t as if she could possibly hear.
But he was right.
50 seconds wasn´t that much.
Having realized that, the general´s head snaped back to the scene in front of him to look at his protégé´s struggling form. Her chest and abdomen spastically convulsing now at her body´s desperate attempts to suck in air, the man in the black coat knew she didn´t have much time left.
But she was still moving.
She was still alive.
And that was all that counted, right?!
Come on now. Fight it Light.
She was done.
She just knew it.
Her chest contracting painfully, her mind panicking like it never had before, Claire Farron realized that she wouldn´t be able to just emerge and breathe when she couldn´t bear it anymore.
Those two strong hands mercilessly pushing her down by the back of her head, they were relentless, vicelike, unshielding.
Her head dizzy and her thinking sluggish, she slowly felt her control and consciousness slip away, knew she wouldn´t be able to resist this much longer. To resist the urge to breathe.
There was no Sephiroth pulling her up this time. No gentle hand to carefully observe her pulse.
This was the real thing.
And she was failing. Dying really, drowning.
She desperately wished she could bring up her hands to cover her mouth and nose, to prevent her panicking lungs from sucking in the water, but to her great misfortune her position wouldn´t allow it.
Oh, what had she gotten herself into?
Why had all of this happened?
Why did everything have to go wrong, so terribly wrong?!
Lightning didn´t know.
Found she didn´t bother.
Every starving cell of her body desperately screaming for air, pleading for her to inhale, to fill her lungs with air again, with the oxygen she so badly needed, it was with all her remaining strenght that she fought the urge to breathe.
She knew once she happened to breathe in water she was doomed.
But still, she knew she couldn´t keep it up much longer. Knew that eventually she would.
Oh yes, she would.
Her head submerged in the dephts of the barrel Claire Farron didn´t take notice of any of the things that took their course outside. Didn´t see Angeal Hewley´s surprised face as suddenly he felt Sephiroth get up from his seat right next to him, didn´t see her sensei brushing past the spellbound onlookers and hurrying to the front, to her.
Angeal didn´t know what his friend was actually planning to do, but whatever it was, it was hopefully going to end this terrible display of injustice before something irreversible would happen.
Whatever his intention the burly first class was not going to stand by and watch in silence while a comrade was dying.
No.
Though his healing abilities could not possible replenish her oxygen levels, although he knew there wasn't really anything he could do to help her either he thought that yes, at least he could be there. And getting up from his seat as well, he too made to exit his row, the others following behind, as together they made their way up to the front.
They reached her side with only 35 seconds left to go and General Sephiroth Crescent knew the girl infront him was on the verge of breaking when crouching down next to her he put a supporting arm around her shoulders offering his other to her clawing hand.
She clasped it instantly, squeezing down on his forearm hard, the nails of her petite fingers drawing blood, but the silver haired first class found he didn´t care.
'Come on Light you can make it!' he heard Zack mutter frantically underneath his breath like a prayer while sitting down next to her he mirrored the general´s actions on her other side.
Angeal, Genesis and Cloud positioning themselves like a wall around them, they watched on quietly, nobody daring to even breathe during what was possibly going to be Lightning´s last seconds – ever.
Only 25 seconds to go.
20.
General Sephiroth Crescent felt his protégé´s hand starting to go limp inside his own, felt her pulse go from racing like mad to a slowing drag.
There was no pulling her up to the surface this time, like he had done the night before in the Shin-Ra natatorium.
Please not now...
We´re almost there..
Her body convulsing uncontrollably now General Sephiroth Crescent unvoluntarily felt his grip around her tighten.
It was his turn to press her hand now, hard.
15.
Come on Light it´s only seconds! He pleaded with her inside his head as slowly he felt her body go slack, her hand twitching weakly inside his long pale fingers.
10!
Lightning, please, hang in there.
Just a little longer.
There was no movement from her side anymore now whatsoever, her pulse a sporadic weak affair, almost ceasing alltogether.
5!
No please!
Come on!
Not now. Not now!
Then suddenly the gong went off and Claire Farron was released.
Her fragile body collapsing backwards into her sensei´s arms immediately, the man in the black leather coat barely registered the president´s voice as only begrudgingly he announced that she had made it.
And she had.
But barely so.
The girl in his arms lay limp, muscles spasming faintly, eyelids fluttering weakly.
The crowd suddenly up from their seats and all around them to get a better look, General Sephiroth Crescent didn´t even notice them as gently he cupped his protégé´s face and carefully studied her pained expression, taking in her ashen complexion and her purplish-blue lips.
There were neither applause nor cheers.
Everyone was quiet witch shock and anticipation.
'Breathe, Farron.' the general ordered, his voice worried, shaky even.
The girl in his arms could hear him, fought very very hard to comply.
Tentatively trying to inhale, she helplessly cought up water instead.
And a lot of water it was too.
It was painful to watch as on the verge of passing out the young woman struggled for breath until finally, with difficulty, she managed to get some air into her lungs.
She hyperventilated immediately, her body´s desperate attempts at restoring it´s oxygen levels fast, a futile attempt Sephiroth knew, her eyelids fluttered dangerously as she was ready to faint again.
The silver haired first class, he sat there with her, holding her tightly, his fingers slowly tracing soothing patterns on her back, her shoulder, her arm, while Zack Fair was still holding her hand, whispering comforting words to her, as together they tried to calm her down enough for her to take some proper breaths.
'It´s okay... You´re safe now... Just breathe... You did it... It´s going to be okay...'
Sephiroth could sense that she was about to pass out for real, her body spasming and shaking all over as she sucked in small needy breaths through her slightly parted lips.
It only made him hold her tighter.
They didn´t stay to listen to President Shin-Ra and Lazard holding their speech about SOLDIER honor and what not to then announce that Zack and Light were officially promoted to First Class, as gently the general picked the pink haired woman's trembling form up into his arms and carried her out of there, out of the exhibit room and over to the elevators, the others following close behind.
There was no need to let all those people stare at her and gloat over her misery much longer.
Angeal was kind enough to lead them to his office as it was the nearest room they had available once they had retreated to the privacy of the SOLDIER floor.
Zack held open the door as the general carried the poor girl inside to gently lay her body down to rest on Angeal´s giant couch in what he hoped was an, at least to some extend, comfortable position. He couldn´t help but notice how weak she looked, how fragile, as carefully he seated himself next to her.
With Angeal howering over her ready to use his skills again and Zack still clasping her hand tightly chanting soothing words at her and Genesis and Cloud watching from the background granting them some space it took a long time for the pink haired female's breath to even, for her pulse to steady.
Sephiroth didn´t know how long he sat there with her but he didn´t dare to leave her side.
The pink haired first class slipping in and out of consciousness, General Sephiroth Crescent closely watched her chest move up and down, just to make sure that she kept breathing.
The whole situation reminded him a lot of the day he'd made her run all those rounds on the training pit. He had carried her away in his arms then too.
It had all been his fault back then. He was aware. He had beaten himself up about it for about a million times. Had sworn himself he'd never actually hurt her again.
But this time. This time none of this was done by him. This was Shin-Ra's doing. This was how they repayed the person who'd killed Godo Kisaragi for them.
True. It had been supposed to be him. He should have whielded that blade.
Genral Sephiroth Crescent still didn't know for sure what had ridden him back in wutai sending her to the royal chambers like that. He probably should have sent her straight back to the others. Should have reprimanded her for following him like that.
He wasn't quite sure why he hadn't done that. Maybe he just wanted her to get that chance. She had earned it so much. And maybe, maybe, it was a little bit because of the competition between Genesis Angeal and him.
Okay. Genesis might have disqualified himself by choosing Cloud as an apprentice a long time ago. But still. Making Lightning first class even before Zack. That he had considered the incing on the cake.
All those things were true and had played part in his decision of ordering her forward for the royal kill. But there was something else too. Sephiroth had killed so many people in his life. He'd never really bothered to count. Killing people was his job. His life purpose. The reason he existed.
Still. Godo Kiseragis blood wasn't one he'd wanted on his hands. Not really. That man, he'd been the only thing standing between Shin-Ra and the realisation of their world domination plans. Wutai had been the last stand.
Or maybe they still were. Who knew?
Sephiroth had no idea whether they had any backup plan, whether there was an equally headstrong successor who'd be able to mobilize the wutai forces against Shin-Ra once again or wehther the wutai morale would die with their last great leader, leaving their forces to scatter and the proud and fertile wutai lands to detoriate to a mako powered tourist attraction site. Who could say for sure?
Well. They'd definitey find out soon.
