It was another beautiful afternoon at the end of her third week in Bodhum. Another beautiful week spent in paradise. Lightning was busy helping her sister with the housework, dusting off the cupboards and sweeping the floors while Serah was somewhere outside, tending to the vegetables and watering her arsenal of pretty flowers.

They'd become a kind of well organized team, Serah and her. The days had finally gotten a relaxed kind of routine. Snow Villiers usually slept in, got up sometime around 11 and left for the neighbourhood watch until dinnertime and her sister went out each morning teaching at the local elementary school, leaving the Bodhum beachhouse all to herself. Lightning usually went to run errands for lunch and dinner and spend the rest of the time taking long walks in the neighbourhood, brooding over her current situation and trying to find out what she was going to do next.

Because really, she had no idea.

What was she to do, where was she to go? What was she going ot do with her life?

Somehow Lightning had not really thought about it before, and she definitely had not come to a conclusion.

Returning to Midgar was out of the question. Not only did it lie in ruins, after everything that had happened between Sephiroth and her, after he had sent her that terrible letter, she knew there was no going back for her. Come to think of it, she didn't even know whether they had gone back to Midgar or whether they had sticked together in the first place. Maybe all of them had gone their own ways. Zack and Cloud weren't even born in Midgar. Maybe they all just went home.

The thoughts of her comrades, it always came with a pang of guilt these days, a pang of longing.

She had abandoned them. Not only Sephiroth, but all of them.

She had left them without an explanation, without a single word of goodbye. And now that the first few waves of shock had ebbed down, she couln't help but feeel bad about it. Terrible really.

Yes, she was a terrible friend. The worst of comrades.

Having thrown away her phone in Palumpolum, she had left them without any way to contact her, was without any chance to contact them. She didn't even have Zack adress. All she knew was that he came from Gongaga . And Cloud from Nibelheim. She didn't even know about the others. She had never asked.

Either way. Returning to Midgar was not an option. Returning to Shin-Ra wasn't possible. For all she knew Shin-Ra had been wiped off the map of the planet entirely.

Since the events at Meteorfall mako reactors all around Gaii had been shut down, flowers had been starting to grow and nature had begun to claim back land. Somehow meteor had managed to accomplish what the wutai had been trying for ages. Shin-Ra had erased themselves.

Well, Somehow Lightning couldn't say she was surprised.

Shin-Ra really had it coming.

She'd seen all this on the news on Serah's huge living room flat screen Zack would have envied her for. She'd seen countless documentories and coverage. They had told her all about it in the news. About what had happened at Meteorfall and about how the world was recovering and building something new, something without Shin-Ra. But what they didn't tell her was what she was supposed to do now.

Somehow her whole life had been turned upside down. And Lightning hang there floating in the midst of it all with no idea what to do next.

Well. She would stay with her family. Would stay in Bodhum. That much she knew for sure.

She had already lost so much time with Serah, had failed to see her grow up and become that magnificient young woman theat she was now. No way was she going to miss her adult life too. There was just no way.

Also someone had to keep an eye on Snow. That much was for sure.

She was half done cleaning the bathroom tiles, lost brooding in her gloomy thoughts, when suddenly her sister sticked her head in through the doorway.

'Hey, sis?' she chimed up enthusiastically, making Lightning bursh her long pink bangs away from her eyes and look up at her sister questioningly.

'Huh?' the former warrior murmured somewhat detachedly, her mind still on the especially stubborn spot resting on the tile before her.

She would have to give it another few minutes of scrubbing to get rid of it for good. Why couldn't snow be a little more careful with the sink?

'Come on and get your ass outside.' Serah said somewhat decisively.

Lightning only gave an indefinable grunt.

Oh how much she hated housework...

'You´ve got visitors.' her sister announced, taking the sponge she'd been using to attack the tiles out of her hands.

'Who is it, Maqui and Gadhot?' Lightning asked somewhat bored as she picked up a cloth from the bathroom counter and started to attack the stains again.

The younger girl snatched it away from her instantly, a sheepish grin on her face as she quickly shook her head.

'You better check for yourself.' she urged, motioning towards the front door.

Claire Farron´s surprise couldn´t have been any bigger as she opened the door to step out onto the front porch.

The soft sea breeze blowing in her knee-length flower patterned summer dress and playing with her loosely put up hair, the sight of all of her favorite comrades gathered in her dead parent´s front yard made her freeze mid step.

From all the people she had thought she'd see, she definitely hadn't expected them.

It was both a surprise and a shock.

For a few moments Lightning simply stood there stunned, didn't know what to say.

Angeal Hewley standing closest to the door, greeting her with that kind big smile of his, she found him flanked by Zack and Cloud who were both gaping stupidly at her floral summerdress, her to them unfamiliar feminine appearance.

Lightning spotted Genesis a few feet behind them, his attention on the rather exotic looking flowers Serah had been growing near the entrance from the street and finally Sephiroth, trailing a few feet behind and seeming rather reluctant to enter the Farron property at all.

The pink haired soldier quickly brought her gaze back to the people right in front of her.

'Guys...' she greeted them not knowing what to say exactly, as she looked from Angeal to Zack to Cloud and back to Angeal again.

They all stood there with big fat smiles plastered on their faces, ready to tackle her in bone crashing embraces.

It was Zack Fair who broke the ice.

Closing the distance between the two of them in just a few quick strides he reached her to pull her close to him into the tightest hug imaginable.

It wasn't a very comfortable experience.

'Oh my god, I missed you.' he said as he squeezed all breath out of her protesting lungs.

'I missed you too.' Cloud piped up, throwing his arms around the both of them and rendering the experience even more uncomfortable with this more than awkward group hug.

If Angeal was going to join too, Lightning wasn't sure she would survive.

'We all missed you.' Zack confirmed as he hugged her even closer.

Her ribs about to crack, Claire Farron only gave a breathless grunt.

They had come. They'd come for her. All of them together.

Lightning almost could not believe it. They were still together, were all well. They had come to Bodhum to see her.

And they weren't angry with her for leaving them behind appearently.

Lightning almost culd not believe it.

The cordial greeting pulling at her heartstrings, Claire Farron found a tiny tear escaping the corner of her long lush pinkish lashes. Thought that might have come from Zack's belt buckle digging into her belly uncomfortably.

Peeking through the narrow opneing of her comrade's shoulders she found Angeal Hewley spread a hearty smile, saw Genesis finally look up in mild interest.

Her eyes unvolutarily drifting back to her least favourite first class, she met the general´s eyes last. In contrast to the other´s, his expression was stern, guarded. His usual impersonal mask.

She felt her heart sink instantly the second she dared to look up at his face, felt her chest constrict painfully as she studied those impassive marble features, as she took in his complete lack of emotion. The way he looked at her, his gaze cold and calculated as always, it suddenly made it feel even harder to breathe.

She didn´t know what she had expected.

That genuine hearty smile he´d given her that blasted night?

No of course not.

That had probably been just show.

Things had been different then had been an exception. They had thought they'd die. And they'd been drunk.

Of course he wouldn´t treat her any different now. Of course there wasn't anything special between the two of them.

No. Not at all.

If it affected it at all, that night at meteor fall had only complicated their relationship even further, had made it even harder for her to cope with his personality, with his antisocial behavior, with the way he treated people, with the way he treated her.

Because it hurt.

It always had.

And now it did so even more.

Her eager colleagues having decided to let her breathe again, it was when Zack and Cloud had stepped away that finally she found her voice again.

'What... I... I mean... What exactly are you doing here?'

Her eyes still on her silver haired former trainer, suddenly she wasn't sure whether the question had been directed at all of them or whether it had been meant for him exclusively.

Because really, what was he doing here?!

The way he looked at her, he didn't seem especially happy to see her, didn't seem as if he'd come of his own accord, which in itself was a very unSephiroth ish way for him to behave like in the first place. Was it possible that the others had persuaded him to come? Was it possible to persuade General Sephiroth Crescent to any such thing.

Lightning had her doubts.

Their gazes locking for a tiny moment, it was Angeal Hewley who spared her the awkwardness of having to maintain the eye contact any longer.

'Well, we were right on our way to Eden. Now that Shin-Ra is no more we thought we might as well join the PSICOM or at least the Guardian Corps, you know, with a background like ours, we thought they might have some use for us.' The burly First Class explained.

'Uhm... And as we were in the vicinity anyway we thought we might pay you a visit and ask you whether you´d like to join us...' he added, looking slightly discouraged at the completely dumbfounded expression displayed on her face and the lack of backup from the people next to him.

'So... You didn´t get that letter?' Angeal guessed somewhat confusedly, turning to throw the silver haired general behind him one of his sharp stern looks.

The latter simply stood there, shrugging his shoulders.

It made Lightnings gaze trail back to him. Back to his impassive marble features.

His expression was of stone. Nothing to give away what he felt, what he thought.

The whole affair seemed to leave him completely unfazed, as he continued to stare at the pink haired woman on the front porch as though she was just another bystander they were asking for directions.

'Uhm... Yes sure... The letter...' Claire Farron stammered, realisation slowly downing on her.

Oh my god.

That letter.

Of course.

That damned blasted … letter.

She hadn´t thought about it anymore.

Maybe she should have continued reading past the first line after all.

Thinking about it, she didn't even know where it was, what had gotten of it. She'd left it on the floor of her room when she'd stomped out of it that day to take a shower and when she had returned it had been gone. She hadn't given it a second thought. Had assumed Serah had done her a favour and dumped it while she'd used the bathroom.

Suddenly feeling very stupid, she took down the steps of the front porch to join them on the neatly trimmed lawn.

'I´m sorry... It´s just so... Strange to see you guys here in Bodhum.' she said as a way of excuse.

It was true. It was strange. Standing there in their SOLDIER uniforms, her friends really did look out of place. Looked like from another world entirely.

'You rushed off without even saying good bye!' Genesis piped up somewhat accusingly as Lightning approached him and Angeal on her bare feet.

'I know... I´m so sorry.' she began, pale blue eyes darting back to the general´s mako green ones for just a second, she found the latter looking away instantly.

'Well... Anyway, your sister invited us for dinner...' Angeal threw in excitedly.

Following the direction of his gaze back up to the front door, Lightning caught a glimpse of Serah leaning in the doorway, a self-satisfied little smile playing at her lips.

'Ohw...' was all Claire Farron managed.

She couldn´t help but realize how Serah didn´t seem surprised at the unexpected visit at all.

The traitor must have read her letter.

Read it and kept her in the dark about it´s contents.

Typical.

'Well, she actually invited us to stay the night too...' Cloud threw in, looking up to the second storey longingly. He probably hadn't slept in a prpper bed for weeks. Well he'd probably have to wait some longer. The Farron beach hoause had some spare beds. True. There was their parents old bedroom and the guestroom, offering space for another three people. Just three. The others would have to do with the couch she was afraid. Somehow she doubted Cloud would be able to gather himself a place in one of those beds. Not if the others had a say in this. Which of course they had.

Wait. What did he mean invited to stay the night too?!

'You did what?' the pink haired warrior snapped at her little sister.

Turning around to look at her, she threw her an accusing glare.

'Well, we have plenty of spare rooms anyway...' Serah reasoned, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

That little rat... She couldn´t even hide a guilty smile from showing on her face.

'We don´t have to stay, if you don´t want us to.' Sephiroth suddenly cut in.

His features were set into his impenetrable killer mask. Unreadable. ...

The pokerface that over time he'd managed to perfect.

All those years Lightning had spent studying his body language, they did nothing to help decipher any of the tall man's feelings.

His mask was waterproof this time.

Those deep green mako eyes, she had once managed to read so easily, no matter how hard Lightning fixed them with her stare, they didn't give away the tiniest of hints.

It was him who broke the eye contact first, looking over at the others, or at Serah maybe, Lightning culdn't tell.

'I´m sure we can find somewhere else to spend the night.' the silver haired man suggested, suddenly seeming eager to have a reason to leave himself.

What´s up General? Getting cold feet?

All the others looking at him as though he'd sprouted horns, Claire Farron couldn't help but fix him with a steady gaze.

Those big green mako eyes, they'd gone from impassive marble killer stare to uncomfotable. Insecure. Made him finally break the eye contact and turn to look into the distance as if looking for an alternative place to stay.

Claire Farron couldn't help but stare.

The invincible general Sephiroth Crescent insecure? No way. She had to have imagined that one. It was impossible, was insane to even consider it. And yet...

Suddenly he looked as though he wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere else really, anywhere but here.

Lightning was about to fulfill him that wish of his, when finally she tore her gaze away to look at her other comrades. Taking in their hopeful faces, longing for a propper bed and a few days of relexation after all those days of traveling Claire Farron felt her cold heart melt.

Whatever had happened between the general and herself was between the general and herself. None of the others had deserved her harsh treatement. She couldnt take her frustration out on them. They did not deserve it. They had done nothing wrong. She couldn't punish them for the general's faults or for her own. Couldn't just send them away.

No way. They wouldn't send her away either. Not under any circumstances.

No. She'd let them all stay. Even him. If only just to spite him.

'No... No, that´s okay.' She quickly reassured.

Cracking a forced smile she let her eyes wander over to the annoying individual in question one last time, huge mako green ones staring right back at her again.

Looking closer, she indeed found uneasiness and insecurity there, behind the marble facade. And maybe something else too. Hope.

No. She had definitely imagined that one.

'You´re all welcome.' she told the group of heavily armed men standing in the neatly kept front garden of the peaceful neighborhood of the small town of Bodhum, beckoning them inside with a gesture of her arm.


'- just a second before it bit my head off!' Genesis Rhapsodos´ theatralic voice pierced the humid air of the peaceful summer evening.

They were seated around the dinner table on the Farron´s backyard porch overlooking the beach and the annoying redhead had started recounting from their early SOLDIER days, when the three of them - Genesis, Sephiroth and Angeal - had still been wet behind the ears, over exaggerating as usual.

General Sephiroth Crescent heard the younger of the Farron sisters gasp in awe, Genesis´ narration skills leaving her sitting on the edge of her seat with excitement.

Browsing all the gathered faces he found the same went for Snow. Serahs's fiance, was listening rapt with attention, his mouth hanging slightly open.

General Sephiroth Crescent expected him to start drooling any second.

'Oh come on, it wasn´t that close...' Angeal Hewley corrected, slightly shaking his head at his comrade´s way of telling the story.

'Oh yes, it was!' Genesis retorted, sounding slightly hurt.

'I nearly shit my pants back then!'

'Won´t doubt that...' the general commented dryly, thinking that this probably was the only part of the story that was true.

It earned him an angry glare form the redhead in question.

Geez... That idiot always got offended so easily...

He caught Lightning rolling her eyes at the both of them from the other side of the table.

Lightning.

If only he could keep his eyes from trailing back to her every other second...

The woman with the pretty pinkish hair and the floral summer dress, she was sitting right there, a few meters away from him on the other side of the table. Still. Suddenly she seemed like miles away.

She had barely given him a glance when they had arrived.

He had already expected it. The magic of meteorfall had passed, the dream was over. They had woken up and they were back to how things used to be. Back to business mode.

Still...

If only he knew what she was thinking...

It was for a few brief moments that their gazes met.

Icy blue eyes not giving away the tiniest of hints.

If only...

'Anyway... That was nothing compared to that one time Sephiroth wrestled that Midgar Zolom!' the annoying redhead started at this very moment, suddenly turning the attention over to his comrade. It was Genesis´ idea of a payback, the general assumed. Yes. The bastard knew exactly how much it pissed him off to be the center of attention.

General Sephiroth Cresecent quickly shook his head.

'It's not really that interesting a story...' he tried to somewhat get away.

It didn't seem to work though.

'Wait!? You did what?!' Serah´s fiancé Snow exclaimed excitedly, his mouth gaping open stupidly as he looked the hero up and down in awe.

'Yeah, took him down all on his own...' Angeal said, talking with his mouth full as usual.

'Or up, when you consider how it ended with that thing impaled on a tree.' Genesis threw in.

'Wow... man... I mean...wow...What happened?' that Snow guy inquired eagerly, his eyes huge, staring at the general expectantly and causing him to look away in discomfort.

Oh, how much he hated this...

'Come on! Tell us the story!' the blond man pleaded.

Looking at the others for help, Sephiroth saw Cloud and Zack sharing curious glances. The Farron sisters both waiting for him to continue with interest, it was Lightning´s left eyebrow riding up impatiently that made him give in with a frustrated sigh.

Thank you, Genesis.

'Well... First of all, it wasn´t really a very big Midgar Zolom...'


The evening passed by in a blur. With Serah, Snow and all of her comrades joining for dinner Claire Farron´s family almost felt complete.

Sitting there on her parent's back porch she listened to the First Class´ tales, most of which she had never actually heard before.

They originated from before her time in Shin-Ra. Stories from the smaller rebellions preceding the wutai war, where the multi concern had fought groups of rebels formed by local people who revolted against the construction of mako reactors in their hometowns, whose land Shin-Ra had taken by force, as they would continue to do for many years to come, ruthlessly flattening those trying to stand in their way.

She listened attentively all the while, unable to keep from smiling and sometimes even laughing at Genesis´ marvelous talent for turning harmless everyday anecdotes into breath-taking action adventures, or at one of Zack´s stupid remarks that would inevitably follow one of those.

Sneaking furtive glances over at the silver haired General every now and then whenever she thought noone wouldn´t notice, the pink haired first cass found she just couldn´t keep from looking at him. Staring at him really.

It was crazy.

Having all her comrades here sitting in her backyard in Bodhum felt weird. But having him here felt surreal. Like something from a different world entirely. Something from a fairytail.

Never would she have imagined the renowned war hero joining a family dinner here in Bodhum. Zack and Cloud, maybe Angeal, Genesis even, but him... no. Never him. It was impossible. And although something inside her felt ready to burst from happiness at seeing Sephiroth at all, there was something else, namely her brains, that told her it was no use. That tiny voice at the back of her mind, that constantly reminded her that she needed to get her feelings in check or this would end badly, would leave her behind hurt, bruised and scarred, if she weren´t careful. For this man, sitting there in front of her, throwing her casual glances, and occasionally locking eyes with her´s, he was dangerous. And she didn´t mean dangerous in the sense of being able to chop your head off, because this they had behind them (hopefully), but dangerous in the sense of ripping your heart out and leave you to die from the pain.

She was no fool. She knew that the General didn´t have any romantic feelings for her. Knew perfectly well that whatever had happened there that night in Palumpolum had only happened because of extraordinary circumstances, because the both of them had thought that they were going to die, that in fact the whole planet was going to be erased from existence in merely hours and not because he actually liked her beyond what was considered normal among colleagues, if at all.

Of course there would never, under any circumstances, be a chance of a relationship or anything between the two of them.

Never.

She´d known this from the very beginning, had known all along, and she knew she needed to stay away from him, needed to keep her distance, needed to stop thinking about this, about him really, because if she allowed herself to hope, to dream, one day reality would knock on the door and kill her.

Yes she knew all that. Had known all along.

But her heart...

Her stupid fragile heart...

If only it were that easy.

It was for those reasons, those reasons and the awkwardness that had settled between her and the general ever since Meteorfall, that she had tried to avoid him ever since he had arrived.

She'd led them into the house and introduced them to Snow right after their arrival, had shown them to their rooms and had left them as quickly as possibly to let them arrange between themselves who would take wich bed and who would have to take the couch.

It had all ended with Zack and Cloud taking the couch. As Lightning had anticipated. And by the time they had all settled in she had already escaped to help Serah in the kitchen.

There was no way evading any of them at dinner of course. But Lightning had managed to escape the dicomfort of having to sit close to the silver haired first class at dinner by slipping in between Cloud and her sister at the furthest away end of the table as physically possible.

All in all it had all worked out better then she would have anticipated.

Then again they had always been good at evading each other, hadn't they?

It was a well oiled process already.

Hoping to get away without having to talk to him at all, the pink haired ex soldier was planning to slip away from dinner as soon as she would have the opportunity and the opportunity did come once again in the form of housework.

It was right after they finished desert and there was a change of topic steering the conversation away from SOLDIER and over to her sister´s wedding, that Lightning picked up some of the dishes and left the table to carry them inside and into the kitchen to clean up.

Maybe housework wasn't so bad after all.

At least it kept her from the discomfort of having to direct her eyes away from him and keeping her heart in check all the time.

Happy for having some privacy, some time to think, to let her guard down at least a little bit, the pink haired female took her time, before, after washing up and neatly stacking the plates back into the cupboard, she decided she had to go back outside.

She had to go back outside sometime, didn't she?

How stupid would it look if she just went to bed and never came back on the night of her comrades' visit. No, it simply wouldn't do. Well she'd passed the evening so valiantly, surely she would survive a few more hours sharing a table with her former mentor.

It was taking one last deep calming breath that she stepped out into the hall again, when suddenly she bumped straight into the silver haired legend she'd been trying to avoid all night.

Great.

Awesome.

Perfect.

It was typical. Just typical.

She definitely had the worst of luck.

Standing there, startled by the sudden appearance of the subject of her thoughts, for a few seconds she didn´t know how to react, didn´t know what to do, how to breathe, really.

Why?

Why did things like this have to happen all the time?!

Oh yes. She had dreaded that moment...

That awkward moment, when finally they´d involuntarily meet all alone.

Had hoped to postpone it really, as far into the future as humanly possible.

That dreaded moment when she wouldn´t be able to evade him any longer, when she finally would be forced to talk to him again, think of something to say really, when all she actually wanted was to feel his lips against her own, to feel his arms around her once again.

Ligthning wasn't ready.

Planning to just brush past him without acknowledging his existence whatsoever, she quickly stepped around him, didn´t slow her pace, kept her eyes trained on her feet.

Her plans though didn't come to frution. Were diverted spectacualrily.

She was past the living room already and had almost made it to the back door when she heard him address her by her last name.

'Farron?'

His voice sounding slightly husky, Lightning found it sending tiny shivers down her spine.

No. She had to get herself together.

It was fighting for composure that she slowly turned around, eyes darting up to meet his calculated killer stare.

Why?! Why did things always have to be like this between them?!

Why couldn't they just behave like normal people?!

It was a few moments longer that she let her gaze linger on his face, willing some kind of feeling to surface, but there but it was no use.

All hint of insecurity of discomfort were gone, there was just that impenetrable poker face again, staring back at her.

Lightning gave a tiny inward sigh.

Back to using their surnames too, were they?

Okay, if he really wanted that, it was fine by her.

'Crescent?' she countered somewhat challengingly, careful to keep her voice devoid of emotion like he had tought her a million times, meeting his impassive gaze with one of her own steely warrior expressions.

She did a better job then she would have thought.

All those mutual intimidations, they had almost worked.

She had already turned back to back door, had almost reached the end of the hallway when suddenly the sound of his voice made her stop once more.

'Claire … I...' he began, then let his words trail off again.

It was the tone of his voice, the insecurity in it, that made her turn around.

Her eyes snapping back to his in wonder, she looked up at him curiously.

The man infront of her seeming to suddenly have changed his mind, instead of continuing, he just gave a small soft sigh.

He was about to conjure up something to say when Lightning beat him to it.

'Don´t.' she made to interfere.

She had a feeling she knew exactly where this was going to lead and now the moment had come, she was sure she didn´t want to hear it. Any of it.

It was hard enough the way it was.

That the fact that the night they had spent together didn´t mean anything, that it would be better to just continue as if nothing had ever happened...

She knew all this of course and she didn´t need him to say it out loud.

She just couldn´t bear to hear it.

She saw his lips parting, about to object, but she beat him to it again.

'I understand.' she quickly assured him, fighting to keep her voice steady, having a hard time trying and hiding her emotions.

Her knees felt like jelly and her heart beat against her ribcage crazily in protest, but all in all it seemed to work. For once her composure round him was not crumbling. Claire Farron considered it an achievement.

'You... understand?' the general asked softly, suddenly seeming confused and somewhat thrown off course, as sceptically he narrowed his pretty mako eyes at her.

There were cracks in his killer mask now. Cracks letting through the tiny ghost of an emotion, Lightning found she couldn't interpret, not even if she wanted.

But yes. There it was again, that flicker of hope. Smothered in an instant the second that she chose to speak.

'Let's just not talk about it, okay?' Claire Farron added in a clipped tone, looking at the floor instead of his mesmerizing mako eyes, eager to escape this awkward situation as soon as possible.

And before he had time to say anything else, she had left the hall to, without looking back at him even once, hurry outside onto the porch.


Watching the pink haired first class´ retreating back General Sephiroth Crescent stood there in the hall abandoned, left without a clue of what to do, of what to think really.

What the fuck had just happened?

He had waited for the opportunity to talk to her the entire evening, ever since they´d gotten there actually.

She had successfully evaded him all afternoon and for a few exceptions, had made a point of avoiding his eyes at dinner too.

That alone was strange in itself, as she had never seemed to have had any problems with bluntly staring into his eyes on several occasions before. Now it seemed she could barely bring herself to look at him. To stay in the same room.

Was she emberassed, ashamed of what had happened. Did she regret it? All of it?

Leaning with his back against the wall, the silver haired first class lingered there in the hall a little longer, thinking about what he had been planning to tell her, thinking about how she hadn´t even cared to hear him out, how she had pushed him away, how she hadn´t even given him a chance to say anything at all.

And it hurt.

It hurt, because the truth was that he missed her. Missed her badly.

He wanted to be with her. He wanted to get to know her better, spend time with her, be there for her.

But of course, she wouldn´t let him.

Somehow he'd had a feeling this was going to end badly from the beginning.

He hadn't been planning to talk to her about this in the first place, well, not really, but of course Angeal had urged him to do so, had convinced him that confessing his feelings for her would be the only right thing to do. He´d actually almost had him believing that she would be happy, that she might in fact feel the same way about him. But he had been mistaken of course.

She didn´t care for him at all.

She hadn´t even given him the chance to say anything.

And it hurt.

The way she was treating him. The way she was looking at him, the way she talked to him...

It didn´t take a genius to realize that she didn´t want him, not even wanted him there in her place, that he wasn´t welcome here, that she wanted him gone.

How could he have been stupid enough to believe that she could actually like him?!

After everything that had been.

Him of all people?!


The remainder of the dinner passed rather uneventful. General Sephiroth Crescent had returned from the hallways a few minutes later and had joined the table in his usual composed silence to blatantly stare at her for the entire rest of the evening.

Claire Farron didn't know how to cope with it.

Hadn't they just decided that they would act as though nothing had happened? That they would just let it drop?

Was this some way of mocking her? Lightning wasn't sure.

Either way she wasn't especially fond of the turn events had taken. She thought she'd done the right thing, nipping it all in the bud as she had. But somehow things seemed to have gone from dire to worse.

With his mako gaze on her at all times, relaxing and pretending nothing was out of the ordinary had become impossible.

It was only occassionaly that she allowed herself to meet his mako gaze, allowed herself to take in those handsome features and it was in those tiny occassional moments, that doubt seemed to creep up on her.

The way he kept staring at her. That furtive look there in his mako eyes. Somehow it seemed accusing. Painful. Hurt.

Something didn't quite seem to fit.

Didn't fit at all.

Had she hurt his feelings?!

Maybe she should have let him come to word after all...

Maybe she should have taken the few minutes of discomfort to hear him out...

It was with narrowed forehead that she studied his facial features, with genuine curiosity that she took in his slightly crestfallen expression.

Maybe there actually was someting that would have been worth hearing?

Lightning was not sure.

He'd been acting exclusively all evening hadn't he? He had adressed her with her last name, he had even tried to evade staying at her house, had suggested to find another place to spend the night, surely he wouldn't want to reconcile would he?

Of course he wouldn't.

He'd been planning to tell her how everything had been a mistake and how he didn't have feelings for her and how he wanted things to be all formal between the two of them for the rest of their lives.

The haunted look in those deep green mako eyes was telling a different story though.

Was it possible that he'd been going to say someting else entirely?

No... That was impossible, was completely out of the question.

None of it made sense.

It was him after all who had sent her that ridiculous letter. He had been the one telling her to stay away from him, the one that...

OMG.

The letter.

She had to read that letter!


It was about one o'clock in the morning when finally they decided to call it a night.

Zack and Cloud had finally begun to settle on the comfy living room couch and Genesis had decided to declare the bathroom his private property for at least the next couple of hours.

Snow had gone up to bed too and Sephiroth and Angeal were somewhere out in the backyard worshipping the moon.

It was now or never.

'Okay, sis, where is that letter?' Lightning demanded, blasting into the tiny kitchen.

Her little sister, busy cleaning off the dishes left from dinner, she looked up with a tiny wicked smile.

'I've got to read that letter.' Lightning emphasized.

The younger Farron not impressed in the slightest, it was with a tiny submissive shake of her head that she put down the plates she was about to clean and faced her sister head on.

'So which of them is it?' she began, her voice, a miscivous undertone to it.

'I dont know what you are talking about.' Lightning deadpanned instantly.

'No name, no letter.' Serah chanted merrily.

Lightning gave her her fiercest soldier stare.

'Oh come on, you gotta tell me! You've got to!' Serah contered, looking up at her pleadingly.

'You can't just leave me in the dark! I'm your sister! Come one!' she begged, huge big eyes rivalling Zack's puppy mode.

It made Lightning laugh but shake her head.

'No way.' was all she gave as an answer.

'Is it Zack?' Serah began to probe somewhat tentatively.

It made Lightning laugh even harder.

'It is him isn't it?' Serah asked her eagerly.

'He is cute, funny... And those eyes... No?'

Her little sister looking up at her expectantly, Lightning found her features x-rayed for the tiniest betrayal of emotion.

Oh fuck she had to get herself out of this...

And fast.

'Or is it Cloud?' Serah continued eagerly. 'He's a little bit weird but what do I know... '

'No it isn't Cloud. Of course not. He's not your type. I'm not sure he's anyone's type really...' she added at an afterthought.

'Hmm...'

Scrunching up her nose like a child trying to figure out an exceptionally engaging puzzle, Serah narrowed her miscivously twinkling eyes at her.

'It isn't Genesis either. He's gay isn't he? Well maybe he's bi, how is one upposed to tell?' her little sister ventured further.

It was very quickly that Lightning stepped over to the kitchen counter and picked up a pan from the sink to busy herself drying it off with one of Serah's multicolored kitchen cloths.

They were getting dangerously close now.

She'd already asked about Zack and Cloud and Genesis. That only left:

'It could be Angeal of course. He might eat like a pig but he does seem to have his heart in the right place. And he's got a biceps to make you faint.'

Lightning couldn't help but chuckle at this.

Angeal ate like a pig. It was true. Sometimes he ate pigs. Sometimes he ate pigs like a pig.

Still. Angeal was the kindest person she had ever known. Oh, why couldn't she have fallen for Angeal instead?!

It would have made things so much easier.

Finishing her work on the pan, Lightning carefully put it back to it´s place inside one of the cupboards.

'Well that leaves only the general.'

Desperate to look anywhere but at Serah's face, Lightning quickly pulled another plate from the sink and turned her gaze to the window while she made to polish it.

Oh why did they have to lead this ridiculous conversation?

Why? Why? Why?

'I can see why you would fancy him. I mean he is a decorated war hero after all. Flagship of the Shin-Ra defence forces. He is a celebrity.' Serah swooned.

'With the face of and angel and abs to die for. '

Lightning couldn't help but flush a few shades darker.

Serah did have a point there. Those abs really were to die for...

'It is the general, isn't it?' Serah probed, now stepping up to her and trying to look into her eyes inquisitively.

It made the pink haired soldier erupt in shakes of laughter.

'Oh please just shut up!'

'I knew its him.' Serah chimed triumphantly. 'I knew it.'

It was with a guilty kind of expression that she handed her sister the crumpled looking letter.

The little rat had to have kept it in one of the kitchen drawers.

'You really should have read the letter, you know.' Serah chided as she stepped back to the sink.


It was an exceptionally pretty night. Or was it that nights just seemed especially pretty in Bodhum?

With the next set of big bright blazing city lights some hundred miles away and the dark waves of the ocian stretching out endlessly infront of them, the moon and the stars stood out against the darkness of the skies like they had never done before.

Yes. It definitely had to be Bodhum.

They had spent all evening stuffing their bellies on Serah's delicious cooking, enjoying having a stay somewhere else then an Inn and of course the company too, but although it was well past midnight already, General Sephiroth Crescent didn't feel like sleeping.

Not at all.

Out in the backyard it was therefore, savouring the clear fresh air and studying the Bodhum nightskies.

It was Angeal Hewley who had to share this cruel fate.

'And, did you tell her?' the greedy first class asked somewhat uneasily as he raided Serah's vegetable patch for some kind of suitable midnight snack.

'Uhm, uh well...' was all he received as an answer.

And it was with a bitter sense of foreboding that he turned to look at his silver haired comrade inquisitively.

'I... It tried.' the silver haired man told his friend honestly.

In the darkness of the night it was hard for Angeal Hewly to make out his face. Which was quite fortunate for the fisrt class general too because it did spare him the discomfort of having his friend see the pain in his tortured features.

'Tried?' his burly comrade prompted somewhat sceptially, as he picked up a huge purple something and began to carefully nibble at the end.

'Well... She didn't want to hear it.' the general confessed.

Suddenly that the words were out, he felt empty, felt deflated.

It was true after all.

She didn't want to hear it.

Hadn't even let him speak.

He had written her that letter, in the hope she'd somehow understand, in the hope that somehow she'd miraculously give him a chance. A chance to explain himself. To set right whatever he had done wrong that morning that they'd woken up in the same bed after meteorfall. A chance to maybe set things back to how they'd been between them before that dreaded morning. But he had dearly been mistaken. She hadn't even given him the chance to speak. And all his hopes had gone off in a puff of smoke.

'What? What do you mean 'didn't want to hear it'?' Angeal Hewley began from amidst the hip high vegetables, spitting out that piece of fruit, he had just bitten off.

'What the fuck did you say, what did she say?' he inquired instantly.

General Sephiroth Crescent only shook his head defeatedly.

'Holy shit man, is there anything you can do right?' his burly comrade asked somewhat increduled as he made to throw the fruit he had just picked over the fence and into to the neighbour's garden.

'Well... Actually yes... Plenty of things.' Sephiroth said somewhat defensively.

'Yeah... Fighting and killing.' his friend replied knowingly.

'But you know, there's more to life than that.'

The silver haired first class only shrugged his shoulders.

Angeal was right of course.

Looking up at the house where he could see Lightning and her sister laughing through the kitchen window, he knew that it was true. There was lots more to life than that.

A whole lot more then Sephiroth had been led to believe, had even thought possible. But as soon as he had realized this, all those things had began to slip away from him.

She had slipped away from him.

Watching the Farron sister's banter in the kitchen with some painful sense of longing, it was with a sinking feeling in his heart that he made to brush some stray stands of silver hair out of his face.

Lightning's hostile actions, those harsh words, that clipped tone of her voice, those accusing ice cold eyes, General Sephiroth Crescent didn't know what to make of them exactly.

The truth was he had come to Bodhum wih mixed feelings.

Sure he wanted to see her again, could think of little else but her really, ever since their shared night at Palumpolum, but on the other hand he hadn't known what to expect. She'd dropped him like cold potatoe the first thing she' d woken up that day right after meteorfall, had barely brought herself to even look at him in fact, had left without dropping him a goodbye.

It had been clear from the way she treated him that she had no interest in him, that she regretted all the things that had happened betwenn the two of them. And still. The way she'd met his furtive stares at dinner, the way she'd been evading him in the hallway, all evening in fact, he could tell the whole thing didn't leave her all that cold. No. The whole situation was bothering her much more then she was trying to pretend.

Then why was she bothering to pretend in the frist place?

'It is rude to stare at people, you know?' Angeal Hewley suddenly spoke up from somewhere right behind him, his mouth stuffed with berries from the Farron's back yard.

Well, at least one of them seemed to have found what they'd been looking for this night.

'Especially stalking them from their backyards, in the middle of the night.' the helpful first class supplied through hearty chews.

It was in exact that moment that the woman in the kitchen looked up, the jolly expression on her face freezing midlaugh.

She had been standing by the window, in the process of cleaning one of the plates from dinner with an acid green kitchen cloth and it was with curious surprise that her eyes focused on the pair of heavily armed men ravaging her backyard.

For a moment Genreal Sephiorth forget how to move, felt frozen in his steps.

Great.

She had caught him staring at her from outside the window.

In the middle of the night.

Knee deep in her sister's vegetable patch.

Angeal was right. It didn't make the best of impressions.

The silver haired first class caught red handed he just stood there staring up at her in horror.

Ohw what she had to think of him...

Never had he felt more ashamed of himself.

His dispair must have shown on his face though. Because an unbearable long second later, impossibly, miraculously, the pink haired woman's shocked expression broke into a tiny smile.

Their eyes meeting in a blink of curious glances, Genral Sephiroth Crescent returned it with one of his own tentative trademark halfsmiles.

It was too soon that Lightning turned away, her attention returning to the kitchen and her sister, but it wasn't without turning back to meet his eyes one last time that she turned off the lights to leave.

It made the general's heart beat a tiny little lighter.

That way she had looked at him there, right before she'd left the room, it gave him hope.

Maybe she did still care for him. At least a tiny little bit.

Maybe all wasn't lost yet.

Maybe, just maybe, they could give it all a fresh start. Maybe they could just start new.

They were in a new place after all, with totally new circumstances. A new place, a new life, a new chance.

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Sephiroth wasn't sure he could dare himself to hope. But a man could allow himself to dream, couldn't he?

Claire Farron didn't hate him.

He could deduce that much.

He didn't know what it was she felt for him exactly, but fact was if she didn't hate him and for now that was enough. If she didn't hate him, there had to be a way to get himself into her heart again. There had to be a way to turn things around.

He had somehow managed that before or hadn't he?

Drunk or not, the whole night of meteorfall couldn't have been all show. Impossible.

No. The woman with the pinkish her, she did feel something for him. He was sure now.

And no way was he going to let her off so easily.


It was with one last glance back at the silver haired man outside the window, that Claire Farron stepped out into the hall and turned off the light.

Had he been watching her all that time she'd spent with Serah in the kitchen?

Somehow the thought of it excited her more than she would have thought, more than the situation did warrant definitely.

Maybe the silver haired first class wasn't really as unbothered by everything as she had originally thought.

Well, it was time to find out.

Bading good night to Serah she quickly turned left and towards the stairs where taking two steps at a time she hurriedly made up to her room.

It wasn't until she had reached the safety of her bedsheets that she pulled out the letter again.

That damned letter.

Did she really want to read it? Did she really want to know?

It was the memory of that tentative hopeful look he'd given her a few minutes ago when she had caught him staring from the backyard, that tentative little half smile he had sent her in return to one of her own, that finally made her pull the slightly worn parchment out of it's envelope.

She had to read that letter.

There was no way around.

She had to know.

And it was with slightly shaking fingers that finally she turned the paper over to read the perfectly neat script.

'Dear Lightning,' his writing said.

'If this letter reaches you in time, please don´t return to Palumpolum.

We are infact packing our things right now and about to be on our way to you. Genesis is taking hours as usual. So we might be taking some time. And Angeal is clearing out the kitchens for supplies. Well, you know how they are.

Either way, if this letter reaches you in time, I want you to know that I miss you. We all miss you.

Zack and Cloud are unbearable without you, did you even realize?

You have left so abruptly the day after meteorfall that I didn't even have time to say good bye. None of us had.

There's so many things I wanted to say to you, that I didn't get the chance to and I hope that maybe we could make up for it as soon as we catch up with you. If you'd want to, that is...

Well... Until then I guess.

Take care.

S.'