Time continued onwards. And so did their lives.

To Lightning the first few weeks in the Guardian Corps were fun. It felt good to have something to do again. And it felt good to be out on duty with some of her comrades again, patrolling Bodhum´s many roads and adjoining palm forests.

Compared to their work at SOLDIER their job there felt like child's play.

While all of the others insisted on sticking to their SOLDIER outfits, Cloud and Lightning gladly shed them for their new guardian corps uniform. Although Claire didn´t exactly approve of the kind of revealing skirt thing (this would definitely take her some time to get used to) she somehow fell in love with the cute red cape at first sight.

They had such a good time those first few weeks that even Genesis was starting to settle in and accept his fate.

A few swigs of that applejack here and then seemed to do the trick.

Over time one by one the guys had left the Farron's old beach house already bursting with so many people living inside at once, to move into some apartments of their own. Genesis, Sephiroth, Angeal and Cloud all moved to apartments of their own, about fifteen minutes away from the place where Lightning continued to live with Serah and Snow, while Zack moved in with Lebreau.

The two of them were now officially a couple, to no one's big surprise.

It took Claire a little while to wrap her head around it.

With everybody having settled in quite well, once their weekends were not scheduled with painting walls and assembling funiture anymore, finally things seemed to settle into some mundane kind of routine.

Breakfast, work, shower, dinner, sleep, repeat.

Suddenly with everyone having their own place, shared freetime activities had become a once a week affair at best.

For Claire Farron it felt weird.

The beach house now deserted, suddenly it felt too large and too empty to be allowed.

She did see the guys a lot at work and sure, they still spent some of their free time together, but living there with only her family, it wasn´t the same as before.

Serah and Snow, it turned out, were not all that much into adventures anymore now they had married and settled and somehow without the guys serving as a constant motivation, they had fallen into some kind of hibernation mode, spending most of their freetime out sitting on the porch together or in front of the TV. It made Lightning feel out of place, redundant really, causing her to retreat to talking long runs down the beach promenades alone.

There was not really much she could do with Serah and Snow, and there was not a lot of things she had the zest to do on her own.

Without the guys her days had become boring and empty.

And also, she missed Sephiroth. Badly so.

Although they hadn´t really spent a lot of time together when he had lived with them, still, knowing he wasn´t in the same house but in fact blocks away, it definitely didn´t feel the same.

Didn't feel right.

There just weren´t enough opportunities to run into him anymore. Not enough opportunities for him to startle her by unsuspectedly sneaking up behind her or appearing in front of her when she would walk out into the hallway. And with all of them having returned back to work full time there wasnt exacly a lot of time for shared freetime activities either.

The turth was she missed him and she realized that she wanted him near her, wanted him close to her. Needed him.

Of course they had their private moments. Their private own little minutes of bliss, of paradise, were at least for a small amount of time, completely unobserved, they managed to escape into their own world, managed to flee from reality.

But there just never seemed to be enough time, not enough dark alcoves to sneak into, or coves, or walls or bushes to hide behind. And although she knew he really wanted to and knew that it was stupid and childish and crazy to keep this, whatever it was they had going on between them exactly, a secret, Lighting couldn´t bring herself to make this official either.

She didn't know why, couldn't explain it to herself, but somehow, unexplicably, none of it seemed right.

It wasn't that she didn't want him. There was no denying that. Even the sight of him sent her heartbeat into overdrive whenever he was near.

No, that was not the problem. It had never been.

The truth was things were going much too fast for her.

A month ago they had not been on speaking terms. Now suddenly he was talking about settling and a family.

No matter how she looked at it, Lightning couldn't seem to wrap her head around it.

It had began the day after Serah's wedding when they had watched the sun rise on that beach together.

It had been the first time he had begun to talk about their future and then he had gone out of his way to secure all of them positions in the guardian corps so all of them could stay in Bodhum.

He had actually wanted her to come and join the PSICOM, Lightning was aware. Had changed his mind only when he'd realized she wouldn't want to come. And of course she was glad. Would have felt torn and horrible and left behind had they all left for the sanctum. But still... The fact that they were all staying because of her... The fact that he was staying just because of her... Maybe it was all a little bit too much. Upset her even, a tiny little bit.

Because yes, it scared her. Overwhelmed her. The fact that he was so sure, so determined. When she herself felt just plain confused and insecure.

If only he could give her a little bit more time...

More time to get everything sorted out. More time to think things through, to see were things were going, to see how things would be working out.

The pink haired soldier had just made it past the last few houses and out onto the sandy shores, her patrol finally getting to a close, when suddenly she felt her arm grabbed in a vicelike grip and herself dragged into the shadows of the nearby palm trees.

Pulling out her gun blade, there was just enough time for her to give a small gasp of surprise before she felt her capturer´s grip soften and his lips crash down onto her own.

Sephiroth.

Of course. Who else would have the guts or ability to sneak up on her like that?

One of his hands reaching up to softly cup her cheek, Lightning felt the other sneak under the shirt of her guardian corps uniform and to the small of her back where the contact of his skin sent tiny shivers up and down her spine and it was with her back pressed against one of the palm tree trunks, that letting her weapon drop to the ground and sneaking her arms up and around his neck, she pulled him closer.

'I miss you...' the silver haired first class whispered against her lips, granting his lover a short moment to catch her breath.

'All the time...'

Listening to his caring words, Lightning couldn't help but feel her heart sink.

They hadn't talked about all the moving together and settling part anymore after Sephiroth seemed to have realized how much it bothered her, a fact Lightning had been so infinitely thankful for. But still, the craving, the longing, the need was still there, still hovered over them unspoken between the two of them, it always did. It was almost tangible was feasible, it was impossible for her to overlook it.

And there it was again. Prominent in every single mako glance, in every tiny syllable he present in his touch, his kiss, his posture.

The thought of it frustrating her to no end Lightning gave a small frustrated sigh

Trying to close the distance he had created between their faces she leaned back foreward, a futile attempt at getting him to shut up, to stear his thoughts away from where they would end up inevitably, but all her efforts were dwarted by him taking a step away from her and pensively gazing down into her eyes.

Looking up into her lover's face, Lightning couldn´t help but think that there was pain there, buried behind his marble features.

'Why are you evading me?!'

It came instantly and unexpected. That question that had pestered her for days herself. That had pestered her so much because she still hadn´t found an answer.

It was true.. She was evading him. Well not him exactly. It was more the topic of a serious relationship she was evading, the topic o fmoving together. Was cleaverly outmanouvring anything that would lead them back to the uncomfortable conversation from Serah's back porch the day they had returned from the sanctum.

Still no matter how hard she fought, the topic seemed to be unavoidable. He always eventually came back to it.

Giving another frustrated sigh the pink haired female took a tiny step to the side to escape being trapped between her lover's body and that tree, slowly made to bend down to retrieve her gun blade.

Coming up again she made to inspect the blade and carefully clean it from the sand. It was just a feeble excuse not to look into his eyes, she knew, but somehow she just couldn´t bear to see that look in them.

That vulnerable pained look.

'I love you, Claire.'

It came completely out of the blue, made the pink haired female's gaze snap back to his, made her stare at him with huge blue eyes.

'I think I fell in love with you the first time you ever shot at me.' the silver haired firstclass explained somewhat tentatively.

Claire Farron didn't know what to say.

The answer should have come easy, should've been natural.

But somehow it wasn't.

Wasn't at all.

'Of course I would have never admitted it back then. Even to myself...' the man in front her let his words trail off, looking at the woman in front of him with hope.

'You still remember how you longed to do me in?' he finally said when she did not reply.

'You were giving me such a hard time... Always.' Lightning told him as she quickly looked away.

It was true.

Thinking of her first few months in SOLDIER, Lightning knew they had been tough. He´d been such an asshole back then.

He´d given her a hard time back then, and somehow he was giving her a hard time now.

Life with general Sephiroth Crescent never would be easy.

Somehow he always wanted more from her than she was actually able to give.

'I´m sorry.' his voice was husky, low.

It made Claire Farron look back to meet his mako gaze.

His eyes were sincere.

Lightning only shook her head.

'It´s okay.' she said, her voice suddenly soft.

'I´m over it.'

It was only half true.

All those things that had happened between them, all those things he'd done to her, smewhere deep inside her Lightning wasn't sure if she could ever really overcome them, if she could ever really forgive.

She didn´t know why but suddenly her eyes were stinging and her vision was getting blurry with tears.

She averted her gaze instantly.

And there she was again. About to cry, trying hard to mask her feelings in front of him. Just like in the old times.

If he really fell in love with her all this time ago...

Then why did he have to torture her like this? Why did he have to go so hard on her all those years? Back then it had felt like the only thing he was intending to do was to break her, to see her crumble at his feet.

He had in fact almost killed her.

That wasn´t how you treated someone you had feelings for, was it?

General Sephiroth Crescent seemed to be reading her mind.

'I didn´t know how to cope with my feelings.' he admitted as suddenly she felt her chin lifted by his ungloved fingers.

'I think I didn´t even realize what they were until much later. The only thing I knew back then was that you were becoming a weakness. My weakness. Just like I seem to have become yours...'

His words rendering her utterly speechless, for a moment Claire Farron just stood there rooted to the spot, staring up at the man infront her in amazement.

Having the General say things like this, to openly talk about his feelings, still after everything that'd happened between them recently, it was still weird. Scary almost. And somehow it would always be.

His hands reaching for her sides, the man in front of her slowly leaning in again, it was only a few seconds later that their lips met in yet another kiss.

It was like most their kisses.

First gentle.

Then needy.

It was enough to take the pink haired female´s mind off all those haunting memories. Of all those stupid talks.

With the General´s arms wrapped around her tightly and her fingers tangled in his hair, their tongues engaged in mortal combat yet again, Claire Farron was granted another few moments in paradise before suddenly the sound of approaching voices made her pull away with a start.

'Her recent behavior... I´m just not sure what to make of it...' she heard Zack Fair's voice coming from the direction of the houses.

'I mean, Lebreau is great... Really... Everything about her... I´m just not sure she's ready for the next step. I don't know wheteher she'd want ...'

'Don´t worry. Somehow I have a knack for spotting people´s feelings. Even if they try and hide them. And I can assure you, she´s head over heels for you...' Angeal Hewley´s answer came from less than a hundred meters away.

'Really? ... I don´t know man...'

Risking a peek around some nearby bushes, to her inexplicable horror, Lightning found the two of them making their way straight towards them, both of them hunched over the tiny glittering object lying in Zack's open palm.

Shit.

Why did they have to come here now?

Lightning inwardly cursed.

Oh, she so wasn´t ready to be found here, being walked in at, really, hiding in the bushes making out with General Sephiroth Crescent.

Not by Zack.

If he got wind of this, whole Bodhum would be informed in what was probably less than half an hour and Serah would drag her down the aisle before the end of next week.

She was about to turn around and bolt into the other direction when she felt her wrist caught in her lover´s hands again.

'No. Don´t go...' the General whispered somewhat pleadingly.

It made Lightning's hand give a tiny guilty twitch.

'Please...'

The pink haired first class, she just gave him one of her incredulous stares.

'What am I doing wrong?' the man infront her inquired. His brilliant mako eyes were huge and she felt his hand squeeze her wrist imploringly.

'Nothing...' Lightning replied hastily, eager to get away from this place, where Zack and Angeal were about to find them hiding together in the bushes any second.

'Then why do you keep doing that?' the man beside her asked, a sligtly desperate undertone now to his voice.

'Keep doing what? Kissing you?' Claire Farron retorted, risking another peek at the approaching men, before she looked up at her´s again.

'No... Pulling away like that...' Sephiroth answered somewhat dryly. And now she definitely saw pain etched there onto his handsome features.

'Dropping me like a hot potato whenever you sense somebody near us...'

'As if you don´t want to be seen with me...'

Completely lost for words Ligthning just stood there staring up at him, her heart twisting painfully inside her chest as she realized what she was doing, what she had been doing all along, what she was making him feel like. Right then.

'I´m sorry... I...' she muttered quickly, unable to find something to say, those mako killer eyes boring into her´s suddenly giving away what he had been hiding from her for such a long time.

The man beneath the mask.

'It hurts.' he told her.

And she knew that it was sense his pain with every fibre of her being.

Suddenly it hurt her too.

'Please stay...' he begged again. And Lightning knew there was no way she could object, no way that she could leave him now as she sensed those men she knew her friends walking towards them, now only a few meters from where the vegetation still obscured them from their view.

'I...' she protested weakly, knew it was no use.

He had told her he missed her. He had told her he loved her. Had laid his heart open before her in every aspect she could think of and she hadn't given him anything in return, not even any kind of response, or encouragement, no sweet confessions of her own. No sign of reciprocation, no comforting words, no thanks. No, nothing.

If she was going now she was going to loose him. Would hurt his feeling beyond repair.

'They know anyway...' the general insisted, his grip on her wrist tightening.

And Lightning knew he was probably right.

The silver haired First Class leaning down to kiss her one more time, this time the pink haired female didn´t pull away, forced herself to focus on the sensation of his lips against her's, of his tongue on her's, of the way he held her close instead of worrying over her unsuspecting comrades´ reactions and it wasn´t until finally they pulled apart again that she found the two of them down by the shore many meters away from them, still engaged in conversation, that she realized they had walked straight past them.

Following his lover's gaze two their two comrades walking down to the waterline, General Sephiorth Crescent couldn't help but give a frustrated sigh.

'What, you think they don't know?' he said somewhat upset.

It made Clair Farron look back at him with a warning stare.

'What, you told them?' she snapped at him almost instantly.

'No. I didn't.' the general justified.

'They arent stupid though. Angeal noticed before I even knew myself.' he added somewhat pensively.

It made Claire Farron give a defeated sigh.

'Genesis suspected we might be a match before we'd ever even met.'

The pink haired warrior furrowed her forehead.

'What?'

'Yes... He adviced me to at least ask you on a date if I didn't want you as my apprentice.'

It finally made her crack a smile.

'Ohw, so that was what that red mark on his cheeks was all about.' she said somewhat amusingly.

It made the silver haired first class give a tiny chuckle.

'I didn't know you then.'

It was of course true.

There was silence between them for a bit.

Just the rustling of the bushes in the breeze and the breaking of the waves whooshing in the distance.

'Would you like to come over to my appartment tonight?' the silver haired man suddenly asked.

Again it came as a complete surprise.

Looking up into his eyes Lightning could tell that it had cost him some guts to ask, could see he was nervous, a part of him probably already dreading her answer, as she caught him shifting his weight skittishly.

'You haven't even seen it yet.' he stated somewhat accusingly.

It was true.

Lightning hadn't stopped by at his new place even once. Not that he had had the guts to invite her, not until now that was.

'We could have dinner together.'

Presenting her with a tentative tiny half smile, the way his eyes sought her's with hope, with nerves, with longing, Claire Farron could not find it in herself to decline.

'I'll be there.'