Dark's P.O.V
Cloud, Lightning and I left Edge when the sun came up. Cloud did, however, make sure to tell Tifa what was going on, and assured her that we would bring him back, either with his sword, or on it. Upon hearing this, Tifa nodded, and sent us on our way. We went back to the Airship, which had just finished refueling, when Balthier stopped us from entering the ship. "He wasn't part of the deal." Balthier said to me. "An extra million gil for each additional passenger, payout being when we kill Caius." I responded to him, brushing past him. We went to the cockpit, Balthier and Lightning taking their normal seats, Cloud taking mine, when Fran asked us where we were to go next. I looked at Cloud, who told her, "We need to head to Balamb. The other guy we're looking for is there."
I went back to my room as soon as I saw that we were in the air. I closed the door and was about to sit on my hammock, when I remembered that I hadn't locked my door yet. I flipped the lock on it, and fell onto the hammock. I stared up at the ceiling, and simply dived into my thoughts. *Squall Leonhart. The only other man in the world that can use the Gunblade like I do. The only difference is that he uses it in the way I use it with the Safety on. Why is that? Is his model the older version, with no barrel in the blade? Whoever he is, I need to keep my Gunblade on par with him. I need to anticipate his every move. Most importantly, I need to keep him from going at me alone.* I thought. I then turned my body, enabling me to fall asleep in the hammock.
Light's P.O.V.
I was hanging around my room when I heard a knock on my door. I walked over to it, Gunblade in hand, and unlocked the door. I opened it slightly, and thrust the Gunblade's barrel into whoever's face it was. "Whoa! Is this how you treat people who knock on your door?" I heard Cloud from the other side of the door. I pulled back my Gunblade, and opened the door the rest of the way. Cloud stood in the hallway, his hair spikes just barely brushing past the top of the hallway. "What do you want?" I asked him. "Can I come in?" He asked me, countering my question. I moved to just by the door frame on the inside, enabling Cloud to get into the small room. As soon as I closed my door, he asked me, "Okay, what is the deal with the guy with the mask? Why is he hiding his face?"He asked me. "Dark wants to keep his identity hidden for a while. He's told me that when the time is right, he'll reveal his face." I explained. "Ah. Well, why is he even trying to kill Caius? Doesn't he know that its a suicide mission?" He asked me. "Well...He's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't..." I explained, trying to come up with an excuse without giving away the fact that Dark was a l'Cie. "Ah. I completely get that. Well, I'll be off in my own cabin." He said, walking towards the door. I let him out, then locked the door again.
I fell onto my hammock, by body having all of its stress released upon doing this. I laid my hand over my scar again, something that I've been doing a hell of a lot recently. *Well, it looks like Cloud has been trying to peel answers from Dark. That's about as effective as using a water squirter on a forest fire.* I thought, laughing slightly at the last part, the image forming in my head. *Still, it is fun to be able to get Dark alone and strangle the information out of him. But still, sometimes, some secrets should be respected as just secrets. I guess...* I stopped my thoughts, frowning, but then accepting, *Maybe...that's why I like him so much. He lets me have my secrets, as long as I let him have his.* I thought. I turned in the hammock to face the wall, and proceeded to fall asleep.
I awoke to see Dark's face yet again. This time, however, he shook me awake, so I tackled him and put my combat knife up to his throat. When I realized who it was, I pulled the knife away from his throat. "Sorry. It's a force of habit." I told him, putting the knife back into my boot. He slid out from under me, his cloth over his face still not having moved an inch. "Good to know. Look, we're about to enter Balamb soon, so I was just trying to get you up." He told me. I nodded, then realized something. My door had been locked while I was in here. "How in the name of the Gods did you get through my fucking lock?" I asked him. He chuckled, and said, "I am a master lockpick. I need to be, due to what I'm screwed with." I looked back to where his right peck would be, and remembered what his dilemma was. "Lightning? My eyes are up here." He said, pointing to his face. I smiled, then slapped him in the back of the head.
His hand went to the back of his neck after my hand left it, and our hands briefly touched. I felt the energy flowing throughout his hand, and its warmth. "Sorry!" We both said, drawing our hands directly to our respective bodies. I got off of him, and he raised one of his knees up, and actually started rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, that was awkward. But, at least I know now how to make you blush." He said. I took a moment, and realized that I was in fact, blushing. I looked at his face, and saw two tiny red areas at the top section of his cloth over his face. "I guess that I know how to make you blush too." I said, pointing it out. His eyes widened, then he tried pulling up his mask a tiny bit more, to try to cover his blushing up. I laughed a little, then looked back to him. "I don't believe I've thanked you." He said. "Thanked me for what?" I asked him. "For saving me in Besaid. If you hadn't removed my armor to make sure that my heart was in trouble, I don't think that I could have made it." He said. "Oh! That, well, I don't need to be thanked." I said, being modest. "No, you do, and I have the perfect way. Close your eyes." He said to me. *What the hell? He knows very well that if he tries anything I say no to, I'll kill him.* I thought. I slowly closed my eyes, and I waited. It was only for a moment that I had to wait, for a pressure to come upon my lips.
The pressure of his lips upon mine was for a moment, but it seemed as if time had stopped. I was paralyzed, unable to move. After he pulled away, it took every bit of strength I had to pry my eyes open. I managed to open them about three seconds after he pulled away, and by that time, he was rebuttoning the cloth over his face, the button being near his ear. *Dammit! If only I could have opened my eyes sooner!* I thought. "T..Thank you." I said, all of the blood rushing to my cheeks. "You're welcome." He replied, "Perhaps we can do that again, since you liked that a lot." "Y-Yeah. We should do that again. As soon as possible." I said before realizing exactly what I had said. He chuckled, then said, "As you wish." He then walked out of my room, shutting the door, locking it from the outside after him.
When we entered the city, Cloud took lead. I didn't mind, and apparently, neither did Dark. Cloud took us up and down streets, halfway across town, and to the exact same fountain fifteen times. "I think that the old man is lost." I said to Dark's ear. "He knows the way to go. I hope." He replied to me. We had gotten to a large orphanage when Cloud stopped abruptly. "What the hell?" I asked him. "We're here." Cloud replied. He went inside, with both of us following. We met a girl at the front desk, whom we could tell was Squall's wife by the fact that her nametag read "Mrs. R. Leonhart." "Hey, Rinoa. We need to see Squall." Cloud said to the woman. "Okay. Are you here for an adoption?" She asked him. "No, we need assisstance. Tell him that it's from an old ally, who took down a God with him..." Cloud said to her. She looked up from her computer, then said, "OH! I'll get him right away!" She instantly got up and ran from the desk to a back room. I looked at Dark, who also looked at me, and shrugged. Rinoa came back and said, "This way! Squall's waiting!" We followed suit, walking all the way to the back room. Once we got in, Rinoa ran off somewhere in the large room, and we looked to see a large seat, upon which was a man, about as old as Cloud, with a Gunblade similar to Dark's beside it. "Cloud." The man said. "Squall." Cloud responded. He then walked over to the corner, probably to wait and let us speak out our cause. Dark stepped forward, and Squall grabbed the Gunblade.
Dark's P.O.V.
I watched as Squall pulled his Gunblade from the side of his throne, and rushed towards us. Lightning was just staring at him, frozen in shock, so I had to push her away. I summoned my Gunblade, and immediately blocked his slash. I heard a rip, and saw that the bandages around my Gunblade were starting to come off. I sent a kick out to Squall, who caught it in his gut. He was instantly pushed back a few feet, but then he rushed me again, so I countered his slash with my own slash, our blades locked together in a standoff of strength. "Safety ON!" I yelled, flipping the switch on my Gunblade, and then I pulled the trigger. The blade sent his back again, which gave me enough time and room to perform another slash, which he effortlessly dodged. I was about to do another charge and slash, with Squall obviously thinking of the same thing, when two orbs of light hit right in front of us. Both he and I looked to the producer, when we saw a girl with green hair, a red leotard and sashes, and small heeled boots.
"Stop it! Stop all of this fighting!" She yelled at us. I lowered my Gublade, then looked at Squall, who nodded and lowered his Gunblade as well. "We're sorry, Terra." Squall said to her. Terra nodded, then walked over to Lightning, who was watching us fight. "Are you okay?" Terra asked her. "Yeah. I'm fine." She said. Terra looked at Squall, who looked at me, and said, "Sorry about pulling my Gunblade on you two. I just thought by your clothes that some Minions of Chaos were trying to assassinate me." I shrugged, then heard something fall to the floor. I looked down to see that my Gunblade had completely lost its bandages. I looked at the symbol that it was covering up, and looked at the full image of the l'Cie brand. "A...l'Cie?" Squall asked. I heard Cloud shift, as if hearing this news was extremely shocking. I let the chain that had been in the handle drop out, which also had a l'Cie brand on it. "Yeah. I'm a l'Cie. And my Focus is to take Caius Ballad's ultimate attack. I can't do it alone. I need the help of strong people. That's why I searched for you all. You all can help me in my quest. Will you join?" I asked them. Terra raised her hand, which made Squall say, "Terra Branford, you are not going on this suicide mission!" "Terra Branford? As in THE Terra Branford? I thought that you would be an elderly woman by now." I asked her. She giggled, then said, "I did too. However, my Esper Blood has kept me in the image of a young woman for a long time. That's actually why I live here now, since people have often tried to take advantage of me. Well, that, and the fact that this place has so many cute moogles!" Terra explained. "Well, we could use you as a healer on our team." I said to her. "Alright. I'm in as well." Squall said to me. "Thank you all." I said to them.