Since this is a story about Cid and Light, I thought I'd better get cracking a little bit on that, huh? XD Plot and story are mine, characters are at Enix! Enjoy and review!


Lightning looked out across Academia from her position atop the roof.

For perhaps the thousandths time in her life, Lightning wished she could speak to her mother just one last time. She had tried her best to become the mother Serah needed and the provider of their small, two woman family. Shifting slightly, Lightning paused and let out her breath in a 'whooshing' noise. Women...who was she trying to fool. They had both been girls when Lightning had been tasked with the responsibility of raising her baby sister. Scared girls that hadn't known what was going to happen to them, and Lightning had dug them out from underneath that feeling, but at what cost? Fighting had become Lightning's life, but it wasn't Serah's. She had worked too hard for too long to ensure that her younger sister would never have to do what she had done in life. Would never have to make the same decisions that she had. Never have to take the life of another and feel the guilt weigh you down until you thought it would crush you. Never have to wake up and think 'this day might be my last'.

So why was Serah trying to jump into the first dangerous situation that was presented to her? It had felt like a physical slap to her face when Serah had spoken up. Like she had weighed the sacrifices Lightning had made for her and decided that she would go against all of them and throw herself into danger. So for the thousandths time, Lightning wondered what advice her mother could give if she was still alive. Reaching into her pocket, Lightning pulled out the locket she had been given by her mother. For a moment, her eyes dulled and she lost herself in the past.


"Claire?" Aqua eyes shot open when she heard her name, cloudy with the sleep that filled them. Yet after blinking a few times, Claire turned her head and scooted to the edge of her seat. A vision of her mother filled her senses as she reached over and clasped the feeble hand that was being held out toward her. "Mom?" Even to herself, Claire's voice sounded gravely, so she cleared her throat and tried again. "What's the matter?" It pained her to see her mother looking the way she did. Once strong and beautiful, Raquel Farron was now thin and pale, her features sunken. "I needed to see you again." A sad smile lifted on Claire's lips, and she busied herself with straightening her mother's quilt to keep her hand busy. "I'm right here mom." Once the quilt was straightened, Claire brushed the pink hair away from her mother's face and smiled down at her. "Serah never got to know her father." Claire blinked at the change of topic and looked down at the edge of the hospital bed, unsure of what to say.

"He would have loved her." Claire nodded sadly. "Serah is hard not to love.", she agreed. It was true...Serah had always been the pure one, the sweet one. All Raquel's problems had been with Claire. "And he would be so proud of you." At that point, Claire clenched her teeth in order to keep the tears that had gathered from falling. "Promise me...that when I'm gone-" Claire squeezed her mothers hand and shook her head fiercely to cut her off. "No!" Realizing it was the middle of the night, Claire lowered her voice. "Don't talk like that. They're making a cure. They're going to find one before-...before..." The young girl had to stop when the emotion she felt made it too hard to continue. "Claire..." A tear escaped her eye and slid down her cheek. Yet she felt the hand that gently tipped at the bottom of her chin, forcing Claire's vision to come back to her mother's eyes. "When I'm gone, promise me you'll look after your sister." Squeezing her eyes shut, Claire shook her head once and felt a fresh outbreak of tears flow down her cheeks. "You can't leave me.", she finally whispered in a strangled voice. "I don't want to, but I have to." With a brief pause, Raquel's now labored voice spoke on. "You have to protect her from what I won't be able to." The same gentle hand brushed away at the tears that were falling down her face. "You're the strong one, Claire. You have to make sure Serah never finds out the evils of the world. Never has to make the hard decisions you'll have to."

"How will I be able to do that?" The faint smile showed on Raquel's face. "You'll find a way. I know you will. Protect her the way I wish I could. I'm sorry Claire...I'm sorry it has to be you." Claire shook her head, but Raquel insisted. "Promise me." With no other option, Claire nodded. "I promise." Relieved, Raquel held out her locket, which she reached out to take. "Remember us. Never forget that you're the strong one. And that I will always love you."


"Miss Farron?"

The deep voice that spoke out cut through Lightning's memories. She turned her head and glanced at the approaching figure. Without saying anything she simply watched his approach. Finally he paused a few feet away, his gray eyes meeting hers. She couldn't help the cold tone she used to reply with. "If you've just come to lecture me, save it." She regretted the tone a moment later, but lifted her chin and gave him a defiant look. Lightning could swear that even with her cold tone he had smiled. ...But she must be mistaken. "I didn't come to lecture you." With a wave of his hand to indicate the section next to her, he spoke again. "May I join you?" For a moment she hesitated, but she nodded finally. She was left to watch while he vaulted up beside her and then settled down to sit the same way she was - both their legs dangled off the side of the building. For as big of a man as he was, Cid seemed to move like a cat, all poise with no motion, however slight being wasted. Snow could learn a lot just by watching him for an hour.

For the next few minutes they sat side by side without saying anything. Lightning tilted her head down to stare at the locket she had in her hands still. "Was it your mother's?" Running her thumb across the locket, Lightning nodded. "She gave it to me before she died." "May I?" For a moment she paused and pulled the locket closer to her chest as she weighed that question. Finally she reached out and opened her fist to reveal it to him. More gently than she thought it possible for a man of his size, he took it from her hand. "She was a beautiful woman." A mixture of pleasure and pain passed through her. "She was."

"Not unlike yourself."

The words hung in the air for a moment while he extended his hand to give her back the locket. Lightning could swear those words were left suspended in air while she stared at Cid, his eyes watching her as well. Something passed between them, but Lightning couldn't put a finger on what it was. "As is your sister.", he nearly whispered. Finally a smile - small, but there - curled onto her lips as she gently took her locket back Serah was beautiful, and so was her mother, but neither of those comments could contribute to the warm feeling that curled in her chest.

Yet despite that spark of warmth, Lightning felt a shiver run through her body. Almost immediately she felt a true warmth engulf her. Following it to the source, she realized that Cid had given her his overcoat. The part of her that had taken care of herself for the last nine years bucked against taking it, and she tried resisting for a moment. "I'm okay Cid." Intense gray eyes captivated her though, and he didn't loosen his grip on her shoulders until she stopped trying to remove it. "I have more than enough layers to spare, and the air is cool." While she hesitated a moment more, Lightning finally relented and smiled again at him. "Thank you." "You're welcome miss Farron."

Their pauses seemed almost comforting. "What was she like?" Lightning's eyebrow quirked. "My mother?" "Yes." Memories flooded back until she was lost for a moment in them. How could she describe her mother in less than a book? Snuggling into his coat a bit more, Lightning cocked her head and thought for a moment. "She was the strongest woman I've ever known." A small chuckle sounded from beside her. "Even with a woman like Fang in your life?" Really smiling, Lightning glanced over at him. "Even with a woman like Fang in my life.", she agreed. "She never lifted up a weapon to harm anything, but she had this quiet strength that never made me doubt that she could do anything she needed to do. I don't even think Fang could be a mother of two without any support." "Did she put you in the corner?" "I spent more time there than in my own bed." Lightning shared a smile with her companion, her eyes lit up. "After my dad died, I wouldn't have blamed her if she had wanted to join him, but she never carried on in front of Serah or I. And when she stared death in the face, her only regret was that she wouldn't be here to help us fight what the world would throw at us."

The humor dropped from Lightning's face and she looked out over the city with a pained expression. "I promised her I would keep Serah safe." Scoffing slightly, Lightning laid a hand on the roof next to her. "And now she wants to run off and try to get herself killed. Good job I'm doing." A large hand covered hers. Glancing down at their hands, Lightning felt a larger swell of emotion than she had in a long time. Fingers slid under her chin and softly tugged until she was looking straight into Cid's eyes. "She seems well protected so far in her life thanks to you." Lightning stared until she couldn't stand it anymore and tried to pull away, only for him to squeeze her hand. "Except for turning into a l'cie and crystallizing.", she retorted. The caress on her cheek distracted her for a moment, along with his low chuckle. "From the reports I was given, that was mainly due to a certain Snow Villiers, not you." She smiled at that. Yet it slipped away when he focused on her with his gray eyes.

The intensity seemed to crackle around them, but Lightning found herself pulling back. "I should be going back inside." Still she waited. "Miss Farron..." "Don't call me that." Even to her she sounded a little out of breath. "What should I call you then?" That made Lightning pause. 'Lightning' seemed out of place for him to call her, and miss Farron wasn't going to do.

"Claire."

After she said it, Lightning realized that it fit. "Goodnight then, Claire." She hadn't been called by her real name in so long it seemed almost foreign, and yet it was as familiar as ever. Lightning felt her hand being lifted and a kiss planted there. "Goodnight Cid.", she whispered out softly. Rising to her feet, Lightning slid her hand out of his and retreated quickly to the building.

Her hand seemed alive from his touch.