Chapter 12
The fourth day was the same. In the evening, Tifa had made a cake.
"Sen! Would you like some cake? I made it especially for you!"
"No!" I yelled. Tifa looked at me surprised as I started crying again. "I can't possibly sit here and eat cake while Mom is dead and Light is missing! I can't! I just can't!"
Tifa rushed over to me and calmed me down.
"Don't worry, Sen. I'm sure Light's just--"
At that moment, the door swung open. We all jumped. Rain poured in as thunder roared in the distance. Inside stumbled two blondes, one short, one tall, both soaking wet.
I gasped.
"LIGHT!" I screamed. I ran towards him and tackled him with a hug. He stumbled a few feet backwards and hugged me back. His face was still the same, the face that I loved, the face that I remembered. His eyes were more beautiful than ever as he looked at me worriedly. His pants and shirt were filthy, but he didn't seem too badly hurt.
"Sen!" he exclaimed. "Are you okay?!"
"I'm perfect! I'm perfect!" I hugged him tighter. I was on the verge of tears. "I thought you were dead!"
"Of course not, Sen," Light said as he brought a hand through my yet-to-be-braided-by-Tifa hair. I looked up at him. He was smiling at me. I grinned at him as rain dripped from his hair onto my forehead.
"You're all wet!"
"Am I now?" he said in a voice dripping with sarcasm. I giggled and poked him in the stomach. He flinched in response and hugged me tighter. I felt him look at Tifa and Cloud, who were standing at a distance and watching us.
"Thank you," he said. "For everything."
"You ought to keep a closer eye on her," Cloud said a bit coldly. I felt Light stiffen. He released me partially and I looked at Cloud. He didn't seem very happy. "A monster nearly ripped her face off. I doubt she would've survived that."
I cast my eyes down.
"…Sen? Is that true?" Light asked quietly.
"Yeah, but… he saved me! So, I'm fine!" I smiled at Light. Light didn't look any happier.
"You have… Geostigma?" Tifa asked, a bit sad, eyeing his neck. Light nodded. He somehow looked ashamed. Tifa cast a worried glance at Cloud.
"What about Sen?" she asked Light.
"…What…?" I said blankly. Light's arms around me tightened.
"Do you have any other family?"
"No," Light said calmly. "It's just us."
"Why would we need anybody else?" I asked Light.
"Geostigma is very serious," Tifa said. She sounded concerned. "Light might… get sick."
"Oh. Well… that's alright, right?" I said, trying to sound cheerful. My voice sounded fake even to my own ears. "You'll be fine, right?"
There was a silence.
"Sen, there's… something I need to tell you." Light wasn't looking at me. He was staring at the ground. I felt my heart sink.
"Wh-what?"
"Cloud… why don't we go upstairs and talk to Denzel?" Tifa wanted to leave us alone. I looked at them. Was it something they already knew? They walked out of the room and shut the door. Light still wasn't looking at me. His face seemed pained.
"Light?" I said softly. My voice was trembling. Light closed his eyes. "What's… what's going on?"
"I have… Geostigma." Light's voice was shaky as well. I nodded.
"There is no cure for Geostigma," he continued.
"Not yet," I said.
"No, Sen… there isn't a cure. There will never be a cure."
"No." I clutched Tifa's shirt that I was wearing so hard that my fingernails dug into the palms of my hands.
"It will spread all over my body until my body gives in."
I didn't like where this was going.
"Then I will die, slowly and painfully."
His words echoed through my head.
"No," I whispered.
Light finally looked at me. His eyes were filled with tears.
"I'm sorry, Sen."
"NO!" I screamed. I gripped my head and shook it back and forth. The walls were closing in. The room was spinning. My chest was on fire. There was a pit in my stomach. This wasn't happening. I started crying. No, not crying. I was wailing. Sobbing. So loudly and uneven. My whole body was shaking. It wasn't until I felt pain in my knees that I realized my legs had given out and I had dropped to the floor.
And Light just stood there, his back mostly turned towards me. He was tuning me out. Or at least trying to, I could tell.
After forever, I calmed down the slightest bit. And yet I sat there, trying to think of a way to save Light. I couldn't think of anything. Nothing at all.
I stood up and ran towards Light as fast as I could. I threw my arms around him.
"Sen won't let Light die!" I cried. Fat tears started rolling over my cheeks once again. I heard a sob coming from Light. He let his head fall backwards.
"Sen…"
Light broke out of my embrace and hugged me himself. He pressed his face in my hair and cried. He cried. Light was crying… I didn't think that was possible. I felt sad tears come back, only now I wasn't too upset.
And we stood there, holding each other, holding the other's pieces together. I was a horrible daughter for being more upset about Light's coming death then Mom's actual death, but I couldn't help myself. Light would comfort me by the news of Mom's death. But who would comfort me at Light's death?
"Raito," I said softly.
"What?" Light asked.
"Nothing," I said, "I was just wondering where he was…"
"He's fine," Light said rather shortly, cutting off any possibility of continuing the subject.
"Light… Tifa told me something."
He released me and gave me a strange look. "What?"
"Your eyes… were you in SOLDIER?"
He looked at me, then half-shrugged, half-nodded.
"Well… I wasn't in SOLDIER. I was the first SOLDIER."
"Huh?"
"They had a theory and tested it out on me. And it worked." Light paused. "But I was never a SOLDIER myself."
"But how can that be? If Cloud joined when he was fourteen…"
"I was seven."
There was a silence as I tried to stop the chill slowly running up my spine. These people who had done this to Light and Cloud were horrible people. We had to stop them. Light looked at me.
"You should go to bed," he told me. "You looked tired."
"I haven't been sleeping very well."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault."
"No. He's right." I looked up at Light. He looked disgusted with himself. "I can't believe I lost you like that. What if…"
"Light," I interrupted him. "What now?"
Light remained silent.
"I don't know," he whispered. "We should probably leave."
"Oh."
But when I saw the look on his face, I realized he meant now.
"No," I gasped.
"You've already stayed here for too long," Light hissed. "We have to leave tonight."
"No," I stammered. "I want to stay here."
Light looked at me.
"Sen, you're not thinking clearly," he said calmly.
"Maybe I'm not," I yelled. "I just found out that my best friend has been lying to me for the past two years!"
"I wasn't lying, Sen," Light said softly. But the softer he got, the louder I got.
"You did!" I screamed. I stumbled backwards and he stepped forwards.
"Sen, stop yelling," Light said a bit more firmly this time.
"No!" I shouted. "No, I am… angry! And I will not stop--!"
Light slapped his hand over my mouth. I started to struggle until I heard a faint noise outside.
Light dragged me against the wall and held very still.
The sound came again. A chill shot down my spine. I then realized what the noise was… fingernails scratching at the door.
"Dammit," Light muttered softly. I felt his body trembling against me. My head turned around quickly.
"Light?!"
He was transforming into the creature he was before. I could feel his nails turning into claws while he was holding my wrists. I gasped as he cut me. He released my wrists quickly.
"Sen," he whispered in my ear, "I need you to get behind the bar and stay there."
"Why can't we get Cloud?!"
"I don't want them involved. It's my mess."
I closed my eyes and fought against the tears. Stupid man-pride.
"I don't like you."
His body stiffened.
"You can dislike me after I take care of this thing. Now get behind the bar."
I obeyed and ran behind the bar, crouching down. A horrible gagging noise came from Light's throat. I peered through a hole in the cabinet as I watched Light's body spasm and transform into that thing he had been earlier. The door softly swung open.
There stood a thing, standing in a cloak that covered all of its body. It was a man, or at least, it had been a man. It's face had partially molten away and it was missing an eye. I gasped softly in horror. Would things never cease to surprise me? The man had longish, greasy brown hair and had once been very handsome, judging by the right side of his face. He reached behind him and gripped a long sword with a thin blade. He calmly walked forwards. And across from him stood Light, crouching in anticipation, my one-winged angel.