Hey there, everybody.

First of all, I'm really sorry about the delay. I've had a very rough week, and even though that's the lamest ever, I'm gonna stick with it. For once, it's true.

So, about this chapter. It's the kind of thing that has to be there, but nobody reads and just jumps to the next chapter (in whole writen fics, that is. Since this one is not fully written, you're gonna have to bear with me)

Disclaimer: Square feeds on innocent, pure blooded bishonens and wonderfully composed piano tunes. Let them live.

Chapter 2 ~ Because She's Gotta See The Sunshine

Lightning knew she wasn't going to get any sleep that night.

She knew it as soon as she laid her head on her pillow, a short while after Hope left her standing alone by her door staring at the night. Turning in her bed to face her ceiling, she brought a hand to her forehead and thought about what happened. It was all too new; Hope; the scaredy cat that couldn't take one step forward on his own, in love with her? No one had ever been in love with her, and she had never really wanted it. She wasn't a romantic kind like her sister, always dreaming with her shiny knight, that turned out to be a hard headed with ragged clothes.

No, Lightning knew she was nothing close to a romantic. If she was ever to try and define her relationship with Hope, it would surely be a mentor kind of relationship. She was the one who pushed him forward when he couldn't walk the steps with his own feet, and quite literally sometimes. Still, much to her surprise, the replaying mental image of his kiss didn't repulse her, or made her mad. It felt natural; it wasn't like the strange feeling of kissing a brother or even a friend.

What did she really feel about Hope? What was she going to say to him at the festival? Lightning sighed heavily a covered her face with her palms. How would she ever work tomorrow without sleeping? Then, half of her accepting her fate of not being able to sleep and the other half wanting to stop thinking, she got up from her bed and marched into her kitchen, turning on the large TV screwed to the wall and grabbing a bottle of wine from her refrigerator.

She cracked the neck of the bottle into the counter and grabbed a glass, filling it up the edge. Lightning felt a slight easiness fill her head as she drank half of the glass in just a few seconds. She took the broken bottle and a couple more she grabbed randomly from her still open refrigerator and her now barely empty glass to the table and pulled a chair for herself. It was going to be a long night, even if consisted of only a few more hours before she had to go out to work.

With every bit of wine she sipped, Lightning could feel the ache in her heart slowly fade away and give place to drowsiness that was slowly overwhelming her. When she reached the end of the third bottle she dropped her glass on the floor and rested her head parallel against the light wood of her dining table, not even noticing her eyes close.

Lightning's kitchen was already shining brightly with morning light when she slowly opened her eyes, mentally cursing the world for being too bright. She could feel her neck burning, probably due to the fact that she remained in the same position the whole night. When she became able to distinguish shapes from the light, she forced her tired eyes to gaze her TV. The on-screen clock told her she was very, very late for work.

"Oh, shit!" she exclaimed, raising her head and her body at the same time, all too quickly. A strong sense of vertigo and nausea hit her hard, forcing her to lie down at her table again. She looked at the TV again and the clock timer went up one minute, as if mocking her. The soldier groaned, turned her head to the other side and supported her body with her arms, leaning against the table.

After a few frustrated tries Lightning gave up and supported her whole body in her kitchen counter. Her head was exploding with so much pain that she found it hard to even concentrate, or speak. She was apparently unable to stand still on her two feet, but could manage walking short distances rather fine.

She took her gunblade from the table nearby and used it as an improvised walking stick to get to her room. Since she had no time to waste, she grabbed her uniform's coat, her boots and her shoulder plate and wore then over whatever it was she was wearing at the time, which, by the way, consisted of cargo pants and a sleeveless white t-shirt.

As soon as she was done she headed for the door, gunblade in hand, knowing she had to show up at work no matter what, due the extra work she agreed in covering for her day off. All the events of yesterday were just a blurry memory, and even if they tried to take a more conscious shape, Lightning would have to deal with it later.

Lightning was never really the popular type within the Guardian Corps, but she was none less respected because of it. Everyone had eventually heard her name once or twice among the lines of 'fast growing career' or 'freak', and people usually want to avoid both. She never mistreated her subordinates, but never showed a single drop of concern for any of them, either. She was cold and distant, and would never fail or stand out of line.

At least, that was their image of her. That's why when her work colleagues saw the surreal image of their sergeant dragging herself up the stairs to Lt. Amodar's office with the help of her gunblade, they all decided to take a collective lunch break and get the hell out of there. The Lieutenant noticed it and opened the door to his office to check what was going on, just in time to see Lightning's over human efforts to climb his stairs.

"Sergeant Lightning reporting to duty, sir!" she saluted and said in her military tone, still trying to catch her breath.

"For heaven's sake, woman, what happened to you?" Amodar asked surprised, and a bit worried.

"I've had a few personal problems, sir, it will not happen again" she responded in the same tone, eyes shot straight forward. Her superior eyed her carefully, and could barely believe his eyes.

Sergeant Lightning Farron, who never missed a day on the job or neglected her paperwork, was now standing in front of him in a condition of pure disarray. Her bangles, which used to be always brushed sideways, were now intertwined with each other forming a rather large mass that fell on her forehead. The cape attached to her coat was wrinkled and uneven, and her boots had quite a few straps hanging loose. Paying closer attention, he also noticed she was apparently having some of a difficult in standing upright.

"Lightning, are you hangover?" he asked sincerely with a faint smile on his face, now simply amused at the situation in hand.

Her eyes immediately shot up to his, trying to say the words her mouth couldn't muster. "Sir, I… I'm really sorry, it will never happen again. I'll understand if you cancel my day off by the end of the wee—"

"Hey, easy there", Amodar laughed at her. "Now, what was your assignment today?"

"Just patrolling, sir, and I will be perfectly capable of performing it.", she responded in her official tone again. "Why's that?"

Amodar ignored her question and hummed loudly as he scratched his chin, seemingly thinking of something. "Say… how about I cover your patrols and you get today off as well?"

"What? But, Lieuten—", Lightning started to argue, only to be cut out again by her superior.

"It's an order", he cut her roughly, his voice assuming a business like tone. Lightning knew there was nothing else that she could do to change his mind. "I don't know how you managed to get here on your own, but you're in no condition to go back by foot. I'll give your sister a call; ask her to give you a ride."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir", she said almost automatically, saluting him once last time, even though she knew they were already past formalities. Amodar got closer to her and put his hand on her free shoulder, true concern in his eyes.

"You go now and get some rest, okay? We'll talk tomorrow." ,he squeezed her shoulder in reassurance.

"Thank you, sir. I will.", she said as she turned around to climb down the stairs to his office, a task that seemed a bit easier after climbing them up.

Lt. Amodar watched Lightning carefully descending the stairs with a smirk on his lips. "What a nice kid…", he thought with himself while reaching for the phone. He then went through Lightning's registration file and got her sister's phone number from the 'closest relatives' section.

The phone rang twice before a soft male voice picked it up. "Hello?"

"Good morning, I'm calling on behalf of Sergeant Lightning Farron, with the Guardian Corps. Could I speak with Ms. Serah Farron?"

PS: This chapter's title is based on a line of a song by The Strokes. The one who figues it out get's cookie, deal?