A/N-
Lack of responses... Maybe you all are secretly reading and watching out for Vanille, or this truly is a wretched and damned story, conjured up by me.
Every time Iczoxochitl updates- Oh, the horror!
A thousand thanks to Darkgirl5 for BETA'ing me. :)
Chapter 4: Unavailable and Familiar; Familiar but Unavailable
Lightning peered out of her office door as she normally did. Seemingly enough, the coast was clear. She began to hustle.
"Oi! Sergeant Farron!"
She had no idea what was up with this guy and her. Grumbling, Lightning turned away, bent her head down, and tried to walk faster. Hopefully if she pretended that she didn't hear them, they would stop.
"Can I talk to you for a moment?" He began to tail her.
No.
Lightning stopped, rolling her eyes. "I'm not available at the moment." She answered.
She was out in the hallway to get her mail, not chit-chat.
"T-That skirt looks really nice on you by the way!"
"Tch…" They never quit. There was only one person on her mind
Lightning made it to the mailroom, finally, but not without the tedious task of people dodging and avoidance. Her planning and timing was right. The place was empty.
She let out a huge breath and inserted the key into her assigned box. With a turn, it clicked open. What she pulled out was hefty.
Lightning frowned as she shuffled through the stack, the bulk of it being random letters from who-knows and request forms. She set them aside. For the sake the people, she would get to them eventually. A crisp, cream envelope embellished in fancy script stuck out from the rest.
Lightning held it up, examining the stationary. "Hmph."
Upon opening the envelope she paused.
Air banged through the vents. The air conditioner had turned on.
"Ey…"
Lightning crossed her eyes.
Rygdea.
He nudged her with a goofy smile on his face. "Don't you look cute today with your collared shirt and neatly wrapped kerchief. We're almost matching!"
She wasn't going to check to confirm it.
Rygdea's eyes caught onto the piece of stationary within her hands. "Ah… so you've been invited to the Military Elite Dinner," He mused, "Super formal. Not exactly a rager. You have to come dressed really nice and whatnot. "
That's what this letter was for? An invitation to a dinner with Cocoon's finest military leaders? Lightning didn't understand why she was invited. She was only a sergeant yet to be commissioned.
"Did anyone tell you yet?" Rygdea asked. Lightning raised an eyebrow at him. "You'll be partnered up with Fang to work on Cid's campaign for Primearch."
Lightning's heart stopped. Working with Fang… Who the hell signed her up?
"Fun sounding news...I know. You seem thrilled, like heart-stopping excited." He patted her back. "I'll let you in on something." Rygdea was walking the fine line between sarcasm and sincerity. He continued smiling. "Cid doesn't err… mind what you did in the past whether it be sleeping with multiple people or fighting like a hot-head." Lightning rolled her eyes. "He doesn't care much. Alright? You have a reputation for being…" Rygdea grabbed his chin in thought for the right word. "… Unreachable, as of late. He thought that you couldn't handle it and were unsuitable for the job at first but after hearing from Advocate Noel Kreiss about how helpful you were to him, you ended up being selected."
No.
Selected? Lightning wasn't too delighted.
Rygdea patted Lightning's back. "Whatever the campaign stands for, your feelings are your feelings." He headed for the room door. "I'll contact you for the information meeting." He shouted last before exiting.
After slamming the mailbox door, Lightning grabbed her stuff and soon followed out.
She leaned on the wall in vacant hallway, staring at her phone. It had been a week of failing in trying to get a hold of Yeul.
Lightning held the device to her ear.
The ringing tone went on… and on…
Her grip on the phone tightened.
"The person that you have called is unavailable."
That was it for her.
"Please try ag-"
Serah sat in the living room chair alone. Alone. Something that she wasn't used to being. Snow was usually always around. She must have really pissed him off this time.
Chime Chime Chime
Who set the house phone to that hideous ringing tone?
Oh, yeah… she did. Lightning wouldn't have had the time to care about that.
Serah pulled herself from the couch and went to the kitchen counter. She pressed the green talk button.
"H-Hello?"
"Lightning?" The other line asked.
"No." Rubbing her brow, she thought she had told Lightning to stop giving out their house number. "This is her sister. Serah."
"Oh…" They paused. "She has a sister?"
"Yes." Serah scoffed. She couldn't guess why it had mattered to them.
"How old are you?"
Serah held the phone away from her ear and stared at it. "What?" She couldn't believe this guy. "Who is this?"
"I mean- Is she there? It's Noel. Noel Kreiss."
She shook her head. "Okay, Noel… well no, she isn't home right now."
That should have been the end of it.
"Seriously, how old are you?"
"Why do you want to know?" serah rolled her eyes and sighed.
"I didn't know that she had a sister. That's all." He waited for a response. "So… are you going to tell me?"
"No. Have a good day."
"Alright. Bye."
She threw the phone back on the base.
"Creep."
Lightning stared through the display glass. She let out a breath. Shitty day – well, week! – to say the least. Must bad news be cast down on her constantly? It was the essence of feeling empty, though not entirely unfamiliar.
Yeul…
"Damn it," she grumbled as she pulled open the door. This wasn't exactly her thing. Serah normally handled all the shopping and consumerism crap. A store representative had been right there to assist her, bright and smiling.
"Hello, Ma'am. Is there anything that I can help you with?"
Lightning crossed her arms. "I need a new phone." It was absolutely necessary. Without one, what if Yeul had called her back? For anyone else, she would have quit.
"What happened? If you don't mind me asking…" He asked. "You may be eligible for a war-"
Her eyes narrowed. "-It fell." Some lie that was…
"Alright…" The man looked around nervously. "I-Is there a particular brand or model that you are interested in?"
"Something that'll last me temporarily." Lightning picked up something from within her pocket. "My chip. Stick it into something."
"Got it!" The sales rep ran off.
Lightning slipped her fingers through her side-swept curls. Unbeknownst to her, she had developed an audience in the store.
"Sexy ladaaaaay!" A man whistled, passing by her.
Lightning growled in disgust. He was lucky that she was about to leave. Someone tapped her shoulder.
The store rep handed the box over to her. "Here you are, Ms. Farron."
"Thanks, err… Alec." She hoped that his name tag was right.
He smiled. "No problem. Be careful next time."
)QQQ(
She made her way out of Eden Mall as fast as she could to avoid the attacking salespeople stationed at island-like kiosks. From what she remembered, Bodhum wasn't this annoying.
Lightning pulled out her new phone.
It began to vibrate in her hand. A new call already…
Lightning cleared her throat, "Farron."
"Lightning?"
"Yes. Who is this?"
"Noel."
"How did you get my number?"
"Serah."
"Why are you calling?"
"I heard about the situation with Caius. I'm good friends with him. I thought that I could help you out."
Lightning's eyes squinted. "Why?" After the whole her being selected for the campaign team because of him, she felt a bit weary of Noel's 'help'.
"That's what I do. I wouldn't want you walking around her like a depressed baby because you can't see your girlfriend. Come and pick me up."
His Pulsian style of dressing had to be trademark now because she recognized the brunette from anywhere on the street. Lightning pulled up near the sidewalk. She unlocked the doors. "Get in, Kreiss."
"Hey…" He waved, smiling nervously. Noel settled into his seat. "Nice uniform." He winked.
"I have to stop somewhere first. We'll have a discussion at my place."
"Your sister…"
"Ok…" Lightning didn't really want to talk about her.
"She sounded really cute. You should hook me up," Noel suggested.
Lightning tried to ignoring him, in hopes that the topic would die.
"We would have a lot of fun. Get married. Build a family. Have tons of children. I can tell that I already like her."
Lightning shook her head, "She has boyfriend. He would probably kill you if he heard you talking like that about her."
"Psshhh… My ass!" Noel laughed. "I'd like to see him try when I steal her from him!"
Lightning parked. "Shut up."
Noel looked around the parking lot. Phoenix had begun to set. "Why are we at Dia Diamonds?" He genuinely wondered. "Aren't they related to that fine chick that's dating-"
"-I don't care." Lighting hopped out, slamming the car door. "If you're not coming, stay put inside the car, please."
)QQQ(
The store's door dinged as a result of the soldier's entrance.
The red haired man grinned, recognizing Lightning's own oddly colored hair. "Here to pick up your necklace Ms. Farron?" He pulled a box from behind him. "We have it ready."
Lightning bowed her head. "Sir Otto."
She was anxious. Lightning peeked into the box, admiring the piece of jewelry.
"I have a son about your age. Too bad you have taste for woman," He sighed.
Lightning shut the box. That caught her attention. "I don't have much of a taste for red hair either."
Otto coughed. "By any chance have you met my niece? I think you run in the same circle, you being in the military and all…" He trailed off. "Hasn't been the happiest as of late but she's a mighty fine gal."
"No." More and more she grew tired of this fodder about Cid and those in his personal life. She didn't care.
He swiped up a package from one of the nearby consultation desks. Today seemed to be all about packaging. "Could you give this to dashing Ciddy? It's for her. Fragrance from the great Azulon flower of Oerba. She'll love it."
"Tch." She growled, "I'm not a postage service. I had to pay to get you're here." He only looked at her and his smile was so innocent. Lightning pressed her lips together. "Fine."
)QQQ(
Noel's feet slid from the dashboard. Lightning didn't give him a fair warning that she would be speeding. "What's in the box?"
Lightning kept her eyes forward. "None of your business." Noel frowned. "Tell me about Caius."
He smirked. "Tell me about your sister first."
Lightning rolled her eyes. She gave in. "Like what?"
"Who's her boyfriend?" Noel asked with excitement.
"Snow."
Noel's eyes widened. "Villiers?"
"Yes."
He grinned. Challenge accepted.
"Now about Caius." Lightning pushed on.
Noel took a deep breath. "Caius is like that…" He began. "As you probably already know, Yeul is from Paddra. She's specifically a descendant of the ancient tribe of the Farseers who were known to possess mystical powers and ruled the city for thousands of years. They were on lock down to the general population, so to say… Their power began to crack bit by bit as years went by unrest built and Pulsian technology and society advanced. A part of the Nsu clan, Yeul was next in line to basically become the leader or, 'Seeress' as it is called." Noel shrugged, "She turned it down."
Lightning raised a brow.
"And left." Noel went on. "The Paddran government may have changed but the reclusive Farseers still hold on to tradition. I wanted to become a swordsman. I used to apprentice behind him, which is how I got to know those two. Caius is basically her bodyguard and a damn good one. He doesn't let just anyone be around Yeul let alone date her. Especially with your reputation for being-"
Could people stop!
"-There is no reputation."
"I understand why there are red flags. Any male-figure would have them." Noel closed his eyes and shook his head. "He just doesn't want Yeul to get hurt."
"Whatever."
Noel looked at her. "You're stressing out over her so much and you don't know all of this already? I don't get that if you supposedly like her that much."
"She's Pulsian. I didn't care about her past and culture that much," Lightning admitted with no hesitance. "It's from Pulse. I was never that interested to ask."
"Those things also make a person, you know. It's part of your identity. I'm half Cocoonian," He said pointing to himself. "Jerk."
The machine scanned her azure iris promptly granting access. The door slid open. Noel jogged behind Lightning, curiously observing around the Farron apartment.
Noel hung up his coat. As she set her bag on the counter, her eyes went directly to their Gui skin hadn't expected anyone to be there. She didn't expect her to be there. Around this time of the day, she was usually with Snow.
Serah lay on the couch, her blue eyes open and almost dead. They stared off into space.
Lightning diverted her attention away and stomped in her combat boots towards her room.
He looked at Lightning and back to the girl in the couch. "Shouldn't we help your sister?" Noel stopped behind her.
"Not my problem." Lightning shrugged. "Leave her to whine and cry."
"You're doing a terrible job at being a big sister."
"Ok. Whatever." Lightning rolled her eyes, shutting the door behind her.
Noel stepped around the couch. He was curious. This must have been the girl he had talked to. He could tell that they were related but she and Lightning definitely didn't look alike to the point of being twins.
Noel waved his hand over her opened eyes to get her attention. They continued to be in the blank trance. "Serah…" He called, gently shaking a limp arm. Though he felt a pulse, the girl didn't respond. Noel called her name again. "Serah," He repeated. A bit disappointed in the unresponsiveness, Noel trudged away to his disgruntled 'compadre'.
The couch squeaked from sudden movement. "Hmm…" A scratchy voice asked from behind, "W-we're you calling me?"
Noel turned back. Serah peered from the top of the couch.
He waved. "Umm… hi," Noel smiled nervously.
She brushed her bangs up from her forehead. "Yeah?" She asked.
"Uh, you're Lightning's sister?" He slapped his forehead. Duh, she was Lightning's sister. Noel scratched his head. "Snow's girl?"
Serah looked away. She lowered herself back into the couch. "I'm not sure."
"Oh… " In no way was he looking for a new female friend. Noel frowned. Something was up. Nevertheless, that was not the most definite answer. He backed away to the kitchen."See you around when you're better. Sleep tight?"
Noel needed to make the call to Yeul. He needed to figure out what was up. He held the phone to his ear. While the tone sounded, He planned on being quiet for Serah. Finally Noel sighed, putting down the phone .
"D-did she pick up?" Lightning entered the kitchens slowly. Anticipation burned in her eyes.
"No." Like many of the calls from Lightning. His didn't go through either. Lightning tapped the counter with her lips pressed tight together as she stared at the ground.
A/N-
Thank you for the support. I'd like to give a personal 'Thank You' to Erifrats101.
Laundry. Alcohol Edu.
Down goes the forth. I think I'll be able to have a bit more fun with the story now.