CHAPTER ONE

Lost Loves

Eight months earlier…

oOo

The kitchen table was decorated with a cake and a few presents, but not even that would ease the tension in the room. Here it was, Lightning's birthday, so why did she had to be this livid? "Let me get this straight. You're gonna marry this idiot? And you think I'm gonna approve of that? Great points for stupidity."

Serah and Snow were equally disappointed by her reaction. They had hoped that telling her about their engagement would've gone a little better.

Lightning stood up from her seat, keeping her hand pressed firmly on the table in order to keep herself as calm as possible. "But don't forget. If you really wanna get married-" She was talking to Snow now. "it's your job to deal with her; I'll be done with it."

Serah raised her chin. The extreme pang of hurt in her heart masked her face. "Sis…"

Lighting turned away, ignoring her. "This is ridiculous. Worst birthday ever."

Serah couldn't hide her emotions anymore. She ran out of the kitchen and escaped to the outside as she wiped her tears away.

"Wait! Serah!" Snow reached out after her, but the front door had already closed. He scowled and turning his attention back to Lightning. "Why won't you give us your blessing?" he demanded as he stomped along the floor.

She glared at him, matching his blue-eyed gaze with hers. "You kidding me? You don't have a job, can't hardly pay your rent most of the time-And yet, you pop the question?"

Snow slammed his hands down onto the table, making it jiggle. "Lightning, stop it!"

She matching his actions, jarring the table even harder than he had. "No, you stop it! Get out of my house!" But the truth was that she wanted him to stay. To accept her apology. To hold her in his strong arms and listen… while she explained the real reason why she was angry.

She was more in love with him than Serah was. Of course, there was no way she could bring herself to admit this out loud.

"You're shutting her out! She's your sister!"

For a moment, all Lightning could do was stare at him. Even while he was angry, Snow was still the best looking guy she'd ever met. No, he wasn't perfect. No, he wasn't level headed. Yes, he was the total opposite of her altogether. But for some reason, he was still the secret object of her heart's affection.

Every since her parents died, Lightning had given up so much for Serah-even her real name-in order to join the Guardian Corps. Granted, the job wasn't the safest in the world, but it made good money. They were first introduced to Snow when he was working at the local diner. Lightning answered the door one night when he delivered their take-out order, and was immediately taken aback by his good looks. From that point on, she would order take-out at least once every week as an excuse for him to come visit. After a while, they all became good friends… But after a while, Snow's attention fell more onto Serah than it did Lightning.

She honestly didn't think their relationship would last, so she just sat back and said nothing while her sister went on being happy. After all, that's why she had made so many sacrifices to begin with, right? Eventually, they'd both realize that they weren't right for each other, and after a sufficient amount of time had passed, Lightning would make her first move onto Snow.

But that would never happen now… How in the world could their relationship have come to this?

With a scoff, Lightning pushed herself away from the table, crossing her arms again as she looked away.

"Fine," Snow said, giving up on the argument. "I'll do it. I'll protect her." With that, he marched out of the kitchen and slammed the door as he left the house.

Lightning remained frozen in place, allowing her firm expression to softening as her real emotions began to surface.

Later, when she was finished washing the dishes, she went back over to the table and noticed her unopened present from Serah. The white box had a rainbow colored bow taped to the top of it. Depressed, Lightning lifted the lid. Inside was a small dagger; the one she had wanted from the Bodhum weaponry shop, but couldn't afford. She guessed that Serah and Snow must've both chipped in to buy it for her. "How practical," she said to herself as she examined the new, clean blade.

She glanced up at the clock. It was getting late. Obviously, Serah and Snow weren't coming back tonight… But they would be back eventually because Serah would moving in with him, meaning Lightning would have to face them… all over again.

No, she couldn't. She wouldn't.

Lightning folded the dagger, concealed it in her pocket and, without giving her actions much thought, hurried upstairs to her room. She cleaned out all her dresser drawers and packed her clothes into every travel bag she could find. Before leaving the house, she made sure all the electronics were off and locked the door (good thing Serah had her own key).

From there, Lightning climbed into her car and threw her luggage in the backseat. She revved the engine and took off onto the open road. She had no idea where she was headed. But at the moment, any place was better than home.

oOo

"Man, Cloud. Business had been booming since we got this website up and running."

"Well, you have yourself to thank. It was your idea." Cloud was laying down on their lumpy old couch, trying to get some rest before his next job. The last one took him three days to complete. Three whole days, just to get to his destination and back. It was taking a painful toll on his body, even though he had built up more muscles as a result. "While you're at it, you wanna post a job listing on there?"

Tifa turned away from the computer and stared at him with wide eyes. "Really?"

"Really. If that website's as good as you say it is, then I'll need all the help I can get!"

She smiled. "Consider it done." She turned back around in her computer chair and began the process of adding a new page to the website, then typed for a few minutes. "Alright. How does this sound for want-add?"

Wanted!

Package carrier with extensive traveling experience.

Battle skills are REQUIRED, due to the increase in recent monster attacks.

Pays 15 Gil per hour, with possibility of room and board in sector seven of Midgar.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to open our place to a perfect stranger?" Cloud commented.

"With fifteen Gil an hour attached, yes," Tifa insisted. "Midgar's not exactly the bustling metropolis it was before Meteor; people just don't wanna live here. But someone might consider it if they need a well paying job bad enough."

"In other words, we're paying them to live with us, too?"

"Pretty much… Oh! I just got an e-mail!"

Cloud groaned and rolled over onto his side. Great. Another job obligation before he had even begun to recuperate from the last one.

"Want the order form?" Tifa asked.

"Sure," he mumbled.

Tifa clicked the PRINT button, and within seconds, the order sheet came sliding out. She took it over to the couch and dangled it in front of Cloud's face. He reached up to grip the bottom right order was for one Blazefire Saber, 275 Gil with tax included.

Cloud raised an eyebrow at the name of the recipient. What kind of parent would name their kid 'Lightning?' Then again, his mother was the one who decided to name him Cloud, so weather names must not be as uncommon as he thought. He stretched out his still aching muscles and pushed himself up off the couch.

"You're leaving already?" Tifa asked.

"Might as well get this one over with." He headed for the stock room to get the item saying, "Tell Marlene and Denzel that I'll be back tomorrow."

oOo

Even though the long trips were hard, a good motorcycle ride always seemed to make Cloud feel better. The adrenalin rush was amazing, especially when he was off-roading on a dirt path like this one. That, and it helped him clear his mind. Maybe while he was in Kalm, he might find a nice engagement ring for Tifa. After all the years she had remained by his side, she deserved at least that much from him… even though he wasn't sure if he loved her in that way. But the idea of them being married made sense. After all, they had been friends since childhood, and now business partners.

Suddenly, the motorcycle disappeared right out from under him.

Cloud stumbled forward, but managed to catch himself before falling into a grassy field of flowers. He was standing in a meadow completely surrounded in white light.

And someone else was there, standing back to back with him. "Here we are again," she said.

Cloud inhaled sharply and closed his eyes. It was Aerith. The onne woman he thought he might've really loved. The one who died in his arms. "Why are you doing this to me?" he asked, his voice breaking. "You realize that these random visits are torturing me, you know that?"

The tone in her voice remained gentle and soft, as it always had been. "I'm hoping to help you get your priorities straight," she replied.

Cloud's eyes popped open. "My priorities?" he repeated, confused.

Aerith giggled. "Dilly dally, shilly shally," she said. "You'll find out what I mean soon enough. You'll see."

And in the next instant, he was back on his motorcycle.