this is rly just a filler chap, but we do get some closure between characters.
"Someone wake them up."
"Don't look at me. Light would break my nose if I woke her up. Has that happened before? I feel like it has."
"Our flight is in a few hours, can't we just let them sleep some more? They look so peaceful. And cute."
"Cute or not, we have a pilot who's waiting on us across the world. I don't think Sunshine will be happy if we miss the flight."
The soft chatters of her teammates roused her awake, despite every nerve in her body telling her to keep sleeping. After talking to Hope last night, she fell asleep pretty quickly; and without any nightmares, surprisingly. Light supposed she was just tired after traveling and thinking about her sister so much.
When she managed to blink her heavy eyes open, the rosette was surprised to feel a weight across her shoulder blades. She lifted her head to look— and the blush that grew across her cheeks was enough to rival a tomato. Hope's arm was draped across her back, while one of her own arms was draped over his waist. No wonder Vanille mentioned they looked peaceful.
Lightning sat up carefully, pushing Hope's arm off and removing her arm from his sleeping form. He was a heavy sleeper, so she opted to let him sleep a few more minutes and made her way to the dining area.
Fang, Vanille and Snow were chatting softly, drinking from coffee mugs.
"Morning!" The redhead chirped, offering a mug to Lightning. She yawned her thanks and sat down at the table with them. "We didn't wanna wake you two."
"Thanks," she mumbled, spooning sugar into her coffee. "When's our flight, again?"
"At one," Fang answered. "Landing directly in Pensacola. I'll admit, I miss American beaches. We'll definitely have to make a pit stop while we're there."
She didn't like the idea of wasting time at a beach when they could be looking for Serah, but Lightning didn't object. After all, she was the one who pulled them from their normal lives to help fix her own. Besides, a small part of her wanted to see the beach. It reminded her of home.
Hope had decided to drag himself out of bed at that point, grumbling out a "morning" before accepting the mug of coffee Vanille held out to him.
"Do you think Sazh will recognize us?" Snow asked. "Actually, wait. What if he's got a family? You know, Dajh?"
They hadn't thought of that. Or, more accurately, Lightning hadn't thought of that. "Well…his wife might still be alive. This world is different. I did wake up with a mom, after all." Speaking of Anna, she remembered she hadn't called her in quite a while. Or even checked her phone since they had picked up Fang. "Who I need to call ASAP."
The others had begun to pack up their belongings, so she took her phone out to the balcony of their suite. She grimaced at the amount of missed calls and text messages that appeared on her lock screen, but dialed her number regardless of the lecture that she was surely going to receive. It was weird having a mom to yell at her again— it felt oddly comforting yet embarrassing at the same time.
"Claire!" Anna's voice was full of relief. "Thank God! Where have you been? I was so worried you'd been kidnapped or mugged or killed!"
Well, technically speaking, we were kidnapped, Lightning wanted to say, but thought better of it. "Yeah…sorry. We're fine, we actually found two of the others. We're actually heading back to the states to track down someone else."
"Where?"
"Somewhere called Pensacola. It's by a beach, I think."
Anna's excitement was evident in her tone. "Yes! Pensacola Beach, one of my favorites. I was actually deployed there during my time in the army. You'll love it."
"Are you alright? We should be heading back after we find Sazh we'll find my sister. I mean," she paused, taking a breath. "she's supposed to be my sister."
"I know, Light."
"What if she doesn't recognize me? Or worse, just tell me to get lost? That's…that's what I'm afraid of," Light said quietly, leaning against the railing. She couldn't stop thinking of the worst case scenario: Serah would reject her and the others, and all of their work would be thrown to the wind. The others would leave her soon after that, and where would that put her? It made her sick to her stomach even thinking of it— she hadn't realized how close she had grown to the others. "I know I made a mistake, but I didn't think something like this would happen…"
"Claire Luce Farron, you listen to me," Anna's no-nonsense tone was back. "I understand you made a mistake, but the fact that you're owning up to it proves you're being an adult about the situation. And it isn't like Serah didn't say things that were hurtful to you, either. You both were being dramatic and need to apologize to each other once you find her."
The rosette hadn't realized the wetness of her eyes until a tear slipped down her cheek. She scrubbed it away, sniffling slightly. Lightning hated when she cried, because it showed weakness and vulnerability.
But Lightning was not Claire.
And Claire cries very easily.
"Okay. You're right, I'm just…being stupid about it." Light replied. "I just don't want to lose her again. Or my friends."
"They're important to you, I know. They're like your family. I wouldn't want to lose them, either. So stop moping around and go find your friends, okay?"
"Yeah. I will. Thank you, Anna."
"Oh, and can you get me a souvenir from Pensacola? I haven't been in years."
Lightning chuckled. "You got it."
Vanille had been suspecting a talk from Fang, but she didn't expect it when they were waiting in line for coffee at the airport.
They all had arrived two hours early for their flight, so the Pulsians decided to grab their sugar fixes at the nearby Starbucks (that, and Lightning had never had a pumpkin spice latte before, so it was decided unanimously that a pumpkin spice latte run was in order at once).
"So, you're staying with us, right? After we find Serah?" Fang asked after they had ordered.
Vanille kept her eyes on her shoes. "I hadn't thought about that yet. I have a job, you know."
"A job that's killing you."
"Fang…"
"Now don't you 'Fang' me, Vanille," the brunette tipped her chin up to face her. "What's holding you back?"
"I…" she shook her head, taking a step back. "I remembered. I remembered all the people we've hurt, and all the pain we caused. I don't deserve to have a family, or you."
The brunette sighed, rubbing a temple. Fang had remembered the things they did before, as well, so she couldn't object to that. However, that didn't mean they were undeserving of redemption.
"You can't tell me you honestly believe that. You wouldn't have even agreed to come with us if you really did." She narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I didn't think I'd remember anything like what I saw in my dreams last night. Fang," Vanille replied. "You know what we did. It isn't right to just act like we deserve to live."
"It wasn't our fault, Vanille. We didn't ask to be branded. We didn't ask for a focus. No one did. When all seven of us were branded, we didn't ask for that! I just don't…don't understand why you're so keen on getting rid of yourself. Where would that leave me? And Sazh, and Light, and the rest of 'em?" She took hold of Vanille's shoulders, forcing her to look up at her. "You being dead won't solve anything. It would just make us sad that we couldn't do anything to help you. You're not a bad person, no matter what you think. You're my Vanille."
The redhead's lip quivered, crocodile tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. She never did cry quietly or gracefully, instead hiccupping an apology as Fang pulled her to her chest.
"I don't wanna hear that kind of talk again, you hear me? We've got our family back. We stick together."
They both had an odd sense of déjà vu as the barista called out their order.
No one commented on Vanille's sniffly state when they arrived with coffee, thankfully for her. Hope pulled her into a conversation when she sat down, and Fang turned to see what Lightning and Snow were heatedly debating.
Their flight had been uneventful, as well, as most of them had decided to catch up on their sleep; save for Hope and Lightning, who had spent the majority of the flight catching up. The rosette felt a strange sense of pride as she listened to Hope speak of his accomplishments throughout his years. She knew he was smart, but being a director of a top-notch oil company still managed to impress her.
"Hey, you can actually see some of the beaches from here," Hope said, pointing to his window. Below lay white, sandy beaches, calm waves lapping at the shores. They had almost reached the Pensacola airport. "I haven't been to a beach in a while."
Lightning leaned over to see. "Reminds me of Bodhum. When Serah and I were little, my parents would take us to the beach all the time."
"I remember seeing the fireworks there with my mother. You were lucky to live in such a lively place."
She smiled faintly, settling back in her seat. "I just wish I was around more to enjoy it. New Bodhum is a good place, but it's not the same, you know?"
He nodded, agreeing with her. "There are memories there."
A comfortable silence settled over them. Snow shifted in the seat next to Lightning, but didn't wake up. Light didn't even notice the words leaving her lips, "I miss this."
"Miss what?"
"Being together. All of us. I know we have our own schedules and lives, but we'd been together for so long before that. It's nice…having a family, again."
Hope was slightly caught off guard as Light used the word "family". He'd never see her without her emotional walls up before last night, and for her to feel comfortable enough to share her thoughts with him brought a warm feeling to his chest. He could tell there was something between them— yet he was too afraid to address it. He might have been older than her, but that didn't mean he wasn't still intimidated by her.
"Well, family sticks together. We can't forget each other."
Light hummed in response, leaning her head back against the seat as she closed her eyes. She didn't notice her head falling slightly to the side, or Hope scooting closer so she landed on his shoulder.
i didn't plan for this chapter to be so family oriented, but i rather like how it turned out.
also, i am now taking requests! pm for more info.