Title: Hikari no Nocturne
Rating: T
Summary :
She was once the 'legend' knight, yet now she is just an ordinary blacksmith. He was the prince, yet disguised himself as her assistant. But one day, the secret will be revealed and the journey of the crystals will begin.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 5
"Questions"
~*~*~*~*~*~
He was walking into his house, opening the door carefully not to making any creaking sound. He stepped inside and looked around to search for his wife. He found her cooking in the kitchen. Her long black hair was loose at her back and she wandered in the kitchen gracefully, humming with her enrapturing voice. He smiled genuinely, watching her every move. Carefully he stepped inside the kitchen, not wanting to startle her.
She felt someone was entering the kitchen. She did not need to turn around to know who it was, so instead she just continued humming and cooking.
"It smells so nice." He whispered to her ear as he circled his hands around her waist.
"Cloud! I can't cook if we're like this!" She giggled softly as she also enjoyed that very moment. He put his head on her neck, leaning on it like he was kissing her neck.
"Let it be for a moment." He whispered softly and within sorrow. She knew he wouldn't sound like that unless it was really unbearable. She sighed. Her face also looked so sad as if the sorrow had transferred to her. She slowly held his hands and grabbed them tightly. She didn't need to turn around to find he was crying because she could felt that her shoulder was a bit wet and she knew very well why he was crying. He just had been there.
-x-
He turned his head to find three men standing and watching him in confusion. He smiled a little so that they could not notice that. They were –he must admit- handsome, attractive and he was sure that any girls would fall for them. Yeah, any girls. He knew one of the men, the name's Snow Valentine. He knew Snow had been working for her for almost 1 year already. He rarely came to the shop because he did not want to disturb her and maybe to avoid her. But here he was, wandering around in her shop, noticing how she was really serious about moving on. He watched the other two, examined them carefully. He had heard about them when he walked in the town and he needed to be sure that they were no threat to her. After all, it was something he had to do.
He felt that the two lads were very attractive especially the one with dark hair. Maybe it was because the mysterious aura the lad had in him. At the corner of his eyes, he could see her walking out from her work place and followed by another young lady. He didn't need to hear what she was murmuring to know what she was referring to. Because he knew it was him who she called.
-x-
Sure Noctis liked silence but the silence he liked wasn't like this, the awkward one. None of them dared to open mouth. Even Clyde, who usually hates silence, did not know what to say. He felt that his friend was somehow fear of the blonde man in front of them and it was actually not just his friend but him also. He realized that the man was fixing his gaze at the former, looking as if Noctis were a nice prey. He wanted to shout at the blonde man but realizing it was not his style, he just stayed silence and tried to avoid the gaze.
Until a few later, he saw Lightning came out from her place followed by Vanille. He saw her murmuring something. He wasn't sure what it was and if he were, he wouldn't want to believe that. Did he just see her murmuring 'Dad'? Nah, he wasn't sure or maybe he didn't want to admit it. He changed his gaze from the blonde man to Lightning and to his surprise she smiled softly to the former but suddenly glared back to the blonde man. Noctis wasn't sure why his heart beat so fast and why the hell did he like Lightning's smile. Damn, he hated that! Not knowing about something especially when it was about his own feeling.
-x-
"I see you have great employees here." The blonde man started to break the silence.
Lightning let out a sigh. She walked to the cashier and sat on the chair. She didn't answer the question for a moment, just let it hung in the air. She pretended reading the guest book, checking about something. The silence became more and more intense than before. Clyde decided to take a seat and ignored the situation, pretending that there's nothing wrong while Noctis and Snow were still standing and waiting for Lightning's response to the question.
"How can I help you?" asked Lightning suddenly with a threatening voice. It was clearly stated in the voice that she didn't want the blonde man to be there at the first place.
The blonde man smiled sadly. He walked closer to Lightning, pulling out his sword and put that in front of the table. Lightning stared in awe. There, in front her, was Buster Sword, his very favorite sword that he never allows anyone and it means everyone to touch that. And why suddenly he appeared out of nowhere, giving her the sword. But she noticed that there's something wrong with the sword. It seemed crushed? He cleared his throat to gain her sense back –which was successful- because now she was staring back at him.
"Well, you can certainly see that he isn't in his very best shape." Lightning could still remember how he always told her to call the sword 'him' instead of 'it' like the sword was actually a living thing. Though, Lightning had to admit that she thought it was a living thing once. "So, can you fix him?" he asked again.
Silly question, Vanille thought. Of course Lightning can fix that, she is the greatest blacksmith ever in this kingdom, she thought again. But to her surprise, Lightning didn't grin instead she talked back seriously.
"Do I have to answer that?" She said in her cold tone.
"What do you say?" he raised his eyebrows to emphasize how serious he was.
She let out a sigh, taking a deep breath before said, "Why don't you take back your sword and take it to other place?"
Everyone except Lightning and the blonde man looked at her in disbelieved like they were just hearing an unexpected news. Even Clyde, who was sitting before, stood up abruptly and stared at her. Snow tried to find a reason through Lightning's eyes about her action yet he couldn't find any. Maybe it was useless, he thought. They didn't want to believe what they heard just now. Did she just decline his offer? Yeah, she did.
"And may I know the reason why?" asked the blonde man, ignoring the others presence.
"Certainly you know why, Cloud." Now, she had called his name. it was a very long time since the last time she called his name.
-x-
Cloud? Did he just hear it right? Did he just hear that she called him Cloud? Noctis knew who Cloud was, hell, who could not know him? He was one of the greatest general besides Zack Fair and Sephiroth whose power was undoubted. How the hell did she know him? And if he was truly Cloud then it meant the sword that he was grabbing was the famous Buster Sword. Now, it made sense why Lightning refused to take care of it. Maybe, in some ways, she felt afraid that she could not repair the sword and instead just made it worse or maybe she knew very well that it was beyond her ability or maybe it was both or neither.
"Are you afraid?" He spoke his mind out loud that made everyone now was looking at him. He didn't feel the tense-or he just ignored it- between them when he said the sentence.
Cloud smirked upon hearing Noctis' question and the former was really curious what would be her answer.
"Snow, I think break time is over. Could you please go back to work?" Snow nodded and walked to the back room leaving the others in awkward silence. "And Vanille and you too, Clyde. I guess there's no reason for you to stay here any longer right? Don't you have anything else to do? I'll see you guys after closing time." Vanille and Clyde nodded hesitantly. Vanille walked towards Clyde and then both of them went out from the shop with intense feeling.
After there were three of them only, she glanced back to Noctis and asked him, "If I answer yes, what will you do?"
"Why are you afraid?" asked him without his conscious. It was unlike him to speak such many words. But hell did he like it anyway.
Lightning stared at those blue orbs for moment before glancing back to the man who stood in front of her, who was so similar to her. "Why do you come here suddenly?"
"Shouldn't you answer his question first, Light? It is harsh to let other people question unanswered, don't you think so?" She glared at him which was to no avail because he kept staring at her like she was nothing but his prey.
"There's nothing called fear in my life. I have never had that in my dictionary. It is out of my mind. Now, happy?" She answered Noctis question and asked Cloud back with annoyed face.
"Alright, now let's get back to the point. Can you fix that?" he asked again.
"Why do you want me to fix it? So that you could kill more again?" she asked sarcastically. Noctis didn't seem shock to the statement. In fact he looked so calm for a person who had heard such a great sarcastic statement.
He didn't seem to bother the question or even cared about the question. He smiled softly to Lightning and said, "Ah…to protect you exactly."
-x-
"What is your plan exactly, Cloud?" asked a man in black coat covered with hood. The voice definitely came from a man because it was so low and so masculine.
Cloud, who had just walked out from Lightning's place with a soft smile attached on his face, was walking back to his house when suddenly he was asked by the man in hood. Cloud knew exactly who the man in hood was from the voice. He murmured the name slowly only to be heard by the latter. "Do you think I'll sit down like there's nothing going on?" He asked back to the man.
"Nah, I know it won't suit you Cloud, but was that really necessary?"
"What was necessary?" he turned around to face the man in hood. They were almost had the same height and that just made Cloud certain of the man's identity.
"What you're doing before. Was it really necessary? Giving your buster sword to be repaired in 3 days? That means you're weak for 3 days, without your sword, you are…nothing." He said the last word carefully, afraid it might make Cloud mad, but to the former surprise he found Cloud smiling softly.
"What should I call you now?" asked Cloud softly.
"Verzeihen for I have been seeking for forgiveness, Cloud." The man answered with deep sorrow in it. Cloud reminisced the past for a moment and he knew exactly what the statement meant cause he, himself was asking for the forgiveness itself.
"Well, it is too long, should I shorten it with Verz?" asked Cloud with a little cheerful voice. The man 'Verz' nodded as if he had agreed to the deal.
"Now, getting back to my question before, what were you doing back there, Cloud?"
"Alright, but if you don't get that in three days, I shall not return it to you. I don't care if I don't get the payment." She stated that clearly and with a threatening voice in it. If Cloud were just anybody, he would probably be scared the hell of it, but he was somebody special.
Cloud turned around after he nodded to Lightning. While he was walking to the door, he stopped because of Noctis. "You are her father, aren't you?" he asked to the older man with his usual cold tone and seemed there's nothing wrong in it. He didn't care if he didn't use a polite manner to the older man. Cloud smirked upon hearing the question. It'd been a long time since he heard that kind of question and he seemed took no anger in it.
Noctis looked around to see Cloud nodded slowly as if the latter had just answered the question. It wasn't a shocking news. After all, it was like he had expected.
"Who are you?" asked Cloud as he turned around to face Noctis.
Noctis stared at the blonde man for a moment, trying to seek for another reason behind the question, but found that it was just merely of curiosity, he doubted himself if he should tell the truth or not.
"Noctis Cerilla." Finally, he decided to choose his fake name instead of his truth. He just didn't want his identity to be revealed yet. He hadn't prepared for the sudden changes and everything. He just wanted to beordinary, just for a moment.
Cloud nodded as he just took the information he had gotten. "I see." He murmured then turned back to open the door and left the shop for her comfort.
-x-
Lightning realized that her father suddenly stopped while he was just passing Noctis and turned around to face the dark hair guy. She was wondering what they could be discussing? Was it something about her? Or was it nothing? She couldn't hear and she couldn't understand with his sudden action. After all these years that he had been avoiding her, why did he have to choose this day to show up? And to add, he didn't even ask her condition as if he didn't care at all.
She knew he cared. Hell, he worried about her too much after the incident but she hated it when he didn't want to show that to her. Was it too hard for a daughter to ask for her father's care? Well, for Cloud, it was too hard. She knew he was stoic because she herself was the same, but she would show her care even though it would make her weak in some ways. She just didn't want be forgotten. That's all.
She sighed. She knew it would be helpless. She took the Buster Sword in front of her, the sword that she had been yearning to touch before, now was lying helplessly on the cashier table. She took it carefully and brought it inside, to where her work place was.
"I guess, I just want to fulfill her very wish." He said softly only to add more confusion for Verz.
Verz just nodded as if he understood what his –used to be- best friend said. He turned around, trying to get back to where he came before he was stopped by Cloud's shout.
"Wait, will we meet again?" There's a deep sorrow within it.
Verz looked at Cloud in sadness. Even though Cloud couldn't see Verz face, the former knew that Verz was sad. "It depends on the fate, Cloud. We'll just hope for it."
Cloud nodded. "Yeah, until that, promise me that you'll be safe." He reminded the latter with a chuckle.
Verz nodded once again and turned around, walking slowly to where he had come before and vanished within the air.
"Please be safe, Vincent." Cloud murmured softly after the departure of 'Verz'
-x-
She was wondering whether to ask him or not, yet she knew it was her last attempt to know what exactly was going on that day. She looked at him, who was suddenly exhausted of something and sitting on his favorite sofa staring at the ceiling like it was the greatest thing ever, and slowly came towards him. She sat beside him and stared at him long enough to make him felt her presence.
"What is it?" He asked with his usual cold yet soft tone. He turned to look at her.
"Why, I think I should ask the question, Cloud. You seem out of your body. Your mind seems wandering in somewhere else. Tell me, what's bothering you?" she asked.
"Well, there's nothing for you to worry about. First of all, I'm just exhausted of today's work, that's it." He caressed her face slowly. Oh how she loved when he touched her like that, gently and softly. She looked through the green eyes and found nothing, yet when she looked him from head 'till toe, she realized something was missing and it hit her suddenly.
"You came to her place, didn't you?" asked her as she was staring at him deeply. He sighed, he knew he couldn't lie to her whenever she made that look, so, he nodded slowly.
"Why did you do that?" asked her in higher tone.
"I don't know, Tifa." He answered sadly and Tifa knew better not to ask him anymore before she felt guilty. She sighed softly and enjoyed the touch. Slowly, he pulled her closer to him and closing their distance until their lips met each other.
-x-
To be continued…
-x-
eL : Lol, sorry guys for not updating faster, had lots things at school xD
Noctis : Liar, you are just lacking of idea for the chapter, aren't you?
eL : *hit Noctis reluctantly* Nah, not really, but there's the reason too, hehe….guess you just got me, Noct
Clyde : Why can't I call you Noct and she can?
Noctis : Because she is the author and she can do anything to me…
eL : Anything? *smirking*
Noctis : *shivering*
eL : Lol, I think I'm getting out of topic here. Okay, now let's get back to the topic….So, guys, what do you think of this chapter? To me, I think there's no much intense in this story, but anyway, it has to be made. Please review me so that I can know whether it's good or not xP
You know I love you all guys ^^
eL-ch4n