A/N: Don't forget to review! I actually appreciate some of the criticism I came across. It helps me think over things in a different light.
Chapter Eight
Lightning couldn't keep her eyes off of her new lover. She always thought Hope was a handsome young man and now that they were "dating" (or whatever they were calling it), she began to take notice at the smallest details of his expressions. The way his eyebrows curled when he looked at something of interest, the way his eyes sparkled when he saw something he liked...the way his expression grew soft whenever he stared at her. She still felt a little funny taking him out to dinner tonight, but if they wanted this to be real, they had to treat it as such. The way Lightning figured it Hope had a year and half of high school left, so they would take it easy until then. Of course the intimacy would still go on, but they wouldn't decide on anything serious until Hope was in college. This would give them time to 'get to know each other' as a couple.
Hope stared at the menu, unsure what he wanted. He never had been to a fancy restaurant before, so Lightning wasn't surprised that he was staring around the establishment before even taking a look at the appetizers. Lightning finally settled on some clam chowder for the both of them, and she ordered lobster as her entree. Normally, she would be annoyed when people took too long to order food, but Hope was so adorable when he was indecisive. He could stay like that all night, and it would make her smile.
"Alright," Hope finally spoke, placing the menu down. "I know what I want."
Lightning placed her hands under her chin, smiling. "What are you going to have?" she asked in a sweet voice.
"Sautéed chicken," Hope replied as he closed the menu. "Light, I'm sorry for taking too long to make a decision. I'm just not good at these things. My mother said when I finally picked what I wanted, I always complained about wanting to change my meal to what she or my dad would have..." A small laugh escaped the boy's mouth.
Lightning nodded, seeing the familiar sadness in Hope's eyes whenever he brought up his mother. This sadness was followed by a silence that she was used to; she was never great at bringing a conversation out of the gutter. Her gazed traced the movements of Hope's chowder while she thought of a way to ease the tension between the two of them.
"Claire."
"Hmm?" Hope lifted his head, catching the sound of her voice.
Lightning repeated her birth name. "Claire. You should call me Claire." She barely noticed that she was blushing when she spoke.
Hope paused in his stirring, unsure how to react to something so personal. He never saw Lightning mention her real name to anyone so generously. Serah mentioned at this point she didn't care if anyone in their 'clique' called her Lightning or Claire (except Snow), but everyone was used to calling her Lightning. Hope had asked Lightning once why to this day she was still hard on Snow, and she replied that Snow still thinks everyone likes him. She feels that it's her job to burst his bubble at every opportunity. This was what their relationship consisted of, and it was to stay that way 'till the end. Hope felt that was a viable answer.
"Claire..." He tried sounding out her name. Hope looked Lightning in the eye and smiled. "Claire Farron. I like it."
Claire Estheim doesn't sound too bad either...
Lightning returned the smile and rubbed her lover's hand affectionately. She wanted to kiss him, but they still had to careful with public displays of affection. Hope might have looked older to some, but he could still pass for a teenager, while Lightning clearly resembled an adult. With the knowledge that her salary was significantly higher than the others, Lightning made dinner reservations for one of the finest restaurants in town. This would not only give the two of them a chance to unwind, but it would give them the ability to stay hidden from their friends. Maker only knows what they would say if one of them would see her and Hope enjoying a romantic dinner in a dark corner at a five-star restaurant.
"So," began Lightning, who took a sip of water. "How was school?"
"It went okay, with the exception of some bullies. I didn't even know we had any until today."
A sly smirk appeared on Lightning's face. "Did you take care of them?"
Hope swallowed some chowder. "If telling them to back off counts, then yeah I was pretty successful. Once they saw I wasn't afraid of them, they walked away." Hope stared down at his food. "Freaking cowards..."
Lightning laughed, her eyes filled with content. "Most bullies are cowards, from your neighborhood scoundrel, to well, PSICOM."
"Well isn't that pretty obvious?" Hope scoffed at his assessment. "I can't wait for the day everyone stops being a jerk."
"Like that will ever happen my dear." Lightning's legs rubbed up against Hope's. "For now all we can do is live life a day at a time and enjoy each other..."
"Speaking of which," began Hope. "Where's our food? I want to eat, go home, and have some 'enjoyment' of my own..." Hope leaned forward and spoke in almost a whisper. "You, of course is welcome to join me."
Lightning crossed her arms. "Boy, you are too devious for your own age!"
Hope shrugged his shoulders, and stared past his lady of the evening. Two familiar people entered the restaurant, dressed well, but not well enough to fit in with this particular kind of crowd. Hope cursed under his breath and turned his head away.
"What is it?" asked Lightning, looking obviously concerned.
"Don't look now, but the cavalry has arrived."
"Who?" Lightning turned around to see Snow and Serah being escorted to a table by a waiter.
"Great...just great..." Lightning slid down a couple of inches in her seat.
Hope stared in their direction and saw that they were being escorted across the room. "Maybe they won't spot us," he said, sounding hopeful. "We are in this dark corner after all."
"I wouldn't underestimate them if I were you," said Lightning. "When those two are together, they have the potential to unravel the very fabric of the universe, for better or worse."
Hope turned his head towards the wall, praying they wouldn't look his way. Lightning had a better chance of not being seen, but her hair stood out from among the surrounding crowd. It was only a matter of time before Serah recognized the hanging pink strands that belonged to her sister. From the corner of his eye, Snow saw Serah gesture Snow as they moved in their direction.
"This is going to suck," stated Hope, who buried his face in his arms.
Lightning could see recognition in Serah's eyes as they came closer.
"See!" she heard her sister exclaimed. "It is them!" Serah began waving her hands, barely noticing the disgruntled customers of the Siren's Song establishment. "Hey Claire!"
Lightning gave a short wave, her voice barely audible. "Hey to you too, sis."
Snow grabbed two chairs from an empty table. "We're going to sit with them," he told the host, who simply nodded. Lightning couldn't figure out if that was just for courtesy or fear of the 6'8 250lb giant of a man.
"Wow, I never expect for you guys to be here!" Serah sat down next to Lightning, paying no attention to the dark look Hope was aiming towards her.
"We never expect for you to be able to eat here," retorted Lightning.
"Well sis, I had some money put aside for an occasion like this," said Snow, who took a roll from the bread basket and popped it into his mouth. "I never got Serah a chance to take her somewhere nice. So...here we are!" Snow slapped his hand on Hope's back, who almost snarled. "I saved up enough money from my job. Some people are not as rich as you, Light."
"Actually, I'm considered middle class." Lightning's leg rubbed against Hope's in an almost apologetic manner.
"Well, its still more than I make." Snow grabbed a menu. "So, what are we having tonight?"
Both Hope and Lightning glared at the man with the intent to kill.
Lightning could barely stand a half hour of Snow's exaggerated storytelling. She excused herself to the bathroom, where she spent the last five minutes staring at the mirror. This perfect night with Hope, their first date was ruined. The one thing she tried all this time to avoid, she finally accepted, and now it was teasing her, like a dangling ball of yarn in front her feline eyes. This was probably just by chance, but she couldn't be certain. Nobody else knew that she was coming here tonight. Snow, Serah, and the others didn't know about her and Hope's relationship.
The whole time they were having dinner, she could feel Serah's eyes upon her, probing for information. She was probably wondering why she was at an expensive romantic restaurant with the boy you're trying to turn down. She knew Serah was calling her a hypocrite and a liar deep down on the inside. Between her sister's silent judging and Snow's irritating voice, she was about to lose her mind.
So here she was, in the ladies' room at the Siren's Song trying to find some kind of peace of mind. Unfortunately, she had to sacrifice her lover to the madness. She would make it up to him later, though. She would most definitely do that.
"Hey Claire." She heard Serah's voice in conjunction with the sound of the bathroom door opening. "So this is where you've been hiding."
"Right where I said I would be," said Lightning, grabbing a paper towel to blow her nose with. "I'm just not feeling all that well tonight."
"Really?" Serah leaned against the wall. "You looked all nice and cozy when I spotted you the first time. As a matter of fact, it seems like you and Hope are quite displeased with our presence. Were we...interrupting anything?"
Lightning turned around, annoyed by Serah's desire to play detective. "No, the two of you weren't interrupting anything. And before you start this game of twenty questions, I brought Hope here in order to mend his heart a little bit."
"Mend his heart?"Serah asked quizzically.
"Yes, I wanted to make him feel better for turning down his desire to be with me. We both agreed to live together, despite this fact. Because I care about his well-being, I wanted to take him somewhere nice so he can feel better." Lightning walked towards the door.
"That's sweet of you Claire," said Serah, giving her warmest smile. "I'm glad you decided to still be there for him."
"Thank you, but I really don't care about your approval." Lightning turned around just before she walked out. "For future reference, don't assume. When you do, you make an ass out of both 'u' and 'me'. Those were wise words from our dad."
With that said, Lightning left the bathroom, leaving a slightly embarrassed Serah to stir in her own thoughts.
Dr. Valka stood in the observation room, examining the four men that stood on the other side of the glass. A couple of hours ago, PSICOM officials brought in a group of anti-Sanctum terrorist that were attacking both guardian corps officers and Sanctum employees several miles from New Bodhum. Despite the recent government overhaul, there were those who didn't believe in change. Sanctum was now being ruled over by a fair council of men and women from different branches of government. Due to the Fal'Cie's extinction, the people were no longer dependent on their power. What shocked Dr. Valka about all of this was the fact that those who were L'Cie still retained a portion of their abilities, and the Cie'th were still in existence. Of the ten captured rebels, four of them seem to exhibit some form of mystical power.
Lt. Stuart and his men separated these four possible test subjects away from the rest, who were to locked away until further notice. The Guardian Corps know her as only a psychologist, but with PSICOM she is so much more. Previous scientists have failed to see the connection with the L'Cie and human DNA. Even though the late Jihl Nabaat disagreed with her, Dr. Valka always believed that humans had the latent ability to use the powers that the L'Cie possessed. She theorized that what the Fal'cie did were not so much transform humans into L'Cie, but rather turn on abilities that were always there to begin with. She believed the bio-electric energy that all Fal'Cie possessed allowed them to have control over the L'Cie. She still needed more information on the Focus and the Cie'th in order to continue examining this hypothesis.
If there is a break through, then who knows what humanity would be able to accomplish. The original command of PSICOM and the Sanctum had the wrong idea. The L'Cie weren't pests, but actual assets used for exploitation. The exact details of the destruction of Cocoon were scarce, but one thing was certain: those in power never looked at the whole picture.
Dr. Valka wasn't after power. She was after evolution.
A/N: With Dr. Valka's motives finally revealed, what does it have to do with Lightning? While the answer is obvious, how does that explain her position as a psychologist? Tune in next time...