Disclaimer: Square Enix owns Final Fantasy and all its characters. I just own my OC Lena!
Chapter 4: Lena's Last Stand
Lena sighed as she waited for the familiar redheaded Turk, Reno and his partner Rude, to fly her to Banora.
"So, you're Angeal's girl huh? You're a pretty thing, yo.", Reno smiled at her but she saw he was just being playful, not seriously flirting with her. She smiled and blushed saying:" How did you know?",
"How? Come on, yo, it's pretty obvious! I've never seen that guy act so territorial yo, I think he would cut someone's arm off if a guy touches you in any way.", he winked and added with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows:" And I saw that little conversation you two lovebirds had there."
That made Lena blush darkly and turn her head away making Reno chuckle and bring the helicopter into the skies. She watched the scenery outside and idly chatted with Reno and sometimes even the quiet Rude. They were nice company she had to admit, the rumors she heard about them being a rude flirt and a lethal killer weren't true at all.
After hours had passed, Lena fell into a soft slumber in the helicopter, Reno's expert pilot skills helped to lull her to sleep as he kept the bird steady without any turbulences.
"Hey Lena, we are here.", Reno said in a surprisingly soft tone, reaching back to gently shake her shoulder. The woman stirred, yawning as she stretched and awoke from her nice dream featuring a certain First Class.
She looked around, smiling brightly when she saw she was in her hometown, Banora. She quickly hugged the slightly stunned Reno and Rude, both men surprised by her sudden affection. She said her goodbyes to the duo as she practically jumped out of the helicopter and ran straight towards the entrance, towards Mrs. Gillian's house.
She panted softly as she knocked and entered when she heard a familiar "come in" sound from inside.
Angeal's mother was sitting at her table, writing something on a piece of paper as she looked up from her task and saw Lena. The elderly woman said in happiness:" Lena!", and stood up to hug her.
Lena smiled and hugged her back tightly, the woman was almost like a mother figure always so kind to her. The two women broke apart and Mrs. Gillian asked:" Lena, it's so good to see you again dear. Tell me – how is my son? How is Angeal doing?", they sat down at the table as Lena said:" He is doing very good Gillian, training hard and he has a student, did he tell you?",
The elder woman nodded and said gesturing to the letter:" In his last letter he mentioned someone named Zack, his pupil, he said he was as restless as a puppy and had "zero attention span" is that true?", Lena giggled and said:" Yeah that's about it. But Zack is very sweet, still a child really. If I remember correctly, Angeal told me he's 14 now.", Gillian nodded, a warm smile on her face.
She asked:" Say didn't Angeal come with you? Or dear Genesis?", Lena smiled sadly and replied:" No, I'm sorry. Genesis was too busy and Angeal went on a mission today with Zack. But he will come tomorrow or the day after. He promised me and you know how he is with promises.", the woman winked playfully and that made Gillian giggle.
Suddenly Gillian's look changed from happy to something akin to haunted or sad and Lena asked in concern:" Gillian?", the woman blinked and sent her a smile saying:" Lena, why don't you go greet the children? They were so excited to meet you.", Lena wanted to say something, she really did. But she did as she was told and reluctantly left her to herself.
Gillian looked out the window with a somber expression on her wrinkled face, watching as Lena laughed and hugged the children that had immediately run out from their houses to greet her.
"Tomorrow…it will already be too late Lena.", a lone tear made its way down her face, landing on top of the letter she was writing.
A goodbye letter. Explaining everything to her son, what happened and what will happen. Gillian took a deep, shaky breath, her old wrinkled hands trembling in fear.
"I'm so sorry Angeal…Lena…but tomorrow they will come. And none of you can stop it.", she continued to write the letter, her heart feeling heavy with guilt. She wasn't able to tell her son about her past, the sins she has committed… she wasn't even able to tell him who his father was.
Why? Because she wasn't sure Angeal would live his life in peace if he found out his father was a First Class SOLDIER who died in battle because he found out about Project G and tried to protect his wife and son from the threats of Shinra.
The next day…
Gillian and Lena were at Gillian's house, drinking tea together and chatting comfortably. Gillian laughed when Lena told her:" Angeal threw Zack over the fence and the poor boy landed right in the mud instead of the wooden floor, though I think Geal did that on purpose you know? Zack was chasing him the whole time while Angeal was eating my apple pie.", the old woman giggled and said:" I'm glad to hear he's doing fine. Especially since time is limited.",
Lena furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at the woman's cryptic words, she asked:" Gillian what do you-",
"We are under attack!", shouted a man from outside.
Lena's eyes widened in shock, she looked at Gillian before she stormed outside and saw what the man was shouting about.
Not too far from Banora were oncoming troops of what appeared to be…
"SOLDIER?", Lena took a step back in disbelief, why would SOLDIER attack Banora? Why would they attack one of their own?
Lena ran back inside the house and said:" Gillian, quick hand me my weapon!", the elder woman, with a knowing look in her eye, opened a closet and handed Lena her weapon.
It was a Hsu Quandao, a spear with a sharp, menacing blade at the end. The spear was all the more deadlier with a skilled wielder.
Lena quickly rushed outside to meet the marching army of SOLDIERS, standing in front of the entrance to Banora. She had told the villagers to prepare for an emergency escape, should they need one.
She slammed the hilt of her Hsu Quandao on the ground and shouted fiercely:" SOLDIERS! Stop! What business do you all have in Banora? Armed with weapons and bombs?", she eyed their choice of weapons critically, they weren't standard SOLDIER swords. In fact, nothing of these weapons were from SOLDIER but they were wearing SOLDIER uniforms…who were they?
One of them stepped forward and said:" We were sent here by our commanding General! He told us to storm Banora and retrieve a woman associated with Project G from here!", Lena's eyes narrowed, her hand tightened around her spear.
She frowned darkly and said:" SOLDIER doesn't have any Generals.", one of the SOLDIERS cursed loudly and that confirmed her suspicions. The other one said:" M-my apologies, he's still a rookie and doesn't know the system yet. Of course there are no Generals in SOLDIER.",
Her bangs shadowing her face, she spread her legs and swung her spear with all her might, instantly cutting large portions of her enemies in half. (AN: Imagine the scene from Akatsuki no Yona, where Hak protects Yona inside the castle from the troops and Soo-woon).
One of the SOLDIER impostors said in surprise:" W-wha-? But you said they have no Generals!",
As the bodies of her victims fell to the ground and blood started seeping inside the soil, she smirked and said:" I lied.", and swung her spear again expertly.
Body after body fell before her deadly spear, she swung and seemingly danced through the swarm of warriors. Until she felt a hot, burning pain in her side suddenly.
It just tore her flesh, but she still clutched the wound and fell on one knee. She grit her teeth and looked up, there among them was a spear wielder, who just threw his kunai to pierce the side of her stomach.
A warning.
Wait…kunai? Kunai were exclusively used by…
She exclaimed in shock:" Wutai troops?", she supported her weight with her Hsu Quandao, eyeing her opponents more carefully.
Of course, how didn't she notice it before. They planned this all along, they must have ambushed a division of SOLDIER, donned their uniforms to pose as them and then march to Banora without anyone being alerted of their presence. Their only mistake was marching in such large numbers, of course people would get suspicious.
Lena braced herself, breathing deeply as she ripped a piece of her cloth and tied it tightly around her waist, attempting to stop the bleeding. She had plenty of fight left in her.
The voice of Gillian reached her ears as she blocked a blow from the spear wielder:" Lena!", the woman briefly glanced behind herself. Gillian and the children from the village stood a few feet away with worried expressions on their faces. Gillian said:" Lena, I'm so sorry! It's all my fault!", the woman rubbed tears from her eyes.
Lena grit her teeth and impaled her spear in the stomach of her opponent, heaving him over her body and sending him crashing into a large group of Wutai warriors.
She shouted:" Gillian! Take the kids and inform SOLDIER of this immediately! I don't care, you can tell me that later! Call Angeal and Gen and tell them to get here as quick as they can!",
She fought and fought. She stabbed the hilt of her Hsu Quandao on the ground as she used the momentum and kicked away a Wutai warrior who was about to chase after Gillian and the children. She had to hold on. At least until Gen and Sephiroth arrived.
Her body was weary and tired, blood seeping through her wound and sending shocks of pain through her. She grit her teeth against the pain, she couldn't just give up! She remembered how Angeal kept telling her how stubborn and fiery she always was, how she just never wanted to give up.
Then she remembered her first kiss with him and smiled through all the pain as she deflected another blow from a sword.
She suddenly heard helicopters approaching, firing missiles at the back of the large army, immediately dispatching the troops at the back.
She sighed in relief, finally they arrived. She slammed her spear against an assailants head harshly before she turned around at the sound of her name.
It was Genesis together with Sephiroth and many SOLDIER members, running towards her to help her. She smiled, blood trickling from her mouth.
She shouted:" Genesis! Sephiroth! I'm-", her eyes widened, her breath caught in her throat. She slowly looked down, almost robotically and her eyes widened in horror when she saw the blade of a sword sticking out of her stomach.
"LENA!", Genesis and Sephiroth shouted, Genesis jumped in the air, casting a flame spell at the man that impaled his sword in Lena, burning him to a crisp on the spot.
Genesis arrived just in time to catch her fall, Sephiroth quickly grabbed his friend's hand when he attempted to pull out the sword in his worry and panic. The silver haired shook his head and said:" She'll bleed out faster this way. We should wait for our doctor to arrive-",
"N-No…", Lena weakly protested, placing her hands on Genesis and Sephiroth's. Both men turned down to look at her, Genesis held her tightly and said:" L-Lena! Please hang on! A doctor is on the way! He'll heal you! You'll be just fine! We called Angeal! He's coming now with Zack, you want to greet them don't you dear? So just hang on!",
Genesis' body shook lightly with tremors, his childhood friend was dying in his arms and he couldn't do a damn thing about it!
Sephiroth's green eyes softened, watching the woman his best friend fell in love with die before him. He wanted to help, he truly did but he couldn't. And it was eating away at him.
Blood trickled from her mouth but she swallowed it down as she said:" G-Gen…S-Sephiroth…could you guys d-do me a favor?", both men nodded hastily. Her eyes softened as she said:" Tell Angeal hi for me will you? Tell him I always loved him and I will w-watch him from the L-Lifestream.".
She took a shaky breath and said:" T-take care, both of y-you. W-watch after Gillian. And…g-greet the pup from me..", the life was fading from her eyes, Genesis and Sephiroth could do nothing but watch helplessly as the woman died before them.
Genesis sobbed hard, screaming at the sky above why would they take such a precious angel from them.
"My friend…do you descend to the sky now? To be reborn as an angel, a messenger of the Goddess? Perhaps you can give me the answer as to what the "Gift" is…perhaps you have held it all along…", he glanced down at his childhood friend, she had fought hard and well. Alone.
A tear slid down his cheek as he whispered:" Rest in peace Lena…", he pressed his forehead against hers softly, swimming in the memories of them as children in Banora…
"Geal! Gen! Over here!", the little Lena waved her friends over, holding a picnic basket in her hands.
The two boys raced towards her nearly toppling her over while fighting over who would eat first. Lena pouted and marched towards them, handing each of them their sandwich and a Dumbapple without the need to lock heads.
The three friends were laying on the grassy field, their stomachs full and happy smiles plastered on their faces. The young Angeal asked:" Hey guys…", Lena and Genesis perked up.
Angeal smiled and asked:" We will always be friends right? Even if life gets in the way I want us to remain friends and become honorable people!", his grin widened as he pumped a fist in the air.
Genesis and Lena giggled, Angeal always kept talking about honor and dreams. Genesis and Lena said:" Of course we will!", the three friends connected their fists above their heads, their gazes directed at the clear, blue sky as the wind carried their promise far over the hills of Banora and into the wide, vast world…
Genesis smiled and said:" Yeah…we will always remain friends…even if the Goddess takes thee away…our bond remains strong.",
With that Angeal and Zack finally arrived.
Ohhhh finished! O.O Please tell me guys what you think! Kender20 good, bad, decent? ^_^