UNDER KINGSGLAIVE TRAINING.
CHAPTER 10
Lightning´s Newest Fan
ooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo
After their meeting at the airport, the group of friends had taken their reunion to the closest coffee shop, catching up on the other´s lives.
Well, at least the rest were. Nyx´s coherent mental process had been shut down for quite a while: his mind only registered visual stimuli in the form of a beautiful pinkette sitting across from him.
He had long refused to meet baby blue eyes for the always-present risk of losing himself in the depths of her stare, especially whenever she looked at him (make that, glared at him) seeing him through her eyelashes, a gesture that almost always took his breath away, even when the owner´s real intentions were to set him spontaneously ablaze.
But his new choice was no better.
He had been staring at her lips, those rose, full lips that were so inviting, and that got even more alluring whenever he caught her smiling, or even laughing softly, an event that, in its rarity, inevitably made him smile like a dumb boy. Like at that moment.
So lost in his thoughts he was, Nyx barely noticed Lightning had turned to face her sister, sitting right next to her, until, with a graceful movement, she placed an astray lock of her hair behind her ear, exposing said ear and neck to him, and the sight of the tender flesh, the ivory, flawless skin almost made him whimper, the moment his mind conjured images of his lips touching her warm skin or nibbling her ear. Nyx ´s gray eyes then paid attention to her pink tresses, cascading down her neck, resting on her left shoulder, and that glittered with the light of the candle above her, which made it look so soft, he imagined himself passing his fingers down through it, feeling its caress. His eyes followed the path of her rose locks and unintentionally, his sight glided lower on her chest, and his heart hammered hard against his ribcage. The skin in her cleavage, and what he could see of her breasts, was a little bit darker compared to the rest of her skin, almost as if it were flushed; but as he looked intently, he then noticed something he hadn't registered before. The pendant in the form of a Lightning bolt, the one he had given her those years ago, resting in her cleavage, and right beside it, a scar that dared to peep out of her left breast, apparently hidden underneath her blouse but for a small sharp, almost white end.
Slap!
"Hey!"
Waking up forcefully from his daydreaming, he found a round, very close, and very angry face in front of him that almost touched his nose. "You should close your mouth, dude, or you´ll start drooling soon enough."
Nyx recoiled at Libertus, who had unexpectedly closed his gaping mouth.
"Stop doing that! Or I´ll make you pay!"
"Then you should stop harassing my friend." The broad man responded, half joking and half serious.
"I am your friend too!"
The big man pointed a threatening finger at him. "And a jerk as well. Thus said, behave, or I´ll make you."
Nyx glared at his friend and then noticed the girls on the table were snickering at his expense, minus Lightning, who only glared at him; Nyx had at least the decency to look sheepish under her eyes.
"I didn´t know you were so close to the Farrons." Nyx protested at his friend's obvious protective actions towards the eldest sibling.
"Well, I am, you shouldn´t be so surprised, though, we acted as you ordered."
"At least you should have the decency to come and pick me up, not only them." he still moaned.
"We were at the airport for them first, I admit it," Crowe answered him, obvious discontent on her tone over his childish attitude, "but we lingered an hour to get you later. Doesn´t that count?"
Playfully, Nyx rubbed his chin. "Well… let me think…"
A hard slam on the table startled everyone.
"And here I thought my homeland would make you less of a jerk. I should´ve known better!" It had been Lightning the one to snap at him, but the man smirked, seemingly immune to such acts and, against all common sense, he took an aloof attitude.
"In spite of all the changes you´ve been through, I see the temper is still there. But chill out, beautiful. I'm only messing up with my friends. I don't mean to upset you."
Lightning's face became tomato red at the new nickname and immediately rose from her seat, using all her willpower not to throw at his face the closest thing she had.
"Urgh! You're such a moron!" She was about to retort something more offending, but right before she finally exploded, a tiny voice inside her head (which suspiciously had Ignis´ baritone) stopped her in her tracks. The pinkette inhaled deeply, closing her eyes, doing an evident effort to keep her temper under control… but failing miserably, the moment she saw Nyx smirking at her tantrum. She growled and took her leave.
"I apologize, guys, I need some fresh air and a lot more coffee. My tolerance to morons has just reached its peak."
She left them in silence, but Crowe had to take Nyx from the jaw, glaring daggers at him, to prevent him from looking at Lightning´s retreating ass.
"What? What did I do now?"
Crowe only shook her head in disapproval. "You really don´t change."
Serah´s eyes lingered a little bit longer on her older sibling´s form, a cloud of sadness on her usually bright blue eyes. When she spoke, her voice seemed filled with concern.
"I´m really sorry, guys. Light´s been all snappy and short-tempered ever since she came back from the mission with the King and the rest of the gang. And no, this is not the way she usually is," the small pinkette rose her voice to prevent Nyx's too obvious sarcastic retort, though in her lips there was a tinge of amusement she couldn't prevent. Serah inhaled, knowing full well the moment she disclosed such information she´d be in deep trouble with her sibling, but she felt the need to share her worries with her closest friends.
"She's been like that after their mission in Leide, and now that I think of it, the whole Crownsguard returned with a sore and heavy mood. But she has refused to share anything with me, nor how she got so injured, saying it´s top secret."
"Really?" Crowe asked. "What do you think could´ve happened there?"
Before Serah could say anything, Libertus slapped Nyx in the arm.
"Hey! Weren't you there in that same fiasco mission with the King?"
Nyx became thoughtful. "Well yeah, I met with the King and his Crownsguard. But I never got to see Lightning, nor knew she was there too. And neither of them shared their true goal to any of us."
"What are you talking about?" Serah retorted a little too passionately. "Lightning did see you! Prompto even said that you had saved her! Just like you did when we were younger."
"He said that… that I…?" Nyx was at a loss at Serah's words. He hadn't seen anyone other than the Crownsguard, and the only one he had saved had been…
Serah rose from her seat, intent on following her sister, and missing altogether Nyx´s thoughtful countenance.
"Well, anyways, I´ll go check on her. But before I go, I really need to point out that your big mouth will be the end of you, Nyx Ulric, did you know that?" Serah said that while slapping the man on the arm, but there was no trace of an accusatory tone in her voice.
"Hey!"
She smiled sweetly at him, all sadness forgotten. "But don't worry. I still love you very much, so I'll handle this disaster for you. Though you will owe me big time, dude." She winked at him and left.
Nyx's face still held a mask of utter disbelief, but as he saw the girl's retreating form, a sudden realization came to him, and his gray eyes opened wide.
"That's not possible! Lightning can't be that woman!"
His outburst startled his friends. "What do you mean, Nyx?" Libertus asked. "Whom are you talking about?"
Nyx seemed very shocked, very much impressed by the turn of events. "I did meet a Crownsguard in Leide, a very powerful, impressive, and quite attractive woman; I did save her life after she saved ours but… but… she was a full-grown woman, not our despicable teen!"
"I hear you, man." Libertus agreed. "But what do you mean you saved her life? What happened to her? Are you really sure this was our Lightning?"
Nyx thought it through. "Well… she´s sure as tall as Lightning is now, and… I could say the shape of her body was very, oh-so-very-nice, but I never got to see her face… so I guess there´s a possibility."
"But what happened to her?" This time was Crowe the one asking him. "What does she mean you saved her life? Was she in danger? Badly injured?"
"Well…" Nyx wasn´t sure he should tell his friends about Lightning´s true injuries. If his friends were as protective at her as he had witnessed, the pinkette would surely be in serious trouble, plus he didn´t know what Serah knew about it either, and the small pinkette always got quite anxious about her eldest sibling. Nope, if he was to share what he knew, he needed to confirm her identity first. "It was a way of speaking, I´m sure. We fought against Niflheim troops, but fortunately, nothing serious happened."
"Well," Libertus said, a smirk on his face, "I wouldn´t be surprised, Lightning has retained her ability to get in serious trouble and piss-off anyone around her. I´m just happy that, with such temper, we won´t be seeing any astray idiots walking around her like a pack of wolves."
"I hear you, man!"
Both men chuckled at the comment, but Crowe snapped at them, slapping Libertu´s head.
"Hey!"
She sighed, trying her hardest to be patient with her friends. "Look, I understand it´s very hard for you guys to see Lightning beyond the teen we used to know, especially for you, Nyx, who has only known of her through our letters. But you´ll both have to get inside those thick heads of yours that our Lightning is going to turn eighteen next week, and that there is nothing either of you guys can do to prevent it from happening. The girl will grow, fall in love and go out with boys, just like any other girl does." At the men´s antics of disgust after her words, the woman glared at them and pointed an accusatory finger. "I´m warning you, people, you better not scare her boyfriend´s off, or you´ll have to deal with me."
"Fine! Fine, woman." Nyx tried to appease her. "I´ll do my best not to look all grumpy and hysterical whenever a stupid child who doesn´t deserve her, orbits around our precious and scary girl."
Libertus chuckled at Nyx´s ironical words and palmed his back. "In that case, buddy, you´re the first one to listen to your own advice: you should really give her some space before you start doing weird things around her because I´ll be the grumpy old man who´ll protect her chastity from your silly antics."
Nyx glared at the man. "I really don´t like what you´re implying."
Libertus chuckled at his friend´s anger. "You just need to remember that she´s not alone, she has us to protect her too, but you should also remember that our Lightning is very different from any other girl, buddy, and that your usual wooing tactics won´t work on her. So, back up a little, hot shot, unless you want your ass handed up to you."
Nyx opened his eyes wide at the insinuation. "You got it all wrong! I´m not trying to woo her, man. She´s our Sparks, for Etro´s sake!"
Crowe and Libertus shared a look and rolled their eyes in unison.
"Sure, as if we didn´t notice you had been looking at her breasts all this time." It was Crowe the one to speak. "Even I felt uncomfortable with that."
Nyx snapped at them. "Oh, c'mon guys! You know I'm not into her. True, she grew a lot taller than I'd expected, and her body developed quite…" he was doing a gesture with his hands but Crowe slapped him.
"Don't even think on finishing that, Ulric, or it'll be me the one chopping your hands off!"
"Damn! Crowe!"
Libertus was laughing so hard he almost fell off his chair, but Crowe slapped him too.
"You shouldn't be letting him get away with it!"
"Chill, woman! I'm not! Nyx is a smart guy. He'll behave in front of the girls, right buddy?"
"Yeah, Crowe, you know you can trust me."
"I'm not sure I can actually trust you." The woman raised an eyebrow at him.
Meanwhile, a very angry pinkette approached the coffee bar with long and furious strides. Lightning was fuming, growling under her breath many ways to end Nyx's life. And to think she had been so excited to see him! So eager to thank him for saving her life again... But since the very first moment they had met, his eyes had always wandered around her body, a look that made her feel dirty… and that had deeply disappointed her of the man she had look up to the rest of her teenage years.
The thought made her stomp her fist on the table. "That jerk…"
But she couldn't finish her sentence because she was startled the moment a petit frame collided against her back. The tall pinkette tried to turn around and was met by pink locks a shade darker than hers.
"Serah! I've told you several times you shouldn't surprise me like that! I could hurt you before I realized it was you!"
But the shorter pinkette only embraced her harder.
"I don't like it when you're upset. It makes me upset too."
The eldest sibling sighed. Her sister had developed quite a great ability to diminish her ire.
"If you want to, we can both go back and kick Nyx's ass. That would surely make me feel better."
Serah giggled at that and finally let go of her sister.
"Don't be so rough on him, Light. He's just a man. I'm sure it means nothing but the surprise of seeing you… well… the way you´ve developed." Serah wiggled her eyebrows suggestively while eyeing Lightning´s breasts, the taller pinkette blushed and growled while Serah giggled, but the eldest sibling´s temper deflated a tad.
"Stop doing that, you´re even worse than him! Besides, your words won´t convince me that he´s not a jerk."
"Oh Sis, C'mon! If you think of it, it´s actually logical: he saw you as a child, and now you present yourself as a full-grown woman. Wouldn't you be surprised if you were in his shoes?"
Still not convinced, Lightning forced herself to smile at her sister, trying to appease the small pinkette´s worries. "When did you become so wise?"
Serah giggled again. "The moment you became quite insufferable."
This time, her words drew a true smile out of the tallest pinkette, and the gesture encouraged the youngest one.
"Please, Sis. Go back to the table. We need to catch up with them, we both had missed the guys so badly. Please?"
Lightning was subjected to Serah´s dirty tactics once more, but the tall pinkette was wearing protection: with the impending danger her new mission presented, she had been growing impatient as the time went by, her mind filled with many ghastly possibilities while put into motion, as well as promising ideas that she was all too eager to get done, regarding her recent mission.
"I´m sorry, Serah. You go with them, I really need to see Regis as soon as possible."
"But… but you said…"
The puppy-eyed-power was Serah´s most effective tactic, and they both knew it. But even Serah knew when Lightning´s determination was beyond that.
"I said that I´d accompany you guys for a while. Now I have to run."
"That´s just a lie to get rid of us! And it´s not fair!"
Lightning chuckled. "It´s not quite a lie, but you´re right, I´ll use this card to get rid of Nyx, at least for tonight."
"Sis! Don´t do this to me!" The girl changed tactics and pouted. "I want to be with you."
"Now, don´t play dirty, Serah. I want to be with you too, but you well know this time we didn´t come to Insomnia for vacations. I have a mission from the Oracle."
Serah sighed, resting her head on her sister´s chest. "Yeah… I know… I just don´t like it when you have a mission. It usually means you´ll be away for days."
Lightning surrounded the smaller pinkette with her arms, and kissed her sister on the forehead.
"I know, and I´m sorry. But I promise you I´ll make it up to you." Serah moaned in disapproval, but let her sister go. Lightning caressed her sister´s head and walked purposefully towards the exit, refusing to look back. "Just tell them I´ll have dinner with them tomorrow. See you."
Serah pouted but understood her sister´s need, so after sighing, she returned to the table, feeling defeated, but blinked the moment she realized there was someone missing on their spot.
"Umh… guys? Where´s Nyx?"
"He said he needed to go to take a leak." Libertus answered her. "Hey, why didn´t Light return with you?"
Serah plopped on her chair, eyes downcast. At her deflated attitude, Crowe immediately guessed what had happened between the siblings and cuddled Serah.
"Poor baby, did the mean and ugly big sis made you cry?"
The small pinkette was about to defend her sister, but instead, she cuddled on Crowe´s arms a little bit more, welcoming the comforting embrace.
"Yeah…"
Crowe chuckled at the girl´s antics, while Libertus rolled his eyes, though he was still amused how Serah sometimes, in spite of her age, easily became the little girl they used to know.
ooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo
Nyx might´ve passed too many years away from Lightning, but he had learned a few things about her through the eyes of her sister and his friends. And one of those things was Lightning´s lingering short temper. If he had to guess, after her outburst she would leave them all without saying goodbye. But he wouldn´t let her leave so soon; no, he had to ask her about the scar, and confirm whether his suspicions about her were true: he really needed to know if she was the woman who had saved their lives at Liede´s facility by risking her own. That´s why, instead of going to the bathroom, Nyx had waited just outside the coffee-shop, and smiled the moment he saw her figure coming out of the place.
"Lightning?" He stood up in her way, blocking her path. "I just wanted to say that I´m sorry, and I…"
But Lightning passed by him without giving him an opportunity to talk, and instead, she sent him her worst icy glare, but he couldn't focus much on her obvious anger since the smell of her perfume had hit his senses full force. He forced himself to focus and extended a hand towards her, grabbing her by the wrist to stop her.
"Light! Wait! What happened…?"
He couldn't finish his sentence since Lightning had made a swift move; turning around and taking his wrist, she managed to free herself while twisting his arm on his back. Using the momentum, she pushed his body hard against the wall, slamming his chest and his face on the bricks. He growled as he felt his body pressed against the cold blocks and his arm twitching painfully, but replaced the feeling with other sensations. To keep him in site, Lightning was pressing her chest against his back, allowing him to feel her soft breasts, while his abused arm felt the warmth emanating from her belly, his entrapped fingers brushing the skin of her shoulder and her lips were close to his ear, in an attempt to be intimidating but that instead produced another type of reactions in him.
Focus, Nyx! You have to focus!
"Don't think I haven't noticed the way you look at me." Her voice was low, almost threatening, "And I don't like it. It's guys like you the reason why I really distrust anyone who has a penis."
"You got it all wrong, Sparks. I-I was just wondering about the scar…"
"A scar that you conveniently noticed on my breast." She almost growled, her voice full of accusation.
It was very hard to think coherently with her breath over his ear.
"The depth and color of that scar indicate an injury so deep that couldn't be cured by magic, so deep it must've made quite a profuse bleeding, not to mention a few broken ribs." He said, reason winning the battle against the urges of his body. "I didn't want to think you had been hurt that badly. But I want to know."
His words of concern made her hesitate, and she loosened her grip on him. But only a bit. The moment he started to push himself off of the wall, she slammed him harder against it.
"I don´t believe you. I remember you as a moron, and you just confirmed that memory."
It was his turn to growl, angered by her distrust. "Yeah? This moron saved your life, and cared about you enough to keep you on his mind this whole time." He didn´t mention he had been thinking of her teenage self, not this new and improved version.
In spite of herself, his words made her feel a little bit guilty. She pushed him further one last time, and then let him go. The man turned around, facing her while rubbing his abused arm, and this time forcing his eyes to remain locked on hers, avoiding them from falling astray.
"Thanks…"
"You are still a moron." She accused him, but at least her eyes had lost a little bit of her battling.
"I know, you´ve told me so many times before I believe it now. But, as I said, this moron still cares about you."
She blushed at his words and broke eye contact, her actions giving him bravery.
"I swear to you, Sparks, I was eager to see you, excited to know I would finally get a glimpse of you after all these years. It´s just, well… I wasn´t expecting you to… to turn out… like this." He made a motion with his hand towards her chest and, to make his point further, his stupid self allowed his eyes to travel downwards, appraising her body once again, and the moment the pinkette saw this, her entire world turned a red hue.
When Nyx looked up once again and witnessed how her eyes turned from crystal blue to a darker hue full of rage, he understood he had made a terrible mistake. But he didn't have time to react. A hit straight to his stomach made him double over himself, all the air in his lungs expelled forcefully.
"Well, to be honest, Nyx, it was nice talking to you, too. Let me tell you that I´ve been waiting to do this all day long. I have you to thank for this." With that, she walked past him, a huge smile of satisfaction plastered on her face, ready to leave him in such a predicament, but he took her wrist, preventing her from going away.
"Wait up… Wait up Light!"
Lightning sighed. "What? Do you want me to chop your arm off?"
The man stood up, still clutching his belly, but not letting go of her wrist. Oddly, she didn´t pull away either.
"I really… uff… I really want to apologize for being such a moron."
"You´ve been apologizing for that ever since I met you. When will you stop apologizing and actually start doing something to prevent your big mouth from getting you into any more trouble?" Her voice was scolding, but her glare had dropped an octave.
"Tch… that´s why I always look for people like you to be around me. People who would tell me the truth straight to my face."
"So, you like it when people scold you?"
"Only the right people. Only the people I care about. And I care about you."
Lightning looked away and refused to answer, the traitorous blush creeping up her cheeks again.
"I know I haven´t been around much, Light, but now that I´ve returned, and before you go, let me catch up with you, with everything you´ve been doing." He looked intently into her eyes, doing his best to earn her approval. He noticed she still hadn´t retrieved her hand from his. It was a good sign.
"Please, Light. Let me repay you for the shitty evening I´ve made you endure. I promise you neither Serah nor you will regret this. I was very excited to meet you both, to see how were you faring, and it´s quite amazing to see you girls all grown up. I´m sorry, again, for being impressed that much and not knowing how to show it."
Lightning huffed at his words, because they had made the trick: her anger had diminished. If only a tad. "To be honest with you, Nyx, you weren´t the only reason of my rage. I… there are some things I have in my mind, that are making me anxious." She sighed, as if tired. "And though I´ve learned to control my anger, sometimes the problems just weigh on me too heavily, you know?"
"I totally understand." He said, getting closer. "Is there something I can do to help you?"
Lightning looked down at his hand still holding her wrist, and she couldn´t prevent a small smile appearing on her lips.
"Just be there for me, like you always do. It´s the one thing you´re very good at."
He smiled charmingly at her, and her blush darkened. "You can bet on that. Can I ask you one more thing? The reason why you´re being this explosive is because of Lunafreya? Or because of your cycle?"
His words hit a sensitive spot on her, and she didn´t know what had angered her more: his lack of tact, or the jealousy she always felt whenever Luna´s name leave his lips. Whatever the case, she forcefully pulled her hand back, freeing it from its imprisonment in his hand, and with her other hand, sent a direct hit in his most tender parts, doubling him over once more.
"Do you remember what I just tell you a second ago? Mind your words: they´ll be the end of you."
With that, she walked past him, leaving the man on his knees, clutching comically his tender area, while everybody passing by looked down at him, eyes full of surprise and sometimes mirth, making his situation a lot more embarrassing.
"I think there are things… that won´t ever change…" He regretted she didn´t give him time to ask her about her presence in Leide.
oooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo
"Why did you make me return earlier? Why didn´t you take me with you?" Lightning was close to yelling at the speaker in the rented car, as she clenched the steering wheel harder, her eyes focused on the road ahead. She was feeling very angry, but she was still in control enough to know she couldn´t allow herself to crash.
Luna sighed as she seated on the comfiest sofa there was in their room at the Leville. Even though Lightning had a better hold of her emotions, at least compared to her teenage years, they still controlled her in moments of high tension. Like right now.
"Because you were seriously injured, Light. Should I remind you that I told you not too go along with the guys? That the mission was too dangerous for you?"
"Yes, you did, but if I hadn't, they would´ve been in serious trouble. Something told me I just had to go." Lightning was growing impatient by the car in front of her, who wouldn´t go as fast as she needed to.
"And something told me you were going to be injured badly, and that it might lower your stamina. You well know the task we have at hand, and still you defy me Light, why? Why don´t you understand I don´t want to risk anything?" Especially your life. Luna perfectly knew Lightning´s moment of truth was closing in on them very fast. Lightning was to meet her destiny in Altissia, where Luna was expected to commune with the Hydraean. Fortunately for them, something even more pressing appeared on their agenda, which had forced them to delay her commune with the Astral, thus prolonging the pinkette´s life, if only for a little longer.
"Luna…" Lightning pressed on, taking the Queen out of her thoughts. "My duty is to be with you, to protect you. How am I supposed to do that if I´m away from your presence?"
The blonde smirked, punishing the young adult. "You should´ve thought about that when you disobeyed me. And you should stop saying those words. Right now, you have a very important mission to fulfill."
"Giving Regis the document is not more important than your life."
Luna smiled, she could almost see Lightning´s eye roll through the phone. "Yes, it is. It's a mission the King confided in you, a mission no one else but Regis and Clarus must know. If someone else were to find out about those documents, or worse, get away with the sabotage before we can do anything to prevent it, you know our life and the destiny of all of Eos would be jeopardized."
The pinkette huffed in anger while she signaled her left turn. She had no response to such words, but her distance from her queen had her nerves flaring. "I´m coming with you, Luna, whether you like it or not. Just stay where you are."
"I forbid you." Though calm, the Oracle´s voice still was infused with command. "And I mean it, Lightning. You are ordered to deliver the documents and remain at Insomnia for a week, get a fitting birthday party and let your wounds heal and your strength back. Use those days to eat and sleep properly, as well as to claim the aid of a couple of well trusted Kingsglaives who will support you on your journey."
The young woman clenched her teeth. "No. I´m not taking Nyx to die in Altissia."
Luna sighed. In spite of her usual passive temper, she was growing impatient with the pinkette´s negativity. "We can´t go to Altissia until the issue at Insomnia is solved, so you shouldn´t be worried about that. Plus, you must remember it´s not him the one who dies." A pause, to let her words sink in. "And even if it´s not you the one to bring him with us, you know well how destiny usually fools humans. It will find a way to make Nyx be there, which means it doesn´t matter what you do to prevent him from meeting his destiny: it will happen either way. Let him be there with you by his side, to help him and protect him, instead of all by himself, exposed to the many enemies we´ll fight."
Lightning hit the brakes before she got stamped against the car in front of her; Luna´s words had given the pinkette the chills, distracting her quite dangerously. "Why are you telling me this now? Have you seen anything about him lately?"
The Oracle immediately cut her off, not quite eager to respond. "Just do as I tell you, please, and don´t drive while speaking over the phone. It´s not only you the one I want to protect. Remember the entire life in Eos depends on our actions. I trust you´ll be obedient this time, Lightning."
The pinkette closed her eyes and sighed, defeated. Luna was right. As much as she wanted to protect Nyx, join her in battle was his destiny too. They might have a better chance together than apart.
"Yes, Luna. I´ll do as you command."
"Thank you, Light," A pause filled with heavy emotions, and then, "and now stop being such a pain in the butt and tell me, how is he? Is he okay? Has he changed much?"
In spite of herself, Lightning smiled softly at the Oracle´s childish prompting, ignoring the cursing and glaring directed at her from the other drivers. "I think I had already been through such interrogatory."
"Well, yes, but you didn´t actually talk to him at Leide, right? This time is different, you had him face to face and exchanged a few words."
Lightning rolled her eyes again but complied with her Queen. "Yes, ma'am, if you must know, he´s alright and healthy, and he´s exactly as I remember him. A total jack-ass with a kissable chin."
Luna giggled lightly at the young woman´s joke. "I bet he is. Well, try not to kill him off. Remember we need him."
"Hard to obey that one." The young woman growled, pinching the bridge of her nose, as the annoyance she had previously experienced came back to her full force. "He´s as idiot as I remember him to be, and drives me nuts just as easily as he used to."
"I´m sure you´ll find a way to spare his life."
Lightning smirked at her words. "Obviously you love me too much to believe there´s still good inside of me."
"I do love you very much, Light. But I also know he´s got a way to earn anybody´s trust. So, my bet is on him that he eventually will earn yours."
The pinkette lowered her eyes for a moment in total disbelief, her brow furrowing, while she saw the imposing form of the Lucii castle as she approached the intricate gates. "Well see about that…"
oooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo
A/N: and finally I gave you our long-awaited-moment between Lightning and Nyx. Did you like the exchange? Also, I´m sorry Nyx looks like a jerk now, it´s actually intentional. You know, for the sake of the story.
Here is a response to some comments:
Thalia: OMG! Thank you so much for your kind words, they made my day totally! I won´t be leaving this baby alone, it´s just that, getting off from author´s block sometimes gets a bit hard… but hang in there! Thank you so much for your comment!