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Lightning could barely stand to watch him put his big meaty hands all over her little sister. It sickened her to think about all the other possible places he’d touched Serah that she couldn’t. Which led to Lightning being further repulsed with herself for wanting those things. She chose to ignore that in favour of glaring at the man that was taking her sister away as he asked once again if she’d bless them getting married.
“No.” She kept it short but there was little room for doubt at how displeased she was. They had been asking her, either together or individually, everyday for the last two weeks. And when Serah wasn’t asking she was begging or trying to talk Snow up, and when Snow wasn’t asking he was trying to bribe or threaten Lightning. She wondered if Serah knew about the sister threatening side of him.
She could see by the clenching of her jaw that Serah was at her boiling point and that there would be an argument this time.
“Lightning, we’re getting married with or without your blessing.” Serah’s voice was harsh and left little room for argument. It caused Lightning to flinch slightly with hurt.
Snow wrapped a possessive arm around Serah and brought her in close. “I’m gonna look after her better than anyone else could ever possibly try to. You can trust me sis.”
She was sure he hadn’t meant that to sound like Lightning hadn’t looked after her sister well enough. She hoped he hadn’t anyway. It didn’t stop the pain from getting worse at the thought of her little sister not needing her anymore. She hadn’t anticipated just how much this particular talk was going to hurt, but she could see Serah was going to stand firm. Serah had never chosen someone else over her.
“So you don’t need me anymore?” Lightning’s biggest fear was becoming a reality. Serah was going to cast her aside, move on in life.
‘’I’ve got it covered sis, don’t you worry about a thing.” Snow’s reply shattered the remaining hope Lightning had of keeping a hold of her sister. She felt numb at the thought of Serah leaving her alone while she went on to better things. Things that cold, distant Lightning could never live up to let alone stand a chance of competing against.
“Not your sister.” Lightning mumbled as she pushed up from her chair and away from the table. She didn’t look at either of the happy couple as she made her way out of the kitchen.
“..Claire?” Serah’s hesitant voice followed Lightning as she made her way to the front door.
Lightning paused with her hand on the door, back turned to Serah in an attempt to hide the emotions that she knew would be evident if she looked at her sister. “I have things to do at home.”
“You are home, Light.” Serah’s voice was closer, right behind her in fact. It wavered as if she was trying to hold in tears. If Lightning turned around she was sure that’s exactly what she’d see and her resolve to leave would weaken.
“Oh. Well then, I need to move out so I’ll just be doing that.”
“But..but why?” Serah laid a hand on Lightning’s shoulder. All her confidence from standing up to her older sister about Snow was falling away in the face of Lightning’s odd reaction. Serah had been expecting more yelling, maybe a punch or two thrown at Snow, but not Lightning moving out of their home. She had never wanted Claire to leave and to be faced with her sister doing just that shook her to the core. Obviously she had missed just how much her relationship with Snow had affected Lightning, and how much she disliked both the man and the thought of him being Serah’s husband.
“I’d just be in the way. You don’t need me.” Lightning shrugged away Serah’s hand and opened the door. “A new family needs a fresh start.” Then Lightning was gone, leaving Serah staring after her until she was out of sight. Serah was pretty sure her world just crumbled into millions of tiny little pieces that could never be put together again unless Lightning came back and held her like she used to when they were children.
Snow came up behind Serah and wrapped his arms around her waist. “That went a lot better than last time.” He sighed with relief and pulled Serah further into the house and closed the door.
Serah couldn’t believe how blind or just plain stupid he was being in that moment. That had not been a good outcome. She felt all her previous anger at her sister redirect itself at Snow and she roughly pulled away from him and glared. “Are you just trying to make me feel better, poorly I might add, or are you really that stupid?”
Snow blinked in shock and looked at Serah with confusion. She had never been anything but gentle and kind with him, always happy and smiling. He wasn’t sure what to do with an angry Serah, she had always gone to Lightning for this stuff.
“Do you really not know what just happened?” Serah demanded. She didn’t want to know it either. That way she could pretend Claire hadn’t just left.
“Ah...Lightning showed that she gave her blessing by offering to move out so we can be alone in our husband and wife time?” Snow really hoped that was the right answer.
Serah stared at him in disbelief. “No. My sister just left me, thinking that I don’t need her anymore. She thinks I don’t want her in my ‘new’ family. And it’s your fault!”
“What? How is it my fault? And I really don’t think she left you Serah. She just realised that she was in the way a bit.” Snow couldn’t fathom how she got all that from a couple of sentences that Lightning threw their way the same way she always spoke to them now days.
“I’m gonna look after her better than anyone else could ever possibly try to. Don’t you worry about a thing sis.” Serah mimicked Snow’s earlier comments, her voice getting shriller as she uttered each word. “Oh no, I was so harsh to her Snow. I just threw it in her face. And she was NOT in the way.” Lightning could never be in the way as far as Serah was concerned. She was the most important person Serah had in her life; there was no way she’d want Lightning out of it in anyway, even if it was just moving to a new house.
Serah’s quick mood change left Snow feeling even more confused. “Threw what in her face?” He had a feeling he was quickly losing a hold on the flow of the conversation.
“That I have you now so I don’t need her nearly as much as she needs me. I’m all she has, but she thinks I’ve replaced her.” Serah started crying at the thought of what Lightning must have been feeling. “I can’t do this.”
“Do what?” Snow was really starting to get nervous about what was going on.
Serah waved her hand between the two of them to indicate what she meant. Snow’s blank look led her to explain. “This whole getting married thing, well the whole relationship with you thing. I can’t do it. I won’t lose Claire because I chose you.”
Snow was devastated. “You’re going to let her dictate who you can love now?”
“No. I’m going to dictate it and when it comes down to it I don’t love you enough to lose her.” The more Serah thought about it the more she realised that no one could compare to Lightning. She had always thought that when she finally met that special someone they would fill her heart just as much as her sister did, just in a different way. Serah could finally acknowledge that no one ever could because Claire had her full heart in all ways possible.
“What does that mean?” Snow pleaded.
He didn’t get an answer other than the front door closing as Serah walked away.
****
Serah looked frantically for Lightning but couldn’t see her in either direction. She cursed Snow with his ‘no good, stupid head’ ways that prevented her from chasing after her sister straight away. While she was at it, she also blamed him for convincing her to stand up to Light. Obviously it hadn’t been a good idea but he had been adamant that Lightning had warmed up to him during their ordeal. Stupid man didn’t know the first thing about her Claire and she really should have known better than to listen to him.
“Where are you, Light?” Serah whispered to no one. Just the thought of Lightning wondering around on her own so upset was enough to fill Serah with despair. The front door opened without Serah noticing or really caring. Nothing inside that house was worth her attention while Lightning was suffering. The guilt she felt for causing Light’s pain was consuming her every thought and all Serah wanted right now was to find her sister and hold on to her as tightly as she could.
Snow cautiously approached Serah and stood close behind her. He hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder but quickly removed it when she spun around to glare at him.
“Look Serah, come back inside and let’s talk about this.” Everything about him screamed desperate and pleading, from his tone to the way he lowered himself as if he was going to get on his knees and beg.
“There isn’t anything to talk about, especially when Claire needs me.” She waved a dismissive hand in his direction as she turned back around and moved to head off in search of Lightning.
He grabbed her arm to halt her before she could move too far. “Lightning can look after herself. This is more important don’t you think?”
Serah was filled with a deep-burning passion to see Snow decapitated at that moment. She had just told him inside that she didn’t love him enough, how could he possibly think that he would then be more important unless he really was as stupid as Lightning had claimed all those times. “In what universe do you live that you would think you’re more important when I’ve already told you that you’re not?”
“No you didn’t.” Snow was positive that his precious Serah had never said anything like that at all. He was her hero, of course he was important.
Serah just looked at him without saying anything.
“Well you didn’t!” He protested loudly. “Besides, I’m your hero baby. Why wouldn’t I be the most important?” As he looked at Serah’s ever increasing glare, Snow realized that was not the right thing to say, although he didn’t understand why she was so unhappy with him.
Serah on the other hand wasn’t actually listening to him. She had heard variations of the ‘Hero’ nonsense enough times to know that it was better to tune him out once it was mentioned. Snow could go on for hours without actually getting to his point when he was using being a ‘hero’ as his reasoning. She used to think it was cute or charming but at that moment Serah started to realize that it was delusional on Snow’s part. He wasn’t a hero at all.
For all his big noting, Snow hadn’t done anything heroic at all really. From the bits and pieces Serah had heard from the others, she had been able to put together a pretty solid picture of the journey they had taken. Most of it she had explained away when she had been blind to anything but Snow’s apparent glory, such as the death of Hope’s mother being nothing more than an accident. She could see now that it could have been prevented if Snow had just kept the civilians out of his ridiculous plan. Consequently there would have been no reason as far as she could see for Hope to have been branded.
Instead of actually taking action after defeating Anima and finding her crystallized in Lake Bresha like Lightning had, Snow was too busy getting captured. There had been a group of people that may have needed his help and he had been too busy feeling sorry for himself after not being able to save her to do anything. Serah now couldn’t understand how Lightning, who had just lost her sister, had been able to go on but Snow couldn’t. Sure she was his fiancée but he had made a promise to save Cocoon. A promise he didn’t actually keep. Fang and Vanille had saved Cocoon when they sacrificed themselves and became Ragnarok.
She shook her head. “You’re not a hero, you are a sad little boy who needs to big note himself to make it seem like you’re not worthless.” Serah shook off the hand he still had on her arm when she felt his grip tighten.
“I’m not worthless.” Snow growled, balling his hands into fists at his side. He didn’t care how much he loved Serah, no one called him worthless. “I’m a hero, I saved you!”
Serah laughed humorlessly. “When did you?”
“What?” He blinked in confusion.
“When did you save me?”
“Well obviously I did because you’re right here.”
“That wasn’t you alone. And really, it wasn’t you at all. The fal’Cie didn’t need me any more so I was released from stasis.” Serah was starting to panic inside as she thought about all the time this was wasting. “I don’t have time for this Snow. I need to find Claire.”
“If you leave now, it’s over!” Snow thought he was making a stand. There was no way Serah would risk their relationship.
It might have worked if he hadn’t already been thrown to the curb so to speak, or at least if he’d been smart enough to understand that was what had happened. Given that he was trying to make her choose between him and Lightning though, Serah doubted she would have given in. It had been fine to stand by Snow when she had thought she was going to lose both him and Lightning anyway when she had been made l’Cie because it wasn’t really a choice. Now it was different and the thought of life with no Claire was painful in ways Serah had never associated with Snow when she thought of life without him in it. There really wasn’t a choice to make, and saving her relationship with Lightning was the obvious path to take.
“Then it’s over.”
For the second time in under an hour, Serah walked away from him. This time Snow watched her leave and it was the most heartbreaking thing he had ever seen, rivalled only by seeing Serah in crystal stasis. This was less permanent though so Snow reasoned he could get her back. It couldn’t be that hard for the hero to get the girl.
****
Lightning walked aimlessly with no real destination in mind. It hadn’t been a tactical decision to avoid being tracked or she would have put actual effort into it if that had been the case, as it was no one would find her anyway. The only people capable of tracking her on Pulse had given up their lives to try and help the residents of Cocoon and Serah...well Lightning wasn’t sure she would even care enough to try looking. Serah had Snow to look after now and Lightning doubted her little sister would come running after her at the drop of a hat like she used to.
She missed those days before Snow started twisting Serah away from her. She missed coming home, even if she was a bit late, to see Serah had cooked for her. She missed being able to sneak into Serah’s room after a particularly hard day and just feel the comfort of another person. She missed being able to look at her younger sister and being thankful that Serah hadn’t been forcefully taken away like their parents. Only she had been taken away, gradually and without Lightning really noticing. There was no comfort available on those hard nights when the dreams and fears became too much to handle because Snow was in her place by Serah’s side.
Lightning hated him so much. Everything about him set her on edge, from his cocky attitude to his stupid hair. She especially hated his stupid delusions of being a hero and his take charge attitude when he couldn’t even take charge of his own life. Lightning was so sure that if it hadn’t been for Hope and the rest of their little group, Snow would have given up long before they managed to protect Cocoon. She really wished he had sometimes, if only so she could have her Serah back.
He wasn’t even as fantastic as both he and Serah thought. He had been pathetic with all his whining about Serah being gone, like it was so tragic for him to have lost one person out of the many that he had in his life. Yet at the same time he had been arrogant enough to try and tell her how she needed to cope with the loss of the only person she had left.
“Oh look at me, I’m so heroic.” Lightning mimicked childishly in the face of her anger. “I’m so sad. Oh please feel sorry for me because my girlfriend is crystal. Don’t need to worry about Light who just lost her sister.”
Lightning finally took notice of her surroundings and saw that she was at the base of the crystal pillar. She flushed in embarrassment for a moment at the thought of how Fang would tease her if she had heard, but it was washed away with the thought that Fang may never be there to tease her again. Just one more person that Lightning had let close only to have them leave her, and by choice which hurt all the more.
She collapsed to the ground and stared up at the shell of Cocoon. Like so many times before when she had needed to think, Lightning had found herself drawn towards the remains of her old home. She wasn’t so self unaware to not realize that it probably had more to do with the two crystal forms of her friends that were somewhere in that pillar than the sense of the familiar being near Cocoon held for her. At the moment she didn’t really care what the reason was though. All that mattered was that above her, somewhere in that shell, laid the last place she had been happy with Serah and somewhere in that pillar rested the two people that knew what it was like to be separated from those you loved and where the most understanding about it. That’s what Lightning needed right then, someone to understand and a place close to Serah.
“I’m sorry it’s been so long.” Lightning paused and then sighed. “I know that I promised to come at least once a week.” She laughed softly as she imagined what Vanille might have said then, something about romance surely, or a veiled comment about Hope’s crush on her. Her smile faded when those thoughts brought Serah to mind again.
“I think there’s something wrong. She doesn’t need me anymore.” Lightning fought against the tears that threatened to fall. “I need her to need me. Is that such a bad thing?” She lost the battle, heaving sobs ripping from her throat and tears burning tracks down her cheeks. She lay on her side and curled up just wishing the pain would stop.
****
Serah got as far as the end of the road before realising that she had no idea where Claire would go. Well that wasn’t exactly true because she had a fair idea that Claire would probably go to the crystal pillar holding Cocoon. The problem was that Serah didn’t know the safest way to get there on her own. Whenever she’d asked Snow to take her, he’d taken her along the shortest route but it had been riddled with creatures that she doubted she would stand a chance against. Claire would have made sure she’d taken Serah along the safest path to ensure her safety, not along the path that allowed for a showing off of skill and heroism.
Serah really could not believe she’d ever thought Snow would take better care of her than Claire had done.
****
“I need your help.” Serah was desperate as she stood before Lebreau. “Please. Light’s gone missing. Well not missing as such, because I think I know where she is. I need help to get there.”
“Why can’t Snow help you?” Lebreau had no intention of turning Serah down, she was just honestly curious.
Serah growled lowly at the mention of Snow. If she hadn’t listened to him in the first place Claire would still be at home and they’d be enjoying dinner. In fact if she’d never listened to his sweet talking and started dating him, Serah was convinced her relationship with Claire wouldn’t be in the poor state it was currently in.
“It’s his fault she’s missing in the first place.” Serah spat out, not even bothering to hide her anger at the man.
Lebreau just nodded and called out to Maqui and Yuj who were playing cards at one of the back tables. “Okay, we’ll help. I’m kind of just guessing here but if you’re asking for help I’m assuming it’s because where you need to go is too dangerous for you to go on your own. Three is better than one so the boys should come too.” Serah just nodded and moved out of the way as Lebreau made her way from behind the bar.
Yuj started herding patrons out of the bar stating a family emergency while Maqui and Lebreau went out the back to get their gear. The whole process only took about ten minutes and Serah was astounded at their efficiency. Snow had always made out that NORA would be nothing without him and his motivational ability but as far as she could tell NORA had been fairly disorganised. It was apparent to her now that maybe Snow was more of a hindrance to NORA than an asset. Claire had always told her that Snow was a lazy, good for nothing leader and that’s why his little group was never going to be a threat to the guardian corps. Serah had just thought that was Claire’s dislike shining through but obviously it hadn’t been.
The three members of NORA were soon standing with Serah outside of Lebreau’s bar. It had started to get darker and Serah was anxious to get going. The sooner she found Claire, the sooner they could go home together.
“So where do you think she is?” Maqui asked as he placed a reassuring hand on Serah’s arm.
Serah’s voice was barely above a whisper, “The Pillar.”
“Right, let’s go.” Yuj bounded down the road with determination. The others followed soon after.
********
“It was just Serah and I, after both our parents died.” Lightning murmured as she gazed up at the pillar. “I wasn’t always there though. Maybe that’s why it’s easy for her to move on. I wasn’t there then so it makes sense that she doesn’t need me to be there now.”
Lightning tried to wipe at the tears falling down her face without anyone noticing, and then laughed hollowly at how absurd that was. There was no-one with her – Lightning tried to ignore the part of her that thought there never would be again- only the imagined presence of the two women stuck in the pillar.
“I’d wanted to go away, just Serah and me, for my birthday.” Lightning sighed. “I really wish we had. We could have avoided all that nonsense that took place with that stupid Snow and the l’Cie crap. Who could possibly think it would be a good idea to tell me that on my twenty first birthday.”
*******
“Serah, why did you ask us instead of Snow?” Maqui was hoping Serah would open up to them about what had cause Lightning to run off and render Snow unsuitable for help.
Serah stared at him to determine how much she should say to Snow’s friends. And despite them agreeing to help, that’s what they were. They were Snow’s friends, not hers, although she and Maqui had always gotten along rather well and Maqui had always seen her as more of an equal. Yuj and Maqui may have been best friends but Serah had noticed he wasn’t that close to any of the other members, especially Snow. So really that just left Lebreau as a possible problem but she hadn’t even hesitated to offer her help even after Serah had mentioned that she blamed Snow.
Hoping that she wasn’t making a mistake, Serah decided to tell them. “Snow convinced me that we had to just tell Cl... Light that we were going to get married whether she was okay with it or not. He made some stupid comments in passing that made Light feel like she wasn’t even wanted in her own home so she said she was leaving to find somewhere to move. She left, looking so upset.” Serah had to stop as she fought back tears at the thought of Claire upset. No matter how many times that image passed through her mind of Claire walking out of their home it still affected her, almost more strongly than it had when it happened earlier that day.
Lebreau took the opportunity to speak while Serah composed herself. “I don’t know if I should tell you this but from what I overheard Snow saying to Gadot a while ago, it was his intention to make Lightning feel that way. He claimed he knew exactly what to say to quote ‘get Lightning to back off so I can finally have Serah to myself’. He may act stupid all the time, and he may actually be that dumb with some things, but I can assure you those comments that upset Light so much were not made in passing.”
Serah didn’t think she could get any angrier at Snow than she had been when she’d walked off on him. When Serah had though they were just things he’d said without thinking she’d simply thought him a bit callous, but to find out they had been deliberate digs at her precious Claire made Serah think he was just a cruel asshole. She was so angry with Snow, and the situation he had made that Serah was even uncharacteristically swearing, even if only in her mind.
“That.... Well, it changes nothing because I ended things with Snow when he tried to stop me from going after Light. Don’t feel bad about telling me Lebreau.” Serah really didn’t think Lebreau should feel guilty and despite how angry she was at everything, Serah still wanted to put the woman at ease. “Actually I had to tell him it was over twice. He followed me outside and tried to stop me again saying he was more important than Light. And that sums up everything on why I didn’t ask Snow. He thought Light would be fine on her own.”
“Well he has a point, I mean its Lightning!” Maqui exclaimed, awe evident as he said Light’s name.
Serah laughed lightly. “On any other day I’d be right there with you. Light is amazing but she was so hurt when she left. Normally when she’s upset she comes and talks to me and I look after her. But this time, it was me that caused it and I don’t think she’ll be dealing well with that, which has me worried.”
The group walked on in silence after that until they were stopped by the umpteenth creature. Serah had stopped counting after twenty and they’d only been travelling for half an hour. It was fortunate that Maqui and Yuj had been in the bar when she’d asked Lebreau for help because this was the only way any of them knew to the pillar – thanks to excursions with Snow – and Lebreau had commented that encounters had increased now that the various creatures were used to the large settlements of people.
“This way might be quicker but I really don’t know why Snow would take you this way on his own.” Yuj muttered as he got into position. “We’re having enough trouble with three of us. Snow putting a defenceless woman in danger this way. It’s just unbelievable.”
As Serah watched the three fighting against a Gorgonopsid – Claire had been teaching her just in case Serah ever needed to know- she had to agree with Yuj. It was just unbelievable that a man would put the woman he claimed to love in danger because he wanted to show off.
****
Snow stormed off down the road in the opposite direction to Serah. He needed a plan if he was going to get her back and the best man for the job, other than himself of course, was Gadot. Although Gadot hadn’t really contributed to his plan for getting Lightning to back off, that little spark of genius had all been Snow – who had just now decided to overlook Serah walking out on him, leading to the need of this new plan – just like most of NORA’s plans.
It wasn’t long before he was pounding on Gadot’s door, not quite waiting patiently for his long time friend to open the door. Snow could hear movement within and decided to speed up the process of getting inside by yelling. “Open up ya big oaf!”
“What?” Gadot half yelled as he yanked the door open.
Snow pushed past Gadot and made his way to the kitchen to see if there was any alcohol in the fridge. “Serah left me. I need you to help me get her back.”
*******
“I wonder if she hates me for leaving her behind in Lake Bresha. We had to move on, complete our focus. But Snow had no trouble throwing that aside to try and dig her out. Maybe it’s made her think I don’t love her enough.” Lightning was barely speaking above a whisper, but if there had been someone to hear her they would have easily detected the obvious hurt such thoughts caused.
All Lightning ever did was fall short. She couldn’t look after Serah properly after their mother died, leaving her to look after her younger sister. She couldn’t keep her away from good for nothings like Snow. Light had even failed at the basic task of keeping her sister safe as proven by Serah being branded a l’Cie and being trapped in the pulse vestige. And now Serah was marrying Snow and she failed to simply be happy for her little sister and she had finally driven Serah away.
Lightning curled up on the ground and closed her eyes. She could no longer bring herself to look at the pillar. It reminded her too much of Serah running into Snow’s arms after being released from stasis and the friends she had lost as a trade off.
*******
Serah could see the pillar not too far up ahead, but still no sign of Claire. “Maybe I was wrong and she went somewhere else.”
“No, you know Light better than anyone. If you thought she was here when she ran off then she probably is.” Lebreau was quick to reassure as she kept her guard up in case of anymore attacks.
“I don’t think we need to worry about being ambushed now so why don’t we pair off and look around?” Yuj suggested as he started to pull Maqui along with him.
Serah looked at the two men with curious eyes but didn’t think much about the suggestion or that they were already walking off without waiting for a reply. She and Lebreau went the other way slowly, searching carefully.
“Serah, we think you should stay with us after we find Lightning.” Lebreau suggested suddenly.
Serah spun around to glare at Lebreau. “I can take care of her just fine.”
“I’m sure you can. I was thinking more about in case Snow tried something. That way you could watch out for Light and we can get him to back off.”
Serah thought about it. The idea had some merit, but Claire wouldn’t be comfortable in anyone else’s home. “Okay but you can stay with us. Claire is more comfortable at home. Anywhere else and she’d just be all antsy and a pain.”
Lebreau was about to respond when they heard Maqui shouting for them to come quickly. Serah was off running in the direction of the young man’s voice without a second thought, Lebreau close behind.
*******
“So let me get this straight, you want me to help you find a way to convince Serah that the only family member she has is worthless and not worth Serah’s time and that you are all she’ll ever need in life. Have I got that right?” Gadot stared at Snow is disbelief.
That had been the exact same plan as the last time Snow talked to him only that one had been focused on making Lightning think she was worthless rather than Serah. He was pretty sure that if making Lightning feel that way had been enough to get Serah to break off the engagement, going that extra step of trying to make Serah herself think those things would probably drive her to try and seriously hurt Snow. And if Serah didn’t then Lightning would as soon as she found out what Snow was trying to do.
Snow just grinned proudly. “Yeah, it’s fool proof. I mean Lightning already ran off right, so all I need to do is convince Serah that Lightning can’t be trusted to not do it again. They already have tension because of how Lightning abandoned Serah before she found out Serah was l’Cie. I was there for her so I’ve already proved that I’m better than Lightning.”
Gadot was sure that there were very few people, Serah included, which would agree with Snow about being better than Lightning. “I don’t think this is right man. Pushing Serah anymore today, or this week even, is a bad idea. Coming between sisters just doesn’t sit right with me, especially when you’re aiming to ruin their relationship permanently.”
“Serah and I are destined! I’m the hero, I deserve the girl. Lightning is just getting in the way.” Snow jumped up and yelled.
Gadot interrupted before he could get any further in his rant. “Look, I’m not saying you don’t deserve Serah. I’m just saying that you already went after Lightning and that made Serah dump your ass. I think you’re going about it wrong, is all.”
“Nothing else worked. Serah wouldn’t marry me without Lightning’s blessing and the bitch wouldn’t give it. Now are you going to help me or not?”
Snow wasn’t thinking rationally and Gadot was getting worried, more for the wellbeing of the Farron sisters than for Snow himself. He agreed to help but only so that he was there to step in if Snow went too far.
****
Serah rested back against the headboard of Lightning’s bed as she gently ran her fingers through Claire’s hair. Getting her sister home had been a struggle, but she and the three NORA rebels had made it. They had a couple of near misses with just Maqui and Yuj fighting any monsters that stumbled into their path, but the boys had managed to keep Serah and Lebreau safe as they carried Light between them. It had been slow moving but eventually the group stumbled into the home the sisters shared.
Relief was an understatement of what Serah had felt when they’d realised the place was empty. Snow had probably left not long after Serah herself had. She couldn’t handle another confrontation with him yet; her anger at the man was still past the point where she could have dealt with him calmly. Though dealing with Snow in a calm manner was the last thing Serah planned on doing for a very long time. Serah had always been a very gentle natured person but as she got a look at the huddled, sleeping figure of Light at the base of the pillar, tears still evident on her cheeks, she contemplated violence for perhaps the first time in her life.
If Claire hadn’t been found, or worse she had been found but was too hurt, Serah wasn’t sure how she would have coped. A life without Light wasn’t something she ever wanted to experience. Snow’s stupidity nearly made those fears a reality, and Serah vowed she was never going to let him come between her and Claire again. No one could ever replace her sister, and Serah hated that she had to go through the hard way to figure that out. If only she’d listened all those times Lightning had told her Snow wasn’t good enough. Those lists of his faults she would throw out in arguments were truer than Serah had ever wanted to admit.
“Hero, my ass.” Serah muttered angrily to herself as she moved to lay down behind Light, holding the sleeping woman tightly as if afraid she’d disappear should Serah let go.
***
Gadot tried once more to persuade Snow that his plan was not only going to fail, but it was completely the wrong thing to do. In these last months after the fall of Cocoon, when a civilization was trying to recover from so much loss, both of people and homes, the last thing anyone should be doing was trying to make a woman lose the only family she had left. Well really he reasoned to himself, it was wrong no matter what was going on in the world, not just now.
“Really man, I don’t think she’s going to let you just come in and start bad mouthing her sister. Trying to come between sisters is near impossible. And... and it’s just wrong.” He knew Snow wasn’t going to listen but it just didn’t sit right with him to let Snow go through with the plan without making some effort to try and stop it.
“Relaaaaaax. I got this. No way is Serah going to allow Light to come between her and her hero. She just needs me to show her that Light isn’t worth it.” Snow was too confident in Gadot’s opinion.
“Just promise me that if your plan fails this time, you’re gonna drop it and move on.”
“No can do. Serah is mine. I’m not letting anyone take her from me, especially not some good for nothing woman. I’m a hero damn it!” Snow growled.
The ‘I’m a hero’ rubbish was really starting to piss Gadot off. Saving the world didn’t mean you got to act like a jerk. And it most definitely didn’t mean the world had to bow down and give you everything you wanted.
****
“SERAH!! SERAH GET DOWN HERE AND OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!” Snows’ yelling was so loud Serah was almost certain the windows shook from its force. There was no doubt that the neighbours could hear him though, and she was positive they’d be complaining soon if she didn’t let him in to shut him up.
Pulling herself away from Claire long enough to go down and open the door for him was proving to be a rather difficult task. The comfort knowing she was home safe and just the warmth her body was providing made Serah reluctant to get out of bed. The pounding on the door and yelling stopped before she could move. Voices down stairs reminded her that she and Claire weren’t the only ones home and Serah quietly told herself off for forgetting Lebreau, Yuj and Maqui had stayed to help deal with Snow when he turned up.
“No you can’t go up there.” Lebreau’s voice was firm. Serah could just picture her with her arms crossed over her chest and a foot being stamped down to try and make her point.
Serah heard a loud thump and an angry “Hey!” from Maqui before she got up and ran to the door, closing and locking it. Noise from the bed had her running back and snuggling up to Light again. She hoped to provide a comforting presence so Light didn’t wake up.
“Get out of my way Yuj.”
The normally quiet young man was rather forceful in his denial. “Make me.”
Another thump and what sounded like glass smashing to the floor. Serah really hoped that wasn’t her favourite vase that was on display in the foyer.
“Snow! That was uncalled for man!” Gadot’s voice was louder than Serah was ready for, or closer, and she jumped.
Banging on the door was followed by Snow yelling again. “Let me in Serah. Enough of these dumb games.”
“Go away Snow. I told you before, it’s over. No future wedding, no relationship, and the way you’re going, no chance of being friends either.” Serah made sure to keep her voice low enough to not wake Claire, but loud enough to be heard through the door.
“Open the door, or I’ll break it down.”
“Come on man, just leave it alone.” Serah could hear the frustration in Gadot’s voice as the banging on the door got harder. “This is stupid and you’re gonna get yourself in trouble.”
“I’m not leaving without Serah. She’s mine!”
Serah was so focused on what was going on behind the door that she missed the sounds of Lightning waking up and getting out of bed. It wasn’t until Light was stood beside her that Serah even noticed her sister was up. She took a moment to focus on Claire, checking for any signs of any pain or discomfort but all she saw was confusion.
Lightning looked between the door and Serah. “Tch, if he breaks that door I’m taking the cost of fixing it out of your allowance.” She didn’t know what was going on, but Light was pretty sure that if Serah was hiding in the bedroom with her while Snow made an ass of himself out in the hall that something had gone wrong with the couple. She wasn’t expecting Serah to giggle and jump at her, arms wrapping around her neck, legs around her waist. The unexpected move sent the pair crashing to the floor.
This is how they were found when Snow finally managed to break through the door. He took one look at the sisters and felt all his anger multiply as his eyes shifted from their entangled legs to the way Serah appeared to be nuzzling into Lightning’s chest and everything in between. He wanted to rip Lightning’s hands off from where they rested on Serah’s hips, wanted to smack the content look off Serah’s face.
“Get the hell away from her.” It wasn’t clear which of the sisters he was actually yelling at as he took a threatening step towards them.
Despite their reluctance, Serah and Light pulled apart and stood up. Light made sure to stand protectively in front of Serah. She didn’t think Snow would actually hurt Serah but she wasn’t taking any chances while the large man was so angry.
The small bedroom got crowded fast as Gadot, Lebreau, Maqui and Yuj all stumbled in. Lebreau was holding Maqui upright as he avoided standing on a leg that was probably broken and Yuj had his shirt off and held against his nose trying to stem the flow of blood. Gadot looked torn between backing Snow up or putting himself between his friend and the women Snow was trying to intimidate and threaten.
Lightning glared at Snow. “I don’t know what’s going on here but you need to calm down right now.”
“Stay out of it. This is between me and my future wife. You have no right interfering.”
“I already told you it was over Snow. I’m not your future anything.” Serah growled out from behind Light.
“You’re just confused. Once we get away from Lightning’s influence you’ll see I’m all you need baby.” Snow took a small step forward holding his hands out to try and appear peaceful in his approach.
“No! All I need is Claire. I wish I never met you.”
All control left Snow after hearing that and he lunged towards the sisters. His plan, as far as one could plan in a fit of rage, was to get through Lightning and drag Serah out of the house. He was the hero and they all owed him for saving their pitiful lives. The least he deserved was to get the girl, damn anyone that stood in his way.
Gadot had seen enough. There was only so much he was willing to support Snow in. Getting a girl back after being dumped was one thing but there was no way he was going to stand back and watch as Snow tried to violently force the situation. He slammed into Snow from the side, sending him off track and into the ground. Gadot then sat on Snows back to restrain him.
Snow tried to dislodge Gadot but he wasn’t able to before Lightning was able to retrieve her gunblade. Pointing it at Snow, she instructed Yuj to go contact the authorities while she and Gadot kept the man restrained.
***
“I still don’t understand all this Serah. This morning you were adamant about marrying him, what changed?” It was late and the sisters were cuddled together in Lightning’s bed, exhausted from the hectic day.
Snow had been dragged off to the police station literally kicking and screaming a couple of hours before but that hadn’t been the end of the day for Light and Serah. They, along with Gadot and Lebreau, had taken Maqui and Yuj to the hospital to get checked out. Yuj hadn’t suffered more than a severe bloody nose while Maqui had been a little less lucky with his leg broken in two places. After they’d been checked out and cleared to go home, Lebreau had taken them while Gadot had come back with the sisters to help clean up some of the damage Snow had caused to their home. In the end the damage had consisted of a broken door, two shattered vases, that Serah had loved but Light was glad to see gone, a chair and blood on the carpet from Yuj. Gadot had been determined to fix at least the door before he left but the vases and chair had been a lost cause.
Serah wiggled even closer to Claire and sighed happily when her sister held her tighter. “I got a glimpse of what life with Snow meant. No one is worth losing you over.”
End.