And so it ends...

by りおこ

Even when she tried to push her thoughts about her sister away, they seemed to continue to come back and haunt her. Such thoughts always seemed to eat away at her, but she had managed for a while to push them away and live life normally for a bit. Maybe if she could just simply find her.. “Right… right.” Lightning wasn’t aware of that she repeated herself, it just seemed to slip— it was more of supposed to be in her head than anything else. “That’s how siblings generally act, I guess.”

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t have any myself, but my best friends are like a brother and sister to me,” he shrugged.  “Even though we’re not related, it almost feels like we are with the kind of things we do to each other.”  Memories of almost daily footraces with Sora came to mind, and he couldn’t stop a smile from surfacing.  “But I suppose all that matters is that—you have each other.”

Blinking a few times, it took Lightning a couple minutes to realize that the man standing not too far off in the distance was the one and only, Noel Kreiss. Taking a few steps forward, she figured that it wouldn’t be too bad to start a small conversation with him. “Noel, hello.”

“L-Lightning?” the last time he had saw Lightning was in Valhalla when he first pasted into a world filled with people. “Is it really you?”

UM.

He noticed her eyes clouding over as she thought of her sister.  He wondered if his eyes ever took on the same look when thinking of his best friends.  But really, they were family too.  Even if they hadn’t been through some really crazy times, they were always there for each other, and he treasured that friendship like nothing else.  “Well, what siblings don’t, right?” he shrugged.  Even though he had no brothers or sisters, he knew exactly what she was talking about.  “That sounds good,” he added with a warm smile.

Even when she tried to push her thoughts about her sister away, they seemed to continue to come back and haunt her. Such thoughts always seemed to eat away at her, but she had managed for a while to push them away and live life normally for a bit. Maybe if she could just simply find her.. "Right... right." Lightning wasn't aware of that she repeated herself, it just seemed to slip-- it was more of supposed to be in her head than anything else. "That's how siblings generally act, I guess."

     ”You’re right, Lightning. I’m just being a silly worry wort as usual. But you know— even if the world were to end right this second, I’ll regret nothing because you’re by my side. I can die happily while you’re by my side. Besides, don’t I need your blessings for a wedding? I want no regrets if anything were to happen. Let’s always stay like this as we are right now. “

"It's alright to worry sometimes, Serah. It's understandable of where you were coming from." Taking a quick breath, Lightning closed her eyes. "Generally, I'd tell you not to think such a thing, I'll appreciate what you said, Serah. For when that day comes, I sure hope that I'll be the one to fall before you." The slightest of smirks sketched itself on Lightning's lips her eyes glimmered open. "Say, didn't I already give you my blessing?"

A firm nod, yes family. It seemed that he didn’t have an actual mother or father, like herself, but close friends that he considered family. So, like the group she traveled with to save Cocoon, right? “I.. uh, have a sister. Her name’s Serah.” Though, she wasn’t quite sure whether to call Serah her younger sister anymore, since Etro decided to remove her from time.

“Serah,” he echoed.  A very usual name, now that he thought about it.  Not like any of his friends’ names, but more like a name belonging to a resident of a place like Twilight Town or Hollow Bastion.  “Are you two close?”