☈ strike #10 (video / action)
[ It's really just the icing on the cake that, after everything's that happened to Lightning here- trapped away from her home, failing her Focus by force, conscripted to fight in a war she has little stake in, turning Cie'th on the battlefield of all things... she's finally returned to Luceti, not a week following her eventual death like what's
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Lightning is not supposed to be sobbing or screaming like that, and it's alarming to see her so distressed given how calmly she'd faced her death.
But she is alive, and that is enough to send Aerith's legs weak with relief. And she had been ready for Lightning to be upset, she knew about the death penalties; that she had been prepared for, thinking that as long as Lightning was alive, she could overcome whatever else this awful place offered. It's still upsetting to see her so distraught, but Aerith simply takes a few seconds to gather herself--Light needs calming, she doesn't need anyone else worked up or teary-eyed--before responding.]
Stop what? Light, are you hurt? [She doesn't know how well Lightning is thinking or able to respond right now... but it's worth asking. She's already walking, using the visual cues from the post to guess where she might be.]
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And yet she's alive, and that's remarkable in itself. As a rule, l'Cie who fail? They don't get second chances. Ever.
Lightning just doesn't yet know what to do with hers. There's a long pause- really long, and though the sound of ripping isn't close enough to suggest she's still pulling pages out, it continues on in the background. And although there's something about this particular voice that makes her inclined to listen a little more, right now it's still extremely upsetting. Her voice shakes when she finally answers. ]
... Just shut up. Please...
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She's outside now with an umbrella, the rain making pattering sounds against its material.]
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Aerith. [ Suddenly she reappears, looking like... well, a wreck in the rain, and honestly every bit as distressed as she's been sounding. This is Aerith, though- Aerith, whose presence indicates... something. ] How--?
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It's okay, it's okay. [The calm tone is more important than the words. She thinks back to trying to soothe Cloud, smooth over his mental breakdowns. These moments feel a lot alike, her own emotions held in check.] You're back.
[It can't be too much longer to the park.]
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Then abruptly goes blank so fast you'd think she'd been slapped. A moment later, the distress starts right back up, but she also leans away again, quickly standing without taking the journal with her.
Fortunately, she doesn't go far and shouldn't be hard to find, on account of the large number of ripped-out journal pages draped all over the ground in the vicinity. She's pretty much the picture of misery though, sitting and shivering on the steps of one of the playground structures with her Brand partially covered- at first, it might even look like it's gone entirely, but really, it's just all white instead of black and red now. As if it's been burned away. ]
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[...She's out of the journal's view, and Aerith's jog turns into a sprint over the remainder of the distance. By the time she gets to the park she's out of breath and beginning to get wet, the umbrella jostled too much to be effective cover.
But Lightning... Lightning is still here. She holds one hand to her heaving chest, waiting a few seconds to catch her breath before she approaches Lightning.]
Light, you didn't fail anything. Remember? You decided how you wanted to face it, and that's what you did. [She swallows as she recognizes her voice getting wavery. Still approaching with the umbrella, because Lightning desperately needs the cover.]
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I need to... I didn't finish my Focus...
[ So yeah, of course she failed... that's why she turned Cie'th, right? Or rather, that's certainly what's on her mind-- regardless of what she believed beforehand, that regret of not getting her Focus done in time is what preoccupied her 'thoughts' when she was like that. Hence the conflict: she's got several ideas that seem to want dominion, but they also contradict each other. Will versus need. ]
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Hope's arrival interrupts her, the pounding footsteps announcing his arrival. She looks back, frowning unhappily to see him disheveled and distraught. She moves aside, giving him space to be in front of Light, but stays close with the umbrella; with the wind and the rain, even she feels the cold in her bolero. This isn't good for either of them...]
Come on, Light. Let's get inside, hm? [She reaches out to touch the woman's arm.] You look like you hopped in the bath with your clothes on.
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[ Again Lightning is confused, but that's as far as she gets before she notices those footsteps aren't a part of the rain and Hope blasts into the picture as well.
At first she just sits stunned, almost uncomprehending as her eyes move from teen to woman and back. With both of them there, her emotions threaten to overload completely under the pressure- that all-consuming grief and regret from being turned into a Cie'th seem to corrupt her perception of them as well: as careful as she tried to be, how her behavior before she died seems utterly insufficient, how much she's messed up in dealing with them...
How she's breaking her promise to Hope to get him home... and how if they stay here, the likelihood of him meeting the same fate she just went through is nearly a guarantee. ]
Oh no...
[ As upset as she already is, it's too much handle. Aerith touches her, and she abruptly loses it entirely, taking several frantic breaths and then-- she reaches for Hope like a woman drowning, grabbing hold of his shirt and roughly ( ... )
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Lightning's broken words don't make any sense, but they sound far away anyhow. Like there's a fog between them. Hope brings a hand up to clutch at her forearm.]
...you don't... it's already over, Lightning. The draft's over.
[He's acutely aware of the ground beneath them now, cold and wet and barren-or at least, the latter is how it feels. Hope absently wraps an arm around his torso, shivering minutely from the chill in the air.]
W-we should... we should go... it's cold. We'll take care of you, okay?
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How can I stop that? I couldn't stop yours...
She really, really hopes Raine can find a way to help.]
He's right. We're done fighting, you don't have to worry about that. Light, please. Let's go inside.
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And then finally, they just seem to wear out and go mercifully dull, and she pulls in a few long breaths before looking aside and clenching her teeth. She doesn't object to the insistence to move and get out of the rain, but she also doesn't react towards doing so. Chances are they'll have to pull her. ]
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Can you walk...?
[He alone isn't strong enough to actually guide her to her feet if she's still a dead weight, so he casts a glance in Aerith's direction in hopes that she'd aid him.]
You... you need to restore your strength, Lightning...
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Upsy-daisy. This is going to look really, really silly soon if you don't start using your feet, Light. Just a warning!
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