Lightning Farron is an army of one (army_of_one) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-05-03 13:22:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, booker dewitt, claire farron (lightning), rachel grey, serah farron |
“Oh god, oh god I saw everything"
Who: Lightning, Serah, Booker, Rachel
What: Serah sees EVERYTHING, and her time is up.
When: Late Evening/Early Morning on 4/30
Where: Various apartments, an ambulance.
Rating/Warnings: R, Warnings for brief character death and medical stuff.
Status: Complete!
Everything flashed before her. Noel faded into the distance and Serah saw everything. All the consequences of her actions flowed before her in a jumble of images and sound and Lighting and Snow, gods, Lightning, she was so sorry.
With every vision she’d had, her life had grown shorter and shorter, and in an instant this vision of all the things that they had changed took up the rest of the time that she’d had left. She didn’t even get to say goodbye to Noel. To Snow.
To anyone.
Serah woke with a short, involuntary scream. Then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell back against her pillow, still.
The scream awoke Claire nearly immediately, dragging her away from dreams about lush green scenery and dangerous wild animals. Mere seconds ago, she'd been on Pulse, amazed and smiling, telling Snow how it would all be okay.
But it wasn't okay, because someone was screaming, and for once it wasn't her. Instincts had her out of bed, with her pistol in her hand. Everything was quiet, now, but she still hurtled off to Serah's bedroom, checking to make sure that the living area was clear on the way.
No one was there, and it was deathly silent. She burst into Serah's room, "Serah? Are you okay?"
Her sister was laying in bed, and all seemed more or less well. Peaceful, even. But Serah wasn't answering her. Had she imagined that scream? In her current state, it almost seemed possible. Light clicked the safety back into place on her weapon, and set it down on Serah's dresser, "Serah!? SERAH! Are you awake!?"
But her sister didn't answer her, even when Light put her hands against her sister's shoulders and shook her, hard, "Serah!! Wake up! Wake... You aren't... Breathing, Serah don't you do this to me!"
Light checked for a pulse, and felt like she was suddenly and completely made of ice. Even down to her stomach. Her sister was... dead? No. NO. She shook her head to clear it, and grabbed Serah's phone. Her fingers quickly tapped out the numbers 9 - 1 - 1, and she hooked the phone against her shoulder, up to her ear, while both her hands got to work on setting Serah up for CPR.
"Damn it, Serah. Damn it. DAMN IT!"
Serah felt like she was flying down a long tunnel. It reminded her of the Historia Crux, with whirling platforms all around her and the golden glow of time as far as the eye could see. And at the end,, as the tunnel closed off, she thought she saw a crystal.
She went towards it, and she didn't understand it. The vision's memories had already faded, locked away and impossible for her to understand, but she felt like that crystal was a key.
She heard her name, and looked behind her. "Light..?"
The crystal promised her something. Something wonderful on the other side. A new life. But her sister still needed her. She turned around.
Serah suddenly inhaled sharply and clutched at Light's arm.
"Oh thank god you little-" Light had been about to move from chest compressions to breathing into Serah's mouth when her sister's hand had grabbed onto her. She pulled Serah up with strength she hadn't been sure she still had, and clutched her sister against her.
The phone was still in her ear. The dispatch had been calmly walking her through the CPR steps - just in case she didn't already know how to provide it correctly - and now they were asking her if there was any change. Light's voice nearly broke as she spoke into the phone, "She's back, she's okay..."
“Oh god, oh god I saw everything. I saw everything Light, and now I can’t remember but I…” She didn’t want to cry, but she started to cry anyway. “I was trying to save you, I was trying so hard to get to you and we kept changing things and then I saw it all and my time ran out.”
The dispatcher decided to send a paramedic anyway, and then ended the call. Light let the phone roll off of her shoulder and onto the bed.
Serah's voice sounded like a rush of wind in her ear and it was hard to concentrate on what her sister was saying over the relief that was flooding through her. She squeezed her sister as tightly as she could, "Shh..."
Just a nightmare. Lightning couldn't summon those words, even if she wanted to. She couldn't say them, because nightmares didn't kill your sister in her sleep. The fight she'd had with Fang at the bar was still fresh in her mind, and it stung to have to admit - even slightly - that the older woman was right. Yet here they were. She'd almost lost Serah. Again, "You're back now. It's... going to be okay."
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." The words were sticking in Serah's throat, and she clung tighter to Light. She couldn't find the words, couldn't find what she needed to say to tell Light what she was feeling right now.
I love you, I love you so much. Words like that got stuck in Claire's throat all the time, and today was no different. She was trying desperately not to cry, herself. There were paramedics coming. She was in her night wear, the kitchen was still kind of a mess from that stray Firaga. She couldn't break down. Not yet.
"It's okay. It's okay. Don't be sorry. It's not your fault."
“It’s my fault, everything is my fault.” If she hadn’t stumbled onto that fal’Cie, if she hadn’t been nosy, if she hadn’t been drawn, she wouldn’t have drawn her sister and their friends into that mess. She wouldn’t have needed help, she wouldn’t have damned them to be puppets of false gods!
"And Vanille would say it was her fault. Fang would say it was hers. I'd say it was mine for pushing you to find crazy things to do like that. For not being around to look out for you more." Light shook her head. "You were doing whatever it was for me. It's probably my fault, anyway."
She didn't want to pull away from Serah for even a second, though she knew she'd have to when the medics came. And sure enough, there was a knock at the door. Claire squeezed Serah one last time, then finally let her go, "They sent some paramedics. You're going to get looked at. We have to be sure you're okay."
“No, no, it’s definitely not your fault…” She patted her sister’s shoulder, then leaned in against her. “I’m okay. I’m okay. I don’t need an ambulance. I don’t want to go to the doctor. I don’t even think that they could find something…”
"They won't find what caused it, but they can check your vitals to make sure you're okay." Lightning got up and tugged the blankets back over Serah, "If they say you're okay, I won't push it. But I want them to say you're okay. Alright?"
Serah opened her mouth to protest. Then she thought better of it. “Okay. For you, Claire.” She settled back. “I feel like I’m a thousand years old…”
"I don't feel that way yet, but I'm pretty sure I will. Eventually. Especially if this continues." Light let out a bit of a sigh, and went to get the door. She was glad that she slept with some amount of clothing on at night, just in case. The paramedics didn't need a show on top of everything else.
It would have been a nice show and both of them were really cute. Serah gave the man flirty eyes as he checked her pulse. It was too elevated, so they were definitely going to take her in. Which was good. Because she was dizzier than she’d told her sister.
If the paramedics were insisting on bringing Serah in, then Lightning was going to follow their advice. Medical things were something that she didn't mess with. Not after her mother. Not with other people, anyway. She stayed out of their way as they loaded Serah onto a gurney, and followed quickly after. They were willing to let her ride along in the back of the bus, and she just hoped she didn't lose it along the way.
To keep herself busy, she placed a phonecall to Booker. He was one of the only people she knew Serah was involved with. And she couldn't call Fang. Not right now.
“Booker,” a man’s voice said on the other end of the line. This better be good, he had company over. He’d even ordered take out to treat them like more than a booty call!
"This is Light- Claire. I didn't know who else to call. Serah... I'm in an ambulance with her. We're going to the hospital." Lightning got right to the point and tried not to sound like she was panicking.
Even though she felt like she was. Feelings like that needed to be cut away, just like she'd done on the battlefield. She took a deep breath, and let it out, "She was gone. For a few seconds."
Booker cursed, fumbling with his phone a bit. “That ain’t right. She’s okay now though? What hospital?”
Booker's company used her telekinetic abilities to bring over the man's pants and hold the phone against his head. Rachel didn't need to be a telepath to know that it was bad, but the surface thoughts were worrying and she decided to get up and brew him up a coffee for the road, too.
Lightning rubbed at her face with her hand, "They think her pulse is a little irregular, and they're going to submit her for observation. Irvine General."
And here he was, trying to be all romantic and shit. He pulled his pants on. “Good idea. We don’t know what the fuck is wrong with her. There could be something there.” Like with his nosebleeds.
“They couldn’t find anything. She told me she dreamed that her time was up, and that was all I could get out of her.” There was an edge of fear in Light’s voice, and she once again took a deep breath and let it out, trying to… be Vulcan, she supposed. Control her emotions, like she’d told Hope to do.
Back at Booker’s place, Rachel was pouring the coffee into travel cups. She didn’t think that Booker wanted her there at the hospital, but she prepared for it, just in case.
“Okay. I’ll be...uh…” He eyed Rachel, wishing he could crawl back into bed with her. He really liked the redhead. Probably more than he should. “Assuming she even wants me there.”
"Serah's like me. She'll tell me she's fine to my face, but she isn't. We play that game. But she doesn't play it with you. She'll want you here, even if she says different." Light was almost a hundred percent sure of it.
Rachel, meanwhile, shoved a to-go cup of coffee in Booker's hand and then shoved his car keys into the other hand, "I'll go with you."
"All right. I'll be down there as soon as I can," Booker said. He took the keys and coffee, and hung up. "Sorry about this." He gave Rachel a smile. Serah and Light really were kind of important to him, even if he'd never say it to their faces.
"It's alright. Stuff like this happens. More often than it really should. That idea you had about moving back to New York isn't that bad, if you ask me," Rachel grabbed her own coffee and started heading for the door, "Come on. I'll go with you. I can sit out in the hallway and keep her sister from hyperventilating."
Meanwhile, Lightning was watching as they unloaded her sister, and trying desperately not to hyperventilate.
“Thanks.” Booker started knocking back his coffee as he walked quickly towards the door. It was going to be a long, tense drive.
Serah, for her part, waved weakly at her sister, trying to give her a reassuring smile.
Light waved back and smiled at her in return. It was heartbreaking, really. The idea that her sister, who was the one on the gurney, felt the need to comfort her. She hoped her own smile could be half as reassuring.
"You'll be okay. I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay here with you the whole time."