A friend and I have been doing a RP for a while now, and it has been scattered across several threads on two different sites. It started as a group story (about fast food of all things ) but then it transformed into something else entirely.

 

We request that nobody join in this RP or post anything on this thread; if you wanna say how awesome we are, message us some other way.

 

Um...You're free to read this for fun if you want to, but this thread has major Birth By Sleep spoilers. And since we've been doing this for a while, we will probably refer to things we've done in the past and you will have no idea what we're talking about. So if you want to save yourself from confusion, then you probably wanna stay away. If not, hey, whatever.

 

The plot was discussed and posted on another website, but here's a quick summary of the whole thing: It's the return of Xehanort.

 

Characters:

Peanut: Sora, Namine, Leon, Aerith, King Mickey, Terra, Ventus, Xehanort, etc.

Forever Love: Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Yuffie, Aqua, Vanitus, Tron, etc.

 

I believe I've said everything that needs to be said...Forever Love, let's get this show on the road, eh?

Lightning opened her eyes but didn't look over at Riku. A minute ago, he made her think that he couldn't handle her grief head on. That was what she needed right now, so if he couldn't provide that...she'd just shut herself down. Even if she did try to fight against the raw grief, she wouldn't succeed on her own. She needed somebody who knew what she needed. But the only person who fulfilled those requirements was now dead.

Riku set one of his elbows on the couch cushion near Lightning, lifting the other hand to her hair. "Claire..." he tried again. "Look at me. Come on..." He wanted her to know that she wasn't alone. She was never alone. Like he said earlier, her burdens were his, and vice versa. They were in this together, no matter what.

Lightning shut her eyes briefly. Riku was doing better now. Most people didn't need boldness when they were grieving; they didn't need orders being thrown at them. Of course if Riku said the words angrily instead of gently, she wouldn't have obeyed them. But she did. After a moment or two, she rolled over onto her other side, eyes open and resting on Riku's face immediately.

Riku's eyes found Lightning's, and he forced himself to keep eye contact. He never wanted to see her hurt, and to witness her grieving was probably the hardest thing he'd experienced other than seeing her in pain. At least he could heal the wounds with pain, but with grief...there wasn't much he could do. "What's going through your head?" he asked her, running his fingertips over her forehead as he brushed some of her bangs out of her eyes. He wanted to hear just what Lightning was thinking about all of this, that way he could get a better idea on how to help.

No...You don't want to know that, Lightning thought silently. Though she normally would have diverted her gaze at such a touchy subject, her eyes remained locked with Riku's. They gave her the strength to find her voice and speak for the first time since realizing the truth. "I want someone to blame," she said quietly, voice sounding off because of all the junk she had in her throat from crying.

Edited August 31, 201213 yr by Peanut

Riku's eyebrows furrowed slightly at the confession, but he didn't blame Lightning for feeling that way. "That's okay," he said, running his thumb over her hair gently. It was okay to want someone to blame. Snow blamed Etro for giving Serah her Eyes. That was Riku's first guess as to who Lightning would blame too.

Maybe, Lightning agreed. But you don't understand it yet. "Snow blames Etro, for giving Serah Etro's Eyes," she stated quietly, feeling Riku's thumb go over her hair that was probably all dirty from earlier. She wanted to focus on that one feeling, because that was the only good feeling she experienced in this situation, but it came about for the wrong reasons, so she couldn't be made happy by it.

Riku glanced at his thumb going over Lightning's hair again, but then his eyes found hers. "Do you?" he asked softly. It was obvious who Snow blamed; he cursed the Goddess to hell. As for Lightning, Riku wasn't really sure.

"I served her," Lightning stated softly without answering the question. "I devoted my life to her and her war for over a year." Even after her past with Fal'Cie, she served Etro. It took a lot of convincing, but Lightning was sure that the goddess was good for so long. Etro saved her life after all. When Caius wounded her fatally, Etro put her entire essence inside Lightning. Would an evil goddess really be stupid enough to put her strength into a dying warrior?

I'll take that as a no, Riku thought, keeping his hand still in Lightning's hair now. So if Lightning didn't blame Etro, did she blame anyone? Noel, maybe? He was with Serah after all, but he couldn't really help her or protect her from visions that Etro granted. It was a difficult situation.

"Etro's essence was inside of me," Light continued quietly. "I passed it onto Serah." She squeezed her eyes shut, finally breaking eye contact with Riku. "It caused the visions. It caused her death." Meaning...It wasn't Etro's fault. It wasn't Noel's and it wasn't Snow's. It was Lightning's fault for giving Serah that power. Her lower lip trembled, the young woman biting down on it hard as she tried to control herself. "...I cursed her."

"Hey..." Riku said, moving his elbow off the couch and placing his other hand on Lightning's cheek. "Lightning, don't talk like that." She couldn't possibly think this was her fault... True, she asked Serah to help, but it wasn't like she was the reason Serah had the visions. Riku couldn't comprehend how that would even work in the first place.

Lightning shook her head, opening her eyes after a few seconds as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I killed her!" she cried. She killed her baby sister. It was her fault in so many ways. She should have tied Serah up and left her at home when this whole mess began. She shouldn't have sent her away with Noel. She shouldn't have given her Etro's power after hearing what happened to Yeul. She should have known something would go wrong.

Riku blinked at the cry, startled by it, but his next reaction was instinctive. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers as he cupped her head with his larger hands. "Shh," he shushed her gently. Don't talk like that, baby. She couldn't think like that. She couldn't blame herself. This was an accident... An awful accident.

Light sobbed softly, eyes shut as her head remained in Riku's hands. No matter how he shushed her, she wasn't going to change her way of thinking. Serah had Etro's power inside of her because of Lightning. That must have caused the visions. There was absolutely no other way to explain it. Serah's death was her doing.

"Don't say that," Riku whispered over Lightning's sobs, keeping his forehead against hers. Her hot breath cascaded over his face, but he didn't care, ignoring it as he tended to her. "You would never put your sister in harm's way. Don't let this make you think differently." If Lightning had known this would put Serah's life at risk, she would have never done it.

On purpose or not, I put her in harms way, Lightning thought, crying too hard to say it aloud and argue with Riku. She continued to cry, tears soaking into Riku's hands as he held her face. It was a bit of an awkward position, considering how she was laying on her side and he was kneeling in front of her. But little details like that didn't matter right now. Nothing did but who got the blame.

"Shh," Riku shushed Lightning again. He hated to hear her cry; he remembered when he thought she was incapable of crying. But...every person had a soft side, which meant everyone was capable of making tears. This was Lightning's time, among a few others. "Claire..." She had to have known Serah didn't blame her for this...right?

Lightning tried to calm her tears and breathing, something that she normally did with ease because she never reached this extreme level of grief. This time was harder for obvious reasons, but after listening to Riku shush her a few times, she began to calm down a little bit. She breathed more heavily than usual as tears gently slid down her cheeks, her warm breath bouncing off Riku's face and coming back at her as she looked to his eyes.

"You know, better than anyone, that Serah doesn't blame you for this," Riku assured Lightning softly. He ran his thumb over the side of her face that wasn't pressed into the couch, getting rid of her tears, even if they were replaced seconds later. "Serah loved you with everything she had, Light. She would never put this on you." It wasn't in Serah's nature to pin her own misfortune on someone, especially her family. It wasn't who she was.

"It's still my fault," Lightning choked out. Even in her guilt, her eyes remained locked on Riku's. She wanted to believe what he was saying. He was right in that Serah wouldn't pin the blame on her. But would Snow? Once Snow knew what Lightning did, would he blame her for this? Another sob broke through her lips at the thought.

Riku pulled back a little, wanting to see Lightning's eyes better. "Do you remember what Noel said when he first met us?" he asked her gently. "He said that Yeul saw visions every time the future changed. Serah knew what was happening to her the second she had her first vision. She knew her life was depleting with every one, but she kept going despite that." He tucked some of Lightning's hair behind her ear. "Serah was determined to protect us, Lightning, to protect you. She accepted her fate because it meant for a brighter future."

Light's eyes danced over Riku's face slowly, taking in his words. He had a legitimate point. Serah must have known what was happening. But... It didn't change everything. Lightning was still responsible for those visions happening. She just wished Serah would have returned to Valhalla as soon as she knew what was happening! She wouldn't have had any visions in a place without time.

Riku leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to Lightning's lips. He pulled back after a small moment, rubbing his thumb over her damp cheek again. "Serah wouldn't want you to feel guilty," he whispered again, voice gentle with the woman he loved. "I'm sure she knew that if she did go, you would be hurt. But she knows how strong you are, Light. She knows you would be able to move on. She'll never leave you anyway." Riku moved his hand and gently poked Lightning's heart. "She's right here with you, always."

Lightning shook her head softly, looking down at Riku's hand. "Not good enough," she whispered. She heard it before. That when people passed, they lived on inside of you. That you were never alone after that. Maybe it was true or maybe it wasn't, but what she knew for certain was this: They weren't with you physically anymore. And as long as that was the case, things would never be good enough for her.