Peanut

Lightning only rolled her eyes to that comment. No matter what she said, Riku wasn't going to believe her. She stood silently for a few moments, and since the thought came to her mind, she spoke it. "I've been in for a while," she said of the pool. "Let's get out, before I shrivel up." She normally didn't care about that, but the sun was shining nicely on other parts of the area, and resting there sounded good right about now.

While Serah giggled, Lightning protested. "No matter how hard you work at it, that rule's not changing," Lightning said with a stern expression. Lightning wasn't allowed to be embarrassed; she absolutely despised it when it happened. Well...except for certain cases with Riku when he caught her being shy. That wasn't so bad.

"They already know it," Lightning assured Riku with a tiny smirk. It was natural that family embarrassed each other, and Riku's parents obviously got that since they broke out his baby pictures and showed them to the Farrons. "And Serah here knows that the rule doesn't apply to me, so don't even think about embarrassing me." She'd kick his butt if he did.

"Rule number two of being in a family," Serah announced, smiling as she looked up at Riku. "Embarrass each other as much as possible." That was what they were accomplishing now, though that wasn't their original intention. But Riku's comment broke through some of the tension, as did being together with her family.

Serah leaned the side of her head against Riku's chest, feeling the warmth and security. But she experienced it differently than Lightning: this wasn't the embrace of a lover. This was the embrace of an older brother. And it was a dependable, protective brother who'd always look out for her. She didn't lose her family with all this chaos: her family grew in number, and in strength. She shed some tears, though they weren't just tears of sorrow. "My family," she said quietly of Lightning and Riku.

Lightning didn't bother responding to Riku; he'd get his answer soon enough. She stopped by Serah and set a hand on her sister's shoulder, slowly turning her around. There wasn't much to say, except... "We're family," she said, glancing at Serah and then Riku. He was a part of the family, whether he realized it or not. He invested so much into them that she couldn't see it any other way. "Serah, you know what that means." When Lightning looked at her, she knew that she was meant to respond audibly. "We can get through anything," she whispered quietly. That was what Lightning told her growing up: they were a family, so they could get through whatever came at them. So even the horror that happened to them lately--even all the demons and darkness Serah was dealing with--they could overcome it. "That's right," Lightning nodded, wrapping an arm around her sister's shoulders as she pulled her close. She moved her hand from Riku's arm to his back as she wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close. He was part of this.

Lightning pulled her head away, turning it to see Serah. She made her cry again... She pulled back slightly from Riku, but she actually lifted her hand and grasped his arm and held to it before she turned and started towards Serah. Riku was wrong; he was still needed. He could help both of them. After all the three of them had been through, Riku was an honorary Farron.

Serah set a hand against the wall, shaking her head to Riku. No way was she going over there now. All she would do was hurt Lightning worse than she already did... I'm just like him, she thought. All he can do is hurt her now... Of course she was thinking of Cedric, their father. She turned around and stiffened, starting to shake as she held back tears.

After a moment or two of seeing Lightning accept Riku's comfort, Serah knew that she had to go and apologize right away. She walked over to the edge of the pool and jumped in, and though the sound wasn't loud, it was loud enough to make Lightning jump. Serah froze where she was, knowing that jump was because of her. I keep hurting her... she thought, eyes moistening with tears.

Lightning blinked when Riku pulled her to him, and though his hold was gentle, it was too secure for her to break out of. He saw through her, which meant Serah did too. Now that she didn't have to worry about covering that up, she started to soften. She slowly moved her face and hid it by Riku's neck, her eyes flickering shut as she took in his comfort. You're not with Cedric. You're okay...

Lightning looked up as she swam when she noticed something suddenly appear in front of her: Riku. She barely had time to slow down and straighten up, and by the time she stopped and was standing, she was right in front of him. "What--?" What was this about? He saw through the facade, didn't he?

"Lightning, stop it!" Serah scolded, dropping the gun onto the pavement as Lightning swam. Why was she even doing this? It was so obvious that she was scared by the pistol because of their fath--Cedric. She wanted to jump into the pool and hug her sister to take away the pain, but she caused the pain. How could she give comfort when she was responsible for her pain?

Serah blinked, surprised when Lightning didn't jump in. Yeah, the gunshot was a surprise, but it was a good surprise. Like old times...Or at least, that was what she thought until she saw her sister's expression. "Claire?" she said softly--too softly for Lightning to possibly hear. She was...scared. She looked down at the pistol, an expression of horror appearing when she realized what a tragic mistake this was. "Lightning!" she cried, looking up just in time to see her not so gracefully jump into the pool. It was a jump, not a fall, but still... Lightning heard Serah's cry, but she didn't respond to it. She only paused for a few seconds; she could write it off as being surprised by the pistol, not...terrified. If she swam as quickly as she could then she'd be able to lie through this blunder. She turned her face out of the water and gulped in a breath, knowing she had a very short time to compose herself.

Serah grabbed the stopwatch and the other item, only briefly drying herself off with her towel beforehand. The sun would dry her off, and anyway, she was going back in the pool soon. "Ready?" she called to Lightning. Her sister was already in position, and she only gave her a slight nod as she looked ahead at the pool and focused. "Ready...set....go!" As she yelled the last word, she lifted her arm and shot a blank round into the air with the starter pistol she found among a collection of sporting equipment. It was just like the old days! As soon as Lightning heard the starter pistol go off, she completely froze. It wasn't fond memories that made her completely forget where she was and what she was doing: it was the sound of a gunshot from another situation. The sound brought back the memories of Cedric mercilessly shooting her in the legs over and over and over... Her legs started to ache and shake, as if the wounds were coming back even though they weren't.

"I'm going to go again," Lightning decided and spoke to Serah as she worked her way over to the edge as she pulled herself up. "Serah, you have the stopwatch?" She asked her to get it earlier, when they went back to their rooms to change. "Yup!" Serah said brightly. "I'll get it and time you." She too went to the edge and got out, knowing that she could relax in the pool later. Right now, Lightning wanted a timed lap, so they needed to get it in before others showed up. But there was something that Serah had that would make this lap even more like her competitive races--a surprise Lightning didn't know about yet.

Light calmed herself down, feeling two gazes on her. "That was...horrible," Lightning lied badly to Serah. She was trying to fake support, but it didn't go over too well. It was hard to convey sympathy when her cheeks were still pink from laughing. At least Serah didn't seem to mind so much; she just replied with a small growl and a grin.

Serah rose to the surface, shaking her head to get the wet hair out of her face. "I didn't even do anything to you!" she cried to Riku. She got him to go maybe an inch further in the water but he threw her! She swam forward a bit and looked at Lightning, who shut her eyes as well as covered her mouth to bite back laughter. Whatever irritation she had with Riku disappeared at that. Lightning hardly ever laughed like this.

Lightning looked up and followed Serah with her eyes--and her ears, since Serah screeched all the way down. As soon as Serah sunk into the water behind her, Lightning lifted a hand to her face to bite back her laughter. Serah wouldn't be happy she found this so amusing, but it really was hilarious.

Serah looked over her shoulder, seeing her sister just floating there with an expression of amusement. "Lightning," she whined. Come help me! But all she got was a slight shake of the head. Serah hmphed, giving up as she took her arms away from Riku. Fine, she gave up.

Serah sent a brief glare at Riku when she was in the water, unable to do her intended move because Riku wouldn't dare turn his back to her now that he saw her expression. So instead, she swam up right in front of him and set her small hands on his shoulders, attempting to force him underwater.

"Oh-ho, you did not just go there," Lightning said, propping herself upright as she looked at Riku swim away. He was lucky Serah didn't hear that; if she did, she would have hopped in and climbed onto his back. But as a sudden splash appeared between her and Riku, Lightning realized Serah indeed did hear Riku's muttered comment and she was reacting the same way that Lightning predicted she would.

"Then you'd prove me right," Light said, glancing over at Riku as he tread water right next to her. "And I know you wouldn't want to give me that satisfaction." In other words, he wasn't going to dunk her. She was safe from that unsportsmanlike conduct.

"Sore loser," Lightning retorted calmly, a tiny smile on her lips. She lifted one of her hands out of the water just enough to splash Riku, the rest of her body barely moving just because of how much she perfected her ability to balance herself in the water. To think that she used to do this all the time...She was lucky back then.

At the end of the race, Lightning turned around and saw that Riku was a good few seconds behind. That stunned her into silence even after Riku reached the end and made his defeat dramatic. She really didn't think that she was that good right now, but... She smiled, leaning back and floating on her back as the sun shone down. It feels good to swim again.

Lightning swam as if she was on her own, in her usual mentality. Winning against Riku would just be a bonus: what she really wanted was to keep improving and do better than she had before. It was like she told him when they were competing in a triathlon: she didn't care about beating others, she wanted to top herself. But at the same time, it felt good to do better than others. She was at the other side of the pool before she knew it, and she gracefully twisted and pushed off that wall to go back to the start.