Peanut

Lightning nodded, reaching out and grabbing Riku's hand. While they were inside, the clouds outside had begun to clear, but only slightly. But her thoughts were elsewhere: she managed to walk just by holding on to the racks, so maybe she could walk just by holding Riku's hand. That would have been fantastic.

Light at least had comfort in that the clerk gave Riku a discount because of Lightning being "more beautiful in that dress than any girl she ever saw." Lightning tugged at the neck of the burgundy poncho, looking down at it as Riku completed the payment. The dress wasn't that big of a deal...was it?

After handing her clothing over to Riku for him to hold, Lightning had an easier time sifting through the clothing. She found a dress that Serah would like: a simple lavender toga dress that went to the knee. As she and Riku approached the clerk to pay, she tried to stop him. "Are you sure that you want to....? I can," she offered faintly. Of course, she didn't have much money at all: she and Serah were practically broke.

Lightning rolled her eyes at Riku's sheepish response, but she didn't wrap an arm around him. "I'm good for now," she assured him. Besides, he was still damp, so it wouldn't have been good for him to hold onto her while she was without the poncho. And it would be hard to shop for Serah this way too.

Light sighed, seeing there was no way to get through to him. She grabbed her clothes from the fitting room and followed along to where Riku was, putting hands on racks as she went along for stability. In his excitement, Riku forgot that she couldn't walk too well on her own.

Lightning kept the look, putting one of her hands on her hip to imitate Riku. "Wasn't the purpose of this trip to get dry clothes to wear immediately?" If the dress wasn't good for the rain and she wasn't going to wear it immediately, then there wasn't much point in buying it. Why was Riku being so irrational?

"Riku," Lightning said, giving him a look that told him to be reasonable. How were they supposed to avoid the rain? Yeah, they could walk underneath some awnings in the marketplace, but they wouldn't always have something to protect them.

Lightning glanced down at the dress, seeing the fabric lay nicely. But... "This dress may not be good for the rain, though," she said rationally, lifting her gaze up to Riku again as he was closer. The dress was an off-white color, and few were brave enough to wear white in the rain. She was brave in many aspects, but she wasn't stupid enough to do that.

Lightning couldn't decipher the look in Riku's eyes; he hardly looked at her with that specific expression. She couldn't even begin to figure out what he was thinking, but even so, her cheeks turned pink. Maybe...he didn't like it. "....No good?" she checked after a moment.

Lightning heard someone breathe the words, "a goddess," and her eyes instinctively went over to the young man who spoke those words. But he was with another young woman, who promptly walked away in fury when he complimented someone other than her. Lightning looked away as the man struggled to rationalize with the girl, her focus soon going to rest on the stunned Riku. She didn't know how she looked; there was no mirror in the room. She was guessing she looked okay, judging by the stranger's remark.

Lightning was too stunned to protest to the actions of the enthusiastic shopkeeper. Within five minutes, Lightning had two thin braids on either side of her head going back and leading into the bun that was by her neck. The shopkeeper spoke all the way through, saying that she was a gorgeous girl and wanted to devote all day to playing with her hair but she needed to be on the floor. The woman pulled Lightning to her feet once she was done, opening up the curtains dramatically to show her creation to the world. "Beautiful," the shopkeeper said one last time, walking away as Lightning kept a hand against the wall in a daze. What just happened?

Lightning dressed in the changing room, surprised that such a different culture would be so similar to others in terms of shopping. Nevertheless, she took off her wet clothing and put on the creamy white toga dress. It wasn't a typical toga with one arm strap and the fabric draping across it: it had two sleeves that went down to her elbows. There was a large slit on both the sleeves, revealing her arms and shoulders. Gold, brown, and white beads adorned those slits and the neckline, the brown color complimented by the brown belt that fit at her waist. It went all the way down to the floor, and just as Lightning was inspecting it, a female shopkeeper burst into the room. "Gorgeous!" the boisterous lady boomed. "But your hair!" She spun Lightning around and sat her down on the dressing room's chair, pulling hair clips out of her dress pockets to do Lightning's hair in a beautiful way that was normal to the locals.

"Looks like I don't have much of a choice," Lightning retorted, coming along with Riku. He knew that she couldn't go anywhere on her own, and even if she could, she wouldn't leave him in the city. It wasn't that she was scared for herself getting lost or running into shady people--she could handle those. She was more worried about Riku being lost and being unwilling to ask for directions.

"A toga?" Light laughed. "Yeah right." But as she made that comment, the rain began to come down harder again. A chill ran down her spine, the coolness of the rain and of her clothes getting to her for a brief second. Even so, wearing a toga seemed weird, even if it was dry, warmer clothing.

"You want to make sure nothing shields my eyes next time we run into a shady merchant?" Lightning guessed with Riku's most recent action. It didn't work extremely well anyway; her hair was stubborn and sticking to her face in certain places because of the rain. Now that she thought about it, Riku's was too, but his laid more naturally than hers did when it was wet.

"I hope you have plans to make up for that blunder," Lightning taunted lightly. She looked around, noticing most people were naturally out of the way of their path. That was good, considering that she and Riku couldn't be separated. It wasn't as if she was strong enough to walk on her own just yet.

"No kidding," Lightning said, squeezing Riku with the hand that was resting close to his side. "Serah'd be appalled to see such selfishness." Actually, Serah would have been appalled at the merchant. She probably would have kicked him away in surprise, which would not have been good at all.

Lightning looked back at the man as they walked, though she soon turned her attention back to Riku. "So you had the ability to shield your own eyes but not mine?" she asked in mock hurt. In reality, when the man opened up his jacket, she quickly shut her eyes so that she wouldn't see anything. What kind of a merchant thought that being shady was good for business anyway?

Lightning leaned into Riku, as she had been for the past day or two. She wished that she could walk on her own and not burden him so much, but that was a worry for another day. She looked around the city, finding it radiant despite the dark clouds and drizzle. She stopped suddenly when a short man in a black coat rounded the corner, the sketchy man immediately having her attention. "Hey," he said lowly. "You wanna buy..." He flashed his black cloak open, revealing his merchandise underneath quite suddenly. "Some sundials?"

Lightning looked over at Riku, nodding slightly to his proposal. "Sure," she responded. She'd be glad to get away from this big crowd; some people were not happy with being wet at all and refused to go out in the lighter rain. As if it mattered--most everyone was soaked anyway, so this rain wouldn't make a difference.

Lightning wrapped an arm around Riku's lower back as they walked, noticing many others were heading for that same awning. That was going to get crowded very quickly. Nevertheless, now wasn't the time to worry about it. As they stood at the edge of the group, Lightning heard Ven and Zack share enthusiastic greetings, the former offering a congratulations as well.

Lightning looked up at the sky, blinking when she felt a raindrop fall on her nose. Nobody realized it because they were distracted by the tense match, but the sky was extremely dark. Suddenly another drop fell on her face, and then another, then another. And then the floodgates of the heavens opened and it began pouring. While some people squealed in surprise, Lightning lowered her gaze to the arena, barely hearing Phil call that the final match would be put on hold because of the rain.

Zack looked over at Aqua, blinking in surprise, She gave him a direct "yes" this time?!" He released her hand and jumped into the air, pumping a fist in excitement. "All right!" he cheered. Finally, she said yes to that date. Was it because he won and got stronger, or did she have time to regret the last time she told him to wait?

Zack held up a hand in victory, but it was the hand that grasped Aqua's. He motioned to her with his free hand, telling the audience that they should cheer for her as well. As proud as he was of his victory, Aqua fought well and hard and therefore deserved some praise. "So, how about that date?" he asked again.

Zack smiled warmly, that being his only response to the crowd. As Phil announced his victory, Zack took away his sword and held out a hand to Aqua. "Nice match," he said, prepared to help her up. It was only right, since he was the one who knocked her down in the first place.