This is a birthday gift for the wonderful Dawn of Chaos. This work is not the best, however, the prompt was tough. Farroncest, impending doom and a sweet, romantic element. I decided to come out of hiatus by trying some new things, including the "bare bones" approach. Essentially, a lot is your interpretation and the story is very open. Enjoy!

"Serah, keep running!" Lightnng had stopped abrubtly. Her sister was panting and looked almost dead on her feet, yet Lightning could not allow either of them a moment's rest. Her former place of professon, the Guardian Corps, was in hot pursuit.

"But...Claire..." The two stood next to each other for a moment, Serah bent down and panting, Lightning scouring the forest for signs of any enemies. "Can't you just tell them you were framed?"

"For assasinating the Primarch? Sure, they won't shoot us on sight(!)" Serah looked up forlornly at the sarcastic reply, chewing her lip in nervousness.

"W-well...let me talk to them!"

"Out of the question!" An animalistic growl filled a short silence. "I will not have your death on my conscience! I won't...I can't lose you!" A few tears dropped from Serah's eyes. Lightning's heart broke. The upset, the unfairness...the pure fear. She sighed and stepped in front of Serah. The younger sibling's eyes locked with the elder's for a fleeting moment.

"Claire..." Another sigh, softer this time, came from Lightning. She knelt down and pulled Serah close.

"You're all that matters. If they get too close, run on ahead." The whispers in Serah's ear made her shiver. "I'll distract them to buy some time." Panic rushed through the younger sibling's head. Urgency ruled her for just a moment, however, she was unable to voice an objection. The tight lipped smile Lightning gave Serah indicated a level of care untold of in her life, yet the sense they wouldn't get away from the Guardian Corps' finest lingered. The mere thought itself was suffocating, let alone the reality. "Come on."

"Claire, wait!" The duo paused. The definite sound of helicopter blades whirring led to panic. Pure, animalistic panic.

Upon silent, mutual agreement, the fastest sprint either of them had ever done became reality. Lightning quickly realised that Serah couldn't keep up and slowed her pace. The heavy panting made it clear: they weren't going to get away.

"Serah...listen, go on ahead." A breathless huff forced a standstill.

"No...no Claire...I can't..." Lacking the air to fully construct an argument frustrated Serah.

"You can and you will!" The gaze was forceful, rightfully so. "Serah, go to the spring. Find a good hiding spot and stay there. I'll find you later." Serah chewed her lip nervously.

"Promise?" Lightning smiled softly. Oh so softly. The smile that was reserved for Serah and Serah alone.

"I promise. If I don't come back alive, you can kill me!" The fleeting attempt at humour was immediately crushed under the heavy reality of the situation. Serah was nearly in tears. Without warning, she crushed Lightning in a powerful embrace. Her lips closed over her sister's. The kiss, the kiss of a lifetime was, at the most, softer than velvet. It was a communication rather than a physical action. It was a portrayal rather than a verb. It was a necessity rather than a desire.

All the passion and love was communicated in those few short seconds. A sigh from them both made them giggle.

"Be back soon," Serah pecked Lightning on the cheek. "Please." No response was given. As Serah watched Lightning rush towards their adversaries, she turned on her own heel and rushed off herself.

"There she is!" A Corps member rushed after the flash of pink he'd seen between the trees. "After her!" In spite of her sore chest, heaving and wheezing, and the lack of a vehicle to tow her along, Lightning Farron did not stop. She wouldn't. She couldn't. When she felt like slowing down, she imagined Serah's face, filled with relief, curled up in her arms. Even after hearing warning shots from behind, and hearing shouts containing words like 'trial' and 'surrender,' she did not stop.

Several minutes later, she stopped and noticed a dip in the ground. A tree trunk was lifted slightly off the ground by humps, and Lightning began to scuffle towards it. In the blink of an eye, she stopped and cried out. A blind shot had been heard. Nothing was new there. What was new was the pain in her left arm. A quick glance at the outer forearm confirmed a shot had hit her.

"Fuck..." A huge grimace did not prevent her from sliding under the trunk. Studiously staring at her new mark, she determined it was not fatal. Scar-inducing, painful, but far from fatal. Her uniform was scuffed with dirt and dry Autumn leaves, but she grinned rather stupidly. She was alive. Better yet, Serah was waiting for her.

Whirring. Helicopter blades soared overhead, and the crushing noises of many leaves informed Lightning of what felt like an entire platoon, if not an army was after them. A minute later, the noises trailed off. Rather than feeling dismayed at her misfortune, Lightning was merely thankful that she was going to see the only person that mattered to her soon.

Serah.

"Serah?" Lightning called out. She had arrived at the spring. It was late evening now. The sky had that beautiful pink tinge to it. The tinge that makes people stop and stare, even amidst the busiest of schedules.

"Claire!" Serah jumped out from a tree. "You've been gone for two hours! Are you-your arm!"

"Serah, it's fi-"

"Sh!" Serah shushed Lightning and dragged her down to the spring. "Here, let's clean this out." Her gentle touches caused Lightning the least pain possible. The water cleaned around the wound before Serah leaned back, astounded. "A...bullet?" Grim nodding as a response said enough. "I'll get it out."

"Use this..." Lightning pulled out her knife and lay down on the floor. She handed it to Serah. "I trust you...it will be easier with that."

"O...k..." Serah responded hesitantly. She inserted the tip and slowly spread the gash open with her delicate fingers. A furtive glance at Lightning's eyes concluded that she was so much stronger than Serah could ever hope to be. She didn't flinch, moan, or even seem to notice that Serah was doing anything. It was, for lack of a better word in Serah's mind, heroic. Inch by inch, she moved the knife tip forward. Eventually, after what seemed like painful seasons of care, she hit the solid bullet. The leverage made the object easy to remove, but the hard part for Serah was watching Lightning squeeze her eyes shut.

"Keep going..." Serah complied, slowly pulling the bullet out. A short while later, it came to the surface. Lightning sighed in...defeat seemingly as it dropped to the floor. "Ugh...it shattered the bone."

"How bad is it?"

"Bad enough that I can't carry heavy things. It will heal though." The elder sibling tucked her knife away and pulled Serah close with her right hand. They cuddled up together, staring simply at the sky as the pink faded to a dark blue, soon to be black. As a chilling wind blew over the spring, it occurred to Lightning that it would be a cold night.

She didn't care. Serah was with her, safe.

"Serah...I don't know when, or even if we'll get out of this." The warmth...the warmth was their blanket of safety. "But I promise I won't leave you. I love you."

Serah turned to face her sister, hand creeping up to cup her cheek gently.

"I love you too, Claire..." Serah drove her lips forward. This was what she wanted. Lightning, next to her, with her, kissing her. She wanted...needed her. Who better to have as a soul mate? Their love had transcended many things. Their blood bond, their doubts, fears, misgivngs, society. It all boiled down to one thing...

"Serah? It will be cold tonight. Try to get to sleep as soon as you can."

"Ok." Serah turned over and allowed Lightning to cuddle her from behind. Some time later, when her sister's breathing had become a steady rhythm, Lightning shrugged her jacket off and placed it over Serah. As she shivered and resumed her previous spooning position, she kissed Serah's forehead once. It showed what their relationship was, what it meant, what it was made of, what it boiled down to.

The gift of love.