Chapter 1: If It Means A Lot From You

The stench of alcohol and smoke overpowers her sense of smell as she steadied her guitar in front of her and adjusted the microphone to the right height. She can feel the stares of the patrons, waiting for her, breaking her.

Her cerulean eyes shifted towards the bartender who only nods for her to go on before closing them momentarily, blocking everything from her vision. She releases a shaky sigh and took hold of the microphone in front of her.

Screw it. This wasn't the time to dwindle on stupid matters such as emotions. She has to be strong. She has to be immovable; even if this damnable song, which one of the audience members happens to have requested, breaks her.

And hey darling
I hope you're good tonight
And I know you don't feel right when I'm leaving

Images of glass thrown, shattering into pieces entered her vision and a slightly audible sting ran up her back.

Yeah I want it but no I don't need it
Tell me something sweet to get me by
'Cause I can't come back home till they're singing

Next is a woman dragging a suitcase along towards a cab with a man shouting behind her. Before the woman can even get into the cab, the man suddenly smacks her in the face with an impact strong enough to knock the woman onto the pavement.

La, la la la la la la

'Til everyone is singing

Two girls with strawberry blonde hair, the same colour as the woman's, watch in horror. Unable to do anything but watch and hold each other as the woman drags herself up towards the backseat of the cab despite the constant kicking of the man.

If you can wait till I get home
Then I swear to you
That we can make this last
(La la la)

Finally, the woman was able to climb fully into the cab and looked one last time at the two girls who were crying and somehow calling out for her to come back. The woman reached out to the two but was stopped abruptly by a door slamming in her face causing her to grow enraged.

If you can wait till I get home
Then I swear come tomorrow
This will all be in our past
Well it might be for the best

One of the pink haired girls reached out and ran after the cab but was roughly stopped by the man. She reached out again towards the woman, her mother, looking at her with saddened, tear stained eyes as her mother pressed her left hand to the hind windshield. Open palm closed into a fist, It's a promise. The girl did what her mother did and nodded, It's a promise.

And hey sweetie
Well I need you here tonight
And I know that you don't want to be leaving me

A series of memories flashed over her. Cold winter nights spent embracing herself on the planked floor to keep herself warm with the smell of acrylic surrounding her senses. Multiple canvasses with images that to her were mere scribbles of longing for freedom and warmth, surrounding her, looming over her. A picture frame sat beside her. A picture of two pink haired girls being held by an older pink haired woman, a blonde haired man with cold azure eyes standing behind them.

Yeah you want it but I can't help it
I just feel complete when you're by my side
But I know you can't come home 'til they're singing

A series of blinding flashes and buzzes comes to her senses, but she was too numb to react to it. The smell of acrylic hanging around her painfully encases her. She raised her right arm as if reaching out and closed it into a fist. As if in a daze, she muttered her heart's longing, Mom! Not realizing the room's stillness, she was roughly dragged out from the room full of paintings of longing.

La, la la la la la la

'Til everyone is singing

La, la la la la la la

Painful memory after painful memory. She held it all in, because it was a promise. A promise she dared not break even if it meant the one breaking was her.

Lightning was snapped out of her reverie by the audience's applause. It was a typical Saturday night in the café and bar, NORA, located in Bodhum, a small city which houses some of the mid and lower classed citizens of the developing country Cocoon. The establishment served as a small café from morning until mid-afternoon and a pub after that until early morning.

Lightning was grateful that the manager, a bulky man named Amodar, allowed her to work there part time since she was still finishing her college studies and needed the extra income to pay her tuition fees soon. Well, it was all thanks to the bartender, who she also considers a friend, a woman named Lebreau. Lebreau was a year younger than Lightning herself, but she had decided to forgo college in favour of working with her siblings.

"That's all for tonight, a very happy birthday for the birthday celebrant." Lightning said briskly as she stood up from the stool she was seated on and took her guitar strap off her shoulders and walked down from the small stage, ignoring some of the audiences ' hollers as she passes by them.

"Welcome back, sorry you had to replace tonight's singer" Lebreau said as she brought down a bottle of beer in front of me when I reached her on the other side of the counter.

"Yeah, it's okay."The pinkette said gratefully taking the beer and finishing it in a few gulps.

"But I have to say, you never cease to amaze me, especially that voice of yours." Lebreau said to the singer with a smile on her face. Said singer rolled her eyes and started to put her guitar in its casing.

"Everyone can sing, it's not that hard." She said with a monotonous voice.

"Not everyone can sing like you though." Lebreau said, causing Lightning to tense suddenly, and glare at her.

"Trust me, Lebreau. Everyone can sing. I'm no one special." Lebreau shivered at the intensity of Lightning's stare and knew from experience to just drop the subject, lest any injuries befall her just like the other guys, who were instantaneously sent to the hospital after pissing off Lightning.

"A-anyways, any luck on finding a roommate?" Lebreau said, attempting a subject change.

Lightning only shook her head. Truth be told, she wasn't even sure if having a roommate would benefit her at all. She imagines all the scenarios of having an annoying roommate who would leave things scattered and cringes at the idea of someone invading her personal space.

But the problem was the lack of funds to pay for the monthly rent of the apartment that Serah, Lightning's sister, chose. Saying something about how she should be living in a decent enough apartment building and not the old rickety one-room living area like the one Lightning had lived in. That caused both sisters to argue for days, but all in all Lightning had decided to give in and moved out of her old living quarters and moved into a ridiculously big and expensive apartment complex. Well, to Lightning it was.

"No, I've put up posters about it but no luck and the first payment is due next week." Lightning sighed and rested her head on her arms which were on top of the counter. Her chicken feed salary wasn't going to cut it, not with her college exams coming up and the tuition fees which were a hell of a lot to pay.

"Uhmm" a high pitched voice from beside her interrupted her musings. A red headed girl with pigtails on the side was standing awkwardly. Lightning assumed that she was more or less the same age as Lebreau due to the school uniform she was currently wearing. She was wearing a red checked skirt which was modified to make it shorter than usual and a short sleeved white blouse that was knotted at the bottom, showing off her belly button. A brown hoody was tied around her waist. Lightning assumed she had tied it there due to the humidity of the pubs' interior. She was also wearing a lot of trinkets on both of her arms and three different beaded necklaces around her neck.

Then something clicked in Lightning, "Are you from Eden's University?"

The girl's eyes suddenly widened and she stepped in towards Lightning, only to be given an icy glare that made her back away instantaneously. Lebreau, on the other hand, started wiping a beer glass clean after she motioned the girl to sit by them.

"So who are you and what brought you to the dirty side of the country? It's not every day that a rich kid like you visits these parts." Lebreau said, still cleaning the mug.

"My name is Oerba Dia Vanille, but you can call me Vanille, and my boyfriend happens to be the birthday celebrant today. Oh, but don't get the wrong idea. I'm not rich or anything, just an international exchange student is all." She said as she looks from Lebreau to Lightning, making Lebreau smile a bit.

"Oh, don't worry about miss grumpy over here, she won't bite…much." Lebreau said flinging an arm around Lightning's neck earning her a glare which she pointedly ignores as she continues to look at Vanille. Seeing that Lebreau won't let up, Lightning directed her steely gaze towards the redhead and motioned for her to continue, "And?"

"Uhm, I was wondering you still wanted to have that new roommate." Vanille said giving her best puppy eyes towards the two women for added effect. Lightning sighed, setting her forehead on her palm while deep in thought. The idea of an annoying roommate was still bugging her, but she would be in big trouble if she didn't pay up for the monthly rent, not to mention her tuition fees. She didn't have the energy to have another argument with her sister and cause an even bigger rift between them.

"Is the person a woman?"

"Yep, but she's a bit of a tomboy."

Lightning only nods at that. She too was a bit tomboyish and had no qualms about that.

"Does she have any annoying mannerisms of any sort?"

"Well, her snoring is a bit loud but other than that, nadda." Vanille said with a smile.

"When will she be moving in?"

"She'd be moving in tomorrow, if it's at all possible."

"That's fine. But she has to pay half of the rent within this week. Sorry, that has been the problem from the beginning to be honest and she has to provide her own utilities."

"Oh that's alright. So is that a deal then?" Vanille said as she put her hand forward for a handshake, which Lebreau was the one to take since Lightning was ignoring the proffered hand, instead just nodding in affirmation.

"It's a done deal. You have no idea how grateful this old grouch feels. Right, Lightning?" Lebreau said before looking at her friend who had stood up and was about leave. But before leaving she left a piece of paper on the counter which had the directions to her apartment printed on it.

"Whatever, this is the way to the apartment. So you don't end up getting lost or something" she said to Vanille, who only nodded enthusiastically at her. Switching her gaze to Lebreau, she said "Oh, and tell Amodar that he owes me big time and I expect to be fully paid in check tomorrow night. And tell him I'm not this stupid pub's mascot of a singer, geez."

After that, Lightning carried her guitar, which was in its leather guitar case over her back, fixed her red scarf around her neck and walked out of the pub.

The statement only caused Lebreau to laugh out loud, causing some of the nearby costumers to look at her curiously. That included Vanille, "Uhmm, what does she mean by that?"

"Oh that? Believe it or not, the supposed entertainer for today bailed on you guys and our manager, in Lightning's words, just happens to be a sadist and he made her substitute for the bastard." Lebreau explained.

"Then, if she isn't the singer, what exactly is her job?" Vanille said as her curiosity grew by the minute.

Instead of answering the redhead, the bartender took out a small plate and a fork from a nearby cabinet and walked towards the café section, gesturing for Vanille to wait for her for a second. When she returned, she placed an intricately designed small cake covered with chocolate flowers onto the plate. It seemed that the chocolate flowers themselves were growing out of the cake. Beautifully moulded leaves made of black chocolate of every shape and size was placed on top of the cylindrical fluffy substance, made more beautiful by splashes of white chocolate to add more detail. On the centre of the piece a gem like rose was placed. It was almost gleaming in the dim lights overhead.

"I don't know which is better when it comes to taste between Eden and here, but when she puts her mind to it it's like everything she touches becomes more beautiful and you don't even care about the taste anymore." Lebreau said with a smile, going back to cleaning the mug. Vanille hesitated, not daring to even touch the delicate master piece.

"Oh and it's on the house, by the way. Think of it as thanks for helping her out." Lebreau said seeing the reaction of the redhead concerning the sweet treat.

Vanille only nodded in reply and delicately pierced one side of the cake and took a piece to eat. True enough the taste wasn't that great, since she deduced that the chocolates used were brought from cheap stores nearby, but the texture was exquisite. The chocolate from the dough wasn't really to die for but the chocolate covering the treat melted instantaneously inside her mouth, giving a bittersweet, delicate feeling to it. She tried to eat the chocolate leaves and was pleasantly surprised to find that it had the same bittersweet feel, making her squirm in delight. She ate all of the chocolaty goodness first before turning to the gem like rose, which was actually a candy on a stick, sort of a lollipop and was disappointed that it too was just like any other cheap, store brought candy but was happy nonetheless.

"Did she make this?" Vanille asked Lebreau, who had been polishing the same spot for the duration of the meal with a smile on her face. Lebreau's smile broadened into a grin and she answered, "Yes and No."

"What?" Vanille furrowed her brows at the bartender's answer and demanded a clearer answer.

"Well, I made the cake myself, since the last time Light made one she totally destroyed the kitchen and almost gave our manager a heart attack. We really only have her do the dishes, or man the counter." Lebreau said, finally setting the over polished mug inside one of the many closets behind her. And with her back facing towards Vanille she said, "But she did make it beautiful, all flowery and stuff."

That only surprised Vanille more.

Lightning slowly trudges up the stairs towards her apartment located on the second floor of the condominium. It was the door at very end of the corridor out of five. Two of the apartments were empty.

She didn't interact much with her neighbours, but the elderly couple living in the middle apartment was kind enough to greet her every time they saw her. Their stubby cat, however, was always a nuisance, since it had a habit of climbing in her window and climbing into her bed to sleep in whenever she forgot to close the damnable windows.

The lady right beside Light's never goes out and if she did, she wore sunglasses even if it was night and a thick hoody. The good thing was she kept to herself and Lightning wanted to keep it that way.

"I'm home. " Lightning said as she opens her apartment door and was greeted only by the dark silence of the apartment just like every other time. She took off her boots and neatly set them aside before going into the kitchen, passing the white walled living room where a single dirty, white couch with burgundy cushions was placed in the middle of the room with a coffee table in front of it. The kitchen was on the left side of the living room whilst the bathroom was on the right. The two other doors passed the living room were the bedrooms, one was occupied by Lightning's few personal belongings and the other bare, with only a bed, desk and a closet, was going to be the one occupied by her new roommate.

She opens the refrigerator that has a few eggs, a box of expired milk and a few bottles of water in it. She took one bottle of water and drank the contents from it before going inside her room, sitting her guitar in the corner, before changing into her sleep wear: a white tank top and red boy's shorts. She went inside the bathroom and brushed her teeth before going back into her room and laying down on her bed for some much needed sleep. She was silently praying that the smell of acrylic wouldn't haunt her dreams.