Someone Must Get Hurt

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XIII is the property of Square Enix. The song "True Loves" and its lyrics are the property of Rufus Wainwright. No profit is being made from the circulation of this story.

"A heart of ice is easily melted

A heart of stone is easily thrown away

It's the true loves that make me want to cry

It's the true loves that make me want to say goodbye

A heart of ice is easily molded

A heart of stone is easily hidden away

It's the true loves that make me want to cry

It's the true loves that make me want to say good bye

So take your true loves down to the river

And I'll watch you here on the corner

And if you need me I'll always be here

A heart of stone never goes anywhere

A heart of stone never goes anywhere"

-True Loves by Rufus Wainwright

His lips burned against hers and then subsided to soft, moist skin, like an electric shock. Snow was nothing like his name suggested. Lightning had imagined kissing him would be something different entirely, something that would swallow her up and solve her burning shame at her thoughts about her sister's fiance. It should have made her forget, breathing in Snow, passionate and warming, but it wasn't all-consuming. She could feel his body so close to hers, smell the scent of his skin, taste his lips. He groaned, the sound snaking into her ears.

Lightning closed her eyes and saw Serah.

With a hard shove, she pushed him away, desperate to stop herself before she took the one thing she had ever wanted from her sister. He stumbled but to his credit didn't fall. What he had done hit him just as she was resisting the urge to. His eyes widened and he grasped at air.

"We can't," Lightning said.

"I'm sorry," Snow said. "I didn't mean to, I was thinking about—"

"But you did it," Lightning accused. "I'm not her. I'm not Serah."

"I know that, I wasn't going to say that," Snow said. He held up his hands submissively and Lightning wondered how she looked to him. Ready to take his head off his stupid shoulders?

"Leave me alone," Lightning said. "Forget this happened. It didn't mean anything."

Snow scowled. "It meant something to me, Lightning. I knew who I was..."

"Kissing?" she finished for him. "I'm not going to do this. I'm not going to be that person. Someone would get hurt, but it won't be me."

She spun on her heel and launched herself through the trees, listening as he stomped after her. She knew she was quicker and didn't slow, pushing herself harder and faster. He wasn't a runner like she was, wasn't a flicker of light in the sky. She was a spring wound too tight, needing to release her energy. The sound of pursuit grew softer and softer until only her footfalls in the brush reached her ears.