Lina stood outside on the balcony, frustrated with herself. This shouldn't get to her, she had other things to worry about. Then again, she herself had admitted to Cloud that she had fallen in love when she knew now that that was supposed to be impossible. Why had she said that? Did she really love him? Of course she did, in every way, but her fate bound her to this pain. This torment of knowing and loving but not having.
"Heeeeeey," she heard from behind her. Lina turned around very slowly and saw Yuna, Rikku, and Paine standing in the doorway. "Watcha doin here all by your lonesome self?" Rikku asked. Lina smiled a little bit and wipes the tears from her eyes.
"Affair with the moon," she joked. "He can't get enough of me." They giggled and came to the railing with her, leaning over and gazing down at the night panorama, city lights pressed against a starlit horizon. "Nah, I'm feeling down."
"Well, what are your friendly neighborhood Gullwings for!" Yuna laughed. "is it the boy, Lina?" Lina looked up a little surprised, how did she know? Yuna must have read her mind because Yuna immediately smiled knowingly soon after, a peaceful gaze in her eyes. "I could tell by the tension between you two back in Spira. The best advice I can give you is just to be happy. There's nothing better you can do for yourself."
"What if," Lina started, cocking her head a bit to the side to get a good look at Yuna. "What if I can't be happy? And it was my decision to begin with?" Yuna smiled a little bit, but her eyes looked sad, devastated. She was recalling now, and Lina felt guilty for making the memories fly back to her, but Lina needed her opinion right now. It was crucial.
"There will always be sacrifices made," Yuna said. "But...if no one is happy from it, then it is not worth it." Lina nodded a bit, gazing back out into the distance where a night critter galloped across a common pathway in the scattered moonlight. "And if it's something you have to do, then... follow your heart." She closed her eyes when she said this, then opened them away, a sad smile on her face.
At that moment, Tidus came charging in their direction, arms wide open and yelling, "I think someone needs a hug!!!" Lina saw him coming, but had no time to avoid him. He charged towards her and wrapped his arms tightly around her. For the first time Lina could ever recall, she didn't fight back. She held him just as tightly and enjoyed the security of his embrace, feeling a warmness reaching out from her heart. "Whoa there, horsey. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you might actually kind of like me."
"What makes you think that?" Lina joked, her voice soft and broken, tears springing from her eyes. She finally let go of him and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, leaving little snail trails of hurt across her hands. "Sorry...emotional day. I didn't mean to get all touchy-feely with you." Tidus cheerful laugh resonated through Lina's ears and struck a heartstring. She felt like crying with happiness.
"Stop this emo-kid stuff," he said. Lina smiled very subtly. Her heart still felt weak, her arms light and eyes puffy. She felt so vulnerable in every way possible. "Really, kid. If you want to win, you gotta play the game, show them all you got!! You gotta fight!"
"I feel like you're prepping me for blitzball or something," she joked, and the others laughed. "No, but you're right. I just need a play, Captain." She looked up at him, smiling brightly.
Ten minutes later, Lina returned to the ballroom, flinging the doors open on their hinges with much struggle in the shyness of her heart. She flounced to the stage, ignoring the curious stares of tentative students around her--Zell included--and headed straight for Dan who as soon as she approached asked, "You okay?"
"I'm good," she knew Zell was watching her every move. It sparked a bit more attitude in her actions, like: this is for you, bitch. "Next song, Fighter by Christina Aguilera." Dan looked a little surprised, his eyes widened, pupils clearly dilated, and his mouth ajar just a bit. He saw in her firm gaze that there was no changing her mind. She'd get back in the "game" and this song was the strategy, her floor plan, guidelines.
Scott, who'd joined the group on stage started playing the music on the keyboard and Lina said calmly into the microphone, "After all you put me through, you think I despise you, but in the end, I want to thank you. Because you made me that much stronger." Her eyes focused on Zell. She'd make her play convincing, eyes narrowing as she thought this. Her composed herself, posture straight and direct. It was the only way she'd guarantee herself the win. "Well I thought I knew you, thinking that you were true. Guess I, I couldn't trust, caught your bluff time is up cause I've had enough." Dan focused on the electric guitar and Seifer followed along when necessary, Karen in the back on the drums.
Zell was hurt. He felt something inexplicable explode inside of himself. He wanted to reach out to Lina, to stop her from this campaign of madness-grab her by her slender shoulders and shake some sense into her. He wanted Lina to tell him, reassure him this was all just a bad dream because he'd noticed the greatest difference in her outfit from the second she stepped into the room: her necklace was gone. The very necklace he'd spent hours pondering over and meticulously picking out was now gone from around her neck, and Zell felt its loss like a painful toll on his spirit.
Lina carried on with the song, greatly determined to make her transition to a "fighter" plausible. In the middle of her performance, Rikku, Yuna, Tidus, and Paine had jumped into the center of the dance floor and done a dance routine as they had so hurriedly planned.
It did its job, the song, the lyrics, the declaration of independence from Zell. Everything played its part. She'd show no more weaknesses to anyone.