Maybe five hours later, and the three of them had finally finished their project--modernizing the Suzaku Seven, and really, what a task it was. It seemed like they couldn't get through ten minutes let alone an entire afternoon without Tasuki throwing some kind of fit over now much manlier Nuriko's clothes were compared to his.
"We did it! We did it!" Dan called triumphantly. "They look modern! What a pain in the ass." Dan plopped down on the floor and Karen and Lina dropped right on down with him. What a pain in the ass indeed. The Suzaku lot tried to squish themselves all in front of a small mirror by the closet, pushing and shoving to get a clear view of what they looked like. Nothing much, just modern clothes, which Lina had to admit, really did do justice to their unique looks.
"Alright guys, outta my room!" Lina yelled, joking of course, but jumped to her feet and proceeded to shove them out of the room. "Cafeteria, let's go get food, on my credit. Plenty credit I have anyway." Dan kind of chortled out loud and Karen got to her feet to assist Lina in her tireless endeavor. Slowly, but surely, the lot of them filed out into the hallway and stood in an annoying circle chattering and muttering.
"HEEEADDSS!!!" They all turned for a split second and saw a strangely shaped blue ball hurtling towards them.
Lina, by instinct, was the only that reacted. She leapt into the air and kicked the ball back while flipping. The ball immediately swung back at full force in the direction from which it had came and hit its mark. When she landed her flip, she saw Tidus standing there and rubbing his head, the blitzball rolling slowly away from him. Behind him, Yuna and Rikku, and behind THEM Zell and Carri. Yay, they could just about throw a party.
"OWNED, TIDUS!!" Lina yelled. "At your own game too!! COME ONN!!"
"Well, we're not in the water, so it doesn't count," Tidus said, reaching for the blitzball and safely tucking it under his arm.
"Now that's not very fair," Lina joked, but walked over to greet them with hugs. Yay hugs! Except Tidus. Lina kinda slapped him on the back in place of a hug--that was affection enough for Tidus. "What are you guys doing here?" Meanwhile, everyone else kind of slowly strolled into a circle and made themselves a part of the conversation.
"We came to see how you are, silly girl!" Rikku cheered. "You just ran right out of the house in a second, how were we supposed to say goodbye?" Lina blushed, thanked them for their thoughtfulness, but started to feel uneasy with everyone watching her, so dismissed herself and her friends from the circle off to the Cafeteria.
They sat down for lunch, the lot of them save for The Gullwings and Zell and Carri sat at one table by the entrance. The Gullwings excused themselves from the scene until further notice, and Zell sat himself down rigidly next to Selphie and Irvine, Carri trailing not far behind him. Lina would do her best to disregard the two altogether even though she knew herself it was impossible for someone in her situation to do so.
Instead, Lina focused on what was in front of her, nibbling on some salad while engaging in heartily conversation with her best friends. The lot of them joked around, Tasuki with his harisen claiming he could burn down all of Garden boldly while everyone around him kept a close eye, juniors included. Lina just kind of smiled, refusing to let herself think about Zell. Nope, not happening. He's all the way over there anyway... But was he looking in her direction? Maybe she should look up just to check--wait no! She wouldn't check, she would keep looking in Dan's direction as he proceeded to tell another joke to try and cheer her up. Had she looked though, she would have seen Zell's futile attempt to conceal his interest in their table.
Lina just smiled in Dan's direction, then looked very blankly at her hands. Suddenly, her ears perked up as the familiar clink of metal being cocked to load a bullet resonated in her ears. Suddenly, she shot up from her seat and held an arm up. A bullet shot in her direction quickly dissipated into a translucent shield of light around her forearm. She had the attention of the room--including that of Zell's.
Lina looked hard in the direction from which the attack came, and recognized those slick black uniforms, the flaming red hair--almost as perfectly as it had been in that daydream that felt so real, but so vague and emotionless. She roughly pat Dan and Karen on the back once, calling "Shinra Turks!" then dashed in for the defense. Dan and Karen bolted out of their seats along with Zell, Selphie, and Irvine.
There in the hallway, five or six Turks were armed and prepared for battle. Lina took on the man she'd swore she'd seen somewhere, meanwhile Irvine went right in for the head honcho, and the others all tagged themselves to a body.
Lina didn't realize what she was up against until she actually engaged in battle against the flaming red-haired stranger. His movements were slick like his hair, and his attacks were sharp like his glare. She attempted to kick him in the stomach, but he caught her foot with his hands, taking the recoil with his heels. Lina propelled herself from him nine or ten feet into the distance and stood and examined him for a second. His abrasive behavior along with those blue eyes glaring at her sparked something inside of her. Furthermore, during the confrontation, his general closeness bothered her. He didn't fight like he was just an enemy.
"Where is she?" he finally asked, and suddenly her worst suspicions were confirmed. "WHERE IS SHE?" he repeated with greater ferocity. "ANSWER ME! I KNOW YOU KNOW WHERE SHE IS!" He charged at her, and Lina could only dodge and jump aside, another good ten feet away.
"You can't have her," Lina said firmly. "She doesn't want you, just leave her alone."
"YOU DON'T DECIDE WHAT SHE WANTS OR NOT!" he yelled at her and charged, but Lina blocked him right at impact. "TELL ME." His glare was almost delirious and in no way could Lina decipher what he actually wanted from her, or from the one she was looking for. "SHE NEEDS ME." This enraged her.
Lina ducked and swung her leg out, knocking the red-haired Turk to the ground. Quickly she jumped on top of him and instinctively wrapped her fingers around his throat, her thumbs right at his Adam's apple. "You don't decide what she needs, and you just CAN'T HAVE HER." Their drama had already attracted a scene amongst the others for their foes had already been defeated, while Lina was struggling with futile negotiations. "Don't you think you've done enough?" With an effort, he flung her off. Lina flew back a few yards, but someone caught her by the shoulder. She turned her head and was taken aback at the sight of none other than Cloud Strife with his hand on her shoulder.
Reno stood to his feet and brushed himself off. "She's in Kalm Town," Cloud mumbled to Lina's despair. Reno tossed her one last malicious glare, then turned his nose away, slicking back his flaming red hair. Quickly, he gathered the remainder of the Turks, and the lot of them strutted down the corridor like that entire battle, argument, and conflict was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Without warning, Lina dropped to her knees and covered her heart with her hand. "Why did you tell him, Cloud? Why?" Cloud didn't really respond, just stood there like he does and looked down at her. "He'll find her," Lina said, her hand tightly clasped over her heart. The others--Karen, Dan, Zell, Irvine, and the whole lot of them were watching her, but she completely disregarded their existence for the time being. Her eyes appeared to be looking into the distance, but if anything, they were looking inwardly. "He'll find her," she repeated. "And he'll break her." Tears were almost in her eyes. "And she'll end up right back. Right back where she started."
"Lina," Cloud said. "Not everyone's problem is yours." Lina wished she could honestly believe that, but really, how opposite that statement was from the truth was almost ironic. She closed her eyes for just a moment, then opened them in again, quietly standing to her feet.
"It's just not fair, Cloud," she said. "That she has to feel." She nodded a little to herself, then mustered up a smile and embraced Cloud no matter if he liked it or not. I mean really! Cloud Strife, in all his grandeur, was standing before her. His spiky blond hair was still spiky as can be and his eyes--those two glowing pools of blue--had not changed for they were still mysteriously radiant as ever. His general presence was striking as ever, and, needless to say, his handsome visage was still as attractive to any sane admirer as always.
"What has ever been fair, Lina?" he muttered. Then very quickly, "I'm supposed to warn you." Before, he could say anymore, the ground shook fiercely as Lina saw in at a close distance, a figure soaring towards them in the air.
"I've never done this before," she said quickly to Cloud, glancing at the others. They were stunned, what the hell was going on? "I don't know if I can do it, I don't know if I'll do it right."
"Stop worrying," Cloud said curtly. "All you need to do is find motivation." Lina squinted her eyes a bit, concentrating on the weariness in her bones she'd felt ever since she came back. Of the cold obligation to held that kept her heart throbbing each beat with a different pain each time. Suddenly, her outline began to shimmer and glow.
The sorceress came at full speed, reaching a hand forward towards Lina. Lina jumped and dodged, maneuvering a wave of her hand in the direction of her friends so they were protected from the flying debris of the clash. The sorceress doubled back and charged, but Lina, stood still and awaited her approach, a calm but sad look in her eyes which contradicted the fury she felt raging in her bones. The sorceress came and Lina held both hands out. A flash of light struck down on the sorceress's body and she fell quickly to the floor. Before she could stand, Lina reached down took her by the shoulder.
"You're not this way," Lina said very calmly, and suddenly the sorceress looked stunned. She sat up, but fell back. Lina reached a hand out for her and the sorceress did not respond at first. Finally, only after a good long pause and long look in Lina's sad eyes did she acquiesce her hand to Lina's grasp. Upon their contact, a blinding light flashed from the sky, and like that, the sorceress was gone. Lina stood, facing nothing, hand withdrawn from the handshake and tucked neatly against her chest. Lina turned very calmly to Cloud, and asked him in her usual melodic voice, "How long do you stay for?"
"Not long," he said. Lina nodded, looking sad.
"I've got to have a word with you in private," she said.