I Swear
Title: I Swear
Pairing: Lightning x Aqua
Summary: "I'll protect you, no matter what." "Lightning-" "No matter what Aqua, I swear."
Rating: T
Warnings: AU , shoujo-ai / girl love , violence
In the middle of Twilight Heart city stands a tall building that houses the most deadly of killers. They work solely for the company Paradigm and always follow the strict orders and guidelines; trained killers to keep the city safe from monsters and other humans. Despite the skeletons the company hides in its closet, the people in the city live a rather blissfully unaware life of what happens on the streets at night. This is all thanks to the units that sneak furtively throughout the city and towards their targets, destroying them without much if any alarm. The company’s main unit, the Commando unit, resides in the higher floor of their building, housing them and training them to peak performance for every mission is harder than the last.
x.x.x.x
A young woman, the third member of the Commando unit, stands inside her shared room with one of her other teammates. The room itself is quite large and split in half between them, each having their own bathroom as well. It had previously been a large shared office space and the higher ups didn’t want to put the time into building straight down the middle, not that either of the two mind anymore. In the middle of the white room is that of a desk that holds the information that is shared between them and their other comrade, the only thing in the room that the two women truly share.
Aqua leans against the desk that occupies her and Lightning’s room, the mission’s detailed papers scattered over the top of it. Her swirling pools of sapphire skim over each page as she swallows hard. Despite how capable her unit is, she knows that this mission is not one for the weak. Her unit is possibly one of the strongest that Paradigm has designed; Lightning, a.k.a. Army of One, excels in swordplay and offensive magics. Terra, a.k.a. Earth Shaker, makes up for his complete lack of magical ability for his strong attacks and endurance. This leaves herself, Aqua, a.k.a. Dancing Waters, secures her teammates with her expert skill in defensive magics and fluid swordplay.
She reaches up to brush her short blue hair back behind her ear, letting her equally blue eyes wander away from the paperwork.
She sighs lightly and turns around, a soft gasp escaping her lips.
Her roommate, teammate and friend stands before her with the confidence and pride of a lion. The woman’s stealth has allowed her to sneak up on Aqua more than once since their training together for Paradigm. Their attire almost matches completely as per the regulations of the company. Both women were shortly cropped deep black shorts that seem to cling to their milky skin. Aqua’s shorts reach just past her thighs while Lightning’s stay partly hidden underneath an equally short brown skirt. To match her brown skirt, Lightning wears a light brown, zip-up turtleneck and fingerless gloves. Around her neck rests a lightning bolt pendant on a silver chain, given to her by her deceased sister before she had come to Paradigm. Aqua’s shirt leaves her arms bare just as Lightning’s does, except hers reaches from her bodice and wraps around her neck in the form of a halter top. No straps lay over her shoulders and her back is completely bare till halfway down where the shirt begins once again.
Around Aqua’s on waist is a half skirt, open in the front, that attaches to her shorts with the means of the white cloth around the top trim of the fabric which slips through the belt loops. Black stockings reach up to her knees with her feet sheathed into a pair of black ankle boots. This is while Lightning’s brown boots stretch well up to her knees; steel-toed with a nice size heel on the bottom. The straps crossing over them frequently have a dagger attached to them, her backup weapon just in case her saber is lost from her grip.
Lightning tilts her head to the side, pale pink hair shifting over above her eyes ever so slightly, the rest pulled over her shoulder. Light ocean eyes meet with Aqua’s blazing sapphire in what can only be described as a stalemate between the two. Lightning moves first as she places her hand on her hip, “What’s wrong?”
“The mission...it’s a double S-class; the highest danger level.”
“We’ll be fine.”
Aqua pauses over her thoughts, suddenly aware that Lightning is standing not so much as an inch and a half away from her. She takes a step back out of defense from being so close and ends up bumping completely into the desk. Lightning reaches out to grab for her, worried she might fall if not, and ends up grabbing around her back. This forces Aqua up onto the desk as Lightning stumbles forward forcing Aqua’s legs to go on either side as she nearly falls over side. Lightning, now half on top of her comrade, gives a miniscule smile, “You okay?”
“Y...Yeah, I’m fine.”
As the words leave her lips she expects Lightning to move immediately and release the hold she has around her, that hold sliding slowly down her back only for her hand to finally come to rest on Aqua’s hip. “Good,” is all the sign that Lightning gives as she leans forward, always a woman that knows what she wants and will fight the battles to gain it; be it freedom or feelings. Aqua squirms just a hair as her hands come up in a defensive stance just as Lightning eliminates the rest of the distance between them and presses their lips together. Her hands against Lightning’s chest relax almost immediately as her lips mold up against the soldier above her.
Lightning pulls away just enough to let the ends of her hair dangle down beside Aqua’s cheek, which are tinted red from the kiss. “I’ll protect you, no matter what.”
“Lightning-”
“No matter what Aqua, I swear.”
Aqua lowers her eyes to that of Lightning’s lips, unable to squash the uneasy feeling she gets from those words. Instead she does the only thing she can think of. Aqua wraps one leg around Lightning’s waist and trails her hands up to Lightning’s face, slowly pulling themselves back into a gentle kiss.
x.x.x.x
The darkness of the night shrouds the three as they stalk through a side entrance to the towering skyscraper before them. At the head of their unit of three is Lightning, her agile body slipping through the now open door with ease. Aqua hurries in after her, their steps light and fluttering up the stairs compared to Terra’s heavy footfalls. The map remains engrained in their memories as they break out from the current corridor to meet a crossroads; left or right. On cue Terra splits off to the left, his broadsword not so much as clanging against the wall as he prepares for what could be waiting. Aqua turns to Lightning, their eyes briefly meeting and locking. Lightning gives the smallest smile only one Aqua has had the opportunity to see; something that thrusts the courage back into her heart. Without another delay the two of them dart down the hallway and turn down the opposite of the one Terra went down; knowing that far enough down it meet back up into one large room with two elevator shafts.
Just as they get close to the open Lightning suddenly slows, one arm shooting backwards to motion for Aqua to stop immediately. The two women skid into the large square room with alarm at seeing Terra in the middle of it, glaring down at least two dozen men standing before the elevators. Their suits are pure white; from their helmets to their boots. Instead of swords and spears resting in their grips, guns of the highest quality are held level with Terra’s heart. At the appearance of Lightning, with Aqua right behind her, several of the men redirect their guns so that the red beams of light rest on the two females instead; proving that when they pull the trigger, it will hit somewhere vital if defense isn’t taken as a priority. Lightning keeps her eyes glued forward but addresses the blue haired woman behind her, “Throw up shields when you can, just stay out of the fight.”
Just as the words leave her lips Aqua turns around at the sound of footfalls coming up behind them, seeing half a dozen men aiming at them from the direction they had just came as well. Not at all discouraged, Aqua takes up her defensive stance as she faces them. One hand flows outward as the word leaves her lips just in time, “Protect!” Succeeding in deflecting the bullets currently fired, Aqua switches places with Lightning in that split second of reprieve.
Aqua leaves the six men to Lightning as she darts forward into the cube of a room where Terra is already having troubles holding his own against men wielding guns. If anything, he’s succeeded in barreling forward and crashing his broadsword through several men. Aqua tries her best to ignore the blood that spills from their wounds even in the dim lighting overhead, not caring for the liquid despite her occupation. She braces her rapier in her hand and throws up another shield before twirling to the right and launching forward in a handspring. The three men in front of her loose their weapons as the tip of her sword smacks across the bottom of the hands holding the barrel of their guns. Standing close to them she’s able to slam the hilt of her weapon against one of their heads before moving to the next; careful not to mortally wound but only knock them out. As she does she’s able to see several more men pointing guns at her.
Immediately she crouches down; placing her palms against the ground and throwing her leg out to knock against two of theirs before jumping up and knocking the gun out of the third’s hand. A shield goes up just as the fourth man unloads a clip of ammo at her. She can only guess how wide his eyes are from behind the dark visor built into the helmet. Yet she doesn’t waste a beat in spinning around and taking him and the guy behind her out. They crumple to the floor just as she glances over to Terra, seeing how well he’s faring against the last three he’s fighting. His attire shows the evidence of bullets grazing him but taking no effect, his well muscled body still lurching forward and slamming his blade across their torsos; a shower of red hitting the floor. Aqua turns away at the sight and peers over her shoulder to see Lightning running back towards them. Meeting in the center of the room a ding sounds; announcing the elevators have met this floor as well as boots pounding down the other two halls branching off to the left and right alongside them having footfalls resound in them.
Lightning lets her eyes settle on Aqua, seeing how worn she is as well as her own body adorning scrapes and bruises from the tight quartered shuffle she just finished. She waves her hand at Aqua who begins to prepare a magic to heal some of her wounds, “There’s no time. It’s an ambush.”
“Back to the entrance,” Terra agrees as he breaks off to go down the hallway he had come from.
Lightning grabs Aqua’s forearm and tugs her forward into the lead. Aqua doesn’t idle as she takes rapid breaths, sprinting towards the opening of the hallway just as the doors to the elevators open and more guards appear from the side hallways adjacent to the ones they had come from. Her boots thud against the ground as she stumbles past the bodies the bodies strewn against the walls and the guns littering the floor. Aqua lifts her eyes away from the sight and barrels straight for the corner, breathing hard as her hands slide along the wall to brace herself. Just as she gets to the corner she glances back to see Lightning shooting of Ruin at the oncoming soldiers, their vision blinded by the mist it creates from exploding in the small hallway. Turning back to her target she throws up a shield in front of Lightning before making it around the corner, concentrating hard to keep it up as she can feel the bullets reflecting off of it through her link with the magic itself.
Finally it shatters and Aqua collapses down to the floor as her breathing comes out in harsh, rugged pants. Another explosion comes from the hallway she had just abandoned, proving that Lightning is holding her own against the flock of soldiers from Destiny Wielder. She pushes herself back to her feet while leaning heavily on the pale colored wall, the rapier in her hand barely being held up from the tiled floor. Her mind flashes back to the image of all of that blood pooling at the feet of her companions as they seem unfazed at the corpses piling up around them, bullets continuing to be deflected. Despite the fact that they’re well trained, Aqua knows they can’t beat these guys while armed with what she’s heard to be guns.
Her battered body quivers as she closes her eyes for the tiniest of seconds, searching throughout her being to see how much magic energy she has left before the exhaustion knocks her feet out from under her. Cerulean locks stick to the sides of her sweat and dirt scoffed face as enraged battle cries ring in her ears. Her body quivers as she steals herself for the onslaught the loss of energy will do to her if she’s not careful. Taking a deep breath she drags her tongue over her lips, surprised she’s able to wet them enough to purse them together and whistle as shrilly as she can manage in her state.
The magic begins to flow from her body in the form of an invisible shield that stretches to reach the hallway across from her, the way they came in, and to the ends of the hallway she stands in the middle of. Just as the magic falls into place completely she begins to slide down the wall, barely able to keep it up after straining so much to even get it going in the first place. However, before she can hit the floor arms wind themselves underneath her breasts while a leg bends forward to allow her to sit, more appropriately lean, against the one keeping her standing. She glances briefly over her shoulder to ignore the saber resting on her legs.
“Lightning?”
The woman doesn’t dare respond to Aqua, merely glares straight at Terra who stands in front of Aqua. The concerned expression on his face flashes between that and anger, not liking the way Lightning refuses to lower Aqua to the ground. “I’m at my limit; there’s too many of them.”
“They don’t plan to let us leave. If we do they’ll just shoot us as we run.”
Aqua’s hazy eyes glare at Terra for such a blatant comment, never willing to admit the situation is as bad as it is. No, she refuses to let either of her comrades, her friends, die because of a stupid ambush. As she tries to push away from Lightning the barrier protecting them wavers for the tiniest of seconds, but Lightning saw it. She sighs softly and motions with her head for Terra to get closer. “I want you to take Aqua and run. I’ll create a diversion here as long as I can. Just keep her safe.”
Terra visibly stiffens at the clear neglect for his own safety, but hides it quickly with the fact that he’ll be saving the life of the one he cares for more than anyone. A nod is the only signal that Aqua is let to see as she’s suddenly whisked up into Terra’s arms, her sword still clutched tightly in her hand as his own broadsword has been placed in the sheath draped over his back.
“Terra, Lightning... Stop! I’m... fine.”
Lightning doesn’t spare a single glance for the other woman as she steadies the blade in her hand, “Go.”
Terra immediately heads down the hallway they had first come through, surprised that they had been able to retreat back even this far from the third floor that they had been at. As he does Lightning stays in the middle of the hallway; watching as the barrier shatters from the lack of presence from the caster and waiting for the forces to come to her.
x.x.x.x
Aqua holds tight against Terra as he slowly comes to a stop on the bridge leading to the park and civilian area, where homes litter the side of the city. He comes to a stop just in the middle of the white wooden bridge, setting her down and leaning her against the side of the railing. He kneels down beside her, his tan, hakama-like pants stretching against his legs. The skin tight black shirt is what she stays focused on until he kneels completely, his bright blue eyes finally meeting hers. His short brown hair drapes back down the nape of his neck and around the sides of his face. One of his large sun-kissed hands reaching out to caress Aqua’s face until she weakly pushes his hand away.
“Aqua...”
“Terra please, don’t.”
“I love you A-”
“Stop Terra!” Her hands come up to cradle her face, “Please...please leave.”
Terra slowly stands, “But-”
“I’ll get back on my own, just, please leave me alone.”
Her heart tears at having to force him away, her grief at leaving Lightning behind ripping her heart even more. Terra turns his back to her slowly, not quite wanting to leave but not wanting to upset her. Just as he’s vanished from sight Aqua lets the tears trickle from her eyes, burrowing her face into her bare arms scoffed from fighting.
“He calls me mean.” Aqua’s head rises from its position to meet that of Lightning, a little bloody and bruised, but Lightning nonetheless. She props her saber against the railing and sits beside the blue haired woman that has an unbelievable look of joy on her face. “I sword didn’t I?”
Aqua raises her hands toward Lightning who merely grabs them, stopping her from doing any such magic. “You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine, let’s get back.”
As Lightning begins to stand she stumbles, prompting Aqua to jump up to her feet despite the head rush and grab a hold of Lightning. “Never do that again Light, you scared me.”
A smirk graces Lightning’s lips as she allows Aqua to support her, the two beginning to walk home with their swords in hand. “Sure, I promise,” she says softly as she smiles down at the ground, watching her feet walk; the two in perfect silence.