~004~ The White Room
Vanille wasn't one to really make wishes. In fact, she more or less just liked to close her eyes and think of happier times and that usually was enough to get her through the hardest of times. Even when she and Fang reverted back from crystals adn were separated, she pretended that they were back in Oerba so many years ago with all of their family.
She didn't even know how many years had gone by. Two hundred? Maybe three? It didn't matter to her. Back in Oerba before they were l'Cie was the best time in Vanille's life and always the first memories that she thought of when she was sad and lonely.
But when she managed to find her way into the White Room; a beautiful forest with those flowers that only grew in Oerba. Yes, it looked so much like the Steppe that she felt that she was almost home! She had to be! Excitement overcame her and she ran further into the 'forest' to pick some of the flowers...
Then she saw the well. She stopped dead in her tracks to get a closer look at it and decided that it would be best not to touch it. Something wasn't right. Circling the object like a vulture, she studied it carefully. It looked like something from a fairy tale and the fact that it was prompting her to make a wish, she even batted around the idea that she was dreaming. A quick pinch of her arm proved otherwise.
Tapping her lip with her finger, she whispered, "a wish..." It was too tempting. She had to think about it long and hard first, of course. She knew that there were tricks and deceit behind every mysterious sign such as this and didn't want something horrible to come out of it.
She sat down and crossed her legs, resting her elbows on her knees and thought. After several minutes went by, she finally had it. Dusting the dirt and grass off of her legs and skirt and walking over to the well, she touched the brick carefully just to make sure it was real. It was. With a long inhale and exhale, she closed her eyes and wished for the one thing that she truly did want.
Everyone to be safe. Everyone to be with her and safe.
It was simple enough yet she meant each and every word with her whole heart. She saw people all the time but she couldn't deny the fact that she was getting very lonely. Being such a social creature, she needed to be around people... she needed to make sure that the other l'Cie were safe as well. She brought them into the whole l'Cie mess to begin with and she felt it her duty to make sure that they were safe. Or... at least protect them in whatever way she could.
All that was left was to wait. It was a rather demanding wish, so she needed to leave and try to keep her mind off of it the best that she could. Maybe go find some cute jewelry shops or something along those lines... accessories made her happy and could distract her for a bit of time. That is, until she stumbled across that would look great on Fang! A new necklace that would bring out the color of her eyes, or a cute new pair of earrings...
When she stumbled across that room again, she was mesmerized by the flowers from Oerba. She knew that she was in the same room from before, but the flowers were definitely pretty and she forgot to pick some the last time. With a satisfied hum, she bent over to make sure that the blossom she was looking at was perfect... and then noticed something out of the corner of her eyes.
The flower was instantly forgotten and she half ran, half walked over to what she saw. Fang, Snow, Lightning, Hope, Sazh, and even Serah and Dajh! But they were plushies! It wasn't... exactly what she wished for, yet she squealed and held them all close to her chest in the form of a big hug. Sazh even had a little chocobo perched on his head and Dajh had one in his hands! Lightning had that serious look on her face, Snow looked like he hadn't shaved in days (per usual), and Fang had that smirk on her lips that Vanille knew all too well. It was a glorious gift and she was so happy. The only thing that could've made her happier was to hug the real people.
Closing her eyes as she clung tightly to the dolls, she whispered, "thank you." It was all she could say.