(no subject)

[serahfarronsnow.livejournal.com]

Who: Serah Farron, Snow(?) and Open
What: Waking up somewhere in the Royal Dalmascan Castle
Where: Rabanastre
When: Dusk
Rating: NC-16

The smell of freshly baked bread and hot steaming soup filled Serah's nose. She slowly opened her eyes and sat up rubbing her head. She turned to see a tray of food set aside for her at the table and her own clothes has been neatly folded and placed on a chair. Serah looked at her clothes to find herself wearing a long flowing light pink nightgown and her long pink hair had been let down

"I guess someone must have brought me here." She thought as she slowly got off the huge bed and walked around the room. The huge four poster bed which she had been sleeping on had rather dramatic white silk draped which hung from the top. She went towards the window and opened it for some fresh air. Serah slowly breathed in the fresh air of the evening and admired the sun as it began to set.

She placed her hand on her chest and gently held her necklace tightly.

"Snow." She said aloud.

"Right!" Serah said as she turned around and opened the door. "I'm sure it won't harm anyone to look around!"

She slowly crept out of the room and walked down a huge and long corridor. She tried opening the doors to the other rooms there but they all seemed locked.

"Oh well since all of them are lock I guess I better get back to my room then." She thought as she turned around. "Problem is..... which is the way to my room?"

Comments

[icy-hot-touches.livejournal.com]

A maid stumbled when Serah turned around, having been instructed to keep an eye on the pink-haired young woman, "Miss, you mustn't wander around at night in your condition! Come along, I'll see you to your room, you almost caught your death of cold out there. Thankfully Lord Snow found you.. you were near to your end as it was." the maid bustled Serah back towards the rooms she'd been given.

[serahfarronsnow.livejournal.com]

"A...Ah? Oh..ok." Serah managed to reply as she was pushed by the maid into the room she was given.

She sat down near the window and looked out. The people of this new place she was in seemed to be preparing for some kind of celebration of some sort.

"Seems like it's probably gonna be a lot of fun." Serah thought. "But I guess I can't go out since I'm being watched closely."

Her long pink hair drifted gently flowed as the a gentle breeze blew.

"How long has it been.. Snow?" She asked herself thinking that no one would hear her.

[icy-hot-touches.livejournal.com]

The maid hadn't left once Serah was in her room, but it wasn't as if she wasn't going to answer the woman. "Lord Snow no longer resides in this palace, Miss. If you wish to speak with him, his residence is in Lowtown, down in the city." she curtsied, and smiled slightly, "Your clothing and other items are in that chest," she indicated an iron-bound, wooden affair across the room, "I am the only one instructed to watch over you, and.. it happens that I am quite tired. I may fall asleep while you get ready."

With a little smile, the young woman settled onto a chair, and made a show of stretching, and yawning.

[serahfarronsnow.livejournal.com]

Serah smiled and took her blanket and rapped it on the maid.

"Thank you." She said.

Serah then walked over to her window ans stared out at the night sky. "Miss?" Serah asked as she sat down on a chair next to the window. "Is there some kind of special celebration today? Looks like there's going to be a fireworks display tonight."

[icy-hot-touches.livejournal.com]

The maid nodded, "Oh, yes. Lord Rasler has returned, and claimed his place at Queen Ashelia's side once more. The kingdom is getting ready for the celebration, especially here in Rabanastre."

[serahfarronsnow.livejournal.com]

Serah smiled and took a sip of her water. "I see. He must be some guy. Her husband I guess." Serah said as she breathed in the cool scent of the night. "So.. what is Snow's relation with Queen Ashelia?"

[icy-hot-touches.livejournal.com]

The maid shrugged softly and leaned back in her chair, "For a time, Lord Villiers and Queen Ashelia were to be wed, but ultimately Lord Villiers left Rabanastre to fulfill some mission he was always vague about. He returned recently, though, and while he doesn't seem to bear either the Queen or King-in-Waiting any malice, I do not understand why he remains in the city. Personally, were I him, I would have left immediately, especially in the wake of this Judge Ralse character." the maid shuddered, "The most ghastly killings are happening in Lowtown, Miss, he could be hurt!" it was obvious that Snow was still well-liked.

[serahfarronsnow.livejournal.com]

Serah turned around and stared at the maid. "I need to go and find Snow." she said. "There are things I need to talk to him about. Things I need to know. Things I have to know."

Serah placed her hand against her heart. She needed to find out how he still felt about her after all this time.

[icy-hot-touches.livejournal.com]

"Didn't you hear me? There's killings happening in Lowtown, a little thing like you can't just go.. wandering around!" the maid frowned, staring at Serah like she was, well, simply insane. "What if -you- got killed, looking for him? I'm sure Lord Villiers wouldn't enjoy hearing that news, I'll tell you what."

[serahfarronsnow.livejournal.com]

"So what am I supposed to do?" Serah said as she sat down feeling defeated. "I can't just sit around waiting for a miracle to happen."

[icy-hot-touches.livejournal.com]

"Wait until morning. The Rogue Judge hasn't struck during the day, and Lord Villiers can often be found helping the people of Lowtown as best he can. The man is a saint, when those children are concerned." the maid seemed to admire Snow, and perhaps that was why she was doing him that favour.

[serahfarronsnow.livejournal.com]

Serah smiled and sat down on her bed. "He really must be some guy." She said. Her eyelids were beginning to get heavy, and before she knew it she had fallen asleep.

[serahfarronsnow.livejournal.com]

Serah woke up the next morning bright and early. She looked at her clothes and frowned. "I need to find some other clothes to blend in with the crowd." She said to herself as she rummaged through the closet to find something suitable and comfortable to wear during her stay in Dalmasca.

She finally settled in for a cream colored bikini looking top with lots of golden beads sewn at the bottom of the top, a pair of puffy looking pants and a pair of simple golden slippers. She wore a pair of golden hoop earrings and golden bangles adorned both her wrists. Serah smiled and did a little twirl around in her outfit. Her outfit reminded her of her friend Oerba Dia Vanille.

Serah neatly tied up her hair into her usual side ponytail and adjusted her necklace.

She left a note in case someone came looking for her.

"Alright. I'm ready." She said as she slowly opened the door and walked outside. Her bangles jingled softly as she walked around the castle.

After asking a few servants, Serah finally managed to find the way out of the castle and began to explore the streets of Rabanastre.

[icy-hot-touches.livejournal.com]

Snow sighed as he leaned against a wall, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. Since he'd gone and come back, he didn't know what to do with himself during the day, beyond helping out the people of Lowtown as best he could. In the evenings, Judge Ralse prowled, and he was needed less and less, as people began to realize that, well, crime didn't pay. Crime caused a visit from a murderous man in armor, who pinned corpses to walls as a grim reminder of what awaited those who crossed him.

The thought brought a vicious smirk to his lips, which he quickly replaced with a cheery smile, waving to someone he knew. "Hey Paulo!" he crossed the road easily enough, avoiding a surly Bangaa, and several Seeq, "How's the wife?" and with that, the two men were talking jovially, with much gesturing and such.

[serahfarronsnow.livejournal.com]

Serah walked around the markets of Rabanastre awed and amazed by the liveliness and vibrancy of this now found land.

"I guess I blend in well." She said to herself and twirled around. She heard music playing from nearby musicians, and before she knew it, she began moving and dancing to the music. A crowd of people began to crowd around her as she danced like she's never danced before. She enjoyed the attention and continued dancing.

"Well a little fun couldn't harm right?" She thought to herself as she took her scarf and playfully danced around a man as the coins around her waist chimed and rang with the movement of her hips

[serahfarronsnow.livejournal.com]

Serah stopped dancing and realized that she was actually supposed to find Snow. People were throwing gold coins at her and cheering loudly. Serah smiled and thanked the crowd before picking up the coins and quickly walking off to find Snow.

While she was walking around, she saw a poor orphan boy be3gging on the streets for money. Filled with sympathy and pity, she went up to the boy and gave her half her earnings. "You need it more than I do." She said with a smile and hugged the boy before continuing her journey to find the man she loved.

[icy-hot-touches.livejournal.com]

Snow spoke animatedly with that Paulo fellow, laughing and jesting with him, just two normal folks living in Rabanastre. "Come now, Snow, you have to move away from Lowtown! My wife's brothers are moving to Archadia, which leaves their trading post open for purchase. I'm sure, with your history, the Queen would see fit to grant you the deed." good friends indeed, but Snow shook his head.

"No, no Paulo.. the kids down in Lowtown, well, they need someone to help them out. They'll live just fine on their own, but they're unseen to most.. The Queen understands their plight, and I am certain that Lowtown will soon see some improvement beyond my own, and Doctor Citan's, presence." he clapped Paulo on the shoulder, "I won't say no to her lemon loaf, though.." a sheepish grin, "I'm a big sucker for Marie's baking."

[serahfarronsnow.livejournal.com]

Serah sheepishly walked around. She had been walking for what seem lied hours to her and she was beginning to get really tired.

Serah looked around worriedly and wondered if she took the wrong turn to Lowtown.

"I did exactly what that woman told me to do but why do I get a bad feeling?" Serah asked herself as she continued walking.

[icy-hot-touches.livejournal.com]

Snow hummed on his way back to Lowtown, a small bundle of bags carried in one hand, and a cotton roll over his shoulder, a blanket covered with intricate stitching. "Not a bad day, really." he laughed to himself, strolling without a care, or at least looking like he didn't have a care.

"Huh.. who the hell?" he thought he saw a girl that looked like Serah, but that was crazy. He'd seen her the other day and had the girl taken to the palace, but had dismissed it as chance; there were plenty of people in this world, and Serah was still in her crystal slumber. He'd seen her himself only recently. Pausing to look again, he raised a brow, "Serah?"

[serahfarronsnow.livejournal.com]

Serah looked around when suddenly she was cornered by 3 men.

"Hey there cutie." One of them said. "Here to have some fun?"

A slight frown tugged on her pale pink lips. She had a really bad feeling about this.

"Excuse me, but I would appreciate it if you would please leave me alone." She said firmly trying not to sound as fearful as she was.

The men laughed. "You seem lost." One of them said. "Yeah you looking for someone or some place to go?" One of the other men said as he tugged on her top wile the other man held her arms above her head and pinned her against the wall.

Serah tried to scream but the man whom she assumed to be the leader covered her mouth. "Why don't you be a good girl and just keep quiet. I promise I'll be VERY gentle." He whispered into her ear as he licked her earlobe.

Serah then bit the man had and spit on his face. "Why you little wench! You'll pay for that!" He exclaimed as he crushed himself against her fragile and slim frame pinning her in between the wall and him. The other two men just simply laugh as they began to tear her clothes apart.

"Snow!!" Serah cried out in distress as warm tears fell down her rosy pink cheeks.

[icy-hot-touches.livejournal.com]

Snow blinked, and sighed slightly when he saw three thugs assaulting who he'd thought to be Serah. He set his bags and the rolled blanket against a wall, and approached the group, who were all seemingly engrossed in their prize. Close up, he could tell it was Serah, and a few months earlier in his life, Snow would have gone ballistic and just laid these idiots out.. but he was a different person now, a reasoning man who thought things through and operated with tact.

"S'cuse me fellas." he cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders, then seized two by the throats with his arms, letting himself fall backward. His weight carried the two to the ground, and he threw his legs back over himself as he hit, grinding the two against the dusty earth and rising to his feet. A quick series of rather brutal kicks stilled the two, leaving the impression that the two might be good and dead, "Ah, there we go. Much more manageable."

He smiled pleasantly, even after his bloody entrance, "Come now, you really don't want to continue with that course of action, do you?" he tilted his head, raising an inquiring brow.

[serahfarronsnow.livejournal.com]

Serah hugged herself and knelt down in a corner cringing with fear. Flashbacks on how she got crystallized came back to her as she remembered saying good-bye to him for what she thought was the last time.

She tried to cover her almost half naked body with her hands and wept. How could she let Snow see her like this. She slowly looked and observed Snow's actions.

There was something different about Snow. He was a changed man. Just then Serah remembered what the maid at the castle had said about the Queen's relationship with Snow.

"He's....moved on." Serah whispered to herself as her vision of the man she loved was blurred out by her tears.

Not wanting him to see her in this state, Serah stood up with all the strength.

"Thank you....Snow." She said as she turned and ran away.

[icy-hot-touches.livejournal.com]

The man and Snow stood there rather dumbfounded for a moment when Serah simply ran away from them. Her assailant opened his mouth to speak, though Snow didn't give him time to say anything, dropping him with a solid punch in the throat. Rolling his eyes, he didn't have time for dramatics right then, he flung out a hand, freezing the air in front of Serah into a curved wall of ice that stretched from wall to wall, blocking the way out into the street.

"Now then." he stooped to retrieve his things, and walked over to Serah with a reassuring smile, "You've almost been through something terrible, Serah, why don't you put this on," he held out the blanket, "And come with me, hm? I'll see about getting you some clothes that don't make you stand out like.. that, a hot meal might help." he wasn't asking, no.. the tone he spoke with had the note of command to it, as if he wouldn't brook hesitation or reluctance to obey. "Come on."

[serahfarronsnow.livejournal.com]

Serah looked at at Snow. Millions of questions filled her mind at she stared into those familiar eyes. But... she didn't know where to start.

She remained silent and stood up to follow Snow with the blanket wrapped tightly around her. She felt like an empty vessel without a soul. She never felt so empty in her life. As she slowly looked at Snow away a single tear slowly fell from her eyes.

"Come on Serah. You're much stronger then that. Stop crying!" She thought to herself as she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.

She needed to clear things out with him no matter what. Serah had already prepared herself for the worst.

[icy-hot-touches.livejournal.com]

Snow glanced back over his shoulder, and nearly sighed. The woman was being.. well, far too overdramatic, just standing there with that forlorn expression. The man rolled his shoulders and continued on his way, leading her to his house.

"What are you doing, wandering about Rabanastre, dressed like that? Do you even have a dagger? There are thugs, lowlives, and rapists out here, just waiting for an easy mark like you!" he sounded almost angry with her, "You're a l'Cie, Serah, back on Cocoon every single man and woman would have feared you, and been out for your blood, and you're not even armed out here."

Eventually they made it to his house, sparse though it was. He let her go, and unlocked the door, swinging it open ahead of her, "Go on in, get cleaned up."

[serahfarronsnow.livejournal.com]

Serah silently walked in and lifelessly stood there staring into space.

Her eyes were red from the tears she had cried and her mind all a blank as she undid her ponytail and let her long pink tresses fall behind her back.

She then took off the necklace Snow had once given to her. "It would be useless to keep it now." Serah thought as she held onto the necklace tightly.

She slowly turned to face Snow and just avoided looking at him in the eyes and stared at the floor instead.

[icy-hot-touches.livejournal.com]

Snow huffed outside, wrenching open a small bin in the shadow of his stoop, placing his vegetables inside for now, to keep them cool and secure outside the house. He replaced the lock, and hung the key on it's hook inside, closing the door behind him.

"You're looking well." he spoke amiably, closing the door behind him as he entered. His trenchcoat was on a peg on the wall, "Well, except for the whole wandering around Rabanastre dressed like a tramp thing. You could have been hurt!" he had moved on, but he still counted her as a friend of his, "Why don't you have anything on you for protection?" he knelt beside his bed, and tugged a case out from under it, tossing it on the bed and flipping it open. Inside were daggers of a few different styles, along with oil and stones for care, "I ain't gonna be in Rabanastre much longer, and if you keep up this helpless waif thing, you're just gonna get killed for nothin'. You can have these."

[serahfarronsnow.livejournal.com]

Serah held out her hand to him. Her heart was already breaking but she didn't want Snow to know. She had to stand her ground and remain strong no matter what.

"I...I..." Serah began. "I came to give this back to you."

Channeling Philoctetes~!

[icy-hot-touches.livejournal.com]

He waved a hand, and frowned, raising a brow, "Really, I don't think taking that course is best, Serah." he sighed, and pinched his brow. The man still wore the necklace he'd given her, and had only taken it off while Ashelia hadn't worn the necklace of wedding rings meaningful to her and Rasler. "I might not wish what I did in the past, and indeed things have changed while you slept, but that hardly puts me out of reach as your friend." he reached in his pocket, and placed a key on the table, along with a gil pouch, and a folded slip of paper.

"The house and cash are yours, since you really don't have a place right now. Lightnin' will turn up soon, I'm letting her know you're here, especially.." he looked her over and shook his head softly, "Since you don't seem prepared to be on your own."

Snow could tell she was hurt, but he had been prepared to be a King, to take the hurt of a nation into himself, and remain strong for those who needed him to be. That didn't just melt away because of a pair of big googoo eyes. "Look, Serah.. I know you're hurt, and I'm sorry.. but the fact is, I'm not the same person I was back then." he never referred to his old life by any other means, "When I woke up on Bikanel Island, I didn't know anything. The Al Bhed took me in and.. tyssed, drec ec rynt.. Well, they re-raised me. So much has happened even since -then- that, well, I figured out who I was along the way, but.." how could he put it, so that she would know he really was changed?

"E's hu ranu. I'm no-one's hero, Serah." he could be hopeful, idealistic, even.. But when he'd gone to see the place he'd come from, supposedly even helped to save, he didn't see how he could ever call himself something like that.

Re: Channeling Philoctetes~!

[serahfarronsnow.livejournal.com]

Serah shook her head in disbelief and turned around with her back facing Snow. Her heart was slowly breaking but she couldn't show it to snow. Her worst nightmare had come true. As mush as she didn't want to admit it, it was true.

Serah held the pendant Snow had given to her a long time ago. It glistened under the moonlight. It was her only memory she would have of Snow.

"I guess... it was foolish of me to think that I could live in this fantasy that I would be happy when I was with you." She said. "But it was nothing but a mere fantasy which I only dreamed would last forever."

Warm tears slowly flowed down her soft cheeks as her tell fell on the pendant which was on the palm of her hand. She clearly had no reason of keeping it now that the only man she even wanted to be with had already moved on. It would only make her feel worse. But she felt so lost and alone.