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[ ( Evening of the 8th )

It's not until well into Thursday afternoon that Lightning makes a reappearance to the 'public.' That said, it would be hard to pinpoint anything's wrong at all for those who don't know her fairly well, save for a sort of distant demeanor- evident in her averted gaze and too-smooth voice.

She's sitting on a beach in her transmitted video, but it's not Luceti's beach, given it's clearly night where she is, in contrast to the real sun still shining away cheerfully outside. ]

I'm looking for people wanting to spar-- maybe help me test something. Weapons, hand-to-hand, anything. Send me a message. Or just come to the battle dome.

[ "-- I don't care." There's a short pause, while she briefly taps her fingers on her knee, tries to think of anything else worth mentioning.... ]

Magic is a bonus too, if you've got it.

[ And then there's an abrupt end to the 'feed' once again. Anyone who doesn't catch her message or decides to just go ahead and wander over to the battle dome will find her fiddling with the simulation controls, armed with an unusual, bulky weapon - looking somewhat like some sort of gun - hanging holstered behind her hips.

... No, there's really no words for how much pain she's in right now, but perhaps distraction may help. In any case, no matter how much she sometimes seems set on it, she knows quite well by now that cutting herself off has a very low chance of making her feel any better. If nothing else, this is at least worth a try. ]

Action; House 41; morning and onwards of the 22nd.

[ The calendar used in Luceti might be noticeably different than that of Cocoon's, but the way Lightning-- or rather, her friends seem to figure, since her previous birthday was roughly a month before her arrival last November... a Saturday in 'October' seems about as good a time as any to acknowledge somehow making it to twenty-two years of age.

She's really not looking for an outright party or anything, but after some stubbornness-filled discussion, the woman's reluctantly agreed to... well, what she'd likely do anyway: focusing on just having a relatively good day in general. That may or may not include humoring her housemates by dragging them around town to just Do Stuff too, though. Maybe indulge in just a little bit of the sort of food she tends to refrain from? Who knows.

After rolling out of bed and showering, it doesn't take her long to gather up Baldr and start looking into obtaining breakfast, studiously trying to put herself in a good mood. In other words, not thinking about how awful a year before now (and the events directly following it) turned out to be...

Of course, the problem is... coincidence is a tricky thing in a place like Luceti. Is she ever allowed to forget about anything for very long here? ]

Video/Action; plaza center/fountain; late afternoon of the 23rd.

Your moon... looks strange today.

[ Your moon because it's certainly not her moon, a sentiment that's quite obvious from the odd, tense quality to the woman's tone of voice. All things considered, with her homeworld's unknown status, her floating land's distinctly moonlike appearance as it hangs over the planet below, and most importantly, since it's pretty damn hard to forget the day after her twenty-first birthday being the one where she lost her sister and became 'fated' to tear Cocoon down out of the sky... she's understandably pretty tuned into any celestial objects' condition. Especially since it's currently the day following the one that, as a l'Cie, she never expected to reach.

As such, there's a looong pause, apparently thoughtful as she looks up at the sky. And then, randomly: ]

... How are you supposed to 'get over' something in the past, when it's still tainting what's supposed to be good?

[ -- Wait, no no no, asking that kind of thing? Not something she normally does at all, particularly over the journal or in front of strangers. Naturally, now it's too late, however. She aims a frowning Look towards her journal, then at anyone who might have heard from where she's sitting on the fountain. Her voice turns quiet and dry as she shakes her head, a hint of dark sarcasm sneaking in. ]

Why do I get the feeling something bad's about to happen anyway?

[ It's really just the icing on the cake that, after everything's that happened to Lightning here- trapped away from her home, failing her Focus by force, conscripted to fight in a war she has little stake in, turning Cie'th on the battlefield of all things... she's finally returned to Luceti, not a week following her eventual death like what's supposed to happen, but ten days after the fact instead. It's not as bad as it could be, of course, but it's definitely enough to cause worry in a way she really wouldn't approve of at all.

And not only that, but it's raining as well. It's quickly approaching evening, and huge drops are heard landing heavily on the pages of a 'recording' journal laying open somewhere outside... and then suddenly a shriek- not unlike another one heard two weeks earlier, although this time it's localized not far from the center of the village. A minute later, and anyone then paying attention to this particular 'video' will get treated to a rather erratic view of the sky, an overhead structure of some kind in passing, and the occasional fleeting glimpse of Lightning, wearing a white dress and with most of her hair plastered wetly to her face.

There's also the sound of ripping, as someone in a state of acute distress begins tearing the pages out of said journal in handfuls. Overlaid on that is the sound of heavy, uneven breathing, what sounds suspiciously like the occasional sob, and-- ]

Stop it. Stop it!

[ ... Obviously, Lightning is not well right now- a fact that is not only apparent over the journals, but in person as well. It's certainly not normal for a woman in what looks to be New Feather garb to be sitting in the middle of the school's playground in the rain, hunched over and trying her best to destroy her own journal. Please help? ]