Sample: Spotlight On Me And I'm Ready To Break (Final Fantasy VI)

[tiny_ninja]

Title: Spotlight On Me And I'm Ready To Break
Fandom: Final Fantasy VI

Full fic posted here!

Darill clicked her tongue. “No one wants to go to Vector, love.”

“Want has nothing to do with it,” Celes shot back. “It’s a necessity.”

“And you are sure an airship is the only way?”

“To slip past the city guard? Yes. You can’t just walk in the front door.”

“Dressed like this? A pretty young thing like you?” Darill sighed softly. She brushed Celes’ shoulder with the lightest of touches. “I think you could do whatever you wanted.”

Before she could stop herself, Celes’ hand came up, holding Darill’s wrist. She meant to push the woman away. Instead Darill let her hold her in place. “It’s not that easy.”

“And it’s not that hard.” Darill smiled down at her. “So. The plan was to surprise us, strong arm us into getting you to Vector, and then what?”

The Empire drained espers of their energy and their magic. Failure to stop the Empire could lead to a second War of the Magi. The world wouldn’t survive it. “Then we stop the Empire from the inside out.”

“My, my, we have lofty goals, don’t we?” Her words were teasing, but there was a hard edge in Darill’s eyes. “The Empire is a thorn in everyone’s side, I must admit. There are some of us who choose to live on the edge instead.”

Righteous fire burned inside Celes. She knew what the Empire had done to her, formerly one of their top generals. They left her bound, chained, waiting for the firing squad. Kefka poisoned Doma without a second thought. Celes herself led the charge into Maranda. If she didn’t stand up and fight now, her entire life would be for nothing. “I will do what I must to right the Empire’s wrongs,” she declared. “It will be easier if we had your help.”

“Perhaps.” Darill slipped her hand from Celes’, brushing against the soft skin of her inner wrist. In spite of herself, Celes shuddered. Desire fluttered within her, paired alongside barely controlled fury. “Everything has a price, Celes.”

“Then what is yours?” This was part of negotiating, she reminded herself. Edgar might have thought himself better at it, but Celes couldn’t turn down this opportunity.

Darill stepped into her. Her scent washed over Celes, engine grease and cigarettes with a hint of cinnamon and clove. Celes’ heart beat against her ribcage. “I want to hear you sing,” Darill whispered in her ear.

Even now, Celes couldn’t push the woman away. She rested her hands on Darill’s shoulders instead. “They couldn’t find Maria,” she whispered. “We thought you wouldn’t show if Maria wasn’t here.”