Title: Infinity
Author: keadeblue264
Pairing: Caius/Lightning
Summary: A collection of moments on the timeless shores of Valhalla. Caius/Lightning.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XIII-2 belongs to Square Enix. I make no monetary profit from this fiction. This written work is my own and may not be copied or reposted elsewhere and permission will not be given for either.
Warnings/Notes: Uh. Angry Lightning?

Please enjoy.

He had insulted her before they kissed for the first time.

It wasn't an outright jibe. His words were used carefully, eloquently concealing but not covering all the way. She could tell it was an insult just by looking at his face. It seemed all Caius ever wanted to do was get a rise out of her, make her fight him harder, crawl under her skin just enough to make the force of her blows more deadly in response.

Lightning could see his thoughts swirling in his eyes whenever they did battle. He thought her efforts useless, thought her resolve lesser than his own. And it gave him some kind of silent amusement regardless. He was like the parent watching their child attempt a feat but knew they would ultimately fail. Except, there would be no hushed words of comfort or assurances that there would always be a second chance when the failure finally did come.

If she did lose for good, if the final result was not a draw, that would be it. Caius wouldn't allow her a second attempt. Nothing she could do would change it.

All the same, the insult bit at a raw nerve with blunt teeth. He'd meant for that one to sting more than any other previously thrown before. Her eyes narrowed at him, the stirrings of anger already rising its way up her throat like hot bile from her stomach. It burned in a way that was familiar, almost normal. She'd spent years being angry before her arrival to Valhalla.

Caius more infuriatingly had a knack of knowing what she was thinking without her having to ever say it aloud. It angered her even more how he seemed privy to her mind. A smirk tugged at his lips, one she hated with everything she had, and it was challenging. He wanted her to do something, say something in protest.

But she waited. He would make a move sooner or later, and she would have the satisfaction of knowing she retaliated when he attacked first. Caius always was the first to strike, and Lightning wanted to keep it that way. If anything, it made her defenses stronger, gave her more opportunity to form an attack plan.

Something changed. His face grew blank, unreadable, as if his intentions were rewritten in a language difficult to understand or decode. Lightning could never say she truly knew what was going on in his mind, but the situation was suddenly unnerving. She knew nothing about what her opponent's next move would be, whether he would attack or leave or maybe even taunt her more.

Time meant nothing in Valhalla. Time had stopped like frozen hands on an old watch. But, even if time meant something and it still moved forward as designed, Lightning would not have gotten enough of it to stop what was going to happen.

Caius grabbed her with both hands, and her immediate reaction to having his mouth come into contact with her own was a sharp breath through her nose. His lips were hard against hers, as if he wanted to hurt her still. His hands were tight around her upper arms, pulling her up against him, his neck craned down to meet her. He was not gentle with her, jerking her around and forcing her as if she were nothing but a rag doll he could easily manipulate without much effort.

By that point, she was so angry, so maddeningly stunned that he would even try this on her, the clench of her jaw was the only outward indication of how she felt about it. It wouldn't have mattered it Caius was her friend or the enemy he in fact was; she didn't take kindly to being treated as such. Her fury was a quiet one seething a flame in her skull, and if she thought she thought he would actually die from it, she would have attempted to snap his neck. Her hands wound into first at his chest. If they were further apart, Lightning would have thrown a punch at his face.

She pushed Caius away roughly, barely resisting the urge to either wipe her mouth off or lick her lips to rid herself of the taste of him. He merely stared at her with the same unfathomable look as before, waiting to see how she would respond. Her breath was labored, body trembling with a rage barely suppressed.

Lightning walked away. Despite how much she wanted to lash out at him for even daring to touch her, she simply walked away. She wouldn't play into his hand if he was resorting to some sort of trickery. It didn't stop her from breaking something with her fist when her feet finally stilled their movement just so some of the tension would leave her body.

Even if she looked out onto the world where time still flowed, Lightning couldn't have measured how long she stayed mad at him. She couldn't recall if her hatred for him had ever been this large and consuming. And she didn't really notice if her swings at him with her gunblade were more violent and forceful than before.

Later, she would look back and wonder why he did it, but that thought was still a long way off.

Author's Notes: I figured it best to take my shorter ideas and just put them together in one ongoing thing. I know there's already a Caius/Lightning collection on this site, but well. My ANs aren't here so I can give my opinion on other stories. Besides, I don't think another collection is going to hurt anything. Please Review.