Army of One

She was used to fighting alone. It became almost second-nature for her to charge into the fray without backup, only to emerge as the sole victor when all odds seemed to be against her. Her sword, her only ally, would dance in a series of metallic flashes, destroying one enemy after the next, never relenting until she was the last one standing. She was a tool of destruction; a natural-born killer. She was good. Everyone knew it. Everyone took advantage of it.

She didn't mind, though. She just wanted her enemies to feel her pain.

Teamwork

They knew she could handle it. At worst she'd emerge with a few scratches that Vanille could easily heal. Most likely she'd walk away with little more than a few drops of sweat glistening near her temples. If they charged into her fight they only increased the risk of unnecessary injury or wasting valuable energy that they should be conserving for later fights. Why risk all that when she could do it just fine on her own?

These thoughts ran through her mind even as her peripheral vision caught two figures flanking either side of her. Lightning turned her head to the side, surprised to see Sazh and Vanille flanking her, their weapons at the ready.

"I can handle this without your help," she announced, flourishing her blade to make a point.

"We know, Soldier," Sazh said, loading his guns with a grin.

Laugh

Lightning wasn't really one for jokes. Few things were funny to her – most things, in her eyes, were either a threat, a target, or an irrelevant nuisance. Joviality had no place in her black-and-white world.

All that changed when she saw Fang swinging her lance at a man-eating flower, missing, and hitting Snow in the crotch.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed so hard.

Silence

When Hope was unconscious after running off, alone, there were no words suitable for the situation. Lightning sat in the distance with her head in her hands, praying silently that she wouldn't have to bear witness to the loss of yet another loved one.

Sunshine

It had started out as something akin to a joke – she was as far from 'sunny' as you could possibly get. Her sour attitude, straight face, and throbbing jaw helped preserve her reputation. No sense of humor could be found within her, and those lips barely ever parted to form a smile.

Now, though, the joke was just another way to annoy Lightning, which was an enjoyable pastime for Fang. "Hey, Sunshine," Fang grinned as Lightning sat by Snow to eat her diner – Pulse fruit. Lightning's eyes shot up and narrowed when they landed on Fang's smirking face.

With a smug grin Fang took a bite out of her almost-matching dinner. A few minutes later she was behind the bushes a safe distance away, cursing like a drunken sailor who'd just missed his ride out to sea.

Snow was unable to breathe; he was laughing too hard. He managed to choke out, "How'd you switch it?"

"Skill," Lightning shrugged, taking a bite out of her non-toxic main course with a sly grin.

Rain

She stood alone on a cliff overlooking the sea, her shoulders slumped, her burden heavy. Snow, knowing the significance of the day, walked slowly towards her, his face somber. He removed his trench coat and felt the chill of the cold rain penetrate through his skin.

As he approached her, he wrapped his jacket around her shoulders and hugged her tight, clenching his teeth against the bitter cold.

"It's been five years," she said quietly. Snow, not sure what to say and not trusting himself to say it right, spun her around carefully and took her face in his hands, wiping away the tears that he knew were mixed in with the pouring rain.

Irritation

It was always the same fight with Serah; she'd cry and beg Lightning to be home more, with her, and would ask that she spend less time at her job. Lightning would counter with a snide remark on how she has to work so much in order to provide Serah with a house, clothes, and enough money for college. It would always escalate into a heated argument and end with them both stomping to their rooms; Serah in tears and Lighting infuriated.

I can't wait until she's out of here, she thought, hurling a fist into her pillow.

Fear

The day Serah disappeared on the Vestige; when news of the Purge began to circulate through the air, Lightning felt true fear for the first time in a long time. Would her sister be safe? Would she live? Would Lightning see her again?

Her throat constricted as she thought of all the lost time – the overtime she volunteered to work instead of spending time with Serah, the late nights, the early mornings…what was it good for if Serah was gone?

She knew the fate of her sister and could guess where the Purge train was heading. Now, without a second thought, she thrust her GC badge into a soldier's fist and sat on the train, afraid that she'd come to her sister's aid too late.

Sheep

Vanille was the first to spot it. It was a good distance away, minding its own business and quietly grazing, even while the wild dogs ran in wide circles around it. It looked stupid, acted stupid, and Vanille wanted to know how the hell it had managed to survive so long, what with all its stupidity and everything.

She felt her belly grumble at the idea of eating more Pulse-fruit for dinner and so, thinking thoughts relating to the survival of the fittest, she picked up her Binding Rods, clutched them tight to her chest, and took off on a dead sprint. The poor sheep didn't know what was coming until it saw the rods screaming through the air, aimed for its skull.

Pillow

"What's this?" Sazh asked, his fingers raking through the white fluff that Lightning had passed to him.

"A pillow," she responded, watching for Sazh's reaction.

Sazh grinned at her in thanks, then tested the new pillow with his hands. It was nice, but…

"What the hell is that?" He queried in alarm, pointing at a dark spot that looked horribly like—

"Blood. Vanille beat the shit out of that sheep."

Hospital

They were only kids when their father died. Serah was too young to really remember the pain and heartache, or the sudden and devastating depression that their mother fell into because of his passing. Serah had been lucky.

Now, as young adults, the two sisters sat in a hospital room and watched their mother's labored breathing, saw the doctors feed her through tubes. They had to be escorted away when the nurses had to clean up their mother's mess. It was horrifying for Lightning to see, but for Serah it became a defining moment: it was there that her nurturing nature developed; it was there that her kindness flourished.

Lightning's moment came a few days later when, as the oldest and only next-of-kin, she was forced to make the life-or-death decision on her incapacitated mother's behalf.

It was then that she decided life would be easier with no attachments. Then it wouldn't hurt so much when the people around her died.

Screen

Everyone wanted to know why she was the way she was, especially Snow, but how could they possibly understand? They didn't know where she came from, and they wouldn't be able to grasp where she'd been. Why, then, should she bother trying? She'd only be wasting everyone's time, including her own.

And so, instead of trying to help people understand, she became the jerk; the proud, aloof, distant soldier. It was easier to keep everyone away by doing so, anyway.

It was also the easiest way to keep her pain tucked away behind her walls.

Secrets

They all had those things that they wanted to keep to themselves; those secrets that they'd do anything and everything to hide. Some hid them because they couldn't bear the emotional strain of venting those secrets: they feared that, once they allowed the hidden words to seep forth and the tears to come, the sadness and the memories would never disappear again.

Others hid their information because they feared how it would affect others.

Vanille, the self-proclaimed Ragnarok, looked around at the motley crew of l'Cie she traveled with and wondered if any others had lost hold of the concept of Truth while desperately trying to bury their secrets, like she had.

Truth

Fang knew Vanile wasn't being entirely honest about that whole Ragnarok thing. It didn't fit. Why, though, would Vanille lie about it?

An idea slowly began to form in her head as the puzzle began piecing itself together within Fang's mind.

Vanille may have been trying to protect Fang from the truth, but that didn't lessen Fang's anger towards the young girl.

She should have known not to keep that secret to herself.

Legs

Sazh made sure his spot was always behind Lightning. He knew it was wrong. He knew he shouldn't be looking. He knew that getting so excited every time he saw a hill coming up was terrible of him. He just couldn't help it.

Ass

Lightning kicked Sazh's ass when she found out why his favorite location was directly two feet behind her. He deserved it.

Soldier

Sazh watched in awe as Lightning took out a group of fiends single-handedly, without ever making a single mistake. It was obvious that this was her calling in life, that fighting was ingrained into her very being. His eyes never left her as she ducked low, avoiding outstretched claws, and saw her guide her sword into its belly, blood splattering across Lightning's grim countenance.

She stood then, soaked in blood that was not her own, surveyed her work, and silently left the battlefield without acknowledging her victory.

Mother

Hope was crying softly in his sleep, wishing, perhaps, for people long-since dead. He never knew that Lightning, in those moments, would come to his side and run her fingers through his hair in comfort; he didn't know that she'd gently rub his back until he was calmed back into a peaceful slumber.

Nor did he realize that, when all else failed, she would hum age-old lullabies that, before, had only ever fallen on Serah's ears.

Men
She would never understand the tension that seemed to sit between Hope and Snow. Hope was a kid without a mom, and she was the only female present with mothering experience. Snow was….well, the relationship with Snow was complicated, but their roles in her life were totally different. Why, then, the strained relationship between the two? Was it something else that had happened during their travels? It couldn't have anything to do with her. That just didn't make sense. Yet, the only thing the two men seemed to have in common was her…or maybe it had to do with the death of Hope's mother?

She thought to ask Hope when he took a seat by her side, but instead decided it wasn't worth the time it would take to get an answer. Instead she nudged him with her elbow and smiled.

Hope

Hope saw the brief touches, the sideways glances, and the whispers between the two. He wasn't blind. The pointed looks in Hope's direction by Snow didn't help matters, either.

He wouldn't lie to himself: he wanted what Snow had, and it broke his spirit to know that, for now, he couldn't have it.

He still had hope though that maybe, one day…

Makeup

Sazh, Snow, and Hope waited breathlessly outside the separate bedroom that they had discovered in an old village on Pulse. The girls – well, Fang and Vanille, to be precise – had found something in there that they had been giggling about for an hour before they dragged Lightning in with them. They had to wonder for a whole minute what was going on, but then Lightning's very loud and very angry voice helped to clarify a few things.

"You're stabbing my eyeball! Stop telling me to sit still!"

"I'm not stabbing you. It barely even touched your eyelashes." This was Fang, and judging by her drawl she was definitely stabbing Lightning's eyeball. "Honestly, you're pathetic! They let weaklings like you be soldiers on Cocoon?"

"They let you be the last survivor from Pulse? They doomed themsel—dammit, Fang! Stop!"

"It's makeup! Shut up and let me make you a girl!"

"If you poke me with that thing again I'm going to rip your head off. I swear."

"I'll do whatever I want."

"Go ahead. See what happens."

"Is that a challenge?"

"No."

The three boys all looked at each other and grinned. Snow leaned forward to knock on the door. "Fang, keep your hands off the goods!"

"Not until she becomes a girl!"

The biggest, most exasperated sigh emanated from the other side. "God, I hate you."

"Believe me, sunshine, it's mutual."

Results

"Guys." Vanille popped out of the room after half an hour of arguing and yelling that had suddenly ended in silence five minutes prior. "Guys, c'mere and look at this."

Hope looked wary of the idea. Extremely wary.

"Don't worry, Fang knocked her out. It's safe."

With this reassurance everyone breathed a sigh of relief and stepped into the side room. Almost as soon as they stepped in, they retraced their steps back.

"Oh man," Hope moaned. "I hate clowns."

"I dunno," Sazh said, cocking his head to the side to examine a still Lightning. "Looks more like a prostitute to me."

Snow bent down and lifted Lightning's hair from her eyes to examine the layers of mascara that turned Lightning's already-thick lashes into a spider's worst nightmare, saw the blue eyeshadow that was streaked in unusual patterns from Lightning fighting, the blush that covered half her cheek, and the eyeliner that was so crooked it looked more like a miniature superhero mask.

"Wow."

What else could he say?

Hope, who had been silent while Sazh and Snow stepped forward, suddenly broke into a grin. "She's so gonna get you back for this."

Orphan

Snow was well aware of his lack of parents. It was hard to ignore this fact when he saw all the other children his own age walking around with larger versions of themselves, all of them looking so happy and enjoying such an easy life…

What did he do to deserve such a cruel fate? Why were there no big versions of him to go to for help, to fix his injuries and make him sandwiches and tuck him in?

He didn't know the answers to those questions. What he did know was that his belly ached with hunger, his body ached from the cold, and he was terribly afraid and lonely.

Hero

When they asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, nobody expected to hear "Hero" as his career of choice. They'd laugh and secretly make fun of the silly, disillusioned boy behind his back, as all mature grown-folk do, and he was none the wiser.

When one of those same adults teasingly asked him why he wanted to be a hero, they rethought their opinion of this fair-haired youth…and themselves.

"If I'm a hero, people will love me and I won't have to be afraid anymore, 'cause then the bad guys will all be 'fraid of me!"

Maybe he wasn't as disillusioned as they thought.

Alcohol

Fang was crafty. They all knew it, and all had seen flashes of her brilliance at various times. This time was no different.

Sazh practically sang her praises when she approached him during their watch with a canteen full of self-brewed alcohol. Laughing and giggling to themselves, they both drank the entire thing with little problem, and when Fang pulled out seven more canteens just like the first Sazh was giddy with excitement.

They drank long into the night, swapping stories of loves and labors lost, and each drink made one more open and honest than ever before. On their last drink Sazh asked, "When do I get to take my ride on Ragnarok?"

With a drunken, sleazy smirk, Fang replied, "As soon as I'm sober enough to remember who I gave a ride to."

Hungover

They woke up to a marvelously bright sunrise that had them both cursing up a storm and wincing in pain. They were hungover, dehydrated, and a little embarrassed by the hazy memories of all that they'd revealed to the other the night before.

Even so, neither one regretted it.

Brand

She was the only one who kept hers hidden. The other would constantly check their own, and others, and frown at what they saw there, but rarely would Lightning do the same. She didn't want the others to look at her and see a ticking time bomb – she wanted to be strong; invincible, maybe. She would not be caught by someone as she looked to her own brand to see how they fared. She would not be seen fussing over their fate. She would be calm, cool, and collected – always.

That was a promise she could keep.

Blood

He had always wondered if she bled. It may have seemed silly, but he had observed battle after battle where Snow had seen the others get heavily damaged and yet Lightning could escape with nothing – not even a scratch. He began thinking she was immortal. A goddess.

The first time he saw her bleed was after Jihl died. Seeing Jihl, hearing her words, listening to her as she equated people being little more than tools…it shook Lightning up, even Snow could see that. The following battle with Dysley showed an almost imperceptible change in her, but there was something that was different.

After that battle, she bled.

After that battle, the haughty goddess became human.

Strong

Snow knew Fang was a tough old bird, maybe even tougher than him; that's why he accepted her challenge to a wrestling match. The victor would get the glory of watching the other try to make a move on their person of interest - which, of course, was a deal that was in Fang's favor.

The battle ended before it ever really began. Snow had charged Fang who, in response, jumped nimbly to the side, out of harm's way. She brought her leg circling around her waist and threw all her energy into a kick that landed squarely in the middle of Snow's back. Huffing, Snow tried to pick himself up off the ground that he had landed on, but the damn woman sat on his back and punched his kidney.

"Bitch," he spat, hoping his organ didn't just burst from impact.

Weak

After hearing of their battle, Lightning decided that she wanted to test herself against Snow, too. He hesitated at first, but after several threats he finally, grudgingly, agreed.

Lightning wasn't weak – he witnessed her strength first-hand on several occasions. Her forte was in her agility and versatility, though – not necessarily physical strength. Their fight was a good one, but eventually Snow had Lightning pinned beneath him, her breath coming in heavy gasps that were matched by Snow's own. His eyes quickly flashed down to watch her decently-sized chest rise and fall tantalizingly beneath him. He grinned when she began to squirm.

"Son-of-a-bitch," she growled, throwing a punch square at his jaw. It didn't miss.

Pout

She hated it when Hope would choose to squeeze in next to Lightning when there was a perfectly available and cozy spot next to her. Why did he like her so much, anyway? Vanille was nice, friendly, bubbly – and what was Lightning? She was a cold-hearted blood-thirsty killer, that's what! It just wasn't fair!

"Vanille," Fang, who had been watching her for the past ten minutes, rumbled quietly, "you better stop pouting right now or I'll smack it off your face."

Grin

When Hope came to her with a flower picked specifically for her, Vanille couldn't stop the long-overdue grin that split her face in half.

His Regret

She watched him, unnoticed, for several minutes, her eyes raking over his eerily still frame. His face was upturned, his eyes distracted as he considered the stars and moon in the great expanse of sky above.

Lightning had to admit that every time she spotted him alone and distracted, like he was now, she was concerned. She had no doubts in her mind that he loved her, but…

Did he regret leaving Serah?

Unsure, she turned away and retraced her steps to the bedroom, her eyes prickling and burning as she went.

Her Sorrow

Some days she would be in a mood where she could barely look at him without turning away and sealing her eyes shut. Usually this would happen after he came inside from stargazing, observing Cocoon, thanking anything and everything that they came out of that mess together.

When Snow would wrap his arms around Lightning to comfort her, he'd feel her heartbeat slow to a deathly cadence; he'd feel her shoulders droop and her head would fall forward onto her chest. Sometimes she wouldn't even say a word for several hours, no matter how often Snow begged her to tell him what was wrong.

He didn't know what caused this depression to overtake Lightning, but he wished he could destroy the source for causing such pain in the woman he loved.

Lightning

"Sooo," Vanille said, walking in slow circles around her favorite sergeant with her hands clasped behind her back, "your name is Claire? That's—"

"No. It's Lightning," she corrected sharply, making Vanille visibly flinch. "Claire was a dumb little girl who doesn't exist anymore."

"Oh, so you possessed her? Like a demon?" Fang said, pressing a finger to her lips thoughtfully. "Wow, that explains a lot."

Even though she could have easily avoided it, Fang didn't even bother to swat away the left hook that came flying her way.

Claire

Fang and Sazh tried valiantly to stifle their laughter while Lightning flailed around behind them like a lunatic on cocaine.

"Damn it!" she began hitting herself, jiggling her legs, swatting herself as she turned in circles. "Shit! Where is it?" She stuck her hand down her vest, swatting at something nobody could see. "Where the hell is it? Oh…shit! It's in my hair!"

Sazh lost control of himself and released a long-held guffaw as Lightning's arm swung madly at her own face and head, striking her skull, all to kill a grasshopper that was already long gone.

Try as she may to disappear, Claire still reemerged from time to time.

Sazh

She was attracted to a man twice her age. Well, so what? He was smart, funny, and just as crazy as she was. They were a good pair, weren't they?

Fang was half an hour into telling Vanille all these things as they stood guard the night they entered Taejin's Tower. Vanille rolled her eyes and laughed quietly to herself.

"You two need to find a room."

Fang grinned at her young companion. "That's the best idea I've heard in five hundred years."'

Fang

Sazh had eyed the exotic, eccentric woman with great interest since he first met her. Their personalities meshed well, their senses of humor were compatible, and she was as attractive and powerful as hell. What started as bawdy comments made to Snow evolved to flirting with the actual woman herself, and from there things had progressed slowly to fleeting touches and sleeping near each other. He enjoyed her company throughout their travels, and his attraction eventually grew to something…more.

Now, though, he stared at her crystallized form and felt his heart drop heavily in his chest. This was the second love he had lost, but this time he never got the chance to tell her how he felt. Hell, he'd only kissed her, what, twice?

Hoisting Dajh high onto his shoulders, Sazh turned away, vowing that Fang would be the last woman he'd allow to break his heart.

Destruction

Lightning looked around, after everything was said and done, and assessed the damage.

One famiy broken.

One planet destroyed.

Countless lives lost.

Hundreds of thousands not knowing what to do next.

Hundreds ending it all out of fear.

Two crystals of friends now lost.

Two crystals of women that saved the lives of those who considered them the enemy.

With a sigh she put her hand at the base of Vanille's crystal, her heart heavier than it had been in awhile.

She had to wonder: was it worth it?

Sometimes she wasn't so sure.

Rebuilding

People began to pick up the pieces after the fall of Cocoon, but they knew who was responsible for their now-shattered dreams and their lost homes.

They wouldn't, couldn't, understand what happened – what really happened.

Those that believed the tale of the l'Cie were quickly silenced by angry, scared mobs.

That's why those l'Cie remaining, and those who believed, opted to move on and rebuild elsewhere.

Turtleneck

Snow hated the damn thing on her. Yeah, sure, it only covered half her midriff and had a zipper that was rarely used anymore, but aside from that it was a dull, boring color and the garment did nothing to flatter her body.

Mostly, though, he hated it because he had a hell of a time envisioning what lay beneath, because every time he tried that horrible brown wall would jump before him and shield his wandering eyes.

Dress

Tonight would mark their first actual date where they went into a town and ate dinner at a restaurant. They would maybe even see an old movie, like normal couples typically tried to do. Snow had advised her that his restaurant of choice was pretty upscale and they needed to dress the part. The only problem was she didn't have a dress to fit the part.

Finding a dress was an ordeal in and of itself – her only female friends were crystals, and Serah…well…

She strode into the first clothing store she saw that suited her style and grabbed the nearest male associate, pulling him towards the fitting room. She commanded him to wait there while she tried on one dress after another, and each time she'd come out and show him what she chose. A few seconds would pass where she'd carefully calculate his reactions. This pattern continued until she walked out with a deep red dress that showed slightly more cleavage than she was comfortable with, but if she were to judge the dress by the way the associate's eyes lit up, then she was most certainly on the right track.

A small fortune was paid for the dress, whose fate was to have wine spilled all over its lap by a shocked, and all-too-pleased, Snow.

Damn idiot.

Necklace

The day he secretly perused the engagement necklace aisle while Serah was of looking for gifts for Lightning was a conflicted one for Snow. This was the best way to ensure that he was able to protect Serah from any harm that may befall her because of her status as a l'Cie, but on the other hand he barely knew her. He wondered if maybe he was making a mistake. Maybe he should wait. Maybe they should just call it off…

"Six hundred and thirty-one gil, sir."

Snow's head shot up, stunned to see that he stood at the register, a necklace in hand. He hadn't even remembered picking it out.

Not really knowing how to back out of this, Snow handed over the money wordlessly, tucking the now-packaged necklace into a spare pocket.

Ring

This time around there were no doubts in his mind. He was going to give it to her because he wanted to, not because he felt like he had to. It would be different, too – not a necklace, like everyone else, but a ring.

He nervously knocked on the door to the small dwelling that they shared and as soon as she answered he greeted her with a swooping kiss. In a flash he pulled out a ring and slipped it on her finger. She looked down at it, confused. "Is this a ring?" Lightning peered at it more closely. "What's it for—and why does it look like it came from a cheap vending machine?"

"You don't like it?" Snow asked, frowning.

She smirked slightly up at him. "Should I?"

With an exaggerated sigh Snow pulled out a package and carefully unwrapped it, presenting her with a white-gold ring encrusted with diamonds and a single citrine. "Picky, picky…" he mumbled, gently taking Lightning's hand and sliding the ring onto a slender finger.

"Snow….?"

He pointed at the citrine and said, "That one is you." Then he pointed at the diamonds surrounding it. "That's me." Grinning, he pulled her tight against his chest and whispered into her ear, "Marry me, Claire."

Though he wasn't entirely sure what her answer had been, he was able to piece it together from the heated activities that followed.

Bed

It was simply made—wild dog skins pulled taut over sheep-wool stuffing, with posts made of petrified wood that they had found in a nearby lake. They created it and erected it proudly in their bedroom.

Snow, admiring their handiwork, turned to Lightning with a raised brow. "Wanna test it out?"

Sex

Sex wasn't anything new to Snow, but what he was familiar with was nothing compared to this – to her. The feel of her tight, muscular body beneath his hands, the soft noises that she'd try to muffle in his shoulder, the way her sweat-drenched hair clung to her jaw…it all drove Snow wild, and it left him desiring more every time.

That explained how, ten minutes later, he was pressing his body against her back, cupping the breast that had formerly been home to her brand in his hand. With a harsh, hot whisper he challenged her to a second round. Within seconds she forced Snow into a sitting position, wrapped her legs around his back, and gazed haughtily into his eyes with her own lust-filled gaze. Hoarsely, she said, "Thirty gil says you'll finish before me."

Snow, true to his nature, readily accepted.

Shopping with Serah

She had refused to shop alone. It was boring, tedious work and she wanted nothing to do with the large crowds and the long lines to the register. She hated all the people, she hated running into people that she knew, and she hated watching those idiots at the front of the line dig through a purse the size of a chocobo's ass to find a coupon for two-gil off a fifty-gil item.

Because of this she'd drag Serah along to help. She didn't trust Serah to only buy what was on the list, so Lightning couldn't send her off to shop alone. The two of them would split the shopping list down the middle and go off into two separate directions, meeting half an hour later near the middle of the store with their individual tasks complete.

This time around, though, Serah wasn't there to meet her.

She waited there for ten minutes before the panic began to settle in. She ran around the store, abandoning her cart in the produce aisle, searching madly for her little sister. A sharp corner was taken with wild abandon and Lightning skidded to a halt a short ways from the entrance when she saw a bright splash of pink and white. What the hell was Serah doing?

Narrowed eyes spotted two giants, one blond and the other tan. Lightning immediately recognized the latter, and the memory put a sour taste in her mouth. They were speaking to Serah easily, conversationally, and it pissed Lightning off.

"Serah! Over here, now!"

At her voice the blonde's eyes shot up, and a faint glimmer of recognition hit Lightning. She shook it off quickly when Serah reached her, and instead of bothering to ask who she was speaking to, Lightning scolded Serah for being irresponsible and left it at that.

Shopping with Snow

She still hated shopping, even after all these years.

It was a rare, but necessary, trip to town. There were a few things they needed that the wild couldn't provide and so they came here, to the damn supermarket, to find them. Their list was handy, and both she and Snow were prepared to shop. The list was divided between the two, and twenty minutes later they both met by the entrance with their goods in carts.

Snow began to place the items from his cart into Lightning's, then paused once he reached the last pile of items. Smiling sheepishly, he grabbed a couple of the items and held out a packed hand. Lightning raised her hand to accept whatever it was being offered.

"I know it wasn't on the list, but…" he dropped two things into her palms, and when Lightning looked she was shocked to see an ovulation and pregnancy test within her grasp. "I thought they'd come in handy."