A/N: Man, I haven't written a fanfic in years...YEARS. I haven't had the motivation or inspiration to write. Life happened. It's an excuse, but I had to deal with it, all the same. I started playing Final Fantasy 13, and I am obsssed. I haven't felt this way about a videogame since Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. I'm not just obsessed with playing, I'm obsessed with the storyline, and I'm totally engrossed with the characters and their development. I started reading fanfiction again, which I haven't done since I stopped writing-that's how obsessed I am with this game.
I am actually all about the Fang x Vanille pairing. But the way I wrote this story, I felt it needed to be a Fang x Lightning thing. I can tell that my writing style has changed and improved over the years. Even though I haven't officially written a fanfic in years, I don't credit it to practice and experience, but, to the expansion of my vocabulary. I hope it shows. Enjoy the story.
I haven't finished the game yet. I just started Disc 3, as of yesterday. But I came across some spoilers whilst reading other fanfic stories and am transposing what I could decipher into my own story, whether what the original authors wrote was individually adapted, made up, borrowed, or derived directly from the game. I merely derived from the examples of other stories in order to fill the gaps of my own, since I haven't finished the game yet. I do not intend to steal, I thank all the wonderful authors for sharing their work. I hope my story does well enough justice to their own stories that they do not feel the need to come after me. And since I haven't finished the game yet, I apologize for any inaccuracies or contradictions (that I hope aren't too messed up and skewed from the actual storyline or character personalities/mannerisms). This story is purely procured from my own personal interpretation and adaptions. Once again, please enjoy the story.
To the laymen: I don't own Final Fantasy 13. All rights reserved to Square Enix.
And, yes, there is a song reference in the beginning. Consider those rights reserved, too, to whomever wrote it.
I would appreciate reviews, constructive or compliments, but no unnecessary critics, please.
Is this true, I'm not good at a one-night stand?
That moment when you wake up feeling guilty, filthy, and unclean because you know that you've done something morally wrong. But you defied your own personal standards anyways because, for some reason, you REALLY needed whatever it was you sacrificed your dignity for. And then you roll over to reach for some sort of validation, and she's not there. Now you're left alone to suffer the consequences you so ignorantly paved for yourself-that's how my day started.
It was totally my idea. I fabricated every detail in my head-the approach, the reasonings, and even an escape plan for the possible rejection-fantasizing every possible indecency I would commit upon her body, but knowing I would never bring myself to actually do any of it. It would be a personal sin to assume Lightning as anything but a morally resilient human being. She's so outwardly cold and rigid; a woman like that has got to have an ungodly amount of self-control. The proposition of a one-night stand would surely be an insult.
And, yet, here I am, laying in my bed, regretting ever convincing myself that I could be anywhere within the league of such an outrageously intelligent woman. Even though I got what I wanted-bedding her for an entire night, living every single fantasy I could remember in an attempt to satisfy her and make her feel like she made the right decision to allow herself to sleep with me-I woke up feeling inadequate as fuck. I guess this is what they call insecurity. How could a woman so high-strung yet graceful like her be any bit sexually satisfied by someone so meager as myself? I mean, she left me while I slept. I must've been horrible. Yes, it was a one-time thing, no-strings-attached, non-committed act of carnal craving and fornication; but I knew I would feel like this the morning after. I was just hoping that maybe she would at least be here to awake with me.
"Fang, wake up! Remember, Light wants us to leave early today."
Uggghhh, Vanille, ugh. Why must you remind me? It was my sneaky idea that we stop the crew in this little off-the-map village just so Farron and I could have our little fling. Of course, only under the condition that we leave bright and early to prevent any suspicions from arising amongst the other team members. So instead of me spending the entire day in bed grieving the emotional wreck that is my conscience, I get to mope it while we nomad it across Cocoon. Greeaaat.
Time to get up, loser, I keep telling myself. Before everyone is waiting on me and giving me crap. Drag yourself out of this defiled bed and get dressed. Don't forget to grab your spear. Oh, cool, you forgot to put on your boots. Brush your teeth. Wash your face. Wash away the filth from your mouth. Cleanse the lips that got you into this mess. In fact, go take a cold shower, you whore. Okay, that was a little extreme. But it must be true in some way if my subconscious brought that up to attention. Look in the mirror, despise your reflection. Study the guilt and become it. Mourn over the bags under your eyes. Grab your shit and go.
"Morning, Fang!" Snow was the first to see her approach. "Want a pastry?" He held out his hand with the offering. He smiled brightly, and it was barely even sunrise. It was hard to hate this guy too much. Out of politeness, Fang accepted the small treat Snow had grabbed upon exiting the bed-and-breakfast they had just checked out of. She half-heartedly ate it, not really being hungry anyway. But if she knew Lightning, none of them would be eating until they come across the next village, which was about a six hour trek away.
Surprisingly, it was Lightning they were all still waiting on. This is the first time she was ever less than punctual. Fang hoped no one would start suspecting anything. Not that they were blatant about their fling; they took all the precautions they could to cover their tracks. But there was no way to cover up all the noise they were making last night. Fang didn't come prepared with an alibi. She noticed the whole team started looking around curiously, they had noticed Lightning's absence. Fang started to panic. Her mind started racing, scrambling for any semblance of an excuse for all the racket that happened the night before. Her eyes started darting involuntarily, as if trying to find a physical excuse lying on the ground somewhere for her to use.
Vanille obliviously looked about with innocent detachment; not because she was indifferent, but merely a daydreamer. She was never in a rush to get anywhere in a hurry, the scenery was always better to look at. Why did her teammates never stop to admire their surroundings for what it is-natural, organic, and such? The grass was so green and full. It was fresh with the smell of morning dew. She watched little droplets of condensation fall off the blades of grass with laziness of the morning, in no rush to meet the rising sun and the heat it brings. There was a small commotion happening nearby her; a singular movement of fidgety feet then stillness.
The pink-haired woman looked up at Fang standing with an uneasy rigidness. The dark-haired hunter had always had a sense of calm, cool, collectedness about her. Although Lightning procured the same steadiness, Fang was definitely not as stoic as their pink-haired leader, therefore making Fang slightly more approachable-speaking on everyone's behalf. Everyone knew that Lighting had emotions, proved by their current journey to save the woman's sister from an eternal crystal stasis, but she kept it all contained so well there have been some moments where she could've been labeled as emotionless, to those unfamiliar with her and her ways. Fang was a little more enjoyable. She allowed herself the luxury of expressing herself when it was personally necessary; and she always knew when it was time to be serious and focused. Vanille admired her childhood friend for that. Fang's unbreakable concentration in battle contributed to team morale. They haven't met a monster yet that they couldn't vanquish.
Vanille studied her friend real quick. Fang's facial expression was solemn, but her eyes were telling a different story. They were giving her away, hinting that she was fighting some mental battle and it was consuming her entirely, at that moment. Vanille didn't want her friend to fight alone if she didn't have to. "Fang?" the younger girl approached politely.
Fang's eyes immediately stopped darting and landed on Vanille. There was a quick blink. "Yeah?"
Vanille felt a twinge of nervousness in her stomach. The intensity of her comrade's gaze wasn't penetrating, but defensive. Like she was trying to hide something and her blink-less stare was trying to dispel any further questioning. "Fang," Vanille repeated, "do you wanna talk about it?"
Fang felt her stomach knot. Her younger companion, though naiive and a little unrefined, was astronomically intuitive and compassionate. Fang hadn't been able to hide much of anything emotional from her since they were kids. She wished it wasn't Vanille that had approached her; she would've been able to fend off any of the others easily.
"No, I'm just hungry, that's all." Was the first excuse Fang could come up with.
Vanille smiled sweetly, "Here have my extra pastry. That should hold us over until we stop again." She hesitated none, offering her last little snack to her friend. She offered one last little smile to express a true lack of regret for giving up her only piece of food. Innocently, she watched to make sure Fang ate the pastry; she wanted to personally make sure her friend didn't starve.
"Hi, guys. Sorry for the wait."
Fang choked on the entire pastry. She was helpless as it fell down the entire length of her esophagus in one lumpy piece. She longed to hear that voice. It tortured her so much that she started coughing. Everyone glanced over at her weirdly. "Sweet, Anima." The huntress hunched over for leverage, "that's one hell of a pastry." She coughed a few more times, waving her hand for everyone to carry on and ignore her.
Lightning, unamused, continued speaking, "Well, let's head out, guys. I know we'd all like to make it to the next village by lunchtime so we can have some real food." The team wasted no time to fall into line and start trekking it into the wilderness. Lightning headed the pack. She passed Fang, raising a brow in concern at the Pulsian's awkward coughing fit, and kept it moving with no cease in her stride. Fang felt a little piece of her heart break off and disintegrate. Light was totally over what had happened between them last night. It was apparent that's why she was the last one to muster; she must've used due diligence to shower off any remnant of Fang's shameful performance last night. What a shot to the pride. Fang took her self-pity, and whatever was left of her shattered heart, and brought up the rear of the human caravan. She could sulk back there where no one could see her and drown in her own self-depricating thoughts.
The team passed through a multitude of beautiful scenery: luscious fields, transparent lakes, mountains in the distance, and through a surprisingly not-so-scary woods. Vanille was always the first, and usually the only, person to enjoy the surroundings and pay homage to nature's natural beauty by breaking off to skip through the tall grass or pick a flower or two. While passing through a particularly gorgeous, untouched clearing, after dancing in circles and counting the clouds, Vanille caught a glimpse of her longtime friend, Fang. She singled her out and decided that, out of everyone else, Fang needed to appreciate the untapped wilderness with her-and she wasn't above forcing her to. Vanille ran over to the woman at the back of the pack. Eyes wide and bright, she grabbed Fang by the arm, "C'mon, you. Let's go pick some flowers!"
The huntress looked down at her, quizically. She could see the bushy tail wag excitedly behind the little pink-haired girl. She was going to politely decline the invitation to frolic, but before she could, Vanille with all her untapped strength she was yet to be made aware of, dragged her towards a pretty little patch of red and blue flowers. She did the best she awkwardly could to maneuver through the tall grass as her younger teammate refused to let go of her arm. Vanille REALLY wanted to collect flowers, apparently. Finally, she was released and there were slight red marks where the jaws-of-life grip had settled itself. Deciding against brewing up her temper, she meekly crossed her arms and stayed put to watch her companion kneel and start to gather some spoils. Fang glanced over her shoulder. The team had seen them frolic off; they continued their pace but kept an eye on them just in case danger made itself present.
"Fang. Do you want to talk about it now?" Vanille didn't even turn to look for a response. There was a pretty red flower that was begging to be hers.
Fang's shoulders dropped. It was mostly due to annoyance. But, honestly, she couldn't hide anything from that girl. Not a goddamn thing. She contemplated kicking her ass.
"Is it about Lightning?" Vanille looked up briefly, waiting to see how Fang would react.
A lump developed in Fang's throat. She didn't realize that her one lapse of good judgment would cause her THIS much grief. Irrationally, she deduced that everyone knew what happened and they had sent Vanille to confront her. And to further the humiliation, Lightning would be standing right there listening to the verbal lashing-perhaps even joining in. Oh, the inhumanity.
Fang flapped her jaw; her mind conjuring up a million excuses simultaneously and trying to shove them all out her mouth hole. Nothing came out. She started to get a little bit of tunnel-vision-she was shutting down. Vanille shifted to capture her attention. Fang blinked and her vision was restored. Vanille was studying her, searching her facial expressions for the answers that weren't coming out. There was innocence in the pink-haired girl's eyes-genuine caring. Her eyes and entire body language softened. The girl figured everything out at that moment, and Fang knew.
"Fang." Vanille gave a stern look, "I've known you for 500 years. I know when something is bothering you."
Fang was standing defensively, her arms crossed and back stiff. Her longtime friend wasn't looking for a confrontation, as she assumed. Even if she was, there was no fighting her; standing up to her, sure, but no fighting back. Fang gave in, her entire body drooped. She could bear the grief no longer. Vanille had a certain quality about her, something trustworthy and of perfect confidant quality. That, and she was just tired of feeling like shit. If she was going to talk to somebody about this, it might as well be with Vanille. "Okay," Fang exhaled roughly, "yeah, it is."
Vanille wasted no time getting to the point. "I've noticed you've been distracted all morning. Starting the moment Light showed up for muster. You've been avoiding looking at her, or anything else, except for the ground."
It was unusually quiet around them. There was no wildlife chirping around them. Fang looked around. She couldn't tell if there was danger nearby, about to pounce, or if her hearing had been deafened by her emotions. She couldn't hear anything but her heart pounding in her head. About halfway across the clearing, she could see Lightning and the crew walking toward the treeline. Snow was craning his neck, waiting to capture their attention. He waved, signaling them it was time to go. Fang nodded and waved back. "C'mon, 'Nille. They want us to catch up."
Vanille stood. She reached for her friend's hand. Fang looked up, Vanille was smiling faintly. The pink-haired girl reached her other hand up toward the huntress' head. There was a small twitch of surprise from Fang, but she pushed through it. The red flower she had just picked, she tucked it behind Fang's ear. "Whatever you want to do, whatever choices you make-I'll always support you in your endeavors."
"Did she tell you to talk to me?" Fang asked, dejectedly. A sudden wave of shame washed over her. She didn't want the conversation to go on anymore.
"No." Vanilla shook her head, "I figured it out. I haven't seen you this down since you slept with Tinna back when we were in Oerba. She was a bitch. You shouldn't have listened to her when she was that drunk-or sober, for that matter. You were miserable for months. I know you really liked her. She was a bitch, but I wasn't gonna stop you. You're a grown adult and you control your own life. All I could do was be there for you and help you through the grieving."
"I did sleep with Light." Fang stated, more like, repeated. Vanille knew, but there was self-acceptance to be found as Fang voiced it out loud. She felt horrible for making the same mistake twice. She didn't feel deserving of Vanille's support. The Tinna thing had really messed her up. Fang remembered being such a mess for subjecting herself to acting against her morals in an attempt to gain the acceptance of someone she did not know well, but pined after. And Vanille was there for her through it all. Never chastising her for, pretty much, willingly making a bad choice, but telling her what she needed to hear and advising her to take it as a learning experience and to, hopefully, never make the same mistake again. Fang knew that, without Vanille, she wouldn't have become a stronger person from that.
"Are you mad?" Fang asked. "This is Tinna all over again." She shifted uncomfortably on her heels.
Vanille rested a comforting hand on Fang's shoulder, "Of course not. Lighting is a great person. And so are you."
Fang smiled. She still felt horrible for her lack of good choices, but this time she was going to make sure she learned from this. She felt empowered with a sudden sense of self-acceptance and confidence. There would be no more dwelling in the past or succumbing to a cycle of mislabeled selflessness-selflessness to please others. No more one-night stands, basically. They're stupid. And that's what she decided would be her first step to personal happiness.
The two women began walking towards their teammates. They had some ground to cover, they didn't want to lose them after entering the forest. They hurried their strides into a jogging pace.
"You know," Vanille huffed out between strides. She wanted to add to the end of their conversation, "I always thought that we would end up together." She grinned playfully.
Fang laughed. "Really? And why is that?" She was amused in the highest degree.
Vanille shrugged coyly. "We've been inseperable since we were kids. Everyone thought we were for the longest time. Especially, Lightning. She was so skeptical of us in the beginning." She giggled, then added, "I thought we would adopt some kids, maybe get married, that whole deal."
Fang grinned widely; she was so entertained. She glanced over at Vanille, and the girl was smiling so hard her eyes were nearly closed. They both laughed with exasperation through the rhythm of their jogging. Both women's eyes locked. The smiles they shared between them were genuine and comforting. There was a connection, true and organic in nature, that happened at that moment-and it was strong.
Fang laughed out loud. No matter how hard she tried to contain it, her mouth couldn't hold back the laughter that came up straight from her core. "Pfffttt!" She sputtered. "Wow, Vanille. Just, wow."
"I know, right?!" Vanille tripped over her feet. "I would've been all like, hey, if things don't work out with Light, and neither of us are with anybody by the time we're, let's say, thirty," she stumbled a few steps, "let's just marry each other. Then I see how fucked up you are, and I changed my mind." She laughed some more.
Fang pushed the younger girl playfully. She knew there was some half-truth in that statement. "If it's any consolation," she jogged ahead a few paces, "I couldn't marry you. I wouldn't put you through such torture. You don't deserve to deal with my fucked-up-ness. You deserve normalcy."
"Psh! Have you seen our crew? We're all weirdos. And that's why we've all survived Cocoon this long, if you ask me." Vanille smiled cheekily. "But I get what you mean."
They covered ground faster than they expected. They could see the short build of Hope as he brought up the rear of the pack. Vanille stopped jogging. She was out of breath, but she wanted to say one last thing to her friend. "Fang." She reached her arm out in front of the older woman to stop her in her tracks. Fang, equally out of breath, made eye contact as an acknowledgement that she was at full attention. Vanille continued, "You should talk to Lightning. Get yourself out of this funk."
Fang felt her gut relapse back into insecurity. "What if she thought I was horrible?" She asked bravely.
"Don't worry about that." Vanille shook her head sweetly. "Just get yourself out of your ass. That's all."
A big smile took over her face. This is why her and Vanille were such good friends.
They fell into stride with Hope. He turned to smile at them. The entire team entered the forest. Fang looked over her shoulder one last time at the clearing behind them. She felt the little red flower still perched behind her ear, it had survived their rush across the clearing. She smiled at the scenery. It really was better to look at.
It was hard to tell just exactly how long they worked their way through the forest. But, eventually, they could see sunlight peeking through the treeline. They were all happy they didn't encounter any monsters or thieves. The one most excited to see the exit out of the dark forest was, naturally, Vanille. She turned around and smiled at Fang, as if asking permission to run ahead of the protection the huntress had devoted to her, five-hundred years in the making. Fang reciprocated with a small smirk; and Vanille dashed ahead instantly. The sight of another clearing could be seen through the trees. Seconds after Vanille had pranced out of the forest, the other team members walked through, blinded by the midday sun. In the distance, rooftops could be seen of a small village. They had made it to their checkpoint in good time.
Lighting held her hand above her eyes so she could take a head count. "Alright, guys, we're here. Let's stop for a few hours. I'm sure you're all starving. Let's go eat."
Hope cheered. He was the first to make a break for the nearest food-bearing establishment. Snow could smell the makings of fresh-grilled lunch items and quickly followed suit. Sazh was in tow, but walking and in no rush. Fang made to go walk with Sazh. She stopped in front of Vanille and motioned her to join. The pink-haired girl did not move. She smiled at Fang and nodded her head in the opposite direction. Fang followed the prompt and saw Lightning, standing motionless and appearing to be studying the scenery. Vanille smiled again, hinting to her best friend that now was a good time to talk to her source of interest.
Fang watched Vanille skip away and join Sazh. The two didn't look back, they were after some good, old-fashioned cooking to quell their hungry stomachs. The huntress smiled weakly. She had to gather up the guts now and get this over with. She was looking forward to the emotional relief that follows closure.
"Hi."
Fang flinched at the sultry voice that approached her. She wasn't ready balls-gathering. She rolled her eyes at how luck and good timing never really liked her. "Hey." She greeted in return, thankful her involuntary eye-roll wasn't seen. With an instinctive tense, she braced herself for the verbal impact.
Lightning inhaled deeply first to prepare her words for liftoff. Mentally, she gathered the words she hoped would come out right. She exhaled sharply, "I don't know how to go about all of this; I'm not good at this stuff. But I...want to talk about it-about last night."
Wide eyes absorbed the shock as best they could. Immediately, Fang felt her body start to shiver with anticipation. "Yeah?" she shakily asked.
"Don't worry. This isn't anything bad." Lightning felt a nervous sensation fill her from her boots all the way up to the top of her head. She saw Fang was visibly feeling similar. And for a moment, she wished she could be more animated with her emotions like her comrade. "Consider this a prelude to my actual point, but," Lightning continued, her composure never out of her full control, "I know there's been tension between us."
She looked over to Fang. The taller, dark-haired woman smirked with a concurring nod. Lightning proceeded, "There always has been. Whether it be cultural or anger-most of it...is sexual." She cringed ever so slightly at the last word. Feelings of those nature were not familiar to her. She felt similar to an adolescent going through sex education in school for the first time. Instead of laughing at the word 'sexual,' she grimaced, like she was embarrassed to say such a "vulgar" word. Call her immature, whatever, don't judge.
"And..." she pressed on, "I know we've never really been the best of friends; and I know we agreed not to talk about it-but I want to."
Fang looked at her, shyly. The right words were there, but they weren't brave enough to come out. There were feelings of self-consciousness and the inevitable fearful feelings of rejection. A flash of the conversation Fang had just had with Vanille quickly passed through her mind. Mental relief, mental relief, mental relief-was the goal here. "I do, too." Was all that came out. "Was I-" she interjected before the other woman could begin speaking again, "-alright?"
Whoa. That was balls-y, Lightning blinked. She was intending on getting to that point later on in the conversation. Now the whole script she mentally drafted was kapoot. "Yeah. You were." she relaxed her body and allowed herself to finish off the rest of the dialogue naturally and fluidly. "You were more than 'alright.'" The freedom of speaking her mind took over her faster than she expected. "You were...my first." She reciprocated the bravery Fang had initiated.
"Whoa..." Fang's eyes widened. Her gaze pulled her away to inadvertently look at the clearing that surrounded them. The tables had, assuredly, turned in her favor. There was no more need to feel alone to drown in her own sorrow and self-pity. "That's...a big honor. Thank you." Then she decided to admit, since truths were being thrown all around, "I wish you were my first." She gave an awkward, embarassed, defeated smile.
"Oh, no, it's okay." Lightning waved a dismissive hand, "I wasn't expecting to be your first. What I'm trying to say is," she shrugged, "the way everything happened is exactly how I wanted it to happen. I want to thank you."
Never had Lightning expressed gratitude to her before. Fang's breath hitched in her throat. It was a compliment that, she worried, would never come around again. She was relieved that she was able to satisfy the one she had sought after for quite a while-she had her closure. But a new seed of insecurity had taken root in the back of her mind. Against better judgment, she decided to water it and nurture it with a little itty-bitty ray of hope. Would there be a chance to have another rendezvous? If that was how Lightning wanted to go about it, Fang was willing to do it, too, if that meant she could be with Light, in any way possible.
"You're welcome." Fang started scratched her head, nervously. "I-if you wanted to do it again...we could arrange another-"
"No." Lightning interrupted.
Her heart thumped loudly. Here comes the rejection, Fang thought. Way to sell yourself short. The one time you don't listen to Vanille, ya dummy, she continued to berate herself.
"I don't want you to belittle yourself like that." Lightning spoke loudly. She saw Fang's heart break and her body shrink with the pain. Her voice pierced through the huntress' miserable thoughts and was determined to bring her back. "I know you're not like that. I know you want something meaningful. Your nobility won't accept anything less."
She bent down and looked into Fang's eyes. Fang reluctantly obliged. Lightning straightened up again, never blinking, demanding that her counterpart did not break their eye contact. "My first time was everything I wanted. My second time-I wish I was better at expressing myself-I don't want it to be the same thing."
Fang cocked her head.
Lightning caught herself involuntarily crossing her arms, her signature mark. She actively brought them back down to her sides in a more neutral position. "We've never really gotten along," she began, "and tolerance is barely attainable on most days. But, next time we come together...maybe we could approach it differently?"
"You wanna go on a date first or something?" Fang asked curiously.
"Ha, no. I'm not thinking that far ahead." Lightning smirked. "I hope I'm not coming off as a slut. I just think that if we set aside our petty differences, maybe we could have an actual conversation first before we did anything else." She asked as more of a question than a statement.
"And we could just see where everything goes from there." Lightning added.
There were no words to describe the mixture of elation and uncertainty stirring within her. Excitement of the unknown brewed; her heart would not be broken today. Oh, happy day! Fang nodded whole-heartedly and smiled, "Yeah, that'd be nice." She didn't know what to do after that. Her body was pushing her to react, but she didn't know to what. Her hands started to fidget, they didn't know what to do. Awkwardly, she reached her hand out for a handshake. She mentally scolded herself but didn't pull back.
Lightning contently reached out. Her reciprocating hand didn't move in for handshake. Instead, her fingers tenderly held the other woman's hand, like the way a gentleman holds his lady's hand before he plants a kiss on it.
Fang was completely encaptured. They smiled lightly at each other, both of their eyes twinkled with respect and admiration. Farron and her would meet again for the second time, a first time, if that makes sense. And she couldn't wait.
Lightning started walking toward the village. She didn't let go of Fang's hand until their reach could no longer hold. As their hands separated, she looked back at Fang, shyly. The huntress was sweetly smoldering, politely waiting for her new friend to continue her paces toward the smell of a fresh, warm meal. Lightning turned away, smile still there, hiding behind the collar of her uniform.
Fang took one last look at the scenery around her; it was too beautiful to forget. She readjusted the little red flower on her ear, took a mental picture, thanked Vanille for the peptalk, and then followed her nose toward the scent of the food in the distance.