Shadow of Cocoon
Hello again, guys! To those of you who haven't read my stories in a while, welcome back! I've been kinda silent over the last few months, but that silence has now reached it's end. This is my latest story, Shadow of Cocoon. This story has been in the making since early August, when I got the idea. This is, partially, my story for a possible family for Lightning and Fang, set 17 years after XIII. Now, this will not be based on Final Fantasy XIII-2, but some characters will appear.
Another warning: this story is rated M for a good reason. The first few chapters are not too bad, but later on, there will be at least one of the following; death, rape, sex, and torture. This fic is several times darker than anything I've posted before, and it is not meant for the faint of heart. Read at your own discretion.
Pairings in this story are, for now, as follows: Fang/Lightning, Snow/Serah, and Hope/Vanille. There will be minor OC pairings as the story progresses, but these are the main ones.
Well, that should do it for this A/N. Enjoy Shadow of Cocoon!
Word Count: 7583
Disclaimer: This story is entirely the work of my own mind, and is in now way to be taken as cannon. This world is, likely, too violent and dark to be featured in a Final Fantasy game, anyway.
Shadow of Cocoon
The house 3885 Lakeside Plaza was like many other houses in Oerba. It was decorated by only a few lawn ornaments, of what looked like a child's doing. The car outside was practical and simple, nothing more than you'd expect to see on the streets. The grass was unusually well kept for the block, appearing almost blindingly green in the sunlight.
The outside of the house was brick, and so it retained the standard reddish brown color that brick normally has. Thought the sun had yet to rise, there was already activity inside the house. It was the first day of the school year in Oerba, and that meant that students would be living miserable lives for the next nine to ten months.
This particular family was headed by Lightning Yun-Farron. She was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Guardian Corps, and the battalion commander of the 42nd Regional Defense Battalion, a battalion of the 321st Infantry Brigade. Her battalion was one of three that trained new recruits that were entering the Guardian Corps. Hers was one of the best, but also one of the strictest. She never tolerated dissent in her ranks, no matter how small.
The other head of the household was Oerba Yun Fang. The huntress rarely went out on dangerous hunts anymore, instead focusing on her new family. She still worked with PSICOM hunters, teaching them how to live off the land for extended periods of time, and she occasionally went on low key hunts.
Both Lightning and Fang had two daughters. Their oldest, Paine, was starting her sophomore year of high school. She had Lightning's skin pigment, but most of her genetics came from Fang. She shared Fang's multicolored hair, the primary color being a very dark brown. There were shades of red, pink, and blonde in her hair, but they were rarely noticeable. Her eyes were almost red, but were mainly a dark brown.
The younger of the daughters was Averia. She was thirteen years old, three years younger than her sister, and was in the eighth grade. She was more like Lightning than Paine, only lacking Lightning's pale skin. Averia had Fang's skin tone and eyes, but almost everything else about the girl was Lightning's. She normally let her hair grow longer than Lightning, but the pink locks could, if combed the right way, look like her mother's.
Today was different than most other days. Normally, only Lightning and maybe Fang were awake at this time. Lightning usually had to work long hours with the trainees on base, but today she was allowed to come in a few hours later than normal. Fang was normally up in case anything needed to be done around the house, something that the huntress never thought she'd have to do. The girls were usually up before 8 am, but their daily routines varied, like any teenager's did.
Today, though, both girls were up at 5:30. Lightning had gotten up earlier than she normally did, awakening at almost 4:30, to ensure that the girl's would be ready for the day. Paine would need to be in school around 6:30 so she could get her locker and books, while Averia would be arriving at her school at roughly 8:45. Paine was the first of the two to take her shower, taking a little longer than she normally did. The oldest child was definitely not a morning person.
Lightning was sitting at the island counter, sipping her coffee and nibbling on her breakfast. One thing Lightning made sure of was that there was always a warm breakfast. Today, it consisted of eggs, ham, French toast and coffee. Anything that was added after that was either Fang's doing or leftovers. Fang's one request was that there be salt at all times. While Lightning never could understand why her partner liked salt so much, she obliged. Paine also added salt to her meals, but not as much as her mom. Averia never touched salt, claiming not to like the taste.
Paine was already dressed in her outfit for today. Paine was in public schooling, and there was no uniform policy for it's students, though there was a dress code. Lightning had made sure that she knew what was allowed and what wasn't, so her children never wore anything considered "inappropriate". Still, Paine was always one to bend the rules. She wore a black tank top that barely covered her navel region, her usual black arm sleeves that reached her elbows, a studded choker, and shorts just long enough to fit the code. Lightning saw the outfit and sighed.
"Can you wear something normal for once?" Lightning asked her daughter in half annoyance, half amusement. Paine rolled her eyes sarcastically, grabbing a plate and placing her breakfast on it. She sat down at the far end of the island after she did so.
"Don't worry, Light." Fang said, leaning back against the couch and watching the news. "At least she ain't like Snow's kids." Lightning noticeably cringed at the thought. Snow didn't care what his daughters wore, and usually they wore some of the most…interesting articles of clothing. Nothing that was considered inappropriate, though. Obviously Serah had some sense in her.
"She's just trying to look nice for her boyfriend." Averia sang as she exited the bathroom. She was wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans, though she probably wasn't going to wear them to school. The older girl froze slightly, then turned to scowl at her younger sibling.
"Boyfriend, huh?" Lightning asked, raising an eyebrow and sipping on her coffee. Paine turned lightly red at her mother's question, looking down at the plate before her like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
"It..it's nothing." Paine stuttered, taking a bite of her food. Fang refrained from laughing at her normally stoic daughter's sudden sheepishness. Lightning nodded once, unconvinced, then turned to Averia.
The girl, who was busy grabbing food for her plate, eagerly answered her mother's unasked question. "He's a boy from downtown. Like's to think he's a bad boy." Averia said, almost as if to spite Paine. Paine tried to look menacing at the youngest Farron, but she couldn't while her face was slowly becoming redder by the second.
"Really, now?" Fang asked from the couch, now turned to look at the kitchen. "And tell me, Avi, how do you know all this?" The younger sibling simply smiled as she set her plate down next to Lightning.
"Well, I heard from Nora and Rayne, who said they heard from Cloud." She explained, digging into her food. Paine's face was still glued on her plate, now as red as an apple.
"Whatever." Lightning said, standing up to put her dishes into the sink. She turned to the clock and saw it read 6:12. Paine was finishing her breakfast as soon as Lightning turned back. The older girl stood almost as tall as Lightning at full height, something that secretly irked the soldier. Paine probably would get a little taller than Lightning before she finished growing. Averia, on the other hand, was already a few inches taller than Paine was at that age.
"Ready to go?" Lightning asked as Paine finished cleaning her former dish. The older child nodded, then went to grab her empty backpack before following her mother out of the house.
In a house only a few minutes away from the Yun-Farron household (Oerba wasn't the largest city on Gran Pulse) was another house preparing for the school year. Well, not yet, anyway.
The matriarch of this family was a woman named Vanille. Her red hair was, for the longest time, kept up in two pigtails, but she had long since forgone that style, instead letting her hair grow out naturally. It was currently just beyond her neck, stopping about an inch below her shoulder.
She cracked open an eye, still dimmed with sleep, and looked around. Her bedroom was still unlit, the sunlight not yet shining bright enough to pierce through the curtains. Instead, the sheets hanging from the window seemed to glow with an ethereal light. That, combined with the embrace her husband had her in, was enough to lure her back to sleep.
Then the alarm clock went off.
Vanille shrieked at the noise. She was completely startled and had no idea what to do for about three seconds. Then, she realized it was just a clock, and brought her hand down on the device, hard. The persistent ringing died out after she hit it, reverting back to a silent digital clock.
After sighing, Vanille frowned when she heard her husband chuckling behind her. She turned around to see him, wide awake and smiling at her, his face distorted with the occasional laugh.
"Hit that thing any harder and you would've killed it." Hope teased. His silver hair was messy and covering his green eyes. The redhead pouted.
"Shut up." She said simply, her voice filled with faux anger. The two remained in this embrace for a few more minutes before Vanille finally got up. "Guess I'd better get Zack up." She said, stepping away to go to the bathroom.
As she exited the bathroom, she saw Hope getting dressed for work. "Boss just called, said he needed me there ASAP." He said as he finished putting his shirt on. He worked in an office most of the time, but since he also did what higher class workers would consider "dirty work", he never wore his suit to work. "Something about the Phoenix Engine." He finished, grabbing his cell phone and wallet. "See ya later." With one last kiss, he left.
Vanille chuckled silently. Even at his age, Sazh was still going strong. She thought back to the man as she walked down the hallway to her son's room. Zack was the Esthiem's only child. Unlike his father, or his mother for that matter, Zack had brown hair. Likely, it came from his grandparents, on both sides. Vanille's mom had auburn hair, but her dad had dark brown hair. His eyes were green, but sometimes appeared blue if the light hit it just right.
Vanille didn't even finish reaching up to knock when she heard, "Come in, mom." from the other side of the entry. She opened the door to see Zack piling binders, notebooks and pencils into his backpack. Zack had just turned fourteen, and looked exactly like his father did, save for the brown hair. The boy saw his mother and nodded. "Dad leave for work?" He asked.
"Yeah." Vanille said, standing in the doorway. Sometimes she forgot just how young Hope was when she first met him. At first, he acted his age, but as time drew on he matured. Sometimes, when they were still dating, Vanille could forget that Hope was still a few years younger than herself. Seeing Zack at this age brought all those memories back.
Vanille stepped away from the doorway to go make breakfast. The sun had finally cast it's light over Oerba, the orange/red orb casting a similarly colored light over the small town. Vanille stepped into the kitchen as was gathering foodstuffs to make breakfast: Eggs, bread, and some bacon. She was about to turn on the stove when the phone rang.
Zack answered it, but Vanille had barely returned to her task when she heard. "Mom, it's Mrs. Serah." from Zack. Nodding, Vanille took the device from her son and put it to her ear.
"Yeah?" Vanille asked. Why would Serah be calling at this time?
"Hey, Vanille, Hope called a while ago." Serah started. In the background, Vanille could hear the television playing what sounded like cartoons. "Said that Zack needed to be picked up for school?"
Vanille smiled lightly. Leave it to Hope to remember something like that. "Yeah. Sazh has him bounding off to work at all hours of the morning." Vanille joked, her voice full of faux tiredness. Serah laughed on her end.
"Well, at least your's is working." Serah said. "Snow here just sits around all day." Serah's tease was followed by a male voice, most likely Snow's, shouting "hey!" at the woman.
"Doesn't he have that NORA group to run?" Vanille asked as she tried to keep from laughing too much. At the same time, Zack had poured himself some cereal and was eating it at the table. One thing Zack did not have was patience, especially when it came to food.
"He does, but most of the time he stays at home." Serah said. "Sometimes I wonder if he really is working." Again, Snow could be heard in the background, sounding a lot closer this time around. Vanille chuckled. "What is it that Hope's been working on?" Serah asked after a few moments.
"Well, he's been working on something called the 'Phoenix Engine'" Vanille said, leaning against the wall. "He says it should be able to fuel cities like the fal'Cie did on Cocoon." Serah hmm'd in response.
"Sounds important." Serah said. "He must get paid a lot, too." She added. Vanille chuckled.
"Yeah, he does." Vanille teased. Serah huffed again. "Well, how's Snow been?" Vanille asked. Serah sighed.
"Same as usual. Being loud, testing Claire's last nerves." She said. "You know, Lightning's still angry at him for the Christmas party you guys threw last year?" Vanille had to put her hand to her mouth to stifle her laughs. Snow, in his never ending quest to gain Lightning's approval, tried to get Lightning and Fang a nice, romantic dinner alone for Christmas. However, before the two left, they came over to Vanille's place for a Christmas party. Snow got drunk with his friends from NORA, and in their stupor, they ended up ruining the only dress that Lightning liked.
Needless to say, she still hadn't let him get over that.
"Well, you know Snow…" Vanille said when her laughs were down enough. Zack had just finished his bowl of cereal and was working on his second. "Well, I gotta go. Zack's gonna starve if I don't make breakfast." She teased.
Serah chuckled on her end. "Okay. See ya later, Vanille." And with that, she hung up.
"Battalion, a-ten-tion!" A private (PV2) on Staff Duty called, him and his buddy snapping to near perfect attention, as Lightning walked into the Battalion HQ. While there was not a person in the room save for Lightning and the two privates, it was the custom that, whenever the commanding officer walks into the HQ for the first time, that the soldier on staff duty call the battalion (or wherever he/she is assigned at) to attention.
"At ease, privates." Lightning spoke, waiving the soldiers (the private and a specialist(SPC)) back to their duty. They did just that, sitting down and returning to their silent conversation. Lightning walked towards her office, passing several sergeants and officers under her command. They also came to attention, but, like before, she waived them off.
Upon arrival at her office, she walked in, at easing her Command Sergeant Major (CSM) as she entered her office. While Lightning may have spoke with her subordinates on friendly terms, traditions and customs were strictly upheld, no matter what. As she closed the door, she looked at the calendar she had next to her desk. Today she was visiting Bravo Company. One of the eight companies under her command at the 42nd, Bravo Company was particularly strong concerning it's training given to new recruits. A large number of the soldiers who passed through Bravo Company went on to become highly decorated members of service in the Guardian Corps.
At the moment, the Company was about to undergo their first PT test. The PT test involves three different areas of examination- push-ups, sit-ups, and a 2 mile run. This particular test was likely to be extremely separated, with the most failures coming in this phase. Donning her grey and black PT uniform, Lightning exited the HQ and headed out to the training facility.
The training area wasn't a proper facility, but instead an area of grass near the barracks. Platoon sized patches of dead grass marked the area where most of the training was done in the mornings, but today there wasn't any real training. Instead, there was formations awaiting the orders by their Drill Sergeants to begin their 2 mile run.
Lightning approached the Company Commander, Captain (CPT) Ramirez, who went to attention, as did the rest of the platoon, upon her arrival. "At ease." was spoken again as the platoon groggily returned to their resting position. "So, Captain, what's on the roster for today?" Light asked, directing the lower ranked officer away from the platoon.
Ramirez thought for a moment, then turned to his senior Drill Sergeant, Sergeant First Class (SFC) Chavez, and called him over. Upon the sergeant's arrival, Ramirez asked, "What're your private's doing today, Chavez?"
The Drill Sergeant chuckled, almost humorously, as he answered. "They're in the gas chamber today, sir." Ramirez chuckled as well, before dismissing the sergeant to continue the training.
"Well, this should be interesting…" Lightning spoke as the Company began their test.
The Villiers/Farron household was in a complete buzz as the time wound down. The eldest of the children, Cloud, was already at school, and the younger two children, twin girls Rayne and Nora, were preparing for school themselves. They were gathering their supplies and watching the morning cartoons.
"Alright, girls, time to go." Snow called, herding his two daughters out to the family car. The girls spoke their goodbyes to Serah before they exited the small, quaint house. "Be back soon." Snow said to his wife before he followed the two girls out of the house.
There were two cars in the driveway of the house, but the one currently being used was the van. Called the "bus", this vehicle was the primary means of transportation of all of the former l'Cie's children. After the three were inside, Snow pulled the car out onto the streets of Oerba.
"So, first to Aunt Light's, then to Zack's, right?" Snow asked his children. He, of course, knew the answer, as Hope had called asking that Zack be picked up for school, and Snow knew that Lightning was already at work. Still, the large man would occasionally ask questions of this sort to his daughters, particularly Nora.
The girl in question nodded in reply. "Yep. We can't forget Avi, can we?" The (by a minute) younger twin asked back, getting a humorous hum from her father.
"Of course not." He answered, pulling to a stop at a red light. Looking into the rear view mirror, Snow took in how much each girl had grown over the years. Nora was slightly smaller than her older sister, but she was slightly taller. Her hair was a very light pink, so light it was practically blond. Her features were a good mix of Snow's and Serah's, with a rough smoothness to them. Rayne, however, looked almost exactly like her mother, right down to the pink hair. Both girls had the same color blue eyes.
The car pulled up to Lightning's house shortly after they moved from the red light. Snow honked the horn once, waiting for Averia to come out to the car. The girl was out only a few moments after they arrived, bolting towards the car at full speed. Fang followed at a more casual pace, opting for a brisk walk. She was holding a brown bag in her hand as she approached, stopping at the driver side window.
"Make sure the office gets these." Fang spoke, handing Snow the bag. It sounded like there was a baby's rattle inside, the way it shook. Upon further inspection, Snow saw a bottle of pills. "It's for her condition." Fang answered Snow's unasked question. Immediately, Snow understood what these were.
Around eight months ago, Averia fell terribly ill. The doctors had a tough time figuring out just what exactly was wrong with the girl. For three days, Averia was in the hospital, falling into a coma from what was affecting her. Finally, the doctors located the reason for her sudden illness. There was an autoimmune disease that can occur in the children of l'Cie or former l'Cie. The name of the disease was called crystallumortem, and was, in history, a very deadly disease. Every other child of the l'Cie was safe from this disease, but Snow recalled that it was the only time that he ever saw Light of Fang cry.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of it." He said, setting the bag in the seat next to him. Averia waved at her mother as Snow pulled out onto the road, heading now to pick up Zack.
Oerba Senior High School was considered to be the largest high school by attendance on Gran Pulse. With an estimated 3000 students this year, it was no wonder why. But, there was only one student in attendance who could say they were a Yun.
Paine preferred to go by her Pulsian name, Oerba Yun Paine, something Fang seemed keen on encouraging. The eldest Farron child was even enrolled as such. Paine was very interested in Gran Pulse's history, taking greatly to Fang's tales of heroism and adventure of Pulse's lore.
However, not many people were keen to befriend Paine. The only two people who could call themselves Paine's 'friends' were two girls, Yuna and Rikku. These two were quite different from Paine, though. Where Paine was stoic, quiet and serious, Yuna and Rikku were talkative and carefree. Paine sometimes wondered why she continued to hang around the two.
It was lunch time, and Paine was looking for her spot to sit. At her usual table, Cloud, his girlfriend Tifa, Yuna, her boyfriend Tidus, Rikku and her friend/classmate Selphie sat. As soon as Rikku saw Paine, she flagged the older girl towards her, and the Yun sat in the only empty area, across from Cloud.
"Heya, Paine." Cloud spoke, his voice soft for someone of his build. Cloud was named for Snow's favorite uncle, but he was much more like Snow than anyone else. That being said, he didn't have Snow's build, instead having a solid mix of Snow's and Serah's. He was quite tall for his age, but nowhere near as much as Snow. His blond hair was usually kept spiked up, seemingly defying gravity.
"Hey." Paine said, with a mix of what could be taken as annoyance and typical Paine tone. Cloud raised an eyebrow, somewhat amused at Paine's response. Not that Paine showed much in the way of enthusiasm, but that answer was very un-Paine like.
"Something the matter?" He asked his cousin, who was pulling the plastic fork out of it's wrapper to begin eating her food.
"Nothing." Paine answered, grabbing a bite of the spaghetti that was being served. While nowhere near as good as her mother's, it was at least edible. Cloud hmm'd.
"I'm thinking it's because Riku's not here." Cloud remarked as he bit into his hamburger. Again, not as good as it could be, but it would do. Paine nearly chocked on her food, and had to slow her chewing for a moment. As soon as she finished, she glared at Cloud like he had committed some forbidden transgression. Yuna, Rikku, Selphie and Tifa all giggled silently at Paine's overreaction.
"What about me?" a male voice asked from behind Paine. All eyes at the table turned to the source of the voice. It was a boy, maybe Paine's age, tall and lanky, with a messy mop of white hair that covered his green eyes. Currently he was wearing a yellow vest over a white t-shirt and baggy blue jeans.
The entire table was silent as the boy sat next to Paine, his tray of food in front of him. "Miss me?" He spoke to Paine, a goofy smile on his face. For all of two seconds, Paine's jaw was unhinged. When she finally sobered up, she did the first thing that crossed the mind of a Farron.
She punched him in the shoulder, hard.
"Oww!" The boy cried, rubbing the shoulder with his other hand. Paine's face was now contorted into a glare, similar to the one she was giving Cloud moments ago. Everyone else was deathly silent; part of it was due to fear of Paine's spite, but most of it was because, like all teenagers, they were extremely nosey.
"What the hell, Riku!" Paine half-shouted at the boy, her tone taking on a venom similar to her expression. "Why in the hell wouldn't you tell me you were coming back!" If they didn't know Paine well, everyone at the table would think she was a combination of relieved and excited. But, it was hard to tell through her anger.
"Sorry." Riku started, the pain in his shoulder now a dull ache. "My parents had me ready to head to Central, but they backed out yesterday when they got the bill." Riku obviously thought it was funny, but with Paine currently glaring daggers at him.
This went on for about ten full seconds before the situation finally changed. Paine's glare softened up, an almost unnoticeable smile gracing her face. "Don't. Ever. Do. That. Again." She spoke, her voice forcefull enough to emphasize her point, but not as deadly as her previous tone.
Riku smiled openly, nodding once in reply. "Wouldn't even dream about it. Don't want you to hit me again." He joked, getting a silent chuckle from Paine. The rest of the table relaxed with Paine's change of attitude, no longer fearing for their lives. "So, how've you been, Strife?" Riku asked Cloud as he bit into his food. The blond in question smirked.
"Obviously a hell of a lot better than you've been." He joked, leaning back as far as he could without a backrest. Cloud's nickname, Strife, came from his time on the middle school football team, and his rivalry with the quarterback of the rival football team, Sora. The two were constantly trying to beat the other, even going so far as to get into a fight after one game. The two were now good friends on the high school's football team, but the name stuck.
All in all, it was a typical day in high school.
Machinery was whirling and humming loudly at the PSICOM Mechanical Engineering Depot, Oerba. Foreman Hope Estheim was currently working on his project, the Phoenix Engine. Named after Cocoon's fal'Cie of light, the Phoenix was part of a revolutionary project to develop an alternative to the energy supplied by the fal'Cie. Currently, the cities of Gran Pulse were using generators to produce electricity, but the energy could be unpredictable at times.
However, there was a snag in the engine's system. For some reason, it had stopped producing energy, and since Hope was the only one who knew how the thing worked, he was called in to figure out what had happened.
With a heavy sigh, he pulled himself from inside the engine and wiped his brow. Another worker helping him noted his expression. "So, what's the verdict?" He asked, handing Hope a clean rag to wipe the sweat away.
"Who's working on supply?" Hope asked, annoyed. This was not something he had foreseen, and the problem was getting to the point of being just stupid.
"Hmm. Talk to the kid." The worker replied, thumbing to a kid working on what looked to be a velocycle. "He's new, but he seems to know everything else." Hope nodded, and approached the kid.
Hope hadn't even gotten all the way there when his target began talking. "I know this is the Captain's velo, dad." Hope paused. That voice was eerily familiar. "But the entire hover's shot. It'll take at least a week to fix it." Hope chuckled silently.
"Wrong person, Dajh." He said, watching in delight as Dajh almost dropped the wrench in his hand. The afro'd man turned towards Hope, before smiling slightly.
"Ah, sorry, Hope. Dad's got me fixing Captain Lucas's velo for him." Dajh spoke, setting the wrench down. "No way it'll get fixed when he wants it, though. What's up?" Hope nodded. Dajh was quick to the point, just like his father.
"I need to know who's working supply on the Phoenix Engine." Hope said. Dajh thought for a few moments, resembling Sazh almost to the letter, before he finally answered.
"I think it's Michael. He's over there working on the Orion." Dajh said, pointing to a red-headed man working on the broken tilter. "He should be able to help."
Hope nodded in thanks and headed to the man. Mike, as his nametag said, noticed Hope approaching and stopped his work. "What's up, boss?" He asked. PSICOM preferred if it's workers limited the conversations during work hours. They said it made things run smoother.
"You do the supply for the Phoenix?" Hope asked. Mike nodded, standing up. "I need a part for it." Again, Mike nodded, leading Hope to the parts room and pulling out a data pad.
"Whatcha need?" The red head asked, pulling up the search screen.
"I need Grade III Antimatter Particle Converter, 15cm gap. Any in?" Hope asked, waiting as Mike looked through their inventory.
A few moments later and he nodded. "Yep, we got some, but I don't think that'll fix it, sir." Mike said, to which Hope paused.
"What do ya mean?" He asked, intrigued. He was sure that it was just that the Converter had failed.
"The Phoenix uses a Cyclic Pulse AMP Drive, right?" Hope nodded. "Three cylinder or five?" Hope paused for a moment.
"Five." He answered. Mike nodded, a small smile on his face.
"Well, that's the problem. Grade III's aren't compatible with the five cylinder variant of that drive. You need a Grade V at least." He said. He was searching for one when Hope cut him off.
"I already tried a Grade V. The gap on them isn't big enough for the fuel to properly convert, and too much density causes the drive to overheat." Hope explained. He thought that Mike might try to use a Grade V, but that had created nothing but problems. He thought that it just the gap. It was sounding like there was more than just an improper gap now.
"Hmm. Well, guess we'll have to Frankenstein one together." Mike surmised, stopping his search. "It'll take a little longer, but it should work a little better in the long run. Talk to Parks and Montgomery." Mike said, handing Hope the schematics of both a Grade III and a Grade V Converter. "Compare what failed on the last Converter with these, and see if ya'll can't come up with a solution. If we got the parts, I'll put it together for you and we'll see it that works." Mike explained, to which Hope nodded. As he was leaving, the foreman sighed.
"Welcome to Science, students." the teacher, Mr. Stapleton, said, standing before the 8th Grade Science class he taught. It was the last of 6 periods at Oerba Central Junior High, and as such, most of the students were, to put it mildly, bored. Well, all except Averia, that is.
"My job is to help you understand the vast world that science has to offer." the teacher continued, to which some students were listening, and some were trying to ignore him. "That being said, this class will be fun, and we will do various projects throughout the year."
He had only just paused when he spoke again, this time with a stack of papers in his hand. "Now, I'm going to hand you these worksheets to do." Part of the class groaned, to which the teacher chuckled. "It is not a grade. I will be using these to assess where you are and allow myself to teach you guys a little better." He handed Averia's table five papers, one for each person at the table. To her left, Zack sat, taking the sheet with a small thanks.
"You can work with the students at your table, but keep the noise level at reasonable levels." He said, sitting at his desk and beginning to take the roll for the class. As soon as he sat down, the talking began, but it was, surprisingly, kept within reasonable levels.
"So, what've you been up to?" Zack asked Averia when they began to work on their sheets. While it was the last period, the two were not in any other classes together, so this was the only time they could talk. They both had classes with Nora and/or Rayne earlier in the day, but there was not a single class they all took together.
"Eh, same as usual." Averia answered, quickly working through her assignment. Averia was they "brainiac" of the school, and she constantly had other students asking her for help. She didn't mind most of the time, but occasionally it got irritating. "Mom's been working with the most recent batch of hunters, and mother's been protecting the town from nothing." Zack chucked at the description of Lightning's job, but the others at their table had no idea what Averia was talking about. The Yun-Farron children had taken to calling Fang 'mom' and Lightning either 'mama' or, more recently, 'mother'. Zack knew of the 'code' that was used, but not too many others could decipher it. "How about you?" Averia asked as she reached the end of the assignment.
"Well, dad's been working on that project with PSICOM, and mom's still helping out at the garden." Zack answered, himself not too far behind Averia on the sheet. The 'garden' was the Oerba Open Air Nature Park, a small park built in Oerba shortly after the Fall in honor of Fang and Vanille. Seeing as Vanille was quite the horticulturist, it was a great fit for her after she awoke from crystal sleep.
The rest of the class passed without anything of note occurring. The bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, and a flood of students trying to escape the building.
Serah was picking up the children today, and she was waiting just outside the school's parking lot for them to enter the vehicle. When Averia and Zack arrived, Nora and Rayne were already in the van, waiting for their cousins to enter. A few moments later, Serah pulled out onto the road, heading towards the neighborhood they lived in.
"So, how was school?" Serah asked to her passengers once they were moving. Nora and Rayne shrugged, but Averia spoke up.
"It wasn't too bad. I'm not liking my history teacher, though." She said honestly. The four all had the same core class teachers, just in different orders. The other three seemed to visually cringe.
"You mean Mrs. Hatherly?" Nora asked, obviously sharing Averia's revelation. The younger girl nodded. Nora cringed. "Yeah, she's a real bi-" Nora hadn't even finished her sentence when her mother was glaring at her in the mirror. "Er, witch." Nora corrected, but Serah's gaze was still on her. The pinkette simply sighed as if in defeat.
"I swear, you two give me more trouble than you father at times." She spoke lightly, turning down Zack's street a few moments later. Nora, nor Rayne, had a chance to speak in defense when they were stopping in front of Zack's house.
The boy gathered his stuff and stepped out of the van. "Thanks, Mrs. Serah." he said, closing the sliding door and walking towards his house as the van pulled off.
Zack wasn't too shocked to see that his father hadn't gotten off work yet. Most of the time, Hope would get home anywhere between thirty minutes to two hours after Zack got home, so it was normal. As he stepped into the house, he could smell the familiar smell of tea in the air. "I'm home." he announced, dropping his backpack into an armchair and collapsing onto the couch.
Vanille walked in a few moments later, holding a cop of what Zack assumed was the tea that he smelled. She had another cup for herself as well. "Hi, honey. How was school?" She asked as she handed him the cup. Vanille's homemade tea was something of a delicacy in the neighborhood. It was able to warm you up on a cold day, but it was also able to cool you off on a hot one too. It wasn't something that was easily mimicked, either.
"Like usual." Zack said, sipping the tea as he relaxed. "Gotta chose an instrument to play in band." he said with obvious displeasure. It wasn't that he didn't like music. He just never though about playing it. Vanille chuckled.
"Have you decided?" She asked, sitting on the couch next to her son. The brunette shrugged, leaning back in his seat.
"Well, the teacher said we could chose guitar, so I think I'm gonna try that." He said. One of Zack's favorite types of music was rock n' roll, something it seemed Fang got him into. But, Vanille would try to get a guitar for Zack if he wanted one.
"Anything else?" Vanille asked. Zack tried to think of anything else of note, but nothing came to him. He shook his head just as he heard the sound of a car pulling up.
"Dad's home." He said simply, finishing his tea and standing to put the cup in the sink. Less than a minute later, Hope entered the house, covered in grease and oil stains. Vanille chuckled.
"Seriously, dear, how do you manage to get so messy?" She asked humorously, to which Hope just shrugged. He kissed her lightly, then stepped to head to change when Zack entered the room.
"Oh, hey. How was your day?" he asked, stopping to talk with his son. Zack shrugged, but Vanille answered for him.
"Zack got put into band and is thinking about playing guitar." She said, amused by her son's lack of enthusiasm. Hope nodded once.
"Think about guitar, huh? Well, I'll see if Sazh knows anyone who might have one you can use." Hope said, to which Zack nodded in reply. The boy grabbed his bag and headed off to his room. Hope, meanwhile, went to change into a clean outfit.
A few moments later, Hope plopped down onto the couch, now dressed in a t-shirt and simple pants. Vanille giggled as she sat next to him. "Rough day?" She asked teasingly. Hope groaned in reply.
"Yes." He said, drawing the word out to emphasize his tiredness. "Gotta build a new part for the engine from scratch, and Sazh said I'll have to oversee the next series of performance tests." From the tone of his voice, it sounded like Hope was not looking forward to the next week of work.
"Sounds like fun." Vanille teased, getting a small chuckle out of Hope.
"It isn't all that bad, though." Hope said, shifting so Vanille could rest her head on his shoulder. "I've got two weeks of vacation saved up. I was thinking maybe we could go take a break for a while. Just the two of us." Hope said. Vanille smiled warmly at him.
"That'd be great." She said, somewhat shocked. Hope was long overdo for a vacation. While he had a great work ethic, which he inherited from Lightning, he also seemed to inherit Lightning's inability to take a break. It was admirable and stubborn all at once. "It's been a while since we had some time to ourselves." She said, returning her head to Hope's shoulder. It would be well worth it.
Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Farron was known to be quite the motivator when it came to training. It seemed that her presence alone was enough to motivate the privates of Bravo Company. The gas chamber, a room no bigger than a typical living room, was known to be a good estimate as to who had it in them and who was not going to make it through training. The room was used to familiarize recruits with the effects of a biological strike if it ever happened, although, in a real combat situation, more was at stake than just a lost lunch.
Typically, around 20% of the recruits who entered the chamber had to helped out, either due too passing out or having a bad reaction to the chemical. Today, thought, all of the recruits were able to walk out of the chamber on their own, though some of them lost their lunches as they exited. It surprised all of the drill sergeants as well.
"I have to hand it to ya, Chavez," Lightning spoke to the senior Drill Sergeant. "You've been pounding those privates in the head enough it seems like." The sergeant in question laughed in reply.
"Yeah, those privates are a fucked up bunch, I tell ya." He said, herding the recruits to the barracks for lights out. "They'll pass one test one minute, then fuck up something the next." Lightning chuckled in reply.
Lightning was heading back to the HQ when she saw Colonel (COL) Amodar approaching in the distance. Like usual, she snapped to attention at his presence, and he at returned it. "Well, Farron, heading home?" He asked, following the LTC as she headed into her office.
"Yes, sir." She said, sitting at her desk. She had to finish a few reports, but nothing that would take too long. She'd be on her way home within thirty minutes.
"Good, that'll make this easier." Amodar said, pulling a folder out of his bag. Lightning paused her work. Either this was good news or bad news.
"You've done this job here perfectly for the past four years," Amodar started, pulling out a sheet of paper from the folder. "but the Brigade thinks that you'll be better at the Brigade level." He said, handing Lightning the paper.
Lightning took the paper, and read it over. After she did so, she looked up to Amodar. "What is this?"
The man chuckled in reply. "Well, Farron, their moving you up to the Brigade level. It's better hours, and you'll be promoted to a Full-Bird." He answered. Lightning looked down to the paper. Indeed, it did mention that she'd be promoted to a Colonel, and that she was being moved to the Brigade.
"I'm being restationed?" She asked tentatively. She had gotten a great stroke of luck over the last 17 years; she was never stationed outside of Oerba. She wasn't too keen on moving.
"Not entirely." Amodar said, leaning back in his chair ever so slightly. "You'll still be here in Oerba, you'll just be moving up to the Brigade level. You'll be one of the Brigadier General's (BG) advisors, particularly to this Battalion." he explained, watching Lightning's face express her shock.
To be sure, Lightning enjoyed her job here in the Battalion. But this was quite the move up. It sounded like she'd still be working with this Battalion, but she'd be moving out of the Battalion HQ and to the Brigade HQ. It wasn't too far away, but she'd be working shorter hours for better pay. It was a big decision.
"I…this is…Thank you, sir." Lightning stumbled out. Given the situation, she was likely going to take the job. She had been wanting to spend more time with her kids recently, but her hours were long and tiring. This was something she wanted.
"I'll be giving you some leave as well. You'll be starting at the Brigade next Tuesday, but until then, you can relax. Spend some time with your girls, Light." Amodar said, secretly amused at Lightning's sudden 180 in expressions.
"Th-thank you, sir." Lightning spoke, still processing everything. Amodar nodded, then stood up to leave.
"See you then, Farron." he said as he exited the office.
Lightning sat in awe for the next couple of moments until she finally recollected herself. She began to pack her belongings and organize the room. She could spend the next day cleaning the office so the next Battalion Commander could get settled. She had just finished packing her personal belongings, which were a couple of pictures, when she decided to call home.
She picked up the receiver and pressed '4', which was her house speed dial. The line rang three times before it was answered.
"Yun residence." Paine spoke. Lightning chuckled, barely, at Paine's greeting.
"Paine, is your mom there?" Lightning asked, slightly impatient. It wasn't an annoyed kind of impatience, though. It was an almost excited kind. Paine hmm, called for Fang, and set the phone on the table, from what Light heard.
"Yeah, babe?" Fang asked casually. Lightning sighed, then spoke.
"I'm getting a promotion." She said simply. Fang, from the dull thunk sound, most likely dropped the phone. Less than a second later, the other woman had the phone back to her ear.
"Again!" She asked in disbelief. Lightning hummed in reply. "Son of a bitch…What are you doing over there?" Fang joked. Lightning laughed.
"I've also got some time off." Lightning added. Fang sighed in reply, obviously just as shocked as Light at the revelation.
When Fang gathered herself, she spoke again. "You headed home now?" She asked. The question was innocent enough, but the context was definitely not.
"Slow down there, tiger." Lightning said, pleased with the audible pout from Fang's end. "I've been wanting to spend time with the girls this week." She said.
"Okay, fine. Just hurry home." Fang said. Lightning nodded.
"Always. Love ya." She said, and with that, the conversation ended.
*Whew* Finally got it cranked out. I tell ya, it's been tough trying to get this worked out. But, it's up, and hopefully I'll get the next chapter up soon.
Finally, if anybody is willing to beta this story (I only need you to do this story, none of the others), let me know. I've self-beta-ed for too long now, but that's partially because I don't want to waste time posting stories.
Well, see ya later!