**I do not nor will I ever own any of the Final Fantasy characters, story, plot, monsters, the whole shenanigans.**

This is not my first fic, but it is my first to post. I have tried posting others before, but never had the motivation to finish them. It's all about the comments. Plus I'm the type that if you read AND review, I'll do the same for you. :) So if you are a fan of my story, please let me know.

Chapter 1: Boredom

Lightning sat on her bed, hugging her knees before she got up. Snow and Serah were getting married in the following week, so all their friends were staying at their large house until they part ways after the wedding. She trusted Snow would take good care of her sister while she was away, that is, if she decided to leave. She had forced a decision upon herself, and was confused on which way to go. On the inside, she was at war. It had been a month since they rescued Serah. Vanille and Fang agreed to room with them until after the wedding. Lightning had only spoken with Fang of the choice she wanted to make.

"Fang," Lightning said quietly so no one could hear. "Would you walk with me?"

"Sure." Fang answered in her thick accent. Lightning waited until they were far from the house before she spoke.

"I want to go to Gran Pulse with you and Vanille." She said. Fang shifted her weight from one foot to the other, crossing her arms. She looked Lightning up and down and asked,

"Why for?"

"Heh, it's a bit foolish, but I don't think I can stand living here." Light said as she extended her arms out, presenting Fang with the scene of people on the beach playing, lounging, and swimming. "It's just too..."

"Boring." Fang finished for her, understanding the picture Light was portraying. She nodded at Lightning's apologetic look. "Does your sister know?"

"Not yet." She answered. "I wanted to be sure it was alright with you two first. I didn't want to impose. Also, I may decide to stay here." She shrugged at her last comment. Fang knew however, the look of unhappiness on her friends face said she was going to have a new roomie.

"I'll talk to Vanille. And as for you, you have plenty of time to think about it." Fang said, smacking the back of Lightning's shoulder, staggering her a little. The girls laughed a little and headed back to the house.

Lightning sighed and got out of bed. After a shower, she changed into black jeans, tan v neck, spaghetti strapped shirt, and her black all purpose boots. She ran a brush through her hair and threw it into a simple ponytail before going downstairs to join everyone for breakfast. She went straight to the coffee pot and poured herself a cup, adding Irish cream and 5 spoons of sugar.

"Would you like some coffee with your sugar?" Snow asked with a laugh as he too got a cup of coffee. He only added creamer in his. Lightning only nodded and leaned against the counter, watching everyone at the table. Serah and Vanille were eating french toast with glasses of milk, Fang had a bagel, and Hope and his father were eating POPS. She looked over at Snow, wondering why he hadn't sat down, and found him staring at hi fiancee. He had a glazed look in his eyes and took a sip of his coffee. Light shuddered, realizing he was daydreaming. She punched his shoulder, snapping him out of his daze as he spilled a little coffee down the front of his shirt.

"Oh!" He exclaimed as he reacted to the burn. He set down his cup and rubbed his shoulder first before using a nearby washrag to scrub at his shirt. Lightning smirked as she heard giggling at the table. "Why are you always hitting me?"

She only shrugged as she topped off her coffee. "I didn't want to clean your drool from the floor." Snow chuckled, then turned away from her slightly to check for dribble. Light had to bite her lip to prevent herself from laughing. Then she raised her voice a little so the household could hear her. "There is something I need to tell you guys." She looked at Fang, who nodded, answering Light's question the day before. "Snow, can you sit down?"

"Yes, mother." He replied, earning a shove from Light as he walked away. Once he took his seat next to Serah, Lightning spoke. "I'm considering leaving Cocoon, and go to Gran Pulse with the girls." She nodded in Fang and Vanille's direction.

"Why?" Snow and Serah asked in unison. Hope and his father watched, not saying a word. Fang and Vanille only listened.

"It's too peaceful here. After fighting for so long, I sort of miss it. "Lightning answered.

"You WANT to be in danger?" Serah asked. Snow placed his arm around her and rubbed her shoulder.

"It's not that. I want to fight. I want to feel I'm making a difference, that I have a purpose here. So I'm giving myself one. It's not a for sure thing, but to be honest, I'm leaning more toward going. Snow, I know you will take good care of Serah. I trust you. Serah, I can't keep moping around here."

"But I need you." Serah said silently.

"No you don't." Lightning said with a laugh. "You have Snow." Before anyone could argue with her, she strode out of the kitchen and up to her room.

"She'll be okay, Serah." Snow said as Serah just stared at her empty plate. "Your sister's tough."

Serah smiled and shook her head. "That's not what I'm worried about."

"What are you worried about?" Asked Vanille, curiously.

"She will be alone. I know you two will be there." She added as she looked at Fang and Vanille. "But you all know Lightning." She laughed and shook her head. "She won't want to burden you guys so she will want to go off and live on her own. YOu will rarely see her because she will always be out fighting."

"And you're worried she will lose herself, fighting and never socializing?" Hope's father asked.

"Something like that." Serah answered.

"She needs to find love. And being out there in the field fighting is only going to keep her away from it." Fang said knowingly. Serah nodded. Just then, Lightning walked into the kitchen and grabbed a waterbottle. As she filled it, everyone sighed with relief. At first they thought she had heard some of their conversation, only realizing that she had headphones in her ears. Before she left to go jogging, she stopped by the door at looked at everyone.

"Love isn't for me." Was all she said before she turned the ON button on her mp3 player, and left. Everybody had let their breaths out, not realizing they were holding it from the tension of her words.

"There you have it." Snow said as he stood from the table. "She doesn't want that sort of thing."

"Hey Snow.." Serah said as she watched him pour himself another cup of coffee. "Don't you have a friend who lives there?"

"Yeah, I've invited him to the wedding. I even ordered for a delivery from their tavern so he would have to come. He will be here a week early though. He has deliverys to make here in Cocoon too." Snow grinned at his genius idea. His friend,- had also ordered for her bar, with some helpful pushes from Snow. Serah giggled.

"If my memory serves me right, I'd say they would make a perfect match." Serah said. Hope and his father excused themselves from the table, realizing where the conversation was headed. They swore to not say a word to Lightning about what they have heard, and left the house for the day.

"Who is it?" Fang piped up. "We may know the cat."

"Cloud Strife." Snow answered. Then he pondered on a thought as he sipped his drink. "I'm not so sure, love. It seems they are both the type to shut each other out with no remorse.

"No!" Exclaimed Serah, jumping up. "Think about it! It would be a challenge for them to build a relationship. They'll never be bored."

Fang shook her head. "We know who that is." She said as Vanille nodded. "He was in love once, and she was taken from him. His best friend tries so hard to fill that place in his heart, but to no avail. She loves him, but he is really in love with the woman his enemy had murdered. Speaking of... Is Tifa coming to the wedding?" She asked after explaining to Serah her plan was squashed.

"Yes. And I also invited Vincent, Yuffie, and Barrett." Snow answered.

"Oh I LOVE Yuffie!" Serah said happily. However, she refused to give up. "Let's try anyway. I just know those two will be perfect for one another. Please?"

"If he ever does come around, he won't want a woman who is looking for trouble." Fang said. Snow nodded in agreement. "He would rather settle with a woman who won't leave the house."

"Maybe." Vanille spoke up. "Lightning is a very strong woman. Physically and emotionally. She is almost exactly like Cloud. With them having so much in common, it may work. The trick is to get him to actually LOOK at her." Serah hugged Vanille in thanks to her help in the argument.

"Can we give them a push? Please?" Serah asked, looking pleadingly from Fang to her fiancee, then back again. "I promise if our push doesn't spark up anything I'll leave it be."

Fang and Snow looked at each other, then Fang silently gathered the dishes, making and excuse to be close enough to Snow to silently exchange words only he could hear. Then after he spoke with her, and discussed until Serah was sitting at the edge of her seat, straining to hear, they faced the girls and nodded.

"What is a small push?" Snow asked, earning his fiancee to throw herself into his arms and a kiss on the cheek. Luckily, he had time to put his cup on the counter as he saw her charging him.

Serah laughed at his reaction and immediatly started to come up with a plan. Every once in a while, Vanille would throw out an idea, or Snow or Fang would intervene, refusing when they thought it would be too far. In the end, Serah and Vanille were sure their plan would work, and Snow and Fang were happy that they had come up with a plan that would not be too obvious or too pushy.