Author's Note: Hi guys! So... This is the sequel to Connected By Dreams! Are you as excited as I am? I bet you are. :)

Okay, if you haven't read the first one, you will either suffer minor confusion or major confusion. In either case, the only treatment is to stop reading this one, and to go read the first one. (Connected By Dreams) Or you can just keep reading. Your choice.

If you have read the first one, this is the remedy for that cliffhanger I left you guys with.


"It's been two days, Light."

"I know."

"Anything?"

A sigh, "No." A pause, "Snow, what if she doesn't wake up? What will we do?"

Their faded voices echoed through Fang's mind. She tried to hold on to them, to keep herself from being dragged back into the darkness.

Boots clunked on the floor, "She's strong, she'll wake up."

"But what if she doesn't? We don't even know what he did to her."

Fang managed to weakly flex her fingers, clutching at the smooth material beneath her. Sheets. A bed. Where was she?

"You can't..." Fang lost her grip and Snow's voice faded, along with everything else. She struggled to find a foothold, anything that would keep her connected to reality. But she kept slipping. She was just... so tired...

Lightning's pained voice pulled her back up, "...the day we completed our Focus. And I've lost him every day since."

"I-I'm sorry sis, I didn't mean-"

"No, Snow, I just... I can't..." Her breath hitched, and then came the sound of Snow's footsteps. "I'm sorry, I just..."

"Don't apologize." Fang could barely pick up Snow's words.

The next thing she heard though, was plain and clear: a child's cry.

There were a few moments of silence before Lightning said, "Go ahead and get him. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Go take care of your son."

"If you need anything."

"I can take care of myself."

"Right."

As Snow left, so did Fang. She was no longer aware of where she was or what was going on. All she knew was that the darkness around her was deafening. Pressing against her ears and everything else, forcing itself down her throat and into her blood, dragging her down. She was falling, down into the black with nothing to touch, nothing to hear, and nothing to see. And she didn't care. It all made her sleepy, and sleep sounded really, really good...

Until... until a sound broke through the dense nothing. A sharp intake of air. It leaked into her hers, slowly flooding her body. It was light, but it felt... sad somehow. It came again. But this time it pressed up against her back. It happened again and again, until finally she stopped sinking.

Fang opened her eyes. She found herself in the guest room, where she'd slept before. Her head fell to the side, and she saw Lightning sitting in a chair by the wall.

The soldier was crying.

She was leaning on her knees, her head buried in her hands, shaking. Between sobs she whispered, "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." This was the side of her that she hid behind that tough wall. The side that belonged to Claire, not Lightning.

"Well, that's not something you see every day." Fang said hoarsely.

Lightning froze for a moment before she looked up, "Fang?"

Fang nodded, "You look like hell."

Lightning chuckled and wiped the tear tracks from her face, "Hell is one of my favorite vacation spots, didn't you know?" She sighed, "Are you okay?"

"I've been better. But... what happened to me?"

Lightning looked worried, "You don't remember."

"No."

Another sigh, "I was afraid of that."

"Why? What happened?"

Lightning sat on the bed beside the Oerban, "...Do you remember what happened to Vanille?"

"I-" Vanille... What could have happened to her? "No, I don't. What happened?"

"Goddess..." Lightning muttered. She took a deep breath and looked Fang dead in the eye. "She's gone, Fang."

"Gone?" Her heart raced painfully, "What do you mean gone? Where did she go?"

"She's not that kind of gone, Fang."

"What other-" It hit her. It hit her like a behemoth paw, though that would hurt less. She remembered. She remembered how, who... "No, no, no!" She sat bolt upright, fighting back the emotion that threatened to spill from her eyes. "He ki- He killed her."

Lightning put an arm around her friend, "I know, Fang. I know."

Fang shrugged away from her, "I wanna see her."

"Fang, I don't-"

"Lightning, please."

Blue eyes scanned her face, and Fang figured that the pain in those eyes matched hers. "Alright." Lightning stood, offering her hand, "Come on."


"She has a point, Snow. What will we do if she doesn't wake up?"

"She'll wake up."

"How do you know?"

"I don't. But I have to believe in something."

Serah fell back onto their bed, "How could this have happened?"

"Which part of it?"

"Everything. Vanille. Fang. Ho-"

A door slammed shut downstairs.

The two fell silent as footsteps came up the stairs and down the hall past their room, towards the end of the house. Serah gasped, realizing where they were going, and who it must be. She exchanged a look with Snow and they both left the room, catching up with Lightning and Fang as they reached their destination.

Lightning stopped with her hand on the doorknob. "Are you sure about this?" she asked Fang.

Fang shook a little, but when she spoke, her voice was strong. "Open the damn door."

Lightning nodded, and opened the door.


Fang wasn't sure what she expected to see when Lightning opened the door, but she definitely didn't expect what she saw.

"Oh, Vanille..."

The pain wasn't just in her heart this time, it screamed from every cell in her body. She moved to Vanille's side, and wrapped her fingers around the girl's cold hand. What had she done to deserve this? As if it wasn't bad enough that she was dead, now... now she...

"He did this to her?" Her voice shook.

"Actually," Lightning hesitated, "I'm not so sure-"

Fang glared up at her, "Of course it was him! Who else could have done it!?" Pain crossed Lightning's face and Fang spat, "Tell me!"

The soldier just turned away. "That's what I thought." Fang turned back to Vanille and asked, "Where is he?"

"He ran." Snow told her, anger slithering into his words. "He ran right after he did this to her."

Fang nodded, and for a while she didn't even breathe. She just sat there, studying her sister's face. A face that would never smile again. A face that would never again light up when she made a discovery. She had a voice that would never speak again, never laugh. Eyes that would never see, ears that would never hear, and hands that would never feel. Vanille, and everything she had, everything she could have been, was gone. All because of him. Closing her eyes, Fang only said one word:

"Good."


Lightning closed the door behind her as quietly as possible. She held her breath until the door latched. When it did, she held her hand on the cold metal of the doorknob a little longer. Did she really want to do this? She'd been meaning to for days, but kept stalling. Maybe because it felt too much like talking to a headstone.

She finally let her breath go, and let go of the door. She didn't bother to turn on the lights, even though it was the middle of the night, she just pulled a chair up to the bed.

"Vanille..." She whispered, "I am so sorry this happened to you. You didn't deserve death." She stared into the girl's face, "And you didn't deserve to have your body turn to crystal."


So, what'd you think? I hope you liked it!

I have no idea when the next chapter will be up, but I finished this one and decided to give you guys something to think about. :)

Reviews are much appreciated!