A/N - Hello again FLight fans. This is a pre-FLight story, set in the village of Oerba during the first game. It was inspired by 'The Sound of Silence' by Simon and Garfunkel (which is one of my favourite songs and I urge you to listen to it if you find time) and the lyrics are sprinkled throughout (virtual cake if you can find them all!). Now that it's been written I'm not sure I've done it justice *sad face* but I'd love for you all to read it and let me know your thoughts.
Again, this is pre-FLight, so there shouldn't be anything to bother anyone, but if casual touching and one minor innuendo really sticks in your craw, please close the door on the way out, and I hope to see you next time.
Lightning snapped her eyes open, straining her ears to decipher what it was that had woken her up. Even without her Guardian Corps training, being a L'Cie on the run meant being even more attuned to the things that go bump in the night. She concentrated for a few moments more then relaxed back into her pillow when she didn't hear anything suspicious.
Probably just someone using the bathroom.
They had arrived in the derelict village of Oerba earlier that afternoon. It had pained all of them to see the ruins of what had clearly been a wonderful place, but it pained them more to see Fang and Vanille's reaction. The look of shock on their faces, the hurt in their eyes. They had known five hundred years had passed since they were last here, so they had resigned themselves to the fact there wouldn't be any familiar faces. But to see the buildings lying in disrepair and knowing that all the villagers had been turned into Cie'th? That sort of grief would be a long time leaving. Vanille, being a naturally positive person, was quick to put on a brave face and busied herself with her robot. Fang was a lot harder to read. She was very quiet for the rest of the day, opting to tuck herself away in the corner of the living space and sharpen her spear.
Lightning raised her head up and swept her eyes across the dormitory. The moonlight pouring in through the window meant it was easy to spot that one of the beds didn't have anyone lying in it.
Let's see…the boys took the three on the far side, and Vanille is still lying in the bed next to me, which means Fang is up.
She wondered if the huntress was alright. It would be reasonable to assume that she was simply up to answer a call of nature, but Lightning thought it was something more. They had grown close in the short time they had known each other, sharing a single-minded determination to save their sisters. They were kindred spirits, and Lightning didn't think that Fang would be roaming around in the middle of the night if there wasn't something bothering her.
I'll give her a couple of minutes, and then I'd better check on her. Just because we cleared a lot of monsters out this afternoon it doesn't mean that some won't have come back.
Lightning lay in bed for a while longer, letting her thoughts meander in and out. Most of them were about their mission, the places they had been and the places they had yet to reach. The rest of her thoughts were about the missing Pulsian. Even though she had slapped Fang when they first met (and quite hard as well) she cared for her, a lot more than she expected. She couldn't imagine what it was like returning home after five centuries and seeing your whole life fallen into decay. Her heart lurched in sympathy, and she resolved that it was time to find Fang. She turned her bedcovers back and quietly slipped her boots back on, padding gently out of the room so as not to wake the others.
There was a bright full moon tonight, and once she had walked through the front door and out into the square it was easy to spot the missing huntress. She was leaning with her forearms on the wall of the other side of the square, overlooking the water. She was illuminated by the halo of the streetlamp next to her, the warm light giving her raven hair a glossy look.
Lightning made her way over to the wall, propping herself upon it far away enough that she wasn't intruding, but close enough that they could carry on a conversation.
Fang gave no indication that she had noticed the pinkette's arrival, choosing to watch the water lap against the shoreline instead. Lightning did the same. They stood like this for several moments, gently wrapped in the sound of silence. Lightning glanced over at her companion, who had her eyes closed and her lips parted in such a way that suggested she was thinking quite hard about something. Lightning continued to stare, watching muscles shift as Fang adjusted her position slightly, and material sway as her sari caught the night breeze. Green eyes opened and gazed briefly at Lightning before turning back to the water.
"Hello darkness, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again." Fang spoke softly, addressing the shore.
Lightning was taken aback. Fang didn't strike her as being one for self-reflection, but she held her breath and waited for her to continue. An insight into the Pulsian's mind would be a fascinating thing.
Fang was quiet for a moment before speaking again, seemingly to Lightning instead of herself now. "Did you know this used to be one of the more built-up areas on Gran Pulse? Nothing by Cocoonian standards of course, but from Taejin's tower to across the bay? Ten thousand people, maybe more." She sighed heavily. "They're all gone now…dead or turned Cie'th." There was a pause as she worked her throat, trying to clear the lump that was forming there. "Being turned into a Cie'th is a terrible thing. A tiny part of you is still in there, a little bit of you trapped in the body of a monster but you can't escape. People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening." She broke off, emotion causing her voice to crack.
Lightning edged closer. She didn't know to say, and even if she did she knew it was probably best to remain silent. This was Fang's moment.
The huntress was fiddling with her fingers now, her head sunk down, mumbling into her chest. "We killed so many on the approach into Oerba. So many…" She blinked back some tears. "I tried not to think about it at the time, but now…they were my friends. They were my friends, and I killed them."
"Fang…" Lightning could feel a little bit of her heart breaking.
"I could see their faces when I was in bed. A vision, softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping. I could see all of it. Oerba, the way it was, full of life and laughter. The days were long and tough to be sure, but communal living was wonderful. Everyone knew everyone else, and everyone cared for each other." Fang's voice was quiet now, talking perhaps more to herself again. She had trailed off again, lost in her thoughts.
Lightning wished there was something she could say or do to bring Fang back out of herself, but she didn't know what. When Serah had nightmares when they were children, Lightning would always wrap herself around her sister, trying to will the darkness away through the sheer force of her presence. It always seemed to work on her, but she didn't know if Fang would be receptive.
Fang had her hands buried in her hair now, her shoulders shaking as silent tears wracked her body. Lightning couldn't stand idle any longer. If she threw herself onto the huntress in a hug she would probably trigger her reflexes and end up with a broken nose. She did the next best thing.
"Fang," she said gently, "take my arms that I might reach you." She was only stood a few feet away now, and held one of her hands out, palm up, for the Pulsian.
Fang turned her head so she could see her out of the corner of her eye. Lightning had a soft expression on her face, full of concern, much different to the hard visage of a soldier she presented during the day.
She crumbled, reaching blindly for Lightning with one arm while she used the other to scrub at her eyes. Lightning wrapped her arms around Fang's neck, pressing their bodies together, murmuring words of support into her raven tresses. Fang, for her part, had her arms around Lightning's waist, allowing the pinkette to take the lead.
They stood like this for some minutes, Lightning offering quiet support and Fang trying to pull herself together. Eventually the sobs subsided and the sound of silence returned.
Fang withdrew from the hug, turning back to the wall, trying to save face after what she considered to be a display of weakness. Lightning followed suit, leaning on her hands but looking back towards Oerba instead.
It must have been magnificent back when Fang and Vanille were living here. The buildings had a really rustic feel to them, the hours of manual labour that went into them evident in every rivet and screw. It was surrounded by nature on all side, but it didn't seem incongruous to the landscape. In her mind's eye Lightning could see the village as it used to be; fishers heading off to the water's edge, hunters sharpening their weapons, children running and playing causing mischief.
"It must have been wonderful."
She didn't realise she had spoken out loud until she heard Fang reply. "It was."
She had recovered her composure now and was mimicking Lightning's stance. "I used to sneak out of the orphanage on nights like this and just experience the silence. I loved the hustle and bustle during the day, but there was something a bit magical about the village at night." She caressed the stone wall she was leaning on and gave the first grin Lightning had seen for hours. "It gave me time to reflect about issues, and gave me patience. Can't be a decent hunter without patience."
Lightning gave a small smile in response to show she understood.
Fang pushed herself off from the wall. "Doesn't mean I'm soft though. I enjoyed the way my words like silent raindrops fell and echoed, but I was still a force to be reckoned with." Fang had a slightly guarded expression on her face, not like she was expecting Lightning to make fun, but that she was prepared for the possibility.
Lightning smiled again and spread her arms in a gesture of innocence. "I think it's a perfect way to spend a night."
Fang studied her, checking for insincerity, but when she found none she relaxed and gestured back towards the building they had come from. "C'mon, we should try and get some sleep."
They walked back towards the house, each lost in their own thoughts. Fang reached the front door first, her hand on the door knob, but before she opened it she turned back to Lightning. "Thanks Light. For everything. I just needed to get it out of my system."
Lightning shook her head to indicate it wasn't a problem. "Of course. I wanted to check you were alright."
The Pulsian seemed pleased with this answer because, even in the dim light, Lightning could see her face light up. Fang nodded, and turned back towards the door. She turned the knob but she stopped when she heard Lightning's voice again.
"I'd like to do this again. When this mess is all over. Talk in the moonlight, I mean."
She turned around and looked at Lightning, who met her with a cool countenance, which didn't quite make up for her nervously twitching hands.
Fang gave her a lopsided grin and said "I'd like that a lot."
"Good," Lightning said, looking relieved. "Well, we'd better get to bed." She instantly knew her choice of words was a mistake because she saw Fang's grin instantly turn into a lascivious smirk.
"Bed, when you've only just asked me out? For shame, Light. I thought you Cocoonians had more manners than that."
When they all set out the next day, no one was quite sure why Lightning was studiously avoiding looking at Fang, or why Fang seemed to be in extremely high spirits. The boys put it down to the stress of the mission playing with their heads but Vanille, who knew better (or at least knew Fang better), thought it was something else. She knew about Fang's nocturnal wanderings and couldn't help but think her sister and Lightning might have shared a moment. There was no time to think about it now, but she would definitely grill Fang about it the next opportunity she got.