Disclaimer: Square Enix owns these characters.
Chapter 1: Enix Academy
A pink haired woman sat hunched over a neat desk, studiously writing a letter.
[Dear Serah,]
[I'm fine. It's not bad here in Enix Academy. I should be back in five weeks once my training ends. All the best for your exams.]
[Hugs, Claire.]
She paused, before striking off the last line in irritation.
"Why? I thought that was cute." A voice above her commented.
Lightning's arm came swinging around at the intruder, who leapt back effortlessly with a husky laugh.
"I told you to leave me alone!"
"I'm sorry, Claire." The tanned woman opposite her grinned unrepentantly. "I couldn't help myself."
"It's 'Lightning' to you!"
"Right, right." She replied amiably, falling back heavily onto her bunk. "'Lightning' has that zing I prefer anyway."
Lightning scowled at her roommate.
The brunette sighed dramatically. "No one understands me. Look, I'll leave you alone, alright?"
The pink haired woman rolled her eyes before returning to her letter. She examined the cancellation mark critically before breaking into a sigh. There was no way of masking it.
"I'm writing another one." She muttered absently.
"Good, because that one reads like a telegram." Her roommate remarked, with the grace of a falling bomb.
And World War N began.
Just a typical day in the Women's Dormitories.
"Preposterous!"
"Sir-"
"Unfit! Unfit to call yourselves soldiers, you hear me?! Catty school girls! That's what you are!"
"Sir-"
"How dare you two...despite all of my warnings!"
"Sir!"
"WHAT?!" Flecks of spit decorated the face of the intruding officer who looked on in terror.
"S-sorry sir, but the Field Marshal is here." The poor man's voice trailed weakly.
"What? Field Marshal Leonhart?" The aged but robust commander barked.
"Yes, sir...he's waiting in your office."
The commander returned his death glare to the two women, whose faces sported painful looking cuts and bruises. They stood crisply at attention, and looked straight ahead.
He leaned in towards them. "Don't even think for a second that I'll forget this. I'll be back for you two later."
Lightning's lips thinned, the vein in her temple pulsed dangerously.
Damn you, Oerba Yun Fang.
The brunette named Fang simply looked ahead pensively.
"And if I hear you've been up to your usual nonsense...your good old Master Sergeant Amodar will be hearing from me!" He barked at Lightning, whose eyes widened in horror.
"And as for you, dear soldier..." he continued dreadfully, breathing down Fang's neck. "One more time and you'll be thrown down in the basement with the boys! God knows you behave like one!"
"Now clean up this godforsaken room!"
"Yessir!"
"Hrrumph!" The commander shook his head in disgust and stalked out of the room with the officer trailing meekly from behind.
"He's such a teddy bear." Fang yawned, stretching her slim, muscled arms over her head.
Lightning gritted her teeth and walked over to her side of the room deliberately. Without even looking at her roommate, she proceeded on to snatch up her fallen textbooks and laundry that lay crumpled on the floor.
Suddenly, she heard the faint creak of Fang's wardrobe. The soldier swiveled to see Fang pull off her grey sweatshirt and chuck it onto her bed.
The brunette caught her staring and winked, before proceeding on to grab a black tank top from the clothes rack.
"Wait, where do you think you're going?" Lightning demanded, forgetting her vow to never speak to her roommate again.
"Well, you're better at this than me." Fang replied, nodding to the mess in the room as she pulled the top over her head. "It's happy hour, I'm off to the pub."
Happy hour?!
Lightning's cheeks flushed a bloody red. "If you think I'm cleaning up your mess, you may as well start packing now!"
Fang looked up wordlessly, her striking green eyes held onto Lightning's azure ones.
Lightning's glare faltered ever so slightly.
"You would like that." The wild haired brunette replied at last, breaking their gaze and turning to leave.
She hesitated when she reached the door.
"Although you could come along with me." She offered softly.
"You're incorrigible." Lightning growled, clenching her fists. "Just leave."
Fang smiled faintly.
"Guess so. Bye then." She replied as she walked out the door.
["Dear Serah,]
[I'm fine. It's not bad here in Enix Academy. I should be back in five weeks once my training ends. All the best for your exams.]
It definitely read like a telegram.
That's just how I write.
Besides, Serah has never complained before.
It's not too bad.
She read the letter over again.
Damn it.
Lightning slammed her fists down on her table, causing her stationery to rattle.
She glanced at the ticking clock.
Ten forty.
She's never been out this late before.
The pink haired soldier shook her head and took out a fresh sheet of paper. Her pen was poised at the ready.
["Dear Serah,]
[I'm fine. It's not bad here in Enix Academy.]
I can't believe I even lied for her. I could get court-martial-ed for this.
Anger flared within her.
[It's, in fact, really terrible. I've gotten into trouble with my superior more times than the number of days I've been here, and I'm probably going to get court-martial-ed soon. All because my stupid roommate insists on acting like an idiot and winding me up.]
The words flowed easily now. Memories of her punishments over the course of these couple of weeks flashed vividly in her mind, feeding and fueling the rage within her. Every push up in the rain, every sore muscle as she marched ceaselessly across the muddy field, every time Fang threw her head back to laugh at their foul predicament.
[And before you start accusing me of being anti-social again, let me state just a few of her antics: she's reckless, antagonistic, and lives to pick fights with everyone - particularly me. Even some of the officers are terrified of her. She visits the pub outside of curfew, comes back reeking of alcohol, and never even seems to get a damned HANGOVER!]
Lightning threw her pen down in disgust.
"Damn it." She swallowed. "What the hell am I writing?"
She stood up suddenly and stepped over to the window. A cool breeze brushed against her pale complexion. She sucked in a deep breath.
That felt good. Really good.
"No way am I sending that though." She muttered to no one in particular.
As if realising this, Lightning threw a backward glance to Fang's side of the room, where her annoying roommate would often lie, delivering clever remarks.
It was impeccable. All traces of destruction had been washed and swept away meticulously.
She was never going to return in time to clean up anyway.
I would've gotten into trouble too.
"You owe me one, Fang." Lightning sighed, turning to look into the night sky again.
Leaning against the window sill, she closed her eyes.
And smiled.