Ok~~ This is my first time writing a fan fiction so I hope I do a justifiable job. I love FF13, so I wanted it to be my first attempt. *I do not own or claim to own any of the characters used in this fanfic. Thank you.*
Please my children, enjoy.
"DROP WHAT YOU HAVE AND PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!"
The gun that was pointed at the man seemed to glimmer under the faulty lighting. Officer Lightning, as the name tag read, had an iron grip and a deathly stare that could crack a chunk of pure metal. The man stared blankly at Officer Lightning and in less than a second you could see a faint quiver run through his body. He gripped the bag of hundred dollar bills in his hands, contemplating his options. Should he try and escape knowing the odds weren't in his favor and risk impending doom brought down upon by the officer or quietly surrender? He chose impending doom.
He made a sudden jolt for the door to his left. He assumed the officer (who seemed to look more like a pink haired demon) was too good of a person to shoot someone; and if she wasn't, hopefully she just had really terrible aim. He almost made it too, but he didn't take into account that the demon-like officer had a demon partner. A swift knee hit the man hard in the stomach and he doubled over in unfathomable pain. A tall and intimidating woman stood over the unconscious man, tsking slightly.
"And they always try and run." The woman turned her head slightly, a well-intentioned smirk gracing her lips.
She stepped over the man and made her way to the other officer. "Don't worry Farron, it's not that they think you won't shoot them, it's just that they know you won't shoot them." She patted her comrade lightly on the shoulder. Lightning sighed and dismissed her partner's sympathy while putting her gun back in the holster.
"Yun, I thought I told you to call me Lightning. Besides, I rather not shoot someone unnecessarily with all these civilians around. We don't need any more paranoid and traumatized people running around on the streets; the governments done a bang up job with that already."
Yun looked around at the cowering civilians who had just begun to stand up after seeing the assailant taken down. Many had been spread out on the floor, while the tellers behind the counter had been neatly hidden, waiting for the police to arrive at the scene. Many of them looked frazzled and relieved that the predicament was finally over with.
"Point taken." With that being said, Yun looked back at the unconscious perpetrator and swiftly threw him across her shoulder like a rag doll.
"By the way, if you want me to call you Lightning, call me Fang. Yun is a family name that I'm not a part of anymore, so call me that or Oerba." Fang looked back at Lightning and gave her another trademark smirk.
Without haste she turned back around and made her way through the door. Lightning allowed a tiny grin to appear on her lips, and followed after Fang just as the reinforcements strolled through the door to assess with civilian needs. Lightning quickly regained composure before anyone had the time to see her image falter. She felt her shoulder being patted and multiple congratulatory remarks thrown at her and Fangs way. She made no effort to acknowledge them and no one expected her too. Lightning was mysterious and headstrong, and that's the way she preferred it.
By the time Lightning had made it out of the herd of people, Fang had already tossed the criminal in the back of Bahamut, and had her boot resting on the beast, waiting impatiently for Lightning to return.
"Nice of you to join us, isn't that right Bahamut?" Fang tapped on the jet black car that was custom made to her liking. Lightning ignored her comment and made her way to the passenger seat.
Inside the car, the man began to mumble with faint consciousness, not a lot, but enough to show that Fang's kick didn't entirely do damage to his organs.
"Oh pipe down back there, you act like you've never been kicked before." Fang spoke with a sharp tongue, knitted eyebrows, and a trace of a scowl on her face as she started the car and put it into high gear.
"I'm sure he's never been kicked by someone like you." Lightning remarked, a vague mocking tone laced in her voice. She inhaled while her eyes absorbed the passing scenery.
Bodhum was breathtaking at night, most of the people lived along the beaches and the majority of the city was wrapped around in a soft blanket of water. The lights would envelope the city, and it had a charm most cities in Cocoon lacked. Bodhum was home, it was the place where Serah and she grew up, it was where they lost their parents, it was where Lightning got to meet Snow, and she would be damned if anything changed that. She would risk her life to protect it, and once she almost did.
"Oh, so you have jokes now, didn't see that one coming for a mile." Fang chuckled to herself, amused at the turn of events.
"Wait, what? No I was just pointing out that I'm fairly sure he's never been kneed by someone who ranked top in the police academy." She said with complete seriousness.
"That was easy, there was no competition." Fang spoke with satisfaction.
"I was top officer for almost three years, until little miss sunshine decided to fall from military grace and join the real dogs." Fang's voice held no ill-intentions in this remark, she just purely enjoyed teasing Lightning.
"Yeah, well it was a choice I should have made to begin with." She made sure to end that conversation.
Lightning took out the knife Serah gave her before going to the military from her boot holder and began cleaning it, a habit from the military she picked up on when she began to feel uncomfortable. While others took to cigarettes and alcohol, Lightning would clean the knife until it returned to its former glory. Even when it didn't need cleaning, she still would clean it.
"Why'd you quit?" Fang questioned while still looking forward, trying to drive slower to see if Lightning would reveal something about herself. The timing seemed appropriate.
After four months of being partners, the only thing Fang ever really got out of her was her name, and Lightning was just a nickname, not the real thing; and that she was in the military before joining the police force.
"Fang, why did you join the police?" Lightning spoke in a low tone.
"Why? Well, I have someone I needed to protect."
"If that's true, why didn't you just join the military?" Lightning questioned again, this time more aggressively.
"Because, that would mean leaving the person I wanted to protect." Fang began to noticeably get more agitated.
"Doesn't that make you selfish though; wanting to protect the person you love but not wanting to leave them at the same time?"
"What are you trying to say Farron?" Fang glared at Lightning from the corner of her eye.
"That the only truly selfish thing, is using the excuse that the only way to protect someone is to leave them. I left my sister when I was 18, the same age you joined the Police force, I wanted to protect her, the same thing you wanted to do for the person you cared about. I thought that if I left and joined some top notch force I would actually be doing something more important and monumental than just cleaning up the streets. If I could protect Serah from Pulse rather than some drunk trying to rob a convenience store, everything would be ok, and leaving her wouldn't have been as bad. Deep down however, all that was an excuse. Joining the military was my way of ignoring my responsibilities and not having to take care of Serah. When I finally figured out that that was an excuse, I cleaned up my act and joined the police, something I should have done from the start, like I said before."
By the time Lightning had finished, Fang was pulling up to the station; the conversation had ended abruptly with people swarming the car.
Fang could see however, that there was much more to Lightning's story than just that. The almost transparent scars that roughly danced across her arms, legs and back that Fang sometimes saw for a quick second seemed to almost haunt Lightning. When someone would sneak up on Lightning in the office or if a criminal had gotten the upper hand, you could see her panic, her muscles would tighten and she would instantly grab for her belt, forgetting she didn't have her military sword. Most people dismissed it as paranoia from the military or a muscle memory you just couldn't forget. Most people didn't see the distinct fear in Lightning's eyes after they left, or how she would clutch her heart, as if terrified she would die right there. Fang always saw it though. She was one step closer to Lightning and that's all that mattered, even if it wasn't the 100 percent truth, it was something.
Before they got out Fang gently patted Lightning on the back. No words were needed and Fang gave a soft smile before patting her once again but this time with force.
"Ready for your moment of glory?" Fang boasted with confidence as she directed her head towards the crowd.
"I think you mean yours." Lightning slyly grinned and stepped out of the car, leaving Fang there, gaping at her conduct.
"Oh come on Lightning, I can't deal with these …" before Fang could finish Lightning had shut the door and walked calmly to her car waiting in the parking lot.
Every time a person would follow her to congratulate her and bombard her with inquiries she would direct their attention to Fang still in the car. Lightning fired Odin up and left Fang; still trying to get the culprit inside through the dense crowd of people; in her wake.
Farron Household -
"Snow you have to leave, like right now before Lightning gets home." Serah shook the unconscious Snow who had been fast asleep resting on Serah's shoulder.
They both had fallen asleep on the couch, while watching the new show "Moogle Destiny", that had been a hit in much of the Cocoon cities. Serah had been awakened by the tolling of the clock that not so gently reminded her that it was almost 9 and that Lightning should be home at any moment.
Snow had only planned to stay until 6, to respect Lightning's wishes that he not stay over too late. If Lightning was to catch Snow over at that hour, Snow would likely either be dead or banished from Bodhum, and they were both sure Lightning could make that happen.
"Snow, wake up now, sweetie, before Lightning kills us both." Serah began shaking Snow more roughly out of pure fear and eventually stood up to allow Snow to face plant into the couch. To her relief he sprang up not sure what had happened.
"Snow you have to leave!" Serah began pushing the 6'7 man across the living room and out her door; surprisingly she managed well, with the help of Snow of course.
"Did I do something wrong? Don't tell me I snored to loud, because I can work on it, you don't have to…"
"WE FELL ASLEEP AND LIGHTNING WILL BE HERE AT ANY MOMENT!" Serah shouted in frustration.
This was no time for Snow to be preoccupied and asking questions, even if he deserved the answers. Snow looked dumbfounded as he looked at the clock.
"Ohhhh no." He dragged out the 'Oh' part and quickly grabbed his coat. They both immediately ran for the door, allowing the misunderstanding to subside.
"Talk to you tomorrow?" Snow reached out to Serah and hugged her gently before he left.
"Of course, my Hero." Serah hugged him back and planted a kiss on his check that she could barely reach even on her tip toes. Snow let go and smiled at her, he ran his fingers through her soft pink hair and kissed it tenderly.
"Good night, Serah." Snow opened the door and jumped back a little when he saw a face he wasn't suspecting.
"Hope? What are you doing here?" Serah had moved in front of Snow to see what had made him so on edge.
To her confusion, a nonchalant Hope was standing at her door. His sliver white hair seemed to illuminate even in the darkness and his blue-greenish eyes seemed to become less enthusiastic at the sight of Serah and Snow.
"Why's Snow still here? You know Lightning's going to be furious." Hope looked at the two of them with doubt and it made Serah began to feel enclosed in a tight space.
"It doesn't even concern you Hope, just because you live next door doesn't mean you can always be in our business." Hope could see the frustration become evident on Serah's face and decided to drop the subject.
"Anyway I take it that Lights not here. Tell her to call me when she gets home." Hope began to turn around and go back home when Serah's voice thundered through his ears.
"I WON'T TELL MY SISTER SO STOP TRYING TO HOOK UP WITH HER, ITS GROSS HOPE." Serah had begun to walk outside to scream more at Hope when Snow stepped in.
"Whoa there little horsey, no need to get violent." Snow picked up Serah with ease and put her on the other side of the door.
"You have no room to talk Mr. Hero." Hope hissed threw his teeth.
"No need to throw around animosity." Snow put up his hands like he had been held at gun point.
"That's all I have for you. You think you can prance around Bodhum acting like being a part of NORA is some kind of new religion. You think just because you "help" people, means you "save" people, but in reality you do neither. People like you… no, idiots like you are the reason Lightning has such a hard job in this city; you're probably the reason she even quit the military and decided to become an officer. You're no hero, you're a joke." Hope practically ran away, leaving as quickly as he came; an air of uncertainty trailing behind him.
"I wonder what I did to push his buttons." Snow said tentatively.
"I'm not sure, but you better go. See you later." With a final glance at him, Serah swiftly closed the door.
She stood there for a moment letting everything that had just happened soak in like a sponge. Hope was just like how he always was, indefinitely chasing after someone who was indefinitely chasing after someone. Neither knew who the other was chasing and it stayed like that for a long time. Serah was the only one who truly saw it for what it was, pitifully tragic. Only if Lightning knew.
