Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from any of the Final Fantasy games or characters.


Vanille was forcefully awoken by a searing pain in her leg. She bit back a scream as her eyes shot open and were immediately met with unfamiliar brown ones.

"It's okay. I'm going to heal you. Just relax." The woman who owned the chocolate brown eyes put a gentle hand on Vanille's shoulder. She didn't know why but she automatically trusted this woman with long, dark hair and a soothing smile.

"I'm Rinoa, by the way. You had a nasty break in your leg but I've set it back into place," Rinoa motioned to Vanille's leg which was now in a sort of cast. Then she stood up and walked over to a nearby cabinet where she pulled out a small glass bottle. Rinoa was thin and a normal height, but the long blue cardigan she wore made her look taller.

"Here, drink this. It'll speed up the healing process. If you drink a few of these throughout the day you should be able to walk by tomorrow morning," Rinoa explained handing Vanille the bottle of clear liquid. Feeling like this woman was trustworthy; she sat up and downed the potion in one gulp. It was tasteless like water but it was strangely warm going down her throat. She put the bottle down on a bedside table and took a good look at her new surroundings.

Vanille could remember being brought to a Guardian Corps boat, but she most certainly was not on a boat anymore. The room she was in looked to be like a hospital room, there were numerous beds and medical supplies but she and Rinoa were alone and all the other beds were empty.

"Where am I?" Vanille finally spoke up and asked. Her voice was still scratchy from sleep despite the potion, but it didn't hurt to speak, thankfully. Then she remembered she hadn't properly introduced herself, "Sorry, my name is Vanille."

"Well, Vanille, you are in Balamb Garden. Do you remember how you got here?" Rinoa sat down on Vanille's bed in order to answer the many questions she was sure this red-head had for her.

Vanille wracked her memory and a woman with pink-hair and striking blue eyes flooded her brain.

"A pink-haired woman carried me onto a Guardian Corps boat and... I can't remember anything after that." Vanille admitted, searching her mind for anything else she could drag out of her mind.

"General Farron brought you here from the boat a few hours ago. She said she'd back in the afternoon to check on you." Rinoa thought it odd that Lightning would come back and check on a victim since she never did so before but she didn't tell Vanille this fact. Maybe Lightning needed information from her?

Rinoa had been surprised to see the General carrying the red-head in here an hour ago. After all, there were stretchers on the boat and she was pretty sure there were capable medics there as well.

"Well, I think I'm going to let you rest. I'll be in the office down the hall. If you need anything just pick up that phone and you'll automatically connect to my office phone," Rinoa pointed to a small black phone on the bedside table, "I'll be back in the afternoon to give you your potion. Try to get some more sleep." Rinoa gave her a friendly smile and walked to her office.

Vanille was left alone. There wasn't really anything she could do and she wasn't tired anymore in the slightest. Rinoa seemed nice enough and the Guardian Corps had saved her life after all. She had been certain she was being taken off to be killed like all of her other friends but that pink-haired woman saved her. General Farron, Vanille thought how she had been lucky enough to have been rescued by a top Soldier in the Guardian Corps.

Having nothing better to do, Vanille closed her eyes and thought of the woman who had saved her. Her short, pink hair was wispy and looked incredibly soft which offset her cold blue eyes. Their eyes had only met for a second but Vanille could see something in the woman's eyes. Concern? For me? Yea, right. Vanille shook this thought away. Someone as high ranking as a General was merely doing their job and not concerned with the thoughts of a L'Cie.


Lightning had no idea what went wrong with this mission. Squall, Cloud, Tidus, and she had spent hours in the war room trying to figure out how the Galbadians could have found out about their plan to invade. After all their discussion they could not come up with answer so they decided to finish it tomorrow so they could all get some rest.

Most of the lower ranking soldiers were being debriefed on the failed mission by captains and sergeants but Cloud, Tidus, and Lightning no longer had any need to be debriefed after all of the things they had seen in their careers.

"You better go find Yuna. She was still pretty shaken up on the boat back," Lightning informed Tidus. He glanced at her and gave her a small nod in appreciation and took his leave. Everyone claimed Lightning was emotionally void but he and Cloud knew that she could be remarkably perceptive when she wanted to be.

"I think I'm going to go be with Tifa. Are you going to be all right?" Cloud knew the answer to his question before he asked it. He and Lightning had known each other for a while now and he was well aware that she would never betray her feelings to anyone. Not even her closest comrades.

"I'm fine," was all she said. Cloud gave a knowing smirk and took the elevator down as well. He knew she wanted to be alone so he didn't bother holding the elevator door for her.

After Cloud had gone Lightning walked up to the elevator and pushed the down button. In truth, she was tired, exhausted even, but she needed to do one more thing before she went back to her room.

Having taken the elevator to the first floor she strode purposefully to the Infirmary so that no one would try to engage her in conversation. It usually wasn't a problem but it was better to be safe and walk quickly.

She arrived and peaked into the window of Rinoa's office to see that she was busy, but as she made to pass the office Rinoa looked up and waved her in. Reluctantly, Lightning entered the small office.

"Hey Lightning, come to see the survivor?" Rinoa asked glancing up at the General.

"Yes, is she awake?" Lightning thought it would be nice if she were still asleep so she wouldn't have to engage in conversation.

"I think so. Could you do me a favor and take her afternoon potion to her?" Rinoa asked holding out the small bottle to Lightning.

"Okay," Not in the mood to argue, Lightning took the offered glass bottle and made her way down the short hall. She could see the red-headed woman lying on a nearby bed looking surprisingly peaceful.

Lightning stopped beside her bed and gazed down at the L'Cie woman. From her steady breathing, it seemed she was indeed sleeping, so Lightning took the moment to study her features. She was young, that much was clear; late teens or early twenties probably. She was wearing a loose fitting, blue hospital gown that looking terribly uncomfortable. The woman was very thin; she had probably been in hiding for a while in order to avoid the same fate as all of the other L'Cie. Her red hair was very curly and bangs fell softly on her forehead.

"Is that for me?" Lightning had been distracted and hadn't noticed the woman open her forest green eyes until she heard her voice. Hiding her surprise, Lightning nodded her head and handed the woman the bottle. Watching her down it, she could almost see the woman regaining her strength. She sat up and looked Lightning right in the eye.

"You're the one who saved me,..," it wasn't a question, but a statement, but regardless Lightning felt the need to reply.

"Lightning," she said with a nod of her head.

"Vanille," the red-headed woman replied with a small smile. Lightning wondered how she could smile after everything that had happened to her.

Vanille wanted to ask this Lightning woman so many questions. Getting the same feeling, Lightning caught this and redirected instead.

"Did those men break your leg?" It was just a diversion so this woman wouldn't start thanking her and all that, but if she was honest, she was relatively interested in this woman's story.

"Yea, I was struggling too much so the big guy stomped on it," Vanille replied gazing down at her hands ashamed of her weakness. How could such a strong woman like Lightning sympathize with her? She had incapacitated that big man in under a second without even trying, yet Vanille had the feeling that she could have done much worse but had restrained herself.

Lightning nodded looking down at the cast on Vanille's leg. She didn't want to have to bring up all of these traumatic memories already, but it was unavoidable.

"Were there anymore of you?" There was no easier way to ask it, so all Lightning could do was stare her in the eyes in an attempt to reassure her.

"I...I think I was the... the last one...," Vanille trailed off. She didn't want to cry in front of this powerful woman. She already had appeared so weak.

Lightning didn't know what to do. She wasn't exactly the best at comforting people, but after what she saw today she couldn't ignore the pain Vanille must be feeling. To have one's friends and family all decimated in a matter of days, to be discriminated against simply for your nationality, these are things Lightning could try to empathize with though.

"You're safe now," unsure if it was appropriate, Lightning reached down and rested her hand on Vanille's. She could think of nothing else to say. What do you say to someone who has suffered so much. It'll be ok? What if it won't be okay? It may never be okay and Lightning was unwilling to lie to this woman.

Vanille looked down at their hands; Lighting's in a fingerless glove and hers, pale and bare. It was a simple gesture but Vanille could feel the gravity of a caring gesture coming from this stoic soldier.

Removing her hand, Lightning turned around and made to leave the Infirmary without another word.

"Thank you," was all Vanille could manage. She wanted to call her back, ask her more questions, anything to keep the security she felt with this woman around.

Lightning paused, nodded to Vanille in recognition of her gratitude and continued out the door.


Thank you for your reviews! I really appreciate every single one of them. Since no one said I shouldn't I went ahead and wrote another chapter anyway. I just couldn't help myself.