Note: I suppose I should clarify, if we went by game factors, I guess, Lightning would technically be a college student, same with Raines, and perhaps Hope would be somewhere around Freshman/Sophomore age. However, for the sake of this story, Raines is a teacher in his mid twenties. It's not unheard of, I've had two teachers in high school that were around 24-26. Sazh is that down to earth kind of coach who really doesn't care if you call him by his first name.
Vanille, Snow, Fang, and Lightning are Seniors...Yuj, Hope, Maqui are undecided, but I'm thinking maybe Juniors/sophomores.. Lebreau, Serah and Gadot would be Juniors. Confusing, I know, but bear with me...AUs usually don't make sense timeline wise...but hopefully that clears some things up.
Yes, I'm well aware that this is an unpopular setting, but thank you to those of you planning to keep reading.
Chapter 2: Hands
Sleep rarely came easily for the older Farron, in fact, it barely came at all. Especially when her younger sister was out with that buffoon. And when it did, it was riddled with broken dreams and memories best left forgotten, trapped in the depths of her subconscious.
She glanced at her alarm clock, 12:05 AM flashed back at her. She couldn't recall if she had heard Serah come home at the time she was told to. Several minutes passed, almost like hours, before Lightning pushed herself up and out of bed. Despite being wide awake, her body felt dead and she debated returning to her bed, but duty overpowered comfort and she soon found herself standing outside her younger sister's bedroom. She stood in the silent hall, hand clenched around the cold door knob. The door opened, soundlessly, and Lightning was greeted by an empty bed.
A heavy sigh filled the silence.
As expected, I was awoken by the tone of an incoming text, "Sleep like a rock, eh?" I mumbled, reaching over to read it.
Of course, Fang had participated in a drinking game and started harassing a few party guests to the point of where they were forced to leave.
Lebreau apologized profusely, she'd take care of her herself, but she had her hands full with the boys. I told her it was alright, received the address, and got up to change...
Only to realize I was still wearing my school uniform, albeit slightly wrinkled. It would do, I grabbed a jacket and locked the door behind me.
When Vanille arrived she was surprised to find her companion sprawled on the lawn just outside the house, she was relieved to find she was still alive and conscious enough to babble on about irrelevant things. Loud crashes from within the house caught her attention. Curious, she stepped over her babbling friend to see what the commotion was.
She was slightly disturbed when she caught sight of Yuj charging through the entryway with a pair of boxers atop his head.
She barely dodged the deadly collision.
When he finally raced back into the house she dared to peak inside.
She found poor Lebreau dodging slices of pizza and what seemed to be mashed potatoes. Maqui was passed out on the floor, snoring loudly. Yuj vaulted over the couch, followed by Hope, who was desperately attempting to calm the other boy down. Snow himself was red faced and giggling over the destruction of his own home, with an exhausted looking Serah attempting to pick him up off of the ground.
It was a literal drunken war zone. Vanille almost feared that there would be no survivors. She felt an arm drape over her shoulder, and someone lean heavily against her, " 'niiillllllaaaaaa~!" muttered Fang, sluggishly, "came to fetch me, love?" she pecked her on the cheek, before sliding to the floor, muttering something about twin school girls.
Before she could bend down and help her friend up, she was roughly pushed out of the entry way, the redhead was about ready to round on the person, mouth open and ready to scold – she stopped herself before it was too late.
Yuj ran smack into a clothes line, hope reared himself to a stop before experiencing the same fate. Gadot, who had been preparing another round of fire found himself on the floor, cradling a possibly broken nose. Vanille would not know for sure until they returned to school. Snow was simply stepped on as Lightning approached her younger sister, arms crossed over her chest.
I had only heard tales of Lightnings fits of rage from Fang, of course that was only when the other girl left the party mildly sober enough to tell coherent, believable stories.
She was something akin to a demon when it came to the safety of her younger sister. A force of nature to be reckoned with. The only person who had ever been able to stop her was Serah herself.
Talk about a sister complex.
As I stood, attempting to lift up Fang and support her weight against my body, I overheard their argument, something about being home on time. Lebreau interjected with something, which earned her a glare. Serah sighed in frustration and muttered something that caused the strawberry blonde to tense slightly. I thought she might strike her, instead she shook her head, and stepped toward me.
She spared a glance, as though she'd just realized I was there.
"Light..." Her sister called after the brooding girl, but Lightning was long gone.
Xxxx
When I woke up early the next morning my head was pounding, almost as if I was the one who had spent the night drinking. I soon became aware of the heavy girl on top of me. Fang tended to cuddle when she got drunk.
The first two weeks of school were something like the last week of summer vacation – an endless stream of parties at Snow's house.
Which meant I was beginning to see more and more of Lightning.
I wasn't complaining, the girl that frightened me at first now intrigued me. Her simple movements, body language, unnerving silence, and the way she spoke to you through her eyes...
I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to know her, and yes, although she tended to piss me off, I was going to talk to her. Whether she liked it or not.
Xxx
The following days Vanille felt like a blind person flailing in an empty room. There was nothing to grab a hold of, no common ground, no reason to talk to the other girl.
It had gotten to the point of where she had to make up reasons, ask for help on homework she clearly understood, and sometimes even skip out on lunch just to find her.
It didn't take long for Fang to realize what was going on, she scolded Vanille constantly. "You shouldn't bother people Vanille, give her space."
"I'm not bothering...just asking for help..." Vanille absentmindedly played with the pages in her History book.
"Vanille..." Fang warned, "I know for a fact that that isn't a subject you're strugglin' in."
Vanille was half-distracted by the form moving across campus just past Fang's shoulder, "Uh..yes...I'll see you later." With that, she sprinted as fast as she could, not taking much note of what Fang was calling after her. "Lightning!" Vanille called out, pouting when the pinknette didn't stop, and instead kept walking. She was sure she had yelled loud enough.
When she finally caught up, she made sure to place herself within Lightning's path. "Eheh...I was wondering if you could..."
"..." Lightning looked at the book in the girls hand, then back at the girl. She had a habit of looking straight into a persons eyes, it made Vanille uneasy. It made her feel like her every thought was being read. "I'm not taking that class. Serah is." She finally stated plainly, before brushing past the younger girl.
Vanille pouted, having been rejected for the millionth time that week.
But it had not stopped there.
For PE Hope was absent, no doubt he had his mother pull him out of school in hopes of missing another tedious game of dodge ball. Coach Sazh requested that they partner up and do stretches, Vanille was partner-less, and Lightning usually stretched on her own anyway.
Vanille swallowed, and urged herself to approach the tall girl who had isolated herself from the group to do her stretching.
"Lightning?" Vanille questioned, a sweet tone rang in her voice. She placed a broad smile on her face and peeked around at the girl, bending slightly. "My friend isn't here, I was wondering if you wanted to stretch with me?"
"You don't need a partner to stretch." Lightning stated simply, bending over and touching her toes.
"I'm not flexible...I need someone to push me slightly. You know, for full effect?" Her smile was starting to become forced, you don't have to be such a... "please? Then I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day!" The redhead gave her a thumbs up, as if that would prove anything. Lightning simply stared blankly at her before she stood up straight.
"Considering this is our last class, there isn't much strength behind that promise."
"F..Fine I'll stretch by mysel-" A whistle blew, calling the students towards the coach.
"Today we're playing Tennis..you will be in teams of two since we don't have enough balls." Coach Sazh scanned the group, "okay then I'll pick your teams. DIA. FARRON."
Vanille's jaw clenched slightly, she looked at Lightning who still held her mostly dominant poker face. Cool as ever.
Somewhere off in the corner of her eye she caught Gadot and Snow cheering. They always managed to be partnered together.
Being partnered with Lightning in tennis, Vanille felt more like a spectator who had somehow managed to wander onto the tennis court. She wasn't complaining, but it called for little room to get in a small conversation with the athlete. Not that one usually conversed during a competitive match.
The other team finally gave up and gradually gave in to absent minded conversations with each other about what was going on the coming weekend. Without a task to accomplish, Lightning suddenly become interested in the silver watch she wore on her wrist. Vanille considered taking the opportunity to start a conversation, she observed Lightning looking up at the cloudless sky with a hint of distaste clouding her face.
Perhaps she had bothered enough for one day.
Xxx
It was surprising how quickly the weekend had arrived, and once again Vanille had found herself called out to Snow's house.
Vanille mindlessly poked at her friend, who had managed to drink herself into a coma. Somewhere between Snow's house and their own the "amazon" (or apparently what she kept announcing herself to be before she collapsed into a fit of snores) had become unbearably heavy.
This was a problem, for she did not want to call a taxi for fear of her friend awakening and vomiting everywhere. That was not a fee she was willing to pay.
"Doesn't that get...bothersome?" Vanille turned, catching a glimpse of the person behind her. Lightning Farron stood simply clad in gym shorts and her old track shirt. She was flushed, she had been running.
Vanille shrugged, "you get used to it." Standing and turning to face the other girl fully she flashed a thumbs up and a wide grin, "its a nice little work out, though!" Without wasting time, she pulled one arm over her shoulder, and wrapped her own around her friends waist.
She tugged.
She couldn't lift her.
A grunt.
The two nearly flopped to the ground.
Lightning raised a bemused eyebrow.
The redhead could feel her cheeks burning.
"Erm..."
"..."
"I don't mean to be a pest...but..." She giggled sheepishly, "do you...do you think you could...help me?"
"..." An expression that said 'are you serious?' crossed the other girl's face.
Vanille shifted uncomfortably, preparing to be laughed at.
Finally the pinknette stepped around the bench, pulling the snoring Fang out of Vanille's arms with ease.
"I never helped."
"I know, I know. A little thing called 'reputation'" Vanille rolled her eyes, "we're not far off from our place."
She received a grunt in reply, not one for conversations, I get it. She thought.
When we arrived at the house, Lightning wordlessly insisted on carrying the wild-haired girl to bed, where she threw her halfheartedly. She rubbed her shoulder slightly before following me back into the hall. I noticed her glancing at the photos on the walls, though I pretended not to care. It felt like she was trying to discover something.
That was when I heard the growl, and I was certain it was not my own stomach.
"Erm...would you like something to eat?" Awkward as it was, Vanille was never one to leave people starving, especially if the person had helped her out.
"..." Lightning turned, heading for the entryway.
Vanille wasn't one for taking no as an answer, she grabbed the girl and dragged her to the kitchen.
"So, what does Lightning Farron eat? Little children?" She joked, though she wouldn't have been surprised if that had been true.
"It's fine, I'll...eat when I get home." Was she embarrassed?
"About that...do you cook?"
"Yes." The answer was too quick, Vanille began to think otherwise. She had heard Lightning nearly set her home on fire once. Perhaps that was why she dropped their cooking class. Lightning remained her silent, sulking prisoner. She almost looked like a child being forced into eating vegetables.
It was almost cute.
Almost.
The strawberry blonde stayed, with much reluctance, and ate some of the leftover stew that Vanille had been planning to save for Fang, of course Fang wasn't very fit to eat at that very moment.
When she was done, she uttered her thank you and promptly left.
That was when Vanille noticed her bandaged hand.
Standing on her porch steps, Vanille watched the figure retreating into the silent darkness until it was completely engulfed, until it became one with the unknown once again.
"Sis?" Snow rubbed his chin in thought, "well...I guess first of all, take all the rumors you've heard and throw them out the door." Okay, great, that helped.
"And...?" I pressed.
Snow shrugged, "She's everything Fang is, wrapped up in a cold facade."
"So...she's a flaming, perverted, drunken homosexual by night, proper student by day?" I shrugged, "I think Fang can be a proper student when she puts her mind to it."
Snow chuckled, "believe me, if Lightning didn't have so much to deal with she'd be the spitting image of Fang. I think Bodhum High should count itself lucky though, this place would be in chaos." He began to slow into a walking speed, allowing me to catch my breath before he continued, "their parents are both dead, they live with an uncle who is hardly around. And when he is? He's drunk. Let me tell you, he's not the kindest drunk. He also gets wrapped up with terrible people. Owes money. Actually, I'm not one hundred percent certain but I think he recently skipped town..." A shrug, "anyway, the people that he owes money to are constantly harassing them. Which is why Lightning is so set on Serah being home on time."
I absorbed this new information, silently rolling it around in my mind. Perhaps that was why her hand was bandaged, maybe she had gotten into a fight with one of those people.
"Hey..."
"Hm?"
"You didn't hear this from me, okay? I promised Serah I wouldn't tell anyone..."
"Didn't hear what?"
"You kno-oh. Oh! You're good..." Snow chuckled nervously, like he didn't seem all too reassured. As he raced ahead to catch up with a broken nosed Gadot I caught a glimpse of the object of our discussion.
Our eyes met for a second.
My heart nearly stopped.
The library had become their new meeting place. It was the midway point from Fang's final class and her own.
"How was PE with Coach Frocobo and Sunshine?" Fang poked her teasingly.
"I quite enjoy Sazh! He's down to Earth, and he doesn't make us call him by his last name. Actually, I don't think I even know his last name...Also his Chocobo is really cute! Can you buy me one? For my birthday?" She faced her friend, preparing the puppy-dog eyes.
"Absolutely not, the last thing I got you ran away a day later..."
"He was a crabby old man." She pouted, "You didn't even buy it, you found it on the streets. It was missing it's front teeth, reeked of dirty gym socks, and howled all night!"
Fang shrugged, patting the fuming girl's head, "beggars can't be choosers!"
"Hey look, it's Snow!"
"Hey, sis!"
crack!
"An' down he goes!"
"I'm not your sister." Lightning flexed her bandaged hand, glowering down at the blonde boy, "where's Serah?"
Rubbing his cheek, he shrugged, "I thought she was with you? Maybe she's with Lebreau.."
"I just saw Lebreau, she hasn't seen her since lunch..." concern darkened her face.
I hadn't seen such an intense look on her face since the day she raised Hell on the three boys at Snow's party. I shivered slightly, fright rarely consumed my wits, but watching the girl I wondered what kind of destruction she was capable of this very second.
Snow seemed to have become painfully aware of this as well, he scooted back cautiously, no witty comments, no dorky air headed grin to reassure her that he was on top of it.
"Lightning!" All of us turned to see a smiling Serah racing towards the two.
"Where have you been?" She barked, rubbing her temples, relief finally smoothing her features.
"I left my project in Raines' class. He held me up to talk about it...I'm so sorry." She bowed her head slightly, giving her sister doe eyes that pleaded forgiveness.
I hadn't noticed how tense Fang herself had been until she relaxed into a position beside me, squeezing my shoulder and giving me a look that almost pleaded for us to leave. Grabbing her hand, I smiled slightly, leading her out of the library. I wondered if Fang herself knew why Lightning was always so on guard around Serah.
I didn't ask, perhaps I should have, but I didn't feel the need to risk it.
For the first time in a long time we made our long trek home silently holding hands.
….Did Lightning ever hold hands with Serah?