The first sign that there was something wrong that night were the fingers tightening around Vanille's upper arm, squeezing her bicep and rousing her from her sleep. She gave a quiet moan and twisted slightly, but the grip on her arm did not loosen, so she thought that perhaps Fang was doing it unconsciously and was dreaming. "Fang…" she mumbled lightly, hoping to get the older woman to wake up.

Then Vanille heard the booming clap of thunder, and the situation started to make a lot more sense.

She felt Fang's fingers twitch against her skin and her breath hitch the second the thunder rumbled. Vanille hadn't even heard there was supposed to be a storm tonight; if she had, she would've warned Fang ahead of time and been more prepared to comfort her tonight. She knew how Fang felt about thunder.

Vanille had heard the story before; at first in pieces that she had to put together herself, and then, once Fang was ready, as a full explanation. When Fang had been young, only about eight years old, there had been a terrible thunderstorm. Fang's pack had no way of escaping the storm, instead being forced to hunker down through it. Unfortunately, a lightning strike near the site where the pack had decided to camp for the night resulted in a fire that quickly spread to a sizable chunk of the forest. Fang had been lucky enough to escape, but if any of the rest of her pack had been as well, she had never been able to find them.

Ever since, Fang had always been uncomfortable – "I'm not scared," she would grumble bitterly when the issue was brought up, "I just don't like it, 's all." – when it came to thunder. It was almost funny in a tragic sort of way: Fang – big, strong Fang who never backed down to anything – had a crippling weakness to thunder.

This wasn't the first time a situation like this had occurred; Vanille knew how to handle this issue as she had a handful of times before. First, she brought her hand up to where Fang still had a hold on her arm and rubbed her knuckles gently. Fang's grip loosened, just enough for Vanille to get free in order to turn and face her.

Fang's eyes, as Vanille had expected, were closed. The only things that hinted towards her still being awake were the way her brow knitted together and her tense, slightly uneven breathing pattern. There was another crash of thunder and she let out a low prolonged whine before muttering with a clenched jaw, "…don't like this…bloody thunder…"

Vanille's next step to calm Fang down was to reach over and trace her collarbone, grazing the skin where the shoulder met the neck. The subtle movement was enough to draw forth a sound from the back of Fang's throat, this time not a sound of fear, but a sound of need and desire. The older woman leaned into Vanille's touch eagerly, much like a child or frightened animal needing comfort. Vanille's fingers then gently began trailing upward along Fang's neck, and the brunette cocked her head to the side almost immediately to allow for better access while reaching out and snaking her arms around Vanille's waist, tugging her closer.

Their bodies were now pressed together, with Fang burying her nose into Vanille's hair and taking solace in the familiar scent. Vanille made no attempts to pull away; even if she wanted to, trying to do so would only send Fang into a panicky fit. Instead, she ran her fingers up along the nape of Fang's neck, brushing her dark hair out of the way and stopping at the back of Fang's ear.

Fang's muscles loosened instantly – behind the ear had always been a weak spot for her – and she gave a contented sigh into Vanille's hair. Vanille then leaned over and planted a soft kiss on Fang's jaw. "It's okay, Fang…" she murmured before another kiss, this time on the cheek. "It's only thunder."

Fang pulled back slightly, just enough that she could look into Vanille's eyes without actually having to let go of her. She didn't say anything – she didn't have to – and a silence settled between them, with the sound of rain against the window pane serving as background noise. They laid like that for a few moments, tangled in each other's arms and staring into each other's eyes. Then it was Fang who made the next move; she broke the space between them and brought their lips together tenderly.

There was another crash of thunder, but Fang didn't pay it much mind. After all, it was only thunder.

-x-

AN: And now for another chapter of Warm and Fuzzy. This one got a little bit darker and a little bit more "touchy" than the last one, but I still feel like it came out pretty good. The reason I wrote this one was because in all the Fanille media I've seen, it's always Fang taking care of Vanille. Now, that's not to say there's anything wrong with that, but when it happens all the time, it makes Vanille look completely helpless, so I kinda wanted to break the trend and reverse the situation for once. Also, the "only thunder" line was meant to be a nod to Vanille's, "It's only water," line from Chapter Six.

Hope you all enjoyed, and feel free to leave any feedback. Until next time.