Edited as of May 12, 2o11

I was actually shocked how many people were interested in this. xD Thank you all so much and much love to everyone! I wish to huggle all of you. :3

The story took on two very different plot lines as I wrote into later chapters. One was very humorous, the other really angsty. And personally, I couldn't stand either. xD So I mixed them and pulled strings and now we have this: just gonna let the characters write themselves. They actually play nice. o.o; Also, I have no idea how long this story is gonna be. I was going to make it short, but it's in the air and out of my hands.

Enough of my babbling, to the story! SPOILER WARNING! (in disclaimer and actually story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 13 or any of the characters. I only own what's in my mind (which, ha ha, I can't get sued for), and if I owned it, I would have made Fang kiss Lightning or had a secret ending where Vanille and Fang came back. I mean, this is a game I would have actually worked for a secret ending. :I

Is it a good thing that Lightning knows about Averia now? Fang questioned idly, running her thumb along the edges of the plastic case, the picture smiling down at her. Well, she couldn't have really stopped it from happening; she had little control over Bhakti. She didn't know anyone who would not be curious if a mysterious book fell to the floor.

Holding the pictures against her chest, the wild haired warrior reclined back against the wall, legs stretched out in front of her in a position of appearing totally relaxed. On the inside Fang's emotions danced between relief, sadness, frustration, and worry. Normal things she often hid behind her cocky smirk and self knowing sex appeal.

When Fang had first seen Lightning in PalumPolum, she had had to stop herself from acting like a complete child and sobbing. It was cruelest joke Etro could ever play on anyone. First Serah, Dajh, Snow, then Lightning? Hell even Hope! Seeing the pink haired soldier had brought many painful memories, but she had forced them back and away; Vanille was in danger and she had to save her.

Without much thought, she had followed after Light ("And then there was three"), and her inner turmoil pretty much dispersed. Lightning Farron and Oerba Mei Averia had many differences. Where the soldier was cold, the Pulsian had been warm. Light fought like she had wielded a weapon sense birth… Averia had learned to fight after awhile, but the girl tripped over her own feet and refused to kill anything she didn't have too. Soldier Girl was as violent as one could be while staying sane.

Fang snorted and blushed vaguely. When she had checked Light's brand…she didn't think a person could get any redder ("It's on her chest? That's kinda creepy if you ask me! No wonder I couldn't spot it though…" "Vanille, your's is pretty much on your ass and you actually looked?" "Of course I did. I didn't want to be the only one with a brand on their lower body").

A groan sounded from the lowest bed and a quick look over the side showed a very pale soldier girl, strawberry bangs sticking to her face. Delicate eyebrows crinkled in the center of Light's forehead, and Fang could just make out her eyes darting behind the lids; a fever induced nightmare.

"Bhakti, I completely think you are evil now." The woman muttered as she carefully rolled off her perch to check on their appointed leader, her thick accent holding an edge. The little robot merely chirped while whizzing away from the her to run head long into the yellow couch that circled the opposite wall of the living area. "Sitting on that floor for Etro knows how long probably didn't help a thing, and then you had to overload her brain?" Fang carefully ran the cloth over the pinkette's face and down her neck. She'd have to ask her sister if there were any shirts she could wear so they could wash the red-brown sweater vest.

Vanille had outdone herself. With the first sign of the decision of staying on Gran Pulse for a bit before going to Eden, the younger Pulsian had rushed back to Oerba with Snow in tow to completely clean the little home that had once been their's. She had washed the sheets, dusted, organized, while Snow fixed everything that was in need of desperate repair: "We need a place to bunker down once in awhile. Sleeping on the ground every night isn't good for our spirits! Or Sazh's back!"

"There we go Soldier Girl, doubt you'd be happy to stay inside another day." Fang placed the cloth back on Lightning's forehead, stroking the fair locks away, trying to get rid of the nightmare plaguing her. The woman's face relaxed visibly. "Wonder what demons you are battling now?"

"Hey man! Careful with those feet. You'll trip the alarm!"

"I know where it is." An obnoxious buzzing sound echoed through the small house, causing the strawberry haired girl to shift. Fang quickly crossed the room and unplugged the little yellow wire above the door. "Woops. Guess not."

Snow peeked through the door, throwing a fearful glance at the bed. The large blond heaved a sigh at the site of the sleeping Farron. "Sorry, sorry. I thought I had missed it."

Behind him trotted the youngest member of the group, his green-blue eyes wide with worry. "How is she doing?"

"About the same."

Vanille and Sazh wandered in last, tossing weapons in the corner. With the several alarms Sazh and Hope had rigged around the Pulsians' old home to warn if any Cie'th bumbled too close, the group was allowed a little relaxation. Trip wires, motion sensitive lights, small traps… the little apartment was probably the safest place any L'cie could wish for. Watches were still mandatory, but everyone was more at ease, and no one had to sit and stare out the doorway for hours.

The perky red head bounced over to the bed, laying her palm flat against Lightning's head. Her lips puckered in mild worry, her hand glowing bright with a Esuna spell. It was her fifth attempt sense the woman had fallen ill. Hope had even thrown in a few cures and combined spells. Magic just didn't work on sicknesses started by the body itself.

Potions were completely out of the question after the soldier failed to keep one down the first time.

"Unless Soldier Girl's fever breaks, we'll be staying here another day." the older man groaned as he settled onto the couch, lifting his feet so Bhakti could roll under. It rolled away, and around, and…

Oh shit.

….towards the leather bound photo album that sat in the middle of the floor. Fang quickly waltzed over and picked the item up, tucking it under her arm. Of course, the move didn't go unnoticed by, well, anyone. Vanille's clover eyes widened as she saw the item in question.

Of course, Snow had to go and ask, "What's that you got there, Fang?"

Green met green, a lightning fast and silent conversation flashing between both Pulse before the wild haired woman answered cheekily, "Naked photos of me and Vanille." She heard the satisfying sound of Hope choking on his glassful of water and the silence from the other two men. Vanille covered her flaming cheeks with one hand, the other patting the younger boy on the back.

"You're kidding…" the brawler started.

Fang flashed him a toothy grin. "Ye're free to take a look. It will be on my bed." A silent threat. The three bunks closets to the door were the girl's, and under no circumstance, were the boys allowed to enter, climb in, or paw through. Vanille had gone far enough to set up a piece of cloth that acted as a curtain. She had been the one to deliver the threat in the first place, the other two females not really caring.

The photo album was shoved under the pillow, left there to be forgotten. Or so Fang and Vanille hoped.

OOOOO

Fog swirled around Lightning's bare ankles, dancing up her calves to tickle the hem of her black shorts. Gazing around at the completely blackness, the soldier muttered, "Well, I'm pretty sure this isn't where I fell asleep." Taking a step, the ground under her feet held. Warmth pulsed up from some hidden source, making the surface feel like heated marble.

"I guess this could be considered a nightmare." A soft voice answered. Lightning spun, hand going to Blaze Edge… which was not present. If it had been, she would have accidentally killed Hope…

A much older Hope.

The boy, no man, stood feet before her in the blackness, the fog moving away from his feet like water around a rock. He easily stood a head taller than her, with silver haired cut in messy layers and eyes that were the exact opposite of her pupils; reddish gold. He wore a simple black tank top with messy jeans and an orange vest. Tied around his head, presumably for look over convenience was a beaded headband, adorned with a clutch of colorful feathers.

Lightning relaxed her stance. The man had no weapons of his own in view, and didn't look hostile. "Where am I?"

The Hope look alike scratched the back of his head. "We're in Limbo. You know, between life and death." Lightning gave him a deadpan look. "I'm not kidding. We're in the place where lost spirits go."

"Wonderful. I died."

"Not at all." The man had the audacity to chuckle. The way he drawled out his words, and the accent reminded her of someone…

"You're one of the villagers from the pictures."

"Vincent. Oerba Alex Vincent. And I will tell you I was the oldest in that group." the golden eyed doppelganger remarked. With a gesture of a true gentleman, Vincent held out his hand, ready to lead the other woman… somewhere. Lightning couldn't even begin to fathom where they could possibly go. Especially in [I]Limbo[/I].

"Why am I here?"

Vincent's hand didn't waver. His free hand, rose to his mouth so he could bite the tip of his thumb in a rather Hope-esc movement. How he fidgeted while he thought, how his eyes darted to the left, somehow made the Lightning at ease enough to slowly raise her hand. She wished she hadn't at his answer, "I don't know."

Before the strawberry haired fighter could protest, the area around the two exploded in a blast of light and warm air. The fog rolled away from where the two stood to be replaced with swaying green grass and colorful flowers. The sounds of splashing waves, talking, and laughing resounding through the once silence.

Lightning opened her eyes to stare at an unfamiliar village with windmills twirling in the ocean on their metal stilts. Children danced on Cie'th free streets with ribbons in their hands flapping in the ocean breeze. Flowers, hundreds upon hundreds of flowers. "Oerba." The soldier went to take a step closer, only to feel Vincent's hand still clutched around her own, trembling. His face had drained off all color, turning a ghostly grey, golden eyes clouded and unfocused.

"I didn't send us here."

"Excuse me?"

"I was trying to take you somewhere else." Vincent growled lowly, turning his gaze skywards. Fear turning into anger in an instant. "Someone else interfered. And I know exactly who." The golden eyes flickered shut, the grip from the older man's hand nearly making Lightning wince. What the hell was going on?

The sky lit up in an explosion of reds and black, yelling and screaming breaking the once beautiful scene. Above them, near the floating planet of Cocoon, a giant creature lashed out at the barrier tearing a large chunk from the soft, outer shell. However, it did not manage to destroy the planet completely before disappearing.

Lightning could only stare as the land around her warped. A fine crystal dusted coated the world in a blizzard of fragments, smothering the flowers. The once laughing and talking citizens of Oerba twisted and screamed as their bodies morphed into that of Cie'th. It was only when the grip on her hand disappeared that Light looked to her side, tearing her cerulean eyes from the nightmarish happenings below.

Vincent was gone. Something else reached up to grasp her hand. For once in her life sense she had been forced to grow up, Lightning screamed.

OOOOO

"When do you plan to tell them?" Vanille asked quietly, fingering the corner of one of her favorite pictures. In the damaged image was the red headed girl being carried by the Hope look alike. Vincent's face was contorted in a fake mask of pain and where his knees were was blurred as he pretended to wobble.

Fang leaned back on the yellow sofa, arms behind her head. Officially, it was only Fang's watch, but Vanille had stayed up to keep her company and do laundry. The girl needed something to do constantly. Lightning's fever hadn't broken, so the plan to stay for another day would allow the girl to make up for her double shift (Hope and her shared their guard duty and Sazh was staying behind in Fang's place).

"Ms. Sunshine already knows." answered Fang as she flicked at the two drying pieces of her sari hanging from a makeshift laundry line. Like hell she was going to hang it outside where the Cie'th could nab it.

Vanille looked up from her current washing, a kidnapped sweater vest, eyes wide. "Did she see the…um…smooch picture?"

"Yep."

"How did she react?"

"Like Lightning with a fever."

"Fang!" The warrior laughed quietly while her sister pouted. The eldest of their group gave a snore and both women quieted. It was never a good idea to wake Sazh up before or after his shift… the cranky old man he was. Giving the side of the room a look, the younger Pulsian poked the elder's thigh. "How did she react?"

"Didn't believe it at first. Said she was having a dream. Other than that, just peachy. Honestly, Vanille, I doubt she'll remember. Poor thing was kinda dazed."

Vanille pursed her lips. "How did you react?"

A black eyebrow rose, words forming on the woman's tongue before they were violently snatched away. A sharp yelp rang out through the small home and Fang was up in an instant, darting to the opposite side of the room to where Lightning thrashed on her bunk. The soldier's face was covered in sweat, sheets wound tightly around her legs and body as she groaned and kicked.

"Vanille!" Fang hissed, tilting her head towards where the boy's slept. In particular, Hope. The red head wasted no time, casting a simple sleep spell on the men while the raven haired warrior tried to wake Light. They did not need a cranky Sazh and a worried kid floating around.

Carefully taking her shoulders, the Fang gave them a firm shake. "Light!" The girl's eyes flew open. Fang should have predicted the next move, a right hook to the cheek that the woman really couldn't blame the other for doing. She would have impaled the person.

The Pulsian backed off, watching as their leader pulled herself to the far corner of the bed, curling up against the wall with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees like a frightened child.

"Oi Light, did you really have to hit me?" Fang groaned, watching as dull cerulean eyes blinked up over bare knee. Vanille stood by the door on alert, glancing down the steps.

"I…I didn't mean too." The pinkette mumbled, trailing a hand through her hair tiredly. Her body shook with small tremors, shivering against the chill of the sweat on her body. "Sorry."

Fang put on her best grin despite the throbbing in her jaw. "Ah, no worries. I've been hit by worst." The expression faded as she caught the tell tale signs of tear tracks on the soldier's pale cheeks. "You okay?" Stupid question, Fang. Aren't you bloody brilliant? Without waiting for an answer, Fang scooted across the mattress to where Lightning sat, and ignoring the glare/confused look pulled the strawberry haired soldier to her.

Lightning weakly struggled with small, hitching breaths. Fang was invading the woman's safety bubble, though the area had always been smaller for said warrior and Hope. When it was clear she wasn't going to be able to push the woman away, Light seemingly gave up, letting herself be pulled into the embrace.

Though stunned at how easy she gave in, Fang wrapped her arms securely around the pinkette, carding her hands through soft strands of hair. Resting her chin on of the soldier's head, the raven haired L'cie slowly began to rock her, making small 'shushing' sounds when the Farron's sobs grew louder, her body trembling. "It's okay, Light, it was just a dream." She whispered into pink hair. "Only a dream. Everything is fine, Light. Everyone's here and we're going to get Serah back."

Vanille watched the exchange from the door, keeping half her attention on lookout (surprisingly, she could do that), though her eyes were as wide as they could possibly become. Not often did Fang go into a…motherly mode. Defensive, yes. Anger, yep. Sister and/or comrade? More often.

Fang had only ever held two people like she was holding Lightning; herself and Averia.

But Vanille had never ever, ever, ever heard the extra tone added to the motherly reassurance that she spoke to Lightning in. It was protective and soothing, but different then how the Yun would speak to her. There was hinted worry and something else lingering in her tone…

"Are you in there, Vanille?"

The red head looked up from her musing, startled, as Snow placed a large hand on her shoulder. When had he gotten up? She had cast them all to sleep!

The younger Pulsian threw a glance towards the bed, where her sister lay next to a sleeping and curled up Lightning, hand softly stroking hair comfortingly. "Ah! Don't look!" Vanille whisper yelped, running over to try and draw the curtain around the bunk. Fang snickered lightly. "How are you still awake?

Snow scratched the back of his blond head sheepishly revealing a ribbon tied to his wrist. Snow was the only person who would sleep with his equipment still on… "Fang woke me up. Asked if I could take her shift."

"She did? How long have I been zoning?"

"About ten minutes. Snow's been trying to get your attention for five now." The elder Pulsian teased in a whisper. Apparently in that time, she had finally coaxed their appointed leader to sleep and had wrapped herself in a separate blanket. "This doesn't bother you, right Snow?"

"Nah. Just don't try anything."

"Please, I happen to want to keep my head on my shoulders until I get to Barthandelus, thanks."

The much larger man looked down at the very confused red head, then back to Fang who had resumed her soothing motions on Light. "We'll explain in the morning." He grinned.

"You better, mister!"

Minor minor cliff hanger. :3 Thanks to all of you for the support! Leave a review if you'd like to! o/ Cookies to those who can guess where Vincent's clan name came from!