[Final Fantasy XIII] Crystal Dreams of Eternity
Chapter 3: (II.1) Dancing
A Final Fantasy XIII Fanfic
By jen-chan
January 29 - February 16, 2011
CHAPTER SYNOPSIS: During game; a collection of scenes describing Fang and Lightning's instant connection.
NOTE: All external dialogue in the first scene is directly from the FF-XIII game, and was not written by myself. Same deal with the external dialogue in the third scene!
It was not difficult for Fang to pin-point the exact moment she fell for Lightning Farron. It had been the very first moment she'd laid eyes on the soldier, at Palumpolum Public Square, surrounded by PSICOM and impossible odds.
She had taken one look down at the battle hardened soldier, saw the determined set of her brilliant blue eyes, saw the command with which she wielded her entire body as a weapon, and felt an electric thrill lanced down her back.
She'd been with lovers before, but not one of them had inspired such intense attraction before; and fully clothed from at least forty feet away, no less! Putting her hands on her hips, Fang gave a low whistle of appreciation; Snow Villiers, the overgrown delinquent with a heart of gold beside her, glanced at her amusedly.
"That's some crowd," Fang said, purposefully choosing words that would be vague enough to hide the true source of her attention. "Gonna need a plan." She was overwhelmed by the sudden need to make a very flashy and cool entrance.
Snow was, evidently, her man. He grinned, and gave her a thumbs up. "Since when do heroes need plans?" With that, he tossed his Eidolon crystal up in the air and smashed it with his fists.
The Shiva sisters instantly arrived on the scene in their snowflake whirlwind trademark of sexy glory, capturing the attention of most of the bewildered soldiers in the square. It was a testament to the pink haired soldier's appeal that Fang was probably the only person in the square who's eyes were not captured by Shiva.
"Fang." Snow tossed a gun at Fang, who caught it deftly, though she looked at it with a bit of a sour expression on her face. Firearms really weren't her thing, but... it would be flashy. With no further warning, Snow leapt down from the building platform they were on directly aback the Shiva sisters, even as they wrapped their endless limbs together and transformed into simultaneously the hottest and coolest motorcycle known to man.
Fang wasted no time leaping down onto the passenger seat.
And so they charged, reckless idiots, but *damn* *fine* reckless idiots, if Fang had to say so herself, down the ice ramp that Shiva had made for them, guns blazing and enemies falling under Fang's spray of bullets.
They burst off the ice ramp in dramatic fashion - it might as well have been choreographed!- directly over Lightning Farron's head, and spun to a stop not several feet away from her.
Snow grinned cockily at the solider. "Yeah! Lightning!" He greeted.
Fang, however, found herself devoid of words. It was her first time seeing the lithe soldier up close, and even with a school-marm expression stern enough to scare the pants off of a pack of doddlers... she was exquisite.
The grace in her stature, the infinite cerulean of her eyes, and a pair of endless, *endless* legs even the twin sisters could approve of... everything about her screamed to be worshiped as the patron saint of gorgeousness, and for a moment, Fang idly wondered if she'd maybe been a bit too reckless with Snow several stories up, and had actually died and gone to heaven.
Wordlessly, she hopped off the motorcycle, along with Snow, trying to come up with something smooth to say.
Her brain abandoned her.
For Lightning's part, the soldier only stared coldly at Snow and Fang, her eyes darting with precision between Snow's baby blues, and Fang's own jade orbs. Fang could feel electricity pass through her body again as their gazes met briefly. She noticed the other woman's eyes narrow; she must have felt something too. Fang grinned.
Lightning frowned. Then, with no further warning, she harrumphed, and tossed the silver-haired kid at her side at Snow.
Snow caught the boy's shoulders. "Whoa!"
"Take care of him," Lightning demanded, even as she quickly turned away, dismissing Fang altogether as she quickly cocked her weapon into the form of a firearm.
Anyone else would probably have termed the action rude, but Fang thought it was sassy.
"Lightning, listen to me!" Snow shouted.
The soldier would have none of that. "Get moving," she snapped.
"No, you don't understand!" Snow insisted. "Serah's all right! She'll turn back!"
But his attempt didn't work, and Lightning simply took off, guns blazing. "Take care of Hope." She commanded once more.
"Wait!" Snow shouted again, to no avail.
Fang could not help but cross her arms at this display, a smirk on her face. Head strong as well! She liked that. Walking up to Snow, she put a hand on his shoulder. "And then there were three." She laughed, and briskly jogged after the soldier.
But Snow didn't follow her. Fang looked back, and noticed that the soldiers were starting to get up; damn those bullet proof vests! This was why one should never use a gun to do a melee weapon's job! But Snow was already all over it, putting Hope on the Shiva sisters.
Fang smirked to herself. The lug and the kid would be fine; she had more interesting things to attend to. She picked up her pace, following the pink-haired soldier.
Lightning must have noticed that she was being tailed by Fang, but chose not to do anything about it; Fang couldn't help but wonder why, even as she admired the soldier's backside. And then, the answer came into view for Fang too: directly in front of them was a squad of roughly two dozen PSICOM soldiers of various ranks and positions, three crusader tilters, and two Falco velocycles.
Fang cursed softly under her breath and picked up her pace so that she could run along side the soldier.
Lightning turned briefly to look at the one who had caught up to her, and their eyes met fully again.
And Fang... couldn't explain what happened next.
It was like understanding just passed between them. In that split moment, Lightning seemed to have communicated an entire strategy to Fang without words. 'I'll take the ones on the left, you take the ones in the middle. Get the ones on the right to open fire on their own side.'
Wordlessly Fang nodded, and then they leapt straight into battle.
It was breathtaking.
Words could not describe the virtual ballet of destruction they rained on their enemies. Their coordination was spot on. Fang never had to look for the other woman even once; somehow, she seemed to know exactly where the other warrior was at all times, as Lightning knew her location and intent.
They danced, bodies twisting to avoid a hail of bullets from the velocycles, flipping around and over each other to frustrate the angry swipe of a tilter. At one point, Fang somehow knew to reach behind her and grabbed one of Lightning's outstretched hands, tossing her high up in the air so that the soldier could fire off a quick succession of bullets from her gunblade to knock down a line of soldiers, even as Fang then rushed forward to relieve the tilter in front of her of its front arms.
It was beautiful. It was sublime.
It could have brought Fang to tears.
Never, in all her years of fighting in squads, or hunting in teams, had she partook in such a breathtaking exercise of precision and wordless understanding. She understood now, why some of the best fighters in Oerba experienced marital problems; wives just could not understand this bond between warriors. While their elders had attempted to explain the phenomenon to the younger generations, the discussions had always tended to dissolve into the cliche 'love on the battlefield'. This never failed to prompt silly giggles from the children and never was quite what the older men were trying to articulate, but now... now Fang understood.
They took out the enemy in absolutely no time. Fang idly realized she hadn't even broken a sweat, though she did breathe a bit more deeply from the exhilaration of it all. If there was some sort of cosmic fight rating system in the sky somewhere, she wouldn't hesitate to rank this fight six stars out of five! Seven!
And then Fang felt a piercing gaze upon her. She turned and regarded her fellow warrior. Lightning Farron was breathing deeply also - Fang couldn't help but let her eyes be drawn to the way the other woman's lithe bosom heaved.
Lightning noticed, but did nothing. Instead, she cracked a small, satisfied smile, one Fang returned.
It would take Fang a while to realize how rare that smile was, and how lucky she had been to have been graced by it. She wouldn't see it again for a while.
If Fang could have bottled this moment up into a gem, she would have, to re-live over and over for all eternity.
But alas, it was not the time for that yet. The sound of an army of boots interrupted Fang's reverie, and she frowned. When she did so, Lightning lost her own smile, and they both glanced in the direction the noise came from, before flicking their eyes to regard each other once more.
Wordless understanding passed through them once again, and they quickly made away from the scene through the back alleys of Palumpolum.
Fang wasn't sure how long they ran before the sound of pursuit faded away, but if felt like forever. Eventually, they found themselves in a less heavily guarded area.
She could feel Lightning's eyes on her; they still hadn't exchanged any words yet. Fang flashed Lightning a 'don't worry' smile, but the soldier did not return it this time. Instead, suspicion was clearly evident in the pink haired woman's eyes. Now that they were no longer in combat, the adrenaline had ebbed somewhat, and the soldier was obviously realizing that she had no idea who Fang was. That bothered the hunter somewhat, not that she could blame the other woman.
Deciding that the best way to soothe that suspicion was probably to distract her, Fang took out the communicator thingy she'd been given by the cavalry. She quickly dialed up Snow. It took a while, but the man finally answered.
"Hey, it's me, what's up?"
Fang snorted. "You know damn well what's up! Why haven't you called in?" She realized the root cause of her frustration was not the man's (not-actual) tardiness, but rather her companion's distrust. Still, it didn't hurt to take that frustration out on the lug.
"Sorry, slipped my mind."
"Right." Fang resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Well, what's your status?"
"Great! Great. Hope's great too. Are you okay?"
Fang sighed. "I'm great, you're great, everyone's great." She looked at Lightning, and handed the communicator to her, realizing she'd have to let the soldier take part in this conversation to regain the trust she so implicitly had but an hour ago. "Reunion time. Figure out a rendezvous point." She couldn't help but notice how the soldier's hand had a brief moment of hesitation in it before Lightning touched Fang's fingers to grip the small communicator. "Don't sweat it," Fang said, careful not to let her pleasure at the small physical contact appear on her face. She was trying to put the soldier at ease after all. "That line's hyper-encrypted." Whatever that meant.
Lightning stared at the communicator for a moment before making a noise at the back of her throat of malcontent, which Fang presumed, was the soldier's version of 'hello' to Snow.
Fang couldn't hear what Snow was saying, but she did see Lightning's eyebrow twitch, as she responded with, "I'm not your sister." Lightning was silent again, as Snow was evidently speaking, before she finally said, "we'll meet at Hope's place. Felix Heights. 35-A." Then Lightning paused, and looked over at Fang.
Cerulean eyes caught jade ones again, but Fang couldn't read them now. "Hmm?" She asked, running her hand through her hair awkwardly. Snow had obviously said something to the solder about her, but what, she could not tell.
Then Lightning turned her attention away from Fang. "Snow, listen to me. It's about Hope. His mother was-!" Lightning was apparently cut off. "Hope!" She said, raising her voice. "Hope!"
Fang frowned. "Yelling doesn't fix it." She paused. Now how had Rydgea explained this to her again? "It's called... interference. You can chitchat when we get there." She reached out for the phone, hiding her pleasure once again as Lightning had to brush Fang's palm with her fingers to hand the device off.
And then Fang turned. "I've got point, you fall in behind." She paused. "And see if you can't cool off that head of yours."
Then Fang turned away from the other woman to take off, before the soldier could see the mild ire on Fang's own face. She realized that she too could benefit from her own advice.
They didn't have very far to go; a few more blocks, and they found themselves in slightly safer territory.
It was then that Lightning finally spoke her first direct words to Fang.
"Who are you?"
It was their first night in the Ark that Fang and Vanille were able to have their first real talk after being reunited. With no sign of an exit, and a team ready to collapse from sheer exhaustion, the group of L'Cie had decided it was time to rest.
They chose to do so in a small alcove they'd just cleared of pulsework enemies. Hope had promptly passed out when they came to a stop; Vanille looked like she was not far behind him. "We should take guard shifts," Lightning said. "I can take the first one, then Sazh, Snow, and Fang? Two hours each?"
"I can help too!" Vanille insisted weakly, though the exhaustion on her face was clearly evident to everyone else in the team. "I... I think I could hold out for another couple hours."
Lightning shook her head. Now was not the time for stubborn heroics. "Sorry - but you aren't in a helpful state." She could tell by the exhaustion on the younger girl's face that she would very likely fall asleep within minutes if everyone else already was with no one to keep her up.
Sazh, seeing the disappointment on Vanille's face at being unable to contribute, rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Hey, Lightning, listen. Why don't we let Fang and Vanille take the first shift? I think they probably have some catching up to do, and they can probably keep each other awake while they guard."
"Yeah," Fang added her piece. "From what we've seen so far, the style of the nasties here lean more towards 'blunder at you with chainsaws in the air' than 'slit your throat in your sleep'. We'll see anything coming, even if we're chatting."
Lightning thought about this for a moment, frowning. She wasn't pleased with the suggestion - chatting while guarding? They may not pay enough attention to their duties and let something slip through - but if Fang was okay with the arrangement, it would probably be alright. The hunter had been unfailingly reliable so far. "Alright then, Fang and Vanille can take the first shift. Then me, then Snow, and Sazh last?"
Sazh nodded. "Alright. And if Hope's awake by then, he can share my shift. You know, so he doesn't feel left out."
Everyone was in agreement, and so Fang and Vanille took the first shift, while everyone else grabbed a piece of floor around Hope.
Lightning laid in her spot for about ten minutes, before getting up, and silently creeping over to where Fang and Vanille sat, just outside of the alcove.
It was strictly for precaution's sake, she told herself. She barely knew anything about the two Pulsian natives. She just... needed to make sure they were trustworthy was all.
Curiosity as to the true nature of the two women's relationship had nothing to do with it. Nope.
Hiding herself around the corner, Lightning had to concentrate, but she could hear the other two's low voices clear enough.
They were recounting what had happened to each of them after their separation at Euride Plant. A small bit of relief crept across Lightning's heart when she realized that the story that Fang was recounting to Vanille was very consistent to the story the tall woman had told Lightning herself when they had first met. Lightning wasn't sure why, but she realized she would have been significantly bothered had Fang been lying to her.
Vanille's story too, was quite consistent to those parts that Lightning herself had experienced.
"I guess we must have missed each other by mere meters at Bodhum during the fireworks then, huh?" Fang was saying. "Damn. That could have saved days of trouble, yeah?"
"Maybe," Vanille admitted. "But I think we're better off now than before. I mean, if we had found each other then, we wouldn't have found more comrades now, right?"
Somewhat satisfied that all was well, Lightning was about to turn back to get some rest when the conversation suddenly got... interesting.
"Fair enough," Fang said softly. Suddenly, her voice got wistful. "Vanille, what do you think of Light?"
"Lightning?" Vanille repeated. And then the tone in her voice suddenly got more animated and bubbly. Lightning could practically hear the smile on Vanille's face in the younger woman's voice. "Aaah! I thought I saw something when we were fighting Barthandelus! Do you fancy her?"
Lightning froze.
"... actually, Vanille, I think it might be more than that." Fang said softly.
If humanly possible, Vanille's voice got even more high pitched and squealy. "Oooh, what happened?"
"Stop trying to imitate a baby rodent," Fang admonished, though the good humour was still obvious in her voice. "It was our first battle. She didn't know who I was, didn't even know my name, and all I knew about her was what Snow had told me about her, which was not much. There were... I can't remember how many enemy, and we just..." and here, Fang's voice dropped, and there was a strange, almost worshipful tone to her voice, "... we danced."
There was a pause, and Lightning thought her heart had skipped a beat. What did Fang mean, exactly, 'we danced'? And yet, the more Lightning thought about it, the more appropriate the description became.
Even now, Lightning could remember the exhilaration of having her thoughts and intentions being completely understood without words. She could remember how glorious it had been to be able to just give herself into battle instincts, and known implicitly, (though there was no way she could have or should have) that her partner would join her, and do exactly what they needed to do. She could remember the majesty of being completely in synch and together with someone else.
It was the reason she'd gotten along with Fang so well and so quickly. Lightning had not ever been so quick to accept anyone else in their group - heck, anyone else in her *life* as quickly as she'd accepted Oerba Yun Fang, to the point where she'd even allowed the other woman to examine her L'Cie brand, marked on the very private track of skin that it was, within scant hours of them meeting.
No, Lightning realized, Fang was right. Something had happened when they had... danced. And to hear Fang speak so reverently about the experience... Lightning put a hand onto her chest.
~... I shouldn't be hearing this! I really, really shouldn't be hearing this!~
But she couldn't tear herself away.
The silence in the air stretched for a moment longer, before Vanille broke the spell with a confused, "... Fang, I'm not sure I understand. What do you mean, 'you danced'?"
At that, Fang sighed. "I don't know how to explain it, Vanille." She finally said. "All I know was... it was incredible."
"Hmmm... well, help spell it out for me here. Are you going to court her, or just bed her? Ow! What was that for?"
"For being crude, Vanille." Fang replied coolly. "Besides, we're in the middle of our bloody focus. It's hardly the time to be thinking of that, yeah?"
"Oh, please, like that would ever stop y-! Ow! Fang, quiddit!"
"Not if you insist on being a brat!" There was a pause. "Ah, quit your pouting, Vanille. You know you'll always be my number one."
Vanille sniffed icily. "Yeah? Well, who treats their number one the way you do! Hmph!"
The Pulsians' discussions then dissolved into banality, and Lighting released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She wasn't quite sure what to think. On the one hand, her eavesdropping had given her some answers, but at the same time, questions - of a sort she had been entirely *not* expecting - had definitely been raised.
Almost shakily (almost, not quite), she went back to where the men folk were resting. Snow and Hope had passed out, but Sazh was still up, idly stroking the head of the baby chocobo. He looked up as Lightning came back. "Everything alright?" He asked.
"Yeah," Lightning replied quickly. Probably too quickly. She settled into her own spot, and shut her eyes. Sleep would not come to her quickly though. Her thoughts continued to swirl around the tall Pulsian woman, their 'dancing', and the conversation she had overheard.
Not too long after Vanille and Fang's conversation, the whole group got first hand exposure to what Fang meant when she said she and Lightning had 'danced'.
They had lost track of how long they'd been trapped inside the ark, and an almost tangible tension had risen in the group. It all finally came to a head when Sazh cracked, after they found themselves at a dead-end.
"I have had enough of this!" Cried the older man. "Where's the way out?"
It was Snow who was finally able to pull the group together.
"Way out? Who said there was one?"
As the group turned to address the lug, who's oddly quiet contemplation had added not a small part in fraying the collectives' nerves, he finally grinned, his first grin in too long, and punched his fist into his palm.
"My mind is made up. Maybe I will end up a Cie'th. But until that happens, I'm gonna make Serah proud." He pulled a familiar blue jewel from his pocket. "I couldn't bring myself to admit that this tear meant goodbye. And that's why I kept searching for her. But I didn't need to. Serah was here the whole time, right here, watching over me. Now I get it. What this tear's been telling me is to not let our focus win. It's not the Fal'Cie we should listen to. It's Serah and Raines. Do you know why? Because our focus doesn't matter. What matters to me is that we protect Cocoon whatever it takes."
Then, he held out his palm.
Fang raised her eyebrow. She couldn't believe what the idiot had declared. Well, actually, she could believe that the idiot had declared such idiocy, but the point remained that Snow's sentiments were just that: sentimental. And suicidal. Fang crossed her arms, ready to speak up...
... and then Vanille, from out of nowhere, walked up to Snow, and put her hand on to of his. "Same here!" Vanille said, a smile - a genuine smile - on her face. "I'll help you do it!"
Fang stared at the back of Vanille's head silently, incredulously. ~What the hell are you saying, Missy?~ The feeling of unease in her heart only grew as Hope chimed in his support, as did Sazh, and the baby chocobo.
And even as Snow said, "When a chocobo agrees, you know you're on the right path", Fang looked over at the other silent woman in their group and couldn't help but notice Lightning crossing her own arms with a grim smile of approval on her face.
Fang clenched her fists, fighting the anxiety that roiled in her stomach.
Naive dreamers, all of them. She was obviously surrounded by naive dreamers who'd never actually experienced the horror of watching a love one transform into a monster.
"Well count me out."
Fang's voice rang loud and crisply in the air as she unfolded her arms and put her hands on her hips. She turned on her heels, grinding her teeth together as she walked purposefully away from the group. "If you all want to go it on your own..." she pulled her spear from her back, and with a loud swoop, assumed an attacking stance. "Then so will I."
Cries and murmurs of incredulousness echoed loudly in the air, but the one word Fang heard most clearly over all the commotion was actually Lightning's disapproving, "Fang-"
She glared at the soldier, not letting her finish.
"Let Cocoon get what's coming," Fang snarled, powering her words with the righteous rage she'd known since she was seven in the deepest reaches of her heart.
"They hate us for being L'Cie. What's it to me if they die? Better that, than to watch a friend go Cie'th!"
Images of so many friends, lost to monstrosity, passed through her mind's eye. Proud Tombas. Petulant Shayla.
Fang looked Vanille directly in the eye. ~You know what I'm talking about,~ she thought, knowing the other girl would understand. Vanille whimpered and covered her mouth with her hands.
And yet... despite the conviction Fang felt in her heart, as she looked into the eyes of each one of her current companions, she could not help but feel her heart rage war with itself.
After all, they were all in the same boat together. She wasn't alone anymore.
But no. Fang shook her head. She couldn't think like that. If she thought like that, then Vanille, and then everyone else, would go Cie'th. "If you don't have the nerve for it, I'll do it myself. Go on alone, get stronger, and smash Cocoon out of the sky!"
Vanille tried to rush forward, but Lightning put an arm out in front to stop the younger woman.
Clear cerulean eyes bore against clouded jade ones as they warred, so many words exchanged without being said, even as Fang struggled to speak, to convince herself of her convictions. But even as she spoke, she could feel the rage in her heart starting to burn, as though physical. A searing pain began to burn her from the inside out, ripping through her body. "You... turn Cie'th... and there's no... coming back...! I'm not...! Letting it...! End that way!"
And with that, Fang gave a howl of anguish as her brand, thought scorched and useless, finally activated and glowed a piercing white light, even as ancient magic runes and summoning circles spontaneously lite up the ground under her.
Ominous, rumbling clouds thundered above, and from their midst, a beast gave a roar of challenge and burst into existence upon mighty black wings.
Fang swallowed, voice hoarse. "W-what's he doing here?" She mumbled to herself, still winded and on her knees.
~I *know* what I have to do! I'm not...! I'm not confused!~
So then why was her Eidolon summoned? Why was Bahamut - for Fang realized that she knew its name - why was Bahamut here? Though she had never seen the beast before, she knew that was what it was. Bahamut was a gift from Etro, sent to open a path in her heart and mind for her, or to grant her the final mercy.
But even as she'd said the question out loud, she knew the answer.
Her heart wasn't anywhere close to being resolute.
She made a fist, shouting defiantly at the Eidolon. "Come to take pity on me? Come to take care of a broken L'Cie?"
Snow spoke, incredulousness evident in his voice. "That thing's here to *help* us?"
"Yeah, 'help'," Fang spat. "That's what Eidolons do, they 'help' us. Eidolons are our salvation. If we can't decide what to do next, they come put us out of our misery!"
Snow nodded. Then he blinked, and looked at Fang again. "Wait, so, you *haven't* made up your mind yet?"
Fang didn't have time to respond. Bahamut screeched and shot a blast of energy directly at her.
~Shi-!~ Fang cursed, unable to get to her feet. But she didn't have to. In that split second, Vanille rushed to her side while Lightning stepped in front of her. Snow stepped in front of Lightning and deflected Bahamut's shot with a steelguard.
Fang stared at the back of Lightning's head. "Why are you protecting me? What are you doing?"
Lightning spoke, not quite yet facing Fang. "Protecting one of our own. We can do without their brand of mercy, and we don't need a Fal'Cie's orders either. I'm fighting this focus to the end. We all are. So please..."
Then Lighting turned and offered her hand to Fang. Blue eyes locked on green once more. "Fight with us."
And Fang could hear what Lightning hadn't said:
Fight with *me*.
Fang held Lightning's gaze for an eternity in a moment, strategy passing between them silently and unbidden once more, before Fang looked away, 'che-ing' under her breathe as she took Lightning's offered hand and allowed Vanille to help her to her feet.
~Like I can say no now.~
It only took a moment more for strength to return to Fang's limbs as she swung her spear around. "Ready when you are."
Lightning smiled grimly back at Fang.
Wordlessly, they charged Bahamut, even as Fang felt one of Vanille's cure spells hit her square in the back, revitalizing her.
And then, they danced once more.
Bahamut was a significantly more difficult opponent than the PSICOM division they had torn apart, but still, their synchronism was exquisite. Much of the battle was spent dodging Bahamut's devastating attacks, and even when they could not, their acrobatic leaps, volleys and swings carried each other through the blasts such that damage was minimal. There were no words; none were needed.
Their companions were in awe; Sazh and Snow had tried to join the fray (why go 3 against 1 when they could go 6 against 1), but Bahamut's devastation prevented them from being able to even approach the raging Eidolon, and Hope and Vanille found that their curative spells were largely going in Sazh and Snow's direction over Fang and Lightning's.
The battle was short. Barely able to touch Fang and Lightning, the Eidolon soon gave a roar of approval, and shot into the air, transforming into a dragon.
Fang leapt onto Bahamut's back, completing her mastery of the Eidolon, to the cheering of her companions. But whilst those noises of pride and congratulations felt fantastic, it was Lightning's silently approving cerulean eyes that made Fang feel like she was on top of the world.
When Fang landed, it was Vanille who rushed to embrace her first. "Okay!" The redhead whispered into Fang's ears, eyes twinkling. "Dancing! I get it!"
Fang bonked Vanille on the forehead lightly, though she was grinning. Her eyes sought out Lightning's, but their defacto leader had turned away.
Their first night on Gran Pulse was thankfully quiet in stark contrast to their arrival on the land earlier in the day. After Sazh had ensured the wreckage of the airship was not about to explode, they had decided to settle there for the night while contemplating their next move.
Fang found dinner, which Vanille prepared with help from Hope. It wasn't the best meal, and the Cocoonians definitely hadn't been used to the flavour, but they made do. It was in the late evening now, and most everyone was gathered around the campfire in conversation about the day's activities when Fang realized that Lightning hadn't come back from excusing herself earlier.
She set out to look for their leader, finding her a little ways away, staring up at the sky.
There was a look of absolute wonder on Lightning's face, an expression Fang had not yet seen on the other woman's countenance before. She wasn't aware Lightning was even capable of such an expression.
It was *very* fetching.
Fang wasn't sure how long she stood there staring at the gorgeous soldier; eventually, Lightning sensed someone was close by and looked over at Fang, who waved a greeting.
"Yes?" Lightning asked.
"Just wondering if fearless leader got lost looking for the bushes," Fang replied, walking up to the other woman. "What has your attention so?"
Lightning's lips twitched, as though she didn't quite want to say anything, but eventually, she motioned up to the sky. "I've never seen anything like this," the woman admitted. "It's just so... I mean... have you ever seen anything so beautiful?"
Fang looked up and could see what Lightning was referring to. Amidst a galaxy full of twinkling stars, Cocoon hung low in the sky, glowing serenely. Miniature lights sparkled from the crack in its shell, creating the illusion that the celestial orb glittered.
She could understand why Lightning would find the view impressive - why any Cocoonian would - but to Fang, it wasn't quite so wonderful. It was difficult to change a lifetime of perception after all. "Actually, yeah, I have," she replied to Lightning's question. She purposefully cast her eyes downwards, letting her gaze linger up the soldier's body appreciatively, before meeting her eyes to Lightning's own again and winking. "Way more beautiful."
For a moment Lightning looked a little embarrassed and lost for words before she recovered enough to smirk and roll her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest as she turned away from Fang to look up at the night sky again. "You try that line on all the girls?"
"Hell no." Fang retorted, but with no ire in her voice. Instead, she sighed a short, bitter sweet sigh. Those days were so long ago. "Comparing a girl's beauty to the viper's nest wouldn't have gotten me very far."
The soldier stiffened. She looked back at Fang for a moment, a complex expression invoking thoughts of surprise then realization in her eyes, before looking away again.
Idly, Fang realized that Lightning had good reason to wear an expressionless mask all the time. The soldier's sharp features were so naturally expressive, if she didn't keep a tight rein on them, she'd unwittingly divulge her mind for everyone to read, plain on her face.
"Right." Lightning finally said. "For a moment there, I forgot you weren't from Cocoon."
Fang smiled. "That's not such a bad thing now is it?"
Lightning didn't answer, but somehow, Fang got the impression the soldier agreed.
They stood in silence for a short moment before Fang strengthened her resolve. "... I want to thank you, Light." She said softly.
Lightning looked over at her, an eyebrow quirked questioningly.
Fang rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "For what you did, for what you said, back at the Ark. With Bahamut. I... forget that I'm not in this alone anymore sometimes."
Understanding lighted in Lightning's eyes. "Don't mention it." She said, before pausing. Her next words were tentative, as though she wasn't quite sure how best to phrase them. "... in the ark, you had said, 'it was better to watch Cocoon get what's coming than to watch a friend go Cie'th'..." Lightning's brow furrowed. "You were speaking from personal experience, weren't you?"
Fang was expressionless for a moment, before she sighed, and turned to look up at the stars, the same way Lightning had done earlier. "The night is warm, the stars and even Cocoon can been called beautiful, and for now, everything is calm. We won't have too many more nights like this soon, so let's leave sorrowful memories for another time, yeah?"
Lightning thought about this before agreeing. "... alright."
And so they stood in silence once again for a little while longer, before Lightning's next words caught Fang by surprise. "I... want to thank you too."
Now it was Fang's turn to be puzzled. "What for?"
Lightning's brow crinkled again as she struggled to find the right words. "... for deciding to fight with us." Her voice grew soft. "... to fight... with me. No one's ever been able to... *get* me... like you do."
Fang's lifted her eyebrows in surprise as she regarded Lightning.
"This whole situation is horrible." Lightning continued. She couldn't quite look Fang in the eye yet. "Too many people have died, and we'll probably go the same way in the near future. Before I go... I'm glad we had a chance to..." Lightning struggled for the right word.
And then they both said it at the same time.
"... Dance."
Lightning finally turned to look at Fang, and the honesty in her eyes took the hunter's breath away.
Neither of them said anything after that.
There was no need to.
AUTHOR'S NOTES & OMAKE:
My apologies that 2 out of 4 scenes in this chapter were essentially a novelization of certain scenes directly from the game. I thought telling those scenes from Fang's POV, and then embellishing with a couple of made up scenes would help to explain how FxL come to be.
Wish Bahamut was actually as easy as I described though; guubear and I had to fight him almost 10 times before we made it through. -_-;;
Next chapter 8 will be III.4, set post game!
Cheers,
Jen-chan
OMAKE 1: Eavesdropping
[FANG and VANILLE are having their not-so-private conversation in the ark while LIGHTNING eavesdrops]
FANG: So, what do you think of Light?
VANILLE: Lightning? She's okay, I guess.
LIGHTNING: [eyebrow twitching. Thinks to herself] 'Just 'okay'? Why you little-!'
FANG: Vanille, you need to get your eyes checked! She is the hottest thing this side of the Shiva sisters in a twincest arrangement! Man! I'd give my left arm to tap that fine tail!
LIGHTNING: ... ... ... [sweatdrops profusely. Thinks to herself] ... maybe I shouldn't be listening in on this. [Turns to go but realizes that SNOW, SAZH & HOPE are also eavesdropping right behind her]
HOPE/SNOW/SAZH: [all nodding in agreement with FANG's assessment]
LIGHTNING: [smacks a halisen across the backs of HOPE/SNOW/SAZH's heads]
OMAKE 2: Can't Fault Her For Trying
[LIGHTNING and FANG are staring up at COCOON]
LIGHTNING: ... The whole situation is horrible. Too many people have died, and we'll probably go the same way in the near future. Before I go... I'm glad we had a chance to...
FANG: [Hopefully] Screw?
LIGHTNING: ... nice try.
OMAKE 3: Cool Entrance
[SNOW and FANG look down at LIGHTNING and HOPE in PALUMPOLUM SQUARE]
FANG: Come on, Snow! I need to make a really cool entrance to impress Lightning!
SNOW: One cool entrance, coming up!
[SNOW calls the SHIVA MOTOR-CYCLE and they ride it down the ice ramp while gunning down their enemies like they were in a John Woo movie. At the end of the ramp though, SNOW loses control of SHIVA and they wipe out.]
SNOW/FANG: Aaaah!
[SNOW/FANG/SHIVA crash spectacularly into a wall in a tangle of limbs as SHIVA turns back into sexy-women mode].
HOPE: ... [sweatdrops]
LIGHTNING: [Hooded half-eyes. Deadpans] Wow. I'm so impressed. Take me, I'm yours.