The Gift

The middle-aged woman did her best to keep her eyes on the road. She was tired, more than tired, and it would probably have been for the best if she pulled over, but she couldn't bring herself to stop the car. All she wanted to do right now was just get home and crawl into bed. Maybe then she could pretend that the last week of her life was nothing more than a bad dream.

It was funny though. Only a week ago, her life had been pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. She was forty-one and in a committed relationship with a decent man. He wasn't perfect, but then again neither was she. Still, he was reasonably handsome, and quite successful for someone who lived all the way out in the Vestige.

But the best thing about her life had been her job. She'd been in her teens when she'd found out that she couldn't have children. It hadn't bothered her much at the time, but as the years had passed and her friends had settled down and started families of her own, it had begun to weigh on her more and more. It had even cost her several relationships. Most men didn't want to stay, not after finding out that she couldn't have children. Sure, they could adopt, but it wouldn't be same, at least, that's what most people seemed to think.

So, she'd done the only thing she could do to fill the void in her heart. More than a decade ago, she'd quit her job and worked hard to earn the accreditation she needed to set up her own orphanage. It had been tough at first, but there were so many children that needed looking after, and she was only too happy to take them.

The children called her matron, and after a while the name sort of stuck. She was matron now, to herself, the children, and everyone else she met. Life had been good for a while. The children hadn't been hers, not really, but it had been close enough, and her love for them was real. And even if she did have to give them away, it wasn't too bad. She was happy for them, happy that they had new families that could look after them and give them the love and care that they deserved.

But at the beginning of the week, everything had changed. Her boyfriend had broken things off. He wasn't a bad man, but he wasn't good with words, and so his explanation had been swift and brutal. He hadn't wanted children, not at the start, but his priorities had changed. He'd met someone else too, someone who didn't spend all her time at an orphanage working with kids she'd never get to keep.

Then there was the orphanage. Right from the start, money had been tough, but she'd always been able to make do with government assistance and donations. Now, donations had dried up and the government was tightening its belt. A few days ago, the orphanage had closed, and the children were gone, taken to other orphanages all over the country. She could have followed them, tried to find work at another orphanage, but she was just too tired to keep fighting. Her life – forty-one years and two hundred and twenty one days to be exact – had come apart in less than a week. It made her so sad she couldn't even cry.

The only thing she had left was the small farm where she'd been born and raised. After her parents had died, it had gone to her because all of her siblings were gone, off to make a life for themselves in better places than the Vestige, places like Eden City. But she wasn't smart like them, or beautiful, and the bright lights of the big cities held no appeal to her. She might not have had much, but what she'd had – her boyfriend and the children who were not really her children – those had been enough for her.

Perhaps she might try her hand at farming. She might not be smart or beautiful, but she could work hard, and at least no one could take the land or what she grew away from her. She would have to content herself with other things now and hope that it would be enough. But still, it wasn't fair. She wasn't a mean person, or a cruel person, and she had done her best to live a good and decent life, so why was her life falling apart? As practical as she was, it did not take long for the answer to come. It was simple. Life wasn't fair.

And so here she was, driving along a dirt road in the middle of the night, back to an old farm and an empty bed. There was a part of her that wondered what it would be like to just wander off into the wilderness around the Vestige. She could disappear and it would be days before anyone found out. It would be so easy, and after that, she wouldn't have to worry about anything any more. She could just lie down somewhere and let the cold do its work.

The only thing that stopped her was the thought of the children. Many of the children she'd raised at the orphanage still kept in contact with her, and she knew that they would miss her if she were gone. She'd kept every one of their letters, tucked all of them away into an old shoebox under her bed. Maybe it was silly to hang onto things like that, but reading through those letters let her know that she'd done something right in her life, that even if the world wasn't fair, at least she'd help someone else get the better of bad circumstances –

BOOM.

She slammed her foot down on the brakes as a great boom shattered the sky. Looking out the window, she saw a fireball rip through the clouds. A great trail of smoke and flame trailed after it, and there was another almighty crash as the fireball struck the ground about a mile away. For a second, she could only stop and stare as a bright glow sprang up from the site of the impact. She shook herself. This was no time for gawking. That fireball could be a meteor or something and even if the area was pretty deserted, there was no telling if someone had been hurt. Glad to have something else to think about, she sped toward the site of the crash.

It didn't take her long to get to where the fireball had gone down. It wasn't easy to miss. Smoke and flame leapt from a vast crater gouged into the earth not far from the road. Feeling a little nervous, she hopped out of her car and crept toward the edge of the crater. It was the middle of the night, but there was something in there glowing so brightly that it wasn't hard to see at all. It was a bluish-white sort of light, pure and somehow warm. Her skin tingled where the light touched it, and she slowed her pace a little as she made her way down the side of the crater.

The side of the crater was steep, and some of the rock was still hot, but she did her best to pick a path through the debris and rubble toward the bottom of the crater. There was something there, she could see it, though the smoke and lingering flames made it hard to see just what it was. As she grew closer, the strange light was accompanied by a humming sound, almost like a spoon striking the side of the glass. It seemed to echo in her bones and rattle around in her skull.

Lifting one hand to shield her eyes, she continued her descent. Now, at last, she could see what lay at the bottom of the crater. It was a big glowing crystal about the size of her car, and it was a strange, almost transparent blue. What kind of meteor was this? Maybe it was some government project or something… people were always talking about things like that on television so maybe there was something to the idea.

But all those thoughts fled as she realised that the crystal wasn't empty. No, there were two people inside it – two young girls. Stunned, she stumbled back and looked around. Surely this couldn't be a government project because it couldn't possibly by legal to put children in something like this. But if it wasn't something the government had put together, what was it? Aliens? She scoffed. That was even crazier. Besides, it didn't matter. What mattered was getting those children out of harm's way.

Gingerly, she crept back toward the crystal. There didn't seem to be any buttons or hinges on it, but it couldn't hurt to try. She ran her hands over it, surprised at how cool it was.

"Come on," she murmured. "Open."

This close, she could see the two children clearly. One of them looked to be about seven years old and had dark hair. The other was younger, perhaps four, and had orange-red hair. Both looked to be deep in sleep, and there was a small crystal, pure white, clutched in the hands of the redhead.

She scowled and continued to run her hands over the crystal in search of some kind of opening. Finally, there was a hiss and the crystal began to dissolve. Startled, she backed away, but in a moment, she was up again. She didn't know if the crystal was dangerous – it hadn't seemed dangerous – but it couldn't be a good idea to leave those girls in there while it was dissolving.

But even as she reached forward, the dark haired girl's eyes opened. For a split-second, the matron froze. Those eyes, she'd never seen eyes so green before. Then, the girl was yelling and waving her arms about as she stumbled to her feet. The crystal continued to dissolve, vanishing as if it had never been, and the dark haired girl darted over to the red head. The younger girl was still sleeping, and the older girl lifted her awkwardly into her arms, stumbling about almost drunkenly as she shoved through the remains of the larger crystal and looked around at the crater in a mixture of fear and confusion.

"Calm down," the matron said, moving slowly toward the two girls. The dark haired girl rounded on her with a snarl, baring her teeth. "It's okay. I'm not trying to hurt you. Just… just tell me who you are and what all of this is." There was almost nothing left of the larger crystal now, just a great, blackened mark at the centre of the crater.

The girl yelled something in a language that the matron couldn't understand and looked around again. There were tears in her eyes, and she held the smaller girl against her as though afraid to let go for even a moment.

"I can't understand you," the matron said. In fact, she didn't recognise the language at all. She bit her lip. The correct thing to do would be to report these children to the authorities. Clearly, something strange was going on here. But at the same time, she couldn't quite bring herself to pull her phone out of her pocket and call. The girl was terrified and the matron knew that the authorities would only make it worse. She'd dealt with enough orphaned children to know that the authorities were seldom kind. And the more she thought about it, the more she began to wonder if maybe she hadn't been right before. Maybe these children were… were aliens or something.

"Look, I just want to help you," the matron moved closer, one step at a time, trying to be as open and non-threatening as possible. "I don't know if you can understand, but I know you're frightened and confused. If you calm down then I can help you."

Even if the girl couldn't understand her, the matron's tone of voice seemed to get through. The dark haired girl relaxed a fraction and looked down at the red head in her arms. The younger girl still hadn't stirred, though her breathing seemed deep and even.

"Can I see if she's all right?" the matron asked, reaching slowly for the younger girl. Along the way, her hand brushed the crystal clutched in the red head's hands and there was a flash of white light. "What?"

X X X

The matron gaped at the sight in front of her.

She was in the middle of an enormous crystal city. Everything, from the buildings to the roads, was made of crystal. Light seemed to fill all of it, flashing from place to place, until the whole city was one gigantic glowing tapestry. But even as she marvelled at the sight, a deep rumble came from deep below the ground. There was a sound like breaking glass and suddenly cracks began to appear everywhere. The roads splintered and buildings began to shatter, raining down on the people below.

This place was dying.

She ran for shelter, only to stop short as a piece of crystal passed right through her. Whatever was going on here, it didn't seem like it affected her. But then her attention was drawn to two small figures running down the street toward her. She recognised them at once as the two girls she'd seen inside the crystal.

As the shaking grew more intense, the girls ran for the safety of one of the few building still standing and the matron followed them. Inside the building, the girls ran through a maze of corridors before finally reaching what seemed to be some kind of laboratory. There were more than a dozen large machines there, all of them arranged around what looked to be the crystal that had crashed into the ground.

The dark haired girl shouted something in the language that the matron still could not understand and there was a strange sensation, almost like a muscle being pulled before the words were somehow clear.

"Father!" the dark haired girl cried. "Father, what's happening?"

A man emerged from beneath the crystal, his face set into a grim mask of determination. "Gran Pulse is dying, Fang."

Fang shook her head. "No… no… the elders all said that everything would be okay and…"

The man, Fang's father shook his head. Quickly, he knelt in front of Fang and cupped her cheeks in his hands so that she would look directly into his eyes.

"We were wrong," he explained. "We thought we could contain Ragnarok, but we couldn't and now our planet is paying the price." He shook his head. "You need to go now, Fang." He glanced at the red head beside Fang. "You and Vanille."

"But, father, what about you?" Fang growled. Vanille was silent, tears rolling down her cheeks as she pressed herself against Fang.

He shook his head. There was a fatalistic sense of calm about him. "There's no time. This is the only ship we have that can outrun the blast when Gran Pulse explodes but it's not finished yet. It won't be able to carry the three of us, not if it's going to get far enough away for you to survive."

"You can't stay, father!" Fang grabbed her father. "You'll die!"

"Yes." He nodded. "But you two will live." He stood and picked both Fang and Vanille up. Fang fought, kicking and clawing, but his grip was firm, and he carried both of them toward the crystal. At his approach, the crystal opened and he bundled both Fang and Vanille into it along with a small, pure white crystal. Fang flung herself at him, but the crystal closed, and she could only pound her hands against it. Beside her, Vanille was still gently sobbing.

"No!" Fang screamed. She slammed her hands on the glass again and again. "You can't stay, father! Father, you have to come with us!"

Cracks had begun to appear in the crystal walls and floor of the laboratory.

Quickly, he went over to the machines and there was rumble as they began to activate. The crystal began to glow, and he walked over to press one hand against the shining surface. Slowly, Fang stopped hitting the inside of the crystal as she strained to touch her father's hand. There couldn't have been more than a few inches of crystal between them, but it might as well have been a few miles.

"It is the duty of a father to fight for his children," he said. "All my life, I have been shunned by the Yun because I chose the life of a scientist over that of a warrior. But because of that, you have a chance to live, Fang, you and Vanille. So all those years of ridicule, of shame, all of them were worth it because just this once, I will be strong enough to do what every father should – protect his children." A tear rolled down his cheek. "Never forget that I am proud of you, never forget that you are Yun." He looked at Vanille. "And look after Vanille. She may not be your sister by blood, but she is the sister of your heart. You will need each other."

Fang pressed herself against the crystal, straining against the immovable surface as the crystal began to rise in the air. The ceiling opened revealing a sky awash with stars. "Father!"

And then the crystal was gone, rocketing up into the sky and away from the dying world.

The scene shifted and the matron blinked. It was the same laboratory only it seemed to be a few minutes before the crystal's departure. Fang's father seemed to be looking right at her, but as she took a closer look, she realised he was talking to a white crystal, the same crystal he'd thrown in with Fang and Vanille, the same one clutched in Vanille's hands. It must be some kind of recording device.

"Gran Pulse is dying," he said. Beneath him the ground shook and a great groan ran through the building. Outside there were screams and the sound of crystal shattering. "But I will not let my children die with it. I do not know who you are, but if you are listening to this, then you have the found ship that I sent my daughters in." He dragged in a deep breath. "I am asking you, as a father, whoever you are, to please look after my daughters. I know, from my research, that your planet is not too different from my own, and that with care and love my daughters will survive, even thrive." He closed his eyes. "They are all that will be left of Gran Pulse, all that will be left of countless centuries of wisdom and tradition. I have put as much of my people's knowledge in this crystal as I can. When they are old enough, they will be able to make sense of it. Whoever you are, please, take care of them until them. I know that they are meant for greater things. As a father, I do not care what happens to me so long as they can live and live well."

He moved as a voice rang out, Fang's.

"Please, look after them. They are the greatest gift that I could ever have asked for."

X X X

"You saw."

The words came from the girl that the matron now knew as Fang. Slowly, she reached up to wipe the tears from her own cheeks. Whatever had happened, her understanding of the girl's language seemed to have carried over. The girl also seemed to understand her as well. An alien… an actual alien. But still, she realised, just a girl, a girl who had lost everything and everyone she'd ever known except for Vanille.

"Yes," the matron said. "The… the crystal showed me." She paused. "Your father loved you very much."

Fang's voice was empty. "But he is gone."

The matron blinked back fresh tears. "Yes, but you are not, and neither is Vanille." She took a deep breath. It was crazy, but she knew what she had to do. Their father had called them a gift, and they were, especially to someone like her. "Let me help you."

"Why?" Fang was frightened, but she clearly had her wits about her.

The matron smiled brokenly. "Because I cannot have children of my own and everything else I have loved has been taken from me."

Fang looked into her eyes and for a long moment neither of them moved. Finally, she nodded. "All right. I will go with you." Her eyes grew moist. "Please… please let me be right in going with you."

The matron had never felt so humbled in her life. She nodded slowly, almost afraid to speak. "I will do my best."

The matron got both of the children into her car and drove them back to her farm. By that point the larger crystal, the one they'd arrived in, had completely dissolved. Even if it hadn't, it was too big to fit in her car anyway.

When she arrived back at her farm, she was quick to get the girls inside as she looked for some food and clothing. Both of the children's clothes had been reduced to rags, and even though Fang tried to hide it, she could tell that the girl was hungry. Soon, Vanille was awake, and her stomach let out a loud grumble.

"Here," the matron said, coming back with some old clothes from the orphanage. She would have to get them new ones, but for now these would do. "And some food." There hadn't been time to make anything good, but she'd been able to throw something into the microwave. "Careful, it's hot."

Fang darted forward to take the clothes and the matron left as she and Vanille changed into them. When she came back, neither had touched the food.

"What's wrong? I know you're hungry." The matron paused. "Are you worried that I did something to it? Here." She took a spoonful of the food and ate it, making a show of how good it was. "See, it's fine."

Almost immediately both Fang and Vanille tore into the food. Whatever that crystal had done to keep them alive during their journey, it clearly hadn't kept their stomachs full. But watching them eat, the matron felt a small smile slip across her face. This was all kinds of strange but somehow… somehow it felt right.

X X X

Over the next month, she got to know the girls. Fang, she learned, was fiercely protective of Vanille, to the point where she refused to let the other girl eat or drink anything until she was certain it was safe, usually by eating or drinking a small portion of it first. She was also quick to anger, and more than once the matron had found herself on the receiving end of the girl's rage as she screamed about the unfairness of it all. But the matron had run an orphanage for more than a decade, and so she stood her ground, doing her best to calm the girl down and soothe her frustration.

Vanille, though, had a much sunnier disposition. Even though she was very shy at first, she was very quick to warm to the matron. It wasn't long before she was trailing behind the matron as she went about the farm doing what needed doing. Vanille also seemed especially fond of the animals, and there were times when the matron could have sworn that Vanille could actually understand them.

But what truly amazed the matron was just how quickly the two children seemed to grasp what went on around them. Within a month, they no longer spoke their strange language, except to each other. Instead, they were using the same language as the matron, albeit it with accents, but still… to learn another language in a month, that was incredible. She wasn't sure if it had something to do with the crystal that Vanille still kept close by at all times, or if it was a part of whatever race they came from, but it was remarkable all the same.

But as the dark winter months gave way to spring and the sun came out, something else happened that took the matron completely by surprise. Fang punched through a wall. It had been completely by accident, as the girl tripped over something and put her hands out to break her fall, only to find the wall right in front of her.

The matron had just stared at Fang, and Fang had just stared at the wall. Then Vanille had giggled and helped Fang pull her arm out of the wall. Not willing to write the whole thing off as some bizarre accident, the matron had asked Fang to try again. The result was another, even larger hole in the wall.

It was the damndest thing.

It quickly became apparent that Fang was becoming a lot stronger than any normal person had a right to be. The matron quickly developed some skills in home repair as Fang struggled to get a hold of her newfound strength. But not everything about Fang's newfound strength was bad. After realising the damage she could do when she'd pushed the matron in a fit of anger and thrown her across the room, Fang soon developed an ironclad control over her temper. It was actually a little unnerving, considering the fact that the girl wasn't even eight.

Naturally, Fang had just managed to get some control over her strength when Vanille started to have the same problem. It was crazy, but the matron couldn't bring herself to mind. Already, she was starting to think of the girls as hers, and little by little, they were starting not to mind that too much.

The turning point came one day near the end of spring. The matron woke one night to get a glass of water only to find Vanille huddled up on the couch crying. The girl was doing her best to keep quiet, her knees tucked up under her chin, and one hand over her mouth, but still, the matron could just hear her as she passed by. Most likely, Vanille had crept out onto the couch because Fang would have heard her if she'd stayed in the room the two girls shared.

"Why are you crying?" the matron asked as she sat down next to Vanille.

Vanille looked up and suddenly, the matron had an armful of superhumanly strong girl to worry about. Fortunately, Vanille's control had improved and she wasn't as strong as Fang, so rather than being crushed, the matron was only mildly squeezed.

"I miss home," Vanille said.

The matron sighed and ran one hand up and down Vanille's back. "I understand. But you know, when I was young, my parents told me something that I think might help you. It's something I used to tell other people too."

"What?" Vanille asked.

The matron smiled faintly. "Before I found you and Fang I used to run an orphanage – that's a place for children who don't have parents. A lot of them were sad and scared, just like you, so I told them what my parents told me. A home isn't a place, Vanille, it's not stone or wood, or crystal. A home is people, people who care about you, people who love you. If you're with people like that then it doesn't matter where you are, you're home." The matron patted Vanille's hair. "You have Fang, who loves you very, very much. That means you still have a home, even if sometimes it doesn't seem like that." She glanced down at the small white crystal that Vanille kept with her at all times, she'd fashioned a necklace of sorts for it. "And your father gave you that, didn't he? It's a part of him that will always be with you, just like all the good things he did for you. As long as you don't forget those things, as long as you don't forget him, he'll always be there for you."

Vanille sniffled. "What about you? Do you love us too?" Her voice was very small. "I know… I know we're not really your children, and sometimes we're clumsy and we break things because we're too strong, and Fang gets angry sometimes, and I don't help much, and –"

The matron put one finger on Vanille's lips. "I love you both." And it was shocking how much she meant those words. She'd known these girls only a few months and already she couldn't imagine a life without them. Was this what mothers felt like when they had children? "I don't know how or why I was the one to find you two, but I'm glad that I was. I'd lost everything, but now I have you two."

Vanille nodded and burrowed into her arms. The matron felt like she was holding the most precious thing in the world. "Can you tell me a story? Our father always used to tell us stories." She giggled. "Fang always said she was too old for stories, but she listened anyway."

The matron nodded. "I don't know any stories from where you come from, but I know a lot from here. I hope you like them."

And so, she told Vanille what would be the first of many Cocoon fairy tales. Halfway through, Fang came in and the older girl's eyes lingered for a long, long time before she finally climbed up onto the couch beside the matron.

For the first time that she could remember, the matron felt whole.

X X X

Years passed.

The matron adopted Fang and Vanille as her own. In a place as isolated as the Vestige, questions were bound to be asked, but everyone had known the matron for years and so no one raised too much of a fuss. Besides, everyone knew that the matron would treat the girls right, and it wasn't that uncommon for kids to run away from home and turn up in strange places. They were better off with the matron, at least, that's what everyone thought.

But as the years went on, the matron couldn't shake the feeling that the girls were meant for something more than helping her keep her small farm going. By the time Fang was twelve, the girl could pick up a car and throw it like it was a tin can. And by the time Fang was fifteen she could fly. Sure, she couldn't fly particularly fast, but normal people couldn't fly at all.

It made the matron grin sometimes. She had a daughter who could fly. Actually fly. And every day she got a little bit faster. On the ground, Fang was faster still, fast enough that if she wanted to, she could get all of her chores done in a few minutes, or even run to town and back before the matron knew she'd been gone. Naturally, it made keeping an eye on Fang difficult, but the matron was glad to have the challenge.

Fang wasn't the only one changing either. Vanille went through the same changes too, although she was never as fast or as strong as Fang. She had some other quirks as well. In fact, each year that passed made the matron more certain that Vanille really did have some kind of telepathy. Then there was the time that Vanille had accidentally turned invisible… that had been interesting, especially when she'd realised that Vanille had turned invisible in the middle of her shower. Invisible or not, the matron was not about to have any daughter of hers running around naked.

But perhaps the biggest change came when Vanille turned ten and worked out how to use the white crystal she'd carried around with her since the day she and Fang had arrived. The crystal contained enormous amounts of information from Gran Pulse, everything from history to science. It even provided a rough estimate of what sort of powers they were likely to develop, which brought a definite smile to the matron's lips. She loved Fang and Vanille, but she could only afford to spend so much on repairing the farm. Fang had almost burned the place down when she had, in the middle of cooking, developed heat vision. Heat vision hot enough to burn a hole in the wall.

According to the crystal, the people of Gran Pulse had evolved in an extremely harsh environment. Exposure to a less extreme environment combined with the energy that their bodies were able to harvest from Cocoon's yellow sun meant that the girls were, for all intents and purposes, superhuman. The crystal had also revealed that Fang had come from a clan of warriors, whereas Vanille had come from a clan of scientists and scholars, which was probably why Fang was even stronger than Vanille.

Not surprisingly, school was very, very interesting. The matron was on good terms with all of the teachers in the Vestige, largely due to her work running the orphanage, which was a good thing because Fang had a nose for trouble. It wasn't like the girl deliberately set out to pick fights, but Fang had a naturally confident personality, and she absolutely refused to let people pick on her or Vanille.

More than one person had tried to pick a fight with Fang, and to the matron's immense pride, the girl had chosen not to use her enormous strength to her advantage. Instead, she'd done the right thing, turning the other cheek or letting her words speak for her – and she was very good with words. Even when she was finally provoked enough to lash out after a boy had tried to feel Vanille up, she'd only hit him hard enough to blacken his eye, not hard enough to smash his skull open. The matron had done her best to be appropriately angry, but it was hard. A man who felt a woman up without permission deserved a good slap over the head.

School also presented other difficulties. With her abilities, Fang could easily have entered every sporting competition and won all of them. Instead, she sat out and did her best to pretend that she wasn't hurt by having to miss out on all the fun. That made the matron sad, but there wasn't much she could do. If Fang and Vanille revealed themselves, it was quite possible that someone would come and take them away. Or at least try and take them away – she doubted anyone could make Fang and Vanille do anything they didn't want to.

Instead of sports, Fang turned to training. The white crystal held countless techniques that her clan had developed for combat, and Fang threw herself into learning and mastering as many of them as she could. With her stamina, she could train for hours, and it wasn't unusual for her to spend an entire Saturday or Sunday with an improvised spear in hand, stabbing and slashing at imaginary opponents.

As for Vanille, the crystal opened up a whole new vista of scientific knowledge. Despite maintaining excellent grades in all of her classes, the red head spent most of her free time puzzling out the finer points of Gran Pulse's technology in the barn near the edge of the property. It wasn't that the matron disliked Vanille's interest in science, it was just that after the second explosion from one of the girl's experiments, she had decided that it was probably safer for the house if Vanille maybe conducted her research a little further away. Improved toasters were all well and good, but not when they melted a hole through the floor and produced enough electricity to shoot lightning.

And then Fang turned eighteen and everything changed once again. After that, the matron knew she couldn't keep the girls to herself anymore. The world needed them, maybe even more than she did.

X X X

Fang grinned and did a lazy barrel roll. Flying was one of the most enjoyable things in the world. It was the reason she always made sure to do her chores early. The earlier she was done, the more time she would have to fly. Flying also gave her time to think, and lately, she'd had a lot to think about.

The matron was getting older. Sure, she tried to hide it, but Fang wasn't stupid and she had very, very good eyes. In fact, there probably wasn't a medical scanner in the world that could see into people as well as she could. The matron was develop arthritis, and even with the medication she was taking, there were still days when the matron had to bite her lip to try and hide the pain. It made Fang feel sick inside and she knew Vanille was working on something to try and help. But the matron wasn't like them… she was… she was fragile.

She shook her head. If she thought about that any longer, she'd only get depressed. She was up here to have fun. Most days, Vanille would have come up with her, but right now, the red head was helping their high school science club put together their latest project. Fang didn't have quite the grasp of technology that Vanlle had, but she sincerely hoped that her little sister wouldn't do anything too crazy. A giant laser was cool and all, but it probably wasn't appropriate for a high school science fair.

The stunt with the improved toasted had been the last straw before they'd moved Vanille's experiments out to the barn. It wouldn't matter much to Fang or Vanille if there was an explosion, at worst they might get bruises, but the matron wasn't like them and Fang was not about to lose her over something stupid like that. If she had her way, they'd never lose the matron. Apart from Vanille, the woman was the only family Fang still had. And Fang would never forget how the matron had taken them in, raised them, and loved them despite how they'd met. Most people wouldn't have taken in aliens, and ultimately, that's what she and Vanille were. But the matron had taught them well. Normal people weren't worth less than her or Vanille, they were just different, and different didn't have to mean bad.

A series of loud bangs broke her out of her thoughts and she turned her eyes to the west. Several miles away, a plane had begun to plummet, two of its engines pouring smoke. For a split-second, Fang paused. The matron had always been very, very clear about them not using their powers in public. If they did, they'd attract attention, and Fang was old enough now to understand how bad that could be. But this was different, if she didn't do something that plane could crash. As she gathered herself, she hoped the matron wouldn't be too angry.

There was another boom, this time from her as she shot through the air. The world swept past, and she despite the gravity of the situation, she let loose a cry of delight. She was fast, faster than anyone she'd ever met, faster than a speeding bullet and then some. Up ahead, the plane had begun to drop, its nose pointing straight down.

Fang slowed a fraction, and angled herself to try and grab onto the belly of the aircraft. She struck the belly of the plane with a dull thump and there was a screech as her hands dug into the metal. But the plane was heavy even for her, and there was a groan as it jerked to a stop before the part she'd been holding onto just ripped off.

Eyes wide, Fang dove after the plane, dodging as one of the engines broke off and tumbled toward her. A stray bit of metal struck her and she growled, cursing as it clipped her on the cheek. The impact was enough to knock her off course, even though the metal didn't leave so much as a scratch.

"Come on!" she spat, shaking her head and pushing herself to go faster.

She had both arms ahead of her now to try and shield herself from the debris, but the plane was picking up speed, and even if she did manage to catch up to it, she wasn't sure if she would be able to bring it to a stop in time. Abruptly, one of the wings ripped off and her eyes widened before she folded her arms over her face and rammed through it.

Metal came apart all around her and there was an explosion as fuel ignited, but Fang forced herself to press on. There would be time to worry about her clothes later, although if the breeze she felt was anything to go by, her jacket had definitely seen better days.

Below her, the plane had begun to spin, smoke trailing behind it and Fang let loose a cry of effort as she dug deep into that place inside her that let her fly and clawed for more. She picked up speed, the air around her shattering, and drew level with the plane. There was no way she'd be able to stop it now, but maybe… just maybe she could slow it down enough to make a difference.

Diving past the plane, she caught a brief glimpse of the cabin. There were people screaming and wailing – a few had even jolted loose from their seats. One of them glanced outside the window and for a moment their eyes met. Then Fang was underneath the plane, bracing her whole body under it to try and slow it down.

"Slow down, damn it!" Fang ground out as she strained against the plane. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a lake, and she grit her teeth and shoved against the plane to try and angle it toward the lake. "Come on!"

The next few moments passed in a blur, but then the lake was below her and there was a tremendous splash as the plane hit the water. She went down, driven all the way to the bottom of the lake by the force of the impact. Above her, she could see the plane on the surface of the lake. It was battered, and the other wing had come off, but the people on it were safe, and soon they began to evacuate.

She'd done. She'd made a difference.

Hoping that no one had seen her, she burst out of the lake and headed back toward the farm. Apparently, she'd hoped wrong.

When she got home, Vanille had a worried look on her face and the matron was sitting at the dinner table watching as a shaky video played on the news. It was shot from someone on the shore of the lake, and it showed what looked to be a human figure first catching the plane and then directing it toward the lake. Thankfully, the footage was too poor for anyone to get a good look at the person that appeared to be helping the stricken aircraft.

"Was that you, Fang?" There was something strange in the matron's tone, something Fang couldn't quite put her finger on.

Fang winced. "Uh… maybe?"

The matron sighed. "Sit down."

"Are you mad?" Fang asked. It was funny in way, how much the matron's opinion mattered to her.

"Maybe a little," the matron said. "But mostly I'm proud. You saved those people, Fang." The matron smiled, but there was a sad edge to it. "I've always known this day would come."

"What day?" Fang asked.

"Look around you, Fang. Do you really think that this small farm in the middle of nowhere is what you're meant for?" The matron smiled softly. "I don't think so."

Fang bristled. "I like the farm. It's… it's home."

"That means a lot to me, Fang, more than I can say." The matron's eyes were watery. "But you and Vanille were meant for more than this. Maybe it's my fault for not facing up to it sooner, but that's the truth." She looked out the window. "You two are special, and there's things that you can do that other people can only dream of. I tried to make a difference, Fang, and maybe I did with the orphanage, but you two can make so much more of a difference than I ever could."

Fang swallowed thickly. "Are you throwing us out?"

The matron chuckled softly and looked back at Fang. "You're my children, you and Vanille. I'm not throwing you out, and there will always be a place for you here. But I think the time has come for you to go on to bigger, better things. I know you've been thinking of going to university, and I know how much it's frustrated you trying to pretend to be normal all the time. Maybe it's time you took a chance to make something of yourself."

Fang's lips twitched. "Are you telling me to become a superhero?"

The matron smiled. "Would that be so bad? You wouldn't be the only superhero and I think you'd make a good one." She thought of the words Fang's father had spoken. "You'd be… you'd be my gift to the world."

Fang couldn't believe what she was hearing, but at the same time, she couldn't deny that she was interested. Cocoon had superheroes, and she knew, deep down inside, that she had what it took to be one of them. "I don't even have a costume or a name."

The matron looked at Vanille and then smiled. "Leave that to me and Vanille."

Fang laughed. "I'm going to regret it, but why not? If it doesn't work out, I can always come back here and help you out."

X X X

Fang's eye twitched as she studied her reflection in the mirror. She'd managed to get through two months of her degree in journalism at Nautilus University before a crisis had broken out. Nautilus was a playground for the rich and famous, which made it a fairly obvious target for terrorists and other criminals. Strangely though, it didn't have its own superhero yet, which, combined with its well-regarded university, sealed the deal.

The crisis in question had been caused by the arrival of several military grade robots, which had been hacked and turned loose on a hotel hosting a charity benefit for the nation's needy children. Not only was the cause one very dear to Fang's heart, there were also a lot of people in danger and the city's police were massively outgunned. She'd put things off long enough, since she could stop muggers and burglars without getting into a costume, but if she was going to get into an extended brawl with some robots, she would need a disguise.

She just wished she hadn't let the matron and Vanille come up with her disguise.

Her costume was mostly black and blue. She wore a black skirt trimmed in sapphire that went down to just above her knees. Thankfully, there were black shorts underneath the skirt because she couldn't imagine flying in just a skirt. For a top, she had a short-sleeved black shirt with sapphire highlights. In the middle of her chest was the symbol of the Yun clan, written in white, with a large dark blue 'U' superimposed on top. Completing the ensemble were sapphire blue boots and gloves. Oh, and she had a cape, a big one, somewhere between light blue and grey.

All in all, it wasn't too bad, but the thought of putting a big target on the middle of her chest was a little disconcerting. As was the fast she was wearing a skirt, even if there were shorts underneath. Couldn't they have given her pants? Pants were a million times more practical for flying. And the colour of her costume might be a problem too. She could easily imagine a plane running into her because it couldn't see her, what with all the blue and all. And then there was the 'U'… apparently it stood for Ultrawoman. It made her cringe. Vanille could, literally, design a working death ray, but the best name she could come up with was Ultrawoman?

Oh well, it was better than nothing, and it was really Fang's fault for letting the matron and Vanille handle everything. Besides, Vanille had also come up with a device that Fang could clip onto her costume which would disguise her features and her voice. Taking a moment to ensure that the device was on, Fang took one last look at her reflection and then opened a window.

Regardless of what she thought of her costume, it was time to get to work.

Ultrawoman, away!

Wait… had she seriously just thought that? Never mind. There was a city to save and some robots to trash.

X X X

Ultrawoman was an immediate hit. She quickly became renowned for her wicked sense of humour and model good looks. The people of Nautilus couldn't have been happier to have her. Not only could their superhero win any fight she got into, she could do it while looking and sounding good. The interest in her only increased when three years later another superhero turned up. This one called herself Ultragirl and she seemed to share most of Ultrawoman's powers.

Not surprisingly, their biggest fan was a certain woman who owned a small farm out in the Vestige.

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off of this.

Ultrawoman, away! Seriously though, it's nice to be writing this again after a bit of a break. I've always loved comics, and the chance to write something in that vein is one that I'm happy to take especially since I can't draw at all. Seriously, I can't even do stick figures.

For anyone who didn't get it, Fang is modelled quite closely on Superman whereas Vanille is modelled more on Supergirl (in fact, Supergirl does have telepathy, shape shifting powers/invisibility, at least in some of her various incarnations). The choice of Fang's superhero name was also a nod at Superman. I also like the fact that Captain Marvel (who Lady Lightning is based on) is considered Superman's equal, at least in the awesome story arc 'Kingdom Come', which every serious comic book fan should read.

With regards to Fang and Vanille's origins, I just couldn't resist. After all, in Final Fantasy XIII they are the last surviving people of Gran Pulse – just like Superman was the last son of Krypton (although that has kind of changed in the comics with Kryptonians popping out of the woodwork like evil termites). Another thing that pushed me in this direction is the heavy role played by crystals in Final Fantasy XIII. Crystals also play a heavy role in Superman (look at the first Superman movie, which I absolutely loved, or the most recent one which was okay but not great). That and Fang does kind of go on about how awesome Gran Pulse was in comparison to Cocoon and in this story people from Gran Pulse are sort of awesome – they have super powers.

There was also one last thing that pushed me into modelling Fang on Superman. I'm a huge fan of super villains, and I loved the original Doomsday story arc, the one that culminated in Superman 'dying'. What has this got to do with Fang, you ask? One word: Rargnarok. In the game (Final Fantasy XIII) came to represent so many of Fang's mistakes in the past, and right before the end, it came to represent her giving up (when Vanille was being tortured and Fang partially transformed). In many ways, transforming into Ragnarok was Fang's Doomsday. Oh, and did I mention that Ragnarok is the word used for the final battle that occurs in Norse mythology – it is their version of doomsday. And don't forget, in this story Ragnarok (whatever, or whoever it is) actually destroyed Gran Pulse (if you missed that, refer to the vision the matron saw from Vanille's crystal).

Now all of this might lead you to ask… what exactly is Ragnarok going to be in this story? Is it an event, a place, a person? I won't say just what or who it is. What I will say is I'm going to have a lot of fun writing it. But don't worry, that won't be happening too soon. After all, our super heroes haven't even really met each other yet (and most of the other l'Cie have yet to appear).

Some of you are also probably wondering why most of the characters so far are based on superheroes set in the various DC comics. It's not that I don't like Marvel comics. In fact, I have spent about an equal amount of time reading DC and Marvel comics, and up until my late teenage years, I probably spent more time reading Marvel. It's just that I haven't yet found a character I think matches well with a particular Marvel superhero. When I do, I won't hesitate to use a Marvel superhero.

As a final note, there is a part of me that is seriously, seriously tempted to write an Ordinary Heroes omake set in this universe. Fang and Lightning with superpowers is cool – now imagine their kids have superpowers. Yes, that's right, imagine someone like Diana with superpowers. The world is suddenly a terrifying yet awesome place. And yes, I'm well aware that the story would probably be ridiculous. That doesn't stop me from wanting to write it though…

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.