I wrote this chapter based on Yiruma's "I", so a music suggestion for you to listen to while you read it!

Lightning Returns – Where I Belong

Chapter 4

Clearly, sitting in her office the whole day pondering on this issue alone was not helping her one bit. There were no answers to all her questions that she wanted to ask Fang, and she was not even sure of her own answers to her own feelings. She had zero experience and zero knowledge in this kind of stuffs, and this did not serve her well one bit at this point of time.

Sure, she really liked having Fang around, she had always felt at ease whenever the brunette was around because she knew she was with a capable companion. Lightning knew and had to admit that she had not missed anyone this much before for all that she could remember, except for Serah but even her sister couldn't match this feeling that she was having for the brunette right now in her absence. Whenever Fang was around in her house, she really did felt like Fang truly belonged there, and back then Lightning occasionally wished that the brunette didn't had to leave at night. Now, she found herself actually wishing that Fang did live with her. But then again, was it because she found herself being so comfortable around the brunette that she wanted her around as a company, or did she really love Fang? Being at this age, she really didn't want to fool herself or jump into conclusions too quickly and ended up being awkward with Fang if she found out later that it was not love that she felt or that Fang wasn't as what Lion said that she loves her after she confessed, and it would be extremely unfair to end up with the brunette and then later realised that it wasn't love for her if Fang really was, as what Lion mentioned, in love with her.

If Lightning was being honest at all, she would admit that she was really very dense in things like these, although there was no freaking way that she would admit it aloud to that overconfident doctor, she would be teased till she knew no tomorrow if she were to admit it in front of Lion.

Which was why, she needed help. "Hello, Serah?" Lightning spoke into the phone as she sat sagged in the driver seat of her car, drained of energy from too much thinking. Even her voice sounded tired.

"Claire? You sound very tired, are you alright?" Serah asked gently and her voice was laced with concern.

Lightning released an exasperated sigh into her smart phone as a hand combed tiredly through her champagne pink locks, "I'm alright, just… bothered. Very bothered." She replied honestly. At this point, there was no reason for her to hide anything. Ever since Claire had returned, Lightning had learned to open up to her sister, and she was assured by Serah in the past that no matter what issues bothered her, she would be there lending her ears. So this was exactly what Lightning was going to do, talk with an open heart.

Serah raised a quizzical eyebrow at the honesty, even though the pinkette had become more open towards her, this was still one of those rare occasions where Lightning completely just succumbed to her defeat and get Serah into the picture to talk about whatever that was bothering Lightning. "Why are you so bothered? Did something happen at work?" She queried curiously.

"Yes and no. I need to talk to you." Lightning stated flatly, clearly giving up on pondering aimlessly in her thoughts alone.

Serah nodded immediately, "I'll be right at your place after I'm done marinating the steaks for dinner, then I'll pass it over to Snow for the rest." She said, knowing full well that Lightning would only talk at her own place where she will find perfect comfort and privacy, even if it meant the inconvenience that may arise for herself. Well, the things you do for the ones you love.

Lightning finally let out a smile after having a frown pasted on her face from morning till late afternoon – about 3p.m. – until the extent it actually hurt now that she relaxed her features. Smiling softly, she replied, "Take your time Serah, I'll just head to Acacia's to get some pastries and coffee first for when you come over. Thank you for coming over, Serah." The pinkette ended off with a genuine note.

The younger Farron chuckled at her sister, "Oh Claire, don't even mention it, you were always there for me whenever I needed you, I'm so not going to lose to you in 'being there for one another'. I'll probably be there in about 45 minutes or an hour tops."

The pinkette's smile grew wider at her sister's consideration and understanding, "I'll see you then."

"Sure Claire, see you in a bit." Serah responded and hung up after bidding goodbye.

Lightning removed the phone from her ear and looked at the screen which showed the call with Serah had ended, and then it disappeared and revealed another screen showing the numbers which she had made 'favourite' so that she could easily access the numbers and dial within a second. The numbers in the 'favourite' section was without a doubt, the people who Lightning mostly contacted and would like to contact. The first number belonged to the younger Farron, while the other belonged to her current misery – Fang's. All this while, ever since from the previous universe, Lightning had always kept Serah's number close in her phone and she could even remember by heart if she were to lose her sister's contact number that was saved into her phone, simply because Serah was her only family left and that she cared for her deeply and would like to get hold of her easily and conveniently the moment she took her phone out. Fang's case, well, the number hadn't always been there from the beginning. Lightning couldn't exactly remember when she had made this number a 'favourite' and since when she had learnt the brunette's number by heart, but she knew one thing for sure was that she always liked calling Fang and hearing her accented voice from the other side. Whenever she had a bad day, she would sometimes call Fang instead of Serah, it was an autonomous action that the pinkette herself had only come to notice now. Thinking about it now, Lightning realised she was more prone to calling up Fang for a quick chat to release her thoughts instead of her sister, even though they would most probably meet with each other in the evenings, which was rather… odd. Maybe, maybe she was so used to always talking to the brunette in the evenings during their frequent hangouts that she had cultivated such a habit? Lightning wasn't that convinced by that particular thought though, she somehow felt there was more to it but again, she wasn't sure.

Lightning sighed and shook her head to clear off the thoughts for now, perhaps talking to someone with experience like Serah would help. Or she hoped it would.

The pinkette slowed her car as she was nearing Acacia's Coffee House and looked for a parking. As if Lady Luck was smiling down on Lightning on her not-so-okay day, there was a side parking right in front of the coffee house that the pinkette was going to visit. She manoeuvred her car smoothly into the parking lot and then got off.

Lightning entered the standalone cottage-like coffee house and the smell of mesmerising coffee immediately welcomed her. The aroma calmed the pinkette's tired mind and gave it a mild boost, effectively putting a faint smile on her face. At this time, the coffee house was usually half filled with patrons as many were still working and only those who were fortunate enough to leave work early or have the flexibility to work out of office lingered around in the coffee house for some high tea. And Lightning, being in her current position at her workplace, gave her the privilege to leave early once whatever work that needed to be done was finished.

She walked up towards the pastry display case and browsed the pastries available, looking for the one and only pastry that could manage to capture her heart. Once the pinkette liked something in terms of food or drink, she usually simply stuck to it. Less thinking, less trouble, less time wasted. As she looked through the pastries displayed, she finally saw her favourite pastry – Pain Au Choc, but next to it was Pain Au choc à La Fraise, which was Pain Au Choc with strawberry filling. Lightning smiled when she remembered Fang bringing it over, where she took it for the first time and how wonderful it tasted. She then placed her order for one Pain Au choc à La Fraise and one other pastry that was meant for Serah, along with two cups of coffee for the takeaway.

At the cashier counter, Lightning prepared for payment to be made. Just then, the owner, a woman in her 40s, came out and saw the pinkette, to which she immediately walked over to greet her. "Hello Lightning, glad to see you today." The owner smiled.

Lightning looked to the owner and returned a small smile, "I'm here to grab some pastries and coffee on the way home."

"Ah, I see." The owner responded as she looked at what the pinkette had ordered, and then arched a curious eyebrow. "No Strawberry Custard Puff today?" The woman asked with a warm smile, small winkles showing themselves around the crooks of her eyes.

Upon listening to the woman's question, somehow Lightning immediately knew what the woman meant – Strawberry Custard Puff was Fang's favourite. "Not with Fang today, I'm getting these for my sister and I."

"Oh okay. Fang hasn't dropped by recently, where'd she go?" The woman asked.

"On an expedition, she should be back by the end of this week." Lightning answered.

The owner made a silent 'oh' at the response, and then her smile returned. "I see you've got some Pain Au Choc a La Fraise too, have you tried it yet?"

Lightning smiled, "I have, Fang brought it over last week. It's delicious."

The owner raised her eyebrow and her lips quirked upwards mischievously, "So you're that person." She whispered it softly more to herself than it was meant for the pinkette, earning a curious look from said woman who was looking as she mouthed those inaudible words.

"Sorry?" Lightning asked politely.

"Oh, it was nothing, I'm just glad you like the new variation." The owner smiled brightly at Lightning.

The pinkette raised a quizzical eyebrow at that smile, it felt like there was something to it but she had no idea what. Just then, she remembered Fang mentioning that Acacia came up with the strawberry variation of Pain Au Choc voluntarily, so she asked the owner – since she was already here – as she was curious as to what prompted this, " "Excuse me, sorry but I'm just wondering why did you decide to make a variation for Pain Au Choc?"

The owner's smile disappeared and was replaced with a curious frown instead, "You don't know yet? Even though you've already eaten it when Fang brought it to you?" She asked.

This time, it was Lightning's turn to frown at that respond, clearly puzzled. "No, I don't. Fang only told me that you've made changes to it, she didn't explain the reason behind the initiative if there was any."

The owner pursed her lips as a hand came up to hold her chin and assumed a thoughtful look, apparently trying to make a decision as her eyes rolled about from left to right and then to left again, showing the analytical thinking process. When she was done, she lowered her hand and a determined look was plastered on her face as she started, "I guess it should be alright for me to tell you at least this: Fang was the reason we made it."

Lightning's eyes went wide with surprise, "Fang? How so?" She asked curiously.

The owner shifted a little as she put on her thinking look again and pondered on whether she should let the pinkette know the truth. A short while of pondering later, which was extremely torturous for Lightning who was getting even more curious as the seconds went by, she started explaining, "Well… Fang dropped by some time ago and asked if we could make a strawberry variation of Pain Au Choc, at first we said no since we wanted to keep things original, but she was so persistent in this matter and spent a long time talking us into it so we decided to give it a try in the end, which to our surprise, it was quite a wonderful hit for our customers too when we held a tasting session with our regulars. Fang was there too, and she was delighted that we decided to give it a go. So since it was so popular, we've decided to introduce Pain Au Choc a La Fraise into our pastry menu."

The pinkette's face was one of comprehension as she listened to the owner's explanation, but there was one thing that she didn't get – why did Fang do that? "I see… I wonder why she did what she did." Lightning said more to herself than to the owner as she looked at the pastries, she couldn't help but let her mind wander off to her conversation with Lion just this morning. Could this just be a coincidence?

"I hope you don't mind me being nosy," The woman said with a sheepish smile, capturing Lightning's attention, "Fang has her reason for doing this, and you should get to know this from her. I'm sorry, but this is all I can say, I'm not in the position to tell you more than that." She said with a helpless smile.

That left Lightning baffled and at a loss for words, this exchange with the owner only made it seemed to her like people other than her alone knew what was going on, and the thing that bothered her most now was that Fang was not here right now to answer whatever questions that she currently had, which by the way, just went up by one more question in the list. After losing herself in her own thoughts for a couple of seconds, she managed to snap out of it and thanked the owner when her conscious mind returned. "Right… Thank you, Acacia, I'll speak to Fang as soon as I can." She said with a determined tone, clearly showing her resolve in clarifying things with the brunette. Soon.

"You're most welcome, I certainly hope you'd find out soon." Acacia responded and smiled as she excused herself to serve the other customers.

Picking up her packed orders, she took long strides in her walk and made a beeline for her car. She needed to talk to Serah, she needed to know more, needed to understand what all these actions meant. Most importantly, she needed ascertainment for her own feelings towards the brunette as well before she actually confronted Fang when she could see her.

Kindly R&R!