Lightning leaned back against the railing that separated the parking lot from the beach and watched the seagulls flying overhead. When a familiar car pulled in nearby, she pushed away from the railing and wandered toward it.

The wind picked up as it often did, tugging at Fang's hair and clothes. She tied it back as they took the stairs down to the sand, and they removed their shoes and socks before beginning their stroll. It was a chilly, cloudy day, but it was less noticeable with Fang walking beside her.

"You know that guy you turned in couple weeks ago for drunk driving?" Fang was saying. Her hands were stuffed in her jacket, eyes pointed toward her feet. "The one that tried to run and hurt himself?"

"He tried to blame it on me, but he tripped over his own shoelaces." Lightning found herself eyeing Fang's profile against the waves and slowly setting sun. Strands of hair had pulled themselves free. Her eyes were relaxed, and her lips held a loose smile.

Fang chuckled, flashing a quick smile toward her. Lightning's heart skipped and she looked away. "Yeah, that one. I had him as a patient today."

Lightning raised a brow at the sand. "Really?"

"Yep. Could hardly get him to do any stretches without him crying and whining." Fang shook her head. "I don't know how you deal with some people in your job. Most of mine thank me at least."

Lightning didn't give an answer, though Fang probably didn't expect one. It wasn't a matter of how she did it; she simply did.

"So how's your new partner? You guys work together alright? It's been what, a couple months now?"

"Yeah. She's good. Stays focused." Lightning shrugged.

Fang gripped Lightning's shoulder and shook her gently. "So long as she watches your back, I won't have to come after her."

Lightning acknowledged her with an amused nod. Fang dropped her hand, and remained quiet afterwards, giving Lightning a chance to talk since she'd been the one to call for this visit. She could only avoid Fang's messages and calls for so long before she needed to suck it up and talk to her friend.

She took a deep breath. "I need to take some time for myself. Be alone for awhile." She swallowed through a sudden knot in her throat. It could have been said over the phone, but she wanted to see Fang one more time before her feelings were boxed away.

Fang nodded, looking a bit sad. This wasn't the first time that Lightning had asked for space and time to herself when she was stressed, though in the past Fang was usually aware of the reasons for it.

"Figured that's what you were thinking." There was a pause where it seemed Fang was searching for her next words. When she didn't come up with anything, she touched a hand to Lightning's shoulder, only to think better of it and dropped it a second later.

Lightning's heart ached with a sharp twist. She turned toward Fang mid-step and hugged her, pressing her nose into her warm neck. Arms wrapped back around her. "I just need to think through some things. Get my head straightened out."

Fang rested her cheek against Lightning's head. "Sure, Light. Take all the time you need. I just... I don't wanna push you on it, but I can't help worrying that it's something to do with me. That I did something wrong."

"You've done nothing wrong." Lightning shook her head. "It's not you. It's... stuff in my head I need to work through."

Fang sighed, but tightened her arms around her. "Okay."

When they released each other, they turned around and headed back for the stairs. They were quiet again before Lightning asked with a rough voice, "How is it going with Aerith?"

Fang smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "It's going alright, I think. We've been working through some things recently. She said she talked with you over coffee last week?"

"Yeah. She's nice."

"What did you talk about? Or is that a secret?" Fang nudged her teasingly.

Lightning rolled her eyes. "You, of course. And work."

"What'd you say about me? Anything good?"

Fang nudged her a few more times, managing to get at least a small smile out of her. Eyebrow raised, Lightning looked at her from the corners of her eyes. "That you suck at running."

Fang's jaw dropped right before it snapped back into place to fight against a grin. She glanced pointedly between the stairs and Lightning before tearing her hands from her pockets and breaking into a sprint, kicking sand up with her bare feet. Lightning gave her a second head-start.

Lightning reached the stairs first, but she only made it up a few steps before Fang caught her from behind, growling a little as she tossed her over her shoulder. They were both laughing as Fang carried her up the stairs.

…

There was only one other person Lightning knew of who could punch and kick harder than Fang. It was her police partner and current sparring opponent, Tifa Lockhart.

Seconds into their match, Lightning was certain the only thing keeping her from being knocked flat on her back was her own speed and flexibility. She could throw punches as good as the rest of them, but to risk doing so without getting walloped right back was a feat in itself.

And though it should have been impossible, she was almost certain Tifa was holding back. With this in mind, the majority of their spar consisted of Lightning dancing about the mat, throwing jabs where she could.

Eventually Tifa got inside her guard and bodily threw her to the ground. Lightning scrambled out of countless grappling attempts while attempting some of her own; she could've sworn she even heard Tifa swear a few times. But after what felt like an eternity of rolling each other across the mat, Lightning's face was smashed into it and her arm became permanently locked at her back. She tapped the ground with her free hand and the pressure lifted immediately.

Tifa rolled onto her own back, panting heavily. She made several attempts to speak before she succeeded. "You're like a hummingbird, Lightning. I can barely touch you."

"As my side is telling me," Lightning groaned into the mat, "you succeeded a few times."

Tifa chuckled, though it sounded like the effort was painful. They laid there silently for a few more minutes to recover. Tifa rolled her head toward Lightning and back toward the ceiling. "I hear you've been taking more shifts on your own recently."

Lightning grunted. "Got more time on my hands."

"That's fine. I'm not telling you what to do or anything." Tifa waved a hand vaguely in the air. "Just don't burn out on me."

Lightning shrugged. "I'll be fine."

After a few more minutes Tifa took a deep breath and hefted herself off the floor. Lightning pushed herself to her knees, and Tifa offered her a hand the rest of the way up.

"We should probably hit the showers before we're too sore to move."

Lightning winced as she rubbed her side. "Sounds like a plan."

She checked her phone before and after her shower, frustrated with herself for expecting messages she shouldn't. Tifa glanced at her when she made a deep sigh but didn't comment.

The first week hadn't been too bad. She missed Fang, but it had been bearable. Now she was feeling more irritated every few days, like there was a constant itch she couldn't scratch. A nagging addiction with no way to take the edge off.

Not only was she more irritated, she was bored. It was fun being around Fang and getting random texts from her throughout the day, looking forward to meeting up with her later in the week. That became glaringly more obvious in Fang's absence.

The only time she could fully ignore it was when she was working.

At the end of a month without seeing or hearing from Fang, Lightning was in Chief Amodar's office asking for more work.

Amodar rubbed tiredly at his eyes. "Farron, you've been working double shifts for the last two weeks, I am not about to start letting you have a third." He dropped his hands and gave her a firm, though not unkind look. "As much as I'd like to have you out there twenty-four seven, I also need you at your best."

Lightning's back stiffened. "I am always at my best."

"The answer is no. You're dismissed."

After biting out a "Yes, sir," Lightning marched out of Amodar's office and back to her desk. Tifa looked up from her adjacent desk when Lightning sat down hard enough to make the chair creak in a concerning manner.

She could hear Tifa shuffle papers before asking, "He say something you didn't like?"

Lightning grunted. She stared harder at her computer screen trying to remember what the hell she'd been doing earlier.

"You're not trying to get a new partner, are you? I thought we were getting along well."

Lightning shook her head. "No." She stopped and corrected herself. "I'm not trying to get a new partner." She took a deep breath and tried to refocus, grateful when Tifa eased up her questions and went back to her own work.

When it was time to go home, Tifa spoke to her as she was packing up. "You know, I'm still kinda new in town. I haven't had a lot of time to explore the city or make any friends here. Maybe you could help me out? Know any fun places around here?"

Since the prospect of going home wasn't too thrilling anymore, Lightning nodded and tried to think of what she used to do before spending time alone.

She had Tifa follow her as she drove further into town. They parked in front of a building with a sign that read Katzroy's Firing Range above the door.

Tifa laughed as soon as she stepped from her car. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised this would be your idea of fun."

As soon as they stepped inside, Sazh Katzroy greeted them with his usual friendly enthusiasm and quickly set them up on the firing range.

There were several other occupants in the room. Lightning felt infinitely calmer as soon as she was able to focus on the target in front of her. Bullet after bullet marked over the red dot in the center, each pull of the trigger steadying her, the hum of other shots merely background noise to drown out her thoughts.

She didn't know exactly when it was only the two of them left. After emptying a clip, she saw Tifa motion to her from the corner of her eye.

"Damn," she heard Tifa whistle as she lowered her earmuffs. "I don't think I've seen anyone shoot like that before. You must spend a lot of time here."

"Fang and I come here often." Lightning bit the inside of her cheek as soon as the words were out. She hadn't been thinking at all, her mind an empty vacuum that now flooded with thoughts of her friend. She remembered Fang standing in the lane where Tifa was, making goofy faces at her through the glass that separated them. When Fang talked it was either to joke at her own terrible aim or to tell Lightning, again, how impressed she was with her accuracy.

Always putting just a bit more effort in to make Lightning smile or even laugh.

When was the last time she'd let herself laugh...

"A friend of yours?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah."

Tifa shifted on her feet. "She live in town?"

Lightning swallowed. "Yeah." She put her earmuffs back on, thankful when Tifa followed suit, and reloaded her gun. She pulled the trigger in quick succession, hoping to return her mind to its earlier void. When the gun clicked empty, she continued staring down the sight for a while longer.

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