Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from any of the Final Fantasy games or characters.
Vanille sat in her Basic Battle Theory class with Instructor Katzroy on Friday afternoon, counting down the minutes until the weekend. It had only been her first week of classes as a cadet, but it already felt tedious. Being a student again was strange, while some days were really interesting, other days, such as this one, were particularly boring. It wasn't that Instructor Katzroy wasn't a good teacher, he was really funny actually; it was just the fact that he taught theory. There was nothing more mind numbing than theory.
There was another reason Vanille was eager to get out of class: Lightning had offered to take her to dinner in Balamb. She's probably just being nice and trying to save me from another night of hot dogs, Vanille thought glumly, but she couldn't help the excitement that ran through her.
After Lightning had left her dorm Monday, Vanille had stayed up almost all night thinking about her. She had long since discovered that she had feelings for the pink haired soldier, but lately it was becoming almost unbearable. Every time she saw the woman now, her heart raced and it became difficult to breath. Just a glance at her in the halls, and Vanille was unable to stop the wave of affection that washed over her.
Lightning had opened up to her and trusted her with intimate details of her past, and Vanille had done the same with her. Never had the red head felt so close to someone, but she was almost positive that her feelings were not reciprocated.
"You can go," Vanille heard Instructor Katzroy say, cutting through her day dreams. The red head didn't need to be told twice. She stood up, grabbed her things, and practically bolted for the door. Despite dinner not being for a few hours, Vanille wanted to head back to her dorm and start getting ready.
She couldn't stop thinking about Vanille. Lightning's every thought reminded her of the red head and the conversation they had. Never in her entire life had she opened up the way she did that night, and surprisingly, she wasn't worried at all. She knew Vanille would never hurt her with the personal information Lightning had given her or tell anyone. It felt good to be able to trust someone.
Each day, Lightning became more and more aware of her growing feelings for the red head and it was beginning to reach a peak. She felt that if she didn't act on them soon she may explode, but she was hesitant. The pink haired soldier wasn't sure if Vanille would feel the same way, especially after everything she had been through. Sighing in frustration, she focused back on her work.
Lightning had just finished going through all of the scout reports for the week when Squall threw open her door unannounced. This happened from time to time so she was only mildly surprised to see the Commander.
"Galbadia's coming. Fang's scouts saw their soldiers board an airship. They're heading this way," Squall informed her, out of breath.
"Did you call Cloud or Tidus yet?" Lightning had forgotten how to panic after years of being a soldier. She should have seen this coming. All she could do now was concentrate on getting Balamb Garden secure. There was no point in trying to move Garden at this point; an airship would outrun them easily.
"No, I need to alert the school," Squall was already halfway back to his desk and hitting the intercom button, when Lightning dialed Cloud's number on her phone.
Vanille was almost to the elevator when she heard the Commander's voice over the intercom.
"Attention Instructors, you are to take all cadets to the Basement Level of Garden immediately. This is not a drill. We are going on lock down. Wait for further instructions. All soldiers are to assemble in their units on the first floor. That is all."
All at once there was chaos in the halls. Instructor Katzroy shot out of his classroom, along with Instructor Trepe and Auron as well as many more teachers she didn't recognize.
They began shepherding all of the students into the elevator in waves; Vanille had made her decision the second she heard the announcement. She wasn't stupid, this had something to do with Galbadia, and she wasn't going to stand by while these people fought for her. Slipping through the crowd, she managed to sneak back into the classroom amongst the confusion.
In a matter of minutes, the first floor was packed with soldiers, heavily armed and ready to defend Garden. Squall addressed the group from the elevator platform,
"Everyone..., the Galbadian army is on an airship right now headed straight for us. They won't show us any mercy. We must do everything in our power to protect Garden, no more, no less."
Lightning showed no emotion, but at Squall's words, an icy sensation ran though her. Vanille was in the basement and this elevator was the only way down there. Not one Galbadian soldier was going to get within a hundred yards of that elevator, if she had anything to do with it.
This was going to be the most serious battle some of these soldiers had ever faced, but they were all well prepared. All hands were on deck for this one; even Squall was going to be in the fray. His gun blade, which had sat around unused for many years, was just as impressive as the last time she saw it.
Lightning, Cloud, Tidus, and Squall went around and issued orders to the sergeants, who in turn, issued orders to their subordinates. Most of the Combat Medics, led by Rinoa, would be down the Infirmary hall, ready to pull wounded soldiers to safety. All of the other halls would house a unit, with the three remaining units in the center guarding the elevator.
The Trabian military was on their way, but they were miles away and it would be at least an hour before they arrived. The pink haired general had learned not to count on reinforcements. Taking her place on the elevator platform, she flung her gun blade into its sword form, ready for a fight. Now, they waited.
Vanille knew she had no real military experience but she had to help somehow. The only reason Balamb Garden was being attacked was because they had helped the L'Cie...her. She waited in the vacant classroom until she could no longer hear the sound of the elevator going up and down anymore. Crouching low, Vanille went through the door, wincing at the loud noise it made as it slid open and closed. She could hear the soldiers downstairs as they prepared for the battle ahead, and she peaked over the edge of the railing to get a look.
She had never realized how many soldiers Garden actually had until they were all in one place. They almost completely filled the first floor, with their weapons out and waiting.
There, directly in front of the elevator doors on the first floor, was Lightning with her gun blade out, looking almost bored. Squall stood not far away with his weapon, which Vanille recognized from class as an older model of gun blade. Cloud and Tidus stood with their swords looking alert and ready for whatever came. She could see all of her new friends down there prepared to defend their home all because they had saved her from the Galbadian purge.
The guilt that wracked Vanille's body was almost debilitating in its power. She had never meant for this to happen. All of these people were in grave peril because of her. She had to do something.
These thoughts were soon pushed from her mind when all of a sudden there was an explosion near the roof. Shattered glass rained down on the soldiers, and Vanille flattened herself with her back against the railing.
Once the glass stopped falling, Lightning was able to look up and see hundreds of Galbadian soldiers sliding down on ropes through the Garden's broken glass roof. Immediately they started shooting, some before they had even hit the floor. She had to remind herself that she needed to hold this position in order to protect the cadets and Vanille, but it was extremely difficult when her fellow comrades were charging at the enemy.
Holding her ground she deflected bullets with her gun blade, and slashed at any Galbadian soldiers that were foolish enough to get within striking distance. Amidst the melee, she was able to see Yuna firing carefully aimed shots into the crowd and Tifa pummeling a soldier into a submission. All around her, shots were being fired blindly by the Galbadians, nit caring who they hit. Sometimes they would hit their target, but more often than not they hit some other unsuspecting victim.
The inexperienced Galbadian soldiers were falling left and right, only managing to wound a few of Garden's soldiers in the process. It was looking as if it was going to be an easy victory when Lightning was suddenly ambushed by five Galbadian soldiers.
Vanille had been watching the battle from above and thought it was time to stop hiding and start doing something. Seeing that one of the ropes the Galbadian soldiers came in on was nearby, she climbed up on the railing and grabbed the rope, sliding down. The rope burned her bare hands and knees as she slid swiftly downwards, but she didn't let go. Hitting the ground, her knees buckled a little bit, but she quickly regained her balance.
There was a discarded gun close by, so Vanille picked it up and ran through the crowd. Galbadian soldiers almost exclusively used guns because any one could learn how to fire a gun and she, too, learned quickly. Keeping low, she managed to get through the chaos and catch sight of Lightning. She was currently tangled up in a nasty battle with a group of Galbadian soldiers trying to get to the elevator. She seemed to be doing just fine, but that's when Vanille saw him.
She hadn't seen him arrive, but there he was, slashing his way towards a distracted and preoccupied Lightning. She was so wrapped up in the Galbadia soldiers that she couldn't see Seifer approaching her undefended back. Vanille was too far away, she wouldn't be able to reach Lightning in time.
A torrent of emotions was raging inside her as she watched Seifer make his way towards Lightning. Vanille was not the kind of person to hold grudges, but she could say with certainty that she hated this man. Being the coward that he was, Seifer had waited until Lightning was engaged in another battle before attacking her.
Dodging bullets and swords alike, Vanille sprinted towards the pink haired general. Seifer was already mere feet from her, preparing to strike Lightning down with his massive gun blade. There was no time. Vanille stopped and took aim, but she couldn't get a clear shot. Not willing to risk shooting Lightning, she yelled,
"Lightning! Behind you!"
Waiting until Lightning's gun blade was aimed at someone else, Seifer brought his down.
Lightning had just dispatched the last of the soldiers when her ears unconsciously honed in on Vanille's voice. Without thinking, she turned to her right, but it was too late. Seifer's gun blade fell, slicing her right arm open, from her shoulder to her elbow. Physically, her hand no longer had the strength to hold her grip on the gun blade and it clanked to the floor at her feet.
Searing pain shot through her entire body as blood began to pour out of her open wound, but she wasn't going to let it stop her.
Not giving up, she had started to reach for her pocket knife with her left hand when she heard a bullet streak by her head. Looking up, there was Vanille, pointing a gun directly at Seifer.
She had hit him dead on. He dropped his gun blade and fell to his knees in shock. Blood drenched the front of his shirt and was soaked up into the fabric. Then, he collapsed, eyes wide still in disbelief and unseeing as blood trickled from his parted lips. Vanille had killed him.
All around them, Galbadian soldiers were falling, but Lightning was frozen in her place, staring at Vanille. What was she doing here? She was supposed to be in the basement with all the other cadets, but the red head had just saved her. Lightning couldn't pick apart what exactly she was feeling at the moment, but one emotion took precedence over all the rest: fear. Vanille was no longer safe, and with her wound, she would be unable to protect her.
The red head ran to her and tried to pull her away to the Infirmary, but the General refused, still not believing her eyes.
"Vanille, you... you shouldn't be here."
Reaching down with her left hand, she picked up her gun blade and in one easy motion, flicked it back into a gun. The truth was her vision was starting to get blurry with the amount of blood she was losing. It gushed down her arm and trickled off her fingertips in a steady stream, showing no signs of stopping.
"You need a medic," Vanille pleaded with her, reaching for her wounded arm. It seemed most of the Galbadian troops were dead, wounded, or had surrendered, but one still had enough fight to aim a bullet their way. She saw the soldier take aim, but not being able to tell where the bullet was going, Lightning turned to face Vanille, shielding her body from anything and everything.
Sure enough, the bullet would have hit Vanille because it now struck Lightning in her left shoulder, causing her to drop her weapon again.
"No!" she could hear Vanille scream, and she looked into her panicked green eyes. It was getting too difficult to stand, so Lightning dropped to one knee. Looking up, through her narrow field of vision she still had, she could see the Galbadian airship fleeing, callously leaving its soldiers behind. Seconds later, a red airship took its place, Ragnarok. With that, Lightning let the darkness take her.
Vanille watched as Lightning began to fall sideways, and was able to catch her and lay her down gently on the floor. There was so much blood, it stained everything it touched.
Vanille had thought the pink haired general to be infallible. To see her like this terrified her. All around them, wounded were screaming and groaning in pain, but Lightning had found one last ounce of energy to take a bullet for her.
Thinking quickly, Vanille wrapped Lightning's cape around her arm in order to stem the blood flow. She tied it around the wound Seifer gave her and used her hand to put pressure on the bullet wound.
All of the prisoners had been taken away, and now the soldiers were going around and helping the wounded. Zell came by them first and couldn't believe his eyes.
"Get Rinoa!" Vanille had never been so scared in her life. She had only been in cadet training a week and she had no idea what to do for Lightning as the blood drained out of her.
The red airship had turned out to be the Trabian military and after they landed in the Quad, soldiers and medics fanned out all around them.
Only minutes had passed and Zell returned with an exhausted-looking Rinoa carrying medical equipment.
"Here, tilt her head back and give her this," Rinoa instructed. She handed her a bottle, but it wasn't a potion. On the label it said 'Elixir' but Vanille didn't question and did as she was told. Lifting Lightning's torso into her lap, Vanille gently shifted her head backwards and poured the contents between her parted lips.
The elevator began bringing cadets back up and Lightning was directly in front of the doors. Zell leant down and scooped up the fallen soldier and moved her away from the doors.
Everything seemed to be happening so quickly, before she knew it the cadets had gone to their dorm rooms and brought out mattresses to make the entire first floor an infirmary. Seeing this, Zell lifted Lightning once again and placed her on one nearby.
Luckily, the bullet had gone right through her, otherwise it would have complicated things a bit. Rinoa instructed Vanille to dab the wounds with the ointment she gave her and then dress the wound in gauze before she hurried off to help someone else.
Lightning was so pale she could have been dead, but her shallow breathing gave her away. Dressing the arm wound was not so hard, but the shoulder one was a little trickier. Vanille had to slide Lightning's sleeveless trench coat gently off her shoulder and carefully push her brown turtle neck to the side. If this had been any other situation, Vanille would have been incredibly embarrassed, but she didn't have time for that.
Looking around she could see familiar faces on the surrounding mattresses. Not too far away Tidus was having a deep wound in his chest tended to by Yuna. Cloud could be seen cleaning a minor gash on Tifa's leg while she complained loudly that she didn't need help.
After she had finished wrapping the wounds in gauze, Vanille had a cadet go get her a bucket of water and a rag. She proceeded to clean the blood off of Lightning slowly. It had started to dry and was a little difficult to wash off, but she took her time and did it as carefully as she could.
Lightning could feel her injuries before her mind even processed that she had them. Pain washed over her but she couldn't move. Her body felt like lead and the mere act of breathing took almost the entirety of her strength. Unwillingly to open her eyes just yet, she focused in on her other senses and felt something cold and wet on her arm. It wasn't on her wound and it wasn't causing her any pain, but it was a strange sensation. Finally willing her eyes to open, Lightning was able to make out the shape of a person above her. As she stared, more and more details came into focus; red hair, high cheek bones, forest green eyes. Vanille.
Attempting to speak, Lightning couldn't get her vocal chords to obey other than to let out a groan. The red head turned to look at her and put a soft hand to her face.
"Claire...," Vanille whispered, and Lightning had never realized how much she loved her accent. The red head's hand was gentle and warm against her cheek and it distracted her from the pain. Forcing her voice to obey her, Lightning managed to ask weakly,
"Did we win?" Vanille gazed into her eyes and smiled down at her.
"Yep, now you need to rest," the red head gently ordered and remembering Lightning's words to her not too long ago,
"You're safe now." The pink haired soldier, managed a smile at Vanille's words and was about to fall asleep when she noticed three people walking towards them. Using what energy she had left, Lightning staved off sleep a little bit longer.
As they got closer, Lightning's eyelids were beginning to droop, but she still strained her ears to hear their voices.
"Squall said she was over here somewhere." A strong female voice with an accent like Vanille's, Lightning recognized this one as Fang, the Commander of Trabia Garden.
"How'd she get hurt? I thought she was invincible." A low, male voice joked. This was Snow. Clinging on a little bit longer, she heard a voice that she thought she would never hear again.
"Will she be okay?" The worried female voice carried to her ears and her brain was just able to process whose it was before succumbing to sleep.
Serah?
I hope you all like this chapter. It was definitely not an easy one to write. Vanille will have to nurse Lightning back to health and you know what that means...fluff! So, prepare yourselves. Thank you for continuing to read this story. Review and let me know what you think!
