yowza i haven't touched this in years
"...So you two have been sleeping in that crystal pillar for the past two years. We've been trying to find ways to get you out of it, at least, but even that's a bit risky."
"We turned to crystal?"
"Yes."
"Fang and I?"
"Yes, you two."
"And...you want me to believe that?"
"Vanille," Light sighed, "I know it's far-fetched. I know it's not what you expected to hear, but it's the truth."
The redhead crossed her arms over her chest, lips pursed. Had Lightning expected that Vanille go along with this easily? No, she knew that not even the eccentric Pulsian would believe something as bizarre as her tale. And with her newly acquired fame and personality, she knew Vanille would have a hard time coming around. Fang remembered bits and pieces, but the redhead showed no signs of remembering anything of their past— despite how close they remained to be in this world. Lightning had to admit she was glad they at least knew each other, but other than that, Vanille had no other contact with anyone else from their home, just like Hope and Snow.
Sitting in Vanille's lush hotel room was a bit dazzling to the company. Well, dazzling to most of the company; Fang had been in these types of hotels before with Vanille when they were an item, Snow lived in one of New York's best hotels, and Hope often stayed in penthouses when traveling. Lightning, however, had never been in such fancy quarters before, nor would she have dreamed so. It was usually Serah who would often daydream of big penthouses and fancy attire, but that was not to say that the soldier was not entranced by the sheer quality of the snacks they were idly munching on. It did nothing for their situation at hand, however.
"'Nille, I know it sounds crazy, but they're telling the truth," Fang chimed in, taking a casual sip from her tea. "And believe it or not, but I remember some of the stuff they're spouting."
"You-You do?" her green eyes blinked, taken by surprise by her overall cool attitude towards this situation. "Fang, you can't be serious—"
"I am." The brunette set down her tea gingerly, mindful of the China, and rose to her feet. "And you should, too. Do you really think I would run around with these guys if I didn't believe 'em?"
The three seated next to Fang exchanged an offended look, but otherwise stayed quiet. This was between her and Vanille, it had seemed, and they had no part in it. Besides, if anyone could convince Vanille of coming along with them, it was Fang.
Vanille wrung her hands in her lap, "I... don't know. If-If you are telling the truth, I can't just up and leave. You know how they get."
"Yeah, and that's exactly the reason you should come with us. They're killin' ya, Vanille! If I hadn't been there when you tried to—" she stopped suddenly, opting instead to sit next to the redhead. "Look, just trust me. I swear it'll make sense."
The rose-haired woman idly wondered what Fang meant. What had Vanille tried to do? She could only imagine the worst, even if it was hard to picture for someone so jovial as Vanille. Even Lightning herself hadn't thought of ending her life, despite the trials she had been put through; she could not begin to imagine the difficulties this world had put the redhead through.
The younger brushed a strand of red hair behind her ear, biting her lip. Finally, she sighed, glancing between the four of them. "If you've gotten Fang to believe your story, then I don't see why I can't give you all a chance."
Fang enveloped Vanille in a hug, kissing her cheek. "That's my girl! All we've gotta do now is figure out where to go from here." She looked to Lightning, who nodded in response.
While Lightning and the others had begun thinking of a plan to leave, Vanille had slipped away to change out of her bathrobe and sweatpants into a light pink crop top, white skirt and brown ankle boots. She figured she could always send for her luggage sometime later; she had a feeling they wouldn't be staying in Australia for long. To say she was excited would be an understatement— it'd been years since she last been with Fang. A tiny part of her dreaded the explanation of her sudden disappearance to her bosses that would soon come, but a bigger part didn't care. The minute she saw Lightning and the others, she knew there was something about them that caused a fuzzy feeling her chest. Almost like Vanille had known them for years yet she was sure she had never seen them before in her life. If what Lightning claimed was true, they were all very close in another life, and she could feel it just by standing near them.
"So where are we headed from here?" The redhead asked as she joined the others in the main room.
"Not sure yet. We just need Sazh before we can find Serah," The rosette answered, mentally kicking herself for not looking ahead to where Sazh could be.
Vanille wanted to say something about the name "Sazh", but opted out. It wasn't like she knew him— but it felt as if she could tell anyone all about him at the same time. "Do we have a plan?"
"We'll improvise," Fang replied. "Besides, your boss isn't around, right? Or anyone from the company?"
She shook her head, "Nope, I was just visiting Australia for a few weeks before we went back to the states for some promotional thing."
Snow thought for a moment before asking, "Sazh used to fly airships and stuff, right? Isn't there a chance he could be in the U.S. Air Force?"
Lightning wasn't familiar with the terms he was throwing around, but she heard "air" and "force", which sounded similar to "air ship", so she figured they were similar. "Where is that?"
"Well, I'm not super sure, but it's back where Anna's at."
"Pensacola, Florida," Hope chimed in, holding up his phone. "I took the liberty of searching his name, and his Facebook profile says he's been a mechanic at their base for quite a while, now."
They each exchanged a nod before looking towards Vanille and Fang. The brunette grined, "Okay, let's bust outta here."
Piling into the elevator was easier than Lightning thought it would have been, however fitting everyone into her smaller hotel room was a bit of a challenge. Their flight wouldn't be until tomorrow evening, and instead of going their separate ways like she had predicted they would do, Vanille and Fang decided to stay the night with the others.
"To bond!" The redhead had cheerfully proclaimed as she flopped onto one of the hotel beds.
It wouldn't have been so bad if they had a bit more space to bond.
Currently, Lightning sat cross-legged on her hotel bed, Fang and Vanille were sprawled out on the floor, Snow had taken up a spot on the couch, and Hope pulled a chair from the small dining area. Each had a set of cards in their hands for a game of BS.
"Two sixes," Fang declared, setting down two cards face down onto the middle pile of cards.
They all shared a suspicious glance. Snow opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and closed it. The brunette snickered, "What? Scared to call me out?"
"No, I don't need any more cards. I practically have the whole deck from calling Lightning out." the blonde said, holding up his thick stack of cards. Light gave a small, proud smile.
"One seven," Hope went next, setting down his card. "I'm surprised you agreed to come with us so quickly, Vanille. I thought it would take more convincing than that."
As Snow put down his card, she answered, "Well, I had a funny feeling from the moment I saw all of you. Like I know you guys. It's weird, right?"
"I felt that, too," Fang added as Lightning put down three cards. "Then I remembered the bruising dear old sunshine gave me, and thank Lady Luck, she gave me another one to set me in my place."
The rosette didn't look up from shuffling her deck, but her tone was amused. "I knew it would help you remember. It was either that or getting a bahamut to set you straight."
Fang scoffed, tossing a card down. "One ten, and you just wanted an excuse to hit me."
"That may be true."
"BS!" Vanille called after Fang, flipping it over to reveal a four instead of a ten. Snow and Vanille whooped, high-fiving as Fang groaned, adding the middle stack of cards to her deck. Lightning and Hope chuckled softly, sharing a glance.
A few more rounds and two boxes of pizza later, the group decided to call it a night. Sleeping arrangements were somewhat of a challenge, again, seeing as their space was limited. Light decided to give her bed to Fang and Vanille to share while she would take the couch, but Hope said that meant he would be left to share a bed with Snow, who hogged the blankets, so ultimately Snow was left to the couch while they shared a bed.
It's not weird, it's not weird, Hope kept repeating in his head like a mantra as he stared at the ceiling above him. The beds weren't too small, thankfully, but he could still feel Lightning's warmth next to him. She was on her side, facing the wall, and probably already fast asleep as everyone else in the suite was. He couldn't find it in him to sleep— not when the most drop dead gorgeous girl he's ever seen was lying next to him.
The realization was slow but effective; Hope had an actual crush on Lightning, this tough, distant woman who suddenly came crashing into his life. Granted, he's apparently known her for some time, and from what he remembered, there had always been soft feelings for her in his heart. That still didn't make this any less embarrassing.
"Hope?"
Her soft voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Yes?"
She shifted, lying on her back instead. "I didn't think you were still awake. I can't sleep, either."
"Had a bad dream?" he asked.
"No. Just thinking too much, I guess." Her eyes slipped closed, and she sighed. "I still can't get over how tall you are. You were so small."
Hope stifled a laugh, settling for a smile instead. "You don't look any different from what I remember. Still as headstrong and stubborn as ever."
"I am not stubborn," her glare held no malice, and was it him, or was her tone almost playful? "I just know what I'm doing."
"I can't argue with that."
They were quiet for a while, looking up at the ceiling. Faint light flooded into the room from the moon hanging in the sky outside.
Just when Hope thought Light had fallen asleep, she spoke just above a whisper. "What if we don't find her?"
He turned his head to face her. "Serah?"
She nodded, not looking at him. "I was so…awful to her. I haven't thought about it until now. We said some things that were pretty hurtful. But I shouldn't have been like that with her, not when I had just gotten her back." A hand went up to cover her eyes.
Hope didn't answer right away, trying to be careful with his words. "We all say stuff we don't mean. I think Serah knows you didn't mean what you said, just like you know she didn't mean what she said to you. From what I remember, you two were close, and I don't think you would let something like that ruin your relationship. You're not that kind of person, and neither is she."
Lightning turned to look at Hope halfway through his answer. It had just occurred to her how mature he was. Him being tall was one thing, but she didn't realize he also had the years of experience to go with it. It was unfair to look at him as if he were still young; Hope was older and, in this case, wiser than Lightning, and deserved to be treated as equal to her.
"She loves you, you know." He said finally.
The rosette closed her eyes, gently placing her hand on top of Hope's. "I know."
