Sorry if its rough. Wanted it out ASAP It's been too long! I'm so sorry! Expect ongoing revisions until everything's fixed. And I've got to thank Rilora for the support, the ideas, and for saving the English language as we know it! What a legend!

By the way. More reviews = quicker updates. I'm just sayin' ;)


A change in the weight on the mattress alerted Serah, even if it didn't bring her to an entirely alert state of consciousness. She heard the sounds though her brain did not immediately process them. A metal buckle. A zipper. Boots thudding the on the wooden floor? Is she leaving?

Serah forced herself out of the warm dreamlike state she was experiencing. Her eyes landing on Lightning who was getting dressed beside the bed. She wore an urgent expression on her face.

"Claire?" Serah said roughly, her voice was heavy with the sleep that bogged down her senses.

No response.

Serah stood up dizzily, stumbling a bit across the room until she reached Lightning's figure. One of her small hands reached out for her.

"Go to sleep." Lightning breathed.

"Where are you going?" Serah whimpered.

No response.

"Claire!" Serah pulled hard on her sisters arm.

Lightning stopped moving. She put her free hand on her waist and looked away from Serah.

"...I'm going to Cocoon." Lightning mumbled before pulling on a pair of jeans.

"What? Now?" Serah shrieked, now completely awake. "Why?"

"I saw something." Lightning said simply. "Go to sleep, I'll be home tomorrow. I'll check in at the bar so you know I'm okay."

She's... seeing things now?

Serah didn't have words for this. She was at her wits end with worry for her sister's odd behavior lately. A late night trip to Cocoon? This certainly took the cake. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach that she would be searching for mental help for her sister soon.

"What did you see..?" Serah's voice cracked unintentionally.

Lightning stopped to look at Serah face. "You do think I'm crazy." She spoke firmly between her teeth.

"N-No.. What did you see? Show me.." Serah pleaded.

"Go to sleep." Lightning said before walking towards the door.

"Lightning!" Serah yelled. "If you go, I'll call Snow and we'll follow you!"

Lightning turned slowly to glare at Serah. The smaller girl backed away as Lightning made her advance.

"Come here." Lightning spat, gripping the back of Serah's neck to pull her towards the window. "Look." She pointed up at Cocoon.

Serah felt like crying. This seemed like the ultimate breaking point for her sister. She stared up at Cocoon and she was almost afraid to speak.

"...What am I supposed to be seeing, Claire..?" Serah's voice shook.

"Calm down, just wait.." Lightning breathed. She slid her arm from Serah's neck to her shoulder, immediately regretting the harsh action she'd taken. Serah's body immediately relaxed.

"There!" Lightning tensed. "See it?"

As the soft glow of color radiated from the lower half of Cocoon's shell, Lightning felt anxious again. She was ready to go. This was the first sign of life she'd seen from the dead visage of her home planet. Serah gasped.

"I'm not crazy." Lightning said, walking towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Wait." Serah said. "Let's go together. I wanna see what that is too."

"No." Lightning said, opening her front door. Serah ran after her.

"Fine. Have it your way." Serah walked out the door ahead of Lightning.

"Where are you going?" Lightning hissed.

"Going to wake up Snow." Serah said as she walked down the stairs that lead away Lightning's front door. Lightning looked mutinous. Anything would be better than having Snow tag along.

"Dammit, Serah! Fine. Get dressed." Lightning said as she threw her hands up. Serah always knew how to get her way. She fell onto the nearest couch and sat there staring out of the window as Serah disappeared back into the bedroom. The sky outside began growing lighter. Lightning's irritation spiked. In the daylight, it'd certainly be more difficult to find the source of the glow.

Serah came walking into the room fully dressed. It even looked like she'd put some effort into her hair. Lightning rolled her eyes.

"We're going to Cocoon, not a high school dance, you know.." Lightning grumbled as she got up and led the way to the door. Serah laughed. She kept her mouth shut but in all honesty she'd never seen Lightning show this much skin before. Granted it was jeans and a jacket, but her stomach was showing from the low cut t-shirt she had on underneath it. Come to think of it, Serah hadn't seen Lightning out of her uniform for as long as she could remember. As she got onto the back of the bike, though, she realized that Lightning would probably never wear that uniform again. There was no meaning to it anymore.

As they ascended into the heavens together, Serah's fear of heights got the better of her. She more or less burrowed her head into the back of Lightning's shoulder blade and closed her eyes for the remainder of the trip. It wasn't until the movement stopped that she opened her eyes. Lightning had stopped mere inches from the outside of Cocoon's shell, apparently where she thought the light was coming from. Bizarre to see Cocoon up close like this, Serah thought, but then she looked down and got incredible dizzy. She burrowed her head once more.

"We'll probably have to go in." Serah grumbled.

Lightning frowned as she thought. She had been here before, and while the walls were far too blurry to see through this close, she knew there wasn't a whole lot to be seen inside the shell. But seeing it up close now she realized that the source of light might have been somewhere near Bodhum used to be. That was somewhere she hadn't looked for.

"Right." Lightning said. Excitement ran through her as she pulled away from the globe to find a sizable gash in Cocoon to enter. The sun had broken free of the mountains and Lightning was surprised to find out that now that Cocoon was crystal the light from Pulse's sun was illuminating what was left of her home world. If the floating land masses that made for the different cities of Cocoon had not crashed through the walls towards Pulse below, it might even still be habitable. She let the bike drift into an almost vertical drop as she headed towards the bottom of the sphere, pulling the bike level again only right before submerging in the ocean. Serah did not thank her for that maneuver.

As they rode along the water towards the opposite wall of Cocoon, it appeared that the sun had finally become level with the shell, and Lightning saw her second sunrise of the day. Her eyes went wide, certainly if there was a sun here people could survive, no? By the looks of things now, probably not. Unless they could tread water for two months straight.

Fang is too strong to die from drowning...

"Claire! Look!" Serah yelled, actually standing up on the back of the bike and pointing ahead. There was land and as they got closer it all became very familiar to them.

"It's Bodhum!" Serah shouted happily. "Claire! It's Bodhum, look!"

Lightning said nothing. Her mouth hung slightly open at the site of it. Mostly unscathed, yet darker than usual and completely void of any human life it seemed. The possibilities were endless if Bodhum had survived...

She landed along the shore as soon as she possibly could. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins as the two sisters clambered off of the bike and wandered ever closer to the buildings. It was as if they were unable to absorb the fact that their hometown had survived mostly undamaged.

"We can get some of our things back.." Serah said happily, approaching where Lightning's apartment had been. Clothes..

"Yeah." Lightning said, interested as well to see her apartment again. It was dark inside of the building. The only light came from the windows as there was no electricity. Lightning had to use force to open up her door, as it was also electric. After prying her blade into the hinge and forcing the door open, ultimately breaking it, they entered the living to find most of the things had been tipped over or otherwise thrown across the living room. Book shelves were tipped over, their contents emptied onto the carpet. Broken glass was sparking from the ground. The curtains had been shaken off of their rods. It looked like the place had just gone through an extremely large earthquake.

Lightning covered her mouth as she stared at all of her possessions, all of her hard work, lying broken on her living room floor. She heard crunching footsteps as Serah made her way across the glass strewn floor towards her bedroom. Lightning followed suit slowly, heading into her own bedroom instead.

Her bed was still made. The pictures on her nightstand, as well as the nightstand itself, had toppled over. She bent over to pick it up, carefully pulling out the pictures of her parents so as to not cut them on the jagged glass that encased them. Pictures are priceless, irreplaceable. These were the sort of things she would want to take with her. She opened the door to her closet and looked through her wardrobe. It was vastly dominated by uniforms rather than regular civilian clothing. Had she really let her job consume her life so much that she only had a handful of outfits that would fit her now? She frowned. She had so much dedication to that lost cause..

At the bottom of her closet, her eyes landed on a large box. A smile came to her lips as she knelt down to take the top off. Ammunition, enough to last a lifetime. She would obviously have to come back for this with a more stable vessel. It wouldn't be safe to carry this many live rounds on the back of a bike. She found a small handgun she had used as a sidearm before she was given her gun blade. She pulled the clip out to see it was still fully loaded. One in the barrel. Smirking, she put the safety on and slid it into the back of her jeans. Memories.

"Claire? How much do you think we can carry?" Serah called from her bedroom.

Sighing, Lightning stood up and crossed the hallway to lean against Serah's door frame. It looked like the younger sister had already packed three bags full of nonsense. "We can't carry that much Serah, not in the little compartment on the bike. It wouldn't be safe to carry all those bags, we can come back later, though."

"Yeah, we're going to have to." Serah smiled.

"C'mon, I want to check out the rest of the island." Lightning said.

Reluctantly, and staring longingly at her things, Serah followed Lightning back outside again. The walked along the boardwalk, noticing that none of the other buildings seemed to have been disturbed. It was odd how such a familiar place could seem so vastly different. There was no tide coming in, no rolling waves. The ocean seemed calmer than it ever had before. And the sun coming through the crystal at this angle seemed oddly fuzzy, almost blurred.

They passed building after building, peering into the windows and not finding any evidence that anyone had been here recently. A lone uprooted palm tree got Lightning's attention and she followed it off of the path. There was a large hole in the ground, it almost looked like the tree had been forced out of the ground completely. This hole was filled to the brim with water, and it was rather large around. It had never been here before.

"What's this?" Serah asked.

"Don't know." Lightning breathed, kneeling down beside it. She ran her hand along the lip of the hole under the water. It felt hard, smooth, cold. As if it were intentionally paved into the earth. Crystal...?

Oh...

Lightning looked up at Serah, shrugging. The smaller girl started walking again towards the boardwalk and Lightning's eyes followed her lazily, landing on her feet. She's wearing.. shoes.

Lightning gasped. Serah's head turned around quickly. "What?"

Along the muddy dirt besides the mysterious pool, there was footprints. Bare, human footprints. Serah followed her sisters eyes until she saw them as well.

"Oh.." Serah's eyes went wide. Lighting stood abruptly and began stomping along beside the trail left behind by.. someone.

"Be careful, that could be anyone. Someone bad, too." Serah said, struggling to keep up with Lightning's pace. The soldier's face was beyond serious at this point. She looked strained, halfway between a heart attack and an aneurysm. The doors of Lebreau's old cafe were pried open. The refrigerator and pantries had been raided quite recently.

"Someone's here.." Serah breathed.

"Stay close." Lightning said. Finding no more evidence, she headed back outside again. Her eyes scanned the coast line, landing on nothing in particular. Her imagination was running wild. It made strange sense to her. If that hole was the origin of the pillar that held Cocoon up as she suspected it was... Then they came here, hungry... Then where?

Serah walked a bit further down the long row of stores at the beach front. Lightning's face contorted with concentration. It appeared whoever came out of that hole went into the cafe, where their feet dried. There was no more wet mud to cement their footsteps, no more trail to follow. Lightning folded her arms and let out a frustrated noise.

"Claire, this window's broken." Serah called to her sister. Lightning jogged to where Serah was standing. She frowned, there was no open door here, it just looked like the window hadn't made it through the seismic event. It was a rather dark book shop. She pulled her gun blade from is holster and willed it to take its saber form so she could clear away the remaining hanging glass before she climbed inside. What had caused the window to break? It was chaos inside, she had to be careful not to trip over fallen books and various other pieces of furniture. Just when she was about to give up and assume the window had broken from she jolt, her eyes landed on something out of place.

"Serah.." Lightning whispered, coming to the broken window. She was holding up a completely charred rocket shell. She met her sisters eyes and in that very moment comprehension flooded through her. "Firework.." she said. Her eyes drifting over Serah's shoulder towards the large bubble where the yearly spectacle took place. The glowing light..

With a sharp gasp of breath Lightning climbed through the window again and came to a full out sprint immediately across the sand towards it. She could hear Serah calling her name behind her, but she ignored it. This may be the answer to all of her prayers. The uneven ground didn't hold her down, she pushed herself to run even faster. Her breathing was frantic, almost hysterical. It was probably wrong of her to allow herself to get so excited when it might not even be her that she finds, but she was beyond help at this point. Her mind had gotten the best of her. It seemed like every bit of evidence pointed towards her biggest desire.

She climbed the last that separated the regular beach from the quarantined area where they would typically light the fireworks.

She lost her breath.

There she is..

Fang..

Sleeping. Her sari was serving the purpose of a pillow. Vanille was a few feet away with her thumb in her mouth.

"Too good to be true.." Lightning whispered, her thoughts escaping through her lips. Her last few labored steps were tired from the mad dash she'd just made. Her knees fell beside Fang's sleeping form before she cradled Fang's head with her hand.

Fang groaned before her eyes rolled open. There was a sharp pain in her head from the abrupt movement. Her eyes came into focus while she was swearing off drinking for the rest of her life.

"Fang.." Lightning whispered, shaking her again. Fang's eyes landed on Lightning with gentle surprise. She grinned.

"Knew you'd show up eventually." Fang said roughly. Lightning was staring at her with a desperate look on her face, drinking in every one of Fang's beautiful expressions.

"Is this real?" Lightning whispered.

"Nah." Fang said as she sat up. She reached out to touch Lightning's face kindly. "But I'll find a way to wake up."

Lightning went pink. Why was shyness the overwhelming feeling she felt right now? "I'm no dream.." She whispered, looking away.

"Look around you." Fang said, with a solemn smile. "Everything about this place is a dream. Bodhum can't exist anymore. And even if it did the sun couldn't possibly be shining in Cocoon. You don't know how good it is to see you though.." Fang smiled.

Lightning cocked her head to one side. She really thinks she's dreaming? The soldier looked around at the surrounding area, mildly confused. "Fang, you're not.."

"I'll wake up someday though, I only hope you're still around when I do." Fang said.

"No.. You're not sleeping anymore, Fang." Lightning said, though the weird things Fang was saying was making her doubt her own existence.

"Maybe not, but I'm still a crystal." Fang said certainly.

Lightning stared at her, her eyes narrowing. "No.. I'm pretty sure you're not a crystal either.."

"Listen.." Fang started, staring back at Lightning just as seriously. "I don't know how long you're going to stick around, I don't want to spend it arguing with you.."

"Fang." Lightning pointed out to the sky. "That's.. not Phoenix, you know? That's the Pulsian sun. I saw it rise twice on the way here."

Fang's eyes went wide.

"I'm not dreaming, and you're not dreaming." Lightning said. "You were lighting fireworks weren't you? I saw them from Oerba.."

"No way.." Fang breathed. She gripped a fist full of sand and threw it towards Vanille. "Vanille, wake up!"

Vanille made a most unsatisfied sound.

"I've been awake this whole time?" Fang asked, rising to her feet. "How long has it been?"

"Couple of months.." Lightning said, standing up also.

"Vanille." Fang knelt own beside her and shook her awake. A couple of months, that sounds right... "We're alive."

"What?" The small girl opened one eye and yawned. Fang turned back to Lightning.

"You survived then.." Fang said, a smile growing pronounced on her face as she turned back to Lightning.

"Yeah." Lightning said. "A lot of people did because of you.."

Laughing, Fang pulled Lightning into a tight hug. "Boy, do I feel like an idiot!" Fang said heartily. The warmth of Fang's body was running through Lightning and for the first time in the last two months she felt like herself again. She allowed her body to shape to Fang's contently.

"Serah!" Vanille called happily.

Fang's eyes landed on the younger Farron without letting go of Lightning. She smiled kindly at the girl who seemed to be taking a guarded interest in her. Lightning did nothing. She knew her sister was in for one big surprise right about now, and it would be easier to not make eye contact with Serah.

"And that's why I didn't want you becoming Ragnarok.." Fang rumbled into Lightning shoulder. Lightning turned pink. Fang put herself in danger for Lightning, without even being asked. Selfless..

"I knew I'd see you again!" Vanille said cheerfully, throwing her arms around Serah and breaking her free of her deep thoughts.

Fang took this opportunity to walk Lightning away for a bit more privacy. Her feet dipped into the water along the coast line before she stopped.

"Are you mad at me..?" Fang asked with a smirk.

"Not anymore.." Lightning said. "I know why you did what you did now.. I would have done the same thing for you."

"I know.." Fang smiled. "It wasn't your place, though."

Lightning only nodded. She stared up into Fang's eyes that, despite looking incredibly tired, were so vibrantly bright green they took her breath away. Fang seemed tanner and thinner than she was before.

"I was so worried.." Lightning muttered.

Fang took Lightning's hands and wrapper them around her own neck, smiling as she let her own hands slide around Lightning's waist.

"Don't let that stress you out anymore. It's over. We've got all the time in the world now." Fang spoke gloriously.

All the time in the world.

What a stark contrast to everything they'd gone through together. It always felt rushed before, but now maybe they could even have a title. Girlfriend. Perhaps Lightning would introduce Fang with that word at some sort of social function eventually. Would she be right in saying so? Without imminent danger and threats on their lives around every corner they would be just like a regular couple, and that was something that Lightning had never experienced before. The thought of it made her nervous. There was nothing about Fang that was remotely normal or bland, and that was always how Lightning had seen relationships before.

Fang was staring at Lightning's face. She had the cute 'I'm-thinking-so-hard-it-hurts' expression on her face that Fang adored.

"I love you.." Fang said softly. "Remember? I was.. supposed to tell you.."

Serah smiled kindly at Vanille, remembering just how kind the girl was back when they'd first met on this beach.

"I'm so glad you're okay.." Serah said, smiling back at her. Serah let her eyes roam back to Lightning. Certainly, she'd never seen her sister stare at someone with so much... what was it? Admiration? Fascination?

"So.. that's Fang, huh?" Serah asked suspiciously.

"Yep!" Vanille said, following Serah's eyes. "Aw, they're cute, aren't they?"

"Cute?" Serah asked, her eyes growing wide. Cute? She's talking like they're a..

She stared harder. It was an expression Serah had never seen before on Lightning's face. It clicked in her mind then.

"A couple.." Serah breathed, her thoughts escaping her. Her mouth lolled open in amazement.

"They make a good one, hey?" Vanille asked, smiling.

"All this time.." Serah started. She was interrupted when Lightning kissed Fang with so much fervor that the shock of seeing it temporarily stunted Serah's ability to speak.

"Ooh.." Vanille giggled.

"All this time she was lovesick..?" Serah asked, dumbstruck.

Vanille smirked, assuming the question to be rhetorical.

Lightning broke the kiss softly, keeping her eyes closed as her head came to rest against Fang's.

"I.. love you, too.." She replied in a shaky voice.


Lightning pulled up to the bar in Oerba and immediately felt relieved. She knew she was carrying entirely too many people for this little bike. Serah climbed off the bike and bit her lip looking at Lightning. Lightning rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Maybe you should come in and say hi!" Serah said happily towards Vanille.

"Do they serve food in there?" Fang asked.

"Are you hungry?" Lightning asked.

"Yes." Serah answered.

"Starving." Fang chuckled.

"They serve food!" Serah announced happily.

"I've got food at home." Lightning said, glaring at Serah.

"I'm hungry, too!" Vanille whimpered.

Lightning turned around and muttered. "I'll make you guys something to eat."

"You're no fun, Light!" Serah whined.

"Another time." Lightning muttered. "They're probably tired." Fang agreed, nodding with a smirk.

Serah bit her lip again, her expression was calculating. "Why don't you come with me Vanille, you can stay the night with Snow and I." Serah grinned, winking at Lightning. An action that didn't go unnoticed by Fang, who's eyebrows shot up to her forehead. Lightning shook her head.

When Serah reached the entrance, she turned around to give a very happy thumbs up as she held the door open for Vanille.

"Cute sister." Fang said, full of amusement. "I like the way she thinks."

"Shut up." Lightning growled.

She revved the bike to life hastily and headed down the street where her house was. As she entered her house she removed her arms, the gunblade and handgun both landing on the couch before led the way into the kitchen. She lit a few candles as she went by as it was the only source of light available in the entire village at the moment. She held her cabinets open for Fang to look in also.

"Whatever you want, I'll make it for you." Lightning said.

"Cooking by candlelight. How romantic." Fang grinned. "I guess this is kind of like our first date, huh?"

Lightning paused. Way to make me more nervous.

Fang's arms snacked around Lightning's front. Her nose landed against the back of Lightning's head.

"You smell so good." Fang hummed softly. Her warm breath crashing against the back of Lightning's neck.

Lightning's knees buckled. Fang was standing in her kitchen, it felt so surreal. She turned around in Fang's arms only to find herself crushed against the nearby wall in a passionate kiss. Her breath was taken away.

Everything Fang was holding back on the beach was coming out. Out of respect she had resisted before, in front of Serah. Now, her hands explored her lover freely. Hungrily, she kissed Lightning deeper, Fang's hand sliding to Lightning's thigh to pull it aside. She positioned her waist between Lightning's legs only to feel closer to her amazing body. Lightning moaned softly into her mouth, out of pure surprise. Was she going to be taken in the kitchen? When she felt Fang's hips come into contact with her own, she bit down on Fang's lower lip, hard, though it wasn't intentional.

Fang pulled away at once, letting Lightning's leg drop, they stood there for a moment catching their breath. A few beats passed.

"Sorry.." Lightning sputtered.

"No. I'm sorry.." Fang said softly, staring at Lightning's face that was mostly covered by her hair and slightly tilted downward. The parts that weren't covered were flushed bright red.

"So. I've got some meat and and I can make a stir fry. It won't take long." Lightning said quickly escaping to light the stove. A convenient excuse. Pansy..

"Sounds good." Fang said, walking across the kitchen to lean on the opposite counter and watch Lightning. She couldn't hide the smirk on her face. The soldier wants to play shy. The last thing Fang wanted to do was come on too strong. After all the time that had passed, and the circumstance in which they were apart, it seemed inappropriate now to pick up right where they'd left off before. And that was perfectly okay with Fang. Start fresh, start new.

The fresh start didn't seem to compromise the sleeping arrangements in the end, though. Lightning fell asleep in Fang's arms that night, and was perfectly content to do that every night after. Without a care in the world, Lightning slept with more grace and ease than she had since before her parent's died. The only one thing she was even mildly worried about was Fang adapting into this new world that she was already used to. A famous figure, Fang was, even though she didn't know it yet. The beast that everyone on Cocoon had been raised to fear was now known as the entity the saved mankind. How would Fang react to that?

Unless they didn't leave the house tomorrow, she'd probably find out then.

Then again, Lightning had no objection to wasting an entire day alone with Fang.

Doing absolutely nothing.


If you guys really think I can get away with a T rating, I'll keep it clean from here on out and then do a one shot later to accompany this. Is that a bad idea? :P