*Chapter Twelve. Awakening of the Dusk*
"Do you think she'll be alright?"
"Of course, what kind of a question is that? This is Fang we're talking about. That girl wouldn't die even by Satan's hands." Sazh answered Hope's question with ease.
Snow sighed at the man's response and shook his head. "You are a man of wise words, Sazh, but I really don't think that this is the time to joke. I mean, she's been asleep for how long?"
"We all know that she sleeps a lot, Snow. You're all just over reacting."
"I hope you're right..." Vanille said quietly as Shikamaru placed his arm around her shoulder.
It had been nearly a week since they got Fang back from Cocoon, and she still hadn't shown any sign of waking. It was really starting to bother them, even Snow. Everyone was huddled away at Shikamaru's house, trying to talk about something other than what they had gone through in the past few weeks.
Honestly, Lightning was just annoyed with the lot of them and was half tempted to go wake her friend up herself.
'Where am I?' Fang thought as she looked around with caution. The only thing that she had been aware of had been the darkness that had kept her company since she had fallen asleep at Bresha. She couldn't feel anything or see anything, but a voice range in the stillness.
'Fang…'
The voice was soft and warming. She tried to turn toward the voice, trying to open her mouth and say something, anything. But, no matter how hard she tried, it was like she was drowning within her subconscious.
'Fang…This is gonna hurt, but it will wake ya up…Vanille needs ya ta wake up, Fang. Ya promised me tha' ya would protect her.'
'Mom?'
'It's alrigh' Fang, ya did good. Things are gonna get hard, though. Ya need ta stay strong, Honey. I'm gonna wake ya up now, Fang.'
'Mom, no, wai-'
'I love ya, take care of your sister.'
Pain coursed through the brunette and her body was suddenly jerked forward into consciousness.
Fang's eyes snapped open as she jolted upright, her breath coming out in shallow pants. It took a second for Fang to gather her bearings, recognizing the bed she was in as the one she had stayed in when she had visited Vanille. Slowly her body began relaxing, a dull, throbbing pain radiating in her head and chest. 'Mom…'
Fang rested on her forearms as her head started to clear and the pain became more evident as it ran up and down the nerves in her body. The brunette bit back a groan of pain as she maneuvered out of the bed and stood on shaky legs. Looking down she could still see the PSICOM uniform clinging to her body and she glowered down at her attire. 'I'm not even going to think about what happened, I just want to take a shower, get out of this uniform, and go back to sleep,' she thought tiredly to herself.
She glanced around the room, noticing it was one that luckily had a bathroom in it and she sighed in relief. 'At least I don't have to walk that far.' She pressed her hand against the wall for extra support as she took the first step and her head swam, causing her to sway.
'Get a hold of yourself, Fang! It's ten feet!' she chastised herself as she maneuvered to the bathroom. Once she managed to get in, she quickly stripped off her clothes and turned the shower on as hot as it could go before she stumbled in. She hissed out in slight discomfort as the scalding water pelted her skin and then began to slowly relax, allowing the steam to wake her up and loosen her tightened muscles.
She leaned her forehead against the wall, taking deep breaths as she closed her eyes. She pushed every thought out of her head and just stood there until she grabbed the soap and shampoo, quickly washing herself and rinsed off just before the water turned cold.
Fang stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel, drying herself off in a rush. She pulled open one of the cupboards and sighed in relief when she saw that an extra pair of clothes she stashed was still there. She swiftly pulled on the jeans and tank when she deemed herself dry enough. She was just about ready to throw on her hoodie when the mirror caught her eye.
Fang swallowed and turned to face her reflection, her breath catching in throat as her eyes scanned over her skin. Her skin had paled from the lack of sunlight while she was held captive. The paleness only seemed to enhance the sight of the new scars that marred her skin. The scar over her chest stuck out more than the others as the memories slowly beginning to bleed into her mind. Her eyes moved down and she noticed an odd protrusion beneath the skin covering her ribs, she pushed up her shirt and winced at the dark bruises covering her stomach. "Great," she muttered, carefully pulling it back down.
As she arm moved a dark blur caught her eye with the movement and she stilled, her eyes cautious. She turned her right shoulder in and looked into the mirror, her hands dropping the hoodie as her eyes trained on the marking. The burnt mark was still there, but inside of it a new, active one was beginning to take life. Her eyes blinked at it for a few minutes as the sound of her increased breathing was the only thing that disrupted the silence.
Time stopped as reality came crashing in on her. "No, no, no, no, no…" she muttered, throwing the sweater over herself quickly as her thoughts began whirling and jumbling together.
'I need air.'
The adrenaline that flowed through her helped her move faster than she would've been able to under her impairing circumstances. It only took her a few minutes before she had flung her bedroom window open and had jumped down, continuing on her way quickly before anyone could've realized she was up. She kept to the trees, avoiding all human contact as she started to sort her racing thoughts, forcing herself to calm down and think rationally.
The sun was started to set as she finally stopped walking hurriedly, now surrounded by grass and absolutely no sign of anyone. If she didn't know any better, she would've sworn she was out of the village, but she knew that she was still within the border of Konoha. She had managed to calm down to a point where she could properly think things thru without the fear of completely losing it. All the stress from the month radiated off of her as she forced herself to relax.
A twinge stabbed through her arm and she cringed, grimacing at the discomfort. Fang glared down at the mark as she knelt down on the ground, the spring wind blowing through her hair as the smell of leaves and rain surrounded her. Even in her slight state of panic, she couldn't help but feel relaxed. She hadn't seen the outside world in what seemed like a lifetime, but even the serenity couldn't keep her worries at bay.
'I'm sixteen, Ragnarok is going to start getting stronger…' she thought as she ran a hand through her hair. Suddenly the memory of her final fight played before her eyes, knocking the breath out of her. She leaned forward, her hands finding purchase of the ground and kept her from falling over. As quickly as it came, it was gone, leaving a haunting feeling in its wake. The brunette forced deep breathes to keep from hyperventilating, her body shaking from the memory and from a new wave of heat and pain that flared in her blood.
'It's going to be a long night…'
"What do you mean she's not there?" Snow asked incredulously.
"It means what it sounds like. Fang's not there." Hope explained.
The blonde fisted his hand in his hair. "Fuck, Light is going to kill me for losing her on my watch!"
"You did what?" a cold voice hissed from behind him and he jumped around in shock.
A sheepish smile tugged on his lips. "Hey Light, lovely night isn't it?"
The pink-haired L'Cie glared over at him. "What do you mean that she's not-"
"Fang! You're finally up, I thought-Why were you outside?" Vanille's voice carried from the lower floor.
Her words took a second to sink into the three before they were running down the stairs. Snow stopped when he spotted the brunette standing at the open door, a small smile on her face. "I needed to get away from the four walls, outside was just too inviting."
Lightning listened to her friend talk, her eyebrows furrowing softly as she examined Fang. 'Something feels off…' She shrugged it off and walked past Snow, placing a well-aimed hit to his shoulder. "It's good to see you conscious, Fang."
Snow cringed and rubbed his abused arm. "What is with you girls and hitting?"
The brunette smiled slightly as Hope and Vanille wrapped their arms around her before it quickly turned to a grimace as they pressed against her injured rib. She unintentionally cringed and they released her, both of them looking at her thoracic cavity. "Lift your shirt up," Vanille ordered, placing her hands on her hips.
Fang attempted to stare her down, but eventually gave up and lifted her hoodie up enough to expose the bruise. Their eyes zoomed in on it and the two exchanged looks, Vanille lightly prodded over the protrusion and Fang held back a hiss of pain as it throbbed. Hope sighed and shook his head. "I thought it was broken when we at Bresha, but she ran away before I could tell."
Vanille shook her head at her sister's antics. "It's healed, but it's set wrong. We need to re-break it and then fix it."
Fang scowled and crossed her arms. "It's not going to kill me, you know."
"Fang," Light said, rolling her eyes, "just do it and get it over with or else they're just going to bother you about it for weeks."
The brunette set her jaw and turned her head, showing her defiance. "It's fin-"
"Fang," a new voice interrupted, causing the teen to turn her head toward it, her stubbornness wavering slightly when she recognized who it was.
Gaara limped down the stairs silently, his eyes trained on hers as he approached her. "The best thing for you right now is to get completely healed," he said as he walked over to her.
Fang's eyes looked at his leg, noticing the bandage that was wrapped around his injured leg and she answered with the first thing that passed through her mind. "And the best thing for you is to get a cane to help you support your weight, gimp" The red-head stopped in front of her and tilted his head as she smiled slightly.
"My leg isn't going to kill me, your rib could. If you end up moving wrong, you could puncture your lung," Gaara said as the sulky expression returned to the brunette.
The brunette fished for an argument, but with a sigh Fang gingerly maneuvered down to the floor and lied down. "Let's get this over with."
"Naruto, go get Sakura," Gaara ordered and the blonde disappeared, returning quickly with his comrade in tow.
Vanille and Hope left, returning with bandages and other supplies as Lightning knelt down beside her friends head, shooting a glare over at the sand nin before she returned her attention to the brunette. "Want something to bite on?" The teen thought for a moment and nodded. Light pulled a strap of leather off her arm and placed it in the younger's mouth. Snow and Serah also knelt down as Sakura took her place over Fang. Vanilla and Hope walked back in, carrying the utensils needed as they got on the ground. "Hold down her other shoulder, Snow," Light ordered as she placed her hand over one of them. He nodded and did so, giving her a reassuring squeeze.
Sakura's hand glowed with green chakra as she examined the rib before she placed a precise hit to it. A loud crack made everyone wince as Fang's jaw clenched around the leather, no sound of pain escaping her mouth even though it wanted to rip out of her throat. The med nin quickly re-set it, the bruise worsening with every passing minute as Fang started to slacken her jaw.
"I need her sitting up to wrap it," Sakura said as Lightning nodded, both her and Snow elevating her upper body. The movement caused Fang's hands to fist up tightly and to take a controlled breath. The nin quickly wrapped the injury securely, sighing once she was finished. "Okay, she's good. She'll have to be re-bandaged when it get loose, though."
Fang nodded and spat the leather out, bracing her hands on the ground and lifting herself up. Sakura quickly grabbed her arm, outrage apparent on her face. "What are you doing?"
The brunette blinked, keeping another wince hidden. "Standing up…?"
The leaf nin shook her head. "Oh no, you can't walk or else you might jostle the bone. Someone's going to have to carry you."
Snow smiled and opened his arms wide. "Your chariot awaits!"
Fang glared at Snow and tried to scoot away. "No."
Before she could do much of anything else, sand wrapped around her and lifted her up. "I can carry her," Gaara said as his girlfriend's glare dropped. Lightning glared at the red-head, holding back a snide comment when Fang shot her a look that would silence even Snow. The sand congregated into makeshift stretcher as it began to move toward the steps and the brunette crossed her arms in slight indignation. "I could still walk," she mumbled under her breath as she was escorted to her room by Gaara who walked behind her. She tilted her head back and narrowed her eyes at him. "You should get your leg checked out and healed."
"If I have to get mine healed, then so do you," he answered.
The brunette's eyes narrowed at his proposition as the sand settled her down on her bed before it dispersed. She opened her mouth to retort when Gaara raised his hand.
"We can discuss this some other time. You need to rest," he said, lowering his hand.
Fang only shook her head. "I've slept more than enough. I need to walk around and-"
His hand came down and lightly pressed against her lips, silencing her. "Rest, when you wake up we will talk about walking and other things. Then, we will get you some food."
Fang's eyes darkened when he mentioned, "things," knowing exactly what he wanted to talk about Cocoon. She almost grimaced when he mentioned food and her mind flickered back to her self-examination in the bathroom. "Fine," she answered begrudgingly once his hand was removed. Her thoughts drifting back to what she discovered in the bathroom.
'I have to find out how to deal with Ragnarok,' she thought, another stab of pain radiated down her arm, 'I need to figure out a way to control it.'
Gaara's eyes narrowed slightly at the slightly distracted look that flickered across his girlfriend's face. "Fang?" he questioned, pulling her out of her revive. He studied her face as a small smile spread across her lips when she looked up at him. That smile unnerved him, he didn't know why but it seemed wrong.
"Don't worry, I'll sleep," she reassured him as she closed her eyes.
The sand shinobi watched over her for a few moments before he sighed inaudibly, knowing that he wouldn't get an answer even if he asked.
'What's going on inside your head?' he thought as he turned away and left the brunette to rest.
Pain.
That was the only thing that accompanied the darkness that surrounded her. It crawled through her veins and set her blood ablaze. To her, it felt like everything, her body, her soul, her entire being, was on fire. She had been through torture before, but this…
This was Hell.
Slowly her eyes adjusted to the darkness, a dim red glow seeming to surround her. As it slowly got brighter, the images got sharper and the pain increased. The pounding of her blood fueled the pressure in her head, making her writhe in agony. Her eyes opened wide, seeing the dark walls that gradually turned to crystal, black crystal that started to bleed red.
Blood.
Her body was trembling as wave upon wave flooded her.
"What's going on? Where am I"
A dark laugh resounded around her. "You couldn't tell, Oerba Yun Fang?" the voice asked, its tone malicious and deadly. "We're inside your mind. I thought even you would be able to recognize it by now."
The brunette stilled and forced herself to repress a groan of pain. Her eyes closed and reopened, focusing in on an image materializing before her eyes. "What's going on?"
Glowing eyes stared back at her, the blood flowing down the crystal transforming into slim, flickering threads of flames. "The mark has been repaired and I'm no longer sealed away and repressed. Your sixteenth birthday has passed a month ago and seeing that you've finally decided to be conscious I'm taking this time to grow. We both need to be aware for the process to begin," the demon stated, pain of its own coursing through it as the markings on its body turned from black to red as its skin got darker. "It's been a while."
Fang forced herself not to glare at her portion of Ragnarok and suppressed the anger and vengeance that wanted to free itself. "I can't say it's a pleasure," she bit out.
The demon chuckled. "You never change, but that's beside the point. You need to listen to what I tell you or else you'll face even more pain than you're in now."
"Oh, it's nice to know that you care so much. What do I have to do for such a luxury, sell my soul?" she snapped back. Honestly, what do you expect after not having to so much as think about the demon for three years and then suddenly it's interrupting your sleep?
"Technically you already have, be it willingly or not," Ragnarok retorted, an evil smile revealing sharp fangs. "No, you have to get stronger or else the pain will destroy your body, which if that happens I'll never be able to fulfill my purpose. That and don't you want to be strong enough so that I don't break free like I almost did at Lake Bresha? And you call me a demon," it commented.
"You are," she snapped back. "Because of you my-"
"Village was destroyed, life was ruined, sister was almost killed in front of my eyes, you've thought about that stuff so much that I have it memorized. At least now I can communicate with you and you can't ignore me, at least not when you're sleeping."
Fang grimaced and flinched in discomfort. "I liked it a lot more when I didn't have to listen to you."
The demon growled. "Look, I don't like the fact that I have to leech off another to survive, so the least you can do is keep us both alive by actually trying to use the abilities you have. It's dangerous to me that you keep that bottled up and it interferes with my powers," Ragnarok snarled. The creature was silent and the red glow began to dim. "Our sisters are coming. I'll the pain at bay until you're alone again," it said quietly as the black began to fade in.
"Remember what I said…"
Fang's eyes opened, her chest heaving as if she had run miles. She blinked a few times before her eyes adjusted to the darkness and then the artificial light as it was turned on.
"Oh, you're actually up! That's good, now I don't have to worry about facing your fury at being woken," Vanille said as she walked in with a tray laden with food.
Fang forced a smile and sat up. "Have I been asleep for long?" she asked, feigning curiosity.
The older nodded her head, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Nearly all day, that and you'd been unconscious for nearly two weeks before today."
The brunette was silent for a moment as she processed Vanille's words. "…How long was I in Cocoon?"
The air was still and silent as the atmosphere seemed to thicken before Vanille finally answered, "…For three weeks."
A deep sigh left Fang as she grabbed her sister's hand as they lapsed into silence. Out of the two sisters one of them wanted to talk about it, but was reluctant to ask, while the other just didn't want to talk. Finally the silence was broken as Fang looked over at Vanille and asked softly, "Do you have any rubber bands?"
The older, shocked, nodded her head. "Yes. Do you want some?"
The brunette smiled and nodded. "Yeah," she said. Vanille tilted her head but stood none the less and walked out, returning a couple minutes later with the hair ties. Silently, she handed them over to Fang who took them with equal muteness.
Without exchanging any sort of word or look, the younger L'Cie tilted her head to the left and flipped the hair on the right of her neck over so that it cascaded down with the rest. Deftly, she separated a lock just above her ear and divided it into three parts, braiding the strands together all the way to the end.
Vanilla watching her sister with curiosity and confusion as she continued the braid not once or twice, but three times until she had three of them adorning her waves. Once she was finished she righted her head and her hair fell back into place, the new braids traveling behind her ear and down to her shoulder. The sight left Vanille with a sense of déjà vu, her eyes training on the adornments until she finally recalled a memory, her eyes widening with recognition.
"Mamma?" Fang asked, her eyes locking on another woman from the village.
"Yea' Fang?" her mother asked back, looking at her daughter curiously.
Vanilla paused in her flower gathering to look at her sister and mom with curiosity. "Whatcha lookin at, Fang?"
The tiny brunette raised her hand and pointed to the dark haired woman and her friend that accompanied her. "Why do they have braids in their hair?"
Their mother smiled and lightly grabbed her youngest daughter's hand, cradling it gently. "They have 'em cuz their warriors tha've been captured by enemy villages and successfully got away."
Vanilla tilted her head and walked over to her mother, sitting down next to her. "So they 'er hostages, mamma?"
The older brunette nodded. "It's a mark o' the warrior code. Differn thangs stand for wha' they've been through an their rankin's. Those braids are a mark of loyalty."
'One for each week' the older thought as she looked over at Fang, torn as she attempted to ask her something, anything about the capture, but in the end she couldn't even do that. "Eat. You need the nutrition to help you heal," she said, glad when the younger nodded. "And if you don't," she said warningly, "I will send up Lightning. I'm sure she'll have no problems force-feeding you."
A slight smile escaped the brunette as she imagined the infuriated pinky trying to stuff an apple down her throat. "I'll eat, but only if you go get some sleep, it's late."
Vanilla smiled and nodded. "Deal," she said as she squeezed her sister's hand. "I'll see you in the morning," she said as she let go, sending one last smile as she exited the room.
As promised, Fang started eating, becoming ravenous once she actually tasted the food and realized how hungry she really was. Before long all the food was gone off the tray and a very full L'Cie was looking around the room, pondering what she should do.
'You have to get stronger or else the pain will destroy your body…'
Fang sat up straighter, determination written on her face as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood. Her knees buckled, but held her up as she quickly regained her equilibrium. She cautiously lifted the hoodie and inspected her wrapped thoracic cavity, her fingers gently prodded around the broken rib and she contained a delighted smile when no pain was produced.
'I guess that demon is good for one thing at least,' she thought as she unwrapped her now healed wound. Instead, she pushed up the sleeves of the sweater and wrapped the bandages around her arms and hands for support. She glanced around the room as she opened the window and slipped out of the second floor, landing carefully on the ground below. With a quick look around she deemed that no one was around and started off towards the training grounds.
It only took her a few minutes to maneuver through the woods as to find an isolated place and was soon stretching carefully, keeping in mind the muscles that were still sore from her escapade. She moved her arms above her head and stretched them, feeling her joints pop at the feeling before she began stretching her legs. Once she was done she rolled her shoulders, her body looser than it had been in weeks and the soreness somewhat sated.
Fang took a deep breath and closed her eyes, sliding her leg back while she raised her arms into a fighting position. Concentration poured out of her as she slowly opened her eyes, her fist striking out in front of her, stopping suddenly as she supported her weight on her right foot and spun with the hit. Her left arm came back and locked at her hip as she jumped up and kicked her leg out, landing and then dropping down into a swift spin kick.
Her movements were precise and controlled as she imagined enemies surrounding her, the visual all too easy to picture in her mind. After the first few moves she started drifting into her mind, letting her instinct take over as she began to wonder. It took the sounds of someone approaching to bring her attention back and she quickly sat on the ground, looking up at the night sky as they got closer, trying to appear as calm and content as she could.
She only had to wait a few minutes before another sat down beside her silently, red hair catching the corner of her eye. Silence stretched between them as they continued to observe the dark sky until Fang sighed. She turned her head toward him and for the first time in two months, got a good look at her boyfriend. "…You look like hell."
Indeed he did. His skin looked even paler than normal and his eyes were weary while his body was tense. It took her a second to figure out that wasn't the smartest thing to say. Thank kami that Gaara already knew that the filter between her brain and her mouth tended to be faulty. "You okay?"
Gaara blinked at Fang's blunt comment and turned his face toward her, seeing concerned eyes examining his face. "Do I look okay?"
"No, but at least you don't look as bad as I do," she muttered, a sigh escaping her as Gaara took his turn to look her over. The cuts and bruises seemed to have healed since her first saw her, except the ones that were around her wrists that he saw earlier that day, indicating that shackled were used to keep her bound. She too looked weary, dark circles around her own eyes had appeared, but the paleness was starting to recede and color was seemingly starting to return to her slowly. Despite all of that though, she still looked considerably weaker than what she usually seemed.
Silence once again overtook them, a slight spark of tension that now radiated through both of them.
Fang pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, staring out into nothing before she took a deep breath. "...I don't know what you expect me to say, Gaara. I don't know if you want an apology or an explanation..." she said, shaking her head. "I honestly can't apologize to you. I have no qualms about what I did, just on how it affected people. I know I've caused pain, but it was the only thing I could do..." she paused for a second and took a deep breath. "I'm not going to promise you that it's not going to happen again. I don't know if I'll ever be put into a situation like that. If I am, I'm not going to just stand back and let them take my family...I refuse to promise you something and then go against it."
Gaara shook his head. "I wasn't expecting you to apologize or explain. I probably would have done the same thing. It still hurt, yes, but it wasn't your fault."
The brunette blinked, not looking at him as her mind reeled. 'Wasn't my fault? How could it NOT be my fault?'
"But, I do want to know what happened," he said softly.
His words made the former captive shake her head as she shivered internally. "I won't tell you that. There's no need to dwell on something that's already done and over with," she said. 'No need for you to dwell on.'
"Fang, that man that was supervising you was-"
"Your dad, I know," she interrupted, noticing his slightly bemused expression, "Him and Kankuro look a lot alike. That, and his temper is like Temari's even though he tried to hide it."
"That's how you figured it out? His temper and how he looked?"
"You do know how good I am at getting under people's skins, right? Once I placed why he looked familiar I was able to deduct his reactions, even though he was hiding them until I wasn't in sight."
Gaara sighed. "So you won't explain what happened in your interrogations?"
Fang looked over at him. "What is there to tell? They'd try to break me and I wouldn't let them. They'd get pissed and take it a step further while I messed with their minds and insulted their intelligence. Out of all of us I'd say they fared worse than I did." Fang paused for a moment and narrowed her eyes. "I don't like it when people try to assert authority over me to get me to bend to their whim," she ground out.
The shinobi couldn't help but to smile slightly at how stubborn the brunette was, glad that it came in handy this time. His eyes looked into hers as another question passed his lips. "Why were you taken, Fang?"
The teen was silent before she sighed. "They tried to use me to get to the others. There were rumors going around that there was more than just Snow, Hope, Vanille, and myself in the L'Cie rankings. It was also being spread around that it was possibly an officer of Cocoon was a turncoat L'Cie, which in all actuality is Lightning."
Gaara raised his eyebrow. "That's it?" The brunette nodded her head, the braids catching the red-head's attention. He tilted his head, 'Those weren't there earlier…' "Fang?"
"Hm?" she asked, resting her head on her knees.
"What are those?" he asked, gesturing to her new hair adornments.
Despite her worries about Ragnarok and the undoubted trouble that was in the future her lips pulled up into the first genuine smile she had since she had awoken. "A mark of my loyalty."
The next morning Fang barely said good morning before she left the house, not returning until late at night. Every day that went on until one L'Cie noticed something that all the others missed.
Not once since the brunette had woken had she listened to music.