Put Your Trust In Me
Chapter 12 – Building Blocks (To Something More?)
Lightning and Fang walked side by side along the path back to the hotel, both silently enjoying the other's company in the slow, leisure stroll. Though, parts of them felt that there was not much to say at this point right after a rather… heavy evening.
Once they had arrived back in their room, Lightning took a clean set of clothing for sleepwear along with her towel then headed into the shower. Fang on the other hand, grabbed the set of clothes she previously had on and changed back into her sleepwear. The brunette then turned to look at the bed, which had four fluffy pillows and a big duvet for two. She tilted her head for a bit and arched a thoughtful eyebrow at the bed, a hand came to rub gently at her chin as a thought struck her.
"Let's see how we can put these to good use." Fang mumbled with a small smirk.
In the bathroom, Lightning turned the shower tap off and stepped out onto the mat. A hand reached out to grab the towel hung on a hook to her right and then started to dry off her body. Once the pinkette felt considerably dry, she wrapped the towel around her body and moved towards the sink to stand right in front of the mirror.
The young woman looked into the reflection in the mirror, her slick hair combed back and her sharp turquoise eyes rose to meet its own reflection. Lightning stared at her own face for a bit before her eyes drifted down to her chest, where half of her scar showed while the other half was covered by the towel wrapping around her body. Turquoise eyes lingered on the huge scar on her chest, a jagged line running down her otherwise smooth porcelain skin.
Lightning frowned at the scar after awhile as past memories that led to her acquiring this huge and ugly scar came crashing into her mind's eye. This scar was the source of her shame and sign of weakness, one constant and ugly reminder that she would much rather forget, but she could not. If not for this scar, Lightning would not have succumbed to her own weaknesses that almost led to someone's demise. Someone who was important in the past, and still is.
The longer she dwelled on these thoughts, her scar started to ache again from the still rather fresh memory of the attack, and she hissed as she pressed against her scar to suppress the pain from surfacing. When the pain subsided, Lightning breathed out a sigh and looked up into the mirror once more at her own frown. With a shake of her head, she removed her hand from her scar and moved to get dressed in her sleepwear, which comprised of a short sleeved T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Once she was fully dressed, she grabbed her towel again and draped it on top of her head as she continued to dry her damp head.
Stepping out from the bathroom, Lightning turned to her left and stepped into the room. A few steps in and she stopped in her tracks when the scene met her eyes.
The bed was fairly split with a row of pillows in the middle, with one pillow on each side. Fang was currently on the right side of the bed with her back facing her as she lay on her side, an arm tucked underneath her pillow while she rested.
Seeing such a sight, the pinkette couldn't help but felt her heart warmed at the initiative taken by the brunette. A small smile snuck its way up to the pinkette's lips and she let it stayed, feeling content at such a considerate display from Fang. Lightning then moved to the table where the hairdryer was and contemplated about using it when the brunette was sleeping, but then a decision was quickly reached when a voice sounded behind her.
"Don't worry, I'm just closing my eyes here, not asleep yet. Get your hair dried, Light." Fang said as if she could read the pinkette's mind.
The pinkette's features were registered with surprise when she heard her voice, and she nodded as she thanked the woman, "Thanks."
Fang let out a chuckle at the short response, "Do you think I'd let you sleep with your head wet? Get it done soon and get some sleep, it's gonna be an early day tomorrow." She said with a yawn following soon after she was finished.
Lightning nodded and she proceeded to do as she was told. After drying her hair for a couple of minutes, she combed through her hair for a bit to feel for wet locks. Satisfied that her hair was dry, she hung her towel and went to turn the light off. She walked a short distance from the switch to the bed in the now rather dimmed room, saved by the moonlight coming in through the slit of the parted curtains. Once she was settled in bed, she turned her head slightly to the left to look at her current bed mate whose back was facing her. After a few quiet moments, Lightning spoke up then, with a softness that Fang had never heard before ever since knowing her for all these months.
"Thank you, Fang."
Fang's eyes widened and her ears perked up at such a gentle tone. Even though she had been friends with the pinkette for about five months now, this was in all honesty, the first time she had heard such softness coming from the other woman. Sure, they were able to talk leisurely nowadays and the pinkette visibly relaxed around her, but this had never surfaced in the past. A small smile reached her lips then as she thought about how interesting the woman truly was and how much more she could uncover. After a short moment, she responded, "You're most welcome, Light."
A faint smile reached the pinkette's lips then, but faltered a bit as she began again, "I'm sorry too."
Fang's smile faded and it was replaced with a frown at the sound of that, she turned and sat up slightly to face the pinkette in the dark then. "Why are you apologizing?"
"About the war… your loss, and the past you had to go through." Lightning mentioned softly.
The brunette's features softened at the woman's soft response, "It's okay, there's no changing the past anyway. Besides, I've just come to be… more in terms with my past recently, and it's thanks to you." She said with a smile as the pinkette turned to stare at her bewilderedly, "So, if I should say something, I should be saying thank you for helping me to mend my… 'scars' of the past."
Lightning continued to stare at her with a confused look, "I… don't quite get what you mean."
Fang turned away and stared onward, "I lost my family, my friends, my village… all in a single day. Although I was only three, I knew what happened when I saw my parents all charred and unmoving. I knew what I lost when I looked around my village where everything was in fire and smoke. I'd lost everything when I was three, and I knew it then and there. The years of bullying also almost pushed me into a despairing state, but only saved because I had to stay strong for Vanille. So, you can probably imagine the grudge I had for Cocoon as I grew up. I kept thinking to myself… if it wasn't for Cocoon's strike that day, I wouldn't have lost everything."
Lightning chose to remain silent as she listened intently, while also inwardly feeling sorrowful and sorry for the brunette as she retold her past even though she had a similar experience.
"I chose to become a soldier for Gran Pulse because I wanted revenge against Cocoon. I wanted to avenge for my family, for my loss of everything in the past when I was growing up all those years. At one point, I literally lived for that." Fang commented.
The pinkette's eyes immediately darted towards Fang sideways in a cautious manner, wondering if what she said earlier at her place was true now that this was said. It – surprisingly and deeply – hurt her to listen to this from the brunette, that she was out to seek revenge against Cocoon – against her country. If this was truly the case, then however reluctant or unwilling, she will have to meet Fang as an enemy on the battlefield one day if a war did break out again. After all, Lightning became a soldier not only to provide for Serah, her only family, but also to protect her from any harm that may come her way.
"But…" Fang started softly, catching Lightning's attention as she lifted her head to face her.
"That was when I still had such a blind rage towards Cocoonians, towards their cruelty of wiping out a whole village of innocent people." Fang said with a frown as she arrived at the end of her sentence, feeling the remaining sparks of hatred flared within for a bit before it faded away. Without dragging her pause for too long, she continued then, "But… Well, you know Vanille, she never really blamed Cocoon for anything, even though she too experienced the same loss that I did. For her age, she was that much more matured and understanding than I was even though I was older. If it wasn't for her, my rage and hatred would have grown even greater, but because of her constant efforts to soften my enraged heart… it didn't grew, but it did maintained. Remember how I was so hostile against you? That was… my hatred causing me to act on instinct to Cocoonians… to you." She looked to the pinkette briefly and dropped her gaze as she continued apologetically, "Which, I'm very sorry about."
Listening to the apologetic tone, Lightning followed Fang's earlier motion to sit up and lay against the headboard. "Fang… Don't be, I was just the same." She said as she reached out to firmly grip the brunette's shoulder then giving her a reaffirming shake.
Fang smiled at the pinkette's attempt to soothe her, "Thanks Light, you may not realize it yourself, but you're an awesome catalyst of change. At least, to me you are."
The pinkette retracted her hand as one questioning eyebrow rose, "Right… You were just saying that, but how so?" She asked.
"I grew up cursing and thinking that all Cocoonians are the same cruel…" The brunette paused when she came to this and took a glance at the other woman, then thought better of sprouting nasty stuffs, "Well, I'll refrain from using whatever nasty words since you're the one listening. But anyway, yea, I thought all of them Cocoonians are the same – they come, they strike, they take whatever they please and then leave dead bodies everywhere, cruel down to the bones." Fang stopped for a while then, and a small smile came crawling onto her lips, "You sort of showed me the exact opposite of what I thought. Sure, you can be damn well violent and dangerous, but when I finally get to know you, you're really just human, just like any one of us you try your hardest to protect those dear to you, the people you love. I could never see this when I had other Cocoonian roommates in the past because they just fit so damn well to what I imagine them to be when they looked at me with disgust, with hate… or some are just plain annoying alright. Initially, I thought you were one of them too, the ones that label us as barbarians secondary to Cocoonians and just thought of us as nothing more than monsters with a human skin because of the war when you all were pretty much the same. But I finally knew how wrong I was to think of you like that when I saw that incident with my very own eyes, you don't limit yourself to only the ones you love… You extend that same selflessness to the innocents too."
Lightning arched a curious eyebrow at the statement, "That incident…?" She muttered to herself, and after a while she understood what the Pulsian meant. "You mean that little boy?" She asked.
"Yea, and that was the point where I realised that perhaps not every single one of you are the same cruel beings, and also precisely why I decided to come after you to understand you more as a person – to not keep dwelling on whether you're a Cocoonian or Pulsian, but just a person which I'd really, really like to know and… be friends with." Fang said with a warm, genuine smile.
The pinkette was stunned for a short while before quickly looking down and away from the other woman, letting out a small cough before she started, "Well, then you certainly seem very easy to be convinced just by that… And you aren't wrong, I did come to Gran Pulse thinking every one of you are the same, nothing more than barbaric murderers and I do hate you Pulsians."
An interrupting cough sounded from Fang.
Lightning casted her an amused glance as she continued, "At least that was what I thought, but I still do hate some of them that tend to give me odd looks like what you just said earlier. Until I met Lebreau… and then I got to know you better. I… do admit that I was like what you described, labelled you together with the horrible bunch that had taken the lives of my parents, raided my home, my country, but then… you kept coming around to help me out, and your constant pestering to be friends with me did make me change my mind to wonder if you are really one of those monsters that destroyed my home in the past."
Fang clicked her tongue and faked an annoyed look then, "Well sorry for the pestering ey."
A soft laugh escaped the pinkette's lips, "I'm glad you pestered me… because that helped in changing my mind to perhaps open up to you. And with what happened during that fight against those men, that was what really changed my perception. You're really not bad at all, you are… nice, and I'm… well…" Lightning trailed off a little as she bit down on her lower lip, unsure how to phrase it as she was so unused to being so openly expressing her thoughts to another person – but with Fang, the words seemed to flow, and she found herself looking into Fang's eyes while she admittedly saying her thoughts out loud that, "I'm glad to have you with me."
Fang froze and stared at the pinkette upon hearing that.
And Lightning was stunned as well after realising what had come out of her mouth. That did not sound right.
After a few seconds of silence, Lightning quickly reworded her sentence, "I mean… Having you with me as a friend. Good night, Fang." And with that, the pinkette quickly slid back down onto the bed, pulled the blanket all the way up to cover even her ears – which was red, by the way – and turned to the side where her back was now facing Fang.
Fang, on the other hand, stared blankly at the pinkette's form for a while longer before sliding down onto the bed, and with wide eyes wished the other woman, "Good night, Light."
What was that? Fang thought to herself repeatedly throughout the night as she replayed in her head the way Lightning looked at her as she said those words.
The next morning around 5.30 a.m., Lightning's eyes slowly peeled open as a soft alarm tune reached her ears.
To the pinkette's surprise, her eyes were met with the perfect pair of collarbones covered in bronze skin, and that belonged to no one other than Oerba Yun Fang.
Lightning blinked for a few seconds as she considered the current situation that she was in. Apparently, she was well encircled by the brunette's well-toned arms, where one of the woman's hands appeared to be gently cradling her head in while she had – seemingly – snuggled into the woman's warm, comfortable crook right beneath her chin. For her part, she noticed how one hand was snugly fitted between the two of them while another was grabbing onto the brunette's tank top at the back.
Then out of pure instinct, her leg moved and the next second Fang was on the floor with a thud. Thankfully though, the bed was not too high to cause any serious injuries to the now abruptly awakened brunette who let out a groggy and painful groan.
When Lightning's brain finally caught up and noticed what she had done, a hand came smacking onto her forehead for her stupidity. While she was absolutely shocked and surprised that the brunette had actually moved in so close to her during her sleep, this was not necessary to be done to the other woman. Then she quickly sat up and moved to the edge of the bed to see how the brunette was doing. The pinkette watched apologetically as the brunette slowly peeled herself off the carpeted floor with a grunt and moved herself into a seated position, an olive hand then moved to cover her face.
"Look… I'm really sorry, it was pure instinct that I kicked you out of the bed." Lightning started to explain in an apologetic manner.
Fang peeled one eye open as her hand moved to cover her nose and mouth, "Well what kind of bloody instinct was that for?" She said with a groan of pain as her hand made contact with her nose.
Lightning bit her lower lip, "I mean… I was really shocked that you came so close to me during my sleep… I didn't expect to see you right in front of me the second I woke up, Fang."
The brunette gently touched her nose again and winced at the pain. Apparently, she had fallen flat on her face, and her nose took the brunt of the fall. With the pain agitating her, she shot the pinkette a small glare, "Lightning, you were the one that came up close to me and started snuggling to me for Etro's sake!"
The pinkette was stunned upon hearing that, and then a small frown slowly appeared. "I… what? You mean I was the one… that snuggled up to you first?" She asked slowly.
Fang sighed at the pinkette, "Of course, you wouldn't remember in the grogginess of your sleep what had actually happened." She gently breathed out through her nose and suddenly, she felt liquid trickling down. A hand quickly touched her nostrils to feel the liquid, and not surprisingly, it was actually blood trickling down. "Gah for Etro's sake, now blood is coming down. Great."
Lightning swiftly moved up and away from the bed to grab the box of tissue from the room's desk. Then, she went and helped the brunette up by the arm and sat the injured woman down by the edge of the bed before offering her pieces of tissues, which the brunette took and chucked it to her nose. After a short while when Fang was done sticking the tissues up in her nostrils, Lightning started again, "Fang…"
The brunette looked up to Lightning who was currently standing in front of her, "Whut?" She said with a nasal voice.
"Just… I just want to make things clear… so you were saying I went up and snuggled with you first?" She asked, her features marked with slight concern and embarrassment.
Looking up at such a rare expression, Fang could not help but let a soft chuckle escape as she shook her head, "Yes, 101% sure Sunshine. You came up to me first and started hugging me, and well, I returned the hug because you sounded like you needed the comfort." She explained.
Lightning quirked a curious eyebrow then, clearly wanting to understand more as to what actually happened, "I… needed the comfort?" She asked.
Fang nodded, "Yea, you were probably having a bad dream or somethin'." She said as she removed the pieces of blood-soaked tissues from her nostrils and replaced with new ones before she continued, "You were almost like… whimpering as you were saying something. Well, I couldn't hear what, I was pretty tired and just as shocked to see that you managed to get through the pillows lined up in between and caught onto my arm. I tried calling your name, but you can't seem to hear me in your dream and then clutched onto my arm even tighter… you were also shivering a little, so I figured you probably needed a hug or something to help calm down a little bit. Which, by the way, worked when I hugged you back because your shivering stopped, and you went back to sleeping peacefully again."
The pinkette's face flushed red and she brought up a hand to cover herself from embarrassment while she listened to the whole recount. When she analysed what Fang had said, it did seem to ring a bell with her that she had a dream about the war, about their lives in The Hold, and then… Lion. With a long sigh, she dropped her hands to place on her hips and looked down as she started, "I'm sorry… It seems that I'm the clingy one in this case… I'm really sorry that you had to go through with… this." She said as she gestured at Fang's bleeding nose.
The brunette let out an amused huff at the clearly embarrassed pinkette, "Well, at least now I know you're the cuddly type ey?"
Lightning's face brightened with red hues again at the comment, "Fang." She warned sternly.
Fang waved a hand at the other woman, "Oh come on, it's no biggie. Not like I'm bothered that you're one to cuddle, I'm used to this since in my younger days Vanille always seem to end up cuddling next to me when we sleep no matter what barricades I put in between, so I just end up embracing it." She said with a laugh.
"I'm not Vanille… and I shouldn't be doing this." She muttered to herself, out of Fang's hearing.
"What?" Fang asked with quirked eyebrows.
Lightning pursed her lips, "I mean I'll be sure to get two more pillows to build a taller barricade for tonight." The pinkette said with a determined look.
A roll of eyes was registered, and then Fang started, "Look, like I said I'm bothered at all, so you don't have to go all apologetic or embarrassed that you like to cuddle up to someone. Besides," she moved her upper body forward while she was seated and looked up straight to Lightning's questioning eyes, "It was nice cuddling with you, who would have thought the great Lightning Farron is up for cuddles huh." She said with a teasing smirk accompanied by a wink.
Lightning immediately turned to walk away, "I'll be sure to get more pillows. And I'm getting you a wet towel to wipe off those dried blood on your face and hands, hold on." She said while moving towards the bathroom with a face redder than a tomato. After running a face towel wet with water, the pinkette returned – after she was more composed, of course – to the brunette and handed her the wet towel, "Here."
Fang took the wet towel and a hand went to remove the tissues which were yet again soaked with blood for most part, but instead of beginning to wipe off the dried blood, she quickly grabbed more tissues to stuff it back into her nostrils which were still trickling down with a lot of blood. Groaning, she passed the wet towel back to the pinkette, "I can't use this right now, the blood won't bloody stop and it's going to stain it if I wipe my face right now. Plus I can't really see where the stains are."
The pinkette took hold of the wet towel once more and stared at it for a little while, contemplating her options before succumbing to her guilt, "Move to the side a little bit, I'll help clean you up."
The brunette looked up with surprise clearly shown on her face, "You are willing to help?"
Lightning half-rolled her eyes at the response, "It was my fault you're having a nose bleed after all… Let me make it up to you with this."
"Nuh, uh, uh, who said just a wipe would call this even huh? You haven't gotten my opinion yet." Fang said with a finger held up, shaking from side to side to emphasize the point.
The other woman arched an eyebrow at her, "Then… what do you want?" She asked.
Fang gave a thoughtful look for a while, then shrugged and moved aside, "Well can't think of anything right now since I'm losing blood, I'll just have to remember that you owe me one." She said and then patted the spot next to her on the bed. "Meanwhile, I really appreciate your help in helping me clean up, it's starting to get sticky on my skin."
All these because of this one stupid habit… Lightning thought as she sighed softly and complied, then she turned to face the brunette, "Face me, and you should probably tilt your head slightly higher to the back and pinch your nose to stop the bleeding. Breath through your mouth."
Fang listened and complied, tilting her head towards the back a little bit while a hand started to pinch down on her nose, exposing her neck that had a few trails of dried blood.
Lightning stared a little at the exposed neck and internally cursed. This is a bad idea.
After breakfast at the inn, the students gathered at the lobby and waited for Sazh's instructions. After a headcount was done by the instructor, he motioned to the bus that was parked right in front of the inn's entrance, "Alright people, let's get onto the bus and we'll be departing soon for the GC Headquarters for a series of lectures by the officers. These are high-ranking officers with tonnes of experience out in the field, so be sure to keep your ears open because you're the ones going to benefit from this. Understood?"
The students nodded and responded favourably to Sazh's question.
"Good, now let's head to the bus." The instructor said, and he stood by the entrance of the inn as he allowed the students to pass through first and head towards the bus. When it came to a certain brunette, he put a hand out and pulled her aside, while Lightning continued towards the bus. "Oerba Yun Fang, what in Etro's name happened to your nose?" He asked, with a lot of question marks seemingly visible with the face that he is making.
Fang casted a glance to where the pinkette had gone ahead towards the bus and looked back to the instructor. With a shrug, she simply said, "Had a bad dream and landed on the floor with my face."
The group arrived in the GC headquarters again and were then directed to a briefing room where the lectures will be held at. Even though it was only supposed to be a 'room' and not supposedly a hall, the space was still capable of taking in about 250 people. So, as one can imagine, the room was still pretty empty with only about 150 of them sitting in for the lectures.
As they all took their seats, they were told to wait for the lecture to start in about another five minutes by the person in charge. Meanwhile, Fang decided to test if her nose was getting any better with a gentle touch by the tips of her fingers, but that resulted in a hiss with her face scrunched up in mild pain. Lightning looked over then pursed her lips apologetically, not sure what she can offer to help make the brunette better.
"I'm sorry." The pinkette uttered again, though she had already apologized earlier, but she felt the need to apologize again to the woman for causing her unnecessary pain.
The brunette looked to her momentarily and waved a hand at her, "Nah, it's fine. You didn't exactly do it on purpose, yea?" She said.
Lightning shook her head, "It was really out of pure instinct because… well, I haven't exactly been doing this for years ever since I'd moved to the dorm." She explained, slightly embarrassed at the honest confession.
"So I'm guessing you're used to cuddling with Serah while you sleep back in your younger days, yea?" Fang asked with a small, teasing smile. It was fun to tease the stoic woman who was so easily embarrassed with things like this.
"Serah started it." She blurted out, but then gave a cough and composed herself once more. "Well, she started to cling to me first while we were young… and that became a habit growing up. And back then during the war… all the more we had to keep each other close while we slept at that God-forsaken place, to be alert and aware of our surroundings in case some people were to come and be funny to us."
When the pinkette came to that, Fang suddenly remembered about what the younger Farron had told her about – Lion. She gave a soft understanding hum at Lightning's reasoning, and after pondering a little, she started strategically, "Are you two the only ones looking after each other back then? No one else came to you and Serah's help? I mean, considering you and Serah were both pretty young based on what Serah has told me."
Lightning stunned at the unexpected question, and her mind raced to look for an answer – not knowing that the brunette had already known about the truth from Serah. Her eyes darted around the room as she contemplated on whether she should let Fang know about Lion, but what if she asked further about this person? She was not ready to talk about this person with anyone – especially with Fang. "Well…" she started off softly, unsure of what to say next.
The brunette watched as the other woman struggled to find her words. Seeing that she did not seem to be willing to share about this, she steered out of the topic and faked a hiss. "Ow, that was a sudden sting."
The pinkette's attention was brought back to Fang, and her struggle forgotten for the time being, "Are you alright? Is it really painful?"
Fang continued to fake her pain for a little bit more, "Well, it would be an obvious lie if I said no, right?"
Lightning's signature apologetic frown showed up then, and again she apologized, "I'm really sorry about this…"
The brunette stopped her act immediately then, "Well, just got to remember that you owe me a favour for this." She said with a slight smirk.
Seeing the immediate transition, the pinkette raised one questioning eyebrow then, "Are you really in pain, or are you faking it just to make sure I keep my word?" She questioned as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"Meh… A little bit of both, but I'm not lying when I said it's painful." She said with a shrug.
Lightning rolled her eyes at the happily humming brunette.
Just as their conversation had ended, the officer that was supposed to be giving the lecture strode in. "Well, well, a very good morning boys and girls, let's start off our lecture now."
After the series of lecture had ended, the group moved onto the next item on their itinerary – on-the-job observation. The big group was divided into smaller groups which were then led by different facilitators to go around observing different working departments simultaneously.
They were introduced to the many different departments residing in the GC headquarters and how some of them – some departments were off-limits to Gran Pulsians to visit – operated. In the GC's headquarters, not only the military branch resided there but also the police force, so the group was introduced to how these departments under a difference branch operate, such as the patrol department, homicide department, detective department and so on.
Once the tour was over, the group gathered together again at the main lobby where the head instructor did a headcount. With that, they wrapped up the tour of the GC headquarters and headed off for lunch in a popular local diner, to which Fang put her free meal coupon from Sazh to good use by ordering a mountain high of food to feed off the monster within her stomach. The instructor was, nevertheless, shocked at how his wallet had shrunk half in its thickness after the meal.
With their stomachs heartily filled, the group went on to their next location – Cocoon's Bodhum Military Museum. Though a lot of students were discouraged at the sound of museum at first due to the impressions that museums were boring, the group was pleasantly surprised at the scale of the museum when they had arrived at the front entrance.
Fang, who was here for the first time, openly gawked at the sheer size of the building.
Next to her, Lightning – who had been here quite a number of times – was looking at the brunette with an amused smile. "I thought this size wouldn't have fazed you Pulsians. The university is way bigger than this." She idly commented.
The brunette turned to her then, "Excuse me? That is a university, so it's totally understandable. But, a museum of this size and here in Bodhum?" She let out a whistle, "This size is nuts for us Pulsians if it's only a museum, we'd have probably build another law enforcement base with a land of this size."
Lightning shrugged, "Well, if it makes sense to you, Cocoon has only got three military museums, one is in Eden, another is in Gaprawood, and the last one is here. The military museum serves as a very important education spot for all citizens so that basic military weaponry and operations are taught to the citizens of Cocoon, this was introduced after the war so that in any future outbreaks, the citizens can at least pick up a gun when offered one and join the fight. The museums also act as a training facility to cater to these citizens' training when they hit 21, which is mandatory as set by the government of Cocoon. So, if you thought that our military museum is just a place to store artefacts, then you'd be surprised when you enter in a while." The pinkette explained.
Fang deadpanned at the explanation, "Calling it a museum is a very misleading way to describe this… secret training facility that we're looking at."
The pinkette shrugged with a small smile, "Not so secret anymore."
After the instructor had gotten the tickets for everyone, the group went into the building. Needless to say, most of the students – which were Pulsians and some of the Cocoonians who had never visited the museum yet – were looking around in awe at all the amazing displays of war artefacts, ranging from laser blast guns, varying types of grenades, and they even saw a life-sized tank that was used previously in the war between Cocoon and Gran Pulse.
As they moved along, they were greeted with both old and modern war technologies and also simulated function rooms where the operations were being carried out during the past war. In another section, there were also rooms featuring deep-engagement simulations, where one gets into a pod and doze off into the simulated environment to get a feel of combat and war in the virtual environment. In the virtual environment, students specialising in combat gets to sharpen their skills even further by engaging in fights against programmed characters, so they can train outside of class hours without a training partner – which Lightning had been doing the moment she knew about the museum.
Going deeper into the museum, they then found a huge section which was dedicated to the citizens' basic weaponry and combat training. The group paused in their steps as they took in the way the young citizens were trained by licensed instructors, made up of both certified instructors – the ones who went through courses to be certified for the role – and veterans who had retired from the military packed with an amazing load of experience at their disposal, whom of course also were given a license automatically without the need of a certification course. A good chunk of time had passed as they watched the many groups trained in different combat areas before moving on throughout the rest of the military museum.
When the interesting tour of the military museum came to an end after approximately three hours, the group boarded the busses again and headed off for dinner at a restaurant in Bodhum's City Centre. Along the way, Sazh became a part-time tour guide as he told stories about the city, considering he had a fair share of time spent here in the past. While the instructor was going on and on about the city's interesting history, Lightning closed her eyes to rest while Fang checked through her phone for any messages from the redhead, who should probably be back in her dorm room after her classes for the day.
"How is your day two trip?" Vanille wrote.
Fang smiled at the message and typed into her phone, "The day isn't too bad at all, though the lectures were a bit boring but they were still good. The best part was the museum I tell yer!" She tapped on the sent button and waited for a reply.
The notification tone went off when Fang's phone received a new message, "Did I read that right? You, Oerba Yun Fang, just commented that the museum was the best part? You were literally whining to me about it the other day about how to skip it by trying to fake ill." The younger Pulsian wrote.
Fang rolled her eyes at the redhead's expected response, "Yea, yea, I remember what I said alright. But turns out the museum is really not just a museum, it's also a training facility for Cocoon's citizens in weaponry and combat training. So I thought that was pretty cool." She typed in her response and hit the send button.
A few seconds passed before another message came in, "Good that you ain't bored till your brains fell out! Is Lightning there enjoying a good time just as you are?"
Fang looked over to the resting pinkette and then typed in her response, "I think so, she seems to be tired so she's resting right now."
The phone's notification rang again as another message arrived, "That's nice to hear, I'm happy you two are enjoying. Oh by the way, Skye was asking about how Lightning was today, so I'm just gonna let her know that she's doing fine."
Fang stopped at the last sentence, her jaw clenched and her hold on the phone tightened slightly. Exhaling slowly to calm herself, she typed in her response, "Oh. You were with her today?"
A beep. "Yep, she was working together with me in the infirmary. So she asked about how Lightning was since she only got to know from Lebreau just yesterday that you two went on a field trip to Cocoon."
To this, the brunette snickered as a playful grin came up. So she didn't know about this huh. Composing herself, she typed in her reply happily knowing that Lightning did not say anything to the blonde, "Ah I see. Well, nice of her to ask. She didn't ask about me ey?"
Fang waited a few seconds before another message came in. Her eyes narrowed and jaw clenched again at the message, "She did, but it was only about asking me to check with you on how Lightning is. Skye seems to be pretty interested in Lightning, and she'd also asked me about her on like places that she likes to go and stuffs. But I don't really know what Lightning likes, so I told her to talk to you instead."
Tightening and releasing her hold on the phone, she breathed in and exhaled again to calm herself once more. It was nice knowing that she had the upper hand of knowing Lightning more personally, so if Skye did come asking her about what Lightning liked and where she would love to go, she would be able to ask Skye to go screw herself. "I'm too busy for that kind of stuffs. Tell 'er not to come bother me about things like these." She typed in her response and sent it back to the redhead.
After a few seconds went by, a text came in again, "Oh don't worry about it, because in the end Skye said she would rather look elsewhere for inspirations than to go to you, said you probably wouldn't know much either."
Fang fumed, and her knuckles went white as she clutched at her phone so tightly that it was nearing the edge of breaking. A voice tore her out from her anger then.
"Fang, are you alright?" The voice of the concerned pinkette reached her ears.
The brunette released her hold then and turned to face the other woman with a forced smile, "Yea, yea I'm alright. Why do you ask?"
Lightning arched an eyebrow at the brunette's unnatural smile, "Because it seems like that phone of yours is about to break. Are you sure you're fine? Did something happen to Vanille?" She asked with a concerned frown, worried about the safety of the lone redhead when they were both away.
Fang waved a hand at the pinkette to dismiss her worries, "Nah she's perfectly fine, just… casually talking with her about something." She explained.
"Casual? You seem like you are about to rip someone into pieces." The pinkette remarked.
The brunette clenched and unclenched her hands then as an attempt to cool herself down, "Now, now, Light, let's not over analyse, I'm perfectly fine, savvy?" She told the other woman.
Giving her a questioning look, Lightning shrugged as she continued, "If you say so. If you need help, just let me know."
Lightning was actually right about Fang tearing someone into pieces, she imagined exactly the scene where she tore Skye apart limb by limb.
After dinner, the group was brought on a guided tour around the city. While it was a field trip, there was no reason to stress the students out with mere lectures and classes. The instructor thus had been lenient in the itinerary and had planned in a tour around Bodhum's city centre before they headed back to the inn.
The guided tour lasted about an hour on foot around the city, going through crowded spaces filled with people in the ever lively and friendly city. Bodhum was renowned for its bustling city completed with a beautiful seaside, therefore it was the perfect spot for tourists to spend their time there aside from Nautilus, which was commonly known as the City of Dreams. Even on a weekday like Thursday, they could see a lot of people – both natives and tourists – wandering around the city's square that was very close to the clear beach that made Bodhum a famous spot. The square was the ideal spot for many vendors that had their stalls set up selling a variety of things originating from Bodhum, and some from varying origins.
While most of the stalls offered light snacks and some heavier meals, there were a lot more of other stuffs to see. The typical stalls in a tourist spot usually comprised of souvenirs seller – very much like the key chains you can normally see a place's scenery printed on it – but then, one particular stall caught the brunette's eyes with a sparkle. Since they were given some time to roam about the square for a bit, Fang made her way towards that particular stall.
The old vendor of the stall caught a glimpse of the approaching brunette and then slowly climbed to her feet before giving a warm smile to the woman, "Hello there young lady, how can I help you?" She asked with a gentle voice that came with a slight quiver due to her age.
Fang flashed the elderly woman a friendly smile of her own, "Hey yea. What are these shiny little stuffs?" She asked as she scanned the gem-like objects varying in sizes, shapes, and colours. Some of the objects were crafted in the shape of flowers and some like fangs or irregular shapes. One particular object that almost resembled a pink rose – if not for some edgy sides – caught the brunette's attention then, followed by an orange fang that was right next to it.
The elderly woman followed Fang's line of sight and brought up the two pieces of objects, "These are Eidolon stones, each one of these are handcrafted using Eidolon fragments, so each piece is unique and does not have another similar replacement."
Fang arched her eyebrow questioningly at the vendor, "Eidolon stones? Wait, you mean from the Eidolon cores?"
The vendor shook her head gently, "These stones do not exactly come from the Eidolon cores. You see, before these Eidolon cores were extracted from where they were embedded in, the cores' aura will seep into its surrounding elements, like the limestone surrounding the cores, so these aura-infected limestone are what we call Eidolon fragments, and we only use these to craft the Eidolon stones. Do not worry, young one, these stones do not hold the power which the cores yield." She explained in detail before handing over the two pieces of Eidolon stones to the brunette, "Here, don't be shy and take a look."
The brunette took hold of the Eidolon stones and held them in both her palms as she examined them, "Hmm… these are quite well crafted. Did you make them?" She asked as she brought her eyes back up to meet the elderly woman's.
The elderly woman smiled and nodded slowly, "Yes, I'd made them. I buy the fragments from Gran Pulse and then I work on them. Each one which I'd created here is the only one that exists, there is no same piece out there that you can find if the ones in your hands go missing."
Fang hummed at the explanation and looked back to the Eidolon stones in her hands. For some reason, she felt a strong desire to take the orange stone with her, but she also wanted to take up the pink rose. "How much is one piece?"
"It is 150 gil each, but if you're buying two, I can consider selling them to you at 250 gil for the pair you're holding." She said with an elderly, gentle smile.
"250 huh, that's quite a good bargain…" The brunette said softly under her breath, she really had the desire to just pay for them and go, but the one problem that was stopping her was that she did not bring enough gil for two, but just one. Just when she was struggling to make a decision, a shadow moved at the corner of her vision and she turned to look at Lightning who was now standing next to her.
Lightning arched a curious eyebrow at the other woman as she eyed the gems in her friend's hands, "What are these?" She asked.
"Those are Eidolon stones, young lady. They are made from Eidolon fragments that originated from Gran Pulse." The old seller responded.
The pinkette turned to face her then, "Eidolon fragments from Gran Pulse? How did you get them?" Her tone laced with mile suspicion.
The old lady smiled calmly, "Now, now, young lady, don't worry. These are real Eidolon fragments which I have obtained from legitimate sources in Gran Pulse, they do not come from the underground market. If you'd like, I can provide you with a copy of the official purchase receipt from a Gran Pulse authorized seller. There's a license number of the authorized seller for you to trace the origins."
Lightning's eyes softened and a small smile eased up, "No, that's alright. I'm just curious, that's all."
"What's wrong?" Fang asked.
Lightning shook her head, "Nothing, I just thought that such rare resources will barely make it out into an open market like this especially in Cocoon. I was just wondering if it was… well, fake or from an underground market. I supposed I've over analysed a bit on this." She mentioned quietly for the brunette's ears to hear only, being careful not to offend the old seller.
Fang hummed understandingly, "Oh, I see." She said, and then she looked back at the two gems in her hands.
The pinkette cocked her head to one side slightly, "Thinking of getting them?"
Fang nodded slowly, "Yea… Actually, I know it's strange, but I can't seem to shake off the feeling of not buying them, especially this orange one. Something at the back of my mind seems to be whispering to me, telling me to get them." She admitted softly to Lightning's ears.
"Then why not just get them both?" She asked.
The brunette faced her with a sheepish smile then, "Well, you see… I sort of brought too little gil with me today, and I'd spent most of them during dinner…"
Lightning gave some quiet thought and nodded, before turning to the old seller. "How much is it?" The pinkette asked as she pulled out her wallet from her jacket.
Fang was surprised and openly gawked at her, "Wa-" before she could finish, the seller had spoken up.
"That would be 250 gil for those two." The old lady said with a gentle smile.
Lightning pulled out the exact amount and passed it over to the seller with two hands, "Here you go."
The old lady received the gil into her hands and counted them. Once the amount was right, she looked up to them both and gave a warm smile, "Thank you dears, now please let me pack them into a pouch for each." She said with her hands extended out, waiting for Fang to place the gems in her hands.
Still slightly agape at how fast everything happened, she could only silently comply and passed the stones back to the old seller. After the old lady was done packing the stones, she turned to the two women and passed them to Fang. "Thank you again for your business, I hope you treat them well." The old lady said with a smile.
Fang took the pouches carefully from the old lady and put them into a safe compartment within her bag before responding to the old seller with a warm smile of her own, "Sure thing gran', thanks for the beautiful pieces."
Just then, a whistle sounded and both women turned to regard the source which was Sazh, standing at the square's centre calling for all students to gather and return to the inn. After bidding the old seller goodbye, the two went and joined the group.
The old seller watched the two young women left for the group with a smile, and quietly she spoke only to herself, "And now it has been done." Her eyes sparkled briefly before returning to its normal state.
When they had returned to the inn, Sazh as always, gave a short briefing on the gathering time for the next day. After that was done, the students were dismissed and instructed to return to their own respective rooms.
Once Fang and Lightning were back in their shared room, Fang immediately headed for her duffel and fished out a pouch filled with gil. After managing to dig out 250 gils, she moved to where Lightning stood watching her curiously at the corridor that connects the entrance to the main room space, and then handed out the gils to the pinkette, "Here you go, 250 gils for the eidolon stones. Thanks for helping me out back there."
The pinkette reached out but paused midway, "Does it count as one favour returned?" She asked.
Fang quirked an amused eyebrow at that before she commented, "That's a pretty smart move. Well alright then considered one off the hook."
Lightning gave a small victory smile at that, "Glad I tried. But I didn't take you to be one that fancies these stones." She said as she received the gil from the other woman.
Fang gave a shrug, "I don't usually, but something about these two eidolon stones just urges me to get them." She said as she turned slightly to look at the bag that held the stones.
The pinkette was quiet for a moment before she spoke up again, "Can I take a look at them again?"
"Oh, of course you can" Fang said as she went and retrieved the pouches holding the stones safely within, and then passing them to the other woman.
Lightning sat on the edge of the bed and then very carefully took the stones out from their pouches. She gingerly held the stones in her hands as they shone brilliantly under the room's light, illuminating the room in some patches of orange and rose pink caused by the reflection of light. As she was examining them, she found herself involuntarily drawn to the pink rose stone, and she felt her eyes glazed over a little as if her consciousness was being pulled away.
Seeing the somewhat dazed look on the pinkette's face, Fang brought a hand up and tapped the women on her shoulder to interrupt her reverie, "Light? Are you alright?"
Lightning's focus returned and she blinked a little bit, "Huh? Yea, I'm fine. Just a little… Tired, I supposed." She shook her head a little and gently placed the pink rose stone on the bed before plucking up one pouch to keep the orange stone away. When she took hold of the pink rose stone again, she felt a sudden yearning in her heart to take the stone with her, but with her consciousness strong this time she resisted against the thought since it belonged to Fang, and then she slipped the rose stone into the pouch; but not without giving it a lingering look which Fang caught sight of.
As the pinkette lifted the pouches and passed them back to Fang, the brunette took hold of them. "These stones seem to be a little entrancing huh? That old lady sure did a great job crafting these beautiful stuffs."
The other woman nodded in agreement, "Yes, they are indeed beautiful. Are you keeping those for yourself?"
Fang gave a small smile as she held up the pouch that held the pink rose, "I've someone in mind to give this to."
Lightning quirked a curious eyebrow, "Oh? Who would that be?"
The brunette turned away and moved to where her bag was to keep the stones away safely before she responded, "Well, you can say it's someone special, I suppose." Her voice hinted a smile to the pinkette.
At that, Lightning suddenly felt a spike in curiosity – and if she would ever admit, even a pang of jealousy – against her will, and she blurted out a little too quickly, "Someone you like then?"
Fang was silent for awhile, and she hesitated on what response she should give. Instead, she settled on this, "You'll know in time." And then she quickly grabbed her sleepwear and towel before slipping away towards the bathroom, "I'll be showering first tonight!"
The pinkette could only watch the other hastily and smoothly slipped away into the bathroom, and blinked as the door was shut. She pursed her lips and a slight frown was shown as she pondered a little on the lucky person who will be receiving the pink rose eidolon stone from the brunette, and turned her eyes to where Fang's bag sat holding the stones within as the yearning returned. After a short while, she tore her eyes away and shook her head as she told herself resolutely that those belonged to Fang, and she should not be eyeing the stone for her own interest. Standing up, she went over to her luggage and prepared her clothing for shower.
After about fifteen minutes have passed since the moment Fang shut the door, the brunette reappeared in her tank top and sweatpants, a towel still in hand drying her dark brown locks. "I'm done, you're up next." She told the pinkette who was currently watching a combat strategy video while she waited for Fang to be done.
When Lightning heard Fang, she put her phone down and gathered her things before looking up at the brunette – and was stunned for a moment as she took in the sight of Fang, who was actually donning a tank top that was actually pretty wet and stuck snugly against her full bosom. And then a trickle of water from her hair came dripping down along her slender neck, causing Lightning's temperature to spike a little bit and again feeling dry in her throat as she did in the morning.
Noticing that the pinkette did not move to get up, Fang spoke up with an eyebrow curiously arched, "You okay, Light? You seem to be caught in a daze quite often tonight, are you not feeling well?"
"You look rather… wet." Lightning gestured at the brunette as she forced the words out after an internal struggle to restrict herself from appreciating the other woman's figure any further.
The brunette looked down and nodded, "Oh yea, well, clumsy hand dropped the tank top on the floor earlier. Though I was quick to pick it up it didn't help that this material soaked up water pretty fast." She explained with a small sigh. "Guess I'll have to change into another piece." She said as she put her towel down and her hands then moved to the hem of her tank top.
Lightning was alarmed at the action and immediately interrupted the other woman, "Wait, what are you doing?"
Fang looked at her curiously, "Tryin' to change out of this, what does it look like to you?"
The pinkette grabbed all her stuffs and grumbled as she moved past Fang into the bathroom, "Please do it at your own privacy…"
Fang eyed the closed bathroom door and snickered a little at the reaction, "Still so shy as ever, ey?" She idly commented as she removed the tank top and slipped into a baggy tee she had just retrieved from the bag.
In the bathroom, Lightning cursed under her breath and complained about how the room was suddenly so hot to bear thanks to the heater, and also about the brunette's apparent lack of decency.
Some horizontal lines might not be consistently formatted, but that's because it's my first time using this feature. 'Cause who still uses XXX to break up scenes anymore, right? :P
Hope you enjoyed and kindly leave a review on what you think! I'd be brutally honest, it may motivate me to write the next chapter faster. :P