Note: This involves characters from Whispers of the Gods and Ordinary Heroes. Technically speaking, the characters from Whispers of the Gods are from the past (i.e., from before the events of Chapter 1, but after the events of Chapter 8).

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All Mixed Up

Fang yawned and curled up against Lightning. The morning sun was coming through the window, but she did her best to ignore it. It was a Saturday morning, and the kids were sleeping over at Serah and Snow's house with Claire, which meant that for the time being, it was just her and Lightning.

There were so many possibilities.

Deciding to start things slow – they had the house to themselves until the evening – she let her hands wander from Lightning's waist over to some more… interesting parts of the other woman's body. Lightning shifted slightly in her sleep, and then settled. Fang grinned. After years of marriage, she knew just how and where to touch Lightning. Just a little more and Lightning would wake up, and when she did, Fang would pounce.

But that was not what happened.

Lightning stiffened and before Fang knew what was happening, she was sailing through the air. She hit the far wall of the bedroom with enough force to leave a dent in it and then crashed to the floor. She got up onto her hands and knees, tasting blood, and shook her head. It was one thing to be a little grumpy at being woken up, but this was a little too violent, even for Lightning.

"What was that for?" Fang growled as she looked over at the pink haired woman. "I was just…"

She trailed off. There was something very, very different about Lightning. Instead of the baggy t-shirt she'd worn to bed, Lightning was now dressed in a flowing white garment that seemed almost to glow. But that wasn't the only difference. Fang had always thought that Lightning was beautiful, but the woman in front of her now was inhumanly lovely. Everything about her, from her features, to the colour of her eyes and hair, all of it held some unearthly perfection. This Lightning was less a woman, and more a goddess, and the air was heavy with a raw power that made Fang want to drop to her knees or look away.

"Who are you?" Lightning asked, and her voice seemed to fill the entire room. Fang swallowed thickly and found herself struggling just to breathe. "And how dare you lay your hands on me."

Fang pressed herself against the wall. She had never, ever been truly afraid of Lightning, but right now every instinct in her body was telling her to run. This woman might look like Lightning, but Fang was absolutely certain that this was not the woman she'd married and raised two lovely children with. "How about you tell me who you are?"

Lightning's eyes narrowed and little arcs of electricity crackled around her. The scent of ozone filled the air and Fang winced. Despite her namesake, Lightning had never been able to do that. "Do not test my patience, mortal." She paused and Fang had to fight the urge to run as the full weight of Lightning's gaze came to rest on her. It was like staring into eternity. "Or perhaps you are not a mortal. No mortal would dare steal the shape of the Fang of the Heavens." She lifted one hand. "Such a crime is not something that I can ignore."

There was an ear-splitting boom before a jagged bolt of lightning ripped through the roof of the house. It struck Lightning and Fang reeled away. When it cleared, the floor around Lightning had been scorched black, and Lightning was no longer dressed in the strange, flowing garment. Instead, she was dressed in intricate crystal armour, a cloak the colour of freshly spilt blood draped over her shoulders.

"You will speak," Lightning said. "And you will tell me what is happening. Otherwise, I will kill you where you stand."

Fang tensed. There was no doubt whatsoever in Lightning's voice. She meant every word she'd said. As the seconds passed, Fang wracked her brains for something, anything that could explain what was happening. Had something happened to Lightning? Perhaps the fal'Cie had done something, or maybe Etro? Whatever it was, she wasn't about to just stand here and be threatened. She needed to know what had happened to Lightning, and if that meant dealing with the woman in front of her, that's what she'd do.

Fang shifted her weight forward and then lunged.

Then she slammed back into the wall, held a few inches off the ground. Sweet Maker, she hadn't even seen Lightning move.

"That was most unwise," Lightning murmured, holding Fang up against the wall with one hand around her throat. Fang lashed out, punching and kicking, but the blows didn't seem to have any effect at all. "If you will not speak, then I will take the knowledge from your mind."

Fang's eyes widened and then the world fell away. She was lost in her own mind, some great, terrible force bearing down on her. She tried to hold it off, to shove it back, but it was relentless, a tidal wave of raw power that smashed through every single one of her defences until it reached her memories and dragged them out into the open.

Suddenly, it stopped. Fang dropped to the ground as Lightning lurched back.

"This cannot be," Lightning growled. She looked at Fang. "Your memories cannot be real."

Fang rubbed at her throat. Lightning's hands had felt like steel. "What do you mean?"

"I see another Lightning in your memories," Lightning murmured. "You two are… are wedded. You have children." Her jaw tightened. "And you are mortals, both of you."

Fang groaned and got back onto her feet, eyeing the other woman cautiously. "And you're not?"

"No, I am not." Lightning's eyes shone with inhuman power. "I am a god."

Fang stared. Oh. "A god?" she murmured. "A god?" She chuckled softly and then looked around, half-expecting Vanile and Diana to jump out and declare the whole thing some kind of crazy prank. "No… you can't be. Because if you're a god then that means Lightning – my Lightning – is somewhere else." She had to force herself to breathe normally. "Who are you?"

"I am the goddess Lightning, the Blade of the High Mother, the Sword of the Heavens." Lightning's voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. "And you are right, I am not your Lightning, and this is not my world."

Fang swallowed thickly and then cursed. Damn that hurt. "How did you get here?"

Lightning glared and Fang found herself backing away. That glare was something else, even compared to her Lightning's glares.

"I do not know," Lightning said. "But I will found out." She paused, studying Fang closely, and her voice softened just a fraction. "Still, perhaps I was wrong to strike you. You must have thought that I was your wife."

Fang made a face. Typical, even a divine version of Lightning hated to apologise. "Well, you are sort of similar." She frowned. "Is there anyway you can find out how you got here?"

Lightning nodded. "The High Mother should know." She closed her eyes for a second and then frowned deeply before looking back at Fang. "This is… impossible. I cannot feel the presence of the High Mother."

"I don't know who this High Mother is," Fang said. "But I think we should probably talk about this. You want to get home, and I want to get my Lightning back."

Lightning stiffened at the mention of the High Mother. Slowly, she looked around the room. There was a large hole in the ceiling along with a blackened patch on the floor. "Perhaps you are right. But we should talk in another room."

Fang nodded slowly. What did it say about her life that this might not even be the weirdest thing that had ever happened to her? Still, she'd get her Lightning back, and she'd do it before the kids got home too. She could only hope that wherever her Lightning was, she was okay.

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Meanwhile in a world, far, far away…

"Calm down, Lightning," Fang said as Bahamut leaned down to peer at the other goddess. "You're acting like you've never met Bahamut before."

Lightning's eyes were locked onto the huge dragon in front of her. "I've met Bahamut, and that… that thing doesn't look anything like him." She scowled. "And where am I? The last thing I remember was the two of us in bed and…"

"Wait," Fang said before she hopped off Bahamut's head and flew – Maker, since when had Fang been able to fly? – over to Lightning. "We've never shared a bed."

And that, even more than the huge dragon with the extremely toothy smile, told Lightning that somehow, something had gone horribly, horribly wrong.

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Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off of this.

So… I've always been kind of curious to know what would happen if some of my characters from different universes ran into each other. This is just a way of scratching that particular itch. I had considered letting Lightning (from Whispers of the Gods) meet the kids, but I thought that might end up getting a little too crazy. Out of the two, I think Lightning (from Ordinary Heroes) probably has the better deal, since Fang (from Whispers of the Gods) is pretty easy to get along with. In contrast, Fang (from Ordinary Heroes) has to deal with Lightning (from Whispers of the Gods). Obviously though, this chapter is not part of either story.

This was also a nice chance to do a bit of speed writing, since I wanted to push myself to see how quickly I could draft this and then get a decent final version up. I won't say how long it took, but I am reasonably happy. I think everyone should try speed writing at least once or twice. Give yourself an hour or two to write something and then just go for it, no matter how bad it is. You'd be surprised by some of the ideas that come up, and if there are any good ones, you can always go back and revise them later.

For people waiting on updates for other stories, don't worry. Those are in the pipeline, but at the moment, I'm clearing a bit of a backlog of omake. I've also got a two hour long lecture to prepare, so I have a number of things on my proverbial plate.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.