AN - SEVERAL THINGS. Yeah yeah, another chapter already. Wasn't going to post it until a bit later in the week but to hell with it. Good pick up mystery squirrel guest commenter about the ratings- I didn't even notice that; in fact you're likely the reason I'm posting this chapter just so I could say this and say thank you! Yes, it's defs meant to be an M rating. Secondly! I changed the name of this story as someone beat me to the original name of "Home" over on A03 literally a day before I uploaded mine. You should go read it, it's totally great. ANYWAY shutting up now.

The next morning at the New Bodhum GC office, Lightning was waiting out the front for Fang with a coffee in hand. She was grateful that they were still able to utilise the stores from Cocoon. With a little luck, the first plantations in the south will come through in the next season, and she won't have to go without. Lightning sipped her life-giving brew, curious as to whether it will taste any different when grown from Pulsian soil. She thought about a lot of things that would be different for them all in their new lives beyond the shell, specifically the need for warmer clothing now that the temperature was starting to dip in the early morning.

The soldier was clearly lost in thought and didn't see the tall figure approaching until their shadow loomed over her. Lightning glanced up and promptly choked on her coffee as she came eye to eye with Fang who did not look at all like Fang. The Pulsian had forgone her usual sari in favour of dark pants, enclosed shoes and a black tank top under a jacket. She'd even managed to get her hair up into a messy ponytail. Lightning had to remember to clamp her jaw shut before she nodded in greeting.

"... Good morning."

Fang shuffled her feet in the dirt at the scrutiny and the faintest of blushes showed through her tanned skin. "Vanille and your sister made me go shopping when they found nothing but a couple of salvaged garments of mine in the wash."

"I… See..." Lightning said, trying very hard to not stare at how the brunette's jawline and neck were exposed from her altered hairstyle. "I'm glad you survived then. Not everyone comes out of one of Serah's shopping trips unscathed. Especially not my damn credit chip." She added with a sigh as she checked her bank balance from her phone. Fang gave a small lop-sided grin and bumped her shoulder against the pinkette's.

"Figured I have to get around to it sometime. I'm told my fashion is somewhat… Dated…"

Lightning rolled her eyes at the terrible joke, not looking up from her phone. "Being older than all of us by half a millennium will do that to you."

The brunette was about to protest the crack about her age when she saw Lightning straighten up and salute the approaching large uniformed man. "At ease Major. It's too early for formalities." He yawned as he strolled past the pair.

"Major… Didn't realise you got a promotion. Congrats I guess?" Fang whispered as she fell into step alongside Lightning who was following the General inside.

"I helped save the world, they figure a mild pay rise and a few extra stripes were in order." The pinkette muttered in return.

"Modest as ever, Farron," The General chuckled as he opened the door to his office and ushered them inside. "So you're the famous Oerba Yun Fang. I am General Amodar and I have to say, ma'am, it's an absolute honour. On behalf of all of us I thank you for your sacrifice alongside your sister."

He went to shake her hand but instead enveloped her in a giant hug which elicited a squawk from the unsuspecting Pulsian. "We've got a new regiment starting up this week Major, they've arrived this morning and should be here shortly. Yun Fang, I was hoping that we could employ your expertise to get them up and running with the land as soon as possible."

The brunette waved her hand in dismissal at the formalities. "Just Fang is fine, Amodar. Be happy to show the greens around. You looking to expand?"

The General shrugged as his assistant brought in a coffee for himself, pausing for a moment to inhale the bitter aroma. "Well we're only a small precinct here because New Bodhum is small, however, we've grown large enough now to be considered a port town."

True enough, the town had become the main interchange between the new settlements at Paddra and the fledgeling city at the base of the pillar, Academia. Fang's eyes narrowed subtly at the thought of how quickly New Bodhum had grown in the time she was asleep. While three years paled in comparison to the five centuries encased in crystal, it was still something that unsettled her regardless. Would there be anything resembling her home left in a matter of years?

Amodar roused her from her thoughts with a hearty chuckle. "The fact that we have the saviours of Cocoon in our sleepy little town probably helps as well, hey Farron?" Lightning groaned and shifted uncomfortably in her seat at the unwanted title. She looked over at Fang who had started subtly bouncing her left leg on the spot as the brunette sat and nodded, appearing interested in the discussion.

Appearances were deceiving, however, as Fang wasn't paying attention in the slightest. Once more she found herself in two places; the Guardian Corps office next to Lightning and at the same time, falling away from her. Her brand on her arm lit up and enveloped her in a burning light that swallowed her whole. The last thing she saw was the pinkette reaching for her as her vision turned white.

The desk phone ringing snapped the Pulsian back to reality, not realising that her breathing had quickened and a thin sheen of sweat had dampened her forehead. Fang slowly turned her gaze to check her shoulder where her brand once was, trying to not draw attention to herself. She sighed with relief to find her arm bare of any scorched markings, just the usual smattering of scars. Lightning watched her pronounced breathing and nails digging into the chair, immediately concerned.

"Fang..." she whispered, "Are you ok?"

The Pulsian took a few deeper breaths, slowly letting them out each time until she was a little calmer. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Sorry. Was miles away then." She gave her trademark smirk to her companion in the hopes it would alleviate the troubled frown she was receiving. It didn't. "Sorry, Light. Didn't sleep too well."

When Lightning looked beyond the semi-tidied hair and stopped eyeing off that unsettlingly distracting jawline, she could see that Fang's eyes were bloodshot and shadowed by dark circles. She was restless and hadn't sat still since they got into the General's office. While her boss was on the phone chatting away, Lightning slowly leant over and placed a hand on the Pulsian's still bouncing leg in an attempt to still it.

Fang looked down at the pale fingers on her knee and watched her leg's movements slow and come to a stop. She glanced up at the cerulean eyes that were fixed on her and took a deep breath. "Sorry... Sorry." She repeated a few times, worried that her restlessness was testing what little of her friend's patience there was to begin with.

"Come on ladies, they're here in the courtyard. Let's go meet the Calvary." Amodar said loudly as he hung up the phone. Fang's head snapped up slightly faster than Lightning's had at the name.

"You're... Just using that as a turn of phrase, right?" Fang asked hesitantly, afraid of what it could mean regardless of the answer. When Amodar didn't reply and merely held the door open with a smile, they both took off from the office and left their chairs spinning in their wake. Lightning was always going to be faster and made it to the courtyard first to find a small group milling about. While she slowed up at the sight of a particular tall soldier with a very distinct shaggy red hair, Fang kept going and pelted forward, knocking him off his feet.

"You son of a bitch!" The Pulsian growled and didn't hesitate to lay in a solid punch straight to his jaw.

"Fang!" Lightning rushed forward and pulled the raging woman back.

The man laughed and wiped the blood away from his mouth. "Geez girly, always knew you packed a solid punch. Can't say I didn't have that coming though." Fang was panting from her exertion, with Lightning still holding her back.

"My name... Isn't... Fucking... Girly... Arsehole..."

Amodar wandered into the yard looking amused at the scene unfolding before him. "So I take it you've all met before, Rygdea?" He called out to the man splayed on the concrete.

"Fang, calm the hell down already!" Lightning hissed in her ear. The brunette suddenly became very aware of the soldier's arms across her stomach and her chest and she suppressed a shiver. She calmed instantly, remembering both her place and the person currently holding onto her.

"I'm good… I'm good." she murmured with her head turned slightly to address the pinkette behind her. Lightning reluctantly let Fang go, and the Pulsian stalked over to Rygdea. The pinkette was about to intervene again when she saw her friend hold out her hand to help him up. He took it with mild hesitation, and was then startled as Fang pulled him straight into a hug. "You idiot," She whispered with a broken voice barely composed, "I thought you were dead. Turned to Cieth."

Slowly he returned the embrace and ignored the dumbfounded stares he was getting from Lightning and the others. "I'm sorry I scared you. We got called away from the plaza at the last minute, and the comms were dead. Those creepy crystal monsters were their own soldiers Fang, not us. We all got out. We've just been busy with securing everything post-Fall that this is literally the first chance we've had to check in."

Lightning knew that the two of them had spent more time together when Fang and Vanille had initially woken from crystal but didn't realise they had gotten so close. She'd never bothered to ask. It made her feel guilty, and a little jealous that Fang had someone else to go to.

They finally let go of each other and allowed Rygdea and his men to get into formation while Amodar went over an introduction of the city and surrounds. The Pulsian saw the way Lightning was looking at her and coughed. "He just... Reminds me of an old friend I had back in Oerba. His name was Lucyn. We were wrapped in the same cloth, the Elders would say. He was taken when one of the Fal'Cie came down and took more of our lands for Cocoon. Rygdea… Is a lot like him."

"Fang, were you and Rygdea, you know…" Lightning trailed off, uncertain as to how to finish that question politely… Or why she was worried about the answer. The brunette grimaced and stuck her tongue out.

"Ew Light. No. I don't swing that way. Just friends. He showed me kindness when there was no reason to do so back when Vanille and I got separated. He had every reason to put a bullet in my head. Instead, he helped us save the world."

Lightning nodded but paused as it sunk in properly. "Wait, what do you mean 'you don't swing that way'? What swing? Why is there a swing involved?"

Fang looked at her, incredulous. "You're kidding, right? Did they grow all you vipers in a field somewhere? Nobody give you the uh, facts of life?" She said with a raised eyebrow, considering the pinkette's form. Lightning glared at her and folded her arms with a huff.

"I know what sex is, Fang. We were sheltered in Cocoon but not completely devoid of common sense." She replied with a scowl, "I just… does it work differently down here on Pulse?" Her eyes flicked down to Fang's jeans then back up, slightly concerned. The meeting was interrupted by Fang's roaring laughter as she almost fell off her seat. Lightning was bright red and glared at the others to keep their eyes front.

As Amodar cleared his throat and continued, Fang leant over and whispered in the pinkette's ear. "No Light, we all have the same equipment down there, don't worry. I just prefer bedding people with the same set as I do."

Lightning continued to remain as pink as her hair for the remainder of the meeting.

Fang was sitting out in the courtyard, whittling away at a piece of wood as she watched Vanille go through a herbal session with the elders. Her adoptive sister had shown a lot of promise early on and was likely the next in line to replace the village healer. The Pulsian smiled as she focused on her carving, tongue poking out the side of her mouth in concentration.

"You think that will be a sufficient offering to Anima during the next festival?" A lanky boy about her age asked as he sat on the wall beside her. She scoffed and held up the tiny work in progress to the light. It was a behemoth on its hind legs, head raised, making a crude gesture in the air.

"Does it look like I really give a shit Lucyn? Does it look like any of us give a shit? Do the elders? The Fal'Cie? The vipers in the sky? None of them do. So, I'll sit here and carve out my little monster fingering the sky until I end up branded or dead."

The boy fidgeted with his nails and looked over at the class in the centre of the square. "Damn Fang, I know the war is getting you down but… Every viper you kill you're growing colder." There was a creaking sound as Fang gripped the little statue she had been working on until it splintered and broke, with flakes of wood falling to the stone pathway below. The shards of wood stuck into the palm of her hand, making it bleed.

"What do you expect? That I'm going to be able to enjoy the evening festivities after having to look them in the eyes? They're vipers Lucyn, but they have the same face as us. Same eyes. Same blood. Same look on their face when they die."

Vanille turned her head towards the two and waved, as she was chastised by the elder for disrupting the class. Lucyn took her by her injured hand and cradled it gently while he began to remove the splinters from her skin. "You've still got me though Fang, and you've definitely still got 'Nille." He sighed as he leapt off the wall. "Come on, let's kidnap Vanille and head to the river. You look like you could use the break."

The brunette couldn't help but smile at the infectious positivity that her friend refused to let go of in the face of abject despair. They ran over as the class was wrapping up, and Fang picked up her sibling and threw her over her shoulder as they ran off to the river together.

They spent the afternoon lazing about both in and out of the water, and if Fang closed her eyes and just lay still, she could almost forget that there was a war going on around them. Vanille crawled up beside her and lay on the bank. "Fang, are you ok?" She asked quietly. "It's just… You've been getting more distant lately, more reckless in the skirmishes with the enemy and I'm… Worried about you."

The brunette leant over and ruffled her sister's hair, pulling her into a hug. "I'll be ok missy. Just gotta keep going until I can't anymore you know?"

"What happens if it ends tomorrow though? What will you do then?"

Fang laughed and looked back in the direction of her village. "Go and bed every available woman in Oerba as celebration and not come up for air until at least the next harvest festival?" She received a smack on her arm for her crudeness. Vanille glared at her adoptive sibling, grabbing her on the hand and holding onto it tightly.

"I'm serious Fang! If you just keep going, you'll not know when you're meant to stop."

They were interrupted by a screeching sound that came from the sky above them. An enormous Fal'Cie swooped over the valley and headed for the river where they lay. Fang frantically looked around and found Lucyn in the middle of the water, staring up at them with a sad, resigned smile on his face.

"Lucyn! Get out of there!" Fang screamed as she scrambled to her feet.

"Don't let them take your heart, Fang!" He called back to her, not moving as the Cocoon Fal'Cie dug its mountain-sized hands into the bed in front of them and scooped up the land's resources with the Oerban villager within. "Don't let them take y-"

The rumbling of the earth and the hollow scream from Fang's throat drowned out any other last words from a life-long friend as the Fal'Cie vanished back to its nest and left the two Pulsians knelt before a vast crater.

"Fang! Are you even listening? This is important!" Vanille asked with a frown and a hand on her hip. The brunette nearly fell off the bed they were sitting on. It took a moment for Fang to get her bearings and remind herself she wasn't back in Oerba but at Snow and Serah's house in New Bodhum.

"You've been hiding away here for days, weeks even. You're more distracted than ever and we're... I'm worried about you." There were tears pricking at Vanille's eyes as she took her older sister's hands and held them. "And with this opportunity I'm-"

"Huh? What opportunity?" Fang asked, confused. Vanille's expression became frustrated.

"See this is what I'm talking about. I've been sitting here talking to you about how the city of Academia wants me to go and conduct research with them for a few months, and you've not heard any of it." She dropped Fang's hands and stood up. "I... Can't pass this up Fang, and I need your support in this. I'm scared I'm going to lose you."

"You're not going to lose me, and of course I support you 'Nille, I think it's great," Fang said automatically, only half aware of what her sibling was talking about. She looked out of the window to the pillar holding Cocoon aloft and sighed.

"It's... Not like I'll be gone long, and I'm not too far away..."

"It's fine, Vanille." Fang said brusquely without turning, "These soft Cocoonians need all the help they can get."

The redhead shifted uncomfortably on her feet. "Well... Ok then. That's good. Hey, you know Serah is having a family dinner this week? When was the last time you saw Lightning?"

The pinkette's name drew Fang's attention away from the window with equal parts hope and longing battering away in her chest. She hadn't seen Lightning in weeks, the woman so involved with her work it's a miracle to have even had her accept the invite. Though that was likely under penalty of the wrath of the mini-Lightning... Fang winced at the thought. She always thought Lightning was scary with her anger. But Serah was terrifying.

She had kept her distance lately, not wanting the soldier to see her at anything less than her best. Somewhere along the line, her friend had become somewhat of a lifeline for her, and she found keeping the demons at bay just that little bit easier when the pinkette was around. But Fang's declining mental health made her feel ashamed to be around her. There were other conflicting feelings that were surfacing around her as well, ones that Fang had no clue how to act on despite her cavalier nature back home in her village.

"It's been a minute, and yeah yeah I'll be there for the dinner." With a huff, she buried her head into a pillow. Vanille rolled her eyes and left the room, exasperated.

Once she was certain the coast was clear Fang uncovered herself from her hiding place and sat up slowly. She took a ragged breath and stared at her hands. They were trembling, as per usual, and she clenched her fists in an attempt to still the movement. They'd been shaking for the last few weeks, and would always get worse after she would be lost in a memory.

She scratched at the skin on the back of her hand, feeling agitated. Looking around the room she found one of her saris she'd found in storage and pulled it out. Seeing the extent of the wear and tear, she sighed. Vacuum sealing was all well and good but not completely foolproof, with some of the stitching dissolved. Nodding to herself, she pulled out her kit and got to work.

Anything to keep her hands busy.

AN End note - As Home was originally a handful of one-shots that I began to piece together to create this story, the way I've edited and re-wrote this is that sometimes it's going to be a little jarring in terms of transitions between memories and present-day shenanigans. While it won't always be the case, I assure you it's deliberate. I'm trying to simulate as best I can what it's like to have a dissociative state. As someone that deals with them frequently, getting caught up in a flashback or literally just losing track of time, I can personally attest to just how fucking disorientating it is when you come out of them to find someone's been trying to have a conversation with you for ten minutes, or that you've been staring at a pot of boiling water for half an hour while trying to make dinner.