AN - Another round of dentists, another chapter. Thank you for your patience while I got this one together!
A few weeks following the events in Oerba, the two companions were both seated on the corner couch, with Fang resting her head on Lightning's lap as her legs dangled off the edge of the lounge. They hadn't gone any further than the kiss in Oerba, but neither was willing to be the first to bring it up. A stalemate that frustrated Lightning relentlessly on many levels, but she was worried that Fang wasn't bringing it up because it wasn't what she wanted. They still had their considerable closeness, which was at least something.
The brunette in question was busy decoding the maps using data collected from the bunker, working away on a datapad while the pinkette read a book. They had spent the last week trawling through the data they'd collected and had gone for a few more trips back to Oerba -under the supervision of Vanille and the support from Academia of course- getting more artefacts and information. They'd compiled everything onto the tablet the Pulsian was now working from, artefact scans included.
Lightning spied that trademark tongue poking out the side of Fang's mouth and smiled at the sign she was in her focus mode. The soldier ran her fingers lazily through the dark hair and went back to reading, content with how relaxing her nights with Fang had become.
The Pulsian suddenly gripped the datapad tightly and pulled it closer to her face. "No fucking way..." she whispered, a broad grin rapidly spreading across her face.
"Shit yes!" Fang yelled, startling Lightning practically off the couch.
"A little warning next time?" She retorted, annoyed at the shattering of tranquillity. Fang simply beamed and swung her legs around to sit up.
"I did it Light. I did it. I cracked the damn cypher. You were right about the clan using older tales to protect the data. It's unbelievable. I can't... I can't even..." She stopped, eyes darting through the information and widening suddenly. She took a shaking breath and looked up at the pinkette. "Still have that data projector lying around? I need to... I need to show you." Lightning stood up and went to retrieve the device, and returned to the room when she had found it.
The brunette was already on the phone with her sister to get her conferenced in. She hadn't seen Fang this excited since before she was in stasis and was intrigued by what she had found. The Pulsian quickly put it all together like she'd been shown, and plugged it into the pad she had been working off.
The first thing Lightning saw was a map of the immediate area of Gran Pulse. Fang keyed in a few things and brought up some known locations. "Ok," she breathed, barely able to contain her excitement, "Ok 'Nille are you in a private place? Secure? This needs to stay between the three of us, at least until I'm finished compiling everything and can be certain of what it means."
Vanille affirmed that she was alone in a study room, with headphones on hiding in a corner.
"Ok good. Right. So. There's where Cocoon and the pillar is, and then you've Academia at its base, us here at New Bodhum, as well as the port city Polet, and the other fledgeling cities scattered about." She pointed at each marker on the map, glancing back at Lightning constantly to make sure she was following along.
"So, these are the known areas… what about the rest of them? The non-populated centres?"
Fang grinned and stood closer to the pinkette. "I'm getting to that- watch this." She punched in a few more numbers and the map zoomed out slightly to reveal additional markers, the ruins of Paddra, Oerba, Taejin's Tower and the Archylte Steppe and surrounds. "But this is where it's going to make you a little dizzy because now that I've decoded the Rayn clan's artefact... I was able to rebuild a modern map of everything the old cartographers recorded before everything was lost."
She continued to zoom out further, and further to reveal that what Lightning thought was a vast enough land was only a handful of what the true scope of Gran Pulse had to offer. The pinkette immediately sat back down on the couch, overwhelmed at the size of the lands before her. Gran Pulse was a sprawling continent, on an even larger world. "Goddess… and I was already feeling insignificant when staring back at Cocoon for the first time…" She whispered shakily.
"If they're still there, the ice sheets in the north connect the continents, so a lot of it winds up being one massive landform across Gol'Ulse. The name of the world."
"Fang! That's amazing! I have seen small records of the lands but nothing this comprehensive… This…. Huge! The other researchers are going to lose their minds!" Vanille cheered down the phone. The brunette nodded even though her sister couldn't see the gesture, and she turned back to Light who was staring between her and the map in wonder.
"But look at this 'Nille, Light; the most important thing… And by Etro am I glad you're sitting down for this one." Once more Fang pulled more data up on the projector, and the entire map changed. It didn't show any of the highly detailed terrain but rather lines and symbols and Pulsian script written all over it. Identifiers started popping up on the map that showed Paddra, Oerba, Haerii and the other landmarks they had found on their travels, but other settlements started to appear that had yet to be discovered.
"This is the map that was in the case Rygdea's squad found. I'm still lining up the settlements and things but Light... Vanille..." Fang was visibly shaking now, which caused the pinkette some concern. She reached out and touched her the brunette's arm, watching tears form in her eyes.
"I haven't got all the data yet but… There are signs of settlements in the far west. I mean far west. Off continent. There were notes scribbled on the map pointing to a few places. Cal'Mah. Riaan. Vonun. There's a chance…" She had to stop to take a breath before her emotions threatened to overwhelm her.
"There's a chance there could have been survivors from the war. The notes say that after Ragnarok failed and Pulsians began to turn on each other, villages cleared out and headed west to escape whatever Cocoon had in store. We go west to create Sanctuary. Hidden from the nest. Hopefully, vipers can't swim… I'm translating of course. Vanille, our people could have survived."
Lightning stared at the map and tried to let it all sink in. Not only had her entire world just been literally opened up once more, the prospect that there could have been survivors... That there still could be survivors was staggering. She looked towards her companion and what she saw made her hold her breath.
Vanille was excitedly talking down the phone to them both, but neither of them were listening. Fang had tears streaming down her face at the revelation and Lightning wanted to wipe them all away. She took the phone from her hand and placed it slowly to her ear once she'd taken the redhead off speaker.
"Vanille, give us a few minutes, will you? We'll call you back so we can look at next steps and how to handle this." The young Pulsian seemed to sense the meaning behind the serious tone and hung up to give them space. She took the brunette by the hands and looked up at her. "Fang… I know what this means to you. There could be nothing left, a lot of questions still unanswered but... You weren't the catalyst, you never were. War was the catalyst. Ragnarok didn't wipe out your people."
Fang exhaled hard and tried to stop herself from shaking. "I have held onto it since I woke up the first time around. I… not everyone died Light. They still got out." A giant smile threatened to split her face and it was a sight the pinkette could get used to. "They escaped! My culture, my history, my people... They could still be out there after all this time!" Before Lightning could even blink, Fang surged forward and wrapped her arms around her neck, pressing their lips together in a moment of overwhelming emotions. After a few breathless moments they pulled back, Fang bright red. That was the first time she'd kissed the pinkette since Oerba.
"I.. Uh... I got a little carried away... There... S-sorry.. Light I-"
She was cut off mid-sentence by Lightning grabbing her by her shirt and pulling her back to her lips. "Shut up, Fang."
The next time the pair came back up for air they were both slightly dishevelled, back on the couch, Lightning had been relinquished of her shirt somewhere along the line and they were both ignoring the fifteenth missed call from Vanille on Fang's phone.
Lightning closed her eyes and smiled as she felt Fang's lips press up against her neck. The Pulsian hummed against her throat and nipped gently at the skin. They had sparred in a completely different way for the upper hand, with the pinkette managing to claim victory and was lying on top of the tanned woman. "Light… What are we doing…" Fang whispered against her neck, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
"I don't know," Lightning admitted as she drew back to look at Fang properly, "But does it really matter?" She asked with a shrug. The Pulsian raised her eyebrow and gave her an incredulous look.
"Light, you're currently on top of me, not wearing a shirt. I think it matters."
Leaning down and threading fingers through the wild hair that was a little messier than usual, Lightning pressed her lips gently against the tanned forehead. "I didn't mean it like that, I meant... Goddess, Fang. We've been sharing a bed for months, we barely leave each other's side, we're both ridiculously overprotective of each other, I kissed you in Oerba, you kissed me in the loungeroom... I think it's pretty safe to say that we know what we're doing here."
"So... What you're saying is that this is the next logical conclusion?" The brunette replied with narrowed eyes. Lightning gave her a sly grin and shrugged, moving to get off her.
"Well if you want, I can put my shirt back on and-"
"Nope. Nope. You can stay right where you are missy," Fang interjected, pulling the pinkette closer with arms snug around her waist. "I've waited half a millennium waiting for someone like you to come along. I'm not waiting anymore… But we should probably call Vanille back before she gets on a transport back out here."
Lightning laughed quietly, nodding her head in agreement. She felt giddy, and couldn't stop smiling. Years of sacrifice for everyone around her, and she was finally taking something for herself. Or taking someone, in this case. Every touch felt like she was awakening from a crystal sleep herself. Every taste of Fang's lips brought an overwhelming feeling of rightness. This was where she needed to be. This was where she wanted to be. She was well and truly home.
The group sat in silence around a conference table, staring at the projections Fang had put on screen. Rygdea was pinching the bridge of his nose while holding his breath.
"Well... Shit. This complicates things doesn't it?" He groaned and received a dirty look from Lightning.
"As crude as he is in his... Observation," Bartholomew mused, pressing his mouth against his hands as he absorbed the information. "There's a whole lot of variables that have just been introduced simply by knowing of this artefact's secrets. Are there survivors? If not, what's left of them? If there are, will they be hostile? How long until they come to our doorstep? Are they monitoring Gran Pulse or Cocoon? Could they be planning to communicate or conquer? We could wind up repeating history with the War of Transgressions all over again."
The pinkette's eyes snapped to Fang as she caught the tightening of the Pulsian's jaw out of the corner of her eye. She moved closer and took her hand beneath the table, away from the sight of anyone else in the room. She saw the instant Fang visibly relaxed and smiled.
"They're right though, Fang," Vanille said quietly, typing furiously away at a laptop and sending the data to the projectors. "We found some evidence of still active technology south of the steppe. If it's what I think it is, our presence here when we returned to Gran Pulse a few years ago activated it when we flew through the gate. It could well be a beacon. If someone is monitoring, and potentially hostile..."
Lightning grew uneasy at the implications. Either everyone was dead, or they've had three years head start on any military preparations. She shook herself from that line of thinking, knowing it led nowhere productive. Studying the map in front of her, she tapped her finger on the desk in deep thought.
"What's on that mind of yours, gorgeous?" Fang asked quietly, enjoying the light flush that came across the soldier's face. She squeezed the hand back underneath the table and had to restrain herself from leaning over to kiss the pinkette. They had at this point decided to keep their new relationship a secret from the others, just to give them time to feel each other out before their respective sisters started getting excitedly involved with their endless meddling. Lightning caught the flicker of the Pulsian's eyes down to her lips and she coughed to clear her throat.
"I think that we need to tread very carefully here, and not repeat the mistakes of the past. If there are survivors, we need to approach diplomatically." She said, looking around the room. "We don't know if there are other Fal'Cie out there, or if the potential people over the other side of the world are going to treat us as an invading force. We do this quietly. Prepare on the down-low for any defensive capabilities. Don't be the ones to strike first."
Fang's eyes narrowed at the subtle insinuation beneath the words. She ground her teeth in her head at the concept that the Pulsian forces would be openly hostile when it was Orphan and Lindzei that built Cocoon from the flesh of their own land to begin with.
"Vanille, do you think there's anything salvageable in the hanging wastes?" Lightning continued, asking the redhead a direct question. The young Oerban's confused expression slowly shifted into curiousity, and she shrugged. "If we can obtain one of the old Pulsian warships, fix it up so it's 'seaworthy' of sorts," she said while crooking her fingers, "Even if their technology has advanced in the last five hundred years, seeing one of their own ships could lessen the likelihood of an attack off the mark before we even get a chance to introduce ourselves."
"Sure, make us all out to be bloodthirsty killers that shoot first and ask questions later…" Fang muttered under her breath. Unfortunately for her, the pinkette's sharp hearing caught it and Lightning turned with a glare.
"We're all bloodthirsty killers. We're humans. If the boot was on the other foot I would shoot first and ask questions later. I'm not stating caution because of any Gran Pulsian threat, I'm stating caution because we as humans are terrible. Our own people purged innocent civilians to stop the truth from getting out about the vestige and to try to start a war. I'm not talking from a moral high ground here, Fang. I'm talking from a practical one."
The people around the table didn't say a word while Lightning stared the brunette down. She removed her hand from Fang's and stood up from the table, walking out of the room. The pinkette needed to get air before her temper got the better of her. She made her way to the railings outside that overlooked the construction of Academia. The only thing that set it apart from a city in Cocoon was that the sky was endless behind it.
"You're not a killer you know," Fang said quietly from behind her, approaching the pinkette cautiously. "I don't know why you keep referring to yourself like you're some cold-blooded soldier. I've seen your fire, Light. I've seen your heart."
Lightning's shoulders tensed, not feeling up for any further discussion on the subject. The brunette simply moved up next to her and leant on the railing. "I'm a soldier, Fang. A target's a target, remember? If it wasn't for Serah, I would have been hunting you along with the rest of the Sanctum."
"I don't believe that for a second, Light." Fang replied, turning to face her. "You don't strike me as the type to follow blindly. You never have. You would have seen through the lies pretty damn quick regardless of whether your sister was involved or not. You're not some mindless lackey, so stop acting like you were."
The pinkette whirled around as well, electricity jumping dangerously around her fingertips. Fang saw it and took a couple of careful steps back. With the elements flowing far easier and seemingly directly connected to her emotions, Lightning glanced down at her hands with a worried expression. If anger brought the magic that quickly, she feared what it could do in Fang's position. That she could become Ragnarok again. Inhaling deeply, she forced herself to calm down. She moved back away from her partner and closed her eyes.
"What's this really about?" The Pulsian asked, refusing to be shut out. "Hey, look at me. Talk to me."
Lightning found herself being turned back around and opened her eyes. Fang chanced a quick look around, confirming nobody else was in sight and ducked her head down, kissing the pinkette gently on the lips. She smiled as she felt the soldier lean in, but pulled back before someone saw them. Amused by the frustrated whimper that left Lightning's throat at the loss of contact, Fang placed her hand on her shoulder and squeezed. That quick moment of affection seemed to be enough to break the pale woman's barriers, and she sighed in resignation.
"Was it too much to hope that we could just have a moment's peace to ourselves, after everything that's happened? I just got you back and… I understand you want answers, I know you do. I'm just scared I'm going to lose you all over again." Lightning finally replied, stepping closer and wrapping her arms around the Pulsian's neck. Fang smiled warmly and allowed her hands to rest on the pinkette's waist, kissing the top of her head.
"You're not going to lose me, Light. I'm right here. I always will be."
"You turned into Ragnarok to save me, what if what we find at the other end of the world leads to something far worse?" Lightning asked, almost fearful of the answer. She pressed into the brunette, resting her head in the crook of Fang's neck.
"She did what?" A sharp voice came from the doorway, and both women jumped apart, startled. Vanille stood on the balcony, glaring at the two of them with an anger as bright as the sun. The duo looked at each other and then back to the furious redhead in front of them.
"Uh, Vanille, that... That wasn't what it looked like..." Lightning started, immediately silenced by a stern hand being raised. The young Pulsian grabbed her elder sibling by the ear and rolled her eyes towards the pinkette.
"Like I care about that, I've been waiting to catch you two in the act for months. It's about time. Fang, you and I are going to have a serious talk about exactly what went down in Oerba. Now."
Lightning's jaw dropped as she watched the brunette get dragged off the balcony with a fearful glance back at her before she disappeared inside. And she thought Serah was scary when angry.