Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII. Square Enix owns it. I do not own anything. Do not sue me.

Authorial Notice: Here comes the action and drama. Straight to it! I got my new guitar so I might not post as much as I usually do. Got to practice more! Lightning gets careless. Lol.

Lost Then Found
Chapter Five

Bodhum Streets – Market District
1230 Hours (12:30 PM) Wednesday

The past two days consisted of Lightning sleeping, eating a light meal, working out, then sleeping more to get what happened with Fang on Monday off of her mind. 'Why did I return the kiss…?' she questioned to herself. To her, it felt right. To her, it made her think of something other than work. She couldn't help but half-smile at the thought of kissing Fang. 'It did feel right…' Her grin faded as she shook herself out of her thoughts. 'What am I thinking? Kissing Fang was a mistake…' Her smile came back. 'But a nice mistake…' she continued as she struggled with the paper grocery bags in her hands. The hot Bodhum sun beat down on her as she wrestled her way through the crowd.

As she turned the corner, three men in masks knocked into her, pushing her against the wall in their flight, causing her to drop her groceries. A fourth man, the last to round the corner smashed a wrapped sandwich in his escape.

She cursed under her breath as another man passed her. 'Is that...' she paused. "Begum?" She'd seen his face thousands of times in files and the news. She'd recognize him anywhere. She pulled out her pistol from underneath her skirt and ran after them. "Freeze! Police!"

The three masked men started to run faster, with the middle aged Javier Begum following closely behind. Lightning pulled out her cell phone and pushed a number on her speed dial, getting the station. "This is Sergeant Lightning Farron! I am currently in pursuit of Javier Begum. I need backup!" After giving them the street address and location, she pointed her gun at them again.

"Freeze, damn it!" She ordered, following them as they ran into a large alley. "Begum!"

'They seem to know where they're going…' she thought as she avoided a couple of large dumpsters in the middle of the alley. "Freeze! You're under arrest!"

She turned the corner, running past two dumpsters that were strewn over the alleyway. She heard a loud click, causing her to stop and look around.

The next thing she knew, she was flying backwards as she felt an overwhelming pain and darkness take over her vision.

XXXXXXXX

Fang and Vanille's House
1515 Hours (3:15 PM) Wednesday

"Vanille! Check on the oven!" Fang yelled from the living room as she went to reach for her phone. "Hello?" she asked, taking her apron off.

"Is this Oerba Yun Fang?" The male voice on the other end inquired in a serious voice.

"Um, yes. Just Fang. Who is this?" Fang asked, in a questionable voice.

"This is Doctor Hudson from the Bodhum Hospital. Do you know a…" he struggled for a second, "… a Lightning Farron?"

Upon hearing him, she felt her heart drop and her thoughts immediately went to Lightning. She kept asking herself, 'is she okay? What happened?'

"Y-yes?" she struggled to find her voice as Vanille came in.

"Fang, what's going on?" the young woman asked as she saw Fang's face go pale.

"After speaking with Lieutenant Amodar, I found out that you are number two on her emergency contact list. I was unable to reach her sister. I called to inform you that Ms. Farron was seriously injured in the line of duty. I cannot tell you all of the details over the phone. Can you make it to the hospital?"

"Y-yeah. I can. I'll be there in a few moments," Fang stuttered, hanging up. She hurried to the door and grabbed her keys with shaky hands.

"What's going on? Where are you going?" Vanille asked.

"Finish dinner. I'll be back soon. Sunshine tried to play hero," she said as she slammed the door behind her.

Mere minutes later, she arrived at the hospital. She ran into the Emergency Room and went up to the front desk. "Where's Doctor Hudson?" She demanded as a man with a bald head and clipboard came out into the waiting room. She saw his ID tag and walked up to him. "Doctor Hudson?"

"Yes?"

"You called me a few minutes ago."

"Oerba Yun Fang?" He greeted skeptically. She nodded as he extended a callused hand.

Ignoring his gesture, she asked, "What did Ms. Hero do this time?"

"Please, come with me," he said as he led her out of the busy waiting room and into a private area in the ER hallway. He turned to her and continued, "From what the police told me, she placed a call three hours ago to the BPD, claiming she was following Javier Begum. The police had found that Begum had robbed a bank minute's prior. Police found a broken motion sensor a few meters away from the accident-"

"Just get to the point," she demanded through gritted teeth.

He took a long breath and continued, "The motion sensor set off some handmade bombs. She was caught in an explosion. She wasn't directly in the blast, which possibly saved her life. It pushed her back into a window, breaking it and throwing her into the building."

"Just get to the damn point!" Fang yelled with a hint of worry in her voice.

"As the blast hit her, she suffered minor burns on her legs which didn't cause much damage. The burns will go away in a week or so. She has a broken clavicle, collarbone – which had to be repaired through a minor surgery. Her ribs are slightly bruised but should be okay within a month or two. Her left wrist was sprained and has a total of twenty-three stitches due to the shards of glass, ten on her head and thirteen on her abdomen. She has a few minor cuts all over her body but-"

"What room is she in?"

"Room 210. She's going to be just fine but I'd like to let you know that -"

Before he could finish, Fang darted in the direction of Lightning's room.

'Sunshine couldn't take a day off. She always has to play hero… She could have died for Eden's sake! What was she thinking?! I'm going to give her an earful when she wakes up. Faded or not.'

When she pushed the UP button on the elevator, she looked at her cell phone. She had two new text messages from Vanille. She ignored them, deciding to look at them later. 'Lightning, you idiot,' she thought, shoving her phone back into her pocket. 'You were supposed to be on vacation…'

As the elevator reached her floor, she stepped in and pushed F2, leaning against the side of the elevator. The doors closed and she was on her way up. 'What was she thinking…?' She asked herself again. 'Serah's going to murder her.' The elevator doors opened and she walked to the nurse's station. "Which way is room 210?" She asked, her voice quicker than she would have hoped. The nurse pointed to the end of the hallway, causing Fang to hastily make her way to the room.

When she reached the room, she noticed the honey pink haired girl had her head turned towards the window, eyes closed. 'Must be sleeping.'

As she walked into the room, she looked over the young sergeant and sighed.

Lightning had her right arm in a white sling and a small ace wrap on her left wrist. She had a bandage on her right temple where she had gotten the stitches. Her arms and face were covered in bruises and cuts from debris and glass. Fang's spirit fell as she saw the monitors around her mimicking the beat of her friend's heart. An IV in her left arm didn't help.

She walked in and grabbed the chair near the window, pulling it up to the bed. "You idiot. What were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed," Fang said as she took Lightning's hand in hers, lacing their fingers together, and sat down. "Serah's going to kill you…" she looked down and closed her green eyes. "Why couldn't you-"

Fang was interrupted as her cell phone vibrated. She stood up and walked out of the room, putting it up to her ear. "Yes?"

"Is she okay?" Vanille's voice came through with a hint of worry.

"Sunshine will be just peachy. Gotta go though. Go ahead and eat dinner without me. I'll be back soon," Fang said as the two said their quick goodbyes.

Walking back into the room, she noticed Lightning's eyes had opened. "I guess even the best make mistakes, huh?" Fang quipped. Lightning looked up at her and made a noise in the back of her throat painfully. "Cat got your tongue?" As she grumbled, Fang laughed, "there ya go, sunshine! Feelin' better already!"

"Mphutpup," Lightning mumbled as she moved her left arm onto her stomach.

"What was that, sunshine? Couldn't hear you through your grumbling," Fang said as she took a seat in the chair next to Lightning.

She coughed and moaned. "I said…" she struggled, throat dry, "shut up."

"Well that was rude," she said as she crossed her legs. "Do ya want me to call Serah?"

Lightning shook her head as her eyes closed. Every muscle in her body ached. When she moved, the pain shot from her toes, all the way to the tip of her head. "Don't ruin her honeymoon."

"So…" Fang started, leaning forward, "does the warrior princess hurt?" Lightning looked at her with a glare in her eyes. Not wanting to admit she was, she closed her eyes. "What were you thinking?" She scolded.

She looked away, keeping her blue eyes closed. "I don't know…" she said in a soft voice.

"Don't do something stupid like that again. Think about Serah," Fang said as she leaned back. "You could have gotten yourself killed. By the time Serah gets home, you're going to wish that blast did kill you."

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. All Lightning could think of was the pain that continued to shoot through her body. She wanted something, anything to take the pain away.

Just then, the doctor came in. "Well Ms. Farron, unfortunately you're going to stay here overnight," he said as he looked at his clipboard. "I would suggest you don't stay home alone. You will need help. If you work your shoulder too much, it won't heal as well as you'd like."

"I have to what? No, no, no. Look, I'm fine. I want to go home, now," Lightning lost all the breath in her lungs as her chest constricted when she tried to sit up. The suffering didn't end as she laid herself back down, it only traveled through the rest of her body.

"Ms. Farron, I would suggest you take it very easy tonight. You collarbone broke in the middle, causing us to perform a hasty surgery on it. I would like it if you would try to move as little as possible," he said in a serious tone. He looked over at Fang. "I would like to let you know that visiting hours are over at eight o'clock."

"She can stay," Lightning said. 'Wait, what did I just say?'

"I have to get home in a few minutes. I'm afraid that if I leave her alone for too long, the house will burn down," Fang replied with a smile on her face.

'Right… Vanille,' Lightning thought bitterly.

"Okay then," he started, grabbing his clipboard, "well, I will have a nurse come in and give you a shot of morphine. I will see you in the morning, Ms. Farron," he said as he walked out of the room.

Fang looked over at Lightning's bruised face as the sergeant's eyes darted the room. She sat up, trying to ignore the pain surging through her body. Fang chuckled and held Lightning down by her uninjured shoulder. "The doctor says stay still. Why are ya so intent on getting out of here?"

"I hate hospitals," she mumbled.

"Why? They're not that bad."

Ignoring her, Lightning closed her eyes. "I'm tired. Why don't you go back to Vanille?" She said, voice bitter.

Fang raised her brows at this, "are you jealous of Vanille?"

"What?" She opened her eyes, closing them again. "Why would I be jealous of her?"

"I can hear all the little changes in your tone of voice when you mention her name. There's something you're not telling me," Fang said coolly, leaning back in her chair.

'You don't want to know, Fang…' she thought before scoffing to answer the black haired woman, "that's not true. I'm just drugged up."

"Must not've been happy pills," Fang quipped.

"Why don't you just go home to your chirpy little girlfriend?" Lightning said, a hint of anger in her voice. 'It'll be easier this way.'

"Why are you always so bitter?" Fang asked, a hint of hurt in her voice.

"Well you've made it obvious since you got here that you don't want to be here," she continued, clenching her teeth in pain.

Fang stood up, pushing the chair back to the spot it was in prior to her arriving. She walked to the door and turned back. "Just to let you know, I almost got a speeding ticket to get here, to see you and make sure you were okay. I was worried about you and thought I'd give you some company. Since you want me to leave, I will. Have a good night, Lightning," she said in a hurt voice before walking out of the room.

Lightning turned her head towards the window. She closed her eyes to keep the tears held in that wanted so desperately to fall. "I'm an asshole…" her eyes looked at the phone next to her. She wanted to call Fang back to her, to apologize but she knew she wouldn't be able to find her voice, or the strength to do so. For the first time in years, she felt a single tear fall down her face.

'I think… I need her.'