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

Authorial Notice: I know, I know, I know. It's been a while but hey, I'm back. I've been kind of iffy lately. Anyway, let's switch to more important issues. A very special thanks goes to metacog and Haruka-Chan 212 for the much needed help. Those two helped me out quite a bit regarding the future of LTF.

Lost Then Found

Chapter Six

"The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naïve forgive and forget; the wise forgive, but do not forget."

-- Thomas Szasz

XXXXXXXX

Fang and Vanille's House

0840 Hours (8:40 AM) - Thursday

"Have a good day at work!"

"Yep," she heard Fang grumble as she slammed the front door.

Vanille sighed and sat back in the stool by their counter bar, crossing her arms. The previous night, Fang had come home in a sour mood. After a few moments of prying, Fang had eventually caved and explained what had happened at the hospital with Lightning.

In one way, Vanille was angry with her for treating Fang so badly. In another way, she didn't blame the sergeant. She was in pain. It does it to people. Unfortunately, she knew Lightning was always like that – always pushing others away. It was a habit of Light's that no one, not even Fang or Serah, could break.

Vanille hopped off of her seat when she heard the home phone ring. She reached for the phone on the counter and picked it up. "Hello!"

"Is Fang there?"

"Lightning?"

"Yeah… Is she there?"

"No. She's at work." An uncomfortable silence filled both Vanille's and Lightning's ears. "So, uh, how are you feeling?"

"Can you just tell her I called?"

Vanille sighed, biting her tongue. As much as she wanted to yell at Lightning, she couldn't. "Not going to answer a friend who's obviously concerned?"

"Vanille, I was nearly blown to bits. How do you think I'm feeling?" She replied. Vanille could tell she was irritated.

"That doesn't give you the right to treat Fang the way you did!" Vanille slipped, "because when Fang's mad, she takes it out on me. She pushes me away. Does it sound familiar?"

She heard Lightning sigh. "Look, that's why I'm calling, Vanille. I didn't have a right to yell at her. I called because I really wanted to…" She stopped, as if trying to find the right word.

"Apologize?"

"I guess."

"I'll tell her you called and you want her to stop by. It's up to her from there though. You really screwed up, Lightning." With that, the woman on the other end hung up. "It's all up to her…" Vanille repeated softly as she put the phone back on the charger.

XXXXXXXX

Bodhum Hospital

1530 Hours (3:30 PM) – Thursday

'One hundred and eighty five channels and there's NOTHING on TV,' she complained as she settled on some talk show. She avoided watching the news, in fear that the explosion might be the top story. Last thing she wanted was a reminder of how stupid she had been.

She saw two black figures near the door. When she looked over, she saw two Bodhum Regiment Police Officers step in.

"Sergeant Lightning Farron?" One officer asked, walking closer to her. Lightning nodded. "Hello, Sergeant. My name is Officer Jennings and this here is my partner, Officer Fleming. How are you feeling?" The brown haired officer asked as he took a seat in the chair next to the bed.

"I've been better."

"Well I hope you have a good recovery. We understand that you've been trying to get Javier Begum for quite some time now. The explosion you were involved in might give us the information we need," Jennings told her.

Her eyes lowered. "How can it do that?"

"We figured out that there were two explosives, each behind a different dumpster, adjacent to each other. The reason why you're still alive is because only one of them went off. The other had failed. We found some fingerprints on the charge. They weren't Begum's," the blonde officer explained as he pulled out a small notebook.

"Whose were they?" Lightning questioned.

"We are currently looking into that. Do you mind if I ask you a couple questions?" Officer Fleming asked. When Lightning nodded, he looked down at his small notepad. "What were you doing in the market district?"

"I was grocery shopping. I had a week off."

"Why did you chase after them if you were on vacation?" Fleming continued.

"If you saw the man you've been chasing after for months, you would do the same thing. Even if we're off duty, we're still officers of the law. We have to protect the civilians. It's our job. You should know that," Lightning said, a hint of annoyance in her husky voice. 'He has to be a new recruit.'

He cleared his throat and continued, "Do you remember how many men there were?"

"There were three, including Begum."

"Was there anyone else besides yourself and the fugitives in the alley?"

"No."

He stood up and looked at her. "Thank you for your cooperation, Sergeant. I wish you a speedy recovery."

With that, he and his partner walked out of the hospital room. "That was quick…" she muttered, turning her attention back to the television.

The Bodhum sun illuminated the small hospital room, casting heavy shadows of the trees and flowers outside inside. The chirping of birds and nurses laughing at the nurse's station down the hall kept her awake.

The pain she was in was too much for her. Her blue eyes were closed tightly, trying to hold the pain in. Her mind couldn't concentrate on anything but the pain. 'I was such an idiot… accusing her of dating Vanille. They're just 'sisters'…'

Lightning's tired eyes opened to the sound of the door creaking open. She noticed it was Fang. 'Why did she come back…?'

"Hi…" Lightning greeted, eying the woman.

"Hey..." She hesitated in answering as she moved closer to the bed.

Lightning looked back down at the white hospital bed sheet, her voice soft as she spoke. "I'm sorry..." Fang ignored her words as she sat on the chair she occupied the night before. "Fang?"

"Serah would kill me, or Vanille, if I didn't come back and offer my help," Fang stated, the expression on her face was flat. "Listen, you can either stay with us, or one of us stay with you at your home. It's your choice," She said, avoiding eye contact.

"Ms. Farron?"

She looked over to the door, to see it was Dr. Hudson. "I am happy to inform you that you can go home. I have written out a few prescriptions for you to ease the pain. Do you have anyone who can help you while you're recovering?"

"I'm gonna do it," Fang spoke, voice rather nonchalant.

"Why is everyone insisting I need help recovering? I'll be fine by myself," Lightning complained, looking at Fang.

"You'll be unable to do your normal daily activities, such as changing, sitting up, lying down. The medication I prescribed to you will make you very drowsy. You're going to be in a little bit of pain for the next few weeks while your bruised ribs recover."

'And Fang's going to help…?'

"I'll be fine. I don't need the medication."

"She's always been stubborn," Fang told the doctor with a small smile.

"I noticed. When she was brought in, she struggled with us before we injected the anesthesia. She's one tough woman," he said as he smiled at Lightning.

"She likes to play hero."

"I'm still here," Lightning said through gritted teeth as she pushed the button on her bed to sit her up. "So what am I able to do?"

"Well, I'd recommend you stay away from working out for a few weeks, at least until we okay some physical therapy," he said as he sat down in a chair.

"Wait, what? Physical therapy?"

"Yes. I will want to see you here in roughly four weeks to start. I would also recommend that you keep the sling on at all times during the day when you're up and about. Take it off at night and place a small pillow at your right side so you can level it."

Lightning moaned at the thought of Physical Therapy. She didn't have time for that stuff. "Look, when can I go back to work?"

"Well, Ms. Farron… As you already know, you have minor burns on your legs and you will have muscle pains for the next few weeks. But while your ribs and collarbone heal… I'd say two months at the minimum," he answered before Lightning used her injured left hand to pull him in closer, anger with a hint of pain strewn across her face.

"Two fucking months?!"

"Whoa there, tiger," Fang said as she tried to pull Lightning's hand away from the doctor. "He's trying to help you. Don't get all psycho on us, yeah?"

Lightning muttered a small sorry and let go of him. "I can't stay away for two months. I have to catch Begum…"

'Begum… He's the reason I'm in here…' She immediately felt her anger come back.

"If you want to go back to work sooner, then you will have to listen to what the doc says," Fang said, looking at Dr. Hudson. "Is there anything she can or can't have?"

"She can eat and drink as normal, but for today make sure she eats light. The morphine will make her somewhat nauseous for the next couple of hours. I'd stay away from alcohol when you're taking those pills. The bandages over your body are waterproof, so you can shower as normal," Doctor Hudson said as he stood up. "I'll get some nurses to help you get dressed. I'll have a nurse call you tomorrow to set up an appointment with you."

"Thank you," Lightning said as he left. She looked over at Fang and felt a slight blush creep up her cheek. Her mind went to what Fang said the night before. "Why did you offer to take care of me, even after everything I said and have done to you?"

"Everyone deserves another chance."

"Look, Fang. I'm sorry. I had no right to say what I said. There's no explanation or excuse."

"No. There isn't. If there's one thing I've learned since I've known you, Claire, it's that you don't let anyone in. That causes you to say things you don't mean. I was angry last night, yes, but I can't stay angry. Especially at you,"

"I'm sorry," Lightning said, truly feeling bad for everything she said to the woman.

"Are you really apologizing? I thought you don't apologize. Cocoon must be coming to an end," Fang joked.

"Fang, I'm…" Lightning sighed, "sorry for being an asshole."

"Drugs do that to you," Fang started before smiling, "your place or mine?"

"W-what?"

"Well, I obviously have to baby sit you to make sure you don't go do something wild like that again. Do you want to stay at your place or mine?"

'Well Vanille's over at Fang's… and I wouldn't get any rest…'

"Mine," Lightning said, as she looked down at her left wrist. "Why did you come back?" She knew the answer but she wanted, needed, to hear it again.

"As I said, I felt bad for storming off on you last night. Plus, you need a ride home, yeah?"

Lightning nodded slowly as two nurses came in.

"Ms. Farron, are you ready to go home?"

Lightning nodded again as Fang left to give her privacy, standing up with the help of the nurses. 'This is going to be an interesting next few weeks…'

Okay so if you guys wanna kill me for the short update, go for it. I deserve it. The budding romance shall start in next chapter! YAY!