Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII. Square Enix owns it. I do not own anything. Do not sue me.
Authorial Notice: Thank you SO much for the favorites, alerts, and reviews over the past month. I do apologize for the belated update. You guys made this possible for me to update. For those of you who have added me to your alerts and favorites the last couple of days, you made me want to continue this. :) Thank you so much for sticking with me, guys. Special, special, SPECIAL thanks to metacog for the much needed edit. I'm excited for her story to come out! Check out her profile for updates! Yeah, metacog, I totally just pimped your coming story out. :D
WARNING: MAJOR OOC-NESS.
Lost Then Found
Chapter Eight
"Love is not only something you feel, it is something you do."
- David Wilkerson
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Her soft lips touched mine. I felt her fingertips make their gentle way up my side, past my shoulder blades, then to my neck. I moaned her name as her lips left mine. I leaned into her, wanting more. I wanted – no, NEEDED – to feel her. My hands caressed her sides gently as I pulled her into me, eliciting a moan. I felt a tingling sensation flow through my body as her mouth made its way towards my jaw line, then to my neck, sucking a small inch of my skin. As much as my mind told me to push her away, my body was telling her otherwise.
"Fang…" I whispered in her ear, causing her to go tense as a chill went through her spine. Did I have that effect on her?
My blue eyes locked with her emerald orbs. I sighed contently as her lips came crashing into mine yet again. She pushed me down on the bed gently, her knee in between my legs, pushing slightly. I moaned her name, her lips against mine.
"Light…"
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Lightning's Apartment
0945 Hours (9:45 AM) - Friday
Fang opened the front door with a quiet squeak. She put the apartment key in her pants pocket as she stepped through, closing the door behind her. She tossed her purse on the table by the door before making her way to the kitchen.
Her hand went to the medicine bottle and opened it, allowing two pills to fall into her palm. She grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and strolled into the hallway, stopping as she saw a small form draped along the couch comfortably.
She smiled at Lightning lying on her back with her left arm above her head and her other arm draped across the pillow beside her. The fleece blanket was still draped along the back of the couch, leaving Lightning uncovered. She sat down on a small area by Lightning's legs and placed the pills and water on the coffee table. Her right hand went over and grabbed Lightning's hand.
"Light…" she whispered in an attempt to not startle the woman. 'She looks beautiful…'
Fang moved her hand up to the woman's cheek, caressing it slightly before calling her name again. "Sunshine," she sang quietly, "wake up." Lightning didn't stir – only the quiet sound of her breathing filled the silence. Her fingers brushed against slightly wet hair as she pulled away. 'Must've taken a shower… Better leave princess alone. She might murder me when she wakes up.'
She reached for the blanket and placed it gently over Lightning before making her way over to the loveseat diagonally from the couch. The television flickered as some paid programming showed the latest trend in kitchenware. She reached over for the remote and turned the volume up slightly before changing the channel to a talk show. Every other minute, Fang caught herself looking away from the television and to the face of the woman who had stolen her heart.
She sighed. She wished it was HER who had gotten hurt. She knew Lightning was stubborn. She couldn't help but hate the fact that she had to look at Lightning in so much pain. She knew it would pass, that she'd get better in a matter of weeks, but that didn't stop the fact that it hurt her. She knew that Serah would kill Fang for not telling her Light was hurt, and that she'd kill Lightning for getting hurt. 'Sunshine's going to wish that blast did kill her…'
The dark haired woman chuckled at the thought of the younger Farron trying to inflict pain upon someone. 'Like she could… She couldn't even kill that fly at the annual barbeque…'
She felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. She reached in and pulled it out, noticing a text message from Vanille.
Hey hun! How's Light?
Fang pushed the buttons on her cell phone to reply. She's fine, but she's still asleep. I'll call you when she wakes up.
She turned her phone off before tossing it on the soft chair across the room. She looked at the clock above the television. 'Light needs to eat something… she didn't eat much last night…'
Making her way to the kitchen quietly, she grabbed a few pans that were dangling over the stove by the metal rack. She walked towards the refrigerator, only to notice the scenery out the large window. She remembered hearing on the radio on her way to Lightning's, that there would be a major storm coming in from Palumpolum. It was likely to hit Bodhum later on in the day.
The clouds were dark gray, flashing with lightning in the distance. She could see the people on the beach gathering their belongings to head to shelter.
From what Vanille told her, the storm in Palumpolum caused power outages throughout the city. Most likely it would do the same to Bodhum, which made Fang uneasy.
She shook it off, sighing whilst deciding to just finish making Lightning's breakfast before the outage did come.
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Lightning's eyes fluttered open as the smell of something cooking overloaded her senses. She licked her chapped lips as she sat up slowly, biting them as a sharp pain came from her shoulder. She turned her head to see two pills and a glass of water waiting for her. 'Fang must be here…'
As she reached over with her left hand, picking the pills up with shaky fingers, she couldn't help but think of the dream she had of Fang. She popped them in her mouth before reaching for the cup of water, sipping it ever-so slowly, flushing the pills down her throat with ease. A few questions flooded her mind as she remembered what she tasted, felt, and smelled in that dream…
"Mornin', sunshine."
She jumped as Fang popped her head from the kitchen, smirking slightly. "I told you to not call me that," Lightning half-smiled. 'She looks beautiful… wait….'
"Just admit, you don't mind it. You like the attention," Fang said before turning her attention back to breakfast.
"I'm not too sure about that…" Lightning mumbled as she (struggled for a moment to get up from the couch and limped her way into the kitchen. "What are you making?"
"Omelets. Figured you'd be hungry after barely eating last night. What time did you get up?"
"A few hours ago…" She replied as she sat on the bar stool across from Fang. "When did you get here?"
"Not too long ago. Thirty minutes maybe. How did you sleep?" Fang asked, as she flipped the omelet. Lightning looked at her, confusion in her eyes. "I mean, with your shoulder and everything."
"I slept okay," was all Lightning said. Fang nodded and, once again, turned her attention back to the omelet. An awkward silence filled the room as the dark haired woman left the stove to get Lightning a glass of orange juice. "Don't you work today?" Lightning inquired.
"I called in my vacation time. Boss-man was more than happy to give it to me," Fang said, a tone of something Lightning couldn't distinguish in her voice.
"'More than happy'?" The sergeant repeated.
"'More than happy' meaning he wasn't too happy. He said he needs me. But I explained it – told him I had to babysit a 21 year old sergeant who got herself blown up."
"I didn't-"
Fang smirked, interrupting Lightning's thoughts. "You did get yourself blown up. Just not to pieces." Mumbling slightly, she heard the sound of a plate hitting the counter, being pushed in front of her. A nicely made omelet was sitting in front of her. "Well? You going to eat it?"
"Did you poison it?"
"Oh. Yes. Poisoned it with some TLC," Fang joked as she sat down next to Lightning.
"'TLC'?"
"Tender Loving Care, sunshine."
"Right…"
The two ate their food in silence. Just as they were finishing, a flash of lightning appeared followed by a loud boom. Lightning jumped slightly as she turned towards the window. "Scared?" Fang found herself smirking at Lightning's sudden movement.
Lightning glared at Fang. "No. It took me by surprise… that's all."
"For a girl who nicknamed herself Lightning, you sure jumped high – kinda like a… like a scared cat," Fang teased.
Lightning pushed her plate in front of her, standing up as she made her way to the sink with the said plate in hand. "I'll do dishes."
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Fang said, motioning to her shoulder. Lightning sighed and nodded, walking into the living room. Another crack of thunder caused the lights to go out, making Lightning curse loudly.
"Yep, she's scared."
"I am not scared!" Lightning yelled from the living room.
'Sure she isn't…'
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Nighttime had hit them quicker than they had thought. The power outage put a damper on Fang – causing her to become restless. She hated storms – when they hit, they caused the power to go out, which made things 'boring', in Fang's opinion. Vanille had dropped by a few hours after the power went out to keep the two women company, as well as herself. When the thunder finally stopped, the pitter patter of a soft and steady rain lulled Lightning in and out of sleep throughout the day, which had caused Fang to force her to her room for a much needed sleep.
However, Vanille's chirpy voice caused her to awaken. She walked towards the living room but had stopped to listen in on the conversation between her two friends.
"When do you think she's going to wake up?" Vanille asked, voice perky as usual.
"It's hard telling. She's been asleep for a few hours so maybe anytime now," Fang said as she took a sip of the beer she had 'borrowed' from Lightning's refrigerator.
Vanille nodded and smiled, leaning forward to light the remaining candle. "Have you told her yet?"
"Huh?" Fang could feel the high the alcohol gave her – she definitely wasn't driving Vanille and her home. "Tell who what?"
Through the flickering of the candles they had managed to find because of the power outage, Fang could see the look on Vanille's face. Her eyes were lowered, as if telling her 'you moron! You know what I'm talking about!'
"Tell Lightning you like her, silly," Vanille answered. Fang grew silent. She continued sipping her beer. "Come on. We all know you're madly in love with her."
'She likes me?' Lightning mentally kicked herself. 'Of course she likes me…'
"I do like her – hell, I love the damn woman. It's just… complicated right now. She won't let me in," Fang said sadly. "If I could gather up the courage to tell her I do love her, she'd probably slap me – just like when I kissed her at the wedding."
"You kissed her?" Vanille gasped. "Oh, this is so good."
"And afterwards, she slapped me. The thing that confuses me though…" Fang stopped to take a large swig of her beer, "is that she kissed me back."
"She does like you, Fang. I can tell. Just tell her… you might be surprised."
"How can you tell?"
"The way she looks at you when she thinks no one's looking. She has those eyes."
Lightning thought for a moment. 'She really does like me… Thing is – I like her too but…'
"Forget it, Vanille. We're just going to be friends. Nothing more," Fang said, voice stern.
"Okay. Well… I'm going to go back home. Just… think about it, okay?"
Lightning heard the front door shut as she felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach. An overwhelming sadness went through her as she thought of those last words Fang said. 'Friends… nothing more.' Would things have been different if she hadn't slapped Fang that night at the wedding? If she had opened up more?
Lightning thought it would be a good idea to finally make an appearance and she walked into the living room. "You owe me a beer…" she joked as she pointed to Fang's right hand.
"Did you crack a joke?" Fang gasped. "My, Eden. You must've had a good sleep."
"Well, Vanille kind of woke me up, but… it's okay," Lightning smiled half-heartedly. "Are you drunk?"
"No. I've only had one. It's warm though – kinda gross. So technically, you owe me a beer," Fang smiled as Lightning sat down next to her. "Did you take your medicine I put on your nightstand?"
"Yes… thank you," Lightning said as Fang took another sip of the bitter beer. "I um…"
'Should I tell her I heard them talking?' She questioned. She wasn't sure what she should do. "Fang."
"Out with it, woman!" Fang laughed. "What do you need?"
"I don't need anything…" Lightning bit her lip. "I heard your conversation with Vanille…"
The beer Fang had been drinking was halfway to her mouth. She had the 'deer in the headlights' look on her face. 'Oh Eden…'
The room was silent. Only the sound of heavy rain filled the uncomfortable silence that plagued the two women. Fang couldn't stop her heart from beating erratically as her thoughts went into overdrive. 'She heard? What exactly did she hear? Everything? How long had she been standing there? What do I say? What do I do?' She tried, with every ounce of whatever she had in her body to keep her breathing steady as she finally managed to speak. "What… what did you hear?" It came out crackly, not steady like she had prayed for.
Lightning's bruised left hand played with the string on her sweatpants. "Everything." While Fang was mentally abusing herself, Lightning was doing the same. 'This is not going to end up good…'
"Oh," was all Fang managed to say. 'Damn it, Vanille…' She wondered why she blamed Vanille. Vanille hadn't done anything but… 'She woke Lightning up…'
"Fang… This is just as awkward for you as it is me. But I think we need to talk."
"That never turns out well…"
Lightning knew she had feelings for Fang – but she didn't know how to act on them. She never knew how to act on her feelings. Ever since her parents died, she had to take care of Serah. Nothing else came before that. She never had a love life, or a social life for that matter…
"Light, I'm sorry."
Why was she apologizing?
"For what…?" Lightning asked quietly, her voice indicating she was somewhat confused at Fang's sudden apologetic demeanor. 'She never apologizes.'
"We're different people. I was being selfish that night at the wedding. I kissed you. I kissed you, Lightning. Then you slapped me. I know I crossed the line that night. I had no right. But, damn, Light," Fang said, putting her beer on the coaster. "I care for you so damn much. That scares me. I've never felt this way around anybody."
"Fang," Lightning started, but was interrupted.
"But over the past couple years I've known you, those feelings… I kept them inside. I'm… sorry that I invaded your space that night. I really am. I've fallen for you, Lightning. That scares me more than anything. That's why I…" Fang bit her lip before continuing, "that's why I'm here. I was scared to death the other day. I thought I had lost you. You could have died. You could have died without knowing how I felt about you. Even then… I couldn't tell you. I knew you'd react like this."
"Like what?" Lightning asked as Fang stood up. 'Am I reacting?'Lightning followed suit as Fang started walking towards the door. "Fang," Lightning grabbed Fang's wrist weakly, turning her around to face the sergeant. "Fang. You don't think it scares me…?"
"What do you mean?"
Lightning found herself moving closer to Fang. Her breath hitched in her throat as her bruised fingers played with Fang's for a moment, intertwining them. Fang found her left hand moving up to Lightning's neck gently. The sergeant then closed the gap between them, placing her lips upon Fang's.
Fang pulled Lightning closer to deepen the kiss. She place a gentle hand on the small of the smaller woman's back, but Fang couldn't help but wonder.
'Should I get used to this…?'
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I know. I'm a horrible person. I was gone for a month and left the chapter like this? Finally THE KISS and NOTHING. Hmmm… Should I continue sooner this time? What do you think is going to happen next? Review and let me know.