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

Author's Note: So... a year since I started this story and it's not done yet. I really need to stop doing that. I know it's kinda crappy but I gotta get something up for you guys. When the story is done, I'm going to edit all the chapters... Anyway, I have to get ready for work now. I'll talk to ya'll later.

Special thanks to Haruka-Chan 212

Lost Then Found
Chapter Thirteen

"And I've lost who I am / and I can't understand / why my heart is so broken / rejecting your love..."
- Trading Yesterday "Shattered"

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Lightning, Serah, and Snow's Apartment
0745 Hours – Monday

She cursed as she fumbled with the tie. She was going to be late. She groaned, finally setting the tie in place. She reached over her head and pulled the lose hair tie out of her hair, allowing her hair to fall graciously around her shoulders. After looking at her wrist watch, she grabbed her jacket and headed out her bedroom door – only to collide with the younger Farron.

Lightning glared and tilted her head to the side. "Did you sneak into my room and unset my alarm?"

"You should find another job, Lightning."

"Serah, move. I'm going to be late."

Lightning tried to move to the right but Serah followed suit, blocking her path. "Serah, seriously. I have to be there at eight. Please move."

"No. I have to talk to you."

The sergeant glanced at the clock and groaned. "It can wait. I'll be back at four tonight. I'll take you out for dinner. Just please move." Lightning tried to push Serah lightly but the younger Farron kept her footing, now allowing her older sister to go through. "Serah!"

"Hey, Light." Lightning stopped trying to get by when she heard the accented voice. It was Fang. "We wanted to talk to you," the dark haired woman looked at Serah, "you were right when you said you needed back up. She looks…" Fang looked Lightning up and down, trying to hide a smirk, "intimidating."

Lightning glared at the dark haired woman, the piercing gaze nearly drilling through her. "This is my job. I've supported you for years with this job. I'm supporting you and Snow for this job. I have to go. Now move," she demanded to her sister.

"No. You almost died, Claire! If you won't quit, at least take a few more weeks off, please. You're not ready to go back."

"I was given a three month paid leave. That was an extra month than was needed for recovery. Besides, when everything happened I was off duty and went after those bastards without thinking. It was my mistake. I'm not going to not go to work. Officers get hurt every day in this job. If it makes you feel any better, I'm not working on the field for another month," Lightning explained as she tried to force herself through the two women but was pushed back.

"Yeah, but most of the officers that get injured like you were retire, Claire. They don't go back to work after three months!"

"Aaalright girlies," Fang stepped in between the two, pushing them apart with both hands. She let her touch on Lightning linger slightly before turning to her. "Listen to your sister."

"Excuse me?"

"Light, you're still wincing every time you move your left arm," Fang pointed out.

"How exactly is Serah right? And why in the world are you on her side?" Lightning felt slightly hurt that Fang had taken Serah's side over hers.

"Yet Serah…" She turned to Serah, "Light has a point too. She can't just quit her job on a whim."

"See?" Lightning sighed. "Look, I have to go. I'll be back at four. I promise dinner tonight." Serah didn't move from her spot. The elder Farron leant against the bare wall. "Move."

"Serah, sadly you can't stop her…" Fang tried to reason.

Lightning looked at Fang. "Thank you. And no, she can't. And she's already made me late."

"Good, then don't go in!" Serah exclaimed.

"Serah, do you want me to get fired for not showing up?" Before the younger sister had a change to answer, Lightning held up her hand. "That wasn't an offer. Fang. Do something before I kill her." Lightning once again tried to get past her. "Serah, I really don't want to hurt you."

"Alright, Mini-Sunshine. Time to let Claire get to work before she kills you, and possibly me." Fang wrapped her arms around Serah to lift her out of Lightning's way.

Serah frowned as Lightning walked past her. "Claire…"

"I'm going."

"I know… can I… at least get a hug?"

Lightning stopped as her hand went to put the car keys in her pocket. She turned around to see tears in Serah's eyes. She saw the little girl inside of her sister. The tears that barely grazed her eyes. The sergeant walked up to her sister and wrapped her arms around her. "I'll be fine. It's only desk work. No field duty for at least a month."

"I guess that's all I can take… plus dinner. We can invite Snow and Vanille… and your girlfriend."

Lightning pulled back and let go of her sister, crossing her arms. "She's not my girlfriend." She glanced back at Fang, who had raised an eyebrow. Serah only giggled.

"Well, she's a girl and we all know how… close… you two have gotten-"

"We're not having this conversation right now. I'll see you at four…"

Lightning turned around and walked out the door. Fang followed her briskly and caught up with her just as she was heading down the stairs. "I'm not your girlfriend then?"

"We've only been on one date, Fang…" Lightning said with no emotion. 'Please don't start… I'm already confused…'

"We slept together, Claire." With that, Lightning scowled slightly before pulling Fang aside and lowered her voice.

"I'm… aware of what happened that night, Fang…"

"You… don't regret it… do ya?"

"No, I don't regret it for a second, but I wish we'd waited."

"Well… if I remember correctly, you're the one who started it."

On the other side of the door, Serah's ears perked up. She was shocked. Lightning started it? She started fires, not sex with… 'Oh gross…'

"I have to go to work… I'll call you."

"Lightning, with you…" Fang felt slightly annoyed, "its one step forward three steps back! I don't know what to do. I don't know how to approach you when you're acting like that…" Fang was hurt, annoyed, frustrated… She didn't know what to do. That night was one night that she would never forget. It was the best night of her life.

Lightning knew. She knew that Fang was hurt. "I'm sorry… I, um… I have to go to work…"

"Fine…" Fang turned and walked back into the apartment. "She's so frustrating!" Fang expressed. She walked into the Farron's kitchen with the younger following. She poured a cup of coffee and sat down at the dining room bar. "I don't know what to do with her."

Serah bit her lip. "Um… there's something about Claire that you might need to know…"

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South Bodhum Police Station
0830 Hours – Monday

Thankfully Amodar wasn't too upset about her being late. He understood that Serah would be upset. One less thing off her mind…

She sighed and opened the first file. She couldn't keep her mind off of her conversation with Fang and Serah. She knew that the two women were right. She was in denial and was pushing away. Could you blame her? 'Maybe Serah's right. No… no. I don't love her. I can't. I just can't. Not again.' She shook her head to try to rid herself of the oncoming flashback but it didn't help. It was coming. 'I can't love another since… him.'

Two years ago…

Lightning couldn't have been happier. It had been two days since Clark proposed to her. She had a hard time keeping her eyes off the diamond ring that now occupied her left hand. People at work had noticed the different demeanor in the woman since the proposal. She wasn't as stoic as she had been since she started. She still needed to tell Serah.

"Clark, I'm home. I brought dinner too," She put the two bags on the kitchen counter and called out again. "Clark? Are you home?"

No answer.

"Clark?" She heard shuffling from the back of the hallway. Her brow frowned in confusion as she made her way down the hallway, taking off her tie as she walked. She unbuttoned the top of her shirt to give her neck some much needed air and walked through their bedroom door, only to see a half naked woman and Clark. "What is this?"

"Claire…"

"Don't you dare call me that. Who the fuck is this?" Lightning felt the painful sting of tears in her eyes, something Clark had promised long ago that she would never have to feel. "And in MY bed?"

She knew why it had happened… "Light…"

"Light? What kind of name is that?" The brunette slut said as she held in a chuckle.

"Shut the fuck up and get the FUCK out of my house," She turned to Clark. "And you have one hour to pack your shit and leave."

"Lightning! Are you home?" Lightning turned to the living room, seeing her sister looking at her from the hallway. "What's going on?"

The cheated woman looked back at her ex-fiancé. "Get your shit and leave, Clark… I never want to see you again," She pulled off the ring and threw it at him. As he reached for her, she punched him, knocking him into the fragile desk, breaking it in two. "Get… out. Now."

And he did. Quickly.

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Lightning, Serah, and Snow's Apartment
0830 Hours – Monday

Serah sighed as she refilled Fang's coffee cup. "Yeah… that's what happened."

"Wait, she really made him break the desk?" To be honest, it didn't surprise her. When Lightning's mad, she could make Eden fall out of the sky.

"I tell you how Lightning had her heart broken and all you focus on is the desk?"

Fang did feel bad – really bad… for Lightning. No one deserved that – especially her. Lightning had a hard exterior, but the inside was softer than anything she'd ever seen. The night Lightning and her had sex, it was something she had never felt from the sergeant…. She cleared her throat, "If I was her, I would have killed him."

"And she would have," Serah continued, taking a sip of her coffee. "But I pulled her away before she got the chance."

"So he's lucky ya got home when you did… What happened to that girl he was sleeping with?"

"Lightning punched her too. She kept making cracks at her name. Claire pretty much had enough."

"Does she know why he did it…?" Serah only nodded as her teeth clenched. She hated him for hurting her older sister. She hadn't seen him since. It was a good thing too… Two angry Farron sisters is a deadly combination. "Well? Why did he do something that stupid?"

"Because she wanted to wait for marriage… She wasn't ready and he found it somewhere else," Serah took a sip of her coffee before continuing. "I told her that he was a pig… but Claire was stubborn and didn't listen."

"But… she slept with me… we only went on a date once."

"She loves you. She won't admit it, but she does. She loved him too but I actually don't think she was 'in love' with him. There's something about you Fang, that makes people trust you – even Lightning…"

"I still don't understand…"

"Fang, it's not that hard. Claire loves you. She's in love with you. She just has a hard time accepting it because she's afraid of getting hurt again, which I understand… she was supposed to marry Clark. She wanted to wait until they were married but it didn't work out… To be honest, I don't think she's ever loved anyone more than she loves you," Serah said with complete honesty.

'She loves me?' Fang smiled on the inside but kept her face neutral. "How do you know she loves me?"

"I'm her sister. I've known her my whole life, Fang. She's always been stubborn when it comes to her emotions. But I can read her like an open book. The day after your date, she avoided the topic. But she didn't get angry about it… which means she was hiding something. Besides, she told me at my wedding that there was someone she had her eye on… That someone is you. I have a sinking suspicion that she's had her eye on you for a while now." Fang felt herself smile inwardly at that new information. "And I can tell you love her too… don't hurt her."

Fang looked at Serah in the eyes. "I wouldn't dream it of." And she meant it.

"Good, because I think she might actually kill you," the sister joked.

"And I wouldn't fight back at all. Ya don't have to worry about it, Serah…"

'I love her too.'

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So there you have it. Lightning was cheated and hurt, and yet she trusts Fang. :) Fang does seem trustworthy. I know I'd give her my... yeah, not going there. Read and review.