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

Author's Note: Yay! I'm on a freakin' ROLL this week! It's been TWO DAYS since I posted. That's gotta be a record... for me anyway. Thanks for all the reviews. Enjoy the chapter, gals and guys. Lightning seems a bit bipolar in this chapter, but don't worry. I didn't put it in there for no reason. :) Final draft isn't beta'ed.

Special thanks to Haruka-Chan 212 for helping me out by writing out Fang's lines. I still have a hard time writing her. Lol.

Lost Then Found
Chapter Fourteen

"Just don't give up / I'm workin' it out / Please don't give in / I won't let you down / It messed me up / Need a second to breathe…"
- Pink "Whataya Want From Me?"

XXXXXXXX

Lightning, Serah, and Snow's Apartment
1530 Hours – Monday

Fang couldn't stop thinking about her conversation with Serah earlier. Who would hurt Lightning? She knew that she could never hurt her like that. Why would she? She's practically liked the woman for two years. She looked over to see Vanille, Serah, and Snow looking for job openings in the newspaper but most of them required licenses. Fang wasn't paying any attention to them. She was too anxious to see Lightning.

"I'm going to go outside. It's stuffy in here," Fang said as she stood up.

"Alright," The three answered.

"What about this one?"

"… License."

Fang shook her head and walked outside, sitting on the porch chair. She leaned back as Lightning pulled into the driveway. Her heart raced as she saw the woman step out of the car and get closer with each step. One. Two. Three. Four.

"Hey, Light."

"Hi. Um… Can we talk?" Fang's ears perked up as Lightning took a seat on the adjacent chair. All she did was nod her head. She wouldn't lie – she was nervous. Her heart pounded in anticipation as the sergeant twiddled her thumbs on her lap.

"I'm sorry about earlier. Serah had already gotten me in a bad mood-"

"I know," Fang interrupted.

"-and I was nervous about my first day back-"

"It's okay, re-"

"-and I knew that if-"

"Light! Really, it's alright. I understand," Fang let a soft smile cover her features.

Lightning sighed before looking down at her hands. "Where are the others?"

"Inside tryin' to find Snow a job. But most require licenses."

"Speaking of that, I talked to James at the bank today when I got off… I got him a job interview."

Fang nearly choked on her own tongue. Lightning helped Snow? Oh, this was rich. "Where?"

"There's a job opening at South Bodhum Community Bank. No license required. All he has to do is security. He's twenty one and qualified. I'm going to tell him after dinner."

Fang held in a smirk. "Really? Wow… Serah's got a sister in law enforcement and a husband in security at the bank."

"I know James really well. He said Snow's got the job but he still has to go in for an mandatory interview."

"You had to have spoken highly of Snow…" Fang joked. "That never happens. What did ya say about the 'blockhead'?

"Shut up…" Lightning blushed.

"Ya act like ya hate him. But deep down, under that rock hard exterior, ya love the guy, dontcha?"

"Love's pushing it a bit. It's not like I really have much of a choice. I have to live with the guy…" Lightning grumbled as she loosened her tie.

Fang raised a single eyebrow at the sergeant's actions, somehow finding it incredibly sexy, but pushed it from her mind. "You're hoping to get them out of your house, aren't ya?"

Lightning couldn't help but scoff as she finally got her tie undone, unbuttoning the two buttons near her neck. "Like that'll ever happen. Snow can't be lazy about work. He has to go every day and prove himself… He has to be good at-for something."

"He's good at pissing you off though," Fang smirked. Lightning gave her a half-hearted glare.

She sighed and stood up. "I'm going to go take a shower then we can leave."

"I'll try to not walk in on ya, Sunshine."

Hiding a smile, "Shut up, Fang."

XXXXXXXX

Lightning, Serah, and Snow's Apartment
2050 Hours – Monday

It was when they got home that Lightning broke the news to Snow.

"Are you serious?" Snow asked, his jaw nearly dropping. "You aren't serious, are you?"

The room fell silent from the happy chatter between the friends and family. They stood there, staring at Lightning. She wasn't sure if it was shock or fear. Well… fear from Snow. He didn't have anything to repay her.

"Yeah. You start next week but you have to go in for an interview tomorrow at eight. Don't let make a fool out of me."

"I won't, Lightning. I promise," Snow said as he resisted the urge to hug her – or tried to anyway. He went up to her and hugged her, causing her to stiffen her body.

"Alright, big boy. Put her down before she kills you," Fang said as she took a seat on the couch next to Vanille.

The house was soon full of laughter and jokes, even a few card games. Lightning didn't participate of course – she never did, but she became the referee for Snow and Fang's competitive antics. "I need air. You guys are acting like children." Fang watched as she grabbed her beer and went through the kitchen. She sat down at the deck swing and curled her legs under her.

The crisp summer chill bit at her skin. She wrapped her arms around her chest. She didn't even realize she had done it until Fang had spoke. "Hey, sunshine. You cold?"

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Hi." Fang sat down next to her, causing Lightning to move uncomfortably on the swing.

"It, uh, was a nice thing ya did for him," Fang said as she took a sip from her beer.

"I can't afford this house plus the food on my salary. I get paid to support Serah and I, but not the three of us."

"You keep making excuses."

Lightning glared at her, then turned back to her beer. "No, I'm not. It's getting to be too much. Do you know how much that blockhead eats in a day?"

"Light… I didn't come out here to fight with you…"

"Pft… Could've fooled me."

"You're pushing away."

"Excuse me?"

"Before dinner we had a nice conversation. You apologized for being a complete bitch this morning and I accepted. Ya even sat by me by your own will. Now all of a sudden you're pushing me away… Light, it hurts."

"Fang, I'm like this with everybody."

And she was.

Ever since Clark, she'd pushed people away. She'd get close but then her walls came up as they fell. It wasn't something she could control. It just happened. It was instinct. She wished it wasn't like that. She wanted to be with Fang more than anything. She wanted to let Fang in but she couldn't. They say time heals all wounds, but time had just caused them to open up more.

She dove so deep into her job to keep the pain from getting worse but…

"Serah told me…"

Lightning felt her heart stop. "About what?"

"You were cheated, Lightning. You don't want it to happen again. I think you slept with me because you didn't want me to hurt you the way he did…"

Lightning swallowed heavily and took a long gulp of her beer. "She shouldn't have told you about that."

"She saw how you were pushin' me away."

If the moon wasn't shining on them, the tears in Lightning's eyes wouldn't be noticeable. They didn't fall; they just barely grazed the bottom eyelid. "You're right…"

Fang rose a brow, not understanding. "About…?"

"Being scared… I'm terrified."

"Of what?"

"You. I'm terrified of you, Fang. It's not something I can control… I want to let you in but I can't. I… I don't know if I can do this with you…" Lightning took a staggered breath, "I'm sorry."

Lightning stood up. She wasn't walking away because she wanted to, she was walking away because she was guarding herself – guarding her broken heart. 'Please stop me. Force me. Anything…'

Fang followed her movements, as if reading the woman's mind. She took the beer from Lightning's hands and set it back down on the table. Using her other hand, she wiped a stray tear that finally fell from Lightning's eyes. "Don't cry, Light…"

She leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on the woman's lips. She prayed Lightning would kiss her back. She prayed that she could change Lightning's mind. Relief fell through her body as she felt Lightning do so – moving their lips together in a slow passion. Fang reluctantly pulled away.

"You can do this," Fang whispered. "We can do this."

That caused her walls to come crashing down, breaking into quiet sobs and tears into Fang's chest, she tried to speak. "I don't know how…"

Fang wrapped her arms around Lightning protectively. She could see Serah with concerned eyes in the window beside them. Fang shooed her away and continued holding the sobbing woman in her arms. "It's alright, darlin'," Fang whispered in her ear. Light continued to tremble as she listened to whispered endearments from Fang. It had been years since the last time she shed a tear over emotions. "Come on, let's go inside," Fang found herself saying quietly.

Lightning lifted her head off of Fang's chest. "No. I don't… want the others to see me like that. You go I'll…"

"Come on, you have a second walkway to your hallway, remember? The other's won't even know you're inside." Lightning nodded as Fang led her inside. They quietly went inside and made their way towards Lightning's room. She kept the lights off when they entered the room, figuring Lightning would just fall asleep. She helped Lightning in bed and laid next to her, pulling the ruffled blankets over them, holding the woman closely. "I'll be here when you wake up."

"Goodnight, Fang… thanks…"

Fang pressed her lips against the back of Lightning's neck. "Don't mention it, sunshine."

XXXXXXXX

Told you she seemed a bit bipolar. I don't work for another 6 hours so I'm going to see how much I can write between now and then. If you guys have any ideas for a sequel or new fic, let me know. :)