"No."
"Yeah."
"No, Fang."
"Yes, Claire."
Lightning swiped at Fang for using the forbidden name. Her feet betrayed her, though, sending her crashing to the ground and landing flat on her ass. She groaned. I thought dates were supposed to be fun. And Serah wonders why I don't go out...
She shot a nasty glare up at the woman who had gracefully escaped her reach and was now skidding to a halt next to her. Fang tsked, holding out a hand for her to grab. Ignoring it, she grabbed the rail with both hands and yanked herself up, clutching the metal bar with a death grip. Her legs felt wobbly. Ice-skating was an absolutely horrid idea.
Her legs would suddenly jerk forward of their own accord, leaving her to support her body weight with arms alone. Good thing she worked out too, otherwise she would have fallen more than once.
Fang was amused by how clumsy Light was on ice. And she's always so flippy and graceful when she fights. Weird. You certainly make your own standards, dont'cha Sunshine? Fang skated over to the struggling woman, who tensed when she felt her presence.
"Great idea, Fang." She snapped as her legs threatened to give out again.
The huntress rolled her eyes, wrapping her fingers around Light's arms and forcefully dragging her away from her precious rail. She didn't say anything for once. She just wrapped her strong arms around Light - who was panicking - and skated to the center of the lake. They both skid to a stop, right where the lake was at its deepest.
"F-Fang." Lightning fearfully eyed the ice beneath their feet. There's what? Five inches between me and-and... Her dormant childhood fear, locked and buried away, was starting to claw its way to the forefront of her mind.
The Pulsian ignored Light's half-plea, half-demand, releasing one of her arms so that she could tilt the strawberry blonde's head up. The soldier's bright blue eyes would not meet hers, however, drifting down to focus on the creaking ice.
"What are you so scared of?" Fang asked, genuinely concerned. She had hoped that - by dragging Lightning out to face her fears front and center - she would open up more, relax. Instead, her barriers were out in force. Fang was practically growling in frustration. Damn it.
Lightning's uncertain blue orbs met Fang's gaze for a split second, and in that time space of time, Fang got a glimpse of an entirely different person, and yet still the same. It was impossible to describe. It was as if two entities of the same person were locked away in one body.
It was Claire.
A loud creak made Light start and yank Fang closer. The soldier wrapped her arms tighter around the woman, burying her face in her chest, and hyperventilating. She closed her eyes tightly together, struggling for the emotionless mask that would save her from this.
Fang didn't know what the bloody hell was going on with Sunshine. At the beginning, Lightning was tensed, squirming to get out of her grasp, and now? She was crushing Fang with the strength from her arms! Fang grunted a little, shifting her grip, which only caused Lighting to cling closer.
"Hey." Fang wheezed, coughing a bit. She rubbed Light's back reassuringly. "Light, talk to me. I'm here."
There are many, many strange things that human beings are capable of. Some of them, you can't even believe it. Others just do not even make sense. Lightning was experiencing something like that.
An epiphany. A metaphor. All of it was combining into this one experience, this once voice saying one word: 'Listen'.
Here she was, wearing these ridiculous chocobo ice-skating shoes, in the middle of a frozen lake, clinging to Fang like she was pathetically weak. And yet... Lightning chanced another look around to see the other people skating off at a distance.
She spied a little girl being picked up by her father, a mother twirling another littler girl by the hand. They must have been sisters, a family.
It was amazing what the little things were doing to Light. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter, trying to block out the image of the happy family.
'What are you so scared of?'
What wasn't she scared of? Here they were, in the middle of a goddamn lake, nothing to depend on except the crazy barbarian holding her.
And then it hit her.
Fang was holding her.
Fang was comforting her.
Fang was protecting her.
The last time that Lightning felt protected was when her parents were alive. Get a grip, Lightning. Her thoughts rang dully in her ears. You're not a child anymore.
But she was. Lightning didn't depend on anybody, the part where the child grows into an adult and tries to make their own life - Lightning couldn't try, she had to do. There was no second chance for her - if she screwed up it wasn't just her, it was Serah. She had to be strong, she couldn't depend on anybody. She had to be strong.
Yet... Lightning clung tighter to Fang, if that were possible. When she was small, she remembered ice-skating with her family. She had gone off on her own, and had skated to the middle of the lake. She remembered calling out to her father, seeing the panicked expressions on her face. A child does not pay attention to everything, it's impossible. A child does not know that the creaking of ice means that it is too thing; a child does not know that the cracks will give way, even if you are light.
So she fell, into a dark, cold, empty abyss with nothing, no one, no hope, no future. She could see the light, a ray shining down on her and - in a cruel way - it was beautiful. There was a salvation, but she couldn't get to it alone.
And then there was a torrent of bubbles, a large body swimming to her, reaching her, yanking her up. Her father had dove in, rescuing her and bringing her out of the water. Both were shaking violently and had to be taken to the hospital and treated for hypothermia.
In a metaphorical way, it was happening all over again. She was in the water - Light had been drowning since her parents died. She was emotionless, cold as the water frozen beneath her feet. Not moving forward, nor backward, staring up at the beautiful light and wondering if maybe, just maybe, she could reach it someday.
The body that rescued her wasn't her father. It was Fang. Fang was yanking her up out of the water, breathing life back into her lungs, warming the coldness of the abyss.
Why hadn't she seen it until now?
Fang was dragging her back to who she was. She was ripping layer after layer, wall after wall, until she finally revealed the prize she had been looking for. Fang...
All she wanted was for Lightning to be happy.
Lightning was not used to all of this emotion. It was overwhelming. This woman, a woman born on Pulse, five hundred years ago, was saving her life. It was unfathomable. Fang had become Ragnarok, had brought an entire planet to its knees and the crazy thing was...
She was madly in love with Light.
Fang could feel Lightning trembling. She pulled her head back - hoping to get a glimpse and see what was affecting the soldier so much, but was met with resistance. Lightning wouldn't move. Her head stayed buried in Fang's chest.
She was about to say something but then -
"F-Fang?" Light's voice quivered.
"Yeah, Light?"
"I-I'm sorry..."
Fang's brow furrowed. "What for?"
Lightning snorted. "Everything." Don't cry, don't cry...
"Lightning." Fang finally managed to pull away and look the other woman in the face.
The Pulsian did a double take. Lightning was crying. Sure, she was looking away, trying to hide it, shuffling her feet - all of that cute stuff. But... Lighting Farron was crying.
"Light." Fang ducked her head so that she could meet her eyes. "Light, talk to me. What's going on?"
A few moments of silence passed. Fang was worriedly watching Lightning, her hands gripping the top of Lightning's arms lightly. Swallowing past the lump in her throat Light finally lifted her gaze up to meet Fang's warm, concerned jade orbs.
"Fang," There was no fear, nervousness, nor quiver in her voice. "Do you love me?"
Fang's eyes widened. She couldn't respond.
Lightning stumbled closer, Fang instinctively catching her. "Do you?"
"..." Fang uncharacteristically looked away. Of course she did. Who wouldn't? But did Light mean that as a friend or...?
"Fang." Jade eyes wouldn't meet the blue. The huntress jumped when she felt two hands gently holding her face, cupping her cheeks gently and turning her so that she was forced to meet the eyes that she didn't want to see.
Nobody ever thought that Lightning would be trying to break down Fang's walls.
"It's okay if-if you don't... I mean... I just thought that-" Lightning was blushing, as she stared into the dark green eyes of Fang. She took a deep, calming breath. "I need to know why you're doing this."
There was an edge to Light's voice that Fang had never heard. A sort of mixture between desperation and... love?
Oh, God you twit. Fang thought as she finally realized what was going on.
Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around Light's shoulders, bringing her oh, so close. "Yes, Light. I love you." She rested her head atop the woman's soft pink hair. "God, I love you so much."
Lightning finally broke down then, letting her sobs seep out. Wrapping her arms around Fang's slim waist, she thought, Then... this is what it must mean to be free.
She was finally Claire again.
Vanille tugged Serah along by her scarf. "Come on! We're gonna miss it!"
"Miss what?" Serah managed to choke out.
"You'll see!" Vanille chirped, skipping ahead and continuing to lead Serah along like a dog on a leash.
She stopped abruptly, letting Serah crash into her and sending the two tumbling into the snow. "Vanille!"
"Sorry, sorry! But look!" She pointed, trying to ignore the fact that Serah was currently straddling her waist.
Serah was blushing a vivid red that immediately disappeared as she spotted both Fang and Lightning in the middle of the lake, embracing. Vanille clapped her hands together, sitting up quickly and getting a lot closer to Serah. "Yay! About time! Those two have enough sexual tension to summon Ragnarok alone." With that she turned at looked at the younger Farron, who was still straddled across her legs, and who was only about three inches away.
"Uh..." Serah couldn't move, all that she could do was stare into the brilliant shade of green that was Vanille's eyes.
For all of her innocence, and all of her youthfulness, Vanille was quite kinky. Very much so. If people only knew... Fang was the innocent one out of the two. And that was saying something.
Grinning wickedly, she leaned forward, brushing her cheek against Serah's and leaning close to her ear. Letting her hot breath wash over Serah, she said, huskily. "They're not the only ones."
All of the blood in Serah's tiny little body rushed to her head... and, well... other places at that moment. Va-Va-Vanille... just... What? Vanille then winked and gently separated their entangled limbs. "Well then," Vanille said, chipper as could be. The redhead held out one hand to her. "Shall we go?"
Serah was still in shock.
Vanille gave her a flat look. "I'm about to reveal said tension."
The other woman quickly scrambled to her feet, amusing Vanille even further.
"Now, we're off!" Vanille wrapped one arm around Serah's waist, dragging her along.
Fang skated along, leading Lightning to the edge of the lake. She found a stump nearby, and settled the younger woman on it. "Let's get these off, eh?" She gently tugged at the chocobo wing straps. It was all made to embarrass Lightning off course, but now there was no need for it – absolutely none. Light was completely relaxed in her presence now. She slipped the bright yellow skates off and handed her her customary combat boots.
She walked on the crunchy snow so that she could sit on the rest of the remaining stump. Her back rested against Light's as she slipped her normal black skates off and pulled on her own boots. Huh... These are the boots that Light got me... Funny.
"Hey, Fang?"
"Yeah?" Fang tugged at the rebellious shoe.
Lightning's eyes narrowed. "I... think I just saw Vanille and Serah... kissing?"
"Wha- oh shit!" Fang jerked too hard on the skate in her surprise, and saw her life flash before her eyes as the blade zoomed closer. She tumbled backwards, making Light fall over as well, and sending the two rolling head over heels down the small hill.
The two finally came to a stop, Fang landing on the bottom, groaning from the multiple bruises that she acquired. She blinked blearily, looking at Lightning's mess of pink hair that was resting on her chest. The soldier pushed herself up, not noticing where her hands are, which were currently on Fang's breasts, nor noticing that she was straddling the huntress.
Oh, dammit, not again... Well... I mean I don't mind, of course I don't, but it's too- Holy shite! Fang bit back a moan as Lighting squeezed. Time to switch things up. "Oooh, Sunshine?"
"Hmm?" Lightning blinked, clearing the snow from her eyes to spot Fang with her feral grin in place.
"Ya might want to move your hands... Before I lose all self-control." Fang let her eyes wander down Light's form to rest on the hands covering her breasts.
Light gaped, switching her startled gaze from her hands to Fang's waist, which she was straddled on. "S-sorry." She quickly 'hopped' off, taking her hands away and scooting to put some much needed distance between them.
Fang smirked. "Don't be. But remember," Fang's eyes were bright with mischief. "I take 'em to dinner first." She winked. "We'll have a nice little, well..." Fang looked up at the sky in thought. "You and me, it won't be no little romp. But it will be fantastic." She focused back at Light, who was blushing.
"Aw, come on, Sunshine." Fang pushed herself off the snow covered ground, brushing the white stuff off and crouching next to the embarrassed soldier. "Relax." The disarming smile was sent Light's way. "After all, we did just admit our undying love for each other."
That made Light crack a smile, and she playfully shoved Fang so that she landed on her but when an oomph. "There we go! Back to the violent tendencies that show just how much you care!" Fang grinned.
Lightning scoffed. "Whatever, Fang. Speaking off, you said dinner... And you still owe me a date." Lightning's blue eyes for once were playful.
"Right." Fang pushed herself up a second time, holding out a hand that - for once - Lightning took. Fang looked down at their hands fingers that were now twined together. She gently swung their arms side to side before bringing the pinkette's hand up to her lips and kissing the back of it. "I really do love you, Light." Fang's gorgeous smile made Lightning's heart rate increase fivefold.
"I know." She smiled at her. "I love you, too."
"Brr!" Fang shivered, drawing her jacket closer to her, squinting against the harsh wind that was blowing. Lightning and her were in the middle of Oerba, the tall buildings making a sort of wind tunnel and sending huge snowy gusts of wind hurtling toward them.
Hope I make it to the damn restaurant.
She was surprised when Lightning wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing closer and lending some of her warmth. Fang smiled, wrapping her arm around Light's shoulders in turn.
My girl. The thought came unbidden, unexpectantly. But... she liked the sound of it. My girl, she thought again, hugging the younger woman closer.
Normally, she would have done something playful - in fact, she wanted to. If she were warm she would have let the hand that was rested on Light's shoulders play with the pink spikes. It was too cold, though. She had plenty of time for teasing anyway.
When they reached their destination, Fang immediately held open the door for her. Jeez, where is all this gentlemanly crap coming from? She thought, but ignored the thought when she received Light's appreciative smile. Screw that, if it works I'll do it.
The restaurant was dimly lit. It had a boisterous atmosphere, the kind where you can relax, knowing that you won't stand out amongst the crowd. Fang had picked this place exactly for that reason and it was noticeable that the sergeant had released some tension. She knew that Light wasn't all that good with people, with example A - hitting and/or slapping, example B - cursing and screaming, or example C - her standoffish attitude. It stands to reason that the elder Farron didn't garner much social finesse.
Their waitress led them to a corner booth - another thing that set Light at ease. They sat down, Fang opposite from Lightning. Of course, with Lady Luck so much on her side today, she had to slip her leg between Light's. Lightning's eyes widened as she felt the movement. She didn't try anything, all Fang did was to let some part of her keep in contact with Light.
Hmm... Lightning thought.
"What's on your mind, Sunshine?" Lightning glanced up from her examination of Fang's leg resting on hers.
"Do... On Pul- Gran Pulse, do they like... contact more than others?"
Fang blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I don't think I've ever met anyone so touchy-feely all the time." Lightning smirked.
"Hey!" Fang frowned. "You like it, missy. Besides," Her frowned turned into a feral grin. "I'm good at touchy-feely."
Light = 0, Fang = 1
Lightning tried to stop the blush from spreading. "Huh... Didn't know that the strong barbarians of Pulse were so soft."
Fang frowned again. Light = 1, Fang = 1
"Better than growing up brainwashed."
Lightning's eyes narrowed. Light = 1, Fang = 2
"So, how long could you go without touching somebody? Ten minutes?"
Grrr... Light = 2, Fang = 2
"How long could you go without my touch? Five minutes?"
Grrr... Light = 2, Fang = 3
Their waitress stood to the side, quaking in fear. Both of the intimidating women, who had begun to inch closer and closer, snarls emitting from their throats, turned and looked at the poor woman. "U-um... D-don't mind m-me... I'll j-just..." She gestured vaguely to the side before dashing away.
Ten seconds of silence passed, until the peals of laughter could be heard from the two. Fang quickly silenced herself as soon as she heard Light laughing. She stared as the strawberry blond continued to chuckle, her eyes revealing laugh lines that Fang had never seen.
"You should do that more." Fang stated, once Light was done.
Lightning blushed, turning her head so that she wouldn't meet Fang's gaze. "Nuh-uh, no ma'am. Keep those beautiful eyes right here." Fang's finger crept under her chin, making Light face her.
"Y'know... this restaurant is what we would have came too, before your little inci-"
Just then, she was interrupted by two girlish voice both saying at the same time, "Fang?" "Claire?"
Serah and Vanille ran over, each hugging the living hell out of their respective sister. "Oooh, you guys are on a date! So cute!" Vanille said, looking up at Fang innocently.
Innocent? Yeah right. There's a demon lurking in there. Fang quirked one eyebrow up, earning a girlish giggle. Might need an exorcism to save this poor child.
Serah was hugging Light much more gently - a hug which she was returning. The younger Farron was surprised. Sure she gave Light hugs often, and she accepted them, but now Light was responding. "Hey, Claire?" Serah pulled back looking at her sister in concern.
"Yeah?" Lightning went to take a sip of water.
"Did... Did you and Fang have sex?" She blurted out.
Lightning choked, spraying all of her water over Fang. She slapped her hand to her mouth, mortified. Vanille was cracking up laughing, holding her stomach, tears flowing down her cheeks. And - let's be honest - Fang would have too, but right now she was plucking the wet strands of hair away from her face and eyeing them irritably.
"Oh! I'm-I'm sorry!" She apologized to Fang. Light spun to face her sister. "What the bloody hell makes you think that?"
"We-well you're a lot more touchy-feely," Fang interrupted with a snort as Serah continued. "And you're really ha-happy, so I just thought that maybe... You know... And um... You just said 'bloody'! That's so Fang."
"I could ask you the same question." Lightning turned her wrathful gaze upon the cackling redhead, which quickly sobered her up.
Okay, here we go! Vanille drew a deep breath, closing her eyes a minute before opening them oh so wide, doing her best 'Puss-In-Boots' expression. Helps that we got the same eye color too - hey! And red hair! Huh! Who could resist this?
Unfortunately, Lightning could. She glanced over at Fang to see her attempting to dry her hair with her napkin. Serah was meanwhile watching Vanille and making "Aww" noises.
Lightning facepalmed. "What are you two doing here?"
"Well, we came because we wanted dinner too, silly." Vanille stated, as if it were the obvious.
She heard the double meaning behind the words. "Vanille." Fang looked up at hearing the serious tone directed at her sister. The Oerban knew she wasn't angry, just protective right now. Although, she tensed, ready to spring to the small redhead's rescue if need be. Light protectively drew Serah closer. "Were you taking Serah on a date?"
Serah looked between the two. Her sister had an intense expression on her face as her gaze never wavered from Vanille's bright emeralds. Vanille - Serah expected her to cower behind Fang - surprisingly, held Light's stare. Date? What is she kidding? Vanille wouldn't want to-
"And if I am?"
-date me? Serah's mind went into overload. She-she wants to date me?
Vanille's voice had lost the childish squeakiness. Instead there was the deeper tone of an adult woman, a maturity that normally didn't show in the vibrant Pulsian.
Fang's eyebrow shot up. Cheeky girl. She turned her attention back on Light, who had a muscle working in her jaw.
"You know if you harm her," Light's eyes were full of warning. "I will maim you and cut off all of your hair."
Chuckling, Vanille said, "I didn't know about the hair part, but yes, I expected no less from you."
You could almost cut the tension with a knife. Fang and Serah were watching with a mixture of fascination and worry.
"Well then." Lightning released Serah, leaning back and crossing her legs. She gave Vanille a warm smile. "You better take care of her."
"I will."
"Now that all that mess is over," Fang leaned close to Vanille. "Scram! Go woo your own Farron!"
"Double dating is fun!"
Fang snorted. "Reminds me of that paradigm, Double Trouble. So hell no, go get your own booth." She playfully pushed Vanille off of the seat, earning a few squeals of resistance. "Get going. Oh and Serah!" The younger Farron turned to look at Fang over her shoulder. "Remember what they say about redheads." She winked. Fang then gave Vanille a stern look. "'Cause it's true with this one."
Lightning tensed at Vanille's innocent-like smile. "Fang." She growled.
The huntress patted her hand. "Don't worry, love." Fang gave her adoptive sister a warm smile. "That one's thoroughly in love with Serah."
"Is she going to be okay?" Serah asked worriedly, glancing over to see Lightning watching her.
Vanille smiled, pulling her closer. "Don't worry," She watched as Fang quickly captured Light's attention. "That one's thoroughly in love with Light."
A/N: Reviewwww