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I hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)

I do NOT own Final Fantasy..

We left off as our hero came to a decision. She would become the princess' new personal guard and would move into the castle together with her sister. All that there was left to do was letting the King know of her choice..

"I'll do it."

"Wonderful! I'll let some of my servants come and pick up whatever you desire to bring with you to your new home."

The –now– ex-sergeant nodded, "Alright."

"Very well then. Let me introduce you to my little angel now," The King said joyfully as he started to make his way to one of the smaller gardens. Lightning quietly followed him.

They crossed a small bridge that was positioned over a clear stream of water that divided the small garden from the main garden. "Oh and Éclaire?"
He turned his head to his daughter's new personal guard, "Thank you for doing this," he smiled warmly. The twenty-one year old nodded and smiled awkwardly, "It's an honor, Your Majesty. "

The King chuckled, "Éclaire-dear, what have I told you about being so formal with me outside of official meetings?"

"Sorry, Sir," she replied almost automatically. Lightning took note of her surroundings as they approached a big, yet majestic tree in the middle of the garden. Right next to the tree was a small pond that was connected to the stream. Some of its branches and leaves gently touched the water as if it were stroking the surface.
A little away from the pond, a young woman with beautiful, red hair was sitting on the ground. She was leaning against a chocobo that was resting its head on top of hers while she stroked its long, feathery neck.

"Vanille-dear," the man called out to his daughter. Both the young woman and the chocobo looked up. The redheaded princess smiled brightly and got up from the ground. "Papa!" she yelled out happily as she ran to the older man and hugged him.
Lightning had to admit that the small father-daughter moment in front of her touched her. It made her think back to the last time she had such a moment with her own father. It had been a long time since then. She was eleven and Serah was only nine when they had lost their parents. And God how she missed them.

"Sweetheart, I want you to meet your new personal guard." Hearing the King's voice pulled her away from her thoughts. She quickly got onto her right knee and crossed her right arm over her chest, so that her hand was touching her left shoulder. "Lightning Farron, ex-sergeant. It is a great honor to be your personal guard, Your Highness."

Vanille giggled, "You can just call me Vanille and you don't have to kneel down for me, silly."

Lightning grumbled in embarrassment as she got up. The King laughed, "Éclaire-dear, you really have a hard time with that, don't you?"

The ex-sergeant averted her eyes which made the King laugh once again, "Well, I'll leave my daughter in your hands now, Éclaire. I will see you and your sister at dinner later tonight. Good day," He slowly walked away, waving his hand at the two without looking back at them.

"Understood, Sir." She turned back to the other woman and let her eyes glide over her. Vanille was wearing a traditional dress. It was made in such a way that it seemed like she was wearing a short-sleeved top and a knee-length skirt. On the upper part of the dress a simple yet beautiful and colorful pattern was printed with in the middle of it a longer piece of fabric with the same pattern was hanging down. And the lower part was plain white.[1] Her slightly curling, red hair flowed loosely over her shoulders.[2]

"So Éclaire—"

"Lightning," she butted in. Much to her own surprise, Lightning didn't cringe when the redhead called her by her real name, but none the less she immediately corrected the younger woman. The princess stared at her, a hint of surprise and confusion present in her eyes, "But my father just—"

"I know, but please forget about what your father called me. It's Lightning, just Lightning."

"Oh.. Alright," the younger woman smiled, "Lightning." Her guard nodded in acknowledgement.

Vanille turned around and skipped towards the castle. "Wait, You—I mean Vanille, where are you going?"

"To the castle, you coming or what?" she grinned as she replied. "But what about your chocobo?"

"This part of the garden is Lord MacQuackers' home."

'Lord MacQuacker? Really?' Lightning thought to herself as she stared at the princess with a blank face, "I see."

And so they had met for the first time. But this was only the beginning of all that would come..

Dinner went by better than Lightning honestly had expected. Everyone enjoyed the wonderful food that was prepared by several cooks. The only thing left for them was dessert. Again several servants came in and put plates in front of every single person that sat at the table.
Lightning was impressed as to how they made the small dish look so spectacular. She turned her head to her sister, who was sitting next to her, and saw that she was staring in awe at it. She then turned her head towards the young princess who was sitting across from her. One of her eyebrows went upwards as she looked at was in front of the redhead.

The dessert standing in front of Vanille was a lot bigger than that of the rest of the people. 'More like five times bigger,' Lightning mentally added. Vanille's eyes sparkled as she brought a spoonful into her mouth.
One thing immediately became clear to Lightning.

That woman was one hell of a sweet tooth.

Lightning kept staring at the princess as she enjoyed her dessert, Lightning's own dessert long forgotten. That was until her sister nudged her and leaned closer, "Is everything alright, Éclaire?" Serah whispered.

The pale-pink-haired woman blinked and turned her head towards her sister, "What?"

"You haven't touched your dessert. Are you okay?"

She looked down at the dessert and grabbed the small silver spoon next to it, "I.. I'm fine," she replied, moving a spoonful into her mouth.

A/N:

[1]: Vanille's dress: nicegal1 . deviantart . com/art/Oerba-Dia-Vanille-200622054?q=boost%3Apopular%20vanille&qo=632

[2]: Vanille's hair: nicegal1 . deviantart . com/art/Vanille-s-Wishes-204575687?q=boost%3Apopular%20vanille&qo=83

Just take out the spaces!

I hope you guys enjoyed it. I should have the next chapter up by the end of next week. Reviews are very welcome!