Tobias's General store was the first stop when Lightning got back to Ruffian - all the day's fighting had significantly dwindled her remedy reserves. If only someone had told her earlier the desert is packed with enormous monsters during the daytime, as if the sun was able scorch out the nastiest, most perilous wildlife out of the desert sand.
As soon as she stepped closer to the bandit settlement, however, Lightning realised things have changed around here - it looked like just about everyone knew who she was and what she'd done with the crux. Well, I guess gawking openly is better than hostile staring anyway. Passing several people, all of whom appeared to be happily drunk, Lightning entered in what could be called a central hall and scanned the room, ignoring all the stares and remarks directed her way. The place was like a beehive, all sorts of voices coming from all sides, some off-tune guitar playing, singing, occasional shout mingling with dog barks. Forge, outfitter, eatery...bar. Cosy. Lightning would have gladly downed a couple of the strongest drinks her new bandit-buddies could serve, but, as always, duty had to come first - there was a boss to meet before the night ended. Spotting a bright red leather jacket of Adonis in the crowd, Lightning started approaching him slowly.
"Good job again on the trial. Impressive. You ready to go to meet the boss now?" The tall man asked in a much friendlier fashion than earlier this day, when he sent Lightning to deal with the storm. Briefly, Lightning wondered what's his position in a gang, if he was some sort of boss's right hand or merely an errand-boy as she was trying to figure out what kind of a person this mysterious bandit leader was and what to expect from him. This was futile, of course, so Lightning simply nodded to Adonis and they started walking along the narrow passageway that almost looked like a cave. Finally Adonis signalled for them to stop, as the two approached an entrance of a brightly lit room.
"Here she is, boss. The new recruit with the crazy powers. It was just like you said, the crux lit up like a candle!" Adonis proudly boomed, introducing 'the new recruit'.
Lightning drew in a sharp breath as soon as her eyes fixated on the female figure in the centre of the room, casually sitting with her back to the entrance, her legs perched on top of a massive writing table. Even without seeing the woman's face, Lightning knew exactly who that was, and sudden flash of nausea ran through her body, leaving her feeling dizzy. She realised she couldn't move a muscle and her breathing had turned fast and shallow. No. No, God, please no, not her... Out of all the people in the world, why...
"Perfect timing..." A deep, smoky voice with an unmistakeable accent. No...
The bandit boss gracefully jumped from her seat and turned around. "Glad you could make it. Took you long enough, didn't it?"
"Fang..." Lightning choked out, still frozen to the spot.
Frankly, she couldn't believe her eyes. From her short conversation with Vanille, Lightning had figured out Fang was alive and well, but she could never had imagined to find the fierce Pulsian huntress in a situation like this. If Lightning was being honest with herself, she didn't even want to ask Vanille about Fang directly - partly because she was afraid to find out that something bad had happened since Vanille was on her own...and partly because Lightning didn't really know how her new emotionless state will react to any reminder about Fang or what they once had. Yet here she was, dropped head-first in a situation she had tried so hard to avoid - confronting Fang in all her glory. Faintly Lightning remembered the confusion she had felt back before her return to the Ruffian village - now she realised it was absolutely nothing comparing to what she felt now. All the memories Fang's presence provoked collided with the cold emptiness of Lightning's heart - feelings that she remembered having, that should have been there...yet she could feel nothing. Instead, it felt like the memories were scraping at her hollow heart, desperately trying to find some proof of their existence, find some emotion to connect themselves to. Same like with projection of Serah in the Ark...yet this was so much worse, since Fang standing in front of her was very much alive and real and unlikely to disappear anywhere.
"What?! No hugs and tears for an old friend?" Fang continued, seemingly carelessly, moving in closer to Lightning and never letting her eyes off her.
Lightning released a breath she didn't even know she was holding in and looked into Fang's eyes. All of us have changed so much during these long centuries...all, except Fang. Why am I not surprised?... Same cocky tone, same confident attitude, same bright green, piercing eyes that seemed to have an ability to strip Lightning's soul bare and see through any wall she had put up - something that initially had irritated Lightning to no end, but later turned out to be one of the reasons why she had let Fang get so close to her. And, God, she seemed more beautiful than ever...
Fang had moved into Lightning's personal space as if she owned it and stood mere inches from the shocked 'new recruit'. Whether by his own decision or some wordless order from Fang, Adonis had tactfully removed himself from the room, seeing that the two women obviously knew each other.
"It's been a long time, Light, hasn't it?" Fang continued in a slightly quieter tone. Suddenly Fang dropped her hand on Lightning's shoulder with enough force to make the latter wince. Startled, Lightning realised that, if she didn't count holding Snow's half-dead body after their fight, this was the first time someone had dared to touch her since she was woken up from her self-induced crystal prison. It truly had been a long time...
"Some little bird told me you've...changed. More than a mere human. You're on a mission from god now. Right, saviour?" Fang asked as she looked straight into Lightning's eyes again. Thankfully, Lightning had slowly started to gain back her ability to speak, though looking at Fang was still proving to be somewhat difficult.
"Huh...so you know who I am?" Of course she knows...
"Well, a mighty crime lord like me has to keep her ear to the ground, right?" Fang continued, her lips curling into a smirk that didn't really reach her eyes. "And, as I said...a certain little bird told me quite a lot of things about you."
Finally Fang let go of Lightning's shoulder and went back to take a seat in her chair, leaving Lightning standing awkwardly in the same spot she hadn't move from since entering Fang's room.
"So...you were with the Order, but ditched them in order to come out here and be a gang leader?" Lightning asked as she tried to clear a picture a little bit and find out what had happened and why Fang and Vanille had separated.
"Those priests aren't exactly my kind of people. I stuck around to look after Vanille, but then something else came up. I'm after the clavis now," Fang declared confidently.
Despite herself, Lightning couldn't stop a smirk appearing on her lips as she imagined Fang living in a cathedral full of devoted Bhunivelze's followers and how much damage she had caused before they had to kick her out. Keeping Fang in a church, they might as well have tried to trap a whirlwind in there...
"It's been sealed away for ages, though, and no one's got even close to it. I was beginning to think I'd have to give up," Fang babbled on, seemingly absent-mindedly, but still never letting her eyes off of Lightning. It was obvious Fang was trying to read her, like she always had, but...unfortunately for Fang, Lightning had become significantly harder to figure out. So hard that even the Saviour herself couldn't work out what was going on in her head any more, especially after today.
"But then you came along and worked your magic with that crux. So how about we team up? I want to get that clavis before the Order does. Help out a...friend, Lightning?"
Even under Fang's attentive stare, Lightning had collected herself enough to move closer to Fang and stand in front of the huntress. This was a very tempting offer...a bit too good to be true, so it made the Saviour cautious. Something was off, but for now, Lightning decided to play along - even if this was some sort of trap, she was more than capable to get out of any trouble, and also, today's events had left her so drained she didn't have the mental capacity to argue with Fang anyway. She'll have to go to the Ark soon, there she'll have an opportunity to think this through...hopefully. So she decided to take Fang's offer.
"How could I refuse an old friend? It'll be like old times. Right?" Lightning had moved close enough to Fang to notice the bandit leader desperately trying not to show how badly her hands were shaking. Is she scared I was going to refuse her?
"All right," Fang chuckled nervously as she fidgeted in her chair, then stood up and started pacing the room.
"I'll show you what we have on the ruins. We've got lots to talk about, you and I."
This, in turn, made Lightning nervous. She didn't want to discuss her present state of mind with anyone, least of all people with Fang. How can I ever explain this mess to her without hurting her in the process?...
Then a sudden realisation hit Lightning. Fang seemed to know a little too much to be informed only by clerics of Luxerion about their Saviour.
"Fang, wait...you mentioned a little bird...Did you mean...have you been talking to Lumina?!" she asked incredulously.
Slowly turning around to face Lightning, the brunette leaned against the tabletop and crossed her arms on her chest. A strange gleam appeared in her green eyes.
"Might have, yeah," Fang tried to keep her voice casual.
Lightning's breath got caught somewhere in her throat, and she mechanically clenched and unclenched her gloved fists. I swear, one day I'm going to slap some sense into that demon child.
"What did she tell you?"
"Oh well, y'know...things. Like a certain...agreement your mighty god has put up on you. And a price you had to pay for it." Fang got off the table and approached Lightning, who in turn now looked straight into Fang's eyes.
"Honestly, I couldn't believe that," Fang continued, her voice turning into almost a whisper, "didn't want to, more like." She lowered her eyes. "Light, you know damn well I've always been able to read you like an open book, no matter how many walls you built around yourself. I know that, you know that. You hated my guts for it at first, but later you...you told me you..."
Stopping in mid-sentence, Fang sighed sharply and turned her back to Lightning again. Absent-mindedly, the bandit leader started running her fingers over the smooth tabletop, as if the steady motion could somehow help her to think over what she wanted to say next. Lightning was somewhat relieved she didn't need to look at the huntress's face, realising that what she's about to hear from Fang is not going to be anything particularly pleasant. Without putting much thought to it, Lightning's gaze started wandering along the tall woman's back. Just as I remember. Wrapped in a beautiful, detailed sari, wrists covered in her tribal bracelets. Tiny braids adorning thick, shiny hair. Tanned skin, criss crossed with scars and tattoos with toned, powerful muscles beneath it. Lightning swallowed loudly, as she realised just how much she wanted to reach out and touch Fang, to feel the woman's smooth, warm skin under her fingertips... Wait, why would I...? Lightning felt her face heat up at the realisation what exactly she was starting to imagine.
Suddenly Fang straightened her whole body, crossing arms over her chest and, startled from her line of thought, Lightning lowered her eyes and noticed goosebumps appearing on the brunette's skin, even though the temperature in the room was far from cold.
"Thing is...right now I could look at that blank wall right there, and get a better reading out of it than from you." The pain mixed with confusion in Fang's voice was so sharp it was almost palpable.
"So tell me, Saviour," Fang spat, glancing sideways over her shoulder, "what the hell have that bastard really done to you?..."
Scolding herself for the moment of weakness, Lightning instinctively took a defensive position, crossing her arms over her chest. With a desperate look in those gorgeous eyes, Fang was now visibly shaking from apparent tension in her whole body. Expressionless, Lightning looked at Fang now, and a thousand memories pushed themselves in the centre of her mind all at the same time - the curse of a l'Cie, meeting with Fang, how Lightning had hated her at first and, despite that, how quickly Fang had managed to earn her trust and even steal her heart in the process... Their first kiss, first time Lightning had dared to touch Fang... She remembered everything, but couldn't recall a single emotion connected with those memories. This was getting unbearable, it felt like Lightning's body is going to explode from the tension gathering somewhere deep inside of her. So she decided to stick to her usual tactics - try to choke it all down and keep as much of it inside as possible. Fang shouldn't ever had seen her like this in the first place, it is going to be better this way...
"Fang, listen...I can't really explain it and frankly, I don't want to. So please don't ask me things you don't want to hear me say. Lumina didn't lie to you, that's all I can tell. I will help you find the clavis, you don't have to worry about that. But please, Fang, don't pry. It's all I ask. All right?"
That sounded cold even to Lightning's own ears, but she couldn't stop herself. She couldn't get into this now, there was no time... Expecting Fang to tell her to leave now, Lightning closed her eyes and started to turn away to find the exit of this place. Instead, she felt a firm grip around her wrist, keeping her from moving and warm fingertips brushing against her cheek, slowly stroking along the jawline, moving over the neck and stopping against the saviour brand on the breastplate of her armour...right above her heart.
"It's really true then?...You've lost...all of it?" Fang asked in a soft, almost breaking voice, obviously still refusing to fully believe.
At this moment Lightning was starting to feel strange. Fang was standing so close to her, Lightning could feel the heat emanating from Fang's body, she felt the familiar, sweet scent of Fang's skin, she could even see her own reflection in Fang's stunning eyes. Before she could think this through and stop herself, Lightning slowly placed her hand on top of Fang's. It felt so good to touch her again... Utterly surprised, she also felt a familiar tension blooming and expanding somewhere deep and low inside her belly. So, I can't feel any emotions, but you still leave me my physical desire? Is this some kind of a sick joke?...
"It's true, all right," Lightning breathed, "so...now what?" The close proximity of Fang's body was overwhelming and the fair haired woman felt her cheeks to flush again. That must have cought Fang's attention, since the tiniest smile flashed the olive-skinned beauty's lips - the very same lips Lightning was now openly staring at, unable to tear her eyes away.
Fang appeared to have stopped breathing - just standing there, completely still, as if trying to come to a decision. Then suddenly she moved away from Lightning, freeing her hand from the shorter woman's grasp.
"Stay with me tonight, Light," she blurted out.
The bluntness of the statement caught Lightning completely off guard. Fang was known for always speaking her mind clearly, but this was a bit over the top even for her.
"I...uh..." Lightning stuttered.
"Listen, I'll only say this once, yeah? If you say you don't want it, we get the clavis as we agreed, you never see me again. No hard feelings, promise," Fang explained somewhat frantically, though the way she said it made Lightning completely sure it's not going to be so easy as 'no hard feelings'...
"But if you do want to...then stay with me, no more questions asked."
It felt like the time had ceased to flow, and Lightning experienced the worst inner battle she could remember. How does she always do it? dazed, Lightning mutely wondered to herself. I was peacefully doing my duty as a Saviour all this time and nothing could shake me even a little. Then I meet her and my world is turned upside down in a matter of minutes...
Despairingly trying to come to a decision, Lightning let the thoughts swallow her mind. Suppress and forget or just reach out and take it? You can't. You can't, you're a Saviour, you have a job to do, there's no time... Yet this could be the exact thing Lightning was thinking about earlier. Escape, even for a short time. Be careful what you wish for, huh?... This was so selfish, but Lightning hadn't done anything selfish in a very, very long time, so what's the better time to start than at the end of all days?
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then slowly reached up to remove her ear-piece. Forgive me, Hope... Opening her eyes, she locked her eyes with Fang's. "I have to leave at six in the morning."
The next second Lightning felt Fang's arms grabbing her waist, crushing her close while kissing her with almost brutal passion. The subtle warmth that had gathered in Lightning's belly now exploded like fireworks, tripling her heart rate and leaving her whole body tingling in anticipation. She let her fingers run into Fang's hair, pulling it none too gently, returning the huntress's kiss with equal passion. A soft moan escaped Lightning's mouth, erasing the last remnants of thoughts in her mind, thoughts that tried to remind her what a fool she was and that she's about to make a horrible mistake. She had forgotten how good it felt...
Lightning wasn't sure how much time had passed, but they gasped for air when the kiss finally broke. Fang was wearing the widest grin on her face, visibly gotten rid of most of her tension from before. Her eyes seemed to sparkle with tiny devilish flames as she moved forward into the room, holding Lightning firmly by the hand, concentrating solely on this simple task.
"C'mere. Wanna show you something," Fang said mysteriously, as she pushed on some secret compartment on the back wall, revealing an entrance and a vertical spiral staircase. Lightning looked puzzled, but Fang only continued smiling wickedly, and added, "Shall we, then?"