Still no clue why I love this pairing. Maybe one day I'll figure it out. Enjoy!
So, let go, let go,
Jump in.
Oh well, what you waiting for?
It's all right,
'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown.
So, let go, let go,
Just get in.
Oh, it's so amazing here.
It's all right,
'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown.
- Let Go by Frou Frou
Vanille was surprised that no one had confronted them yet. Especially Lightning. She was scared that someone would just come up to her and say that they knew exactly what was going on. Maybe her constant fright and jumpiness would alert someone, but things were fine right now. They had made it to the Sulyya Springs and Vanille had volunteered to set up camp while everyone was off doing something. She was spreading out the blankets when strong arms wrapped around her middle and brought her to lean against a broad chest.
"How long do you think everyone will be gone?" Snow asked, kissing her earlobe.
"Dunno," Vanille replied, feeling her face heat up. "A couple of hours, maybe. You weren't gone long yourself."
Soon after the Cie'th Stone mission Vanille had found out that Snow was a lot more physical than she had thought. Back at the pond it seemed he was just very gentle, but whenever they were alone now it seemed a lot more physical. Of course Vanille would never let it go that far. Not because of Serah; she knew she had turned her back on Serah long ago, so would it really make a difference what they were doing? No, it was because Vanille wasn't ready. At all. Maybe not even for ten more years. It was obvious that Snow was ready, but from what Fang had told her about men it seemed like they were all ready.
"I was just trying to get a good lay of the land, it didn't take long," he said, looping a finger under one of her hair ties and pulling it out of her hair.
She always imagined Snow as the heroic guy who always seemed invincible to being too horny. Apparently not. Vanille was slowly, but surely, finding out all of the little things that Snow kept from everyone else.
His finger looped around the other hair tie and pulled that one out as well. He held her hair up with one hand while the other went under the bead chain on her stomach. Goosebumps prickled up her neck as his lips pressed between her shoulder blades. She felt the shadow of a smirk there and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He just though he was so good, didn't he?
"So, did you?" she inquired.
"Did I what?" he asked, moving his lips to the side of her neck.
"Get a good lay of the land," Vanille said, twisting around and wrapping an arm around his neck.
"Pretty good if I do say so myself," Snow mumbled against her lips.
She gave a small smile before placing a light kiss on his lips. Vanille untangled herself from him and went back to spreading out the blankets. After a few moments she looked back at Snow who was just sitting there dumbfounded.
"What's wrong?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.
"That's it?" he asked, standing up and walking towards her.
He gave her no chance to reply as he turned her around and kissed her hard. Snow could tell she was surprised by the way her lips stayed still against his. Soon she responded to it though and didn't protest when he laid her down on one of the blankets she had just spread out. Continuing to kiss her, he tugged off his gloves and cast them aside. He kept one hand tangled in her red curls and the other slowly inching up her stomach.
"What the hell is going on here?"
Snow and Vanille froze. They had just been caught. It was over. Vanille propped herself up on her elbows and Snow turned around just enough to see who was there. Sazh. Shit. Sazh treated Vanille like a daughter after they had spent so much time together when everyone had gotten separated.
"Uh, Sazh," Vanille said, standing up and brushing off her skirt. "This isn't what it looks like."
"Save it, Vanille," Sazh said, holding up his hand. "You, come with me."
Sazh pointed to Snow and then jerked a thumb over his shoulder. Snow looked back at Vanille before following Sazh. Vanille gave a heavy sigh and plopped back down on the blanket. The baby Chocobo had decided to stay with her and was currently resting on top of her knee. She cupped her hands and the Chocobo jumped into them. Smiling, she gave it a small peck on its beak.
"You, my friend, are the most amazing man I know," she said. "Our relationship is just so simple, isn't it?"
"Well, that is a Chocobo you're talking to."
Vanille looked up and saw Fang walking towards her. She sat down next to her long-time friend and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Care to tell me why Sazh is getting red in the face at Snow?" Fang asked.
"You know why," Vanille said.
Even though Vanille hadn't told Fang about Snow, she knew. Maybe it was because the pair was like sisters and could practically read each other's minds. Fang shook her head and wrapped an arm around Vanille.
"I'm not going to applaud you for what you've been doing," she said.
"I would call you crazy if you did," the red-head said. "I didn't want it to happen. I met Serah and she's so sweet and beautiful and wonderful and... Why would he choose me? There's always a chance she'll wake up. I don't have anything on her."
Fang shrugged. She was at a loss for what to say to Vanille. Vanille had always been helpful around Oerba and a lot of boys were attracted to her, but she never got caught up in those kinds of things. So, when she actually did get caught up in some guy, and it's an engaged guy, then Fang can't help but think she did something wrong. The two were best friends and like sisters. Fang basically taught Vanille everything she knew about life so for something like this to happen, well it was a little unsettling.
"You should end this," Fang said.
The baby Chocobo chirped in what Fang hoped was agreement. Vanille looked at the Chocobo in her hands before looking at Fang with wet eyes.
"I know," Vanille said, her voice becoming thick with tears. "But I just- I just can't!"
The rustling of movement caused the pair to look up. Sazh and Snow were walking towards them. Sazh looking angry and Snow with barely any emotion left on his face. Vanille made the mistake of looking into Snow's blue eyes and immediately felt ice start to spread throughout her body. The baby Chocobo chirped and flew back to Sazh.
"I've gotta go," Vanille said, standing up.
"Where?" Fang asked, standing up with her.
"I don't know," she said, shaking her head and walking forward on the path the islands gave. "Just somewhere. I'll be back."
She started to run and not look back. After a while she was certain that no one had followed her and continued on her way at a slower pace. Soon the island and waterfall scenery was replaced with that of a grass cliff field. The sun was setting and pastel colors illuminated the sky along with huge fuzzy Dandelions. Cocoon seemed larger and in a clearer view than it appeared in the Steppes.
Vanille sat down in the tall swaying grass and held out her hands to catch a flying Dandelion. The flower caught in her hands and within seconds dispersed into little feathers of fluff. She smiled despite the situation and leaned back on her elbows.
What a fool she was. A man who was absolutely and utterly in love with a beautiful girl would never feel anything for her. She was the bright, cheerful, ditsy girl that people thought little of. Serah was gorgeous, charming, and smart; everything Vanille wasn't. She would spend the night here and go back to the Springs in the morning. Just one night to clear her head.
Catching another flying Dandelion in her hands, Vanille closed her eyes and soon felt the fluff spread across her face. Memories of Oerba came flooding back to her. In this very field she had made a wish on one of the flying Dandelions when she was 9 years-old. She wished that she would someday be in love like her parents had been. Not like best friends like everyone else who was married, but madly and truly in love. Tears cascaded down her cheeks and into the remaining fluff in her hands. She had always been such a big dreamer.
"Vanille!"
Her eyes opened and she looked up to see Snow walking towards her. Here it comes; the break-up. Vanille stood up, turned away from him, and ran. She would not scar this place with something painful. The wind whipped across her face and the grass cut at her legs, but she didn't care; she just had to get away. Her plans for running away quickly ceased as she reached the cliff.
The cliff went down like stairs before taking a dangerous lunge down. She stumbled down a few of the stairs before stopping on a particularly thin one. A large, gloved hand took one of her bare ones.
"What are you, an idiot?" Snow yelled angrily.
Vanille turned around on the step a little too quickly and her boot fell beneath a piece of rock that crumbled away. She let out a shout and leaned forward, grabbing on to Snow's coat. One of his arms looped around her waist and picked her up a couple more steps.
"Apparently so," she said, pulling out of his grasp and walking back into the field.
"Don't scare me like that," Snow said, standing behind her and wrapping his arms around her.
"Lucky for you I'm not suicidal," she confided, shoving his arms away. "Can you just leave? I really don't feel like looking for another place to be alone."
No response. Maybe that remark had stung. If it had, good. It was supposed to. She was in just as deep as he in this whole mess so he should feel a little bit of her guilt and pain.
"I might wanna stick around though," his confident-filled voice said from behind her. "You might actually fall off a cliff without me here."
"I was only running because I didn't want you to ruin this!" Vanille lashed out, twisting on her heel and looking up at him with hate-filled eyes. "This place is so special! More than you could possibly imagine. It's where I go when I'm lonely, when I'm scared, when everything is just so twisted and wrong!"
He said nothing; just looked at her. Blinking away furious tears, she continued to stand there looking up at him. She would not back away and admit defeat. Snow walked towards her and she continued to stand there. Inches apart now he took off his gloves and dropped them in the grass. Vanille saw his arm reach past her and catch a flying Dandelion in his hand.
"We have these back home in Bodhum," he explained. "Well, not these exactly. They're weeds and a lot smaller. We used to blow on them and make a wish."
Feathers of fluff flew away from his hand and he put it back at his side. He was looking over her head and she was looking at his chest.
"My parents died when I was just a kid," he continued. "I remember my mom giving me girl advice though. If I ever found the one, no matter my current status, I was supposed to take her and run."
Snow reached into his pocket and took out Serah's crystal tear. He held it up to the sky before throwing it as far as he could manage.
"I understand why you don't want this place to be ruined," he said. "It's beautiful, so it should mark where things with me and Serah didn't work out. But also where things with you and me really began."
He took off the engagement pendent from around his neck and looked at it before dropping it in the grass next to them. Placing his hands on her hips, he stroked the bare skin of her stomach with his thumbs.
"Snow," she said, looking up at him and indefinitely giving up.
She wasn't exactly sure how or when it happened, but it did. It was scary and exhilarating and a mixture of what she had heard and what she hadn't. Somehow it felt right though. Like everything just clicked into place. Thinking about afterward was stupid and unnecessary. All that mattered was that moment.
Afterward eventually came though. The curtain fell and it was all over.
A soft tickle on her nose awoke her the next morning. Vanille's green eyes fluttered open and saw a flying Dandelion swaying in front of her face. She resisted the urge to sneeze and tried to sit up. Arms around her waist stopped her though and the events of last night came flooding back to her. She twisted around in Snow's strong embrace and smiled at his sleeping face. He looked so defenseless while asleep. Placing a kiss on his lips, she watched as he slowly awoke.
"Good morning," she muttered.
He gave a sleepy smile. "Good morning indeed."
He unwrapped his arms from around her and they sat up. Vanille grabbed the nearest piece of clothing and started to dress as quickly as possible. Needless to say she took a considerably longer time than Snow did.
"You should consider not wearing that many beads," Snow said once she had finally finished with her bangles. "It took me forever to get all of that off of you."
"I like to accessorize," Vanille defended, feeling her face start to heat up at his comment.
"I can tell," he said, taking her in his arms again. "So, what now?"
"We go back to the others," she said. "Fang and Sazh are probably worried."
"Everyone's worried about you," Snow said, taking a step back to look at her. "No one would care if I showed back up again or not."
Vanille looked up at him and started to talk in protest when he pressed a thumb to her lips. Slowly he traced his thumb back and forth. "Don't."
"Don't what?" she asked, grabbing his wrist and pushing it away. "You have to go back! I'll worry! I'll care! Snow, don't talk like that."
"For one thing Lightning is going to kill me," he said. "They're all going to give me these dirty looks. I'm a good-for-nothing cheater after all."
"Well, I'm the other woman," Vanille protested.
"No one can hate you though," he said, shaking his head. "You're too... perfect."
She froze. Perfection was something that was far away from her. There was no possible way to describe how much those words seemed like a lie. Well, coming from someone else they seemed like a lie, but from him they seemed so real. She knew that he thought she was perfect. But she was so painfully flawed.
"Let's head back," Vanille said, walking through the field.
Snow watched her walk away until he finally decided to go back with her. He knew it would be hell back with the others, but if she was there with him maybe it wouldn't be too bad.
Probably one more chapter to finish this off. Review! God bless!