Chapter two
Lightning stepped back from the taller woman and let the words sink in.
Fang had no clue who she was. Or anyone else other than Vanille for that matter. All those years of waiting and figuring out feelings and what to say just ended up in misguided affection. The flustered soldier looked to Vanille, a hand moving to her lips, feeling them burning still. She had just made an ass of herself and the pride that she shook loose in the car as they drove here was starting to come back with a vengeance. She turned on her heel and quickly moved past her brother-in-law to go to her car. She needed to escape and figure out what to do next.
The last five years had taken their toll on Lightning, she had her sister back and Cocoon was saved but at the cost of two friends. She hadn't realized how hard it hit and how much it had hurt until Vanille appeared again. She'd gotten the call at work about the appearance of a strange woman out in the wilds of Gran Pulse. Her squadron had been dispatched as she had more experience with the area. When they had arrived she felt her chest nearly explode at the sight of Vanille, wrapped in a blanket and eating everything put in front of her. She remembered it being the first time she'd laughed in a long time when the shorter woman had dropped everything and run to her. Her elation was short lived when she looked around and saw no sign of the tall brunette that she dreamed of most nights.
Vanille had been great for her over the last two years. Lightning didn't realize how low things had gotten for her before Vanille woke until recently. Vanille was like a spark of light in Lightning's otherwise dark life. Maybe it was the fact that having Vanille wake up so soon gave her hope that Fang would follow suit. Or maybe it was the fact that Vanille wouldn't let things drop and picked up on Lightning's mixed emotions almost instantly. It had taken the Oerban all of half an hour to discern that something was not right with the soldier and she used her upbeat nature to torture a confession out of Lightning on the ride home from Pulse. Lightning of course was quick to deny that there were any feelings involved aside from the ones she put front years earlier, but Vanille wasn't buying it. In the two years since Vanille had awoken the two had become close and Lightning was finding it easier to actually vocalize her feelings to the younger woman, if only on a rare occasion.
When the conversations turned more towards what would happen when Fang woke up Lightning once again started to close herself off to Vanille. Her resistance to take any sort of action was met with support from the younger woman. Vanille had known from past conversations with Fang that the older woman found Lightning to be interesting and she caught the occasional staring that came out of her sister. It never made sense to Vanille why Fang just didn't take what she wanted. That plan always seemed to work with the girls in their village. Vanille was sure to let Lightning know there was a change Fang might be interested too. The whole time being careful not to let her know too much… She didn't need Fang to kill her when she woke up from stasis.
Lightning sighed and sat on the trunk of her car, looking at her hands. She rolled her eyes when she felt the suspension on her car bounce as Snow sat next to her on the trunk. He let out a long sigh and in a bold move that might have meant his impending doom put a heavy arm over her shoulders and pulled her in to hug her lightly.
"I'm sure she's just shell shocked sis." Lightning cringed a little, Snow was a good guy, one that she'd even grown to care about over the years but she felt embarrassed and his pity was the last thing she needed. Lightning gave him a hard push off the hood of the car.
"I am not your sister you idiot." Snow hit the ground with a grunt and then chuckled, peeking up at her over the side of the car.
"I had it coming and I know it." he grinned as he got back up to his feet.
Vanille was all smiles as she watched Fang put her lance away and lift the tattered fabric of her sari to inspect it with a frown. Vanille took the fabric away and shook her head.
"We'll get you something to wear when we get home. Stop fussing with it." She grinned. "I didn't think you would ever wake up!" She bounced on the balls of her feet and watched as Fang looked her over. Vanille knew she hadn't changed much in the time, filling out a little and looking more grown up now. She knew that Fang was working it out; if she had been awake as long as she said it would mean that Vanille was now physically older than she was. Vanille could see the silent processing her sister was going through. Fang eyed the outfit her sister wore, clearly unsure what to make of the more modern clothing.
"It's new… Not like we had back on Oerba." Vanille grinned, not giving Fang a chance to speak before grabbing her hand. "You're probably soooooo hungry. I know I was!" She bounded off towards a trailer with Fang following her.
Fang looked around to take in the surroundings, sort of curious where the overly friendly pinkette went. Vanille held up the food she and Lightning picked up on their way. Her sister's voice pulled her out of her thoughts
"Sit and eat and I will fill you in on what you missed." Vanille practically pushed her into a chair and started to babble.
Fang rubbed the back of her neck and looked around again, still confused and sort of uneasy; she'd barely spoken since Vanille showed up and knew that the silence was unlike her but really she had no clue what to say. When the site medic moved to check on her she was quick to vacate her chair, her hand moving to her weapon as she tried to give him her best 'go away' look. Vanille rolled her eyes and shook her head, her hand coming to rest lightly on Fang's arm.
"He's okay. He just wants to make sure you aren't hurt Fang. Sit and eat." She bossily pointed to the food. Fang sat and picked at it, cutting off the younger woman's babbling again.
"Who was the bird?" She looked at her sister, her fingertips moving to her lips. Vanille paused and then grinned wide.
"Lightning? Isn't she great and wow so pretty! She's a friend! And she liiiiiikes you." Fang glanced over to the direction Lightning went , not listening to her sister much anymore.
"I just do not understand Snow… Vanille remembered who we were. Why doesn't Fang?" Lightning rubbed her forehead and watched the Pulsians as they were catching up. Her brother-in-law gave a big shrug as he sat next to her again.
"Fang couldn't remember last time either. Maybe she slept too long… You think?" he offered. Lightning made a face.
"I feel like such a fool. I kissed her! Did you see that?" She made a face and tore her eyes off of Fang, looking at her hands.
"We all saw it. I am sure it would have gone over well if she knew who you were." Snow said with a chuckle.
Nothing in that statement gave any sort of reassurance to the soldier and she shot him a dirty look. After all the coaching and support Vanille had given her over the last two years after she finally confessed to the other woman that she had feelings for Fang… After all of the assurances that Fang would not laugh in her face… After Vanille said Fang might even share the feelings because she'd had dalliances with women in the past on Oerba… There she was feeling like a spaz. She sighed and looked back to her hands. Snow sighed and watched Fang and Vanille.
"Serah wants to make dinner for all of us. She wants to meet Fang and thank her for what she did." He looked back to Lightning. "Maybe being around all of us will help jog her memory. He tried to smile at her reassuringly and she shook her head.
"I'll pass." she shook her head, really not in the mood to be social.
"I don't think so sis… If you don't show up I will send Serah to come and get you… And you don't want that, you know what she is like when she wants something." Snow gave a wide grin as Lightning looked up at the sky.
"Etro… Why would you do this to me? What did I do to deserve this lunk?" Snow kept grinning as she glanced back to him with a bit of a smirk. He laughed heartily and nudged her, knowing what button to push next.
"That's more like it. Besides, it would break Eli's heart if you were the only one not there." Lightning smiled a little again.
"Sure. That's fair… Use Eli against me, you know he's my weakness."
Lightning hopped down off the car and put her hands in the back pockets of her jeans, she took a deep breath and put on a smile as she made her way back over. Fang was sitting at the table, burger halfway up to her mouth and a look of disbelief on her face.
"Again? Why the hell would I want to do it again?" Fang looked at Vanille, shocked. Vanille sighed and shook her head.
"You didn't do it to destroy Cocoon this time… You did it to save everyone!" Fang shook her head and put the burger down, feeling rather disgusted.
"Why the bloody hell would I want to save Cocoon scum? They hate us Vanille… Ya know that." Lightning felt a small pang of hurt at the words. Vanille took a deep breath.
"I told you Fang. There are no more people from Gran Pulse… Just us… Me and you… That's it." She gave a pleading look to Lightning as the soldier sat at the table with crossed her arms on the table top and looked Fang over, her blue eyes slowing when they met Fang's green eyes. She let them travel down, past that beauty mark under her eye, thinking to herself how appropriate that phrase was when it came to Fang. It was so hard to keep from throwing herself at the confused woman.
"Nobody here wants to hurt you Fang. Cocoon used to be a lot different than it is now." Lightning couldn't help but smile at her, hoping to ease the worry.
Saving Cocoon? Fang wasn't so sure she was buying it. She defiantly raised a brow. "Vanille says you are l'cie too. You and that enormous bloke both." Fang nodded to Snow and then looked back to Lightning, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "Where is your brand?" Much to her surprise Lightning immediately went as pink as her hair before muttering.
"Uh…. It's gone. I don't have it anymore. I am not l'cie anymore." Fang shook her head. "You ain't c'ieth and you ain't crystal… So what are ya?" Vanille rolled her eyes and sighed like this was all so simple.
"Fang, don't question this, it is a good thing and we should be happy." Vanille let out a startled squeak when Fang leaned in to check for her brand, making the medic and Snow blush. Not seeing it, Fang sat back and looked at her own arm.
"We have no focus." She paused and then started to grin, ever so slowly as the reality of this settled in. "Vanille! We're free! We have no focus!"
Fang was still beaming as she sat in the front seat of Lightning's car, Vanille sitting behind her in the back. Her mood had improved tenfold and even the headache and amnesia weren't about to slow her down… She was free! After centuries it had happened! She caught Lightning glancing over at her out of the corner of her eye and hearing Lightning sigh, she looked away from the window to Lightning. She smiled a little and leaned towards her, letting her voice lower to that tone she knew women loved.
"If I knew ya were waitin' to kiss me I might have woken up earlier yeah?" Lightning blinked and looked at her, not noticing the traffic light changing behind them until there was a honk behind them. She blushed furiously and stepped on the gas. Fang looked back out the window and grinned, she was in a great mood and she had hoped that would improve the stoic one's mood.
Lightning made eye contact with Vanille in the mirror as she drove and Vanille gave her an 'I told you so' look before grinning and looking out the window. Lightning pulled up outside her condo and killed the engine.
"Okay. So Serah wants us to be at her place for dinner. I thought you might want to shower and change… Or something." She looked to Fang. Fang gave a nod.
"I would love that… Or something." The last part was clearly mocking her judging by the slight smirk. The now-youngest woman got out of the car and stretched her arms high above her head, obviously still grinning at her new found freedom. Lightning's eyes never left the trim, muscled body of the other woman. Fang lowered her arms and raised her brows as she noticed Lightning watching her.
"See somethin' ya like?" Again Lightning knew she had turned pink, looking at the ground and mumbling a dismissal as she walked up the front stairs. She wanted to get inside and away from Fang long enough to cool down before she needed a shower of her own.
Fang chuckled lowly as she followed Lightning, now the game was on. Almost as if reading her mind Vanille caught her arm.
"Fang! Don't tease her like that." Vanille pouted. Fang put an arm around her sister and pulled her in close.
"But she's cute when she blushes. I just can't seem to help myself. And besides, if she didn't want me to tease her… Why would she kiss me?" Fang's good mood almost seemed to be infectious, she even caught Lightning smiling at times. Fang stepped into the front hall of the house and looked around, her brows lifting as she spotted the shining metal of Lightning's gun blade as it sat on her desk. Fang strolled over to it after taking off her shoes and ran her fingertips on it. It would appear the pink haired one knew a thing or two about a good fight.
From across the room, lightning watched her with some curiosity, finding herself almost hoping the tall woman would be impressed by the weapon under her fingers. She took her coat off and dumped her keys on the first surface she passed on her way over. She put her hands in her back pockets and stood next to Fang a moment.
"It's a gun blade." She glanced up at the other woman for reaction before continuing. "If you want, after you settle in a little we can spar." She gave a non-committal shrug of her shoulders, not wanting to convey anything but a friendly offer to the huntress. There was a quiet moment that felt like forever before Fang gave a firm nod.
"I'd like that. Vanille can't keep up with me." Lightning watched Fang smile and wink before the inevitable happened and Vanille spoke.
"I can too! She's just to pig headed to know when to stop!" Lightning chuckled and shook her head at the banter, part of her wondering if Fang was always this high in spirits when she wasn't l'cie. She made her way to the stairs.
"Come with me. I'll get you set up with a shower and change of clothes."
Fang grinned at Vanille, who was still trying to defend herself before heading to follow Lightning up the stairs. On her way past the shorter Oerban she handed off her lance, not wanting to leave it just anywhere. She made her way up the stairs, watching the smaller woman in front of her. Vanille was right; this woman was definitely a stunner. It made Fang wonder what she had done in the last stasis break that got her such a warm welcome this time around. She blinked as Lightning handed her some towels on their way to the bathroom. She put them on the counter before speaking.
"Listen, Lightnin'… About earlier when ya first saw me... I'm sorry that I can't remember ya." She sighed and leaned on the bathroom counter. She tried to make eye contact with Lightning, but the other woman was too busy avoiding it. "Obviously there was somethin' there yeah?" Lightning shook her head a little.
"Nothing serious, just forget about it Fang. You need to worry about you right now." Lightning tried to slip past her into the hall. Fang sighed and caught her by the waist as she passed.
"Give me some time Sunshine… I'm sure I'll come around." She let the soldier go before closing the bathroom door.
Author's notes:
-Thanks to all of you who gave me great feed back! I am seriously hoping that I have worked out the formatting issues I had on the first chapter. I am glad that I wasn't the only one who felt like their eyeballs were melting when they looked at it.
-That said I also realized how OOC Fang's dialogue was and decided that needed to be rectified too. I hope this is a little more like her.
-Thanks to ElissaCousland for pointing out I had been unclear with my conversations. I am hoping I fixed that bad habit along with the whole scene break issues. I type like I talk sometimes and I am one of those people that is prone to verbal diarrhea when I get nervous. It would appear my writing is the same way.
I'm going to try and keep up the good pace at churning this out. I'm off work for a few days and finding myself with little else to do so updates should come pretty steadily.
Additional notes:
Holy crap... I think I have this figured out... Finally.