Chapter Three
There she was. Her cute face only metres away from her. Fang approached her, smiling. You're beautiful, you know that?, she heard herself saying to the young girl in front of her who in return smiled broadly.
She took her small hands in hers as she stepped closer, still not breaking the smile. At long last I've found you, she said before leaning in to kiss her. Just when their lips were about to touch, Fang awoke.
Always the same with those devious dreams, she thought with a sigh before taking a quick glance at the clock and getting up. It was Saturday, and even better than that, it was a holiday for them. No work today.
She stepped under the shower and her thoughts were immediately drawn back to the dream she'd just had moments ago. Remembering what Sazh had said, she wondered if this dream had been some kind of message from her heart or something. It sure was soppy enough, she laughed inwardly.
Sazh had told her to listen to her heart, sure, and now there was this romantic dream that had felt absolutely divine, but there was something stirring inside her that made her feel bad about all of this. Could this be ... fear? She wasn't certain.
But there was one thing she was certain about now: She wanted to see Vanille again and just see what her heart would say to this. This would probably be the only way to find peace, no matter how it would eventually end up.
There was just one problem: She had no idea how to find her.
She decided to go out alone a bit, maybe Lady Luck was on her side and she would find something out about her somehow. She guessed she would probably have the best chances in the city centre area so that was where she went. It wasn't far from her hotel.
"Vanille, are you finally done there or what?", Serah called from the hallway. They had wanted to leave for the city about ten minutes ago.
"In a minute", it came from Vanille's room who had taken so long because she had lost herself in thoughts about Fang once again.
They hadn't yet had any time to discuss the matter again since their debate after the concert, and unsurprisingly, her thoughts kept wandering off between hope and doubt all the time.
But what did it matter anymore anyway? She had had her chance and she had blown it. There may or may not have been some interest on Fang's side but what did it even matter when she hadn't acted upon it? That could only mean that Vanille hadn't presented herself as interesting enough to be worth her time. She had to deal with it.
She sighed when she finally got up from the chair in front of her desk and took her purse. She left her room and found Serah already waiting impatiently in the hallway.
"Sorry", Vanille said with an excusing smile and Serah only shook her head with a smile of her own before they went down the stairs together. They quickly said their goodbyes to Lightning and left the house.
"Any place in particular you want to go?", Vanille asked Serah while they walked towards the city centre.
"No, I had nothing in mind exactly. Let's just see where we end up", the pink-haired girl replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
They agreed on that and went in silence for another few moments before Serah brought up the topic that had been haunting their minds all along. "So, how do you feel about her now?", she wanted to know.
"I guess I came to the conclusion that there's not much point in thinking about whether or not she found me interesting because as the situation is, she didn't do anything to be able to see me again somehow, so ...", Vanille shrugged her shoulders, trying to present herself more relaxed than she actually really felt about this.
She knew that her heart inwardly bled when she even thought about this whole thing with Fang, but she didn't want to show Serah. "I think it's pretty clear", she finished her sentence.
Serah, however, wasn't stupid. That, and she had known Vanille long enough to see through the facade. "It's okay to be sad, Vanille", was all she said while taking her hand in hers to comfort her.
But as much as she wanted it, she knew there was nothing she could really say against what Vanille had just stated. She had a point, unfortunately.
This was especially sad for Serah because she knew how much Vanille wanted to finally find someone. It must be a real pain if every single person you fell in love with so far has turned you down, but that was the sad reality that was Vanille's love life, and Serah had more than only a bit compassion for that.
"Well, maybe she was just a bit ... nervous and unsure of what to do herself", Serah tried a bit half-heartedly to comfort her friend. She didn't even believe this herself, the self-confident, flirtatious Fang nervous and unsure? Yeah sure, and the next thing she would come up with would be to call Lightning an undisciplined person or some rubbish like that.
Vanille gave her an incredulous look. "You don't even believe that yourself, do you?"
Serah sighed. "No, I guess not ...", she said.
They walked the rest of the short way to the city centre in a comfortable silence, taking in the once again nice warm weather and the bright sun shining down on their heads. It was almost awfully hot today but they enjoyed it nevertheless. It was summer, after all.
Once they reached the part of the city centre where the most shops, restaurants and cafés could be found, they decided to visit one of their favourite cafés and have some ice cream.
Not wanting to ruin Vanille's good mood again, Serah deliberately avoided the sensitive topic and they enjoyed themselves for a little while before deciding that they definitely needed to go and do some window shopping.
They left the café and did just that and unsurprisingly, it didn't take them long to find a shop that lured them in with its ads and the beautiful clothes presented in the windows.
Vanille giggled when she realised which shop they had just entered. "Hey, this is the shop we dragged Light into the other day, remember? That was so much fun!", she laughed to her best friend who could only agree with a big evil grin herself.
"Oh yes, I still believe that this traumatised her. After all, she had to wait for us for like two and a half hours.", Serah said before she turned around to Vanille behind her.
"I would've expected her to lose her temper sooner or later, I wonder why she stayed so calm", she shrugged her shoulders.
"That must've been because she knew very well that she had promised you to go shopping with us after you had complained about her working so much all the time", Vanille remembered with a thinking face.
"But anyway, let's look around!", she exclaimed joyfully.
Fang had been roaming the seemingly endless city centre area of Bodhum for what felt like days but was in fact only about an hour.
She had stopped at some places and asked if anyone knew a girl named Vanille, hoping that the somewhat exotic name would make it easier to find her but it hadn't paid off so far.
And slowly, she found herself losing hope. Even if I find her, what should I possibly say to her? What am I supposed to do? I can't just walk up to her and bluntly ask for her number, can I ?!, she reasoned to make herself feel better.
She sighed while she walked through the endless streets of Bodhum. She didn't really know if it made much sense to go on asking random shop owners for Vanille, especially because she had already been recognised by some of them and had immediately been asked for autographs and photos. That wasn't wholly annoying and normally she liked having some contact with her fans but right now it felt like a waste of time.
Fang continued thinking if there wasn't any other chance to find Vanille, when she remembered that she hadn't attended the concert alone. She'd had this pink-haired girl with her, and by the looks of it she must've been a close friend of her.
But Fang immediately shook her head at the thought. She couldn't remember the girl's name, even though she had given her an autograph as well. There was no chance she would be able to find her this way.
For lack of other options, Fang decided to give it another go and just ask some more shop owners. The first shop she entered was apparently a clothing shop for women, and she took a moment to briefly look around after she'd taken off her sunglasses.
As she quickly noticed, this was quite a large shop with two floors and she toyed with the thought of doing some shopping while she was here anyway, even though many of the clothes she saw didn't fit her usual style which often included at least one part out of leather.
"Good afternoon! How may I help you, madam?", she heard a friendly lady asking her while approaching her.
"Hello", Fang started politely. "I'm actually here because I'm lookin' for someone who might or might not have been here..", she said, clasping her hands.
The lady nodded kindly. "Oh I see. Unfortunately, however, I can't give you any customer-related information", the woman said apologetically.
Damn, Fang thought. She wouldn't be able to find out Vanille's full name or anything that might help her to contact her this way - if she'd been here at all.
"I see. Thank you for your help anyway", Fang answered with a hint of a smile.
"I'm sorry", the lady said politely. "Is there anything else I can do for you?", she added after a short break.
Whatever, might as well do some shopping while I'm here. Fang shrugged her shoulders. "No thanks, but I think I'll look around a bit", she answered.
"Okay! Please call me if you need anything", the saleslady responded and wandered off to leave Fang alone.
Fang roamed the shop a little and as she didn't find anything she particularly liked much, she decided to go and see what she would find upstairs.
What she wasn't prepared for, though, was the sight when she reached the first floor. She could directly see the changing rooms across from her at the end of the big room and right there, waiting before them, stood the pink-haired girl that had attended the concert with Vanille. Or at least the girl had exactly the same hairstyle and the rare pink hair colour.
Fang shook her head to make sure she had seen right but as the girl was quite a few metres away and was also standing with her back to her, she decided the only way to get clarity was to go there.
She gulped, and all of a sudden she felt unusually nervous again, just like at the concert. Nervousness was normally one of these things people wouldn't ever associate with Fang. She was just not the type to get nervous. She was the cool, self-confident woman with the signature smirk, and that was it.
Even the little nervousness she felt before concerts faded away within her first seconds on stage, but this right now was something completely different, something much more harmless actually.
She tried to shake it off whilst nearing the girl that still stood in front of the changing rooms. She wondered if the person she was waiting for was Vanille.
"Gods, what are you doing in there, Vanille?", Serah impatiently called out. Vanille had already been in there for quite some time. She normally didn't take that long.
"One sec!", Vanille replied quickly.
Fang immediately froze as she heard the girl dropping Vanille's name. So she was the right girl andshe was there with her!
Determined, she closed the last few metres that separated her from the girl and cleared her throat, as all of a sudden, her usual boldness returned seemingly out of nowhere and she was happy about it.
Serah heard someone clearing their throat to her left but she couldn't have anticipated who was standing before her right then and there as she turned around. She could only open her mouth in surprise as she saw who it was.
Fang's smirk immediately found its way back on her lips as she saw the reaction of the girl. "Well, well, guess I caught you a bit off guard here, yeah?", Fang said as she found that apparently, her usual self-confidence had returned almost at full strength. Good.
"Ehm", Serah stammered helplessly. "You- I mean ... What a surprise meeting you here!", Serah said, trying to regain her composure quickly. She certainly did not want to embarrass herself any further in front of a band member of her favourite band!
Fang chuckled. Too cute. "Yeah, that's what I thought as well. I recognised you from the concert", she hid the fact that she had actually actively been searching for her, or more specifically, Vanille.
"You're here with your friend, with Vanille, right?", Fang asked nonchalantly, not wanting to show the girl that this was actually the only reason why she stood here.
A smile crept upon Serah's features. Oh, this is why you're here, right?, she thought almost devilishly as she saw through Fang's nonchalant, relaxed facade in merely a second. Apparently, Fang was almost as bad at hiding things as Vanille, or maybe Serah just had a talent to expose what lay beneath?
Either way, she couldn't have been happier at that moment. "Yeah, she's trying on some new skirt at the moment and she's taking quite long, obviously", Serah said, shrugging her shoulders in an apologetic manner.
"Serah? Who are you talking to there?", Vanille suddenly asked.
"Oh, it's just a mutal acquaintance of ours", she winked at Fang and her grin returned to her face. Fang couldn't help but smirk. She liked the game Serah seemed to be playing with Vanille.
"Really? Cool, who is it?", Vanille asked and they could hear a zipper being pulled up. Apparently she had finally managed to get on the skirt.
Fang opened her mouth so say something but Serah put her finger on her own lips before she called out to Vanille again. "Why don't you come out and see yourself?" You could almost hear her smiling broadly.
"Okay! One moment!", Vanille responded before there were some rustling noises and finally, the cabin opened and she came out in a knee-long orange skirt that looked wonderful on her.
The skirt, however, was quickly forgotten as she saw who the "mutual acquaintance" that had shown up was. She could only gasp, realising that she was standing right before her crush who in return was smirking at her with her right hand nonchalantly at her hip.
But Fang was far away from feeling as relaxed as she tried to appear through her body language. In fact, the nervousness she had managed to brush aside just moments ago had returned with a force the moment Vanille had come out of the cabin.
Still, she didn't want to show it, didn't want to display that she liked the girl too openly. So she tried her best to hide it underneath her nonchalant behaviour.
She had a feeling, though, that Serah didn't buy it and also hadn't been fooled by her earlier attempts to hide how important meeting Vanille really was for her.
"Hey, how you doin'?", Fang started to break the ice as Vanille stood there in utter silence, apparently completely shocked, her mouth wide open.
"I'm- I'm fine", Vanille managed to get out with a nervous smile. "I- ehm", she tried to get out some sort of phrase, but she honestly didn't know what to say.
Fang saw the desperate situation the girl was in and knew it was her turn to say something. But what? She didn't really know herself. Fang Yun at a loss of words. The second thing today that Fang didn't exactly experience often.
And suddenly, she realised it was now or never. She just had to do what she really wanted to, no matter if it came surprising and out of nowhere or even totally inappropriate for Vanille, or Serah or the rest of the world. She had to ask her out for a coffee, a drink or whatever. She had to show her she was interested in her, and now! No matter how unused she was to the butterflies in her stomach, no matter how new this was to her.
Serah seemed to notice the thoughts going on in Fang's head and as their gazes met for a short moment, the look her eyes gave Fang's jade ones could only be interpreted as a reassuring "Just do it".
Without further hesitation, Fang focused her gaze on Vanille once again who had a light blush on her face. "Vanille", she started with a gentleness to her voice that surprised even herself.
The girl who had looked away from her in embarrassment, forced her eyes to meet hers once more and only then Fang continued.
"You caught my attention at the concert, ya know", Fang said and saw a bright spark in the redhead's eyes at her words which gave her a boost in confidence as she continued.
"So ... I'd like to ask you out for a drink", she finished and felt relief wash over her. She had done it. Now it was up to Vanille to respond, but Fang had a feeling that she wouldn't get turned down by the girl that obviously had a huge crush on her if Fang hadn't totally misinterpreted her behaviour.
And she got further proof for her theory as the girl's eyes flashed once more, even brighter this time. Vanille could only nod enthusiastically as she felt she had lost her voice the moment Fang had asked for ... a date? Was this a date? She didn't know and didn't care right now. She would've taken any opportunity to get to know Fang.
"Yes, I'd really like that", she managed to respond shyly as her voice returned after a moment.
Fang found herself smiling, and as she glanced over to Serah, she saw she wasn't the only one. Apparently, the girl really seemed to be sincerely happy for her friend.
"Great! So ... how about tonight at Lebreau's? I got no idea if that's a good bar but it looked quite nice as the guys and I walked by the other day", Fang asked with a small laugh.
Serah giggled. "Lebreau's? Well that's a funny coincidence. That's our favourite bar!", she exclaimed happily and Vanille nodded in agreement.
"Good to know", Fang said with a short nod of her head. "So, are ya in, Vanille?", she asked the girl again with a slight smirk. Apparently, her nervousness slowly faded away again the more she talked to her.
"Absolutely", the girl exclaimed. As it seemed, Fang wasn't the only one relaxing more. "When?", she wanted to know and put her hand on Serah's back.
"How 'bout ... eight?", Fang asked, arching her eyebrows. Vanille nodded in agreement.
"Yep, alright", she said with a bubbly tone to her voice Fang couldn't help but find extremely cute.
"Cool, then I see ya there", Fang sealed the deal and made to walk away, but not before turning around once more. She had a cheeky thing on her mind she just had to say.
"And... Vanille?", she started. "I'd keep the skirt, it looks good on ya", she said with a flirtatious tone to her voice and accompanied it with a wink before turning around again, raising her hand as a gesture to say goodbye, and left the girls.
As she left the building she was quite content with herself. She had not only defeated her nervousness it seemed - at least for now - no, she had also managed to ask Vanille out.
She was quite proud of that, especially regarding the fact that she had never had a crush on someone before. These strange feelings were still unusual and new to her, and she had never asked a girl out, had never had a date before. This was all so new, and yet she felt she had done well so far. It made her smile happily as she returned to the hotel.
She was determined to find out if this was truly what her heart wanted. But inside, she knew the answer to that question already.
Vanille and Serah , on the other side, expressed their shared happiness about what had just happened moments ago by drawing each other in a tight hug while squealing in excitement - not too loud though, they were still in the shop after all.
"I can't believe what just happened!", Vanille almost screamed.
Serah could only laugh happily. And she really was happy for her friend. It seemed after so long, Vanille would have her first date right this evening, and even better, it was with Fang Yun of all people!
"So why do you think she asked me out?", Vanille wanted to know once she had gone into the changing room once again to try the last two remaining garments on.
"Isn't that obvious? She likes you, silly!", Serah replied with a giggle. She couldn't quite understand how Vanille could still have her doubts about this - or why would she ask such a question in the first place?!
Vanille giggled nervously. "I guess you're right, I just can't believe that she would be interested in me", she replied while trying on a shirt.
"Believe me, she does like you. I'm sure of it. She tried to hide it a bit by pretending to be all relaxed and nonchalant but I could see right through it. She was probably almost as nervous as you, Vanille.", Serah explained what she had witnessed to her friend.
"Also, didn't you see the fire burning in her eyes while she talked to you?", Serah inquired further.
"I don't know, I was too nervous to notice much, you know!", she said with a happy tone to her voice. She had really been extremely nervous but right now, all she could do was be happy about it, about everything.
"Anyway, don't worry. I know what I've seen. Seems like even the great Fang Yun isn't all the self-confident, cool flirt when she has a crush on someone!", Serah giggled. "Though she recovered a bit the longer you guys were talking"
Vanille came out of the cabin with a white shirt and the orange skirt Fang had liked on. "What do you think?", she asked Serah, pointing at the shirt and skirt.
"I think you got your outfit for tonight!", Serah exclaimed. "She liked the skirt- and damn, this shirt really draws a lot of attention to your breasts", Serah admired her friend while shamelessly staring at her bosom.
Vanille blushed heavily. "So ... you think this is good?", she asked self-consciously.
"Of course it is! I mean, you want to show her what you have to offer, right?", Serah said in a suggestive manner and winked.
Vanille facepalmed at this. She just couldn't help it, this just had to be Serah's most embarrassing comment of the day. But she quickly recovered, asking once more to find the reassurance she needed. "So you mean you find me attractive in this?"
"Absolutely! She will like it, I'm sure of it! And now let's pay and leave, I can't wait to tell Lightning about this!", Serah giggled in pure excitement and Vanille soon joined her while they made their way downstairs, paid and walked home talking about the day, Fang and how they anticipated Lightning would react to the news.
AN: Please review and let me know what you think! :) Hope you liked the chapter.
And oh my god, I was sooo hyped today when I read that Fang will be in Lightning Returns :D Now I'm just basically dying to learn more about Vanille's role in LR. Because I'm pretty certain they won't leave her out when Fang is in the game. I just hope they won't separate the two, I loved their moments together in XIII. And a small part of me still hopes they make FangxVanille canon (that would be sooo cool!), but I doubt it'll happen. :/ Gay couples are, unfortunately, still a big deal in video games. That's at least my impression.
Anyway ... just to let you know, I suppose I'll be able to get the next chapter up in approximately one week, maybe a little earlier.