Rating: T
Word Count: 11,156
Chapter Specific Warnings: Violence, swearing. Blatant hypocrisy, and pretty skeevy manipulation.
Summary: The greater your anxiety, the closer to cie'th you become. Lightning is going to have to sort out her issues before they consume her. Old, bitter regrets, confusion, jealousy – the journey to Oerba is dangerous enough without being your own worst enemy. Part Seven – The party begins to connect the dots, leading to realizations. After Taejin's Tower, Oerba lies just over the horizon – just how much worse could things get?
Additional Notes: Lol at that question. How long is a piece of string? That's how much worse it could get. Will it get that worse? Hm, I suppose everyone has to wait and see. On a note, Snow and Sazh were promoted to viewpoint characters, as writing some scenes in either Lightning's or Fang's viewpoints might have made my brain explode into angry, fiery frustration. Well, Sazh!PoV was kind of crucial. Snow's was just for fun.
I also note that some people are asking if this will follow the game events. I guess if you don't know the answer to this already, read and find out.
Apologies for the late update.
Taejin's Tower
Stubborn bitch, Lightning snarled silently, as she retreated from the darkened palisades. I try to make things right, I try to reason with her, and what does she do?
Swearing softly, Lightning's fingers compulsively brushed over the brand on her chest, and when she'd realized what she'd done, she snatched it away just as quickly. The sensation of yawning fate dangling above her, waiting to fall, seemed even stronger now. Fang's taunts had hit so close to home, she'd just dropped her intentions and ran.
Lightning made a savage sound in the back of her throat, Fang's actions looming again in her mind. She had tried to reach out, and for her trouble, Fang just had lashed back at her. She'd brought up the brands, and that had been the worst part. Fang didn't even seem to care about the looming danger – the brands were just another insult to her.
Exactly what had I been trying to say? That she needed to pull her head in, that we needed to keep it positive! So obviously she goes out and she does the opposite, just for a little petty vengeance. Disgusting.
Sazh's hunch had been incorrect, and there was nothing wrongwith Fang. Lightning had been a fool to believe that they could have reached a reasonable and peaceful solution. Eden, she'd been right to get out of the relationship while she'd still had the chance! The last thing she needed was to be tied down to a belligerent child.
She wanted to kill something, to revel in her anger, to do anything to be rid of the hurt slowly welling up under her rage.
As she entered the Sulyya Springs, Lightning noted that the group of l'Cie were huddled about the fire. Snow looked up at her approach, curiosity flickering across his features.
Lightning ignored his wave of greeting, choosing to hop onto an isolated island. Perhaps the cooling darkness would help soothe her anger? Lightning leaned against one of the rocks jutting from the island's surface, crossing her arms irritably. Even if she had to keep away from the other l'Cie while she tried to cool off, it didn't stop Lightning from entertaining vivid thoughts of going back and just beating sense into the stubborn woman.
Her peace was short-lived. The scuff of shoes on rock alerted her to Vanille's approach, and in the moonlight and the residual light from the fire, Lightning could see that Vanille's expression looked worried. Lightning's jaw tightened. Fantastic. Vanille was the last person she'd wanted to talk to.
"How did it go?" Vanille's voice was hesitant and cautious. She already knew the answer, then. Why even bother with the charade?
"Just as expected. Your sister is a confrontational, petty fool," Lightning replied, her eyes cutting towards Vanille. The girl hardly seemed shocked by Lightning's statement, just a little disappointed with it.
"I thought…" Vanille swallowed audibly, before rushing on. "I thought you were going to go talk sense into her. Not-"
"Good luck to whoever gets that job, because I'm done with her, and her with me." Lightning's voice was laden with contempt, her mind struggling to emphasize the anger over the incredible feeling of hurt still resonating in her chest. She looked out into the darkness, towards the shadowed path to the Palisades. It was too late for regrets or hurt feelings. Their positions were clear.
Vanille's eyes widened slightly. "What did you do? Lightning, I told you-"
"Why the hell do I have to be the villain in all of this?" Lightning cut in harshly, overriding all of Vanille's accusations. What the hell did she know, anyway? "Why has it got to be something I did? Your sister is no Sanctum Primarch, that's for sure. I tried to talk to her, and she showed her true colours. I've done my part. That's all there is to it."
Vanille was still frowning, but at least she wasn't hurling around those unfounded accusations. She made an angry sound in the back of her throat, pivoting sharply and striding back towards the campfire.
Screw Fang, and screw Vanille. Lightning was done with this.
Fang let the deepening darkness of the night grow around her, until she was certain that Lightning was really gone. The last thing Fang wanted was to encounter the woman alone again, to spark another fight. Etro, the way things were, Fang wasn't sure she could handle another confrontation like that.
Still. Gotta do what I gotta do. And alienating Lightning is the best possible action, right now.
She felt ill. She shouldn't have tried this, but the half-baked plan of desperation left her no other option.
Break Lightning's faith. Break her trust. Drive her away, so that by the time Ragnarok rose again, she'll have naught the time to stop it.
It was a lengthy walk back to the Sulyya Springs, and by the time Fang arrived, the scent of food on the breeze was enough to make her stomach rumble. Instinctively, her eyes sought out Vanille – the ball of paranoia in her chest eased a little at her sister's obvious safety. Fang's eyes swept over the camp, lingering on Lightning for a moment in spite of herself.
The answering gaze was sharp and unforgiving, and Fang forced a smile. Good, her plan was still working. She'd never known victory to taste so bloody bitter, though.
Having noticed Fang's approach, Vanille was moving away from the rest of the l'Cie now. Fang's smile felt a little less forced this time, and she rested her lance against her shoulder. Vanille would make her feel a little better, she was sure of it. Though that frown didn't look all that promising, nor the tense way she was holding her shoulders –
Vanille's hand shot out and fastened about Fang's wrist, and she hissed something absolutely incomprehensible in Fang's ear. Fang allowed herself to be dragged away from the l'Cie, accurately deducing that Vanille wanted a little talk. Sheesh. The least Vanille could have done was asked. Did Fang ever deny her anything?
"What did you do?" Vanille demanded with a hiss, capturing Fang's attention again. Her green eyes were completely serious for once. So her sister meant business? There was really only one way to deal with that rare occurrence.
Fang just raised an eyebrow, letting her lips twitch into a ghost of a smile. "That there is a vague question, Van. I've done a lot of things. Care to clarify?"
Vanille pouted, but from the sudden stubborn set to her chin, she wouldn't be deterred by Fang's gentle mockery. Bugger.
"Lightning went to work things out with you, and she comes back like that!" Vanille windmilled her arms in Lightning's general vicinity, causing the rest of the l'Cie to notice the wild gesture and look over towards them. Vanille continued, but in a much lower voice, "If it wasn't her, then it must have been you! What are you thinking, Fang?"
Fang snorted to herself. So Lightning would have already faced Vanille's twenty-questions routine… which meant that Vanille would already have some idea of what had transpired over by the Palisades. Well, she'd know exactly what Fang had manipulated Lightning into believing, sick as it was.
"What, coming over all confrontational-like and berating me is working things out?" Fang scoffed, shooting Lightning a glace over Vanille's shoulder. That feeling of choking bitterness seemed to increase as she spat out, "Pft. Cocoon vipers. They've got no fucking clue, as always."
"That's because you won't tell her why!" Vanille said, starting to look cross at Fang's apparent lack of concern with the situation. "Of course she's jumping to the wrong conclusions. You haven't told her anything!"
"And I won't." Fang's voice was flat. There would be no arguments about this. She rubbed her frozen brand wearily, feeling the roughened crystal under her fingertips. "Look. I just stopped giving her a reason to like me at all. It's that simple."
Vanille's eyes widened, and her expression was dismayed. "Why? Fang, I thought you cared for her!"
"It doesn't matter." Vanille looked absolutely appalled with that response, so Fang continued. "It's best that Lightning stays away, because when I let Ragnarok rise to complete the Focus you lot refuse, then it'll save her a whole lot of hurt and betrayal."
"There's no reason to complete it!"
Even when her voice was so low, Vanille's anger was obvious to Fang. Her hands were clenched, she was scowling, and wow, Vanille might have actually stamped her foot! She hadn't seen Vanille get so angry in a long time. There'd been too much guilt and pain in her eyes for that, memories of a nightmarish Focus and a stunning failure.
"Because I know that we're going to defeat our Focus, no matter what. So stop it! Fang, you had better go make up with Light right this instant!"
"Or else what?" Fang replied, feeling weary all of a sudden. Between this fight and the one at the Palisades, she was drained of her ability to function. Or to even care. "Face it. There's nothing you can do. I've made my choice, and I'm going to stick to it."
"It's happening again, isn't it?" Vanille asked quietly, her anger fleeing as quickly as it had come upon her. Her eyes were narrowed, and fixed on something beyond Fang's shoulder.
"What is?" Fang reached out, automatically. Emotionally exhausted as she was, she wasn't going to stand by while her sister was upset. It didn't mean she was going to back down over this.
"It's… it's nothing." Vanille's voice was soft, almost inaudible, and she grasped Fang in a tight embrace. Fang closed her eyes for a moment, savouring the close contact and warmth and affection. This was what she missed. This was what she had to protect, no matter how difficult. Her arms squeezed around Vanille reflexively, before she opened her eyes again.
"How far along is it?" Fang asked then, and she felt her sister flinch at the reminder of the ticking time bomb on her thigh.
"Ninth stage." There was a hesitation, and she felt Vanille's fingers curl in her sari. "I've been trying, but-"
Fang bit off a harsh expletive, and stopped herself from clenching her hands into fists. There was not enough time. There never was.
Tomorrow, in Snow's opinion, was usually meant to be a better day than the one that preceded it. Well, that's how the sayings usually put it, and that's how Snow normally viewed things. But since the Hanged Edge? He'd been hard-pressed to find a day that didn't royally suck ass. He tried to keep his mind away from it, he tried to see the glass as half-full! And so, somehow, he'd managed to let himself believe that his group wasn't blessed with suck.
Snow yawned widely, blinking back tears of sleepiness. He nodded to Lightning, letting her take her preferred position at point, to lead them onwards to Oerba. The woman took her early-starts way too seriously…
But even in spite of the usual tension, things had been going almost well, before Fang had blown a fuse over something. Was she still mad about the whole stealing-of-thunder during the juggernaut business? Somehow, Snow didn't think so. She'd seemed happy enough afterwards, if a little touchy. Snow hadn't really thought much of it, but the next thing he knows, Fang's thrown him back into the subterra, starts fighting an Eidolon, before having a heart-to-heart with Vanille.
Well, he'd told himself, the least Fang could have done was ask nicely. Was she taking lessons on Cocoon manners from Lightning? Because a backhand to the face was a bit of an extreme reaction to 'hello'…
Things hadn't gotten better since then. Confused and a little concerned, Snow had asked Lightning to deal with Fang, because if Vanille wasn't going to talk about it, Lightning was the next best thing. Or, that's what he'd thought. But lately Lightning had been… well. Snow was starting to wonder if Fang had insulted Lightning's mother or something.
Word from the not-so-wise – don't try that.
He'd been pleased to hear Sazh say that Lightning had gone to talk with Fang last night, but he couldn't say he cared for the results Lightning had gotten. Seriously, he wasn't sensing much of a decrease in tension in the group. If anything, Fang was even more sullen, and now there was the added bonus of Lightning being absolutely furious. How had she managed that? Lightning was meant to be the tactful one. If he'd wanted someone to go put their feet in their mouths and fuck up, he would have sent himself.
Nice plan, Snow congratulated himself sarcastically, as he followed the rest of the l'Cie past a bunch of cliffs, towards that big tower-majig that he'd almost convinced Hope into exploring. He smiled as Vanille announced something to the group, his mind skimming backwards to remember what she'd said. Something about being on the track to Oerba?
"You're almost home," he said, nodding and raising his eyes to stare up at the tower, his attention turning from Sazh's further comments. So, Taejin's Tower, was it? He pounded a fist into his open palm. Looked like a challenge.
The group of l'Cie passed through the darkened corridors that led to the interior of the broken tower, until they came to a wide, open area. Snow craned his neck again, staring up at the huge height of this thing. Five hundred years, and this bastard was still standing? Snow's estimate of Gran Pulse's usefulness was going up in spades, these days. He wasn't sure that anything on Cocoon was built to last. Not like this, anyhow.
Snow frowned, his gaze sweeping the whole hall, and the statue that the rest of the group had gathered around. He could have sworn he'd heard a voice. He hadn't been able to understand a lick of it, but… he shifted his shoulders uncomfortably, unable to shake the odd feeling.
"I'm… I'm not the only one hearing that, am I?" Vanille asked, her eyes wide and staring up at the statue of the big dude with the big sword.
"No, uh…" Snow replied, fiddling with the back of his bandana nervously. So if Vanille was also hearing it, that meant… Well, Snow had no idea what it could mean, aside from monsters, or fal'Cie, or statues beginning to talk-
"It couldn't be them." Sazh jerked his thumb towards the statue, his eyebrow raised. He turned his eyes to Vanille, seeming to doubt his own conclusions. "Could it?"
Wait. So Sazh also thought that the statues were talking too? Snow felt a little less idiotic now.
"I don't know," Hope said, his eyes darting to where Lightning was standing, her arms crossed, her expression apathetic. "It's weird, like voices in my head."
Well, if Hope was looking for some sort of guidance from Lightning, he wasn't going to be getting it today. Snow looked at her, a little more carefully. Come to think of it, it wasn't really like her to just dismiss Hope's theories like that. What the hell was going on with her? Her and Fang, he amended silently. Something had to be up.
"I hear it." And so, folks, those were the first words out of Fang since last night. Snow listened carefully as the woman translated, "Your presence here draws the tyrant's gaze. Leave this place at once."
The statue had to be speaking in Pulsian, because Snow couldn't make head or tail of the murmuring of voices in his head.
"We can't leave, this is the only way for us to get through!" Vanille told the statue, almost begging. Snow wasn't really sure how he felt about that. Begging a statue? What exactly was a statue going to do? Kick them out?
"Please!" Vanille continued. "Help us."
The murmuring crash of voices in Snow's skull intensified again, and he grunted. Wasn't exactly the most pleasant sensation in the world, that was for sure.
Fang just shrugged the rest of the l'Cie's discomfort off, as she translated, "As you wish. Look for us, and the way will open."
The elevator that was summoned for them didn't really look all that safe. Actually, it kind of looked like a death trap, with all those rickety pulleys and rusted panels of metal. Snow looked over his shoulder towards Lightning, who merely offered him a sceptical eyebrow. So, Sis wasn't all that sure of the statue's offering, either, even if she wasn't speaking up about it. Women. Why were they so complicated?
"That was easy enough," Sazh said, smiling a little as he made for the elevator.
"You never know. Could be a trap," Hope replied, frowning.
"Could be. Don't see no stairs, though. Do you?"
"Nope." Fang laughed slightly then, but when Snow turned to look at her, her eyes hadn't moved from the statue. "That's our ride – bumpy or not. So. We splitting up?"
"Shotgun leader!" Snow cut in over Lightning, pumping his fist as he heard her make a harsh sound of annoyance at his enthusiasm and speed. Yeah, no more taking orders, and if he played his cards right, he wouldn't have to deal with either Fang or Lightning! Things were looking up-
"I'm taking the kids, then," Sazh said, laying a hand on Hope and Vanille's shoulders. "Have fun."
Oh hell.
"What? No! You can't do that! You'd leave me with-" Snow's words froze in his mouth as he looked over towards Lightning again. Lightning was openly glaring at his insinuations, and Fang was still looking determinedly at the statue.
"Um," Snow amended, quickly, before either of them decided to take offense at his mistake. "Two very lovely ladies. Yeah, I'll go with that."
Sazh just laughed softly, walking off with Hope and Vanille before Snow could challenge him further. Snow took a deep breath to galvanize himself, before turning back to his more volatile companions with a false grin. Oh yeah. This was tense, if the clench to Fang's jaw and the twitch in Lightning's eyebrow was any indication.
This was going to be uncomfortable.
They'd been travelling up this fal'Cie-forsaken tower for nearly four tiers now. Frankly, it felt like four tiers too many, Lightning noted with a scowl as she holstered her blazefire saber at her side. The savaged ruins of the cie'th mob lay behind her, a warning to those that would dare to challenge them again.
Her simmering anger towards Fang seemed to give her an extra ferocity behind her attacks, and she didn't mind the edge. As she advanced onwards to the next in the network of elevators, Lightning shot a quick look over her shoulder. Snow was surveying the destruction of the previous battle with a slightly bemused expression, and Fang…
Lightning's frown deepened, and she resolutely turned her gaze forwards, leaning up against the wall of the elevator. Did they think she'd just wait around for them all day? She snorted softly. Not likely.
Snow and Fang eventually joined her, and Snow muttered a half-hearted apology that Lightning ignored. Fang was still staring at the roof with an expression of apathy, as the ancient elevator shuddered to a start. The expression seemed entirely out of place – Fang was never one to mask her emotions in such a way.
"Took your time about getting here." Lightning kept her voice terse and impersonal, but she'd been the victim of enough of Fang's jabs so far today. Fair was fair. "I thought you might have gotten lost on the way over. Wouldn't have been the first time you'd been too stubborn to see common sense."
Fang's eyes snapped down from their study of the ceiling. For a moment, Lightning thought Fang was actually going to say what was on her mind, but with what seemed like an effort, the Pulsian woman bit back the response. Lightning felt her own anger spike at Fang's continued refusal to communicate.
The brand, and your complete refusal to see reason. How could you pretend to be so unaffected by everything you said back then?
Surely Fang felt something. Anger, regret, maybe some smug superiority at having won the last round of their clashes? Lightning had no idea whatemotion Fang was masking, but she intended to dig at that façade until it fell.
Snow, however, groaned loudly and repeatedly thumped his head against the wall of the elevator.
"I swear to Eden, I can't take this anymore. The constant bitching and all those snide little comments…" Snow told them, through his clenched teeth as he fixed them both with a glower. "You know what? It's gonna drive me nuts! This whole thing is like some sort of twisted lover's spat or something!"
There was a tense pause, as Snow looked to where she and Fang stood.
Snow frowned, and he began to blink slowly as he processed what he'd just said. Lightning could almost see the gears in his brain struggling to life as they began to work for once. Her stomach clenched, but there was little reason to conceal the battered remains of her relationship with Fang. Lightning's eyes cut towards Fang again, and noted that she suddenly seemed to be listening to Snow very intently.
"Like… like one of Serah's chickflicks." Snow swallowed audibly, starting to blink rapidly. "You know the ones. Where there's some huge misunderstanding and the two… hate each other. It's… just like that."
Lightning remained silent. He'd put it together, it seemed. With how careless she'd been about it all, she was a little surprised it hadn't been sooner than this.
"Just like in what-now?" Fang asked then, her voice lacking all of its usual lightness and mockery. Apparently, the word chickflick and all its associated baggage was lost on her. Lightning made a sound of annoyance in her throat.
"Eden," Snow breathed, his blue eyes very wide now as he openly stared at Fang, and then at Lightning. He didn't seem to know how to process this new realization. "You didn't deny it right off. That's… Wait. Are you?"
"No," Lightning told him, feeling the elevator around them shudder as the rusted gears brought their ascent to a halt. The door slid open, and Lightning moved to exit. Snow's gloved hand shot out, clasping her bare shoulder tightly. He didn't remove it, even as her eyes narrowed in a warning. Fine. She'd give him five more seconds, and then he'd lose the appendage at his elbow.
"Were you?" Snow asked, his voice tight. He met Lightning's glare unflinchingly – she'd as good as lied to him about it, that night at the Sulyya Springs. That was something that Snow took very seriously. At this point, Lightning didn't care that he felt betrayed. He didn't really understand, anyway.
"Yep. Her and me. We were just the best of buddiesfor a while, wouldn't you know. Things change, though. Too fast, for my tastes," Fang's voice was scathing, as she shoved her way past his wide shoulders and out into the darkness of the tower. Lightning closed her eyes, listening to the sound of Fang's footsteps as they faded into silence.
That went worse than I'd imagined, she told herself with a sigh, before letting her gaze come to rest on Snow. Five, Four, three, two-
"Well…" Snow cleared his throat, releasing her shoulder with an awkward pat. "I, uh, guess that explains a lot of what's been up with her. And you, for that matter."
"You're gonna pin her moronic behaviouron me?" Lightning's eyes narrowed. Snow had some gall! Her fingers strayed to her dualweapon reflexively.
"Hey, quit it with the threatening gestures. I'm just callin' it how it looks." Snow rubbed the back of his neck, grimacing. Lightning relaxed her grip on the weapon. He had a point, even if it was as badly phrased as ever.
"But Fang… What did you do, Sis?" His voice was blunt – perhaps his righteous indignation at having been lied gave him courage, Lightning noted, before deciding ignore his question. It was interesting to note the lengths that this idiot could go to, when he thought he was in the right. She'd have to remember that.
There was a long moment of silence, as they made their way out of the elevator. Snow was quiet and thoughtful for a change, which Lightning was grateful for. Her eyes scanned the dark tower for a sign of where Fang had vanished to. Nothing sprang immediately to mind, and Lightning cursed softly under her breath. The woman was gone, probably haring off after another cie'th. Fang's reckless pursuit of battle, since arriving in the tower, had been nothing short of frustrating.
"Then, the other night when you were out on the Steppe…?" Snow asked softly, from where he stood behind her. Lightning even with her back to him, she could practically hear his grin in his voice.
"Yes," Lightning said with a sharp nod, looking over her shoulder and meeting his eyes again. She supposed she owed Snow that much truth.
"…and after the juggernaut?" Snow added, squinting at her, still fighting that goofy grin.
"Snow." Lightning didn't bother to hide her irritation at his questions, this time.
"And while you were at Palumpolum?" Snow, intentionally or not, wasn't getting the message – Lightning was neither comfortable with this guesswork, nor did she owe him full disclosure! Her private life was her own, not some idle bar gossip for him to entertain himself with. He might be free to pry with his foolish Team NORA, but things worked differently with her.
"Snow," Lightning growled, and her hand strayed to her weapon again in a very blatant warning, one that she hoped that Snow would understand this time.
"Wow, that long? I wouldn't have thought it of you, Sis." Snow gave a low whistle and winked at her. Lightning felt her jaw clench in outrage. "Is that what you were doing with Fang, when we were at Hope's place? Because I gotta say-"
"One more word out of your mouth, and I swear I'll feed you to Dahaka, Serah be damned. Accidents can happen. Nobody would question it."
Snow opened his mouth, and the daring look in his eyes told her that he was more than ready to test out her bluff – probably with another of his prying questions. Of course she wouldn't kill him, but that was hardly the point.
Surprisingly though, Snow stayed silent, but that idiotic grin on his face spoke of a victory in a battle Lightning hadn't realized she'd been participating in.
"But, I can't help but notice you avoided the question before, Sis. What'd you do?" Snow asked, scratching the back of his head as they moved through the tower's halls. Never in a million years would he have thought he'd be here, trying to mediate whatever had gone wrong between Lightning and Fang.
The fact that they were in a relationship had been surprising – Snow had actually thought it'd be Fang and Vanille, rather than Sis. You learn something new everyday, right? Come to think of it, it actually explained a lot.
Something had to have disturbed the peace between them, though, and it was really ripping at the seams of the party. Maybe if he knew something about it all, he could give Lightning a hand?
"Well," Snow said, addressing Lightning's lingering, frosty silence. There was really nothing for it. "You have to have done something, because Fang's mad at you, and since last night, you're mad at her. So c'mon. What did you do?"
"Snow." Lightning's voice was icy and taut, and it was a warning that Snow usually would have heeded.
"Get as nasty as you like, but I'm not dropping this." Snow knew that he sounded a lot braver than he actually felt. Lightning was almost akin to a force of nature when she was pissed off. Even so, heroes never backed down, no matter what the odds. Snow just hoped he survived to tell his tale of courage to Hope and Sazh…
"Fine." Lightning halted in her relentless stride through Taejin's Tower, but despite her answer, she didn't bother to turn to face him. "It's not like it matters now, anyway."
Snow forced himself to wait. He was worried that if he spoke now, he'd put his foot in his mouth and muck everything up.
"Back at the Steppe, Fang came to the mistaken conclusion that I wanted a relationship. That we had time for a relationship." Lightning still wasn't facing him as she started to speak. Her voice was level and strictly controlled, almost analytical. Serah'd talked with him about all that – back before the whole l'Cie business, it had been one of those things about Lightning that had worried her the most.
Funny, the things you remember at the weirdest of times. Snow's fingers tightened around the tear-shaped Eidolith. Other times? He wondered if it was Serah's way of communication, even while in crystal stasis. He drew strength from the thought, choosing to believe it as truth.
Lightning turned back to Snow, drawing his attention again.
"When I told Fang otherwise, after the fight with the juggernaut, she… didn't take it so well. But she has to understand." Lightning's eyes hardened, and she looked off into the darkness. "This is no time for meaningless romance. We have too much to deal with, without all of that to distract us."
Snow stared at her, trying to reconcile his entire worldview with Lightning's cold logic. No time for a relationship? She didn't want a relationship? What? It could have been the hopeless romantic in him, but he was having a really difficult time getting her stance on this. If there was any time that love should be welcomed among l'Cie, it was when they were trying to stay positive! Anything, just to distract them from those stupid brands…
Doomed to crystal stasis or not, love was love in Snow's book.
Then again… from what Serah had told him, Lightning had always been ruled by her head, rather than following her heart. Well. Except when she was really, really angry – what Vanille had mentioned about the Vile Peaks came to mind – or when she lost Serah. Alright, Snow mentally corrected himself, Lightning could be really spotty about when she chose to listen to her emotions.
Fact was, Snow reckoned that Lightning was making a mistake. The problems the breakup had caused within the party taking a backseat… When Snow suddenly looked back, his hindsight suddenly twenty-twenty, he knew that Lightning and Fang had made each other happy, for all their arguments and differences. How often did you get that kind of synergy, right off the bat? And the fact that it was Lightning…
The notion firmed in Snow's mind. Lightning, even if she didn't really get it, was making a huge mistake.
"Why don't you say you're sorry?" Snow asked, genuinely wanting to know the answer. He knew that Lightning had tried to patch things up the night before, so surely she did want things to be right between her and Fang. Right?
Lightning snorted in derision, though her stubborn-bitch expression looked a little uncertain for a moment. "Why should I? I've done nothing to apologize for."
"If in doubt, apologize. It's one of those relationship things that you'll figure out," Snow said, rolling his eyes. And Lightning reckoned hewas the thick one. At least he knew thatmuch about women and relationships. All he could think of, was Lebreau killing herself laughing at the idea of Snow being more woman-savvy than, well, anyone.
"We aren't in a relationship." Lightning scowled at him, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"But… you wanted to be." Snow quickly raised a hand to forestall Lightning's inevitable snarky retort. "Don't give me that bull about focus and determination and all that. You can't bullshit the bullshitter, right?"
"Save the drivel, Snow." Lightning's voice had the same old tightness and ice in it, as she turned her back on him. "In the meantime, I'm going to go and make sure she doesn't get herself killed. In case you hadn't noticed, I've picked up her trail."
Snow squinted in the darkness, making out the dismembered remains of cie'th and robotics in the darkness. Well, if carnage and dead cie'th could be considered a trail and not a blinding beacon, sure. Whatever worked.
They followed the trail of dead cie'th at a run, quickly making up time that Fang would have wasted on taking down any creature in her path. Despite the quick pace, Lightning's mind roiled with anger, outrage and vaguely savage thoughts of hurting both Fang and Snow. Snow was another one who wanted her to just cave in, Lightning had quickly realized while arguing with him before. Just like Vanille, he wanted Lightning to do whatever it took to make Fang happy, even if that meant rejecting what she knew was the right course of action.
Lightning refused to do that. Not for the reasons they kept putting forward, anyway.
She could sense Snow's stamina start to flag by the time she caught a flash of blue silk in the dim light, coming from not far up ahead. With a low snarl of frustration, Lightning realized that Fang was fighting yet another cie'th. That was hardly a surprise, given the slaughter that had led them to Fang's position. What made Lightning's stomach clench was the sheer size of the beast Fang had decided to go and pick a fight with. Was the woman suicidal?
Lightning shifted her shoulders uncomfortably as they reached Fang's position. Her fight with King Behemoth, back on the Steppe, had been completely different. That had been to distract herself from her own thoughts-
"Wondered when you two would show up," Fang called out, not shifting her glare from the large cie'th she was circling. Lightning didn't respond as she took her position at Fang's side, motioning for Snow to follow suit. There would be no use letting the stubborn woman get herself killed on a whim. Lightning wasn't sure she could handle Vanille's pouting, if that happened.
Apparently, silence was not the answer Fang had been looking for, because Lightning noticed her green eyes flicker to her, and then quickly back to the cie'th.
"Know what, Snow? I think you'll give this guy a run for his money in size, once you lot turn cie'th after all this." Fang's expression was nothing but a vicious snarl as she launched herself forwards, ignoring Snow's shout of outrage. She managed to dodge over the cie'th's haymaker, before bringing her spear in a wide arc to slash open the offending limb. Not even stopping to catch her breath, Fang pivoted and sent off a flurry of Ruin spells.
Lightning darted past Fang to continue to harry the monster. As she moved, Lightning signalled Snow over her shoulder, to remind him to make with his newly acquired Haste spell and give her a boost. The spell was warm as it suffused her, and time around her slowed to a crawl.
Over her shoulder, Lightning saw Snow finish casting his Haste spell, making sure that he'd follow it up as they'd agreed. She didn't have to worry, she realized, as Snow began to sprint forwards, ice wreathing his fists. Lightning smiled tightly, satisfied, as she passed by Fang. Taking full advantage of her extra speed, she followed up her charge with a rapid combo of swipes and thunder spells that made the hair on the back of her neck tingle.
The cie'th seemed to have been a little dazed by her onslaught, and Lightning used her remaining momentum to launch herself backwards, to put distance between them again. As she passed by Fang again, Lightning's eyebrows suddenly drew into a frown. Of course, the woman was attacking again, but the expression on her face was so feral and angry, and she seemed to be so focused on attacking as hard as she could.
It was vicious desperation, not unlike a cornered animal. It reeked of loss of control, or loss of awareness on everything except the battle. It made Lightning's skin crawl.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lightning saw the cie'th move to counter Fang's latest flurry of attacks. She kept her mouth shut as she cast a few aero spells in the cie'th direction – Fang knew how to fight. If anything, Fang would be offended by a warning, because she'd already be aware of it, she'd have expected it.
The moments seemed to crawl by, as Lightning landed at Snow's side again. The cie'th was still moving, and Fang didn't seem to have noticed it at all! Lightning's shouted warning came crucial moments too late. The cie'th's blow hit Fang squarely in the chest, smashing the woman into the stone wall of the tower – hard.
Lightning's breath froze in her throat as Fang crumpled to the ground. It was only the knowledge that they were facing a dangerous enemy, that kept Lightning's mind focused on the task at hand. The cie'th was no juggernaut, that was for sure, but that thing was stronger than it looked. Lightning clenched her teeth, shooting a furious look in Fang's direction again. She could see blood trickling down Fang's cheek now, could hear her coughing a little as she tried to get to her feet. She'd probably broken something.
Careless, reckless idiot! Nothing that a few cures wouldn't fix, but it was the damn principle!
"Cover me!" Lightning ordered Snow, allowing herself to turn her full attention onto Fang now.
"You got it!" Snow all but laughed, and she had to wonder if his elation was only due to the thrill of the battle. No matter, because if she didn't heal up Fang quickly, the stubborn woman was going to hurt herself more with her constant attempts to rise to her feet.
Lightning let cooling, healing magic arc from her fingertips and towards Fang. Eden, it doesn't make sense at all! All this recklessness of Fang's, the carelessness, or the wanton courting of danger – it wasn't what she'd come to expect from someone as level-headed as Fang. While Fang had always been daring and willing to push her limits, she'd always known those limits and had acted accordingly. It was a blatant and extreme change in behaviour, and it could only mean-
Lightning's stomach clenched as she turned her gaze back to the cie'th. It meant that in her selfishness, she'd missed something huge.
Sazh might very well have been right after all, with his hedging hints at a deeper, underlying cause to Fang's sudden change in behaviour. While the break-up could have explained Fang's moody behaviour, Lightning knew that a fighter like Fang would never have let it get to her in combat. She'd have known better!
Lightning's will hardened, as she and Snow circled the cie'th. So. What had happened, to have shaken Fang's self-awareness and commonsense so badly that this was the result? She felt uneasy as she darted forwards again, driving the cie'th back with a mix of magic-enhanced strikes and raw spells. Back at the Palisades, Fang had implied that it had been about the breakup. That meant…
You've been deliberately leading me to false conclusions! Lightning thought in outrage, her fingers tightening on her weapon as she and Snow continued the battle. This whole mess reeked of betrayal, secrecy and lies.
The cie'th howled one last time, before falling into a broken heap. Lightning ignored Snow's cheers of victory, not even bothering to sheathe her weapon as she turned sharply back to Fang. Fang met her eyes this time, looking trapped, frustrated and wary again. Snow's whoops faded quickly as he followed the direction of Lightning's gaze, and all they were left with was an awkward silence.
"Snow. Don't interrupt us, unless I ask you to. Understand?" Lightning said, loudly and clearly. She watched Fang's expression close over – the woman knew that something was up, then. Good. About time they were both in the know, about whatever mess was going on.
Snow gave her a lazy salute. "Clear as crystal, Sis."
Lightning just looked at him, her expression entirely blank.
He rubbed the back of his head, sheepish. "Okay, bad turn of phrase. Perfectly clear, then."
Lightning snorted, amused by his mistake. Her sense of humour evaporated as she turned her gaze back to Fang, and her mouth formed a hard line. She'd get to the bottom of whatever was going on with Fang, and no blatant redirection was going to stop her. Her fingers tightened on her dualweapon again as she braced herself.
"We need to talk." Lightning kept her voice level and impassive, as she approached the other woman. No backing down, she told herself firmly.
"Not happening. Got places to be, cie'th to kill," Fang ground out, cracking her neck a few times as she climbed unsteadily to her feet, perhaps still a little disoriented from the blow and the curative magic.
"That's nice. But it's not a request." Lightning lashed out, shoving Fang against the tower's wall again. To her credit, Fang didn't wince from the residual pain in her arm and ribs, though she did bare her teeth in what might have passed as a smile.
"Got the balls to follow that through?" Fang asked her in a low and mocking voice, that feral grin widening as Lightning leaned in. "Or are you all talk?"
"I'm sure Snow would take my side." Lightning didn't even deign Fang's first question with an answer. Now that she knew what to look for, she could see the barbs, all designed to distract her, to throw her off the trail. "You'd be dealing with the two of us."
"You think I can't take you both? That's cute, Lightning." Fang's expression had darkened, and her grin was no longer feral and mocking, but something a lot more dangerous. Fang could keep glaring like that until Cocoon fell, because Lightning wasn't going to give it up this time.
"Your arrogance never fails to astound," Lightning told her, still struggling to keep her voice even in spite of her growing anger. "But you've been playing me, haven't you? This was never about us. This is about whatever is between you and Vanille, and the past."
"Keep telling yourself that." Fang's green eyes were unflinching and unreadable, though, as she shoved Lightning back a step.
The more Lightning considered the possibility, the truer it began to feel. With this realization, all the missing pieces seemed to be falling into place. Why Fang's anger had been so powerful, why she'd been pushing away not just Lightning, but the rest of the l'Cie as well. Even so, there was still some vital part of the equation missing! While Lightning felt used and lied to, it was the least of her concerns right now. That piece of the puzzle, it was the reason everything had fallen apart!
Her traitorous heart began to ache, then. Would it have been as bad, had I not chosen to break up with her?
"The Eidolon in the fissure, this suicidal behaviour of yours, Vanille's fears-" Lightning cut herself off, scowling. It was making too much sense, now. "It's all connected. Why don't you just talk to me?"
Fang's expression was bitter as she sheathed her polearm in the straps on her back, and her voice was casual, uncaring.
"The time for talking is gone. We've got a Focus to defeat, or have you forgotten that already?" Fang laughed then, hollow and humourless. "Just raring to become a cie'th, I see. Well. I won't hesitate in cutting you down when you turn. Don't forget that."
It was a stinging reminder of what Lightning had said to Serah, in the days leading up to the Purge. It's my job to hunt you down. Those words still haunted her to this day, and had she not been given reason to hope, they might have destroyed her entirely. Was she willing to just let Fang say those things, knowing the regret and pain they caused?
Not a chance.
"There you go again. It's been so obvious. You're actually trying to push us away." Lightning's voice was still low, but she knew her anger was getting through to Fang because the woman had started to flinch. That was a small miracle, there. "But why? Just trying to martyr yourself, Fang? Or is it something else? What the hell are you hiding?"
There was no warning. There was just a feral roar as Fang lashed out at Lightning with her fists, not even seeming to care about strategy, technique or the massive strength behind her blows – after the initial backhand to her face, Lightning dodged and ducked and countered all of Fang's wild strikes – hard. She gave no mercy, just the way Fang had given her none that night on the Steppe.
Just as Lightning noticed Snow begin to edge over, looking alarmed and ready to break up the brutal scuffle, Fang broke away. Her breath was coming hard, blood was trickling down from her nose and lips and she was sporting a growing range of bruises. Lightning didn't relax her guard, though her cheek – hit by Fang's first backhand – was beginning to numb.
It was just as Lightning had predicted. Fang's technique had been sloppy, and Lightning wasn't sure how she should feel about the validation of her theories. There really was something wrong, because those massive holes and blatant mistakes weren't things that Fang would stand for. Not the Fang that Lightning had come to know.
"Ready to talk?" Lightning asked Fang, and she was a little surprised at how breathless her own voice sounded.
"Go screw yourself, Farron." Fang straightened, her eyes blazing with anger, and blood still trickling down her chin. With that, Fang stalked off into the darkness again before Lightning could move to intercept her. Lightning allowed her to leave, her mind working silently as she appraised the increasingly gnarled situation she'd found herself in. Let Fang run, it would only give Lightning time to regroup and reconsider her approach.
Snow, behind her, gave a low whistle. "She's pretty mad, huh?"
That was true enough. Back before the Focus, she'd refused to listen to Serah's problems and story. She could have prevented this entire fiasco by just taking the time to listen and consider the feelings of everyone around her! That failing, that short-sightedness continued to dog her footsteps, but she wasn't going to stand for this any longer.
This time, things were going to be different. Fang wasn't going to become just another regret, another lost opportunity. But what, exactly, was she supposed to do for a woman who didn't want her help?
"Tch. This… this is just the start." Lightning straightened, jerking her head to motion for him to follow her lead. The top of the tower wasn't far. "I'm not going to drop this."
As she turned away and led the way onwards, she thought she caught a flash of an approving grin.
The air atop Taejin's Tower was clean and cold. Fang closed her eyes as the wind stirred her hair and whipped her sari about, letting it wash away the tornado of anger, hurt and fear inside her. She let out a long breath. Her resolve, as needed as it was, had come so close to breaking. She'd started to crack under the pressure of Lightning's relentless questions, but she'd escaped.
Even so, she knew that running was only going to be a momentary solution to the issue, and a traitorous voice in her heart whispered taunts about courage and running. Now, she waited, and every heartbeat they lingered was like sandpaper on her raw nerves. Every second she was in Lightning's presence, the closer she'd come to breaking point.
"It doesn't have to be this way. I know it's not what you want."
Fang gave a start at the voice and sudden contact, looking down at where Vanille had rested her head against her shoulder. So wrapped up in her own grim thoughts, she'd not heard her sister approach. Fang snorted softly to herself – a fine hunter she was.
She shot a quick look, over to where Sazh and Hope waited.
"No…" Fang agreed, quietly, always unable to lie to Vanille. "It's not what I want."
It was a relief to admit it, to someone she knew would be on her side. Fang loathed all this underhanded manipulation. She hated that it was necessary.
"But, you know. Things in life aren't always easy. Sometimes, you have to make the tough choices, to protect the ones you love." Fang searched Vanille's face, for a hint of what her sister was thinking. She felt Vanille squeeze her arm reassuringly, and the action put her on edge immediately.
"What if they don't want to be protected like this? Fang…" Vanille trailed off, sighing as she stared down at her clasped hands. She seemed apprehensive.
"Well. In that case, they've got little choice in the matter." Fang's voice was falsely light as she shook Vanille's shoulder to catch her attention again. She had to make Vanille understand – there was going to be no backing away from her choice. More, she needed Vanille on her side for this!
If not… Her stomach seemed to be filled with lead, as she considered the bleak future before her.
"Lightning and the rest, they don't understand what they're digging for." Fang told Vanille, making sure Vanille knew how serious she felt about this. "It's my past, and I'll do as I damn-well please with it."
"But it's not just about you, anymore. This isn't just your Focus, or about Gran Pulse. It's about them too! They're part of our Focus, and they deserve to know the truth." Vanille took a breath, as if to brace herself. "You said they were family, but then you go and push them away at the first sign of trouble! You can't carry this burden alone… I tried, and it nearly destroyed me."
Fang watched Vanille wordlessly, fear creeping up her spine like ice. Vanille took her silence for what it was.
"…If you aren't going to tell Lightning what's going on, then I am."
So. She'd been right. That was what this whole little song and dance had been gearing towards – an ultimatum that could tear the party apart and ruin her chance to save them all. Fang had to stop it, and she didn't care how.
That traitor's voice inside her reminded her – always so sure she and she alone knew what was best, that she would save people from themselves no matter the cost –
She silenced the voice.
"You wouldn't dare." Fang did not drop her hard gaze from Vanille's, and she took a step closer to take advantage of her extra height.
Vanille, however, actually met her gaze levelly and steadily. "Just try me, Fang."
"You could barely tell me what I did, let alone going and blabbing to everyone else!"
"This is different, and you know it!" Vanille hissed back, rounding on Fang.
"And when they realize, they'll shun me. Is that want you want? Do you want to hurt me that way?" Had Vanille even thought this through, aside from catering to this bleeding-heart tendency of hers? Fang doubted it. Fang doubted that Vanille had even considered what kind of impact such a revelation might make on Fang, on the entire group dynamic.
Her head began to ache.
You're meant to be on my side, Vanille…
"You don't know that for sure! They could help you!" Vanille frowned, and she impulsively leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Fang's shoulders.
Fang laughed harshly, prying herself free from Vanille's grasp. Vanille, who was meant to support her, who was meant to help her – had decided to side against her. Whatever, Fang could handle that. She'd handled that before, right? Memories of Taejin's Tower, five hundred years ago, was a vivid suckerpunch that stole her breath.
She shook herself,
"Yeah. Right." Her words were bitter, coming out in a quiet, angry rush. "I don't need to give any of them another reason to loathe me."
"She doesn't hate you!" Vanille said, staring at the ground. "She's just… worried that it's going to distract her and make things worse. Maybe, after the Focus…"
Fang cursed and stalked away from Vanille, back towards where the party waited on them. Yet more of that idiotic, brain-dead 'defeat the Focus' bullshit? That was the last thing that would put Fang's mind at rest, and the absolute last thing she wanted to hear at that moment. Defeat their Focus? If they tried that, then there was nothing that awaited them but eternity as a cie'th.
Sometimes, it seemed like she was the only one who understood the stakes. Out of the corner of her eye, Fang saw a flash of red and white, followed by dirty grey. Her stomach clenched, and her lips formed a hard line.
Well. Look who finally decided to catch up.
Lightning and Snow arrived at the top of Taejin's Tower, to find the rest of the l'Cie awaiting their arrival. Sazh waved, Hope twitched to alertness, but it was Fang who drew Lightning's attention. Oddly enough, the woman wasn't standing anywhere near her clingy sister. Lightning's gaze flickered between the two Pulsians for a moment, considering. Had they fought just now? Vanille looked upset, and Fang simply looked tired. Worried. Withered.
Lightning murmured her next orders to Snow, only half-aware of what she was saying. She didn't wait for his answering grin, as she started to make her purposeful way towards Fang's location.
How could I have missed it, all this time? Why did it take me so damn long? Lightning knew the answer, as much as it rankled. She'd been self-absorbed, inattentive and easily-goaded. In the pressure-cooker situation that they'd been in, she'd lost all control and Fang had been able to play her for a fool. In that, she'd failed Fang.
It ended here, though.
Fang's eyes tracked her progression across the tower top's expanse, before shrugging nonchalantly. Lightning fell into pace beside her, as Fang began to make a beeline for the next half of the broken tower. A quick glance behind her, reassured Lightning that the other l'Cie weren't listening too intently. She closed her eyes for a moment, bracing herself a little. Good. Then there was only one thing left to do, and that was to make the jump.
"You and me," Lightning said against the wind, trying to catch Fang's eye as they walked. "We need to have a serious talk."
Fang ignored her. Lightning's jaw clenched as frustration welled up inside her, nearly choking out the concern. Fang's stubbornness over this issue was going to drive her mad, but Lightning refused to relent as she kept pace with the other woman.
"You can't hide forever," Lightning growled out, louder this time, and she reached out to take hold of Fang's shoulder. The crystallized brand felt cold and rough under her fingertips, but she pushed away her awareness of it, tightening her grip as Fang tried to shove her way out. "Fang."
Lightning hated how her voice betrayed her, the name coming out almost like a plea. But she needed Fang to stop, to talk to her. It was the only way she could understand why Fang would have lied to her like she had.
Still caught in Lightning's bruising grasp, Fang hesitated, her anger seeming to wilt. Her green eyes flickered over to Lightning's, just for an instant, before looking upwards.
"Light, this isn't about you, and you don't get it-"
"So help me get it," Lightning cut in, relaxing her grip, her fingers skimming the braided warrior's band. She closed her eyes, trying to keep her mind from wandering. "Let me in. Fang, I was always your friend."
She made a small, bitter sound in her throat, her hand dropping from Fang's bicep and back to her side.
"Even if I'm nothing else, that's always going to be the same. It always was."
Fang's eyes were narrowed as she sharply pivoted to face Lightning, but the woman still looked torn, lingering somewhere between shoving Lightning away and admitting everything. Lightning's stomach seemed to drop, and she clenched her hand into a useless fist. It wasn't that Fang didn't want to talk to her, Lightning realized, as Fang sighed. For some reason, Fang felt like she couldn't.
The realization made her heart ache. All Lightning had achieved, with this masochistic crusade, was to hurt herself. She'd hurt Fang, too, right when the woman had been desperately needing her support.
Lightning wasn't wrong in her refused to concede that, by being with Fang, she wouldn't become distracted at a crucial moment. Seeing the results, and looking back over the last three days… Lightning could no longer claim that it was right.
Snow shouted from somewhere behind them, and Lightning heard the rush of air and the grind of a thousand metal gears against crystal as the fal'Cie Dahaka finally swept into view. She heard the thud of rapid footsteps as her fellow l'Cie rushed forward. Lightning didn't move her gaze from Fang's, her jaw tightening. She'd been close, she was so certain of it! The fal'Cie couldn't be bigger pains in the asses if they tried.
Fang looked away first, her face closing off again as she drew her bladed lance from the straps on her back.
"Quit your staring, and look at that asshole." Fang shot her a challenging look, one that seemed a little out of place, now that Lightning knew something was different. "You gotta take him down first. Reckon you can?"
Lightning snorted, drawing her blazefire saber and slipping into her defensive stance in a single, smooth movement. She didn't take her eyes from Fang's back, and she took a slow breath.
"I intend to," she told Fang, her voice low, as the others joined them. "After I beat his ass to Cocoon and back, it'll be your turn."
"You are such a sweetheart." Fang laughed at her then, but all of her prior harshness seemed to have been worn away. She looked weary and resigned, as she dropped into her battle stance.
Lightning couldn't bear to hear the resignation in Fang's voice, so unlike the usual smugness she'd come to associate with the other woman. Her eyes tracked Dahaka's erratic flight through the clouds above Taejin's Tower, attempting to focus on the task at hand.
"It's acting strange, though," Lightning noted, slowly edging closer, feeling Hope and Sazh begin to work their buffing magic. The rest of the l'Cie fanned out beside her, with reactions ranging from hope to outright dread. Perhaps this angry Pulsian fal'Cie would be the last barrier to Oerba, but with their luck, Lightning doubted it.
"He must be weak from losing his tail!" Fang remarked, not looking around as she eased herself forwards, all fluid confidence. Whatever her false fronts, Fang's apparent eagerness to court death was something that Lightning would have watch out for.
"Yeah? Looks plenty feisty to me!" From his place at Lightning's side, Snow cracked his knuckles. The feral grin on his face seemed to suggest that a fight with Dahaka would suit his purposes just fine. Ever the hothead, Lightning noted with a small sigh.
"He's bluffing to scare us off," Hope said, sounding exasperated. "Let's go with that! Come on! We can do this!"
Fang was running for Dahaka long before Lightning gave the signal to attack, every fibre of her body seeming to zero in on the Pulsian fal'Cie. Monsters, cie'th, robotic militia – none of them had given her the sense of inner peace she'd desired. Just like so many years before, desperate fighting hadn't worked, and all it left her with was aching muscles and a head still full of burning memories.
A Pulsian fal'Cie, however? That was a challenge. Her lips pulled back harshly as she snarled, launching a few Ruin spells, before she shot forwards again.
She had to feel circuitry and crystal shatter-
-beneath her claws as the opposing Eidolon died before Ragnarok.
The memory was too vivid, all the hated sights and smells and sensations flooding her mind. Fang flinched, just for a moment, and Hope's Blizzard spell whizzed past her to impact on the fal'Cie's side. Dahaka seemed to ignore the spell as if it were naught more than a breath of air, drawing back to attack the l'Cie with its remaining segments.
Why the hell did anyone else care, anyway? Fang was running for Dahaka again, as if she could outrun her thoughts and fears. Vanille had made her intentions clear. She was going to betray Fang's secrets to the others, and Lightning, Lightning had no goddamn clue what she was on about, what the hell gave that woman the right to barge in and-
Make me think you actually care.
Everything became knotted and confused, when Lightning stepped into the picture. Lightning cared for Fang, then she didn't, but then she changed her mind so that she cared again – all this turnabout was going to do Fang's head in.
Just ignore it. It means little, in the end. She cares, she doesn't, she's still going to go cie'th if you don't do something to stop it.
Dahaka swept in, and in her distraction, Fang badly mistimed her dodge. If not for Lightning's hasty thunder spell to knock it off-course, she might have been swept clean off the tower, Fang realized. Fang's breath sounded ragged in her ears, both from her running battle and her relief, as she forced herself forwards. She shoved her way, past where Sazh was setting up protective shields and on onwards, to take advantage of the status spells Vanille was showering over the fal'Cie.
Losing her focus, Fang knew, had been a stupid mistake. Didn't mean a thing, and Lightning had no goddamn right to look so worried, neither did Vanille –
"Change of strategy!" Lightning called, as Dahaka drew back again to make a second sweep of the tower top.
Fang just ignored the order, turning back to the fal'Cie and letting a low growl escape her throat. Even in the best of her moods, she rarely listened to Lightning's battle plans and pain-staking formations. Now, as she was? Fang would just do as she always preferred – to hit things with as much force as she could manage.
She set her stance, throwing off a few stray Ruins, and all but ready to charge Dahaka once more, when that stupid lug Snow managed to stumble into her path. Fang's breath caught, and she hesitated, precious seconds slipping away from her. The moment to strike Dahaka was quickly gone, and Fang's barely-hidden rage began to bubble dangerously. Fang's jaw clenched as Snow stumbled out of the way again, but it was far too late for that-
In the few seconds it took for Snow to move, something seized at the back of her sari and hauled her away from battle. Fang caught a glimpse of white and red out of the corner of her eye, even as she slipped from Lightning's grasp again.
"Didn't you hear me?" Lightning demanded, her voice low but clear over the sound of whirring magic and gunshots. Fang caught the odd scent of roses and gunpowder, both cursing and enjoying Lightning's closeness. "I want you to defend."
Fang, her eyes still on the raging battle with Dahaka, merely scoffed at Lightning's order. She wavered, somewhere between simply ignoring the orders, and outright defying them.
"Fang. I need you to watch my back. Please." Lightning's voice was softer now, almost begging. It wasn't the tone that surprised her – it was the gentleness of the request that made Fang finally meet Lightning's eyes again, made her nod robotically and accept Lightning's order, made the harsh, confrontational words die in her throat.
Fine. She could do this, if it was what Lightning wanted. Fang smiled bitterly, settling back into a defensive stance and drawing Dahaka's wrath with a well-placed taunt.
The fight, after the initial confusion and disorganization, had been surprisingly short and brutal. Dahaka had fallen, and the party was still whole, if exhausted and sore. Victorious, Lightning sheathed her weapon, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and made her way over to where Fang was picking herself up from off the ground. With a dismissive shrug, she ignored the looks she garnered from the others.
Snow and Vanille knew, Sazh suspected and Hope was oblivious. Let them all think as they pleased.
Fang wasn't hurt badly. Regardless, Lightning helped her to her feet quickly, and allowed Fang to continue to lean on her for support. From the frown creasing Fang's eyebrows, she'd caught wind of Lightning's ruse. Fang was no fool, after all.
They began to make their way back towards the party, and in spite of the worry and endless emotional turmoil rushing around in her head, she savoured the warmth and sensation of Fang's body. Lightning closed her eyes, wishing that things had played out differently.
She wished that she'd never listened to herself. All this pretence had done was to hurt them both.
Lightning hesitated, then. She'd asked Fang to defend against Dahaka, to prevent Fang's confrontational manner from getting her killed. As a result, Fang had gotten injured. It was nothing Vanille wouldn't be glad to fix, but there were some things that Lightning needed to do, for herself. Lightning cooling curative magic flow from her fingertips, a silent way of making amends for asking so much of the woman, for nothing in return.
After a moment, Fang's expression softened, and her ability to stand became a little surer. Despite the fact that the pain would be gone, Fang continued to lean up against Lightning, one arm slung across Lightning's shoulders and her lips so close to Lightning's ear that she couldn't help but twitch. The proximity was nothing short of intoxicating, and she had to shake her head slightly to remind herself to focus.
"…Oerba." Fang's voice was so soft against Lightning's ear, that Lightning almost didn't catch it. "We'll talk tonight. At Oerba. I'll tell you everything. Will you wait with the questions 'til then?"
The concession was halting and forced. How hard must it have been for Fang, to allow even that? Lightning thought back, to that night on the Steppe. She had to persevere. Fang needed her to stay strong, just like Fang had been for her, back then. Lightning nodded in agreement, squeezing the hand of the arm Fang had slung around her shoulders, before letting it go and pushing herself free.
"Oerba, then."
It wasn't far to go, now.
A/N: It should be noted that the character's thoughts/stances are not my own – such as Snow's views on relationships, and I find Fang's deception in this chapter to be absolutely disgusting (they're the product of an irrational and desperate mind).
Not sure when the next update will be, as life has been either crazy or draining or both at once.