Hey, everyone.

Sorry for the wait. Thing is, I had a crush on this girl (even though I'm a girl myself and truly love my boyfriend to no end, just guess things happen) and about two weeks ago I told her. Could've gone worse, but could've gone better as well. She reminds me a lot of Light, cold as ice. We're like different skies. So, in the end, I couldn't write her well without losing my grip. All's better now. I hope.

Also, on account of the recent events regarding dildos and Yosh's kingdom of fans, lemme just state right now that I'm neutral in this entire situation. In Bella's words, 'I'm Switzerland'.

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Disclaimer: Don't own anything but my freedom. (Which is poetic for 'don't own Square')

Chapter 8 ~ Nothing Ventured, Nothing Earned

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Ever since Lightning crossed glares with Snow for the first time – where, actually, she was the one doing all the glare; he would only stare back and punch his hands together, grinning stupidly like a well behaved dog waiting for his prize – she knew he was bound to ruin some parts of her life, it was only natural. He would take Serah eventually, after all. It was inevitable that she would hate him, almost like a natural condition for their position. Snow would steal her sister away, and she would hate him for it. Simple as that.

But still, she was glad he was there for Serah; it could have been a lot worse if he wasn't. As hard as it was to admit, Snow had been playing the part she was to play: protect Serah. Not that neither of them made a wonderful job, but at least he tried. And because of that, there were times that Lightning even wondered why she hated her future brother-in-law. Needless to say, those were particularly short times.

Also, from time to time, Snow unconsciously made sure those short times got even shorter. Hating Snow was all just business, but he sure crossed the line far enough times for it to become personal. And when the unmistakable sound of his grave pitched voice was captured by Lightning's ears, she knew it it was one of those times. At times like those, if a sort of anti-soulmate existed, he would suit it perfectly.

At first, Lightning even wondered if it was a trick of her tired mind until she noticed Fang's eyes follow the sound to its source, what was left of piles of rubble from the floor above their heads. The soldier closed her hands into fists and slowly drifted her eyes upward, catching a glimpse of the unmistakable bandanna; all the heart clutching emotions that ran through her veins were now gone. The only things left in her mind were ways of slowly torturing every molecule in her future brother-in-law's body. And still, she only realized the full extent of her irritation when she shouted back at Snow, anger gripping her voice all the way.

"I'm not your sister!"

Fang chuckled lightly at her friend's reaction from her privileged spot on Lightning's lap, earning her a glare from the pink haired girl.

"Looks like duty calls, Sunshine", she mocked her companion. Light sighed audibly before disentangling herself from Fang's body, placing her ruined cape beneath her head for support and grabbing her abandoned coat along the way. She made her way to the middle of the crumbled arena and glanced upwards, now viewing Snow's full body and the characteristic red hair from Vanille.

"Glad to find you guys okay!", the massive man shouted out while scratching the back of his head. "So, guess you figured it out already, but we can't get down…", he continued in an apologizing tone. "We've checked the floors and there's only one lift that goes up from where you are, but it's pretty fa -" he interrupted his speech abruptly and turned around, like if someone was pulling on his coat. There was a sound of voices arguing in the background before an apparent agreement, and then Hope stood out, only the upper half of his body visible to Lightning due to his height.

"We drew a map for you", the silver haired boy shouted on account of the distance, a bit too loudly, making his voice unnaturally younger. "And you may need this as well!", he added hurriedly, and then threw something down at Light's direction without much strength, making it easy for her to catch it in midair.

She recognized Vanille's leather pouch immediately, filled with Hope's share of potions and Phoenix Downs and a loosely drawn map that appeared to have been scratched with dusty rocks. When she looked up again to thank the boy, it was Vanille who was now standing in the only visible part of the upper floor, uncharacteristically patient.

"Is Fang alright?", the red haired girl asked awkwardly calm, and in that moment Lightning knew that if anything ever happened to Fang, Vanille would be as lost as herself. As she opened her mouth to answer, she heard Fang's voice ripping through air with an almost unperceivable effort to make it sound casual.

"I'm fine!", the oerban shouted regardless of the pain that tore her throat. "Just go ahead, we'll catch up in Oerba, alright?"

"What do you mean?", Light watched as the girl got more desperate by the minute. "We'll wait for you guys! Right, Light?"

"Actually, the sooner we all leave, the safer", she tried to explain. "Snow didn't bring the tower crashing down all by himself; some of the structures must have been already damaged when we got here."

"She's right," Sazh intervened, sounding all professional like. "This baby here's as old as time, and thanks to someone, she won't keep up much longer. "

"Hey, I'm sorry, okay!" Snow tried to argue. "It just seemed like a good idea at the time, and-"

"Punching stuff is never a good idea, to begin with. Just what the hell were you thinking?" Hope groaned, frustrated.

"And arguing about it ain't a great idea, either", Lightning cut through. "It's settled, you go on ahead and we'll meet in Oerba."

"You sure, sis?", Snow asked with a bit more serious tone, crossing his arms behind his head. She nodded in response, once and steadily, putting all of her trust in him against her better judgment. He smirked in acknowledgement and punched the air in front of him, keeping his fist high while he spoke. "It's a promise then, alright?"

Standing there miles beneath his feet, Lightning was again tricked by her mind into wondering why she hated her brother-in-law so much on account of his little feat. It was the first time she truly smiled because of him, a number that would remain relatively steady over the years.

"Ok, I promise."

Lightning gathered Vanille's pouch and probably Snow's poorly drawn map and made her way back to Fang's side, the sound of the rest of the party growing fainter with every step. The last thing she heard before total silence was the blond's excuse for a giving order:

"C'mon, guys! Let's hit the road!"

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In the end, Fang ended up needing only one potion from the full bag Hope had thrown at Lightning. The soldier resumed her position next to the fallen woman, trying to decipher the handmade map that was given to her. Fang eyed her curiously when she sighed in frustration and took the piece of paper from Light's hands, turning it upside down in the process.

"Snow's an idiot, I should've never agreed with such a stupid plan", Lightning complained uselessly, running a hand through her pink messy bangles.

"Sure seemed like you trusted him some minutes ago, Sea." Fang said without getting her eyes off the map, not seeing the glare she received from Light because of her nicknaming, and then added. "Besides, nothing ventured, nothing earned."

"You make it sound easy", the soldier replied while the warm feelings of comfort that she felt around Fang started creeping up. The dark haired woman then pushed herself up to occupy a sitting position next to Lightning, with their shoulders practically glued to one another.

"That's only because it is, Sunshine". She pointed out an empty space on the map and traced her finger all the way throughout the paper as she spoke, her eyes focused on the task at hand. "We're here."

"Amazing", Light mocked her as she continued, ignoring the comment. The soldier allowed her head to fall into Fang's shoulder and closed her eyes, making the directions in the map the last thing on her mind. All the guilty, the anxiety, the exhaustion; just by standing close to Fang, it all went away. 'Whatever you want us to be'. Whatever she wanted them to be, right? But what did she want in the first place?

Before Fang even came into the picture, she didn't even know what to fight for, what to believe in. It was Fang who taught her those things, who taught her to keep on going. So she kept going for her sister, but before Fang was by her side it all seemed so surreal. Save Serah. Save Serah. It became her personal mantra, but she repeated it so many times over and over that it completely lost its meaning. Before Fang.

When Fang did come by, Lightning was on the verge of tearing apart. And Fang molded her back together with nothing but words. She saw, she understood. Light didn't have to be brave around her just like she had to do with anyone else; she could be allowed a moment's weakness, and she would take it so gladly.

"Light?" she heard Fang's quiet call in a concerned voice. The soldier opened her eyes slowly and noticed the map was no longer in Fang's hands and had turned her head so that she could see her sideways and still make her comfortable in her shoulder.

"What is it?", Fang asked again, her voice a tad louder this time. Light looked like a complete disaster. She had deep dark circles underneath her eyes, and her once shiny pink hair was now dull from the dust it had collected in the fall, as well as her clothes. Her usual jacket was a wreck, with cuts and scratches all around, and the cape that now lay in the ground next to them along with the broken parts of Fang's lance, ruined and torn apart by her attempted rescue. No matter how many times Fang saw her like that, it never sunk in. It torn her apart every time, to see her become gradually paler and motionless; as if at any moment she could stop moving and simply stand still for all eternity.

"I'm tired, Fang", she admitted the obvious. Her words were low and heavy, like the meaning behind them. Fang rested her head against the wall and closed her eyes, feeling her heart painfully skip a beat. She lifted her left arm and stretched out her legs, quickly pulling Lightning into a back hug and burying her head deep into her soft dusty pink hair.

It was all her fault, Fang reminded herself every time; this was her pain to bear, not Light's. She was the one that was supposed to run around frantically for a focus, not Lightning. Never Lightning, never. She raised her head and rested it against the young woman's shoulder, trying to keep her voice steady when she spoke.

"It'll be ok", she reassured, squeezing Lightning's hand tightly. "If you're tired, I'll just carry you 'til you can go on your own again."

Fang heard the soldier's smile and calm reply. "You always make it sound so easy."

"That's only because it always is, Light."

The pair fell into a brief silence before Fang leaned in and kissed her cheek lengthily, giving her one last passionate hug.

"Gotta go now."

"Yeah. You got a reading on that map yet?", the soldier asked after getting up, stretching her hand down for Fang.

"I've got the starting point; we'll make the rest out on the way", the oerban explained while taking her hand for support. She grabbed the leather pouch and strapped it to her back where her lance had been, and opened the map again, turning it sideways until she figured out Snow's scratches.

"You're joking, right?", Lightning eyed her suspiciously. Fang once again answered her without taking her eyes off the map.

"Nope; thataway." the warrior pointed in the direction of one of the many corridors that surrounded them, already taking point regardless of not having a weapon. Any remaining enemies either fled or were crushed by the tower's collapse, which gave them a smooth trip across. Fang's map abilities didn't fail them, and neither did Snow's elevator platform, that got them up to the uppermost floor. There was an arrow made with stones placed together in the ground marking an activated teleporter, along with one of Vanille's many bracelets.

Lightning watched as Fang bent down, took the bracelet and smiled down at it with pride before stating, "They made it."

Thanks for the reviews and the patience. See you next chapter!