Chapter 7: New Beginnings

xxx

Fang and Lightning walked up to the entrance of the soldier's New Bodhum estate and Lightning tucked a hand down her right pocket to find the keys as Fang simply watched, tapping her foot teasingly, loud enough for Lightning to hear the growing impatience of her lover. Lightning tugged out the keys and threw the huntress a glare before tucking the key inside the lock and turned. "What are you in such a hurry for?" Lightning asked with a huff. Fang followed the soldier into the home, kicking the door closed nonchalantly as she made her way into the home. "Well are we going to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Lightning returned. Fang sighed and grabbed the soldier by her wrist, leading her to the couch and seated the two beside one another as Fang never lost eye contact. "With what I'm going to do with my life now. I've never lived a life free of a focus ever since I was a child back in Oerba and it's not like I can exactly go back there now can I?" Lightning sighed before breaking away from Fang's gaze as she stared down at her lap. The soldier's hand sneaked over to find her counter parts, intertwining their fingers together as she started to speak.

"I wanted to wait a while longer before everyone started to find out you came back but I know you don't like to just sit around." Lightning glanced up from her lap to Fang. "If you want I can speak to Amodar about getting you placed in our guard duty patrol, there was three of us but one of our guys got injured pretty bad by a gorgonoscopid pack and he's going to be out for a few months. It's not much but it would give you something to do for a few months, maybe Amodar will even make you a permanent member once he sees how amazing you are."

Fang threw Lightning a smile as her hold on the pinkette's hand tightened. "That sounds great love. I'm sure the old bones are a bit rusty so maybe this job will get them tuned back in where they need to be yeah?" Lightning returned the smile and nodded. Fang followed Lightning's eyes for a moment before something clicked in the back of her mind, remembering the last few parts of Lightning's sentence. "So you said there was three of you right? Who was the third?"

Lightning looked up to Fang this time with a questioning look as to why it mattered. "Eliza Fellwood, she joined the Corps about the same time I returned, she's not like the rest of the amateur idiots I normally get paired up with. She won't be slowing us down." Fang was utterly amazed at the words coming out of her lovers mouth, Lightning actually -praising- another beside herself and Serah? This girl must be pretty good to have the great Lightning Farron put a good word in for her. Fang chuckled and continued to eye the woman.

"My my, should I feel threatened? You speak pretty highly about this girl and that's not like you. I sure hope my Farron wasn't smitten around while I was gone hmm?" Fang teased. Lightning glared back at Fang, tugging her hand away from under Fang's before she turned her head to look away. "S-Shut up Fang It wasn't like that! You know how I felt when you were gone, I just needed a friend at the time and she wasn't completely useless like the rest and we just seemed to get along easily."

Fang let a faint smile cross her lips as she gently placed a hand on the soldiers shoulder. "I'm happy that you were able to find someone that you could relate to and actually become good friends with. I guess I should be grateful that it happened, if I never returned then maybe you two could have.." Fang was cut off as Lightning tugged her shoulder away from Fang's grasp as the soldier got up from couch rapidly before turning to glare back at the pulsian.

"If you never returned then maybe we could what?! Fall in love? Did nothing I said to you the morning you came back mean anything? Fang there was never going to be anyone to replace you because there is nobody like you, I only loved you and you alone! Apparently you are either too stupid or blind to see that or you just never trusted me to begin with." Fang opened her mouth to speak but before she could even get a word out the soldier already stormed out of the living room and started headed towards her room.

Fang let out a sigh, realizing how stupid she had to be to actually say that. The huntress was about to get up from the couch and go after the pinkette until Lightning returned back from the living room with her gunblade holstered around her hip and made a steady pace to the door. Fang pulled herself up from the couch and started to follow the woman before she went off and do something assumingly stupid. The huntress extended her hand out to grip the soldier at her wrist and Lightning twisted back from the door and Fang cringed, preparing herself for some sort of retaliation.

Fang slowly started to ease down as no blow came, instead Lightning balled her hands into fists and proceeded to stare down at the floor. "Light.." Was all Fang could muster up as Lightning slowly tilted her head up, meeting Fang's gaze for just a moment before turning back towards the door. "Save it. I don't want to hear anything you have to say right now..Just leave me alone." The soldier then gripped at the door knob, twisted the handle and tugged the door open as she exited, slamming the door behind her.

xxx

Vanille sat closely beside Hope on Serah and Snow's couch as the whole group decided to watch a movie after Hope was finally able to welcome Vanille back. Serah instantly found some romantic drama move while flickering through the channels and Hope and Snow was dreading every second of it, while Vanille was a little more into the film than Serah as the smaller pulsian had Hope's arm captive while cuddling next to the silver haired man. Hope looked beside him to Vanille as his face was starting to break out in a deep crimson blush, thankfully Vanille was so into the movie she didn't even notice Hope was staring at her.

After three years, Vanille still looked exactly the same he thought. Hope started to wonder if she always looked this way, even before when she completed her first focus 500 years ago. Hope couldn't help but think what it would have been like for him if he never aged, stayed the same for hundreds of years, for some reason the idea didn't really appeal that much to him. Vanille at some point turned her attention away from the television and caught Hope in the act, causing the young red-head to snicker in response. "Are you wanting to watch the movie or me?" She teased.

Hope instantly turned away as the blush forming around his cheeks started to shade a darker color. "N-No I'm sorry. It's just when I look at you it feels like the past three years never happened, like our whole journey ended just the other day." Vanille smiled as she slowly reached her hand over and on top of Hope's, slicking her fingers between his. "Does it? I wish I could have been there the past few years, watching you grow up to be the very attractive young man I always imagined you to be."

Hope chuckled nervously as his attention went back to the movie, not exactly for sure how to handle the pulsian's advances. If Hope even dared to kiss Vanille on the forehead Fang would have his head on a pike no doubt, yet it was starting to become much more difficult to contain himself as Vanille continued to press her chest against his arm. Making matters worse, Vanille rested her head on the tip of the silver-haired man's shoulder as she continued to watch the movie before slightly whispering .

"So what do you think about the movie so far?" Hope jumped slightly at the darker tone of the red-head's voice before taking his time to carefully think of a response. "O-Oh it's umm..alright so far." Hope mentally face-palmed at how lame that reply was but it was the best he could come up with at the moment. Vanille cuddled closer to the man's side, humming softly as if she was slowly drifting asleep. "We should go on a date like that sometime, I've never been to a restaurant like that one before."

The restaurant the young pulsian was referring to was a fancy out-doors restaurant that held a band, a chandelier hanging from the indoor bar, and everybody all seemed to be wearing very expensive suits. Hope was lucky he landed a job at the Guardian Corps to become a field medic and was making more than plenty to sustain himself, so maybe it wouldn't be too bad after all to bring Vanille out to a place like that, assuming he had Fang's consent that is.

"Yeah sure..Sounds good." With that, Vanille hummed quietly and snoozed off while leaning further into Hope's side. The young silver-haired man looked over across the living room to the couple, making a silent plea for help as the two just stared at him with a faint smile, Serah giggled uncontrollably as she got a closer look at Hope's fully crimsoned-colored cheeks as the young man turned to face them. Hope let out a sigh before whispering. "Guys this isn't funny, if Fang were to see Vanille this close to me she would have killed me by now. I don't know what to do."

Serah finally halted with her giggling, settling it down to a small hum before speaking. "There's nothing you can do, it looks like she's made up her mind. We have faith in you though, Fang will surely be okay with it, right Snow?" Snow chuckled slightly before giving a apologetic look to the young man. "Let's sure hope so. I've fought alongside Fang and she's definitely not someone you would want to be on the opposing end of. So good luck champ, you'll need it." Snow spoke with a cocky smile, giving the young man a thumbs-up as if it was supposed to motivate him in some way. Hope sighed once more and brought his face into his palms, his life was about to be over.

xxx

Lightning marched through the entrance of the bar, instantly searching for a empty bar stool seat as she forcefully made her way through the crowd. The soldier shoved her way through the crowd and went to take a seat, signaling the bartender over. The older-looking bartender looked to be about six feet and five inches high with a orange beard that completely covered the majority of his face with some pretty impressive bushy side burns connecting to the edges of his mustache. The bearded man approached the soldier from across the counter, wiping the edges of a clean cup with a cloth as he spoke with a faint wheeze in his voice. "Ah miss Farron it's been a while since you've been down here at my bar, something unpleasant happen recently?" Lightning propped her elbows on top of the table and sighed. "I don't really want to talk about it right now Bartrand."

Bartrand looked down at the woman with a fatherly concern, eagerly wanting to prod further to help ease the soldier but decided to let it go for the time being. "Fair enough. What'll it be then lass? The usual?" Lightning only looked down at her hands and nodded as Bartrand bent down below the counter, tugging out a fresh shot glass, and set the glass on top of the counter. The older man proceeded to pop open a bottle of whiskey and rested the cylinder right across from the glass. "This one will be on the house, if you need anything else just give me a holler." Lightning nodded gratefully. "Thanks Bartrand."

With that, the bartender went about to tend the other customers and before Lightning could even get her hands on the bottle, it was snatched away from her by a woman sitting beside her. The pinkette was in no mood to deal with teasing and turned around on her stool, ready to unleash a severe tongue lashing but stopped herself as she realized it was Eliza sitting across from her this whole time. Eliza waved the bottle teasingly in front of Lightning before setting the cylinder back down on the counter, just enough distance that it was out of the soldiers reach.

"Light how many times do I have to tell you, alcohol never solves anything it just makes matters worse. You know if something was bothering you this much you could have at least called me and told me what was going on. After working together for so long I was hoping you considered me to be a friend at least by now. I'm pretty heartbroken honestly." Eliza proceeded to put on a puppy face and Lightning only scoffed and looked away. "Shut up. I don't like to bother people with my own problems and that includes you, now can you give me my drink back now?"

Eliza propped a hand up on the table and rested her chin on the center of the woman's palm and imitated being in deep thought. "Hmmm..I don't think so. How about instead of trying to drink away all your problems like you normally do, or maybe try being like a normal human being and talk about them?" Lightning gave the woman a glare, she only acknowledged her presence a few minutes ago and was already getting sick of her, she was worse than Fang at times. Speaking of Fang, why would she even assume Lightning was anywhere near attracted to her squad member?

Lightning gave the woman a quick look over and reminded herself of what she actually looked like. The girl was about five feet and six inches tall, ocean blue eyes, straight brown hair that fell to shoulder-length, a medium sized C-cup bust size, very thin and slightly more muscular than Lightning as well as a darker skin tone complexion, though still rather pale. Eliza seemed to be pretty plain and ordinary, someone the soldier could never find herself to be in a relationship with.

Lightning quickly darted her eyes from Eliza, hoping the woman didn't notice and shot a glance towards the women's own beverage. "Water? Why would you come all the way to a bar just to drink water? Can't you just do that at your house?" The brunette chuckled before responding. "Of course but what would I do without this fascinating crowd that's always around to keep me amused? It's better than staying at home all day watching television or whatever people do anymore. I guess I'm one of the few people that actually look forward to coming into work every day, feels like I'm actually a part of something rather than being a drone sitting in front of a screen all day."

Lightning sighed and rolled her eyes. She did have a point. However Lightning came to the bar to escape her feelings, not talk with the one person that Fang thought she would end up with if the pulsian had never returned. The reminder of the thought brought a bitter taste to the soldiers lips, reaching instinctively toward her bottle to wash away the taste but only to be reminded the bottle was stolen away and was currently gripping at the air before she turned her head to give Eliza another glare before speaking.

"Look I didn't come here to talk Eliza, I just want some time to myself and think about things is all. Now just give me my damn drink back already!" The squad member eyed the soldier with a worried expression before giving a aggravated huff. "No. As I said alcohol won't do anything to help you Light. Can you please just talk to me?" Eliza spoke as she reached a hand towards the soldiers, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Lightning had enough at this point, she didn't want to talk about her problems with anyone, especially the woman who she thought responsible for this whole mess and just wanted to get out. The soldier flung her hand away from the brunettes and was quick to retrieve her bottle from the woman's side before getting up from the stool. "Don't touch me! I'm not in the mood to talk about anything with you right now."

With that, Lightning took a deep breath and tried to calm down for a moment as she realized how harsh she was being on the girl. "I'm just a little stressed out is all okay? Nothing you need to be concerned about. Anyway I'm leaving, it's starting to get late so I'll see you at work next week." Lightning then turned around and disappeared through the crowd, heading towards the exit as Eliza watched on and let out a defeated sigh. The squad member then turned around in her seat to face the counter and picked a toothpick from a nearby basket, using the small object to swirl her water as she gazed into the liquid with her head propped up by the women's right hand. "I wish she could just see it already..Please just talk to me Light.."

xxx

Fang stared up at the ceiling as she lay sprawled out on the couch and was currently lost in her thoughts. The huntress knew she slipped up with her wording but she was still confused as to why Lightning was still so upset with her over something so little. All she meant by it was she just wanted Lightning to be happy no matter what happened, even if it meant letting go on the smallest chance that she and Vanille would wake up again in their lifetime. Even if it was only three years, Lightning never once gave up on the thought of the two returning and just the thought brought a smile to the pulsians lips. She was lucky to be the one Lightning Farron had chosen to be her lover.

Though this also raises another question, how is this going to affect their jobs? Lightning never was the type to let her personal feelings take priority over her tasks, so maybe she had nothing to worry about after all. However the image of Lightning being with this mysterious woman started to make Fang a little uneasy and she couldn't quiet put a finger on what it was. She herself had been in many relationships back when she was growing up in Oerba and all the women she was with never seemed to care about openly sharing so the term jealousy was pretty foreign to her.

Lightning was different though, unlike anyone she ever met, someone that was her exact equal. The huntress started to feel everyone else in all of Gran Pulse was not worthy of being called her lover and Fang was determined to keep her promise. The huntress was pulled out of her thoughts as she heard some disgusting sounds coming from outside the door, it sounded as if someone was puking. Fang quickly hopped off from the couch and rushed towards the door, swinging it open to reveal the pinkette hunched over, hurling over the grass patch right next to the steps. "Lightning?!"

xxx

Authors Notes: Here is another update for you guys! Again I apologize for the wait, finding jobs sure can take up a lot of time, as did FFXIV xD. Also yes I did decide to bring in a OC into this story, it was highly debated at first but I've had a great idea for this character for a while and I have high hopes she'll be making quiet the impact soon.

Also I would like to make a spot here for Roxyroxas1313 for the continued support and she's really a awesome person, you guys should totally check out her FLight fic. As always guys I do appreciate all your kind reviews and your support, it means the world to me and you guys make me strive to become a better writer each and every chapter. Please keep the reviews coming and tell me what you guys think, this story is for you all! Love you guys.