"Good morning, Claire." Colonel Farron greeted, not even bothering to look away from the Sunday newspaper as his eldest daughter silently entered the kitchen.
"Good morning, dad," Lightning replied in a quiet voice. Her father had a creepy way of always knowing which one of his children was entering a room and which wasn't. Maybe it was the military training. Or maybe it was because Serah barreled through the house like a blind man working a bulldozer during the mornings…
"You're up pretty early."
"Yeah." Lightning couldn't really think of a better way to answer. She was up quite early, but mostly because she couldn't force herself to get any sleep. When she wasn't in the bathroom, hanging on to the toilet seat while cursing the gods and the Pulsians for allowing her to eat that hedge frog chili soup, she spent most of the night locked in her room trying to play around with her newfound powers. And when she actually did try to get sleep, her mind immediately became muddled, thinking of the visions that would come about when she dreamed. That definitely stressed her out enough to keep her awake.
Farron lowered the paper to give his daughter a good once over as she walked to the refrigerator. She looked tired. Maybe the events at the Vestige had taken a bigger toll on her than he had thought… "Claire, I might run in to headquarters for a little bit today. Not for anything big, but just to check up on the progress of some things. I know how you love taking visits there. Would you like to join me?"
Lightning froze midway through digging through the fridge as she seemed to think about the offer. "Actually… I have plans. Or I was going to ask you about having plans. I may have found a sparring partner to train with, and we're supposed to begin today." Lightning closed the refrigerator door to look her father in the eye. "I don't know if I'm allowed to leave the house or not, but would I have permission if it was for training?"
Farron was a little moved by the refusal. If there was one thing that he had to give his daughter credit for, it was her self-discipline. He couldn't believe she was making such a sacrifice as a way to continue punishing herself. "Of course. But you can surely reschedule, can't you? I wouldn't mind you putting off training for another day or so to come along."
Lightning stilled again and slightly bowed her head to mull her options over. "No, thank you." Her head lifted again, a bright and resolute look in her eye. "I'd really like to train. Would I be able to visit HQ with you another day?"
Now that threw Farron for a loop. In all the times that he had ever asked if she wanted to visit headquarters, she usually jumped at the opportunity. "Of course… Are you sure?"
"I'm positive. Thanks, dad."
Lightning gave her father a light smile before quietly exiting the kitchen, not really aware of the curious way that he was eyeing her as she left. Her light smile lingered a bit as she hit the stairs and quickly jogged up. She actually was a kind of excited for the training session that her little group had planned for today.
"So this is a little thing that I'd like to call Tag 2.0," Fang announced in a loud voice, strutting in front the rest of her comrades with her hands held behind her back.
The l'Cie had decided, via group texting, that since it was the weekend, they would all meet at the field together for the first official training session. For the rest of the days, they would plan their trainings around the schedules of those who had similar abilities. The training started with Hope, Lightning, and Vanille practicing the elements while Fang and Snow practiced fighting and blocking. After a short break, Fang had called the whole group together to listen to an idea that she and Snow had conjured up.
"In this version of tag, we will be split into two teams. Team Sickness…" Fang paused to stick out her tongue in a punk-rockish sort of way and ruffle Vanille's hair, "and Team Health." She pointed to Lightning, Hope, and Snow. "The goal of the game is to get someone from the opposing team to give up by saying 'godfather'."
"Do you mean 'uncle'?" Hope asked.
"Uncle!" Fang corrected. "While Vanille will be allowed to use elements, Team Health can only lose if they cry uncle when sick. Team Health, y'all can heal each other when someone gets sick and get us to cry out any way ya want... If you have it in ya." Fang grinned deviously at her last comment.
"Even by physical force?" Lightning asked, arching an eyebrow. She was still struggling with controlling most of her powers.
"Especially by physical force," Fang replied with a wink. "So? Everybody down?"
There was a murmur of confirmation amongst the teens before they all took to different sides of the field to discuss their game plans.
"I think that our biggest priority needs to be protecting Snow," Hope said as he, Lightning, and Snow huddled together.
"What? Why me?"
"I dunno. You can't heal, you can't make people sick, and your elemental magic isn't as strong… You just seem to be at a disadvantage," Hope said with an apologetic shrug.
"Well, my vote is that we run in and take them by surprise. Hope's got the most gun power in those hands of his. Me and Lightning can fend off Fang while you go for the jugular on Vanille," Snow proposed.
"Too brash. I've got a different approach, " Lightning countered. "I say we build our game plan around Hope. He's the only one with consistent healing power, so we'll need him if either of us gets tagged. He also has the best long-range attacks. So if we move, he should always be relatively in our center, with one person blocking while another gangs up offensively on Hope's target."
"Uh… cool." Neither boy really had any better suggestions.
"Oi! Princesses!" Team Health looked up from their huddle to the other side of the field where Fang and Vanille stood waiting for them. "Are y'all ready or what?"
"Til death do us part on three?" Snow asked with a grin, turning to reach his hand in the middle of their huddle.
Lightning rolled her eyes and slapped his hand away, leaving the huddle to walk towards the middle of the field. Hope smiled at Snow and shrugged before jogging off behind the older girl.
It was game time.
The game actually became much more intense than any of them could've imagined, Fang especially. After the first couple minutes, it became clear who Team Health's main target was: Vanille. And they kept Hope tucked behind them like a sacred treasure, making it hard for either her or Vanille to tag the twerp.
"Whoa crap!" Fang quickly tensed up, hardening her skin and throwing an arm forward just as a big block of ice flew in her direction and shattered against it. She cast Hope a fierce glare from her spot on the field. Little shit.
She wasn't going to lie, though. She and Vanille had planned on ganging up on Hope as well, him being the smallest and all. Throughout the game, Fang had been able to tag and sicken everyone on Team Health at least twice EXCEPT for Hope. So now, her game plan had changed into something that she personally wanted to call 'Capture the Snow'.
"Vanille! Hot freeze the pinkie!" she yelled, taking off into a full sprint down the field.
"I'll try!" Vanille called back. The redhead was currently running away from a moderately sized dust storm that had almost made her cry uncle the first time she had been caught in it.
Fang's eyes narrowed as she quickly approached Snow, who stood a few feet in front of Hope like a guardian soldier. Hope's eyes widened on seeing the girl coming at them so forcefully and did his part as he was told whenever it looked as if things were getting too hot… He ran.
But this time, it didn't matter. And Fang wasn't even going to bother chasing him. She'd just get swept into another fight with Lightning, who always appeared out of nowhere when she tried to pursue the boy. Her target was now the blonde giant who stood, bracing himself for impact, a few steps ahead. And impact is just what she'd give him… or not.
Fang immediately stilled to a halt in front of Snow before standing straight and smiling, looking off in the direction that Hope had run. Snow was in a tight sentinel position, but he visibly relaxed on seeing Fang's sudden and unexpected stop. He stared at her curiously, wondering whether something was wrong or if he should try clocking her or what.
Fang let out a dramatic sigh, still staring off in Hope's direction. "Dammit, he went away." She then turned to Snow, who was staring at her with ruffled brows. Her smile widened. "Sucks for you."
Snow's eyes grew wide in realization, but it was too late. He had already let his defenses down, and Fang's hand had already landed on his shoulder. Her magic worked immediately, and he could feel himself growing weak. Weak enough to make his legs buckle. This wasn't like the last few times when she had tagged in him passing, trying to get to Hope. This was her going in for the kill.
From her place on the field, Lightning paused for a moment from trying to dodge the different puffs of fire that Vanille had been chasing her with. Hope was running her way. Why was Hope running into a line of obvious, literal fire? Lightning growled to herself. Snow must've gotten tagged again, which meant Fang probably wasn't too far behind chasing after the silver-haired boy.
The only problem was… she wasn't. Lightning looked up, but couldn't see Fang in the close distance at all. Which meant… "Shit." She took off into a run to meet Hope in the middle of the field.
"She's got Snow! She's got Snow!" Hope was calling, semi-out of breath.
"I know," Lightning growled, slowing her pace but never coming to a complete stop. "Stay a small distance behind me. I'll distract her long enough for you to heal him, okay?"
Hope nodded, and Lightning turned her head forward down the field again to continue her rescue mission when—BAM! She ran straight into a wall of ice that had been planted in the middle of the field. She rubbed her head and took a moment to regain her balance. Now that she thought about it, the raining of fire from Vanille had stopped the moment she noticed Hope running her way. This was worse than she had suspected.
Meanwhile, Fang raised a forearm for Vanille to bump as she approached her and a groaning Snow. "Way to put her on ice," Fang joked. "So now, priority numero uno: Don't let 'em get to blondie. He's much more durable than the tyke, so it might take awhile, but he'll give up eventually."
"Gotcha," Vanille said with a determined nod.
Fang smiled and stepped forward so that she was in front of the two. She felt her skin hardening once again as she prepared for whatever onslaught that the other members of Team Health might have in store. She wasn't a minute too soon, because only after a moment of being settled, she felt a harsh wind whip across her face. She grit her teeth and planted her feet further in the ground. Hope had definitely been favoring the 'aeroga' (as they liked to call it) route today.
"Vanille!" Fang shouted as loud as she could over the wind, "If it gets too bad, get out of the way! I can handle this!"
It must've gotten too bad, because Fang could sense that she was the only one left guarding Snow after a minute. To help her older friend out, Vanille stationed herself a decent distance away and started throwing her own spells back at Hope. That only meant one person was left to try and save the blonde now.
Fang relaxed her muscles and turned to meet the icy stare of Team Health's last member head-on. "Ya know," she said, straightening herself into a casual standing position, "if ya get any closer, I could tag you, too."
Lightning raised an amused eyebrow. "You'd have to touch me first."
Fang grinned. "Challenge accepted."
"Can someone just help me?!" Snow moaned from his fetal position on the ground.
He pretty much went ignored as both girls ran towards each other in battle.
"Get her, Light!"
"For the honor and glory of Gran Pulse, Fang!"
"AUGHH!" Fang lifted her arms to block another one of Lightning's incoming kicks and forcefully push the girl back. "The what?!" she gasped heavily at Vanille, taking only half a second to glance at the redhead from over her shoulder before focusing back on Lightning. The game had stopped a long while ago. No one really knew who won, but all the other members immediately became enraptured by the sparring match that had spurred between the two team leaders.
"I thought it'd be encouraging!" Vanille shouted from the sidelines, where she, Hope, and Snow were sitting in the grass. "Like home world pride or something!"
Lightning felt the side of her lip twitch upward into a slight smirk. "You know, you really could use all the encouraging you can get right now," she said between labored breaths.
Her chest heaved and eyes gleamed as Fang tilted her head at Lightning playfully. Why do you figure that?
"If this were a competition, you'd be losing," Lightning replied jokingly. Lightning had been on the offensive for most of their fight, barraging Fang with quick punches, kicks, and jabs, while Fang mostly blocked, reflected, or pulled reversals. Light could feel how strong Fang was, but she definitely held the advantage in speed and fighting technique.
"Slow and steady wins the race, sweetheart," Fang said, bracing herself as Lightning came at her again.
This time, Fang caught the pinkette's wrist and tried to spin her around. Instead, Lightning swiped the other girl's feet from under her, bringing them both to the ground in a wrestling match.
"YESSS!" Snow whooped, pumping a fist into the air from his seat in the grass.
Fang obviously had the upper hand now, but clearly held back as the two rolled and struggled in the grass. They took turns wrapping each other's arms and pinning each other until Lightning maneuvered her way on top of Fang, squeezed her knees around the sides of the taller girl's stomach, and started playfully tap-hitting her face. "Say uncle," she breathed, as she continued to quickly pat at Fang's cheeks and forehead.
Fang twisted and turned her face to try and avoid the taps, but it was to no avail. Pulling her hands forward, the Pulsian reached out to tightly grip Lightning's wrists before bucking her hips and rolling her shoulder.
Lightning's world went topsy-turvy. The sky and grass spun until she felt her back collide with the ground. In that one motion, Fang had found a way to flip their positions. Somewhere in the middle of the flip, Lightning's legs had wrapped themselves securely around Fang's midsection. Fang's stomach pressed against the Cocoonian's as she leaned forward to keep Lightning's wrists tightly pinned to her chest, causing their bodies to gently rock up and down with each heavy breath that she took.
"Say… uncle?" Fang rasped in between gasps of air.
Lightning couldn't say uncle even if she had wanted too. For some reason, her brain just wasn't working. Her motor skills weren't responding and she couldn't find her voice to make words. The only things that seemed to be working right were her eyes, which slowly traveled from Fang's heaving chest, up her slender neck where some of her hair had curled and matted with sweat, to those mesmerizing green eyes that were staring down at her.
Her stomach lightly fluttered and she could feel her skin heating, an unfamiliar warmth working its way from her stomach and moving downward. The last time she felt like this was… oh no. Lightning stiffened and her eyes widened in realization, remembering that these were the same symptoms that had led to her accidentally burning Fang yesterday. She wanted to push Fang off before she accidentally lost control again, but at the same time she couldn't find the will to.
As if the gods had been listening to her prayers, Fang was immediately yanked from on top of her. "Easy does it!" Snow sang, hoisting the girl over his shoulder.
"Aye, what'd ya do that for? I was just about to win." Fang wriggled in Snow's grasp but he kept a tight hold around her. Meanwhile Lightning stared at the sky from her place in the grass and took in a few quick, relieved breaths.
She ran a hand over her face before sitting up and turning to look in Fang and Snow's direction. "No… you weren't. I wasn't… done yet," she pushed out between wheezes.
"Another challenge?" Fang asked brightly, lifting her head up to meet Lightning's gaze.
"No!" Vanille stomped into the space between them, taking turns to give both of them reprimanding glares. "We need to get back to practicing with our powers! And we can't do that with you two taking up the whole field with your roughhousing!"
Fang rolled her eyes and stopped fighting against Snow's grip. "Let's consider it 'to be continued' for later then."
Lightning just nodded. "You're on."
"…and if I had a weapon, your ass would've been toast," Lightning continued the competitive banter that she and Fang were engaged in as they walked side by side in the direction of Fang's car.
"Weapon? Pink little thing like you fights with weapons?" Fang teased, knowing goddamn well how fierce of a fighter Lightning was. "What kind? Glittery batons?"
Lightning scoffed, giving Fang a sideways glance. "Heh. Funny thing is, my sister actually uses one of those as her go-to weapon in the house. Trained for years in archery, but trusts the glitter…" Lightning shook her head, lightly smirking as she thought about her younger sibling's lack of survival skills. That was something they'd need to work on. "I suppose you've handled a weapon before?"
"Pshhh, handled? More like MASTERED." Fang's chest couldn't have stuck out any further as she spoke. "The Yun clan was known throughout all Gran Pulse as the best hunters around, so knowing the right tools to take a sum'bitch down is our duty."
Lightning made a disbelieving chortling sound and turned her head to give Fang an even more disbelieving look. "You don't believe me?" Fang asked in slight incredulity. "Then how bout this? You bring your weapon of choice to our next sparring session, and I'll bring mine."
"I'm game."
"And I guess you can call Vanille again to schedule it, or do ya just wanna talk it over at school tomorrow?" Fang asked, running a hand through her messy hair.
Lightning thought for a moment before reaching out her hand. "Give me your phone."
Fang's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but she obeyed without question. A small smile crept to her face as she watched Lightning punch her number into her cell. "For scheduling and training purposes only," Lightning said, giving Fang a stern look as she returned the phone to her.
"Yes, ma'am," Fang replied.
Lightning's phone immediately vibrated in her gym bag. Without breaking her stride, she unzipped the bag and pulled it out to reveal that she had a new text message from an unsaved number.
" ;) "
She honestly didn't know what else she had been expecting. Nevertheless, she felt obligated to turn and give the smiling Fang an unimpressed look.
"Fang! Wait up!" Snow jogged up from behind the two girls and slowed to walk in step with them when he was only a pace or two behind. "Uh… Lightning, do you mind if I have a moment with Fang?"
"Whoa, something important. You're not asking me to prom are ya?"
"What? No, I was just thinking and I have a bit of a proposition for you."
"You were thinking?" Lightning asked, feigning shock in her voice. "Now this, I've got to hear."
Snow sighed and shook his head. "Alright, alright. So I was reading—"
"And thinking? Big day, huh?"
"Ha, ha, ha, Lightning. Can you at least let me finish? So I was reading some old comics last night after we left Lightning's house when the idea came to me… Why don't we become super heroes?! Think about it. We could use our powers to help the greater good! And stuff."
Lightning's face twisted into an expression of obvious doubt while Fang seemed to be considering the idea. "Sounds like you've been thinking on this for a bit… What type of hero-ish things are ya planning on doing?"
"Well, I was thinking that tonight we could find a post somewhere in the busy part of downtown where we could keep an eye peeled for nefarious deeds."
Fang's eyebrow lifted at Snow's choice of vocabulary but then she shrugged it off. "I'll go…" She turned her head and her eyes quickly roved over Lightning as a shoddy idea formed in her mind, "if Lighterfluid goes."
"Not happening," Lightning quickly responded.
"C'mon," Fang encouraged, lightly nudging Lightning in the side. "He's gonna do it whether we go or not, so we might as well be there to make sure he doesn't get us caught or nothing. That, and think of how much fun it'll be to watch him if he screws something up."
"Not diggin' the lack of faith, but tis a good point," Snow chimed in from behind them.
Lightning sighed and rubbed her head, turning to look over both Snow and Fang's pleading faces. She was probably going to end up regretting this… "I'll see if I can get away."
"YES!" Snow whooped, throwing a congratulatory punch in the air.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Fang smiled, watching the big boy's celebration. "Keep yer pants on. And I mean it. No tights. Call me when you're ready to roll, and I'll call Lightning to pass on the details." Fang smiled devilishly at Lightning and wiggled her cell phone in the air after finishing her sentence.
Lightning lightheartedly rolled her eyes before continuing forwards with Snow to his car.
"Rosch?" Colonel Farron slowed to a stop as he walked through HQ's halls to give his old mentee a handshake. "I can honestly say that I didn't expect to see you here. I thought you would be back in Eden with the Primarch by now."
"Same here," Yaag Rosch replied, nodding his head forward as a way to tell the old Colonel to walk with him. "But it seems as if that glitch in machinery that I was telling you about might not be a glitch after all."
Farron raised an eyebrow. "So then someone on Cocoon has reverted back to using some old form of power?"
"You can say that," Rosch agreed, making a turn down the hall. "In any case, I might need some soldiers from your unit. If this turns out to be as serious as it seems, a manhunt may be in order."
Rosch stopped at the door of a particular office and turned to face Farron, his expression grave. Farron nodded in reply and once again stuck his hand out to bid farewell. "I'll help in any way that I can to get the job done."