A/N: Yes! I did it! Who thought that one day of writing could bring out a chapter that long? I take forever, usually, but I wrote this in one day! (With breaks, of course ^^)

This won't be my longest story, I'm thinking about 10 chapters, so I hope nobody thinks it's rushed. BUT I already have another Light/Vanille project going on, which will definitely be a lot longer. I still hope you will like this story, just enjoy reading =)

Disclaimer: I do not own the game, Final Fantasy XIII, or the characters used in this story! They all belong to Square Enix.

Storm Driven

a Final Fantasy XIII Fanfiction. (slightly) OOC, (slightly) AU, Lanille

Rest

I thought that if we get after the midday heat moving on will be a little easier, because the temperature will fall again. Unfortunately I was wrong. It stayed very hot for a very long time, and we were walking without any shade.

Vanille doesn't seem too affected by this extreme climate, she's obviously used to it, but I'm starting to feel a little tired by it. To my luck the sun is starting to set now and finally the temperature is starting to get normal again. I sure hope tomorrow will be a rainy day or whatever. Does it rain on Pulse? I haven't been down here long enough to see myself. So far it was always sunny and hot.

"Hey, Lightning?" she asks for my attention, which I give her by looking at her. I must admit, I'm always a little amazed by the rich green in her eyes. I don't know why, but I kind of like it. Ugh, what am I thinking? Must be the heat getting to me … "You look a little tired, do you want to rest?" she asks, concern evident in her voice.

Am I that easy to read? I'm a soldier, I know how to ignore feelings of being tired, she can't possibly know? "I'm okay. We have no time to lose. We rest when we must." I tell her, looking towards the front again. This is not a pleasurable journey, or a holiday, this is a mission. And where does she have all the energy from, anyways?

"You don't have to push yourself, you know? It's okay if we rest up. You haven't really slept in two days, right?" she sounds concerned. I don't know if I necessarily like that. It's like she's pitying me, and that makes me feel weak. I'm not weak! "We'll press on."

A frown forms on her face and she stands in front of me. "No! I don't want you to overdo it!" she says in a firm tone and then points towards her right side, which makes me look over. "There's a waterhole and this rock-formation. We can stay here for the night. No, we will stay here for the night!"

I look at the place she just showed me with a longing look. Water, shelter … it does sound nice. But I can't show weakness, I simply can't! I suddenly feel two hands grabbing my right one and I look at her. She has a pleading look on her face and says: "Come on, Lightning. I'm tired as well and my feet hurt. At least go there for my sake?"

I look back and forth between her and the waterhole. Well if she's tired, I guess we can stay there, right? "Okay." is my only reply, which makes her smile in relief. Vanille then starts rushing over to the place, not letting go of my hand and simply pulling me with her. I don't know why I'm letting her drag me around like this … I just, kinda, like the contact. It's the heat talking again, I'm sure. It's making me weak and soft.

We stop in front of the waterhole. It is larger than it looked from further away, more like a little lake. We only saw a small bit of it before. The rock formations right beside it provide a little bit of shelter from the open. They stretch out in sort of an arc, so they can even protect us in case it will start raining, and throw a shadow when the sun is too bright. That's not the case right now, though, the sun is quite low, giving the whole place an orange glow, and everything has very long shadows, including us. You could almost describe it as romantic. Almost …

"This place is beautiful!" the redhead exclaims, the previous smile still present on her face, if not even wider. I scan the area carefully. Though it actually might seem beautiful, there could still be monsters lurking around. Nevertheless, this place has some kind of magic to it, and I agree: "It is."

Vanille then stretches and turns to face me again, saying: "Are you up for fish tonight?" I cross my arms. At the mention of food my stomach begins to growl again. "I'm up for anything edible." I reply. Great, now we really have to hunt our own food. I should've brought some supplies.

"Great! Me too!" she exclaims and then skips towards the water. Is she going to catch a fish now? But how? I watch her as she takes off her shoes and puts off the pelt which she always has tied around her waist. I wonder why she has it in first place, it must be really hot underneath, especially at these temperatures.

She then takes what appears to be a weapon. Looks like a weird kind of staff or rod. I tilt my head. I wonder what she is going to do with it. She's standing knee-high in the lake, scanning the water for probably a fish or something. Then suddenly she seems to spot something and she whirls her rod, wires shooting out at the end, with hooks, and they slash into the water quite forcefully. Who would've thought? As she pulls the wires back it doesn't seem like she caught anything. "Close one!" she calls out. I snort. A kid after all.

She lets the wires lash into the water a few more times, but then she freezes. "Uh oh!" she exclaims and starts walking backwards. I look more closely. "What's wrong?" I ask, but I can't find anything. Continuing her slow walk backwards she tells me: "There might have been a Ceratosaur … and I might have made it angry … "

I frown. "A what?" I ask. She opens her mouth to say something again, but suddenly a quite large water pillar shoots in the air from the lake. I immediately pull out my gunblade, flicking it into the sword form and I run toward the younger girl, who is running towards me in return, screaming. What the heck did she do?

A creature then jumps onto the shore. It looks like a … frog and a fish. It has legs, quite strong ones for jumping, and fins. Its eyes display annoyance and its fangs are sharp. it lets out a weird screech and then jumps up high, aiming for Vanille. I dart towards her and block its attack with my sword. It tries to bite the blade but hurts itself in the process, since the edges are very sharp, and it lets out another screech, this time in pain.

I push it back forcefully and slash at it once, twice, then it jumps back, focusing me and throwing me a glare. It wants to fight. Despite being tired and weakened from the heat, I feel the adrenaline rushing through my body and I just smirk at it. Bring it on!

I run towards it again and try hitting it with my sword, but the thing is quite swift and it jumps around with ease, then it suddenly starts a jump attack which I can barely block. Damn creature! I try slashing it again and manage to hit it, but it's only bleeding a little, jumping back again, before lunging back at me again. I jump to the side, making it almost smash into the ground beside me. It has quite the force, I must be careful.

"I can help!" Vanille then shouts over to me, when the beast is jumping back again. I look over to her and nod. She knows what the beast is called so maybe she knows its weaknesses as well. As the creature starts its next attack Vanille flings her rod again, shooting out the wires very accurately, and the fish-like monster is caught in the hooks. Vanille pulls her rod towards her, changing its original flight- or rather jump path, and it falls to the ground. I immediately react and while it is busy trying to free itself from the hooks and wires, I stab it.

"Whew! Those things are annoying!" she exclaims as it finally lies limply on the ground. I pull my sword out of it again, the crimson red blood from the creature smeared all over it. I frown. "Pretty swift fellow." I say and then walk towards the water to wash my blade clean again. When it's finally done I sheathe it again and turn to Vanille. "Thank you … for the help." I say. I must admit, it would've been harder without her help.

"No problem! I'm used to hunting those things with Fang, so it was an easy one. At least we have something for dinner now!" she tells me with her cheerful smile on her face. I look at the purple-colored fish-like creature. I hope she knows how to prepare this thing. She walks over to the thing and starts pulling it towards the stone arc, but she really seems to be struggling with its weight. I then walk over to her and help her, not wanting the girl to struggle with it. When she smiles gratefully at me I can't help to smile back. It's kind of contagious.

We drag it right under the arc, sitting down for a moment to regain a little of our strength. She looks at me and asks: "Can I ask you to gather some wood for a fire? It's not really good uncooked."

I saw a few trees close by and I nod as a reply. "Sure." I add and then get up, walking away and I look for something flammable. I find a whole lot of branches, even some grass which isn't too wet from the climate and I start collecting it and taking it back to our camp for the night.

Vanille isn't there, but I see her close by, kneeling on the floor, looking for … flowers? No, why would she be picking flowers? She has a whole bunch of green stuff in her hands, but it's not grass either … it can only be herbs, right? I just hope she knows what she's doing and doesn't pick something poisonous.

She returns with a satisfied look on her face and a whole bunch of green in her hands. "Don't want the Ceratosaur to taste boring!" she remarks. I must admit, her bubbly attitude is kind of cute … wait, cute? Oh boy, the heat again … and the lack of sleep. I better get something to eat and then rest.

She puts down the herbs and then stands in front of the dead creature. She's tapping her chin again. I figure it's something she does when she's thinking. She then turns to me and asks: "Do you have a knife of some sort?"

I reach under my uniform with my left hand, pulling out the folding survival knife which is secured on my belt. It was a present from Serah for this mission. I look at it shortly then hand it to Vanille. The redhead takes it and then flips it open, revealing a very sharp but short blade. I haven't really used it much, so far my gunblade did the job.

"That's really pretty." she comments, then turns back to the creature and starts cutting out obviously edible pieces. I watch her as she dives the knife into the fish-monster's flesh with great care, in order to get most of the best pieces and also not to damage the small blade in her hands. She knows exactly what she's doing, and frankly, it's quite cool.

After she piled up a few pieces of meat, which look like fish meat, she says: "You'd think you get a lot of goodies out of a monster this big, but unfortunately the rest is inedible or even poisonous."

I nod and then together we start pulling the creature to the side. Vanille takes the pieces of meat and washes them in the water, asking me: "Can you set up a fire?" Again I just nod and do just that, and to my luck it doesn't even take long. Since it's growing darker and darker I'm a little glad for the light the fire is providing.

The younger girl is preparing the fish – yeah, I think I'll call it fish – and stabs them with sticks so we can grill and eat them a little easier. She sticks them into the earth beside the fire, so that the meat doesn't touch the flames, and now we have to wait. "I hope you like its taste." she says as she leans back, supporting herself on her outstretched arms.

Well, it seriously just looks like regular fish, it can't be that bad, right? But I'm curious about something else. "What did you use to flavor it?" I ask.

"Oh, well, do you know herbs from Gran Pulse?" she asks in return, but I shake my head. She then takes a few of the herbs that are left over, rubs them a little between her fingers and holds it out to me: "It tastes similar to its smell." I lean closer and sniff at it. Hmm … has something refreshing, a little like a pine forest, but not as intense. "Smells nice."

She looks at me with her fantastic green orbs, that are sparkling with the dancing flames. And then it happens. My heart skips a beat. What was that? A weird and warm feeling spreads through my stomach. What is happening to me? She flashes me another smile and I suddenly feel my cheeks growing warm. Why do I … find her so pretty all of a sudden?

I avert my gaze from hers and look into the fire. It's the hunger, the lack of sleep and the heat. Tomorrow everything will be back to normal, then I can focus on my goal again. Find her village and convince my people. I hope it will work.

After a while of silence, in which we were both staring into the fire that is flickering in front of us, Vanille takes a stick and tests the meat. She pokes at it and takes a small bite. Her features lighten up: "It's perfect!" She then takes another one and hands it to me. I examine the fishy piece shortly and then also finally take a bite, my growling stomach guiding my actions.

At first it only tastes warm, but then suddenly I can taste a unique taste, obviously coming from the fish, with the refreshing herbs that Vanille picked and seasoned it in. "This is … " I start, not finding the right words. I have never eaten anything like this on Cocoon before. Back on my home planet everything seems a little dull compared to this. "This is absolutely delicious."

Vanille giggles. "I'm glad you like it!" she states. Another silence then hangs in the air as we eat up pretty much everything. I didn't even realize I was that hungry until now. On the other hand, this food is so delicious, I wouldn't even stop eating if I were full.

After our lunch we prepare some sort of beds. Well, for me it'll be the ground. The younger girl seems to have at least some kind of blanket to sleep on. I guess I can handle a few nights like this, as long as it stays warm at night. We lay down and say our goodnights. Vanille rolls over and seems to be falling asleep quite quickly.

Me, on the other hand, despite being tired as hell, I can't sleep. A lot is running through my head. Am I doing the right thing? I always thought I'd be the good and brave soldier who will serve the Guardian Corps as long as possible. And now look at me, I'm running off with a stranger. A strange, young girl named Vanille. I shake my head. I better get some sleep …

ooo

I can feel the warmth of the sunlight, and it is definitely bright. It must be daytime again. Or maybe I'm just dreaming or some wild beast ate me up last night. I breathe in and out deeply. Even though I slept on the floor I slept pretty well. Tch … looks like I'm toughening up.

Just what's that smell? It smells good, sweet … like vanilla. I stir a little and realize that something is laying on my shoulder and arm. What the … ? I open my eyes only to be greeted by white. Okay, it's definitely daytime. I rub my eyes with my free hand and then look down and I tense. Vanille is cuddled up against my arm.

I feel like waking her up and asking what she's doing, but I stop myself. She looks so peaceful, and she's even smiling a little. She looks innocent. I can't wake her up like that, right? I mean … she lost her home not even two days ago … she deserves some peace and quiet. And she looks cute like that. Oh no, not these thoughts again.

I sigh quietly and then try to break free from her grasp without waking her, successfully. I walk over to the lake and wash my face. What is happening to me? First I don't listen to my superior and then I'm starting to … have those weird feelings when I'm around her. Why was she at my side right now, anyways? We slept at quite some distance apart. Did she come over at night?

Never mind. I sigh again and continue washing my face. The sun is shining brightly again today and it's already getting hot. Great, and there I was hoping for a cooler day today. Doesn't matter … at least I slept well.

I straighten up again and look into the distance. Will I ever get back to Cocoon again? Hmm … somehow I will. But before that I have to knock some sense into my people …

I hear some quiet footsteps behind me. Looks like Vanille's awake. "Good morning, Lightning."

I turn around to face her. She's walking towards me, her hand blocking out the sun which is shining into her eyes. "Morning." Damnit, I still find her pretty.

"Slept well?" she asks me and I just nod. Something else then catches my eye. Her bandage, which I had to change yesterday. "How's your wound?"

Vanille touches it with her right hand, looking at it, and then tells me: "It's fine. Doesn't hurt as much anymore, thanks to you." and then smiles. I feel relieved. "I have to change it again."

She nods and we then sit down beside the water. At least it stopped bleeding, or otherwise the cloth would be red now. I untie the bandage again, careful not to hurt her, and inspect the wound. It looks a lot better than yesterday. It seems to be healing fast. "You can let some fresh air at it for some time, if you want." I say.

"I will!" she exclaims, the smile spreading again on her face. Is there ever a time when she's not smiling? Such a cheerful girl. She then hops up and says: "I'll go get something for breakfast!" and skips off. I cross my arms and shake my head. Cheerful and energetic.

I get rid of the dirty bandages and walk back to the spot under the rock arch, and watch the younger girl from a distance. Looks like she's picking something from the ground and then from trees. I wonder what it will be this time. I liked the food yesterday. The girl surprises me with her skills. She's a good cook, she has a weird weapon which she can handle pretty well, I wonder what comes next.

Vanille comes back with a whole bunch of differently colored … what are they? I guess they're fruits, and smaller things, like berries. "That should do for breakfast!" she remarks and takes a bite from a fist-sized fruit which looks like an apple. "Thank you." I say.

ooo

"It's so hot today!" the younger girl exclaims after we finished breakfast and gathered our stuff again. Unfortunately she's right. And if Vanille says that it's hot, it's really hot. She didn't complain yesterday and I was melting. But she's right, it's even hotter today, unfortunately.

"Hey, Lightning?" she asks for my attention. "Call me Light." I tell her. I think it's okay for her to call me like this. She's been nice to me, so I don't see any problem with it. "Okay, Light, can I swim with this wound?"

I raise my eyebrows suspiciously. "Not the best idea, but it should be okay. Why?" I ask her. She's not really planning on going swimming now, is she? The younger girl giggles and starts taking off some of her clothes and her beaded necklaces and bracelets. "What are you doing?"

As she's only in her skirt and top she stems her hands in her hips again and replies: "Well I don't want everything to get soaked when I'm going for a swim!" I have the feeling she's enjoying this mission more than she should. "I don't think we have time for this." I tell her, which earns me another giggle. This time I frown.

She walks over to me and then suddenly starts tucking on the belt which is strapped around my uniform. I blush and grab her hands to make her stop, but she protests: "You're going to feel better when you're a little cooled off! Trust me, moving on will be easier."

I roll my eyes and say: "We should seriously keep on moving." but Vanille just pushes my arms to the side and starts working on my belt again. I feel my cheeks growing hot again and I try to make her stop fumbling with my belt, but she simply won't let me. I groan. If she wants to go swimming then she can do it, but this is a little too intimate. "I'll just wait for you, you go and take a swim."

The redhead shakes her head and says: "You cool your head off as well. Come on, work with me here!" I sigh but don't move. If she can't even undress me I won't get into that damn water. Unfortunately, after a few more moments, the belt loosens and she also manages to open the few straps which holds the jacket together. Why I don't stop her? I don't know … because I won't go swimming anyway and she's just wasting her time … and I want to show her that? I guess so … or maybe the heat is getting to me again and I should take a dip … no, no, I won't.

The younger girl slides my jacket off way too delicately and I blush again. Seriously, why don't I just stop this and put it back on? "I think that's enough." I say, clearing my throat since it is a little dry. But she doesn't seem to listen to me. No way, is she checking me out?!

Suddenly a wide grin spreads on her face and she grabs my right arm, dragging me towards the water before I can even react. But I stop right in front of it. No way she's going to get me in there! "Come on, Light, only a few more steps!" she says and tugs on my arm, but I don't move. "No!" I only reply, and start moving away, but she then tugs on my arm again, almost knocking me over with the jolt, and runs towards the water again. "Go in there and have fun!" she orders, but I cross my arms. "No, I'll wait here."

Vanille groans in protest and tries to tickle me. But to my luck, I have a younger sister who knows pretty much every tickle-attack there is, and I'm quite immune to this. Tch, this is easy. I smirk and say: "That does it." and then I pick her up, quite easily, ignoring the squeaks and laughs and also her attempts to free herself from my grasp, and I walk a little further into the water. "You asked for it." I say and then throw her into the lake.

"So unfair!" she protests, completely soaked now. I smirk victoriously and start walking away again but then suddenly I feel my complete back being splashed at. My remaining clothes are wet now, along with my hair. I turn around and throw her an annoyed look. Okay, a rather playful annoyed one, and I comment: "Oh no you did not!"

She squeals and starts running deeper into the water and I dart right after her. Since my clothes are already wet, so I leap into the water, swimming behind her. I catch up with her quickly and grab her leg, pulling her back towards me. "There's no escaping me!" I exclaim and she squeaks again. I splash some water into her face as a payback, not wanting to plunge her down forcefully. That would be rude.

After a little bit of wriggling and wrestling she finally manages to stop my movements. By the time we are both laughing. Okay, so forget about my worries for a minute. It won't hurt, right? "Let's just call it a tie!" she says, pushing my arms away from her. I chuckle and give in. "Okay."

Then it hits me. Our proximity. Her eyes seem ever bigger and greener from this close, I can tell every particle. She lets her hands glide along mine until they reach my shoulders and I suppress a shiver. My heart is starting to beat a little faster and this damn warm feeling spreads in my stomach again. What is this? "Light … " she starts but I put my right index finger on her lips. Don't talk … not now … I'm trying to figure this out … I let my right hand wander from her lips to her chin, letting the back of my index finger slowly trace her jaw line and I finally cup her cheek.

Her skin … it's so soft … and her touch is so soothing … her hands travel from my shoulders to the back of my neck. Then she starts leaning in … and I don't really know why … but I close my eyes and wait for what will happen next …

A/N: Oh no, a cliffhanger! I'm so mean, I know … you guys anticipating the next chapter already? =D Please leave your thoughts!