A semi-long A/N: Funny thing, I usually listen to music while I write, and whatever song I stop on is the title of the chapter (if it fits)...that's not the case this time. No music! Thought I forgot about you guys, eh? I was going to do a rewrite! I had four chapters done! But then I realized I would much rather finish this than start it all over again. Such a shame, I had found ways to avoid the icky OCs and other awkward parts. Anyway, this'll probably be updated irregularly.. Hey, I just barely started playing XIII-2. I just wanted to point out that in canon Snow is like, 6'7" (200cm) , which means he's a giant. I would think he probably weighs 240 or something, maybe even more? Dang Snow, you big. I guess you could file this under, "things I just barely learned". Now that I know that, I felt pretty strange labeling him as "boy" in this chapter...but they are all teens here, so I don't believe it would be fitting to call him a man either. Well I guess it's about time I point out that I had originally intended for crossovers in this fic! Meaning, characters from other FF series will make cameos. I'm not sure if I've made this clear before, but the ending to the last chapter (blonde guy?) was a pretty big giveaway. I hope you guys don't mind this. Wow you guys are mad dedicated! So, I suppose it's about time this fic-writer stops being an unfaithful girlfriend. (er, for lack of a better term.) I hope you can handle this rocky re-start.
x-x-x
Lightning would die before she admitted to it, but I believed she was as hotheaded as Snow. They were one in the same. Of course Lightning went about her tasks differently, but there was no denying it, that was what made them the perfect team-up.
Perhaps that was why she despised him, because they were so alike in that they would give up anything to protect the ones they loved. Even if it meant they themselves could die. But she was too stubborn to die.
It was those thoughts that led me to believe she was more than what she was, and that was...human.
x-x-x
"Snow?" Lightning paused just outside of Seventh Heaven, "what the hell are you doing here? Where is Serah?"
"Hey, sis, c'mon. I'm about as confused about this as you are." The hulking teen seemed sullen, his favorite bandana was surprisingly clenched in his fist, "I got a text message from some unknown number telling me to meet you here.."
"Who is with Serah?" The pink haired girl hissed, she truthfully didn't care about why Snow was there, she needed to know that her sister was safe.
"I left her at Lebreau's place, don't worry, Gadot is there." He muttered as he pulled his bandana back over his head, fixing his bangs so they didn't fall frustratingly in his vision. Lightning wondered why he didn't just cut it all off, it looked ridiculous on him anyway.
"Tch, whatever," she didn't trust his friends to protect her, what's done is done, she thought. Now they both had a predicament before them. If Snow was there, then more people were being targeted than the girl had anticipated. That meant all of this had to end, and soon, before someone got hurt.
"Hey...Light? Are you listening?" Snow had been rambling about something, Lightning didn't pay him much mind as she pushed the door open and stepped into the dim bar. At this point, the boy had no choice but to follow her.
The bartender was a busty, curvy woman with long jet black hair that fell just behind her shoulders, she wore a simple white tank top and a black miniskirt. Lightning guessed she was in her early twenties, as the woman looked up to greet her. "Can I help you?"
"You can point me to where that coward Caelum is hiding." She crossed her arms over her chest and stood up straight, she was here to take care of business, and she wasn't in the mood for screwing around.
Confused, the young woman set her half polished glass on the table and disappeared into the back room, Lightning shifted as Snow moved to stand beside her, "just what the heck is going on here, Light?"
"More than you bargained for, Snow. If you want, you can leave. I'm not going to stop you."
"Not a chance." The hulking teen cracked his knuckles, a smirk spread across his face, "I promised you I would protect Serah, I promised Serah I'd keep you alive."
"Tch," She glowered at the grinning idiot, "fat chance."
When the woman finally returned, she gestured for the two to follow her into the back room. The blonde met Lightning's eyes and shrugged, before he took the offer and stepped ahead of her.
Lightning didn't like it, everything about this spelled 'trap'. But she didn't care, if this honestly meant the end of all future torment, she would gladly place her head in the razor sharp mouth of a lion. Anything to give her sister a happy future.
Next, the raven haired girl led them down a set of stairs in a large, empty room, save for training swords and rods that leaned precariously against the walls. Leaning against the wall, across from where they stood, the blond man from the week before peered up, piercing blue eyes studying the duo. A shorter girl stood beside him, her short black hair held in place by a band around her forehead. This girl was dressed in tan short-shorts, a black tank top and a vest. She was balancing on her tiptoes with clear boredom written across her face.
The woman that had led them down stepped across the room and stood beside the young man and woman, "just to clarify, I do not support this."
"You don't need to worry, Tifa." The young man nodded, standing from the wall and placing a hand on her shoulder, "whatever happens today, will be the end of it."
"For us, or them?" Tifa smiled, though a solemn expression spread across her face. She stared across at the two, before moving into a striking position, "either way, I'm doing this for her."
"We all are," The shorter girl piped up. "Who goes first? You or Cloud?"
Lightning grunted, "I'm not interested in fighting, I want Caelum."
"Grab a sword," The blonde one stepped forward, heaving his massive blade, "I won't fight you while you're unarmed, the ones on the other wall should be strong enough for you."
"No." The pink haired teen was glaring, "Dammit, where's Caelum?"
"If you can beat me, I'll tell you!" The man lunged forward, not allowing Lightning a second chance to press for information. The teen barely dodged the blow, sidestepped, and ran to grab a sword from the ground in time to block a second blow, the large sword notched into the practice sword and Lightning realized nervously that she had grabbed a wooden weapon. Wrenching herself free, she discarded the weapon and dashed towards the opposite wall.
In the distance, Snow was struggling to keep up with both of the raven haired women, hollering about how he couldn't hit a girl, even if they wanted him dead. The most he could do was catch their blows, and Lightning realized she had to finish her struggle to help him.
This time her hand landed on a solid handle, a real handle she realized, bound expertly, a real steel sword with a razor edge. She didn't have time to inspect the weapon, as she quickly pushed from her crouched position and rolled out of the way of another heavy blow. He was slow, she found, his weapon was built for offensive fighting.
He twisted awkwardly, and the next blow was weak enough for Lightning to parry, offering an opening for her to kick at his abdomen, pushing him back slightly. He was a small man, but he was as solid as Snow was. He could stand his ground.
She wouldn't give him a chance to stand up, she swung her sword rapidly and with poor aim, the weapon merely glanced his shoulder, leaving a thin tear in his exposed flesh. It was a wasted blow, he was up again, swinging his weapon, Lightning caught the blow with her sword and was pushed back by the sheer force.
"Hey Light," Snow called from behind her, she cursed as she ducked past another swing and landed a punch across the mans face, "trade with me, will ya'?"
The man caught her wrist and swung her into a wall, her breath escaped as she gasped out a cry, she barely had time to dodge again before she caught her breath, "are you crazy? Do you even know how to use a sword?" She was the last one to talk, the last time she wielded anything that resembled a sword was back when her father practiced with her.
"Stab 'em with the pointy end?"
Lightning would have laughed if she wasn't busy trying to find an opening, "not a chance," before Snow could protest she called over her shoulder, "you're fighting two people, Snow. Use that to your advantage." She had hoped he was smart enough to realize what she meant by that.
The next time Cloud swung his sword, the sweep was low and intended to cut her down from the legs, she jumped in time to nearly dodge it. She was growing exhausted, and fast, she had to take advantage of one of his openings. The blonde lunged forward, the blade of his weapon tearing at her side.
It took everything in her to bite back the pained scream that quieted into a terrified gargle as she lost balance and fell to one knee, clutching her side. She couldn't distract Snow from his fight. Cloud pulled the sword over his head, she had to move and disarm him she realized as he struck downward, she forced her aching limbs to move as she rolled to the side and swung the butt of her blade, hard against the side of his head.
The blow caught him by surprise, still clutching her throbbing side, Lightning struck at his hands with the blunt side of her blade, causing him to accidentally lose grip of his weapon. This was her last chance, she noted, if she screwed up now she was dead. Reeling up with all the force she had, she smashed the flat end of her sword across his head, the flimsy metal snapped in half with the collision, and the blonde man collapsed to the floor. The blow nearly caused her topple forward with him. She stumbled, and caught a glimpse of Snow in time to watch him dodge the girls' simultaneous attacks, causing them to strike one another in one finishing blow.
She blacked out.
x-x-x
Noctis Lucis Caelum paced back and forth in his large office, a rare sight for his servant. "You say you found them in that state?"
"All three of them," Xenris nodded his confirmation, his knee throbbing painfully from where he had knelt for the previous twenty minutes. "Not a sight of the girl, though there was a great trail of blood, like a body had been dragged away."
Noctis finally stopped and turned, a smile on his face, "It appears this Farron has a lot more fight in her than we expected, if she could take down a trained soldier. Did you acquire the recording?"
"Yes, sir, would you like for it to be brought up to you?"
"Yes, have it brought up to me immediately, I must see how she managed this task." He nodded slightly and stared off out the window and across at the city, just as he had done every day since he had been appointed this exact office. Each time a grim smile spread across his face. "And Xenris?"
The dark haired man stood, "yes?"
"Make sure your men are keeping a close watch on them." He tossed a glance over his shoulder and waved the man off, "I want her to know what true suffering is."
x-x-x
Vanille was halfway home when she received the news from Serah, a quick urgent message that was sent via text, stating that Lightning would be released from the hospital later that day. That explained why she hadn't seen either girl the past few days, she responded quickly, what happened?
Five minutes passed before she received her response, she was already entering her house: It was a fight, I'm sorry. I was going to call you! I remembered that you had a few tests to study for! So I didn't want to burden you with the knowledge of Lightning being hurt.
Leave it to Serah to be thoughtful at the worst time, Vanille thought, though she thought it was funny that Serah would think she'd worry about Lightning getting into a fight, when she had gotten into fights so many times before. She was interrupted by another chime, this time from Snow: Do me a favor kiddo (Vanille rolled her eyes at the use of "kiddo") keep an eye on Serah will you? A few days ago...Lightning and I got into a pretty bad fight with a couple of people. Lightning got hurt pretty bad. I know it's eating Serah up even though she's been pretty brave about it these few days.
Curious, Vanille responded to Serah first: If you want to talk about it, just let me know, okay? You know I'll always be there for you! :) I'm glad to hear that Lightning is alright. If it was Fang, I don't know what I would do.
Next, she replied to Snow: Are you with Serah right now? Are you alright?
Neither one replied right away, so she placed her phone on the coffee table and set off up the stairs and to her room to drop her bag and change out of her uniform. She stalked towards her bathroom to clean her face as she thought about the news she had just received. Serah, oddly enough, hadn't seemed too hysterical. She knew that normally the younger Farron would be stressing over her sister's condition, even if it was something minor. Something had to be wrong with the girl, if she hadn't even thought about contacting Vanille right away. Or maybe Snow was on to something, and Serah was hiding her feelings in an attempt to be strong for the two of them.
When she returned to her phone, she found that Snow had confirmed her question: Yeah! I just got here, actually. I wasn't hurt that bad. I..I should have been the one, Vanille. Not Lightning. God, she's her only family. What if it had been something bad?
Vanille smiled, it was just like Snow: You're just as much her family too, you big dummy! You need to be there to support Serah, even if she looks like she can handle this right now. She's scared, and you know it. If it was you that was hurt instead, it would tear her apart just as much.
Minutes later, Snow replied: Yeah, you're right. I guess I'm still a little shaken up, huh? Anyway, Sis is really giving these doctors a run for their money! A thousand Gil says she'll put these chumps in the hospital! Well, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?
Vanille sighed, admittedly these texts made her a little worried, she wondered what was going on with her friend, and wished desperately that she could be there to help her. Surprisingly, she found her thoughts had wandered off to Lightning. She wondered just how bad the girl could have been injured. She had seen her beaten up before, so the thought wasn't something knew or shocking, but it was worrisome all the same, and she found herself wondering what she would do if Fang ever got hurt.
She'd try not to imagine that happening any time soon, she concluded, as the mentioned person walked through the doorway, a scowl on her face, "thought I told you not to run off without me, missy.."
"Sorry, Fang, guess I got excited about coming home. All those tests, you know?"
"Yeah, yeah," Fang nodded, shutting the door behind her and peering at the girl, "something wrong?"
"..." Vanille looked at her, confused, when she felt something damp on her cheeks. Shakily, she moved her hand up and brushed freshly shed tears from her eyes, she didn't answer, didn't have time to as Fang briskly crossed the room and pulled her into a tight embrace.
Even now, I don't know who I was crying for.
Was I sad? Relieved? Frightened? The emotions swept over me far too quickly, and were gone before I could identify them. But the tears fell. They fell for someone that day.