A/N: I just realized that sometimes I write Vanille the way one would write Lightning. Huh. But in truth, this is seriously my headcanon Lightning, sometimes a little cold, sometimes a little flirty. This is how I imagine her without all the angst. Even though Vanille is a chipper and forgiving character, this is how I picture her with that kind of Lightning. It may seem weird, but in my head it totally works out. I have a thing for love-hate relationships. Don't worry, that mysterious box isn't long forgotten, in fact...it has a chapter coming up.

x-x-x

You had to be a remarkable person, I concluded, to be able to live with Lightning Farron.

Indeed, Serah was practically a super woman, balancing herself between Snow, Lightning, School, and the Active Student Body. Sometimes I wondered how she had the energy to live by the end of the day. She never complained or asked for help, and she always managed to have a smile on her face.

Even when she was hurt.

x-x-x

Serah stared at the two girls in her living room, a confused expression on her face, "what are you guys doing here?"

Lightning shrugged, she had gone to retrieve Serah and was now on her way to her room. When Fang wasn't looking, she tossed a wink at the small redhead, who scowled in reply. She mouthed something Vanille could only guess was, "you love me." The shorter girl wondered how someone could go from cold-hearted bitch to straight up player in a matter of seconds. Multiple personalities, she concluded as she zoned back into the conversation.

"'Nille and I are just a bit concerned, is all." Fang rubbed her neck sheepishly, "if you need help with anything, just let us know, hey?"

Lightning's injuries had caused the doctor to order for her to take it easy, Vanille knew better than to believe the ex-athlete would do just that.

"Actually," Serah seemed uncomfortable, the two understood, it was usually the other way around, her offering them help when Fang was out of commission. The athlete had just wandered back into the room when Serah muttered, "I need to take care of some planning for our Halloween dance, I was thinking since we have the whole week off next week, you guys could make sure Rambo over here stays out of trouble."

With a snort, Lightning retorted, "Serah, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself."

To that, Serah rounded on the other Farron, "Maker! If you were so capable you wouldn't be in this mess!" Pointing at the girl she finally snapped, "I just want one day where I don't have to worry about whether next time I'll be burying you!"

All three teens in the room stared at the youngest Farron, slack jawed. "Erm, right then!" Fang stood quickly, eager to leave before the argument went full throttle, "Vanille will be by tomorrow."

x-x-x

"Could you please," Vanille was tugging her pajama top over head, "explain why I'm the one babysitting?"

"Certainly." Fang crossed the room and jabbed a finger into her chest, "you suggested we ask if little Farron needed help. Anyway, you know as well as I that Lightning would be in a sleeper hold the moment I step through the door. Look at it this way! She doesn't get hurt, and you get to spend time with the girl you fancy."

"I don't fancy her."

"Sure looked like a lot of fancying, I saw those eyes you were making at the house."

Vanille was mortified, "I was not making eyes at her!"

"And that time she carried you home..."

"I was sick!"

"You sure do spend a lot of time thinkin' about her."

"...Shut up."

"Ah, but you didn't deny it!" Fang was snickering by then.

"I'm going to bed." An angry pout had completely overtaken the young girl's face, this expression only added to her friend's amusement.

"Oh c'mon, I was just joking 'Nille!"

"Goodnight, Fang."

x-x-x

If there was ever a time Vanille felt sorry for Lightning Farron, it was now. As the redhead stepped up to the slightly open front door, she caught the tail end of a stern lecture. Vanille had to sidestep to avoid colliding with the younger sister, who gave her a wide-eyed glance as she stepped through the door, "oh, Vanille! You're here early." Her expression changed to a more reassuring one, "I'm leaving now, I thought you were going to bring Fang, so I had to tell Lightning not to start any fights...But if it's you, I'm sure she'll behave."

The redhead wanted to snort at that statement, but she simply smiled and waved Serah off, "just worry about all the work you need to do for Halloween, and leave the rest to me."

"Thanks Vanille, I knew I could count on you." Serah smiled, before proceeding to walk down the driveway.

Inside, Vanille found Lightning sprawled on the living room couch. It occurred to her that she didn't have the slightest idea of how to keep herself busy until Serah came back. The ex-athlete propped herself up, a slight grin graced her face that made the girl uneasy. The movement lifted her tank top slightly, exposing the prominent hipbones that the redhead's eyes immediately fell upon before she quickly jerked her head away and studied the room. "Please, take good care of me today." The pinknette's tone was slightly mocking, causing Vanille to turn and glower at her, only to find that the girl had moved to leave the room.

"Where are you going?"

"Hm, I was thinking it was a nice day for a walk."

"No way, you need to get some rest. That's the only way you'll get better." She had to step between Lightning and the door to make her statement final, the ex-athlete simply rolled her eyes.

"Strenuous activity, Vanille, strenuous. Walking is hardly that bad."

"Yeah, but knowing you...you'll attract some form of trouble." Grabbing Lightning's arm, Vanille led her back to the couch and forced her to sit down. "Look, just sit still for one week, after that I'll be out of your hair and you'll be back in school. Then you can do whatever you want." She said this, but she knew this was going to be one hell of a long week.

"Can I at least take a shower? It's not like I'm going to get jumped in my own hallway." She stood again, this time walking down the hall.

"Fine, I'll order lunch, what do you want?"

"Flan."

"Funny." Though Vanille did consider cooking up the dish, poisonous parts and all, she flipped through the phone book and decided that pizza would be a lot better.

Lightning popped her head out with a smirk, "on second thought, would you like to join me? I might open my stitches." She had to duck quickly to avoid an airborne phone book, a small chuckle rang down the hall. "I'm telling Serah you abused me."

"I'm the one being abused..."

It was going to be a long week.

x-x-x

The days had rattled on, seemingly uneventful, Vanille would arrive at the Farron's flat and stay around until Serah returned, four hours later at most. She entertained herself with dusty old books on their bookshelves, biographies and fairytales she could not for the life of her remember. Some days Lightning would tease her relentlessly, toss flirtatious quips just to prod Vanille's reactions, other days she would simply stay in her room and work on assignments that were due upon her return.

One day, bored of re-reading the books, Vanille wandered off to Lightning's room to check up on the girl. The pinknette lay quietly sleeping on her bed, blanket long since kicked off. Funny, Vanille thought as she peered at the sleeping teen, she looked so much more innocent when she slept. She took several minutes to study her, how her fringe moved softly against her breaths, the movement under her lids that told the girl she was most likely dead to the world, dreaming of something nice. A small smile tugged at the pinknette's lips that startled Vanille into thinking she had been caught, but when no mocking comment escaped those lips she relaxed, finally deciding she should leave before Lightning did wake up.

She turned away, studying the trophies that lined the shelves. Some of them were achievements that ran from elementary school up until Sophomore year of High School, her name shining in golden letters. Others had another person's name, a males name, most likely things that belonged to her father, Vanille concluded, as her eyes landed on a family picture. The four Farrons stood huddled together, bright smiles spread across their faces. The mother was breathtakingly beautiful, her long pink hair framed her face perfectly, brilliant blue eyes peered back at her, as though the woman were looking through the photo. Serah looked most like this woman, the gentle eyes and kind smile.

The father had darker hair, his blue eyes were dark and intelligent, shining with a confidence that could only be mirrored in Lightning's. He was a handsome young man with the shadow of a growing beard on his face, one of his large hands rested on Lightning's shoulder, another at his wife's waist. He stood with an air of pride, the symbol on his uniform shining brightly, calling attention to his rank.

"Find anything?" Vanille was startled to find Lightning standing directly behind her, arms crossed. A shadow of uncertainty over her face.

"I...just came to check up on you." Was Lightning mad at her? "I'm sorry, I got distracted, I'll go now."

With a sigh, the ex-athlete shook her head, "it's fine. You were looking at that?" She pointed at the photo, before moving to pick it up. She looked down at it, her face softening slightly. "Dad...really did love his uniform. He always wore it, even to simple family outings. This was taken at Serah's birthday."

"You look like twins," Vanille offered awkwardly, "if I hadn't known better, I would have assumed."

"We got that a lot," she handed the photo to Vanille and paced back to her desk, "sometimes mom would say we were. Funny, twins born months apart."

"She looks lovely."

"She was a kind person, never took anything for granted. She loved Serah. Always took her out shopping, taught her how to cook. She was practically raising her to be a loving housewife. She wasn't very fond of me, though. I was too much of a troublemaker, always found myself in time out for beating up the neighborhood kids." She smiled, "that's why dad started training me for the Guardian Corps. Well, he wanted a son, but mom couldn't get pregnant anymore. So, he took me and drilled the lifestyle into my head. I didn't mind, I loved it, I wanted to make him proud. I still do. I wonder what he'd think if he saw me now."

Placing the photo back into place, Vanille stepped over to Lightning, placing a hand at her shoulder, "I'm sure he'd be proud of you. Both of them. You're taking care of Serah, you were the star athlete, and you're preparing to join the Guardian Corps, among other things."

"I can't even protect myself, how do I expect to protect Serah? I have to be more careful, one wrong move and I can die." Lightning clutched at her necklace and slowly closed her eyes, "if only I knew what I was up against."

Vanille faltered, Lightning could know what she was up against, the simple answer was scrawled on a piece of paper in her drawer. But could they be trusted? Was it a risk worth taking to save her friend's lives? Lightning moved, taking a seat at the edge of her bed, and glanced up at Vanille.

"I...don't know much about my family." Vanille admitted, for some reason she felt like opening up to the girl, it was the least she could do. "I was raised by an older woman, a retired school teacher. She home schooled me and Fang until middle school. Fang was just like you, always getting herself into trouble." A reminiscent grin spread across the redhead's face as she thought about the time Fang had hung a kid from a fence by his shorts.

"And you?"

"Well, I wasn't like Serah, that's for certain. I wasn't at all interested in learning how to cook, I was a fast learner so I picked up the basics rather quickly. I wanted to be like Fang though, I wanted to run around with the kids outside and get dirty. I wanted to get into stupid fights and stay out until dinner time." She finally took a seat beside Lightning as memories of her childhood flooded into her mind, "but I got sick easily, so I was always inside. That was partly why we were home schooled. I got lost in books and my imagination, sometimes I'd day dream about fighting the creatures that lurked just outside of town. I'd dream of grand adventures with Fang, going out on trips into the wilderness with nothing but our survival skills to keep us going. When the woman died, I realized I had to give up on those dreams to help Fang out."

Lightning's expression was soft as she studied Vanille's face, and the redhead almost found it frightening. For once, she wanted the girl to make a stupid comment, anything to make the uneasy feeling leave. Instead, Lightning looked away and hummed slightly, "are you going to the dance?"

"...With friends, yes. Are you?"

"I promised Serah I'd help with the ticket booths all year, so I kind of have to go." Lightning stood and stretched, "maybe I'll see you."

Maybe, Vanille thought as she followed the girl out of the room, her green eyes landing on the family picture one last time as she closed the door behind her.

She definitely hadn't expected her week to end like that.