Note from author: Wow Vanille's hair. Is it pink, orange, pinky-orange?! I don't know, sorry if you find it changes from pink to orange a lot of the time. I also tried to include a little of Fang's perspective in this too to take a break from Vanille. This also has to be the longest fanfic chapter I've written yet. I think I have chapter ADHD :P 1000+ words and I am usually done with it! Anyway, Enjoy!

They say the fal'Cie made the Arks in preparation for the battle against the menace that lurks beyond. Where is this 'beyond' of which they speak? Do they mean cocoon, and the demons that dwell within?- On the nature of Fal'Cie FFX13

Vanille went back to bed after hearing what the village leader had said; all this talk about war seemed to be draining the life out of her. She had gladly let her soft mattress and quilt swallow her up and she spent several hours in blissful, dreamless sleep. Awaking late, she decided to dress quickly and wear a simple pink dress instead of her usual gear. She left her house, stretching out in the midday sun. She felt its heat radiate deep to her bones; warming up her muscle and soothing her aches and pains. Vanille decided then to go out for a short stroll along the beach, and as expected she found her best friend waiting on the shore.

'Fang!' Vanille shouted and waved before running over.

'Hey Vanille, you're up late. Having a lazy day?' her eyes quickly glanced at Vanille's small form shrouded by the thin cotton dress, the sun shone through it revealing her delicate hour-glass figure, no doubt underneath the fabric was her perfectly pale and rosy un-tanned skin. Vanille was more of a people person; deciding to play with the local children or create the beaded jewelry the people of Oerba wore, and so her skin was only slightly tanned from her time spent on the beach. Fang on the other hand was always outdoors, always fighting and never spent a moment staying still. Whilst Vanille's years of gentle chores had left her with a slim body and soft-skinned hands, Fang on the other hand was well toned, dark-skinned and had rough hands from years of using her lance. The orange-haired girl shrugged her shoulders as she walked up to Fang.

'Maybe I am having a lazy day…I'm just so tired, ya know?'

'Ack, me too', the dark woman turned to look into the sea whilst the waves gently tumbled together onto the shore,

'Fang, what's wrong?' Vanille could instantly tell something was off, it wasn't like Fang to worry about much and to lose sleep over something seemed ridiculous even for a no-nonsense girl like her. But she didn't answer. 'C,mon Fang, you know you can tell me anything', Vanille beckoned Fang to confide in her, and she turned around and looked at Vanille with a pained expression.

'Listen Vanille, I've been thinking a lot recently about…about the war. And now all of a sudden Anima is going to choose two people to destroy Cocoon.' Vanille's eyelids fluttered silently towards the ground as she tried not to think about what Fang was saying. 'Vanille…that's a massive leg up. Before I thought we didn't stand a chance, but now I know we can win.' She took a step closer to the bright haired girl, but she kept her eyes shut. 'Listen, you can't hide the truth, which is why I am going to fight in war'. Vanille knew this had been coming for a while, but it seemed too soon.

'B-b-ut Fang, who's going to take care of me?' She whispered quietly looking up at the tall bronze-skinned woman, the sun reflecting off her smooth skin making it glow. All I have ever needed stands in front of me, and now that's going to go?! 'You can't go Fang! It's dangerous!' Vanille burst out and grabbed hold of Fang's arm. Surprised, Fang took a step back.

'It's not like I've ever stayed out of danger. Why won't you let me go?'

'Because…', because you're my everything? 'I…I think it's silly that everyone is jumping to the conclusion that we need a war! Can't we work this out without fighting?'. She looked pleadingly into Fang's clear blue eyes.

'Oh come on Vanille. Why do you think we need a village leader? Why do you think we're trained to fight?' Fang was exasperated.

'Well, we don't have to stay in Oerba all the time. And Anima only protects the border…'

'Ha! Protects? We need to fight because Anima keeps failing. It lets the monsters in so we have to get rid of them ourselves, yet we still have to worship that fal'Cie.' Vanille was stuck; Fang was completely right. She'd always protected Vanille and that was one of the reasons why she felt so safe around her. But she shouldn't have to be protecting her. What Fang said was true; the fal'Cie was not doing what it promised and yet they still revered it as an almighty being.

'Maybe the fal'Cie grow old too. Maybe they break down just like us.'

'Then this is my only chance to do something.' Vanille bit down on her lip as it trembled. The sun had risen quite high in the sky now and it had brought about a humidity that seemed to choke her small lungs. She could feel her heart welling up whilst her chest constricted tightly around it like a deadly Boa. It was no use, Fang just kept coming back with a better answer each time.

'Please Fang!' She burst out and tightened her grip on her arm, tears streaming down her face. 'You can't do this…you can't leave me. It's not fair!' Her body racked with sobs as she buried her face in Fangs neck. Putting her arms around Vanille, Fang tried to comfort her. She looked down and gently kissed her soft, mandarin hair - lifting that delicate pointed chin upwards to face her.

'Vanille, I'm not just doing this for Pulse. I'm doing this to protect you, I'm going to fulfill my promise to you unlike Anima,' she let go of Vanille, 'and if I can't protect you or Pulse, I might as well die in this war'. Wiping her tears Vanille took a step back and looked at Fang. She was serious about this. 'And Vanille, I'm not about to just lie down and die. I'm going to do something – this is my last chance, okay?' Her friend didn't answer; she just stood there and watched Fang with rivers of tears flowing out of her eyes. It seemed they had washed her vision of any naivety or ignorance she had about the war and the truth crushed her heart like an iron weight. Sighing, Fang turned around and walked up the steps from the beach and back into the village with Vanille watching the blurred figure swim out of her watery sight as she tried to drown out her misery. But she couldn't. She was about to lose her best friend. That foreboding feeling she had been experiencing was not fear of war, but rather –she realised now- the fear of losing Fang.

Vanille sat on the sandy shore hugging her knees and weeping, not caring whether on not her feet got wet and sandy. She didn't want Fang to fight because she might get injured, and she'd rather die than see Fang get hurt. It took a while for her to stop sobbing and shaking, by which time her face was a blotchy red mess. Not that it mattered; the only one she cared about had seen her cry many times and always comforted her. Fang never laughed at her puffy face whenever she had been crying. But where was Fang now? She felt bad for letting her walk of, wishing she could run up to her and say that she accepted her idea. But it wasn't that easy even though she was confident that Fang was a brilliant fighter. She'd always gone out hunting with the Yun clan and had taken Vanille as a young girl out on a few occasions trying to teach her to defend herself – something which she had to do more and more often as the fiends on Pulse encroached even more on Oerba. It was common knowledge that the Yun Clan were good hunters, and Fang was exceptionally good. Vanille herself had witnessed this, spending many days sitting on grassy banks sunbathing as she admired Fangs strong arms and fierce attacks.

Maybe she'll be okay?

Then it hit her – Fang might be okay, but she would definitely be okay with Vanille by her side. Maybe it was her turn to defend Fang? At this thought she leapt up and began to run up the steps. The idea in her mind elevated her spirits, making her giddy as the wind breezed coolly through her clothes and hair. She was laughing. It'd been a long time since she had laughed in pure delight like this; and all because she had finally realized that she didn't have to let go of Fang – she could stay right by her side, just like old times. But now it was her time to step up and take responsibility.

A fisherman was strolling barefoot along the path towards the beach. Vanille slowed down to talk to him as she saw him come into view.

'Good evening, sir!' She chirped.

'Vanille, hello!' The fisherman smiled sending soft lines along his weathered face. He tipped his hat up to look at her. She'd talked to him a briefly before as she often walked down the beach and he'd been there a few times preparing his small boat to go fishing. 'How can I help you young miss?'

'Well, I was wondering if you'd seen Yun Fang? She's tall, dark skin, lovely ebony hair…' Vanille flung her arm in the air to measure Fang's height, trying to demonstrate as clearly as she could to the Fisherman who Fang was.

'Ahh yes yes, I know. Yun Fang. Good with a pike! Hahaha' he chucked as he remembered how Fang effortlessly threw her pike through two large fish. 'Well, can't say I've seen her today'

'Not at all?' Vanille was disappointed, the Fisherman had a clear view of the bay and Fang had only left there half an hour ago. 'Well, thanks anyways'. She walked off feeling slightly deflated now. It was hard to tell where her friend would be; she wouldn't be hunting this late in the day but she wasn't at the beach. Vanille decided to check all the obvious places first and hopefully Fang could be discovered at one of these. As she walked along Vanille thought about signing up alongside her friend to fight in the war.

'Ah ha!' She gasped out loud, 'Fang must be signing up to join!'.

But as she ran along the path she was on one thought stopped Vanille in her tracks; where was the place to sign up anyway? They hadn't been told about it, all she knew is that they were choosing sacrifices for Anima tomorrow. Looking up at the sky it appeared as though night was crawling in – it brought no twinkling stars with it that night.

Choosing sacrifices?! Panic spread all down her body like frost creeping down a window, she could feel its spiky spindles slithering down her spine and the hairs pricked up on the back of her neck. She wouldn't would she?

But she would, and Vanille did not know yet however, Fang was already up at the brightly lit temple after dressing in the traditional hunting robes - awaiting the moment when Anima descended from the sky and picked an offering.

Vanille pushed this aside and tried searching elsewhere, but she wasn't anywhere to be found; neither at the beach, her house nor the hillside. There was only one place she hadn't checked yet – the temple.