Chapter 4 - Wounds
"Let go of her."
"No," The man with the black bandana pushed the girl behind him, shielding her with his enormous body, "I'm not letting her go."
The girl behind him clenched onto his beige coat, "Please, onee-chan, let me explain—"
"Either come back with me this instant,"
"… Onee-chan…"
"Or don't talk to me for the rest of your life."
She felt like crying. "Y-you're…" Her voice began to crack. The man wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "Onee-chan… you're always like this…"
The taller strawberry-blonde ignored her.
"You never listen to me!" She raised her voice.
She turned to glare at her sister, who, surprisingly, stood her ground and glared back, fighting to resist the droplets that are pouring out of her tear ducts. "You never talk, you never listen, you're always so selfish… how exactly can I understand you!"
Those words pierced into her ears like needles. "Me, selfish?" She faked a laugher, "Hn, saying whatever you want." The woman managed to keep her cool, "But I'm not letting you go with him."
"Nee-san!"
"Don't call me that!" She bellowed and clenched her fists, gritting her teeth at him. She hated it when he talked. "You have no business with us."
"Yes he does," The girl argued. "Onee-chan, I'm—"
"Sergeant Farron, ma'am!"
Lightning blinked. She shook her head to get that flashback out of her head, and damn, it was clearer than reality. "Report," She said to the soldier awaiting her orders.
"All's quiet, nothing to report."
It was an expected answer. What could possibly happen in this stupid town? She stood straight, pushing herself away from the wall she was leaning on for so long and uncrossed her arms, "Retreat."
"Ma'am!" The lower-ranked soldier gave her a salute and marched away.
The woman sighed. She wasn't tired or anything, but this boredom sure was getting to her. She was quite positive that very soon, she may pass out from the lack of things to do, and she wasn't even joking. Looking up at the sky, she realized that it was way past patrolling hours; she should probably head home… and maybe… just maybe, another good meal would be prepared for her. "Ugh…" Lightning shook her head once again, not wanting to get too dependent on the food in which a certain redhead had been preparing for her each night for the past week.
Still…
The food she made…
"Your onee-chan doesn't cook as well as you do,"
The younger sister grinned at her mother, "That's what she told me! She said she loves my cooking!" She turned to her sister, "But onee-chan, cooking's my only talent… you're better than me at everything else!"
She frowned at her little sister, "I'd rather be a good cook than be good at any other housework…"
"But you can knit and sew… and you do well in ikebana… and… and…!"
Lightning placed a hand on her little sister's head, patting her as if she were a little puppy, "Okay, okay! I get it," She laughed, "You're a good cook, and I'm a good… err…"
"Sister!" She interrupted, "You're a good sister!"
The older sibling blushed. She smiled as widely as she could to show her joy, "Yes, that was exactly what I was thinking!"
The Farron sisters' mother chuckled at their silly conversation.
Lightning did not realize it, but she was already standing right in front of the door to her flat. "How did I…?" She questioned herself weakly upon noticing her current location. "Oh man… what the hell…?" She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand; they were so dry and were in so much pain. Perhaps it it'd be better to think about all this weird stuff later; right now, she needed to wash her face – desperately. Placing her thumb on the tiny screen above the doorknob, a blue laser scanned her in less than a few seconds, and the door opened immediately afterward. She dragged her legs inside and quickly took off her boots. Unbuckling the pouch that carried her gunblade, she dropped it lazily onto the ground beside her boots, completely forgetting how hard she trained to obtain that top-grade weapon from the military. As she stepped into the living room, she noticed that nothing was prepared in the kitchen.
Perhaps the girl's gone shopping or sightseeing, like what she was supposed to do as a tourist?
She grunted and blew at her bangs, the soft pink hair bounced upwards and fell back down quickly. "It's not like I hired her to cook for me or anything," Lightning reminded herself – she might be expecting too much from everyone nowadays; from her subordinates, to the girl, to even… her little sister.
"Onee-chan, I'm… I want to be with him." Her sister said.
Lightning headed down the hallway as those words echoed in her mind.
"Onee-san, you've been… acting strange lately…"
She stopped her movements. Just now, that was Vanille's voice –the little redhead, the innocent tourist from Eden – who told her the other day, when the echoes of her younger sister's voice wouldn't go away. And even someone as ignorant as that stranger could see, could tell that the great Lightning Farron was slowly, gradually getting a mental breakdown.
"Wake up, wake up…" Lightning begged herself as she hit the side of her head, hard. Approaching the doorway to the washroom, she noticed that the door was slightly opened. "Odd," The woman narrowed her eyebrows. Out of habit, she would always close the doors in her house, and never leave them open or even slightly opened.
Could the girl be inside?
She took a step forward and knocked, "Are you in there?"
A gasp.
"Oh, you're inside." The soldier said simply.
"Y-yeah…"
Strange, why does her voice sound so weak? Lightning peeked into the washroom, "What are you…?" She cut herself off upon seeing the girl's clothes – ones that she bought on her own over the past few days – all ripped and messed up. Vanille was obviously trying to hide something behind her, "What are you doing?" Normally, Lightning wouldn't care, but the girl looked like she was in pain…
"I'm… fine… I just fell…"
She was getting suspicious. Without thinking twice, she swung the door opened and walked forward, literally forcing the shorter girl to back up until she hit the wall.
Vanille winced a little when her back came in contact with the wall.
"Turn around," Lightning ordered, as if she were talking to her subordinates.
The girl looked down at her toes.
"Turn around," She repeated, observing the pink tank top. It was ripped in the most violent way; almost exposing too much of the girl's skin. It was evidently stretched, meaning that she probably… most likely… was assaulted. Whether it got too far or not, Lightning wasn't sure, as her lower-half – her shorts in particular, weren't damaged.
"Onee-san, I'm fine… so please…"
Lightning grunted and forcefully turned her around, making her squeak in surprise when she faced the wall. The woman widened her eyes at the sight, "What happened?" She asked immediately. A large diagonal cut – from Vanille's shoulder blade to the other end of her scapula was found. The blood stained through her tank top, and the hole of the fabric was as large as the cut itself. The wound didn't look too deep, but she was still bleeding quite immensely.
She kept quiet, almost as if she was refusing to answer the question.
The soldier was planning to ask; it was her job after all, to look for those who caused trouble in this boring town. "Never mind," But still, "We need to treat this, fast," She still had to take care of the situation right now. Standing up, she walked over to the cupboard and grabbed the medical kit inside, "Take off your clothes."
"W-what?"
Rolling her eyes, she dropped the box onto the floor and took off her blue gloves to wash her hands, "I said, take off your clothes. I need to wash your wound." She grabbed a towel and put it under the running tab, getting it damp enough as she waited for the girl to do as she instructed.
Hesitantly, and ever-so-slowly, Vanille's shaking hands pulled the tank top over. She dropped it to the ground and proceeded to remove the clips of her bra on her back, dropping the undergarment with her pile of clothes as well.
Lightning shook her head at the girl's slowness. "You know, at this rate, you might bleed to death?"
Vanille gasped. The woman was obviously joking, but, "I-I know… I'm sorry, I…" She swallowed, "I've never… really… stripped in front of anyone before…"
She frowned. "Well, I'm not going to film you or anything. There are no hidden cameras here either," Lightning really did not mean to say it so sarcastically.
The woman's dry sense of humour wasn't exactly lightening up her mood. Vanille kept quiet, giving Lightning the sign to do as she liked.
She shook her head once again before gently pressing the wet towel onto the huge scratch. The girl instantly tensed up; she bit onto her lower lip to hold back anymore strange noises that would escape from her throat. Lightning completely disregarded her painful reactions and continued. As she dabbed the wound lightly, she observed the cut and realized that whatever scratched her was a typical pocketknife in which anyone could buy from any dollar store.
Well, now, this was as awkward as hell. Vanille was so embarrassed, she couldn't move a muscle. It seemed as if this woman was her personal nurse or something. Not only that, but… even though Lightning already told her that it was alright, she's been living in her house without having to pay! And she did not even tell her how long she was going to stay—
"Come here,"
"… Eh?" Vanille looked back. The woman pointed at the room across the opened door, which was hers.
"Your bleeding isn't stopping, it'd be best if you're on your stomach."
The girl nodded her head and proceeded to the room while Lightning picked up the medical kit and followed after her.
"Lie down," She said simply, pointing at her bed. The girl obeyed without saying a word – quite a relief to Lightning since she didn't really wanted to start any unnecessary conversations. The wet towel still in her hand, she sat down on the edge of the bed and pressed the towel onto Vanille once more, this time with more pressure. Then, Lightning could see the girl clenching her fists as she was trying her best to endure the pain; her face was also buried in the soft white pillow – she was probably fighting back tears.
Vanille continued to think. She wondered if she was a hassle. She wondered why the soldier hasn't questioned her. She also wondered why this woman was willing to help her so much – unconditionally. Suddenly, all these thoughts were overcome by the pain on her back, which prevented her from coming up with a conclusion. She gritted her teeth as a sharp spasm shot all over her body – itch? Pain…? – Most likely the latter, but she couldn't really tell.
Thinking that it's been long enough, she removed the wet towel that was stained with the girl's crimson blood. She grabbed the antibiotic cream from the medical kit and squeezed a decent amount onto two fingers. Next, she spread the white cream onto the girl's wound, following the red – perfectly straight – line.
"Hnn!" Whatever sound that just came out of her mouth scared the shit out of herself, for she has never made such a noise before. As more and more of those painful chills poured into her cut from the woman's touch, she began to lose it; Vanille could no longer stay still.
"Don't move," Lightning commanded, holding her down by grabbing onto her shoulders.
"It… it hurts…" She moaned.
The woman frowned. "It's just for a bit," She released her and continued to apply the cream around the cut. Normally, after cleaning out wound, she would put on bandage right away, but… who knows what kind of germs were in whatever cut her? As she moved her fingers closer to the middle of the scratch which, probably, was where the knife cut her the deepest, the girl's hand clenched harder at the sheets, almost ripping them. Her other hand was desperately searching for something to grab onto so that she could channel the pain away, and naturally, Lightning couldn't keep her eyes off it – because it was so damn distracting.
"Will I… will I need stitches?" The redhead forced the words through the pain.
"If you keep moving, then yeah, most likely."
"Oh…" She murmured. Tears began to build up as she thought about it, "I… I won't m-move…"
Lightning held back a chuckle; the girl almost sounded cute just now.
"I won't have to go to the hospital, right…?"
"Probably,"
"Oh… no…"
The woman sighed. "Just stay still," She could tell Vanille's grasp on the sheets was tightening, almost to the point where the fabric would rip, "And I guarantee you won't need stitches." Finally done, she wiped her oily fingers with a tissue she grabbed nearby, "I'm going to patch you up now."
Weakly, Vanille pushed herself up, with her back still facing the soldier. She crossed her arms – whether it was for warmth or privacy, she had no idea, she just did it.
Again, Lightning frowned at her slowness. When she was about to reach into the medical kit to grab some bandages, she realized that she would have to wrap them around the girl's chest – like a bra – in order to make it more secure, but…
She swallowed, staring at the embarrassed Vanille, getting nervous herself.
"Just patch her up as if you were patching up a wounded soldier, like in training!" Her inner voice reminded her. Yes, back then when she was still a rookie, not allowed to go into real battles, she had to patch up wounded soldiers from the war against Pulse. She never liked it in the Fifth Arc, it was so close to the foreign and dangerous lands below, it made her feel sick to the stomach. Often, corpses of fellow soldiers on the same squad would be brought in, and she could only blame herself for not being able to be more useful, for not being able to fight with them. Eventually, when she finally made it up to the rank of sergeant, she got sent away, back to this lonely, boring, stupid town of Bodhum.
Vanille, meanwhile, was wondering why the soldier was taking so long. Could she not find the necessary materials? Was she finally beginning to feel suspicious? Did she finally decide to give up on such a pathetic girl? Slowly, she turned her head around, enough to catch a glimpse of the woman. From her position, Vanille could tell that the strawberry-blonde was spacing out… yet again – just like how she has been lately. "Um… onee-san?" She started softly, trying to catch Lightning's attention.
Why did she get sent back anyway? Were her skills not sufficient enough? If they were, then why bother promoting her? What the hell were the higher-ups in Eden thinking…?
Getting no response, Vanille called out louder, "Onee-san,"
"H-huh?"
Her head still turned to the woman, she started, "Is there something wrong?"
Lightning blinked. God – she must have looked pretty damn stupid just now, "Oh, no, it's nothing. Turn back around,"
The girl nodded her head.
"Raise your arms," Inside, Lightning kept telling herself that she was a girl, and just because this was her first time tending wounds to a girl, it did not mean that she had to be shy about it. It was all the same.
Vanille had an idea what the soldier was going to do; she knew that there was nothing wrong with it – hell, if the soldier were a man, it'd be wrong, but – but still, nobody, nobody has ever seen her naked, let alone touch her naked. "O-okay…" But she obeyed once more, knowing that this was for her own good, and that the woman was doing it out of kindness.
"Lucky you didn't get cut right on your chest." Lightning thought. She took a deep breath, shoving the intense awkward feeling in the air away, and swiftly wrapped the bandages around Vanille's chest, making sure that she has the essential parts covered. But she couldn't help it but to notice such a big, big difference; all the people she has tended to were men (yes, she was very well aware of that), and they were always so outgoing and open with her when she treated them – actually, now that she thought about it, nobody ever treated her like a lady. Sure, she got praised once in a while for being 'too pretty to be working in the military, and should become a teacher or something else instead', but she never paid much attention to them. She avoided answering, or even reacting, to those remarks anyway. One by one, she would help the wounded soldiers; be it their legs, chest, arms, abdomen… she would simply follow orders, do her job, and tend to them. They sat there, sometimes silently, sometimes happily for god knows what reason, and sometimes even unconsciously – all depending on their situation, character, and mood. There would be no awkward tension in the air, and there would be no hesitation either. That was only because she was doing her job.
But now…
She was off work, the girl wasn't wounded from battle, nor was she a guy… was this the reason why the woman was sweating like crazy? Her hands were trembling without her knowing, and unlike the times when she wrapped bandages around those soldiers' chests where she does it firmly and professionally, she had to admit, right now, she was doing a rather half-assed job. Maybe it was just her paranoia, but she could swear that the bandages were so loose—
"Erm… onee-san…?"
Lightning looked at the back of the girl's head. "What is it?"
"C-can I… lower my arms now…?"
The woman blinked. Oh right, her arms are still up. "Yeah," She answered as simply as possible for she did not want the girl to know that she was getting nervous. "This…" She took a deep breath, "… may hurt a bit,"
"Eh—? Aah! Ow!"
Lightning has tightened the two ends of the bandages, pulling one over the girl's shoulder, and the other under her arm, almost forcefully. Next, she tied them securely at her back in a nice butterfly loop-knot. "Alright, done." Perhaps she suddenly got so careless because she wanted to get this over with. The soldier got off the bed and picked up the medical kit on the floor. "I'll, uh, check if it bleeds again later. Just tell me… if it hurts too much." Lightning quickly headed for the door, closing it gently behind herself.
Vanille, meanwhile, was somewhat shocked and dumbfounded. All of a sudden, the soldier just… sped up her wound-treating process, and then quickly 'ran' away. It was just all too surprising for her, making her unable to react properly. "Well," She stood up and walked towards the shopping bags she placed next to the host's desk, "Guess I'm still not used to your shy side just yet," Reaching into the bags for something to wear, she grabbed a very girly and, what she defined as, 'cute' bra. "Ah, this is pretty!" She smiled. Though, her expression was soon taken over by confusion, for she has realized that it was quite impossible to put on a bra with those bandages wrapped around her that were already acting as one.
"I insist!" The girl said happily as they walked through the market. Even in the evening when the sky is dark, this area of the town was still quite crowded.
Lightning rolled her eyes, "Just because you didn't cook for me, it doesn't mean you have to treat me,"
Vanille chuckled. She skipped on ahead with her hands clutched behind herself and faced the woman, "Well, onee-san, I think it's only appropriate for me to treat and cook for you…" Standing right in front of the taller woman, she made Lightning stop walking. "I know you've been telling me not to worry about it, but I still feel bad for living in your house! So please? Can I treat you? Just this once?" She clapped her hands together, bringing them close to her face with her eyes closed. The girl had to admit, she has always been proud of her own pleading abilities.
"Ugh…" The strawberry-blonde grunted and looked to the side. She bit onto her tongue, fighting the urge to shove her lame, stupid, cute request off. Her head wasn't facing Vanille, but her eyes somehow moved on their own, almost as if they were attracted to some sort of magnet – on the girl's face. From Lightning's view, she could see a little child in a very innocent position, asking, begging her older sibling to buy her candy.
"Please, onee-chan? Pretty please?" The little girl purposely changed the pitch of her voice, turning it into a very immature and squeaky sound.
The elder sister crossed her arms. "I don't know…" She turned away from the girl, "If mom found out, I'd get in trouble…"
"I won't tell her! I promise! So please buy me some candy! Pretty please!"
Vanille opened an eye, peeking at the woman as she was wondering why she wasn't responding. To her surprise, Lightning was spacing out again; she was staring into thin air, her body seemed dead, and she looked as if she would collapse if somebody made the slightest contact with her.
She sighed. Secretly, she was already planning to buy her sister whatever she wanted. "Alright, fine. I'll come with you,"
"Yay!"
"Where…"
Vanille blinked. Though she was still spacing out, Lightning just said something that she missed. "Pardon?"
She turned to the girl, "Where would you like to go?"
"Uh, err… I, uh…" Suddenly, this woman could snap back to reality; she caught the girl completely off-guard. Vanille tried her hardest to not stutter, "Um, I heard there are really good restaurants on the western beach. Should we go there and look?"
"I thought you didn't like the sunset?"
She was surprised that the woman remembered such a minor thing. Vanille could recall that she only whispered that comment to herself… on the first day they met. "Well," She pointed to the sky, Lightning followed her finger, "It's already nine-ish, I think the sun's set completely."
Lightning shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever you want," She walked on ahead, and could hear Vanille's gentle footsteps treading merrily along with her own. Shocking she could differentiate the girl's from this massive crowd.
"Do we have to go into this one?"
"Onee-san, you don't want to?" Vanille looked around the bar. She only came in because the neon sign looked the most appealing, and the fact that it looked so welcoming and popular amongst the other ones. "I'm really okay with anything. We can go to some other place – next door, even – if you don't like it here?"
Lightning nodded her head. "Yeah, let's just—"
"Sergeant Farron!" A deep, mellow, male's voice from one of the tables of the bar called out. That voice, unfortunately, brought up a lot of attention. Then, a significant number of people from different sections of the bar shifted their gaze to the entrance, which was where the woman and the girl were standing.
"Oh, god…" Lightning shut her eyes in agony.
"Oh hey, it's Lightning!"
"Light! Haven't seen you in a while!"
"Wow, you need to come down more often, Light!"
"God damn…" The woman gritted her teeth. Vanille could tell that she really wanted to disappear on the spot, but for some reason, she could see the woman forcing a smile on herself. She turned to the people and waved briefly.
"Hey, Light! Got a spot for you here!" The barmaid with long, black hair tied up in a very careless yet stylish way gestured to the two seats in front of her.
"Thanks, but I was just—"
"You're not leaving are you?" A man popped his head into the space between Lightning and Vanille, throwing the two back by surprise. Immediately, he broke into laughter, "I'm sorry, Light! Just haven't been seeing you for a while, I kinda miss you, y'know?"
The strawberry-blonde grunted a sound of annoyance. "What do you want, Gadot?" She crossed her arms.
"Relax! I'm just saying 'hi' to a friend who never visits!" His playful tone and manner of speech totally contradicted the way he looked. His attire was so sporty, he looked so buff – a bit too buff – and the colour of his unnaturally-spikey hair… "Why, hello there…" He leaned down at the redhead, "Are you Light's new prey?"
Vanille blushed at the closeness. "P-prey…?"
"Gadot, stop it," Lightning shook her head. It didn't seem like she was becoming hostile towards the huge man; rather, her manner of speech wasn't even serious.
"What? I'm just sayin', Light. You're so damn popular with guys and girls. Just look, like half of the people in this bar know you. It's just so unfair for average-looking citizens like me!"
"And me." The barmaid added.
"Not you too, Lebreau," Lightning frowned.
"Anyway," The tall man hung his arms around Vanille and Lightning, pushing them to the seats the barmaid offered, "Sit down, and try our new menu… wait, it's new to you anyhow, Light. You haven't been here since your birthday last year!"
Vanille had no choice but to sit down. She was, after all, following whatever the woman was doing. She continued to observe this interesting conversation. Indirectly, she was getting to know more and more about her host.
"Hey, aren't you being a bit rude to the young lady over there? You haven't even introduced yourself," The barmaid said as she placed two cups of water onto the counter for her customers. "And get your fat arms off them,"
"Ah," He pulled back instantly, "Sorry 'bout that, young miss." The man coughed, clearing his throat, "Gadot here. I usually help with the deliver and stuff, but most of the time—"
"He slacks off and doesn't come to work," Interrupted the barmaid, getting a glare from the tanned-skinned man. "I'm Lebreau by the way, barmaid of this place, as you can see. I've been Light's friend for a while now, so if you want to know any secrets about her, just ask me," She finished with a charming wink.
"What sort of 'secrets' are you talking about?" Lightning asked coldly.
Vanille giggled at their playful interaction. "I'm Vanille. I'm… from Eden. I'm just taking a vacation on my own."
"Wow, on your own?" Lebreau said, "For how long?"
"I'm—"
"Obviously until the next semester or something starts!" Gadot cut in before Vanille could answer. He turned to the girl, "You are in school, right? You're here for summer vacation, right?"
The girl could only blink cluelessly to his hypothesis. "Erm… y-yes, of course!"
"See? I know everything about pretty girls!"
"Oh please," Lebreau rolled her eyes. "Light, what do you want to order?"
"I wasn't planning on eating here. In fact, I was just about to leave when Gadot, here, pushed me," She rested an elbow on the counter, letting her hand support her chin.
"Oh, no, no, onee-san, I'm fine with eating here, I just thought that you—"
"Onee-san?" The man widened his eyes, "Dude, seriously, Light, how do you get so many admirers?"
Lightning didn't answer. She simply grabbed the glass of water Lebreau set out earlier and took a sip. She then turned to Vanille, "You sure you want to stay? These guys can get pretty tedious."
The girl smiled, "I'm fine, really. It's been a while since I've heard so many people talk at once, anyway."
Nodding her head, Lightning grabbed the menu slipped in between the Lebreau's working area and their counter. "Got any preferences?"
Vanille remained smiling, "I'll eat whatever you eat, onee-san,"
Gadot and Lebreau, meanwhile, were observing the girls' actions. Then, their eyes turned to each other discreetly, almost as if they were sending secret messages through the air. This sight was extremely strange to them, as Lightning rarely, rarely brought people along to eat with her. Well, she probably did before all of that happened—
"Alright." Lightning put down the menu, "Lebreau, we'll go with whatever the special is for today. And stop looking at me weird."
"Heh," The barmaid smirked, "Didn't think you'd notice me checking you out," She said jokingly.
"Uh huh," The strawberry-blonde rested her head on her palm again.
"Would you want a drink with that? Preferably alcohol, I suppose?" Gadot cut in once more. Then, he turned to Vanille, who was still maintaining that smile on her face, "Did y'know Light's alcohol tolerance level is inhuman?"
Lebreau nodded avidly, "Definitely. She can take up to twenty shots without having to puke."
"Twenty shots!" Vanille spun her head around to look at the woman, who still had that bored look.
The tall man walked around the counter, standing right beside Lebreau and leaned on his elbows so that he wouldn't appear too tall to everyone, "Yeah. Like last year, we made her drink twenty shots to match her age, and she really did it." He glanced at Lightning, who was looking elsewhere, still uninterested in the conversation.
"Getting red was the farthest she went. We actually wanted to see what kind of drunk she would be – happy, angry, or sad," The barmaid commented as she dried a couple of glasses with a towel.
"Wow!" Vanille said in amazement, "That's incredible! Onee-san, you should go join some alcohol-drinking contest or something!"
Lightning ignored her. "And you guys are telling her this because…?"
"Just sharing, Light, don't worry." Gadot snickered.
The redhead stared at all the different coloured alcohol bottles on the shelves behind the barmaid, "I've never seen anyone take up to twenty shots – at least consciously – in real life before…"
"Oh, I'm sure you will. Light's birthday is coming up soon,"
She sat up straight and grinned, "Soon? Really?"
"Soon enough," Lightning cut in.
"Maybe you should come down on that day? Food will be on me, how's that?" Lebreau suggested. "In return, you'll only have to take twenty-one shots." It seemed to Vanille that the soldier's friends really want to socialize more with her. Gadot was looking hopefully at Lightning, and Lebreau was trying her best to look like she wasn't begging her.
Then, she decided to join in, just to give the woman some pressure. "Yeah, onee-san! It would be fun!"
"Yuj and Maqui will come too!" Gadot added, "Actually, all of Bodhum will come if they know that it's your birthday, Light!"
"Oh god, no. It's not necessary to inform the entire town,"
"Then you'll have to come! Or the whole town will make you."
"I might have work,"
"Amodar would let you off if you asked. You've never used any of your vacation time anyway,"
"I'll think about it,"
"It's your birthday, Light! Can't you relax for once?"
Her frown became bigger, "I'll think about it," She repeated.
Seeing the disappointed faces of the two, Vanille couldn't help it but to notice the strange awkwardness. Well, this was just how the woman was; she's always replying and acting so coldly, making it impossible for people to talk to her, but for some reason, she's still likable and, well, it's just impossible to have any hatred towards her. "Aw, come on, onee-san! Or would you rather spend your birthday all alone with me? I can't guarantee that I'm going to make you a good dinner on that day…"
"M-make her dinner…?" Gadot coughed. He had his eyes widened and jaws dropped. "Light, you live with her!"
Lightning raised a brow. She did not understand why he was making it such a big deal, "Technically, she lives with me."
"Heh… Light showing hospitality to people? That's a first!"
"Forget that, Lebreau, little miss here is living with the ice-cold Lightning Farron! How's it like, Vanille? Does she crawl in bed with you at night? Does she make you cook for her naked? There has to be some crazy, insane thing she does secretly that makes everyone so attracted to her,"
"What makes you think that by getting someone to cook for her naked would get them attracted to her?" Lebreau gave the tall man a look of disgust, "Jeez, Gadot, I see what unsightly fetishes you have now,"
He smirked, "Well?" His eyes were still glued onto the redhead, waiting for an answer.
"Uh… um…" Vanille's face reddened. Even someone as slow as her could tell where he was going. "No… she doesn't make me do anything strange… and we sleep separately, so…"
"Aw, damn! That's lame!" He threw his arms in the air with disappointment, "And I thought for sure something good happens when two pretty girls live together," The man yawned, letting out a loud howl. "Well, I'm just surprised that you can tolerate her bitterness. If I were to live alone with her, I might hang myself due to the stress,"
Vanille giggled at his joke, "Onee-san's not that bad! She does talk…" She turned to the woman, "… Once in a while,"
"Rarely, you mean." Gadot added, "Even her little sister couldn't stand her and— OW!" He bit onto his tongue to stop himself from screaming out loud; Lebreau just stepped on his foot with her own, and she was wearing high-heels. Eyeing the barmaid painfully, he got a smile from her – a very fake smile – in return. Then, he realized that he just said something he shouldn't have – a taboo. "Err…" Turning slowly to the customers, he had hopes of changing the subject, but everything in his mind warped into a trance of fear and murky darkness once he caught a pair of azure eyes glaring at him dangerously.
Vanille, as an observer, saw the whole thing. From the part where Lebreau cut Gadot off, to the part where Gadot turned into stone once he came in eye contact with Lightning… Vanille noticed all of it. She couldn't stand the silence that overcame them all of a sudden, "Onee-san," The girl called, putting a hand on Lightning's shoulder.
She finally pulled her attention away from Gadot. Her eyes softened up before turning to the girl, "What is it?"
Vanille smiled, "Do you want to go for a walk after this?"
"A walk?" Lightning said, "Why?"
"You said that you don't like it when the beach is empty at night," She pointed outside, "This beach is loaded with people! So I just thought… maybe you can enjoy your time here, just for a bit?" The girl knew very much that what she just suggested was the most random thing ever, but to break that awkward tension, it was just done out of desperation.
Lebreau cleared her throat, "Yeah Light, you never hang around here, so why not? Night view on this beach is as pretty as the one on the east side," She nudged her elbow against the taller man.
"Uh, erm, yeah! I'll treat you guys to dessert or something?" Gadot said nervously, still unable to get over that glare from Lightning.
"It's not necessary," The woman shook off his offer. She looked back at Vanille, "Fine, we'll go for a walk."
The girl nodded happily.
Trailing closely behind the woman, Vanille's eyes glued onto the flowing crimson cape behind her. It was just… safer… for the girl to not come so close to her. That's why the distance right now was just about enough. During dinner, Lightning remained silent as she chatted easily with Lebreau and Gadot. The three of them got along quite well; there was no barrier between them, and Vanille easily made two new friends that night. It was still strange to her, however, as the woman could suddenly become so hostile towards the poor Gadot with only a simple comment.
A comment?
What was it that he said? Something about her little sister, she could recall. Come to think of it, in that family portrait under Lightning's TV, there was another little girl other than the woman, and then there was also that other room that no one ever entered. Was there some sort of unspeakable event that happened to the younger Farron sibling? Could that be the reason why the woman has been spacing out— "Oof!" She bumped into Lightning, who suddenly stopped walking. "S-sorry, onee-san, I wasn't looking when I…"
"Hey,"
Vanille blinked in confusion. What's this all of a sudden? "… Yes?"
Lightning turned around slowly, without bringing her head up to look at Vanille. She clenched onto her fist, "Is it… really that hard to… to…" Her voice became softer, but the girl was still listening, "To, like, live with someone like me…?"
"No, no, not at all!" She answered right away. "Onee-san, you're… well, okay… if you talked more, then it'd be easier. Still, I wouldn't say that it's 'hard' to live with you." Vanille wasn't really confident with her answer. Was she a bit too harsh? She was just being honest, so…
"Hm," The woman turned back around and continued to walk. "I see." She gave her the simplest and the most dull response.
Vanille did the same thing, once again trailing close behind. "That went well." For fun, she stepped onto the woman's footprints in the sand; it made her feel like a child again, as she only did this with her friends when she was younger. The waves washing up on the shore were only inches from where they were, and it never came to Vanille that walking by the shoreline could be this soothing. The cool ocean breeze, the fresh ocean smell, the bright white and blue lights in the sky, the people lying on the sand, minding their own business… Then, something caught her attention. It was a large dome-like, transparent tower, at least thirty stories high, sitting at the end of the beach. Out of curiosity, she walked on ahead of Lightning, but stopped so that they wouldn't be too far apart, "Onee-san, what is that?" She pointed at the tower.
Lightning squinted her eyes to get a better view. "That thing gets moved to the centre of the ocean here during Bodhum's annual fireworks festival day," She caught up to Vanille, "The fireworks are set off inside, so there will be no pollution in the air."
"Hehhh…." She tapped a finger against her chin. "Onee-san, when is the festival? Will I be able to see it before I leave?"
"You're not leaving until the next semester starts, which, I suppose, isn't until three months later, right?" Lightning received a nervous smile from the girl, "Then you'll see it, soon enough,"
"Great!" She skipped ahead, "Can we take a closer look at that?"
Seeing that there was practically no one at the base of the said tower, she shrugged her shoulders and followed the girl, who was already quite far away. Lightning did not find the need to keep up; she simply walked on at a lazy pace.
Vanille was glad that her ankle's gotten better over the past few days, otherwise she wouldn't be able to skip so easily. She approached the hollow and strange-looking tower with glee, unable to hold back the impending excitement she held for the festival and Lightning's birthday – whenever they might be. Which reminded her, maybe she should get her host a present—
"Hello there, little girl," A familiar voice slithered into her ears. The redhead shivered to the sound.
"How's that wound of yours? Oh, you changed into new clothes?" Two men appeared from behind the dome, "Why would you do that? The custom one we made for you this afternoon was sexy enough…"
Vanille's feet moved on their own; she stepped back, hoping that she could get away unlike earlier today—
"What was it like this afternoon? 'Let me go! Please let me go!' – something like that?" One of them mocked.
"No, there was more moaning involved!" The other laughed, "And she sounded way more sexual than that!"
Vanille was trying so hard to hold back those tears, but she couldn't stop herself from shaking. She couldn't bring herself to move anymore, because it disgusted her – all the sounds she made, everything, all of it just echoed and resonated against her will, it was just so frustrating—
"Shit, I can't wait to touch her again…" One of the bigger men closed his eyes. His hands started to create squeezing motions while the other man licked his upper lip sadistically, eyeing the girl's slender legs.
"No…" Vanille forced the remainder of her will into her legs, getting ready to run. She had to; there was no way she could listen to any more of this torture. Taking one big breath, she prepared herself, she—
A hand tapped her lightly on the shoulder, making her turn around immediately.
— She gasped. It was none other than Lightning. How could she have forgotten? She was behind her all this time. "Onee-san…" It took all of her to call out to Lightning. Then, something came over her. All of a sudden, she really, really, really wanted to hold onto the taller woman. As a pillar – just some sort of support. She just needed something…
"Oh, man, it's her again,"
"Sorry, sergeant, didn't see you there," He lied. "Too busy flirting with little slut over there, y'know?"
"Onee-san, can we just go…?" Vanille couldn't bring her head up to ask the question. All she knew was that she wanted to disappear on the spot.
"Slut?" Lightning ignored the girl's desperate request. More like, she didn't even bother looking down at the redhead. She was simply looking at the men, eyeing them with an uninterested and bored expression. "By any chance, was it you two who gave her this scar?" Lightning wrapped an arm around the girl, her palm rested lightly on her back where the cut was. Unintentionally, she pulled Vanille closer to herself.
Naturally, Vanille's forehead rested on the woman's shoulder, where her strawberry-blonde waves rested. The sweet scent coming from her hair somehow loosened the girl up. She closed her eyes and the tears squeezed past her eyelids, streaming down her flushed cheeks. Her lifeless arms at her sides also moved up, her fingers clenched onto the soldier's white Guardian Corps vest by the waist.
"Yeah, what are you going to do about it?" One of them started to provoke the woman, "You don't have that god damn weapon with you, so how are you going to deal with us today, huh?"
Lightning smirked. "I cannot recall that I needed my weapon to deal with you two last time,"
"Oh, so you're gonna beat us up now, huh? Hurting two innocent civilians… is that really what a soldier of the Guardian Corps is supposed to do? Oh wait, you're not on-duty, so wouldn't that… strip you of your rank for violating the laws or some shit?" He approached the two confidently, his arms crossed. "Are you willing to take that risk?" He whispered into Lightning's ear. "Man… and my wrist still hurts from what you did to me last week…"
She could feel Vanille shake, her head burying more than it possibly could into her shoulder. The man's breath reeked of tobacco – not that she minded the smell, but her personal bubble… it was clearly getting violated. "Are you retarded?" Lightning whispered.
"What was tha—" He was thrown back by a punch, directly in the face, and fell onto the sand. Covering his face with a hand, he started with his teeth gritted, "What the fuck!"
The other man, without thinking twice, ran past his friend, and pounced at the two. Without moving her place, Lightning lifted her leg a bit. The incoming figure couldn't stop himself from crashing his crotch against the woman's knee, and as he fell, an elbow struck his back, making him fall face-flat onto the sand. It was obvious that he went out cold after the last strike.
Lightning let out a huff, "Self-defense." She shrugged her shoulders, "I didn't mean it, sorry." Her sarcasm wasn't amusing to the downed men at all. "But… I do not think it is necessary to lie. After all, there really is no reason for the people from the Guardian Corps to listen to explanations, especially if they're from lowlifes like you two." Getting no response, she gave that infamous glare she possessed to the man whose face was bleeding from her punch, "Now, if you want to get that nose back in place, you'd best stay here. I already contacted the base before all of this happened. They're going to be here any time." Lightning released the girl, but Vanille still had her head hid on her shoulder and fingers clenched onto her vest.
"Fucking woman…" The man wiped the blood off his face, but couldn't stop the red liquid from pouring out of his injured nose.
She smirked again, "I actually had no intention of hurting you two before. I only did so because you admitted so proudly that you were the culprits who gave this girl that cut."
"Onee-san…" Vanille brought her head up, somewhat touched by those simple words.
Lightning pulled back from the girl. She started to walk back, to the direction they came from. "Let's go, Vanille."
Her eyes widened. This was… the first time ever for the soldier to call her by name, and she was more than pleased to hear that. She caught up to the woman, this time confident enough to walk by her side, and not behind her.
Record-breaking update time! Finally something interesting happens! D:
This chapter turned out to be way lengthier (18 pages omg) than I intended it to be, and I really don't like that. I'll try to keep it shorter for the upcoming chapters.
Thanks for all the reviews, favourites etc. so far! Keep them coming :)!