Chapter 14 - Hope I
"Get out! S-stop… stop it!" Of all the people in the world, Lightning was stammering.
"But you're cute with this!"
"Vanille, I'm not joking. You better get out now, or I'm going to—"
"I just want to dress you up!" She grabbed another girly piece of clothing out of the closet.
"Like I said…" She would be fuming right now if this person were anybody but Vanille. Lightning sighed and watch powerlessly as the girl searched (raided) through her collection of clothes. Now she understood why Serah often volunteered to clean her closet… all along, her clever little sister was sneaking random presents in there. Lightning had to admit though, she did feel guilty for not finding out about this sooner. All the poor girl ever wanted was for her older sister to be happy. But, really, Serah was (too) professional at being so sneaky; had Lightning not known any better, she would think that the younger Farron was in charge of some smuggling business.
Vanille shoved a lacy top into the woman's arms. "Come on. Surely, even you would want to dress up nicely once in a while, right?"
"No, I don't." Lightning replied coldly.
The girl frowned. Her shoulders dropped and her energetic stance was replaced by a saddened one. "Please dress up?"
"… No." She looked away and crossed her arms.
"Onee-san…" Vanille whined.
Lightning peeked at the shorter girl at the corner of her eyes and saw Vanille making a saddened smug face – crap, she was going to fall for it – Her eyeballs shot elsewhere."I said no…"
Yet she was nowhere near giving up. Vanille took a step in, so that their faces were inches apart. Looking up at Lightning's superior form with huge, green, puppy eyes, she tried again, "Pretty please? For me?"
With that cute voice, the woman's head was drawn, like a magnet, back to face Vanille. And, damn those dazzling eyes, she could feel her heart melt at sight. What was worse, was that a faint fragrance of something sweet… something distinct, special, unique, and can only be described as Vanille-like reached her nose. Yes, this Vanille-like sweetness tickled her senses, and she instantly felt weak at the knees – paralyzed, even. Her usual piercing azure eyes softened into mere cotton-candy blue when they nervously (disobediently) began to observe the girl from head to toe, and then, seeing that adorably innocent expression on her, she smiled the slightest, tiniest smile.
Damn it.
No, no, no. Lightning shook the smile away. She wasn't going to fall for the girl's beauty – uh – criminal tactics again. She really ought to stop herself from spoiling Vanille so much, as she was a sergeant of the Guardian Corps; she was a high ranking soldier, for crying out loud. She was merciless to convicts and civilians alike, and this redhead, this… adorable, lovely, sweet girl was no different.
… Really…?
Okay fine. Maybe there was just one thing that was different. It wasn't anything special, nor was it anything peculiar, yeah. It was just that Lightning was, well, kind of… really in love with her. It was a small thing, surely; nothing to worry about.
To Vanille, who was watching closely, Lightning's facial expressions were changing in the strangest ways. One second, she looked completely emotionless and then suddenly, she looked as if she was driven by all the happiness in the world… but it all broke down again when a frown appeared. The girl was starting to wonder if the woman was going through a mental breakdown… over clothing. She wasn't surprised, however, as she did have this one friend back on Gran Pulse who, she remembered, hated wearing the girly, sexy, revealing clothes that she herself had always adored. Still, her friend's choice of style was always something equally revealing, but the way she wore her clothes was way more fashionable and elegant. This strawberry-blonde, her lover, like her friend, had a similar dressing code; revealing, but at the same time, reserved. It only described to Vanille how humble of a person the soldier was, but she really wished that Lightning would make use of that awesome body figure she had. It wouldn't hurt to wear something other than hoodies, t-shirts, or anything baggy when she wasn't in that uniform (which, by the way, she had to admit that it was probably one of the few pieces of clothing that helped show off her curvy form). On the upside however, Lightning did not mind showing off those toned arms and legs of hers.
Much to her dismay, the moment of silence they just shared softened her heart even more; she was going to give in completely.
Only because she was Vanille.
Lightning cleared her throat. "Just don't make it pink."
"Hm?" Vanille blinked.
She rolled her eyes. "I don't… want to wear anything… pink." Lightning mumbled.
Her mouth hung open slightly. She stared at the taller woman in awe.
This was supposed to be the part where she would laugh, but why did she look so dumbstruck? "My hair…" She continued to mumble, "… blends in with pink clothes…"
Vanille finally choked.
"… and I don't look good." Her eyes shifted to the corner of the room.
Her conclusion turned Vanille's confused look into one of joy. She chuckled lightly and released the piece of clothing she was holding onto, letting it fall to their toes. Vanille circled her arms around Lightning's neck. "Onee-san, you'd look good in anything." Her words caught the woman's wandering eyes. She grinned in return and tiptoed to peck Lightning on the tip of her nose. "Because you're the prettiest person I've met in my life!"
That bouncy, happy voice deepened the pinkness on her cheeks into a shade of red. "Tch." Lightning pouted – yes, pouted – and still refused to look back at the girl. "Flattering me won't do you any good."
"Oh?" Curious, she tilted her head. "But I'm not flattering, I'm telling the truth…"
"Whatever, just… just hurry up and pick something. I want to eat."
"So you're letting me?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess so."
"Yay!" The girl cheered. She leapt happily to the closet, over the piles of clothing she took out, and grabbed something that wasn't pink. "Truth is, I just want you to wear something tight. Like, something that would stick to your waist because, really, all the baggy and loose stuff you wear don't show off your body enough."
Lightning lifted a brow. "What are you talking about?" She crossed her arms, "Why would I want to show off my body?"
Vanille huffed and turned around, resting her hand on her hips as if she were ready to scold a child. "Make use of your model-like body, onee-san!"
"Model-like body?" The woman repeated, looking down at herself, and then back at the girl. "This?" She gestured at her upper body.
The redhead nodded. She tried her best to hide any hint of jealousy.
Lightning exhaled. "Uh… Vanille, just because I'm slightly tall…"
"No! It's not just your height, silly."
She grimaced. "I really don't get what you're—"
"Oh, it doesn't matter anymore." Vanille sighed. She could not understand why this woman was so slow when it came to the most typical of things. "You'll see what I'm getting at once I dress you up."
Lightning shrugged her shoulders. "Fine."
"Good," She crouched to pick up the piece of clothing she dropped earlier, "Do you like this? I think it would fit you perfectly—" The girl cut herself off. Lightning… Lightning was…! "O-o-onee-s-san, what… what are you…!" Lightning was getting rid of her clothes – she was stripping… and now she was in nothing but a matching set of white bra and panties—
"… What 'what am I'?" She threw her pyjamas onto the bed behind her casually, "I can't try anything on if I don't take this off first."
No, it isn't that, onee-san! Vanille wanted to say, you're so… so… intimidating right now, I can't look at you directly! Her voice was clogged and she felt like she was brain-dead. Her eyes hovered from her full breasts to her abdominal muscles, down to her hipbones. Seriously, this woman's body was everything she wanted – dreamed of; it was strong, toned, yet the muscles were subtle and faint. To compare, Lightning was probably less muscular and far skinnier (in a healthy way) than any of her huntress friends back on Gran Pulse. Then again, Lightning did mention that she was more of a stealth-trained soldier rather than an assault one, and anyone would say that a quick fighter shouldn't be overly-bulky.
That's why she's so perfect. Vanille swallowed.
She continued to observe that body she idolized so much, completely unaware of the fact that she was actually staring at the woman like a creeper and was blushing madly at the same time.
Lightning, on the other hand, wasn't unfamiliar with that look on Vanille's face. All the people she had slept with pretty much behaved the same way when she stripped; this wasn't anything new. She let out a quiet huff, immediately throwing the girl's attention back onto herself. "Hm," The woman smirked when those green eyes sparkled with embarrassment, "I didn't know that you were such a pervert."
"I… p-pervert…!" At first, she was going to defend herself. She even had her mouth open, ready to argue back, but instead, her body got the better of her and she spun around in a flash to cover her eyes; her entire body shaking as if she were having a nervous breakdown. "P-p-p-put s-something on, onee-san!" Her stammering only increased her heart rate.
Amused, Lightning folded her arms. "Vanille, you're not a boy, why are you turning away?"
"B-because!" She choked, still unwilling to turn around, "… because!"
"You're quite shy for a pervert, aren't you?"
"I-I-I-I am not a pervert!" She blurted, futilely trying her best not to stutter.
"No?" A sly smile spread across her face. Lightning wrapped her arms around the bewildered girl's tiny waist, pulling her close from behind. She bent lower so that her lips were pressed against Vanille's burning, reddened ear. "Then, miss I-am-not-a-pervert, can you help me put something on? It's getting cold…"
Her soft, gentle, sexy whisper sent the most intense electric shock up her spine. Goosebumps appeared all over her skin, popping out for attention. What was more was that her tongue was locked up; she couldn't get the words out of her mouth, even if she had any.
"Vanille…"
Oh god, Lightning was purring now, and that perfume with the usual strawberry mixed with jasmine scent reached her nose, numbing her. The girl closed her eyes, indulging into the woman's touch. Her soft breasts that were pressing against her back… everything combined with those skilful hands that were deviously slipping under her shirt made it so hard to breathe. The woman bent lower to kiss Vanille's bare shoulder, breathing cool air onto her skin intentionally to tickle her. Shivering, she realized that her lungs have abandoned their duty to breathe for her – they were completely giving in to the soldier's gentleness. Lightning was so close to her… Lightning was so good—
"… is this a belly I'm feeling?"
Her closed eyes snapped open. "H-huh?"
Lightning rested her palm flat on the girl's stomach, rubbing her skin gently in a circular motion. The smoothness she felt was distraught with the scabs of the claw marks the girl gave herself, much to the soldier's dismay. But nothing ever would be able to hurt her again. "I can guarantee you that this wasn't here before…"
"Wha…!" Was Lightning calling her fat…? "What…!" She brushed the woman's arms off with force and spun around, glaring at her with a pout. "Y-you're calling me fat, aren't you!"
She grinned. "No… I'm just saying that you might've gained a little…"
"Onee-san!" Vanille cried. Her childish voice made Lightning snicker. "You ruined the mood— I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!" She yelled repeatedly, hammering the woman at her shoulders with her fists. How could she ruin such a perfect moment?
Lightning could only laugh, but she figured that it was best to apologize; it was a taboo, after all, to make fun of a girl's weight. "Hey, I'm only joking. Calm down."
"No!" That angered expression never subsided, "Onee-san, I hate you!"
She smirked again. An angry Vanille was cute too, with that flushed face and everything. Lightning caught both the girl's fists before they could throw her anymore of those painless punches. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Lightning purposely bent lower so that they met at eye-level, "Forgive me?" She mused.
"Hmph," She looked away, "Why should I?"
"Because…" Lightning improvised, "… because you have to."
"Not good enough."
Never did she have to make people forgive her. People just did it, naturally. "Alright…" She was going to regret this, Lightning thought, as she was about to do something really out-of-character. "Will you forgive me if I…" She pecked the girl on the cheek, "… did this?"
No response. The girl still had that slight, pretty grimace.
She was nowhere close to giving up. Lightning kissed her other cheek. "How about now?"
Again, nothing.
Fine. If the girl wanted to play it this way, the woman had no other choice. She pecked her cheek again, then her other one, then her forehead, her brow, her other brow, eye, nose, chin, neck, back to the cheek, the other cheek, forehead, brow, eye, nose, chin, neck, repeat. She could do this all day.
Vanille wasn't going to give in that easily, but she couldn't contain her giggles. She tried to push Lightning away, though the woman persisted; she came in closer, kissing her harder yet keeping that playful rhythm whilst smiling to their silliness. However stronger she was compared to Vanille, Lightning had to admit that the girl was still quite powerful herself. The redhead, without warning, pushed forward, her body slumped onto the woman. The sudden weight distracted the soldier, and taking that advantage, Vanille swiftly slipped out of Lightning's grip and swapped places – with her now holding onto the woman's hands.
Lightning attempted to draw back by stepping backwards, but was cut unsuccessful as she fell backwards onto her bed, with Vanille falling on top of her. She had the feeling that the girl was still mad, but that thought disappeared once she saw her grinning so lovingly at her.
Vanille let out an expected giggle, one that was cuter than last time, making the woman below shudder. Catching the soldier's azure eyes briefly, the girl quickly looked away out of embarrassment. "Onee-san, put something on…" The volume of her voice was just above a whisper.
"Only if you forgive me." She teased, lifting her head up to kiss Vanille lightly on her flushed lips.
She tried to frown, but the kiss forced her to smile. "You're… going to have to do better than that… to convince me."
Totally ignoring the fact that she was the one who was half-naked, and was being pinned down, Lightning eyed the girl with a cunning smile. Vanille reacted by eyeing her back with a forced-angered look; the two locked themselves together in a strange, competitive staring contest. "You do realize you're talking to Lightning Farron, right?"
"Oh," She raised her voice an octave higher, "And you're implying that this woman by the name of Lightning Farron is someone whom I have to be afraid of?" Vanille released the woman's wrists. Her hands followed the smoothness of Lightning's arm, slowly making their way to her broad shoulders.
She liked this. The soldier liked this game. It was nice to see Vanille being so daring for once. "Well," She played along, "You don't have to." Distracted by the spaghetti strap of Vanille's tank top that fell over her shoulder, Lightning fought the urge to pin the girl down. Damn it, she wanted to take over. Her eyes shifted back at the girl, "But you should." And then her attention was taken away again, this time by Vanille's modest, sexy cleavage.
Vanille paid no attention to her warning, for she was far too busy tracing her finger on that well-defined collarbone of Lightning's. Leaning in closer, she whispered, "I should…" her breath brushing gently over the woman's pale lips, "… But I'm not… not anymore." Vanille did not allow any form of hesitation fill her; she just wanted to enjoy this. Kissing Lightning was the most she could ever do, so she did it with vigour, with vitality, with love.
Lightning relaxed herself, granting complete control to the girl.
And it was this gentleness from the woman that made Vanille realized how much more she wanted to do with her. She invited herself into Lightning, tasting the bitter aroma that filled her beloved's mouth from the coffee she had earlier. Vanille herself hated coffee, but she did not mind the taste one bit if it came from the woman's mouth. "Onee-san…" The girl mewled. She needed this, Vanille convinced herself. She needed Lightning – every part of her. Her fingers buried themselves deep into the soldier's soft hair, combing through its smoothness in a pressing thirst.
Please stop me.
She grabbed one of Lightning's hands and guided it to her rear, urging her to touch her, to feel her.
"Slut."
… No…
"Slut."
… I'm… I'm not…
"Did you think you could overcome me?"
Please… leave me alone…
"Slut."
Go away…
"Stop using her as your lifeboat."
But… I love her, I… I want her—
"Love? Want? Did you mean afraid?"
I love her.
"But you're afraid of her."
Yeah… yeah she was. Vanille was anything but fearless of Lightning. But she pushed it aside. She thought that by using this need to cover the voice up, everything would work out. She just wanted a happy ending.
Onee-san, help me.
A stab in the heart. Her words in her mind felt like sharp knives. Vanille started to speak aloud, against Lightning's soft lips. "I need you so much…" She didn't mind the pain, because she decided that she was going to do it. She was going to show this guilt that she could get over it… that she could get over anything, now that she had Lightning.
But I'm afraid of you.
She kissed roughly, literally forcing Lightning to oblige to her false needs.
What am I doing…?
Did she feel it? Could she feel it? This… this mask… yet again…
Please stop me, onee-san.
She very much enjoyed the way their tongues rolled against each other. She loved how the girl would gasp every time she pulled away to catch her breath. God, she even loved the way her small frame was grinding against her own, even if it was teasing the hell out of her. Letting Vanille control her hand, she pressed and squeezed wherever the girl guided her, while her other hand roamed freely up to the girl's back as the latter bit onto her lower lip, making her groan with excitement. Her fingers continued to run up and down Vanille's back wildly, brushing over a bump under the thin tank top that seemed to be the clip of the girl's bra. She could remove it so easily, she could strip Vanille of everything, she could rip and ruin her clothes… she could ruin her, and then she could see so much more. She could do so much more – but…
"Hey," Lightning suddenly whispered when the girl pulled away to breathe.
She paused, forcing the best smile she could put up onto her face, hoping that it would be enough to make up for what she was unable to do.
It was more than enough. Lightning pulled her down for an embrace. She kissed her on the cheek before whispering into her ear, "Let's just stay like this."
"… Onee… san…"
I love her, but I'm afraid of her.
Lightning hugged her tighter, scared that she would slip away. Her sudden statement was indeed random, but she was just being herself – having the habit of getting straight to the point was probably her best and worst trait. "Is that okay?"
I'm afraid of her, but I love her.
Vanille would do whatever this woman asked her to do. She nodded and swallowed, her throat dried with nothingness. "Yeah," She whispered back, somewhat ashamed that her voice was shaking. It was so obvious; the soldier knew… she always knew. Vanille tried and tried, she wanted to make Lightning feel good, but the woman would always end up stopping her. She was being so considerate… so considerate, it was just plain unfair.
"Sorry." Lightning stroked Vanille's back to sooth her breathing.
She pulled away, exhaling with a smile. "For what?"
"For…" Lightning's eyes softened, "… for saying that you have a belly… I really was only joking."
Her grip on the soldier slackened. She wasn't apologizing for this. "Onee-san…" Vanille caressed the soldier's smooth cheek with the back of two fingers as she stared deeply into her bright, azure eyes. "I…"
"Forgive me?"
She nodded, diving to hide in the crook of her neck. "I forgive you."
Lightning smiled. Her fingers twirled themselves with those curly strands of her pigtail and she tugged lightly to experiment with her reactions. Vanille simply adjusted herself, resting in a more comfortable position on top of her. Well, they couldn't just lie here all day, the soldier decided. It was her day-off, and it'd be a waste to not spend some time with the girl, even if they do see each other so often. Right, a date was imminent. "I want something sweet to eat." She declared.
"E-eh?" Did she just hear what she just heard?
Lightning grunted and started again. "I said I want to eat something sweet."
Vanille pulled back, holding herself up with her hands on either side of the woman's head. "N-now…?"
"Yes, now. Let's go out."
She was at a loss for words for a second, and then she quickly came to when Lightning's 'request' echoed in her ears several times. She loosened up and shook her head, "Vanilla flavoured again?"
Lightning smirked. "What do you think I'd get otherwise?"
"Um…" She thought out loud, "Other flavours are good too… Like, blueberry, raspberry, cherry, and – oh, banana isn't bad, you know? I actually really like that flavour."
"I thought you liked strawberry."
She chuckled and got off the woman, reaching out a hand to help her up. "I still have other preferences, right? Seriously though, why don't you consider trying banana?"
Lightning shrugged her shoulders. "We'll see. Now, can you hurry up and get me something to wear? I'd like to stop being only in a pair of panties and bra now."
"Great," Lightning sulked as they lined up, "This is moving along swimmingly." She said as sarcastically as possible.
If only they came out earlier, there certainly wouldn't be a line. Stupid Vanille and her pickiness dragged on for the entire morning. In the end, she complied with 'something that was tight enough to show off her waist' – a black spaghetti-strapped tank top. Though her ego jumped in at the last minute before they left the apartment; she managed to slip on a looser, pale purple A-shirt over that black one, to which Vanille ultimately submitted to as the woman didn't actually look half-bad. As for her pants, she simply went with the usual khaki skirt accompanied with a pair of her modest black shorts underneath.
"Oh, don't complain, onee-san. If it makes you feel any better, there are probably so many people because the ice-cream here is good!" She hooked her arm around the soldier's. "So think of it this way: if we can endure through this line up, we'll be able to taste the best ice-cream in the world!" Vanille started to fan at the strawberry-blonde with her spare hand.
Lightning sighed. How could she be so positive under such an irritating temperature? She could swear that she would explode if they weren't in public right now. "If it turns out bad, you're sleeping on the floor tonight."
She giggled. "I'm okay with that. Onee-san would just carry me back onto the bed because she'd be too heartbroken to see poor Vanille shivering down there."
Ugh. Yeah. That was exactly what she would do. "I really have to stop spoiling you."
"That's not spoiling! That's loving!"
"Oh, okay," She rolled her eyes, "I ought to stop loving you, then."
"…"
The soldier smirked. "I'm kidding. Don't frown like that, you'll get wrinkles."
"Hate you." Vanille mumbled and feigned a look of anger.
Lightning grinned. She reached up to fix the strands of hair stuck on the girl's face. The temperature was actually more than irritating – it was near unbearable. To be honest, she couldn't wait to get some of that ice-cream to cool down, but right now, she was more concerned with Vanille, as she didn't want her to get a heatstroke on their date. Perhaps it was best to let her hide from the sun. "Hey,"
"Hmm?"
"Why don't you go find us a seat?" She cut herself off to walk forward, following the moving line. "I can line up by myself."
"W-why? You don't want me with you?"
"It's not that," Lightning laughed. "I mean you should help us secure a seat, preferably one in the shade. I don't want to have to stand up to eat my ice-cream and let it melt under the sun after I get it. With this many people lining up, I'm sure it'll be hard to find a seat, so it's quite an important job I'm giving you."
Vanille nodded slowly. "Okay then… but you are sure that you're fine without me?" She was asking in a motherly tone.
"Just go." Lightning grunted.
The girl giggled. She pecked the woman on the tip of her nose lightly before skipping off. Picking on her tough soldier was so much fun, sometimes she'd worry that she'd go overboard without knowing. But then again, Lightning herself would pick on her too, so… it was all fair, right? Vanille decided to worry about that later, as she was assigned a task – to find seats. She looked around; indeed, every single chair, picnic table, bench… just any form of seat in sight was occupied. They could sit on the grass and enjoy the wide open view of the beautiful park of Bodhum, but Lightning asked clearly for shade, so that she wouldn't have to eat under the sun. Vanille turned to look at the woman and the line to the ice-cream truck. Evidently, it hadn't moved at all. Good. She still had time to search. Vanille was afraid that she might get scolded for not being able to find shade before the soldier was done. She continued to look; by now, she had given up on seats, and was only looking for some form, any form of shade—
"Vanille-san!" A boy's voice.
Déjà vu? Didn't something like this happen before? It was the same voice too… Vanille looked to the direction of the familiar voice, and saw a teenage-looking blonde boy waving happily at her. She squinted her eyes to get a better view – the sun was right above her, but its brightness still shot into her eyes painfully, and it was rather difficult to identify who that person was when he was under the shade of a tree… oh, wait, it was—
"Maqui!" She greeted and walked over. As she approached, she noticed a younger, smaller boy with pale silver hair who was sitting across the blonde, looking at her nervously.
"Didn't think I'd see you here!" Maqui stood up, "Trying to find a seat, eh? It's kind of impossible at this time," He laughed and gestured for the girl to sit down on the other side of the picnic table. "You can sit with us if you don't mind."
She smiled. "Really? A picnic table right under the shade – that's perfect, thanks! Onee-san just told me to seats with shade… and I was getting scared that I might not find one…"
"Light-san is here too? Where is she?"
"She's getting me ice-cream," Vanille replied, the smile remaining on her face as she sat down. She turned to the silent, silver-haired boy.
He instantly looked elsewhere.
Cute. Vanille was in her nature to talk to all those who seem to be left out, and this boy was no exception. So she started, "Hello, who might you be?"
The redness on the boy's cheeks deepened.
"He's my techy-buddy." The blonde across the table explained, "You know how I work with automobiles and stuff as a hobby, right? He's just the kid that works with the vehicles' internal systems." Maqui took a huge, hungry bite to his crepe after finishing.
"Oh, wow…" Vanille nodded in admiration. The boys looked far too young to even be able to pilot or drive, so for them to alter vehicles was amazing. "Just the two of you?"
"Nah, we're meeting up with the rest of our friends later at the warehouse. We're just stopping in the shade because it's too freaking hot. We thought we might die if we didn't get something cold in our mouths soon, and coincidentally, that dessert truck was here, so… yeah, might as well." He laughed.
"Yeah, it is very hot today…" She exhaled, letting out a hot breath of air in her lungs. She wished the breeze blowing by wouldn't be so warm. Vanille looked to her side at the quiet boy. He was holding onto an ice-cream cone, and it looked as if it was going to melt if he didn't eat it soon…
W-why is she looking at me…? The boy was shivering under the summer heat, as he eyed Maqui for help, though the latter simply stared at him, tilting his head in confusion.
Vanille decided to get rid of this strange quietness in the air, and she still had to introduce herself. She reached a hand out to Maqui's 'techy-buddy'. "Vanille,"
He spun at her and blinked. "E-eh…?"
"My name," she said gingerly and scooted closer to him, "What's yours?"
… To which the boy reacted by leaning away. "Uh… um… I-I…" It wasn't like he wanted to stutter, but this girl… this really pretty girl was kind of breaking his personal bubble— "H-Hope… I'm… Hope." Hesitantly, he took her hand.
"Nice to meet you!" She gripped and shook it gently.
"Yes…" He nodded once.
Vanille grinned. Always had she been fond of quiet people like him – they reminded her so much of a certain strawberry-blonde. Widening her smile, she rested her elbows on the table, closed her eyes, and let a summery breeze blow by. The girl couldn't recall the last time she was surrounded by such a green, flowery environment. All there was left in her homeland was ashes and corpses. It had been that way for as long as she could remember. But it, too, used to be filled with colours and life, laughter and people, just like… like this mirrored world of her village…
"Vanille-san?"
She opened her eyes, the bright air stunning her briefly yet again. "Hmm?" The girl thought it was Maqui who called to her, but it seemed as though the blonde boy was far too occupied with his delicious crepe. She turned to Hope, eyes slightly widened in surprise.
"Are… are you okay?" His small voice sounded again.
Her smile came along with a sigh by accident. She stared at the boy with the intention of replying, but was suddenly lost with the thought of being enveloped by a new world. Her friends who were so much like these people – lost, gone. Her world that was so much like this one – robbed, taken away. Was she dreaming? Was this peacefulness all just an illusion? Were all these young, innocent, happy people just shadows of that one wish she made on that night? This mirrored world of her own… was it real?
"Uh…" Hope swallowed. This atmosphere was getting weirdly heavy; it wasn't every day he'd get stared at by an older girl like this. The intensity in her bright emerald eyes – what was it? He couldn't grasp the proper word, but he was certain that he had seen it before. From a woman… yes, most likely. Yet it was this intensity that stopped him from looking away; his eyes just wouldn't move… "Vanille-san…?" He forced himself to call again.
She was snapped back to her senses. "Oh, I'm… I'm so sorry…" Vanille laughed, nervously fiddling with her fingers on her lap, "I… I just…" She sighed. What could she say? Eyeing the boy's ice-cream cone shyly, she cleared her throat, "… was wondering what flavour it is…"
"Eh?" Hope blinked. He must've been thinking far too much, or was too distracted; the cone in his hand was barely touched, and under the shade, it still, amazingly, hadn't melted completely yet. But what was there to be distracted by? – She wasn't looking at you, she was looking at your ice-cream, stupid! – The boy shook away the thoughts. "You… you can try if you want," He said, his tiny voice made it seem like he was muttering, "It's banana flavoured…"
"Banana?" She repeated in a near squeal.
"Yeah," He turned the ice-cream to an untouched side, "D-do you want to try? I only took a small bite on this side—"
"Really? Y-you don't mind?"
Hope shrugged his shoulders coolly, trying to maintain a mature, gentleman-like impression for the redhead; though the deep blush on his cheeks made him look nothing more than a fourteen year-old boy.
Vanille beamed, her eyes sparkled with excitement. "Thank you, Hope!" Pulling a strand of hair behind her ear, she leaned in, and brushed the tip of her tongue with the ice-cream as little as possible.
The girl's actions happened in a flash, but to the boy, he had never gone through a longer two seconds in his young life. Sure, he admitted, the girl was pretty as hell, not to mention that her voice was sweeter than his ice-cream – wait, what! – but… damn it, when she parted those pink lips, he could feel his heart stop. When she took that light yellow cream into her mouth, when she swallowed it down, and when she smiled to herself at the taste, cold sweat squeezed out of every gland of his body. One droplet evidently streamed down his forehead; he could only hope that the girl wouldn't see because he could not freaking move to wipe it away right now.
"Yum!" She hummed happily, savouring the taste that lingered in her mouth. "Banana is good!"
His dried throat prevented him from swallowing properly. Hope nearly choked on his saliva.
"I hope onee-san is getting me banana…"
"Onee-san?" The boy tilted his head. Her sister?
"You know…" Maqui, upon stuffing the last bits of the crepe into his mouth, joined into the conversation, "… The woman you bumped into at the beach the other day. She, uh, was really tall, had pink hair… and, oh, and she was looking for Vanille-san!"
Images of the said woman popped up in his head. It was her sharp blue eyes that gave him the biggest impression. Perhaps it was because… not many people had such deep eyes? Well, minus the redhead right beside him, of course—
"Do you remember?"
He fell silent for a second, and then sighed, "… Yeah…" She was the one who bumped into me though…
Vanille chuckled. "Seems like onee-san scared you or something,"
Hope nodded. "Well… yeah, your sister is quite intimidating…"
"Sister?" The girl blinked. "W-we're not sis—"
"There you are." A feminine voice interrupted.
Everyone turned to the voice at end of the small picnic table. It was none other than Lightning, holding two cones in her hands. Maqui was the first to react. "Light-san!" He greeted and got up politely, offering her to sit down beside him, "Surprised that you can find us!"
She sat down. "I've been looking for the last ten minutes," Lightning handed Vanille her cone. "You should be more surprised that the ice-cream hasn't melted."
"Thank you!" Vanille said as she took her share. "Aw, onee-san actually listened to me this morning, and really got me banana," Her tongue flicked away the sharp tip of the cream. "That's very sweet of you."
"Only because everybody in line seemed to be going for the banana flavoured," She said coldly, her orbs boring into her white vanilla cone, "I got it because it seemed popular, not because you mentioned it."
"Oookay," Vanille rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say, tsundere-onee-san,"
"Tsu-tsundere…?" The pink-haired soldier huffed. "Vanille, you—" The air was thicker all of a second. A sharp, foreign pair of eyes was on her, Lightning could feel it. She lost the words she was about to pour on Vanille, and turned to the source of that heaviness. Oh, it was only a boy, and, wow, he was so quiet, the soldier didn't notice him until now. Lightning lifted a brow. Strange, where had she seen him before? He looked awfully familiar…
Hope immediately shot his head back down, pretending that he was never looking at the woman. Though, even he had to admit that his clumsy movements made the entire table shake; who wouldn't look at him now? Slowly and carefully, he lifted his head up, rolling his eyes almost to the back of his head just to get a view of the pink-haired lady in front of him. He only hoped that he was wrong…
"…" Lightning blinked. Kids.
The boy shot back down again. God, why was she still staring at him? No, why couldn't he look at her? He'd never done anything wrong! What was it with him and looking at pretty girls directly? Was it just nervousness? Or was it his overpowering hormones! Whatever it was, he knew he had to get over it. If not, how would he ever be able to confess to his crush? … That was… if he was ever going to get one, b-but – that was not the point—
"Hope?"
—He had to act tough. He had to push this stupid, warm feeling aside. The boy looked up again, this time refusing to pull away. He clenched his fists when the woman blinked. Hm, she's pretty too – ugh – what are you thinking!
"Hope!" Vanille called, "Your ice-cream!"
He looked down. The cone he was holding onto was crushed into mere crumbs and they, along with the light-yellow cream, fell to his upper thigh, making a sticky mess all over his pants. "Oh my—"
"We need to clean this up!" The redhead didn't let him finish. She reached into her pocket for a handkerchief and started to wipe away the mess, not even bothering to think where she was touching.
"Uh – V-Vanille-san…!" The silver-haired boy's voice turned higher for some (obvious) reason. "I-I can… handle this m-myself…!" He tried to push the girl's hands away.
"No, I got this, don't worry." Luckily, she was hungry enough to finish her own cone within seconds. Brushing away the dry crumbs with one hand, she attempted to wipe away the sticky cream with her other, totally unaware of what kind of strange sensations she was awakening within the boy's body.
"V-Vanille-san…!" Hope didn't want to give in to this… good feeling – for a lack of a better word. On any other day, if they were alone, he would totally play innocent in a more subtle way, but there were people here for heaven's sake! He was already trying his best not to look at Maqui and this girl's sister. Hope had figured that they'd be pretty flabbergasted right now, because he definitely was. Ugh, he couldn't think about it; right now, he had to stop her – he had to stop this beautiful girl from… cleaning him up – oh my god, she's touching so close – this is bliss… Hope loosened up as his eyes began to trace the girl's beautiful features. If only he were a few years older, he was positive that he'd have the guts to ask her out. She was… she was so… so…! So pretty!
If the girl were somebody else – just somebody, anybody – just… not Vanille, Maqui would be lost in an uncontrolled laughter right now. Because at this moment, from his and Lightning's perspective (thanks to the height of the table), it looked like Vanille was giving Hope a hand jo – gulp – and, damn it, Hope had that asshole-pleasure-filled face. Light-san is going to kill you, Hope! A shiver went down his spine; the thought of Lightning exploding was enough to make him pass out. He wished he wasn't the one sitting beside the soldier. He wished he didn't agree to hang out today. He wished he was just dreaming, and that the girl cleaning Hope up was just Lebreau or someone – reality check, the girl is Vanille! An inner voice suddenly cut in and told the blonde.
"Almost done, just a tiny bit more…"
Maqui's curiosity was telling him to look at the soldier's expression right now even though he could pretty much imagine what it looked like. He swallowed, and bit by bit, he turned to glance at Lightning. Oh shit.
Sure enough, the woman's eyes were glaring at… uh, Maqui didn't feel like checking specifically, but she was definitely glaring at one of the two across the table. The cone she was holding onto looked like it was about to crack, and the cream was melting – most likely because of her heated hand. Her arms, neck, and posture in general became more and more tensed as seconds went by. Eventually, a muscle flexed under the woman's eye, and whether she did it purposely or not, the blonde boy was sure as hell glad that she wasn't looking at him.
Crack.
The sound of Lightning's ice-cream cracking (exploding) in her hand was loud enough to bring back the will in him to look up. First, Hope looked at his friend, who was stiff as hell, but was gesturing at the woman beside him fearfully with his eyes. The boy did not understand at first, but when he turned to Vanille's 'sister', he was frozen into ice, right on the spot. Forget staring, the woman's eyes were piercing into his soul, extracting every ounce of warmth within. It felt like his blood was being drained, because it was getting so difficult to see and… although it was summer, those eyes alone turned the tropical temperature into one comparable to the arctic.
"Vanille," Lightning said as calmly as possible.
"Hold on, I'm almost… aaaand… there!" She spun around to the woman, "What is it, onee-sa—" When she caught those eyes, the same arctic coldness was passed onto her. She had seen something similar before – it was back then in the alley; although that was far more serious… those eyes even had the intent to kill. Right now, she just seemed pissed.
The woman stood up. "We're leaving." She didn't bother to wait for an answer and stormed off.
Vanille sighed. She stood up as well, "Sorry to have ruined your mood, guys. We'll talk again next time, okay?" The girl ran after Lightning.
The sounds of her footsteps faded away, and Maqui finally let out a breath of relief. He fell flat onto the table, "Whew, holy crap, that was the scariest moment of my life!" He cried into the table, his voice muffling against the wood.
It took Hope a bit longer to come back compared to the blonde, but when he did, he had to relearn how to breathe. Taking a few steady gasps, he started, "I… I must've gotten Vanille-san in trouble…"
"Oh yeah, you sure did. How could you be so stupid! Dropping your ice-cream like that!"
"I didn't know she would come to clean up my crotch!"
"Couldn't you have pushed her away, you dumbass?"
"I—" He didn't know what to say. Well, of course he did, "… I… didn't know how… she was being so nice…"
The blonde sighed again. "Listen, man, if you don't want to mess with Light-san, I suggest that you back away from Vanille-san…"
Hope grunted angrily. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." What a possessive sister Vanille-san has…
"Onee-san! Onee-san, wait for me…"
Lightning stopped her tracks. Vanille followed shortly when she was a few feet away. They were alone in a garden-like place; a classy fountain made out of marble was in the middle of the circular area, and they were surrounded by tall, cleanly cut shrubs.
The girl wanted to take the time to admire her surroundings, but she had more important things to worry about. Slowly, she took careful steps towards the soldier, afraid that any sudden movements would make her go berserk. "Onee-san? Is there something you want to tell me?" She asked softly.
Clenching her fist, Lightning spun around.
Vanille was relieved to see that the angered look had softened a little.
"Don't… do that…" The woman mumbled.
She stepped closer. "Don't do… what?"
Lightning was ashamed to admit that she, the high-ranking sergeant of the Guardian Crops couldn't say something so trivial properly. "I said don't…" Her teeth were gritted, she wasn't speaking normally.
"Hey… what is it?" The girl took one of her hands.
She sulked. "Don't touch… other people…"
"Hmm? But I was only helping him clean up…"
"Did you know where you were cleaning?"
"I – just his…" She dropped her jaws. "His…!" A familiar redness crept up her neck to her cheek. The image of her cleaning the boy's... pants was just… a-and she didn't notice it – what! "EHHHH!" Beyond embarrassed, Vanille slapped her flaming cheeks with distress.
"Yeah, now you know."
"I…! Onee-san, I swear, I didn't… I didn't mean to do that, I…! I just wanted to help him, really, I—!"
Lightning jolted her head away. "It's not that I'm pissed off about…"
"…"
She pushed past her shyness. "I don't like it when people look at you like that…"
"Look…? W-who…" Oh. It all made sense now. "O-onee-san, are you jealous of that boy?"
Lightning widened her eyes. "J-jealous?" She glared down at the redhead, "W-why would I be jealous of a boy!"
Vanille giggled. "Why wouldn't you?"
"Wha…!" The soldier folded her arms and continued to sulk. The image of Vanille touching someone else other than herself made her blood boil, yet she managed to maintain her cool posture. "I don't know what you're talking about."
A light bulb lit at the top of Vanille's head. She tiptoed until their faces were dangerously close. Lightning naturally stepped back to avoid closeness; she was still angry, after all, but the girl pressed on. "Hm, I guess you're kind of like Hope,"
"Huh?"
"I mean, both of you are super shy, quiet, reserved… not to mention cute," Vanille's insides were jumping with joy when the soldier's eyes were widening once again in disbelief, "Though, I have to say that Hope is a tiny bit cuter…"
Lightning's initial reaction was to push her away, but she was overcome by a strange… saddened… cold feeling. Her inner brows rose against her will and her sulk softened into a frown, her lower lip nearly pursed.
Her heart almost melted when she saw that abandoned child-like face. Vanille wanted to hug her with full strength and never let go. She was right; Lightning was like the boy – like a child. Who knew such a cold soldier would store emotions like that? Compassion was one thing, but this! Vanille could no longer resist; she threw her arms around Lightning's neck and kissed her on the cheek. "Hope is cuter, but I love you."
She raised a brow. "… That… doesn't even relate…"
Vanille laughed. "Exactly, so why do you have to worry?"
Lightning clicked her tongue. "I'm not worried," She pulled back to look at the redhead, "Just that… I didn't like the way he looked at you. That's all."
"Oh? But that only proves that your girlfriend is attractive. Shouldn't you be proud?"
Smirking, she leaned in so that their foreheads touched. "Only I can check you out." Lightning hissed.
Vanille shivered. She smiled and kissed the woman, giving her the upper-hand as she parted her lips so that she could explore her this time.
The banana taste that was still in the girl's mouth turned her on. And, strange, it wasn't as good people described it as. Why were they all lining up for this? She'd much rather have her vanilla over this. Drawing back, she licked her lips and smirked that sexy smirk at the shorter girl, to which the latter responded by pouting. "Banana isn't all that special," Lightning said casually.
Vanille would disagree had she not try it, but since she had, she realized that the woman was right. "Yeah, strawberry is better." Staring at her pink hair, she nodded and repeated, "Mm… strawberry is way better."
Yes… I'm still alive lol. It's really hard to concentrate when you're in Japan, okay? I'm getting me some of that crepe and ice-cream right now omg. Hopefully, you guys are still following this (cries if you're not ;_;).
Reviews are always welcomed! Reading them makes me sugoku ureshii :3
PS: Does this chapter clarify what/who the 'banana' flavour is back in chapter 10? :D
PPS: The newly-added titles to each chapter help me remember what happened in them. It's nothing big, so don't think too much about it.