AN- Here we go, apologies for the absence, what with the wedding and the house full of people and the agonising I did over how to proceed with the story. If you're on Tumblr, you already know the drill. If you're not, THE STORY IS STAYING THE SAME NOTHING TO SEE HERE MOVE ALONG AND LET'S KEEP GOING HOORAY.

Walking down the hallway with an arm slung over the shorter elemental, Fang couldn't wipe the grin off her face. She felt like shouting her happiness from the rooftops, and the spring in her step was obvious. She had even managed to maintain a fully human form for a few weeks now, which was surprising to her. Not that Fang wanted to admit to anyone out loud, but maybe there was some truth in Lightning's assumption that she couldn't entirely control her abilities. She wasn't as well versed as she'd hoped.

"Hey, remember that time we got into the neighbour's yard?" She asked, bringing the bright cerulean eyes up to her own. "You know, Mrs Zan and her garden?"

Lightning rolled her eyes and hit Fang on the stomach. "You mean how you tried to climb the fence and crushed her flower bed? She looked like she was about to give you the hiding of a lifetime." She replied with a sigh. They had been trading stories all morning, as they had been doing for the last few weeks.

The memory turned a little sour when Lightning recalled that the neighbour had made cookies for them every school holiday. She had stopped after Fang and her family had disappeared. Whenever Lightning would pass her friend's neighbour in the street thereafter, the old woman would avert her gaze with a flash of sympathy and sadness on her face.

"Hey, I needed to get Vanille's ball otherwise she was gonna cry for hours..." Fang replied, defensive yet amused. She eyed the elemental's distracted expression and gave her a nudge. "Hey, where'd you go just now?" She noticed that Lightning had been like this more frequently lately, and was beginning to worry that the excitement of getting her friend back was starting to wane and the elemental was losing interest. Fang pushed the intrusive thought from her mind and tried to remain casual.

Lightning shook the memory off and tried to put a smile on her face that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Sorry. I think my mind is wandering a lot today."

It was true, after all. There was this almost… desperate need to reconnect between the two of them since the discovery of their past. Much of their conversation dwelled on the times of their childhood together, which was wonderful at first.

But a few weeks on, Lightning was beginning to find every memory that was brought up had become tainted with Fang's absence afterwards. Not that she could blame Fang for leaving, but the crippling loneliness she had felt in the wake of her best friend's disappearance meant for years of solitude and isolation, even before her own powers manifested and she had to follow suit. It made her feel guilty to think like that, considering Fang was covered in scars from her time after she had left home.

All things considered, Lightning was spared most of the prejudice because of her abilities and being picked up by Sazh early on. Fang on the other hand was exposed to the brutal, uncaring side of humanity. Both of their views were shaped directly from their experiences and no matter how much shared history they had, it didn't change the fact that they had grown up and grown apart. No matter how many times they clung to each other. Lightning was beginning to think that they were trying to force a connection that was no longer there. She hated feeling like this. To finally have a piece of her returned only to find it doesn't fit quite right.

"Clearly a lot on your mind with the way you're spacin' out today, Lightbulb. Gil for your thoughts?" Fang mused, blowing gently at the elemental's face to get her attention.

"Sorry. I… Yeah. Sazh has a meeting with some official today about piloting a program with the local schools. It's good to see that there are some... Humans... who are willing to work with us." The word always felt strange, to not refer to herself as human, and it was a concept she still struggled with despite accepting her abilities being a part of her.

A quiet scoff sounded next to her, Fang looking entirely unconvinced. The shifter moved her arm from off Lightning's shoulder and shoved her hands into her pockets with a groan. "I don't think I'll ever get used to the bureaucratic nonsense you lot do here."

They walked together in silence, though Lightning was mildly annoyed at how flippant Fang was towards the work they were trying to do here. While the shifter had still come a long way in terms of opening up to them, even before they realised their shared past... There was still a lingering feeling of disdain. Lightning tried to force the annoyance from her mind and hugged Fang around the waist.

"What was that for?"

"Nothing, I just... I missed you. That's all."

Fang chuckled quietly, returning the squeeze as they made their way towards the games room. They passed Sazh's office and heard voices coming from within. The door opened and a well-dressed tall man exited, flanked by a similarly dressed colleague. The sight of them caused polar opposite reactions with the women, Lightning's expression brightening while Fang paled and looked fearful. The elemental stepped forward and gave a small bow and then shook the hands of the men with Sazh.

"Raines, good to see you again. Rygdea, thank you for the tip on the L'cie. He has been settling in nicely." She said warmly, giving his wrist an extra squeeze.

"No problems, girly. All in a day's work. You gonna introduce me to that tall dark and gorgeous you're travelling with?"

Turning with a smile, it faltered when she saw how dark Fang's expression had become. "Uh, Fang... This is Director Raines, and his associate Rygdea. They're both from-"

"I know where they're from. Sanctum lackeys have a very distinctive stench to their boots. It's usually all the L'cie blood they trample through." Fang barked angrily, her sudden burst of anger startling the pinkette. "You wanna tell me why they're here of all places?"

Moving quickly to try to placate Fang's anger before she began to shift, Lightning stood beside her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Not everything is black and white, Fang. They're trying to help us from the inside. Not everyone in the Sanctum has the same dangerous agenda."

Jerking her arm out of Lightning's grasp, Fang growled and took a few steps backwards. "All you lot are doing is letting a viper into your nest. It'll only be a matter of time before Sanctum comes breaking down the doors to take your children in the night."

"Fang..." Lightning warned, her skin flashing briefly with the crackle of electricity. Cid held up his hand and closed his eyes, calmly requesting silence.

"Far be it for me to sway your mind, Fang, was it? But if we wanted to storm the compound we would have done it long before now, and come the minute you arrived here after your escapades at the diner."

If Cid had hoped his words would placate the shifter, if anything they had the opposite effect. Fang bared her teeth at the Sanctum official and stepped forward, her features shifting rapidly. Lightning stood in between the two of them and put her hands against the brunette's shoulders.

"Fang... They've been feeding us information to get L'cie away from the Sanctum. It's how we found Yuj. It's how we found you and Serah... Fang… Yun… Please."

The revelation seemed to calm Fang, but only slightly. "Shame you couldn't save Maqui." She spat, simmering in anger. But one look of disappointment in Lightning's eyes sent a lance of hurt through her chest. She sighed and placed a clawed hand against Lightning's neck gently. "Sorry. I... I'm gonna go take a walk and cool off."

There was a brief moment of panic that flashed in Lightning's eyes, and Fang recognised it as the same look Serah would give her every time she went on one of the many errands for Caius back at Valhalla. Like the young elemental was going to not see her again. She stepped forward and pressed her head against Lightning's forehead, closing her eyes and inhaling slowly.

"Come find me later at our spot."

An unspoken promise lay beneath the words, I'm not going anywhere. It seemed to be enough to make Lightning relax. She gave a small, relieved smile and nodded, watching Fang step back and walk out the door. Cid moved up beside her with a curious hum.

"Still holds a lot of... Animosity from the last time I saw her. Considering what she did, her anger towards me is... Misdirected."

"You... What?"

The Sanctum director sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Your friend was attempting to break her fellow L'cie out of a facility. The one she mentioned. She was too late, and lost her... Composure in her grief. The other soldiers in the compound were on orders to kill on sight. She defended herself, as expected."

Lightning inhaled sharply, holding a hand up to her mouth. She knew that Fang had violent tendencies and even had killed. But She realised she had been looking at Fang through the eyes of her childhood over the last few weeks. It was hard to reconcile the two very different people as the same person. "What... How many?"

"At least six men. But, I let her go. Gave her the chance to escape despite it. The boy was lost, I didn't see reason for anyone else to follow suit. I don't begrudge her for her actions. Sanctum is wrong for many reasons, what they did to that boy was unspeakable."

Rygdea cleared his throat behind them, drawing their focus. "Sorry to interrupt, boss. But you have a two o'clock meeting in the city we had better head to. Can't let this dental appointment run over, right?"

"Indeed. Sazh, Lightning, a pleasure as always." His eyes flashed a brilliant crystal for a few seconds before he placed his sunglasses on and stepped out of the building with Rygdea following close behind.

"How that man has been a L'cie under their nose for nearly two decades without being caught out is beyond me." Sazh muttered, shaking his head in bemusement. He gave Lightning a quick once over and coughed nervously. "So… Hex had an interesting conversation with me recently about you and Fang."

Lightning's eyes sparked dangerously and she ground her teeth in her head. "Don't start, Sazh."

"Hey. I'm not here to lecture. But I will tell you the same thing I told Vanille, Claire. Don't focus on your past with each other. It'll breed resentment faster than you can see your element strike the ground. Focus on making the active choice to build a future, together. You both gotta make the effort to move beyond your past, all of it, or you'll not be able to move forward into the future."

His final point made, he shrugged and walked off down the hallway, leaving Lightning to her thoughts.

Fang dangled her legs over the cliff edge by the waterfall, watching the sun set across the forest below. No matter which way she tried to look at it, the thought of the Haven working with anyone from the Sanctum made her blood boil. It went against everything she had fought for over a decade's worth of struggling. After everything she had done, the people she had killed in Valhalla's name. It all felt like it was for nothing now that she was staying with the enemy. She didn't want to think of it like that. But it was hard not to, given her upbringing.

It was good to have her best friend back, but all Fang was doing was clinging to memories of their time before in the hopes that it would somehow act as a salve for the wounds she suffered after she was forced to vanish. But she wasn't stupid. Fang saw the way Lightning's eyes would sink to the floor, how she would become distracted at the mention of every memory. She knew that Lightning's mind was wandering to everything that happened afterwards.

Hers did too.

The subject of her thoughts made herself known with a few dragged footsteps that scuffed the rocks. They both knew Lightning didn't have to make the noise, but the elemental still seemed to do it out of courtesy anyway. She sat down on the ledge next to Fang, keeping a small amount of distance between them. Silence dragged on between them, skirting on the edges of awkwardness as they both thought about what to say.

"It makes it harder, doesn't it?" Fang finally asked, Lightning turning with a questioning expression. The shifter swallowed thickly, her throat dry and feeling strained. "I assume Raines told you about our last meeting. It's difficult to remind yourself that I'm both a killer and your old friend, isn't it?"

There was no response at first, Lightning remaining quiet while choosing her words carefully. "I think it's… Harder in general." She finally answered, looking out over the forest. "This morning just… Reminded me of how difficult it really is. That every time we look back to the past all I see is the scars from our time apart. About how I broke the promise to always look out for you."

"Light, you couldn't have known that I was going to turn into a monst-"

"Don't." Lightning suddenly snapped, startling Fang so much she gripped at the rock face to stop from overbalancing and toppling into the water below. "Don't. You're not a monster, and I wish you would stop referring to yourself as such."

Hating that the shifter always seemed to think so little of herself, it made electricity crackle along her arms in anger. Fang sighed and moved her neck from side to side, feeling the satisfying pop in the joints. "What else am I supposed to think, Light? I didn't get the idyllic childhood. You may have had to high-tail it from your parents place, but you're too quick for anyone to catch you. You could steal things in the blink of an eye, found refuge wherever you went, and then Sazh picked you up and took you to paradise."

"It wasn't-"

"It was, and you know it. Ever spent a night on the streets in the middle of winter when it's raining? It's the coldest you'll ever feel in your life. I don't begrudge you for getting the easy way ou-"

"Easy way? How dare you. How fucking dare you presume that I have had it easy just because I am faster. It meant nobody could catch me, but it also meant that nobody could keep up with me." Lightning seethed, the electricity sparking from her fingertips and whiting out her irises. Fang's eyes widened and she leant back on reflex.

"You had a family in Valhalla. I had nobody. All I had while I was on the run was my memories of you. How I wished I could have found you, and maybe we could have… God dammit Fang, how dare you presume that I have had it easy all these years without you. They've been hell."

Her point made, they fell into an uneasy silence. The longer Lightning sat there, the more she realised that Sazh was right. Their past only bred resentment. If they wanted to move forward they had to stop focusing on what came before, and work on what comes next.

Fang took a few deep breaths, knowing that her words were hurting Lightning and not helping the situation between them. "I'm sorry." She whispered, watching Lightning bow her head and stare at the water below. Fang felt a pang of hurt in her chest, that something she'd desperately craved for almost a decade was so close yet still so out of reach. "We moved a bit fast, didn't we? In our need to… Re-connect, I… I worry that we are glossing over all the years we've experienced apart from each other. I was your best friend then, but I'm a killer now, Light. I have killed people at the behest of Caius. To protect my family at Valhalla."

"Would you do it again? To protect your family here, even though you've seen there is a better way?"

The stare Lightning received was fierce and made her shrink a little where she sat. Fang swallowed hard and closed her eyes, not willing to see the elemental's reaction.

"Without. Hesitation."

"And what if I wouldn't let you? Would you fight me too?"

Fang's eyes snapped open and she was met with an equally forceful glare. "I… I don't… I don't want to."

"You've fought me before, Fang. Many times. I even recall you telling me that you had all the information to end me. But even without knowing who I am, what we are to each other, I still call bullshit. You wouldn't kill again. Because you've been here for months now, away from Caius' influence, away from his constant need to belittle you, mould your thinking into believing you're just some beast to be let off a chain."

The elemental was torn between getting her point across and not wanting to anger Fang any further than she'd already seen today. She was still terrified of losing her again. Lightning took Fang's hand and moved over to rest her head against the shifter's shoulder. She was too nervous to make eye contact. "You are more than that in the eyes of your family. Of Vanille. Of Serah. Of… Of me."

Not able to find words to answer, Fang swallowed the lump in her throat and gave Lightning's hand a gentle squeeze. It was a strange sort of limbo to be found in, that she was reunited with her best friend once again, but when they ran out of stories to reminisce on it left the giant void of their separation between them. That they had grown up, Fang had gone through traumas and unspeakable acts, while Lightning had spent the time shutting herself off from everyone around her.

"Fang… I had grown fond of you and your incessant need to annoy me even before the added… Complication. I want you to stay here, with us, as your own decision. Not because of me and what we were. But because of what we can be."

A smile crossed Lightning's face as Fang wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer. They watched the sun set together in comfortable silence, still trying to hold onto each other despite the distance between them.

"Fang?"

"Yeah, Light?"

There was a pause, causing Fang to look down towards the determined glacier-blue gaze staring up at her. Lightning bit her lip and her eyes darted away as she took a deep breath.

"I want to know everything that happened, after you left Bodhum."

"Are you sure? Everything? There's a lot of… Not great stuff in there."

Lightning turned back to face the shifter and nodded. "I need to know you. Not just the person you were when we were kids. Tell me everything."

Fang watched the elemental's face carefully, shadows forming across her profile with the last dying light of the day and nodded slowly.

"Alright then."