Refresher: After the waves of thunder finished rolling through the halls there was nothing but the sound of the shower on in the bathroom, and the soft sobs coming from Vanille on the other side of the door. Fang felt herself relaxing at the silence and closed her eyes and took a few minutes to breathe, then turned around and walked into the steaming bathroom.
-Lightning's Bathroom-
"Way to make a mess again Farron.", Fang chimed in as she stepped into the bathroom. Her words didn't even phase Claire because even after they were spoken she continued sitting in the shower with the hot water pouring over her naked and bruised body.
"You gonna talk to me, or am I gonna have to go to some extensive measures to get a word out of you?", Fang tried again as she bent down and started picking up pieces of bloody broken glass.
"Leave.", Claire muttered in a harsh tone under her breath. Even with the sound of the hot shower hitting the glass her voice was still quite audible.
"No can do captain, I'm on my own set of orders here.", replied Fang with a joking tone, still trying to lighten up the mood. "We got a medic on the way, so you're gonna have to start cooperating before he gets here.", she added throwing away a handful of shards before continuing to pick up more.
"Why can't you just leave me alone?", Claire angrily asked the wild woman kneeling next to her shower.
"Why can't you just let someone in? Farron it isn't as hard as you think to just talk to someone. You don't have to be a rock all the time.", Fang was saying just loud enough to hear over the roar of the water.
Claire was trying as hard as she possibly could to stick to her stoic nature. Ever since her parents died she did her best to build the strongest and most impenetrable wall around herself. Serah was quick to take notice. In just under a month after their deaths her older sister had been lost. The once beautiful smiles her face held had been transformed into smoldering glares and frowns. It was a rare occasion to those stunning electric blue eyes show a hint of happiness. Things should have ended up differently. Serah… I'm sorry. Lightning's mind was wandering back to just months after her parent's death.
"Serah, we need to talk.", Claire's voice came out weak, shaken. She definitely wasn't ready to do this, but she knew what she had to do. Even the regular monthly checks weren't enough to compensate for what they needed.
She lead the way into their old kitchen and sat down on one end of the old booth table carved into the side of the wall. Memories flooded her head of her parents running back and forth in the kitchen cooking Serah's birthday cake. It wasn't that many months ago that her baby sister had turned 14. The liveliness of the house had diminished once her parents were gone. The bright red walls had faded to a dark crimson, the metal that trimmed every inch of their house seemed full of deep scratches that she had failed to become aware of in her 16 years spent there. The floors creaked more than usual, or maybe the sounds seemed more noticeable now that their house was almost always vacant. The entire household was old, and extremely worn. This beautiful palace of memories would never be the same without their parents, and all signs were starting to show.
"What's wrong? What is there for us to talk about now?", Serah complained sitting on the faded leather of the booth opposite her sister. Every week there was something else for her to deal with. There wasn't enough money for food, or washing their clothes, or buying simple day to day things.
"I went into town today..", Claire began hesitantly, pausing for a long time afterwards as if that was all she had to say.
"You go into town almost every day Claire? Did… something happen?", Serah wondered after a few brief moments passed between the two.
"I signed up for the Guardian Corps.", The older sister admitted, making sure to avert her eyes, keeping them fluttering from one object to the next. She focused her attention from their dirty black fridge, to the beautiful blue Trapezohedron countertops. She was trying as hard as she could to avoid eye-contact with her young sister.
"You…. What?", Serah breathlessly wondered.
"The Guardian Corps.", Lightning repeated now staring down at their old kitchen table again. She was absentmindedly fiddling with her fingers. "I signed up. I talked to Lieutenant Amodar, and he's saving a spot for me at basic. I'm gonna be leaving next week.", She spurted out all the information automatically without hesitating. Claire was keeping her hard stare focused on the table, but her gaze was finally broken when she heard her young sister crying.
"Claire, why? You're gonna be gone all the time, we have enough money to-", Serah was stuttering to come up with a reason, any reason, for why this was a bad idea. With every thought that entered her mind she was finding it harder and harder to deny the truth.
"I know… I know Serah. It's gonna be hard for a little while. I have to protect you now though, and look after you.", Claire stood up and scooted herself in the booth next to her crying sister. "We need the money. We can move out of here, and get a cheaper house. You're going to have to go back to school.", Claire wrapped an arm around her young sister and pulled her into a hug. She wasn't trying to ruin what little they did have left, but if she didn't get a job doing something soon, they'd be living on the streets.
"I understand that we need the money Claire but why the GC? There are plenty of places looking to hire! Close places that'll keep you home. The Guardian Corps are dangerous, people get sent out on missions, people-", Serah choked on her sentence before she could finish the thought. She was doing everything she could to change her sister's mind.
Yeah, people die.. Lightning finished the thought in her head. She knew the consequences of her decision.
"You know they're not going to pay enough sis. I have a guaranteed spot, Serah. You just have to trust me on this one okay?", Claire hugged her young sister tightly, hoping and praying that she wouldn't regret this decision.
Lightning came back to reality after her brief flashback ended. Fang was still kneeling in front of the shower waiting for an okay to help Lightning out.
"I didn't protect her.", Lightning admitted. The words stung in her mouth and panged her heart with guilt. The one thing I had promised to do ever since mom and dad died, and last night I broke it.
"You can't blame yourself for what happened to Serah, Lightning. I was supposed to be home.. And I wasn't.", Fang said to her through the glass of the shower. "So, are you gonna let me in and help you?", She asked, putting her hand on the edge of the sliding glass door preparing to open it.
-The Living Room-
"Serah, you need to quit running around so much, I'm gonna go grab my cell and call Hope. If Fang is gonna be like this I don't see the point in trying to defy her. I want you to put some fresh clothes on before he gets here.", Vanille was calmly giving out orders like she had done it all the time, but she did feel slightly odd being bossy.
She heaved a loud sigh after guiding Serah to the couch and grabbing her cell.
"I'll get you some clean clothes from the bathroom.", Vanille notified as she dialed Hopes number into her phone while walking into the bathroom.
"Hello?", Hopes voiced sounded on the other end.
"Hey, Hope?', Vanille asked tossing Serah's clothes to her as she walked back into the living room and sat down next to her on the couch.
"Yes, that's what they call me.", He chuckled.
"It's Vanille, Claire's wife?", Vanille stated hoping that he would remember her.
"Ah! Claire Farron! It's been a long while since I've heard from that part of town. How's my girl doing?", Hope continued laughing. His side of town was more towards the disaster of Cocoon. Since he was a medic his help wasn't just asked for near the chaos, it was demanded. There were constantly new survivors to look for after Cocoon was dubbed inhospitable. Only the most skilled medics were sent out to the destructed world, and for months on end the news continued talking about survivors being found. It was a mystery to everyone how there were still people left to find.
"I don't really have enough time to catch you up on how things have been, Hope. There's an emergency going on right now. We really need you at the house. Fang is demanding your presence.", Vanille quietly slipped out, trying to sound desperate enough to get him here as soon as possible.
"An emergency? What happened?", He asked suddenly extremely interested and alert.
"I'm not sure exactly. Right now it's just her and Fang in our bathroom and I tried to get her to open the door earlier for me but it was locked and I heard some glass breaking. Fang is the only one who knows what's wrong and she isn't talking to Serah or I.", Vanille burst out quickly.
"I'm on my way. I'll be over there soon okay?", Hope sounded serious.
"All right. Please hurry?", Vanille begged.
He didn't bother saying goodbye, because after that plea his voice was gone and the only noise in Vanille's ear was the sound of a dial tone.
-Claire's Bathroom-
"No.", Claire said as she stood up and stepped out of the shower and prepared to hit Fang.
She was reverting back to her old ways. The guilt stung in her eyes as she channeled all of her feelings into anger. The solider was in one of those modes where all she wanted to do was fight, hit things, lash out, do anything she could to get rid of the anger she was holding up inside her.
Fang caught her weak fist, but more to comfort her than to try and fight her back. Lightning wasn't showing any pain even though her wrist and fingers were still broken and simultaneously dripping blood.
"Light stop this! I'm just trying to help you I don't wanna fight!", Fang was screaming at her blocking every hit Claire threw.
"There's no reason!", Claire was still throwing punch after punch pushing Fang closer and closer to the door with each step she took.
Fang was starting to get pissed, but she knew exactly what would happen if she took things too far. She grabbed Lightning's arms and slammed her back against the glass mirror she had just recently broken. The act alone sent sharp shards of broken glass into Claire Farron's back. She screamed at the pain, but all it did was fuel her anger and make her lash out even more.
"Lightning don't do this!", Fang was warning her, trying to control her own anger.
The two girls were thrashing around inside the large bathroom trying to gain control over each other. Claire was still completely nude and wet from her shower. Fang was giving up on trying to do things the easy way with her and was beginning to fight more aggressively.
Claire grunted loudly and pushed Fang off her. The forced pushed her own body back against the wall sending shocks of pain up her spine. Both of the strong women's breathing was heavy and ragged. Claire felt her eyes stinging but furiously fought back the tears. I've gotta get out of here.
Without a moments hesitation she bent down and grabbed the sweatpants she had tossed to the floor before getting into the shower. The cloth clung to her wet skin and she clumsily pulled the pants over her toned legs with her only good hand.
Fang sighed in regret, knowing it was wrong of her to fight so hard with someone who was already so weak. "Farron.. I'm sorry. Let me help you", Fang tried bending down and picking up Claire's clothes for her.
"Stop.", Lightning demanded. Her whole body was trembling as she was trying to pick up her things. Tears were threatening to pour out of her eyes but she was still fighting to control her emotions.
Fang had already picked up the woman's tank-top and bra and lightly placed them into the older Farron girl's hand. Reluctant as she was Claire snatched the pieces of fabric and strapped her bra on awkwardly then painfully slid on the small white tank-top before quickly trying to limp out of the room.
"Uh uh, no you don't. Not yet, come here let me fix up your hand.", Fang grabbed onto Lightning's arm, a little too tightly, and immediately Claire turned around glaring at the woman with her dark piercing blue eyes. The look would've normally caused anyone to back down, but Fang persisted.
"Fang.", Claire threatened with a husky voice.
Fang didn't even bother to try and respond, she just tugged Lightning closer to her and examined her bloody fist. There were red-streaked shards of glass embedded into her knuckles. Fang sighed a deep sigh, and turned around to shut off the hot water of a shower that had been wasted. She turned back to her left facing the medicine cabinet, and pulled out several gauzes along with rubbing alcohol.
A/N: I apologize for this chapter being slightly lengthier than the others. It was also a little late because I had school today, but I hope you enjoyed! Tried to slow this one down a bit for Kirika.