Fangrai prompt: 265
"Well I don't believe it." Fang said, standing with her hands on her hips, looking up at the tree in front of her.
"What? You know there's trees all over right? What makes this one special?" Sazh asked, standing beside her. The others soon followed, walking up the hill to where the tree was, providing shade and a good view for the outing they had planned.
"Oh my gods, is that… it is!" Vanille said running up to stand on Fang's other side and look at it.
"Okay, you guys are seriously gonna have to tell us what's going on." Sazh said, the chocobo chick jumping out of his hair to see what all the commotion is about before taking off to play with Dajh.
"Well, there must be something special about it." Serah said as her, Lightning, Snow, and Hope came up to the top, carrying a few blankets, baskets, and other picnic utensils.
"It's an apple tree!" Vanille said, clasping her hands in front of her. The Cocoonians simply looked at each other before turning back to Fang and Vanille.
"Is that supposed to mean something to us?" Lightning asked.
"Apples, they're a fruit." Fang elaborated, "And they're pretty damn rare around here too. I've known a few people who would go out for days on end just to find one of these."
"Are they really that good?" Hope asked, looking between the two Pulsian women.
"If you get the right ones they are. From what I can see here this one's got a pretty good batch on it."
"Only one way to find out." Lightning said, walking past everyone else and up to the tree. She couldn't reach the lowest branch, so she moved to the trunk, and gave it a swift kick. The whole tree shook from the force of it and two apples fell down, right into her waiting hands. She casually tossed one over to Fang, who caught it with ease, though if anyone had paid attention the shock on both her and Vanille's faces would have been clear. However all were focused on Lightning as she cleaned the fruit on her jacket and then took a bite, a crisp crunch sounding out and juice running from it. She chewed slowly as she wiped her chin with one hand, appraising it. "You're right, this is pretty good." She said before looking up at Fang and Vanille, raising an eyebrow at their expressions. "What?"
Fang and Vanille simply continued to be in a state of shock, Fang's eyes moving to the apple in her hand, and then back to Lightning, while Vanille's went back and forth between the two women. By now all eyes were on them. Vanille finally leaned a bit closer to Fang and said, in a voice hushed like a whisper but easily audible to all, "I don't think she knows."
"I don't know what?"
Fang cleared her throat, and appeared to stutter a bit before getting her bearings. "Well, uh, when I said people go on trips for days to get these, why do you think that is?"
"How should I know? I mean it's good, but it's not that good."
"Yeah, the thing is, they're pretty rare. So going out to find one was kind of a big deal."
"Makes sense, still doesn't explain the staring though. Did I eat it wrong or something?"
"No, no. It's just, since it was such a big deal, they were only used for special occasions. Served in a big bowl, baked in a pie, or the biggest was, uh, throwing." Even through her darker skin, Fang's face was starting to get a bit red as she spoke.
"Throwing one was a big deal?" Lightning asked.
"That does seem kind of odd, even if they are rare." Serah added.
"Uh, yeah, but you see, it was more like, symbolic. It's rare and bruised easily, and you weren't just giving it to them, but trusting them. So it was one way that people, um, proposed to each other."
There was a moment of silence as everyone let that sink in. "Proposed, as in marriage?" Lightning asked.
"Yeah. Someone throws an apple. They catch it. If they accept, then they each take a bite out of it."
"Wait, so Sis just proposed to Fang?" Snow asked. There was a short pause before all the Cocoonians, save Lightning, burst into laughter. Vanille followed a few moments later.
"And what the bloody hell is so funny?" Fang asked as she turned to look at the others.
"It's just…" Vanille started as she laughed, "I always figured you'd be the one to propose."
"Yeah, didn't know you had it in you soldier girl." Sazh said as he continued to laugh as well.
Serah reigned hers in a bit and walked up to Lightning, still smiling widely as she said "Just remember, you can't have your wedding before me and Snow, I don't care if you're older we were engaged first."
Lightning paused for a moment, staring at her sister, and then there was a small, almost unnoticeable twitch at the corner of her lips. "I don't think you have to worry about that." She said, "After all, look, she never took a bite out of it. Clearly she's turning me down."
This prompted another round of laughter, Lightning simply giving a small smile. Fang however, took it as a challenge. "Oh so that's how you want to play it, huh?" She said. Staring Lightning down she wiped the apple on her sari and then slowly and deliberately took a bite. She gave a smirk and tossed it back to Lightning, who caught it in her free hand. "Your move."
Everybody had stopped laughing now, but watched to see what Lightning would do. Without breaking eye contact she lifted the second piece of fruit and took a bite. They kept eye contact for a few more moments before Fang cracked up laughing and Lightning chuckled. "So, fall wedding?" Lightning suggested.
"As long as its outdoors." Fang said, still laughing a bit.
"Alright, " Sazh said, "Let's get this set up. You two can hash out wedding plans later." With that they started setting up for an afternoon picnic, and later a game of catch played with apples.
Prompt: In ancient greece throwing an apple to a woman was considered a marriage proposal. In gran pulse this is also a custom. Fang or Light throws an apple to the other, and fun ensues.
Hey, hope you liked the story, thanks for reading. Just really felt like writing today, but my current stories weren't going, so i went with a prompt. Feel free to leave a review, they're all great. I do hope to have Seven Stars up soon (relatively), though, so yay for anyone who likes that. Anyway, have a nice day.