Chapter 7
Fang watched the sleeping form of her lover contently, happy she was finally able to admire the slumbering woman up close. Maybe she’s finally gonna stop wakin’ up earlier than me, Fang chuckled to herself. Lightning always woke early on their travels, but not before Fang. Here though, things hadn't gone that way for the most part. Fang couldn't help but to stare at the woman's face. The soldier’s skin looked smooth and inviting, but Fang knew better than to reach out if she wanted to enjoy this sight longer. She smiled to herself as Lightning made a soft sound in her sleep. Wonder what's goin’ on in that head of yours, she smiled to herself. After a while the soldiers brows furrowed and Fang knew it wouldn't be long till she woke. Lightning groaned and pulled the covers over her shoulders, cocooning herself in them and rubbed her cheek against the pillow to get comfy. Fang couldn't help the soft hum of amusement that followed. How can someone so damn scary at times look as adorable as this?
The small sound brought Lightning from her sleep, so quite she wasn't sure there had even been a sound at all. As her eyes fluttered opened she was met with the Pulsian’s smiling face and deep green eyes. She stared for a moment, lost in their beauty and forgot herself.
"Mornin Sunshine"
the accented voice broke her trance. She flinched automatically, stopping herself before she reflexively went to get up, to run, to get away.
"Jumpy ain't you?" Fang said softly, glad the soldier hadn't moved away.
Instead Lightning relaxed and pressed herself into the huntress.
"Sorry" Lightning replied. Her breath warm against Fang’s skin as the huntress suppressed the shudder she felt.
"For a minute there I thought I was gonna get the 'last night was a mistake' speech" Fang said, only half joking as one of their phones buzzed. They both ignored the sound.
"No mistake" Lightning assured her, "want me to fix you some breakfast?"
Fang placed a hand on the woman's cheek, "I think I like having you here more" she grinned as she captured the soldiers lips. Lightning returned the kiss heatedly as she revelled in their contact of bare skin, gliding her hands over the Pulsian’s back. The buzzing sounded again as Fang traced her fingers down the soldiers sides and Lightning sighed against her. Fang groaned inwardly, now wasn't the time for nosy little sisters to be calling. In one quick movement Lightning pulled herself onto her knees and smiled down amorously at her lover, the pendant of her necklace dancing just above the tanned skin below.
"Have I convinced you it wasn't a mistake to me yet?"
"Your startin’ to" Fang leaned up and kissed her neck, "but I could do with some more convincin’"
Lightning leaned down and placed a kiss on the Pulsian’s cheek, moving down to her jaw line and then her neck. Lightning smiled to herself as she heard Fang breathe in sharply. One of their phones vibrated again and Lightning sighed in irritation, bowing her head.
“They’re not going to give this up, you know”
“Nosy little buggers” Fang smirked. She reached up and cupped Lightning’s face, “We best give ‘em what they want or they’ll be brakin in at this rate” she sighed, stroking her thumbs across the woman’s cheeks. “then we’ll get back to what I want” she said softly, enjoying the flush that crept over Lightning’s face for a moment before taking the soldiers lip’s once again.
Lightning finished the last of the food on her plate, grateful they had managed to talk to their respective sisters generally unscathed from the questioning, or so she thought.
“So how are you and Vanille doing?” Lightning asked taking her plate to the sink, “after the waking up and everything I mean”
“Great. Vanille loves being bunked up with your sister. Says it reminds her of living in Oerba, what with it being all open and the four of us” Fang replied from her seat at the table, “She even landed a job with the research team and volunteers at the chocobo stables from time to time. I don't think the kids ever been happier” she smiled to herself.
“What about you?” Lightning question putting her washed plate on the drying rack.
“I'm happy that she is. It's...we've never had much of a chance before. She deserves it”.
“It’s nice to hear she’s settled well. You both deserve it. But I meant how are you, really” Lightning asked putting emphasis at the end.
Fang wrapped her arms around Lightning’s waist from behind,
“I'm good” she purred as she nuzzled into the soldiers back.
“...But?” Lightning pressed, sensing there was more
“Well...it's a huge difference to what we're used too. We've been fightin’ for as long as I can remember, even since we were kids. Now there's no need for it I just feel…”
“out if place?” Lightning finished for her, turning around in Fang’s arms.
“Yea, like this restless itch, you know?”
“I know” Lightning assured her, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek, “How about you come work at the Corps?” Lightning asked walking towards the table and picking up her cup.
“Me? A soldier?” Fang laughed.
“No, not a soldier” Lightning replied seriously taking a sip of her coffee and shaking her head. “Half of my missions nowadays is ridding the expansion projects of monsters. Exploring areas of interest and helping to locate and gather supplies.” She shrugged, “I still do normal patrols and paper work and stuff, but that first part sounds like something you'd like.”
“Sounds fun” Fang grinned.
“I could talk to Amodar about it. Your more than capable of doing those things without any sort of soldier status.”
“I’d really like that. Thanks Light.”
“Your -” Lightning was cut off as pain pounded through her skull so fast that her fingers jerked of their own accord and her cup fell to the ground, smashing into several pieces as it impacted. She could make out Fangs accent vaguely through the pounding but couldn't make out the words. Everyone was screaming so loudly. Lightning fought to open her eyes against the discomfort and was greeted with a barren landscape, dry and made up of red and orange hues. It's not real, it's not real, it's not real, she repeated as her eyes settled on the motionless form of Serah, then onto Fang, Hope, Lebreau, everyone.
"Don't let it end like this...save us...protect us" they pleaded with mouths unopening. She wanted to vomit.
"Light!?"
As the vision broke Lightning could see Fang staring at her, emerald eyes wide with panic as she gripped the soldiers shirt tightly. Lightning realised she was kneeling on the floor, her clenched hands pressed tightly to her temples. The nausea hit her again and she gagged trying her best not to throw up, concentrating on steadying her breathing instead.
"Light what happened?!"
"Headache" Lightning breathed, opting to let herself sit fully on the floor. She leaned her head back to rest against the coolness of the cabinet door.
"The ones Serah told us about?"
Lightning turned her head to regard Fang. Any other time she would have been angry that her sister had divulged her personal business to someone, but right now she was too caught up to care.
"Yea" she replied, turning her head back and relaxing against the cabinet.
"Are they always that bad?" Fang asked after a along silence, sitting down properly too.
"Not always, but near enough" Lightning shrugged, trying to play it down.“They're just from stress.”
“Dunno. I've seen things similar, before in Oerba. People who couldn't settle after they came back from battles”
“It's not like that Fang”
“I had the worst dreams too, for a while” Fang admitted, trying to coax Lightning into talking. “Got real jumpy all the time too” she said raising an eyebrow, trying to let the soldier know subtlety that she had notice the woman display similar actions.
“It's not” Lightning started to deny.
“It's nothing to be ashamed of” Fang interjected. Lightning stayed silent. “Used to wake up all sweaty and punching thin air, cried sometimes too”
“Really?” Lightning asked softly, turning to face the huntress.
“Yea. They were horrible. Flashbacks mostly or just stuff I thought had happened. Not always dreams either, sometimes they’d just hit like deja vu” Fang shrugged, “Is that what yours are like?”
Lightning shook her head slowly, “there more like...visions, I guess?”
“Tell me about ‘em?”
Lightning reflected quietly for a moment. This conversation was nice, calming in a way. But she was also sitting on the floor surrounded by broken cup pieces and spilled coffee. Then there was the fact their sisters expected them soon, and other things to deal with.
“I will…” Lightning replied eventually, “but tonight, okay? That’s if you want to come back?”
“of course I want to” Fang grasped Lightning’s hand and squeezed. “You promise?”
Lightning smiled at her, “Promise” she replied squeezing back. “We should get going”
“Should you really be going after that?” Fang gestured towards the pinkettes head.
“They last as long as they last, then I'm fine” she assured her.
Lightning drummed her fingers on the table in annoyance,
“didn’t you two ask enough questions this morning?” and truly they had, they were repeating the questions again at this point, as if asking them again face to face were going to change the answer. They might be on to something, Lightning groaned to herself. She gave them credit, it was a smart move.
“Not nearly enough” Serah grinned at her, “but we could always ask Fang, I’m sure she’d be happy to fill us in”
“No. She wouldn't” Lightning stated, making sure to slowly glare at each of them. She sipped on her soda and stared out the window when she heard the two younger girls huff and change the subject. She felt Fang’s fingers gently massaging her leg under the table as they all spoke and she closed her eyes for a minute enjoying the feeling, glad that their sisters were oblivious to the affection.
“So how’s work going for you two?” Lightning asked, opening her eyes again when the chatter has stopped.
“Great” Serah smiled, “the kids are really sweet and they’ve started to really take to the outdoor classes”
“Outdoor classes?” Lightning raised and eyebrow.
“Yea. Every week we take them out on a field trip, or just pick a nice spot to sit and learn about the thing’s around us” Serah replied, taking a drink of her milkshake, “I’ve roped Vanille into coming and showing medicinal herbs and things for the next one” she winked at the red head.
“If I didn’t know better I’d swear you two were separated at birth” Fang chuckled, making everyone laugh.
“I’m glad your enjoying it so much” Lightning smiled. “What about you Vanille, Fang tells me your with the research team? I’m surprised I haven’t seen you around base”
“Yea, its going good. Real interesting. We get to pick what projects we want to work on” Vanille grinned. “I haven’t been involved in many around the base though”
Lightning furrowed her brows, looking back out the window trying to see what was causing the vibration she was feeling. She was expecting to see a military truck passing, but found the street empty except the occasional car. Their glasses started to shake on the table and the realisation hit her instantly,
“Get down!” she shouted, loud enough so everyone in the diner could hear as Fang grasped her hand and pulled her down.
The four huddled under the table as the shaking got more intense, the sound of glass smashing all around them. And then just like that, it was over. Everyone was silent as they started to emerge from their hiding places, taking the time to look the place over for any damage. Apart from the spilled beverages and broken plates and cups there were was no structural damage. Lightning thanked Etro that the earthquake had just been a small one. It wasn’t the first one, but it had been unnerving compared to the other ones.