A/N: This idea hit me like a train. I had to get it out. This won't be a long story, and it will be T rated for the whole thing, I think.

Don't worry; I'll update Double Trouble before this. :)

OOO

We were always together, Vanille and I. Not even related and yet we're like sisters. Trust me, if she wasn't like a sister, I swear I would've beat her senseless for some of the stupid things that she had gotten us into. It was funny how I first met her. We were back in the orphanage – I was ten, she was eight – and I heard this… strange sound. Now, I knew what sex was back then, we – the kids – once heard the adults going at it like rabbits in a nearby house. The… sounds coming from that house was similar to what that girl was making.

I immediately spun around when I heard her. I'm sure that I had an extremely shocked expression on my face but when I turned and saw her trying to lift a bucket of water – all the while making those moans – I couldn't help but fall to the ground laughing. Vanille got all mad at me then, her face flushing – but still carrying that bucket out to the chocobo stables. I followed her, asking if she always made those sounds when she put a little oomph in her daily activities.

Her bottom lip trembled, as if she was about to cry. She quickly bit on her lip to stop the involuntary movement, setting the bucket down. She lunged at me and began beating my chest with her little fists. She's always been small. I would sometimes teasingly call her the runt of the pack.

Those little fists weren't doing anything, but the tears were. I blinked a few times to make sure I was seeing things correctly. Sighing, I reached out, catching her fists in my larger and stronger ones. "I'm sorry." I had said.

"Hmph." Vanille turned her back on me. Little sniffles occasionally came from the little girl in front of me.

Scratching the back of my head, I sighed again. "What's your name? Did you just move here with your parents?"

Little shoulders shook in response. "Hey…" I moved forward, gently touching the trembling girl. Vanille turned away. I growled, spinning her back around to face me. "Look, I said I was so—," My eyes got big as I saw this… look of such despair, pain, horror, and just… hurt.

That's when I knew. She was the new orphan that I had heard about.

"C'mere." I pulled her close in a warm hug. "Nothin' bad is gonna happen anymore. I promise." Her hair was downy soft as I ran my hand through it. "I'll protect you like you're my own sister, yeah?" Vanille nodded, little sobs escaping. It sounded like she was holding back – judging from the grip she had on my sari, she was. "Let it out." She did, and I held her while she sobbed and let out muffled screams.

We've been together – inseparable – ever since…

Ever since now.

OOO

I jolted awake from the dream-memory. My heart was pounding, cold sweat covered my skin. I gripped the colorful necklace with Oerba's symbol tightly, a reminder of the little sister that was gone.

Leaning back against the cold wall of the ship, I breathed out heavily. I can't let this stuff get to me. Vanille wouldn't like it.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention suddenly. Someone was watching me. My eyes flickered over to the small group across the room. Raines, Snow, Hope, and Rydega were all huddled together – Etro knows what they were discussing. I kept my eyes down as I looked out through my peripherals. Several soldiers marched away, doing their… viper things. Never did like their military system here – it was so formal. Full of classifications and rank – you could be in their damn military, never get on the battlefield, and have a whole army assigned to you. It was pathetic and stupid, nothing like Gran Pulse.

That left one person though. My eyes rose to meet the cerulean blue of a certain Guardian Corps sergeant. She had her gunblade out in its sword form, her legs crossed as always. Strands of pink hair hung around her face, occasionally blowing from the air conditioning on the ship or someone passing her by. Our eyes locked together – neither of us breaking the gaze.

You know, I never have met anyone like Lightning. She was cold – emotionally and mentally – to the point where I compare her to the northern reaches of Gran Pulse. It was so cold there that huge continents of ice would form, ice that didn't even melt from the sun. She was pale too, as if she never liked going outside too much – which is completely foreign to me, but hey, everything this woman did was foreign to me. That pink hair was the thing that perked my interest and curiosity the most though. I've seen red hair in various colors, orange ranging to a dark auburn to a light cherry but never have I seen actual pink hair. And the way it's styled? Straight and spiky on one side and curly on the next? That doesn't make sense to me. Even Vanille – with her quirky ways, would style her hair… normally. Pigtails were for little girls, yeah, but Vanille's maturity level is like a man's – you subtract seven years.

The two things about the soldier that caught my attention when I first met her were her body and her beauty. She's different – downright strange – but… exotic. Her body is so toned, so layered in muscle and yet still manages to look feminine… She has skin that is unblemished or marked – utter perfection, as if Gran Pulses's greatest artists took decades in creating the perfect masterpiece.

All the things that the older warriors taught us when we were first learning how to fight were mostly true… until you compare them with a woman like Lightning. They called the vipers' ugly, horrendous monsters – demons from the world above; agents of Lindzei. Lightning was beautiful, hands down – an angel. I could stare at her for hours trying to find some mistake and I would never find one.

Along with all of the things that the soldier made me think of, she elicited these… weird feelings. Whenever she frowned, I wanted to go over there and make her laugh or smile at least one damn time. It wouldn't kill her to smile. Her eyes were always so distant, so closed off. Everything about her screamed You don't know me. And it's true. No one knows what's going on behind those gorgeous blue eyes. I know that she has an intense dislike for the blonde buffalo, a soft side toward the silver haired teen, and wariness towards Raines and his crew, but me? We met twelve hours ago, after I hopped off of Snow's summon and chased her down. We got to talking – and she slapped me. Slapped me. Had it been anybody else – I would have kicked their ass to Taejin's Tower and back right then and there. Lightning is the only person that I think could handle me though – if I let my guard down, she could even beat me. But instead – smarting off to her, getting her flustered – it always satisfies me. Instead of imagining various ways I could throttle her, I get her to blush for me – get her all cute and tongue-tied.

Yeah, we've known each other for twelve hours, that's it. But we have this… really strange connection. It reveals itself while we are fighting. We move so fluidly with each other, every strike, parry, and block, we do it knowing that the other will be right beside us. I call the fire from the enemy and she quietly sneaks in and starts slashing away at their backs. She sends out her spells and I charge in to give them a taste of Gran Pulsian melee. I rain down sabotage and she casts defense. We were like mirror versions of one another, except we were from two completely different worlds, literally and figuratively.

All of these thoughts flashed through my mind as I continued to look at her. Soldiers passed us, bodies flitting in and out through our line of sight, but we would always meet again. Until finally a large group passed and she returned to her precious gunblade.

She really did like that gunblade. I love my lance; it's much sturdier and a lot easier on the eyes than her gunblade… Hmm… I should offer to spruce up her weapon sometime.

I pushed myself off of the ground, brushing some dirt from the ground off. I caught her looking at me again, this time her eyes traveled from my open-toed boots and wandered upwards. She was… trying to be sneaky – I could tell… might as well give her a show. I drew my arms up, stretching leisurely and making sure to reveal my abs even more than my sari showed; I flexed my arms and legs and smirked as I saw her eyes widen slightly. The sari swirled around my legs, showing off way more than I usually allow.

This was… interesting. Fun.

I shook the remaining tingles of sleep from my body. I cracked my neck as I turned to walk down the hall, and I swear I could feel her eyes still on me. A little more sashay of the hips wouldn't bother her any, would it? I smirked before yawning widely.

I'm still tired. Raines gave me a room to sleep in – and I fully intend on using it before we storm PSICOM's greatest warship.

I just hope that the nightmares and memories hold off for awhile.

OOO

The vipers here have a strange taste in architecture and culture. They're so… technologic. Everything has to be pristine and top notch. There's no soul here. The people are practically the same; animals that were bred and tamed. House pets, that's what they are. I'd like to see their reaction to Gran Pulse. Imagining a King Behemoth slashing through PSICOM soldiers was a wonderful vision.

The door suddenly opened then, interrupting my thoughts. I tensed, reaching for my lance. "You better have a damn good reason for busting through here like you own the place." I warned the stranger.

"…Sorry." Hesitant, but the apology was there.

My hand returned to its place on my stomach. "There something I can do for you, Lightning?"

I turned to look at her whenever she didn't answer. She looked embarrassed – she always was when she came near me. It's like I have some strange voodoo effect on her. Little does she know – she has the same effect on me.

"I wanted to talk… If you don't mind."

She really tacks on the respect at the end of her sentences, doesn't she?

"What about?" I nodded towards the end of the bed. She hesitated before lightly perching on the mattress.

Lightning was quiet for a moment. Whatever she wants to talk about, it must be important, else she would have brought it up in front of the others. I'll give her all the time she needs though – after all, I kinda like talking to her.

"Vanille's your… partner?"

Well that's unexpected. She's curious about Vanille?

"Do you Cocoon people have a different definition of partner?" She winced at that.

"Sort of…"

"Like…?" I sat up, crossing my legs, and tilting my head to the side. When did her blush get so cute?

Lightning cleared her throat. "It could mean several things," Etro, she can't even keep eye contact with me. "She could be a Pulse-,"

"Gran Pulse."

"—Gran Pulse agent along with you, or she could be your… um…"

"My… um…?" I'm turning into a sadist. Poor Lightning.

"You could be lovers." She said quickly.

What?

I busted out laughing, clutching my sides as I fell back down on the bed. Through tear-filled eyes, I could see that Lightning was staring at the other wall, a muscle working in her jaw – but I couldn't help it! Me and Vanille— that brought another round of laughter.

"Never mind," She stood up, her posture like a rod that was shoved straight in her back.

My laughter died out, as I saw her take a step away from me. She's trying to open herself up, and I just mocked her. Not thinking, I reached out to catch her wrist. "Hey, Light," I could feel her tense as soon as I touched her. Her head lowered a little bit. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult you. Come sit back down."

Lightning eyed me warily. "I won't laugh, cross my heart." She sighed, sitting back down on the bed, albeit slowly.

"So, you want to know what my definition of 'partner' is, yeah?"

She nods.

"Well, we kinda are 'agents of Gran Pulse' but not lovers." I shook my head. "Vanille is like my little sister." I said softly.

"You miss her." She sounded… surprised.

I shrugged. "You miss Serah, don't you?"

"I'd tear down the sky for her."

My head shot up, eyes locking with hers again. There was a small smile in place, her blue eyes glittering. "Oh you're cute, Sunshine."

Lightning scoffed. "Sunshine?"

"Fits your happy-go-lucky personality."

"Right… Snaggletooth."

I chuckled. I rearranged myself so that I was sitting next to Lightning, my hands braced on the side of the bed with my arm barely brushing against hers.

"Now what is it you really want to tell me, Light?" Her eyes widened. "Oh, please – like you didn't just come in here to talk to me about my," I raised my hands for makeshift quotation marks. ", 'relationship' with Vanille."

She looked away, biting her bottom lip. Her straight pink strands fell down to cover her eyes, hiding any emotion that I might find. A few minutes passed; I was about to ask her again but then, "I just…" Her hands – which were resting on the sides of the bed like mine – tightened their grip. "Did you ever blame yourself for your sister becoming a l'Cie?"

"All the time," I looked down at the necklace that Vanille had made me – the symbol of Oerba... home. "If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't be in this mess. She'd be with the rest of our village." She didn't reply. Pushing myself off of the bed, I crouched down in front of her. She flinched when I grabbed her hands and pulled them into her lap. She was cold. I rubbed her hands between mine in hopes that friction would warm her up a little. "It wasn't your fault, Light. Snow told me what happened," She opened her mouth to argue back. "Nuh-uh, none of that. You are the best big sister anyone could have and it's not your fault. That burden does not need to be placed on your soldiers."

A chocked sob escaped her.

She's…

I didn't think. I leaned forward, pulling her in for the comfort that she needed. "We're gonna get our sisters, Light. I promise."

OOO

She had cried for a bit, maybe half an hour. After that she got up, quietly thanking me before she slipped out and off to her own room. I never thought that Lightning would be searching for comfort from me – especially when we just met a day ago.

But, I guess it's like I said – there was some sort of connection between us. I barely know her and she barely knows me – and yet, it's like we have known each other for our whole lives. We are light and darkness, sun and moon, Pulse and Lindzei.

We are opposites, enemies.

Then why do I feel this way?

OOO

A/N: Review please :3