Alright, I'm doped up on pain killers and it's time to roll. I just finished my English GCSE exam and I thought 'Hey Pete, what should we do to relax? So I decided to write. Broken Strings was giving me a bit of hassle so I did this one shot. It's Flight obviously.

AN over- lets rock and/or roll.

The loud music that blasted from the seven speakers deafened Fang completely. You couldn't even hear any music because each speaker was playing something different. One this they all had in common was their beat, which actually made the house shake.

Fang took another swig of whatever Lebreau had cooked up and was no dishing out; she didn't want to know what was in it, just how fast she could get drunk off it. By the look of some of the guests, pretty quickly.

Why were there so many guests, you may ask. It started with asking their neighbours of Oerba, or New Bodhum as it was informally called, if they minded that a party going to happen a few nights. The natural Bodhum instinct and reaction to the word 'party' lead to the neighbours asking if they could come along. A few people asked if they could bring a friend or two and, as is the case with parties, it ended up with the entire population of Oerba crammed in Vanille's house, spilling out into the street. Thankfully the entire population of the town were relatively young and so wouldn't mind the noise and partying. Most of the refugees from Cocoon had formed major towns and cities, but the people from Bodhum decided to stick together and had rebuilt Oerba.

You may also ask, "Hey! Why are they having a party?" go on, I won't hold it against you if you actually do ask that. I'll even wait for you. Done?

Today was Fang's (five hundred and) twenty second birthday, the plan had been to have a traditional Pulsian birthday. Friends and family come would come round with gifts and spend the day together. Then in the evening a large meal, followed by stories about the birthday boy/girl and a toast to their continued health. In Oerba, seeing as they were a small town made up mainly of orphans, the entire village would join in.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, someone decided to incorporate Cocoon ideas into the mix, and look what you got.

Fang snapped back into reality when a dancer bumped into her, nearly spilling her drink. After receiving a slurred 'harpy birfday' from the dancer she moved on, looking for the Director in Charge of Planning and Guests. "Vanille!" Fang called, attracting the attention of the only other Pulsian left.

"Fang! Happy Birthday! We already moved all the presents up into your room. Well I say 'we', but really Serah just asked Snow and he couldn't move fast enough!" Vanille gibbered, while bouncing from foot to foot.. Fang examined her, but she wasn't drunk. This was her usual attitude. "Any way you have to meet this man, he's head of the Guardian Corps regiment here in Oerba!"

Fang recognised the large man. She'd met him once or twice while she passed through the temporary GC offices, generally looking for Lightning. Or her 'expedition and reclamation' team she was showing the local countryside and generally teaching to survive.

"Major Amodar! What brings you here?"

"Your party, Fang. I must say it's going well, no disturbances so far. It would be a real shame it I had to have it closed down?"

"It that a threat, Major?" Fang joked.

"Of course not, it really would be a shame." He smiled at her. "If you see the Lieutenant, tell her that she's got tomorrow off. For recuperation."

"I was not aware there was a new Lieutenant promoted since you were made a major, sir." Fang shook her head, Lebreau's draft must have had more of an effect than she first realised, if she couldn't remember a thing like that.

"Oh, right. If you see Lightning, tell her she's been promoted and she has tomorrow off." Amodar took a single step backwards and nearly fell over completely. On shaky legs he wandered off to talk to some other random people at the party. Fang mingled some more, wandering from group to group.

"Hey Fang, over here!" Fang swung around on one foot to see the Chair in Charge of Decoration and Consumables. That's Serah to you and me. Fang followed the madly babbling girl to a corner where the former l'Cie and team NORA had entrenched themselves. They smiled at her approach and let off a chorus of Happy Birthday's. Fang plopped to the floor next to Yuj, looking at his electric blue hair. That couldn't be natural. That said she did know two people with champagne pink hair and fantasised about one of them.

The NORA member turned to speak directly to the Pulsian. "So Fang, it looks like they made a mistake on your banner."

"How so, Yuj?" She asked.

"It says you're over 500! That's not possible!" He wailed.

"It's true. I was a crystal for exactly 500 years, and I happen to count them. We put the entire time on there to confuse people like you."

"I hope I'm as youthful and good-looking as you when I reach the big five oh oh."

"Thank you, Yuj, that's so sweet. I think." She muttered. Looking around the room, she couldn't see pink hair anywhere, but next to her. But that was the wrong one. Serah place a hand in Fangs hair and began stroking and running her hands through it. "Do you mind, pint-size?"

"Your hair is awesome Fang! It's got browns and reds and blues and blacks and reds and a grey, oh wait! It's another red." Serah giggled madly as Fang turned to look at her.

"Are you drunk, pint-size?"

"It was only one or two." She said with a completely straight face, before breaking into laughter. Fang raised an eyebrow, a trick taught to her by Lightning, at Snow.

"One or two what Snow. You do know Sunshine will kill you for this."

"I don't understand. It was only a bottle of beer, and she didn't even finish it." He explained, scratching the back of his head idly. A small hand tugged at his jacket and he looked at his fiancé.

"Hey, Snu-Snow, remember-er-er Claire's birthday, when we came out to her? That was sooo funny!"

"Serah that was one of the worst moments of your life!" Snow looked around that the group, looking for some kind of help, but instead he found inquisitive faces. Peer pressure, helped with a large dose of alcohol, forced him to tell the story. "Well, as you know I proposed to Serah because she was a l'Cie with the promise to help her through it. Now we needed to tell Sis all of it, so we decided to do it on her birthday, to soften the blow. So we tell her and she thinks it is some elaborate joke to cover for the fact we want to get married and says…"

Serah jumped up suddenly, "Worst Birthday Ever!" She fell to the floor giggling.

"Speaking of which, where is Sunshine? She swore she'd be here." Fang couldn't help but let a little sadness into her voice. She hadn't said more than four words to the soldier in the last month. She missed her 'friend'. Well she wanted to be more than friends, but Lightning didn't know how she felt.

No one could look Fang in the eyes. Eventually a slightly inebriated Hope took one for the team. "Said she had to work late tonight. Behemoths. To the north."

"Don't feed me the bullcrap, Hope, she just didn't want to be here, did she?" Everyone winced at her cold words. "Don't worry, I understand. I understand very clearly."

The uncomfortable silence was broken by a ringing coming from Serah's back pocket. She whipped out her phone and held it up to check the caller id. "Claire! We were just talking about you. Hang on, I'm gonna put you on the peaker sone. Sorry, I meant the speaker phone."

"Serah, are you drunk?" Lightning's voice came clearly from the phone, as if she was actually in the room. It was still hard to hear her over the thumping music.

"Maybe." She replied coyly.

"Snow?"

"Yeah, Sis."

"I'm going to KILL YOU!" There was a second long pause, then Lightning started speaking again. "Is Fang there?"

"Oh, I'm here, Sunshine. Where the hell are you?"

"Look Fang, I'm really sorry I couldn't make it to the main party, but I'm a bit tied up here."

"You're not on Guardian Corps work, are you?"

"Not exactly. No. no I am not doing Guardian corps work." There was a sigh and heavy breathing. "Look as soon as I wrap things up here, I'll make this up to you."

"Promise?"

"I promise." There was a click as the phone was put down on the other end. Fang sighed.

"You lied to me. You said she was working. Why would you lie to me, on my birthday?"

She stood up, swaying from Lebreau's draft. It was really good stuff. It burned your throat and made your teeth feel like they were melting, but once that burning was gone, there was only a pleasant feeling that reached from your head to your toes. "I'm going to bed. Night everyone."

Snow laid a hand on her arm to stop her. "A toast before you go?" He raised his glass, joined by everyone else in the small group that was unnoticed by everyone else in the room. "To Fang!"

"To another good year!"

"To many, happy orgasms!" Serah called, drawing all eyes before collapsing to the floor. Most of the group looked at each other shiftily, whilst Fang and Snow looked at the unconscious girl in horror. Fang shook her head and stumbled off to her room, remembering all the presents piled up in there now.

Once Fang had started up the stairs, Serah cracked her left eye open and looked side to side. "Is she gone?" Snow nodded, with a conspiratorial wink added for good measure.

"Right, part 2 of operation Party is over. Good job everyone, well done!" Serah called out from her perch on a chair. There was a cheer and the music stopped instantly. Seconds later people were filing out of the house to return home, or collapse on the street.

Upstairs, oblivious to the planning and scheming, Fang pushed open her door and was greeted with the most wonderful sight she had ever clapped eyes on.

"Hey Fang. Care to open your present." Lightning said, in a low voice. Just the words sent shivers up Fang's spine. The soldier was laid on Fang's bed wrapped in an enormous red ribbon. Fang could see every curve and contour on Lightning's body, her eyes followed the lines of Lightning's body, her hefty bust barely constrained by the ribbon, her rippling abs and her sculpted buttocks. A small piece of drool actually rolled from the corner of Fang's mouth and her centre burned.

"Best. Birthday. Ever." She managed, before she dived on.