This is a work of fiction based on Final Fantasy. I do not own Final Fantasy, its worlds or its characters.

Prologue

Fang.

Dissatisfaction.

Fang. The slightly melodious voice repeated.

Incoherent mumbles.

Fang, please. This time with more insistence, tinged with just a hint of worry.

She curled up into a ball, hoping the disturbance would fade.

Oerba Yun Fang! Voice almost frantic, Lighning shook the sleeping huntress underneath her, the concern reaching its peak.

She was startled awake, rolling away from whatever troubling her, hands instinctively seeking the lance she knew was beside her. With a low, feral growl, she crouched on the ground and struck out blindly and -

Encountered no resistance.

Surprised, the tanned woman looked up, her mind still slightly hazy, her movements still lacking the usual oomph it packed. As her mind regained it's usual focus, her gaze landed upon a certain pink-haired soldier, who had shifted slightly to the side, not too willing to meet a rather unfortunate end, at the end of Fang's lance, that is. Fang took a deep, shuddering breath as her jade orbs met sapphire. The azure blue eyes were looking right back at her unblinkingly.

That softly glowing hair cascading down from her hair, that delicately built face, features perfect in every sense, that flawless alabaster skin, an almost imperceptible slight tilt of her head, a tiny frown that only served to increase her appeal, those muscles that tensed with every movement, rolling in waves and coordinating those slight, precise movements of a trained warrior, that body, oh Maker that body-

'Good morning to you too.' A wry smile.

Fang's mind was instantly awake, 'Ligh-!' she managed to choke out before she was enveloped in a hug. She fell backwards and the both of them tumbled to the soft grass with a muted thud, her lance rolling away from her as her grip relaxed. She wrapped her arms around the soldier automatically as if it were the most natural thing in the word, savouring the warmth she felt against her body.

It was then, she remembered everything.

xxx

The battle with Orphan. The fall of Cocoon. The despair that rose within her heart, afraid that all that the L'Cie had done, the journey they had embarked on, the feats they accomplished, the tales they had shared, would be all for naught. The feeling of helplessness threatened to engulf her. Her, who was slowly falling to her doom.

A warm hand had seeked hers out. She had looked up, hoping it was Lightning, only to see Vanille's bright green eyes, a confident smile spreading across the younger Pulsian's features, 'A miracle will definitely happen!'

Deep down inside, she knew what she had to do now. To protect that brilliant smile, that strong faith that Vanille had gotten from Snow. Fang replied with a bitter smile, 'Miracles don't happen on their own,' she said softly. She gave the unsuspecting girl a hug, 'One last time.. won't hurt..' she thought.

Resigned to her fate, she pushed Vanille away, right into Hope Estheim's arms. Using the extra momentum, she drifted away from the group, avoiding looking at her comrade's faces.

'Fang!' she heard Snow call out.

She ignored it and closed her eyes, reaching for the power stored inside her, the invincible power in the form of Ragnarok. Somewhere at the back of her mind, she bitterly taunted herself, 'She hasn't even called your name.' Distracted by that momentary, fleeting thought, she involuntarily opened her eyes and looked up, only to find that -

'Light ain't there.'

Just then, she heard a snap, one that sounded awfully like the soldier's fingers activating the thingy that allowed her to jump around defying gravity.

'Looking for someone?' a whisper ghosted past her ears, a warm breath following it, making her shudder slightly.

She turned around and saw a very pissed off soldier. 'I'm not letting you do this alone,' Lightning hissed angrily. Grabbing the Pulsian by her shoulders, she set her jaw and dared the huntress to defy her.

Fang felt her heart soar at those words, but she masked those feelings behind anger, and opened her mouth to retort, 'This is my job, and my responsibility alone,' she emphasized the last word and glared fiercely at the Sergeant, holding the steely gaze, unwilling to back down.

Lightning felt something crack within her. Her next words were said harshly, without thinking, 'Do you seriously think a future without you is what I desire?' she snapped, her grip on the Oerban's hand unconsciously tightening as anger burned in her eyes. The soldier suddenly winced, breaking eye contact, she looked sideways. Fang managed to see the pain in her stormy blue eyes before the blonde turned away.

The huntress had no time to say anything before the unthinkable happened. Slowly but surely, a glow surrounded the usually stoic Sergeant, her breaths coming in short gasps. She released one of Fang's hands and pressed it against the place where her L'Cie brand previously was, grimacing but trying to hide it. Her gaze was still avoiding Fang's, she was hiding the pain, or rather, trying to hide it. For it was clear as day to Fang, what the source of pain was.

She was initiating Ragnarok's formation. By herself. It was too late for Fang to stop her now.

Fang tilted the soldier's chin slightly, forcing Lightning's ocean blue eyes to clash with her emerald greens, seeking confirmation, 'Are you sure?'

A nod.

Fang leaned down, and let her lips gently graze Lightning's. Closing her eyes once more, she too, reached for the power within her. As they were both enveloped in that white glow, they slipped into a world, where there were only the two of them. The other L'Cie's watched helplessly.

'No.. Light...' Hope gasped, eyes growing wide.

'Sis!' the bulky man that was Snow called out.

Vanille was squirming in Hope's tight grip, trying to get to Fang, but she lost her chance when Snow helped in restraining her too. 'Fang!' she cried out desperately, the fear of losing her adopted sister forcing her to lash out wildly.

Sazh lowered his gaze, knowing that it had to be done, 'Be safe, you two..' he muttered.

xxx

Fang felt the woman on top of her breathe in a deep, shuddering breath. Slightly alarmed, the Oerban unwrapped her hands from Lightning's waist and brought them up to the blonde's shoulders in one fliud motion. Gently but swiftly, she flipped them both over, reversing their positions.

'Are you hurt?' the tanned woman frowned down at Lightning. Concern creasing her face, the huntress quickly scanned the soldier for any visible injuries. However, it was Fang we were talking about here. When no gaping wounds caught the Pulsian's attention, she soon got distracted and let her eyes roam freely across Lightning's body, a smirk on her face as she drank in that mighty fine figure. Of course, she couldn't be blamed...

'You just scared me a little there..' Lightning mumbled softly, as though to herself. Slightly embarassed under Fang's scrutiny, the pink-haired woman looked away, cheeks tinged with the lightest shade of pink. 'I'm fine now,' saying that, she shoved Fang off her, roughly but not causing hurt.

Fang landed on the soft green grass with a soft 'oof'. 'Hey! That ain't how ya treat someone who cares about ya!' Pouting indignantly, she remained on her back, hands reaching up to form a makeshift pillow underneath her mess of dark hair. Getting no reply from her companion, she observed her surroundings. It was really nothing much to take note of, just a forest with frickin' huge trees, plus some sounds of a river coming from their left.

The huntress heard some rustling, and felt Lightning shifting around. She rolled to her side, facing the Cocoon native. Propping her head up on a hand, she let her eyes wander all over Lightning. The said soldier currently had her back facing her. Lightning looked like she was unzipping that turtleneck of hers. Her heart started to race. What was Lightning doing?

'The mark.'

'Hn?'

'It's turned white.'

'Really? That's awesome!'

'It looks just like yours now.'

'Hey! Lemme' see!' Fang rolled herself toward Lightning and sat up, turning the soldier to face her. However, Lightning immediately tried to cover her mark with her hands, cheeks tinged a light pink.

'C'mon now, don't be shy!' Fang said the exact same words she uttered the first time she saw Lightning's L'Cie mark.

'Okay..' the pink-haired woman let her hands fall to her side, allowing the Oerban to see the white, burned out mark on her chest.

'You're right!' Fang grinned at Lightning excitedly, 'You aren't L'Cie anymore!'

The Cocoon native smiled, 'We're free then.'

'Damn right we are!'

Lightning nodded, and turned to zip up her turtleneck sweater.

The Oerban stared absentmindedly up at the green canopy above her, wondering where the hell were they. When the next phrase was uttered, the two ex-L'cie said it in unison.

'Where is this?'

When they both realised that they had said the exact same thing, with the exact same timing, Fang couldn't help but to let out a loud guffaw, childish as it was. Lightning however, was fightning to keep the grin from breaking out from her face. The Cocoon native felt lighthearted for the first time in months.

All the urgency when they were ticking time bombs, racing to their destination, always second-guessing themselves, were gone. It left Lightning feeling elated. She felt herself relaxing with every passing second. She took a wild guess, 'In crystal stasis?'

Fang blinked her eyes.

Does this mean..?

'Did we save Cocoon?' the huntress wondered aloud.

'You bet we did,' came the lighthearted reply.