Love and Sunshine is a real product, so no eye rolls. Since ffnet is bad with links you'll just have to google it if you don't believe me :)


Fang scowled, turning the pink, lavender-scented bottle in her hand this way and that. "Of all the useless things you Cocoonians think up..."

The woman behind the stand looked up from a box she was rummaging through. "What are you going on about there, miss? You gonna buy that one? I got plenty of other kinds, too. "

For all her scowling, going to market was one of Fang's favorite adventures. Though the tents and booths were filled with the very people she'd once sought to destroy – she at least wasn't calling them Vipers anymore – the sounds of chatter and bartering, the smell of cooked behemoth... it all reminded her of a time long ago.

And she got to see all the crazy stuff these people brought to sell.

More bottles were set in front of her, and a golden, spherical shaped one caught her eye. "Now I call that one Love and Sunshine," the woman said proudly when Fang picked it up. She winked as she added, "Secret recipe."

Honestly. The people of Cocoon may have been five hundred years beyond her time, but they were as naive as ever.

Fang studied the bottle for a moment. "Well, it's likely you've got some aloe. The color suggests... jojoba?" She twisted the cap off and swirled the bottle under her nose, catching the nutty scent to confirm her suspicion. And then she smiled. "And sunflower. And uh, let's see... is that strawberry? It's very subtle. Nice touch."

"Uh, w-well-"

"Tell you what," Fang stated, recapping the bottle and sliding her pack from her shoulders. "You give me a deal, and your secret is safe with me."

Finished shortly after with her shopping, she followed her competent nose toward the food plaza. Numerous tables and benches were set out before the stalls offering a wide variety of Gran Pulse cuisine. Or as close to Pulsian cuisine as Cocoonian's fresh off their rock could make it. Fang's mouth still watered at the scent of venison roasting over a fire.

It didn't take long to find Lightning, what with her pink hair and Serah seated right next to her. The sisters were eating from a plate full of kabobs, and Fang approached just as Lightning was bringing a skewer to her lips. Fang leaned over her shoulder, wrapping her hand around the other's to hold the stick steady while she bit into a chunk of meat and pulled it off.

Pleased by the sweet sound of tolerated annoyance she received for her efforts, she pecked Lightning on the lips and plopped down on the bench with her back to the table.

"Tastes good, sunshine," Fang murmured, throwing a wink to Serah past Lightning's raised brow. She set her pack aside and propped her elbows on the table, making herself quite comfortable in front of her girlfriend's bemused look.

"Did you finish stealing from the merchants?"

Fang crossed her legs and idly swung her foot. "I'm hardly robbing them. And they're learning," she reasoned, trailing the backs of her fingers along Lightning's arm.

"Find anything interesting?" Serah asked with a polite smile.

"As a matter of fact." Fang rummaged through her pack. She produced the bottle of golden liquid and set it on the table for the sisters to see. "It puts bubbles in your bath. Isn't that the most useless thing you've ever heard of?"

Serah stared at her. "Fang, you've never had a bubble bath?" She nudged Lightning and teased, "What do you guys even do together?" Lightning picked up another kabob instead of responding.

Fang looked between them. "Why in the hell would I want bubbles in my bath?"

Serah's expression dropped, giving Fang a look, before shaking her head, "Then why did you get it?"

Fang pouted. "Because." Her fingers were back to grazing Lightning's arm. "It smells a bit like the perfume this one uses sometimes."

Lightning patiently set her skewer aside, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and turned her eyes to Fang, whose foot was wiggling from feeling so oddly proud of herself.

"Darling, you're giving me that look again."

"What look?"

Serah stood up from the table and said to no one in particular, "Oh-kay, I'm going to go find Snow."

"The one that says," Fang drew out the word before she settled on a tentative, hopeful smile, "You like me?"

Lightning hummed, propping her chin on a hand and taking her time to think about that. "You must be mistaken," she said finally.

Fang was starting to pout again until Lightning leaned closer and whispered, "I love you," before softly capturing her lips. It was so gentle and sweet and all too brief that when Lightning pulled away, Fang was already following her for a second one, taking the kiss deeper.

Aware of the crowd milling around them, and Lightning's general displeasure about public displays of affection – really, what was wrong with these people, – Fang reluctantly broke from the kiss and instead shifted closer, resting a head on the woman's shoulder.

Lightning picked up the bottle, turning it around in her hand while Fang wrapped an arm around her back and rubbed her side.

"We'll have to get some candles, too."

Fang just shook her head. Bubbles and candles? Cocoon people were weird.

"Light, look at all these bubbles!" Fang laughed aloud.

Lightning, who was still undressing, watched Fang as she crouched naked beside the tub, hands submerged in the water and swirling the overflowing foam around. She chose to bite her tongue when Fang poured in half the bottle, thinking the bubbles weren't appearing fast enough. The foam was now rising well above the rim of the tub thanks to her efforts.

"Go ahead and get in," Lightning said. She took her time lighting the candles just so she could watch Fang step in and sink into the cloud of foam. She turned off the lights before stepping into the opposite end of the tub.

The romance of the atmosphere was lost in the childish delight of Fang's eyes, trying to take in all the fluffy foam and bubbles rising around her head. Lightning cupped two handfuls of foam and blew on it, sending it partway across the tub and managing to grab Fang's attention. A grin split across the woman's face and she mimicked the action, which quickly led to their first competition of seeing who could send their bubbles the farthest, batting at them when they got close enough, only stopping when they were light-headed and breathless.

Fang was giggling by that point. She moved closer and proceeded to stack foam atop Lightning's head, and just because the woman was smiling so damn much about it, Lightning helped by giving herself a large, foamy beard as well.

"You should see yourself, sunshine," Fang managed, laughing despite biting down on her tongue. "Bloody hell my sides hurt."

They dressed Fang's head in much the same way and by then they were giggling so much at each other they started throwing handfuls of foam around the tub because they couldn't manage much else for a while. Eventually Lightning surged forward, weighing down on Fang's shoulders to push her under the water. She came up wearing a face-full of foam, her eyes peering gleefully through it as she grabbed Lightning and dunked the both of them.

Their wrestling turned more aggressive, sloshing water and foam from the tub as they slipped about trying to find purchase and advantage. A few banged elbows and bumped heads later they settled down at opposite sides, smiling at the other and splashing water in their direction as they caught their breath.

When the candles were a fair degree shorter, their hands and feet wrinkled, they sat in the middle between the other's legs, Lightning's over Fang's, and Fang returned to stacking foam on her head.

"You're giving me that look again," Fang said, glancing only briefly away from her work.

"The one that says I think you're the most ridiculous woman I've ever met?"

"Yeah, that one."