Thanks CrazyNinjaPenguin for beta'ing this for me.

Final Fantasy 13 doesn't belong to me, but it will live in my heart forever.

The story is rated M for future chapters.

Come to Me

1. I'll Take care of you

The Fifth Ark turned out to be a maze. The trial, should anybody survive it was designed to build powerful l'Cie. It felt very much like my home, Gran Pulse, which tests one endlessly to weed out the weak from the strong; however, it had taken its toll on the Cocoon natives.

They pushed through bravely enough, but it was not a natural state for them to exist in a constant state of high tension. Because of this, they became frustrated easily.

I think this is why back at home we all, for the most part, developed a sense of humour. It's an important survival technique. We know how to smile and do what we must to live despite knowing somebody we care for may not be there the next day. We must be thankful to still be breathing even knowing those breath may perhaps be our last few.

They each had their own means of dealing with stress.

For Hope, I think his source of relief was thinking up all of those inspirational speeches he just loves to give. It probably helps that he's surrounded by tremendously adept warriors. I've seen him cry when he thinks nobody is looking.

For Snow, he talks a lot to Serah through the teardrop. It can't release all of his tension though; I think he's afraid to show his weaknesses to his future wife. You can tell it's really bad for him when we go through several hours of fighting without break. He screams at his quarry and then continues to berate them after they've died.

For Sazh, I think it helps that he has a strong sense of humour already and he easily gets into it with Fang and I. Also, he has a strong hope for seeing his son again; this is keeping him moving forward. Otherwise, he talks to his little chocobo a lot, especially since he finally trained it to stop pooping in his hair.

The worst of them is Lightning. With little sense of humour, and never getting enough sleep, she seems to be trying to push us all to the brink of insanity with her. Her life experiences tell that she has endured long periods of stress, but I think that since she has all of us with her, she feels an extra pressure to look tough.

I was lying next to Fang the first time we had to sleep in the Ark. An area in the lower traverse was clear, but Lightning still went patrolling by herself. We would have gone further had Fang not started throwing up. The guys vetoed that we should make camp, our impatient leader acquiesced.

"Fang, what's wrong!" I spoke to her as we lay on our fur. "Is it your brand, is this a side effect?"

She smirked at me, though I knew she was feeling rough by the greenish tinge to her tanned skin. "Nah, I'm just really tired. This really is the worst time to be sick huh?"

I placed my hand upon her arm; she was not feverishly hot, but still very warm. "Did you get your period?" I asked.

"Outta here" a familiar voice spoke as he realized he lying too close to us. Snow got up and left. I don't understand why Cocoon men are so squeamish at the subject of a woman's menstrual cycle.

Fang chuckled and pulled me into a hug. I could hear her heartbeat, strong and steady. She had something to say and I became tense with worry. In the past, whenever she's had something major to tell me, she's done it so that we do not have facial contact. Vanille, I'm sorry, your mother died this morning. Vanille, I'm going on my first hunt in two days. Vanille, I'm going to become Ragnarok.

It crossed my mind she was about to tell me her memories had returned, but then she would be screaming at me, not giving me a familiar cuddle. Whatever I had fathomed, nothing had prepared me for what she was about to say.

"Vanille…I think I'm pregnant."

She pushed my face into her breasts so I couldn't vocally react. "Pregnant!" my muffled voice cried out.

"Ssshhhhh" She whispered, stroking my hair. "We have to keep it secret okay, kid. I just wanted you to know in case I act a little differently."

I nodded and she released her arm so I could look up at her.

"When did it happen? Who's the father?" I tried my best to ask quietly

"While I was aboard the Lindblum, there was a cheeky bloke named Rygdea. It happened just once, but I guess that's all it takes, heh."

I didn't know what to say after that. I couldn't tell her how conflicted this news made me feel. On the one hand, I am happy for her. Children are a blessing, and Fang would make a great mother. On the other, our group is quite dependant on Fang for her fighting skills, and since she didn't want this news to be known to everybody she wasn't going to be given any breaks. It would probably also be too much to hope that she would act wisely and sit out a few.

And then a third element came to mind.

Fang was Ragnarok-at some point I would tell her that. Maybe she would be less inclined to take that task again with this new focus growing inside of her. My tension let go and I gave her a big smile.

"I'm very happy for you. I'm happy for me too. I'm going to become an aunty."

She smiled back briefly before it vanished. She ran up quickly and threw up into our designated outhouse for the night—a Pulsework Worker that had been sliced in half at its waist. We of Gran Pulse know that if you cut them at the right spot they'll keep digesting any materials that come their way.

When she returned, she allowed me to hold her from behind and quickly fell asleep. As we spooned, my mind began racing with things to consider. I'd have to work harder to take some of the heat off of Fang. The main obstacle to that was Lightning.

She sets our pace. When it comes to confront or evade, nine times out of ten, we fight. One might think this was how she releases her frustrations, but it only seems to fuel her need to move forward.

Bloodlust, Fang called it. Why else does somebody sign up to fight the hardest monsters Cocoon has to offer if not for the thrill of it? Lightning seems most alive when she's in the heat of battle.

Then I remembered the chat I had with Fang, not too long before the fight with Barthandalus. I dismissed it at the time. Light had just made the killing blow to a beast that had taken forever to die, she was in mid-air. She landed before me, wiping her bloody weapon before putting it back in its sheath. Her intense blue eyes locked on me briefly before she walked away. I hadn't thought anything strange of it until Fang came up behind me.

"Huh. I think she's attracted to you."

"What? She doesn't think of me that way!"

"Maybe not. But she's flexible-probably an epic shag." Fang commented lewdly.

I smacked her arm and only giggled to dismiss her.

"So why don't you go after her?"

"Like I said, I think she's attracted to you, Vanille. I've noticed for a while actually."

But what if there was something to it. Fang has had many lovers; she likely knows what attraction looks like. As for myself, well, I think people were too afraid to try anything with me for fear that my big scary sister would beat them up if they misbehaved with me.

It made me think that there could be other ways to discourage Lightning from having us in perpetual battle. What if she needed to save her energy for other things?

Before I fell asleep, the idea came to me.

I was going to seduce Lightning Farron.

I haven't updated this in a very long time. I haven't forgotten about it, but I'm finishing up other things before I can get to this one again. Sorry. I do have a plan for it though.