Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Final Fantasy XIII, or any of the characters.

Note: This story is completely AU, that does not change the fact that it might contain spoilers.

I had never planned for this to happen, but then again, had anything in my life ever gone as I wanted? I could spare you, and flat out give you the ending...right here, right now. Something tragic, like everyone dies in some ironic way...or, maybe the hero gets the girl – better yet, boy meets girl, screws up with girl, tries to get her back, and wins her heart through some romantic feat!

Truth is...that's not our story. There's no powerful dragon to be slain, there's no princess trapped in the highest tower of a castle...and in fact, no one gets the girl.

"So, what's the point?" You may ask, well...there is none. Yes, I know, "way to sell it, Vanille!" But, like I said, nothing really goes my way.

I guess you could say this is a story of discovery...but, I'll let you be the judge of that and get straight to the point. My name is Vanille, seventeen, just another girl with a predicament. It all started on the first day of school, when I first met her...That's your event, there's your setting. It was like a snowball tumbling down a hill, it just kept growing and growing until...well...

I raced onto campus in my newly ironed uniform, thinking I was prepared for whatever the new year would swing in my direction.

Vanille stumbled into her first period class, Home Economics with Professor Raines. A young man in his mid twenties, he had dark hair and was always the object of the school's female population's affections. In Vanille's opinion, he was just another stuck up man.

The moment she stepped foot through the door, the late bell rang throughout the halls. "Safe!" She proclaimed, thrusting her hands in the air in a sign of admirable victory. The teacher 'harrumphed'' his disapproval shooting a deadly glare at the noisy girl, "yes, well, had this not been the first week I would have rewarded you with a detention," he returned to his role sheet, "please, take a seat so I may call role."

Face a faint red, the redhead edged toward a seat in the back, plopping herself beside her dark companion.

"So I see you got up!" The other girl half-snickered, half-whispered.

"Well, no thanks to you, of course!" The lighter girl pouted.

"Hell, I tried! Is it my fault you sleep like a rock?"

"Yun Fang!" Raines announced.

"Yo!" The wild-haired teen waved, earning a disapproving glare. Vanille was certain they were both on his student blacklist at this point. She hid a giggle behind a mock cough.

She and Fang had been friends for as long as she could remember, they even lived together. They were orphans, raised by an older woman who claimed to have known both of their families quite well. She passed away midway through their first year of high school. She was wealthy, and with no immediate family to will her belongings away to she pronounced the two girls as her immediate heirs, they lived off of the money she left for them. Vanille always though it strange that such a woman hardly had any family to offer her fortune off to. Though, at the same time, she wondered what would have become of them if she did.

"C-"

"Present." Vanille raised her head from her occupation of passing notes with fang, she hadn't noticed the pink haired ice queen was in her class. This girl preferred to go by "Lightning", few people had the privilege to address her by her real name (aside from her sister.). Not even the faculty. There was a rumor she had sent a coach to the hospital in a stretcher when he accidentally slipped up and called her name during practice. You either called her Lightning, or you called her by her last name. She was a track star, and captain of both the soccer and kendo teams. Emphasis on was. Somewhere in their junior year a rumor spread amongst the students that something had occurred within her family to cause her to halt any sports she was involved in. Something about a death, or whatever. Vanille wasn't clear on the details, but she knew for a fact that the older Farron had taken to taking care of her younger sister.

Every once in a while the redhead would catch a glimpse of the cold girl running the school's track. Perhaps she missed the competition, or perhaps she just wanted to stay in shape.

Either way, she didn't know, neither did she care. No one knew a single thing about the Farrons, aside from rumors. The only person remotely close to them was the younger Farron's boyfriend.

"-Vanille" The young girl was pulled from her thoughts by a sharp nudge from her friend, she hissed in disapproval before finally answering the teacher, "erm...here!" She piped.

"Very well.." The dark haired man cleared his throat, setting his role sheet down and taking his place behind his desk. Hands clasped behind his back as though he were a sort of general. "I am Professor Raines, and this..." He made a large gesture with his hands, the students shot glances at each other as if saying 'is this guy for real?' "...is your homeroom. One important factor about this class is that you each must work in partnerships of two." Fang winked at Vanille, the class began to mutter, the young teacher cleared his throat once again, a sign that he was not yet done with his speech. "...That I will choose."

A collective groan resounded through the class.

Within the next five minutes, Fang had been paired off with Lebreau, a friend of theirs who had been living with the lifelong dream of one day owning a cafe. Vanille, on the other hand, found herself sitting next to the intimidating pinknette. She was afraid to breathe, afraid that the slightest expansion of her lungs would set the other girl off.

The redhead glanced over her shoulder to be greeted by a Cheshire grin and a cocky wave. She stuck her tongue out in defiance.

The class had drawn on as "Professor" Raines recited the class syllabus. Finally, the bell rang and the redhead shot out of her stool and to her next class without a second glance over her shoulder.

The day went on uneventful, she had History, Cultural Appreciation, Health, Fal'Cie Studies, The Study of Pulse and Cocoon, and finally PE. She had been smart and taken her required English and Maths over vacation, unlike Fang, who she was certain was already suffering through her first lessons. Vanille dragged her feet to her lunch table, seeing that Fang had managed to secure it before any one else. She was slightly happy to note that she had made it before any of her other friends. Good, she had time to chat with her best friend.

"Don' think I'll ever get used to this damned uniform..." The dark girl joked, tugging at her tie, "S'pose I won't miss it a bit when I'm through with this Hell on Earth! 'Nuff of that though, how's it with sunshine?"

Vanille scowled, "Sugar and rainbows. Nearly thought I'd die! I wonder if Raines'll let me switch with her sister..."

"Oh, don't worry, he won't. Said we're set for the rest'a the year. Though if it's Lebreau, I'm not gonna fuss!' Vanille banished the thoughts that could possibly be going through her friend's mind, it was no secret her friend fancied the other girl.

"I'll be having none of that, Fang..." She chided, earning herself a sly wink.

The remainder of her day drawled on until finally she was marching out of the girl's locker room, "PE on the first day? Unheard of..." She muttered to herself.

"Farron, you get off that boy!" The redhead marveled as the PE instructor, Coach Sazh, attempted to pry Lightning Farron off of a giant blonde boy.

Snow Villiers was dating Serah Farron, and it was no joke that Lightning absolutely despised him.

Somehow the coach managed to drag her off of him, and proceeded to scold her.

Vanille knew that's all he'd do, no detention or threat of expulsion. He played favorites, and Farron was one of them. She was a like a daughter to him, according to her past teammates. Even his son practically adored Serah. The old man was crushed when he found out Lightning wouldn't be using her brain and brawn at a competitive university, but instead in the Guardian Corps, straight out of graduation. Even more so when she quit all of her after school occupations. He still took care of the sisters, however.

As Lightning passed me, I took note of her bruised knuckles, and winced. I could only imagine what the dent in the boy's skull might have looked like.

As the week passed, I had begun to see less and less of the girl, until it was announced to me on Friday that she had dropped Home Economics for another class and I'd be paired with Hope and Yuj. I was utterly relieved, until PE came around...

The class had just finished their final warmup lap, Vanille collapsed in a heap besides Hope.

"I can't believe this," he sighed, tugging at the collar of his shirt, "I expressed my interest in being a Field Medic and they put me in PE!"

"Field Medic?" Vanille didn't know that Hope had been interested in The Guardian Cops..."Wait a minute, Hope...do you...Lightning...?"

He flushed, "It's nothing like that! And you know it!"

A wry smile crossed her face, "of course..." Before she could persist, a whistle blew, drawing their attention.

Standing next to the coach was non other than the strawberry blonde athlete, decked in full PE attire, face as placid as ever. Held in her left hand, a red ball.

"Oh no..." Hope groaned.

"Since this is a moderately small PE class, we will be splitting into four teams of six." The coach announced, "boys versus boys, girls versus girls."

From my court, I glanced over in time to catch a glimpse of Hope being knocked over like a bowling pin. In my moment of distraction I had barely heard a hollered, "watch out!"

Whipping around, I caught a glimpse of a rubber ball rocketing towards my face.

I did the only thing I knew how to do, I froze. I screwed my eyes shut and braced myself for impact.

When I next opened them, I wasn't on the floor surrounded by my classmates, in fact...I was standing behind the strawberry blonde, who had managed to get between me and the ball in time.

She turned around and scowled at me, "do you think you could pay attention from now on? Useless."

Before I could come up with a witty retort, she swung the ball, launching it across the court at lightning speed (perhaps a true allusion to her choice name), hitting her target with a loud and painful "whump!"

Needless to say, I was glad I was on her team.

"Dodge ball, Football, Hockey...give me something where I won't die!" The white haired boy gingerly rubbed his left shoulder, Vanille pondered the request for a few seconds, "Blitz ball?"

"Actually, my cousin –"

"Oh, lay off Hope! Puts hair on your chest!" Fang laughed heartily, slapping the poor boy on the back and nearly causing him to fly down the bleachers.

Vanille shrugged, "it wasn't all that bad..."

"Well, you're faster than me!" Hope pouted, "and Lightning was on your team! I just had Snow...and Gadot...they made me their decoy!"

Snow scratched at his messy beard, "Oh, come on...you did pretty good!" Hope glared, Snow chuckled and stood up, "Oh, I see Serah! …..and Yuj!" At the mention of the other boy, he winked at Hope, earning another glare before the two left to accompany them.

"Hope...and Yuj?" Vanille questioned, slightly curious.

Fang shrugged, "Heard of stranger. Let's get home too, it's startin' to get dark."

"….And to my dear Vanille, a warm smile and hopes that she never lose her way. And, along with the money, a chest containing the origins of her family and her mother's treasures. In confidence that she does not open it until her eighteenth birthday..."

I had remained true to the wish, however as the years drawled on I became more and more impatient. As I rolled the key in my hand I closed my eyes. Soon I would know the truth. I would know home. But what of Fang? Was the secret to her past in there as well?

Placing the note and key back in their respectable drawer, I reluctantly left the attic and dragged my exhausted body past the old woman's shut and locked door. A room that had never been opened again, never been entered or occupied. I wondered if I should break the seal once more,perhaps clean it on the woman's birthday. At this point, that was all I could offer.

I finally entered our shared room, collapsing onto my bed. I glanced over at Fang's bed, empty. She had probably left to some party she had caught wind of. No doubt I would be awoken in the middle of the night by a text requesting that I pick her up. She would probably be drunk, and clinging to strangers attempting to woo them.

My eyes closed heavily...

...I dreamt of a dust covered world.