Disclaimer: I do not own the game, Final Fantasy XIII, or the characters used in this story! They all belong to Square Enix.

Storm Driven

a Final Fantasy XIII Fanfiction. (slightly) OOC, (slightly) AU, Lanille

A New Life

"Send out messengers to the other tribes, tell them not to fight the army!" Fang orders her people. But something is a little off about her. Parts of her body seem to be … shining, or glistening.

"Yes, Captain!" one of them says, then gathers a few of their men.

Did we really make it? I can't even believe it!

"Lieutenant, I got another message from Cocoon! It's an order to retreat from Pulse, there is only one more gate left to get back home! It was sent to all the soldiers on Pulse."

"Excellent." Amodar says, then lowers his weapon again. He looks at me and gives me a nod. I salute to him, and also nod.

So … we really did it …

"Fang!" I hear my younger lover exclaim right next to me, which immediately makes me look at the woman who saved my life. Her whole arms and legs are in this weird, glistening state now.

I take a few steps towards her and realize that she is turning to crystal. Of course … she fulfilled her focus.

Vanille throws her arms around Fang's midsection, holding on tightly to her childhood friend. "You can't leave, Fang! We still need you here!"

The dark haired woman smiles a sad smile and also wraps her arms around the younger girl. "Thanks to you two I fulfilled my focus. Better this than turning Cie'th."

I can hear a few sobs coming from the redhead. "Fang, please don't leave! Please!"

Fang chuckles softly. "Ey, who said I'll leave? I'll watch over you, even in my crystal state, alright?"

"No!" Vanille screams into the woman's shoulder. "This is not alright! You should stay here!"

The crystal is quite quickly spreading up Fang's shoulders. She sighs and pushes the younger girl back a little bit, to look into her eyes, and probably also to not hold her, and that way trap her, when she fully is crystal. "Vanille, it's alright. We saved our home, and maybe even made some friends on that weird nest that calls itself Cocoon."

The tears are streaming endlessly down Vanille's face. The scene is sad, it even makes my eyes sting a little. They've been together all their life, and now they have to say goodbye in a very bittersweet way.

"Don't cry because of me, 'Nille. One day we will see each other again." Fang says and turns her head towards me, then extends her hand. "Take care of Vanille for me until then, will ya?"

I take her hand into mine and give it a firm squeeze. It's cold and hard, just like you would imagine crystal to be. I … wouldn't have thought that it would feel that way, considering she is still moving around freely.

"You got my word, Fang." I reply.

"Thank you … Lightning Farron." she says and gives me a smile. That woman is incredible, knowing exactly what will be happening to her and still smiling as carefree as this.

"Fang!" Vanille exclaims again, her voice is followed by sobs and more tears that are streaming down her face.

Fang reaches out for the redhead's face one more time, but then suddenly all of her movements freeze.

The transformation is complete.

Fang will now … eternally be a crystal.

"No!" Vanille exclaims again and falls to her knees right in front of her childhood friend. She cries bitterly over the loss.

In order to stay strong and not cry alongside with her, I avert my gaze shortly and look at the others. The Pulsians are all standing close to Vanille and Fang. Some have tears in their eyes, some are crying along with the young girl. It is clear that Fang played a very large part in these peoples' lives. After all, she was their Captain, maybe even their leader.

I then look at the other side, to the Cocoon soldiers. They are all looking at the scene as well. Some took off their helmets – which covered their whole faces – and also wipe a few tears away. Even Amodar seems to have watery eyes.

I shake my head and look back at Fang.

Thank you for helping us. Without you we would've been lost. I will from now on pray for you, for you shall one day return and live amongst us.

I feel a tear rolling down my cheek as well, but I quickly wipe it away with my right glove. I must stay strong for Vanille now. I walk over to her and put my hand on her shoulder. This really is the least I can offer her right now.

Long moments pass until Vanille's sobs are getting less. She then takes my hand into hers, clutching it tightly. She looks up at me with red and puffy eyes, and the tears still evident on her face, but she stands up nevertheless. I lift my hands to carefully wipe those tears away from her face. She doesn't move as I do so, then she turns towards her people.

"We should bring her to Etro's shrine. She deserves to stand next to the goddess." Vanille says, her voice a little hoarse. A few of their men immediately obey and hurry over to Fang, they carefully pick her up.

The redhead then turns to me, "I, kind of, should do this only with my people." She takes both of my hands into hers, looking up, into my eyes.

I nod. "Of course." I understand. Fang obviously was a high-ranked soldier in their village, and the way I got to know her nice side, probably also very popular.

"I'll get back as soon as possible." she says, then leans up to kiss me affectionately. "Wait for me?"

I give her a small smile and a nod. I'll wait for her, no matter how long she will be there. Her lips only hardly form a smile. The pain of her loss still too big … but she still tries. Then she walks towards the forest with her people.

I just look at them until they are all disappearing behind the trees. I'd do anything to spare Vanille this pain of losing … a part of your family. If there was anything I could do to bring Fang back to her, except for praying, I'd do it. I sigh.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts when somebody clears their throat beside me. I turn my head to see Amodar now standing beside me, his hands crossed behind his back. I immediately salute. "Lieutenant."

He looks at me suspiciously. Suspiciously and also a little amused. As if he is up to something. "You know … " he starts, scratching his chin, "I was wondering when a reserved personality such as yourself would find someone."

I can't help myself but raise an eyebrow at him. What is that even supposed to mean?

"And from all the people you could've dated you got a girl from Pulse." He shakes his head, but with a smile on his face. "Well she definitely seems to make you happy."

"Lieutenant?" Seriously, what is he up to? Teasing me?

Suddenly his expression turns serious again. "Anyways … you still disobeyed my orders and wandered off that night without my permission."

I avert my gaze to the floor. I guess he is right. But because I did that we prevented the death of probably thousands of innocent people! "But, sir- "

He holds up his finger to shush me, then speaks again, "I can't just see past this, Farron. And you will get a punishment for it."

He's … serious about this, is he? I sigh. Just … please don't take me away from Vanille. Please …

"You will get a medal for what you did, so you have to come back to Cocoon to receive it." he tells me, his face still dead serious.

My eyebrows shoot up at his 'order'. What?

He then smiles at me again and pats my shoulder. "And make sure you take that lovely girl of yours with you."

My girl … I like the sound of that.

I salute again. "Sir." That man has always been up to jokes like this one. He's a very kind-hearted person, but still a very respected man. He knows when he can joke around and when he has to be strict and serious.

"Will you stay here?" he breaks the silence, giving me a questioning look.

This really is a good question. I haven't thought about it, yet. Will I stay here with Vanille and help them rebuild their town? Or will Vanille come with me to Bodhum? And what about Serah? I want to see her again now that the war is over.

"I … I don't know yet, sir." I honestly reply. I guess I have to think this through a bit more, and also talk to Vanille about it, since I won't leave her side.

He nods. "We will leave this place tomorrow morning. The soldiers need some rest. Let me know until then on what you decided."

"Yes, Lieutenant." I salute again. That gives me some time to think at least.

"Oh, and come with me." he says, pointing to my shoulder, "Let one of our medics treat that wound."

I nod and follow him slightly. Now that he mentioned the wound I can feel it again. It still stings. I place my arm over it and feel a warm liquid. It's bleeding … but our medics are good, I'm sure they can treat it.

Lieutenant Amodar walks in front of me, towards the soldiers who are all talking in smaller groups. When the lieutenant calls out for their attention, though, they all quickly straighten up and salute to him. He orders them so set up a camp for the night, and without hesitation they all start working on it.

Then he calls out for the medic, who is quickly at my side to treat my wound.

ooo

I watch the first stars appearing on the sky as the sun is setting somewhere behind me. From up here I have a great view over parts of the forest and the flat lands of Gran Pulse that stretch out right in front of me. The scenery here seems more than just endless, and its beauty is overwhelming. For an unknown reason I have to smile. For a moment I feel happy. I did my job well, I protected a lot of peoples' lives.

I hear careful footsteps coming closer to me. But by now, hearing them all the time for the past few days, I would recognize them anywhere. It's Vanille. She's sitting down beside me and lets out a long sigh.

"Are you okay?" I ask her, turning my head to look at her. Her puffy eyes went back to normal, it looks like she hasn't been crying for some time now. That's good, but she still looks like she has a lot on her mind, or at least, a lot to digest that has happened. Which is, of course, understandable.

"I am, yes. I'm sorry this took so long." she replies, taking my hand into hers and intertwining our fingers. "How is your shoulder?"

I give her a reassuring smile. "It's fine. Our medics fixed it up again."

"Good to know, Light."

A thought pops up in my head. There is something she should know, and now is the best time to tell her.

"Claire." I simply say, giving her a smile.

She looks at me with a confused frown, which kind of looks adorable. I lean down to kiss her forehead.

"My name is Claire Farron." I tell her, then I look back towards the sky. More stars have disappeared. "I became Lightning to overcome my parents' death, to forget what happened back then and just be my little sister's protector."

I hear a short gasp from her at the new information. "You have a sister? And your parents died? Why didn't you tell me all of this before?!" she exclaims, stemming her hands in her hips.

For an unknown reason I have to laugh at this. I don't understand why, but I feel like laughing right now. I am pretty stupid that I haven't told her this before, am I? I never thought about it until now, all I could think about was my goal, to stop the war together with Vanille, and that's pretty much also everything we talked about.

"What's so funny?" she asks, but in a calmer voice. I just continue laughing. I haven't laughed like this in a long time, but I feel so … relieved all of a sudden, I can't contain myself any longer.

"Hey, Claire, I just asked you a question!" the redhead tries again, and she is already smiling.

When I still don't stop laughing, she tackles me to the ground and starts tickling me. I don't know why she did it, but it's funny as hell. I even have to laugh more, and soon she joins in. We must look like idiots, lying here in the grass, and laughing.

At some point I look to the side and spot a few Guardian Corps soldiers staring at me with dropped jaws, as if they'd just seen a ghost. I immediately stop laughing and sit up again. Ugh … they were all under my command … better get things straight before they think I can be a fun sergeant.

"What are you staring at, soldiers? Don't you have a duty?" I call over to them, setting up a stern face.

"W-we were just … uh … " one of them starts to stumble, but I simply interrupt him, "Moving on, exactly! Or do you want me to give you some extra errands to run?!"

"No, sergeant!" they all exclaim in unison, saluting to me and then quickly walking away. I watch them a little longer, making sure they won't turn around again.

Vanille giggles beside me. "Sergeant Farron … will you tell me a bit more about your past now … please?"

I look back at Vanille and give her a smile again. "Only if you don't call me 'Sergeant Farron' again."

"Yes, Sergeant! … err, Claire!" she replies, saluting and giggling.

ooo

I think I told Vanille my whole life story. She insisted on hearing everything, and so I told her. We sat there for hours and hours. I was talking, she was listening very carefully.

I'm now leaning back on my arms, with Vanille leaning against me, her head resting on my shoulder, and we're looking up into the sky, to the 'floating nest of vipers' that I call my home, Cocoon. It looks very pretty at night, I must admit. The lights emitting from it are shining brightly, you can even make out cities. Though it also looks weird, looking at my home from a completely different angle. From down here it seems so … small. But when you're on Cocoon, it seems just as wide-ranged as Gran Pulse is.

That reminds me of something I should actually discuss with my lover. "Vanille?"

"Hm?" her voice sounds almost dreamy.

"What are you going to do next?" I ask her, which makes her lift her head and look at me a little confused.

"You mean, what are we going to do next?"

I have to smile at the statement. "I just want to know if you already thought about what will happen from now on."

"Hmm … " She taps her chin with her index finger. A habit of her I find very adorable. "I have, actually."

Well then she's one step ahead of me.

"I want to go to Cocoon with you, and meet your sister. And then I want to come back here, to Gran Pulse, and help rebuilding my village." she says, sounding determined.

"And why not the other way around?"

"Because … your sister is very important to you, and I'm sure she will want to see you as soon as possible, just like you want to see her as soon as possible."

I kiss her temple. I think I made up my mind. "And I will come back here with you afterwards and help rebuilding your village."

She giggles and snuggles back into my side. "And until then, we can think of what we will do next, right?"

"Right." It sounds like a good plan. A very good one. There is still one concern on my mind, "Are your people going to be okay with the fact that you're leaving just like that?"

I feel her nodding against my shoulder. "As long as I don't disappear forever … "

I chuckle. "I won't let that happen." I'm so glad that she was not a l'Cie … either she would be a crystal now, or a monster … I don't even want to think about it.

I feel the redhead shifting and getting up. She's softly tugging on my arm, and when I look up at her I find her smiling. She's amazing … so strong, and always cheerful – or at least trying to be – no matter what happened.

"Let's just go back to the villagers, okay? I know for a fact that there's a tent set up for us." she says. I nod and let her help me up.

Vanille giggles and then starts skipping towards the tent. I look back up to my floating home, Cocoon. I feel like a new part of my life is about to begin. A completely new journey. But this time it's not just my journey, it's Vanille and my journey. Heading back to Bodhum is just the first step. The first step into the unknown. The first step into a life where two worlds will start living together.

I smile. I'm excited, and I can't wait for this new life to begin.

END

A/N: *clears throat* I feel like I should give a speech now xD I finally finished this story! I'm so happy! Thank you all for reading this, it has been a pleasure to write (even though I had a few blocks and some point thought I might not be able to finish it)!

I'm sorry I turned Fang into crystal, but she was a l'Cie and we all know what happens to l'Cie who fulfill their focus.. I hope you can forgive me! On a side note, it was hard for me to write this part, myself, because Fang is just one of the coolest characters ever.

Also, I hope the last two chapters weren't too fast-paced. Just to remind you again, this story should've been a OneShot, I never intended to make it a long story.

If you enjoyed it, though, I am writing on a long story at the moment. I'm not sure when I will post the first chapter. It still needs a lot of editing, so it might take a while.

Again, thank you very much for reading this, I'd appreciate all kinds of feedback, but I'm happy with a simple fav, too ;) See you guys next time, take care!

bLue