Chapter 1: Lightning's Memory

Rain rapidly slapped and dripped down the glass window as the midnight storm raged on in New Bodhum. Lightning rested herself on the edge of her couch inside her spacious elegant living room as she peered out the window above the door screen that led into her backyard. The pinkette formed a habit of watching the rain fall ever since the night after the l'cie gang first stepped foot into the Archylte Steppe. The makeshift group had all been asleep after constructing a small camp right outside the entrance to Mah'habara. With so much going inside the group leader's mind, Lightning saw no issue with taking first shift for guard duty.

Serah. Her beloved sister and only family left turned to crystal with little to no hope that she would ever see the girl again. The soldier grimaced as she wandered off outside of the cave and into the pouring rain of Pulse. The soldier shivered slightly as the cold droplets assaulted her tender pale skin but paid it no mind. She lived with so much regret and sorrow after what happened between the two sisters.

Lightning never was given the chance to apologize to Serah, never able to hold her and assure everything would be okay, that she would find a way to help her younger sister at any cost. But instead, she lashed out at her only sister in the girls time of need and now had possibly lost Serah forever.

Lightning felt burning in her eyes as tears started to threaten her vision and tried so desperately to retain them but ultimately failed as they escaped past her closed eyelids. The pink haired soldier struggled to prevent herself from sobbing and quickly was starting to lose the battle until she heard a familiar accent bellow out from outside the cave.

It was Fang. Lightning bit back her sobs and was lucky enough that the rain masked the flow of tears down her cheeks. The soldier was not one to show weakness and was not about to start now. Lightning turned around to meet the pulsian and at the best of her abilities, cleaned out her voice as she swallowed down the lumps in her throat.

"Light! It's pourin' out here. What're ya doin'?" Fang yelled past the cave as she attempted to raise her voice above the roaring thunder that filled the air. Light met the huntress half way and hung her head down not to meet Fang's emerald worried hues. Her voice rang out marginally shaken when she spoke. "I'm just checking out the area Fang..Why are you awake? Shouldn't you be sleeping with the others?" The pulsian stared at her for a moment before approaching the pinkette with a smile as she walked beside Lightning, taking up her hand with her own and pulled the soldier along.

Light struggled and attempted to squeeze out of the vice-like grip but Fang's stronger muscles was no match for the pinkette's own. "F-Fang! Let me go! What are you doing?!" Light roared but went silent as the huntress released the women's shaky hand. The water formed a barrier around them as it dripped from the cliff's overhang like a waterfall as Fang leaned against the rocks before slumping down.

She padded the area next to her, signaling Lightning to take a beat beside the tanned women. Light hesitated but eventually did so but decided to stand up instead as she leaned back against the solid rock wall behind her. Fang decided to speak up then. "What's on your mind light? You've been acting troubled all day and that's normally not like stoic strong emotionless leader we see now is it?"

Fang teased as Lightning did not dignify her with a response, instead stared down at her feet before puffing the wet pink strands from her face. The huntress sighed. Normally her quips would be returned with either a glare or a swinging punch but she got squat. This only caused Fang to worry that much more and decided to take a much more serious approach. Only one thing would get the soldier into one of these moods and the pulsian was quick to figure it out. Fang tilted her head down as she started to fiddle with her sari as she spoke out in a much more gentle tone.

"It's Serah isn't it?" Lightning tensed up and gazed down at Fang. This was her own problem and would deal with it herself, Fang had no right to discuss this with her. Light was about to speak up but went silent again as the huntress went on.

"I was the same you know..when I got separated from Vanille back on Cocoon. Not being there with her..not being able to protect her I felt powerless. Me and Vanille grew up together and it felt like it's my responsibility to look after her. Every minute I spent worrying about her the harder the guilt felt. Though there was no doubt in my mind that Vanille was able to handle herself and come to find out, I was right."

Lightning released her tension as she let herself relax and listened on to Fang's story where gradually slumped down the wall to seat herself beside the pulsian. Their shoulders touched briefly and the contact, as short as it was, sent sparks through Fang's body. The huntress noticed it immediately, shocked at how far and how sudden she had fallen for Lightning. But there was no time to dwell on emotions and feelings, Fang just wanted to make sure the soldier was ready for tomorrow..or at least she continued to tell herself that.

Fang tilted her head to the side to meet the soldiers crystal blue hues reflecting her piercing emeralds. "Light what I'm trying to say is..don't doubt Serah or yourself. Trust yourself and we will see this through and Serah will be waiting right around the corner for ya." Fang smiled weakly as she dared her hand to sneak over to capture Lightning's gloved counterpart. The soldier jumped gently at the contact but made no effort to remove her hand from Fang's.

At that moment, Lightning's face flushed a bright pink as she felt the similar spark soar through inside her. She watched the pulsian's tanned fingers intertwine with her own before looking up to meet Fang's gentle and caring eyes. "You will see her again Light..I promise."

Lightning for once after this l'cie journey had started to feel some reassurance. The heat flushed to her cheeks once more as the women's fingers tightened their hold around the pulsians. Both they rested against the rock wall, watching the rain as it poured down viciously in every direction. All fell silent for a few minutes until Fang tilted her head to the side as she felt Lightning's weight pressing into her side. It seemed Lightning had fallen asleep rather quickly, the women was incredibly gifted with the way the l'cie leader hid everything behind a facade.

Lightning's emotional wall was structured to be almost impenetrable. She never allowed anyone to get to know her personally, to get close to her, or even exchange simple physical contacts such as hugs. Though almost never meant impossible. Fang managed to do the unthinkable and started to tear down Lightning Farron's emotional wall piece by piece.

The huntress smiled at the thought as she wrapped her arm around the soldiers shoulder, bringing her in closer. Lightning's head instinctively fell into the nook of Fang's neck and snuggled closer into the women. Lightning's breathing started to steady as the huntress supported the women's full weight into her, which wasn't much. Fang knew she was probably in for a beating when Lightning found out about this, so she wanted to make the most of it while she could. A lazy grin plastered itself across Fang's lips as they were pressing through the wet pink strands of the pinkette and immediately took in the women's scent.

The pulsians eyes closed as she hummed in delight of the flower like scent, soon losing herself in the intoxicating smell. Fang scratched softly and massaged the length of Lightning's shoulder as Fang soon found herself dozing off shortly after. That night had been three years ago. Fang with all her promises she made, all the times she reassured her the two would be together after the l'cie business was dealt with, all the times she felt those full lips taking in her own, whisking her breath away every time. Lightning never wanted to believe all those promises and moments weren't all for nothing, not just lies.

As time went on, however, the soldier slowly started to lose more faith after each year had passed. The pain in her heart ached to unbearable heights every time she went to visit Fang and Vanille at the crystal pillar. The former l'cie gang made it a tradition to visit every year, Lightning agreed to go but several times she went alone, just to grieve and let everything out while no one was around to see her in such weakness. She explained everything to Serah when the girl came back to live with her shortly before moving in with Snow only a year later she got released from crystal.

The younger farron attempted to help heal Lightning's broken heart but the older farron wouldn't have any of it. Not only was she trying to avoid hindering Serah with her own issues with the wedding being planned, she also preferred not to think about it so much. It was nice to talk about the pulsians though and all they went through together. If it was not for Fang being there for her time and time again, setting her straight when she needed to be and holding her in times of doubt and despair, she wasn't sure what would have happened.

Lightning was pulled away from her thoughts as she heard consistent knocking on her door. The soldier sighed as she pulled herself up from the couch, it was probably Serah again. The younger farron had made it her mission to force Lightning to help her plan the wedding between her and Snow. Despite her multiple protests, the soldier could not bring herself to say no to her persistent sister.

As Lightning neared the door, the knocking started to become more insistent. "Hold on! I'm coming already!" The pinkette flung the door open as she rubbed the tears from her eyes as she spoke. "Serah I told you I don't want to be involved-" Lightning froze as soon she opened her eyes to see the familiar red headed pulsian standing at her doorstep. The girl was soaked with her red pigtails sagging down to her shoulders. Lightning couldn't believe what she was seeing. Vanille was back.

Author's Note: Hey guys! This happens to be my first FanFic and I'm happy to be a part of this community! I do apologize that this opening was a bit short but I promise future updates will be much larger, not to worry :D. Also there was no beta reader for this but I made sure to go back and fix what I could. I would greatly appreciate some reviews and feedback from you guys and thanks for taking the time to read this.