Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A secret about the the Farron sisters' relationship, a secret known only to a privileged few, was that Lighting was a very indulgent sister. She rarely denied her younger sister anything. But at this exact moment standing backstage at the New Bodhum Charity ball, it was one of those rare occasions.

"I said no!"

"Lightning please! Our final bachelorette dropped out at the last minute," Serah said desperately. "And if we don't have enough people for them to bid on we'll only just make enough to cover costs with only be a little left for the charities."

Every year Serah asked Lightning participate in her charity auction and every year Lightning's answer was the same. "I am not going to paraded around like a piece of meat to a room of drunk and horny barbarians."

The audience on the other side of the stage gave a loud round of applause. With an aggravated huff at her sister's stubbornness Serah looked down at her clipboard for the name of the next auction participant. "Snow! Snow!" Serah shouted above the noise of the backstage, standing on tip-toes to search the busy dressing rooms.

The backstage was a hive of activity as Serah's army of volunteers rushed around readying the bachelors and bachelorettes for the auction section of the annual charity ball. It was astonishing how all this had started as a small fundraiser a few years ago. Now five years later Serah's hard work and determination had made the annual New Bodhum Charity ball the event of the season generating hundreds of thousands of gils for charity every year. Tickets were is such demand that Serah could charge whatever she wanted. And she did, unmercilessly because it was much more satisfying extorting money from rich people. And she could, because every aspect of the ball from the food to the music was of the highest standard. The auction was no exception and featured a variety of some of the most ellegable bachelors and bachelorettes in Gran Pulse. Bachelorettes like Lightning Farron

Serah began yelling into her headset just as the blonde man appeared towering above the crowd as he walked towards the pair. "Hi Lightning," Snow greeted giving the soldier his best stupid grin. "Heeeey Serah." He modified his grin into what he probably thought was a flirtatious smirk but to the soldier he just looked like he was straining. Lightning rolled her eyes at the lovesick fool. She wasn't surprised in the slightest that he had agreed to take part in the auction, he was always trying to impress Serah and get her attention. Unfortunately for the boxer her sister remained oblivious.

"Hi Snow," Serah said distractedly and without looking up from her clipboard pushed the large man through the curtains and onto the stage. "They are not barbarians Lightning," she said firmly, looking back up at her sister, "they are our bidders and they are some of the most respectable people in Gran Pulse."Her reasoning was countermanded as the crowd on the other side the curtains descended into wolf whistles and 'yeah babies' as Snow fell onto the stage.

Lightning's pursed lips and raised eyebrow was the perfect expression of I-told-you-so.

"I wouldn't ask if I wasn't desperate?" Serah tried with a nervous smile.

"How flattering," Lightning deadpanned, folding her arms.

"I don't mean it like that! I mean because I know things like this make you feel so uncomfortable. But Lightning pleasssseeee, please, please, please," Serah begged, dramatically grasping onto her sister's T-shirt. "You're the perfect bachelorette. You're single, intelligent, sexy-"

Sexy! Lightning grimaced as the word left her little sister's mouth."No now I'm uncomfortable."

"- and with you as the finale," Serah ignored her, "we'll end on a high and make a bucket load of money."

The little crease in Lightning's forehead told Serah that the soldier's resolve was hanging on by a small but durable thread. She really hadn't wanted to bring in this line of persuasion but she needed something big to break the soldier. Without an once of humour Serah said "if not for me then do it for Mum."

Lightning face softened. She couldn't really argue with that. Their mother's death had been the basis of so many of the sister's actions. Some of them good, some of them downright regrettable (especially in Lightning's case) but the Edda Farron memorial ball was one they could both be proud of.

She sighed in defeat. "You really have emotional blackmail down to a fine art," Lightning said dryly.

"I've had a lot of practice," Serah retorted and the sister's shared a warm smile.

Lightning looked down at her shirt and jeans. "Well I can't wear this." Her clothes were certainly not Serah standard.

Her sister looked Lightning up and down and hummed thoughtfully. "You're right." Serah grabbed her sister's hand leading her through the crowd to the ladies dressing area. She squeezed between some dressing bachelorettes to the clothes rails. "Beverly, the woman who dropped out was about you're size," Serah explained handing Lightning a red dress with matching heels. "Joyce!" Serah bellowed. Lightning jumped as a small brown haired woman with glasses seemingly appeared out of nowhere and in under 30 seconds Joyce the dresser (at least Lightning hoped she was the dresser) had her undressed, dressed and in the stylist chair ready for hair and make-up.

Once Serah had made sure that Lightning was secured into the stylist chair she checked her watch. "Shoot, I'll have to love you and leave you I Need to be on stage to host the finale." Lightning silently scowled at her sister via the mirror as the make-up artist descended upon her dusting her face in concealer. "Try to have fun" Serah pleaded with her sulking sister before turning on her heels and quickly disappearing into the crowd.

"Easier said than done," Lightning muttered darkly. She may have agreed to do it but she never agreed to enjoy anything. The make-up artist finished by managing to apply lipstick to Lightning's pursed lips and was replaced by a tall stylish guy in a tight suit. Lightning concluded that he was the hair-stylist since he was holding some curling tongs. Her eyes narrowed on the implements and then the scissors, and razors, and various other hair torturing devices poking out of his tool belt.

She loved her sister but no one messes with the hair.

"Touch my hair with anything other than a hairspray," she warned the stylist in the mirror, "and I'll hide those tongs in a place you'll need medical intervention to find them again."

The stylist considered Lightning's glare and wisely downed his tongs.

Five minutes later Lightning had to admit that the stylists had done a pretty good job. The red, knee-length dress fitted her perfectly, clinging to her body and excentuating her every curve. The make-up was understated and natural just how she liked it. And as for the hair, the stylist must be a genius or at least experienced in dealing with divas. He had managed to convince her to let him sweep her hair over from one side, holding most of it in a messy bun with a few loose curls that playfully fell onto her shoulder. So Lightning thought she looked 'pretty good' but the reality was that she looked stunning. The people backstage moved out of her way or just stopped to stare as she walked to the stage, her typical, confident stride becoming a unconscious strut in her highheels.

She reached the stage curtain and Serah's replacement with the clipboard. "And which bachellorette are you sweetie?" The blonde woman smiled cheerfully.

Lightning choose not to remark on the 'sweetie' but her face said everything. "I'm Beverley's replacement."

"Who," the blonde asked looking down at her clipboard with a frown.

"Beverley, the last bachelorette. The show finale," Lightning added when the woman still looked confused.

"Says here that's Captain Lightning Farron."

"Serah must have changed it," Lightning mused leaning forward to look at the list. "I'm Lightning."

"Oh hi Lightning it's nice to finally meet you," she gushed shaking the shocked pinkette's hand. "We were all wondering who was our finale. Serah said you were too busy doing soldier stuff for the rehearsals." The woman pointed at Lightning's name at the end of the list in big bold typeface.

Lightning's face dropped.

There was no mention of a Beverley.

Everything suddenly clicked into place. Asking Lightning to come early to help backstage, the dress and heels that were conveniently her exact size, the emotional blackmail. Serah had finally tricked her into taking part in the auction by contriving a scenario that appealed to Lightning's gallant nature. She couldn't believe she'd fallen for such an obvious play. It was far to late to back out now but the saviour of Cocoon made a mental note to kill her deceitful, manipulative trickster of a sister.

"Don't look so worried sweetie," the woman said misinterpreting Lightning's angry frown, "just try to have fun."

"Why is everyone telling me to have fun," she mumbled to herself. The blonde attached a microphone to Lightning's dress and instructing her to wait behind the curtain until Serah's cue.

"And now for our grand finale and the surprise auction you've all been waiting for," "Serah announced from the stage. "She's the most highly decorated officer in the Guardian Corps who has defended us against monsters, armies and even the fal'Cie. Her skills as a warrior are legendary but if looks could kill she wouldn't need her gunblade. You know her as the Saviour of Cocoon but I know her as my big sister, CAPTAIN LIGHTNING FARRON."

The enthusiastic crowd Serah had worked into a frenzy erupted into thunderous applause as Lightning swept through the curtain. The stage found herself standing on was small compared to the large ballroom in front of her that was filled with people dressed in ball gowns and tuxedoes. Their elegant attire was a stark contrast to their unsophisticated behaviour with their noisy cheers, screams, hoots and wolf whistles in the beautiful soldier's direction. The typically solitary woman found the spotlight and loud crowd a distasteful assault on her senses. Her eyes narrowed to match the slight sneer on her lips as she looked down at the leering people below her and In the first time in the history of mass assemblies Lightning Farron Captain in the Guardian Corps managed to berate an entire crowd into submission with her glare.

Serah standing at a small auctioneer's podium rolled her eyes as the individuals of the crowd squirmed under Lightning's powerfully reprimanding stare. Trust my sister to harsh the buzz of a room full of people, Serah thought as the audience members modified their raucous behaviour into polite applause. It was going to take a hell of a spotlight interview with the woman to energise the crowd and get them interested enough to bid.

"So sis," Serah began when Lightning had finished glaring at the room, "tell the audience a little bit about yourself."

"Captain Lightning Farron of the Guardian Corps, 26, born in Bodhum," Lightning stated.

"Any hobbies?" Serah asked trying to encourage some more information out the stoic woman, something she could work with.

"Gunblades."

"Gunblades?"

Lightning folded her arms and almost looked as bored as the audience. "I collect Gunblades."

"Any other hobbies?" Serah said through gritted teeth.

Lightning ignored her sister's silent plea to be more entertaining for the now silent crowd. Silent except for one person in the crowd who loudly laughing, highly amused by the soldier's behaviour. "I collect parts to upgrade my gunblades," she said honestly (it wasn't her fault it was true).

"Errrrr describe your perfect date."

"Short."

Serah nearly wailed in despair.

"You like guns? I've got sum guns fa yerrrr baby." A man's voice shouted as he clambered onto the stage pumping his arms at the two shocked Farrons. A few voices in the crowd encouraged the intoxicated man as he staggered towards the pair reaching Lightning first as she stood protectively between Serah and the lout.

Lightning grimaced in disgust as he leaned in, breathing his alcoholic fumes on her face as he spoke. "Tell ya what," he proposed as he prodded the soldier's shoulder, "I'll give you 10,000 gills for a date with you," he leered leaning to look her sister up and down, "and your sis-taaaaarrrgghhhh."

Lightning had had quite enough of his vulgarities. He screamed in pain as Lightning grabbed his prodding finger and twisted it painfully until he dropped to his knees.

"Don't talk about my sister," she advised him and lifting her leg used her high heel to push him backwards onto the floor. "And don't be crass," Lightning growled down at the man. She dug her heel into the fallen man's chest, the action stretching her red dress until it rose over her knee. "I cannot abide rudeness."

Lightning's performance was met with stunned silence. The hall had become so quiet and still it might as well have been empty. Serah finally gave in to despair and began to bash head against the podium at her disaster of a finale.

"500 gils!" A voice suddenly yelled at the back. Serah's head snapped up.

"No 1000 gils!" A different voice immediately outbid the first.

And suddenly the crowd erupted. Lightning found it was hard to keep track of the bidders as their bids bounced across the room in quick succession and the people that were not making offers cheered with each new bid, goading and encouraging the bidders to go higher and higher. The noise became almost defending (Lightning had policed quieter riots). Serah on the other hand excitedly followed the flow of the auction with ease accepting bids 500 gils at a time. She almost hugged herself with glee when Lightning surpassed all the previous auctions put together. Despite the temporary set back of Lightning's violent introduction, she knew Lightning would be a hit. I mean who doesn't have a secret kink for women who are strong, independent, slightly aggressive and a bit scary.

As the price rose the bids began to slow until it seemed to be a heated battle between two participants hidden at the back of the hall. Lightning squinted in the bright spotlight finding herself slightly curious to see whomever was so fervently competing for a date with her. She stood on the groaning drunk guy to see if the extra height would give her a better view.

"25,000." Serah took the bid. "Do I hear 255...thank you 25,500. 26,000..come on now it's for a good cause...thank you 26,000. Do I hear 265...are you sure sir not 265? You're losing out on a unique opportunity? Okay so that's 26,000 gils going once, going twice...sold," Serah exclaimed as she brought down her gavel, "to the brunette bachellorette."

"BACHELLORETTE!"

Chapter Text

"Bachelorette Serah! A bachelor-rette!"

Serah looked up at Lightning from her desk at the after auction bachelor-bachelorette meet and greet. "Yeah. So?" She asked while thanking and accepting another cheque from a bidder.

Lightning waited for Serah's assistant to lead him to his bachelorette, looked around to check that no one was within earshot and leaned down to her sister. "I'm not a lesbian," she hissed quietly.

"You're not?" Serah questioned with a frown.

"No! What the hell gave you the idea that I was?"

"I dunno." Serah leaned on her arm and thoughtfully tapped the pen she was holding against her cheek. "You've never really had any boyfriends but then now I think about it you've had any girlfriends either. I just figured you were sexually fluid like I am. You know sexy is sexy," she shrugged looking back down at her paperwork.

"Well I'm not. And will you please stop saying sexy." Lightning said through her teeth. She was already incredibly uncomfortable, and she did not need the added discomfort of imaging that her little sister found anything sexy, ever.

Snow, just like Lightning, was not happy (which was an unusual feeling for the typically cheerful boxer). He had been anxiously searching everywhere for Serah (leaving the one place she was scheduled to be until last) and breathed out a sigh of relief once he spotted the younger Farron at her desk. He was so determined to speak to Serah that he barged into the sisters' conservation without an apology. "Serah," he said as soon as he reached the two Farrons, "I am not happy with my bachelorette."

Lightning turned slightly towards the blond and barked a humourless laugh, "join the line numbknut."

Snow's eyes widened in horror. "Did you get a mad one too?"

"No it...they were not what I was expecting," she explained, vaguely.

"Not what you expected? I'd kill for 'not what I was expecting'." He pointed a thumb at himself. "My bachelorette is off her god damn crazy tree. Did you hear what she was shouting at me when I was on stage?" They shared a look and shook their heads. The two sisters had been too busy arguing to listen to anything that happening on the stage. "I have never felt so degraded in my entire life. And the language she used." Snow shook his head in disbelief. He'd been brought up to believe that women were the fairer sex but it had only taken ten minutes on that stage to dispel that particular myth. "I can't go on a date with her, there's no telling what she might do. Because she threatened to do a lot of different things and most of it seemed impossible."

Right on cue, the double doors to the room suddenly burst open and all heads turned to see the redheaded figure who had made the dramatic entrance. The small woman dressed in a glamorous couture, strapless cream dress kept her hands on either door as she scanned the room.

"Where's my prize?" She growled, searching the faces of the bachelors and bachelorettes and stopped narrowing on Lightning's small group. Lightning's stomach dropped in fear as a small, disturbing smile lit the woman's face with delight.

"Oh maker it's her. She's found me." Snow whispered fearfully, ducking down to try and hide behind Lightning.

Thank Etro. Lightning breathed out in relief as the woman bypassed her, striding purposely towards her bachelor. For a second there she had thought the crazy maniac currently chasing Snow around Serah's table was her bachelorette. If that was Snow's bachelorette what is my bachelorette going to be like, she wondered watching the stranger expertly drive Snow away from the two sisters. What if she's worse?

One unhappy bachelor taken care of, or rather got rid of, just a bachelorette to go, Serah thought to herself.

"I'm sorry Lightning," Serah said bringing them back to their original conversation, "but I thought you knew that anyone can make a bid. We don't limit our auctions to heterosexual pairings."

"Well I didn't," Lightning huffed, turning to her sister and folding her arms. "We'll have to void the bid. I can't go on a date with a lesbian it would be misleading."

"For Etro's sake Lightning, it's just a date. She's not expecting to get a toaster oven at the end of it."

"A what?" Lightning frowned confused by the reference. "What's a toaster oven?" She was so busy wondering what it was, and how an appliance can toast and bake at the same time that she didn't even notice the approaching figure sidle up behind her.

"Hi," a friendly voice interrupted them from behind Lightning. "I think I may have just won you."

Won me! Won! me! Lightning's eyes narrowed and her jaw tightened. No-one wins Captain Lightning Farron. All her fears had been confirmed, her bachelorette was an arrogant, cocky imbecile. Bristled by the woman's audacity to treat her like a possession, Lightning span on the spot ready to give the bachelorette a piece of her mind or a smack and every thought and action just stopped.

Dressed in a skinny black tuxedo with matching, high heels was Lightning's brunette bachelorette.

And Lightning had never seen anyone like her in her entire life.

Dark wavy long hair framing a heart shaped face. Green, sparkling eyes, full pink lips and smooth olive skin - and with her open collar, bowtie loose around her neck and her sleeves pushed up her arms, the stranger was showing as much of that bronze skin as she could in a tux. There were plenty of women at the ball in trousers that Lightning hadn't spared a second glance, but this woman's disregard for the conventions of the formal attire, along with her hands in her pockets and smirk on her lips, gave the mysterious stranger a very unsettling, very captivating, roguish charm.

Consequently all thoughts and actions Lightning had planned while turning to face brunette came screeching to an abrupt halt and the soldier was left stunned and dumbfounded.

Luckily for Lightning Serah decided to intervene before her big sister's silent staring began to make her bachelorette uncomfortable. Partly to save her sister, and partly to make sure her bachelorette paid her bid before Lightning could scare her away. Although there was something about this woman (probably her amused grin) that told Serah she didn't scare too easily.

"Hello I'm Serah Farron organiser of the New Bodhum Charity ball," she introduced herself, standing to move around the table and shake the woman's hand. "I'd just like to thank you on behalf of the Edda Farron Memorial Foundation for your generous donation, Ms?"

"Fang, Oerba yun Fang," she said in a strange foreign accent, returning the friendly handshake. "No need to thank me. I'm lucky enough to have more money than I know what to do with it. Plus I'd much rather give it to you then leave it for my sister to spend. Hi I'm Fang," she said turning her attention back to the soldier. She held a hand out to the soldier and smiled as Lightning shook her hand after a moment's hesitation. "It's Lightning right?"

Lightning stared at the hand that was holding hers and felt a slightly disturbing tingling sensation travel from her hand and all the way up her arm. "Ermmm..." Fang looked at her expectantly as the soldier tried to remember her own name, her smile beginning to fade when Lightning remained stunned and speechless.

Serah decided to intervene, yet again. "Yun, as in Dia Yun Wild Adventure Holidays?"

"That's us," Fang confirmed releasing Lightning's hand. "My bond sister Oerba Dia Vanille is over there molesting the blond," she said pointing towards Snow's bachelorette. "She gets a bit handsy when she's drunk but don't worry, " she told Serah's worried frown as they watched the blushing blond try to remove the redhead's death grip from around his waist, "she's just teasing him about the French maid costume...at least I think she is." She said thoughtfully.

"So 26,000 for my bid and 8,250 for Vanille's blond right?" Fang asked turning her attention back to Serah. She took her check book out of her inside pocket. "How about we round it up to 40,000 with an extra 5,000 for good measure shall we."

"That is very generous thank you. For that price I'd consider letting you have my sister for two dates," Serah joked making Fang laugh.

"Really two dates with the lovely Captain Farron? I'd be a fool to say no. What do you say Lightning, think you put up with me for two dates?" Fang flashed another smile at the soldier before she leaned down onto the table to make out the cheque and fill in her contact details as Serah directed her.

The question remained unanswered, yet again.

As Fang bent over in front of her Lightning's eyes were immediately drawn downwards and stayed there. There was something so fascinating about it that she couldn't seem to look away. Maybe she was wondering who was Fang's tailor or maybe she was wondering whether Fang worked her glutes to achieve that perfect posterior. They were the only possible reasons why Lightning was still staring at Fang's backside because one thing was for sure... "I'm not gay!" Lightning suddenly blurted out loud, her sudden confession surprising herself and the two women standing with her. She looked up to find them both turning to look at her and the disapproval on Serah's face confirmed that she had definitely said that last part aloud.

Fang tilted her head questioningly. "Excuse me?" She asked with her hand on her hip.

"I thought that...I should warn you that I am not...a les-bian." Lightning's voice trailed off as Fang tilted her head back slightly and gave a rich throaty chuckle before Lighning had even finished her explanation.

That's okay." Fang smiled.

"Really?" Lightning frowned. It didn't feel okay.

"Yeah. I mean sure I'm disappointed, you're a very beautiful woman but it's just a date Lightning. I wasn't expecting anything beyond spending some time with you and perhaps making a friend at the end of it. So what d'ya say? I promise to be the perfect gentlewoman."

Lightning searched Fang's face for any hint that the woman was being insincere but she couldn't find any evidence that Fang was lying. It is for a good cause, Lightning considered weighing up the pros and cons of spending the day with the brunette, and it might be nice to make a new friend. She glanced past Fang at Serah.

Say yes, her sister mouthed with a firm stare.

"Alright," Lightning agreed and was surprised by the stirring satisfaction she felt when Fang's face lit up excitedly.

"Great." Fang clapped her hands and rubbed them together. "I'll try not to fall in love with ya."

Lightning's smile dropped. "What?"

Fang laughed, lifting her hand to give the woman's shoulder a friendly squeeze. "It was a joke mate don't look so worried," she reassured. "You really are adorable."

Lightning's frown deepened. "Adorable?" She questioned, looking at the hand on her shoulder. No-one had ever called her adorable before. Aggressive sure, austere no doubt, but adorable! And shouldn't I be doing something about the hand that that is still touching me? Isn't there something that I usually do in these situations.

"Yep. And a real hoot to boot."

"Hoot to boot?" Lightning repeated quietly. No-one had ever called her hoot either. What is a hoot? Why is she still touching me?

"Yeah you're hilarious." Fang smiled warmly at the soldier and the sight made her stomach clench disturbingly. "And by the way I like upgrading weapons too." She leaned down invading Lightning's personal space. "You should see my collection of lances," she whispered in Lightning's ear.

Lightning shivered as the woman's breath caressed her ear. What the hell is wrong with me? She wondered to herself. Sure she loved weapons but the mere mention of them doesn't tend to have this reaction. It was as if the stranger knew exactly what to say or do to keep her off balance. She didn't need to whisper in her ear that she collected lances because Lightning was sure the woman didn't consider it a secret. She didn't need to lightly trail her fingers from Lightning's shoulder to middle of her back, to balance herself as she leaned down because when she pulled back to smile at Lightning her fingers were still touching her. It was so light she could barely feel it through her thin dress but she knew if she looked over her shoulder the brunette's hand would still be there.

Lightning realised that Fang's entire approach had been subtle but evidently effective. As if Fang had been dealing with a wild animal she had openly but cautiously moved closer to the soldier all the while maintaining her friendly, reassuring manner. It had kept Lightning calm but unsure, thereby preventing the soldier from gathering enough coherence to revert to one of her extremes; violence or the cool, indifferent disposition that she was oh so very good at. A testing touch, a little tease, a little closer, until Fang was well and truly invading Lightning's personal space and Lightning had unknowingly let her.

Lightning's posture stiffened and the back muscles jumped underneath the woman's touch. If Fang had noticed she didn't say anything, but the mischievous glint in the woman's emerald eyes told the soldier that she knew was in for a lot of trouble.

Snow's manly squeal drew the brunette's attention away from the captivating pinkette to find that her playful counterpart had backed the large boxer against a table and pushed up his shirt to blow raspberries on his six pack. The entire room watched in amusement as Snow tried to fend off the redhead by pushing his shirt down and detaching the giggling maniac. But in response she'd just blow on his stomach again causing the large man to helplessly collapse into another fit of surprisingly high pitched giggles.

"Whoops," Fang commented remembering that she was supposed to be keeping an eye on her inebriated sister not being distracted by pretty pink-haired soldiers. "Better step in and take her home before she does something tabloid worthy. Good night ladies. See ya later Lightning looking forward to our mate-date, mate," she winked at the older sister and turned to leave.

A lot of people would be envious of her position, Lightning mused, watching the woman slowly saunter away. You didn't need to be gay or a guy to see that Fang was stunningly beautiful. She knew it too by the swagger in her hips - Lightning would have found it arrogant if it wasn't honest. And she really did look good in that tux. Her eyes moved from Fang's hips, trailing up the brunette's athletic figure to find the woman glancing back at her over a shoulder.

A knowing smile crept onto the brunette's lips.

Lightning's eyes widened and she desperately tried to school her features into something a little less guilty. No, no, no, her mind screamed at Fang, you don't know! Don't look like you know cause you don't know. I wasn't ogling I was just appreciating. And just because a woman appreciates another woman's beauty doesn't make her gay it just makes her...very...respectful of their beauty. Yeah I'm respectful...and-and observant. I'm just very observant. Reassuring herself that she was in no way being a pervert she scowled at the beautiful woman and turned away from the knowing smile only to find an equally irritating one on her sister's lips.

"I don't know what you're grinning at I'm still mad at you."

"What! Why? I just got you a date with the sexiest multimillionairess in Pulse, you should be thanking me!" She had witnessed the two woman's flirtatious exchange (or rather Lightning's reaction to Fang's flirting) and as far as she could tell her sister should he thanking her on bended knee.

"I know about Beverley."

"Oh. Crap."

xxXOXxx

Serah's knees and back ached. She paused for a moment to wipe the sweat from her brow and then leaned back over onto the floor. When Lightning had passed sentence on her little sister for her little deception, Serah had thought that she had got off pretty lightly. Ceaning all the floors in their already immaculate house would be quick and easy. At least she thought it would be until Lightning handed her a bucket and her own toothbrush.

She had been on her knees for hours.

"I still don't see the point of making me clean all the floors," Serah grumbled at her sister sitting at their kitchen Island, "they were already clean when I started."

Lightning folded down a corner of the magazine she was reading to look at her red faced, irritated sister. She couldn't understand why Serah was so surprised, it seemed a pretty appropriate punishment for a soldier to devise. "The futility of the task makes it feel more like a punishment. I don't want to give you a sense of achievement," Lightning explained, hiding her smile back behind the magazine. Serah swore under her breath before taking her anger out on the floor, furiously brushing at the pearly white tiles.

It had been almost a week since the ball and the sisters had been so busy at their respective jobs that this was the first morning they'd been able to spend together. Lightning had taken the opportunity to give Serah her punishment for deceiving her and Serah had given Lightning research, dumping a huge pile of magazines in front of the soldier.

Typically Lightning would have stubbornly refused to do her homework, especially as she had little to no interest in celebrities or the social élite. But these particular magazines held clues to the mysterious brunette bachelorette.

Spreading one of the many magazines Serah had bought her on the kitchen counter, Lightning took another sip of her coffee while she scanned the article entitled 'The entrepreneurs with their finger on the Pulse' (quite possibly the worst title she had read so far). According to the article Fang and Vanille had made their money by setting up a travel company that hosted holidays in Gran Pulse for its new inhabitants. Their enterprising idea didn't just corner the market, they created an entire new one. No one had even considered that the former Cocoonians would want to explore their new world but the demand for their holidays was so high that they made their first million in just over a year. Since their success many identical companies had popped up to try and get in on the new market but Dia Yun Wild Adventure holidays still promised the best and most exclusive holidays in Gran Pulse. And going by their excellent independent reviews it wasn't just bravado. Safaris, mountain climbing, white water rafting, if you wanted an adventure or just a relaxing escape they would provide it and in the most beautiful places on Pulse.

"Her sister and her have been in almost every magazine and on every 'who's who' list since they made their first million two years ago," Serah commented looking up from the floor. "I'm surprised you haven't heard of them."

"Well unlike you I don't pursue the magazines looking for my next victim...sorry," Lightning corrected with a small smile, "I meant charity benefactor," knowingly full well that the only reason Serah had any interest in the business pages was for her charity. It hadn't surprised Lightning in the slightest when Serah revealed that she had pretended not to know who Fang and Vanille were at the ball, her little sister knew everyone in Gran Pulse who was worth extorting money from.

Serah threw the dirty toothbrush at her smirking sister who dodged it effortlessly without even looking. She stood up with a grimace, rubbing her aching back as she leaned down on the kitchen Island to look at the largest photo of Fang and Vanille in the article Lightning was reading. In the image the two women were both dressed in smart suits standing in front of their business logo. Obviously the photographer was aiming for the atypical dynamic shot of the two young entrepreneurs, and they would have both looked very sophisticated too if Fang hadn't ignored their direction, captured Vanille in a headlock and appeared to be in the process of giving her little sister a noogie while laughing straight into the camera.

"So when is your date with the dashing bachelorette?"

"Ermmm date?"

Serah sighed. "Please tell me you've called her to arrange your date?"

"Ermmmm..."

"Lightning," Serah chastised, "its been a week!"

"I've been busy." Lightning said defensively. She didn't want to admit it, even to herself, but she was nervous about speaking to Fang again and luckily the opportunity to work a lot of overtime gave her the perfect excuse not to call her. Why she was avoiding the brunette Lightning wasn't really sure.

"Well you're not busy now," Serah pointed out picking up Lightning's phone from the counter. "Call her," Serah instructed holding it out to the soldier but instead Lightning folded her arms and looked away. "I swear to Etro Lightning," Serah growled. "you better not screw this up for me."

Lightning's eyes darted back to her sister. "For you!" She said in astonishment. "What the hell has it got to do with you?"

"Fang and Vanille are filthy rich," Serah reasoned, "if they made regular donations to our charity we could make a huge amount of money. Plus they are so hot right now that if they just agreed to become patrons of our charity it would bring in a huge influx of donations. Just think of all the money the charity could make," Serah said dreamily, her eyes already glazing over at the prospect of all the good she could do. "So yes, be on your best behaviour and play nice."

"Oh so no pressure or anything," Lightning muttered sarcastically while Serah played with her phone.

"Look," Serah said turning the lit up phone towards Lightning, "I've found her contact details in your phone and I've already pressed call."

"Serah!" Lightning gasped, snatching the phone from her and quickly putting it to her ear. It was ringing! "One of these days I am going to kill you," Lightning growled but Serah seemed unimpressed by her murderous expression and just smiled sweetly at her sister.

"Can I go now?"

"Yeah, yeah," Lightning agreed, frantically ushering Serah out of the kitchen before Fang could answer the phone. If she was going to do this she was going to do it in private. Serah squealed happily, telling her sister she was off to see some friends and buy a new toothbrush just as she was pushed her out of the door.

Lightning paced the kitchen floor. The longer she waited for Fang to pick up her phone, the more anxious she was becoming. What if she doesn't answer? What if she does answer? What if she doesn't remember who I am? She probably gets asked for her number all the time. She cleared her throat. What should I say? Hey there...no. Hey, hey, hey...no. Hello this is Captain Lightning Farron...no. Moshi moshi Fang-san...nooooo! Lightning began nervously nibbling at a fingernail and wished she had rehearsed or something because she was not prepared for-

"WHAT?" A loud voice suddenly snapped at Lightning down the phone line causing her to jerk the phone away from her head to protect her hearing. She frowned at the phone slightly taken aback by the unexpected angry reception and put it back to her ear.

"I'm sorry to bother you," she said hesitantly, "is this the correct number for Oerba yun Fang?"

"Lightning?" Realising it was the soldier the woman's tone changed from hostel to friendly and Lightning immediately recognised the brunette's voice."Lightning hi."

"Have I called at a bad time? Should I-"

"Nononono don't hang up. I've been waiting for you to call me all week."

"Oh." Lightning simply said, unsure how she should respond to such information.

"I'm sorry for the...rude greeting. I thought you were someone else."

"Bad day?"

"The worst," Fang sighed clearly exasperated by who ever was bothering her. "But I think its just started getting better," she added in a low tone. Lightning could hear the smile on Fang's lips and wondered whether the brunette knew she could make her blush without even being in the same room.

"So...about our...date."

"Mate-date." Fang immediately corrected.

"Yes mate-date." Lightning rolled her eyes but couldn't stop herself from smiling at Fang's tease over the agreed conditions of their date. "I was wondering if there is anything in particular you would like to do."

"Well to be honest I have no idea what New Bodhum has to offer. My sister and I only moved here a couple of weeks ago and I haven't had a chance to explore our new city. "

"Would you like me to give you a tour? I can show you all the best spots only a local would know?"

"As long as its nothing fancy I would like that a lot."

Chapter Text

Thank you for all the support. You guys are amazing and make me pull this face *drops jaw*.

Apologies for the slow updates but my life is a bit messy at the moment. Been some big changes, but good changes...at least some of them are (emphasis on the some).

The world is really f**cked up, so let's take a moment to enjoy a bit of silliness. Here's to the people who can make us laugh even in our darkness moments. This is dedicated to my friend.

Now on with the mate date...

Lightning looked up at the tall foreboding gates and back down at the piece of paper holding Fang's address.

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon on the day of Fang and Lightning's mate-date and, even though the brunette had protested that it wasn't necessary, Lightning had insisted on picking Fang up at her home (because it may be a mate-date not a date-date but Lightning was a perfectionist and when she decided to do something she was always determined to do it right...mate-date or date-date. Plus Fang had paid a great deal of money for this date so it had to be perfect, or at least as perfect as an antisocial loner who hates dating can make it. Talk about pressure).

Once Fang was convinced that Lightning would not even consider meeting her in New Bodhum, her directions had seemed a little vague and worryingly short for the fastidious woman. - Just head east out of Bodhum on the main road, go past the last house, travel for about another ten miles and we're the first house on the left. Ya can't miss it. - But her journey had been exactly as Fang had described. And now here she was, in the middle of nowhere and at the only address for miles.

She checked the address against the gate. It seemed like the right place but the tall double gates and high brick wall obstructed the view of anything beyond it. Lifting her sunglasses she squinted against the bright sunshine as she looked up and down the empty dirt road, and found that the wall on either side of the gate ran far into the distance before it began to curve in. It had to be enclosing something, Lightning reasoned, something big.

I guess there's only one way to find out.

She dropped her sunglasses back onto her nose, pocketed the address and stretched her arm out of her open car window to press the electronic intercom. And after a few moments of silence the distorted sound of a Cocoonian's woman's voice came through the small, buzzing speaker. "Name please."

"Good afternoon, is this the Oerba Yun Fang residence?"

"Name please," the intercom repeated with a bored sigh. The Guardian Corp would have applauded the woman's confidentiality if it wasn't currently irritating her.

"Farron," Lightning answered through a growl, and at the mere mention of her name, as if by magic, the large gates began to open in front of her. "Guess this is the place," she had to assume since there were no further instructions from the intercom.

Putting her car into gear she drove through the slowly opening gates, and her jaw dropped open at the astonishing sight that greeted her. Either side of the avenue she found herself driving along, wasn't a garden but a landscape. Miles of undulating grassland that rolled, with hills, valleys and tall rocky outcrops. Large mature trees lined the road and spotted across the landscape, occasionally grouping together on the hilly terrain to creating patches of small, shady woodlands.

From her travels through Gran Pulse Lightning knew that most of the vegetation wasn't local, and so surmised that they must have brought in the plants especially to create a landscape which was so familiar to the ex-l'Cie she wouldn't have been surprised to see a giant Adamantoise slowly making its way across the estate. Fortunately for the unarmed shoulder there were no giant reptiles, or any other dangerous predators of the steppe. But in the distance a group of round fluffy sheep grazed down by a large lake and the soldier nearly swerved off the road when a large multicoloured herd of Chocobos galloped pass the front of her car, and squawked their way down the hill to the join the grazing flock.

The estate was even larger than it had looked from the outside, and from the outside it had looked enormous. She had been driving through its grounds for around twenty minutes before she even saw any trace of a house. Turning a sharp corner in the road, and passing through a circle of trees, it rose in front of her, a beautiful mansion of red brick and white sash windows pleasantly situated in a large round courtyard surrounded by borders crammed full of bright beautiful flowers.

Lightning pulled her car on to the gravel drive and looked up at the grand three storey building in awe.

It was larger than her entire apartment complex.

The sight of Fang's giant mansion made her feel - not nervous, Lightning Farron was never nervous - but perhaps a little unsure. As an officer, she earned a decent wage but this place cost more than Lightning could earn in a lifetime. In two lifetimes!

Suddenly everything felt like a bad decision. She felt underdressed in her light blue button-down, skinny white jeans and sandals. And she really wished she hadn't let Serah convince that her second-hand beat up blue car was better for picking up a date than her almost new velocycle (something the velocycle messing up her date's hair...she hadn't really been listening to Serah's long list of 'do's and don'ts on a date'. It had been a very long list). And as for her plans for today's mate date, they now seemed like the most boring and worst ideas for a date that anyone has ever come up with in the history of dating.

Fang was obviously rich enough to do anything she wanted, go anywhere she ever wanted. And Lightning's idea of a date was showing her around New Bodhum! Why did she think someone like Fang would enjoy something like that!

"Pull yourself together Farron," she told herself sharply, rolling her eyes at her momentary lapse in confidence

This was all Serah's fault.

Lightning wasn't usually this agitated about a date, in fact she was generally apathetic about them. But Serah, well aware of her sister's typical attitude towards dating, was determined that Lightning's outing with the wealthy brunette/ potential future charity benefactor would be a success. Her little sister and had taken to advising/harassing Lightning about the intricate details of the date every chance she got, had prepared an itemised list about what Lightning should and shouldn't do during their date (a list which was currently crammed into her jean pocket), had stipulated that dinner and a movie was not good enough idea for a date, and had finished by warning Lightning when she left this morning that Fang had better enjoy herself.

Lightning huffed. Serah was acting like she'd never been on a date before. She'd been on plenty. Like that last guy, what was his name? Jared, Jerome, Jarhead. You know the blond guy, with the things...bangs. And before that had been...errrrr...the other guy...baldy, big hands. She crossed her arms and tutted. Okay maybe Serah had a right to be worried. Perhaps she was a little too apathetic about her dates, but making her apprehensive about screwing it up wasn't exactly a stellar move on Serah's part.

Lightning took a deep steadying breath.

Stay focussed, stick to the plan, but be adaptable.

It was a proven strategy that had worked for the soldier time and time again when faced with the unpredictable. Sure, it was one she reserved for battles, but she was confident that it could be applied to any encounter even a mate-date with a rich brunette bachelorette.

With her restored military backbone and a new found determination, she threw her sunglasses into the glove compartment, grabbed her grey short jacket from the passenger seat, stepped out of her car, and donned her coat while she marched the short distance to the mansion. Storming up the front steps she reached out to pull the bell before she had a chance to change her mind.

Before the door bell had finished its first ring, the door was torn open but the dark haired woman standing there in a fashionable black a-line dress wasn't anyone that the soldier recognised, and her glare was not welcoming. With raised eyebrows and her tongue in her cheek, the stranger slowly looked the soldier up and down, and Lightning knew from the derisive look on the woman's face - even before she had opened her mouth - that this was the rude women from the intercom. Lightning's eyes narrowed in response.

"Hi," she greeted in an overly cheerful tone that was in complete opposition to the bored and condescending expression on her face. Well it would have been, until Lightning realised that she had said it without moving her lips.

"Hi," the friendly voice repeated, and to Lightning's surprise the real owner of the perky voice, the petite redhead that had been harassing Snow at the meet and greet, popped out from behind the black haired women and excitedly told the dark haired woman, apparently called Lulu, that she could greet Fang's guest. The woman reluctantly sauntered away but not with giving the soldier one last warning glare over her shoulder. Though what the warning was about, was a complete mystery to the soldier.

"Hi Lightning, it's nice to finally meet you in person. I'm Vanille," the red haired woman said as she held out her hand to attract the soldier's attention from her glaring match with Lulu.

"Nice to meet you" Lightning replied as she finally looked down at the petite woman and returned the handshake with a faint smile.

"You're just as pretty as I remember."

Lightning felt her face flush. "Errr...thank you," she replied after a moment, unsure of how else to respond since her brain had been momentarily taken aback by the unexpected compliment from a near stranger. She looked down at Vanille's hand that was still firmly holding onto hers despite them finishing their handshake and back up to find the smaller woman looking at her with a mischievous grin. Vanille's eyes twinkled in a way that reminded Lightning of Fang with its mix of amusement and victory, as if the faint blush on Lightning's cheeks was exactly the reaction she had wanted or hoped for. Seeing the aloof, blushing woman's pointed look at their joined hands, Vanille released Lightning's hand with a giggle, but only to replace it with her other hand.

"I would have bid for you myself," Vanille continued as she led Lightning into the entrance hall swinging their joined hands, "but it's no use competing with Fang when she has her mind set on something, she always gets what she wants." Lightning choose not respond to such information and instead remained judiciously silent. The thought of the two sisters competing over her as if she was a prize to won or in this case bought, made her purse her lips in distaste. But then after seeing Vanille's treatment of Snow at the party she eventually concluded that she was slightly grateful for Fang's competitive nature. Fang's teasing she could probably handle, but Vanille's flamboyant mischiefs were in an entirely different league.

Besides, any clever reprimand that she could have thought of would have died on her lips as she was once again staggered by the size and beauty of Fang and Vanille's home.

The entrance hall alone was bigger than her entire apartment.

The heels of Lightning's sandals clicked against the dark wooden floors as Vanille led her further into her home. It was a large room, but it was surprisingly bright and cosy. A large, soft red patterned rug covered the centre of the floor and there were other homely touches such as large potted house plants around the edges of the room and photos and paintings covering very inch of the wood panelled walls. Doors lead off from the hall on both sides and at the end of hall a wide carpeted staircase led upwards to a wall covered in windows, where the stairway split in both directions to join the next floor.

Once they had reached the middle of the hall, Vanille let of Lightning's hand. "I'll let Fang know that ya here," Vanille grinned and Lightning nodded in response. Assuming that Vanille had left her alone to find Fang, Lighting took a moment to look down at her clothes and smooth down her shirt, unaware that Vanille hadn't moved an inch.

"FFFFAAAAAAAANNNNG!"

Lightning entire body instinctively jerked away from the loud screaming woman, nearly leaping across the hall as the small woman still standing beside her yelled up the stairs at the top of her lungs.

"WHHAAAA-T?" A distant voice replied from somewhere above them.

Still in shock, the typically quiet and composed soldier watched in wide-eyed bewilderment as the small woman standing next to her began to turn red as she continued to 'converse' with her sister on another floor. Wincing with each ear-piercing word, the eye closest to the screeching banshee began to close slightly in empathy for her poor ears.

"LIGHTNING'S HERE. I'M GONNA TAKE HER INTO THE STUDY."

"OKAY, DOWN IN A SEC."

Dazed by her still ringing ears, the soldier didn't resist when Vanille grabbed her hand again and lead her into the nearest room. The large sunlit room was just as beautiful as the hall. This study had the same dark wooden floors, houseplants and a central rug like the hall but in this room the panelled walls were painted a beautiful shade of light blue. In front of a fireplace was a couple of leather chairs and at the end of the room a desk faced the large patio windows so that anyone sitting there could look out into the beautifully tended back gardens. But what really caught the soldier's attention were that each of its alcoves was lined with books that made the bookworm in Lightning itch with a desire to read each and every spine.

"You have a beautiful home."

"Thanks. It's a replica of an old Gran Pulsian home that I saw once before the War of Transgression," Vanille replied motioning for Lightning to take one of the leather chairs while she took the other.

"Oh. Where?" Lightning asked with genuine curiosity as she sat down and crossed her legs. Travelling across Pulse, Lightning had been intrigued by the ruins of solitary houses had she had seen scattered across the countryside, but they had been nothing but grass covered bricks and most of the records on the history of Pulse has been lost to the ravages of time. She never imagined that their houses would look anything like this.

Vanille paused in the middle of sitting down and for the first time since greeting the soldier the smile dropped from her lips. "What?"

Lightning frowned in confusion at why such a question would result in such a guilty expression on the young women's face. Perhaps she had misheard her. "Where did you see the house?" She clarified.

"Oh...errrm...in a history book." Vanille said, looking off to the side and then back at the Guardian Corp. "Yeah a book," she repeated nervously playing with her fingers. Lightning's frown deepened but before she could question her the redhead was tearing back out of her seat. "Look we have lots of books," she said quickly and waved Lightning over to the nearest shelf.

The bookworm didn't need to be invited twice.

Lightning learned that Vanille had a keen interest on preserving the history of Pulse, or Gran Pulse as Vanille had corrected her, and had spent a great deal of her fortune collecting any books, texts or records from before the War of Transgression. Vanille pointed out some of the books she thought Lightning would enjoy while they talked about them and it seemed to Lightning, everything else in the entire world. Despite being a poor conversationalist, Lightning found that she was actually enjoying talking to the younger woman. She was friendly and flirty, just like Fang, but while Fang's flirts was laid back and smooth Vanille's were blunt and bubbly. She was wide-eyed and excitable. She was brimming with enthusiasm about everything Lightning told her and asking her a thousand questions a minute - from the books she liked, to the weather, to her job, to her plans for her mate-date with Fang. But behind all her child-like energy there was a keen intelligence and Lightning could see why the woman was so successful in business, because in the space of a few minutes Vanille had probably managed to extract enough information from the famously stoic Lightning Farron to write her biography.

Now seated back on the leather chairs, with a few borrowed books on Lightning's lap there was a pause in their conversation. Vanille had her elbows on the arms of her chair and her fingers steepled under her chin. She seemed to be assessing her and Lightning squirmed slightly under the silent woman's scrutiny. "You seem like a super nice person Lightning," Vanille said in her perky voice," but I'm still going to tell you the same thing that I tell all of Fang's dates. If you hurt my sister in any way, I have the means and the imagination to make the rest of your life a living hell. M-kay?"

Lightning blinked. She was surprised by the sudden change in the cheerful woman's demeanour but in no doubt that the woman meant every single word of her threat. Because she may have maintained her friendly tone and smiled as she spoke those words, but her eyes gave this hard glint of seriousness that told the woman that she was not joking around.

Lightning could have said for what felt like the twentieth time that day that it wasn't a date, and opened her mouth to say just that, but Lightning reasoned that whether not or not it was a mate-date or a date-date mattered to Fang's little sister, it certainly wouldn't have mattered to her if she had been in Vanille's position and intimidating one of Serah's dates. Plus she had always admired such a protective nature between siblings. So feeling that Vanille's attitude towards her sister was something to be encouraged not disparaged, she didn't argue with the small red head instead she replied, "Fair enough." And Vanille feeling her sister's date had been suitably warned, gave a satisfied nod of approval.

"VANILLE? VANILLE WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU?" They both turned their heads to the closed door as they heard Fang calling from the hall.

"We're in here Fang," Vanille said jumping up to open the door for the flummoxed brunette.

Throwing her hands up in mild irritation, she walked into the room still frowning at her sister. "Thought you said you'd be in the study! I've been looking everywhere for you pair!" She turned her attention away from Vanille as Lightning stood to greet her and Fang's gaze softened at the sight of her date for the day. "Hi Lightning," she smiled and moved to meet the soldier. Lightning held out her hand. Smirking at the gesture Fang took Lightning's hand to pull her into a brief friendly hug. Fang pulled away keeping her hands on the other woman's biceps to look the stunned woman up and down. "Wow you look great."

"Thanks...you too," Lightning mumbled, glancing away shyly. Lightning was too honest not to admit that Fang was looking good in her tight black trousers, black leather boots, faded grey band T-shirt, short black leather jacket. Even wearing light, natural makeup and without her tuxedo she was just as pretty as Lightning remembered.

She felt Fang's hands drop away from her arms. "I'm underdressed aren't I?" Lightning's head snapped back to the brunette at the sound of the nervousness in the woman's voice. "I knew I should have put on something a bit smarter." Lightning smiled slightly as Fang's looked down at her clothes and began to worry about her attire. It actually made her feel better to know that Fang was as apprehensive about their date as she was. "Just give me ten more minutes and I can change into-"

Lightning's smile dropped. "N-no you look perfect." Lightning interrupted, she didn't want them to start the date by having Fang mistake her reserved nature for scorn or distain. Fang's eyes widened in surprise at Lightning's sudden outburst, but then seeing the flush across Lightning's cheeks, the corners of her eyes crinkled in amusement and she smiled at the stuttering pink-haired beauty. Sighing in mild irritation at the brunette's smirk, Lightning licked her dry lips and crossed her arms, trying to restore some of her stoicism. "I mean what you're wearing is perfect for what we are doing….today…on our date..mate-date. I mean mate-date."

Luckily Vanille, who had been watching the hilarity of their awkward exchange from the door, decided to save the soldier from her mounting embarrassment. She liked Lightning a lot even if she was a bit aloof, and sometimes Fang took her teasing a little too far. She didn't want Lightning to start her date feeling uncomfortable or have Fang thinking that she had the upper hand over the soldier, so she decided to show Lightning that the laidback huntress was just as easily ruffled as anyone else. Especially by her little sister.

"This is the study," Vanille said, goading Fang into an argument. She grinned as Fang turned on her with an affronted expression on her face.

"No it isn't," Fang immediately began arguing, pointing her finger in the direction of another room, "that's the study. This is the second living room"

"This is the study and that's the library. It's got books in it."

"This has books in it."

"So how can it be a living room?"

Lightning felt herself relax as Fang's attention was drawn elsewhere. Her relieved outward breath turned into a quiet chuckle as Fang bent over so she was nose-to-nose with her smiling sister as they bickered. It reminded her of such exchanges with Serah, more playful banter and teasing than anything seriously. I mean how could it be when they were arguing about room delegation. The familiarity of the situation put Lightning at ease and it was amusing to find that Fang wasn't always laidback and suave, and that she didn't always win the argument.

"...I told ya this bloody house has too many bloody rooms for two people. It has too many rooms for fifty people!" Growling at the victorious grin on her little sister's face, Fang marched back to Lightning and grabbed her hand. "Come on Lightning," she said and began pulling her out of the study, "take me away from this monstrosity of a house."

"Awwww she's so cute when she's angry," Vanille said in an oversweet voice and gave Fang's cheek a pinch as she passed by. Without pausing in her stride Fang swatted her sister's hand away with a grumble and dragged Lightning out of the front door, while Lightning wondered if it was too late to tell the two sister's that she was really comfortable with hand-holding, or physical contact, or being dragged everywhere.

"Bye Fang. See later Lightning," Vanille added as she excitedly waved to them from the front step. "Have fun on your date. Sorry, I mean mate-date. Have fun on your mate-date it's gonna be great!"

AN: Short but hopefully sweet. Not much Fang in this one but don't worry the remaining chapters will have lots of the lovely brunette.

I hope you guys enjoyed it and your thoughts and comments are always appreciated, plus they give me a happy - 'ooo-a-review' - buzz. Although if you keep being so nice to me my jaw is likely to drop off and then how in the world will I eat my cereal.