Final Fantasy XIII 1. Chapter 1

**Ok~~ This is my first time writing a fan fiction so I hope I do a justifiable job. I love FF13, so I wanted it to be my first attempt.  
Please my children, enjoy.**

*I do not own or claim to own any of the characters used in this fanfic. Thank you.*

"DROP WHAT YOU HAVE AND PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!"

The gun that was pointed at the man seemed to glimmer under the faulty lighting. Officer Lightning, as the name tag read, had an iron grip and a deathly stare that could crack a chunk of pure metal. The man stared blankly at Officer Lightning and in less than a second you could see a faint quiver run through his body. He gripped the bag of hundred dollar bills in his hands, contemplating his options. Should he try and escape knowing the odds weren't in his favor and risk impending doom brought down upon by the officer or quietly surrender? He chose impending doom.

He made a sudden jolt for the door to his left. He assumed the officer (who seemed to look more like a pink haired demon) was too good of a person to shoot someone; and if she wasn't, hopefully she just had really terrible aim. He almost made it too, but he didn't take into account that the demon-like officer had a demon partner. A swift knee hit the man hard in the stomach and he doubled over in unfathomable pain. A tall and intimidating woman stood over the unconscious man, tsking slightly.

"And they always try and run." The woman turned her head slightly, a well-intentioned smirk gracing her lips.

She stepped over the man and made her way to the other officer. "Don't worry Farron, it's not that they think you won't shoot them, it's just that they know you won't shoot them." She patted her comrade lightly on the shoulder. Lightning sighed and dismissed her partner's sympathy while putting her gun back in the holster.

"Yun, I thought I told you to call me Lightning. Besides, I rather not shoot someone unnecessarily with all these civilians around. We don't need any more paranoid and traumatized people running around on the streets; the governments done a bang up job with that already."

Yun looked around at the cowering civilians who had just begun to stand up after seeing the assailant taken down. Many had been spread out on the floor, while the tellers behind the counter had been neatly hidden, waiting for the police to arrive at the scene. Many of them looked frazzled and relieved that the predicament was finally over with.

"Point taken." With that being said, Yun looked back at the unconscious perpetrator and swiftly threw him across her shoulder like a rag doll.

"By the way, if you want me to call you Lightning, call me Fang. Yun is a family name that I'm not a part of anymore, so call me that or Oerba." Fang looked back at Lightning and gave her another trademark smirk.

Without haste she turned back around and made her way through the door. Lightning allowed a tiny grin to appear on her lips, and followed after Fang just as the reinforcements strolled through the door to assess with civilian needs. Lightning quickly regained composure before anyone had the time to see her image falter. She felt her shoulder being patted and multiple congratulatory remarks thrown at her and Fangs way. She made no effort to acknowledge them and no one expected her too. Lightning was mysterious and headstrong, and that's the way she preferred it.

By the time Lightning had made it out of the herd of people, Fang had already tossed the criminal in the back of Bahamut, and had her boot resting on the beast, waiting impatiently for Lightning to return.

"Nice of you to join us, isn't that right Bahamut?" Fang tapped on the jet black car that was custom made to her liking. Lightning ignored her comment and made her way to the passenger seat.

Inside the car, the man began to mumble with faint consciousness, not a lot, but enough to show that Fang's kick didn't entirely do damage to his organs.

"Oh pipe down back there, you act like you've never been kicked before." Fang spoke with a sharp tongue, knitted eyebrows, and a trace of a scowl on her face as she started the car and put it into high gear.

"I'm sure he's never been kicked by someone like you." Lightning remarked, a vague mocking tone laced in her voice. She inhaled while her eyes absorbed the passing scenery.

Bodhum was breathtaking at night, most of the people lived along the beaches and the majority of the city was wrapped around in a soft blanket of water. The lights would envelope the city, and it had a charm most cities in Cocoon lacked. Bodhum was home, it was the place where Serah and she grew up, it was where they lost their parents, it was where Lightning got to meet Snow, and she would be damned if anything changed that. She would risk her life to protect it, and once she almost did.

"Oh, so you have jokes now, didn't see that one coming for a mile." Fang chuckled to herself, amused at the turn of events.

"Wait, what? No I was just pointing out that I'm fairly sure he's never been kneed by someone who ranked top in the police academy." She said with complete seriousness.

"That was easy, there was no competition." Fang spoke with satisfaction.

"I was top officer for almost three years, until little miss sunshine decided to fall from military grace and join the real dogs." Fang's voice held no ill-intentions in this remark, she just purely enjoyed teasing Lightning.

"Yeah, well it was a choice I should have made to begin with." She made sure to end _that_ conversation.

Lightning took out the knife Serah gave her before going to the military from her boot holder and began cleaning it, a habit from the military she picked up on when she began to feel uncomfortable. While others took to cigarettes and alcohol, Lightning would clean the knife until it returned to its former glory. Even when it didn't need cleaning, she still would clean it.

"Why'd you quit?" Fang questioned while still looking forward, trying to drive slower to see if Lightning would reveal something about herself. The timing seemed appropriate.

After four months of being partners, the only thing Fang ever really got out of her was her name, and Lightning was just a nickname, not the real thing; and that she was in the military before joining the police force.

"Fang, why did you join the police?" Lightning spoke in a low tone.

"Why? Well, I have someone I needed to protect."

"If that's true, why didn't you just join the military?" Lightning questioned again, this time more aggressively.

"Because, that would mean leaving the person I wanted to protect." Fang began to noticeably get more agitated.

"Doesn't that make you selfish though; wanting to protect the person you love but not wanting to leave them at the same time?"

"What are you trying to say Farron?" Fang glared at Lightning from the corner of her eye.

"That the only truly selfish thing, is using the excuse that the only way to protect someone is to leave them. I left my sister when I was 18, the same age you joined the Police force, I wanted to protect her, the same thing you wanted to do for the person you cared about. I thought that if I left and joined some top notch force I would actually be doing something more important and monumental than just cleaning up the streets. If I could protect Serah from Pulse rather than some drunk trying to rob a convenience store, everything would be ok, and leaving her wouldn't have been as bad. Deep down however, all that was an excuse. Joining the military was my way of ignoring my responsibilities and not having to take care of Serah. When I finally figured out that that was an excuse, I cleaned up my act and joined the police, something I should have done from the start, like I said before."

By the time Lightning had finished, Fang was pulling up to the station; the conversation had ended abruptly with people swarming the car.

Fang could see however, that there was much more to Lightning's story than just that. The almost transparent scars that roughly danced across her arms, legs and back that Fang sometimes saw for a quick second seemed to almost haunt Lightning. When someone would sneak up on Lightning in the office or if a criminal had gotten the upper hand, you could see her panic, her muscles would tighten and she would instantly grab for her belt, forgetting she didn't have her military sword. Most people dismissed it as paranoia from the military or a muscle memory you just couldn't forget. Most people didn't see the distinct fear in Lightning's eyes after they left, or how she would clutch her heart, as if terrified she would die right there. Fang always saw it though. She was one step closer to Lightning and that's all that mattered, even if it wasn't the 100 percent truth, it was something.

Before they got out Fang gently patted Lightning on the back. No words were needed and Fang gave a soft smile before patting her once again but this time with force.

"Ready for your moment of glory?" Fang boasted with confidence as she directed her head towards the crowd.

"I think you mean yours." Lightning slyly grinned and stepped out of the car, leaving Fang there, gaping at her conduct.

"Oh come on Lightning, I can't deal with these …" before Fang could finish Lightning had shut the door and walked calmly to her car waiting in the parking lot.

Every time a person would follow her to congratulate her and bombard her with inquiries she would direct their attention to Fang still in the car. Lightning fired Odin up and left Fang; still trying to get the culprit inside through the dense crowd of people; in her wake.

Farron Household -

"Snow you have to leave, like right now before Lightning gets home." Serah shook the unconscious Snow who had been fast asleep resting on Serah's shoulder.

They both had fallen asleep on the couch, while watching the new show "Moogle Destiny", that had been a hit in much of the Cocoon cities. Serah had been awakened by the tolling of the clock that not so gently reminded her that it was almost 9 and that Lightning should be home at any moment.  
Snow had only planned to stay until 6, to respect Lightning's wishes that he not stay over too late. If Lightning was to catch Snow over at that hour, Snow would likely either be dead or banished from Bodhum, and they were both sure Lightning could make that happen.

"Snow, wake up now, sweetie, before Lightning kills us both." Serah began shaking Snow more roughly out of pure fear and eventually stood up to allow Snow to face plant into the couch. To her relief he sprang up not sure what had happened.

"Snow you have to leave!" Serah began pushing the 6'7 man across the living room and out her door; surprisingly she managed well, with the help of Snow of course.

"Did I do something wrong? Don't tell me I snored to loud, because I can work on it, you don't have to…"

"WE FELL ASLEEP AND LIGHTNING WILL BE HERE AT ANY MOMENT!" Serah shouted in frustration.

This was no time for Snow to be preoccupied and asking questions, even if he deserved the answers. Snow looked dumbfounded as he looked at the clock.

"Ohhhh no." He dragged out the 'Oh' part and quickly grabbed his coat. They both immediately ran for the door, allowing the misunderstanding to subside.

"Talk to you tomorrow?" Snow reached out to Serah and hugged her gently before he left.

"Of course, my Hero." Serah hugged him back and planted a kiss on his check that she could barely reach even on her tip toes. Snow let go and smiled at her, he ran his fingers through her soft pink hair and kissed it tenderly.

"Good night, Serah." Snow opened the door and jumped back a little when he saw a face he wasn't suspecting.

"Hope? What are you doing here?" Serah had moved in front of Snow to see what had made him so on edge.

To her confusion, a nonchalant Hope was standing at her door. His sliver white hair seemed to illuminate even in the darkness and his blue-greenish eyes seemed to become less enthusiastic at the sight of Serah and Snow.

"Why's Snow still here? You know Lightning's going to be furious." Hope looked at the two of them with doubt and it made Serah began to feel enclosed in a tight space.

"It doesn't even concern you Hope, just because you live next door doesn't mean you can always be in our business." Hope could see the frustration become evident on Serah's face and decided to drop the subject.

"Anyway I take it that Lights not here. Tell her to call me when she gets home." Hope began to turn around and go back home when Serah's voice thundered through his ears.

"I WON'T TELL MY SISTER SO STOP TRYING TO HOOK UP WITH HER, ITS GROSS HOPE." Serah had begun to walk outside to scream more at Hope when Snow stepped in.

"Whoa there little horsey, no need to get violent." Snow picked up Serah with ease and put her on the other side of the door.

"You have no room to talk Mr. Hero." Hope hissed threw his teeth.

"No need to throw around animosity." Snow put up his hands like he had been held at gun point.

"That's all I have for you. You think you can prance around Bodhum acting like being a part of NORA is some kind of new religion. You think just because you "help" people, means you "save" people, but in reality you do neither. People like you… no, idiots like you are the reason Lightning has such a hard job in this city; you're probably the reason she even quit the military and decided to become an officer. You're no hero, you're a joke." Hope practically ran away, leaving as quickly as he came; an air of uncertainty trailing behind him.

"I wonder what I did to push his buttons." Snow said tentatively.

"I'm not sure, but you better go. See you later." With a final glance at him, Serah swiftly closed the door.

She stood there for a moment letting everything that had just happened soak in like a sponge. Hope was just like how he always was, indefinitely chasing after someone who was indefinitely chasing after someone. Neither knew who the other was chasing and it stayed like that for a long time. Serah was the only one who truly saw it for what it was, pitifully tragic. Only if Lightning knew.


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter was a little rushed due to me leaving and not being able to use the internet for a week ;_; I tried to finish this chapter as fast as I could, but still make it they way I wanted. Despite all this, I still hope you continue to enjoy and take interest in the story.  
****Your reviews and PM's are always welcomed, good or bad.  
****With that being said, enjoy my children.**

Chapter 2:

"Sazh! Sazh, over here!" The girl flailed wildly, over exaggerating her hand gestures as she tried to catch the man's attention. He had seen her in the corner of his eye: Red hair and a childlike grin that stretched from ear to ear. The more desperately he tried to dismiss the girl, the more she blatantly yelled at him.

"Yoo hoo! Mr. Grumpy pants, you can't ignore me!" This time the girl giggled; slapping her hand over her mouth to restrict the excessive laughter emitting from it. Sazh let out a noticeably pent up sigh and placed his large dark hand over his face.

"Vanille what is it now?" He proceeded to try and make his way to his car as quickly as he could to try and beat Vanille to it, but his efforts were futile. She stood behind his car as a sign of defiance; crossing her arms and giving him that one and only Vanille look that showed she meant business, but in all honestly she knew it left him irate- something she fancied doing.

"You can't get away that easy mister!" She spoke with ferocity in her voice and a slight 'hmph' at the end that was audible. Sazh again sighed heavily and laid his head on his car door; feeling as if it was his 'sane place'. He spoke slowly to par on her level that he believed was close to mental stupidity.

"Vanille, we go through this every day. Call me Mr. Katzroy; I am your teacher after all."

There was no emotion present on her face and it occurred to Sazh that she might have not heard it. It wasn't the first time that she had appeared to be listening but in reality was in her own dimension—not world, but dimension. Vanille might have had the mindset and personality of a 5 year old, but when it came down to it, Vanille could conjure up more than what she originally brought to the table.

Sazh on multiple occasions had been fairly impressed with her work when it came down to formulating maps and charts on what present day Gran Pulse could appear like. With so little information and hardly any background knowledge about it (she never paid attention), it seemed as if she was recreating it from memory. Everything she ever drew or doodled seemed so detailed and extravagant; it would leave him utterly speechless. Her boundaries substantially exceeded her peers tenfold when it came down to creativity and on occasions like those he couldn't decide on whether or not she was an idiot, or a complete genius.

Vanille abruptly let out a laugh and Sazh was all the more dumbfounded. Every time he was around Vanille it felt like all the energy was being sucked maliciously out of him and it reminded him just how old he really was. He couldn't fathom how Officer Oerba who was the polar opposite of Vanille was married to her in the slightest. He never questioned it in its entirety however, not if he wanted a round house kick to the face.

He shivered at the thought and went to go into his car again.

"Bye Vanille, I'll see you in class." Vanille stepped out from behind his car and waved happily and carefree as she watched his car drive off in the distance.

As soon as Sazh was out of sight Vanille began to get a gut feeling that wouldn't go away no matter how much she tried to ignore it. It festered within her and it felt like she was going to throw up. She began to pray with her fingers bound in a specific way that her mother use to do when she was a child. The uneasiness swayed within her and rocked her unsteadily. Something was going to happen. She could feel it in her bones, and it wasn't pleasant at all.

...

"What in the world is that?" Lightning crouched down closely in an attempt to analyze the thing or supposed _human _lied out before her on the concrete ground_._

"Looks like someone who forgot their insides were supposed to stay in." Fang hovered over Lightning, trying to get a better angle of the person on the ground. Lightning gave Fang a more than displeasing look and caught the eye of the Chief.

"Lightning, Fang… I see you've seen our victim." Chief Amodar tilted his head toward the person, not being able to directly look at or even remotely near it.

Chief Amodar was a hefty daunting man who seemed to have the strength of Fang and the more than apt observations skills of Lightning. He was light skinned had stood average height but none the less when next too, made an average man cower in fear. In his prime Chief Amodar was a machine; he always put work first and never had time for anything else. He drilled that moral into his officers and on occasion, some would obey; two being of course Fang and Lightning, his favorite officers out of all.

"If victim is even a justifiable word." Lightning stood up and marched toward the chief. "This goes beyond a case of victim and assailant, Chief. This person didn't get killed-didn't get shredded to bits and pieces by the psychotic hands of a person. They were hunted down and obliterated by a monster."

"She's right you know." Fang interjected and crossed her arms smoothly. "This person wasn't just killed, they were hunted for sport."

Chief Amodar looked at them both questionably.

"What makes you think that officers?"

"I got it from here Lightning." Fang waved her hand at Lightning indicating Lightning didn't have to elaborate further.

"First of all Chief, the person had some type of injury before making their final plummet here." Fang pointed to the spot where the victim was laying.

A vast pool of dark red blood surrounded and engulfed the body and splotches of it were occupying spaces around it. The blood was still fresh and not all of it had clotted up on the person; new formations of blood seeped out in various places and seemed remarkably endless. The alley way had a more than ominous aura and the area had a pure metallic smell that left the feeling of death lingering in the air. It left goose bumps on the forensic team making their way to and from the scene. If anyone had a choice, they wouldn't come 10 feet near the crime scene.

"Where's the indication Officer?" Perspiration was beginning to become evident on the armpits and forehead of the Chief.

"Now now, don't be hasty, I was just getting to that part." Fang turned her attention to the beginning of the alley way. "The blood trail shows that our unlucky vic here had been hitching it for a while before they got here." She made her way quickly to the beginning of the alley way were dawn had just broken and cars were somewhat visible on the street. The chief was hot on her heels and she continued none the less. "If you look at the blood splatters all along here," she pointed at the entrance to the alley and the sidewalk adjacent to it. "You can see that the blood here is more abundant then your typical 'I just got hurt, I'm going to bleed out' and points to a more 'I've been hurt for a while, and the bleeding is getting worse' type of scenario." Chief Amodar looked dumbfounded at Fang as she smirked in triumph.

"Your sense of humor in this situation astounds me officer."

"People have different ways of dealing with situations. Mine is me just being a smart-ass sir." Fang strode passed the Chief who shook his head in agreement.

"If that is true, then I want you and Lightning to follow the blood trail as far as it can go and where ever it leads. I don't want anything to go unnoticed and I'll have you both follow this up until you find me something, even if it takes you all night." Chief Amodar was gazing at Fang with authority but gentile concern. The idea that the blood trail could lead to a deadly ending unnerved him for his officers, but being put in danger was in fact part of the job description.

"I got it I got it. No need to get your big boy pants in a bundle." Fang snickered while the Chief looked mentally exhausted.

"Officer Fang, earlier you said 'first off', did that mean that you had a second reasoning?"

"You bet your hind I do. If you actually looked at the body Chief, there's a bullet hole about this size." Fang made a minuscule gesture demonstrating the size of the bullet with her fingers. "Only certain types of guns can make such a small and unnoticeable hole, and only certain wielders can fire it and hit a precise spot where it doesn't hit any of the vital organs but still bleeds out to their sadistic needs." Fang hadn't turned around to face the chief, and stared aimlessly at the crime scene before her.

She was observing Lightning who was observing the crime scene. Lightning was combing the scene, pointing out spots that the forensic team carelessly missed; details that shouldn't have went unnoticed and viciously reprimanding them as she went, reminding them of the viscosity of their situation: there was a malicious being who committed a grave crime, unforgiving by Etro and they had to stop them before another attack happened .

"Officer Fang, your point is?" Chief Amodar had brought the conversation back to Fang and Fang sighed annoyed.

"It's a dog's weapon Chief, a military mutt." She spit out the last word like it was a toxin poison.

"Whatever you do don't tell Lightning. I don't want her being involved in the military anymore than she already was." Fang had a gentle undertone but an undefiable demeanor that even the Chief wasn't about to disregard.

She walked off casually back to Lightning.

...

"Can anyone tell me one of the main reasons that Cocoon and Pulse are still on more or less bad terms even after 200 years?" Sazh looked over his herd of 152 students, analyzing their faces and body posture. He enjoyed calling on students that he deemed had no plausible idea what the correct answer was.

He knew all their names and patterns. Strong eye contact indicated some people knew the answers while at the same time for certain people it meant they were bluffing and had no clue whatsoever.

Vanille had a particular indicator.

She sat in the dead middle of the lecture room and Sazh always kept an eye on her out of fear of her doing something ridiculous or outright idiotic. When Vanille knew an answer—which was rare—she would jump up and down and yell without embarrassment,

"I know I know! Pick me Sazh!"

Whenever she would present herself in such conduct he would steadily lose his patience with her and instantly remind her that he was and not 'Sazh', but . Even outside of class he dreaded when she called him Sazh; it made her forget she couldn't call him it in class. He preferred respect in and outside the classroom.

When Vanille didn't know an answer however, it became painstakingly obvious. She would try and hide her face behind anything she could; figuring Sazh wouldn't be able to see her, even if she was dead center in his vision of sight.

"Vanille, you look like you know the answer, please indulge us." Sazh smiled sweetly on the outside, but he was secretly enjoying watching her squirm.

Vanille took her bunny folder that she had in front of her face and set it slowly down on the table. Serah was sitting to the right of her. She gave her a slight encouraging smile.

"Heh heh." Vanille let out a nervous laugh.

"Well Mrs. Oerba?" Sazh stood staring right at her, almost as if he were looking into her soul.

She swallowed and tapped on her folder as if the answer was just going to pop into her head.

"I believe…" She started to say that they were both probably big dummies and fought over something silly, but interestingly enough remembered a conversation Fang and her had at dinner not too long ago about Pulse. It stuck out like a sour thumb in her memory.

"It was because Pulse began researching and conducting experiments on the human genome." Vanille sounded unsure and the look on Sazh's face made it almost quite certain she was wrong in her answer, but she continued none the less.

"It wasn't even the genome itself that put Cocoon on edge, because the genome is in all of us and it isn't bad or dangerous." She could tell that she was ranting and it didn't make sense, but she remembered clearly it was what Fang had told her and she was going to say it no matter what.

"They began altering the genome. They had a philosophy of enhancing the human race and making us not only more dominate and powerful, but they wanted to completely restructure us to the point where we would become invincible and not even human anymore. Cocoon feared that Pulse was becoming too corrupt and that eventually they would collapse the Cocoon government due to this ideology and experimenting. Cocoon labeled the experimenting as inhumanly and wrong in all aspects in the eyes of Etro. To this day Cocoon keeps their eye on Pulse due to the fear that Pulse government has figured out a way to make a serum for the genome project, despite having Cocoon military in Pulse to keep an eye over them." Sazh looked dumbfounded and it didn't help Vanille figure out if she was off base or not.

"So that's what I think." She giggled a little and Sazh threw up his hands in defeat. She had unknowingly defeated him in his own game and proved herself intelligent in the eyes of her worst doubter.

" Mrs. Oerba is absolutely… right. Somehow she's right. Serah did you give her the answer?" Sazh shouted in despair in the direction of Serah and she shook her head in awe at Vanille. Vanille sat calmly with pride and a sense of relief that she had gotten in right.

Fang saved her once again.

...

"Ok on the count of three we bust threw the door guns blazing. I got the people on the right and you got the ones on the left. If there are more than we anticipated than we'll just wing it and figure it out once we cross that bridge." Fang whispered to Lightning as they made their way to a warehouse a couple blocks from the alley way.

Fang's expertise on tracking aided them well, and lead them on a short journey to a sketchy building that looked more than run down and abandoned. It was enormous and was left to rot in its entirety. Graffiti was evident all over the outside of the walls ranging from neighborhood gang signs to weird kid like pictures. The old sign was still visible on the tallest point of the building but it was faded to the point of ineligibility.

Fang and Lightning had found a door on the side of the building, the only one that wasn't bordered up with wood and metal. Blood was fresh on the door and even on the bottom of it that lead steadily down the stairs and along the pavement. It wasn't as thick as in the alley way which was a tell tale sign that Fang had been correct in her assumption.

It had lead the two to this defining moment of the prevalence of good and the wholehearted righteousness of justice that both women could feel; the blood pumping steadily and rapidly through their veins and the unsteady heartbeat in their chesst.

"Fang, there was so many things wrong with your statement just now." Lightning gripped her gun tight, turning her knuckles white and nodded at Fang firmly.

Fang smirked with anticipation.

"One… Two…" Fang kicked the door hard with her right boot and Lightning screamed,  
"THREE." They busted in as Fang planned but not guns blazing. What laid before them was something that they truly were not anticipating.

"Well I'll be god dammed." Fang breathed out solemnly.

"You can say that again." Lightning was wide eyed at what they had unknowingly stumbled upon.

They'd done it now.


End file.
