The sound of rain held her attention, and Lightning took a moment just to focus on it, slowly envisioning the way it must have been pattering against the roof of the apartment complex.

"You've been getting enough sleep, right?" Serah kept spreading paint beside one of the windows, where the glass was speckled with delicate raindrops. "Neighbors aren't keeping you up?"

Lightning almost wanted to snarl at the memory of such sharp, blaring music. "There's this wonderful little invention called 'earplugs'..."

Serah giggled. "Hey, at least they turn it off before ten." She looked over at Lightning again, watching the way that she started to paint the part of the wall nearest to the ceiling. "Oh, I forgot to mention... The couple on our other side; they came over to introduce themselves while you were at work, yesterday."

Lightning nearly frowned at the mention of her job.

"Did you notice the cookies on the counter?" Serah smiled, before she turned back towards her own part of the room, careful not to spill more than a drop or two of paint on the tarp beneath her. "They brought those over, isn't that nice?"

Lightning shrugged. "They probably wanted to make sure you weren't a drug dealer."

Serah scoffed at the thought of that. "Oh yeah, little old me, slinging drugs around?" She dipped her paintbrush back down into the can, before she began to spread it all out over the wall, layering it just as evenly as she could. "I mean... I've never tried it, but I've heard that certain-"

"Serah." Lightning glanced back over her shoulder. "There will not be anything illegal in this apartment... Is that clear?"

Serah looked over as well. "Other than existing, sure."

Lightning fought the urge to snap at such a notion, so she turned away again, back to painting the wall. "Technically, we aren't illegal." She brought her voice down to a low whisper. "Just legal to kill."

Serah sighed, but she just kept painting her side of the room. "Could we not talk about this right now?"

"Sure." Lightning fell silent again.

"Could we talk about something, though?" Serah reached for another dab of paint. "How's work?"

Lightning glanced over at the window, gazing out at all of the thin streaks of rain upon the glass. "It's fine. How's school?"

Serah almost scowled. "Light, when I ask you about work-"

"I carried crates around the harbor for about five hours, ate lunch, and then I carried even more crates." Lightning tried not to make her words bite; she spoke just as gently as she could. "Serah, how's school?"

Serah frowned a little. "Well, the new classes are fine so far... There's a professor there, she's really nice; during study hall, I told her that I was new in town, and she actually offered to write up a map of the best places downtown, restaurants and stuff."

Lightning paused. "...Why weren't you studying during study hall?"

Serah shook her head. "I finished early, and almost everyone in there was talking about the weekend, anyway."

Lightning just went back to coating the walls in paint, though she couldn't help but wish that her little sister could be out enjoying her free time in different ways, making new friends, or even exploring their surroundings, anything but accompanying her grumpy older sibling with housework. It wasn't that she wanted to be so prickly, no, it was just that the aches in her limbs from the workweek and the strain of moving new furniture, it was almost too much for the time being. A new life, a new apartment in one of the biggest cities of Cocoon, a whole world of opportunity for both of them... Provided they could keep one certain little secret safe.

Yet that all came to a sudden halt when a low, gentle knock sounded at the front door.

Lightning felt the soft hairs on the back of her neck prickle up, but when Serah moved to stop painting, she simply signaled for her to continue. "I'll get it."

And there it was, even before she'd exited the short hall into the front entryway, from beneath the gap in the front door, the scent that she hoped to never catch again, yet not for lack of fondness, nor familiarity. She lingered there for only a moment, because the one at her door, she could surely smell her scent as well, and she had likely already heard even the softest of footsteps upon the carpeted floor.

Lightning glanced at the chain lock on the door, but she didn't move it away, not even when she suddenly turned the handle to yank the entire door open with a low, rumbling growl. "How did you find us?"

A sudden voice, that almost musical accent, and then the scent of someone she could never possibly forget, so deep and earthy and absolutely nothing like the city they stood within. "What, no hugs for an old friend..? Not much of a welcome, is it?"

"What do you want, Fang?" Lightning narrowed her eyes at the fresh wound on Fang's cheek. "I swear, if you led anyone here-"

"What, you think I'm an idiot?" Fang suddenly paused, lowering her voice, a bit gentler than before. "I'd never... Never bring them to you, Light."

Lightning glanced away at the sound of that. "Then why are you here?"

"Don't get me wrong, I didn't get this from just anyone..." Fang reached up to rub at the cut on her cheek. "But they're not on our tail right now, okay? Nobody's gonna find you because of us."

Lightning's arm went stiff for less than a second. "'Us'."

Fang nodded. "Vanille's keeping watch, downstairs... Light, we're in pretty bad shape; we could really use a friendly face right now, okay? I promise I'll make it up to you."

Lightning grit her teeth together. "We don't have much room here."

"We don't need much... Just a roof over our heads." Fang slowly reached for the edge of the doorframe, yet she didn't move inside, she merely traced her fingertips against the outline of the wood. "I can pay you for this, if you need it." She didn't miss the way that Lightning's eyes went just a little bit brighter at that. "How are you doing, Light?"

Lightning felt her canine teeth instinctively go sharper, and she felt her gaze hone in on the terrace that Fang stood upon, searching the area for any possible threats, but there was nothing there that she could see, nothing much out of the ordinary. "Decent, for once."

"That's good." Fang lowered her voice to a whisper. "No problems..?"

Lightning shook her head. "I'm fine, Serah's fine."

"All fine, huh?" Fang smiled softly. "Glad to hear that."

Lightning stared at Fang for a long moment, gazing out with blue eyes that almost began to look golden within a certain light, before she slowly unbolted the lock. "Get Vanille in here... Is she hurt?"

"Nothing she can't heal off." Fang's smile widened when Lightning finally opened the door. "She'll be up in a minute, said she wanted to make sure there wasn't anyone watching."

Lightning stepped back into the front hallway, a space that suddenly felt much too small with another person there, a person with such a strong and familiar scent, someone who smelled like mossy trees and dirt and blood, different blood, not her own, yet then, there was also the sweet smell of something she'd likely just eaten that very same day, perhaps a bit of cheap ice cream.

Fang noticed the subtle twitch of Lightning's nostrils. "I got 'em way worse than they got me."

Lightning glanced at the cut on Fang's cheek. "I see."

Fang leaned off to the side, slightly, watching the way that Lightning closed the door just enough to keep the summer insects from fluttering inside, if only for refuge from the rain. "...I missed you, Light."

Lightning looked down at the carpet beneath her feet.

"I mean it, ever since the whole thing back at Euride..." Fang fought the urge to move a bit closer. "I know I shouldn't cling to things, shouldn't let myself hope for this, but-"

"Fang." Lightning suddenly glanced up to meet her gaze, steady and unyielding. "We're safer in small groups."

"I know, I know..." Fang grit her teeth for just a brief moment, and her eyes almost seemed pleading, as if she was trying to keep herself from asking far too much, from blurting out everything that was on her mind. "I just missed you."

Lightning glanced to the side when a soft pair of footsteps approached from further inside the house. "I missed you, too."

It was only a moment before Serah froze at the end of the hall. "Fang?!"

Fang smiled, but then she grinned even wider when she was suddenly tackled in a fierce hug. "Hey, little Farron..."

"Light, you didn't tell me Fang was visiting!" Serah hugged Fang close, before she released her grip to stand back on her tiptoes, examining the scratch on the curve of Fang's cheek; the little white lie in the words she had spoken, already taking the initiative to greet her in such manner, despite the fact that Serah just knew as well as Lightning did that neither of them had caught any small trace of Fang in several years. "Oh, Fang-"

"...I didn't know she'd be stopping by." Lightning slowly leaned back against the wall, but she kept watching the doorway out of the corner of her gaze, and she spoke in a low whisper. "How did you find us, anyway? Is there anything I should know about?"

"No, no cracks in your cover..." Fang lowered her voice as well. "We were just down near the harbor, looking around; I never forget a scent, Light, and even you can't throw my nose off your trail."

Lightning's shoulders almost seemed to relax, and she slowly leaned forward to look out from the doorway. "We shouldn't talk about this here."

Fang nodded, and she slowly tipped her head to the side. "Vanille's taking her sweet time..."

Lightning glanced at the railing of the balcony. "You'd better check on her."

From anyone else, Fang would have just quipped back a wry retort or asked for a bit of patience, but the steel in Lightning's eyes clearly told her to just go and fetch her friend so that she could close the damn door already. When a moment passed between them, Lightning watched the way that Fang merely stuck her hands in her pockets and walked a few paces outside, glancing around the balcony stairs for any hint of Vanille.

"Light..." Serah leaned over to look out the doorway, and she spoke in a whisper as well. "She was attacked, wasn't she?"

Lightning could still see the cut on Fang's cheek. "Seems that way."

Fang called out over the terrace. "Vanille, come on!"

A distant voice called back. "One second!"

"We don't have a second, Light's gonna-" Fang caught a rather icy look out of the corner of her eye. "We're gonna get left out on the doorstep if you don't get a move on!"

"Okay, okay!" It was only a moment later that the whirlwind known as Vanille suddenly rushed up the stairwell, only to almost trip upon the very last stair, yet she caught herself just in time, stumbling out into the balcony. "There was a really big squirrel."

Fang reached out to gently poke Vanille's forehead. "A squirrel..."

Vanille almost seemed to pout. "A very mean looking squirrel."

Fang lowered her voice just a bit. "Then we'd better get inside before Lightning locks the door on us, wouldn't you say?"

Vanille suddenly turned around with such a bright smile, and before Lightning could even react, she was wrapped in a rather crushing hug, the kind that only those who haven't seen each other in several years could muster up the strength for.

"Oh, Light!" Vanille hugged Lightning even tighter. "It's so good to see you again!"

Lightning tried to breathe through the tremendous grip of Vanille's arms, but after a mere instant of surprise, she simply hugged her as well, guiding them both away from the door. "I know, kiddo."

Vanille leaned back after a moment, slightly pouting again. "I'm not a kid anymore!"

Lightning shook her head. "That's the curse of little sisters, even if we aren't blood... You're always little in our eyes."

Fang smiled at that, gently closing the door behind her with the heel of her shoe. "Good to see us all here... Back together again."

Lightning exhaled when Vanille finally stopped trying to bruise her lungs. "...It's been a long time."

"Years, Light." Serah stepped forward to hug Vanille as well, humming and smiling all the while. "Haven't seen either of you in years..."

Lightning took a slow step to the side, moving towards the low archway that led into the main sitting room. "We could take a quick break from painting."

Fang sniffed at the air. "So that's what that is..."

Lightning nodded, leading the way into a rather cozy little room with a small sofa and two chairs, one of which she took for herself, if only to avoid more physical contact than she could handle within a single afternoon. "We're somewhat new in town, to be honest... At least this neighborhood."

"Yeah." Serah flopped down against the couch, and she grinned when Vanille did the same. "Wait, are you guys living around here, too?"

Fang sat down on the opposite chair. "No, just passing through." She tried not to glance over at Lightning. "We've been... To be honest, the goal was to find the two of you again, but we ran into some trouble last week; had to shake a few punks off our trail."

Lightning narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. "What sort of 'punks'?"

"Punks with dogs..." Fang bit back a low snarl, trying to relax against her seat. "Not easy to get them off your scent, not unless you're ready to swim."

Lightning slowly folded her hands against her lap. "And you're sure they aren't following you now?"

Fang reached up to tap the cut on her cheek. "Dead sure."

Lightning stared at Fang for a long while, even when Serah and Vanille quickly began to catch up with their own lives, from Serah's new college courses to all the things that Vanille had collected out on the road, little trinkets and unusual baubles that she soon took out from the purse that was slung against her shoulder.

Fang simply stared back at Lightning, and while her body seemed the very picture of calm, one leg resting over the other, while her foot idled in small circles, there was such a mystery in her eyes, the sort of longing for some unknowable thing, at least until enough courage could be mustered within her to ask. Yet Lightning kept very quiet as well, for she knew almost exactly what Fang was itching to ask for, to learn if they were still within the same spot they'd left off in after their desperate departure from a city at war with their kind, when they'd been forced to leave everything behind and flee into the night. She knew that Fang wanted to know if she was still allowed to take hold of her hands, to smile and press long kisses against her forehead, to hold her so very close while they hid out another day, another sleepless night while standing guard for their loved ones, their little sisters, those who wouldn't have been long for the world without them. For they were two sides of the very same coin, orphans burdened with the care of the one who they would absolutely die for, their younger kin, forced to grow up and take on the lofty place of a surrogate parent, a commonality that only brought them closer and closer with each and every passing day.

Lightning finally rose up to her feet, glancing at the hallway again. "Fang, help me make some sandwiches." She didn't wait for a response, and she turned to look at both Serah and Vanille. "We have turkey or peanut butter."

"Oh, I'm not too picky." Vanille smiled at her, still showing Serah all of her unusual souvenirs. "But, uh... Do you have any bananas?"

Lightning nodded, before she turned her gaze towards Serah.

"Turkey's fine." Serah smiled softly as well. "But you might just have to fight Fang for it..."

Fang laughed under her breath, rising up from the chair to stretch out her arms. "I'll make sure there's enough for you."

Lightning walked off without another word, quiet as the rain on the windowpanes, just a pair of footsteps in the hall.

"Light." Fang followed after her, careful not to make too much noise. "Are you-"

Yet Lightning simply began to walk inside the kitchen, before she reached out to yank all of the curtains together, drawing them shut, and then slowly, she leaned herself against the countertop, breathing deep.

"Oh, Light-" Fang nodded in understanding. "Sorry about this..." She didn't even flinch when she caught sight of those sharpened teeth, how they simply glistened there in the low light, nor did she wince when Lightning's eyes finally shifted back up to look at her again, a rich, deep hue, like golden honey.

Fang knew it was too difficult just to keep all of those emotions bottled up and contained, to keep herself from channeling them out into the body of a far deadlier being; excitement could trigger a change, as could any form of stress or inner turmoil, anything that she could barely control, even with such an ironclad will.

"Breathe, Light." Fang reached out for the hand that suddenly sported such blunt claws, nails she knew could grow so much sharper than they first appeared. "I'm right here, okay? There isn't any danger."

A lupine voice, rough and barely audible. "...I know."

Fang blinked, and there she was, the fellow lycanthrope she'd been searching for, only Lightning was trying just as hard as she possibly could to fight back against the beast, to turn herself human again within the shelter of her own home.

"Fang." Lightning felt her hand tighten against Fang's fingers, holding them, anchoring herself there, leaning forward to rest her forehead against Fang's soft mane of hair, just beside her shoulder. "You're-"

"I'm sorry." Fang reached up to try and soothe the pain away, the awful ache of a contorted body, of skin that was trying so hard to become such thick white fluff, though its bearer was still attempting to force it all away with each steadily passing moment. "Listen, I would've called to let you know beforehand, but I wasn't sure how to get your number... Didn't think you'd have the same one as before."

Lightning's jaw distended, narrow and smooth, with so many sharp teeth that slid out into longer, sharper points. "Are you... Seriously asking me for that?"

Fang almost laughed, still stroking at the back of Lightning's neck. "Not intentionally, Light... But I'd be happy to get it from you."

Lightning suddenly snarled, a low, softer sound, almost gentle, a gesture with no real bite. "Make me a sandwich and I'll consider it."

And with that, Fang left Lightning right where she was, even while she was still half-changed.

"What kind?" Fang made her way over to a package of bread on the far countertop. "You said you have turkey?"

Lightning shrugged, leaning against the counter. "Doesn't matter."

Fang knew very well that among the numerous things that could bring on a transformation, there were also a few sensations that could initiate the opposite change. A lack of stress, for example, or the feeling of true safety, something that included the act of eating calmly, a chemical reaction that signaled for the body to rest, for the wolf to sleep again.

Lightning released a low sigh. She could feel her claws scraping gently against the wooden counter, and she felt the prickle of white fluff beneath her clothes, the long teeth in her mouth, sharp canines ready to rend and tear apart any threat that might appear. While Fang did indeed represent a threat, it wasn't one of her own will, merely a reminder of the life that they once used to live, of running from place to place upon whatever scraps of food they could scavenge, of living between the safety of abandoned spaces and the barrel of a loaded gun.

Fang rummaged through the kitchen for some sliced turkey, a bit of cheese, and then a jar of mayonnaise, which she swiftly began to make a sandwich out of, along with the slices of bread. "Doing okay?"

Lightning nodded through the pain. "Yeah." She merely waited there, trying to change herself back with her own will, but it was only when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, and then caught sight of the plate on the counter beneath her, only then did she finally start to settle. "Thanks."

"No problem." Fang didn't watch anything but Lightning's eyes, those bright rings of gold, she simply watched as they slowly faded off into a colorless sort of tone, and then eventually, throughout the moments that slipped by like hours, back into their original shade of blue. "Has this been happening often?"

Lightning shook her head, slowly chewing on a bite of her sandwich. "No, not often... Not for months, usually."

Fang almost smiled; she might've made a joke about the full moon if Lightning hadn't just experienced such debilitating pain. "Light, we're here for a reason, you know... Not that I wouldn't just stop by to say hello."

Lightning exhaled, before she set the sandwich back down, feeling how her elongated teeth fully receded, and how her jaw steadily clicked back into place again. "And what reason is that?"

Fang glanced at the windowsill. "Gran Pulse."

Lightning went very still. "What about it?"

"What about it..." Fang slowly leaned to the side, before she looked down at her feet, silently tapping one of her shoes against the kitchen tiles. "We made it out there, that's what this is about."

Lightning didn't say anything for a long while, not until Fang looked back at her. "You made it there."

"Yeah." Fang reached up to push back a bit of her own dark hair, tossing it over her shoulder. "Wide open territory... Nobody there to hunt for us, not if they don't have any clue where we are."

Lightning didn't miss the sudden waft of scent from Fang's neck, an almost deliberate attempt to coax her into remembering such things, into feeling what she'd once felt all those years ago, that very same scent, the same Fang, the same sort of kindling love in her heart, a sensation that had only grown stronger with each and every threat they managed to shake.

"Come with us." Fang spoke it just as quietly as if she was asking for a small favor, to borrow something simple, or to ask Lightning to take just a single little step away from home. "We can be a family again; no more running, no more going hungry... No more bloodshed."

Lightning almost wanted to step backwards, wanted to bare her teeth, yet she just stood there, staring back at Fang. "No more bloodshed? What, you just want to live off of twigs and leaves out there? Come on, Fang-"

Fang suddenly bore her own teeth in response, just slightly, enough to hook one of them over the edge of her lip. "Gazelles don't count... Wild hares, elk and deer, they don't count worth a damn, and you know it." She turned to face Lightning head-on. "They'll always find us in a place like this, Light... There's always a gun in the crowd, someone out there who knows what you are."

Lightning slowly looked away. "We've been safe in this city for years; only the apartment is new."

Fang watched Lightning's expression for a long moment, before she let her own teeth grow blunt again, stepping forward to lean her arm against the countertop. "It is a nice apartment... A little small, not the greatest neighborhood, but-" She shook her head once. "How long did it take you to save up for this?"

Lightning's eyes went very distant. "Like I said... Years."

Fang took a step forward again. "You must've worked hard."

Lightning didn't say anything. She just stared at the thin, dark jacket above the shirt on Fang's torso, some sort of abstract design that was quite hidden by the thick layer of denim.

"You're trying to make something here, aren't you?" Fang's nose almost twitched at the scent of nearby paint. "A safe place for Serah, a home for the both of you... I just hope you won't ever have to lose it."

Lightning felt how Fang reached for both of her hands. "Fang-"

"Listen, we'll hang out around the area if you like." Fang closed her eyes, holding Lightning's wrists in such a gentle grip, just enough to keep her still. "Maybe, even... Maybe we'll find somewhere close to stay until things get rough for all of us." She opened her eyes to see that defiant look again, only it was far softer than before. "Things always get rough, Light; it's all just a matter of time."

"Serah's in school now." Lightning shook her head. "She's studying there, and she's going to graduate in a few years... We can't just cut our losses and leave before we even lose."

"I know." Fang stroked her fingertips over the tops of Lightning's wrists, before she slowly let both of them go again. "You know, she's still just like Vanille to me, almost a little sister... It's good to see her so happy."

Lightning glanced at the half-eaten sandwich on the counter. "She'll be even happier if we actually bring over some lunch."

Fang smiled, before she turned back to face the open package of bread. "Let's not keep them waiting, then..."

Yet as they worked, Lightning almost felt a prickle run down her spine at how natural it was, how Fang simply fit there, melding right into such a new setting with ease, with only a few simple questions of 'where do you stash the peanut butter?', or where certain utensils were stored. She was truly an adapting force, a solid presence, almost as if she'd never left all those years ago, desperate to evade those who pursued them. Fang just kept spreading peanut butter over a slice of bread, outwardly oblivious to the way Lightning looked at her, but within her own mind, her thoughts weren't quite so casual or calm.

Lightning soon stepped away to start making a different sandwich. "Do you want peanut butter or turkey?"

Fang smiled softly. "Turkey's fine."

Lightning reached for the jar of mayonnaise. "We sound like..."

Fang's smile widened. "Yeah."

"It's almost too normal." Lightning began to spread out a small bit of mayonnaise across the bread, before she reached for a slice of turkey. "Just another day, right? Nothing's changed... Not really."

"You seem calmer." Fang started to slice up a banana. "Relaxed, almost."

Lightning nodded. "I check the perimeters almost every day, make sure I don't smell anything dangerous."

"Hard to tell, sometimes." Fang placed each slice of banana atop the layer of peanut butter. "You never know who or what might be out there... You've got Serah for backup, but what if she gets stressed out at school? You can't catch everything, Light."

"She isn't stressed." Lightning stared at the package of bread, trying not to glare at Fang for such blatant pessimism. "I've been keeping tabs on everything."

"Everything..." Fang's mouth twitched into a sad sort of smile, before she slowly began to gaze off into the distance. "No one can see everything."

Lightning narrowed her eyes. "I can try."

"Still the same Light, aren't you?" Fang's smile held just a little more mirth than before. "Wouldn't be you without that spirit... Like you can do anything."

Lightning picked up two of the sandwich plates, before she took a slow step to the side, just barely brushing her shoulder against the back of Fang's jacket. "I seem to remember someone else who had the very same thing."

Fang stared at the open jar of peanut butter. "Things in life... They can really drag you down, Light."

Lightning leaned in to whisper against Fang's ear. "So? Shake them off."

Fang smiled again, but her gaze remained distant, all up until she finally finished the sandwich she had made, carrying off the other two plates into the living room. And there they were, nearly a mirror image of the time that the four of them had traveled together, sharing food and stories like they were all one and the same, words to keep the mind healthy and a meal to keep the stomach full, to hold up their strength within more meager times.

Lightning sat back down on the armchair with her own half-eaten sandwich, hoping that Serah wouldn't notice it, but by the look of those curious eyes and a slightly twitching nose, she'd already taken note of what had happened within the kitchen. But Lightning could hardly be blamed, what with unexpected visitors bearing such odd wounds, like the long scratch that Vanille kept trying to hide beneath the sleeve of her shirt, or the scent of blood on the back of Fang's neck, or even that cut upon her cheek.

There was little to hide from the nose of a lycan, and even less from an old friend, one who knew just how many threats could always be lurking out there in the darkness.