chapter i

003 AF

It's been three years since the fall of Cocoon. And three years since Lightning disappeared from the world. I saw her. I know I did. And I know she's out there somewhere.

I've been living peacefully in the town of New Bochum on Pulse, with Snow and our friends. It's been about three years and Snow and I still haven't been married. He's been away for months, on a quest to find my sister. I haven't heard from him but I know he's alive, fighting and surviving. My "hero" is too stubborn to die.

I open my eyes and sit up in bed after hearing a loud crash outside. What's going on? I look out of the window and see chaos breaking out on the beach. I grab my bowsword and run out of the house to fight. Kids are running across the beach, panicked and trying not to get attacked by the monsters.

A monster heads for a kid hiding behind a huge rock. Instinctly, I shoot it with my bows. But it doesn't slow the monster down. Instead, the monster starts coming for me.

"Run!" I yell and the kid runs away from the beach, as fast as he can.

I walk backwards, trying to think of something as the monster inches toward me. My bows aren't very effective. Should I try to find a gun instead? Should I run? I don't know.

As I stumble over my feet and think that it's over for me, the monster collapses and begins to disappear. Behind the monster is someone I've never seen before. He runs toward me and grabs my hand to pull me to my feet. "Are you okay?"

I nod before he runs off to kill the monster that remains on the beach. In the distance, I see Snow running toward me. I start running toward him. "Snow!" When I reach him, he scoops me off of my feet and spins around, with me in his arms. He smiles at me before he presses his lips against mine.

"Serah . . . ," he says, putting me down.

"Did you find Lightning?" I ask, looking into Snow's eyes. He shakes his head. My heart drops. I want my sister back. I wish that everything was back to normal and to be back on Cocoon again. I'd give anything for it, but Cocoon is crystallized now, held up by Vanille, Fang, and, possibly, Lightning.

"It's okay," Snow says. "I won't stop looking for her." I nod, praying that he'll find my sister one day.

"Hey boss," calls Maqui, jogging over to us.

"So is anyone gonna tell me what the hell happened tonight?" Snow asks.

Yuj walks over, following behind Maqui. "Well there was this meteor and then a whole bunch of monsters sort of showed up. Weird things happened . . . like part of New Bodhum was in the future. Does that make sense?"

Snow raises his eyebrows. "Not really." Noticing the boy who helped me earlier sitting in the sand, he asks, "Who are you?"

The boy stands up. "Noel," he says. "Noel Kreiss." He turns toward me. "Are you . . . Serah?"

I nod. "How do you know my name?"

"I know your sister," he says. "Lightning. I met her."

My eyes widen. "You know my sister?"

Noel nods.

I walk closer to him. "Where is she?"

"Valhalla," he answers.

"Do you know where it is?"

He shakes his head. "I don't," he says, "but I'm sure there's a way. I traveled through time to get here."

"Don't believe it Serah," says Lebreau. "Lightning is dead. She's gone."

I wonder if I should believe Noel. Deep down, I do believe him. For some reason, I feel like I can trust Noel. Why would he make any of it up? How could he possibly know my sister's name . . . or mine? At least part of what he's said has to be the truth.

"You're a liar," shouts Snow, standing in front of me in a protective stance.

No one believes that Noel is telling the truth. Everyone is just standing there, arms crossed, looking at Noel like an insect.

Noel begins to walk away as everyone mutters amongst themselves. He pauses and turns his head to the side. "I have no reason to lie to any of you." Then he goes off into the night.

I lay in bed, waiting for Snow to come in the room. I hear the water from the bathroom shut off and, a moment later, Snow comes out of the bathroom shirtless, in his boxers.

"Hey there, beautiful," whispers Snow, gently kissing my neck. I smile and respond with a kiss on his lips. Then another. And another. "Getting a little frisky, huh?" he asks.

"Because I love you," I say as I kiss him again and straddle him. "It's been so long."

"How long has it been?" he asks. "Remind me."

I run my fingers across his arms. "Seven months." I sigh. "I want a baby, Snow . . ."

"A baby? I don't think we're ready for a baby, Serah."

"Why not? Every time I bring up having a baby, you always brush it off."

"Look, Serah," he said, sitting upright after I get off of his lap. "We can talk about this later, okay?"

"You always say that. It is later, Snow."

"I don't want any kids now, Serah."

I'm annoyed. We've been going through this for the past two years. I know what I want. "So I'm just supposed to stay with you? You don't want what I want. I can't live like this." I look down at my engagement pendant and my eyes begin to water. Slowly, I remove it from around my neck and place it in Snow's hands. Then I turn my back to him.

"Serah . . ." I don't answer. I just want him to leave. "Don't do this. Please. I love you."

"Just leave," I say.

Snow sighs, but doesn't say anything. He just gets up, puts some clothes on, and leaves the bedroom.

I'm ready to start a family. I need something to fill my empty heart. Because Snow doesn't make me feel like how he used to. Maybe it's the distance. Maybe we need to spend more time together. But if I don't get butterflies like I did a few months ago when he came home, how do I know they'll come tomorrow, or the day after that? And so on and so on.

I want love, of course, but I also want a baby. I want both things. But sometimes I wonder if Snow wants to marry me. If he really wanted to, he would've married me already, wouldn't he? Maybe he doesn't love me as much as I thought. Maybe he met someone during his travels. Marriage is about compromise and sacrifice, but Snow doesn't understand. Even though I don't like all of his ideas, I still go along with the ones that aren't too ridiculous., because I love him.

I love Snow. I don't want to lose him. But why should I stay? Snow is set in his ways. He probably decided a long time ago that he didn't want children. If he doesn't want them now, he won't want them later.

I feel betrayed and hurt. He never told me that he didn't want children. I shouldn't have agreed to marry him. Curling up in a ball, I close my eyes.

The next morning, I find Noel sitting on the pier alone. Everyone here, I suppose, is against him.

"Hi Noel," I say shyly.

"Good morning," he says, with a warm smile.

I sit down next to him, my legs hanging off of the pier. "I believe you, Noel."

"Thanks," he says. "I think I can find your sister for you."

"I want to come with you."

He raises his eyebrows. "Won't your friends be upset? Are you sure?"

I shrug. "Maybe . . . but I have to see my sister. She's all I have."

Noel nods. "Okay. I'll be waiting here. Come back when you're ready."

I stand. "I'll be back soon." Then I walk back toward the house. Inside, everyone is sitting at the table. Lebreau is in the kitchen, making something for breakfast. Snow gets up from his chair when he sees me come in. He follows me into the bedroom, closing the door behind him. "Serah . . . I'm sorry. I just . . ."

"It's okay," I say quietly as I gather some things from my drawer. "It doesn't matter anymore. I'm leaving."

His eyes widen. "Where are you going?"

"With Noel," I answer. "We're going to the future."

"The future?" he says. "Are you serious? Don't tell me you believe that guy! It's a bunch of crap, Serah."

"Yes," I say. "I do. I came to say good-bye. I don't know when I'll be back."

I walk out of the room and everyone is crowded at the door, clearly eavesdropping.

There is an awkward silence for a few seconds as we all stare at each other.

"You're leaving?" cries Maqui. I nod. "You can't just leave! We'll miss you too much!"

"I'm sorry guys," I say. "This is important to me."

"Good luck," says Yuj. "I'll take care of little Snow for you, okay?"

I nod. "Thanks, Yuj."

Everyone says their goodbyes and I give Snow a small smile before I go to find Noel. As expected, I find him still sitting on the pier. He hears me coming and stands up. The two of us begin walking to the gate.

"Where are you from, Noel?" I ask.

"I'm from the future," he replies. "The future where I'm from is bleak. Here, Cocoon is still in the sky. Where I'm from . . . Cocoon came crashing down way before I was even born. I was the last human left. Everyone else died, one by one, until it was just me."

I can't help but frown. "I'm . . . sorry to hear that."

Slowly, we approach the gate that will take us to the future. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

I nod. "I want to save my sister . . . and save your future." I take one last look at New Bochum before grabbing onto Noel's arm. Together, we step into the gate, on a journey to save the future.