Author's Note: I'm sorry I took forever to get this up, but I didn't have my laptop for a few weeks because I had to get a new keyboard and I apologize for the agonizingly long wait. But I'm back and I hope you like the story.

Noel and I managed to get back to Cocoon. I had no idea what year it was, but we were in Bodhum. It looked the same... Just as I remembered it.

I knew that Noel and I had traveled through time to get away from our problems. The thing was, that I had no idea what the problems were. I felt a pang of sadness when I thought about it, even though I couldn't remember. I remembered two girls... They were babies, but I didn't remember them either. I just knew that I loved them both.

How would I live with incomplete memories? It was frustrating not to be able to remember. I looked over at Noel, just to find him looking as confused as I was. I placed my hand on his shoulder. "Are you having trouble with your memories too?"

"Yeah. It's like they're... out of my reach," he said, balling his fists in frustraton.

"We'll figure it out," I said, not sure if I actually believed it. The cool evening breeze whipped across my skin, sending shivers up my spine. Noel wrapped his arms around me from behind. It felt good to have his warm body so close to mine. "Let's go to my house. Lightning will be there."

"Right," Noel said with a nod. I took his arm and pulled him toward my hometown of Bodhum.

"And remember... Nobody here knows you, so act natural," I reminded him.

"Don't worry," Noel said.

Soon enough, we were in front of my house. I knocked on the door and Lightning opened it a few seconds later. "Serah," she said, wrapping me in a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you."

"What did I do?" I asked curiously.

"You graduated... Remember?"

"Oh yeah... Right."

"You've been out all day with your friends," Lightning said. She smiled as her eyes wandered to where Noel was standing. "Is this one of your friends?"

I smiled and said, "Yeah. This is Noel. Noel, this is my sister, Lightning."

"Nice to meet you," Noel said, smiling. I'd told him ahead of time that Lightning wasn't really into all of that physical contact. She returned his smile and stepped aside to let us inside.

I took Noel to my room. There were two beds... One used to be Lightning's, when we were little of course. Since our parents died, she took their old room. Noel picked up a picture on my dresser. "Are these your parents?"

"Yeah. They died in a train crash," I said sadly. I wondered what our lives would've been like if they hadn't died.

"I'm sorry," Noel said. "I guess that's one thing we have in common..." He smiled, but I could tell that he was thinking of Yeul and his life back in the Dying World. He looked up at me. "Are you and Snow still together in this time?"

"Yeah," I said, looking down at the floor. "I should break up with him... I can do it now. He lives a few houses away."

Noel nodded. "There's no rush. Take your time."

"No," I said. "I want to do this."


I found myself at Snow's house about a half hour later. He lived with Maqui, Yuj, Gadot, and Lebreau. I greeted Lebreau, who was making dinner in the kitchen. She, Maqui, and Yuj bombarded me with congratulations and hugs on my graduation of high school.

I found Snow in his room, with a bunch of papers sprawled out across his bed. He smiled his million dollar smile when he saw me. "There's my little graduate," he said and hugged me. "Congrats."

"Thank you," I said. I looked down at the floor, putting my hands behind my back. "I was hoping that we could talk."

"Anything. What is it?"

"I think that we should break up..."

"What? Why? I thought..." he said. He looked at me in disbelief. Then his eyes flashed anger. "I was going to propose to you, Serah!" He went into his nightstand, pulling out a necklace... An engagement one. I felt bad, but it had to be done.

"There's someone else."

"So you cheated?" He narrowed his eyebrows.

"No! I just want to end this now before anyone gets hurt."

"Fine, Serah. I hope you're happy," he said, turning his back to me. I took that as my cue to go and left his room and left his house. He didn't come running after me like he normally would. I supposed he accepted the fact that we'd broken up.

As I walked, I realized that I felt bad... Worse than I should. I mean, now I could be with Noel. I wanted him, and him only. I picked up some sandwiches from the store and went home. I left one on the counter for Lightning since she was in the shower.

I found Noel fast asleep on my bed. I smiled and sat down next to him. I watched his chest rise and fall with each breath. I laid down next to him, stroking his brown hair. His eyes fluttered open at my touch. "Hey, beautiful," he said. I broke into a huge grin.

"It's over between me and Snow," I said.

"Good," he said, brushing a soft kiss against my lips. "Now you're all mine. Can I have you?"

"Of course. You're all I ever wanted." I brushed my hand across his cheek. He took my hand in his, his warmth leaving me breathless.

"So what are we going to do? Now that we're on Cocoon..."

"I don't know. What do you want to do? We can do anything. I don't care, as long as we're together."

"We should probably get jobs first, high school graduate..."

"Actually, I kind of wanted to go to the University of Eden."

"Then go... We can go together."

"The only thing is... Snow goes there."

"He'll get on with his life eventually... So should we," Noel said. He kissed my hand. Soon after, his eyes closed and she was asleep again. I kissed his lips softly and put my head on his chest, not bothering to change into some pajamas. He wrapped his arms around me and, together, we drifted off into sleep.


I woke up early the next morning and got out of bed, careful not to wake Noel, who was snoring softly. Noel was so sweet. He didn't have to do anything to make me smile. Just being with him made me happy enough.

I went into the kitchen, where Lightning was drinking a glass of water. She gave me a faint smile when I walked in the room. "Morning," I said, getting a glass from the cabinet.

"Morning," she replied. Then she raised her eyebrows. "So is this Noel guy your boyfriend or something?"

"Well I broke up with Snow," I said, not sure of how she'd respond.

Her smile was enough to light up the whole room. She put down her glass and said, "It's about time..."

"And me and Noel are together now."

"Good... I have a good feeling about him. He'll treat you well. I know he will. Besides, if you and Snow were to get married..." she said. I twitched at the mention of marriage. "He'd probably be too busy trying to be the hero to pay you any attention."

Lightning had a point. Snow was always trying to be the hero and he was always abandoning the people he cared about in order to do so. Our marriage would probably be a disaster. It'd always be filled with arguments. We always argued a lot, but we always ended up getting back together.

I knew that Noel wouldn't do that to me. If there was anyone that Noel cared about, he stayed right by their side until the end. He did that with Yeul. He loved her so much and he was devastated when she died. And then he met me... And his devastation dissipated. Then he fell for me, just like I was falling for him.

"You're right," I said, then changed the subject. "I think I'm going to register for classes at the University of Eden this morning. Me and Noel are going to go together."

"Sounds great, but I have to get going. Training starts in an hour and I have to get to get on the next bus to Palumpolum."

"Sure. I'll see you later." Then I was left in the kitchen alone.


So how'd you like the chapter? I know it kind of sucked, but I have absolutely NO idea where I'm going with this. What would you like to happen? Any suggestions? Feel free to review or message me. I'm all ears :)