Final Moments

A/N: I LOVE Final Fantasy 13, and couldn't resist writing a story pairing these two together, although it pains me to write a tragedy like this, but I'm a tragedy freak.

Disclaimer: All rights belong to Square Enix.

Their time is almost up. The l'cie were slowly withering away. They had been chosen to destroy Cocoon, their home. They decided to ignore fate and try to save Cocoon instead. The l'cie had crashed on the surface of Gran Pulse, and hoped to make it to Oerba, where Vanille and Fang believed they could get help. The harsh wilderness of Gran Pulse proved to be too overwhelming, and the l'cie quickly got lost in the vast expanse of land. Everyone quickly fell into despair, until finally the l'cie began to transform into the hideous Cie'th. It all began with Sazh, his cheerful aura and optimistic attitude had died off, and all that remained was a man out of hope. He thought of his son and his wife, he knew he would never see them again, he shed a tear as his transformation began. The now Cie'th Sazh tried to attack the group, and landed a good number of hits on Fang and Snow before finally being put down by Lightning.

Vanille was next, she couldn't bear the guilt she felt any longer. It was her fault that this whole mess happened in the first place. Sazhs death was her fault and it ate away at her. She collapsed during a continued search for Oerba. She wept and showed sadness in her final moments, as she cried out in pain during her transformation. Lightning had tried to cut her down, but was met with resistance by Fang, who was hellbent on protecting her. Snow and Hope held her back as Lightning found an opening to put Vanille out of her misery. Fang wept by Vanille's body grieving her death, she had broken her promise to protect her, and now her life had no meaning. She stabbed herself with her spear shortly after, her last thoughts being of Vanille.

Snow's time had run out a few days after. Snow had remained the most optimistic of the group, he never gave up hope, but the guilt and fear he felt inside sealed his fate. He had promised to save Cocoon, and rescue Serah so that they could live as a happy family, but that all seemed like a silly dream now. Snow gripped the crystal tear close to him as he threw himself off a cliff, hoping to save Lightning and Hope from having to put him down.

Now all that remained was Hope and Lightning. They knew their time was almost up, but continued the search for Oerba. Lightning did her best to keep Hopes mind off of his fallen friends, but she knew she was failing. Hope hadn't said much of anything to Lightning since Snow died, and Lightning couldn't stand it. She stopped and turned around towards the silver haired boy.

"Hey, let's take a break, okay?"

"Y-Yeah, okay..."

Hope sat down behind a rock that provided some shade. They had wandered into a vast expanse of crystal sands, food was harder to obtain, but Lightning hoped they could make it to Oerba. The crystal sands was a sign they were heading in the right direction, Lightning was relieved that she had managed to make it, but the task of getting to Oerba still remained.

"Light?"

"Yes? Is something wrong?"

"Are we going to die?"

"Of course not! I won't let that happen. I promised to keep you safe, remember?"

"Don't lie to me! I know we don't have much time left, there's nothing we can do..."

Lightning tensed up at his words, he wasn't wrong and she knew it. It pained her to see him sad like this, Hope had been her partner for a while now, and they had formed a close bond to each other, but Lightning had started to question how she truly felt about him. Throughout their journey, Hope had been able to do what no one else could, and that was getting her to open up and smile. Her sister had managed to make her smile a few times when she was around, but Hope was different. She felt comfortable around him, like she could confide in him and trust him with anything. As they progressed in their journey, she had started glancing at him more, her thoughts moved from mentor to stalker. She knew it was wrong, but she knew she was developing feelings for Hope.

Lightning shook her head and looked up at Hope, his eyes were threatening to tear up as he tried to keep himself calm.

"Hope, look at me."

Hope looked up at the woman before him as she got closer to him, he felt safe around her, and had enjoyed her company throughout their journey. He started following her hoping to learn how to fight, so he could exact revenge on Snow for his mothers death. He had looked up to her, but also questioned how he felt. He was young, and wasn't too sure of how he felt. He knew he wanted to be close to her, and help her if she needed it, and if he could do that, he'd be happy.

"What is it?"

Hope's cheeks turned red when he realized how close she really was. He could see into her blue eyes, these eyes were capable of sending shivers down anyone who she decided to curse with her glance.

Lightning moved herself closer towards Hope and closed her eyes, she moved her face closer and closer towards his. She knew this was wrong, but she knew their time would soon be up, and no one would be around to stop her. Her lips met his as she passionately kissed him. She moved closer towards him and had him pushed up against the wall as she continued the kiss.

Hope sat in complete shock at what Lightning was doing. She was kissing him, and he enjoyed it, his cheeks burned a bright shade of red as he sat there motionless. Lightning continued her kiss and leaned against him, causing his back to press up against the rock that he was using for shade. After a few seconds, Hope had regained his senses and tried his best to return the kiss, he never had any experience with girls or romance, and wasn't sure what to do. After a minute or two, Lightning pulled back and stared into his emerald eyes.

"I will keep you safe, okay? We will make it through this."

"L-Light..."

Hope started to tear up as he embraced her, quietly sobbing into her shoulder.

"I-I'm scared Lightning, I don't wanna die!"

"I'm scared too, Hope. Let's try to stay strong for each other, okay?"

"Y-Y-Yes, I will."

Hope pulled away from Lightning and sat against the rock behind him. Lightning sat next to him and began caressing his cheek as she continued to stare at him. It was getting late and Lightning could tell he was tried, she looked at him as he showed signs of being tired. Lightning guided his head into her lap, and caressed his silver hair. It was smooth, despite the rough living conditions they found themselves in.

"Get some rest Hope, we'll keep moving tomorrow."

Hope nodded his head and closed his eyes, the feeling of Lightnings hand against his face and hair was a soothing feeling, and he quickly found himself drifting off to sleep.

"Hope... I-I love you..."

"I love you too, Light."

The l'cie had endured a lot during their travels, and many of them met a tragic fate, but despite this, Hope and Lightning were able to feel truly happy for once, even if it wouldn't last long.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed it, I'm debating on whether or not to add a few more chapters. If I do, it would be a maximum of 2-3 chapters total. Let me know what you all think.