I know that Tracer of Memories has the "canon" story to what happened during the 500 year gap between XIII-2 and Lightning Returns, but with so much canon and so much headcanon to work with over this long span of time, I couldn't resist. This is the fleshed-out version of what could have happened during that time when our boys are trying to rebuild the world. I will say, though, that the picture in the datalog of Lightning Returns of Noel, Hope, and Snow working together gave me a lot of feels and ultimately pushed me to start this project. So far, the plan is to break this up into THREE separate parts, with a varying number of chapters each. Hopefully, that will be able to deal with the time jumps more effectively, and to be able to give insight into what happened in those 500 years. Here's to a different take than Tracer of Memories, which is what I based most of my information and research off of. It won't be entirely canon-divergent; in fact, this is to fill in gaps that were left in the novel. Happy reading!

Summary: The world was saved, the paradoxes were resolved, and the time gates were closed. Everything should have been fine- until Serah Farron died in the arms of her companion.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Final Fantasy XIII series.

Academia – 500AF

"It's the end of our journey."

The time gate, a purple and white vortex that swirled right beneath the newly-launched Cocoon, christened "Bhunivelze", slowly faded to nothing. The wisps disappeared against the evening sky; Valhalla was sealed away now, and Caius and his paradoxes with it. Noel took a deep breath, in through his nose and out through his mouth. It was over. He and Serah had accomplished their mission- they saved the world. Now, now they would be able to rest, to stay in this time for good with Hope and Sazh to help search for the others.

"Hey. Noel," Serah said next to him.

"Hm?"

The young hunter turned to her, who looked at the ground for a moment before looking back up at him, smiling.

"Thank you."

He was about to reply when suddenly, her eyes weren't focused on him anymore. Panic coursed through him as déjà vu hit him with the force of an airship at full speed, Serah flashing to Yeul and then back again. Her breath began to hitch, as if she was in pain.

"Serah…" Noel started, his panic slipping into his voice. "No, not now, please!" His heart stopped when Etro's crest appeared in her blue eyes, unable to contain himself as he put his hands on her shoulders, shaking her. "Serah, snap out of it! No!"

The crest faded as quickly as it appeared, and then all of a sudden, she was falling, her hand outstretched. Noel grabbed it, pulling Serah to him. He held her against him as her breathing shallowed, as her strength wavered.

"Serah…" He breathed her name like a prayer, a plea. Her knees buckled, legs giving way and pulled Noel down to the surface of the airship with the sudden weight. Pain exploded in his kneecaps, but the brunet couldn't think of anything other than Serah, and oh goddess, no, not now, not at the end of all this. And just as he felt Yeul's breath leave her body when he held her two hundred years in the future, he felt the exact moment Serah was gone.

"SERAH!"

Tears fell from his bright blue eyes as he held his best friend, rocking her gently back and forth. They saved the future. They saved the world. They had been through so much; they were supposed to stay in this time and help Hope rebuild the world, to reunite with Lightning. Noel was supposed to watch Serah and that blockhead Snow get married- she had even asked him to be one of her bridesmaids during one of their stops in Serendipity- and teach her kids as Meanie Miss Farron. He was supposed to take their kids out and spoil them rotten as their Uncle Noel; he was supposed to find a way to save Yeul with Serah…and now, the time gates were closed. He couldn't bring them back, either of them, no matter how much he wanted to. He had promised Snow and Lightning to watch over Serah, to protect her, and goddess how was he supposed to tell either of them that she was dead?

Running footsteps interrupted his moment of mourning, and hearing his name spoken causing his tears to still, his throat clamp up.

"Noel?"

The hunter couldn't bring himself to look back at his friend, only able to shake his head, but Hope's voice broke when he caught sight of Serah's body.

"But why? You were safe…everything was fine!"

Noel took a second to compose himself, to gather his words.

"The future changed. It changed." He could almost laugh at the irony of the situation, laugh through his pain. Hope squeezed his eyes shut, looking away from the heartbreaking scene. Ever since he and Snow came to the conclusion Lightning had disappeared, Hope had wanted to take up his mantle to defend for their family in any way he could, the former l'Cie and those who have joined their ranks since then, like Noel and Mog. Now, one of them was dead.

"Tell me, Hope. Why did you join the Academy?" Serah had asked him, all those centuries ago when they had reunited in the Yaschas Massif nearly ten years after everyone had disappeared. Those ten years, all that studying and research, all the late nights and hard work for him to become Director of the Academy, he had done it with them in mind, hoping to be able to give everyone a home when they returned.

"A sense of duty," he told her.

I'm sorry, Serah. I'm sorry, Light. I'm sorry, Snow.

"If you change the future, you change the past," Noel continued speaking. "The effects ripple outwards, up and down the timeline. The seeress is forced to see it all."

"You mean Serah…she saw this vision?" Hope asked, his stomach dropping with the implication of his words.

"Yes." The hunter's voice broke with that single word. "And it killed her. Serah…" he looked down at the girl in his arms, gently putting a hand on her cheek. "She knew the risk. If we altered the future, she knew what would happen. That her life could be in danger." He brushed her pink bangs back from her face. "But she still chose to save it. I wanted to protect her."

Noel looked at her then, understanding fully now that Serah must have seen this moment, must have known she was going to die. And just like Yeul, unable…in Serah's case, would not prevent it from happening. Not if it meant saving the world. Her bravery and sacrifice buried themselves somewhere inside Noel's ribcage, burrowing deep into his chest, stabbing at him as he held her close. "I thought I had," he whispered. "I thought she was safe."

A change in the wind caused his blue eyes to snap open, looking at the dark clouds that were all at once covering the clear evening sky.

"Kupo…?" Mog whispered, fear laced in his voice. Noel carefully put Serah down on the deck as he and Hope swiveled to see the lights on the new Bhunivelze, the darkness unsettling both of them. All of a sudden, the moogle fell, bouncing on the deck once before Hope crashed to one knee and caught the furry creature.

"The goddess…" he started, shivering in the scientist's arms. "She is gone, kupo," Mog managed to say before he became limp, the light leaving the jewel on top of his head. Hope and Noel looked at each other, the weight of the situation setting in when Noel suddenly remembered Caius' words to him so, so long ago.

"The Heart of Chaos beats in my chest, a manifestation of Etro. Should this heart stop beating, the goddess will die once again."

"I…killed the goddess?" he asked himself, looking down at his hands in horror. His breath quickened, and he couldn't breathe as a loud bell tolled, the black winds whipping against him and rocking the ship unsteadily. Hope cradled Mog against his chest, bracing himself. Sazh, with all of his years of experience, did his best in keeping the ship in the air when he saw the winds cover the new planet. When all three men looked up, Etro's crest loomed in the sky, blackness spilling forth- Etro's Gate.

When the goddess dies, the Chaos of Valhalla is unleashed. The Chaos has the power to warp the timeline and destroy the past.

Bright lights shot from the gate, rushing all over the surface of Gran Pulse and Bhunivelze, the winds and black mist rising from everything it touched. The winds continued to knock against the ship, and both Hope and Noel fell onto the deck. It seemed that it would never end, the blackness all around them, when all of a sudden, it was quiet.

Hope opened one eye carefully before opening the other, lifting his body to look around.

The brunet had thrown himself over Serah when the winds started, and was standing up on shaky legs to look in the opposite direction as him. Sazh's voice came over the speakers, his words knocking a wrecking ball into Hope's gut.

"Fellas…you're gonna want to take a look at this."

Gone was the busy, bustling city of Academia. Instead, they were flying above an enormous field with mountains flanking all around where the trees and green grass grew abundantly, contradictory to the darkness that had given birth to them. There were ruins of what looked like the Academy headquarters strewn about, piles of rubble laying in rest amidst the darkened grass in the evening. As Hope looked to the distance, he noticed a strange ruin in the north, an old stone temple with curved spires that reached toward the sky.

"That's…that's Etro's temple," Noel said, walking up next to him. The silveret gently put the weakened moogle next to Serah's body before joining his friend at the side of the airship.

"How did all of this happen?" he asked himself, wracking his brain for answers. The scientist and leader in him needed answers; the people who were on Bhunivelze were depending on him.

"You saw Etro's Gate open," The hunter started slowly. "And the Chaos flooded out. The goddess- she was using her powers to keep the Chaos contained in Valhalla."

"The Chaos?" Hope tore his eyes away from the temple to look at his companion. "That's what that black stuff was?"

Noel nodded. "Caius, he told me. The Chaos could warp the timelines and destroy the past. But I don't…I don't think the past changed."

"It just completely terraformed the earth," Hope finished his train of thought dryly. "So when the Chaos came, that must mean that it brought Valhalla with it, and it merged with Gran Pulse."

The brunet frowned. "We're not going to get answers this way," he said, thinking quickly. "I think that if we go to the temple, we may be able to see if Valhalla had anything that made the cross here that can give us the answers we need."

"I'll need to go to the Academy headquarters on Bhunivelze," Hope replied. "I need to make sure everything and everyone is okay before we head out."

A moment passed as Noel looked back at the deck of the airship where Serah lay, lifeless and still. Fresh tears pricked at his eyes, another burst of pain exploding in his chest.

"Yes," he finally said. "Let's get you back to the Academy. We should wait- for Snow. Before we do anything, he needs to know what happened to Serah."

The silveret nodded. "I can track Snow down and send him a message from there." He then turned toward the interior of the ship.

"Sazh? Shall we?"