Chapter 1

"Leave … me …"

Her voice was soft, but hoarse. Her breath hitched each time she inhaled. She winced noticeably. Her rose-coloured hair stuck to her forehead, perspiration and rain drops layering her forehead. In contrast to the cool weather, she was feeling warm. Way too warm. Her weapon lay next to her, bloody and wet from the pouring rain. Her partner had caught her the moment she had started to stagger because of the life-threatening injury, laying her down on the wet grassy plains. Her partner had then played dead, desperate for the beast to take to its heels. On seeing that its enemies had been fallen, the beast escaped into the thick forest around them, leaving them momentarily safe yet open to danger.

To the young woman's inward embarrassment, for lack of concentration and overconfidence, and despite her partner's strained efforts to defend her, she had gotten herself wounded.

The word "wounded" itself was, to her, not in her dictionary. But she had to accept it—the attack could not have been parried either way.

The gaping wound made things very, very complicated. Blood—her blood—was gushing out and there was little time. She struggled to keep her eyes open on her partner's for as long as she could; cobalt blue on emerald green. It was the only thing keeping her from succumbing to her injuries.

The young man was up from the ground, kneeling next to her, a strong arm protectively hovering over her torn stomach, his hand palming the other side of the floor next to her. He gritted his teeth, jaw set in determination and frustration. Her stubbornness was testing his patience limit—not that the limit hadn't been broken already. It had been the fourth time she had whispered those two unexpectedly increasingly annoying words to him. If she hadn't been injured, he would have shook her shoulders until his arms (and heart) couldn't take it anymore. He forced himself not to look at the injury, his free hand silently casting Curaga. The blood flowed to a stop, but the damage had already been done. She would not be able to walk. And she definitely needed rest.

"Not on your life!" he growled, green irises flashing, the scariest look she had ever seen being carved upon his delicate and handsome features. She, for once, felt surprised. "I'm not leaving you. Not then, not now, and not ever. You will have absolutely no say in this! I'm your partner, your friend and your ally, and I am not leaving you out here, tired and helpless. I've been searching for you for ages during the timeline; I'm not gonna give up now, especially since I've found you! And you had better save your breath." His face then softened, reaching up to gently brush soggy bangs out of her eyes. She closed her eyes momentarily to focus on the touch, relaxing slightly, but wincing as the movement caused a slight ripple of pain above her waist.

He really has grown.

She slowly reopened her eyes when his hand stopped moving; he had rested his hand on her burning forehead. "You're having a fever," he muttered. "Great. What else is able to go wrong today?"

The man had light scratches, cuts and bruises, and had hurt his left shoulder, but he was still able to fight decently. And he absolutely wasn't going to give up now.

A low snarl infiltrated the pair's ears.

Hope Estheim cursed under his breath. "That stupid behemoth is back? If I had been a fiery volcano during battle before, I'm now living hell itself! And if those monsters I've killed before had gone to their mental "hospital" before dying a while later, this one is seriously going to the morgue immediately."

Lightning Farron couldn't help but allow her lips to turn up slightly. After knowing him for quite some time, she was convinced that she could officially announce that the man in front of her was definitely 25 year-old Hope Estheim.

Her vision was becoming dark around the edges. She tried not to panic as she focused her slightly blurry vision on Hope.

The snarl was growing louder. Hope frowned, trying to tear his gaze away from Light to detect the behemoth's exact location.

The sound halted.

On that, Hope had managed to fully tear his gaze away from Light's face and looked around, brow furrowing, hand gripping his faithful boomerang. His newly-acquired, sleek silver with gold-coloured outlines, gunblade rested on the side on his right thigh. His mind had been made up. He stood up to his full height and made sure Light was still in his line of vision.

He was going to fight.

A movement made him snap back to focus. The beastly creature had abruptly jumped out in front of him from behind the thicket of trees, growling menancingly. Its fangs dripped with venom, red eyes bloodshot.

It had been watching them.

Hope stationed himself in front of Light as the creature circled. Hope followed, positioned to defend. Her mind wandered as her consciousness faded in and out.

Why are you doing this ...?

"I promised you, remember?" Hope said quietly, and even though she couldn't see it, she could picture the sad smile on his face. Her eyes involuntarily widened. How did he know ...?

"I promised that I would protect you," he continued. "Don't think I'm backing out of that agreement now!" Just as he finished, the behemoth charged.

And Hope met the attack with full determination and adrenaline.

Hi! I'm onto a new fanfiction. Just had a crazy idea for FF13 and couldn't wait to try it out. Will update both fanfics regularly. Don't forget to R & R this first chapter, and let me know (PM) if you have any ideas for improvement. See ya!

Littlebutterflyever9