A/N: This story takes place after the fall of Cocoon, however since I don't know much about what FFXIII-2 is going to be like, I am not really going to include too much on Lightening. This is a yaoi / shounen-ai story, so if you don't like that sort of thing it's best not to read it ^^;

Pairings: Cid Raines x Yaag Rosch ; Yuj x Maqui

Under the Same Sky

It was a clear day on Gran Pulse and the weather was just starting to become cool and the evenings crisp and chilly. Yuj smiled as he stirred a huge batch of fragrant curry for the large number of orders coming into Lebreau's new restaurant, The NORA Cafe. She had created the restaurant shortly after the fall of Cocoon to create a place where soldiers and citizens alike could find respite as they created a new home. Lebreau wanted to make sure that there would always be a place where people could find good food and a place to relax, plus Team NORA could always use extra funding.

Yuj had been helping Lebreau for years as her waiter, but since her business was increasing from the sheer number of survivors of the fall, he became her back up chef. Yuj grinned as their new part time worker entered the restaurant.

"Mmm that smells great!," Hope exclaimed as he put down his backpack in the back room of the restaurant. "I'm surprised that you didn't burn it yet," he grinned as he put on an apron. "Hey! Don't mention that past mishap otherwise Lebreau will kill me for wasting food," Yuj grinned, " I just . . .get distracted sometimes you know?"

Hope smiled back at his friend, "Just be glad that she is still gathering ingredients, so if you burn another batch you have time to make a new one." Yuj pretended to be offended, but in reality, he really enjoyed spending time with the new waiter. It had been a few months since the fall of Cocoon and any sense of normalcy was good in Yuj's book. He still enjoyed adventures and going out hunting monsters, but since their new life began on Gran Pulse, it was good having some consistency in his life.

Hope smiled as he watched Yuj cook. He knew the blue haired boy would much rather be outside and having fun with his close friend Maqui, but instead he did the responsible thing and helped out Lebreau. Hope sighed contently to himself, ever since he found out his father was alive from the cavalry soldier, he had a new perspective on life. His goal is to make sure to enjoy the people around him while he had them because life could fade away in an instant. He decided to get a part time job at Lebreau's restaurant to help his father with income, and also because he felt that he needed to do something to help the community after all that happened.

Hope began to wipe down the tables and prepare the restaurant for the evening crowd and thought about his new life. Ever since he awoke from being a crystal and no longer a l'cie, he has been living a fairly normal life. Serah opened a temporary school in the area for children and teens alike to learn and Snow also helped in teaching kids survival techniques. Hope volunteered at the school, helping the younger kids while Serah privately tutored him after school to teach him what he missed out on when schools were still around. Hope loved learning new things and was thankful that he had a mentored that loved to teach.

Yuj noticed how thoughtful Hope looked as he was wiping down the tables and smiled. He reminisced about his life on Bodhum and how boring he thought it was, save for festivals. He stirred in some fresh coconut milk into his curry mixture and put it on a very low simmer to have it ready for when the customers arrived. Lebreau entered her restaurant and smiled, she was very surprised that the two boys seemed to not burn the place down, and actually managed to get everything ready for opening.

"Wow you guys did a great job! Okay Yuj, why don't you take the rest of the night off since you've been here the whole day; Hope and I can manage the place for now. Besides Gadot said he'd help me in the kitchen later," Lebreau smiled. "Oh and you don't think I know that he's just going to try to grope you while you are the one doing all of the cooking," Yuj replied with a huge grin. "You perv," Lebreau retorted, although she knew that Yuj was right. She would have to somehow get Gadot to actually work instead of play in the kitchen.

Hope blushed as he overheard their conversation, he knew that Gadot and Lebreau had been dating since the new restaurant opened, but he was not used to such open displays of affection. His parents had caring moments with each other, but his father had always been so distant that he never really thought about what couples acted like when together. Even Serah and Snow weren't so public about their affections for each other, although Hope believed it was because Serah worked with children and didn't want to scar them for life with Snow's banter.

"Alrighty, so I'm off," Yuj grinned as he cleaned up and took off his apron. He was thankful that the curry sauce didn't splatter much onto his apron, he hated getting his clothes dirty, and oddly enough he also hated getting his apron dirty even though that was the purpose of him wearing it. Yuj put a huge serving of curry into a to-go container and put it into a satchel. Hope and Lebreau said their goodbyes as Yuj waved on his way out. Yuj shivered from the temperature difference between the warm inside of the restaurant from all the food bubbling to the crisp Gran Pulse air. He loved that the air was refreshing and smelled very clean, but on a cool day like this he wished he had a big cup of hot chocolate to carry around to keep his fingers warm. He headed to the side of the "town" which was more like a huge camp that was still in the process of being built, to see Maqui. Maqui was always tinkering with new machines and trying to build various vehicles and devices to help with their new lives on Gran Pulse.

Maqui smiled warmly as he saw his friend coming toward him, "hi! Yuj, I finally made my final adjustments on that velocycle you wanted to fly." Yuj grinned broadly, "all right! Wow I knew you were an amazing engineer but this is a job that even the best technicians would be envious of." Maqui blushed at his friend, "awww come on now, you are just trying to make me get embarrassed. Anyway, go give it a try, I still have to finish a bunch of other things so I'll catch up with you later." Yuj loved how his friend was always so positive, cheerful, and a good sport. He ruffled Maqui's hair, "okay Mr. Chocobo hair, I'll see you later, maybe I'll even cook for ya." Maqui glared at the taller boy, "Hey! I don't look like a chocobo!" "Hmph. . .but I will take you up on dinner! So you gotta show up after I'm done with work here," he grinned. Yuj smiled and nodded as he hopped on his new velocycle and drove off.

Yuj sighed as he drove away, he knew that he shouldn't be lying to his friends, but he just didn't feel comfortable telling them about certain things. He drove to a clearing quite a ways from the town and landed. He rolled the vehicle it by a tree and headed over to a small tent. The tent was very basic and it had a fire lit in front of it. Yuj smiled briefly and said, "hey! Anybody home?"

A man hmph'd from inside the tent, pushed the entrance open, and emerged. The man had silvery blue hair shimmering lightly in the moonlight and his lavender eyes glowing from the fire. "I see you came to visit me today, for what reason do I have the honor?," Yaag Rosch asked the teal haired man. Yuj smiled and gave him the huge container of curry. Rosch quirked an eyebrow, but accepted the gift. He hadn't had a decently cooked meal for as long as he could remember and when he lifted the lid he felt his stomach rumble. "Thank you. . .would you care to join me?," Rosch asked hesitantly. Yuj sat next to the fire, "sure, for a bit anyway. I am going to try to meet up with a friend of mine later, but I'd love to spend some time with you."

He was very thankful to Yuj for all that he had done for him since the incident in Eden's hall. After Rosch had been injured by Lightening's group in his Proudclad, he had called off his troops and placed his beliefs in the l'cie. He accepted his demise as he saw two humbaba appear and pressed his ship's self-destruct button, waiting for the 10 second delay for it to explode, when Yuj had swooped down on his hovercraft and saved Rosch's life. Rosch was at first surprised and then angered by the blue-haired man because he was supposed to be saving civilians, not the military. Yuj only smiled at him and said he would save anyone that he could, civilian or not. Rosch then lost consciousness until after the fall of Cocoon.

After Cocoon fell, Rosch was still severely injured and stayed in a small tent that was away from the feral monsters of the vast land, and Yuj visited him when he could. Rosch did not want Yuj telling others of his survival until he was fully healed so he could help with the remaining PSICOM soldiers and help create a safe society. Rosch had never made many friends; being a man of the military he really had no need. His goal was to create tactics that would bring safety to Cocoon and his soldiers were just that, soldiers—not his friends. He never was close to anyone, so when Yuj tried to befriend him, at first he was hesitant and didn't quite know how to react.

Yuj served up the warmly spiced curry, "this fire is so nice and warm, geez it's been so cold lately! I made a new outfit with fabrics that I salvaged from Eden and local materials, but I can't even wear it since it's freezing!" Yuj chuckled and went on talking about fashion and acted as though Rosch had been his friend for years. Rosch listened while savoring the delicious curry, enjoying the balanced spices and tender meat and vegetables. He enjoyed listening to Yuj even though he knew nothing at all about fashion, all he knew about were uniforms. "I never knew that contrasting colors were so. . .important," Rosch commented. Yuj smiled, "haha I can talk forever about why contrasting colors is great for complimenting a person's shape and how it's great for expressing your own personal style. I guess even with all that happened, I can't give up my passion of fashion."

Rosch sipped at his water, "well. . .without passion, there is no meaning to existence." Yuj looked back at his new friend, "so does that mean you have a passion?" Rosch looked at his cup, "of course; the safety of the citizens." Yuj sighed, "yeah I am not disagreeing, I mean I'm passionate about Team NORA and keeping people safe too! But. . .I mean what about personal passions, like things that excite you beyond your job?" Rosch stared at Yuj blankly, "that. . .it's my only passion, I've never focused on anything else. The military is my life. As soon as I regain enough strength, I plan to get right back into my work." Rosch was hesitant to answer, he never really opened up to anyone before, and even though it wasn't much information he revealed, it was a lot more than he ever had.

Yuj finished his serving and put his hand on Rosch's shoulder, "well. . .think of the move to Gran Pulse as a new chance on life. You know, you might find something to be passionate about. And hey! Maybe you'll find a sexy girlfriend or boyfriend and then you'll definitely have some other passions, haha and getting laid wouldn't be a bad thing either." Rosch looked at Yuj blankly, he had never been in a serious relationship since work came first, and he couldn't even remember the last time he had felt the warmth of another. Yuj chuckled, "I guess that's not something you want to talk about, eh? Well I better head back. . .I need to thank Maqui for making me my own velocycle. Plus. . .," he blushed, "I think he's just plain adorable and I'm seriously hoping he'll catch on to my flirting one of these days."

Rosch cleaned the container that Yuj brought and returned it to him. He smirked, "well then, let's hope that your flirting is as good as your cooking. If that's the case I'm sure that he'll eventually look your way." Yuj smiled slightly surprised that Rosch would give him such a compliment, "thank you. I really appreciate it." Yuj smiled genuinely at Rosch and got up to leave, "Alright, I'll see you sometime soon! I hope you feel better, I'll bring you a new batch of potions when I can."

Rosch walked Yuj to his velocycle and said, "I am thankful that you are willing to sacrifice your time for my well-being." Yuj nudged Rosch playfully, "the next time you say that spending time with you and helping you out is a sacrifice, I'm gonna take that sword of yours and knock you on the head with it!" Rosch blinked a few times surprised since no one ever talked to him so casually and nodded with a smile on his face. Yuj grinned and waved casually as he headed back to spend the evening with Maqui, and hopefully convince him to go out on a date with him.

After Yuj left, Rosch warmed himself by the fire and re-wrapped his wounds. While he was much better from taking time to heal, the broken bones in his body were still mending and he had difficulty moving. He relaxed looking at the starry night sky. The evening was so clear that he could see millions of stars glistening and then it was the first time in his life that he felt so small and so alone.

TBC