Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any of the characters, due to the fact that I have no knowledge of drawing or creating video games whatsoever.

The beginning is a tad slow, but it picks up, I pinky swear!

Once again, they were in an era in which had no defined period, lost in the sea of time and space. This land was nothing but rock and dirt. Life seemed sparse as they only came across the occasional small plant, and the sun was hidden by a constant overhang of dark foreboding clouds. It was a wasteland, a place where no one would want to be living. But this is why Noel thought it was perfect: A place where no one wanted to be was an excellent place to go into hiding.

For days they had been walking on foot from the gate, certain that this is the place in which they could solve the final paradox to Cocoon's fall. This is where Ciaus has been residing in between his jumps of time, he was sure of it.

This was where they could repair everything.

But for days they had found nothing, their hope starting to diminish. Noel had already said they were probably somewhere close to his own time, the land somewhat similar to his own home. Serah thought it was nice to know that he knew the land well, but was frightened that they had gone too far in time where humanity had already been lost. There was a possibility that nothing was left, and they were chasing nothing in this desert.

They walked closely side by side, their arms brushing every once in a while. They hunched forward against a strong, icy wind which had been whipping at their skin for far too long, their fingers bluish and crippled with a numbing sensation. What was worse, was their food was slowly diminishing as they tried to keep their body heat up, and they had hardly anything left to drink.

This of course made their priority finding a town or some kind of shelter before they died of the cold or dehydration, whichever one would get to them first.

Noel took a small sip of water from their canteen. There was only a few sips left. He turned to look at Serah, pink hair flying in knots around her wind chapped face, her lips cracked from having to ration water.

Noel extended the bottle to her. "Finish it. You need it."

She looked up at him, her small frame shivering and frail. It was proving very difficult to take care of her in a situation like this. But he knew that this was the place they needed to be. This is where the final paradox was. Where Ciaus has been controlling everything behind the scenes. He knew this was it.

Serah weakly shook her head against the wind, her pale blue eyes peeking through her light pink hair. "Save it. Who knows when the next time we'll be able to refill it."

"Serah, you haven't had a drink in almost a whole day, your body won't be able to keep going for long if you become dehydrated." He worried for her, knowing her selflessness would keep her from taking anything that could be given away to someone else. It would be her greatest downfall if she wasn't careful.

He reached for her hand and pressed the canteen into it, having to concentrate hard to get his hands to help close her fingers around it. "Drink."

She looked at him in worry, then started to take a small sip. Her body jumped into survival mode, tipping it back as she then realized how thirsty she had become. She sputtered and coughed as she finished the bottle.

"Damn it. I hadn't realized how parched I was… Now it's gone." Her eyes started to become red, but were unable to create tears. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. You needed it." Noel took the empty canteen from her and returned it to his bag, looking at the last of their provisions. One apple. Fear started to creep under his skin. He had lead them into a death trap. But they had already walked too far to turn back for the gate, they would never make it there before their bodies would give out. They just had to keep moving forward.

"I feel as though we have been walking for years. Surely it has only been days." He had to shout slightly in order for Serah to hear him over the wind, which seemed to have picked up in speed slightly. A weak shiver shook through Serah's body as he looked over at her, and he moved a little closer in hopes to provide her with some kind of body heat. Their arms touched slightly, and even in his diminished state he still felt the smallest spark of contact, his awareness of her heightened. He was glad of the wind then, his blush hidden by his already red face.

"Well, I feel as though the sun doesn't exist here, so it's hard to tell how much time has really gone by." Serah looked up at the sky just as an icy drop of water patted against the side of her cheek. She stopped, raising a hand to wipe the droplet, the look on her face of shock and relief. Water. Finally something to drink.

Noel quickly started to look around at the ground. A few more droplets had fallen nearby on rocks, confirming that they weren't delusional. Quickly he opened his bag, pulling out the canteen and a funnel he had brought with him by chance. Even a few drops in this desert was better than nothing.

Then suddenly the sky grew darker, and the sky started to cry, the dirt around them turning dark with rain. Serah laughed with joy, her eyes closed and her arms open wide. The rain was surprisingly warm as it first hit their skin, sticking their hair to their faces. Her pink hair stuck to her red face, her lips finally returning to normal as she let the rain fall down on them. Noel stood there in awe at her magnificence, still holding out the canteen. He didn't know how she could be happy in this moment, lost in such a depleted land with a selfish guy and no food, but she was. It was beautiful.

Suddenly the canteen was overflowing, and he quickly removed the funnel and screwed the cap back on. He quickly pulled out the other canteen and held that one out to get refilled too. Serah stood with her mouth open, swallowing the rain has it filled her mouth. She laughed in joy between mouth fulls, overjoyed.

When finally both canteens were filled, he turned back to Serah. "We should keep moving, I don't want to waist any time."

"Definitely, let's go."

Not more than a couple of minutes had passed since they had started walking again, and in the short period of time the rain had turned from a blessing to a curse. With the first falls of rain they had forgotten about the wind, but now as their elation had passed the wind whipped at their clothes, this time seeping the cold inside their wet clothes and straight to their core. They were both shaking uncontrollably, and Noel was half supporting, half dragging Serah, who was ready to fall at any coming minute.

"We have to find shelter Serah, we have to. I won't last much longer." Noel spoke through chattering teeth, making his speech broken and shaky.

She gave a small nod, but couldn't seem to form words. Oh god, what have I done? What have I done to her? If she dies, I won't be able to go on in this place alone. I won't be able to live with myself.

He pulled her tighter to him, their bodies so close he could feel her shake deep in her core. He faced forward and squinted, looking for anything, a rock or an overhand to huddle under. Anything.

She forced her legs to move one in front of the other, not wanting to make herself a burden to Noel. She was so cold, yet her body seemed to be getting use to the shaking, and she almost felt warm. Strange. She knew she was still shaking but didn't ache. She was numb in a frightening way.

She looked in every direction as they walked, trying to find shelter. For a moment, she thought she saw a tree, but was afraid that she had gone delusional from the cold. There are no trees here, Serah. Don't let the cold take hold of you. Stay focused.

Again, after walking a few more yards, she saw another line of figures that looked something similar to a makeshift fence in the distance. And again, there were other figures here and there.

"Noel, I think I'm seeing things. Somethings wrong." She spoke. After a moment of him not replying, she spoke a little louder. "Noel! I am seeing figures that aren't there!" She looked up at him, then saw that his eyes were wide with alert, and his head whipped wildly back and forth as he took in the scene.

"If you're seeing things, then that means I'm seeing things too. I think we may have found something!" His face broke into elation, and they started to move more quickly towards a large black figure in the distance.

Thanks for sticking with me! I hope this has caught your interest so far! Stay tuned for much more to come... :)

And leave me some pointers or just a simple "it was okay." It lets me know my readers are real!