A/N: This story is concerned with narrating a possible happy ending for Lightning (because the end of FFXIII-2 was anything but.) DO NOT READ if you have not finished FFXIII-2. MAJOR SPOILERS.

Updates every two weeks.

500 AF - Valhalla

[Lightning]: These thoughts that live within my heart—they will endure the passing of eons. If they can one day be the light that guides Serah's soul back to me… If we can laugh together just one more time… Well, then I have nothing left to wish for.

0 AF – Cocoon after Orphan's Defeat

Orphan has been defeated. They have completed their Focus and doomed Cocoon. Their teammates float above them, no longer weighed down by Eden's artificial gravity. Now that all Cocoon fal'Cie have fallen, the world cannot support itself.

It is falling apart while simultaneously plummeting to Gran Pulse.

"Fang! Vanille!" Snow shouts, a hand outstretched.

Fear momentarily bubbles in Vanille's stomach, but Fang squeezes her hand gently. "Vanille?" she says softly, and Vanille can feel the eyes of her closest friend resting on her. With that gaze comes the powerful strength that Fang wields, the solid foundation that she has always been. Renewed purpose surges back into Vanille's heart; she collects herself and looks straight back at her honorary sister.

Wishes can come true, but not if you just wait for miracles.

"I'm ready," she nods, grasping Fang's other hand. Together, they circle slowly in midair as Cocoon falls apart around them. Hope cries out above her, but she shuts him out. After all, in the end, it was not her wish to save Cocoon.

She wished to save the lives of her friends. Lightning. Sazh. Snow. Hope. Serah.

Miracles are things we make for ourselves… here and now.

Warmth floods through her system. She and Fang are one being—Ragnarok—working in tandem to create the same miracle. Save Cocoon. Save our friends. Monsters disintegrate before them. Cocoon is falling into chaos; Ragnarok must dodge chunks of the land that tear free from the descending planet, spiraling towards the gigantic world beneath. The sheer air friction has melted much of Cocoon's crust, transforming its bottom into a vault of magma; without hesitation, Ragnarok leaps straight in and begins to channel the molten rock.

Glowing lava explodes towards Gran Pulse. Cocoon is so close to colliding with the world surface, so close to exploding against the unyielding land. So close to snuffing out the lives of billions of people. So close to tempting Etro far from the gate of death, so close to allowing Chaos to spill into Reality.

Hope. Lightning. Serah.

Ragnarok explodes from Cocoon's surface, willing magma to reach as far as possible. With that final act, they succumb to the crystallization that has been pushing into their consciousness since their completed their Focus. Glassy rock slides its way through their bodies, spreading continuously throughout the hot magma around them. Jagged crystals explode around Cocoon's outer surface; glossy waves freeze in crests and ribbons about the destroyed planet. The pillar itself instantly freezes in ice blue, supporting the small world. The energy blast ricochets around the entirety of Cocoon before rebounding back to its nexus, right where the pillar connects to Cocoon.

And in that nexus hovers Vanille and Fang—separate crystal epitaphs once again. Indestructible, lasting to the end of time, bearing the memories of the past and future: their Focus fulfilled, a hope realized through the salvation of their friends. An impossible miracle made.

Hope. Lightning. Serah.

Vanille smiles, and her consciousness drifts into eternity.

500 AF – The Void Beyond, Throne of the Goddess

Serah's body dissolves into glimmering sparkles as her spirit passes on.

Lightning Farron is left on one knee, her eyes dry, bowing before the vacated throne of the Etro. Yet she does not intend to pay respects to the dead goddess; she does not even consider the probability of the world falling to Chaos. She does not wonder about the fate of Noel Kreiss or Hope Esthiem, left behind on a deteriorating Gran Pulse. She does not speculate what the pilot Sazh Katzroy might be doing, nor how the stranded Snow Villiers might react to the death of his fiancée.

Just keep me in your thoughts, Serah's voice echoes in her head. Remember me, and we'll see each other again.

Serah is gone. Her baby sister is gone, lost to the sands of time. Even as a young woman, Lightning has at most sixty years left in her life. Sixty years in which she will never embrace Serah's small body again, will never look into those gentle grey eyes and tell her that everything is going to be alright.

Her sister has been lost to this world, and the only thing left behind is the memory of her final words.

No matter what happens to me… even if I vanish from this world—promise me, Lightning. Promise you'll remember me.

Not a word about her fiancée, Snow. Not a question about Noel, nor an inquiry concerning Snow or Sazh. The last and only thing Serah has requested was that Lightning preserve her memory.

Lightning glances upward again at Etro's empty throne, the jaded crystal shimmering and iridescent in the dim light. The goddess who'd bequeathed Lightning with the power to fight for Time had spread herself too thin. She gave mankind his Spirit; she gave both Caius and Lightning a piece of her soul; she split herself multiple times to pour energy into reviving the heroes of Cocoon from crystal stasis. The effort weakened the goddess; Chaos surged past her and into the world, and not even the time travels of Serah and Noel could fix what was irreparably broken.

The only object that could not be broken in the first place, even amongst the violent flood of Chaos, is crystal.

I'll never forget, Lightning vows as she makes up her mind. I promised you that.

The throne of Etro flashes. Instantly, jaded stone steps appear, ascending towards the unoccupied seat. Without a further thought, Lightning rises to her feet and begins to climb the stairs.

Even if I stand to lose everything, I'll preserve your memory for the tomorrows yet to be.

Come what may… I could breathe my last breath and the world be crumbling into oblivion.

With the death of Etro, Chaos is no longer separated from Reality. It will flood into Academia. It will consume everything in its path as it gradually traverses Gran Pulse and Cocoon. Valhalla will meld with Reality; the two will become one. Time will end. The world will no longer age, will no longer change. It will simply fall apart.

The entire world will become one collective Cie'th.

No soul, no spirit. Only an empty, unchanging shell, unaffected by time. There will be no death, but no real life either. Life will become meaningless: relationships, goals, a future. They will all no longer exist.

But still, there are ways to keep a memory alive. At least until initial wave of destruction has passed.

And I know one that works for sure.

Lightning stops in front of Etro's throne, her gaze resting on its vacant seating. Crystal gleams, having maintained its pure original form since the beginning of Time.

Indestructible crystal. Even in the sea of Chaos, it will never lose its shine.

Lightning settles lightly into the empty throne. Serah remembered her when everybody else believed her to be dead. Her little sister simply believed in the seemingly impossible goal that she could meet Lightning once again, and created her own miracle to reach her.

Now it's time that Lightning returns the favor. No matter how impossible it may seem, she will preserve Serah's memory. She promised.

Even if it takes a miracle, she will see her sister again.

I will become an eternal epitaph.

Your memory will survive for eternity within a crystal tomb.

This shall be my legacy and my atonement. But most of all… my final hope.

0 AF – Cocoon's Crystal Pillar

[Fang]: When prayers turn to promises, not even fate can stand in their way.

[Vanille]: We held the light of hope in our hearts and it changed the impossible. Now we live on to greet a new dawn.

Author's Rant

Drawing parallels between the endings of FFXIII and FFXIII-2 (Requiem of the Goddess). Do you see them?

Anyways, I'm pretty irritated that FFXIII-2 turned out to be such a downer game. I thought it was supposed to be a happier ending for Lightning! Instead, we got a cliffhanger ending and blatant promotion for a possible FFXIII-3, if fans are that desperate to find out the ending. (I'm one of those desperate people.)

I don't know how popular demand will be for FFXIII-3, or if it will even come out at all (though not wrapping up FFXIII-2 is just begging for another sequel.) So here's a take on what might happen in the future—a future that gives Lightning her happy ending.

Possibly 5-10 chapters long? I don't do so well with short stories. No romantic pairings planned.