As Etro feels the mortal wound dealt to the man - the creature - she'd once named a champion, as the last dregs of her life drain from her, there are yet whispers at the edge of her awareness - "please, I can still fight", "please, I can still change this", "please, let me try, you never even gave me the chance to try-"

And her strength is fading, but her gates are spread through seven-hundred years of time already. What's one more trip just a little further back? So she scoops them up, those voices, those souls who've fought so hard for her all this time, and she gives them their chance. One chance, one long shot, to make a change large enough to erase the end of time itself.

XIII

The last thing Hope had known was triumph turned sour; awful, angry denial and dark clouds spilling out of the sky. And then there was darkness and a feeling of warm hands wrapped around him, and then he opened his eyes on a scene straight out of his memories. The beach at Bodhum, just after nightfall: with a flashnet raised in the harbor and a crowd of people clamoring all around.

It was strange, though. Usually, in his memories, he was shorter and his mother was there with him. Instead, he felt the same as ever. He was in his academy uniform, and he could smell the faint scent of airship oil clinging to it. That smell, it would have come from clambering through the ship over the deck on his way to meet up with Serah and Noel. But would that sort of detail carry over to a memory or a dream?

The fireworks hadn't started yet, but the general party atmosphere was in full swing. The beach was crowded.

"This is… strange." Hope stepped forward, thinking to get out of the crowd and get his bearings. Was this a dream? A memory? An echo in time, like Serah and Noel had described encountering on their travels? But no, they had described Noel's half-real memories as indistinct, fuzzy around the edges. This was anything but. He could hear snatches of people's conversations, feel the give of the sand under his feet, count the vehicles monitoring the sides of the flashnet and preparing for the fireworks show. NORA's cafe was ten meters away, and he could smell Lebreau's special, but it was off somehow, like she'd used different ingredients than he was familiar with. There was a hint of spice in the air… and Hope realized it smelled like a variety of pepper they never been able to find again after Cocoon fell and all its fal'cie shut down.

It felt real. And then, while Hope was still watching the entrance of NORA's cafe, he saw his mother walk out. He choked. A bag of fresh fried snacks in one hand, Nora scanned the crowd and frowned. Hope watched as she wandered forward into the crowd, calling his name. Unwillingly, he started to move towards her. He stopped. Dream or no, she was calling for her fourteen-year-old son, not him. Had she lost track of him in the crowd? Hope couldn't recall anything like that in his own memories of this night. As he fought with himself over whether to approach her, a commotion broke out a little ways away in the other direction. Someone was pushing their way through the crowd; a wave of people scattered to make space and avoid being knocked over. The runner passed through the column of light cast through NORA Cafe's storefront, and Hope could see a flash of crimson red in the light. "Light?" He ran after her, calling out. "Light!"

She turned and stopped short, and yes, it was Lightning. "Hope?" She frowned, every line of her body screaming stress. "Is that you?"

"Yes! It's me!" The sight of her grounded him. Her eyes, more than anything, made him begin to believe this was really, truly real, that somehow he'd - they'd both - been taken to their own past.

Lightning's shoulders loosened incrementally. "...Alright. Let's keep moving."

They moved out of the crowd, and Hope trailed after Lightning as she kept walking. After ten minutes she finally stopped, tossing her head towards one of Bodhum's odd raised houses.

"This one's mine," she said, and headed up the stairs. Hope followed her up. "We can talk in here."

They moved into her living room and sat next to each other in silence.

"Caius showed me," Lightning said suddenly. "Serah died."

"...Yes." Hope averted his eyes. "I'm sorry. I tried to watch over them but I- I don't really know what happened."

Lightning let out a bitter laugh. "It's Etro's 'gift'. Serah… she saw the timelines change, and the strain on her body…"

"I… think I understand? I remember Serah and Noel talking about something like that… a long time ago. But Lightning," Hope leaned towards her and took her hand in his. "We're back at the beginning, aren't we? We can change everything. We can fix everything. Serah and Noel told me - Etro was dying because of the miracle she performed the day of the Fall, right? So what if we prevent the Fall? Or change it, somehow, so that Etro doesn't need to intervene?"

Lightning nodded. "That's probably what the goddess wants. I just- I failed her before," she said, referring to Serah. "I put her in danger, and then she- she was hurt." She frowned. "Even if it never happened now, I…"

"It'll take time to forgive yourself." Hope smiled. "I know, Light." The smile dropped from his face. "So we will try to change things. How? What's the first step?"

"Serah's already been marked. I won't let her become a Cie'th, so I'll have to get marked again, too."

Hope's hand tightened around hers. "I'm with you every step of the way, but… Are you sure?" Lightning looked down at their joined hands and started. Hope let go, readying an apology, but then she spoke.

"Hope, the back of your hand…"

He furrowed his eyebrows, then looked. There, peeking out from underneath his gloves, was a very familiar pale symbol. He hissed. "The burned brand?"

Lightning's eyes widened, and she unzipped her sweater. "I have mine, too."

"But my mark disappeared the day of the Fall."

"Fang couldn't remember anything, but Vanille said Fang's brand changed after she prayed for Etro's mercy," Lightning reasoned, "Could it be Etro's L'cie brand?"

"Can Etro even make l'cie?" Hope asked dryly. "Even when you were her knight, you weren't a l'cie anymore, right?"

Lightning focused for a moment. "I don't feel like a l'cie. I can't do magic."

He shrugged, resigned. "Well, if it is then at least we know it shouldn't progress. And I think we know our focus, too."

"Change the future."

Hope nodded. "And save as many people as possible. That starts with Serah, and with the Purge."

Lightning shut her eyes, her brow creased with worry and sudden exhaustion.

Hope watched her with concern. "Listen, Light. There's a few more days left before it starts, and I remember what you and NORA managed to do with just a few hours. Get some rest. We'll start working on it tomorrow."

She opened her eyes and glanced up at him. "Hope, you grew up a lot."

"... Yes?"

"When I realized I was here, I replaced my past self. I know I did, because I woke up in the middle of talking to my superior, Lieutenant Amodar. I haven't changed, so it didn't make any outward difference. But what about you?"

"I don't know," Hope answered uneasily. "It… was probably the same for me. My mother will be worried."

"You want to save her, don't you?"

"I… I want to save as many people as possible." He smiled wanly. "Really, Light, I let go a long time ago. I was too busy worrying about my best girls," he joked. "Turning to crystal, disappearing from the timestream - the three of you sure know how to make a guy worry."

Lightning's eyes narrowed, and the corner of her mouth turned up. "Your 'best girls', are we?"

"You're my everything, if you'll have me," Hope answered seriously. "I don't know how much you saw from Valhalla, but honestly Light, everything was always for you." He cracked a grin. "And Fang and Vanille are family, of course." He softened. "And I couldn't face you if I didn't do what I could to look out for Serah."

"Though of course you wouldn't dream of interfering with my sister's relationship."

"Of course not," he said with a straight face. "No more than you would."

After a moment, they both broke into soft laughter. Eventually they settled into silence again, and Hope looked up.

"So? Since I've gone and brought it up already, will you have me?"

Lightning was silent. "When did you get taller than me?" she asked finally.

"Would you believe I was fifteen?" she shot him a skeptical look, and he laughed. "You're right, I could never have grown that much so quickly. It was a close thing, though. I was sixteen." Lightning nodded her acceptance. "I'm twenty-seven now," Hope continued. "And you're the same as ever. It's strange, isn't it? I guess that's time travel for you. But Light-"

"I told you once that you and I are partners," Lightning said, interrupting his chatter. She took his hand again. "I saw. Everything you did. You… you kept facing forward, while I was stuck guarding our backs in Valhalla."

"We both did our best, didn't we?"

She looked down. "There's no-one else I'd rather rely on, Hope. Really." She squeezed his hand. The tips of her ears were red. Her eyes met his shyly, and Hope was overcome.

"Lightning," he whispered, leaning in and bringing his other hand up to turn her face towards his. "I love you so much," he breathed, and brought his lips to hers.

The kiss lasted only a moment before Hope pulled back. Lightning stared up at him, face red, body trembling. "That was my first kiss," she murmured.

"Ah, um. Mine too." He hadn't given himself time to socialize when he was young, and later he'd been too preoccupied - and too distant from other people, and with too much responsibility weighing him down besides - to think of looking at anyone else.

"I feel like I'm on fire," she complained. "It was just a kiss. How is that fair?"

Hope let out a breath of relief, releasing her hand to wrap his around her waist and draw her closer. Her back was warm even through her jacket. "It's fair because I feel the same way," he told her. Then, "Can I kiss you again?"

"Yes."

He did, relishing the feeling of long-held fantasies fulfilled. Her lips were always glossed; one of her small concessions to vanity, and one she'd maintained even during the period of time they'd been trapped on Pulse. He took her lower lip between his teeth, teasing it, sucking it between his own. He could taste the gloss. Her hands wrapped around his back.

The hand he'd held to her face moved back into her hair, and she thrust her tongue into his mouth. Hope responded in kind, and honestly it mostly felt awkward, but then the sensation sank in of her tongue against his, her mouth around it, and it was intoxicating. He subconsciously thrust further into her mouth, and the feel of warmth and gentle friction brought other things to mind. Lightning pulled away, gasping, and he realized they'd fallen back onto the couch at some point.

She sat up and leaned down to take off her boots. "You too," she ordered.

"Yes ma'am," Hope replied, breath short. He took off his boots, and after a moment stripped off his gloves and removed his harness and jacket as well, tossing everything on the floor. Lightning was pulling open the straps on her own gloves, and Hope went to work pulling loose the belt around her waist. She shivered when he pulled it free and his bare hands brushed against her arms. His hands sought out the latches of her jacket, and she leaned into him slightly.

She slid her jacket off her shoulders and dropped it. Next came the heavy nylon holster that held her gunblade; they set it on the couch. Lightning unfastened the belt around her hips and let the pouch wrapped around her leg drop to the ground. She stepped forward and kissed him again, roughly pulling his tie off his neck and tossing it on the floor. "Bed," she breathed into the corner of his mouth.

"Yeah." Lightning had her arms pulled close around his shoulders, so he wrapped one arm around her waist and lifted her up, slipping his other arm under her legs in a princess carry. He looked down at her in his arms for a long moment, taking in the way she leaned into his chest, her eyes half lidded. He felt a rush of heat spread all the way to his toes, and he smiled softly.

"Which way?" He asked. "I haven't actually been to your house before." Lightning nodded to their left. Hope swept down the hall. He leaned in and dropped Lightning on the center of the bed, then followed on hands and knees to crouch over her.

XIII

For Lightning, contact was electric. She had been alone for such a long time, with no comfort but the ability to watch history from Valhalla's halls, helpless and impotent while all her friends fought for their lives. And then suddenly she'd been in a crowd of people, and none of it seemed real until Hope appeared before her. His presence was an anchor, as it had always been. His touch… was something else. Something she hadn't expected. Nothing changed in Valhalla. But at some point while she was there, her feelings had changed.

He leaned over her. "Lightning," he breathed in her ear, "I've wanted to do this for a long time." Lightning shivered, eyes drooping shut.

"Do what?" She asked breathlessly.

"Make love to you. Make you mine." He brought up a hand and unfastened his first two shirt buttons, then leaned in and laid his lips at the side of her neck. His hand found the zipper of her sweater, pulling it down the rest of the way. With a jerk, he pulled it open from the bottom and moved his lips to graze feather-soft over her shoulder, her collarbone, her brand peeking out from under her bandeau top. He scraped his teeth across the bared skin, sending a jolt through Lightning that went straight to her groin. She moaned quietly. Hope straightened, kneeling with his legs on either side of her hips. He pulled off his shirt in one smooth motion and laid his hands on the bare sides of her stomach. "Strip," he told her. "I want to see you."

Lightning flushed. "How long?" she asked. "Hope, how long have you-"

"Hundreds of years," Hope replied flippantly. "But I'll answer your question properly." He sat down with his legs folded on either side of her body, his weight pinning her hips. "I've loved you since I was fourteen. If we're talking about desire… that's a more recent development." He stroked his hands up her sides, and her flush darkened. "I've had dreams, of course. Stray thoughts. But I didn't really take them seriously. Not until I saw you in an Oracle Drive. You looked the same, and I wasn't a kid anymore, and I knew you were alive. And I started working on making it to the time and place where the Oracle Drive said you would be." He smiled bitterly. "I thought I could see you again in the future, show you how well I could protect you now. And it just hit me. The idea of you and me. I could consider it seriously, all of a sudden."

Lightning's hands rose, hesitated, and then she gripped his arms. "It's the past, not the future, but… you did see me again after all."

Hope nodded. "Yes."

Her breath caught. "Then it's a promise, right? I'll protect you, Hope. And you'll protect me." Lightning wrapped herself in those words like an impenetrable shield. She would protect Hope. And Hope would protect her. They could beat anything so long as they had that.

He smiled again, and this time it was warm and open. "Light, I will always protect you. With everything I have." He leaned down for another kiss and Lightning returned it eagerly, her hands sliding further up his arms. When had he become so solid? He was slim compared to men like Snow or that friend of his, but his arms were solid wiry muscle, and his shoulders were wide and straight. It seemed like the only thing that hadn't changed was the smile he'd just turned on her. She didn't know what to feel, but she wanted to see more of that familiar smile. And, she acknowledged with another flush, she wanted to see all the changes, too.

He bit her lip again, and she felt herself shiver. Hope stopped kissing her and pulled away. "Light?" He asked. "Is this alright?"

"Yes," Lightning repeated emphatically. She released his arms and sat up a bit, shimmying out of her sweater and quickly stripping off her bandeau, leaving her top half bare. Hope froze. "Are you just going to stare?" she asked wryly. She reached down and hooked her fingers in his pants' waistband. "Don't stop now."

"Right," Hope breathed. "Right." His hands, frozen on her sides, slid up over her ribs that had been bared when she removed her bandeau, then forward over her breasts. He covered them, one in each hand, then gripped them hard. Lightning arched her back and gasped with pleasure. She looped her arms around his neck and pulled him into another kiss. This kiss was warm, wet, and intimate, comfortable in a way the last one hadn't been. She felt as though she were sinking into him, or perhaps the reverse, as though he were sinking into her.

Starting tomorrow she would work to save everyone. But Hope was so warm, so resolute and clever, so everything that was admirable in a person, she'd always seen that, and for tonight he was here for her, and her only, and so she would- he ended the kiss to mouth enthusiastically down the line of her neck, cutting off her thoughts. "Hope," she gasped. He planted one last kiss somewhere around her collarbone, then lifted his head and embraced her, his cheek pressed to hers and his arms wrapped around her back."I mean, it, Light," he said softly, lips next to her ear. "We will fix things. And you won't get taken away again, and you won't be alone, and we won't lose anyone." His grip tightened. "We won't."

The feeling in her chest was hot; it flushed through her whole body, rose in the back of her throat. Was this relief? She felt like crying. "We won't," she agreed, voice choked. "We'll win, and all of them will be safe and happy."

"That means you, too," Hope said, pulling away to look her in the eye. "I can't be happy without you, Light. You and me. We'll get through this."

There was that heat again, in her face, behind her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came to mind. She could feel the skin of his back under her splayed hands. She wanted him closer. She looked at Hope, waiting patiently for a reply. "Pants," she said finally, her voice a little watery.

He paused for a moment, then got off her so they could both strip. Lightning pushed off her skirt and peeled her swimsuit bottom away without sitting up, then rolled over and helped pull Hope's pants down and tossed them to the foot of the bed. While he pulled down his boxers, she grabbed his shoulders and kissed him urgently. When the kiss ended, they were both panting.

"Light?" Hope said quietly.

"It's a promise," she said emphatically, feeling like her chest was about to burst. "Let's kick some fal'cie ass and tell Caius Ballad exactly where the hell he can get off."

Hope grinned slowly. "Right," he agreed, brushing his fingers through her bangs and down the line of her face. Then his smile softened, and he pulled her closer.

For a pair of amateurs, they did quite well.