Disclaimer:

I do not own nor claim to own any aspect of Final Fantasy XIII, XIII-2 or LR: XIII. All the aspects therein belong to the rightful owners, Square Enix. I am making no profit off of this. The only thing I am claiming is the story idea. This will be the only disclaimer posted. Please refer to this chapter in the future.

Author's Note:

I would like to announce that today (1/17/2013) is my 9 year anniversary on FFNet! I'm so happy to still be here writing!

Anyways, this story has been in the works now for over two years, so getting the chance to finally post it for everyone to see is extremely nerve wracking. That being said, I have a very special individual in mind that I would like to shower with love and thanks. She's put up with my craziness and helped me more than I can fathom over these past two years. And on more than just this fic, might I add! She's the best most amazingly brilliant beta any writer could ask for and her pen name is H-thar. She's hands down the best Lightning/Hope author I've encountered and I feel privileged to have her help.

I hope everyone enjoys my newest story and, if you feel so inclined, I would appreciate it if you would leave me a few kind words to let me know what you thought of it. Updates will be every two weeks. I have 6 full chapters waiting in the wings so hopefully that will give me enough time to complete more. Thank you in advance to anyone that reads and reviews. Your support inspires me.

And the Void Stares Back
By: Jenna Duffy

Prologue

Where Silence Has Lease

"When you look long into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you."

- Friedrich Nietzsche

. . .

"So what does this mean?" Hope murmured, glancing sideways at Serah.

The youngest Farron sister shook her head, unshed tears glistening in her cerulean eyes. "I don't know," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Hope clamped his teeth down on the inside of his cheek as he looked back into Lightning's crystallized eyes, willing them to suddenly spring to life. He couldn't understand how she could still be in crystal stasis when the rest of them, including her younger sister and Dajh, had woken up.

This wasn't supposed to happen, Hope thought with dismay.

He swallowed the lump that had settled in his throat and replayed the recent events in his head. They had successfully defeated Orphan, that much he knew. Then Vanille and Fang had transformed into Ragnarok, a sight that he almost couldn't believe was real even though he'd seen the beast with his own two eyes. Now Cocoon was crystallized and suspended in the sky by an immense crystal pillar. He didn't know what that meant either.

Are we going to be able to go home? he wondered, yanking his eyes away from Lightning's face long enough to set his sights on Cocoon, the immense structure shining and glinting in the bright Pulse sunlight like a prism.

The frustration Hope felt, without warning, suddenly flared when he looked back at Lightning. His anger burned white-hot in the pit of his stomach and bubbled in the back of his throat before erupting past his lips in a violent outburst. "I don't understand!" Hope yelled, startling everyone around him. "I heard Vanille's voice in my head! We all did! Why isn't she awake like the rest of us? What are we supposed to do?"

"Hey!" Snow bellowed, effectively shutting Hope up and grabbing his attention. He wrapped his large hand around the young boy's slim shoulder and his face softened as he looked into Hope's conflicted emerald eyes. He knew about Hope's feelings towards his soon to be sister-in-law; in all honesty, it hadn't been that difficult to figure out. The boy was notorious for wearing his heart on his sleeve. "We're all confused right now, but losing our cool isn't going to help. You think Lightning would want us to fall apart like this?"

Hope's despairing gaze went back to Lightning's crystallized, unseeing face and he sighed, his shoulders visibly slumping. Snow was right. Lightning wouldn't want him acting like this. She would hate it actually. The only question left in Hope's mind was one he knew no one had the answer for.

"When is she going to wake up?"

His question hung in the air, stagnant, between them. No one dared to try and give him a sugar coated answer. Hope knew he was young, but he was far from naïve. His experiences as a l'Cie had matured him, made him stronger. He had fought alongside them as equals and he didn't want them to treat him like a child anymore. With the things he'd seen and had to endure, he deserved more than that. Serah was the first one to step forward after a long, pregnant silence.

"Hope," she whispered, laying her hand gingerly on his opposite shoulder. "There's no way to tell how long she'll be in stasis. The only thing we can do right now is be patient and wait." The younger Farron sister moved away from Hope and tucked herself into Snow's side. She covered her mouth with her hand to help contain her sobs as the tears that she had been holding back earlier finally spilled from her eyes.

Sazh's tiny chocobo chick appeared in front of Hope's face then, warbling happily as he floated in the air. The cheerful animal was totally unaware of the sadness around him. Hope allowed himself to smile at the tiny creature and cupped his hands beneath the bird to give him something to perch on. Hope suddenly wished that he could be so blissfully unaware. He didn't want to have to think about when Lightning would wake up or how long she would be asleep. He wished she was awake now. He had promised himself that when all this l'Cie nonsense was over and done with that he would tell Lightning about his feelings for her.

Who knows when I'll get the chance now… Hope thought with disdain. He felt the blood drain from his face when the possibility that she may not wake up for hundreds of years bulldozed through his mind. To never hear her voice again was something that he didn't even want to think about.

Snow's voice brought Hope's mind back to the present, but he wasn't exactly paying attention to what the large martial artist was saying; it was something along the lines of helping the military. He just continued to stare at the chocobo chick in his hands, wishing that Light was here to celebrate their freedom with them.

"Hope!" The voice that floated through the air just then made Hope's ears prick. The young silver haired boy frowned as he wondered where he had heard that voice before. It was so familiar he felt that he should be able to recognize it immediately. The fact that he couldn't frustrated him and his eyebrows pinched together as he racked his brain, trying to figure out who that voice belonged to.

When the familiar voice shouted again, a name finally registered and he gasped as his entire body went rigid for the briefest of moments. Once his muscles reanimated, he whipped his head around, causing silver wisps of his hair to fly into his face, and caught sight of his father running towards him. He passed the chocobo chick back to Sazh so swiftly he nearly ended up dumping the poor thing on the ground before tearing off through the grass, running faster than he ever had in his life. He never thought he would be so happy to see his father, but, after their reconciliation in Palumpolum, he couldn't wait to start over with him.

His breath exploded from his lungs as he slammed into Bartholomew Estheim's chest and he was shocked for only a second that he hadn't flown right through him.

Okay, I'm not hallucinating, he thought with immense relief.

"You're really alive," Hope mumbled, fisting his hands into his father's shirt.

"Of course I am," Bartholomew answered, tightly wrapping his arms around his son. "I just couldn't leave you alone, could I?" He chuckled as he ruffled Hope's silver hair, the relief he felt encompassing his entire being. "I'm glad you're safe. You have no idea how worried I was. How are your friends?"

Hope looked over his shoulder to see his comrades walking towards him. Behind them, Lightning's crystal sparkled brightly in the sun. "Light might be in crystal stasis for a while," he replied, turning his face away from her and staring down at his shoes.

Bartholomew looked past his son, his brow furrowed, and his eyes immediately settled on Lightning. The sight of her took him off guard; he had never seen a crystallized l'Cie before, so he couldn't help but marvel at the tragic beauty of the scene before him. He'd only spent a few brief hours with the former GC Sergeant, but he could tell even then that she'd had a lasting impression on Hope. He couldn't begin to imagine what must be going through everyone's minds considering her predicament. He glanced down at his son and noticed the crestfallen droop of his shoulders. He sighed in defeat, wishing there was something he could do to alleviate his worries.

The father laid a consoling hand on his young son's shoulder, causing him to look up. Bartholomew sent him the most encouraging smile that he could. "Everything's going to be okay, son." He tried to make his voice as reassuring as possible, but a part of him felt like his attempt fell flat.

One corner of Hope's mouth curled up slightly at his father's words. A part of him, deep down, knew he was right. He knew Lightning would wake up one day, it was just a question of when.

"Mr. Estheim!" Snow announced as the small group came to a stop beside the father son duo, shaking the older man's hand. "Good to see you still alive!"

Bartholomew smirked, his eyes crinkling at the edges in amusement. "I could say the same for all of you. I don't know what you did or how you did it, but thank you." He paused and shifted his gaze to Lightning's crystallized form once again. "Hope told me about Lightning. I'm sorry."

The atmosphere immediately turned somber. Everyone turned their heads and gazed at her crystal, which was sitting forlornly in the middle of the field like some strange kind of grave marker. Hope had to admit, the sight was absolutely breathtaking, but he hated it. He forcefully tore his eyes away from her and pretended to take interest in staring at Cocoon. He didn't want to be reminded of the unknown every time he looked at her, didn't want to constantly repeat all the 'what ifs' and 'coulda, shoulda, wouldas' in his head like some sort of twisted, backwards mantra. A large part of him wished that he was in crystal stasis with her. Hope bit down on the corner of his bottom lip hard enough to make his eyes water, almost wishing he wouldn't have said anything to his father about Lightning just so he could pretend everything was alright for a few more minutes.

He was bound to find out sooner or later though, Hope reasoned in his mind, turning his attention back to his remaining friends.

He frowned as he looked at each of his friends individually. All of them were staring at Lightning like they would never see her awake again and that made a strange, unwelcome sensation start churning restlessly in the pit of his stomach. He didn't want them acting like she had died. Just like Snow had said earlier, she would be mortified if she knew they were acting like this. He couldn't help the ghost of a smile that crept onto his face as he imagined what she would do if she could see them right now. She would be standing there with her arms crossed and all her weight resting on her right leg, glaring daggers at each of them. She would say that they had more important things to worry about than fretting over her.

Hope suddenly felt a surge of irritation and let it get the best of him. "Snow," he began, getting the large blonde man's attention. "didn't you just say a few minutes ago that Light wouldn't want us falling apart because of her? I think you should start following your own advice." Once the words left his mouth, Hope blinked his eyes in surprise. The fact that he had just said that out loud left him standing there in shock, wondering if an unknown presence had possessed him and forced him to say that.

And by the way Snow was staring at him, the teen figured that he was just as stunned. Hope was worried that the martial artist would be angry with him and just about jumped out of his skin when hysterical laughter bursted out of Snow's mouth. For a second, Hope thought that Snow had spontaneously gone crazy. Why in the world was he laughing?

Still guffawing loudly, Snow stumbled over to Hope and clapped him roughly on the back, making the smaller boy stagger forward a couple steps. "Holy Shiva, Hope!" Snow exclaimed, wiping his eyes. "I can't believe you actually called me out!" He continued to laugh for a few seconds more before sucking in a large breath to calm himself down. "You're absolutely right though. There's no reason for us to act like she's dead."

Hope looked over his shoulder at Lightning's crystal and felt his heart plummet into his stomach for what seemed like the fiftieth time that day. "We need to find somewhere safe to put her for the time being." The teen pressed his lips together, surprised by the monotone that his voice had become.

"The Guardian Corps and PSICOM soldiers have set up a camp back that way," Bartholomew said, pointing behind him. Hope turned around and stared into the distance, squinting his eyes against the bright sunlight. After lifting a hand to shield his face, he spotted an immense cluster of PSICOM airships and people about five hundred meters in the distance. "We can ask a few of the soldiers to help us move her."

All of his friends nodded in agreement and began walking away with his father, but Hope stayed where he was, turning his head to look back at Lightning. He suddenly felt an overpowering need to stay with her. Just the thought of leaving her out in the middle of the Pulse wilderness unprotected made that horrible feeling still churning in his stomach to intensify and nearly succeeded in scaring him half to death. He looked back in the direction of his retreating group of comrades; they hadn't noticed he wasn't with them.

"If you guys don't mind, I'm going to stay with Lightning!" he called, making sure to raise his voice enough so they could hear him.

Snow stopped walking and glanced back at the young teen, seeming surprised for only a moment that he had stayed behind. "Yeah, good idea, Hope!" Snow shouted back. "We'll be back soon!"

Hope nodded and waved at the blonde man before he turned around and continued walking away. He watched them go for a few more seconds before pivoting and slowly jogging towards Lightning. He came to a stop in front of her, gazing into her crystallized eyes, and balled his hands into hard fists at his sides. He could practically hear Lightning's voice in his head, telling him to keep pushing forward and stay strong. He would be damned before he ever let her down. His eyes burned as tears blurred his vision, but he valiantly bit them back.

"I'll wait for you, Light," he whispered, his voice dangerously close to cracking. "I'll be here. Don't worry."