A/N: This idea struck me, randomly just now while I was just browsing pictures of FFXIII-2. I have no idea what prompted it because none of the pictures I saw had anything to do with Alyssa, and yet POOF! Idea!

This story has spoilers for FFXIII-2

Alyssa is seen as a polarizing figure in FFXIII, with good reason. I understand the hatred she gets from fans, but I also view her as a tragic figure. She was a victim, just as much as the l'Cie. But where they found hope and a will to live on and beat their destiny, she found despair, loneliness and fear. Caius fed on her fear and convinced Alyssa tried to defeat her inevitable future the only way he claimed to her she could.

Sorry if this story feels erratic. I just feel like this is how her thinking process might've been at the time.

Anyway, I want to get back into fanficing it up so I figure maybe this is a good place to start?

(additional note: I wrote this drabble first before checking out some info on Alyssa in attempt to make sure that my memories of Alyssa's character and actions were at least semi-correct. It was only then that I noticed the information about Alyssa from Fragments After. This little drabble's plot is a complete coincidence to SE's real final story about Alyssa, however the method may be different. [I do not have a complete and driect translation so I have no idea]. It just felt like something Alyssa would do.)

Disclaimer: Same deal-io as always. But, Square-Enix, it'd be awesome if you'd just release XIII-3 sometime soon. I need a resolution to the story!

The Final Moments

The true timeline.

The inaccuracies of the past were slowly being resolved, and the desolate future that the man named Noel claimed to come from would soon be avoided. Humanity would be saved and would prosper for perhaps thousands of years more.

But that's not true. Not everyone would see this wonderful future. The man in my dreams was right. The true timeline was a curse. A paradox cannot remain in a true timeline. It cannot survive in that world, it cannot even remain in the hearts of the people. It'll be forgotten, like a strange dream you had but can't really recall. It'll be like it never happened.

Like I never existed.

It's true then, isn't it Caius? I really did die back all those years ago. I'm yet another paradox in this world and I won't be around much longer, will I...that's why I agreed to your plan. That's why I gave Serah and Noel that artefact you handed me. It could stop them. But it's not enough. Stopping them is not enough. They're not the only ones trying to change the future. They're not the only ones to blame for everything that happened.

I never forgot those days, Director.

Not once did I forget those seven names deeply involved with the Purge or every moment I witnessed. In the history books, you are all heroes: the men and women who helped changed humanity's fate. But none of the people alive now saw what I saw. No one could even imagine the pain. No one could ever imagine the suffering and the fear.

Director, don't you see the irony? You who forced humanity out of its home in the sky are now working to bring us back. Why are you so integral to the project? That man is right again, isn't he? Your life really is necessary for the true timeline...it cannot exist without you.

Which is why there is one last thing I need to do to ensure the timeline does not right itself. Serah and Noel aren't the only problems, your life is too. Your life helps maintain the true timeline. Your life means that the collapse of the crystal pillar doesn't destroy the world. Nothing can be attained without you.

And as each moment ticks by, the paradoxes disappear and my life comes closer to an end. Each extra second your heart continues to beat, the future and past are repaired and my existence comes closer to extinction. You can't live, Director Estheim. I can't let you.

And we're all alone right now, just you and I, working on the same projects, our backs to one another. As usual, you've placed all your focus on the latest reports we received mere minutes ago. Which is why I've been left to scour through the remaining artefacts with the tools we've been provided. Until you finish reading, I no longer exist in your world...

I can't wait any longer. I can't risk one more second. Director...with these tools I'll finally do what has to be done. The true timeline is in my hands...your life is in my hands...MY life is in my hands. I have to kill you now...for my sake.

Director Hope Estheim...through all these years you've known me, through all the information we've learned and problems we've overcome, you never once asked me for my real feelings on the subject. Your never stop to consider what might happen to me. Why is one or two lives more important than mine? Haven't I suffered enough? If you had just asked, I might have answered. You might have heard me say what I've been screaming in my mind all these years:

"Director! I want to liv-"

The End