"Hey Noel…" A pale young woman with rose-colored hair says, with a soft voice. The man, towering somewhat over her in height, smiles a little to himself.

"What is it Serah?" He asks, still grinning.

"Wasn't it lonely? Living in that world all alone? Being the last one?" She asks, carefully and gently. She shifts on her feet a little, nervous maybe. That grin leaves the brunettes face for a brief moment before it appears again.

"I guess so… I thought of it as nothing more than my reality, but now that I think about it I felt much lonelier than I can now even imagine. Warping through all these different timelines… It… I think it made me realize something." He words it carefully, struggling a bit with his speaking. He sighs and flops down on the ground, putting himself in a laidback sitting position. He looks out at the beautiful view, filled with greenery and animals and life and all of these things that has never before been part of his reality.

His smile lessens a bit and he looks to the ground, not quite able to face Serah. The girl smiles a little, and sits down next to him carefully, pulling her short skirt down as she does so.

"What did you realize?" She asks curiously, while looking up at the clear blue sky above them, not a cloud in sight. It's a wonderful day, in a timeline that isn't theirs.

Noels eyes fall on the dainty looking, female hand lying in the grass next to him. Some dirt can be seen under those pink, sharp nails, but that's to be expected, after all the hassle they've been through. Her hand looks soft, and it's the palest hand he has ever seen, reflecting almost a blue glow in the light of the warming summer sun. At least they think it's summer, they can't be certain though, this timeline is far off from all of the worlds they know.

Noel hesitates a little before talking.

"I realized that…" He starts, swallows hard and places his shaky hand on the soft smaller hand of Serah's. She doesn't pull away, she just lets it rest there, quietly listening. "I realized that it wasn't just Yeul, that I wanted to protect, I just… I want the world to be full of life again. Maybe that will change my life, maybe I won't even really exist in that world but I… I need to do it. For everyone." Noel's eyes meet Serah's and her ocean blue eyes sparkle, in a way he's never seen anyone's eyes sparkle before. Her other hand falls on the one Noel placed on her first one. Her pale pink lips turn upwards a little, into a gentle smile.

"That's very noble of you Noel. Don't worry, we'll make a future where everyone, and you too will be alright." She says it so sincerely, and he wants to believe her so desperately, but he just cannot. It feels too surreal, and too far away for him to really believe, he just slightly nods. He looks away, and a single tear rolls down his cheek.

"Thank you…" He says silently. He wipes that one tear off of his face and makes a move to stand up. When he's up on his feet he reaches out a hand to the girl with rose-colored hair and she takes it thankfully, and gets pulled up from her sitting position.

Their eyes meet and for a moment the whole world is just silent, and there is nothing, but the two of them.

"Serah…" Noel says in a raspy voice. Serah gives him a light nod as to make him continue talking. "You know… all these things about Yeul… it's felt like it has been a bit too much lately… like all my feeling are in a way different now…" He's struggling with his words again.

"What do you mean?" She asks, sounding a bit confused.

"My feelings have started to shift to somewhere else…" He explains, pausing a little before he continues. "Look… I know you have Snow… I know that everything is fucked up and weird and this is a stupid thing to say but… I've gotten a little bit too attached, I feel like I want to be a little bit too close to you." He admits, staring at the ground in uncertainty the whole time.

"Noel…" She says with chock in her voice. "I… this is…" She places her hand on his shoulder.

"You don't have to say anything… I know that it's hopeless." Noel pulls her hand away and backs away a little. "Let's keep going…" He says and turns around to start walking. Serah grabs onto his wrist tightly.

"Wait!" She yells and she pulls his wrist towards herself. "Noel…" She starts. "I know we're from way different timelines, and in the long run it can't go anywhere… Yet I… I think I feel the same as you!" Noel looks at Serah with wide eyes, and she answers with a gentle smile.

"What about Snow?" Noel asks.

"Well… What about Yeul?" Serah responds. "We're not in any of our real worlds, so there's no worries… Maybe it could be like this never happened? Does any one really need to know?"

"I didn't think you'd be like that." He says, and Serah shrugs. "But I suppose you're right."

Then the whole world stops. Two souls smile at one another, and he takes a step closer to her, and she takes a step closer to him. His arms wrap tightly around her thin waist, and her arms snake around his neck and there they are. They gain eye contact for a second, small grins appear on their lips, before they're eyes are closed and those lips collide. The kiss is soft and it's like nothing else exists anymore, but the connection they share. The kiss is shy at first, but it deepens and there's tongue and hands wander along bodies, touching places that maybe shouldn't be touched. In the end they still need to pull apart for air. When their moment of closeness is over, neither of them dares to look in the other's eyes, it feels far too embarrassing. Now it's over, something may occur again, but they cannot help that they feel like they've crossed some sort of line. After this is over, they'll live 700 years apart, would that really be okay?

"Let's keep going!" A Serah with rose tainted cheeks suggests. Noel nods to that. They move towards the next Time Gate and it's now that it continues. Noel doesn't like it at all, that they're getting closer to their goal…

"I wish that this journey wouldn't have to be over so soon." He mumbles to himself. "I don't want to be without her… but it's inevitable."

They step into the gate and they're on their way again, towards another place and time. Another step closer to the separation that Noel fears…