Helllloooooo again! I know, I know, I've got, like, five million stories going on here. But I dunno what with this one. I just kinda opened up word, and started typing. Annnd this is what I came up with! ...yay?

Disclaimer still don't own any part of final fantasy.

She looked up at the sky with heavy tears in her eyes. Everyone was safe…so why was she crying?

She was Lightning Farron. She did not cry. She had nothing to cry about. She finally had her sister back, and the world was saved. So why was she crying?

Her friends were safe. Not with her, but safe and together. After all, that's all they had wanted. She had finally accepted Snow as her future brother-in-law. Dajh had been reunited with his father and their chocobo. Hope's father was alright, and with Hope. The people she cared about were together, and safe. ….so….why…? Why was she crying?

She buried her face in her arms, unable to look at the bright and beautiful sky no more. It hurt. She felt so pathetic. Lightning would often leave for a few hours, saying that she was going to train. Instead, she utilized the Cieth waystones to quickly reach the Skyreach of Sulyya Springs… It was a truly beautiful place. It was where she finally accepted Snow as who he was, and made him promise to make Serah happy…

It was quite in the Skyreach. There were no beasts, no feral or flying creatures to disturb her. It sickened her. Why could she not enjoy this natural beauty? She was lonely…so why didn't she invite someone to join her? Everyone was busy. Serah and Snow had a wedding to plan. Sazh was raising a child and a bird. Hope was making up for lost time with his father. She couldn't interrupt any of that for her own selfish wants.

One time she had almost plucked up the courage to ask Hope to come with her. She failed to ask the one she cared most about. She almost wanted to try again the next day, but she couldn't.

Her eyes were red, and her voice was raw from hallow anguish. Why was she so miserable? Perhaps the joy of her sister wasn't enough… What else did she need? She had a happy family, and happy friends. So what was missing?

She had failed to notice another presence approaching her. She had failed to hear the worried words and almost panicked whimpers that came from the body that had now wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.

"Lightning, did you get hurt?"

She knew that voice. She knew that beautiful, almost angelic voice. What was Hope doing here..?

"Answer me, Light…what's wrong? I've never seen you like this…"

She couldn't answer him. What would she say? She didn't even know what was wrong… When she attempted to berate him for intruding on her privacy, or perhaps for possibly following her, she could only manage out a few hoarse sounds that maybe would have been broken sobs a few hours earlier.

She curled in on him, gripping the front of his brightly colored t-shirt, and shuddered. There were no more tears left. Yes, no tears flowed from her eyes, but heavy sobs still craved to wrack her body with fierce shudders.

Perhaps she had finally allowed herself to let go? The moment her mother died, she adopted not just a new name, but became a new person entirely. She was no longer Claire Farron, loving older sister of Serah Farron. No, she had cast almost all of her feelings aside to do what she thought was best. She hadn't allowed herself to cry. She had to be strong for Serah. And now…? Lightning didn't need to be strong for her sister. Serah had her own hero, her own strength. She had no one to be strong for. She had no one to protect.

…was it time for someone else to protect her….?

Then, she remembered. Hope swore to protect her. He said he would, forever. She opened her mouth once more to voice these thoughts. "…will you still protect me?"

He hadn't hesitated with his answer. She almost wished he hadn't answered at all.

"Of course I will, Light. You're like my second mom."

…..what?

Her entire world seemed to freeze over. Her heart stopped, and her blood ran cold. She couldn't stop the torrent of fresh tears that pushed through her barriers and scattered to the ground like rain drops as she roughly shoved herself out of Hope's gentle hold. She had to leave.

She pushed herself onto shaky legs, and forced them to carry her back to the Cieth waystone in the Subterranean Lake. She knew it wasn't smart to push through all of those vile frogs; she'd purposefully left her weapon back in her room. But maybe, just maybe this would slow Hope down in his pursuit. She could hear him following her; she could hear him shouting her name, begging for her to come back. He said he didn't know what he did, but he was sorry. Tch. How can you be truly sorry if you don't know what you're apologizing for?

It was too late, though. By the time Hope had reached the waystone, she had already transported to Maker knows where…

Lightning held back a sob as her knees hit the cold, hard ground of the seventh tier of Taejin's Tower. She let out a strangled sigh, and watched the creatures move about. Her thoughts led her nowhere other than to her wounded heart. She should have been smarter than that… Of course Hope would have thought of her that way. It only made sense. She was the closest strong female to him. She was slowly realizing that it would probably never be different.

She would just have to face heartbreak.

I don't know if I want to continue this one or not. If I do, I have no idea what direction it will go in. ...but I suppose I'll probably pick it up after I get more stuff done. I think I'll leave it up to you guys, though. Should I continue?