A.N. SPOILER ALARM! In this story there will be many spoilers from the game „Lightning Returns Final Fantasy XIII", which will come out in 2013. so if there's anyone who doesn't wanna be spoiled I suggest that you shouldn't read this story. This story is a Sequel to „Time Traveler" and it'll continue where the Bad Ending ended.

Disclaimer – I don't own Final Fantasy

The Last 13 Days

Chapter 1:Indestructible Crystal

The story so far...

A few moments later, the sky suddenly became dark, although not a single cloud was in the sky. Mogs crystal bobble went out and she fell to the ground. Snow caught the Moogle and held her in his arms. „The goddess...She is gone, kupo...", said Mog, before she lost consciousness. Hope remembered that Lightning said that his heart was a manifestation of Etro...Does this mean...„I killed...the goddess?", said Hope, with sheer terror in his voice. Then they heard bells and saw that dark clouds appeared and also Etros script, which he also saw on the time gates and the Eidolon. After a small storm was raging, they saw the direction in which everything came from and stared at Valhalla...

As the storm raged Sazh had to make an emergency landing, before the airship completely disappeared. The group came together and protected each other from the storm. Hope still held Lightnings lifeless body, and hadn't let her go after she died. Everyone was too shocked to say anything. All they did was staring at Valhalla.
They all looked slightly scared to the city, which shouldn't exist in the real world. Dajh clung to his father, Snow put an arm around his fiancée, while Serah held the, still unconscious, Mog in her arms and Hope knelled on the floor and still held Lightning firmly in his arms. All the many attempts to save their world and the future were completely in vain...Now that the Goddess is gone, it's the end of the world.

In this Moment Lightnings body vanished. Everyone watched Lightning dissolving and became even sadder than before. So much so that Hope and Serah almost collapsed with sadness. The others told them that they should pull themselves together. Although it sounded a bit harsh, they had to urgently consider what they do now. After that they had enough time to mourn Lightning. Everything that was man-made was gone and only the humans remained.

However, they all could vaguely see Bhunivelze in the sky. It looked as if it's some kind of a moon. There were many people around them. Those who probably lived so far away from Cocoons crystal structure that they wouldn't even notice Cocoons fall, the people who have all been evacuated, so the new Cocoons could ascent to the sky and of course all the members of the Academy were all there.

No matter how often they counseled, no one knew what to do now, what they COULD do. Then Hope remembered Snows idea, as Cocoon was saved. „How about we just build a new home somehow?", suggested the silver-haired man, while everyone turned to him and looked at him blankly. „I saw an island over there. We could live there." Everyone looked at each other. That was the only good idea that has been said, and they all agreed. The next question was how to get to this island.

Meanwhile in Etros throne room...

In the throne room a certain pink-haired warrior laid unconscious in front of the throne. She regained consciousness, sat up and looked around. Lightning knew she died, so it was not surprising to her, that she's back in Valhalla. After all, all dead warriors end up here. Just why was she alone? And why does she still feel so alive?
She went out on the balcony and saw the persons of whom she knew — or hoped — were still alive. She saw Hope, Snow, Serah, Dajh, Sazh and the crystals from Vanille and Fang, which stood on the edge, to not lay in somebody's way. On the horizon, she discovered an island that, wasn't there in the first place...The people looked at the island often and pointed to it.

Lightning suspected that they all want to get there, but why? Did Snow came with the "Let's-just-built-a-new-home"-idea around the corner? Probably. Just a fool like Snow would be optimistic, after everything what happened, with full of hope, and would try to make the best out of their situation. Lightning then asked herself what SHE could do. Everyone thought she was dead, that's what she thought too, but she felt as alive as ever. She also wore her armor again, the one she wore during the fight against Caius, and it felt pretty real.

Her l'Cie brand that Etro activated, was however completely white and frozen, was still on her left chest, near the sternum. She had to be alive. Etro seemed to have blessed her more than expected...Or maybe it's because she had to do something in the world and therefore came back to life...As if she had a new Focus. And she knew it, her Focus was — once again — to save the world.

And by the gods, she will do it! But how should she do that? That's the next problem. Etro is gone and the chaos of Walhalla was released. What can she do to save everyone? Something in her told her that now was not the time to do something. She couldn't do anything yet...Even though time froze, time itself would always flow in any way. Very soon cities would be built and she was pretty sure that the day and night cycle was still present. That would mean that it would almost be like in the real world, with the only difference that no one of them aged.

By then, when the whole chaos became a daily routine, something should be done. That's where she has to be. Just how could she go there? Time travel was now impossible...The portals closed as they defeated Caius. She had to find a way get to that future as fast as possible!

While the former l'Cie group thought about how they should go to the island, Hope got an idea. He lifted his left sleeve and pulled off his glove to see his wrist. His eyes widened slightly as he saw burned up l'Cie brand. Maybe he could still summon Alexander and maybe even the Shiva sisters. He focused heavily and took his crystal. So far so good. Then he called Mog, who has now regained consciousness. She flew to him. „Change to that bow.", he ordered, and Mog did as she was told. Hope caught to bow, in which she transformed herself. „What are you doing, kiddo?", asked Snow confuses and watched what he's planned.

The silver-haired man didn't answer, he just threw up the crystal and destroyed it with an arrow. The crystal shattered and ice came out of it. Then the Shiva sister, Stiria and Nix, appeared. „Hey Hope! Since when can you call the Shivas?", asked aid Snow, who was now even more confused than before. The others looked at him and quizzically. „Since, Etro has blessed me and...Lightning...as we had to fight against Caius."

At the mention of Lightnings name, Serah got teary-eyed again. „Sis...", she mumbled and shut her eyes tightly as the tears flowed down her cheeks. Snow pulled her into a hug and tried to comfort her. Even if Lightning hated him, she was practically a part of his family. Then for a few minutes there was silence. Even if they couldn't save the world and the future, Lightning was still a heroine.

Hope had always seen her as a heroine. Since they began to get along well, she had been a heroine in his eyes. After all, she helped him to survive, to find the hope he was named for. She taught him to fight, to defend himself, to win through, never give up hope and so much more. He looked to his companions. Serah was totally upset, Snow held her in his arms, and even fought back the tears himself, and Sazh and Dajh just looked sad, even the Chocobo chick was very sad and Mog was on his shoulder and looked also deeply sad.

Hope broke the silence and told the Shiva sisters to freeze the sea of chaos so that it formed a way to the island. They did it, and created a path, before they disappeared again. Hope then looked in the direction in which the crystals of Fang and Vanille were, but they were gone! „Hey, guys!", called Hope to everyone and pointed to the spot where their crystals should have been. „Where are they?" Everyone looked around and searched for the crystals, but froze as they saw two women, dressed in Pulse-typical clothes, went toward them. One of them had shoulder-length black hair, blue eyes and blue clothes and the other had red hair, that were tied two braids, green eyes and was wearing, compared to the other one, a more permissive outfit. „Fang! Vanille!", called the former l'Cie and ran to them, to welcome them.

They embraced each other. „I never thought that you'd miss us so much.", joked Fang. Of course she knew how much her friends have missed them, they could see everything. „Of course we missed you!", said Snow. „Where's Lightning", asked Vanille and they immediately became deeply upset again. „Oh no, don't tell me she's..." Fang broke off as they all nodded. „Damn. I was hoping that this was just a bad dream.", she muttered and then looked at Vanille, who looked sadly at her.

„Believe me. We all hope that it's just a bad dream.", said Hope for the group. „What's your plan now?", asked Vanille to change the subject. „We go to the island, over there.", said Sazh and pointed to the island. „The most important thing to do now is to build a new home. That's all we can do now." Fang and Vanille nodded. „Okay, then we will help you with this. I was just hoping that it won't end like this..."

„Who didn't?", said Hope and watched the mass of people that went across the icy bridge to the island. At the end the former l'Cie remained. „Hey guys, let's look around here.", said Snow to the group. „Maybe we'll find something."

„And what exactly do you want to find here?", asked Hope and was slightly annoyed because Snow, after all that has happened, sounded so cheerful and optimistic. „THAT'S what we have to find out."

„We have to, huh?", asked Hope angrily and glared at him. In this moment Sazh intervened. „Hey, hey, now stay cool, kid." Hope ignored him and took a step closer to Snow, but was held back by Sazh. „How can Snow still be so optimistic, after all this happened? Light is gone! Do you want to pretend like nothing happened?"

„No...", said Snow with a sigh and looked down. „Then what, Snow? Or do you want to cover our sadness, so that we don't think about it anymore? I thought you liked Light! And what the hell do you want to find here?"

„Hey, come down now, kiddo.", said Fang and stood in front of him, just in case he wants to attack Snow. Everyone looked at Snow and waited for his answer. He just looked sadly to the dark floor. „Hope, of course I liked Lightning. And I don't want to try to let you forget that. And I thought maybe we'll find some clues. You said a few moments ago, that this island wasn't there when you Light were here the last time. Maybe a few other things have emerged."

„Snow could be right.", said Fang after a moment of silence. The others agreed and then turned to Hope. „Okay!", he said and broke away from Fang and Sazh. „Let's look around."

Lightning saw and heard everything the group talked about and was quite shocked how angry Hope suddenly became. She saw that the group went to the shrine, she was in just now, and thought about what she could do now. Because sitting around and waiting is not her thing, she pondered for a different path to make a jump in time as fast as possible.

Because of the chaos, no one would age, which means that she will see Hope and the others again. In addition, she also had to keep the hope for everyone. But if you live long enough in this realm of chaos all hope would be lost sooner or later...Then she got an idea. She was still partially a l'Cie, she could still turn into crystal. She would "sit around and do nothing" anyway, but she would sleep and when she wakes up again, she'll be in the distant future. That's exactly what she should do! Thus she could preserve the last vestiges of their hope — not only for a better future, but also to see her friends, and most importantly Hope, again.

She went to the throne and sat down on it. Then she laid her left leg on the right one and looked straight ahead and just before her friends arrived the throne room, she turned into crystal. But this crystal is different from the normal crystals, in which l'Cie transformed into. This crystal is indestructible, so nobody needs worry that her crystal could be destroyed. And even in the waves of chaos, it never loses its shine.

Hope and the others arrived the throne room Etros. Their eyes widened when they saw what — or rather who — was on the throne. „Lightning!", they all shouted in unison. Hope and Serah ran immediately to the throne and stared at Lightning. She sat on the throne, her left leg on the other and arms were on the armrest. But what shocked them the most was the fact that she was a crystal. The crystal was clear, almost translucent and slightly pink, but in some places — such as her head — it was dull and white.

„Light went into crystal stasis...", mumbled Vanille to herself, but loud enough that everyone heard it. „That means—", began, Hope and continued to stare at her crystal. „—she's still—", continued Serah and looked at the silver-haired man overjoyed. Hope returned her happy gaze. „She's still alive!", they finished together, while Serah jumped into the arms of the nearest person, in this case it was Hope. The silver-haired man was so surprised by her action that he almost fell down, but fortunately he was able to maintain his balance.

Then, Snow went to them and hugged them both. „I should have known, that Light isn't so easy to kill! She always manages to appear on the scene!" The others came closer and were also very happy. „But how can that be? I've seen how she died...", said Hope, while looking back to the crystal. „Etro has blessed both of you, right?", asked Vanille, while Hope nodded. „Maybe she knew what will happen to Lightning and made her some a kind of a god?"

„Don't be silly, Vanille.", laughed Fang. „Something like this is impossible."

„Maybe it IS possible.", said Sazh thoughtfully. „You know how gods are like. If a fal'Cie can give you "eternal life", then why not the gods too?"

„That's right, kupo!" Everybody looked to Mog, which has been silent until now. „I felt it as Etro has blessed you, kupo. She has given Lightning a few extra powers, kupo."

„Then I'm relieved.", said Hope and sighed relieved. „But why did she turn into crystal?"

„I think Light wanted it that way.", said Vanille and pointed to Lightnings crystallized form. „Look at her posture. She seems very relaxed and determined. She has transformed herself of her own free will into crystal."

„But why?", wondered Serah. „It's simple.", began Snow and grinned broadly. „You know Light. It could be that she thought she couldn't do anything now and instead of just waiting for the right time, she has sent herself into crystal stasis to sleep all the time."

„Or she wants us to not loose hope?", suspected the younger Farron and looked her friends, with shining eyes. „Yeah, that makes sense.", said Hope. „This is typical Lightning.", said Sazh. „Kwee!", agreed the Chocobo chick and flew around happily. „Kupo!"

„Then we leave the hero role to sunshine. When the time comes, she'll wake up and hopefully fulfills her Focus.", said Fang and grinned. „And until then, we're helping the people to build a new home!", joined Vanille in. „Let's do it, daddy!", said Dajh, who listened intently what everyone planned. „You said it.", agreed Sazh and patted his son. „Yeah, let's do it!", said Hope as determined as never before. „Yes!" agreed the rest.

A.N. So this was the 1st chappy of my brand new storyx3 Perhaps I need even more time, as I expected, 'cause I have to be vigilant about new infos from SE and I might need to edit some things (just like the "no one will age anymore"-thingx'D) Anyway...I hope that Lightnings reason to become Crystal in the first place isn't as dumb as I thought in the beginning. A friend of mine told me that it's okay and that I don't have to edit it in any well the 1st chappy became incredibly short again, but whateverxD I hope that you liked the 1st chappy and that we'll see each other in the other chappies as well^^ another very important information is: that I'm—of course—NOT done with this storyxD I told ya to upload it when I'm finished, but I wanted to upload the 1st chappy now, it's like a teaserx3 and I hope you don't mind if you have to wait so long till I can update again.^^' see ya!