I'm back again! It I got too bored and decided to complete another chap for you guys to read. Be glad! XD

First, though, I apologize for the change in perspective. The game parts are in 3rd, and the others are in 1st. I mean, writing about Claire's thoughts of the game isn't very exicting now, is it?

Most of my notes will be at the end of the chap. So, Enjoy!


Chapter 7: Memories and Promises

Hope sat unblinking on the sofa, thousands of emotions coursing through him. He knew this wasn't real, just a game, but he couldn't help but hope. He felt his eyes water up as memories came flooding over him. Mom…

"Let us Help!"

If Snow could rewind time, he would definitely have refused the request. But he couldn't. So he could only watch as he accepted and volunteers (doomed ones at that) stood up and each picked up a gun from the ground. He felt a pang of guilt when Nora stood up and picked up one of the guns still on the ground. Why hadn't he stopped her? Because of his actions, a boy's life had been turned around. He looked at Hope, whose eyes were watering but refused to spill the tears that were threatening to come out. Holding back your emotions, kid? You spent too much time with Lightning.

"Just let it out, kid. You'll feel a LOT better."

I can't! I have to be strong! Hope's body was screaming at him to just cry, but he didn't want to. He didn't want to look weak in front of everybody. But his body betrayed him, and the tears finally spilled out of him. He jumped slightly when a warm hand placed itself on his back, patting his smoothly. Thinking it was Lightning, Hope dropped his head in a futile attempt to hide the tears.

"Geez, Hope. You spent too much time with Lightning."

Hope's head snapped up to find Claire sitting beside him, with her hand on his back, comforting him. He was even more surprised when she pulled him into a tight hug. He didn't know why, but he felt better right away. It reminded of when Lightning had hugged him back in Palumpolum.

Claire was relieved to find that Hope had finally let out all his tears, and he was now sobbing silently into her shoulder. Hope was taller than her, but she was sitting on the side, so she was sitting at a slightly higher position than him. Still softly patting his back, she asked, "Do you want to leave? You don't have to watch this part if you don't want to."

Hope shook his head. "I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Okay." Claire unpaused the scene, stealing a glance at Hope's face as she did so. His cheeks and eyes were red from crying, but other than that it seemed that he was fine. She hoped so. If this part was bad enough, She didn't know how Hope would cope with the next bit.

"You sure?"

"Don't worry. Moms are tough."

This brought Snow back to reality. He had been so deep in thought he had not noticed the exchange that happened between Claire and Hope. He sighed softly and focused back on what was happening on the screen.

Meanwhile, Lightning had been watching everything silently. She wanted to go comfort Hope, but she knew she was never good at those things, so she left it to Claire, who was doing a great job. She rolled her eyes at the exchange between Snow and Vanille. Do you always have to be THIS cheesy, Snow? What she did not expect, though, was Vanille's response (or thought) to the exchange.

"First impression of Snow? All talk."

She fought the urge to laugh out loud at this statement. This, she wholeheartedly agreed to.

"See, Snow? Even Vanille thinks so." She said to Snow, who was looking mildly offended at Vanille's comment.

"Hey! That's not fair!"

She chuckled. "How is it 'not fair'? That's just how you naturally seem to be."

Snow's expression slipped into a pout. Great, now even Light is picking on me. Heturned away from Lightning to find…Hope laughing?

"Snow," Hope said between laughs, "I. Absolutely. Agree."

Desperate, Snow turned to the last person in the room. "Claireee…"

Claire shot an apologetic look at Snow. "Sorry, Snow. You're on your own."

"Fine!" Snow crossed his arms and slumped into the couch in an attempt to look angry. Inside, though, he was glad Hope was now back to his normal self. He hoped it would stay that way.

When Hope had finished laughing his ass of (Not literally, of course) at Snow, He looked back up to the screen. He was prepared. He watched as Snow charged to a rocket launcher lying on the ground to try and destroy the airship but ultimately missing it. He then closed his eyes, waiting for his death, but a blast from behind destroyed the cannon. Hope wondered who it was for a moment, and he was given the answer the camera turned around to his mom, who was holding the rocket launcher in one hand, the other offering to help Snow up.

"I told you, didn't I? Moms are tough."

Hope could only watch as another airship from behind fired a blast at that moment, which hit Nora in the back and caused the bridge to collapse, the people sliding off the destroyed bridge to their death. He forced himself to remain calm, using some of the techniques Lightning had taught him.

Snow felt another pang of guilt, this time a much larger one. Nora had saved his life! And yet, he was about to let her die. Another blast from the airship sent 'him' and Nora sliding off the bridge, and he watched as he was left hanging off the edge with Nora slipping out of his grasp every second.

"Get him home…please…"

Hope felt another surge of tears well up at his eyes. Mom…you were always thinking about me, even when you were dying…

"Hold on!"

He felt guilty for blaming all this on Snow. It wasn't like he WANTED her to die. He was trying to save her too. Hope watched his mom's hand slip from Snow's grasp and fall to the depths of Hanging Edge, never to be found again. Claire was patting Hope's back again, whispering comforting words to him. He looked up and placed his hand on top of hers.

"Claire, I'm fine."

"But-"

"I'm fine."

Claire dropped her hand from Hope's back upon his confirmation and slowly turned her head back to the screen.

SLAP!

Hope winced slightly. He had been so out of it then he needed a slap from Vanille just to wake him up from his trance. He was glad Vanille had done that though. He didn't want to keep staring at the place where his mother had died.

The scene switched back to Lightning and Sazh.

"This is an all out massacre. These people won't even live long enough to die on Pulse."

"That was the idea. These people conjured up the Purge to eliminate a threat. I mean, why carry the danger all the way to Pulse? Why not just stamp it out here? Execution masquerading as exile. That's all the Purge ever was."

Snow couldn't keep the shocked look from his face. This was the intention all along? The military had never intended for them to go to Pulse. A whole town was brought here…just to be killed?

"Relocation to Pulse. How does the government get away from with pulling crap like that?"

Snow nodded silently to himself. How, indeed.

"And you…you knew this all along?"

"The Purge was PSICOM. Not the Guardian Corp."

"Soldiers are soldiers, aren't they? Pulse Fal'Cie, and their L'Cie, are enemies of the state. Tell a soldier to kill an enemy, and you think it's really gonna matter what uniform he's wearing?"

Harsh words there, Sazh.

"How about you? Orders say shoot, you pull the trigger?"

Snow looked towards Lightning when she didn't answer. She didn't look like she was paying attention to what was happening, instead she seemed to be thinking about something.

"Lightning?"

Lightning snapped out of her thoughts from Snow's question. She had been thinking about Sazh's question. Back then…probably. But now…

"Hm?"

"Why didn't you answer?"

She sighed. Even if Snow seemed like a complete dumbass all the time, he was actually pretty sharp.

"I…"

A crash interrupted her response. A Myrmidon had landed on the bridge. She watched Claire fight it off with ease and once it died, another cutscene began. This one, though, was different. Everything was much more detailed compared to the ones before.

"Your removal is the will of the people of Cocoon. Should you attempt to flee, the sanctum will employ every resource necessary the bring you to justice. This land is no longer your home."

Removal my ass. You mean death.

The screen then changed to Snow getting up from the debris of the collapsed bridge.

"Serah…"

Lightning couldn't suppress an eye roll. Sure, the first thing he says after he gets up is Serah. It's not really a bad thing, but I wish he'd stop repeating it all the time!

The screen switched again, this time to Lightning and Sazh.

"Just what you were looking for."

"Yeah, right in there."

"The Pulse Fal'Cie, huh?

Before anyone could make any comment about it, the screen switched again to Hope and Vanille. Hope watched himself take off his Purge robe, followed by Vanille, who then proceeded to hug him.

"It's too much, isn't it? Face it later."

"Ciao!"

He smiled to himself. It had been so unexpected. One minute she was hugging and comforting him, the next minute she just ran off. And what does 'Ciao' mean anyway? Is it some ancient Pulse language? He wasn't expecting the next line, though.

"You said it made you happy when I smiled, didn't you? But really, I was afraid. I was always afraid."

Hope couldn't contain the shock on his face. Unfortunately, Snow noticed, and attacked him right away.

"Hooope, did I just hear what I think I just heard?"

He blushed furiously at his comment. "N-No! That isn't how it sounds like!"

"Oh really?"

"It was a joke! Kind of…" He mumbled the last part, but Snow caught it.

"Ah, so you DID mean it!"

"No- I- ARG!" Hope help up his hands in defeat. "Whatever."

"So you admit you like Vanille?"

"NO!"

"You do! Hope likes Vanille, Hope likes Vanille~" Snow started dancing around the room, singing horribly off tune. Just as Hope was about to die from embarrassment, another voice saved him.

"Stop that, Snow. You look like a complete douche bag." Lightning said.

Thank you, Lightning! I worship you forever!

Snow was not very willing to give in, though. "Sis, do it wit-"

He was met with a kick in the gut. "I'm not your sister, Snow. And don't you dare finish that sentence."

Snow finally gave in, and sat back down on the sofa, but not before muttering, "Not YET."

WHACK!

"Say another WORD, and I won't hold back."

Claire nearly lost her balance on her seat. Fudge! Lightning HOLDS BACK when she punches Snow? I'm scared to find out what happens if she uses her full force.

Lightning turned back towards the screen without another word, leaving Snow to rub his aching jaw.

The previous cutscene had finished, so now it was on Snow, who had just arrived back on the bridge, which was littered with dead bodies.

"Get him home…Get who home?"

"Snow?" Hope asked.

"Yeshh?" Snow's cheek had swelled up from the punch, so his words were unclear and slurred.

"You…You're so oblivious!"

"Whatch?"

"I can't believe you didn't realize it was ME!"

"Hey! Noch My Fauch!" (Just in case- Not My Fault!)

"Snow?"

"WHATCH?"

"You sound ridiculous."

"Yooou! Yeeeuuu nnnouuu haaaauu maacchhh ddiiss hharts?" Snow uttered a jumble of words which no one could understand.

"Yes, Whatever, Snow."

"Yoo-!" Snow was cut off, fortunately.

"She's waiting there, isn't she? Your lovely bride-to-be. Isn't it about time you picked her up?"

For some reason she couldn't understand, Lightning felt incredibly pissed off. True, Serah WAS Snow's 'bride-to-be', but she still didn't like the title.

Claire fought her way through the bridge, arriving at the hovercrafts Snow and Gadot had decided to take. They arrived quickly, and Snow asked if the kids were alright, which surprised Hope. Snow didn't really seem the type who cared much about kids.

"Since when did you look out for kids?"

Apparently, Gadot thinks so too.

"Favour for a friend."

Hope knew he was referring to his mother. Snow always stuck to promises, even if they were impossible. But somehow, somehow, he would always find a way to go through with them. Hope admired Snow on that.

"I want to tell him, it's just that-"

Just that what? He was too scared?

"It could make us L'Cie."

Huh. And it did. But he was, in a way, glad he was made a L'Cie. He had become stronger.

"Hope? I don't think you should ever drive anything. Ever."

"Huh?"

Snow was snickering as he pointed to the screen. The hovercraft he was driving was flying everywhere and he felt his cheeks grow hot in embarrassment.

"Shut up!"

"I bet Claire could drive better! And she's younger than you!"

"I said, Shut up! See? It's steady now!" He pointed to the screen as the chapter ended.

"The Pulse Fal'Cie. It head out future, and our fate."

Xxxx

I put down the controller when I finished saving. I didn't want to start the 2nd chapter yet. I needed some rest. And some food would be nice. Wait. Speaking of food…

CRAP! It's already 6pm? I need to go buy stuff to cook dinner!

I quickly stood up and went to pick up the money my mom had left me to buy groceries for dinner. Let's see…what should I make today? I always enjoyed cooking. My mom and I would take turns cooking dinner every day.

Lightning had noticed me getting ready, so she left Hope and Snow to argue about his driving and other things and came over to me.

"Where're you going?"

"Oh. I need to buy groceries for dinner." I paused. "Do you wanna come?"

Lightning thought about it for a minute. "Sure. I don't want to be around them two when they argue. It destroys brain cells."

Huh? I didn't actually think Lightning would say yes.

"Okay." I was walking out the door, and Lightning was about to follow me out when I remembered something. She's LIGHTNING. THE LIGHTNING. I'm pretty sure people would recognize her.

"Umm…You need to change your clothes first. People are going to recognize you if you keep these clothes on." Not like they won't if she didn't, but there was a lesser chance. Though Strawberry Blonde hair isn't exactly common. "I'll get some casual clothes for you."

I raced upstairs and dug out some of my bigger, newer clothes that my mom had bought for me for when I was older. These should fit. I took a tanktop-like t-shirt and a short skirt from the pile I had dug up. I figured she would prefer clothes that were close to the style she usually wore.

I took the set of clothes outside and handed them to Lightning. "Are these alright? Go change in my room."

She eyed them suspiciously before taking them and heading towards my room. "Yeah. These are fine."

Lightning came out rather quickly, holding her Blazefire Saber. After looking around for a few seconds, she finally asked, "Where can I put this? I can't find anywhere to attach it!"

I laughed lightly. Of course Lightning would want to keep it with her! "Sorry, Lightning, but if you bring that, then it's going to take away the purpose of changing your clothes. Your Blazefire Saber has to stay here."

She hesitated before finally setting it down onto my bed. She eyed it one last time before leaving my room and following me back downstairs. Lightning wore her own boots. Hopefully not many people would notice.

We took the shortcut (the alleyway) to the store. I was feeling very awkward as we walked down the shortcut, so I decided to say something, anything, to break the silence.

"Umm…Lightning?"

She smiled slightly before turning towards me. "Call me Light."

xxxx

Serah was extremely worried. Lightning, Snow and Hope had been gone for at least 6 hours now. Soldiers were everywhere, looking for clues as to where they could've gone.

Serah was wandering around the beach, frantically thinking about the possible places they could've disappeared to. She was so deep in her thoughts she had not noticed that she had walked into a small pathway that was mostly hidden by the bushes. Curious, she walked in a little deeper until she saw a small glowing light coming from somewhere around the corner. Hoping there might be some clues, she headed towards the light to find herself in front of a portal like thing that was lying in the middle of the pathway. Becoming too curious for her own good, Serah slowly walked over to the portal, careful not to fall in it, and tripped over a rock – falling smack bang INTO the portal.

And everything disappeared.


Yaay! This chap is over 3000 words long! I'm so proud of myself. I only started writing this at 3pm this afternoon, now it's like, 11. Wow. I can't believe I would dedicate a whole day to write fanfiction. And I was thinking about playing FFXIII too!

Speaking of FFXIII, I need to play it AGAIN to be able to continue with the storyline (of the game) because, well, I can't really remember the exact lines and order of cutscenes of the whole game, so I have to write it down while I play. I already did the Hanging Edge though, since I had time. But with school (which means I'm only allowed to play on weekends) and things in my life, I'll probably go back to monthly updates. Sorry! Though...if I get a whole bunch of reviews, I jussttt miighhhttt update sooner...

I might've changed the mood around too much, but if I didn't, this chapter would be waaaay too serious. And there was a hint of HopexClaire there, just so you know. I feel bad for skipping some important lines which I reaally wanted to include, but I was like Screw it! I want to upload this before I go to sleep! So um...yeah.

Oh, and the non understandable part of Snow's talking is MEANT to be non understandable. But you could guess what he was saying.

And, Yes. Serah is clumsy.

Next Chap:

Claire and Light go grocery shopping and find something interesting!

Press the button. Pretty Please? Or Light will kick your ass.

Light: *Cracks her knuckles*

Puppy~