"Listen.. Lightni-"

"Claire... My name is Claire.."

Cloud stared into Lightning's pale eyes with confusion, but soon realized this was the beginning of her letting him in. As she spoke her real name the strong and defiant 'Lightning' faded and a new, more vulnerable side, unseen by many, shone through.

"it's good to meet you Claire." The blonde replied sincerely, smiling at Claire who seemed to be looking for a similar response. "My name is actually Cloud..." He finished with a grin.

"Strange name to be born with." Claire stated, hoping to keep the conversation alive and learn more about the still mysterious man in front of him.

"My mother picked it... She said it's because the clouds fly high watching over everyone and are what separates the planet from heaven, where the angels rest.. How wrong she was..." Cloud's soon realized this was the first time in years that he had spoken about his mother to anyone. Even Tifa had to force this conversation from his lips. Claire could see the sadness building in Cloud's eyes and didn't want him to shut down and hide behind his bomb proof emotional walls so changed the subject quickly to a question she wanted to know secretly since the hospital.

"...So why did you think I was an angel?" The rose haired beauty spoke with a grin trying to forestall her glowing cheeks.

"When I was small my mother used to tell me stories about angels. She told me that everyone had an angel that watched over them through their lives. They had pale skin and rose pink hair... She said their beauty and grace was only matched by their will to protect their connected soul..."

"You think I'm -"

"I need to shut the cafe down guys. I should have been in bed hours ago!" Lebreau shouted as she made her way from the back office and headed towards the pair. Much to Cloud's relief who had, for now, avoided the second most embarrassing moment of his life; following closely behind dressing up as a girl to get into Don Conero's mansion.

That instant the rose haired beauty's eyes changed from caring and attentive to cold and ruthless as she glared over to the cafe owner who stopped in her tracks, briefly frozen in fear halfway between the counter and their table. Claire had vanished and Lightning was back.

"Sorry. We'll get going now." Lightning said with a forced smile, but with anger still in her eyes. "Let's go Cloud."

Cloud stood up and reclaimed his sword from Lightning before stepping away from the corner table and glancing out of the window at the starry sky. The lights in the brightly lit cafe did a good job of repelling the darkness from outside taking hold causing the mako eyed soldier to wonder how long he had been sat, talking to Lightning. Or rather Claire, for.

"You ok?" Claire asked as she placed her hand on Cloud's shoulder, worried he was thinking about his home world.

"Yeah.. sorry.. after you." he replied softly as he held his arm out towards the door.

The pair made their way towards the door giving the cafe owner a smile and a nod before they disappeared into the carpark and back into the car. It wasn't long before they made it back to Claire's beautiful home, this time pulling onto the driveway as quiet as possible so she didn't wake her neighbor.

"Not trying to wind her up tonight?" Cloud asked in a sarcastic tone.

"I feel... More at peace tonight." she replied softly.

Sharing a brief smile before they exited the car, the two companions entered the house to find Duke sat on the sofa's on the other end of the room next to a large box. As soon as the door shut behind them Duke was alerted to their presence and came charging over almost knocking Claire over as he jumped up to greet her. After the excitable dog jumped down from her master he made his way to Cloud for some more affection.

"You better not have damaged that parcel Duke." Claire warned as she made her way over to the ring of sofa's with Cloud in her wake. "Take your clothes off." She demanded as she threw the box over to the blonde who was so taken back by her words he didn't even raise his hand to catch the box which hit him in the chest and landed on the floor.

"Excuse me?" the mako eyed man said in bewilderment.

"Don't flatter yourself." Claire replied, realizing her poor choice of words. "The box has a fresh pair of clothes in. Put them on and I'll wash the blood from yours, and tomorrow we will go and see Hope and see if he can repair your armour. I'll go get us a drink."

Claire turned her back on Cloud and made her way towards the kitchen as she heard him hesitantly tearing open the box and removing his Clothes. Upon entering the gloss black kitchen the rose haired beauty opened the fridge door and pulled out a bottle of water and two bottles of ice cold beer. Before returning she picked up the dogs water bowl and make her way back to Cloud. Claire froze on the spot as Cloud came into view. He had managed to get the black sweat pants she ordered on but stood topless briefly as he searched the remains of the torn up box for the shirt.

Unable to take her pale blue eyes of the blonde haired man, Claire surveyed his lean but muscular torso and all the scars; old and new, that encompassed his body until it disappeared under a gray, tight fitted sports shirt. Several second's past before Cloud, who had been fully aware of her presence snapped her out of her daze.

"Whats wrong?" he asked, confused as to why she was staring.

"Nothing!" Claire stated, going on the defensive as she realized she had been staring at him for quite some time. Her blushing cheeks betrayed her words, to which Cloud noticed but graciously didn't mention.

What the hell is wrong with you Farron!

The rose haired beauty handed a bottle to Cloud as the pair at down on the ring of sofa's around the blazing fire. Duke joined the pair after his master poured the bottle of water into his bowl before letting out a loud yawn and leaning back on the sofa. The deafening silence encompassed the two companions for a moment before the blonde leaned forward and drank a mouthful of the refreshing beer and tried to start up another conversation with Claire.

"Tell me about yourself." The blonde asked with genuine interest, wanting to know more about the young woman who sat before him.

"What do you wanna know?" Claire replied, not wanting to sound disinterested. The thought of talking about her life was never really a happy one.

"I know about what you've done and about the fal'ce and Bhunevelze. Tell me about your childhood."

Of all the subject's Claire didn't want to talk about, her family and growing up was top of the list. Realizing how much the pair had began to build up trust and let each other in, the rose haired beauty began to recall some of her saddest memories.

"My father died when I was very young and my mother died when I was fifteen. Me and Serah were left on our own... So as the oldest I tried to become an adult quicker than any teenager should so I could look after my sister. I thought I had to be strong for her and to forget about the weak and scared child I was, I renamed myself 'Lightning'. Soon after I finished school and joined the guardian corps and progressed through the ranks to prove myself to the world, until I became the best in my regiment."

Cloud was shocked at the similarities between her troubled upbringing and his own. He never knew his father and his mother was killed by Sephiroth when he was sixteen. And although for slightly different reasons joined the army to be the best.

Well at least one of us became the best at something...

Despite Cloud's socially awkward personality, he did his best to try and say something positive to Claire, who for the first time since they met seemed to be displaying signs of sadness.

"Hey... They would be proud of you."

The rose haired beauty smiled as she tried to hold back the tear's. Duke caught the blonde's attention just long enough for Claire to wipe her glistening, pale blue eyes without him noticing. She had never thought about how her parents would have felt if they were alive to see her now, but the words from the mako eyed man gave her the impression that they would be happy with her victory over her many struggles throughout life.

"I feel... Lighter..." The rose haired beauty stated, feeling the enormous weight of her bottled up past leave her as she told Cloud about her past.

"Good.. Some things you can't prevent. Sometimes your life gets turned upside down. It's how you deal with it that counts." The blonde replied, unsure in his mind if he was trying to convince Claire or himself.

Claire nodded in understanding before standing and drinking the remainder of her beer.

"Go get some sleep. I'll put your clothes in the wash before I go to bed. We've got a long day tomorrow so try and get some sleep.. Oh your not afraid of flying are you?"

"No.. Why?" The blonde asked, wondering what she had in store for him tomorrow.

"You'll see." Claire replied with a grin. "goodnight Cloud."

"Goodnight Claire." Cloud smiled back as he left Claire and Duke downstairs and headed to bed.

The next day Cloud opened his mako eyes to the sound of Claire's voice coming from the hallway outside of his bedroom. It took him a few moments to come to his senses and sit up in the warm and comfortable bed and home in on the conversation outside his door.

"That's fine Sazh... ok...Two hours... Yeah on the outskirts of town... No don't land in my neighbors driveway!.. ok see you in two hours...I won't be late." Claire shut the phone and slid it into her pocket before knocking on the blonde's bedroom door. "Time to get up! Your Clothes are outside your door. I'll be down stairs waiting!"

Cloud jumped out of bed and let out an almighty yawn as he stomped over to the door and opened it. At his feet was his clothes all washed, dried and perfectly folded in a neat pile. Scooping them up the cerulean eyed man shut the door again and began to get changed. The only thing missing was his burnt gloves and damaged shoulder pauldron and the sleeve that attached to it. Thinking nothing of it he finished getting changed and made his way down the stairs to find Claire in the kitchen.

"Toast?" She asked as she caught sight of the blonde making his way down the LED staircase.

"Sure." Cloud replied with a smile and made his way to the kitchen for breakfast.

"I'm not much of a cook. Toast is about all I can manage." Claire grinned.

"Me too. I'd have died of starvation if it wasn't for Tifa." Cloud smiled back briefly before yet again realizing she was gone.

"Who's Tifa? Was she your wife?" Claire asked as the grin was wiped immediately from her face.

"No.. She was my oldest friend. We Lived together with two kids in edge." He answered quietly bowing his head in shame.. It had been the first time he'd thought about Denzel and Marlene since it happened.

"Sounds like a happy family." Cloud never looked up from his toast but could hear a distinct pain in Claire's voice. "Lets go. We're walking to the edge of town. Your damaged armour is on the side. Bring it." Claire marched towards the door and managed to get outside before the blonde had even stood up.

Cloud rushed to his armour and ran after the rose haired beauty and shut the door behind him. Claire was already marching down the road causing the blonde to break into a run after her, unsure why her mood suddenly changed. The pair walked the remaining two miles in silence until they made it to the outskirts of the town where the large grassy fields began.

"You ok?" The blonde asked, genuinely concerned but mostly confused.

"Yes." Claire stated in a cold tone. She was in fact far from fine. The man before her was the first person she'd ever opened up to and now finds out he had a nice happy family on his own world, despite him saying they were just friends. Feeling stupid for being so open with the stranger and refusing to get hurt. Claire did the only thing she knew, in order to protect the 'weak' side of her that Cloud brought out in her.

I knew I couldn't be happy... Lightning, It can't protect; it only destroys... I am Lightning...

"From now on call me Lightning." Claire demanded as she looked to the sky at the sound of a helicopter approaching.

Cloud didn't respond to lightnings cold demeanor but instead looked into the distance to see a large, black helicopter approaching quickly from the north. A few moments later it was hovering above their heads, pushing the grass away more violently with every meter it descended, until it touched down in front of them.

"Hey now! Get in!" The pilot shouted over the noise of the jet engine.

Lightning entered the opening of the helicopter followed closely by Cloud. Once they were both seated the pilot took off again and ascended into the sky. The blonde surveyed the man behind the controls as Claire, or rather Lightning was now in no mood to talk. He was a black man with a large afro that looked perfectly styled. His well worn olive green coat and khaki trousers suggested to Cloud that he was not a military pilot despite the two pistols holstered to his legs. A picture of what the blonde assumed was his son and a young chocobo was stuck to the roof lining of the cockpit, above the many switches and gauges.

It took him a few seconds to realize but the chocobo in the picture was the only thing that both of their world's had in common. The cerulean eyed man turned to Lightning to tell her about this trivial information to find her looking out of the window, still with a less than pleasant look on her face.

"I'm Sazh by the way! Nice to meet ya friend!" The pilot shouted as he removed his right hand from the helicopter's controller and stretched it out towards Cloud, who reciprocated and shook the man's hand.

"Cloud! Likewise!" The blonde replied trying to bellow over the turbine engine behind his ears.

It wasn't long before Cloud's cerulean eyes fell upon a formation of tall structures miles into the distance. As they neared, more of the city became visible from behind the patchy clouds and the blonde was taken back by how large it was. Over a dozen skyscrapers were at the city center with smaller buildings surrounding them. This jungle of glass and steel glistened in the mid day sun and couldn't have been any more different from Midgar. Even from a mile away this city looked like a beacon of hope instead of the tower of corruption that ruined his life.

"One minute to wheels down!" Sazh shouted as he skillfully descended from the cloud base and towards the largest tower that stood perfectly centered in the middle of the city. Soon after, the helicopters wheels touched down on the tower's roof and the jet engine's high pitched whine turned to silence.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you have reached your destination. Please leave all seats in the upright position and exit the craft in a calm and orderly fashion!" It was plain to see that behind Sazh' skill and professionalism was an easy going man with humorous side.

"Lets go."

Lightning's cold and quick words caused Cloud's attention to turn on her as the made the short jump from the helicopter. The trio made their way towards the steel elevator door that stood across from the helipad. Even on a Calm day, the wind rushing over the roof caused most to walk with caution. Lightnings relatively petite figure however plowed through the unpredictable gusts of wind like she was made of iron.

Sazh took a keycard from around his neck and swiped it across the control panel of the Elevator, causing it to ping as the heavy, steel doors slid open. The trio entered the lift and Sazh typed in the floor number 200. Another beep was heard and the control panel lit up green in acceptance. The descent took less than a few seconds and the steel doors slid open to reveal a Huge room with a large oak tree in the center and tables dotted around it.

The shocking similarity between this floor and the employee lounge at Shinra HQ send the blonde's mind into a flashback. He still remembered vividly breaking through the door's of Shinra headquarters and making his way floor by floor to rescue Aeris from Hojo and to stumble upon a highly intelligent and mysterious beast that was Nanaki.

Floor 61...

"Oh, I see. So you must be that whacha call it... Shinra, inc. Repair division!"

"Hey!" Lightning's stern voice snapped Cloud out of his daze; who was still stood inside the elevator as she ran back over the closing door and slammed her palm into it, forcing the cold steel to open once more. "Problem?"

"No." The blonde replied, matching her short, cold tone as he walked out of the lift.

"Ooook... Follow me you guys!" the green coated pilot shouted cheerily.

The trio regrouped on Sazh and walked across the huge room, passing the oak tree that seemed to create a fresh and outdoorsy smell that filled the entire floor. On the far end of the room stood a colossal, frosted glass door that seemed more ornate than the rest. Whoever or whatever was stood behind that door was important.

Lightning was the first to make it to the door and knocked softly on the frosted glass before entering without waiting for a response. Holding the door open she ushered the other two in before letting go and allowing the door to shut behind them.

The room they entered contained a black glass desk that was big enough to hold several computer monitors, as well as piles of paperwork and a phone. At the sound of the rose haired beauty's knock, a young man who was previously concealed behind the computer screen on his desk, stood up and smiled with delight at the sight of her.

"Hey Light!" The young man beamed as he made his way around his desk to meet her.

"Hope. It's been a while." Lightning replied as she let out a mild smile from the corner of her lips. "Your fancy computers find anything interesting?"

"A brief spike of energy localized several miles from the town the day your acquaintance appeared. Its consistent with a jump in space time... Although it did appear to be slightly different from the reading's I received when Serah and Noel were jumping through the timeline. It may be because of this new world we now inhabit, but I can't say for sure."

"Thanks... Anyway... As I explained on the phone, we're facing an imminent threat and we need to prepare for it. I was hoping your archives may shed some light on the enemy and the science warfare division could help repair Cloud's armour and get us some supplies."

Lightning's words brought Hopes attention onto the blonde who stood behind her. Scanning Cloud for a little longer than he should have, Hope couldn't help but see the similarities between his friend and the stranger. Cloud's mako eyes caused the young man to feel uneasy and he gazed into them, as if peering into the very heart of his pain ridden soul.

"Sazh, take them down to floor 148. And see if you can do anything with their armour.. I'll keep searching through the archives.. I'll phone if I find anything."

"No problem! Come on you two! Time to visit my third favorite place in the building!" Sazh shouted with a smile.

"Third?" Lightning replied as she and Cloud turned to follow him.

"Yeah.. right behind the aerospace division and the canteen!"

The rose haired beauty shook her head and smiled as she made her way with Sazh and Cloud back towards the lift. It wasn't long before the lift doors opened once more to reveal a brightly lit and sterile room. Large white tiles lined the walls, floor and ceiling that seemed to amplify the already blinding lights. White tables lined the outer edges of the room. Each with a prototype weapon or armour mounted on them and several men around each one. None of the scientists or engineers looked up as the lift door's opened and the trio took their first steps into the vast room.

"End of this room there's a door that leads to a lab. We're going there." Sazh stated as he pointed to a door in the right corner of the room.

"Lab?.." The blonde replied, suddenly becoming uneasy.

"They just have equipment to machine parts and run tests on the materials used in the weapons and armour you see here. We don't experiment on people here I can assure you." Lightnings sudden attitude change from this morning was beginning to grate on the blonde but her words caused him to relax slightly.

Sazh opened the door with his card key and the trio entered the lab. The room was the same white as the last and the light's shone just as brightly. The difference however was the scientists in this room flocked around the cerulean eyed soldier as soon as he stopped in the center of the room.

"Hey!" Lightning roared, seeing the genuine fear in Clouds mako eyes and his hand slowly rising to meet the handle of his colossal sword as they circled like vultures. Despite Lightning being the smallest in the room her voice commanded swift attention from everyone in the room. "My friend isn't a fan on men in white coats. So if you could all calm down and step back a bit.."

"Sorry ma'am. We're just fascinated by this man's choice of weapon and armour." One of the Young scientists spoke, trying not to make eye contact with the rose haired beauty. "May we look at your damaged armour sir?"

Feeling more at ease after examining the small group of men, Cloud took his shoulder pauldron and handed it to the young man without saying a word. The blonde watched as the young scientist walked over to his desk with the armour and began to chip tiny fragments of the recently molten metal off and place some under a microscope. A few minutes passed before he rose to his feet and returned to Cloud, holding a small hand held device.

"hmmm. I can fix that shoulder guard for you in a couple of hours. But if you would prefer I can scan you with this machine and we will make you a custom uniform. It will look mostly the same but will be lighter and take more damage. Hope Phoned before you got here and told me 'Whatever they need'.. so... what do yo say?"

Cloud looked briefly at Lightning who nodded her approval to him, before turning back to the man. "What does the scanner do?" He asked defensively.

"It scans your body and takes all of your measurements, as well as identifying the materials of your clothing to determine the most efficient design."

Satisfied with the mans answer, the cerulean eyed man nodded and stood still as the young scientist glided the scanner in front of him for a few seconds before returning to his desk and plugging the device into the computer.

"That's my job done. Come back at 6:40pm and April will have crafted a masterpiece!" The young man grinned as he pointed to an attractive young woman with long red hair and glasses, who looked up from her work at the sound of her name.

"Alrighty then! We got a few hours to kill. What you fancy?" The green coated pilot shouted.

"Anywhere but the historical archives floor." Lightning pleaded.

"You not wanna visit the 'Lightning shrine' then I take it?"

"No..No I do not." the rose haired beauty stated bluntly as she threw Sazh a deathly look.

"Sounds like fun." the blonde announced, much to Lightning's anger.

"To the 'Lightning shrine'!" Sazh shouted, jokingly to Cloud, as they made their way to the lift once more.

The Steel lift doors slid open and Sazh skipped out into the Library like room like an excited child, followed closely by Cloud. The pair turned back to face the lift to find Lightning stood defiantly with her arms crossed. The rose haired beauty didn't speak. Instead she shot the pair an annoyed look and slammed her palm against the control panel, causing her to dissapear from view as the lift doors closed.

"Why do you call it 'The Lightning shrine'?" Cloud asked curiously.

"You'll see. It's a few floors up, but we'll take the stairs. Not sure where miss moody has gone too."

Once inside the main section of the historical archives section it suddenly became apparent why Sazh refered to it as 'The Lightning shrine'. Seperating the mahogany bookshelves stood Life sized statues of the rose haired beauty and masterful paintings of her on a fearsome looking horse. Clood stopped at an old oil painting of Lightning wearing an elegant suit of armour. Silver and gold with a snow white feather plume like an angels wing wrapped around her hips.

"Looks pretty good for 521 years old don't she." Sazh stated as he noticed Cloud, unable to take his eyes from the picture.

You should have… An older girlfriend, one that would take care of you. I think that would be the perfect type for you.

"Yeah... wait.. what?"

"It's a long story but I suggest if you wanna know you read that." Sazh pointed to a large, leather bound book that sat alone on a pedestal.

Lightning pulled her cell phone from her pocket and searched through the contacts for her sister. Double checking the room remained unoccupied, her slender finger hovered over the call button hesitantly for a few seconds before firmly pressing it and holding the phone to her ear. Three rings later and the younger Farron sister was on the end of the line.

"Hey sis. Everything alright?"

"No.. Your advice turned out to be terrible." Lightning sighed.

"What have you done?" Serah asked in a condescending tone.

"What you said. I opened up to him. Well it turns out he was living with some girl he said was 'just a friend' and some kids!"

"Oh.. my... gosh...Your actually jealous. I never thought I'd see the day! Haha!" The sheer joy in Serah's voice was causing Lightning's blood to boil as she squeezed her phone tightly to calm herself down.

"This isn't funny Serah! What do I do?"

"Well first off stop shouting. Did he say HIS kids or HIS girlfried?" The younger Farron asked emphasizing the 'his'

"Well.. no.."

"Then I see no problem."

"I've been such a bitch with him today now.. I hate feeling Like this Serah.. I feel stupid." The rose haired beauty whispered.

"That's what happens when you meet someone you like. You do stupid things. Now go sort your mess out. This isn't just your love life on the line ya know. You two have to work as a team to beat whatever is coming. Can't do that if you hate each other."

"Maybe you're right. I'm going to challenge him to a fight. I have to go. Thanks sis.. Bye."

"Wait, wha-"

Lightning had completely forgot about the imminent danger that awaited the pair in less than a week and was now beginning to panic that she'd done some irreparable damage to their friendship. Scrolling down her contacts list once more she found her long time comrade and pilot's phone number and dialled.

"Hey. Once you and blondie have finished laughing at me down their bring him to the training room please." Lightning did not wait for a reply before pushing her phone back into her pocket and heading for the Lift.

The reinforced door on the training room opened to reveal the rose haired beauty stood in the center with a menacing grin on her pale face. It took a while for Cloud to realize it was almost identical to the SOLDIER training room. A virtual reality battleground designed to push the limits of Shinra's greatest fighting force.

"Do you know what this place is?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah.. It's been a while since I've been in one." The blonde closed his eyes and thought about the time Zack took him inside to give him pointers when he was a grunt.

"Here." Lightning threw a VR headset over to the blonde who caught it effortlessly. "I'm sorry about today. You can take your anger out on me in here. We need to train anyway."

"I'm not angry with you. And I've no interest in hurting you."

"It's VR. You feel pain, but don't actually get hurt." The rose haired beauty stated matter of factly.

Cloud sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win the argument he placed the headset on his head. He couldn't help shift the story Zack told him about Genesis cutting his shoulder open in the training room that ultimately ended in Sephiroth's fall from the hero of Midgar to the plague of Gaia.

The visor lit up and the blank walls of the room transformed into a familiar sight. Cloud was stood on top of the skyscrapers roof, where he landed via helicopter hours before. Across the platform stood Lightning, Sword drawn in its gun mode, with a playful smirk on her face.

"Ready, blondie?" The rose haired beauty joked, trying to antagonize Cloud into making the first move.

Cloud didn't respond but instead raised his hand and placed his fingers over the leather grip of his sword. Game on. Lightning raised her gunblade and began firing in a sweeping motion towards the blonde. Predicting Lightning's attack, Cloud spun on his heels, causing the first few bullets to bounce off the sword still mounted on his back. Still on the defense, Cloud held his sword out in front of him but remained stationary.

"Fight back!" Lightning barked as she charged at the cerulean eyed man, changing her gunblade to a sword as she darted left and slashed up in an attempt to get past the foot wide blade of the buster sword.

Cloud parried the slash and was amazed by Lightnings speed. Still remaining stationary he frantically swung his blade to meet her own in the blazing fast barrage of swiped that followed. The weight of the heavy blade hitting her own sent vibrations down her arm. There was no way she was getting past that sword with her own. Adapting to her situation quickly Lightning gracefully jumped back creating a vast gap between them before charging once more at the blonde. As the gap closed Lightning pulled her slender arm back and threw the gunblade as hard as she could, launching it towards Cloud like a missile.

Cloud's mako eyes widened as he saw the blade leave his opponents grasp and come shooting towards him with Lightning in pursuit behind it. In a split second the blonde pulled his sword across his body and struck the flying blade, sending it across the rooftop. Only once the gunblade had crashed into the elevator door did Cloud realize his mistake. His sword arm was now extended to his right and there was no way to pull it back quick enough to repel the rose haired beauty.

As her favorite possession imbedded itself into the steel door of the elevator Lightning knew it was too late for Cloud to block her. Still charging as fast as her legs would allow her she thrust her right fist to the left of the blonde's face. Instantly confused as to why she never struck him, her opponent was taken off guard as Lighting wrapped her arm around his spikey head and rammed her knee into his chest. That was enough to leave the confused blonde winded. Lightning's left hand took this opportunity to strike at Cloud's wrist. Relinquishing of his weapon and bouncing back to a safe distance.

"Impressive." Cloud wheezed as he looked up to find the rose haired beauty clenching his sword. "I've never seen anyone misdirect like that before."

"You're holding back on me." Lightning stated. Ignoring his compliment. Even she was impressed with her own efforts but she had now put herself at a huge disadvantage. This buster sword was far to heavy to use efficiently.

Cloud marched over to the elevator door and pulled his opponents sword free. Lightning watched in anticipation as he walked over to her and flipped the blade in his hand, pointing the handle towards his opponent. The rose haired beauty hesitantly took back her sword and handed the buster sword over the blonde who took a few steps back.

"Ready?" Lightning asked, not waiting for an answer before she began another barrage of cuts that were easily blocked by the mans blade. Lightning thrust her sword towards the blonde's chest. As predicted he turned his blade's wide face to her to shield his body from the attack. As she ran up the face of the blade she leaped in the air. Bringing the tip inline with Cloud's mako eyes. Expecting him to bring his blade up to protect himself, the rose haired beauty planned in her mind her next attack.

The chance never came as the pair's visors went black as Lightning fell from her jump, unsure where she would land. She felt the tip of her blade pierce something solid as she hit the ground with a thud, smashing the headset off her face. Struggling to her knee's Lightning opened her eyes to see the VR room. Red light and sirens flashing and beeping around her did not help her concussed head. Scanning the room she saw the door open and Sazh sprint in towards her. The rose haired beauty turned to find Cloud who was laying down, motionless with the VR headset still over his face and her Blazefire saber sticking out of his shoulder and into the floor.

"What have I done..."

A/N: Not really sure about this chapter. Seemed a struggle to write which is why it took so long to make an appearance. Tell me what you think and what needs improving. The next chapter will be out quickly and I promise will be much better. Thanks again for following/ favoriting. Please review.