A/N: Sorry for the delay! Been swamped at work and preparing for a trip abroad. Actually, I'm posting this chapter from my vacation as we speak! I probably won't get to respond to reviews until I get back to the U.S. - so please don't think I'm ignoring you!

Just a few quick notes - the last leg of this story takes place in the post-game. So for any of you who haven't finished the game, I'd suggest you do so and/or watch the ending on youtube. :)

Last but never least, a round of eternal thanks to metacog for being the beta-reading bomb diggity. :)


The dark-haired woman drifted in and out of consciousness, dimly aware that she seemed to be encased in a blinding light. There was a reddish glow behind her eyelids. She cracked her eyes open slightly and instantly squeezed them back shut with a moan of pain- the white radiance around her was just too strong. Let's not try that again. Despite the discomfort, her mind slowly became more alert. Without her sight, her other senses were heightened. She could feel herself lying in a cocoon of comfort, breathing in the sweet smell of wildflowers in the air. Something warm and supple pressed against her side. She could hear someone breathing deeply and peacefully next to her.

Where was she? What time was it? She didn't know. Surprisingly, she didn't care. As soon as the thoughts entered her mind, they immediately evaporated. The more she tried to grasp at them, the quicker they slipped away in a mental fog. A cloud of contentment descended upon her, relaxing all the muscles in her body.

"Fang..." A whisper came from somewhere to her right. She could feel the speaker's warm breath caress her cheek.

Fang? Was that her name? Yes. Recognition stirred within her. My name is Fang. Her mind could at least retain that bit of knowledge.

She made a second attempt to open her eyes, as slowly as possible, to make sure the brightness would not sear her retinas. She was relieved to find that the light had diminished to a more bearable intensity, but it was still too strong for her to see the rest of the room. She noticed then that she was lying on her back on a large bed, naked, the sheets smooth against her bare skin.

She rolled her head to the right, toward the sound of the voice that called her name. Her gaze came to rest on the heat source warming her side. A young woman with light auburn hair cascading to her shoulders cuddled next to her. Fang was surprised that she didn't feel alarmed by the presence of another. Somehow this woman was no stranger. Her green eyes felt familiar and comforting somehow. Vanille - the name drifted into Fang's consciousness.

"Vanille?" Her voice came out in a rasp, as if she hadn't spoken in ages.

The redhead smiled at her, pleased she had known her name. She reached out and cupped Fang's jaw, softly brushing her cheek with her thumb. "You remember me?"

How could I ever forget? "Of course." I'd always remember you.

Vanille leaned forward and brushed their lips together. She tasted like sweet nectar. Fang knew she should ask where they were and how they got there... but she just couldn't work up the concern. The haze permeating her mind was too powerful. Instead, she simply melted into the smaller woman's light touch and the delicate flavor of her mouth.

The young woman rolled on top of her, and Fang realized then that she too was naked. The warrior's body hummed as their silken bodies pressed together, skin on skin. Vanille deepened the kiss... and Fang, without a care in the world, lost herself in the dazzling light.


Lightning Farron floated in bone-chilling emptiness. Darkness, ominous and oppressive, surrounded her. She imagined that if she could see, her breath would be visible as faint puffs of condensation. Goosebumps trickled up and down her arms.

She sensed she had been here before. She knew that if she tried to call out, the pitch black would immediately envelop the sound of her voice. There would be no responses anyway-just deafening silence. She was no longer a l'Cie, which meant she could not cast any magic spells to try to illuminate her surroundings. Not that it would matter. The void would instantly consume those too if she tried. If she flailed her limbs, she would only stayed in place.

So she didn't move even as an icy panic settled in her chest. The abyss was similar to the cold and dark place Hope had described during their last battle in Orphan's cradle. But unlike then, there was no mysterious force pushing her along to safety, as Sazh had mentioned. There was no happy glimpse of the future with everyone smiling and laughing, as Snow had recounted.

There was nothing.

Until...

Something glowed in the distance.

When Lightning saw it, her heart swelled painfully even though she didn't understand why. Deep within her, she knew that moving toward it would only make things infinitely worse. She prayed she would remain in place, but she could already feel herself floating forward, as if caught in some invisible tractor beam. She struggled vainly against it, but still she drew closer to the object. It slowly came into focus. And while she didn't know how, she already knew what it would be.

Fang.

Suspended in the darkness, the warrior's eyes were closed, a look of peaceful contemplation on her face. Like it always had in the past, Light's heart fluttered at the sight of Fang, which quickly died down upon noticing the raven-haired woman's hands. They were clutching small arms that snaked around her waist from behind. The soldier's stomach tightened painfully as she recognized the red hair peeking from just above Fang's shoulder.

Vanille.

Fang opened her eyes and turned toward her partner. Hand in hand, they faced each other, mimicking the way they positioned themselves just after defeating Orphan. Jealousy's razor-blade claws tore at Lightning. The soldier wanted to look away, but she couldn't. They loomed closer and closer. She continued to struggle against the gravitational pull, but it was no use. There was no stopping the collision course. It didn't take long for the two women to notice her. And when they turned their heads toward her, they sneered grotesquely. Their faces and bodies began to morph and merge until they were no longer two separate entities but one.

Ragnarok.

Surrounded by a reddish-orange halo, the multi-armed beast of destruction let out a terrible howl that penetrated the silence of the void and pierced Lightning's soul with fear. Golden mane glowing and tail thrashing wildly, it charged at her then. And she could do nothing to stop it. Even her screams were swallowed by the nothingness surrounding her. And just as the blow from the monster would land...

Lightning's eyes snapped open.


Vanille couldn't tell how long it took her to make her way out of the house she seemed to share with Fang. Time seemed to have no meaning there. The period they spent in each other's arms felt like a nanosecond and an eternity all at the same time. It was inconceivable, really, and yet for some reason she readily accepted it.

Such contradictions seemed to be everywhere here-wherever here was. For instance, she felt as if she recognized the dwelling they just left - as if she had grown up in it all her life - but she was also sure she had never set foot inside it before. The same was true of the town they walked through together, and the citizens who milled about. They were familiar, but not.

Except Fang. Fang she knew like her own heart.

Had they been here before? She felt like the answer was yes, but it could easily have been no. She furrowed her brow. Why couldn't she remember anything clearly? Her slight frown melted away as she felt a blissful calm flow through her. Then again, why was she trying so hard to find the memories? If she couldn't recall them, they couldn't have been that important... right?

"Vanille, where are we? How long have we been here?" Fang asked as they walked down what appeared to be a main thoroughfare in the town, which was a cobblestone road illuminated by the same bright haze that had greeted them in their bedroom. The edges of everything there - buildings, trees, people, the sky, even Fang - were blurry and undefined, like mirages in the desert. Still, she accepted it as normal.

"I don't know," she replied. Days? Weeks? Years? Seconds? "Does it matter?"

"I suppose it doesn't," the dark-haired woman smiled at her, though her eyes remained unsure.

They continued their exploration of the surroundings together, passing an eclectic mix of shimmering shops and restaurants. The street vendors vied for their attention, but they just kept going. They walked so far, Vanille started to wonder if they'd be able to find their way back to their dwelling. And yet at the back of her mind, she knew that if they just turned the right corner, the home would appear before them.

They eventually reached a cliff overlooking an ocean at the edge of the town. Fang approached a metal railing and stopped, craning her head skyward. Vanille stood by her companion's side, observing her out of the corner of her eye. Fang's eyes scanned the heavens intently as if searching for something. A shadow seemed to pass over the raven-haired woman's features.

"Is something wrong?"

"I..." Fang hesitated, still gazing upward. "I feel like... something's missing."

Vanille frowned slightly, the other woman's words sending a current of discomfort through her. She swept her gaze across the sky as well. Now that she mentioned it, it did seem like something was out of place. But what? As she considered it, though, a light buzz numbed her mind. It felt like she had just consumed a glass or two of wine.

"Like what?" the younger woman asked.

"I don't know," Fang shook her head, as if trying to clear her thoughts. "It's...it's probably nothing."

"Then we shouldn't worry about it." Vanille slipped her hand into Fang's, intertwining their fingers. "We're together - together to the end. That's all that matters."


Heart palpitating wildly, Lightning stared at the ceiling of what she now recognized was her bedroom. The anguish from the dream still coursed through her, making her stomach churn violently. She leaped from the bed, throwing the covers to the side haphazardly. Without proper illumination, she stumbled her way to her bathroom where she kneeled quickly in front of the toilet and expelled the bitter remains of what little dinner she had consumed.

After a string of dry heaves, she finally pushed away and sat against an adjacent wall. Her breathing shallow, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and rested her head back. Ever since Orphan's defeat and the "destruction" of Cocoon, she had been having the same dream, or a variation of it, for the past three months. At first it had come once a week, then every few days. Now it haunted her almost every night.

What is wrong with me? I should be over this by now... over her.

Her body, weak from the exertion, trembled. If it had just been the nightmares, maybe it wouldn't have been so difficult. But it wasn't just her sleep that was being disturbed. She was troubled too in her waking hours by the very memory of what happened in Orphan's Cradle. She could still remember every detail of that moment- the tickle in her abdomen as she floated upward from the lack of gravity, the pinprick sensation spreading across her skin as her body started its transformation into crystal.

But most of all... most of all...

She remembered the last look Fang had given her. Unlike the rest of the party, the warrior and Vanille had sunk downward. She had wanted to call out to them... to her. But the words froze in her throat as she locked onto Fang's emerald orbs. The dark-haired woman's expression was filled with so many conflicting emotions - confidence and uncertainty, hope and fear, regret...and love. Not understanding what was happening, Lightning had watched, helpless, as Fang tore her gaze away and trained her eyes on Vanille. The Pulsians faced each other, joined hands, and were consumed in blinding radiance. It was the last thing Light saw before her body completed its crystal metamorphosis.

When all was said and done, she had refused to acknowledge they were gone. Convinced they would return, she had given into the joy of being reunited with Serah, of watching Sazh lift his son into the air in a joyous embrace. It wasn't until things had quieted down that she realized Hope had been right. Fang really had meant for that last look to mean goodbye.

What was it that she had said to Fang before they battled the fal'Cie in Orphan's Cradle? "Together to the end." Light laughed bitterly. What a load of bull.

Letting out an uneven breath, she pushed herself off the floor and moved to the sink to rinse out her mouth and wash her face. She cupped her hands under the cool water and lifted it to her stinging eyes. Pull yourself together. Logically, she knew it was petty to be bitter. Fang and Vanille had saved Cocoon. But her heart didn't care about logic. If Barthandelus had been right... if any of Anima's l'Cie could become Ragnarok...

Why didn't she choose me? Lightning ran a shaking hand through her strawberry-blonde hair. Why did she choose Vanille?

But was it all that surprising? You were the one who said there could be nothing between you, that the one night didn't have to mean anything. She shook her head and walked back to her room. Stopping a few feet from her bed, she glared at the deceptively comfortable mattress that had been the bane of her existence these past few months. You wanted to spare Vanille's feelings by ignoring your own. And now Vanille has Fang... for all of eternity. Frustrated, Light swiped at the pools forming in her eyes. Way to go, soldier. She forced herself to sit on the edge of her bed. She doubted she'd fall asleep again tonight.

Her gaze drifted to her night stand, where a small plush chocobo sat.

Mr. Choco.

Another wave of sadness swelled and crashed within her. After the final battle, she had found Fang's childhood toy hidden inside her leather satchel. The warrior must have placed him in there when she hadn't noticed. But Mr. Choco did not have her necklace. Fang must have kept it even if Lightning couldn't recall seeing her actually wearing it. She reached out and picked up the stuffed animal, cradling it in her lap. It stared at her with cute button eyes, its thread-spun beak turned upward in a smile. Her vision began to blur with more tears.

I'll never see her again. I'll never hold her in my arms. I'll never get to tell her just how much I...

She glanced at the trash can in the corner of her room. She knew she should get rid of the toy. It only served to remind her of what she had lost. I can't. Instead, she lay on her side on the bed and curled up in a ball. She clutched the chocobo tightly to her chest. She just couldn't bring herself to part with it no matter how much it hurt to keep it. It was all she had left of Fang.


Together to the end...

A jolt shot through Fang's chest, breaking through the indifferent haze that had engulfed her since she had awoken in this strange place. She pulled her hand from Vanille's grasp and instinctively covered her heart.

"Fang? the younger woman sounded worried.

A pair of azure orbs flashed through the raven-haired woman's mind, and another electric current traveled through her body, bringing her to her knees. Together to the end. She could hear another woman's voice echo in her subconscious. She brought a hand to her head as a spell of dizziness hit her.

"You were there too, Fang," the owner of the piercing blue eyes stood before her. Wisps of strawberry-blonde hair framed a pale and delicate face. "Same side. All of us." She felt exposed under the gaze that looked straight through her. "Together to the end."

"Fang, are you alright?"

Vanille's anxious voice brought her back from the hallucination. Heart clenching, her mind tried to hold onto the woman's image... but it was already fading. No... Fang looked up at Vanille, who bent forward and placed one hand on her shoulder, eyes worried. A crowd of bystanders surrounded them now, watching curiously. No one came forward to help.

"I'm... I'm fine." What was that? "I think."

"What happened?"

"I don't..."

A flash of pink caught her eye in the crowd. She quickly shot to her feet. Was it the woman from her vision?

"Fang?"

"Did you see that?" The raven-haired woman's heart rate sped up.

Vanille looked confused. "See what?"

The warrior spun in a circle, trying to find where the other woman went. The strawberry blonde color popped into her peripheral vision and her own eyes locked with the azure orbs. Fang stopped breathing. The stranger turned away and started to leave. It is her. Inhaling deeply, she fought against the haze that was trying to invade her mind yet again. No, not again. Startling Vanille, she charged forward and began pushing through the onlookers. The villagers did not seem to want to get out of her way fast enough.

Losing her temper, she began shoving them aside. "Get out of my way!"

"Fang where are you going?" Vanille was behind her, sounding bewildered.

"I have to find her," she said distractedly.

"Find who?"

She didn't answer as she finally broke through the crowd. She frantically looked to the left and right, despair creeping in her. And then she saw her target walking in the distance.

"Hey!"

Instead of turning around, the other woman bolted in response to her shout.

"Hey, wait!" Fang took off after her.

"Fang!"

She could hear Vanille chasing after her, but she knew the younger girl would not be able to match her speed. She felt guilty for not waiting for her, but her body moved of its own volition to track the escaping woman. She had to keep going lest the blue-eyed siren melt into forgotten oblivion like everything else in her memory. Her target seemed to have no problem keeping one step ahead of her.

She's fast. Just as Fang thought she was catching up, she'd turn a corner, and the woman would be just as far as she had been when the chase first started. Too fast... like lightning. She felt another zap. She pumped her legs as fast as she could. I won't lose her. And when the warrior turned another corner, relief flooded through her. The other woman had stopped running and was standing before a dark wall, her back facing her.

Mildly out-of-breath, Fang approached her cautiously. The strawberry blonde could hear her footsteps and she turned toward her. Fang, feeling her heart skip several beats as they made eye contact, raised her hands in an attempt to appear non-threatening.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Fang began. "I just want to talk."

The woman only smiled sadly at her and took a step back into the dark wall. It flickered as she passed through it.

"No!"

Fang rushed forward, but slammed into the hard rock of the now solid wall. She fell onto her back, grimacing in pain. With a groan, she rolled to her side and lifted herself up onto her knees. When she raised her head, she could see the other woman on the other side of the wall of shadows. The strawberry blonde lifted a hand up to the barrier and placed her palm flat against it, as if she were merely on the other side of a glass window. Her eyes were filled with such sorrow, Fang thought her heart would rip in two. Still on her knees, the warrior reached toward the woman. Who are you? She disappeared once her hand made contact with the wall.

Fang punched the ground in frustration. What's happening? Already she could feel the fog infiltrating her mind. No, I won't let you go... With her head bent toward the ground, something shiny caught her eye. Peeking out from the dirt, a small object lay at the base of the wall where the mysterious woman had disappeared. Fang crawled to it and picked it up, lifting it to eye level.

She stared in wonder at the silver necklace dangling from her fingers, its thunder bolt pendant sparkling with a pure light.