A/N: I have a confession to make. This chapter, what happens in it, was the first scene I had imagined in this story. Actually, the rest of the plot (from previous chapters and the ones to come) exists to give this chapter a sense, a reason to exist. I hope you like it because this is the chapter I wanted to write the most.

I only own my own words

~These are the events that took place thirteen years ago~

He was falling, and he was falling fast. The multitude of lights surrounding him were blinding him due to their brightness. The deafening noise and the strong currents of air that hit him made his body hurt, specially his ears and eyes. It was impossible for him to open his eyes so he was only able to see lights and shadows through his closed eyelids.

He didn't know what would happen with him, where he was going to end up or if he was going to survive this new change on his life. Since he became a l'cie he had to say goodbye to his old self. The hurtful loss of his mother, all the battles alongside his companions and all the sufferings of that cursed journey erased completely the naïve little spoiled brat he always had been. Hope knew that he would never be the same, even if he was able to return to his home. Although now that possibility seemed more and more unlikely.

Thinking about the l'cie made him inevitably think about Lightning. Powerful and prideful Lightning, who took time from her own problems to train him, to make him a dependable person. His partner as she always said when he got depressed or insecure. Her face got burned on his eyes, the hurt and helpless of being unable to save him. He knew that he hurt her when he gave up and let go of her hand but it was the right thing to do. She spent the last days fighting against the world for her sister's sake. It would have been cruel to separate them now that they got reunited again. So he chose. He knew he was going to be fine, he was stronger thanks to her so he'll survive.

Suddenly, the decline of the speed of his falling took him from his musings. The wind wasn't as strong as before so he could open his eyes. He was floating in some kind of cloud-like space. There wasn't an up or down side so he was a little disoriented. Was he falling or ascending?

"There'll be a time when you will have to choose"

A female voice startled him. He hadn't heard it before but he felt a weird nostalgic feeling.

"Will you be erased? Will you change?"

Erased? What did it mean by erased? –Where are you? What do you mean by that? - he shouted.

"Will you leave? Will you stay?"

Leave? Leave where? He was so confused.

"Choose. You must choose. Will you be a mere man? Will you become a god?"

A god!? What was it talking about!?

He received no response but the cloud-like space surrounding him receded and he was able to see another completely different scenery. He was in the middle of a night sky, full of little stars. It was beautiful and breathtaking. Not even the nights spent in Gran Pulse gazing at the stars could compare to this beauty.

And then he was falling again. The problem was that this time he could see the ground approaching. He was able to see an enormous forest surrounded by mountains. Fear gripped his heart. He was going to die!

-Alexander!-

A familiar warm wrapped him and he knew no more.

Noel liked to watch the stars. He could spent hours and hours sitting on the roof of his house, just gazing at the nocturne sky like he was doing at that moment. Those little twinkling lights adorning the otherwise obscure sky fascinated him. He was even named after one of them. Every time he felt lost, insecure or just tired of the pressure his family was starting to put on him, he searched for his namesake and gazed at it. He was seven years old and he was old enough to start thinking about his future. Will he follow his father's steps and become a healer? Or his mother's and become a farmer? He still had time to decide, the training didn't start until one was ten years old, but all his family spent the last months giving him advices and anecdotes of the different roles his family members had taken. It was his life, shouldn't he choose something he liked instead of something that another predecessor of him had already done and excelled at?

His family was a supportive one, helping with clothes, housing and food, but it was too boring from his point of view. He wanted to be famous, he wanted his name to be known by everyone, even the next coming generations. He wanted to be someone like Caius who had such a great potential that he started his hunter training at nine!

To fight against big and dangerous beasts, to protect his village with his own hands. That was so cool! He'll be someone important, a real legend. And maybe then the "Noel" star will become "Noel the braver" due to him, and little children will hear stories of his greatness before going to bed.

-Just watch it star! I'll take your name from you!- he proclaimed pointing to the sky. That was another thing he liked about the sky. You could tell it all your secrets that it won't tell anyone.

But this time was different. To begin with, the light of the biggest star on the sky was getting even bigger. And it kept growing. Noel truly became alarmed when the star was as big as he was. The stars were falling! He went to give the alarm when a blinding light illuminated the whole village.

After a few seconds, the light started to recede. Most of the people in the village were awoken by it and left their houses to investigate. The forest was in silence and once they could see again they couldn't believe what they were seeing. A real star fell from the sky!

On the lake in the west side of the village there was now a tall pillar of something shining like crystal.

After the landing of the star, the children were forbidden to come closer to the lake for days. The elders and some guards inspected it, but they couldn't perceive anything dangerous from it. It was just a pillar of crystal. Taller than the tallest tree in the forest and nearly as wide as the lake, yes, but harmless and that was all that mattered. The villagers were assured of its lack of danger when the Kall herself inspected it and deemed it safe. Even more, they noticed that the lake's water became clearer each day until it resembled a mirror's surface.

The countless spikes that the pillar had became the new playground for the youngest kids, daring themselves to climb even higher. Of course, Noel was the first to arrive to the lake and the last to go. He couldn't explain it but he felt connected to it somehow. It felt from the sky when Noel provoked it! Or maybe it was a test for him. The sky knew of his desire to prove himself and gave him the means. Surely if he was the first one to reach the tallest point he'll be respected by his peers!

With that determination Noel climbed the crystal mound every day, reaching higher and higher each time. His friends tried to stop him. There were a lot of spikes and, the higher he was, the more dangerous the fall would be. Noel didn't listen to them of course, not even to little Yeul. But she was so young that she didn't really know anything so it was okay to ignore her. Also, she was a girl and girls didn't understand boys so… He was going to be a legend and legendary heroes were known for their bravery and reckless doings.

Obviously, as everyone kept telling him, he fell when he slipped on the polished surface of one of the crystal's spikes. He started to fall, injuring himself with the pointed edges of the spikes. He felt scared. What if what his mother told him became true and he got impaled by one of the spikes by accident!? He couldn't become a legend if he was dead!

Before he knew it, he hit the base of a wide spike, and slid until he reached a flat area inside the pillar.

-Noel! You okay!?- the high voice of Yeul reached his ears.

-Yeah, I'm ok!- he answered.-Somehow.-he added to himself.

He checked his body and saw a lot of cuts. At least they were shallow enough that his mother won't kill him for them. He was in pain but was able to move all of his extremities, so he hadn't broken anything.

-I'm going to call for help!- she told him.

-It's not necessary! I'm fine!- he insisted. He truly was, even after that fall. He was going to leave when a light caught his eyes. He turned and, at first, he could only see more crystal. But then he was able to detect something more inside the crystal.

He came closer and then saw it. It was a human shaped statue! It looked like a naked girl who was hugging her legs emerging from the pillar's surface. It was pretty detailed. He could even perceive the eyelashes sculpted on her small and beautiful face. He was mesmerized. What was that sculpture doing there? Was she the star?

-Noel!- it was his mother's voice this time. It seemed that Yeul brought reinforcements. What a noisy girl, didn't he tell her that he was fine?

Regretfully Noel had to leave the crystal star for the day, but he'll be back the next day for sure. Just wait until his mother learns about his discovery! She would be so proud of him!

He started to descend, taking note of the path so he could easily return the next time. He fell on the lake's water once he reached the pillar's base. His mother started to scold him the moment he emerged from the water, Yeul was behind her, but he interrupted her.

-Mom! There's a statue in there! I saw it.-

-A statue?-

-Yes! A young girl, older than me. It was carved on the wall!-

-Really? Then maybe we should inform the Feither about it. But first let me see all of your injuries. You're so lucky. You could have died! Just wait until I tell your father. You're going to be grounded for the rest of the week. Does it hurt anywhere?-

He was going to tell her where it hurt when he noticed something strange.

-It doesn't hurt anywhere?-

-Don't lie to me Noel, I can see the blood from your injuries.-

-No, really mom. It doesn't hurt! I was in pain when I fell but now I'm fine. I don't feel pain anywhere.-

His mother didn't seem very convinced so she checked his cuts closer. She let a surprised gasp when they both were unable to find any injury. There was blood, but the skin was intact.

Once again, for the next couple of days the elders and the Feither himself investigated his discovery. The water had healing powers! Small cuts, small pains and small infections all disappeared if you submerged the part affected into the water. After a few experiments they deduced that it only worked with the water in direct contact with the crystal. If you took some of it and left the village, the water no longer worked. It was clean and pure water, but just water.

They also tried to see the statue of the girl that Noel told them about, but they had a lot of difficulties. The older kids were unable to reach the small area where it was and the youngest were unable to climb so high. Noel was the only one who could reach it safely and suddenly everyone paid attention to him. Everyone wanted to know how it looked like so they kept asking Noel. He even had to draw it! Unfortunately he didn't have any drawing skills so he described it to an older girl who was known to be the best artist and together they made a sketch of it. Noel was then the most popular kid of the village. Even the great Caius was interested in him! It was a dream come true!

The best part was that he got himself a new friend: Crystal! Or that was the name he gave the girl carved on the pillar. His own star. Nobody believed him but he could swear that sometimes the sculpture felt warm to the touch. His mother told him that it was probably due to the warmth of the sun but he didn't agree. Crystal was alive, he was sure of it, so he kept her company.

Every day he went to see her and talked about his day. It was the same purifying feeling as when he spent hours gazing at the starry sky, but now he could touch one of them. A star descended from the sky for his sake. But she was probably lonely so Noel kept visiting and talking to her.

For the next three years he told Crystal everything. How his parents reacted when he told them that he wanted to be a hunter. How many people now survived ailments that killed them before most of the time thanks to the healing water. How Caius kept contact with him to the point to willingly give him advices to pursue his hunter career whenever he asked. How Yeul was becoming bearable. Every little aspect of his life was shared with his crystallized friend. And every time he promised Crystal that he would return the next day.

He was young, he couldn't know that one day he wouldn't be able to keep that promise.

.

The day started as any other. Since Noel turned ten he started his hunter training. Obviously it was a simple training at first. They had to learn the variety of plants that existed inside the Kabul forest. Then they would start with the animals. Alongside those studies they exercised every day. Caius told him that the more he learned the more difficult his exercises would become. Noel couldn't wait to the moment when the battle instruction would commence. He wanted so much to learn how to use swords!

Today's class consisted on recollecting some plants that they were currently studying. The plants where inside the forest, but it was close enough to be safe. Even so, a guard and a hunter apprentice would accompany them. Noel was so ecstatic when he learnt that the hunter would be Caius. He went to see Crystal before leaving with his companions, they were four of them, to tell her of his plans for the day and then he left, promising to return to tell her how it was.

They reached the clearing where most of the plants were. It was a difficult exercise because some of them looked alike and they had to find the correct one. They spent hours working before the guard responsible of them gave them a break to eat. Not even ten minutes had passed when Noel heard a noise that keeps giving him nightmares even today. A low growl broke the peaceful atmosphere. Caius and the other adult were on their guard in an instant. The biggest lizard that Noel had ever saw emerged from the tall grass. It was probably as big as him, with black and yellow coloring and with long claws and fangs.

-A decayer! Why is one of them here? This isn't their hunting zone?- asked the guard.

A decayer? Noel had heard about them. They weren't the biggest animal inside the forest but they were very dangerous. They were really fast and very very poisonous.

-Maybe he was lured by the food's smell.-

-Caius, take the kids to a safe place!-

Caius obeyed and ordered the kids to leave the clearing. That movement provoked a reaction on the lizard. He attacked fast, so fast that the guard had problems to avoid its claws. Guards were trained in combat, but not as trained against beasts as a hunter and Caius was tempted to join the fight, but he had his orders.

-Come on, let's run to the village!-

-But, we need to help him!- insisted Noel. Wasn't Caius job to kill wild animals? Why wasn't he fighting?

-My current mission is to bring you to the safety of the village so keep running. Now, Noel!-

Begrudgingly, he started to run in the direction of the way back to the village. They were unable to see the clearing anymore when they heard a scream. A human scream.

-Keep running! Don't look back!- ordered Caius.

The path to return to the village was the longest that Noel had ever taken. It didn't seem so long in the morning but the constant tension of the danger that they were trying to leave behind was doing a lot of damage to their mental state. Finally, they saw the border of the village. They'd made it! They were safe!

Noel turned to say something to Caius, who was the one in the rear of their group, when he saw them. A pair of glinting yellow eyes. Caius hadn't notice them, occupied with alerting other guards and hunters of the danger, so he didn't see it when the lizard leaped at his back. But Noel saw it. Noel saw the bloody claws extended, followed by a bloody reptilian face full of teeth.

His body moved by its own. In one moment he was looking horrified at the lizard attacking his most respected figure of the village and the next one he felt a horrible pain on his stomach. The next thing he felt was being thrown at a wooden wall and going through it. His whole body was boiling and he could taste blood on his mouth. He thought that he felt hands on him for a moment but he was unable to identify where. He couldn't see clearly, heard clearly or feel anything that wasn't that horrible heat that was melting his bones.

He wanted the pain to stop. He didn't want to feel that kind of heat. He didn't want to feel anything anymore…

It was weird, the feeling of being in stasis. Hope felt as if he was floating inside a cotton ball, with all of his senses dulled. Sometimes his mind was clearer and he could think. He remembered his life in Palumpolum, his adventures with the others l'cie, his battles against the fal'cie, how his current crystallized state came to be… And sometimes he was so out of it that he was barely able to confirm his own existence.

He had the feeling that he spent long periods of time just sleeping. He wasn't sure but once in a while he was able to see an image of the scenery around him. The first time he saw anything was a lake, full of crystals. It took him five periods of semi lucidity to deduce that those crystals were linked to him.

The next time that he noticed the pass of time was when he saw the vegetation close to him with darker colors. It took him only two periods of lucidity to deduce that it was because the night had fallen.

Hope noticed that the strongest his desire to notice his surroundings was, the more lucidity periods he had. He inferred then that, if he wanted to sleep completely, he could. He was a crystal, he couldn't move and didn't have any motivations at the moment, so why not?

He started to have less and less periods of lucidity when he noticed a foreign feeling. It was like all his body was cold and weighted a ton but his cheek. His cheek was warm. A period of lucidity came and he saw a small kid with eyes the color of the sky. How long has been since the last time he saw the sky?

The kid left and the dullness came back, but so did the kid. Every time he had a period of lucidity the kid was there. He saw him gesturing and moving his mouth, but he couldn't heard anything. The kid always left before the night came, so it was a way to know the time. The kid became Hope's clock and anchor. He was more and more connected to reality the more he saw the kid of sky eyes. And suddenly one day he started to hear him. He couldn't understand him, but it was pleasant to hear again.

Once he was able to hear the kid he started to hear the birds, the wind and the water. He still couldn't move, couldn't do anything, but he was more awake than ever since he became a crystal. Talking about crystal, the kid always said that word to him. It was one of the few he could actually recognize. The kid's name was Noel, or so he thought after hearing others call him that.

Noel changed, he grew up, but he kept visiting him, talking nonstop. He didn't understand all of what he was saying, but he could understand enough. Noel always talked about the same things and made a lot of gestures so Hope knew that he had a younger friend called Yeul who annoyed him but that he really liked in truth, that he liked to hunt, and that he was really happy when he talked about someone called Caius. Hope also learnt how to salute and how to say goodbye, because Noel always said it to him.

Being a crystal was a sad and lonely state, but Noel's visits made his existence more bearable, and he was really grateful to the kid.

Today started like any other day, with Noel coming to give him a good morning and then leaving, but after a while he noticed that the sounds around him changed. The noise increased and a sense of urgency stirred the usual calming atmosphere. Hope was able to notice that the people in the village were in a hurry, although he couldn't see them clearly because to him they were just blurry figures.

Suddenly a group of figures approached the lake where he was. Over the years, Hope had seen a lot of people coming to the lake to clean their injuries, so it wasn't weird to see a group of them when someone was hurt. But this time was different as all of them seemed panicked, moving with frantic movements. A blurry figure in dark colors was carrying another one and immersing it on the water. The pair were surrounded by bigger ones who kept shouting, and a smaller one was close to the one being submerged. Hope was starting to lose his focus on the group when he heard the name of his little friend being shouted by a girlish voice. Using all his concentration, he focused on the figure in the middle and shiver of fear washed over him.

It was Noel, and he looked terrible. He was pale and covered by blood but the most worrisome fact was the piece of wood that was piercing his stomach. The closest persons to him became clearer and Hope deduced that they were Caius and Yeul thanks to the descriptions that Noel was always giving him. What had happened? How come that Noel was so hurt? Hope tried to invoke his healing powers to help him, but he was unable to do anything. He was just a crystal, he couldn't even move but he had to! If he didn't help maybe Noel would die!

"Why should you care of that person's fate?"

The same female voice that he heard the time when he became a crystal distracted him from the image of his little friend suffering.

-How can you ask that? Noel is a friend and he's really hurt. He could die.-

"All people die, what's one more?"

-He's just a kid. And he's a friend!-

"What about Oerba Dia Vanille. Is she a friend?"

-W-what? Of course she's a friend. But what's that got to do with Noel?-

"If you had to choose, which one would you save?"

What? What did she mean?

"Choose. You had to choose. Your friends or a little kid you'd never talked to."

What was she talking about? Why should he choose? Are Vanille and the others in danger?

"Choose"

This was probably the worst day in her short life. When Yeul heard that a poisonous beast attacked the group that went to the forest she ran to the place where the guards and hunters killed it. The beast was fast enough to have reached the village, but the armed guards took care of it easily, as always. But the ambience of the village was wrong, it wasn't calm but a panicked one. Yeul finally arrived at the scene and she let out a horrified scream.

On the street, close to the dead body of the beast, was Caius and, between his arms, a bloodstained Noel. Her friend was pale and was breathing with great difficulty. He was surrounded by adults who were shouting instructions among themselves. Yeul came closer and saw the worst of all: a piece of wood penetrated his friend's body.

-What happened?-

-He protected me.- answered solemnly Caius. He couldn't take his eyes off Noel.- A decayer attacked us in the clearing and followed us until the village. It's my fault, I let my guard down. The decayer attacked me and Noel pushed me out of his way, but a claw slashed him. The decayer then throw him into that house and was going to continue to attack when he was felled. It's because of me, I wasn't strong enough to protect him.-

-Caius! Snap out of it! We need to help Noel.-

-How? The healers already saw him and have said that's impossible to save him. Not only he's gravely injured and has lost a lot of blood, the decayer's claw has a potent poison. He has a few minutes at most.-

-There has to be something we could do!-

Caius negated with his head.-We don't have the means to save him. All we could do is to finish his agony.-

-What about Crystal? We could bring him to the pillar and the healing water.-

-That water can't heal something so serious.-

-What could we lose trying? Please, Caius, let's try it, for Noel!- she insisted, fervently.

Caius looked gazes with her. For someone so small she had a fierce gaze and he could respect that. He looked at the boy in his arms, still fighting for his life. Noel still hadn't given up so why should he? He owed to him to at least try all the available options. He took Noel carefully and both Yeul and he went to the lake. The adults accompanied them, some of them against their decision. They didn't have the same hope as Yeul.

The moment they reached the water, Caius immersed both of them, waiting for the miracle to happen. They could see that the water was working, because the small scratches were disappearing. But it wasn't enough. Noel's injuries were more severe than the ones the water usually healed.

Yeul was panicking. Her best friend was dying before her eyes and she couldn't do anything. When she heard the horrible sound that the last breath of Noel made, she lost it. She got up and faced the big pillar.

-Crystal! Help Noel!-

-What are you doing? There's nobody inside the pillar.-

-Noel always talked about the girl on the pillar. If there's someone there I want her to help Noel.- she explained, with her eyes full of helpless tears.- Crystal! Please, heal Noel!

Nothing happened. The light of the day was disappearing, just like Noel's life.

-Please, Crystal. I beg you! I'll do anything, but please… heal him…- she cried, with a faltering voice full of anguish.- Don't let death take him from us… please…

She started to cry with abandon, pouring all her pain on her tears and cries.

Abruptly, the pillar started to shine. She ceased to cry, startled. The people in the lake gasped and left the water, scared. Everyone but Caius and her.

They both watched entranced as the whole pillar glowed in multicolored colors. Something like a current of air and water started to rise and move around the pillar. They were making swirls around a small block of crystal which was shining with the brightest glow. To their surprise, the block started to change shape until it tool a human one. The last rays of the day illuminated the crystal figure, who was descending. Suddenly, the whole pillar glowed so strong that blinded them and they couldn't see again until the swirls of water and air covered it. When the swirls stopped and returned to the lake, they let them see a new figure. A young and beautiful person descended slowly from the sky. She had the palest and flawless skin Yeul had ever saw, with a breathtaking short silver hair which was still glowing. She wore strange clothes with flashy colors. The girl fell on the water on her knees. The fact that she was able to be on all fours meant that she was awake. Yeul hold her breath when the girl stood up and looked around her.

-Crystal?- the question escaped her mouth before she could stop it. That got the attention from the person before her, who started to come closer. To her surprise, she put a gloved hand on her shoulder and smiled at her, reassuringly. She had beautiful silver eyes too.

Crystal went to were Noel was. At first it seemed that Caius didn't want to let her touch him but he relented at the end. Crystal hands started to glow, especially her left one which had a green hue. Noel's body started to rise a little on the air and a green light surrounded him. Crystal touched the wood, which decayed upon her touch leaving an open injury that started to bleed. The glow on Crystal's hand changed to a purplish color and a weird clot was expulsed from Noel's body. The color returned to his face and all of his injuries started to heal completely. Finally, a reddish light that looked like a feather entered Noel's body and he jerked awake, gasping for air.

Crystal fell onto her knees, exhausted. She was starting to lose consciousness when she heard her recently acquired name called.

-Crystal?- asked weakly Noel, with a raspy voice.

Crystal smiled at the boy, who was still held protectively between Caius arms, who just looked a couple of years older than her.

-My name's Hope.- answered him an indisputable male voice, before its owner fell unconscious on the water.

.

.

After that, it took several weeks before the villagers stopped to revere Hope, who had the most suiting name from their point of view. It took months for Hope to learn the language of the phartenni in order to communicate easier with them. It took years before his friends stopped to mock Noel because he mistook Hope for a girl, some of them still do it nowadays.

But it took just a few days for the strongest friendship to be created in the village's history among the four persons involved in the "rebirth day".

But that's a story for another day.