Author's Note:*I've added this chapter between the original chapters 9 and 10*

Story: Moving on... Without You.

Chapter Synopsis: When you run away from something fast enough, your feet might leave the ground.

Chapter 9.5*: Flight

[Day 5]

Flight - (noun): an act or instance of fleeing or running away; hasty departure.

Surfacing from a deep and distressing slumber, Serah awoke gasping for air. Muddled dreams of hunters in the night, the heart-pounding threat of being captured and the knowledge that they were always one step behind clung to her even after she opened her eyes. Her body remained tense with residual fear until she registered the warmth of the midday forest welcomed her back to reality with a melody of peaceful birdsong. Wiggling her toes, the young woman tried to enjoy the refreshing feeling of waking up, without dwelling on all of the horrible things that happened yesterday. She snuggled the blanket closer to herself, relishing in its warmth. Unsurprisingly, her movement triggered a twitch against her skin that set her heart beating double-pace. With a slow swallow, Serah confronted the arm that was wrapped securely across her chest: Noel's arm.

It wasn't like she was shocked that he was there; she remembered enough of last night to know they'd fallen asleep together. What bothered her was the position they were in. Noel was clearly spooning her, holding her tightly against his chest. Serah nervously bit her lip.

Calm down, she told herself. Don't wake him and make this more awkward than it has to be.

Delicately extracting herself from the makeshift bed, Serah silently prayed that he wouldn't stir. Thankfully the goddess, or whoever prayers went to, was listening and Noel simply rolled over and continued to breathe softly.

As she tip-toed away, Serah berated herself for having such an over-reaction. It wasn't as if this was the first time she'd slept with Noel… Er… in the same place as Noel. Why did matter so much all of a sudden? Maybe it was his arm placement… It seemed possessive, as if he was claiming her as his own. Or maybe it was the way his relaxed breathing had sent stray hairs to tickle her ear, and the way that made her heart flutter?

Her boots squelched obnoxiously in the mud as she trudged closer to the lake, the sound conveniently killing any romantic thoughts she might have had. There was something about forcing her way through the sludgy brown mess that lay between her and the waterside that felt like a personal pilgrimage. The physical challenge was enough that she had to reduce her focus to what was directly in front of her. Nearly getting stuck a few times, she stubbornly pressed on in anticipation of the view that awaited her. But as she reached that shimmering sky mirror, she didn't attain nirvana, nor any profound enlightenment. It was just water, after all.

Finding a large rock to perch herself on, she rested her head on gathered knees and just observed the scenery. The lake was large and wide, the dark evergreens of its other shore barely visible on the horizon. Birds circled overhead, diving every so often to catch the unsuspecting fish below. The sun sparkled on the ripples they left behind. Otherwise, the area was calm and deserted, without any sign of human habitation.

With only a few hours of sleep, the day was sure to drag on. Her mind quickly returned to constantly circling around thoughts of Hope's death, the unexpected dangers of the Academy and the even more troubling feelings she held for her travel partner. Emotionally, she felt like everything she'd come to love had been mercilessly scooped out of her chest and immediately replaced with something lumpy that didn't quite fit. As it was, her heart was still full, but it didn't feel the same as it had before. Not to mention that every time she thought about Noel like that, she had the urge to squeeze her eyes closed and shake her head in childish denial.

Was it always going to feel like this? she wondered apprehensively. It was scary to think that she would eventually adapt to a world where Snow, Lightning and Hope no longer existed. If she changed, would she still be Serah?

This type of "whirlwind worrying" wasn't new to her. Even as a child she'd had the tendency to over-think things. Whenever something went wrong in her life, whether she'd received a bad grade in school or had a fight with Claire, she had trouble letting it go. Her mind would circle back on it over and over again, increasing her anxiety and sense of culpability. Before she would get too wound up, though, her mom would shuffle her into the bathroom.

"Quickly, now," she'd say in her all-knowing motherly tone. "Rinse those worries off."

For some reason, it always worked. As soon as water hit her skin, her thoughts would calm down and the fear or anger would just melt away. When she was really young, her mom told her to watch the water swirl down the drain and they'd both wave 'bye-bye' to her anxiety.

So, when she couldn't shake the thoughts that were terrorizing her, she instinctively stripped down and jumped into the lake. The cold water shocked her system, but she dunked her head under anyway. As she surfaced, it felt like she was waking up all over again. The beautiful day materialized around her; the vivid colors of the trees and the birds and the sky overwhelming her negative thoughts.

Stretching her arms above her head, standing in knee-deep ice-water, Serah let the sun's rays envelop her. Though it was light-years far and away, the sun warmed her and made her feel safe, like a protector from a distant world that she'd never meet. For some reason, the thought made her smile.

Turning back to the rock where she'd left her clothes, she found her other protector from a distant world standing just beyond the treeline, staring at her. Staring at all of her.

"Oh my God, Noel!" she shouted, covering herself and jumping back into the water up to her neck. "What're you doing?!"

"I - uh…" Noel quickly turned away, to conserve what was left of Serah's modesty. "Sorry, I just wondered where you were...I'll -uh… I'll go get us some breakfast."

And with that eloquent remark, he dashed out of sight.

Moments later, a fully-clothed Serah re-entered the woods. Though she didn't really want to face Noel after that awkward encounter, her stomach was leading the way and all it was concerned with was getting some breakfast. As she approached their camp, she was surprised that Noel hadn't even started a fire yet. About to ask him if he needed any help, Serah stopped herself abruptly and just listened. Was he… talking to himself?

"Stop it. Just… think about something else!" Noel looked around for something to distract him from his (growing) problem. "Uh… trees!" he muttered to himself, before remembering trapping Serah against a tree a few hours ago. He shook his head furiously to stop his imagination from going further than kissing. "No… c'mon, think!" he pleaded himself.

He didn't want Serah to come back and get the wrong idea. After all, he hadn't meant to see her like… well, like that. But he had, and now he couldn't get the image of her perfect body out of his head.

Serah cleared her throat. Noel was acting weirder than usual and she was insanely hungry.

"Um… Noel?"

His back stiffened in surprise. Shit.

Thankfully there was a bush next to him that was about waist-high. He jumped behind it, concealing the evidence of where his thoughts were at the moment. Then he turned to face her.

"Oh, Serah I was just about to…" He really didn't know where he was going with this sentence and trailed off awkwardly.

Serah narrowed her eyes at him, her hunger was not helping her mood. "If you can't handle breakfast, I'll just take care of it myself."

"S-sure…" he replied, relieved that she'd be leaving shortly. He was already calming down, and he figured by the time she came back he'd have the fire ready and all of this would be water under the bridge.

To his astonishment, Serah didn't walk away into the forest to hunt. Instead, she called on her Saboteur magic right in the middle of their camp. Her skin glowed and he felt her summon a massive amount of magical energy.

"Painga!" she shouted, releasing the paralysis spell. The area of effect was gigantic, encompassing roughly half the forest. Thumps were heard all around them as birds fell from trees and animals were knocked unconscious.

As if that wasn't enough, Serah cast Aeroga like a fisher's net to pick up all of the felled creatures in a swirling cyclone and deposited them right at her feet. Casually she knelt down next to the impressive pile and picked through it, the way someone would dig through their refrigerator, until she decided on a smallish frog-type Pitterpatter. Noel watched on in silent admiration. Suddenly, she tossed the creature to the man-behind-the-bush, hitting him square in the shoulder.

"Ow!" he complained. "What was that for?!"

"Truss it up, already!" demanded the hungry woman. She was already breaking branches for the fire. "And stop staring! What did you think I wanted to eat - a salad?"

Flighty - (adjective): irresponsible

Clouds dissolved into mist as Sazh flew his airship through them. It always surprised Dajh when he did that, as if he expected them to be made of marshmallow fluff or cotton balls and that the ship would just bounce off them.

"Things aren't always what they seem," Sazh muttered to himself humorlessly.

He'd taken the day off as a "personal day". He'd heard the awful news only last night, when he'd returned from his delivery route. A coworker had brought it up casually - somberly, of course, but casual enough all the same. He'd said something along the lines of 'What do you think of the news about the Director?' as if it had happened so far in the past that it was common knowledge. But it wasn't; Hope Esteim had been murdered only a few hours prior, and one of his closest friends was only just hearing about it.

Since Hope had been the Director, one of the few 'celebrities' of Academia, the news of his death spread quickly. The last thing Sazh wanted to do that night when he got home was to explain to Dajh why they wouldn't be visiting Hope anymore; but with everyone talking about it like the latest bit of juicy gossip, he couldn't afford to leave it unsaid. If Dajh heard it from anyone else, he'd be devastated.

But... he couldn't fill the role of the responsible father. Not when it was Hope. Not today, at least. Sazh didn't want to sit Dajh down and tell him with a strong, unaffected voice what happened as if it was something that couldn't be avoided. His friend has been murdered, for goddess-sake! He was sure that the young boy would break down and cry sad, confused tears, and Sazh needed to cry his own first.

Sure he'd flown away, but he'd be back when he was ready.

Flighty - (adjective): characterized by or liable to sudden unpredictable changes in attitude or behaviour; impulsive; fickle

After breakfast, Serah and Noel each selected a chocobo from their party and started their trek. The plan was to reach the plains by nightfall. Since Serah had single-handedly knocked out most of the creatures in the area, they didn't have to fight any battle for the first few hours. Noel was still impressed by that. Having known her for nearly half a year, he'd figured he knew the woman well enough, but then she'd go and do something so incredible that he was left wondering what else she was holding back. The hours soared by as Serah pushed their Silver Chocobo to his limit, enjoying the speed and the wind in her hair.

"Hey Noel, how about a race?" she taunted when she circled back to find him.

Raising a defiant eyebrow, Noel gave her and her chocobo a once-over and chuckled. "If you insist. You're on!"

Suddenly Noel kicked his bird into action and they were off. Serah followed, a second behind. Still surrounded by the dense trees of the forest, it was more of an obstacle course than a race-track, especially at the speed they were going. Noel darted between trees at the last possible moment, forcing Serah to slow down in order to make the turn. She cursed under her breath and chose her own path, lowering herself closer to the silver chocobo's neck in an attempt to be more aerodynamic.

"C'mon Silver… let's get 'em!" she whispered encouragingly.

As soon as she'd stopped following in Noel's wake, she and her bird caught up to the Black Chocobo he was riding.

"Hmm… what does the winner get?" she laughed as they bounded through the forest.

Noel ducked under a tree branch. "Well, I've always admired that survival knife of yours…"

"Hah, you wish!" she shouted breathlessly over the few feet that separated the speeding creatures.

"Do I?" he smirked, reaching into his pack and pulling out his secret weapon: gysha greens.

Serah's mouth dropped and she nearly ran her chocobo into a tree. Correcting her course, she glanced back at him, pouting angrily. "No fair!"

He just grinned evilly as he fed "Midnight" the herbs. Sure enough, the black chocobo started to pull ahead.

The blonde wasn't about to give up just yet. Urging her chocobo on, she lowered herself even more.

"You can do it, Silver Surfer," she whispered into his soft neck feathers, hoping the new nickname would motivate the bird. "Remember Serendipity? You were always the fastest. Don't let some juicer take that away from you!"

The trees were thinning out now, and the edge of the forest was coming into view. With one last burst of turbo energy, Serah and Silver Surfer passed their opponents and broke out of the tree-shadows and into the last rays of the day's sunlight. Noel watched happily as she and her chocobo took their victory lap. Her smile was glorious.

Having reached the plains with only an hour or so before sundown, Noel wanted to stop and make camp. Serah wanted to agree, but she suddenly felt restless.

"Maybe I'll just scout ahead a bit…"

That earned her a skeptical look from Noel. "You sure that's a good idea?"

"Don't worry about me!" she exclaimed, feining confidence. "I'll be back before you know it!"

"Well, at least look around for some fresh water," he said, tossing a bottle to her. She caught it and nodded before riding away.

A small stream was only a few kilometers away, and Serah led Silver Surfer to it gently. When she stopped to fill the water bottle, she also splashed some water on her face. It was a miracle that she hadn't been acting weird around Noel all day. Every time he looked at her, she'd wanted to squirm. It was getting hard to ignore.

They'd crossed a line in Nautilus.

There wasn't much she could do about it now, but she didn't want him to start getting all sorts of expectations from her. It wasn't like she'd agreed to start dating him, or something… Had she? Their comfortable companionship had been ruined the moment she'd acknowledged her feelings for him. Suddenly he was… well… a guy. A very handsome guy. And she was somehow expected to be able to sleep tonight…

As they settled for the evening, Noel lowered himself to the prepared sleeping area and stretched. To his surprise, Serah continued to pace next to the fire, never fully coming to a stop. When he tried to catch her eye, she stubbornly turned to survey the forest in the opposite direction. It was getting late, and he was exhausted. He looked at the bed, laid down for a second, only to get up again.

Two nights in a row they had fallen asleep together, but neither time had they planned to. It was because they'd both been trying to comfort the other. He wondered if she was thinking along the same lines. It would be nice to fall asleep in each other's arms again, but it didn't seem like Serah wanted to.

Neither of them said anything.

Finally, the awkwardness was too much.

"Coming to bed?" Noel asked deliberately.

"Huh?" Serah turned around, acting as if she hadn't noticed. "Oh, I thought I'd take first watch."

Noel gave her a quizzical look.

"What?"

"Why are you acting weird?" he asked flatly.

"Weird? Who's acting weird?" Serah giggled unconvincingly. Her fidgeting hands were tied in knots, while her feet led her in circles. It was obvious that she was uncomfortable with the idea of sleeping together.

The fact that she was so nervous only made Noel feel nervous too.

"Whatever," he scoffed, trying to act mature. "I'm going to sleep."

As he laid down, Serah stifled a massive yawn. She sat down on the far side of the fire. Noel shook his head at her stubbornness.

As he tried to rest, he couldn't help but watch as his companion fiddled with her gunblade. Blade out, blade in, blade out, blade in, she transformed the weapon over and over while tilting her head back and forth. Then she started scuffing the grass with her feet.

"Serah?" he called, "If you're cold…"

"Hmm?"

Noel cleared his throat and tried again. "It's cold out."

"Yeah."

"Come here?"

"...okay."

Serah awkwardly approached the bed of grasses and leaves. Noel wasn't sure if he should roll over and ignore her or welcome her into his arms. So he laid there and did nothing, closing his eyes even though they both knew he wasn't asleep. She sat down hesitantly, and Noel's hand found hers.

"Stop worrying so much." he said and pulled her down next to him.