A/N: Hey Guys! Sorry it took me so long to update. Life things came up. I hope this chapter came out well. It's a bit longer than the other ones because I know you guys had to wait so yeah, here it is! I swear I'll hurry and update with the next chapter soon.

~~~~~~~~ Serah POV ~~~~~~~~~~

It was raining Flan! There was no way that we could keep fighting this thing. Nothing we do is really affecting it! My breath was caught in my throat, my muscles tensing in fear. I could only stare at it as it was reforming back into the large mass that was the kingflan.

"Let's go!" a familiar voice screamed, my eyes managing to rip away from the flan towards the source. Noel had the right idea, we had to run.

"Yeah! We'll hit it hard while it's down and-" Really Snow? You never change. Guess I shouldn't be surprised. To think I spent all that time worrying about him. Stupid me. Guess I'll never learn. I resisted the urge to chuckle at this, which wasn't hard considering I was staring down a giant flan that was about to attack us again.

"Enough, we have to retreat or else this will have all been for nothing." My eyes jolted over to where Cloud stood, his swords now reforming back to the huge sword from earlier. While I was still in shock over his attack from before, I couldn't deny he was right. Noel and Cloud gave each other an understanding glance as Noel began to run down the clear path near the crystal pillar. Cloud approached me and motioned for me to come follow him. Part of me was reminded of Lightning because of that. She was always overprotective of me and making sure I was okay.

Whatever the case I understood and nodded before I looked to my right towards Snow, grabbing his wrist to catch his attention. He looked down at me for a moment to which I would smile and talk to him. "Come on, Snow. Let's go!" I said chirpily as I ran to the side with a tight grip on his wrist. He seemed to fumble as I pulled him and resisted at first but eventually he gave in and ran with me. He still was calling for my name rebelliously though. I swear, he's like one of my kids at New Bodhum, but he's so sweet. He is my Snow after all!

I also heard a few grunts from behind us which I assumed came from Cloud. The sound of a few splats after that made me assume that he was warding off some of the attacking flan that were after us. When I looked back though, Cloud was always running right behind us without looking tired at all. Honestly if it wasn't for all the sounds I would have never guessed that Cloud was fighting. It was actually amazing. Cloud seemed to have noticed my glances though as his expression got even more serious if that was possible.

"Keep running," Cloud told us sternly every time I looked back to him. Though I always complied and turned back to where I was running, I couldn't help but wonder where Cloud gets all his energy from.

Once we were clear, we slowed down to catch our breath. Well, at least I did. Snow and Noel seemed completely fine from that as they just looked back at Cloud and the giant flan before Noel turned to Snow. He started pointing at him as if lecturing a kid. "Listen. Hotheads who can't back down don't last long on this planet." That definitely wasn't going to be good. Why is Noel always so hostile to guys?

Snow just chuckled and turned away, not seeming to get it. I knew Snow so I wasn't surprised. I could tell Cloud was just keeping out of this as he just stared between them and me. I didn't know what to tell him really. This is the first time Noel and Snow have met, much less talk. I gave Cloud a small smile to reassure him that everything between them was fine. I'm not too sure how effective that was though.

"Maybe. But sometimes, you've gotta make a stand." Snow said confidently as he paced around a bit, causing me to turn my attention towards him.

"To what end?" My eyes widened as I turned to Cloud. I didn't expect him to get involved and say anything. I mean I could tell that Cloud wanted to say something but he seemed to be the type to just stay silent. He was just staring between the other guys before. Both Noel and Snow turned to face Cloud at this point and then there was this awkward staring contest between the three. "Sometimes you need to learn how to pick your own battles." I just backed away.

Still I had to think about what Cloud said. It sounded like he had some bad experiences in his past when he got too involved in things. Like he still had some doubts in his mind about something. I wanted to go over there and hug him, tell him everything will be alright, but I stayed by Snow's side. I don't even know why. Maybe deep down I knew that wasn't going to help him and I wasn't sure how to help him with that at all.

"You got a name?" Snow questioned abruptly, motioning towards Cloud in an offhanded manner. Cloud just kept his normal nonchalant look on face as he unfolded his arms to answer.

"Cloud." He said sagely. Cloud then took a glance at Noel who just looked away and began to pace impatiently. Snow smirked a bit and I could see his muscles relax a bit.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes? You look just like Lightning." I saw Cloud's eyes widen at the words of Lightning's name. To be honest, I felt my own eyes widen in surprise when Snow mentioned her. I mean sure I guess he could have just thought back on how she was, but there was some hope that he actually saw her lately. "At least your face does. Thanks for the help." Then again, I might just be overreacting. Snow didn't understand that we were all looking at him expectantly after that as he turned to motion to Noel. "And who are you?"

Noel looked over but didn't seem like he was interested in responding. In an effort to fix everything and make it non hostile, I took a step forward so that all the attention would move to me. It worked which surprised me for some reason but I was able to speak, motioning my left hand to Noel. "This is Noel. All three of us have been traveling together," I explained to Snow. Then I turned to the other two with a smile, clinging up next to Snow's side again.

"And this is Snow! We're getting married," I said happily. Just the thought of being married to Snow and being with him got me all giddy. It sort of made me forget about the situation we were in. In my glee I caught a strange look strike across Cloud's face as he looked over Snow then to Noel. Noel seemed to get a miffed look as he looked back to Cloud then to me and Snow. I was getting sort of confused as to what was going on between them, but at least this meant they were getting along.

"It's on hold for now," Snow announced boldly, almost shamelessly. I couldn't help but look over to him in shock as it all came rushing back to me. I couldn't help but look down after that as it sank in, affirming to myself that it was true even though I did not want to. Not only did he sound strangely assertive when saying that, it reminded me of the day he left when he gave me his engagement necklace. It was all depressing to remember but I tried to perk up so the other guys didn't think badly of Snow because of it. Apparently it didn't work well with Noel who had his back turned to us.

"You know, somehow I didn't expect you to be such a hothead. All I hear about is what a great guy Snow is. And look where you are, all the way in the future." Noel said this with a bit of a sarcastic undertone, looking away with his arm outstretched in an offhanded way. Cloud had held his arm out to keep Noel at bay as a sign not to further antagonize the situation. Maybe he thought that Noel would further provoke Snow unnecessarily or something, not that Snow was difficult to anger, but either way I was glad that Cloud was intervening even if I didn't show it.

"I'm sorry, who's the hothead? What were you two thinkin' bringing Serah out here?" Snow roared, making me flinch backwards and let go of his arm in the process. I never liked it when Snow got angry but I learned to accept and deal with it. After all, Lightning also had a habit at snapping at me when I did stuff wrong. Actually, I did too when I got angry at the kids. Jeez, what's wrong with my family?

I was going to say something. Explain everything to Snow so that he could understand and get along better with Noel, but Cloud intervened. "It was her choice." It was a new experience but I could tell he was speaking with a great deal of wisdom. Made me wonder how much he's been through. "We're here to find Lightning but why are you here?"

Snow looked away from us and took a few steps as if gathering his thoughts. Noel was the one that followed up on what Cloud said though. Never thought I'd see the day so soon.

"What he said. Why did you up and leave Serah? What are you doing, fighting here in the future?" Noel said this and I had to admit that I wondered that too. If Snow was here in the future not looking much older from what I remember then he could have traveled through time… somehow…. Right? Then again-

"You really want to know?"

Noel scoffed at this and stared down Snow. "I asked, didn't I?" I looked over to Cloud to see if he had anything to say but he was looking pretty distant as always and only nodded once. I barely even caught it. Snow had sighed but I knew he was going to answer. He wasn't the type of person to hide anything.

"Lightning appeared in my dreams, too. Can you believe it?" I could feel my eyes widen in disbelief and without thinking I took a step forward and spoke.

"You saw Lightning?" I asked though I already knew the answer. Snow wasn't the type of person to lie. It's just not how he was. But if Lightning appeared in his dreams too then…

Snow didn't seem to have heard me. Brushed off my question by continuing what he was saying and I listened to every word. "She told me to come here and that I had to protect Cocoon so I started jumping through time, checking things out." He made traveling through time sound so casual. Then again who am I to talk? "I learned that the giant jelly bean back there knocks Cocoon down."

"You mean the giant flan back there?" Noel asked, sounding disbelieving. When Snow affirmed it Noel looked away towards the flan then back to Snow. "According to stories I heard, back in my own time, Cocoon was brought down by war. It doesn't add up." It sounded as if Noel was trying to throw that fact in Snow's face, as if saying he's wrong.

"It could. That doesn't mean that is the only reason. That could have just been the aftermath." Cloud stated with a thoughtful look on his face. Snow looked away then back at the direction of the crystal pillar to continue.

"Did'ya see what those flan were doin', that flan? It's melting away the base of the pillar bit by bit." Cloud interrupted and finished Snow's thoughts.

"Ultimately causing the base to wear away and unable to support the large mass above it. People might notice too late and by then will cause panic. When people panic they start fighting each other for survival, not knowing how to handle their new situation otherwise." Cloud paused and it let me take in what he said. It felt as if he had firsthand experience with this and this wasn't the first time I felt like he had either. "If what you're saying is true, it could end everything. Many will die and many more will suffer."

I couldn't believe it. By that logic… "But Vanille and Fang, they're inside it." Somehow that slipped but I was worried about the future too.

Cloud seemed confused by that but accepted it without much question. Maybe he was used to being confused with all this time travel stuff. "That must mean that Lightning wanted Snow to save those two as well as the future that Noel comes from." What Cloud said somehow assured me a little.

"Sounds like you know what you're talking about Cloud," Snow said this with a smile, complimenting him I think. Cloud looked over to him but didn't really say anything . Guess he's just as antisocial as Lightning. Couldn't help but smile at that one even though I knew how bad our situation is now. "Anyway sometimes you've got to make a stand. I don't have a choice. My mission is to stop that thing for good."

"Figures," Cloud said as he turned to look at the flan again. He also mumbled something under his breath but I couldn't hear what he was saying at all.

Noel shook his head and turned to us. "None of this makes sense. There are thousands of flans appearing out of nowhere and they're fusing and creating a beast that shouldn't exist."

Wait, shouldn't exist? My eyes widened and I clasped my hands together in realization. "Could it be a paradox?"

"Sounds like the convenient answer." Cloud said and I had to admit that was true. So far all of our problems have turned out to be time paradoxes. Each one of them we had to fix one way or another. Even Atlus. It couldn't be a coincidence could it?

Noel walked towards me and raised a finger as if I was on to something. "If it is, we'll need to do some traveling to fix it." It was then I looked over to Snow to see if he understood. Since this was the first time in a while that I have seen him, I didn't want to leave him so soon.

Cloud spoke up quickly. "So we need to collect another artefact somewhere." He's right which means that we'd have to take Snow with us. He has been here defending the pillar all this time. He'd know the Waterscape better than any of us so he might know where it was. Cloud walked over to join us now and I smiled, though his expression didn't change from its normal serious look. "And if it isn't?"

"Then we beat it down again!" Snow said boldly with a fist pump. I could tell the other two weren't too optimistic by Snow's enthusiasm but Snow is Snow.

"Any ideas where to start first?" Cloud asked Snow who went into this thinking pose.

"I might. Come with me."

As we all followed Snow, I turned my gaze to the sky and began thinking about Lightning again. There were still so many secrets and mysteries left unanswered. Lightning… did you meet Snow in his dreams? Is there a reason why you can only talk to us when we sleep? Well, at least this was a nice change of pace. Snow hasn't changed a bit and being with Snow helped me forget about what the future might hold. Feels good to worry about the simple stuff, you know?

~~~~~~~~ Cloud POV ~~~~~~~~~~

I tried staying in the back of the group, not wanting to interfere with this reunion of sorts. I could periodically hear Noel and Snow talking about something or another that didn't have much significance to what was going on now and so I tried my best to stay out of it. Not really my thing I guess. I also heard Snow asking Serah about me but again that's none of my business. I have my own demons to face.

What I am more worried about is Sephiroth. If he is still alive he could be the one behind this flan problem and these time paradoxes somehow. Finish what he started or whatever since Cocoon did look a lot like Meteor. Of course that wouldn't make sense with what I saw of him in that Oracle whatever it's called.

Wait… is he manipulating Claire?

That wouldn't be surprising but that's all the more reason for me to hurry and save her. On top of my problems with Sephiroth, there was Claire. It was said that she was able to visit the dreams of others but if that was the case why hasn't she visited my dreams? Maybe she did not know I was with Serah? It would make sense. Our timelines don't exactly coincide. Still I did want to see and speak to her. Guess I'll have to do it the hard way.

Hey Aerith? You still there?

…

What am I doing? Of course not. If she knew the answers to any of this I'm sure she would have told me by now. It was just another thing on my long list of problems that I need to solve.

"Oh hey! This is where the flan were trying to get to," I heard Serah say excitedly as she pointed upwards. I followed her finger and saw a small group of flan huddled up around this green glowing thing.

"And there's our artefact," Noel stated which allowed me to catch up to where we are at now. So the monsters are guarding the artefact or are attracted to it? Interesting. Well the faster I beat these things the faster we can move on and get to saving Claire right?

My right hand moved back to grab onto the handle of the fusion blade. "I'll handle this." Before anyone else could react I took the opportunity to surge past them and engage the orange blob things. I fought them off before after all and with this I doubt it'll take longer than a minute to finish these things off.