Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 or FF13.

She didn't know what to say, so Lightning just stood a little ways behind Tifa. Close enough for the fighter to know that she was there, but far enough to keep a respectable distance between them. Tifa probably needed space, and Lightning was willing to give it to her. The water rolled around Tifa's ankles, but despite the constant motion, the fighter stood there staring at the tossing sand as if it were the greatest mystery in the world. She wanted to wait for Tifa to speak first, to accurately gauge what the fighter was feeling beneath her silence. The most obvious would be shock, and maybe denial, but there was no helping it. Lightning didn't make a sound, and stared alongside Tifa at the calm rolling waves. A shaky breath trembled out of Tifa's lips, a small signal to tell Lightning that she was ready to speak. The the voice that came out hardly resembled the kind light-heartedness that Tifa always displayed, pretend or not, instead adopting a perverse bitterness that she didn't know Tifa was capable of. "It's like you're asking me to punch you again."

Lightning sucks in a deep breath, preparing for the worst, before she spoke the obvious, "You're angry."

"Angry?" Tifa repeated, "I'm not angry. I'm…"

"Can't even put it into words?"

"No. No, I can't." Tifa admitted, "What's the point of being angry though? Angry at what? You? And that ridiculous story the Turk just told?"

"It's true-"

"I should've known." Tifa murmured to herself, "I should've known better."

"Tifa-"

"I'm not angry!" Tifa suddenly yelled out at the sea, "I'm not! I'm not, I'm not, I'm not!" Standing witness to Tifa's outburst, Lightning knew well enough that this was Tifa's way of venting and it only told her that Tifa was, in fact, very angry. Hurt. Disappointed. Her words were swallowed by the water and washed away from the shore. Tifa's shoulders hunched, and her body curled over slightly as she hugged herself to protect herself from the non-existent chill. Lightning couldn't feel it, didn't want to, though she understood it. "There's… no point in getting angry." Tifa whispered, "I don't believe you."

"Then there's nothing I can say to convince you, and there's not point trying to convince yourself that you're not feeling what you're really feeling."

"No…" Straightening her shoulders again, Tifa lifted her head up and stared up at the stars shimmering in the night sky. "It's always been there… I've always known that Light was different. People called her a prodigy. She was so… so imperfect that… somehow… she was perfect. Imperfectly perfect." Shaking her head, Tifa took another step out further into the water, "Does that even make sense? But I guess it doesn't have to. It doesn't matter anymore. Light, no matter how strong she was, always felt… lost to me. It felt like she was always looking for something, but didn't know what to look for. You're different though."

Lightning crossed her arms, "It's because I have purpose. I have something I need to do, and nothing's going to stop me."

"And she didn't have anything. Not after the Purge." Tifa's voice was nearly lost in the silence of the night, "I could hardly walk the last time I was here. I was stuck inside that small room for what felt like forever, but being stuck there was worth it. I'd never forget the moment I walked out using my own legs even if Aerith and Cloud were there to help me. It was so beautiful; the white sand, the clear water, and the blue sky… Truthfully, a part of me didn't want to go back to Academia. I wanted to stay here with Cloud and Aerith, with the kids, with… Light." Lightning kept her lips tight. "Here I am though," Tifa laughed humorlessly, "three years later with Cloud, a SHINRA Turk, and… you. You're… a Goddess. Y'know, I always thought Hope was creepy, saying how you- Light, reminded him of a Goddess. I forget the name-"

"Etro." Lightning supplied quickly.

"Yeah, that one. Etro." Tifa said wistfully, "I guess I was the one that was… ignorant... or was I arrogant? I thought that I knew you so well while he just didn't understand. He knew all along though didn't he?"

"You were neither ignorant nor arrogant."

"No, I was both." Tifa cut in, her tone sharp and almost impatient, "Hope killed Vanille and Dajh." The fighter fists drew tight at her side, "It's as you said isn't it? Keep friends close but enemies closer." Tifa quoted her words from that fateful day, "You said that Hope had no choice."

"Tifa-"

"I know. I do know you. I even looked for you… because I wanted my revenge. Do you think I'm stupid? That I won't figure it out just because you have Light's face?" Tifa continued as the anger built upon anger, "You're the one that killed Sazh and Fang. You're the one that killed Light. Don't try to hide the truth that you killed them all. You telling me that they're still alive means nothing because they're gone. They're gone from this world, from my life. You don't get to ignore the fact that you took them away from me and that I'll never see them again!"

"I'm not," Lightning answered steadily, "but you missed a few things. It might come as another shock but I'm Lumina as well. She's a part of me, so you can say that I'm the one that dropped the countdown clock in Nautilus, I'm the one that told Aerith my real name and stopped her from telling anyone else, I'm the one that attacked you in the Vile Peaks, it was under my order that Hope did all that he did, I'm the one that made sure the Sector Seven plate fell, I'm the one that had the Light's room destroyed all to find the Keystone, and you're right, I'm the one that killed Fang, Sazh, and Light. I've always been there, I've always had my hand carefully controlling what would and wouldn't happen to you, and to Cloud." The pink haired woman shifted, kicking the sand at her feet, "At the same time, I'm also the one that came to Midgar and help you fight SHINRA, I'm the one that listened to you talk about your insecurities, I'm the one that trained you, the one that you betrayed and hurt, the one that forgave you, and the one that defeated SHINRA with you only to realize in the end that I was just another pawn in another game."

"Stop pretending-" Tifa whipped around to glare at her.

"I'm not." Kneeling down, Lightning scooped up a handful of sand only to watch it slip through her fingers, "Every single time I fight, I give it my all. Every single time I think I'm about to win, I lose. Something always happens, and I always have to keep fighting. It's hard for me to see what's important because I'm focused on winning. Fighting Sephiroth might as well be a suicide on my part, but if I beat him, then I've won."

"Winning isn't everything."

"It is when my victory will mean that I'm done. Finished. Then I won't have to care anymore because it's hard to care." Lightning sat herself down on the sand and looked up to the stars Tifa had always been mesmerized with, "You've always liked the stars, and maybe I could've agreed with you back then, but now I hate it. There's nothing up there. Just a lot of black. I'm a Goddess, and up there is where I've sat for the last millennia."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I don't regret my actions, and if you think you have enough reason to hate me for what I've done, then go ahead. I won't stop you, and I won't try to force you to see my side of the story." Leaning back on her hands, the pink haired woman closed her eyes to allow Tifa to leave or to try and approach her. The fighter hesitantly took a seat beside her on the sand, beckoned by the thirst of knowledge. Or maybe to see if she could find holes in her story so that she could continue deceiving herself. Of what? Lightning asked herself wryly. Living in denial of reality was one crime she couldn't forgive. Tifa's ruby brown eyes were still guarded though, as if she was afraid Lightning might attack her any second.

"Will you… tell me?" Tifa asked, "Tell me your story, and when we go to see Aerith, then I'll see for myself if I can believe you. I'm angry," Tifa finally admitted, "and I want to stay angry at you, but it wouldn't be fair. So… will you tell me?"

"It's a long story."

Hugging her knees to her chest, the fighter rested her chin to stare bleakly into the distance, "I would expect it to be."

At night, on this particular night, there were no clouds in the sky. No birds, no other distractions other than the stars. Somewhere, sometime during her long life, she's heard that staring up at the stars was like staring into the past. The darkness crested with diamonds up above was her canvass, and she thought about the story she could paint for the fighter to see. The pink haired woman released a deep sigh, "Where to start…"

"The beginning would be the most obvious."

She allowed her mind to rewind. How long has it been since she had to think about her past? Every day was about the future, thinking about how she would have to move forward, yet the future she thought about never really included herself. She had no future. "It… was the beginning of the end."

"Well, that's grim." Tifa chimed in, earning her Lightning's first smirk.

"I was a soldier back then, human, and I lived with my sister. Serah and I lost our parents when we were young, so I joined the military in order to support ourselves."

Tifa whispered with just a twinge of nostalgia, "That's a familiar story."

"Only in the beginning." Lightning breathed, "The thing is, our world back then was remarkably different. We had our Gods and Goddesses, Pulse, Lindzei, and Etro. Lindzei was the deity that we worshipped in Cocoon, and on Pulse, well… I think it's self-explanatory. The Goddess Etro wasn't one we paid much respect to so she simply existed. These Gods, created the Fal'cie; god-like beings that provided for humans. They gave us our sun, our food, our water… everything. Pulse and Cocoon have always been enemies, so it was no surprise when war broke out. The War of Transgression ended six hundred years before I was born. Fang told me once that she's the oldest living person in the world, and she's right. She's got six hundred years on me."

"So people from your world just don't grow old?"

"No, we do. The Fal'cies, depending if they're from Pulse or Cocoon would brand humans, turning them into L'cie. It's a familiar term, you've heard it before. Turning into a L'cie was no blessing. It was a curse. Every L'cie is given a focus, some obscure mission that they have to figure out and then complete. If you fail, you lose your humanity and you turn into a monster called a C'eith, you complete your focus and you turn into a crystal and enter into a crystal sleep. It's like going into a coma, except you don't grow old. Fang and Vanille were L'cies from Oerba with the focus to destroy Cocoon by turning into Ragnarok. They attacked during the War of Transgression, did damage, and even though Pulse lost, Etro intervened and turned them into crystal. They remained on Cocoon, hidden behind a Pulse vestige near Bodhum."

"Bodhum…" Tifa repeated, pursing her lips and Lightning could feel her eyes rake over her face to see if there's any kind of reaction. "So is it a coincidence that places share the same name here or no?"

"It's not a coincidence." Lightning answered, "But I'll answer that better later."

"Alright… So Fang and Vanille turned to crystal and ended up near Bodhum." Tifa summarized, "Six hundred years later, I'm assuming they woke up and that's where you came in."

"I was already twenty one when they awoke, Serah was eighteen. I was a Sergeant, Bodhum Security Regiment, and due for promotion. It was actually Serah that jumped straight into the mess. Vanille didn't want to face her focus, choosing to run away instead and got Serah caught up in it. She got branded as a Pulse L'cie." Rolling her head on her shoulders, Lightning leaned back onto the beach and rested her hands on the back of her head as pillows, "You see, it doesn't matter if you're a Cocoon citizen, you can still get branded by a Pulse Fal'cie and become their pawn. That's what's happened to Serah. She was given a focus to destroy Cocoon, but she would rather turn C'ieth."

"You tried to save her."

"I did. The thing is, anything remotely close to anything of Pulse origin was treated like a plague. That's why every one in Bodhum... The PSICOM conducted a Purge, saying that it was meant to relocate Bodhum citizens to Pulse where they could start a new life."

"It was a lie wasn't it?" Tifa asked, resting down beside her, "Otherwise, you wouldn't have had to fight." Her eyes fluttering open and shut slowly.

"You're tired." Lightning remarked, "Get some sleep. I'll tell you more-"

"No." Rolling over onto her side, Tifa tried her best to keep her eyes open, "Keep talking."

"The PSICOM started killing people. In this world, they killed because of Geostigma. That's what the Purge represents here… but at least it was an actual threat. In my world, my past, they killed because something of Pulsian nature was there. That's all. They put us on trains and took us to the Hanging Edge, a city that Fang and Vanille and destroyed when they attacked during the War of Transgression." Lightning turned, watching as Tifa rested beside her with her eyes closed now. Her breaths weren't as deep or steady as it should be if she was already asleep, so she must be barely awake.

"Mmm." Tifa hummed, as if to prompt her to continue.

"Serah, at that time, had already been taken hostage by the Pulse Fal'cie and transported there. I went to look for her, and that's when I met Sazh. He was there for his own reasons, and not my story to tell. Somehow, I found Serah. We all ended where the Pulse Fal'cie was. Snow was there too, and he brought Vanille and Hope with him. I had no idea who they were, but I didn't care. All I wanted to do was to save Serah, but right before my eyes… she turned into crystal. I was sad, angry, and... I just didn't care anymore. I walked right up to the Fal'cie and fought it. After that, I don't really remember what happened. I woke up, and I was branded a Pulse L'cie."

"… mhm…-igh-…"

Twisting around at the unintelligible ramblings, the pink haired woman let out a deep breath, seeing Tifa fast asleep beside her. "Seriously?" Lightning mumbled, wondering how her story was boring enough to put someone to sleep.

"Today was a long day. She must be exhausted, both physically and mentally." Cloud spoke up, jolting Lightning from where she was lying on the ground, "And it wasn't like I was going to let you anywhere near Tifa if I'm not there too."

"You were listening?"

"I was." The blond nodded, treading through the sand and sat himself beside her, "I didn't hear much of the beginning so I had to get closer. The Turk was snoring, but I heard enough. It's late already. Get some sleep. I'll keep watch."

"Thanks, but no thanks." Lightning shook her head, "I don't sleep – can't as a matter of fact. You sleep."

"Can't?"

"I'm the Goddess of Death. What would you think would happen if I let loose just a little? Your world might not be affected, but mine definitely will. In this world, the population of Pulse, Cocoon, and Novus Chrysalia are in the billions. Every second, thousands of people die and thousands are reborn. I'm in charge of all of that. If I lose consciousness, can you imagine what would happen? I fall asleep for six hours, each hour has sixty minutes, each minute has sixty seconds… you get the idea. Millions of souls will be lost." Lightning explained, "I don't sleep. This body isn't made to sleep or eat, or really do anything a normal human body needs to function."

"Then rest." Cloud said firmly, as if he was talking to a child who couldn't fall asleep, "Is Novus Chrysalia the parallel world the Turk mentioned?"

"The Unseen Realm. My world works as a cycle. People who die in this world are reborn in Novus Chrysalia, those who die in Novus Chrysalia are reborn in Pulse or Cocoon. Their souls are the same, but with every midpoint in that cycle, they're reborn into new people."

"You're the Goddess of Reincarnation then."

"That's another one of my titles."

"And… Aerith knows this. She believes you."

"She didn't at first, but it's hard to act as if everything's unreal when I drop her in the middle of Novus Chrysalia." Lightning shrugged, "It took her sometime to adjust. After all, your kind isn't even supposed to set foot in the Unseen Realm whether you're alive or not. You just go straight to the Lifestream. We're taking the scenic route, hopefully to get you guys acclimatized to the chaos before you enter Nova Chrysalia. Before that happens though, I need you to make good on your end of the deal."

"I told you, I don't know where the Turks are."

"I'm sure you know someone that does, or someone that can figure it out. I need to bring them back to Rufus."

He regarded Lightning carefully, and glanced back at the blissfully unaware Reno sleeping by the fire, "Why are you so intent on helping them?"

"I made a deal. Rufus gave me everything I asked; gil, vehicles, technology, man power, information…"

"Everything that the GC or PSICOM could've." Cloud said, "Why SHINRA?"

"The information I need has to be complete. It wouldn't be enough to salvage whatever I can from the SHINRA databases. Piecing a puzzle together is much harder when you don't even know where the pieces are. Rufus could tell me though because he has the inside knowledge that those outside of SHINRA don't have. The most important thing though, was that I could do whatever I wanted without being questioned. I wouldn't be able to do that in the GC. There, I'd be restricted by rules and regulations. Not to mention I'd have to pretend to be someone I'm not, and that comes with another whole set of responsibilities and expectations that I don't have time to deal with."

"Makes sense." Cloud nodded in agreement, "But you could've let Tifa, Barret, and I know that you're-"

"That I'm still alive even though the person you think I am is gone?" Lightning intercepted Cloud's train of thought, "I'm not. Besides, the more you associate with me, the more dangerous it becomes. I'm fighting Sephiroth and he nearly killed you, Tifa, and Aerith that time. He would've if I hadn't stopped him."

"It was you that time. Sephiroth said so too, that the Goddess of Death would come herself. Suddenly, it all makes sense." Cloud reasoned, holding his chin with his hand thoughtfully, "Rufus mentioned you too when we fought him. Said something about how you were the self-proclaimed Goddess of Death."

"Self-proclaimed?" Lightning repeated wryly, "I think I know some people who would disagree with him. I'm the one that destroyed his cannon, killed all of his executives and emptied out his building the day you guys came to fight him."

"You were behind everything."

"One way or another." Lightning pursed her lips and frowned, "Not anymore though. I'm on the battlefield now. The fact that Sephiroth didn't come after you these three years says something to me. You're not a threat to him, and that he's prepared to fight me. He'll show up soon. I know he will."

"Why would I be a threat to him?"

"Because you are, and that's all you need to know."

"That doesn't tell me much."

"It's not supposed to."

Cloud nods, seeming accepting her ambiguity for now and shifts the topic back SHINRA, "I can ask Barret. Seeing as how Raines did everything behind AVALANCHE's back, I'm sure Barret has some leverage. Maybe he can get you the answers you want. Wutai is on Gaia anyways, so the GC shouldn't have precedence in any sort of dealings with them."

"I want the Turks alive. They were getting the information I wanted and because of that, they were captured. If they're anywhere in Pulse or Cocoon, then that isn't a problem. But if they're on Gaia, then that's another story." Lightning massaged her temple, "Any idea what Seppuku means?"

"Seppuku? Why do you ask?"

"Apparently, Rydgea let it slip to Reno that he might have to perform Seppuku and hinted that Tseng and Elena most likely have done it or will do it."

"That's not good." Cloud said, "Seppuku, I think, originates from Wutai. It's a ritual suicide."

"Suicide?"

"Disembowelment." Cloud nodded, making the motions with his hands, "They have the person cut open their own stomach while someone else cuts their head off."

"That's… well…" Lightning floundered for the right word, "Shit."

"You're a Goddess that's been alive for thousands of years and you don't know?"

"Shut up."

Rising to his feet, Cloud brushed the sand from his pants, "I'll call Barret, give him a rundown of the situation. He's not going like it, but I think he'll understand. Raines has been… getting on his nerves lately. Hopefully, we can get to the Turks before they're sent to Wutai."

"I've told you before." Lightning sighed, "The GC didn't help AVALANCHE out of kindness. Raines is a business man and politician, literally the worst combination out there. Barret should've seen this coming when Raines offered his help to fight against SHINRA and the PSICOM."

"It's not like we had a choice."

"You could've turned down the offer."

"Then what?" Cloud scoffed, "Ran up to SHINRA thinking that we can take them ourselves?"

"You were pretty confident in yourself back then."

"More like idiotic." Cloud muttered. His eyes widened slightly and then he gave Lightning the strangest look, "It's easy to forget who you are and who you're not."

"Thinking about me like that is stupid. I have her memories, her thoughts, her feelings; they're all inside me."

"I don't… get it."

Taking a deep breath, she wondered how she could go about explaining this to him. "You're… Zack. That's who you think you are. You have his identity, but you're also just you."

Cloud frowned, "Zack?"

"Have you heard of him? From Aerith?"

"He's…" He shook his head.

Lightning watched him glare at the sand before shoving his shoulder, "Forget what I said. You're not Zack. You're you, and Aerith loves you because of who you aren't. The you who's alive right now is just Cloud, and the life that you live is different from the one that you should've lived."

"Should've?"

"I have visions of this world's timeline. It's never complete so it's hard to get a full picture, but I have a general idea as to what would've been if it weren't for me. Just like how I was unlucky and chosen to become the Goddess of Death and Reincarnation, you were meant for great things too. But really, it was a tragedy waiting to happen. The reason I took Aerith to Novus Chrysalia is also because of these visions."

"You took her there to protect her."

"Because if I don't, I'm afraid that your world will run through its original timeline and she will die. She'll be murdered right before your eyes." Rising from where she was sitting, Lightning effortlessly picked up the slumbering Tifa in her arms, "She'll catch a cold sleeping here. I'm going to move her by the fire."

"Then I'll call Barret."

Lightning nodded, "Thank you." She took a step, glanced back at Cloud and called out to him, "How did you know what Seppuku is?"

"I listen to the radio. Since Wutai has kept itself cut-off from the rest of the world, the fact that the GC are finally making some progress towards their negotiations with them has given them media focus. I wouldn't be surprised if Raines is planning on giving them the Turks as a sign of goodwill. After all, Wutai's been at war with SHINRA for a long time."

Allowing the conversation to end between them, Lightning began treading back towards the bonfire. "Mm…" Tifa hummed before she giggled softly. At least she was having a good dream despite all that has been said and done.

And here is the next chapter! Hope you enjoy!