Hey guys, and thanks again for tuning into the next chapter of NR! ;3

Shoutouts go to my reviewers: OscarMerrinoz96, ziel101 (hope school treats you well, man!), GCFarron, and Naz (and I like your speculation, bwahaha, you'll have to wait and see though). You guys are awesome!

A bit of personal-ness here: yesterday I spent like 10 minutes in fangirl squeal mode because my Lightning necklace arrived in the mail. It's the pendant she wears as part of her outfit in the original XIII and I spent like half an hour just staring at it. Haha, the little crystals in the pendant do move as you shake it. *jingles it* Anyways, crazy fangirl moment over. xD

of this date, this chapter has been updated as my Beta and I have gone through it. Yay, I like it much better now!

Also, to GCFarron/Naz: I thought about including Fang and Vanille in this fic, but... I know I'm already not going to bring them back. They are due for some cameo appearances in upcoming chapters though - I can't wait to play the Fang/Light interactions!

Enjoy as always, my lovelies!

Chapter 14: Why We Fight

Lightning kicked aside a small piece of scrap metal on her way home from work. Compared to the chaos of the last few days, even fighting monsters that still lurked around the perimeter of the relatively new settlement seemed somewhat relaxing. She closed her hand on her omega weapon – it felt good to be able to use it whenever she wanted again. A few days without her weapon had taught her that much.

The setting sun and the Gran Pulse breeze felt good on her cheeks, and for a moment, she let herself relax. I don't have to worry about anything…right? The same worm of discomfort ate at her stomach – what she'd been told about the Eclipse still made her feel like she should be doing something, but… Is it really so selfish of me to think that I don't want to stick out my neck on the line for the world again?

She glanced at the tall crystal silhouette of Cocoon. I saved you because of Serah. I wouldn't have cared all that much…if it weren't for her. And maybe that's selfish, but I hate it when I'm expected to save the world just because…

Sighing, she kicked aside a small flower on the dirt path up to her house. A prickling sense that someone was watching her from someplace afar nagged at her as soon as she emerged from the small cliff that led to home, but she ignored it angrily. I'm just being paranoid.

She heard loud, happy screeches from the house and that stopped her short. Serah and Snow, no doubt. Well, she wasn't getting involved in that - she'd seen and heard enough of their games to last a lifetime. Settling herself on a rock outside, Lightning resolved not to go inside until the screams had stopped. The view from the rock was pretty nice, and she usually didn't have much time for scenery. From here, she could see Cocoon, and just thinking about Cocoon made her trail her hand to her brand.

A feral growl from the gathering shadows made her instantly get up as she pulled out her omega weapon. Scanning the bushes to her right, she quickly pinpointed the eyes that were glowing in the deepening twilight.

"Bring it," she snarled, slowly advancing in their direction.

A loud howl sounded close by her ear as the creature exploded from the bushes, its jaws barely missing her ear. She felt some claws hook in the vest of her uniform, but luckily it had missed her skin. Quickly flipping her weapon to its gun mode, she fired at it, aiming for the shoulder.

The monster swerved around in the grass, and she watched its long claws shred the plant blades as it skidded around. This one is fast. Her bullet had grazed its side but she knew it wasn't enough to do her any real damage.

She felt the magic channel to her left hand. Alright, let's see how you take a spell. The Thunder she unleashed hit the spot it had been standing the moment before. Damn, what is this thing? I'll have to take it straight on - it's too fast for ranged attacks.

The happy shouting from the house had stopped - clearly, the noise outside wasn't exactly the most comforting. But she couldn't let that distract her right now - Lightning hoped Snow had the good sense to keep Serah inside.

A snarl from in front of her snapped her attention back to the monster in question as it leapt at her. She met its teeth straight on with the blade of the omega weapon, but it had the advantage - it was pushing down, aided by gravity, while she was trying to push it back. There would only be a moment for her to edge in her next attack and she had to be ready. Somewhere outside of her peripheral vision, the front door banged open.

Readying the spell she was going to cast, quickly, she took her left hand off her weapon. The monster would no doubt win without both her hands on the blade, but hopefully...

The Fira spell hit it right in the face as it fell back hissing and smoking. The acrid scent of burnt fur hit her nose just as Snow barreled out onto the lawn, followed by Hope. But the monster wasn't done yet, and it launched itself at her again. What the hell? I just melted half its face off, and it's still going for me?

Shoving it roughly away with a swipe of her blade, she didn't waste any time before throwing an Aero at it, and this time, it let out a hiss as it hit the ground. She whipped out her left hand to stop Snow from running over to it and bashing it.

"Wait," she hissed. Bending down to the monster, now unable to get up but still squirming, she inspected it for anything that might alert her to where it originated from. Because for sure, this is no normal monster. And after a few moments of searching, she found it: a scar on its back leg with a five digit number.

"Snow, look." The big man looked clueless for a moment before he followed her finger and his eyes lighted on the number on its back leg. She watched his expression change from puzzled to grim, and knew she had to be wearing the same look on her face.

"This monster came from a lab, didn't it?" Their eyes met once, and she knew Snow was thinking exactly the same thing she was thinking. Someone's still after us out there. And chances are, they know we were all Pulse l'Cie once. There was also a pleasant aftertaste to the fact that Snow had caught on so quickly - her sister's husband wasn't as stupid as he acted sometimes.

Lightning didn't even turn around before putting a single bullet into the monster's head.

Snow locked the front door, and for good measure, he put the secondary lock on. Remembering the scared look on Serah's face when they'd heard the sounds of combat outside, he shuddered inwardly at the thought of that one monster that had almost been too much for Lightning to handle by herself. The hell was that monster?

His hand shook a little as it lingered on the wood of the door.

"Snow, do you plan to break the door as well or something?" Obviously it was Lightning, who did not sound impressed that it was taking him so long to lock the front door.

"Alright, Sis, I'm coming. Don't rip my hair out."

He found her in the living room, Serah nestled against her shoulder. She sounds awfully angry and irritated for someone who was breaking down and crying just a few nights before. She was lazily cleaning her gunblade, and he'd noticed Serah had been making an effort to have more physical moments with her sister than usual.

"Sis?" He heard her give huff of acknowledgment that' she'd heard him. "Did you see where that monster came from? Or anyone around the house?"

He saw her glance up. "Actually, Snow, I was on the verge of asking you that. I just got home from work when I saw that thing, but you sit around all day at home, don't you?" Ouch.

Hope piped up from the corner where he was busy trying to pull the curtain over the back patio door. "Nope Light – we didn't see anything strange all day…well, not until you got home."

He saw her narrow her eyes as what he'd dubbed the "soldier look" came into them. She's probably thinking it was gunning for her. And she could very well be right. Just then, she reached for her phone that she kept in the red pack on her thigh. It was then that he heard the telltale buzzing sound coming from it. Snow looked at it suspiciously - there were only four people who had her number and three of them lived in this house. That meant...

She flipped her phone open impatiently - listening to it for about ten seconds before angrily snapping it shut. Snow saw her reach for the omega weapon and stuff it in its holster, and stride quickly to the front door.

"Uh, Sis? What's wrong?"

She glanced back impatiently at him, before switching her gaze worriedly to Serah. He saw her expression change, and it wasn't hard to guess what she was thinking. Probably knows Serah will chew her out again if she leaves in a fit like that and not tell anyone what's going on.

"Amodar. Apparently some insurgency at the Corps building. I'm needed." She turned to go.

"No, Claire! This time you're not going by yourself!" It was Serah, and she was looking at Lightning with the same determined glint that Snow had seen her sister wear too many times. Snow hid a smile behind his big hand. Lightning's forgotten her sister's a Farron too.

Lightning rolled her eyes. "Serah, I get the sentiment, but who else can come? No one else is a soldier."

Snow felt a big smile crack his lips. "Actually, Sis, Amodar knows who I am. Pretty sure he wouldn't mind if I err...'lent a hand', 'specially if you guys have some sort of rebellion on your hands."

He heard her snort angrily. "I don't have time to argue with you, Snow. If you want to tag along, whatever – it's not my fault if you get sent away." And with that, she turned to the door again. He barely had time to start after her before she strode out the door into the night. One last thought crossed Snow's mind before he closed it, and he motioned with his finger to Hope.

"Don't let her come after Lightning," he hissed under his breath. "No matter what you hear from the TV or whatever. Maker knows she'll probably come running and that could be the worst thing to happen to her."

The understanding was clear in Hope's eyes. "Got it."

Snow tousled the teenager's hair with his hand. "Thanks, kid."

Lightning felt her breathing quicken as she ran through the streets of New Bodhum. She could hear Snow thumping behind her; hopefully he'd told Serah not to chase after them. But she pushed thoughts of her sister out of her mind - her soldier's sense was kicking in and she could hear the shouts coming from the centre of the city. Pulling her gunblade out of the holster, she readied it at her side as she stopped at the entrance to the Corps building. The sight in front of her nearly made her heart stop.

Monsters everywhere. There had been none in the streets, but suddenly, she knew. Like the monster that had only emerged when she'd gotten home, they'd been sent to attack the Guardian Corps building. She didn't stop to wait for Snow. Launching herself over the dead and dying bodies of soldiers and monsters alike, she set off inside. I have to find Amodar.

But it wasn't going to be easy - the moment she set foot inside the building, monsters launched themselves at her. Slashing left and right, Lightning tried to fend them off without using her magic. This is impossible. There were too many people, too many fights going on at the same time, and she was trying to dodge attacks and bullets alike.

Frustrated, she sent a Fire at one of the squealing monsters that was barreling towards her. The moment the spell hit the monster, it dissipated into black smoke. So they're weak to magic. But I can't use magic liberally here...fuck.

Flipping over crumbled walls, she tried to block out the other sounds of battle in the building. She knew some of the soldiers were on the side of the monsters, but the problem was, she didn't know who was who. As she dived under a collapsing column, she felt hands tighten around her throat as she was getting up. Elbowing whoever was behind her, the impact was enough to let her shoulder roll forward into a defensive hunch. And then she saw who... or rather, what it was.

The same red eyes and pale skin of the person who had saved her. But this time, the eyes weren't filled with concern or whatever she had seen that day in the man's eyes. There was only malice and ill intent in these, and Lightning knew that it wasn't going to do her any good to stop and think about the similarities.

Pressing her left hand to the floor, she whispered, "Aerora." While the Wind spell was taking effect, she leapt forwards, using the floor as a kick off. Pointing the gunblade down, she'd hoped to get the man in the back. But he'd rolled to the side, and her omega weapon slammed into the ground without hitting anything. Wrenching the blade out of the marble, she cast another Aerora. And this time, the man didn't have the time to dodge out of the spell. nThe side of her omega weapon's blade ripped across his throat.

Watching the life fade from the eyes, Lightning stepped backwards to avoid the growing pool of blood. Damn, I don't have time for this! Setting off at a run again, she continued down the hall - Amodar's office was at the very end and she could see and hear the sounds of combat coming from its general direction. Someone's footsteps were thumping behind her, and she spared one glance backwards. Snow. Of course he's following me. Ignoring the big man, she took a running leap forward over a crack in the marble - there wasn't really any indication of how stable it was and she wasn't going to take chances.

Kicking open the door to her commanding officer's room, she froze in shock.

There was blood...everywhere. There were at least four dead soldiers on her left, and she didn't even want to look at their faces that still stared into death. Turning, there was a man that looked suspiciously like...

Bam! And for that moment, she wasn't there. She wasn't in New Bodhum, but back on that fucking circle in the ruins of Oerba. Those same eyes, that same face...she could almost hear Larcell's voice taunting her, telling her there was an easier way to end the pain. And even though she knew from Hope that they'd killed Larcell, that he'd vanished into black smoke, she couldn't shake the image of the man from her mind…

… who was currently sitting in Amodar's chair.

"Recognize me, Lightning? You should - but Larcell was a weak little puppet who couldn't keep his plans to himself." The voice was undeniably cold, and the tone reminded her of Rosch; sadistic and confident. Lightning forced herself to concentrate.

"I'm sure you've already realized that the monsters are from our laboratories, and that they can be... programmed. Clever little soldier, aren't we?"

"Shut up," she snapped back. "Why are you doing this?"

The man slowly got up, and as he did, a horrified gasp tore from her lips. There were at least eight dead or dying behind him, and in the gloom, she could only see the glowing insignias on their pauldrons - but she knew one of them was Amodar. It had to be. Suppressing the sick feeling in her stomach, she turned her attention back to the man that was advancing slowly towards her. She tried to ignore the fact that she could see and hear his weapon dripping with blood, but it was hard; there was so much death around her that her nerve was beginning to weaken... Urgh, pull yourself together Lightning. You can't lose it now.

"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet, Lightning. You know what we wanted before. Did you really think that just because Larcell died we were going to change our objective?" His tone was mocking, and he raised his bloodstained sword up to her eye level. He was only a couple paces away from her now, and her hand tightened on her omega weapon.

"The Eclipse?" she hissed. She was greeted with a very cold smile.

"Of course, my dear, pretty Lightning. I guess our Larcell didn't waste any of his time telling you about it. But did you know? We need a Pulse l'Cie to help us find those crystals, and since you so helpfully escaped..." He sighed. "Well, we'll have to find ourselves another, don't you think? And I happen to know of several Pulse l'Cie who are just as capable as you."

No. Not...

"No!" she shouted at him, fear rising in her chest. "Not Serah!"

He laughed at her. "Oh, you figure things out so quickly. Maybe you'll be promoted because of your quick thinking, because, as you can see, we killed quite a few commanding officers tonight. Perhaps someone will put your name forwards to Pulse Management. And oh, by the way, it's not just your pretty sister who's compatible...what about that platinum haired teenager you're so fond of?"

Fury. That was all she could feel at the moment. His mocking her, his blatant threat to Serah and Hope; she could feel herself losing it. She knew he could see it, but she didn't really care. Every muscle in her body itched to rush forward and swipe her omega weapon at him, but she knew that it was obvious he was a skilled fighter - attacking out of anger was not going to get her a win.

And she was desperate. Desperate to do anything to save her sister, to save Hope, and to protect the people she cared about. I can't let him hurt any of them. They can't go through what I did. Fuck, why...?

"Are you going to fight me, Lightning? Sure, you may have l'Cie power, but do you really think you're up to taking me on? Judging from how you dealt with that monster outside of your home today, I really don't think attacking me is that great of an idea. But if you want me to present your corpse to your sister, I haven't a problem with that."

Lightning didn't even bother to answer him. Her left hand crackling with electricity, she found herself holding her omega weapon with both hands. A brief smile touched her lips; she'd forgotten she could imbue her weapon with magic as well. She dodged the first strike that was aimed for her head - it caught a few strands of her pink hair, but now his weapon was rammed deep in the stone and that was going to give her a chance to retaliate.

The swipe of her own gunblade missed by a few inches - he'd wrenched his weapon out of the wall and spun away. Pausing for a moment to cast the Watera, she dived after it, readying the Aquastrike. The giant bubble of water missed him, but he'd lost his balance because of the water burst and her Aquastrike caught him in the shoulder. Black smoke hissed from the wound, and he stared at it, mildly amused...almost as if he's surprised I've hit him.

Instantly, she readied her left hand for a Thundara. Who cares if I blow a hole in the Corps building now? The man smiled as he saw what she was doing, he swerved to the left as her spell hit the ground. Keeping up with him, she back flipped as he thrust his weapon at her again. Shooting several bullets, she saw them bury themselves into the wall as they missed. Damn... he's fast.

His Fira spell was much more potent than hers. Granted, she had never really been much to cast that much magic, but the intensity of the spell unnerved her a bit. As it grazed her face, she considered for the moment the possibility that she could lose this fight. No...I have to win this...for Serah and Hope. Quickly, she muttered a cure spell, cursing when her face still stung, even after being wiped by the spell. Hope and Vanille were always the ones who were good at this healing mumbo-jumbo.

The second blow came hard on her abdomen - he'd taken the moment she'd spared to cast her Cure spell to hit her with the butt of his weapon. She landed on the floor, trying to catch her breath. He was standing above her, his blade poised to come down on her head.

Fuck. I can't die here...I can't. Not like this, not when...

And that was when her brand seared with pain, simultaneously as rose petals began to drift through the air.

Haha, I cut it off there even though I'm sure 99% of you know what's gonna happen next heehee. And it looks like said creep knows exactly how to get to Lightning, so I wonder how he's gonna play power that over her. Feel free to speculate!

This chapter is on the short side (barely grazing 3.5K words) but it was meant to be one of the two transition chapters into the next arc (the next chapter will form the second half to it) so, oh well. But there was l'Cie Lightning in action in this chapter for all of those who have been waiting for it! I wanted to squeeze Army of One in there somewhere (cause let's face it, that's like her most badass move ever) but I didn't think it would fit. Oh well, I'm sure I'll find a fit for that move soon enough.

Leave love as always in reviews, and I'll see you guys tomorrow! 8D

Hearts!