Author's Notes: Sorry about the very late update. Thank you for all of the reviews, favorites, and alerts! I did get all the reviews asking me to update. Thank you for showing love for the story.

I hope that you will like this chapter. It gets a little intense through some of it.

Chapter 14: The Fight To Stay Together:

After they got to the temple, Faith looked around and then stepped toward the edge near the stone railing. She gazed out among the broken city. She was amazed by everything she saw. "Wow…"

Lightning stepped over beside her. "How did you get here?"

Faith looked back and then turned to her. "I'm not sure. It was weird. I tried to get my device to work so I could travel through time, but it hit this time gate and somehow I ended up here." Lightning's eyes lowered wondering about how she could have gotten there. Could her device have somehow turned into some kind of artifact that allowed her to end up there? Then she looked over at Faith. Maybe somehow she had a strong resolve of her own, but she wondered what could have been strong enough to make her end up where she was. Faith continued observing around. "What is this place?"

Lightning placed her hand on the rail as she stared over the dark city. She gave her answer in one word. "Valhalla." Faith stared at her stunned and partly concerned as her lips parted. Lightning noticed the expression on her face change. She became curious as to why. "What?"

Faith's eyes traveled down. Her fist baled at her side. "Here… You're actually…"

Lightning was confused as to why she was upset. "What?"

Faith closed her eyes. "You're stuck here…all alone..." More her fist tightened at her side. "I'm sorry…" she whispered.

Lightning was a little surprised. It seemed that she knew something about what was happening now. "It's…all right." Faith kept staring down in sadness. Lightning was more curious about her reaction. "Why do you seem…so upset by this?"

Faith lifted her eyes. "Because I want to get you out of here. It's not fair…"

"Hmm…" Lightning gazed up to the sky. She was determined to finish what she had to do. "The future has to be saved."

Faith looked down. "I know. I just wished there was another way."

Lightning looked back at her. "Faith right?" Faith nodded. Lightning spoke again. "Do you think that you'll be able to get out of here?"

Faith looked surprised. "I'm not sure. I'm not sure what this device will do."

"Then I'll make sure that you get back to a time so that you can get back home." Lightning was about to walk away, but felt Faith grab her arm.

"Wait." Lightning's eyes traveled back to her. Faith let go of her arm. There was a little pleading in her eyes. "Can I just stay here with you? Just for a little longer?"

Lightning became curious. "Why?"

"Because I don't want you to stay alone. Can I just stay? Just for a little?" Not only did she not want Lightning to be left alone, but it was nice being around her again even if she wasn't her mother from her time.

Lightning breathed out. It couldn't hurt to keep the girl around for a short time. It was more interesting than being alone and constantly fighting. "Just for a little then it would be better if you return back to your time."

Faith nodded. "All right."

Soon the two became silent. Lightning was interested about the girl standing before her. She glanced at Faith, but then looked outwards. "You said that you come from the future? I haven't been able to see you."

Faith became surprised with what she heard. "You can see the future?"

"I was able to see the past, present, and future through this."

Faith followed Lightning's eyes and looked over at the temple. There was a huge monument inside. "I see."

Lightning turned to Faith with a question on her mind. "So? What's the future like?"

Faith gave a faint smile. "It's nice and more peaceful than what's going on now. Don't worry. You're going to get out of Valhalla and after that, you never went back."

Lightning was a little surprised, but inside she was happy to hear that. She would be able to reunite with Serah again. "So? Everyone will be okay?"

Faith nodded as she smiled to assure her. "Yes. You, dad, Aunt Serah, and Uncle Snow. They're all going to be fine."

"Hmm…" As Lightning listened to her, she began to wonder more about her future and more why Faith kept calling her mom. She leaned her arms against the rail. "So? If it's true what you said about the future how does things turn out as far as…?"

Faith was interested in what she wanted to know. "What?"

Lightning's eyes drifted off to the side a little uneasy about asking what was on her mind, but she wanted to know. "I mean you say that we're… related so I guess I mean…how did that end up happening?"

Faith thought about what she was asking. "Well…" She leaned against the rail along with Lightning as she stared forward. "As for me, I was sort of…an accident."

Lightning was surprised by her response. "Accident? Why would you say that?"

Faith gave a faint smile as she thought back. "I overheard you and my father talking one day. You called me your little accident." Lightning wasn't sure what she could say about that. Faith continued. "You two were together, but you were also continuing your careers." She closed her eyes as she smiled. "It was unexpected having me, but both of you stuck in there and took care of me. I was happy. I guess to say I grew up happy and I think or at least I hope that you guys were happy with me."

After Lightning listened, she wondered more about how things would be. It was hard to imagine the future at that moment. Faith seemed happy so maybe in the future she had done something good to make her that way. "So in the future, I guess that we're still together?"

"You mean you and dad? Yes." Faith's eyes lowered toward the ground as a little sadness came to her expression. "But there was one time that I thought you two were going to split up when I was younger."

Lightning became curious. "What for?"

"It was one time when I was thirteen. You and dad were arguing a lot. For weeks even. One night, you decided to leave." As Faith thought back to her own past, she could still remember that night.

A thirteen year old Faith was sitting in a chair at the kitchen table. Next to her was her brother H.J. who was nine at the time. Lightning walked downstairs with a strap on her shoulder that was attached to a bag. Once she saw them, she was surprised. "What are you guys doing down here? I thought I told both of you to go to bed."

Faith lifted her head with sadness and pleading in her eyes. She knew what was going on. "Please don't go."

The words made Lightning take in a sharp breath. She didn't think that Faith had a hint of what she was planning to do. She kneeled down in front of her. "What makes you think that I'm going anywhere?"

Faith's face began to tense trying hard not to cry. "I heard you. I overhear you and daddy arguing. Please don't leave. Don't leave daddy."

Lightning was stunned that she overheard that. She wasn't sure what she could say to help the situation. "Listen. I'll be back soon all right? Now I need you to make sure that your brother goes to bed and watch over him for a little okay?"

Then they heard the door open. Lightning didn't need to turn around to know who had just walked in. This was not the time for a confrontation. She stood up straight. Hope walked into the kitchen to see all of them together. Instantly he noticed the bag hanging at her side. Her eyes refused to look at him. He began to get upset. "You're leaving just like that?"

Lightning glared at him. "Don't do this now." She turned her attention back to Faith sternly. "You two need to do as I say and go back to bed."

"But-!" Faith tried to plead with her.

Lightning pointed toward the stairs. "This is not up for discussion! Now go!"

Faith's eyes traveled down along with H.J.'s. Both of them had sad looks on their faces. They couldn't stop what they most feared. Reluctantly they stood up and headed upstairs. Faith went into the stairwell and sat there, hiding out of sight so that she could hear what was going on. Silently she hoped that things wouldn't turn out as she pictured in her mind. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something coming toward her. Quickly she turned her head and saw H.J. with a sad frown. "What are you still doing up?"

He sat beside her without answering. She could figure out why he was there. It was the same reason that she was there. To witness whether or not their parents would split apart. From the stairwell, they could hear the arguing for minutes until finally they heard a door slam. After that, things became quiet. Worried, H.J. looked toward his older sister. "What happened? Did she leave?" His eyes widened a little in surprised. He watched as Faith raised her hand to her eyes as her body began to shake. No longer could she hold back. Tears began to escape from her eyes. Her sobs became audible only for H.J. to hear. He closed his eyes. He felt water from his eyes come to the surface as well.

Around the corner, Hope was staring toward the ground angry as he walked. He was about to head upstairs when he heard the sound. He lifted his head surprised and saw Faith and H.J. sitting on the steps. By Faith's reaction, he could already tell what had made her upset. "Faith…H.J…" he whispered. He wished that they didn't hear any of what happened. Faith tried her best to wipe away her tears, but they just kept coming, replacing the ones she wiped away. Hope didn't like to see that she was in pain. "Faith."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry." She didn't want to be upset over it, but she couldn't help it. She didn't want him to see her cry.

Hope stepped over to her and sat down against the wall. He tried to pull her in close, but she held back. Finally she felt her head against his chest and just stayed there with her eyes closed tight. He embraced her. "I'm the one that's sorry. It'll be okay."

Minutes later, she relaxed against him with her legs curled near her. H.J. had his head leaning against Hope's shoulder with his eyes barely open. Hope had his arm wrapped around him. It took a while, but Faith spoke. "Why did she go?"

Hope placed his hand on the back of her head. "She just needed to go for a little while."

Faith had to wonder. "Did it have something to do with us?"

Hope shook his head. "No. Don't ever think that." He leaned his head on hers as he was thinking about what he should do next. "Come on. It's getting late. You two should get some sleep."

"But what about mom?" H.J. asked worried.

Hope smiled as best as he could for comfort. "Don't worry."

Faith sat up from him as she looked angry. Hope noticed her expression through her red eyes and puffy cheeks. "It's not right. How could she just leave?"

Hope placed his hand on top of her head. "Don't be mad with her. There are just some things that need to be worked out. She didn't want you guys getting involved in this." Hope stood up and held out his hands toward them. Faith and H.J. took his hands and they went further upstairs.

Later, the two lied in their parents' bed. H.J. had fallen asleep, but Faith was still awake. When she looked over, Hope stepped toward the door from the hall. Earlier he was lying on the bed with them, but then he got up and left. She wondered where he had gone for a short time. She sat up a little on her elbow. "Dad?"

Gently he smiled toward her. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Do you think that you can watch over your brother until then?"

Tired and wondering what he was up to, she answered him. "Yes."

He gave her one last smile before he closed the door. "Call me if you need me. I won't be far."

She nodded. Afterwards she lied down. She was still worried about what was going on, but after a while, she finally managed to go to sleep.

The next morning, Faith headed downstairs. So far she hadn't seen any trace of Hope coming back yet. Once she headed downstairs into the kitchen, she stopped surprised. Feet ahead of her stood her mother who had her back turned to her while in front of the sink. She was surprised to see that she was back and at the same time confused as to why she left. For the time being she stood quietly observing her.

Lightning glanced over her shoulder after some time had passed and then turned around. She saw Faith standing nearby with a tired, upset look. She was a little surprised that she didn't say anything. "Faith?"

Faith frowned. She wasn't sure how to react. She was confused, frustrated, and saddened. She stepped forward off of the stairs into the kitchen. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced into the living room and saw her father sleeping on the couch. She turned her attention back to her mother. "What are you doing back here?"

Lightning was a little taken aback by her question, but then her eyes lowered. "I'm sorry."

That wasn't good enough to Faith. "That's all you have to say is you're sorry?"

"I heard about what happened. I didn't mean to…hurt you…in that way," Lightning spoke softly.

Faith was surprised that she heard about that, but figured that Hope must've told her. Her eyes lowered. "Why did you leave?"

"Faith…" She could clearly see Faith's anger growing. Lightning sighed as she closed her eyes. She sat down on the floor with her back leaning against the cabinets. Faith followed and sat down beside her, leaning her body against Lightning's arm. Lightning stared at the floor. "There were just some things…that I needed to work out with your dad. I'll admit the way I did it was not the best way, but I just needed time to clear my head. See where I wanted to be." Her eyes traveled over to Faith. "I know that I need to be here, but I just wanted to make sure that we both had a good relationship. It would be better than us constantly fighting all the time."

Faith looked at her curiously. "So does that mean that you and dad are in a good place right now?"

"We…talked it out…" Lightning's eyes traveled over to her. "…and we did so now we're in a good place. I'm sorry that you had to see us fight."

Faith sighed as she closed her eyes. She could forget, but just didn't want it to happen again. "It's…fine…" Lightning placed her arm around her shoulder. Her fingers touched the pink strands of Faith's hair. She felt bad for making Faith go through what she went through and hoped to make it up to her someday. "I'm just…glad you're back."

Lightning leaned her head against Faith's. "I am too. I won't leave you again Faith. Not like that. I promise." They lost track of time as they sat there on the kitchen floor. It wasn't long before they fell asleep there. Faith's head was leaning on Lightning's shoulder and Lightning had her head leaning on top of Faith's.

Lightning stared at Faith as Faith was staring out over Vahalla. It was strange hearing something that happened in her possible future, but with hearing that, she could also prevent that from happening. To prevent the hurt that happened to Faith. Faith looked a little confused. "I guess one thing that still gets me is I wonder what dad said to make you come back." Lightning wondered that herself. If it ever did happen, she wouldn't know herself until it happened.

After leaving the house, Hope traveled to the hotel that Lightning was staying in for the night. When she heard the knock on her door, she was surprised because of what time of night it was. She stood up from the edge of her bed and headed toward the door. When she opened it, she saw Hope standing with a serious look on his face. Lightning breathed out. She was already mentally exhausted from arguing with him and didn't want to start with him again. She was about to close the door, but Hope held his hand against it to make her stop. "How did you find me?"

Hope stepped inside. "It was easy when you used your card to pay for the room."

Lightning plopped down on the edge of the bed as she looked upset. "I asked for you to leave me alone."

Hope sat beside her. "Well the truth is I can't. Whatever is going on we need to solve it."

Her eyes drifted to the side away from him. "There is nothing left to say."

"Our daughter was crying after you left," he raised his voice a little. He wanted to let her know what their problems were causing.

The news surprised Lightning. "I…" Her eyes traveled down toward the ground. "That wasn't supposed to happen. I didn't mean for that to happen."

His eyes lowered as well. He wished that it didn't happen either, but witnessed it firsthand. "Well it did. That's one of the reasons I'm here now. I just want to find what the root of the problem is. I feel like this is coming out of nowhere. You fight with me on every little thing." Lightning kept staring toward the floor. Hope searched her face for an answer, but wasn't sure what she was thinking. "Let me start off by asking this. Do you still care? I guess what I mean to say is do you still love me?" Her eyes glanced over at him before they returned back to the floor. "You won't answer that for me?" She remained silent. Hope sighed and stood up. "Will you ever answer that for me? I asked you before and you still won't give me an answer. We'll be here all night because I'm not leaving." He turned toward her. "So answer me. Do you still care about me?"

She kept her eyes glued to the floor as she looked serious. "Do you really need an answer to that?"

"Yes," he replied seriously.

Lightning lifted her eyes to him. "Of course I do. I wouldn't have stayed this long if I hadn't."

"Then why are you thinking about leaving now? What changed?" Lightning turned her eyes away. Hope kneeled down in front of her and grabbed onto her hands. "Do you still love me?" Soon her eyes traveled to his emerald ones. He was still waiting for an answer. "Come on. At least tell me that." Her lips pressed tightly together. "Tell me."

She closed her eyes. Soon she felt his hand pressed softly against her cheek. She wanted to hold back on what she thought, but decided to let him in. "You know I do. I always will."

"If you do, then say it." His eyes stared at her intently. He wanted to hear it for himself.

Her eyes lifted to his. "I do love you," she spoke softly.

To hear her say that helped to confirm that she still did. Inside he was relieved. "All right," he spoke softly back. Lightning stood up as she crossed her arms. Hope stood up from the ground still puzzled. "Then what is the problem? Please tell me. I don't want any one of us to keep hurting and I know you don't either so why do you keep fighting me?"

"I…" She wanted to explain, but the words became caught in her throat. She thought that maybe her reasons were silly.

He walked over behind her and wrapped his arms around her. A part of his cheek leaned against her hair. He could smell the sweet scent coming off of it. "Please tell me."

Her eyes drifted to the side as much as she could to see him. "Why do you love me Hope?"

Hope was surprised by her question. "That's easy. There are a lot of reasons. What you've given me, seeing you in my life every day. You just make me happy."

She closed her eyes. "I don't know why."

Hope became confused. His arms had let go of her. He thought about what she said and wondered if it was getting any closer to the problem. "Well I do. Is that the reason you think you should leave?" His eyes lowered a little disappointed. "Are you pushing me away again?" Lightning remained silent. Since she didn't answer, he let out a sigh. He turned her toward him. "Don't tell me that's it?"

Her eyes drifted away from his. "I don't know... I guess… I've just been stressed lately with everything that's going on with work and home and…" She lifted her eyes to his. "I see the look you get on your face when we argue and then I start to think that maybe we would…just be better off…"

A serious look came to Hope's face. "That's not true. I told you years ago that you're not tying me down or holding me back. If you asked me if I wanted to change anything, I wouldn't. I would do it all again." Hope sat down which Lightning followed and sat beside him. "I don't want you to ever think that. Sure we have other problems that we should work out, but I don't ever think that we should split apart from each other." His eyes drifted down. "If you didn't care anymore about me in that way, then that would be the reason I wouldn't let this keep going. I would let you go."

Lightning was a little surprised that he said that. "Hope…"

Hope meant what he said. He didn't want to be the cause of her unhappiness. He couldn't stand it if that was the case. He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. In response she kissed him back just as much. After they parted, a concerned look came to her face as her eyes lowered. "But what if…for some reason…?"

He became curious. It seemed there was something else bothering her heavily. "What?" He placed his hand on top of hers. "Please don't hold back on me. I want you to let me know what you think or how you feel."

It took some time, but her eyes lifted to his. "What if someday I have to leave again? Taken back to that place…"

Hope looked surprised. "You mean Valhalla?" As an answer Lightning gave a slight nod. Then her eyes lowered toward the bed. Hope became concerned. "Well I would hope that will never happen again. The world seems fine for now, but if for some reason that were to ever happen again then I would do as I did last time. I would try to find some way to bring you back."

Lightning looked at him. "But what if you end up waiting again? There would be no telling when I would be back."

There was a sincere gaze to Hope's eyes. "I would wait forever if I had to. Years, months, no matter what amount of time, I would be waiting."

Slightly she shook her head. "I don't want you to have to wait."

Hope placed his hand to his chest. "It would be my choice and I know that it would be worth it. You shouldn't let that fear get to you."

"You should move on if that happens," she told him.

A gentle smile crossed his lips. "I can't do that. The only woman I have ever wanted is right here. I can't see myself moving on. If anything, I would be more buried in my work. I couldn't replace you. Not ever."

"You don't have to say that." Lightning didn't want him saying so for her sake or just to make her feel better.

Hope grabbed onto her hands. "I'm telling you the truth. I couldn't and I don't want to lose you now. So will you actually stop letting these thoughts come into your head that something's going to happen or that I'm not happy and actually listen to what I'm saying?" Her eyes traveled down. While those thoughts might still come into her mind, she would do her best to believe him and try. Hope smiled a little, feeling that things were better between them now if even a little. "If this is the reason that we've been arguing, then I have to say that it's silly." He stood up from the bed and looked back at her. "Does that mean that you'll come back home now?"

Lightning stood up and faced him. "Faith must be really upset with me."

Hope gave a smile of comfort and assurance. "Just explained what happened. She's a big girl. She won't stay mad at you."

Lightning hoped that would be the case. Hope stepped over toward her. She lifted up her eyes. "We should probably go back now."

Hope placed his hand softly against her arm. "They were all asleep when I left and I have Faith watching over H.J. They'll be fine. I told her to call me if something went wrong. We are just a few minutes away from them."

Her eyes lowered. "I'm sorry."

Hope shook his head as he smiled. "It's all in the past. I'm sorry too."

Curiously she stared at him. "How could you be so forgiving after this?"

"I see it this way. We all have things that we're worried about. I know that I worry if I make you happy sometimes and whether you wished that things went differently. While it has been frustrating dealing with the arguments, I don't want to lose this. I don't want to lose you."

Lightning was touched by his words. Soon he leaned in and kissed her. The kiss between them had turned passionate. When they parted for air, their foreheads pressed against each other as their eyes were closed. Their minds were in a hazy state. "Should we really stay here?"

A smile appeared on his lips. "You do have the room paid for. I wouldn't like to see it go to waste. Besides, some time alone would help. I think that there's some making up that needs to be done."

A faint smirk appeared as she lifted her eyes to him. "I thought that you weren't mad at me anymore."

"No, but it wouldn't hurt finding other ways to be happy again."

As the night continued to pass, her fingers grasped tightly on the white blanket that was underneath her. Her other hand tensed against his neck. She lifted her head toward his shoulder as her eyes were closed. The warm breaths that escaped from her parted lips had hit against his sweaty shoulder. Near his ear, he could hear the audible sounds that left from her throat. His body continued unrelenting against hers. It had been that way since they began. They had lost track of time as they switched a few times on what they were doing. As she leaned her head against his, she felt the words come to the surface during her intense feeling of pleasure. "I love you." When she leaned back, her eyes had met with his. He was happy to hear her say so. Her head rested against pillow. He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.

Hours had passed since they had been in the same room. When her eyes drifted over, she saw the sunlight coming in through the window. The morning around them was peaceful. The only sound she could hear throughout the room was the air conditioner that was running. As she lied in bed, the blanket was wrapped around her without covering one of her legs, her arms and the upper part of her chest. "This was nice." Her eyes drifted over to Hope who spoke and was lying beside her. His arms were resting behind his head. He was lying underneath the same blanket that covered the lower half of him. He looked over at her. "Maybe this could be something we could try every once in a while."

Lightning turned her body over onto her side and rested her head against his chest with her eyes closed. At first, he was a little surprised, but then gave a faint smile and relaxed with her. While they were there, neither had gotten any sleep, but spent time together talking after a night of passion. As she lied next to him, she thought about what happened hours earlier. The way they were together was different, but she found herself liking it. She could remember how it felt. The way she could feel his fingers through her hair and on her shoulder as she could feel him pressed in behind her, the way it felt being the one sitting over him at times, and the passionate, restless struggle for control between them, but at the same time the thrill of doing so. That night the bed had become their personal playground. Time had passed by without them noticing as they took their time with each other with no rush to finish their night.

As silence filled the room, their eyes lowered to a close. They reflected over what happened with them over the past few weeks up to now. Maybe time to get away was what they needed, to be on neutral ground, to be free from the stress of life, and to be in a world of their own for just a moment in time. They could work out their problems without interference from anything else and focus only on them and what they really wanted.

For a few minutes more, they continued lied in silence until Lightning lifted her head and looked at Hope. "They'll probably be waking up soon. We should go."

He gave her a hopeful smile. "You're going back with me right?"

In return she gave a faint smile. "Yeah." Her eyes traveled down. "I'm still…sorry about yesterday." Then she looked off to the side. "And the past few weeks."

Gently he placed his fingers underneath her chin which she turned her head. "It's all right. I'm sorry too. Actually this gave us a chance to try this and reconnect instead of splitting apart." He let out a smile. "Let's go home."

In response, she smiled. After getting dressed, she grabbed her bag from him and checked out of the hotel. When they returned home, they saw that Faith and H.J. were still asleep in their bed. They decided to leave them alone to sleep and headed downstairs. Starting to feel tired, Hope closed his eyes and rested on the couch until he fell asleep. Not wanting to sleep yet, Lightning headed into the kitchen. It was a short time after when Faith had met her down there.

That's it for this chapter. I'll be back to update when I can. Thanks for reading.