Author's Notes: Hello everyone! Thank you for keeping up with the story, adding this to your favorites and alerts, and sending in reviews! I really enjoyed reading what a few of you had sent in and it makes me excited to release this chapter!

So one of the questions I received was is there going to be more action and drama in this one? Well this much I can say... There's going to be so much action and drama in this part of the story that it had to be split into three chapters because it came out a lot longer than I thought it would and I didn't want to put so much in one chapter.

I hope that you will like this chapter of the story!

Chapter 25: Ceremony Troubles:

"Ship stabilizing now." Inside of a ship, people were working to keep it afloat in the sky. Things had to be ready for the ceremony that was about to take place at the top deck. At one side of the ship, Caius stood in his same armor in the front, while further back sat the Primarch in a chair especially prepared for him. Across from him stood Noel who was beside Yeul. Caius looked over at Yeul. "Are you sure about this?"

Yeul nodded. "Yes. This should buy us enough time before it comes. It will be hard to find us in the sky."

On the opposite side of the ship, Lightning stood with a bouquet of flowers in her hand and her veil over her face. Serah came behind her and picked up the bottom of her dress. Lightning breathed out as she closed her eyes. "It's not too late." Lightning's eyes traveled back to Serah who smiled. "If we jump from here now, we might get lucky and land on a ship again like we did last time."

Lightning gave a brief smile. If she knew that would happen, she would jump and catch the next ship out. At this point, she would just jump so that she could avoid this moment. Lightning glanced behind her to see snipers pointing guns toward them. Afterwards, she looked forward toward her destination. "Thanks for the offer Serah, but they might shoot us before we get off of the deck."

Worry came across Serah's expression. "Lightning you don't have to do this."

Lightning kept her back turned to Serah. "Don't worry. You'll see. I'll make things work out for the better. Then we can forget this whole thing happened right?" Serah wasn't sure, but she would just have to take Lightning's word for it. "Let's go." Lightning told her before they started walking. Serah followed as she glanced between the ground and forward to see where they were walking. Lightning stepped down the stairs before her. Her eyes traveled down toward the ground. It was hard to believe that this was really happening. Then, her eyes drifted toward the side with a little remorse. "I'm sorry." she whispered. Beside her, she saw an image of Hope walking beside her. He smiled at her before he disappeared. She turned her focus back to what was ahead. As she walked, she took her time since she was in no rush to get there, but eventually she had to.

Further up in the sky, a ship was flying quickly. "Are we almost there yet?!" a voice rose impatient.

The raven haired woman inside of the ship turned her head back and smiled. "Keep your pants on! We all know that you want to ruin that wedding so sit tight and we'll get there soon enough. Right Sazh?"

Sazh looked back as he kept his hands on the wheel. "Right!"

Sitting in the seat across from Fang, Vanille made a screen pop up in front of her. All the news was talking about was the wedding that was about to take place. "All of Cocoon is rejoicing today as a very special event is taking place. Not only does it welcome back a long lost daughter, but she will be welcomed into the government. We are bringing live scenes to you now."

In a seat behind Vanille, a silver haired man grabbed onto his hair impatiently. With time of the essence, he couldn't sit still in his chair. He felt the need to ask every second if they were there yet, but he managed to keep it down to every minute. His eyes turned to his screen. On it, he could see close to a top view of Lightning walking. When he zoomed in, he could sort of see her face through her veil. If they got there too late, he didn't know what he would do.

Suddenly, he felt a hand pat his shoulder which made him jump. He looked over to the blond hair man wearing a bandana over his head and trench coat over his back. He smiled. "Don't worry. We'll get there in time."

The silver haired man sighed as he turned his attention back to the screen. It was all he could hope that they would get there in time. As they flew over Eden, Sazh looked toward the ground. "That's weird."

Instantly, Hope lifted his head. "What?" He stood up and went to the front of the ship. He searched the ground along with Sazh.

"It doesn't seem like any ceremony is going on down there." Sazh pointed out.

They didn't have any more time to waste or keep looking. Hope quickly sat in his seat and began working on his screen along with his communicator. He was going to make sure that he found out where that wedding was being held. Fang looked back toward Hope. "Better hurry. She's already there."

Hope glanced at Fang before he continued working as fast he could. His heart began to race as his breath shortened. He couldn't make any mistakes.

On the ship, Lightning stepped in front of Caius. Serah settled her dress down and was led over to where a few soldiers were standing out of the view of the camera. They kept her within arm's length so that she wouldn't escape. Underneath her veil, Caius could see the anger through Lightning's face. His lips curved into a smile. "Smile. Make this more believable. After all, the whole world is watching."

Lightning looked behind Caius and saw guns pointed toward her sister by the soldiers. If she made any sudden movement and they fired, she wouldn't get there in time to save Serah. She had no choice but to oblige. She looked over at Caius who was waiting. She curved her lips into a fake smile, while her stomach turned with repulsion. Afterwards, a judge began to speak.

"Sazh! Keep going forward!" Hope shouted from the back of the ship.

"You got it!" Sazh pushed the ship to go faster.

Hope stared toward his screen. "I'm still looking for the exact location, but according to the resources at the Academy and from the screen shots they got, they're in the sky somewhere possibly on a ship. They're staying hidden." He changed his screen back to the news that was displaying the ceremony that was going. His attention turned to Lightning. He could hear the preacher still going on in the back ground. He was already toward the end. Then he heard him ask Lightning the one question that would not only seal the wedding, but her fate.

Lightning remained silence. Everything inside of her yelled for her not to answer. Everyone around her noticed that she wasn't answering. The judge looked nervous by her pause so he decided to ask again. "Ms. Farron?" Lightning turned her eyes to him. "Do you take this man to be your husband?"

Lightning's eyes traveled over to Serah. There was a worried look on Serah's face. She wanted to shout don't do it, but she couldn't with the soldiers ready to fire. Lightning's eyes then drifted toward the ground. No longer could she hold back. "I do."

Watching her say that made Hope's heart sink. He sat in his chair silence and distressed. He felt as if it was too late, but he had to remember that the ceremony wasn't over yet. She was only the first one asked. There was still time so that this wouldn't be official even if it was a limited window. He broke himself from his state of misery and lifted his head. "Sazh! We need a way to distract them before that ceremony is over and to find out where they are exactly!" Hope looked toward his screen, thinking for a second. "If we can just find some way to get their attention, then it might give us a clue as to where they are."

Fang and Vanille looked back to Hope. Fang held up her fist as she smirked. "Don't worry! Me and Vanille got an idea. Let us out Sazh."

"All right. Careful you two. Don't fall too far." Sazh opened the top of the ship and Vanille and Fang climbed out.

Fang tossed a stone up and broke it. "Bahamut!" she summoned. A symbol appeared and soon Bahamut flew from the clouds down to them. Fang and Vanille jumped on and flew off quicker than the ship did. Fang patted Bahamut. "Ready for a real party? Time to make some noise!" Bahamut had made a sound through the sky.

Once they heard it, Lightning and the others turned their heads. Hope couldn't believe it as he watched Lightning on his screen. "It's working! We must be close!"

Snow slammed his fist in his hand. "All right! Let's crash this thing!" He stood out of his seat and walked to the front. "Time for the heroes to arrive!"

Even Hope had to smile that they were getting somewhere.

Caius looked over toward the Primarch to see what he wanted done next. The Primarch frowned, unhappy with the distraction and waved his hand. "Continue on with the ceremony. Get it over with already."

Fang and Vanille rode through the clouds and saw the ship down below. Vanille grinned, happy. "We found them Fang!"

Fang let out a smirk. "She's gonna owe us for this one." Swiftly, they flew passed the ship.

"Fire!" one of the soldiers yelled. They began shooting toward them. Fang circled back around with Bahamut. Vanille attacked with her weapon and knocked some of the soldiers down from a long distance. Caius pulled his sword from off his back and got ready to attack them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone rush toward him. He looked over to see Lightning close to him. With the back of her fist and all the anger she had been waiting to unleash, she swung it across his face and knocked him hard down to the ground. Caius growled as he glared at her. Lightning went to attack again, but Caius disappeared. He reappeared next to Yeul. He looked over toward Noel. "Come on. We're getting Yeul out of here. She does not need to be in the way of this." Caius took her up to the upper level of the deck and Noel followed along.

Soon, Fang and Vanille jumped off of Bahamut and landed on the deck. Fang began to attack with her staff. "Nice party you got going on here!" Vanille helped along by using her magic.

On the ship, they saw Sazh's ship fly by that was being followed by enemy ships. From it flew two familiar faces. "Serah!"

"Serah kupo!"

Serah lifted her eyes to see Snow flying down from the sky and Mog flying toward her. She couldn't believe it. "Snow?! Mog?!"

Snow grinned. He landed on the ground and punched one of the soldiers down surrounding her. Mog transformed into a sword that Serah caught and attacked the soldiers as well. One of the soldiers approached Serah from behind and was about to hit her, but he was quickly knocked down. Serah and Snow looked over to see Lightning. Snow's lip curved into a smile. "Hey sis! Long time no see. You and Serah look nice."

Lightning picked up a gun from the ground and looked at him confused. "Snow? How are you still alive?"

Snow placed his hands on his sides. "I'll explain later, but right now gotta job to do." He took off running and soon disappeared into the lower deck. Below, there were people controlling the cameras and ship. "Hey everyone! Listen up! The ship has been taken over. Now if everyone just cooperate, you'll get through this a lot easier." He went over to one of the men controlling the camera. "Let's see what we got here."

On the deck, Serah and Lightning looked around. Serah looked over at Lightning. "What now?"

Lightning noticed a camera nearby and went over to it. Now was the best time to reveal what was going on. "People of Cocoon. Listen. The Primarch has been lying to you. He has no intention of ending the Purge and no intention of ending the war with Pulse. Innocent people have been killed and-."

"Lightning! Look out!"

As people were watching, their television had turned into a black screen. People around Cocoon and Pulse looked worried and began to wonder if what she said was true. Soon, their televisions came back on with a view from another camera.

On the deck, Lightning and Serah were lying on the ground. Serah had saved her from an attack. When they opened their eyes and looked over, they saw Barthandelus with his hand out. On his face, he had an expression of anger. Beside him, a metal owl flew and landed on his shoulder. Lightning and Serah reacted with surprise. "Does he…have magic?" Serah asked. Around the worlds, the people were shocked.

"You will pay for what you have done!" Serah and Lightning stood up as Barthandelus walked toward them. "Both of you will suffer the same fate that your foolish mother did!" Lightning and Serah were stunned hearing his words. What did he know about their mother? He attacked them again. Before the magic could hit them, Vanille jumped down in front of them. With a wave of her hand she casted magic of her own. "Shellga!" A magic barrier covered over Lightning, Serah, and her. It managed to deflect Barthandelus's magic somewhat, but it broke her barrier and made Vanille fly back. Lightning and Serah caught her. Vanille smiled toward them. "Thanks guys!"

Serah nodded. "No. Thank you." They stood up to their feet.

Fang jumped down and landed beside Vanille. She pointed her staff toward Barthandelus. "We have personal matters to discuss with you!"

In response, Barthandelus smirked. "Try as you might L'Cie, but you are not strong enough to stop me."

Fang glanced back toward Lightning and Serah. "You two need to get out of here."

Serah looked surprised. "What? But we can help you stop him."

"This guy isn't what he appears. We got something personal to settle with him. Besides-." Fang's eyes traveled back toward Lightning. Clearly, she displayed a smirk on her lips. "He'll have a fit if I let you die." Lightning wondered if Fang was talking about who she thought she was talking about. Fang waved her staff. "Get going!"

Vanille looked back and smiled to assure them. "Don't worry about us! We can handle this!"

Serah's eyes drifted down. She still wasn't sure. Lightning grabbed her arm. "Come on." She looked over toward the other side of the deck and saw other soldiers running ready to attack. "There are other ways we can help." Lightning looked over toward Fang. "We got your back."

Fang smirked. "Don't get yourself killed out there."

Lightning nodded and ran off with Serah. Vanille looked over toward Fang concerned. "Fang? Are you sure we can handle him?"

An angry look came on Fang's face as she glared at the Primarch. "Well I'm not gonna go down without a fight. It's either quit or die trying right?" Vanille's eyes lowered toward the ground concerned. "Besides, he's going to pay for what he done to both of us." Across the way, Barthandelus smirked.

Lightning stopped from running and tossed off the shoes she had on. It was much easier running without heels. Serah stood nearby just in case the soldiers got ready to attack. She glanced over at Lightning. "Ready?"

Lightning held her gun up that she swiped off of a soldier. "Let's go." They ran forward. They stood at a distance from the soldiers and started shooting toward them. Once they got rid of them all, they relaxed somewhat. Serah sighed in relief. Behind her, Lightning could feel something coming. She looked back. Quickly, she reacted and pulled Serah away. "Move!"

On the ground, Caius landed and swung his sword, but missed them. Lightning pushed Serah ahead of her. "Go!" She began shooting toward him, but he used his sword to block off the bullets. Lightning stepped back as she kept shooting, but it was no use. Eventually, the gun ran out.

"Lightning!" Lightning glanced back toward Serah who got ready to shoot. They both figured that they could distract Caius while the other attacks. Lightning sneaked passed him and grabbed another gun. She got ready to shoot toward his head, but he quickly turned and knocked it out of her hand. She ducked from the swing of his sword. She kneeled down and did a swing kick tripping him and making him fall onto the ground. She was about to punch, but he caught her hand. He stood up as she struggled to get her hand free from his squeeze. Lightning tried to swing her other arm back to hit him, but he caught her arm. Caius let out a smirk. "Your attacks won't work against me."

Lightning clutched her teeth as she looked angry. Behind her, Caius could see Serah rushing toward her. He pushed Lightning away and grabbed her sword before she could strike. "Your attacks as well." He pushed Serah away. Lightning and Serah stepped away from Caius as he walked toward them. "I should have done this a long time ago. Just end it all in one fatal blow." He got ready to attack as darkness began to flow from his sword.

Lightning got ready to dodge it just in case. "Watch carefully Serah." Serah nodded. She was worried, but she stood her ground.

Caius smirked. "Goodbye princess." He was about to attack, but then stopped mid way through. It was then he saw something rapidly fly toward him. Caius's eyes widened for a second. He jumped back before it could hit him. The unknown object crashed into the ground and stuck into the wooden surface for everyone to see. In front of him, Caius could see the object and recognized it from before. He lifted his head toward the sky upset. When Lightning and Serah looked, they were surprised. Like Caius, they recognized the weapon in front of them. It couldn't have been. Lightning and Serah turned their head and looked behind them.

Out of the sky, the silver haired man dropped down and landed on the upper part of the deck, nearby. He kneeled down on one hand and knee. He lifted his head. Immediately, he got enraged once his eyes spotted Caius. He held out his hand and forced his boomerang to come back to him. With his other hand, he took out his gunblade and flipped it open to its sword form. He stood up straight still keeping his glare on Caius. He walked forward as he placed his boomerang back into his Academy jacket. Along the ground, he dragged the tip of his sword against the wooden surface.

Caius's lips curved into an interested smirk. "I guess it is true. You are still alive."

"Yes no thanks to you. You'll pay for what you've done Caius."

Caius started to get more interested. "For almost killing you?"

Hope shook his head slightly. He began walking down the set of stairs. "No. Not just for what you almost did to me, but for what you almost did to my friends. You'll pay not just because of that, but how you hurt the people that I care about. The hurt that you caused my friends, the hurt you caused Serah also. Most of all, more than anything else, you'll pay for the hurt that you caused Lightning." Hope stopped in between Serah and Lightning. Off of his side, he handed Lightning her gunblade. For a few seconds, their eyes met. Through his expression, he hoped that she could read how sorry he was for not coming after her sooner. Hope turned his attention back to Caius, keeping his resolve to still fight. "You hurt her. You used her sister just to get to her. You forced her to come here and marry you. If you think that is still going to happen, then think again. You'll have to get through me first!"

Lightning was surprised by his words along with Serah. They still couldn't believe that he was alive and right in front of them. Hope's expression was filled with determination and fire fueling him. "I won't let you have the chance." He was about to rush forward, but saw a hand in front of his chest stopping him. He looked over to see Lightning staring at him. "Light-?"

"You're not fighting him alone." Lightning turned her glare to Caius. "Besides, you're not the only one who wants to make him pay for what he's done."

Serah held her sword in her hand. "I'm fighting too."

Lightning looked toward Serah. "Serah. Cover us. Hope and I will attack head on." Hope and Serah nodded. "Let's go!" Lightning rushed toward Caius with Hope running in beside her. Serah changed her weapon back into a bow and shot toward Caius. Lightning let Hope move in for the first attack. Cauis blocked his sword with his own. Lightning sneaked in and slashed toward his leg. Out of the corner of his eye, Caius saw her and tried to dodge, but her sword had cut through his armor. Caius winced in pain from the cut she gave him on his leg. While he was distracted, Hope pushed his sword away. That made way for Serah to shoot toward him.

Caius quickly dodged and jumped back. Hope and Lightning rushed for him again. Hope got an idea and pulled out his boomerang. He threw it toward Caius who blocked it with his sword. Sparks from it began to go off. Hope held his hand as steady as he could, trying to keep his boomerang there. As Caius glanced over while still using his sword to block, he noticed that Lightning wasn't there. How could he have missed her? Quickly, he scanned for her, but it was too late. Behind him, Lightning slashed him across the side of his stomach. While he was open, Serah managed to hit his arm. She changed her bow to a sword and rushed forward. Hope rushed in and grabbed his boomerang. He was about to deliver the finishing blow from the front, while Lightning had planned to deliver the finishing blow from behind.

Quickly, Caius froze time around him. He saw the three of them surrounding him. He could still feel pain from his wounds on his stomach and leg. It was then that he decided to retreat.

When Lightning, Serah, and Hope came out of their frozen state their eyes widened. Right away, they realized that Caius was gone and that Lightning's sword was heading toward Hope. She managed to turn it away and drop it aside onto the ground. She breathed out in relief, grateful that she didn't strike him. He was also able to divert his sword away from her as well. Lightning's eyes turned over to Hope who was still trying to calm himself down.

Serah searched around. "He's gone."

An upset look came on Lightning's face. "That coward. We had him, but he got away."

Serah became determined. "Next time we'll get him. We just have to-." When Serah looked over, she noticed that Lightning's eyes were locked onto Hope's as he approached her. Nervously, he walked over to her. "Hey."

"Hey." No longer was he the illusion that she saw earlier or the one who lingered in her dreams. The real Hope was there alive and in front of her.

"Are you okay?" Hope asked concerned.

"Yeah. How is it that you're still alive? We saw you-."

Hope smiled a little. "I'll explain later once we get out of here." He reached over and grabbed her hands. His eyes lifted up to hers as a gentle smile came across his lips. "You look…You look beautiful."

Lightning stared at him for a moment before her eyes shifted away from his a little nervous. It was the first time he had seen her in a dress like that or really all dressed up. "Well…thank you. Still, I rather not be in this dress for much longer."

Hope's smile widened at her comment. He pulled her in closer and wrapped his arms around her into a tight embrace. His eyes closed as he leaned his head against her shoulder. "I'm glad I made it here on time."

At first, Lightning was a little surprised, but she hugged him back as she closed her eyes. She was relieved to see him again. "I'm glad you're okay."

After he parted from her, he placed his hand on her jaw line and neck and pulled her into a kiss. She had to admit that his sudden move was unexpected, but had no complaints about joining him. She kissed him back as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

A grin couldn't help but come on Serah's face. She knew that her sister missed him. Little did they know, there was a camera that was watching them. Snow smiled as he pretended to wipe away a tear from his eye. "I knew it." he said proudly. "Those two."

As people watched on Cocoon, some reacted surprised by her affection with an Academy member and a leader apart of Pulse. They weren't sure whether they should be upset since they believed the Purge was because of Pulse. They thought about Lightning's words from earlier when she warned them about the Primarch and wondered if they were true. With everything that happened, some were just happy to see what seemed like a happy ending.

On the upper part of the deck on the other side of the ship, Yeul fell down to her knees as she held her hands to her head. Noel rushed over to check on her. "Yeul?! What's wrong?!"

Yeul began to lose consciousness. "The future…it's starting to change."

Caius that was kneeling down nearby heard her words and looked over concerned. "Are you having another vision?"

"Yes…The future…it's about to change…completely." Soon, she fainted, but Noel caught her before she could hit the ground. He picked her up and looked over toward Caius. "Caius. Yeul only gets like this when she sees a major change in the future. What could she have seen?"

Caius looked down at Yeul, starting to worried. "Whatever it is, we need to find out soon."

That's it for this chapter! There's still a lot more to come! My biggest influence for writing this chapter was the wedding scene in FFX. I like that scene.

As always, let me know what you think and I'll be back to update!