28 The World Unwritten

Serah gazed at her husband with her hand resting atop her belly. From within she felt the still-growing life moving about, dependent upon her for everything from sustenance to protection, happily ignorant of all the things that went on outside. She wished she could be so blissful. The things her husband brought to her attention were never to be taken lightly. Her pulse sped up a little in the silence that followed his words.

"Why didn't you tell me last night?" On its own, her hand smoothed down the front of her belly to the bottom, then back again, as she leaned on the counter, partly to support her back.

"Didn't want to worry you," Snow said. There was a smile on his lips and in his voice, though his eyes were tired. "Think about it, babe – getting this kind of thing on your mind right before bed and having it sit there all night? I'm not that mean, sorry."

She sighed. "I know. I just…" Trailing off, she looked down, frowning.

"Don't be so sad. And don't frown." She felt a hand under her chin, tipping it back up, and found Snow gazing at her with his usual stupid, wonderful, reassuring grin. "Shadowtown's out of our hands now. The government has to handle it. I don't like it either. They got off scot-free, and–" The grin faded. "It bothers me. I keep thinking that there had to be something I could've done–"

"No, it's fine." She patted his hand. "I'm just glad you're back home. But I have to wonder what's gonna happen next. This can't be over, right?"

Snow grunted. "No, 'course not. There'll be more drama, I'll bet, plus all the tension between the Cocoon and Pulse halves of the government and– ugh. It's just a big mess." He rubbed his forehead with one hand. "They might have me come back to Academia, like I said, but I don't know yet. Anyway… how're you doin'?"

She grinned. "Maternity leave's been good so far."

"And little man here?"

As he gently prodded her stomach, she said, "He's active a lot, but I think he sleeps a lot, too. Just watch, he'll be the nicest, sleepiest, sweetest–" Pause. "Great, Snow. You got me calling it a 'he'." She scowled at him as he began to chuckle. "I said I wanted to keep it a secret from myself! Don't start influencing me!"

He forced himself to stop chuckling. "Sorry."

The two stood there for a moment before Snow yawned and walked out of the kitchen. Turning, Serah carefully leaned over the sink and picked up the dirty dishes stacked in it. The kitchen was missing a dishwasher. To say it "needed" one would be an understatement.

The sound of someone walking in from the beach made her look up. Caius didn't sit at his usual place at the bar; instead, he sat on the couch.

"Hey, good morning," she greeted him. He looked at her, smiled, and nodded.

Lightning was the next to join the group, coming out of the bathroom with damp hair and a fresh uniform. She hesitated at the sight of Caius, but sat beside him anyway, though without looking at him. Serah kept washing the dishes, but couldn't help but sneak a glance at the two. They did not look at each other, but sat fairly close. A sort of feeling of "discomfort" permeated the air. She looked away again.

"Know what you two are doing today?"

Lightning said, "Rygdea mentioned more patrols."

Caius grunted softly. "More of them? What could we be watching out for?"

"Tensions are high right now, Caius. You never know what might happen. For all we know, Cocoon's planning on attacking Pulse or something. It's best to be prepared."

Now they looked at each other. Serah frowned at the unreadable expressions both possessed. "Perhaps."

"Not 'perhaps'. It's best."

"Hey, sis," Serah interrupted, "why don't you eat a good breakfast? Especially if you'll be out walking."

Lightning glanced at her, then back at Caius, before standing and walking into the kitchen. Caius remained where he was and stared outside at the beach. Lightning rummaged about in the fridge, plucked out a container of chopped fruit, grabbed a fork, and began to eat straight out of it.

Serah rolled her eyes. "Really, Lightning? That's your breakfast?"

Lightning shrugged. "Fiber."

Serah rinsed the dishes and stacked them in the rack. "It's your birthday in a little over a month."

Lightning stopped with her fork, laden with pieces of fibrous red melon, halfway to her mouth. "Is it really?"

Serah smiled. "Yeah. You'll be twenty-two."

Another unreadable expression crossed her face as she quickly took a few more bites. "Hard to believe," she said between bites. "It's been so long since I've been able to even celebrate a birthday that I–" Frowning, she quickly ate a few more pieces of fruit and said nothing more.

Caius stood and entered the kitchen as well. "Thank you for reminding her, Serah. She did not tell me."

The woman blinked at him. "Really? Well, now you know."

Lightning polished off the contents of the container and dropped it in the sink. Serah picked it up and rinsed it out as her sister returned to the couch and sat down. Hot water and soap mixed with the fruit juices, blending together to create the strong scent of soap and fruit that mingle in the humid morning air.

"Caius. Hey." She lightly jabbed him with her elbow.

"Yes, Serah?"

"You should get her something."

He looked down at her and directly in the eye. "What?"

"You know," Serah whispered, "for her birthday. You're her friend, you can do that, right?"

The neutral expression became unreadable; irritated at all this nonsense, Serah felt her temper start to rise. What was going on? Was she missing something? "I suppose I could," he murmured, "but I'm not–" He stopped and stared at her before saying, "I will try."

Serah rolled her eyes. "Do better than that," she snapped. "Or else I'll fillet you with that knife."

He blinked slowly. "I shall remember that."

A few minutes later, the two left the house together to go to work, and Snow followed shortly after, only having just enough time to give her a quick kiss atop her head and pat her stomach. The silence that followed felt absolute, even oppressive, and left her lonely. She moved on to cleaning the counter, then half the front room, before her back pain finally got to her and she had to sit down and rest.

She must have fallen asleep shortly thereafter, because the next thing she knew, someone tapped her on the shoulder and woke her from a light doze.

"Lebreau?" Serah yawned and pushed herself up to a slightly straighter position. "What brings you here?"

"Just keeping you company and taking a break from building." The woman settled down on the couch beside her and stretched her arms over her head. "You looked lonely when I popped my head in. Sorry I woke you. Just wanted to see how you were doing on maternity leave."

Serah stroked her belly. "Okay. My back hurts all the time, though."

Lebreau bobbed her head. "Sounds like fun."

"Not really, no."

She smiled. "Well, it makes you happy in the end, and Snow, too. You guys deserve it. Just think, in a few weeks, you'll have a little baby boy, girl, whatever, and your little family will be all together for real." Sighing, she dropped her chin in her hand. "Actually sounds like it's more than worth it."

"Uh, Lebreau? You okay?"

"Oh? Yeah, I've just been–" She looked at Serah almost guiltily. "Uh, thinking."

"About what?"

"Having a family of my own. Is that stupid?"

Serah stared at her, not comprehending at first, before bursting out laughing. "No! No, of course it's not!" Then she sobered. "Wait, do you– with Rygdea?" At Lebreau's sheepish expression, she giggled. "You've been together, what, a month? Two months?"

"We're just boyfriend and girlfriend for right now, okay? But we've known each other longer than that!"

"Yeah, that's true."

The two women looked at each other, then at the floor. Serah groaned softly, rubbing her belly. Lebreau said, "Well, anyway, besides all that, I wanted to extend an offer of employment. I'll need someone to help keep the restaurant cookin', and I know you make some killer meals." She snickered. "Unlike your wonderfully talented sister."

Serah covered her laughter by rolling her eyes. "Sure. I'm up for that."

"Good to hear." Lebreau grinned. "Which reminds me, we managed to chop a week off building 'cuz I found some more prefabricated bits and pieces. A little polish and they shine like you wouldn't believe. So, uh, it should be all wrapped up and finished in about three weeks. It only needed a little renovation, after all. Maybe a few fancy add-ons. Nothin' too big. Still coming to the open house?"

Serah nodded. "Of course we are. Lightning's coming, too."

"What about tall, dark, and purple?"

"Oh, Caius? I don't know yet. He probably will, but we'll just have to see." Pause. "That's what you came here for, huh? Pitching me a job and nagging me about your open house."

"Hey, now, don't judge me."

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself."

Lebreau tried to look sheepish, but couldn't hold it and chuckled instead. Serah laughed, feeling the baby writhe a little and wondered if he – or she – was laughing along with them.

"But, seriously, what do you think? Wanna do it?"

She lifted an eyebrow. "Well, uh… well, I can't see–" Gently, she embraced her belly with both hands, squeezing it slightly. "When the time's right. Not just yet. I want to have this baby first. Afterward, though… yeah." She smiled at her friend. "That's something I can definitely see doing, once I'm completely recovered."


"They haven't asked me back to Academia yet. Good." Snow breathed a sigh of relief and sat down at the ops table as Rygdea sat on the edge of it. "I'm really hopin' they don't at all."

"They probably won't." The darkhaired man looked exhausted, with faint dark circles beneath both eyes and a way of sitting and standing that told Snow he barely had the energy to do either. "Not sure, though. I'm headin' back tomorrow morning. Don't know how long I'll be there, but at least a week. Lots of deliberating." Groaning, he dropped his face in both hands. "I hate politics."

"Hey, sir, you were responsible for helping set this whole thing up, you know."

"Didn't forget. And, uh, Snow, don't call me 'sir', okay? It makes me nervous when you do that."

Snow nodded. "Sure thing."

"I need you to keep the patrols running on the north side. That's between us and Shadowtown, y'know? Can't tell what they're up to. For all we know, they, uh, want revenge. Just keep your wits about ya, and don't turn your back on folks you don't trust." He snorted. "Y'know what, just don't turn your back. The tenser things get, the more dangerous it gets for you and me and everybody in charge."

Snow covered his mouth to yawn. "Believe me, I know. I worry about Serah and my little family."

"Hey, just– just don't get too paranoid."

"We've got two immortals on our side. They're a two-man army all their own." Smirking at his commanding officer and nodding curtly, the blond then looked down at the table at the papers scattered across it. A map of the area, with New Bodhum and Shadowtown clearly marked with felt pen, lay beside a folder bearing the seal of the government. The pillar of Cocoon was marked on the map as a pink dot. Academia had a black dot, but its quickly-expanding metropolitan area was outlined in a thin black line and shaded gray. Snow wondered how long it would be before the city looked like it did four hundred years in the future.

"What took you two so long?"

Snow looked up from the map to see Lightning and Caius walking into the room. They stood side-by-side and had their most serious faces on.

"Sorry, sir," Lightning said, "we left a little later than usual."

Rygdea hopped off the table onto the floor. "That doesn't matter. I'm going back to Academia tomorrow morning, so I need you two to behave for Snow here. He's your commanding officer, don't forget. And, uh, nice work on the new guys, you two. Whipped 'em into shape nicely. We'll put 'em to work." He folded his arms. "They didn't get much to do at Shadowtown, but we'll probably need 'em later. Thinkin' of puttin' at least some into the security side and that's all they do. No patrols, just guarding people."

Lightning frowned. "Sir?"

"Tensions are high in the senate, sarge. Things might go south."

The man and woman exchanged glances; the slightest hint of concern broke through Caius's seriousness. "Sounds like a tough situation, sir," she said, looking back at Rygdea. "Whatever we can do to help, we'll be glad to."

"It's up to Snow from here on out. I gotta focus on my own workflow."

Lightning and Caius looked at Snow. He stood. "I want the two of your walking the north patrol routes today."

Caius shifted his weight. "Of course."

"With all due respect, sir–" Lightning hesitated, and Snow hid his smile. Hearing the word "sir" from her mouth was so weird that he really wanted to laugh at it. "Sir, why the northern routes?"

"Because they're between us and Shadowtown, sis."

Now Lightning looked surprised – and concerned, if her sudden furrowing of the brow were any indication. Caius did not move from where he stood, nor did his expression change, but he did look between Snow and the woman at his side, as if searching for some sort of answer.

Then she nodded, all business. "Yes, sir."

"Thanks." He looked between them. "I know you'll do well if you see anything, Lightning. You're one of the toughest things in this town. And you, big guy…" Now he half-smiled a little. "You've been a big help. You stick close to her. Both of you, watch each others' backs, alright?"

Lightning started to speak, mouth opening, before she seemed to change her mind. Before she could do anything else, her companion placed a hand on her shoulder; she glanced at it, then at him, before looking back at Snow and straightening her shoulders. After both of them had given the proper salute, they turned and left the building, and Snow sat down again, dropping his face in both hands.

"Seems like you'll have everything handled." Rygdea groaned quietly. "Hope Academia doesn't keep me long."

"It's not like you have to be here."

"Nah, but Lebreau's restaurant'll be opening soon. I wanna be here when it's finished."

Snow dropped his hands to his lap and cocked an eyebrow. "Glad you're happy with her, really. Let's hope it stays like that, huh? Maybe you two can have lives together."

"We're hopin', sure."

"Haven't seen you much together, now that I think about it. Do you, uh, fight much?"

"Well, don't know if ya noticed, but we haven't been around each other much. I've been busy except for that, what, one night before we left for Shadowtown? When we all came for dinner? And even if she comes on trips, she's in a totally separate building for safety's sake and I'm crazy busy there, too! It's just–" Sitting heavily in a chair, he growled. "It's stupid. Can't ever spend time with her."

"Well, then you kinda know how I feel, not getting to see my wife. My very pregnant wife."

Rygdea shrugged. "Yeah, true."

"Don't worry, you'll get some time with her. Uh, someday. Maybe. Anyway–" He reached for the map and tugged it aside, picking up the folder and opening it. "You said there's tension in the senate, huh? Well, from what I saw, it all seems under control for now, but I get it. It's like Cocoon's not telling us something. And if that's the case, maybe they're still planning on finding a way to keep themselves in the air, huh?"

"That's what worries me, Snow, y'see? What're they plannin'? Resurrecting the fal'Cie somehow? Building a huge antigravity net? No tellin' what that might due to the rest of us. Using ancient technology? We don't know much about it, could be dangerous. And what about if we stop 'em? Could start a war."

Snow took a deep breath. "Please don't bring that up."

"It's a possibility. I don't like it either."

"They might not like the idea of the metashield, but letting Cocoon drop into it is the safest option. Trust me. If they try anything else, they could doom everyone. If they mess up and that thing falls–" Then Snow stopped cold and decided not to finish. Everyone who had traveled into the future knew what would happen. The crystal dust would choke the sky, sea, and land. The air would be not be breathable for a time afterward. The land would become barren and lifeless. People would slowly die away until there were none left. Even if that didn't happen, building a fal'Cie would lead to a repeat of the Proto fal'Cie incident. War might lead to the construction of ATLAS machines. It was a future he didn't want anyone to see, yet he couldn't speak of it in case he rewrote history. Things were fine for now. What if Serah had visions again?

He couldn't bear the thought of her having even one more, because one more might be the one that killed her.

"Just trust me," Snow murmured. "We gotta do everything we can to push the metashield."


"Something's got those two worried." Lightning spoke quietly as she walked beside Caius, brow still furrowed and voice low but strong.

Caius allowed his emotionless expression to fade at last, now looking down at her. "Until there is something that we must be concerned about, I suggest you clear your mind. For the time being, focus on what's important. That would be our job, and patrolling." They stepped out of the building onto the grassy lawn just outside of it and turned to the north, following a dirt path now. Lightning did not respond, matching his strides as best as she could, and when he looked at her, he saw her brow still furrowed.

He waited until they were out of sight of the main building and around a corner before reaching out a little for her with his heart. Her emotions felt like a riptide – relatively serene at first glance, but in more turmoil with each level he went down into. As he continued feeling his way about, he suddenly had the impression of being caught in a net and stopped cold in the fathoms.

"Don't do that. I already asked you not to." She stopped and faced him. "Don't be a hypocrite."

He frowned. "I was the one asking you to stop."

"That was a long time ago, but, seriously. Give me some space."

"You already told me that when I separated from you during the Shadowtown incident, you were so worried that you could not sleep. It seems to me that you value our connection whether you want to admit it or not." She scowled and folded her arms as he finished, but he did not let her burst of irritation affect him. "Which reminds me – you had some trouble getting to sleep last night and were upset about something. Will you tell me what it is?"

Her emotions immediately locked up. "What?"

"Will you tell me–"

"No, I mean, how did you know?"

For a moment, he regretted having spoken at all. The woman at his side was a private one, used to being alone. This arrangement was already strange enough without him making such statements and admissions. That being said, she deserved his honesty – raw honesty, of the kind not meant to hurt, but to heal – after all they had been through, and what he had done to her. "I can feel your emotional state all the time, and I cannot break the link. I told you that before." Time stopped for a moment – just for them – when he looked into her eyes, and it took more effort than he expected not to lose himself in their depths.

She stared at him, looking uncomfortable, but not from his stare. "Did I keep you awake?"

He hesitated before saying, "Yes."

Her blue eyes stayed fixed on his, and the moment drew out longer than he had intended it to. The longer this went on, the more uncomfortable he began to feel. As her eyes gazed into his, emotions slowly melting again and turning back into the riptide, embarrassment came to him as his skin grew slightly warm. The sensible urge to turn and keep walking warred with the insane urge to comfort her. Something had upset her. Something had kept her awake half the night. He wanted to know what. He wanted to help.

One of her hands came up, slowly and hesitantly, before she laid it on his chest, over his half of the Heart of Chaos, and in response to the gesture, his physical heart beat a little faster. Her hand felt strong, the bones and tendons well-defined, and he felt her pulse, faintly, in her palm.

"There's no privacy in this relationship, is there?" She looked briefly at her hand before raising her eyes once more to his.

The look transcended the normal boundaries of their relationship, as they had struggled to define it for so very long, and seemed to go straight to his soul. He felt transfixed, as though he could see their future in her eyes, and the secret hope he had unfortunately allowed to take root and grow in his heart tried to blossom. The remaining walls between them briefly turned transparent, and he could not tear himself away, no matter how much common sense tried to get him to. Her gaze was so atypical of her, familiarly firm, yet oddly vulnerable.

It did strange things to his confused feelings.

At his side, his left hand twitched as he narrowly avoided lifting it to hers. Even now, after all this time, after his unspoken promise to stay just friends with her, she still had a way of getting to him that he not only did not want to face, but did not even dare to name. Even now, he wanted to take her in his arms. He wanted to hold her against him and comfort her, knowing he could do that and that she may not resist, if he could only find the courage. The future would take everything she knew and loved away from her. He could be there for her.

And if she let him into the deepest recesses of her heart… if they were finally able to truly move on from their war-torn past… if he could just be the best he could possibly be for her, and no less, maybe then, he could love her. That was the desire of his heart, a secret that burned like coals and surged like the fires of the sun, ached and burned and hurt as much as the worst nightmares he had ever known.

And that heart had been scarred by loss and love, no longer willing to try again only to be hurt once more.

They had agreed to be friends just last night.

Nothing more.

"No." He took a step back, forcing her to drop her hand. "Not ever."

She seemed to understand as she nodded once. Putting on a serious expression once again, she turned, leading the way along the patrol path with her brisk, familiar strides. Caius hesitated, only a few moments, before taking a deep breath, letting it out slowly, and quickly catching up to her, following alongside her and matching her pace so that he did not leave her behind nor allow her to do so to him.

"Someday, my whole family's gonna die." She didn't look at him when she spoke, but he sensed solemnity and sadness. "Will you be there for me?"

Wanting to take her hand and hold it tight, self-discipline kept his hand at his side. "Of course I will. I promised."

"No, you didn't. I did."

He frowned. "That is beside the–"

"Caius, please stop." While her voice still sounded solemn, it also seemed a bit softer this time. At the same time, she reached out with one hand and just barely touched her fingertips to the back of his hand. "You can really be such a piece of work, you know that?"

Twice already, they had established that the boundaries of their relationship did not involving touching each other, and yet the two of them continued to break that agreement. When her skin brushed his, the pleasant contentment that always came with her touch flashed through him as a flood of feeling. Not that he minded, of course.

Maybe it couldn't be helped.

Humming softly, he looked down at her with a slight smirk. "Of course I know that. We are talking about me."

While some of the shadows lingered on her face, she smiled all the same.

"So, you will not tell me what it is that troubled you so?"

Her smile faded, but she sighed instead of growing angry at him. "No. It's not something I'm–" Folding her arms and hugging herself, she shook her head, looking at the ground as she walked. The amount of resistance needed to keep from embracing her gave him both emotional and physical discomfort.

"Light?" he murmured.

Her eyes found his again. "Not today, Caius."

Wondering what had her so thoughtful, he kept his hands to himself, falling in step beside him, ever the patient and loyal Guardian he had been throughout his too-long life.


I meant to upload this last week, but forgot about it, so that's why it's a week late. Although, it gave me a chance to give it a little extra polish. Thanks for reading! And for those of you who leave me long reviews, I actually love those! The more detail you can provide - what I'm doing right, what I can improve on, what's flat-out goofy or just plain bad - the better I can make this and future stories. Thank you, too, for the interest in my upcoming LIGHTNING RETURNS fic. I expect to have it release sometime in March, after I play the game and all. Also, thanks for over 60 followers! I'm so glad you're all enjoying this so much, really!