Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 or FF13.

It was a bright reddish orange in the sky rather that it's usual blue – all thanks to Meteor – and she'd hear the occasional squalor of the birds over the buzz of the morning rush-hour. If it were any other day, she'd be amongst that group rushing to get to work or to get the kids to school, and only rarely would she ever have the breaks to just relax. The café patio she's sitting in was nice and clean, and unsurprisingly quite empty. There was a long line up now, but it had been nonexistent when she had Lightning had arrived there right at opening. That was about an hour ago, and Lightning's hot tea that she's been sipping sporadically surely has gone cold, and the ice coffee that sat in front of Tifa was now warm. With her head propped up in one hand, her other idly spun the stainless steel spoon to add the clinks of glass to the cacophony of all the other sounds. Tifa did her best to stifle a yawn, but ultimately resulted in a weird twist of her face that gave her away nonetheless. Catching Lightning's frown, Tifa sighed, "I know, I know. I heard you the first time."

"Then I'll say it again just so you can hear it again." Lightning retorted.

Tifa brushed her off with a lazy wave of her hand, "I'm still young. I'll survive." Leaning forward, Tifa plucked the two packets of sugar that Lightning had foregone in favor of her plain tea, tore the paper pockets open and dunked the contents inside.

"How much sugar do you need?" Lightning's voice interrupted once again, tone thick with disbelief, "That's four packets-"

"Whose fault is it that I got no sleep?" Tifa pouted, and took one big swig of the drink to rub it in. Too sweet. Too, too, sweet. Forcing herself to swallow it, Tifa gagged and stuck her tongue out, "Yuck."

"Actually," Lightning leaned back on the chair and somehow made it look like a throne, "It's your fault. I told you to sleep."

As if it were the most natural thing in the world to do, Tifa stretched over the table and stole Lightning's tea for herself. Just as she suspected, it was now cold, but at least it wasn't her slosh of sugar saturated water. "Light," Tifa began sagely, as if she had to explain the most obvious thing to the other woman, "don't lie. Who, in their right mind, would choose boring sleep over fun sexy times in the shower with you?" The moment those words dropped from Tifa's lips, she froze in shock of herself. "I can't believe I just said that." Tifa murmured, glancing guiltily up at Lightning who had the most appalled expression on her face. "That might've been the sugar. Or the sleep deprivation. Maybe both." Thankfully, Lightning offered her nothing but a stiff nod. She seriously doubted she would've had an intelligent response prepared to battle Lightning's sass. Sleep deprivation; that was her go-to excuse from now on. Lightning was half way out of her seat before Tifa noticed and attempted to catch her wrist but missed. Instead, her hand fell pathetically back down to her side, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to get you another coffee." Lightning stated, nodding meaningfully to the cup of ruined coffee and then down to her poor display of hand-eye coordination, "You look like you need it."

"It's fine." Again, Tifa attempted for Lightining's wrist and this time successfully snagged her. Like a fisherman, she reeled Lightning in while her other hand reached around the table to pull the pinkette's chair beside her own, "Sit." She did as told, albeit with a bit of weariness. "Promise I won't bite…" Lightning raised a challenging eyebrow that told Tifa she knew better, as if the small welt on her shoulder hidden beneath her jacket was anything to go by, and thus left the fighter little choice other than to concede, "… this time. I just want to talk."

"Talk." Lightning repeated in a way that made it seem like she was trying to give the definition of the word just by saying it. "In your current state?"

"Yes, in my current state." Tifa rolled her eyes and offered a sleepy grin as Lightning settled. Slipping her hand over Lightning's thigh, she most definitely felt the other tense. "A little P.D.A. won't kill you, and I'm serious about wanting to talk. Nothing more." Her lip slipped beneath her teeth while she pensively tried to gauge Lightning's state of mind, "Raines-" At that mention, Lightning's expression changed completely and took a rather stern turn, "He scheduled a meeting with the PSICOM for this morning. Are you… going to meet with them or…" She left her question open-ended and her expression as neutral as possible. The last thing she wanted to do was to pressure Lightning into doing something she didn't want to do. In truth, Tifa didn't have much of an opinion from the PSICOM now – except for the fact that they suddenly don't seem all that threatening without Jihl Nabaat leading them. The blonde Colonel was one terrifying sociopath because she was scary in a completely sane and manipulative way. In this situation though, whatever the PSICOM could offer wasn't nearly reliable enough to make a difference in the grander scheme. She had seen firsthand what the WEAPONS had done to Academia and Mideel, and no matter how many ships or troops the PSICOM could offer, it wouldn't be enough because the trade-off simply wasn't worth it. Their help certainly didn't amount to the increase of possible casualties. It's now much of an accepted fact that numbers won't win them this war. The only problem the PSICOM poses is their protest against the reconstruction of the Sister Ray.

Clearly, she was alluding to last night, and Tifa didn't want to see Lightning so unhinged. Granted, it wasn't that Lightning had completely lost herself but the fact that Lightning even entertained the idea of giving up was enough to raise alarm. She didn't feel fear though, not when Lightning had raged when Raines called, but she felt a profound sadness coil around her chest until she couldn't breathe. It was a side of Lightning she didn't want to exist, but it did, and for far too long it has been submerged in bitterness and resentment. Tifa watched it turn into poison; one that changes people for the worse. It was heartbreaking seeing Lightning stand at the intersection of two morally ambiguous paths, but it wasn't Tifa's place to choose one over the other for her. Sephiroth's life took him down a certain path, and so did her very own, but Tifa realizes that the choice between going left or right can never be inherently labelled as good or evil. At the very least, Lightning deserved some sense of control over her own life. During the silence that Lightning took to answer, Tifa kept her eyes clear and free of any judgement of her own inclinations because she wanted an honest answer. She could see the thoughts in the Goddess' mind battle, storming behind the blue eyes that the rosette no longer bothered raising her walls and barriers to hide, and Tifa took that as a good sign. Lightning opened her mouth with words on the tip of her tongue before she closed it again with the same words left unspoken. Finally, Lightning gives an answer that Tifa doesn't want, and it's not even an answer to her original inquiry. "I know what you want me to say."

As much as she wanted to protest that, there had been a time where the claim would hold true. Back in the slums beneath the plate, Tifa would've fought against Lightning with all of her might if she had so hinted at the fact that she would kill anyone who stood in her way. All of her idealism and optimism may have been a fool's beliefs because that left her trying to find balance between doing what she thought was right even though it wasn't her place to decide what was right to begin with. She was the hypocrite that wanted to save the world without taking lives by planting bombs that would lead to the loss of life. She didn't like killing SHINRA soldiers because she was against violence; she even remembers preaching to Lightning about it once. It was the ideal that she held on a pedestal, but rather than epitomizing her ideals, she merely measured herself to them to her own convenience. She managed to turn a blind-eye to that until Lightning came and forcefully tore her blindfold off. Tifa tightened her hold on Lightning's thigh, "Try me."

"If I remove Yaag Rosche, or threaten PSICOM, I wouldn't be surprised if they declare war on us." Lightning said after shifting closer and dropping her voice so that no one could eavesdrop. This wasn't the sort of conversation they should be having at a café. "I'm left with little choice than to get them to work with me-"

"You're going to… try to appease them?" Lightning's jaw shifted, and it made it clear that this wasn't what she wanted. Tifa desperately wanted to help. She desperately wanted to offer some consolation, and to make it clear to Lightning that she would support her when everyone seems to doubt and question. "Maybe… we're just overthinking things." Tifa said softly. They could approach this differently, maybe look at it without all of the preconceived notion that they understood the situation better than they really did. They've dealt with so many complicated situations, had to think about the motivations of others as if they were all mastermind geniuses. An epiphany struck Tifa, and it was enough to make her laugh. They've certainly dealt with many complicated situations, but there was a reason she no longer sees PSICOM as the threat they once were. Jihl's gone. It had been strange that Sephiroth had felt the need to kill Jihl because, for the life of her, Tifa couldn't think of a reason. She thought that maybe it was to flex his muscles, or to punish her for helping SHINRA, or that it might've even had to do with the fragment. After all, Jihl had a bond with Lightning and infecting the blonde Colonel might've been his last ditch attempt at indirectly infecting the fragment once more. She hadn't talked to Jihl enough to know what Lightning would know, but there was one thing Tifa was absolutely sure of. Jihl had a superiority complex. She thought that everyone was below her, that they were all simple cretins to be used and then disposed of. The only one Jihl kept was Lightning. She may have seen Lightning as an extension of herself – her legacy – but it didn't change the fact that Lightning was the only person she cared about. That was the only similarity Tifa had to Jihl, but they needed Jihl now. The blonde PSICOM was the only person that had ever successfully fulfilled her responsibility to the people and done all that she wanted, but none that she didn't want.

"Tifa?" Lightning called out to her, eyes laced with concern.

Tifa wet her lips, and a part of her turned away in shame at the words that she spoke next, "You don't get them to work with you. You get them to work for you." Tifa said quietly, "Like Jihl." The more she thought about it, the more convinced she felt that Jihl could've had a solution for them in the very beginning. Perhaps, Tifa thought, that it was because she was a sociopath, that she was a genius, and despite being all of that she was so manipulative that she could make everyone fall in line behind her and had the charisma to keep everyone herded like sheep. "She had the confidence in herself." Tifa continued, looking to meet Lightning's eyes, "She knew what needed to be done, and did it without hesitation. You know how she was like. She had a goal, and that was all she focused on. She used people. She used everyone and it didn't matter who you were. I'm not asking you to be like Jihl… but to learn something from her." Lightning's silence told her to continue, "It doesn't matter what you think that I want to say. Don't change so easily because of that, and don't let others tell you how you should do your job. Like they'd know how to anyways. What do you think Jihl would do in this situation?"

"That's dangerous, Tifa. I can't afford to think like her-"

"Are you sure? Because from what I saw last night, you were pretty close to wiping out the PSICOM because you were angry." Tifa refuted, "I think that's definitely more dangerous. Jihl made PSICOM better, she stopped the spread of Geostigma, but there were tough decisions… Maybe not for her, because she's different, but her actions and words were what the people stood behind. The people gave her the strength to do everything she did, she made everyone see the world however she wanted them to. Maybe that's what you need to do."

"Easier said than done."

"You're nothing like Jihl," Tifa said, "you're much more… black and white."

"Tifa-"

"Look, let's just go back to the basics. Think about it. Do you seriously think that the PSICOM's worried about the Planet? They were the first ones to help SHINRA. That's why we met. That's why the GC got involved with AVALANCHE. Jihl might've been the one at the helm of PSICOM back then, and the people of PSICOM and Cocoon supported her and their treaty with SHINRA. The PSICOM doesn't care about the Planet. They care about power. I don't think Yaag Rosche is any different. Give them… control of the Sister Ray."

"And what? Get PSICOM on my side while everyone else turns on me?"

"It doesn't have to be like that." Tifa shook her head, "Think Jihl. It's obvious, and kinda ridiculous if you actually think about it. Everyone wants Rufus to be at the controls so that if he steps out of line, then the Sister Ray can be blown up with him inside. He's the only one that knows how to operate it, but how hard would it be to teach PSICOM how to use it? Rufus might value his own life too much to do something so stupid as to turn against all of us, especially if the world is ending. I mean, if everyone thinks he can't be trusted, why put him at the trigger to begin with? It doesn't make sense." Pausing as to allow her words to make their home in Lightning's mind, Tifa took the moment to take a sip of the tea to wet her mouth. "I know you care about them… about Rufus, and the Turks. One of them took a bullet for you-"

"Elena." Lightning provided like she was afraid that Elena wouldn't get proper recognition.

"You just proved my point. They wouldn't be jumping in front of bullets for everyone. They're still loyal to Rufus for a reason, and I think none of them are happy with the fact that Rufus is in the Sister Ray especially if it runs the risk of it blowing up because someone still holds a grudge against SHINRA. Take Rufus out and put the PSICOM in there." A million thoughts were running through Lightning's head in that moment; Tifa could tell by the look of concentration that the pinkette's face had tensed into. Settling on the fact that she had said enough, Tifa eased her hand off of Lightning's thigh. The blue eyed stare penetrated her, as if she was reading her very soul like a book. It was all numbers and scales in Lightning's mind, Tifa could tell as much from the calculating gaze. To her surprise, the pink haired woman suddenly stormed out of her seat. "L-Light?" Tifa jolted, taking a second to recover before she staggered after Lightning who had already began marching back towards the base. "Light-"

"It'll work." A short and sweet answer, and it brought Tifa endless joy knowing that she might've just eased a few of Lightning's burdens. Lightning already began voicing her thoughts rapidly, leaving Tifa to wonder if Lightning was actually talking to her, or if she were talking to herself. "Rufus won't be happy, but he's not an idiot. He won't miss the larger picture."

"Uhm… Light?" Just as quickly as she had left the café, Lightning suddenly halted in her steps. It came completely unexpected, and Tifa crashed straight into the pinkette's back. "Don't just suddenly stop-"

Blue eyes locked onto her own ruby brown, communicating more than a thousand words with one glance, but the Goddess still gave voice to them with two simple words, "Thank you."

"Well I… okay?" Tifa stammered, suddenly feeling warmth crawl to her cheeks. Lightning nodded, with a hint of a smile playing on her lips. Their walk back to the base wasn't anything special, but it certainly felt like it was harking back to the days they wandered about the streets of Academia. They walked side-by-side, their arms brushing at times, but that was all the contact there needed to be. Tifa was content. When they arrived back in base, it was already far busier than it was when they left. Airships filled the large cement tarmac with soldiers and mechanics rushing back and forth.

"Lightning!" Both turned to see a Turk approach, and Tifa swiftly recognized her as Elena now that Lightning had provided her with a name.

The said woman swiftly turned all of her attention to the Turks, "You're back. Any problems? Updates?"

"Nothing. They've arrived safely. Currently meeting with Raines and they're requesting for your presence."

"Who arrived?" Tifa asked, and it was Lightning who answered.

"Serah, Fang and the others."

"Wait. They're here? Now?"

"Yes-"

"You didn't think to tell me beforehand?"

Lightning frowned at Tifa's outburst, "What's the problem?"

"You tell me stuff like this."

"What's the big deal?" Lightning asked.

"You don't just drop the in-laws in on me like that-" Tifa earned what was possibly Lightning's loudest groan. "Fine. Future in-laws-"

Turning her back to Tifa, Lightning addressed Elena, "Take me to them."

Elena gave a short, curt, nod, "This way."

They walked briskly through the base and soon reached a door where Tseng, as Lightning had greeted him, stood guard. While Elena stood post outside as well, Tifa followed Lightning in and was met with multiple conversations at first. In a glance, she mapped out Serah, Snow, and Sazh seated at the table on one side, whilst Raines and Barret was on the other. Rufus was surprisingly there too, with Reno and Rude. Fang was sprawled on a couch with Vanille leaning over the backside of the sofa. Aerith and Cloud stood before them, and at the very edge of the sofa was a young silver haired boy. Another young man, Noel sat on the arm rest beside him while a large red cat rested on the ground by Noel's feet. The moment they walked in though, everyone stopped talking. "Serah."

"Lightning!" The younger sibling darted form her seat and straight into Lightning's waiting embrace.

"Good, you made it safely."

"Tifa." Serah called, reaching an arm for her as well. The fighter grinned, giving Serah a hug as well. "Thanks for keeping Lightning safe."

"No, I didn't do anything-" Tifa was in the middle of being humble before Aerith swooped in and linked an arm with her.

"It was all me." Aerith laughed.

"I'm sure it was." Serah nodded, "It wasn't a group effort?"

"Nope. All me."

"I'm capable of taking care of myself." Lightning steely interrupted, and the three of them put on scolded looks to get the Goddess' attention off of them before they shared knowing looks. Tifa watched as Lightning separated from their little group towards Raines. She had an idea as to what they were going to talk about, and seeing that the PSICOM weren't present, Tifa reasoned that the meeting had been delayed. With everyone busy with their own topics, the black haired woman snuck a look just in time to catch Rufus leave the room with the Turks in tow. She waited about a minute, re-thinking what she wanted to do, and then decided that she needed to do this more for herself than for Lightning.

"I'm going to the washroom." Tifa whispered into Aerith's ear, and then left before anyone else could say otherwise. Elena and Tseng remained posted, most likely assigned to Lightning just as Reno and Rude shadowed Rufus. There were only a few places Rufus would go to, and it didn't take long to track him down to the same breakroom Tifa had broken into last time. The bald and red-headed Turk were in the exact same place as last time too. Wiping the sweat from her palms on her khaki shorts, Tifa approached and looked tentatively between the two, "I'd like to talk to Shin- I mean, Rufus." The two shared strange looks, prompting Tifa to further assure them that she meant no harm. "I just want to talk."

"Well," Reno shrugged, "only if Prez wants to talk with ya." Turning he knocked on the closed door and yelled out loudly, "Door Kicker's here. She wants to talk with ya."

"Tifa!" Rude helpfully corrected him, giving Tifa a little awkward and bashful smile, "He means Tifa Lockhart."

"Yeah, Door Kicker." Reno snorted, but Rufus' deep voice sounded from the other side of the metal.

"Let her in."

"You heard him." Reno sighed, and Rude was the one that opened the door for her. Nodding her thanks, Tifa walked in wearily and found her feet stuck by the door once it closed behind her. Rufus was there, preparing tea behind the counter.

"Coffee? Or tea?" Rufus asked, his voice deep and calm, and that was the exact opposite of how Tifa felt. She knew Rufus wasn't his father, but he was still the man who once stood at the top of SHINRA. Her first instinct was to turn down the drink, but Tifa sucked in a deep breath and realize that Rufus was offering peace.

"Coffee. Black." The blond man nodded, pouring a steaming cup for her and slid it across the counter.

"I don't speak for the quality of the drink, but it is still coffee nonetheless."

Tifa approached, taking the drink into her hand and took a small sip. "Thank you."

"Now, there's no point wasting any time. You wanted to talk?"

"I want to talk about Lightning." Rufus simply nodded, seemingly finding his tea more interesting, but she knew she had his ear. She had no doubt that he was a smart man, and it wasn't only the blond hair that reminded her of Jihl Nabaat. "More so, I want to talk about the Sister Ray."

"I'm sure you're aware that we are still going ahead with the construction, using our old schematics. Barret has agreed."

"I know… and I stand with Barret. I trust him to make those decisions for us. I talked with Lightning, and I'm sure she would've rather talked to you about this personally but it's my idea. I don't want this to change whatever it is between you and Lightning if you don't agree with what I'm proposing."

"And what would that be?" That was just a nicer way of him telling her to get to the point.

"We want to give control of the Sister Ray to PSICOM." Tifa announced bravely, and didn't back down when Rufus' eyes flickered up to clash with hers. The danger that passed behind his stare told Tifa that he adamantly disagreed. Yet he didn't say anything. Tifa pursed her lips, watching as whatever it was that had alighted Rufus stare subsided.

After an excruciating second, "Very well."

She stood muted in shock. "E-Excuse me?"

"The PSICOM may have control of the Sister Ray." Rufus decidedly put his agreement in a full sentence.

"R-Really?"

The blond man narrowed his eyes slightly, but still nodded, "I do not like repeating myself."

"I just… didn't expect you to agree so easily…"

"You might mean something to Lightning, probably more than she'd like to admit, but even so, Lightning's not one to blindly take someone's word without reason. What's more surprising… is that you were the one to suggest it." Rufus nursed his cup of tea in his hands, "Why help me?"

"I only wanted to help Lightning." Tifa admitted.

"I take it something happened with the PSICOM last night." Rufus murmured, "Interesting."

"Interesting?" Tifa repeated inquiringly.

"What would Lightning be if not interesting?" Rufus remarked, "A human transcending God. It certainly tempts one to… entertain such possibilities."

If that didn't strike her as alarming, she didn't know what would. It was strange that it appeared as if Rufus was laying down all of his cards for her, and now the ball was in court. If it was his intention to make her suspicious, he most definitely accomplished that. Deciding that it would be better to leave while she still had Rufus' word, Tifa nodded and made to dismiss herself. "That's all then."

"You know where the door is, and it opens without a need of a foot." Ignoring Rufus' remark, Tifa made for the door and left. She only spared a nod for Rude, and found herself too wrapped up in her thoughts to pay attention to anyone or anything else. There had been a good reason for her dislike of Rufus Shinra, but he seems content in giving her more reasons to distrust him.

…

It was like giving the kid the newest, most popular toy that no other kid on the playground had. Yet she was standing in a room full of the most powerful and influential men on the Planet. The moment Tifa's proposal left her lips, Raines and Barret looked like they were about to jump out of their seats in protest while Yaag appeared thoroughly taken back. "Lightning, you cannot be serious." Raines began, and Barret nodded.

"Besides, we've started construction days ago and the PSICOM hasn't actually done anything-" Barret argued, only for Yaag to interrupt.

"And it won't stay like that for long." The silvered hair man stated, "You won't be surprised to hear that Wutai agrees with us-"

Raines slammed a fist on the table, "You've contacted Wutai-"

"Why wouldn't I? Both AVALANCHE and the Guardian Corps are attempting to rebuild the Sister Ray only to give control over to SHINRA-"

"And that's why I said that we'll give control to you." Lightning sighed, her soft tone easily overpowering all the impassioned arguing. "We don't have time to be fighting against each other, and don't bother me with your 'saving the Planet' spiel because at the end of the day, we all know that you're just after the power. Don't forget that PSICOM were the first to help SHINRA-"

"Under Colonel Nabaat's orders." Yaag hissed.

"It doesn't change anything. You still went along with it. And now, here you are, trying to play the good guy. Don't waste our time and just take the deal. We all know you will. You can have the Sister Ray, in exchange for your cooperation. We're building it; the expenses are billed to AVALANCHE and the GC, and you get a free gun out of it. I'm sure that's going to give you the power trip you want. Use the Sister Ray to take out Meteor and the glory is all yours."

"Don't assume that-"

"Or what? Hm? You're going to let me talk you out of taking the deal? Because of your man pain and manly pride? Bullshit. The great PSICOM Colonel can't take a little sass. I hope I didn't hurt your feelings."

"That is enough!" Yaag yelled, storming from his seat, "I will not tolerate this! Raines, make sure you keep your dog on a leash!" With that said, the PSICOM Colonel stormed out of the room on a rampage, making sure to ram his shoulder into Lightning as he passed.

When the door to the meeting room slid closed, there was a long painstaking minute until Barret let out a low whistle. "He meant bitch. I swear he did."

"Thank you for the insight." Raines groaned, rubbing his temples to quell a headache. "Lightning, what are you doing?"

"Raines, think about it." Lightning sighed.

"Yes, I thought about it." Raines said, shaking his head disapprovingly, "I had the time to do so while you were insulting the Colonel. I know you want to appease them, but you aren't seriously considering on giving the Sister Ray to them. Barret, what do you think about this?"

"Frankly," The large AVALANCHE leader huffed, "I don't give a shit. Whether it's Shinra or PSICOM, it doesn't matter to me. Do you know why? It's cause that weapon is going to go 'kaboom' and that's that. They're still using the Planet's energy and-"

"It will be the first thing the WEAPONS take out." Raines finished for him as he scrubbed his face in his hands, "And the entire plan all along was to let a multimillion gil project get blown into smithereens. What's the point of it then?"

"Attention will only be drawn to the Sister Ray when it takes a shot." Lightning breathed, leaning onto the desk with her arms crossed, "At the very least, I'm hoping that the Sister Ray can do enough damage to tip things in our favor against the WEAPONS before they get to me. You don't want me dead."

"And now you're replacing Rufus Shinra with PSICOM at the trigger so when the Sister Ray does explode-"

"The PSICOM will take the loss." Lightning finished, "Whoever dies in the Sister Ray, will be on Yaag Rosche's orders, and I won't have to worry about Rufus."

Raines left his seat, running a hand through his hair, "Don't think that I don't see what you're doing." He fixed Lightning with an accusing look, "The moment we use the Sister Ray, the WEAPONS will see us as a threat as well. We're to be the sacrificial lambs for the slaughter; to pull attention off of you so you can go do whatever it is that you have to do. Those same monsters that destroyed Academia and Mideel are going to destroy our fleets. Thousands are going to die on our orders."

"Doesn't feel nice does it?" Lightning sneered, letting her face darken with bitterness, "To have all that responsibility on your shoulders. News flash; you chose this for yourself the moment you decided that you wanted to be head honcho of military and security. Trust me, what you have on your plate is just a tease of what I've dealt with for the last thousands of years. If you want to go blaming all of these deaths on me, the fine. Go ahead. But you know that this is just you playing the blame game. Stop beating a dead chocobo and get with the agenda. Let's just get this fucking clear. I don't care how many people die, and it's not my job to care about that. My job is to make sure that there's still a Planet here at the end of the day. Making sure that there's still people here is your job."

"Then what about Rufus?" Raines challenged, "You're okay with the PSICOM dying – your people dying – in place of a criminal and tyrant?!"

"Damn right I am. At least Rufus is trying to help the situation rather than trying to tell me how to do my job. Guess what? You don't know what my fucking job is, because I'm the damn Goddess of Death! I'm not here to make sure life is all sunshine and rainbows. My job is to wait for people to die, and I don't give a damn about how they die." She left the room like how Yaag had done, briskly striding down the hallway looking for Serah and the others until she's caught a strange stream of dancing red in the sky. Stopping in the middle of her steps, Lightning pressed her hand against the glass windows and squinted. Slowly, but surely more and more red started to light up the sky, forming a large circle around the circumference of Meteor. It was a large ring of fire, the circle cast in a middle of ever growing webs of fire and flames. "Fuck…" She suddenly sprinted off, barging past everyone to make her way outside. She could instantly feel the temperature difference, the heat wafting over the surface of the Planet like a suffocating blanket. She stood alongside the hundreds of other soldiers and civilians now all too entranced by the red hell descending.

Okay! So this one's a shorter chapter, but it's time to get the ball rolling now!

Dun dun dun! Meteor... arrives.