Hey, everyone. I'm back.

How many of you thought I was just going to abandon this story, huh? Well, my passion is still strong and I intend to see this through.

Things have happened in my life that have kept me from working on the story, like working a full-time job. But I find time to work on it and complete chapters.

This chapter is only a little shorter than the last, but I hope you enjoy it.

Also, a shout out to Phantom-Zero-v2, Winter Metor, and Guest. Thank you for commenting on my last chapter. And yes, I am playing the game for like the 3rd or 4th time to make you feel like your right there in the game.

Lastly, I do not own Final Fantasy 13 or others in the series.

"Speech"

"Thoughts"

The surrounding battle had not changed. Both PSICOM and the Resistance are giving it their all, but neither side has gotten the upper hand. The resistance was fighting for survival while the majority of PSICOM had no prior experience in real battles. They were two forces that could not defeat each other and were creating only more destruction and chaos. But neither could stop fighting for the consequences were too severe.

Amongst the Resistance is the group NORA, who were unwilling participants of the purge. They had been fighting against the soldiers of PSICOM with great success, but now they are split apart. Two of their members went to lead an attack with a group of fresh recruits on an approaching military force while the other members left to protect civilians.

Amongst the protectors was Riven who was running beside the son of a mother who left to join the fighting. They were currently running with the others past fallen debris and rubble when the son tripped and fell. Riven noticed this and immediately went to the son's aid.

"Are you ok?" he asked with concern. The boy looked at him and nodded his head. Riven then stretched out his hand and the son took it. He lifted him to his feet, but before they could continue, they heard gunshots from behind them. The son became fearful for his mother's safety while Riven only acknowledged it. "Sounds like Snow and the others have engaged the enemy. As they hold them off, we need to do our part and keep moving" he said.

Without waiting for the son to move, Riven took his hand and he yanked him forward. Riven could see the worry and concern etched on the boy's face. He knew he had to keep him moving otherwise he might just run back to his mother's side, right into danger. The boy looked too fragile to be a fighter and seemed too frightened to do anything.

"This warzone is the worst place for someone like him. I need to get him somewhere safe from all this. It is what his mother wants" thought Riven.

Riven and the son both kept running until they caught up to the rest of the group as they were boarding a Skybridge docked to the aerorail. Yuj was helping get people onboard as Lebreau stood guard. The moment Riven and the boy got close, they were approached by her. "Where were you? I turned my back for one second and you were gone" she said to Riven.

"Sorry about that. The kid tripped awhile back, and I had to make sure he was ok," said Riven. Then he gestured his finger for Lebreau to come closer and whispered in her ear so only she could hear him: "The kid is worried sick for his mom. He looked like he was about to run back for her" Riven whispered while he silently gestured to the boy.

Lebreau looked behind Riven and saw the nervousness of the boy. He was looking left to right frantically with the occasional glance back the way he came. "Alright, just keep an eye on him. We need to get these people to safety. Last thing we need is for one of them to go running off," she said.

Riven then turned around, grabbed the boy's hand, and escorted him onto the Skybridge. Once they were aboard, they walked to the center of the bridge to see Maqui working on it. But before Riven could get his attention, the girl with the bright-red hair that Snow gave a gun to ran towards them. "Hope!" she called out with a smile on her face. "There you are. You okay?" But Hope just looked down and remained unresponsive. The girl then looked at Riven. "Did something happen to him?" she questioned with a slightly stern face. "Nothing that hasn't happened to the rest of us. He tripped earlier, but he's alright" he said.

The girl then let out a breath. "Well, that is a relief. I just want to make sure that people are alright" she said with a cheerful smile. Riven looked at her strangely due to her attitude and expressions. Her "aura" only confused him. "How can you be so cheerful and positive with the battle going on? Nobody else is smiling; you're the only one. How can you smile at a time like this?" he asked.

Now it was the girls turned to be confused. "Everyone is so negative right now. But if they can see that I can still smile, then they can find hope for themselves," she said with a comforting voice. Riven was taken aback by her answer. She was trying to lift everyone's spirits by showing that she won't be broken.

"She must be incredibly optimistic or maybe I need to change my way of thinking," thought Riven.

"None of this will matter in the end. This is futile."

Riven and the girl then looked at Hope. He had been quite the whole time and the first thing he says is bleak. He sounded like he had already given in completely to despair. "Hey, don't say that. Were still alive, aren't we? Those soldiers out there are little more than rookies. We can make it through this," Riven said with confidence.

"Yes, no, maybe, I don't know. Everything is so confusing! I don't want to be here!" Hope cried as he fell to his knees. Riven and the girl both looked at him. He had been holding his feelings inside the entire time and they were finally flooding out. The girl then kneeled and put a hand on his shoulders. "Hey, cheer up," she said comfortably. "We're here for-"

Just then an explosion went off in the distance. All three of them turned around to see what happened and saw the Havok Skytank from earlier hovering above the Resistance. Its bridge was on fire and was charging its main cannon. Hope immediately took off for the aerorail in panic. The girl and Riven followed in pursuit to stop him. Hope got to the end of the Skybridge when another more powerful explosion went off.

The scene that unfolded was awful. The falling Skytank fired its main cannon at the aerorail. The explosion weakened the aerorail and it was crumbling into the lake below. The entirety of the Resistance was screaming and trying to hold on to anything to prevent their fall. The new recruits who wanted to fight against the injustice the Sanctum forced on them were falling to their deaths. Hope, Riven, and the girl were staring at the scene with horrifying shock. None of them said a thing until Hope screamed. "Mom!"

Riven and the girl looked in his direction and saw Snow and the boy's mother. Snow was hanging by one hand on a ledge while his other was gripping her hand, but he was struggling. Even from a distance, Riven could see the strain of having to support two people. Moments later, Snow lost his grip and the mother fell.

"Aaaaaaah!" screamed Hope as he reached out his hand as if to catch her. The boy just lost his mother. Another few moments later and Snow lost his grip and fell as well. Riven and Hope were both frozen in place. One just lost an ally and the other a mother. Time just seemed to stand still and the only things they could hear were their thoughts.

"He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead," thought Riven as Hope was thinking similar thoughts. Riven would have stayed in that state longer if it weren't for the girl. She put her hand on his shoulder and shook him. Once back to reality, he took in everything around him. The resistance was plummeting to their deaths as the aerorail fell away. There were others like Hope and himself that were frozen in disbelief and shock as some their friends and families were dying before their eyes and he looked beside him to see the girl place here arms around Hope and tried to bring him back like Riven but to no avail.

Riven then heard the sound of running feet. He turned around to see Lebreau sprint past him as she ran to Maqui. Yuj had finished getting everybody on board before the aerorail gave. She ran to the operations console where Maqui was. "Why aren't we moving yet!?" she said in a rushed tone. "I don't know. I fixed what was broken and hacked the mainframe. The tech might be old, but it should be working," he said.

Getting frustrated, Lebreau kicked the console hard. It then suddenly hummed to life and the skybridge began moving. "That works," said Maqui with a dumbfounded face.

Despite the skybridge moving, Hope stood in place like a statue. The only things he was doing was breathing and staring at the spot his mother fell. Getting in impatient and really worried, the girl spun him around and slapped him in the face! This took Riven by surprise. "Come on. You need to stay focused," she said. "Y-Yeah" said Riven. "We need you to get your head on straight. Were not out of this yet."

Hope looked at them both and silently nodded. Now that Hope was somewhat okay, Riven looked back at the broken aerorail then at the battle consuming the city. The fighting was increasing with no end in sight, and this greatly concerned him.

"If the fighting does not end soon, there will be no escape from this, and no one left to save."

Line Break

I had been at little over an hour since they took off and the skybridge was still flying through the city, weaving its way past buildings and around conflicts. Riven was currently walking toward the operations console to meet up with Lebreau, Maqui, and Yuj on their current situation. Upon arriving, Lebreau and Yuj were talking and Maqui was silently flying.

"Hey, what's the plan," said Riven. Lebreau and Yuj noticed that Riven was next to them and turned his way. "Were not equipped well enough for a fight and we need to get these people somewhere safe. So were avoiding PSICOM squads and other skirmish's so we can find a safe place for them," said Lebreau. Riven then looked around the area to take stock of their company. "Is that really the best we can do right now?" he questioned. Lebreau then looked at him with a sad and serious face. "Unfortunately, yes."

Riven was about to saying something else when he was approached by Yuj. "Riven, did you see what happened before the explosion took the aerorail? Right before it went off, I was getting the last people onboard when you and two others were running my way. What happened exactly? Did you see Snow and Gadot?"

Riven made a brief sad face at the mention of Snow. "I saw a lot happen and wish I could forget it. Me and a girl were chasing a boy named Hope after he heard the first explosion. When we got a clear view, there was a skytank with its bridge on fire. The thing was going down, but it was able to fire its main cannon at the aerorail, causing it to break and fall apart. I then saw Snow and Hope's mother fall. I'm guessing that Gadot also went down with them."

After hearing Riven's recollection, Lebreau and Yuj looked down. Riven couldn't see their faces, but he knew they were both on the verge of tears. "Hey, I know Snow and Gadot can hold their own and are capable, but you don't think they are-," Riven said before Maqui turned away from console and yelled at him. "They're not dead! They can't be! Snow and Gadot are the toughest people I know! They can't be dead; they just can't be!" he said with tears in his eyes.

Riven did not see the outburst from Maqui coming; nobody did. The whole time since the beginning of the conversation, he kept quiet while tending to the control panel. He looked between Lebreau and Yuj to see the same shocked expression on their faces and then back to Maqui. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that" Riven apologized.

After taking a moment, Maqui settled down and wiped his tears away. "No. I'm sorry, Riven. I didn't mean to yell at you." Riven then walked closer to Maqui and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. I think we all needed to hear that," said Riven with a half-smile. Maqui looked up at him with a smile of his own.

"Hey, wait a second. If you're here, then who's flying this thing?" said Yuj.

Maqui had a realization as the others turned their gazes to the unmanned console. He then ran back to resume his job. Riven, Yuj, and Lebreau all then sweat dropped and breathed out a nervous breath from avoiding the potential danger.

After a few seconds went by, a thought occurred to Lebreau. "Hey, where's that Hope kid you were with before? He must be deep in grief right now."

"He is. He is so broken right now," said Riven. He gestured with his thumb behind him. "He's back there. The girl I was talking about is currently tending to him. Speaking of which, I should head back to check up on him." With that, Riven walked back to Hope and the girl to see that there was no change in his behavior. He was sitting down, and the girl sat across from him. The boy drew himself in and looked as if he was in a trace. "Anything?" Riven questioned the girl. She shook her head. "Nothing," she said worriedly.

Riven sat down next to the girl and looked at Hope. "Hey, you're going through a tough time right now. Please, let us help you," said Riven with a soft and soothing voice. But the boy made no answer. "How about we start off with properly introducing ourselves. My name is Riven Neander," said Riven. "And you already know my name, Vanille," said the girl with a smile.

As Vanille was casually talking to Hope and trying to bring him back, Riven found himself in deep thought. "Vanille, Vanille. Where have I heard that name before," He thought. Her name was on the tip of his tongue, but then it clicked. He remembered. Night sky. White beach. Fireworks. Exotic beauty. A memory from two days prior resurfaced in his mind.

Flashback

Day 11 of 13

There were explosions going off. The night sky was full of light and color. But the people were looking up in awe and joy. It was the annual beachfront fireworks display in Bodhum and everyone was enjoying themselves. There were families, couples, and children of all ages in complete bliss and peace as they watch the show. Amongst the crowd of people was Riven who was staring up at the fireworks in total happiness.

For a moment he took his eyes off the show and started to look through his bag. After a second or two of searching, his hand clutched what he was looking for. He looked down at it and smiled that he still had the object. He placed it back in his bag and zipped it closed. He then looked around at everyone in attendance and his eyes fell on local café that was particularly popular. Feeling a tad bit parched, he started walking over to it. As he got closer, the noise of the people talking kept getting louder. Once he got there, he looked up at the sign that read in big letters "BEACH HOUSE".

But as he was looking up, he did not see the man with blonde hair and black bandanna that walked right into him. They both stumbled after they crashed into each other. "Sorry" called out the man as he disappeared into the crowd. Riven sighed, collected himself and then proceed to the entrance. Inside was tropical theme. There were people chatting away, others enjoying drinks and food, and couples enjoying each other's company. There were all kinds of beverages laid out on the front counter ranging from alcohol to lemonade.

Seeing an open spot at the bar, Riven took a seat. He looked at the menu for what to have and decided on something simple. Then the barmaid, a young woman around his age, came up to him to take his order. "Hello. What will it be?" she said with a smile. "I will just have a lemonade," he replied. She nodded, wrote down his order on a sketchpad, and then took an empty glass from the woman siting to his right. Riven eyes followed the barmaid's hand to the empty drink but stayed on the owner of the drink. He didn't know what came over him but his eyes did not want to look away from the woman.

She wore a black bra top, tan leather open-toed knee-high boots, a simple brown belt, compression arm sleeves, and a blue sari with foreign writing on the borders. She possessed olive colored skin with black wavy hair that went down a little past her shoulders, green eyes, and a braid behind her left ear. She adorned a rainbow wristband on her left wrist, purple claw-like earrings, and two necklaces around her neck. But her most striking feature was a large black tattoo on her left arm that resembled a two-pronged weapon.

"Take a picture, it will last longer."

Riven was startled by the woman's voice and looked down in embarrassment as his face got red. He didn't know exactly how long he stared at her, but she noticed him. Mustering up the courage, he raised his head up and turned right to find her looking at him. Riven noticed that she also had two fur pelts hanging from a cord on her belt, a beauty mark beneath her right eye, scars on her right shoulder, and bandaged right arm. Riven quickly formulated excuse for staring at her.

"Sorry. I was looking at you're tattoo. I've never seen one like it before," he said with a fake smile. She looked down at it and then looked back at him strangely. "It's the tip of a lance," she said casually. He looked back at it and saw what she was talking about. "Interesting," he said.

"Come on Romeo, you can do better than that!"

Riven whipped his head to the left to the owner the voice. He saw a buff man with fiery hair who was previously to the barmaid behind the counter moments before. Each had a smile on their faces.

"Yeah, you should say something a tad more romantic," said the barmaid.

Riven was blushing once again. This was the second time he was made embarrassed. He then decided it was time to make someone else feel the same way. "Oh, maybe you two lovebirds can give me some advice."

Their similes disappeared. They turned their heads to look at each other and then back at Riven in unison. "We are not dating!" they said with matching blushes. This caused Riven to smile. "Oh, don't be like that. You seem to be a little to cozy towards one another; more so than friends," teased Riven. Their faces got even more crimson and started mumbling as if trying to come up with something. Then the man looked back at the barmaid. "I just remembered I have to do something. See you later," he said smiling and then turned and left. The barmaid came up to Riven and gave him his drink. He gave her the necessary amount of gil, took it, and left without saying a word with still a hint of a blush. Riven took a sip of his lemonade while feeling smug for his "triumph". He was so lost in his victory that his companion to his right almost took him by surprise.

"I got a drink and a show. Bodhum lives up to its reputation for entertainment," she said. Riven turned around to face to her and continue their conversion. "Maybe I should get a job here; make good money and enjoy the beach. My name's Riven by the way."

"Fang"

"Fang? I have never heard a name like that before."

"I'm not from these parts."

"Well, the world is a big place and there is a lot of different people in it," said Riven while taking another sip of his drink.

"Hmm," she said while shrugging her shoulders. An uncomfortable minute followed with neither of them speaking. Then Riven spoke to break the silence. "Anyway, what brings you to Bodhum?"

She titled her head down and looked at the counter for a moment, looked back up, and answered without tuning her head back towards him. "I'm looking for a missing friend. She disappeared," she said somewhat sadly.

Riven's eyes went wide with surprise. "Seriously? Did you report it to the Corps?" he asked. She just turned her head and looked at him with the somewhat sad expression. "It wouldn't do any good," she said.

Riven was at a loss of what to say. Fang was looking for a friend that has gone missing. She was looking for them by herself and it sounded like only she can do it. Riven hated feeling useless and unhelpful. So, he started looking around for anything that could possibly help. His gaze wandered outside and there he found an answered. It was simple and easy, but anything could help.

"Hey, why don't you wish on the fireworks?" he said. She looked at him strangely. "What good what that do?" she questioned. "I know that it doesn't sound like much. But supposedly if you wish on fireworks, your wish will come true. Just about everyone out there could tell you that," he said confidently. He was sure this was the morale boost she needed. But what she said next caught him off guard.

"I don't really believe in wishes. I believe in luck; lady luck," she said rather plainly. Riven did not see the coming. He had to come up with something quickly. "Well, it couldn't hurt," he said while shrugging his shoulders. Fang's eyes looked up as if she was in thought. After a few seconds of silence and thinking, she gave him an answer. "Maybe."

"Man, this woman is stubborn. She's beautiful, but stubborn," Riven thought to himself.

"What are you here for? Vacation? Relaxing?" she asked. Riven's eyes drifted to down to his bag. A happy, yet sad, feeling overcame him, but it was gone almost quick as it came. "Doing some vacationing. But I mainly came to get something," he said as his left hand unconsciously fell down to his bag. Fang saw what he did with his hand. Whether he did it to protect or secure something, she did not know. What she did know was that it was none of her business. Then another question came to her mind.

"What about you? Do you believe in luck?" she said. Riven thought for about half a minute on the question. Belief was complicated to him. He didn't want to put too much faith in something in fear that it could let him down. But belief was also a comforting thought to have. There are pros and cons to it, but overall, it's not a bad thing.

"I do believe in luck, but it's ok to have wishes too." Fang gave Riven a half-smile. "You sound like my friend." Thus, their conversion continued into the night. They talked about various things, major and minor. Deep questions and easy ones. Some answers made Riven laugh, while Fang spared a chuckle of two. They talked for half hour when suddenly Fang had to answer a call on a Com unit. She left for a moment to take the call and left Riven to ponder.

"Wasn't that a Com unit? Only members of the Guardian Corps have those. What is she doing with one? She said contacting the Corps wouldn't help find her friend. Is she part of the Guardian Corps?" Riven thought. He kept thinking to himself until she came back a minute later. "I just got a call from my boyfriend. It's getting late and time to turn in for the night," she said. The news was disappointing and sad for Riven. The two of them were having a good time, but it was over now. What was disappointing was that Fang had a boyfriend. But it also made sense that a beautiful woman like her was already taken.

Riven hung his head for a moment, sighed, and then lifted it back up. "Well ok. It was nice chatting with you," he said. Fang then smiled. "You as well," she said and then began walking out the front. She had just taken her first step on to the beach when Riven called for her. "Hey!" he said. She turned around to find him at the top of the steps. "You never told me the name of your missing friend."

"Vanille. Her name is Vanille."

"Vanille. Thanks. I will remember that" Riven said. Fang just simply nodded her head and disappeared into the crowd. Riven returned to his seat for his things and then looked at the clocked realizing that it really was getting late. He decided that he too should turn in for the night. So, he grabbed his things, walked down to the beach, and maneuvered his way through the sea of people. He found a modest inn further down the beach to rest at. But before he walked in, he turned around to look at the fireworks one last time and made a silent wish. With that, he walked in and rented a simple room; not too big, not too small, cheap, and far enough away from the people as to not hear them. He dropped his things to the ground, laid down on the bed, and fell asleep completely unaware of the next day's events will bring.

Present

Riven snapped back to reality as the memory ended. Nothing much had happened while he was occupied. They were still adrift, people were either in mourning or silent, and the battle was still raging. The only thing that changed a bit was that Hope was out of shock and was looking kind of alright. In fact, instead he wasn't looking at nothing like before, but rather at someone; he was looking at Riven. This confused him. Hope was looking at Riven with a confused expression and Riven didn't know why. Riven looked side to side to make sure it was him he was looking at to find Vanille was also staring at him, but with worry.

"Are you alright?" she said. "I thought for a second that I would have to bring you back as well." Just then it occurred to him that while he was remembering the events from two days ago, he must have looked like an idiot staring off into space. Riven's face went red with embarrassment as he put his hands up in front of him. "No no no no no! I was just thinking of something you said". This confused her. "Oh, what was it?" she asked.

"Did you say your name was Vanille?" he questioned. "Yes" she said cautiously. "Do you know someone named Fang?" The moment Riven said that name, Vanille sat up straight and her eyes wide-open. She then immediately bombarded Riven with questions. "Have you met her!? Where is she!? Is she alright!? Please tell me she's ok," she pleaded and questioned. Every time she asked a question, she moved closer to Riven, but due to her sudden outburst he backed up every time as well. "Whoa, whoa, easy there. Fang is fine as far as I know. I met her at the "BEACH HOUSE" in Bodium during the fireworks display. She said she was looking for you."

Vanille was left speechless. She backed away from Riven, curled up her knees, and moved her head down. "I was there and so was she. I was so close to her. I just missed her." Riven was starting to feel bad for her. He told her what she wanted to know, but it wasn't what she wanted to hear. Riven wasn't the only one feeling this way for her. Hope was looking at her with both concern and worry. But before he could say anything to her, Riven spoke up.

"I met her at the café on the beach where we chatted for a while. She seemed convinced that the Guardian Corps couldn't do anything to help her look for you. At the end of the night, she got a call from her boyfriend saying that it was getting late, and she left. Hopefully she left town before she could get caught up in all this," he explained.

Vanille lifted her head from her knees. Her expression changed from one of sadness to that of confusion. "Boyfriend? But Fang doesn't have a boyfriend" she said. "What?" said Riven. "Then who the hell did she- "

Just then, a siren went off. It was loud enough so everyone in the Hanging Edge could hear it. Everyone stopped what they were doing, both the people and PSICOM, and looked up at the ceiling of the area to where the sound was coming from. Riven, Vanille, and Hope all stood up to watch the doors to the outside open above them and see a bright green light shine through and light up the area. Then a gigantic structure was lowered by one massive ship that was carrying it by green tendrils of light and surrounded by a fleet of skytanks. The structure looked like a skyscraper with many designs throughout its exterior with what seemed to be wings on opposite sides at the top. This structure, or rather the being inside it, was the reason for the purge; the Pulse fal'Cie.

As the Pulse fal'Cie/Pulse vestage was carried through the Hanging Edge to the city's center, a man's voice was speaking to everyone over the speakers all over the city.

"Attention Purge deportees. Attention Purge deportees. Put down your weapons and surrender immediately. Your removal is the will of the people of Cocoon. Should you attempt to flee, the Sanctum will employ every resource necessary to bring you to justice. This land is no longer your home. Cease hostilities and surrender at once."

The demands that the military made caused Riven's blood to boil. How dare they force he and the others like him from there homeland. He was born and raised in this floating sphere in the sky, just like his family and his ancestors before him. He graduated from school, had friends, worked a job, and lives a life. He was just as much a part of society as anyone else and they were going to kill him just because they thought he was infected with something.

Suddenly, Riven's anger subsided and was replaced with curiosity when he looked to his left and saw Hope take off his purge robe. The boy looked like his mother with her eyes and hair color. He wore a short-sleeved yellow jacket, an orange capelet, black gloves with white palms, green cargo pants with a detachable black pocket on his left leg, a black belt, a seafoam-green neckerchief over a black shirt, and yellow/gray above-ankle lace-up boots.

The reason why this drew his attention was because of Hope's mourning. The fact that he was now moving around and doing something instead of staring off into nowhere meant that he was on the road to recovery. This thought caused Riven to smile. He then heard some rustling to his right. He turned his head and saw Vanille was also removing her purge robes. Riven turned his head to give her some privacy; the last thing he wanted was to be called a pervert. When she was done, he looked back around only to be stunned.

Vanille had bright red curled pigtails and green eyes. She wore a pink halter top, an ombre orange/yellow skirt, a fur belt around her waist, and beige boots. She had many accessories decorating herself. She had on sliver hoop earrings, three beaded necklaces, multiple bracelets on each arm, and multicolored beads all over herself. She, just like Fang, was beautiful. To Riven, there was no other word that could describe her. As he was staring at her, he recalled from that one night at the café that the last time he looked at a pretty woman he was called out for it so, he snapped back to reality and pretended to look around instead.

Luckily, Vanille did not noticed him. Her attention was focused on Hope. She looked at him with a comforting smile and then looked down at the gun at her feet that Snow gave her. She picked it up and gave it to him. "Here" she said. He took it but was hesitant about it. Seeing his uncertainty, Vanille reached out her arms and hugged him like a mother would for a child. "It's too much isn't it?" she said softly. She then released him and looked him in the eye. "Face it later."

Hope was about to say something when two airbikes flew overhead and were heading for the other far end of the skybridge. The three looked them with fear at first until they recognized the riders, both Snow and Gadot, alive! Each of the three were instantly filled with various emotions upon the arrival of lost comrades. "I don't believe it!" said Riven. "I saw them go down. I thought they died." Vanille then took her gaze off Snow and Gadot and looked at Riven and Hope. "Ciao!" she said as she said ran off to in the direction of the new arrivals. "Hey, wait!" shouted the both them as they took off after her, unaware they left their guns behind.

By the time Vanille, Hope, and Riven reached the other end of the skybridge, the airbikes were powered down. Hope stopped running when he was about 100ft away and Vanille did as well but Riven kept going until he was next to Maqui, Yuj, and Lebreau that were assembled there. As soon as both Snow and Gadot got off the bikes, Lebreau went up to them and punched them both in the arm. "That's for making me worry," she said. Both of them smiled while rubbing their arms.

"So Magui, you really managed to use that thing?" asked Gadot. Maqui looked at his rifle and shrugged. "Nah, I think I'm done," he said and reaching it out to Gadot. Then Yuj lightly pushed him back in a playful manner. "You're done when we are." Then everybody started to laugh. Riven couldn't help but notice just the how close the key members of NORA really were. They were like a family instead of a group of friends.

"If only I had friends like these."

Riven's thoughts were just then interrupted by the sound of Maqui's voice. "You have no idea what it was like. After the aerorail went down, we had to get as far from the battle as possible. Hiding behind buildings, avoiding skirmishes and patrols was not easy. I'm just so glad you're both back," he said. Snow looked past everyone for a moment, gazing at the civilians under their protection. He then looked down for a second as if contemplating something. When he was done, he looked back at everybody with some seriousness in his eyes. "Everyone safe?" he questioned. Maqui and Yuj then looked at each other, smiled, moved in sync. "The army's no match for NORA!" they shouted in unison and pumping up their fist's.

"When did they find the time to practice that?" thought Riven.

"I meant the kids?" said Snow. Gadot found their little act hilarious and Lebreau just took her hand and hit the back of their heads. "Grow up!" she said. The boys rubbed the spot she hit and looked back at Snow. "All accounted for" said Yuj. Snow looked back down at controls of the airbike. "Okay. Let's keep it that way, all right?" This got Riven's attention. Snow seemed immersed in something but didn't know what. So, he walked over to Gadot and nudged his arm. "Hey, what's eating at him?" he said. Gadot turned his head look at him and simply shrugged. "Don't know. He said something about 'a favor for a friend', whoever that is."

"Alright, everybody back up and cover your ears. I'm starting the engine," said Snow. Riven, Gadot, Maqui, Yuj, and Lebreau did exactly what he said as he turned on the vehicle. The engine made a loud sound as the bike came to life, many nearby people immediately covered their ears and moved back at the sound. "I'll swing by the vestige. Keep the kids out of trouble."

When Snow said he was going near the Vestige, Riven was brought to full attention. Who, in the right of mind, would go anywhere near that thing right now? He was about to protest but was interrupted by Gadot and the others. "You got it. Say hi to the missus for me!" said Gadot. Snow turned back to the controls of the airbike. "Ha" he laughed. "You go skirt-chasing and I take care of the kids. Some husband!" joked Gadot.

"Dinners on me" Snow added.

"Better be home cooking" said Gadot. The information the team was speaking gave Riven questions left and right, but the joking between them and the noise of the running engine prevented his voice from being heard. "When's the wedding, lover boy?" said a smiling Yuj. After finishing his calibrations, he turned back towards the group. "Don't worry, none of you are invented!" he said as the bike rose into the air and the others protested. "Catch ya later" said Snow as he flew towards the vestige.

When Snow was out of sight, Riven had had it! Nothing made sense! Going to the vestige that was surrounded by military, talk of a wedding, and who was this 'missus'? "Ok, what is going on here!?" he shouted at the group. They quickly spun around and stared at him wide eyes. "Why's he heading to the vestige when it's the center of the army's attention? It's suicide! Nearly every single solider is there. We could've have used this moment to get out of here while their distracted!"

Lebreau, Yuj, Maqui, and Gadot just stared at him for as he ranted on. When he was done, they looked at each other and then Gadot walked towards him. "Come on man. Walk with me." After what they've been through together, Riven nodded and walked with him so he could let go of the anger and frustration that was built up after being interrupted and ignored.

"Ok man, to answer your question, the boss is heading over that way to get someone important to him," Gadot explained. Riven was still seething from before so was left unsatisfied. "Who can be so important that he'd be willing to risk death for!?" he partially shouted. "His fiancée, Sarah," Gadot answered. That made Riven shut up. Snow was engaged. The person he was after was his bride-to-be. "Snow is getting married. He doesn't seem the type to settle down," Riven said with his anger subsided. Gadot smiled seeing how Riven's earlier behavior was gone. "I know, the whole marriage thing surprised us too. But were happy for him nonetheless."

Some things were starting to make sense for him. If Riven loved someone enough to propose to them, he to would do anything to get them back. But not all things were clear. "But what is she doing by the vestige?" Riven continued. Gadot's smile faded as a memory resurfaced. "She is trapped inside that thing. Yesterday before the purge began and PSICOM started to get people ready to be transported, Snow and Sarah tried to escape. As they were being pursued, the Pulse fal'cie took her prisoner. She has been in there ever since. And now Snow is going to be the hero and save his damsel in distress," finished Gadot.

Riven was left speechless. To hear that Snow's lover was being held prisoner to the fal'cie was horrible. The NORA leader's motivation to keep going was all to be reunited with his lost lover, just like in old fairy tales' parents would tell their children. "Wow" said Riven in awe. "To think something like that happened sounds unbelievable. I mean, why would the Pulse fal'cie do that? It doesn't make any sense. How does Snow plan to get her back?" asked Riven. Gadot simply shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. But when they do get back, were going to turn this thing around and get out of here. Were all going home together" he said echoing Snow's quote.

Riven was now feeling a mix of hope and uncertainty. When Snow comes back with his future wife, they can all ride out of this nightmare together, expose the truth of the purge, and get back to living a normal life again. But there was still no clear plan involved. How was Snow going to save Sarah? How were they going to get out alive without getting shot down? How was the public going accept the truth from a bunch of 'diseased deportees? And how was anyone going to get back to living a normal life after living through this genocide? For all Riven knew, their fates were left to chance.

"Hey, where is that kid that you were with before?"

Riven was brought out of his thoughts by Gadot's question. Then it occurred to him that he walked past him and Vanille with Gadot. "We were running up to meet you and Snow after you got back," he said while turning around to find them. "Yeah, I left him and another right over-." Riven didn't not finish that last sentence on account to what he saw. His eyes went wide and he sprinted back the way they came as fast as he could. Gadot looked at him with confusion until he too looked back and saw the reasoning why. Hope and Vanille were on his arirbike with Vanille's hands on the controls!

"What are you two doing!?" he yelled as he started running towards them. They then saw Riven was almost upon them and started lifting off. Riven, deciding to do something risky, jumped at them and landed stomach first behind Vanille at the last second as the vehicle lifted completely into the air. Then he was being thrown back and forth as Hope lost control. The movement combined with the pain of his belly from jumping made Riven feel like puking, but he kept it in despite the urge to. Vanille was screaming and Hope was straining to get the bike under control. Just as Riven thought he was going to fall, Hope managed to regain control. They were now hovering serval feet above and away from the skybridge with an angry Gadot yelling at them. "Get back here! Do you hear me!? Riven! Bring those two back over here!" he shouted. But Riven couldn't do anything but stop the world from spinning and emptying his stomach. Once the dizziness was gone, Hope stepped on the gas, and they sped away and Gadot faded from view and his words were drowned out by the sound of the engine.

As they flew, Riven noticed they were heading towards the vestige; just like Snow did. As they got closer, the amount of PSICOM soldiers, weapons, and vehicles kept increasing. Riven didn't understand what they were doing, so he yelled at Hope. "Hey, we need to stop and turn around before- "Riven was then cut off by gunshots from nearby soldiers on a nearby aerorail. They recognized them as 'contaminated civilians' and open fired. Hope was able to fly them away, but the bike still got shot.

As they got away, they got even closer to the vestige, far too close for comfort. "Hope, you need to turn!" said Vanille. "I can't. The controls aren't responding!" he yelled. Hope, Vanille, and Riven all began screaming as they got closer and closer until…

Everything went black.

Authors Note:

Well that's another chapter.

I scoured over the internet for information on various things to make the story more accurate. For example, the café in Bodhum is actually called the BEACH HOUSE. I had to find the language used in the game and translate it to English.

Again, if any of you have any ideas, please PM me and we will chat.

With nothing more to say, this is Light out.