The Confession

New Bodhum's shores were the same as they had left them – clear, calm…and void of inhabitants. Needless to say, the whole area was evacuated, and only one explanation made sense in their minds.

"Gadot?" Snow called out as he rushed up the steps of the bar. Though his voice was clear, his face betrayed the attempt to hide his fear. "Maqui?"

Serah gently placed a hand on his arm, her own face mirroring his anxiety. NORA had become a whole new family to her, and when Lightning returned, it finally felt like her life was complete. The first month with them together was a dream come true, but she finally arrived at the notion that all dreams had to end one way or another.

From behind, Tifa followed them up the steps to the entrance. "When we came by, it was only you two that were here, when you were…" She didn't have the heart to finish, knowing that they had enough terror in their lives for the time being.

Nonetheless, her words brought a shiver up his spine, his mind venturing in the endless possibilities of the possession. "What exactly did we do here?"

Cloud shook his head to try and make sense of it all. "You talked about there not being enough time – that your "boss" wasn't gonna be too happy." He felt there was a crucial piece to the puzzle they needed to solve, that it was so close…but it relentlessly taunted them by staying out of reach.

As they slowly crept into the bar, Snow took careful steps on an invisible trail, his feet approaching and circling around random spots. His head whipped back and forth, and with a sudden gasp, his eyes expanded in shock.

"Snow?" Serah followed him anxiously, unease settling in the pit of her stomach.

As his eyes flitted around, flashes of memories erupted in his head, an incomplete movie with terrible editing. Snow watched a scene in a tilted point of view, as if he was lying on the floor, while the rest of his friends and bar patrons were assaulted by someone he thought he could trust. Armed with a knife, moving at the speed of light, she didn't need to take advantage of her relationship with the ones she called her family. Cold glowing eyes locked on with every target, and she made her way to make the contagious blood bond with anyone within reach.

Snow's hand reached up to brush against his arm, where a healing scar remained with wretched memories. "Lightning came through here," he explained in a shaky voice. "…She cut me first then went after the others so fast…"

It would have been so easy for Lightning, but to think she could actually do such a thing clenched Serah's heart. She knew her sister wouldn't do anything to harm even a hair on her head, but the image of Lightning rushing at her with the very knife she had given as a gift was too much. Serah fell into the closest chair, her eyes glassed over as her mind was at a loss.

By the entrance, Tifa grimaced at the sight. She used to think her and Cloud's lives were messed up to hold a record, but this new world wasn't as different as the Planet's. They all had their own form of suffering and chaos plaguing their lives, and it was far from over. A twinge of guilt stabbed her chest; could they have done anything to prevent this?

What if they were able to bring Lightning back here before Deepground got involved? Was the happiness they shared with her worth the sacrifice of turning back time and finding a way to safely return her to her rightful place? Tifa shot a small glance out of the corner of her eye…and saw the exact same thoughts mirrored on Cloud's face.

After taking time to recollect their thoughts, Snow and Serah decided it best to pack provisions and salvage what they could for their journey. If they stayed in New Bodhum for too long, other people who may have been possessed –or whatever the hell happened to them - might follow them to turn things ugly, and with the majority of the team lacking the literal firepower, they may not even stand a chance.

Eventually, Serah found herself cleaning up the mess littering the bar, probably on instinct from their day-by-day living. Aside from teaching at the newly constructed school, she helped Lebreau tidy things up while the boys handled the wildlife surrounding their new village. Even with NORA gone, she shifted back into that easy routine so smoothly that once she realized what she was doing, a heavy sob got caught in her throat, her body freezing just as it picked up an overturned table. Not too far away, Snow took notice and gently ripped the table out of her grasp, hoping to ease her out of the despair that tried to restrain her. Tifa and Vincent silently joined in to assist with the clean-up; neither had to ask about Serah's sudden pale complexion and distant gaze to understand what was going through her mind.

Once Serah took a deep breath to calm her nerves, she looked toward an almost-invisible Cloud, who leaned against the doorframe separating the small lounge from the bar. He angled his head into the direction of the bar, his eyes fixated on the photographs hanging on the wall. While his face was relatively blank and composed, it wasn't hard to sense the melancholic aura that followed him everywhere, no doubt sprouting from the guilt he refused to let go of.

Taking a chance, Serah casually approached him and leaned to the side to catch his attention. Once he blinked and turned toward her, her lips pulled upward at the corner.

"Matching earrings, right?" she said while pointing to his left ear. It took a while for her to notice the silver wolf dangling from his earlobe, but as she approached, it caught her eye when it glistened in the sunlight coming into the bar. "I saw it on Lightning the same day she came back."

Cloud let out the smallest chuckle as he straightened up. "Yeah. It was nothing much." It must have been silly to get it for her that night in the Gold Saucer. He recalled the rush of emotions he went through as they rode the gondola, when he wanted to have no regrets when it came to Lightning.

With a knowing smile, Serah nodded before a curious thought popped into her head. "How was it for her? To be on the Planet for a whole year?" After traveling the vast lands of Pulse, going to a completely new world must have been overwhelming. She tried imagining it – a place where there were no fal'Cie, curses, or crystallized people – but then again, she still had yet to see what all of Pulse had to offer.

"She adjusted pretty well," Cloud explained with a twinge of pride. "Got a job as a soldier – even led her own team."

The smile on Serah's face brightened, and for a moment, she forgot about all the worries piling up in her heart. "And she was happy." It was easy to deduce from the stories Lightning told about her year away from Pulse – the excitement and wonder weren't mere exaggerations. Every time she would mention Cloud, a warm smile appeared, even if it was for the slightest moment; that was enough for Serah to figure that Cloud was someone her sister needed in her life. Even with her friends here where her home was, Lightning was sure to never completely open up unless someone could break down the tough wall.

As soon as she was relieved that Lightning had found some type of happily ever after, the air around Cloud thickened, darkness shrouding his features once more. Any remaining hint of positivity drained away, and his smirk was frightening.

"I thought she was," he said in a voice that was almost too low to hear, the gleam in his eyes instantly fading away when he shifted his gaze away from her. Serah's eyes widened as her smile vanished. Despite the happy memories her sister shared about Cloud, his thoughts seemed to show very different sides to them. Serah wondered if anything had happened before Lightning came back to Pulse…if there was any more despair left to weigh in her sister's heart.

Heavy footsteps sounded behind her, prompting Serah to turn and find Snow approaching them with provisions slung over his shoulder. "We should get going," he said, ignoring the remaining clutter spread throughout the bar. "You ready?"

Cloud was fluid in his retreat, walking past them toward the entrance without as much as a glance over his shoulder. Biting her lip, Serah wished she could talk to him longer, to assure him that her sister still cherished him regardless of whatever passed between them.

"Uhh…yeah." She quickly nodded to Snow with a ghost of a smile. When he turned to regroup with the others, Serah was about to follow suit when a paper atop the bar counter flapped in the incoming gust of wind. Kept down by a tipped over bottle of wine, it writhed in its imprisonment until Serah walked up and held it down flat across the counter. Her eyes scanned the advertised content, her forehead slowly but surely creasing.

"Hey, Snow?" she called out. "Look at this."

Curious, Snow returned and followed her gaze, reading the flyer. Off to the side, a sketch of Cocoon resting on its crystal pillar was being approached by an airship and a long trail of figures. What irked him the most was the headline that was in bold at the top.

"'In here lies paradise'?" Snow scoffed. "Right. Cocoon's heaven on Pulse."

The joke didn't ease Serah's worry. Once the truth about the Sanctum fal'Cie came out, it was relatively common for everyone to abhor the lies the Sanctum fed them. This was at the top of their list of deception, and it was too sick of a joke to repeat the vipers' words.

"This isn't right," Serah told him with certainty. "What if this has to do with everyone disappearing?"

Snow considered that possibility before snatching the paper from her hands and heading out of the bar. As Serah followed, she watched him hand the flyer to Tifa, who curiously took it to examine. "Look at this."

Tifa's expression mirrored theirs. "'In here lies paradise'?"

Nodding, Snow pointed up into the sky behind them, where the once-floating continent stood on its crystal pillar. "Yeah. Cocoon."

"Maybe someone made the flyer to lead people to Cocoon," Serah suggested.

After glancing at the paper, Cloud turned to Snow and Serah curiously. "So you haven't seen this before?"

Together, Snow and Serah readily shook their heads. "Not once," Serah answered. "Even after Lightning came back."

"After Cocoon fell down, a lot of people came and made a living on Pulse." Snow folded his arms across his chest. "Sure, there was the wildlife to deal with, but everyone managed, what with magic and all. Those who stayed on Cocoon didn't make much of a fuss, and life was pretty much smooth sailing."

"Pulse is a little rough," Serah continued. "But it's not hard enough for everyone to go off and run to Cocoon just for safety."

From behind Cloud, Vincent absorbed this new information to try and connect the pieces. Not soon after Lightning came back home, an alert had been sent out to retreat to the place where everyone was treated as fodder. If they truly valued free will, the people wouldn't have gone crawling back to a place full of horrific memories…unless they had no other choice.

"Cloud."

He managed to get his friend's attention and walked back to get out of earshot distance from the others. Cloud followed, getting the message and stopping right after Vincent.

"What if this has to do with Jenova?"

The mention of the alien matter stirred anxiety. Cloud shot a wary glance over his shoulder before turning back. "You really think so?"

Vincent was unsure of how to back up his claim, but with the knowledge he had to go with so far, it was all he could think of. "When those two were infected with the stigma, they went out and did terrible things, I'm betting."

"But the stigma just makes you weak," Cloud assured, speaking from painful experience. His mind wandered, sifting through the endless possibilities that not even people from the Planet had yet to discover. "Maybe it wasn't just stigma, but something stronger."

"A new strain of some Jenova infection?" Vincent suggested incredulously.

"You told me before – Hojo did all kinds of experiments with Jenova cells. Whatever he did to Lightning must have made the cells stronger." Cloud was still questioning the logic of his thesis. Hojo very rarely unveiled his research to even Shinra Company; had they stayed longer on the Planet to sift through his research, they might have found more background to pull from.

Before they could brainstorm any more ideas to go with, Vincent and Cloud heard footsteps coming up from behind. They turned to find Snow trudging up, a hard expression marring his features, while Serah and Tifa followed worriedly.

"You know something," he said matter-of-factly, his eyes locking with Cloud's fiercely. Even with him towering over, Cloud stood his ground without an ounce of discouragement. "What exactly was it that Lightning infected us with? You guys should know. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come all the way here."

Serah tugged on his arm, worried over the anxiety that clouded her fiancé's better judgment. "Snow, they're here to help us. To help Lightning."

He stayed his ground, but didn't fight against her either. "But I wanna know exactly what's going on. I've learned my lesson – enough charging in, guns blazing." Nevertheless, he took Serah's urging to heart and eased up on the tension just a little. Snow's stare directed at Cloud now held more determination than rage, and his shoulders relaxed the slightest bit. "What are we dealing with, and what's going on with Light?"

Now more than ever, Cloud knew he couldn't keep the two of them in the dark any longer. Lightning would have been furious to know that her sister and brother-in-law were dragged in to this mess, but either way, they were going to be in danger. Being with him and his comrades was just much less of a risk, and he was glad to take it over the alternative.

Releasing a heavy sigh, Cloud conceded with a nod and faced Snow's glare. "We're here to save Lightning…because she's infected. At least, as far as we know." He tacked on the last part when he saw a wave of distress wash over Serah, hoping to lower her anxiety in any way possible. "In our world, there's an alien matter called Jenova that travels to planets and saps the life out of everything."

"And now it's in Lightning?" Serah asked reluctantly. Things started making sense: if she needed to get to others, blood contact was the way case for transmission. Her fingers ghosted over the healing scar on her arm, remembering the surge of pain that coursed through her veins, as if some invader was ready to take control.

Snow had gone through the same experience and shuddered at the memory. 'Sis is controlled by an alien. Great. Another puppeteer to ruin our lives.' Shaking his head, he tried to focus once again. "So the endgame is…"

Behind Cloud, Vincent folded his arms across his chest. "This planet – along with everything and everyone in it – dies."

Serah's chest tightened at the idea, her breaths coming out in sporadic fits. "You think…You think Lightning's…?!"

Tifa hurried to lay a reassuring hand on the young girl's shoulder. "There's a chance she'll make it through. Those who are strong enough can defeat it, if they want to." She casted a comforting look to Cloud, but he refused to accept the compliment, not when one of their own could still be struggling with the same predicament.

Snow grimaced, wanting nothing more than to make Serah happy and make sure Lightning was safe. "So, what do we do now?"

Cloud sighed, looking back the way they came, his eyes scoping the mountains and eventually Cocoon. "From what you guys said when the Jenova cells took over, it sounds like you used to work for some organization for something. You'd send out fire flares to call for an airship."

An idea quickly sprouted in Snow's head, a smile eventually forming on his visage. "Airship…Airship! We can take an airship to Cocoon – figure out what's going on."

Vincent easily found a flaw in the plan. "What if we find others who are infected? We could be running into a trap."

"I don't think we have any other choice," Tifa said with defeat. "It seems like everyone has to be on Cocoon, or so you guys said when you were infected. Staying out here and waiting for others to find us will lead us nowhere."

Cloud nodded, seeing Tifa's logic clearly. Wandering around Pulse, where there were little to no inhabitants anymore, could hardly get them the answers they needed. If they were to find Lightning and free her from Jenova's control, they had to reach out and find clues.

"Right," he conceded. "But we still need to lay low. Can't tip anyone off that you're clean of infection. We should go on foot to get to the airships."

"They're docked in Oerba," Serah explained. "The place with enough parts and space to maintain them."

"Our route?" Vincent inquired.

"Back the way we came and then west through the Archylte Steppe."

Snow let out a heavy sigh, worry lines creasing his forehead. "We're gonna run into some really big nasties on the way – all with different kinds of vulnerabilities. Some can be taken out with a quick spell, others might need your expertise." He nodded to Cloud and the sword on his back, thinking it would be good enough to at least slow down the Behemoth Kings…until they turned bipedal.

Taking his advice to heart, Cloud nodded, bracing himself for the dangers that were to come. If they ran into more people controlled by the Jenova cells, the gold materia could hopefully get the job done, but flying straight into what could possibly be enemy territory was a great risk he had to take.

They already made good progress in the two days they had spent on Pulse…but it didn't stop the fear that time was running out for Lightning, and Cloud could see his greatest fear approaching to ensnare him.