The Return

Almost immediately after the incident in New Eden, Lightning's prediction came true: in the skies and on the ground, military forces were scouring everywhere, searching for the fugitive l'Cie who assaulted the primarch. The manhunt was just as merciless as the native l'Cie had remembered it, and it was only a matter of time before they would be found. The Estheims had some governmental immunity, but the fact that young Hope was affiliated with the l'Cie was well-known; they couldn't protect the fugitives for long.

Sazh hovered over the Vile Peaks as low as possible, avoiding sky patrols as much as possible before temporarily dumping his airship elsewhere. Scrambling, the l'Cie hopped off the ride – Snow being supported by Serah with Cloud and Tifa taking the lead, while Vincent and Lightning took the rear and searched for any pursuing soldiers. Keeping silent, they trekked through mountains of Pulsian scrap, thrown about during the Academy's research.

By a cliff side stood a building that was a blend of an office and house – a second home that allowed them to research as however long they desired. It seemed relatively peaceful in spite of the potential Pulsian machinery prowling around. Lightning, however, approached cautiously, her movements apprehensive. She hurried toward the front of the group and lowered a hand to the grip of her gunblade, which Cloud easily noticed.

"What is it?" he asked curiously, though his gaze had already grown darker, and his own hand went to reach back for his main blade. By the time the others caught on to their pensive stances, it was too late.

Search lights blinded their eyes, but it spurned them to instantly retaliate. Weapons drawn, battle stances assumed, the l'Cies' eyes darted around. They found a squad of soldiers erupted from caches around the building, guns trained on them with targeting lasers aimed at many points on their bodies. As the Pulse l'Cie grew wary of first blood, what bothered Cloud the most was how Lightning took the brute of the lasers at the front. Most of them were trained on her, yet she refused to flinch or move out of the way, determined to keep her friends safe.

Friends. Not enemies.

"Wait!"

A young voice shot through the blinding light and relentless pulse in their eardrums. Cloud swore he heard a slight breath of relief from Lightning and, with the other l'Cie, lowered his weapon at the sight of a silhouette running toward them. Silvery white hair came into view, and a boy who looked to be in his early teens approached Lightning with a face full of relief.

"You made it." His eyes swept over the rest of the l'Cie, lingering on the unfamiliar faces for a second longer before returning to Lightning. "Were you followed?" the boy asked worriedly.

Lightning shook her head as she tucked away the Blazefire Saber, apprehension disappearing from her stance. The targeting lasers vanished as well; the l'Cie eased up and drew closer to Lightning and the boy.

"Hope," Snow greeted as he clapped a hand on the boy's shoulder. Hope nodded to Snow and Serah, familiarity emanating from his gestures.

Cloud Tifa, and Vincent's nerves relaxed – worrying about deceit from the boy meant betraying Lightning's trust, which they certainly didn't want to do at this point.

Hope turned back to the soldiers surrounding the building, who were waiting for a direct order. "Stand down," he called out. "But be aware of anything PSICOM-related."

With that, the soldiers dispersed, finally allowing the building to appear approachable.

"They'll fight against PSICOM?" Serah asked nervously.

"Only as a last resort," Hope answered as he started walking toward the building. The l'Cie followed wordlessly, fatigue taking hold of them at the sight of the refuge. "They'll warn PSICOM of our Pulse research being uncontrollable, and that'll just clear them out. Nothing to worry about."

"Until they find out we're here," Vincent pointed out, reluctant to be the bearer of bad news.

Cloud agreed. "We can't stay here for too long."

"Just for the night," Lightning told him, sensing the growing uncertainty from the Pulse l'Cie. "Just so I can clear everything up."

Contradicting before, the l'Cie were ready to listen to what she had to say. Making her an enemy failed to bring a solution, but Jenova's plans weren't going to deter them anytime soon.

Or so Tifa hoped.

Silence blanketed the living room they settled into. Most of the l'Cie sat into the couches provided, save for Cloud and Lightning. When they initially entered, Cloud made a beeline for the opposite wall, leaning against it in silence as Lightning took root next to the chair Serah sat in. The tense polarity would have been taken note of if their minds weren't already riddled with frustration and questions.

Hope retreated with his father to ensure security. Using an encrypted line, Sazh told the others he went undercover in the Sanctum's skyfleet, keeping an eye on Jenova's plans when they finally came to fruition.

Wringing her hands together, Tifa took a big gulp and steadied her voice. "Lightning, did you know…?"

The Sanctum l'Cie remained silent, her eyes averting contact with the others in the room.

Snow's hands clenched into fists before he shot up from his seat, and he glared at Lightning with misdirected anger. "Did you know that Jenova was a fal'Cie this whole time?!"

With a huff, Lightning shoved off the chair and turned away, pacing in the opposite direction. "I couldn't tell you," she replied in a dangerously quiet voice. Serah bit her lip, knowing Snow was about to get himself in some trouble.

"Why the hell not?!"

"Because it could have ended right there!" She spun on her heel, her glare piercing so deep into Snow that it managed to shut him right up. "Did you think it would have helped me to go behind Jenova's back when I'm supposed to keep her alive? If you knew, you would look for some way around it all, and I would even be more of an accomplice."

Vincent closed his eyes for a moment, thinking back through their journey to Cocoon with Lightning. "In other words, you would be failing your Focus. You could have become a cie'th before we even reached Cocoon."

With a shudder, Cloud replayed his confrontation with Lightning in the tunnel. Her brand's progression had been farther than he feared, meaning she had been defying her Focus long before they even landed on Cocoon. Had she truly been leading them into a trap from the beginning, or was it the only way for them to be any closer to their goal? She led them to Jenova of her own volition until she did what it took to prevent failure

Serah turned in her seat, looking to her sister with fear and a hint of disbelief. "Your Focus. Was it…what Jenova really said? You're not supposed to stop us?"

Lightning shook her head. "More than anything, she wants Cocoon to fall, just like Barthandelus and Orphan. But…if she raised a hand to start any of that, the people would have fled Cocoon. She needed enough souls on this rock to call the Maker."

Snow gripped Lightning's shoulder, leveling her with a gaze that begged her to deny her words. "Fal'Cie lie. Dysley lied to us about our Focus last year."

"Because he didn't brand you," Serah told him in defeat. "Sanctum fal'Cie can't be sure about a Pulse l'Cie's Focus…but Jenova was the one who branded Lightning. She wouldn't lie about this."

When Lightning looked away from Snow as confirmation, his shoulders sagged as his hand dropped back to his side. With their previous victory, they thought they would have figured a way out of this new predicament…but it only proved that fal'Cie reigned supreme in this world, and that free will was just an illusion.

Curiosity burned in the back of Tifa's throat. "I'm still wrapping my head around Jenova being a fal'Cie." She shook her head absentmindedly, trying to deny the facts right in front of her. "This is too much of a coincidence."

"Maybe not," Vincent interjected, and all eyes turned to him as he leaned back in his seat, folding his arms across his chest. "Don't forget – Hojo injected himself with Jenova cells in Midgar three years ago. The cells could have manipulated him to prepare for this."

"Like how they manipulated Lightning," Snow realized. "Jenova's been waiting for this for that long?"

With his speculation piquing his interest, Vincent turned his crimson eyes to Lightning. "What were you doing while everyone fled to Cocoon? Did Jenova really control you for a whole month?"

Ashamed, Lightning averted her gaze, and none of them could blame her. It was difficult to remember all the actions that had led to this point, whether they were in her control or not. If she had any willpower against Jenova's hold on her, it was still uncertain if they could have changed anything.

"It was only to create the scare," she said in a bare voice. "With each new infection, there was a new drone – someone to carry out Jenova's will and force the populace to run. It was too easy to believe it was a disease from Pulse, that going down there was a mistake. They ran, cattled onto Cocoon…where she woke the fal'Cie."

Snow vaguely shook his head. "What for?"

"Nurturing, protection – to give them some type of paradise."

"'Paradise'," Tifa echoed, realizing the truth. "She tricked everyone into coming here – with the stigma and the flyers - and when the time comes for the big drop, no one will have a clue."

Lightning solemnly nodded. "She must have left my body at that point, because it's all I can remember. Right before the Focus, that is."

"Your Focus is to stop us," Serah recalled, her face perturbed. "She knew Cloud and Tifa and Vincent were here, or else she wouldn't think she needed to brand you. And you knew we were going to become l'Cie." Lightning's silence was taken as a confirmation. "But you had been helping us from the beginning. Or…were you?"

She hesitated before answering. "I had to stop you, regardless of when I told you the truth. Jenova just wanted to make sure she was safe, and I was just a scapegoat for her survival. Bringing you to her, though...that was a risk on my part."

"So then why did she have PSICOM take me to her if it was dangerous?" Snow asked, confused.

"She knew…" Lightning curled a fist on her chest, cursing fate's design for the l'Cie.

Cloud knew what muddled her thoughts easily. "She knew you couldn't do it," he said, his voice distant. "You couldn't hurt us, so she pushed you to a breaking point to make you choose – your life or ours."

The truth cut through each of them like a blazing knife; each and every decision they made had set them on a predestined course. It chilled the newer l'Cie to the bone, realizing they had been played as puppets to Jenova's game once more.

Snow inhaled deep breaths, frantic in searching for an answer, anything to give them a glimmer of hope to work with. "…Just beat your Focus!" he blurted as he took a step toward Lightning. "We all did it before. Raines did it!"

"That will only put all of you at risk," she shot back, dead set on the belief that it was the end. "When I found you guys at the Faultwarrens, I was racing from Cocoon, hoping to stop you from running into a fal'Cie and keep it from branding you before it was too late."

Closing her eyes, Lightning clenched her teeth. Snow remembered the realization that had dawned on her face the moment he revealed their brands. It was a look of not only shock, but deep regret for failing to prevent it. She must have been in a rush to get them out of there before the fal'Cie appeared, praying that she had arrived in time to stop it all.

But it was futile.

"I couldn't stop it," she told him harshly, as if she were telling a child to believe a terrible truth. "Which only means one thing – this Focus can't be stopped. If you go up against Jenova one time, I have to stay as the last defense between you and her."

Growling under his breath, Snow knew he had to accept her words as reality. Sanctum fal'Cie and Pulse fal'Cie were eternal enemies, and they preferred orchestrating things to their liking. They had their ways of influencing events, only this time it was practically impossible to stop them without getting rid of Lightning.

"We still have our Focus to see through," Cloud spoke after an episode of silence. As his words took effect on the team, he shrugged off the wall and faced Lightning across the room, his gaze refusing to tear away from her. "It's still unclear what we have to do – destroy Cocoon, kill Jenova…"

He saw realization flicker in Lightning's eyes, yet she no longer appeared guarded like before. She actually seemed defeated: something that didn't suit her usual determined willpower very well. There were only three paths Lightning's fate could take: crystallization if she aided Jenova, transformation into a cie'th should Jenova perish…or she could die herself before she could see her end.

Could they fulfill their Focus to keep her from suffering…if that solution was any better at all?

"Can't we just wait it out?" Serah pondered meaninglessly.

Snow placed his left hand heavily on her shoulder. The l'Cie brand felt like it was winking at her with a taunt, as if it hinted to her that the question was futile.

"Vanille asked the same kind of thing last year," he replied in a low voice. The pig-tailed girl was cheery and always sought out a solution, but waiting for a time limit to end was equivalent to asking to be a cie'th immediately.

The thought finally snuffed out the last glimmer of hope for free will. How much of Cloud's world had been abused by these fal'Cie gods? Jenova…Chaos…

If he never met Lightning and welcomed her into his life…would they have remained safe, anyway?

Would he still have found happiness?

"Is this it...?" Snow asked in a bare whisper. He looked around, watched the Pulse l'Cie hand their heads low. Once he locked gazes with Serah, his heart clenched; tears brimmed her eyes, and he was brought back to the days before her crystallization. Their efforts were for nothing, and Lightning's words held true.

There was no stopping this.

"Is this the end?"

No more than ten seconds had passed before a sudden force smashed into Snow's jaw. He stumbled back until he fell onto the free sofa, where it tilted back before slamming upright under his weight.

"Lightning!" Serah resisted the urge to jump out of her seat, confusion sweeping over her as she looked back and forth between her sister and her fiancé. Likewise, the other l'Cie were jolted upright.

Lightning glared at her brother-to-be. "Don't stop fighting!" she yelled fiercely. "NORA depends on you. Our friends are all behind you. Cocoon needs you to survive." Her fists trembled at her sides; the shiver up her spine was barely noticed by the others. "You have to protect it...even if I…"

It confused them at first how headstrong she was when she was closer to failing than they were…but Cloud was quicker to catch on. From the beginning, she risked her neck to save anyone in her line of sight. Back on the tower, he saw the shift in her eyes, when Jenova pushed her to the edge. When she had the prime chance to complete her Focus, Lightning refused and accepted her fate.

For the greater good, he told himself grimly.

At that moment, his chest grew unbearably heavy, and he watched the same realization gradually creep up on Serah's features. Gaping, she looked toward her older sister before Lightning stalked down the hallway.

"I need some rest," she tried to announce in a casual voice, though it broke at the last word. The Pulse l'Cie silently kept to themselves; the sound of a door clicking shut was the only thing that broke through the soundless room.

Just when they managed to come to terms with one problem, another sprouted in its place, even more frustrating than the last. The path to completing their Focus appeared set. Though Jenova was a fal'Cie, it didn't mean she was invincible. PSICOM was going to bar them from making it easy to reach her once again, but they were never too much to handle.

So what was their goal now? Every outcome they could imagine came with a terrible price – one they couldn't stand to pay. And if they set themselves on the wrong path, they could find themselves turning into those crystalline monsters to forever roam the land, while the rest of the population was left to suffer at the hands of Jenova.

And that was exactly what they had to avoid.

"Back on the Planet…" Tifa gave in to a sad smile, her gaze lost in memories. "Lightning was a target of a secret military organization, and they went to great lengths to capture her…even terrorize our city." She turned her open palms upward, and she glanced down at her hands. "But she didn't run. She stayed to help as many people within her reach. To run smack-dab in the face of danger, with no hesitation…no many people can do that."

Serah nodded, knowing exactly what Tifa was talking about. "There are some things in life you just do," she responded. It was never in Lightning's nature to allow others to suffer; her decision to join Guardian Corps was almost instinctive, Serah recalled. After their mother had died, she immediately drove herself to do whatever it took to protect Serah, no matter what the cost.

Saving Cocoon and stopping Jenova would trigger her transformation into a cie'th almost immediately, and now she could care less so long as no one else would have to suffer like she had thus far.

Sighing deeply, Snow made up his mind as he turned back to the others. "Lightning's right," he said. "The specificities of our Focus don't matter, as long as we save Cocoon. Jenova's the one thing threatening this, so she'll have to go."

Cloud felt a twinge of rage spark to life at his decision, and he stalked closer to Snow. "Killing Jenova means turning Lightning into a monster. Are you really gonna force that fate upon her? How can you find the strength to go through with that?" He couldn't understand how they managed to think like this when their success meant losing Lightning forever. She was on the brink of becoming a cie'th, willingly and for all their sakes, and the rest of them still believed in pushing through and taking that risk.

After trapping himself in his own silence, Vincent caught up with Serah and Snow's thoughts. He stood from his seat and turned toward Cloud. "Because it could end here," Vincent told him affirmatively. Cloud turned back to his ally, his face still plastered with the frustration of where their decisions were heading. "This could be the end to Jenova. We've been fighting her for too long, and enough people have lost their lives because of her. This is our chance to stop the cycle of death."

It made perfect sense…and yet he couldn't have felt more disconnected. When the terrible truth had finally opened their eyes, they decided to actually go through with fate's design, stripping away Lightning's right to live.

He waited for one of them to ease up, to let him in on the sick joke they managed to pull at a time like this. Serah hung her head low, and Snow let out a heavy breath, close to set on the plan. Vincent held a steady gaze against Cloud's hardening glare, determined to make him accept the reality they were facing. Looking over his shoulder, Cloud saw Tifa wring her hands, frustrated at the decision, but nevertheless relenting.

With a growl building in his throat, he closed the space between him and Snow in a matter of two strides. Cloud balled the towering man's trench coat into his fist, his other hand trembling to smash into a particular jaw.

"You don't get to let her die," he said through gritted teeth. "You don't get to take the choice to live away from her."

"She already made her choice," Snow answered, irritated but still understanding. "And it's the only choice she can make without a fal'Cie telling her what to do." It was his turn then to level a glare at Cloud, his fingers coming up to wrap around Cloud's wrist. "Are you going to take that choice from her?"

He knew that, more than anything, Lightning wanted to make her own decisions by her will. Her youth had already been taken from her at an early age; the peace she had worked hard to give to her sister had been shaken by the fal'Cie just a year ago. She was forged into an instrument to destroy her home, but challenged fate only to be separated from her old life for a whole year.

And even when she managed to let go of her past, she was taken back to Pulse, separated from Cloud and the Planet with no choice.

It was amazing she still had the strength to look forward, even when she was constantly thrown into situation after situation. If they saved her, let her watch her efforts crumble before her eyes as she lived with it for eternity, as a crystal…it was a fate worse than death.

Trembling, Cloud closed his eyes and breathed deeply through his nostrils. He withdrew his fist upon Snow's coat just as Snow dropped his own hand, watching Cloud tiredly step back.

"I don't like it, either," Snow assured; Cloud turned on his heel as a storm raged on in his head. "But we're not gonna let hundreds – thousands – of innocent lives die if we can do something about it."

Serah got up from her seat and joined Snow's side, her firm gaze settling on Cloud's back. "Our Focus may be to destroy Cocoon…or it could be to go against Jenova and Lightning. And Light…She knows the risks she's taking. But it's better than letting the fal'Cie control our actions and use us as puppets. We'll carve out our own fate."

The determination resonating in her voice surprised him, prompting Cloud to turn and face her. Lightning raised her to be strong in every way imaginable, and he saw why they could keep looking forward to a better future. Being sentenced to crystallization or turning cie'th had been a fear that crippled society in this world, allowing the fal'Cie to exploit it and control their meaning to live…

But as long as they had hope for something – anything – better than this, it was enough.

Cloud knew Lightning's will was the strongest of them all; she had the best chance of making this plan succeed. Would he be able to follow suit and let her go…for the sake of everyone's lives and her freedom?

It felt like hours since he first stood right outside the door. Cloud hadn't heard a sound, but he knew she was inside, probably regretting the violence against Snow and what had happened in Eden. After a final deep breath, he pushed a button on the wall panel and walked in once the door flew open.

She faced the wall in the darker side of the room, sitting on the edge of the bed. The Blazefire Saber rested in its sheath on a dresser, and her Guardian Corps pauldron was thrown listlessly on the floor.

Just watching her back allowed him to read the storm brewing inside. The silence drowning the room intimidated him, as if approaching Lightning or just one word could shatter her efforts in keeping control. She had just accepted her self-sentence to die, using too much of her resolve to stay strong in front of the others for the time being. Though it pained him to see her give up everything for the sake of the future, what bothered him the most was how he couldn't recognize her. She was putting the safety of others before her own – that was natural of her…

But she was losing herself, her fierce determination to see it through to the end. He saw how reluctant she was to meet her demise in spite of pushing Snow and the others to complete what will end in her death. Lightning was ready to greet her end, but not to say goodbye.

He watched her back stiffen as the entrance to the room slid shut behind him. After a moment, she turned her head enough for Cloud to glimpse a part of her face; it remained hard and impassive. "The others?" she asked over her shoulder.

Cloud walked closer to the bed, folding his arms across his chest as he tried to appear distracted by the room's interior. "They're taking their time…soaking it all in." When he turned his gaze to her, it was leveled and steady. "That was a pretty big bombshell you dropped on us."

Lightning sighed and turned away. "If I told you any sooner—"

"I know," he interrupted with assurance; she turned more toward him, surprise briefly lighting her features. Tired of holding on to doubt, he wanted to break down the remaining walls, for they were the greatest impediment in fixing anything. From the beginning, they had been pushing each other away, hiding their true motives, which only proved to draw them further from a solution.

"I know," he repeated more gently. "And I'm sorry – for treating you like I have."

Looking away, she managed to pull up a dark smirk. "It's nothing I'm not used to."

"Really. I am."

Lightning then rose to her feet and looked at him with a relatively forced gentle expression. However, one look into her eyes, and Cloud saw how defeated she was inside, no longer holding on to any hope for her own survival. "Cloud, there's nothing to apologize for," she soothed, but it only made him feel worse. "It's the truth – opposing l'Cie can't be trusted. And I dragged it out long enough for your brand to open so far."

At the mention of his brand, he finally looked at his arm, and he lost his breath for an endless amount of seconds. The transpired events drowned his thoughts for too long that he forgot what the shock would do to him. More arrows had grown on the ends of the symbol, and the pink eye in the middle widened and darkened, as if the monstrous cie'th inside was awakening to take control.

Cloud averted his gaze and stared into oblivion, fear desperate to cripple him once more. 'You can't save her,' a voice whispered tauntingly in his head.

"And I should be the one saying sorry," he heard Lightning say, calling back his attention to her. "I shouldn't have put you guys at risk. Everything was so sudden; I couldn't see the big picture."

Knitting his brows together, he resented being able to see where her train of thought headed. "The big picture being that you have to give up your own life for us?" he asked incredulously.

Irritation flickered in her eyes, but he saw how quick she worked to stamp it down. It was clear she had a dead set path in her mind, and she'd be damned before Cloud or anyone else tried to convince her to take a different one.

"It's me or the rest of Cocoon," she explained curtly. "There are too many lives at stake. And I can't endanger them because of what I've done."

Even when she couldn't help it, Lightning felt she had some hand in Jenova's terror across Pulse. Powerlessness was the key to ruining her resolve, and the fal'Cie made sure to take care of that without breaking a sweat. She was more than ready to throw her life – her happiness – for the sake of giving the others their best chance against this.

Lightning took a step closer, her gaze troubled but hard, as if she was keeping her resolve from crumbling. "What I said in Eden – I meant it. I'm not gonna give up until Jenova is gone. She is playing on the fear still lingering inside the people, and she only made it happen with the stigma."

If they succeeded in stopping Jenova, however, she was doomed to be a cie'th, and the Pulse l'Cie would turn to crystal. Cloud wondered how it would feel…if he would be able to feel at all as an immobile structure. How much time would pass until he and the others would wake up? Would the future actually be as peaceful as they hoped for?

Overall, he dreaded it…for he knew Lightning wouldn't be sharing the same fate.

As he lost himself in his thoughts, Lightning let out a tired breath and paced around, scratching the back of her head. After a heavy amount of seconds, she softly chuckled to herself, though it sounded sad. "It's gonna be a while before you go back home," she said lightheartedly as she folded her arms across her chest, tilting her head to look up at the ceiling.

It took Cloud a moment to understand her words, and when he finally did, a strange blend of amusement and distaste filled him. He had been drowning in the tense air surrounding them since he walked in, but he wasn't relieved at her attempt to lighten the situation.

With a scoff and a wry smile, he stepped back to sit at the edge of the bed, leaning forward on his knees with his elbows. "You can't just joke about something like that."

"Well, it makes it somewhat easier," she replied in a conciliatory voice. Lightning dropped her arms and turned back to him. Her expression was softer, immediately pulling him back to the many days in Edge, where they wouldn't have minded going through the same routine day after day so long as they had each other. For the first time in what seemed like forever, he wanted nothing more than to go back to those days, regardless of where their actions had led them.

Would Cloud have allowed her in his life if he knew everything would lead up to this point? At first, he knew letting people come close to him was dangerous for them, but he couldn't fight off the urge to grow closer to Lightning. After meeting her, he felt that he could build something fresh and new, rather than try to mend what was broken by his past and his enemies. She gave him the opportunity to look ahead to the future, not glance back and regret what he couldn't do.

But that happiness came with a price, and he was still uncertain if it was all worth it in the end.

Lightning stepped closer and knelt on one knee, her eyes searching for his until they connected. "Were you really hoping to return to the Planet? Even before you got branded?" Her voice tried to force back the disappointment, but he managed to catch it. Even after throwing her back and forth since Pulse, he was surprised she would still wish even a little bit that he would want to look for a way to stay.

Hanging his head in shame, Cloud breathed deeply as he closed his eyes.

"No matter what I do," he answered in a low voice. "No matter how much I try to stop your life from being messed up…It always manages to end up worse. This is what happens when others get close to me." He turned his hand around, palm upward, and he could imagine the weight of a sword resting in it, along with the weight of peoples' lives that have been lost for his sake.

"Zack lost his life protecting me from Shinra. Aerith was killed by a madman because I couldn't control myself and stop it from happening…right in front of me." His hand curled into a tight first, trembling with the old guilt inside. He remembered Aerith breathing her last breath in his arms, and for an instant he imagined Lightning taking her place, her blood draining out along with her life. Just thinking about Lightning on the brink of death brought unimaginable pain in his chest, for he couldn't deny that it was possible to become reality. "If you were lost because of me, because I couldn't protect you…"

Warm fingers enveloped his hand, sending a jolt up his spine. As his head whipped up, Cloud watched Lightning go down on one knewe, the arm holding his hand resting on the propped knee. Her piercing eyes were beseeching. "I've told you before," she said in a soft yet urgent voice. "If you save me, I'll lose everything anyway. I'd rather lose myself than spend eternity sleeping, dreaming of my failure to everyone. To Serah…" Her grip tightened at a thought, and her gaze captured him in the storm of emotions inside. "To you."

Cloud fought the urge to wrap his arms around her, returning her grip with equal force. At that moment, the past few days no longer mattered. The lies, secrets, and frustration vanished, and he saw the true Lightning once more – the woman who would take any risk for the sake of everyone else, her own safety be damned.

She wouldn't be herself if she allowed them to become cie'th, and taking away the chance to make her own choices was the last thing he wanted to do.

"It was wrong of me to doubt you," he muttered guiltily. When she gave him a gentle smile that didn't reach her eyes, Cloud stood up, leading her to follow suit with her intertwined hands. With the free hand, he reached into his pocket to pull out something terribly familiar. Lightning's breath got caught in her throat – her silver pendant winked at her in the light.

Cloud gently moved her shoulders, making her turn around. Lifting his arms over her, he looped the necklace around her turtleneck, and he linked the two ends together at the back. "When I said I was sorry, I didn't just mean how I treated you as an enemy. From the start, I've been pushing you away, thinking it was for the best…but it's impossible."

Once his hands dropped to his sides, Lightning traced her fingers along the edge of the pendant, and a sigh of relief escaped her lips. When she turned back around, Cloud saw comfort and confidence blanket her features, as if she was complete and prepared to face the world.

His hands instantly found hers and closed the space between them until he could feel the heat radiating from her body. A piece of him told him to pull away, warning him of the regret he would face.

But Cloud would rather be an eternal crystal knowing that he gave Lightning some kind of freedom, rather than risk making her suffer with loss.

"We do this together," he told her firmly, and Lightning nodded. For the longest time, they had been traveling in darkness, too lost and confused to confide in each other. More than anything, Cloud wanted to trust her, believe that she wasn't risking the ones she held dear. Now that she was passing her limits, using every bit of her will to control her fate, he was sure she would find peace in the end…no matter how she found it.

And he was going to help her reach it.

In a single gesture, he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, reveling in her feel and scent. There was no longer a lingering fear that it was all a trick, that she was a nemesis in disguise when it was her life hanging in the balance. He had to remember her like this - the savior who gave her life for the world…

And he would do his best to carry on her legacy.

Lightning's arms wrapped around him as well, her chest heaving just once at a thought. He turned his head to press his lips against her temple, knowing it would all be resolved…soon.

As they stood in silence, their minds racing and drifting at the same time, Tifa remained in the shadows of the hall, looking in with her blank chocolate brown eyes. The color drained from her face. Her arms hung limp at her sides. She felt nothing coursing through her body…

Except for the pulsing sensation on the side of her ankle.

So I told you in the very beginning that I would spill about my initial plans for this sequel and how I would have written it out. From the start, Lightning truly was supposed to carry Jenova cells to lead into The Hero.

In the first draft, she was to be inevitably be possessed by Sephiroth and try to kill everyone to bring chaos into the world, using Cocoon as his vessel to "sail the cosmos" and his usual MO. But I wanted to make the story be as closely related to the FFVII and XIII elements as much as possible, and Lightning turning into a new Sephiroth didn't exactly make sense with all that.

Next, I thought maybe she could be possessed by Jenova instead, since it's in Jenova's nature to control things and manipulate them to wither away and die, etc. So then I tried killing off the land of Pulse and Cocoon, turning everything into decay. However, this still didn't work out for me because overall, it meant essentially losing Lightning's character for almost the entirety of the story. It was also an easy way out to check off the "conflict" and "plot" box, but there was no room for character exploration.

So now, we have Jenova as a fal'Cie, and there's a whole backstory to it:

When Bhunivelze created Etro, there was a by-product in the form of Jenova. She was cast out of the FFXIII universe, because Bhuni's an ass and can't handle females (Mwynn, Etro, and Jenova). This more or less makes her a fal'Cie or a like entity. She arrives in the FFVII universe, and she wants to fulfill her duty of finding the Door. However, she can't create proper l'Cie since she's cut off from the deities in the other realm (b/c fal'Cie send the chosen to the gods' realms to become branded as l'Cie). This changes her nature and behavior: she becomes desperate, volatile, and parasitic. She takes it upon herself to exercise her own powers to "brand" other things, but it ends up as the creatures we see in the FFVII universe. She travels from planet to planet, using each of them as ships to travel the universe to get back home and find the Maker. When she finally lands on the Planet, she is studied and experimented on. All the while, she is aware of chaos' presence in this new world. When Hojo injects himself with Jenova cells, Jenova uses it as an opportunity to manipulate events to send herself back to the FFXIII universe via Lightning. She is ultimately the mastermind behind the events of DoC, since she was more or less controlling Hojo's mind.

Whew! It was a stretch, but it made sense in my mind, if you take it step-by-step. Anyway, we're drawing closer to the end to the story, and I hope you can all stick around. Btw, I posted links to my twitter and instagram acct on my profile page, if any of you feel like following.

See ya next time!