Disclaimer- I own NOTHING!

Summary- Lightning and her friends have won. Now they have a new world that they must make their own. Though they know that together they can do anything.

Chapter 7: Progression

…

I spend the rest of the night thinking. As I sit against the cave wall and watch the fire I think back on a lot of things. I remember my old life on Cocoon, traveling across Gran Pulse as a l'Cie, my time fighting in Valhalla, and finally the time I spent in Nova Chrysalia as the savior. I think about all the mistakes I made.

I also watch Serah and Hope sleep. Snow is there too, but I focus on the other two. I spend some time really watching them. Serah has always been a clingy sleeper, and that hasn't changed now. She is snuggling herself into Snow as best she can. Snow wraps a protective arm around her. She is smiling. I haven't seen her so content since our mother was still alive.

Back then she used to sneak into my room at night and crawl into bed with me whenever she had a bad dream. Now she goes to Snow when she is scared. I feel a pain in my chest when I think about that. I have accepted their engagement and honestly Snow isn't so bad, but I spent so much of my life focusing on nothing but making sure that she was okay. I feel almost empty. Like my life no longer has meaning. If I don't have to take care of Serah then what is my purpose. What am I supposed to do now? Who am I without her? I don't feel like Lightning anymore, but I still don't feel like Clair either.

I look over at Hope. He is sleeping closer to me than Serah. Every now and then he will shift in his sleep and mumble something. A few times I think I hear him say my name. He calls me Light. I mean he has nearly always called me Light, but it feels kind of different now. Is that who I am now? Am I Light? I was Clair for my mother, I became Lightning for Serah, am I now to be Light for him? He is my partner, my best friend, my savior. Could he be the one I now dedicate my life to? Perhaps, but right now isn't the time to be thinking about such things. I need to be focused, for both of their sakes. I have made far too many mistakes when it comes to these two, and it's about time I do something about that. I will not fail them again.

I can feel the fatigue coming over me me so I decide to go back to sleep. I move back into my previous spot and lay down. As I fall back to sleep I can feel Hope shifting closer to me. He's really warm, is all I think about as I drift off to sleep.

…

When I wake up again I find myself alone. I go out to see where the others are and find them all sitting around the fire talking quietly and eating. Unsurprisingly Hope is the first one to notice me.

"Hey Light," my mind flashes back to my revelation had last night, "did you sleep well?" He smiles at me and my stomach flutters a little.

I smile at him and nod my head. Serah and Snow both greet me and turn back to their food. I go sit next to Hope and he hands me some of the meat we got yesterday.

"Hey Sis, you alright? It looks like you've got something on your mind." Serah asks staring at me intently.

"Yea, actually. There is something I need to tell you guys about." I spend the next several minutes telling them about my dream with the Yuel and Caius. They listen to me without a word. I can tell that Snow want to interrupt at times, but wisely keeps him mouth shut until I finish.

"Wow. After everything that happened it's weird to think that Caius is helping us now." Serah looks at the ground as she is speaking.

"Yes, but the reason he did all of that was to protect Yuel, so she wouldn't have to keep dying. Now that isn't an issue, so it makes sense in a way. Plus Light said that it was the Yuels who are really wanting to help, Caius was just the messenger." As usual Hope brings sense and logic into the situation.

'But it's his fault that Serah died! How can we trust anything he says?" Snow jumps up, looking at us intently.

"You're wrong."

'What but sis…" I stand and look Snow in the eye.

"No Snow. It was not Caius that caused her death, it was the gift from Etro."

"Yea, but if he hadn't been mucking around with the timeline then she would have been fine! It's all his fault!"

"NO IT'S NOT! Snow if you want to blame anyone for Serah's death then you should blame me! I was the one who pulled her into the time stream which triggered her ability to see the future. If I had just left her alone then she would have never gotten involved, but I didn't and because of that she died."

'Sis you couldn't have known that would happen." Serah puts a hand on my arm trying to comfort me.

"But I could have known and I should have! From Valhalla I could see every possible timeline, every possibility, every eventuality. All I would have had to do was pay a little more attention and I would have known exactly what would happen. I saw so much. I saw everyone die a thousand time. If it was possible I could see it. I knew from the beginning that there was almost no chance of any of our survival, but I still called on you all for help. I watched the possible futures and watched as ever one of you survived, and I did what I could to prevent it, but it wasn't enough. It was all my fault." I feel tears forming in my eyes so I turn away from the others and run.

I run as fast and hard as I can. I run until my muscles start to burn and I can't go any further. When I stop and look around I notice that I'm back at the clearing where I first woke up in this world. Though it's been months I can still see evidence of the fire from our first night.

I sit down and try to clear my head. I don't know how long I'm sitting there, but after a while I hear something, or someone walking up behind me. I turn around quickly ready to defend myself if necessary, but stop as soon as I see who it is.

"I should have known you'd come for me." I fully turn around and stand to look at Hope.

"Well I just…(sigh) I wanted to make sure you were okay. I know it can't be easy thinking about all that stuff." He steps a little closer to me and takes my hand in his. "If you want to talk about it you know I'm here for you. Right?" I look down at our joined hands.

"Yea Hope, I know that. It's just like you said though, I don't like to think about it. I made so many mistakes. There is no way I can possibly atone for all I've done." He shakes his head and pulls me into his arms, his lips right by my ear.

"Light, there is nothing you have to atone for. You have done so much for everyone. We should all be trying to find a way to thank you. Because of you we now have this beautiful new world. The souls of the dead still exist because you stopped Vanille, and the souls of the living are here because you saved them. If not for you then no one would feel anything. We would not be able to laugh, or cry…" He pulls back a bit and looks into my eyes, "or love. I know what it's like to live without emotions and it's hell."

I lay my head down on his should and just relax into his embrace for a few minutes.

"Hope, what did I ever do to get someone like you in my life. I don't deserve you." I close my eyes and take in his scent.

"Light, you deserve whatever you want. You have done so much for everyone, for me, and if you decide that it's me you want then I can only hope I can be a man worthy of you."

I shake my head, nuzzling into the crook of his neck. When I stop my lips are on his collar bone, so he can feel them brush along it as I talk.

"Hope, you are a far better person than I will ever be. If you really want me, then there is nothing that would make me happier than staying by your side."

"Light… do you mean… are you saying….?"

"I think we're settled enough, we're used to the land now and we can get enough food that we don't have to worry so much about survival. And I've made up my mind. I told you I've never been in a relationship before, so I need us to go slow, but if you still want me…" I look up directly into his eyes as I say, "I'm yours."

…

A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out. I've have a really busy summer and fall. Things are moving a little quicker than I originally intended, but this just felt right, and I think I can have some real fun with this. I will try to have the next chapter out soon, but no promises. See ya later.