OMG guys it's been forever! Anyways I've literally worked on this chapter all day and I think it's finally okay to be put out here in the web. So I hope you enjoy this chapter! I might write some more later this week so please be sure to subscribe and comment it you like! I'd love to hear some feedback!

As always for teasers or news on the story you can check out psychobrit2008 at youtube or aojiroiemura at deviant art [I made a HopevVanille Wallpaper - in my H+V inspiration frenzy].

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY OR THE PLACES. THEY ARE ALL COPYRIGHT OF SQUARE ENIX.

Word Count: 2,428

''''''''''''''

500 AF

Everything was going wrong. Serah was dead. Hope was who knows where. And now Acedemia was continuing to crumble as chaos leaked out from Valhalla. Everything he'd done from the moment he left Lightning… was wrong.

"Hey…" he heard a bleak voice as the sounds of boots entered the darkened hallway where Noel Kriess had been sitting in the airship.

"It wasn't your fault," Sazh tried to comfort as he put a hand behind his neck uneasily. With everything pouring out from Valhalla there's no telling what history 's being re-written. Hell we might just be sitting ducks, waiting to disappear…

"He tricked me…" Noel finally spat out as he looked down at his hands in disgust, "Caius…"

Everything. He had everything planned from the start. He knew that no matter what we did we wouldn't change anything. And now… the future I was hoping to create is fading.

"Noel, not to try and rush you or anything but we need a plan," Sazh finally said with a long sigh as he finally lowered he hand back down, "I mean… with all that black seeping out. We might… you know get lost in time or fade away."

Eyes widening at his worlds, Noel bit his lip a bit in frustrating. Everything Sazh is saying s true, but even still the gates were all closing and disappearing… Unless with the chaos from Valhalla pouring out, it's creating new space time paradoxes. If that's the case then… we might still be able to stop Caius!

"Alri-"he began to say just as the sound of hurried footsteps came rampaging down the corridor, "DADDY!" Dajh called out with a wide smile as Chocolina made a few happy pips behind him.

Getting to his feet, Noel watched as Sazh jerked around, "What is it Dajh?"

"They," he began as he tried to catch his breath, "They woke…they woke up!"

"Ah… you mean the two girls from the pillar?" Noel asked. Dajh gave a nod,

"The crystals, they were glowing. You have to hurry so they don't leave!" he continued as he grabbed his father by the hand and started to run with him. Watching the two of them go. Noel scratched his head and looked back the at room where Serah was laying. Taking a few steps toward it, the door slide open and he found his blue eyes resting on her face, "Wait here Serah… We'll find away to fix everything. I swear." He breathed out before he headed down the corridor in the direction of Fang and Vanille.

''''''''''''''

It was like a dream. Everything I was remembering, while I slept there in my crystal state. At first my memory had gotten hazy when I tried to think back to happier days and I couldn't quite remember the simple things that Fang and I had done back home. Before all this.

And now… When I try to think about it. I remember him like it was clear as day. Hope and I on the steppe on Grand Pulse. Though he's different from the Hope that I know.

He's not the 14 year-old I met at the Purge. But… an adult. An enemy of Pulse…

Maybe… everything I'm seeing is just a dream. A dream that I've created, where Hope and I met… in a time before Fang and I we're turned into Pulse L'cie. Before we were forced to meet out fate in days of war.

"In here Daddy!" Dajh continued to call out as they approached the room where Sazh had their crystal placed after he received them from the crumbling pillar hours before. Upon entering the room Sazh's eyes widened. The two girls, who had once held the weight of the world, began to glow and the sound of shattering crystals echoed throughout the hallway.

''''''''''''''

The Archylte Steppe - Year Unknown

"Can't we just give up?"Hope found himself huffing out has he doubled over; catching his breath. The ginger shot her head back, her emerald eyes burning into him as the look on her face clearly gave him the, "No way José" response.

"I mean we've been at this awhile, but we haven't really run into anything," he added as his eyes looked around the Eastern Tors.

Placing her hands on her hips she pursued her lips a little before she found herself stomping over to him as she drew her binding rod.

"Listen you," she began her accent thick as ever, "If I don't find something to take back you might as well just feed me to a Behemoth King!" she told him in a stern voice as she pointed her weapon over at him, "You're in no position to whine. Like I said before, if you don't want me to tell Fang and the others about you, you have to help me." she threatened her eyes daring him to try and challenge her.

Defeated Hope let out a frustrated sigh as he looked down at the ground before glancing back over at her. Determined like always…She really hadn't changed at all.

"Alright, alright," he replied as he shook his head and pushed back the edge of her binding rod, "Where to next? I mean…Aggra's pasture's is up a head if you want to go there."

"What!" Vanille called out in surprise, her emerald eyes wide. Seeing her expression he knew his mistake. Damn… I forgot that Pulse in this time is closed off from Cacoon. Which means… any maps of the area and knowledge of the land is unknown.

"How do you know that?" she asked him her eyes now concerned clearly for her people; if the enemy's we're beginning to gather information on the lay of the land and the different routes they would surely have an advantage in the ongoing war. Seeing the worry written on her face he looked away and looked up at the sky. At Cacoon.

"I was just… guessing?" he replied hastily as he placed a hand on his neck nervously; "I mean… the land isn't too different and back home we have an Aggra's pasture too and a Steppe." he lied. Of course none of that was on Cacoon, but technically his new home Pulse at 500 AF so he wasn't really lying to her.

"Really?" she finally said her face calming a bit though she really wasn't sure she believed him just yet. After all no one place was exactly the same. No matter where he was in the world. Just then some rustling caught her attention to the right of them in Aggra's Trough. Turning from Hope, her eyes tried to focus on what was out there. Raising a finger to her lips she looked back at Hope in a way to tell him to hush. Their prey was close and she wasn't about to let it get away now.

Creeping closer towards the trough she saw a group of Leyak's father down. Glancing back at her 'prisoner' she gave leaned over towards him, "We have to get a least one of them, got it. No backing down." She told him with a determined smirk as she raised a hand in a fist and did a quick nod of the head, "Alright."

With that she bolted down the Aggra Trough; her hand resting on her binding rod. Before he could even say a word to try and stop her, Hope found his own legs working on their own accord. It was the same during the Purge. Just like always… I'm always the one chasing after you.

Quickening his pace, he was down next to her in no time on the nearby cliff-side she had claimed was their keep for the hunt.

Grabbing his gloved hand as he reached her Vanille yanked him down to the ground with as much force as she could. "Wha-"Hope began as he was taken down only to have a hand quickly clasped over his mouth,

"Shhhh you're going to give away our position," she hissed to him. With their faces just inches apart, he could feel the warmth of her breath on his face.

Feeling his cheeks warming up he couldn't help but try and divert his gaze. She always did this to him and what made it worse was the fact he missed her. He'd been missing her for the last ten years of his life! But this Vanille, here in this time, the one in front of him didn't know any of that.

Feeling her eyes still on him, he looked back up, "Be quiet…Got it?" she whispered.

Nodding his head to say that he understood. He felt her hand let go, and watched silently as she turned away. Her eyes fixating on the playing Leyak's down below.

"On the count of three… we're going down." Vanille finally whispered back to him as a hand rested on her binding rod.

"Just one of them right?" he asked as he pulled his boomerang out from his back pocket and an entertained smirk on his face.

"Yup," she replied with a nod and a smile before she began the countdown.

"One. Two…THREE!" she shouted as she jumped off this little cliff and down into the valley smack dab in the middle of the beasts. Following her lead Hope was down there in seconds his boomerang ready to soar.

''''''''''''''

500 AF

"Vanille," she heard Fang calling as a hand gave her a gentle push. Opening her eyes slowly, she found herself lying on a bed; her face pressed up against the covers while the curls of her pig tails tickled her nose.

"Fang?" she managed to mumble out as she slowly sat up, her eyes adjusting to the artificial lights in the air ship, "We're awake?"

"Yeah, kiddo. We're awake." She assured her as Chocolina flew past her head and over to the red head with a friendly peep.

"Hey there you," Vanille chimed happily, "Have you been a good girl?" Looking away as the chick landed on her shoulder, her emerald eyes finally fell on Sazh and Dahj over by the door, while another young man came running up behind them.

"Well what do you know, they really did wake up," Noel said in disbelief as he scratched the back of his head before walking past Sazh and his boy. "Welcome back to Gran Pulse," he said as he held out his hand in a handshake towards Fang who was eyeing him cautiously.

"He a friend of your's?" she called back to Sazh as she pointed over at Noel.

"Yeah. He and Serah well… they were on a mission looking for Lightning."

"Lightning?" Vanille repeated her smile fading. "Yeah… well I guess I gotta fill you girls in," Sazh said a bit dis-heartedly as he walked over to Vanille and plopped down on the bed next to her.

"After you girls turn to crystal and we saved Cacoon. Something happened which resulted in some kind o—"

"Paradox" Noel cut in, "It's a warp in the timeline that depending on the changes in the future can change the past and re-write history. History was re-written somewhere along the timeline that caused Lightning to be a marter after the fall of Cacoon. According to here… she was dragged into Valhalla and written out of existence. "

"You mean she was erased? So it was as if she never survived?" Fang found herself saying a bit skeptical. Is something like that even possible? She'd never heard of it and hell she centuries old by now.

"Yeah," Noel said bluntly, "When I fell into Valhalla, Lightning asked me to find Serah when she was in the middle of a fight with Caius. Serah and I believe he's the one that changed history. We took him out in Valhalla a few hours ago, but…" Noel paused as he looked down at his feet and clamped his hands into fists, "It was trap. He lured us into fight him knowing he'd win. The moment we got rid of him and his heart stopped beating, Etro was dead."

"Because of what he said, all this chaos that's leaking out of Valhalla is altering history! Hell we don't even know if we're safe yet."

"Once a timeline changes, we might fade away too," Noel finished as his eyes looked over at the two Pulsian girls, "Then to make matters worse Hope's gone now too."

Hearing the stranger's words Vanille's head instantly jerked up her eyes wide as fear began to take hold, "What do you mean he's gone?"

"He got taken into a paradox about an hour ago now. There's no telling when he is or where. The only thing we can hope to do is find an atefact or get sucked into a paradox on our own. Once inside the paradox we might be able to somehow travel through the Historia Crux again and make our way to the day Cacoon fell. Back to the time when Caius altered the future that changed the past.

"So Hope can be anywhere in the timeline is what you're saying?"Vanille found herself asking; her heart racing in her chest.

"Pretty much. If we can somehow get into the Historia Crux we might be able to find him." Noel replied as he looked over at Sazh and Dajh.

"You guys made it to Serendipity by the airship. Maybe if we stumble across a paradox we can all be sent to the same place together again."

"Sounds like a good plan," Sazh commented with a smirk as he looked down at Dajh and Chocolina, "You two in?"

"YEAH!" Dajh called out while the chocobo chick let out a peep and flew back to its nest in his afro.

"What about you?" Noel asked as he took a few steps closer to Fang and Vanille. Clasping her hands on her lap, Vanille's gaze shifted to the floor as her heart continued to pound in her chest; I want to go. I want to see Hope again. And Lightning. I want everyone to be together just like we were. Finally decided Vanille finally looked back up at Noel.

"Family's family," she said as she nodded her head and stood up. Taking a hold of Fang's hand she gave her sister a cheery grin, "You agree don't you Fang!"

"Well we can't just leave them out there," she remarked as she put a hand on her hip. "Then it's settled," Noel claimed as he looked back at Sazh, "Let's go get seated in the cockpit, captain we'll take off when you're ready."