A.N. So...here's the 3rd chappy. Enjoy.

Salvation

Chapter 3: The Vile Peaks

A huge creature roared into the sky. It was really big and looked very strong. It was some kind of a monster you don't see at all, because it only appears when the world ends. It fell into lava, but it didn't die. Then it looked like, it's trying to hold something up. It wasn't clear what it was. But it was huge...

„Lightning!", called a voice suddenly. Who called her? „Lightning!" Then she felt that someone shook her. „Rise and shine, sunshine!", called another voice. „Do you think she is...?", asked a third voice anxiously. „No. Look, she breathes." Lightning finally opened her eyes and stared into three faces that were too close for her liking. She looked at them a little longer before she remembered who these guys were. „She's awake!", said Vanille happily and smiled at her. „Ya had a very long beauty sleep there, sunshine.", added Fang with a grin. „A-are you okay?", asked Hope and examined her for injuries.

„Get away from me!", grumbled Lightning and pushed them all away from her. Did they have come so close to her? „See? She's okay. Oh and another thing, sunshine." Suddenly Fang came closer to her again and looked into her eyes amusingly. „I've told you!", she yelled. Lightning pushed Fang away again and sat up. As she looked around, she noticed that she was surrounded by...crystal? „Where the hell are we?"

„I think it's Lake Bresha.", said Hope. „Lake Bresha?" The Lake Bresha was directly below the Hanging Edge. How could they fall so far and still be alive? And why was the lake crystallized? „What happened?" Hope had no answer, so he said nothing. „So?"

„I'll tell you what happened.", said Fang. „You've indeed defeated Anima, but he's branded you both and now you're l'Cie. Anima crashed into this lake and crystallized it." Lightning's eyes widened. „I told you, didn't I?"

„Stop saying this!", growled Lightning and stood up. „I warned you, right Vanille?"

„Japp.", agreed Vanille and nodded. „This cannot be happening. If we really are l'Cie, we would have a brand." Then Hope took a few steps closer to her and showed her his left wrist. Lightning sighed and held her forehead as she really saw a l'Cie brand there. „Okay...and where's mine? I don't see a brand anywhere." Then something flashed briefly under her shirt. „I think it's right over there.", said Fang, while tapping on the part that just shone briefly. Lightning pushed her hand away, turned away from them and unzipped her shirt to look.

When Lightning saw that she really had a brand it felt like...as if the world collapsed. That damned fal'Cie had cursed her! He'd cursed her, dammit! He made her a fal'Cie slave! In this moment Lightning was more than furious. She never felt so angry before. Ever! Even though she'd destroyed this fal'Cie, it wasn't enough for her. She was so angry that she could destroy the whole Cocoon! Lightning's eyes widened at this thought. She was a l'Cie for nearly five minutes and she already was thinking like one! „Uh...Lightning?" When she heard Hope's voice, she zipped her shirt up again, but didn't turn around to them. „Do you have a brand?" She just snorted in response. „That's probably a yes.", said Fang. „Have you seen anything while you're unconscious?"

„What do you mean?"

„Did you have any strange dreams?" This was followed by silence. Lightning knew what she meant, and she knew too well what she dreamed about, but she said nothing. „I think...I've seen some huge thing..." murmured Hope. „...Ragnarok.", mumbled Lightning. She knew exactly what this monster was. „Ragnarok?", asked Fang, while Lightning nodded „Then...this must be your Focus."

„Focus?"

„Yeah, never heard of it?" Hope said nothing in response. Maybe he just shook his head. „If we become l'Cie, we get a Focus from the fal'Cie. A kind of mission, we must fulfill."

„Exactly. But there are still a few hitch.", added Vanille. „Hitch...?"

„Yes. First: we have to find out for ourselves what this vision means. And..."

„And what?!", growled Lightning and turned back to the three. „Well, if we don't complete our Focus, we'll become Cie'th. We'd already mentioned that."

„And if we complete the Focus? Are we free then?", asked Hope hopefully. „Uh...no, not really...", muttered Vanille. „Spit it out already!"

„When we complete our Focus, we gain 'eternal life'." Lightning raised an eyebrow. „We'll become crystals.", added Fang. Then Lightning went around in circles and growled to herself. Why the hell did something happen to her? She wasn't even a fal'Cie slave but was also caught in this lose-lose situation! She really wanted to lay everything in ashes. „Hey, stay cool there, sunshine.", said Fang and placed a hand on her shoulder. Lightning shook her hand away and glared at her. „Freeze!", commanded a voice behind them suddenly. They all looked in the direction from which the voice came from and saw that PSICOM soldiers surrounded them. „Place your hands behind your heads!", commanded the soldier. Hope, Vanille and Fang immediately did as they were told, while Lightning sighed deeply.

„You fall off the purge train?", he asked them and went over to them slowly. Lightning finally put her hands behind her head casually. Apparently something happened in the Hanging Edge. She hoped the others were alright. „Maybe...", said Lightning coolly. Then the soldier came closer and practically held his gun in front of her face. „Are you talking back to me?" Lightning remained as cool as ever when she's in a battlefield, and grinned slightly. „Nice gun.", she said in a slightly deeper voice before she attacked him in a flash and defeated him.

His friends immediately came to help, but they also had no chance against her. She defeated them all so fast, that she didn't even break a sweat. Hmph, amateurs...Then she turned back to the others, who froze on the spot. „Don't stand there like that.", said Lightning and raised an eyebrow.
„We're just so engrossed in this show. You don't fight so bad.", complimented Fang and grinned at her. Lightning didn't respond to her compliment and turned away from them. „Apparently something happened up there. Now they're looking down here for 'l'Cie' who survived. We should go, before more of them appear.", she said and went ahead without waiting for the response of the others.

She heard them following her. „I hope the others are alright...", muttered Hope under his breath, but the pink-haired woman heard him loud and clear. „They're certainly okay. If they're smart enough, they fled when we crash-landed in the Vestige.", said Lightning, but secretly she was also worried about them. She was especially worried about her sister. When Snow didn't protect her, she'll probably have to kill him. „Where are we going?", asked Vanille. „Ask sunshine here.", said Fang. „Um, Lightning?"

„We'll go to the Bresha Ruins. Maybe there are no soldiers.", replied Lightning annoyed. Then they all shut up and Lightning had her peace. On their way through Lake Bresha they had to fight against a lot of PSICOM soldiers. The pink-haired soldier defeated most of them with her gunblade. When they finally arrived the Bresha Ruins, they saw many soldiers, who were searching for them. „Now what?", asked Hope, as they hid behind rubble. Lightning looked around carefully and discovered a small airship. „We'll take this.", she said, while pointing to the airship. „Can you fly that thing, anyway?", asked Fang skeptically. Lightning had been taught to fly airships, but she actually never really had to fly. At least not an airship. „It's not a question of can or can't. Some things in life you just do.", said Lightning instead and went ahead. „In other words, you can't."

„I've learned it. But it's quite a while ago.", she said and waved them over to her. „Oh great..."

„Stop whining." Lightning led them to the empty airship without getting caught by PSICOM. Lightning sat down on the cockpit and started the engine. They flew directly into a tunnel, which brought them to the center of the ruined city, and they were also detected immediately. Lightning knew that many PSICOM soldiers would be waiting for them on the other side, but she took that risk. The moment when they flew through the tunnel, their followers were shooting at them. The pink-haired woman tried to dodge the attacks and also shot back at them. When they finally reached the end, she heard an explosion, but flew on undeterred. „Did we get 'em?", asked Vanille joyfully. „We got one of 'em.", grumbled Lightning and flew evasive actions to shake off their pursuers, but they didn't give up.

„They're still behind us!", cried Hope scared. She tried again with her evasive maneuvers, to at least dodge the shots, until a rock wall appeared in front of them. Lightning flew up and maneuvered the ship between the cliff. „How are we going to lose them?"

„Shut up and let me fly!", she replied to Hope's question and finally reached the end of the cliff. They flew so high until they broke through the clouds and gazed at Eden. But there was no time for sightseeing, because PSICOM were still after them. Lightning flew evasive maneuvers once again and fired back. Then she flew lower through the clouds again and a rocky landscape appeared. Directly below them was the sea and the soldier flew straight at it.

However, before they plunged into the water, she moved the machine up and flew right over the water. Most of their pursuers hadn't been so lucky. The others, who succeeded this stunt, kept chasing them. „Tch!" Can't they leave us alone?, growled Lightning in her mind.
She flew between the cliffs and tried to lose them in there. She dodged their attacks, until she saw something that looked like a bridge. She couldn't precisely identify it because she had to focus on more important things.

The pink-haired woman shot on the rocks and flew through it quickly, while their pursuers crashed into the falling rocks. I did it. Then Lightning flew back up. „Did we lose them?", asked Hope nervously and practically clung on his seat. „Looks like it, yes.", she said as she flew towards Eden. „Wow.", said Vanille astonished. It's all the fault of the Sanctum fal'Cie!, thought Lightning angrily and glared at Eden. PSICOM and the complete Sanctum were just puppets of the fal'Cie. If there's no fal'Cie, there wouldn't be the purge. Most likely there wouldn't even be Cocoon, but that would be the best for everyone. Thus there would be no war against Pulse. The fal'Cie had to be destroyed!

Lightning was so deep in thought that she didn't notice the others. What pulled her out of her thoughts, however, were the shots that were fired at them. A new troop chased them. Oh, great. Lightning dodged their attacks again, but they were just as stubborn as the last troops. „They're still following us!", cried Hope frantically. „Thank you, I know that myself!" Then Lightning got an idea. She flew closer to the glowing fal'Cie to lose them in there. As expected, the ships were destroyed by the powers of the fal'Cie. „I think I like this fal'Cie.", said Fang. Shortly after that, their ship was hit too and crashed. „Do you still like him?", asked Lightning and tried to manage a soft landing. Fang didn't reply and that was a good thing, this way she could concentrate herself better on the landing.

They crash-landed, but at least the airship was still in one piece. Still dizzy from the flight, they all left the airship and found themselves in a dark place, which was full of junk. And it also got dark by now. Lightning knew this place. She's been here on missions before. They were in the Vile Peaks. „Great flying, sunshine.", said Fang, who still had some balance problems. „Do you think you would have done this better?", asked Lightning and put a hand on her hip. „Nope."

„Then shut up and be happy you're still alive." Their little argument was interrupted, when monsters attacked them. Lightning immediately took her gunblade and ran into the battle, followed by Vanille and Fang. They were only small fish and were quickly defeated. „I'm glad that's over.", sighed Vanille. Now they finally had time for other things. To introduce themselves once again, for example, because the others did that already. Lightning just stood there and was deep in thought. She almost reached Eden. But she knew she wouldn't get far. A shield was around Eden to prevent that someone like them — l'Cie or other intruders — enter it. It was kind of funny that Lightning wanted to 'destroy' the city, where Serah wanted to study in. But someone had to do something against these selfish fal'Cie! Her thoughts were once again interrupted by her 'companions'. „What do we do now?", asked Hope, who was totally dissolved by the events.

„What do we do now? Try to find out what our Focus is, of course.", replied Fang. „You don't know it yourself?", asked Lightning and crossed her arms over her chest. „No." Then Fang showed them her brand again. „As you can see my brand is white. It was like this since I woke up. The memories that have to do with our Focus are just gone. Vanille doesn't remember either, but her brand is still black and intact."

„Intact?", asked the silver-haired boy confused. „If you want to know how long it is to Cie'th City, look at your brand. First the arrows appears and finally an eye. If the eye's wide open, it's over. My brand is frozen. That means I won't become a Cie'th." Immediately Hope looked at his brand, but of course it was still on its early stage — she could even see it from this distance. „Don't worry, kid, you still have plenty of time.", said Fang and lied a hand on his shoulder. „Let's go.", said the soldier, and went ahead. She stopped however, when Fang spoke to her. „Where to? Do you even know where you're going?"

„Yes. There.", answered Lightning and looked up at Eden, which shone brightly. „Eden?", asked Hope shocked. „You'll get killed, if someone sees you!", said Vanille, who was also shocked. „I just think that someone should do something against the fal'Cie. Keep running — it's die or turn Cie'th. There's no place for l'Cie to hide. No...they want a fight? Let's take it to the Sanctum's door! Now that I'm a l'Cie, the Sanctum's hunting me, an enemy of the state. But who's pulling their strings? A fal'Cie. Eden. Cocoon's Sustainer and Guiding Light. It probably ordered the purge too. Pulse and Sanctum fal'Cie? They're all the same. And we're all the same for them: expendable. I'm not dying a fal'Cie slave."

„So? What are you gonna do?", asked Fang. „Destroy it."

„By yourself?", asked Hope shocked. „You can't be serious! Besides...If something happens to Eden, it's lights out Cocoon." Hope's eyes widened as soon as he said it. „You want that!"

„Now you're thinking like a l'Cie, sunshine. Now that you're one, you want to fulfill your Focus and destroy Cocoon, huh?"

„Our Focus doesn't matter! I won't take orders from fal'Cie. How I live is up to me."

„Don't you mean, how you die?", said Fang. „Think like that, and it's already over. Better to pick your path and keep moving. Don't worry. I'm after the Sanctum. I'm not out to destroy the world."

„Shouldn't we first..."

„No.", interrupted Lightning Fang. „Do what you want. I'll go." And then she went away, without turning back. She was supposed to bring Hope home, but her hatred for the Sanctum was the only thing she was thinking of at that moment. She'd scarcely gone ten steps before she heard someone following her. But only one of them. „Wait for me!", called Hope after her and caught up with her. Lightning stopped and turned to face him. She also noticed that Fang and Vanille went their separate ways, but she heard Fang say that they'll see each other again sometime. „What?"

„You promised to take me home.", said Hope and looked at her directly. „I haven't promised anything."

„And what about my mother? She asked you to take care of me, right?"

„Yeah, but that's all. She'd asked me to. I haven't promised her anything.", she said and turned around to leave. „But..." Suddenly he ran past her and stopped in front of her. „I'm still going with you!"

„Do what you want.", she grumbled as she went past him. „But don't expect me to play your babysitter."

„You liar...", he muttered, whereupon Lightning turned back to him. „What did you say?"

„You're a liar.", he said louder and glared at her. But she could clearly see the hurt in his eyes. „You said you'll bring us all back home and protect us. And now you want to leave me here?" Lightning turned away from him. Basically, he was right. A few hours ago it has been her goal. „You should've ignored us, as we've waited to get purged. It would be better to end up in Pulse, than being a l'Cie! It's all your fault that we're l'Cie!" In a flash Lightning turned back around and slapped Hope. By the impact Hope fell to the ground. „My fault? Did you just say that this was my fault? Who wanted to play hero? Who couldn't fly and made a crash-landing in the Vestige? Who?!"

„...M-me...", muttered Hope unintelligibly. „Exactly! I just wanted to find a way to get out of there, while you froze on the spot!" In that moment, she felt a slight tingling sensation in her chest. It almost felt like as if she's electrically charged up. „So don't ever say that this was my fault!", she growled. Hope leaned up on one arm and held his cheek, which was now already deep red. She could also clearly see how tears gathered in his eyes. The silver-haired boy nodded and avoided eye contact.

Lightning immediately reached for her gunblade, when she suddenly heard noises behind them. She turned around and saw that a new troop of PSICOM soldiers surrounded them. As she finished the first ones off, she felt that this strange feeling became stronger. Eventually, she felt so loaded that she instinctively reached out her left hand and cast a powerful lightning strike, that defeated them all. Astonished, she looked at her hand, where still a few sparks were. She'd totally forgotten that l'Cie had magical powers. Then she tried something else. She focused heavily and then a little fire ball shot out of her hand, but it wasn't nearly as strong as the lightning magic.

After she tried water, ice and aero magic, she found out that her lightning magic was really the strongest one. How ironic. Then she tried another magic. She wondered if she also had healing powers. She focused heavily and then her hand shone light green and a warm sensation went through her. She really had healing powers. Then she looked at the boy, who turned his back to her and still held his cheek. Lightning sighed and turned him over. Hope looked at her with red and puffy eyes from all the crying and she immediately felt bad for treating him like that.

She knelt down to meet him at eye level and reached her hand out to him. Hope winced and closed his eyes, as if he was waiting for her to slap him again. If she didn't hold him on his shoulder, he'd probably run away. Lightning rolled her eyes and placed her hand gently on Hope's cheek and cast a healing spell. He immediately opened his eyes and looked at her confused. „I'm sorry.", murmured Lightning as she healed him further. A few seconds later she let go of him. „Better?" Hope only nodded in response and looked at her puzzled and with big eyes. His cheek was still quite red, but looked much better.

Then Lightning stood up again and turned her back to him. „We should move on.", she said and went ahead. „Um..." When she heard he still didn't follow her, she looked at him over her shoulder. „Are you coming?" Hope nodded and ran after her. „And...Where to now?", asked Hope, after they went through the Vile Peaks for a while. „Palumpolum."

„That means you're bringing me home?" Lightning nodded. „Yes. In addition I'll get to Eden from there too."

„You really want to go to Eden?"

„I've just said it, haven't I?"

„Uh, and what should I do?" Lightning shrugged. „How should I know?"

„I'm a l'Cie too. You said it yourself 'Keep running — it's die or turn Cie'th'."

„You're a good listener."

„What shall I do? I certainly don't want to end up as Cie'th." The pink-haired woman thought for a while. „You can help me to fight against the Sanctum. Assuming you can fight and won't stand in my way."

„I can fight! I'll do my best! I-I just need to get stronger..." He mumbled the last sentence. „We shall see.", she said as they were once again surrounded by PSICOM soldiers. Lightning took her gunblade and attacked their enemies. Of course, they were no match for the Guardian Corps soldier. She defeated them one by one. „They're no match for me.", said Lightning satisfied, as she finished off the soldiers.

„Lightning, look out!" Lightning turned around quickly, when she heard a noise behind her. She tightened her hold on her gunblade and was ready to strike, but that was no longer necessary. The soldier behind her was hit by a blue and yellow boomerang, followed by a huge fireball. Lightning looked at the silver-haired boy who caught the boomerang. From this distance, she could clearly see how his l'Cie brand flashed briefly. She'd also noticed that his magic was stronger than hers. How was that possible? A little child had greater magical powers, than a trained soldier? Hope came up to her and looked at her anxiously. „Are you okay, Lightning?" Lightning nodded. „Yes. That wasn't so bad, kid.", she said and patted him on the head. „Really? Thanks."

Then he broke the eye contact. „You're hurt.", he said and wanted to touch the small wound on her arm, but she backed away from him, before he even had the chance to touch her. „Just a scratch.", she said and turned around to leave. „Lightning...", he muttered as he followed her. „Call me Light."

„Light...Are you sure you're okay? I have healing abilities as well. I can heal you, if you want."

„That's not necessary."

„Oh...Okay then..." Then there was an oppressive silence between them. But at least it was quiet and Lightning was finally able to concentrate on their surroundings. It wouldn't take long before they arrived the Gapra Whitewood. „Um, Light?"

„What?"

„You know where you're going, right?"

„I've been here on missions before."

„Missions...? But...Aren't you a part of the Sanctum? I mean...as a soldier?"

„The military is composed into two main branches: The Public Security and Intelligence Command, known as PSICOM and the Guardian Corps. I was Guardian Corps. The whole thing with the purge and destroying l'Cie, or whatever else comes from Pulse is PSICOMs baby. The GC is only concerned with crime and monsters that pose a threat to humans. L'Cie excluded, unless we get orders to take care of them too. Basically, we have nothing in common."

„I see." Suddenly Lightning stopped and Hope, who went right behind her, went against her. „What's wrong?", asked Hope puzzled. „We'll rest here.", she said and looked down at the boy, who looked quite exhausted by now. „No, we can go on." Lightning rolled her eyes. „You're not helping me, when you're exhausted. Get some rest, I'll look around.", she commanded, took her gunblade and went away to make sure that no enemies were near.

Once she made sure that that no PSICOM soldiers or monsters were around, she went back to the boy, who was sleeping soundly. He sat on the floor and had made himself comfortable on a rock. She looked him over. He looked very peaceful. No longer so scared. But still...A little child like him didn't deserve to become a l'Cie. Lightning sighed and sat across from him on another rock and laid her gunblade on her lap. That was all her fault. She'd dragged the boy with her. She wished she'd tried harder to bring Nora around to let him fly with her. She knew she'd bring him no good. Who could take better care of a child than the mother?

The pink-haired woman sighed again, when she had to remember her own mother. But she pushed the memories aside and refocused on the more important things. Could she really take the boy with her to Eden, to destroy the Sanctum? This action would be really irresponsible. He could die there. He'd still got all his life in front of him and had a family. She was, however, a trained soldier, who had no family, or rather had a sister who no longer needed her. She basically had nothing to lose. Serah had Snow now. She didn't need her protection anymore. Lightning shook her head to banish these thoughts and closed her eyes to rest for a while. But she woke up again, when she heard something. She looked around alarmingly before she realized that the sounds came from Hope. He turned around to lie more comfortable and muttered something under his breath that sounded like 'Mom'. „Not by a long shot.", muttered Lightning and closed her eyes again. Even when she dreamed, she was still well aware of what was happening around her.

Basically, it took an hour for Lightning to sleep deeply, until then she was still fully conscious and was able to perceive the slightest noise. As Lightning then heard noises from Hope's direction, she opened her left eye a crack. Hope woke up and looked at her. He didn't move for a while and just looked at her. In this moment she wondered what's going on in his head. Then he moved. He crawled towards her. But why? Did he want to wake her up, so that they could go on? Did he fear that she was asleep and now there's no one to keep watch?

Then Lightning took a deep breath and made herself more comfortable, but because of this hard rock it wasn't easy. She saw him jump and froze on the spot. She could also clearly see the fear in his eyes. When she sat quietly again, she kept an eye on him. He waited a while and looked at her intently, as if to make sure she's still asleep. And then he came closer and the closer he came, the more cautious were his movements. It was as if he stalked at a dangerous predator. Lightning didn't move, and acted as if she would sleep soundly. As Hope finally reached her, he carefully sat down next to her. He waited again for a while, before he came a little closer and laid his head on her shoulder. Lightning suppressed the urge to back away from him and let him snuggle up to her. He surely is cold., tried Lightning to reason why he was doing this and watched him out of the corner of her eyes.

Lightning woke up at sunrise and realized that Hope snuggled even closer to her in his sleep. Even though Lightning didn't really like physical contact, this was not as uncomfortable as she thought. She shook the boy, but it took a while until he was fully awake. „Hey, wake up.", said Lightning and shook him again. Finally he opened his eyes and quickly slipped away from her, when he saw how close he was to her. „I-I'm sorry, Lightning! I just...I...uh...", he said desperately, while looking at her in shock and with a bright red face. „Were you cold?"

„Uh...Y-yeah! I'm really sorry..."

„Just forget it, kid. It's okay.", she said and stood up. „Let's go."

„Y-yes!" Lightning put away her gunblade and went ahead, while Hope followed her. As they went a few kilometer, they went into PSICOM soldiers, who inspected a pulse machine. Before they were even aware of what was happening, Lightning rushed into battle and defeated the soldiers. „What were they doing?", asked Hope and stood behind her.

„They probably thought that we'll use this Pulse machine to escape.", replied the pink-haired woman, while eying the machine suspiciously. „That's actually a good idea. Wonder what this is for...?", he wondered and went closer to the machine. „Don't touch that! You're gonna hurt yourself!", called Lightning after him, but Hope ignored her and climbed onto the machine. „This thing can certainly help us."

„Leave it!" But he just climbed on it and sat on top of it. Suddenly, the machine activated and moved forward. „Stop! Stop already!", cried Hope, who couldn't control it. Lightning reached for her gunblade. „I told you, to leave it!"

„Wait, Light! I think I know how it works!", called Hope, guided the machine past her and led her now. Lightning followed him with a sigh. But they really were faster with this thing. Hope just swept their enemies out of the way. But when they arrived a small cliff, he crashed along with the machine, while Lightning elegantly jumped down. „Nice landing.", she commented, as she reached the bottom. „Let's keep moving."

„Wait...Still feeling a bit...winded.", said Hope and slowly got up again. „You're too soft.", said Lightning and went past him. And he immediately ran after her again. „W-wait up!"

Then they went in silence through the Vile Peaks. Or almost in silence, to be exact. During their walk Lightning got many reasons why she should leave the boy behind. He was weak, anxious and had zero stamina. It was really annoying to her, when she always had to slow down and he run off at the mouth. He knew perfectly well that they're on the run, so they should go faster and be quieter, but he couldn't even keep up with her. He was just a little wimp.

When she went over a bridge and Hope fell down for the thousandth time, Lightning's patience snapped. „This isn't working.", she said annoyed and stopped, but didn't turn around to him. „I mean you're a liability. You just slow me down."

„What...?" She heard him getting up quickly. The pink-haired woman went on. „I'm sorry, but I can't protect you when—ah!" Lightning got on her knees, when her l'Cie brand began to glow and burn. „Y-you can't leave me here! You have to take me with you!"

„Enough!", growled Lightning and tried to ignore the burning pain in her chest. „The whole world is against us! I can barely keep himself alive, let alone some helpless kid! I don't have time to baby you! You wanna get tough? Do it on your own! Go home by yourself!", she yelled and then her brand shone brightly.

Below her a pink symbol appeared and she immediately ran out of it. Just as she turned back a huge monster appeared. It looked like a knight. „This cannot be happening.", she said, as the knight went to the boy. Hope stepped back and fell. As the knight lifted his sword to attack him, the silver-haired boy tried to protect himself somehow. „Look out!", called Lightning and ran over to him to block the attack.

The soldier was able to block the attack just in time and pushed him back. Lightning stood protectively in front of Hope and kept an eye on her opponent. „You okay?", she asked the boy. „Y-yes...", he replied. Lightning looked at this knight and she felt like she knew him. She'd heard stories, where l'Cie could summon Eidolon, who helped them in their battles. But why was he attacking them? Actually, he should help her to fight their enemies...Then he ran past her and attacked Hope. Lightning followed him quickly, pushed Hope out of the way and blocked his attack again. Why's he attacking Hope?, she wondered, as she had to block another attack, that was also meant for Hope. Then he attacked him with a lightning strike. Oh, come on!, she grumbled in thought as she ran to Hope, who's still lying on the ground, pulled him closer to her — almost hugged him — and blocked the lightning magic with her gunblade.

She practically pressed his head against her chest, but she didn't really care at the moment, she just wanted to protect him. But why did she wanted to protect him so suddenly? She'd often played with the thought to leave him behind and suddenly she wanted to protect him? „Leave him alone, will you!", she shouted at the Eidolon, which stopped abruptly. She looked at the Eidolon and totally forgot about the way she was still holding Hope against herself. Suddenly the Eidolon vanished again and her brand began to glow brightly. It felt as if she took the Eidolon in, because she could clearly feel his presence inside of her. And then she knew the Eidolon's name: Odin.

„L-Light...?" When Hope began to speak, she realized that she still pressed his head against her chest. Lightning cleared her throat and let him go immediately. His face was bright red and he avoided eye contact and instead looked at her brand, that still shone pinkish. „Your brand looks different...", he said to change the subject. „Was that an Eidolon? Like l'Cie can summon?" Lightning sighed and looked away from him. „Magic and mumbo jumbo...I must have hit my head when you crash-landed in the Vestige."

„Um...Am I really in your way?", asked Hope then and looked sadly at her. She stood up, put away her gunblade and turned around to leave. Hope stood up and ran after her. „Wait! I'll do better! I'll try harder! I'll—"

„Hope.", interrupted Lightning and stopped. Even though she wanted to leave him, she couldn't let Odin hurt the boy. That's when she realized that she wanted to protect him. She should've let Odin do his work and finish Hope off — thus all her problems would be solved — but she couldn't. Since when did he mean something to her? Perhaps her protective instincts rose into view, because Serah no longer needed her protection and she must protect someone, like it was...her Focus...And because this kid was way too weak to protect himself and still needed protection...Well that must be the reason, why she wanted to protect him so badly.

Lightning sighed and looked over her shoulder at Hope. „I'll toughen you up. I'm sorry about before." Hope looked at her relieved and happily and followed her. A few hours later, they finally reached a gate, which led to Gapra Whitewood. „On the other side is the Gapra Whitewood. Keep your guard up."

„Yes.", replied Hope, as Lightning opened the gate, while holding tightly onto her gunblade.

A.N. Okay that was all for now. And I still don't have any reviews (except for one). Guess you guys really don't like this story huh? And I was so proud of this one. Either way, I'll upload the last few chappies and if someone happens to like this story then please tell me this. It would really cheer me up.