Author's Note: I shouldn't be allowed to like this fic so much. But I'm having too much fun watching the cut scenes from FF13 repeatedly. Especially the ones for this chapter. :D I like watching Snow get his butt kicked, despite him being one of my favorite characters. Anywhoo...

My thanks once again go out to Joshua Chung, for being epically amazing and awesome. :D Your review made me grin like a maniac, despite how tired I was at the time! I don't recommend staying up late to watch cut scenes and write out ideas...Whoo.

S o S t a r s t r u c k

Chapter Four

Lightning Strike

Call me childish, but the only thing that I wanted to do at that time was find a way home, to Ivalice. I wondered if Fran and the others had even noticed that I was no longer with them in that last battle, or had they, too, been lost to some world they did not know?

The first things Balthier noticed when he had awoken from his self-induced slumber were the voices arguing somewhere close by to where he laid. Then he noticed how damn cold the air was and forced his eyes open to see where he was. At first he thought he was back in Ivalice and was lost somewhere in the Paramina Rift, but then he remembered his dream, what Serah had told him. "Save the world, right," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck as he stood. He wished he'd thought to ask the girl to send him somewhere warmer, not some ice wasteland.

He turned his head slowly to have a look around, but something behind him caught his eye. It was the girl's crystallized form, encased with the ice and the other crystals around her. When he took a step forward to reach her, he heard the clicking of a gun and froze in place.

"Another Purgee?" a soldier asked, aiming his gun at the sky pirate.

Balthier groaned, rolling his eyes. "Not again," he muttered under his breath, turning around and raising his arms. Trying to take on the small squadron of soldiers was not the best thing to do, in his opinion, so he had no choice but to surrender. Besides, he still had no weapon, and he wasn't a barbarian like Snow. He'd prefer not to get his hands dirty like that foolish oaf.

"Shut it!" The soldier aimed the gun directly at his face, but Balthier remained calm and collected. "Let's take this one back to the ship."

Getting captured and called a l'Cie or Purgee again was not part of Balthier's plans. If what Serah had told him was true, then he would require help if he was to save Cocoon from the gods they followed. Finding the others he'd seen earlier was on the top of his list, followed by saving the world and returning to Ivalice. If only he hadn't forgotten how he'd ended up on Cocoon in the first place...

Being led to his doom by a group of soldiers was a very familiar occurrence to him; living the life of a sky pirate came with its perks, of course. He simply put on his facade of a willing prisoner and allowed himself to be led to wherever they were taking him. If luck would have it, he would meet up with the others he'd met before ending up in yet another odd place. Surely they, too, had been sent here by Serah - Why else would she have spoken to him, despite her current crystallized state?

He remembered how Snow had mentioned that he was going to ask the fal'Cie to help Serah, to turn her back. That must have had something to do with Balthier being sent to the crystallized lake. The fal'Cie, as Vanille had told him, were like the Occuria in Ivalice. Gods using humes as their puppets, just so they could sit around and watch their tools tear each other apart.

It seemed as if our worlds weren't completely different after all...

Balthier lazily looked up as soon as one of the soldiers grabbed his arm, holding him back for some mysterious reason. Before them were the humes from before: Snow, Lightning, Vanille, Sazh and Hope. The tall blond and the female soldier looked as if they had been arguing, and they all turned around once the Sanctum soldier in the front yelled at them.

"Freeze! Place your hands behind your heads!"

All of them, apart from Lightning, did as they were told. When Balthier peered out from behind the leading soldier, their eyes met and she reached for her gun. She must have recognized him, obviously. He sighed to himself just as Vanille caught sight of him and stepped forward, waving a hand.

"You're all right!" she exclaimed, smiling; as usual. However, as soon as she moved closer to him, one of the soldiers pointed their gun at her and she stopped in mid-step, her eyes going wide. While the soldiers were distracted, Balthier began untying the ropes around his wrists as quickly as he could. Things were about to get a tad bit violent.

"I said, freeze!" the man yelled, angered by the girl's foolishness.

Balthier knew exactly what to do right then. His eyes met Lightning's again, and she nodded once; that was the only signal he needed to make his move. He stepped forward, undoing the rope and tossing it aside, then he tapped a finger against the soldier's armor. "That's no way to treat a lady," he said with a smirk, and before the man could turn around and shoot him, Balthier raised a hand and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ice-covered ground.

Lightning pulled out her blade and jumped into the air, kicking one of the soldiers to the ground once she landed. Before any of the other men could reach her, Balthier cast a quick immobilize spell to hold them in place until the other humes could join in the fight. Just as he stood up straight he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist, flinging him over their shoulder. He nearly let out a loud curse when he heard that damned oaf laughing. Snow carried Balthier away from the battle, despite the sky pirate's slightly vulgar protests.

Then there was a large explosion right where they had just been standing, and Lightning flicked her hair back as she walked away from the destruction she had just caused. Balthier begrudgingly pulled himself away from the taller man, falling on his behind against the cold ice and rubbing his head.

"Do not try that again, you-"

"You're hurt," Snow said, smirking as if he found the other man's discomfort amusing. "Didn't you notice?"

Balthier blinked slowly before looking down at his side - the blond was right. Blood slowly seeped out from under his vest, and he cursed out loud again as he pressed a hand against the wound. "That doesn't mean you had to toss me around, Ice!" he muttered, "Damn soldiers must have gotten me when I wasn't looking..."

"I'll help!" Vanille skipped over to him and knelt down beside him, moving his hand away and touching the wound. A pale blue light appeared around her hands and covered the spot, healing it in a matter of seconds. When she finished, she looked up at him and smiled widely. "Good as new!"

Magick. She had done magick. Balthier wondered if there had been something that she had yet to tell him about herself. Hadn't he been told that only l'Cie could cast magick in that world?

"Thought they'd be tougher than that," Sazh commented as he examined one of the soldiers' bodies that Lightning had so graciously slaughtered. "These guys are PSICOM, yeah? Supposed to be the cream-of-the-crop."

Snow shrugged his shoulders, walking away from Balthier and Vanille. "Yeah, but PSICOM's an anti-Pulse task force. Haven't fought a war in centuries. Bunch of rookie troops swinging around over-priced toys."

"So, what you're telling me, it sounds like a regular old soldier has got more training than special forces."

"Nothing for us l'Cie to be afraid of!"

Balthier raised an eyebrow, looking to Vanille for an explanation. She only nodded, frowning for the first time. So his suspicions were true: the five of them were l'Cie now. That light, the explosion, it was because of the fal'Cie they had gone to confront. It turned them into l'Cie and sent them to some unknown place. He looked around again, narrowing his eyes slightly. It had frozen everything to crystal after it turned them into its puppets.

"Cut the crap," Lightning snapped from where she stood across from Snow and beside Hope. "Their grunts might be green, but PSICOM's elites are cold blooded beasts. They hit the field and it's game over."

Vanille stood up as soon as the female soldier spoke, backing away. "Uh oh!" she exclaimed, "Then let's run away! Ciao!" And with that, she took off running in the direction Balthier had come from; all by herself.

"Wait!" Balthier stood up almost as quickly as she, wincing from his sore side but running after her, nonetheless. Why did he have to feel the need to watch over that foolish girl?

Thankfully the others took the hint and followed the two of them, and after calmly yelling at the girl to stop running, Balthier was tired. Not only was he running out of magick energy, but he wanted nothing more than to just lie down somewhere and rest. True, he'd been knocked out a few times by damned gods, but that wasn't the kind of sleep he wanted. He hadn't gotten any real sleep since the night before...Before what, again? Damn, how could he have forgotten? It did not make sense...!

He decided that it was in the best interest for both himself and Lightning (he didn't care what Snow thought) to lead them to where Serah's crystal was. Lightning seemed like the type of woman who only wanted results, not mere guesses and inconveniences. That, and seeing the way she fought meant that she didn't want anyone to get in her way of anything. Balthier preferred not to get on her bad side, lest he wanted to end of like the Sanctum soldiers.

My first impression of Lightning...She reminded me of the princess. Determined, but underneath that determination was a frightened woman. Afraid for those she loved.

Sighing deeply, Balthier looked over to the rest of the humes - or, would he have to call them "l'Cie", now? Vanille seemed to be as cheerful as she had been before, and it looked like, at that time, she was trying to cheer up Hope. The boy was sulking as he walked with her, only staying with her because no one else was talking. Well, apart from Snow's constant comments about everything around them. Balthier wondered if that man didn't know when to be silent, or was just oblivious to how the rest of them felt about his bothersome voice.

Now, Snow reminded me far too much of an older, yet still immature Vaan. He was far too confident for his own good. Surely his over-confidence and optimistic views would get him killed, or perhaps murdered by Lightning.

Snow looked at Balthier with a confused expression on his face, noticing how much the sky pirate had been staring at him. Lightning glanced back at them, but it seemed as if she refused to look the tall man in the eyes. She slowed her pace down a bit and walked side-by-side with Balthier, much to his surprise (and Snow's, but, again, he chose not to care).

"You were there," she quietly said to him, avoiding his gaze, "when Serah...disappeared. And now you're with us, again. You keep showing up when ever there's danger." She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "Who are you?"

"Straight to the point, aren't you?" Balthier couldn't help but smirk. "Balthier. Sky pirate and leading man, at your service." He winked at her, but she merely rolled her eyes; unshaped by his charms.

"Sky pirate? Never heard of those."

He let out a weak sigh of disappointment. "I would imagine so. This world is not like mine, unfortunately."

"You're from Pulse, then?" Lightning asked, looking back toward the others as they walked on ahead.

"Ivalice," he told her with a shake of his head. Must everyone think that only because he wasn't from their world, that he was from the place where l'Cie were to be banished to?

"Never heard of that, either. But you're still stuck here, like the rest of us. Damned by the fal'Cie..."

"On the contrary. I was watching over your sister when the lot of you ran off and confronted that terrible beastie. After that place was destroyed, I found myself lost with only a voice in my mind to guide me." He shrugged his shoulders. "I may seem odd to you, but I assure you that I'm perfectly harmless. Though...It would seem I can't say the same for the rest of you."

Lightning made some sort of "hmph" sound and walked off ahead of him, quickening her pace. Balthier opened his mouth to say something else to her, but he had a feeling that if he said anything else she would send her wrath upon him. And that was something he did not want to witness again, at least not for a while. He sighed deeply and hung his head low, only looking up when he heard someone snickering behind him.

"You obviously don't know how to handle women like Lightning," Snow commented, grinning widely.

Balthier rolled his eyes. "I know my women well, mind you. And I'd rather you keep your needless words to yourself, Ice."

"My name is Snow."

"I don't see a difference between the two." Ignoring Snow's quiet complaints, he looked ahead toward where Lightning walked. He waited a moment before asking, "Tell me, what's her story?"

"Her?" Snow seemed to be surprised, for he looked between the two of them in confusion. "The name's Lightning, last name Farron. First name, on the other hand, is anyone's guess. She used to be a soldier for the Sanctum until she, apparently, willingly let herself be Purged."

"...To save her sister, I presume."

"Yeah, to save Serah." Snow sighed, relaxing his shoulders as he walked. "You said you know where Serah is, right now?"

The sky pirate nodded. "Those soldiers we fought took me away from her as soon as I had awoken. If we continue the way we're going now, we'll find you girl. You need not worry."

"...Right."

Walking between Hope and Vanille, Balthier kept his eyes ahead of them in case some fiend jumped out at them. They'd run into a few monsters, Cie'th, but there wasn't anything too vicious after them. There weren't any signs of the Sanctum's soldiers, either, and for that he was glad. He didn't know if he could handle any more surprises...

Lightning had slowed her pace as soon as they reached a clearing, surrounded by fallen air ships and trains. She stopped completely when something ahead of the group caught her eye. "Serah," she breathed, quietly.

Balthier looked up as soon as he heard her voice, finally recognizing where they were. Serah's crystal was just up ahead, right where he'd left her. Snow took off running as soon as he caught sight of her, too, and yelled out her name as loud as he could.

"Serah!" he exclaimed as he knelt down in front of her crystal, a hand instantly reaching for her face. "I'll get you out of there." He managed to find a part of a ship, conjoined poles of some sort, and began using it in an attempt to break the crystal free. Vanille and Sazh went to help him, knowing that he couldn't do anything on his own. Standing back with Hope, Balthier sighed as his eyes caught sight of Lightning. She was staring intently at the crystal, her sister, lost in her own thoughts - what she was thinking, he could only guess.

"This is good-bye," she whispered, turning her back on the group and beginning to walk away.

The three working over by the crystal looked up at her, and Snow stood up. Balthier had a feeling that things weren't going to stay as peaceful as they had been for the past hour.

"Lightning!" the blond said, "You're just gonna leave her?"

"PSICOM will be here soon," Lightning answered, not looking back at them. "If they find us, we're all dead. You think Serah would want that? You think you know how she feels?"

"If I leave her, then I'll never know. We'll be fine! I can handle anything they throw at us." He cast his eyes downward slightly, then looked back to her. "No one will die. I'll protect Serah, and Cocoon!"

Lightning turned around, her eyes narrowed in frustration. Not a moment later, she stormed up to him with a raised arm and punched him right in the face. Balthier could only watch as Snow was knocked to the ground, falling against Sazh and knocking him over, too.

"Does she look protected to you?" she yelled, taking a step back.

"I can save her!" Snow yelled back as he stood. She hit him again, just as hard as before.

"What can you possibly do?"

He sat up, staring her directly in the eyes. "Whatever it takes!"

Lightning raised her hand, about to hit him yet again, but Balthier took hold of it and held her back. She didn't look back at him, and after a few moments she relaxed and turned away from them all. He slowly let her hand fall from his grasp, watching her with caution.

I had an idea about how Lightning was feeling at that time. I knew what it was like to lose a family member; unable to stop whatever fate had planned for them. I never believed in fate, but sometimes...It seemed as if that was the only excuse any of us could come up with.

Sazh stood up, looking between the pair, and he sighed as he walked past. "You two are hopeless," he said, "You just can't admit it. You want to stay just as much as he does."

Following the other gunner, Balthier looked back at Lightning, wondering if what Sazh had said was true. But his thoughts were cut short when something from above shined a light on the two of them. He shielded his eyes, looking up at whatever it was looking down upon their group. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw a pair of menacing eyes staring right at him, and he instantly reached for his fomalhaut. Of course, then he remembered he'd left it back in Ivalice. Balthier sighed heavily and hung his head low. This was getting tiresome...

Sazh began to head back toward the others, yelling as he ran, "No, no, no! Not now!"

The fiend, a giant scorpion-creature, jumped down from above and landed in front of the sky pirate. Balthier nearly lost his balance when it swung its long tail at him, and he ducked the moment it moved. Cursing under his breath, he tried to cast a magick spell - any spell - but he could just feel his magick energy leaving him. Just as the scorpion raised its claws toward the fallen pirate, Snow rushed forward and stood in front of him.

"Stand back!" he yelled to Balthier, getting into a battle stance with his fists held high.

"You're a fool!" the sky pirate exclaimed just as the others ran to them. "Do you honestly believe you can take that thing on?"

"Watch me!"

He ran forward, right at the creature, and summoned an unimaginable force of magick when he attacked it. Lightning and Vanille followed him, leaving the other three in the dust. Hope helped Balthier get to his feet, watching with wide eyes as the three fighters took on the fiend. Sazh sighed out of annoyance, shaking his head.

"Suicidal," he murmured. "Just suicidal..."

Balthier hated watching others fight a battle, especially when it was his job to defend those in need; not the other way around! But he knew that all he would do was slow them down. It was their world, not his, and only they would know how to deal with any enemies they came across. All he could do was stand back and watch - waiting for them to end things on their own.

Lightning fought with a weapon he had never seen before in his life. A blade that was also a gun. The whole idea of a two-part weapon confused him to no end, but it seemed to make sense in a world like Cocoon. Perhaps once he returned to Ivalice, he'd invent the "gunblade" and make far more money than he would normally as a sky pirate. That is, unless there was a weapon in his world that was nearly the same as the gunblade.

The battle ended quicker than any of them expected, thanks to Vanille's never-ending magick spells. As soon as the fiend fell, she rushed to Balthier to see if he was all right. He wondered if she'd grown attached to him in the short time they'd been together. He didn't say anything to her as they watched the others return, but he rested his head on top of hers when she stood in front of him, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. All that running around and fighting was finally getting to him, much to his dismay. Thankfully Vanille allowed him to lean on her, despite the confused look Hope was giving them.

"You're leaving?" he heard Snow ask as soon as they were all together. Both Sazh and Lightning had their backs turned, ready to head off and leave Serah's crystal behind.

"We want to help Serah, too," Sazh answered with a heavy sigh. "But without tools, we could be digging for days. The army's on our trail," he said to Lightning. "For now, we've got to keep moving. For now."

Snow scowled. "So I just abandon her and save myself?"

"What about your Focus?" Lightning asked, breaking her silence. "What happened to banding together and saving the world? Isn't that what you promised? Now you want to forget it all and die here?" She turned toward him, her eyes narrowed in clear anger. "Snow? You're nothing but talk." She brushed past him, and he clenched his fists as he watched her go.

"Lightning! I'll do whatever it takes. I'll finish this Focus...and keep Serah safe. That's my promise!"

She turned around, an eyebrow raised. "Great job so far." And then she turned her back on him and walked away, leaving the rest of them in the dust.

Sazh began to follow her, but he looked to the rest of them, seeing if anyone else was going along. Snow shrugged his shoulders, and murmured, "Stay out of trouble."

"You too," the gunner answered, clapping a hand on Snow's shoulder before leaving to follow Lightning.

Vanille slid out from under Balthier's grasp and skipped over to the blond, smiling as usual. Snow looked between the three of them, trying his best to smile, too. "Get going," he said.

She nodded, and ran after the other two, not noticing Balthier's discomfort. Why were they all leaving? Hope began to walk after her, but for some reason, he stopped and turned around, facing the other two directly. He uneasily bit his lower lip, casting his eyes downward. "Snow..."

"Save it for next time, kiddo. You'll get left behind."

Watching as Hope's expression softened, Balthier began to wonder about the boy's hidden agenda. Something must have happened before, as he'd guessed when they had met, and Hope must have had something important to talk with the older man about. "But..." he started to say, but Snow cut him off again.

"It's okay, Hope. Light will take care of you." He forced himself to smile, either to comfort the boy...or himself - Balthier couldn't tell which. "We'll meet again."

"Yeah...Count on it." Hope quickly turned around and ran after the other three, still looking uneasy about whatever was on his mind.

And then Snow turned to the only one who was left behind: Balthier. The sky pirate stood there with his arms folded across his chest, a casual, yet tired smirk planted on his face. Raising an eyebrow, the tall blond asked, "Well? Aren't you going, too?"

"Someone has to keep an eye on you," Balthier answered, tilting his head to the side slightly.

Snow laughed weakly, nodding his head. "Uh, thanks...I guess."

Uh oh. Balthier actually chose to stay behind with his rival? This cannot be good...

Again, reviews make me a happy writer. They make me want to frantically continue this fic, despite how tired I may be. xD Let me know what you think! Do I need to improve on things, or is everything just perfect? :)