When did this bed get so hard? Next time, I'm picking out the mattresses...

Lightning let a yawn leave her lips, arms stretching upwards and pushing the sheets from her head, her disheveled hair clouding her eyes. Sitting up and brushing the strands of strawberry pink hair from her face, she rubbed at her eyes and squinted at the time on her side table—

This wasn't her bed.

Bolting up, fully awake and soldier-mode kicking in, the woman found herself on the ground, and not a very kind one, either. It wasn't carpeted like her room, it was a brown, musty and hard plank wood floor, not very suitable for sleeping. Next to her stood a twin sized mattress, light blue sheets instead of green. Her side table didn't hold her normal, black alarm clock with blinking numbers, nor did it have the small family photo she had salvaged. Instead it had a traditional, round clock with a dial on the top to stop the alarm, ticking arms going around the numbers, and it held a different family photo. Running a hand through her hair, Lightning reached for the photo to examine it closer: a young girl with light blonde hair, pale blue eyes and a maroon cape tied around her shoulders like a superhero— that couldn't have been anyone Lightning knew— a mother with hardened green eyes and dirty blonde hair braided over her shoulder, hugging the younger girl as she sat in her lap. It was a nice and simple picture, but where had she gotten it?

Finally standing from her spot on the floor, along with picking up the blanket she had fallen with and setting it on the bed, she noted that the room she stood in was not hers, either. Where a tall bookshelf once stood next to her closet was a large dresser, her reflection staring back at her through the mirror. There were several articles of cosmetics and perfume bottles, things that she never would have used in her lifetime unless needed. That, and it wouldn't be so messy, as Light spotted several shirts and blouses on the floor in bunches. Her window that took up most of the wall was gone, replaced by a smaller window and different posters on the cream colored wall, which irked the soldier at how crooked they were placed.

"Where am I?" Lightning muttered to herself, rubbing an eye to make sure this wasn't a dream. Realization dawned onto her then, and she ignored her own confusion to seek out her younger sister, soldier-mode coming back into affect. "Serah!"

Rushing out of the door, she nearly crashed into another woman, who immediately caught herself and Lightning, laughing slightly. "Woah, darling, what's the rush?" Blinking her blue eyes, The pink haired woman looked up towards a pair of green eyes and dirty blond hair tied back in a ponytail, a fuzzy, green bathrobe over a pair of sweatpants and tank top. She looked identical to the woman in the picture frame, Lightning noted. "It's Saturday, you should be in bed!"

She had no words, just an open mouth which she quickly closed. Who was this woman, and why did she act so casually around her? The only people she allowed inside her home was Serah, Hope and Sazh, not to mention Snow. That reminded her, she had to find Serah— she couldn't have left for her trip so soon. "E-Excuse me, but I'm not—"

"Claire Luce Farron, have you been drinking last night or something? You're acting awfully strange for someone who's turning twenty two today," The fact that this stranger knew her real name sent chills to her spine, along with more confusion and suspicion. "What's gotten into you?"

"How do you know my name?" Her eyes narrowed into a glare as she slipped around the woman to stand in the hallway that, once again, wasn't familiar to Lightning. This whole situation was becoming rapidly frightening to the soldier, waking up in a different room with things that weren't yours, finding a woman who knew your name for some reason— and where was Serah? She should have been out and about now, aware of the sudden woman who seemed to know something that Lightning didn't. "And-And who are you?"

The woman's expression suddenly went from amused to concerned in a split second, her hand reaching to touch Light's arm. "Claire, this isn't funny. What's the matter with you?"

"My name is Lightning." She snapped, turning on her heel to begin her search for Serah.

Apparently, the woman had had enough at that moment and reached for Light's wrist, her grip tight and mouth set in a frown. Whoever this lady was, she had a tough side that leveled Light's. "This is unlike you, Claire, have you lost your memory or something?"

Wiggling out of her grasp, Light demanded, "Where's my sister?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow and blinked in surprise at her question. Taking a step towards Lightning, who took a step back, she gently replied, "Claire, we need to get you to a doctor -"

"Tell me where my sister is and I'll leave!" Her eyes narrowed into slits and her soldier-mode was starting to show even more as her frustration grew.

"Claire, you're an only child!"

...What?

Lightning stumbled on her feet, losing her balance as the words echoed through her mind. This wasn't her home in Cocoon, it wasn't her life, and it didn't add up. She was an only child? There was no Serah, no Snow, no Hope - no one?

The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. That's why this woman was calling her Claire, she had no need to become Lightning for Serah, there was no need to join the army to support them, no one was trying to take Serah away from her, Snow never met Serah, she never became a L'cie, she never met Hope, Fang, Vanille, Sazh, anyone. She had a normal life, it seemed, by the way the room that she awoke in appeared. No worries, no fighting, no training, no Sanctum laws to obey - there wasn't anything that made her home home.

Lightning sank to her knees, ignoring the tears that threatened to fall over. tears were a foreign thing to her, she never had the reason to cry or feel remorse after her parent's death. She had Serah to keep her smiling, keep her fighting, keep her sane.

Now, even that was gone.

"Claire? Claire, we need to get you to a doctor, you must have hit your head -"

"D-Don't touch me!" Just as soon as the tears fell over and onto her cheeks, she wiped them away with a swipe of the back of her hand, flinching at the woman's touch. "I'm not the-the Claire you know, alright? My name is Lightning, and," she swallowed a lump in her throat that threatened to become a sob, "You're lying. I have a sister to find."

With that, she turned on her heel and dashed through the hallway, passing several rooms and pictures hanging on the walls, ignoring the woman behind her who immediately followed her through the house. Lightning could care less for that woman - her mother in this world, she assumed - all she needed right now was to find Serah. However, this house wasn't exactly the smallest house to run through, and she found herself getting lost within seconds of running. Two hallways stretched before her, and she could hear footsteps getting closer and closer behind her. Before she could start sprinting down the left hallway, she was tackled from behind and onto the floor, arms being restricted by a pair of hands and a knee of her stomach to keep her from escaping.

"Let me go!" The pink-haired woman yelled, struggling to break free.

The blonde kept her grasp and blew some hair from her eyes. "Not until you explain what's gotten into you, young lady!"

Lightning mentally rolled her eyes. She hasn't been called that in years, and she really did not need some fake mother calling her that. "Let. Me. Go!"

"I will not hesitate to call the police, tell me who you are!"

Panting slightly, and with a stern and vicious look from the woman holding her down, Lightning ceased her struggling, and the woman lifted her knee and let her arms go. Standing up, the blonde above her shook her head, hands on her hips. "Explain yourself."

Rubbing her wrists, the soldier muttered in reply, "Where did you learn to pin someone down like that?"

"Eight years in the military will make some things stick with you. Now, start talking."

It looked as if she didn't have a choice. "I'm not Claire - not the Claire you know, at least. My name is Lightning, and I'm not-I'm not from here. What is this place?"

"New York City. Where are you from, then?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow. Surely Lightning must have sounded crazy, except the woman didn't feel any reason to actually involve the police. If anything, she was curious to know where Light was going with this story.

"New Bodhum," her eyes glanced at one of the windows on the wall, towering buildings and giant billboards standing outside, "Is this still Cocoon?"

"'Cocoon'? Honey, wherever you came from isn't on earth," she brushed some blonde strands from her eyes once more and turned towards on of the hallways, deciding to let this whole ordeal go for the time being. "Come on, you can explain over coffee."

"...well, from what I can tell, you're pretty far from home, missy." The woman, who said to be named Anna, sighed while taking a sip from her sweetened coffee.

"I'm just looking for my sister, that's all," Light repeated Anna's actions with a guilty look in her pale eyes. She was surprised Annaactually listened to her story; it wasn't a very normal one. Lightning didn't give many details— she woke up after a fight with her sister, and now she doesn't know what to do or where to look for her. "Not to mention everyone else..."

Over coffee, the two discussed exactly what life Anna and "Claire" lived: a simple home in an apartment near "Times Square"— an area with tons of lights and giant screens advertising several things all at once— also near Claire's university. Claire used to have blonde hair, just like the young girl in the picture, but around the age of sixteen, Anna let her dye her hair a light pink (to which Lightning insisted that her hair color was natural). Overall, Light and Claire were two completely different people.

Anna gave Light a sympathetic look and stood from her chair, taking her mug to the sink. The flat television hanging on the wall besides several cabinets softly hummed with that day's news, giving reports on several happenings in this world. Every report seemed to be involved with murder, rape, homicides and several morbid topics— it shocked Light how violent this world was; with such a comfortable view from the window, it looked like this world was another Cocoon. "I'm willing to help, Lightning. Simply because I know you're my daughter, even if you technically aren't, I still feel obligated to help you," she returned to her seat, "I believe you."

A rare smile graced the soldier's features. "Thank you, Anna," While this woman wasn't or ever will be her mother, she did feel a sense of gratefulness and trust towards her. Also, she did feel a bit sympathetic for her; Light didn't mean to spoil her day. "I need to start looking as soon as possible, though. I should track down my friends first."

She had a pretty good idea of who to look for first; her closest companion during the L'cie situation was sure to come in handy now. He was sixteen now, he was sure to handle this situation calmly, after how much he matured throughout their travels, Light figured.

The dirty blonde across from her nodded, on board with helping Lightning. "Alright, well, do you have any idea where he could be?"

Crap. "Er...no." This was going to be harder than it seemed, she realized while running a hand through her hair. Did she really expect to find them that easily? It could take her weeks, months to track them down, and she needed to find Serah as soon as possible so they can figure out a way to go back home somehow—

"— And now, a special report from our Sports Center! Tomorrow evening, the New York Yankees tackle the Houston Astros for the championship, and we've got a great team for us tomorrow!" Anna and Light's attention was brought to the television screen, where a report was being said about a sports game between two teams that Light really couldn't care less about. Anna, however, seemed interested as she leaned slightly forward in her seat towards the report on screen to listen intently. Light half halfheartedly listened as the other half of her searched for ways to possibly find everyone. "With Dylan Rivera, Brandon Hans, and Lee Stewart pitching for us, we've got nothing to worry about, along with our star batter, who just recovered from an ankle injury, Snow Villiers!"

Light's head whipped towards the screen, where they displayed a baseball player with messy blond hair, slight stubble on his chin and bright blue eyes— no bandanna this time, however— delivering a swing to a ball that was being thrown towards him in a stadium. She stood abruptly from the table, startling Anna slightly, and the corners of her lips quirked upwards. "Found one."

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