NIGHTLIGHT

The path to the Gapra Whitewood from the Vile Peaks was disguised by a long, dark tunnel set into the mountain on the farthest edge of the Peaks. It had taken us a few hours to reach it.

"This thing never ends," I complained to Lightning.

She shrugged. She had been annoyed with me earlier for not waking her last night. I hadn't made much of a case for myself either, only stammers of "you needed the rest." Fortunately, her sour mood had been short-lived. Even though she never said it, I knew she was grateful.

"We're nearly there," She replied, trudging on ahead.

We had been walking through this tunnel for an hour, and the novelty of being inside a mountain had worn off after the first five minutes.

"How you doing back there, Hope?" I called behind me. Hope had been lagging behind, barely speaking to save his breath for keeping pace.

"Fine," The boy panted.

"Are you still mad at me?" I asked Lightning after ten more minutes of walking.

"No," She said.

"Huh, well that's good."

"I had considered punching you for not waking me when it was my turn, but you looked like you would fall over any minute," She said.

I grunted. In truth, I was very tired. It was an effort just to keep up with Lightning's relentless pace. I doubted she would slow down, probably justifying her continuous march with a sly comment on how I had brought this on myself and that I had to deal with the consequences.

I was also hungry again. We had shared the last of the food I had salvaged from the cruiser for breakfast. Starvation was a rare occurrence in the military; hunger, however, was something that all soldiers were familiar with. So I let my stomach grumble and tried to dwell on more pleasant things, like the way Lightning had looked when she slept under my watchful gaze, or the way her hair was bobbing with every step, or the way her rear swayed when she walked.

I forced myself to look up before my hormones raged any further out of control. I quickly passed off my staring as a male thing. A natural lust that occurred when looking at any beautiful woman.

"We're here," Lightning said, dispelling the images of her undressing that had begun to form in my mind. I gratefully stepped around her, peering at the massive door that was the entrance to the Gapra Whitewood.

"Finally," I said as Hope came to stand beside me. "About time. It's been hours."

"It hasn't been that long," Lightning said. "About forty minutes, actually."

"Felt like hours," I grumbled under my breath.

Lightning lead the way through the triangular door, which slid open at our approach.

I swiftly followed.

The first thing most people see when they arrive in the Gapra Whitewood are the trees. Huge, magnificent trees with white leaves that hung all around. I had been to the Gapra Whitewood before on missions, and the sheer size of the trees never failed to shock me. They towered over me, blocking the sky and allowing no sunlight to penetrate the vegetation.

The forest floor was a dangerous wilderness inhabited by wildlife, so the Sanctum had built a long, winding pathway above called the Proto-ecology Belt. It was onto this pathway that we emerged.

I drew my rifle immediately, a by-product of the years of military training. I looked every which way, committing each visual to memory, and searching for any signs of life, both friendly and hostile.

Lightning was doing the same, and she crouched behind a drooping leaf that was three times her size. She quickly motioned for Hope to join us, and he came running over.

"I can't believe we made it," Hope said as I dashed over to the two of them.

A rumbling, grating sound echoed in the air, and we turned to see the giant door sliding closed.

"That'll slow down pursuit," Lightning said, satisfied.

"But aren't there troops on this side?" Hope asked.

"Probably," I supplied, again peering around in a sudden bout of suspicion.

"Then we can't relax just yet," The boy said determinedly.

"Right," Lightning said. "We press on. I'll take point. You watch our backs."

I nodded, falling into position between them.

"Actually," Hope said. "Why don't you let me take point?"

Lightning turned and the boy smiled nervously.

"Can you handle it?" she asked him.

He answered by running forward, taking the lead.

"It's not a question of can or can't," Hope said, repeating Lightning's words.

"Now you're learning," Lightning said with a smile.

I couldn't help noticing the difference that small expression made. She suddenly looked... friendly.

"All right, Hope," I said. "Keep your eyes front, and let Lightning and I watch behind us. Trust us to watch your back, and we'll trust you to watch the front."

Hope nodded, taking it in. "Got it."

Lightning smiled again as the boy started walking forward warily. I grinned at her, nodding satisfactorily, and she smiled back.

"He can handle it," I told her.

She nodded. "I know."

"We've got your back, Hope. You call the shots now," I called to him. He held up his arm, giving me a thumbs-up in response.

"Have you ever been here before?" I asked Lightning.

She shook her head, still turning every now and then to check behind us. "You?"

"Yeah, once. My team was called in to help with an animal escape."

I remembered it vividly. We were training nearby, over the expanse of water separating The Gapra Whitewood and Palumpolum when we got the call. There had been a malfunction with the animal enclosures, and several of them had rampaged through the forest. It had taken us the better part of three days to secure the animals and restore the enclosures.

"Your team?" Lightning asked.

I nodded. "I was put in command of an assault unit in Eden."

"Hey, guys?" Hope's voice floated back to us. "We've got a small problem."

I looked over at him, and saw the boy pointing at a platform ahead of us.

Occupying the platform was a Behemoth.

A sleeping Behemoth.

I held up my finger to my lips, indicating to Hope that he should be silent, then repeating the gesture at Lightning.

She raised her eyebrows at me and I pointed at the slumbering monster.

Lightning's eyes narrowed, and she whispered, "sneak past it."

I nodded, and passed the message onto Hope, who began to slowly edge his way around the massive creature.

Once Hope had safely reached the other side of the platform, I followed after him.

The Behemoth's slow breathing was like a roar, and each rise and fall of its chest convinced me that it was going to wake.

I skirted around the Behemoth, joining Hope on the other side, but not daring to make a sound.

I watched as Lightning repeated the process, following the same path that Hope and I had. It didn't take her as long as me to reach the next platform.

Once she had joined us, I let out a sigh of relief, which was followed by a deeper, louder sigh.

The Behemoth's eyes snapped open, and the three of us froze as the monster rose to its feet groggily, shaking its massive head from side to side.

Then it roared.

Lightning glared at me, and I gave her a quick, apologetic look before leaping into action.

I dodge an angry swipe from the Behemoth. It was still dazed, trying to clear the last remnants of sleep, and its blows were wide and inaccurate.

Beside me, Lightning slashed with her gunblade, leaving a long cut that spanned the Behemoth's side. I dodged another vicious swipe of its claws, and pivoted, my own blades swinging in a horizontal arc that severed the mighty appendage. A spray of blood splattered the path, and the Behemoth stumbled, roaring in agony. Hope threw several magic attacks at the Behemoth, which battered it back, forcing it ever closer to the edge of the platform.

I didn't miss a beat. I swung wildly, forcing the Behemoth to step backwards to avoid my blades. Behind me, Lightning rushed forward, leaping into the air and planting both feet onto the Behemoth's head and somersaulting back, landing lightly as the Behemoth's back legs left the platform.

I watched as it pawed at the ground, trying to heave itself back onto the platform, but with only one foreleg, and most of its weight off the platform, it fell. Slowly, horrifically, it slid from the platform, giving a mighty roar as it plummeted to the forest floor far below.

I stood there panting, before stepping over to the edge and peering below. The Behemoth lay in a splatter of blood, its three remaining limbs lying in odd positions.

"Sorry," I said to Lightning, who rolled her eyes at me.

"You all right, Hope?" I asked the boy, who was still standing in a combat stance.

He seemed to realize his position, and lowered his boomerang, nodding at me.

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. "Shall we, then?" I asked, motioning for Hope to lead on.

"Yeah, right," He said, and started to walk ahead.

"You okay?" I asked Lightning after we had resumed our pace.

She snorted.

"I'll take that as a yes, then," I said to myself.

After another two hours of walking, we encountered a group of large, slug-like monsters. They hopped around us, trying to slam into us from above, but we easily defeated them.

I wiped off the slug guts that clung to my uniform. "Next time, I'm shooting them," I said to my two companions. I had used my blades for the duration of the battle.

Hope laughed, and Lightning smiled in spite of herself. They were both slug-free, having used ranged attacks to take down the slugs.

"You should have thought of that before you sliced them up, James," Lightning said, obviously very amused.

"Yeah, well..." I trailed off, having nothing to retort with.

It was yet another hour before we reached an elevator. It was a large, square platform with a sliding mechanism on one side, and a thick handrail surrounding three sides.

"Lightning?" Hope asked suddenly. "Have you ever been here before? On duty, I mean."

"No, I haven't. This area's covered by the Woodlands Observation Battalion," She replied.

Hope looked at me.

I nodded. "Once."

"You scared?" Lightning asked the boy.

"Not really. I'm ready to fight if I have to," Hope said.

Lightning reached into her back pocket and withdrew a large folding knife. She held it out to Hope. "To keep you safe," she said.

Hope hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and took it from her.

"I'll want it back," Said Lightning, then she turned and stepped onto the elevator. I followed.

"Hey," Hope called.

He hadn't moved. He was examining the knife.

"I'm glad I followed you," He said, looking at us gratefully. "By myself, I would've had no chance."

I approached the Hope and knelt down in front of him.

"You know what, Hope?" I asked him. "I think you would've been just fine. You may not know it yet, but you're a tough kid," I told him.

He looked at me, surprised. Then he looked down at the knife and nodded once.

I smiled at him and stood, letting him move past me onto the elevator.

I stepped onto the elevator, and Lightning pressed the button. The platform jolted to life, and rapidly ascended, coming to stop at another pathway.

"Trust us to cover your tail," Lightning said, allowing Hope to take the lead. "Stay focused on moving forward."

We continued on, my eyes flicking left and right, trying to determine what was safe, and what wasn't.

Suddenly, a flash of movement caught my eye, and I pointed my rifle at it, my eyes narrowing.

Lightning hadn't missed my motion, and she pointed her own gun into the trees.

"Hope, on your left," I hissed at the boy. He immediately whirled around, searching for a hint of movement.

"It's in the trees," I said.

"Are you sure?" Hope asked, his boomerang raised above his head.

I nodded.

"See anything?" I asked.

They both shook their heads, but none of us dared to move.

"On the right!" Lightning suddenly shouted.

I had heard it too. The soft sound of leaves rustling behind us, on the right side of the platform.

I turned, only to see a massive shape that collided into me, knocking me down.

"James!" I heard Lightning yell.

I heard gunfire, and assumed Lightning was firing at the monster.

It was a Pantheron, one of the military's bioweapons, but this one was much larger than usual, almost twice the size of a normal Pantheron.

I had dropped my weapon when the creature had hit me, and raised my arms in defense. Its jaws were inches from my face, held at bay by my hands locked on its lower and upper jaws, and my legs tucked beneath its belly.

I felt white-hot pain grip my side as the Pantheron landed a swipe, leaving deep gashes. My companions attacks seemed to have no effect on it, obsessed as it was with its target: me.

I struggled in vain, pouring all my strength into stopping those long, sharp teeth from tearing me apart, and trying to avoid its wild swipes with its paws.

I dimly realized that the gunfire had stopped, and for one, panic-filled moment I thought that more of them had appeared, and were ripping my companions to shreds. I tried to look sideways, to see if Hope and Lightning were safe, my mind filled with images of their corpses, barely recognizable.

Then, just when I thought I could hold no more, a blade entered the Pantheron's head, and it dropped onto me like stone, its dead weight knocking all the breath out of me. I tried to push the giant beast off of me, but it was too big. I summoned the magic, and pushed with all my might, launching the Pantheron into the air where it flew over the edge of the platform.

I coughed and spluttered, taking huge gulps of air when a hand gripped mine. It was soft, smooth, a woman's hand. I blinked, my vision blurred from the blood in my eyes, and saw Lightning standing over me. She pulled me upright, and I stood, swaying slightly.

"Are you okay?" She asked me, concerned.

I smiled weakly.

"Yeah, take more than that to beat me," I said hoarsely, my attempt at bravado lessened by my rasping voice.

"James!" Hope ran up to me.

I grinned at him. "I'm okay, Hope," I told him, wincing when I tried to stand upright.

I was hunched over, my hand clutching the wound in my side where the Pantheron had clawed at me. It was bleeding, little drops of crimson falling to the ground.

"Move your hand," Hope commanded.

I obliged, and he placed his own hand over the wound, a look of concentration on his face.

I felt the magic envelop me, and when he removed his hand, the wound was gone, replaced by smooth skin.

"Thanks," I said, patting him on the shoulder.

Lightning was looking over the edge, where the corpse of the Pantheron was still visible.

"I didn't know they made 'em that big," She said, looking at me.

"Me neither," I told her. "Doesn't matter, though. We need to keep going."

They both nodded, and we fell into position and moved up the path.

We encountered more bioweapons, but after our battle with the giant Pantheron, the smaller creatures were tame compared to that.

Hope suddenly looked up.

"What is it?" Lightning asked.

"We need to hide!" he said, hurrying into the shadow of the trees. I pulled Lightning along, grabbing her hand and following Hope.

I could hear it now, the faint hum of hovercycles. I looked at the three hovercycles as they flew above us, and held my breath until they passed us.

"They don't seem like they're even looking for us," Hope said. "I mean, we're l'Cie and we're on the loose."

I nodded. It was odd. This place should be crawling with soldiers, all hunting for us.

"PSICOM's keeping it all under wraps," Lightning responded. "They don't want their failure publicized."

"They need to save face," I said. "Better to lose us than lose their pride."

"So the other soldiers don't know about us. Right?" Hope asked me, folding his arms.

Lightning nodded thoughtfully. "Right. They don't know anything about any fugitives."

"That's good,then," I told her as we stepped onto another elevator and descended to another platform. "Means they won't know we're heading to Palumpolum."

We came across another group of bioweapons.

"Never panic," Lightning said. "Calm heads make good decision."

A little ways ahead, at the end of the path, we came to a glowing structure.

"That's one of the bulkhead fal'Cie. Stay on guard," Lightning said.

We stopped in front of it, and Hope sat down, breathing heavily.

"I wonder how the others are doing," He said.

"Sazh and Vanille?" Lightning asked. "Who knows?"

"I hope they're all right," I said.

"Even if they got away, they'll get caught eventually." Lightning said, pacing back and forth. "Then they'll have to choose: resist or surrender." She placed her hands on her hips.

"Surrender..." Hope repeated. "Do you think he's still alive?" he asked.

"You mean Snow?" I asked.

"He's too stubborn to die," Lightning said. "And that's his best quality. He's arrogant and chummy from the get-go. He thinks he's everybody's pal. Never liked him much." She said scornfully. "He leads around a bunch of kids – gang called 'NORA'."

"Where'd they get the name 'Nora?'" Hopes asked.

"It's a stupid acronym," Lightning said. "Their little code."

"It stands for 'No Obligations, Rules, or Authority,'" I told the boy.

"Must be nice," Lightning said.

"It's irresponsible," Hope said, his eyes glued to his shoes.

Suddenly, the center of the fal'Cie opened to reveal a glowing blue portal. It was obviously a gate of some kind, and we stepped through, appearing on the other side where the pathway led to another elevator.

The elevator descended to the forest floor, where we entered one of the wildlife pens.

"These aren't like the bioweapons," I said. "They're much more dangerous."

"This is an army facility for turning wildlife into weapons," Lightning explained.

"Civilians aren't allowed in here, are they?" Hope asked.

"We'll have to be sure to tell them if we see any," Lightning said.

I smiled to myself.

"See that gate?" I said, pointing at a fence of yellow beams separating each enclosure. "They're equipped with a biorhythmic monitoring system. They can detect any wildlife within the enclosure. When there are no animals, the gates deactivate."

"So we have to get rid of all our pen-mates to keep going?" Hope asked.

I nodded.

We progressed through each enclosure, eliminating any feral creatures that barred our way so the fences would power down. It wasn't a difficult process, only time-consuming.

An alarm sounded throughout the enclosures.

"We've tripped the security alarm," Lightning said. "The Observation Battalion will be coming."

"Great," I said wearily. "It'll be a party."

"Let them come," Hope said indifferently.

I looked at him.

"The Observation Battalion is a well-equipped force, Hope," I said. "We can't underestimate them."

He nodded and walked on.

I exchanged a glance with Lightning at Hope's new attitude.

We came to the end of the enclosures in our section, where the next section was barred by a wall that surrounded the entire site. I looked up at the elevated platform above us.

"We can reach the next section from there," I said, pointing upwards.

"How do we get up there?"

I shrugged. "I haven't thought that far ahead yet. Just give me a minute."

"We can climb this."

Lightning's voice came from the base of one of the trees, where a series of leaves and branches formed a crude stairway to the platform.

"Good thinking," I said, clambering up onto the platform.

Hope led the way to a large platform, where he stopped, his hands on his knees. Night had fallen, though the trees where grouped so close together that it hardly made a difference, but all three of us were exhausted.

"We'll rest here for the night," Lightning said.

Hope sat down and pulled out Lightning's knife, opening it repeatedly.

"What's eating you?" Lightning asked, noticing the resigned look on Hope's face. The boy didn't answer.

"Okay, I can tell you're hung up on something," Lightning pressed him.

"Yeah, Hope, what's wrong?" I asked, sitting down next to him.

"Is it the l'Cie thing?" Lightning guessed.

"Hope?" I asked.

"It's Snow, isn't it?" Lightning said, turning to him.

Hope looked up, but didn't say anything.

"What happened with him?" I asked the boy, remembering his strange behavior back in Lake Bresha.

"You wouldn't understand," Hope said.

"Lightning crouched down in front of him.

"We're a team, Hope," She reminded him.

He looked up at her, then at me, and I nodded.

Hope sighed. "My mother was killed," He began. "Because of him." He started gently hitting the ground with the hilt of Lightning's knife.

Images flashed through my mind: An exploding platform. A woman falling to her death as Snow lost his grip on her hand. A boy up on another platform looking on.

It was Hope.

"I was there," I said quietly.

Hope's head snapped to me.

"What do you mean?" he demanded.

"I saw it. I saw Snow, and your mother."

Lightning was looking from me to Hope.

"It's his fault," Hope said. "And he needs to pay for it." He held the knife up in front of him. "I'm not ready yet, but I will be. Soon." He flicked the knife closed.

Hope stood up. "That's why I followed you," he took a few steps forward and Lightning stood. I did too, not taking my eyes away from Hope's back.

"Snow dragged us all into this. James and me, you and your sister Serah... he's gotta pay." Hope said, lying down.

He stared up at the trees, and I pulled Lightning off to the side.

"Do you think he could..." I began, but I couldn't finish.

Lightning didn't answer immediately. She just stared at Hope.

"I don't know. He has reason enough for revenge."

I sighed. It was a conundrum, all right. Hope was out for blood. Snow's blood. He blamed him for the death of his mother, for letting her fall.

"Let's make sure this place is secure," I said, leading the way around the surrounding paths, and peering into the trees for any hostile movement.

We returned to the platform. Hope was sleeping, curled into a ball.

"James?" Light began.

"Yeah?" I looked down at her.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked me, sitting down.

I sat down next to her.

"Doing what?"

She waved her arm.

"Fighting."

"Would you rather I ran?" I asked her, smiling slightly.

"Why don't you? You know just as well as I do that this will probably be a suicide mission."

I shrugged. "I'm a soldier, Light. All I've ever known is the military. All I've ever done is fight."

She nodded knowingly.

"Don't you have anyone back home?" she asked, lying down, her arms behind her head.

I smiled and moved onto my side, propping my head up on my elbow.

"You mean, a woman?"

I saw the red tinge creep into her cheeks and she nodded.

I shook my head. "Do you?"

She almost laughed.

"Between the Guardian Corps and looking after Serah, I didn't have much time for boys," She said.

"I know what you mean," I said.

We lay in silence for a few minutes before I asked my next question.

"What do you have against Snow?"

Lightning narrowed her eyes at me.

"Besides the fact that he wants to marry my sister?"

"Besides that," I said.

"He's too friendly. He's annoying, and he thinks he's the Maker's gift to Cocoon," She said.

"I'm friendly," I said defensively, suddenly worried about how she might consider me.

"Not like he is, though." She said. "There's friendly, and then there's Snow."

I chuckled. "What does Serah think about your opinion of her boyfriend?" I asked.

She went quiet.

"Sorry," I said, realizing my mistake.

She shook her head.

"It's okay. Serah hates me for it," Lightning said sourly.

"She doesn't hate you," I said immediately.

"No, but she thinks he's a hero."

"He's her hero," I said. "That's why she loves him."

Lightning glared at me.

"I tried to stop it, you know," She said. "When Serah introduce him, I told him to stay away from her."

"I guess that didn't work so well."

She shook her head. "He just laughed, as if I was joking."

I could imagine the scene in my head.

"Enough about Snow, then," I said. "What was it like being in the Guardian Corps?"

She though for a moment.

"I liked it. It was something I was good at. I joined up right after I finished High School, and it was the best choice I ever made."

I nodded, enjoying the light that danced in her eyes when she reminisced about good memories.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She suddenly asked.

I looked away. I had been staring at her, probably for over a minute, and probably with a stupid expression on my face. I mentally slapped myself.

"Nothing," I said quickly.

I let a few more minutes pass between us.

"Why did you join PSICOM?" Lightning asked.

"Why not?" I said, shrugging. "It was good, enjoyable. I graduated top-of-my-class at the Academy, and they put me in charge of an elite unit."

"And it never bothered you that you were killing people?" she asked, a frown on her face.

"It always bothered me." I said quietly. "I've killed a lot of people, Lightning. Most of them deserved it. You have to understand that PSICOM is ruthless. They are brutal, and they are merciless. Their entire operations are based on the fact that sacrifice is necessary for Cocoon to prosper."

She contemplated me for a moment.

"I told you before, I was raised to believe that PSICOM was the only thing standing between Cocoon and destruction. To me, what we did was right."

More time passed as we were lost in our own thoughts.

"Do you regret it?" Lightning asked.

I didn't answer immediately.

"Sometimes."

More time passed.

"What will you do after all this is over?" I asked her.

She shrugged.

"It doesn't matter. We can't escape this." She pointed to her chest.

I raised my eyebrows, not understanding.

She sighed and pulled open the top of her vest, revealing the top of her brand.

I blushed, and nodded.

"We need to defeat the Sanctum first," She said, looking up at the cacophony of trees. "If we defeat them."

"Light," I said, and she looked at me. "We will."

"How do you know?" she asked.

I smiled at her. "It's like you said, we're a team. I'll keep you safe."

She glared at me.

"Like I need help with that," She said.

"You might not," I conceded. "But that's my point. I'll try all the same."

She looked at me, her expression unreadable.

I stood up.

"I'll take first watch," I said.

She stood up as well, shaking her head.

"No way, not after last night."

I laughed. "I promise I'll wake you," I told her.

Her eyes narrowed.

"You better," She said.

I held up my hand.

"I promise," I said.

I watched her lie back down, and, just as I had last night, found myself in the midst of confusing emotions.

I did trust her, and we were growing closer, and I meant what I had said. I would look out for her, even if she didn't need me too. There was a part of me that worried about her. It was more than the bond of a team.

I looked down at her. She was asleep now, and I was content to watch her sleep.

After a few hours of constant alertness, and glancing back at Lightning's sleeping figure, I woke her.

"Happy?" I said, after I had roused her from her sleep.

She nodded, instantly alert.

"You sleep now, okay," She told me, motioning for me to lie down.

I nodded.

"If I wake up to find myself Behemoth-chow, I'm blaming you," I said playfully.

She smiled. "Sounds fair."

I nodded and lay down, taking one last look at her beautiful frame before drifting into unconsciousness.