Chapter Twenty-Two: Healing

Noel's hand pulled Lightning out through the magical mirror in New Bodhum's NORA house, yanking her out of it so quickly that Lightning momentarily lost her balance. Fortunately for her, Noel's hands were there to catch her before she would have fallen on top of him. "Easy," he said, though his voice showed that he was surprised for some reason. As was Lightning. What just happened here? She had a grip on Serah's hand, but Serah suddenly transformed into Noel and now here she was. Wherever here was.

Lightning opened her eyes and looked around and past Noel, seeing exactly where they were standing. Between the two beds in Serah's old bedroom in the NORA headquarters of New Bodhum. This obviously wasn't the time period that NORA was here though; the air was similar to that of 500 AF. Somehow she could just tell that was where she was. It helped that Noel was present and unaged too.

"My head's spinning," she muttered. This was too much to take in at once.

"Sit down," Noel insisted quickly. He was gripping Lightning's upper arms now, so he guided her back onto one of the beds. She sat down on the end of it, and if she was looking straight ahead of her, she would have been facing the rest of the house. But she wasn't looking up. Instead, she sat forward and put her head in her hands. "I'm not surprised you're feeling disoriented," he said.

"This is New Bodhum. 500 AF?"

"That's right," he said. "This is about three months since you first left on your journey."

"The journey," she muttered in remembrance. "It's over, Noel. Etro is dead."

"I know," he nodded. "Valhalla's shadow in this world disappeared as I was making my way to New Bodhum. The fight in Academia is probably over too."

"There was a fight going on in Academia?" Lightning asked, lifting her head out of her hands and looking up at Noel. As she sat here in this room, her mind was starting to become more coherent again. Just for a few moments, the memories of what happened in that other realm drifted to the back of Lightning's mind as she took in what Noel had to say.

"Yeah. Do you remember what we said at the very start of this? That this was going to be a two-front war? Well, we were right. While you were fighting her in Valhalla, she sent a ton of monsters here to try and kill enough people to release chaos into this world. It was an all out war in Academia, and in any place where there was real civilization. The only reason we were able to win was because of those weapons that you and Caius were able to retrieve for us in the past. How long ago did you do that?"

"I don't know," she muttered, shaking her head. She lost track of all time on their journey. Thinking of the other person who travelled with her, Lightning suddenly became completely aware that she shouldn't have been the only one back in this reality. "Caius!" she said out of the blue, turning her head sharply to the left and then to the right.

There he was to her right. Lying down on the bed closer to the windows on his back. Unconscious.

"He's okay," Noel said. "…I think. Something's wrong."

Lightning squinted over at Caius, not that she was far away in the first place. The last time she saw him, he had that weird blue and black aura running over his body. Etro had hit them with that energy and forced him to turn back into a human. Was that why he was in bad shape, because of the forced reversal?

"What…What can we do?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows in dedication as she turned her gaze to Noel. There had to be something.

"I've tried curing him, but I'm not the best medic. Maybe more spells could help him?"

"I can do that." She rose to her feet, forgetting her own weariness as she walked over to Caius's bed. She knelt down next to it at first, arms on the side of the bed as she gazed at Caius. His eyebrows were furrowed slightly in his slumber, but he didn't look like he was in a lot of pain. His breathing was regular and calm. Was it an enchanted sleep?

"He was awake when I pulled him through the mirror," Noel filled in as if he were reading Lightning's mind. He laughed faintly, shaking his head. "He had enough time to ask about you before he collapsed on me."

Lightning shut her eyes, feeling both relieved and dismayed. She worried him, and in this condition (or any condition), that wasn't a good thing. Her eyes landed on his hand close to hers. She reached out and grabbed it wordlessly, glancing over at Noel again as if to say, Yeah, we can stand each other now. More than that actually.

"I know I'm leaving him in good hands," he said with a faint nod.

"You're leaving?"

"I hurried over here from Academia and left everyone else behind," he explained. "I only told them that I needed to get here as quick as I could."

"How did you know how to find us anyway?"

Noel's eyes turned sadder, but at the same time, he smiled faintly. "Serah. She told me to come here and save you."

Lightning shut her eyes, smiling softly in sadness. "Right," she said quietly. Of course Serah had a hand in rescuing her. And she probably helped Caius get saved too, whether she spoke to him in that other reality or she just told Noel to save him too. Thanks sis.

"So I'm gonna go back to Academia and tell everyone that you're okay," he continued with a nod. "I'll be back as soon as I can. I'll be sure to bring them all with me; they'll be glad to see you guys."

"Yeah," she agreed.

As Noel turned to leave, Lightning parted her lips one more time. "Noel," she called. Upon seeing the brunet turn around, she said what she had to say. "Thank you."

He smiled softly and nodded silently in recognition. Then he took his leave and left Lightning alone with Caius.

Lightning looked back at Caius immediately, grasping his hand without feeling her own grasped in return. For maybe the first time, she was showing affection without him displaying some to encourage her to follow his lead. This was completely on her own. This never happened before, not once. It showed just how big an impact Caius made on her.

But despite being softer, she was still Lightning. And Lightning was a warrior who put physical needs above emotional. I need to check his heartbeat, she thought. That was what she needed to do. She released his hand and stood up, gently setting her fingertips beneath Caius's jaw to feel his heartbeat. Strong. Steady. Calm. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Still, if he passed out on Noel almost as soon as he got here, something must have still been wrong. Her relief disappeared instantaneously. It had to be his heart, despite the steady beating it was performing now. His heart was combined with Chaos Bahamut's, and the transformation back from monster to human wasn't done willingly, damage would have been done to the heart first.

There was only one thing she could do.

With delicacy that wouldn't be expected from a hardened soldier, she put one hand on each of Caius's sides and found out how to remove the upper half of his armor. If she was going to monitor his heartbeat, she wanted to hear it directly instead of keeping her fingers underneath his jaw for a very long time. And besides, if he needed CPR now, the armor wouldn't get in the way.

She carefully put the armor on the other bed. Turning back to Caius, she studied his bare torso for the first time. He was a warrior for so long that Lightning had expected his chest to be covered in scars. Yet there was only one scar present on him—a long one right over his left breast. Something told her that it had to do with Etro's Heart. Was that where he was pierced by Noel's weapon?

Lightning's own heart ached at how much pain that must have caused. Even if he was her enemy when he was stabbed, he wasn't now. Any pain Caius felt was literally becoming her pain. She cared so much that it frightened her, but it frightened her even more to think of not caring anymore. Living an empty life with no attachments to anyone wasn't an option for her anymore.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and lightly placed a hand over his heart. Still it continued to beat normally. Still she decided to cast ten Cure spells on him just to make sure that he was going to be alright. Still he did not awaken.

The only thing that did occur was Lightning losing a rapid amount of energy because of how much she put into those Cure spells. She gazed down at Caius with half opened eyes, feeling the steady thumping of his heart beneath her hand. The consistency of it made her drowsy. Drowsy enough that she decided to lay down in the space available next to Caius. She laid down on her side beside him and kept her hand on his chest. There was no room by his on the pillow, so she slid herself down a little bit so that her head was right next to his heart. Literally, right next to it. She lightly pressed the side of her head against the left side of his chest and listened. Thud thud. Thud thud. Thud thud. Normal. Perfectly normal. Perfectly wonderful.

Lightning closed her eyes as the warmth of Caius's bare torso washed over her and spread to her own heart. Never before had she felt so…at peace. Even in sleep he made her feel safe.

Within only a few minutes, Lightning allowed that peace to coax her into a slumber of her own.

*…*…*…*…*…*

Noel Kreiss wasn't technological like all of his other friends in this time period were; he had no idea how to work the cars and airships that Hope and Sazh had so desperately tried to teach him about. So how had he managed to get to New Bodhum in time to pull Lightning and Caius out of the enchanted mirror.

The insane red chocobo.

That was what he was riding back to Academia, unfortunately. The chocobo was crazy with how much it bobbed up and down while running, and how it kept demanding greens from Noel. He just hoped that he had enough to make it back, because he needed to share the news with them all. He could hardly believe it himself. The war was finally over and Lightning and Caius were safe.

While he could have kept his thoughts on those two for the whole ride back to his new home, his thoughts wandered to something that happened earlier that day during the fighting. Even if things were hectic, the memories were perfectly clear.

All Hell broke loose in Academia earlier that day. None of them were surprised that this was the era Etro chose to fight her war in; she didn't have much of a choice in the matter. According to Hope, Etro was going to be using a great amount of energy to battle Lightning and Caius, so she needed to fight in a time period where the timeline was already unstable. Of course Etro herself didn't fight; she just sent millions of monsters to do the fighting for her.

All over Gran Pulse and Bhunivelze, monsters of all kinds appeared and every single able-bodied person was forced into the fight of their lives. He, Hope, Snow, and Sazh stuck together in Academia to fight off what they could since there were a lot of women and children in the city. That and they didn't want to lose track of each other for a second. They were all that they had left.

But the fighting had gotten too extreme. Hope had to split off with Sazh while Noel lingered with Snow outside the headquarters. The hero was more than just talk; he did do a good job as both a defender and an attacker. Better than how Noel did in the end. A wolf-like beast ran in out of nowhere and swatted him back against the wall roughly. He had hit his head and collapsed, just in time to hear Snow call his name in alarm before he passed out.

What happened when he was passed out was what was truly extraordinary.

"Noel," a gentle voice called into the darkness that surrounded him.

He stood in the middle of nothing, looking around frantically for the voice that he recognized. "Serah?"

"You got it on your first try this time," she said in remembrance to his other dream, when he thought she was Etro. "I'm impressed."

She was calm, happy, but he was frantic just to get a glimpse of her. "Serah!"

"Don't worry Noel, it's okay. I know you can't see me. I just need to talk to you, because time is short."

"What are you doing here? How are you speaking to me?"

"You're dreaming, Noel."

His heart sank. "So this isn't real?"

"No, it is," she disagreed. "Just not physically happening. I am speaking to you from the grave, sort of. Long story short, I'm about to move onto whatever waits for me in the afterlife. Etro had all the souls of the dead trapped in a cold and dark place, but when she's defeated, we'll be free to go. Even though you're fighting her monsters now, to me, Etro has just been defeated. But in your time, I know it hasn't happened yet. That's why I needed to talk to you."

"Okay…What's up?"

"Lightning and Caius. They're going to kill Etro and destroy Valhalla along with her—while they're still in it. They're going to be sent to this place as well, only they're going to have a choice as to whether they want to return to the real world or to whatever the afterlife has for them. If they want to come back to you guys, they're going to need some help."

"What can I do?" he asked.

"Go to New Bodhum as quickly as you can. That mirror that was in my room in 3 AF is still there. It will serve as a portal between your world and the one between life and death. Reach in and if somebody takes your hand, they've chosen to come back to your world. Pull them back to you."

"It's that simple?"

"It's that simple," she assured him. "You just need to get to New Bodhum, right away."

"Okay," he nodded. "I will."

Just as the dream began to fade, another thought crossed his mind. "Serah! Wait!"

Thankfully, she did wait. "What is it, Noel?" she asked gingerly.

"Will I…ever hear from you again? See you again?"

For the first time, her voice showed sadness. "I'm sorry," she said gently. "But this is probably the last time I'll be able to contact you. Don't worry though. Hopefully I can be everyone's guardian angel now."

"Wasn't I supposed to be the Guardian?" he asked in weak humor.

She laughed faintly. "Funny how life works out." After a short pause, she spoke up again in a gentle but sincere voice. "Don't worry about how things turned out with me Noel," she said. "I'm happy I was at least able to do good with my life. It's enough for me."

Just like that, the dream began to fade once again. The word "goodbye" echoed in his ears as he returned to his reality. The first thing that he was aware of was the pounding of his head. Was that caused by him hitting the wall of the building or by his dream? Regardless, he knew he had to shake it off. Quickly. He didn't know how long he had been out. He grunted and lifted a hand to his head, looking out towards the city and seeing Snow Villiers standing in front of him between him and the one monster that remained in the area.

"Snow," he muttered, slowly pushing himself to his feet. The man didn't hear him. "Snow, I gotta go!" he said more loudly.

"Now's no time for a potty break!"

"No, I gotta go to New Bodhum!" he said seriously. "I can't explain why, there's no time. Hold them off."

"You got it." Thankfully, he didn't make any comments about being the hero as he charged forward and dueled that monster so that Noel could make his way past.

It took Noel longer than he would have liked to weave his way out of the city and get that crazy red chocobo, but he managed to do it. Apparently he had gotten to New Bodhum just in time, because he was able to pull out Caius and then Lightning from the mirror. Lightning was in a lot better shape than Caius, though she appeared to be shaken by something. Had she spoken to Serah too? That was the impression that he received. But even if that was the case, he wouldn't ask about it because it was surely something very personal to her. Serah was her sister after all, the only family she had left until recently. Noel knew what it was like to be the last family member alive, along with so many other ways of being alone.

But he wasn't alone now. Not anymore. And nobody would have to be alone at all because they saved the future from Etro. The world wouldn't end now; he just knew it. That was what the peace in his heart told him.

Despite the not so peaceful ride back on the chocobo, it went quickly because he was distracted by his thoughts. He jumped off the chocobo in the middle of the city before the chocobo would have thrown him off and ran away. It did run away in the end, but others ran towards him upon seeing him arrive again. Hope, Snow, Sazh, Dajh, and two others. The two he didn't recognize, but it didn't matter.

"Guys," he said to all of them. "They're both back. They're okay."

*…*…*…*…*…*

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Lightning slept without having any dreams at all. None. There were no screams tormenting her, no nightmares telling her that her family and friends were suffering because of her. Or that they were suffering at all, more importantly—Even in slumber, Lightning was sufficiently reassured that all the people she loved truly were free and happy.

That comfort nearly made her smile in her sleep. They were happy, and so was she, even if she chose to leave them to face this reality. She at least knew that she did it with their blessing. That was what was most important to her, along with the fact that she wasn't going to face life alone. She had a feeling that Caius was going to be along for the ride.

If he was alright.

Lightning drowsily turned her face against the side of Caius's chest. She was still able to hear his heartbeat, which was steady and strong like it had been when she first drifted into unconsciousness. How long had she been out anyway? Even if she gazed outside the window and tried to see the time of day, it wouldn't matter. She didn't know what time she fell asleep in the first place.

Time didn't matter so much now. They had all the time in the world. What really mattered was her and Caius. Mostly Caius at this point.

She lifted her head and looked up at Caius, surprised to see that his expression changed from when she saw him last. He didn't look like he was in pain at all.

And then his eyes opened.

Lightning's eyes locked onto Caius's immediately. His eyes weren't showing grogginess at all; he looked very aware. Had he been awake for a while? And if he was, why didn't he wake her? Stupid question, she thought to herself. He's been trying to win my affection for a long time, and now I'm showing him that he's done it. He wouldn't want that to end.

"Hello," he murmured to her.

"Hello," she responded just as quietly. "Welcome back."

"Welcome back? What, did I go somewhere since returning to this reality?"

"Away from me."

Caius smiled softly as he wrapped an arm around the girl who was lying beside him. "I suppose I did," he agreed. "But coming back to this was such sweet pleasure that I almost don't mind leaving."

"Well you're going to stick around for a while," she declared, turning more serious. "We need to make sure you're okay." Etro's final attack. It did something to him.

"I'm fine."

She gave him a look of disbelief.

"Truly," he assured her. "I can move freely now, in case you didn't notice." He arched a brow at her as he tightened the arm that he had moved around her. He had a point.

"Okay…" she tried again. "But there was a lot more to it than that. That weird aura surrounding you-"

"—Was because of the forced transformation from Chaos Bahamut to human form," he finished. "Whatever spell she used to force that occurrence has worn off. I feel like a new man."

"Maybe because in some ways, you are a new man," Lightning suggested.

"Hmph," he hummed with a small smirk. "Yes, I'm very different from who I used to be. As are you."

"What was your first clue?" she asked jokingly. It was pretty obvious how he could tell she was different than before; she was willingly showing affection and emotion. He really helped her change for the better.

Caius didn't bother responding. He only smiled softly down at her. She could have sworn that he was thinking about kissing her, and he probably would have if her head was closer to his. He really didn't want to disrupt this moment. And neither did she.

After a few more moments of holding eye contact with him, she lowered her head and shut her eyes. She was still tired since she and Caius had been running around for so long and not sleeping like they needed to. Just judging by his relaxed position, he did seem ready to fall asleep again. This time, instead of passing out immediately, she just laid next to him and listened to his breathing along with his heart rate. Once both were calm enough, she knew that her suspicions were correct: he really was tired, and currently asleep.

She only smiled faintly, staring up at the ceiling and lingering in consciousness. Finally, she could feel complete peace, because the healing of harms had begun.

*…*…*…*…*…*

Ah, romantic fluff. Isn't it awesome? ;3

Ballad Jr—Haha, thanks! I really hope I get published too. (: It would be incredible

Artemiangel—I do believe that Caius is the more romantic of the two. He really does have a big heart. 3

Darkis0777- "Cloud Smiles" is such a good song! So sweet (: I'm gonna have to listen to that now! Also, it was just a rumor about Versus being cancelled, so all is well in the world! I have a feeling that there will be a XIII-3, since somebody is supposed to make an announcement about the "Lightning saga" soon.

I believe that's it for the responses! (Sorry if I missed anyone, as always). I want to let you guys know that I'm accepting prompts for oneshots, by the way. (: So if you guys have ideas for stuff (even if it's not for xiii-2), let me know!

Until next time,

Peanut