"I'm a L' Cie, Lightning. And... I want to marry Snow" Said Serah. "So, you want to marry Snow? No. And besides, since you're a L' Cie, that means that I have to take you in." Said Lightning. Serah then ran away, crying. "Hey, Serah! Oh, have a heart!" Shouted Snow. Snow then walked after Serah. "Well, it's still a nice present" Said Lightning. Suddenly, Hope appeared on the roof, and fell down onto the table. "What the!? How did you!?" Asked Lightning, before she pointed her gunblade at Hope. "Oh dear god. Um, well I might as well explain" Said Hope.
(Switches between 8 different face shots of Hope, Lightning and 6 blacked out faces.)
A sword in my heart, a shining courage, I know it's inside me, the only miraculous
(Hope punches the screen, revealing the title)
trump card, I have is myself.
(The title gets blown away)
The wind tells me that my strength is inside me, if I can handle even fear, then I'll move
(It then changes to a shot of Serah, getting trapped in crystals)
forward. I run, slicing through the wind. Throwing away my confusion, I want to believe
(It then changes to a shot of Lightning and Hope falling)
That I can go anywhere, no matter how far. A voice cries out amid my dilemma.
(Cuts to Hope and Lightning, back to back against PSICOM)
Breaking down all impossibilities, a sword in my heart, a shining courage! I know it's
(All the PSICOM people fall, with Lightning and Hope now fighting)
inside me! An invisible power guides me! Blade! When I awake from sleeping, I'm in the
(Ends with Lightning and Hope's swords clashing)
future, the place where my sadness ends!
"Then start explaining" Said Lightning. "My name is Hope. I was sent by a person that you know very well to protect you. Now, you don't need to believe me. You just have to trust me" Said Hope. "Well, I don't believe you. And I don't trust you. I'm taking you in" Said Lightning. "No you're not" Said Hope. "Oh? And why is that?" Asked Lightning. "Because. We both have weapons, of the melee variety. If I can beat you once, then you must trust me" Said Hope. "Why?" Asked Lightning. "Because. That means that I can defend you better then you can defend yourself" Said Hope. "Or it means you can kill me" Said Lightning. "Kill? Something as pretty as you? Never, it would cause my death too" Said Hope. "Alright, let's do it" Said Lightning, before she put her gunblade back in its case. "Well, you might want to consider this a date. I need to tell you about somethings that you may find interesting" Said Hope. "Ok" Said Lightning.
20 minutes later, on the beach
"Ready?" Asked Lightning, who was holding her Blazefire Sabre. "Yeah" Said Hope, who was holding his two Hookblades. "Go" Said Lightning, before she dashed forwards and tried to attack Hope, but Hope blocked it. "Nice try" Said Hope, before Hope used his other Hookblade to grab Lightning's arm and move it, and Hope then kicked her in the stomach, knocking her down. "Well, you are quite good" Said Lightning. "Thank you" Said Hope. Lightning then tripped Hope up, making him fall over. Lightning then got on top of Hope, and put the Blazefire Sabre to his neck. "Well, I guess this is check mate" Said Hope. "Yeah" Said Lightning. Hope then grabbed Lightning's ankle, and flipped her off of him. "Oops, forgot about that pawn" Said Hope, who then kicked the Blazefire Sabre away. "Ok. Yeah, I guess you had a few chances there where you could have killed me. I trust you" Said Lightning. "Thanks. Now, I need you to come with me. I... need to tell you somethings. About who sent me here and why. And some other minor details" Said Hope. "I know a place" Said Lightning, before she and Hope walked away from the beach.
2 minutes later, in a bar
"So, what are you going to tell me about?" Asked Lightning. "Well, as you already know, I was sent here to protect you. But, here's what you don't. You will teach me how to fight, send me back through you're timeline, and you told me to protect you from yourself. And I hate you for what you did" Said Hope. "Well, I can't believe that, except for that last part. But, like I've said, I trust you" Said Lightning. "So, now that you know about me, let's learn about you. Wait... day 12" Said Hope. "Day 12? What do you mean?" Asked Lightning. "Well, another thing. There are 13 day, 13 days until the battle within begins. Now, tomorrow, you are going to make a choice. This decides both you, and another's part in this battle" Said Hope. "Interesting" Said Lightning. "Ever the slightest" Said Hope. "Well, as you already know, my name is Lightning, well, Clare Farron. I'm part of the Guardian Corps, a military unit that goes on missions... speaking of which, I just got a call for one" Said Lightning. "You're a sergeant. You're no joke then" Said Hope. "How did you know?" Asked Lightning. "One year, you will teach me for. The first day, you said if I had any questions, just ask. That was day 3" Said Hope. "Would you like to come?" Asked Lightning. "Yes" Said Hope. "Well, let's go" Said Lightning, before she and Hope left.
2 hours later, in the Gapra Whitewood
"We received a call a few hours ago that some sort of red, sword using person has been around here, killing some of the local wildlife. Now, since we actually like the wildlife... Who's the kid?" Asked General Amour. "Oh, me?" Asked Hope. "Yes, you" Said General Amour. "I'm Hope" Said Hope. "You're not mine, but I guess what you have makes you capable of fighting" Said General Amour. "Thanks" Said Hope. "I see him!" Said a soldier. "Let's go" Said Hope, before he ran after the person. "Hope, wait!" Shouted Lightning, before she ran after Hope. "Nobody ever sticks to the plan in this corps" Said General Amour. Hope, who was still chasing the person, jumped on the person, and rolled away safely. "Now, who are... 007?" Asked Hope. 007 then disappeared. "Hope... where did it go?" Asked Lightning, who just arrived. "It was the Sword Romuloide" Said Hope, causing Lightning to gasp. "What? It's not that hard to defeat, 5 minutes at least, just remember to separate the host from the Romuloide" Said Hope. "No, Hope. That was one of Orphan's avatars" Said Lightning. "Ok, is that bad?" Asked Hope. "Yes. Very bad. I need to tell Amour" Said Lightning. Lightning and Hope then walked away from the area they were in, and back to General Amour. "General Amour, I can confirm that the person was not a person, but one of Orphan's avatars" Said Lightning. "One of Orphan's avatars? This is some bad stuff" Said General Amour. "Who's Orphan?" Asked Hope. "Boy, I don't know if you're not form around these parts of just stupid, because Orphan is basically God. And if one of his avatars are around, then it's pretty much the end of the world" Said General Amour. "Great. Well, that's not overused. Anyway, since we know what it is, let's go home and hide under our beds" Said Hope. "That's not a bad idea" Said General Amour.
2 hours later, at Lightning's house
"It's been ransacked" Said Lightning. "Don't mess with us, or we will kill her?" Asked Hope. "A threat?" Asked Lightning. "Na, just an getto spelling bee" Said Hope. "In my house!?" Asked Lightning. "Gotta have it somewhere" Said Hope. "An well known Guardian Corps officials home!?" Asked Lightning. "Yeah, maybe one of those avatars did it" Said Hope. "Hope, tell me. Why will... or do you hate me for training you?" Asked Lightning. "I died beforehand. I believe that most people prefer it if they weren't kicked out of death" Said Hope. "So, I saved you from death, and now you're mad at me" Said Lightning. "Hey. You, as a card, killed me" Said Hope. "So I'm going to both be you're killer and you're reviver" Said Lightning. "I found another, but longer, note. Lightning, I've gone to get Purged, because of what you have told me. I just want you to know, I love you" Read Hope. "I'm..." Said Lightning. "This is not the time to be hotheaded. Remain calm. Tomorrow. Remember what I told you before, tomorrow, it begins" Said Hope. "Right. The Battle Within Begins at the end of the 13 days" Said Lightning. "The whole of Cocoon and Gran Pulse hangs in the balance" Said Hope.
1 day later, at a train station
"Well, Hope did say he had to go to a special place. I wonder what that place was?" Wondered Lightning. "Um, hello. My name is Sazh. And what is your name?" Asked Sazh. "Lightning. Are you...?" Asked Lightning. "No, I'm going to get Purged" Said Sazh. "So am I" Said Lightning. "Um, excuse me, Sargent Farron, I must tell you that no Guardian Corps personal can be Purged" Said a soldier. "Well, tell General Amour. I quit" Said Lightning. "... Is he you're plus one?" Asked the soldier. "I guess so" Said Lightning. "Climb aboard" Said the Soldier. Lightning and Sazh then entered the train.