Author's Note:

Hello everyone! Thank you for all of the favorites and follows on this story! I apologize for the extremely long wait for this chapter. I have school, student teaching, and two jobs, plus a thousand other stories in my head. I also apologize if this chapter is long, but I didn't want Vanille to run into Lightning right away; I really wanted to show her desperation. Enjoy and please comment if you like!

Chapter 2: The Silver Haired Boy

Remember how I said I would never follow the blonde haired man? Well, that is exactly what happened. All because of the silver haired boy.

She fell.

He screamed.

The silver haired boy reached out his hand and let out a despairing shriek as he watched his mother (the nice silver-haired woman) fall from the grasp on the blonde man.

I watched in dismay, cupping my hands to my mouth in a gasp. I glanced over at the boy. He was shocked still, his face even paler than its natural color, his eyes staring at the collapsed bridge where his mother had been fighting only a few moments earlier. Because I was the only one there, I was forced to comfort him. Unsure of what to do, I placed my hands on his shoulders and said, "Come on" as I tried to pull him away. He wouldn't move. As someone who had just lost everything- my home, my family, my peaceful days of old- how was I supposed to console someone who had just lost the same, but in different circumstances?

And in my uncertainty and frustration- as horrible as it sounds- I slapped him. Fwwwwp. He started at me, looking somewhere between guilty and miserable. However, the slap seemed to reawaken his senses and he took my hand as I attempted to pull him again. I managed to drag him to safe area where other refugees were huddled together. But I could see his forlorn face as he removed his hood and his large eyes contort as he watched a nearby mother comfort her child.

Removing my own hood, I decided to give him the gun the blonde man had lent me. "Here," I said, as I shoved the gun into his hands. I didn't know what else to do. Deciding to fight had helped me forget my own insecurities; maybe it would somehow do the same for him. But just randomly handing someone a gun came off as incredibly awkward. He started at me, grief and confusion in his round eyes. To make up for this, I hugged him and said "It's too much, isn't it? Face it later"- a genuine attempt to cheer him up.

But I was wasting time.

I abruptly cheered "Ciao!" and ran away, fleeing my fate to find a new one. But it seemed that his own fate could not wait.

"Wait!" he called, chasing after me. Unfortunately, he caught up. "I need to find that man," he repeatedly told me, trailing me as I tried to lose him. "I need to find him. Because of him, mom is-"

"I need to find someone too," I said.

"Are they nearby?"

"Yes. I was supposed to meet up with her already. She will be very agitated if I am later than I already am," I lied.

"Please help me find him. Then you can go. I just don't want to be alone right now."

Well, I do, I thought to myself. And I can't think with you hanging around. I stopped, the boy almost bumping into me, and looked around at my surroundings. I have no idea where I am going, or where anything is located in this giant piece of junk. I turned to look at the boy, who was nervously playing with his fingers. But he lives here, so he must know. And it seems that he won't leave me alone unless I help him.

"Okay," I said, "I will help you."

"R-really?" He almost managed a smile.

"Yes. If you want to find him, we should go back to the group of rebels he was with. He will probably meet up with them again at some point."

"O-okay!"

He continued to follow close behind me as we made our way back, only now he was silent. I felt more tense than ever. I think I may have preferred his babbling. Just as we found the group, the blonde haired man arrived in some kind of flying contraption. The sight of him made me cringe like before, but somehow the man seemed less cocky and confident than earlier. Feeling guilty, are you?

"That's him," stifled the pale, silver haired boy, hesitant and edgy.

"Didn't you have something to tell him?" I nudged him on.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Alright then!" I looked toward the blonde man as he chatted with his friends. You know, I thought, he seems like an experienced fighter with that muscular build. And he knows how to fight and lead people. Maybe…

"But I…" said the boy.

Maybe he is a soldier.

"I'll go with you," I said abruptly but vehemently.

"What?"

If he is a soldier, he might know the solider girl. "Go on!" I chanted as I pushed the boy forward. He didn't go far, pausing in his apprehension. Ugh, if you want something done you have to do it yourself. "Hey!" I yelled toward the crowd, trying to capture their attention.

Wwwwwwhhhhhhh. The blonde man started up the flying device, its loud engine disorienting me. He said some more things to his friends and flew away.

He's leaving. If only that boy wasn't so cowardly! Looking at him, the silver haired boy seemed more lost and exasperated than me.

I took in a deep breath. "HEY!" I yelled again. The group all turned their heads in my direction, startled but curious. "Where did he say he was going?" I asked.

The group walked over toward us, and a tan skinned, orange haired meathead answered my question: "The Pulse fal'Cie Vestige. But don't wander over there, it's dangerous, kids."

Ignoring the urge to stomp my foot, I smiled and said, "Okay." As soon as they were further away, the only thing visible their colorful hair and the outlines of their ridiculous clothing, I snuck over to a leftover flying machine. I scrutinized it, completely clueless to how it functioned. The pale boy slowly made his way over, dragging his feet. "Hmm? You okay? I asked as I looked over at him.

"I want to tell him, it's just that…" He grabbed my arm, showing how desperate he truly was.

"Say, you know how to fly this thing?" Because I have no idea.

"Yeah, I think so."

Perfect. "Alright! In you go!" I pushed him into the driver's seat, despite his apparent reluctance. "That way!" I cheerfully commanded as I jumped in behind him and pointed toward the Vestige. The boy shook his head, terrified of the fal'Cie and l'Cie. I tried to convince him to go and just when I thought it was futile-

"What are you doing?" the meathead from before screamed, running toward us.

"Here we go!" announced the silver haired boy, starting the engine, supposedly more afraid of the meathead than his insecurities about the Vestige. We rattled through the air, the flying machine veering back and forth, but the boy managed to steady the device as we zoomed away amidst the cries of the orange haired man.

Our landing was just as graceful as our ascension. We crashed into the huge vessel, landing on each other and damaging the flying device. As I got up and brushed myself off, I looked around. The place was abandoned. There were no signs of people anywhere, only the inhuman beeping of machines and the cold, hard stares of metal all around us.

"I guess it's just us," I said, looking down.

"What did you expect?" replied the boy.

Her. If the soldier girl had the fearlessness to take on the whole army, I am sure she is gutsy enough to take on the original source of this whole fiasco- the fal'Cie itself. Maybe she is here somewhere.

"Even soldiers know not to go near the fal'Cie," continued the boy, as if reading my thoughts. "You become a Pulse l'Cie and you're finished."

"What you do mean 'finished'?" I sneered, seriously irritated at his constant backlashing of Pulse and its l'Cie.

"Haven't you heard, Miss-"

"Vanille," I said with extra emphasis.

"Huh?"

"My name. And yours?"

"Hope."

Not a very fitting name, I thought to myself.

From there, we started to explore the area, and Hope complained about Pulse the entire time. "You people's ignorance is scarier than anything on Pulse," I whispered under my breath. Hope continued his rant and my annoyance continued to mount until-

"Serah? You can hear me? Where are you? Hang on, baby! Your hero's on the way!"

The blonde man was somewhere in the Vestige. Hope was as emotional and unreliable as ever, but with this reassurance, we kept searching as we followed the sound of the blonde man's voice until-

Cieth. Hordes of them staggering toward us with their awkward gait, and their terrifying yet melancholic groans. Hope and I were prepared to fight, when he showed up, the muscular blonde man, and helped us defeat every last one. His skill at battle only fed my suspicion that he was a soldier.

But our victory was short-lived.

Hope collapsed from the exhaustion of the battle, or from the traumatic surprise of seeing the blonde man right in from him so suddenly. Or maybe a mixture of both. I wasn't really sure.

"How did you get in here? You gotta leave!" the blonde man said, turning toward us. Our response was a nervous laugh from me, and a rueful glare from Hope. "Okay, listen," the man said. "Find someplace to hide and keep quiet. Once I find Serah, we'll all leave together." He turned his back to us and started walking away. "You'll be home in time for dinner!"

"You-" began Hope.

"Wait!" I yelled. The man stopped for a moment. "Who's Serah?" Could it be the Serah I know?

"My wife. Future wife, that is. She's a Pulse l'Cie. She's here somewhere, along with that fal'Cie."

I gasped. No. No, no, no.

"What's wrong with you?!" screamed Hope. He shouted at the man, calling him insane for helping a l'Cie, but I knew his anger was really directed somewhere else. "How can you help a l'Cie and not-"

But the blonde man did not listen. He ran off, unheeded by Hope, to save his fiancé. This is when Hope truly lost it. He fell to the floor, pounding his fist against the ground, cursing his fate. He reminded me of a Juggernaut, bursts of steam escaping from its body as it attacked foes and swung its limbs in retaliation. I don't have time for this, I thought to myself. I need to follow that man so I can find the soldier girl. He would be much more helpful than this overwrought kid. Plus, I need to see if it is really Serah-

The blonde man came back. At the sight of him, I let out a sigh of relief and Hope stopped his tantrum. He was the same as me. He couldn't show his weaknesses to anyone but a selected few.

"Hey again," the man said, waving gawkily.

"Hey," I nodded. I bent over toward Hope. "Let's go with him, Hope."

"What?" he asked, earnest and baffled.

"You gotta talk to him, Hope."

I have to find her.

"If you don't take this chance, you'll regret it forever."

I'll regret it forever.

"Okay…"

"Let's go!" called the blonde man.

And we did. Through fortified corridors, over clanking platforms, to the core of the vessel. As we descended into a chamber, the blonde man saw something and ran forward. He kneeled down and was speaking to someone, though I couldn't see who because of his massive bulk.

I approached slowly. I saw rose-colored tips of hair… I looked over his shoulder… and gasped. It was Serah.

And holding her was the soldier girl.