The next time when I awoke, there was no granite or smoke. There was clean air and plush fabric under me. Instead of a red and orange sky, there was a dimly lit ceiling.

"Good morning, sunshine." The thick, foreign accent of our newest companion came from my right side, I could tell without having even turned my head.

"Actually?" My voice was dry.

Fang chuckled. "Early morning, yes. Any pain?"

I stayed still for a moment to gauge how I was feeling. "It's… better."

"'Better' is best case scenario for now, I'll take it." She stood up and put her hands behind my back to help me sit up. "I'll grab that sister of yours, she'll be glad to see you up." Fang pushed a pillow to prop me up, and then stepped out.

I took a look at the room I was in in the meantime. It was nice, spacious. The walls were painted with a muted earthy green that paired well with the red tones of the traditional wooden bedroom suite. It felt very different from the décor of our house back in Bodhum; yet, still felt like home, in a weird way.

The door slid open. Lightning stepped into the doorway before halting when we made eyecontact.

I gave her a small smile. "Hi."

"Hey." Lightning got further into the room so she could close the door behind her. But she didn't move any more than that.

"What, did the blast make me radioactive?" I gave myself a look over. "Shouldn't I be glowing?"

A snort came from her direction. I saw her put a hand over her mouth. Lightning then sat on the edge of the bed.

I realized then that I was wearing different clothes than before. These were fresh, no dirt, no soot, no blood. A button-up night-shirt that was a little loose, and a pair of pajamas bottoms. The realization of the clothes then came with the realization that these clothes belonged to someone that wasn't myself or Lightning. And who's room is this? Think- we got to Palumpolum, then met up with Snow-

"Snow and Hope, are they-"

Lightning put a hand on my arm. "They're okay, Fang found them. I caught up after I got you." That's right. She gestured to the room. "This is Hope's home."

I took a look of the room again. Knowing it was Hope's place, the colors made sense. "Whew." I relaxed and sat my head back on the headboard. "Are they hurt?"

"Hope was roughed up, but it's minimal. Snow took the brunt of the fall. He's awake in the room over." Lightning reached up and pushed some hair behind my ear. So they did fall.

"Hope… he was really upset." I frowned at the rooftop memory. "I was trying to stop him. I didn't see the army coming up-"

"Hey, no, Aurora." Lightning replaced her hand on my own. "I told you to keep an eye on him, and you did. You being attacked was not your fault." I noticed a gentle smile on her face. "What's important now is that everyone is safe and together."

Her words did bring me solace, even if that tug of guilt remained in my chest. "He didn't want to let go of his plan. Hope, I mean. But, part of me thinks that he was trying to be good." Hope had held back multiple times, it was clear. I knew he wanted to focus on helping the people in the city- but his emotions got the best of him.

Lightning nodded. "I think so too." She looked away, down at our hands pressed together. I felt her run her thumb over my knuckles, like she was in thought.

Thinking about Hope, probably.

She then stopped her thumb's movements and looked back to me. Her eyes landed on mine. "Aurora. I'm proud of you."

My heart skipped a beat. "You are?"

"I am." Lightning sighed before giving me another small smile. "This hasn't been an easy journey. I hate the idea that you're here, involved in this l'Cie thing. Both you and Serah were forced into something you had no say in, something that I couldn't stop. I'm angry." She paused before continuing. "But not with you. And… I'm sorry if I've made you think so."

There were definitely times where I felt like I was on the receiving end of Light's rage and wrath. Even though I knew she wasn't actually mad at me, these words she spoke to me in this moment helped bring peace inside me where previous turmoil rumbled self-doubt in my mind.

Knowing she could be proud of me even after what happened was such a good feeling.

A mild burning started to come on around my eyes. I quickly glanced away, trying to will the tears to go back in, evaporate, anything.

Lightning gripped my hand firmly. "It's just me."

And a sneaky gremlin of a teardrop escaped, rolling down my cheek. I shut my eyes with a sniffle. "Oh- I hate crying." I complained with my bottom lip stuck out.

Light let out a soft laugh. I felt her hand pat my damp cheek to blot the tears away. "You're not in pain, though?"

I shook my head. "It's a one point five now."

She also found this amusing, too. "I got you cleaned up, set your leg. You've also got a nasty bump on your head." She nodded upwards, and I touched above my brow. Oof, yes, very nasty. "Hope stepped in and assisted with the fix-up after."

"He's gotten the hang of this cursed witchery thing."

"More than he realizes." Lightning sat back up. "Hope talked to his dad."

I looked at her. "How was it?" I asked, while wiping away the stray tears that rolled under my chin.

"As well as expected, with the news he had to tell him." Lightning reached over to the bedside table and plucked a tissue from a box to hand to me. "But I think it was better than Hope made it out to be."

"Sometimes words are all we need in these situations." I dried my face and brushed the tissue over my damp eyelashes. "Relatable."

Lightning patted my hand with a smile.

Then there was a knock on the door. I spoke up to allow whoever it was to come on in.

It was Hope. He carried folded clothes in his hands. "You're awake. I, um- my dad, he washed your things." Hope stepped in and set the clothes on the table next to the bed. "Snow's stuff is in the drier." He looked between Light and me and then looked away.

Hope started to turn to walk out.

"Wait." I spoke up.

He stopped, and turned to face me once again.

I looked at Lightning and nodded to the door. She understood, and left, closing the door on her way.

Hope stood awkwardly next to the bed.

"Thanks for getting my things clean."

Hope shook his head. "My dad did it. I just brought them back."

A gestured to the clothes I was wearing. "These yours?"

"The shirt, yeah. The pants, they're my m-" He cleared his throat. "I tried to find something soft."

"Not too shabby."

"Good."

He was still standing there.

I reached out to his hand and tugged at it to make him take a seat.

Hope sat, startled. "Wha-"

"This is your house. Sit."

He stared at me for a moment, like he was processing what I said. He pulled his hand away from me. "Right. You're right."

"And I know I can't stop you, but don't feel bad about today. We're all just glad that everyone is okay now."

Hope nodded. "I know." I saw him look down towards my side.

I patted my now mostly healed rib. "Did a good job here."

"I don't know if it's completely fixed. I couldn't see it. It might still hurt."

"It's fine." I smiled. "I'm alive. I can't thank you enough for making sure I stay that way."

He sheepishly rubbed a hand on the back of his neck.

Knock knock. The door opened again and Lightning looked inside. "Hey. Your dad wants to talk."

"Oh, okay." Hope stood up. "Do you need help?"

I shook my head. "I got it. Just give me a minute to get dressed, I'll be right there."

We all met in the living room of Hope's house. Light assisted me through the hallway and into the room, then helped me down onto the end of the couch that Hope and his father also sat on. Snow was across from us in a chair, and Fang sat on the arm of a chair to Hope's father's left. Lightning stayed standing. It was really, really quiet.

Hope's father- Bartholomew Estheim- looked tired. His face was puffy, his eyes pink and slightly swollen behind his glasses. The obvious signs of having just cried. Losing his wife, the mother of his son, during a time like this…

Even with the redness, I saw the definite resemblance between him and Hope. The colors of their hair and eyes were different, but the shape of their faces matched, brows locked in conflicted emotion, and posture at identical angles.

The two sat at a distance from each other. From my place on the same couch, I felt the tense energy between the father and son. Light told me that they had talked, privately, but I knew it wasn't going to be an immediate miracle to their relationship- especially after what they've just had to go through.

Snow got out of his chair and knelt down on the ground. "The blame is mine. I couldn't save her."

Mr. Estheim put his face in his hand with a sigh as Snow got right to the point.

"If it wasn't for Snow," Hope started, "I wouldn't be here right now."

I looked over to him, surprised. Even though it was true, according to what I was told, I hadn't expected Hope to defend Snow, not yet.

"Snow." Mr. Estheim looked back to across the coffee table. "Did Nora… did she say anything to you?"

My eyes landed on a photo sitting on the table in front of me. It looked like a younger Hope, alongside Mr. Estheim, and a woman with the same hair and eyes as Hope. Nora. Having a face to the name made it that more difficult to listen to the conversation that was being made about her. Her kind eyes reminded me of my own mother.

"Hope-" Snow then responded. "She said to get him home."

There was a silent moment as Snow kept his eyes to the ground, and Mr. Estheim seemed to think about what was said to him before he reacted: "And that's exactly what you've done."

I saw shock in Snow's face as he looked back up. I heard Hope make a sound of surprise as well. Honestly- we all were taken aback by his answer, but also relieved. It's always good to see forgiveness in a person, and resolution among people. It was a big step forward for our group, getting over this hurdle that was preventing a bridge from being built. We couldn't expect what would come from this meeting between us and Hope's father, but so far, it was good. Great, even.

Lightning seemed able to relax now, and came to sit next to me. Snow got back up into his chair, as well.

"Face to face like this, it's hard to believe you're all 'dangerous fugitives'." Mr. Estheim looked at the five of us. "But the entire world is scared to death of you l'Cie. No-" he shook his head, "not even just you, but people who've helped you, bumped into you… Sometimes it's even just people who've walked by one of you. They think they're 'tainted' and want every one of them Purged."

I thought back to the little girl that dropped her Carbuncle plushie, who Hope helped retrieve it. I thought of our friends from Bodhum, who we hadn't seen since being turned, but were known to be connected to us anyway. All of the other children, adults, elderly, anybody we've met or just breathed the same air as- our government acts like these people are now tainted or infected with a "curse", and use that excuse to take advantage of their power.

I leaned back on the couch, pressing my hand over my sore side. "Ruthless."

"The Sanctum's a puppet of the fal'Cie!" Snow roared. He took a breath and wilted. "To them… our lives don't mean anything at all." Then he sat back up, determined. "But, we'll stop this. Take down the Sanctum, and save Cocoon." Nice to hear Snow sounding like his regular ol' self.

"You've thought that through?"

Hope's father's question made Snow's face fall from empowered to self-doubt.

"If l'Cie take down the Sanctum, fear of Pulse will over get worse. It won't stop at fear." Mr. Estheim lightly stomped his foot. "People will take up arms and stand against you. Can you imagine it? The rampant violence?"

The words speared deep into my heart, our hearts.

"When the government's control is gone," Lightning said, "the citizens will revolt."

Fang stood up. "So, what then? We're supposed to just smile and eat a bullet?" She pointed to Mr. Esthiem. "That means you, too."

Mr. Esthiem just chuckled dryly. "I know I'm part of this. I'm on your side of the fence. 'Harborer of l'Cie', and a public enemy."

"You don't sound very averse to the idea." I glanced over to him. He smirked, unspeaking.

Hope frowned deeply. "Coming here was a bad idea."

But Mr. Estheim refuted his son's statement, and put a firm hand over Hope's shoulder. "This is your home." He then got to his feet. "We're all here. Let's figure this out, together."

I had a soft smile on my face. Your father isn't that bad, Hope-

A sharp crackling sound popped above us. Then the room went dark. The electricity had shorted out, sending all of us to our feet as we inspected the area.

"Bad fuse?"

"Heads up!"

Glass shattered and fell from the ceiling as thick smoke sprayed at us.

My hand shot up to cover my nose and mouth, my eyes stung. Tear gas! They weren't just trying to smoke us out- no, they were taking a harder measure than a simple fog. They're getting better with each encounter…

The combination of my head, my side, and the tear gas made for a very dizzying time trying to see straight and listen to my surroundings. I could make out soldiers piling into the estate. Snow's voice rang out as he ordered for Hope and me to run back, and I heard him grunt in pain. Our team was weakened with two of us down for the count.

A hand then grabbed at mine and I immediately tried to swing in defense- the person blocked my hit and took my arm, dragging me away. "Follow me." It was the stern voice of Hope's father, making my shoulders lose the sudden tenseness, and I quickly followed him. I was able to see Hope guiding his father. We found Snow a couple of feet away.

"You're not ready for this." Hope knelt down to Snow. "I'll stay here. You and Aurora get my dad out of here!"

With the combined ability that Snow and I had, even while being hurt, I knew we could at least protect Mr. Estheim while the others handled the ambush. Snow and I agreed and took Mr. Estheim's hands.

He helped lead us down a hallway towards the back of the house, and into a smaller living area. The room was mostly clear of any gas. Mr. Estheim locked the door behind us. "There's a flashlight on that shelf."

I felt over the shelf before grasping a cold metal cylinder. I took it out and felt for a button and switched the flashlight on. The room lit up. I set the flashlight on a table with the light shining towards the ceiling to make it scatter and spread.

"'rora." Snow stepped over to me and patted my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah. You?"

"Peachy." Even in this lighting, I could see him wink. We could fall into a volcano and he would still keep up the bravado.

The room shook and bits of the ceiling crumbled from the attack. We knelt down against a wall to take cover.

"There must be dozens of them." I murmured.

It continued for many minutes, the floor rumbled with each blow the house took. I felt a wave of guilt knowing that their home was likely going to be ruined, regardless of if we survived or not.

There was eventually a ceasing to the noise and clatter.

Snow was quick to get back to him feet- too quick, and his body reacted. He stumbled a bit. When Mr. Estheim and I reached out, Snow put a hand back, stopping us.

"Is it over?" Mr. Estheim asked. "Are they-"

"They're fine. Your son's a tough kid." Snow reassured him. I nodded to Hope's father in agreement.

Snow beckoned us to get up, and so we did. We stepped back out into the hallway and peered around a corner to have an eye on the current situation in the main room.

The room was absolutely demolished; but, it was clear of any live, fighting soldiers. Fang and Light were by the now-shattered glass door that led out to a patio, watching outside, and Hope sat not far back. He looked up and saw us, I could see some relief when he realized we were okay.

A spotlight then shone down from the sky, right at Snow, Hope's father, and me, blinding us. We fumbled back into the hallway a bit, away from the light.

"Who ordered the battalion?" I heard Fang question with a tone of annoyance.

"They'll take out the whole building next." Lightning warned. I looked past the corner again at her and she noticed me. 'Come on', she mouthed, calling us over with a hand.

I nodded over to Snow and Mr. Estheim, and we crept over to join the other three.

Hope took his father into his arms when we came over. Mr. Estheim nervously looked Hope over, making sure he was okay. Snow near flung himself to the ground, his chest rising and falling at a brisk pace. I could empathize- my head was feeling swim-y, my injured side and leg ached and concern built up as I worried that there was a chance my break could somehow unset from all of the stress and exertion. Does restoration magic work like that? Can it rebreak? I don't even know how this heals when treated with l'Cie magic.

I tired to stay calm and just lean against the wall to catch my breath. I didn't need to hide the fact that I was in pain, but I really didn't want to be the center of attention in that moment when so much was going on already.

Snow crawled over to look out towards the battalion outside. "My turn." He said, before getting up to his feet.

I took a hold of his arm. "What're you doing?" But he pulled away, giving me a grin. I wanted to protest, but before I could, he shrugged off his coat and took a deep breath. He then held the coat in front of the windows for the soldiers to see.

Rapid fire blazed into the room. Snow's trench coat was shredded.

"Snow!"

"Don't shoot!" Snow yelled out. "I'll show you what a l'Cie looks like!"

The shooting stopped. Snow put his hands up and stepped forward. Little red spots dotted his body from the scoping lasers being aimed at him. He stepped over the broken glass door frame. "Me! I'm a l'Cie."

I was antsy as I watched Snow slowly approaching the large squad outside.

"Surprised? Expected some kind of monster? I'm flesh and blood, like you!" He shouted. "An ordinary citizen of Cocoon! Don't you get it?" I could see him clench his fists. "This has been our home our whole lives! How could we even think about destroying it? We want to protect this place just as much as you!"

A cluster of murmurings came from the wall of soldiers lined up on the Estheim Estate patio. I spotted a couple of the armed men wavering, their guns drooping away from their target. One seemed to stumble back, like the words had shocked him.

They truly don't understand what they've been ordered to do. These soldiers must've been just as clueless as any other person on the outside. Did they ever even know that we were like them? What had they been told?

Then the spotlight moved from Snow, to someone else outside. A man walked forward through the crowd of fighters. He looked like an official, his tied back silver hair showed a hard face. Crisp, black clothes adorned his body- garments that I've only ever seen people within the government wear.

He introduced himself. "Yaag Rosch, PSICOM Division." He stopped when he was in front of the line. "I understand your plight. However, the Pulse threat is not so easily dismissed. The very existence of you l'Cie puts every last one of us in danger."

Bullshit.

"Tell me," Yaag Rosch started, "do you really think that your life is worth more than the lives of millions of Cocoon citizens?" He gestured grandly. "I do not. And so," he straightened back up, "it falls to me to order your execution. It's that simple."

'Public execution'. The words of that one newscaster hit me again. My hands trembled with fury and fear.

That Rosch idiot kept talking. "It is my responsibility to see you put down." He turned on his heel, but he made sure to say one last grimy thing, "your lives are forfeit."

Snow wasn't having this. "Aw, cut the crap! You want l'Cie? Then kill l'Cie! Why do other people have to die? The Purge has gotta stop!"

"Do you think we want to Purge our own people?" Yaag Rosch spun back around. "If any trace of Pulse remains, the populace will erupt into chaos." His voice rose and his face turned red with anger. "Without sacrifice, without the Purge, Cocoon will die!"

With those words, the soldiers stepped forward, aiming their guns once again.

Clank. Clank. Something fell from above and in front of the group. It spit out smoke- again. But this time, the direction felt different.

"Who fired?" Yaag Rosch yelled, coughing. "I gave no order!"

Snow stumbled back in a fit of coughs as well, and fell to his knees.

Shots rang out again and, in a panic, I tried to rush forward to go help Snow. Both Light and Fang grabbed me and pulled me back before I could get outside. The abrupt motion sent a stitch of pain through my side and I weakly plopped down on my backside next to Light, who braced my fall. I still pushed my neck forward to watch what was happening outside, even if it was hard to see through all of the smoke.

I heard Rosch exclaim in surprise, the PSICOM soldiers yelling in pain and shock, all while they fell down to the ground.

With the numbers decreasing, Lightning stood up, demanding that we were now going to get out of there. "Hope! Tie up your dad." She looked at Mr. Estheim. "We threatened you and forced you to help us. Got it?"

Mr. Estheim had a hand on his son's shoulder. He stood up, about to question Lightning's order, when Hope stopped him and told him to do what he was told. Hope's father seemed reluctant, so Hope took him aside to convince him.

Light came back to me and helped me off of the floor. "Don't let them see you hurt."

"Got it." I straightened up and put on a neutral face, even though I felt awful and my vision was shaky. Lightning nodded in approval and looked back outside.

Hope came back out, having tied up his father. Hope said something and Mr. Estheim yelled back at him, "you're not running!" He got up and looked down to Hope. "This is not running away. You've made a choice." His voice quieted back down as he continued encouraging Hope.

We then spotted Hope embrace his father. Mr. Estheim put his chin over Hope's head with his eyes closed.

I decided to look away and give them their privacy. We have no idea if this is their last moment together. It should be theirs.