Final Fantasy XIII- The Storm War

Welcome to my first attempt at an FF13 fanfic. I had posted it before, but realized that it wasn't up to my standards, so after some revising, I'm reposting.I want this to be made clear, if you have constructive things to say on mistakes in grammar and typos, then please feel free to leave that in a review. If you simply don't like the story don't ready it and don't leave a comment. This is rated M for future violence and sex... yes there will be sex... so it's M for now to be safe. So yeah, if you want to be helpful, then please do, if you want to be hurtful, then I will report you. I don't care if you like the premise, it's my story so... yeah.

Square Enix owns this, and I don't make any money on this! This takes place 5 years after the end of the game, and will have spoilers. The cosmology is actually based on the Analects found within the data log. I still haven't unlocked them all, (I'm at 86% of the cie'th stone missions complete) so I might adjust things once I finish them all. There will be pairings of SnowxSerah, FangxVanille, and grown up Hope and Lightning. This is mostly an adventure fic, so enjoy!

Prologue

On the day that Orphan was defeated, releasing the Lindzei from life, the Goddess returned. The Goddess, bringer of life and death, stayed nearby, watching the remaining fal'Cie, and the humans make war.

She pitied the l'Cie, once there had been a place for them, and she rewarded those that were successful with the crystal sleep. The true being of l'Cie had been twisted to a chess game, with the fal'Cie as the masters, and the humans the pawns.

Five years after, the Goddess was finished with watching silently, and in a rage, she destroyed the crystal Cocoon, forcing the dead fal'Cie back to life to face her judgment for hundreds of years of abuse.

Barthandelus took advantage of this, and with the other Sanctum fal'Cie, he took up hands against the Goddess. Anger drenched his being, his view only going as far as the betrayal he perceived, and he took up arms and slew her, casting himself, and the other chosen ones back to Pulse, most of their powers stripped from them, and in a corruptible, mortal state.

Chapter 1: Reunion

Lightning sighed a bit as she unlocked the door of her small house, removing her armor from her shoulders and rolling her neck, trying to work the kinks out. She'd been a soldier a long time, but she didn't realize until after she'd lost her powers how useful they really were in combat. Fighting behemoths was easier with Odin, or magic at her side. It didn't matter though, she wasn't l'Cie any more, and she didn't really want to be again. She tossed the armor into an empty chair and sat down to pull her boots off, her hair going up into a ponytail. She carefully removed her grav-com manadrive, sitting it on her coffee table so she could find it in the morning.

The former l'Cie, Light, and her remaining friends, now worked on protecting the survivors from Cocoon, who's numbers were shrinking from the monster attacks, and despite her sister and brother in law's best efforts, very few children had been born. Most of the time, it seemed like a losing battle. The settlement she lived in was called Alpha colony, which had been the first outpost made, but in recent days, it had become a forward staging point for the military. Snow and Sazh had taken Serah and Dajh to Beta Colony, not long after they were finished building it, thinking Oerba was safer then the Northern Highplain colony. Hope had stayed, moving from Snow's house to her spare bedroom, but he hadn't stayed long. She noticed that he became increasingly uncomfortable, and the moment he turned sixteen, and was old enough, he joined the Army and moved to Beta Colony. She hadn't given it much thought, he was growing up, and even when he'd left, he was already her height. He was probably taller then she was now. She'd heard through the grapevine that he was a Lieutenant already, which in a way made her proud… not that she'd tell him that. "Hm," she muttered, walking over to her fridge to pull out a beer, thinking back to the young man. It had been three years since he'd joined the military, maybe she should go and check on him. She'd always had this strange protective friendship with him, and she rightly blamed Odin for that.

She went toward her bedroom, resolved to worry about showering in the morning, so the Captain finished undressing, slipping into a camisole and shorts, pulling her blankets back and snuggling into her covers. Her mind was still on Hope, and she missed him as much as she missed Fang and Vanille, but for different reasons, she came to realize. With a huff, she pulled the blankets over her head and frowned at the darkness. Why was she thinking about Hope so much? Light's thoughts wandered to the behemoth she'd fought that night, more then once she'd wished the silver haired kid had been at her side. His spell casting was second to none, even when using a manadrive, but as the commanding officer of Alpha colony, she couldn't just up and leave it, not like the others had. There were still a few civilians that lived there, not wanting to deal with the cold climate in Oerba; someone had to stay behind to protect them. She had a feeling she wouldn't be sleeping much despite being exhausted.

Light wasn't expecting the world outside her little cocoon to light up, and as if the gods were punishing her for her depressing thoughts, the light kept growing, making it almost as bright as the noontime sun. She threw the blanket off and frowned, getting up to look out the window. When she realized the light was coming from the direction of Cocoon, she stepped into her living room just as the first of several tremors started to shake the house. A low sound could be heard from outside, and she moved, not bothering with clothes, and she ran to the door. An explosion stopped her motion, causing the glass windows in the front of the house to shatter, her bare arms and legs protected only by the door she was gripping.

Lightning was blown back into the wall, grunting as she rolled to her feet, only to be struck by an extreme pain in her chest. She felt like she was falling, only to come to a halt in front of Dysley… the human form of Barthandelus, and several others she didn't know. His voice resounded in her head, causing her more pain as he said, "You think mere l'Cie can destroy a fal'Cie. You're arrogance knows no bounds… as do your dreams, which is why she is now gone forever. Not even a Goddess can stop us." He laughed, causing Light to loose consciousness, the pain in her body nothing compare to what was happening in her heart.

.:xXx:.

"Lightning!"

A groan came out of the battered woman, the call of her name made her give up the peaceful blackness of unconsciousness, and someone was gently shaking her, trying to get her to come around. "Ungh," she grumbled, forcing her eyes open, her shaky arms managing to support her weight as she sat up. Her hand went to her head and it pulled away, wet with blood, which just made her frown more. It was light outside, probably mid-morning, and she moved her head a bit to look up at the person calling her name.

The soldier was surprised to see Hope standing there in his uniform, his hair in disarray, face streaked with blood and dirt as well. His brown pants were ripped at the knees, and his hands were raw. He looked positively stricken, but the moment she recognized him, his arms went around her and he hugged her close.

"Hope," she croaked past her parched throat, her bloody hand patting his side to try and get his attention. He pulled back a bit and she looked up, he had to be as tall as Snow now since he was huge even kneeling down. "What happened?" She winced at the bright light, pretty sure she had a small concussion, since she was pretty dizzy and the Lieutenant was still holding her up. He moved away, causing her to sway again, and took his uniform jacket off, the brown canvas was standard military issue, his rank insignia attached to one shoulder. She mentally cataloged the red stripes, it seemed that he had made it to Lieutenant after all. He wrapped her bruised and battered body up in the fabric, his spicy smell covering up the blood and smoke in the air, though much to her dismay she felt like a child wrapped up in their father's jacket. When did he get so big?

Light focused when Hope started talking, his voice had deepened before he'd left, but now, as a full fledged man… she couldn't help but think his deep tenor was fitting. He probably had girls all over him.

"We got lucky, it could have been much worse. Hey Light, are you listening?"

Lightning frowned, punching him lightly in the side and grumbled an affirmative. She noticed that what would have doubled him over when they were traveling together, didn't even faze him now. She knew that the commander of Beta Colony was a stickler for physical prowess, but whatever they were doing has turned Hope into a lithe battle tank. She forced her addled mind to pay attention, and she shook her head to show she didn't understand. "What do you mean? What happened?"

"It's Cocoon…" Hope said softly, sadness in his voice, "it exploded…"

The flash of the vision came back to her, of Cocoon shattering and the Sanctum fal'Cie returning to life. "Wait…" she moved the coat the lieutenant had put on her, looking down at her chest. There, like a black mar on her porcelain skin, was her mark. Light looked back to him, who moved his arm to show the mark there.

Thoughts started to race through her head, what about the others? "Everyone else?" Hope nodded, "my unit was sent the moment we got the call for help, it took us a while to get here though, and we couldn't find you. I kept digging; somehow I just knew you had to be in your house. It took me all morning, but you were alive when I got to you. I tried to cast a cura on you, but I couldn't…" He looked down at his hand, as if it had betrayed him somehow, she noticed he had a thunder type manadrive strapped to his arm. He sighed, hugging her again. "I thought you were dead."

Light sighed, weakly hugging him back, taking a look around her. It looked as if her house had fallen on top of her. No wonder he was upset. "Hope, focus, what about every one else?"

He nodded, "Yeah… everyone is marked, even Dajh." A troubled look ran over his soft features and Light didn't miss the tortured look on his face before she moved slowly, putting a hand on his arm, over his mark. The silver haired man blinked and looked to her. "It's bad, half the people here are dead or seriously injured. They would have left you here for others if I hadn't come here on my own. I thought we'd lost you."

The warrior just grunted at him, her mind going to Fang and Vanille. They would still be safe, right? They were crystal, like they had been before the event five years ago; they were there to watch over them… but now… if Cocoon was gone…

Cocoon was really gone?

Lightning pushed Hope back, out of the way and started climb out of the debris of her house, spotting, and grabbing her shoes that had been next to her door, and slipping them on. He was calling, and she could hear him following her, probably since she wasn't being rational. She was injured and didn't even have a weapon, but she had to see it for herself. She had to know if they had lost Vanille and Fang. If Cocoon was gone… would they be gone too?

When she made it out of the town proper, she emerged into the grassland where the crystal Cocoon had been suspended; she was met with choking ash and a sea of crystal fragments as far as she could see. She started to pick her way through the debris field, Hope was catching up, calling to her to wait up, but she didn't. She had to see for herself… Fang and Vanille had to be somewhere!

She'd lost track of time as she climbed over the pieces of their old home, some of them were huge, pieces of crystal building, or chunks of a car, other pieces, the ones that cut her hand and legs as she climbed over them, weren't anything recognizable. The ground crunched under her feet as she made her way toward the middle of the destruction, Hope caught up with her, the taller man was carrying his weapon, just in case. Her face was set into a deep frown, and she didn't even notice that she was bleeding from multiple new cuts and scratches, her concern for their friends making her focus absolute. They were nearly to the center when they heard the strum of engines, and Light took a moment to look over her shoulder, seeing vehicles flying toward their position, probably from the other settlement, coming to help. A bright light came on and focused in on them, before that smaller transport landed not far off, kicking up the crystal dust. Motes of rainbow light danced on the artificial wind, but Hope put a hand up to wave them off for now. He knew better then to try and force the Commander to do something she didn't want to.

He did sigh however, moving behind her, as she swayed a bit, "they aren't here," he said, a deep sadness in his voice. "It looks like we couldn't change this fate…"

Lightning frowned a bit, turning to look at him, "but…"

Hope shook his head, putting a hand on her shoulder, only then did she realize how tall he was now… the awkward, misguided teen was obviously now a grown man. However, no matter how grown and responsible he was, she was still herself, and she left no man behind. She turned, shrugging the hand off her shoulder and stomped her way back toward the blast site.

The young man sighed, his shoulders hunching a bit. "I guess Snow never told you why I left," he whispered to himself, the sadness still in his voice, but only for a different reason.

He almost didn't go after her, thinking that she just might need time alone, but she was injured, and he had the only weapon. He frowned and ran after her. They had no idea what could be in the debris cloud; his unit hadn't even been out this far yet. He'd already thought they'd lost her once today; he wasn't about to make that come true.

.:xXx:.

Hope had managed to catch up with Lightning, wincing a bit at the scowl marking her pretty features. "Light, I'm sorry, I didn't realize… just calm down and we'll find them together. Once you go back, I can leave if I make you angry."

She stopped and sighed, her shoulders drooping just a bit before she turned and looked at him, the blood and grime still sullying her visage, her earlier wounds scabbed over from the cure spell, the new ones still red and angry. "No Hope, I'm sorry, I'm glad you're here…" She couldn't help but smile a little at the soft look that ran over her friend's face. She winced, her arm going to her side, the jacket disguising a more serious wound on her side that was bothering her quite a bit.

The mage reached out and grabbed her, pulling her close so she could rest. "Catch your breath," he whispered, his hand moving to the wound on her side. It had closed, but all her moving must have opened it again. He casted another cure before removing his hand, wiping the blood on his pant leg before his other arm went around her shoulders for support.

"Hmm," came a rich, female voice from behind them, causing both Hope and Light to tense, only to hear a gentle giggle cut the air. "Will you two just make out an' get it over with?" The thick accent was a familiar one, causing Light to jerk away from Hope, for a much different reason then the young man was blushing.

Two forms came out of the smoke, hand in hand, smiles on their faces.

Hope grinned and ran forward, grabbing Vanille into a hug as Fang came forward and smirked at Lightning. The older woman tilted her head, looking over her shoulder as the not so little Hope swung the giggling Vanille like a rag doll, happy to see her again.

"Well, we've got 'lot to talk about," Fang drawled, her hand resting on her hip, "best let them celebrate first, or they'll sulk."

"How?"

The dark haired woman smirked and shrugged, "part of me thinks that crystal stasis is just to keep warriors fal'Cie like around longer then their intended purpose." Light blinked at her, then smirked herself.

"Yeah, dreams and aspirations that are to their liking must be hard to come by."

Lightning nodded a bit, moving to sit on a rock while the cure spell tried to mend her body. "We came out here to try and find you." Fang grunted and walked over, moving the jacket to see her brand.

"Just what I thought, something big is happening, I tell you… bigger then last time."

Light just grunted and nodded, pulling Hope's jacket around her again.

"So, Snow keeping his promise to make Serah happy?"

The commander blinked and looked back to the raven-haired woman, "you knew about that?"

"Oh, wouldn't you be surprised by the things I hear." She winked and walked over to the group of younger l'Cie, leaving Light alone.

"He is keeping his promise… just too far away from me." She sighed, closing her eyes and tilting her head forward. They were going to have evacuate everyone to the other colony, and as a commander, even without her uniform, she'd need to help.

Cocoon was gone; there wasn't anything they could do about that, all they could do was pick up and save whatever they could. Troubling visions from the explosion cluttered her mind, but they couldn't start anything until they had the others with them anyway.

It would be all right, that was the only thing the soldier could tell herself. Their journey five years ago had caused her to open up a little, but some things would never change…

She'd protect them, as they protected her and despite the less the perfect circumstances, she was glad they were all together again. Even if she'd never admit it, she'd missed them all being together. Light moved toward the transport waiting for them, waving for the others to follow. They were still too jubilant for the bleak landscape, but she wasn't going to say anything for the moment. It was better for them to be together again; the life and death concerns of the return of their marks could wait an hour at least. She heard someone come up beside her; a soft voice spoke low, so only she could hear.

"Light, your hands are shaking."

She brought them up to her chest and laced her fingers together, "my hands…?" She glanced to Hope, who reached over and place his larger hands over hers.

"It's alright, we'll get through this."

"Um… yeah… sure." She didn't know why her hands betrayed her the way they did, maybe she wanted to reach out to revel in the reunion, or maybe the unease of another reunion caused her hands to clench and shake. "Why?"

"Why what Light?"

She pulled away; Fang and Vanille were keeping their distance, almost as if they knew something needed to be said. "Why did you leave? Three years ago, I came home and you were gone without even a note."

"It was something I had to do…" He shifted, uneasy at her question and the raw edge her voice had taken. "I had to figure something out before I could come back."

"Family, Hope… you don't abandon family." She walked into the transport, leaving the younger man to stand there and stare at the place she'd been

"Family?" He said sadly, "I don't want to be that sort of family, but you'll never understand."

He followed her in, the other two reaching the vehicle rather quickly. It took off toward Alpha Colony, the l'Cie on board intent on making sure the civilians were able to get to Beta Colony without mishap. The destruction would scare monsters away for the moment, but the carnage of those that didn't make it would attract them eventually.

They had all lost so much; none of them were looking forward to the job ahead of them, even if they were all happy to be together.

The party wasn't aware of something watching, lifting high on the winds created by the destruction of Cocoon. The clockwork owl flapped, taking more air as it soared toward its master, who was still unconscious, somewhere in the Haerii Archaeopolis.

.:xXx:.

Deep within the Faultwarrens, figures moved, all of them the size of most humans, the six beings were anything but mortal, the power in their eyes was something that could not be explained away. Some of them, ones that had been 'killed' were the last to wake, and the others moved around assessing the current situation. A large, burly man with green, curly hair that fell down his back stood at the entrance to his domain, as a rotund, short man waddled his way over to him. The first, looked as though he was chiseled from rock itself, his refined and well-defined facial features held a set of deep green eyes, with large arms crossed over his chest. "Atomos?" he said the silent question to the mole-like man standing beside him, his small, gray eyes glancing up at the behemoth.

"Aye Titan, the others are awake finally. Anima was the last to come too. She was weakened by what Barthandelus did, it's drained her."

"Hmph," Titan looked over his shoulder, his voice sounded like a landslide, and the mousy fal'Cie couldn't help but notice his annoyance. "Her little l'Cie are up and running about. No doubt that is her trouble. What of the others?"

"None of us know how we were forced into our mortal forms, and what's worse, we can't get back out of them. I guess it has to do with…"

Titan put a hand up, they still weren't one hundred percent sure what happened. "The others are nearby, we will have to meet with them soon. We'll have to meet with the l'Cie."

"Work with the humans?" Atomos seemed shocked, and then Titan moved to look down at him.

"I am not convinced that all the traitors are a loss."

"Phoenix went of her own accord…" Titan glowered at the little fal'Cie and he put his hands up. "Right, right… it's all Barthandelus, betrayed and all that, and he doesn't care about the duty she gave us. You think the others went with him all those years ago to make Cocoon for some other reason?"

"I don't know, but I will find out. In our weakened states, we need the l'Cie in order to defeat Barthandelus."

"Sure, sure…" Atomos nodded, walking back toward the others. Anima was sitting up now, her long, blue hair covering her intimate areas, her dark skin reminiscent of her most beloved Yun clan, her crystal eyes gazing out from behind the long tendrils of sapphire hair. "Titan wants to go see your children. You can lead us?"

"Yes," came her soft voice, and she looked over her shoulder to Dahaka. He was standing on the edge of the cliff, his long, black hair and hawkish features were staring out into the valley below, his blue-black wings folded up against his back. His sister Bismarck, guardian of Sulyya springs, stayed near him, her pixie like body curled at his feet, her short purple hair and bluish skin looked like translucent water under the rays of the sun.

Dahaka frowned a bit at Anima's scrutiny and lifted the tiny Bismarck to ride on his shoulder, his wings unfurling. "If you wish to know if we will come, just speak plainly Anima. I wish to know why your l'Cie were so ineffectual in releasing me from this existence."

Bismarck pounded him on the head with her small fist, her voice sounded like a babbling stream more then human speech. "Just because your humans were destroyed by the Cocoon fal'Cie first doesn't mean you should just die. You've been roaming around for too long…"

Dahaka frowned a bit, and then sighed; putting one hand up to make sure Bismarck didn't fall. "Anything for you Lady," The girl smiled as they all started for Titan, still standing as the immovable protector of their little camp.

Just to the south of them, as they moved out to find the l'Cie, an owl descended and landed near an old man, the other beings nearby were starting to stir.