While the men stood in the temple's throne room, a moments of silence fell upon them. It was out of respect for everything that had taken place, and the simple fact that nobody seemed to know what to say. This was one of those problems that felt impossible for anyone to solve right now. If it were as simple as walking up to some asshole, kicking their ass, and something happen to make everything go back to normal, they would already be on their way. This is that rare case where violence isn't the answer the world needs.

Sazh was lost in thought while he stood there. His hands were in his pockets, left clutching the keys to the airship that caught Serah and Noel just before hell broke loose. It was more or less some sort of texture to keep himself grounded to the new reality. Dadj needed him now more than ever, and Sazh wasn't the sort of father to let his kid down. Out of the question.

Noel still blamed himself for what happened. Events that transpired hours ago still fresh in his mind as if it had happened seconds ago. It was like a horror story that nobody could take off repeat, and transpiring in slow motion. He didn't want to fight, and Caius managed to kill himself anyways. All Noel wanted to do was protect Serah and not hurt anyone. Guess he was too greedy or something and they lost everything anyways. He felt so...so...so useless. Deflated... Noel questioned himself over again about what he could have done differently.

Snow didn't seem to be too much different from the time he spent as a l'Cie the first time. Even with the occasional display of grief, Snow's eyes displayed the same amount of determination that he had while they quested to save Cocoon. The hero still held onto the tear that he had picked up when Serah turned to crystal, even holding it up in the air. Snow had that focused look in his face that he had when he spoken to Serah during those ages. It was enough to convince anyone that the man didn't need anyone to worry about him.

Dadj was busy being a kid and didn't seem to be too worried about the situation yet. To him, today was just another dark and gloomy day. He missed the part when the magic burst out of the gate, so he was lucky that way. Sitting towards the east wall, he and chocobo were playing. The kid held a rock in his hand and worked on drawing a scene with Sazh in it. None of the guys wanted to disturb that sense of peace, there would be plenty of things to make the kid scared later.

Snow tossed the stone in the air just as he had done in the past and caught it. The hero then placed it in the front pocket of his trench then turned to study the crystals in the room again. Clearing his throat, Snow broke the silence. While he was preparing to continue to speak, a sense of comfort was in his eyes. It wasn't a happy sort of comfort, Snow was all too aware of the situation at hand. Determined to never give up, he calmly stated. "Serah says that those two will take care of eachother. She also says to not give up."

"She able to talk to you through that again?" Sazh asked. He wanted to figure out if it was because of what it was, or if Snow had lost his mind. First it was the experiences that came with becoming a l'Cie. Then he found himself gambling for the right to see his son again in a place where staff were cats and chocobos. More weirdness happened after that with the trips through time, so a man talking to his dead girlfriend sounded about par.

Not that hard to believe that ghosts stories could actually be true.

Snow didn't think much about the question as the tear suddenly appeared in his hand again. Clutching it this time while Noel got a confused expression on his face. The giant blond nodded and confirmed. "I know it's harder for her to come back this time, but I will take what I can get. Not as easy as it was last time, I know. A hero never gives up."

"What am I missing?" Noel asked, as he glanced from Sazh to Snow and back again. He would have chalked it up to Snow being delusional, but if Sazh believed him, then maybe there was something more to it.

"You know that Serah turned to crystal years ago, right?" Snow asked, figuring that it was a place to start. When the brunette nodded he continued to explain. The hero held the crystal to let Noel get a good look at it, but Snow never parted with it. It was as if it were air to him. "We were there when Serah turned into crystal. She inspired us to stick together and defy our focus. During that time, we talked to each other through this crystal. It's still connected to her spirit, so while she's gone, Serah is still close. This right here is keeping me sane."

"Oh," Noel seemed to understand as he stared towards Bhunivelze. Staring off in the distance and the scenery then towards the figures that managed to retain their ability to shine some light. "That's interesting."

"Interesting, yeah." Sazh agreed as he took a look outside. "I wish I had an idea on what we are supposed to do. People down there need a leader, and I am not it. I don't WANT to be it."

Snow thought for a moment as he considered the situation. He wasn't fit to lead that many people in a government leader type setting. That would be even if Serah hadn't asked him to protect this temple. Sazh didn't want the job, and it would surprise him if Noel was a man that wanted to deal with that political BS. "With Hope on hiatus, I suggest let someone that knows this world deal with it. He likely has left contingency plans just in case he was knocked out of the picture somehow."

Sazh considered it for a minute. That didn't sound appealing to him to let one of the executives of the Academy take over the operation, but Snow was right. If someone searched Hope's desk, they would likely find a disc or something with instructions on what to do. Hope wasn't the sort to make a world only be able to function with him in the lead. That wasn't how Hope worked. This wouldn't be any different than the man falling asleep for hundreds of years at a time.

Well, at least then Hope had planned when he was going to wake up. Now it was a craps shoot. They could wake up next week or what would be hundreds of years if time still worked the way it used to. "It would be the only way I guess. None of us should take over. I don't like the idea, but options are what they are. Not like we can ask him."

"Rule number one," Snow began to put his mind to the task that was ahead of him. "This is not going to become a tourist attraction. I would rather those eggheads keep their hands off Sis and Hope."

Was this what it was like to become crystal? Hope wondered as his mind took in the sea of nothing but white. This wasn't what he was expecting when he let the crystal place his body in stasis, but to tell the truth, Hope didn't know what to expect. When he was a teenager, he didn't spend enough time in stasis to remember what this would be like. Was it better than the world he was in before he went to sleep? There was no way to tell.

No going back now, that was a simple fact. He would be here till the crystal allows him to wake up. A part of him wondered if his mother appearing to him was just a fabrication of what his heart wanted. To see her smile one more time. Hope shook his head, feeling guilty for thinking that she was anything but. That spirit felt like she had a soul, and he didn't want to think that he was played for a fool.

Lightning was content with the world around her. The sea that she drifted in while she thought about Serah. All that she could do is wait, but she would be ready when the time came. She swore to that. Her honor, her atonement depended on that very thing. She could not afford to fail again.

Her eyes opened, her soul sensing the presence of another. It felt male and certainly didn't strike her as a threat. If he was sensing her now, she wouldn't be surprised. A feeling that she chose not to ignore lead her towards the presence.

"Hope?" she asked, trying to process why she was seeing him here of all places to be. A feeling deep within her suggested that it wasn't good. This isn't a place that any normal person would choose for a dream vacation. It wasn't that she was unhappy to see him for it's him that she is looking at. It was the question about what happened which caused him to be here.

It is complicated how she felt about it. If there had to be someone here other than Serah, then Hope is the next best person. Everyone else would have been good company, but Hope she... Felt differently about it being him. It didn't make sense to her when she tried to use logic to figure that one out.

"Light? Is that you, or am I just dreaming again?" Hope asked, as if he were afraid to have the answer to that question. It seemed that he thought it was another one sided dream. Logic mentioned to Lightning that it was due to his experiences in the void which would cause that question. Annoying it was, but still a valid question. She shouldn't take offense to that.

"I am real this time," she answered plainly. Trying to hide how she felt at the moment. Serah's dead, looks like everyone failed, and the present wasn't anything that they could do something about yet. Still, she would have thought Hope would have been kept awake to deal with the here and now. Yet here he was.

Lightning had felt the need to ask a question of her own. She was about to be brash and harsh, but she held back at the last second. If he were here, then the goddess must have had a good reason for it before she faded. Or whoever it was that put them into this state. "So, how is everyone? Is..."

Hope took a moment to answer the question, putting thought into what it was that he needed to say. They took steps towards the other, till they were a couple feet away. An aquard situation for Hope considering his feeling for the woman he spoke with. "Alive is all that I can tell you..."

Hope trailed off, judjing by the way that Light's eyes looked meant one thing. She knew about Serah already. That is the only person that Lightning could possibly care about that much about to warrant such a sorrow in her eyes. Fortunatly for Hope, he was already upset about everything going down the drain so if she asked about him, he could tell her about that.

If that is her, then unless he got his feelings under control, this could make the time in stasis long. She didn't have to tell him that the magic that turned him to crystal intertwined his dreaming mind with her. Managing Bhunivelze was a problem that would have distracted him from the pain that being with the woman that he couldn't have would be.

Lightning nodded, not knowing what else to say. Alive is really better than the alternatives. The magic that undone everything in reality would prevent them from aging. It was something like the reason that she stayed young even though she was awake the whole time.

"Need a shoulder?" Hope asked, opening his arms to her. His eyes didn't display signs of strings attached, just a friend offering comfort to another. They both knew about Serah and how Light would or is feeling about it. There wasn't a need to grill her about her knowlege of it. He just knew that she knew. If there was ever a time for focusing on his feelings and attempt to mention how he feels towards her, now wasn't it. She needed a friend, and last he checked, he was one.

Light felt bad enough with the weight of her emotions that she surprised herself. She drew closer to him and accepted the offer. The armor faded away, any brightness unoticed in a plane of white. If she had taken time to think about it, Lightning would have turned it down. Once she realized what she was going, she had her arms wrapped around Hope's back, and she was being held. Not tightly, just in a reassurance. Like she was safe.

Did she deserve to be comforted? She wondered if she should just break away and carry her burden herself instead of taking something she had no right to do. Knowing exactly how he felt towards her, even if he was keeping his feelings out of this, it felt wrong. It felt like she was taking advantage of how she was feeling without returning anything. "Hope... I."

Hope heard the guilt in her voice as she started to pull away. He loosened his grip just enough to tell her that if she really wanted him to let go he would. Patiently, he only had one response, and one that didn't sound rehearsed. "It's alright. You don't have to feel anything. Being here for you is enough."

"Thank you," she replied, leaning into him. The feeling of a thumb massaging her shoulder blades was enough to break the bottle of emotions that she contained. When the flood gates opened, she sobbed into his shirt. She couldn't help but to finally let it out, let herself cry the tears that she couldn't when she was awake.

Hope leaned his head against hers, holding her more securely once her body started to tremble with supressed emotions. It was just the two of them, nobody else would know about this. This cry would be taken to his grave if it were to suddenly come. Silently so that she wouldn't be alerted to him, Hope let himself cry as well. Crying tears for the both of them.

Eventually, his hands found themselves stroking her hair. He didn't know if it was a good thing or not, but it seemed to help bring her comfort. One hand arm around her waist, the other caressing. Nothing more than subconcious gestures to try to bring comfort. Even if he wished that I love you would be an appropriate thing to say.

As the unmarked time passed, Hope felt Light's tremors stop. She stopped moving as her breathing balanced itself out. The only explaination that he thought was that she had cried herself to sleep. For the first time since he launched Bhunivelze, Hope found himself smiling. This was the real Claire 'Lightning' Farron, and she trusts him enough to fall asleep in his arms.

Just when Hope thought he had the reason why he went straight to Light, but he realized that was a crazy solution. They were made of the same crystal because they were meant to wake up together. It was doubtful that his feelings had anything to do with that. Their dream states being woven together might be a result of a shared crystal but Fang and Vanille were able to contact Serah when she needed to find her way out of her dreams. That meant that they might have found eachother regardless of being together when they went to sleep.

Just accept it for what it is Hope, he told himself, this isn't something you have to know everything about right away. Strange to not immediatly plug into figuring this place out. You should relax for once. His mind drifted off to sleep. He couldn't help but to feel that if he let her go, they would be seperated again. If she wanted to be left alone, he wouldn't fight with her about it, but he wanted to be sure that was a choice and not an accadent.

Lightning woke up first. At first, her foggy mind didn't think much about anything. Just hazy until she realized that there was another body there. She bolted up, then seen Hope lying there sleeping. When she moved, he subconsciously curled into a fetal position. Never minding the fact that... Her attention picked up on the fact that there was no grass in the place they were before.

More study revealed mountains, and looking to the left some more, Lightning discovered Cocoon floating in the horizon as if it never turned to crystal in the first place. Light reached over and started to slap Hope's shoulders, wanting him to wake up. It was a bit of a slow process to get Hope to wake up. When he did, Hope didn't take long to realize the change.

"This looks like Pulse," he stated, more to himself than anything. If he had to hazard a guess, it was a point that they both knew before the time Lightning got taken away. A shared memory since their dream states are intertwined with the others. It was interesting, good or bad would have to be seen.

Lightning nodded, as she gestured towards her left. It looks like there is at least some sort of building that we can stay in while we figure out what exactly this means. "Lets go check that out. This place may not be finished developing. This is a dream place, anything can happen."

She lead the way while looking around. The area seemed quiet enough, and unless this became a nightmare, there wouldn't be any monsters. She didn't think it would be that easy though. She knew they couldn't die, but that didn't mean they wouldn't go through hell in the process. The building on closer inspection looked to be a shrine of sorts.

Light and Hope stared at each other before the silver haired man looked away. "I decided to become crystal to become Serah's eternal epitaph, it looks like while you may have joined me, this is my subconscious way of making sure that I never forget Serah."

She didn't need to go inside to know that what was inside the small building was a crystal that looked like the one that Serah was encased in. It was a part of her dream state. It was up to them to build their world while they are here, and this was a start. Four walls and a roof was better than just leaving Serah's statue in the elements of what their dream world may become. A promise to never forget wasn't going to be forgotten.

"I suggest that we have a shelter close to this shrine," Light decided. It would be one of those things that was not up for discussion. Then a desire to not be alone found it's way out of her subconsciousness. "We may as well stay together as well. Perhaps not side by side but under the same roof. There's no reason for us to be alone. Nobody is going to be here to judge us."

Hope didn't want to argue with her on that point. He knew Light, or wanted to think he knew her well enough to know why she wanted to stay close to Serah. He smiled and nodded his head not saying a word. How he felt in that void he remembered was all in his head. Sharing a house as roommates was a step towards perhaps voicing how he feels to the real Lightning. The fact she didn't' suggest separate houses even when he knew Light knew about his dream was enough for now.

He felt sheepish for even wanting to tell her when he knows the reason she's crystal is because of Serah. Hope can't easily change the way he feels, but he can make sure he doesn't lose face or trust. If a right time to come presents itself, then he will. If not, maybe after they wake and save the world. If there was one thing he learned, anything was possible.

Just have to wait and see. In the meantime, he is grateful for Lightning's company. Lightning wasn't sure of how exactly she felt towards Hope, but she did admit to herself that he matured well. At the moment, there were other things to be concerned about before she can take what she wants.

Author's Note: Yeah, I realize that I took quite a while to update the fic, and I am honored that it got such love in favorites, stalking, or reviews! It encouraged me to get another update through before working on any of my other stories. I need to do two more story updates before I can do another chapter of this one, and I hope you guys enjoy. It is always a surprise to see love for this story even when I was certain I screwed it up and chased you guys away.

Thanks for your attention