A/N: The idea for this story haunted me for over two months before I had the time to write everything down. I'm surprised that it actually got so long, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing, right?

This is more of a "what if" scenario, because we all know how the game ended and if not:
This story contains heavy endgame and mild Lightning-DLC spoilers.
(And the following description too.)

This piece of fiction deals mostly with Lightning's return (or should I say arrival?) to New Bodhum and how she deals with Serah's loss. You can also look forward to grief-counseling with Fang and Vanille, because whatever happened before the story starts, it made it possible that they returned together with the others.

I read three times through the whole thing, so I hope that there aren't any mistakes and or typos and if there are, then feel free to tell me! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, because if I did I wouldn't need to write fanfiction and had tons of money.

She Lives In You

A single figure knelt in silence in front of the beautiful built gravestone. Many people who had loved the person buried below the earth had worked hard to pay their last respect to their brave friend who died an unjust death.

And it was a beautiful grave indeed, surrounded by a bed of colorful flowers which had been taken good care of by the buried woman's friends and the stone itself was decorated with small white marble angels whose arms surrounded the inscribed name gently:

Serah Farron.

A framed picture of the beautiful pink-haired woman stood next to the grave and a bouquet of freshly cut flowers laid on the stone, a gesture from her fiancé who missed her so much. A handmade flower wreath laid right next to the bouquet from which the woman kneeling in front of the grave knew that it had been made by her two friends.

The sun shone merciless and any wind that could have brought her refreshment stayed out.

It was hot and dry and amidst the silence at New Bodhum's graveyard, only the cicadas could be heard who voiced their lament with their consistent chirps.

The climate was oppressing and the woman found it very hard to even breath normally under these circumstances, yet, she did not leave and continued to visit the grave of her beloved little sister every day.

And maybe it was not the weather that bothered her so much, but the pressure of the guilt still lingering inside her heart.

Lightning and her friends had fought so hard for the world's sake; they took down and killed not only Caius, but the gods as well. They resolved paradoxes and restored the timeline and still, it had not been enough to bring Serah back. Nothing could compensate for death and no matter how much hope she had held in her heart, the older Farron had to learn this the hard way.

Serah's companion, the boy Lightning had sent to protect her sibling had disappeared as well. He did not die though, he had just lived in a future spawned by Caius's paradoxes and now that these anomalies had been resolved that future had never existed in the first place, as well as Noel.

No one remembered him clearly, besides her.

People knew that someone had been there with them, fighting together until the end, but their memory was unclear and had been mostly rewritten because the boy, in the end, had only been a paradox too.

Two small monuments stood beside Serah's grave – monuments, not graves – one on the left and one on the right.

The right one belonged to Noel and had been made by Lightning, Snow, Hope, Sazh, Fang, Vanille and the NORA members – they all knew that he had been fighting with them, even if the memory was blurred. They wanted to remember him and his actions and this was their way of doing so.

The left one… it might as well have been a grave because that person for whom it was meant to had existed for a long time, before the paradoxes began, and had been killed during the last fight. However, it was only a very small monument which Lightning had made on her own and she did not exactly find that person worth of grieving since he had been responsible for everything: The paradoxes, the nearly end of the world – and the death of her little sister.

A bitter smile crept on Lightning's face. The last thought was not true and she knew that.

Caius was not to blame for the death of her sister – for everything else he was, but not Serah's death, no matter how much she wanted this to be true.

Sometimes it was too painful – being aware of the fact that she was the one responsible for her little sister's death.

At first, Lightning had blamed Caius for it and thus had hated him so much, even after they had killed him. But somewhere deep inside her mind the words the spirits had told her in Valhalla still echoed:

"You are responsible for her death. You sent her on that mission."

She had searched for a scapegoat, someone to blame for everything, but in reality she had always known that it was not Caius who had killed her little sister. The Eyes of Etro, the ability to see the future in exchange for one's own life span, had taken Serah's life. And Lightning of course, who sent her on a mission to change the future and cause the very visions that had cost Serah's life in the end.

Sometime after that insight she realized that she understood Caius's motives better than anyone else. He had wanted to save Yeul and saw no other solution than the things he had done: Trying to destroy time itself, just so that the seeress would not be able to see the future anymore.

Thinking about it, she confessed to herself with a bitter smile that she would have done the same in his place, if that meant that she could have saved Serah that way.

That's why she had made him a little monument too.

She did not want to forget.

Lightning stood up and wiped away the pearls of sweat from her forehead. That damn heat…

Even though she was every day here, not once did she have the courage to lay some flowers on her sister's grave.

She was not exactly sure why. Did she fear that this gesture would make Serah's death finally tangible? Or was it that she felt not worthy to show her grief like that? She was a hypocrite after all, the one who had caused this in the first place.

The pink-haired woman inhaled deeply, and with that the smell of the dry grass around her, and exhaled with a loud sigh again.

It was noon and she knew that Snow would visit Serah's grave soon, like he used to everyday. She did not want to speak to him or everyone else and decided that it was better to leave now.

The temperature seemed to have risen, as well as the insects' voices when she went away.

Sitting on New Bodhum's small wooden pier was a habit she had picked up ever since they had returned from Valhalla.

She would sit there for hours and doing nothing except for staring at the water's surface or the horizon.

What else was left to do with her sister gone anyway? Serah had been her only remaining relative and everything Lightning had done ever since she was fifteen-years-old, when their mother died and made them orphans, she had done for Serah, to enable her a good life.

Everything had been a waste and even though she did not want to think like that, the back of her mind still did sometimes.

And she hated it; oh how much she hated it to realize every time anew that her efforts had been for naught.

Without Serah, she saw no meaning in living any further.

How often had she thought about drowning herself, when she saw her reflection in the water?

But her friends wouldn't let her.

They even made her promise to not do anything stupid when no one was around to watch her.

No one wanted her to be gone; however they could not understand that she had nothing left to do in this world anymore.

Not wanting to cause further grief she gave in to their wishes and instead opted to fulfill the last promise she had given Serah:

Remembering her.

What else was she supposed to do? She had no motivation to live after all.

Most people had always commented on how alike the Farron sisters looked, especially Serah: When she was mad at someone she would appear like the spitting image of her older sister.

Gazing at her own reflection in the seawater Lightning wondered if the same applied to her as well.

Did she look like Serah when she smiled and appeared kind?

The woman closed her eyes and tried her best to smile as unforced as possible.

Her heart skipped a nervous beat, before she opened her eyes again to look at the water.

She was genuinely disappointed to see herself with only a distorted smile.

Whenever Lightning got sick and tired from sitting at the pier she would just return to her house – one of the many buildings that were standing near the shore.

Snow had offered her to live in the NORA house, but she declined for different reasons. One was that the group constantly reminded her of Serah, especially Snow, whether they wanted it or not and another had been that something inside her had broken when she entered Serah's room in that house for the first and last time.

Instead she lived in a small house right next to the water, together with Fang and Vanille.

Initially Lightning had wanted to be on her own, but the lack of space and further homes had made it impossible to live alone and from all the people in New Bodhum she knew – or not knew – her two companions had been the best choice as housemates.

The two Pulsian women were out of the house for most of the time anyway.

New Bodhum was still a very young town that needed every helping hand to grow.

Fang had decided to help NORA out with her fighting skills to keep the dangerous monsters away from the people as well as hunting animals down for food and Vanille, having been the skilled medic in their old team for quite some time, had begun to teach different people what natural medicinal herbs Gran Pulse had to offer and how to recognize and use them correctly to treat illnesses and wounds. This was an especially great help, because it made the small town less and less dependable from Cocoon's remaining civilization and the wait for proper medicine.

Sometimes they would disappear for a few hours in the evening and while Lightning had never asked them where they went, she knew anyway: Oerba was nearby, located on the same seaside as New Bodhum and she could bet that they needed some time to be alone as much as Lightning did.

The worst thing that awaited her every time anew, where the nights – when she had to go to sleep.

Every dream she had had so far had been about Serah.

The occasional nightmares weren't even the real problem – the beautiful dreams were. The ones, where everything was alright and perfect.

Waking up and realizing that these dreams had indeed only been dreams was the worst part of each new day – knowing that she was powerless against them did not make matters any better.

Nevertheless, today Lightning decided to skip her joint dinner with Fang and Vanille. She was not in the mood to converse with anyone and she knew that the duo would try to make her talk about her feelings, because they were firmly convinced that talking about Serah would help her.

She fell on her bed and for a while, she just watched the rays of orange sunlight dancing on the wall.

It was evening and the sun had started to set – this was her favorite time of the day, because the sunset always helped her to get rid of her gloomy thoughts, even if only for a brief while.

Gazing at the second bed in the room she could not help but wonder what dream would await her tonight.

Whatever it was, she just hoped that her two roommates would not pick up on her having such problems with her sleep.

The familiar figure standing at the pier waved energetically at her.

Lightning couldn't help but wave back with a happy smirk on her face.

"Hey, Serah!" She called out to the silhouette as she started walking towards her.

Serah, too, had a bright smile on her lips and ran towards her. She shouted something, but the older sister could not understand what it was.

"What did you say?" The older female asked and walked faster because she blamed the distance between them.

"Cl….aire…!" Her little sister's broken voice called as she came closer.

"Serah?" Lightning lowered her hand and stopped. "What's the matter?"

Serah's expression suddenly changed, though she did not stop walking. She seemed frightened and confused, her blue eyes searching for something.

"Wh…ere… … you?" A voice so distorted said that Lightning was not sure anymore if it really was Serah's.

"I'm here! Can't you see me?" She opened her arms to catch her little sister in an embrace, but as soon as Serah reached her and Lightning's hands were about to touch her, the younger Farron dissipated like smoke.

The pink-haired woman awoke panicked in the middle of the night and sat up straight in her bed.

She breathed heavily as she looked around in the moonlit room in order to calm down again.

Fang and Vanille slept together in the bed next to hers; the older woman had her back turned towards Lightning while she embraced Vanille protectively in her sleep.

Seeing them always brought her back to reality.

It's okay, that was only a dream, Lightning told herself.

Dreaming about Serah was nothing unusual after all, but something had been different this time – something that scared her.

Serah's voice had sounded off, distorted, as if it had slowly faded away in the distance.

Lightning closed her eyes and tried to summon her little sister's voice in form of a memory, to reassure herself that she still knew how it sounded.

She couldn't.

The mental image was there, but the voice was missing.

Come on, is that all you can do? she scolded herself and searched her mind even harder.

It felt like she was desperately trying to look for something that was not there anymore, as though the memory that contained Serah's voice had faded away, like her sister in the dream she just had.

Serah had a voice in her memory, alright, but she could not say for sure if it really was hers.

Lightning desperately looked around for help, but Fang and Vanille were asleep. Even if they were awake, what could they have done anyways?

She noticed the silent tears that were running down her cheeks and was glad that her friends were asleep and did not see her like that.

Fang's green eyes were wide open when she heard the first sobs behind her. She silently looked at Vanille who was awake too and her unhappy gaze said it all.

Vanille wanted to help, say something – anything, but she and Fang knew that they would only humiliate the ex-soldier if they revealed to Lightning that they were awake in this very moment and that they had heard her cry.

The redhead could see from her position the silver tears that found their way through Lightning's face and voiced a silent "I'm sorry" with her mouth.

Fang could only pull her close with a comforting smile, to prevent her smaller friend from crying too.

Her voice shaped the words "me too" and she really was, because she felt so damn helpless in that moment. To not being able to help a suffering friend… it was a pain almost equivalent to losing someone.

The two Pulsians looked at each other and again, they did not need words to communicate. They would talk with Lightning tomorrow, regardless if she wanted to or not.

The next morning Lightning behaved as though nothing had happened.

She ate breakfast with her friends and was the first one to leave the house. She did not speak at all, except for the exchange of only two "good mornings" with them.

When she left, the duo nodded at each other and followed her outside.

They didn't need to spy on her; it was clear where the pink-haired woman would go first thing in the morning.

As expected they found their friend in front of Serah's grave.

Lightning heard their footsteps in the dry grass and turned around as soon as they stopped behind her.

"What is it?" She asked sharply, knowing that they weren't here for Serah's sake today. Vanille's floral wreath had not even started to wilt. She knew that they visited the grave as soon as the old flowers dried and laid the new ones together on the grave.

The duo exchanged a brief glance and then Fang spoke up.

"Uh, is there something on your mind you might like to share with us?" She was not exactly good with subtle approaches, but one of them had to do it and she knew exactly that Vanille was too shy.

"No." was the immediate answer.

"Light, please…" Vanille pleaded with meekly voice. "It's only for your best."

"And you know of course what that is, yes?" Lightning replied bluntly.

"Well, we know definitely that sitting around the whole day and brooding in the past won't help." Fang intervened slightly annoyed.

"Whatever." She just turned around and opted to ignore them.

Again, the Oerban duo glanced at each other.

"We… know that you cried yesterday night." Vanille suddenly revealed and shortly after pretended to clear her throat as if that would lessen the effect of her words.

Lightning winced visibly and turned around to face them again with an expression that made Vanille immediately regret what she just said. "So that's what this is all about?"

She was angry, no doubt about it.

"Kinda." Fang answered honestly. "We can't sit around anymore and watch you moping day after day."

"Moping?" She furrowed her eyebrows. "What the hell do expect me to do after my sister – my only family – died? Did you even try to understand how I feel?"

"Whoa there, missy." Fang interrupted her. "We lost our whole hometown when we awoke in Cocoon, okay? It's not like we didn't lose any family, too."

Lightning glared at her with ice blue eyes. "What a surprise." She said sarcastically. "I know that, I lost my whole family too when I was fifteen. From there on, I had only Serah – just like you only have Vanille. Can you imagine losing her?" She asked sharply.

Fang wanted to answer, but she was quickly interrupted by the pink-haired female when she opened her mouth.

"Don't bother trying. Whatever your mind can come up with – the reality is a million times worse and hurts more than you can ever imagine."

The dark-haired woman closed her mouth again and lowered her gaze.

What could she say? She knew that Lightning was right. Losing the last person she had in the world… no, there was just no way she could imagine how it really would be to lose Vanille. She knew how it felt when Vanille was in danger, when she was hurt or risked her life – but to actually lose her… To know that there was no coming back from the dead – no, she did not know how it felt and she hoped that she wouldn't have to find out ever.

"Exactly." Lightning said as if she just had read Fang's mind. "And you know what's worse than that?"

Both females looked at her with an incredulous expression. There was even something worse then what she had just said?

"Trying to remember her voice and realizing that you can't anymore." She answered and her angry expression softened, became sad instead.

"I promised I would remember her… Seems like I can't even do that properly." Lightning explained and it appeared that she was talking more to herself than with her friends now.

"Light…" What could they say? They had lost the argument with a crushing defeat.

What she said about Serah was the truth, but Vanille and Fang knew very well what it meant to not remember the voices or the faces of the people they loved so dearly. Five hundred years had passed after all since they had last seen them.

"Light, try to see it like that… what would Serah say if she saw you in this state?" Vanille tried it again. Maybe the older Farron would realize that it was no use to only grief until the end of her days, if she could see the things from another person's point of view?

"Don't you even dare to guilt-trip me like that." Lightning hissed at her. "How would you know what Serah would think in such a situation? You've only met her once."

"I – I didn't say…" The redhead tried to explain. She never meant to claim that she knew how Serah would feel like! She only wanted Lightning to try and see how she must look like to the others.

Besides, she met Serah twice, but she was aware that this really was not the time for such hair-splitting.

"This is ridiculous." Lightning stated and passed coldly by the two to leave the graveyard.

How did they even dare to talk to her like that and this in front of Serah's grave?

She was angry, not only because the argument destroyed the piece at the graveyard but also because of the words they had exchanged. As if they knew what she was going through. Fang and Vanille had each other, like Lightning had Serah – but she lost her sister, while they were still together.

"Miss Farron!" Someone called her and she looked up from the ground in surprise.

That voice belonged to a child and for a moment, she had tricked herself to believe that the kid had been calling Serah – his former teacher.

She knew that Serah had been a teacher in New Bodhum in between the three years after Cocoon's fall and Noel's first appearance in her time; Lightning had seen her from Valhalla in that incredibly short and the same time infinite long moment before Caius's arrival and the begin of their fated fight..

"What?" She turned around to face the boy, Rhett.

"Um, Maqui told me that Lebreau told him that if you have the time and the… inclination, then she'd like to invite you to lunch at the NORA house, together with the others." He said.

She grimaced for a second, but he didn't notice. Lightning had never been too fond of the NORA pack, but she had to admit that they did a very good job at protecting their new home, even without the Guardian Corps around.

Lebreau had tried to talk her into fighting with them, but ever since Lightning returned from Valhalla her desire to battle had vanished and her reason to hate the group because of their former intervention in military affairs, too.

Her reason for avoiding them now, was because they talked too much about things she'd rather avoid: Serah being of course the number one reason, but rookie fighting plans were something she could not agree with either. Even if she had stopped fighting, that did not mean that she would listen to their nonsense. She did not possess the motivation to correct and argue with them either.

And then there was that cheerful atmosphere in the NORA house that irritated her and that did not fit her current psychical state at all.

"I'll think about it." Lightning replied, which was her way to decline the offer as politely as possible.

Rhett nodded and examined her face for a moment too long before he retreated again.

"Alright, Miss Farron!" He said and called her name an unnecessary second time.

When he ran towards a group of other children, who had watched them until now, she wondered if he had just looked for a reason to call out the name of the teacher who had loved her students so dearly.

Really… why Serah? Everyone else's death wouldn't have left such a great gap behind.

Lightning sighed as she slowly made her way to the pier.

It was funny how she had learned to recognize people by their touch.

That was because they always approached her in the same manner when they saw her sitting on the pier: First they laid a hand on her shoulder, then they waited for a response and when she gave her silent approval, they would sit down next to her.

Snow's heavy hand was easy to distinguish, as well as Hope's hesitating gesture or Sazh's thoughtful approach.

The two hands on her shoulders right now belonged to Fang and Vanille. Fang's firm grip was typical for her, as was Vanille's gentle touch.

The duo stayed silent and Lightning too, did not plan on saying anything. She was not in the mood to talk to either one of them, especially after what happened in front of Serah's grave.

However, she did realize that what she had said had been a little too harsh. To say that the pain of losing all their friends and families was nothing compared to Serah's death… Those were two completely different things; it had not been fair to compare them like that.

"Light?"

She did not reply, tried to ignore them stubbornly until they gave up.

A second passed in which the ex-soldier could imagine that the duo exchanged yet another glance and after that, she felt how the pressure on her shoulders rose.

And before she knew what happened the duo had pushed her from the wooden pier into the sea.

"What the hell was that for? !" She shouted at them angrily. Lightning grew only more furious when she saw Fang's usual cocky smirk and Vanille's amused smile on their faces.

"Just thought that you needed something to cool down." Fang replied.

"Do you want me to kill you?"

Vanille crouched down and gave Lightning an unusual piercing stare with her forest green eyes. It actually made the older woman quiet down for a few moments.

Fang sat next to her red-haired friend and sighed loudly.

"Listen, I know that it's not exactly the same, but you can still say that we have some 'experience' in losing important persons."

Her choice of words made Lightning angry, almost as if she was proud to have that much 'experience' in that kind of thing.

However instead of saying something, she just scowled at her.

"You say you start to forget what Serah's voice sounds like and I – no, we – know that this must scare you a lot because that's one of the only things that's left from her." She started to explain, looking directly into the other woman's eyes without shrinking under her murderous gaze. "But have you ever stopped to think about us? Heck, our friends and families died over five hundred years ago! Do you really think that we remember each and everyone's voices?"

Lightning briefly lowered her gaze to think about that, but Fang already gave her the answer.

"We don't." She said as she shook her head. "But that doesn't mean that we forgot them."

The pink-haired woman slowly raised her gaze to look at them. They tried to smile a comforting and optimistic smile and this time, they somehow managed to not make her angry again.

"But…"

"We know how that feels." Vanille chimed in. "And we know that that hurts, but please: Calm down." She said softly. "There are other ways to remember people, except their looks and voices."

By now Lightning had really calmed down and listened intently to what her friends had to say. Fang might have worded it awkwardly, but she was right when she said that they had 'experience' with such things.

She looked between the two Pulsians, curiously as to what Vanille had referred to.

The redhead herself looked helplessly at Fang, apparently not knowing how she could word her thoughts.

The dark-haired woman responded to her gaze with a shrug and a kind smile, before turning to Lightning again.

"Look, what we want to say is that your sister continues to live within you. We remember the people we lost by doing things the way they taught us or we remember what they told us – or the way they told us. Even if their voices or faces aren't clear anymore, we won't forget them. And the same goes for you and Serah."

Lightning remained silent and let Fang's words sink in.

Remembering by doing things the way she taught her or the way she spoke, not the voice itself…

Serah, what did she teach her older sister?

Forgiveness…

Right, had she ever blamed Lightning for sending her to that mission? No, she had gone anyway even though she had known the risks.

Serah had been the one who taught her how to smile after their mother's death. Lightning had been busy with growing up quickly and becoming her legal guardian, to provide for their little two-men-family – but it had been Serah who overcame their mother's death first and who brought a small piece of normality back to their lives with her bright attitude.

And then there were all the little things they had done as sisters: cooking together, taking care of the house and each other…

As she thought about everything, she tried to find reasons as to why Fang and Vanille were wrong, but she could not name any and the more and more things popped up in her mind, with them came the face of her smiling little sister – clear as day.

She wanted to disagree with them, but couldn't come up with any doubts: They were right.

Fang and Vanille spoke the truth and together with that realization she suddenly felt at ease.

"Was it really necessary to push me into the water, just to tell me that?" She finally replied with a frown.

Not that she minded that very much. The sea was calm and cool, as opposed to the scorching heat from the sun.

The duo shrugged.

"Yep." Vanille said.

"As if you would've listened to us otherwise." Fang added.

Then they grinned and jumped right next to her, water splashing everywhere.

With the setting sun, the color of the sky changed to a lovely red and the clouds turned dark pink.
The cicadas' chirps slowly subsided to make place for the crickets that would start to sing a new song in the night.

Was it just her imagination or was it suddenly easier to breath?

After fooling around with Fang and Vanille she had found it a pity that she had gone for so many days without doing anything productive.

She had felt the desire to help New Bodhum grow again, the town her sister, Snow and the other NORA members had built from scratch.

And after thinking long and hard about it she finally found something she really wanted to do.

"Hey, sis, visiting her too, huh?" Snow said when he met the pink-haired woman on his way to Serah's grave. Never once did he stop calling Lightning his sister, even though his fiancée had died over a month ago. It was just further proof that he still loved Serah – and her family – dearly.

Something was different about Lightning when he met her, though.

Not her looks, but somehow… the air around her had changed.

"Bringing some flowers today, I see." The blond man noticed when he saw the bouquet in her hands that consisted of many of Serah's favorite plants: Sunflowers, lilies, roses, poppies and dandelions – it was quite the colorful mix.

"Yeah… it's about time." Lightning replied and gazed softly at the flowers. "Besides, I wanted to tell her about my new job."

Snow raised an eyebrow.

"Did you decide to go out and hunt monsters down again?" He joked as they walked side by side.

She shook her head. "I said new job, Snow. Something that she would have liked me to do – something harmless." She explained and suppressed a little smile. "And something that she would have loved to continue on her own…"

The blond man thought about her words and tried to guess what she meant.

He still didn't find out what her new job was when they reached Serah's grave and put the flowers they had brought with them on it.

"Okay, I give up. Mind telling me what your new job is?"

Lightning rested a hand on the gravestone and closed her eyes for a while before she opted to answer his question.

"Let us just say that New Bodhum's kids won't have to think of another nickname for their new teacher."

Snow just stood there, trying to comprehend what she had just said.

When the realization struck him, he had to laugh out loud.

"You're going to become 'Meanie Miss Farron' number two? Dear Lord, help those children to get through their school time unharmed!"

His reaction made her smirk as she stood up again. "Heh, did you ever stop to think why she was such a strict teacher?" Funny, Fang had said something similar when she had told her and Vanille her plans.

The blond calmed down again and smiled gently as he examined the picture next to the grave.

"Yeah, of course. Her own one rubbed off on her." He answered and winked at her knowingly.

There was brief moment of silence between them in which the warm evening wind wafted through the grass.

"They'll grow into strong and responsible persons under your care." Snow finally said. "You'll be a great teacher."

"Thanks." She also watched the photograph and felt a sudden tug in her heart.

Her new resolve was strong, but seeing Serah's smiling face inside the picture frame made her realize that even if she would be happy in the future again, it would never be the same without having Serah to share that happiness with.

It was nothing new, to be honest, but in that moment she had realized that she would never not miss her little sister during the important and not so important moments in her life.

"Hey, Snow?"

"Yes?" It surprised him that her voice sounded suddenly so gentle. It kind of reminded him of Serah's way of calling him. About three years ago, on the night of the fireworks in Bodhum, Serah had called him with the same tone, a subtle sadness hidden underneath her tender voice.

"Did Serah teach you something, too?"

Snow nodded.

"Don't ever forget what she taught you. That way she'll always be alive – in one way or the other." Lightning said and clenched her fists.

She turned her back to the grave, ready to leave again.

"Don't worry, Lightning. I will." Snow promised her after she made a few steps and had her back turned to him.

Remembering something, the pink-haired woman stopped and turned around to face the man once again.

"Call me Claire. There is no need for Lightning anymore." She announced and without waiting for a response she made her way through the field and into the town again.

END

A/N: If someone of you read the title and thought of certain song from The Lion King, then I'll give you a cookie. Because guess what the inspiration for certain passages was, lol.