The ending to XIII made me bawl even though tumblr had already spoiled the ending for me...I think it was the combination of the quiet acceptance and the new morning that took this story and put it close to my heart. The end scene was my favorite scene in the game because it's a quiet sort of reflection on how far everyone has come. Hope is my favorite character in terms of character development throughout the first game into the second, and his feelings were the most transparent at the end, so I really focused on him to bring out the emotions in the scene and in the song. Leona Lewis also did a great job with that song, My Hands. I listened to it non-stop writing it, typing it up, and editing, so as you read, I suggest having that song play in the background :) Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy XIII

It was over. Orphan was defeated, Cocoon was saved- it was the dawn of a new day. After the doubts, the fights, the sleepless nights, the fear of the unknown, the fal'Cie, the armies standing in their way, the journey was finally complete for the six branded l'Cie. After months of defying fate, here they were, at the beginning of a new future.

Wake up.

As Hope felt the crystal melt away from his skin, he kept his eyes closed, breathing in the fresh air of the morning. This, this moment of life, he wanted to treasure after thinking he would be stuck in crystal stasis for eons. It wasn't until he heard Lightning's voice did he open his eyes.

"They did it. They saved the world."

There it was. Cocoon, his home, the very place he and the others fought so hard to protect, was suspended in the sky, supported by an enormous pillar of crystal. The lava that Ragnarok summoned from the depths of the earth solidified the base of the pillar on Pulse, shooting up towards the nexus of enormous crystal bursts that became Cocoon's resting place. Waves and ripples of crystal embraced the planetoid, wrapping its arms carefully around it as crystal splayed over the surface, dancing as it refracted the morning light.

"No," Snow spoke up, walking to Lightning as he looked at the structure. "They gave us a new one." His blue eyes narrowed, tracing the pillar upwards where he knew his friends were. Maybe it was the lights and the crystals, but the hero's eyes seemed to glimmer, seemed to shine with the sadness that came over his face.

Hope approached the group as the four of them took in the sight in quiet awe, in the moment they could catch their breath.

"That's one gift I'll forgive them for not wrapping," Sazh said, gazing at the pillar. The chocobo chirped in agreement at the same moment Hope voiced his agreement.

This is as much as we can do. The rest is up to you.

Vanille's voice washed over the group like a breeze, giving them all a small semblance of closure.

"Does this mean we…completed our Focus?" the platinum-haired boy asked, voice laced with his namesake.

"Cocoon's seen better days, that's for sure," Snow replied jokingly. All things considered, he supposed they did complete their Focus. They saved Cocoon, them and the two Oerbans who were sharing these last moments with them.

"Yeah, and I'd say that qualified as a demolition," Sazh said, smiling. "Mission complete."

Whatever you want to believe.

Lightning smiled at Fang's tone. "It really is a miracle."

A miracle. Hope's mind suddenly clicked as he brought his arm up, pulling back his glove to see- "My brand! It's gone!" The group gasped, each feeling the weight of their burdens being lifted, bit by bit, as they all checked the spots on their bodies where their l'Cie brands were and seeing them gone.

It's easy to lose sight of things in a world as wide as this one. If you keep going, you're sure to find what you're looking for, sooner or later.

It was right at that moment when Vanille spoke, directing their attention toward the crystal pillar one more, that they saw two shapes in the distance making their way to them.

"An' an' an' there were a whole bunch of chocobos!" A young voice exclaimed excitedly.

"There was, was there?" Another, softer voice answered him with a smile. Hope saw Sazh start to run, the chocobo chick frantically flapping its tiny wings to catch up.

"Dajh!" He yelled pulling his son into his arms as he reached the boy and crashed onto his knees. Snow was hot on his heels, recognizing the other figure.

"Serah!" The hero sprinted to the pink-haired girl, picking her up and swinging her around.

"Snow!" Serah Farron laughed, twirling in her fiancé's arms. Hope, his heart bursting with the emotions from his friends' reunions, ran up to them excitedly before slowing to a stop, a single thought suddenly occurring to him.

"They're gone, aren't they."

It was a statement, not a question. The boy looked down at his hands and fully felt, for the first time, the loss of his mother, Fang, and Vanille. There was no one he would greet with a swooping hug, no smiling face to look back at him in reunion. His mother would never smile at him, never put her arms around him again as they watched fireworks, as they walked through the streets of Palumpolum at sunset. Fang would never stand in front of him and remind him to hold his chin up, to train him and push him to get stronger. And Vanille…Vanille, the girl who was there for him when he lost his mother, the girl who was not afraid to slap him around to get him to focus, the girl who took his hands, who hugged him, who comforted him, who told him to 'face it later' when everything became too much, the one person whom he was absolutely certain he would not have lasted those first few hours, those first few days without, was gone.

Tears burned his aquamarine eyes, his gloved hands balling into fists. Footsteps. A gentle arm wrapped around his shoulder as Lightning came to stand by him.

"Hey," she said quietly, sharing in his mourning. Hope was never more grateful for her, for his mentor who was continually teaching him how to stay alive, even now. She was still teaching him to live up to his namesake, to find hope.

"I guess they meant for this to be goodbye," he said, looking up at the beautiful crystal pillar, at the round burst of crystal right at Cocoon's base that held Fang and Vanille. He took a breath, feeling the steady reassurance of Lightning next to him, feeling the gentle nudge of support from Vanille as her spirited started to fade, feeling the gentle breeze of the morning. "Then again, we've changed our fates before."

As Hope watched the Farron sisters reunite, as he laughed with them and Snow and Sazh, he heard Fang's voice speaking gently to him.

When prayers turn to promises, not even fate can stand in their way.

Promises. Like-

"Don't you remember you promised me? You promised me that we'd come and see Gran Pulse together!"

"I mean maybe we both forgot. Maybe we did promise to see Gran Pulse together- and Cocoon."

Vanille was next, and with a heavy realization, Hope knew that this was the last time he would be hearing from her in a long time.

We held the light of hope in our hearts and achieved the impossible. Now we live on to greet a new dawn.

Those were the words Hope would keep with him, repeating them to himself over and over again as people began new lives on Gran Pulse, as he joined the Academy, as he finished his studies and rose to become Director of the Academy. Words he repeated to himself when everyone he loved disappeared, words that came to him when Serah and Noel showed up one day in the Yaschas Massif ten years later.

I promise- I promise that I'll save you. I'll find a way to wake you up. Then, we'll all be together again. Then we can keep our promises. We can see Gran Pulse and Cocoon together. We'll wake up to see a new dawn.