I Can Do This on My Own

More than one miracle took place that day. Cocoon was saved by Fang and Vanille's sacrifice, we awoke from our crystal sleep, and our brands were gone. Our fight had just ended, but I couldn't relax. A new battle was about to begin.

She was glad Serah had awoken from her crystal slumber. She was relieved most of the citizens of Cocoon were saved from the fall. The Sanctum fal'Cie were gone, and a sense of free will was fully restored. Everyone was ahead of her, looking up at the crystallized Cocoon with awe and wonder, and she followed suit.

Snow and Serah had already moved on from the phase of awakening from crystal stasis and decided to continue with their wedding plans. In truth, Lightning was glad they easily returned to their normal selves; it made the stress and shock a lot easier to handle. She lightly chuckled at the sight of Dajh and Sazh, feeling that the reunion between the father and son was well-deserved. As for Hope, he would soon be reunited with his own father, who was kept in a safe haven by the Cavalry.

All was right in the end, for the most part.

…So why was there still some doubt in her mind?

"Bring back the Maker! Open the door!"

The bellowing voice echoed through her ears. Lightning cringed at the sound, covering her ears and shutting her eyes tightly. Glancing up, she was confused as to why the others hadn't budged, as if they didn't hear a thing. "You guys," she called out, yet none of them responded. Snow and Serah continued to hold hands, Dajh was on Sazh's shoulders, and Hope stood next to them as a fellow companion…and none looked back toward Lightning.

"Chaos! Rid our world of this failure, and we will start anew!"

Twirling around, she saw waves of dark entities surrounding her, cutting off the rays of sunlight from the skies. She looked back at the others, who remained oblivious to the arriving darkness, which had soon crept upon them as well. Their forms began to slowly dissolve, the entities eating away at them.

"Watch out!" Lightning screeched. Before she had a chance to catch up to them, the darkness threw her to the ground. She struggled to get back on her feet and escape, but soon the ground shifted and formed treacherous cliffs and gaps, blocking her path. Feeling the terror catching up to her, Lightning made a leap over a crevice, grasping on to an elevated section of the land with only her arms, but the ground continued to tremble, weakening her grip onto the cliff and reality. A sharp pain rose up from her leg as her knee scraped against the side, and she could feel the blowing dirt and dust already infecting it.

"What the hell is going on?!"

The darkness found the chance to wrap around her neck, choking and pulling her off of the cliff. Its incredible strength won over her attempts to hold on, and it surely didn't make things easier by cutting off her air supply. Like a strong arm, it fiercely tugged her down, weakening her clutch onto the cliff. "Get off me!"

She gave one final helpless glance to her sister and friends. Ignorant of what was happening, it was like the darkness was blinding them internally, cutting their minds off from reality. Lightning saw Serah turn toward her fiancé Snow with a smile; though she would have normally been glad to see her sister's happiness, the very fact that none of them could see or help her tugged on her thread of hope. It began to unravel and, just like her grip on the cliff, became loose altogether, allowing her to be carried away by the darkness. As her sight of her immediate and symbolic family vanished, they were replaced by a menacing and fearsome countenance in the shrouds of darkness - a humanoid creature with glowing gold eyes and savage teeth, screeching out at the top of its lungs.

Just when she thought the world would give her a pardon for being a savior, it instead dragged her away to her punishment. All light vanished around her, and Lightning was left to dream indefinitely.

The darkness caught me in its embrace, wrote me out of this history...and into a new one.

It was just like any other trip to the Sector 5 church: riding across the now complete highway became a regular basis. No one else really used the road, for they didn't truly want to return to the city of destruction and relive the haunting memories. For more than two years, Midgar was abandoned…except for the one person who used to live in a dilapidated church.

Cloud sped straight through Midgar City limits, eager to pay his usual respects. As he drove through the ruins, he remembered every detail of his battle with Kadaj and, ultimately, Sephiroth. Shinra's main office was deteriorating faster than before since the battle with its greatest SOLDIER; there were even sensations from the scars and wounds all over Cloud's body just thinking about the incident. Yet thankfully, with the help of his friends, he was able to put down the madman and rid of the world of Geostigma.

After taking the usual route to Sector 5, he parked Fenrir a few yards from the main entrance of the church. One of the side blades was taken out of the compartments and laced in the holster on his back – to ensure he had protection if any wildlife chose to visit along with him. As he walked up to the church, he saw the occasional glimpse of a wolf looking back at him, almost pleading for him to cheer up. It would usually appear whenever depression grabbed hold of his heart, only staying long enough to remind him that he was alone no longer. Today, it appeared just before the church's steps, looking at him with its blank eyes and expression.

"I know," Cloud told the wolf as he approached, stopping just a few inches away. "It's not getting the best of me. I won't let it." He had made the resolve months ago, after defeating Sephiroth one last time.

Regardless of his answer, the wolf simply turned to nod toward the church's doors, something it had never done before. Cloud looked at the doors curiously, wondering what it was referring to. "What is it, Fenrir?"

He walked past the wolf and up the steps, cautiously laying a hand on the side blade's grip. Trusting his senses, Cloud slipped back into his idealized SOLDIER persona and became tactful, instinctive, and deadly. The wolf's indication alerted him that something was off, and danger could have been waiting for him within the church. Though he was not the religious type, it still enraged him that someone would come and defile a sacred place, especially when it held great importance to him. Cloud gently pressed his hand on the church's door and pushed it slightly forward, just enough to make a crack for him to peer through. Peeking inside, nothing was out of the ordinary; not even a sound was heard except for the movement of the water in the front.

And then he heard it. The wind pushed the water up against something solid, too large for it to be just any random debris. He was sure the church wasn't deteriorating any farther, not since Kadaj created the hole that opened up for the Lifestream's water to enter.

Cloud pushed the door even more, slightly pulling out the side blade in preparation for combat. As he stepped inside, birds that were perched up by the rooftop flew through the gap. Everything else seemed to be exactly the way it was last time he visited…

Except for the lone figure in the water.

Dazed for a small moment, Cloud finally got back to his senses and rushed over, dropping his side blade along the edge of the water before jumping in. His heavy clothing proved to be no challenge in moving through the water, and he quickly picked up what seemed to be a young woman bridal style. Her waterlogged garments made it tedious for him to trudge over and lay her across the edge. When he finally jumped out of the water, he rushed to kneel beside her and shift the pink hair away from sticking to her face.

"Hey, wake up!" He shook the young woman by the shoulders until her eyes began to flutter. "Are you okay?"

After a few moments, the woman writhed and turned herself over, coughing and spitting out water that almost drowned her lungs. Once the fit was over, she struggled to open her eyes and took deep breaths to calm her pulse. Debilitation swept over her, and she fell back into Cloud's outstretched arms before glancing up into his worried eyes.

"Serah," she muttered with a weak and worried breath before passing out once more. Cloud gently laid her head back to the ground and fixed her in the most comfortable position possible. He noticed the gash on her right knee and was sure it required medical attention. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed that the wolf was no longer in sight; though it may have seemed like a coincidence, his meeting with the woman may have had a meaning behind it.

Either way, it was up to him to assist her now.

Returning the side blade to the holster on his back, Cloud went back to his bike and fetched materials. He was known to be altruistic at times, even more so after he stopped Kadaj and his gang months ago. Furthermore, and he could not explain why, but there was something about the woman that drew him to show his lighter side, despite not even knowing her. In the few minutes he knew about her, Cloud saw that she was vulnerable and caring while keeping up a tough front, as evident by her clothing and holstered weapon.

He couldn't just leave her alone.

Bitter wind began to sweep through the church, reaching Lightning and nibbling at her skin. It was enough to pull her out of her slumber, and she achingly opened her eyes to find herself in an unknown building. It was too dark to see much, though there was a small source of light in the far corner of her eye.

'Darkness…'

With a quick gasp, her memories flooded back to her: the dark waves, the bellowing voice, and trembling ground filled her being with calamity. She immediately sat upright, her upper body being more exposed to the cold wind. There was a small lantern by her feet and a few medical supplies, but what she focused most of her attention on were her surroundings. The lantern and the stars illuminated what appeared to be a rundown church, and a small pool of water stretched across where an altar should have been. She was laid close to the front pews; looking down, she realized an adequate blanket was protecting her from the cold, and her gunblade and pouch were laid next to her.

As she shifted in her position, Lightning noticed something tight wrapping around her leg. Peering under the covers, she found her right knee bandaged up, and it reminded her of the incident of her scrape from when she ran from the darkness.

"Just what was that?" she asked herself in a hoarse voice, gathering the blanket in her tight fists. "Chaos? Where did it come from?" All at once, the joy and relief she felt from saving Cocoon was ripped away by a strange entity, and now she was lost in an unknown place by herself, for she was sure that since no one else saw the darkness, they weren't affected.

She heard footsteps approaching just on the other side of the church's doors, and she relapsed into her Guardian Corps intuition. Grabbing the gunblade, Lightning sped to hide beside the front pews, flipping her weapon into its gun mode. Staying as low as possible, she listened to the heavy footsteps walking through the center aisle.

'Boots, considering the heavy footsteps,' she analyzed quickly. 'Most likely male. Well-timed pacing – he's in perfect health.'

As the enigma drew closer to where she originally was, the footsteps came to a halt, and there was silence for many long seconds. She heard items being set down on nearby pews.

"It's not wise to move around so much with that knee, let alone go far," she heard a man call out. She deduced that he could have been somewhere in his twenties. Despite being a stranger, he was right about her condition – she could still stand and walk normally, but her combat skills were going to be reduced for the time being. Giving up her planned assault, she stood from her cache and aimed her gun at the man, who in response drew a blade in her direction.

"Who are you?" she demanded with cold eyes. "And where am I?"

The man kept a firm yet reasoning attitude. "Put down your weapon, and we can talk this all out."

Lightning grew impatient. "Where am I? How close are we to Cocoon?" Her voice reflected her anxiety, shooting up in its tone.

"Cocoon?" the man asked calmly. "I've never heard of it. Is it a new town recently built?"

Gritting her teeth, she took a step toward him, her arm and gunblade quivering with rage. "Enough screwing around! Are you a Pulsian or what?!"

He lowered his weapon in defeat and pointed toward the pool of water at the altar. Lightning didn't rip her eyes away from him. "I found you in there earlier. I dragged you out and patched you up, and the person who just saved you shouldn't be receiving this kind of attitude." His words did nothing to ease the tension; Lightning still had him at gunpoint, her finger ready to pull the trigger. The man sighed before sticking his blade into the ground and holding his hands up.

"Look, I'm not here to hurt you. My name is Cloud – Cloud Strife. What's yours?"

As vigilant as she was, Lightning had little chance of surviving through an unknown place alone, especially if it's somewhere on Pulse. Now that she's no longer a l'Cie, the powers that came with the curse are also gone, and her survival rate dropped close to zero. She had to give in to the circumstances and trust the man, but she made sure her guard wouldn't falter.

"Lightning," she replied, lowering her gunblade. "What is this place?"

"A church," Cloud said while gathering the supplies he left on a pew. "I lived here alone for a while, but I recently moved back to the city next to here."

"And 'here' is…?"

"Midgar. It was the most technologically advanced place before it got destroyed. And what's all this 'Cocoon' and 'Pulsian' stuff about?" Walking toward the lantern, he set down the supplies and sat himself down next to them, watching Lightning as she continued to observe the church, lost in her own thoughts.

She looked at him with confusion. "Pulse – the world below Cocoon that harbors the wildlife and natural evolution…" The mirrored bewilderment in Cloud's eyes was enough to convince her that he knew nothing about the world she knew. "Okay, then. So what world is this, according to you?"

"It's called the Planet. There are lots of town and cities, some villages…Plenty of them have reactors built by the Shinra Company to harvest mako and create materia..."

As he continued on, she grew more agitated by the second. Nothing was adding up, and little by little, her world disappeared like a dream.

"…Are there…fal'Cie?" she asked hesitantly. If there was something about her life that was definite and true, it would be those higher beings that controlled her for most of her life. That was all she needed to hold on to the sense that she could get through this wild dream and hopefully wake up.

But Cloud just frowned and shook his head. "What are those?"

Her heart sank at the idea of her whole world being a lie. She was sure it all happened: Serah, the fal'Cie, her Focus…It couldn't have just been all in her head. What if she was still dreaming, having never woken from crystal stasis after defeating Orphan?

He could see that she was too far in her mind to try and talk anymore. Silently, she sank to the floor, keeping her head down as if all hope was gone. More minutes passed, and Cloud was sure there was no will left in her to keep trying and defy her fate as a prisoner in a new world. About an hour later, there was still no movement, giving him the safe feeling that she wouldn't try and ambush him in his sleep.

Packing his things away, Cloud was about to turn off the lantern when he glanced in Lightning's direction. She gave no response to anything he did.

"Listen, we'll head to my town in the morning. It's close by, and then hopefully, my friends and I can help you out."

Still, nothing. He thought about the immense weight everything has been on her: possibly due to a delusion, she was still frustrated about how her world has been turned upside down. She may have been overly exposed to mako, like how Cloud was when he and Zack broke out of Nibelheim…but it wasn't like she was brain-dead. She still had coherent thoughts – no signs of intoxication whatsoever.

Walking over, he picked up the blanket and carefully wrapped it around her shoulders. Despite the close proximity, Lightning didn't move at all. Her eyebrows were furrowed together, her lips in a fixed frown; he didn't want to say anything else to upset her even more.

Cloud went back to settle himself next to the lantern, lowering it to a dim flame. The woman was tough, but for her to be in a world completely new to her, the strong cold front would deteriorate soon. Perhaps answers would be found back in Edge, he thought to himself before surrendering to fatigue and slumped into a position similar to hers.

He gave no hint that he was awake. Instead, he listened quietly as she prepared herself to leave the church, and the very fact that she did her best to conceal her movements suggested that she was taking off on her own.

It would have been cruel to dampen her efforts of pushing forward through her frustration, but Cloud knew well enough that she wouldn't get far on her own, especially with that knee. After Lightning strapped on her holster and pouch, she headed out the main doors, and he wasn't sure if she was aware of him getting up from his own spot to follow her. Watching her from the doors, he noticed how she walked tall with pride, unwilling to give in to her terrible predicaments.

"The wildlife's gonna chew you up, y'know," he called out. Though his words irritated her, Lightning continued on. Sighing at her fickleness, Cloud ran back inside the church and pulled out various offensive materia. He tucked them away before jogging out to follow a good few feet behind her. "You should take some materia to help with the fighting."

She turned on her heel and glared at him with ferocious eyes. "I don't need your help!" she growled. "I can do this on my own."

Cloud didn't believe a single word she said, not after meeting her just hours ago. Stepping forward, he was about to explain himself when there was a low growl from behind him. He spun around and noticed a pack of bloodthirsty wolves sauntering toward the both of them, their eyes glaring with hunger. Lightning unsheathed her gunblade and changed her stance, but her knee proved to be a hindrance in her fighting abilities. Running was out of the question, leaving her to just be a crippled meat sack waiting to be chomped on.

Just when they thought things couldn't get worse, more of the wolves' pack emerged before Lightning, and the two of them were cut off from easy means of escape.

"Here!"

He tossed Lightning a palm-sized green orb, which she caught with ease. As she looked at it curiously, Cloud still raised his sword against the wolves surrounding them. "It's materia," he called over his shoulder. "It lets you use magic and other skills."

Again, something that she had absolutely no experience with was thrust into her hands to ensure survival. "How do I-" she started, but he already raised one of his arms up for her to see, and there was a deep green spherical glow underneath his skin. Billowing red mist surrounded his forearm, and flames appeared in his palm.

Her gaze shifted to an oncoming wolf for a moment, and before she could warn him of the attack, Cloud had already waved his arm and threw the flame straight at the creature. It whimpered from the burns, but it didn't stop Cloud from rushing forward and begin attacking with his sword.

With no time for hesitation or questions, Lightning brought the green materia close to her arm. Her eyes widened as the orb was easily absorbed by her skin; a rush of power coursed through her veins, and she felt nostalgic of the great powers she developed as a l'Cie. From the corner of her eye, she saw a small pack of wolves charging toward her, away from Cloud's targets. Mustering up as much willpower she could get in limited time, Lightning waved her arm toward the creatures, and thunderbolts shot out of her palm, striking the foes with tremendous force.

Surprise and accomplishment washed over her as she looked down at her arm again, and the orb continued to glow beneath her skin. "So that's how it's done." Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Cloud swing his mighty sword to easily decimate the wolves, in awe at his immense strength.

Once the rest of the wolves were finished, Cloud folded up his side blade and tucked it away before walking over to Lightning, who delicately removed the materia from her forearm. "Thanks," she said bluntly while offering it back to him. Instead of taking it, Cloud curled Lightning's fingers back over the materia.

"You keep it. Until your knee gets better, you're gonna need something to help with a fight."

As he walked past to head to his bike, Lightning slowly brought her curled hand to her chest, her mind somehow incoherent. The place where his hand brushed her fingers remained warm, some of the heat rising up her arm toward her face.

'It's…It's probably just his materia,' she told herself.

Turning around, she saw Cloud wheel a large black motorcycle closer to her. "I'm heading over to Edge. I'm sure my friends and I will be able to help you with whatever you need. If you want, you can ride with me."

Her gaze switched back and forth between Cloud and his motorcycle. It still puzzled her as to why he would go out of his way to help her, but she shouldn't be the one asking questions. If it weren't for him, Lightning would have probably been chewed up by some nasty creature if she dared to trek on an bad knee.

She waited by the motorcycle as he went back to the church and gathered his things. When he returned to put them away, Cloud also popped open his sword compartments and Lightning had to admit that she was impressed. He put away the side blade and mounted his bike with her joining him from behind.

"Hang on tight," he said over his shoulder. "It's gonna be a bumpy ride."

As he started the engine, she hesitantly wrapped her arms around his waist, only tightening her hold when he began to drive. Cloud sped through the Midgar ruins with ease, and Lightning wondered what could have possibly happened to the city to be in this condition. Decay and desolation were everywhere, and she wondered if Pulse had looked like that after she disappeared.

Just thinking about her home only brought sadness. Lightning leaned her head against Cloud's backside to stop the tears from falling, and he didn't question it at all.