Remembering Noel (A FFXIII Fan Fiction)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 

        A/N: For the purpose of this story, Noel and Serah succeeded in their quest, and Serah didn't die. Oh yeah and Snow died protecting Serah, even though he could tell that she wasn't in love with him anymore. 

        Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy XIII-2 (or XIII for that matter) or Square Enix. The story and some characters are my own. 

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        "Serah. Serah, please, please, wake up. I'm so sorry. I was supposed to protect you. Please, wake up." A lone tear slid from the corner of Noel Kreiss's eye.

        Hope Estheim watched from a short distance, hot tears streaking down his face. Serah had been like a sister to him, but to Noel, she had been much, much more.

        His lips glistening with tears, Noel placed a kiss on Serah's cheek, and pressed his forehead to hers. Suddenly, he felt the slightest pressure on his hand. He shook his head, thinking it was just is imagination. He looked down, but couldn't see her hand moving slightly through his watery eyes. 

        Hope was suddenly next to Noel's shoulder. 

        "Noel, look! She's moving!" he wiped the tears from his eyes and threw Noel off of Serah. He grabbed her wrist, taking her pulse. 

        "Noel, she's alive."

~~~~~~~~~

        Noel paced back and forth in front of the infirmary bed, trying not to smell the sickly clean air too much. Serah had been comatose for over 2 weeks, and showed no sign of waking up. She had been tossing and turning, but still lay in deep sleep.

        Noel had tried everything. He'd tried singing for her, but quit very soon because of how horrible he sounded. He tried playing music for her, the smell of her favorite food, aromatherapy with candles, he'd even just talked to her. When he did that, you could see that she calmed down a bit, listening to his voice.  

        Maqui, who was sitting in the corner of the room, abruptly spoke up. "She'll be fine."

        Noel quickly glanced at him, then went back to pacing. Maqui pondered for a minute or two, then spoke up again. "The doctor said she would be fine."

        Noel stopped walking. "What if she's not, though? What if it's my fault that she dies?" He said, the hysteria in his voice raising, sounding on the verge of a breakdown. Maqui slowly stood and walked to Noel, standing in front of him for at least 10 seconds before he slapped him in the face.

        "She's alive, and she can hear you so shut up!" Noel could hear the strain in his voice, and he could feel it in his strength from the slap as well. "Just...shut up. Stop being negative. Please.That'll just make her worse."

        Noel had assumed a slightly defensive position and had both his hands on his sword. Maqui stood, more  calm than before, and opened his arms. "Kill me if you want but it's not going to help anyone. Serah is ours just as much as she is yours, maybe even more on our part. We've certainly had her around for longer." Then, a quiet, raspy whisper arose from the infirmary bed.  

"Unhh." Serah shifted slightly. She was trying to open her eyes.

        "Serah." Noel ran to her side immediately. He sobbed into the side of the bed. "I missed you so much. Serah." His voice broke. 

        "Try not to move too much." Maqui tried to be as helpful as he could.

        Serah looked at Noel holding her hand, and Maqui touching her shoulder, and gently pulled away, looking at them blankly. "Who are you?"