~Snow's POV~

Tifa looks at me ruefully as I step into the hall. Today's the day we go home. It won't be home without her... We aren't even anything yet, but I can't leave someone as secretly hurting as she is on her own. Can I? Maybe I'm just scared because I'm still secretly hurting over Serah. I'm wasn't ready for us to really have anything, and I'm still not. If Pulse had just stayed blown up where it belonged...

Her reddish brown eyes reflect the sadness she contains in her slim yet strong body, the reluctance I feel to let go. Vincent's lucky we're leaving, though. If he were here right now, I'd pound him into the dirt for what he did to our Fang, whether he meant to or not. All of us from Pulse are a family, and despite Fang being like an annoying older sister, I feel the need to defend her at times. Light too... And Hope. And Vanille.... You get the point.

"So you're going home then?" Tifa asks hesitantly, arms hugged to her body insecurely.

"Guess so," I sigh. "Cmon, Reeve will hate us for being late."

"He's too nice for that," she forces a smile.

"You never know."

I'm surprised to see that the rest of Avalanche has arrived to say goodbye. Nanaki, the cat thing, gives me an inquisitive look as he approaches before giving me a fang filled smile.

"It was nice to meet you all," he says politely. "You are a person of great power, Snow."

"Thanks," I give him a cheeky grin. "And you're a... Thing with a great... Tail?" He laughs and shakes his head before moving on. Barret nods toward me as a hello as Marlene drags him to Sazh and Dajh, and Cid merely lights a cigarette while watching Tifa gently cling to my arm.

"Excuse me," I can hear Reeve say as he shoulders his way through the crowd of people in the room. Fang keeps her distance off in the corner, arms crossed and going at Reno. Now that I think about it, it looks like the guy has a broken nose... Oh. Someone made her mad... "I would just like to say that it was an amazing experience having you all here with us. You were great company and wonderful workers in helping us find Hojo," he smiles. Vanille covers her face as she most likely fights tears. Yuffie rolls her eyes and shoulder bumps her, muttering something. "Unfortunately, we will be I able to keep in contact, but I do wish you all the best of luck back at home."

"Loves to make speeches," Lightning mutters. I smile at her words, deep down not feeling very smiley at all. Cid chuckles and looks at Fang.

"Like Lady Luck, eh Fang?"

"... I'm not much of a believer anymore," she says sharply, surprising the pilot. Then he turns back around, mumbling to himself around his smoke.

"You've all got a few more minutes before I open the portal, so talk away," Reeve announces. Cloud looks over at mea fun starts forward, but Lightning yanks him back by his wrist with a scowl. Probably scolding him for try to leave her in the last few minutes, I think with a light laugh. Tifa glances up at me quietly, unsure of what to say.

"You gonna keep working at your bar?" I start it off just like always. She nods.

"Yeah. It's what I'm good at, I guess. What're you gonna do?"

"Oh I dunno. Probably help the people build a nice little civilization on Pulse. It won't be any Cocoon, but I guess it's for the best."

"What about everyone else?" She looks around the room. "What will they do?" I smile and close my eyes, imagining.

"Hope with go into something related to politics, I'll bet. Vanille will have her own chocobo ranch. Light? Who knows what that crazy woman will be up to. Sazh'll probably be inventing new aircraft with Dajh, and Fang..." My eyes open as I sadly look at the woman. "I don't know. She's changed. She'll probably cram everything she feels down inside and kill every animal on Pulse. Won't rest until its done. Which means it'll never end. But that's just the way she is."

"I can't believe Vincent didn't show up. He knew we found a portal and were leaving as soon as Fang woke up. I wonder what happened that made him run like that?"

"You know him better than I do," I shrug. Then I turn to look down at her, fingers clasping the chain around my neck. "Here. I want you to have this." I pull it over my head and slip it down over hers. Remember the last time you did this? Yeah. They both looked happy.

"Snow, I can't... What about your memories of Serah?" I give her a sad smile.

"Maybe it'll make it easier to let go of her." She nods slowly and looks down at it.

"Thank you."

"Don't you forget me, alright?" I tease, cocking my head to the side. "My name's engraved on it just in case." In all honesty, I think one day I could've fallen in love with Tifa. Maybe one day she could've been more to me than Serah, the rose haired girl just a good dream. But I can't wish away my beloved yet, and so maybe one day in my dreams I'll fall for the brunette bartender, fall harder than a boulder shoved off a cliff.

"I don't think I could even if I wanted to," she says just over a whisper. "Snow, I..."

"Ah!" Hope yells out in surprise, tripping backwards over his own feet, right into the portal trigger.

"Snow!" Tifa yells, watching as we all vanish, all seven of us. Lightning, Vanille, Fang, Sazh, Dajh, Hope, and me, all gone. Fading into a bright whiteness. The last thing I see is practically a photograph. Reeve stands in the middle of the room with his robed arms crossed. Cloud stands alone to his right, halfway outstretched arms holding a familiar gun blade. Tifa clutches the Cocoon charm with both hands, right over her heart. Cid's dropped his cigarette, mouth hanging open slightly. Barret and Marlene give a half hearted wave. Nanaki smiling with his goofy catlike face. I look around to see everyone else focused on the last image of our Avalanche friends. All except Fang, whose arms are still crossed and she's looking away. Poor woman.

~Fang's POV~

When I open my eyes, I'm standing in the middle of the Archylte Steppe on the Central Expanse plains. Home. Home indeed. Hope looks around us, bewildered that it actually worked. Lightning glares at him, probably mad that he sent us back early by accident. She lifts her head slightly and gives me a sharp look.

"So what do we do know?"

"You guys do whatever," I wave her off, grabbing my lance. "Have fun building a city and all that crap. I'm gonna see if I can't find any long living Oerba citizens anywhere."

"You realize that could take forever, right?" Hope calls after me as I begin my swift walk away from the group. It feels strange to be walking on ground that crumbled beneath me only two and a half weeks ago.

"That's all I have," I shoot them I forced grin and keep walking. Chocobo chocobo chocobo... Okay, so maybe the chocobos feel like hiding in their little valley. Why do I care? I was born and raised on this massive expanse of land, and I know it like the back of my hand.

"Fang!" Vanille yells. "Wait! I want to come!"

"Stay here Missy," I shout back. "You've got yourself a new family now, remember?"

"But you're part of that!"

I just shake my head and keep going. I don't care how long this expedition takes. I'm going to get it done and repopulate my beautiful town. Maybe I'm more like Yuffie than I thought... My heart aches at the memory of Vincent telling me short versions of stories from Avalanche experiences. I clench my jaw while finding myself thinking of him and push his memory, his beautiful ivory face, into the far corner of my mind. But I have no doubt dreams of him will plague me for a long time. But at least now I've made up my mind. Love is a dangerous thing, and I'm never going to care about it ever again. Never.

Angry for letting my thoughts drift again, I make an almost growling sound and plunge my weapon into a Gorgonopsid. Curse you, Valentine.