What were more happier times then this? Maybe the time before the cannons sounded and the train brought us here? Yeah, let's go back there before we start the story.

It was me, my mother, and my little brother watching the wish granting fireworks. I looked at mom and Hope, sighing as I felt the ocean's breeze through my hair. I closed my eyes and made a wish. I wished... I wished that things were different.

Usually, we'd be home, and I would be in Gapra Whitewood, doing more field work and research on its monsters. It was a good job to be in and it was right up my alley. I wished I could broaden my horizons and possibly go see the world below Cocoon.

Pulse was a dangerous place, or so we've been told. But I wanna see for myself.

"Oh. Making a wish, baby girl?" She asked me and I shyly looked away.

"Yeah, guess so..."

She giggled at me and Hope chuckled at us, "Come on you two. Wishing on fireworks? That stuff is for little kids!" I sighed and mom playfully shaking him.

"Who you calling little kids?" She giggled and I smiled at them.

Looking around here was a little bit crowded, with the citizens of Bodhum and, of course, tourists. I noticed a redhead. She stuck out like a sore thumb. Her clothes were tribal and she did seem a bit different. Our eyes met and she smiled, waving at me. It was kind of awkward, knowing she was a stranger, but I was still nice and kindly waved back. After that I looked around. No one else did caught my eye until I saw him.

I noticed the Bodhum Security Regiment member at the corner of my eye. I say member but this member was really popular. Lieutenant Amodar, Bodhum Security Regiment. He was one mentioned within my classes of research, military, and literature, and even mythology but that was by excitement fans of his. I had to meet him in person! This opportunity was once in a lifetime thing!

"Excuse me a moment." I told them and went to talk to the lieutenant. I tapped his shoulder, "Uh, excuse me, sir."

"May I help you, miss?" He asked me and I saluted to him.

"Maria Estheim, Whitewood Observation Battalion. Well, sort of..." I scratched my cheek, "I'm a field researcher for them."

"Ah, I've heard of you. You're a long way from home." He said and I widened my eyes, he knew about me? "Youngest researcher the GC's ever had. You were sixteen when you started, correct?"

"Uh, yes sir! Thanks for the notice!" I smiled. I was surprised he knew of me. "It's such an honor, sir. But, with all do respect, how do you know about me?"

"I'm a lieutenant of the GC, I know these kinds of things of this sort." He chuckled, "You look sharp, little lady."

"As do you, sir. Thank you." I looked at the fireworks, so many colors of fireworks. The nostalgia of them was great too.

"As of part of the Guardian Corps, you know about the incident at the gorge energy plant the other day right?" He asked me.

"Some, but I'd rather keep my nose out of PSICOM's business." I said nervously and he nodded in agreement.

"Understandable. They are a force not to be struggled with, but they say there are Pulse vermin on Cocoon." He warned, "It's best to stay out of either of their ways."

"L'cie are dangerous, sir, of that I understand."

"Yes, but PSICOM are just as equally dangerous." He said and I raised an eyebrow, not knowing what he meant by that. They protect us from Pulse vermin. He looked at me with a smile, "So, what brings you here?"

"I'm here with my mother and brother. Originally, it's a paid vacation for me and I decided to come here for a couple of days, but so far it's been relaxing. I had no idea mom and my brother were coming, to be honest." I told him and he chuckled.

"They sound nice..." He smiled and looked at the fireworks, "They've outdone themselves on the fireworks this year, I'm hearing these things could grant wishes. I have a couple."

"Sir?" I asked him, curious of what he had in mind.

"For a better PSICOM."

***

"Sis, are we going to make it back home?" His green eyes reflecting mine. I sighed and looked at mom, hoping she would have an answer.

"Don't worry, you two. Before we know it, we'll be home." She smiled and I looked at Hope. Our eyes meet again and I did me best to smile. His eyes were lost in despair and hopelessness.

"Come on, Hope. Remember your name?" I tried to encourage him but he looked away.

"Excuse me, but..." a girl next to us got my attention. "Have I seen you before?"

"Um..." I saw her face before but I couldn't recall where. I know it was in Bodhum... "Wait, I saw you... back at the fireworks display."

"Oh! That's where I saw you!" The redhead cheerfully said, "Can I stay with you guys?"

I looked at mom again and she smiled, "Of course!"

I heard footsteps come towards us and saw a blonde man wearing a trench coat along with his friends. "You all okay?"

He looked at me and smiled. I smiled back.

"We need all of you to stay low. We'll be able to-"

"Let us help!" A citizen of Bodhum said.

"You can't expect us to just sit here!" I widened my eyes in shock. Sighed and looked at Hope. Maybe this way is the way to protect him.

"Okay, volunteers front and center. Take a gun." Volunteers got up and took one each. I frowned and was about to get up. Mom put a hand on my shoulder.

"Maria, I need you to protect your brother." She stood up.

"Mom?" Hope worriedly asked her. She turned her head to him.

"I'll be fine. Just stay with your sister and listen to her." She said and he nodded. We both watched her pick up a gun. I sighed and sadly smiled.

"It's okay, little brother." I said, still looking at her. When I felt his sadness, I hugged him, "I'll stay with you."

"Alright, last one!" He held out a gun to Hope, "Someone take it."

Hope scooted away from the gun, "I-I can't..."

The girl who we meet up with got on her knees and reached for the gun. "Here!"

He 'hmphed' and gave it to her. She examined it's metallic luster before the leader said, "When push comes to shove, keep them safe." He winked. I rolled my eyes and looked at her. She aimed the gun at him and pretended to shoot. I realized then, she was just a kid.

I sighed and stood up, calling on my engine blade. "I don't need a gun but I'll help..."

The leader nodded, "Thanks...

As mom and the other new NORA members leave, a lady got us to a bridge ship. We stayed close to the members and I watched them carefully with Hope and the girl from earlier.

"I hope they'll be okay..." The redhead said.

"They will..." I said like I was confident, but deep down inside of me, something told me it would all go wrong. "Um, can you bring Hope to see the machine that sells potions and crap like that?"

"What? We're supposed to stick together-!" Hope opposed.

"And she said to listen to me, too! We need more potions just in case." I firmly reasoned with him.

"Come on..." The girl grabbed his wrist and ran off.

I looked back at NORA people with their guns blazing towards the PSICOM. They started to back of; something was off. The NORA members looked up and I followed their gaze. My eyes as grew wide as plates as I realized it was an airship.

"No..." I shook my head as they charged up their cannon. I closed my eyes and looked away, not wanting to see anymore.

Boom!

I opened my eyes when I heard that. The airship was slowly falling out of the sky. I sighed in relief and noticed the person who shot down it was none other than mom. She helped up the blonde from earlier, who was on the ground.I gasped when I realized it was my own mother! My heart swelled with pride and joy for my mom. I was about to shout, 'Way to go, mom!' when that feeling disappeared... Thanks to the cannon shot that hit the train tracks and broke them. Mom was right next to where it hit.

You know that feeling where your insides jump in a bad situation? Well, mine probably ten times as worse.

No words come from my mouth; there was nothing to say. What snapped me out of my daze was a feminine gasp. I turned to see both Hope and the redhead.

"Mom...?" Hope was devastated on what was happening right in front of us. My heart sank as I saw mom hanging on the NORA leader's hand as he was hanging from the an edge of the broken path. I shook my head.

"Hang in there, mom..." I whispered, breath slightly increasing.

My heart stopped.

"MOOOOM!" Me and Hope shouted and I froze up as she fell to death and there wasn't anything I could do to prevent it from happening.

I couldn't show any signs of sadness in front of my little brother. Mom was the only person who really cared for us and she actually listened to us our problems. I mean, sure, I would have an argument with her every once in a while but she still loved me. Even when we did, I loved her and she would be there for me. Except now, she'll never be there for us again.

"Come on!" The girl snapped me out of it and pulled at my wrist, "We have to move!"

"O-okay..." I looked at Hope, "Come on, little brother!"

He stood there frozen dead in his tracks. He breath was shakey and a tear ran down his face. I sighed and hugged him.

"It's okay, Hope." I whispered, "I'm going to take care of you now. We need to move though."

"R-right..." I grabbed his wrist and ran after the redhead.

***

"It was his fault." He said, almost to where I couldn't I couldn't hear. "He has to pay..."

"Hope..." I frowned a little and held his hand. "That guy surely did mean to let her go-"

"It's not that!" He pulled his hand away and turned away. "He used her! He should have... He should have..." He looked down and teared up. I sighed and Vanille took off her robe. She fixed her pigtails and smiled at Hope with a slight giggled. She picked up her gun.

"It's too much isn't it?" The redhead asked, giving the gun to Hope. "Face it later, okay?"

Hope looked down at the gun and sighed. I looked at Vanille, "Does that really work?"

She giggled and shrugged. She waved, "See ya later!" She ran off.

Hope dropped the gun, chasing after her. I sighed, looking at the Fal'cie, which was brought out earlier. Something told me that thing was going to become a part of my life, even as I don't want it to. Guess when you're by a Fal'cie, it's going to be like that...

~

I lost where they were. Boy, how I was failing to take care of my brother already. I'll find him. I saw two aerobikes heading my way, preparing to land. I knew they must be enemy vessels so I summoned my engine blade. Three people stood beside me, readying their guns.

"Hey! It's us!" The leader was in one of those aerobikes and the other was his mohawked friend.

"Don't shoot!" Mohawk said. I dismissed my blade and Blondie- the leader what I call the leader until I know his name- saw me.

"You have some good hustle, kiddo." Blondie praised and I shrugged it off.

"Eh, no biggie!" I smiled, "I was originally in the GC but I didn't like our government's ways. I'm with you guys on protecting civilians the right way!"

"Hey, the more the merrier!" The leader smiled, "I'm Snow, Snow Villiers. This is Gadot, Lebreu, Yuj, and Maqui. They are part of the team."

"Oh, uh..." The silver haired girl looked around at everyone with a smile, "Hello, I'm Maria."

"Maria, huh? That's a cute name." Gadot said, seemingly flirting, "Care to go out on a date sometime?"

I giggled, "Polite pass, I'm into girls actually... Oh, don't tell anyone though."

Maqui snickered but was smacked by Lebreu, "Don't worry sweety, your secrets safe with us... Right, boys?" All of the boys looked at her then at each other. They nervously laughed and nodded, which confused me; what made them so scared of her? I suppose she's like a scary mom to them...

"S-so, is everyone safe?" Snow changed the subject. Yuj and Maqui smirked.

"The army is no match for NORA!!" The two said and did a silly pose. I snickered at them, their immaturity quite amusing if you ask me.

"I meant the kids." Snow raised an eyebrow at them and Lebreu smacked both of them on the head.

"Grow up!" She playfully huffed and Maqui nervously laughed while Yuj rubbed his head.

"All accounted for!" Maqui grinned. I giggled; he seemed cute, almost too cute to be fighting against the Sanctum. Yuj was the same way, just a bit more mature... Not by much though.

"Let's keep it that way, okay?" Snow said, he was like the big brother of the group it seemed. I could relate wanting to protect his friends.

"Heh, since when did you care about kids?" Gadot asked as he leaned over on Snow's aerobike. I wouldn't say dad but... another big brother? Well, they all were a happy family it seemed.

"Favor for a friend..." Snow looked at his hand. He was sad for some reason. Why was he?

"Snow?" I asked him, concerned. He looked up at me with a smile.

"Don't worry about it." He turned on the aerobike, "You, come with me. I could use someone like you with the fighting experience."

"W-what!?" I widened my eyes and he put me behind him. "W-wait a minute!"

"We'll swing by the vestige!" Snow announced that and part of me wanted to scream and ran like hell... But the other part of me was curious of what it was like in that thing of a Fal'cie vestige, despite everyone telling me not to even go near one. Oh god, was I nervous about this, though. "Keep the kids safe!"

"Yeah! And keep my brother safe! His name is Hope and he looks like me... except shorter hair and, you know, male."

"Relax, we got him covered along with everyone else." Lebreu smiled but I still felt uneasy.

"Say hi to the miss for me." Gadot said to Snow and I blinked. Miss? Miss who? "...Ha! You go skirt chasing, I take care of the kids. Some husband!" He joked but I was nervous, not even laughing.

"Well, dinner's on me and I'll be home cooking." The blonde leader said and the aerobike lifted into the air. I held onto him and looked passed him, seeing Hope and that one redheaded girl.

The hurt and betrayal of tears in his eyes killed me; I was leaving him behind with her and breaking Mom's wish. This feeling deep in my stomach wasn't feeling right. He would probably never forgive me.

"Wait, Snow, I can't-"

"Don't worry, kiddo! You're going to be safe with me!" We zoomed off to the vestige. Snow wouldn't listen, though I suppose it was an accident. I'm sure not he wouldn't hear my protests to go back.

As for the Fal'cie, it held my future... our future, but no longer my interest.