Lightning's personality is very determined, concentrated, independent, and cunning. Lightning has a straightforward persona with a lone wolf attitude, similar to that of Squall Leonhart in Final Fantasy VIII. She is also easily annoyed, as whenever Snow calls her "sister" due to his relationship with Serah, and in retaliation, she yells at him, and punches him three times to the ground. Despite this, Lightning is not heartless, as she cares deeply for her sister's safety, but often fails to see how much Serah cares about her the same way. After their parents died, Lightning looked out for Serah as though she was her daughter, although she tends to be overprotective of her. She also shows her motherly side to Hope as she comforts him after the loss of his own mother and decides to take him under her wing. She slowly opens up to him and becomes willing to confide him with things about herself that she normally would not tell others; it is possible that she sees Hope as a kindred spirit because of how they both lost their mothers around the same age, and how she sees a bit of herself in him due to this fact. Interestingly, Lightning seems slightly shy towards physical proximity outside of a combat situation, as seen when Fang asks to see how far her brand has advanced.
Lightning's parents died from an unknown sickness when she was fifteen (how such illnesses still survive in a society as advanced and supposedly-utopian as Cocoon is unknown). With no other family to turn to, Lightning was given the job of raising her younger sister, Serah. In an attempt to get over the pain her parents' deaths brought her, discard her childhood and become an adult as quickly as possible, she decided to change her name from Claire Farron (Éclair Farron in the Japanese version) to simply "Lightning". Ever since then, she has acted as a sort of mother figure to Serah. After graduating from high school, Lightning decided to join the Guardian Corps Bodhum Security Regiment under Lieutenant Amodar, where she attained the rank of sergeant, and was scheduled for officer training before the events of the game. However, she slowly began to lose sight of her goals, and worked many hours while spending little time with Serah. One day, Lightning finds herself surrounded by local aquatic monsters, but feels no fear whatsoever. She is then saved by NORA but is far from grateful for their help since they interfered with her mission. She meets Yuj and Lebreau, who are both riding an airbike. Lebreau asks Lightning if she has ever heard of NORA, but Lightning lies about never hearing of them. She calls Amodar and while other soldiers from her unit congratulate her, Amodar is talking to someone. Amodar then introduces Snow as the leader of NORA. Snow's off-hand greeting only serves to irritate Lightning, who thinks to herself if he can not be polite. After Amodar explains that Lightning's weapon is only given to the best soldiers and Snow shouts in excitement and praise while looking at her, Lightning finds it unbearable. Concerning NORA, she thinks to herself, "Just a group of amateurs who've gotten guns and are acting all justice league..." Then she asks them why they do not join the army and put their energy to good use. Snow says, "Rules and uniforms just don't fit our personality you know?" Lightning asks herself why he keeps saying things that get on people's nerves, and says that he makes her beyond angry. She thinks that NORA lacks any of the common sense that normal people have. After the rest of NORA gets on an airbike, Lightning stops Snow and asks if that is his name. She tells him that he has been following her younger sister around, causing Snow to realize who she is. He introduces himself to her and holds his hand out. Lightning sees how large his hands are, but sees that how he is asking for a handshake while wearing gloves shows that he does not know anything about proper manners. She ignores his outstretched hand and tells him not to get involved with Serah. Snow asks her what if he did stop. Lightning turns to walk away but a coconut hits her toes. Then Snow asks her, "So, if did? Then what?" Lightning puts her foot on the coconut, puts her fingers together, and cracks her joints. She feels her foot fall after Snow kicks the coconut into the air and catches it in his hand. He tells her that punching him will not do any good because he is hard-headed, which only manages to strengthen her dislike of him, as she believes that he is probably saying that she will not be strong enough to punch him or he is simply ignoring her demands. Lightning turns her back on Snow and walks away. She wonders how a "weak and horrible man" like him can have the nerve to take children and act as their general. She also thinks that Serah only finds him interesting and does not actually love him. A young soldier asks Lightning if she knows Snow, but she answers that she does not know him. She wants nothing to do with Snow ever again, not only herself, but Serah as well.
As Lightning's 21st birthday approaches, she remembers the night her mother died in the hospital and how she adopted her new name on her mother's grave. While at the shopping mall eight days before her birthday, she sees a pendant of Cocoon and thinks that Serah would like it. This makes her to feel guilty since she had not been window shopping with Serah ever since she joined the army while Serah was in middle school. Lightning remembers that after joining, she thought that she could find a way to make it up to Serah, but a year soon passed and she had gotten more responsibility. As a result, Lightning and Serah are hardly going out together let alone speaking to each other now. She also feels guilty for her lack of attention to Serah being the reason that she got involved with Snow in order to quell her feeling of loneliness. Then she sees Nora and her son Hope by the pet shop looking at a chocobo chick. Even from a distance, Lightning could tell that they got along well. She notices that Hope and Nora's faces resemble each other, causing her to recall a saying that boys usually look like their mothers. Then Lightning notices that Hope looks at least fourteen or fifteen years old judging from his orange jacket. This causes her to sadly remember how she was around his age when she and Serah lost their mother. After overhearing them talking, they inspire Lightning to plan a vacation away from Bodhum on her birthday, hoping to spend more time with Serah and take her attention away from Snow. Lightning wants to thank Nora and Hope for giving her the idea but they are now walking away together. Seeing them looking happy makes Lightning feel warm inside, and she wishes for them to enjoy the rest of their vacation. Later, she sees Vanille and Fang in a crowd of people, and thinks that they are visitors from Eden because of their strange clothing. Then Lieutenant Amodar appears and she walks off with him. Two days later, Lightning meets Captain Rygdea of the Cavalry. He asks her about any popular spots in Bodhum that teenagers might hang out around in order to help Fang find Vanille. Rygdea gives her a description of Vanille, without revealing her identity, and she tells him that his description of Vanille reminds her of Serah. Lightning tells him that he can check out the pet store, and the café near the beach and eventually leaves.
While attending the Bodhum fireworks festival, Lightning learns of a Pulse-related incident being kept under wraps by the Sanctum. Amodar warns her not to investigate, as it would only lead to trouble. On Lightning's birthday, Serah reveals her status as a Pulse l'Cie, as well as her engagement to Snow. However, Lightning does not believe her and says, "You became a l'Cie, so now you're gonna marry this idiot? And you think I'm gonna buy that? Full points for originality." Then Lightning tells Serah that if she really is a l'Cie, then it is her job to deal with her. Lightning dismisses the matter as being ridiculous before stating that it is the worst birthday ever. She harshly drives Serah away and is left with Snow. He asks Lightning why she refuses to believe her sister, and Lightning asks him if he is joking because the only reason he even popped the question to Serah was her becoming a l'Cie. Snow yells at Lightning to stop it, she also yells at Snow to stop it and get out of her house. Before leaving, Snow asks her why she is shutting Serah out, but Lightning says nothing and turns her back to him. Later, Lightning opens her birthday present from Serah. She sees that it is a survival knife and bluntly says, "How practical." She then realizes that Serah was telling the truth as a news report announces the discovery of a Pulse fal'Cie in Bodhum. After learning that the Sanctum plans to Purge the entire town, Lightning immediately tries to find Serah. However, she discovers that she is too late, as Snow reveals that Serah is being held captive inside of the Pulse Vestige. Without a moment's hesitation, Lightning resigns from her job with the Guardian Corps and boards the Purge train, so that she can rescue her sister before she is taken out of her reach.
As the train enters the Hanging Edge, Lightning disables a soldier and destroys a device that frees everyone of their restraints. She fights her way through the PSICOM sentries along with Sazh Katzroy, her circumstantial accomplice, rallying the Purgees to take action as PSICOM sends its forces after the train and derail it. While the surviving Purgees escape and are found by NORA, Lightning presses forward to the Pulse Vestige with the intent of saving her sister. Then Lightning and Sazh take on a Manasvin Warmech. After the Warmech is defeated, it shakes the train. Lightning easily jumps off to safety, she tells Sazh to do the same, which he does. The Warmech returns but is easily defeated again, and falls off the derailed train and into the area below. After Sazh asks Lightning why she is trying to stop the Purge rather than protect civilians like any other soldier, she bluntly answers "I was a soldier," and leaves. When Sazh asks Lightning why she is fighting soldiers, she tells him that it is better to die there than get sent to Pulse. As they find themselves on a highway that is destroyed before their eyes, Sazh asks if they should turn back, and Lightning says there is no time. She prepares to leave with the aid of her Grav-con Unit, but is stopped by Sazh. They struggle until Lightning kicks him off, only to learn that her Grav-con Unit got damaged in the fight. Then Sazh points out a device that could give them another means of transport. After defeating the PSICOM troops onboard, Sazh asks Lightning what her angle is. After a momentary pause, she tells him that she is after the Pulse fal'Cie. She activates the device, and they move onward. Along the way, they witness what the Purge really is: a massacre. Lightning tells Sazh that it is Sanctum logic: "They conjured up the Purge to eliminate a threat. I mean - why carry the danger all the way to Pulse? Why not just stamp it out here? Execution masquerading as exile." Then Sazh asks Lightning if she knew this was going to happen, she shakes her head no, and says that the Purge was PSICOM's business and not that of that Guardian Corps. The fal'Cie is eventually brought out, and Lightning says that what she is looking for is inside it. Then she tells Sazh that it is time to jump. She leaps off without a second thought, lands safely thanks to her Grav-con Unit, and moves on towards the fal'Cie.
Inside the Vestige, Lightning attacks a door that will not open while Sazh watches. She speaks to herself, saying things like "Why didn't I listen? and "This is my fault," to Sazh's confusion. She tells him to cover his ears, causing him to assume that she is going to blast the door open. Then Lightning places her hand on the door, says that she is sorry, begs to be let in, and the door finally opens as if answering her pleas. In the Ambulatory, she tells Sazh about Serah being a Pulse l'Cie. When he tells Lightning not to make Serah suffer, she pushes him and compares him to the people who started the Purge. However, once she and Sazh find Serah unconscious and Lightning is ready to carry her out, Sazh draws his gun on her after seeing her brand, as Pulse l'Cie are enemies of Cocoon. After Lightning asks him if she should kill Serah out of love, Serah wakes up. Then Snow arrives with Vanille and Hope and rushes to Serah's side. When he says that he will take Serah home, Lightning objects and says that she will take Serah. Then Snow calls Lightning "sis," Lightning tells Snow that she is not his sister and that Snow could not protect her as he said he would at their last meeting. After Serah tells Lightning to save Cocoon, she asks if that was her Focus and tells her that she will make things right. Suddenly, Serah's l'Cie brand glows and she crystallizes. Lightning takes Serah's crystallization and supposed death hard and takes her anger out on Snow, punching him to the ground and telling him to open his eyes and face reality. Driven by grief to destroy the fal'Cie Anima as her way of honoring her promise to Serah to save Cocoon, Lightning walks into Anima's Throne. After Snow's failed attempt at begging to Anima to release Serah, Lightning draws her Saber, says to Snow "Fine, you go on begging. Like this thing gives a damn what we want!", and continuously strikes the fal'Cie. When she stops, she says it is the fal'Cie's fault that the Purge started and innocent people are dying. Lightning says that it needs to die in order to save Cocoon, and Anima activates. Then Lightning, along with the others, is made into a l'Cie after she fights Anima's avatar. After waking up at the crystallized Lake Bresha, Lightning is attacked by Cie'th and is saved by Snow. Later, she asks how they are supposed to complete their Focus if they do not know what it is. Vanille says that she saw it, and Lightning asks her what she meant. Then she asks Hope if he saw anything. After he gives his description of the dream he had, she and Snow both say "Ragnarok." After he runs off to find Serah, Lightning momentarily stays behind, apparently frustrated, only to be noticed by Hope. Soon later, after Snow decides to fight Ragnarok in order to save Cocoon and fulfill their Focus, Lightning draws her Saber and holds it at his neck in a threatening manner. She says that the Pulse fal'Cie took Serah from them and now he wants to help it, and asks him whose side he is on. Then the party is ambushed by PSICOM, who asks them if they fell off the Purge train. Lightning answers "Maybe," and one of the armed troops approaches her with his gun for talking back to him. Lightning smirks, says "Nice gun," and goes on the offensive. After easily disposing of the soldiers and Snow calling them nothing to fear, Lightning tells him to cut the crap because PSICOM has cold-blooded beasts at their disposal and it will be game over if they ever hit the field. When the group leaves with Vanille running ahead, Lightning once again waits behind, though Snow looks at her before leaving. She eventually finds Serah's crystallized form and regrettably accepts her sister's fate, much to Snow's dismay. As she leaves, an outburst from Snow stops her. Lightning tells him that they will be dead when PSICOM finds them. Then she asks Snow if he thinks that is what Serah would want, and if he thinks he knows how she feels. He tells Lightning that he will never know if he leaves Serah. When Snow says that he'll protect Serah and Cocoon, she punches him to the ground asking him if Serah looked protected to him. She punches Snow again when he gets up and asks him what more he can do. Snow answers whatever it takes, prompting Lightning to cease her actions. After disposing of the Manasvin Warmech from the Hanging Edge, Lightning tries to leave again only to be blocked by Snow. She criticizes him for abandoning his plan of banding together to save the world in favor of staying behind for Serah's sake even if he could die. She tells Snow that he is nothing but talk and walks off. Before she leaves, he promises Lightning to complete his Focus and protect Serah. Lightning says, "Great job so far," and leads the group after she and Snow go their separate ways. When Vanille soon asks Lightning if Serah told her what her Focus was, Lightning says no, possibly because Serah felt that she could not trust her. They come soon across ancient ruins deep with the crystallized lake. When Vanille runs ahead, Lightning tells her to stay close but goes ignored. She, Sazh, and Vanille fight off a Garuda Interceptor after it attacks Vanille. The party escapes Lake Bresha with an airship. When it comes under enemy fire, Lightning grabs the controls from Sazh and begins shooting, though he eventually pushes her off. After giving the enemy the slip, a newscast featuring Primarch Galenth Dysley is shown and Lightning calls him nothing more but another tool of the fal'Cie. Then they come under attack again and find the fal'Cie Phoenix. Lightning tells Sazh to fly into the fal'Cie to lose the Sanctum ships. The fal'Cie damages their airship, causing it to crash down in the Vile Peaks area.
Lightning wakes and tries to revive Hope but she sees two Pantherons approach. She prepares to take them on alone until Vanille and Sazh come to. After disposing of the Pantherons Lightning decides to go ahead of the group as they were still being tracked. Sazh tells her to let them take a break since they were not soldiers and do not have her stamina. Lightning scolds him for having enough energy to complain, and leaves with Hope following close behind. When he catches up to her and asks if they should wait for Sazh and Vanille, Lightning says that they will eventually catch up. When they come to a rest, Lightning tells Hope that she became part of the Purge in order to save Serah. Hope tells her that he could never do something like that, and Lightning tells him that it is not a question of can or cannot, since there are some things that people just do. After Hope tells Lightning that it is easy for her to say that, she gracefully scales the wall on her own, leaving him behind. After the group is eventually reunited, Lightning resolves to go to Cocoon's capital of Eden and destroy its fal'Cie as she refuses to die as their tool. After Sazh tells her that Snow will be her enemy the next time they meet, Lightning simply acknowledges the fact and departs with Hope tagging along. Soon afterward, they become permanently separated from Sazh and Vanille by a demolished barrier. They soon come across two PSICOM troops examining a Dreadnought. After taking out the soldiers Hope tries to check out the Gran Pulse machine; Lightning demands him to leave it since he might hurt himself but he does not listen. When Hope crashes the Dreadnought, Lightning reappears, sarcastically tells him "Nice landing," and says to get moving. Hope says he feels winded but Lightning calls him too soft and continues onward with him. As she and Hope trek through the remainder of the Vile Peaks, the pressure of keeping Hope safe and dealing with the enemy soldiers begin to take their toll on Lightning. In a moment of anger, Lightning yells at Hope about how she can barely protect him when she can hardly keep herself alive and tells him to get stronger on his own, collapsing to the ground as the Eidolon Odin appears and attacks Hope, as if to force her not to leave Hope as she originally intended to. In order to save him, Lightning confronts the Eidolon with Hope and brings it under her control. After the battle, Lightning apologizes to Hope for what she said and tells him that she will toughen him up. When they reach a deserted area and defeat another group of PSICOM troops, Lightning tells Hope to stay and rest while she checks out the area. After she returns, she finds Hope fast asleep. As she watches him, he utters "Mom?", she amusedly replies "Not by a long shot," and continues to watch over him. As Lightning and Hope are about to enter the Gapra Whitewood, Lightning tells Hope that she will lead and he will watch their backs. When Hope asks her if he can lead instead, she asks him if he can handle it. After he reassures her, Lightning smiles, gives him the nod to go ahead, then tells him to look forward and she will watch the rear. She eventually gives him the knife Serah gave to her as a birthday present for his protection, and tells him that she will eventually want it back. Soon, some local Woodlands soldiers fly overhead as if not looking for them. From her experience as a soldier, Lightning says that PSICOM is keeping everything under wraps and does not want their failure to be publicized and lose their pride. As they proceed further, Lightning and Hope wonder how the others are doing. Lightning says that Sazh and Vanille will eventually get caught and have to choose between resist or surrender. When Hope asks her if she thinks Snow is still alive, Lightning replies that he is too stubborn to die and that it is his best quality. Then she says that Snow is arrogant from the get-go, thinks he is everybody's pal and that she never liked him much. Then she mentions that he leads a gang of kids in a group called NORA. Hope asks Lightning where they got the name NORA from. She tells him that it is an acronym that stands for "No Obligations, Rules, or Authority," and sarcastically says that it must be nice, although Hope grimly says it is irresponsible. While taking a break, Lightning asks Hope why he is so tense since she can tell that he is hung up on something. After he responds when she mentions Snow, she asks if something happened between them. Hope tells her that she would not understand but Lightning reminds him that they are partners. Then he tells that Snow caused his mother's death, and that he wants to get stronger to be able to face him soon. When Lightning and Hope come across an obstacle blocking their path, Lightning easily destroys it with her Blazefire Saber. Hope asks her if he can use one of her weapons but she tells him that it is a bit too heavy for him. Hope takes out the knife Lightning gave him earlier, causing her to remember the day of her twenty-first birthday and how she failed to believe Serah about her l'Cie fate. They eventually find dead soldiers on the Bioweapons Maintenance level, Hope tries to help them but Lightning pulls him away. She tells him to control his emotions and forget about sympathy if he wants to survive. Then she suggests that Hope think of it as a survival plan: "Focus on your ultimate goal and shut out everything else. Still your mind, move on instinct." She also warns him that if he lets doubt take over, then despair will cripple him. This causes Hope to create Operation Nora. Lightning asks Hope if he chose the name after Snow's team before he reveals that it was his mother's name. Then Lightning asks Hope if Operation Nora is the name for his revenge against Snow, and Hope says that it is. Then she tells him that the Sanctum killed his mother and not Snow. Hope asks Lightning whose side she is on and she says, "The side of truth." When Hope leaves, Lightning regrets what she has done in accidentally making him focus on nothing else but his plan for revenge. After they escape the Gapra Whitewood and see Palumpolum in the distance, Lightning suggests that she and Hope visit his house, in order to change his mind about revenge and also because he needs to tell his father about his mother's fate. In Palumpolum, Lightning notices that PSICOM is now recruiting Palumpolum's resident Guardian Corps soldiers. Hope says that if the train bound for Eden does not move, then they will make it move. Lightning tells him that it is a foolish idea and that he is now thinking like a Pulse l'Cie. Then she follows Hope through tunnels leading underground in order to evade the soldiers. Upon reaching the Nutriculture Complex, Lightning tells Hope that the soldiers will eventually find the entrance and canvas the entire tunnel system. Then she asks Hope where the tunnels lead out. When he says that he is not sure, Lightning pats him on the shoulder and says that they will have to find out. Hope shows her the fal'Cie Carbuncle and suggest that they attack it. Lightning sarcastically says that cutting off Cocoon's food will make them popular, causing Hope to reconsider. She agrees to his change of heart because "Hungry people make for angry people." After Hope tells Lightning that using a Sanctum fal'Cie to find their way around is strange, she tells him that it is not that strange because they have relied on them their whole lives for food and light. Then she says that Cocoon was probably built for them while humans are just parasites. When Hope tells Lightning that the fal'Cie possibly view humans as pets living off of them, she realizes she was a fal'Cie pawn even before being made a l'Cie. She learns that life under full dependence upon the fal'Cie was the only life she knew how to live, therefore after having that life taken away from her, she felt completely lost. Ultimately, without some sort of master to follow, her life had no true purpose. She tells Hope that her l'Cie curse robbed her of her future and dreams, and that fighting was just an excuse to regain the feeling of safety she had before Serah became a l'Cie, at the same time, to avoid facing reality. Realizing she had dragged Hope into the same delusion, Lightning tells Hope to abandon Operation Nora as she made a mistake, reassuring him that she would not abandon him. When Hope asks her what they should do next since she said that Operation Nora is over, Lightning tells him she does not know yet but they can not lose hope. He tells Lightning that l'Cie do not have any hope, but she says there is him. After Hope says that it was only his name, Lightning says that she was just like him once and the reason that she changed her name was to be stronger for Serah ever since their parents died. She says that lightning flashes bright and then fades away, and that it cannot protect but only destroy. She sits down next to Hope and goes on to say that Serah tried to tell her, but she would not listen; only threaten her instead. Lightning then has a vision of Serah who is later joined by Snow. Once she mentions Snow's belief in Serah regarding her l'Cie status, Hope demands her to not say his name as it makes him remember his mom's death and Snow's smiling face. Lightning tries to put her hand on Hope's shoulder to comfort him but he gets up, and explains his confusion about needing hope to her. Lightning takes his wrist, Hope apologizes for being all messed up, and she tells him that it is her fault. Before taking an elevator back to the surface, Lightning tells Hope to see his father as fighting without hope was no way to live but only a way to die, as well as in order to find the hope that he was named for. Then she tells him that she can help him survive but not give him hope, and that he may find some if he sees his dad. When he asks her if Snow really believed Serah, Lightning bluntly answers, "Yeah." After returning topside, they are surrounded by soldiers led by Yaag Rosch in the Agora. She tells him to run while she stays behind to keep them busy. However, Hope refuses to leave her, even after she tells him that he needs to survive, even if it means at the expense of her own life. As Snow and Fang attack the soldiers riding Shiva, Lightning begins her own offensive while protecting Hope in the process. In order to help him survive PSICOM's onslaught, she shoves Hope at Snow and leaves him in his care. As Snow tries to talk to her, Lightning tells him to get moving. After Snow tells her that Serah is fine and turn back to normal, Lightning stops and sighs in relief. Then she tells him to take care of Hope before running off with Fang behind her. Later in the back alleys, Fang gives Lightning a wireless communicator to inform Snow of their rendezvous point. Snow once again refers to her as his sister, and Lightning tells him that she is not his sister. She tells Snow that they will meet at the Estheim Residence in Felix Heights (35-A) and reminds him to take care of Hope. Before ending their conversation, Lightning tries to tell Snow about Hope's mother but she is surprised to hear Hope instead. He tells her that he has decided to continue with Operation Nora and apologizes. Lightning tries to reason with Hope but her pleas do not get through to him due to interference. Now following behind Fang, Lightning constantly worries for Hope. Later, Lightning sees Fang's scorched l'Cie brand and asks her who she is. She learns of the latter's connection with Vanille, their origins from Gran Pulse, how they wandered Cocoon looking for their Focus, and how they were separated. After Fang apologizes for her and Vanille's involvement in Serah's transformation into a l'Cie, Lightning slaps her across the face and tells her that she had better hope that is all she is getting. She goes on to tell Fang that whether they are square or not will be up to Serah. Lightning is annoyed by how Fang tells her that she sounds just like Snow and the fact that Fang apologized only to make herself feel better. When Fang asks her if she felt better after hitting her, Lightning says that it did not change to reach Snow again, Fang says that he can take care of himself and Lightning says that they will just have to believe that. Then she asks Fang if the others were safe since the Sanctum would make an announcement if they ever got caught. After Fang calls everyone on Cocoon, "a bunch of cowards and blowhards," Lightning tells her that Cocoon has spent centuries under fal'Cie law in constant fear of an invasion from Pulse. Then she tells Fang that if it were not for Serah, she would have been hunting l'Cie as a soldier and that they would have been nothing but targets to her. When Fang says that everyone on Gran Pulse called Cocoon, "a floating nest of vipers ready to strike," Lightning says that Fang became a l'Cie to fight the 'vipers', and that destroying Cocoon was their Focus. Fang goes on to talk about not being able to remember her past Focus, and her and Vanille's inability to recall their new Focus. Lightning asks her if she is willing to be a sworn enemy of Cocoon if she finds her Focus. Fang tells her that both Gran Pulse and Cocoon could rot for all she cares, because if she does not figure out her and Vanille's new Focus, Vanille will turn into a Cie'th. Fang then asks Lightning if she has seen Vanille's l'Cie brand, to which Lightning responds "No". Fang explains to her how a l'Cie's brand can tell how much closer one is to becoming a Cie'th. Fang checks Lightning's brand tells her that she has a lot of time left, but emotional distress could speed up the process. When Fang tells Lightning of her plan to get Vanille home to Gran Pulse, Lightning tells her that she wished that she had a plan but without Serah or a future, there is nothing to plan for. She says there is no way out of that mess and no way to fight it. She then says that she is stuck fighting the Sanctum but that was not a plan. Lightning wonders where they will be left if they manage to topple the Sanctum. She also says that without anything to fight for, she might as well be dead. Fang tells Lightning that her future to fight for was to see Serah after she eventually wakes from crystal stasis. Then they see Sanctum forces on airbikes pass overhead, and they worry that Hope and Snow had been found. When an explosion goes off in the distance, they hurry to find them.
They reunite with Snow and Hope and help the latter fight an Ushumgal Subjugator. Hope returns Lightning's knife and tells her that Operation Nora did not work out, she hugs him, tells him not to worry and that she will keep him safe. After Hope tells Lightning that he will look after her too, she playfully pokes his forehead. Then she carries Snow the rest of the way to Hope's house, stating that Snow will be fine since he is too stubborn to die. While staying at Hope's place, Lightning tells Snow that Hope gave her knife back because he does not need it anymore. Then she explains to Snow why she did not listen to Serah before, as it was too much to bear. Lightning says that she hated herself for not trusting Serah and asks for Snow's forgiveness. He tells Lightning that if she tells him her real name, they will be even. Lightning softly chuckles and tells Snow to have Serah tell him when she comes back. Then after everyone tries to make a strategy with Hope's dad, the Estheim household is bombarded by PSICOM soldiers. One of them takes aim at Hope but Lightning takes him out, in the act of keeping her promise to protect Hope. She and Fang see that the house is surrounded, causing Snow to take action. Lightning tries to stop him but Snow gestures her to stay back. Then she and the others listen to Rosch converse with Snow. When the soldiers surrounding the house fall back, Lightning tells Hope to tie up his dad in order to prevent him from being Purged. Rygdea and other members of the Cavalry eventually arrive and the party leaves with them.
Aboard the Lindblum, Raines reveals to the party that Sazh and Vanille had been captured and are now aboard the Palamecia heading for Eden to be executed, but Lightning figures that the whole thing is a trap made to draw them out. She asks Hope if he is afraid and he reassures her that he will be fine. Then Rygdea helps the party board the Palamecia, and they are eventually reunited with Sazh and Vanille. Sazh asks what the plan is, and Lightning tells him that they are taking down the Sanctum and giving Cocoon back to the people, as the fal'Cie have called the shots long enough. Fang and Vanille take down a Garuda Interceptor, and the party rides it to reach the bridge of the ship. The group confronts Dysley, who Lightning believes is also a l'Cie after he kills Jihl Nabaat. Dysley mocks her and reveals himself to be a Cocoon fal'Cie known as Barthandelus. After his defeat, he demands one of the party to become Ragnarok and destroy Orphan. Lightning asks who is Orphan, and Barthandelus answers that Orphan is the source of the fal'Cie Eden's power, so in turn, powers all of Cocoon. As Barthandelus taunts Fang, Lightning strikes and asks who says it has to be that way. After he reveals Serah's true Focus, Lightning sees Snow in shock and distraught. The party escapes with an airship left behind, enter Eden and crash head-on into a structure.
After reaching the Fifth Ark, Lightning asks where they are, Vanille says that it looks like a piece of Pulse, and Lightning calls it a place for l'Cie to accept their fate. When Snow apologizes to Lightning for being wrong about Serah's Focus, she tells him that it is not normal for him to second guess himself. He tells her that even heroes make mistakes. Then she asks him about his plan to save Cocoon. She tells him that his strong faith in Serah got him this far. She goes on to tell Snow that he has been an idiot fooling himself while trying to convince everyone else, but it ended up saving her. Lightning tells Snow to let his faith in Serah drive him, and that it even made her want to believe. Later, Vanille and Fang talk about the legend of the Arks from Gran Pulse built by the resident fal'Cie. Once Fang reveals the second purpose behind the Arks, Lightning figures that Dysley wants to make them stronger. When the party finds Cid Raines, Lightning calls him a traitor and charges at him with her weapon. He easily blocks her attacks with his hand, before grabbing her Saber and flinging her over his head. After battling him, she and Vanille help Fang take control of her Eidolon Bahamut. Later, before leaving for Gran Pulse, Lightning asks Hope about his dad. As Hope makes his speech about making his own decisions from now on, Lightning watches proudly. Afterward, when everyone has decided to go to Gran Pulse, she sarcastically says, "Off to hell we go." Shortly after leaving Cocoon in a Gran Pulse airship, the party is attacked by a monster. Lightning helps Fang summon Bahamut and save the rest of the group before flying off to find a place to land. A few days later in the valley of Vallis Media on Gran Pulse, Lightning, Snow, and Sazh tell Fang and Vanille that they found nothing but ancient ruins and vicious wildlife. After Sazh's chocobo chick returns to camp without Hope everyone goes to look for him. They find him, bring him back to camp, and silently wait for him to regain consciousness. When Snow and Sazh argue about looking everywhere for answers and coming up empty-handed, Vanille tells them that there is one more place. Then Lightning says that if they do not find answers there, then they will not get a second chance. Hope wakes up and reveals the location to be Fang and Vanille's hometown of Oerba. After he tells the party to go ahead without him because he's scared, Lightning tells him, "We understand. You're not going to go through this ordeal alone, you know." She gestures Hope to lift his chin up, and smiles at him in an attempt to cheer him up which fails. In his despair, Hope inadvertently summons Alexander and Lightning tells him that the Eidolon represents his inner power. She helps him tame Alexander with help from Fang. Afterward, the entire party agrees to journey to Oerba together so that they can find a way to remove their l'Cie brands, and they travel through the Archylte Steppe. In the Mah'habara Subterra, after Hope messes with yet another Dreadnought, Lightning dryly comments, "It's the Vile Peaks all over again." When he falls into the path of the fal'Cie Atomos, she tells him to get out of the way. Multiple Dreadnoughts save Hope and stop Atomos, which the party boards and rides to the Sulyya Springs. Later at the Skyreach, Lightning and Snow talk about Serah. Lightning asks him how she is, and Snow says, "Same as we left her." Lightning catches a large dandelion seed in her hand, and watches it get blown away. Snow gives her Serah's crystal and she "talks" to her. Lightning suddenly strikes down Snow, and asks if he and Serah will have their wedding after they see Serah again, saying that Serah wants to know. After Snow promises that Serah's crystal tear will be her last, Lightning says that is all she needs to know. When Snow asks if they will see her again, Lightning puts her fist to his back and tells him to look forward as there is no room for doubt. She tells Snow that they will see Serah again soon, since he convinced her of that and to stay strong. Lightning begins to cry with her fist still on his back. After Snow says that they will go see Serah together after they save Cocoon, Lightning takes a step towards him and rests her head on his backIn Oerba, the party is surprised to see Serah there, reciting the legend of Ragnarok. When she tells them to destroy Orphan and save the world, Lightning tells her to stop it as she prepares to reach for her weapon. Then Serah says to Lightning, "You can't do that, you love me too much. You do, don't you Claire?" Snow steps in between them and it is revealed that Serah is truly Dysley in disguise. Traveling to Eden after leaving Gran Pulse, Lightning and the others disrupt Cid's race alongside their Eidolons. They learn that the city is being overrun by monsters from Gran Pulse, and hurry to intercept the Cavalry. At the end of the Grand Prix Circuit, Lightning takes the lead by jumping of the high platform. Before landing, she deploys a Gravity Bomb to soften her landing and attacks the PSICOM soldiers in her way. As the group tries to stop the Cavalry from reaching Orphan, Lightning charges into a highway with speeding vehicles. She strikes a Behemoth King that throws her back, sending her flying. While the others rush to help her, Lightning anchors her Blazefire Saber into the ground and catches herself. After battling the Behemoth King and more hordes of monsters, the party encounters Yaag Rosch and his Proudclad. After he retreats, Lightning says that they are the only ones who know about the plan to destroy Cocoon, and that it is time to show everyone how human they still are. Later, they are briefly reunited with NORA, who joke about Snow being chosen. Lightning sarcastically agrees and says the fal'Cie chose him out of all the idiots in the world. Then NORA leaves to help the civilians. Eventually, the group reaches an area filled with floating crystal matter. Dysley appears and taunts them about the Cavalry goal to kill Orphan. Lightning says that the Cavalry will listen to reason unlike him, but Dysley says that they will see about that. Hope says that they will decide their own destiny, and Lightning says they will "over Barthandelus's dead body." Upon reaching the Edenhall Grand Foyer, Lightning tells Snow that the plan will be his usual one: "Charge through the front door, what else?" She walks off followed by Hope while the others laugh and ponder her attitude. The party soon fights and defeats Rosch again. Afterward, they hear an explosion go off and know that he sacrificed himself for them. Inside Edenhall, they find members of the Cavalry turned into Cie'th. With "assistance" from the fal'Cie Eden, everyone finds themselves in Orphan's Cradle. After Hope explains that Barthandelus is doing all of this to eventually cause one of them to become Ragnarok and Sazh says that their empathy puts them at a disadvantage, Lightning confidently says that it is also what makes them dangerous. Approaching Barthandelus in the Narthex Throne, he summons the crystallized Dajh and Serah before the party. He quickly destroys them, much to the horror of Sazh and Snow. After the angered latter charges at Dysley only to be deflected again, Lightning helps him up by his waist and tells him, "Think, where is the real Serah?" Snow takes out Serah's crystal and realizes that it was only an illusion. Barthandelus asks the party to kill him out of mercy, but Lightning says that he means murder and that they did not come to destroy Cocoon, they came for him. After defeating Barthandelus for the last time, everyone thinks it is over, but Menrva flies into the pool and Orphan rises in his first form: a fusion of Menrva and Dysley. After the confrontation with Orphan, the entire party except Fang and Vanille are rendered unconscious by a burst of magic from the fal'Cie. When they come to, Lightning and Hope try to protect Vanille, while Sazh and Snow try to stop Fang from becoming Ragnarok, but she strikes them down and Lightning appears to fall unconscious again. The four of them subsequently appear to turn into Cie'th. Lightning and the others relive all of their experiences prior to this moment, and suddenly appear back in their human form. Lightning comments that the incidence was only "more fal'Cie smoke and mirrors." She apologises to Fang for making her suffer alone, and hands back her spear. As they describe their vision of the future and Snow mentions both Serah and Lightning smiling, she looks at him surprised then appears to look guilty. Lightning tells Fang that she was there alongside them as well. The group decides to save Cocoon, at which point all of their brands burn out and turn white like Fang's. After Orphan rises from the pool in his true form and tells the group they overreach themselves, Lightning corrects Orphan and says, "No, we overreach you." She tells Orphan that he give up on life before even being born, sat around poisoning Cocoon from the inside, and waited around for someone to come and destroy him. Lightning tells Orphan that he believes salvation is achieved through death's release by bringing about the end of the world. She says if that is what he truly believes, then he should take it and leave everyone else alone. Then she tells him that humans do not share his ideologies. She says, "When we think there is no hope left, we keep looking until we find some," and that they will protect Cocoon or die trying because it is their home, even if it is beyond saving. Finally, she tells Orphan that their Focus is making the impossible possible. They defeat Orphan and begin turning into crystal as Cocoon falls from the sky. Lightning tells the group to stay together, takes hold of Hope's hand, and notices Fang and Vanille staying behind in Eden below. After they become Ragnarok and crystallize Cocoon, Lightning and the rest of the party are teleported to the surface of Gran Pulse, crystallized themselves. With encouragement from the now-crystallized Vanille, Lightning and the remaining party members awaken from their crystal "sleep". Lightning says that Fang and Vanille saved the world but is corrected by Snow stating that they gave them a new one, with Lightning calling it a miracle. Then the group notices their brands are gone. As Serah and Dajh approach the party from the horizon and have their moments with Snow and Sazh, Lightning comforts Hope regarding Vanille and Fang's departure then reunites with Serah herself. Though she begins to apologize to her sister for not listening to her, it is cut short when Snow reminds them that they "have a wedding to plan". Snow then reassures Lightning that he will make Serah happy, Lightning says that she knows he will, and congratulates them.
