Unveiled

by CJ Walker

One-shot...? It's been seven years since they've seen each other and after only five days of being reunited, the unexpected happens. If Hope doesn't pull his shit together quick, those seven years will go down in vain. Setting takes place at the very beginning of XIII-2, but ignore all events from said game along with Lightning Returns. Rated T for violence and language.

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Final Fantasy XIII: Unveiled

Written by: AwsmYoshi

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Please note that I have no extensive medical knowledge, so if something seems off within this chapter, my apologies. This is all just going off of common sense (with a little help from the Warriors series). Also, I know this will seem choppy and weird and randomly out-of-the-blue, but just go with it D: This is my first FFXIII story that I am posting to the public, so it's a little nerve-wracking..

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"S-shit." Lightning muttered, her breaths coming out in short gasps. Hope cleared his glazed eyes with the back of his hand and tried to focus his vision on the direction of where he heard Lightning's faint curse. She was a couple paces away, arranged in a loose fetal position across the rocky terrain with the old, ragged pipe in her hand. Her gunblade was sprawled a few feet away from her. Worry immediately flooded the silver-haired man's features as he crawled over to Lightning's side. He flinched as he put pressure own on his left knee, but it was nothing too serious. Probably just a sprain, he thought. Honestly, if Hope were to be missing an arm, he still wouldn't care. His main priority and focus at that moment was to make sure that Lightning was okay.

"Hey, Light," Hope started once he was close enough to touch her shoulder. "Light, are you oka-" The silver-haired then gasped at Lightning in horror, realization sticking him harder in the gut that any fall from a cliff could have ever done. As he moved to get a better look at the woman, he could see that she wasn't just holding onto the pipe. She was holding onto the pipe that was pierced through her skin.

It stabbed straight through her abdomen. Maker, all the way through. The pipe could clearly been seen the other side of her body.

Hope felt himself on the brink of hyperventilation. Seeing the state of Lighting- the grimace on her face, the way her breathing was uneven and unstable, the pool of blood that was beginning to saturate her clothing and the ground around them- it made the young man sick to the stomach. This wasn't supposed to happen- this could not happen. Hope had seen Lightning injured countless times back in their L'Cie days, but despite all of the injuries she had endured, he had never seen an object pierce all the way through her skin. It was uncanny, surreal even.

Damn it, Maker! It had been seven years since the two have seen each other and not even a week after their reunion did something tragic have to transpire! Why…why did these type of things always have to happen to them? It wasn't fair! The woman of his life had finally come back to him after being away on an extensive mission, but at what price was it to pay to see her in such a condition?

Stifling his scream of disbelief and anger, Hope took a shaky hand and placed it on Lightning's own. The older woman strained her neck to look up at the distraught man, her eyes glazed over with pain. She tried to speak, but her voice got caught in her throat and she let out a gurgling cough instead. Hope wanted to do nothing more than cradle her in his arms and wish all the pain away, but he knew such fairy tales would not work.

Fisting his hands together, the silver-haired man bit down hard on his lip. What the hell was he supposed to do? He didn't have his L'Cie magic anymore so it wasn't like he could just whip up a curaga spell and set everything straight again. It wouldn't help them to use their communicators to call for the Medical Squad either. It would take help at least a day or two get around the steep face of the cliff, considering that it would be too dangerous to climb down and they couldn't land a service plane because of the dense population of trees. But if Hope didn't do something-anything, there was a good chance that Lightning would… that she would…

No.

Hope quickly shut the thought out of his mind before it could completely materialize. There just had to be something that he could do. He wasn't just going to sit there and watch the life literally bleed out of Lightning- his days of being useless to the pink-haired woman were long over. He had made that declaration years ago when Operation NORA was officially canceled. Lightning needed him to be strong for her at that moment, to come up with some type of plan that'd insure that both of them made it out of his mess alive.

Clamping his eyes shut, Hope summoned all of his will-power to concentrate on an effective plan. Maker, please help me. I don't know what to do! If Lightning dies because of this…I will never forgive myself. I can't call the Medical Squad for help, they would take too long. How am I supposed to keep my promise if I can't- Hope suddenly opened his eyes wide in realization. Wait… That's it! The Medical Squad!

The silver-haired man sat up quickly and mentally ran through a list of questions and answers from his medical textbook. He was- hopefully to be – a squad member in training. He was sure that in his countless hours of studying, he had come across a certain topic that could possibly help them in their current predicament. Straining his mind harder, Hope tried with all his might to recall something relevant.

Chapter 11, Page 221:

Removing foreign objects on the field: This task must be completed carefully and efficiently. The longer the object stays lodged within the patient, the greater the risk of infection, disease or even the possibility of death. However, do not rush to remove the entity. If the charge is done carelessly, there is a good chance that more damage could be dealt to the already harmed internal organ(s). Work diligently and meticulously and you shall be able to reach your goal. Refer back to page 204 to review the concerns of working in…

When Hope reopened his eyes, his whole demeanor had changed. No longer was he the panicked boy in the face of fear; he was now a calm, determined man willing find a solution for his current plight. If Hope really wanted to be a part of the Tech. Medical Squad, this was his chance to prove himself. This was basically a trial that would tell him if he was truly cut out to participate in this field of work and if he failed…the consequences would be catastrophic. Hope knew what he had to do and he had to do it fast, for time was not on their side.

Taking in a deep breath, Hope slowly reached over and gently grabbed Lightning's shoulders to shift her into a sitting position in front of him. Lowering himself to the ground completely, he then moved her hands to either side of his shoulders, lightly squeezing them before letting go. Lightning visibly flinched as Hope then moved his hands to her open gash, one carefully landing on her stomach, cradling the wound while the other gripped the pipe. The pink-haired woman then gave Hope a look that would speak louder than any action could.

Just get it over with quickly... Lightning knew what he was about to do and even though it was in effort to try and save her but the pink-haired woman wasn't looking forward to it. The young man looked back at her sympathetically, wishing there was some way around this - but there was absolutely no way that they could just leave the object lodged within her, let alone sticking out of her both ways.

"Light... this is going to hurt, but I don't want you to think about it. Keep your eyes focused on me the whole time," Hope made a gesture, pointing at her eyes, then to his. He then moved his face to be only a mere couple inches away from Lightning, so that she really didn't have a choice. Hope then tightened his grip on the pipe and he slowly began the process of drawing it out. Lightning immediately grasped his shoulders harder, stifling her gasps of pain. Her nails dug into Hope's skin, not enough to draw blood, but enough to leave mark. However, the young man could honestly care less. She was in greater pain than he, so he had no right to complain about her death grip against his shoulders.

Chapter 5, Page 107:

If performing a procedure where the patient is conscious, try to distract them in some way. If applicable, also have them hold or squeeze onto something to help alleviate pain or stress…

"Think about something you really like or enjoy doing or a memory that made you smile," Hope started, hoping to distract the woman in pain. "Think about...Serah and Snow and your little niece, Winter. Think about Sazh, Dajh as well. Think back to a couple of days ago when you wacked Snow across the face for letting his daughter wear his god-for-saken hat. Think about how much you enjoyed yourself after seeing the priceless face he made afterwards." As Hope continued on, Lightning did begin to think about those things and it made her smile inwardly. For a brief moment, she forgot about the pain coursing through her body.

"That's it. You're doing great." Hope tenderly encouraged with a small smile. The whole time he kept his soft gaze on Lightning and she did the same- well, as best as she could. Every once and a while, she squinted her eyes and gritted her teeth- breaking eye contact to stare off past Hope. The extensive pain unfortunately brought her back to reality from her day dreaming.

Things were going well until all that was left was to pull the jarred end of the pipe out. It would hurt significantly more considering that the rough edges had to make their way agonizingly though the rest of Lightning body. When they got to that point, Lightning clamped her eyes shut completely and let out a stifled cry of anguish. Lightning felt herself weakening by the moment and she didn't know how much longer she could keep at it. Honestly, the pink-haired woman wanted so desperately for it to all end. Maybe if she went to sleep, then maybe...just maybe...The injured soldier slowly let her head loll at the thought.

"Light, stay with me!" Hope called to her, unable to suppress the tone of slight desperation in his voice. "Lightning Farron, don't you dare fall asleep!" If Lightning were to lose consciousness at that moment, there would be no telling if she'd ever wake again...and that was not an option. Leaving one hand to stabilize the pipe, Hope gently cupped the side of Lightning's face with his other. It was then that Hope noticed that she was trembling, breathing in shorter, more rapid gasps with her eyes on the brink of letting forbidden tears fall.

Chapter 3, Page 56:

If the patient goes into shock, try to keep them awake for as long as possible and you must find a way to calm them down. Continue to remain composed, open and encouraging. Keep in mind that your patient will most likely mimic your demeanor. If you are calm, they'll stay calm- if you panic, they'll panic greater…

Taking his hand away from her face, Hope grabbed the woman's hand and placed it above his heart. It was imperative that he was to find a way to calm her down. "Lightning, feel my heartbeat. I want you to breathe with me, okay?" Hope then closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers. He took in an unhurried, deep breath and then let it out slowly. "Breathe in…Breathe out…shh...it's okay, you're okay...in…out…" At first, Lightning's breaths were coming out in hitched hiccups that restricting her flow of air into small, constricted pockets. However, with Hope's gentle coaxing, the pair soon managed to get her breathing back down to something that was moderately acceptable. She still hiccupped every now and then and there was still the slightest tremor that ran throughout her shoulders, but there was no way to completely remove those side-effects in her current condition. At least Hope had managed to pull her out of the thick grasp of shock in considerable small amount of time.

"Don't fall asleep," Hope then repeated softly, reaching for her face again to gently rub the pad of his thumb across her cheek. After a couple of moments, Hope refocused his hands and attention back to the main task. They were so close to being done; it was time to run the final stretch. "We're almost there, you can do it." Suddenly, the young man saw determination flash brightly in Lightning's eyes as the woman gazed directly into his eyes. She then moved her arms up to link around Hope's neck so that her forehead was now resting down on his shoulder.

"Bring...it...on." The woman growled in between strained breaths, her voice to some extent stronger than what it was earlier. Hope gave off a small smile, somewhat relieved that Lightning had slightly regained some of her iconic disposition.

"Alright...hold onto me tight if it gets too unbearable, okay?" Hope then began the slow process of removing the rest of the pipe. Lightning did her best to hold back her cries of pain, but unfortunately for the pink-haired woman, her strength soon faltered. The pain was just too much for her to take. She let out an angry hiss of discomfort, which was soon followed by a string of small, delicate whimpers.

Damn, did it hurt like hell.

Lightning inwardly cursed herself for showing such weakness, especially in front of the one person she'd promised to protect and take care of. They'd barely been reunited for a week after a near decade of separation, yet, is this a first impression that she was wanted to show him? How was she supposed to be strong for him when she was there, crying in his arms like a weak school girl who had just broken up with her first boyfriend? When the hell did her morals stoop so low and why the hell had she allowed them to do so? Lightning then tightened her grip on Hope, both out of frustration with herself and the pain that rocked throughout her body.

Pathetic, she thought. If she was going to show out in front of Hope, the least she could do for him and herself was to not shed a single tear. No matter how extensive the pain, that, she swore to uphold.

"Light...don't think about it," Hope started, wishing he could hold her in comfort but he forced his hands to stay focused on the pipe and her wound. He then licked his lips anxiously as he fished for something to say- something to distract her from the obvious. "This time, I want you to think about me- err... us…f-family and friends in general." Hope quickly stumbled to cover up his words. "Think about… all we've been through to get to where we are now, how we've helped each other overcome our darkest hours. Think about the simplest things we do for each other just to see a smile or hear a laugh." Hope let out a small chuckle before continuing.

"Remember that one day years back when you came home with Serah and found me and Snow 'attempting' to cook a meal for you guys? Heh, there was flour everywhere and the fish were so burnt that they stuck to the pan and wouldn't come off! Thankfully, I've had seven years to learn how to cook properly for you…umm.. AND Serah of course." Despite his near second slip-up, Hope smiled softly again as he felt Lightning's grip weaken its' hold on his shirt. Although he didn't have a view of her face - just her mass of pink locks- he could tell from her body language that she had relaxed a bit; her cries of pain had gotten quieter and less frequent. His technique of having her focus on something other than the problem at hand was proving to be effective.

As he continued on, Hope lowered his voice to a comforting rumble. "Think...Think about the future, and what it might hold for us and our friends. Think about how many more new things would be added to New Bodhum. In due time, Dajh's fro will probably surpass that of his old man's! Snow and Serah will probably want to have more children so you'd have your hands full with multiple little ones calling you 'Auntie Cwaire'."

"…Hopefully, I'll pass my test and get accepted into the Tech. Medical Squad so I can finally have something to do with my life. And maybe...with just a little bit of luck...maybe Vanille and Fang will wake up and we can be a big, happy family again." Oh god, that was really bad. Hope paused briefly before looking down and was soon surprised to see the jarred end of the pipe looking back up at him. "Light, we're done. It's finally all over."

With his concluding statement, Hope lifted the bloody pipe and set it down a couple of feet away from them. As much as he wanted to take it and throw it as far away as he possibly could, Hope needed to stay practical. There could be monsters within the area and the pipe, their most dreaded enemy, could easily become one of their greatest allies at any moment.

Lightning let all of her body weight fall against Hope's chest, her arms still positioned around his neck. To say that she was exhausted would be quite the understatement. The pain was still evident on her side, but this she could handle. No longer did she have to worry about a foreign object protruding into and out of her body. Even though she was sore and her head and body felt like shit, Lightning let out a small sigh of liberation, glad that the ordeal was over.

Sensing Lightning's sudden loss of awareness, Hope linked his arms around the back of her thighs and hoisted her up so that the woman's legs dangled limply behind him. He then walked carefully and slowly towards the nearest tree, tying his best to avoid further pissing off Lightning's angry wound and his agitated knee

As they walked, Hope felt Lightning's warm blood begin to seep through his shirt and a small, involuntary frown etched its ways onto his lips. The young man had always dreamed of holding the woman within his arms, but not within such dire circumstances- the situation was too surreal. Honestly, their semi-intimate position was the last thing on his mind. The woman within his arms was suffering greatly and the silver-haired man's only goal and focus was to make her feel better. This meant discarding unnecessary emotions away.

When they finally reached the base of the tree, Hope gently laid Lightning down against it. The young man knew that all she wanted to do was sleep, but there were still some things that he needed to do to insure that she would make it to see the light of tomorrow.

"Light, I need you to do me a big favor," Hope started, lightly shaking the subject of interest's shoulders to get her attention. "Can you stay up just a tiny-tiney bit longer while I go look for some supplies? Your wound still needs attention." Lightning propped one of her eyes open to glance hazily at Hope, looking somewhat irritated. She then nodded her head once, sat up and forced her other eye open. Hope gave her a small, thankful smile before standing up to walk a short distance to pick something up. When he returned, with that something being Lightning's gunblade, he placed it on her lap, guiding her hands to hold onto it.

"I won't go too far away, but if anything happens, call out okay?" Hope told Lightning, glancing around the area anxiously before looking back at her.

"Aye'yie, cap'n." Lighting sarcastically grunted, motioning a mock soldier's salute. Hope gave her a half-hearted glare before turning to go search for supplies. He felt apprehensive about leaving Lightning there all alone, tired and in pain, but if he didn't go, she'd still be at risk either way. He needed to clean and stabilize her wound before it tried to catch an infection, but if a pack of gorgonopsids or another behemoth got to her before he came back...

Hope immediately dismissed the unwelcome thought from his mind. Lightning needed him and he couldn't help her if he was stuck in some god-awful trance. Shaking his head, Hope went over the list of necessities that he needed to acquire. Unlike Cocoon, Pulse had a variety of naturally growing healing herbs and plants. Because of this, the Medical Squad's index of remedies had to be completely reconstructed, and it is still in the process of being renovated and updated and probably will be in years to come.

Index, Page 457: Medicine Field Guide;

Burnet Plant - Has oval-shaped leaves with serrated edges. Stems grow 50-200cm tall, with large clusters of small flower buds on top.

Location: Usually found in dry, grassy meadows.

Purpose: To stop minor bleeding

Golden Rod - A tall plant with bright, yellow flowers.

Location: Usually found in dry, grassy meadows.

Purpose: Good for healing wounds.

Honey- A sweet, golden-colored liquid made by bees.

Location: In honeycombs or bees nests up in trees.

Purpose: Soothes infections or sore throats, helps to swallow other concoctions, helps soothe coughing, and gives energy.

Marigold - A low-growing flower; yellow to bright orange.

Location: Near water.

Purpose: Stops infection and bleeding or also used for inflammation of stiff joints.

Poppy Seeds - Tiny, round, black seeds that are shaken out of a dried poppy flower head.

Location: All over the forest.

Purpose: They can help a patient sleep, soothe shock or distress or ease pain. Not recommended for expectant mothers, however.

Hope only went over the section of herbs that were most applicable to his in the current situation. It surprised him just how much he could remember from the textbook. Well then again, with all the hours he put in studying, he had better have remembered everything down to its exact point.

About a half-hour had passed when Hope finally made his way back to the makeshift campsite, his hands overflowing with nature's remedies. Thankfully, he had found all that he needed and for whatever he came up short on, he got creative and came up with a way to make it work. When Hope set his supplies down, he was quite alarmed to see that Lightning wasn't present in the clearing. He called out to her, and was about to panic until he heard a soft sound come from the tree.

"Up here." Hope looked up and was immediately relieved to see Lightning sitting on a tall branch a couple dozen feet in the air. How she got up there in her current condition was beyond the silver-haired man. "I thought it'd be safer up here." She stated simply, making her way slowly down the tree. When she got close enough, Hope reached up to support her back, afraid that she might slip. When Lightning made it to the ground, she slumped into a sitting position against the tree, visibly tired and deeply hurting. Her hands went to hold her injured side as she let out a few, shaky breaths. Hope then reached over and placed a hand protectively over her own, giving her a warm, but serious look.

"Hey, you'll be feeling better in a little bit, okay?" He promised and Lightning found that she was taken aback by Hope's expression and demeanor. She then felt a foreign sensation swirl within the depths of her stomach and she visibly flinched because of it. Whatever it was, it just adding to the intensive pain in her abdomen.

"O...kay…" Was all Lightning managed to choke out after a while before she went into a coughing fit. Hope rubbed her back to help ease the pain before turning to reach in her leg pouch to pull out her water jug. Ever so gently, he helped guide the water into Lightning's mouth. After she had her fill, Hope refocused his attention to the task at hand- making use of his gathered items.

The first thing he began to do was arrange his pile of gathered rocks in a circular formation. He then picked up a big, thick leaf and left the clearing for a brief moment. When he returned, the leaf was cupped into a "u" shape on both sides, holding within it water that Hope had got from a nearby stream. If the leaf that was placed on the ground, it would flatten out, causing all the collected water to go to waste. To prevent this, Hope set up a cradle of rocks to set the leaf in. The leaf naturally formed against the shape of the rocks, creating a bowl-like water basin. Hope had purposefully chosen a big, strong and thick green leaf. These were typically water-proof, meaning that it would have no trouble holding the water.

Satisfied with his little invention, Hope turned his attention back to Lightning. She had her head back and eyes closed, but from the way she grimaced and gritted her teeth, it was clear to see that she was not sleeping.

Chapter 7, Page 231:

Clean the wound of blood and dirt. Sterilize the inflamed area before proceeding with treatment…

Reaching in his pocket, Hope reluctantly pulled out his green scarf that his mother had given to him years ago and placed it into the water to soak. Even though he no longer wore it around his next , he still kept with him at all times for good luck. Unfortunately, as much as he didn't want to get it dirty, the silver-haired man really had no other choice. He needed some type of cloth to help with the cleaning portion of the job. Sighing slightly, Hope refocused his attention on Lightning. She had dry, black blood plastered all over her body, especially in the areas closest to the wound, but her Guardian Corps. jacket hindered his ability to get a good view of the gash. Hope knew what he had to do, regardless if she argued against him however, he still felt like it was necessary to ask for her permission first.

"Light," Hope started, placing a hand on her shoulder to get her attention again. "I'm going to go ahead and get you cleaned up but in order to do that...I need to remove your jacket so I can see. Is that okay?" Lightning opened an eye, startled by Hope's sudden proposal and looked at him suspiciously for a long moment. She scanned his expression, searching for anything that might give away to other thoughts that contradicted Hope's intended actions. However, when the injured soldier saw the way that the man was looking at her, she immediately threw away the thought. The way Hope looked into her eyes- a mixture of concern, seriousness, determination and... some other feeling the woman couldn't quite pinpoint swirled together within the depths of his green eyes. Lightning immediately felt guilty for doubting Hope's intentions. He was Hope after all. Her life-time partner and best friend. She out of all people should have known not to distrust him.

I trust that you know what you're doing and… I really appreciate it. "Go ahead." Lightning replied flatly, immediately frowning as she could not summon up the courage to speak what she initially had wanted to say. She just hoped that she didn't come off as too harsh. Hope on the other hand flashed her a grateful smile before moving his hands up to her bare shoulders. Slowly, he peeled off her sleeveless jacket and placed it off to the side. He had to be extra cautious around the area of the wound because the blood from the open gash had already halfway melded to the fabric of the jacket. Hope was thankful that he didn't have to ask for Lightning to remove her half-turtle neck shirt, he could inspect the whole wound without it getting in the way. Honestly, if it had been any other time, he young man would have been blushing wildly at the sight of seeing Lightning's bare stomach, but he was too focused on the main task at hand to get side tracked by stupid, immature thoughts.

With nothing in the way, the silver-haired man then began to gently dab at the inflamed wound, cleaning it of dirt and dried blood. Lightning in turn closed her eyes and relaxed at the feeling. It was pleasant to have something cool and soft against her heated skin. After Hope was sure that he had removed all the debris from both sides, he lowered his eyes to inspect the wound further. It was still raw, but now at least it was tinged pink instead of being a bright scarlet. He was also relieved to see that there was no trace of yellow excess, indicating that the wound was indeed clean and free of infection...for now. Hope then dipped the green scarf back into the leaf-water basin before ringing it out to bring to Lightning's face. In the same gentle manner, he dabbed her face clean. It wasn't absolutely necessary, but Hope felt the need to fix his partner up as best as he could. He didn't like seeing her covered in her own blood.

As he continued on, Lightning watched him intently, pondering over this newly expressed side of Hope. It intrigued her to see him so calm, despite knowing that he knew that she was in a state of suffering. It also aroused a feeling from deep inside of her. Lightning felt…proud of the silver-haired man before her. The way he had been when removing the pipe from her abdomen, to now...he had kept his emotions in check the whole time.

He really has grown up, the woman thought bittersweetly. At that moment, Hope's eyes had locked with Lightning's own and the silver-haired man's mouth hung slightly open. Hope then blushed as he felt himself starring and quickly fumbled with the cloth before refocusing his attention on cleaning.

…Tch, or not. He still has that cute, awkward side to him. Lightning felt her lips faintly turning upwards in amusement before she quickly pushed them back down into a frown. Maker, did she just call Hope… cute? Groaning, the pink-haired woman could just hear Serah teasing her right now. Oh, Claire! I told you that things between you two would be different once you've returned! Lightning quickly dubbed that it must be from her dazed state that she would ever say such a thing.

"Hey, Light. Earth to Lightning. Hello?" The woman of interest nearly jumped in response to suddenly hearing Hope's voice. The silver-haired man was waving his hand over her face in an attempt to get her attention. It seemed like he was waiting for an answer from her.

"Uhh…sorry, what?" Lightning questioned, her cheeks slightly flushing with embarrassment. Hope's eyes gleamed with amusement as he fought hard to hold back a laugh.

"I had said do you feel up to eating something?" Hope repeated, turning to drop the scarf into the water basin. It was only then did Lightning realize that he was done dabbing the blood stains off of her face and body.

"Umm, sure. I guess so." She responded, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. Now that she thought about it, the last time that she had eaten had been this morning and that seemed like eons ago. Hope gave her a toothy grin before reaching over to grab a flat rock, a pair medium-sized leaves and a couple of herbs that Lightning couldn't tell apart. The woman watched as Hope held out one of the leaves for her to take and she was surprised to see that there was honey inside of it along with tiny, little black seeds.

"I know it's not much but the honey will help your cough while the poppy seeds will dull the pain and help you fall asleep." Hope explained to her while shifting to reach behind another rock to pull out some mangos. He then began to chop them up with Lightning's survival knife. "Here, eat these as well." He added, handing the sliced mangos to the pink-haired woman.

Lightning quietly obeyed his command as she first lapped down the honey and poppy seed mixture before beginning to nibble on the fruit. They had honestly tasted a lot better than she had expected, especially the honey. Not too sweet, but not too bland, she thought. Lightning continued to watch Hope with interest as the young man placed a handful of yellow flowers on the second leaf. He then added a little bit of water and folded the leaf halfway over so that you could no longer see the contents inside. Next, he took his flat rock and began to grind it across the leaf.

He's making a poultice, she concluded.

After a couple of moments of comfortable silence, Lightning decided to speak her mind. "So, this is the career path that you want to go down?" Hope glanced up at her in slight confusion and paused his pounding of the poultice. He hadn't expected such a question from her and it caught him off guard. It took him a moment to understand what she was referring to.

"Yeah, only a little bit more leaning on the technical side of things." The silver-haired man responded before continuing on with his meticulous task. "I want to help find and create new ways to revolutionize the medical industry. There are still so many things that have yet to be discovered on Gran Pulse and I want to be a part of the team that helps to unveil those hidden attributes."

"Ah." Came Lightning's curt reply. Hope's interest within the medical field had made sense. Back on their strenuous journey, the silver-haired man was quite skilled in the task of being the healer of the group. Just like her natural talent in fighting, Hope shone his brightest in care-taking. Lightning found herself smiling inwardly on the thought of how different, but at the same time, relatable the pair were to each other. They had experienced the grief that came along with losing a parent at a young age and they were also forced to give up their childhood in order to survive, but despite it all…they both had managed to persevere and walk with their heads held high.

Throughout the rest of the evening, Hope had continued to treat Lightning until he was sure that he had done the best that he could have. When the poultice was complete, he took the sticky substance and spread it across and over the pink-haired woman's wound. As he worked, they engaged in comfortable small talk, ranging from practical matters to even the most irrelevant of things. Hope had even managed to get Lightning to let out a few, small chuckles, relieved that she was feeling a least a little better. When he was done, the Medical Tech. in training got creative yet again and used the fallen soldier's red cape as a bandage and wrapped it around her injured torso. He was quite pleased with all of his makeshift inventions. Now that it was certain that Lightning was no longer knocking at death's door, Hope shifted to sit comfortably next to her against the tree, their arms vaguely touching.

Lightning let her eyes trail up to meet the starry night. She let out an inaudible gasp as she took in the scene before him. She still hadn't gotten used to how magnificent the sky could be on Pulse. In the right moonlight and starlight, the frozen pillar of Cocoon would glow like the brightest star anyone had ever seen.

"It's beautiful…" Lightning commented, stunned by the raw beauty of their abandoned home.

That's not the only thing. "Yeah, it really is." Hope didn't dare say his thought out loud.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while before Hope spoke up. "Oh, I forgot to tell you," He started, looking towards the face if the cliff. "When I was out earlier, I had contacted the Medical Squad. They should hopefully be out here sometime tomorrow."

"Ah." Came Lightning's small reply before letting out an involuntary yawn.

Hope looked over to her and poked her nose teasingly. "Uh-oh, looks like someone's getting sleepy." Lightning glared at him and huffed indignantly as she refused to acknowledge the rising temperatures of her ears.

"Tch, whatever." She crossed her arms and blinked her eyes indignantly. "Not tired." Her effort lasted for a couple moments before she started to yawn again. The silver-haired man watched her amusingly as Lightning engaged with the infamous battle of avoiding sleep. It looked like the poppy seeds were finally starting to work their magic and Hope was sure that this would be one of the few battles that Lightning would lose, although it really wasn't her choice.

Tentatively reaching around behind her back, Hope grabbed Lightning's shoulder to guide her to lean against him. The woman in turn let out a small gasp of shock as she suddenly found herself staring into the crook of Hope's neck.

"Uhm...wha... Hope…?" It was already hard for the poppy-seed endued woman to concentrate, so with this new turn of events, it made it even harder for her to focus.

"Sleep." Hope stated simply. He then felt Lightning fidget against him in protest.

"Hope…I don't…need to-" Lightning's arguments were soon cut off as she felt slow, rhythmic motions run through her hair. After a couple more moments of being tense, the pink-haired woman finally closed her eyes and settled into Hope's light touch. What was the point of even trying to further her rebuttal? She was tired, exhausted and Lightning knew she would be lying if she were to say that the sensation wasn't welcoming.

"It's okay, Light- just go and head and sleep."Hope whispered into her ear as he pulled her in a little closer. "Unfortunately, we have no other choice but to camp out here tonight. Lightning in turn let out a quiet sound in the process and Hope found himself straining his ears to understand her.

"But…you…what about…"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Without even thinking, Hope leaned in to press his lips onto Lightning's mass of pink locks in reassurance. "I haven't forgotten about my promise, Light." This time, I'll protect you. As he listened to Lightning's steady breathing, Hope became dimly aware to the fact that he had crossed the forbidden boundary to kiss his longtime partner, but he really didn't care. Since he was fourteen, the silver-haired man had always wanted to kiss her, to hold her in his arms and never let go, to let her know how important she was to him. To someday, tell her those three simple, yet powerful words that could change their lives forever. Someday, he would unveil all of his hidden secrets to her with no fears or regrets.

But that day was not today. Despite the hell that the both of them had been through over the past few hours, Hope was elated to still have his light by his side, glowing and keeping him warm like the brightest flame. Hell, he'd waited seven years for a moment like this. If it came down to it, he wouldn't mind waiting another seven for something else.

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Uhm…sorry but I'm quite the fluff-aholic…And I have really no idea where this came from. Well, I mean I DO, but let's not worry about that. I know this was a rather strange one-shot but perhaps, if enough of you can convince me otherwise, I'll continue with it?

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