Author's Note: And we start off with the end of a familiar scene. *I do not own it or FF in general*

This little oneshot is a birthday present for a good friend of mine, Avid Vampire Hunter. Happy Birthday! Hope you like it! :)

"Do something for me, will you?" Hope asked, "Keep smiling. I-it makes me happy when you smile."

Vanille stared somewhat blankly at him, her mouth hanging open. A strange feeling burned in her chest, hot, but not unpleasant. "I-I didn't know you felt that way!" Her cheeks began to burn as well and she whipped around, holding her head in her hands to hide her undoubtedly red face. He- he liked her smile?

Then she heard something that momentarily confused her. She turned and saw Hope doubled over in laughter. For some reason, her heart sank a little, and she said, "Wait a minute. You mean you were joking?"

"Now we're even!" Hope laughed out before running past her.

She didn't know why, but that irritated her. She growled and called out, "Hey, wait!" Then ran after him. After a few seconds though, she couldn't help but laugh along with him. "Wait!" She called again.

Hope stopped and turned, but only for a moment. He began to run again and shouted, "Bet you can't catch me!"

"Oh yeah?" Vanille shouted back, picking up speed. Never let it be said that she was a slow runner.

Neither was Hope. He sped up as well, heading toward their temporary camp. He had a head start, so Vanille was doubly determined to catch up with him. Hope didn't seem to think she would. She knew for a fact that he could run faster than he was. So with a smirk, she sped up even more.

"I'm gonna get you!" She cried.

Hope looked back at her, "You sure about that!?" He faced forward again and pushed himself harder, finally going his full speed.

Vanille let out a laugh. Finally, a challenge.

A few seconds later, Hope checked to see if she was still gaining ground (which she was), but that's not all he saw. Vanille wasn't close enough to see his eyes widen in fear, but she did see him turn completely around and start running towards her.

Confused, she stopped running. But Hope didn't. He continued toward her and shouted, "Watch out!"

Vanille whipped around to see what he was running at, and saw a giant flying cie'th heading straight for her, claws extended for attack. The monster's body was covered in feathery scales, it had four sets of deep purple eyes, and one large mouth. There had to be hundreds of teeth. And she saw every single one of them when it let out an earth-shaking roar. She stood, frozen in terror, watching death fly to her.

Until, at the last second, Hope reached her and shoved her out of the way, taking the blow for her. The cie'th's claws ripped through his chest, flung him through the air. Every second he spent in the air seemed to last hours. But those hours ended, and he landed flat on his back, knocking every wisp of breath from his lungs. As he struggled to breathe, Vanille recovered from the shock of seeing Hope ripped apart and thrown like he was nothing. She got out her binding rod and swung it at the cie'th, directing it's attention to her. "Leave him alone!" she screamed.

The cie'th roared again and swooped down on her, missing the top of her head by inches. As it came around again, she shot a fire spell at it, which burned the softer scales on it's face. The roar from it this time was a wail of pain and anger, rather than a warning. Vanille was slightly sickened as the monster twitched and pulsed.

The unmistakable crack of a thunder spell came from behind her, and the spell itself shot through the monster, causing it to convulse even more. A halfhearted howl bounced off the rocks as it fell, smacking against the landscape as it went. The cie'th landed on the ground with a deep thud.

Vanille turned away from the cie'th, though she kept her eyes on it as long as possible. When she finally did look away, she was met with an awful sight.

Hope had forced his tattered body to stand. His hand still sparked with the remnants of thunder. But he was shaking horribly, and nearly his entire front was covered in blood. Six deep cuts from the cie'th's talons crossed his chest. Vanille swallowed the bile that began to rise in her throat. That happened because he wanted to protect her.

She began to approach him, to horrified to speak. What could she say, anyway? She only took a few steps, however, before his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed onto the ground.

She choked on a scream, but nothing stopped her heart from racing like mad. She sped to his side, and somehow gained no relief from the fact that he was still breathing. His cuts were beyond deep. She could see bone. She just barely held down vomit. She couldn't look. But blood was already soaking the ground beneath him. She had to do something. If she didn't, he would die.

But what could she do?

Her mind was so busy that she couldn't think. All she could do was stare. Just stare at Hope's decimated torso. It was in complete contrast to the rest of his body. Especially his face. He looked so calm in unconsciousness. His soft silver hair simply swayed in the breeze, as if not caring that just inches away was a war zone.

Magic. She could use magic. It only took a few seconds of concentration before the green light of Cura danced off her fingers. Suppressing her fear that the spell wouldn't work, she released it, and watched the pale green fog surround Hope's wounds. She crossed her end sets of fingers together, sticking out her thumbs, and prayed with all her heart that he would be okay.

I don't know what I'd do without you.

When the spell dispersed, it's job finished, the cuts were much better, but not completely healed. Vanille sighed. She'd stopped the bleeding at least.

Something large moved behind her.

Vanille glanced backward and saw the cie'th weakly attempting to lift it's wings. It moaned sadly as it lifted a crooked, broken wing a few inches. It was useless, it knew it. So instead of trying again, it threw back it's head and gave one final roar that echoed through the air, before settling on the ground, waiting for death.

An audible exhale from Hope brought Vanille's head back around. She still couldn't bear to look at his injuries, so she stared sadly at his face.

"I'm sorry." she whispered, "I... should've..."

"Hope! Vanille!"

Snow's voice was a welcome relief. Vanille stood and screamed, "Snow!"

It wasn't long before the large, blond man was running up to them. Snow's eyes slid from Vanille, to the cie'th, and finally to Hope. "Oh, man. What happened?"

Vanille found herself fighting back tears. Taking a deep breath, she said, "H-he saved me." It was all she could say.

Thankfully, Snow didn't require further explanation. He just placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Let's head back."

How long had it been? Vanille didn't know. She was sure that Sazh would know, if she asked.

The truth was, she didn't want to know.

The sun was gone now, but she still felt like it happened only a minute ago. She still couldn't believe it. One second she was just chasing him, the next...

The next, she was trying to figure out how to save his life.

Vanille walked behind Snow the entire way back to camp. He was her guide, in a way. At the moment, she couldn't remember something as simple as the way home. All she could think about was what happened. He didn't even scream...

She knew they were back when she heard Sazh curse. And then a few moments of silence. "What happened?" Fang asked. "And where's Vanille?"

Vanille hugged her knees to her chest. A few teardrops fell onto her legs. He saved her life, and almost lost his own. He let himself get ripped apart, for her. He nearly died, for her.

Lightning got up from her place by the fire, and joined Vanille in the dark. They just sat in silence for a few minutes until the soldier said, "It wasn't your fault."

Vanille turned away, "Yes it was. I could have fought, but instead, I froze." More tears slid down her cheeks, "He got hurt... saving me. It was my fault." The tears flowed freely, and she began to shake, taking in a few mouthfuls of air when she needed it.

She felt Lightning's arm around her. "But he chose to save you, Vanille."

Vanille stepped out from behind Snow. "I'm right here." she said quietly.

Fang read the sadness behind that and embraced her, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Oh, Vanille." She was held at arms length, "Don't lie to yourself."

She held back a sob. Fang was right, she wasn't fine. How could she be? She didn't fight back until... until it was too late. She could've spared him all that pain. They could've fought the cie'th together, but...

"What happened?" Fang asked gently.

"...He saved my life."

Vanille curled into herself a little more, still not looking at Lightning.

The soldier sighed. "Listen, it's okay to be scared. We might be l'Cie, but we're still human. You're allowed to be afraid. And besides, you saved his life too."

Vanille just sniffed.

Lightning stood, and the warmth where her body was suddenly left. "When he needed you, you came through for him. Just remember that."

Vanille finally turned back, and watched Lightning walk away. She watched as she sat beside Fang, who started talking. Probably asking questions. Vanille's eyes slid from them to Hope's still unconscious form. He lay just a few feet from her, just as peaceful as he was before. She found herself watching him breathe. The simple movement of his chest had a hypnotic effect on her. Just like the other night, it was all she could do. Watch.

"Keep smiling. I-it makes me happy when you smile."

The memory came from nowhere, and she blushed at it. Had he meant it? He didn't act like it, but for some reason, she thought he was sincere. Her heart raced at the possibility, she didn't know why that was either. And this wasn't the first time her heart reacted like that.

What is it about him?

He made her feel... She didn't even know. Was there a word for it? It was a mixture of nervous and happy and content, plus a few other things. What kind of word could describe all that?

Hope groaned.

Lightning and Snow were immediately at his side. Fang and Sazh approached too, but hung back a bit. Vanille didn't move at all.

"Hope?"

He groaned again, "Hey, Snow."

Some kind of relieved chuckle escaped Snow. "Man, how many times are you gonna scare us like that?"

"I'm sorry." Hope said tiredly.

"Hey, are you okay?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah, I..." He stopped talking for a moment. "...Where's Vanille?"

Her heart raced when she heard her name. She didn't know why, but she hesitated before joining Snow and Lightning, She gave him a small smile, "Hey."

"Hey." He returned the smile, "You okay?"

There was that feeling again. Would her heart ever slow down? "I'm fine."

"Good."

Vanille lowered her head and stared at her hands, "...I'm sorry, Hope."

"Why? It wasn't your fault."

"I-I should've..."

Hope took her hand. If it was possible, her heart beat even faster. She looked up into his ocean-colored eyes and found that a bit of her guilt melted away. He always did this to her. Just his touch, or even a look could make her feel better. "It's okay." He said softly.

"I'm sorry about your jacket." Vanille said.

"Eh. Didn't need it anyway." Hope shrugged it off of him. His orange and yellow jacket was hardly more than a rag now. He bunched it up and held it over the edge of the cliff. "I'm sure the birds will find a use for it." He released, and the shredded fabric dropped out of sight.

It was odd seeing Hope without his brightly colored jacket. His black t-shirt was a jarring difference to the colors she was used to seeing on him. The six rips the cie'th left didn't help either.

"What are you staring at?" He teased.

Vanille giggled. "You." she answered honestly.

"Ah. Checking out my battle scars, right?"

The battle had definitely left him with scars. Vanille didn't think even the most powerful healing magic would prevent that. "Sorry about that."

Hope shook his head, "There's nothing to apologize for, Vanille."

Vanille began to pace, "But you could've died."

"But I didn't." Hope reminded her. "Think of it like this," He began to pace beside her, "I saved your life, you saved mine. Now we're even."

"Now we're even!"

Vanille smiled.

Hope smiled too. Clearly, that's what he was hoping she would do. "There's that smile."

"Come on, you two!" Sazh called, "We're heading out!"

"Coming!" Hope replied. He began to walk backwards, so that he was still facing Vanille. "By the way, I wasn't joking."

"I-it makes me happy when you smile."

Vanille never dropped her smile. She started to follow and said, "I know."

Hope you liked it! :)