heeeeey! first try at Final fantasy ficcing ina LOOOONG time, but I really just had to get this out of my system. I love Hope and Vanille to death, no matter what anyone says they are the cutest couple EVERRR so, i thought they should have more fanficition focused around them. technically this is AU, so HEAVY HEAVY spoilerage follows for the game, but I have a feeling most people reading FF13 fanfics right now don't rly care, so just proceed with abandon. xD I LOOOVE LOVE Vanille and I hope I characterized her properly! I thought I had some leniency with Hope, you'll see why, but I really do hope I got everyone right! This was intended to be continued, if people like it enough, probably branching off for a bit from the heavy Vanille/Hope stuff but it'd be peppered throughout the rest of the chapters. REVIEWERS, YOU R THE SHIZNAT! I LOVE YOU!

60 seconds and 50 years

It was cold. She just suddenly was aware it was cold as the tingles raced up and down her arms, bare skin all over exposed to the barren air.

She sat up, almost falling back down against the cold surface of the ground from lack of muscle tone. She'd been asleep for a lot longer then she'd thought…

Looking around revealed she was alone. Fang was no longer holding her hand. Tears stung her tired eyes, hurt flowering in her sluggish heart, processing faster then anything else ever had. She'd left her here, alone. It was impossible.

But it was true. She sat up, stretching her limbs, long held in crystal stasis. Her bones creaked a bit, but she otherwise felt fine. Swiping at her eyes roughly, she tried to stand, stumbled, and fell over.

Momentarily winded, she stayed sitting to catch her breath, looking upwards at the seemingly endless chamber she was in.

It wasn't the connection between Cocoon and Gran Pulse. Too much metal and no crystal. It looked a bit too much like Mahab'hara for comfort.

"Hello?" she called out in her foreign accent, pushing a stray strand of orange hair behind her ear.

No one answered. She hadn't expected one, but yet again the harsh truth hit her like a smack to the face.

No one knew she was there. No one cared.

Struggling to stand again, she finally managed to stumble over to the cave entrance. Bright sunlight shone out of the hole, and she was sure she must be in some hidden chamber on Gran Pulse.

Somewhere between waking up and standing, she'd regained her usual Oerba attire. The furred waist cape felt unnaturally heavy against her hips. Since when had everything been so heavy?

Outside, she knew right away this wasn't Gran Pulse. For one thing, the alphabet flashing from billboards all over was the Cocoon one, not the elegant and mysterious Gran Pulsian. And secondly, all the wildlife was carefully contained into a small area around the entrance to her cave. A plaque was nailed to the rock just outside it. She went over to read it.

"The final resting place of Oerba Dia Vanille, savior of Cocoon and Creator of the Bridge"

"Final resting place? But…I'm alive!" she said to herself a bit indignantly. Turning, she realized her sudden appearance had finally earned notice. Several vehicles had skidded to a stop outside the small nature reserve and people were getting out, ogling her in amazement.

Suddenly self-conscious, she ran for the edge fence and easily hopped over it, her vitality returning as well as her wits as the crystal sleep wore off. It wasn't safe around here, she knew that much.

Her goal now was to find the others. Or no, firstly, to find out what year it was. Who knew if the others were even still alive. The thought made her heart sink like a stone, but she shook it off and kept jogging. No use in dealing with possibilities.

"Excuse me, sir, but what year is it?" she stopped a kindly looking man in a business suit. The man looked surprised at her scant clothing, but didn't hesitate.

"Year 50 in the New Age of the Bridge, little miss. Surely you hadn't forgotten?"

50...50 years then. Not too long. She smiled and nodded at the man. "Silly me! I have a very bad memory. Thank you!" and with a wave, she was off.

The others would be old, painfully old, but hopefully still alive. She needed to see a familiar face right now, be it wrinkly or not.

Managing to dodge anymore then a few covert glances her way, she made it to an information hover booth. The settings and buttons were all in Cocoon, which she was rusty at, to say the least. She managed to get to the address listings and froze as she thought about which name to type in.

Lightning? No…she'd probably be off somewhere on Gran Pulse with Serah and Snow and probably their children and grandchildren. Wouldn't want to be a bother.

Sazh? Sazh had been quite old during their adventure…who knew if he was even alive…and she didn't want to find out just yet.

And Fang…who knew where Fang was. She wouldn't have a public listing anyway, since she wasn't a registered citizen.

Biting her lip she typed in the letters for "Hope Estheim" and clicked enter.

The machine whirred as it searched the listings. Finally one lit up. Her eyes went wide at the address. She might've been asleep for 50 years, but Higher Echelon, Palumpolum didn't sound any less impressive.

"He's done well. I'm glad." she smiled to herself a bit sadly and set out, trying to remember how to get to Palumpolum.

"Sir? There's something I think you should see…"

The elderly man stood at the picture window, one hand supporting his elbow, the other stroking his smooth chin in deep thought, overlooking the vast city of Palumpolum. It's revenue had increased a hundredfold since the forming of the Bridge, as many Gran Pulse traders made their fortunes in it's streets. He'd been one of the early investors in a company called 'Chocobo Chums' and had profited greatly ever since.

He'd lived a relatively happy life…until he'd turned 25. The year she'd gone away, for good. Leaving him behind with a son to raise.

Life hadn't seemed worth living anymore at the time. But he knew he had to soldier on, for their son. She'd want him to.

"What is it, Elyon?" he sighed and turned to his assistant, a paldry son of an assistant manager in one of the lower branches of the company. Good, hardworking boy, but forever with a look of pity in his eyes, something the older gentleman could never forgive him for.

"Well, there's a surveillance video making the rounds to all the private channels, and it's from the Shrine in Cocoon City, sir."

The man's blood ran cold. He hurried over to the comp screen and watched as his assistant hit the play button.

A beautiful orange-haired girl of around 19 stumbled out of the shrine and looked around blearily. Her shining green eyes met the camera's for a split second before it froze on the image.

"It…it can't be…"

Vanille realized very quickly that she couldn't keep on towards Palumpolum dressed in her Oerbian outfit. For one, the temperatures were a lot cooler then they had been 50 years ago, and the stares were drawing way too much attention. It didn't help that her particular hair color was just as ridiculously rare as her clothing. She dived into a service kiosk around the outskirts of Palumpolum and rapidly typed in a keypad number for Lightning's private account she'd set up during their journey. Amazingly, it was still active and the transaction went through.

She pulled on her new outfit-a conservative grey skirt and blazer with a pink blouse, accented with her Oerbian necklaces, the one think she couldn't bare to part with-and continued on her way into the busy and colorful Palumpolum streets.

It didn't take long for her to become hopelessly and beautifully lost.

"Excuse me, could you-oh dear…Um, sir! Please, could you tell me-! Oh!" buffeted by the human tidal wave of merchants, customers and wares from everywhere between Gran Pulse and the Edge, she had almost no chance of asking the way. So she kept a northward course mostly until the worst of the crowds had petered away. By this time it was almost an hour past midday, and the sun was high, but the buildings in this area were higher, and kept the streets surrounding them in a strange shadowy haze.

"Are you lost, pretty thing?" a shady looking man in a black suit came up to her as she passed yet another deserted doorway. A look of almost comical relief passed over Vanille's face at his question.

"Yes! I'm looking for Higher Echelon, Apartment 26C0589, it's a penthouse studio, not hard to miss! I just…haven't been around these parts in a long while."

If only he knew just how long.

"Ah, Higher Echelon. I know the area well. Just follow me, love." and the man kept a northerly route through the twisting streets with such confidence, Vanille didn't feel any need to pay attention to where they were going. The sun was sitting low in the sky by the time the man stopped, and the streets were even darker then before.

"Here we are, then." the man purred, pointing up at a large building just in front of them. But instead of being the friendly, well lit apartment building the information scan had shown, it was a run down pharmaceutical plant.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken, this definitely isn't it." she smiled pityingly at the man, her heart falling again as she resigned herself to several more hours of searching. The need to see Hope was becoming ridiculously strong now, and her patience was nearing it's end. She felt like there was something she needed to know, and this man was just prolonging the time before she knew everything.

"Oh no, I'm quite sure this is the place." the man said again, taking her wrist roughly. She wrenched it away with a deft twist, reminiscent of her old fighting days with the others. Giving a little laugh she bent and flipped the man over her splayed left leg, sending him flat on his back to the ground. "Ciao!" she chirped and ran off, her dull grey skirt flying as she went. The thief never told anyone about that day or that girl, the one that had bested the best criminal in Palumpolum.

Before she'd gotten more then 20 feet, yet another man dressed in black had grabbed her. But this one, unlike the first was armed. He didn't seem ready to use it, however.

"Oerba Dia Vanille?"

She nodded slowly, suspicious and fully aware of the blaster pressed to her side.

"Come with me, please. Magister Estheim wishes an audience with you."

"Oh thank the gods…I've been looking for him!" she slumped with relief and the security officer quickly put his gun away, realizing it wouldn't be necessary. She followed him like a puppy, her steps lighter now that she was being taken directly to the one person she wanted to see, and babbling incessantly to fill up the terse silence.

"It's been such a long time! He probably looks nothing like he did when I last saw him! Tetchy little thing he was, only 14 or so, not taller then my shoulder! Oh, he was so cute and strong and brave. I learned a lot from him during the time we traveled together. I helped him get away when his mother died, did he tell anyone that? I helped him find the others! I did good by him, not like Serah and Dazj…" here she fell silent, and remained so until they made it to the building from the picture.

"so THIS is Higher Echelon…" she breathed, stepping inside with almost holy reverence and making a mystical sign of prayer with her hands and fingers that made the security officer more then a little uncomfortable. There hadn't been religion in Cocoon for ages.

They stepped into an elevator and the man hit the button for the 68th floor. "Hold on now. This is the fastest elevator in Palumpolum." he gestured to the sturdy hand rails. Vanille barely had time to grab one before the little craft belted upward as if it'd been shot out of a blaster.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" she squealed as the speed pressed down and made her feel like her arm would rip from it's socket. But finally it stopped with a jerk, and she almost fell to her knees with dizziness.

The doors slid open, and there was a man standing there, dressed in a simple grey suit and black tie. His silver hair was shorn close to his head now, and small round glasses sat jauntily on his nose. Laugh wrinkles gathered in the corners of his eyes and mouth as he smiled.

"It really is you. After so long…"

"Hope?" Vanille whispered in disbelief, slowly stepping out of the elevator, her ponytails bouncing in total rejection of the somber clothes she now wore. She was exactly the same as he remembered…not quite the last one he'd seen, but the one before that. Before it had all Come to Pass.

She reached up her thin, but deceptively strong hands and ran them over his head, his cheeks and nose, his mouth-lingering a bit on his lips-then down his chin.

"Is that really you?" her voice was hoarse and he could see her eyes shining with tears. His own were tearing up too.

He nodded, and she threw herself at him, hugging his neck fiercely and letting all the tears she'd been holding in fall. Even at his great age he nearly picked her up off the ground and swung her round, laughter like no one had ever heard before or since echoing throughout the entire apartment.

Elyon peaked out from the office area near the front, and smiled, fighting back his own tears. It had been years upon years since Magister Estheim had been so happy.

"Oh, I'm so happy to see you! So, So happy!" Vanille cried, ecstatic, tears drying rapidly on her cheeks as she held Hope close. He was a great man now, old enough to be her grandfather, probably, but it didn't matter. He had the same sparkle in his eyes, the same smile. It was her Hope, alright.

"Not as happy as I am to see you." Hope smiled, kissing the top of her head affectionately. It was the most forward thing she could ever remember him doing, and she froze for a moment, shock plain on her face, but it quickly gave way to more unrestrained happiness. She hugged him again.

"What of the others, Hope? Are they as well as you are? I do hope so…"

It was here that Hope's smile melted a bit from his face. "I wish it were so."

Vanille pulled away and studied him critically. "What do you mean by that?"

"Come, sit." Hope went over to the sofa and seats arranged by the front window. The sun was now lower in the sky and the setting light made the room almost glow.

Vanille obeyed, her hands tense in her lap. Being told to sit never meant good news.

Her eyes were so large and innocent…and held a secret sadness, he could tell. A sadness he couldn't help remove anymore. Only worsen.

"Lightning is well enough, she's living with Snow in the new settlement on Gran Pulse with the children. Serah's been gone for nearly 2 years now, poor thing."

"Oh…" Vanille looked away. "How many children did she have?"

Hope smiled. "she had 4, and they went on to give her 7 beautiful grandchildren. Lightning's holding down the fort now, and Snow's doing his best to spoil the young ones rotten, as is to be expected."

Vanille looked back, eyes red but hopeful. "Lightning didn't marry then?"

Hope bit his lip. "yes and no. she married this crazy boy around the time of the Bridge's creation, then divorced him the following day, but went on to have a child with him. They're not on very good terms any longer, or so I've heard. Had a big falling out. Sanna always did have too much of her mother's temper in her. And it's odd to hear you call her Lightning. She goes by Eclair most days now."

Vanille nodded. It wasn't the happy endings she'd wanted everyone to have, but it was better then she'd honestly expected.

"And Sazh?"

"Ah, Sazh. He's almost 90 these days, or so I've heard. Healthy as a horse. He reformed PSICOM to what it is today, an intelligent, well informed and honest task force, keeping Cocoon and Gran Pulse safe. And Dahj is doing just as well, he took over for his dad not 10 years ago, and is running things now. Fine kid."

Vanille smiled. "I'm so glad…I want to see him, please, as soon as we can. I miss him so much…Sazh…"

Hope nodded. "It will be arranged as we speak."

He saw a flash of hesitation in her eyes before she spoke next.

"And…you, how have you done?"

Hope didn't answer for a moment. Elyon felt a sudden urge to leave, and did so, not wanting to look in on a private moment.

"I did well enough…I lived with Lightning until I was of age, then I went out into the world and made my fortune, just working my way up. I married when I was 20, had a fine son, Aren. He's an apprentice in the company now. Just had his 43rd birthday recently…"

"Oh…" the disappointment in her voice was apparent. "Where is she now? Your…your wife…it sounds so funny, last time I saw you you were a little man…now…my goodness…"

"She left when Aren was barely 2. Haven't seen her since."

Vanille was up and across the room in an instant, hugging him again.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…"

The words pierced him through the heart, even though she couldn't possibly have any idea how much they meant to him. Not here. Not now. Not her.

"It's alright. I've made my peace with it, as has Aren. We're big boys now, remember?" he chuckled.

Vanille nodded. "mm hmm! That you are! Can I meet him? Your son?"

Hope tensed. "Well, he's working right now, not sure how soon he'd be able to get away. And best we not bother him with old battle stories, he barely believes me as it is!"

Vanille sighed and got off his lap, pacing a bit nervously on the plush carpet.

"But what am I to do now? Everyone has a life, a family, what we did just yesterday to me, is in your distant pasts now. Where do I fit in to all of it?"

Hope looked away, frowning. "You don't."

Vanille's heart skipped a beat.

"You don't belong here, Vanille. Neither did Fang, in her time, when she sought me out and asked me the same question. There is nothing for you here anymore. And there never will be. You must seek out the place you belong and how to get there on your own. I am not allowed to help you anymore then this."

"Fang came here? Fang spoke to you? Did she tell you why she left me alone?"

"It was for the same reasons she left you alone before. She was trying to protect you. No matter what, you will always be her little girl."

"She wasn't protecting me this time! She was destroying me! She was breaking my heart, like you're doing right now!"

Hope couldn't meet her eyes. But he felt her fingers wrap around his and wrench back, forcing him to turn.

"Look at me! Look at me, Hope!"

He slowly raised his own eyes to hers. She had no idea how much this hurt him too.

"Just tell me why. Tell me why you're leaving me like this, with no one to help me, no one to love me…I took care of you when you needed the same! Remember that!"

"I remember…it's why you have to go."

Vanille released his wrist and stormed across the room, leaning her forehead against the cold glass of the picture window and fogging up the surrounding area.

Having a tantrum. Like any love-struck teenager.

"It kills me to do it, Vanille. And maybe it's selfish of me in some ways to do it, but it's even more selfish of me not to. You've missed so much here. Too much. I didn't take it away, but I can at least try and give it back-"

"I don't know what you're talking about! Just tell me what you mean and I'll listen! Don't you trust me?"

It's not about trust…it never was…

Hope went up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close. He smelled good, cologny and soapy and a bit of that Hope smell she remembered. Like burnt sage.

It felt right. It all felt right somehow, even though nothing was right.

He was too old, she was too young, she was too old, he was too young, everything was wrong.

"Hey, Dad, came by to surprise you today, finished up that B&W deal this morn-"

She pulled away from Hope in surprise, spinning at the voice. Everyone froze.

She took in the pale face, the green eyes, the pale orange hair, a peculiar shade that could only come about from the mixing of copper and silver…

And finally, she understood.