Red and White

Chapter 1

Red

Happy Valentine's Day! I've had this fic planned out for the past few days and finally got to writing it the night before Valentine's Day. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story!

Lightning sat at the kitchen counter looking at the bowls in front of her. She had everything set out: the powdered sugar, the cocoa, the powdered milk, some salt, and shortening. She even made sure to get the most expensive and best quality of cocoa she could find at the store.

The clock on the wall chimed-indicating it was 12:00am-and Lightning drew her eyes up to it. She stared at the hour hand. It was officially Valentine's Day and she didn't know where to start with making his chocolate.

She collapsed on the counter and rested her head on her arms, her long pink locks falling around her. What was she doing? She didn't know the first thing about making homemade chocolate. The recipe she borrowed from Serah's cookbook made no sense to her. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to mix the cocoa with the sugar first, or the milk? Did it even matter?

She let out a sigh and sat up. She couldn't believe she was making homemade chocolate for Hope in the first place. Sure, she got chocolate for him every year. She bought some for Sazh and Snow too. Typically, the type she'd buy him would be more expensive than the chocolate she bought for the two other boys. Lightning valued Hope. Even four years after their adventure together, they were still very close to each other…to the point of Hope moving in with her.

Lightning felt her temperature rise and stomach churn. Hope moved in with her after completing high school. He had been living with her since the start of summer. Because Serah was living with Snow a few houses down, it was just Lightning and Hope in their quaint house on the top of a cliff, overlooking the sea. Serah was spending the night though because she didn't want Snow to find his Valentine's Day chocolate. She had worked on them the whole day, making beautiful heart shaped chocolates for him with intricate icing spelling out her love for him.

The whole thing just made her uncomfortable. She wasn't good at expressing her feelings. She wasn't even sure why she was making, or well, attempting, to make homemade chocolate for Hope in the first place. Lately, she had been feeling nervous around him. He was taller than her, standing at around 5'8 and had toned muscles that she sometimes caught herself admiring. His silver hair was a bit longer in the back but still as messy and feathered as ever. Her heart would race when her aquamarine eyes locked with his blue-green. He'd hold her glance, not looking away from her. She was always the one to break the contact, feeling breathless afterwards.

Lightning shivered and looked back from the recipe to the bowls of ingredients. She picked up the first bowl and started dumping its contents into the other. She haphazardly added everything to one bowl, estimating the proper amounts while getting powdered sugar all over her light pink tank top. She mixed the ingredients together, pouring the mixture into the heart shaped molds that Serah had used earlier. The idea of giving Hope heart shaped chocolates made her feel queasy. She put the pan in the preheated oven and set the timer, feeling proud of her achievement.

She sat back up on the barstool and leaned over on the counter once more. So many things had happened in the last four years. They were able to move back to Cocoon. Palumpolum had been spared, unlike the destroyed Bodhum. It was Hope's suggestion that Lightning buy the home a few blocks away from his. After visiting Lightning almost every day, Lightning extended the offer for Hope to move in with her. It was like he practically lived there anyway. She figured they might as well make it official.

Lightning closed her eyes and smiled to herself, thankful that she was able to see Hope every day. She couldn't help but feel that he understood her more than anyone else. She could be herself because he has seen every side of her, both good and bad.

Without realizing it, she felt herself become increasingly comfortable, the warm stove heating the entire room. The sweet smell of the cocoa calmed her and before she could stop herself, she fell into a deep sleep.

"Lightning…"

I don't want to wake up. Five more minutes…wait…what is that smell?

"Come on, Lightning! Wake up! I don't know what you thought you were doing. I told you to never cook unsupervised!"

My chocolate!

Lightning shot straight up to see Serah turning off the oven and opening the stove. A blast of hot, smoldering air shot out at the both of them followed by the unmistakable smell of burnt food.

"Was this supposed to be…chocolate?" Serah asked, looking at the burnt remains of Lightning's hard work. "Who were you making chocolate for?" she inquired, a bemused expression on her face.

"I didn't make it for anyone. I made it for myself," Lightning asserted, shutting the oven door so that the smell wouldn't be as potent.

Lightning was quite for a moment, listening carefully above her for any sign that Hope had woken up. The smell was pretty bad, but she was hoping that it hadn't drifted upstairs yet. Lightning would hate for Hope to wake up and catch her and her failed chocolate…chocolate that she was attempting to make for him in the first place.

"Stop lying, Light. You hate cooking. You wouldn't have made it for yourself. If you wanted chocolate you would have gone out and bought it. You were making it for someone special. Did you meet someone without telling me?" Serah asked, the corners of her mouth upturned in a smirk.

"Of course not," Lightning answered quickly, looking away from her sister and at the remains of her chocolate on the stovetop. She could feel her sister's eyes on her and when she looked away from her disaster and back at her sister, she knew that there was no point in hiding it. She was going to find out away. "I…I was making it for Hope, okay? It's not that big of a deal," she admitted, doing her best to fight back the redness that she knew was coating her cheeks. There was no fighting her embarrassment.

Serah lunged forward and wrapped her arms around her. "I knew it! I knew you'd eventually realize your feelings for him! The poor boy has been in love with you since you two met. It was only a matter of time before you returned his feelings!" Serah exclaimed, her eyes shining with delight.

"Yeah… sure. It doesn't matter now though. I completely ruined his chocolate," Lightning said with a sigh.

"Don't worry about that! We still have enough to make one heart. I'll help you with it so you don't mess up this time," Serah said as she grabbed the pan and dumped the ruined contents into the trash. "Let's get started."

Cooking wasn't as hard as Lightning once thought it to be. Well, at least not when you had someone to walk you through it. With Serah's help, she was able to measure the ingredients and mix them correctly.

"What do we do now?" Lightning asked as she took the melted chocolate off the stove.

"Pour it into the mold and then put it in the refrigerator to harden over night. I don't know where you got the idea to put it in the oven," Serah said, laughing softly at Lightning's foolishness.

Lightning ignored her comment and did as she was told. The last thing she wanted to do was mess it up again.

"So…what made you want to make chocolate for Hope?" Serah asked as Lightning shut the door to the refrigerator.

"I don't know," she answered softly, honestly not knowing why she did. "I think I just wanted to see him smile."

"Do you have feelings for him?" Serah questioned and took a seat on the opposite side of the island counter.

Lightning remained silent. There it was again…the feeling of acrobats performing in her stomach.

"How am I supposed to know? I've never liked someone in that way…not since I was a kid, at least. I don't know what it feels like to have those kinds of feelings for another," she admitted, leaning against the bare kitchen wall.

"Well, how do you feel around him?" Serah calmly asked in a way that made Lightning feel obligated to answer.

She shrugged. "I'm not really sure. Sometimes our eyes will lock and I can't breathe. Or I'll feel giddy and nervous around him. It only started a few months ago. All I know is that whenever he's around, I feel…complete and comfortable. It's only when our eyes lock or when he touches me that my heart starts pounding. It doesn't make any sense…and now I'm making chocolate for him," Lightning let out a soft sigh of frustration. She didn't know why he made her feel the way she did.

Serah smiled at her from across the island. "That sounds an awful lot like love to me, Light. That's how I felt when I first realized that I loved Snow. Don't try to fight your feelings and just go with it. It'll all work out." She stood up and walked over to where Lightning stood and rested her hand lightly on her shoulder. "I'm gonna go to bed. Make sure you do too. Try not to worry too much. Night," she said and left the kitchen, leaving Lightning standing by herself.

Lightning waited until Serah was up the stairs to turn the kitchen light off and go upstairs as well. She walked past Serah's room and stopped in front of Hope's. His door was ajar and she couldn't help but peer into the darkness of his room. The light from the hallway softly illuminated his tranquil face. His body was sprawled out across his bed, his arm dangling off the side. She watched his bare chest rise and fall before sharply turning her head away. She slowly shut the door and quietly went to her room.

Bright sunlight leaked in through the cracks in Lightning's curtains the next morning. She slowly sat up and extended her arms in a long stretch. She let out a loud yawn before swinging her legs out of bed and making her way downstairs in her light pink tank top and gray sweat pants.

Once downstairs, she opened the refrigerator to see that Serah had taken the chocolate out of the mold and placed it in a pink box with matching tissues paper. In white icing she carefully wrote "Hope". Lightning couldn't help but smile.

"Morning, Light."

Lightning nearly hit her head on the freezer as she jerked her head up and out of the refrigerator. She quickly slammed the door shut and spun around. Good job, Lightning. Way to make a fool out of yourself.

"Good morning," she said as calmly as she could but Hope was looking at her with an arched brow and a small frown.

"Something wrong? You seem startled," he asked, walking over to her.

"No no. Of course not. I'm perfectly fine. I'm just not awake yet, that's all," she lied, feeling never more awake in her life. He continued approaching her and Lightning couldn't help but notice that he was only wearing green pajama pants and no top. She looked down, only to have her eyes focus on his crotch. Her eyes quickly shot up only to lock with his.

"Well…do you mind if I get some orange juice out of the fridge?" he asked, standing right in front of her and waiting for her to move so that he could get his juice.

She shook her head, her wavy pink locks flying around her face. "We're all out. Sorry."

"I just bought some yesterday…"

"Snow drank it all."

"He wasn't here yesterday."

"I drank it."

"Lightning…is there something in there that you don't want me to see?"

"Go stand over there," she said, pointing over to the opposite side of the kitchen.

Hope shrugged. "Alright then…" he said, giving her a curious glance before doing as he was told.

Lightning opened the refrigerator and quickly took the chocolate out. She shut the door and held the box behind her as she walked over to him. The whole time she felt as if her heart was going to jump out of her chest. Every step felt like a minute had passed as she walked over to where he stood. He looked confused, unaware of what was going on. She stood in front of him and stared into his eyes once more.

"I made this for you…" she said, revealing the chocolate and held it out to him. "I…I don't know how good it tastes but I worked really hard at making it so I hope that you like it…" she told him, her face turning bright red.

"You made this for me?" he asked in surprise, taking the chocolate from her and carefully examining it with bright eyes and a large smile.

"Of course. It has your name on it. It's for you," she admitted and tucked a stray stand of hair behind her ear.

The next thing she knew, her face was gently cradled in his hand while his lips were perfectly placed on hers. Her eyes widened in shock before slowly closing, savoring the feelings of his soft lips against hers. Her whole body tingled with warmth as she pressed her lips against his with a bit more confidence. He slowly pulled away after a few seconds and gazed into her eyes.

"Thank you, Light," he softly whispered, his lips only an inch from hers.

"Sure thing…Happy Valentine's Day," she said, still in shock from the kiss.

"Happy Valentine's Day to you too," he said before leaning in and pressing his lips against hers once more. Lightning reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, not wanting him to pull away. She felt him slide his arm holding the chocolate behind her back and pulled her close. She closed her eyes and felt him run his fingers through her hair with his other hand. This time she was going to let herself go with it.

AN: Yayyy! That was so much fun to write. =D This is part one of a two part fic. The next chapter will come on March 14th or a few days before; certainly no later. It'll be White, naturally, considering March 14th is White Day. Unrelated, I apologize for the delay on Separate Ways. I just started a new semester at my university and I'm taking an insane amount of classes (including a writing fiction class that will hopefully help me improve...we'll see). Chapter five should be out soon if all goes according to plan.

If you liked this story, reviews make my heart soar. They would be the perfect Valentine's Day present. 3

I hope you have a happy Valentine's Day!