Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy XIII that honor goes to Square Enix.

The Dangers of Shopping for Swimsuits

By Slayzer

"Lightning what about this one?" Serah said holding up a rose pink two piece swimsuit. "I think it will go good with your hair color."

Serah had somehow managed to drag her sister out shopping for swimsuits of all things. After all the gang was getting together for a reunion beach party. Lightning was looking forward to it until Snow decided at the last minute to make it a beach party. Not that Lightning hated the beach but when every she put on a swimsuit it always felt like she was a dressed peace of meat held out in front of starving dogs.

"I told you I all ready have a perfectly fine swimsuit at home. So why are you asking me to waste my money?"

"Your not talking about that black and gray military issued wetsuit of yours?" Serah asked her face going blank.

"What! It's a good fit."

"It's also not cute..."

"I don't do cute."

"Well what's wrong with this one?" Serah asked pushing the two piece in Lightning's hands.

"If I wear this everyone will see my bellybutton."

"Sigh, really Sis if your going to be such a prude then your going to rot on the vine like an old piece of fruit."

"So I'm a piece of fruit now am I?"

"That's not what I'm saying but you should open yourself up to love a little more or you'll be alone forever."

The sisters heart to heart was cut short by Snow who wander in holding a hot pink string bikini. The bikini looked like it had less material in it then Snow's hat. "Hey good timing I found just the thing for this weekend."

Serah blushed just looking at it she couldn't even think about putting it on "Snow I'm not wearing that not even for you in privet."

"No, no I meant for Lightning. Hehehe, Just think about it one look at Light in this number and poor Hope would pass out form sensory overload."

Snow clutched his sides as he almost doubled over with laughter. It was a joke but really it was only funny to him. He stopped laughing when the air took on a cold and deadly edge. Looking up he saw both his wife and Lightning glaring death at him.

"Easy now. I was only kidding. Sorry if I offended you Sis."

Serah turned away form her husband in a huff. "Light you have my permission but only if you hit him once for me too."

Lightning just cracked her knuckles in preparation for impact with Snow's thick skull.

"Hold on now, This is domestic abuse!"

The other shoppers in the store heard a load thud as the big man meet the floor.

Lightning was official done with shopping for the day and left Serah to collect her idiot husband.

'Not only dose that fool to embarrass me in front of my sister but then he goes and drags Hope's name into his little joke. Huh, I wonder what Hope will ware to the beach?'

Just as that thought wander thru Lighting's mind she her eye landed on a display of men's Speedos. The sudden mental image of Hope greeting her clad only formfitting bikinibriefs hits her like a Behemoth on a rampage.

If Lightning could have laughed the thought off as weird she would have felt better as that would have been normal. However what happened her knees went weak and her face flushed red. It seemed Lightning's thoughts of Hope where less like a little brother and where now different and increasing inappropriate.

'It's just my blood pressure spiking after hitting Snow. That's why I'm feeling faint.' Lightning mentally reassured/lied to herself. It's hard to tell someone you liked them when making out with that person could get you prison time.

Lightning was about to leave to store she spotted a cream white one piece swimsuit with golden zigzags lines down the sides. It would show a little more of her back and shoulders then the wetsuit she owned. Serah would say it still wasn't cute at all but Lightning like it. She never say out load but it was because the gold zigzags looked like lightning bolts and she thought that was really cool.

Lightning took one of the white swimsuits and headed for a changing room to make sure it was a good fit. She wondered what the other would say about it. "Whoa, Lightning you look very cool!" The little imaginary Hope inside her mind said as she pictured his soulful deep green eyes drinking in her body.

Maybe Lightning didn't do cute but she did like to look cool.

-End-

Notes: Last mouth my dear Uncle Sam sent my me tax refund money and like a good little American I ran out a spent most of it. Now I have a lovely PS3 and a shiny new copy of FFXIII that has laid waste to my free time.

I'm a big Lightning/Hope fan and love a lot of the fics out their about the couple but most of them are Hope trying to win Lightning's love and I like to the flipside of that.

I mean of course Hope has a crush of Lightning but I think it's more interesting to see Lightning deal with her own internal barriers and the social norms working against her. Even if you just pass time till Hope's eighteen I think people would still look at Lightning as if she was robbing the cradle and I don't want to shortchange that harshness.

I'm going to keep this up as kind of funny/romantic beach series with the whole crew. Sorry If it's not funny or romantic but hey tell me what you liked and hated and I'll see if I can't fine tune it.