HopexLightning oneshot. Rated M for mildly graphic description. Set in Academia 500AF in a world uncorrupted by chaos, contrary to the main ending of FFXII-2. Please enjoy (:

Warm yellow light cascaded into the single bedroom. Hope shielded the sun's rays from his unfocused eyes and sat up in his bed, the sheets curling around his legs and on the mattress; the swirling pool of satin on his bed had culminated by a night of tossing and turning. It confounded Hope, because he'd thought his dreams had been fairly pleasant last night.

Instantly, a long-legged, green-eyed valkyrie woman slouched in Etro's throne materialized, a burning image he couldn't release from his mind. Not now. He ran his fingers through his smoky hair and decided it was time for a shower.

He blinked as the water hit him from above. Goddess, how he missed her. The events from the previous day hit his memory like a crashing wave. It was all so clear to him. Serah and Noel had pioneered their universe's first manmade planet. But where was she? No matter how many times he replayed the immediate past, her face was missing from the every moment. He closed his eyes, concentrated hard, pressed his memory for images.

Nothing.

Hope hung his head. He didn't care if life as they'd all known it had been restored; not if she wasn't in it. His mouth formed a hard line as he put on his work clothes and headed out to the Academy. He had passed stranger after stranger, and his heart ached every time. In his heart, no woman could invoke the same passionate ardor of a man. After several blocks, he had retired from his search. He would have to find another way to reunite with Light.

Hope shook his head and sighed. Not knowing where she was took a mental toll on him. He would have imagined that she certainly wasn't with Caius Ballad. And she wasn't trapped in a paradox, Hope had made sure of that. Yet, coming home after a long day's work at the Academy was a constant stressor. He knew it couldn't go on like this. When Alyssa wasn't constantly probing him with her meaningless questions- lately the most pertinent being, "What's wrong, Director?"-another observant Academy worker would ask him something similar. Hope just couldn't bring himself to talk about his problem in the open.

He carried a bag of groceries that he'd remembered to pick up before he came home. It was a pristine, modern apartment he'd drawn up for himself. Hope was content to see that nothing was out of place, but living here never felt complete. The sun had just dipped below the horizon and the living room was illuminated with a soft orange light. He set the paper bag of groceries on the kitchen island and turned to open the refrigerator. As he transported the goods in hand to the frosty drawers, his ear was tickled by...something. His head turned right to see the empty living room once again. His brow furrowed, but he continued. When he bent into the refrigerator, a hand grazed his vulnerable spine. He jolted upright, whipping around instantly and reaching for his boomerang.

"Hey."

Hope turned back to the kitchen to see Lightning with her back against the island, facing away from him. Hope caught his breath and staggered around the bend of the kitchen to see her face. He approached her with unsteady feet and put a hand on her arm, staring into her serene face with disbelief, surprise, and the ghost of a smile on his lips. "Lightning? Light, is that you?" He laid a hand on her arm carefully, as if he expected it to go right through her.

She shrugged him off lightly and put a hand on her hip. "Yeah, it's me. Thought I didn't make it, huh?" Her lips curved away from him sardonically.

He shook his head with widened eyes. "No...no, I just...I just thought we'd lost you. When Serah and Noel returned through the gate from Valhalla, you were nowhere in sight."

"Really?" Lightning challenged. She lightly shouldered past him with a slow click of her boot heels. "That's not what I remember."

"I mean- well, from what I saw," he hedged with a sheepish smile, turning to face her again. She studied him expressionlessly, watching him watch her. "You never told me about your valkyrie armor. When we saw the prophecy of you in the Oracle Drive, it obviously wasn't Guardian Corps material." She smiled serenely at him and made her way to the sofa. No longer a valkyrie goddess of steel and gilt and glimmering platinum, Lightning wore a simple black camisole beneath a sleek white blazer. Hope followed without pause, noticing the fit of her pewter shorts when she walked.

"It was a gift from Etro. Although I'm not sure if it was worth the trouble helping her." She crossed her legs and looked at him directly. "You'd be surprised. Caius Ballad isn't all the villain he's cracked up to be."

Hope's head flicked to her in surprise. "Isn't Caius the one who got Noel riled up? The one who put them in a wild goose chase?"

Lightning nodded thoughtfully.

"I'm sure if he hadn't been tampering with the timeline, Serah and Noel would've reached the ark sooner. And you're going to tell me that risking their lives was all worth it because...because Caius Ballad isn't the villain everyone thinks he is?"

"Hope, Cocoon was put at risk because of Etro. And Etro was put at risk because of Bhunivelze and Mwynn." She shook her head inexplicably. "Caius was an idiot, but he was blessed with Etro's heart, his key to unwanted immortality. With that responsibility, he was bound to a lifetime of servitude to the goddess. All Caius ever wanted was to see Yeul live a long and blissful life. With Etro's curse on the seeress, it wouldn't be possible." She sighed in concentration, her eyes becoming tight. "If it meant ending humanity or fighting me to kill the Goddess of Death...I guess that's all he could do."

Hope met her eye sideways. "Oh, so now you trust Caius Ballad?" Hope became visibly aggrieved by Lightning's response. "It was his job to protect the seeress, not change her destiny because he felt like it.

Lightning looked at him. "Dealing with that eternal cycle? I'm not sure if I could handle Serah dying not even once. Yeul died every 15 years, and Caius had to witness this for centuries." she muttered.

"Etro had to have a purpose for the girl," he said, palm outstretched in reason.

"Etro was too weak. This is why the seeress only lives so long. Etro's entire manifestation is too sensitive, too emotional to even deal with her own supervision of death. Giving Caius her heart was like giving eternal sorrow to a warrior."

"What is he, the man in your life?" Hope shot, half-jokingly.

"The man in my life?" At this, the pink-haired woman laughed aloud. "You know, Hope, you haven't changed a bit."

"Oh but I have," Hope couldn't resist saying, his tone softer than he'd meant. The sun had fallen long ago now, and the lamplit living room glowed in the dusk. Lightning rose to catch a view of the city. With an intense feeling that pooled in his stomach, Hope stood and followed behind her. The view of the city didn't matter, but something always drove him to move closer. At this point, he had no idea what drove his feet to move him any closer until he found himself pushing his chest into her back. The tension was tangible in the air, her right blue eye electric when she arched an eyebrow over her shoulder.

"Hope...?"

The smile on his lips tickled her ear as he whispered, "I'm not the little boy you once knew."

She was still when his hand deftly reached for the metal zipper on her white jacket. She exhaled when his other hand skimmed her stomach and he felt her body relax. Her shoulders were firm against him, but something inside her must have melted. She had to have heard his breath hitch in his throat. Hope could sense the satisfaction radiating from her. That arrogant woman, he mused adoringly. Tenderly, his hand slipped beneath the camisole and cupped her left breast, his own lips curving as he heard a stifled sigh. He kissed the soft flesh on her neck and nibbled her ear from behind. She freed herself of his hold and turned around, pursuing him with seduction in her eyes and rapture on her bitten lips.

Suddenly the sleek furniture became simple obstacles in their path when he seized her lips fervently. His mind failed to tell him what instinct now demanded. He unpocketed a condom with whatever conscience was still heard when she grabbed for his belt buckle and dropped his pants. Their clothes fell to the floor in their frenzied game of hands and lips sliding, pressing, and tickling. Lightning's nimble fingers fit it around the scepter of his passion. Stark-naked, he pushed her body against the wall, dominating her mouth. A moan escaped her in their kiss as she wrapped her supple legs around Hope's waist. His jaw went rigid the first time, ecstasy bundled in every fiber of his being as she enveloped him tightly and sighed at every movement.

Hope held her body close in his arms and carried her to the next room and onto the Palumpolum king bed. Just as he made to dominate her again, she rolled him over onto his back and grinned mischievously. She was on top of him manipulating his movement, . His hips thrust upward in methodical rhythm; he was too eager to let Lightning do all the work.

He watched her eyelashes flutter her eyebrows knit together. He wanted to make her reel with pleasure, and so when her jaw dropped unexpectedly, he flipped her over and increased their speed. Their skin pressed together, their sweat mingled into a heady scent of sweetness and testosterone. He lavished the feeling of Light's legs trembling, her breath heaving, her voice crescendo in the room as he went deep into her. Intercourse felt so divine on the threshold of their shared ecstasy. For the first time, he felt the madness they concocted overtake him as his body screamed out and he failed to suppress the cry of Lightning's name. The way she felt was divine and new, but still the same beautiful woman he'd known for years. In their moment of triumph she collapsed gently on to his chest, resting her head beneath his chin and resting her hand on his beating heart.

It was right then and there that he wanted to make that moment last, to feel her love for a lifetime. Her body was the only temple he yearned to be inside day and night. Her name was the only one he needed to cry out. He made the woman resting in blissful repose upon his chest his personal goddess.

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Cover image credit goes to Keichama of the deviantART community.