Author's Note: Hi! So, this was requested by my friend WandererRonan and inspired by the song "Alive" by Adelitas Way. It's set post-LR, so if you don't know how it ends and don't want spoilers, you may want to check back with this later. (Which I definitely recommend doing ^_^).
Anywhoodle, let the story begin!
It had been three years now, since the end of the world, since the new one had been created. Perhaps the strangest thing about the new world, was that it seemed that it had always been there. Cities, technology, everything had already been there, waiting for the human race.
The people were very accepting of their new home, almost no one wished to be back in Nova Chrysalia, and those who did got over it pretty quickly. In all, everyone was content, happy to be alive, and making the most out of their second chance.
One man, however, could not quite count himself among their number.
Hope Estheim and his friends were separated when the new world was created. Though how scattered they were, he didn't know. He hadn't heard from or about them since they'd all teamed up to kill Bhunivelze. Which was pretty strange to think about.
However, he had been reunited with his parents, a miracle he'd hoped for but never dreamed would actually come true. That would have been beyond selfish, seeing as humanity had been facing extinction for the past thousand years. He lived through each and every year of it trying to make sure that didn't happen. Now? Now he had his parents back. He liked to think it was his reward for doing his part.
But even still. Lightning, Serah, Snow, Noel, Yeul, Sazh, Fang. Vanille. They were part of his family, too. And so, he spent most of his time searching for them. Traveling, following leads that unfortunately never led him anywhere. Every useless lead took a shot at his heart. At this point, it was only a few bullets from shattering. Years of no progress was taking it's toll.
But that wasn't all that was bothering him. As of the day before, he was now thirty years old.
Yes, thirty.
Despite being physically regressed back into his fourteen-year-old body, his soul was still technically twenty-seven. And so, he'd been reborn as an adult once again. Not that he was complaining, not at all, but if his understanding was correct, the oldest of his friends - aside from Sazh - was twenty-six. That made him second-oldest, a hard pill for him to swallow. It was just...so weird. His mother had made fun of him for worrying about it, but she didn't understand. When he'd met them, he'd been the youngest, the smallest, but he wasn't anymore. It was weird.
Hitting thirty years old had only strengthened his resolve to find them all. So, only a day later, he was chasing another lead that would probably only prove fruitless. His parents had practically begged him to stay put, to take a break, but he couldn't. Lightning and the others, he'd explained, were pieces of the past that he couldn't let remain broken. He had to bring them together.
He'd temporarily parked himself on a park bench, just to breathe for a minute. Something he'd learned since being free from the Ark: don't take anything for granted. The Ark had been mostly colorless, soundless, motionless, and he'd been completely alone for nearly two hundred years. The neighbors blasting bad music at two a.m. was annoying, his couch was more comfortable than his bed, car exhaust stunk like hell, but he loved it all. You start to miss the little things when they're taken from you.
It was a nice little community park. The playground equipment was some distance to his left, and there was another set behind him. Children were shouting and just being loud in general, dogs were barking back and forth as they were being walked. Joggers avoided said dogs along the path. It was a little warm for his taste, but a breeze blew on occasion, helping the heat.
A fight broke out between a few of the kids and his thoughts jumped to Snow and Serah. He wondered if they had gotten married yet, assuming they were together, or if Snow wanted to get them all together first. It wouldn't surprise him. That sounded like something Snow would do. Next he wondered if Lightning had found Serah. He hoped so. They had been through so much, getting ripped away from each other over and over. They had been temporarily reunited before the end of the world, but there was no way to know if they were together now. At least he knew she was reborn, thanks to Vanille.
How many people had been reunited with their loved ones thanks to Vanille? Him, for one. His parents had died a long time ago, and wouldn't have come back if it weren't for her. He'd have to remember to thank her if - no, when - he found her. He felt a great surge of joy whenever he imagined finally finding her, greater than anything he'd ever felt before. He didn't quite understand it, but he knew that he had to find her. He couldn't bear it if he didn't. If he knew if she was with Fang, though, it would be easier to have patience. He hoped Fang was there for her, Vanille hated being alone.
So did Yeul, Lightning had told him, if his memory was worth anything. He could only cross his fingers that Noel was with her. He knew Noel loved her deeply. He'd been willing to kill Lightning to be with her, but didn't because he knew she wouldn't want him to. He'd been willing to die so that she could live, though thankfully that didn't happen. finally free from her curse, Noel's Yeul was the only one reborn. All the others had stayed behind with Caius, to take Lightning's place.
For just a moment, he thought he saw Dajh on the playground. But he was wrong. How old would he be now? Twelve? Ish? Something like that. He and Sazh had better not have been separated, that would just be cruel. Though, the universe didn't care much about kindness. As much of a pun as it was, all he could do was hope.
A dog barked somewhere along the path. A car honked at a jaywalker. Wiping his hair from his eyes, which the wind promptly replaced, he glanced down at his watch. He should get going.
A tattered leaf was being dragged along the paved path by the wind. It got caught in the gap between squares before being blown into the grass. Someone jogged past him. The dog - he assumed it was the same dog - barked again.
He really should get going.
That dog must've been chasing something, because it sounded excited. ...Was it getting closer? He glanced around to find it, but there were five or six candidates, so he looked back down at his watch. Had it been five minutes already?
He sighed and ran his fingers through his silver hair, it really was hot out. Well, he had work to do, it was about time he actually got up.
He didn't get the chance. Just as he was about to finally get moving, he was pushed back onto the bench by a big chocolate lab.
"Bhakti, stop!"
As the dog's rough tongue attacked his face, Hope's insides became a hot, sour mess. Could it really be...?
"Get down!" The girl tugged at her dog a few times before he obeyed. Off of him, the dog proceeded to wag it's tail against his leg.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" The girl apologized as Hope began wiping slobber off his face. "He's not usually-" She cut herself off and paused. "Hope?"
It really was her. His heart began unfamiliar acrobatics as he replied, "Hey, Vanille."
He heard a squeal of delight and the next thing he knew, he was trapped in her warm embrace. "I've missed you so much!" She cried.
He could not explain how wonderful it was to hear her voice again, to feel her touch. He couldn't come up with a response, so he just hugged her back, something he'd never done before.
She squeezed him extra tight before falling onto the bench next to him. He didn't want to let go, but he did. She flashed her brilliant smile, and he could've lost himself in her green eyes. In fact, he almost did and nearly missed her question.
"Where have you been?"
He chuckled. "In all the wrong placed, apparently. It's so good to see you."
Her dog barked for the umpteenth time, and Vanille said, "Oh, hush, Bhakti."
He hadn't put it together before, but now the image of a run-down robot formed in Hope's mind. He smirked. "Bhakti, huh?"
Vanille blushed a little, "Yeah, well - oh, he ruined your shirt!"
Hope looked down, and sure enough, his white t-shirt had spots of mud all over it, shaped suspiciously like paw prints. Normally, he might have been a little peeved, but at the present moment, he really could not care less. He shrugged. "It's just wet dirt. Uh..." He tried not to laugh. "You got some on your shirt, too."
Vanille glanced down at her muddied clothing and sighed. "Oh, Bhakti, you silly boy." The lab simply panted.
Watching her lightly chastise her smelly dog, Hope couldn't help but notice how absolutely gorgeous she was.
"Stop it." He told himself.
"So," He began, "The others, I mean, do you...?"
"Know where they are?" Vanille finished. "Yup, well some of them. Serah and Snow live here, and Lightning too. We've been trying to find you guys, though we haven't been very successful. Snow think's he might've found Noel, but..."
She kept talking, but Hope barely heard her. He felt like laughing. They'd been searching for him, too. He felt a great weight come off of his heart, the bullet wounds healing. He'd found her. On accident, at that. And not just her, but the infamous trio as well. He couldn't believe it.
Vanille gave him a funny look. "What?"
"What?"
"You're smiling ear to ear. What's up?"
Hope did laugh that time. "It's just...I've been looking for you all for so long, and here you are. It seems too good to be true."
"Well, you know what they say." She joked.
"Don't jinx it, I'm not letting you go again." He replied.
Vanille nearly froze, and her cheeks slowly began to match her hair. Hope didn't understand at first, but then it hit him and his face surely looked just as red as hers. He rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. "Uh, I mean..."
Bhakti ruined the moment - thank goodness - by barking yet again. He rubbed his wet black nose on Vanille's pants and whined.
"What is it, boy?" She crooned, petting the top of his head. He turned his head and pointed with his muzzle. "Oh!" She looked up at Hope. "Do you know what time it is?"
He went to read his watch, but she grabbed his wrist and looked for herself. She gave a small gasp and said, "I've gotta go!"
Bhakti got really excited as she said goodbye and began to walk away. Hope found himself on his feet as well, wanting to call her back, but the words were stuck in his throat. She couldn't just leave, not now.
After a few seconds, Vanille stopped in her tracks and turned back to him, smiling. "Hope, come with me."
His feet took him to her side before he could think about it. He really wasn't concerned about where she was taking him, he was just glad to be with her.
"Snow and the others are coming over soon." She explained, practically skipping along the path with excitement. "We can surprise them, it'll be fun!"
"Sounds good to me." Hope replied. He hadn't actually spoken to Snow or Serah in hundreds of years, and hadn't spoken to Lightning as himself for even longer. He sincerely hoped Vanille hadn't jinxed this, because this was shaping up to be one of the best days he'd had in a long, long time.
On the way to her place, Vanille told him about some of the things he'd missed. Snow and Serah hadn't been separated from each other, just everyone else. Together, they'd found Lightning in the first six months. Vanille herself had been alone at first, but managed to get by until she ran into Serah in the grocery store of all places. She told him about Snow's system for tracking them down, which involved a lot of contacts he'd had back in Yusnaan. He hadn't had much success yet, but had some very reliably information on where Noel probably was. She expressed her hope that Noel and Yeul were together, and Hope expressed his agreement on that subject, though he mostly listened. Bhakti calmed down significantly the closer they got to their destination.
It took about fifteen minutes to get to Vanille's place. She lived on the second floor of a five-story apartment building, in which nearly everyone owned a pet of some kind. Vanille fought with the lock on her door for a few seconds before getting it open. As soon as she unhooked Bhakti's leash from his collar, he ran inside, disappearing down the short hallway.
"Home sweet home." Vanille said, heading inside as well. Hope followed her, closing the door behind him. Vanille gestured to the majority of her apartment. "Whaddya think?" She asked.
Her place was pretty neat considering the size of her dog. Her furniture didn't quite match and was well-worn. There was a large window to his left that took up most of one wall, at the bottom of which was a messy pile of blankets, probably Bhakti's bed. To his right, her kitchen was debatably organized, managing to look used but not out of control. It felt like a home.
"Smells like dog." He replied.
Vanille rolled her eyes at him and put the leash away. He chuckled. "Come on, I was joking."
"I know," She smirked, "doesn't make you any less annoying."
"I have to say, Vanille, I'm offended."
"Oh, really?"
"Very much."
Bhakti came back in from wherever it was he'd been. He trotted around, sniffed at their shoes. The chocolate lab took a seat by some bowls on the floor - his - and whined.
"You know you don't eat for another hour." Vanille said to him. "Get."
The dog whined again, and walked sadly over to his blankets, plopped down, and stared dramatically out the window.
"He's such a big baby." Vanille said to Hope. "He'll get over it."
Just then, a chime sounded from somewhere. Vanille pulled out a phone from her pocket and messed with it for a few seconds. "They're on their way." She informed him. She tugged on the hem of her shirt and added, "We should probably clean up."
And, scene! I hope you enjoyed it, because there's more where this came from! If you didn't, then *shrugs* you don't have to come back.
But on the off chance that you did, why don't you go ahead and leave a review telling me what you liked about it? Stay tuned for more! :)