"I'll keep you safe."
That very sentence haunts her inside of her head. Lightning is sitting on the couch in the night of her house. Just hours ago, she, Hope, Snow and Fang were in Palumpolum, and staying at Hope's house...was a bad idea.
After she and Hope were regrouped before arriving at the Estheim Residence, Lightning hugged him and told him that she would keep him safe. Oh how wrong she was. Long after they arrived at Hope's place, PSICOM attacked the house, blew it up even. Hope lost his father in battle...then he got shoot.
Lightning can still picture the wounded kid, can still hear his painful screams. It just brings tears into her eyes.
Hope didn't die, he survived...barely. After his assault, Lightning and the others had to get him to safety, but they also had to go get Sazh and Vanille in Nautilus. They agreed that Lighting would take Hope somewhere safe while Fang and Snow goes helps Sazh and Vanille.
Lightning decided that she should take Hope to her house, she does hope that PSICOM wouldn't think of looking for her there, but just in case, she tries hard to lay low.
Right now, Hope is resting and recovering in Lightning's room. Lightning's just sitting in the living room of her house.
"You'll be okay. I'll keep you safe."
Lighting looks down with her eyes closed just hearing that very sentence echo inside of her skull. I couldn't safe you. I just stand there, letting you get shot. You could have died.
"I'm sorry." Lightning whispers.
Lightning tries to relax herself. She decided to go check on Hope. But before she does, she makes a cup of warm milk, just in case the boy is awake. She would probably think he would be after what happened just hours ago.
Lightning walks up the stairs, heading towards her room. When she's in the hallway, she can hear Hope screaming. His screaming startles the soldier girl. Instantly, she rushes down to the hallway into her room.
Lightning bursts into her room. She does find Hope screaming, but not cause he's in trouble. Lightning doesn't see PSICOM or any monsters. No, Hope is tossing and turning in bed, asleep. He's having a nightmare.
Hope is currently just in his pants. He's shirtless with his stomach wrapped in bandages.
"No! No! Mom! Dad! Please...No!"
Lightning sits the warm milk on the dresser, then she rushes to Hopes side, shaking him to awake. "Hope! Hope! Wake up!"
It takes over a minute, but Hope finally awakes, with a horrific looks and gasping. Lightning tries to calm him down as soon as he backs away, like Lightning is really trying to harm him. "Hope, Hope. Calm down. It's me."
Hope takes a moment to relax. He rubs his eyes and gets a look at Lightning. "L-l...Light?"
Lightning slowly nods. "Yes, it's me."
Hope rushes himself to Lightning, instantly wrapping his arms around her. Lightning pretty much jumped from all that happening. "The army! They're coming! Fire! Nothing but fire! Innocent lives being taken!"
Lightning wraps her arms around Hope, gently stroking him. "It's okay, Hope. It was a nightmare. You were just dreaming."
"It wasn't a dream!" Hope says, breaking down in sobs. "It was real! It really happened!"
"Okay, okay." Lightning speaks in a quiet, gentle tone. "Shh. Shh. Calm down, you're okay. It's okay...You're safe now."
Hope doesn't relax. He's stressing out over the nightmare. Lightning wishes she could help the poor boy. He's already hurting from being shot, now he's emotionally scared from a horrified nightmare, along with the terrible events that happened in Palumpolum.
After a minute of breakdowns, Lightning decided to do something. Lightning grabs a remote, turns on the music. "The Promise" plays, and Lightning carries Hope to a rocking chair. The lyrics from the music begins.
Make my wish come true, let darkness fade into light
Lightning sits on the rocking chair as the sing plays. She lays Hope on her lap, holding him close to her, as she slowly rocks back and forth.
Show me there's still hope, show me it's not over
Hope just cries on Lightning's shoulder. Lightning can feel her clothes starting to get a bit soaked from his tears. But she doesn't care. She doesn't mind. All she cares about is Hope, and she wants to help him.
Battles we can win, our struggle lies within
Will we live to greet the dawn?
After that last lyrics, the piano melody of "The Promise" plays again. Hope slowly starts to calm down, as he tries to listen the peaceful music. He's still upset and scared, but he's slowly feeling better. The lyrics play again.
Make my wish come true, let darkness fade into light
Show me there's still hope, show me it's not over
Battles we can win, our struggle lies within
Will we live to greet the dawn?
Love will not leave you, hate will not heal you
Promise me one day that peace shell reign
The music goes back to the piano melody. Hope finally starts to calm down. He's still a little shaken. Lightning moves a hand on Hope's back, gently rubbing it. Hope lays his head on Lightning's shoulder, shifting a little to get comfortable.
Love will not leave you, hate will not heal you
Promise me one day that peace shell reign
The music ends with a classical violin. The song ends.
(A/N: Do not give me a lecture about the song Serah's Theme! I just wrote the song in my own version, cause...even through the song's beautiful, it's just too short. I think it could have been longer. I think it would have been perfect that way)
Once it does, Lightning looks down at Hope. "Better?" She asks him.
"Just a little." Hope answers in a scarce tone.
Lightning doesn't say anything. Hope tries to relax. He just lays on Lightning's lap, whimpering a little with tears escaping his eyes. Lightning looks at Hope's stomach, looking at the bandage wrapped around him. The blood is seeping through the bandages a little. It's not getting any worse, the blood is really now more of a stain.
"I'm sorry." Hope says.
"For what?" Lightning asks.
"For crying. For being scared." Hope answers. "I know you want me to be strong. I want to be strong to but...I just can't. I-I'm too weak." Hope puts his hands on his face, muffle sobbing. "I'm just too weak."
Lightning gently moves Hope's hands from his face, then tilts his head so he's facing her. Lightning slowly shook her head. "Don't say that. You are not weak. You're a lot stronger then you know." Hope seems a little surprised and confused. "There's nothing wrong with crying."
"I-I thought crying makes you weak." Hope says.
"No...there was a time I once thought crying was for the weak, but then I learned holding in your sorrows just makes you weak. It's like I said before. Let doubt take over and despair will cripple you." Hope nods, remembering that time in the Gapra Whitewood. "If you hold in your sorrow, it'll cripple you. You need to let it out...That's why it's okay to cry." Lightning wipes the tears from Hope's cheeks. "When you're sad, you need to let it out. Your tears are your sadness. Crying doesn't make you weak, it shows just how strong you are, cause you're not afraid to cry."
Hope was speechless. He doesn't know what to say. He doesn't really expect Lightning to talk to him like this, go extremely soft on him. Then again, he'd never expect her to hug him like she did back in Palumpolum.
Lightning reaches for the warm milk. It's now a little cold from being sit out over time. Lightning cast a small fire spell on it, reheating it. Once it's warm again, Lightning hands it to Hope.
"Drink this." Lightning says.
Hope takes the mug, slowly takes sips of the warm milk. Lightning just watches the boy taking tiny sips. "But...what about being scared?" Hope asks.
"There's nothing wrong with being scared. Everyone gets scared, Hope." Lightning says. "And you? ...Well, you're just a kid. You might be tough, but you're still young, and you've been through a lot." Lightning's not wrong. Hope has been through a lot. Got dragged into the Purge, lost his mother, became a l'Cie, lost his home and then his dad. And to top it all off, experienced near death.
"Okay." Hope says, taking another sip of the warm milk.
"Don't say you're weak, Hope. You are strong. If you were weak, you probably would have died from the attack." Lightning looks down at the bandages. She gently puts a hand on it, then look at Hope. "Does it still hurt?"
"A little." Hope says.
Lightning casts a small Cure spell on the wound. Hope moans with relief. "What am I gonna do, Light? I've lost my home, my family...I'm all alone."
"That's not true. You're not alone." Lightning holds Hope closer to her. "I'm right here, and I'll keep you safe." Hearing that reminds Hope of that promise Lightning made back in Palumpolum, when she hugged him. He also promised that he'll watch out for her too, or at least try. "You can still have a family, Hope. You can come live with me, when we're done with this l'Cie business."
Hope's a bit shocked to hear that. Moving in with Lightning, that's quite a big step. Though he is fond with the soldier girl. He does relay on her, even after the way she treated him from the start.
"That would be nice." Hope says.
Hope finishes his warm milk. Lightning takes the empty cup, setting it aside on the dresser, then she rocks back and forth, holding onto Hope. Hope tries to relax, let slumber try to take over his body. But it doesn't work, even after the warm milk. He still tries to be patient.
"Hey, Light?" Lightning looks down at Hope. "You said it's okay to be scared." Hope doesn't say anything for a moment. After the silence, he looks up at Lightning. "Have you...ever been scared?"
Lightning doesn't say anything. She's not really trying to hide her feelings. After a moment of silence, she answers.
"Many times." That answer sure surprised Hope. He was expecting her to be this fearless soldier. Lightning explains more after seeing the surprised look on his face. "I was scared when my parents died. Me and Serah, we were just kids. We weren't ready to take on the world without our parents. I was sad and confused. I wanted to be strong, but instead, I was scared of what's gonna happen to us."
Hope can understand that feeling. He's going through the same thing now, even though he has Lightning and the others to watch over him. "I was scared when Serah became a l'Cie. She was my only family. The one person I was obligate to protect. Even the very thought of what'll happen to Serah scared me."
Lightning looks down at Hopes hands. She slowly, gently grabs one, holds on to it, then looks back at Hope. "I was scared when you got shot bad in Palumpolum, and just minutes ago when I heard you scream. I was afraid something terrible happened, that I would lose you." Hope looks surprised to hear that. "You mean a lot to me, Hope. I even promised to keep you safe."
A tear slides down of Hope's face. "I-I'm...sorry."
Lightning shook her head. "Don't be. You are here, alive and safe." Lighting wipes that tear away. "That's all that matters." Lightning hugs Hope once again, making the boy rest his head on her shoulder. "I'll keep you safe."
"And I'll try to keep you safe too." Hope says.
Lightning nods a little. "Try to go sleep. You need to rest."
Hope tries to fall asleep. He's still having trouble going back to sleep. Lightning holds him close with one arm, then holds his hand with her free hand, gently stroking the back of it with her thumb.
Overwhelm with slumber, Hope falls asleep. Lightning can feel the full weight on her shoulder, feeling the warmth of Hope's breath on her neck. Normally, she would feel uncomfortable about that warmth, but she doesn't care.
Lightning looks at Hope, noticing he's asleep. She looks back at her bed, she feels like she wants to put Hope back on the bed, thinking he would be more comfortable on the soft mattress.
Lightning snaps out of her thoughts when she feels Hope twitching and moaning. "Mom. Dad." Hope cries a little in his sleep.
"Shh." Lightning gently brushes the loose lines of Hope's hair from his forehead. "It's okay. Don't be scared, Hope." Lightning gives Hope a soft, gentle kiss on the forehead then Lightning holds Hope closer to her. "I'll keep you safe."
Hope calms down a little in his sleep. Lightning notices Hope feels a little cold. She doesn't feel like getting up, reaching for the covers. Doesn't want to interrupt the boy from his slumber. Out of options, Lightning removes her vest, rests it on Hope. Lightning also played the song again, hoping that it'll help him with pleasant dreams.
Hope calms down. Lightning spends the rest of the night on the rocking chair, holding onto to Hope, until exhaustion gets the best of her, along with her being subdued from the peaceful melody of the music, and falls asleep.
Early in the morning, Snow, Fang, Vanille and Sazh walks into the house. As they walk in, Fang, Vanille and Sazh looks around the house.
"So this is Lightning's place?" Fang asks. "Sweet digs."
"Yeah, it's a nice place." Snow says. "We can stay here until Hope's better, then we'll leave before the army finds us."
"So, where's Lightning and Hope?" Vanille asks.
"I'll take a look around." Snow walks up the stairs, then stops halfway up looking back at the group. "Stay put, and don't touch anything. Lightning will get mad if you mess up some stuff."
Snow walks up the stairs. He checks the guest room, to his surprise, Hope's not in there. He then check Serah's room, it's empty as well. Snow got the urge to check the former room of Lightning's parents, but he knows they're not in there. Even since Lightning told him with a fit of rage to never, ever ever ever EVER set foot in that room. Lightning also has a rule that no one, not even her and Serah, could ever enter that room.
The only place left for now to check is Lightning's room. Snow enters the room, but he finds Lightning's bed to be empty. He turns and finds something, something he would never see in a million years. Quickly, but silently, Snow hurries out of the room, down the hallway and back downstairs.
"Hey guys." Everyone looks at Snow. "You need to see this, come here."
Snow leads everyone up the stairs, down the hallway. When near Lightning's room, Snow looks back at the group, shushes at them, telling them to be quiet. They quietly sneak into Lightning's room.
Snow shows them what he saw. They are certainly surprised to see what they're seeing.
Lightning and Hope are both in their previous positions. Lightning sitting on the rocking chair, with Hope in her lap. An arm wrapped around the boy, and holding his hand with her other hand. Lightning looks is pretty calm, but still in that cold expression. Her head lays against Hopes head, her cheek resting on his hair.
Hope is laying on Lightning's lap, curled up. His arms rests on his lap, a hand holding on to Lightning's. His head rests on Lightnings shoulder, his expression is peaceful, even after all that sundering from last night. Hope is also wearing Lightning's vest that she put on him.
Everyone was pretty speechless. They would never expect this from these two, especially Lightning.
"How cute." Vanille whispers, with a big goofy grin.
"Well, what do you know? Looks like soldier girl's not completely heartless." Sazh says. Vanille giggles from Sazh's comment.
"Guess the kid's lucky to have someone looking out for him." Fang adds.
"I just wish Serah's here to see this." Snow says.
Vanille notices something from Lightning and Hope. "Aww. Look! They're holding hands."
Snow couldn't take it anymore. He finds a camera and takes a picture of Lightning and Hope. He can tell this is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and he also knows that Serah is going want to see this.
Snow shows everyone else the picture and they all admired it, over-admired it from Vanille. "Should we wake them?" Sazh asks.
"Nah, let them sleep." Fang says. "I think the kid deserves this after what he's been through."
"Yeah, and it's nice to see Lightning relax for a change." Snow adds.
"Well, why not we leave these two alone?" Vanille says, leaving the room.
Everyone else agrees and they all leave the room. Snow was the last one to leave. Out the door, he closes it. Before he does, he leaves it open, getting one last look of Lightning and Hope, then closes it and leaves.
A minute later, Lightning wakes up, slowly fluttering her eyes open. Lightning looks to see the sun is up. She takes a moment to realize her surroundings. She's in her room, on the rocking chair with Hope on her lap. Seeing Hope certainly surprised her, but she suddenly realized what happened the other night.
Lightning figured she must have fallen asleep comforting the boy. Lightning looks at Hope noticing that peaceful expression on his face. Lightning smiles a little, gently brushing away the loose hair on his forehead. Hope shifts a little, slowly wrapping his arms around Lightning's waist.
"Light..." Hope says in his sleep.
His tone was very relaxed, then he smiles. Lightning gives a single chuckle. She wraps her free arm around Hope, giving him a kiss on the forehead, then she whispers into his ear.
"I'll keep you safe."