Hope had to be imagining it. There was no way it was her. People shoved into him as he stood still in the street, gawking at the figure no less than twenty feet in front of him. It couldn't be her, no it wasn't possible. He had lost her three months ago when she and Fang had saved Cocoon and yet he couldn't deny how much this girl resembled Vanille.
The girls red hair was tied in pigtails, bouncing off of the sleek grey jacket she wore. Her walk was purposeful and stoic, unlike the carefree skip his Vanille would use. As she turned to cross the street he couldn't deny it anymore.
Her green eyes stared forward, her mouth turned down in a slight frown. Hanging from her neck was a thick beaded necklace. She looked just like Vanille, it had to be her.
Hope started to push against the crowd, trying to weave his way through. Squeezing between a pair of business men he was bumped from the side causing him to fall forward. He stretched his arms out to stop the fall, his hands scraping the harsh stone.
"Watch where you're going punk." A gruff voiced called out.
Pulling himself to his feet he wiped his hands off on his jacket. He tried to see through the sea of people but it was already too late, the girl was gone.
*****
Throughout the meal Lightnings one thought persisted of "I'm going to kill him." It was a Saturday night and Serah had decided to stop by for dinner, which would have been nice if she hadn't decided to bring the big oaf along with her.
Ever since their marriage two weeks ago Snow had been trying to get away with calling her Claire. The baboon had a death wish; he had already called her it ten times this evening. Her rigid hand tightly grasped her cup as she brought it up to her lips. She listened intently as Serah described their trip to Nautilus all the while plotting what to do with Snow as soon as Serah left the room.
There was a knock from the door and Lightning excused herself to answer it. Wrenching the door open she stared in surprise at the boy before her.
Hope was hunched over, his hands on his knees gasping for air. His eyes were wide, sweat dripping down the side of his face.
"Hope…" She started slowly "Are you okay?"
He shook his head and rose up. "I… I need to tell you-"
"Claire who's at the door?" A loud voice boomed from behind her. She twitched inwardly, it was now eleven.
"Hope!" She yelled back.
"C… Claire?" The boy said confused.
"Ignore him." She replied while grabbing his wrist. She pulled him inside the house, shutting the door with her foot. Dragging him into the kitchen she ordered him to sit. He sat.
"Hello Hope!" Serah called out cheerfully. She was busy cleaning the dinner dishes in the sink.
"Yeah, hey." Snow grinned from his seat at the table. He was leaning back with his hands behind his head, his feet crossed on the table.
Lightning glared daggers at him as she went to fetch Hope some water.
"Uhh… hi." Hope managed to stammer out.
"Remove your feet from my table Snow" Lightning said firmly as she placed a glass of water in front of Hope. The boy drank it up thankfully.
"Why? I'm so comfortable! Your table is at the perfect length for me to rest my feet up against."
Lightnings eyebrow twitched. "Would you like my cut off your ankles then?"
"Ehehehe you wouldn't do that… would you?"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…fine." Snow said finally pulling himself up.
"Stop being so mean sis!" Serah pouted.
Lightning snorted in response.
"So… Hope" she said, bringing the attention back to the boy. "What brings you here?"
The boy twiddled with his thumbs. "I know this sounds crazy but…" He paused to take a breath. "Down at the market I saw… I saw Vanille!"
*****
The room was completely silent. Hope looked up at Lightning with hopeful eyes. "Maybe they came back… both her and Fang!"
Lightning felt a pang in her chest when she heard that Fang may be back but no, it wasn't possible. She had… she and Vanille had sacrificed themselves to save everyone. There was no way that they could be back, no, not this time.
"Hope…" Serah came over and grabbed his shoulder. "I know that you miss her but she's gone… she completed her focus."
"You were probably just imagining you saw her" Snow added on.
"No I didn't!" Hope pulled away from Serahs grasp. There were tears in the corners of his eyes. "I saw her! I know I did! They looked exactly the same!"
"Exactly?" Serah asked.
"Well no… this girl was wearing a dark grey jacket and she looked way to serious… but other then that they were the same!" Hope said franticly.
Lightning stared down at the boy. His panicked gaze looked into her eyes, and then turned to look into Snows and Serahs. "Please believe me… I'm not making this up."
Serah bit her nails. "Well maybe if you could bring us proof…"
"Stop it Serah don't lead him on." Lightning, previously silent decided to speak up. "Obviously the boy is delusional."
The boy stared up in shock at her. "But Lightning… I… I know I saw her!"
"Stop it, the only here who believes you is you." She responded coolly.
He stiffened and turned to look at Snow and Serah. Serah had wide eyes and was still biting her nails in worry. "Well…" Snow said with a shrug.
"None of you believe me…" Hope said, starting to slowly back up. "I know what I saw was real. I'll get proof and then you'll have to believe me!" He turned and ran out the door.
Serah ran out after him "Hope!" she called out but it was too late, the boy was gone. She turned back to face her sister. "Lightning why do you have to be so cruel!"
Lightning flinched at the name. Serah never called her Lightning unless she was extremely mad at her. "What was I supposed to say? That this girl he saw was Vanille? Why give the boy false hope?"
"Yeah the boy, Lightning. For gods sake he's just a kid!" Snow interrupted.
Her voice started to rise. "Vanille and Fang are gone and no matter how much he misses her she's not coming back!"
His voice rose with hers. "Don't deny that you miss them too, we all do!"
"He's got to grow up and face the facts!"
"Why? So that he can turn into a pessimistic adult like you? Let him think what he wants!"
"It'll just hurt him in the end!"
"So? At least he can admit he misses her!"
"What are you implying?"
"When was the last time you ever mentioned Fang?"
Lightning hissed. "What about her? She was a good companion and it's unfortunate that she died."
"Oh drop the act Claire we know how you two felt for each other."
Lightning stopped and stared at her sister. Her arms were crossed and she looked irritated.
"H-how did you…"
"The first night back you talked in your sleep. Snow filled in the rest of the details."
"I…uh…I" Lightning struggled to find words.
"Just drop it, we'll talk later. Come on Snow it's time we go home."
Snow walked up to Serah looking just as surprised by her outbreak as Lightning felt. Together they left the house shutting the door with a click.
With a sigh Lightning went into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of vodka. Pouring herself a glass she stared into the liquid. How did they know about her feelings? It wasn't like she was obvious about them or anything. Damn it Fang… She drained her glass. It was going to be a long night.
The first chapter of my story, hope you like it so far! Reviews and criticism are appreciated