"Well kid, start gettin' some wood. Ain't no sense in fishin' if we can't get ourselves a raft put together."

"Couldn't we just fish from the shore or wade in?"

Sazh turned to the young boy. "Do you really feel like waitin' for your clothes to dry out? And look!" The older man took a few steps into the water and stomped about, hitting muddy ground with each step while making it splash. "This water ain't nearly deep enough around here for us to even get a nibble out of anything. We'd just be wasting bait."

Hope scratched the back of his head. He was about to make an argument about how they could use their magic to help the process of drying, but he bit his tongue in realizing that Sazh probably just wanted to cast out for fish leisurely. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Alright then; I'll start stringin' us together a few fishin' poles and you start finding some logs or start cutting up some off of those trees. I'll start knottin' them up once you've gathered enough." Sazh found a few solid branches that he thought would suffice for the job that they were doing. As long as they didn't try to reel in anything more than twenty-five pounds, then they'd probably make it without having to worry about them breaking.

The platinum-blonde boy took a deep breath as he formed a water spell on his hands. He shaped it into a sharp blade. It would help in cutting a few decent logs from the mess of a jungle that was presented to him. He didn't want to do it, but Hope felt that Sazh had dealt with enough and needed a break doing the easy job.

It wasn't particularly their choice to fish—rather they were forced into it by the rest of the team. Snow had started to complain about eating the same things over and over again. They had had almost every land creature on Pulse and he was getting sick of it. He complained about the behemoth meat being too tough, the adamantoise meat spoiling before they can even use any of it (not to mention him bitching about the effort it takes just to take one of those things down), and so on. To shut him up, the dictator of the small group of vigilantes—Lightning—proposed that Hope and Sazh go and fish. Of course, the two protested only to be met by a diligent and smart rebuttal said by Lightning.

"You two are the only ones who know how to fish." The sharp and pink haired woman said to them. "Snow can't do it because he's too loud, Fang and I don't have the patience, and Vanille just doesn't know how."

"Oh, come on Light!" Hope let his arms dangle to the side.

"Yeah, who cares if the lover-boy's taste buds aren't satisfied?" Sazh folded his arms.

"Do you really want to listen to him whine and moan about it for the next few days we'll be out here?" Lightning asked of the two. They both shifted their shoulders uncomfortably. "That's what I thought. Now go and catch some fish. We'll make sure to send someone to check on you in about an hour or so."

Hope recalled those events clearly. It took them almost fifteen minutes alone just to get to their location. The lake in question wasn't too large. It only seemed to stretch two or three acres. Too big to be a pond, yet not too small to be deemed a lake.

By the time that he had the logs cut and laid out, another five minutes had passed. He thanked the fal'Cie Titan of the great plains of Pulse for the training that he had provided the group with. The monstrous deity-like creature had created so many obstacles and challenges for them to overcome that it had provided Hope, Sazh, and the rest with some much needed increase in stamina and strength, allowing them to go breeze through even the mightiest of foes. Survival, on the other hand, was a completely different matter.

"Good job, kiddo. It looks like this'll be enough to keep us afloat." Sazh praised the boy. They both had taken off their shirts and jackets, as they were dripping in sweat already. Sazh dug through his coat's pockets as he searched for the roll of twine that he had brought along with him (Vanille had been kind enough to give him some from her kit for making all those bead accessories that she adorns).

"I was hoping that Cocoon would bring us a little relief from the sun." Hope told him as he took a half of the string that Sazh had cut.

"Ya can't always rely on the help of others. It's nice to have, but it's very rare."

"We've found that to be false with our little l'Cie squad, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, but then we've had our fair share of 'bonding moments.' Outside of your friends and family, real life strikes ya without mercy."

"It's kind of cruel and twisted, huh?" Hope pondered aloud, raising an eyebrow.

"Damn straight." Sazh spat at the ground in sarcastic disgust. He turned his head back up to Hope and shot him a smile as they both began to chuckle.

"I think that we better hurry up and try getting on out there to fish. It's been," Hope glanced down at his wristwatch, "half an hour."

Sazh cursed to himself like a sailor and stood up. "Alright then; this baby's nice and snug, so hopefully it won't come apart on us and just leave us to be sittin' ducks." He rubbed his beard and mustache. "Grab the basket and I'll push this on the water."

"Alright." Hope replied to the man's orders. He quickly ran and picked up the woven and round basket before making his return to Sazh who was now at the water's edge, carefully placing the raft in the surprisingly clear liquid.

"Let's pray that we can get somethin' good. I didn't want to have to build this damn thing for nothin'." Sazh hopped onto the tied pieces of log and Hope followed soon after, also pushing it away from the shore with a piece of driftwood that he used to function as a paddle. He had to swat away the rare monster of the water, but eventually they reached the very center of the lake after traversing its radius.

"Now be careful here, Hope. These gill-monsters aren't the same ones that you and I are used to catching back on Cocoon."

"I kind of figured that. Besides, what would be the fun if every catch was the same, huh?" Hope reached into his cargo shorts' pockets, patting himself down for the bait that they had brought along. It was just a bunch of worms that they had happened to find around the campsite, but they sure looked big and juicy enough that some fish ought to snack on them.

The skinnier young man eventually found the container holding the wriggly creatures of the mulch and pulled it out. Hope took off the lid to reveal the bugs that appeared to have no mouth or eyes on them (although he knew that they did, they were just so small no human eyes could see them).

"Maybe we should just come back to camp with these." Sazh said, carefully picking up a worm and skewering it on the hook. He casted it off into the lake, hearing it land with a solid splashing sound.

"I'd rather not have Lightning pissed off at me more than she already is." Hope mimicked the actions of one of the adult members of the group.

"How'd you even end up in this mess anyway?"

"I thought I told you all this?" Hope tugged at the line, tempting the fish.

"You probably told Lightning and, most likely, Vanille. You didn't tell the rest of us shit."

"Well…if you must know, I was just in Bodhum for the grand firework display that they decide to show each and every year. It was my mother and I and we were just on vacation. We just happened to get caught up in the purge. To make a longer and awfully painful story short, my mother chose to help that rebel group led by Snow, she died…" Hope closed his eyes and breathed heavily and steadily to get through that part. "And next thing I know I'm riding on a velocycle to the fal'Cie that screwed us over in this situation. You should know the rest from there."

Sazh shrugged. "Well, that's some wonderful insight on your colorful life."

"That sarcasm is a little too strong, waiter. I'd like for you to take it back."

Sazh snorted in amusement. "Alright, smartass. Then here's your entrée!" He pulled back up on the wooden pole in his hands and then a fish—later it was decided it was about twelve or thirteen pounds—was flying through the air and onto the raft, where it floundered and fumbled clumsily, trying its best to flop back into the water. Before it could do this, Hope got a hold on it and threw it into the basket.

"Looks like this one's a biggin'!"

"Yeah; Snow ought to quit his whining now." Hope said, admiring the sea creature.

"Well, we might as well get a few more. Even this fella' is too small to feed the six of us." Sazh bent down on one knee to pick up and once again hook a worm on his line.

"I guess I better check mine." Hope slowly flicked back on his pole, not pulling it in so quickly as to scare off any fish that might be in pursuit of its next meal. To his disappointment, he found that something had nipped the worm off the hook. "Damn!"

"Eh, probably not the first time that it's happened to ya, kid. Just shake it off and don't get discouraged by losing one single worm. We got plenty of 'em to go." Sazh stood back up straight and cast his line out a little bit farther this time.

"Yeah, I guess. I hate it when this happens though." Hope said with an enthusiastic smile on his face. At first, he was kind of skeptical of spending time with Sazh of all people. Sure, he was a father figure that almost anybody could look up to, but he didn't really ever imagine him as much more than that. They shared the same goals of losing their brands, but beyond that Hope had felt that they never really have had a special bond. Now, taking some of his life clock out to help the older man fish seemed to be a wonderful idea in the end. Sazh never minded the banter that went on back and forth between them and never told him to be quiet and never critiqued his fishing techniques, whether it is his casting or his luring skills.

Sazh also thought these same things, but instead decided to turn a different route as a mischievous and devilish grin split across his face. "So how are all the relationships with the group with you? I noticed that you were quite the antisocial and pessimistic person before we got here on Pulse, so I kind of figured that you may've wound up killing Lightning or getting her killed along your way and then you'd somehow die in the process."

"That hurts, Sazh."

"Glad I could help your self-esteem, kiddo."

Hope shook his head with a smile. "Well, as you now know, I didn't end up killing Light. In fact, she became a mentor to me and I guess I was kind of clingy. She always looked to be sick of me but put up with my crap for some odd reason and pressed on the path, teaching me various ways about things like survival and fighting."

"I'll give you that you're definitely not as incapable as you were before."

Right on cue as they were talking about her, Lightning appeared at the edge of the lake. "Are you two okay?!" She hollered.

Sazh cupped his hands around his mouth and turned to the woman. "Yeah, yeah we're all right! We caught one fish and we're workin' on another two or so before coming back to shore!"

"Alright! I'll send someone else in about thirty minutes to come and get the two of you!" The pink-haired woman turned and walked away from the water, slashing at the occasional beast that dared to attack her.

"Anyway...how about the others? I know that you were hell-bent on killing Snow, yet somehow when we met up with you guys on the Palamecia you ended up looking like the best of friends."

"Doesn't the answer of 'forgiveness' suffice?"

"I guess so. Bad memories?"

"Bingo." Hope nodded as he reeled in his line and saw a fish that looked to be five pounds on the hook. He threw it in the basket. "He's a scrawny little guy, but the more the merrier."

"I've noticed that you're a pretty smart kid, Hope…for someone who's fourteen, that is."

"Fifteen." Hope corrected.

"What?"

"I'm fifteen. My birthday just passed not too long ago."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to distract anyone. No need to celebrate for anything until we're back to normal and Cocoon is safe."

Sazh stared at him worriedly. "You've also got a better grasp on reality then most kids your age."

Hope shrugged. "Not the first time I've heard that. Yeah, I'm a little mature for my years, but I figure I might as well accept reality while I'm still young. I decided that I would need to focus on my studies, so I adopted books as my best friends instead of people. I was more of a shut-in."

"You didn't have any friends?" Sazh asked, bewildered by what he had just heard.

"Give me some credit; I had a few. I wasn't a total recluse. I'll admit that they were mostly from my mother's forcing me to do so, but they were friends nonetheless."

"I'm glad that you're branching out then. It wouldn't be that healthy if you decided not to try and make amends with anyone here."

"I've actually found all of you to be really fun. You, Fang, Lightning, Snow. Everybody."

Sazh raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you forgetting someone?"

"Huh?"

"A certain Oerbian redhead? You know, about the same height that you are, you play with her on the plains every day, and you two never seem to leave each other's sides?"

Hope blushed profusely. "Vanille? I guess I just forgot about her."

"Oh, you forgot about her. I'm sure that's what it was." Sazh chuckled.

"Bite me, Sazh." Hope said with a growl.

"What's the deal with you, kid? She's your best friend out of all of us from what I've seen and you mind me tugging at your chain a little bit?"

"Yeah…yeah, I guess so. We hang out a lot, whether it's forced or if we just decide to run off somewhere and be stupid kids again." Hope laughed to himself. "I remember one time I teased her at Yaschas Massif. I actually tricked her into thinking I liked her. She started to freak out. She began turning red like nobody's business and only when I started laughing did she figure out that I was just joking with her." Hope flicked the line around a little bit, baiting the fish in again. "Good times…"

"Were you, though?" Sazh questioned the platinum-blonde with a stern face.

"What?" Hope turned around to face Sazh.

"Were you just joking, though?"

"What do you mean?"

Sazh sighed and slowed down his speaking, annunciating each word carefully. "Did you really mean you were joking about having a crush on Vanille?"

"What- Of course!"

"Are you sure?"

"Well…" Hope scratched the back of his head and turned his attention back to his fishing pole. "C-Could we just not talk about this?"

"Hell no; there are too many nice things that you're letting go of and I sure as heck ain't gonna let you let go of this one."

"Oh man Sazh, why can't you just leave it alone? If I want to say anything to Vanille, I'll do it myself."

"Yeah, fine place where that's gotten ya, huh?"

"The point is that I'll tell Vanille whenever I'm ready—probably when this is all over."

"But what if it doesn't end? What if we get turned into Cie'th before that happens? You'll be spending an almost guaranteed eternity as a wicked creature that can't even sympathize, just looking at the one you've loved also become one of these hideous creatures!"

Hope turned around angrily at the man. "Don't say that!"

"Well Hope, I suggest that you find a pair and then get to tellin' her the truth before it's all too late."

The young man calmed himself down. "Look, if you get off my back about it, then I'll tell her whenever I get the next chance to, alright?"

"Sounds like a fair deal." Sazh said, as he reeled in his line, revealing a ten pounder dangling in the air with the bait in its mouth. "Looks like we got our supper."

"Should we keep the raft here or take it back to camp?" Hope asked once they were ashore.

"Just put it in those bushes over there." Sazh pointed towards a vibrant and green plant coming out of the ground, grouped together with many others of the same kind. "No sense in bringing it with us if it's just goin' to be a bunch of clutter."

As Hope dragged away the tied pieces of wood and put it in its new bushy nest, a familiar loud humming noise came from over the hill. To accompany this sound was its source: a redheaded woman wearing a pink halter top with a flowing skirt, accessorized with various different beads that ranged anywhere on the scales of color and size.

Vanille skipped happily to Sazh, who was now putting his coat back on. "Hi!" She exclaimed.

"Hey there, Vanille." Sazh said with a smile as he readjusted his olive colored coat, making it a bit more comfortable. "You came to check on us?"

"Yep. Lightning and Fang sent me…and then they ran off somewhere else, for some odd reason…" She trailed off, putting her hand under her chin to ponder what it could be.

Sazh immediately knew what the women were up to, and it wasn't surprising. They seemed to have a lot more testosterone in them than estrogen. But in any case, Sazh was happy for them and kept it a secret. "Oh, I think I know."

"What is it?" Vanille asked.

"I think that you'll have to ask Fang about this one. I sure as hell ain't gettin' my ass whooped just because I opened my fat mouth."

Vanille stamped her feet. "Oh, come on, Sazh! Can't you just tell me?!"

Sazh chuckled, but then an idea came upon him. "Why don't you go help Hope out? He's just doing some clean-up right now. Then you two can do whatever you want."

For some odd reason, Vanille felt herself burning up with Sazh's emphasis on the word 'whatever.' It just bumped around in her head what he could possibly mean, and quickly dismissed any thought that was considered perverted.

Sazh picked up basket of fish with a grunt. "I'm gonna take these back to camp and start guttin' 'em. Hope!" The young man turned to face the older man. "You two finish cleaning up, alright? Make sure that you're back before the sun goes down if you guys decide to play or somethin'."

Hope could've sworn that he saw the older man wink at him before he turned away to head back to the camp. He was about to object before Vanille came to his side while Sazh walked away, feeling accomplished while whistling a happy tune.

"So what needs to be done?" She asked brightly.

Hope suddenly came to realization that Vanille was still here beside him. Sure, it wasn't different from any other time whenever they were by themselves, but with that tiny exchange that he and Sazh had had back on the lake, it was just a bit more embarrassing and made it just that much more ridiculously excruciating to try and keep his blushing down.

"So what needs to be done?" Vanille asked innocently while going from heel to toe.

Hope turned his head to the ground. "Well, if you want to wait, I'm just going to finish wrapping up these fishing poles. We can go do somethin' after I'm done, alright?"

"But I don't want you to do the work yourself!"

"It's just cleaning up a few poles, Vanille. It won't take that long; trust me."

Vanille crossed her arms in frustration and made a pouty face. "Fine."

Vanille watched the younger boy work. It was kind of amazing seeing how much he matured since he was that fragile child back during the Purge. Now he's taking the initiative in almost anything that happens. You could never see him back down from a challenge and, for someone who was always melodramatic; he always seemed to cheer the group on.

Hope went to the lake and bent down next to the water, washing his hands and arms clean of any dirt that may've stuck to him. He formed a small ball of fire in his palms and began drying his arms clean with the radiating heat, trying his best to keep it far away enough to stop it from flickering onto his arm and catch its hairs on fire.

"So," he began, approaching Vanille. "What should we do?"

Vanille looked into the sky that was now turning a hue of orange in deep thought. "Hmm…well, we could go to Oerba. It's only about twenty minutes away." She looked down at him, expecting him to turn down the idea. He would probably say something about how they went there yesterday.

Hope closed his eyes and smiled at her. "Whatever you want, Vanille."

Vanille could feel blood rush to her cheeks, but she turned away in embarrassment. Something about that boy's smile got her all flustered and she couldn't ever understand why. "O-Okay! Let's go then!" She replaced her mortified and red face with a loving smile and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him along through the forest, with him screaming behind her to let go.

Trapex here with another one-shot for Final Fantasy XIII! This one was a lot shorter than the last one that I wrote, but I feel like it was just as challenging. Nothing much more to say than please review, look forward to my future works, and enjoy!