Brining the thunder on day two.

-:-

Lightning pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration as she tried to teach Hope how to fight. The brat would always try to run from a fight whenever possible and it was starting to grate her nerves. Right now, he was trying to hit some targets that she set up with his boomerang, but failing miserably.

"Again!" snapped the pink-haired solider.

"B-But, Light-san! I've been at this all morning! C-Can't I take a break?" asked the silver-haired child.

"When you can actually hit a target, then you can get a break," replied Lighting as she narrowed her eyes at the boy, causing him to flinch.

She watched as he readied himself to swing. She might have acted cold towards Hope, but if he wants to survive in this world he needs to learn how to protect himself.

The boomerang flew through the air…only to miss once again. A cry of frustration came from Hope and in his frustration he charged up a Fire spell and shot it towards his target. The target didn't stand a chance.

Lightning raised an eyebrow, the only sign that she was surprised. She watched as Hope turned towards her with a sheepish expression.

"S-Sorry about that, Light-san."

"…So you're more proficient with magic than with a weapon. Not bad."

Hope perked up a bit at this. "You mean it?"

A nod was his response. "We'll take a break for thirty minutes and then we're going to spar. I want to see how well you truly are with magic."

She turned headed back towards their little camp. Hope wasn't far behind as he followed after his mentor and surrogate mother. Unseen by Hope, Lighting had a small smile on her face. She could say to herself that she was proud of the boy and had no doubt that he could become a strong individual in the future.

And she would help him get there.

FIN

-:-

Second time writing for Lighting and I still don't care for Final Fantasy XIII, but my opinions on it are put on the backburner for this month. And yes, Hope does see Lightning as a surrogate mother. Where people got a romantic relationship between the two from, I'll never know.

Fun Fact: This one-shot was originally going to make fun of the Louis Vuitton ads that star Lighting and have Serah taking Lightning out clothes shopping, much to Lighting's chagrin. But reading up on Serah's personality, she doesn't seem the type to go clothes shopping either, so we have Lightning training Hope instead.