~ Painting Flowers For You ~

I do not own FF13 or it's characters

A flick of the wrist, a dab of watercolor, flourishing on an empty canvas, and paint splattered on the apron hanging low on his petite frame; this was what painting was defined as to Hope.

It was the only time he could get lost in his own thoughts, his own dreams. The only chance he had to re-create his memories on the tarp in front of him.

However, no matter what he tried painting - weather it was going to be a self-portrait, or something else - it seemed to become the same thing every time: Lilies; his mom's favorite flowers.

He smiled softly at the painting, marveling at the white-petaled flowers that seemed to dance on the canvas, almost tauntingly, whispering negativites in his ears.

"She's dead. She's not coming back. Your mom is dead."

The smile fell, and tears began to well up in his eyes; he nearly snapped the paint brush in his hand in half.

Hope punched an arm through the painting, his emotions taking control of his common sense, and actions. He then swiped the canvas away from him, off of his extended arm, the fragile, light tarp fluttering to the ground beside him.

He collapsed to his knees beside it, more tears spilling from his sea-green eyes. Hope closed them, causing more of the salty liquid to run down the side of his face, as he quietly murmured his mother's name over, and over.

Snow whistled a smooth tune to himself - one he recalled when he was younger - as he strode down the abandoned hallways of the school. It was late in the afternoon, and he had just finished his hour of after school detention he needed to attend, meaning that every other student was gone, and at home now.

Right?

The blond stopped dead in his tracks when he heard faint, yet audible crying from outside the Art class' door. And being the considerate man he was, Snow had to see the reason why someone was upset.

He opened the door noiselessly, his blue eyes scanning the room. There were clay sculptures littered in the room, and paintings hung up on the wall, a typical art room. Finally, his eyes landed on the one thing that stuck out the most: Hope.

In Snow's eyes, Hope was beautiful. What with his starlight, silver hair, and sea-blue eyes. Eyes that had an undefinable sparkle to them; even brimmed with tears, they were still breath-taking.

"Hey, kid, you alright?" Snow quickly broke out of his trance when he heard another anguished cry emitted from the small boy. Said boy looked up at the man, and quickly, and furiously wiped at his eyes.

"I'm fine!" Hope snapped, getting to his feet, wobbly, and uneasily at first. Snow had tried helping him up, but Hope refused the help coldly.

"You're crying, so obviously you're not!" The blond whipped Hope around, forcing their eyes to meet for the first time. Turquoise eyes melding with ice-blue, in a mixture too perfectly mixed to be captured with any blended paint that Hope could even dream about formulating.

He realized that he had been staring at the man's eyes for a full minute now, and looked away, cheeks tinted pink. Hope also realized that he left Snow's question floating amidst, and finally answered.

"I am, really." Hope forced on a smile, and tried pushing past him, but was forced back by a firm grip on his wrist.

"Just tell me what's wrong."

Why was this complete stranger so hung up with Hope's feelings? Why couldn't the big lug get the hint, and leave him alone?

Hope sighed, knowing that the blond would never leave him alone unless he told him. He quietly pointed to the neglected lily painting, gesturing that the picture tied in with his feelings.

Snow stepped over to the picture, and picked it up, taking in the extreme depth, and details of every flower. It was like Hope had plucked fresh lilies, and placed them on the canvas, that's how real the painting was.

"This is great! But, I don't understand why you'd be down about it." He turned back at the silver haired boy, grinning broadly at him, hoping the smile alone could rid him of his pain.

It did paint a smile on Hope's face. He couldn't help it, there was something that resonated off Snow that warmed his insides.

"M-my mom liked lilies.." It was all he needed to say, Snow quickly grasped what he meant by that.

Abruptly, Snow pulled Hope in a tight hug, running a hand through his bangs. "Don't get down, 'lil guy, I lost my parents when I was young too." This caused Hope to look up at him. "Don't look sad, smile. You look great when you do." His gloved finger brushed a crestfallen tear from the boy's eye.

"Thank you..." Hope smiled up at him, not feeling tremendously better, but a new feeling seemed to wrap around the one of sadness, one that overwhelmed it.

"Don't mention it...Umm..."

"My name is Hope." He felt embarrassed mentioning that was his name; he always did when he introduced himself.

Snow chuckled, ruffling the smaller teen's silver hair. "Hope, I like it! My name is Snow."

Not another word was shared between the two, as they ventured off the school campus. It wasn't until they were dangerously close to Hope's apartment that Snow had spoke up.

"'Ey, do you think you could paint me something? I mean, you're real good."

Hope blushed for the second time that day, this one more furious. He never liked others seeing his work, so the compliment meant alot to him, especially since his self-esteem wasn't the highest.

"I'd love to, Snow."

And from that day on, Hope still painted flowers for his mother because they meant alot to not only her, but Snow too.

A/N - Another Snow/Hope one-shot! :D

And another crappy ending to another Snow/Hope one-shot! =_=

The idea came up at the randomise time...o.o

Anyway, sorry if it seems OOC, I'm new to Final Fantasy, and this couple! ^^;;