Disclaimer: Don't own anything of the FF13 world, including characters or sequels.
Rating: T
Takes place in 3 AF, but despite that, the events of 13-2 have not happened (will be references to that game though). Also, slight adjustment to 13's ending.
Hope sat back a bit, taking a look at the datalog entry in his hands, sighing. Not much had happened this month, and that would show clearly no matter how he worded it, but he struggled regardless. "Maybe I should leave it like this" he thought finally, tilting his head. "Not every entry has to be serious"
"What are you doing?"
Hope looked up, smiling. "I'm trying to finish this datalog entry, Vanille" he said. She had changed little in the past three years, in stark contrast to himself: he'd grown taller, mostly.
Vanille stepped closer, bending over and gazing at his entry. "Hmm... did you include Cocoon's fall, and what we did?" she asked, looking at him.
"Vanille, that was the first of the entries" he said with a chuckle, pointing toward the other side, where a large collection sat. "This entry details what happened this month"
"You can never be too sure" she said brightly, then grasped the datalog. "Well, let's see it!" she said, easily taking it out of his hand, not that he was surprised. As she stood there, scrolling through the text, he alternated between fiddling with his fingers and glancing up at her, his heart racing.
See, over the past few years, he'd fallen in love with Oerba Dia Vanille.
It hadn't started out that way: in fact, his first real impression of her was after the minutes-ago death of his mother. He'd registered enough to know she was cute, and her unusual outfit... but after that, his rage-blinded view of the world made her come across as childish, lacking in common sense, and generally weird, though she was like a big sister to him. He'd more-or-less kept that view until he'd finally gotten his head on straight, courtesy of Snow. He hadn't seen Vanille again until their raid on the Palamecia, and even then they didn't have much time to catch up, considering they met up with Barthandelus shortly afterward.
On the Fifth Ark and their crash-landing on Gran Pulse, that had changed considerably, and he'd gotten to know Vanille a lot better. Of course, since their brands were ticking away, he didn't dare think much about it. But he still gleefully remembered messing with her, making her think he liked her that way, then laughing and running away.
Then Cocoon had fallen, and they'd miraculously survived. And while they initially thought Vanille and Fang were inside the crystal pillar, they soon found their intact crystals in Oerba (still wasn't sure why about that one). He'd been overjoyed, but he hadn't known it at the time.
And over those three years, he'd gone through various stages in no particular order: trying to see if he just had a crush on Vanille; if that crush would fade or not; no time to find out because of work to do... all of which were valid, but the feelings hadn't faded.
He brought himself back to the present, and just in time too: Vanille had finished scrolling.
"I like that it's not too serious" she said cheerfully, throwing his datalog back into his lap, hands on her hips. "Not everything needs to be serious"
He smiled, put the datalog back on the desk and stood up, stretching. "Either way, I'll come back to it later" he said faintly, starting to walk outside. "If I think of something better, I'll write it down"
Vanille followed him, arms behind her back as she walked, humming cheerfully. And though he's probably thought this thousands of times already, she looked stunning in bright sunshine... when he wasn't blinded by it, of course.
"Ah" she breathed, holding her arms up high, enjoying it all. She eventually noticed him looking at her, and tilted her head. "Cocoon to Hope?" she asked playfully.
He jolted a little, and chuckled a little weakly. "Sorry about that" he said. "Lost in thought"
"Around a cute girl like me?" she continued, still playful as she walked around him. "That's not unusual"
He laughed, trying to sound like he was in on the joke, but truthfully he was just covering up. "I'm not surprised" he said, then started walking. "But I'm afraid there's more work to be done, so I'll see you later"
"Oh, bye!" she said, waving her hand high and cheerfully, which he returned.
Inwardly, he was just relieved; that could have gone worse. Now if he could only decide what to do next... not saying anything while thinking he should say something was killing him.
"I've gotta find Fang" he thought, determined. "She's bound to have noticed by now. Plus if I don't tell her and I try anything, she'll find me anyway"
Turns out, Fang was currently on a hunting trip with PSICOM's forces, and they wouldn't be back for another hour.
But as it also turned out, Snow needed a hand with roof repairs (minor damage from flying Cie'th attack just days ago), so he went that way, and came across their house in minutes. He quickly heard the various noises of home repair, and saw two figures up on the roof, and he cupped his hands around his mouth.
"Hey, Snow! Need a hand up there?"
"Hope!" Serah greeted him, surprising him slightly. She wiped her hand across her forehead, smiling at him, "We could use some help, thank you".
He smiled a bit, and started climbing. He knew Serah was a better cook than she was a repair-worker, but hey, she always tried to help out, even if she was no good. He couldn't blame her, as turning into crystal forced her out of the loop, unable to do much.
With a slight grunt, he got himself over the roof.
Serah sat hunched over a spot, searching for cracks it seemed, her side-ponytail dangling over the left side of her face. For this work, she had traded in her skirt for shorts, which definitely helped. On the other side of the roof, Snow was also hunched over, and wearing new clothes (the only thing unchanged was the black bandanna).
Snow looked around almost as once, and he grinned. "Hey Hope" he said lightly. "Glad you could make it. Search around there for cracks, if you can find any" he continued, gesturing toward the one unoccupied corner of the their wide roof. "Gotta make sure nothing leaks when it rains on us"
He chuckled, agreeing, and got to work.
After they finished, Serah invited him to join them, and he agreed; there was still some time before Fang returned.
"Would you like anything, Hope?" Serah asked, easily pulling off her pink sweeper, setting it on a hook beside the door.
"Just some water, thanks" he said, sitting down.
"Make that two" Snow added, lightly patting Hope on the back.
As Serah nodded and walked around, Snow sat down on the circular couch, still grinning. "You know, you're always welcome to stay for dinner, kiddo" he said seriously.
"I'm 17, Snow" he said mildly, looking up at him. "I'm not a 'kiddo' anymore. And besides, I'm waiting for Fang to get back"
"What for?" Serah asked, setting two glasses of water on their table. And while Hope sipped at his, Snow downed his in one go: Serah didn't seem surprised.
"Well, I gotta talk with her about something important" he said, gazing down at his glass. "About Vanille"
"Is she hurt, or in trouble?" Serah asked, her tone worried as she sat down beside Snow.
"No, nothing like that" he said quickly. "It's more personal, really"
"Come on, Hope" Snow said, putting his arm around his shoulder, briefly throwing him off-balance. "You can tell us anything; it can't be that bad!"
"Don't mind Snow, Hope" Serah said, with a little giggle.
"Anyway" Hope continued, getting himself out from under Snow's arm, thoroughly used to it. "I think I'm in love with Vanille."
"Aww, that's so sweet, Hope" Serah whispered softly, her fingers briefly touching the wedding ring on her finger. Beside him, Snow had secretly given him the thumbs-up and a wink, along with a grin. "Do you think Vanille likes you back?"
"It's hard to tell" he admitted. "We're very close, but Vanille hasn't shown any obvious signs of interest that I've seen. Well, other than the one time I messed with her on Gran Pulse, before Cocoon fell"
"But if I remember correctly, surprise and shock aren't the best signs that she liked you back" Snow said with a chuckle, hands behind his head. This comment got him a light reproach from Serah, which confused him a little.
Hope chuckled a bit, finding this amusing. "And I'm well aware that if I tell her I like her that way, she'll remember that time, and think I'm messing with her again" he continued. "So that's exactly what I'll do, and convince her that I'm serious"
"And that's where Fang comes in" Snow said, chuckling. "Talk to her first, and get her permission before you do anything. Am I right?"
"Right" he agreed, emptying his glass, then setting it down on the table. "Fang's very close to Vanille, so she needs to know about this before I say anything to Vanille. Plus, she'll tell me things straight, which is what I need right now".
"And that's definitely better than Fang finding out afterward" Serah mentioned, taking both their glasses, standing up. "Otherwise she might hunt you down, or something. She's a lot like my sister that way"
"Hey, that's what I was gonna say" Snow said mildly, looking at her. "The 'hunting you down' part, anyway" he added. Serah merely winked from the counter, smiling sweetly.
Hope chuckled again, but he stopped just in time to see Serah look at him again. "Does your father know about this yet, Hope?" she asked, head tilted.
"Not yet" he admitted; his father worked in another village, but they kept up their relationship. "But only because I don't know the entire situation yet. When I tell him, I want to be absolutely sure, about a lot of things"
"Sounds like sound advice, Hope" Snow mentioned, clapping him on the shoulder.
"Look who said 'sound' twice, Snow" he retorted mildly, then the three of them shared a laugh. And shortly afterward, they heard a familiar rumble; that of an airship coming closer.
Serah glanced around the counter, looking outside from there. "Could that be them, Hope?" she asked, turning back to look at him.
He smiling, standing up along with Snow, quickly going to the entrance. He turned back as he walked outside, yelling behind him: "That must be. I'll see you guys later!"
So yeah, Vanille and Fang are not crystallized, 13-2's events have not started (never will here)... oh and the I'Cie keep their powers/summons despite the fact they're no longer bound :D There was a lot of actual divine intervention that day anyway, so why not a little more? But other than that, the set-up is mostly done.
And now things will start moving forward. Enjoy!