It's a Possibility
Lady Val's Note: I feel like I should explain how this story came about. I was playing the game and during Chapter 9, I was getting extremely annoyed by the PSICOM Huntresses constantly beating up Hope (It's totally because he's the cutest. Freakin' women). I imagined this ticking Lighting off too. No woman wants other women beating up their man. I kept shouting things like, "Get off him, bitch!" and other horrible things. That and the world knows that Hope has horrible stamina. I love him to death but kid can't take a beating. Thankfully he's an amazing medic. I originally wasn't going to write this...then I did.
Now that you know how this little plot bunny came to me, I hope you enjoy reading.
Lightning Farron never liked girls. They were extremely annoying. Throughout high school she ignored them to the best of her abilities. She blocked out the gossip, the obnoxious giggling, and the never ceasing hugs. Even while fighting, she didn't like them.
She ran as fast as she could to one of the remaining PSICOM Huntresses and gracefully slashed her torso with her Flamberge blade. A well timed aero spell from Hope caused her to stagger while Fang continued to give her a good beating and ultimately ending her a few hits later.
A sound of anguish emitted from behind her. Lighting spun around, adrenaline racing through her veins. Her eyes widened as she saw Hope kneeling on the ground, clearly exhausted. The next thing she took notice of was the second huntress running towards Hope, about to strike.
"Get away from him!" she shouted, charging full force at the woman. She raised her blade and pierced the woman in the chest, stopping her right before she reached Hope. The woman screamed out in agonizing pain before falling silent. She pulled her blade out from the woman and she dropped to the floor beside Hope. Lightning wasn't going to stand for this.
The last huntress remaining ran towards Hope, clearly knowing that he was currently the weakest out of the three. Lighting stepped in front of Hope and gripped her blade with two hands. She raised it above her head and brought it down only to be stopped by the woman's protect and shell spells. The force of the impact caused the woman to take a few steps back but she smirked at Lightning behind her protective force fields.
Lightning looked straight past the woman's shoulder to see Fang cast multiple deprotect spells at the woman. Taking advantage of her unexpected vulnerability, Lightning brought down her sword on the woman. This time instead of her blade hitting her force fields, it went straight down to her flesh. She couldn't see behind woman's mask, but she had no doubt that her eyes held nothing but pain and surprise. The woman plummeted to the floor beside her comrades and Lighting glared at her still body in resentment.
She directed her attention back to Hope who was looking up at her with disappointment in his eyes. Lightning crouched down beside him and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, are you alright?" she asked, her voice gentle. She couldn't figure out why he brought out such a caring side of her. There was just something about him that she wanted to protect and care for.
Hope looked at the fallen huntresses and nodded. He placed his hand on her shoulder for support and Lightning grabbed his arm to help him up. She led him over to an empty corner, not letting go of him. He gently pulled away from her and reclined against the metal wall of the Palamecia. He looked anywhere but at her and finally settled his eyes on the floor in front of him.
"I'm sorry," he said, his voice filled with regret. "I'm so much stronger after all we've been through but I'm not strong enough to take so many hits. I couldn't even heal myself fast enough. If it weren't for you and Fang I would have been taken down. Why can't I be stronger?" he asked himself, clearly frustrated by his own limitations.
Lighting moved directly in front of him. "Hope," she said calmly and the boy finally looked up to meet her aqua eyes. "It's not your fault. Stamina is something that comes with age. As you grow you'll become stronger, so don't blame yourself. There isn't anything you can do about it. It's up to me to make sure that you're safe," she told him, taking a step forward and gently placing her hand on the side of his head. She stroked his soft silver hair with her thumb.
"You already do enough to protect me, Light…" he confessed as he stared at her with pain in his eyes.
"Well, so do you. We made a promise, remember? I'll do my best to protect you and you will do your best to protect me. Do you think that Fang and I would last long without you constantly healing us? We need you just as much as you need us. Hope, I need you," she said and the boy smiled at her, his cheeks flushed. Her hand moved to the top of his head and she ruffled his hair in a playful manner.
Light watched as he reached up and made an attempt to smooth out his already unruly hair. She couldn't help but smirk at his futile attempt.
"Done with your little moment yet?"
Lighting turned around to see Fang with a bemused expression on her face. She was looking back and forth between the two of them and her head was tilted slightly to the side.
"We're not having a moment but yes, we're done," she said, her agitation rising. They were not having a moment. All she was doing was encouraging him. He didn't have anyone left and she took it upon herself to be there for him. That was certainly not having a so called "moment".
Fang laughed and shook her head. "Alright then, let's keep moving. I'd like to find Vanille sometime today," she said and started walking away.
Lighting glanced at Hope and back at Fang. She didn't know if Hope was ready to keep moving yet but he nodded at her and started following Fang.
The next few battles went well. Lightning made sure to stick closely to Hope just in case anything happened but at the same time she tried to step it up a notch so they could finish the battles quicker. It was an hour later that Lightning could tell that Hope was starting to lose his strength again.
Lighting slowed her pace and eventually stopped walking. She looked at the backs of Hope and Fang as they continued to walk ahead. It only took Hope a few seconds to notice that Lighting wasn't next to him. He turned around and looked at her with a puzzled expression.
"Let's rest," she suggested, but it came out as a command. Either way, she wasn't going to give them an option.
"We're doing so well. It's not a good idea to stop now," Fang protested. Lightning knew she was right. Stopping now would be dangerous for them but she knew that Hope wouldn't be able to go on much longer. He needed a break.
"We'll be okay for five minutes," she said and walked ahead of them. She examined the hallway to her right and saw that it was dead end. It would be safer for them to rest there so they wouldn't be attacked from behind.
Lighting turned to Hope and nodded her head in the direction of the dead end. "Go rest against the wall for a few minutes," she ordered.
"But-"
"No buts. Fang and I will stand at the entrance," she said and he nodded his head in compliance. He went and sat against the wall at the end of the hallway and closed his eyes. Lighting stood with Fang at the opening, ready for any attacks.
While surveying the area, Lighting couldn't help but notice that Fang was staring at her. She let it slide the first few times and pretended not to notice. She was used to Hope keeping an eye on her but it was annoying coming from Fang.
"What is it?" she asked in defeat, tired of feeling Fang's eyes on her.
"It's nothing. Just wondering what's going on between you and the kid," she said and looked away as if it was of no importance.
"Nothing is going on between us," Lighting stated abruptly. "Hope and I are…close. We've been through a lot together."
"Uh-huh. Sure doesn't look that way, Miss. 'Hope, I need you'," Fang mocked in a love struck voice, quoting Lighting's previous comment. Lighting gritted her teeth and looked away.
"That didn't mean anything…" Lighting said, trying to convince herself that it didn't. Of course she needed Hope. He was always there to support her. He was nice to have around too. She changed for the better around him. It was a side of herself that she didn't let many people see, but it was still a very important part of her.
Fang must have taken notice of how silent she was because she was smiling at her. "Do you want to take back that lie?" she asked, seeing right though Lighting's facade.
"Alright, I admit it. He's important to me. I care about him. Are you happy now?" she asked, her irritation growing by the minute.
"In what way?"
"What do you mean 'in what way'? In the obvious way," Lighting testified. She glanced over her shoulder at Hope who was still sitting against the wall with his eyes closed, completely unaware of the current conversation about him. "Is this really the right time to be talking about this?"
"Hey, you were the one who wanted to take a break. It's only fair that I give you grief for it. We could be fighting and this conversation would never happen," Fang said, giving her a cheeky smile. She then looked away from Lighting. Her eyebrows furrowed and she appeared to be deep in thought. "When you look at Hope, what do you see? A brother? A friend? A son?" she asked.
Lighting was silent for a second. She took one more glance at the boy behind her before quickly turning her head to the front. It was true that she secretly found him adorable. There was nothing wrong with that though. He was a kid. She was allowed to find kids adorable. She was allowed to want to hold him and protect him. She wasn't going to admit to Fang that she loved the way he looked up to her and followed her around. Or the way that he was one of the few people that could actually make her smile.
"You have feelings for him… don't you?" Fang asked, a serious but sympathetic expression on her face. Lightning's eyes grew wide at the accusation.
"He's fourteen. I'm twenty-one. I'm not about to fall in love with a fourteen year old," Lightning stated. She could feel her temperature rising. This conversation was becoming far too uncomfortable for her.
Fang shot her an empty look then shrugged. "Age doesn't mean that much. If you love someone and they love you back, then love them. You love Hope. I love Vanille. We can run around as the 'forbidden love club'," Fang joked, chuckling softly.
Lightning knew about how Fang felt for Vanille. She could just tell by how driven she was to protect her. Even though it's common to want to protect those you love, she knew that there was something more between the two.
"It doesn't matter how I feel about him. I care about him and I'll keep him safe," she said, completely devoted to upholding her promise. "If anything happens between us, it'll be years from now," she confessed, trying to remain stoic.
"Good to see you're open to the possibility. I doubt he'd give up anyways. He cares about you more than you know," Fang said, clearly seeing right though the both of them.
"It's a possibility…" she admitted, turning her back on Fang. She walked down the hall to where Hope was sitting and looked down at the boy. She couldn't help but be reminded of all the times she watched him sleep while they traveled together. He looked so serene and vulnerable.
"Hope," she said gently and watched the boy open his eyes. "It's time to go," she told him and extended her hand to him. He looked up and smiled his innocent smile that she loved. He reached up and placed his hand in hers. She helped pull him up and held on to his hand a few seconds longer than she should have. She briefly savored the moment before letting go. Whatever she was feeling… whatever it was… it had to be kept inside.
"Come on, Light. We can do it," Hope said, optimistic about the future.
Secretly, she was too.
End Note: If you made it this far, I applaud you. :) I'm a huge HopexLightning fan. I especially love their age difference because I'm a sucker for forbidden love and age differences.
I have fun writing this aside from writing Fang. I don't really have a huge grip on her character. I like how she turned out in the end though. Hopefully I didn't make the characters too OOC...
If you liked this little one-shot, please review letting me know. Reviews make my day.
Also, Happy New Years Eve! I hope to write more HopexLightning in 2011.
Edit: Due to popular demand, this story has a sequel in the works. I hope you look forward to it! I know I am. :)