Song Of Hope: Um, I'm not used to writing this kind of story, curse my romance addiction! Also, I couldn't think of a good made up day for Hope, so hers is the same as mine. Well, here it goes! R&R
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down and repeat!" Madoka had just come running into Hardware Central crying. Hope managed to get her upstairs and convinced Victoria to take her shift, which was nearly impossible to do.
"A-Aleksei dumped me for Lyra! I knew that it would be a hard relationship, since we're so far away, but I-I can't believe he'd do it today of all days!" Hope raised an eyebrow.
"What's today supposed to be?"
"It's supposed to be our one-year anniversary!" Hope looked down sadly upon her best friend. She had never, in her entire life in Japan, seen Madoka so upset.
"You know, it's not so bad. I never liked him anyways." Madoka wiped some of her tears away.
"That's because you didn't like how he was smarter than you."
"Only in rocket science! I was still much smarter than him when it came to neuroscience! I just didn't like him. He was such a know-it-all!"
"You mean like you?" She threw a pillow at her.
"Madoka, might I remind you that you are in my room, and my house, and therefore in my territory."
"See! You're a total know-it-all!" Hope threw another pillow at Madoka.
"How does that make me a know-it-all?!"
"You pointed out so many things instead of just saying 'I live here, not you' which is what I would've said."
"Yeah, well, I'm not you!"
"Good! I like being the only me!"
"Then why are you complaining?!" Madoka thought about that.
"I forgot." Hope started laughing. After a little bit, so did Madoka. They fell back down on Hope's bed.
"This is fun." Madoka nodded.
"Yeah. I haven't spent time with you like this since before all that happened." Hope nodded, knowing what Madoka was talking about. They only ever referred to it as that or it and nothing more. It was too painful for both of them to talk about, but mainly too painful for Hope, because of the loss she had suffered and the feeling of loss that she caused.
"I know, but sometimes, I like to just be me, the old me."
"I sure like her, that's for sure. She's not so grumpy all the time." Hope sat up.
"I'm grumpy?" She whacked Madoka in the face with a pillow. Soon, feathers were flying everywhere. They were laughing as they fought with pillows. "You owe me new pillows!"
"You're fighting with them too! You started whacking me with them first!"
"I don't care! You owe me new pillows anyways!"
"Yeah, well, you're not getting them." Hope pouted at her.
"Really?" Madoka nodded.
"Really. But, the guys want to do some major Bey training tomorrow, care to join them?" Hope looked a bit upset.
Tomorrow, the 18th of August, was supposed to be her Sweet Sixteen, but Madoka forgot her birthday every year ever since they ever met. She always managed to find an amazing present every year though. Last year they celebrated, Madoka's dad had paid to have David Tennant flown out so she could meet him. The only downside to that amazing present was that Hope had to act as a human translator since Madoka wasn't very well versed in English and David Tennant knew no Japanese.
"Are you sure for tomorrow?"
"Yeah. The guys seriously want you there for some reason. I think Yuu just wants to be doted over for a while." Hope smiled. She knew she doted over little kids, but she couldn't help it.
"Well, I'll try. I've got something going on tomorrow, but I'll see if I can make it." Madoka smiled.
"Great! See you later!" She left. Hope looked confused.
"Wait a minute, didn't she come in crying because Aleksei broke up with her? Come to think of it, since when were they even dating?" She pondered it for a while, but eventually forgot over the course of the rest of the day.
The Next Day
"Worst birthday ever!" Hope was sitting at home, all alone, in tears. Her father had to go to a business meeting, her mother had to work, her sisters totally ditched her, and Jamie was going to be gone all day for medical tests due to his brain damage, and even worse, there was damaged to the water main at her church, so she couldn't even go there. Her phone started ringing. She looked at it and it was Madoka. She wiped away her tears and tried to look/sound like she was perfectly fine. She didn't want Madoka to feel bad for forgetting her birthday again, especially when it was so terrible already. Hope wiped away her tears and answered her phone. "Hello?"
"I can't believe you forgot already! We're all at the B-Pit, ready to go to training! The guys are starting to get really mad! If you're not here soon, and I mean really soon, they're either gonna go ballistic or just leave." She sat upright, remembering her statement yesterday.
"Oh, right! Well, it seems as if everything got canceled, so I'll be heading over there now!"
"Great! See you in a few minutes!" Madoka hung up. Hope smiled.
"Maybe some training is just what I need to cheer myself up. Getting stronger and breaking some stuff should make me feel better!" She grabbed her Bladers belt, put on her fingerless gloves, and headed out to the B-Pit.
To her dismay, it was dark, and completely empty when she got there. Hope looked around the store, the basement, and even went upstairs to just even look for them (they almost never are upstairs unless they're sleeping). Even the upper floor was completely empty.
"I guess they already left." She almost started crying, until the light suddenly turned on.
"SURPRISE!" She nearly had a heart attack. Madoka, Hikaru, Tsubasa, Ginga, Kenta, Yuu, Benkei, Osamu, Takashi, Akira, and even Kyoya, popped up out of the different rooms on the second floor of the B-Pit. Madoka smiled at her.
"Happy birthday Hope!" Hope looked so surprised and shocked.
"But, you, and all this, and it's never, my, how did?"
"I knew you thought I'd forget, but honestly Hope, I've never forgotten your birthday. Did you really think that bringing David Tennant out to see you was really a last minute gift? I just wanted you to think that so that you'd never suspect this for your Sweet Sixteen. I even pretended to be really upset so that you'd be more likely to come. I never actually dated Aleksei, and I thought you'd see right through it, but I guess I'm a better actress than I thought. I did it to make you want to cheer me up more, even though it was really a 16th birthday party. I still don't get what's so special about it, but I knew that this would be special for you!"
"But, everyone, here?" Ginga nodded and smiled.
"Of course. Madoka had us all keep it to a hush hush. I'm really bad at keeping secrets, but I managed too." Kenta nodded.
"You're our friend. Of course we'd come." And then, for the very first time ever since it happened, she cried in front of people other than her little brother. It was a shock for everyone, but especially for Madoka. Hope was on her knees with her hands on her face because she was crying. Madoka ran over to comfort her friend.
"Hope, what's wrong?! I thought that you had always wanted a surprise party! Did I do something wrong?!" Hope shook her head.
"No, it's really amazing! It's just, I never thought that any of you guys would consider me your friend! I thought you guys all hated me because of the way I acted! I'm always so selfish, so egotistical, and so angry! I never thought that I would have a friend other than Madoka!" She wiped away her tears and looked up at all of them. "I never thought that I would be accepted into such a large group! I never thought that so many people would want to even be associated with me in any way! You guys have no idea what this means to me!" She stood up, wiping away a few more tears that had fallen down. She then glared at them. "But, friends or not now, if I find out that anyone of you told anyone that I cried, especially over this, then you better pray that you look good black and blue!" Benkei smiled.
"BA-BA-BA-BULL! Don't worry, we won't tell anyone!" Hope smiled and looked at Madoka.
"Thank you so much Madoka! You have no idea how much this means to me!" She smiled at her friend.
"I think I do." They hugged. "And trust me, you are not alone, and you won't be again!"
Song Of Hope: Might make a sequel to this.