Oh god what am I doing. One of my friends talked me into this. Every time I let her read something, she always tells me to put it on here, but I never had the guts to really do it I guess. Until now. English is not my first language and I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I'm hard to please with my own work. The fact that I constantly think I'm making mistakes mostly causes me to actually make them. If you can't handle grammar errors and stuff like that, it's best to turn away right now. Also, sorry for the possible OOCness, I just figured Light would be a bit more happy now that it's all over.

Brings us to the actual subject of the one-shot. I absolutely love Lightning and Hope from the FFXIII series. I've recently (last Monday) finished Lightning Returns and I just had to write something, because otherwise I would've died of feels by now. The epilogue really had me thinking about how they would meet up again etc. Somewhere on tumblr someone said Light actually had a letter with her on that suitcase, so I kinda took off from there. Maybe, just maybe I'll make something more out of this one-shot. There's too little Hoperai fluff in this one honestly, but I didn't want to make it too long, or I wouldn't have put it on fanfic. I'm actually really nervous to put this up here for everyone to read, but hell, if I can make just one person happy with my work, then my life will be complete. Guess it's worth a try.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, setting, stuff like that. They all belong to Square Enix.

Reunion

Once she'd gotten off the train, Lightning found herself staring at the peaceful landscape that came into view. It was nothing like she'd ever imagined it to be, but she loved the new world. Everything about it was strangely soothing. Though she knew she was never destined to live a normal life, this place almost made her feel like she was just a normal person. No soldier, no champion of Etro, no savior of souls. There was only one thing missing that kept this world from being perfect, but that was about to change.

The pink haired woman put down her suitcase and opened the letter she brought with her. Her eyes scanned the paper once more, checking if she had indeed come to the right place at the right time.
"Snow will come and pick you up from the train station at 11am."
Her eyes lingered on the names at the bottom of the letter. She had fought God himself to save her sister, and now she was finally going to see her again, in the new world no less. Somehow that managed to make her feel a bit anxious, though she didn't show it.

Serah had been the one that had brought the group together all those centuries ago. It had been her focus to get them all at the same place at the right time. Now she was doing the same thing, inviting them all over to her and Snow's place. It was almost a miracle how fast she and her fiancée had managed to get a hold of everyone. As if fate had decided to give them one more little push in the right direction. Though after all those years of trying to reunite their group of friends, it was only fair that they'd get to be together so soon. It had been over a thousand years since Lightning's quest to save Serah had begun and finally, she would have the chance to meet her sister again. Not a fake or a dream, the real Serah.

Lost in thought, Lightning didn't notice the black car parking a few steps away from her. She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the doors of the car slam shut and when she looked up, she immediately recognized the huge blonde and his trademark bandana. The corners of her mouth curled up a bit into a tiny smile, as Snow made his way toward her and engulfed her in a bone-crushing hug.
"So, back to the old hairstyle I see," she stated when he finally let her go.
"Yeah, I guess this fitted me most. By the way, Sis, not used to seeing you in normal clothes. Must say they do look good on you," he said in return, followed by a laugh.
"I'm not your sister," she paused and rolled her eyes but then continued, "But I must agree it's a nice change. No soldier outfit, no armor, no savior stuff."
Snow nodded knowingly, but soon got rid of the serious face again.
"Lets get you to our home. I'm sure Serah can't wait to see you again."
A small smile appeared on her face and she felt her desire to see her sister growing. Everything would be perfect in a little while. Snow opened the passenger-side door for her and she quickly got into the car.

On their way to the house they didn't talk much. Mostly because of the heavy atmosphere that hung around them. Today everyone would meet again, in a new world, under normal circumstances. For a group of friends that had been fighting their fate for over a thousand years, that was something very special. Lightning could still recall the moments she'd thought they would never be together again. When Cocoon fell and Fang and Vanille were gone. When she was locked away in the unseen realm. When Serah died.. No one could have been able to stay optimistic through all of that. Though the person next to her had done a good job at keeping up their spirits, even at times of despair.

"We're here!" Snow exclaimed. Lightning shot up in her seat and looked outside the window of the car. It was a beautiful house. Not too big and not too small, perfect for a family. The exterior was painted in soft, light colors, which reminded her of some of the seaside houses in Bodhum. When she opened the door and got out of the car, she felt overwhelmed by the salty smell of the sea. This new world was still mostly unknown to her and she hadn't realized that Serah and Snow lived so close to the sea. Memories of Bodhum flashed before her eyes, but they abruptly faded when she heard someone loudly calling her name.

"Claire!"
Serah came running towards her, her face lit up in a way Lightning had only seen when both of their parents were still alive. Even though Serah was really small and fragile, her hug was almost as strong as the one Snow had given her. The former soldier wrapped her arms around her sister and closed her eyes. This was the first time she was able to hold the younger Farron like this since they had woken up from their stasis a thousand years ago. It was all real. They stayed in each others arms for a while, both of them unable to let go of the other, fearing one of them might disappear again.
"Hey! No hugs for me?"
Lightning let go of her sister and smacked Snow on the back of his head. She grinned when she saw him wince at the force of her blow. Serah suppressed a laugh and quickly gave her fiancée a small hug before turning her attention back to Lightning.
"Lets go meet the others!" she exclaimed joyfully.

After they had said their goodbyes to Snow, who was going to pick up Fang, Vanille and Hope, the two sisters entered the house and made their way towards the backyard. Lightning was again hit by a wave of nostalgia. The way the house was furnished reminded her of their parents house in Bodhum. It felt warm, welcoming and most of all, it felt like home. The garden was huge, had a small terrace and mostly existed of grass and flowers. Light's cerulean eyes spotted Sazh and his son Dajh at the table. She quickly walked over to them, smiling slightly at the sight of father and son together.

"If it isn't soldier girl! That smile looks good on you." Sazh got out of his chair to greet her. He'd been the first of the group she met. At that time she had advised him to take the next purge train if he wanted a quiet ride, but that had only gotten him curious as to what she was planning to do on the one she was going to board.
"It's good to see you again, Sazh," she said while getting hugged for the third time that day. Normally she always shied away from physical contact, but it actually felt good to have her friends near right now. When she took her distance again, her eyes landed on Dajh, who was looking at her with admiration in his eyes.
"It's really cool to finally meet you, miss Lightning," he said.
It was true that she didn't really have the chance to get to know him, because she'd been sucked into the unseen realm of Valhalla when she'd just gotten out of her stasis. They had seen each other a few times during the last thirteen days, but never under normal circumstances.
"It's nice to meet you too," she replied.

Lightning heard the backyard door open again and expected to see Serah coming to join them. Instead she was met with the sight of Noel and Yeul. Back during her days as savior, she had given up on Yeul and Caius when she had discovered the source of the chaos in the Wildlands. They had made it very clear to her that they didn't wished to be saved. That's why she never expected the young seeres to join them in this world, but she was glad it turned out this way. The smile Noel now wore suited him much better than the angry and pained look that had been glued to his face every time she'd met him in Luxerion.

As soon as he got sight of her, he quickly walked over and pulled her into a strong hug. She'd always liked Noel, which is why she had trusted him with the task of protecting her sister while she had been stuck in Valhalla.
"I still need to thank you for taking care of Serah while I was gone," she said when they both pulled back. She already knew what he was going to say in response.
"But, Lightning, I-"
"I don't want to hear about that 'But I wasn't able to save her' nonsense. You did what you could and she made her own choice. Don't worry about it Noel," she interrupted him. Her voice was stern, but friendly nonetheless.

Luckily he dropped the subject and Lightning turned her attention towards Yeul. She didn't know the seeres at all, but that would have to change soon enough. She was part of the family now.
"I'm sorry for what my other selves might have said to you," Yeul began. Her voice was just as mysterious as it had been in the Wildlands, but that was just something the former savior had to get used to. It seemed this was her normal way of talking.
"Don't be. It's alright now," she answered.

The glass door opened again and Serah entered the backyard, carefully holding a tray full of snacks, drinks and glasses. She put everything down onto the table and invited everyone to come and sit down with her. Lightning quickly made her way over to her sister and took a seat next to Serah. They all had something to drink and started chatting about casual subjects, such as their first days here on Earth. It felt great though, because life had never been this careless before. Every single one of them had been through huge ordeals, but they had all managed to overcome them.

About half an hour later the doorbell rang. Serah quickly got onto her feet and ran inside the house to open up the front door for their guests. Lightning was the last to leave her seat and follow her sister. Now that Fang, Vanille and Hope had arrived too, their little group would be complete. Though she wanted to see them as badly as the others, she held her distance rather than join the crowd that blocked the now open door. From the other side she could hear Fang's heavy accent while the Pulsian greeted her sister. It wasn't hard to distinguish Vanille's voice either. While the others had finally worked their way through the door frame, Lightning wondered why she hadn't heard Hope's voice yet. He had agreed to come to their reunion, hadn't he?

"Hey there, Sunshine!"
Before she could linger on the thought any longer, Fang had spotted her and pulled her outside to give her a hug. I swear, at the end of this day I've had enough hugs for an entire lifetime, Lightning thought to herself.
"It's good to see you again, Fang," she said when the woman pulled back and gave her a friendly punch on her arm.
"Yeah it's good to see you too. But enough about me, look at what we found at the train station," Fang told her with a wink.

Lightning's eyes wandered towards the spot Fang was looking at. They landed on a young man with silver colored hair and clear, sea green eyes. Even though she had seen him like this many times before, that had always been from Valhalla. Whenever she'd been with him in personal, he had always been or looked like a fourteen-year-old. Apparently Fang thought it took her a little too long to get used to the older version of Hope, because she felt the former l'Cie push her in his direction. The pink haired woman managed to balance herself before falling over and quickly regained her composed demeanour.

"Hey, Light."
She looked up at him, not used to the sudden height difference. He did look like Hope though, apart from the fact that his features looked more mature. His eyes were the same, his hair too, if not a bit longer. Before she could stare at him any longer however, she felt him wrap his arms around her. She tensed up a bit. They hadn't been this close since that time she had hugged him in Palumpolum. Lightning quietly returned his hug. She couldn't help but think of the moment Bhunivelze had dangled Hope in front of her like a lifeless puppet, striking him again and again before crushing his small body in the palm of his hand. As a response to those memories, she tightened her embrace, as if he'd disappear the moment she would loosen her grip on him. He didn't seem to mind though, because he was clinging onto her in the same way, probably reliving some of those painful memories himself.

"You guys going to hug each other to death?" Snow commented before he burst out laughing. The others, apart from Lightning and Hope, quickly joining in. The realization of how she must have looked to everyone and what she was doing suddenly hit the ex-soldier and caused her to pull away quickly. A faint hint of pink colored her cheeks and when she looked at Hope again, she noticed that he looked even worse. His face was slowly turning red, his eyes focused on their little audience.
"What are you all even looking at. I've hugged almost all of you today, it's not that rare." Lightning snapped, glaring at Snow.
"Whatever you say, Sunshine," Fang said, a smug smile plastered onto her face.
"Let's go inside everyone, we've been hanging around on the porch for long enough," Serah quickly chipped in before her sister could reply to Fang's attitude.
Luckily everyone seemed to agree on that and followed the youngest Farron into the house. All but two of them.

Lightning watched the last of them disappear and then turned her attention back to Hope.
"I'm glad you're here. Wouldn't have been able to survive a whole day with all of them otherwise," she chuckled.
"Well, I'm here mostly because of you," he remarked. His words had a lot more meaning behind them. If it wasn't for her, his soul would never have been saved in the first place.
"Same here."
They both grew silent.
"You two lovebirds coming, or what?" Fang's loud voice rang from inside the house.
"Tch. Let's get inside before they decide to make this a thing. I don't even know why they came up with something like that." Lightning's voice betrayed her annoyance. These next few days were going to be hard to live through if they kept teasing her every time she would try to have a normal conversation with Hope. The pink haired woman turned her head towards said person, who gave her a small smile before following her inside the house.
"Did anything happen between you two?"
"Shut up, Fang."