Disclaimer: Do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or any of the characters.
Summary: Hope's POV. Waking up in Academia 4xx AF of the future, Hope's loneliness is slowly eating at him. Salvation comes in the form of a certain blue-eyed brunette.
So. I haven't updated my account or stories in forever. But I've always written in other fandoms anyway.
Either way, here's a birthday fic I did for Genis Aurion (u/590515/), who I so happen to be roleplaying with at the moment. It's an AU Final Fantasy Roleplay group, which basically means all the characters from across the games are plonked into the same setting, their backgrounds suitably changed to fit the AU. We're starting to really pick up, and there are plenty of characters still open from across the series so do check the group out at taejinsarmy(.)tumblr(.)com.
Playing with a new style this time around, it creates a nice effect for a oneshot, but I don't see myself reusing this for my chaptered fics. The basis for the first half of the fic is that loneliness has many forms, and it explores how one can be surrounded by welcoming people but still feel incredibly isolated. It might not have been stated explicitly in canon, but it's a possibility I decided to play around with.
Eyes of Light
His office was deathly silent.
Azure eyes peeked from dim room to the overly bright city outside, squinting from the stark contrast. Metallic silver walls reflected glaring sunlight, almost painful to look at in the harsh afternoon sun. Those narrowed orbs whispered of great volumes of loneliness as they examined the cityscape, buildings towering as if in competition to see which could first reach the limitless sky.
It was a city that had been born from ideas. His ideas, in centuries long past. And yet, when he had committed thoughts to paper in those long nights, had he really envisioned this to be the future he would create?
Had he ever thought that he would be standing here, in the very city he had helped create, so many centuries later?
A sigh escaped soft lips, parted ever so slightly. Clouded eyes looked away from glass window, back to the confines of the dim room. Simply decorated, bare of any personal artifacts. Slender hands reached into his utility belt, fingers tightening over his boomerang. It was all he had left. That, and his memories.
He did not belong. Not in this city, not with these people. Hailed a hero, they had welcomed him with open arms. Given a position of advisor, only because he had turned down the role as director. Allowed to continue his research, allocated an office of his own. Everything about them had been welcoming.
But he was not one of them. The world they knew was different from that which he had seen, and the betrayal by the very beings that had protected them was nothing more than a page in their history books. Nothing more than words.
That was all he had been to them too, before he had woken up in that capsule.
He had thought he was ready. There had been nothing left for him, back in his time. One by one, those important to him had dropped out from his life, with no signs as to where they had gone. Seeing Serah had been a relief to the heavy burden in his heart. That oracle drive, with images of the woman who had taught him so much. Knowing that Serah's travels were for the very purpose of seeking that woman out.
They had given him a clear goal to work towards. Always, his only desire to save his friends. To be with everyone once more. But that encounter in Yaschas Massif, that had helped him see what it was that he had to do to achieve that.
And he had done everything in his power to achieve those goals. To create a future where he could be reunited with everyone. Plans set in motion, ready to be put into action.
Even then, he had considered it. Considered coming up with a plan to travel to the future, to see his plans come to fruition. To experience the future he so desired. But he had his father. His place was there, in the past. His duty, to love and care for the man who had done the same for him.
But Bartholomew had passed on. With nothing holding him back, the decision had been easy. And so he had stepped into that capsule to slumber, a short sleep while the rest of the world flashed by. She had appeared in his dreams then, told him that he was on the right path, with that gentle smile of hers.
Then he had awoken, to friendly but unfamiliar faces. Eyes that looked at him in awe, like he was something special. Like he was not one of them. Something different.
This was where he was meant to be, yet here he did not belong. But there was nowhere else he could go.
It had been some time since he had first woken up. Faces were now becoming familiar to him, and his face a normal sight to the people of the city. People were friendly, and he was starting to enjoy working with them.
That did not help the loneliness.
He leaned into the backrest of his chair, leather creaking as he did, and closed blue-green eyes tiredly. Sleep came rare these days. Quiet always led to thoughts, a homesickness for friends and a time that was long gone. So it was that he had buried himself in work once again, in a bid to outrun those thoughts.
He tried to dismiss concerns with a joke. He had gotten nearly 400 years of sleep in at one shot, and did not need it anymore. Eyes were always bitter when he told that joke, an expression that went unnoticed. There was so much to be done. Only partially true.
For all the time he would spend here, he would never be one of them. Eyes would always regard him as a shining example, a special existence which they could never dare to reach. All he wanted was to be one of them, an equal. But that desire would never be granted him. Much as the people had respected his request for them not to address him by any title, the look of sheer admiration in their eyes never changed.
He was okay with that. All he needed was to do his work. Examine the Thirteenth Ark, and find a way to bring the new Cocoon into the sky. Research was making headway. He was okay with the loneliness.
That was a lie. Distant eyes looked out glass window, coming to rest on the splendid reflections of the afternoon sun on the crystal pillar in the distance. Fang and Vanille. They were alone too, but they had each other.
He was all alone.
Eyes flicked open as a door burst open, a petite blonde almost prancing in, obviously beside herself with glee.
"Director! The gate south of HQ is showing spikes in paradox readings! I think they're coming!"
There was a loud clatter as he stood abruptly, very nearly upturning his chair.
They were here. She, a piece of the past he had left behind. He, a testament to the future they were working to prevent.
"Welcome to the future you saved."
His heart had surged with joy as he said those words. Joy at seeing them again. Joy that for a little while, he wouldn't be alone. Two pairs of eyes which looked at him as their equal.
There had been surprise too. He chuckled a little, standing at his usual spot in front of the hologram of New Cocoon. Of course they had been surprised. Who wouldn't be, after seeing someone who was supposed to have died centuries ago, and not a day older than the last they had seen of him?
His heart was light, lighter than it had been ever since his eyes had opened from that sleep.
As he explained to them how he had gotten here, how he had left behind a past which hadn't held much for him, he was perhaps a little wistful. But the loneliness was gone, even if just for the time.
Azure eyes met deep blue ones, and he smiled at the other as he listened to Serah's story.
He was confused. He had also been intrigued. But now, he was mostly confused. Confused at the man sitting on his desk, talking, laughing. Blue eyes sparkling as they looked into his own. He was confused at the quickening of his heartbeat, the warmth in his face when their fingers brushed as he reached for his cup.
It had started with their eyes meeting occasionally. Those blue eyes always seemed to sparkle then. They had talked, and the other had answered his questions about the future that he had come from. Meals eaten in comfortable silence while his blonde assistant brought Serah around the city. He had noticed the strange looks exchanged between the two time-travelling companions. Her teasing gestures, his flustered response.
Trips back to deliver a Graviton Core soon became visits for no reason in particular. The brunette started being the one telling him of the places they had seen. Their eyes caught each other's more often. Those blue eyes always seemed to be on him, on his movements. Then again, his azure orbs had also found themselves increasingly drawn towards the man's toned movements, that charming, sincere smile.
His blue eyes, always sincere. Always smiling. But also hiding a loneliness. It was a different sort of loneliness that Hope had gotten used to feeling. And yet, Hope understood. The two, they were similar, yet so wildly different. Quiet and energetic. Serious and Cheerful. Modest and perhaps just a bit cocky.
Yet both were kind beyond normal means. A common desire the two shared was that to save. To want to change things, fight to prevent a future where all mankind were gone.
He couldn't help but smile a little. Yes, he had started looking at the other more. Noticing things. Listening, and being listened to. It was a pleasant feeling. He was still confused by the situation, but it was like a puzzle. As he watched the man gesturing, telling a tale of one of his hunting trips, he could almost hear the pieces slowly coming together, clicking softly in his head.
Disbelief, then, a smile. It was a smile of relief, but slowly widened into a lopsided grin of pure happiness. Silver strands swayed as head nodded in affirmation.
"Really?"
Blue eyes locked with his own azure orbs, searching, uninhibited glee surfacing as the brunette realized he wasn't bluffing. A shout of joy.
He found himself in the other's embrace, sweet nothings being whispered in his ear. The man's heartbeat was clearly audible, a steady thump, still fast from the nervousness that had previously taken a hold of it.
Smile widened as he breathed in the scent of the man whose embrace he was in. The puzzle had clicked some time ago, but his own feelings had created a fear that he was wrong, that he was reading too much into things. Hearing the other man's feelings had taken all of that away. There was only happiness, and satisfaction. And love. A whole lot of love.
The loneliness that had so weighed him down since he had woken up in this unfamiliar future was now only a faint memory. All that mattered was the here and now, with the love of his life.
The light of his heart. He chuckled. Cheesiness was catching, apparently. Blue eyes looked at him curiously, and he shook his head with a happy smile.
This was where he belonged. In the brunette's arms. He closed his eyes as the other leaned down for a short, chaste kiss.
To say that he wasn't the least bit lonely would be a lie. But they had been prepared for this moment. Prepared for the day that his brunette would have to continue his journey with Serah, to fight Caius.
The two exchanged longing gazes as the man slowly backed away, walking towards the previously out-of-phase gate. It took what seemed an eternity to tear their eyes away from the other, though each stole wistful glances. Unsteady hand was raised to clutch at the necklace hanging from his neck, a necklace that up till yesterday had belonged on the neck of his love.
They would be okay. He would believe that. Once he was done with the preparations on his end, he would enter the capsule once again. The capsule that had brought him into a lonely new world. The capsule that had allowed him to find a new place he belonged. The capsule that would bring him back to his brunette's embrace.
They would be reunited, along with everyone they had ever hoped to save. That thought gave him strength, as he slowly waved to the other.
He would be okay. His greatest pillar of strength was the knowledge that he was Noel's, and Noel was his.
His. The thought was a happy one. Azure eyes sparkled and lips parted. Hope smiled.