Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone for reading, posting reviews, and adding this to your favorites and alerts! I hope that you will like this chapter!
Chapter 3: So Many Questions:
On the dark, hard rock ground, Faith was lying unconscious. "Hey! Are you okay?" a voice called out to her. Slowly she started to come out of her unconscious state. Her eyes opened partly. "Hey! Can you hear me?"
She turned her head and lifted it off of the ground. At first her sight was blurry, but then it began to clear up a little. Through her vision, she saw someone with silver hair and green eyes. Confusion became written on her face. The face seemed so familiar. "Hope?"
"How do you know my name?" the voice asked.
Faith sat up off of the ground. She placed her hand on top of her head as she closed her eyes. She felt a pain in her head. She breathed out to help subdue it. The boy in front of her tilted his head. "Are you sure you're all right?"
Faith became annoyed still keeping her eyes closed. "Oh! I see how it is. You felt the need to come after me didn't you? Figures! All that talk about us getting in trouble. Now that you finally listened to me, let's find a way to save daddy."
"Um…? What are you…talking about?"
Faith opened her eyes curious. "What? Did you hit your head too?" When she finally caught a clear vision of the boy before her, she became surprised. The boy definitely looked younger than her brother and not exactly the same as him. "Wait! You're not my brother. He looks a lot older than you do."
The boy sat down in front of her. "Oh! Did you lose someone?"
Faith blinked a few times. Why did the boy in front of her look so familiar? She couldn't shake the feeling. "I think so."
The boy stared at her somewhat confused. "Okay…? Before, when you were waking up, you said my name. Is that the name of your brother too?"
Faith stared at the boy stunned. "Your name is…Hope?"
The fourteen year old sitting in front of her nodded. "Yeah."
She leaned forward on her hands even more curious. It couldn't be. "Wait! What's your last name?"
Hope was surprised by her question. To him, it was weird how she guessed his name, but more strange that now she was asking for his last name. He never remembered meeting her before. "Um? My whole name is Hope Estheim. It's nice to meet you."
For a few more seconds, she stared stunned. "So your name is Hope Estheim? No junior behind it?"
Hope shook his head. More he found her questions strange. "No."
"And you're the only one you know with that name?" Faith asked to be sure.
Hope shrugged. "Yeah I guess."
She stared at him in silence again blinking a few more times. Then a big grin came on her face. She couldn't believe who she bumped into. With the way he looked, he seemed very familiar, but just very young. Her excitement got the best of her. Without thinking her arms spread out as she leaned forward. "Daddy!" She wrapped her arms around his body, knocking him down onto the ground along with her.
A few miles ahead, H.J. appeared in the area that Faith was in. He observed his surroundings. Once he seen that he was alone, he sighed. "The device must've been a little off. She has to be around here somewhere." He placed his hand to his head as he closed his eyes. "Just where is the question and where should I walk from here?"
"Hey!" When he opened his eyes, he saw a small group of four soldiers run up with guns in hand. "What are you doing out here?!"
H.J. held up his hands and gave a nervous smile. "Um…? Just looking around that's all…" He studied the soldiers and what they were wearing. "These don't look like the soldiers that are in the future. What time period did I land in?"
"Is he a part of the missing L'Cie we are supposed to be looking for?" one of the soldiers consulted with the others.
"He is out here alone," another member pointed out.
H.J. realized that the soldiers were beginning to think of him as some kind of enemy. The last thing he needed was trouble. "L'Cie? I'm not a L'Cie. Listen. Can you just tell me where I am?"
"Nice try kid, but you're coming with us." The soldiers began to approach him.
H.J. pressed his teeth together. "I don't have time to get caught like this!" He placed his hands down and let one of them glow.
The soldiers stopped surprised. "Stay back!"
One of the soldiers pointed forward. "He is a L'Cie!"
"Let's get him!"
H.J. looked angry. "I told you that I'm not a L'Cie! Get that through your thick heads!"
The soldiers pointed their guns, ready to fire. "You have magic! That's proof enough!"
H.J. attacked with fire and managed to knock one of the soldiers back. His eyes drifted toward his hand a little surprised and concerned. "Where am I? My magic is weaker. Am I not on Pulse anymore?" When he lifted his eyes, he saw the soldiers approaching. He got ready to attack again when he noticed something sneak up behind them. The mysterious person attacked and hit the soldiers. They flipped over the soldiers and landed near H.J. H.J. was surprised by the person's help.
The person turned to him. "You all right?" His expression changed to stun just as much as the stranger's did. "Hope? How did you get passed me so fast? Wait… You look…different... "
H.J. couldn't believe who was in front of him. He recognized her as clear as day. "Mom?!"
Before Lightning could say anything, she turned her attention back to the soldiers who looked ready to attack. "Whoever you are kid, think you can handle some of these guys?"
H.J. was still in a stunned state. His mother was in front of him, but younger. He snapped out of his stunned state and moved in beside her. "Um? Yes!"
Lightning fought against the soldiers using her gunblade as H.J. used his magic. During the battle, one of the soldiers rushed toward H.J. The soldier tried to strike him down, but Lightning stepped in and blocked him off. H.J. fell back on the ground. When H.J. looked over at the other soldiers, he saw that they were getting ready to shoot Lightning. He couldn't let them hurt her or possibly kill her. Determined, he had an idea to stop them. "Mom!"
Lightning turned her attention to the boy wondering why he was calling her that. He knocked his elbow into the soldier's helmet making him step back. He took her hand pulling her aside and made her roll on top of his back during which he reached out and grabbed her gunblade. "I need to borrow this for a little."
Once Lightning landed on her feet, she was surprised that he managed to get the gunblade out of her hand. H.J. kneeled down. With intense focus, he shot all of the soldiers before they could shoot back. All of them fell onto the ground. After the battle was over, H.J. sighed in relief with his eyes closed as the gun tilted in his hand on his shoulder. Suddenly he felt the gunblade being taken out of his hand. When he looked up, he saw Lightning holding it. "Thanks for the help, but you should know better than to take someone else's weapon."
H.J. stood up straight. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to stop those guys before they could hurt you. I just… got in the zone."
"That was actually impressive." Her eyes traveled over to him, noticing his uniform. "You don't look like a soldier."
He smiled a little. "I'm not, but I got most of my training from you."
Lightning gave a look of confusion. Her eyes searched his as she paced around him. "Do I…know you?"
H.J. looked worried. He realized that he said too much. "No!"
She searched his face, getting more suspicious. "Back there why did you keep calling me mom? I have to tell you I'm nobody's mother and I don't want to be."
Nervously his eyes turned to the side. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have said that."
She arched her eyebrow as she became somewhat interested. "Did something happen to your mom or you just miss her that much?"
"Well…" He tried to think of a good way to sort of explain things to her. "Right now I'm separated from my mom and my dad, but I'm trying to get back to them."
Lightning placed her hand on her hip. "I see."
He held up his hands as he looked nervous. "I'm sorry about calling you that. You just…remind me a lot of her." He had to remember that he needed to be careful of what he said to her. Anything he said or did could change the future.
Lightning started walking away. "Are you a L'Cie too?"
H.J. walked along beside her. "No I'm not."
She was a little surprised to hear so. "But I saw that you have magic. What are you exactly?"
He smiled a little. "Well I don't really consider myself as anything. I inherited my magic from my mother and my father was a strong magic user."
Lightning didn't exactly understand it. "That's strange. You have magic, but you're not a L'Cie?"
"Well my mother was a powerful woman. She had to take on the whole world at one point." He grinned at what he said. Little did she know that he was talking about her.
More, Lightning began to wonder what kind of person he was and if she could really consider him human by what he told her. She also had to wonder what his mother was. "She sounds powerful."
H.J. smiled. "She was and she still is. I'm just glad that she's finally at rest so she doesn't have to fight anymore."
"Is your mother dead?" She wondered why he said the words "at rest".
"No. What I meant was she doesn't have to fight anymore. She hasn't had to fight really for a long time now." His eyes drifted down to the ground as he thought about what was going on now in his time and the danger that she was in as well as his father. "Well… until now that is…" Soon he lifted his head as his smile returned somewhat, thinking of something positive. "Still I know she's happy that she didn't have to."
"You mind if I ask who your mother is? Have I heard of her?"
He continued grinning, but nervously. He had to answer the question just right so that he didn't give too much away and so she wouldn't figure it out. "Um…? I'm not sure. Her name is Claire, but not many people know that. Her children barely hear it." Lightning was a little surprised to hear that. Her eyes turned away from him as she thought about her own name. "So? What's your name if you don't mind me asking?" H.J. asked. He figured it was best to pretend that he didn't know that she was his mother.
Lightning looked over at him. "Lightning, but you can call me Light. What's yours?"
"My name is H.J. It's nice to meet you Light." He wanted to laugh at the fact that he was calling his mother's name as if they were friends meeting for the first time, but kept it to himself. It was awkward enough pretending to be strangers when he already knew her.
Lightning became curious. "So what does the 'H' in your name stand for?"
He was nervous by the question. He didn't want to give that away just yet. "There's…really no rush to know that…" She was a little confused by his reaction, but let it go. H.J. looked around curiously at the area he was in. "Do you know where we are?"
"The Vile Peaks," she replied.
He placed his fingers to his chin. "The Vile Peaks… That doesn't sound like a place on Pulse."
Lightning wondered why he would bring up Pulse. "It's not. It's a place on Cocoon."
He became surprised. "We're on Cocoon? But…" He continued looking around. "...this place looks different."
"No one goes to Pulse. You'll get killed if you go there."
At first, he couldn't believe what he heard, but then again he had to realize that he was in a different time than he was used to. "So Cocoon hasn't fallen…"
"If it did, we would all be dead."
H.J. stopped in place and lifted his eyes toward the sky. "I just hope that Faith isn't somewhere getting lost."
Further back, Faith continued hugging Hope, squeezing the air out of him as she grinned with her eyes closed. His back was against the ground as she over him. He could barely breathe with her chest crushing him. His cheeks lit up with red. Usually he wasn't close to any girl like this. He tried to say something to her, but the words wouldn't come out. "Awe! I'm so glad that you're not in a hospital right now!" She pulled him apart from her, curious. Her hands were attached to his arms. "Wait! How old are you?"
Hope placed his hand to his chest as he was breathing hard. "I'm fourteen."
"Wow! You're really young." She looked around at the area. "I wonder what time did I land in and where I am?"
Hope looked uneasy, hoping that she wouldn't attack hug him again. He began dusting his clothes off. "You're not really from around here are you?"
Faith shook her head as she smiled. "No. I'm really glad to see you that you're okay although…this isn't the right time."
Hope was worried by the way she spoke. He wondered if she was truly okay. "Are you sure you're all right? You didn't hit your head or anything?"
"No. I'm perfectly fine." Then, an idea popped into her mind. "Oh right!" She looked at the device in her hand. "So it does work. Maybe one day I can travel through time and see my grandparents and see what they were like." Faith turned her eyes to him interested. "So what were they like?"
Hope looked confused. "Who?"
A smile crossed her lips. "Your mom and dad. What were they like? Were they nice? Well they had to be because you are."
Hope's eyes drifted to the side as some of his anger began to rise within him. "My mother is gone."
Faith started to get concerned. "Gone? What do you mean gone?"
Hope looked away from her. "She was killed okay. She was tricked by someone who caused her death."
For a few seconds, she looked at him worried. He seemed really angry by the subject. "I'm…sorry…" Her eyes drifted to the side. She wondered why she hadn't heard her father mentioned this before. She turned her eyes back to him. "What about your dad?"
That subject didn't make him happy either. "It doesn't matter about my dad. He won't listen to what I have to say. Right now I don't have any family. I'm a L'Cie so I'm out on my own."
More, Faith felt sad for him. Hope kept his eyes closed. Suddenly he felt something warm on him. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Faith was hugging him gently with her arms wrapped around him. She was kneeling down in front of him. His head rested on her shoulder. He was surprised that she was doing so. Faith had her eyes closed with her face almost buried into his shoulder. "You're not alone." He reacted more surprised because of her words. Her fingers tensed on his back. "You're going to have a family again someday and you're going to be happy." She hugged him tighter. "You're going to be a great dad." Hope wasn't sure if he understood what she meant by that or if he could believe her. Faith parted from him and gave a small, hopeful smile. "Believe me when I say that. It's going to happen." Hope blinked surprised. Before Faith could say anything, she heard voices from nearby and coming closer. "What's that?"
Hope looked over. "Oh! It's Sazh and Vanille. It's okay. They're with me."
Faith figured that it was best for her not to be seen. She smiled one more time at him. "Well you're in safe hands then." She took off running. Hope looked surprised. Faith climbed up the rock wall fast. It reminded him of when Lightning did the same thing and left him. "Hey!" he called out.
Faith lied on her stomach on the ground. Her hands grabbed onto the edge of the rock. "Oh yeah! In the future, you have to allow me to date whenever I want and you can't scare all of them off just by meeting them okay?" As Hope stared up, his face was written in confusion. Faith waved as she grinned. "Bye daddy!" Soon she took off. Hope continued to stand in a wave of confusion. Why did the girl keep calling him that? So many questions came to mind about what she said. A part of him wondered if she was mentally stable because of what she told and asked him. Shortly after, he heard his name called by Sazh and Vanille. He turned his attention to them.
Further ahead, H.J. kept walking alongside Lightning. "I wonder where Faith went. I hope that she's not captured by these soldiers. That's the last thing we need."
Lightning noticed him lost in thought. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah," H.J. answered. "I just need to find someone that's all."
Curious, Lightning stopped. "Who are you looking for?"
H.J. stopped in front of her. "Well…she's…" Suddenly they heard something coming. Instantly they got on guard. It wasn't long before they realized someone was running toward them. H.J. squinted his eyes, but then looked surprised. "It can't be."
Faith was running toward them breathing hard. Ahead she spotted H.J. "Hope!"
H.J. looked nervous. Why of all times did she have to say his first name? Lightning looked curious at him. "Is she talking to you?"
"Um…?" He didn't really want to answer that.
"Hope!" Faith yelled again.
He sighed giving a dull look. Again she called out for him using his whole first name. "Yes…" he admitted unwillingly.
Once Faith looked over, she became surprised. It seemed that he was standing with someone that seemed very familiar. Finally she stopped in front of them, never taking her eyes off the woman. She was stunned to see her. Lightning gave her a confused look wondering why she was staring at her like that. Faith couldn't believe that she was there. She stepped forward and hugged Lightning with her eyes closed. "Mom." She knew that it wasn't her mom in the present, but nevertheless was glad to see her.
Lightning was surprised that she hugged her. She froze for a few seconds. She didn't recognize the girl at all. H.J. smacked his hand in front of his face. True he knew he called her mom, but Faith took it a step further and actually hugged her. He wasn't sure how Lightning would react plus they were starting to change the future. Lightning pushed the girl's arms away forcefully, separating from Faith. "All right! What is this?!" Her eyes traveled between Faith and H.J. "Who are you guys and why do you keep calling me that? I'm not anyone's mother. Got it?"
Before Faith could say anything, H.J. pulled her aside by him. "Sorry! She's my sister. She's just missing her mother too." Soon H.J. pulled Faith away from Lightning so that she wouldn't overhear their conversation.
Faith was surprised that he pulled her away. "What?"
H.J. looked serious. "We can't call her that. She doesn't know who we are yet."
Faith figured that he had a point. "Fine. How did you get here anyway?"
"I followed you," H.J. explained. "Come on. We better go back to the present. If we get caught here, then we could be in some real trouble."
"No. Now that we know that these things work, we can travel back to the point in time before dad was attacked," Faith told him.
H.J. sighed with his eyes closed. "We'll see okay. There's no telling what we've done to change the future now."
Faith nodded. "All right."
H.J. was surprised by her reaction. He expected her to argue with him, but she was being very calm about what he said. "Wow…! Okay then…"
Faith let out a grin. "Guess what? I saw daddy!"
H.J. was amazed to hear so. "You saw dad? So that means that he and mom aren't that far apart."
Faith leaned over observing Lightning. "Hmm? I wonder how old she is. When I asked dad, he told me he was fourteen."
H.J. was surprised and confused. "Really? Hmm…"
Lightning arched her eyebrow, noticing them look over. She was curious as to what they were talking about. Soon she walked over. Faith and H.J. stood beside each other as they smiled nervously. "Hi!" Faith greeted her.
Lightning's eyes traveled over to H.J. "So? You said that this was your sister?"
"Yes," H.J. answered her. Lightning looked over and observed Faith's uniform. She wondered what she was a part of. Since Lightning turned quiet, H.J. decided to ask the question that was on his mind. "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"
Lightning placed her hand on her hip as she looked at him. "Why do you want to know?"
H.J. hoped that she would tell them without getting too suspicious. "Just curious."
Lightning sighed, deciding to answer. "I'm twenty-one."
Faith and H.J. were surprised to hear her age. Faith looked over at H.J. "Wow! She's the same age I am."
Lightning looked at her a little curious. "You're twenty-one?" Faith nodded as she smiled. Then Lightning's eyes traveled over to H.J. "And how old are you?"
H.J. smiled a little. "I'm eighteen."
"So? Three years apart. Do you have magic like he does?" Lightning asked.
Faith nodded. "Yes." Afterwards her eyes turned to her brother. Her lips curved into a little smirk. "H.J. thinks that he's the better magic user."
H.J. gave a small smirk back toward her. "That's because I am."
Lightning's eyes lifted up as she became alert. "This is your chance to prove it."
Faith and H.J. turned around and saw PSICOM soldiers approaching them. Lightning took out her gunblade. Faith and H.J. got ready to attack. Together the three of them fought against the soldiers. H.J. and Faith used their magic from a distance while Lightning attacked head on. During the battle, Faith decided that using her magic wasn't stopping the soldiers fast enough. She pulled her gunblade from her carrier and attacked while switching between her gun and sword. Out of the corner of her eye, Lightning noticed the way Faith was moving. She was a little surprised. Faith's movements were similar to her own. The way she attacked and the way she would retreat by flipping backwards.
Out of the corner of his eye, H.J. spotted one of the soldiers getting ready to shoot Faith. "Faith! Switch off!" Faith's expression grew serious. She knew what he meant and tossed her gunblade toward him. She used her magic to cast Protect on herself. She held out her hands in front of her to keep her barrier strong. The soldier shot toward her, but the barrier was strong enough for her not to get hurt. In the air, H.J. caught the gunblade. Quickly, he switched to the gun and shot the soldier. The soldier fell down.
Faith's eyes darted over and saw another soldier getting ready to shoot H.J. "Hope! Look out!" H.J. looked over and saw the soldier that was getting ready to attack him. He wasn't sure if he could pull his gun in time to stop him. Faith held out her hand and casted Protect over him. She rushed behind him and grabbed the gunblade out of his hand. While the weapon was out of H.J.'s hands, he waved his hand and casted Protect over himself to reinforce her barrier. Faith rolled on the ground and shot the soldier. Together they finished off the last soldier with Faith using her gunblade and H.J. using his magic. After they were done, Faith and H.J. stood up straight. They smiled and gave each other a high five. Faith was proud of how they worked together and handled the situation. "Yeah! We did it!"
"Yeah!" H.J. agreed.
Lightning stood nearby watching with her hand on her hip. She had to admit that their teamwork was impressive. She walked over to them. "You two know how to keep up with each other and read each other's movements. That's important in teamwork." Her eyes traveled over to the gunblade in Faith's hand. She walked over and held up her hand to observe the weapon closely. She was a little surprised. Faith's gunblade was different than her own. It seemed more advanced. "Where did you get this?"
"I'm a soldier in the army. The same rank as you of sergeant," Faith explained.
"Guardian Corp or PSICOM?" Lightning had tried to figure it out since she saw Faith, but she couldn't.
Faith shook her head as she smiled. "No. Neither."
Lightning was surprised by her answer and wasn't sure what she meant exactly. "If he's not in the military and you are, then how come it looks like you both had military training. Did she train you?"
Both of them smiled toward her. "No. You did." Once they said that, they saw the confused look on Lightning's face. Instantly they changed their statements. "I mean our mother did," they both said together.
Lightning started to get suspicious. They were still comparing her to their mother. She stepped away from them. H.J. sighed. "That was close." He smiled at his older sister. "I think that we did well today."
Faith smiled as well. "Yeah. It's been a long time since we've teamed up like that. The last person we took on was mom."
H.J. placed his hand on the side of his head. There was a smirk to his lips. "Even with the two of us and teaching us everything she knew, she still kicked our butts. Even when it was two on two with her and dad, we were able to get dad, but mom, we still couldn't win."
They looked over at Lightning. Faith began to wonder. "You think if we take her on now that she would still beat us?"
H.J. wondered the same thing. "Probably."
"Hey! Soldier girl!" Faith and H.J. looked over to see Sazh heading toward Lightning with Vanille and Hope.
H.J. took Faith's hand. He started to get concerned about them being seen. "We better go." Quickly, they took off running.
When Lightning looked over, she saw that they were gone. She was surprised that they left without her noticing. Nearby Faith and H.J. were hiding higher up lying on the ground on their stomachs where they could observe the group. They looked at Lightning and then compared her to Hope. Faith pointed down to Hope. "That's daddy."
H.J. looked confused. "I don't get it. Dad is so much younger than mom. Fourteen compared to twenty-one. I thought that dad was supposed to be older. How is that possible?"
Faith shrugged. She was just as confused as him when she found out. "I don't know."
H.J. took out his time travel device. "Well we'll figure it out when we go back. We'll ask dad all right? I'm sure when we go back he'll be better." He smiled at Faith for comfort which she smiled back a little. "Right now, we should return back to the present."
Faith groaned. She was hoping that he would say that they would go back to the moment before their father was attacked. For now, she decided not to argue with him and hoped that he was right. "All right."
H.J. adjusted her device before adjusting his own. "And…that should work. Let's go." Faith looked down still disappointed. More, she thought that her brother would take her back to the present and there wouldn't be any way she could stop her father from ending up in the hospital. Soon they both disappeared.
Then, the two of them reappeared in a forest like facility. They looked around the place from where they were standing. It wasn't anywhere that they recognized. H.J. sighed as he looked down. "Where did we end up now?"
Faith continued looking around. "I'm not sure, but this place is huge." Then, they heard the loud sound of doors opening. They looked over to see Hope and Lightning running through.
Hope looked back as the doors closed behind them. "I think we got away from the soldiers for now."
"Yeah. Let's keep moving. I'll go ahead. You got my back?"
A little nervous about the idea, Hope had something else in mind. "Actually I was hoping to take lead this time."
Lightning was surprised that he wanted to lead, but then thought it wouldn't hurt to let him do so. "All right then. You take lead and I'll watch your back."
Hope nodded as he smiled. When they started walking, they noticed H.J. and Faith standing up ahead. They stopped surprised. "Hey! It's her again."
Lightning looked over at Hope surprised. It seemed like he knew at least the girl. "You've seen them before too?"
"Just the woman." A look of confusion soon appeared on his face. "It was so weird. For some reason… she kept calling me… dad."
Lightning became more surprised. "Really? For some reason, those two won't stop calling me mom." For a few seconds, Lightning's eyes met with Hope's. Was it a coincidence that they were being called that? She remembered them both saying that they were sister and brother. It was hard to imagine that they meant both of them were their parents. She couldn't understand it. She turned her head aside thinking that the idea was ridiculous and headed toward them. "You two again? You disappeared last time."
Faith placed her hands behind her back as she smiled. "Did you miss us?"
Lightning sighed as she crossed her arms. "Don't be silly. I don't even know you two."
H.J. looked at her. "Do you know where we are?"
"You're in the Gapra Whitewoods." H.J. looked over at Hope who answered. H.J. observed him. It was still hard to believe that he was so young at this point and still didn't understand why he was younger than Lightning. H.J. turned from them and began working on his device. He was trying to figure out what went wrong and why they were in the same time.
Lightning turned her eyes back to Faith. "I didn't catch your name last time. I know his."
"My name is Faith." Faith winked at her. "You might want to remember that name for future reference."
H.J. nudged her with his elbow. He turned to Hope and Lightning. "So where are you guys headed?"
"To Palumpolum," Hope answered.
H.J. looked serious as he returned his attention back to his device. "I see. To your hometown." Hope stood stunned. How did he know that? The two had never met. H.J. glanced at Hope and Lightning. "Mind if we tag along?"
"Where are you guys headed?" Lightning asked curiously.
H.J. kept his eyes on his device. "To our home."
Hope became curious as well. "Is it close?"
H.J. smirked a little as he looked at Hope. "You…could say that."
Lightning placed her hand on her hip as she looked serious. "If you stick with us, it's going to constant battle after battle."
"We can handle ourselves," H.J. assured her.
Faith nodded. "Yeah." Faith leaned in closer to H.J. as she grinned. "Plus we'll get to know mom and dad better," she said just between the two of them. Afterwards, the four of them started walking.
As they were walking, H.J. looked back at Hope. "It's hard to believe that the leader of Pulse in the future is this boy right here. It's different seeing him like this. He seems sort of…different from the father I know."
Hope looked at H.J. noticing him staring at him. "I wonder how he knew where my home was. Who is this guy?" His eyes traveled over to Faith and thought about what she said to him earlier when they first met. Her words seem so sincere even if they were hard to believe. Curious, he caught up beside her to where they were walking beside each other. "Hey Faith?"
Faith looked over at him curiously. "What is it?"
"I was thinking about what you said earlier. Is it true about what you said about the future?" Hope asked.
She smiled. "Yeah! It will be a long time from now, but you'll see. Everything will work out."
In the present time of the year 524 AF, Lightning was still sitting in a hospital chair at Hope's bedside. Her eyes were still watching over him. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain come inside of her head. Right away she pressed her hand to her head as she closed her eyes tight. She sighed out in pain. "What…?" It took some time, but the pain managed to subside.
Once her pain began to die down, she noticed that the beeping on Hope's monitor becoming louder. When she looked over, she saw his body beginning to tense. His eyes closed tight. He seemed as if he was in pain. A little bit of sound began to escape from his lips. Worried about what was going on, she stepped over to him. She wasn't sure what she could do to calm him down. She placed her hand on his forehead and pushed the strands of his hair back. "Maybe I should get the nurse. His condition could be turning for the worse." She grabbed the device by his bedside and pressed the button for the nurse.
Finally his body began to calm down. With her fingers, she gently stroked his hair. "Hope?" Slightly he turned his head toward her. "Hope? Are you doing all right? Are you still in pain?" She placed her hand on his cheek. Barely he opened his eyes. It was enough for him to see that she was there with him. His chest was rising noticeably up and down. Underneath his clear breathing mask, his lips moved as much as they could, but no sound came out. She tried to read what he was saying, but it was hard to.
Soon Hope felt his self fading back into darkness. Lightning could see that he had fallen back asleep again. She stood for a few more seconds before she sat back in her chair. She placed her hand to her head as she closed her eyes. "What was that? All of a sudden it was like… Why am I remembering Faith and H.J. right now and why do I remember seeing them in my past? I can remember them…fighting with me. That can't be possible." Her eyes lifted up and traveled over to Hope. "Hope… Was he in the same kind of pain that I was? He was fine, but then reacted the same time I did. He tried to say something to me."
"Mrs. Estheim?" a female voice called. Quickly Lightning turned her head snapping out of her thoughts and saw a nurse standing in the doorway. "Did you call?"
Lightning nodded and stood up from her chair. "Yes." It was more important to focus on Hope getting better.
In the hallway of the hospital, a group of men dressed in dark clothing were walking with smirks on their faces. They stopped by the nurses' station where there were a few nurses standing and sitting behind the desk. One of the men leaned his arm on the counter as he smirked. "Hello there! You mind telling us where Director Estheim's room is?"
The nurses were worried by how the gang looked. Nervously one of them answered. "I'm-I'm sorry. We are not allowed to disclose that information."
The man smirked more, deviously. "I think that you might want to tell us or else a lot of people are going to get hurt."
That's it for this chapter! Thank you for reading. I'll be back to update. As always, let me know what you think.
