Slayzer: -Playing DS- Man this Four Heroes of Light game is great!

Lighting: Yeah, a few hours into and your already a Brandt/Yunita fan aren't you?

Slayzer: -Shocked- How did you know!

Lighting: If you put Brandt with Aire then it's to much like a Canon couple and you hate that. Also there's your fetish for young boys with older woman.

Slayzer: Don't make me out to be a freak, in fact just for that your going to help me with a Brandt/Yunita play with both you and Hope will play the title rolls.

Hope/Lighting: What!

-Night the city of Guera-

Lighting: Brandt I want you stay here. It's far to dangerous for a young boy like you.

Hope: No, I can handle it! I saved you in the witch's castle didn't I? I know I'm not as strong as Krinjh but give me a chance to prove myself to you.

Lighting: Oh, Brandt. I just don't want to lose you. I failed to protect the Princess once and the kingdom of Horne but if I were to lose you

Hope: -Hugs Lightning- Nothing's going to happen Yunita. please believe in me and I will get stronger I swear it. Just don't leave me alone.

Lighting: 'Why do I feel like this when I'm around him? Why dose this boy move me in ways no man ever could? Yet it is that same feeling that makes me fear for him all that more' -Pulls Hope closer- Brandt…

Hope: Yunita…

Hope/Lighting: - they kiss tenderly-

Slayzer: -Sweatdrop- You two only were only supposed to hug you know.

Hope: -Blushing and to stunned from the kiss to say anything-

Lightning: We were just getting into character!

Slayzer: Right, right tell it to the jury.

All things Final Fantasy are owned by the fine sexy people of Square Enix. that's both FFXIII and The Four Heroes of Light.

Like I said I'm only few hours into the game Four Heroes so if this Brandt Yunita thing doesn't pan out later in the game just keep it to yourself and let me dream of may have been.

Unnatural Progression

By Slayzer.

The sun had set and night fell on the land of Pulse. Our heroes slept soundly as Lightning watched over them but only for half of the first watch. As a young but growing girl Lightning needed her sleep. Snow and Fang had been against it at first but Lightning would not give in. Before her accident she would always be one of a the people on a night watch. It was a matter of Lightning still being who she is and not letting this second childhood stop her.

Snow and Fang had agreed but they only let Lightning take a two hour watch. Lightning felt like they put her on curfew however she agreed to that if only to prove to them that she could do it. Everyone else went right to bed and were soon fast asleep. The stillness of a night on Gran Pulse could do that to you, it make you feel so small and at the same time you're the only thing in the world. It gave Lightning time to reflect on her situation.

'What will Serah think when she sees me. Will she still except me as her older sister or will she shun me.'

Lightning had not been the best big sister to Serah and if fact that had made the two of them strangers to each other. Sometimes when Serah come over to visit Lightning would feel like 'Who the hell are you and why are in my house?' even if they were the only family they had.

Lightning drew her gunblade, it was of a tooled down size just as her clothing were tailored down. In some ways it was like she was a child in a costume. If they made it back to Cocoon Lightning knew she couldn't be part of the Guardian Core. True she resigned to get on the Purge Train but in her heart she was still Sergeant Farron of the Core and prod of it. What would her commanders say if she walked up them as she was now and asked for her old job? They laugh in face and send her away.

The gunblade in Lightning's hands started to tremble, she had nothing.

Serah and her job were the only two things Lightning had, they defined her as much as anything. Lightning thought back to when she was fifteen. The death of her parents still so fresh and needing to look out for Serah in an orphanage and hating all of it. Back then Lightning wasn't a child, she was a non-person and all she wanted was to grow up and be something. Now that something she work so hard to become was gone.

"Dad, Mom…" Hope's soft sleepy voice called out to the darkness and interrupted Lightning's self-pitying.

Hope was fast asleep but it was a troubled sleep. Hope was sprawled out on his back with his yellow coat folded it up and tucked under his head as a pillow. Only the boy's black t-shirt and teal bandana covered his chest that rose and fell with every breath.

'Is he warm enough?' Lightning thought as she quietly moved towered Hope.

'Of course Hope's warm. You know that first hand don't you.' the random thought brought with it the memory of cuddling, no Lightning corrected herself, of sharing body heat with him.

Lightning was now sitting right next to Hope and she remember feeling the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. The genital rhythm of Hope's life that rocked her to sleep so contently that one night. Now that peaceful rest was trouble by unsettling dreams and seeing Hope like that trouble Lightning as well.

Every so gently she brushed some of Hope's sliver bangs aside and stroked his forehead softly. After a few moment he grew at ease and a small smile crossed his face.

'He must be thinking about his Mother.'

"Light…"

Her heart skipped a beat, had he woken up!

No, Hope was still asleep but he was now dreaming Lightning as she touched his forehead. That feeling of joy mixed with the shot of adrenalin from her almost being discover and made Lightning a little giddy. She looked at how the moon light played on his sliver hair, his cute face and those lips that cooed her name.

'He look's just like a princes from a fairytale.' oddly enough that was not the first time Lightning had that thought.

Back in the Grappa Whitewoods Lightning thought about how she was now literally a knight on a white horse with Odin. If that was true then was Hope the fair Prince she had to protect? Even at the time when Lightning was so cold and driven that childish thought tickled her, even if the gender rolls were reversed.

As a little girl one of Lightning most cherished memories was of her Mother reading fairytales to her. The only reason those were more prominent then others was because as a little girl Lightning loved those stories. It was the knights and how heroic they were that captured the young girls imaginings not the fair princesses.

Somehow that childish fantasy endured in Lightning. She was a brave and noble knight while Hope was her fair Prince. Lightning smiled as she leaned in close to Hope, careful not to awake him.

Then with a voice that was even less then a whisper. "Shall I wake my kind and handsome prince with a tender kiss?"

Lightning leaned in ever closer and ever so slowly, her strawberry hair brushing against Hope's face. She could feel his hot breath as their lips were but inches apart. Lightning took a moment to wet her lips, take a deep breath and close her eyes.

Lightning moved toward Hope for the finish.

"Ohhh! I can't take it's so exciting!" Vanille squealed with repressed childlike joy.

"Damn it, you ruined the moment." Fang said as she playfully slapped Vanille on the back of the head.

Lightning froze, her lips just a finger's breath from Hope's and turned around. There sitting on a log was Fang and Vanille watching Lightning like it was a movie. Adding to the insult was the fact that the two of them were munching on a bag of mixed nuts.

Lightning was trapped, she wanted to yell, attacked and runaway all at the same time but her closeness to Hope made that impossible. So all Lightning could do was bottle those feeling up and blush right to pink roots of her hair.

"Hell, lightning looks like she about to explode." Fang said as she handed Vanille the bag of nuts.

Fang ran over to Lightning and picked the stunned girl up without waking Hope or even disturbing even a blade of grass. Then she and Vanille took Lightning some ways away from camp so she can vent in peace.

Hope rolled over in his sleep, for some reason he felt disappointed.

-some ways away-

"Okay now you can let it all out." Fang told Lightning as she set her down.

Lightning then grabbed Fang with one hand and her gunblade with the other. The looked on the young girl's face was every close to murder. Then after a few deep breaths Lightning let go of both.

Vanille was generally apologetic. "We're so sorry we spied on you Lightning. Fang was going to take over your watch but then she saw you and Hope like that. She woke me up too and well I guess we couldn't help it."

"No, thank you for stopping me. I don't know what came over me but I almost did something foolish."

"Foolish? I thought you were really cute. I never seen your sensitive side and I bet Hope wouldn't mind seeing you like that more often."

"That was just.. I mean I was only a little confused. I don't have feel anything for him."

Fang laughed at that. "Really? I've seen starving Razorclaws with less intent in their eyes then you when you were about to kiss Hope."

"Don't say it like that! I'm not some kind of Predator!"

Predator. That word had another meaning in Cocoon.

Lightning become so upset it almost brought her to tears. "I'm not a predator! I would never hurt Hope like that!"

Vanille reached out to Lightning but she turned away. "Don't you like Hope?"

"No I don't! It would be wrong of me to feel that way for him."

"Why would that be wrong?"

"Because I'm older then him! I don't care what I look like. I know that I'm twenty-one and he's fourteen!"

Fang smiled as she understood Lightning's dilemma. "I see what the problem is. Lightning you've run out of excuses haven't you? Maybe at first you let Hope tag along with you out of sympathy or because in some ways he's like you. Then you decide you have to protect him and train him how to defend himself. Now you realized it's not about any of that and you just enjoy having him around you and you don't know why but then it hits you…"

Fang stops and points to Lightning. "… Lightning you've been in love with Hope for a lot longer then just these past few weeks haven't you?"

Lightning turned away form Fang not wanting to hear anymore. "Ridiculous."

"Yes it is, love is ridiculous and makes fools of us all but here you are in love with Hope. Now, that age barrier isn't there and you can't make excuses for yourself anymore."

Lightning couldn't deny that there was more then a little truth to Fang's words. In many ways, in far to many ways, Hope was Lightning's ideal boyfriend. She wanted someone who excepted her and wouldn't try to change her. He'd be as honest with her as he was with himself. He'd also know when Lightning needed space and when she need to be chased after, even if Lightning was never quite sure of it herself. Hope was all those things and more but Lightning couldn't except that her ideal man was a boy seven years her junior. Now that gap in age was only one year but Lightning's resistances to her growing love was still there.

"Is it really okay to feel like this? Even if these thoughts and emotions of mine were dirty before is it okay now? Wouldn't I still be taking advantage of Hope?"

Vanille hugged Lightning gently with a sad sigh. "Oh, Lightning you need to allow yourself to be happy. Lying only hurts people, I know that for a fact. If you were honest with your feeling and with Hope I'm sure you'd be happy, I'm sure Hope would make you happy."

For the first time Lightning believed that it was okay to fall in love. That it wasn't all heartbreak, hurt and loss.

"Then again maybe Hope doesn't like the new Lightning? If he feel in love with Lightning as she was then he may not like young girls and be more into older woman."

Lightning's stomach leached as the loving high she was on dipped low into doubt. 'I know why they call love an emotional rollercoaster, it makes you want to throw up.'

"Fang don't say that, your upsetting Lightning again!"

"Hey I'm just putting it out there as a possibility but if that's the case then I might be more to Hope's taste then Lightning." Fang waited for what kind of reaction she'd get of Lightning with this.

Lightning cracked open an Fortisol shroud and let the battle enhancing magic wash over her. Fang took a step back seeing that she had crossed so far over a line with Lightning she was in a Kill-Zone. "Wait! Wait! I'm sorry can't you take a joke!"

If Fang's pleadings meant anything to Lightning she didn't show it as she pulled together some powerful thunder magic.

-Back at camp-

The boys were sleeping soundly until a bright flash of light and a loud boom woke them up.

Sazh looked around to see what it was. "What the hell was that?"

"Do you hear something?" Snow asked.

There came a loud pitiful yelping sound, almost like it was part wounded animal and part human.

Several minutes later Lighting retuned to camp without saying a word.

A few minutes after that Vanille retuned dragging Fang's unconscious and scorched body.

"My god what happened to Fang!" Sazh asked helping Vanille move Fang somewhere she could rest.

"Lightning…" Vanille began but was soon cut off by Lightning.

"That's right, she got struck by lightning, it was a freak storm out of no where."

Snow clearly didn't buy it. "Fang was struck by lightning? There's not even a cloud in the sky."

"I did say it was a freak storm." and with no farther expatiations Lightning went to bed, far more tired then she would have like to be.

There was some movement near Lightning as Hope move to lay down next to her. He was maybe only an arms width away and that was as close to her as he dare get to her when she's in a mood.

"So did Fang get struck by lightning or did she get struck by Lightning?" there was a slight nuance in how Hope said her name.

Lightning allowed herself a rare mischievous smile. "I don't know. I guess it's just going to be one of those unsolved mysteries."

Hope chuckled lightly at that and moved to get up.

"You don't have to leave." Lighting was to proud to say that she wanted Hope to stay but he got the message and laid back down.

The two then stayed like that as close to each other as they dare let one another get.

"You know I was having the strangest dream." Hope's voice was just above a whisper so only Lightning could hear him.

"What about?"

"At first I was dreaming of losing my parents and it wasn't at all pleasant but then I felt this, well I don't know, this kindness over me. Then it wasn't so much a dream as it was a feeling. This kind, loving feeling that got stronger and stronger until I felt like something wonderful was going to happen to me."

"How did it feel, was it nice." Lighting asked as she blushed deeply.

"It was beyond nice. I don't think I'd ever felt anything like that before. I just hope I can feel like that again. Anyway I should let you rest, goodnight Lightning."

"Goodnight Hope and sweet dreams."

Lightning dared a smile and a slight blush as she looked over at Hope. 'If you'd let me Hope I'd watch over as you sleep and make sure you only have sweet dreams.'

-end-

Help me! I'm chocking on to much fluff!

-Cough!-

-Gag!-

-Hack!-

-Munch!-

-Oh!-

Fluff taste like cotton candy, yum.

I was working on this chapter for like two weeks and hated it. So I deleted it all and started over from fresh inspiration and came back with this. Is it good? I hope so because I hate to second guess myself but I do think this is far better.

I'll always thought the Fairytale Knight and Princesses metaphor works well for Light/Hope. I mean come on she really is a on a white horse.

Then I thought instead of just having Lightning fall in love with Hope I thought it be cooler if she was always in love with him but repressed that. Now Lightning's had this inner conflict between herself image as she was and still believes herself to be and the new her and her rediscover lover with this second childhood. I think that has a lot more meat on it then just Lightning falling for Hope, she is but she's fighting it for the sake of her pride.

Anyway I find myself using Fang more and more as a comedic foil then anything. After all Fang and Vanille are a little bit like Xenia and Gabriela and sometimes I think their more like Abet and Costello. A lot of untapped comedic energy in those two, far more then picking on Sazh who already is the odd man out in the crew.

So tell me what you think, I love the feedback you've all been giving me and I'm sorry if it's felt like I've ignored this work for a while.