A/N So, here we are! And we brought the last chapter! Sorry for not updating for so long. We had lots of things to do, like finishing one of our stories that we have been writing for 2 years O_O

We are glad that this fanfiction didn't take us that long to be written. We want to thank everyone who read this story and left their review! Though, we want more reviews haha… but still, we are very grateful to you, guys, for spending your time on our story.

We hope you will like the ending and tell us about your impressions!

And now, please enjoy the 4th and the final chapter of this story!~

The Jokes of Fate

Chapter 4

Hope wasn't a lucky person when it came to Lightning's mood swings. As a director of Academy, the legendary heroine's husband and a hero in the past himself, Estheim was allowed to visit his sweetheart in the hospital and see his newborn daughter. He didn't meet the wee one in person but watched her through a thick surface of a window. It was a miracle how similar she looked to her father. Nora inherited her mother's appearance mostly, while the youngest Estheim decided to look just like her father. A nurse said that even her eyes were the same green colour as his, not to mention her hair.

And it disappointed Clair a little. Well, at first she suffered while delivering the baby, it was too painful, then she nearly died from a blood loss, and when she finally wake up, the legendary knight found out that she had given a birth to another Hope Estheim of female gender. Light loved her little daughter, but she was ready to give a heavy punch in Hope's face and all his genes.

However, all her irritation vanished in thin air the moment she crossed the threshold of her house, carrying her daughter in her arms a week later.

Hope was the one who brought his beautiful wife and child home and he was praised for doing so with a tender kiss. Somehow he managed to get back his respectfulness in his wife's yes again. The soothing charm worked again.

Noel and Nora stayed at home that day to prepare the house for a big celebration. They made a perfect duet doing all the cleaning, cooking and decorating. They laughed and cheered each other up but whenever their skins touched, both jerked away and blushed, averting their eyes.

Noel understood that he fell in love with Hope and Light's daughter, but after his bitter experience with Serah, he was afraid to be left heartbroken again. There was no guarantee that Nora would return his feelings. That was why he tried to escape any opportunity of accidently touching her skin. Being in her company made him feel happy and needed, so he decided…if Hope didn't find a way to send him back to his time, he would rather hide his feelings from Nora and just be her good friend. It was what his brain told him, but his heart had another point of view.

When all the family gathered together, everyone was ready to start celebrating, but the Villers were still on their way to the Estheims' mansion. That was the time when Hope asked Noel to help him bring some wine. It appeared to be only pretence. When they stayed alone in the wine cellar, the older Estheim informed Noel that he had found out the way to turn on the time gate. He hadn't tried it yet but he was sure that his hypothesis would be a success. Kreiss had no chance to say anything because the next second they heard Snow's loud voice coming from the corridor.

Something pinned Noel's heart after hearing great news, but he decided to think about it later.

It happened that neither Serah nor Snow knew about Noel's arrival, so they were very surprised to see him all young and handsome. However, the shock didn't last long as Snow's huge arms hugged the guy in a friendly manner, it made Noel start chocking though.

Serah was as beautiful as he remembered her 20 years ago. She got older of course, but still she had that atmosphere of kindness and loveliness around her. Also Kreiss was introduced to young Villers. The boys were behaved, Noel noted. All thanks to Sarah's influence. They were like 4 drops of water with their father, but the kindness and politeness were inherited from their mother.

Everyone gathered at the table to celebrate the new member's of Estheim family birthday. The meal was eaten gratefully and the wine was sipped slowly. All two families were in high mood, only a young brown-haired man felt like he didn't belong here. He wasn't a part either Hope's or Serah's family, he felt like being caught between two different dimensions. Maybe if he drank some wine, his thoughts wouldn't be so miserable, but after Snow and Serah's wedding young Kreiss promised to himself to never drink alcohol in his life again, because the result of the previous experience was too obvious.

With a long sigh he looked at Nora, who had a chit-chat with her aunt. They looked very much alike, when you had an opportunity to watch them together. A bitter smile touched his lips. Perhaps Nora and her aunt had similarities not only in their appearance and behavior but also in love affairs. The only single thought that Nora would find out about his feelings for her and reject them made him hopeless. His gloomy mood was far too different to a cheerful one that filled the house. So Kreiss decided to leave the celebration and get a gulp of fresh air. He could come back some minutes later after all.

And it really helped. The cool night air refreshed his head a little. The guy started to muse about his destiny. Being caught in this time was a mistake. But why did he have that slightest protest in his heart whenever he tried to think about returning to his time? Everything was so tangled.

"Here you are," he heard a familiar voice that belonged to the girl he developed deep feeling for. "Why did you leave?"

Well, it was a serious question and he knew the answer, but he couldn't voice the truth.

"I…" Noel started, turning around to face her. "I thought no one would notice my absence, so I came here to think a little".

She chuckled, walking closer to him.

"Of course I noticed. It feels empty without you around," the girl stated as a matter of fact, and her words forced a swirl of butterflies dance in the guy's stomach.

"S-sorry…I didn't want to upset you. Actually, it feels great to hear such things about myself".

Nora came closer to him and looked in his face, trying to figure out the reason of his depression.

"What happened, Noel? You seem distant all of a sudden."

The piercing gaze of her emerald eyes was too hard to fight. Even if he wanted to avert his eyes from her, he couldn't.

"Thanks for your care…" he uttered, feeling a bitter smile appearing on his lips.

"Of course I care about you! You are my dear friend!" she wanted to say something more, but bit her tongue just in time, preventing unnecessary words from slipping out.

But Noel's mood got even worse after hearing her last statement. A friend…he was only a friend, a dear but not loved one. Something fell inside of him, and it seemed that his inner mood reflected on his face, because the next moment he found himself in Nora's warm embrace.

"It looks like you need it right now," she said quietly against his skin. Noel was taller, so she had to stand on her tiptoes to reach his neck.

Even knowing that her gesture of encouragement was just a showing of her pity, it was still unbelievably pleasant to be wrapped in her arms. Suddenly he felt an urge to hug her back, to tell her everything he was so afraid of, to let her know about his true identity and to reveal his hidden feeling for her.

He lifted his arms slowly and unsurely and placed them around her slim frame carefully, returning an embrace. He felt as she tightened her grip on him during the action.

"You seem distant and you avoid me. What happened, Noel? Maybe I can help you? Please, tell me what troubles you."

If only he knew how hard it was for her to say those words. Her face was all red from the shyness, from the warmth his body radiated and from those special feelings that were locked inside her heart. But seeing him all lost and lonely was too much for her, that's why she acted so boldly, letting herself hug him and give him the same support he offered her the day Lightning was at the hospital.

"Nora…I need to tell you something important. I am going-"

But a sudden voice interrupted Noel's meaningful speech as the owner of that voice opened the door and showed himself at the backyard the teens were standing.

"Nora, Grandfather has arrived! Where…are….you?" the last words were said in a confused tone, as the lord of the house had just witnessed a scene he refused to believe. "Did I miss anything?" a silver eyebrow arched above an emerald eye, as Hope crossed his arms on his chest and gifted the youth with a very disapproval gaze.

His daughter freed herself from Noel's embrace and jumped away from him, facing her father in embarrassment.

"Oh, it's you, dad! I…I'll go say "hi" to grandfather!" and after babbling that, she ran into the house, passing Hope as fast as she could.

Now there were only two men left. The first one was blushing under a piercing gaze, and the other one was boring a hole in the guy with his stern and sharp eyes.

"So…what was that all about just now?" Hope started in low tone, irritation could be clearly heard in his voice.

If to be honest, Noel was tired of everything and he didn't feel like reporting on everything he did. So instead of giving any explanations to his beloved girl's jealous parent, Kreiss looked up in Hope's eyes and said in a very serious tone.

"I want you send me back as soon as possible."

And for some reason Estheim was satisfied with that request.

In the morning everything was ready to fulfill Noel's wish. When Nora woke up and went downstairs for breakfast, she met only her mother and little sister in the latter's arms. Lightning was reading a newspaper, while sipping her hot tea.

"Where is everyone?" the younger girl asked in bewilderment, taking a seat at the table. It was still early in the morning for her dad to go to work, and Noel…he didn't leave the mansion before wishing her good luck for the day.

"Who exactly are you referring to? " the pink-haired lady demanded, never leaving her eyes from the letters in the article.

"Dad, Noel," the girl shrugged her shoulders. Somehow, she felt something was wrong.

"They left for work."

"But it's 6 in the morning!" Nora exclaimed trying to figure out what her mother was hiding from her. "Mom," her voice turned softer and gained pleading notes, "tell me, did anything happen? Yesterday, dad saw me and Noel hugging each other in the garden, maybe he misunderstood a little…"

Yes, Lightning Estheim knew everything about that little "misunderstanding" as she tried to calm her husband down in their room after the guests left. Hope couldn't take the fact that his daughter was old enough to start dating.

"It's not about any other guy. It's Noel Kreiss we are talking about! He doesn't belong to this time. He is a stranger here!" Hope tried to disagree with her that night. "I let him stay in our house and what did I get for my hospitality? He made my daughter fall in love with him!"

"But it's her life. Do you know anyone who can be a better choice for your daughter? If you don't want to hurt her feelings, talk to her at first. Or maybe, you have just misunderstood everything and they didn't mean anything like that at all," Light's words soothed his temper a little as he sat on the edge of their bed and rubbed his forehead.

"I don't know, but it looked like they really enjoyed embracing each other. Anyway, tomorrow will decide everything." He spoke slowly and looked at his confused wife with an insidious smirk. "I am sending Noel back to the future".

"Did he?" Lightning averted her eyes from the newspaper and placed them on her older child, who looked all confused and unsure. "Do you like Noel?"

That question sounded like a thunder in a cloudless sky. Nora's eyes widened, though it didn't help to hide her sudden blush.

"I…he is a good friend to me," she answered slowly, trying to calm down her rapid heartbeat.

"Well, if that's so, than I assume that you won't be too upset for not telling him goodbye".

The girl narrowed her eyes quizzically, trying to catch the meaning of her mother's words.

"What do you mean?" she asked finally and got a reply she was afraid to hear.

"Noel left. Your dad has sent him back home." Light looked at her daughter seriously and continued "And you will never see him again".

"B-but why? Why didn't he tell me?!" she stood up sharply, pressing her palms to the table for support. "What does it all mean?!"

"If you really want to find the answers, you better hurry. Noel is the only one who can give them to you. So hurry up before he disappeared from your life forever".

Somehow, Light's stern tone didn't sound that frightfully and cold anymore. A mother's care was hidden behind those words and the older woman was glad she could help her daughter to understand a simple thing.

Nora rushed to the front door and took her motorbike. She didn't know why, but she felt that there was no time to waste. She drove to Academy in high speed not thinking about all the fines she would pay later.

Noel was leaving. Why didn't he tell her anything? Wasn't it him who called her someone precious once? Didn't she deserve to know why he decided to leave without telling goodbye?

And her mother said that if he left she would never see him again. A tightening sensation appeared in her chest, when she thought about her life without the guy with the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen in her life. His presence made her happy; his smiles brought encouragement to her. Being with him and have a chance to talk to him made her feeling like a blooming rose. The previous day, she caught herself on a thought that if it wasn't her dad who interrupted their special moment, she would have surrendered to her emotions and kissed Noel. And the kiss wouldn't have been the same you gave to your friends. She wanted to show him that she really cared about him through that kiss. Maybe she was too blind not to see a simple answer to all her musing about what those feelings for Noel could be?

"I love him!" The girl cried in her mind, running down a hall of her father's research institute known as Academy. "And I don't want to lose him!"

There was only one place they could be.

With a quick movement young Estheim slid her ID card in the lock and flew in the laboratory just in time to stop the guy from stepping inside a glowing giant facility everyone called "time gates".

"NO!"

Noel stopped on his tacks when he heard a heart-rending cry behind him. That voice could belong only to one person. His eyes widened in disbelieve as he turned to look at the girl who became his happiness and sorrow in this time. And the next moment the very girl ran towards him and threw herself in his arms, hugging him tightly and protectively.

"Don't go! Don't leave me, Noel!" she cried and he felt really bad knowing that the reason of her tears was him. "Why didn't you tell me anything? How could you leave without telling me anything?!"

"Nora, please, calm down. Don't cry…" the guy said in a whisper, still fighting his feelings for this girl. "I..I have to go back. I don't belong here, my place is in the future."

She lifted her face from his shoulder and looked at him with determination.

"And my place is beside you! I will go with you wherever and whenever you go!"

"Emm…kids?" but nobody paid any attention to the elder's voice because nobody had a right to interrupt them this time.

"It's too dangerous, Nora!" Noel exclaimed, taking the girl by her shoulders. "You can't imagine how risky life in the future might be! I don't know it myself."

"No, I don't know, but one thing I know for sure. My life will be empty and miserable without you!"

"Young people?" and again Hope's attempt to catch their attention failed, so he just turned off the time gate, sat in his chair, plopped his chin on his knuckle for support and prepared to watch the scene he couldn't prevent.

"B-but why?" Noel looked deep in her teary emerald eyes, trying to find the answer he prayed to hear.

Nora put her palm on his cheek and stroked it gently, never leaving her eyes from his bottomless mirrors of soul.

"Because I love you… you are the only one I want to be with."

The guy's pupils widened after hearing her confession. He was so afraid that his feelings for her would never be returned, and now the object of his affection was telling him that she loved him and didn't want to lose him! His head began spinning from happiness and a sincere smile found its place on his lips as he embraced the dear girl and dig his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her sweet and unique aroma.

"I love you too". He whispered and felt her grip on him tightening.

Hope didn't say anything after watching that soap-opera scene. He was very upset with the fact that he brought the guy to his house and was the main reason why the love between those two bloomed, but right now he had no one to complain to. He would tell about his sorrows later, when he came back home and have a talk to his wife.

"Actually, I knew it all along," she would say later in their room. "Being Etro's knight gave me lots of abilities and predicting future was one of them".

Hope's jaw dropped on the floor literary, as he pointed through the window at two young people sitting in the garden and smiling at each other.

"And you knew that it would end up like this, didn't you?" he asked his heroine in disbelief and received a nod in response.

3 months later Estheim would ask his wife the same question but in another situation. They would be sitting on a church bench and watching their older daughter and her chosen one giving their vows of love by the altar.

"So, I assume you knew that it would turn out like this too?" Hope said in emotionless tone. Somehow, there was nothing he could get surprised with anymore.

"Yes, I did," Light uttered smiling. She was happy to see her daughter and Noel getting married. They were destined to be together even if that destiny happened upon someone's drunken enthusiasm.

"And do you have anything else that you know will happen in the future?" the leader of the Academy asked slyly, getting closer to his wife's ear. "Mind to tell me?"

"Actually, I do." She turned her head and looked at him with a whirlpool of emotions in her sky-blue eyes. "You are going to be a daddy again. And this time you will get an heir".

His reaction was priceless. His face turned from normal colour to white then to red and after all that chameleon-thing, the man covered his face with his hands to prevent himself from ruining his daughter's wedding by crying his excitement out.

After all, there were still some things that could make Hope Estheim surprised. And Lightning knew them.

The priest's proclamation "You may kiss the bride!" only proved the point, when two young people in love met each other in their first chaste kiss. It was their little mutual arrangement to leave their first kiss for the wedding ceremony. And both kept their promise. For Noel it was a real discovery: when you kissed a person you loved, it felt magical. It was what he felt when he kissed Serah in the past. But when you were kissing someone you loved and your kiss was returned with the same feelings, it felt overwhelmingly fabulous like lots of varicoloured stars flew together in one kaleidoscope of emotions.

And from this moment, that could be considered the past, Noel Kreiss's happy life began…

Sometimes fate indeed brings good jokes with happy endings.

A/N So, this is it. The last chapter and the happy ending. ^.^ It was fun to write this story and portraying Hope as a jealous and overprotective parent, who brought those two together with his own hands haha. Thanks for reading! Now we are waiting for your feedbacks, guys! Please, don't make us wait for too long! We want to know your opinion~

Hmm…maybe we will write another FF13-2 fic, but it will be fully dedicated to Light and Hope. We have an idea but we are not sure if we are going to write it fast, since the plot is romantic/dramatic and will have no humor =.= So, if you are interested, drop us some lines to let us know, okay?

Again thank you for reading! Please, review!

Sincerely yours,

Kit2000 and Anna

12.11.2012