It was a cool night. The sky was clear and you could nearly see the stars if it wasn't for the lights in the city. Hope was outside standing in front of the restaurant waiting for Lightning. He already made sure there was no problem with his reservation and now the only thing left was his guest to arrive.

After their last meeting, the week went as he expected. He received a lot of strange phone calls (the media he suspected Light was talking about) and he even saw a coworker with a gossip magazine and he was sure he saw Light and Noel in one corner of the cover. After some days of not picking the phone up, the calls stopped and the situation seemed to calm down.

With one thing less to worry about, he focused in his principal issue, the "date". In the end, he chose an elegant place for dinner but it didn't have a romantic atmosphere. He should be fine then. He hoped though that his clothes didn't make him look like he was hoping this was a date. With Serah's help, he chose to go casual: his dark blue long-sleeved t-shirt that he worn that day at work (he just came out of it and came straight here) with normal jeans. His grey jacket was covering it while he waited.

It didn't take long for her to arrive.

Getting out of a black Range Rover, Light stopped before closing the door; the driver seemed to tell her something which she responded with a roll of her eyes and said good-bye to him or her. She approached him. "I hope I didn't make you wait."

While the woman approached him, he could see her chose of clothes. The Farron ex-soldier was wearing a short dress again, but this one was dark grey and long-sleeved. This time though, the cleavage wasn't that wide and she also had her hair fixed up in a ponytail. He was almost worried he didn't dress up like her until he saw that she was wearing normal black boots, which made her outfit more casual. He came out of trance and said "Not at all. Let's get in."

Getting to their table, Light could see it was very crowded, specially a large table at the end of the restaurant. There might be around 20 people there and they weren't very quiet.

Please, don't make this worse…

Hope saw her frown and asked worried "Light? Is everything ok? You seem tense."

"I'm fine. Really." She might be stressed today… He let the subject go and sat down to look at the menu. The pink haired woman asked Hope for some of the things she didn't know what they were and finally decided for something and ordered. "It's an interesting place, by the way."

Hope looked at the direction the woman pointed with her head. The restaurant was like any other one but it had these rare columns that had fish in them. There where different coloured fish: blue and black, yellow, light blue, pink… It made a great combination of colors.

"Thanks. If it weren't for my coworkers I wouldn't know it existed. We usually come here after an exhausting day to relax."

"Like that table over there?" Pointed Light with her thumb at the table behind her.

"Yeah..." Responded scratching the back of his neck "I hope they tone it down a bit…"

Not long after, the waitress arrived with their food and started eating.

Hope then decided to ask her about her job. "So, how is a model's life like?"

"Stressing. It may take a hole day to just make 5 pictures." Responded the woman not looking away from her food.

"And you waste all day doing that?"

"Jack usually comes with me…So it's not that boring."

Hope couldn't help getting a bit jealous of Jack. "You seem pretty close to this Jack."

With a relaxed expression, Lightning drank from her cup and agreed. "We are. He has helped me a lot…"

"I'm glad you found someone to rely on in this world." The Farron sister looked at him with a surprised expression. "I mean, it would make me sad to think that you spent all these years by yourself while we weren't there…"

"I could say the same…"

Afterwards, non-of them spoke, leaving and uncomfortable silence. The soldier didn't seem to have much from her dinner and she had been staring at her plate for quite sometime, lost in thought. In Hope's head, the only thing that he was thinking about was about this relationship between Jack and Light. He admitted he was jealous. He too wanted this kind of closeness with the ex-soldier.

Seeing that the uncomfortable silence was lasting too much, Lightning was the one to speak "So I've heard from Serah that she's still not married to idiot hero. Tell me it's not because I wasn't here…"

The silvered haired chuckled at her. "Well, she wants you as her maid of honour."

The ex-soldier let out an exasperated sight. "I swear…"

"Don't tell me you would have been fine if they did get married without you."

"I can't really get mad, can I?"

"I don't think so." Hope then wondered want would have Light done in her place. "So, you think you could wait for someone that long? Like Snow and Serah I mean."

"I don't know. It depends how long maybe. I mean, I probably would the first two, three years but after I'll probably start thinking too much and turn paranoid."

Hope was surprised by her answer. "Paranoid?"

"Yes, I mean, I might think he's not coming back, he's with someone else, he's dead…"

"That makes me think you wouldn't wait but you would still love him."

"Sounds foolish…" Said Light with a slight smile.

"I'd like to think it's romantic. But I think I understand you. Nobody likes to get hurt by those they love. And to wait that long it's like a never-ending suffering."

Taking a sip of her drink while supporting her head with her other hand, the Farron sister commented "That's why I don't like it when I like somebody. It drives me crazy…"

He didn't miss that double meaning and teased her. "You're saying you are?"

At Hope's comment, she saw that her words could easily be misunderstood and tried to fix it while her face was getting hotter. "W-What? No, I didn't…say that."

The researcher laughed at her embarrassment. "I'm kidding!"

Sending daggers with her eyes at Hope, she said to him "I think I liked the kid Hope better. He respected me."

"Come on, I still do. But I wanted to tease you. I have to take advantage now that I can do it without disrespecting. You know, because now I'm older."

"You're getting too cocky. Confess you love being older than us." Accused the woman with a slight smile.

"I do. And I'm not ashamed to confess it. Even though, Serah still treats me like I'm her little brother."

"I'm not surprised. She met you as one."

"But she did meet me as an adult too. And you met me as a kid but don't treat me like one."

"I don't?" Questioned Lightning. She hadn't noticed that she was treating him any different than before.

"You don't. You treat me like an equal. And I appreciate that." Admited Hope with a smile.

She didn't really know why, but Hope's words made her feel a bit nervous and shy. "I-It's nothing. But I didn't think that it bothered you so much."

It only bothers me if you think I'm not man enough… "It doesn't really, but it can get annoying."

"Then we might be the kids, not you." The young woman saw the researcher's sad expression and tried to cheer him up. "Ok, I'll tell you this. How am I supposed to think you're still a kid when you've done a lot of stuff? I mean, you build a freaking planet."

"Y-Yeah…" Murmured Hope scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"And you als-"

Before Light could finish, the light turned out and the annoying table started signing the happy birthday song. The restaurant even put music and some annoying flash lights to go with them.

After what it seemed like ages, the signing was over and the other customers of the restaurant applauded to the birthday boy. Then, they turned the light back on and acted like nothing happened.

"Now we know why they're so noisy" Said Hope looking at the table.

"Yeah…"

Hope noticed that the ex-soldier was clenching her right fist. But he didn't have the chance to ask her if she was ok because the waitress came and asked if they wanted any deserts. Hope told the girl he was having a piece of cake and when he asked Light what she wanted, he saw that the young woman was staring at the window behind him. But when he turned around to see, he saw nothing.

"Something wrong?"

She hesitated to respond. "I…No, no. It's … nothing."

Hope started to worry because he was sure he saw her eyes glassier, like she would start crying at any moment. "Light?"

"I'm…fine" Responded the young woman putting her hands at both sides of her front head.

"No, you're not. Tell me what's wrong. Or what should I do to make you feel better."

Lightning staid in silence that long that Hope started to think she didn't hear him, but then he heard her murmur "…Get me out…"

Leaving the money for the meal at the table, he graved his coat and put it around Light's shoulders while they made their way out.

He guided her to his car and decided to take her to a hospital. She seemed to be in really bad pain and she was still graving her head.

Suddenly, in their way to his car, Lightning stopped and, covering her mouth with her hand, she rushed to a side street and threw up. Hope was staring to panic. He had never seen Lightning like this and he didn't really know what to do. Well, he did know one thing, thanks to a girl from high school, that taught him "always grab the girl's hair if she ever throws up". And that's what he did.

After she calmed herself, he helped her walk to his car and got her in the passenger's seat and drove faster than he ever had.

With all the rushing, neither of both adults saw that a young man was watching them from the shadows.

They arrived at the emergency room with difficulty because Light couldn't walk properly and it was up to Hope to literally drag her there. Seeing the young couple that just entered, the receptionist got to them and asked what was Light's symptoms which Hope could only answer that she had a really bad headache and that she threw up once.

A middle age nurse man came and guided them to a little room with a bed and said to the silver-haired to lay her down. Another nurse came in and asked for her name and she also checked on her. She asked Light how was she feeling and the young woman only responded that her head was bombing like crazy. Feeling like the patient might not be in her full capacity, she turned to Hope and asked if she had received any hit on her head recently which he responded "No that I am aware of."

A doctor arrived and the nurse gave him Light's file. While he was looking through the file, Hope saw that the young woman took a peek to see the doctor and that she seemed to murmur something around 'Shit'.

The doctor finished reading and talked to them "Look what we have here. Nice to see you again, soldier."

Soldier?

"You just like to come here, don't you?"

"Sorry but, you know her?" Asked Hope a little confused.

"Of course, I do. This is starting to be her second home."

Hope looked at her companion for answers even thought she was covering her eyes with her arm and couldn't see him. "What's going on?"

"Young man, your girlfriend here is too stubborn to listen to the doctors and continues doing that damn job. And she gets what she gets."

"I swore if you tell him you're really going to have it."

"Threat me all you want, Farron. I'm sick of seeing you here just because you do the hell you want. I told you that next time I wasn't going to do anything. And that was three freaking days ago. Maybe if I tell him, you'll behave." The doctor turned to face Hope and said "Listen carefully. Your friend is a soldier even though she suffers from migraines. Great combination, don't you think so? Now, if you excuse me, I have to attend patients that do as I ask."

Hope was left speechless at the sudden revelation. The woman who he hadn't seen in who knows how long, is a soldier? It shouldn't be that surprising knowing she was one in the other world, but still… Again? "Light, you're in the army? Even in this world?"

"Hope, I… can explain."

"Explain what, that you lied?" Hope tone of voice was getting angrier with every word he said.

Lightning tried to get in a sitting position and looked at Hope. "I didn't lie…"

"Then why didn't you tell us you were a soldier or that you had these migraines?!"

"Please, I can explain but, don't yell…"

Seeing that she was still in pain and he losing his patience wasn't helping, he tried to calm down. "Sorry… It's just… I though you believed in us…"

"It's not that and you know it."

"Then why?"

Then it was her turn to lose patience. "Because you would get mad at me. You'd probably say things like 'you didn't have enough in the other world that you had to go do the same shit?'"

She did have a point. Even though he was starting to understand her choice, it didn't make him like her decision, but it did calm him down a bit. "Yeah… we probably would. Specially Serah. But, how did you decide to become this again? And what about the model thing?"

"I was working as one. It was during a trip that they recruited me, long story short."

"And you don't have any other studies to rely on? I'm sure you had a tone of options different than... this."

"I do but… I had to. I didn't have another choice. I can't explain so, please drop it…"

Taking pity of her, he decided to end it but not before asking her current condition. "And what about the migraines?"

"I've had them since I was 15…"

"Did you have them in the other wold?" The pink haired woman answered denied with her head while still keeping it hidden under her arm. "So Serah doesn't know…"

"They only know Jack, the others and now you." Well, and that damn doctor…

Speaking of which, the man entered. "You're free to go Farron. Since you're so reluctant to take your medication I can only recommend you to go back home and relax. But before you go, I must punish you because of your behaviour."

"What is this, middle school?" Joked the soldier incorporating herself.

"Yeah, you make fun of it, but I'm serious. I'm putting you in a two-month leaving."

"You what?!"

"Keep yelling and it will be three."

"But you can't do that." Accused Lightning not believing the doctor's words.

"I can. I'm the doctor, I'm the authority here. And I don't want to see your ass in here in a long time." Giving her some files, he continued "Here, give these to your superior and don't try anything funny, he is aware of your leaving."

After, the doctor said his goodbyes and left Lightning and Hope alone. The young man wasn't pleased by the doctor's decision (even though he too thought that giving a break to Light might do some help) and went after him and try to change his mind for the woman's sake.

In the middle of the chaos that was the emergency room, the silver-haired found the doctor at the reception filling in some files. "Excuse me."

"Make it quick." Said the man not even looking at Hope.

"Ok… Look I think there might be other ways to make Light follow your recommendations."

"And I think that girl needs to quit her job. She has been in emergency three times this month. If she continues this life style of stress, she's going to get worse. And by the look on your face you're as happy with that as much as I am. You're a friend of hers?" He asked finally looking at him.

"Y-Yeah…"

"Do me a favour, convince her to quit. She's not fit to this job. She might have talent, but her body doesn't follow her."

"I'll see what I can do…"

After the doctor said his goodbyes to the researcher, Hope returned to the room and saw that Light was sitting at the edge of the bed and looking at her hands on her lap with a sad look. He staid by the door and said "Ready to go?"

"You're not mad?"

"I'm not. Just a bit disappointed." The young man came closer and kneeled before her. "How about I take you home and explain all to me."

"All?"

"Yeah. After all, you have two whole months and I have a lot to catch up about you it seems. Also, you'll need someone to watch over you. Since you're such a bad patient."

Lightning punched his shoulder and made him nearly lose his balance. "You're getting too cocky, Estheim."

Seeing that he cheered her a little bit he continued "So, you'll let me take care of you?"

"What about your job…?"

"I can bring you."

Lightning was surprised by Hope's answer. She was really interested in his research and, to be able to see it, was exciting. At the same time, though, he might be using her likings to make her do what he wants. "Your lying."

Seeing her suspicious look, Hope couldn't help but laugh at her. "Why would I?"

Still not sure about his offer, she answered "I don't know. It all sounds to pretty to be true."

"I'm serious."

After taking some time to decide if she was believing him or not, she decided. "Fine." I guess I don't have much of a choice…

"Then it's settled."

Following Light's fuzzy directions, he finally made it to her house.

Or he could nearly call it a mansion.

Helping her get out of his car, he graved her by the waist and put one arm around his neck to help her walk to the front door. Once she managed to find the keys and open the door, they walked in only to be received by barks. A dog?

"Watton, sit."

Hope chuckle at her choice of name. "Really? Watton?"

"Shut up." The silvered haired took her to the table that was in the middle of the kitchen for her to sit down. "Thanks for taking me." Thanked the young woman, sitting on the first chair. She still looked tired.

"That's interesting. You sound like I'm about to go." Remarked Hope watching her take off her boots lazily.

"You've brought me home. What more are you supposed to do?"

"Don't know." Hope bent down to the german shepherd's high and said to him. "Should I take her to bed?" Watton looked at him like he didn't understand him and the young man continued "After all, she still looks tired."

Watton barked like trying to say that he agreed with him.

"Now you talk to dogs. I think I've seen it all tonight… What's next, make things appear out of nowhere?"

Hope got closer to her and motion her to get over his back in a piggyback ride. She did it without question which surprised him. "I could, depending of what."

Searching for an answer to give to him, Light stayed in silence while Hope took her up the stairs to her room. She finally found something "Food in my fridge?"

"I could do that."

"That's nice…"

Arriving at her room, Hope laid her down and covered her with the sheets. Her eyes where half way shut when she spoke "You're staying, right?"

"You want me to?"

The young woman stared at his eyes, not sure if she would regret her answer later. Before falling asleep, she gave him her response "…Yes…"

Hope smiled at her answer. He really didn't know if it was really her talking or the tiredness but he'll take it.

He left her door cracked open just in case she called him for anything and went down stairs to sleep on the sofa. He took off his trousers and shirt and graved the blanket that was on his improvised bed and laid down. Before he could close his eyes, Watton came and put himself comfortable near him at the floor. He petted the animal until sleep over took him.

In a warehouse near the outskirts of London, a young man stands outside, at the entrance, looking at the beautiful moon shining in the sky.

"And to think, this could have been all yours…"

A woman approached him from behind. "Everything is ready for your use."

"Did you find that woman?"

"I'm afraid not."

"She will come eventually. You're free to go. But one last warning: if you encounter her, do not touch her. She's all mine."