Author's Notes: I really want to thank everyone who sent in a review. Your words were really kind and encouraging. I'm the one who should be grateful for everyone reading this. I have to admit that I always get nervous when updating... Anyway I hope you like this chapter. Still wanted to try something different.
Chapter 7: Call Nights 3-5
Call Night Three
"Do you ever regret what happened between us?"
Hope blinked surprised and confused as he stared at Lightning on his screen. "What do you mean?"
Her eyes drifted down. "I know I thought that before, but I never really asked." She lied back against her bed with her hand on her stomach. "I mean having Faith so soon."
His eyes traveled down as he was thinking. "Hmm…" Then he gave her a serious look. "No. I don't regret it. I'll admit that it was early and we haven't really talked about it, but I see it this way. If we didn't now, then we might not have Faith. Who knew what we would have had. I just think that it was meant to be." When she looked into his eyes, he seemed sincere. "What about you?"
Lightning snapped out of her thoughts. "What?"
Hope looked serious. At the same, he was curious as to what she thought. "Do you ever regret sometimes?"
Lightning thought about the words that Hope said. If it didn't happen when it did, then who knew if they would've ended up with Faith. It's hard to imagine not having her now. Slightly she shook her head. "No."
"What made you want to ask that?" Hope asked interested.
"Just wondering," Lightning replied.
Hope thought back to yesterday when they talked. He noticed that there was something on her mind before they split. "Is that what you wanted to ask me last night before you left?"
Her eyes drifted down. "Yeah…" she admitted.
Hope looked over toward the side. "There was something that I had been wondering too."
Lightning lifted her eyes curious. "What's that?"
Hope's eyes met with hers. "I was wondering if you would ever go back to using your name of Claire again."
Lightning was surprised that he brought that up. "How come you want to know about that?"
A smile curved at his lips. "I just think that it's a nice name."
Her eyes lowered. "I don't know. The only person who really called me that is Serah."
"It's just a thought I had, but I would actually…like to call you that at least once," he told her hopeful.
Lightning looked off to the side. She felt unsure about it. Maybe it was because no one had called her that in a while. Still it couldn't hurt to let him. "I guess that would be all right."
It made him glad to hear that. Soon another thought crossed his mind. "So I take it that Faith is asleep?"
Lightning's eyes traveled behind her to see Faith sleeping beside her. "Yeah. I doubt she'll wake up like she did last night."
A smirk formed on Hope's face as he remembered something from yesterday. "So? Ready to admit that I was right about you being addicted to sweets?"
Lightning crossed her arms as she frowned. "You're still on about that?"
"I'm not going to forget it," he assured her.
A sigh left from her lips. "You can try as much as you want, but you can't get me to admit anything no matter what you do."
Hope sighed as he closed his eyes. "Fine… I guess I can't anything out of you." Then, curiously, his eyes traveled away from his screen once he heard a noise.
Lightning wondered what it was as well. "What was that?"
Hope kept searching over. "I don't know. I'll check it out." Soon he disappeared out of sight of the screen. Things had turned quiet.
Lightning waited patiently, but then heard a loud thump again. "Hope?" There was no answer. She searched the screen. "Hope. Answer me." Suddenly she saw the screen shake and another loud noise as if something had dropped. There was also the sound of pain. Lightning looked anxious. She wondered if something was wrong. "Hope!"
Shortly after Hope plopped down on the bed in front of her as he smiled. "Were you really that worried about me?"
Confusion was written on her face. "What were you doing? What was all that noise?"
Nervously he smiled. "I just knocked something off of the bed on the ground. I forgot I put it there. Maybe I dropped something to scare you a little, but then I almost tripped on something else."
Lightning frowned. "So you tried to scare me?"
"Only because you said that you won't admit to anything so maybe I tried to get you to admit something. So you were worried about me?" he asked interested.
Lightning crossed her arms. She was still a little upset that he tried to scare her. "No."
Hope smiled. "I heard how you sounded. I think you actually were ." Her eyes drifted to the side not ready to admit anything. He became curious. "What were you thinking?"
She kept her eyes away from him. "I thought that maybe someone broke into your room or something."
"Which means you were worried about me?" he replied.
Lightning frowned at him. "That wasn't funny."
"I was fine except for my foot that I hurt." As Hope spoke, his eyes traveled over toward his foot. The pain had faded away from it.
She gave him a serious look. "Serves you right."
"What started off as an accident became a little joke. I'm sorry." A small, hopeful smile appeared hoping that she would accept his apology.
A part of Lightning was still skeptical. "Yeah right. What if I did that to you?"
A smile crossed over his lips at her words. "I don't think you really can."
She arched her eyebrow to him, wondering why he would say that. "And why not?"
"Because you make sarcasms not really jokes," he answered.
She didn't completely understand why he would say that. "What?"
"You usually give me sarcastic remarks," Hope pointed out.
"I could pull jokes just as much as you could."
He smirked a little. "I would like to see you try." For a few seconds, Lightning turned silence. Her eyes lowered as she began to get lost in thought. It was interesting challenge, but she wasn't sure what she could really fool him with. He became curious. "Light?"
Finally she turned to him on her side as she relaxed. "You're probably right."
Hope blinked surprised. He never expected her to say he was right about that. A little suspicion grew. "Are you just saying that?"
Lightning gave him a sincere look. "No."
The answer made him feel uneasy. Not easily would she agree that he was right, but he would believe her for now. "All right then..."
She tilted her head on her hand. "Actually I was thinking about something you said earlier."
Interest grew within him. "What's that?"
"You asked me the other night if I would miss you if you were gone for weeks or forever. I guess I would. Not just Faith," she told him.
Hope smiled a little, wondering what brought that up, but nevertheless was glad to hear her say so. "That's good to know."
Serah became surprised as Lightning turned silent. "Was that all? What about the part when Faith got the doll?" A smile appeared on Lightning's lips. Serah wasn't sure why, but Hope could tell that why she was smiling. He knew the next part of the story too well. It still must've been funny to her.
Lightning kept staring at the screen. "I was surprised the night before you left."
Instantly Hope wondered why. "Why?"
"Because I thought that something else was going to happen," she replied, recalling back to a few nights ago before he left the next day.
Hope's eyes searched hers, but then traveled down, noticing that her fingers were fiddling with the strap of her tank top. As much as he tried not to read into it, his curiosity began to peak. It was hard to tear his eyes away. He glanced at her once, but his attention was still on her hand as he wondered. "Well it was just nice having you and Faith near me."
Lightning noticed that he seemed distracted. Her eyes drifted toward the side toward her shoulder and hand. "It was nice, but at the same time it was too bad."
Confusion appeared on his face. "How so?"
Her eyes lifted up to him. "Because I was thinking the same thing too, but you had to leave the next day. We didn't have a chance. Who knows what things would have been like?"
A faint smile crossed over Hope's lips. "But I'll be back in a few days and then we could pick up where we left off."
Lightning leaned her head on her head as she looked at him. "But that's the thing. I'm not sure if I can wait until you get back."
What she told him surprised him more. A thought crossed his mind of what she could mean, but he wasn't sure. "What are you proposing?"
More she began to twist her index finger in the thin strap on her shoulder. "I was thinking since you were feeling lonely and so was I, why don't we try something to help us both get over it?" At a loss of words, he blinked surprised. He never thought that he would hear her suggest something like that. She continued. "So what do you say?"
Hope was still skeptical about her suggestion and if she would carry through on it. "Are you serious about this?"
Lightning gave a slight shrug. "Yeah. Why not? But if you don't want to it's all right." Hope's eyes traveled toward the side. Truly he was at a loss for words. She could tell that he felt uneasy. "I could go first." She placed her computer on top of the dresser.
In silent, Hope's eyes lifted up beside her. The words held back in his throat. He thought about stopping her, but no part of him would move to try. Then a thought crossed his mind which made him surprised. "Wait? Isn't Faith with you?"
"I'll place her in her room, but then again…" A smirk crossed over her lips. The tip of her index finger stopped near her lips. "…I know how to stay quiet." Nervously, he swallowed deeply as his face began to heat up. From her end, she couldn't see his cheeks turning red. "This could be practice if you're ever gone away from a long time and we don't get to see each other."
Quietly, but nervously he nodded. Never had this been brought up nor would he guess that she would come up with the idea. "Right."
Soon she looked down and removed her blanket. Her hands had reached down and pulled her shorts away from her, completely leaving her underwear behind. She turned on her side and lifted her eyes to him. A smirk seeped through her lips as she saw him staring. She slid her hand along her side to her hip. "Having fun just staring at me like that?"
Hope snapped out of his trance. "Oh! Right! I…Wait…"
Lightning almost wanted to laugh at how he was getting flustered, but kept it to herself. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"
Nervously his body jumped a little. "Yes! I mean yes it's fine if you want to continue."
A smile of comfort crossed her lips. "Relax. It's all right you know. This is just between us got it? No one will know about it."
Hope smiled feeling a little at ease about it. He nodded. "You're right."
She reached over and pulled down both straps from arms until they were completely off. She turned and lied down on her back. She used her arm to cover over her chest so that he wouldn't see just yet. Lightly her fingers trailed along her stomach and moved further down until she stopped onto the fabric at her waist. "You ready?"
He smiled nervously as he leaned on his elbows. He continued watching as his mind traveled to what could happen. "If you're ready, I'm ready."
A smile curved at her lips, but then Lightning turned on her side still keeping herself covered. Her hand leaned against the keyboard of her computer. "Right. There was one more thing I forgot to do."
Hope looked curious, but kept his interested smile on. "What's that?"
A gentle smile formed on her face. "Good night Hope." Soon the expression on his face changed to surprised. Before he could say anything, she pressed a button to end the call and closed her computer. She returned her straps back to her shoulders and lied down on her side toward Faith. She laughed a little, but quietly enough not to wake Faith. The look on his face was priceless although she wondered if she had gone a little too far. The idea crossed her mind and at first, she wasn't sure if she was going to go along with it to fool him, but she thought it was a way she knew she could get to him. Maybe now she had proved him wrong when he said that she couldn't pull a joke off. A part of her wasn't sure if she could pull it off or if she would spoil it before it was over. There were times she wanted to laugh at the fact it was actually working. She wrapped her arm around Faith and proceeded to fall sleep. Her body against the mattress felt cooler somehow now that she left her shorts off. "It is kind of better sleeping like this," she thought.
On the other side, Hope tapped his computer a few times. "Light?" He couldn't get her back. He breathed out. He closed his eyes figuring that she left from him right away on purpose. As he lied back on his back, he stared up thinking that it was a little strange that she would suggest something like that, but he ended up falling for it anyway. "Wow! She tricked me and I actually fell for it. I thought it was a little strange at first," he thought to himself. "I should have known that she was up to something when she agreed with me without even arguing a little. I didn't think that she was that upset that I worried her before." It was a little hard to relax. He lifted the blanket as he looked further down it. It was going to be hard to calm himself down after that. He sighed and placed his hands behind his head. His eyes lifted up toward the ceiling. "Great. She just made it harder for me to go to sleep now," he thought to himself. He relaxed and closed his eyes. Eventually he fell asleep.
Patiently, Serah waited for Lightning to finish, but she had remained silent. She blinked curious. "So…? What happened?"
Lightning looked toward the side thinking. It wasn't long before she decided that it was best to leave that part out. She returned her attention back to Serah. "Nothing much happened. He played a prank on me so I played one on him."
Serah placed her hands on her knees in front of her that she was sitting on as she smirked. "Really? Since when do you play tricks on anyone?"
Lightning nudged Hope with her elbow which he smiled. "He started it. I just couldn't let him get away with it. It was worth it. I got him good."
Hope sighed with his eyes closed. "Sure…"
Serah's eyes traveled between Lightning and Hope. "Whatever it was, it must've been good."
Lightning looked over at Hope as she smirked. "Yeah. It was really good." It was something that she wouldn't let him forget.
Call Night Four
As Lightning was awake and lying in bed, she looked over at her computer screen. She thought it was strange. Now was the time that usually Hope would call, but she didn't see any sign of him. Patiently, she waited a few more minutes, but still there was no sign. She sighed as she closed her eyes. It didn't seem like he would come on. A little disappointed, she cut off her computer. As she lied with her eyes closed, she wondered what reasons could be holding him up until she fell asleep.
Call Night Five
"What happened to you last night? You weren't actually upset about what happened the other night were you?"
Hope grabbed onto his pillow as he lied against it. His lips curved into a smile. "No. It wasn't because of that." He closed his eyes as he gave a look of defeat. "You got me. I was fooled like you wanted. That was your attempt at a joke on me right because of what I pulled on you?"
Lightning's lips curved into a smile. "What can I say? You wanted to play one on me and I thought about letting it go, but then decided I didn't want to let you get away with it."
Hope tilted his head a little to the side as he let out a smile. "A little harsh wasn't it?"
She gave him a faint smirk as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. "Well…maybe a little, but you brought it on yourself."
"I brought it upon myself?" he quoted her, wondering a little what she meant.
"You said that I couldn't make a joke. I was going to let it go, but…" A smile seeped through her lips. "I guess I'll admit that it was kind of fun. The look on your face was worth it."
Hope gave faint smile. "I bet it was. I should have known."
An idea crossed Lightning's mind as she thought back. "Maybe I should try more of those on you more often."
He sighed. If she carried through on her words, then he had to wonder what he had created. "Maybe I shouldn't have done that."
She gave a small smirk as she crossed her arms. "Maybe you shouldn't. I hope you learned something out of this."
"Yes…" The look of defeat on his face had made her smile. Soon, Hope opened his eyes. "I'm sorry about last night. I meant to call, but I had been working all day and by the time I finally made it to my room I was exhausted. I was going to cut on my computer, but as soon as I lied on the bed, I passed out."
"They have you working harder?" she asked curious and a little concerned.
"Nothing I can't handle which…" His eyes lowered. "I kind of have some bad news..."
Lightning noticed the disappointed look on his face and wondered why. "What is it?"
Hope's eyes lifted back to her. "Well… It seems that I'll have to stay here in Palumpolum for a few more days. This is taking a lot longer than expected. My team will have to join me here so that we can work. Hopefully I'll be back before too long."
More she understood the situation. "All right."
The look of disappointment was still clear on Hope's face. He glanced toward the side thinking of what else he had to say before he returned his eyes back to her. "That also means that I'll be working late nights so I won't be able to talk to you like this while I'm here."
"So this will be our last night?" she asked to be clear.
Hope nodded. "At least until I let you know when I'll be back."
Her eyes drifted to the side. She had gotten used to speaking with him every night. "Hmm…"
He smiled a little. "So? Anything on your mind? You're not going to try and fool me again are you?"
A smile escaped from her lips. "No. Not this time."
-End-
Thank you for reading! I'll be back to update as soon as I can!
