Chapter 7: "She's so cute when she's flustered."

Hope stood beside a small pool of water as he brushed his teeth and cleaned his face. 'I have to make the best impression possible on Lightning.' He convinced himself. He looked around to see Lightning sitting by her tent staring at the dying embers of the campfire. She looked worried which for some reason made Hope worried too. She looked up from the fire and her gaze automatically fixed on him. She blushed a little and Hope waved which only made her blush more as she waved back. 'I might actually have a shot with her.' Hope considered as he finished washing his face. He walked back to the tent dabbing his face as he went.

"Hey." He said nonchalantly while moving his fingers through his hair. 'Is that the best you can come up with Esthiem?' His inner critic mocked.

"Hi." Lightning replied, keeping her composure but not making any eye contact.

"Can I sit with you?" Hope asked politely, making sure that she was okay in his presence.

She still didn't look at him but nodded curtly.

'What's up with her?' Hope asked anxiously. 'Why's she acting so weird?' He continued to ask himself. Hope decided to ask her, "Light, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." She answered quickly.

'There is definitely something wrong. I can tell when she's lying.' Hope summarised. 'Perhaps she is scared of the other's eavesdropping on us?' He suddenly realised. Hope moved a little closer to Lightning so he could whisper to her but as soon as he did so her expression changed to panic and she moved a little further away from him. "Light wait. I only want talk to you." Hope said half chuckling at her. She sat down again awkwardly. 'She's so cute when she's flustered.' Hope thought suddenly and smiled.

He leaned closer so he was in whispering distance. "Are you worried Serah and Snow will eavesdrop on us?" He whispered calmly even though he was smiling because of the way Lightning acted.

She nodded but still didn't look at Hope directly.

'Why won't she look at me?' Hope wondered but decided to ask that question later.

"Don't worry about that Light. They're too preoccupied with themselves. Look." He murmured while pointing to the two tents that were on the opposite side of the fire. Snow was messing about with his tent while Serah was in it, picking it up and shaking it about and Vanille was sitting inside her tent reading a book while Fang waited beside her, watching Vanille meticulously.

Lightning smiled slightly and nodded this time.

"See. Nothing to worry about, it's just you and me." Hope explained.

Lightning finally looked at him left eyebrow raised questioningly. "Hmm…" She murmured.

"What?" Hope asked getting slightly uncomfortable under Lightning's gaze. 'She has that look in her eyes again, like she had earlier.' Hope noticed. 'That look which definitely says that she likes me.' He re-evaluated. Hope smiled awkwardly and chuckled nervously.

"Okay. I can cope with that." Lightning suddenly broke the silence.

Hope exhaled as he had been holding his breath the whole time. "Only cope?" He asked cockily.

"Yes." Lightning replied rolling her eyes. Then punched Hope lightly in the arm and smiled a little bit.

She looked like she was focusing for a moment then asked another question, "So how's life in the big city?"

Hope hesitated before answering. 'I'm not sure whether to tell her the truth or not.' Hope considered. 'I can trust her.' He decided. "It's lonely." He said honestly.

"How can you be lonely in a city?" Lightning asked.

"Being the Director has its perks but it also has its downsides." Hope explained. "One of those downsides is that you don't have many friends, only subordinates."

"I thought Noel and Allyssa live close by." Lightning commented sadly.

"I guess…" Hope said unsurely and continued, "Noel is basically my only friend and Allyssa just stalks me." He continued but chuckled a little bit. "How about you? How are you getting on with Serah and Snow in new Bodhum?" Hope asked, hoping to divert the conversation away from himself.

"It's good, I think it's what Serah wants and if she's happy that's good enough for me." Lightning briefly explained.

"What about you though?" Hope asked.

Lightning looked slightly confused then her expression softened and she smiled and hugged Hope.

"Okay?" Said Hope confusedly.

"Nobody normally asks how I'm feeling." Lightning replied. "Thank you."

'Really?' Thought hope worriedly. "So is it good or not?" Hope said slyly.

"It is good. I'm learning to endure Snow and I'm happy for the first time in ages. The only problem I have is how loud Serah and Snow are sometimes." Lightning explained happily.

"What do you mean?" Hope asked?

Lightning raised her eyebrow again. "You really don't know?"

Hope thought about it for a moment. 'Snow and Serah were being loud and it didn't annoy lightning but she didn't seem comfortable talking about it.' "Hmm…" Hope said to fill the silence. 'That means they were… Oh… now I get it.'

"Oh really?" A mortified Hope asked. "They were doing that…"

"It's only natural." Lightning said. "You're still so naïve sometimes Hope." She exclaimed.

Hope put his hand to his forehead. "Can we stop talking about this now?"

Lightning laughed at his reaction and Hope found himself joining her. Lightning's laugh was contagious. Not to mention extremely rare. "I can't believe it took you so long to understand." Lightning explained.

"Yeah, okay… Let's move on to another subject." He said embarrassment slowly filling his cheeks with colour. "Are you still in the army?" Hope asked curiously.

"No not anymore." Lightning sighed.

"You look like you miss it." Hope said sadly.

"I do." Lightning explained. "Unfortunately your new military has high expectations of its troops and I can't join because I have none of the necessary qualifications."

"But you're the best fighter I've ever seen." Hope complimented.

"Thank you, that doesn't change much when you have to obtain special medical training or special ops training to get in now. To be honest it's a bit elitist." Lightning explained.

"Hmm… maybe I need to make some changes." Hope considered. "Wait I know. Why don't you work with me?"

"You could do that?"

"Of course, I'm the director."

"I don't know. I'd feel bad taking a job from you, besides if I'm working full time I won't be able to Serah as much."

"Okay. I can think of a few solutions. Why don't you teach me how to use a gun blade. I'm definitely strong enough now and you wouldn't be working full hours because you'd be working with Noel and the work would be split equally between the two of you."

"You make a persuasive argument Mr. Estheim, I see why the people wanted you as their leader." Lightning complimented.

"Thank you," Hope said. "You can start whenever you want, just give me a call."

"Okay." Lightning nodded.

After their discussion Hope and Lightning fell silent for a little while just staring at each other. Only a loud snore from one of the other tents managed to break them out of their trance.

Lightning looked back at the embers of the fire and Hope decided to leave her for a while. 'She'll need to think about it.' He thought. 'How long were we talking though?' He asked himself as he walked over to the cooler to get a drink. Hope realised he didn't mind how long it had been really.

There were still lots of drinks in the cooler so Hope picked out His and Lightning's joint favourite, Chocobo Cider.

He soon approached her again. She saw the drinks in his hand and patted the ground to show that she accepted his gift and that he could sit and drink with her. Hope took a sip of his and looked over to see Lightning had already half-finished hers.

"I think we should go to bed soon." Lightning stated abruptly while nodding at the tents.

Hope nodded. 'I am pretty tired.' He thought and held the entrance to the tent open for Lightning.

Now that they were actually in the tent Hope was very nervous. All that talk of Serah and Snow being loud had made his mind veer off into crazy directions. 'No, stop thinking about that.' He told himself. Lightning looked worried too but maybe for different reasons. 'I'll ask her.' Hope thought.

"What's up Light? You look worried again." Hope asked with a comforting smile.

Lightning sighed then looked Hope directly in the eyes. 'She's so beautiful.' Hope thought. 'No, stop it, focus.' He convinced himself.

"The truth is I have nightmares almost every time I sleep, I just wanted to warn you."

"You can talk to me about the nightmares if you want to." Hope suggested caringly. "I still have some pretty bad ones sometimes." He finished sadly, thinking of his mother.

"They're not really that bad." Lightning tried to persuade Hope.

"It's probably better if you talk about it. You don't have to be tough around me remember." Hope said with a genuine smile.

Lightning smiled back but she still hesitated. "They're, um… normally about losing someone I care about." Lightning started.

Hope nodded and smiled supportively showing that he was paying attention.

"Like my Mum and Dad or Serah… or… um… nevermind." She finished and blushed furiously.

"Are some of them about me?" Hope questioned curiously.

Lightning blushed more and nodded shyly.

"Is it the battle against Orphan?" Hope asked.

She nodded again.

"I have that nightmare too. Only you're the one in danger." He said looking at Lightning. 'You're the person I care most for.' He added mentally.

Lightning looked at him eyes wide in surprise.

"You care about me a lot, don't you?" She asked even though she knew the answer.

Hope grinned. 'She knows me so well.'

Lightning suddenly grabbed Hope and hugged him tightly. "Thank you Hope." She whispered.

Hope lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. Her icy blue eyes pierced into his own sea green eyes. "I'll always be there for you Light, we're partners remember."

Lightning smiled and blushed at his kind words. They lay down on the floor of the tent, foreheads together, never breaking eye contact. Lightning smiled and nuzzled her head into Hopes chest.

'I can't believe this is happening.' Hope thought looking at Lightning in his arms. 'She looks so fragile now. She's so cute.' Hope concluded before finally succumbing to the ever inviting unconsciousness of sleep…


Authors Note

Hey if you like this chapter review or favourite, reviews make my day and I hope this chapter makes your day better too.