Quietly into the night

by rpwindfall

Set 2AF, the world has prospered due to excavated Pulsian tech, called "Packages", but now it is under grave threat; both from encroaching Pulsian wildlife and from more sinister sources. Hope, forcibly turned into a half Fal'cie, is the only chance of banishing the darkness. Not for the fainthearted. Eventual Hope x Light.

10. A slight sadness

Hope did not return to the house but decided to go for a walk. It was getting dark, but he felt no need to return to the house and put on some more clothes-it was still quite warm. He walked down the beach for a few minutes before turning off along a small path. There were no streetlights here; only the moon provided illumination. In the faint distance he could hear the sounds of people so he decided to head in that direction, away from the sea. After a few more minutes he came across an underground subway sign.

Beachfront

Hope looked on in interest-he hadn't realised that Kankoon was connected to a subway system. He didn't have any money but he hoped that the fares were free. They had been in New Cocoon at any rate. He really didn't feel like returning home. I can't believe she did that! He blushed furiously as he recalled what she did to him. The station was empty at this time, but he could hear the sound of an approaching train in the distance. He rushed down the stairs and was relieved to find that there was no ticket counters. He went straight down and waited, as the train rushed out of the darkness and into the brightly lit platform. Beachfront was the last stop, and Hope was not surprised to see that the train line was only limited to Kankoon. He would have to get another train from the town centre of he wanted to go to Krantos proper. That was not a problem right now however, so he entered the train. It had a very modern design, and Hope was glad as the cool air of the air conditioning washed over him. The train was connected with no doors between the carriage, and Hope could see all the way down it's length. The few people that were aboard got off. The sides of the trains were covered in glass, allowing passenger to see outside, but above were numerous holographic displays. Some showed tv shows, but most displayed changing advertisements. On the side of his seat-which were bench like along the length of the train was a button with a symbol depicting 'map.' He pressed it.

A holographic map shimmered into the air. A long snaking blue line, over 3d terrain depicted the route of the train.A blinking red sphere at the end of the line showed their current position. Kankoon was not a big town, and the line was small-according to the map only 32 kilometres. The train started to move in the opposite direction to before. As the train started to pick up speed, Hope felt inertia much against him. The speed of the train quickly rose to over 300 miles an hour, and minutes later they were at the next stop. Here a few people got aboard. Hope sat back with a sigh. He decided to get off at a station named Central Kankoon. It was 4 stops away-only 15km. Judging by the speed of the train, it would not take long to get there.

His thoughts drifted back to his dad, and he felt the familiar constricting in his throat. Who did this? [What?] Killed my dad and made me into…this. [You think it was the same people?] I…have a feeling. [We should let Lightning and the others know. They can help us in case something happens].

Hope sighed and rubbed his forehead. It was still painful, but even now the pain was starting to fade. We can't tell anyone. [Do you not trust them?] They hate fal'cie. All of them. If I tell them I'm half fal'cie…[You think they will abandon you?] I can't take that chance. They are all I have left. [The people who did this to us are not going to leave you alone. They will be coming-if they are not here already.] Let them come! They took him from me! He was all I had and they took him!

Hope stood up quickly, the vehemence in his words ringing in the space of his mind. He curled his hands in a tight fist. He would get revenge. There was no grey area here. Not like with his mother. Here it was black and white. They were the enemy. The thought of telling Lightning and the others flicked through his mind. He didn't think that they would abandon him-not really, but he didn't want to rely on their help. He wasn't that small boy anymore. That helpless kid flailing into an uncertain future. His dad had been taken. He would deal with it.

With a graceful stop, the train pulled into Central Kankoon Station. Hope gripped one of the support bars to steady himself. He felt the grief inside him start to form into familiar rage. It was the same rage that had plagued him after his mother had died. It was the same rage that had kept him going. And he needed to be kept going. Focus on the target Hope. Lightnings words from so long ago flowed back into his head and he nodded to himself. He needed to focus. First he needed to pass the Guardian Corps officer exam. An impossible order for a 16 year old. At least it would have been if it wasn't for the fact that he was half fal'cie.

He exited the train, and was jerked out of his thoughts by the beauty of the station. The ground was some kind of pink reflective stone, engraved with strange designs. The walls were a mix of red and green rock, with bright blue lines of ore (of some kind) intertwining through. It was gorgeous. He stepped out of the station and emerged in a somewhat familiar landscape. The shopping district he had visited earlier was only a few hundred metres to the right. Hope turned left and headed towards a large building with the sign of an open book. Maybe he could find something useful in the library.

_()—-(-) _()—-(-)

Lightning continued to sit on the beach long after Hope had left. She gazed at the water lapping at her feet. The bright starlight and moon reflecting on its lightly turbulent water. Her body was completely pain free, and she felt horrible. It had been a long time since she had felt this bad. I didn't even apologise. She had betrayed his trust and knew it. She had been so sure. So confident, and so angry that he was a l'cie and was keeping it a secret. After all they had been through, she should have known he would never have kept such a secret from everyone. He trusted them, which was more than she could say for herself. He had changed so much that he was no longer the Hope she knew. The boy who needed comforting had long gone. The old Hope would probably have taken his clothes off and she let out a soft snort. This Hope was rebellious, angry and seemingly bi-polar. There was something that she couldn't point at about him. He seemed to have a presence that she had never before seen on anyone, never mind him. That fiercely confident way with words had shocked her when he had insinuated she was a...that she liked girls on the airship. That shocked me. Now almost nothing he could do would surprise her. She felt something strange as she thought about him, and she didn't like it.

She thought back to her earlier words about him taking the Officer exams. She had regretted it immediately. He needed to go to school and….and what Farron? She had been the old Hope's mentor, but this he didn't seem particularly inclined to see her that way anymore. He'd rather fight her. It was inconceivable to her. Even more than the fact that he could fight her, it was the fact that he had decided to. They had all changed in the last 2 years. Serah had become a mother. She was more forceful…and tired. The earlier energy she had was slowly fading. Snow was slightly more responsible. Sazh was happier. Truly happy, the dark cloud of his l'cie son forever gone. And she was…different. No longer so cold, she conceded. She had friends in the corps-no longer just colleagues, but actual friends. She had taken up hobbies, no longer burying herself in her work. She had changed, perhaps the most out of any of them. But Hope was so different that she found herself wondering what had happened to him in the last 2 years.

_()—-(-) _()—-(-)

Hope was sitting at one of the library computer terminals reading the screen with dismay. He was on the website for the Guardian Corps recruitment.

Guardian Corps Officer Exam.

Test date: All day Friday 23rd February.

Restrictions: Previous age restriction of 21 has been removed. All ages may apply. Be aware that the exam is difficult and soldiers with no experience in the GC and those who haven't graduated from High school will find it difficult. All criminal restrictions have been lifted.

Contents: Corps General Aptitude Battery Exam/ English Comprehension/ Numerical Reasoning/ Situational Judgement/ Complete Physical.

Note that interviews have been stopped, in the interest of boosting numbers of successful applicants.

Hope looked at the webpage and frowned. Becoming an officer in the Guardian Corps was no easy feat-or that had been the case in the past. He couldn't understand why the corps were lifting the restrictions so heavily. The page for the normal soldiers was even worse. There were no restrictions, or tests of any kind. Anyone could join the corps now. It didn't make sense.

However that was not the reason for his dismay. Looking at the example questions, he realised that he had no way of answering them. He had not even learnt many of the topics on the numeracy test. The situational judgement was even worse. They required him to select the most appropriate response in regard to various problems. Hope, having never been a soldier simply had no clue.

1) Using eight eights and addition only, can you make 1000?

2) Skyler picked a bag of cherries to give to his brothers. To the first of his brothers, he gave half of the cherries he had and another one beside. To his second sibling he gave half of the remaining cherries and another one beside. By this time, Skyler had one cherry left. How many did he start with?

.

.

.

.

[Wouldn't it be easier to finish school first?] Hope didn't reply. Razniel was right. The most rational decision would be to finish High school and then apply. But he didn't want to. He didn't want to go back to school. He couldn't. I have a week right? If I fail, then I'll tell Light that I'll go to school.

He resolved to himself that he wouldn't fail. He got up and took note of what kinds of books he would need. His first instinct was to take a photo with his phone, but as he took it out he realised that his phone didn't have a camera. Grabbing the sheet of paper on which he had written the various studying materials he went about searching for the book. He opened his phone and checked the time. It was 8:00. He closed it and headed off. The library was quite small and it didn't take him too long to find the books. Conscious of the time, he took the stack of books to the librarian. A young man was sitting behind the desk, his feet up on the counter. He was smoking a cigarette and reading a book. Hope dumped the books next to him as he waved away the smoke. The man hastily took his feet down and held out his hand. Hope just looked on in confusion.

"I need your card."

"Ah right. I need to set up an account." Hope replied. He hoped this wasn't going to be too arduous of a process. The young man-at least 20- looked at Hope closer.

"Yeah…I don't remember seeing you anywhere before. You new in town?"

"Um…yeah. I'm living with my aunt now."

"Cool! Here's an application form. Just fill in your address, name and job."

Hope took the form and was relieved to note that it was relatively simple. What's our address? [1 Upper Beachfront]. What about occupation? [Unemployed?]

Hope decided to put unemployed in the application form, not surprised when he saw the young librarian give him a judging look. He was only 16, even if he looked closer to 20. Taking the books in his arm, he set off home. On the way he stopped at a newsagent and spent the last of his money on a thick notebook. The night had grown cooler over the last hour and he smiled as a cool breeze washed over him. There were not many people on the street, being a Sunday night and he made his way to the station quietly.

Within 10 minutes he was once again standing outside Beachfront Station. It was a quick walk back to the house. He decided to take the road instead of the beach, because he suspected Lightning was inside the kitchen. From outside he could see that the lights were on, but the tinted windows prevented him from seeing anything further. Juggling the books in one hand, he grabbed the handle and opened the door. He shut it quickly behind him to prevent any of the marauding insects from entering. The smell of cooking filled his nose, and despite not being hungry, Hope had to admit it smelt good.

"Hey Light." he called out. A faint heat returning to his cheeks. He didn't look her in the eyes. She turned around from the frying pan and put her arms on her hips, fixing him with a cool stare.

"I was in the library," he explained, still not meeting her eyes. She looked at him for a few seconds before sighing and turning back to whatever she was cooking.

"I'm sorry Hope."

"Huh?"

"For what I did earlier. I should have trusted you."

[This would be a good time to open your bag of secrets].

For a moment Hope thought about telling her. It would be so easy. She would take care of everything, just like last time. He would be able to rely on her and some of the weight would be lifted from his tired shoulders. But something fiery within him rose again, just like it had on the train. This is our problem to deal with. I don't want anyone's help. I've grown. [Yeah. 2 years.]

Hope ignored Razniels snigger and simply nodded to Light. He sat down heavily at the kitchen table dumping the books as he did so. There were several of them and they made a loud thump.

"What did you get?" Lightning asked.

"Books on the GC exam." There was silence for a moment, but Hope already knew what she was going to say. "It's no big deal. It's unlikely I'll pass anyway. If I fail, I'll go back to school."

Lightning nodded slowly, as if unsure.

"What you cooking?" he tried to change the subject.

"Tuna steaks with lemon and herbs," she replied as she flipped one of the steaks over unleashing a fresh bout of sizzling. "Hope, you have a phone now; we need to exchange numbers. I wanted to call you earlier."

Hope got his phone out and added Lightning as a contact. Phone contact networks nowadays used a wireless grid to connect everyone together. Even the cheapest phone (like his) could be connected. At the moment however, he hadn't connected. He browsed to find his old account and synced it to the new phone. Almost immediately the phone was awash with new messages, and wouldn't stop vibrating. Hope turned it to silent and examined all the new messages. Some of his friends had visited him in the hospital but it seemed that none of them knew he had moved away, except for Vin- he had used Lightnings computer yesterday to message him. He ignored them for now and tried to find Lightnings account.

"What was your first name again?" he asked as he scrolled down on 'Faron'

"Why?" she asked, a slight edge to her tone. She didn't seem willing to tell him. But as he continued to scroll down he saw her account-

Lightning Farron

"Ah-I've got it. I spelt 'Farron' wrong." He said quickly, to avoid any awkwardness. Her first name wasn't really important to him. Calling her anything but Light would be weird anyway.

Hope sat cross-legged on the chair and putting his phone down, he started to open the library books. He sighed and started to read. Only a week. Soon after Lightning brought the tuna steaks. He wasn't hungry, but strangely did not feel full up. He decided to eat anyway so as not to raise her ire. They ate in silence, as Hope continued to flick through the books. He decided to start studying tomorrow, as he felt his headache returning. I can't believe she smashed a vase on my head!

Washing his dish, he went into the living room and slumped into the sofa. Without turning the TV on, he just lay there. Looking at the ceiling. He heard Lightning doing something in the kitchen but ignored it, and closed his eyes.

_()—-(-) _()—-(-)

After dinner, which had been extremely simple- fried tuna steaks with drops of lemon juice- Lightning stretched and yawned. Hope had gone into the living room, and the kitchen was quiet. She could almost smell the desperation in her superiors as they continually lowered the requirements to join. She didn't know why they were so desperate. Krantos had hardly any wildlife incursions. The fact that many of the new recruits were being sent out to other regions of Pulse did not escape her notice however.

She didn't think Hope could pass the exam. He would do well in the physical test, she was sure of that, but she didn't see how he could pass the written exams. Maybe he'll surprise me. She was conflicted. Him joining the GC was not what she wanted. Enrolling at an officer academy at 16 was unheard of. It would be far better if he went to school and got a job that suited him. She thought to herself however, she didn't know what suited him. Not anymore.

She opened one of the kitchen drawers and got out a small book. She didn't usually have much time to read. Despite what she had told Snow on the Kalhoa, she did spend most of her time at work. Even on weekends she was at the base-even if most of the time was spent socialising with her fellow soldiers. The reformed GC was much more relaxed than its previous incarnation, and together with the fact that she had loosened up, she had made many friends. She thought with a hint of regret that if she she passed the GC officer exam she would likely not see them for a while. Of course it was unlikely that she would be able to go anyway in the near future. She had taken on the responsibility of looking after Hope. She couldn't leave for a year whilst he was still at school. Likely she would have to wait until he graduated.

She sat down at the kitchen table and started reading. The book was a crime mystery novel set on Cocoon. It was one of the few books that had been recovered from the fallen world. It reminded her of times long since past. Not altogether happier times. It reminded her of a time when her mother was still around. Not that she would ever admit that to anyone-not even Serah. After a few minutes she found the straight backed wooden chair uncomfortable and keeping the book with her, decided to see what Hope was doing in the living room. Closing the kitchen light she entered the living room and was surprised to see that the light was closed and the TV off. Maybe he's not here. She turned the light on on the dimmest setting and realised he was there. He looked like he was sleeping. She crossed her arms and gave him a cool stare. After a few seconds she rolled her eyes and approached the sofa.

Hope was sprawled atop it. His arms and feet dangling and his breathing steady. As she looked upon his face she realised that he was not sleeping. He was staring at the ceiling, the lines of drying tears carved across his cheeks. He didn't say anything, did not even turn his head. Lightning looked on him and gave a slight smile. There was no humour in her eyes. It was the kind of smile that you give to someone who is lost and doesn't remember where they came from, and doesn't know where to go, but doesn't want to stay where they are. She knew what being lost, adrift and disconnected, felt like. She lay the book at the edge of his sofa, by his feet and headed into the kitchen. She grabbed a clean white towel and poured cold water on it. After wringing it she brought it back to Hope and placed it on his head.

"I'm sorry about the vase," she whispered sheepishly. His eyes tracked her as she pulled away from him.

"Light?" he asked. "What do you think about the fal'cie?"

Lightning was surprised by the question.

"What do I think of them? They are monsters. All of them. It's because of them that we're here." Her voice was filled with vehemence. Because of them Serah had nearly…Fang and Vanille…

Hope nodded slowly to himself, as if that's what he had been expecting. "What about half fal'cie?" His words sounds forced as if he was reluctant to say them. Lightning just looked at him flatly, wondering where this conversation was coming from.

"What?"

"A half human, half fal'cie."

"That's impossible," she dismissed, once again grabbing her book.

"Hypothetically then." For some reason he was not giving up.

"Then it should be destroyed. If a fal'cie possesses someone then they are better off dead, and should be terminated or at the very least imprisoned and taken apart for study." Her voice was callous in a way that perhaps she didn't even intend. Hope just nodded again and once more looked at the ceiling. Lightning sat down on the fluffy carpet in front of the sofa, leaning her back against it and opened her book.

"What was your dad like?" A quiet voice from behind her. Lightning put the book down and looked to the side as she thought about it.

"I don't remember. When I think back to those days I can only remember a vague outline…and a smiling face."

"I wonder what is worse…growing up and knowing your parents and having them die or having them die before you know them. To have only empty shadows haunt your dreams?"

"Having them die when you know them is worse. I don't think about my father. There is nothing to think about. But my mother…There is not a day that goes by when I don't think about her." She was surprised by her own candidness, but she felt she could be honest with him on this. He lay silent for a moment.

"I wish I could have said goodbye." he muttered. "When mum passed, I promised myself that I wouldn't take him for granted. That I would spend time with him. And I did. But it doesn't feel like it was enough. I could have spent more time with him. I should have spent more time with him." His voice did not break. He spoke sadly, and she wasn't sure he was even speaking to her. She looked down at her outstretched knees thinking of how to respond.

"I know Hope." In the end that was all she could say. Not a day went past when she didn't wish the same.

_()—-(-) _()—-(-)

It was early morning when Hope awoke. He had only slept for three hours but felt fully refreshed. Physically at least. Mentally he felt more alone than he ever had. He wondered if Lightning would really do what she said yesterday. He wasn't sure. She had gone against everyone for Serah, but would she do the same thing for him? He had noted the barely concealed hatred in her voice and it had frightened him. He had cracked in a moment of weakness as he lay there on the sofa last night. The stress finally proving too much. He had wanted to tell her, but now there was no chance of that. He could only go forwards to a place and future that he couldn't even begin to see. He would have to go alone. He pulled the long dry white towel off his head and sat up. He was not feeling hungry yet and he checked his watch. Only 5:00.

He stretched and thought about taking a shower, but oddly he didn't feel even slightly dirty. There was not a trace of sweat on his clothes. Funnily enough he hadn't gone to the toilet either since the time he had been in hospital. Shrugging his shoulders he walked to the kitchen and sitting at the table began to study, finally clear from the headache. Lightning came down an hour later, evidently surprised to see Hope already up and studying. She was wearing her usual GC uniform, the red cape swaying behind her. Hope looked at his own white t-shirt and snorted, before turning his attention back to his books. This was going to be a long week.

After a few hours of struggling with maths problems, Hope popped outside quickly to buy another coconut, and carrying his prize with him eagerly took it back inside.

Lightning had long since left for work. He was starting to get bored, and it was only the first day. He sighed and rubbed his head. Do you understand these problems? [No. Why would I? They are human problems]. Great.

Despite being only 6:12 in the morning, it was a fabulously bright day outside. Being stuck indoors felt like such a waste. He longed to be outside. [Why not study out on the beach?] On the sand? [Why not? Take the coconut with you.] Razniel really liked the coconut. Is it possible for you to take control? [What do you mean?] Well we are technically the same being, so can you take control and do some studying? […] Give it a go. [Hmm.]

Hope suddenly found himself being sucked away from reality and control. It was a process he found that he could easily stop if he willed, but he decided to let Razniel take control. He suddenly found himself in a black space. He couldn't see the outside world or anything else. It was a permeating blackness. But he knew everything that was going on around him. He had no body, just awareness. As he focused his thoughts he found it easy to create a 'body' and he walked around. The world around him started to take on strange shapes and colours and seemed to be like a dream. He felt completely at peace. All the problems of the real word were but a distant problem. He still had emotions but they were less forceful. Just overwhelming contentment. He found himself not wanting to leave, as he waved his hands and the scenery changed. He found himself looking at a glowing sunset that he had just conjured. With a flick of his hand he changed the colour from orange to green and watched from a cliff as the still ocean below him sparked in various hues of emerald.

This was like a dream. A dream that he could control. Why would be ever want to return, when being here was so…[I've had enough.] Hope was startled for a second and then with a face-palm realised that Razniel was controlling his body extremely poorly. He was finding it extremely difficult even to stand as he stumbled about in the sand. There were a few people about but none seemed to have noticed yet. Hope took control back quickly, bringing the meat vehicle of the body under safe reins once more. He felt slightly dizzy as the world popped into view and he fell into the sand, dropping his books everywhere. The coconut was luckily protected, being wedged safely between his arms.

I can't believe you're staying in such a cool space! What is it? [Just mind space. Inside a dream. Now that I've experienced the real world, I find it lacking. It is much better to experience it from here.] No way! I want to go back. [I cannot control the body. Even talking is impossible.] I've seen fal'cie talk. Barthandalus could never shut up! [He was not using muscular contractions to squeeze fixed volumes of air out of his throat to make a distinctive series of sounds. He was using magic.]

Hope sullenly picked up the books and headed towards the ocean. He set his books down on the dry sand before rolling up his trousers and dipping his toes in the lapping waves of the cool water. White froth curled around his toes as he wiggled them. He spotted a small hermit crab a few metres away. Scooping a small amount of wet sand in his toes he dropped it over the crab and buried it. A few seconds later the crab heroically dug itself out and gave him what he imagined to be a baleful glare before scurrying off in the opposite direction. He gave a laugh, feeling the wind in his face and he smiled. He stood there and looked into the horizon, the deep blue sky and the aqua blue sea converging in that far away line.

_()—-(-) _()—-(-)

Commander Amodar looked at the email again. He couldn't believe it. High Command in New Cocoon, a dispatch from General Riko Tuovar herself, was to be sent to the Kankoon branch of the Guardian Corps. This was simply beyond strange. Amodar sighed and leaned back in his leather chair. He swivelled around and faced the large windows that decorated the back of his office. He was facing the sea-in fact the entire base was built just off the ocean. It wasn't a large base for Kankoon was not a large town. There were only a hundred or so soldiers, and if he was honest even that was too large. Kankoon hadn't been hit by an incursion of Pulsian wildlife since its inception. There was not a lot to do the soldiers except to patrol the streets and act as police. Kankoon didn't have a Psicom department. Resources were tight and there was no pressing need.

Which made this all the stranger. Soon, several high ranking officials would be coming to Kankoon to inspect munitions. It was such a lazy excuse, that they weren't even trying to make a cover. Kankoon base barely had any munitions. It barely had anything. They would be arriving tomorrow, on Tuesday, and he now had a lot of work to do. There was a knock on his door and he swivelled back around. It was only 11:00. The soldiers should be out training the new recruits. He had an ominous feeling.

"Come in." If it was that moron Gadot again…

It wasn't Gadot- it was the pink haired soldier Farron. She stood by the door until he beckoned her inside. She did a crisp salute and walked halfway into his office.

"What is it Farron?" He said in a distracted voice.

"Sir. It's about the new recruits…"

Amodar sighed. He already knew where this was going.

"What about the new recruits?"

"I can't train them sir. They're not fit to be in the corps. They should go join Psicom," she said cooly with a slight sneer on the last word. Amodar crossed his arms and stared at her.

"I see. And is this in any way related to the incident earlier this morning."

The pink haired soldier crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. She started pacing around in the room.

"Why are we letting such…idiots in?" she asked obviously frustrated.

"If you mean Gadot…"

"He's not even the worst. Today I…"

"Yes, I heard. You punched Private Dogar I believe. Bust open her nose and ruined her pretty face." Amodars voice took on a stern tone and he stood up. He had been meaning to talk to her about her attitude.

"Farron I know Kankoon is boring. That's why I've recommended you to transfer multiple times. If you want to stay close to your sister than thats fine. But you can't go around assaulting junior members of the corp. Especially if you hope to become an officer!"

The soldier had at least the sense to look mildly regretful. He knew it had been a bad idea to put such an unforgiving soldier in charge of training the new recruits, but Farron was so good that the cost benefit analysis had come out in favour. He hadn't expected her to lash out at a rookie though, even if the rookie had called her and her sister "l'cie filth." She should have better control of her emotions than that. The fact was that Farron was by far the best soldier in Kankoon. She was wasted here and she knew it. The only thing keeping her here was her sisters presence. He considered it a miracle that he had convinced her that leaving to go to Krantos Officer Academy was a good idea.

"Look. Just go back home. Study. Relax. Whatever. Just don't damage the recruits. And by the way, you may have heard already but tomorrow some brass from New Cocoon are coming-for…munitions inspections."

"I heard. I don't buy it." Lightning replied, pointedly ignoring her commanders earlier words. "You're telling me that they're coming here to look at our armoury?" She raised her eyebrows at him, clearly skeptical. Amodar sighed again.

"No, that's what they told me. I don't know the truth and I don't have time to care. They want to come to see our fine selection of weapons, then fine. Let them. Now go home and cool that head of yours. Dismissed."

Lightning hid her scowl and saluted him before turning and leaving. The base was fairly small and it was not long before she was outside. She walked along the outskirts of the main building, passing no one and went up onto the deserted beach. Most of the GC were either training in the gym or relaxing. Most were likely relaxing. She herself liked to train early in the mornings when the gym was less crowded.

She didn't want to go back home, but there was nothing to do in the base. Up until last year the GC went on patrol around the town, giving her something to do. There was so little crime however that that practice had been discontinued. Now they just waited at the base until someone called. Which had happened precisely twice in the last year.

The morning had been a disaster. She rubbed her forehead gently and let out a small sigh. From the beginning she knew she would hate training the useless recruits, but Amodar hadn't given her much choice. She did regret striking that private though-she would rather have shot her. She glared out at the ocean and crossed her arms once more. She couldn't believe that such useless people were being allowed in the corps. As much as she loved Serah, she couldn't stay in Kankoon much longer. She knew that, even if she didn't want to admit it. It was stifling. That was part of the reason why she wanted Hope to pass the exam to the GC officer academy- pipe dream though it may be. It would give her a way out. Otherwise she would be stuck in this town for another 2 years, until he turned 18. She was starting to regret telling him to stay with her. It would have been much easier if he was with Serah and Snow. In her concern at the time she had been blind to that. It was too late now. Glaring at the ocean one last time she turned around and began the walk home along the beach.

_()—-(-) _()—-(-)

Half an hour later she arrived. She saw her house in the distance. Snow, Sazh and Serah would be at the their hotel and Dajh and Morty would be at school and nurses respectively. The beach was deserted. Hope would probably be studying. As she continued to walk along the beach she saw that she was wrong. The beach was not quite deserted. She saw the figure of Hope lying in the sand. Several of the books he had acquired yesterday lay scattered around him. He was wearing a pair of dark brown sunglasses. Wait. Are those my sunglasses?

She walked up behind him and placing her hands on her hips looked down.

"What are you doing Hope?" She said cooly. When he didn't reply, she started to get annoyed. She bent down and whisked the sunglasses off his face. She was surprised to see that he was taking an afternoon nap. So much for studying. Inspecting her glasses she discovered several scratches. He had obviously manhandled them. Feeling a bit peeved, she grabbed a handful of sand and dropped it on his face and into his open mouth. He spluttered and spat out the sand as he rolled on his side. Slowly getting up he brushed the sand of his face and glared at her. He continued to try and spit out the sand, and she noted with satisfaction that his tongue was coated with the coarse particles. Still glaring at her he scooped up his scattered books and scuttled indoors. She snorted and followed him inside.

Hope sat heavily at the table and grabbed one of the books and opened it. She considered going up to her room to study alone but decided to just relax for a while. It had been a tiring half-day and she didn't feel like studying quite yet. Walking over to the kitchen she set the kettle to a boil.

"Want some coffee?" she called out, whilst searching the overhead cabinet.

"Uh, yeah! Thanks. No sugar."

She brought two hot, steaming mugs to the table a few minutes later. They were filled to the brim and she did not slow down with them in hand. Yet not a drop was spilt. She sat down opposite Hope and looked outside, at the people walking along the road, as she lost herself in her thoughts.

"Whats wrong Light?" Hope asked without looking up from his book.

"Nothing."

"OK."

Hope said the word simply and seemed to forget her again. She found herself annoyed for some reason. She found herself waiting for him to ask again but he maintained his silence. The only sounds that permeated the kitchen were the scratching of his pencil as he took notes in a blank notebook he had found somewhere. Probably mine. She scowled as she thought back to her sunglasses. He had probably rummaged in her room. She would have to speak to him about privacy and personal space, but now wasn't the right time.

After a half hour or so she finally got up, bringing both empty mugs to the sink before trudging upstairs. She much preferred being in the field to being at a desk, but right now she had no choice. She focused her mind on her goal, and ignoring everything else set out to achieve her target as she sat down at her desk and began to study. She would not fail.