Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who has been keeping up with the story, sending in reviews, and adding this to your favorites and alerts. This is a long chapter and I couldn't figure out a way to split up just right but I hope that you will enjoy it.

So is drama on the horizon? Definitely read this one to find out :)


Chapter 11: My Risk For You:

"Wow!" Vanille shouted cheerfully as her orange curls bounced along behind her. Anxiously, she ran ahead along with Serah in the crowded area filled with people. Their eyes traveled around as their faces beamed with excitement. Both of them couldn't wait to go exploring around the park. "It's really pretty."

Serah nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

Lightning and Hope caught up with them where they stopped. Behind Lightning's slight frown was concern that they might lose them there. "Don't get lost."

"We won't." Serah assured her.

Vanille took a few more seconds to look around before she turned her attention to Hope. She gave him a big grin. "I've never been to Nautilus before! Thanks for bringing me along!"

Hope's lips curved up into a smile. "Of course."

Serah lifted her head to him. "So what should we do first?!"

Hope went over the schedule in his mind, thinking about where they could go. "Well…the fireworks are about to start soon."

Vanille pumped her fist up into the air as she lifted her leg, bending it back. "Yeah! Let's go!"

"Yeah!" Serah shouted and ran off with Vanille leaving Lightning and Hope to rush to catch up with them. They made it to the area where the fireworks show was supposed to occur. As they watched, Serah and Vanille pointed upwards whenever they recognized something and called out what it was. Lightning and Hope stood behind them as they watched in silence. His eyes traveled over to her and let out a smile. "Are you having fun?"

Lightning gave a slight nod. "Yeah." Then, he placed his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. At first, it felt strange to be so close to him like that in a crowd, but no one else seemed to notice but them. She gave in, leaning close on him.

Suddenly, she heard her phone ring. Surprised, she reached for it and answered it. "Yeah?"

"Guess who?" she heard a familiar voice on the other line.

Lightning sighed as she automatically recognized who it was. "Yes Fang?"

Fang laughed a little over the phone. "Not happy to hear from me?"

Lightning was curious as to why she called since she knew where they were. "What's going on?"

"Are you busy?" the raven haired woman asked.

"No. Why?"

"You guys having fun?"

"Yeah."

"Then I should probably just call you back later then."

Lightning wondered why all of a sudden she decided to change her mind about talking now. "No. What is it?"

Fang settled back in the chair she was sitting in within a military office as her expression grew serious. "The higher ups finally came through. The Academy released more information about their missing Director. They gave us a name. I told them I would tell you first."

"All right. What's the name?"

"Hmm…" At first, Fang wasn't sure about saying it, but she knew that Lightning would find out eventually. "Tell me something. That guy of yours. You told me that he used to be a scientist right?"

Lightning was curious as to why she brought that up. Already, she could sense a bad feeling dwelling inside of her. "Yeah? Why?"

"It might not be anything but do you know his last name?"

Lightning glanced over at Hope which he caught sight of her doing so. At first, he was surprised but then his expression soon turned into concern. Lightning looked away from him. "No."

"The first name and his background might be a coincidence but the guy we're looking for…" It was then that Fang began to hesitate.

"What?" Lightning asked anxiously. Fang sighed as she closed her eyes. If it truly was him, Lightning would have no choice but to turn him in. She didn't want to do this to her especially after finding someone she really liked and just started a relationship with. "Fang?"

There was no choice but to tell her regardless. Maybe it was better hearing it from her first. She took a deep breath before she let the news out into the open. "His name is Hope Estheim. He's the Director of the Academy." Lightning turned silent as she was stunned. Fang continued telling her the rest. "Pretty much after he left, the trail turned cold on finding him. There hasn't been any proof of where he's been for the past few months." Still over the line she heard nothing but silence. "You still there?"

Instantly, Lightning responded. "Yeah. Thanks for telling me." Afterwards, Fang heard the line go dead. She suspected that Lightning would find some way to handle this herself. All she could hope was that she wasn't actually with the guy they had been searching for.

Hope looked over at her curiously after she got off of the phone. "Is everything okay?"

Lightning placed her phone away. "It's…nothing." She wasn't sure how she should approach the situation, but she had to find out who he really was. Hearing the news only brought back more questions as to what she saw a few nights ago on his computer. It seemed that all signs pointed to him being the missing Director.

Hope gave a gentle smile. "Hey! Whatever it is, I'm sure that it's fine." Still, he could tell that she felt uneasy. Whatever it was seemed to be bothering her a lot. "Let's just enjoy being here."

She wanted to push herself to ask him who he was, but she figured now wasn't the time. Maybe there would be a better time than this later. "Right."

A small smile came upon his lips. He leaned in closer to her. A part of her wanted to move away from him while she was still covered in a cloud of confusion but she didn't. She didn't want to believe that he was keeping this from her the whole time. Soon, he moved in and pressed his lips against hers. The things that were running through her mind started to ease somewhat.


Further along the crowd, there were two girls that were also watching the fireworks excited and talking with each other. One of the girls looked around at the crowd, but then noticed something far off. A look of surprise came across her face. "Hey… Isn't that? No way!"

Her friend looked over wondering what she was talking about. "What?"

The first girl pointed across the crowd. "Isn't that…him?"

The other girl looked in the same direction and became surprised as well. "Yeah. It looks like him." From far away, they saw Hope together with someone else they didn't recognize. The two grew suspicious seeing how close they were to each other. "Who's that woman that he's with?" The first girl pulled out her phone since it had a camera on it.


Serah and Vanille stopped from their cheering and looked back to catch the scene between Lightning and Hope. Playfully, they groaned. "Hey!" Vanille shouted out.

"Come on you guys! Do you have to do that here?" Serah asked.

Hope grinned as he separated from Lightning. "Sorry."

Lightning crossed her arms. "Why are you guys looking anyway? Aren't you supposed to be looking at the fireworks?" Serah and Vanille began to laugh.


The first girl from before that held up her phone placed it down as she was disappointed. "I can't get a good shot."

Her associate didn't see why she was trying so hard to see if it was really him. "For all we know, it might not be him."

A determined look came across the first girl's face. "We're going to find out. Come on." They started traveling through the crowd.

Hope was laughing along with the others when he suddenly heard a voice calling out for him. "Director!" Instantly, he stopped laughing as his eyes darted over. He was sure that someone said "Director". The voice called out again. Once he looked over, he saw the two girls heading over toward him. Worry appeared on his face. Lightning was smiling along Serah and Vanille, but then noticed Hope with a serious stare. The smile she had faded from her. "Hope?"

"We should go."

She became confused. "What?"

Hope smiled at her as best as he could so that she wouldn't be suspicious. "There are other parts of the park that we still haven't visited yet and I'm sure that the others would like to see it before we have to go. The show is pretty much over anyway."

Lightning wasn't sure why he seemed in a hurry all of a sudden. "Okay…?"

Suddenly, she felt him grab her hand and pulled her along. "Come on guys." Serah and Vanille weren't sure why they were leaving but they followed along. They made their way through the crowd to the halls where there were pods that could transport people into different parts of the park. Hope checked behind him, hoping that whoever called out for him wasn't around. Once he didn't see anyone searching for him, he sighed silently in relief. Lightning stepped over toward him with her arms crossed, curious. "All right what's wrong?"

Nervously, he gave a smile. "Nothing. I figured that we didn't have much longer to stay if we wanted to get back in time to catch the train." Lightning gave him a look of suspicion. Her eyes drifted toward the ground as she thought maybe this would be a good time to ask about who he was. He began to relax. "Anyway, you want to go check out the chocobos now?"

Serah and Vanille rushed over as they were excited. "Yeah! Let's go!" Vanille replied.

"Yeah!" Serah agreed along with her.

Lightning shrugged a little. "I guess."

The four of them headed toward the pod that would take them to where the chocobos were. Before he stepped in, Hope's eyes traveled toward the side to see if the same girls from before were around. Maybe if he was in another part of the park, then he wouldn't run into them again. After Lightning settled in, she noticed that he seemed tense. "Come on Hope!" When he heard Vanille's voice, he gave a smile and got in with them. "Coming!"

They moved along and went to where the chocobos were. There, they got to meet with the chocobos and sheep like creatures. Lightning stood near as she watched Serah and Vanille playing with them. Hope watched her from nearby and smiled. Playfully, he walked beside her and nudged her. "And why don't you ride on one?"

Lightning crossed her arms. "I don't do birds."

He stood in front of her. "Afraid?" he said to test her.

She placed her hands on her hips. "Really?" If that was his tactic to get her to ride one, then she was not going to fall for it.

He held out his hand. "Come ride with me." Lightning thought about his offer. The idea still wasn't appealing. Hope stepped over to one of the birds and petted the feathers against his neck. The yellow chocobo made a cheerful sound and began to rub his head against Hope's. Hope closed his eyes as he grinned at the tickling of the bird's feathers against his skin. The cute sight made Lightning's lips curve into a small smile. He continued to pet it, but then walked over to Lightning. The chocobo followed behind him. He grabbed onto her hand and held on. The chocobo leaned his head against Hope's back and pushed him forward toward her. He laughed a little nervously being so close to her. In return, she smiled back as well.

The two girls that spotted Hope earlier at the fireworks display walked into the chocobo park. They looked toward the ground disappointed. "I was sure that I saw him."

"And to think we could have finally solved the mystery of the missing Director." Soon, they lifted their heads. Once they did, they looked over and became surprised. From far off, they spotted Hope again standing close to a woman that they didn't know. Their eyes squinted. "Wait! It is him!"

Hope stepped aside and placed Lightning's hand on the chocobo's beak. The bird squawked happily. Seeing the two have a friendly interaction made a smile appear on him. "See. He likes you."

Lightly, she petted the chocobo. "I guess so." When she looked over at Hope, she could tell that he still wanted her to ride on the bird. The chocobo kneeled down in front of her. Finally, she let out a sigh. "Fine." She lifted herself onto the chocobo's back and the bird stood up. Soon, he flapped his wings as he squawked. Lightning's eyes traveled down to Hope below her. "Happy now?"

He let out a grin. "Come on. You know you like it."

"I could live without the smell." Hope took out his phone and took a picture of her on the chocobo which she noticed. "I see. That was your plan all along."

"I was just thinking that I wanted to remember this moment and that we could ride together. Now if only I could get one of you smiling."

"Good luck with that."

He walked over to the bird and petted it again. "Not if I convince the chocobo not to let you back down."

Lightning felt a frown tug at her lips. She wouldn't put it pass him to do so. "You wouldn't."

He turned his attention to his yellow feathered friend. "You would listen to me right?" The chocobo replied with a loud noise. It almost sounded like he was agreeing to help Hope. Lightning shook her head as she closed her eyes. "This is ridiculous." She was about to step down, but Hope walked away from her. He reached into his pocket and held birdseed out in the palm of his hand. Once the chocobo saw it, he walked over before Lightning could get off. She was surprised that the chocobo started moving without her telling him to do so. When she lifted her eyes, she saw Hope in front of the chocobo feeding him. "Good boy."

She frowned. "You're trying to get me stuck up here."

Hope gave an innocent smile. "I'm just trying to get a smile and he's just trying to get food. I think it's a fair trade." She looked upset and tried to get off again, but Hope walked as the chocobo followed behind him. "Hope. Stop it."

"Just one picture please?"

She let out a sigh. "Fine." she groaned. He held up his phone and got a few pictures of her with a smile this time. After a few seconds, she started to get impatient. "Don't you have enough of me already?"

"Even if you included the ones of you sleeping then no."

"What?" She couldn't believe what she heard. She jumped down off of the chocobo and went over to him. She tried to grab his phone to see if he was serious about having pictures of her sleeping, but he held his arm up so that she wouldn't take it from him. "Give it! I want to see what you got."

His arm wrapped around her waist. "Maybe later. It might take some convincing though."

Both of them placed their arms down. Lightning wasn't willing to let him get away that easy. She wanted to know now. "Forget that. I can just take it from you."

Hope grinned but then heard a voice. "Hey!" His eyes turned over along with Lightning's to see the two girls from before wearing white and yellow Academy uniforms. His expression changed to that of worry. "You're okay! We've been so worried!"

Quickly, Hope separated from Lightning and pulled the girls away so they could talk alone. All of them were surprised by his reaction. Hope smiled as best as he could despite his worry that he had just been seen by members of the Academy. "Hey! It's nice to see you two again." Lightning watched nearby curious, wondering why he pulled them away.

"Where have you been? Everyone's been looking for you."

"Yeah. She's been worried about you." The first girl pulled out her phone as she started pressing numbers. "While you're here now, I'll call her. I'm sure that she'll be happy to hear your voice."

Hope pressed her hand down making her close her phone. When they looked at him, he had a serious expression on his face. "Listen. You can't tell anyone that you saw me. Understand?"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm doing something secret for the Academy and very few people know about this. If anyone were to find out, this could ruin things." His eyes drifted toward the side as he looked concerned.

The girls were worried. "We're sorry. We won't tell anyone that we saw you."

The first girl's eyes traveled over to Lightning confused. "But…what are you doing here and what are you doing with a woman?"

Hope looked surprised. The question caught him off guard and he didn't have an answer right away for that. He turned his head and looked at Lightning. "She's…she's someone who's helping me out. I'm here because I'm taking a break from my research for a night." It wasn't as if he was totally twisting the truth. Lightning was helping him out by letting him stay with her and he was taking a break from the project he was working on.

The second girl crossed her arms as she was suspicious. "You two seem close."

"What? Don't worry about that."

"The Academy has been looking everywhere for you. When are you coming back?"

"I'm not sure but I'll be back. Just please keep this a secret even from her. I'll explain this to her later." The girls nodded in response.

Nearby, Lightning was petting the chocobo as her eyes were watching Hope and the girls the whole time. Again, she felt uneasy as she had before when Fang told her the news. "I don't know. I don't want to believe that he's the one they've been looking for this whole time but I can't shake it." The bird nudged her with his beck as he made a sound. Lightning looked at the bird as if he was actually trying to communicate to her. It was silly to think that the chocobo was trying to give her advice, but she wasn't ready to think of what would happen once she asked him. Soon, she saw Hope head back over toward her as the girls headed the other way.

As the girls walked away, the first girl flipped open her phone. When her associate glanced over, she saw a picture that she took of Hope on her phone. She was surprised. "When did you get that?"

"Before we talked to him. I know we're supposed to keep this quiet but it wouldn't hurt to show her that he's okay. I'm sure that she'll keep this quiet too."

The second girl sighed, happy. "She's so lucky to have someone like him."

Hope went over to Lightning. For now, he would just have to believe that they would stay quiet about seeing him but he still felt unsure. Lightning looked at him curiously. "Who were they?"

He smiled. "Just some familiar faces that I knew."

She arched her eyebrow. "You seemed in a hurry to get them away."

"I just didn't want them asking questions. We probably won't see them again so I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable."

Lightning wasn't sure if she believed him but there was a bigger problem at hand. "Hope?"

"Yeah Light?"

"I wanted to know something. This whole time that I've known you, you haven't told me a lot about yourself."

"What are you talking about? I told you a lot about me. Yes. I haven't told you everything about me, but I'm sure that we'll learn more stuff about each other over time."

Lightning looked toward the ground. For a little, she focused on his words. There were still things that he didn't know about her either. Getting back to the matter at hand, her attention turned back to him. "But what do I really know? I don't even know your last name yet you know mine."

Hope started to get a little defensive when he heard her talk about his last name. It was possible that she brought it up randomly because of the two girls but maybe something had finally changed. Had news reached out to her about him? "Why do you bring this up now? There's no rush to get to know each other."

Lightning wasn't sure if she should keep going on like this as if this was some normal conversation they were having or if she should get to the point. Usually, she would get to the point of things but this time, she wanted to give him a chance to come clean instead of forcing it out of him. "I just feel that there are things that I don't know about you."

"Like I feel the same way about you. We'll have plenty of time to talk about it later. For now, let's just continue walking around the park until it's time for us to go." He started walking off.

Their conversation was getting her nowhere. Lightning crossed her arms as she looked serious. Her eyes drifted toward the side. There was no use holding it back any longer. "Hope? What's your last name?"

Hope stopped as his expression grew serious. His eyes stared toward the ground. Now he knew there was something going on. Did that explain why she seemed worried before after she got off the phone? "Why do you want to know?" He turned to her as he smiled the best he could. "Have some plans that I don't know about?"

There was no joking around this time. Lightning was ready to get down to business. She walked toward him. "When I met you, you told me that you were a scientist that seemed to know a lot about technology and weapons. That night I came into your room, you were working on something big dealing with military technology."

Hope shrugged. "What's your point?"

"The point is to tell me who you really are."

He placed his hand against his chest. "You know who I really am."

She started to get upset and impatient. "Why won't you tell me your last name?"

He began to get upset just as much as she was. "Because it doesn't matter. Why are you asking me this?"

Lightning turned her head to the side. He wasn't going to back down until she said what she knew. She could see that. It only made her convinced that it was him that she was searching for. Her eyes turned to him ready to see any trace of lying in him. "Weeks ago, the Director of the Academy, a science organization, had gone missing. For weeks, they've been trying to track him down but no one can seem to find him. Finally, someone told me the name of him today."

On the inside, Hope became really worried, but he kept his serious expression on the out as if the news didn't faze him. "And?"

"His name is Hope Estheim."

"Light. There are a lot of people with that first name." He made it sound as if it was no big deal.

"I doubt a lot of them have your background." Hope's eyes drifted to the side. What could he do now? She was cornering him. How else could he deny any of what she just said? Lightning stared at him. Her expression softened some. There was only one last thing she could ask. "Hope? Are you the Director of the Academy that everyone has been looking for?"

He remained silent. He couldn't let things end like this especially when he knew what was at stake. As he remained serious, he walked over to her. He placed his hands on her shoulders. His emerald eyes stared into her blue ones. The longer he stayed quiet, the more she started to believe that it was true. "Light…"

Lightning turned her head as she closed her eyes. Her expression changed to that of hurt as she let out a sigh. He didn't need to finish saying what he wanted. She already had her answer. He placed his hand on the side of her face and caressed her cheek with his thumb. Her eyes lifted up to his. "It's not what you think."

Before he could continue, Serah and Vanille ran over and noticed the distressed looks on both of their faces. "What's going on? Lightning?" Serah wondered.

Lightning took away his hand as she closed her eyes. "I'm fine. We should probably go."

Lightning and the girls were about to walk away until they heard Hope speak. "I think it's too late. We missed the last train. If we try to catch another one, we'll be on it all night heading back to New Bodhum and we wouldn't get there until morning."

"So what are you suggesting?" Lightning asked.

"If we stay here for tonight, then we can leave in the morning. More time spent here." Hope said.

Vanille smiled as she threw her arm up. "That like sounds fun!"

Serah nodded. "There are other parts of the park we haven't been to yet."

Vanille pointed forward. "Let's go!"

Soon, Serah and Vanille took off running. Lightning was about to follow them when she felt her arm being grabbed. She stopped and let her eyes turn to Hope who had a concerned look on his face. "Just listen to me. If you let me explain, it's not what you think -."

"We should catch up with Serah and Vanille before they get lost and we can't find them." She slipped her arm from his hand. She wasn't ready to hear his reasons now. She took off walking behind the others. Hope stood, thinking about what he should do now. He could already feel a separation between them. So far, she knew the truth which he wasn't ready for her to know yet. His eyes searched along the ground. A few things came to mind about what he should do, but ultimately for everything he wanted to keep and hold dear, there was only one thing he could think of to do.

Around the park, they continued to travel. During that time, Lightning remained silence toward Hope. Earlier, she thought about what he was trying to tell her but she wouldn't let him finish. For now, it seemed that it was true. The only thing to do now was the right thing. It was her duty to the military to complete missions. As easy as it was to tell herself that he was nothing more than another mission, it wasn't easy to carry through on those words. It was a rule to not let feelings get in the way, but what could she do when her feelings for Hope weighed as strongly as her beliefs and rules she lived by. She wondered to herself why this relationship couldn't stay the happy accident of fate that she continued to live through. Was there a way to go back to that place?

Later that night, they last stopped into a hotel for the night. Hope stood at the front desk, speaking with a man that stood behind it. "I'm sorry sir but its hotel policy that we don't take gil. We can only accept cards."

Lightning watched the scene unfold. It didn't seem as if Hope was going to pull out some kind of card on him. She walked up and gave the man one of her own. "Here."

He was surprised that she stepped in for him. "You don't have to do that." She glanced at him before getting the card back from the clerk. Afterwards, they headed toward their room. "I'll pay you back."

Lightning wanted to reply to his statement with some kind of joke such as it was coming out of his rent, or that he would help her later with something around the house, or with her but she was in no such mood to make any remark. It was still strange to her. When she thought back, she never saw Hope use any kind of card or show his ID. Everything he gave was in cash. Maybe that would explain why the trail on him went cold since no one could track his activity. In silence, they went into their two bed room that she paid for. Lightning looked around the room before she decided what to do next. "The bed is enough for Serah, Vanille, and I to share. You can take the other bed."

"How about this? Serah and Vanille can share one bed and you can take the other. I'll sleep on the couch."

Lightning looked over at the couch that was near the window. It seemed uncomfortable. "No. We're fine-."

"Seriously. It's okay." Hope headed over to the couch and sat down. Lightning decided not to argue against it.

Serah let out a groan, upset. "How come you get your own bed?"

Lightning looked over at her. "Because I'm the oldest."

Everyone settled in for the night. Serah and Vanille shared a bed closest to the door while Lightning slept in a bed of her own and Hope lied on the couch. During the night, Lightning opened her eyes. She managed to get some sleep, but there were still things on her mind bothering her. When she looked over at Hope, she saw that his eyes were barely open with his fingers to his face. He was gazing up toward the sky as he had one leg bend up. He didn't seem to notice that she woke up. Lightning slipped out of her bed and walked over to him. "Can't sleep?"

His eyes traveled over to her but he had no answer for her. What happened in the park today was all that was on his mind. He didn't understand it. How could one idea that he had out of good intentions blow his cover in one day? Maybe it was better if he didn't leave Bodhum. At least then, he wouldn't have more suspicion on his head from Lightning, and the chances of the girls from earlier telling the Academy that they saw him. It would only be a matter of time before one of them dragged him back to where he belonged.

"If the couch is uncomfortable, then…you can share the bed with me."

Hope sat up, still keeping his eyes glued on hers. "I thought that you didn't want to talk to me much less see me."

Lightning held onto her arms as her expression softened. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He knew that this was the moment where he decided what he could do. On one path, he could tell her the truth and hope that she would forgive him. On the other, he could lie as a way to protect her. Either way, if she knew the whole story, he was sure that there was a good chance of their relationship splitting apart. He couldn't let that happen and he couldn't let her go. Hope stood up in front of her. "There was nothing to tell because I'm not this guy you're searching for."

Lightning looked surprised. Did he just lie to her? Her expression changed to angry. "Hope. Don't lie to me. I know that-."

"I'm not lying to you. I'm not this Director you're looking for. Yes. I know of the Academy but I wasn't a part of them."

"But you knew about this technology. I saw you working on it."

He grabbed onto her arms as he stared into her eyes. "Trust me. I'm not the one you're looking for."

Lightning's eyes drifted toward his hand as they lowered. "Even if I could believe that, I know you're holding something back from me. I can tell."

"Yes. I am holding back but it's not what you think. You'll just have to believe me when I say that I'm not him."

Her eyes lifted up to his pleading ones. Every part of her told her that he was lying, but she wanted nothing more than to push those feelings aside and believe him. Could she fool herself into believing this lie? "Tell me, what you're holding back from me…is it something that-?"

"Don't worry. Believe me when I say that as far as us, it's not important."

"Will you eventually tell me?"

"Yes. Just know that I'm not him. I'm not who you're looking for."

Silently, she sighed as she placed her head down. Her hands pressed against his chest as she opened her eyes partly. Gently, she moved her fingers across his skin. "You do know if I find out you're really him, I will have to turn you in."

He placed his hand on the back of her hand and pulled her in toward him. He believed her when she said that she would turn him in, but he couldn't let that happen. "You won't have to…" Hope's eyes drifted toward the side, worried. He knew the risk he was taking and he hated lying to her the way he did but in the end, he thought it was for the best. For now, he would continue to live on through it for as long as he could even if it eventually caught up with him. He leaned his head on top of her. "because I'm not him. You believe me? Right?"

Lightning remained silent as she stared forward. For all she knew, she could have let off someone dangerous on the loose, but she didn't believe that he was that kind of person. She wished she knew his reasons to why he was doing this. Still, she had no proof of who he was but only going on her suspicions. The real question to her was should she do what her obligations told her to or should she look the other way and continued to be unaware and happy with him? She closed her eyes as she buried her face into his chest. "I believe you." she whispered. Slowly, she knew she could just forget about it. It didn't matter as long as he wasn't causing any harm.

Hope was relieved to hear her say so. The two parted. When she looked up, she could see the smile on his face. She just hoped that for their sakes that she made the right decision in trusting him. "What's going on?" they heard a groggy voice from nearby. They looked over to see that Serah was barely awake as she sat up.

"It's nothing Serah. Go back to sleep." Serah listened and lied down as she went back to sleep. Lightning headed back to her bed. Without looking, her fingers latched onto his and pulled him along. Hope followed behind for a little before he stopped both of them. He could still see that she seemed torn. "Are you sure you're okay?"

At first, Lightning didn't look back at him. It was hard to at that moment for fear of changing her mind. It took some time, but finally she told herself that he wouldn't lie to her. She turned to him. "Yeah. You wouldn't…lie to me would you?"

As he stared into her eyes, he felt his body go stiff. At that moment, he felt as if he should tell her the truth but he knew where that could lead. With a serious look, he shook his head. "No. I wouldn't lie to you." His hand caressed the side of her face. "Not now. Not ever."

The words helped to ease her more. She crawled into the bed she was lying on before and he lied in beside her. His arms wrapped around her waist as he leaned his head on her shoulder. Lightning closed her eyes. No longer would she let herself worry. With his words replaying in her head, she believed him and started to let it go. Hope closed his eyes with a torn look on his face. He embraced her tightly as he buried his face into her shoulder. "Light. I'm sorry. I hope that you will forgive me one day." Lying to her he knew would constantly haunt him but for as long as he could, he would protect what he could.


That's it for this chapter! I hoped that you liked it! This chapter lets you in on a little of what's going on with Hope but continue reading to find out more of what's going on because more will be revealed in upcoming chapters. As always, let me know what you think and I'll be back to update soon!