(A/N)

I know I'm supposed to put something here to say hello. I just don't know what.

Anyways I don't know about ya'll but it's been a great weekend. Me and my youngest played Bad Company almost all day yesterday. I cooked cheese burgers for dinner, and didn't burn the house down! And today's sermon went off without a hitch.

But your not here to read about my day. So without further ado here's everyone's favorite section…

Reviews:

Deviljho's Hatred:
If you like the idea I'll do it. Normally people seem to be opposed to an OC, like Pyros, being paired with a main character, like Vanille, but if you like the idea I'll do it. Honestly it's an interesting idea.
I'm glad you like it, and as for the plot twist. It wouldn't be a plot twist if I told you would it :)

Disclaimer:
It's done. I had my ninja monkey's kidnap Hope and Lightning. Now all I have to do is ransom them back to Square for the rights!... Unless Lightning murders my ninja monkeys… (sigh)


Lightning woke to the beating of her alarm clock. She opened an eye and stared angrily at it, as though daring it to continue disrupting her slumber.

The alarm clock matched her glare by continuing to buzz annoyingly. Lightning growled and covered her head with her pillow. She wasn't sure why she didn't want to get up, her mind wasn't awake enough for that, she just knew it was the last thing she wanted to do.

However the alarm clock had a different opinion. It's incessant ringing was telling her that it was time to wake. And in the end the annoying device was flung across the room, smashing into a broken mess in the far wall.

Lightning then rolled towards the other wall and closed her eyes. Without the sound of the alarm clock the room was silent and peaceful. Normally Lightning would have fallen asleep quickly, but the high pitched buzzing had woken her up just enough so that further sleep would be rendered impossible.

"Stupid clock…" Lightning threw the blankets off.

But that was about all the will power she had to devote to waking up. So she decided to just lay there staring up at the ceiling in her underwear.

Hope will… oh right… Lightning put her pillow over her head. I yelled at him, why'd I do that? Fang… that's right. Fang was flirting with him and I got mad. Why did I get mad?

Lightning sighed and sat up. She scooted back in the bed and leaned against headboard, holding the pillow to her chest.

"Why did I do that?" Lightning sighed.

Lightning didn't really know. But something about so many other women being interested in Hope made her feel… what?

"Argh!" Lightning growled and buried her head in her pillow.

In most regards Lightning was a strong, well developed, woman. However on a more emotional level she had little experience.

Sure she had her sister, but that relationship had been very strained until after the L'Cie incident. Then there had been a few of her coworkers, Amodar and Cid chief among them. But she had kept them away as well.

In every relationship she had Lightning had been the soldier. Duty bound, strong willed and cold.

Then she had met Hope. Hope, the kid. Hope who wore his heart on his sleeve. And he was stubborn and open and warm.

She had met Hope, in both senses of the word. And somehow this person, who was almost her exact opposite, had wheezled his way into her heart…

"You okay in here?" Bartholomew called as he knocked on the door.

Lightning looked at the door. She really just wanted to be left alone. But being on her own never seemed to work when Hope was involved.

"Yeah." Lightning called, pulling her blanket up over herself. "Um… sir…"

"Bartholomew." Bartholomew called. "And can I come in?"

"Yes sir." Lightning said.

Bartholomew pushed the door open and cautiously poked his head inside. Last night she had been very upset and whilst Bartholomew didn't think his life was in danger it was always better to safe then have a bullet in your ass.

"Are you feeling better this morning?" Bartholomew, seeing the sheathed gunblade on the other side of the room from Lightning.

"Yeah." Lightning frowned and looked at the far wall. "I yelled at Hope… didn't I?" Bartholomew sat on the edge of her bed.

"Yes. You did." Lightning hugged her pillow closer to her chest.

Bartholomew frowned and looked up at the ceiling. He was thinking that this was when Nora would have something sweet and profound to say. Something that was guiding and comforting and so simple you face palmed yourself for not thinking about it.

"Do you know one of the ways to tell if two people love each other?" Bartholomew asked as he was hit by a surge of inspiration.

"There's ways to tell if people love each other?" Lightning sounded confused. Love was turning out to be far more complicated then she thought it was.

"Yep." Bartholomew wore a fatherly expression on his face as he regarded Lightning. "One of those ways is when you have a fight."

"People who love each other fight?" Lightning cocked a doubting eyebrow at Bartholomew. "Are you serious?" Bartholomew couldn't help but laugh a little bit.

"Of course." Bartholomew crossed his left leg over his right knee. "Me and Nora used to fight, this one time she saw this lady checking out my back side for a little too long. Believe it or not I used to be quite the stud back in the day."

Lightning rolled her eyes.

"We had an argument about it. I said it wasn't my fault, I made the grave mistake of making a joke out it and saying it wasn't my fault the ladies couldn't take their eyes of me… stop laughing…" Lightning had covered her mouth, the mental image of a young Bartholomew saying this to Nora stuck in her head. "Your not being very nice…" Bartholomew pouted.

Oh, that's were Hope learned how to pout… The resemblance between Hope's pout and his father's was absolutely amazing.

"Sorry sir." Lightning said. "Please continue."

"It's not sir, just Bartholomew." Bartholomew corrected. "Anyways. Nora didn't like that. She yelled at me and being a stupid male, stop smiling, I yelled back. In the end we left angry at each other. I guess more than anything we left hurt." Bartholomew was silent in recollection for a moment. "A week later I finally got the guts to say I was sorry. I really didn't know what I did, I still don't, but I said that whatever it was I'd change. She slapped me…"

"How does that help?" Lightning asked bluntly. Bartholomew gave her a look, one that said 'hush up a moment and I'll tell you.'

"She kissed me a moment later. You see Lightning there's this thing you need to know about guys, even the more sensitive guys like Hope." Lightning was intently listening now. "We're idiots. We don't see why women checking us out is a problem, especially since we don't think about those women like that. And when you get mad at us we don't know what we did, but it hurts us to hurt you…" Bartholomew was quiet a moment, trying to gather his thoughts.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that we screw up. But I know Hope, he's enough like me to be pathetic, and he loves you." Bartholomew pushed himself up, brushing off his pants. "I don't know what he did, but Hope would never hurt you on purpose." He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "He's just as new to this love thing as you are…"

"I've had a boyfriend before." Lightning stated dryly.

"Really?" Bartholomew narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Have you done anything…"

"Bartholomew! No!" Lightning shouted, blushing madly. "Just get out old man!" Bartholomew smirked.

"That's better, no sir or anything…" Bartholomew ducked a pillow and left the room. Lightning shook her head, but couldn't help but smile.

He was right. Lightning threw the covers off and put her feet on the floor. I do feel better…


Arsenal, training room.

"…Again!" Hope shouted.

"Damn it boss!" Steve yelled. "We've been doing this all morning!"

Hope was breathing heavily. Gunblade held firmly in his right and a boomerang in his left.

All around Hope were tired soldiers laying on the ground. Their training armor was beaten and more than one of them had a blood nose. A couple of broken weapons also littered the ground.

"I said again." Hope ordered. They all groaned and stood up slowly.

Ryan and Justin fell back to the ground, exclaiming in pain. Jo stumbled before Maqui caught her, but he even had to take a knee with Jo wrapped in his arms. The only two that managed to stand up properly were Reiner and Steve, and even they could barely grasp their swords.

"I thought Lightning was hard." Reiner grumbled.

"Normally Hope's a teddy bear." Maqui said, resting Jo's head in his lap. "But every now and then he gets a wild hair up his ass…"

"I can hear you." Hope warned. "Now if you have the energy to talk then you have the energy to fight…"

"Hold it kid." A familiar Australian accent called. "If you want to fight I'm up for it."

Hope turned around to see Fang smirking at him. Vanille was skipping nearby, twirling a flower in between her fingers.

"Fine. Clear out!" Hope ordered his soldiers. "You have five minutes to rest, make the most of them."

"Five minutes?" Fang twirling her spear around. "I can take you down in one." Hope sheathed the boomerang and rubbed his eyes. He was in a foul mood today and Fang's jibes were easily getting to him.

"It's been three years." Hope readied his gunblade. "I've changed a lot, have you?"

The soldiers glanced wearily at Fang and Hope before trudging off to the sidelines. The break was welcomed but they had heard stories about Fang, grant it they were probably slightly exaggerated but still she was probably one of the world's strongest warriors. Which means Hope was probably going to get his ass kicked.

"What's up guys!" Vanille called as the group sat down against one of the walls.

"Not much." Ryan said. "Just waiting for our boss to get his but kicked…" Vanille giggled.

"What's so funny?" Jo demanded impatiently.

"Don't count Hope out yet." She smiled and sat down with the soldiers. "He's stronger then we give him credit for sometimes."

Fang held her spear in two hands, confident smirk on her face. Hope held his blade loosely in his right hand, angry glare affixed on Fang.

"Ready kid?" Fang mocked.

"Ready old lady?" Hope said dryly.

"Wow, when did you get so…" Fang was cut short as a boomerang was launched from Hope's back at her.

The nimble Pulsian woman easily deflected the boomerang and stood at the ready.

"Is that all you've got?" Fang asked confidently.

Hope answered by charging her. His blade was fast, and so was Fangs spear. The two weapons met in a flurry of sparks and clangs.

Fang held her own before Hope's vicious blows forced her back a step. She was more than moderately surprised when Hope landed a kick, sending the older women flying backwards where she nimbly landed on her feet.

"Not bad kid." Fang wiped her chin, though there was no blood to wipe away. "Guess I don't need to hold back then."

"Like you were holding back before." Hope held his blade just a tad tighter, his boomerangs started to hum with energy.

"We'll see…"

Fang charged, her spear twirling through the air at near blinding speed. Hope leapt to the side and flipped his gunblade into gun mode.

As Hope sidestepped Fang jumped at him, deflecting the bullets he fired easily. Then with a wolfish grin she jumped into the air.

"Ready for this!" Hope recognized one of the catch phrases Fang called before Highwind.

Without magic it won't be as powerful. Hope let his blade fold out and jumped into the air to meet her. And then there's that gap in her spear…

Fang descended as Hope ascended. There was a mid air clang and Hope's sword was knocked from his hand and a thin cut mark marked his mask.

The pair landed, backs to each other. Fang turned towards Hope, a wide grin plastered to her face. Hope meanwhile removed his mask and threw it to the side, the metal object falling in half as it hit the ground.

"Looks like I win." Fang said leaning on her spear. "So what do I get as a prize?"

"Nothing." Hope smirked as he turned around. "We're both disarmed." Fang looked at Hope like he was stupid.

"Kid have do you need glasses or something?" Fang held up her spear, twirling it around. "As you can see my spear is perfectly… ah shit…"

The spear cracked from tip to tip. It's metal blades and wooden shaft split cleanly leaving Fang clutching a broken weapon.

"How did you…" Fang was interrupted as Hope jump kicked at her.

Fang easily sidestepped and blocked Hope's elbow. Hope followed by a high kick and a punch, which Fang deflected with the side of her arm.

She then lashed out with the heel of her own foot. Hope stepped back, and tripped on the spear. Fang took advantage of Hope's falling state to rush him, intending to drive his head into the ground.

Hope, who was ever nimble, put his hands on the ground and turned his fall into a back flip. The toe of his boot caught Fang's chin, staggering her backwards. Hope landed and the two faced each other, resting into combat ready stances.

"Your spear's design." Hope said, leaving Fang with a confused look. "If you hit perfectly between the blades you'll slip between them. From there I was just cutting through wood and my blades more than a mach for wood."

"Wow…" Fang whistled. "You've gotten smart over the years… you still can't beat me." Fang grinned as Hope's face became serious.

They moved in tandem, running straight for each other. Hope swung a strong left hook which Fang avoided, flipping hope over her shoulder in the process.

Hope however held on to her arm and as he was flipped he threw Fang. Fang, who hadn't expected an advanced maneuver like that, hit the ground in a hard roll, coming to a stop twenty feet away.

"I win." Hope said simply.

"How?" Fang pushed herself up and looked at Hope with a frown. "Who taught you how to do that?" Hope shrugged as he walked to his gunblade.

"I did." Hope picked up his blade and holstered it. "In most things I taught myself." Fang looked surprised.

"What 'bout Light? I would have thought she'd have taught you how to fight." Hope shrugged.

"She lived in Bodhum and me and dad lived here." Hope turned to her, a strange look on his face. "We kept in touch but it's hard to teach someone something over the phone. So I taught myself. Though Light's given me plenty of advice over the years…" Hope trailed off, a sad look briefly washing over his face.

"Something happen?" Fang asked.

"Nothing." Hope muttered, he then tilted his head at his men. "It's lunch time; get your asses out of here!"

"Yes sir!" And like that they were gone as fast as humanly possible.

"Fang, Vanille." Hope called as he slowly walked out of the room. "Maqui will take you guys to find a place to live later…" Hope was stopped when Fang grabbed his shoulder.

"Now hold on a moment." Fang spun Hope around to face her. "You haven't told me what's wrong yet." There was a stubborn look on her face. "And don't even think about lying to me."

Hope regarded her a moment before shaking his head. He grabbed Fang's wrist and removed her hand from his shoulder.

"It's nothing…" Fang upper cutted Hope. Hope's body was propelled several feet into the air before it came down on the ground with a hard thud.

"I warned you, don't lie to me." Fang walked over to Hope and kneeled next to him. "Now tell me, what's the problem?"

Hope stared up at her, staying where he was on the ground. Fang didn't blink; she just looked at him surprisingly patiently. Well patient for Fang.

"Your not going to let me go until I tell you, are you?" Fang shook her head no, and grinned at Hope as he sighed dejectedly. "Light's mad at me. Which makes me mad because it's my fault she's upset."

"Which is why you were beating the brains out of your soldiers?" Fang deduced. "Have you tried apologizing?" Hope looked away, causing Fang to sigh.

"I went home to say I was sorry but..." Hope sighed, he felt like he had been sighing a lot lately. "We got into an argument. And I hurt her…"

"Wait, your so worked up because you got into a fight?" Fang shook her head, trying not to laugh. "A little lovers spat is it?"

"F-Fang!" Hope stuttered. "We aren't lovers!" Fang rolled her eyes.

"You Cocoon people make life a lot harder than it has to be." Fang stood up. "If two people really love each other." She pulled Hope to his feet. "Then why should age matter?" Hope gave her a look.

"Pulse never had a lot of sex offenders, did they?" Hope asked, eyebrow raised. Fang smirked.

"The one's we did have didn't make it very far." Fang picked up her ruined spear. "Why? Cocoon doesn't kill 'em on the spot?"

"No…" Hope took a few steps away from Fang. "But the retribution is immense. That's why we decided to wait…"

"Why do people From Cocoon make life so complicated?" Fang asked rhetorically.

"I don't know Fang." Vanille said as skipped up beside them. "Not everything they do is messed up." Fang cocked an eyebrow at Vanille.

"Name two." Fang dared.

"Their beds are nice and comfy." Vanille grabbed Hope's arm. "And their bathrooms are way better than ours!" Fang and Hope gave her a look.

"You know I'm glad." Hope said as detangled his arm from Vanille. "That you two haven't changed at all."

"Hey what's that supposed to mean!" Fang called as Hope started to walk away.

"Whatever you want it to mean." Hope shouted back.

"Hey Hope." Fang smirked. "Your having dinner with me and Vanille tonight…"

"Why would I do that?" Hope stopped and gave them a quizzical look.

"I won." Fang called. Hope snorted and shook his head.

"How do you figure…?" A boomerang thonked him between the eyes. Lifting Hope off his feet where he hit the ground hard.

"So you at six!" And with that Fang was gone, leaving a giggling Vanille and a hurting Hope.

Maker, why do women have to make my life complicated? Hope thought. Asking himself a question that has plagued thousands of males throughout the ages…


Arsenal. Hope's office.

"Paperwork…" Hope groaned as he hatefully looked at the two mountains of files that flanked him on either side. "And to think, a promotion sounded pretty good a week ago."

With a sigh Hope got back to the eve tedious job of signing his name to a hundred thousand pointless documents. Pointless as they may be he still read over each one carefully, cursing every few minutes when he saw small legal print.

Hope was beginning to think that the military hired lawyers to design the paperwork. There was no other explanation for the flowery legal print and fancy, far too long, words that adorned the pages. Turning what, if he had designed it, would have been a simple, straightforward, two page item into a twenty plus page monster.

"Sir." A soldier called from the other side of the door.

Hope got up and headed for the door. He was happy for any excuse to delay the paperwork. And so he almost giddily opened the door, and froze eyes wide.

"Someone's here to see you." The soldier said, gesturing his head towards a familiar figure.

Lightning stood beside the soldier. And instead of the normal military apparel she was dressed in faded blue jeans and one of Hope's old yellow sweaters. Her hair was a mess, probably un-brushed, and fell around her head in uneven tangles. The only thing normally was the pendant around her neck and the heavy combat boots.

"Light…" Hope looked up at the soldier. "Thank you."

"Just doing my job sir." The soldier gave Hope a wink before he walked off. "I'll tell the men you'll be busy for 'bout an hour…"

"Hey wait!" Hope called, but was too late. The soldier had turned down the hallway and out of sight. "I'm so screwed…"

"That's how it all starts isn't it?" Lightning asked almost nervously.

"How what starts?" Hope and Lightning walked into Hope's office.

"The rumors. The one's that make you sound like an animal." Lightning closed the door.

"I suppose. Honestly I don't hear much about them." Hope sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk, motioning for Lightning to sit in the other. "Um Light…" Hope started but faltered. He knew he had to say this just right, or he could hurt Lightning again.

"Yeah?" Lightning locked eyes with Hope. The brightness of her blue eyes gave Hope strength.

"I'm sorry." Hope bowed his head and shut his eyes. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I'll do anything to make it up to you, just please forgive me…" Hope swallowed hard. He was expecting to get hit, maybe kicked, and yelled at a lot. So it was a great surprise when Lightning pulled him into a crushing hug.

"Shut up. " Lightning ordered. "You didn't do anything wrong… I just overreacted. I know you wouldn't do anything because you love me, it just… hard to see so many people interested in you…" Lightning swallowed and Hope could feel her cheeks flush against the side of his neck. "I mean it makes me wonder why you chose me…" Hope snorted in laughter, which earned him a hard punch in the stomach.

"Ow… point taken." He groaned in pain as he sat up. "Light I couldn't choose anyone but you." Hope smirked, though he held his stomach tightly. "No one's ever just loved me for being me. I mean Lexis is interested in me because I was a L'Cie. Those 'fan girls' just think I'm hot and Fang, well Fang's a friend. Nothing more." Lightning tilted her head down, hair covering her eyes.

"What about Vanille? She's always hanging on your arm…" Lightning muttered. She then glared at Hope as he laughed. "Hey it's not funny!" Hope stopped laughing, afraid he'd get punched again.

"Light Vanille's like my little sister." Hope couldn't stop smirking. "And you don't date your sister…" Lightning felt relieved.

"Yeah… though if you listen to some of Fang's story's…" Hope laughed.

"Well that's different; everyone on Pulse was crazy if you believe everything that Fang says." Hope and Lightning smiled.

"Well, there's some crazy things I don't mind." Hope said, looking down at his feet.

"What's that?" Lightning asked curiously.

"It doesn't matter how old you are. The most important thing is that two people love each other." Hope blushed. "Of course we still need to wait for… you know. For it to be right before…" Lightning cut him off by pulling him into a bear hug.

"Yep." She nestled her head into his neck. "My Hope's back…"

"And so is my Light." Hope sat up, smirking like an idiot. "You want to go to dinner with me tonight?" Lightning sighed.

"You know that could be considered…" Hope put a finger on her lips, silencing Lightning.

"Fang and Vanille will be there to. And we can bring my dad, maybe Maqui and Jo." Hope said.

"Fang…" Lightning frowned. Hope rolled his eyes.

"Hey you may be mad at her but it'll give us all a good chance to catch up, won't it?" Hope reasoned. Lightning narrowed her eyes.

"Will there be Chinese food involved?" Lightning looked absolutely deadly.

"Well… there will be now?" Hope wouldn't admit it, but he thought that deadly look was attractive.

"Good." She rested her head on his shoulder again. "Because I like Chinese food." Lightning realized that this was the happiest she had been in a long time.

She also realized it would still be a few days before she would move on. But at least when she did she knew Hope would be there, waiting for her.


Bodhum. NORA's head quarters.

"Paperwork…" Snow groaned as he banged his head on the desk. "This is NORA, why the hell do we have so much paperwork?" Snow sighed and leaned back in his chair. Today was supposed to be a tough training regiment for his men, but now with Hope's report about Oran his desk had suddenly filled up with paperwork.

Paperwork that as the head of NORA he had no choice but to fill out in a timely manner.

"Sometimes I hate my job…" Snow complained.

"That's your problem commander." A rusty old voice said. Snow glanced up and smirked.

"What's up Jaeger?" Snow pushed the paperwork aside and turned his attention to the second in command of NORA's operations.

"Not much I'm afraid." Jaeger said as he slowly sat down in one of Snow's comfortable plush chairs. "Though patrols are getting more then this old man can handle." Snow nodded.

"You want me to take you off the patrol chart?" Snow offered. "I mean we have plenty of men to take care of it, no need for old dogs like us to go out." Jaeger laughed.

"You think your old son? Just wait another sixty years. Then you'll know what it's like to be old." Jaeger smiled a few moments longer before sighing.

"I take it you're not here today for pleasantries?" Snow said.

"No. I'm here to talk to you about this Oran character." Jaeger produced a file from under his armpit. "It seems he's not a new face."

"What do you mean?" Snow asked as he took the file.

"He was a sanctum L'Cie. But I knew him long before that."

"How'd you know him old man?" Snow asked seriously, his normal hero smirk gone for the moment.

"Three years ago, just before you became L'Cie, Oran was given a focus." Jaeger leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms and frowning. "He never told me what it was, but I do have a theory."

"Which is?" Snow asked.

"I think Oran was part of a contingency plan. Just in case something happened and people survived the fall of Cocoon." Jaeger looked at Snow, lips curling downwards. "This is just idle speculation but I know three people that were frozen at that time. The first is Oran…"

"And who are the others?" Snow interrupted. Jaeger gave him a look of reprimand.

"How did you teachers put up with you? Better yet how does poor Serah put up with an oaf like you?" Snow gave the older man his hero grin.

"Sorry, now can you tell me who the other two men were?" Snow asked nicely.

"Much better, we'll make a gentleman out of you yet." Jaeger pulled two more files from under his arm and handed them to Snow. "There names were Vexor and Shadow. Guardian Corp elitists. Regarded as two of the best soldiers to have ever lived…"

"Vexor… Shadow…" Snow frowned. "Why do those names sound familiar…?" Snow turned to his computer and started bringing up personal rosters. "Those names. I've heard of names like those… and… here it is." Snow sighed in relief. "Never mind. Vex and Shade, different names."

"But similar names." Jaeger pushed himself up. "Let's check on them, just to be sure. I don't want to risk it. Especially if Oran's the same as I remember him."

"Alright, I'll alert the Guardian Corp." Snow started dialing on his phone. "But let's just hope they aren't the guys you think they are." Jaeger nodded as he left.

"Yes, for all our sakes let's hope those two died a long time ago…"


Patrol, the forest around Bodhum.

"Keep a steady pace." A cold voice ordered. "We are expected back in thirty seven minutes."

The voice belonged to a six foot seven man. The man was dressed all in black. From his heavy combat boots and canvas trousers to his tight shirt, which showed off his muscular abdomen, to the trench coat the covered his shoulder and black metal gloves. Even the katana on his back was sheathed in black.

His skin was the palest white. His face had sharp, strangely attractive, features. Offset by his yellow eyes. Eyes which were covered by his lanky shinny black hair that came almost to the small of his back.

"Shade!" A tired voice called.

"Vex your slowing the group down." Shade remarked coldly.

"Damnit Shade, slow the hell down!"

Vex was five foot five. He wore dark yellow greaves that came up past his knees. A dark tan pair of trousers were tucked into the greaves. A worn brown leather shirt adorned his upper body and was tucked gently into his metal claws. The claws were tied tightly just behind his wrists and extended three feet away from his hands.

The claws were Vex's favorite weapon. Their AMP modification allowed them to slice through everything but the strongest blades.

Such a weapon went well with his feral features and dirty dark brown hair. His eyes were a strangely feverish green.

"No." Shade then leapt through the air, moving quickly.

"Shade!" Vex growled as he jumped after the taller man.

Shade stopped, a good fifty feet away from where they had just been, and frowned at Vex.

"What is it? Did you find a monster we need to dispatch?" Shade reached for his katana.

"You really are that thick aren't you?" Shade looked at Vex confused.

"What about me is thick?" Shade asked.

A group of soldiers ran out of the trees, panting profusely.

"Sir… wait up…" The lead soldier wheezed.

"I see." Shade frowned and leaned against a tree. "More endurance training is required." A collective groan filled the air. "Vex stay here. I will scout ahead."

"Alright." Vex crossed his arms and leaned against a tree.

Shade took several quick, fast, leaps. Easily putting his men out of eyesight.

"Shade." A voice echoed on the wind. Shade stopped in a small clearing far from his men.

"Ventus." Shade looked around briefly, making sure he was not followed. "What does Oran want?"

"It's time." Ventus said cryptically.

"I see." Shade drew the katana and turned back the way he'd come. "I'll clean up here, and then we'll meet you by Oerba."

"Understood. I'll inform Lord Oran." Ventus's voice started to fade.

"Ventus. Oran isn't lord of anything." Shade walked calmly towards his men. "So please don't inflate his already impressive ego."

Ventus didn't reply. Shade didn't expect him to.

"Boss!" One of his soldiers, a scrawny teenager with brown hair and an ever to loose uniform, called. "Did you find anything?" The soldier ran up beside Shade.

"Yes." In a blinding movement Shade stabbed through the man's chest. "I found that I have to kill you all…"

Everything was silent as the soldier gasped, body sliding down the blade. Shade frowned and kicked the body off, letting it land hard on the ground.

"Traitor…" Another man said breathlessly. "How could you just…" He was cut short as Shade charged him.

"You're the traitor." Oran cut into the man's chest and twirled out of the way of the blood. "You're the one's…" Another flash of steel and a man was disarmed. "That trusted me."

The three remaining soldiers opened fire. Shade easily twisted out of the way before leaping backwards, disappearing into the darkness.

"Come on!" Vex shouted as he stepped behind the soldiers. "Keep firing…"

The soldiers obeyed. Until Vex used one swipe of his claws to kill two of them. His claws cut deep into the back, ruining their spines, and left them sprawled out on the ground.

"No…." The last soldier turned around, a horrified look on his face. "Rick… Guy…" He tripped and landed hard on his rear, gun clattering away from him. "You killed them…"

"No duh dumbass." Vex let his claws hang by his side, blood dripping from them and unto the ground.

"W-why?" The man choked back sobs. "Why would you…" He was cut off as Shade sliced across the back of his neck, snapping his spine and filling the man's lungs with blood.

"Shade! Why'd you do that? He was about to piss his pants!" Vex stamped his feet in anger. Shade on the other hand just wiped the blood on the man's shirt.

"It was a waste of time." Shade sheathed the blade and turned away. "His last words wouldn't have changed his fate. So there's no use hearing them." And with that Shade leapt off into the night.

Vex stared angrily after him. "Cold bastard…" Vex ran after him, the pair disappeared into the darkness of the forest.


Dinner. Chang Fu's Chinese restaurant, New Palumpolum.

"…And that was when Vanille fell asleep." Fang said, arms stretched to her sides as she told a story. "So when I got back the water had… how do I say this? Reduced itself, reduced itself into nonexistence. The pot was glowing red and flecks were falling off..."

"Fang!" Vanille pouted from her seat by Hope. "Your so mean!"

"Am not!" Fang said in mock hurt. "I'm just trying to teach Hope…"

"And what is the lesson?" Lightning asked, trying not to smirk in amusement.

"Never boil tea water and fall asleep." Fang crossed her arms and nodded sagely. "Nothing good ever comes of it."

The group was sitting in a secluded booth in New Palumpolum's most prestigious Chinese Restaurant. Fang was sitting on one side with Maqui and Bartholomew flanking her. Hope sat on the other with Lightning and Vanille at either side of him.

"Yeah right, you guys don't think I'd be sill enough to fall asleep with the stove on, do you?" Hope's question was met with silence and strange looks. "Thanks for the vote of confidence…" A deflated Hope said. Lightning was about to say something to cheer him up when Vanille grabbed his arm.

"Don't worry Hope; I'm on your side." Vanille said peppily.

"Thanks Vanille…" Hope could feel Lightning glare at the side of his head. "But can you let my arm go?"

"Okay!" She let him go and turned to her finished meal.

"Ah you two are so cute together." Fang declared, smirking as Lightning clenched her fist around her drink.

"Fang!" Bartholomew and Hope said at the same time.

Lightning glanced at Hope, the anger fading from her face as she grabbed his hand under the table. Hope squeezed and she returned the gesture.

I guess I can forgive Fang… Lightning thought. It's not like Hope meant it that way…

"What? It's true!" Fang defended. Vanille giggled and Hope shook his head sadly.

"You really don't get it, do you?" Hope sighed, resting his head against the table.

"Get what?" Fang asked. "It's true…"

Conversational banter continued for the next thirty minutes. Hope told Fang and Vanille about his adventures in New Palumpolum, earning a few surprised looks from Lightning. She never realized just how much of Hope's life she missed until he started telling tales which ranged from helping Bartholomew install the houses plumbing to defending the town from a pack of Behemoths.

Lightning promised herself she wasn't going to miss anything else.

Dessert came around and conversation became more somber. Bartholomew talked about Nora. Everyone sat in rapt attention as Bartholomew recounted their first date. He told them everything, from how nervous he was to how Nora kissed him on the cheek when he walked her home.

For Hope it was a melancholy thing. He loved stories about his mother, but it always reminded him that she was gone. Lightning squeezed his hand reassuringly when she saw his eyes water.

"Damn, you got a kiss on your first date?" Fang said bluntly. "I guess it runs in the family."

"What does?" Bartholomew sounded confused.

"Nothing." Fang shook her head, as though what she meant should have been obvious. "Hey Hope?" Fang said almost nervously.

"Yeah?" Hope frowned as he locked eyes with Fang. She seemed oddly nervous, not a very Fang like state.

"Do you think we could visit Oerba?" Fang and Vanille wore oddly somber expressions. "I know it's not the same as we remember it, but it's our home. So I… we want to see it."

The table was quiet a moment as Hope smirked.

"Alright then. I've got more than enough vacation time, and I'll get Light assigned as an escort." Lightning shot Hope a look. "It'll be like a vacation…"

"Thank you Hope!" Vanille had grabbed his arm again, squealing with glee. "Thank you thank you thank you…!"

For once Lightning wasn't annoyed at Vanille. It was hard to be mad at her when she was that happy.

"Thank you Hope." Fang wiped at her eyes. "It means a lot."

"No problem." Hope smiled broadly. "It's been a long time. Besides I need to talk to someone there…"

"Who?" Lightning asked curiously.

"Shamus, leader of Oerba's NORA branch…"


Oerba, Ashensand

A strong breeze blew over The Ashensand. Some of the white powder was picked up and whipped about, causing a tall man to smirk.

The man's hair was a carrot like color. As was the thin beard that covered his chine and extended to his side burns. (a chinstrap) His eyes were a vibrant grin and his smile was bright, despite the stained teeth. A bandanna was tied around his neck. The white bandanna had a green clover emblazoned on the front.

His white Victorian style shirt was open in the front, revealing a strong toned body. His pants were a dark blue pair of jeans and shined black tennis shoes.

And slung over his shoulder was a hefty shotgun.

"Oi Shamus!" A pair of scrawny teenagers yelled as they were being chased by a pack of Gorgonopsids.

"Boy's what'd you do this time!" Shamus yelled in his Irish accent.

"It was all Adair's fault!" One of the twins yelled.

"What? Baird's the one that dared me to throw a rock at 'em!" Adair defended.

"You were daff enough to listen!" Baird yelled back.

Shamus just sighed and wondered where he went wrong with those boys.

"Boy's lead it 'round here." Shamus ordered, pumping the shotgun. "I'll take care of 'em from there."

"Alright." Adair and Baird shouted.

The pair ran up the hill towards Shamus. Shamus held the shotgun out with one hand and smiled as the boys passed him. The first shot sent one of the beasts flying backwards, head and back shot full of holes.

The remaining five creatures spread out and leapt at Shamus from the sides. Shamus hopped to the side, avoiding four of the beasts, and swung his left elbow into the side of another head. The animal yelped as it was sent sprawling to the ground.

Shamus cocked the gun and fired into the beasts before they could jump at him again. The spray of pellet caught two of them, sending them flying into the air.

The others surrounded and pounced. Shamus back stepped one and jerked the shotgun back. The pump slid back and made a wet crunching sound on the side of a Gorgonopsid's head. Then in a fluid motion he pushed the gun forward into the throat of another of the beasts.

The gun pierced straight through its neck and out the other side where Shamus pulled the trigger, turning the last creature into a wet paste all over the white ground.

Shamus spat on the ground and took a cigarette. He gently placed it between his lips and lit it with an old copper lighter. He breathed in deeply and exhaled smoke rings from his nose.

"Oi Shamus!" Baird shouted as he hugged the taller man. "That was amazing!"

"Yeah." Adair agreed, also hugging the man. "You kicked their sorry asses!..." Shamus conked Adair gently on the head with the stock of his gun.

"By you can't cuss until their hair on your chest." Shamus scolded.

"Sorry Shamus." Adair said, rubbing his head furiously. "It's a habit…"

"Shamus do we have to wait for hair on our chest before we can have some of the mountain dew Aunt Alina makes?" Baird looked concerned as he posed this question. Shamus just smirked and messed the hair of the young twins.

"I think we can make an exception, long as you tell me how you made gorgonopsid's angry enough to chase yah here." Shamus hoisted the boys up on his shoulder, Adair holding the shot gun.

"Well we remembered you and the men at the pub saying a group of sneaky Gorgonopsid's were hunt 'in the sheep." Adair stared.

"So we thought we'd track 'em down and kill 'em." Baird declared proudly. "Problem is we couldn't lift the guns…"

"So we took our slings and some rocks!" Adair said, grinning a toothy grin.

"But we missed their heads…" Baird added.

"So it just woke 'em up." Adair shook his head. "Then Baird got the idea of lead 'in 'em down here so you and the men could finish 'em off!"

"No it was Adair's idea." Baird said happily. "He's the brains here."

"Am not. You're the smart one…" Baird was about to argue with his brother until Shamus laughed heartily cutting them off.

"Oi boys, good job." Shamus smirked at his favorite pupils. "You'll be defending your home in no time." The boy's chest puffed out and eyes seemed to gleam.

"Yah think so?" Adair asked amazed.

"I do." Shamus said. "You'll make yer mums proud, and maybe win the affection of the Noble twins…" The boys could hardly contain their elation.

"Really Shamus?" Adair asked.

"Your not pulling our legs?" Baird added.

"Does it look like I'm pulling your legs?" Shamus laughed.

"Shamus!" An angry female voice called. Shamus stopped dead in his tracks and set the boys down.

"Mary… how are you doing?" Shamus cringed when he saw her angry scowl.

Mary was a five seven brown haired women. Her face was tanned from work in the sun, though it only made her intelligent blue eyes stand out. She wore black pants and a white blouse which revealed her muscled stomach.

"Did you just promise the boys beer?" Mary narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"No, I promised them some of Alina's mountain dew…" Shamus took a step back as Mary took one forwards.

"That's even worse; you just promised two ten year olds some of the strongest alcohol on Pulse!" Mary was fuming, her blue eyes flashing dangerously with anger.

"But Mary they led the gorgonopsids…" Shamus was cut off as Mary snorted.

"So your rewarding them for risking their lives!" Mary drew her handgun, Shamus's eyes widened in horror.

"See you later boys!" He ran as fast his long legs could carry him.

"Get back here Shamus!"

The twins watched the adults run. Then they exchanged glances.

"So you think we're still getting that mountain dew?" Adair asked hopefully.

"Yep… As long as Shamus doesn't get an early grave…"


(A/N)

I have no idea how this turned out. The combat felt, to me at least, pretty sloppy. But it's the best I can right now so… yeah.

The next two to three chapters are in Oerba. Shamus will be playing a semi important role so I thought his inclusion here would be prudent but what do I know?

Sorry if this chapter seems… I don't know rushed? Disjointed? I'm probably being hard on myself but I didn't particularly care for this one. But that's my nature.

Anyways, the next couple of chapters are going to be fun to write. I've always wondered what a busy Oerba would look like, and with characters like these it's going to be a blast to write!

Until next time.