A/N: Another work for Hoperai Week 2015. A rather short one, but I thought it was kinda sweet anyway. I'm a sucker for "trying-to-do-stuff-for-your-beloved-failing-miserably-but-it-doesn't-matter-he/she-loves-you-anyway" stories.

The Thwarted Surprise

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

A sudden crash downstairs woke Hope abruptly from his placid half-asleep state. He sat up in bed, somewhat dazed, and then he heard a gasp of pain.

"Light!", not wasting any second, the young man jumped out of bed and ran to the lower floor, almost tripping over his pants' edges while he hastily ran down the stairs. Once he got downstairs, he looked around in worry; then he heard muttered swearing coming from the kitchen. He basically lunged at the kitchen door, which was closed, and opened it rather sharply, fearing something bad had happened. What he saw was Lightning, her back to him, kneeling on the floor and clutching her left hand, a bloodstained knife lying on the floor next to her.

"Light!", Hope ran to her and knelt by her side, panicking; Lightning looked up at him, holding back a wince. "What happened?"

"Nothing", she replied through gritted teeth. "Don't worry. It's nothing."

Hope, who knew her well, took the hand Lightning was clutching; she resisted a bit, but eventually let the young man examine it: a long, deep gash ran across the palm of her left hand, bleeding heavily and leaving scarlet trails on her arm.

"'Nothing', you say? For heavens' sake, Light, you almost cut half of your hand away."

She shot him an ironic look.

"You and me both have dealt with more serious wounds. This is but a scratch in comparison."

"That's no reason to say this is 'nothing'", Hope shook his head and covered Lightning's wounded hand with his; they began to give off a soft blue-ish glow. "Honestly, Light, I'm not ready yet to deal with this kind of scares again."

Lightning frowned, but her tense expression gradually relaxed as Hope's Cure spell healed the wound and eased the pain.

"I'm sorry I scared you", she said, lowering her head. "I'd have healed it myself, but I admit your healing magic is loads better than mine…"

He sighed, but said nothing. He kept silent as he healed Lightning's hand.

After a few minutes, Hope finally let her hand go gently and examined it; all traces of the wound had disappeared, except for the blood trickles running over her arm.

"That's it", he told her, gently squeezing her hand. "Does it hurt?"

"No", she replied, opening and closing it to be sure. "It feels as if I've never had a cut here. Thanks, Hope."

Hope softly smiled, something he had been having a hard time doing in recent months, so every time it happened it meant a lot for her. Then, the young man bent down to pick up the kitchen knife which seemed responsible for almost having left Lightning without her left hand.

"What were you doing with the knife?", he asked, worried; Lightning looked away. "Light, is anything wrong–?"

"No!", she quickly replied, realizing Hope got the wrong idea. "No, really. It's nothing like that. I just… I was trying to give you a surprise", she confessed, blushing.

"A surprise?", Hope tilted his head, puzzled. "Cutting yourself a hand with the knife?"

"No, idiot, of course not. It's just…", all of a sudden, Lightning, her face flushed, looked more timid than ever. "You always say you'd love to try my dishes, and the only thing I can cook is behemoth steak… so I was trying to make something more… sophisticated for you."

Hope blinked in bewilderment; since Lightning wasn't exactly good at cooking, he had always been the one in charge of the kitchen. When his depression worsened, she had tried to take over with disastrous results, so Hope made the effort to keep cooking. The fact that after those culinary failures the young woman had still tried to cook something for him… He didn't know what to say. Lightning didn't usually spend much time with things she considered extreme lost causes.

"You wanted to make something special for me?", Hope looked up and discovered on the counter what looked like some kind of poultry, its flesh full of rough cuts and gashes, undoubtedly the result of Lightning's efforts for cleaning and boning it, and he softly chuckled. "Wow, Light, what have you done to that poor animal? It seems as if instead of using a knife you clawed it to death."

Lightning laughed half-heartedly, her shoulders hunched, clearly dejected.

"I know I shouldn't have even tried", she said, her voice tinged with a bit of sadness. "I'm such a failure in all this cooking stuff, even for one thing I want to do to please you…"

"Light", he cut her, cupping her face in his hands and looked directly into her eyes, "I don't mind you can't cook at all. The fact that you tried it for me is what really matters to me."

She gave him a saddened look, though at the same time was filled by love and sweetness. It was extremely rare to see something like that in Lightning Farron's eyes, and Hope felt like the happiest human in the new world every time he saw it, well aware he was probably the only male who ever had the privilege of being of the receiving end of that gaze.

"But I wanted to do it, Hope. I feel so bad for being unable to do anything to cheer you up, and having to see you so sad every day is just…", Lightning closed her eyes. "I want to make you happy, and I don't know how. I thought that, if I managed to pull this off–"

Hope interrupted her then by gently placing his lips on hers, pressing slightly, but that was enough for Lightning to let out a faint gasp of surprise as she felt her heart melting; he hadn't taken point for a long time, more exactly since his depression hit its deepest point. And even though it wasn't a passionate kiss, the young woman didn't mind it the slightest. Her relationship… her love for Hope was beyond trifles like that.

When they pulled away, a few seconds later, Hope hugged her, and Lightning buried her face on his shoulder. She thought it should be her who comforted him, but the truth was she had spent several months feeling so bad to see him so depressed and had forced herself to swallow it up and be strong for him. And besides, it wasn't that bad it was Hope this time who comforted her…

"You being here with me is what would make me the happiest man alive", the young man whispered in her ear, stroking her hair. "What I'm going through has nothing to do with you. You're the only thing that has kept me sane during these months, and I could never thank you enough."

Lightning smiled, hugging him back. She knew Hope was sincere, but she still thought she could do more for him. She fiercely fought against the young man's depression, but it was a silent war, a war of the mind. Perhaps for that reason, she thought, she wasn't very good at it. She knew how to fight hand-to-hand… but she had to admit, she had much yet to learn in the field of emotions.

Luckily for her, Hope was the best teacher she could've ever found.

"Don't thank me. I just want you to have the peaceful life you want, free from nasty ghosts of the past", she muttered. "And if I have to figure things out to cook for it… I'd do it without hesitation."

Hope's chest slightly rumbled when the young man gently chuckled.

"As long as you don't give me more scares… I'd rather not go into the kitchen and see you without a hand for dealing with a dead chicken."