After Fall: The Looming Threat

I wonder what you think of this mess, Nora. I mean, I'm glad that Bartholomew is okay - we all thought he was dead for a while there, ya know? But I can't help but feel a little irritated at the guy for barging back into Hope's life and trying to turn everything upside down.

Lightning was - is - pretty mad about the whole situation. Apparently, when Hope and I were examining the ruins - something that Lightning doesn't know about and will hopefully never find out about - Bartholomew appeared out of the blue and told Lightning to lawyer up. He's serious about taking Hope back to Cocoon, wants him to get an 'education' and all that. Never mind that the rest of us have been the ones taking care of Hope as best we could for almost two years, not even so much as a 'thank you' crossed that guy's lips.

I'm starting to understand why Hope and his dad seemed so distant when we were all in Palumpolum.

Sorry, sorry. That wasn't nice of me to say. You must've seen something good in Bartholomew, right? Or you wouldn't have married him and Hope... probably wouldn't be here.

It's just... well, Lightning doesn't like surprises, let alone bad surprises. When Hope and I got back to the house for his sixteenth birthday party, she kinda jumped on him about Bartholomew threatening her.

And then she and I found out where Yuj, Maqui and Hope had gone the night before Noel was born.

Apparently, it'd been innocent enough - I mean, hell, Gadot and Lebreau and me used to borrow airships all the time for a joyride, so I can sympathize. And we'd all been so stressed over Serah and the baby that it really wasn't surprising that the boys had gone off to New Eden to see a movie and catch a break from us irritable adults. They'd been planning on having a little fun, then coming home.

It wasn't like they'd known that Hope would run into Bartholomew there. Apparently, Hope hadn't told Yuj or Maqui much about the encounter, either, because Serah told me later that Yuj had accused Bartholomew of trying to molest Hope at the theatre. Guess that didn't go over so hot, either.

And then... oh, Etro, I'm probably being stupid, but...

Nora, Bartholomew is married again. To a woman named Sylvia, who apparently is still afraid of l'cie. Lightning told me that Bartholomew claims she's 'willing to try' to like and accept Hope as her stepson, but...

Hope is still pretty upset about the whole thing, I think. I mean, who wouldn't be? And I can't help but be pretty upset myself, because he was finally getting settled - his l'cie family is here, his friends are here. If Bartholomew takes him to Cocoon and puts him in that forsaken Academy, I don't think any of us will get a chance to see Hope again for a very long time, if ever again.

And that, I think, is what pisses me off the most.

"C'mon, Hope, you've got to eat something." Serah says, frowning at Hope who is staring at his plate and shuffling food around with his fork.

We're all sitting at Lightning's table this morning, trying to offer comfort where we can. But Lightning's as sullen as Hope is - they've both been pretty quiet since Hope's birthday when Bartholomew's black cloud descended over us.

"Not hungry." Hope murmurs.

Noel senses the tension in the room, and starts crying in Serah's arms. She stands up and tries to calm him by rocking him, then gently bouncing him in her arms. When that doesn't work, she shoots me an apologetic look and takes him out onto the porch so he can feel the warmth of the sun on his face.

I don't know what to do, what to say, to make this situation less painful. I'm struggling for encouraging words when Hope excuses himself from the table and heads towards his room.

Lightning takes a small bite of the hashbrowns Serah made, but swallowing it seems to take effort.

"Bartholomew's lawyer contacted me last night." she murmurs, staring at the table. "If I don't give Hope over to Bartholomew, he's going to file charges against me for kidnapping a minor."

"You gotta be kidding!" I exclaim. "How can he -"

"Because under Cocoon law, that's what this is. I don't have any legal claim to Hope, I'm not his mom - I'm not anything to him at all. It doesn't even matter that Estheim never bothered looking for his son, they'll just argue he was out of his mind with grief over everything that's happened. Even if I fight him, it's only a matter of time before he takes Hope back."

"What does Hope think?" I ask.

Lightning shakes her head. "He doesn't want to go with his father. He told me he'd run away before that happens."

"Can't he tell Bartholomew's lawyer that?"

"Yeah, because the courts are famous for listening to the wants of teenagers." Lightning sighs sarcastically, then pushes her plate away. "I... told him I'd do whatever I could. That I'm not letting him go without a fight. But honestly? I don't know how much time I can buy us. I don't even know where to get a lawyer."

"There's bound to be lawyers in New Eden, right? Maybe someone sympathetic to the cause of former l'cie?" I suggest. "Maybe you could contact someone... I don't know, like Rygdea?"

"He's Estheim's boss, you really think he's gonna want to give me advice on good lawyers?" Lightning pounds her fist on the wooden table, then glares darkly at me. "You've been arrested before, Villiers. Do you know any good lawyers?"

"That only happened a few times!" I growl. I'm a little hurt - she knows that I've never been arrested for anything serious. "And you know damned well no lawyers got involved in any of that!"

"Yeah, I do know that." Lightning stands up suddenly and starts to gather the abandoned breakfast dishes on the table.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I demand, following her to the kitchen.

Lightning's attempting to ignore me, scraping cold remnants of breakfast into containers for cold storage. I grab her wrist and force her to turn to look at me, feeling angrier with her than I have since... well, since that day Serah and I told her we were getting married.

Cold blue eyes glare up at me, and Lightning yanks her wrist out of my hand.

"It doesn't matter any more." Lightning replies firmly. "Just... forget I said anything."

Her shoulders are tense as she runs water over the dishes to rinse them.

"Uh... okay..." I turn to leave, because maybe Serah needs my help calming Noel down, or maybe... maybe someone else needs me to fix something I'm actually capable of fixing. "Are we... are we okay? I mean, you don't..."

I hear the sound of plates being stacked on top of eachother on the counter, then Lightning sighs.

"Just go, Snow." she murmurs quietly.

I'm not sure how to interpret that, but I obey Lightning's request. I leave.

~fin?