Thank you for keeping up with the story and sending in a review! Hope that you like this chapter! This is a long one! This continues after the last chapter.

Chapter 21: A Night For Just The Two of Us:

Four years later…

The sound of loud cheers could be heard throughout the halls of the Academy. Soldiers were walking while talking loudly and commending each other by compliments and patting each other on the back.

Nearby in her office, Lightning had her hand pressed against her head as the strands of her pink hair were entangled between her fingers. Her eyes were staring down, concentrating. For hours she had been typing away doing nothing but reports. It seemed that ever since she took over as commander, she had stayed inside more than going out into the field. It got boring just staying in her office all day. She had rather been out fighting, but there were very few times that she got to. At least with her staying in her office often, her family could worry less about her possibly getting hurt and she didn't have to worry about leaving them behind. In the halls, she could hear the soldiers celebrating their latest victory. Recently there had been an increase and soon after an invasion of fiends heading toward different cities including Academia. It took the whole military to handle the situation. Even she had to go out in the field to fight and travel around to help the others soldiers stationed. The Academy even took part in helping to stop the invasion. Lightning sighed as she closed her eyes. She was starting to get tired from the nonstop work.

"Commander!" a male voice called out.

When she lifted her eyes, she saw two young men and a young woman that were soldiers standing in the doorway. All three of them smiled. Lightning was curious as to why they were there. "Yes?"

"Some of the soldiers were going out to celebrate tonight. We were wondering if you wanted to join us," one of the men spoke.

Lightning was surprised by the offer. She didn't usually associate with her soldiers much personally, but mostly professional. She wasn't expecting them to ask that. "Sorry. I won't be able to. I have a lot of work to do."

"Please ma'am! You've been stuck in this office all day! You have to come out eventually. You were out in that field too," the other man replied.

Lightning returned back to her work. "Thanks for the offer, but I think that I'll stay here."

The three sighed. The girl placed her hand on her hip. "All right… but if you change your mind, the offer is still open." Soon the three walked out of the room. Out in the hall, there was a man standing, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. The three soldiers stopped in front of him disappointed. "Sorry, but we couldn't convince her to go," the woman informed him.

"Yeah," her comrades agreed.

A smirk appeared on the man's face. "I see. Figured as much. Looks like I'll have to resort to something else."

Getting tired of working, Lightning breathed out and made another screen appear. After pressing a few buttons, Faith popped up on the screen. A smile appeared once she saw Lightning. "Hey!"

In response, Lightning gave tired smile. "Hey Faith. How is your sister doing?"

"She's doing fine," Faith replied cheerfully.

"Is she giving you any trouble?" Lightning asked to be sure.

Faith shook her head. "Not really." She stepped out of the screen for a few seconds, but then came back holding her little sister in her hands. "Say hi." Faith waved her little hand. That made Lightning smile a little more. Then Faith looked a little concerned. "You look tired mom."

Lightning sighed as she closed her eyes. She stood up from her desk. "I think that I'll just take the rest of this with me. I'll be home soon. You won't have to look after Charity anymore."

Faith shook her head and smiled a little. "No! It's fine."

Lighting opened her eyes curiously as to why Faith said that. "Why? Usually you complain when I make you babysit Charity."

Faith smiled to assure her that it would be fine. "It's all right. You should relax. Aren't you going out to celebrate?"

"No." Lightning felt that she was too tired to go out and celebrate. At that point, she just wanted to go home and relax.

"Well you should. Everyone was really happy with how things went on that mission. You should be happy," Faith said.

With how the soldiers were acting around the Academy, Lightning could tell that they were happy. She was just glad that everything worked out. "It's fine. I'll just go home."

"Go out. I'll watch after Charity." Faith glanced over at Charity as she held her up in her arm and bounced her a little. A gentle smile crossed over her lips. Charity was staring off in the distance with her fingers in her mouth.

Lightning arched her eyebrow. She knew that Faith wouldn't just watch over Charity voluntarily. "What are you up to?"

Nervously Faith smiled as she held up her free hand. "Nothing! Nothing. I just think you should relax and if that means I have to watch after Charity and H.J., then I'll do it."

It didn't seem that Faith would let it go, plus Lightning was a little unsure about leaving Faith and H.J. in the same house together alone with how they can argue with each other. Finally Lightning sighed with her eyes closed. "Can I at least see her before you take her away from me?"

"Of course! That is if you go out tonight…" Faith tried to persuade her.

Lightning breathed out. "You could let it go."

Faith smiled sweetly. "Only if you go."

Later that night, Lightning headed to the bar where all of the soldiers had planned to meet to celebrate. Listening to Faith convinced her more to go out, she decided to leave and stay there for only a short time. It wouldn't hurt to relax a little before she went back home. She walked across the room and sat at the bar. A female bartender smiled as she stepped over toward her. "Hi! What can I get for you?" After ordering a drink, the bartender smiled and stepped away. "I'll go get that for you." As Lightning looked around, she recognized the soldiers that were sitting around chatting and drinking. Shortly after, the bartender stepped back to her with a martini glass in hand. "Here you go." In front of her she placed the drink on the table.

"How much?" Lightning asked.

The bartender grinned. "Don't worry. It's already being taken care of."

Lightning didn't understand it. She had just gotten there yet she was already getting something without paying for it. "What do you mean?"

The bartender pointed over to the side of the bar. "It's compliments of that gentleman over there."

Lightning looked over, but couldn't see who she was talking about over the crowd. She slid the glass back over to the bartender upset. If there was a man trying to flirt with her, she wasn't in the mood. "Take it back to him. Tell him I'm not interested."

The bartender looked a little surprised. "It's already paid for and he said he even insisted."

It surprised Lightning, but regardless she wasn't going to accept a free drink because of some guy who was interested. "Just take it back to him."

The bartender was a little concerned, but listened and took the drink away. "Would you like another instead?"

"Yeah." The bartender walked away. A few minutes later, she came back with the same drink. "Here you go."

Lightning picked up the glass from off of the counter. "Thank you."

"I should probably tell you that the guy offered to pay for your drinks for the rest of the night." The bartender was uneasy about mentioning it, but felt she should.

Lightning closed her eyes as she took a sip from her drink. "Like I said I'm not interested."

"All right." The woman passed a small folded piece of paper across the table to her. "He also sent this with the drink just now. He only wanted you to read it."

Lightning was a little surprised by what the bartender told her. "He paid for this one too?" The bartender nodded. Soon she stepped away. Lightning wanted to say something, but she had already moved to the other side of the bar to attend to other customers. She unfolded the note and read what it said. She couldn't believe what was written. It commented on her physical attractiveness and parts about her that he liked. How could a stranger be so inappropriate to someone they didn't know? The bartender soon stepped close by again. "Excuse me?" Lightning caught her attention.

The bartender looked over and smiled. "Is there something else I can get you?"

Upset, Lightning baled up the small piece of paper and placed it in the glass in the liquid. "Send this back to him. Tell him that's what I think about his offer."

The bartender looked concerned and took the glass. "I'm sorry. Is he bothering you?"

"Yes." Lightning was getting more annoyed by the mysterious man.

"Anything else you would like to say to him?" The bartender asked to make sure.

Lightning thought about it before coming up with something that would hopefully make the guy get the message. "Yeah. Tell him that I'm married and still not interested."

The bartender nodded. "Okay." Afterwards she took off. Lightning sighed with her eyes closed. She didn't expect to come there and get harassed. A few minutes later, the bartender stepped back over and handed her another drink. "He brought you another one and told me to tell you…" The bartender lifted her eyes remembering the man's words right. "…that he's married too, but that's no reason why two married people can't get together."

Lightning couldn't believe that he said that. It was disrespectful. The guy wasn't giving up. It was time for her to handle things herself. As much as she didn't want to cause a scene, she might have to get the message through the thick guy's skull another way. All she wanted was to have a peaceful night. She stood up from the stool and grabbed the martini glass. "Where he is?"

The bartender pointed over the crowd. It was still hard to see him. "He's over there sitting by himself."

"Persistent bastard," Lightning muttered. She looked over toward the woman. "Thanks."

The woman smiled. "No problem."

Lightning walked around the bar to where the woman pointed. She was annoyed and ready to toss the drink on the guy or worse. Finally she reached where the man was sitting near the back of the room where very few people were "Listen! What don't you understand?! I told you that I'm not interested so stop or-." When she got a good look at the guy, her anger became replaced with confusion. "You?"

The man let out a smile. "About time that you came over here. I thought that I would have to keep buying you drinks all night so I could get you over here."

She kept her look of confusion. "What are you doing here?"

The man rested his arms on top of the curved couch in the booth. "Same as you. So? Is your husband around tonight?"

"I don't know. Let me ask him." Lightning sat in the booth beside the man. She leaned her head on her hand. "Is he?"

The man smirked as he stared at her. "I'm asking you."

Lightning gave a dull look. "Cut the act Hope."

There he grinned as he sat. He was wearing his white buttoned up shirt with a few buttons loosened from the top. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbow. His coat and tie were up on top of the curved shaped booth. He seemed to be relaxing. "You know my name yet I haven't asked for yours."

Lightning shook her head as she sighed. Were they really going to play that game? "Really?"

"At least you only made me buy three drinks. You have to drink all of them including that one." He pointed to the one with the piece of paper she baled and put inside of the glass.

Lightning's confusion appeared again. "You haven't answered my question. What are you doing here? I thought you had to work."

"Not really. If you were going to be here, then I wanted to be. I wasn't sure if you were going to make it or not. It must've taken a lot of convincing."

Lightning became more confused. "What are you talking about? What convincing?"

"Well… Earlier I had those soldiers asked to see if you were coming out tonight and when you told them no, I had to ask for help from someone else."

"Who," she asked curiously. She took a moment to think about who she had talked to today. Then she remembered something. When she talked to Faith, she noticed her acting a little strange. Lightning lifted her eyes a little surprised. "Faith?"

Hope nodded. "Yes. I asked that she watch after Charity tonight. I wanted to surprise you."

Lightning arched her eyebrow. "Surprise me?"

"Yes. You've been working so hard lately and you've been busy not just with your job, but with Charity as well. I figured that you could use a break," Hope replied.

Lightning looked around the place they were in. "And you thought here would be the perfect place?"

Hope shrugged a little. "I figured that we could spend some time here alone just the two of us. It's been a while without it being work related."

"I see..." All of a sudden, she punched him in the arm.

Hope placed his hand on his arm where she hit him. "Ow! What was that for?!"

Lightning took a sip from her drink as she closed her eyes. "That was for pissing me off. I was ready to come over to punch you anyway for some of those comments you made."

A smile curved at his lips. "I had to find some way to get you over here and I thought making you upset would be a funny way to do it. It looks like I know you as well as I think I do at least as far as reactions. You rather fight the guy harassing you then to just put up with it."

"Hmm…" Lightning couldn't argue with it, knowing he was right. "I can't believe what you wrote in that note."

Hope let out a small grin. "I made sure to tell the bartender for only you to read it."

Lightning became curious. "She knew what was going on?"

"Yeah. She was in on it. It took some convincing for her to know that you were my wife. I had to show her the picture I have of us in my wallet. I'm surprised that she went along with it. I told her that I wanted to surprise you and I paid her a little extra money," he explained.

"And just to get me to come over here to kick your butt. Isn't that sweet?" Lightning replied sarcastically. Deep down, she actually was touched that he went through the trouble of getting her to come over.

"Well was it?" he asked interested.

A small frown crossed over her lips. "Stop staring at my hips and my chest. You wrote that was the first thing you noticed when I came in."

Hope grinned. "I wrote a lot more."

"Very inappropriate by the way," Lightning pointed out. "I'm surprised that you did that."

Hope let out a slight shrug. "Well I had to get your attention somehow."

"You're married too, but that's no reason that two married people can't get together?" she quoted him.

He chuckled a little with his eyes closed. "Why not?"

Lightning decided to indulge in what he tried to do in playing around earlier. "And what would your wife do if she heard you say that?"

Hope smiled a little nervously. He rubbed the back of his head as his eyes moved toward the side. "I'm not really sure. Probably kill me. I don't know." Then his eyes returned to her as he smiled gently. "I just saw you and knew that I had to get you over here."

A small smile appeared after hearing his words. She was touched that he said that. "I am married too you know," Lightning reminded him.

"I know," Hope replied.

Lightning arched her eyebrow unable to hide her smirk. "With kids."

He grabbed onto her hand. "So do I, but one night together wouldn't hurt."

"Why did you decide to flirt with me then?" she asked interested.

Hope leaned forward toward her. "Because as soon as you came in, I thought that you were the most beautiful woman at the bar."

Lightning closed her eyes. As much as she tried to hold back a smile, it ended up seeping through clearly for him to see. "And what about your wife?"

Hope leaned back in his chair still keeping his smile. "She's still the most beautiful woman in the world."

Lightning became curious. Some of her smile still displayed faintly. "If you say that, then why are you here with me?"

Sincerely he stared at her. "Because you remind me a lot of her and I…kind of missed her."

Lightning arched her eyebrow as she crossed her arms. "Kind of…?"

"Okay. I do miss her." Hope looked at her as he wondered. "I wonder if she would say the same thing about me."

Lightning smirked. "That you're a beautiful woman?"

Hope shook his head as he frowned. "No!"

Lightning smiled a little. "Well…I guess she would admit that things have been boring without a certain guy around to try and distract her from her work, but since I'm not here I wouldn't know right?" In response, he smiled. He was glad to hear that she had missed being with him too. Lightning smirked as she took a sip of her drink. "Good luck trying to get me to go home with you."

"It doesn't hurt to try," he replied. Lightning shook her head as she laughed softly at his answer. Hope tilted his head on his hand as he observed her. "I really wish that I can see you laugh more often Claire." Lightning lifted her eyes to him as she looked a little surprised. He let out a smile. "It's a really beautiful smile. When I don't see it on you, then I sort of get reminded of it when I see it on Faith."

Lightning became curious. "How so?"

"She has your smile," Hope answered. Lightning's eyes lowered toward the table still keeping some of her smile on her lips. Then Hope became a little concerned. "The times that you don't smile, I wonder if I… make you… happy."

She lifted her eyes to him a little surprised. There she could see the concern in his eyes. She reached over and placed her hand in his. "You do." In response, he gave a faint smile. There was still some uncertainty. "Yeah I may not smile all the time, but that doesn't mean that I'm not happy. I just…" Her eyes traveled down toward the table. "Maybe I wasn't used to it because of the past or maybe sometimes it's just hard to believe that I could feel this way."

Hope wondered about what she said. "What do you mean?" Lightning's eyes drifted to the side. She held back on what she was thinking in her mind. "Claire." At the call of her name, her eyes turned to him. "Tell me. What's on your mind?" His eyes pleaded with her. She still felt unsure because usually she kept that feeling to herself. "Please."

After a few seconds, she breathed out. Her eyes returned back to the side. "I just…didn't expect my life to go this way. Every turn of it just seemed unexpected. Then again, I didn't know where my life was going back then."

Hope smiled for comfort. "I'm sure that a lot of people feel that way."

Her eyes gazed into his. "It's just that…"

Concern and anxiousness appeared on his face. "What is it? I want to know-."

"I was afraid." Finally the words left from her as she got herself to push them out.

At first, Hope was surprised, but then his concern returned. "Why?"

Her eyes lowered toward the table as she explained and thought back. "When I was first taken to Valhalla, I stayed because I wanted to save everyone. To make up for what I've done in the past. After a while of being there and not being able to leave for long, I felt like I was trapped alone almost like a prisoner. I thought I could deal with it as long as Serah was able to live peacefully. Maybe a part of me was worried that I would end up staying there forever." She lifted her eyes to him. "Then, I was set free and all of this happened. Being with you and starting this life together. I started to worry that I would be brought back there again. That I would have to leave this life I've created when the truth was I didn't want to leave it at all. Not for a second. I guess that… I still think that same thought from time to time… When things are going good, they're going to be taken away. None of you will probably remember me if that happened."

Hope moved in closer and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I could never forget you and neither could the children." He let out a smile. "You're stuck with us." Hearing him say that had brought a brief smile to her lips. "Claire. You really shouldn't worry about what will happen." He placed his hand to his chest. "I'll do my best to make sure that the world stays at peace for your sake. I want you to feel at ease like you won't be taken away from me again."

There was a little unease on her face. "You can't guarantee that."

He gave a smile of comfort. "I can try. I won't let anyone or anything take you away from me again. I won't. It's like I told you years ago. I'll wait as long as I have to and search for as long as I have to so I can bring you back again."

Lightning gave a faint smile. "And I'll try my best to come back to you as well."

"I don't want you to ever worry about this. Nothing has happen and nothing will happen again. I'll- We'll both make sure of that." She breathed out. She leaned in and rested against his shoulder with her eyes closed. As Hope stared toward the table, a gentle smile appeared. "You know. I'm really glad that you told me Claire." She lifted her head and looked at him. He held his smile. "I like when you let me in. I want to help you stop worrying."

Lightning gave a slight smirk as she sat up. "I guess after all these years, you've finally wore me down."

Slightly, Hope shook his head. "You don't have to put it like that. I'm always going to be there to listen. Just know that." Lightning's eyes searched his. She did feel better after talking to him. She would try to stop letting her mind go to that place and focus on trusting his words. Hope would make sure that she wouldn't be separated from this life and she would make sure that she wouldn't be either. She was happy with how things were and wanted to keep them that way. She leaned in and pressed her lips against his. Softly and sensually, she kissed him which he followed along. It made her feel happy being with him. It didn't matter if anyone saw them at that moment. She just wanted to express her emotions toward him there and now.

After they parted, Hope opened his eyes and smiled. "Claire…"

Lightning continued staring at him. Then he began to laugh a little as he shook his head which made her a little surprised. "What?"

He placed his hand to his head. "It's just that every time that I call you that, you get this look in your eyes like you're not sure if I'm calling or talking to you."

"I guess I'm just not used to being called that. The only other person who calls me that is Serah and she uses it very few times." Then a slight look of confusion appeared on her face. "Why do you want to keep calling me that?"

It was an easy answer to give. "Because I like it. I mean I like Lightning too, but honestly I think that Claire Farron-Estheim sounds better than Lightning Farron-Estheim. It makes your name sound…" He looked up as he tried to think of the best way to describe it. "…more fancy or something."

Lightning smiled a little. "Maybe... I guess if you want… you can call me that."

Hope looked curious. He wanted to be sure. "It won't bother you?"

Truly she didn't mind. "Like I said, I'm not used to hearing it."

He was glad to hear so. "I just won't use it at work since everyone knows you as Lightning."

Lightning gave a slight nod. "Okay."

"All right… Claire." Afterwards she smiled a little toward him. It made him smile as well. "Ah! See that time I didn't get the look. You must be getting use to it already."

Lightning shook her head a little. "Fine. You've had your fun."

Soon a waitress stepped over as she smiled toward them. "Is there something else that I can get you two?"

Hope and Lightning looked around at their table. There was a glass mug in front of Hope and three martini glasses in front of Lightning. He looked over at Lightning. "I guess some food wouldn't hurt. It's better than just having the alcohol in our systems." Lightning nodded. After looking at the menu, they ordered something together and the waitress walked away with their order. Hope returned his eyes to Lightning. "I meant what I said before Claire. I'll make sure that nothing bad like that will happen again."

She gave a half smile, half smirk. It wasn't something that he could promise, but at least he was making an effort. "Fine. I'll hold you to that."

The waitress came back again and placed a basket of hot chicken wings in front of them. "Enjoy!" she told them before she walked away.

Hope reached over and grabbed one of Lightning's martini glasses. "I wonder what this taste like."

Lightning removed her coat not wanting to get her military uniform dirty and placed it at her side. She started eating. "I guess it's not that hot."

He placed the glass down after having a taste. "This isn't bad either." He soon reached over and began eating along with her.

"Don't drink too much," Lightning warned. "You still need to be able to walk home and I'm not carrying you."

Hope looked surprised as he smiled. "Hey! I would carry you if you needed it."

"Yeah right." She took her glass that he sat down in front of him and switched it with the one that had the piece of paper still floating in it. "You can have this one."

Hope still noticed the piece of paper floating in it. It wasn't that appealing to drink. "Oh come on! It has paper and ink in it."

Lightning reached in and took the piece of paper out. "See. It's fine now."

Hope looked a little uneasy. "You just put your fingers in it."

She sighed and drunk all of it out of the glass herself. She put the glass back down on the table. "See. I'm fine. I didn't die." Hope sighed with his eyes closed. For a few seconds, they continued eating until Lightning lifted her eyes and spoke. "I'm still surprised with it all." Curiously, he looked at her. "I mean with how things turned out."

Hope understood more now what she was saying. "Right because you said that you didn't expect how things would turn out."

"First you surprised me," Lightning began.

Hope reacted with surprise. "How?"

Lightning's eyes turned to him. "When I came back, it was those months working with you at the Academy. That night when you first told me that you were interested in someone."

Hope grinned as she brought up the memory. It was an interesting time. "Oh! Right."

Slightly Lightning shook her head as she smiled a little. "I didn't think you were talking about me."

Hope was a little surprised to hear that. "Really? The only woman I really spent time with was you."

"But I wasn't around you the whole time and I thought since you've moved five hundred years in the future, you might have found someone," Lightning explained.

He grinned. "I guess I sort of prefer women from another time, kind of from the same time that I came from." In response, she smiled. "What about you?" he asked.

"I guess I prefer someone newer from this time." Hope groaned which she noticed. She didn't understand why he reacted in such a way. "You are in this time aren't you?" Then she smiled a little as she thought back. "I met you when you were fourteen, but then you turned twenty-four after I went away and that was…I guess it just took some time to get used to."

Hope held up his glass a little almost like a toast. "Proving that no matter what age, you can still find that right person."

"I guess. We'll see in a few years. Maybe then that's when I'll decide to leave," Lightning replied.

Hope took her words as a joke. "I doubt it. You're still stuck with me for a little while longer."

Lightning gave a faint smile. "I see... Just so you know, that night when you told me how you felt and you kissed me… that was my first kiss."

Hope stared at her stunned. "...Really?"

Lightning arched her eyebrow as she crossed her arms. "Is that really hard to believe?"

Hope smiled as he leaned his arms against the table. "No! I mean it is a little because who wouldn't want to, but it's a little funny because… it was my first as well."

Lightning couldn't believe it. She was surprised, but then she gave a look of skepticism. "Yeah right."

Hope looked surprised as he smiled. "And why is that hard to believe? You didn't think I believed you at first either."

"Back when I lived with Serah in Bodhum, I was mainly focused on work. I didn't have much time for anything else," Lightning explained.

"Same here. I studied hard in school and then my father started the Academy." His eyes lifted up to her as he gave a gentle smile. "Plus I was busy searching for you. I didn't believe that you just disappeared. After I found out what really happened to you, I kept working so that I could see you again. I never forgot what you said to me. You told me I was going in the right direction. You must've been right. It brought you back to me."

After listening to him, Lightning let out a smile. Maybe a little more she could believe him. "Fine."

An interested look appeared on his face. "So? How was it?"

"How was what?" Lightning pretended not to know what he was talking about.

"The kiss. How was it? You never told me." He was anxious to find out.

Lightning looked at him. "It actually wasn't bad. Not what I would expect for a first kiss."

He wondered what she meant. "So you're saying it seemed like I was experienced or something similar?"

"Maybe…" When she stared at him, she noticed that he was still waiting for an answer. She sighed, giving in. "Fine. I liked it. It was good." In response, he smiled more. Watching him had made her smile as well.

As things turned quiet, Lightning thought about the rest of what she was going to say. "Then what became more unexpected was Faith. When I found out about her, it felt unreal. Sure enough the side effects weren't. Those were real and sometimes they were horrible. It wasn't until I… felt her inside of me for the first time that I began to feel more that this was real. Then I started hearing the crying and the smells…" She breathed out and lifted her eyes to Hope. "It was a lot to take in."

"I know. It was hard for me to believe that it was happening too until I saw her." A gentle smile crossed over his lips, thinking back. "She was the most beautiful baby that I had ever seen."

Lightning wondered if he really meant that. "Really?"

"Of course!" he replied.

A part of her still wondered if he thought that because she truly was to him or if it was because she was his daughter. "Have you seen a lot of them?"

Hope nodded. "Yes. Being Director, you do have to go outside of the Academy. I would have to go out into public and greet people and some of them had kids. I thought she was beautiful because she looked a lot like you."

Lightning's eyes drifted toward the side. "We don't look that much alike…"

Hope smiled, believing that they did look similar. "Really? She looks like you and sometimes she can act like you."

She became a little surprised at his last statement. "Really? Actually, I thought that she acts mostly you: silly like."

Hope kept on his smile. "I just take that as a way of saying that she's happy with us."

Gently Lightning smiled. "I guess. One thing she does have that's not from me is your eyes. I thought that was a nice touch."

Hope was touched by the compliment. "Well... I didn't actually get to choose that."

She leaned her head on her hand and kept her smile on. Her finger reached underneath the strands of her short hair on her neck. "So? I see you're still calling me that."

"What?" he asked curiously.

Her eyes lifted up to him. "Beautiful."

A grin appeared on his face. "Because it's true."

Lightning became interested as another question formed in her mind. "So even girls that are younger than me aren't prettier?"

"No," Hope answered right away. Even after all of the years of being together, he still thought the same of her.

"Not even the women that try to flirt with you still?" she pointed out.

Hope grinned a little as became interested. "Someone's still a little jealous I see. You don't have to worry you know."

Lightning frowned once he called her that. "Yeah right. I'm not jealous."

He arched his eyebrow a little as he smirked. "So those angry glares of yours just come out of nowhere when a woman is trying to flirt with me?"

She turned her eyes away from him as she kept her frown. "I'm not upset."

Hope didn't completely believe her, but he would let it go for now. "Fine. I'll take your word for it although I think that it would be really cute of you if you were."

Her eyebrow furrowed. "What did I say about using that word?"

"What? Cute?" Lightning frowned more once he repeated it which he made him smile. He observed every little feature on her face. "You're cute when you do that."

"I will seriously throw this drink at you like I wanted to before," Lightning threatened.

Hope didn't understand why it made her so upset. "What did I do? I just said that you were cute."

"You did say you were buying my drinks all night right?" she asked to be sure so she knew how many she could throw at him.

He smiled a little. "I will as long as you don't throw them at me."

Lightning let out a sigh. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a woman walk by their table. She wore a skin tight, red dress that stopped at the top of her legs and started at her lower chest. She thought the woman was attractive enough to catch his attention. The woman glanced down at Hope. A smile came to her lips as she became interested, but he wouldn't look up. After she passed by, Lightning's eyes traveled to Hope who seemed to be focus on eating. His eyes didn't lift up once. "You're strange you know that?"

Hope looked at her curious. "What?"

Her eyebrow raised in a slight arch, a little surprised. "A woman walks by and you're not even curious to look?"

"Why? Should I?" He turned his head to look over at the woman who walked by, but suddenly felt a pain in his leg. Lightning had kicked him from underneath the table. "Ow!" Hope smiled at her despite the pain he was in. "I was only kidding you know? Honestly I noticed her, but I wasn't really paying attention nor was I interested. When I see some of the stuff that Faith is into, it just confuses me about this generation. I think that girls are more complicated here then back in our time." He shook his head as he closed his eyes. "Maybe I'm just getting old."

Lightning looked down, thinking. "Hmm…"

"So? What else were you surprised about? Anything in particular?" Her eyes drifted off toward the side beginning to think about it. "Well…" Hope smiled interested as something crossed his mind. "What about when I asked you to marry me?"

Lightning crossed her arms as she became a little confused. "When? The first, second, third, or fourth time you asked me?"

Hope chuckled as he shook his head. He didn't want to think that it had been that many times, but he guessed that it had been. "When you put it like that, you really made me work to get you to say yes."

"Oh come on. The first time you asked me was the first time I told you that I was pregnant with Faith." She looked a little upset. "Sure… Ask the woman that is carrying your child out of obligation to her. That was really romantic..." she said sarcastically. Afterwards she took a sip from her drink.

Hope looked serious. "Hey! It just wasn't because of that. I told you that I love you and you loved me too."

"Yes I admitted that, but that didn't mean I was ready to get married." His eyes traveled down as he sighed. Lightning waited a few seconds before she spoke again. "But you want to know something?"

He lifted his eyes to her. "What's that?"

"I may not have said yes every time, but I think that last time you asked was the best." A small smile appeared on her lips.

Hope was a little surprised to hear that. "Really?"

"You wanted it to be memorable and it was. It was a hard day and it was a struggle to get Faith to calm down. Even when I looked like a mess, you still thought it was the perfect time," she recalled.

A smile curved on Hope's lips. "I didn't think that you looked like a mess. I really liked how you looked that day."

Lightning remembered what happened the day he asked. A faint grin appeared on her. "Now you're just making that up."

"I'm serious." He kept his smile on as he tried to convince her.

"Just so you know. I did tell you that I love you the first time that we…" her voice began to fade. She hoped that he would get what she meant.

Hope became surprised. "That night? I didn't hear that."

"I guess I heard you, but you didn't hear me. I guess that's why you were surprised that day when I first told you about Faith." That day she had realized that he must've not heard her and understood his reaction back then just like his reaction now.

Hope became a little concerned when he thought back to that day. "You know you didn't have to leave and go to New Bodhum because of that."

"I told you why I left." Lightning knew it was a hard time for both of them to deal with.

Hope grabbed onto her hand. Even though it was in the past, he still wanted to assure her. "I know because of how I would react. No matter how I would have reacted, I still would have been there."

Lightning nodded. "I know." Sometimes she wondered if she would change what happened back then and actually stayed with him instead of going to New Bodhum.

Hope let out a smile. "I'm still happy. I didn't expect this many, but… I'm glad that you are the mother of my children." In response, she smiled. He held out his glass. "Here's to us."

Giving in, she clanked her glass to his. "And to all the stretch marks you've given me because of this." Afterwards he laughed a little. They continued on eating and drinking.

As the night continued to pass, an idea came to Lightning's mind. Interested, she looked over at Hope. "You want to try something we haven't done before?"

He became intrigued with what she was thinking. "What's that?"

A few minutes later, both of them had placed shot glasses on the table firmly. They shook their heads as they could taste the strong alcohol they had just taken in with their eyes closed tight. Hope placed his hand to his head. "That… might not have been the best idea. Wow! That was strong."

Lightning felt a little lightheaded from what she took in as well. "I just thought while we were here, we try once."

Hope let out a small smirk. "I thought you said that I wasn't supposed to get drunk and that you weren't carrying me home."

Lightning looked a little confused. "You're still fine aren't you?"

"I think so." Curiously he looked at her. "What about you? Are you drunk?"

She gave him a serious look. "Of course not."

He wanted to be sure. "Neither one of us drinks that much."

She nodded a little. "I know."

Hope smirked as a question came to mind. "All right. If you're not drunk, answer this then. How many kids do we have and what are their names?"

Lightning crossed her arms as she leaned back against the couch. "That's easy. We have four."

Hope looked confused wondering where she got that number from. "Four? We only have three."

Lightning looked serious at him. "No. We have four. We have the oldest one, then the second oldest one, and then the youngest one from not too long ago and the one that's on the way."

A few times his eyes blinked. "Wha-? What?!" He leaned back against the couch in shocked. "I didn't know that!"

Lightning continued to stare at him serious until she burst out in laughter. She could no longer hold it in because of the pure look of shock on his face. "What? I can't joke about this by now. You really think that I would be here if that was the case?"

Nervously, he smiled as he began to calm down. "I guess not... Ha…! That was a funny joke…" In response, she smiled. "And this is how I know that you're drunk."

She gave him a curious look. "Why?"

"Because the Claire I know wouldn't make a joke like that," he answered.

She was a little upset. "I've made jokes before."

He smiled a little. "Those aren't called jokes. In your case, they are called being sarcastic."

Her eyes turned to the side as she frowned a little. "Whatever…"

Another idea came to Hope's mind. "How about we try something else we've never done before?"

Lightning was interested in what he was thinking. "Like what?"

He leaned forward toward her as he smirked. "How about you make out with me right here and right now?"

She pushed him away as she looked upset. "In your dreams."

Hope noticed that her cheeks were a little redder than usually. He just smiled. "I can tell. You are drunk."

Her eyes traveled over to him. "Well you are too."

He shrugged. Then his eyes traveled up as he was thinking. "You know. I used to think that if you ever got drunk, that you would be more of the angry or silent drunk. You seem to be a lot happier." When he looked at her, he saw that she was frowning and quiet. It made him laugh a little. "Now you're just playing with me." He reached over at her waist and began tickling her.

Lightning got annoyed and slammed his hands down on the cushions. She glared into his eyes. "Do not…start that."

Hope smirked. "Then admit it. You really are."

"I'm not-." Suddenly a hiccup escaped from her lips which surprised her. She looked over at Hope. "…drunk."

He snickered. "I think that I got my proof." Playfully, she tried to punch him, but he caught her wrist. "Getting violent aren't we?" he replied jokingly.

Lightning placed her hand down at her side. "I was only playing around."

Slightly Hope shook his head. "I would never hit you."

"Then why don't you try?" she challenged him.

Hope was surprised by her suggestion. It was hard to believe that she was giving him a free chance to hit her. "What?"

Lightning held her palm up in front of her. "Give me your best shot. Hit me as hard as you can."

He seemed uneasy about the idea. "I don't know…"

Lightning looked serious. "Don't chicken out on me. Hit me as hard as you can."

Hope looked at her. He didn't want to go through with it for fear that he could harm her. "I might hurt you…"

"It's not like you're going to break my hand. I've been in the military long enough to take some hits unlike you who gets to sit in his office all day," she began to provoke him. He frowned which she noticed. It had only caused her to smirk. She liked to see him get riled. "Are you going to hit me or what? Don't go soft on me."

"All right." Hope changed his mind. He focused on her hand and hit as hard as he could with his fist.

Afterwards Lightning's fingers wrapped around his fist. Her smirk softened into a smile. "That wasn't bad. You definitely hit harder than I thought you would."

Hope looked curious with a little concern behind it. "Did it hurt?"

Lightning shook her head a little. "Not so much."

His eyes traveled down until he thought of an idea. He held up his hand to where his palm was showing. "I want you to do the same thing."

She looked surprised. "What?"

Hope smirked. He wanted her to test her strength against him. "I want you to hit me as hard as you can. I want to see how hard you can hit me."

Lightning felt uneasy about the idea. She didn't think it was a good one. "I wouldn't do that. You might end up in the hospital."

Hope chuckled a little, but she really wasn't kidding. "Seriously. Just try it."

Lightning's eyes drifted a little to the side. "It's best that I don't."

"Don't do like you told me and chicken out." He wanted to rile her just like she did him.

Lightning's eyes became more lively once she heard that. He could see the spark in them. Now he knew that he had her attention. She cracked her knuckles as she closed her eyes. "You are really going to be sorry that you asked that."

He shrugged a little. "Oh come on. What's the worst that can happen?"

"I said that you could end up in the hospital," she warned and reminded him again.

Hope didn't believe that things would end up as severe as her breaking his hand. "I highly doubt that. I'm not that fourteen year old that you just met. I am a grown man. I think I can handle if you hit me."

Lightning arched her eyebrow. "Because I'm a girl."

"Well…no I didn't mean it like that-." He didn't want her to think that it was the reason why.

A few times Lightning bent and moved her fingers back and forth from him to her. "Give me the hand you don't write with. You still need to be able to write with your writing hand." Hope decided to indulge her. He placed his left hand out. "All right." She moved his right hand. "And reinforce it with the right hand. It won't hurt as much."

Hope placed his right hand behind his left. "All right."

Her eyes forced on her target. She punched forward into the center of his palm as hard as she could with a small yell. When her eyes lifted up to see his reaction, she saw that he was still smiling. She blinked surprised. Maybe her punches did get a little weaker over the years. She sat up straight. "Okay… I guess you were right. I guess you could handle that."

His smile grew a little more. "Of course!"

Lightning smiled. "I underestimated you. I can see that-."

Suddenly Hope turned away from her as he grabbed onto his left hand. "Ow!" He breathed loudly enough for her to hear which surprised her.

"Are you okay?" Lightning asked concerned.

He smiled nervously despite his pain. "Yeah… We still get to go to that hospital right…? I think that you broke my hand."

She rolled her eyes. "Come here you big baby." She took his hand that she hit and felt around it to see if it really was broken. "It's fine." Lightning squeezed his hand. "Does this hurt when I do that?"

"No," Hope replied.

"Then it's not broken." Lightning gave a faint smile. "I guess someone needs to go back to training under me so he can learn how to take a hit."

"Oh ha ha." Hope's eyes lifted up to her smile. He held onto her hand. "I'll let you win this one."

Lightning's arched her eyebrow. "Let me?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh… I see," she said, waiting to see if he would add another excuse.

"I wasn't using my full strength because I was afraid of hurting you," Hope explained.

She rolled her eyes off to the side. She didn't believe that excuse for one second. "Yeah right."

"But as for this one…." Hope raised her arm up, getting into an arm wrestling position. "…you won't get me at." He tried to push her arm down, but she pushed back with force.

Lightning smirked a little at his challenge. "Trying to get a head start?"

Hope displayed a faint smirk. "You have to be ready when these things happen."

"You lose every time so why try again?" she reminded him.

"Because I'm going to get you one day." The two struggled, but so far it seemed to be a draw. Then an idea popped into his mind. "How about we make this interesting?"

She mirrored his smirk. "What's that?"

"Loser has to buy the winner whatever they want while we're still here," he suggested.

Lightning was tempted by his wager. With no way to lose, how could she say no? "I think that I already got what I want to order."

"It's not over yet." Hope looked around, checking to see if anyone else was around before he turned his attention back to her. It seemed they were sitting further back enough from the bar so no one would notice them. "I have another way we can make it interesting."

Lightning wondered what other idea he could have come up with. "What's that?"

Hope leaned in toward her. "Just one more rule." He pressed his lips against her. Passionately, he kissed her. She became more intrigued with his advances. If either one of them gives into the kiss too much, it could make them slip up and automatically lose. When it came to who could make who cave in first, she knew that she could make him surrender. Playfully, her tongue danced with his. Soon a moan escaped out of her lips. For a moment, her arm had weakened allowing him to get close to beating her, but she quickly remembered that it was a contest and raised his arm back up as soon as she could.

On his leg, he could feel her leg sliding up against it. An idea formed in his mind in order to win their battle. With his free hand underneath the table, he moved against her thigh. The move had caught her by surprise. She pulled away with her eyes closed as she breathed out. "Hope-."

Quickly he pushed her arm onto the table. A victorious grin came on his face. "I did it!"

Lightning frowned. "No! You cheated! That wasn't a part of the rules."

He smirked. "Then why were you rubbing against my leg?"

Clearly, she displayed an upset look. "Because I felt like it, not to cheat!"

"So can I tell you what I want off the menu now?" Lightning crossed her arms as she leaned back against the couch. She wouldn't give in. Hope sighed as he closed his eyes. "Fine. It wasn't fair."

"No one wins," Lightning said so that it would be fair.

"All right," Hope agreed, somewhat disappointed.

Letting go of her anger, she sat up straight. Her eyes had met his. He smiled as he became curious as to why. "I guess you got what you wanted when you asked me earlier about kissing you." She had forgotten where they were and was focused on their competition.

He chuckled a little. "I was kidding when I said that."

She gave him a faint smirk. "Too late."

"You still haven't answered my question," he reminded her.

Lightning wondered what question he meant. "What's that?"

Interested, he smiled. "If you're not drunk, then tell me what the names of our children are?"

Lightning sighed as she crossed her arms. "One is called a name similar to your name, one is named after you, and the other one is…"

Hope grinned. "Yeah. Time to go home." They stood up and grabbed their jackets and the rest of their stuff.

The bartender from earlier noticed that they were getting ready to leave. They stopped in front of her as she smiled toward them. "Ah! I was wondering why it was so quiet over there for a while. So I take it he was right and you know him?"

Lightning gave a faint smirk as she looked back at Hope. "I guess so." Hope paid for everything that they had tonight and walked out with Lightning into the city.

Thank you for reading! The next part will continue next chapter since this was so long already. This chapter touched a little on what happened in the past chapters. I'll be back to update when I can.