Chapter 10

Souke Ikari stood on the sidewalk, looking around, smiling at those who passed by with his backpack over his shoulder. Where is she? He looked at his watch and sighed. "Four twenty?" he asked himself aloud. "This isn't like her."

He rolled his eyes as he looked up at the sky and then smiled as he watched two pretty girls walk past him. It was then he saw Hope's blue sports car pull up and heard her horn honking.

"And you yell at me for being late?"

"Shut up and get in!" Hope growled as she removed her sunglasses. "I was detained."

"I'll bet." Souke said as he came over to the other side of the car and threw his backpack in the backseat while he got into the passenger side door and shut the door.

Hope looked at him and raised her eyebrow disapprovingly.

"What?" he asked as he shrugged his shoulder.

"Uh…seatbelts?" Hope nagged as she tugged on her own.

"Uh excuse me!" Souke growled as he reached for the seatbelt and pulled it across him. "Happy now? Let's go!"

"Who are you to lecture me on being late, Mr. Punctuality?" Hope asked with a sarcastic huff.

"For your information, I was outside at 1600 hours exactly, Major!"

"What?" Hope growled.

"You heard me!" Souke growled back. "I was outside at exactly four o'clock. You were the one late this time, Hope!"

"Souke!" Hope growled. "I am never late! Never! Can you please cut me some slack? I've just been assigned to a new posting! I am a major now! I have other responsibilities! You have some nerve, Souke Ikari!"

"Hope, hey, listen!" Souke said defensively. "I didn't mean to piss you off…. I was just joking with you, y'know?"

"Well, I didn't find it funny, Souke!" Hope growled.

"Touchy!" Souke teased as he scoffed.

"Excuse me? Souke, what's your deal today?"

"My deal?" Souke asked. "Hope, I was just kidding! You, as usual, are flying off the handle about nothing!"

"DON'T YOU TELL ME THAT I AM FLYING OFF THE HANDLE, SOUKE!" Hope boomed out loudly as people looked at the screaming woman in the blue sports car. "Okay." Hope said sheepishly as she began to blush. "Time to go."

"Yeah, I think so." Souke said as he pulled his small PDA from his pocket and checked his schedule.

Hope pulled the car into drive and began to move forward just as Souke said. "Geez, Hope, you sure know how to make a scene."

Then as she stomped on the brakes, Souke went forward and the seatbelt gripped him back, startling him. "Yo, Sis! Calm down!"

"Souke, I am five seconds away from telling you to grab a cab."

Souke swallowed as he said quickly. "I…I am sorry, Hope. I just was joking, y'know."

"For a law student, Souke, you could be a little more tactful."

"Oh that was a cheap shot." Souke said with a grin.

Hope grinned back and responded. "My car, my rules."

Souke snickered and went back to his PDA smirking at her. "Okay, Hope."

Hope continued to drive forward as she put her sunglasses on and drove back towards the apartment complex.

"Oh forgot to tell you. Mom called earlier."

"Oh?" Hope asked.

"Yeah, she's kind of miffed that you didn't call her about your recent promotion to Major, Hope."

"Mom all ready knows." Hope said with a smirk.

"Well she kind of hoped you would call her and tell her." Souke said.

"Okay." Hope groaned. "I will call Mom when I get home. Did she say how Daddy is?"

"Dad's okay." Souke said. "Hey you know I thought about after graduation, maybe I should move back home for a while, y'know? Maybe I should be around in case Dad needs me."

"You know what Dad said." Hope told her brother. "He doesn't want our lives to stop just because he's sick. Dad's gonna be okay. Dad is tough. Dad's been through a lot worse then this."

"What do you mean?" Souke asked.

"Nothing." Hope said. "I just mean…. that Dad has seen a lot worse…. you know…. Third Impact and what not?"

"Oh yeah." Souke said.

"Dad's a survivor." Hope said as she tried to hold back a tear. "He'll be all right."

"Yeah." Souke told her. "Still, you know I just feel like he might need me to be around a little more? You know Mom has her meetings and Dad's home all alone. It couldn't hurt, Hope."

"Souke, Dad will be happy when you get your degree and pass the Bar exam. You want to be a lawyer, Souke. Dad knows this. Dad told you to follow your dreams and live up to your goals and not worry about the cancer. We have to do what Dad wants."

"I know but sometimes what I want is just to help, Dad." Souke told her.

"Dad would want you to help yourself first, Souke. Remember that."

"Okay, Sis." He told her. "So, how is work so far?"

"Its…okay." Hope responded.

"Oh, I forgot classified." He chuckled.

"Its not a joke, Souke!" Hope growled. "I take this assignment very seriously."

"I know, Major. I know." Souke told her as he checked his PDA once more.

"You know, Souke, there is a whole other world outside of law school!" Hope growled.

"Hope, what is wrong with you today?" Souke asked. "You're grouchier then normal."

"I am not grouchy!" Hope growled.

"How do you like your new commander? What's his name? Sawyer Dell? God! Talk about how American you can get! Sawyer Dell. That sounds like the name of corporation."

"He's…. okay." Hope said as she flustered.

Souke though caught it immediately and he started to snicker when he heard her.

"What are you snickering about?" Hope asked.

"You like this guy." Souke said with another chuckle. "Oh my God! My sister actually likes a guy!"

"Souke!" Hope growled as she began to blush. "Stop it!"

"Oh yeah, you do. I can see it! You really do like him, don't you, Hope?"

"He's my superior officer, Souke! It wouldn't be wise!"

"Yeah but Hope, Isao was your squadron commander. What's so wrong about that?"

Narrowing her eyes, she gave Souke the look of death, as he called it. "What did you just say?"

Souke gulped and then stammered as he said. "I'm…I'm….sorry, Hope. I didn't mean."

"I never expected you to say something like that!" Hope growled.

"Okay, Sis. Calm down." Souke said

But then Hope made a quick turn across the street as cars slammed on their brakes and honked at her.

"HOPE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Souke yelled out.

Pulling over to the side of the road, Hope put the car in park and then turned to her brother which a scowl that informed him of a beating that was about to occur. "Souke, I expected more from you." Hope told him calmly.

Souke gulped as he saw his older sister's scowl and knew the beating was only moments away. "Hope…. chill."

Hope though did not resort to her usual beating of Souke. Instead she breathed in and said with pain in her voice. "I can't believe you would ever insinuate that I would want to get involved with someone again. I was in love once, Souke and it was a love that was supposed to be forever. I don't want another man in my life, Souke. I had a man and he died! I don't want any other man! I can't do it, Souke. I just…. I can't. I have my career and with Dad being sick, that's enough for now."

Souke swallowed as he looked at her. He had expected her to whack him a few times and scream "Idiot!" at him like she normally did. However, he saw she wasn't going to do that. Instead, he saw something else on his sister's face and it hurt him when he saw it. He could see the grief in her eyes she still had from the loss of Isao.

Souke nodded his head at her and then undid his seatbelt as he came towards her and hugged her. "Hope, please forgive me for saying this but you are wasting time."

Hope breathed in as she clutched onto her brother and let a tear fall from her eye. "I have my life, Souke. It's enough."

"No, its not." Souke told her. "Its okay to like someone, Hope. It's okay to want to feel that way again. Hope, Isao wouldn't want you to shrug off men like this. Isao wouldn't want to become so cold and push people away. Hope, you can't do that anymore. You need to start…. letting people in."

Looking back to her brother's face she took another deep breath as she whispered. "I don't know how, Souke."

"Its easy." Souke told her. "You just be the person I know you are."

Hope smiled as she held onto her brother whispering. "You are my best friend, you know that, right?"

"I know." He told her. "You're my best friend too, Hope. I promise you that if you start letting people in you want to have keep pushing people away because soon, you'll feel a different kind of fulfillment."

"I don't know, Souke." Hope said to her brother.

"Yes, you do." Souke told her.

As Hope looked back into his face and wiped away her tear, she turned back to the steering wheel and started up the car again, driving back to the apartment. As she pulled up to the curb, she turned to Souke and said.

"I think I'm going to go for a ride for a while. Do you mind, Souke?"

"Not at all, Sis." He said to her as he undid his seatbelt and gave her a kiss on the cheek, while he reached for his backpack. "Just think about what I said, Hope. That's all."

"Okay." She said with a sad smile. "I will."

Souke got out of the car and then watched as his sister drove away. He knew where she was headed; it was where she usually went to put her into perspective. He sighed and then walked into the lobby of the apartment complex.