drive; in-game verse
Before his life-changing adventure as a l'cie, Hope had been a pretty average student. Sure, he'd studied and made decent grades, but like any other teenager, he'd never given much thought as to why.
Funny how everything changed when you suddenly had things worth fighting for.
People seemed to be impressed with his intellect as he skipped a bunch of grades and rose through the ranks of the Academy, but Hope didn't really understand why. If you had a goal, you did everything you could to reach it.
At least, that was what he'd learned from Lightning all those years ago.
His research had already done so much - besides helping the Academy grow in ways no one had ever thought possible, he'd managed to do what everyone had claimed was unthinkable and found out where Lightning was. And thanks to Serah and Noel, they were going to find her. Somehow he figured that once he - they - did, everything would fall into place - the new Cocoon would be successful, Fang and Vanille would be free, and they would all be together again.
It all played out perfectly in his mind. Once Serah and Noel defeated Caius and restored the true timeline, they'd come back through the gate with Lightning in tow. Or perhaps she'd appear through a rift, but either way, they'd all return in time to see the new Cocoon float in the sky like it'd always been there.
And though he was always embarrassed to think this even in his private daydreams, Hope always imagined himself moving to embrace Lightning like she had to him all those years ago - out of sheer, utter relief that everything was now okay.
But first…
"Director!"
…There was work to do.