mischief managed; au

This was the only wedding reception she'd ever been to, and yet Lightning had still decided that she hated them.

It wasn't as though she wasn't happy for the couple, of course. Snow and Serah had been beaming all day, taking in every congratulations and smiling so much it was a wonder their faces didn't hurt. The ceremony had been perfect - beautiful and touching, and Serah had only cried a tiny bit of her makeup off.

The reception, though…Lightning could take it or leave it. But unfortunately for her, she couldn't leave it, since she was the maid of honor and her attendance through the whole thing was pretty much mandatory. According to Serah, anyway.

Even so, she didn't see why she needed to stick around. She'd made her little speech, wishing the couple all of the happiness and threatened to punch Snow a new one if he ever made her sister cry (which, of course, had gotten laughter from the other guests and a look of horror from Snow). She'd eaten the slightly dry chicken dinner. She'd gladly eaten a rather large piece of the five-tiered wedding cake.

Why did she need to stick around, again?

"Light?"

Lightning looked over to her side, a smile forming on her face at the guest next to her. Hope always managed to find a way to seek her out at any of these family get-togethers. He'd even convinced her to dance with him a couple of times earlier.

"Hope," she replied, acknowledging him with a nod. The dance floor was still full of couples - of course Serah and Snow were dancing. She spotted Fang with Vanille, and smiled slightly at the sight of Dajh and Sazh "dancing" - the old man's son was standing on his feet, while Sazh held him up. She could easily picture the scene happening years from now with Snow and his future child with Serah…

"What's wrong?"

Too late, Lightning realized she'd shuddered at her own though. It wasn't as though she was against Snow and Serah having children - it was just so strange to think about.

"Nothing," she assured him, impulsively reaching out and squeezing his arm lightly. She completely missed the flush his cheeks took at the gesture. "Just…getting eager for this to end, I guess."

"You - " Hope coughed. "You're not having fun?"

She shrugged. "I can't say that I'm not. I just…" She looked at her perfectly manicured hands - at Serah's insistence - while searching for the right words. "I'm happy for them. It was a nice wedding. I just wish the celebrating didn't have to go well into the night."

That seemed to satisfy Hope, and he chuckled, hesitating for a moment before reaching out and grasping one of her hands. "Yeah, that sounds like you, Light."

Involuntarily, a smile crossed her lips when she looked at him. Then again, she'd been doing that a lot lately. Maybe it was because ever since he'd become the leader of a well-respected corporation just a year ago, he'd seemed so…grown-up.

Which, of course, was a stupid thought. He was in his twenties, and of course had been for awhile now.

"Did…" Hope shifted in his seat. "Did you want to dance again?"

Lightning's first thought was to tell him 'no'….but really, what did she have to lose? She couldn't leave, and dancing with Hope had always seemed to make the time fly by. During the slow songs, he'd hold her protectively close, one hand resting comfortably between her shoulder blades while the other twined with hers. Oddly, eventually even the music would fade away, like everything dwindled down to just the two of them.

How could she say no to experiencing that feeling?

Just as she'd opened her mouth to say 'yes', she heard Serah yell something about the bouquet. Ah, it must have been time to throw it. She watched in disinterest as what seemed like every single female took up the dance floor, their arms already outstretched.

"You're not gonna join them?" Hope asked.

"No." Lightning crossed her arms in annoyance. "They can have the bouquet if they want it so badly."

Hope hummed in what may have been agreement, but a minute later, they were both distracted by the bride. Serah was awkwardly standing on a chair, back facing to the gaggle of girls behind her.

"Ready?" she called. They all screamed in delight.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. Everyone's eyes were on the flowers when Serah threw them. They sailed through the air, heading towards somewhere at the edge of the crowd.

With a swiftness that actually didn't surprise her, Lightning watched Vanille leap up, arms perfectly stretched for the bouquet. That made sense, at least. Perhaps she wanted to settle down and marry Fang.

But then, so quickly that she couldn't tell if it was an accident or not, Vanille moved her arm with an inhuman dexterity. The flowers smacked against Vanille's hand, and somehow, in a completely perfect arc…

…landed right in Hope's lap.

His eyes immediately widened and he jumped a little, startled. Instinctively, he tried to pass them off to the nearest female, since, well, this whole tradition was pretty much a girls-only thing.

And of course, the nearest female was Lightning.

She already uncrossed her arms to accept the bouquet, probably out of instinct as well - she was too used from her job in the Corps, where fellow soldiers would hand her weapons or goods.

Yes, that had to be the only reason she so readily accepted Hope's offer.

For a split second, she met his eyes. It was before the embarrassment took over, and she could somehow read every emotion in his expression. It was an utterly soft gaze, one that spoke of love, desire, longing…and dare she think it - hope.

No one had ever looked at her like that before.

But in an instant, it was gone. She stared at the flowers in her hands, trying not to blush and failing miserably. Hope was already stammering an apology, his face as red as the roses in the centerpiece on the table.

Vanille giggled, skipping her way over to Serah and high-fived her with a triumphant grin.

"Just as planned!"