seeing red; Christmas au

Though their first Christmas together as a married couple came nearly a year after the fact (they'd gotten married in February, because summer weddings were a cliche, apparently), Lightning still wanted her first one with Hope to be special for…well, a lot of reasons. Mostly because, of course, it was a holiday that was supposed to be about family. He was her family now.

Apparently he and his work team didn't quite grasp that concept.

"I'm sorry, Light." To his credit, Hope did sound incredibly apologetic. Maybe it was because he knew how much trouble he was in with his wife. "We might not get another chance to use this site for our research for a long time. Years, even."

She was glad that they were speaking over the phone, rather than through a video conference or something, so Hope couldn't see her immense eyeroll. "Yeah. I get that."

"Do you really?" His voice sounded a bit softer - more like the Hope she knew in person; the version of him she desperately wanted right now. "I tried to get them to put this off until the new year, I swear. None of us want to be out here for Christmas."

"…I know." Now her voice was the softer one, because honestly, she really did understand. Hope took his work very seriously. She knew that. She'd always known that.

But seriously, of all the times of year to stumble upon some 'amazing' research opportunities…

He'll be back soon. It's good in the long run. We can just put the holiday off for a few weeks, that's all.

"Light?"

Too late, Lightning realized she'd been lost in her thoughts and cleared her throat a bit. "I'm here."

"Just making sure." There was a sad little smile apparent in his voice. "What if I brought you back something for every day I'm gone? Y'know, four calling birds and fiiiive golden riiiiings."

She pulled the phone away from her ear at the extremely loud vibrato and chuckled quietly. "Just yourself would be fine. I'm not sure what I'd do with a partridge in a pear tree."

"Noted." A somewhat tense silence fell between them until he continued in the same soft voice, "I love you, Light. And I'm really sorry."

"It's fine" It wasn't, for a multitude of reasons, really. But she could deal. "I'll drive over to Serah and Snow's and spend some time with them or something. I'll figure it out."

"Okay." Hope sounded more than a little wistful. "Tomorrow's the 23rd. Think you'll go out there then?"

"Probably."

"I'll text you, okay? Call me when you get there."

"I will." She paused. "…I love you, too."

"I know," he replied softly before they hung up.

Lightning resisted the urge to throw her phone into the wall. Anger and annoyance surged through her, but it was incredibly frustrating, because she did understand why he wanted this opportunity. She really did.

Just…why now, of all the times in the world?!

She wasn't even sure if she wanted to go over to Serah and Snow's, if she was completely honest with herself. Those two were totally over-the-top when it came to Christmas - their house was always decorated to the nines, and no doubt Serah would make Snow run out to the store to grab some extra gifts for Lightning so she didn't feel left out. They'd probably give her hot chocolate with peppermint sticks and Serah would insist that they wear matching pajamas on Christmas Eve night, like they had when they were children.

Lightning glanced around. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, she and Hope hadn't had time to decorate much. They didn't even have a tree - there'd never been a spare moment to get one, between work and errands, and now his stupid research trip. She'd planned on asking him if he wanted to get a scraggly leftover one on Christmas Eve, but now, she didn't want to bother. All they'd really done was hang one set of red and green lights outside and stick a couple of red velvet bows on the doors.

With a frown, she stomped over towards one of the bows and ripped it down with a satisfying noise. It was better than throwing her phone against the wall.

Maybe she wouldn't go to Serah and Snow's. She was so pissed off that she figured she wouldn't be that great of company, anyway.

Not to mention that all she really wanted was to be with Hope.

Lightning closed her eyes and rested her hands on her sides, letting a long exhale. Calm. She needed to stay calm. It was nearly Christmas, after all. One of the most joyous times of year. So what if Hope couldn't spend the day with her? They had a whole lifetime ahead of them.

Just then, a car came down the street, blasting music impossibly loud - loud enough for Lightning to be able to hear it in the house.

"All I want for Christmas is yoooooooooou!"

She hoped the driver of that car got a flat tire.

—

Christmas Eve came all too quickly. Lightning told Hope that she'd decided against going to Serah and Snow's, and while he tried to convince her otherwise, her mind was set. She wasn't leaving this house. There was a light flurry of snowfall, anyway, and she didn't want to risk the drive in that weather.

She ignored the voice in her head that said she'd driven in much worse conditions.

She woke up late in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, mostly on purpose - not only did it make the day go by faster, but it cemented her decision to stay put. There was no way she was going to drive so late at night

For most of the day, she wandered around the house aimlessly. There was a strange sadness in the air that was only amplified when she found the pile of gifts Hope had left for her before he'd gone on his trip she'd been looking forward to opening them with him - just the start of many, many holiday memories they'd make throughout their marriage.

Never did she think that being alone would be her first married holiday memory.

Close to midnight - after tearing down the rest of those red ribbons because it felt like they were mocking her - Lightning finally decided to just go to bed. She hadn't heard from Hope since a text earlier in the day after she'd just woken up, and he hadn't responded for hours. No point in staying up.

Just as she'd climbed into bed, however, her phone rang. Lightning thought about ignoring it, but inevitably picked up when she saw who was calling.

"Hope?"

"Hey, Light." His voice sounded a big ragged, like he'd been using it all day. "Are you awake?"

"Sort of." She nestled under the covers. "I was just about to go bed."

"Can you do something for me first, please?"

"What?" she asked, thinking he was going to ask her to open one of the gifts or something.

Hope cleared his throat, his tone taking on a teasing edge. "Can you get the door?"

Lightning could've sworn her heart skipped a beat. There's no way he… "Why?"

"C'mon, Light."

"Okay…" No, she wasn't going to get her hopes up - literally or otherwise. She climbed out of bed, her slippered feet padding the way towards the door as she kicked some of the ribbons out of the way. "If this is some kind of joke, I swear - "

She opened the door.

There, looking exhausted but ecstatic with snow melting in his hair, stood Hope.

He grinned and pocketed his phone. "Light - "

That was all he got out before Lightning dropped her phone and flung her arms around his neck, not caring that it was freezing outside - cold enough for the snow to still be falling gently around them in silence.

Because when Hope's arms immediately wrapped around her and held her close, that was the only warmth she needed.

After what felt like hours, Hope pressed his lips against her temple, breathing out a happy, "Merry Christmas, Lightning."

Her own response to was to hug him more tightly…at least until curiosity got the better of her. "How are you here?"

"The team decided that no research was worth sacrificing the holiday." She could feel him smile. "Some of them stayed behind, but most of us decided we'd rather be home. And they all knew it was our first Christmas as a married couple, so they were completely insistent that I go."

"At least some of you are smart."

"Hey!" he cried, but they were both grinning when they finally pulled away. Hope quickly kissed her lips, then the tip of her nose. "Your nose is turning red," he explained with a laugh. "C'mon, let's get inside."

"Gladly."

When they finally got inside - hand-in-hand, of course - Lightning caught sight of the clock.

Midnight.

Her Christmas wish had come true.

—

Since they could actually relax and enjoy their time together - not to mention because Hope had spent a lot of the previous day traveling - the two of them didn't wake up until quite late the next morning. Even though it seemed to be instinct to run into the living room for gifts, they opted to stay in bed for awhile longer.

A long while longer.

"You know," Lightning murmured in a husky voice, struggling to catch her breath, "if it wasn't below zero outside, I'd forget about putting our clothes back on."

Hope grinned and nuzzled her jaw. "We don't have to leave the bed."

"Seems like a waste of the holiday."

"Not particularly." But even so, Hope rolled off of her with a smile and another kiss. "Want me to put on the coffee? Then we can exchange gifts if you want."

Lightning hesitated. "Make it cocoa."

If Hope thought her request was odd - because she typically never went a morning without coffee - he didn't mention it. Instead, he simply kissed her in agreement and walked out of the room after putting his clothes on, humming Christmas carols under his breath.

She soon followed after throwing some clothes on - comfy pajamas, of course; there was no reason to wear anything else on Christmas - and stared at the living room. She stared at the red velvet bows scattered on the floor, the only form of decoration, and wished she'd thought to pick up a tree, even if it was by herself.

Lightning suddenly got an idea and sneaked into Hope's home office, retrieving a piece of paper and some different colored pens. When Hope returned to the living room carrying two steaming mugs of hot cocoa, she was scribbling away on the paper.

"What are you doing?" he asked, handing her one of the mugs.

"We never got a tree…so I'm improvising." She held up the paper with a slight smile. On it was a drawing of the outline of a Christmas tree - in green, of course - and she was in the midst of doodle different colored ornaments. "Too silly?"

"Nah." Hope smiled and kissed her quickly before grabbing a red pen and drawing a candy cane. "I think it's perfect."

She had to agree…mostly. There was just one more thing that would make this day completely perfect.

Hope paused when Lightning drew two circles - one smaller, one bigger - that were connected by some lines on their makeshift tree. "What's that supposed to be?"

There was a moment of hesitation before she answered. "…A baby rattle."

His brow furrowed. "Why would you draw that?"

She smiled at him knowingly. "You're the scientist, Mr. Hope Estheim. You figure it out."

Happy Holidays, everybody :)