Disclaimer- I own NOTHING!

Summary- Lightning and her friends have won. Now they have a new world that they must make their own. Though they know that together they can do anything.

Chapter 4: Dealing With Confusion

…

Hope's POV

I am left stunned. One minute I am kissing the woman I've been in love with for literally 1000 years and then she just takes off. And better yet she kissed me! Why did she run like that? Should I go after her? A million questions fill me head and not a single answer. Maybe I should just give her some space. But at the same time I want to know what's going on. Did she not like the kiss? Does she regret kissing me? I'm almost afraid of the answer.

No. I have to know. I have to go after her. I run over to wake up Fang. It's not easy but she does get up.

"Hey where you going?" She asks me as I'm about to go after Light.

"Just something I need to take care of." I turn to leave.

"I don't suppose it has to do with Sunshine not being here?"

"I… just…I need to go." I run as fast as I can while Fang laughs behind me. I head in the direction I saw Light go. As I run I look for any sign, any clue that might lead me to her. I have no idea what I'm going to say. I just know that I need to find her.

…

Light's POV

I run. As fast as I can. Not paying any attention to where I'm going. I just keep moving. I can feel my muscles start to burn from the strain, but I don't, can't, stop. I need to get away. I can feel tears running down my face, but I don't do anything about them. I run and run and run.

Suddenly I trip on something and then I'm under water. I manage to get myself above the surface and try to get my bearings. I realize that I'm back at the stream. The same one that Hope and I had our water fight earlier. I pull myself out of the water and sit on the bank. As I sit there I try to regain some control over my thought.

First thing's first. I kissed Hope. I kissed Hope. Why did I do that? Answer, because it felt right. But why did it feel right? That is what I really need to figure out. Could it be that I have some sort of feeling for him? I mean, I know that he's the one I'm closest to. He's my best friend, my partner, the one I have always been able to rely on. I wish Serah were here. She could help me figure this all out.

Okay move on. Second thing. I liked kissing Hope. Why did I like kissing Hope? It was nice. It felt really good. I have never felt like that before. All I want is to be close to him again. Having his arms around me made me feel so warm and safe. I have never needed anyone to make me feel safe before. I am fully capable of taking care of myself. So WHY does it make me so happy that he makes me feel that way?

Then there's Hope. How does he feel? Well that's kind of obvious. He must care for me. I mean I know he cares for me, but in what way does he care for me? When he kissed me back I felt something from him. It was like he never wanted to let me go. He as good as told me that he never wanted to be away from me. Then there's the fact that he worked for 1000 years to get me back. I know I'm the one he's closest to and I was the one who helped him after him mom died. So was he just doing all of that because he felt he owed me? Or could it have been something else? Could he… could he be in love with me?

No that's impossible. Hope can't be in love with me. Or can he? God I don't know. I am so confused. Before I worry about how Hope feels I need to figure out how I feel first.

Okay so I kissed Hope. I liked kissing Hope. He makes me feel safe, and I like that. He makes me happy. While we were L'Cie he was the one who could make me laugh the most. I like being with him, and even now with all this confusion I'm feeling, I wish he were here with me. But what does all of this mean? I've never had to deal with anything like this before. GAH! I NEED SERAH!

I don't have any more time to think because right at this moment I can hear crashing sounds. Like someone running. I stand up to get a look at who's coming, though I think I already know. And I'm right. As soon as I stand up fully there he is. The very man who's been filling my thoughts all day. He's looking around when he notices me.

"Light." He's out of breath from running. He makes his way over to me and stops a few feet away. "Light, what was that? Why did you run?" Even with only moonlight I can see his face. I can see the hurt and confusion. I expect to see anger as well, but it's not there.

"Hope, I… I don't know. I'm sorry." He takes a few steps towards me. He's still keeping some distance though, remaining just outside of my reach.

'About what? What are you sorry about?" He looks at me with such intensity that I just was to hide. Then I realize, I'm afraid. Whether I'm afraid of the situation or Hope himself I'm not sure, but I am very afraid.

"Everything I guess." I try to turn away from him, but he grabs my arm, preventing me from moving.

"Everything? Tell me honestly Light, do you regret kissing me?" Now he's holding onto both of my arms. His grip is firm, but not too tight. I could easily get out if I wanted to. I look into his eyes and can feel tears forming in mine.

"I… I don't know. Hope." I caress his cheek with my hand. He feels so nice and warm. I want to grab him and never let go. "I've never done anything like this before. Kissing, relationships, love, all of that seemed so pointless after my parents died. I had to take care of Serah and nothing else mattered. I never even looked at a guy that way before."

I break away from his grip. I can tell he's worried that I'll run away again, but I won't. I need to face this, now. We need to be a team, and we can't be one if there is something hanging between us like this. I start to pace.

"Damnit Hope! Why is it always you? I spent years building up my walls so no one could get close to me, so I would never get hurt. And then YOU come along and knock them all over like they're nothing. Only you. You look at me with those eyes and with that look and every ounce of control I've built up is just gone." By now I am exhausted. I look back at him, straight into his eyes. "To answer your question Hope, no. I don't regret kissing you. Not a second of it. But I'm afraid." Hope's eyes widen. "Like I said I have never felt like this before. I'm not even sure what exactly I feel. I just know that I liked the kiss and I want to be close to you. Please Hope, just give me some time to sort this out in my head. And besides, right now is really not the time to be dealing with all of these confusing emotions and everything. We need to focus on surviving. Maybe once we're all settled and we don't have to worry as much, then maybe we can figure this all out. But until then we have other things that need our focus."

Hope is silent for a minute, taking in everything I just said. He walks up to me and puts his arms around me.

"Alright Light. I can wait. I've waited 1000 years, I think I can wait a little longer. But promise me. Promise that once everything is settled, once we have things taken care of, and we don't have to worry so much about surviving that we will talk about this. Promise me that you will consider giving this, whatever it is, a chance." He kisses me on my forehead and steps back.

"Alright Hope, I promise. After we are settled we will talk again. All I ask is that you give me space until then. I still need to figure this all out and when the time comes I would like to be able to give you a real answer." I give him a small smile.

"Don't worry Light. I give you my word. I will not pressure you, I will not push. Just promise me one more thing." He pauses for a minute.

"What is it Hope?"

"Promise me that things won't change between us. I know that in all reality everything has changed, but I don't want you to pull away from me. I know you said you need space and I will give you all the space you need, but I just couldn't deal with it if I can't be close to you at all. You are my best friend, the one person I know I can rely on through anything, you are too important to me to lose. I need you Light." The intensity of his words startle me for a moment. I don't know what to say.

"I can't promise that." Hope gasps quietly. "Please listen. I can't promise that everything will be as it was, because like you said everything has changed. However I can promise to try. You are important to me too. I like how close we are. You are the only person other than Serah to even really try to understand me, and you are the only person who does understand me. Serah tries, but you are different, so so different. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't want to lose you either."

"Alright Light. I understand. I promise to give you the space you need."

"And I promise to try to not let things change too much between us while I try to figure everything out." We both smile at one another and he wraps him arms around me again. This time I respond to his embrace. I rest my head on his shoulder and relax. My head doesn't feel so clouded and as a whole I feel so much better. After a bit I pick my head back up. "Come on, we should probably head back." Hope sighs.

"You're probably right, but I really don't want to. I don't want this moment to end." I smile and shake my head at him. Then I shiver slightly, though Hope still notices. "Alright, let's head back and get you next to the fire. I don't know why you ended up back in your uniform, but it's not made very well for cold nights." He takes my hand and we head back to camp. Right before we enter the meadow I stop and turn him so he's facing me.

"Hope."

"Yea Light." He looks at me curiously.

"One more. I want one more kiss before we go back. After that we try to go back to normal, but first…" He smiles at me and puts his finger to my lips.

"It's alright Light. I understand." He wraps his arms around me, pulling me close, and gently presses his lips to mine. I feel so light, like I could just float away. I respond by deepening the kiss. We don't have quite the same passion as our first kiss, but the love is still there. When we pull away he pulls me to him tight, his mouth next to my ear. "Light, you don't have to respond to this, I don't even expect you to say anything but I need to tell you. You need to know that I love you. I have always loved you, and I always will. Whatever happens know this, I am yours." He kisses my temple, smiles at me, and walks back to the fire. I just stand there taking his words in.

He does love me. Part of me always knew this, but that doesn't compare in the slightest to actually hearing him say it. I smile widely to myself and touch where he kissed my temple. Damn, I'm acting like a love-struck teenager. I shake my head at myself and try to regain my composure. But I can't quit smiling. He loves me. He really loves me. I'm still not positive about how I feel, but I don't think I have ever been this happy. Here I am, smiling like an idiot and it's all because he loves me. I finally accept that I'm not going to stop smiling and I make my way back to camp. I definitely have to talk to Serah in the morning.

…

A/N: Okay, so another extra fluffy chapter. I hope you all liked it. The next few chapters will begin to focus more on rebuilding society and the other characters. The main characters are still Hope and Light, but there will definitely be more interaction with everyone else. How did you guys like Hope's POV? Should I do some more, or should I stick with Light only? Let me know in a review. Later.