-Fidgets- Sorry if it's a little bad... I wanted to update as soon as possible. Hope you'll all forgive me this time.
Wanderer of Worlds: Really? Thank you so much!
xXAnime4LifeXx: Here's your update! ^^
tootsiepopgurl: Thanks so much! I'm always very happy when my stories give people a different point of view. ^^ And don't worry about your "weird" pairing interests. Everyone has things they like, so it's not even really "weird." It's just an opinion.
AssasinZAssasin: Oh, no... I'll try to fix up the cliffhangers! It was actually my first time doing it, and I couldn't really do the whole confession, because... Well, just read. xD
FFLightXHopeTifaXCloud: Your favorite? O.O I'm seriously honored! Thank you! As for your offer, I'd love for you to help me with that! ^^ AssasinZAssasin does that, as well, but more help never hurts. I, of course, want you to keep giving me your personal reviews, at the same time, though.
Revan Farron: Thanks! :D She is quite young for that, isn't she...? ^^;;
Lady Valisere: I WILL HEAL YOUR INSIDES! :O
PinkhairedSoldier: Ah, sorry for the confusion. I saw all your views and reviews. You were really on a roll! xD
"Light, I..." Hope stared into Light's eyes. The woman's expression turned from one of expectancy to surprise at the boy's intense gaze, her eyes widening.
A huge force collided with the silver-haired boy so fast, it was as if Hope had never been standing in front of Lightning, and, had instead, always been lying on the ground, a large boy standing above him. He had a massive amount of brilliant red hair, and was a little on the plump side.
"Hope! Where've ya been, man?" He boomed, hands on hips. "Man, we haven't hung out in so long! Evi's been askin', too! All Vince said was that you had to go somewhere like, four times a week after school!"
Hope slowly sat up, rubbing his head. "...Tau..." He growled, as Vincent and a girl ran up behind the broad boy.
"Tau! I told you not to, you dumbass!" Vincent yelled, running up and pushing the red-haired boy away. The girl knelt by Hope, her expression worried. Her long, brown hair hung down to her elbows and was streaked with rusty red highlights. Her brown eyes looked reproachfully at Tau from the ground.
"Tau, you could've seriously hurt him!" The girl chided. "Hope, are you okay?" She asked, her tone immediately changing.
"Yeah, thanks, Evi." Hope heaved himself up off the ground, and dusted himself off, face flushed. And he had just been embarrassed in front of the one person he had just decided to confess to... Ugh... All my courage is gone now. Damn you, Tau...
The red-haired boy stuck out his lower lip. "Why is everyone blaming me? I was just happy to see Hope..."
"A little too happy..." Vincent growled, jerking his head to the side, clearly upset.
This whole time, Lightning had been standing, dumbfounded, her mouth slightly agape. Now, she shook her head, and all her emotions bubbled up. There was curiosity, worry, anger, and a little bit of... annoyance? She was curious about what Hope had been about to tell her with such a serious expression. Worry came from concern about Hope's wellbeing after being slammed to a concrete walkway. The anger came from witnessing Tau's recklessness.
As for the annoyance... Lightning wasn't sure. It most certainly wasn't due to that girl fawning over Hope. Definitely not.
Anyways, all those emotions were just ingredients for a boiling frustration. It quickly festered into anger, and Light's expression became thunderous.
Over Tau's shoulder, Hope took note of it. Vince, in turn, took note of Hope's reaction, and followed his gaze. Upon seeing what he was looking at, the black-haired boy quickly stepped back to stand way behind Hope. Tau had his back turned to the woman, and Evi had eyes only for Hope, constantly asking what was wrong.
Finally, Light's great mix of emotions reached a boiling point and she stepped right up to Tau, tapping him on the shoulder. "Huh?" He blinked in a vacant manner, turning around to find Lightning's finger pointed in his pudgy face.
"And, what do you think you're doing?" Lightning yelled into the alarmed boy's face. "Don't you think at all? You could have seriously injured Hope! What if he had hit his head?"
Tau stumbled back, and Evi looked up in alarm. "That's dangerous! Never do that again, idiot!" Light glared at the boy, then shot a stare at the young girl. This surprised even her. She had nothing against the girl... She had been worried about Hope, too. She shook her head vigorously and then put on an emotionless mask.
"I'm heading back, Hope. I'll see you later." Before the boy could answer, Lightning spun on her heel and walked away, head held high. She soon reached the apartment building and stiffly stepped in, out of sight from the park.
Once she had closed the door behind her, the pink-haired woman sighed, shoulders drooping slightly. What's wrong with me...? Must be feeling overprotective... Yes, that's got to be it. He's a close friend. That's all.
Still trying to persuade herself, she ascended the stairs, ignoring the elevator, and unlocked the front door to the Villiers' apartment. Lightning was greeted by Serah, who took the bag of fruit but gave her a quizzical and suspicious look. "...Where's Hope?" The younger sibling asked.
"No idea." Light said, bluntly. "I suspect he ran off with his friends." She spat out the word sarcastically.
Serah raised an eyebrow. "Ohhhh, I see... Well," She turned and headed towards the kitchen. "That's rude of him. To not escort a lady all the way back home."
Lightning followed Serah and leaned against the counter, rolling her eyes. "It wasn't his fault. His friends just interrupted us. Interrupting is putting it mildly." Soon, she was on a roll, venting her anger about the incident. "His friend rolled him to the ground, and then acted like everything was fine! A big red-haired boy. Didn't even notice Hope was talking to someone else!"
Serah had her back turned to her older sister, but she had a small smile on her face that Lightning couldn't see. Snow listened quietly from the couch, watching the kids play in an absentminded sort of way.
"Now, that's rude!" Serah declared, turning back around and setting a plate of chopped up pineapples on the counter. "Set that on the table for me, will you? Thanks. Anyways," She added casually, "What... was Hope talking to you about?"
"No idea." Light said shortly, setting the plate down with a clink. "Snow, bring Nora and Ethan over for fruit."
The blond man stretched and stood, scooping up his giggling children. With large strides, he was soon setting them in their high chairs and pulling his own chair out. He set himself down and reached for a pineapple with his bare hands.
Lightning slapped his outstretched hand with the flat part of the fork tines. "Ow!" Snow complained.
"Use a fork." Light handed it to him. "Anyways, I don't think Hope's coming back tonight."
"Sis... You didn't yell at him and his friends, did you?"
"A bit. Oh, please." Light rolled her eyes at the look Serah gave her. "They'll live. They aren't going to cry. They're in high school."
"Hoooope!" A voice wailed from behind the silver-haired teenager.
Hope rolled his eyes and turned to face Tau. "For God's sake, Tau, stop crying. Lightning was just mad 'cause you knocked me over."
"You aren't mad, are ya, Hope?"
"For the last time, no."
"But she's still scary, Hope! Who is she?"
"My friend. You know, Lightning Farron. We saved Cocoon with the rest of my friends, remember?"
"Oh, yeah! I keep forgetting you're a hero and all, Hope." Tau gazed at his friend with dazed eyes, as if he still couldn't believe that Hope had done all that.
"I'm not a hero." Hope shrugged. "I just did what I had to. Anyways, she's not a bad person. She seems really angry and uncaring, but in reality, she's really caring and nice. It's amazing how much humor she keeps hidden, too, and she's a lot of fun to be... with... Evi, what are you doing?"
The girl had been staring at Hope with narrowed eyes. "...What is that woman to you, anyways, Hope?" Vincent, who had been walking next to Hope, not really paying attention to the conversation, suddenly grew much more acute to his surroundings.
"Wh... Wait, what? I... What do you mean?" Hope asked, though he understood what she meant perfectly.
"Nothing. You just seem to be much more than friends." Evi frowned, and turned away. "Hmph!" She pouted.
"What? Aw, c'mon, guys." Hope sighed as he noted that even Tau was staring at him. "We're just really good friends... We were fugitives, together. Of course we'll be really close."
Evi remained silent, and Vincent smirked a little. Tau just sniffled a little and then quickened his pace to catch up with the rest of the group. Hope sighed. They didn't believe him the slightest bit, did they? But, did he even believe himself?
"Say, how about a quick stop at a diner, or something?
"Huh? Uh... Sure, why not? Can't stay long, though. I have to get home before... 10:30, I think. And my car is still parked over that way."
"And what were you doing there?"
"Evi, c'mon."
Back at her own home, Lightning threw her bag onto a vacant chair and trudged straight to her room. The moon's light streamed through the curtains, casting mysterious shadows upon the ground. It wasn't completely full, yet, but the great orb was still gorgeous. Light stood and looked at it for awhile, before turning and heading to her bathroom.
In the bathroom, she began to change into pajamas, pulling off her shirt and tugging on the other one. It hadn't bothered her much before, but now that Hope's friends weren't the first things on her mind, feeding her anger, Light was really curious about what Hope had been about to say...
Done with changing, Lightning filled a cup with water and squeezed toothpaste onto a red toothbrush. Sticking it in her mouth, she began scrubbing vigorously, mind preoccupied. What had it been...? And Serah had just been on fire today, so to speak, grinning at her constantly. What was with her? Geez...
Spitting out toothpaste foam, the pink-haired woman took a swig of water, swishing the mouthful about before spitting it into the sink. Wiping her face with a towel, Light ran a brush through her lovely hair, shaking her head. She shouldn't let all these thoughts get to her. It was only because she was tired... Yes, she had to get to sleep.
Lightning flicked off the lights in the bathroom and walked through the dark house back to her room. Settling into bed, Light pulled the covers to her chin and turned onto her side, staring at the moon. Those were silly thoughts, Claire Farron. Get yourself together. You are Lightning, a soldier.
...What would Fang say? And Vanille? Those two...
She could imagine it well, picturing Fang standing with her weight on her left leg, hand on her right hip. Her red spear was slung over her back, as always. The dark-haired woman grinned, her green eyes shining, matching with her bronze skin. "Hmmm...? What's this about, huh? Hey, Vanille, isn't this cute?"
As if peeking out from behind a wall, a red-headed girl popped her head out from the side of Lightning's mind, her striking green eyes cheery as her pigtails swayed. "Hm? What, what, tell me!"
In the dark, Lightning smiled, and rolled away from the moon. What was she doing...? She had to sleep... There was no use dwelling on memories right now. It was crucial that she get her energy. She had to attend what would most likely be an extremely boring meeting tomorrow.
Hope sat on his windowsill, staring out at the dazzling orb hanging in the sky. He was in his pajamas, but had already been lying in bed for over an hour, with no signs of sleep coming anytime soon. So, he had gotten up and sat at the window, mulling things over. Lightning... Had he been about to confess to her?
His thoughts drifted aimlessly about... Did Serah know? She was freakily sharp about these type of things. She had probably let Snow in on it, as well. Their sly smiles crept into his head and Hope sighed. It was amazing to him that Serah hadn't let the cat out of the bag to the entire world, yet.
Mom... What would you say? You'd laugh, huh?
His mother appeared clearly in his mind, laughing with a cheery grin. "My little boy is growing up! Now then, Hope, c'mon and tell your mom all about her!"
Hope grinned into his sleeve. Other friends appeared in his mind, as well. Vanille skipped past, only to stop and gape at him in a comical manner. "What did you say? Lightning...?" Her face burst into an exuberant expression. "No way! Ohmygoodness, tell me all about it! Haveyoutoldheryet? Whenareyougonna?"
Then, an older woman strode into his vision. Fang...
"Hmmm? Cayu~te. So, kiddo, what d'you have to say? Wanna tell us all about it?"
Hope shook his head, even though he smiled. Heh... Stupid... He wiped his face as a sudden stream of tears escaped his eyes. What are you doing... They wouldn't want you to do that... Ugh, go to bed already, stupid!
He stood and stalked to his bed, jumping in and throwing the covers in. Before he dozed off, a mental image of Lightning, smiling, crept into his mind. Tomorrow... Maybe tomorrow I'll tell her... Good thing it's a weekend.
Edit: Linebreaks put in. Thanks, reviewers, for telling me. ^^