Hey again. Been a while, uh?

First of all, allow me to say that this time around I meant to post it on Friday. Really, it was Ms. Bradshaw's fault. Apart of that, the dream that Lightning has in this chapter is actually her first remembrance of meeting Hope has described in the Episode Zero: Promise novellas.

Sit back and enjoy. If you need anything, just let me know.

Disclaimer: Square secretly wished she invented Pokémon, so let's not rip Final Fantasy away from them. It's all they've got.

Chapter 3 ~ Thought I Heard You Calling My Name

It was nearly 10 AM as Lightning stood in front of the Corps' HQ; arms crossed and body leaned on the outer wall of the building, mindlessly watching the movement on the street to spot the cheerful, spitting image of herself that was her sister.

She came to the conclusion that the whole thing wasn't such a bad idea, after all. Surely Serah would make jokes on her to no end, and heaven's forbid Snow of ever coming along with her, but that surely would be all of it. At least she wouldn't have to deal with the whole situation she was in, not yet.

The soldier shot her head skyward and sighed loudly at the mental image of Hope, their conversation the previous night replaying itself for the millionth time ever since and the now usual heartache following close behind. In desperate hopes of drifting her mind from the matter, she unholstered her sword and tried to check for any damage she may have caused to blade for abusing it the whole morning. Her plan of tricking her own mind succeeded after a while, and she soon found it was bit dull around the upper edges, but probably due to the lack of time she had to polish her weapon rather than supporting her weight over it.

Lightning got so immersed in her task that she didn't notice the very familiar silver haired boy rushing across the street to stop panting at her side. "Hey!", he greeted her hastily, barely being able to catch his breath.

Lightning's eyes immediately shot up to him in surprise and she let out a gasp as her sword slipped from her hand, making a small cut in her palm. While half expecting his figure to be a hangover mirage and disappear with the same suddenness with which he popped up beside her, Lightning stood there for some time staring at the young man, her expression slowly becoming one of disbelieve and slight anger.

"What are you doing here?", she asked breaking the silence, the upset clear in her voice.

"I… Serah wasn't home… neither was Snow…", he tried to explained while still trying breath normally, the hurt clear in his voice for not expecting the kind of reaction he got. Lightning immediately regretted being so harsh on him; if she had to be angry with anyone, it would surely be with herself. Of all the things she was still to discover about her feelings for Hope, hate surely wasn't amongst it.

They remained in silence for some moments until she spoke. "Thanks for come running, it wasn't necessary", she tried to mend it with a softer voice. He smiled at her as he lowered himself to gather up her fallen sword from the ground, and stepped closer until the point where she had to tilt her head slightly upwards to meet his eyes. Hope then passed one of his arms around her waist to shelter her sword back into its holster.

"It's alright, I'm just glad to see you're okay", he replied, sadness still in his eyes. While trapped in his awkward half embrace Lightning could feel the words he said to her last night started echoing in her head, those same thoughts that her up at night returning to torment her. Letting her eyes fall from his, she gazed at the floor beneath them and got lost in her own thoughts, knowing she wouldn't be able to run away from then this time around. Sensing her discomfort, he set her free of his grasp and stepped away far enough so that he didn't violate her personal space.

"I'll just take you home and leave, alright? I left a note for Serah, so she can take care of everything you need. You don't have to stick to me the whole day, okay?", he tried to cheer her up, only to find her facing the same spot down the ground, and began to worry. "Light?", he called out to her.

However, as Lightning moved her eyes to look at him, her previously gone vertigo got the best of her. She felt immediately lightheaded as her vision blurred and her body started falling backwards, the last thing she remembered was the sound of Hope shouting her name in despair and the vision of the blue morning sky as her back hit hard against the street floor and she lost conscious.

"Oh, how cute!"

Lightning turned at the merry voice. A mother and son had stopped in front of a transportation container at the pet shop.

"You like this kind of thing mom?"

"What? But you used to like these too. You'd always stand in front of the store crying, saying 'I want one, I want one!'"

"And how many years ago was that?"

"Not too long ago... only ten years."

Mother and son were both looking into the container. Even from a distance you could tell they got along well. The son's hair was cool silver, while his mother's was a much warmer tone. Even though their hair colors were different, their faces looked alike… They always say that boys usually look like their mothers. His height made him look about fourteen or fifteen years old. The bright orange jacket he wore made him look even more that age.

She saw them walking away together in the crowd. They had looked so happy; it made her feel warm inside thinking about them.

Thank you, Lightning thought, I hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation.

Lightning opened her eyes slowly and tried to adjust to the bright light in her apartment for the second time that day. She was lying on the couch, her officer coat neatly folded and placed at the small table in front of her, along a full glass of water and her sword. As she reached for the glass, she also noticed a bandage strapped across the cut in her hand. The girl drank the water and got up, following the slight sound of running water from her kitchen.

As expected, she found Hope mending to the mess she made last night. Both of his white sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, and the bottles of wine she cracked open the day before were nowhere to be seen.

She watched him for a while, then spoke slowly to not to frighten him. "Thank you for bringing me home". At the sound of her voice, he suddenly turned around with worried eyes and placed the plate he was washing back at the sink. He quickly closed the distance between then with his large paced steps and pulled her into a strong embrace.

"Lightning!", he cried with joy, gently crushing her small frame with his own. After a while, he pulled back a little to check condition. "Are you feeling any better?"

Although a little taken back by his ecstatic reaction and his sudden closeness, she still managed to answer his question. "I think I'm fine now." She suddenly noticed how natural it all seemed to be for him. To be close to her, to hug her, to clean her mess…. She didn't have anyone like that around her since her mother died.

Lightning looked into the eyes of the now grown Hope and remembered the first time they met, the time she was dreaming about. He has grown so much in such a short time… Thinking back at their times together, the one thing that she didn't realize was that being around him became natural to her as well. She'd lost track of how many times they won side by side, how many times they fled together; all the times they slept side by side. She wasn't like that with anyone else, not even Serah.

"Light?", Hope called for her softly. She felt so completely carried away by the moment that she could no longer reason with herself. With all of her defenses down, Lightning gazed at him and said to him what she had never said to anyone before.

"Call me Claire...", her voice so soft he might have doubted what he heard. Hope intertwined his hand in her light pink hair and said the words he always wanted to say.

"I'm in love with you… Claire Farron", his voice so soft it would even match hers. He saw her lips open into a heartfelt smile that reached her eyes, and for that moment she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Hope lowered his lips to hers until they were inches apart, looking at each other's eyes tenderly. It was at that particular moment that the front door to the apartment was opened loudly and they found themselves staring at a very restless Serah followed by a mildly concerned Snow, both equally shocked by what they were seeing.

The couples stared at each other for quite a while, until Serah and Snow broke the silence at the same time.

"… Hey, Sis..."

PS: This chapter's namesake is a line from Joe South's Hush.

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