Hello, readers.

So, first of all, I guess I do own an apology to you all, Yuffentine did get the best of me, after all. I really hope it turned out to be a good piece, even though there's no literal Hopurai in it. Sorry about that as well, but I really needed something to tear off the rust. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I would never steal a dime from Square. Quite on the contrary, if we feed them enough money they might even be able to do a remake from the whole Final Fantasy VII Compilation.

Gospeed.~

Chapter 5 ~ Keep Under Cover

It was a rather late hour in the morning when Lightning woke up that day. She opened her eyes to the bright sunlight that now invaded her room and cast a look out the window, the bright day almost inviting her in; certainly one of her sister's favorite kind. The firework festival would be held that night, and it would surely be one to remember. Eventually she got up and stretched her body, taking up the day's invitation of joining the colorful parade. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad; it was too of a pretty day for anything actually disastrous to happen. There was no use running now, after all. Lightning would take a bath and grant her sister's wish of showing up early for a change. She was going to have to deal with Hope sooner or later, so she might make at least someone happy along the way.

Once in the bathroom, Lightning opened the cabinet and glanced at the extra bottle of aspirin that Hope had left in her kitchen table the last time she had seen him, probably in case she decided to drown herself in alcoholic drinks all over again. She smiled lightly to herself and got in the shower, her thoughts drifting back to a familiar someone almost in instinct.

It had been only two days since she had last seen Hope, but given the unusual events of the week that preceded it, it already felt a bit too much to her. She found herself actually thanking the heavens for the festival to be held that night. Even with all the current lack of order in their relationship, she had grown used to his presence beside her and was longing to see him again, even if in such a fateful situation.

She knew their relationship would change that day, and, with it, her entire life. Whatever the answer she would give him, it would never be the same; there would always be a 'what if?'. He would never again be that young Hope she looked after, but, perhaps, he stopped being that Hope when he came in knock at her door and kissed her in the middle of the night.

Lightning had dreamed about him almost every night ever since. She would dream of the kisses he gave her and of the ones he didn't, and, in her dreams, he would always call her Claire. One night she dreamed that they were making love and it felt so strangely comforting, almost natural. When she woke up, she instinctively turned to the side where Hope had been in her dream and reached out for him, only to grasp the air.

Even her comrades at the Corps were starting to notice it. Lightning would always lose her gaze at a distance, and, if they didn't know her better, they could almost say she was in love, bonded, head over heels. Almost. Since most of her work had been replaced by standing guard in some of the most peaceful areas around the city, thanks to her lieutenant, she usually wondered about Hope during daytime as well. She did it automatic now days; whenever her mind was at ease, her thoughts would drift back to him. 'Certainly because of the whole situation', she convinces herself every time. And some of those times, she almost falls for it.

She convinced herself that what she feels for the boy is a deep affection from their time together, and that they know each other so simply because of their traveling days. Her sister said to her once, a couple of years ago, that they would move with incredible easiness around each other, like if he got passed through the walls that she subconsciously built around herself to avoid others, although it would most likely be her sister habit of dreaming up things in real life. But still, each time his lips touched hers, it felt like a totally different Hope; she would never feel so weak, and yet so protected.

Lightning knew that if Serah hadn't storm right through her door at that moment, she would have probably given away to her feelings. It had been the first time she had told her name to anyone, and it was such a personal part of her… She couldn't understand. She never understood the way she acted around Hope, since the very first time she met him. He did something to her; almost as if he caught her off guard every time, making her not think, just act. It went unnoticed at first, and as time went by she had grown far too attached to the silver haired kid.

Still, something inside her simply wouldn't let her throw herself in his arms. She had watched him grow up for five years, until he reached his 19 years old. He was such a dear friend, almost like family to her... However, what Lightning felt for Hope was nothing like what she felt for Serah, and she knew it. It's deep and strong and passionate, and it shocks her to her core; she can feel it in his kisses and in her dreams. But there was still something in between… It's almost as if she fears for him, afraid of hurting him in some way… She was in the military, after all; anything could happen.

She sighed with exasperation. 'Going around in circles is sure going to help in the current situation', she thought annoyed. Lightning got out of the shower and grabbed a towel along the path, making her way to her room to get dressed. She put on her usual light brown turtleneck, although, unlike her uniform, she left it unzipped just above her shoulder blades and not just below her navel. She also dressed up in a pair of khaki shorts and put on her boots. After throwing herself a look over the mirror, she decided she was decent fair enough and left for Serah's place, knowing she probably shouldn't take too long if she was hoping for at least some peace from her sister.

Now, Sergeant Lightning Farron was never one to be intimidated. She had created a military career out of thin air, and earned enough money for both Serah and herself while barely out of her teens yet. Never had anything, or anyone, stopped her from reaching her goal. She was a living and breathing army of one, and there was nothing she couldn't accomplish. With the exception, perhaps, of ringing the doorbell in her sister's house.

Lightning was probably standing there for about five minutes, now. At some point she even pointed her finger at the doorbell, and an outsider might have even mistaken her for someone who was testing his telekinesis powers to open the poor door. Her expression was one of pure focus, as if gathering the courage to face the consequences of her five year long relationship with Hope.

While starting to brood over her situation with Hope, her attention was caught when the door facing her opened to reveal a tall man with light blond hair and a rather worried look. Surely, whatever issues Snow had with his wife's older sister had most certainly been solved during their journey to save Serah, but that didn't mean at all that the so called hero didn't still fear for the worst whenever the tough soldier was around. That particular encounter was no different.

"Um… Hey, sis!" he started and shot his left hand ridiculously up in the air to greet her. He didn't have his usual coat or his bandana on and was wearing a sleeveless white t-shirt and really large shorts.

Lightning, however, didn't answer and could only glare at Snow's goofy smile, immediately hating herself for being caught in such a humiliating scene. That only helped to frighten Snow further, who, subconsciously, began shifting his weight from one foot to another.

"So, uh… It was getting late and you weren't answering the phone, so Serah sent me to pick you up… I mean, before! Now you're here and all, right….. So... was 'up, Sis?" he managed to say without wandering in circles too much. Lightning shot him a glance before going up the small shot of stairs, notifying the fact that she was not his sister probably for the millionth time.

She entered the house only to find Serah in the kitchen with a knife in her left hand and a half cut potato in her right one, a scene she actually found herself missing a lot after her sister got married. They greeted with a warm hug before her sister mentioned for her to sit at one of the tall wooden stools lined up behind the counter.

It was like the events a couple of days ago had never even happened. Lightning knew Serah wouldn't ask or at least hint at it if she wasn't ready to talk about it. And at that particular time, she wasn't. Asking for Hope, however, was the very first thing she did.

"He went to the market for us, to grab a few things for dinner. I didn't really know if could send him to your place to fetch you up, so asked Snow instead. He's grown into a fine boy, hasn't he?"

Lightning was sure she could hear the smile on her sister's voice, even though she was facing her back. "He sure is… ", her voice drifted off. She sighed and confessed to her sister bluntly: "He kissed me."

Serah giggled at this. "I know, Claire. I saw it, remember?"

"Of course, I don't think I'll be able to forget." she said dramatically.

"Aw, come on! You used to do it all the time when we were younger! It's payback!"

Lightning grunted and let out a half smile, the two falling into a comfortable silence within a short time.

"I told him my name, Serah…" she said after a while. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Well," her sister started with another one of her smiles, "have you ever considered the possibility that you might actually be in love?"

Lightning stopped at this question. She had thought about it, of course. It was all of she could think of, to begin with. But no matter how many times she got over with it in her mind, she was never able to sort it out. Every morning when she would wake up and her dreams would merge with reality for a brief second, the answer was yes, she was madly in love with Hope Estheim. She would do anything for him and wanted nothing more than to spend all of her days with him. But as soon as her mind slowly began working again the idea would seen more and more ridiculous until the point where she could no longer remember what made her feel like that in the first place.

She roamed her thoughts for a while and she finally opened her mouth to explain her twisted feelings to her sister, the very origin of her feelings was standing at the door with a couple of paper bags in his hands, the expression on his face resembling very much Lightning's own when Snow found her outside.

"Claire… What are you doing here?"

PS: Sorry for the cliff-hanger but if I actually dragged out all the way it should have been, I would have never posted it, really.

Also, on a side note, I could really use a beta for spell-checking. I'm all open to volunteers!

- review get's cookie.