So, here's chappie 2. In my opinion, we're not quite there yet with NoelxHope becoming official in this story, but it's definitely coming.

Please review, and I don't own characters or game.

"Serah, you can take the guest room over there and Noel can take mine." Hope gestured for Serah to follow him down a short corridor, leading her and Mog to what had once been his deceased father's habitat. Noel quickly closed his mouth when they disappeared out of sight, having intended to argue for the couch, where he assumed the house owner had planned to spend the night on.

He sighed and tapped his foot against the hundreds of years old hardwood floor. The living room was quite large, the sparse furnishing adding to that effect. A couch, a matching armchair standing beside and a TV were most of it. A thick layer of dust was visible under the couch and in the corners, indicating that Hope had just cleaned up the worst of the filth that had gathered during the 387 years it had stood empty.

"So, Noel…" Noel looked up to see that Hope had returned, Serah presumably familiar with her temporary residence, "Over here." But before the older man could guide the youth to his quarters, Noel spoke up.

"Let me take the couch."

"What?" Hope chuckled, and turned the doorknob, "Noel, you and Serah are my guests. I wouldn't be a very polite host if I let you sleep on the couch now would I?

"But…" Noel tried.

"I may not be blessed by the goddess, but I can stand to sleep on the sofa for a few days."

The brunette admitted defeat and followed the Academy advisor into his room. It was pitch black and Noel blinked a few times before a click was heard and the room was flooded with light, coming from an elegant ceiling lamp. A queen sized bed filled out most of space, closet and desk pushed to the walls.

"Now, do I have to change the sheets or are you okay with them as they are?" Hope asked.

"Nah, that's okay. Only staying for a few days, no need for that."

"Okay then." Hope turned to leave the room, "Well, let me know if you need anything."

He closed the door behind him with a silent "goodnight". Noel stood there for a while and listened to his host's fading footsteps before walking over to the bed and sitting down. It was very soft, though not to the point it would cause back pain. A picture had been placed on the simple nightstand. Within the sleek silver-frame a photo of the ex- l'Cie gang rested. The hunter picked it up to look at it.

A much younger Hope stood at the far left, almost disappearing into the frame and smile looking empty. Over his shoulders a large arm rested and its owner had a large grin plastered on his face, other arm around Serah's waist. Her timid smile didn't reach her eyes. Beside her stood a tall dark-skinned man Noel didn't recognize, but figured it had to be Sazh, whom he had heard of from Serah and Snow a few times. On his shoulders a happy boy sat, with the same hairdo as what had to be his father. A chocobo chick was peaking up from his afro, at which Noel couldn't suppress his chuckle at. In the background the crystallized Cocoon towered, shining radiantly from the sun's rays.

A date had been scribbled down at the lower left corner. The picture had been taken just a month after the catastrophe. Serah and Hope's eyes were both distant, sorrow visible in their features.

Lightning's disappearance had hit them hard, harder than the others. Then there was the loss of Fang and Vanille to take into account too.

Noel carefully placed the frozen memory back and stretched on the bed. He couldn't imagine how life had been the first months- years had been on Gran Pulse.

He sighed and burrowed his face into the pillow. Hope's scent invaded his nostrils, making him feel a little better. He caught himself wishing the other man was lying beside him before sleep took a hold of him.

Noel made sure Hope took it slow while he escorted the injured boy through what he had learned was the Archylte Steppes.

"You leave the fighting to me, okay?" he requested.

Hope gave out a quiet snort, earning a bewildered look from the warrior. "It's just… you really reminded me of someone", he quickly answered, "Someone who tries to protect everyone, even if it means taking stupid risks."

Noel didn't have to ask to figure out who that was. He caught sight of some stray flan oozing along the ground a short distance away and changed their path a little to avoid an encounter. Hope had wanted to return to the place he had been attacked, thinking he might find his lost communication device around there.

"So, how long was I out anyway?" he asked, finding that the sun had ventured quite far from its place it had been when he had bumped into that pack of Gorgonopsids. He assumed Snow had to be quite worried about him by now.

Noel stroked his chin and thought of it for a moment. "About… two, three hours I guess?" He watched as Hope brought a palm to his forehead.

"Ugh, they're gonna be so mad", he muttered and looked at his scratched-up shirt, sticking a finger through the largest hole. "He'll never let me wander out on my own anymore after this."

The brunette could see the perks with that, not having the opinion that letting a small teen out in the wilderness alone was a good idea. "Why were you out here in the first place anyway?"

Hope sighed heavily and let his arms fall to his sides, looking a bit gloomy as he thought of an answer. "Well… everything's still so… messy, you know? I mean, we've barely got the foundations for the towns laid and- people are still blaming us- the l'Cie for what happened. And, and a lot of people died in the fall." He took a long shaky breath, throat feeling thick. "I guess… I just need some time alone is all."

Noel couldn't come up with a suitable response, not sure if Hope even expected one. He patted the boy's slim shoulder a few times before mumbling, "I'm sure things will work out alright."

The silverette barely reacted, eyes distant and sorrow etched on his soft face. The rest of the walk passed in silence.

"Well, here we are", Noel informed his travel Gorgonopsid corpses were still decorating the area and Hope felt his stomach churn a little at the sight. His eyes left the dead bodies and searched the ground for the small cell phone-like device. He roughly described its appearance to Noel before taking off, making sure not to venture too far from the other.

Sapphire eyes searched the ground, looking for the black device Hope was missing. Noel occasionally lifted his eyes to see if the boy was still there, in a reasonable distance away.

"I found it!" Hope called out, holding a black gadget in his hand. Noel quickly jogged up to him as the Cocoon native flipped open the device and grimaced at the small screen that appeared.

"What is it?"

Hope pressed a few buttons and hastily answered, "Seventeen missed calls... this does not bode well for me."

The hunter stood still and kept quiet as Hope brought the device close to his ear. It took just a few seconds for a very upset and a very loudSnow to answer. The "HOPE!" that was heard caused the person it was directed at to wince and pull the comm. away from his ear a few centimeters.

"Areyouokay!? Youreallyscaredustherekiddo!"

Noel could with no trouble hear the conversation and held back a smirk when the younger boy rolled his eyes.

"Snow, I'm alright. Got attacked by a few Gorgonopsids." When he heard the gasp Hope hurried to continue, "But I'm okay, a man named Noel helped me out."

"Really? Well, give him my thanks but you're getting your ass back here, Hope. Now."

"Okay. It should take me a half hour."

The call ended with an order to be careful from Snow and Hope pocketed the small device with a quiet click. He looked up at Noel, biting the inside of his cheek. "Well, thanks for your help, Noel. I'm sorry for all the trouble. I guess I should be going now-"

"No", Noel interrupted.

"What?"

"I mean, you're not going alone", he said firmly. Hope's eyes widened.

"But, I-", he tried but the other wouldn't budge.

Noel smiled and clasped his hand down on his shoulder, "Sorry, you're stuck with me for now. What kind of responsible adult would I be if I just let you wander on your own?"

Hope gave a small pout, shook the hand off and began to walk toward New Bodhum, quietly sighing when he heard footsteps behind him. "You know, I did manage to get here on my own, didn't I?"

Noel increased his pace a little to walk beside him, "Yeah, and then what happened?"

Hope stuck his tongue out and lightly shoved the older male in the side. "Fair enough."

So thirsty… Noel's mouth tasted awful when he was awakened by his bodily demands. He blinked a few times, room almost coal-black. A small line of light was coming from under the door. The hunter kept still for a few moments, hearing the shuffle of feet from behind it, before slowly standing up, body protesting at his movements. He began to make his way over to the door and reached for the knob, carefully twisting it. A quick pull later and he was forced to shut his eyes when light invaded his sight.

"Noel?" The shuffling had stopped and the hunter opened his eyes again to see the director standing a short distance from him, eyebrows raised and surprise lining his face. He was still dressed in his Academy uniform, only tool belt and tie missing. Behind him, on the coffee table, a small computer tablet was sat, along with several files spread around. "What is it?"

"I was gonna get some water", the brunette muttered. He casted a quick glance at the traditional wall-mounted clock. Three in the morning.

"Oh, let me get that for you." Hope dropped the file on the table and picked up an empty cup standing on the armrest to refill with coffee, gloved hands shaking just the slightest from sleep deprivation and too much caffeine. Before turning to leave the room, his eyes met Noel's. The other noticed the dark bags under the teal orbs and quietly wondered why the elder had not gone to sleep yet.

Listening closely to the sound of a faucet running, Noel made his way over to the small table and quickly cast a glance at the scattered papers. A few was showing hastily sketched images of the new Cocoon and time gates with a lot of notes scribbled down. His gaze fell on a very detailed drawing of the time gate in New Bodhum. It looked more like a painting, with an artistic tone to it; soft shading and details like flowers and clouds made it seem like it wasn't a research note, and especially not when he noticed the small sentence at the bottom. "Why not me?"

He looked up when he heard the clearing of a throat and saw Hope standing in the doorway, expression completely neutral. In his hands he was holding a glass of water and a cup of black beverage. He eliminated the distance between the two in a few quick steps, almost spilling some liquid on the floor and held out his right arm. Noel took the glass he was offered and took a few sips while taking a few steps backwards when the silverette began to scramble his papers together after putting the cup down.

"Sorry…" said the younger male and began to leave for his temporary bedroom when the other spoke up.

"Noel."

The man it was directed at turned and found Hope slumped on the couch, hands grasping at the painting. Noel could now see that the paper was very old. Well-kept, but the paper was buckled and a bit yellowed. "Hope?"

The scientist drew a deep breath and threw the paper on the table. He opened his mouth to say something. But no words came and he picked up his coffee mug.

"Goodnight, Noel."

The brunette lingered in the door frame for a moment, part of him thinking the other would speak up. But when Hope sipped the lukewarm coffee and began typing on his tablet Noel left the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

As they neared it, the crystallized Cocoon became larger on the horizon, afternoon sun making it shimmer and sparkle in a spectacular manner. Noel couldn't tear his eyes away. It was almost as beautiful as it was during night and just like Serah had, Hope found the hunter's admiration of it a bit odd.

"You're really from Pulse?" he asked after a few minutes, "I mean, you seem like you've never seen Cocoon before in your life."

The farseer almost chuckled at the déjà vu. "Well, I just think that's a sight you can't really get used to."

Hope nodded in agreement, "It is pretty." He sighed and looked up at it with longing in his eyes, wanting to free his friends that were trapped in the crystal. "I just wish… I was the one stuck in there…"

"Why?" the hunter asked immediately, unease settling in his gut.

The younger boy shook his head when tears threatened to fill his eyes. "I should have been the one to die… the others… don't need me." His voice thickened when a lump formed in his throat but he still continued. "Useless… can't save anyone. Always a burden…"

Noel quickly walked in front of the silverette and took a firm hold of his shoulders. "Stop. None of those things are true."

The shorter boy wiped his sleeve over his eyes. He looked up into the other's crystal blue eyes and blinked, eyelashes wetting, giving him an outright heartbreaking appearance. "W-well, how d-do you figure? J-just met me… and you've already saved my life."

"And I certainly don't regret it!" Noel said loudly, holding back the urge to shake the despairing boy, "Never think that, that you're not worth anything, because you are. Everyone is."

Aqua-colored eyes widened when the words reached the Hope's ears and a moment later strong arms had pulled him into a tight embrace. He froze and was quiet for a few moments, the shock of being hugged by a stranger still paralyzing him. But he relaxed into the hug when Noel began to stroke his hair.

Btw, how is my English here?