Author's Notes: Thank you for sending in reviews and adding this to your favorites and alerts! I appreciate the kind words! Hope that you'll like this chapter!

Chapter 6: Call Nights 1-2

Call Night One

Some time later, things had settled down from what happened earlier in the night. After Hope was left alone, he sat back on his bed relaxing somewhat. He grabbed onto his phone remembering to call back as soon as the situation was over. A few seconds later, he heard the same voice on the other line. "Hope?"

Hope's eyes lowered a little tired. "Yeah it's me."

"Is everything all right? What happened?" the voice asked concerned.

Hope leaned back more against his pillows as he placed his arm behind his head. "Everything's fine now. The woman was escorted out. Two people who knew her had explained everything to me. It turns out that woman was desperate to find someone no matter what. It's sad that someone could dislike their life that much. I heard of things like this before where people would use other people just for their money. Even going as far as to have a child with them and take them for everything they have or even make up stories." He closed his eyes. "Things were never this bad in Academia." Nervously his eyes drifted toward the side. "Sorry I didn't call back sooner. I decided to grab food other than what was brought in. Just felt unsure about it." Then he noticed that there was silence on the other end. He was a little surprised. "Light? Are you still there?"

Sitting on her bed in Academia, Lightning had her arm crossed over her stomach as the other was bent up holding the phone to her ear. She had her eyes closed. Some of how angry she was showed through her expression.

Hope sat up as he started to get concerned. "Light are you okay?"

"Yeah. It's just… What kind of-?!" Her eyes traveled over to see that Faith was sleeping. Some of the harsh words she wanted to say that were in her mind was inappropriate for her to hear and didn't want her picking up on them just in case she was sleeping light enough to hear her. She breathed out and relaxed a little, telling herself in her mind that it was over now. "What kind of person would do that to another?"

Hope looked up a little. "I'm not sure."

Lightning's eyes drifted to the side. "I'm glad that you called me in time so that I could help. Maybe I should come out there and stay with you."

Nervously he smiled. While the offer was nice, he didn't want her to think that he needed to be constantly watched over because of one incident. "It's all right. Really. Everything is fine now. Besides, I've dealt with situations similar to this before where things have gotten heated. I'll be all right. Also, I don't want you to come down here angry. I would be afraid of what you would do."

She turned her head to the side upset. "The nerve of what she tried to do-."

"I know." Hope knew what she meant and hoped that he could get her to calm down.

Lightning lifted her eyes a little, thinking. "You should still have someone watch over you so nothing like this happens again."

"I'm not a child you know?" he reminded her jokingly, hoping to ease her.

Lightning still felt uneasy as her eyes drifted to the side. "You know what I mean."

He smiled a little. "I know. Security like in Academia. Really I'm fine now and one good thing came out of it."

"How could anything good come out of this?" She didn't understand what he meant by that.

"The manager of the hotel was so worried that this would ruin the reputation of the hotel and that I would bring up something against them that we got a free stay here next time if we decide to come." Lightning closed her eyes wondering if that was good thing. Since she was silent, he wondered how she was feeling. "Are you still upset?"

Her eyes drifted to the side. "No."

He smiled a little. "I'm guessing if I saw your face right now it would say differently."

Lightning didn't want him to know that he was right so she was glad that he couldn't see that he was. "Well you can't."

Suddenly, an idea crossed his mind once she said that. "Actually I can. There's a camera on my phone and there's one on yours as well. We can talk to each other that way." After explaining what to do, Hope saw her face on the screen and on Lightning's screen she saw his face. He smiled once he saw her. "Hi!"

There was a serious look on her face. Her eyes drifted toward the side. "Hey." Before he could speak, she went ahead of him. Her eyes turned back to him. "Just in case, check your room to make sure that she didn't leave anything behind."

"All right." He didn't think it was necessary, but he decided to check since he knew she wouldn't let it go. Along with him, she was able to search around his room even to places where he told her that the woman didn't go into, but Lightning insisted that he check regardless. She looked carefully and instructed him where to go. After a few minutes, Hope sat back on his bed and held his phone up so that she could see him. "It's kind of hard to see you like this. I have another idea if you're up for it?"

Lightning became curious. "What did you have in mind?"

A few minutes later, Hope was lying down on his bed as there was a computer in front of him. He had already settled in for bed with a blanket over him in just his shorts. On the screen, he could see Lightning lying on her side in front of the screen on her bed. From there, he could see her better than when he was on his phone. "That's better. It's been a while since we talked like this. It would only be when either you or I would be gone for a while."

Lightning looked at him. "Yeah like sometimes when I would go on missions and you wanted to see if I was doing okay."

Hope smiled a little remembering those times. "Yeah." Her eyes drifted to the side which he noticed. She began to get lost in thought over what happened earlier. "What is it?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, she turned her attention back to him. "Nothing."

Hope arched his eyebrow. "Oh really? The look on your face says differently. What is it? What's on your mind?"

Lightning relaxed a little. "I was thinking about what happened earlier."

Hope became interested. "You seemed pretty upset."

Lightning's eyes drifted down. "I was thinking that it was an easy offer that you could have taken, but you didn't."

At first, Hope looked surprised, but then relaxed. "Why would I? I told her that I had you."

She arched her eyebrow as she looked curious. "Yeah. Did you already mention that you had a child?"

The thought did cross his mind during the incident in hopes that it would make the woman go away. "No, but I thought about it."

Lightning stared at him calmly. "I heard you say that you were happy with me."

Hope smiled to assure her. "And I meant every word of it." He sighed as he shook his head. "And some part of you still doesn't believe me does it? Looks like I'll have to say it every day until you believe me."

Her eyes drifted toward the side. "It's not that. I believe you."

Hope stared at her wondering. "Then can I ask if you're happy with me?"

Lightning nodded. "Yeah."

A smile appeared on his lips. "That's good to hear." His eyes traveled down as he was thinking. "In fact, I wish that you were here right now. Last night I…" Then he shook his head a little. "Never mind."

Lightning became curious as to what he was going to say. "What? What happened?"

He smiled at her. "Well I… I was tempted to call you last night, but I didn't because I thought you and Faith were sleeping so I didn't want to wake you." Lightning was surprised to hear him say that. She wondered if it would have been around the same time she was tempted to call him, but could it really be that big of a coincidence? Hope's eyes drifted to the side as he smiled a little. "I guess I'm so used to having you beside me that you were even in my dreams. We were lying together and we were sleeping like there was no one else there but us. I guess that sounds kind of cheesy right?"

She became anxious to ask the question that was on her mind. "Around what time last night?"

Hope took some time to think about it. He gave her an estimate which she was surprised with it. Hope noticed her reaction. "Light?"

"That was…" Lightning lifted her eyes to him. "…actually the same time I was going to call you last night."

Once she told him, he reacted with surprise. Were they both thinking the same thing? "Really?"

She gave a faint smile. "Yes. I couldn't sleep so I thought that maybe I could… I guess we were thinking the same thing."

Hope laughed a little. "I guess you missed me too."

Her eyes turned to the side. "I wouldn't say that much."

He laughed a little more. "I see. So would it matter if I came back weeks from now or at all?"

Lightning leaned against her pillow as she crossed her arms. "Of course it would. I would think that Faith would miss you if you were gone that long."

Hope leaned in closer to his computer. "And…" he tried to persuade her into continuing.

Lightning let out a sigh as she closed her eyes. "...And I would too."

Her answer had made him smile. Soon Hope became curious. "And how is Faith doing?"

"She's doing fine," Lightning answered him.

"Does she notice that I'm gone?" he asked interested.

Lightning looked serious. She felt it was silly for him to ask that. "Of course she does. She asked about you a few times where you were."

It made him happy to hear that. He smiled as he kept staring at her. "We should talk like this more often. I'm going to be here in New Palumpolum for a few more days. Would it be all right?"

She wrapped her arms around herself. "I guess if you miss me that much, you can call everyday if it helps." Afterwards a faint smile formed at her lips.

Hope closed her eyes as he smiled. "Right." Soon he returned to looking at her. "I guess that I will speak with you tomorrow. Another early morning to get through."

Lightning nodded. "Good night."

"Good night." He smiled at her once more. "I do love you."

Her lips curved into a smile. Inside, she was glad to hear that. "I know." She pressed a button on her computer to turn off her screen. She rested easy knowing that things were all right now and that he was still sticking loyally by her side.

A grin escaped from Serah's lips after listening to the story so far. "Awe! That was really sweet." Hope let out a smile. His eyes traveled over to Lightning who just closed her eyes and sighed. She didn't want anyone awing over her. The situation back then was not an easy one to deal with either. Serah's happy look soon changed into a concerned one. Her eyes lowered. "Sorry that you both had to go through something like that. I can't believe that someone would do that either." She lifted her head and gave a small smile. "But at least you guys worked through it." Her eyes traveled over to Hope. "And you proved that you love my sister."

Hope smiled. "I hope so."

Call Night Two

"I think that we should take the offer."

Confusion grew on Lightning's face as she stared forward. "What offer?"

On her screen, Hope smiled. "The offer to stay here. It would be free."

Lightning's eyes drifted to the side as she crossed her arms. Along with what he said had brought up the memory of what happened the night before. She didn't want to be reminded of it since it still made her a little upset. "We'll see."

Hope began to think back. "You and I have been here to the New Palumpolum before."

Lightning nodded, remembering what he was talking about. "Right… We were working on a mission together and we had to go there."

A smile crossed his lips as he continued thinking back. "Do you remember that little bakery that we went to?"

She leaned her head on her hand as she looked at him. "I think so."

His smile increased as his eyes lit up more. "You should. That's how I found out that someone has a sweet tooth."

Her eyes drifted to the side as she pouted slightly. "I do not."

Hope let out a chuckle. "Are you really going to keep denying this? I can bring up several incidents." Lightning frowned as she looked back at him. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she could probably already guess what he was going to bring up. When she didn't argue with him, he continued. "We were walking in the afternoon before we had to head back to Academia and it was before we got together. We just happened to find that little shop. I offered to buy anything you wanted, but you just crossed your arms and kept saying no right away and that we had to go." As he spoke, he imitated what she did that day by crossing his arms in front of him and repeating what she said. His head tilted from side to side as he looked up, thinking. Afterwards, he smiled at her. "I still picked up something anyway. I saw the way you were eyeing my sweets. Finally when I offered, you accepted. You almost ate everything I brought before I even had the chance to." At his last sentence, a smile seeped through her lips. She held back a laugh. It made Hope smiled as well. He continued the story. "Then you went back in there and you brought more. You ate all the sweets before we left and went back to get more. I thought that I would have to stop you from buying anymore."

She kept her smile on. "Those little cakes were expensive, but good."

Hope nodded. "I know. Do you remember before Faith was born?"

Lightning became curious as to why he brought that up. "What about it?"

"As time went on, I noticed a pattern of what foods you would eat when you were pregnant and when you wanted sweets. I actually had some personally delivered from that little bakery," he recalled.

She crossed her arms in front of her. "Right. I didn't know where those came from at first. You must've had to pull a lot of strings for that to happen."

Hope smiled. "It wasn't as hard as you think. Do you even remember the flowers that came with it or did you only see the sweets?" he asked interested.

Lightning's eyes drifted to the side. "I might… remember something like that."

Hope almost wanted to laugh. He could remember what happened that day. "I'm assuming not because when I came back home I found them lying on the counter not in water. They were almost dead."

Lightning shrugged. "Fine. I guess I did forget. Well it's not like I could eat them."

Hope breathed out. "It's the thought that counts. I thought that would make you smile as well. I guess I should stick to fake flowers. When I came back home, the sweets were gone. I wanted to try one at least for myself."

"Oh come on. You didn't give me that much," she told him.

Hope laughed a little. "I gave you two boxes! Most of them had those little cakes that you liked so much when you were here. I wasn't even gone that long. I came back in a few hours from when they were supposed to be delivered."

Lightning gave a dull stare. "At that point, I probably wouldn't have shared with you anyway."

A laugh escaped from his lips. He figured that she was right with how she was back then. "You probably have a point. I would have to hide a box just for myself."

"Which I would have found anyway," she said.

Hope shook his head as he smiled. "I don't doubt that for a second." He lifted her eyes to her. "Just admit it. You love sweets. Care to deny it any further?"

Lightning smirked. "Fine if you're going to keep going on and on about it."

A grin appeared on his lips. "Come on. You have to say that you love sweets."

Lightning continued to smirk. "It's not like you can make me say it."

He mirrored her smirk. "I'll remember that when I get back. I'm giving you the chance now." Lightning shook her head as she smiled. There wasn't any way he could make her admit it. Suddenly, surprise appeared on her face as she felt something on her back. When her eyes traveled over, she saw Faith stand up behind her and lean her head against her arm. She closed her eyes as she was still somewhat tired. Hope became curious as to what Lightning was looking at. "What is it?" Lightning moved back and placed Faith in front of the screen. Hope looked surprised, but then smiled. "Hey!"

Lightning lied down with Faith sitting in front of her. Faith rubbed her eyes as she started to wake up more. Lightning looked over at Faith. "Look who decided to wake up."

Hope smiled. "Hi Faith."

Faith became curious as she looked at the screen. Lightning poked her stomach. "Say hi."

Faith grabbed onto her feet in front of her. "Hi… dad…dy."

The smile on his lips increased. "Did you miss me?" Faith continued staring at him as she put her fingers in her mouth. He asked again wondering if he could get an answer.

Lightning tickled her stomach a little. "Either tell him or he'll just keep asking."

Finally Faith spoke. "No!"

Hope looked a little surprised, but then smiled playfully. "Really? You didn't miss me at all?"

A smile formed on Faith's lips. "No."

"Does no mean yes…?" Hope asked. A grin crossed over Faith's lips. She poked her finger on the screen a few times.

Lightning looked at her. She decided to help her along. "Why don't you tell him what you said today?"

Hope became interested. "What did you say?"

Faith turned her attention to Lightning who smiled a little. "You were asking for him and you said…?" Still there was no response so Lightning helped her continue. "You said that you really miss…."

Faith kept her fingers in her mouth as she kept her eyes to her mother. "I m-m-miss my…daddy."

Hope smiled along with Lightning. Both of them were happy that she was able to say that. Hope leaned in toward his computer closer. "So what did you get to do?" Mostly awake, Faith continued to speak as best she could. As she was talking, Hope couldn't help but smile. Lightning watched as Faith spoke as well. A smile curved at her lips. As time had continued to pass, Faith began to get tired as she was talking and eventually fell asleep in front of Lightning who was she was lying on her side. She looked down at Faith. Faith was lying on her side turned toward Lightning as her head leaned a little against Lightning's chest. Lightning's hand caressed her back soothingly. "She tired herself out. Hmm… I should probably let her talk more so she can put herself to sleep."

Hope was lying on his stomach with his arms crossed in front of him. He gave a tired smile. "Yeah. It's amazing. She used to be smaller when she was baby, but now she's growing and getting taller."

Lightning stared down at Faith. "Yeah."

Hope closed his eyes for a few seconds. "I should go and let you guys get some sleep."

"All right." Then Lightning's eyes drifted down as a thought crossed her mind.

Hope noticed the change in her facial expression. "What?"

She lifted her eyes to him. "What?"

There was a curious look on his face. "Is there something on your mind?"

Slightly Lightning shook her head. "It's nothing. Good night."

Thank you for reading! I'll be back to update as soon as I can!