So I meant the end of this weekend, not last, heh heh... sorry.
Disclaimer: I don't own much, and the rights to FF XIII certainly aren't mine.
"I'm going out to look for her."
"Wh-what!?" Under normal circumstances the exclamation might have been a sarcastic rebuttal, but Serah was honestly befuddled.
"I'm going to look for Lightning. I. . . I can't just sit here anymore, hoping she'll come back." He wasn't bluffing, if the pack on his back had anything to say.
"Hope, don't be silly. What good is that going to do? Pulse is huge, how do you expect to find one person out there. You don't even know where to start!"
"They were only going out for a perimeter check. They can't be further than a mile or two from here."
"And do you know what could be roaming within a 'mile or two' of Pulse land!? Please Hope, things are bad enough. I don't need you marching out there too."
"I've dealt with Gran Pulse beasts before!"
"Yeah, when you had your l'cie powers, and your magic."
"I can still cast magics, you've seen me!" The teenager stubbornly insisted.
"Yeah, and you know they're nowhere near what they used to be. Face it Hope, without those powers, you're useless!" Serah spat back. The defiance melted off Hope's face at that. Hurt and shock took its place. She might have felt bad, had the panic and pain and adrenaline not been coursing through her. "You can't do a damn thing but get your self killed too."
Neither moved for a minute, until Hope threw his pack into a corner and stomped off to sulk. "She's not dead." Was all he muttered before carrying on up the stairs.
Serah would have liked to believe that, but experience told her it was wrong. Dad had died, Mom had died, Snow had died. What made this any different. Lightning was strong, stronger than most, but she wasn't immortal. No one knew that better than her. How many nights had her sister come home covered in scrapes and bruises. How many times had she stumbled through the front door, and pushed her away on the way to the medicine cabinet.
But she always came home. Battered and sometimes broken, but she was always there. Serah recalled staying up all night on occasion, only to pass out with no sign of her dutiful blood. Yet when she woke, Lightning had been there, standing over a cup of coffee in the kitchen, or still sleeping off a long night in bed, but she had been there. Only this time she wasn't.
'I shouldn't have said those things.' It was amazing how many terrible thoughts could cross your mind in one day, or half a day. The right circumstances she supposed. 'Is that all it takes? One wrong word to set me off?'
Yes. At this moment, all it took was one wrong word. Though calling the boy useless might have been a tad harsh. She had panicked though. Serah had no doubt he would have marched off into the wild to hunt down his hero. If he had picked up anything from the soldier, it was her stubborn determination. The slight to his abilities was cruel, but it had served its purpose. Hope was up in his room, where he should be. Not embarking on a suicide mission.
'He's all I have now. I have to keep him safe.' After their moment that morning, she had made up her mind. It fell to her to keep him safe now. He had no where else to go, no one else to turn to. Neither did she. Sazh had Dajh and his pilot's job. Amodar was off at the established GC HQ, spending every spare moment planning out the continuing effort to settle the Cocoon refugees. Barely a year had gone by, but finding homes for millions of survivors was every bit as involved as it sounds.
No, Lightning had brought him in, to make sure the teen had a safe home, perhaps not always a stable one, but he had always been among friends here. Those cowards out there might pick on a fifteen year old boy, but a towering, six-foot plus, mountain of a man and a trained military unit certainly made them rethink.
'Not that that matters now. I'm all he has to shield him, and I'm probably less threatening than he is.' Serah looked to the mirror on the wall and laughed despite herself. 'Both of us together might be able to scare a cat off.' A sudden thump pounded on the floor. She would have to go apologize sooner or later.
Bang! The knife slammed into the ground. Hope glared at where it had bounced and landed, huffing. 'Face it Hope, without those powers, you're useless!' The words had been a slap across the face. They didn't have an extended amount of interaction, but Serah had always been accommodating to him. The last thing he expected from her mouth was the cold slight. The worst part about it though, was the fact that it was true.
Since he lost the majority of his magic abilities, it felt like half of him had fled over night. Hope had never been big for his age, and privileged and sheltered besides. All things considered, he made an easy target for his old school's bullies. His magic had made him feel stronger, no, it had made him stronger. High school brutes were nothing compared to a King Behemoth. Now he was back to being the scrawny useless twerp from before.
'How can I protect her, when I can't even protect myself?' The promise had been so easy at the time. Words, however, mean little without the will to back them up. Hope scooped up the knife. Lightning had sent it to him on his fifteenth. He remembered how happy it had made him. Even though the transportation had been down, and his friends hadn't been able to make the trip out to New Polum, just receiving their gifts had been enough. They might have laughed, or thought him silly, but some part of Hope had been truly afraid that they would forget him after a time. The gifts they had sent reassured him they thought about him every bit as much as he did them.
He didn't bother responding to the soft knock on the door. He knew it was Serah, it had to be. Who else was left? 'No one, that's who.'
"Hope? May I come in?" The question was almost pleading. He ignored that too. "Please, I. . . I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, that you're. . . what I said." 'That I'm useless you mean.'
"Go away." 'Lightning wouldn't call me useless.' That wasn't true though, was it? She never said it, no. But she didn't let him go out on scouts with her, even the easy ones. She didn't let him join in the fights when the beasts grew bold enough to harass the villagers. She didn't even trust him to relay messages. Working the radio wasn't rocket science, he could have handled it.
After a bit of fumbling from the door knob, he heard the lock click. He had forgotten all the doors came with a key. "I said go away." Serah at least had the decency to look shamed.
"I'm sorry." She repeated.
"For what?" Hope was in no mood to be accommodating.
"For barging in. . . and, the useless thing." Regret colored her features. Hope took a minute to respond
". . . You were right."
"What?" To her credit she looked honestly confused. Then again, Serah's mind had been as apt to wander as his. Perhaps she really didn't know what he meant.
"I mean I am useless."
"Oh Hope, no you're not, I-"
"No, it's true. Without my magic, I'm no use to Lightning. Or you, or Sazh or anyone!" The confession made him feel somewhat better. Serah didn't try to give him another empty reassurance, so he pushed on. "Back when we were l'cie, in Palumpolum, I made a promise to her. . . to Light." When she ran her fingers through the tangled platinum locks, he allowed himself a shiver. "I promised I would watch out for her too. That I would protect her, like she protected me. But I didn't. . . and now she's out there. . ." Any thing more he might have said was cut short by the tightness in his throat.
"Hey, this isn't your fault." Serah continued to stroke the boy's hair as he sniffled, trying to hide from her, in her own shirt. She couldn't help the small smile at the sight. It was easy to forget how young he was sometimes. He had seen so much in his short time, it had aged him, mentally at least. The childish act was so contrary to his usual behavior. "You did protect her, y'know? You've done a lot for her Hope. More than you know I think."
"R-Really?" She smiled again at him, and gave a slight nod.
"Of course. I know you didn't know her before all of this, but I swear, I haven't seen her so happy around anyone in ages!" The look in his eyes was borderline pleading. "You're a kind soul Hope, anyone can see that. Claire's no different. She's not in the habit of picking up strays after all." Even the teen couldn't fight the smile from that.
"I'm not some stray." He pouted playfully.
"No, that you aren't."
". . Claire." A sudden exhaustion took hold of him, and he laid his head down in the younger Farron's lap.
'He really is sweet.' Serah watched him nod off, offering what comfort she could. He had helped her this morning after all, she could at least return the favor. 'And cute.' She giggled at herself, and the peaceful look spreading across Hope's face.
Eventually the groggy heat and the sleeping boy began their work on her as well. Her eyelids drooped and a few times she had snapped her eyes open and looked over at the clock to find twenty or more minutes had gone by. Realizing she wasn't going to make it to her own bed, without waking Hope anyways, she settled back on the pillows of the small twin mattress, and started to nod off.
The teen squirming next to her barely caught her attention as she drifted off to an afternoon nap. Her last thoughts before the darkness took her weren't about her missing husband or sister this time though. Instead, she dreamed of warm smiles, and soft silver hair.
So yeah, I didn't get it out last weekend, and I started real late last night so I ended up saving until this evening, but in the end I did get it out. I felt like the last two chapters were losing focus a little though, it is suppose to show a Light x Hope after all, but I'm working on sharpening my skills. Instead, we have the beginnings of the Serah x Hope workings. But my ANs aren't why anyone is here so no more bumbling through this. Suffice it to say I'm trying to make this readable, so hopefully I can improve from here on. Til next time then!
