"This is so awesome!" laughed Hope, screaming into the wind, and gasping as it took his breath away.

Lightning grinned lopsidedly, cranking up the stereo in the luxury rental, giving it more gas. Directions to her little sister's home had arrived on her phone shortly after they'd last spoke, but Lightning decided that she and Hope should take a little detour.

The happy couple's homestead was about forty minutes north of Leamonde. The detour, both pretty and distracting in equal measure, would add another thirty minutes at least to their arrival time, but Lightning wasn't concerned.

Thankfully, no one met them at the depot. She half expected banners and smiles and hugs. Totally not her style, so she was glad that Serah dispensed with the welcoming party.

While waiting for their luggage, her young travel companion had obviously been instructed to call for a ride, but Lightning had other plans. Snapping the phone out of Hope's hand before the call even connected, she turned it off and pocketed the piece of plastic.

That was when she had formulated her plan.

"They don't have service at the house, remember? I'll just have to rent a vehicle."

Sidling up to the counter, she inquired with the attendant what type of rentals they had. Rattling off a bunch of the brand new models they had available, Lightning watched Hope's telling expression. It didn't take an expert to tell that he was interested in quite a few of them, so when the bubbly girl behind the counter fell silent, Lightning left the choice up to Hope.

Once he was finished sputtering, the question being unexpected, she discovered that he was very fond of convertibles.

And that's what Lightning chose.

She suspected that Hope had no idea where they were, and he didn't seem to care. She enjoyed watching him carefree as they meandered the countryside, but eventually, when they came to the top of a hill, Lightning rolled to a stop.

Below was a lush green valley, road winding down into it, picturesque and wild; like it was a place time had forgot. Most of Pulse looked like that, still having been underdeveloped in spite of its new resident's best attempts.

And quite a ways down the road was a house; large enough to notice it from such a distance. It must have been huge close up.

She was reminded of a phone call Serah had made to her some time ago. In that high pitched voice of hers, Serah sung Snow's praises; how he'd built them a house, how beautiful it was, and how it was perfect – except for the problems with reception – but otherwise a wonderful place to make memories for the rest of their lives.

She was lucky that she never answered her phone, because Lightning almost didn't even make it through the sickeningly happy voice message.

As far as she was concerned, Serah already had a home.

Somewhere perfect and beautiful already furnished with memories.

Even after all the time that passed, she still felt betrayed by, what she knew was, a natural progression of life. Natural or not, that didn't make it sting any less.

Lightning's hands gripped the steering wheel.

She had wondered, from time to time when she was feeling weak, if she had been too hard on her little sister. Then she remembered that Serah was an adult and could make whatever decisions she wanted; and if she wanted to leave, then it was her right and privilege. Lightning didn't have any say anymore in Serah's life, and the youngest Farron had made that completely clear.

No matter how much Lightning wanted to stop the flow of time, it marched on without a seconds hesitation, leaving behind those who couldn't move with it.

Just like Serah moved on.

And left her behind.

And suddenly, Lightning was overcome with the urge to kick Hope out of the car, turn it around and head back to Cocoon.

"Light?"

She couldn't look at him, not when she felt like such a coward, so she stared at her hands.

"What?"

"Uh... that's it down there, isn't it?" he asked carefully.

"Mmhm."

The great Captain Lightning Farron was hesitant to step onto turf that wasn't her own, or even neutral. Snow, even after all this time, still felt like the enemy.

He'd taken away everything Lightning had left; even if Serah pleaded her case because she wanted to go, Lightning would never be able to see it any other way.

She squeezed the wheel again, knuckles white, unable to bring herself to put the vehicle in gear and continue down the road.

A warm, slim hand slid over hers, and she breathed again, looking over at the hand's owner.

Hope's face was concerned, but soft.

He knew. Of course he knew. He was looking straight through her with those green eyes of his.

It wasn't a secret; everyone knew how she felt about her little sister and Snow, but maybe she hadn't ever given Hope enough credit because he had been young back then. Lightning took a shine to him, and he to her, even when she was unable to truly accept anyone else in their little group of ex-l'cie.

So who better to wrangle her than the little boy she found she could not hide her heart from.

Lightning berated herself for not being able to do just that. It wasn't fair to burden him with things he was too young for.

Then again, she needed to remember that he wasn't the kid he used to be.

He might have grown up before she was really ready for it, but that didn't change how dear to her the young man was.

And there were very few that were.

Twisting her wrist to give his hand a fond squeeze in her own, she took a deep breath as she nodded. It was the first time in a long time that she felt someone's presence bolster her.

"Let's go."

"Okay." he agreed.

"So, Hope." started Snow.

Everyone looked up from their dinner.

It was ridiculous; sitting in the same room, silent, pushing bland food around her plate, pretending she wanted to be there. She really wasn't looking forward to having to eat Serah's cooking either; perhaps she'd be able to feign illness halfway through the week and go home early.

"I heard you've been kicking butt in the science department at the University."

Lightning's eyes shifted to Hope's embarrassed expression. They hadn't talked much about Hope's life on the way down to Pulse, sticking mostly to neutral topics, but Lightning had been curious about how he'd been over the last while. Usually when there was an image change, a change in attitude went along with it.

"Yeah!" Serah chimed in, speaking around a mouthful of food. Taking a sip of water to delicately swallow it down, she continued. "Do you have a girlfriend yet?"

Hope's eyes darted to Lightning's face, and her heart went out to him. His already pinked cheeks flushed scarlet at the question.

"Uh, well. I don't know about all that." he murmured, shifting his gaze away from the scrutiny.

"What do you mean you 'don't know about all that'?" Snow prodded.

"The girls must like your new look. You're handsome, all fresh-faced and well-dressed." Serah added irritatingly.

"The last time we saw you, I could have sworn you were wearing eyeliner!" laughed Snow until he winced, and Serah tucked her elbow back into her side.

Those broadening shoulders of his slumped, head dipping toward his lap. He'd been rather quiet since they arrived at the homestead, and Lightning was a little curious as to why exactly.

"Ugh. Give the kid a break." she groused, feeling a little protective of the boy.

And once again the room was shrouded in silence; everyone shifting in their seats without further comment.

Snow's fork scraped obnoxiously on his plate as he cut his meat, and Lightning thought she might jump over the table and slam his head into it.

They'd only just arrived a few hours ago, but she was already contemplating how to get away with murder.

But instead of acting on her illegal desires, she firmly speared a piece of broccoli to stick in her mouth.

Uncharacteristically surprised, and delightfully distracted for a moment, Lightning found the vegetable was cooked to perfection: crispy and nicely seasoned.

Serah's cooking was barely even edible as she remembered it, let alone good.

She wasn't sure her appreciation of the meal wasn't just because she was no longer subjected to camp food and rations that required that only water be added, but the home cooking was a satisfying change.

Adding to her sudden trickle of good mood, Snow apologized to Hope, explaining that he was only teasing. The combination of Hope's sheepish smile and the tasty meal was enough for her to turn her interest away from the awkward conversation that followed, but she made sure to listen for queues that her little sister and her stupid boyfriend were picking on Hope, and before she knew it, her plate was clean.

Everyone else appeared to be finished as well, and as Serah rose to collect plates, Snow begged her to sit. Taking up the task himself, Lightning tracked his movements with her eyes. He collected her plate, keeping his distance from the elder sister, and shuffled off into the kitchen.

A few seconds later, he came out with a tray of sweet smelling, decadent looking desserts.

With a slight raise of her eyebrow, she figured that she could, at least, eat – and drink – her way into a coma for the week.