Chapter 7
Hope woke up from a loud and familiar voice behind him and just for a moment he couldn't believe to see the sky above him.
The voice he heard was definetly Snows voice who said that they will be back soon, whoever was meant with that.
He slowly sat up to examine where he was, he saw a small amount of trees around him and the ground consisted of hard and dry rocks.
Where am I? It was just one of many questions he wanted to ask, but another familiar voice took him out of his thoughts
,,Welcome back kid" It was Fang, she stood behind him and looked down to him
,,Äh, hey Fang, where are we here?"
,,We are on a road near the Teajin tower, we have to get through it in order to get to Oerba"
,,Seems like I missed something, the last thing I remember is how Vanille and I searched for a way out of Mahabara..."
,,You were knocked out a long time and so you missed the journey out of Mahabara and trough the whole Sülyya Quell, but now that you are awake, you can make yourself useful by getting some supplies from the fruit trees back there" She pointed to a plantation of trees down the road.
,,Got it" He said motivated and started to run
,,Hey kid!" Fang called and Hope stopped immediately ,,Thank you for keeping Vanille save, I owe you something"
,,It's all right Fang, I'm just glad I could help. Is Vanille still ok?"
,,She's still a bit worried about you but otherwise she is lively as ever, I send her to a little river in the west to get some water"
,,Good to hear that she is ok"
,,Yes but now go, you have a task, remember?"
,,Ok" He said and started to run again in the direction of the fruit trees which Fang showed him.
On his way he could see the Taejin Tower in the distance, it was an impressive but very damaged construction and he asked himself if the tower really was damaged or if it was planed to look like it does now.
And what about the Fal'Cie that lives there? None of them could expect seriously that this Fal'Cie would let them trough it's territory without a fight.
This whole fighting is slowly getting really annoy-
He didn't noticed that he already was so near the trees and ran accidentally against one of them. Hope groaned quietly.
That was kinda... embarrassing
He finally started to pick off the little fruits on the first tree, that one which already greeted him with it's rough bark.
The fruits reminded him on a very similar kind of fruit that grew in cocoon too, they were called cherrys there. Hope always loved cherrys, his mum sometimes brought a whole basket full of cherrys home and they used them for many homemade cakes and Desserts.
When he was younger, it was always fun to play with the little red fruits while baking in the kitchen, he remembered a photo that he and his parents took after having this kind of fun, they had red stains everywhere in their faces as well as all over their whole clothes.
He smiled at the thought, but it also hurt when he realized that this time was over now, his mother was gone and he didn't know if his father was still alive at the moment. The only thing he could do for him was to follow the advice that his father had given him before Hope had to leave him.
He said that he shall make his own decisions, nothing else would matter, but it wasn't always easy to make own decisions when you lived your whole life as an unknowing slave of the Fal'Cie.
The sky was already colored in a beautiful mix of different warm colors, when Hope finally arrived at the prepared camp.
His hands were red from the whole fruits he picked of, but he was still satisfied with his harvest, two full baskets, so many that he had trouble to get it all back to the camp.
,,Good job, kid" Fang told him laudatory ,,That are enough fruits for days, but someone will have to carry the over lasting residues trough the tower tomorrow" She continued while pointing to him.
,,But Fang" Hope moaned desperate
She just began to laugh ,,Don't worry kid, I think Snow will assume that task with a smile"
,,What? Fang dont be silly, thats not fair" Snow came over and started to moan too
,,You two would make good brothers, one lazier than the other" said Fang with a bright smile
,,Hey!" The two called simultaneously
,,See?" She laughed again "Well, I still must prepare the meal together with Vanille, see you guys later" Then she went towards Vanille who already waited for her friend.
,,You look like you murdered someone just with your hands" Snow joked and teased his younger friend when he saw Hopes red hands
,,Not yet Snow" He teased him back and they both began to laugh.
,,And what about the little scratches on your face, sign of a fight of life and death between you and one of those dangerous fruit trees?" He laughed loud, while Hope blushed slightly
,,Kinda..." He said embarressed and Snow couldn't stop laughing after this
,,Damn trees, on Cocoon they would start to purge all the trees now, dead or alife" That brought even Hope to laughing like a little child.
A little while later they all sat together on a provisionally built table to eat their dinner.
Vanille and Fang prepared a real three-course-dinner, they made a salat from the plants out here as appetizer and some steaks from todays hunt for the main course.
,,This is so delicious, you two made a really good job" Hope said in the direction of Fang and Vanille
,,I agree, I could eat tonnes of this food" Snow added happiely while he gulped down the food
,,Yes, better than any other meal, that I ever ate on cocoon" Lightning admitted
,,A big applause for the chefs here" Sazh pointed at Fang and Vanille and began to clap,
the other L'Cie followed him and the two pulsian L'Cie blushed a bit
,,Thank you, we're happy that you like it" Vanille said giggling and Fang added:
,,Wait until you guys see the dessert" She smiled and brought a plate with a big cherry pie.
,,Well, Bon appetite!" Vanille said smiling, when Fang putted down the plate with the pie on the table.
It costed Hope very much self-control to not pounce directly over the entire pie, even if his stomach had already enough from the previous courses, but luckily he was able to wait polite, while the others were taking their pieces of the pie.
Dont want to be a impetuous wolverine in Vanilles eyes
He was the last one who took a piece of the gorgeous looking pie and he couldn't await to have a taste of this, monster of a pie.
They started to eat and Hopes sense of taste was crying tears of joy, he couldn't speak because of this super delicious pie, even if he could he wouldn't have much time for it because he had already the next piece of pie in his mouth everytime he swallowed the last Piece, so there was absolutely no time to speak.
The others seemed to enjoy it similar, just with the difference that everyone except him and Snow were eating a bit slowlier.
,,I think we don't have to ask you two anymore if you liked the dessert" Fang said satisfied to Hope and Snow
,,I could imagine that Snow is able to eat such an amount of food, but Hope really exceeds all my imaginations" Vanille giggled cheerfully
Hope looked up after her words and the entire round began to laugh, even Lightning suddenly started to laugh, but he had no idea why they were all laughing now.
,,W-What is so funny now?" He asked confused and Vanille, who sat next to him gave him a little crystal shard that should serve as a little mirror and he saw directly that parts of his face were full of cream from the pie, he gave her the shard back and said embarressed:
,,Uh, Maybe I was a bit too hungry"
,,You could say so, its a miracle that you're not exploded yet" Sazh said amused
,,I never thought that someone could ever rival me when it comes to eating" Snow said laughing while he patted Hope on his shoulder.
,,But you have to admit Hope,..." Vanille started, as she used one finger to brush away a bit cream from Hopes right cheek, just to eat it by herself ,,...its still tasty" she giggled again. In response, he took some cream from his other cheek in order to distribute the light-red cream gently trough her face
,,Hey, stop it" she laughed now visible cheerfully
,,I think it would be unfair to withhold you your own creation" He joined in her laughing
The other L'Cie laughed too while they slowly started to stand up from the table.
,,You two should go and clean your faces at the river, you look like you fall into the pie instead of eating it" Lightning said this with a warm smile to Hope and Vanille
,,Alright we'll be back soon" Hope answered her
,,See you later guys" Vanilled called cheerfully as they started to go
,,I would really like to learn how you and Fang made this fantastic meals, will you show me someday Vanille?" Hope asked her interested
,,Yes, but just under one condition" She told him smiling
,,And what would that be?"
,,You have to do it yourself" She answered cheerfully "We can do this when we rest in Oerba, Fang will be happy to have at least one free day to relax a bit and then we can cook together, this will be fun"
,,Good, I'm in"
,,Great! We will impress the others with something better than the courses at this dinner!" she said visible excited
,,Better than that cherry pie?" He couldn't believe that there was something better than that
,,Sure, this was just the beginning"
,,And what do you plan for that dinner?"
,,Well, I... I don't know yet, but I'm sure we will find some good ideas"
,,Of course we will" he said happily
They finally arrived on the river and began to clean their creamy faces.
After he had finished, Hope wanted to look after Vanille if she was ready to go back too, he turned around to her, but Vanille had pulled down her top to her stomach, to clean her upper body too and he accidentally saw her naked upper body plus her uncovered breasts before he could even react.
He blushed strongly and began to apologize sheepishly after he turned around again.
,,I- I didn't know that..., s-sorry Vanille" He stuttered embarressed, with his obvious red face
Hope was relieved when he heard her giggle, while she pulled up her top again
,,It's ok Hope, as long as you don't complain about what you saw" she said happily
,,O-Of course I don't complain, y-you have a really pretty body, ähh wait, what I mean is..."
Oh man, why can't I keep my mouth shut for once
She began to laugh, but nethertheless he could see that she blushed slightly, suddenly she started to run
,,We should get back, before the others begin to worry" She called while she still laughed
,,Yes, but shouldn't we go back together?" He asked while he began to run too
,,Try to catch me if you can" She called playfully
He just laughed, while he slowly came closer to her.
The other L'Cie were already sleeping when they entered the little camp together, they almost couldn't believe that it was already so late, but it seemed like they were away a bit to long.
They just had to search the darkness for their blankets, that they had for sleeping.
Normally everyone had one, but Hope remembered that they needed one for the table and Vanille used her's for this purpose.
It was nearly impossible to take the blanket from the table without making any noise, so he decided to offer Vanille his blanket so that at least she could have a warm sleep, but she rejected his idea, she suggested that they should rather share the blanket instead so nobody of them would have to feel cold tonight, he hesitated because the idea to sleep with Vanille under one blanket made him clearly nervous.
She sat down on the ground and pointed on the place next to her
,,Its ok" She told him to reassure him
He still hesitated but eventually sat down on her left side
,,As long as you feel ok with this" He smiled slightly and slowly layed down on the ground
She smiled warmly while she layed down too and rested her head on his chest while he took her into a slight embrace with his right arm, before he finally placed the blanket in position.
Vanille fell asleep quickly and Hope looked into her sleeping face one last time before he closed his own eyes too
,,Good night Vanille" He whispered before the sleep overcame him.