Chapter 9

Hope noticed the dejected atmosphere as well as anyone else, when they got out of the elevator which transported them to the white ground on the foot of the tower.
Nobody said a word since they entered the strange elevator and it seemed like nobody wanted to break the silence.
There was no need for words to describe what everyone was thinking.
Vanille and Fang seemed still shocked about the sight of their destroyed home which they saw from the top of the Taejin tower.
Lightning and Snow seemingly took already farewell to the hope of seeing Serah again, the same applied to Sazh who wanted to free his son Dajh.
And Hope? He already accepted what happend, he lost his mom and the right to live a peaceful life on his home planet, he also was unsure if he would be able to see his father again, maybe he got killed like many other people because he had contact with them.
But nethertheless he wanted to keep fighting for the future and especially for his friends, they shall not loose their future too.
He wanted that Lightning and Snow finally get Serah back, that Sazh would be able to take his son into his arms again and he wanted that Fang and Vanille can live again as carefree as in the past, before they became L'Cie.
Hope's thoughts stayed at Vanille, the girl he fell in love with.
He didn't want to lose her, but he was willing to throw away his own life without hesitation, if it would be the only chance to save her from a gloomy future.
His thoughts were interrupted by a groan next to him.

,,Seems like nobody survived, the only inhabitants are C'ieth" Fang said this with an annoyed tone, while they walked through the white landscape.

,,Neither did plants or animals, everything seems dead here" added Vanille with a sad sight.

,,So this is Oerba?" Lightning asked audible disappointed

,,Yes, or rather whats left of it" Fang answered

,,Great, how shall we find something in those ruins?" Sazh sighed

,,Don't know, at least we should try" Hope wanted to motivate his comrades, but he knew how improbable it was that he reaches this goal.

,,Hmm, lets split up again, maybe that increases our chance to find some hints" at least Snow seemed to be interested about Hopes Suggestion to keep going.

The six L'Cie decided to execute that plan and splitted up into the same groups as in the tower.
Hope and Snow decided to start with the decayed houses in the center of Oerba.
At first it was a struggle to get there, because of the multitude of C'ieth that wandered through the streets, but nethertheless they were able to fight their way to the center. Their attacks still harmonized as previously in Palumpolum and Hope still wondered why he hated Snow such a long time, he protected him throughout their whole journey through his hometown and they were a good team back then.
The way was free once the last C'ieth they fought fell and they entered the first floor of the house in front of them.
It was a small room and it was surprisingly tidy in the multifunctional one room flat.
There was everything what you could need to live, a small kitchen, a few beds, one big table and a lot other things.

,,I can really imagine how the people lived here, like one big family" Snow said fascinated

,,Yes and everything seems still intact" Hopes sight went to a little picture on the table that showed Fang and Vanille.

,,Look, here is a photo of Vanille and Fang"

,,Oh right, this photo seems pretty old and nethertheless I see no difference between the Vanille and Fang on the photo and the two today" Snow said

,,Right and I hope that it stays like this" Hope managed to show a slight smile

,,You really like her, don't you?" Snow asked with a calm voice

,,Yes..."

,,Finally you admitted it" he said contentedly ,,And, does she know it?" he continued asking curiously.

,,I don't know because I haven't told her yet " Hope answered hesitating

,,Why? I think she would be happy to know something like that and maybe you two become more than friends after a while"

,,Could be, but I don't know if we're already old enough for such a relationship, and I also never really dared to tell her"

,,Well, I think that age is irrelevant for love. You dont have to marry her right now, just listen to her and try to comfort her when she's sad. Give her the feeling that she's important to you. Just like in that one night" He said the last sentence with a cheeky smile.

,,Wait, w-what do you mean?" Hopes face blushed slightly

,,You know exactly what I mean, It was a sweet sight to see you both asleep together like this. Fang was a bit upset, but don't worry, I've regulated this"

,,What did you say?"

,,I just said that it's sure better to lose the own virginity than to lose the own life" He began to laugh

,,You did what? B-But we didn't... Really we never did something like this" Hopes face blushed three times darker than ever before.

,,Haha, don't worry I was just joking back then"

,,It's a miracle that she hasn't killed you after that joke"

,,It's possible that Fang doesn't noticed that I was joking, she went away before I could have solved it" He began to scratch the back of his head

,,Oh man, Fang sure hates me now..." Hope said depressed

,,Just stay calm, I'm sure she has already abreacted herself, but I would still be careful when you fumble around with Vanille in public the next time" He started to laugh again and tapped Hope on the shoulder.

,,I'm a dead boy..." He said while smiling painfully"

,,Just relax, I'll regulate this someday" Snow replied self-assured

,,Wait until she impales us with her lance, then you know how good you can regulate things" Hope began to laugh slightly

,,Come on, I'm a expert in regulating thing, you'll see" He tried to defend himself and they both started to laugh.

After a while, Snow seemed to notice that they totally forgot to search for hints to solve their L'Cie problem:

,,Maybe we should slowly continue our search, I think we werent really much productive till now" He said with a bright smile.

,,Maybe your right, I think I'll just take the photo to give it Vanille, maybe it cheers her up a bit to see something from old times and she can show it Fang then, after I coincidentally disappeared from the scene." Hope answered, unsure about the question if he could ever dare again someday to come in Fangs proximity again without having her Lance at his throat.

,,You can't run away forever Hope" Snow said amused

,,At least I can try and you shouldn't forget that it's possible your fault that she probably hates me now"

,,Not at all, you slept with Vanille, remember?" Snow grinned cheeky

,,But we were just sleeping, there was nothing intimate!" Hope moaned and he knew that he was chanceless in this discussion

,,Well I think we're done here, it's getting late, so we should finally meet with the others again and we'll surely have enough time later to discuss your relationship problems" Snow said teasing.

Hope suppressed the retort which he had on his tongue over Snows sassy comment and followed him out of the room.
It was already late and the sky was already coloured into a dark orange tone.
Lightning and Sazh already waited impatient in front of the house, they didn't seem to had been successful as well and Hope could already think of the atmosphere for the next days, there will be a lot of work to do, at least thats what he thought.

,,Did you two found something?" Lightning asked slightly annoyed

,,No, Nothing relevant. What about you two?" Snow replied

,,Of course not, it's impossible to find something in this mess, even if we would know what we're looking for it would take an eternity to find it here" Sazh moaned visible exhausted

,,What about Vanille and Fang? Where are they?" Hope wanted to know

,,They are still down at the lake, should be back soon. We must find a place now where we can spend the night" Lightning answered

,,The house here is still intact, that would be a possibility" Snow pointed to the house which they had searched through

,,Good, lets start with the preparations for the night then" Lightning said

,,Shouldn't we wait for Vanille and Fang?" Hope asked hesitant

,,They'll sure find us" She reassured him

,,Ok" He wasn't really satisfied with this answer, because he wanted to talk with Vanille today, it occupied him the whole day until now that she seemed so dejected on the Taejin Tower a little while ago.
But he wasn't really in the constitution to stay awake the whole night in order to wait for her arrival.
He layed down on one of the mattresses on the ground, after they prepared the room for the night together, now he had finally time to rest up.
It took not a long time until he was able to fall asleep.
The last thing he heard was a voice who had told something about an old railway bridge which they allegedly had planned to explore tomorrow.