CHAPTER FOURTEEN

An Almost-Night In Palampolum

Hope looked hilariously bug-eyed upon answering the door to his home's latest visitor. "Light!"

"Hey, Hope. What's up?"

He stepped outside and closed the door behind, glaring at her. Obviously, he wasn't all that happy to see her. "Where have you been!" he exclaimed in a hushed voice so that no one else on the block would hear.

"Away," she replied simply.

His jaw dropped. "'Away!'" he repeated. "Do you realize how worried we've all been since you just DISSAPEARED!"

"My cell phone inbox clues me in from time to time, so yeah."

His expression suddenly went blank, mostly from shock. "And you didn't call us back!"

Lightning held up her, silencing him. "I had my reasons for leaving, Hope. And I'm sorry I didn't call you…" Yep, just you. No one else. "…But I don't wanna talk about that. I dropped by because I wanted to have a nice visit with you."

Hope leaned against the side of his house, taking deep breaths. Lightning allowed him the time he needed to calm down. "Fine," he said at last. "We'll visit."

She joined him by the wall and sat down on the ground. "So… What have you been up to lately?"

"Well," he began, sitting down beside her. "my parents are planning a vacation to Nautalis this summer."

"Cool."

"And I aced my final exams, so it looks like I won't be held back another year after all."

"Awesome!"

"Oh, and I was the ring bearer at the wedding."

Lightning was stone-faced. "What wedding?" she asked, staring ahead as though she were lost in space.

"Serah and Snow eloped. You would've known that if you had returned their calls-But you don't wanna talk about that, so we'll discuss something else."

"They… eloped?"

"That's right," Hope confirmed. "You made it clear that you weren't coming to the wedding, and they weren't about to wait for you." Then his tone grew softer, more sympathetic now. "You had us all worried, Lightning. I mean, you just up and disappeared out of nowhere like…"

But his words were falling on deaf ears.

Lightning was lost in the fog of her own thoughts, mostly consisting of images of what she would find-or wouldn't find-when she went home: Serah's belongings were probably completely cleaned out. Lightning couldn't imagine what her room must look like empty. Now that everything in it was gone.

Gone… Serah was gone… And so was Lightning's chance to ever be with Snow.

The reality of the situation seemed to hit her like a tone of bricks. For the first time in months, she was starting to feel sad again. She hated this feeling. Yet, something was keeping her from completely sinking into total depression, like before; keeping her spirits up with a new sense of hope for herself… And she knew exactly what it was.

A certain blonde, blue eyed man from Midgar. A man who had captured more than just her interest. More like her heart.

"Anyway, how long will you be in town?"

Hope's question brought her back to reality. "Um, not long," she replied absently.

Hope could tell that she was regretting her actions now. "It's not too late, Light," he reassured her. "You can still call them. Serah misses you a whole lot, and Snow really wants your blessing."

"He does?"

"Yeah! If he didn't, then he and Serah wouldn't be calling your cell phone pretty much every day… Would you mind if I let them know you stopped by?"

With a sigh, Lightning nodded. "Go ahead and tell them," she replied. "And while you're at it, let them know I'm coming home."

Hope's expression brightened. "When?"

"I don't know. I have some business to sort out first… Just tell them that for me, okay?" With that, she stood up and flashed him a smile. "Thanks for the visit, Hope. I'll see you later."

He smiled back. "No problem."

Lightning waved over her shoulder as she started off down the sidewalk. Without a car, it would be a long walk back to the hotel.

oOo

Cloud's motorcycle raced through the streets of Palampolum. At first, he had no idea where he was going when he packed his duffle bag and took off.

He was now beginning to understood the difficult emotional ride she had been going through. Why she ran away from home. Why she wouldn't return any of her sister's calls; his own cell phone was now loaded with messages from Tifa, pleading for him to come back and begging his forgiveness. But he hadn't returned them.

His plan was to check every hotel in Palampolum until he found the one where Lightning was staying. But it was getting dark now, and he'd soon have to check into somewhere for the night, whether she might be there or not.

Thankfully, at the last minute, he'd found the right hotel.

The instant after the manager told him where she was, he hurried up the stairs and down a few hallways before finding her room. Without any hesitation, he wrapped his fist hard against the door. The very sight of her after she'd answered it brought his blood pressure down a great deal. He could tell she had been sleeping because her face was dewy, her hair was messy, and she was in her pajamas.

She blinked a few times, unable to believe who she was staring at. "Cloud?" she mumbled.

"Yeah," he exhaled. "Mind if I come in?"

"N-Not at all." She stepped aside and let him in the room, locking the door.

Before Cloud could say anything (although he hadn't exactly planned on what to say when he got to this point), he watched as she let her soldier-esq exterior abruptly dropped. The next thing he knew, she had fallen to the floor in tears.

He knelt down in front of her, more concerned about her now than he had ever been. "What's the matter?" he whispered.

"Serah and Snow got married… and I missed it," she wept. "I missed their wedding because of my own stupid pride."

Cloud's voice was gentle. "I told you to answer your phone once in a while," he pointed out.

"I know," she admitted. "You were right, Cloud. I'm such an idiot."

"No, you're not," he insisted. He raised her chin and stared into her glistening tears filled eyes. "Lightning," he began. "besides the fact that she's your sister, does it bother you that this Snow guy is married to someone else now?"

"Not really," she admitted.

Cloud thought his heart might've skipped a beat. "Why not?" he asked eagerly.

She exhaled, smiling. "Because," she answered. "I care about someone else now… If you know what I mean."

In the next moment, the two were both caught up in a passionate series of kisses. Lightning had wrapped her arms around Cloud's neck in an effort to hold his lips tightly to hers, and he kept his arms around her waist, holding her as close as possible. Eventually, he picked her up and carried her over to the bed, gently laying her down. This kind of tension had been sparking between them all along, he realized. And they weren't about to fight it anymore.

Not giving it too much thought, he threw his duffle bags on the floor beside the bed.

Lightning heard the impact on the floor, and her eyes flew open. "Hold it," she said, bringing an abrupt end to their make-out session.

He blinked, surprised. "What's wrong?"

She moved out from under him and sat up, glanced at his bags, then turned to face him again. "Okay, before we get too caught up in… whatever this is-" She knew full well what it was, but she wasn't about to say it aloud. "-would you mind explaining why you brought so much luggage?"

Cloud shifted his eyes away, pressing his lips together nervously. "Uh-"

"And come to think of it, what are you doing here in Palampolum? Did you follow me, or something?"

He relaxed his shoulders and rolled over onto his back. "It's a long story."

She ruffled her fingers through her hair, trying to straighten herself up a bit. "Try me."

With a chuckle, his let his head fall to one side, returning the smile she was giving him.