Chapter 8

Lightning liked to think of herself as a logical woman. She went by the facts, not emotions. Her sister always said that was part of her training as a soldier, but Lightning knew that was who she was from day one. And she figured that was part of the reason why she and Serah got along so well – Lightning was the logic; Serah was the heart. And as much as Lightning didn't like to admit it, she respected her sister for her warm feelings and her natural tendency to give people the benefit of the doubt. It was something Lightning couldn't do in a million years.

But damn, did her sister pick idiots!

Lightning stood leaning against her kitchen counter as she watched the burly man make his slow way in. She eyed him warily, and from the first moment she could just feel he was guilty. It was like "Kick my ass" was written right across his forehead, and Lightning was more than happy to oblige.

"Before you say anything," she said slowly, keeping her composure calm,"I want you to think about why I've asked to talk to you. And if you want to lie, you know what I'll –"

"I'm not going to waste my time lying to you," Snow said somberly. "I'll admit that I did it."

Lightning's mouth dropped before she could check herself. Well, this wasn't expected. Not only did she never expect Snow to cheat on her sister, but she highly doubted he would come forward so quickly. Especially to her.

Finally, she felt the anger. "What the HELL, Snow? How could you do this to Serah? You're supposed to love her, and put her above yourself! But obviously you can't think of her enough to keep it in your pants."

Snow winced. "What are you talking about, Lightning?" he asked in confusion, before frowning in anger himself. "Please tell me you don't seriously think I would cheat on Serah. I knew you thought low of me. But I didn't know how much."

Lightning hesitated. "Then... what are you admitting to?" Her voice was still angry, but she couldn't hide the confusion in it.

"I knew you saw me leave with Lebreau. I won't pretend that I don't know Serah hates her. I do. But she asked me to walk her home because some guy was following her. What was I supposed to do, leave her on her own? She'd have to walk alone and I wouldn't have been able to let her do that with a clear conscience."

Lightning realized this was true, but something was still rubbing her the wrong way. There was just something about the look in his eyes that made her feel that he was undeniably guilty. "Well... you were acting pretty shady about it."

"I understand now how bad it looks," Snow replied, looking at the floor. "But please, believe me. I knew Serah would be mad about me spending time with Lebreau alone, especially drunk. But I would hope the both of you would know me well enough..." He paused, then frowned even deeper. For some reason, Lightning felt a twinge of guilt – maybe her opinion of Snow did actually get to him. "Does Serah think I cheated too?" He asked sadly.

"No," Lightning said quickly. If all of this ended up really not being true, she wanted to do as little damage to their relationship as possible. "I didn't tell her about this. And trust me, it wasn't for your benefit that I kept quiet. I'm not going to see her hurt over a misunderstanding. If, of course, that's all it is."

"Of course that's all it is," Snow scoffed. "You've seen what I would do for Serah. You really think I would do this to her?"

Lightning stared at him long enough until he squirmed under her gaze. Everything he was saying was true – he had gone across two worlds for this girl - and also completely possible. But what was it that kept her from believing him? Lightning liked to think of herself as realistic. But sometimes she just downright thought the worst of people. And even though she liked to think of herself as fair, had she ever really given Snow a fair chance? Probably not.

She sighed. "I hope you're telling the truth, Snow. For my sister's sake."

Her softening tone seemed to cheer him up. "I am, Lightning. I love her. You know that." Lightning closed her eyes and nodded. "I hope you don't think I'm running out on you," he continued, "but I'm actually supposed to meet her soon. Do you mind...?"

"No," she replied. "But just so you know exactly what will happen if you're lying to me..."

"Always the optimist," Snow interrupted, shaking his head and chuckling. "See ya." He hurried out of the door, a little faster than usual. Lightning couldn't help but thinking his excuse was fake – didn't Serah have something to do tonight...? But instead of brewing on it like always, she thought maybe, just once, she'd give her brother-in-law the benefit of the doubt.

Hope walked through the Bodhum streets thoughtfully. It was a rather small town, easily walked on foot in a couple hours. He wasn't entirely sure if he liked this place, since despite the cozy beach always in view, it always unnerved him. His last memories here were with his mother, and those were never something he enjoyed reliving. She hadn't exactly been the happiest he'd seen her when they'd been here, most likely from his father. He wouldn't doubt it. But here he stopped himself. Thinking about his parents always brought bad feelings, and occasionally some tears...

He shook his head, forcing the thoughts out. This wasn't who he was anymore. Hope was not the type to cry, because nothing good ever came out of it. It didn't bring back those who've passed away or magically fix any situation you were in. If anything, it made everything worse. He learned that the hard way a few years ago, from Lightning no less...

Having suddenly been brought out of his thoughts, he found himself walking towards the pier in front of Lebreau's café. The ocean here was beautiful. If he didn't have all these memories here, he'd almost want to live here. Maybe permanently.

If he was really honest with himself, who did he really care about in Palumpolum? But he did care about some of the people here. And he wouldn't mind spending awhile with them...

In the corner of his eye, he watched as Snow made his way into Lebreau's, casting a nervous glance over his shoulder. Hope frowned, then laughed at Snow's strange actions. Snow, nervous? That was a joke. It was probably the last thing he expected to see in his entire life! Hope followed him into the building, still chuckling, realizing he'd been right about the conversation with Lightning being a bad one. You could always count on those from her.

The café was extremely full for the time of day. He spotted Lebreau hustling around the room, taking orders and delivering drinks, while wiping sweat off her forehead. This was a woman Hope always considered to be beautiful in an exotic, different way, but he had to admit that something had changed. She seemed to have gained a few, and looked extremely tired and stressed. And there was something about the way she moved that seemed less graceful, even though she tried to hide it.

But as soon as she noticed Snow sitting at the bar, a change came over her. A sly smile crept over her face as she pulled off her waitressing apron and settled down onto a stool next to him. Hope started to walk over to join them, watching as Lebreau took her hand and rubbed it from Snow's shoulders down to his lower stomach. Hope stopped dead, and a feeling that he was witnessing something intensely wrong came over him. Snow grabbed her hand tightly and then flung it away, and a look of anger flitted over Lebreau's face before she smoothed it over with that same smile.

Something told Hope that he should stay and watch, but instead, he ran. Whatever was happening in the café, he didn't want to see. If he didn't see, he didn't know, and therefore he wasn't responsible... Right?

Hope shook his head over and over, trying to figure out what in the hell had been going through Snow's mind. "What about Serah?" he asked himself out loud. This man had travelled hundreds of miles and fought monsters – monsters! – for this woman. It seemed impossible that Snow would even think about someone else.

Struggling to push it out of his mind, he made his way back to Lightning's house. He'd finally managed to convince himself, at least partly, that what he'd seen had been innocent. He rationalized it with the fact that he hadn't stayed to watch what unfolded, and he was sure that it was all an inside joke that he just hadn't understood.

Hope was very good at convincing himself.

When he reached Lightning's house, he knocked once and then entered, unsure of whether he even had to knock at all. He and Lightning were close, but she was a stickler about some things, that was for sure.

"Light?" he called out, repeating her name a few times when there was no answer.

"In my bedroom," she answered quietly.

A spasm of something hit Hope when he reached Lightning's room, as if it were something taboo. But, feeling like an idiot, he ignored the feeling. So what? He thought to himself. It's just Lightning's room... Where she sleeps... naked?

He winced. That train of thought was not allowed. "Hey," he said quickly. "What's going on?"

Lightning was sitting on her bed, staring out of the window thoughtfully. "Nothing... I just have a lot on my mind at the moment."

"That doesn't sound good," Hope said, cautiously stepping into Lightning's room. He couldn't shake that thought from before and it was making him slightly uncomfortable. "Hey, want to go out for lunch? My treat."

Lightning sighed. "I'm not sure, Hope. There's really a lot going on..."

"And you can tell me all about it at lunch," Hope said, smirking, and even Lightning gave in and smiled. He turned serious. "It'll get your mind off it, at least."

"Why do I feel like this was a trick?" Lightning asked, laughing. But she was standing up, which Hope assumed was a good sign.

"So... we're going?"

Lightning smiled. "Yeah. Let's go."

Hey everyone, my apologies for the long delay in an update! I've been so busy lately, but now that soccer season is over, I'll have lots more time to update. Expect a really long story, because that's what I have planned! Thanks for all the reviews and subscriptions, they are much appreciated. Thanks and enjoy the story :)