Ohhh my gosh I haven't updated in like two weeks! Seriously, I've missed writing this that much, especially when I know that my sweet readers like this story :) That just makes my day. My sincerest apologies, but these past two weeks have kept me extremely occupied and I just didn't have any free time at all! Plus for english classed I was forced to read the most boring book ever, Life of Pi (sorry if I offended anyone who likes it), so bear with me! You know school, it can be such a pain. But, no worries! In about 3 more weeks my summer vacation will start and I will have so much time to update and all that jazz.

Umm you might hate me for this chapter.... :P

xxxxx

I've Got You

Chapter 8: Fights

"You're positive we're going the right way?"

"I'm positive."

"Positively...positive?"

"You bet."

"That's what you said an hour ago when we were going the wrong way." I said jokingly.

"W-well, I made a mistake! We're going the right way this time...right Lightning?"

"Yeah, now we are. What did I tell you two about keeping your voices low?" Light said half irritated.

We both decided to shut up instantly. Don't want to get Lightning in like a furious rage.

Oh, right. Right now we're in the Gapra Whitewood at the moment. The border zone that separates Vile Peaks from Palumpolum. In other words, unfortunately, the only way we can get to Palumpolum. Not really the safest way, however. This place houses monsters that Sanctum experiments on in order to turn them into weapons later. So there's a couple of things to watch for. Monsters, no surprise, and a few PSICOM troops. We've already fought a few.

Did I forget to mention that Hope decided to take the lead? It was kind of surprising, but like you know whatever builds his confidence. Lightning even gave him a small knife to borrow.

Lightning...she's actually not as mean as some might think she is. Sure she's kind of intimidating to be near, doesn't talk much, gives you snarly glares when you get on her nerves, not afraid of pretty much everything, and only smiles on occasion. However, she's not a bad person. She's shown to have a soft side, but she's really, really good at hiding it. It's kind of like...like how Sazh tries to hide the fact that he's old!

That thought suddenly made me wonder where were Sazh and Vanille. Were they okay? Are they still at Vile Peaks, or did they already get out of there? Or...did PSICOM soliders get them? Why did they have to be so automatically likeable? Seriously, if they weren't, I wouldn't be this worried about them!

"How do you think Sazh and Vanille are doing right now?" I asked all of a sudden out loud.

"Who knows?" said Lightning. "Even if they got away, they're going to get caught eventually. Then they're going to have to choose: resist or surrender." Thank you, Light. Because that just totally doesn't make me feel more worried about them.

"...Do you think he's still alive?" Hope spoke up.

"You mean Snow?" She scoffed. "He's too stubborn to die." Hm, that's probably true. She continued, "He's arrogant and he thinks he's everyone's friend. I never liked him that much." Oh yeah, like that wasn't obvious at all. "He also leads a gang called 'NORA.' Just a bunch of kids."

"Where'd they get the name 'Nora'?" Hope asked curiously.

"It's a stupid acronym they made up. Their little code that stands for 'No Obligations, Rules, or Authority.'"

"Sounds kind of obnoxious." I said truthfully.

"It is." She said.

"It's irresponsible." Hope muttered bitterly. Guess Hope still doesn't like Snow.

For the rest of the walk, it was pretty quiet. Hope was noticeably frowning the entire time. There was something obviously on his mind. Was it Snow? Yeah it probably was.

It really bothered me seeing him like this. I really don't know why it does so much, but it just does.

"What's on your mind, Hope?" I asked him.

All he did was shrug. I sighed. "It wouldn't happen to be Snow, would it?" He nodded silently while fumbling around Light's knife.

"What happened with him?" Lightning asked.

"...My mom was killed...because of him. It's his fault." he said as his voice cracked a little. He told us the full story. About how she volunteered to fight with Snow against the PSICOM at the Hanging Edge and how he was unable to save her from a falling bridge.

"He needs to pay. I'm not ready...but I will be soon." he said while looking at the knife. My eyes slightly widened. He really wasn't serious about...actually wanting to kill Snow for revenge, would he? "I need to keep fighting, and become stronger. I'll call it Operation Nora."

"Nora?" I said with confusion.

"My mom's name." he replied

"So in other words...your revenge?" questioned Light.

"Yes." he said slowly. Oh my gosh. So he was serious?

"But Hope-" he cut me off.

"Don't tell me," he continued, "I know getting revenge on him won't bring her back, but 'sorry' won't cut it." I didn't know what to say... I don't know if Snow had intentionally killed her or not, but getting back at him like this was wrong on so many levels.

"Hope..." Lightning spoke softly, trying to find the right words to say, "Snow didn't kill your mother, the Sanctum did."

"Who's side are you on?" he snapped angrily.

"The side of truth." she said as her voice slightly rose.

Hope was silent for a minute before he finally spoke. "Fine. I'll fight the Sanctum with you and I'll learn how to survive." He turned his back on us and started walking ahead.

I looked at Lightning with desperation, hoping she would know what to do. She looked back at me with a 'Sorry, don't know what I can do at this moment' look. She gestured to keep on moving. Hesitantly, I followed.

Though I felt the need to tell Hope how getting revenge on Snow wasn't right, I decided not to say anything. Give him time, I thought. I mean, maybe now he says he's going to, but maybe he'll come to his senses? His mom died not too long ago, he's just angry! It's Hope, for crying out loud. He wouldn't just go and kill someone like that...would he? Ugh okay, why am I so hung up on this anyways?

My thoughts were interrupted when a monster larger than the others in this place jumped out infront of us. It looked somewhat like a turtle with a huge bulb-like thing on it's back. It made a loud, obnoxious screech at us, letting us know that there was no escape and we had to fight it.

It lasted pretty long, surprisingly. It didn't seem that hard, until we figured out that the bulb in it's back can open up and turn into some sort of fan that blows us up in the air. I landed on my butt several times. Out of everything we've fought so far, I think I hated this one the most. I hated it even more than that ridiculous robot snake in Lake Bresha that I was terribly terried of. Well, thank goodness Light had Odin, right? It helped big time. After it finally died, I don't think I could've been any happier.

"Operation Nora, stage one complete." Hope said satisfied. Just give him time, Adeline....

"You two did well." said Lightning. Another rare compliment from her. We walked a little further and arrived at the coast of Palumpolum. We finally made it out of Gapra Whitewood.

"This is it right?" ask Lightning. Ahead of us we could see a clear view of the town.

"That's it." Hope nodded.

"Don't you two live here?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, but I just moved here, so I don't know my place around here that much. ...My aunt and uncle got on the Purge train...so I don't really know where they are." I cringed at the thought. It was a stupid mistake to leave them, but there's a better chance they could've survived this way. They'd could get into huge trouble with the Sanctum if they found out they were taking care of a Pulse l'Cie. Even if they were unknowingly, no one was going to believe them.

"We'll stop in by Hope's place when we get there." Lightning said.

Hope shook his head. "No...we're l'Cie and no one's there but my dad."

"You need to let him know what happened to your mom..." she said. He didn't respond, he just walked ahead again.

xxxxx

"You have to drop Operation Nora." Lightning told Hope seriously.

"No!" Hope yelled. "You told me to fight."

"I made a mistake." she said truthfully. We're in the underground part of Palumpolum at the moment. PSICOM soldiers are everywhere here, so Hope led the way since he knows shortcuts. And now, Lightning's trying to reason with Hope to forget about his Operation Nora. It's like she came to some sort of realization out of no where that fightning wasn't the only way survive, which is true.

"Look, I'm not going to abandon you." she told Hope, then looked at me. "Both of you. I won't." she promised. I nodded slowly, but Hope didn't seemed too convinced.

He obviously still wanted to get back at Snow. I glanced at him as we walked. The looked on his face just screamed he was thinking about it.

Finall finding the words to say I spoke. "Hope...Light's right. I think you should drop Operation Nora."

"What? All of a sudden you want to protect Snow?" he snapped at me.

I hesitated. "Nothing good's going to come out if you kill him."

"Says the person who ignored her parents for a whole year and called them monsters because she blamed them for the death of her brother." Oh okay, so he wants to go there?

"Excuse me?" I said as I felt anger stirring in my body

"You did the same exact thing to your parents. Why should I listen to you?"

Wow. "You don't think I feel horrible for doing that?" Seriously. I practically told him everything and now he's using it against me like this?

He sighed, "I didn't say that, I-" He got cut off as my hand made a direct contact with his cheek. I slapped him hard. I didn't want to here it.

"Hey you two, cut it out!" Lightning yelled, grabbing my wrist to pull me away from him. We both glared at each other. I jerked away from Lightning's grip.

"Never talk to me again, okay?" I said coldly to Hope. I walked off. I know, I was being such a PMSing...bitch right now. But seriously! Hope can be such a...such a guy sometimes! To think I started to like him. Yeah, I admit it. Not anymore though. He's just another whiny, inconsiderate jerk.

"Adeline!" I turned to see Lightning coming towards me. "...Come on, you know he didn't mean it."

"Look...just let me go ahead for a while. It's pretty much a straight path here, right? So I'll just meet you at the exit." I said. I just wanted to be alone for a minute. To cool down.

"Will you be okay?"

"I will be, I promise."

"...Fine. Meet at the exit. Don't leave without us." She said sternly as she walked back to wherever Hope was. I walked ahead, trying to think of something else besides the ridiculous fight I had with Hope.

My heart felt like it was aching...

xxxxx

Ahh don't kill me please? I promise, next one it will all be better, promise! Seriously, you honestly think Adeline's going to stay mad at him for a long time? Yeah right! And I will update ASAP. Maybe during the weekend though...but trust me I will work on writing the next one during the week if I have free time! I love you all :)