A/N: In case if you already know, there's a review by me in the reviews section. That was due to a mistake by my gf thinking she was on her account while reviewing my story lol. I guess she was just as excited as everyone else after reading chapter 2. I just wanted to explain that so you guys don't think I'm some kind of douche lol. Anyways, on with the show!

Viewer discretion is advised.

Chapter Three

Lightning arrived at the Leaning Moon, feeling a bit anxious. She hasn't done anything social since Dajh's birthday bash last year, and this was the first time she ever had a 'girl's night out'. Serah has, made an attempt at such things in the past, but her reclusive state of mind and the constant work hours made her reject her sister's offers. This time though, she needed it. She needed to be away from work, away from home, away from Hope. When she walked into the bar/nightclub (there was little entertainment due to reconstruction), she scanned the room, getting a feel for the situation. Some of the men she noticed at the bar were members of the Guardian Corps. There were a few people who she could have mistaken for PSICOM officers, but she wasn't too sure. It was weird associating with them after all that has happened. They were once public enemy number one among The Sanctum and all of Cocoon, but yet they were treated like any other civilian during reconstruction. Sazh claimed that society had other things to worry about then the ex-fugitives who caused a ruckus just to save humanity. He wouldn't be surprised if people forgot who they actually were.

Thinking about that again put Lightning's mind at ease once more. After a minute of standing by the entrance, Lightning spotted Serah, Fang, and Vanille sitting at a table near the dance floor. Her sister of course spotted her first and waved her hand.

"Over here!" she shouted cheerfully.

Fang and Vanille noticed as well, and gave their respective greetings. The two Oerba women were wearing long dresses, native to their region with designs similar to the ones they have on their casual attire. Fang's dress was a dark blue color, and Vanille's was a light orange. Serah was wearing a white sleeveless blouse with a match skirt that was just a little too short for Lightning's taste. She wondered how she got Snow to let her go out dressed that way. The poor idiot probably doesn't even know she's wearing such attire. Then again, Lightning shouldn't be hypocritical, especially with the short black dress she was wearing. Tonight should be a time where they should be able to let a little loose, so she wouldn't too over protective of her sister.

"Hey," Lightning greeted as she sat down. "Looks like there is going to be a crowd tonight."

"Doesn't surprise me since this the only actual club on the east end of town," said Serah, placing a complimentary mini-pretzel into her mouth.

Vanille was her usual sunny self. "I can't believe we're all together like this! For once, we can just relax and enjoy life, instead of just living on the edge..." her words slowed when a well-dressed man approached the table.

"May I buy you a drink?" he asked Vanille, his confidence becoming evident through his cocky smile.

Fang began to growl while Vanille nodded. Lightning found the scene kind of amusing, and made sure Fang saw the smirk on her face.

"I would love that," said Vanille, flashing a bright smile. When the man went over to the bar, she turned back to her girlfriends. "Everyone here is so nice! They were doing that ever since I came in here!"

Fang rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you it hasn't hit you yet? These guys are trying to get you drunk so they can take you home!"

"Then I'll just say no," Vanille said simply. "They'll understand. We're all civilized human beings. It's not like any of them is a bear..."

Serah looked puzzled while Lightning exchanged looks with Fang. Her sister didn't know that back in Fang and Vanille's time, Vanille killed a giant bear single-handed. Once Fang told Lightning of that story, she began looking at this girl in a different light. Vanille was sweet and kind because she could afford to be. She may have her moments of weakness, but when push came to shove she was just as dangerous as the rest of them, as was Hope.

Damn, I don't want to think about him right now! Lightning thought angrily, and impulsively raised her hand.

"What are you doing?" asked Fang.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm ordering! Get what you want, because Its on me!"

Fang smiled at the generous offer. "You're desperate to get drunk, aren't ya?"

"You have no idea."

Serah looked concern. "Did something happen at work?"

"Nope."

"Did something happen with Hope? Is he okay?"

"Oh, he's fine. A pain in the ass, but he's fine. I just need to drink a lot tonight, so make sure that Snow picks us all up, okay?" Lightning stared over at the bar, looking for someone who could be of service. She needed to escape her thoughts for they were wandering back to her inner war with herself, courtesy of Hope Estheim.

Serah nodded, and sighed. She was always worried if Lightning was able to take proper care of a teenage boy. She helped raise her after the death of their parents, but that was different. Becoming Hope's guardian was a choice, not something she was forced to do because of survival. Hope and Lightning were always close, but she felt weird about the aspect of the two of them living together. Hope was a young boy who was learning more about himself, and while Lightning was older, she wasn't that much older. She wasn't trying to think that anything would happen (because Lightning would never allow something like that!), but you could never be too sure. Serah and Snow offered to raise the boy, but Lightning flat out refused. She said Hope was her responsibility and she promised that nothing will happen to him. She mentioned that no matter what happened she had to live up to that promise, even if it meant at the cost of her life.

Lightning's expression gave away the fact that something was wrong at home. She trusted her sister's judgment and problem solving abilities, so she won't mention anything at all.

After the girls ordered, the waiter came back a couple of minutes later with five drinks. The ones they ordered and the one that was brought for Vanille. As each girl grabbed their drink, Vanille raised her glass.

"Here's to a night we all deserve!" she shouted.

"I can drink to that," said Fang, with Lightning and Serah agreeing with her.

The four girls of the former L'Cie tipped their glasses, and began the first round of their drinking...

Hope, with his face half buried in his pillow, stared into oblivion. He cried himself to sleep earlier, but he was awakened by sweet dreams turned beautiful nightmares. He had dreamed he was in Lightning's arms, his face buried in her breasts; much like his face was in this pillow. He was fourteen all over again, a little boy who was afraid of the world a kid who relied on someone bigger and stronger to save him at every turn. He felt so safe in her arms then, comforted by her soft touch, soothed by the sound of her voice. She made him feel stronger than he was; she gave him the confidence to move on from the loss of his mother. Now, that same person had cut is heart in half. She helped him toy with his most personal of urges, and pushed him away when he wanted to play some more.

Is this how Lightning treated her lovers? Did she lead them on, and then when things got too serious she got rid of them? Hope knew this wasn't the case (especially since he initiated the situation), but he couldn't help but feel like this was Lightning's fault. She should have saw this coming a mile away, she could have taken precautions in order to avoid the mess they were now in. It was going to be extremely uncomfortable for the two of them now.

Maybe I should move out. Hope wanted to think about it some more, but he fell back asleep.

"Woo!" Vanille was having the time of her life as she danced around four lucky guys.

Serah had two 'victims' of her own. She danced freely between the two of them as they drew closer and closer. Lightning wanted to take their heads and bashed them together just as much as Fang wanted to make shish-kebob out of Vanile's four dance partners with her spear. Due to their level of intoxication, they dared not try to move from their seats. All they could do is stand, watch, and hate.

Lightning shook her head in disgust, and downed a half glass of vodka. Fang finished her ninth round of rum, and wiped her mouth when some of it dripped. Lightning couldn't understand why her sister would be so loose around men that weren't her husband. She knew Snow could be a pain and sometimes a bore, but there was such a thing as loyalty and modesty. Fang was just plain overly-protective. She knew some of the others thought there was some kind of 'attraction' between the two Oerba natives, but Fang loved Vanille as a sister, nothing more. She was the only family she had left for they were the last two of their kind. She would be damned if some douche came along and hurt Vanille in some way or another. She had to protect Vanille, no matter what.

"Hey girls," spoke a familiar voice from behind them. "Looking lonely over there."

Lightning turned her head to see Snow sitting down. She cracked a grin when she anticipated Snow's reaction to what she was about to say.

"Well, our loneliness is the thing you shouldn't be worried about..." Lightning's finger pointed in the direction of her sister. "You should be more concerned with her company.

When Snow clenched his fist in anger, Fang raised a hand.

"I know, I know, you want to go over there and show them the business," Fang began. "But, look at our girls. They're having the time of their lives. We'll regret it if we went over there and cleaned house. Let them have their fun. And besides, they're on their way back now."

Serah and Vanille made their way back to the table, with a couple of men following suit. Death glares from Fang, Lightning and Snow prevented them from advancing any further.

"Honey!" cried Serah, wrapping her arms around her husband. "Once again you come to my rescue!"

Snow stared at the red blush on Serah's face and looked questioningly at Lightning, who shrugged her shoulders.

"She didn't have much," Lightning lied.

"That's not true!" exclaimed a loud Vaniile, who was bent over the table, her hips moving to the DJ's music. "She drank more than all of us!"

Lightning tried to avoid the look of disappointment coming from Snow.

Serah tugged at Snow's jacket. "Baby!" she cried. "I want ice cream! Lots and lots of ice cream!" she turned around to look at the others and began to gasp in surprise.

"What the hell is with you?" asked Fang, crossing her arms.

"I-ice c-cream..." Serah was five years old all over again. She pointed at Lightning, her finger shaking.

"Strawberry."

She pointed at Fang. "Chocolate."

The she pointed at Vanille. "Vanilla."

Serah turned back to Snow and shook him violently. "I want Neapolitan!"

Snow gently pushed his woman aside. "Okay, okay, geez. We'll stop at the ice cream parlor on the way home."

Serah happily jumped up and down. "Yay! Claire, are you having ice cream with us?"

Lightning shook her head. "I am going to go straight home. I think I need some rest."

Snow nodded. "Okay. I'll drop you off first."

The group left the club, leaving many broken hearts behind.

Lightning stumbled into the house, still feeling very tipsy from earlier. Fumbling for the light switch, she cursed to herself and gave up on the fifth try. She was going straight to bed anyway, so she would follow the shadows of the stairs and hope for the best.

Hope. That boy was so cute. Serah and Fang teased her in the car about him finding her drunk, and perhaps taking advantage of her. This was preceded by her sister flipping up her skirt for some odd reason. Serah did weird things when she wasn't 'herself'. Was Lightning 'herself' right now? She did not know, or care, since she was thinking about laying in her own bed as well as Hope's fingers wandering down her body...

No, don't do that, she reminded herself. No fantasizing about Hope, no matter how drunk she was. Wait, she wasn't drunk, was she? If she was, would she be able to walk up these stairs? Lightning was a big girl, and could handle herself! She help raised Serah and she was now raising Hope! That was her job! She had to raise those younger than her, those who couldn't fend for themselves. She had to teach them about survival! She was Lightning! Quick to strike down her foes, never needing to do it twice! She was to be respected and feared! If Hope didn't respect her, then she would make him fear her. Just then images of the silver haired boy tied up in her basement downstairs began crossing her mind. He always managed to go into her 'weapons locker' downstairs without her permission, so maybe it was time for him to see how those weapons can be used?

Light, you're so devious when you want to be!

The pink warrior giggled to herself as she entered her room. An odd feeling passed over her after she closed the door. There was something different about her room; she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Maybe she rearranged her furniture earlier. She couldn't quite remember. Oh well, it's sleepy time!

As Lightning moved closer to her bed, she gasped when she saw that someone was already in it. Hope was lying on his back, the covers wrapped around him. As much as she wanted to be angry, he looked so adorable sleeping there so soundly. There was no way she could possibly wake him. She's never seen him look so peaceful...so innocent. A wave of guilt begins to wash over her as she remembered the events from earlier. She shouldn't be so hard on the boy, especially since he was so cute!

Lightning climbed into the bed to get a better look at him. Hovering over his body, she softly stroked his face. She remembered last Halloween, Hope dressed up as a sheep. There wasn't any more costumes his size at the costume shop and he was going to be late to the party if he didn't pick something out immediately. He looked so irresistible in his sheep outfit, the white fluff contrasting well with his hair. Lightning and Fang forced him to make sheep sounds the whole time, with Vanille and Serah squealing in joy every time he did.

"Baa, baa." Lightning emulated the sounds softly as her face closed in. His tender lips were so perfectly parted from one another. It was like she could place her own and it would fit so easily...

Lightning kissed Hope softly, slipping a bit of her tongue for good measure. She kissed him a couple of more times, before the boy began to stir in his sleep. She didn't want to wake him, so she stopped. Lifting the covers a bit, she saw that he was shirtless.

Damn, she thought to herself while observing his athletic body. That track and field was really paying off! Looking down, she saw that he was only in his boxers. Little did sleeping Hope know that there was something sticking out of the boxers for Lightning's viewing pleasure?

What do we have here? Lightning thought to herself, as she bit her lip. She saw the bulge plenty of times, but she didn't really know what it looked like...until now.

No being able to contain herself much longer, Lightning brought her head down towards the one thing in the world she wanted the most.

Hope was having the most interesting dream. He was eating strawberry ice cream, his favorite kind. He happily licked away while holding the chocolate flavored cone. As he licked the ice cream, he felt like more and more was dripping on his lips...as if the ice cream was licking him! The cone disappeared, and he begins to feel something warm and moist, as if he was receiving a hot towel massage from Palompolum. Hope relentlessly shifted his posture as he couldn't quite get a grip on what was making him feel like this. It was the best feeling in the world, and the sensations were becoming more and more prominent until they begged for some form of release.

"Ah!" Hope cried out as he shook himself out of his slumber. Through dazed eyes, he saw nothing but pink. As his vision came back into focus, he saw blue eyes accompanied the pink.

"Light?" Hope stared closely at the woman, who was panting rather heavily, her mouth wet for some kind of reason. Her eyes were like that of a killer, but she didn't seem to show signs of lethal intent.

"What's going-" before Hope could say anything, Lightning pushed him back down on his back and climbed on top. Feeling the pressure of the lower part of her body on his, he begin to realize what it was that woke him up, and what the wetness was around her mouth. Hope tried to say something, but Lightning put a finger to his lips. She smelled like alcohol.

"Hope Estheim," she cooed with sultry eyes. "You wanted me so bad, well now here's your chance..." she sank into him as she leaned forward into his ear, making Hope react with a soft moan. "Show me just how much of a man you are..."

Tonight, Hope was going to be 'turned out' by Lightning, and there was nothing he could do about it. Then again, he didn't want to do anything about it.

A/N: Ha! I had to tease you guys a little, but thanks for the wait. I'm trying to separate Hope and Lightning's encounters in little 'skirmishes' as I like to call them, instead of a 'long drawn-out battle'. Things get even more hot and dramatic next chapter! And again, thanks for the support! :)