Final Fantasy XIII: Cursed Past

Chapter 13 of my Final Fantasy XIII story, enjoy.

Reviews

Beloved Nightmare Union: Some of her past has been revealed yeah, but most won't be revealed for a while yet. The war actually began fifteen years prior to the story and ended two years before, Lightning joined the war at age seven, two yearsa after her parents deaths, so yes, she was and still is a child soldier.
TheWarrior12: Yup, not exactly a new mystery, more like the others finding out about her nightmares.
Lightarcana: Thanks, glad you are enjoying it, here's the next chapter.

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XIII belongs to Square Enix.

Chapter 13: Tragedy Strikes

The following morning Lightning was the first to awaken; she got out of her sleeping bag and slipped through to the kitchen before sitting down at the table. She sighed and leaned her head back.

'So, now they all know about my nightmares,' She let her mind wander, 'At least no one but Fang knows the full story, I'd like it to stay that way.'

Just then her soldier sixth sense told her someone else was in the room; she looked around and saw it was Hope.

"Oh, hey Light," He greeted, surprised to see her, she smiled, "Hey, you're up early."

She glanced at the clock it was seven in the morning, the longest she had slept since the end of the war and she knew it was thanks to her brief but helpful conversation with the boy standing in front of her. Hope shifted uncomfortably for a moment and then finally spoke.

"Say Light, I never found out, what happened to Hiroshi after…" he trailed off as Lightning's eyes clouded over at the mention of that incident, she shrugged and answered.

"From what I heard he's been imprisoned, I don't know how long."

Hope nodded and a few minutes later the others woke up, once everyone was fully dressed again they all prepared to talk about their plans for the day.

While they were talking the phone rang, Hope hurried over and answered it.

"Hello?" The voice at the other end wasn't one he recognized.

"Hope Estheim?" He was puzzled and responded hesitantly, "Yeah."

"I'm calling from the hospital; your parents were involved in a car crash."

It was like a punch to the gut, Hope's entire body sagged and he had to grab the nearby counter to keep himself upright, he could feel the others eyes watching him. He swallowed and finally found the courage to ask, "Are…Are they going to be alright?"

The silence that greeted his question was not encouraging, until finally the doctor answered.

"Your Mother has been brought in with serious injuries she is in a coma…Your Father was declared dead at the scene."

There it was again that sickening feeling like a punch to the gut, his breathing came out ragged and he felt tears stinging his eyes.

"I…I'll be right…there."

He hung up and turned to see the others staring at him, he swallowed and told them about what happened, there were gasps of horror and sadness, almost immediately Lightning offered to drive him, he agreed and soon they were out of the house and driving away to the hospital.

It was like a dream, he felt oddly detached as he walked down the corridor to the mortuary. Like he was watching what was happening but not involved after being asked to identify his Father's body, which he did so, still feeling detached. Finally he was allowed to go to his Mother's hospital room; Lightning never left his side for a moment, even going into the mortuary with him while the others waited outside. Lightning watched Hope's face, seeing so many familiar expressions, the deep sorrow in his eyes, the blankness in his face, the way he opened his mouth and then closed it again, as if he couldn't figure out the words. His brain was still trying to process everything that had just happened at once, and he couldn't keep up, leading to a feeling of detachment and disorientation. The full impact of it hadn't hit him yet, that was when the tears and sorrow would start, he knew this well, it was the same as her…the same as Serah when their parents were killed. She watched as Hope collapsed into the chair next to the bed, she stood and watched as slowly it all came crashing down. He finally burst into tears, his face in his hands as he cried. Lightning walked over and, unsure, she laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Hope…"

"L-Light, I…I…"

She shook her head, "It's alright, I know…I know what you're going through, I know what it's like."

He snorted and looked up at her, "Yeah right," He snapped.

Lightning sighed, she knew Hope was hurting so she didn't respond to the pain his comment caused, instead, she took a deep breath and explained, sympathized.

"Hope, you've lost your Father, you're Mother still has a chance…Serah and I are orphans," She choked as the memories came back to her; Hope stared at her in shock at this revealed truth.

She swallowed and continued, "They were killed by PSICOM soldiers during the war…I was five, Serah was only four."

It was Lightning's turn to cry and hope hurried over to her.

"Light, I'm sorry…I had no idea."

Lightning shook her head, "Nobody but Serah does know…now they all do."

Outside the room Serah was crying against Snow's chest as he held her, Lightning's revelation had also brought her memories of the incident to the surface. Vanille and Noel were watching her sadly; Fang had bowed her head and closed her eyes, controlling her emotions as much as possible.

Just then Lightning's phone vibrated.

'Damn, talk about bad timing,' She thought bitterly.

"Light?"

"I'm okay Hope, go, stay with your Mom, I'll be back, this is urgent." She told him, he nodded and headed back to the chair.

Lightning left the room, nodded to the others, gave Serah a sympathetic smile and then answered to the phone.

"What is it?" She remarked tersely.

"I heard what happened Lightning," Cid said, still businesslike. "I need you to separate your personal life and your work, especially for now."

Lightning sighed, "Okay, what is it?"

"There have been a spate of disappearances in Bodhum lately; I need you to investigate the source."

Lightning nodded, she had heard about the recent disappearances but did not see how it involved her.

"Why are you asking me?" She questioned him, Cid paused and then revealed, "We have reason to believe that there is some well-organized group behind this, we'll need someone with your skills to shut them down."

Lightning sighed, "Alright, I'll take care of it, but the second I'm done…I'm coming back to the hospital."

Cid agreed and Lightning hung up. She headed back over to the room where Nora was being kept and found the others still outside.

"I have to go, something important has come up," She said to the others.

They didn't question her, they knew better now, Fang seemed to already know what was going on and nodded, Lightning left and hurriedly drove home to pick up her Blazefire Sabre before heading to carry out the mission.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.