Final Fantasy XIII: Cursed Past

Chapter 15 of my Final Fantasy XIII story, enjoy.

Reviews

SquallRocks: Thanks, glad you are enjoying it, here's the next chapter.
Beloved Nightmare Union: Thanks, glad you are enjoying it, Lightning will get tangled with PSICOM again, but I'm not saying how.
The Light to all Fears: Thanks, glad you are enjoying it, well, I have something in store for Hope and Lightning, just wait and see.
Lightarcana: Thanks, glad you are loving it, here's the next chapter, enjoy.
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Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XIII belongs to Square Enix.

Chapter 15: Confusion

It was Monday 9 August 2 APW. Hope walked into the school; the others were waiting for him when he arrived.

"Hey," Noel greeted cautiously Hope nodded and gave a weak smile, "Hey guys."

There was an awkward silence for a while until finally Serah asked.

"So, um...How's your Mom, is she...?" She hesitated but Hope smiled, "She's getting better, they don't know how long it'll take but she's gonna make a complete recovery."

The others smiled, "That's great," Snow reassured him, before they could say anything else the bell rang and they headed to their first class, Lightning heading for English with Snow, Serah and Noel. As they arrived she spotted a girl outside the class with the others, she had seen her several times since school had started back up but never paid attention to her, yet she seemed to stand out now. The girl looked to be around the same age as Serah, she had short blonde hair and blue eyes, she was dressed in a denim knee length skirt, a grey tank-top; black jacket and brown boots that reached halfway up her shins. Lightning narrowed her eyes, wondering why the girl stood out now and then finally realized that the girl had been watching them as they were standing talking before the bell rang, she had been watching them, or more specifically Hope, very closely.

What's her problem?' Lightning pondered before shaking her head, 'It's none of my business, so she was watching us, big deal.'

Despite telling herself this she felt strange, like the fact the girl had been watching Hope intensely made her some kind of threat.

'I'm being ridiculous, focus on the day ahead Light,' She told herself, concentrating as she entered the class, the girl entered ahead of them and as Lightning looked at the back of her head she pondered on who the girl actually was, she didn't even know her name.

English and History passed fairly quickly; Lightning remained focused although she was still confused about the girl. She was also pondering her own strange feelings, especially towards Hope.

'It's strange, I can't believe this feeling, could I really have feelings for Hope,' She shook her head, 'No, that's ridiculous, even if I did, I couldn't do anything about it...I shouldn't, Hope's safer if I just stay his friend, but I feel so...'

Her distracted thoughts were cut off when she heard Hope's voice, "Light, you okay?"

She shook herself out of her trance, "I'm fine thanks," She replied, embarrassed that Hope had caught her off guard. They were outside their Physics class; none of the others were here yet.

"So, Hope...How's your day been so far?" She asked concerned. Hope shrugged, "Not bad, nobody but you guys know what's happened so they've not been bothering me."

Lightning nodded and then Hope spoke again, "I'm gonna go see Mom when school's over." Lightning smiled and then offered, "Do you want me to drive you to the hospital."

Hope looked up at her smiling, "I don't wanna waste your time Light," She shook her head, "Really it's fine."

He smiled and nodded, "Thanks, that'd be great."

Lightning nodded and the other students began arriving, including Maqui and Lightning noticed, the blonde girl from her English class. The girl smiled as she glanced over and saw Hope. Lightning glared shaking her head, 'Seriously what is up with her, that's the second time she's done that.'

Before Lightning could ponder the strange feeling of anger that rose in her chest when she thought about the girl possibly looking at Hope with the intention of flirting, even though Hope seemed to be oblivious.

'Get a grip Lightning,' She told herself harshly, 'Focus on what you're doing.'

With that she sat down in her usual seat next to Hope, the girl luckily was sitting on the other side of the room so Lightning wasn't distracted.

Finally it was lunch time and despite Lightning's best efforts she was aware of the blonde girl staring at Hope for nearly the entire Physics class and could feel her eyes on him as they walked to the cafeteria. Lightning's strange feelings were growing stronger and she had to force herself to keep calm. Finally when they sat down at their usual table the girl finally turned away and headed to her group of friends, Lightning relaxed slightly and fully focused on the others.

"Hey, you guys," Vanille suddenly piped up, "This Saturday is Fang's birthday, I'm arranging a surprise party and I'm gonna need your help organizing it and everything."

The group smiled and readily agreed, Serah looked over at Lightning and noticed the way she seemed to be lost in thought, looking at Hope, she smirked and then decided to get her sisters full attention.

"Light, what do you think?"

Lightning, who had heard the conversation jumped and quickly recovered before answering, "Sure, sounds great."

Serah smiled, 'She can deny it all she wants, she's attracted to Hope, maybe she just needs a slight nudge in the right direction.'

As she thought this she smirked over at Snow who returned her smirk and nodded. Lunch passed with Vanille doing most of the talking, planning out Fang's party, Lightning's phone vibrated, it was a text from Cid, she opened it and read.

Suspicions confirmed, kidnappers were indeed PSICOM, investigating possibilities for their return, will inform when more information is received.

She sighed and nodded before shutting her phone and putting it back in her pocket, just as she thought, now the question still stood, how had PSICOM returned after their destruction. Luckily none of the others had noticed so she was able to act as if nothing had happened, after the bell rang they headed for their next class.

Lightning rolled her eyes when she noticed the blonde girl was in their Maths class too.

'Just why am I so aware of her...She's not a threat, what is happening to me?'

Lightning sighed and focused instead on what she had to do for the class. The rest of the day passed fairly quickly and soon she was driving Hope to the hospital to visit his Mother.

"So Hope, I take it no one else knows about what happened?" She asked, he nodded, "I didn't really see the point in telling anyone."

Lightning nodded and the rest of the trip was spent in slightly awkward silence until they arrived in the hospital. They left the car and headed inside and headed for Nora's ward, as they approached the door a doctor came out.

"Ah, Master Estheim, welcome." He greeted, Hope nodded, "Hi, how's Mom doing?"

The doctor smiled, "Actually she's awake, you can go see her right now."

Hope's eyes widened and he rushed into the room, Lightning followed him. Nora was awake and sitting upright in her hospital bed, she smiled as her son walked into the room.

"Mom?" Hope exclaimed rushing over and embracing her. Nora smiled and returned the embrace, "Hope, hey...you okay?"

Hope nodded and then lowered his head, "Mom...Dad is..."

Nora also lowered her head, "I know." Hope sighed, "I'm sorry Mom."

Nora shook her head sadly; Lightning sighed and left the room leaving the two to recover from their loss, she sat outside the room with her head bowed, remembering her feelings of loss when her parents died.

'At least Hope still has his Mother,' She thought to herself with a sad smile.

She decided she would wait and give Hope a lift home and then head home herself, she was also still pondering the mystery of that blonde girl, wondering who she was and why she felt so wary around her.

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