Final Fantasy XIII: Cursed Past

Chapter 25 of my Final Fantasy XIII story, enjoy.

Reviews

The Light to all Fears: Thanks, glad you are enjoying it, yeah I thought having Hope kidnapped to would make it more interesting, I suppose I could have but I didn't think of that at the time.

Whistlewind Wolf: Cruel and sick as he is Hope is still a civilian, Lightning doesn't condone killing civilian's. She didn't as Serah was having an outburst, even if she had said that Serah still wouldn't have stopped.

Lightarcana: Yeah, he certainly is, he's sick and twisted, glad you are enjoying it :)

Beloved Nightmare Union: Thanks, glad you are enjoying it, I'm actually overwhelmed, didn't think I'd get this much support. Actually she couldn't have used her magic or Odin, remember the secrecy clause in her contract with the Guardian Crops. Also Sazh's connections are actually higher up than Amodar. Yeah, Lightning's rape is now out in the open, it was horrific for her.

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XIII belongs to Square Enix.

Chapter 25: Making Up

The following day Hope woke up and saw Lightning, already awake, she smiled as he sat up.

"Hey." She greeted, he smiled and returned the greeting.

He quickly got dressed and joined her in the kitchen, after looking through a few cupboards she sighed.

"Great," She muttered, Hope looked at her, confused, "What's wrong?"

"The only food we have for breakfast needs to be cooked." She explained, Hope looked at her confused and she shifted uncomfortably, "Serah, always handled the cooking."

He nodded, understanding, "If you want I could show you." He offered.

She looked at him surprised, "You know how to cook?"

"Yeah, my Mom taught me," He explained before laughing, "Seriously you should all the other Mother's in Palumpolum talking about her."

Lightning looked even more confused so Hope explained, "They're envious of her, since she's the best cook in Palumpolum."

Lightning nodded smirking and joined Hope as they began preparing breakfast. As they worked Hope thought about Lightning's scars.

'She's so self-conscious of them, she doesn't want people seeing them if she can help it.' He pondered, 'I mean, the times she has shown them without worrying about it, the first time was when we finally got together and that was because she knew I was fascinated with seeing her like that, so strong yet, vulnerable at the same time.'

Lightning looked up at him, noticing his daydreaming, "Hope, what next?"

He jolted out of his thoughts and continued to help her, his thoughts continued at the back of his mind.

'The only other time she willingly let people she her scars was when Alyssa was trying to seduce me with those God-awful clothes,' He internally shuddered at the memory, 'That time, she did it to prove a point.'

He decided it would be best not to bring up the issue unless he really had too and completely focused on helping Lightning cook breakfast.

They had just finished when there was a knock at the door, Lightning hurried over to answer it, it was Serah and Snow. Almost as soon as the door was open Serah threw herself at Lightning, hugging her tightly.

"Light, I'm so sorry, I…I didn't mean to…"

Lightning shook her head and replied, "No Serah, you shouldn't be apologizing, it's me, and I'm sorry, I never should've yelled at you."

Hope and Snow watched the happy scene as the sisters reconciled. Finally Lightning looked up at Snow.

"Thanks, for keeping her safe." She said, Snow smirked and replied, "Oh, that had to difficult for you."

Lightning rolled her eyes, "Don't push it."

Snow just laughed and all four of them enjoyed the breakfast Lightning had prepared with Hope's help. Finally, after breakfast Snow and Hope left and returned to their homes. After clearing everything away Lightning told Serah about the lack of food and they both headed off to go shopping.

As they drove Serah glanced over at Lightning and then sighed.

"Light, I know I've been going through a difficult time because of what Hiroshi did but, I still shouldn't have said what I did."

"It's fine Serah, I already told you that," Lightning replied, she paused and then added, "But that's not all on your mind is it?"

Serah nodded and then continued, "Your nightmares, you have them constantly, because you were raped, right?"

Lightning swallowed nervously and her eyes clouded as she remembered that dark chamber where she had been mercilessly tortured. Finally she nodded.

"Yeah, it was the same time I got all those scars, and I wasn't just raped once, but several times."

Serah felt the tears in her eyes as she heard this, "Oh God, Light, I'm so sorry."

Lightning shook her head, "It's fine, don't worry about it." But Serah shook her head, "Listen, Light, I've been seeing a councillor about what happened to me, maybe you should see him too, maybe he can help."

Lightning shrugged, "Maybe, I'll think about it." Serah smiled and nodded, "That's all I ask."

By the time they finished they had arrived at the shops and got out of the car and headed inside.

They headed in and as they were buying more food they heard their names being called. They turned and saw Fang and Vanille approaching them. They smiled and greeted their friends and continued to walk around for a while, mostly just window shopping, before finally walking to the nearest fast-food restaurant and taking their seats. As they ate they chatted about school, Lightning and Serah told them about the incident with Hiroshi, Lightning could tell Fang already knew, having likely heard it from Cid. However it was as Vanille had gone to place the empty food containers in the garbage that something happened. One of the guys who had been in the restaurant approached her.

"Hey babe, you know if you're bored hanging out with you can come hang with me" He remarked in what he obviously thought was a suave voice.

Vanille rolled her eyes, "Sorry, not interested, I already have someone." The boy smirked, "Oh yeah, well I don't see him, c'mon, he doesn't have to know."

By this time Fang had stood up and was approaching the guy, Vanille saw this and smirked, "When did I say it was a guy." The boy looked confused, "What's that supposed to mean."

"She means back off, she's dating me," Fang cut in with a smirk as the boy spun around, eyes wide.

He stuttered several times before turning back and heading back over to his friends who were laughing at his misfortune. Fang, Vanille, Lightning and Serah all left the restaurant laughing and, still laughing, headed home, their problems resolved for the time being.

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