AN: Thanks to Genis Aurion, ben4kevin, Hatemylife68 for your reviews. I normally won't be putting up chapters this quick but I got a 100 hits :) Yay! So here's chapter 2. I already have chapters 3 & 4 written and I am working on 5. Please leave a review and let me know what you think.

Chapter 2 Falling

When Hope woke up he didn't recognize the room that he was lying in nor did he recognize the brightly colored shirt that he was wearing. He slowly sat up making his chest twinge. When he went to rub it he could feel bandages. At least whoever had found him had taken care of his injures. He just hoped that whoever it was, was a friend. Just about when he was going to explore the door to the room opened. He didn't know if he was surprised or not to see Noel walk in. He did feel himself relax at seeing that it was a friend. Even though his friend looked…different. He was taller, broader, and his hair was longer.

"It's good to see that you're finally up," Noel said with a smile that Hope couldn't quite read.

"Your hair is longer," Hope said then shook his head. He had been thinking it but he hadn't meant to say it. It only made his embracement worse when Noel chuckled.

"Sorry," Noel said as he sat down on a chair that was close to the bed. "It's just that every time that you woke up you said that."

"Every time?" Hope asked not wanting to think about how him commenting on Noel's hair was nothing new.

"You've been in and out of consciousness fighting a fever for three days now," Noel said as he leaned over and put his hand on Hope's forehead. "Still a bit warm but not near as bad as it was."

"Right," Hope said tempted to pull away; he really didn't like anyone in his personal space. "You said I've been here for three days. What happened?"

"I was hoping that you could tell me," Noel said looking slightly surprised. Hope looked at him in confusion. "Hope what is the last thing that you remember?"

"All of the monsters coming through that gate then you took Serah and Mog through the other one. I fought off the monsters for what seemed like ages then…" Hope tried to explain but here his memory got a little fuzzy and then he started to get a headache. "I don't know how to explain it. Time…I guess you could say that it kind of rewound itself. The monsters got sucked back through the gate and Cocoon sort of rose back up as the ground and the pillar fixed themselves. Then the pillar and Cocoon were just gone like they were never there and…" Hope said as his headache intensified.

"Hope what's wrong? Did you see something?" Noel asked a hint of fear in his voice.

"No the opposite. I don't remember," Hope told him as he rubbed his temples.

"Don't force it," Noel said sounding upset and almost angry. Hope looked over him in surprise not understanding why he was so upset. He was worried it was because he was there. Not wanting to upset him further Hope almost didn't want to ask him what was going on but his curiosity got the better of him.

"What's your side of the story?" Hope asked him. Noel seemed to deflate at his question.

"Why don't we discuss that tomorrow. It's a long story and we've talked a lot plus you're still recovering," Noel said as he started to get up. Hope quickly grabbed his hand to stop him.

"Please I need to know. I need to know what happened to the others. To know if they're okay," Hope pleaded. If he didn't find out he wouldn't be able to rest anyway.

"They're fine. They made it home safe," Noel said as he sat back down. Hope then listened as Noel explained what happened to him after he took Serah and Mog through the second gate. Hope felt relief when he heard that Serah and Lightning had made it home but he knew there was something that Noel wasn't saying.

"What aren't you telling me?" Hope asked after he finished. For a brief moment he thought Noel wasn't going to tell him but he shook his head and look resigned.

"Hope for me that happened five years ago. From what Yeul said you should have returned home with the others not shown up in my time," Noel told him.

"Did we save the future?" Hope asked wanting to make sure that everything they had gone through hadn't been for nothing.

"Yes and since Cocoon never fell it's even better than we thought it would be," Noel told him looking worried. "Are you alright?"

"I…I'm tired," Hope told him not sure how he was feeling. He was glad that everyone he cared about had made it home safe and everything they had worked so hard to achieve had panned out but knowing that he would never see them again was heartbreaking.

"Why don't you rest while I make us dome dinner," Noel said as he got up; this time Hope did nothing to stop him.

"I'm not very hungry," Hope told him. Just the idea of food made his stomach roll.

"When was the last time you had a decent meal?" Noel asked almost sounding parental.

"According to you it's been over 200 years," Hope said trying to lightning the mood and even though Noel chuckled it was a hallow laugh.

"All the more reason for you to eat something," Noel pressed.

"Alright," Hope said finally giving in. He was too tired and weary to argue anyway. Once Noel had left Hope laid back down feeling very overwhelmed and very alone.