Review thanks:

ben4kevin: Hope you enjoy the reconnecting. It's the last part of the chapter!

HrMajesty: Thank you. I'm glad you are enjoying the story.

thewhitespirit: No worries their's stuff left!

Lazy Gaga: You're right there's alot left and it is going to get heavy and dark! Especially the last part of the story (evil laugh)

rebirth-flame: I also enjoy the angsty fics. You'll get a short break but it will pick up again. Trust me. Especially when Alyssa -cough-cough- I forgot about the Dreadnoughts! Thanks for the reminder I can use that :)

AN: Real author's note after the chapter. Please read and review. Enjoy!

Chapter 17: Reunions

When Noel woke again the sun was peeking through the shutters of the closed window and the once occupied chair was now vacant. He knew that Fang and Vanille hadn't left yet as he could hear them talking on the other side of the door. He glanced down at Hope who was still cuddled up against his side; the smaller man was laying more on him than the actual bed.

Noel ran his hand through Hope's silky hair and smiled when he mumbled something and cuddled closer. He would have liked nothing more than to go back to sleep and spend the rest of the day cuddling with Hope but he knew he couldn't. Alyssa was out there somewhere and she said she was after Hope. He needed to talk to Fang and Vanille. See if they knew anything or if they could help.

As carefully as he could Noel he started to maneuver himself from under Hope. The last thing he wanted to do was wake Hope up. Noel knew how the smaller man needed his rest. His efforts were in vain though as Hope opened his eyes and blinked owlishly at him.

"Noel?" Hope asked his voice horse and laced with confusion.

"Hey there," Noel said as he once again ran his hands through Hope's hair. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay. Really tired and have a headache," Hope mumbled sleepily as he leaned into Noel's touch. Noel frowned. He did not like the fact that Hope had a headache. He had too many of those back in his nightmare.

"How bad is your headache?" Noel asked trying to hide how that worried him.

"Not too bad," Hope said with a frown obviously catching onto how upset he was. "What's wrong?"

"How much do you remember?" Noel asked.

"We were coming home when…we were attacked by Alyssa! What happen? Are you alright?" Hope asked as he bolted up. He then began frantically rubbing his hand over Noel's chest obviously looking for injuries.

"I'm fine. She didn't hit me with that spell. She hit you," Noel said as he gently grabbed Hope's hands to stop him. Normally he would have liked something like that but he could tell that Hope was upset and he still had the image of Hope as a child in his mind.

"So you're really alright?" Hope asked looking at him intently.

"I'm fine Hope," Noel was quick to reassure him. "You were the one that was hurt. You really don't remember anything after that."

"No," Hope said after a moment. Noel let out a sigh. He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. "Why? What happened?"

"It's a long story," Noel told him not sure if he wanted to tell Hope about his nightmare. He didn't want to upset the man more than he already was. "Listen I can tell you're still tired. Why don't you get some rest and I'll make you something to eat. We can talk after."

"Okay. Are you sure you're alright?" Hope asked as he gave him a skeptical look.

"I am now. I 'll be right back," Noel said as he placed a chaste kiss on Hope's forehead and then left leaving a bewildered Hope behind. When Noel entered the main room of the house he wasn't surprised to see both women sitting on the couch.

"You're both awake I take it?" Fang asked him.

"Yeah," Noel told them as he made his way into the kitchen.

"Can I see him?" Vanille asked hesitantly.

"I…let me warn him first. If you just walk in there it will freak him out," Noel said as he headed back towards the bedroom.

"Why?" Vanille asked with a frown.

"Because," Noel said as he hesitated in front of the bedroom door, "he never thought that he would see any of you again."

"Oh," Vanille said looking even more upset. Noel then walked into the bedroom to find Hope sitting up in bed reading a book.

"You're suppose to be resting," Noel scolded.

"And I thought that you were making something to eat," Hope said as he put the book to the side.

"I was but…" Noel said and then stopped not sure how he should continue.

"But," Hope pressed.

"There are some friends that want to see you," Noel told him.

"What friends?" Hope asked curiously looking just like he did when he was young.

"You can come in now," Noel shouted instead of answering the other man's question.

The door slowly opened to reveal Fang and a nervous looking Vanille. Hope's eyes went wide at the sight of him. He opened and closed his mouth a few times like he was going to say something but no sound came out.

"Hi Hope," Vanille said as she took a hesitant step forward.

"Are they real or am I seeing things?" Hope asked Noel instead of answering Vanille.

"They're real," Noel told Hope with a smile.

Before either of them had time to say anything else Vanille had flung herself at Hope and was hugging him fiercely. Hope hugged her back just as hard. Even though Noel felt a small amount of jealousy he knew that Hope needed this so he walked towards the door and left with Fang following.

"Don't you want to visit too?" Noel asked the woman once they were in the living room.

"Of course I do but those two always had a special bond," Fang told them. Noel peaked into the room and saw the other two were talking quietly. They were still hugging and he could tell by the way Hope's shoulders were shaking that he was crying.

"I need to make him…or all of us something to eat," Noel said as he walked into the kitchen with Fang following him once again.

"So how's Hope doing?" Fang asked him.

"You mean how's he doing with the nightmare or how he's doing in general?" Noel asked her as he searched for something to make. Since they hadn't been home there really wasn't much. They hadn't been hunting for a while and the garden had been neglected. It looked like it would be instant meals.

"With everything I guess," Fang said with a wave of her hand. "We didn't have a chance to talk before…"

"I do have some questions to ask about Alyssa and what she did to Hope with that nightmare," Noel cut her off.

"That's a complicated question with a complicated answer. It's something that you both need to hear," Fang explained a slight edge to her voice.

"Fair enough," Noel said as he began to boil some water.

"Now about Hope. How's he doing? How'd you two get together?" Fang said with a smirk.

"As for how he's doing..." Noel trailed off. He wasn't sure what exactly to tell her. Hope hadn't had the best of luck since he arrived. The only good thing that happened to him was them getting together. Or at least assumed Hope thought it a good thing.

"He doesn't remember the nightmare…" Noel started to say when Fang cut him off.

"What was his nightmare?" Fang asked quietly.

"He dreamed that he was a l'cie when he was little. Just after you all arrived here but…all the others turned into cie'th. You managed to protect Hope and kill them but you died in the process," Noel told her unable to forget that look on young Hope's face when he told him that story.

"Poor kid," Fang said with a sigh. "We thought for sure that you were going to lose you two a few times. You guys were out for almost three days."

"I thought that too. The nightmare fought back. Anytime he would come close to remembering it would cause him pain. I hated it that he was hurting and there was no way to help. I mean he's already been through so much. He didn't need that or the fight I assume is ahead of us," Noel said feeling all of his frustrations starting to rise to the surface.

"Things have been rough for him?" Fang asked.

"That's putting it mildly," Noel said through gritted. "I mean he shows up here half dead and the same age as I last saw him even though it's been five years for me. He finally recovered from those injuries when he got attacked by a young behemoth. Which gave him a broken arm and a new set of scars!

"Not only was he dealing with those physical injuries he was heartbroken. It hurt him that he would never be able to see you two or any of the others again. Not to mention that he felt abandoned. I mean everyone just disappeared on him. It wasn't so much your or Vanille's fault as you didn't really have a choice or Lightning either.

"Lightning though. She hurt him too. I mean she sent everyone else dreams asking for help but not Hope. He thought it was because he was weak. That she had no faith in him. Her opinion matters a lot to him.

"Then he did all of this stuff to save everyone and never being able to see them again. And he knew that when he traveled in time to. He knew he couldn't go back to his time but he didn't it anyway.

"Now all of this stuff with Alyssa. Can't we just take a break from all of this fighting. There's only so much a person can handle," Noel ranted without taking a breath. He had been keeping that pent up for a very long time.

"Feel better now?" Fang asked him.

"Yeah, I do actually," Noel told her.

"I know Hope's been through a lot. He came and talked to me and Vanille all the time. Trust me the others would come and get him if they could," Fang said.

"They aren't, are they?" Noel asked. He wanted Hope to be happy but he didn't want to lose him either.

"No they aren't. Hope is here to stay," Fang said with a smile. Noel nodded and threw in several packs of instants noodles to the now boiling water. "You've become quite attached to him."

"You could say that," Noel muttered as he stirred the noodles.

"You haven't had the easiest life either," Fang said.

"I know but it's different. I mean my life was always hard. I was raised to be a warrior and the world was dying. But Hope…I met him when he was a child and he was just that. A normal kid put in a horrible situation. No one should have to go through something like that and what that nightmare did to him.

"When he was finally starting to beat it he was then afraid that I wasn't real and his goal became to get me home. He was only in that stupid nightmare because he stepped in front of me. Alyssa meant for that spell or whatever it was to hit me. Has Hope always been a self-sacrificing idiot?" Noel explained. It felt good to talk to someone about his problems. At least Fang understood what they were going through.

"Pretty much," Fang said with a shrug. "I mean after he collapsed and had that vision he tried to talk us into leaving him behind."

"I wish he wouldn't do that," Noel said as he took the pot off the burner.

"I know but then he wouldn't be Hope," Fang said.

"You're right. I just don't want to lose him. I can't lose him," Noel said quietly.

"How did you two get together anyway? You never did answer that question," Fang asked with a smirk.

"That…it….I….it just sort of happened. I mean…there's just something special about him. He's got this strength about him yet I want to protect him," Noel explained as he felt his face heat up. "How could I not fall for him?"

"Then I take it that I don't have to warn you not to break his heart or me and Vanille will come after you," Fang said with a smile but her eyes were serious.

"No. I plan on making him happy. He's been through enough," Noel told her. Fang nodded looking pleased.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I didn't save you and Fang," Hope told the woman as he hugged her. He never thought that he would see her again let alone hug her. Part of him was afraid that this was just a dream and that she would disappear like a puff of smoke.

"You have nothing to apologize for," Vanille said her voice gentle yet stern.

"But you two were Crystal for so long," Hope argued.

"It wasn't the first time that we were crystal," Vanille responded.

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Hope muttered as he finally pulled away from the woman so he could look at her.

"It wasn't your fault Hope. We choose that so we could save you and everyone plus it wasn't as bad as the first time. We were aware and we knew when you would visit us," Vanille told him.

"You did," Hope said as he felt his face heat up. He had told them a lot of things. A lot of them embarrassing.

"Yeah. It hurt because you were so lonely and we couldn't talk back to you," Vanille said with a frown, "but that's not the case anymore. You and Noel have become close."

"You could say that," Hope said with a small smile. "I miss Lightning and the others but I don't think that I could give up Noel for them. Noel makes me happy in a way that I have never been before."

"I'm glad. You deserve some happiness," Vanille said with a smile.

"So are you and Fang going to stay or…" Hope started to ask but Vanille frowned. "You can't, can you?"

"No," Vanille said looking upset. "Me and Fang choose a different kind of life."

"I see," Hope sighed. He had to admit that he wasn't surprised. After all Fang and Vanille had turned themselves into Crystal to save them. "You can stay for a while though?"

"For a while," Vanille nodded.

"You know after Noel found me for some reason I knew that you and Fang were alright," Hope told her. "I didn't know how but I did."

"That's because we were the ones that brought you here. Well I did actually. Fang on the other hand went to visit Lightning and everyone else. I wanted to tell you all of this that night but you were out of it and I was tired. Still getting use to this new lifestyle," Vanille explained.

"Thank you for bringing me here," Hope said feeling better than he had in a long time.

"So you and Noel, huh? How did that happen?" Vanille asked looking excited.

"Actually it all started with a fight," Hope started to explain.

"A fight?" Vanille asked cutting him off. Hope nodded.

"We had an argument and then I went off hunting alone. When I came back Noel just kissed me," Hope said once again blushing at the memory.

"Ooo!" Vanille squealed. "You're first kiss!"

"How'd you know?" Hope asked feeling embarrassed.

"You would have told us if you'd been kissed for the first time," Vanille pointed.

"I…" Hope said trying to come up with an argument with that statement and realized that she was right. He would have. "Well it doesn't matter. No one liked me, well liked that anyway, until Noel."

"And that's what makes you so adorable," Vanille said with a giggle as she ruffled his hair.

"What does?" Hope asked now confused.

"I'm not telling," Vanille said as she waved her finger at him. "That's a secret."

"You're as bad as Noel," Hope grumbled. Vanille giggled.

"So things are going well with you two?" Vanille asked.

"I like to think so," Hope told her. He then started to tell her about how his life had been since he arrived here. He knew that Alyssa was still a threat but Vanille wasn't bringing her up so he figured it wasn't urgent at the moment. Besides he knew that if another battle was ahead of them times like this would be very rare.

Sometime later the door opened and Noel and Fang came in each carrying what looked like to be a bowls of noodles. Hope's mouth watered at the smell. It felt like he hadn't eaten in ages. Which it could have been. He wasn't sure exactly what Alyssa had done to him and he didn't want to ruin the comfortable mood by asking. There would be plenty of time to talk about that later.

"We could have come out there," Hope told them.

"You're still recovering," Noel told him with a frown.

"Noel's right kid…" Fang started to say but before she could finish Hope was out of the bed and hugging the woman fiercely. If it wasn't for Noel and Vanille's quick reflexes she would have dropped the bowls she was carrying.

"I missed you," Hope told her.

"I missed you too," Fang said as she hugged him back. "You doing alright?"

"Yeah," Hope said slightly losing his hold.

"Good. Now how about we have a nice dinner and forget about our problems for the night," Fang said as she pulled out of the hug. Hope nodded and sat back down on the bed next to Noel.

"How are you feeling?" Noel asked as he handed over one of the bowls.

"Better. You know me and Vanille could have come out there," Hope said and then took a bite of his food. It was either the best noodles he had ever had or he was that hungry.

"You've been through a lot and you're still recovering," Noel argued.

Hope wanted to argue but with three pairs of eyes looking at him he knew that there was no way that he was going to win that argument so he decided that it would be best not to start it. Instead they talked about happy things. Mostly what him and Noel had been up to. Anytime their relationship was brought about Vanille would giggle and Fang would smirk. The two women brought up their relationship a lot.

Even after they had finished their meal they continued to talk. Hope tried to stay awake but he felt his eyes growing heavy and no matter how hard tried he couldn't keep them open. And so he had fallen asleep.

"Poor kid really was tired," Fang said as she looked down at the sleeping Hope fondly.

"Yeah," Noel said as he played with Hope's hair. Once again the smaller man was laying more in his lap than on the bed. "That nightmare was rough on him." Noel then yawned he was feeling exhausted himself.

"It wasn't easy on you either," Fang told him. "You could use some rest too." Noel was about to say that he was fine but another yawn came out instead.

"I guess some more sleep couldn't hurt," Noel said as he laid down rearranging Hope so his head was resting his chest. "You two aren't going to leave yet, right?"

"No. Like I told you we have some important things that we need to discuss," Fang told him. Noel though was only half listening as he felt sleep pulling at him.

About Kissing…

Hope was playing a quiet game at the kitchen table with Vanille. It had been almost a week since he had woken up from the nightmare spell that Alyssa had put on him. They finally had told him what the spell was but he didn't know what his nightmare was about. It upset him but he didn't press the issue. The problem with Alyssa also hadn't been brought up and Fang and Vanille were still with them. Hope wanted to enjoy this peace while it lasted.

"So where's Fang?" Hope asked. Fang would just disappear for hours at a time and she would never tell anyone when she would leave.

"Searching," Vanille answered simply as she frowned down at the game board. Hope knew that when Fang was 'searching' that meant the she was doing something dealing with the life that they had chosen and Vanille couldn't talk about it.

"And Noel is?" Vanille asked.

"Off hunting, again," Hope said with a sigh. To say that he was frustrated with Noel would be an understatement. The man had been odd ever since he had woken up from that nightmare.

"It there something that you want to talk about?" Vanille offered.

"I don't know if there is. Maybe I'm just reading into things," Hope said. Just then the front door opened and a very dirty Noel walked in looking very pleased with himself.

"We'll be having lobo stakes for dinner to tonight," the man said his grin widening.

"Sounds great," Hope said as he returned the man's smile. Noel nodded.

"Fang just got back and she's butchering it now," Noel said.

"I'm going to go talk to her," Vanille said as she stood up and walked outside a smile on her face.

"I'm going to take a shower," Noel said as he placed a chaste kiss on top of Hope's head and then continued onto the bathroom.

Hope sighed after the bathroom door was closed. Another kiss that wasn't a kiss. Needing to get away Hope got up and also left. He walked outside to see Vanille and Fang talking about something intently. Hope not wanting to bother them walked quietly past or tried to anyway.

"Where are you going?" Fang called out.

"For a short walk," Hope told her.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Vanille said her eyes shining with worry. Hope just barely kept from sighing. He knew it wasn't a good idea to go off alone especially with Alyssa out there somewhere.

"I'm just going over there," Hope said as he pointed. "You'll be able to see me."

"Alright," Fang agreed. "Just don't go any farther than that." Hope waved to show that he had heard and then continued on his way.

Hope frowned as he thought about that non-kiss that Noel had given him. Ever since he had woken up Noel hadn't really kissed him. Sure he got a kiss on his on top of his head, his cheek, his forehead but never his lips. And the kiss had been almost been brotherly. Nothing like the passionate kisses that he had become accustomed to.

Then there was the whole touching thing. He had gotten nothing but hugs and cuddles. Again much like the kisses they were more on the brotherly line than something a boyfriend would do. He was beginning to wonder if Noel still wanted to be with him that way.

"Hope!" someone shouted. Hope recognized it immediately to be Noel. Normally he would have turned around and smiled at the man but at the moment he wasn't in the mood. "What are you doing out here. It's dangerous," Noel panted.

"I needed to think," Hope snipped.

"Have I done something to upset you?" Noel asked sounding upset.

"It's not so much what you have done as what you haven't," Hope said as he turned around to look at the man. It didn't help his mood any to see that Noel was standing there shirtless and his hair was dripping wet. Hope guessed that Noel ran out of the house as soon as he noticed that he was gone.

"I…I don't understand," Noel stammered.

"You never kiss me or hold me anymore…"

"I do…"

"No those don't count! I mean really kiss me. I'm beginning to think that you don't want to be with me anymore," Hope countered.

"That's not it. I do want to be with you," Noel said looking stricken.

"Then what's the problem?" Hope asked not liking how upset Noel looked.

"The nightmare…"

"Did I do something bad there? Did I hurt you?" Hope asked not wanting that to be true. He didn't like that he could have hurt Noel like that.

"What! No! It's just that you were a kid," Noel muttered.

"I was a kid? Just what was this nightmare?" Hope asked. Noel shook his head looking even more upset. Hope then tried to think and finally he knew what this nightmare was. "I was a l'cie and everyone else was dead, am I right?"

"How did you…did you remember it?" Noel asked looking surprised.

"No," Hope said with a shake of his head. "I had that nightmare a lot after…well after everything. I had it even more after everyone left."

"I'm sorry," Noel said as he placed on of those brotherly kisses on the forehead.

"Don't be," Hope said just barely repressing a sigh. "Is that why you don't kiss me anymore? Because of the nightmare and l'cie thing."

"No! I mean you were just a kid," Noel muttered.

"You still me as a child," Hope asked in disbelief.

"Well in the nightmare I took care of you and…ah… do you realize you look exactly the same now as you did back then only you're taller!" Noel shouted as he blushed furiously. Hope looked at the man standing in front of him and shook his head.

Before Noel had time to say anything else Hope flung himself at the man and kissed him furiously. Noel was stiff at first but eventually he started to get into and kiss him back. That's when Hope pulled away. He felt satisfaction when Noel made a sound of protest.

"Come on," Hope said as he grabbed the taller man by the hand and began to pull him back to the house.

"Where are we going?" Noel asked his voice sounding a bit rough. Hope smiled at that.

"To bed…"

"But isn't it a little early to…"

"I never said anything about sleeping," Hope cut the other man off.

"But what about Fang and Vanille?" Noel argued.

"Well if you don't want to finish what we were doing…" Hope said and was pleased when Noel didn't come back with an argument.

"What are you two up to?" Fang asked as they quickly walked past.

"I need to remind Noel of something," Hope told them.

"Oh, I see," Vanille giggled. Hope smiled when Noel blushed.

"Come on bedroom's that way," Hope said as he shoved the other man forward when they were inside. "We have over a week to make up for." Noel hesitated for a moment looking uncertain and Hope was now worried that this wasn't a good idea. If being with him that way made Noel uncomfortable he didn't want to force the other to do something he didn't want to do. They would just take things slow. Noel though finally broke out into a big smile.

"At my lord's command," he said as he gave a dramatic bow. Noel then threw him over his shoulder and carried him the rest of the way to the bedroom. They made sure their bedroom door was closed and locked. Hope knew how Vanille liked to peek.

AN2: Wow! That's the longest chapter I have ever written for this story and it was going to be even longer. There was going to be explanations about Alyssa and Hope's abilities. That's all been moved to the next chapter. Now as for how I ended this chapter. I can't write smut. Just the idea makes me blush. You can use your imaginations as to what they did in that bedroom ;) Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please leave a review!