Hi guys! First of all I'm going to start with two apologies. The first one being that those weird symbols that looked like this: €, yeah… they weren't there when I typed it on my computer, but they kept popping up whenever I tried to edit it. So I just gave up lol. They will not be there this chapter. I forbid it! Hehe anyway, so the second apology is that I've taken a bit of time to update. Yeah… I just like, have been busy and tired and a whole ton of other excuses. But I just finished my studies today, so I'm out for summer! Hurray for that! So I may be updating around every day! Enjoy the chapter!

"She wants to talk you, Light. Trust me. It's real." Lightning shakily grabbed the phone and put it up to her ear.

"Hello?" She mumbled, waiting for a response.

"Lightning?" She heard the person on the other line sniffle and then take in shaky breaths.

"Lightning! Oh my god, Lightning, I've missed you so much, you don't even know-"

"V-Vanille?"

"Yes, I – I know you're probably thinking your insane right now and I know that you must be freaking out but I really want to let you know that I really do love you and miss you a lot and you're an awesome friend even though you scare me and I had to visit you through a dream and I feel really bad about scaring you and I just want to say-"

"Dear God, Vanille, you need to slow down!" Lightning said, wondering why tears were flowing in her eyes. Why was she still smiling if she was crying?

"I – I'm sorry! I just – oh my goodness – I'll be back soon! I'll tell you everything when I get home!" Lightning prevented her hand from shaking as she set the phone down.

Everyone in the room continued to stare in disbelief at her. She finally looked over to Serah and Snow.

"Guys?"

"Mmhmm?"

"Can you go?"

"Why?"

Lightning stood up by then and began pushing Snow out the door, Serah following confusingly.

"L-Light? Hey! What the hell?"
"Snow, just shut up and wait outside."

Lightning stood for a moment after the door slammed.

"Hope." She whispered, walking over to him. He still hadn't spoken since she talked to Vanille.

"Hope. I – " Lightning took in a deep breath and tried to regain herself.

"I…am so… so sorry…"

"Don't mention it."

"No, really, I mean it. I'm sorry I called you crazy behind your back, and I'm sorry I haven't told you about my dream-"

"You had it too, huh?"

"Y-yeah. I had it, Snow had it, apparently you had it. I just wonder if it was real."

"It was." The two of them gasped when they heard a voice that didn't belong to either of them.

"Vanille!"

"Guys…" Vanille's smile was solemn, but had a hint of joy.

Hope's face immediately lightened up and his mouth grew into a grin. He knew it was real.

Lightning ran over to Vanille, hesitating for a moment before hugging her. Hope continued to sit on the floor, his heart warming. He knew he was right. Vanille was back, and they were back at the school. The fal'cie was moving, he wouldn't have to worry about them anymore.

Suddenly, something struck in his mind.

"My brand is gone, Light." Lightning immediately looked back at the silver haired teen, feeling her cheeks warm up. She stepped over to him and looked at both of his wrists.

"Holy crap."

Hope chuckled happily at her reaction and smiled back up at her.

Lightning tilted her head slightly when both of their eyes met each other.

She felt her hands turn to ice and her face warm up even more. Her lips began to tingle and her heart stopped. The pink haired girl felt the strangest feeling in the pit of her stomach as Hope continued to not stray away from her gaze.

"Hey… Light? Do you think – wha?" Hope jumped as Lightning's lips met Hope. She felt a slight disappointment when he didn't kiss back, but her heart longed to continue. There was nothing around her. Everything was perfect. She ran her hand through his silky hair and then finally let go. After staring at the floor for a moment, Light stared back up at Hope.

Hope felt completely awestruck, amazed, in love. He let his eyes pop out of his head and his jaw drop. The innocent teen could feel his cheeks go red.

"Woah. Light. Ning. Farron."

Lightning's head darted over to where the sound had bounced off her ears. Her heart stopped once again, this time out of shock, at the sight of Serah, Snow, and Vanille all staring agape at the sight before them. Snow's mouth forced unintentionally to a minor grin; he crossed his arms and finally looked at Hope, who still was speechless.

Lightning stood up, breathing heavily, accidentally slamming her back into a cabinet.

"Uh. I, um. Heh, uh…" Lightning walked backwards out of the living room then sprinted to the hallway before slamming the door of her room.

"Are... you okay, Hope?" Hope finally managed to close his mouth before bugs came in and pouted. He waited for someone to speak before trying to grin, instead forming a grimace.

"Sorry, kid. Light's a little... yeah."

They all managed to turn back to Vanille, who was smiling wildly, her eyes glistening with sparkles.

"Vanille! It's so amazing to see you!" Serah jumped over to Vanille, squealing and embracing her. Snow joined in and laughed loudly, crushing the petite girls below him. When he finally loosened his grip, the red head turned over to Hope.

"Hey, Hope. It's good to see you again," she said almost in a whisper. Hope smiled slightly and nodded. He wanted to talk to her, but there was this warm feeling inside him that was overtaking his mind.

"I – I need to tell you guys something. Can... can you get Lightning for me?" Vanille asked, staring at her boots.

Serah nodded, making her way down the hall.

Lightning shut the door and leaned her back against it.

I am such a freaking idiot. Why in the hell would I kiss Hope? He's 14! What is wrong with me! Why did I now even realize Snow or Serah came in? Why didn't I realize that Vanille was still there? How did I not notice ANYTHING? And why do I still feel this way?

Lightning overtook her mind with negative thoughts and she threw her schoolbooks around the room. She chucked one towards the window and cracked it. Once she felt satisfied, she finally sunk down on the carpet and hid her face in her hands.

"What. Is. Wrong with me?" she whispered, the sound muffled by her palms. She wiped the tears of anger out her eyes and looked around her room, the slowly beginning to darken and go down. She sat for what felt like no time at all before she heard a quiet knock at the door.

"Light? It's Serah. May I come in?" Lightning nodded, then realized that her sister couldn't see her.

"Yeah."

Serah opened the door carefully, walking over to Lightning.

"Vanille wants to talk to us. Do you want to come out?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because my life is over, Serah."

"What do you mean – Oh... Light, it's not that big of a deal. You love Hope, and-" Lightning tried desperately to avoid herself from jumping. She hoped Serah didn't notice the slight movement.

"And being like a mother to him you kissed him. No big deal. If I was in your position, I'd be snogging him, too!" Serah smiled and placed a hand on Lightning's back.

Lightning smirked slightly at the thought that everyone suspected she was a mother figure to him. Just glad they don't think we're love ducks, or, whatever people call 'em.

Lightning finally lifted herself off the ground again and made her way out into the living room, her sister following close behind.

Vanille greeted them all with a smile and they all sat awkwardly on the couch.

Lightning hesitantly grabbed Hope in her arms at sat down with them, waiting for the tense room to be talkative again.

"Uhm..." Vanille twiddled her thumbs and took a moment before saying her story.

"I need to tell you all something. I'm a seeress. You may have heard that in your dream that you all had, a – and it's true. So I may not be around that much longer, or I may be around much longer. I don't really know. So..." Everyone watched Vanille's eyes fill with tears.

"When I die again, I have no regrets. Trust me. But my advice is that we just continue on with our lives like normal until something happens... Okay?"

The students in the room glanced at each other and waited for something else to happen. NO one knew what to do with the situation given to them.

"Hey, Hope?" Snow turned to Hope, as well as everybody else. Hope nodded.

"I – I'm sorry I didn't believe you." Hope nodded again, and watched Vanille step over to him.

"Hold still," she whispered, placing her hand on his leg. The silverette awkwardly looked to the side to avoid her looks.

"This might sting a little, but you'll feel so much better after." Vanille closed her eyes and let a little glowing light travel from her hand to his leg.

Hope closed his eyes and groaned slightly and the stinging feeling growing inside him. He suddenly felt a sense of warmth and comfort, and his leg feeling stronger again before everything went dark again. But... dark in a nice way...

Lightning stood up when Hope collapsed on the floor, catching his fall and staring up at Vanille, horrified. Serah gasped and Snow stepped forward.

"What did you just do?" Vanille smiled slightly, shaking her head.

"Don't worry, I just healed his leg. I said we were going back to our normal lives, so I guess it would be okay if I healed him, no big deal. It was just a lot to heal, so he may be out for a couple of minutes."

Lightning sighed, crossing her arms.

"What time is it?"

"8:30 - ish." Lightning nodded, and turned toward the window nearest her.

"Does anybody know where Fang is?"

"No, I have no clue. I wonder if she's okay..."

"She was the one who said she's leaving last night, so whatever, I guess."

Snow awkwardly took Serah's arm and made her way out of the dorm room.

"I... guess I'll see you guys in class tomorrow?"

"Mmhmm."

"Okay... see you guys later."

As soon as Snow shut the door Lightning's eyes gravitated towards Vanille again.

"I forgot to say this..."

"What?" Vanille asked, her green orbs questioning.

"I'm sorry you're a seeress, it must... it must be tough, huh?"

"Not really. As long as we keep our future in order it shouldn't be a problem. Again, going on with our normal lives, remember?"

"Yeah, I know, it's gonna be hard. You know, with everything happening around here..."

"I guess..."

"Hey... does anyone else know about the whole fal'cie thing?" Vanille's eyes widened.

"Hell, yeah, Light! There were like 45 kids who became l'cie from a couple days ago. When I was in that place... I can't really explain it... I guess I could call it heaven! When I was there… I could see everything after the caves. My mind... it traveled back to the school. I saw tons of students collapsing, and the sky getting darker, and there was screaming... it wasn't really a pleasant sight."

"What exactly happened while we were gone in those caves?"

"Well, the teachers began to realize what was happening. Everyone started screaming and coming to all the classrooms to tell them what was going on. So all the teachers came out, and people were crying, while some looked weak, and... almost like zombies. They were just staring at their brands. Not the coolest sight, I guess. The headmaster gathered everyone in the giant room in the center of the school. You know, the one that Snow likes to play basketball at?

"Well, anyway, they started doing roll call, and they counted all the people who were missing. It was around 20 people, and a lot of that list was you guys. Someone said they saw Snow with Hope, and he was dead, and another person said Lightning almost killed them with her car. Yeah, I remember that… so, anyway, after that everyone just kind of went on with life. A lot of people are trying to ignore the fact that they're a l'cie, and trying to ignore their focus, which really does scare me."

"...Lightning?" Lightning's head immediately shot over to Hope when she heard is voice.

"Hey," she whispered, pushing his silver bangs out of his face. "How's your leg?"

Hope blinked a couple of times before he cocked his head to the side and looked down. After waiting a moment, he stood up on his uninjured leg. He went to step on the other and felt a strange tingling sensation before letting his leg give in. He felt Light grab onto his shoulder suddenly, and he straightened himself up.

"Wow... it doesn't hurt anymore. It doesn't hurt, anymore, Light!" Lightning smiled and watched his eyes droop suddenly.

"Hey... I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, so... can I go?" Lightning and Vanille nodded simultaneously and watched Hope rub his eyes and slip down the hall.

The two girls left in the room met each other's eyes. Vanille was grinning wildly, her eyes sparkling.

"What...?" Lightning asked, raising her eyebrow. Vanille continued to smile brightly, then wrapped her arm around her.

"Hope is so cute! It's ridiculous, really, that kid." Lightning let the awkward silence grow; she couldn't help but smirk at the thought of him.

"Awww, Claire... I think you like him – "

"Oerba Yun Fang, what the hell – "

"Just a little bit, Light! Just a little bit – "

"W – what do you mean I like H- Hope – "

"Psh... nevermind... But I think he likes you, too." Vanille chuckled to herself and walked towards the door.

"I'll see ya tomorrow, m'kay, Miss Farron?"

"Yeah, whatever..."

Vanille rolled her eyes playfully, and turned the doorknob to the door, tossing her room key up in the air and catching it.

"Vanille. Wait."

Vanille swooped her head back.

"Yup?"

"I'm... glad you're okay. I'm sorry I thought you were dead..."

"Haha! Don't mention it."

"Hope said that earlier."

"Well good for him."

Lightning waited until the door shut again like the many times before that day.

She made her way into Hope's room and made sure he was asleep and that the window lock was till on, just to be safe, and made her way back into the farthest corner of the room; she let tears of every emotion she had that day explode around her. Never in her life had she ever felt so full of emotion... for no reason at all.

"Hope c'mon. You have school. I really don't feel like being the mother here." Hope felt a thump on his head, and he rolled himself on the floor.

"You go to school, remember? To get an education. Geez..."

"I'm going, Light!" Hope yelled, then whispered to himself... "You don't have to be smartass..."

"I heard that, Hope Estheim!"

Hope eyes widened and he held back his laughter. He threw his uniform on, grabbed his bag and headed out towards the kitchen.

He went to get a slice of pizza from the refrigerator when he felt something thump against the back of his head.

"Ouch." He looked behind him and saw Lightning holding a pile of oranges, smirking at him.

"Don't you dare call me a smartass ever again, sweetheart."

Hope gaped at her, then grabbed the orange off the floor. Lightning practically grinned at him.

"I got moved up in a math class. I have it this morning."

"Really?" Hope peeled away at the orange, sitting on the kitchen counter with his legs crossed. Lightning always forgot how little he was, it was almost adorable.

"Yeah. Pre – calculus." Hope choked on his orange.

"But that's my – "

"Correct."

"Same time?"

"Same time, kid."

"Wow. On purpose?"

"No, actually. But yeah, that means my school day's gonna be longer, so, uh... yay for that. The headmaster said we need to get to class more, cause, you know, all that crap is over. For now, at least." Lightning rolled her eyes and let the oranges fall to the floor.

"Crap, look at the time." Lightning sprinted back to her room while Hope opened up the door. He saw Snow there, his hand clenched into a fist, as if he was just about to knock on the door.

"Woah, kid. You psychic?" Hope giggled and tried to push Snow out of the way into the hall.

"So how ya feeling?"

"Fine, actually. I have math, I'd better go..."

"Okay, bye. Nice talkin' to ya." Snow turned around and yelled when he suddenly saw Lightning standing in the doorway.

"Move, Snow." Snow immediately stepped back and let the pinkette through. She sprinted to the elevator with Hope and the door closed.

"So..." Lightning said, tapping her foot to the elevator music. Hope had a pouty impatient expression on his face. The silence was horrifying and hilarious at the same time, let alone the most awkward thing all together.

"You've got good skin for 14."

"W-What?"

"I'm saying, most kids who are 14 have pimples all over their faces."

"Uh. Huh..." Hope turned his back to Lightning.

"Have you ever heard of the music group Two Steps from – " Lightning sighed when the elevator door open and Hope ran out.

"Nevermind…"

Hope and Lightning came into the classroom came in time before the bell rang. She tried to ignore the stares of people. Again? Lightning stood in the corner of the room with Hope, becoming more infuriated with them when they started whispering.

"Listen. Try to ignore all the things people are saying. Someone thought you died during the fal'cie attack, so, you know, it's a little weird again, and also, we haven't really been going to school lately, so people probably want to know." Lightning finally noticed that Hope's green eyes weren't looking at her. They were completely focused on something else. When she heard a click, her body turned at the speed of light and headed towards the phone that took the picture. Hope watched with slight interest as Lightning took hold of the cell phone and stomped on it. The girl shrieked and bent down to grab the shattered phone.

"What the hell, Lightning?" Lightning smirked and turned away. She grabbed Hope's wrist and sat next to him.

"Sorry. That's what you get," she yelled mischievously at the girl still on her knees, her jaw dropped. A girl came over to her, and began whispering in her ear so no one could hear.

"Alyssa, trust me, that's what happens when you do something like that to Lightning."

"But she's being so nice to that little kid Hope, so I thought she may have changed a little bit."

"Well, of course she hasn't changed, Al. Trust me, I think Hope is Lightning's daughter. They have the same facial features. And hair..."

"No, no, no, Hope's is more silver and nice looking... hey, wait a minute. Hope's like, 14, right?"

"I thought he was 1O."

"14, Jessica. 14. That means Lightning would've been six or seven when she had him. I don't think that's possible."

"Well, it's Lightning, you never know, seriously. Anything is possible with that chick." They both giggled and immediately sat down next to each other when the bell rang, and continued whispering.

"Well, who did she do it with? Cause quite frankly, that guy must have some good genes. I mean, seriously, look how sweet that kid is! Compared to Light he's an angel. He just seems too innocent to be Light's daughter..."

"Well, maybe Light's performing a cover up personality."

"Yeah right."

"Sorry, I'm just thinking. That Hope's been through a lot, huh?"

"Hell yeah, ever since he got here he's been in a bad way. Do you remember a long time ago when Lightning got really sick? It was a lot like Hope, she was in a hospital, then she recovered as fast as she got it."

"Is Hope a l'cie?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I don't know, I just want to know since Noel said that Hope looked completely dead in Snow's arms when they were running out of the school when Lightning came."

"Oh... well, we can ask him."

"What makes you think he's going to answer our –"

"Alyssa, Jessica, do you have something you want to tell us?" The two girls looked up at their teacher.

"Oh, haha, no! I just – we, um – well..."

"We need to talk to Hope. Family emergency."

The teacher didn't even have time to answer before both of the girls grabbed Hope's hand and dragged him out the door. Lightning almost stood up from her seat to deck the girls, but resisted with pain.

"Hi, Hope! I'm Alyssa. This is my friend Jessica." Hope stepped back a little, bumping into the wall behind him.

"Um..." Hope said in almost a whisper, embarrassed how high his voice sounded compared to the two girls. Jessica put her hand over her mouth quickly to try to hide her adoring smile.

"We don't mean to be rude, but we need to ask you some questions. So do you think that you could – "

"Is Lightning your mom?" Hope immediately shook his head, his face in complete fear and slight disgust.

"Is she your sister?" Hope shook his head again.

"Oh... why is she so nice to you?"

"Cause... she's a nice person?" Hope whispered, trying to step towards the door slightly.

"Where are your parents, then?" Hope gasped slightly, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. The girl waited and then one leaned in to whisper again so Hope couldn't hear.

"He's so adorable! I didn't expect him to be this shy!" Alyssa nodded, and looked back at Hope.

"You can stay with us in our dorm room if you'd like, then you won't have to worry about mean roommates!" Hope stepped again and saw the girls lean in towards him.

Hope watched as the two woman stood in front of him, knives in their hands and his mom and dad's bodies on the ground.

"You're next, darling. Prepare to die."

Hope sobbed uncontrollably on the ground, scooting back to get away from them before he met a wall.

"Please... no!" The two women laughed at him comment and leaned in closer. Hope gasped when he heard the door slam open and police officers run in. Hope took this moment to grab his suitcase by the window where he had left it, and sprinted out the back door, trying to wipe the tears from his eyes.

"Lightning!" Hope yelled, putting his arms up above his head. The door of the classroom immediately opened, and Lightning came out. Hope wiped the tears from his eyes and grinned slightly at Lightning. She punched one of the girls down and kicked the other one. They both looked at her than ran away as fast as they could.

Lightning turned to Hope, her aqua eyes filled with concern.

"You okay?" Hope sniffled, nodding his head.

"I overreacted Light. I'm sorry."

"Call me Claire, okay?" Hope's eyes shimmered slightly.

"I'll just tell the teacher they ditched. I won't technically be lying." Hope smiled.

"Okay L – Claire." He giggled and walked back in the classroom with her.

Hope sat on the dorm room floor and let a whole slice of pizza hang out of his mouth as if it was a hand as he tried to open a soda. Snow laughed at him and opened it with ease, letting the teen pout at him.
"So you... attacked Alyssa and Jessica?" Lightning simply shrugged, and pulled a pepperoni off the pizza and sat it on her tongue.

"Those girls are such bitches," Snow mumbled, setting an entire box of pizza on his lap and opening it. "They deserve to get the crap beaten outta them. Always getting into people's business. Quite frankly, they scare me a little. No doubt they would scare little Hope." Serah shot a glare at him and sprawled on the couch, peeling one of the oranges she found laying on the floor.

"What other classes do you have today, Light?" Serah asked.

"Science with Hope, History with that blonde freak over there-"

"Hey!"

"Then... that's it, I think. Since I don't have cram school today."

Hope wiped his hands on the sides of his pants and picked himself off the floor and grabbed his bag, pulling out his math book and a notebook and doing problems so he wouldn't have to do it later.

"So..." Snow asked, grinning mischievously and swaying on his feet. "I was thinking we could go to a party tonight." Hope looked up, curiosity growing in him. Snow chuckled.

"Not you, kid, there'll be drinking. And I don't want to get yelled at by Light if you pass out for drinking under age."

"You got that right," Lightning said, moving to the couch towards Serah. Hope sighed dramatically, thumping his head down in his book.

"Can I go?" Vanille asked, jumping up and down and squeaking when she dropped her pizza.

"Yeah," Snow exclaimed, "Light can go, Vanille can go, I'm thinking of bringing Noel and Isabelle, and Serah can stay with Hope. It'll be fun. It's a small party, so we won't have to worry about partying crazy and coming home to Hope and Serah all messed up."

"Sounds like fun! Hope, would you mind if I babysit ya?" Serah asked playfully, rolling off the couch to get a pizza from Snow's box. Hope shook his head, feverishly writing down math problems.

"What'cha want to do?" Serah asked, watching Hope look out the window. Hope thought for a moment before shrugging and slumping on the couch next to her.

"Can we watch a movie?"

"Sure!" Serah got up immediately to break the odd silence and shuffled through Lightning's cabinet of DVDs.

"Claire said she has some on the dishwasher. It's broken. We don't use it, so we just use it to put stuff in. I keep my homework in there." Serah giggled before suddenly coming to a halt.

"...Claire?"

"Yeah, she told me to call her that. Is that her real name?"

"Yeah..."

"I like it." Serah turned around and looked at Hope in awe.

"No one's ever been allowed to call her that except for me... and she gets annoyed when I do. She must really trust you, Hope." Hope grinned at Serah's watery eyes and repositioned himself on the couch to look out the window.

"You're really something special, Hope Estheim."

Hehehe I'm done with this chapter! Did you see my little cameo appearance, guys? I know some of you know my first name, but yeah, apparently I'm going to the party with the gang XD Isabelle ftw! And a Two Steps from Hell tribute! Look at that, we're all college kids again! The reason there was so much stuff the chapters before is because I needed to put that there for later events in the story! But yeah! I'm feeling a bit romantic! Heh. Anyway, I have a question for all of you. Write in a review or a personal message if you chew ice or not if you see this XD I want to know! I'm a massive ice chewer myself and it's so bad for your teeth, is the sad thing. But I'm addicted to them like cigarettes or something lol. Well, new chapter will be up tomorrow or the next day. Happy summer! Ugh, I just remembered I need to clean my closet. I'm sorry I said nodded so much. But people nod a lot and there's no synonym for it. Lol. Merci 3 review plz so I know you're there!