Chapter 4: A distance has found it's way between us.
"So?" Lightning frowned, her arms folded while she leaned against the door frame to her and Serah's room. "Care to explain what earlier was about?"
"Sis..you're not just going to forget, huh?" Serah sighed, standing up and casting her gaze downwards.
"When you make me lie to that idiot you call your fiance?" Serah cringed at the words 'fiance'
"Look, I'm sorry for making you do that, but I needed a break."
"From what?" Lightning walked into the room, dropping her arms by her side and closing the door. "You can tell me if he's done something to upset you, sis."
"No, it's not that." Serah sighed, plopping down on the end of their bed. Luckily for them, Lumina had already left the room and was with Vanille, looking at all her clothes with her. Vanille and Serah had both decided to take Lumina clothes shopping someday this week since she was still wearing the same gothic lolita dress.
"Then what?" Lightning asked, sitting beside her sister.
"It's just that...I've been so busy with work, you know? And I made some friends who work at the same cafe as me and Vanille. They invited both of us, but Vanille turned them down because she said she had some things to do..." Serah's gaze longed out again. "Of course I said yes though. It's nice to make friends here and go to places with people that aren't like me. It's nice to be accepted by normal people. But Snow doesn't understand that and expects me to spend all my free time with him."
"I see. So he's being too much for you?"
"Kinda, yeah." Serah looked at her sister. "Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with you guys, really. You're my family, I love you guys...but it's nice to hang out with people from outside our circle, too...does that make me a bad person?"
"No, it's completely normal, Serah. We've all spent so long wanting to be together and enjoy life, and now we have that. But we've also got a taste of freedom, something we can't all grasp together. We all have our seperate places to be, but we'll still all be together. We live together, after all."
"Try telling that to Snow." Serah sighed, slopping her shoulders. "He just cuts me off with 'come on, we'll do something instead' or 'nah, lets do this' and it's driving me mad."
"Who knew?" Lightning chuckled, shaking her head.
"Huh? What's so funny?"
"It's nothing...just that the couple everyone adored and thought would get married and have kids are having trouble already. Seems like love isn't an easy thing to deal with in reality."
"If you say so." Serah frowned, pursing her lips and turning her gaze away. For some reason, her heart felt like it was being weighed down. Yes, she loved Snow...or so she was programmed to. The 'love' she felt for Snow had always been fake; nothing but data put into her programme. But was it what she felt? She had tried enjoying her time with him, but she couldn't. Everytime he wrapped his arms around her, there was no feeling of protection or warmth. She just felt uncomfortable, like she wanted to break away from his embrace. Surely that wasn't love, right? But how could she possibly know? She didn't know how to feel at all. The things they had all felt up until now were all so knew to them. They still haven't been here long either, so they were still getting used to these new things.
"Well, I'm really tired, so I think I'm going to take a shower and head to bed." Serah forced a smile, which she had been doing a lot lately. But she was used to that since even when she was trapped in that place, her smiles were nothing but empty, fake encodes, forcing her to smile. The only difference was, this one hurt. The fake smiles of this world weighed her down with each one, filling her heart with more and more pain. Sometimes she just wanted to cry out and scream, but she knew she'd only worry her friends, her family. So she kept it all in. She bottled it all up and bit her tongue. It was the hardest thing she'd ever have to do, and she knew she'd have plenty more. However, she was sure that with time, this feeling would fade away and she'd finally be happy, just like the first time she stepped into this world.
The next day, everyone headed down to the bar that Lightning worked at on weekdays and hung out with Lebreau, letting her know about the spa trip and how she was invited. She agreed, of course, and was super excited. But for some reason, it suited her. To get excited over a spa trip or anything like that seemed like it was normal for Lebreau. She seemed like the type to enjoy it, at least. Lumina was also coming, but she wasn't as keen as Lebreau. No one was as keen as Sazh and Lebreau.
"Us girls will have a lot of fun!" Lebreau smiled, taking a sip from her drink. Since it was sunday, the bar was practically empty, so it wasn't really a working day for Lebreau.
"What about the guys?" Sazh asked. "We'll have fun too."
"Yeah, but we won't be with the girls." Johannes added. "There will be a wall that seperates the hot springs for the girls and guys, for example."
"What?" Sazh had the most dissapointed look on his face, making everyone laugh.
"You seriously didn't know?" Lightning chuckled. "Even after all that research you've been doing?"
"Yeah, well, we'll still get pampered by pretty women, right?"
"Most likely" Johannes nodded with a chuckle.
"Alright, then bring on the spa" Sazh cheered, making everyone shake their heads and laugh at him. All Dajh and Yuki could do was exchange looks and shrug, not really understanding the concept of what was being said.
When everyone left the bar, they spent the remainder of their sunday just relaxing around the house, doing their own thing before they all headed to bed, dreading the early wake in the morning. Even Lumina and Hope were up early, since Hope wanted to get Lumina enrolled as soon as he could.
"Goodnight, sis." Serah mumbled, nuzzling into her pillow and closing her eyes.
"Night." Lightning replied, staring up at the cieling. The night had always worked a mysetery to her. She had found that when she stayed awake, it went by painfully slow. But when she slept, it was over before she knew it and her alarm was beeping in her ears abnoxiously. But she just didn't understand it at all and felt a little stupid asking Johannes about it, so she continued to let the questions linger. She was sure it was linked to the whole 'having a good time makes time fly by' rule, but all she was doing was sleeping. Then again, she did love sleep. It was hard to resist, too. When ever her eyes felt heavy...she just...couldn't fight it...
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP
"Wha?" Her eyes popped open to the loud noise, the sunlight shining in. "Ugh.." She pulled her arm up, pressing the button to shut the damn thing up. She glanced beside her to see her sister shifting as she also woke up, the alarm having woke her up too.
"Morning, sis." Lightning smiled.
"Yeah." Serah giggled, sitting up. "Time to work" She yawned, stretching her arms above her head. Every morning was the same. The two sisters always greeted each other pleasently, seemingly in a good mood. "Oh!" Serah's eyes met the sleeping Lumina on a spare bed Johannes had let them use for Lumina. Her breathing was steady and all movement was still, indicating she was still fast asleep.
"I keep forgetting she's here too." Lightning chuckled. "Anyway, if she's a heavy sleeper, good for us." And she was, indeed, a heavy sleeper.
The two girls got out of bed and did their usual, morning routines that they had slipped into not long after arriving in this world before they finally headed out to work. Vanille and Serah left together, and Lightning left half hour after.
"Hey, Lumina..." poke, poke. "Lumina!"
"Huh?" Lumina was woken up by Hope, who was calling her name and poking her sides, looking down at her. "Hope? Why did you wake me up?" She scowled, pulling the blanket over her head."
"Come on, Lumi. We have to go enroll you before it's too late."
"Then I don't want to enroll! I want to sleep, so go away!"
"Jeez...and we thought Lightning would be the bad tempered one in the mornings.." He sighed. "Alright, but then that means you'll be all on your own while everyone's working.." With that, Lumina sat up, her messy, pink hair sticking out in all directions.
"Fine." She spat, glaring at the boy.
"Heh...sorry, Lumina..but you'll have to get used to it."
"Don't push it." She dragged herself out of bed, had breakfast before taking a shower and getting dressed into some clothes Vanille let her borrow until they took her shopping for her own clothes.
"..." Hope blinked, staring at her as she walked into the room.
"What?"
"Nothing...it's just weird seeing you in something other than that black dress."
"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow. "Well get used to it." Jeez, she still hasn't got rid of her bad temper? She got up an hour ago.
"Right, right." Hope sighed. "Lets go. Johannes will give us a lift there." With that, Hope led the way to Johannes and all three got in the car and off they went.
When they arrived, Hope and Lumina made their way to the main desk, where Lumina had to fill out several papers with the help of Hope. Of course, Hope had to make up a lot of the things and since he had already delt with the whole 'no records of them existing' issue, he knew how to sort it out for Lumina, too. It took all day, but they managed.
"That was way too long." Lumina complained as they headed out, Hope carrying Lumina's course information papers and her badge in his bag. "This better be worth it."
"It will be, I promise...or at least, it will be now that we'll be together" He chuckled, making Lumina turn to him and raise an eyebrow.
"Was that some kind of cheesy attempt to whoo me over?"
"What? No, no!" Hope denied frantically. "No, I was just nervous about going all on my own, so I figured it would be more fun with a friend."
"Good" Lumina smirked, clearly back to her usual self. "But if it was, it totally worked." She teased, making Hope's cheeks flush a red colour, which had never happened to the poor boy before.
"W-what?" He hurried after her as she skipped off. "A-anyway, lets go get something to eat, ok? We can go to the bar that Lightning works at, or the cafe Vanille and Serah work at."
"Hmm?" Lumina turned on her heels, facing him. "You just want to see them in their maid outfits, don't you, Hope?" She continued to tease.
"No, I just thought it would be nice.." His blush deepened.
"Don't deny it! I might be younger than you and a girl, but I'm smarter than all of you on this world, you know. I know how a young boys mind works" She giggled.
"Don't say it like that!"
"Like what?" She tilted her head, looking as innocent as she could.
"Like I'm thinking of naughty things!"
"Oh, but I never said that" She smirked. "Hehe, so you were."
"N-no! Gah, I can't take this anymore!" His whole face was red and to hide it, he hurried passed Lumina, pulling her along behind him so she couldn't see his face that was now in a clear, embarrassed frown.
"Welcome to cafe sweet tooth!" Vanille chirped, greeting them in. "Oh, hey, you two."
"Er, hey, Vanille...table to two, please." He had finally managed to calm down, but had to fight the blush from appearing again.
"Right this way." She nodded, leading them to a table, where they took their seats and took out a small notepad and pen. "So, are you two on a date, or something?"
"N-no way" Hope blushed, avoiding eye contact with both girls.
"I was just teasing, Hope." Vanille giggled.
"Oh, I wouldn't. He gets really worked up." Lumina smirked.
"Hehe, I see. Well, what will you be having." She smiled, taking their orders before walking off. Hope scanned the scenary with his eyes before spotting Serah.
"So, you wanted to see Serah over Lightning, huh?" Lumina smirked. "I wonder how Lightning would feel about that."
"Hey, what are you getting at? Besides, it's not like that. This place is closer." Hope blushed.
"What do you mean 'what am I getting at?' You looking at Serah in such a way is a death wish unless you're perfect." She giggled.
"...right." Hope frowned. "You really do like to tease, don't you?"
"Well when you make it so easy, how can I resist?"
"I see." Hope chuckled. "Well then, I'll make sure to not make it so obvious."
"Good luck with that." She smirked before their food was finally braught over. After they finished up there, they headed back to the house and just chilled. Hope showed Lumina the gaming console in his and Snow's room and they both played on co-op and 2p games until everyone else got home. Of course, Hope let her win a few times since he didn't want to see her rage on him when he kept winning.
A chrisp morning, birds chirping. People busy to get to work and school. Yes, the new school year had started and everyone was busy. About a week before, Johannes took Lumina, Hope and Dajh shopping for the things they'd need, and since it was September, the seasons were changing again, getting colder, so he had to buy them some coats and scarves to keep them warm. He didn't mind for buying it for them, since Hope offered to pay him back once his part time job kicked in, and Sazh was going to pay him back for Dajh's stuff. Hope had offered to pay for Lumina's too, but Johannes let it slide since he hadn't actually baught anything for her yet anyway. Serah and Vanille spent their money to buy Lumina clothes, so Johannes didn't have to lend her money at all. Lumina did hate people spending money on her though, especially while eveyone else had their own money. She felt like the only one, so she wanted to earn her own money too, at some point.
"Alright, have a nice day." Johannes waved, dropping Hope and Lumina off outside the college. "Text me when you've finished and I'll come get you by here again."
"Alright, thank you." Hope nodded. Johannes then drove off, leaving the two to stand and face the large building, both their hearts racing, although Lumina was a little better at hiding it. "Are you nervous?"
"A little...you?" She tilted her head up towards him.
"Yeah.." He replied.
"Well, lets go." Hope nodded in agreement and the two walked in together. Hope had to resist the urge to grab Lumina's lonely hand that hung at her side as she walked on several accounts, and he wasn't really sure why he wanted to, but he assumed it was the nervousness of it all; he just wanted comfort.
"Hey, Hope..." Lumina stopped, looking up at a door. "I think this is our room." He turned and looked at the number.
"I think you're right." He peeked in through the window to see people were already in there. "Looks like we're late."
"But I think that's okay, since it's our first day, don't you?" She smiled, opening the door and pulling him with her. The teacher stopped talking and faced them, all the students also staring.
"Sorry we're late, but we got a little lost. This is our first day here." Hope chuckled nervously.
"It's alright, don't worry." The teacher smiled. "Just come sit down. What's your names?"
"I'm Hope Estiem, and this is Lumina Farron."
"That is two odd names...well nice to meet you." And just like that, they were accepted in. They both sat together, listening carefully to their class. However, Lumina got bored every now and then and would get destracted by something happening outside and would glance off out the window, or play with her pencils on the desk and Hope had to often, snap her back to reality to pay attention.
A few weeks went by, and the two became less nervous and started to really enjoy their time there. They didn't make many friends and just stuck together since no one in their class seemed like the type of people they wanted to become friends with. Even Lumina, who was always known by everyone, was content with being on her own with Hope. Of course she was very outspoken, and everyone in the class knew this by now. She'd often be a bit mischievious and stir drama between the odd classmate without anyone knowing, but Hope let her off since he enjoyed watching it.
They only went in three days a week, too, so on the extra two days that they didn't do anything on, they hung out, going places, staying in and gaming or studying. It was simple, but they both enjoyed it. Lumina had never really enjoyed being in someone's company as much as she did Hope's, and he was the same. Of course, they enjoyed spending the evenings and weekends with Lightning and all, but when it was just them two, it was calm and peaceful. They didn't even have to talk a lot of the times, just being in each other's company was enough for them.
But everything changes, and it was coming closer to the deadline for their spa trip and Hope hadn't put any savings in, so he was finally able to start on his part time job. It was great for him, since he finally got to have his own earnings, but it also meant he had less time for Lumina. On days they were off, he was working, so Lumina was left to kill time on her own. Lumina couldn't help but feel irritated towards Hope, and it made her angry at herself for feeling that way. She understood he wanted to earn money and was working, and she also knew they couldn't spend every moment together, but she couldn't help but feel left behind by him.
"Hey, Lumi." Johannes smiled, noticing her sprawled out on the sofa. "I just came to get some tea bags, if that's ok."
"Yeah, take as many as you need." She mumbled, staring blankly at the cieling. Johannes walked through to the kitchen, taking a few before noticing Lumina's odd behaviour.
"Are you okay, Lumi?" He asked, walking over and sitting on the other chair. "You seem a little...not like yourself."
"I'm fine." She replied with a drag to her voice. "Just really bored."
"Ah, I see. You never know what to do with your time off, huh?" He chuckled.
"Something like that."
"Hmm?"
"Well..." She sat up, frowning slightly. "I want to go to work, too."
"Sorry, Lumina. It's that time of the year, so not many places are looking for part timers. But if you're bored, you can come help me out at my place. I need to clear out my garden before winter finally gets here."
"Why?"
"Well, since autumn is practically over, my garden is a mess with leaves and dead plants. So I have to clear it out so it doesn't look tacky after the snow."
"Snow?" Lumina tilted her head. Of course, they had never heard of snow before...other than that idiot. Snow wasn't something they'd ever heard of seen.
"You know, the white stuff that falls from the sky during winter. It's really cold, and when it melts, if my garden was is full of leaves, it looks tacky."
"I see.." Lumina thought to herself. Snow sounded like it was pretty cool. "Well I guess it's something to do until I can get a job." She nodded, jumping up.
"Great. Hey, we can sort out the garden to this place too, since no one will have the time"
"Hey, Johannes?"
"Hmm?"
"Don't you work?"
"No...I used to, but..heh...it's a long story." He looked away, his gaze low as he recalled a memory.
"I've clearly got time, so please?" Lumina smiled. Sure, she was all up for helping Johannes, but she also wanted to hear this story. Not just because it would kill time, but because of the look on Johannes' face when he recalled it. It set off a spark inside Lumina, a pain in her chest. It was a look she recognised from herself from time to time. When she was sat alone and recalling apon the days Hope and her would spend their time together. Of course, it wasn't that long ago at all. He had only started working two weeks ago, so it wasn't long at all, yet it already felt like a distant memory of a better time. To think they had started college almost two months ago now.
"Alright, but at my place and AFTER I've made some tea." He chuckled
"Alright, deal" Lumina agreed, jumping up to her feet and slipping on her shoes. Johannes couldn't help but chuckle at Lumina's eager attitude as she dragged him over to his place. He made them both some tea and sat on the opposite sofa from Lumina, staring into his drink.
"Alright, so you want to know the story of how I became like this?"
"Yes." Lumina nodded.
"Ok, but Lumina? You can't tell anyone. It's a personal story that I don't want anyone to know." Lumina nodded to let him know that it would go no further than herself. Anyone else would be weary, knowing Lumina would, in some way, reveal it. But this time, Lumina's promise was real.
She waited, staring at Johannes as he recalled it again, taking a deep breath
"Alright then..."
-Johannes flashback (his P.O.V) -
I was a bright young man, living the life of a college student. I had a great part time job that left me with a lot of money, and my future was a bright one. My father had baught me the house I currently live in, but because I was greedy back then, I didn't understand what it meant to just waste money, and so, I baught another one next to mine. I had parties often, getting into wrecks with a careless mind, but I still managed to keep my high grades and perfect attendance. But one day, I had completely messed up. I got into a huge fight with my parents, telling them I didn't need them. It was over something stupid, like them forbidding I had parties and they wanted me to give up my second house, but I never did. We didn't speak for a week, and I continued to disobey their wishes. Even my older sister had come down to check on me for them, but I turned her away with cruel words.
After the week came the weekend, and I ignored all my sister's calls until one day, I finally decided to answer to yell at her, but I never got the chance because she was in tears and could hardly get a word out. All I could make up were a few words that cut into me like knives.
"Mum, dad...they're gone." I can dropped my phone, got into my car and drove as fast as I could to their house. I almost crashed a few times due to the roads being slippery from the ice. I barged in to see my sister on the floor, crying her eyes out with one of my mother's old dressed in her hands. And then I knew, I knew my worste fears had been realised. I feel beside her and we both just cried, hugging each other all night. We didn't speak at all; just cried. After that, my grades fell and I knew I wasn't going to pass my subject. My sister was living in my second house for a while too, and was wreckless. She was sleeping around with random guys, and I'd often get into nasty fights with them. I almost killed one of them once after I found out he had gotten my sister pregnant.
Since my sister couldn't work, and the father to her baby was useless, I had to work to help her out. I ended up dropping out of college to work full time for my sister and her unborn child. Then before I knew it, Mike was born. My first nefew...I can still remember the day I held him in my arms. But luckily, about a month after he was born, his father stepped up, moved in with my sister and decided to work and earn money for his new family like a real man. I went back into college, convinced I could get my life back on track, but I couldn't.
That's when I met her...
She always came to help me with whatever I needed and before I knew it, my grades were sky rocketing again. My future looked bright once again all thanks to this girl. We ended up spending all our time together, and before I knew it, I had fallen in love with her.
almost three years had passed since my parents died, and my first nefew was already two. It was all coming back to me on that winter, when I decided to confess my feelings to the girl I loved. I wanted to be with her all the time. She was the only thing in this mad world that made sense to me, and I wanted to protect her with everything I had. I wanted to keep the one thing I loved safe, but I couldn't even do that.
"Johannes, why are we out here?" I led her down a snowy path, her hand held tightly in mine. I couldn't stop smiling, my heart skipping in my chest. It was such a chrisp afternoon, the sun was high in the sky, beaming down on us with it's light and snow was everywhere.
"We're almost there, don't worry." I continued to walk until we came to a peaceful little place with a large, frozen cherry blossom tree in the centre. I turned around, taking both her hands in mine and smiled.
"Johannes, what's going on? You've been acting really funny." Her sweet laughter was like music to my ears, only confirming that I loved this girl and wanted to spend every minute with her.
"I know, but it's because there's something I want to ask you.." I was confident in this moment. There was nothing that could stop me. "I'm in love with you, and I have been for a while now..." As I said it, I could see her eyes widen a small gasp as she clasped her hands over her mouth. It almost looked like she was about to cry. "So, I have to say it now...will you go out with me?"
"Yes" her small voice rang through, her reply filling me with a happiness I had never felt before. I took her in my arms, and swung her around before I finally got to kiss her soft lips after all this time. I was finally able to feel her warmth, to protect her. She was finally my one special thing that no one could snatch away from me. I loved her so much.
But...
Crack...
"Huh?"
Snap!
A branch from the tree fell, almost hitting us both, but instead, crushing my legs. I was able to protect her for the first time, but now I was unable to move. She tried pulling the branch off, but it didn't work, so she did all she could do: call someone for help. Of course, all the way out here, she couldn't get signal and had to walk off a little before she got it at all. And as if in slow motion, I watched helplessly as the ground swallowed her up, unable to do anything by scream out her name.
My body was filled with pure rage and I found a strength I had never had before.
"No! There's no way you're taking her from me. You're not taking anymore people from me!" I yelled so loud that birds flew away and I was able to throw the tree branch off me, limping to where she had fallen. I dove in, without thinking at all. I figured, if she was going to die because I couldn't save her, then I'd die too. We either both come out, or none of us do.
The cold was making it hard for me to move, and slowly, I felt myself slipping away. This was it, wasn't it?
"Hey! Wake up!" I was snapped back by a voice calling out to me and several flashing lights. I couldn't help but call her name over and over again until I fell asleep again and woke back up in a hospital.
I felt warmth on my body, but inside, I felt nothing. The only warmth I wanted was hers, but she was nowhere to be seen. Instead, by the side of my bed, was my sister, crying her eyes out with her now fiance comforting her and holding their baby.
"Johannes!" She cried, hugging me and sending a shock of pain through my body. "..sorry..I'm just so glad you're alive."
"Sis...where is she?" I didn't care about myself, or the fact my sister was there. All I wanted, was to know she was alive too. I didn't think I could go on living if she had died.
"Johannes..." The silence said it all. I turned my gaze outside the window, the perfect day that now held nothing but grieving and pain to me. For me, life had become pointless. The one thing I loved was gone. I had lost my parents, and now the girl I loved. I felt numb, like the feelings inside me were ripped out. I couldn't even cry over her death.
I had realised that life was cruel. It would give you something beautiful, and snatch it away from you within a second. It would crush you without hesitation.
But I continued to live. I ended up having a lot of debt from the hospital, since I had to have so much work done on me, but I was also unable to work because of these injuries. Not only had I lost the love of my life, my means of living and happiness, but I had lost the ability to work. I had a weekly paycheck given to people in my condition, but between living and paying my house bills, there wasn't enough to pay the hospital bills. And on top of that, the bill got higher due to check ups. I was willing to just give up, but then my sister fell pregnant again with Yuki.
It was around Yuki's birth that the father to her child passed away in an accident, so once again, I was helping my sister with my own money. It drove her to depression and on one account, she almost killed herself. She was rushed to hospital, and again, my bill was doubled. I was angry at my sister and we didn't speak for a long time. How could she does something so selfish? But we started talking eventually.
That's when she met her sugar daddy. Her was a rich guy, a little older, too. I was against it, but she ended up running away with him and leaving her kids with me. Between looking after them and paying bills, I had no money left.
Mike grew up pretty fast and before I knew it, he was off. Then I was left with Yuki. It was made a lot easier without Mike, but I missed him. He was thirteen, living at his friends house because it was closer to the school. Yuki was only five at the time, too.
And here we are, to this present day. Yuki's now six, almost seven, and Mike is coming fifteen. He still visits, but he's far more mature for his age. My sister is still off, and I'm almost twenty six years old. Life is going by much faster now, and the anger and pain I felt from all those years ago has slowly faded to nothing.
-normal P.O.V-
"...Johannes.." Lumina whispered, in complete shock. "I'm...I'm so sorry."
"Don't be." Johannes chuckled. "It's all in the past now, right? In the last year, I've really been able to move on thanks to my nefews."
"They kept you busy and took your mind off things, huh?" Lumina smiled.
"Yeah, they did. That's why I'll continue to protect Yuki, and Mike whenever he comes here."
"When is he due to visit?"
"In a few weeks, for his birthday. He was born in the season I hated most." Johannes chuckled.
"Winter..which is the season you lost your parents and her, right?"
"Right..."
"I'm sorry, but have you noticed?"
"Hmm?
"After your parents died, Mike was born, and after she died, Yuki was born. Maybe it was your calling, the thing telling you not to give up?" Lumina pursed her lips.
"That's an interesting way of thinking of it, you know." Johannes smiled, taking one last sip from his tea. "Well, lets get on with this garden."
Johannes' story was all Lumina could think of all day, even while she helped him with the gardens. They had them both finished before everyone came home from work and school, but even so, Lumina couldn't bring herself to be her usual self after hearing it. It pained her to see Johannes smiling so brightly and laughing like it was nothing but a bad dream. It finally hit her how cruel this reality was and how it really was no better from the world they lived in, in fact, she thought it was worse. Back in that place, there were no feelings, no pain to be felt, just a consious decision to want life. A decision they were all surely going to regret with time. Lumina, however, was already at that point. Ever since Hope had become busy, she had become lonely. A feeling she knew she was programmed to feel, she now felt for real. It was eating her away, making her want to cry, but she didn't. And now, after hearing Johannes' story, she knew how lucky she was to have Hope there at all, even if it did hurt her.
"You guys did a great job." Hope chuckled, looking out the window at their garden. "Nice to see you're doing something productive with your time, Lumina" He directed his smile to Lumina, but she was too lost in thought, her gaze longing at the floor. "Hey, Lumi?" He waved a hand in front of her.
"Huh?" She snapped out of her thoughts, glancing around. "Oh.."
"Are you okay, Lumina?" Hope asked.
"I'm sure she's just tired, Hope. We've been busy all day." Johannes chuckled, covering for Lumina. He knew she just needed to be left to her thoughts, since hearing a story like that would leave an unpleasent, lingering feeling for a while.
"Mhm, so I'm going to get some sleep" She smirked before twirling around and heading upstairs, where she fell into her bed. The soft pillow carressed her head while the blanket hugger her with it's warmth. She curled up into a ball, unable to handle these emotions anymore and cried quietly to herself. She didn't even know why she was crying, but she couldn't stop herself.
Not long after she headed to bed, everyone started returning from work.
"Where's Lumina?" Serah asked, after everyone had finally got their drinks and was relaxing in the living room.
"I thought it was a little more quiet the usual." Lightning chuckled.
"She headed off to bed." Hope replied. "She had helped Johannes clear the gardens today, so she was really tired." Despite telling them the truth her knew, he still felt like he was lying to them. It left an uneasy feeling in Hope.
"Aw, then I hope she's okay in the morning. I wanted to take her shopping!" Serah chirped. "You're coming, right Vanille?"
"You bet'cha" Vanille beamed.
"And what about you, Hope. Got any plans for tomorrow?" Snow asked. "If not, lets head to the field and play a few games."
"Sorry, but I'm seeing someone from work tomorrow." He chuckled.
"Oh? Work on a saturday?" Lightning cocked an eyebrow.
"No, no...heh." He chuckled again, this time a little more nervous "It's just a friendly meet up with an old friend"
"Oh, you go, Hope!" Snow cheered, nudging him. "What's her name? What's she look like? Oh, she's not way older, is she? If you're into older women, fine, but, uh..know your limits.."
"Snow...it's not like that at all." Hope rolled his eyes.
"Name?" Lightning demanded. She still had that protective, mothering care over the young boy, so she felt the need to know about this girl.
"It's Alyssa. It turns out she's working at where I work, too."
"Her? The one that decided to team up with Caius and send my sister into a trap!?" Lightning scowled.
"Come on, sis. Everyone deserves a second chance. And besides, she was programmed to do that." Serah reasoned.
"I still don't like her." Lightning crossed her arms, unable to believe it.
"Well anyway, I'll bring her back so you guys can all meet her and see for yourselves that she's changed." Even if Hope said that, there was no way Lightning was just going to accept that yet. She wanted to hear an apology to Serah, and it had to be meaningful.
The next day came and Serah and Vanille had dragged Lumina with them to the bus stop, heading to the mall. Lumina had returned back to her normal, michievious self, too.
"Why didn't Lightning come along?" Lumina pouted "Did she really not want to spend any girl time with us?"
"No, she was going to hang with Fang today, which is fine since both of them are pretty useless when it comes to shopping." Serah giggled.
"Yeah, and I think Snow, Johannes and Sazh are taking Yuki and Dajh to a soft play area. Cute, right?"
"What about Hope?" Lumina asked.
"He's going on a date." Serah smirked. "You've not met Alyssa, have you?"
"Isn't that the girl that tricked you and Noel by teaming up with Caius?" Serah nodded in reply to Lumina's question. "And Hope's going on a date with her? I always knew that boy had terrible taste, but jeez." She sighed.
"Well, it's not actually a date. They're just meeting up and all, and you'll get to actually meet her later." Vanille added. "Snow made it out like a date though."
"Well at least I'll have something to tease him over" Lumina smirked, but inside, the fact it wasn't actually a date gave her a big relief, and she wasn't sure why, so she shook it off.
"Speaking of which, you two haven't been spending much time together now. I mean, you guys have become really close since you started college together, but since he's been working, you've had less time." Serah pursed her lips. "So you're okay with him spending his saturday with another girl?"
"You make it sound like we're dating, Serah." Lumina raisned an eyebrow. "Don't get me wrong, I had fun with him, but I'm not bothered by it. Nothing bothers me, you know."
"Wish I could be like that, Lumina. You're lucky." Serah giggled.
"Why, is something bothering you, Serah?" Vanille asked, both girls leaning in towards Serah.
"No, nothing at all. Not now, at least." She smiled, waving her hand in a dismissive way.
The three girls continued to shop for their winter wear, making sure to get warm scarves, coats, shoes and gloves. In a world with so many feeling people, we forget that everyone has their own battles to fight. Everyone's mind is plagued with one thing or another, with their own pasts and their futures. But on the outside, they're just passing faces. Shells of people we know nothing about.
AN: A rather feelsy chapter, huh? I don't know if it seems a bit rushed either, but I needed to get Lumina and Hope's budding friendship out there before the spa trip that will be coming fairly soon for other evens *wink, wink* no, nothing dodgy, really...just plot. And just like in this chapter, certain characters will be the main focus over others just to give them a little more developement (My typing is going crazy today, so any misspelt or typo's, please ignore). Anyway, you've got a deep, meaningful chapter to Lumina's character and a kind of feel to why she's the way she is (in later chapters, it'll make sense) and for characters that aren't in much, like Fang, Snow, Lightning (she's been rather quiet lately, I know) will be used more, don't worry. It's just certain characters need a bit of mystery to their lives and I can't just exploit their lives otherwise it'll give away certain things I don't want to be revealed yet.