Hope is working alongside Vanille, and had been doing so for some time. When he's here, in his private little shop, the hours tick away pleasantly. Vanille falls into a natural rhythm alongside Hope, the two laughing and joking around together pleasantly. She knows her way around a blowtorch, as Hope kind of figured she did. Oerba seemed a place where everyone sort of had to be handy and fend for themselves, a beautiful but wild land where she and Fang grew up together. When Hope remembered seeing Bhakti still cheerfully awaiting his master's return, and was instrumental in gathering the necessary parts to revive him (with Sazh's help), he knew firsthand just how mechanically inclined Vanille had to be in order to put the little guy together in the first place.

Hope remembered Bhakti, through all the confusion of his mind. He wanted to re-create him here, on this plane, since robots didn't have souls like humans did, and Bhakti couldn't be harvested as he and his friends had been. He couldn't have told his parents that he was re-creating a robot he remembered from a world they denied ever having existed at the time, so they thought Hope just had a knack for working with his hands, and left him alone out in the backyard. This arrangement suited Hope nicely. In order to preserve his mind, and he drew out the sketches of what he could only describe to others as a "vision" he saw in his dreams. Now that Vanille was real (as he had known all along that she and the others were), it's only right that she join him here. After all, she's the one who had originally created him in the first place.

It had been quiet for a spell, when Vanille speaks up.

"So, where's Alyssa? Do you bring her out here to help you, too?" The question is too casual for Hope to assume is coincidence.

"What do you mean? Why would I bring her out here?" Hope is nervous, and defensive.

"We hugged for a long time this morning. She started trying out this new perfume; it's so awful that she's the only person I know that would wear it. It's all over you. All I smelled was Alyssa when you gave me a hug at my house this morning."

Hope cringes inwardly. Yeah, the stuff reeked. That explained the weird look his parents had given him at breakfast this morning. They weren't familiar with her, so they couldn't have known it was Alyssa, but they knew he definitely smelled strongly of woman's perfume, and that he got home late the previous night. They were both very smart people, and heck, his dad kind of WAS a scientist, but they didn't have to be intelligent to put two and two together.

"I...ah...we're just...well, I wouldn't say friends..."

"That's true. It must be hard for you, trying to forgive her for what she did in the past?" Vanille states the last bit as a question, and turns to him, lifting her magnifying glasses. She wipes sweat off her brow, and places a hand on a jaunty hip.

"It IS hard. We've been...talking through it."

"I know she was your partner, a long time ago. I thought, you know, maybe if she was by your side out here, helping you figure out something in a work-related environment, maybe you guys could sort of try to re-establish a connection...that would explain the smell, anyways."

"NO!" Hope cries out in anger over the insinuation that he would bring Alyssa here, and he startles even himself with his outburst. Blushing, he slams down a wrench, then turns to Vanille, who backs up a half-step when she sees how adamant he is. Slowing his approach, so as not to scare her, he places his hands on her arms and stares widely into her eyes.

"No. Sorry I yelled, Vanille. But no. This is a good place, a place for me to try to feel happy and remember the past positively. That's why I'm choosing to build Bhakti out here, to remember your homeland...and you. And the others. And Sazh fixing him. The good times. I wouldn't bring Alyssa here. This is too important to me." He steps off then, and plops into a stool. Sighing, he runs a hand through his trademark unique locks.

"Alyssa being here, it would damage all that I'm trying to accomplish. You're here. You've always been good. She doesn't belong here. This is a place for the l'Cie who stood up to our fates, originally. Alyssa wasn't there for that. There has to be a division somewhere."

Vanille is nodding, finger held up to her chin. She decides to join him on another stool, smoothing out her skirt before continuting.

"I understand." She switches tack, looking Hope in the eyes. "But...that still doesn't explain why you smell like her perfume."

Hope laughs. "You're kind of nosy, aren't you?"

Vanille nods. "Yep! So you better get used to it, buster!"

"I wouldn't change it for the world." Hope is grinning. Vanille smiles back, and that makes him happy. Her smile has always made him happy. If Vanille could smile, then everything was right for the world. He loses himself for a moment, then snaps back to reality, and the fact that he has to answer her question. He also can't lie to her. It wouldn't be right.

"Alyssa and I...we kind of went out last night." He just gets right to it. Vanille smiles wider in response.

"And? Are you guys friends again?" Vanille claps her hands together in anticipation.

Hope is curious. "Why does it matter to you so much if we are? Why do you care so much?"

"I don't want any fights. I'm not a good person for fighting!" Vanille states, bouncing up from her seat. She starts pacing, and Hope chuckles to himself. He figured she couldn't sit still for long. He takes a moment to breathe in peace, because this subject is dangerous. Watching her movements, exactly as how he remembered her characteristic walk would be, is cathartic. She had always been a bit pigeon-toed and bow-legged, and her swaying hips underneath the flouncy girly skirt move exactly as they should. Hope closes his eyes. It's so nice to not be crazy. It's so nice to know I was right all these years. Here she is, in my shop, and we're both working on something that I knew she had built a long time ago. This is my proof. I am alright.

"Well, the way that I remember it, you kind of were good at fighting. You had this little move that the rest of us never quite got to be as good at. No matter what can be said about Light or Fang's fighting skills, you had a little technique were you could kill an enemy instantly sometimes. Granted, you only used it rarely, and most of the time, our enemies could guard against it pretty well, but..."

"That's because I was a l'Cie! I'm talking about the REAL person I am, Hope. I'm a lover, not a fighter!" She comes to him, hands folded, head tilted.

"I know. I know." Hope throws his hands up in defense.

"Okay, so!" Vanille pivots, skirts swirling. "Back to the line of questioning!"

"Wait, how did this become an interrogation? I thought we were just gonna hang out and build some stuff..."

"I'm just curious. After all, it's not MY fault you showed up at my door smelling like another woman's perfume. I'm sensitive to these things, Hope. I know what Alyssa smells like."

Hope files that last sentence into a theory he's had hold of for a long time, before he even fell captive under Bhuni's influence. He'll play this game, and he'll play it truthfully, but then it's gonna be his turn. Hope has a thought. He had originally planned on talking to Fang today, but speaking with Vanille would be just as productive. Besides, he and Vanille have a better rapport together. They had been good friends, once upon a time.

"Well, okay, go ahead with the line of questioning. Just remember, you have to be held to the same standard. If I have some questions that I wanna ask you, you have to be just as honest and forthcoming as I'm going to be. Deal?"

This makes Vanille pause. And she thinks, tapping her finger to her chin. After a moment, she giggles, cupping her hand to her chin. "Of course, Hope. No more secrets. You know that's my motto!"

Hope remembers her old penchant for keeping her cards close to her chest, so he's glad that she's sticking with the honest route. He inhales, ready. Time to spill the beans.

"It was...a 'date', date. Not like friends. More than that." He can't look into her eyes, fearing judgement there.

"Oh, my!" She holds her hand up to her mouth, bracelets jingling. "You don't mean...but, no! That can't be possible! Well, it can...but...Hope, you don't like her!" She almost shouts this last sentence, hopping forward to where Hope is seated on his stool and grabbing his knees in frustration.

Hope looks up, perplexed. Have my intentions always been this honest? He blinks up into her face. "You're right, I don't."

"Well, that's just mean! That's not the Hope that I know! Hope, how could you? You're going to break Alyssa's heart! Or worse...break the heart of someone else."

Hope sighs. "So, you know." He chokes up.

"Yes, Hope. We ALL know. We've all known for a long time. It's no secret who you really care for. Why are you wasting your time with someone you don't like?"

"Because I don't think Light likes me back!" He comes outright and dares to speak Lightning's name, and his blunt response frightens Vanille back a half pace. Sighing, he sits back in his seat, palms up. "Hey, sorry for the yelling."

"No, that's okay." Vanille has a perturbed look on her face, and goes back once more to pacing, her bowlegged sway extremely distracting. "Well, it IS kind of hard to get a good bead on Light. I mean, she's all over the place. And she's had a lot of stress. What, with being the savior and all. The only thing anyone really knows for sure is that she loves her sister. Other than that, she's always thinking of other people before herself. You and her were really close. Why can't you just talk to her? Granted I don't think it'll be easy..."

"I DID talk to her, Vanille. After the wedding." Hope cuts in before Vanille can return to thinking her thoughts out loud. "I DID. She knows."

"Oh! Well? What did she say?" Vanille's almost buzzing with excitement, he can feel her body vibrating from where he's sitting. He wishes he could say something to make her keep smiling.

"She called me a kid. I don't think she wanted to hear what I had to say. We haven't spoken since. But I laid it all out on the table, Vanille. It's out there. Now I'm just waiting for her t-"

"No! You are NOT waiting! Going on a date with Alyssa is NOT waiting!" Vanille interrupts, finger sticking out. "That's the OPPOSITE of waiting actually."

Hope has had enough. Frustrated, he kicks out his stool from under him, and begins to pace as well. Out of sheer desperation, he throws his hands out to his sides. "Well, what am I SUPPOSED to do? I've waited for her for so long, Vanille. So long. Centuries. How much longer am I supposed to wait? And calling me a kid was just rude. She knows I'm not a kid. Vanille, I, I...I love...I love her."

There is a heavy silence after this. Vanille sits down. So does Hope. The seconds tick by. After a moment's hesitation, Vanille comes scoots her stool over and places a hand on Hope's shoulder, who has his head buried in his hands.

"You're also right, Hope. She can't expect you to wait around forever if you tell her how you feel and she selfishly holds on to that. She has to give you a response. She has to let you know either way how she feels. But you can't hurt Alyssa, either. Even with her past. It's wrong to use her as you wait on Light. Is that what you're doing, Hope? Playing these women against one another?"

Hope is almost on the verge of tears. He needs to get this out, but it's just so hard. "No. No, Vanille, it was never my intention to use Alyssa. I really want nothing to do with her, actually. Well, that was my approach at first. Now, well, now I'm not so sure. She might actually be a good friend, after all of this. Maybe she was telling the truth, after all. I don't know. You're right, though. What happened between us last night can never happen again..."

Realizing that he has probably said too much, Hope drifts off, hoping that Vanille won't catch on, but she isn't that easily fooled.

"What do you mean, 'what happened last night can never happen again?'" Hope winces at his friend's shrill tone. "Hope, oh no. What did you do? Have you done something that can't be taken back?"

This is it. All or nothing. Here's where his friendship with Vanille is going to be put to the test. If they can stay close after this moment, then they would be able to handle everything that will come after.

"I, that is, I mean, we...yeah. We got intimate."

Pause.

"Oh, well, that's really none of my business, I guess." Vanille is blushing, and she can't hide it, even though she's trying. Hope sees the judgement in her eyes, and it pains him. She's trying to hide her thoughts, but they are clear over her face. Traitor.

"She, she KNOWS about Light. Alyssa, I mean. She knows that I love Light. She came at me, Vanille. I was too weak. Too weak to say no. I mean, I'm eighteen, I'm not a child anymore! I haven't been for centuries!" Now his voice carries, and the anger behind it. Hope clenches his fists. "I can't remain a child forever. I had to grow up. Last night was a big part of that. Light should have been there, Vanille. Light should have been my first." Looking up and seeing the uncomfortable look on his friend's face, he stops.

"Hey, look, Vanille, I-I know she's your friend, too. You probably don't want to be hearing any of this. I get it. But I really need a friend right now, and you-you might be the only one I've got. I hope that this doesn't come between us. But I'm hoping that maybe you should give me some advice."

There is a pause, and Vanille is by his side, her jingling accessories giving her every movement away before she comes into his perephial vision. He sees her hands coming into his line of sight, and grab his own. She lifts them in hers, and he looks up into her wide, imploring eyes.

"I understand loving someone, and there being so much past between the two of you. You feel like the gap of time is stretched so far that there's no way you can communicate. I get it. But you have to bridge the gap. You care for each other, in some fashion at least. Try again. Your feelings are worth the effort. Talk to her, Hope. She needs someone. Her sister is away now, and she has no more battles left to fight. For now, at least. She feels helpless. Snow is looking after Serah, no one needs saving, and Light doesn't know what to do with herself. She has no one to protect. No mission. No new adventure is waiting for her. All of the souls, are saved. Try to imagine how she must feel. She feels like she doesn't have a purpose, that her sense of worth has lessened. It must be hard for someone like her. We all have someone to be with, or that we love in this world. For Light, that has mostly been Serah, and now Serah's married. What will she do with the rest of her time? An old solider doesn't go quietly into peaceful days. The rest of us have someone worth living for. You are that person for her now, Hope. She just doesn't realize it yet. You two have each other. But she just can't see that. She's never been able to see anything that hasn't been right in front of her nose. She hasn't ever cared for anyone other than Serah. She has to realize feelings she's never felt before, and has to become a person she's never been. That takes time. I know it isn't fair to you, Hope, after all the time you've already given her...but she still requires it. I think she's deserved it, after all that she's been through. So do you, though. You both have had to shoulder so much." Here, there is a little trickle that runs down Vanille's cheek. Hope is surprised at this.

He looks at her, deeply. "Vanille, you're giving me this advice because you've been through the same sort of obstacles, haven't you? Just how long are you and Fang going to keep your feelings for each other a secret?"

"You already know." Those three words she whispers, and after she utters them, the lone teardrop splashes off her face and onto his knee. At that she just sort of seems to crumple, folding onto the stool next to him again. She dips her chin so that he can't see.

"Vanille, it's the most obvious thing in the world. We know you guys are more than roommates. Your love for one another literally uplifted the world. You guys can be selfish now with one another. You have the time. You manufactured it, along with all of the rest of us. We've all spent some time in stasis. Me in the ark, Light in Valhalla, you and Fang in crystal, Sazh searching for Dajh's soul, and Snow almost beoming Cieth." The memories come flooding back to Hope as he keeps talking. This is the first time he has spoken of these memories aloud, and he is uplifted to see her nodding slowly after ticking off each period of sadness all of them experienced. So, he is starting to get his memories back. This is good. Talking with his friends, seeing them again, not being told he is crazy...this entirely different life is helping him clear the fog. He can now wake up from his dreams each day and live them without fear.

"Why do you and Fang hide this? By the way, this subject is what I wanted you to be honest about when I asked you if you could be truthful with me earlier. I originally had planned to go talk to Fang this week during my recess from training, but talking with you is just as good. Better, actually. You and I were always closer. We could joke around. You were the only kid of the group besides me, and I just felt like we could relate. Besides, other than Snow, you were the only one around when my mother died. I shared that with you. You helped me. You were there. If it weren't for you pushing me forward, sometimes literally, I wouldn't have survived, or met the others, or became a l'Cie. I would have been found by PSICOM, and would have been just another victim of the Purge. I would never have been able to defend myself. I confided to you, Vanille. I've always felt safe doing so, because you could understand where I was coming from. And I always felt that, before we met Fang, you were trying to find someone out there. You were foundering in the dark, just like I was. I found someone I could love, and you found the person you loved that you left behind. We went on our journey together, though. Together we held hands, and stretched out the other toward the people we ended up caring for. We have a common link. Talk to me now."

"We, we haven't been in this new world very long, and already it's not very accepting of us. We just...we just wanted to wait." She sniffles, and straightens now. "We wanted to be sure that you all cared for us just the same, no matter what we felt toward each other."

"I have a feeling that when you say, 'we,' you actually mean just yourself. There's no way Fang would dare put our opinions over her own feelings, or her care for you. You're hurting Fang by asking her to be silent for the two of you. No wonder she's drinking more than usual. She can fight the world, she can handle whatever we might think, but she can't handle you pushing her away. Vanille, you have to care for each other first. The rest will come around. The more you hide, the more you're giving credence to what other people want to see for themselves. And they're wrong. Vanille, you can't hide the fact that the both of you love each other. You've fought so hard! How DARE anyone reject the love that upheld the world! Embrace each other. Dammit, Vanille, it's killing Fang. You're robbing her of her happiness with you in this new world, you're robbing her of the chance to finally be able to be with the person she loves, and NOT covered in crystal..."

"Then why don't you take your own advice!" Vanille jumps up, shouting. Hope had gotten up and had been gesticulating wildly as he was talking, but now, Vanille zooms in his way, hands clenched by her sides. "You and Lightning have this chance too! And the love you had for each other is what ended up defeating Bhunivelze! Her sacrifice to rescue you is what the God couldn't understand, and ultimately led to his defeat. You are just as guilty as I am." After a moment, she stops, looks aside, and blinks rapidly. "Oh...oh...I just realized something." Her anger immediately evaporates, and she clasps her hands over her face. She turns red, and shakes her head slowly from side to side, earrings swaying and jangling with each movement. "I...we...have been so blind. What a couple we make!" She sighs, folding her hands into her lap. Hope is befuddled. He lowers his arms from where they had stopped, mid-flight, when Vanille got in his face.

"What do you mean, 'what a couple we make?'" He doesn't feel like sitting back down in the stool. Instead, he leans against his drafting table, placing a hand next to a mock-up of Bhakti's rabbit-ears.

"Hope, you and I have put ourselves into the same position. Don't you see?" She sighs, and turns to look up at him. Fresh tears are brimming in her eyes, but to her credit, she keeps them contained. "We have both put our feelings for the person we care about more than anything aside for too long. You and I both have been kept apart from the person we care about for centuries-eons, even. And when we find them again, we don't treat them the way that we should. Look what you did with Alyssa. Look what I am doing, for the sake of saving face in this biased and judgmental world. Light has been pushed away, and I am hurting Fang, who is turning to drink now, because she can't imagine not being able to be with me, but loves me too much to do anything that I wouldn't want. Fang is wrong for her drinking. But so is Light for belittling you and rejecting you when you've been honest. She shouldn't have turned to anger when she got scared and had to search her feelings. It was a defense mechanism. And I'm still scared, when I vowed so long ago never to be scared again. Except this time, I'm scared of what other people might think."

She shakes her head, lips clenched in anger, body quivering. "I never thought, not in a million years, I'd EVER end up making the same mistake again. Well, now I have. And I can't do it any longer. I'm going home. Tonight. And having a talk with my beloved." Mind made up, in typical Vanille style, she can't wait a moment longer. She gets up, and smooths her skirts. "I'm going right now." The statement is so emphatic, so bold, that Hope raises his eyebrows. He backs up, straightens, and dips a mock half-bow.

"My lady." He dips his head, then looks at his friend with his sky blue eyes, peeking from behind ribbons of silver. There is a twinkle in his gaze. "I understand. I think you're doing the right thing. Allow me to show you the exit, and see you on your way." He straightens, and offers her the crook of his arm, bending at the waist to accommodate the tiny girl's height. Giggling, she threads her arm in his, and together, they walk toward the shed door.

"By the way, I think you're doing the right thing. I'm proud of you, as a friend. Normally I'd ask for you to let me know how it went, but I know it'll go well. You don't even need me to say 'good luck.'"

"Thank you, Hope. And thank you for showing me this place-"

"Our place." Hope corrects his friend. "Remember that. Bhakti #2 is just as much yours as he will be mine. Our little pet, if you wanna put it that way."

Vanille nods once. "Right. OUR place. Our pet." She laughs. "Yes, that will be nice. I will come as often as the military lets me and work on our pet. With you here or not."

"Good. I want this place to become just as much a refuge for you as it has been for me all these years. It's like...a bastion of good memories. This is a safe place, a good place." They have come to the door, and Hope stops, lifting his free arm and pushing on a stainless steel plate cover nailed on one hinge next to the door frame.

"I've kept this key hidden behind this panel since the day I asked dad if I could use this shed, waiting for the day I would find you and ask you to share this place with me." He touches the panel, and it swivels aside to reveal an old key. There is dust around the depression, and it's obvious that the key has been there for a long time, and has never been moved.

Hope takes it out, and ceremoniously hands the key to Vanille. "Yeah, I didn't get a chain or anything, but..."

To Hope's surprise, Vanille grabs him in a big hug, stopping him in his tracks. She wraps her arms around his neck, and buries her face in his shoulder again. "Thank you." She murmurs into his shirt, but Hope can make it out. She stands back, placing her palms on his chest, and looks up at her friend. "Thank you for not giving up on any of us. For waiting for us. For holding on to your past, and your dreams."

Hope grins wryly. "You just go ahead and have that talk with Fang."

"I am. But you need to find Light and let her know what happened. It'll be awkward, but it's best that she hear from you. I'm sure she'll understand. Your friendship is too important."

Hope sighs, and can feel the tinge of color turning on his cheeks. He rubs the back of his head. "Yeah...about that. You're right. I was planning on it. My mind's made up. Well, it always has been. But I'm willing to try again with Light, give her another chance to come around."

"Good. She might be acting weird now, but she deserves it." Vanille nods once. "I'd better not be smelling Alyssa's perfume on you, the next time I see you." She wags her finger back and forth in Hope's face, adopting a sing-song tone.

Hope laughs, then good naturedly pokes Vanille in the ribs. "Sure, but I distinctly remember Fang catching the bouquet at Serah's wedding. You'd better hurry up if you wanna make that woman's dreams come true."