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Sometimes Goodbye is a Second Chance	By : JesABee Category: Final Fantasy Games > Final Fantasy XIII-2 Views: 1884 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: It's a work in progress focusing around FINAL FANTASY 13-2 AND 13-3 and I don't own FF or the characters. I do not make money off these stories.

Chapter List
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I know this story is long. XD I’ve decided to see how long I can go before I get burnt out.

I don’t know if anyone is actually enjoying it but I’m definitely having fun writing.

Thank you for your time!

Disclaimer: I do not own or make any money off of these characters or the story I’m telling. I do not own (though I wish I did) FF13, FF13-2 or FF13-3!
Their lives had been turned upside down about two years ago when Lightning went into Hope’s office for an interview for a security position he had posted. In the beginning, everything was standard and was going well. She demonstrated her strength and agility by restraining his current security detail with ease. Seeing her able to render a full grown, muscular, 6 foot 7 inch man immobile made Hope smile for a quick moment before flashes of his past life shot through his memory. He thought he saw her doing the same thing to a large, blonde man but then he just thought the images were caused by his lack of sleep.

He ignored them and continued with the interview but he now noticed he felt connected to her some how. Without hesitating, he hired her. Regardless of the weird feelings stirring inside of him, he knew she’d be good for the job.

For a while, everything went smoothly. She kept their lives strictly business. She was a woman of very few words but her just being there made him feel more at ease. Yet, as time went on, she became more comfortable with him and allowed herself to form a friendship with him outside of being his security.

One night, after a long day of meetings and interviews about his new devices used to detect well hidden beasts, they arrived at his mansion when the device began to beep loudly. They were quickly greeted by a large hungry, drooling Reaver.

“Run.” She ordered calmly as she drew her weapon preparing to fight the beast.

Hope didn’t move. He was frozen in place. Suddenly the beast let out a ground shaking roar as it’s eyes fixed themselves on him. Lightning pulled the trigger to bring its attention to her and it worked. It turned and swiped its giant paws at her out of rage as Hope stood in place.

Lightning and the angry monster fought for what felt like hours. Both of them taking significant injuries before she made her final shot that killed the beast. As it fell to the ground in front of her, sharp pain radiated from her abdomen making her collapse next to the now lifeless Reaver.

Hope ran to her aid as his finally regained his senses. The Reaver’s knife-like claws had managed to cut through her clothes and make contact with her stomach. She was bleeding heavily. He called for help but he wasn’t sure they would arrive in time.

Fear flooded him as he applied pressure to the wound.

“Light, stay with me. Help is on its way!” He said to her as calmly as he could. Tears began to fill his eyes as he watched her fight to stay awake. He closed his eyes trying to regain his composure as to not scare her when his hands began to glow a bright green against her blood covered skin.

She groaned in pain as she felt her wound being pulled together. The color in her face was returning and she was slowly able to move her limbs again. The pain didn’t last long. Before she was able to process what was happening, it was closed and his hands returned to their natural state.

“Did you just…” Her words stopped as she slowly sat up.

“I…I think I just healed you.” He pulled his hands away from her and stared at them, sitting across from her.

“You’re full of surprises, kid.” She raised her eyebrows and placed her hand over her now tender stomach.

They heard sirens in the distance. Hope quickly stood and helped Light to her feet. They carefully walked to the steps of his patio and sat down.

After the police and medics concluded their reports and made sure they were alright, Hope and Lightning made their way inside.

“Light, you should stay here tonight. I’ll find you something to wear and you can sleep in a guest room.” He told her as he headed toward his room to look for something that might fit her.

“I’ll be fine, Hope.” She assured him as she checked the rest of the house for any signs of danger.

“You can sleep in here. There’s a shower and here are some clothes you can wear tonight.” He said, ignoring her previous statement and handing her a pair of gray sweatpants and a large black t-shirt.

She knew he was right. Though her wound was fully healed, she lost a lot of blood and she was too tired to walk back to her apartment. She nodded and took the clothes from him and headed to the bedroom.

He waited for the shower to start running before he quietly entered the room in search of her keys. He figured he’d go to her place and find something for her to wear the next day.

As he headed for his car, he heard footsteps approaching behind him. He turned to see his house security guard quickly jogging up to him.

“I’ll be okay, Luke. You don’t have to come with me.” Hope told the large man.

“With all due respect, sir, yes I do. If Lightning finds out I let you leave alone, she will finish what she started during that interview.” He joked and he took the keys from Hope.

“Fine. Take me to her apartment, please.” He laughed.

Hope had never actually been to her apartment before so he wasn’t sure what to expect. When they parked in front of it, he noticed the building was pretty basic. Nothing too exciting about it but he took note of the surroundings. It was a run down area with neglected yards and papers littering the streets. Definitely not an area he would have seen her in.

When they entered the building and made their way to the apartment number that matched the one on her keys, musky smells filled his nose. The carpet in the hallway was dirty and the bare white walls had questionable stains on them. He could hear neighbor’s dogs barking as they passed by their doors.

“This is it.” Hope told Luke. Unlocking the door and searching for a nearby light.

Her apartment was nearly empty. Nothing but an unmade mattress on the floor, a very worn dresser across the room and a small TV sitting on top of it. Though it was empty, it was clean. Sweet lemon-vanilla aroma filled the air. He quickly went to her dresser to find her clothes. He didn’t want her living here. She deserved better.

“Luke, grab that box.” Hope said, pointing to an empty box sitting on the counter. He began to neatly place her clothes inside the box. “She can’t stay here.”

“Sir, maybe you should talk to her first.” Luke said nervously as he held the box and watched as Hope emptied each drawer.

“Don’t worry, Luke. I can handle her. She’s not going to beat you up.” He joked as opened the final drawer. Her underwear drawer. His eyes widened when he saw them. Nothing like he had ever imagined. A mixture of colorful boy shorts, sexy silk and lace thongs and very minimal g-string mixed with matching bras.

“Sir,” Luke calmly redirected his boss’s attention to the task at hand when he noticed the young man’s cheeks turning a light shade of red.

Hope shook his head and quickly threw the items into the box, turning to look at the rest of the room for anything she might want but there was really nothing left. He headed down the hall to her bathroom and flipped on the light.

She had a small shoe box filled with basic makeup and other various items sitting on the back of the toilet, a single pink tooth brush and a matching hair brush on the sink and a few bottles of shampoo and body wash in the shower. He added them to the box of her belongings and headed for the door.

When they arrived back at his house, the light from her bathroom was still on. They entered the house and Luke set the heavy box on the glass living room table that sat in front of his white leather sofa.

“Need me to stay for backup?” Luke joked. Knowing Lightning would most likely be pissed off at what Hope just did.

He shook his head and sat on the couch as Luke made his way to the door, locking it as he left Hope.

Another 20 minutes had passed before he grew concerned. He had heard that women can some times take longer in the shower than most men but she had been in there for over an hour. He made his way to her room and knocked on the door. Nothing. He slowly opened it to see the room had been exactly how he left it earlier.

“Light?” He said loudly as he approached the bathroom. “Are you okay?” He asked, pressing his ear to the cold wooden door.

“I-I’m fine.” She answered.

“Are you sure? You’ve been in here for a long time.” He noticed her tone was soft, almost as if she had been crying.

“Yeah, I’ll be out in a minute.” The shower turned off and Hope took that as his time to exit the room.

He returned to his spot on the couch and called his chef and ordered dinner for both of them, as he realized they hadn’t eaten since lunch.

“Uh, what’s this?” Lightning asked when she saw the box of her belongings sitting in front of him.

“Before you kill me, hear me out.” He was nervous. He noticed her expression was that of annoyance. “Please, sit.”

“Hope, why are my things not in my apartment?” She opened the box to see all of her personal items crammed into it.

“I have this giant house to myself, You’re always with me anyway and it’s safer. For both of us.” He said quickly. He was preparing himself for her to either yell at him and quit or kill him.

She sighed heavily and sat down next to him saying nothing. He searched her face for some sort of sign but all he could see was that her eyes were blood shot. She had been crying.

“Light, what’s wrong?” He asked, compassion in his voice.

“I…I can’t explain it, Hope. Something happened after you healed me.” The topic shifted immediately, almost like his actions weren’t even on her mind anymore.

“Try. You can talk to me, Light. I know, technically, I’m your employer but I’m also your friend.” Hope said. The truth was, he felt the same way. Something did happen after he healed her but, for him, it had been happening even before then. Memories of his old life were coming back to him which was why he insisted she move in with him. He just didn’t know how to tell her that for fear she’d think he was insane.

“I saw things…I saw people. You.” She told him as tears began to fill her eyes again. “You were younger then. You were telling your dad about your mother dying.”

He couldn’t bring himself to speak. Those memories were the hardest for him to relive but he remembered them just as she did.

“Then we were in the arc and I remembered…everything.” Tears streamed down her cheeks as all of the fear and pain came back to her. “Fang, Vanille, Sazh, Noel…” She wiped away her tears and stared at the side of the box in front of her. “Serah and…Snow.”

“It’s okay, Light.” He placed his hand softly on her back and pulled her to him, trying to calm her. When his memories returned to him, he had a similar reaction but he knew he could never actually know her pain. She went through so much.

They sat in silence as she allowed her emotions to flow through her. This was foreign to her but she couldn’t stop them and she knew she was safe with Hope. He was her best friend and someone she completely trusted.

“So,” Hope broke the silence. “Is it safe to say you’re not going to kill me?” He asked with a nervous laugh.

She responded with a laugh between sobs and sat up, turning herself to face him. “You’re safe. For now.” She told him, wiping away her tears and smiling.

“Good. We will figure this out, Light. Together. I promise.” His words were warm and sent a wave of calmness over her. She knew he meant them.

She grabbed her box of stuff and headed toward her new bedroom, tossing it on her bed. She took a deep breath and looked around the spacious room. The colors used to decorate this specific room were relaxing for her. A mixture of browns, greens and blues accented the tan walls nicely. The king sized bed was decorated in matching pillows that sat neatly upon a solid black duvet.

After she unpacked the box, she walked over to the window. Crossing her arms and staring out at the busy street. She wondered if her other friends were okay and if they had remembered her. Deep down, she had opened they didn’t. That their lives were filled with happiness and they forgot about the lives they left behind. The pain they all had to endure because of her.

“Light?” Hope’s voice broke her train of thought as he quietly knocked. “Dinner is here.”

She had forgotten she was hungry. With everything that had happened, the last thing on her mind was food. Until she smelled it creeping its way into her room and made her stomach growl.

“I thought maybe eating outside would cheer you up.” He said happily as they stepped out to the backyard.

She loved it out there. It was so colorful and peaceful. The grass was soft and lush beneath her bare feet as they approached the picnic table that had several plates of food sitting upon it. The dim lights setup around the yard created just enough light for them. It was relaxing and they both needed it.

They didn’t say much while they ate. Small talk about the days to come and the events in Hope’s schedule but nothing about their past.

The chef came out to check on them and clear the table of their now empty plates. Lightning thanked him for preparing such a delicious meal as she made her way to her favorite spot in a lounge chair next to the lit up pool. Hope joined her.

“Do you think they’re okay?” She finally asked while she stared at the clear, star filled sky above them.

“I do.” He said confidently. “I like to think they all have families of their own somewhere quiet and peaceful.”

“Maybe.” She said in a hushed tone. “Maybe Serah and Snow found each other again and finally got married.” The thought sent mixed feelings through her body.

“I doubt that.” He said with a laugh.

“What? Why?” She asked, turning her head to look at him.

“They’re not meant to be married. Did nothing from our old lives teach you anything?” He laughed and rolled his eyes at the thought. “They could have been married after The Fall but there was always an excuse as to why they weren’t ready. Serah used you disappearing and, if it wasn’t that, Snow would use Fang and Vanille.”

Lightning listened in silence. She must have missed all of that or she purposely ignored it. She wasn’t sure.

“Then,” He continued. “You asked Snow for help which, of course, he did without hesitating. Leaving Serah for a year before being reunited in Sunleth Waterscape…along with Noel.”

She hated herself for bringing both of them into that. The guilt was still there even after everything. She ripped them away from their life together to help her.

“She developed feelings for Noel along the way. Feelings she refused to admit but, to me at least, they were there. However, she was afraid she’d hurt Snow so she buried them but in the end…” He paused as he remembered their final moments together. “She died in his arms and I think that’s why she was so at peace with the future she kept secret. She wanted to spend her last moments with him.”

“You think so?” Lightning asked as she fought back tears. She remembered that day clearly. The day she fell into a deep crystal slumber from the absolute torment of seeing her beloved sister die.

“Yeah, I do. I saw the pain in Noel’s eyes. I heard it in his voice as he screamed her name.” His voice cracked as he relived that dark day. “They loved each other, Light. The same way you and Snow do.”

“Wha-I don’t love Snow.” She quickly replied, sitting up in her seat.

Hope laughed as he watched her grow increasingly uncomfortable.

“Whatever you say. Go ahead and pretend I didn’t hear you guys in Yusnaan before your communication device would ‘randomly’ stop working.” He stood up from his chair and stretched.

“I’m going to bed. Don’t forget, my stylist is coming tomorrow afternoon to fit you for that event you said you’d go to.” He reminded her as he headed toward the house.

She sat in silence alone. Remembering all of her moments with Snow. From the day they met to the day they said goodbye. She missed him. A lot. She wanted to find him, along with Serah, but she didn’t even know where to begin. Their new world was huge and filled with millions of people.

“Please be safe.” She whispered to the sky hoping that, some how, they’d hear her words.

With those final words, she headed to bed. Her body was exhausted and her head was starting to hurt. She just wanted to sleep.
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Sometimes Goodbye is a Second Chance