A Loaded Conversation
by Meimi

Ugh, what an ordeal. Trust Snow to make things difficult. Scowling to herself in what had to be millennia old irritation, Lightning turned her back on the idiot and reached up to rub her neck. Sadly, being the Savior apparently didn't prevent her developing aches and pains from being knocked around by a Cie'th. She really ought to punch him again for that. This entire day and night had been ridiculous from start to finish. From getting chased around by Snow's guards and their pet Flanitors, hit up on by shady Diviners and salesmen, fetching stuff from monsters for psychotic divas and their masochistic songwriters, and then getting run ragged through the Industrial Complex and Warehouse District. Oh yes, and Lumina. As if things hadn't been frustrating enough before. Then everything with that nutcase director, arranging to blow up the stage (great idea there, Hope), getting a dress from the arena of all places, and then finally, finally acting in the play. At least they hadn't made her sing. The Chaos in the palace had actually been a relief to deal with after everything else. And then there was Snow, who had decided to go it alone. Again. Because that had always worked out so well in the past.

It really would've been just his luck if he'd remained a Cie'th. Lightning glanced back at the idiot, who, thankfully, still seemed to be distracted by making sure that his arm really was back to just being a normal arm with a l'Cie brand on it. When he was like this... it was like he was a lost puppy, one of the more endearing traits that had attracted Serah to him in the first place, no doubt. He did that hangdog expression so well. The concentrations of Chaos had run off all but the most hardiest (or loyal) of the palace's residents. He was... mostly alone here. Though, according to everything she'd observed, for all intent and purpose, Snow had been alone in this place for a long time.

He really was such an idiot.

"Light, you don't have much time left." Hope with his usual warning about the impending approach of six o'clock.

"I know." It would be nice to get back to the Ark. Rest for awhile. Get out all the kinks she'd managed to rack up for the night. But... that would mean leaving Snow alone with only himself for company, and that just felt... wrong. Leaving him to his own devices was a bad idea anyway. Always had been. Not much she could do about it though. She had to go back. And it would be awhile yet before she could bring Serah back to him. What a disaster everything had become.

"You know, Light," Snow drawled in a tone that set her on edge. He was about to say something infinitely moronic. She just knew it. "While I appreciate everything you've done for me, including the bruises, really, you didn't have to dress up to come see me."

Oh god. Of course, he'd comment on the stupid dress. As if fighting through the palace in the damn thing hadn't been bad enough, he had to go and open his stupid trap about it. "Don't even start with me. You're the one who had to hole himself up in this mausoleum with a ridiculously high wall just so you could wait for me to come save your sorry ass. You have no idea what I had to go through to get in here, though I expect you'll help with the clean up. You deserve a lot more punches than you got for all of this crap."

He had the presence of mind to at least look apologetic, which was why she didn't lay into him. That and he already looked beat up enough as is. "Thanks, Light."

"Not a problem, it's in the job description." She almost smiled, but no, she wouldn't give him that victory. Not yet. Not until Serah was there to see it too.

"So who have you been talking to this entire time?" Chaos flooded the room as he voiced his next question, not anywhere near as thick as it had been before, but more than enough to cut her connection with Hope yet again. As if she needed more problems to deal with.

"Heehee." A giggle from amidst the darkness. Lumina. Again. Did she make this crap? "Now now, I don't create Chaos. It is easy to attract though, if you know what you're doing. It is in everything, you know. Chaos is everything."

That kid. "What do you want?"

"It's not about what I want. It's about what you want to talk about without anyone else listening in. Don't worry, when you're done, I'll just give you a monster to play with. That'll be fun."

And an easy enough explanation for the disconnection. Though, Lightning wasn't sure why it would be necessary. Lumina had warned her about what she should and shouldn't let Hope know, but at the same time, the girl was highly suspicious in and of herself. All she did was make mystifying commentary and act like an enemy half the time.

"Well, what's so important that demon girl had to muck up my place again?"

"I don't know," Lightning answered as she focused her attention back on Snow. "For some reason she doesn't seem to trust Hope, which is preposterous."

Snow practically lit up at the mention of their friend's name. "Hope? You've seen him? He's okay?"

"Ah, yeah. Sort of," Lightning muttered in uncertainty. Hope's situation really was very, very strange. And she really ought to be more disturbed by it, but every morning whenever she saw him on the Ark it was as if any concerns she might have were swept away. Another one of God's intrigues? Maybe she should tell somebody about it. Maybe Lumina was on to something. "He's on the Ark. The artificial Cocoon that everyone seems to have forgotten about."

"What's he doing up there? How did he get up there?" Snow sounded confused, but she could also hear that ever present undercurrent of his. The one that needed to save his friends even if they didn't need it or want it. Yeah, this whole setup had to be telling him that something was wrong and needed to be fixed. But... it wasn't that simple.

"Things are complicated," Lightning explained hesitantly. How exactly was she going to say this? "He's not the same. He's worse off that I am actually. And really, I have no idea what the hell God is playing at with him." And that was the real heart of the problem, wasn't it? She'd never actually stopped to think about it, but now that she had it really was quite disturbing. "I don't know how to put it other than to just say it: he's a kid again."

Silence. Yeah, that's pretty much how she felt about the whole thing right now. What did you say to that? "I don't follow."

"The adult Hope is gone," she said flatly. "I don't know what happened. He was like that when I woke up and found out I'm the Savior."

More silence. And then finally, Snow shook his head at what must be the absurdity of it all. "I... don't get it. God's got you down here saving people's souls. Why would something like that even be necessary?"

"I don't know. Maybe it doesn't even have anything to do with the end of the world, but that's the situation as it stands right now. He's up there, as a kid, feeding me information about the world down here." Lightning shrugged almost self-consciously at her own words. It was rather silly that the Savior needed help, but she'd be pretty lost without Hope yakking her ear off. They weren't really doing all that great a job either, to be honest. Between clandestine phone calls to open up the gate to the graveyard to stop another murder of someone who liked her and blowing up a gigantic statue just to get through the palace wall, well, Bhunivelze probably wasn't going to be impressed with their track record. Though, at least she could blame the latter on Hope's great ideas. What a bunch of bumbling "saviors of humanity" they were turning out to be.

"No chance of me getting up there, huh?"

That was a good question, but doubtful. And for some reason, which was probably thanks to Lumina manipulations, she didn't want to risk anyone else going up there. Or... for Hope to know that anyone else had the knowledge that he was up there. Why did she feel like that was a bad idea? Asides from the word of a girl who seemed more and more like an enemy than any sort of ally, there was no basis for Lightning to have misgivings about it. And yet, they existed nonetheless. No, Hope wouldn't know about this little conversation. Not until she knew what was going on. "No. And it's better that no one knows about it either. I don't want to risk it."

Snow nodded his understanding. Of course, he'd get it. Protecting the kids came first. Serah. Hope. Vanille. Damnit. She needed to go and find Fang next. Vanille needed some good news. "So... not everything's on the up and up then."

"I don't know yet." It was the truth. She didn't. Maybe everything was just as God had told her. Maybe her concerns were baseless. They certainly seemed that way whenever she was up there or out doing her job as Savior. She'd never really had the chance yet to stop and just think about it all, but now that she did it just didn't add up. Why did God need to use Serah as bait to get her to save people? Rescuing people's souls for the next world seemed like the best course of action in the long run. Didn't it? And why was Hope up there? Why had time been reversed for him? Why was he a child again? And who the hell was Lumina? So much just didn't make sense. But in the end, even if nothing was true, if everything was a lie, what could she possibly do against God anyway? Now there was the real question.

"Figures," Snow chuckled caustically. "We're right back at the beginning again, huh? Completely in the dark about everything and just fighting to survive."

Lightning couldn't help but smirk slightly at the obvious similarities between their present situation and the past. Just like old times, huh? "Isn't that how it always is?"

"Pretty much." Snow seemed lost in thought for a moment, then shrugged helplessly and stood up straighter. It was almost as if he were shedding a skin, his countenance smoothed out and a facade of cool confidence seemed to slide into place. Ah, so this was the Patron that he showed to everyone else. It looked good on him, though she'd never tell anyone that. He'd always been so eager to be the hero back in the day, always boundless enthusiasm and an inability to admit defeat. The Patron was merely that in its matured form. Granted, it was tinged by hopelessness and the heavy burden of perceived failures; but Lightning couldn't really do anything about that. A sensitive soul she was not. That was Serah's job.

"Yusnaan is my city. And while you helped deal with the worst part of the Chaos, it isn't all gone. I need to stay here to take care of that," Snow stated matter of factly. Ah, he was going for the "everything is okay even though it isn't" approach. She'd allow it, there wasn't much more they could do for the time being anyway. "And I'm sure you've still got a lot to do in your savior work. So don't worry about anything here, I'll hold it together for as long as necessary. Just... come get me if you need me."

Ah. So that was the point of his little speech. Lightning nodded her agreement, though it felt hollow. She couldn't take him up to the Ark, she wasn't even sure how she got up there to be honest. That was all Hope's work. And there it was, it always went back to Hope. What was going on with him?

"Are we done now?"

Lumina again. "Yeah, we're through with our chat. You can bring down your monster now."

Another giggle and then the Chaos began to swirl heavier into one spot. "Hey, Light," Snow piped up as they both turned towards the incoming challenge. "Have you told any of the others about Hope yet?"

"No, why would I?" Lightning brandished her sword, giving only a sliver of attention to Snow's odd inquiry.

"Because it would be nice to know that a friend wasn't dead after all this time," Snow deadpanned as he cracked his knuckles in preparation for the oncoming fight. "You should at least tell Noel. That poor kid drove himself into the ground looking everywhere for Hope when he up and vanished. He's seen too many friends die, he needs to know that not all of them are gone."

"I didn't know you cared." Another Zaltys and Cyclops. One for each of them. How thoughtful of Lumina.

"Hey, I want everybody to be okay. It wouldn't be much of a new world if we were still being dragged down by the past." And there was the truth of it. Damn him and his obscene moments of clarity.

"I'll think about it." Meaning she would. Maybe. She'd probably need Lumina's interference again and who knew with that kid. It was something to consider for another time. For now, there were monsters to fight and an Ark to get back to. Wouldn't want Hope to worry about her. Or know that she worried about him.