So this is my first stab at a fan fic. I've been reading them for a while, and after playing FFXIII I came here to see if any good stories had been posted, and I wasn't disappointed. I hated FFXII, I thought the characters were boring and the story was bland, so I was excited when I started playing XIII, because it was quickly clear that this game was much better. After getting to the end, it was satisfying, but lacked the closure that Square games tend to lack, and since Square isn't usually in the business of direct sequels (which maybe for the best considering FF X-2) it's up to the fans to make our own closure. I liked the stories and characters so much, especially the Lightning/Hope relationship, and I was inspired to finally try and write my own Fic. Dunno if anyone is gonna like it, i guess it starts off slow, but i finished the first three chapters before i posted it here, and it will pick up soon. Read and comment if you like it, or tell me if you hate it. I'd appreciate any appraisal of my first work, and any constructive criticisms you can offer. Anyway, hope you like it.

Chapter 1

Hope Estheim sat on a bench outside the train station, gazing absently at the starry night sky lost in thought. Even after six years, he was still not used to the openness to nature afforded by the relocation to Gran Pulse. He sighed as he thought back to the day they had defeated orphan, the day their home had been destroyed and two of the members of their family, as they had come to see their group of friends as, had sacrificed themselves to give them all a second chance.

After Cocoon fell, the surviving inhabitants of the once utopian society found it quite unlivable. Over the next few years, they had managed to clear out the area surrounding the new resting place of their former home. Fortunately for them, they were also able to salvage much of the shattered remains of Cocoon to speed up the process of creating a new home for themselves in an unfamiliar and extremely hostile environment. Air lifting the scrap metal and debris from the crystallized moon that held Cocoon was no easy chore, but the people of Cocoon persevered by working together. Though the assistance of several Pulse juggernauts they managed to activate was also a factor in the fast construction of their new home. The remains of the capital city Eden were also helpful to the refugees. Despite suffering heavy damage during the Pulse invasion prior to the fall, the infrastructure of the city remained more or less intact, resulting in the new settlement on Pulse being named New Eden.

Though life in New Eden had gained some of the normalcy that the citizens of Cocoon used to enjoy, the city was being added onto all the time. Rather than build settlements across the face of Gran Pulse, the council that had assumed a leadership role for the people quickly agreed it was much safer and more practical to have one large city than several smaller ones. New Eden was instead divided into various districts, many taking their names from cities that existed on Cocoon, such as Bodhum and Palumpolum. There was still much to be done to restore the place to its former glory, though many accepted that the blissful life they had once lived was lost to them. All they could do is try the best they could to turn New Eden into a place where they could be comfortable living in, to try and forget about the fact that they now lived in the place they had been taught all their lives was a living hell.

Hope now sat outside the train station in the Bodhum district, having just arrived from Palumpolum, where he lived with his father. As he gazed up at the still unfamiliar night sky, he thought back on the last few years. Being made into a l'Cie and cast into a harsh and unforgiving world had changed him, and though he hated to admit it to himself, sometimes he wished that he was still traveling with the band of people who had become a family to him, fighting against fate and every other foul thing the world threw at them. Thoughts such as these often came to him while he was toiling away in new schools built in New Eden. He found it hard to return to his normal boring life after slaying behemoths and Ceith, casting down the fal'Cie overlords, and commanding the destructive force of pure magic.

These nostalgic thoughts inevitably lead to thoughts of the l'Cie comrades he hadn't seen for almost two years, at their last reunion party. He thought of Sazh, who lived with his now teenage son Dajh and continued his piloting and engineering career, having lead several projects to help build New Eden. Sazh had always been a cheerful source of wisdom during their journey, keeping things cool in many a heated situation, despite his deep seeded pain over his son's fate as a l'Cie. He thought of Snow, the goofy bastard he had come to think of as the older brother he never had and sometimes wished he didn't. Snow was true to his promise to Serah, and the two had married shortly after Cocoon's fall. The two lived in the Bodhum district, where Snow and his NORA friends had resumed their lives, assisting the military in an official capacity at keeping the wildlife at bay and helping in the reconstruction effort; the besieged remnant of the Guardian Corps and PSICOM couldn't afford to turn down any help when trying to improve the lives of the people now forced to live on the surface of the savage Gran Pulse. Serah was a stay at home mother to her and Snow's now two year old son, Zack. He thought of Vanille and Fang, who had saved them all, and now slept in crystal slumber, somewhere in the heart of the crystal spire that held up the remains of Cocoon. He remembered with a sad smile how much Vanille had helped him when the l'Cie mess had all started, and how she always had time to listen to him vent his thoughts.

Hope's wandering mind eventually came upon Lightning, the woman who had taken him under her wing and helped him come to grips with his inexperience and emotions in a world where they would have surely gotten him killed. Hope had opened up to Lightning, and she, in turn, had opened up to him more than any other in their group. Hope felt that he knew Lightning better than anyone else, other than Serah. As these things happen, he had developed fuzzy feelings for her during their adventures together, but he had dismissed them as a teenager's crush, and had never seriously thought he would ever act upon them. Instead, he placed Lightning on a pedestal in his mind, something to admire from afar but not to aspire to.

These feelings, however, had recently changed, as had Hope. He was no longer an inexperienced boy, but an adult, a man. He was tall and toned, muscled, but lean unlike Snow or Gadot. Hope had begun climbing the pedestal in his mind, trying to reach for what he thought was unattainable. When he looked at Lightning, he saw her in a different way, but the problem was, he was unsure what she saw when she looked back at him. Did she still think of him as the awkward fourteen year old boy he had once been, or did she see him as the man he had become?

These thoughts gnawed at him as he stared up at the sky, procrastinating for the trip he should have taken hours ago when his train had arrived. Normally during these trips, Hope had stayed at Snow and Serah's house, so as not to impose upon the solitary Lightning. This year however, with Sazh and Dajh staying there after arriving a few days earlier and not being able to find accommodations, they didn't have the room. When he found out that Lightning had suggested Hope stay at her house for the duration of the trip, he had tried to keep his composure and pretend it didn't matter to him, but it had resulted in the torrent of confusing thoughts and emotions that had kept him on this bench watching the dusk turn to night.

"Get a hold of yourself, Hope," he grumbled, resting his head in his hands, trying to physically shake the thoughts out of his skull. "You can stare down a king behemoth and platoons of hardened PSICOM soldiers bent on your death without flinching, but the thought of spending a few nights at Light's house scares the shit out of you…fantastic."

He stood up and stretched his legs, working out the cramps from sitting in the same position for hours. "I'd better get going," he said to no one in particular. "Lightning's probably worried about me." With that, he grabbed his bag and began walking towards the taxi company next to the train station, unable to keep the grin off his face at the thought of Light worrying about him.

XXXXX

"Where were you? I was starting to get worried, your train was supposed to be here hours ago." Hope stood in the doorway to Lightning's home, having just arrived and knocked on her door, which had opened to reveal a rather agitated Lightning.

Hope grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Uh, train was delayed, something about an obstruction on the tracks," he lied wildly. He didn't really want to tell Light that he had spent a few hours on a bench, stargazing and wondering how to express his new feelings to her.

"Debris, huh? I hope it's nothing serious…well, come in, it's getting pretty cold out there." Hope sighed inwardly, relieved she had bought his story, but worried she might try to look into it later.

"Yeah…cold," he mumbled, rubbing his arms and shivering, having suddenly realized it was quite cold. The thought of seeing Lightning again had apparently acted as a deterrent to the biting Pulse winds. He walked in and closed the door, turning to get a good look at Lightning. She was as beautiful as ever, and he had to strain to keep his eyes from wandering too long over her graceful form, lest she notice his gaze.

As he struggled against the tumult in his mind, renewed by being in Light's presence, Hope was startled as she wrapped him in a tight hug. "It's good to see you, Hope," she said, breaking the embrace, "You've grown way too much in a year, yet again. You're taller than me now," she said, with a mock exasperated look on her face as she studied his features and newfound height advantage. "How's school coming?"

"Eh, college isn't much different from high school so far," he said, glad to have a topic to snap him out of his daze after Lightning's hug. "I'm still undecided on what I want to study, and it's not making it any easier that the whole experience seems strained. I think it's still too soon for people to settle down again, it just feels like everyone is going through the motions just for the sake of normalcy."

Lightning sighed, amazed as ever at the astounding insight Hope always had a knack for. She studied him. He had grown into a handsome young man. The only thing about him that was still the same were his deep green eyes, that had shown wisdom and a talent for observation far beyond his age, even now. "Well, you can't begrudge them that, this whole ordeal isn't easy for anyone, and they don't even know exactly how or why this all happened," she finally responded.

"I guess not," Hope replied, uneasy under her scrutiny.

"By the way, you should call your dad, he's probably worried sick about not hearing from you. And tell him thanks from me; I got promoted to Lieutenant last month."

"That's great, Light!" Hope congratulated her with a wide smile.

"It's no big deal," she said nonchalantly. "More work and responsibility, but they need all the help they can get. And I happen to know a little more about the terrain of Gran Pulse than most."

"That's true, but why do you want me to thank my dad for that?" he asked her with a puzzled look, walking over to the sink and pouring himself a glass of water.

"Well if it wasn't for your dad lobbying on the behalf of all of us, I probably wouldn't have been let back into the Corps, let alone promoted. It's thanks to him all us former l'Cie didn't get lynched in the streets for supposedly causing all of this," she replied grimly. "But let's not talk about that kind of stuff now. Tell me," she said, smiling mischievously, "any lucky ladies in your life?"

Hope coughed and sputtering over his drink. "W-what?" he stammered, wiping his mouth. "Uhh, no, not really," he managed to say over his embarrassment.

Lightning laughed, poking him in the forehead. "Relax kid, I was just joking. Come on, you must be tired, I'll show you where you're sleeping."