(A/N)

My first posted Fan Fiction… and I'm not proud of it at all. This is definitely not one of my finer works. The characters seem OOCish, its drablish and my grammar sucks… but I enjoyed writing it so maybe you'll enjoy reading it.

So why did I write this if I'm not happy with it? Because I've never seen a thanksgiving fic. I see lots of Christmas and Halloween fics but no thanksgiving fics. So my plot bunnies possessed me to write this… curse you plot bunnies… curse you…

Name: Because you're my Hope.

Pairing: Hope/Light.

Words: 7000

Disclaimer: I'm on the phone with Square Enix and demanding the rights to Final Fantasy XIII. I could be wrong, but does continuous laughter mean no? Oh well, I'll call the Japanese branch tomorrow, maybe they'll be nicer… wish me luck…

Thanks giving part one.

Thanksgiving, Sergeant Lightning's second least favorite holiday. When asked why Lightning would usually punch the person that asked out. Which meant Snow received a bloody nose every thanksgiving the L'Cie had spent together at Serah's, not Snows, large house. And each and every one of those three thanksgivings Serah would scold Lightning about that being no way to treat poor Snow. Lightning would roll her eyes, Hope would giggle and Sazh would just outright laugh.

Which was why Lightning was surprised to find herself on a train heading to new Palumpolum this year. Her sister had come down with a terrible stomach flu, which Lightning was proud to say Snow had also caught, and refused to risk infecting her friends. Lightning thought it strange that Serah had sent her a letter telling her this instead of just calling but she was glad nonetheless.

Lightning had then been looking forward to spending the vacation time, that Amodar made her take every year, asleep in the tranquil peace that was her bed, from Tuesday to Sunday.

"Damn Hope." Lightning muttered darkly.

That was about the time Hope had called say that he was going to have thanksgiving at his house and he wanted her to come. Lighting almost didn't come, she probably wouldn't have had he not added that Sazh had made other plans and it would just be the two of them. Lightning mulled it over for awhile. Without Sazh and Dajh there she would probably be able to catch up on her sleep a little bit, and she had promised Hope she would teach him how to use a gunblade last year… sure she was drunk when he asked but Lightning was a person who lived by their word.

And so that was why Lightning found herself sitting on a train late Tuesday evening bound for New Palumpolum, and she was in a sleep deprived grumpy mood.

Lightning's already degraded mood only worsened as the train made several long delays. Of course she was more worried about Hope, who she knew for a fact would wait until she arrived. It was supposed to be a freezing day in Palumpolum and Lightning was worried about someone possibly kidnapping him. Never mind Hope was a well known NORA member in Palumpolum, or the fact that he had buffed up considerably. He was still Hope, and if Lightning wasn't there to protect him then something inadvertently would happen.

After the second hour of being stopped on the tracks occurred Lightning started to growl, sending her fellow passengers in a rush to get away from the ever angry Lightning. It was perhaps fortunate for the well being of all everyone around her that the train started moving a few minutes later.

Lightning waited impatiently as the sun started to set signaling night time. By her estimation she was now at least three hours late. Lightning fidgeted slightly, thoughts of everything that could have happened to Hope filling her head. And so as the doors opened a few minutes later Lightning tore out of the train and looked around the dark train station for any sign of Hope… who was nowhere to be seen.

Lightning ran towards the station exit, intent on finding a pay phone and mobilizing the Guardian Corp, hell maybe even NORA, in a full on search for Hope. She didn't care if she turned new Palumpolum upside down looking for that brat.

"Light!" Lightning didn't see Hope waving at her from his seat behind a portable heater, just outside the train station and inside a semi secluded sitting area.

And when she found him there would be hell to pay…

"Light over here!" Hope had ran to her side, but Lightning was so enraptured in her thoughts that she didn't notice him.

She would make him wish he was never born. Maybe make him a unic? That would show him!

"Don't look now but Snow's grabbing Serah's but!"

"Where!" Lightning drew her gunblade and immediately looked around for the oath. She stopped when she realized who said that. "Hope!"

Hope never saw Lightning's fist. He did however feel it as she punched him hard in the stomach, growling the whole time.

"Damn it Hope!" Lightning scolded as Hope fell on his rear, smirking at Lightning. "You had me so worried! You should have just stayed at your house, I know how to get their!" Though Lightning tried her words didn't come off as harsh as she would have liked.

"But then you would have done something rash since I wasn't at the station." Hope slowly rubbed his stomach, smirking knowingly at Lightning. "At best you would kick the butt of anyone suspicious that you saw. At worst you would have mobilized the GC, and maybe even NORA if you really thought I was in danger, and turned Palumpolum upside down…"

Lightning's cheeks took on an oddly bright red color. She turned her back to the boy to keep him from seeing her blush. Hope may not have seen it, but her abrupt back turning was proof enough she had been planning the later of his two options.

"You were seriously going to mobilize the military to track down one boy?" Hope smirked wider as he walked up behind Light. He was briefly annoyed when he realized that Lightning was still about two and a half inches taller than him, but the feeling dissipated as he hugged Lightning from behind. "You must really like me to even conside…"

"What?" Lightning turned around, well, lightning fast. Her eyes were slightly wide and her entire face becoming red. "Explain yourself Estheim!"

"What?" Hope stepped back confused. "Do you hate me then?"

"N-no…" I'm going to make you pay for this one Hope!

"Then what's the problem?" Hope looked so innocent as he stepped close to Lightning, staring up into her eyes sadly.

"I-I…" Lightning stuttered. Hope found it cute, something Lightning would probably kill him for if he said. "Come on! We're going to your house, I need to rest." And come up with a plan to get you back.

"Alright." Hope said happily. He grabbed Lightning's hand and dragged the older woman out onto the sidewalk, ignoring her meek protests…

Hope had led Lightning to his house and showed her to the guest bedroom. Hope then informed Lightning that he and Yuj had bought clothes for her. Hope promised that the clothes were comfortable and decent. Lightning had patted him on head gently, telling him he didn't have to buy her clothes.

Hope had insisted that he knew she wouldn't have packed anything, which he was right about, and that she wouldn't want to wear the same clothes two days in a row. She hadn't been able to argue with him. Instead she flicked him in the forehead and entered her room, closing the door behind her. Hope said something about breakfast and Lightning had told him to do whatever he wanted. Right now all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep.

And that's what she did, removing her skirt and white vest, but sleep was elusive. Her thoughts were too filled with Hope and his rather thoughtless words. "You must really like me." Idiot.

"Don't say things you don't mean." Lightning rolled over unto her side and stared down the simple oak dresser. If it had been anyone other than Hope who said that..."I'd tear them a new ass hole." So why is Hope different? A voice asked in Lightning's head. "How should I know? Maybe it's because we were L'Cie?"

Something told Lightning that wasn't it. But she wasn't going to think about it tonight.

Nope, the only thing I'm doing tonight is sleeping, and plotting vengeance…

Hope was humming to himself as he cooked breakfast. It was just past ten in the morning, normally when Lightning would have woken a couple hours ago but it was her day off, and he wanted to make sure breakfast was a special affair.

"Hope!" Bartholomew called as he ran into the kitchen, his expensive black suit in slight disarray from his hurry to get dressed. "I've got to go to Budhom; I won't be here for thanksgiving. I'm so sorry but this is really, really important." His father pleaded, grabbing freshly popped toast from the toaster. "And besides we both know you'd rather spend some alone time with Lightning." A teasing tone graced Bartholomew's voice as he ruffled his son's hair.

"Yep." Hope admitted happily. "Besides I kind of called in a favor to get you out of the house…"

"So it's your fault I'm meeting with Commander Amodar over the weekend?" Bartholomew wasn't mad, he was actually amused. "You crafty devil!" Bartholomew rushed from the kitchen and towards the door.

"Learned form the best dad! Love you!" Hope called as the door closed.

He smiled as he turned back to his cooking. He and his father were on good terms, best friends really, and so Hope had of course talked to him about Lightning. Bartholomew was the one who said they were good friends and encouraged him to keep in touch. Hope had a feeling that his father had drawn… other conclusions, though Hope knew the notion of a dating relationship with Lightning was zero. So he was content to just be good friends.

"Doesn't mean I'm not going to make her breakfast in bed." Hope put the food, which was eggs easy over with toast and crisp bacon, unto a plate. He then made both a tall glass of Lightning's favorite brand of Orange Juice and a strong cup of coffee, two sugars no creamer. Just the way she liked it.

He then found a sturdy wood tray and set the food down on it. Hope listened a moment to see if he heard the shower running, and when he didn't he was confident that Lightning was still asleep.

Hope quickly ascended the flight of stairs to the second floors landing, closer to a living room then a real landing. From there he walked to Lightning's room and gently opened the door, making absolutely no sound. Inside the room Lightning was curled up in the middle of the bed in a small ball. Her thumb was resting by her chin and almost inaudible snores escaped her.

Hope stayed in the doorway a moment, savoring the unusually peaceful sight of Lightning asleep. But Hope knows that this, as all good moments, must come to an end.

"Hey Light." Hope whispered, which was enough to jolt the soldier awake. She sat up revealing she had removed the white vest and was wearing her turtle neck and undershorts only. Her eye's quickly scanned the room as she reached for her gunblade, and then her eyes came to Hope. They stared at each other, Hope smiling warmly and Lightning staring at him wide eyed, and then she drew the thick white sheet around herself blushing brightly.

"H-Hope what the hell is it?" she asked harshly. Hope figured he was getting the cold shoulder mostly because she wasn't wearing much.

"Well you said I could make you breakfast in bed last night, remember?" Actually Lightning didn't remember, but she didn't doubt Hope.

"Alright." Lightning conceded, making sure her sheet covered her body as she scooted to the back of the bed. Hope smiled and set the tray down in front of her. He then bowed slightly and turned to leave. "Hope…" He was however stopped when Lightning grabbed his arm. "You can stay and eat, there's more food then I normally eat in the morning here…" Was that a note of shyness in her voice? Hope would definitely remember this for a long time.

"I-if you're sure Light…" Hope said turning around nervously, though his smile was bright and happy.

"Yeah, pull up a chair." His smile made her smile. Something she found wonderful and scary at the same time.

Hope complied and sat next to Lightning's bed. Lightning picked up her fork and smiled impishly as she put some eggs on it and held them out at Hope. Hope looked surprise and he opened his mouth expecting her to feed him. Instead he wound up with egg up his nose.

"Ah Light!" Hope pouted, rubbing his nose furiously. "Not cool!"

"That's for making me worry." Lightning said smugly. "And that's just the start."

"Oh maker take me now!" Hope pleaded jokingly. While his mouth was open Lightning put food in it.

"There, no need for the maker to take you now..."

The pair laughed and enjoyed breakfast. Lightning asking about Hopes school while Hope asked about Lightning's job. They're answer were the same, boring. Eventually they finished the food Lightning asked Hope, ever so casually, if had ever gotten himself a girlfriend. This got an unexpected sigh from the young man.

"No such luck Light." Hope said sadly, averting his eyes to the ceiling. "To start with apparently ex-L'Cie aren't very popular with the lady's, and the ones they are popular with aren't very… good people." Lightning had a feeling he wasn't telling her everything.

"What else?" Lightning asked as he casually took a deep drink of her coffee, she took note that it was exactly as she made it.

"Well…" Hope seemed to think about telling her or not for a moment. He cast his eyes down to Lightning where they met her searching gaze; it was then that he sighed. "There is a girl that I like…"

"How strong is she?" Lightning asked before thinking. "She's going to need to be strong to match you… well actually she wouldn't need to be physically strong to surpass you but definitely mentally strong…" Hope was so amused that he almost laughed out loud.

"You don't have to worry Light." Hope interrupted. Lightning looked at Hope and caught a sad gleam in his eyes. "She doesn't feel the same way about me… but it's alright. I'll move on eventually."

Before Lightning knew what she was doing she hugged Hope tightly, rubbing the back of his head gently as he was pressed against her.

"It's okay, we all go through heartbreak at least once." Lightning said as comfortingly as possible. "But… it makes us stronger people in the end."

Oh the irony! Hope thought as he happily hugged her back, rather enjoying the feeling of being pressed against her.

"I know." Hope reluctantly pulled away. "But that's something to think about another day. Right now I need you to get dressed so the day can officially begin." Hope wore an impish grin.

"Then you need to get out." Lightning said, pushing the mostly empty tray into Hopes hands. "Because I'm not dressing with you in here."

"Aahh, I really wanted to watch..." Hope pouted, and quickly ducked out of the room when Lightning threw her pillow at him.

"Geese Eshteim…" Lightning got out of bed and went to the dresser where she assumed Hope would have stored her clothes. Inside she found a pair of comfortable blue jeans and a light T-shirt.

What do I do about my gunblade…? Lightning wondered until her eyes met a holster that had been put at the bottom of the drawer. She picked up the leather holster and examined the intricate stitching. A white lightning bolt ran down the outside of it. …This looks handmade… As she was turning it over a note fell out. She picked up the small slip of paper and quickly read Hopes messy handwriting.

'I wasn't able to come down for you birthday this year so I figured I'd do something special, and knowing you I thought you'd appreciate something practical this year. So I begged Amodar to show me how a gunblade holster looked when me and dad were down in Bodhum (it was that time Snow and I got kicked out of Lebreau's bar and you had to come and bail us out of jail… I'm really sorry for that by the way…) and from there I did a little bit of searching online. And in the end I think I made a holster you'll like.
Love your friend Hope.'

"Hope…" Lightning folded the note and stuck it in the back pocket of the jeans.

From there she quickly got dressed. The clothing was comfortably loose, without hindering movement to much, and it was fairly modest. Lightning decided that the next time the higher ups want to design a new female uniform she would recommend Hope for the job.

"I'm ready." Lightning called out as she strapped her combat boots on.

"Cool!" Hope shouted back, sounding like he was in the kitchen. Lightning quickly descended the stairs, wondering what Hope was up to now.

When she reached the kitchen Hope was busy packing a couple of coolers with food and soda. He smiled at Lightning as she entered. Lightning smiled back before she investigated what Hope was packing.

"Picnicking today?" She asked Hope with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep. I figured it'd be better than staying here all day. Besides I found this really beautiful picnic spot, and I'm the only one that knows where it is." Hope sounded kind of proud. "And I thought I would share it with my best friend…"

I'm his best friend? Surprise was briefly present on Lightning's face. I don't know if I should feel flattered or sorry for Hope…

"And I just got a license to drive a velocycle…"

"Why do I not like the sound of that?" Lightning interrupted, smirking at Hope.

"Because it sounds scary, me the kid flying on his own." Hope shuddered in mock fear. "This is worse than a thousand L'Cie running around!"

You're not a kid anymore Hope. Lightning thought as she briefly looked over his lithe, yet muscular, physique. But you're not quite a man yet either. You're just Hope, and I pray you always stay that way.

"If you're going to put you're 'best friend' through such a horrifying experience then you better be ready for hard training." Lightning picked up a cooler and started to head outside. "You do have that gunblade I gave you for your birthday right?"

"You bet!" Hope sounded like an excited child as he ran into the living room, into a closet, and came back with the slightly used gunblade that had been Lightning's blaze fire. "I've been practicing by myself for awhile now." The gunblade despite its age was in incredible shape; Hope must have worked on it daily. "But I still need lots of practice if I'm ever going to catch you."

"Don't sell yourself short." Lightning opened the front door and watched in amusement as the excited Hope ran past her, cooler and gunblade in hand. "You fought admirably when we were L'Cie, if anything you were like some kind of prodigy." Lightning remembered fondly seeing how strong Hope became, and so quickly to.

"That's only because of your training Light." Hope said as he rounded the corner of the house and headed to the garage. Lightning turned her head down, hoping her hair would hide her blush.

As she rounded the corner the revving of a powerful engine could be heard coming from the garage. Almost wearily Lightning round the corner, just in time to see Hope tear out of the garage on what was clearly a custom made Velocycle.

The Velocycle was black with a lightning bolt running down the left side, along with tribal patterns which were in dark red and blue. The back end of the Velocycle was also bigger then was standard, a soft blue glow coming from between the plates. The seat was also elongated to make room for two people to sit in comfortably.

"Wow." Lightning said as Hope expertly brought it to rest next to her. "Where did you get the money for something like that?" Hope smirked at her and held his head up proudly.

"I made it myself." Hope declared. "I scavenged the parts from junkyards, old battle fields and military surplus stores. Then me and Maqui painted it a couple weeks ago."

"Well… you did pretty good." Lightning set the cooler in a small hatch next to Hope's leg. "The only question now is can you fly it?" Lightning sat behind Hope and wrapped her arms gently around Hopes waist.

"Hey Light, some things you just do. Remember?" Hope revved the engine.

"Yeah, I remember." The Velocycle took off into the air, moving at a reckless speed across the sky and inches over the buildings.

Hope was surprisingly adept at using the Velocycle. It was quite the impressive experience for Lightning. Hope had glided inches above the buildings going at a speed a normal Velocycle never would have matched, and then the turns. When Hope went into a turn he went slightly wide like a drift, tail mere centimeters from disaster. And he didn't slow down, if anything he only sped up. And sometimes he would go into a quick dive, or upside or any number of other highly dangerous maneuvers. And he would laugh the whole time, and strangely enough Lightning joined in his laughter.

Because for some reason she felt safe with Hope. Almost like that no matter what happened they could handle it together.

Soon they had left Palumpolum and entered a grassy plain. Hope slowed down as though he was looking for something. Lightning looked down as well, until she spotted what looked like a small cave entrance. Hope dove for it, his Velocycle barely able to squeeze through. Lightning didn't say anything, still trusting in Hope.

It was almost a minute later when they came out behind a waterfall, the sun gleaming in through it and hitting the surprisingly grassy ground. The sun coming through the water cast the room into strangely beautiful shades of color.

"Wow…" Lightning gasped as she looked around. "This place is amazing…" Hope landed the cycle and turned to Lightning smiling.

"Yeah, I knew you'd like it." Hope said as he hopped off his Velocycle and pulled the two coolers from their place. "So what now?"

Lightning leapt down as well, though she pulled the blaze fire saber from its place on Hopes cycle. She flipped the blade down, surprised to find that it flipped out faster then she remembered.

"You've really done some work to this." She commented as she tested the blade. "It's lighter as well, your turning into a real gear head."

"Coming from you I'll take it as a compliment." Hope said, turning around just in time to clumsily catch the blade. "H-hey don't throw it!" Lightning snorted and rolled her eyes.

"So you ready?" Lightning smirked as she settled into a combat stance. Hope smirked back doing the same. "On three… One."

"Two." Hope added, their body's tensing like springs.

"Three!"

Hope charged at Lightning. He swung the blade down fast. Lightning effortlessly sidestepped his sword and swung her foot around, kicking Hope in the head and sending him staggering backwards.

"Tighten up your defenses."

Lightning closed the gap and swung her blade in quick circular motions which Hope barely managed to block. Her sword hit his left side, then right, middle, left leg, and head. Hope was barely able to keep up.

"Hold your sword closer to your body, and watch out for the wall behind you."

Hope's back pressed against the cave wall. Lightning stepped back and stabbed forwards. Hope, in a surprising display of agility, leapt over her blade and through the air towards her.

"Get serious Hope."

Lightning leapt straight up, to close for Hope's outstretched arm to slash at, and slugged him hard in the chin. Hope's body was propelled further up, where he spun backwards fast. His heavy boots kicked Lightning hard in the stomach sending her flipping backwards and into the ground.

"Now you're talking!"

Lightning managed to twist and land roughly on her feet, in a crouched position. Hope didn't land any better, but at least now there was some distance between them.

"Not too bad right Light?" Hope asked, if you'll forgive the pun, hopefully.

"You still need work." There was a heavy note of pride in her voice. "But your better than I thought you'd be." They exchanged quick smiles before settling back into fighting stances.

Lightning was the one who charged this time, and she was just as fast as her namesake. With quick, hard, strikes she went at Hope from the right. Hope turned to block and as he did lightning leapt over him. She swung down towards his head; Hope blocked with the hilt of his blade and pushed quickly, causing Lightning landed slightly destabilized.

Hope took this as a chance to charge her. He gave a loud battle cry as he charged. Lightning smirked and spun around quickly, the barrel of her gun pressed against Hope's fore head moments before he had a chance to swing. Lightning smiled at him while he stared cross eyed at the barrel.

"Hope, it's a gunblade for a reason…"

It was well past noon when Hope collapsed on the ground, huffing and puffing in an effort to breathe.

"…That makes it zero to fifty five doesn't it?..." Hope panted.

"Actually." Lightning sat beside him, leaning back so she could rest her head on his stomach. "I'll give you one point for stubbornness."

"…one to fifty four then…" Hope smiled and ran a hand through Lightning's hair. "That was better than I ever thought I would do against you…"

"Damn straight." Lightning tensed as Hopes hand touched her, but then she just relaxed. "So are we going to eat?"

"Are you hungry?" Hope turned his head to stare tiredly at the side of Lightning's head.

"Yeah, we fought pretty hard." Lightning sat up and smirked at Hope. "Especially you, I'm actually pretty impressed that you learned so much on your own." Hope looked away as he blushed.

"H-hey I wasn't really so alone, I remember how you fought when we were L'Cie." Hope said fondly. "I've been trying to imitate that…"

"Minus the skirt I hope." Hope's blush spread to the rest of his face as he gaped at Lightning, opening and closing his mouth several times dumbly. Lightning moved over and pinched his cheek before walking over to the coolers. Hope stared after her a moment.

"Light!" He shouted getting up and running after her. "That was so not nice!" Lightning laughed as she ran from the tired Hope.

"Hey you're the one who's trying to imitate me." Lightning teased, keeping just out of Hopes reach. "I'll tell you what when you go shopping for clothes, I'm sure we can find you nice skirt!"

"Light!" Hope cried out, stopping out of exhaustion. "Alright… you win…" He sat down next to the cooler. "Just come over here so we can eat…"

Lightning strolled over to Hope, smirking wickedly at him, and sat down at his side.

"So what did you pack mister chef?" Lightning asked, leaning against Hopes shoulder.

"Sandwich's mostly. But I made some potato chips from scratch." Hope said as he opened the cooler. He gingerly took out two restaurant quality sandwich's, with expensive looking bread and fillings.

"Hope… where did you learn how to cook?" Lightning asked as she plucked one of the sandwich's from his hands.

"I taught myself." Hope said a strange smile on his face. "That's how I've learned everything, since cocoon fell." The pair sat in a melancholy silence for several minutes.

"You know you can always call me." Hope looked at the side of Lightning's head, a frown on his face. "You're my partner, always will be." Lightning looked Hope dead in the eyes, conveying a sense of utter sincerity. "And that means I'll always be here for you."

"You don't always have to watch out for me." Hope swallowed audibly, his voice starting to choke with emotion. "Instead of always worrying about everyone you should just… do what you want sometimes."

"Hope I don't mind watching out for you…"

"I know, but I also know that you kind of neglect yourself sometimes." Hope looked into her blue eyes. "Sometimes you're the one that needs someone to lean on…" Hope finished his sentence with a tired yawn. Apparently fighting lightning had taken it out of him. "Hey Light can I take a nap after lunch?"

"Yeah, a nap sounds good."

After they finished Hope rolled out a couple of blankets and lay on top of one. He curled himself into a loose ball and closed his eyes, enjoying the cleansing smell of the water. Hope's eyes quickly started to close, until he felt arms wrap him from behind and Lightning press her body to his.

"Light… what are you doing?" Hope asked, words slurred in sleep.

"For once… I'm doing what I want." Was her reply. Hope tried to lift his head and look at her, but he was stopped when her cheek pressed against his own forcing his head back down unto the blanket. "Thank you, for being my Hope." Hope smiled and closed his eyes.

"Thank you for being my Light…" Hope fell asleep smiling, lightning's smiling face pressed against his.

Lightning was the first to wake, two hours later. She snuggled up against Hope, thinking he must be a pillow in her bed. She realized that hope was not a pillow when he started to stir.

"Hope!" Lightning leapt back, face blushing bright red. Hope looked up at her groggily, a smirk like Snows crossing his face.

"Hey Light… I must be dreaming…"Hope sat up and tried to focus his eyes on Lightning, only to accidently cross them. "Whoa." Lightning laughed at Hope and pulled him up to his feet.

"Come on, you're not dreaming." Hope seemed to wake back up after that because he blushed bright red. "And I'm driving."

Hope merely nodded and quickly packed their lunch in its compartment on the Velocycle. From there he waited for Lightning to mount the Velocycle in the driver's seat before sitting behind her, wrapping his arms around her.

"Light… please be gentle…" Hope pleaded. Lightning glanced at Hope, an evil grin on her face. "Maker be merciful."

Lightning revved the engine before spinning around as fast it could go.

"Light!"

Lightning gunned the engine once she pointed at the opening and pushed the throttle to its limit. She plunged into the small hole at a reckless speed. Hope hung on to her as tightly as he could, Lightning becoming something like a life line.

"Not scared are you Hope?"

"N-not at all…"

"Good, it's about to get even better…"

Unfortunately for Hope Lightning kept that promise.

"Were you trying to kill me?" Hope asked as he carefully parked his velocycle in the garage.

"There isn't a scratch on your toy." Lightning was watching with arms crossed, smiling as Hope looked the cycle up and down for damage. "You're just sore that I fly better then you do." Hope looked up at Lightning with a raised eyebrow.

"We'll have to see about that someday." Hope left the garage, satisfied that his 'baby' wasn't any worse for the wear.

Lightning rolled her eyes and walked into the house, Hope quickly coming up behind her. The pair entered the quiet house, Lightning looked around for Bartholomew.

"Hope, where's your dad?" Lightning asked, turning around to frown at Hope.

"He got called away on business." Hope walked past Lightning and into the kitchen. "He said that since its Lightning I'm staying with he won't have to worry about anything indecent happening." Lightning followed Hope into the kitchen.

"And what gave him that idea?" Hope glanced at Lightning as he started pulling pots and pans out of the cupboards. Lightning was smirking at Hope, who blushed and turned to the fridge.

"L-Light stop joking around." Hope stuttered his hand shaking as he opened the fridge door and started pulling out what he'd need for dinner.

Lightning wanted to say she wasn't joking. But she decided against it, there was no telling how Hope would react.

"So what are we cooking?" Lightning moved up behind Hope and peered over his shoulder. "It looks like ravioli… not very thanksgivingy is it?"

"Thanksgiving is tomorrow." Hope came out of the fridge with two bags of ravioli and spaghetti sauce. "Besides didn't you tell me you liked ravioli once?" Lightning shrugged and filled a pot with water.

"I'm kind of surprised you remembered that." She glanced at Hope, who was struggling to open the plastic bags. "I told you that a few years ago." Hope smirked at her.

"You're not complaining are you Light?" Lightning rolled her eyes.

"I'm just wondering if you're capable of cooking ravioli, much less thanksgiving dinner tomorrow." Hope pouted at Lightning's teasing.

"Come on…" Lightning rolled her eyes and put the now water filled pot on the burner. "I can cook all by myself; I'm a big boy now."

"…no you're not." Hope was caught off and stared at Lightning dumbfounded. Lightning stared back at him and slowly smiled. "You're a man now."

Hope and Lightning stared at each other for seconds that felt like an eternity. Then Hope looked away blushing brightly.

"N-not yet Light." Hope glanced at Lightning and then back at the ground. "But I will be…"

Hope was taken aback when Lightning hugged him from the side. His eyes widened and he drew in his breath sharply. Lightning didn't seem to notice as she intertwined her fingers into his hair.

"Don't sell yourself short." Lightning's breath ghosted Hope ear causing him to shiver. "Because you may not believe it but you're my Hope." Lightning released Hope, pleased to see his entire face was a bright red color. "Now tomorrow when you start cooking you will wake me, understood?"

"Y-yeah." Hope stuttered.

"Good. Now I'm going to go watch TV, I'll entrust dinner to you 'big boy.'" Hope watched Lightning go and let out a collective sigh.

"I really missed you Light…"

Lightning was pleasantly surprised that Hope had managed to make dinner, without burning the house down. Hope seemed to be pleased with himself as well as he quickly set the table.

The dinner table was a long dark wooden table with seating for seven people. Hope only set the two chairs in the middle which were across from each other. He looked pleased at his carefully folded napkins and properly set silverware.

"Where'd you learn that?" Lightning was watching Hope from the doorway to the living room.

"Remember all those plating arrangements at Serah's wedding?" Lightning nodded. "I did it, all one thousand three hundred fifty seven of them." Lightning laughed lowly. Hope looked up from where he was folding her napkin and grinned. "Light… thanks."

"For what?" Lightning asked confused.

"For a lot of things. For helping me when I was a kid, for making sure I never gave up and…" Hope blushed and ducked his head, concentrating on the napkin. Lightning smiled at the sincerity in Hopes voice, it made her feel good to hear her best friend say that.

"And?" But she wasn't going to let him get off that easily.

"..Thanks for smiling. I-it always makes me want to smile to." Hope looked up and despite his flushed face he smiled. "I'm uh going to go get dinner now…"

Hope ran out of the room before Lightning could say anything. She stared after him, a flight frown on her face. Her eyes then rested on the seating arrangement and slowly smiled wickedly.

When Hope came back, carrying tow pots in his arms, he almost jumped in the air when he saw Lightning had moved to sit next to him.

Maker… Hope thought as his heart hammered in his chest. Lightning merely smirked up at him, which did not help the bright red his face was turning. If my face gets any hotter then it'll melt…

"L-Light why are you sitting on my side?" Hope stuttered, cursing himself when Lightning's smile only widened.

"What are you talking about?" Lightning said innocently. "This is my side…"

"Then why is my plate over there?"

"Because I wanted you to sit next to me." Hope looked down, praying his hair would hide his red cheeks. "Not that you mind too much, right?"

Hope didn't say anything as he set the pots down on the table and hesitantly sat next to Lightning. Lightning didn't seem to notice as she served herself, and then Hope. Hope couldn't help but glance at her out of the corner of his eye, from the way she stretched slightly to ladle sauce on his ravioli or the way her stomach inflated and deflated with every breath.

I'm done for. Hope forced his eyes to stare at his food. There is no way I'm making it through dinner, not now… is it possible to die from embarrassment? If so I'm about to keel over! I wonder if my cheeks are just going to turn a permanent red?

"Hope your being pretty quiet." Hope glanced and saw that Lightning's smirk was almost ear to ear.

Your very amused aren't you Light?

"S-sorry." Hope stammered. "I'm just not used to people being this close… especially not you…"

"What's so special about me?" Hope swallowed hard, reaching for his glass of tea.

"H-how's dinner?" Lightning punched Hopes arm playfully.

"Better than I expected, but I'm still not trusting you with thanksgiving dinner."

"You don't trust me Light?" Hope was thanking the maker that they had moved past the awkwardness.

"Um…" Lightning looked at Hope critically, and then patted him on the head. "Nope not at all, at least not in the kitchen."

"What happened to selling me short?" Lightning rolled her eyes.

"Well Hope I'm afraid to tell you this but… you are short."

"Light!" Hope pouted at Lightning. And Lightning flung ravioli at him. "Gah!" Hope fell out of his chair as he tried to dodge. Landing on the ground and still managing to get hit in the face with the ravioli. Lightning started laughing loudly.

"It's a good thing your names Hope, not Grace." Lightning said between laughs. She was laughing so hard that she never saw Hope's return fire, which landed on top of her head.

"Not so fast are you 'Lightning?'"

And it was on. For the next twenty minutes the air was filled with ravioli and meat sauce. It splashed the white walls and blue carpet, got in the drinks and stained the table. And perhaps more importantly it covered the participants in the brief food war in tons of meat sauce and the occasional ravioli that stuck. And when all was said and done and an armistice had finally been reached, there were only two smiling people. Two smiling hungry people.

Lightning leaned against the wall, smearing the meat sauce on her back against the sheet rock. A large smiled played on her face as she scanned the room.

"Hope… you made a mess." Hope's mouth fell open and closed several times as he tried to figure out a response. Then he sighed and shook his head.

"Yeah I know, I'll clean it." Hope started to the kitchen.

"I'll help, and then you go get cleaned up." Hope gave Lightning a questioning look. "I'm hungry, which means fast food. And it may not be a highbrow establishment but you still can't go covered in meat sauce."

"Alright…"

"You said what in history?" Lightning asked amazed.

"Well we studying this book about this fictitious nation called America and how it became a nation. I was on the chapter about Texas's independence and the teacher asked what the rallying cry was after the Alamo." Hope blushed and looked away from where Lightning sat across from in the small booth. "And I kind of said 'up your Alamo.'" Lightning started laughing causing Hope to blush even deeper in embarrassment. "Hey it's not that funny!"

"Oh yes it is." Lightning affirmed. "You basically told you teacher to stick up his ass!" Lightning was trying to control her laughter, though Hope's pouting wasn't helping one bit.

"Geese Light…" Lightning reached over and ruffled Hopes hair.

"It's not my fault; you're the one who decided to tell me about it." She had stopped laughing and was simply smiling.

"So not nice Light…" Hope returned his attention to his supper and ate hungrily. Lightning watched him with amusement as he got big mac sauce all over his face, she even giggled when Hope poked himself in the eye with a French fry in his hunger.

"Hope lean forward." Lightning's voice was commanding, but her smile was to warm for Hope to feel like it was an order.

"Okay Light." Not that Hope minded complying. "But what is it?" Lightning picked up a napkin and started dabbing at the mess all over Hopes face.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a messy eater?" Hope rolled his eyes. "But at least your better then Snow when he's hungry…" They both shivered at the memory.

"Every thanksgiving he gets more food on him, and everyone next to him, then he does in his stomach." Hope muttered, subconsciously wiping his shirt.

"Yeah. I'm just glad that's the boys half of the table." Lightning put the napkin down and Hope leaned back in his seat, a small burp escaping his lips.

"So what now Light?" Hope asked, seeing as Lightning was putting her unfinished food back in the bag.

"We go home, go to bed and cook all day tomorrow." Lightning rose and headed to the door, Hope trailing behind her. "And I expect you to wake me up; cooking will probably take most of the day if you're doing what serah does every year."

"Okay." Hope had no intention of waking her up. He wanted to prove to her, and partly to himself, that he could handle something as simple as cooking.

"Good…"

Tomorrow would prove to be more challenging then Hope had first thought…

(A/N)

And that is part one. Part two I'll have posted thanksgiving… sometime. I'm still rewriting it, again. It just doesn't seem like anything about this story is coming together, it's almost giving me writers block… sigh.

Now I'm going to bed, goodnight (unless you're reading this in the daylight, then good morning/afternoon) and an even better thanksgiving!