A/N: Here I am again, starting yet another new HopexLight fic. I just have soooo many ideas. So let me know if you like :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or Square Enix.

A cool breeze graced Lightning's pale features as she stepped out from her home. Her lips quirked up slightly at the fact that the mugginess of summer was finally being stamped out by the coming autumn. Summer was another thing on that long list of things Lightning hated. It was hot, made her sweaty and uncomfortable, and brought all the sunshiny, happy, and all too friendly people out more than usual. It was also the fact that this season was forever marked as a sickening and mournful one that would bring her nothing but grief. For it was just one year and eight days ago, on a day filled with heavy summer heat, that she had lost the most precious thing in her life.

"Serah..." Her name fell from her lips in a soft whisper as her body trembled at the memory. The young woman felt her chest tighten and tears begin to form, but she pushed it all back. No, I will not do this today. It had been weeks since Lightning had left her house. Everyday had just been a painful reminder of what she'd lost. The last time she had tried to leave, she had almost had a mental breakdown in the middle of the store. So most days, since Serah's passing, she just laid around her home in her own broken state. Billions of reminders surrounded her, from Serah's empty room to the pink lip gloss that sat in the same place her sister had left it, all whispering and screaming of Serah's absence. Yet if she left everything as it was, all of the signs that Serah once lived there, Lightning could imagine, even for just a moment, that her sister still existed in her world and could just come walking back in the door, a warm smile on her face accompanied by a giggle.

Lightning had decided that today would be different. She needed to pick herself up and find a way to at least live, as Snow had been reminding her lately. The hulk of a man was usually who helped Lightning out, delivering groceries, getting her mail, cooking her dinner, and even just checking in on her. At first she had been loath to accept Snow's assistance. She never liked the man and couldn't stand the thought of needing help. So the first few nights he'd come to give her a hand, she'd slammed the door in his face. But after the initial misery of her sister's death had subsided, and Snow had asked her to let him help her - for he felt he owed it to Serah and needed to be able to focus his energy on something productive - Lightning had reluctantly allowed it. In the end, to her dismay, the company was nice, every once in a while.

It was now eight at night in the town of Bodhum and the last rays of sunshine were retreating from the sky. Lightning cringed at the high pitched screams and squeals that she could hear from the beach dwellers not too far away. Pulling her hood up over her head, she began walking down the sidewalk, hoping to avoid any conversation with her fellow townspeople and the irritating tourists.

She walked with no real destination. There was no place she needed to be and no place that she wanted to go. This trip into the real world was just a nice change of pace and the refreshing cool air felt wonderful on her skin. Attempting to avoid any eye contact, Lightning took in the surroundings of her gorgeous seaside town. She missed being outside and seeing the lovely town she had lived in all her life. Missing Serah had just made it impossible to get out of bed most days. Lightning's loss and grief seemed to paralyze her, even though it had been over a year. So going out into town had become a feat she couldn't accomplish most of the time until today, when she'd dragged her sorry ass up and told herself she was going to quit depending on Snow.

Stopping and taking in a large breath, the pinkette decided to do something she hadn't done since the day they'd buried her baby sister. Visit her grave. She decided that that would be her goal for today.

Kneeling before the headstone with Serah's name so perfectly etched into it, Lightning couldn't stop the stream of tears that fell silently down her cheeks. It was times like this that the young woman realized how truly weak she'd become. When the task of simply holding back her emotions had become so unbearably hard. She didn't stay long, for her heart couldn't take the fact that she was technically sitting atop her sister's dead corpse packed beneath pounds of dirt. It was a sickening thought that had her leaving the second it entered her mind. It was then that she realized the time, almost ten.

As she picked herself up, she heard quiet sobbing. As she walked around her sister's grave and continued forward a few feet, peaking around a tall bush, Lightning found she wasn't alone. A young boy of maybe sixteen or seventeen knelt before a headstone, weeping quietly with his forehead brushing against the smooth surface. His shiny silver hair was illuminated in the night giving him an almost angelic appearance.

"I'm so, so sorry." The young man sniffed as he choked slightly on his words. Before he carried on, he wiped his face with his long sleeve, shoulders quaking with a shaky resolve. "I should have been there with you. At least then you wouldn't have been so alone." A hollow chuckle escaped from him. "And I wouldn't be so alone now"

Lightning left, not wishing to hear any more from the poor kid. She had enough grief of her own to deal with. Finding it to be late and there to be nowhere for her to really go, she headed home. Her bed sounded like a good idea right about now.

Slipping in her key, her mental alarms immediately went off. Her front door which she always made sure to lock before going anywhere, even to just get the mail, was unlocked. Lightning took a second to think. Maybe she forgot. It had been quite a long time since she had left the house. It was possible that she could have fallen out of habit.

No, she specifically remembered because her hand had been shaking slightly as she'd left, hindering her ability to slip the key in the lock. It had taken her a bit longer than usual, but she had most certainly locked the door. Taking a calming breath, Lightning slipped her key back into her pocket and pulled out her survival knife that had been strapped to her thigh. Cautiously, she stepped into the house, wincing at the creak of her door. Immediately, she noticed the light in the kitchen and what sounded like someone rummaging through something.

Deciding to leave the door ajar, she quietly walked towards her kitchen, listening intently to whomever had dared to break into her domain. Whoever it was, was going to be in immense pain really soon. Her heart was pounding harshly in her chest and her breathing was getting more labored by the second, but she stayed focused - focused on the fact that whoever this was, wouldn't stand a chance.

Lightning entered the kitchen slowly. Whoever the intruder was, was currently going through her walk in pantry on the other side of the room. So although she couldn't see them, they couldn't see her and most likely had no idea she was home. She prayed to the gods that no one else was anywhere else in the house and that there was only one person in that food closet. Based on her sharpened senses, she was pretty sure it was one person. Judging by the heavy stomping of boots, they were male.

Her eyes locked on the third drawer down next to her fridge. It held a pistol but she knew that whoever was there would hear her by the time she got it out. A silent sigh left her as she walked closer to her kill. When she had made it to the closet, she drew up her knife. She could hear the man on the other side of the door, inside the small pantry. He was definitely big. She looked down at the small knife in her hands. It'll have to do.

Deciding to bite the bullet, she gripped her weapon and counted.

One.

Two.

Three.

She pushed herself out of position and spun around the door to face the intruder. Her eyes immediately widened and her body went rigid as she came to see Snow standing there. He was facing away from her, crouched down for his massive height was just a tad too much for the small pantry. The man was obviously looking for something and was blissfully unaware of the person behind him who was about to knife his sorry ass.

"Now where did she put that-" Turning around, his eyes went wide and he put his hands up. "Woah, Sis. Calm down, you're gonna hurt someone."

There was humor in his tone and that made Lightning think twice about lowering her weapon. "What the hell, Snow! I could have fucking just-Ugh." Flipping the knife closed, she sent a murderous glance towards the man before slumping into a chair at her kitchen table.

Snow chuckled as he dropped his hands and came out of the pantry. "What was all that about?"

He never gets anything, does he? "How did you get in here," she growled, a scowl marring her features.

"I uh... made a key... sometime last week." He cringed as she slammed her hand on the table and stood.

"You did what?" Lightning's nails dug into the wood of the table as she attempted to quell her anger.

Snow bit his lip and sighed, leaning back against the counter and crossing his arms. He didn't mean to scare her like that. He wasn't a moron, he knew he'd just frightened the hell out of her, but that really hadn't been his intention. He just wanted to check in on her and maybe grab something to eat. It had been a few days since he'd graced her with his presence. How was he supposed to know she'd actually leave her house? "So, you finally got some fresh air, huh? I'm proud of you." His goofy grin appeared on his face as he stood up.

Lightning gritted her teeth in response. "Get out."

The man shook his head at her expected cold demeanor and took a step toward her. "I'm sorry, Lightning. I know that I didn't-"

"I said get out," she barked as she stepped away from the table.

"I didn't mean-"

Feeling her fury become unbearable, she slammed her fist into his cheek as he became too close for comfort. "Fine. I'll leave then." She stomped off and out the door, ignoring Snow's calls after her. She needed to get out of there. The roseate was thoroughly pissed and aggravated. Good intentions be damned, he had no respect for her privacy and desired space. She was tired of him looming over her all the time. As if he was waiting for her to fail or... succeed?

"Proud of me," she questioned, muttering to herself. "He can take that dumb ass comment and smirk and stick it up his-"

Lightning looked up from her spot as she heard quiet sniffles. Upon realizing that she had no idea where she'd wandered off to, she glanced around her, soon seeing that she was in the middle of Crescent Hill Park. How on Cocoon did I end up all the way- Another sniffle brought her out of her head and her attention snapped to the young man currently occupying a swing just twenty feet in front of her. It's the kid from the cemetery.

A loud sigh was heard from the young man as his phone went off in his pocket. He ignored it until the ring tone died out. His shoulders seemed to shake more after the call as it appeared to have upset him more. When the phone rang once more, she decided to speak up.

"Aren't you going to get that?"

The boy stiffened before he looked behind him, noticeably alarmed. The phone went silent as they just stared at each other. She took him in, seeing not only his reddened cheeks and tear track marks but also a nasty bruise clinging to his jaw. She also got the feeling that he looked vaguely familiar.

Lightning sighed and walked over to the swings, taking a seat beside him. He cringed and shied away from her to which she inwardly sighed. "I'm not going to hurt you, kid."

"What... Wh-what are you doing here?" He began slowly swinging again, his gaze still locked on the woman beside him.

"What am I doing here? What is a kid like you doing at a park all alone so late at night?" She looked over to him to see his brow furrow, his swinging slowing.

"I'm sixteen, thank you very much and I can take care of myself."

Lightning smirked at his biting tone despite the shakiness present. The kid had some fight in him. "That jaw says otherwise."

His eyes lit with shock before being replaced with fury dulled by grief. "What do you care," he whispered back, sounding so much smaller then he did only a moment ago. A gasp escaped him as his phone went off again.

She watched the young man as he looked at the pocket containing the device. There was definitely fear in his eyes, but fear from whom? "You look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?"

He nodded slowly. It was the only reason he hadn't immediately bolted from his spot when she'd announced her presence. "I... I live across the street. I knew your sister... a little. You're Lightning, right?"

She gaped at him, most definitely not expecting that response. Thinking for a few minutes, she remembered a hazy memory of Serah babysitting a kid across the street three or so years before. She had said he was one of the sweetest kids she'd ever met. Lightning also remembered Serah frequently coming home with trays and baskets of various treats from the kid's mom. The elder sister was always too busy to have paid much more attention than that, though. In fact, the kid's name was completely eluding her.

"I'm really sorry, by the way."

Lightning looked over to him again as he spoke, sadness threatening to break her in two.

"I wanted to come to the funeral, but I... Serah was a lovely person."

Furrowing her brow, she tightened her hold on the swing's chains before swaying some. "Yeah."

"I'm Hope, by the way." He held out his hand for her which she took. "Hope Esthiem."

She considered him for a second. This quivering boy did seem sweet. "Nice to meet you, kid."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not a kid." This earned a chuckle from the woman.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. It was a comfortable quiet that they were enveloped in. Lightning felt surprisingly at ease around the young man and as she looked toward him, she noticed a bit of his shaking had stopped. She thought to inquire about his bruised face, but decided it wasn't any of her business.

He jumped slightly as his phone went off again. "You should probably answer it this time. It could be your mom. I'm sure she's worried."

Tears immediately fell from his eyes, but he said nothing back. Instead, he reluctantly took the phone from his pocket and answered.

Lightning cringed as she heard the yell of a male voice on the other end, presumably his father. She could hear every word.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? YOU DON'T JUST RUN FROM A DISAGREEMENT! I DIDN'T RAISE YOU TO BE SO SPINELESS! YOU GET HOME, RIGHT NOW!" Hope whimpered which did not go unnoticed. "ARE YOU CRYING? STOP CRYING LIKE AN IMMATURE BRAT AND GET HOME, NOW! WE'LL DEAL WITH YOUR PUNISHMENT LATER! THE LONGER IT TAKES YOU TO GET YOUR ASS BACK HOME, THE MORE SEVERE YOUR PUNISHMENT WILL BE, HOPE!"

It was a long minute before Hope dropped the phone from his ear and shakily put it back in his pocket. Lightning could guess where the bruise came from now, but she wasn't going to assume anything. "Are you okay?"

He attempted to put on a weak smile. "Yeah, dad just has a bit of a... temper sometimes. I guess I'll see ya around, Lightning."

She watched him wave and make to run, but she stopped him with a tentative hand on his shoulder. "Be careful, okay?"

He nodded, but didn't turn toward her in fear of her seeing his tears that were fiercely falling down his cheeks. He continued to run off towards his house, disappearing into the darkness of the night.

Lightning sighed, running a hand through her hair. She shook her head as she thought about Hope, watching his swing still swaying from his quick departure. I guess... I probably should have walked the kid home.

The air chilled considerably as she continued to sit there thinking about what Hope would have waiting for him at home. She wondered why his mom would allow his father to be that way with her son. She thought about whether Snow would still be rooting through her kitchen at home. And she considered going easy on him if he was. They were family, after all. Whether she wanted to admit that or not.

She decided to remain where she was, sitting there in the swing that she hadn't even been near since her sister was still alive.

"C'mon. You gotta swing with me, Claire. Please?"

Lightning's head swiftly jerked towards her sister's voice. She could see her as if Serah was there, swinging beside her. A small and tender smile formed on Lightning's lips as she watched her baby sister's form slowly fade away, soon replaced with the empty swing instead. A tear fell down her cheek as she decided that she really wanted to go back to bed now.