A/N: Sorry for the delay, this last chapter took far longer to write than I had anticipated, especially coupled with enjoying the scary outdoors. (I ventured outside and lived to tell the tale!) And then I just couldn't find a way to approach this chapter that I liked. So again, I'm very, very sorry for taking so long to finish this. Fair warning: This chapter has quite a few run on sentences and even repetition but they are intentional.

The Surprise – Part III

Sleep did not come kindly to Lightning Farron. In fact, it would be far more accurate to say she did not get to sleep at all. The moment her head hit the pillow she had hoped to fall asleep quickly and just forget everything that had happened that evening. But the woman should have known better than to expect to get what she wanted.

Varying thoughts tore through her mind, most of them unwanted. At first she tried to ignore it all and tightly shut her eyes, her desire to see any and all images go away and leave her alone great. However, it soon became clear that she would not be able to get rest until she spent some time dealing with the situation at hand. As much as Lightning wished it, you couldn't get rid of all of your problems with fire like she had with Hope's ill-chosen genre of novels.

Staring at the ceiling of her room, she decided to start with the book burning. Ashamedly, Lightning had to admit she handled that situation rather poorly. No, that was understating it. Lightning, a woman of 21 years had freaked out at seeing a young boy's collection of pornography. And, unable to deal with the images she had in her own head, she decided to burn the books. As if burning the books would hide the embarrassment she had felt. As if burning the books would somehow erase the images that enjoyed popping up in the back of her mind when she least expected it. Setting the collection ablaze had done nothing to help the situation, it only worsened it.

The charred remains would have to be cleaned. Light had wanted to start the clean up as soon as the fire had burnt itself out and cooled down, but Hope had returned earlier than she expected. In her panicked state, she ran off in a desperate escape to avoid hearing the explanations, giving the explanations and the inevitable embarrassment to both parties. She could not decide who should be more upset by the whole situation, her or Hope. Probably Hope. It was his own property that Lightning had gone through without his permission and had gone so far as to destroy it.

Hope. The 14 year-old boy had become her greatest problem of all, even if it really wasn't his fault. He was growing up very quickly. Too quickly, for Lightning's tastes. And all boys his age had a natural curiosity about sex. She shouldn't have been too shocked to find something like that.

Lightning sighed uneasily. She would have to apologize for destroying some of his belongings and probably replace them too. The former was easier to deal with than the latter. She thought of a few different scenarios of this little shopping trip and none of them seemed to end well. Lightning could either purchase them by herself, which would probably raise some eyebrows at the store cash register or she could bring Hope along to help distinguish the specific comics that she had destroyed. But again, that would surely end with more than a few eyebrows raised during purchasing. Or she could try to convince him to try out a different genre. That would involve an uncomfortable conversation but there would be no audience members joining in the spectacle.

The last option was the most appealing to the woman, so she sat up in bed and nodded to herself. There was going to be quite a few embarrassing conversations the following day, another one would just have to queue up and wait its turn. Lightning would try to steer him away from this elder sister complex that he seemed to have. Maybe try to show him the other styles and genres of pornography available...Nope, that was a conversation bound to be way too awkward to begin no matter what approach she went with.

Hanging her head down low, Lightning once again bemoaned the situation she found herself in. It was all her fault. She should never have set fire to those graphic novels in the first place, she should have put them back where she found them and pretended to know nothing. Better yet, she should never have let her curiosity get the better of her in the first place and left the contents of the bag alone. Even if she could never appreciate his tastes, it was really none of her business. Probably.

Glaring at the sunlight beginning to peak its way into her room, Lightning got up from her bed and walked over to her closet to grab some clothes. She would speak to Hope as soon as she saw him to apologize and clear up this whole mess.

Hope entered the café to find the temporary workshop devoid of fellow builders, which he found unusual. Even though it was still early into the morning, there would usually be one or two people to be found getting some extra work done. It was strange, but not unwelcome.

He glared at the wooden chairs and tables in front of him, thinking. He might be able to get two coats done in one day if started right then and there. Any downtime would allow him to work on something else. Originally he planned to finish moving the rest of his items over to Lightning's home that day, but Hope decided to put that on the back burner for now. If anything, he might have to start moving his stuff right back to his previous residence.

"I should get started," Hope mumbled to himself, heading towards the backroom where all the building supplies were stored. Maybe with some time alone he could think up a way to apologize to Lightning. Or prepare himself for punishment.

Just as he entered the backroom to begin his search, Hope heard the front doors opening, followed by heavy footsteps. There goes my peace and quiet...

"So there you are," a brash voice laughed, shattering the silence that Hope had enjoyed for all too brief a time. "I wanted to say sorry for running off on you like I did yesterday."

Hope turned around to look up at his jovial companion. "You don't sound sorry," he shot back bitterly.

"Heh," Snow shrugged, rubbing the back of his head. "I was kinda hoping things went okay back at your new place."

Hope grumbled as he recalled his encounter with the charred remains and Lightning's hasty retreat for the night. Okay was not the word he would use. "When I got there all I found were burned leftovers on the driveway. What do you think?"

Apparently Snow found this statement extremely funny because the next sound to erupt into the room began as an undignified snort before blowing up into full-blown chortling. "She did...what?" Snow gasped in between laughs.

"She lit them on fire," Hope deadpanned before returning his attention to finding the supplies he'd need for the day. "And then Light ran off to her room. I haven't seen or spoken to her since."

Patting Hope's back in support, Snow let out another short laugh before his tone went serious. "Ah man, that sucks. But lighting them on fire, eh? That's a bit overboard..."

Hope nodded absently, half-acknowledging the absurdity of the action. It wasn't like Lightning to react that way. "Yeah, I dunno what it was, but it must've freaked her out."

Snow rubbed his chin for a moment. "Hmm...I guess I can see it." He grinned mischievously. "Heh, maybe the subject matter hit Sis a bit too close for home for her liking."

"What do you mean?" Hope asked alarmed. He didn't care much for this conversation in the first place, and that smirk on Snow's face didn't quite help things. Something wasn't sitting right with this whole situation. "W-what exactly did you get?"

Despite thinking it not possible, Hope watched as Snow's grin grew even wider. "Oh, nothing special really. Just bought you some of the Big Sister Complex series for you since I figured it'd be right up your alley."

Hope was stunned and found him speechless for a moment. But it soon passed. "You wh-"

"So it was you!"A furious voice exclaimed.

The two whirled around in a panic and found themselves just a mere few feet away from one of their topics of discussion. "L-Light?" Hope managed to cry out, panicked.

Lightning stomped her way towards the duo, her right hand already clenched into a fist. "You are going to pay for this!"

It took all of a split second for Lightning to close the distance, but to Snow, it felt like an eternity. Her arm raised, ready for impact with its target, the flushed look on her face from a mixture of fury and embarrassment, the absolute look of ferocity that radiated from her aquamarine eyes contrasting with the exhausted look that must have originated from lack of sleep...Snow could see every detail. And despite the panic rising from the pit of his stomach, he couldn't help but laugh inwardly and victoriously. It had been the wrong target, but he still managed to hit a bulls eye.

As he felt the impact of the ruthless woman's crushing blow, and felt his body smack against the wall behind him and see his vision fade, Snow only had one thought:

It was totally worth it.

A/N: Wow, this final chapter was much shorter than I thought it would be. I still find myself trying to get back into the swing of things with writing, so I do apologize if it felt choppy. But most of all, I hope you all enjoyed this little crack fic and thank you all for bothering to read it through to the end! :3