Wow, I'm so, so, so sorry this took this long. I know it sounds lame now, but I was planning on taking a week, but instead I'm bordering on the third now. And you guys left me all those kind reviews, ugh, I'm awful.

On the upside, due to being stuck in bed for a week of sickness, I've had plenty of time to come up with some ideas for this chapter I'm actually satisfied with. I had meant to keep this as a one-shot, but well, it's not now. But I owe you some replies, don't I?

Uruz 11 - Thank you for being my first reviewer! Your kinds words make me feel so warm and fuzzy. I'm thrilled you enjoyed it, and I tried to work a little of your idea into this sequel, so I hope you like this as well!

ChainzOfThePast - Thank you, I'm so glad you liked it : )!

Keisutra - I'm glad you enjoyed it! Sequel finally here. Fingers crossed you like it.

Darkflames and fire - I'm glad you like the story. Thank you for being kind to my writing, and don't worry, I totally understood your compliment xP. I'll continue to work on my writing style, and I'll work on my endings!

Vicious Dice - Why thank you! Hope you like this one too.

So I tried for something a little more lighthearted this time. Expect a tiny bit of fluff and some lame humor... sorry. XIII-2 is ignored in this, and all the ex-l'cie live in New Bodhum as well. Just a little back story before we get started.

Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the final fantasy universe….. or a number of things would be different in a lot of the games.

Hope woke up like any other day. He took care of hygiene like any other day, and he got dressed like any other day. It wasn't until he took a look at his calendar that his tired brain whirred to life. Today was none other than his birthday...

...His eighteenth birthday!

And that only meant one thing. It had been four years since his promise with Lightning. It had been four years of waiting patiently and faithfully. And in those four years, his infatuation with his hero had only grown. He couldn't count the number of dreams he had in which they lived a happy life together. Their own fairy tale ending.

Unfortunately, dreams were rarely reality. He and Lightning had remained very close friends, and had kept up almost daily contact, but sometimes he wondered if she even remembered their deal, or if it was only words meant to consol a child.

No he couldn't think like that! It had been four years, he was a man now, of eighteen years, and Lightning Farron would be his… after breakfast of course.

"Snow, I swear to Etro, if I have to hear you tell that stupid joke one more time, I'm going to make you a Eunuch." Lightning slammed the front door in her brother-in-law's face. The two had been out scouting the area of New Bodhum, an everyday trial of patience for the soldier. Her idea of fun wasn't a daily patrol with Snow and his gang of misfits. Occasionally Sazh or Hope would join them and it was tolerable for a time, but it always came back to this. And lately, the self titled hero had been all about a joke he came up with involving a chocobo, a humbaba and a cactaur. Worse yet, NORA never tired of hearing it, giving Snow all the reason he needed to tell it over, and over, and over….

"Oh, c'mon you two, cant' you come home for one day not fighting?" Serah poked her head out of the kitchen to see her sister stomp by and her husband wander in through the front door. Upon seeing his wife, Snow's smile was back at full power.

"Hey babe, is lunch ready? I'm starving." The giant of a man easily scooped Serah's small frame up into his arms, eliciting a giggle from said woman.

"Yeah? Did you fight a lot of big scary monsters today?"

"You know it! I've gotta keep my darling safe from harm." The pair nuzzled noses.

"You two are ridiculous." Lightning had returned to grab her plate from the counter before flopping down on the couch.

"Just cause you can't find love doesn't mean the rest of the world can't." Snow shot back. Serah on the other hand, remained silent. She knew the truth, that her sister had found love. They were just waiting to share it when the world wouldn't scorn them for it. They all had a hard enough time with being ex-l'cie.

It had taken all of two weeks for the younger sister to figure it all out. She liked to think of herself as a bit of a relationship expert. She had noticed her sister's lack of physical discomfort at contact when it came to the boy as soon as they had awoken form crystal stasis. Snow had even told her that the two had formed a little bond, but she never expected how deep that bond really went. Lightning was just... different around Hope. Soon enough, she was putting two and two together. She was overjoyed that her sister had found someone to share her life with, even if he was a tad young, and being the ever faithful sister, did not tell a soul, not even Snow on this one.

"Alright, alright, that's enough now, seriously. Today's suppose to be a happy day. It's Hope's birthday!"

"Oh yeah! I haven't even wished the little guy a happy b-day. I'll go call him up now!"

"Hehe, alright, I'll come with you. The cake should be close to done now. You want to talk to Hope Lightning?"

"No, I'll see him later, I'm sure."

"Okay, suit yourself." What Serah did not see was the smile on her sister's face as she thought of later that day.

Hope heard the knock and knew who it was before he even got up to answer it. It would be Lightning, Serah, and Snow with a double layered chocolate cake with chocolate icing, same as every year.

"Hey guys, you're here early."

"We knew you didn't have anything goin' on, so we figured we'd pull you out of your books for a bit." Snow clapped the younger man on the shoulder. Of course, a clap to Snow was a wallop to just about everybody else, save for maybe Gadot.

"Hey Hope, we brought your cake. Double chocolate, your favorite."

"Thanks. H-Hey Light."

"Hi Hope. Happy birthday."

"Thanks." Hope and Lightning simply smiled at one another, not moving until Serah gave a small throat clear.

"So, Hope, bring that cake to the kitchen, we can cut it."

"Oh, um, don't we usually wait to-"

"None sense, now get in here." Serah was as good with thinly veiled threats as Lightning was with cold glares. Hope's shoulders slumped as he followed Serah to the kitchen. Serah gave Snow a wink as they passed through the doorway. Their little sign to start setting up.

"So, Hope, you are going to ask her, aren't you?" Serah gave him a sideways glance as she cut the cake into slices.

"I don't know. Do you think she even remembers?" Hope asked sullenly. He had been brooding on his thoughts of whether Lightning remembered their promise or not all day. On his last birthday, he had finally cracked and confided in his closest friend after Lightning... Serah.

"Well of course she does! You don't forget something like that."

"But, she never shows any interest or-or any sign at all that she even registers the fact that I'm of age now."

"Well, that's Light for you, the perfect poker face. C'mon Hope, we've, er, I mean you've been waiting years for this!"

"We've eh?" Hope raised an eyebrow, to which Serah told him to shut it and punched his arm. The cake was cut and placed on a tray and the two were headed back into the dining room. "Wh-What the hell happened here?!" Hope had nearly dropped the cake as they entered the dining room. They must have been in the kitchen for all of ten minutes before they had come back up, and in that time, it seemed Snow had successfully destroyed the room he was suppose to decorate.

Ripped streamers hung limply tacked to the wall, a few chips of paint had come off, and other decorations lay strewn about the table and floor. Snow had a couple of handfuls of streamers he quickly stuffed behind his back as they had entered.

"O-Oh, hey, I didn't expect you guys back so soon."

"We went to cut the cake, not remodel the kitchen." Suddenly a roll of colorful streamer paper flew through the air to peg Snow in the head.

"Hey you buffoon, you were suppose to hold the other end!" Serah and Hope followed the path of the roll back to Lightning, who looked far more decorated than the room was. The mix of the disgruntled look on her face and the multi-color streamers draped about her body was the final straw. Serah and Hope burst out in a fit of laughter, soon joined by Snow. The humor seemed to be lost on Lightning.

Bartholomew and Sazh arrived a bit later, along with the rest of NORA. They had a fun get together, filled with their usual bit of hanging out and party games. Hope had fun with his friends of course, but he really had spent the whole night looking for an opportunity to get Lightning away from everyone else. Sadly his moment never came.

As the night wore on, the party slowly dwindled. NORA and Sazh and Dajh left, and Bartholomew had gone off to bed, leaving the four original party-goers to sit about on the sofa and chat. At this point, Hope had given up all hope of getting Lightning alone at least semi-unnoticed. Finally, with Serah nodding off, Snow decided they were going to head out.

"Well, we should get going. Long walk home and all."

"Snow, it's just down the beach." Lightning rolled her eyes.

"Yeah well, I've got a lady to carry back."

"And what does Serah weigh? Like twenty pounds or so?" Hope joked as he stood to see the last of his guests off.

"Hey, hey... thirty." Snow flashed a grin and a thumbs up before heading off, leaving the dynamic duo in the front doorway to Hope's house.

"So, uh, I guess this is goodnight. Thank you for the cake, and the party and all." The teen did his best to smile, despite his disappointment.

"Well, it is late, and I'm pretty tired.."

"Yeah, yeah you should-"

"So maybe I could crash here tonight?" Lightning, almost shyly if Hope dared to say it, looked up at him.

"Uh, y-yeah. Yeah sure! I'll make up the guest bed." Hope busied himself with preparing the guest room, as Lightning sat nearby, watching him rush to and fro. Eventually, the room was all set up, and Lightning was seated on the edge of her temporary bed. "So, I guess you're good for the night."

"Yes, thank you Hope."

"Okay, I'll just.. .. go off to my room then." Lightning nodded and laid down on the bed. Hope moved to leave the room, but he stopped, hovering in the doorway, looking over the sleeping form of his beloved. It was now, his chance was now! He was alone with Lightning. "Light?"

"Hmm?" Lightning's eyes were open and on him quicker than he thought a sleeping person's eyes could focus, even if that person was Lightning.

"Do you remember, back when we were l'cie?"

"How could I forget something like that?" Lightning remarked. She had pulled herself into a sitting position on the edge of the bed again. Hope smiled back, walking over to sit beside her.

"Do you remember our time on Pulse?" Hope looked deep into those beautiful icy blue eyes. That same fire still burned so strongly behind them. "Our night patrols?"

"Of course, I remember morning shifts being awful." The two shared a laugh.

"Yeah, they certainly did." Hope took a deep breath and prepared himself for what he was about to do next. "Well, most of them did. I can recall one that really wasn't so bad. Do you remember it? We shared that shift, four years ago."

"Mm, I recall it."

"Then do you remember," Hope took Lightning's hands in his own. ", our promise, that we made?"

"... I remember." Lightning squeezed Hope's hand in return.

"Well, I still love you. I love you more than ever. I waited four years Light, but y'know, I'd wait forever for you." Hope gave a sort of sad smile.

"I think four years is quite enough, don' you?" And there it was. That absolutely beautiful smile that he lived for. Those rare gems that Hope would give the universe just for one. Hope could not think of anything that could make him love those lips more. It was a good thing Lightning could. She leaned in again, the same as four years ago, but this time it was no simple peck. Four years of passion poured into this kiss.

Lightning wrapped her arms around his neck as she felt his slide around her middle and another hand on her back. She raised one of her hands to weave through his silver locks and pull the shy boy deeper into their kiss. As they broke apart, they both collapsed onto the bed, panting.

"W-Wow." Was all that Hope could say. Lightning let out a quiet giggle, causing a blush to spread over the teen's face.

"Was it worth it?" She flashed him another stunning smile.

"Worth every second." They shared another laugh and another kiss or two. " I'm liking this new flirty Light."

"Shut up." Lightning laid her head down on his chest, listening to the soft heart beat within.

Hope pulled Lightning, his Lightning, close as they settle in and drifted off to sleep.

Boy I just can't seem to get those ending right. I know this chapter isn't as good, but it was written in the wee hours once again, and I'm still feeling a bit under the weather, and I couldn't quite connect with it as well. (Listen to me making all these excuses. I'm full of 'em!). But, it was intended to be a little humorous with a little fluff slapped in here and there. I think I need to just move on to another idea though xP. Well, til I see you next, hopefully with an original idea!