Final Fantasy XIII 1. Chapter 1

_Not a Fairytale_

Description: Sometimes reality can seem like either a nightmare or a fairytale, but more often than not it's a little bit of both. FFXIII-2 Normal End. HopexVanille. SnowxSerah.

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><p><em>Chapter 1: There's a Difference Between 'Morning' and 'Mourning'.<em>

_"SERAH!"_ screamed the familiar voice of Snow Villiers. Hope Estheim turned to watch the burly man barrel out of the hatch on top of the airship. He caught a brief glimpse of utter devastation cross his friend's features as the larger man yanked his fiancee's body out of Noel's arms.

Snow didn't say a word: just wailed and moaned. Noel turned to face Hope, with tears rolling down his cheeks and guilt etched into his eyes.

"Mog..." the young hunter said, reaching out for the creature that was within Hope's arms. He carefully handed the animal over to his young friend as the whirring winds raged around them.

"_Hope!_" The young man heard a strikingly familiar, accented voice shout his name through the wind.

He turned toward the sound, and he swore his heart skipped a beat.

"Vanille!" he shouted as he bolted toward the red-haired woman. She was already running to meet him, so he didn't get far before her petite body crashed into his. As her arms clenched around his torso, he felt her warm, wet tears soak through the collar of his shirt.

"I missed you so much," her voice pierced right through the raging winds.

"I missed you, too," he answered back, burying his face into her fiery locks.

Then another powerful gust of wind rushed right into them, nearly knocking them off balance.

"All of you get your asses inside right now!" he heard Fang bellow from the doorway that Snow and Vanille had burst through.

Hope raised his head to see Snow already protectively cradling Serah's lifeless body in his massive arms. Noel, too, had risen, and now clutched the weakened moogle to his chest. He felt Vanille pull away from him just slightly. He looked back to see her tear-stained cheeks puff out as she smiled at him. She already had her hand held up, waiting to be taken. Without hesitation, he laced his fingers into hers and pulled her towards safety.

Once the door to the ship's deck was sealed behind everyone, all eyes were glued to the lifeless Farron sister that the wailing Snow held close to his chest. The large man looked like a helpless child as he sat on the ground clutching what remained of his bride-to-be.

Once again, Hope felt Vanille sob onto him. As he held her tightly against his chest, he felt warm trickles sliding down his own cheeks as well. All around them, he could hear their family members' sobs. A new day had dawned, and it was beginning with a nightmare.

His eyes searched the small room for Fang's. When her tear-stained green eyes met his own equally stained teal ones, she immediately answered his silent plea. She crossed the short distance between herself and the two mourning "kids" and pulled them both into a motherly embrace. He and Vanille both leaned into her as she soothingly stroked each of their heads.

No one from the mourning family even noticed that the inner door to the lift had opened, until the unprepared Academy personnel man awkwardly spoke.

"Um... Director, sir..."

Five pairs of soaked eyes latched onto him. He fidgeted uncomfortably, but finally forced himself to meet Hope's gaze. "Orders, sir."

Fang and Vanille pulled back from him slightly, and he already missed their warmth. He cleared his throat. "Activate the Emergency Plan," he said in an authoritative voice, "Right now our priority is making sure none of the citizens are in any immediate danger. Send convoys to all cities in Bhunivelze and to all cities that refused to evacuate from Pulse."

"Yes, sir," the man nodded, and swiftly began to turn away.

"And one more thing," Hope added before the man could close the door behind him.

"Sir?"

"Have another pilot take over for Sazh. We need our entire family with us right now."

"Of course," the man replied just before ducking out.

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><p>"Daddy? Why'd the weather turn bad? The sun came out just a minute ago..." Dajh asked.<p>

Sazh shook his head. "I wish I knew, Dajh. That's probably something we should ask your big brother, Hope."

"Yeah," Dajh cheered, "My big brother knows _everything!_"

The middle-aged man chuckled at his young son. He secretly wished Dajh could stay this naive and innocent forever. "Well he doesn't know _everything_," the father replied, "but he sure is one smart kid."

The father and son remained quiet for a few moments while Dajh contentedly petted and fawned over the little chocobo chick. Their peace was short-lived, however, as the cockpit door opened and two Academy men stepped inside.

The shorter of the two men stepped forward first. "Excuse me, Mr. Katzroy, the back-up pilot has come to relieve you."

"Huh?" the confused pilot asked, "What are you talking about?"

The Academy associate looked uneasy. This triggered alarm bells inside Sazh's head.

"Director Estheim has requested your presence in the deck observation room, sir."

Now the father was even more confused. "What the heck are they still up there for? I figured they'd be in one of the conference rooms having a meeting or something!"

"I-" the associate began awkwardly, "I'm afraid I'm not really at liberty to say, as I'm not entirely sure what's going on myself." The man hesitated again, and now his face was pained. "It's probably best if you see for yourself, sir."

"Uh oh..." Sazh muttered as he practically flew from his seat. "Dajh, c'mon!"

"Coming Daddy!" the little boy chirped, jumping up and grabbing onto his father's hand.

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><p>Vanille felt as if she had been ripped into two entirely different pieces. Serah was dead. She didn't know where Lightning was anymore. The world had turned into Valhalla. Everything was a disaster. And yet some twisted part of her was happy.<p>

She was no longer either a crystal or a l'Cie. She no longer had the burden of carrying a world on her shoulders. And after five hundred years of only being able to watch, she now held in her arms the man whom she had fallen in love with when he was still just a boy. Everything was perfect.

This new guilt squeezed her heart. So she squeezed Hope a little bit more. Each time she pressed herself more tightly to him, his hold on her tightened as well. He clung to her just as desperately as she to him. She tilted her head to see that Fang had moved to Snow's side. She had both hands spread across his broad shoulders, squeezing them comfortingly.

Eventually the red-head's eyes traveled to the young man whom she knew was named Noel. The eyes of his downcast face were closed as a silent and steady stream of tears ran down the visible half of his face. Though she had never before spoken to him, nor even been introduced to him, still she knew his story. He had already been through so many trials, and her heart ached for his pain as well.

Finally, Vanille pulled her emerald eyes up to meet the turquoise ones of the man she adored. Though the tears still streamed down her pale cheeks, she couldn't resist the tiny smile that crept onto her lips as Hope looked down at her adoringly. His own lips curled into the tiniest of smiles as he removed a hand from her back to gently wipe away the tiny rivers beneath her eyes. She closed her eyes and leaned her cheek into the curve of his hand. He moved only to lean down and briefly press his lips to her forehead. After that, she was back in his embrace as he rested his chin atop her skull.

She breathed in a new clean, citrusy scent that was mixed with the old, natural scent of his skin. Her hidden lips curled into a smile as she realized the new smell must either be from an aftershave or cologne. He truly was a grown man now. Her heartbeat fluttered. Slowly, she glided a hand across his chest. She felt him inhale sharply before his own heartbeat quickened. They were both already sobering from their state of grief, and beginning to feel the high from other emotions. She would have to let go of him soon.

It was that moment when Sazh and Dajh burst into the room, startling everyone.

"Okay, can somebody tell me what the heck is going on here?" the middle aged man shouted.

"Sazh!" Vanille spun around to see the man whom she considered a father to her. She felt a chill, however, as she was no longer connected to Hope. Soon enough though, one of the young man's hands found its way into one of hers.

"Vanille, Hope," the older man said, noticing their presence first. "What's going-" Then he saw. His dark brown eyes locked onto Serah's body, lying prostrate on Snow's lap. "No..." he whispered to no one in particular. He dropped his son's hand to stagger forward, closer to where Fang stood comforting Serah's distraught fiancee.

Once Sazh's hand left his son's, Vanille immediately knelt down to distract the child. "Dajh, come here," she said smiling at the boy, "Come give big sis Vanille a hug!"

The young boy's eyes lit up as he looked into her bright face, then quickly looked up at Hope, and then back down again. "Sis!" he announced happily as he threw himself into her open arms. Just as her arms closed around the child, Hope moved around the pair, blocking Dajh's view of the scene of mourning.

"I've missed you Dajh," Vanille said cheerfully to the young boy, "How have you been? I hope Daddy's been good to you."

"We've been _great!_" Dajh replied enthusiastically as he pulled out of her embrace just far enough to outstretch his arms animatedly, "Daddy and I went on a whole bunch of adventures! It was so much fun!"

"Really?" she replied in a chipper voice, standing up and grabbing hold of the boy's hand. "Why don't you tell me aaaaaall about them," she continued as she began to lead him out of the room. Hope closely shadowed their steps, and closed the door behind them.

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><p>~end chapter 1<p>

Please review and let me know what you think, darlins!

~Love


	2. Chapter 2

_Not a Fairytale_

Description: Sometimes reality can seem like either a nightmare or a fairytale, but more often than not it's a little bit of both. FFXIII-2 Normal End. HopexVanille. SnowxSerah.

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><p><em>Chapter 2: This Family Ain't Ever Gonna Break.<br>_

After sharing stories with Dajh, while Hope quietly hovered nearby, Vanille watched the door to the lift finally open. Sazh entered the hallway.

"Daddy's back!" Dajh announced, bouncing up to greet his father with a hug.

"Hey hey! What's my little man been up to?" he animatedly asked his son as he swept him up into his arms.

"Big sis and I were telling each other stories!" the child cooed.

"Oh yeah? Well that must've been fun!"

"It was! It was!"

As the young woman smiled at the pair, Hope silently slunk into place beside her, and placed his hand back into hers.

"Hey, thanks you two," Sazh said, directing his attention to them, "I appreciate it," he added gratefully.

"You're welcome!" the red-head chimed. "We're always happy to spend time with Dajh!" she added using 'kid-friendly' code to convey her real meaning. "Right, Hope?"

"Right," the young man nodded beside her, "we'll look after him anytime you need us to."

"Good to know I've got volunteer babysitters whenever I need 'em," the older man joked. "And hey," he said as he carefully placed his son back onto the floor, "it's good to have you back again, little princess."

"Thank you, Sazh," she replied as she bounded forward to give her father-figure a hug. She felt him gently pat her on the head. Her lips curled into a warm smile as she released him to return to Hope.

"Well," the older man continued, "my stomach is growling like crazy, so I think it's about time for some lunch, how about you, Dajh?"

"Yeah!" the child agreed excitedly.

Sazh chuckled. "So, what's on your agenda now, kids?"

"Well," Hope's voice answered as he pulled a small phone out of his pocket to check the time, "It shouldn't be too much longer until we get to the new Academy headquarters, and once we get there I'm afraid I'll pretty much be stuck in meetings for the rest of the day."

Vanille raised her head to look at him sadly. She was hoping to spend more time with him. She sighed as she looked away. She had best resign herself to it now, because part of Hope's new status as a grown-up meant that he had a grown-up job as well. Gone were the days when they could freely roam about the fields of Gran Pulse together playing silly, childish games. It made her a little nostalgic.

Then she felt Hope squeeze her hand reassuringly. He spoke again, "I _was_ hoping to take the day off to spend with everyone, but with the world in the state it's in now..."

"No rest for the big shots of the world, eh?" Sazh asked.

Hope shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. But," he continued, "I do want to make sure everyone is settled into our new home before I set off. You'll like it, Vanille," he added, giving her hand another squeeze, "I used Oerba as my inspiration for it's layout."

"Really?" she asked, whirling her head back around to meet his teal-colored eyes. Even his eyes were smiling at her as he nodded.

"Our little family has its own community," he said, "And it's big enough that you even get your own room."

"I _do?_" she asked excitedly. She wasn't used to that. She had always shared a room with Fang and with other Oerban women. The prospect of getting her own private little retreat was exciting.

"You'll see when we get there," Hope added encouragingly.

"Well, we'll leave you kids to do your own thing 'til we get there. Later!" Sazh added, as he began to lead Dajh away.

"Okay," Vanille replied cheerfully as she waved them off.

She felt Hope lace his fingers into hers on the hand he held, and he gently pulled her closer.

"Vanille," his voice was hardly above a whisper as he captured her eyes, and gradually leaned his face down closer to hers. She closed her eyes in anticipation.

"There you two are," Fang's voice erupted from the newly opened lift, startling the pair and causing them to drift back apart. "So, what's on the agenda now?" Vanille's best friend asked Hope as she approached.

"Well..." he began explaining what he had already told Vanille and Sazh, as the trio began to walk down the hallway together. The red-haired woman made sure to keep her hand within Hope's, but walked a bit behind him, allowing him to lead the way.

During the black-haired woman's conversation with their young scientist, Vanille caught her friend glancing back at her. The older woman's green eyes latched onto the pair of entwined hands, causing Vanille to flush slightly. Fang smiled knowingly and gave her unbiological sister a wink. The younger woman giggled.

"What's so funny?" Hope's voice reached her ears. He must have picked up on her tiny giggle. "Did I miss something?"

"Nothing important, kid," Fang said as she patted his shoulder, "Vanille's just making funny faces behind you."

"What?" the red-head exclaimed, flabbergasted, "I am _not!_"

Hope laughed, then released her hand so he could instead drape his arm over her shoulders. "I guess I'll just have to keep you up here where I can see you, then."

"No," she continued stubbornly defending herself, "Hope, I swear, I wasn't making faces at you! _Fang_ was making faces at _me!_"

"Ehh..." Fang responded lazily, "Who cares who did what? You were too damn quiet back there, anyways."

"I was just thinking!" Vanille obstinately defended, "Or am I not allowed to do that?"

"You're allowed to do anything you want now," Hope interrupted, chuckling, "You're finally free. _I'm_ certainly not going to stop you."

Fang grinned. Vanille's emerald eyes lit up and she felt a mischievous smile curl onto her face. "So does that mean that I can come with you when you go to your meetings?" she asked, excitedly tugging on his free arm.

Fang laughed.

"Are you sure?" Hope asked apprehensively. "You'll probably get bored. A bunch of scientists and politicians blabbing for hours on end isn't the most fun way to spend a day."

"Who cares?" she chirped merrily, "Boring or not, at least it's something to do. And besides, I'm curious to see what you do at work."

"All right," he conceded, then turned to the other woman, "Fang, would you like to come, too? If worse comes to worse, you can always find a way to keep Vanille amused. Plus, I'm sure the other Academy higher ups are extremely curious to meet you both."

"Yeah!" Vanille chimed, "Come with us, Fang!"

"All right," the older woman consented, "I'm in. But if any of these people say or do something stupid, I'm gonna give 'em a piece of my mind, and _you_ can't tell me not to, Hope!"

A playful grin spread across his face. "I'm almost hoping for it. Most of them are so used to peace," he explained, "that not even the army division's general has seen a real serious battle. They could probably learn a thing or two."

"Well, it's not like any of them have had to fight a fal'Cie before," Vanille added with a wistful smile, "so I think our standards might be a bit high."

"True," the young man agreed as he pulled her in a little closer, "but it would still be pretty refreshing to watch the current general get knocked down a peg by Fang. I haven't been in this time long, but it's obvious that he's pretty full of himself."

"Ooooh," the aforementioned woman's eyes gleamed at the prospect of a challenger, "Sounds like fun! Where do I sign up?"

"We'll just see how things go..." Hope chuckled as he grabbed hold of the tough woman's arm to keep her moving forward. "C'mon, let's go find a window so you two can see Bhunivelze for yourselves."

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><p>There was already a group of people awaiting their arrival on the landing platform. Fang observed each of them carefully through the window. Most of them appeared harmless. However, she could easily suss out who the military division's general was. He was young, probably about Hope's age. Perhaps the general was even a bit younger, since Hope physically appeared more like a young man who had just turned twenty than a mature man who was nearing thirty. The general impatiently tapped his foot against the pavement. She already didn't like him, and she hadn't even heard him open his mouth yet.<p>

The black-haired woman glanced behind her. Snow's face bore a determined look as he held Serah's limp body in his arms. Beside him, Noel's face was downcast as he cradled the moogle who, though still too weak to fly on his own, was now alert and talking to everyone. Against the wall behind them sat Sazh and Dajh, both of whom leaned against one another napping peacefully. A short ways away, Hope sat at a small conference table with a portable computer open on the table in front of him. Vanille sat perched on the table right beside the computer, and pointed at the screen from time to time to ask him questions.

Vanille was happy. Happier than Fang had ever seen her, and she knew why. That's the thing about spending a few hundred years with only one other person to talk to: you learn their heart's desires. At first she had simply dismissed Vanille's adoration of Hope as a childish crush that would fade as time went on. After all, what good was a little one-sided crush when he was sure to grow up and move on without her? But Vanille had continued to watch him, and so had she, if only out of curiosity. They only ever saw flashes of his life, but those flashes were enough.

Just as expected, Hope had begun to grow up. Vanille watched on dreamily. However, it was Hope who ended up surprising Fang. There were girls, there were lots of girls, all willingly throwing themselves his way. He was completely oblivious. Or he simply didn't care. She wasn't quite sure which one it was. It wasn't until he was nineteen, and finally able to take his first visit back to the pillar since that day they'd saved the world, that she realized why.

Fang had never seen the boy so vulnerable before. He reached out and touched the crystal at the base of the pillar and began to cry. He started talking to Vanille. He confessed to her that he felt so alone without her. He explained that all their other friends had disappeared, without a trace. The loneliness radiated from his soul in waves. He then told Vanille that more than anything, he wished he could be with her again. He then mirrored words she had once used, and said that his wish wasn't enough: he was going to make her a promise. He told her that he was soon going to take over a scientific research team, and that he wouldn't stop until he found a way to release both she and Fang from their crystal stasis.

Fang's heart broke just a tiny bit. She wasn't sure if it was even possible for them to be freed, but as she felt Vanille's emotions swell powerfully around them both, she wanted to believe. She wanted those kids to be together. She wanted them to be happy.

And now, here they were. Thanks to the love of one boy and one girl from two entirely different worlds, they were free from crystal stasis, and the human race had a new home to replace the fallen one. It was a children's bedtime story turned reality. If only they could somehow fix the world so that there would be future generations to tell it to.

"Figure anything out yet?" Fang asked Hope as she abandoned both the window and her musings. She felt the airship shift beneath her feet as it began its landing cycle.

Her friend shook his silver-colored head. "Nothing. It's pointless trying to look at the data from paradox readings, because all those levels have completely dropped off," he explained. "And it's practically impossible to gauge the effects of time stopping. It hasn't interfered with anything that I can find. There have been no electronic disruptions anywhere, and our bodies all appear to be functioning normally- Sazh and Dajh are proof of that," he added, nodding toward the sleeping father and son. "Plus there aren't any casualty reports yet either."

"So it really has become Caius' utopia," Noel commented blankly from across the room. "No one will ever die here, and no one will ever be born here. We're all cursed to live for eternity, just like he was."

Fang heaved a sigh. The boy was right- at least about the birth part. It was probably only a matter of time before the people began to panic, though. She knew all too well what resulted from mass panic: war. And war meant death. Lots of death. She seriously doubted that time's end automatically made humans invulnerable to bodily injury.

She was pulled from her thoughts by Vanille hopping off the table to approach Noel.

"Everything'll turn out okay in the end, you'll see!" the red-head encouraged him, giving him a hard pat on the back. "Chin up!" Fang caught the tiniest of smiles as it briefly cross the boy's face. Vanille always did have that almost magical effect on people.

"Right!" Snow chimed in, carefully leaning down towards the petite woman, holding his palm out to her for a high-five. "We'll find a way to bring Serah back, _and_ we'll fix the world!"

"Yeah!" Vanille cheered, enthusiastically clapping his hand. Fang and Hope both exchanged matching frowns. If only it were that simple.

The clapping sound startled Sazh out of his sleep, just before the ship rocked, signaling its completed landing.

"Guess that's our cue," Snow said, restraightening his posture and adjusting Serah in his arms.

"Vanille," Fang called.

"Coming," the fairy princess complied, skipping into her place beside the other young woman.

"Lead the way, Hope," she told Vanille's handsome prince, who had just tucked the computer beneath his arm.

He nodded. Fang and Vanille followed directly behind him, while Snow and Noel, and then Sazh and Dajh, followed in their wake.

It wasn't over yet. Long shot or not, this fairytale still needed a happy ending.

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><p>~end chapter 2<p>

Please let me know your thoughts, loves. I'm working on chapter 3 now, but it's going under severe revision, so the post may take a while. *hearts*


	3. Chapter 3

_Not a Fairytale_

Description: Sometimes reality can seem like either a nightmare or a fairytale, but more often than not it's a little bit of both. FFXIII-2 Normal End. HopexVanille. SnowxSerah.

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><p><em>Chapter 3: A Man Is Just a Boy In a Better Outfit.<em>

Now that Noel had finally met Fang and Vanille, he understood why Hope and Snow had both fought so valiantly to protect them.

Fang's very presence demanded respect. Much like the pillar that she had created five hundred years ago, she stood tall, and vigilantly watched over her friends. Everyone listened to her opinions and obeyed her, even Hope. Noel wasn't used to seeing Hope submit to anyone. He had always seen the older man in charge. Yet now his friend absorbed each word Fang said, and treated her with the utmost respect. And in return, she treated him with an almost motherly affection. It was nearly the same way she treated Vanille.

Vanille was quite different from Fang. She was like a burst of sunshine on a cloudy day. When she smiled, the entire room was drawn to her like a magnet. Snow acted like her big brother, encouraging her. Sazh teased her like a doting father, while his son clung to her like she were a favorite toy. Fang watched over her like a protective mother. And Hope... she and Hope were more intriguing. He knew that Hope cared very strongly for both she and Fang, but his reactions to Vanille were unlike anything Noel had ever witnessed. They fascinated the young hunter.

Hope orbited around Vanille. No, actually, they _both _orbited around each other. They were always either watching or touching one another. Noel had only once seen Hope act affectionately with someone: when he first saw Serah again after many years. With Vanille, his affection never waned. Yet none of their friends ever saw fit to mention this drastic change in Hope's behavior. To him, though, this change in his friend stuck out like a purple chocobo amongst a flock of yellow ones.

Behind them, Noel watched as Vanille inched forward to take Hope's free hand into hers. He nudged Snow with his arm, who looked at him curiously. Silently, he pointed at the pair's intertwined hands. Snow merely shrugged in response. Apparently this was nothing new. Then he remembered that Serah had once commented on how much Hope had grown since she'd last seen him. He must have been quite young back when they all fought together. Vanille herself looked and acted like a teenager. It was then he realized that everyone merely saw them as two inseparable children. However, Noel had never known Hope as a child, only as a man. When the hunter looked at Hope and Vanille together, he saw them as two young lovers. He wasn't sure which they really were. Maybe they were somewhere in between.

His attention was pulled away when they reached their welcoming committee.

"Director Estheim," greeted a serious-looking middle-aged man with graying brunette hair. He extended a hand out to Hope, who dropped Vanille's hand to accept the friendly gesture.

"Director Achilles," Hope replied in an equally amiable manner. This must be the current era's Academy leader, Noel surmised.

"It's a relief to find you well, Mr. Estheim," the current DIrector continued, "Once the sky turned dark, we feared the worst."

"Unfortunately, Mr. Achilles, we weren't entirely without casualties," Hope told the other man. "My family has been grieving the loss of one of our own."

Snow took this as his cue. He abandoned the young hunter's side to step forward with Serah's body. Vanille and Fang both silently parted to make room for him.

The current director wore a pained look. "The young Miss Farron?" he asked Hope, who nodded. "Mr. Villiers," he directed his attention to Snow, "I am deeply sorry for your loss. I believe she was your betrothed?"

"Yes," Snow replied, attempting to keep the tremor out of his voice, "and thank you."

The director turned his attention to Fang and Vanille. "Mr. Estheim, would you do us the honor of introducing these two ladies? I believe we all owe them a great deal."

"Of course," Hope replied, and nodded to a woman, probably in her early thirties, who darted forward to take the computer from him. He then extended both arms, palms up, and nodded to both Fang and Vanille. Snow retreated, and both women glided forward, each taking hold of one of Hope's hands. The young scientist led them forward as if they were princesses being introduced at a ball.

"This," Noel heard Hope say as he gently lifted Fang's hand, "is Oerba Yun Fang, and this," he repeated with the other, "is Oerba Dia Vanille."

Director Elroy Achilles introduced himself, the woman who took the computer, and the young man beside him. The woman was Mrs. Katerina Raileigh, and she was introduced as the head of the research department. The young man's name was Benjamin Achilles, and was introduced as the director's nephew and the head of the military division.

"Since you've already met Sazh and Dajh Katzroy, I have only one final introduction to make," Hope added as he released the Oerban's hands. He turned and once his eyes met with Noel's, the younger man knew it was his turn to step forward. He propped Mog up onto his shoulder to free one of his hands. Once beside Hope, his friend introduced him, "This is Noel Kreiss. He's the young man who traveled here from the future. Without him, we never would have learned that the pillar was going to fall."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kreiss," the director said, extending a friendly hand.

"Nice to meet you, too, sir." he replied as he shook the man's hand.

"Hi! I'm Mog, kupo!" Mog interrupted cheerfully from within the safety of the hunter's arm.

The director chuckled. "What a charming pet you have there. What type of creature is it exactly?"

"We're not one-hundred percent sure," Noel replied, "but we think he's related to the moogles."

"Fascinating..." Mrs. Raileigh said as she approached them. Her eyes roamed over the small creature. Noel shifted uncomfortably. He felt almost as if she were examining _him_.

"Now is not the time to be studying the creature, Katerina," Director Achilles interrupted, "We have much more important matters to attend to right now. Director Estheim, if you would join us, please."

"Actually, Director Achilles," he interrupted, "I was hoping to take everyone back to our new home before beginning our meetings. And I also promised Fang and Vanille that they could attend the meetings with me."

The middle-aged man stroked his short beard thoughtfully, and was about to speak when General Achilles butted in.

"This isn't the time to be enjoying your fancy new complex when you have a job to do, _Director_," he added snidely.

Noel shot the man a condescending glare. Who did this guy think he was, talking to Hope that way? He wouldn't even be _alive_ right now if it weren't for Hope. None of them would be. The hunter watched as the current director held a placating hand in front of the general.

"Though I have no objection to Miss Yun and Miss Dia joining us," the director said, "I must agree with my nephew and ask that you remain here until our meetings have concluded. We will open up a private conference room where your family members can wait for you. We will be happy to provide them with anything they need, in the meantime."

Reluctantly, Hope nodded in compliance.

"Shall we?" the new director asked before leading the way off the landing platform.

Noel glimpsed the disappointed look upon Hope's face, before his friend forced on an aloof mask. Vanille took his hand once again, and put on a mask with a smile. It looked like his silver-haired friend was back to playing his role as a leader. The charming young woman beside him, played the game just as effectively. The pair walked forward with poise. It would be difficult to handle the pressure of being partner to a man of Hope's standing, but it looked like Vanille was up to the challenge.

The young hunter was even more intrigued by the symbiotic nature of their relationship.

* * *

><p>"So does this have anything to do with the paradoxes?" asked Mrs. Raileigh as she studied at the data charts Hope had created on the laptop computer.<p>

Vanille watched the man she adored shake his head. "No, Serah and Noel had finally resolved the last of the paradoxes before they returned to this era. Right after they came back, all of the gates disappeared, and paradox levels completely dropped off the charts."

The redhead smiled at Hope from across the room. He briefly met her glance, and a tiny smile danced across his lips as well. It was only momentary though, as he swiftly returned his attention to the matter at hand.

"So then what _exactly_ has happened?" asked Director Achilles. "Did our world get pulled into a different dimension?"

"Essentially," Hope explained, "the barrier that kept Valhalla separate from our world vanished when the goddess died."

"So what's the story of this 'goddess'?" asked the general in a bored tone.

"She's the goddess of death," announced Fang's voice from beside Vanille. "Valhalla was her home, and she was in charge of ferrying the souls of the dead from our world, through Valhalla, and into the realm beyond. Thanks to Caius, now she's dead, and our dimension and Valhalla's dimension are one and the same."

"What does this mean for the people?" asked the director.

"Time has stopped," Vanille finally spoke up. Languidly, she paced around the side of the room where she and Fang stood, apart from everyone else. "It's almost like crystal stasis," she added, "only we can all move around, talk, eat, and sleep... it's like life, only not, because no one will ever age or grow."

"Tch," snorted General Achilles, "Immortality, eh? Doesn't sound so bad to me."

"Oh yeah?" Fang interrupted sarcastically. "How about you try living for over five hundred years, then waking up to find that almost everybody you ever cared about is dead."

Vanille opened her mouth to stop her best friend, but Hope crossed the room and grabbed hold of her small hand. He looked into her emerald eyes and shook his head. They needed to hear this. She squeezed his hand tightly, as Fang continued her bitter rant.

"And then, maybe you should try living for another five hundred years and watching as the world you tried to protect goes to _shit_. Immortality ain't so fuckin' rosy, kid." the tall woman spat at the scruffy-looking young man.

"Oh, go ahead, bitch and moan," the general spat right back, "You and the 'great Hope Estheim' over there are one and the same: 'I saved the world, now take every word I say as gospel!' You're both full of shit."

"They are _not_!" Vanille burst forward in defense of the people she loved, "They've both sacrificed so much to protect the world they love! You should be grateful to them!"

"Oh shut up," the general rounded on her now. This was quickly turning into a verbal bloodbath. "You're even weaker than they are. Just from the looks of you, I'll bet you couldn't even swat a fly! As I recall, the mission that _I_ signed up for, was to protect the _people_, not to stand here and watch some know-it-all brat make puppy-dog eyes at his little _whore_."

The room erupted with gasps.

Vanille felt Hope's hand leave hers as Fang's angry voice rang in her ears. She grabbed onto her best friend's arms to keep her from plunging her spear into the man's flesh. However, she couldn't stop Hope, who marched straight up to the obnoxious man and stared him down. Their faces were mere inches apart.

Then, in the coldest, most frightening voice she had ever heard him use, Hope said, "If you have a problem with _me_, fine. But, _don't_ take it out on them, or anyone else. Also, _don't_ waste our time with your personal opinions when we have more important matters to discuss."

This seemed to shut the general right up. Though he still glared daggers at Hope, even as his uncle grabbed him by the arms and dragged him from the room.

Vanille heard a muffled argument from the hallway. She finally released her hold on Fang, and was immediately swept up into the taller woman's tight embrace. However, her eyes were latched onto Hope's tense back as he slowly inhaled and exhaled, attempting to calm himself. Mrs. Raileigh was dead silent.

The redhead gingerly pulled herself out of Fang's arms, and cautiously approached Hope from behind. She knew all too well how volatile he was when angered.

"Hope..." she said quietly, forewarning him of her approach. He gave her no verbal response, but his fists visibly unclenched. Without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around his middle, and leaned into his back. In a flash his hands were squeezing hers.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that," he finally said. She felt his back muscles loosen and his posture relax. "He's been rude to me since I met him, but he had no right to insult either you or Fang."

Before she had a chance to respond, Director Achilles returned to the room, without the general.

Reluctantly, she released the man in her arms, and they all turned their attention to the director.

Mr. Achilles looked at all three of them in turn, and with a pained look on his aging face, bowed deeply. When he rose, he said, "I sincerely apologize for my nephew's behavior. It was entirely uncalled for. I have ordered him to submit a formal, written apology to each of you, and have suspended him, without pay, for a week." He continued, "Though I do not know the entire cause of his animosity towards Director Estheim, I believe that much of it is fueled by jealousy."

"Figures..." Fang commented bitterly.

The director spoke again. "Well, I think we've all had quite a long day. We shall reconvene our meeting tomorrow at seven am-" he paused, "or at least what our clocks will read as seven am. I believe that I have enough information to formulate a speech, so I will broadcast that later tonight in an attempt to keep the people calm."

The director then shook hands with both Fang and Vanille, and gratefully repeated his joy at meeting them.

After Director Achilles left, Mrs. Raileigh approached Hope and said, "I'll personally make sure the overnight research team keeps working, and if we find anything at all, I'll give you a call."

Hope thanked her, and she turned to Vanille, and smiled warmly. "It truly is a pleasure to meet you both," she said as she tucked the laptop beneath her arm, and extended her free hand toward the petite woman. "Most of us at the Academy admire Director Estheim very much," she continued, "and I just want you to know that if you or Miss Yun ever need anything, then you are welcome to come and find me. I would be more than happy to help."

"Thank you," Vanille replied, smiling cheerfully and gratefully accepting the handshake.

Mrs. Raileigh then strode over to shake Fang's hand as well, before leaving the trio alone in the conference room.

"Ugh," Fang groaned as she wearily leaned against the conference table. "I never thought I'd feel this _exhausted_ right after a five hundred year long nap. That general is a whiny little _bitch_," she seethed. "I'm gonna have to kick his ass someday _real soon._ Though, I am surprised _you_ didn't beat me to it, Hope. Judging by the look on your face, I thought you were out for blood."

The young man heaved a great sigh, as he tiredly leaned onto Vanille for support. She wrapped her arms around his torso comfortingly.

"It took every ounce of self-control I had _not_ to hit him," he admitted, "but if I had, I would've given him exactly what he wanted, and the director would have been just as angry at _me_ as he was at _him_. Besides..." he continued a bit shyly, "I'm smart enough to realize that someone with _my_ smaller build would probably struggle a bit hand-to-hand with a man who's much more muscular."

"Hey," Fang replied, "you're taller than _I am_ now."

He chuckled. "Tall, maybe, but I'm still as skinny as ever."

"No you're not!" Vanille added as she squeezed his torso tighter. "I think there's some padding in here..." she teased, lightly patting his belly.

"Are you trying to call me _fat_?" he joked, gently tugging on one of her ponytails.

"Hmm... _maaaaybe_," she answered slyly. She winked at him and giggled before darting out the conference room door.

She heard his boyish laughter ring through the halls as he chased after her. Maybe things didn't really have to change. He truly was still the same boy she had left behind: just a little bit older.

When his hand finally captured her wrist, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She laughed so hard she could barely breathe. She didn't care about all the stunned faces watching them. Nor did she care when Fang caught up and scoldingly bopped them each on the head. She didn't even care that her male companion refused to put her down, and ended up carrying her giggling form all the way to the room where their friends waited. She simply didn't care.

She had her Hope back, and they would always play their silly games together.

* * *

><p>~end chapter 3<p>

* * *

><p><em>Preview of Chapter 4: Home.<em>

Noel chuckled and bounced the tiny critter in his arms. Mog flailed his arms about helplessly. This caused Snow to erupt into laughter. The young hunter couldn't help but follow the older man's lead. He had to admit, laughing over something so silly and insignificant felt pretty damn good.

As Noel finally inhaled a long, deep breath, his lips curled into a smile. "So is this what it feels like to be part of a _family_?" he asked Snow, "Laughing over stupid things like this?"

"Ohhh..." the other man replied, attempting to recover from his own fit of laughter. A moment later, Snow's large hand clamped onto the younger man's shoulder. "You bet. Welcome to the family, little bro."


	4. Chapter 4

_Not a Fairytale_

Description: Sometimes reality can seem like either a nightmare or a fairytale, but more often than not it's a little bit of both. FFXIII-2 Normal End. HopexVanille. SnowxSerah.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 4: Home.<em>

They took two cars through the city of Neo Academia. Hope drove the lead car, and checked his rearview mirror several times to make sure Sazh's car was still right behind them. In the front passenger seat beside him, he heard Vanille's squeals of wonder and delight at the bright neon lights and busy streets of the dark city. Fang sat behind her, making sure to keep her hands near Vanille's person at all times, just in case she decided to lean too far out the open window. From time to time she would make a witty remark in response to something Vanille said. Behind Hope sat Noel, who still held Mog close to his chest. The younger man was unusually silent.

"Hey Noel," the scientist said, "Are you okay back there?"

"I'm fine," he replied quietly, "Just thinking."

Vanille turned around in her seat, abandoning the view to observe him instead. "A gil for your thoughts?" she asked amiably.

"Well..." Noel paused, most likely to collect this thoughts. "I was actually wondering about a lot of things. Serah told me the general gist, but I really don't know all that much about everyone."

"Ask away, kid," Fang replied. "You're one of us now, so we've got no secrets here."

"Hope," he heard the younger man say, "How did you meet Vanille and Fang?"

A slight frown tugged at his lips. He didn't want to deny Noel the facts, but he had never talked to anyone, except his father, about the details of those most difficult events of his life. He felt Vanille's arms drape around his shoulders comfortingly. He was grateful when he heard her voice answer for him.

"I met Hope and his mother just before boarding the Purge train," she answered seriously, "He was only fourteen then, and was just a little bit smaller than me. I didn't really get to talk to him until later, but I talked to his mother a bit, and she was very nice to me." He felt her hand squeeze his shoulder before she continued her story, "After we all escaped the train, Snow and his friends came over to help us out, and Hope's mother decided to fight the soldiers with them."

He fought back against the memories, focusing his eyes straight ahead, careful to watch where he was driving.

"Hope and I watched as his mother died, saving Snow's life." She squeezed his shoulders a little bit tighter. It was hard, but maybe not as hard as he thought it would be. She continued, "He blamed Snow for his mother's death, and eventually we followed him into the Pulse Vestige."

"Where Lightning, Snow, and Sazh killed the Fal'Cie, and we were branded Pulse l'Cie," he finished for her.

"But, you and Fang were already l'Cie, right?" he heard Noel ask Vanille. Hope felt her head nod.

"Right," he heard Fang say from the backseat. "Only she was too scared to tell them that at the time. I had met up with the Cavalry by that point, and started searching for Vanille. I met Hope when he and Lightning reached his hometown of Palumpolum. Lightning and I left Snow in charge of Hope-"

"-Which is when _I_ tried to kill him," Hope interrupted.

"Hold on a second: _you_ tried to _kill_ Snow?" Noel's shock was evident in his voice.

"Lesson one about Hope," Vanille said, "Don't make him angry!"

"Hey!" the silver haired man exclaimed, "I only got murderously angry that _one_ time! It's not like I have _anger issues_ or anything!"

"True," she admitted, giggling, "but you're still pretty scary when you _are_ mad."

"Here's hoping _I_ don't ever have to witness it," the young hunter said. The shock seemed to be wearing off, because he inquired further about their journey.

Honestly, Hope had expected Noel to ask questions much sooner than this. As the last living human, there must have only been a small handful of people around him growing up. Now the young man was surrounded by more people than he could possibly begin to count. His friend probably wanted to learn _everything_ about other humans: their quirks, their motivations, their relationships. It was natural human curiosity. It made sense, also, that he would ask about Fang and Vanille first. He had only ever heard _about_ them prior to this. Of course he would want to learn more about them and how they fit into the picture with everyone he had already met.

It would be nice to have another curious person around. One of the things he had in common with Noel was that sense of curiosity. They were both eager to learn and experience, but were also careful enough to keep themselves out of too much danger. The only other person whom could rival that curiosity was Vanille. She had always been just as curious as Hope. He had to admit, though, that she was much more likely to throw caution to the wind in pursuit of that curiosity- it was a trait that he both admired and found frustrating. If she wanted to capture that stray baby sheep, by the goddess, she was going to do it. His only choices were to join her or leave her be. Ninety-nine percent of the time, he joined her.

What had he been thinking about again? Hope supposed it didn't really matter. _Everything_ lead back to Vanille somehow. It was simply how his mind worked. Hell, he could be writing a series of algorithms for a complex computer program, and _something_ would inevitably pop into his mind that reminded him of her.

The faint scent of melon wafted into his nose as the red-haired woman continued chatting with the other two passengers. He inclined his head a bit closer to hers. Oh how he'd missed that scent...

There it was. Just up ahead was the gate that would allow them entrance to their new home. He angled the car downward in preparation for parking. He felt Vanille's arms tighten around his shoulders as she attempted to hang on. This woman meant the world to him, but he _really_ needed to get this car parked without crashing it...

"Vanille," he said, "Please put your seatbelt on..."

"My what?"

"Oh geez..." Fang muttered.

"That grey strap that's connected to your seat..." he answered, trying not to chuckle at her, "It's supposed to keep you strapped in, so that you don't have to cling to the driver when the car angles or swerves."

"Oh," she giggled sheepishly as she relinquished her hold on him. Fang pointed toward the buckle and then the part it connected to.

Once Vanille was securely in her seat, he angled the car down even more. Just a few more meters now... He slowly braked, and pulled up to a control pad on the wall by the gate. He told them the passcode, and then punched it into the keypad. The gate opened. Leisurely, he drove the car inside.

Despite the dark sky, the outdoor lighting fixtures illuminated enough to see the lush green grass of the lawn. He pulled the car up beside one of the modern-styled wings of the large, U-shaped building, and parked. Vanille was looking around in awe from the passenger seat. Once they all stepped out of the car, they waited for Sazh to park behind them. Soon Sazh, Dajh, and Snow, with Serah still in his arms, joined them out on the beautiful lawn. There were small trees, stones, flowers, and even a small pond in the large yard. Hope watched as Vanille immediately darted toward a small patch of water lilies growing by the edge of the pond. He heard Snow's voice as the larger man quietly whispered to Serah's body, describing to her the beauty of their new home. Dajh darted about, running around in circles while Sazh chased after him. Noel and Fang stood on either side of him, taking it all in.

It was time to show everyone which apartment belonged to whom. Hope called them all together.

The single-storied section of the winged building, he pointed out, was the common area. There was a lounge area in the entrance, and the room beyond that was a large kitchen, where they could all have meals together as a group. The building had two dual-storied wings that were laid perpendicular to the common area. Each wing had two apartments. On the right side and closest to the common area was Sazh and Dajh's apartment. Further down, and right beside the gate, was the apartment set aside for Noel. On the left and by the common area was the apartment for Snow, Serah, and Lightning. Directly opposite Noel's apartment, and where the cars were parked, was Hope, Vanille, and Fang's new home.

He explained that all of the apartments had the same basic layout. The first floor of each had a small, but fully functional, kitchen with an adjacent living area and bathroom. There were also three bedrooms on the first floor, each of which had their own en-suite bathroom. The second story of each apartment had three more rooms, but none of them were furnished yet. Their purposes would be up to the apartments' occupants.

They all agreed to meet up in the common area for dinner after they had checked out their new homes.

As Vanille took hold of his hand once again, Hope caught sight of Noel approaching Snow. He heard the young man ask if he could stay with him for the time being. Snow readily agreed. Hope felt Vanille's hand squeeze his. When he turned to look at her, she wore a sad smile on her lips. She heard, too. They all understood. Neither Noel nor Snow wanted to be alone right now.

He felt Fang's hand on his shoulder. He turned. When he met her green eyes, she said, "Come on. Best leave them be."

He nodded, and the trio set off for their own apartment.

* * *

><p>Hope watched as Vanille's eyes lit up with glee at the sight of her bedroom. She immediately ran inside and launched herself onto the fluffy pink comforter. He felt the smile creep onto his lips as she jumped up and down on the king-sized bed, laughing. She swiftly abandoned the bed in favor of a pair of double doors across from it.<p>

"What's in here?" she asked, meeting his gaze in search of an answer.

"Open it and find out," he replied mischeivously. She was going to _love it_.

She did just what he said. She disappeared through the doors, and within a few moments a light switched on. He heard her squeal excitedly. Fang circled around to determine the source of Vanille's joy.

"_You_," the tanned woman said, pointing at him accusingly, "are spoiling this girl _rotten_, you know that?"

He grinned. "That was sort of the point."

Vanille re-emerged, cradling a pink and white striped sundress in her arms. "There's so many _clothes!_" she chirped excitedly. She shoved the dress into Fang's arms and made a beeline straight for him. He felt her arms squeeze around his torso in a bear hug as she squeaked, "_Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"_

She planted a fleeting kiss on his cheek before darting back inside the closet.

Fang rolled her eyes, then rounded on him. "If we're late for dinner because she's too busy trying on clothes, I'm blaming _you_."

Hope was too busy grinning like a fool to care. He leaned against the wall inside of the doorway as Fang disappeared into the walk-in closet behind Vanille. She had _kissed him_. True, it was only on the cheek, but it was enough to leave him in a state of sheer bliss.

A minute later, Fang exited the closet and walked up beside him.

"I'm going to check out my room. I'm assuming you got me a closet full of clothes, too?"

He nodded. She rolled her eyes again, before looking at him seriously. "While I'm gone, I don't want you going anywhere near that closet, you hear me?" she warned.

"Got it," he replied. He had to admit, the idea was tempting… but he had more self-control than that. Plus, he wasn't too keen on the idea of doing something to piss off Fang either.

For the next few minutes he waited, leaning against the wall, as Vanille tried on clothing inside the closet. A few times she popped out to show off an outfit. To be honest, he hardly paid any attention to her clothes. He was too enthralled by her excited smile. As far as he was concerned, she would look beautiful no matter what she wore.

As he watched Vanille's closet door, waiting for her to emerge in her next outfit, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to meet Fang's dark green eyes. She was smiling. "Just so you know," she said, "you did good, kid. Things may not have turned out quite the way you imagined, but with everything you've accomplished… you've done all of us proud."

He felt an embarrassed smile creep onto his lips. "Thanks. I guess I just... wanted us all to have a place where we could all be together, and be a family. Just like you said."

He watched her smile widen as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders affectionately. "You're a good kid, Hope," she replied, "and I promise that you, me, and Vanille, we're gonna stay together from now on. We're never gonna leave you behind again. Understand?"

He nodded. She teasingly ruffled his hair before leaving his side to check on Vanille inside the walk-in closet.

When he had first met Fang, he never would have guessed that she would one day treat him with the same kindness and love that she had always shown Vanille. He wasn't even sure what exactly he had done to earn it, but he didn't really care. He had needed to be so strong and so independent for far too long now. It was both a comfort and a relief to know that he was finally allowed to be just another _human_. Here, with Vanille and Fang, he could finally destroy those iron bars that had caged his soul for five centuries. He was _free._

He was pulled from his reverie by Fang's startled voice.

"_No!_ Vanille, _don't_ go out there and show him _that!_"

"Why not?" he heard the redhead ask innocently, "He bought me all these clothes, so he's probably already seen it. What's so bad about it anyways? It's so _pretty_!"

Hope was curious now. He hadn't actually _seen_ most of the clothes because he had hired a personal shopper to do the bulk of the purchasing for him. He had been otherwise occupied with the finishing touches of raising Bhunivelze into the sky...

Out darted Vanille in a blur of pink. She stopped right in front of him, smiling. She spun around once and asked him something... His mouth opened to respond, but nothing came out. His brain had ceased to function. Above her normal orange and yellow skirt, she wore a hot pink lingerie babydoll top. The bra part was covered in ribbon and lace and it pushed up her already full breasts, making them appear even larger. The rest of the top was made of a sheer pink material with lace trim on the edges. He could do nothing but stand there and gawk... gawk at her gorgeous breasts…

Until Fang yanked the vision away and shoved her back into the walk-in closet.

He fled to the living room.

That was _close. _If Fang had waited much longer to pull Vanille away... Well, Hope would have had a _hard_ time getting over _that_ embarrassment...

He threw himself onto the sofa and leaned back, covering his _very _red face with his gloved hands. He heard Fang chuckling as she entered the room. He refused to drop his hands, even as she sat down beside him. He sighed.

"When I told the personal shopper _pink_ and _girly_," he told her, face still covered, "I was _not_ expecting _that_."

The woman beside him laughed. "Well," Fang said, "I think after seeing _your _reaction, she finally figured it out what its intended purpose was… What do they call those women's sex clothes, anyways?"

"_Lingerie_," he answered miserably. "I am so _embarrassed..._" Hope leaned forward, keeping his face covered. He balanced his elbows on his knees.

Again, Fang chuckled. "Well then you should see _her_. I'll have to round her up soon so we can go eat dinner, but I figured it best to leave her for now."

"Yeah," he agreed, finally dropping his hands in front of him. He stared straight at the coffee table. "The last thing we need is to show up to dinner with both of us blushing twelve shades of red."

He felt the couch cushions shift slightly. She must have adjusted her position.

"So tell me, Hope," the black-haired woman began brazenly. Uh oh... he knew what was coming. "How old were you when you realized you were in love with Vanille?"

He snuck a peek at his companion. Her tanned face was completely serious as she stared him down, awaiting an answer.

"Sixteen." Concise. No nonsense. Now wasn't the time for games or shyness.

She finally looked away. He released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Five centuries of unrequited love..." she mused aloud. "Five hundred years of not knowing whether or not the person you love loves you back. That's a kind of torture I wouldn't wish for a mortal enemy, _especially_ not for two people I love."

"Fang..." he muttered dolefully as he observed the pained look on her usually strong face.

She chuckled half-heartedly. "So I guess this is kinda how Lightning felt about Serah and Snow, huh?"

"You're not going to use me as a punching bag, though, right?" he asked her sheepishly.

She laughed, whole-heartedly this time. "Only if you do something to deserve it!" she replied, "Luckily for all of us, you're about fifty times more sensible than Snow is."

He grinned. "I won't argue with that."

Fang smirked at the pleased look on his face. She reached over and ruffled his hair.

"Hey! Fang, stop!"

"Not until you promise me something!"

"_What_?" he asked as he attempted to swat away her hands.

She stopped. "Promise me that you're gonna make her happy."

"I promise. Whatever it takes." He meant it, with every fiber of his being.

She grinned, then brushed her hand over the top of his head one last time. "Good boy."

Just then, he heard Vanille giggle. He looked up to find her smiling brightly at him. That smile floored him every time.

"Fang," the redhead jokingly scolded, "what did you do to Hope's hair? Now he looks like he's just crawled out of bed!"

"Interesting choice of words there, missy," the older woman jested, "considering a few minutes ago you were wearing something that's _intended_ for the bed."

"_Fang!_" Hope and Vanille both yelled, blushes returning to both faces.

"Best get used to it," Fang replied casually, "'cause you're both big kids now. So you get me completely _uncensored_."

"I think I'm hungry," Hope interrupted, attempting to ignore the dark-haired woman's amused smirk. "How about we head back to the common area and help everyone with dinner?"

"Good idea," Vanille hastily agreed, "I'm so hungry I could eat a whole behemoth!"

* * *

><p>"Heeeeey!" Snow heard Vanille's cheerful voice as she burst through the door of the common area kitchen, "We're here!"<p>

Everyone turned their heads.

"Hey, what took you all so long?" Sazh asked, waving a spoon in the air from his seat at the head of the table. Beside him, Dajh mimicked his father by waving his spoon as well.

"This one," Fang answered as she pointed at Vanille, "was having a little too much fun trying on all the clothes Hope bought for her."

"Yep," Sazh responded merrily, "she's _definitely_ a teenage girl. You better keep that one away from the credit cards, Hope!" The middle-aged man laughed.

Snow joined him. Laughter was contagious. Laughter was a distraction. Laughter was medicine. Wear a smile on your face, and eventually you will really mean it.

He was determined _not_ to think about his dead fiancee, whose body currently lay safely tucked away on a bed in his apartment. He was also determined _not_ to give into despair. He _knew_, somewhere deep inside his heart, that she would be with him again, smiling within his arms. Even though the pain still jabbed at him, as if a million little sewing pins stabbed into his skin, he couldn't give up. Without hope, without goals, there was nothing. Snow would never allow his world to crumble into nothing. And so he sat here with his extended family- minus two- and he laughed. He cracked his own jokes, too. He smiled. He allowed the familiarity and love within the room to wash over him. It was like a drug, and it was one that he desperately needed to survive.

* * *

><p>"Well," Hope said as he politely dabbed his mouth with his napkin, "I'm afraid I still have a little bit of work to do before I turn in, so if you guys don't mind, I'll head back to the apartment."<p>

"Yeah," Sazh added as he deftly patted his son's fluffy afro. The young boy was passed out with his whole upper half sprawled atop the table. "I think it's bedtime for us, too."

Snow watched as his friends all began to stretch tiredly. It felt good to be surrounded by so many people again. A slight pang of loneliness began to sink in as his family members began to rise from their seats. His fears threatened to swell up into his throat again. He could never show his fears to his friends though. He could never admit that he was terrified. He was terrified that they would never be able to bring Serah back, terrified that they would never be able to find Lightning, and terrified that their extended family would never be whole again.

Oddly enough, he found some comfort in Hope. The child that had once wanted to murder him had, in a strange way, become his best friend. Since meeting up with him again in 400AF, he and Hope had had a lot of time to catch up. He even got to sit inside Hope's time capsule thing with him while they 'traveled' to the year 500AF. If the two hadn't spent the time talking, arguing, and joking around with each other, it probably would have been a pretty boring trip. He could tell that the silver-haired young man was grateful for not only the company, but for the fact that his goal, to have Fang and Vanille back, was shared. Snow learned a lot about Hope's life. Many of the darker parts of Hope's life, he suspected, his friend had probably only ever trusted his father with. Hope had grown more cautious and secretive in his very public position. Snow suspected that there were even things that his friend was not willing to tell _him_.

He finally realized that Hope wasn't a child anymore. Hope was a _man_, and a powerful one at that. He knew that with Hope at the helm, their family would pick themselves up and continue on. He had certainly come a long way from the terrified and angry child he had once been. The thing that surprised Snow the most about how much Hope had changed, though, was the subtle change in how he acted around Vanille. The pair had always been affectionate and playful with one another. However, since Noel had pointed out the pair's entwined hands earlier, Snow began to watch them a bit more carefully. Suddenly, one of the secrets that Hope had kept from him was repeatedly smacking him right in the face.

Hope and Vanille were _flirting_. Shamelessly so, he had to admit. There were tons of secret glances and batted eyelashes. What amused him the most was just how _terrible_ they both were at hiding it. They tried to play off every touch as a game. Hope would tease her, just like he always used to, but then their eyes would linger on each others. And, oh, the batting eyelashes. If he had to watch them both flutter their eyelashes at each other one more time... but then he remembered that he and Serah had been the same exact way just before they started dating. A little flirting here, and lot of flirting there...

Truth be told, he was jealous. As he watched Vanille pop up from her seat and announce that she was going to "help" Hope, his heart twisted a bit. His young friend's dreams had come true. Hope had his happily-ever-after right before his eyes. And Snow? He was still waiting. It seemed he was always waiting. He always waited for the perfect moment, the perfect circumstances... he was always striving for perfection. He didn't want half of a victory, he wanted it _all_.

It was then that he realized something: Hope didn't have it all either. None of them had it all right now. There were still too many puzzle pieces that didn't fit together. Hope and Vanille were just making the best with what they _did _have. It was something he and Serah had done five hundred years earlier, and it was something that they would all have to do once again.

Boy, he was coming to all kinds of realizations today… his head was going to start hurting soon. Damn thinking...

He was disturbed from his musings by Noel tapping his foot against the floor. The young hunter's eyes were curiously fixed to the door, through which both Hope and Vanille had just escaped a moment before.

"I'm going to take a walk," the brunette man announced as he grabbed Mog from the chair beside him and stood up. "I'll see you guys later," he said hurriedly.

Alarm bells rang inside Snow's head. Hope and Vanille's behavior must have piqued Noel's curiosity, because he had a look about him as if he were on a hunt. As the young man disappeared through the door, Snow turned to look at Fang, who was the only other person who remained in the room.

She shot him a pointed look and said, "Well, are you going to stop him or am I?"

"So then are Hope and Vanille really...?"

"Madly, passionately, hopelessly in love?" she said in her usual casual manner, "You bet your ass. Trust me, I've had to hear all about it for the past five hundred years."

"Got it!" He flew up from the table and bolted towards the door. He paused. "You okay on clean up duty?" he asked chivalrously.

"If I can kill a behemoth by myself, then I can handle a few dishes," she replied. "Besides, I'm not going within ten feet of that house until I'm sure those two have had enough time to properly _lock themselves away_."

And without another word, Snow was out the door. He needed to hurry. Poor Noel had no clue what he could potentially be walking into.

* * *

><p>Noel slowly approached the door to Hope, Vanille, and Fang's apartment. He was careful not to make a sound as he leaned his ear against the cool metal surface. He had to strain to hear anything, but eventually he made out the sounds of both Hope and Vanille's quiet voices. He couldn't understand a word they were saying though, so he carefully reached out and took hold of the doorknob. It was unlocked.<p>

"And just what do you think _you're_ doing?" Snow's voice startled him so much that he nearly dropped Mog. Inwardly, Noel cursed himself for not paying more attention. He released the handle and straightened his posture.

"Just checking on them," he said, attempting to be nonchalant about it.

"Trust me," the older man replied as he grabbed onto the young hunter's arm, "those two don't need _any_ checking up on."

"How do _you_ know?" Noel stubbornly asked him. He was a bit annoyed when the scruffy-looking man chuckled at him.

"Look, Noel, your assumption earlier? Well, turns out you were right. Fang told me just now. Hope and Vanille are definitely in love with each other. So the best favor we can do them right now is _leave them alone_, understand?"

Noel allowed the older man to pull him away from the door.

"But if that's the case, then why haven't they _said_ anything about it yet?" the hunter asked. It just didn't make any sense to him. "Don't they realize that the news would probably make everyone _happy_?" He shook his head. "We _need_ some good news right about now."

"Ehh, just give 'em some time," Snow replied. "I'm sure they'll tell us eventually. They haven't really had a chance to be alone together yet. There's been too much going on. And..." he uncharacteristically trailed off.

"And, _what_?"

"They're both good kids," the large man continued soberly, "Do you really think they'd be insensitive and announce their relationship right now? After Serah..."

Snow didn't have to continue for Noel to understand what he meant.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he admitted lamely. He should have known. The Hope he knew would _never_ purposely flaunt his own happiness when someone he cared about was hurting.

"They care about everyone else, too, kupo," Mog added as he looked up at Snow.

"Right," Snow said, petting the small creature's head.

Noel chuckled and bounced the tiny critter in his arms. Mog flailed his arms about helplessly. This caused Snow to erupt into laughter. The young hunter couldn't help but follow the older man's lead. He had to admit, laughing over something so silly and insignificant felt pretty damn good.

As Noel finally inhaled a long, deep breath, his lips curled into a smile. "So is this what it feels like to be part of a _family_?" he asked Snow, "Laughing over stupid things like this?"

"Ohhh..." the other man replied, attempting to recover from his own fit of laughter. A moment later, Snow's large hand clamped onto the younger man's shoulder. "You bet. Welcome to the family, little bro. I hope you're prepared for _anything_, 'cause we're a pretty crazy bunch."

"So I've noticed," the smaller man replied with a smile still on his lips. "And the next crazy thing we're going to do is bring Serah back," he added, feeling a sudden wave of confidence.

"Right," Snow agreed, extending a large hand out to Noel. "She deserves to be a part of the world she helped build."

The hunter clasped the other man's hand firmly. "Besides, you two still have a wedding to plan."

Snow nodded, smiling. "We sure do."

"Let's talk to Hope in the morning," Noel added, releasing the older man's hand. "Maybe _he_ can find a way to bring her back. He _is_ the person who created this new world we're living on."

"You're right," the blonde man agreed, "If _anyone_ can figure it out, Hope can."

Just then, Noel swore he felt a cold, stinging sensation on his arm. He visibly shivered.

"You okay?" Snow asked.

Noel nodded. "Just a bit chilled, I guess. Probably the wind."

"Yeah, it's harder to feel the winds here, but I'm sure there's still plenty of gusts coming through." Snow folded his arms across his chest. "Ready to turn in?"

"Yeah, let's go."

For a fraction of a second, Noel thought he'd heard a voice whispering behind him. When he turned to look, however, there was nothing there but the green lawn that he and Snow had just been standing on. He shrugged it off, and continued to follow his friend back to their fancy new home.

* * *

><p>~end chapter 4<p>

* * *

><p><em>Preview of Chapter 5: Love is This.<em>

As she leaned down to kiss him again, her fingers curled through the knot of his necktie. She growled quietly as she struggled with it. How on Pulse was this thing supposed to _come off_? She felt Hope chuckle through their connected lips.

"It's not funny!" she quietly scolded him, pulling her face away to frown at him.

"Yes it is," he mumbled softly, using a hand to brush the fiery red bangs out of her face.


	5. Chapter 5

_Not a Fairytale_

Description: Sometimes reality can seem like either a nightmare or a fairytale, but more often than not it's a little bit of both. FFXIII-2 Normal End. HopexVanille. SnowxSerah.

_Chapter 5: Love Is This._

* * *

><p>"So do you really have work to do?" Vanille asked Hope timidly as he closed the apartment door behind them.<p>

He took her hands into his and slowly massaged her knuckles with his thumbs. "Well, technically I _always_ have work to do," he answered, while she wished she could keep the disappointment off her pretty face. "Though this time it was really more of an excuse," he admitted.

"To spend time with me?" she asked, staring up into his turquoise eyes hopefully.

He nodded, smiling.

"So," she said playfully as she pulled her hands out of his to animatedly stroll about the living area, "what did you want to do?"

He quietly chuckled, embarrassment written clear across his face. "Anything?" he sheepishly asked.

_Anything_, huh? She felt her lips curl into a mischievous smile. Well in _that_ case, she would just cut straight to the chase. She playfully sauntered up to him, and grabbed the top of his turquoise tie. She gently pulled his face down closer to her own. His cheeks tinged pink at their faces' proximity, but he did not shy away.

"Then tell me what you've been wanting to say for the past five hundred years," she said.

He looked her straight in the eyes. The floodgates opened. "I'm in love with you," he sputtered out, "and I'm such an idiot, because I should have realized it sooner. I should have been able to tell you before you and Fang turned into Ragnarok, and I should never have made you think I was joking that day in the Yaschas Massif, because I meant every word, and-"

She placed a hand over his mouth to silence him. She giggled as he helplessly attempted to speak again. Eventually he gave up, and settled for staring at her exasperatedly. She slowly removed her hand, and, thankfully, he kept his lips shut. It was her turn.

"I love you, too," she confessed. "And, it's okay that you didn't understand what your feelings were back then. You were still a kid, Hope. Also, I know that you meant what you said that day. You may enjoy teasing me, but you tend to wear your heart on your sleeve," she said as she released his tie to gently run her fingers through his soft, silvery bangs.

He rolled his eyes at her last statement. "And here I thought I'd gotten better about hiding my real feelings..."

She giggled at him. "Oh, you can put on a pretty good show," she agreed, "but I kinda get the feeling _I_ ruin it for you."

"You're referring to the general's rude comment earlier?" he asked her.

She nodded. "It's not really anybody's fault," she admitted, smiling, "but you are pretty much an open book when I'm around. I think you took a lot of people by surprise today. I'm sure by tomorrow everybody at the Academy will be talking about you carrying me down the hall!" She laughed. "And did you see Noel watching us at dinner?" she gossiped, "I don't think he knew quite what to make of us."

Clearly Hope had been so swept away that he hadn't even noticed, because his cheeks flushed and his mouth formed an awkward frown. "Oh damn... were we _that_ obvious? Do you think _everybody_ noticed?"

Her vocal chords released an airy laughter. "Well, I don't know if Sazh noticed or not, but Snow was watching us, too..."

"Okay," he said clutching his blushing face in his hands, "if even _Snow_ noticed, then we must've _really_ been obvious! I am _so_ embarrassed! What's he to think? Serah just died, and there we were all over each other..."

"Hush..." she replied, gently pulling his hands down from his face. "He would have said something if we were really bothering him, right? Snow cares about us both too much to deny us our own happiness."

"I guess you're right," he sighed. The rosy blush still remained on his pale face. Vanille couldn't help but stare: his expressive face was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"What?" he asked, picking up on her blatant stare. His hands immediately lewd up to his head. "Is my hair still messed up?"

She giggled, shaking her head. "No. I mean, it _is_, but that's not what I'm thinking about," she answered.

"Then _what?_"

She laced their fingers together. "Do something for me, would you?"

He nodded. "What?"

"Kiss me."

He smiled, and said, "Okay."

He slowly leaned his face down closer to hers. She inched up to meet him. He softly pressed his lips against hers. It was chaste, and sweet, and perfect. But she wanted more. When he attempted to pull back, she reeled him right back in, pressing her lips more firmly to his. Her arms curled around his neck, and she embedded her fingers in his feather-soft hair. She decided they were well past the point of playing coy. Five hundred years of waiting hadn't done anything to quell her passion for him. She was technically still a nineteen year old girl in both body and spirit. He was now well into his twenties, and no longer a clueless young teenager. Passion was finally in the cards. And judging from the look on his face when he saw her in that frilly pink top, he wouldn't object to taking things further.

As she kissed him, it became clear that he understood. Each of his gloved hands clamped onto her exposed waist as the intensity of his kiss grew to equal hers. She moved a single hand down and slipped a few fingers into the knot on his necktie. He completely ruined the moment by pulling away.

"_Hope,_" she whined.

"Just _one _minute," he said placatingly. "There's just one thing I _have_ to see for myself."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, bewildered. She watched as his gloves flew through the air toward the nearby sofa. Then, he began to kneel down in front of her. Her emerald eyes widened in shock. Just _what_ was he _doing_? Once she felt his hand touch her left thigh, it clicked. He wanted to make sure that her l'Cie brand was gone. _She_ knew it was gone, so she thought nothing of it. It _had_ to have been eating away at him, though. Hers wasn't easily visible, like Fang's used to be. He must have seen Fang's clear shoulder and assumed hers was gone, too. She should have known that an assumption would never be enough for him, though. He needed proof.

His cheeks were flushed and his hand was shaking slightly as he took hold of the hem of her bi-colored skirt. She grabbed onto his hand to reassure him, and the shaking stopped. Together, their hands drew the cloth up like a curtain. The spot where her brand had once been was wiped clean. The only mark that remained was a flower-shaped tattoo that she had once drawn on herself. A sigh of relief escaped his lips, and a smile crossed his lips.

"See something you like?" she teased. His blush darkened threefold. She couldn't help but laugh as his hands immediately retracted from her body. "Don't be silly," she playfully reprimanded, taking hold of his hands and placing them back onto her thigh, "I'm all yours, every inch."

He chuckled shyly. "Sorry," he replied. "It's just... actually being able to _touch..._ it's..."

"_New_?" she answered for him. He nodded. "Well," she continued as she leaned down to meet him at eye level, "I guess we'll just have to discover these new things _together_. Sound like a plan?"

"Okay," he agreed, and leaned in to kiss her once more.

Before she knew it, Vanille had pressed her body to his with enough force to knock him flat onto his back. He mumbled slightly from the impact, but didn't particularly seem to care, because he merely continued to kiss her. She felt his arms snake around her waist, and the warmth of his now large hands now massaged her exposed lower back. Her heartbeat fluttered. Her breath grew erratic. She felt the worn cloth of his yellow wristband rub softly against her skin as the hand it belonged to snuck up beneath her shirt. It wasn't fair. She wanted to touch him, too. There were far too many barriers between her and his skin.

Her hand inched up to his left shoulder. She unhooked the top of the dark leather toolbelt. It wouldn't release him completely, however, when she attempted to throw it to the side. She pushed herself off him for a moment. His turquoise eyes, which were now beginning to glaze over with lust, stared up at her in confusion. Her hands made their way to his waist, and in a flash his toolbelt flew over the back of the sofa. As she leaned down to kiss him again, her fingers curled through the knot of his necktie. She growled quietly as she struggled with it. How on Pulse was this thing supposed to _come off_? She felt Hope chuckle through their connected lips.

"It's not funny!" she quietly scolded him, pulling her face away to frown at him.

"Yes it is," he mumbled softly, using a hand to brush the fiery red bangs out of her face. "I guess you've never tied a necktie before?"

"No..." She folded her arms across her chest as she sat back up. She pouted. "Those things didn't exist back in Oerba."

He stood up, chuckling again, and took hold of her arms, pulling them apart. She felt herself being pulled up from the polished stone floor. Wordlessly, he took hold of her hand and led her toward his bedroom door.

Once the door closed behind them, she watched him slowly undo the knot in the turquoise cloth. To her surprise, however, he began to tie the garment again. She opened her mouth to object, but stopped herself. He was teaching her how it worked. She studied his movements carefully. After he had pulled it tight again, he gestured for her to come closer.

"Think you can get it off, now?"

She still wasn't confident, but that wouldn't stop her from trying. She reached out and stuck a couple fingers into the knot. She could do this. She only struggled for a moment this time, successfully figuring out the pattern. The tie curled into a pile on the floor. A smile danced on her lips. She had an idea.

"Think you can take off my beads?" she teased.

He looked at her in trepidation. Now the tables were turned. She brushed her ponytails out of the way, and turned around. "Here, start with the necklaces. Those are easy."

His fingers found the back of her neck, and he made quick work of unhooking each of the three clasps. They disappeared from sight. He continued by unclasping the strands of beads across her back. They swung all the way around, dangling from her torso. Her arms were then pushed down to her sides. The back flap was then carefully pulled over her head, and came tumbling down in front of her. She caught the pale leather in her arms. He was doing pretty well, she had to admit. She smiled mischievously as he appeared before her, teal eyes mechanically analyzing every inch of her waist.

He was almost like a whole other person when presented with a puzzle to solve. She admired his countenance. His eyes widened a fraction and darted back and forth as he thought. He lightly bit down on his lower lip in concentration. His hands reached out and took hold of the clasp to her belt. The strip of leather fell around her feet. The final clasp to her beads was now revealed. His lips split into a boyishly proud grin. She giggled. He quickly unhooked the last piece, and the string of beads to the left flew downward. He then took the leather flap out of her hands and carefully pulled the beaded garment away from her body. The grin never faded from his face. The beads soon joined her necklaces on a nearby bookshelf.

"Well aren't you a little smarty-pants," she cooed at him as he took her back into his arms.

"Rule number one about having a scientist for a lover," he said as he squeezed her tightly, "is to _never _challenge him to figure out how something works, because he _will_ figure it out."

"Got it," she replied, smiling, as she stood up onto her tiptoes to peck him on the lips. "What's rule number two?"

"Rule number two," Hope mumbled, kissing her in return, "is to let him experiment on whatever he wants..." She felt him slowly walk her backwards. The back of her knees hit the edge of the soft mattress, and buckled beneath her. "Especially if he wants to experiment on _you_,"he finished, allowing her body to fall onto a fluffy, pale blue sea.

Vanille watched him undo each silver hook on his yellow and white coat. She untied the leather cord that kept the bear skin cloth attached to her waist. He leaned down, and next she heard the soft thuds of each of his boots hitting the floor. She felt him tugging off hers next. With a blissful sigh, she leaned back. His hands grazed up her bare legs with a feathery touch. As his hands reached her thighs, her heart began to race once again. One hand bravely moved to the inside of a thigh. Her breath hastened. She was both excited and nervous. She prayed the butterflies in her stomach would flutter away soon. She only wanted the high to remain.

Hope must have been just as nervous, because his fingers hesitated as they moved higher. She needed to do something to kill their nerves.

"Come here," she breathed, holding her arms wide. He obeyed, carefully crawling over her petite body. Once close enough, she pulled him into a tight embrace, and firmly pressed her lips to his. This reignited confidence in them both. His hands found their way to her bare midriff, and hers found the collar of his dress shirt. She unhooked the first few buttons, but grew impatient. The rest of the buttons scattered around them. Hope didn't seem to notice, because he was already occupied with the hem of her shirt. Vanille sat up just enough for him to pull the pink cloth over her head. She kissed him again, and tugged at the sleeves of his white shirt. It, too, disappeared from view.

His teal eyes traveled down to her well-proportioned breasts. He gazed at them for a long moment before reaching out to touch. His thumb experimentally brushed over a pointed nipple. Her breath hitched. Her pleasure must have been apparent on her face, because he continued his gentle ministrations. She craved more contact, so she wrapped her legs tightly around his hips. She felt his erection through his pants. His breath quickened as she began to deliberately rub against him.

"Now," she commanded when he looked into her emerald eyes.

"Okay," he breathed before leaning forward to claim her lips again. As he pulled away, she dropped her legs to give him room to undo the front of his pants. He pulled off both pants and boxers simultaneously. She was too busy staring, fascinated, at his erect penis to notice that he had already begun to pull off her skirt and panties. The last of her clothing fluttered away, and he kissed her lips.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yes."

He brushed her bangs out of her eyes and smiled at her lovingly for a brief moment. As she spread her legs wide for him, she felt that this moment was pure perfection. That sense of bliss was short lived as he carefully pushed into her. It wasn't the worst pain she had ever felt, but it was sharp, and stung badly. Hope seemed to pick up on her discomfort because he stopped moving. He looked into her eyes worriedly.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to-"

"Don't you dare stop," the words escaped her lips breathlessly. She had been a midwife for one of her cousins back in Oerba. She knew all about the female anatomy. Once he broke through her barrier, her virginity would be gone, and the pain would cease. "Just push through quick," she told him.

"Okay," he replied, rubbing her hand comfortingly before he finally thrust inside.

A high pitched squeak escaped her throat, but the sharp pain was already subsiding. He was still for a moment, allowing her to catch her breath.

"Keep going," she whispered.

He kissed her lips once again, then began to slowly move in and out. Soon she was thrusting her hips up to match his rhythm. She was wrong, _this_ was perfect. At least that's what Vanille thought. She was proved wrong once again when she felt the oddest tightening sensation inside of her. Her walls clenched down around his length so rapidly that she didn't even know what was happening until her fingernails were already digging deeply across his upper back. She didn't even know _what_ sound she made, she just knew that something had escaped from her vocal chords. She finally relaxed, exhausted, into the comforter. A mere moment later, Hope collapsed on top of her, and she felt his hot breath hit her neck in waves as he panted.

"Did you feel _that_?" she asked him as soon as she could finally speak again.

"You mean that feeling that was better than being on a sugar rush, feeling the wind whirling around you, and getting a really cool birthday present, all at once?" he asked. His breath was steadying now.

"Yeah, that," she answered.

"Yeah, I felt it, too," he finished lamely. He then took hold of her hand and laced their fingers together.

Keeping their fingers entwined, he finally rolled off her, and with his free hand, pulled the sheets out from beneath them. Vanille happily accepted the soft satiny covers, and released his hand to curl up against his side. His arm curled around her waist as he pulled her body closer.

"I love you, Hope," she whispered into his ear.

His silver-topped head turned to face her. His warm smile lit up his shining turquoise eyes as he pecked her lips.

"I love you, too, Vanille."

* * *

><p>~end chapter 5<p>

* * *

><p><em>Preview of Chapter 6: Welcome to Purgatory<em>

Hope was a smart man. Some people even considered him a wise man. He had seen many things during his unusually long lifetime. He had seen countless beautiful things. He had also seen many horrific things. One thing that he had never thought possible, though, was encountering the actual spirit of a person who had died.


	6. Chapter 6

_Not a Fairytale_

Description: Sometimes reality can seem like either a nightmare or a fairytale, but more often than not it's a little bit of both. FFXIII-2 Normal End. HopexVanille. SnowxSerah.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 6: Welcome to Purgatory.<em>

As Sazh placed the phone back onto his nightstand a worried frown grew on his face. Mrs. Raileigh had just called him, and said that Hope wasn't answering his phone. The middle-aged man hoped that his young friend was only sleeping, and not in any sort of trouble. Knowing the shit-poor luck of every single one of their family members, however, gave the man more reason _to_ worry than _not_.

Quiet as a mouse, he crept down the dark hallway toward Dajh's room. He peeked inside the partially open door. The tiny beam from the nightlight illuminated just enough of his young son's face to assure the father that the boy was sleeping soundly. He silently closed his child's bedroom door and gingerly made his way through the dark hallway into the living area. He retrieved his coat from the back of the couch, and pulled on the leather boots that sat neatly nearby. He stuffed both his phone and house key into a pocket and opened the front door as quietly as he could. He locked the door behind him.

He crossed the short distance across the dark grounds to where Hope, Fang, and Vanille's apartment stood. He checked the doorknob. It was locked. That was a good sign. The cautious father still needed to make sure that the home's occupants were safe, though, so he proceeded to knock on the door. After a minute of silence, he knocked again. This time he was greeted by the sound of a single pair of feet on the floor inside. A light went on.

Fang's glaring face greeted him. She growled tiredly. "_What is it, Gramps?_" she asked grouchily. "This better be good, 'cause it's four in the fucking morning."

He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and pointed to it. "Got a call from Mrs. Raileigh. Apparently Hope's not answering his phone."

"He probably just didn't hear it. He's in his room, safe and sound," she assured the man, before attempting to close the door in his face.

"Hey hey hey!" Sazh pushed back on the door. "Not so fast there, missy! She wouldn't have called if it weren't something important, right? I've gotta let Hope know so he can call her back."

"I'll let him know when he wakes up," the wild woman replied, pushing on the door with more force.

Clearly there was something inside that apartment that Fang didn't want the middle-aged man to see. His parental instincts were screeching like sirens.

"Fang..." he warned, "Let me in. I'm not playin' around. What are you trying to hide in here?"

"Nothin', old man," she replied, attempting to sound nonchalant. Her tense body language, on the other hand, said otherwise.

He released the door only to make one final push. He managed to take the tired woman by surprise and ducked beneath her arm, into the apartment. He sprinted across the room toward Hope's bedroom door, with Fang whispering angrily at his heels. His hand grasped the handle and pushed the door open, just before Fang pounced on his back like a panther attacking its prey. They both crashed to the floor with a loud _thud!_

The father heard a pair of familiar voices shouting from further inside the room. The first voice belong to Hope, who released a loud stream of expletives. He would have to scold the boy for it later. The second voice, which was currently shrieking in shock, he finally registered as Vanille's.

Thankfully, Fang had already jumped off him, so all he had to do was push himself up from the floor.

"Vanille..." the man groaned as he massaged his creaky back, "what are _you_ doing in Hop- Holy _shit!_" he bellowed.

Both Hope and Vanille were in the bed together, clutching the sheets to their bodies as if their lives depended on it. He caught a glimpse of both their bare shoulders, and in a heartbeat the old man threw his hands over his eyes and fled from the room. He heard the door slam closed, and Fang's angry footsteps right behind him.

"I _told you_ not to go in there!" she shouted at him as she smacked the back of his head with her hand. Luckily for his brains, all she managed to hit was afro. One hard hit from Fang, and the contents of his skull would become scrambled eggs.

"How the hell was I supposed to know... _THAT?" _he yelled back in response.

He wasn't going to say it. Hell, he didn't even want to _think_ it. Until a few seconds ago, he had blissfully never been able to see Hope or Vanille as anything but _children_. And yet here they were having se- No! No, no, no! He wasn't gonna think about it! It was this moment that he was grateful he had left Dajh asleep and safe in his bed... He had already struggled just a few hours ago to explain to Dajh what happened to Serah... The father was grateful that he didn't have to explain _this_ to a young child... He grimaced as he imagined Dajh's innocent face while asking his father why his older brother and sister were in a bed together, naked. He shuddered at the thought.

The middle aged man hardly noticed Fang's angry ranting around him, until she conked him on the head, again. This time she got solid surface.

"_OW!_" he yelled, "_Damn_, woman, you hit _hard!_"

"Well that's what you get for _not listening_ to me!" she continued scolding him, "Now you've probably scarred _all four of us_ for life! _I_ didn't wanna see that _either! _I fled straight into my room last night after the moaning started..."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Sazh felt as if he were twice his age now- and that included his chronological age, "_Too much information!" _He just wanted this moment to be over- _ASAP._

Fang went silent. A throat cleared from behind him. The middle-aged man cautiously turned around to find Hope, clothed in his grey pants and white dress shirt, standing there like a child who was awaiting punishment for a misdeed.

"Is there something wrong?" the young man asked, attempting to sound like a responsible adult. His voice didn't quite match his timid posture, though. "It's too early in the morning for you to be here, otherwise, Sazh."

"Uhh..." he began, scratching at his afro. That's right! He had almost forgotten what he came here for... "Mrs. Raileigh called me, said you weren't answering your phone. Said she's got some information for you, so you should call her back right away."

Just then, there was a knock on the front door. Fang groaned as she miserably dragged her body across the room. The door swung open to reveal both Noel and Snow in the doorway. The taller man still looked half asleep, but the shorter man looked alert and poised for danger.

"We heard shrieking and yelling, so we came to help out!" Noel announced, jumping into the living room with swords drawn in front of him. "Where's the monster?"

"There's no monster, kid," Fang tiredly grumbled. She hauled herself towards the couch and slumped onto it.

The young man's posture relaxed. "Oh. Then what was all the yelling about?"

"Does it matter?" Snow mumbled from the doorway, "I'm going back to bed. Later..."

Sazh shook his head. He _really_ didn't want to host a Q&A session at four am... "It's okay," he said, attempting to placate the young hunter, "I just came in and startled everybody, that's all. No big deal."

"What were you doing here at four in the morning?" Noel asked curiously, as he sheathed his swords.

And _here_ came more questions... And, as if the wee hours of this morning couldn't get any worse, Vanille trotted out of Hope's bedroom wearing her skirt and another one of Hope's white shirts...

"What's going on out here?" she asked innocently.

Both Snow and Noel gawked at her.

Snow began, "Hey isn't she wearing-"

"-Hope's shirt?" Noel finished for him, confusion sewn across his young face.

Sazh smacked his palm onto his forehead. Hope and Vanille's faces both burned scarlet. Fang laughed, slightly manically, from the sofa.

There was a loud wolf whistle from the doorway. Fang's laughter became normal in an instant.

"All right, _Hope_!" Snow cheered, rushing up to the smaller man and smacking him on the back in a comradely fashion. "Welcome to the club, you are now officially a _man_!"

Across the room, Noel's face flushed slightly. Apparently he had _just_ figured it out. Sazh almost wished that the kid had been naive enough to _not_ figure it out. Lady Luck was hardly on anybody's side this morning, though.

Hope glared at Snow, and shoved the man's large hand off his shoulder. He padded over to where Vanille stood, still embarrassed, and took hold of her hand. Fang was quiet again.

"Well," Hope announced to the room, "I guess there's no point in trying to hide it anymore. Everyone, Vanille and I are-"

"We _all_ know kid," Fang interrupted, "do you _really_ have to announce it?"

Hope flushed, and Vanille giggled.

If this had been anyone other than two people whom he loved very much, he probably would've gotten on a soap box about pre-marital sex... But he knew Hope, and he knew Vanille. They were both good kids, and he was certain that they loved each other very much. Hell, knowing Vanille, they may all wake up tomorrow to find that she and Hope had run off and eloped... He really couldn't be upset with them.

They all needed a reason to celebrate. But right now, Sazh had one thing that he needed to make damn certain Hope did before everyone distracted him too much...

"Hope," the older man said, "Remember? You need to call back Mrs. Raileigh."

This seemed to snap everyone back to reality.

"What's happened?" Noel asked as he approached Sazh.

The father shrugged. "Hell if I know. She just said to have Hope give her a call."

"Excuse me..." Hope muttered, abandoning Vanille to re-enter his bedroom. A moment later he returned, with cell phone in hand. Everyone watched as he dialed a number into the device. He pressed another button, and suddenly the entire room could hear the dial tone.

"Oh! Mr. Estheim!" came Mrs. Raileigh's voice from the device, "I'm glad you were able to call me back. I take it you merely slept through my call a short while ago?"

"Or maybe he was too busy doing _something else_..." Snow quietly taunted. He earned himself a wicked glare from Hope.

"Was that Mr. Villiers I just heard?" asked the female scientist.

"Uh... yes," Hope attempted to keep his cool, "we all just... decided to have a family meeting. Everyone's internal clocks are a bit off right now."

"Oh, well, should I wait until a more reasonable hour of the morning to-?"

"No, not all," he replied, "Please, tell us what information you have."

"Of course." She cleared her throat, and began. "Well, it's nothing serious, and actually, it's probably completely dismissible, but I thought it was a bit _odd_, so I wanted to get your opinion."

"What is it?"

"Well, there have been a few reports of... _ghost_ sightings, sir."

"_Ghosts?_" rang six voices simultaneously.

"Yes," she continued, "a few people, mostly those who refused to leave Pulse, have reported seeing strange, human-shaped _shadows_ lurking around. The reports only started coming in later in the evening, after the time when the sun would normally have set-"

Fang groaned from the couch. "Just _wonderful_. Without the goddess, the souls of the dead are just floating around with nowhere to go! This is _definitely_ a bad omen."

"Director, is Miss Yun right?" asked Mrs. Raileigh.

Hope sighed. "Probably. She and Vanille probably know more about ancient lore and magics than even _I_ do, even with all my years of study. Have there been any reports of these ghosts _touching_ or _harming_ any people or anything corporeal?"

Sazh noticed Noel's face turn sheet white. He understood how the boy felt. _He_ was pretty freaked out, too.

"No," came the reply from the other side, "All reported cases were just visual sightings."

"How many sightings were reported?"

"Twelve sir, nine of which were reported down on Pulse."

"Make that thirteen," Noel interrupted. All eyes were on him.

Hope nearly dropped the phone in shock. "Wait- you mean...?"

The young hunter held his hands up placatingly. "W-well I'm not _sure_ if it was a ghost or not, but I did _feel_ something cold brush up against my arm when Snow and I were outside talking after dinner."

"Did you _see_ anything?" asked Mrs. Raileigh excitedly.

"No, I turned around and there was nothing there. At the time, I thought it was just the wind. _Could_ it have been a _ghost?_"

"Was it _Serah?_" Snow asked, grabbing hold of the young man's shoulders, "If you and I were _both_ there, then it could have been her! Do you think it was _her_?"

"I don't know," Noel replied blankly as the older man shook him.

"Thank you, Mrs. Raileigh," Hope spoke into the phone. "Is that everything?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'll see you in a few hours," he finished, and hung up the phone.

Sazh looked around the room. Everyone around him was just as stunned as he was. Just when the old man thought that there was nothing creepier in this world than a Cie'th... Now he had ghosts to deal with, too! He began to panic... _Dajh!_ Dajh was alone in their house! What if one of those ghosties snuck in through a window? What if they could just fly right through a wall?

"Gotta run!" he announced, pushing right past Noel. He darted across the lawn as if his life depended on it.

* * *

><p>Once everyone had returned to their respective apartments, Hope immediately retreated to the comfort of his bedroom.<p>

Hope was a smart man. Some people even considered him a wise man. He had seen many things during his unusually long lifetime. He had seen countless beautiful things: cheerful green eyes were his favorite to dwell on. He had also seen many horrific things: performing autopsies on several mutilated human corpses was one he wished he could forget. One thing that he had never thought possible, though, was encountering the actual spirit of a person who had died.

He believed every word that Fang had told them. Though she had never witnessed it herself, there were ancient stories of sprits, with powerful attachments to the physical realm, which refused to leave it for Valhalla. They would probably continue to see these 'ghosts', since the final casualty counts were not yet in. The people still on Pulse, and who were closest to Cocoon's crash site, would probably continue to see a rise in spirit activity.

It was absurd. Hope was all too familiar with death. He had even been _obsessed_ with death at one point in his life. But _this_ was new. He had been so concerned with the _science_ behind it, that he had not put much thought into the _magic _of it. No matter how much power he had over the physical realm, the spiritual realm would always be out of his control. He would never be able to understand just _how_ Vanille and Fang had willed themselves out of crystal stasis. He would never understand how a human's soul was able to bind itself to their body. He would also never understand how some souls, such as his and Vanille's, were able to attach so strongly to another's soul, that they could bear centuries of separation, and in his case, years of physical deprivation. Looking back on his life, he realized just how unhealthy his years of cramming, endless research, and lack of both sleep and sustenance had actually been. He had driven himself nearly to his breaking point on more than one occasion.

He laughed. Now he was _free._ After everything, he finally had his soulmate back. It was incredibly ironic. Most people weren't lucky enough to meet their soulmate at fourteen- most probably never even met their soulmates at all. He was such a _dork_. He had only been a child, and yet he was already so far gone… He really was completely _daft_. He'd heard of love at first sight, but never believed in it. That was a childish dream. It was an absurd concept from one of those fairytale stories his mother had read to him when he was young. His laughter grew louder. But it had _happened_. It had happened to _him_. It was the most absurd thing he had ever thought of in his life. Yet it was completely true.

The door opened. Both Vanille and Fang curiously peeked their heads inside. He fell backwards onto the bed as he laughed.

"It's official," he heard Fang comment, "he's gone off the deep end. Vanille, go round up your crazy boyfriend."

He held a hand out for her. She was smiling at him, bemused, as she took it and sat down on the edge of the bed beside him. He was finally able to stifle his laughter, and took in a deep breath. If he _was_ actually insane, then now would be the best time to indulge in his craziest fantasies...

With Vanille's hand still in his, he got up from the bed, and kneeled on the ground, on one knee, before her. Both she and Fang gasped.

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

"Vanille, will you marry me?"

"_YES!_" she squealed excitedly, dropping his hand to squeeze her arms around his shoulders. In her excitement, they both tumbled to the floor, laughing.

He heard Fang sigh exasperatedly as she approached them. "All right, you crazy lovebirds," the tall woman said, grabbing them each by an arm and hoisting them upright again, "Not that I object to the idea, but you idiots _do_ realize that now isn't exactly the ideal time to be throwing together a fancy wedding, right?"

"Who ever said it has to be _fancy_?" Vanille replied, giggling contentedly. Her emerald eyes caught his briefly. She had that _mischievous_ gleam in her eyes. He _knew_ what she was thinking.

"Right," he said, hopping up from his seated position on the floor. He dove towards his desk, and the laptop computer that sat upon it.

"What are you doing?" the older woman asked with a hint of trepidation.

"Vanille's right," Hope replied as he started up the computer. He quickly accessed the Academy's Datanet. He clicked on the link for legal documents. Both women appeared, their hands hanging over each of his shoulders curiously. He clicked on another link until he found the _exact _document he was looking for.

"A marriage license?" Fang exclaimed beside him, "Are you crazy? How are you gonna get the authorization for something like that?"

He grinned. "Me. _I_ can authorize it. I'm the Academy's highest level advisor, therefore I have the power to sign off on pretty much anything that doesn't require a department head's signature."

On his other side, Vanille clapped merrily.

"Oh goddess..." the black-haired woman groaned. "You two _really_ are _crazy._"

"I hope you don't have any objections, Fang," he continued, "because we'll need a witness signature to make it official."

"_What? _You mean you idiots are _actually_ going to drag _me_ into your little game as well?"

"It's not a _game_ Fang," Vanille scolded the older woman, while pouting. "It's what we both _want_. Weren't _you _the one who always wanted me to settle down when we were younger?" She grabbed onto the tan woman's arm and tugged. Her pale face formed a pitiful puppy-dog look. "_Please?_" Hope couldn't help but grin. Vanille even rivaled _him_ when it came to making emotional pleas to get what she wanted. Fang wouldn't last five minutes.

"All right, fine!" the older Oerban relented. "But," she rounded on Hope, "you had best go out and buy her a proper ring right when the shops open today! I won't have Vanille running all over town without some big, flashy rock on her finger!"

"Deal," he agreed happily. Even if it meant he might be a few minutes late for his meeting... he could easily agree to the condition. As long as he could have Vanille, for the rest of his life, nothing else mattered.

With peace of mind, he settled in to fill out the paperwork. He would be a married man before stepping one foot into work today.

* * *

><p>~end chapter 6<p>

* * *

><p><em>Preview of Chapter 7: 'Dysfunctional' is the Word You Were Looking For.<em>

"You are the most _terrifying_ person I have ever met," Noel managed to say as he stared blankly at the back of Hope's head.

He heard a light chuckle escape Hope's lips. "It's interesting that you'd think that, Noel," he said in an amused tone, "if I stood beside Snow, and people were asked to choose who frightened them more, most people would choose Snow in a heartbeat."

"Gee, thanks, Hope…" Snow announced from beside him. Noel could see the amused look on the blonde's face though. The two men in the front seats chuckled.

The young hunter didn't find it as amusing as they did. Hope had incredible _power_, and he and Snow were _laughing_ about it.


	7. Chapter 7

_Not a Fairytale_

Description: Sometimes reality can seem like either a nightmare or a fairytale, but more often than not it's a little bit of both. FFXIII-2 Normal End. HopexVanille. SnowxSerah.

**Important:** This chapter has two parts- the first is a short story which is significant to the plot. The second part is the actual chapter.

* * *

><p><em>The Edge<em>

Description: Sometimes the most brilliant minds are the ones most susceptible to insanity: Hope Estheim is no exception.

* * *

><p>Red. Everywhere. Red was all Hope's turquoise eyes could see. Both white lab coat and blue surgical gloves were stained with it. It had even begun to crust into his silver hair. The coppery smell burned his nostrils.<p>

He turned the scalpel around in his hand and watched a tiny droplet of the liquid fall into his empty palm.

"It's almost like the color of her hair…" he commented affectionately. Though only the corpses could hear him.

"I can do it, Vanille," he continued, smiling softly. His boyish voice echoed off the cold, steel laboratory walls. "Are you watching? I can do it. I can bring her back."

He placed the scalpel onto the bloody table before him. He discarded the gloves, tossing them into the nearby trash bin.

"First I'll save _her_, and then I'll save you and Fang," he announced confidently.

The whites of those turquoise eyes were cracked by minuscule red veins. The porcelain skin beneath those eyes was purple from deprivation. The pores of his face were clogged with oil, and dirt, and sweat. His fine, silver hair was greasy and matted. His once childishly round face was now pointed and thin: both from his matured age and lack of sustenance. He looked like a ghost- except for the blood splattered across his body.

He glided over to the computer. His fingers danced across the keys. A strange machine, attached to the reassembled gorgonopsid corpse on the table, lit up.

He continued typing, furiously, programming the machine. He stopped. He scrolled down through the code, rewrote a few sections, renamed a few variables, adjusted a few values. On a nearby scrap of paper he sloppily scribbled down a few equations. He performed a few more calculations, then returned to his algorithm.

Finally, he inhaled a nervous breath. He ran the program.

He whirled around just as the creature's eyes opened.

* * *

><p>He was excited. The fourth anniversary had arrived. The government had finally opened the Hanging Edge for volunteer "rescue" crews. Though they all knew there would be no "rescuing". It was a salvage mission. Everyone knew that all they would find there were corpses. Corpses that had remained untouched for four entire years.<p>

His father had begged him not to go. The only thing he would find there was misery. But his father didn't know his plan. He was going to put their family back together again. All he had to do was find her body…

* * *

><p>Seven hours, and countless corpses later: nothing. Hope inwardly cursed himself for not paying more attention to his location four years ago. The Pulse vestige had long since ceased to float in the air, leaving him without a point of reference.<p>

He continued to walk along one of many bridges, until he came across an area that was littered with Purge cloaks. And then he saw it. He darted forward.

Right where he had abandoned it four years earlier, was the machine gun that Vanille had given him. Two Purge cloaks lay on either side of it, completely undisturbed. It could have been just yesterday when it all happened.

He bolted back towards his small cruiser. He knew _exactly_ where to search now.

* * *

><p>He found the spot where Snow had once held onto the ledge for dear life. Slowly, he descended his vehicle. Turquoise eyes darted every which way. He spotted a clear space to land. There was so much rubble below him, he would most likely have to dig through it to find her.<p>

He landed, and his search began.

An hour passed. His empty stomach roared at him, and he was sure he would succumb to exhaustion soon. He sat down atop a collapsed section of metal stairs to rest. He pulled a water bottle from his backpack and allowed the liquid to soothe his parched throat. He placed the bottle onto the ground, and pulled out his flashlight again. Wearily, he circled the beam through the nearest mound of debris. He almost didn't see the tuft of silver hair, exactly like his, that stuck out from underneath one of the steel beams.

The flashlight crashed to the ground.

He took a cautious step forward.

"Mom?" His voice was hardly above a whisper. "_Mommy?"_

He darted forward. There were two beams trapping her, both of which were quite large. Normally, he probably would not have been able to move them on his own. Right now, though, his body was running on pure adrenaline. After about ten more minutes, he had finally pushed both beams aside.

The now freed corpse hardly looked human anymore. Much of the skin and muscle had atrophied, leaving gaping holes in her body. Her white sweater was stained dark brown from the old, dried blood. Both of her legs were bent abnormally, and one of her shin bones protruded from her leg. Half of her left arm had been torn clean off, and the hand, which still bore her wedding ring, lay draped across her decaying chest. Her eyes and nose were no longer there, leaving only three black holes on her once lovely face.

Hope felt the water he had just drunk rise back up his esophagus. Tears flooded his eyes, and he could taste the burn of the bile as it came flooding out of his mouth. He staggered away and continued to expel the acid from his empty stomach. When the bile no longer came, he wept.

* * *

><p>Hope returned home carrying an elegant jar. Inside it were his mother's ashes. He placed the jar on top of the open newspaper on his father's desk, startling the older man. He looked into his father's weary eyes. They didn't need to speak. The father took the son into his arms and they both mourned all over again.<p>

* * *

><p>The scent of ethyl alcohol permeated the stiflingly hot laboratory air. Hope opened the door, and stepped outside. He was greeted by the loving sun and bright grassy fields on the outskirts of the small research town of Academia. His turquoise eyes latched onto the sparkling crystal pillar.<p>

"I may not have been able to save my mother," he spoke aloud, clenching his gloved fists together, "but I _will_ save _you_."

From his pocket emerged a tiny box. He pulled out a single match, lit it, and tossed it through the doorway, into the lab. He slammed the steel door closed, and ran like hell.

He dove into a nearby ditch just in time to hear the explosion go off.

* * *

><p>The final sentence of his dissertation read:<p>

_It is not possible to bring the dead back to life._

* * *

><p>~fin<p>

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 7: 'Dysfunctional' is the Word You Were Looking For.<em>

"There he is," Noel whispered to Snow as Hope's platinum head appeared in his line of vision.

"Hope!" Snow called, coming out of he and Noel's hiding place. Their friend whirled around at the sound of his name. He looked surprised, and for some reason hesitated before coming over to meet them.

"Snow, Noel, what is it?" he asked them as he anxiously checked his watch.

"We need to talk to you about something," Noel answered firmly.

To Noel's surprise, his friend looked hesitant.

"All right," he agreed, "But only if you two are willing to come with me. I have an errand to run before my meeting," he continued, glancing down at his watch again, "And the store I need to go to doesn't open until six, and my meeting is at seven…"

"Can do," Noel heard his blonde friend readily agree.

He and Snow both determinedly followed Hope into one of the cars. Even if Hope was busy and distracted, they _had_ to talk to him. They had to ask him what, if anything, he knew about human resurrection.

Once they were all securely buckled into the car, they were on their way. Snow wasted no time.

"Hope," the blonde man asked seriously, "it's about Serah…"

Their friend's reply was shockingly brief and cold.

"It's impossible," He didn't once take his eyes away from the sparse, early morning traffic patterns.

"But, Hope-" Snow began to argue, but the scientist cut him off.

"Unless you're looking to marry a _zombie_, I can't help you."

_Zombie? _What on Pulse was _that_? "What's a zom-"

"A zombie," Hope answered, as if he were a speaking dictionary, "is a reanimated corpse. According to common knowledge, they are fictional, but when I was eighteen I created several."

"_What?_" Snow bellowed in shock.

"You… made more than _one_?" the young hunter asked. He didn't know _what_ to think. Hope had created a world, and in another timeline, an artificial Fal'Cie… but _reanimated corpses_? He wasn't entirely sure he _wanted_ to know. Suddenly Vanille's warning about not making Hope angry sounded a lot more frightening…

His silver haired friend's voice broke through his thoughts. "I wanted to bring my mother back," he answered matter-of-factly, "so I needed test subjects first."

"Did… did you…?" the blonde man asked tentatively. Clearly Snow wasn't sure he wanted to know either.

Hope shook his head. "I couldn't do it," he replied stoically. "When I finally found her body I had a complete mental and emotional breakdown, and then ended up destroying not just my test subjects, but my entire lab as well."

"You are the most _terrifying_ person I have ever met," Noel managed to say as he stared blankly at the back of Hope's head.

He heard a light chuckle escape Hope's lips. "It's interesting that you'd think that, Noel," he said in an amused tone, "if I stood beside Snow, and people were asked to choose who frightened them more, most people would choose Snow in a heartbeat."

"Gee, thanks, Hope…" Snow announced from beside him. Noel could see the amused look on the blonde's face though. The two men in the front seats chuckled.

The young hunter didn't find it as amusing as they did. Hope had incredible _power_, and he and Snow were _laughing_ about it.

"It's not _funny_," he blurted out. Snow turned to stare at him, and he caught a glimpse of Hope's teal eyes observing him from the rearview mirror.

"You're probably right," the platinum haired man admitted calmly, "if something serious were to happen, and I were to lose hold of my sanity, then it could very well have disastrous consequences."

"_Exactly,_" Noel added, "you could become just as powerful an opponent as Caius, maybe even _more_, since you know how to manipulate the dead. You're almost as dangerous as a Fal'Cie."

"You're right," Hope continued, "which is why I need people that I can trust, like you two, who, should it come down to it, can kill me."

"What the _hell_ are you talking about!" Snow shouted at him from the passenger seat.

"I wouldn't do it, even if you forced me to," Noel glowered at the back of his silver head. "I fell for it once with Caius. I _won't_ make that mistake _again._"

"Then Fang will do it," he replied serenely, "if it were for the welfare of everyone else, she wouldn't hesitate."

Snow frowned grimly, "I don't doubt it for a second. When she tried to kill Vanille to keep her from turning into a Ce'ith, she proved that she's even willing to kill the people she loves to save them from pain."

"What is it with you people and trying to _kill each other_?" Noel barked in frustration, "Are there _any_ of you who _haven't _tried to murder one of your own?"

Snow raised his hand, "I haven't."

"Neither has Vanille," added Hope.

"Serah hasn't either," Snow affirmed.

"I pretty much hated _all of you_ at first," Hope continued, directing his comment at Snow.

"Believe me, I know," Snow countered, "The only person you trusted was Vanille, and it turned out she lied to all of us."

"And Lightning wanted absolutely nothing to do with _any_ of us. Do you remember when I told you how she attacked me because she didn't want to babysit me anymore?" Hope asked Snow.

"Yeah," the larger man replied, "but according to sis, you were being a whiny little brat…"

"Hey," the smaller man retorted, "at least _I_ wasn't the idiot who stood right in front of the army, _shirtless and wounded_, flashing around my l'Cie brand like I had a death wish…"

"Well at least I'm not-"

Noel couldn't take one more second of this. He inhaled a deep breath and...

"_SHUT UP!_"

Luckily, there was no one around them, because the car suddenly halted in midair. Mog dropped off of Noel's lap, onto the car floor. Both Hope and Snow turned to stare at him. The brunette man suddenly felt very self-conscious.

"You people are _insane_," he finished lamely.

"I hate to say I told you so, but-" Snow began.

"Just," Noel paused frustratedly, picking up the fallen and flailing moogle, "shut up. Please."

He briefly glimpsed both of his companions somewhat amused grins before Hope released the brake.

"We're almost there, anyways," Hope mused aloud as the car began to glide forward again.

"What do you need to pick up, anyways?" Snow asked curiously.

"A-" Hope began, but paused. "Actually, about an hour ago, I proposed to Vanille. Now I need to find some wedding rings."

"Finally," the hunter breathed, "something _sane_ to talk about…" In his peripheral vision, Noel noticed that Snow's face had gone completely blank. "What's wrong Snow?"

Hope parked the car.

"Turn the car around," Snow said bluntly.

Both Hope and Noel stared at him incredulously.

The large man continued, "Screw the rings. Go back home right now, grab Vanille, and elope. Don't wait. You'll only regret it if you wait."

"W-well…" Hope stuttered, "It's not like we were going to wait _long_, just long enough to tell you all and get the rings. I already have the paperwork filled out at home, I just have to submit it to the database…"

"Well now you've told us," the blonde added hurriedly, "so start the damn car back up and go home. Jewelry can wait."

"Snow, what's up with you?" Noel was growing worried.

Hope immediately grabbed hold of the larger man's wrist and grasped it firmly. Now that Snow was no longer able to move his limb around, the brunette could look over the front seats to see that his friend's entire arm was shaking. Snow was thinking about Serah, and their decision to hold off their wedding. He was terrified that the same terrible fate would await Hope and Vanille. The strong man was cracking.

In one swift movement, Hope's free hand collided with his friend's face.

"Hope, what the _hell_?" Noel shouted as he yanked the scientist's shoulders back, pinning him to the back of his seat. Just when he was afraid that Snow would retaliate, the blonde man did the most surprising thing of all.

"Thanks, Hope," he said, tenderly rubbing his red cheek. "I needed that."

"Anytime," was the reply.

Noel slowly released Hope's shoulders. "What just happened?"

"Snow was having a panic attack," Hope answered, "and I snapped him out of it. Hitting him is the only way to calm him down."

"Good to know, I guess…" Noel replied a bit uneasily. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Snow responded. "He didn't hit me very hard. He had to hit me a _lot_ harder the last time." He cleared his throat, then pulled his seatbelt off. "All right Hope, let's hurry up and find you some wedding rings. If you end up running late for your meeting, just call 'em and let 'em know you'll be late. This is more important."

"Okay," Hope agreed.

* * *

><p>"So Snow," Noel asked as Hope talked to the jewelry shop owner, "why did you decide to get necklaces for you and Serah? The few couples in my village all had handmade rings. I've never heard of using necklaces to symbolize marriage before."<p>

"I'm not really sure, to be honest," he answered with a small smile on his face. "I just saw them and thought of Serah."

It must be nice to know someone that well, and to have someone to love that much. Despite the dysfunctionality of this group of people, there was enough _love_ amongst them to balance it all out. But what exactly was _love_? Noel could see it, in so many different forms, but it was impossible for him to define. What was it? Where did it come from? How do you distinguish one type from the next? Lightning had entrusted him with Serah, Snow and Hope had both shown him the same trust, and everyone else had welcomed him warmly. Was this the kind of love this hodgepodge of a family had for its members? He didn't understand it. One member of their family trusted him, and so all the rest followed suit. It didn't make sense. What type of love did these people share that allowed that to happen? There was so much the young hunter didn't understand.

The most confusing thing of all was _romantic love_. How did Snow and Serah, and then Hope and Vanille, even _know_ that they were in love? Was there some sort of sign? Did it simply click inside their heads when they first met, or was it something they discovered over time? What were the rules? Was there someone out there for _everyone_? Did that mean that there was actually someone out there who was made just for _him_? How would he ever _find_ that person?

He shook his head. He didn't have time to think that way just now. They had much more important things to worry about first. _Very_ important things… like _Serah_.

After a long pause Noel finally asked, "So how long do you think it will take Hope to find something?"

"Don't know," Snow replied, folding his arms across his chest. "It could be quick, or it could take hours. I know he _wants_ to make a quick decision, but knowing him, he'll probably have to mull over the options for a while first."

"Great…" Noel groaned, "Not only are we stuck here waiting, potentially for hours, but we're no closer to finding a way to bring Serah back."

"Just because he doesn't know _how_ to do it, doesn't mean he can't help us," the older man interrupted as his eyes followed Hope's back.

_Aha_. Now he knew what Snow's angle was. "You want to use the Academy's databases to see if there's anything in there that might help us."

"Bingo. And Hope's the only person we trust who can get us access."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

Snow's blue eyes detached from their target, and Noel heard footsteps behind him. Hope walked up beside him with two ring boxes in his left hand.

"Well that was quick," the blonde man commented.

Their silver-haired friend grinned. "I found the _perfect_ ring for her."

Snow draped an arm over the smaller man's shoulders. "Let a pal have a look?" he asked, smiling mischievously.

Hope clasped both hands around the boxes. "Not a chance."

"Come on, Hope," Noel added, joining in the little game. "We came all the way here to help you, so give us some credit."

"No you didn't," came the playful reply, "As I recall, you two only came with me to pick my brain for information."

"All right fine," Snow relented, removing his arm from Hope's shoulders. "We'll cut you a deal, we'll wait to gawk at Vanille's ring until _after_ she gets it, if you'll do us one small favor."

"Let me guess," Hope said as the trio walked out the shop door, back towards their car, "you want me to give you access to the Academy's databases?"

"Exactly," Noel answered. He wasn't one to beg for anything, but hey, it was worth a shot. "_Please?_ We know that you want to see Serah back, just as much as everyone else."

A smile crossed his friend's features. "I'll do you one better," he answered, "I'll let you two borrow my personal computer. There are thousands of pages from ancient Pulsian texts that I haven't had the time to decipher yet. Noel, can you read both Cocoon and Pulse script?"

"I'm fluent in both," the hunter affirmed.

Hope nodded. "Okay, then Snow, have Vanille and Fang help you translate the Pulse script. If he wants to, have Sazh join you, and I'll help when I get home from work. Sound good?"

"Yes!" Snow cheered, pumping his fist into the air.

"There's just a few rules you guys have to follow about using that computer though," he added.

"Like what?" the hunter asked.

"You can't transfer or alter _any_ files, and you _can't_ take the computer out of my room. Remember what I told you earlier? There are some files on that computer that _no one_ should ever see. I can't have any files getting leaked, and then decrypted."

"Well, to be honest I don't really know enough _about_ computers to know what you're talking about." Noel admitted.

"No worries," Snow said confidently, "I've got the basics covered."

"…Which means you know how to open and close files," Hope interrupted, shaking his head, "which is why I'm going to disconnect that computer from all external servers _before_ I let any of you touch it. Vanille and Fang probably know only as much as either of you do about computers. Sazh is quite knowledgeable about them, but even he doesn't know enough to protect the data, should a hacker try to get access to my harddrive."

"I'm sorry," Noel said, genuinely confused, "but that last sentence just sounded like gibberish to me."

Hope smiled. "And that's why I'll be taking precautionary measures. Now let's get home so I can get married."

"Right on!" Snow cheered as he opened the car's passenger side door to climb inside.

* * *

><p>Vanille picked up a brown crayon and leaned over Dajh's shoulder. She pointed to a spot on the drawing he was working on and added a few brown lines to it. She felt two tiny feet land on top of her scalp, and heard a familiar chirp. She giggled as the chocobo chick, whom Dajh told her was named Chocolina, gently nuzzled at her bangs.<p>

"I love you, too, little darling," she affectionately cooed at the tiny creature.

A moment later, the door to the common room kitchen opened. She observed both Snow and Noel's grinning faces as they made way for Hope, who was presently typing something into his cellphone, to enter. Her emerald eyes wandered over to the clock on a nearby wall. It was 6:50. Hope was going to be late for his meeting. Perhaps that was what he was communicating through the small electronic device.

Finally, she watched as he pocketed the device. His turquoise eyes caught hers and a smile danced across his lips. She could hardly contain her excitement. She had already buzzed around excitedly and explained to a very tired Sazh what was going on. It had taken her the better part of the last hour to finally settle down and help Dajh with his coloring. The time had finally come though, and, judging from the grins on the faces of each adult in the room, she wasn't the only person eagerly anticipating this moment- she just happened to be the one anticipating it the _most_.

"Looks like the groom's here," Sazh announced, leaning back into his chair comfortably. The middle aged man wore a smirk on his scruffy face.

Hope smiled sheepishly. "I assume this means everyone knows then?"

"You assumed right." The middle-aged man grinned.

Hope's attention returned to Vanille. She felt her chair get pulled backwards as Fang took hold of her small hand. She allowed her best friend to pull her up from the chair. She couldn't keep the silly grin off her face as Fang swiftly brushed off and straightened out the pink and white sundress that Vanille had changed into for the occasion. The redhead stared straight into the turquoise eyes of the man she loved. She hardly noticed when both Fang and Sazh each took hold of one of her hands. She watched as Hope handed one ring box to Noel, and one to Snow. Before she knew it she stood right in front of him. Her hands were freed only to be picked back up by Hope a moment later. He stared into her eyes as he brought one of her hands up to his lips and gently kissed the back of it. He was so _romantic_, and the best part was that he didn't even realize it.

He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again and chuckled at himself. "I've been fantasizing about marrying you for years," he finally said, "and every time I try to imagine what I'd say to you in my vows, it always ended up sounding too cheesy. So I'm just going to say this: Keep smiling, because, well, you know how it makes me feel."

She giggled. "I promise. As long as I have you around, I'll always have something to smile about."

She watched the slight blush splash across his cheeks as his smile grew.

Finally, he turned to Noel, who opened the ring box in his hands. Inside was a plain silver-colored band. Hope pulled off each of his gloves and stowed them into a pocket. He took the ring from the box and pressed it into Vanille's palm. He held his left hand up to her expectantly. She didn't think her heart could flutter any more than it was right now as she took hold of his hand and slipped the cool metal onto his ring finger. Hope then gestured toward Snow, who opened the box which contained her ring. She gasped. Instead of a single diamond, the silver-colored setting held several tiny ones which were all precisely arranged in the shape of her favorite flower- one that only grew on the Yaschas Massif.

She watched in awe as Hope took her left hand and slid the gorgeous ring onto her finger. She immediately threw herself into his arms and kissed him.

"I guess nobody needs to remind them about the 'kiss' part," joked Snow.

As their friends all laughed around them, Vanille finally pulled back and allowed Hope to breathe. They smiled sheepishly at one another.

Their entire family followed them back to their apartment and signed their names on the document as witnesses to the ceremony. Vanille watched as Hope clicked on the screen a few times, and they all anxiously waited until a box appeared on the screen announcing that the document was properly sent.

That was it. She was no longer Oerba Dia Vanille. Now, and until the day she died, she would be Mrs. Vanille Estheim.

* * *

><p>It was nearly ten thirty am before Hope's meeting with Director Achilles and Mrs. Raileigh had concluded. More casualty reports from citizens still on Pulse were gradually streaming in. The few reports from Bhunivelze appeared to be suicides: apparently there were still people who were unable to resign themselves to the loss of their former home. The reports, thankfully, had not yet climbed past the double digits.<p>

To Hope's surprise, neither the Director nor Mrs. Raileigh had been upset about him being half an hour late. They both seemed genuinely pleased for him when he explained to them why he was tardy. He was grateful. Despite everything happening at the moment, they were gracious enough to be flexible with him. As he walked down the hall toward the research wing, he was determined to repay their kindness by rededicating himself to research.

Just as he began to formulate a plan for the day's research, a figure stepped out in front of him. He snapped out of his thought process to find Benjamin Achilles standing before him, wearing a smirk on his scruffy face.

"Aren't you supposed to be on suspension?" Hope asked coolly.

"I am," the General casually replied, "but not even my uncle can keep me out of the facility."

"Well I suppose your business is your own," the scientist replied politely, "If you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

"Not so fast," General Achilles said, stretching his long arms out to block Hope's path. The rude man was grinning. "I just heard the news from a little birdie in the legal department: apparently you just got hitched to a certain red-headed brat. I guess that ring around your finger is proof," he pointed at Hope's ungloved left hand. "I _knew_ I was right. Isn't that just _romantic_?" he continued sarcastically, "The little _geek_ travels five hundred years into the future so he can marry his teenage fuck buddy."

"Is that all you came to say?" asked Hope coldly, "because I really can't see how any aspect of my personal life concerns you."

The General chuckled darkly, but moved aside. "Oh trust me Estheim, I'm not done with you yet. I won't let you and your little band of l'Cie pals take over _my_ time period. You all should've been in the ground _centuries_ ago. This world doesn't belong to you anymore," the large man spat bitterly before turning on his heel and marching away.

Hope sighed deeply. So _that_ was the problem. It surprised him that even five hundred years into the future, there were still people who despised l'Cie. As far as he knew, he and his friends had been the last people ever turned into l'Cie. Unless Hope or one of his friends had once killed someone down the Achilles family line, which he supposed was feasible, there really wasn't any other reason he could see for the General to hate him as much as he did. It was certainly odd that the General would hate him, considering that Director Achilles held no ill will towards him. He would have to ask the Director about it at some point.

In the meantime, however, he had a job to do- a complicated one which involved not only saving the world, but also reuniting two lost sisters. His work had only just begun.

* * *

><p>~end chapter 7<p>

* * *

><p><em>Preview of Chapter 8: Stories From the Past<em>

"Have you ever eaten at a place like this before?" Noel asked his companion.

Vanille nodded. "When Sazh and I were at Nautilus Park we got food at someplace similar. Only the menu was up on a wall, and we paid at the counter, and then we got to pick our seats."

"Huh…" the young man responded, "I guess there's many different types of places to eat in a city like this."

"Probably," the redhead agreed, just as she stuck her nose into the fairytale book once again.

Was she bored with him already? Noel had to wonder, because this was the first time that he had ever really talked to Vanille one-on-one. He still didn't know enough about her habits. He had seen Hope go back and forth between a computer screen and a conversation before, so he took a chance, and assumed that Vanille was a multitasker as well.


	8. Chapter 8

_Not a Fairytale_

Description: Sometimes reality can seem like either a nightmare or a fairytale, but more often than not it's a little bit of both. FFXIII-2 Normal End. HopexVanille. SnowxSerah.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 8: Stories From the Past<em>

Noel had to admit that research was an incredibly boring job. Most of the texts that Hope had collected turned out to be diaries from ancient Pulse. While Snow, Sazh, and Fang pored over the contents of the computer screen, he and Vanille had begun poring over a few physical books, which Hope had pulled out of a vault, which was cleverly hidden inside his closet.

"Find anything useful yet?" Noel asked the red-haired woman as he frustratedly slammed another book closed.

"Nope," she replied in her usual relentlessly cheerful manner, "but I _did_ find this book of old Pulsian fairytales," she replied dreamily as she gently closed her own book and handed it to him. "This book looks like it's even older than me!" She laughed as she picked up another book to look through.

The hunter flipped through a few pages. Romance story. Another romance story. And yet another… He quickly snapped it shut and shoved it back at the young woman. "This won't be of any use to us."

She took the book back from him. "Grumpy much?" she asked calmly.

He opened his mouth to retort, but stopped himself. He _was _being grumpy. It was already two in the afternoon, they hadn't eaten lunch yet, and their research was, so far, entirely fruitless.

"Sorry," the brunette mumbled apologetically. "This is just so _frustrating_," he admitted.

Vanille hopped up and brushed off her pink and white dress. She grabbed the book of fairytales off the floor and held her free hand out to him. "Want to go out and take a break for a while? Hope gave me a credit card, so we can go get some food. I wanted to go visit him at work anyways. You can come with me as my bodyguard," she chimed, glancing over at their friends who surrounded the computer, "I'm sure Fang would kill me if I tried to go anywhere on my own."

"Damn straight," the older woman called without once removing her eyes from the computer screen.

"Okay," he agreed, taking hold of the petite woman's hand. She pulled him up with ease. She was _definitely_ stronger than she looked.

Noel waited in the living room for Vanille, while she ran into her room to grab a bag. She swiftly emerged with a large brown leather bag which had a strap that she slung over her shoulder. She lifted the bag's flap up and stuffed both the fairytale book and a pastel pink leather wallet inside.

"Ready!" she announced, as she led the way out the front door.

* * *

><p>Since neither Noel nor Vanille had the slightest idea how to drive a car, they took to roaming the streets on foot. Thankfully, there were so many extra lights lighting up the streets, that everything was illuminated almost as if the sky weren't dark at all. The streets were also buzzing with people going about their daily lives. Noel had to admit that that was a good sign. As they walked, he quickly realized that he had to work hard to keep up with Vanille. She was so tiny that she easily slipped through groups of people. Noel wasn't quite so lucky. Fang had also warned him about Vanille's tendency to <em>wander<em>, so he was anxious to keep as close to her as he could. Hope would _kill him_ if he were to lose track of his bride on their first day as husband and wife.

Suddenly, a man on an air bike whooshed by right in front of him, separating Noel from his charge. Once the bike was out of his way, he immediately scanned the crowd for Vanille's flame colored hair. Nothing.

"Dammit!" the hunter cursed his luck. He charged through the crowd, weaving in and out wherever he could, and startling a few people when he couldn't avoid bumping into them. He called her name a few times, but wasn't sure if she could even hear him through the flood of voices on the street.

Finally, he decided that simply pushing through the crowd wasn't going to gain him any ground. He needed to find a less crowded space, preferably one on higher ground, and scan the area from there. The young man weaved through a few more people until he reached an uncrowded section of sidewalk directly in front of a small restaurant. There, on a concrete extension of the wall, which sat about five feet high, was Vanille. She smiled and waved at him from her perch just before she gracefully hopped down.

"I assumed you'd try to find higher ground to search for me, so I figured I'd make it easier on both of us."

"How did you get up there?" he asked in surprise.

She pointed to a trash can that stood adjacent to the wall.

"Ahh…" he replied. The trash can would be easy to scale for someone who was an experienced climber. "How did you know I'd be searching for higher ground?"

She patted away any dust from the skirt of her dress as she spoke, "Fang and I are hunters, too. Or at least we _were_ before we became l'Cie. Finding the high ground and locating yourself against the direction of the wind are two of the most important musts when stalking prey."

Noel was impressed. She was not only _stronger_ than she appeared, but also _smarter_. Hope had found himself a first-rate wife.

"How about we just eat here?" Vanille asked as she pointed at the entrance to the small restaurant they stood by.

The brunette nodded. "Okay."

She smiled and grabbed hold of his arm, enthusiastically dragging him through the restaurant doors. Maybe she was a little _too strong_ for a woman her size.

Vanille released his arm and began giggling at him once they were inside. There was a young black-haired woman, not much older than them, who stood at a podium just inside the doors. She looked quite bored, even as she pulled out two plastic-covered pieces of paper and asked, "Just two?"

"Yep," answered Vanille cheerfully.

Noel noticed the girl's eyes flicker to the ring on Vanille's finger. Then her eyes shot over to him and trailed him up and down, finally landing on his left hand. It was as if a switch had been flipped. Suddenly the girl was all smiles and charm as she showed them to their seats. She placed one folded piece of paper down in front of each of them. She then told them- or rather, told _Noel_- that their waitress would be with them in just a minute. Vanille didn't seem at all perturbed by the waitress ignoring her, in fact, she appeared fascinated by something written on the protected paper… He thanked the girl, and watched her as she slowly sauntered away. She _was_ sort of pretty.

"You think she's cute?" he heard his companion ask unabashedly. She was smiling mischievously at him over her paper.

He scratched his head embarrassedly. "I don't know," he replied. "I've never really thought about _any_ girls that way before. Yeul was the only girl that I was ever really around growing up."

He, too, picked up the piece of paper that had been placed in front of him. The name of the restaurant was printed on the front, with the word 'Menu' printed beneath it. Apparently this strange folded paper had a name. He opened it. Each side of it was filled with pictures and words describing the various dishes that the restaurant offered. This was something that would take some getting used to.

Their waitress then arrived and asked for their drink orders. Since neither of them were entirely sure what most of the drinks on the menu even _were_, they simply ordered water. The waitress left to get their drinks.

"What about _you_," he asked Vanille, "aside from Hope, did you ever find any other boys attractive?"

She giggled with embarrassment, "Actually, not really. Call me an oddball, but I was never really interested in any of the boys back in Oerba."

"Why not?" he asked with honest curiosity.

She pursed her lips in thought. "I dunno," she replied, "I guess they were all sort of… plain, and boring. But then again," she continued, " we didn't really _date_ like people from Cocoon. For us, choosing a mate was more about marrying simply to have babies. I didn't want that. I always dreamed of _love_."

He looked down at his menu, deep in thought. There it was again. _Romantic love_, huh? His upbringing had been much like Vanille's, so the concept was still rather foreign to him. It brought him back to his musings from earlier that day…

Just then their waitress came back with their drinks, and was ready to take their order. He hastily searched through the menu for something that looked remotely familiar. He had no clue. He heard Vanille order some kind of soup, so when the waitress turned to him, he just said that he would have the same thing.

"Have you ever eaten at a place like this before?" Noel asked his companion.

Vanille nodded. "When Sazh and I were at Nautilus Park we got food at someplace similar. Only the menu was up on a wall, and we paid at the counter, and then we got to pick our seats."

"Huh…" the young man responded, "I guess there's many different types of places to eat in a city like this."

"Probably," the redhead agreed, just as she stuck her nose into the fairytale book once again.

Was she bored with him already? Noel had to wonder, because this was the first time that he had ever really talked to Vanille one-on-one. He still didn't know enough about her habits. He had seen Hope go back and forth between a computer screen and a conversation before, so he took a chance, and assumed that Vanille was a multitasker as well.

"So when you first met Hope," he began, "did you know he was the one for you?"

Apparently his assumption about her being able to multi-task, just like her husband, was correct. She peered at him over her book and giggled. "Nope. Or at least I didn't _know_ it. I knew there was _something_ about him that made me stick around, but he was so young back then. His voice had already deepened, but he was only just _beginning_ to show any signs of physical maturity," she clarified, "I didn't really see him as anything more than a kid at first."

There went his 'love at first sight' theory. "So what changed?"

At that point the waitress returned, and placed their food: a bowl of soup and a bowl of salad for each, onto the table in front of them. They thanked her, and she scurried away to another table. Noel continued to look at his friend expectantly. She smiled.

"I got to know him," she said, finally answering his question. "He drove me _crazy_ to be honest. He was constantly _teasing_ me! He would say something so incredibly sweet, just to see my reaction, and then he'd turn around and laugh at me!"

Noel smiled. This seemed consistent with what he had seen of the two of them together.

"But," she continued, smiling, "I always knew that he really meant those things he'd said because he always watched me. I don't know if _he_ even realized he was doing it, but he always stayed as close to me as he could. If I wandered off, he followed me, making sure I wouldn't be in any danger. I always loved how well he paid attention. I would give him hunting lessons sometimes, and all he had to do was watch me do something once or twice, and he could easily do it himself. And he always remembered little details, like conversations or exact locations."

It actually made Noel happy to hear Vanille ramble on about Hope. It was clear to him now that they were both very sentimental people. If they weren't, then their love probably would have burned out long ago. The new Cocoon may never even have been built, if Hope's feelings hadn't given him extra motivation to complete the project. It was even possible that Hope might not have become a scientist in the first place, if his desire to be reunited with Vanille had not been there.

This sparked a new desire in Noel: _he wanted to have a lover of his own_.

They spent the rest of their meal discussing hunting tactics, while Vanille would, off and on, read a section of her book.

Their waitress' shift had apparently ended, because the person who came to take their check was a young man. He had longish, messy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Noel noticed him staring at Vanille momentarily before shaking his head and picking up the credit card that she left on the table. The young man's eyes briefly glanced down at the card, and he did a double take. He looked back up at Vanille and stared, mouth gaping open.

"Y-you're _Oerba Dia Vanille_?"

She smiled, but her wide eyes gave away the fact that she was also bewildered. Noel watched his female friend nod her head.

"How did you know?" the male hunter asked the waiter.

"The name on the credit card," he answered. "I'm a Bio-Engineering major at the university, and Director Estheim is pretty much my idol," he continued sheepishly, "I'm also minoring in History, and I thought she looked familiar from the artist interpretations in my textbooks. I heard on the news this morning that the Daughters of the Goddess came out of crystal stasis, so I put two and two together."

"Well it's nice to meet you," Vanille said, outstretching her right hand for a handshake, "And what's your name?"

"Kurt Hartmann, ma'am," the young man replied politely, accepting the friendly gesture.

Once she released the awed young man's hand, she spoke again, with her usual cheerful smile on. "I guess I should make some proper introductions. This," she said, gesturing towards Noel, "is my newest little brother, Noel Kreiss."

The brunette offered the young man a handshake as well.

"And I've actually had a slight name change since waking from crystal stasis," the redhead continued brightly as she held up her left hand to show off her wedding ring. "My name is now Vanille Estheim."

The young man gaped at her. "Y-you mean-" he stammered, "you and the Director got _married?_"

She nodded animatedly.

"Oh _wow_," Kurt said excitedly, "this is so _cool!_" However, he glanced down at the bill in his hands, and came back down to earth. "Um, let me ring you up, and I'll be right back!"

"Okay," Vanille replied merrily.

She and Noel both watched as the young man enthusiastically bounded away.

The young hunter smiled. "I think you just made a new friend."

Vanille nodded, "Did you see the excited puppy dog eyes on his face?" she commented, "It was adorable! If he really admires Hope that much, then maybe I could convince Hope to meet him. That would probably make the boy's whole year!"

Noel chuckled. "Do you think Hope would actually agree to it, though? He _is_ incredibly busy right now. We _all_ are."

She pursed her lips in thought. "You _do_ have a point," she admitted. "He said he studies at the university, right? So I guess we can always look up his contact info if it all works out."

"Sounds like a plan to me," the brunette man agreed. "So, what's next on the agenda? Are we going to meet up with Hope?" he asked, just as Kurt returned with Vanille's card and receipt.

"Yep!" she replied, as she gratefully took back the card and slip of paper. She thanked the young man, and he very politely expressed his joy at meeting her. She waved goodbye as he wandered over to another table to take their orders.

"Too bad we don't have anything to show for all our research today…" the male hunter replied drearily as they stood up from their seats.

Vanille patted him on the shoulder. "It's too soon to be getting discouraged," she said encouragingly, "we just started researching this morning. There's a lot of books we've got to go through still. I'm sure we'll find something sooner or later."

"I hope you're right," Noel replied as they exited the restaurant and walked out onto the street.

* * *

><p>Vanille was so excited as she merrily bounced through the halls of the Academy building. She and Noel had managed to find an intern for the Research Department who had just seen Hope go to the cafeteria for lunch. The young man kindly showed them the way to the large dining hall before politely scuttling away, presumably returning to the research facility.<p>

She and Noel entered the crowded cafeteria and began craning their necks in search of Hope's silver head. Knowing Hope, he would probably isolate himself in a corner somewhere with something to occupy himself. Sure enough, as her emerald eyes scanned the outer edges of the room, she spotted his familiar, shiny hair.

"There he is!" she announced to her companion, who had been looking in the opposite direction. It only took him a moment to find where she was pointing.

"All right, let's go say hello," she heard him say.

She excitedly weaved her way through the tables full of scientists, soldiers, and office workers. When she was within a few feet from her target, she slowed her walk and quietly began to creep up behind him. She heard Noel's footsteps stop behind her. Apparently he had figured out what she was up to, and didn't want to ruin her game. She crouched down just a tad and, with a silly grin plastered onto her face, she pounced.

"_Boo!_" she shouted as her petite arms latched onto Hope's shoulders. Some of the rice he had been eating flew into the air and scattered around them. She burst into laughter. She heard Noel laughing, too.

"_Vanille!_" he barked in shock. "You scared the _shit_ out of me. What are you doing here? I thought you were at home."

She giggled as she swung around to meet him face to face. She leaned in and firmly pressed her lips against his in a brief, but enthusiastic, kiss. She pulled back and brushed the rice off his pants before promptly plopping down onto his lap, smiling.

"I just wanted to pop in for a quick visit," she finally answered. "Noel came with me to make sure I didn't get into any trouble."

She watched her husband's head turn to watch as Noel leaned against the table, grinning at him.

"You've got some rice in your hair, Hope," their friend said, pointing at the scientist's head.

Hope returned his attention to his wife. "It's _your_ fault," he accused as he playfully poked at her shoulder.

"I never said it _wasn't_," she countered, just as playfully, as she reached up and pulled the food out of his silvery bangs. She loved this part. Their playful banter turned even more fun when Hope leaned forward just enough to give her a quick peck on the lips.

"So," he said, "is that the only thing you stopped by for? To scare me, and then be on your way?"

"Pretty much," the giggling redhead answered, as she reached into her bag to pull out her book of fairytales. "The research at home isn't going very well so far, so Noel and I decided to take a break."

"Vanille…" her husband said, staring at the ancient book in her hands, "You're not supposed to take that book out of the house. It's about two hundred years older than _you are_, and, frankly, it's a lot less well-preserved."

"It's okay," she smiled, pecking him on the lips again, "I'm being careful with it. You should've seen Noel though, getting frustrated and slamming the books around."

"He _what_?"

She watched as her friend's azure eyes widened in fear of the impending wrath. She pulled Hope's attention away from Noel by kissing him again, then said, "Don't worry, Hope, I'll make sure that from now on he's _extra nice_ to the books."

"All right, _up_," her silver-haired man said, as she felt him gently pat her on the rear. She couldn't help but release a girly squeak and obey. After she stood, and took a quick glance around, she noticed that all the people within earshot of them were silent, and had begun to stare. She stared back at them curiously, and almost all of the faces hastily looked away. Apparently Hope and Noel had noticed as well, because they were both just as silent as she.

"Well," Hope finally said, "Since you two are here, I suppose I can send some equipment home with you that will help us out."

"What equipment?" she heard Noel ask.

Her husband shook his head. Apparently this wasn't the place to discuss it.

"Can we go see it?" she asked, shooting Noel a knowing glance. Her young friend immediately took the hint.

Hope then stood up, brushed the last few pieces of rice off his clothing, and gathered up the remnants of his meal and the portable computer he had been working on. He swiftly disposed of his trash, and led them out of the cafeteria.

* * *

><p>"What <em>are<em> these things?" Noel asked as Hope handed him a handful of small, thin metal strips.

"Vanille," the scientist said to his wife, "would you please hand me that book?"

He watched as she cheerfully complied, reaching into her brown messenger bag.

"Here you go!" she said, then leaned closer to him, as if she were a little puppy asking for praise after performing a trick. He smiled at her and obliged by giving her swift kiss to the forehead.

He held up the worn leather binding for them to see. He pointed out the small metal strip, which was identical to the ones in Noel's hand, securely attached to the binding.

"What's it do?" his wife asked in fascination.

"It's another one of my inventions," the scientist answered, handing the book back to Vanille. "They're tiny devices that are intended to preserve the cellular structure of whatever they're attached to. All you have to do is attach it to the surface of whatever you want to preserve, and press the tiny button on the top. A simple book, such as that one, only requires _one_ strip to prevent it from biodegrading, but-"

"You want us to put these on Serah's body so that she won't decay," Noel finished for him.

"Precisely," Hope continued, "It's only been one day since her bodily functions ceased, but we still can't risk any more potential deterioration of her genetic structure. It may take us quite some time to find any information on how to go about resurrecting her, so in the meantime, with enough of these devices attached, her body will be protected, at least from _natural_ atrophy."

"So, you mean… _what_ exactly?" Noel asked him.

"She's just like the books," Vanille answered for him, as she curiously shuffled around the book within her grasp, "She won't _decay_, but she can still be _harmed_ if something were to happen to her."

Goddess, how Hope loved this woman. Vanille was always the _one_ person who could easily understand the _concepts_ behind his ideas. She wasn't necessarily as good at the _implementation_ of those concepts, but she understood the logic behind them. There were so many things, however, that she still didn't know. So many things he had yet to tell her, like the the reason behind this little invention of his… She deserved to know _everything_. He would have _no_ secrets between them.

"Well," Noel said, "we'd better get going. We'll need to hurry and make sure that Serah's body is perfectly safe." The young man was out the door in a flash.

Vanille turned to follow him, but Hope desperately latched onto her hand.

"Vanille…" He could hear his voice trembling, but he didn't care. She turned to face him, and her emerald eyes looked up at him worriedly. "There's something you need to know. About _why_ I invented these preservation devices-"

"Shh…" she said, pressing a single finger to his lips. "It's okay," she continued, moving her hand to his cheek. He felt her thumb as it tenderly brushed against his skin. "I already know."

"Y-you do?"

She nodded sorrowfully. "I've been watching you for centuries, Hope. While I wasn't able to see _everything_," she squeezed his hand tightly, "I was able to see all of the most important moments. I know that you tried to bring your mother back, and I know that you almost lost yourself because of it."

He felt the warm, wet tears drip from his eyes. She pulled him into a tight embrace. He was so relieved. His tears stopped just as soon as they'd begun. She knew _everything_. She had seen him at his worst, both as a child and as a man, and her love for him remained unchanged. That was all he needed.

"I told Snow and Noel," he confessed, his voice was steady now. "I needed to warn them… because I don't want them to have to go through the same thing I did. We may _never_ be able to bring Serah back," he squeezed his wife tightly, "and they need to be prepared, just in case."

"I know," she replied as she pulled out of his embrace. "You were right to tell them. And you were also right to give us the books _and_ those little trinkets. If we try and we fail, then at least we'll always know that we did everything in our power to make it right."

He nodded at her encouragement, then wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his coat. "All right, well, you should catch up with Noel so he doesn't leave you behind. I need to get back to work."

She smiled and nodded. "Okay," she replied before standing up on her tiptoes to press her lips gently to his. "I'll see you later then."

He smiled at her in return. "Okay. Later."

* * *

><p>~end Chapter 8<p>

* * *

><p><em>Preview of Chapter 9: Epiphany<em>

Apparently Vanille was beginning to wake up somewhat, because she flipped her book open and silently began to read. After Hope finally pulled the grey shirt over his head he crawled into the bed beside her, and pulled the fluffy covers over them both.

"You really seem to like that book," he commented quietly before pressing his lips against her cheek.

Without taking her eyes off the page, she snuggled into him. "It's full of love stories," she responded, "a few of them I heard or read as a child, but most of them I didn't even know existed."

He briefly glanced at the binding. She was a little less than halfway through it. There must be _a hundred_ stories inside, at least.

"Tell me about the story you're reading now."

"I just started," she replied, "so how about I start at the beginning and just read it to you?"

He nodded. "Okay."


	9. Chapter 9

_Not a Fairytale_

Description: Sometimes reality can seem like either a nightmare or a fairytale, but more often than not it's a little bit of both. FFXIII-2 Normal End. HopexVanille. SnowxSerah.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 9: Epiphany<em>

When Hope arrived home at nine o'clock that evening, he found his entire family sprawled out in various locations inside his bedroom. All of them were sound asleep.

Snow's large body was sprawled out on top of his made bed, taking up nearly the entire space. Sazh and Dajh were curled up together against his bookcase. Fang's black mane was draped across the computer screen. Noel and Vanille were both curled up on the floor between two large piles of books. There were at least four opened pizza boxes strewn in random places.

Finally, he noticed that Serah's body had been brought in as well. She looked peaceful as she lay, carefully placed, on the small loveseat in the corner. He took note of the small metal strips which were placed somewhat randomly along her body. He approached her first. He knelt down and carefully checked each strip to make sure they were all securely attached, and properly turned on. Everything looked good. He heaved a sigh as he took her cold hand into his.

"We'll do everything we can to bring you back Serah," he spoke to deaf ears. "I don't know if we _can_, but we're going to try."

Suddenly he felt a pair of arms drape over his shoulders. Vanille's bracelets quietly clanked together in front of him.

"You're awake…" he whispered to her.

"Mmhmm…" she tiredly murmured into his hair, "I heard you come in."

He gently placed Serah's hand back where it belonged and turned around to face Vanille. He stood up once again, and swept his wife's tired body into his arms. She sleepily wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her out of his room, across the living area, and into her pink-adorned bedroom. Gently, he placed her onto the bed and pressed his lips to her forehead.

"I'll be right back," he whispered to her, "I'm just going to get some pajamas."

He watched her nod her head as she began to pull the covers out from underneath her.

Quiet as a mouse, he returned to his own bedroom, and tiptoed around both the books and Noel's sleeping form, toward his already open walk-in closet. He quickly found the grey t-shirt and navy blue sweats that served as his pajamas. He tiptoed back out of the room to return to Vanille. She was no longer in the bed. Instead, her closet light was on. He peeked inside to find her tiredly shoving hangers around, attempting to find something to replace her pretty sundress. He dropped his own change of clothes onto the bed and went inside to help her. He managed to find a pair of pink sweatpants with pink lace trim, and yanked a plain white tank top off its hanger.

"Thanks," Vanille murmured as she began to pull the dress over her head. She managed to relieve herself of the dress without issue, so he left the closet to remove his own clothing.

He was tired as well, so he merely tossed each garment onto the floor. When his wife wandered out of the closet, she cradled the book of fairytales in her arms. Apparently Vanille was beginning to wake up somewhat, because she flipped her book open and silently began to read. After Hope finally pulled the grey shirt over his head, he crawled into the bed beside her, and pulled the fluffy pink covers over them both.

"You really seem to like that book," he commented quietly before pressing his lips against her cheek.

Without taking her eyes off the page, she snuggled into him. "It's full of love stories," she responded, "a few of them I heard or read as a child, but most of them I didn't even know existed."

He briefly glanced at the binding. She was a little less than halfway through it. There must be _a hundred_ stories inside- _at least_.

"Tell me about the story you're reading now."

"I just started," she replied, "so how about I start at the beginning and just read it to you?"

He nodded. "Okay."

"Once upon a time," Vanille began, "there was a pair of beautiful princesses in a war-torn land. The first princess was cold and strong-willed, and the second was gentle and warm. The second princess was betrothed to one of her guardians, who had proved himself worthy by slaying every foe who had wished her harm.

"However, one day, the first princess was killed by the enemy kingdom, and the second princess' heart was broken by the loss of her sister," she continued, "So her betrothed set out on a journey, promising to return with his beloved's sister."

This fairytale was beginning to sound startlingly familiar… Apparently Vanille thought so, too, because he caught the flash of her emerald eyes as they darted between his teal ones and the page of the book. He leaned closer as she began to read again:

"With both her sister and her beloved pronounced dead, the younger princess began to fall into despair, until one day when a young vagabond asked to meet with her." His wife's voice grew louder, and her eyes widened. "The vagabond told the princess that he had met her sister, and that she was not lost, as everyone had thought, and that both she, and the princess' betrothed, were holding off the enemy in secret. He then offered to-"

Hope tore the book from her hands and began to read aloud himself. "He then offered to take the princess to them. Against the king's wishes, she ran off into the night with the vagabond."

He hastily flipped forward a few pages.

"Just when the vagabond and the princess returned from what they believed was their final battle," he read anxiously, "the princess was struck down by a wayward arrow. Her friends and people mourned her loss, but both the vagabond and her betrothed were determined to restore her life. They sought the council of the white wizard, whose immortal beloved they had once helped free.

"Together, the wizard and his goddess discovered the diary of the god who had once banished the goddess and her sister from the magical realm. Within the diary's pages held the princess' cure." His voice was rising now, in both pitch and volume. "The princess' friends all gathered and cast a spell which restored her life." His face fell. He stopped reading aloud.

Vanille took the book back from him, "However," she picked up where he left off, "the world demanded that another's life be given as payment. And so, the life of someone beloved to the princess was taken. For the rest of the princess' days, she was blessed with everything her heart desired. However, her soul forever bore the burden of taking a life from the people she loved."

Miserably, Hope dragged his fingers through his scalp. Vanille placed the open book on a nightstand so she could hug him.

"What do you want to do?" he heard her ask.

"Hmm?" he asked, not entirely sure what she meant.

"Do you want to tell them, or just pretend we never found that story?" she explained. "The decision's ours. Either way, it seems we're all going to suffer."

He hesitated. There _had_ to be another way. This story sounded so much like their own truth, that it _had_ to be prophetic… but he didn't want to lose any more of his loved ones. He had finally resigned himself to his mother's death, and more recently, his father's death. Perhaps it would be kinder to leave his friends in the dark. But…

"Could you do it, Vanille?" he asked his lover, "Could you keep this secret from everyone, without feeling like you were betraying them?"

She shook her fiery head. "No, but I _could_ live with that guilt. I've lived with the burden of guilt for centuries, so it's nothing new to me. So, if it were necessary, yes, I could keep the secret, and still go on."

He felt her gently graze her fingers against his cheek. "I'm just not so sure _you_ can."

"I guess that makes me weaker than you, huh?"

"Nuhuh…" She shook her head. "You're just an honest person is all," she replied kindly, "You're more comfortable with facts and logic. If you know something's not the truth, then you can't tell it, simply because it's _not_ _fact_. Even when you're teasing or joking around, there's always truth behind what you say."

She was right. She understood him better than anyone. He heaved a sigh.

"We'll tell everyone in the morning," he finally said, "From there we can all decide _together_ whether or not we pursue what's in this story."

She smiled at him and nodded. "Okay."

The light above them switched off, and he heard the sound of a remote control being placed onto one of the built-in shelves of the wood headboard. Vanille curled up beneath the covers, so he took this as his cue to join her. He pulled her petite frame into his arms and held her tightly.

"Everything will turn out all right in the end," she whispered to him.

It was another one of her comforting lies. She was just as scared as he was. He squeezed her tighter. Eventually, they both fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

><p>"Vanille," she heard a woman's voice whispering into her ear. The voice was strikingly familiar, but was also one that she had not heard in many, many years…<p>

"_Lightning_?"

The redhead bolted upright in her bed. The fluffy pink sheets flapped away from her torso, and Hope's arm dropped onto the mattress. He didn't wake up.

Then, her pink-haired friend appeared in the dim light which streamed in from the window. Vanille careened out of the bed and rushed to pull her friend into a bone-crunching hug. She didn't even care that the other woman's armor was poking into her skin.

"Lightning, where have you been?" she asked worriedly, "So much has happened, and Serah-"

"I know," the taller woman interrupted sadly. She pulled out of Vanille's embrace, and strode past her to observe Hope, who was sound asleep beneath the covers. "He really has grown up," she commented with the ghost of a smile. She turned to face Vanille again, "He still has the soul of a child, though. You _both_ do. Are you both sure that you're ready for the sacrifice you will have to make by bringing Serah back?"

"_What?_" the redhead stared at her friend, bewildered. "Are you saying that either Hope or I will be the one to die in Serah's place?"

"The world is cruel, Vanille. It will claim the soul that it deems the most innocent. Though, nothing is set in stone, except for me," Lightning replied vaguely.

Vanille gasped. "You mean… you're in _crystal stasis_ right now? Then this is only a dream…"

"But you know better than any of us that we can influence the dreams of our loved ones while we are frozen. You've visited Hope's dreams on more than one occasion, am I right?"

A sheepish smile crossed her lips. "Yes."

"Then you know this isn't just an ordinary dream." The pink-haired woman strolled back toward her friend, taking her hands into her own. "Whatever you and Hope decide, be sure that it comes from your hearts. I'm grateful for the love and loyalty that you have all shown to Serah, and to me as well. It would bring me great happiness to see Serah alive again, but I want you to be confident. There is no 'happily ever after' at the end of the road. All we have are the people we love."

Something clicked somewhere deep inside Vanille's heart. "Then we'll do it," she said assertively. "We'll bring Serah back _because_ we love her. She's a part of our family, and so are _you_." She determinedly stared into Lightning's sky blue eyes. "We'll do whatever we must to bring you _both_ back to us, and we'll find a way for _all_ of us to be here when that happens."

"Thank you," Lighting replied, smiling, before she dissolved into the darkness.

Emerald eyes flashed open. She sat upright, and immediately reached out for the book on the nightstand.

Hope stirred beside her, "Vanille?" she heard him mumble sleepily, "Is everything all right?"

"Lightning came to me in my dream."

He bolted upright. "What? What did she say?"

"She's in crystal stasis. That's why you and the other scientists can't find her."

"Because we've been looking for a person with _full mobility_," he said frustratedly, "_Why didn't I think of that_?"

Vanille shook her head. "It's not your fault. None of us knew."

"Then we need to find her crystal and bring it back with us."

"I think she wants us to concentrate on Serah first," she argued. "She must have a reason for going into crystal stasis in the first place. We can't try to pull her out of it before she's ready."

"All right," her husband relented, "but we at least need to _locate_ her."

"Right. You and scientists can work on that, while the rest of us can concentrate on finding this 'diary' mentioned in the fairytale."

"Vanille, we still haven't discussed it with everyone. We can't just dive right in until we-"

"-know what we're doing," she finished for him. "_I know_. That's why we have to find out everything we can about this spell first. Maybe we can find a loophole- one where none of us have to die."

She could see the smile form on his face in the dim light. His turquoise eyes flickered to the digital clock on the wall. It was five am.

"I don't have to be at work until ten today, do you want to go through the books in the meantime?"

She nodded, and swiftly hopped up from the bed. She heard his soft footsteps following in her wake.

* * *

><p>Snow's neck felt so <em>sore<em> as he began to stir. As his azure eyes slowly opened, and his senses returned to him, he finally realized _why_. He was sprawled out across Hope's bed, with his head hanging over the edge of the mattress. He groaned as he pulled himself up into a sitting position.

"Nice of you to join us," came the voice of the man whose bed he had taken over.

The blonde man looked around to find all of his friends gathered in a circle on the floor. They were eagerly going through the stacks of books. They all appeared to have gained extra motivation since yesterday.

"So, what'd I miss while I was out?"

"You might want to read _this_," Hope answered, picking up a book and handing it to him. There was a piece of notebook paper inside, bookmarking one of the pages.

Snow opened the book to discover that the paper also had a translation on it, written in Hope's slanted and sloppy script. What he read on that paper shook the large man down to his very core.

"What the hell _is_ this? Some sort of _prophecy_?"

"That's what it looks like," Hope answered again, "Only it's in the format of a children's story."

"_Why?_" he asked.

"Does it matter?" Noel butted in, "This could be our _one chance_ to bring Serah back."

"But," Snow said, glancing back at the last few sentences on the paper. "This says that one of us has to _die_ to bring her back." He wasn't sure he wanted _that_ as a consequence.

"Well, Lightning wants us to try and figure out a way to do it _without_ any of us dying," said Fang as her eyes scanned the book in front of her.

Snow jumped onto to his feet. "_What? _Sis is back? _Where is she?_"

"Chill out," he heard Sazh say, "she's not here, she's somewhere out there in crystal stasis. She came to Vanille in a dream last night."

He watched his red-haired friend nod her head in confirmation. He joined his family on the floor, and picked up the nearest book.

"So what exactly are we looking for then? This diary thing?" he asked to anyone who would answer.

"Yes," Hope responded, "And we've also been able to determine that the diary is most likely that of an important figure of some sort- most likely from Oerba."

"There were several sacred objects that our elders kept hidden from the rest of us," Fang continued, "so it would make sense if this diary belonged to one of them."

"Do you think it's one of these books?" Snow asked curiously.

"Most likely," his scientist friend answered, "most of the books that I've kept in my personal collection are the ones that were the most difficult to find. Some of them were even guarded by monsters, and more than once I was nearly killed trying to recover them."

"Okay," the large man continued, opening the binding of the book in his hand, "so how do I tell what I'm looking for? How do you tell which ones are diaries?"

"Look for dates," Vanille said, giggling, "Didn't you ever try to peek at a girl's diary when you were a kid?"

He shook his head. He honestly hadn't. Sure, he had teasingly threatened to read Lebreau's diary on a few occasions, but he had never actually gone through with it. "I guess I'm just a gentleman that way," he replied with a grin on his scruffy face.

"How about you act all full of yourself _later_," quipped Fang, "and start looking through books _now_?"

He laughed. "All right, all right…"

His large hands sifted through a few pages of the book in his grasp. This one was a diary, all right. It wasn't a very wordy one though. He wasn't entirely sure, but it looked almost like the words were arranged like poems…

"Hey, can one of you guys read this for me?" he asked, "I think it looks like a poem, but I'm not sure."

Noel, who was closest, pulled the book out of his hands to examine it. "You're right, it _is _a poem. Or, more like a _riddle_?" the young hunter said as his brows furrowed.

"Let me see…" Vanille said as she left Hope's side to peer over Noel's shoulder. After her green eyes analyzed the pages for a minute, she said, "I think you guys are right."

The petite woman reached over the hunter's shoulder to flip through the pages. She stopped every so often to read through one. Everyone's eyes were latched onto that book. Eventually, both she and Noel's eyes widened. Snow leaned forward eagerly. He wanted to see what they'd found.

"_Hope…_" Vanille called her husband's name as she backed away from both Noel and the book. The silver haired man immediately occupied the space she had just abandoned. His teal eyes were glued to the pages.

"_This is it_," Hope announced, eyes wide.

Snow felt his heart soar. They'd done it. _Serah was coming home_.

* * *

><p>~end chapter 9<p>

* * *

><p><em>Preview of Chapter 10: Food For Thought<em>

Hope stood his ground- despite the fact that he had to crane his neck upward to meet the much larger man's eyes. "Fang will take care of Vanille," he said, staring Snow down, "She's done so for the last thousand years. I always knew that if something were to happen to _me_, then she would still have Fang."

Noel _had_ to do _something_- or else pretty soon Snow and Hope would start throwing punches.


	10. Chapter 10

_Not a Fairytale_

Description: Sometimes reality can seem like either a nightmare or a fairytale, but more often than not it's a little bit of both. FFXIII-2 Normal End. HopexVanille. SnowxSerah.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 10: Food For Thought.<em>

Hope's room was a warzone. Noel hated it. Apparently there was no way around it. _Someone_ would have to _die_ to bring Serah back to life. The young hunter wasn't entirely sure who had shouted first, but suddenly _everyone_ was yelling and arguing. It seemed every single person in the room was willing to be the one to perform the spell and die for Serah, but there was always _someone else_ who found a reason for that person to stay the hell out of it.

Sazh offered. Snow and Fang both snapped at him: he had to take care of Dajh. Fang offered herself next- she said that offering herself in penance for being the reason Serah turned l'Cie in the first place, was only just. Vanille tearfully scolded her best friend, announcing that _she_ would do it. Both Hope and Fang snarled at her. It was Hope's turn next. _Everyone_ yelled at him.

"_Everyone SHUT UP!_" the hunter heard Snow bellow. Suddenly the entire room was deathly silent. The tall man continued, "If _anyone_ should do it, it should be _me_. Serah is _my_ fiancee, so she's _my _responsibility."

"Don't be an idiot!" Hope shot back, "What makes you think that Serah would be happy in a world without _you_? You're the love of her life!"

Snow aggressively approached the smaller man and retorted, "Well then if that's the case, then _you_ shouldn't sacrifice yourself either. Maybe you should think about how _Vanille_ would feel without _you!_"

Hope stood his ground- despite the fact that he had to crane his neck upward to meet the much larger man's eyes. "Fang will take care of Vanille," he said, staring Snow down, "She's done so for the last thousand years. I always knew that if something were to happen to _me_, then she would still have Fang."

Noel _had_ to do _something_- or else pretty soon Snow and Hope would start throwing punches. The brunette man charged forward and pushed, _hard_, on each of his friends' chests. Snow only moved back a couple of paces before regaining his balance, but Hope staggered right into the nearby wall. Vanille was instantly at her love's side. Okay, maybe he should have _only_ pushed _Snow_.

The solution was glaringly obvious, though.

"I'll do it." The words were out of Noel's mouth before he even realized it. If all eyes hadn't already been on him, they certainly were now. It made sense, and he felt strangely at ease about it. Before anyone could argue, he explained. "It's the most logical option. The rest of you all have too many ties to one another. I'm just the lost little bird who happened to stumble into your nest. And besides," he heard himself chuckle, "I'm not supposed to be born for nearly two hundred more years. The rest of you don't have that option."

"No," Hope stated calmly. "There has to be another way."

"Didn't we tell you already?" Fang said as she approached Noel and placed a hand on his shoulder, "You're one of us now, kid. Misfit or not."

"Right," Snow agreed, clamping a hand onto the younger man's other shoulder. "Serah would want you to be here, too."

This was _impossible_. Even the typically logical Hope seemed determined to defy logic. How were they _all_ supposed to get out of this _alive_?

"What if we _all_ were to cast the spell together?" Vanille suggested.

"But wouldn't that just kill _all of us_?" asked Sazh skeptically.

To everyone's surprise, Hope shook his head. "No. It doesn't work that way. There's a theory in chemistry of equal distribution of particles within a substance. For example," he said, taking hold of Vanille's hand and holding it parallel to the floor. "pretend Vanille's hand is a hot stove top." he proceeded to grab her other hand, and molded it into a cylindrical shape, and placed it on top of her flat hand. He continued, "and then pretend that her other hand is a pot of boiling water. Now imagine that I'm pouring a cup of cold water into the pot." He mimicked the action with his own hands. "When the two different temperatures are combined, the whole pot cools down, right? But it's not that simple. If you add a smaller amount of cold water to the pot, then the cold water molecules will have to spread more thinly throughout the mixture."

Noel understood. "So what you're trying to say is that if we _all_ cast the resurrection spell together, then giving Serah her life back would shave a few years off _each_ of our lives, instead of taking away _one whole_ life."

"_Exactly_," said Hope, smiling.

"Just one more question," Sazh added, raising his hand into the air like a school child in class, "How are we supposed to cast this spell when most of us can't even _use magic_ anymore?"

Noel had to admit that the middle-aged man had a point: since Snow had lost his l'Cie brand, for the second time, _he_ was now the only one of them who could use magic. Even Hope appeared stumped by Sazh's question.

Vanille, however, seemed to be full of ideas this morning: "That's easy. All we have to do is reach deep into our souls until we can consciously access the magic within us again. It never really went away, just went dormant."

"Our own will is more powerful than any kind of magic," added Fang, "Serah proved that five hundred years ago when she willed herself into crystal stasis. Vanille and I proved it again when we willed ourselves _out_ of crystal stasis, and Snow did it once more when he lost his l'Cie brand for a second time. Caius used the Chaos to his advantage, so who's to say we can't do the same?" the fierce woman continued, "The Chaos is pure, undiluted magic, and right now it's _everywhere_. We can use it to jumpstart our own powers."

"I suppose this means that I'll need to reserve one of the training rooms in the military facility then?" Hope asked.

Now _this_ was more like it. Noel felt the smile tug at his lips. Apparently he wasn't the only one who thought so, because everyone else was smiling, too.

They were _warriors,_ after all.

* * *

><p>At about two o'clock that afternoon, Hope was finally able to escape the research wing of the Academy building. He <em>needed<em> to squeeze in some magic practice. He refused to be the one who held back the rest of his family. Unfortunately he had only been able to get a few minutes of practice in before he needed to return to his daily grind of research. So far he'd had zero luck.

He entered the large training room to find his family members all seated at a cafeteria table in the corner. They appeared to be enjoying another pizza-oriented meal- or rather, _Vanille and Noel_ were enjoying it. They were both happily gorging on the greasy, cheesy food, while everyone else merely nibbled on their share.

"Vanille," Snow teased, "if you keep eating all that, you're gonna get _fat_."

"So?" the young woman asked, with her mouth stuffed full of cheese, "This stuff is _delicious_!"

"I'm just sayin'," the blonde man continued, "you might wanna watch your figure. You don't want Hope to get turned off because you started packing on some extra pounds. Oh, hey Hope!"

The young scientist watched as his wife's face paled. She swallowed the contents of her mouth, and turned to him with a pitiful looking face. "Hope, is Snow right?"

Noel scooted over on the bench so that Hope could squeeze in beside Vanille. The silver haired man glared at the blonde one. "Don't go around filling her head with false ideas, Snow," he chastised, "If she gains a _few_ pounds I honestly couldn't care. However," he continued, glancing back and forth between both Vanille and Noel, "you two should _probably_ avoid eating too much greasy food when your bodies aren't used to it. It could make you sick."

"Who cares?" Noel said, after swallowing a large bite, "I've got a strong stomach, so I'm sure I can handle it."

"Well," replied Sazh, "A few days from now, when you're both sick to your stomachs from eating nothing but junk food, you can't say we didn't warn you."

The brunette young man rolled his eyes. "Come on, we're more resilient than _that_. Right Vanille?"

"Right!" she cheered as she grabbed another piece of pizza, then dangled it in front of Hope's face. He couldn't help but smile at her when she said, "Open up!" He chuckled at her, but obeyed, and soon felt the corner of the triangular shaped food inside his mouth. He bit down into the delicious greasy food, and his adorable wife cheered again.

"You two are gonna give me a _toothache_ just from _watching_ you," said Snow as he jokingly pressed his palm to the outside of his cheek. "Do you guys do this cheesy romantic stuff _on purpose_, or does it just come natural?"

"I think it's _all natural_," replied Fang, who seemed happy to join in the fun, "you saw them as kids, always running around everywhere _holding hands_ and what-not. I don't think they realize just how ridiculous they look."

Hope could play at this game, too. "Hey, it's better to look like a dork and have fun doing it, than to have perfect etiquette and be miserable. Trust me, I've done both."

"Hear hear!" cheered Sazh as he held up a plastic cup full of soda. "To silliness!"

"Yeah!" little Dajh cheered beside his father, picking up his cup of milk and holding it in the air as well.

Everyone laughed and clinked together their plastic cups to oblige the child. Hope smiled as he took the piece of pizza from Vanille's hand, which he swiftly finished off. Since he didn't yet have a cup of his own, he reached over and took a quick swig from her lemon-flavored soda, and stood up again. He needed to practice, and he needed as much of his hour long lunch break as was possible to do so.

He heard Vanille's heels clicking on the floor as she followed him. She remained silent as he sat down on the ground and closed his eyes to meditate.

"That's _all_ you're going to eat?" she finally asked him.

He kept his eyes closed. "I've had thirteen years of both food and sleep deprivation as I aged," he told her calmly, "I stopped growing around the time I hit twenty-one, so I don't really see how depriving myself _now_ is going to make any difference."

"The difference _now_," she said, with her face so close to his that he could feel her warm breath as it blew against skin, "is that you have a _wife_ who gets to _nag_ you about it." She giggled.

He peeked open a single aquamarine eye. Her grin was enough to tell him that she was enjoying this _a little too much_.

"I have to try to access my magic, Vanille," he argued, closing his eye once again. "The rest of you have much more time than I do, so I have to practice in what little time I _do_ have."

He felt her petite hands gently take hold of his larger ones. He opened his eyes to find her seating herself directly in front of him. "Okay," she replied, "but you have to promise to let me stuff you silly tonight. Agreed?"

He chuckled. "Agreed."

She closed her emerald eyes, and he knew it was safe to close his once again.

He _still_ had no luck. Too short a time later, he needed to return to the lab.

* * *

><p>Vanille's heart swelled with pride as she pulled the small cake out of the oven. Sazh had given her a few basic cooking lessons, and taught her how to use the modern kitchen appliances. After a few equipment mishaps, she happily discovered that she had taken to cooking like a sahagin to water.<p>

She especially loved baking _sweets_. She had gone to the supermarket and bought several boxes of something called 'cake mix' in lots of different flavors. She quickly learned how to bake small cakes, and also these miniature cakes called _cupcakes_. Fang, Sazh, and Dajh had all obliged her and taste-tested each batch. Aside from the first few, which she had slightly burned, the results were pleasing. She had even bought several different kinds of this sweet, flavored paste called 'frosting'. It didn't take her long to discover the malleability of the frosting. Soon she was drawing floral designs on top of all her edible creations.

She heard the apartment door open. Sazh and Dajh had already returned to their apartment, and since Fang was seated on a stool beside the kitchen countertop, reading the newspaper, there was only one person it could be. Her emerald eyes flickered to the digital clock on the stove and realized that it was already nearly nine-thirty in the evening.

"Hope's home!" she announced, bouncing in place on the polished stone floor.

Fang chuckled at her. "And you _do_ realize that the only food you made to feed him are these dessert cakes, right? There's so much sugar in those things, you'll only rot his teeth out."

"Who cares?" She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips. "He'll be happy that I learned how to use the kitchen either way!"

The taller woman shook her head just as Hope entered the kitchen.

His turquoise eyes widened at the sight of the counter space which was _littered_ with cakes. "Um, Vanille, what's with all the cake?"

Her best friend answered for her, "She went crazy. Sazh showed her how to use the oven, and it's been nothing but 'cake cake cake!' for the last _five hours_."

Vanille watched her husband's lips curl into an amused smile. "Well," he replied, "at least she knows how to use the kitchen now."

The red haired woman immediately rounded on the black haired one. "I _told_ you!" she announced triumphantly, "I'm _learning_, and that's what's most important."

"True," she heard Hope say from behind her. Before she could turn to face him, however, his arms had snaked around her waist and her back was firmly pressed against his chest. She felt his warm breath against her neck as he gently placed a kiss there.

The petite woman was a bit surprised when his lips lingered there. She felt him inhale a slow, long, and deep breath. He finally exhaled. She felt his hand twitch over the apron that covered her usual outfit. He brought that same gloved hand over to the edge of the apron, and slid it over the exposed skin underneath. _Uhoh_. Apparently, Hope was starting to get _frisky_. And right in front of Fang, too.

Her emerald eyes flitted over to her best friend, who had, thankfully, returned her attention to the newspaper. Vanille hastily grabbed a small plate of cupcakes in one hand, and with the other, grabbed hold of the hand that had crept beneath her apron. She then proceeded to wordlessly yank her husband from the kitchen. She didn't stop dragging him until they were within the safe confines of his now cleared out bedroom.

When she finally released his bewildered form, she lightly smacked him on the arm with her cupcake-free hand.

"What were you thinking, trying to feel me up,_ in front of Fang_?" she scolded.

He chuckled. "Sorry," he apologized, "Today was a rough day, and then I came home, and between the smell of the cakes and the smell of _you_… I just couldn't help myself."

She promptly picked up a lemon-flavored cupcake from the tray and shoved it right in front of his face. His aqua colored eyes stared at her in confusion. Then she got an idea. She felt the wide grin spread across her face. His features were now a mixture of confusion and worry. She pressed the top of the cupcake onto his nose. When she pulled it away, a ring of yellow frosting and rainbow colored sprinkles stuck to his pale skin. His face now wore a look of exasperation. She momentarily maneuvered away from him to carefully place the cupcakes onto his desk.

When she approached him again, she grabbed hold of his turquoise necktie and pulled him forward a few paces, then turned him around. She used both arms to push on his chest, and he fell backwards onto the bed. She crawled over his body until she met him at eye level. She brought her face down to meet his, and as she kissed him, some of that yellow frosting covered her own nose as well. When she pulled back, she brought her index finger up to his nose and wiped away a large portion of the icing. She pretended to examine it for a moment before popping her sugar-covered finger into her mouth.

Apparently Vanille's teasing was working, because Hope attempted to sit up. She stopped him by pressing both hands to his chest, which pinned him back to the bed.

"_Vanille…_" he warned in a lustful tone.

She merely smiled in faux innocence and continued to clean the rest of the icing from his face. _Now_ he could have a taste. She used her same finger to swipe away some frosting from her own nose, and held it right in front of his mouth. He heatedly stared at her face as he obediently parted his lips. She stuck her finger inside his mouth, and he licked the frosting clean off. This was _fun_. She wiped away some more frosting. This time, as he licked away the icing, his teeth gently scraped her skin. The third time his teeth dragged a little more firmly. He wasn't behaving too well. So she licked away the final bit of icing herself. He sighed in frustration.

She wasn't quite done with him yet.

Vanille slowly removed her beads, and gently allowed them to curl onto the floor. She tossed aside the bear skin and belt, before moving on top of him. Hope's accessories went first: tie, toolbelt, and gloves. She made quick work of his coat as well, and it flew behind her in a flash of yellow and white. She took more care with his shirt this time, gradually unhooking each button properly. Apparently going slowly was driving him _crazy_: more than once he attempted to make her hurry up. She simply swatted his hands away. Teasing him was incredibly fun. _This_ was appropriate revenge for all the times he teased her when they were younger.

Of course, she would let him have his way with her soon. Right now, however, she would thoroughly enjoy playing the role of '_alpha female_'.

* * *

><p>~end chapter 10<p>

* * *

><p><em>Preview of Chapter 11: One Part Love, One Part Sickness.<em>

Suddenly, Hope felt Fang's hand gently press into the back of his head. He looked over to meet her worried green eyes.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied, before he pulled away to approach the small, nearby linen closet. He opened it, pulling out both a blanket and pillow. He continued, "I'm just… stressed."

"You're well past _stressed_," she replied bluntly. "You need a break."

"I've needed a break since I was fourteen," he retorted as he set the linens onto the couch. "That doesn't mean I'm going to get one, though."

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note:<em> I know I haven't been particularly chatty with you guys on this site (I'm almost always chit-chatting with my commenters over on my DeviantART account, the link is on my profile, if any of you guys are interested in joining the discussions ;3), but I just wanted to thank you guys for pushing this story well past 3000 hits! :D I'm looking forward to getting to 4000, and beyond!

I also wanted to inform you guys that arc one (of three) of this story is almost complete! I just wrote the first draft of chapter 13, and will begin chapter 14, and arc two, shortly! I'm very excited, and I hope you guys are, too!

And don't forget to check out all my one-shots (those little ones that I post simultaneously with chapters of this story), because they are _all_ connected to this story. Don't worry if you guys don't catch them all, because the really important ones, (like in chapter 7) I will post in line with the appropriate chapter, but if you guys are at all curious as to just how intricate the _NaF_ universe actually is inside my head, those one-shots will give you a little glimpse. :3

Love, Puppy :3


	11. Chapter 11

_Not a Fairytale_

Description: Sometimes reality can seem like either a nightmare or a fairytale, but more often than not it's a little bit of both. FFXIII-2 Normal End. HopexVanille. SnowxSerah.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 11: One Part Love, One Part Sickness.<em>

Two weeks had passed: or at least what _felt like_ two weeks. Time stopping did absolutely nothing to make the feeling of time passing go away- in fact it felt as if time were flying by. Hope's days were filled with endless research, and attempts to locate Lightning's crystal; and his nights were filled with magic practice, which was going better for everyone else than for him. Vanille did her best to both comfort and coach him, but he was only growing more frustrated. Yesterday, when he was practicing with both she and Fang, the older woman had scolded him for over-analyzing, and he had gone off on her. She had rightly slapped his face, and he guiltily apologized. His already feeble spells only grew weaker after that additional shot to his confidence.

Hope _really_ wasn't looking forward to coming home that evening. He found Fang outside on the lawn casting large fire spells at the magic-resistant training dummy that she and Sazh had built. He still felt guilty for yesterday, so he avoided her gaze as he passed by and entered their apartment. The first sound to greet his ears as he walked inside was the sound of motors revving. He peered further inside to find Snow, Noel, and Vanille all seated on one of the couches, staring at the television screen. All three had videogame controllers in their hands. The coffee table was littered with not just pizza and cakes, but soda bottles, chip bags, and candy bar wrappers, too. Apparently they did some shopping today. Their pixellized on-screen cars took off. As they all raced, they shouted at each other, and at the AI controlled cars on the screen, too. Noel and Snow were both in full-on trash talk mode, and even Vanille was beginning to pick it up… _Seriously?_ They were teaching his sweet, lovely, and child-like wife how to _trash talk_?

"Shouldn't you all be outside training with Fang?" Hope spoke just as their race ended.

"Hope!" His bride hopped up from her spot on the couch and buzzed over to him. She propped herself onto her tiptoes to give him a greeting kiss. She then excitedly chirped, "Snow taught us how to play videogames!"

"I see that," he replied, a bit annoyed, as he directed that annoyance at Snow, "but that still doesn't answer my question."

The burly man stretched casually. "Hey, we got bored, okay? Besides, who died and made you _daddy?_ As far as I know, Sazh is still alive and kickin'."

"_Snow…_" Noel warned the older man as he placed a placating hand on his bulky arm.

Suddenly, the brunette's face paled, and he looked extremely uncomfortable. He flew up from the couch and said, "Uhh… excuse me for a second. I'll be right back. _I think._" Without another word, he darted toward the adjacent bathroom. Within moments, the sounds of him regurgitating the contents of his stomach were heard.

"Oooh… _That_ doesn't sound good," commented Snow.

Suddenly, Hope heard a tiny gagging sound in front of him. Vanille's face also paled. Her green eyes grew wide. She released one tiny squeak before she bolted for her bedroom. Sure enough, retching sounds came from that direction as well.

The young scientist sighed in exasperation.

Snow chuckled. "So much for them having strong stomachs, eh?"

Turquoise eyes darted over to meet azure ones. "You're not going to start puking in my house, too, are you?"

"Nope," the taller man replied, stretching again. "Junk food and me go waaay back."

Snow stood up this time, and pulled his coat off the back of the couch. He clamped a hand onto Hope's small shoulder as he walked by and said, "Good luck with the other kiddos. I'm gonna go see if Fang wants a sparring partner." With that, he walked out the front door.

Hope shook his head, but resigned himself. He could play the role of nurturer, for once. He wandered into his wife's bedroom, and the unpleasant sounds coming from her bathroom increased in volume as he drew closer. Finally, he peeked his head into the bathroom.

"Vanille?" he asked timidly, "Are you okay?"

Her head dangled over the edge of the toilet, and she was panting, but no more vomit appeared to be coming out.

"Yeah," she replied after she caught her breath, "I think it's over." A single bracelet-decorated hand moved upward and pulled down on the toilet handle.

The sound of flushing water filled the room as Hope peeled his love off the ground. He carried her back into the bedroom and placed her weakened form onto the soft mattress.

"Thanks," she mumbled quietly.

"You're welcome," he replied, placing a gentle kiss to her forehead. "I'm going to check on Noel, I'll be right back."

She nodded, and groggily laid her head onto a stack of pillows.

Hope gently squeezed her hand before turning around to leave the room. When he returned to the living area, Noel had still not returned from the bathroom. He approached the door and knocked.

"You okay in there?" he asked the young man inside.

"Yeah… just… give me a minute," Noel answered.

"No," Hope replied, "just take your time. I'll set up a spare pillow and blanket on the couch for you when you're done." Noel probably wouldn't feel up to leaving the apartment that night. Best to make his friend as comfortable as possible.

"Thanks," the hunter murmured, just before he retched again.

The scientist swiftly abandoned the door for the kitchen. He pulled two large glasses from a cabinet and filled them each full with water. When he returned to the living area, he set both glasses onto an endtable and proceeded to clean up the trash from the junk food binge that had left both Vanille and Noel with food poisoning. Just as he finished cleaning up, Fang entered the apartment.

"Snow said Vanille and Noel got sick," she stated as she approached Hope.

He nodded, lifting up the trash can for her to peer inside. "Too much junk food apparently."

The dark-haired woman rolled her eyes. "Well, that's what they get for not heeding all the warnings we've been giving them for the past _two weeks_."

"Yeah, I guess," he quietly chuckled, replacing the trash can onto the floor.

Suddenly, Hope felt Fang's hand gently press into the back of his head. He looked over to meet her worried green eyes.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied, before he pulled away to approach the small, nearby linen closet. He opened it, pulling out both a blanket and pillow. He continued, "I'm just… stressed."

"You're well past _stressed_," she replied bluntly. "You need a break."

"I've needed a break since I was fourteen," he retorted as he set the linens onto the couch. "That doesn't mean I'm going to get one, though."

"Screw the world for five minutes," she countered. "You've been too damn concerned with taking care of everyone else in the world. Stay home tomorrow. Call in sick, whatever you need to do. Have you ever taken a day off your whole career?"

"I haven't," he answered blankly as he picked one of the water glasses up from the end table. "There's just too much to do."

"Well in that case, I'm putting my foot down, _right now_," she announced.

Before he realized it, she had stuffed her hand into the front pocket of his pants and yanked out his cell phone.

"Hey! _Fang-_"

"Shut up," she said as she pressed a few buttons on the small device. She held it up to her face. A familiar female voice answered. "Yeah, Mrs. Raileigh. This is Fang. Hope's gonna take the next two days off work." She paused to let the other woman speak. "No, he's fine, but Vanille's got a case of food poisoning, so he's gonna stay home and take care of her." Another pause. "Sure, I'll pass that along." She clicked the phone shut.

"Mrs. Raileigh sends her wishes that Vanille feels better soon, and wants to assure you that she and her assistant have everything under control on the research front."

Hope began, "You didn't have to-"

"Apparently I _did_," the wild woman retorted, "because it seems _you_ weren't gonna put _yourself_ first."

"Fang," he balked, "All I've done since I was fourteen has been _study,_ _research_, and _build things_. I have no hobbies. What am I going to do for two days?"

"Hell if I know," she responded, "Why don't you just do whatever Vanille wants to do? She'll probably feel better by tomorrow afternoon, so you can take her out and do whatever it is normal couples do."

Suddenly it hit him. "You mean… take her out on a _date_? Huh. I didn't think about that," he admitted. "We did sort of skip right over the whole _dating_ part, didn't we?"

Fang chuckled. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, the concept of _dating_ isn't really one she's too familiar with." The tall woman continued, "If we hadn't been turned into l'Cie, she and I _both_ probably would have ended up being forced to marry whichever men our families decided we should marry. I think she's just counting her blessings that she was actually able to marry for love."

Dating was something he probably _should_ have thought of. Hope was from Cocoon, after all, and that was how people on Cocoon conducted their romantic relationships. He had simply never taken the time to think about things such as ways to woo women, or pick-up lines, or date ideas. What was the point of all that when his soul mate was frozen in crystal? Suddenly, he had a brand new topic to research…

Just then, Noel staggered out of the hall bathroom.

"Where's Snow and Vanille?" asked the young man.

"Vanille got sick, too," Hope answered, "so she's in bed resting now. Snow took off to spar with Fang."

"And then halfway through an attack," Fang continued, "he barfed, too. Luckily I dodged it just in time. I made him clean it up before I sent him off to bed, though"

"Oh, okay," the male hunter replied as he crawled up onto the couch. "Thanks for letting me sleep on the sofa, Hope."

"No problem," the older man replied, "you just concentrate on feeling better."

"Will do," Noel said as he sank his head into the pillow.

Hope quietly removed one of the water glasses from the endtable. He turned to bid Fang goodnight, and returned to his sick wife's side.

* * *

><p>Vanille awoke the next morning feeling <em>fantastic!<em>

Apparently all she needed was to throw up, and then get a good night's rest. She stretched, then peered over to the sleeping man beside her. She glanced at the clock on the wall: it was nearly ten-thirty am. She vaguely recalled him telling her that Fang had forced him to take the next couple days off work. She carefully crawled out of the bed, so as not to disturb his slumber, and strolled toward the bathroom. She needed to clean up after herself… _and_ brush her teeth.

When she flipped on the light, however, she saw that the toilet was already in pristine condition. She looked at herself in the mirror and noticed that she was now, somehow, wearing her pajamas. Apparently Hope had done his best to clean up after her while she slept. She smiled to herself as she opened the mirrored cabinet and pulled out a pink toothbrush and bottle of toothpaste. Ohhh… she was _definitely_ going to thank him for being so sweet and attentive…

She quickly cleaned out her mouth, then hastily washed her face. Once she dried off, she excitedly bounced back toward the bed. Gently, she crawled over Hope's unconscious form. Gradually, she leaned her face down closer to his until her lips grazed his. He began to stir. She breathed her minty breath onto his face and his eyes opened wide.

"Vanille…" he mumbled sleepily, "Is it morning already?"

"Yep," she replied cheerfully as she continued to hover over him.

"What time is it?" he asked tiredly, as he attempted to sit up.

She pushed him right back onto the mattress.

"Forget about the time…" she breathed before she swooped in to kiss him intensely.

She allowed her body to fall atop his as she tangled her fingers into his silver hair.

"I take it you're feeling better, then?" he muttered when she finally allowed him to breathe.

"Mmhmm… _much _better."

"This is…" he mumbled between kisses, "_some_ wake-up call…"

"Oh… trust me," she whispered to him as she hovered over him again, and pulled the sheets away from his body, "the game has just begun."

Her hands swiftly removed his pajama shirt. He quietly chuckled. She kissed his lips once more, but soon abandoned them to kiss his chin, and then his throat. As she gradually began to work her way down his chest, she flipped the covers up over her head, completely blocking her from his view. Teasing him was going to be _fun_.

"_Vanille-_" she heard him utter, "What are you-?"

He attempted to peel the sheets off. She stopped kissing his chest momentarily while she swatted his hands away.

Her hands pinned the covers down and she quietly scolded him, "You're not allowed to _see_."

"_Vanille…_" she heard him reply threateningly, "what are you do- Ahh!" His ability to form coherent words temporarily ceased when she slid her hand inside the elastic waistband of his dark blue pants.

She briefly kissed his chest again, just as she slipped her hand into his boxers.

Finally, she answered him, "My magic practice has been going so well that I've had some spare time to do a teeny bit of research on my own." Her lips slowly drew down to his stomach, and her hand tenderly took hold of his genitals, massaging them. "The internet really is _fascinating_ once you figure out how it works."

"You used my computer," he spoke between heavy breaths, "to learn how to do _this?_"

She giggled against the skin covering his abs. "Not just this," she replied, "_other things_, too." Slowly, her hand continued to rub against his sensitive skin. "Did you know that there are even _books_ on the subject?"

"Y-yes," he stuttered, "b-but I've never actually- _ohh_… Do that again."

She obeyed: she was hooked on the sound of his quiet, blissful moans...

But then she heard the doorknob turn. Her head shot out from beneath the covers.

"_Don't you dare open that door!_" she squealed, scaring the life out of her poor husband.

The door slammed closed once again.

"_Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!_" came Noel's startled voice from the other side of the door. "I just wanted to see if you guys were awake!" the poor young man explained helplessly.

"We're _fine!_" she answered, "Just go away, Noel!"

"Got it!" he replied, before his footsteps hastily shuffled away.

Vanille finally returned her attention to Hope. However, when she returned her hand to where it had previously been, she discovered that his excitement had gone down. She turned her emerald eyes up to meet his embarrassed and apologetic turquoise ones.

"Sorry…" he mumbled quietly.

She sighed. _Oh well_. As she rolled off of him, she commented, "We _really_ need to remember to _lock the door_."

"Again, sorry," he muttered sheepishly. "I've just never really _needed_ to lock my bedroom door before. For years it was just me and Dad, and then after he died it was just _me_, so…"

She rolled onto her side and lightly flicked his nose with her finger. He stared at her with a hint of annoyance in his expression.

She stuck her tongue out at him, then teased, "Well then you'd best get into the habit, mister!"

He reached over and flicked _her_ nose in retaliation. "Okay, but _you_ have to remember it, too."

Her hand lifted into the air, pinky finger sticking out towards him. "It's a promise!" she replied as a small smile parted her lips.

He brought his own hand forward and linked his pinky finger to hers. "Promise." He then leaned closer and sweetly pressed his lips against hers.

"So…" she said as she curled her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a hug, "what did you want to do today?"

He chuckled as he rested his head against her collarbone. "I was sort of hoping _you _might have some ideas. I tried researching date activities online while you were asleep last night, but I just couldn't make up my mind," he explained.

Vanille found herself giggling once again. He was so _adorable_. It was times like this when she appreciated his indecisive and introverted nature. Freedom was as essential to her as air. He _always_ allowed her to follow her whims, and seemed content to simply tag along and observe. And if those whims happened to get her into trouble, he was always there to gently pull her out of it. When she was with Hope, she could flutter away, and rest assured that he would always be there to bring her back down from the clouds.

"I don't know," she finally responded, "this city is so big, I still haven't been able to explore it all yet. I think I just want to wander around some more. And besides," she continued excitedly, "I've already gotten to explore a bit with everyone else, and now I can finally go out with _you!_ It'll be so much fun! Just like when we used to run around the Steppe together!"

"Except with lots of _people_ instead of _monsters_. Though, I'm not quite sure which is more perilous," he joked.

She laughed heartily and kissed the top of his head. She almost didn't want to move from this spot. Lying around in bed with the man she loved was pretty fun in itself, however she was also eager to run around town with him, too.

"Alrighty, _up_," she said as one small hand patted his silver hair, "We have some _adventuring_ to do!"

* * *

><p>Snow's stomach snarled at him. He wasn't about to fill it yet, though. He saw more than enough vomit last night to keep himself away from solid food for a while. Instead of tending to himself, he sat on the bed beside Serah's lifeless form. He laced his fingers into hers, and stared at her peaceful face. She looked like she was asleep. It was strange how similar the two states were. With a little more practice, soon they would all be ready to perform the spell that would allow Serah's beautiful blue eyes to open once again.<p>

He heard a knock on the door. Since the door was already wide open, all he needed to do was turn his blonde head. Fang stood in the doorway. Her expression was unreadable.

"How you holdin' up?" she asked him calmly.

He shrugged. "Well, I haven't thrown up since last night, but I haven't eaten yet this morning, so I dunno if I'm totally better or not."

"That's _not_ what I meant."

Ahh… she was talking about _Serah_.

He was too tired to force on any kind of mask. "I'm just ready to have her back, so I don't have to feel like half of me is missing anymore," he replied honestly.

The tall woman crossed the room and sat in a chair that was placed at Serah's bedside. Her face was now wistful- an unusual expression for her- as she stared at he and Serah's entwined hands. She heaved a sigh, then looked him straight in the eyes.

"I'm going to tell you something about me that only Vanille knows," she informed him.

His posture automatically straightened. It didn't surprise him that Fang had secrets- she was an incredibly protective person after all. He felt honored that she was willing to share one of those secrets with him.

"I just wanted to tell you that I know how you feel," she admitted. "I know I may not seem like the type, but I was once engaged to be married."

His azure eyes widened. "What happened?"

She averted her eyes. Her expression was now pained. "He was the strongest warrior in Oerba," she continued, forcing her voice to remain stoic, "and there was a mother behemoth who made her nest too close to the village, and her mate was picking off villagers who strayed too close. One night, against the elders' wishes, he went out on his own to slay them. He managed to kill them both, but he was so severely injured that he couldn't get back home unaided. By the time we all woke in the morning and realized he was missing, it was too late."

"I'm sorry…" was all Snow was able to say.

The black-haired woman stood back up and moved to the window. As she stared outside, she said, "Most of us in Oerba didn't marry for love. I was one of the lucky few who actually _did_ have romantic feelings for my betrothed, though Vanille was the only other person I ever told." She paused and took in a deep breath. "I guess what I'm trying to say is… I hope everything goes to plan, and that you and Serah can get the happy ending I never had."

"Thanks." And he meant it- more than any other 'thank you' he had given before in his life.

Eventually they fell into a comfortable silence.

* * *

><p>~end chapter 11<p>

* * *

><p><em>Preview of Chapter 12: Learning Curve<em>

Hope obstinately averted his eyes from her, and swerved his head to stare at his angry reflection in the glass car window. However, Vanille grabbed hold of his face and forced him to look at her.

"You _need help_," the redhead continued unyieldingly. "It's not _just you_ anymore. _I _need you, too." She stomped her heel onto the concrete sidewalk. "So stop turning _us_ into _your parents_."

_That_ stopped him cold.


	12. Chapter 12

_Not a Fairytale_

Description: Sometimes reality can seem like either a nightmare or a fairytale, but more often than not it's a little bit of both. FFXIII-2 Normal End. HopexVanille. SnowxSerah.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 12: Learning Curve<em>

Hope somehow ended up carrying nine shopping bags full of women's clothing- in only one hand. Vanille insisted that his left hand remain attached to hers as they walked down the streets together. She had dragged him into far too many clothing stores to count. She wasn't very particular about the type of store- some were high end, and some were dirt cheap- she just wanted whatever caught her fancy. He didn't have the heart to deny her anything that she wanted. It was a damn good thing that he'd had a financier for a father, a _very_ well-paying job, and very little desire to spend money on himself. He and his father had amassed enough monetary wealth to keep their family going for generations. Unless Vanille took up a hankering for massive real estate properties, he wasn't too concerned about her spending habits. He just wanted her to have whatever made her happy. So he allowed himself to be weighed down by heavy shopping bags while she dragged him around, following her whims.

Eventually, however, he had to stop her: his stomach wouldn't let him continue without sustenance. When he asked, his wife told him that she was hungry as well, and so they made their way back to where the car was parked to drop off the bags.

"So, is there any particular place you wanted to eat?" he heard Vanille ask as she leaned into the car's backseat, arranging the last of her shopping bags.

"Not really," he answered, "wherever you want to go is fine." Honestly, he had never been one to eat out at restaurants. All Hope needed was a refrigerator full of pre-packaged meals and a microwave. That and a few take-out numbers- if he was in the mood for something fresher. "Let's just go someplace that isn't very crowded," the platinum blonde man continued, "I'm feeling a bit agoraphobic in all these crowds."

"Agoro-_what?_" she asked, turning around to stare at him quizzically.

"_Agoraphobia_," he answered as he stared into her pretty emerald eyes, "it's an anxiety disorder associated with a fear of being caught up in a situation out of one's control. I was exaggerating the fact that being in the middle of large crowds makes me uncomfortable."

"Oh," she giggled, "Well in that case, we can go to that restaurant Noel and I ate at a couple weeks ago. It was pretty small, and wasn't very busy. And we might even run into that university student I told you about!"

"Vanille…" he said, annoyance slipping into his tone, "I already told you, I don't have time to waste meeting with random students, even if they _do_ have an interest in my work. I simply don't see the benefit of going out of my way to let some kid meet me and gush."

He watched her soft pink lips puff out as she pouted. "Oh _come on!_" she argued, "You have the time _today, _right?" She reached out and pleadingly tugged on his arm. "And who knows," she continued stubbornly, "you might find out you really like him! And _maybe_ you could even get yourself a new assistant!"

"I don't need a new assistant," he retorted darkly, "If you recall, the last one betrayed not only me, but the people I care about as well. We're not going to meet him, and this discussion is _over_." As if to solidify his point, he pulled her out of the car's frame, and unnecessarily slammed the car door shut.

Apparently Vanille wasn't at all intimidated by his sour mood, because she continued to push him. "Hope, you can't just close yourself off from the rest of the world," she retorted, standing firmly before him, and glaring straight into his aquamarine eyes. "We're _always_ going to run into people who will want to hurt us or use us, but that doesn't mean that _everyone_ is going to turn out that way."

"So then why the hell should I even risk it?" he asked heatedly. "What is the _point_ of trusting outsiders, when there's even the slightest _possibility_ that they could turn on you? It's irrational."

"You trusted _me_," she replied, just as heatedly. "You trusted me when we first met, and your whole world was falling apart around you. You took a chance on me, even though you had no idea who I was. Even _after_ you found out I lied to you, you still didn't care!" the redhead continued, grabbing tightly to the sleeve of his white dress shirt. "You still fell in love with me, even though I deceived you!"

"Th-that was _different!_"

"No, it _wasn't!_" she continued; tears began to form behind her eyelids. "It's _exactly_ the same!" Her wet emerald eyes locked onto his upset turquoise ones. "The _only_ difference between _me_ and _Alyssa_ is that I cared _more_ about what happened to the people that I hurt than I did about what happened to myself. You can't just shut yourself off from the whole _world_, Hope, and you can't keep over-working yourself either! The fate of the world isn't a burden that you have to bear _alone._"

Hope obstinately averted his eyes from her, and swerved his head to stare at his angry reflection in the glass car window. However, Vanille grabbed hold of his face and forced him to look at her.

"You _need help_," the redhead continued unyieldingly. "It's not _just you_ anymore. _I _need you, too." She stomped her heel onto the concrete sidewalk. "So stop turning _us_ into _your parents_."

_That_ stopped him cold. She was _right_. He couldn't deny it.

He watched her hands retract from his face as she leaned wearily against the car. "I mean," she muttered quietly, "It's not really a big problem _now_, but it _could be_ in the future." Her jade eyes stared at the ground. "We're going to have babies someday, right? Do you _really_ want them to grow up hating you for never being around, just like you did with _your_ dad?"

"I'm sorry," Hope mumbled as he pulled Vanille's petite body into his arms. The realization hadn't completely sunk in until this moment. He inhaled a deep breath and said, "Oh goddess… I'm _married_."

He felt his wife giggle softly into his chest. "_You betcha!_" she chirped as she pulled back to look up into his eyes. "And that means that _you_ have to do _whatever I say!_"

He couldn't help but chuckle at her. Finally, he said, "All right, we'll go to that restaurant and see if that boy is working today."

"Yay!" Vanille cheered as she pulled away, joyfully clapping her hands together.

Hope felt her grab onto his hand and begin to pull him away. He hastily pulled the car keys out of his jeans' pocket and pressed the 'lock' button.

Just as Vanille dragged him around the corner of the nearest building, he heard her speak:

"So…" she said a bit timidly, as she gently squeezed his fingers, "I guess that was our first big fight, huh?"

"I guess it was," he replied, taking her hand into both of his and holding it tightly. "So… How'd we do?"

His wife giggled. "I have no idea. _You're_ the genius, so you tell me."

He chuckled. "Well… Do you still want to be married to me?"

She pulled her hand out of his to link their arms together. As she leaned her fiery head against his shoulder she said, "Yup."

He felt a warm smile form on his lips. "Then I'd say we did pretty well."

* * *

><p>The restaurant was exactly the same as Vanille remembered it. They even had the same black haired waitress waiting at the podium once she and Hope arrived inside. The taller girl apparently recognized Vanille, because after staring at her face for a moment, her eyes flickered back down to her wedding ring. The waitress then peered at the redhead's right hand, which was currently intertwined with her husband's. This time the girl's blue eyes locked onto the silver wedding band on Hope's occupied left hand. She looked <em>him<em> up and down, in the same manner that she had done with Noel.

However, Vanille watched the girl's eyes widen as she realized just _who_ it was that had walked into her place of employment.

"Y-you're _Hope Estheim_," the waitress stuttered in awe.

The redhead saw her husband's expression turn a bit embarrassed as he politely smiled at the girl. "I am, and this is my wife, Vanille."

She turned her face back to Vanille, and stared at her skeptically. "Then who was that _brunette_ _guy_ you were with a few weeks ago?"

"One of our brothers," Hope replied easily, with an even mask on his pale face. "He was acting as her bodyguard that day. Obviously I wasn't going to allow my _wife_ to run around town on her own, without protection."

The waitress immediately flushed. She was apparently horribly embarrassed that she had jumped to conclusions, and been caught in the act of attempting to create unnecessary drama. Vanille felt her heart swell with pride at her love's tactful way of saying 'Mind your own damn business.'

The red haired woman decided to use this opportunity to obtain a little information from the guilt-ridden girl. "Is Kurt Hartmann working today?"

The flustered girl nodded. "Y-yes, he's working in the bar today. W-would you like me to seat you there, ma'am?"

"That would be wonderful," Vanille replied sweetly.

The waitress then hurriedly grabbed a pair of menus, and, without looking either of them in the eyes, took them around, and down a short flight of steps, over to a high counter surrounded by tall, cushioned chairs. Vanille recognized the back of Kurt's slightly messy blonde head as he served some strange, pink drinks to a trio of young women on the other end of the long counter. He seemed to know the girls, because he talked very animatedly with them.

Her emerald eye's fluttered over to her husband's face, and saw that his eyes were warily watching the young man. She lightly pinched Hope's arm after the dark haired waitress had seated them and left to inform Kurt of their arrival. Guilty turquoise stared back at her. He knew that he was _supposed _to be giving this young man a chance. However, Vanille knew that it was impossible to change a man as cautious as Hope. She could only hope that the young university student could prove to her husband that he was both likable and _trustworthy_.

After the black-haired girl turned to walk away, Kurt's head immediately whirled around. The three girls around him all curiously peeked over his slim shoulders. When his stunned blue eyes met with hers, Vanille raised her hand and cheerfully waved at him. The young man then smiled excitedly and approached them.

Vanille scooted her chair closer to Hope's and affectionately wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Hello again, Kurt!" she perkily addressed the waiter, "I wanted to introduce you to my husband, Hope Estheim!"

"Director, sir," the blonde said cheerfully, holding his hand out for a handshake, "It's truly an honor to meet you."

Hope extended his hand and shook the younger man's hand. However, Vanille noticed that her husband's face held no forced polite pretense. His turquoise eyes mechanically examined the thin blonde man before them. He didn't speak a word. Kurt seemed a bit taken aback by the cold greeting. The redhead kicked her husband's leg beneath the table.

"Ow! _Vanille!_" he complained, dropping the young man's hand to glare at her instead, "What was _that_ for?"

She released her hold on his shoulders. "You're supposed to be _nice_, remember?" she playfully scolded him. She turned to Kurt and said, "You'll have to forgive Hope, we've been running around town for hours, and he's sort of burned out on _people_ right now. He's normally very sweet _and_ funny," she assured the waiter, "but sometimes he does get a bit moody."

"_Vanille_…" Hope whined at her irritatedly.

"Oh, hush, you'll be fine," she told her husband, gently patting his silver-topped head.

Kurt wore an amused smile as he watched their little exchange. "I guess _you_ wear the pants in the relationship, am I right Lady Vanille?"

She watched Hope visually balk at the tongue-in-cheek quip to his masculinity.

Vanille laughed heartily. "Shh!" she told the waiter, "We can't let _him_ know that! He's so stubborn, he needs to _think_ that everything is _his_ idea, or he'll never get anything done!"

"All right, all right," Hope butted in, draping his arm around his wife's shoulders, "Enough making fun of me. Can we get some food now?"

The redhead giggled and lightly pecked his pale cheek.

"Of course," Kurt replied. His sapphire eyes shone bright with amusement. "What can I get you to drink? This is the bar, so I can make you some cocktails if you'd like."

_Cocktail?_ Vanille wasn't sure _what_ that meant. Her emerald eyes spotted the pink drinks in the hands of the girls on the other side of the bar. "What are _they_ drinking?"

"Pink Lemonade Cosmopolitans," Kurt replied without batting an eyelash.

_Oooh…_ That sounded _good!_

But Hope intervened, "_Vanille,_" he warned, "trust me, you don't want that. Besides, there's laws about alcoholic beverages, and you're not twenty-one yet-"

She had no idea what her husband was prattling on about, but she wasn't about to take no for an answer. "Hope, my love, technically I'm over _a thousand_ years old. Whatever it is, I'm sure I can handle it."

The redhead watched her husband shake his head and sigh in resignation. "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you…"

Kurt glanced between the pair. "Um… if she's never had a cocktail before, can I recommend something a little weaker? Perhaps a strawberry daiquiri?"

Her ears perked up. _She loved strawberries!_ "Oooh, what's that?"

"It's basically like a strawberry slushie, except it has some rum in it," the waiter answered. His blue eyes shot over to Hope's face, "I can go easy on the rum if you want me to."

The platinum haired man immediately nodded his head in agreement, "_Please_ do. And I'll just have an iced tea."

"What's _rum_?" Vanille asked Hope as their waiter excused himself to make their drinks.

"It's a type of alcoholic beverage," her love answered, "Alcohol is a psychoactive drug that slows down the nervous system. In small amounts, it won't do anything more than make you sleepy or slightly alter your mood, but many people overuse it and become severely impaired as a result. _That's_ why there's an age limit on it, because most children and young adults are both physically and mentally more susceptible to the negative side effects of it. Though, there are people of every age who abuse it."

"Ohhhh, I guess that makes sense. Hey, do you think it's the same stuff that our elders used when they meditated?" she wondered aloud.

"It could be," he answered. "Since alcohol is a depressant, it would slow down their sensory perceptiveness and allow them to focus internally instead. Though, there are many other substances that would have a similar effect."

She grinned as she gradually brought her finger up, and poked his cheek.

His aquamarine eyes latched onto her emerald ones. "What?"

She smiled warmly at him and said, "I love it when you talk like a textbook…"

"Oh yeah…" he replied playfully. Apparently his sour mood had lifted, because he leaned in _very_ close to her, and whispered, "Does that turn you on?"

"Mmhmm…" she murmured, as she gently tugged on the collar of his white dress shirt and pulled their faces closer together. She sweetly pressed her lips against his.

"_Ahem_."

Apparently Kurt had returned. Hope swiftly pulled himself away from her, and his cheeks tinged a pale pink shade. Vanille couldn't help but giggle as she noticed Kurt's incredibly entertained expression.

"Sorry…" Hope mumbled embarrassedly.

"No, it's okay," Kurt replied, smiling, "I think it's great that you two can be so affectionate with each other in public. I just wish I could be that lucky."

Vanille didn't understand. "Why not? You don't have a girlfriend?"

The waiter chuckled, apparently amused even more, and shook his head. "No. Dating is um… sort of complicated for me. I'm studying to be a scientist, and that's not exactly the most attractive major on the list… though that's not really my biggest problem," he answered as he carefully placed their drinks onto napkins in front of them.

She stuck her straw into the pink-colored slush and took a sip. This drink was _delicious!_ Though it _did_ have a hint of an odd, _harsh_ flavor that she couldn't quite describe…

"So what _is_ your biggest problem?" she asked, genuinely curious, before taking a much larger sip.

"I'm _gay_," Kurt admitted, completely unabashedly.

Hope just barely kept himself from spitting out his tea, which the redhead found incredibly amusing. However, this was clearly another one of those things that Vanille would need to be informed of today…

"What does that mean?" she asked innocently.

"It means he's attracted to other men," Hope answered seriously. He then turned to Kurt and asked, in an embarrassed manner, "When you told Vanille and Noel that I was like your _idol_, you didn't mean…"

Kurt burst into laughter. "Oh, no, nothing like that. No offense intended, sir, but you're definitely _not_ my type. I want to _emulate_ you, not _date_ you. I tend to go for the more hyper-masculine types, and you're much more _metro_."

Yet _another_ word that the young woman did not know.

"What's _that_ mean?"

Kurt chuckled. Again, Hope answered, "'_Metro_' is shortened slang for _metrosexual_, which typically refers to heterosexual men who have a more refined sense of fashion and behavior."

"And you've lost me on the word meanings again, love. What's _heterosexual_?"

Their waiter continued to chuckle at her. "_Heterosexual_," Kurt answered, "refers to someone who is attracted to the _opposite _sex. You and the Director would both be heterosexual. _Homosexual_, is someone who is attracted to the _same_ sex, like me, and _bisexual_, refers to someone who is attracted to _both_ sexes. In slang terms, heterosexual is called _straight_, homosexual is called _gay_ or _lesbian_, which is specific to gay women, and bisexual is simply called _bi_."

"That's a _lot_ to remember," she heard herself ponder aloud.

"When we get home, I'll pull up a website on the computer where you can search through all the slang terms you want," her husband replied before taking a sip of his drink.

"Does she not know _any_ modern terminology?" Kurt asked curiously.

"Well I taught her what I knew five hundred years ago," Hope answered, "and some of the most common words and phrases have been around since her time, but even when I was a kid, much of the terminology changed every few years… I've heard some phrases at the Academy over these past few weeks that even confused _me_. I guess the culture shock is going to take some adjustments for our whole family."

"Wait," the blonde man spoke up, "exactly _how many_ of you are there? I know there's you two, Lady Fang, and Mr. Kreiss, but are there others, too?"

"Yup," Vanille answered, after taking another large sip of her delicious cocktail. She giggled, "Snow's our _big_ brother, Noel and Dajh are our _little_ brothers, then our big sisters are Fang, Serah, and Lightning, and Sazh is Daddy!"

"Wow, that's a _lot_ of siblings… are any of you _actually_ related? Genetically, I mean?"

"Sazh is Dajh's biological father, and Serah and Lightning are biological sisters," answered Hope. "And what did you say, Vanille? Is Fang your _first_ or _second_ cousin? It's been a few hundred years since you told me…"

She giggled again. Her drink was almost halfway gone, and all she wanted to do was _giggle_… "Second!"

Then her stomach growled at her. "Oh… I'm hungry," she announced.

Hope peered at her worriedly, and Kurt pulled a pad of paper out of his pocket.

"What would you like to eat?" their waiter asked.

"Do you guys have _pizza_?" she asked.

"_Vanille…_" her husband warned, "What happened last night when you, Noel, and Snow ate _pizza_?"

She had to think about it for a second. "Oh yeah…" she finally replied, "we all got sick…"

"_Precisely_," he affirmed, then glanced down at the menu. Finally he turned to Kurt and said, "We'll both have the grilled seafood platter, with seasoned rice as the side."

As the blonde scribbled their order down, he asked, "The seafood platter is pretty large, would you like to share it?"

"No, get us two," Hope replied with a wry smile on his face, "She may not look it, but she's a bottomless pit. I'm sure she'll eat all of hers, and then try to steal some of mine, too."

Their waiter wore an amused smile again as he walked off toward the kitchen to put in their order.

Vanille nudged her husband's arm. "_See_? I _knew_ you'd like him! He's _cool_ isn't he?" she giggled.

"_Okay,_" she heard him admit, "you were right. He's a pretty interesting character, I'll give him that. But I'd have to test his scientific knowledge to see whether he's assistant material or not. You don't just hire someone because you think they're an interesting person, especially not in my field."

"Well then give him a test thingy," she said as she leaned her head on his shoulder and continued to giggle, "I want my Hopey Bear home with me more!"

In her peripheral vision she caught sight of his eyebrows raising skeptically. "What's with the new nickname?" she heard him ask.

"No idea!" she replied, giggling even harder, "it just sounded _cute_!"

"Okay," Hope said, "You are officially _tipsy_. You're only getting the _one_ daiquiri."

She felt like she was being punished for misbehaving… when she hadn't done anything wrong! "_But_…" she whined.

"Believe me," he continued, "you don't want to get drunk, and then be stuck with a hangover in the morning."

"What's a hangover?"

"Basically, you feel sick. Some people throw up, some have terrible headaches, and some feel so terrible that they can't even function the next day."

"_Eek!_" came her response. "Have _you_ ever had a hangover?"

"Only _once_," Hope answered, "Right after my twenty-first birthday, I was invited to the bachelor party for one of my university friends before his wedding. It was more like a small get-together with our group of guys, but there was a _lot_ of drinking. When I woke up the next day, I felt like I was _dying_. Turns out, I can't hold my liquor, and apparently neither can _you_."

She stuck her tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes.

When Kurt finally returned, and cleaned up after the trio of girls across the way, Hope asked him, "Just out of curiosity, how much rum did you put in her drink?"

"Only one shot," he answered. "Why?"

"Because she's tipsy already." Her glass was nearly empty.

"Sorry," Kurt apologized, "I didn't expect her to have such a low alcohol tolerance."

"Don't worry about it," Hope replied, "She's only in danger of giggling incessantly."

"_Hey!_" she pouted, "I'm _right here._"

"I know you are," she heard her platinum blonde man respond, just before he leaned in and pecked her on the lips, "and I love you, even when you are excessively giggly."

"I love you, too…" She kissed him in return.

"You two are _adorable_. Has anyone ever told you that before?"

"All the time!" Vanille answered after slurping the last of her drink through the straw. "Although mostly they just make fun of us."

"Well, I know _I'm_ glad you both allowed me to see this side of you. It really is an honor to have met you both."

"Well if you think it's an honor just to _meet_ us, just wait-" the redhead started, but Hope nudged her. She pouted, but allowed him to take over.

"What Vanille is not-so-subtly hinting at is that I am currently in the market for an assistant."

Kurt's blue eyes widened. "You're considering _me_?"

Hope nodded. "Vanille likes you, and I _usually_ end up trusting her hunches. I don't have much time for interviews, but if you have some free time tomorrow, I would like to meet with you. If you wouldn't mind bringing me a resume, copy of your university transcript thus far, and any recent research papers, I would be glad to consider you for the position. I realize that you will have more time right now, since it is summer break for the university, and that once the fall semester picks up again your time will be more limited, but right now is the most _critical_ time of all."

"I- Of course! Tomorrow happens to be my day off. Would you like me to meet you on your lunch break or something?"

"Actually," the older man replied, "I won't be in the Academy building tomorrow. I have other work to do at home. If you wouldn't mind, we can meet at my residence. How does noon sound?"

"Yes, that sounds great," Kurt replied, with an excited look in his eyes.

Vanille grinned as she watched her husband pulled a pen from his pocket, and scribbled down their address on a napkin.

"Thank you," the young man said gratefully as he accepted the napkin from Hope.

"There's a buzzer by the gate," the platinum haired man added, "Just press it and one of us will be able to come to the gate and let you in."

The golden haired man nodded.

Just then the black-haired girl returned, seating another group of customers at the bar. Vanille and Hope didn't get another chance to talk much with Kurt, as evening began to set in, and the bar grew crowded.

* * *

><p>"So, what do you want do now?" Vanille merrily asked Hope as they strolled through the darkening streets, hand-in-hand.<p>

"The streetlights are starting to dim, which means it's almost nighttime," she heard him reply, "It's probably best if we head home now."

The young woman giggled. Her daiquiri buzz was beginning to fade already. "Oh come on! I'm sure there's _something_ we can do at night!"

"About the only thing to do at night is drink in bars or dance in clubs," her husband answered. "Neither of which are activities that I'm keen to participate in."

"Did you just say _dance?_" Her eyes must have lit up brilliantly, because Hope's face formed an '_Oh shit'_ expression.

"Umm… Vanille, I don't really think the kind of _dancing_ that goes on in most clubs is the same kind _you're_ used to…"

Now she was confused. What strange kind of dancing did Hope mean? Surely it couldn't be _that_ different from the simple, graceful dancing she enjoyed as a child in Oerba…

"Well, let's go anyways," she insisted, "I'd like to see this dancing, even if it is _different_ than what I'm used to."

Her husband's face was stressed, but resigned. "All right," he said, "but don't say I didn't warn you…"

He pulled out his phone and punched a few buttons.

She watched him curiously. "What are you doing?"

"Going online and trying to find a club that will let you in without an ID…" he explained, "all clubs serve alcohol, so most card you at the door. However, there are some that allow underage patrons, and only card people if they order alcohol."

"Do I have an ID card?" she asked.

Hope shook his head. "Not yet," he answered. "The legal department is still deliberating on how best to classify us all. Between those of us who are over five hundred years old, you and Fang who are over a thousand, and Noel, who technically hasn't even been _born_ yet, they're having some trouble determining what to do with us. So, right now we're what would be called 'illegal aliens'. Since everyone knows who _I_ am without an ID, it hasn't really been an issue yet, but the more the rest of you are out and about, the more difficult it will be to do things. I'm actually surprised you haven't been asked for ID yet, when you've gone out and bought things with my credit card."

"Well," she replied, "a few people have started to recognize me. And Fang read something in the paper last week that announced our marriage, so people are probably figuring things out."

Her love's eyes filled with confusion. "Our wedding was in the paper? That's news to me… I wonder who put that in."

She had an answer to that, too. "I thought it was weird, too, so I called Mrs. Raileigh and asked her. Apparently Director Achilles did it. He told her that 'announcing such a high profile marriage at this time was simply a _wise move_.' I just figured you knew."

Hope sighed. "_Seriously_? I've _already_ become the Director's political pawn? I wasn't expecting this to start so soon."

Vanille wasn't one hundred percent sure what he meant. "_Pawn?_ You mean like the chess piece?" she asked as her husband pocketed his phone and took hold of her hand once more.

He nodded. "Yes. The Director in 400AF was a scientist, like me," he explained to her, "so these political games were kept at a minimum. However, in 432AF, after he retired, the board decided that it was time to create an official third branch for politicians. Director Achilles' grandfather was the first Director appointed under the new governing branch, and with that came a host of new career politicians. I understand _why_ they made the change- it's incredibly difficult to find one person with the scientific credentials, political savvy, _and_ military knowledge to run the entire Academy- but there has been some behind-the-scenes in-fighting and unrest since the current Director Achilles took office about fifteen years ago. He _does_ have good intentions, but as we've seen with _General_ Achilles, he's not as strong-willed as someone in his position of authority _should_ be._"_

"So let me get this straight," the redhead said, "the Director is trying to use _you_ because you have all of the qualities that he _lacks_."

"Not only that, but I'm easily the most popular political figure in _history_. Aside from the first few years after Cocoon fell, when people were still wary around me, I've been popular with nearly all of the people, and that popularity has lasted for nearly five _centuries_. Director Achilles is grasping at whatever he can to make it look like he has everything under control."

"And by announcing _our_ marriage," she summarized, "he's using us as an example of _stability_, and trying to show the people that the world is _not_ in serious danger, and that the problems are being resolved."

"Right. And it _was_ a shrewd move," her husband admitted, "but I don't like the fact that he tried to keep _us_ in the dark about it. If he's going to hide something as unobtrusive as a marriage announcement, it makes me wonder what else he could be up to."

"Ohhh _fantastic_," Vanille replied sarcastically as she leaned her head against Hope's arm. "I guess things are just going to keep getting more and more complicated, aren't they?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

Suddenly, Vanille felt _extremely_ tired. She stopped walking. Hope's teal eyes studied her worriedly.

"Vanille, are you all right?"

She inhaled a deep breath and attempted to shake away the lethargy. "Just getting a bit sleepy, I guess. Probably that daiquiri… Maybe we should go to the club tomorrow night instead."

"Okay," he agreed.

Hope protectively wrapped his arm around her waist as they turned around to walk back toward the car.

* * *

><p>~end chapter 12<p>

* * *

><p><em>Preview of Chapter 13: The Bonds That Tie<em>

Fang felt an odd sense of comfort. No matter how the results of this spell turned out, Hope and Vanille would end up together, and they would be happy- even if they were both dead.

If two lovers dying together wasn't a _happy ending,_ then she didn't know what was.

It was a miserable fate- living without the person you love.


	13. Chapter 13

_Not a Fairytale_

Description: Sometimes reality can seem like either a nightmare or a fairytale, but more often than not it's a little bit of both. FFXIII-2 Normal End. HopexVanille. SnowxSerah.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 13: The Bonds That Tie.<em>

Everyone gathered in the common area for breakfast. Vanille and Sazh were flitting about cooking pancakes, sahagin bacon, and leyak eggs. Snow and Noel played a card game at one end of the table, and Dajh sat on Hope's lap while the latter helped the small boy read aloud from a children's book.

Fang quietly observed her family over the top of the newspaper within her grasp. She hid her smile behind the paper. They weren't a complete set yet, but they were still _hers_. Having a family that she could call her own had once seemed an unfulfillable fantasy. After her fiancee died, and she an Vanille became l'Cie, Vanille was all she had. And then later, she had felt so _alone_ when she was on Cocoon, separated from Vanille. Back then, she could never have imagined sitting here, in this kitchen, with all these people. _People she loved_.

She _loved_ that Noel and Snow were on the opposite end of the table, trying to one-up each other in their game. She _loved_ that Sazh was teaching Vanille how to cook for their family. She also _loved_ how sweet and patient Hope was with little Dajh. Her world was coming together in beautiful ways. Now they just needed Serah and Lightning back. And even then, Fang could hardly wait for even _more_ additions to their family.

Her jade eyes caught Vanille sneaking a peek back at Hope and Dajh. The younger woman's eyes observed her husband's behavior, and her smile grew. When the platinum haired man's eyes met with hers, they each wore matching, knowing smiles. Hope pulled Dajh a little closer in his arms just as Vanille returned her attention to the food. It seemed they shared her wish. Hope and Vanille, and Snow and Serah… they would all bring about the future of this family. All they had to do was restore Serah's life, and then save the world, to make that future possible. Perhaps in ten years' time the tall woman would be surrounded by a plethora of children who all called her 'Auntie Fang' and listened in awe as she told them old battle stories.

"What are you smiling about?" Hope quietly asked her, startling her out of her reverie.

Dajh was no longer on his lap, and was instead interrupting Snow and Noel's game by messing up all the cards on the table. Since everyone else was properly distracted, she answered him honestly.

"Just thinking about how at home you looked there, helping Dajh read. Makes me think you'll make a good father someday."

She watched as the faint blush formed on his cheeks. He smiled sheepishly and said, "Vanille says so, too. As long as I don't take after my own father and overwork myself, at least. She's probably right," he admitted, teal eyes latching onto his wife's back, "_as usual_."

Fang didn't have to see it to know that she wore a smirk on her face. Between herself and Vanille, Hope would always be assured of having a woman around to tell him off when he needed it. She secretly hoped that he and Vanille would have _all_ daughters who would do the same thing to him…

"So," the dark haired woman said, changing the subject, "You up for a little training after breakfast?"

Hope sighed heavily… but nodded his silver head.

Good. He wasn't going to procrastinate. He was now the only one of them not up to snuff yet. They needed_ him_ to perform this resurrection spell: even as a child, the raw power of his magic had blown the rest of them away.

Fang could only imagine how powerful Hope's magic would be now that he had matured.

* * *

><p>"Come on, Hope!" yelled Fang, "You can do better than that!"<p>

Vanille eagerly watched her best friend and her husband spar. It was exciting to watch them fighting again- even more so to watch a fully grown Hope fight. He and Fang were both tall and lean, with long legs to carry them across the lawn swiftly. They were equal contenders in regards to speed. They were both experts at calculating their opponent's next moves, and dodging those moves. They were both so flexible and graceful that their battle appeared almost like an elegantly rehearsed dance. It was clear, however, that Hope didn't have the same _physical_ strength as Fang. And his spell-casting was still feeble, at best. If this were a _real_ duel, then Hope would be dead by now.

It was obvious from his face that he was growing frustrated again.

"Don't give in, Hope!" Fang called, "_Control_ your emotions! Make _them_ work for _you!_ Not the other way around!"

He was blown into the ground by a powerful wind spell. Vanille cringed as his back collided with the grassy earth. She watched as he peeled himself off the ground, and crouched in a low stance, preparing to spring at Fang. However, before he could move, his aquamarine eyes widened in shock. Confused, the redhead's emerald eyes flickered over to the older woman, just in time to see a powerful fire spell leave her best friend's hand and hurtle _in her direction._ The petite woman screamed in fury, and threw her body flat against the soil. The flames would easily pass over her from this angle.

However, the flames never came.

Vanille raised her head to find Hope crouched down in front of her. The flames raged about a foot away from his face, held at bay by the massive magic resistant shield that extended from his gloved hands.

Fang was _brilliant_- and sooooo _dead!_

"_FANG!_" Vanille shrilled angrily as soon as both the flames and Hope's shield had dissipated. The petite woman hurtled toward her nonbiological sister and unleashed a torrential water spell- which left the taller woman utterly _drenched_.

She heard Snow and Noel laughing somewhere in the distance.

"Do that _again_," she threatened as she tackled her best friend to the ground, "and I will kill you _myself!_"

Fang burst into laughter. "Hey, it _worked_, didn't it?"

"That's not the _point!" _Vanille continued to shrill, "You could've gotten Hope and I _both_ killed!"

"But I _didn't_. And he tapped into his magic! Did you see that shell spell? That was _fantastic!"_

Suddenly, Vanille felt herself being pulled off Fang. Hope's familiar scent engulfed her senses as he flipped her around and pulled her into a vicegrip hug.

"I'm okay!" she reassured him, "The spell wouldn't have hit me anyways, I ducked early enough."

"I don't care," Hope said, "That _still_ scared the shit out me."

"But it was the kick in the pants you needed to finally take control of your magic," Fang replied casually.

"Just… don't do that _again_, Fang," he replied in a clearly miffed tone, "Or I will _let_ Vanille kill you."

The soaked woman chuckled. "Got it."

When Hope finally released her, Vanille turned back around to help Fang up from the ground. As the redhead and her husband followed the dark haired woman back toward their apartment, she realized that her entire frontside was soaked from tackling her best friend. And that meant… Yes. She peeked over at her lover to see a large wet spot on the front of his white dress shirt. Apparently they would _all_ need to change clothes.

* * *

><p>Once Fang, Hope, and Vanille had retreated to their apartment to clean up, Noel and Snow took up sparring in their stead.<p>

"You're gonna pay for beating me after that last shuffle," taunted Snow, with a large grin on his face.

Noel merely chuckled and stared the older man down. "You _wish_."

The blonde threw an icy punch in Noel's direction. The brunette blocked it by enflaming his forearms and crossing them protectively before his face.

"Nice block," Snow complimented as the two men backed away from one another. This time Noel charged, and when their arms collided once more, both sets of blue eyes connected. "So, I say we do the spell _tonight,_" said the blonde.

They each backed off again.

"Agreed," replied the hunter, "Now that Hope's ready, there's nothing holding us back."

Suddenly, there was a loud buzzing sound from the gate. Both men dropped their battle stances.

"Must be Kurt," Noel stated, and began to walk towards the large, solid steel gate.

"Ohh yeah…" replied Snow, "Hope's little fanclub. How much do we know about this kid, anyways?"

"Well," the smaller man answered, "according to Vanille, he seems to be on a similar intellectual level as Hope, and she says he's also pretty direct, and isn't shy about asking questions or pointing things out. She also mentioned something _else_… I'm not really sure what the term means though…"

"What was it?"

"She said he's _gay_, or something like that."

Snow's eyes bugged. "Umm… does Vanille even know what that _means_?"

"I didn't bother to ask," Noel shrugged it off, "I mean, surely whatever it is, it's not a big deal, right?"

"If Hope wasn't notorious to pretty much the entire female population of the world as being a '_hottie_', then maybe," answered Snow worriedly.

"Um… Snow, Kurt's a _guy_."

"I know, and he's _gay_, which means he _likes other guys._"

Noel felt his jaw drop. "B-but Hope wouldn't-"

The blonde man shook his head, "No, Hope's been in love with Vanille since he was a kid. It's kinda _impossible_ to change the feelings of someone who's been in love with the same person for five hundred years."

"Okay, good. Then we don't have anything to worry about, right?"

Finally, Snow chuckled in good humor. "Right. As long as the kid doesn't have some big crush on Hope, we're good."

They finally approached the gate, and Noel punched in the code on the control pad. The steel gate slowly opened, and eventually revealed the slim blonde man. The brunette smiled and raised a hand into the air in a polite wave.

"Hey Kurt," the hunter greeted, "It's good to see you again."

The waiter, who wore black slacks and a white dress shirt, smiled cheerfully and waved in return. "It's good to see you, too, Mr. Kreiss." His sapphire blue eyes didn't linger long on Noel, however, and quickly flitted over to Snow. Kurt's smiled broadened just a bit, and he returned his attention to Noel. "Would you be so kind as to introduce me to your friend?"

Noel glimpsed a flash of unease on Snow's face, before the older man steeled himself into a polite mask. The large man graciously held his hand out for a handshake, and introduced himself, "Snow Villiers."

"Oh! You're the founder of _New Bodhum_, aren't you?" Kurt asked, grinning widely, as he shook Snow's large hand.

"Yep, that's me," Snow replied, as he released the smaller blonde's hand. "Well, if you guys don't mind, I'm gonna go check on Serah." And with that, the burly man made his escape.

Noel stared after the older man's black trenchcoat in amusement. Apparently _Snow_ was more Kurt's type. He would have to incessantly tease his _big brother_ about it later. In the meantime, however, he needed to take Kurt to Hope.

"Follow me," the brunette said, gesturing to the blonde man.

"Thank you," Kurt replied politely, "and… Serah is one of your sisters, right?"

Noel nodded in the affirmative. "Yes, but she's also Snow's fiancee."

"Ahh…" the blonde replied, with a hint of disappointment in his voice. "Will I be able to meet her, and everyone else, while I'm here?"

"Well, you might run into Sazh and Dajh," the hunter replied, attempting to remain casual, "but Serah is… _ill_ right now, and isn't up for visitors."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized, "I didn't mean to pry. I'm just extremely curious. It's not every day you get to meet an entire group of people from entirely different _times_. It's _fascinating_…"

Noel chuckled. "You really are a _scientist_, aren't you?"

"Born and bred," Kurt grinned. "My mother was a scientist for the Academy. You could say I'm following in her footsteps."

"_Was_?"

"She died," was all Kurt said in reply, slightly steeling his gaze.

Apparently this was a sore spot for him, so Noel dropped the topic. He reached out and pushed open the already slightly opened front door.

"Hey, Hope," the hunter called, "Kurt's here!"

Vanille appeared from the other side of Hope's bedroom door adorned with a _dry_ ruffly, pink and black floral, strapless dress. Her red hair was loose and wet, and she gently she ran a large, rounded brush through the strands. She smiled brightly at Kurt and waved enthusiastically with her free hand.

"Love the dress," the blonde complimented her, as his blue eyes took in all the details. She happily twirled for him. "Is it ChocoBabe brand?"

"Yep!" she chirped, "Hope and I bought it yesterday!"

"It looks great on you. My little sister would be totally jealous."

Vanille's face lit up. "You have a _sister?_"

The blonde man chuckled. "Yeah. She was the blonde girl in that group I was talking to before you and Hope came to the restaurant yesterday. She's studying fashion design."

"Wait-" the redhead said excitedly, "you can go to _school_ to _make clothes?_"

"You can go to school for almost anything," he replied.

Noel watched Vanille bounce around in joy. Unfortunately, he would need to bring her back down to earth…

"Vanille, where's Hope?"

"Oh," she answered airily, "he's finishing up in the shower. He'll be out in a minute."

This confused Noel. "But weren't _you_ just in the shower? Your hair's still wet…"

Kurt snorted.

Vanille giggled. "Baby brother," she patiently said, "just think about it for a minute."

And so he did. Vanille _just_ finished showering, Hope was _almost_ finished showering, and they both showered in the same bathroom, which meant that they showered _together_, which meant…

"_Oh_. I'll just… shut up now."

The redhead laughed, and tossed the brush somewhere inside Hope's room. She then grabbed hold of Noel's arm and began to drag him toward the kitchen.

"Come on!" she said to him, "help me get some food and drinks out. Kurt's our _guest_, so we have to be good hosts!"

"N-no that's all right, Lady Vanille," Kurt interrupted, "It's really not necessary-"

"_Of course_ it is!" the young woman insisted, "Back in Oerba, we _always_ treated our guests as if they were family. That's how _my_ ancestors lived, and I'm going to make sure my own family lives up to that!"

"You two had best listen to her," came Hope's voice from behind them. "She's a very stubborn woman, and not even _I_ can talk her out of things once she's made up her mind."

"Ah! Director!" Kurt turned and his blonde head gave a tiny bow.

Hope smiled at him and said," Good afternoon Kurt. Please, take a seat on one of the sofas." The platinum haired man then turned to his wife, and walked over to give her a soft peck on the lips. "Vanille, you can play hostess as much as you want."

"Yay!" she cheered.

Noel felt his arm being grabbed again, and Vanille promptly dragged him into the kitchen to be her helper.

"Why do _I_ have to help you?" the brunette complained, "Why can't Fang do it?"

"She hasn't come out of her room yet," the ginger explained, finally releasing his arm, "and besides, Fang's been humoring me for over a thousand years. I'm sure she'd appreciate _sharing_ that job."

He couldn't keep the sigh inside, but Noel figured he could play along with Vanille's little games. After all, if Hope, who was physically nearly ten years his senior, could openly act silly in public with her, then surely _he_ could play along in the comfort of their own home.

"All right," the young man conceded, "what do you want me to do?"

"First," she answered as she reached into a cabinet for a large serving plate, "ask Hope and Kurt what they want to drink, then come back and pour those drinks, and then get whatever you want for yourself. _I'm_ going to arrange a plate full of the cupcakes and cookies I made!"

Noel released a chuckle. They hadn't even eaten lunch yet, and here she was serving them all _sweets_… Hope and Fang's technique of going along with whatever Vanille wanted to do certainly was a lot simpler than arguing with her. Perhaps he, too, could find amusement in his new big sister's antics.

"I don't have to go out there and act like I'm a waiter, do I?" he jested.

Vanille laughed. "Only if you _want to_. Who knows, it could be _fun!_ We could do a whole skit or something!"

"If we're going to get _that_ into it, then maybe we should stick with doing it to our own family," he replied with an amused smile on his face, "We'd probably only scare off _other people_."

"You're probably right," she gigglingly agreed, "Oooh!" the redhead whispered excitedly, "I think we should mess with Hope first, just to see his reaction! He loves to pull that stuff on _me_…"

Noel chuckled. "Sure," came his whispered reply, "I'll just add 'Messing with Hope's head' on my mental to-do list."

Vanille held out her hand. "Partners in crime?" she asked with a huge grin on her face.

The young man was too entertained to possibly keep his own grin away. He nodded his mocha colored head. "Partners in crime," he confirmed as he gave her small hand a single, firm shake.

They released hands, and she pushed him back towards the living room. "Okay, now go find out what they want to drink! I'll help you in a minute."

The brunette laughed. "Okay, I'm on it."

* * *

><p>After Vanille and Noel had properly served snacks and drinks, they both joined Hope and Kurt on the twin sofas. The petite woman quietly sipped on her lemonade while Hope and his interviewee talked about scientific things that she only understood a tiny fraction of. On the couch across from her, and beside Kurt, sat Noel, who appeared to be just as clueless as she. They were just decorations this time. Vanille wasn't entirely sure what a <em>job interview<em> consisted of, but she figured it was something somewhat serious, and also something she may potentially have to do in the future. Her curiosity about her new world seemed to know no bounds, as she paid careful attention to everything the two men said.

Despite her silence, though, she still managed to slip one of her small hands into one of Hope's larger ones. He didn't take his eyes off Kurt, nor did he pause his sentence, but he _did_ gently squeeze her fingers. Her lover was in work mode. That was fine with her. She was just grateful that she could finally be there with him, instead of merely watching his life in fuzzy flashes. _All_ of Hope was clear as day to her now.

…And in her peripheral vision, she caught something _else_ that was clear as day: Fang had come out of her room at last. Her sister's jade eyes were glued to the decorative mirror on the wall behind she and Hope's couch. The tall woman's body was pressed casually against the nearby wall. Then, when Kurt was momentarily distracted as he reached for another cookie, she saw her husband's eyes briefly flicker upward and lock with Fang's. Then something clicked. Her husband and her best friend were _testing_ the young man. Hope was testing the blonde's _knowledge_, while Fang was testing his _body language_. They wanted to be sure that Kurt was both well-suited for the job, and that he was _trustworthy_ enough for the job. She should have known that they would try to pull something like this. With Fang well-hidden, out of the mirror's sight, Kurt remained utterly oblivious to the fact that he was being watched.

At the same time, however, Vanille really couldn't be upset with them. After Hope's last assistant, Alyssa, had betrayed him, he would need to be completely certain that anyone else he hired would remain loyal. It was easier to judge a person with help from someone like Fang, who was an expert at reading both people and monsters.

"So," Fang said, startling both Kurt and Noel as she finally emerged from her hiding place, "any other little quirks you've got that we should know about? Aside from your sexual preference."

"Um…" Kurt replied, recovering from the surprise, "I know how to walk in heels, if that's quirky enough for you."

Vanille giggled.

"Do you _cross-dress_?" Hope asked, with a touch of humor in his voice.

"Only when my sisters force me to," answered the blonde man, "Which honestly, they haven't done since I hit puberty. Now they've branched out to making men's clothes, too, so they just stuff me into those instead."

"How many sisters do you have?" asked Noel.

"Four."

"Any brothers?"

"None."

"No wonder you ended up liking men," Fang bluntly stated. "Vanille's just lucky _Hope_ didn't end up swinging that way."

Said man's eyes bugged out. "_WHAT?_"

Fang held her hand up in a fist, then raised up one finger, "One- you're a _mama's boy_." Two fingers. "Two- you're very _sensitive_." Another finger. "Three- you've got a rather feminine build for a man." One additional finger, "And four- you have a _blatant_ weakness for women," she finished.

Vanille watched in amusement as her husband pouted, and quietly glared at Fang.

Recognition dawned on Noel's face. "Hey, she's _right_," the brunette pondered aloud, "You've spent all of your adult life trying to save the _women_ you care about. Your mother, Lightning, Fang and Vanille, and now Serah."

"Wait a second," Kurt interrupted, "I thought his entire goal was to create the new Cocoon… and save the people? I thought it was just coincidence that Lady Vanille and Lady Fang came out of crystal stasis."

"It is true that I wanted to save the people, however," Hope admitted, "my primary motivation was to save Vanille and Fang."

Kurt quietly chuckled. "I guess you're not the _saint_ that the history books make you out to be, huh?"

The platinum haired man calmly took a sip from his tea, then placed it back onto the coffee table. "I don't believe in the concept of 'saints' or 'angels', nor do I believe in the concept of 'sinners' or 'demons'," he responded seriously. "Even 'good and evil' and 'right and wrong' are all entirely relative. What I _do_ believe in is _humanity_. We are all _human_, and are therefore inherently flawed. Fang was right about one thing though: the women that I love are my greatest weakness."

"However," Hope continued, "I will never apologize for the fact that my love for my family overrules everything else in my life. Perhaps it's cold of me to say this, but- _if_ the people were to ever turn against us again, as they did when we were l'Cie, then I would abandon the Academy, take my family back to Pulse, and leave the rest of the world to fend for itself. I don't _need_ the fame and prestige, nor do I need the wealth and luxury. I've survived the wilderness of Pulse with my family before, and I could do it again."

"You really _are_ a remarkable man," Kurt commented in awe.

Strangely, Vanille felt like a burden had been lifted from her petite shoulders. Not only was it clear now that both Fang and Hope trusted Kurt, but much more importantly, Hope was willing to give up _everything_ for her, and Fang, and the rest of their loved ones. Of course, in her heart, she already _knew_ that- but it felt good to hear him actually say the _words_.

Their bonds were _unbreakable_.

* * *

><p>"So, I take it Kurt has the job, then?" Noel asked as soon as Hope had returned to the apartment after seeing his interviewee off.<p>

Fang answered for him. "Yep. The kid _genuinely_ admires Hope, and he's not trying to hide anything either."

Hope nodded his silver head in confirmation.

"Good," the male hunter replied, "We've got _one_ problem resolved. Now, about Serah-"

"I say we bring her back as soon as possible," the scientist cut in. "_I'm_ ready now, as long as everyone else is."

Fang watched as Noel and Vanille each nodded. The tall woman stepped forward, closer to everyone. "I've translated the list of stones we need," she explained, "now all we need is to get them."

"Good." Hope nodded. "Vanille and Fang, you two are in charge of getting the stones. There's a small shop a few blocks away called 'Magic Cafe'- they sell gemstones and incense, among other things, to help magic users keep their powers under control. You should be able to find the stones there. Noel and I will get Snow and Sazh, and begin preparations."

This was it. Noel _knew_ it. The time for waiting was over.

* * *

><p>"I've got the obsidian and the moonstone!" called Vanille's perky voice.<p>

Fang turned around to find her little sister holding up two large polished stones: one, a shiny black, in her left hand, and the other, a murky white, in her right hand.

The redhead handed over the stones, then asked, "What's the malachite look like? I've never seen that one before."

"It's green," the black haired woman answered as she scanned the shelves that were littered with stones of varying sizes and shapes. "And it's opaque, too. The texture varies a bit, but usually there's a circular pattern of some sort in it… either in a slightly different shade of green, or sometimes a blue color."

"Mmk," Vanille replied, "I'll go back to the other end and look for it."

The taller woman nodded. "All right."

As Vanille's footsteps pattered away, Fang returned her attention to the shelves beside her.

What they were about to do was not only exciting- it was also _nerve-wracking_. Even _Hope_ seemed confident now. Despite everyone else's confidence, however, now _Fang_ herself was beginning to worry. Vanille had told both she and Hope _exactly_ what Lightning had told her in her dream. Word for word. Lightning had cautioned them _both_ against this path, because their souls were _innocent_- both children at heart.

Sure, Hope's theory about the spell taking only a few years off each of their lives sounded realistic- but it truly was just a _theory_. They had no proof that it would actually work that way. And what about Serah's _soul?_ If there really were to be an equal exchange, wouldn't the price for bringing her back be _another soul?_ A person couldn't live without their soul, just as a soul couldn't stay bound without a body. What if what killed the spell casters wasn't the death of the _body_ but the death of the _soul?_

"Found it!" chirped Vanille, interrupting Fang's thought process.

"All right," the elder of the two said, "let's choose an altar thing to place the stones on, and we'll be out of here."

"Yay!"

Vanille handed off the final stone, and bounded away.

And Fang was lost in her thoughts once more.

What if something happened? What if Hope died? Vanille would be heartbroken- and would probably lose the will to live herself. It would be a tragic ending to a beautiful love story. But then, an even more terrifying prospect came to her: what if _Vanille _died?

Sure, Hope was much more mentally and emotionally stable than he was when he had gone mad nearly ten years ago, but _still_- how long would that last if _Vanille_ were taken away from him? What would he _do?_ Would he blame himself? Would he blame everyone else? Would he blame _Serah?_ Would he try to kill _himself?_ Would he try to kill _other people?_ And, would he even be sane enough to _care?_

It would be up to _her_ to stop him- _kill _him, if she had to. Without Vanille around, _Fang_ would be the one responsible for Hope. If he wanted to end his own life, she would cast the spell again, and sacrifice herself to bring back Vanille. If he wanted to take other people's lives, she would have to kill him. It dawned on Fang that she was probably the only person who _could_ kill Hope- and even that would be a challenge. Hope would overpower Sazh. He would outsmart Snow. He would outrun Noel. He could kill them _all_ in the blink of an eye if he wanted to. Now she understood Hope's faith in her a little bit better. They were practically an even match, and he knew it. He entrusted her with _everything_ that was important to him- especially Vanille- because there had to be some part of him, deep down, that feared his own power. A part of him was _afraid_ to access his magic again. He knew that Fang alone would be able to stop him if he went over the edge.

Fang felt an odd sense of comfort. No matter how the results of this spell turned out, Hope and Vanille would end up together, and they would be happy- even if they were both dead.

If two lovers dying together wasn't a _happy ending,_ then she didn't know what was.

It was a miserable fate- living without the person you love.

* * *

><p>Everything was set. The small altar, made of solid ivory, was placed at the foot of Serah's bed. The three stones- obsidian, for protection, moonstone, for enhanced magic, and malachite, to guide Serah's soul, were all carefully arranged on the altar, which had already been purified with salt. It reminded Noel of one of Yeul's many mediation sessions: purifying the space… using stones to ground herself… This was no different. Only, it <em>was<em>.

"We need one last thing before we can begin the spell," said Hope as he handed each person a paper with the incantation they would all need to read aloud.

"And what is that?" Sazh asked, as he returned to the room, after safely depositing Dajh in the living room with the television and several toys. The middle-aged man quietly closed the door behind him.

"A few drops of virgin's blood need to be placed on top of the stones," he said unabashedly.

"Ew… blood? _Really?_" replied Snow, "This is starting to sound like one of those cult-horror movies…"

"It makes sense," the platinum blonde responded, "blood symbolizes life, and life must be sacrificed in place of another life."

"Well, in those movies isn't it normally a _woman_ who gets sacrificed?" asked Sazh, "So that probably means Fang is up-"

"Why the hell are you just _assuming_ that _I'm a virgin_?" Fang snarled.

Noel could feel his eyes widen in surprise. That was such an _odd_ thing to be upset about.

Sazh shrugged, "Well, you're not married, I've never actually seen you _take interest_ in any men before, and besides, you've been in crystal stasis for most of your life. It's a pretty easy assumption. I mean, we probably would've gone with _Vanille_," he admitted apologetically, "but we all know _that_ ship has sailed."

Fang was getting angrier by the moment.

"Sazh, just _drop it_, okay?" Vanille said quietly as she took Fang's hand into hers in an attempt to calm the older woman down.

Before the older man could reply, Noel turned to Hope, "Does the spell say _anything_ about the blood needing to be from a virgin _woman?_"

The scientist shook his head.

With that, the brunette unsheathed his shortsword, stood, and approached the altar. Without hesitation, he gently sliced the blade through the palm of his hand, and allowed a few drops of blood to spill onto each of the three stones.

He heard a small ripping sound, and peered over to find Snow tearing off a small section of the bedspread.

"Here," the blonde man quietly murmured as he pushed the cloth in Noel's direction.

"Thanks," the hunter replied, first cleaning off and placing his sword back in its sheath. He then made a hasty bandage out of the plain, beige fabric.

"All right, is everyone ready?" Hope asked as Noel returned to his seat on the floor.

Everyone remained silent, but nodded.

"Hold hands," he commanded.

Fang, on one end of the half circle, visibly squeezed Vanille's hand a little bit tighter. Vanille's other hand took hold of Hope's. Hope took Noel's injured hand. Noel took Snow's hand. Finally, Snow took hold of Sazh's hand.

"Read."

In slow unison, they all read:

_Oh great Lord Pulse, _

_creator of the earth, _

_bringer of life and death, _

_we humbly beseech thee, _

_bless your child before us,_

_whose days were too soon cut short,_

_and restore her the life that is hers._

_Restore her._

_Restore her._

Around him, everyone's eyes were closing. Noel felt his own close as well, _completely against his will_. He felt as if his body no longer belonged to him. Soon their chanting blended together, perfectly in rhythm, perfectly in sync. It was impossible to tell one person's voice from the next.

Then suddenly, he felt the wind get knocked right out of his lungs. Noel felt a sharp pain in his abdomen- a hard _pinch_- and just like that,_ it was over_.

His sapphire eyes flew open and he gasped for breath. He could still feel both Hope and Snow's hands in his, and he gradually realized that they were both squeezing his own hands as if for dear life.

When his vision finally cleared, he swiftly glanced around him: he counted five other heads, on either side of him, all panting heavily and looking extremely dazed.

It worked- they were _all alive_.

And then he heard it:

"_Where am I?_"

The voice was quiet, barely above a whisper, but it belonged to _Serah_.

* * *

><p>~end chapter 13<p>

* * *

><p><em>Preview of Chapter 14: Starting Over Again<em>

Noel finally entered his empty apartment. He flipped on the light switch. Sapphire eyes studied the simple, neutral furnishings that had, thus far, remained completely untouched.

Up until _this moment_, he hadn't _once_ been alone. He had been alone once before, _completely so_, back in his own time- but not since. He immediately regretted leaving Mog in Fang's care for the night.

He was _alone_, and he was _terrified_.

* * *

><p>AN: Thus endeth Arc I of _NaF_. :3 Stay tuned! Arc II is gonna be a wild ride. ;)

~Love, Puppy


	14. IMPORTANT NOTICE

**Please Note:** This is _not_ a chapter update.

This is merely a notice to inform my readers of my most popular, currently running stories that I am in the process of migrating my fanfiction from FF(.)net to DeviantArt.

This change is due to FF(.)net's recent decision to 'purge' all M rated, including all sexual and violent, content from the site.

This decision has been in the works for months, as I have exhibited by posting all of my recent Final Fantasy XIII-2 works on dA _before_ posting them here, however, FF(.)net's decision has only solidified my personal decision to leave the community.

My account will remain active, and readers will still be able to access all of my stories that survive the 'purge' however, I will no longer post updates nor will I reply to any messages or reviews sent to this account.

I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience to you all, and hope that you will follow me over to my dA account.

Love to all,

Puppy

puppynoelle(.)deviantart(.)com


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Final Fantasy XIII, Drama, Romance