Final Fantasy XIII 1. Chapter 1

Pain. It shot through him like thousands of electric shocks. He couldn't utter a sound. His mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out. His green eyes were wide with pain. His small form held up by the restraints on the wall. His arms were wrapped with blue cloth and he only wore black shirt and pants. He didn't even have on shoes.

He heard talking around him, but he couldn't make anything out of it. After what felt like a century, the pain stopped. He silently went limp, his breathing ragged.

He faintly remembered what happened before he was taken. He and his mother went to the store. It was like any other day...until they showed up. Three people cloaked completely in black, besides one, stood in front of the two. The boy could faintly see the skin tone and their hair, but his focus was somewhere else. Two had weapons in their hands, while the third just sent chills down the teens spine.

The tallest, tan skinned with brown hair, had two guns. He had a feral grin on his face. His companion next to him was a girl. She had a long blade in one hand, the other empty. Her long orange hair was braided in the front and she had a small smirk on her face. Lastly, the other was in front of the two, towering over the teen and his mother. He had long blue hair and his face was neutral. He didn't have a weapon, but he did have on the one color that went against the black. He had on red gloves...blood red gloves.

"What do you want?" the boy's mother stood protectively in front. Her silver hair swaying with her movements. The boy couldn't remember anything else about her. His memory still a little bit hazy. The next thing he remembered is screaming, a bright light, and someone crying.

The boy was the one thing the people around him feared. He was human, yes, but he was much more than that. He could do things no ordinary person could do. He used magic. Now, here the boy was, restrained to a wall in a great deal of pain.

His silver hair shielded his eyes from the light in the room as his breathing evened. He heard whispers and scribbles of writing. Finally, someone spoke. Their voice cold and hard, "Take him to his chamber. More tests will be done tomorrow," male. He heard footsteps and a door opening and closing.

He felt a warm hand touch his shoulder. His breath hitched as he waited for the pain that never came. He slowly brought his eyes to meet someone's bright blue ones. His blond hair was mostly concealed under a bandanna. He wore a blue buttoned up shirt and gray pants. He wore a white coat and had black gloves on. He wore black boots that ended halfway up his leg, below the knee. He grinned down at the boy.

"Don't worry," he whispered, "we will get you out of here. What is your name?" he asked while undoing the cuffs on the teens ankles and wrists.

The silver haired boy questioned the blonde's motives, but sleep was quickly catching up to him. "Hope," he answered lethargically. The blond smiled down at the sleepy teen. "I'm Snow. Snow Villiers. You will be out of here in no time," he whispered. The cuffs were soon off and the other people who were in the room had already left.

Snow carefully picked up the injured teen and walked out the room. But instead of heading in the direction of Hope's chamber, he went the opposite direction. "Wha...?" he looked up at the man carrying him. He only grinned and continued on his way.

After a while, Snow sneaked into hanger one. It was filled with different types of flying mobiles. Snow quickly put Hope into one and started it up. This, of course, started the alarm. Snow cursed under his breath and started the machine.

"Voice code?" a ladies robotic voice said. "Cocoon," Snow said. The vehicle roared to life as the door opened, revealing soldiers. "There they are!" they quickly made their way towards the two as the blond opened the hanger doors and left.

"Phew," the blond grinned down at Hope, "that was a close one. Now to get into contact with the others," he mumbled the last part. Hope looked around the space they were in. the controls were mainly in the front where Snow was, but a gun was in the back poised and ready. It read that it had full ammo and Hope watched as Snow pressed certain buttons and started talking to someone.

"Hey, this is Snow. Anyone there?" he said, flying closer to the ground, so that the soldiers, when they do get out into the field, won't be able to find them. A lady answered the call. "Roger! Who did the hero save this time?" she sounded a bit hyper and extremely overjoyed.

"This time they got a boy. Younger than you at the looks of it," he said, glancing behind to stare at the silver haired teen. The teen remained impassive as his green orbs gazed right back into blue ones. Snow looked away as the girl said, "A boy. Younger than me. Wow, when did they begin to take people so young," her mood dampened a bit, but was still a bit peppy.

"We are waiting for you where the sun rises," she suddenly said before cutting off the communication. Snow quickly went below the trees as the soldiers made their appearance. Hope watched as they flew around, but got smaller and smaller as they flew away from them. Hope looked towards the person who saved him. "Why did you do it?" he questioned.

Snow looked back at the teen. "I can't sit back and relax knowing what they are doing. Besides, it isn't your fault that you can do this no one else can," he said honestly. It shocked the teen, but he still didn't show any emotion.

After a while of silence, an opening appeared right before a cliff. Snow landed and helped Hope out of it, who was slightly surprised he was even awake. "Can you walk?" blue eyes looked worriedly down at the boy.

Hope glared at him. "I'm am capable enough to walk on my own. I don't need, nor do I want your help," Hope said, leaning on the machine slightly. Snow chuckled before motioning the silver haired boy to follow him. Hope did, but not before grumbling to himself. Something about the blond pissed Hope off...a lot.

Snow looked around the cliff before jumping off, startling the teen. Hope rushed towards the edge and looked down, noticing how the man was waiting for him at the bottom. Hope glared down at him. "Show off," he growled under his breath.

The teen surprised himself at how the man was getting him to show such emotions. Over the last few weeks at that god forsaken place, he stopped showing his emotions. He had spent three months in that hell whole and he did not plan on going back. Hope continued to stare down at the man.

"You do not seriously believe I'm would jump down, do you?" he called down, returning to being emotionless. Snow chuckled at him. "Jump. I'll catch you," he said, holding his arms up. Hope looked at him incredulously. Sighing, the silver haired boy knew he only had one option.

Hope, before his brain could catch up to him, jumped into the awaiting man's arms. "See. I caught you," Snow chuckled as the boy in his arms glared at him.

He quickly squirmed his way out and took a few steps away from the blue eyed man. "Where to now?" the silver haired boy asked, tone slightly cold. Snow started his way into the forest, the green eyed boy followed behind him.

Hope stood closer to the blond more than he would like to admit. The forest was dark and cold and he continued to hear strange things. Snow either didn't hear it or ignored it. Hope noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and latched on to Snow's coat, pulling them both to a stop. "What is it?" Hope did not answer. He continued to watch for the movement again.

Once he saw it, he quickly hid behind the blond, pointing in the direction he saw the movement. Snow looked in the direction and glared. They waited patiently for something to happen, and it paid off. A voice broke the tense atmosphere. "Hey! You over there!" it was the same girl from the device.

Snow sighed loudly and shouted back, "You nearly gave me a heart attack," a girl, followed by another taller girl, emerged from the shadows. The first was a small red head. She wore a pink top that showed her stomach and pink skirt. It had brown fur around her waist that was longer on one end than the other She had all sorts of jewelery around her neck, hips, and stomach. Her hair was in twin ponytails and her blue eyes shown with excitement.

The one next to her glared at the blond beside Hope. She had pink hair that was longer on one side that was on her shoulder. She wore a brown shirt with a white vest over it. She wore a brown mini skirt and brown boots that ended below her knee. She had a pouch strapped to her left leg and blue gloves on her hands. Only a single black cloth was on her left arm. A red cape was connected to her left shoulder. Her blue eyes never left Snow.

"Who is he?" she asked as the red haired girl quickly made her way towards the two. "This is Hope. Hope, these lovely ladies are Lightning and Vanille," Snow gestured to each girl respectively. Hope nodded as he watched Vanille search for any injuries.

As Lightning and Snow conversed, a wave of drowsiness washed over the poor boy. Her felt the world start to tilt and the ground coming in fast towards his face. He felt someone wrap their arms around his waist before he reached the ground. He slowly looked up to stare into the blonde's blue eyes. He didn't hear a word the man uttered. He quickly closed his eyes as his head started to pound. His world was tilting again and a wave of nausea hit the boy hard.

Snow cursed and picked up the boy like a princess and quickly ran towards their base. The two girls following closely behind him. "Vanille. The moment he is put down, you make sure he isn't wounded too bad. Snow, you will get the boy some food. I'll get Serah to get him some water," Lightning commanded. The two nodded and soon found themselves at a small village like area.

It only had three homes, all three were small, and a watch tower in the middle. The watch tower blended in with the trees and looked like a tree house. A black man spotted them from the watch tower and quickly got everyone's attention.

Snow didn't bother with the people who came to see them. He immediately went to the closest house, which was the infirmary and storage unit. He set Hope down on the closest bed and went into a different room to get some food for the under weight child. Lightning and a girl who looks a lot like her followed in quickly.

The Lightning look alike had on a pink skirt and a white tank top. She wore a small pink jacket over her shirt and had on black shoes. Black leggings reached up to her mid thighs and her hair was in a ponytail off to the side of her head. "Serah," Lightning turned towards her sister.

The girl, now dubbed Serah, looked up at her questioningly. "Go get Hope some water from the spring please. He will need it after Vanille is done making sure none of his wounds are life threatening and are healed," Serah nodded before leaving to do as she was told. The black male walked in as Serah left and looked over to Lightning, then at Hope, then back at Lightning.

"Would you mind explaining," he said. He had brown afro hair and brown eyes. He had black boot and khaki pants held up by a brown belt. He had guns holsters on both legs, holding his twin guns. He had on a white dress shirt with a black shirt beneath it. He had on a green jacket and a yellow bird, a Chocobo, rested in his hair.

"He is someone like us. Snow rescued him," Lightning said, watching as Vanille started to work. Hope had went unconscious half way to their base. "Someone like us? Man, there is a lot of them this go round," he commented. Lightning nodded and turned towards the door, waiting for Snow to appear.

"His name is Hope," Snow showed up not too long after. Vanille stood when Snow entered the room and smiled at what she had accomplished. "He should awaken soon. He did have a lot of injuries though, but he needs food. He looks malnourished. Makes you wonder how long he was there," the red head sat herself in a chair next to the bed. Snow sighed as he put the food on the nightstand beside the boy.

"I have no clue. When I went to check to see of they brought anyone in, this kid was there. I need to check more often. I couldn't check for at least five months because of the repairs needed here," Snow said sitting on the foot of the bed. The three nodded in understanding.

Some of the local animals had decided that they wanted the food stored in here. They completely destroyed two of the houses, nearly toppled the watch tower, and caused the roof to cave in on the last house.

"I'm back," Serah walked back in with two bowls of water. She smiled at everyone and set the water next to the food. She then practically skipped next to Snow and sat beside him. They waited patiently for the boy to awaken, which didn't take long like Vanille said. He moaned and turned onto his side.

His opened his eyes slowly and looked around the room. His gaze settling on the food before turning the Lightning. "Who are you?" he asked, trying to sit up. Vanille helped him, which he nodded in thanks for. "As Snow said before, I am Lightning. The man beside me is Sazh and the girl who healed you is Vanille. The two sitting on the bed is Snow and Serah," Lightning introduced. Sazh waved to the boy while Vanille smiled brightly.

Hope looked around the room, not recognizing it at all. He had been in an infirmary before and this is not one he can remember. "Where am I?" he looked towards the Lightning again for an answer, which she gave. "This is our base. We all, sans a few, have magic," she said. Hope's eyes widened as she gazed around the room, looking at each person, stopping at Snow.

"Everyone in the room?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. A trait he didn't know he had. Vanille squealed and hugged Hope. "Oh my god! He is adorable!" she squealed again. Hope felt his face heat up and tried to get out of the girl's grip.

He was saved when Lightning pulled the girl from him. "Control yourself," she said, Vanille pouting at her.

"Well," Snow said, ignoring what just happened, "Serah can't use magic. Neither can Sazh's son Dajh. Also we have four others who can't. Other than that everyone here can, we are missing someone though. Where is Fang?" Snow looked around the room.

Vanille raised her hand into the air. "Oh~. I know. She went to get more food. Said she wanted some time to herself," she smiled at them. Snow nodded.

Vanille turned her attention to Hope, turning serious. "You should eat something. You look like you haven't eaten in days," she commented. Hope nodded and turned to the food. He looked up for approval, which was granted when Lightning nodded.

"So kid," Sazh said, "when was the last time you ate?" he asked, crossing his arms. Hope picked up a fruit and glanced towards the other. He tilted his head in a thinking manner. "Hm~," he hummed. His brows furrowed. "About five days ago. Said it was a test to see how long I could go without eating," he said. Vanille put her hands covering her mouth and shook her head. Serah looked terrified while Lightning and Snow turned furious.

"Five days," Sazh repeated, wide eyed. He quickly came out of his stupor and asked another question. A question that they all feared. "How long were you there?" he asked in a quiet voice. Hope turned away, letting his hands (That were still holding the food) hit the bed. He sighed. "Months," he said in a broken voice. Snow's eyes widened.

None of them had been there longer than four weeks. This kid had been there for months and is still alive. Snow hated himself at the moment.

The room was deadly quiet, but Hope soon started to eat. After his third apple, he took sip of the water and a brunette girl walked in. She wore a black top which showed her stomach. Over that was a blue cloth with silver outlining that crossed over he stomach, chest, and draped over her back. The same blue cloth was used for a skirt which was longer on her left side. She wore a brown leather belt around her waist, a fur pelt hanging from it. Her blue eyes immediately made contact with green ones.

"I was wondering where everyone went," she commented. She was holding a basket, which looked as though it contained meat. Fish meat to be exact. Snow grinned at her. "Thank god. I was getting tired of fruits and veggies everyday," he said with a laugh. Sazh nodded with the comment as Hope continued to eat.

"Who is he?" She asked, setting the basket down on an open bed. "This is Hope," Vanille said excitedly. She hoped out of her seat and pointed at the boy. The brunette nodded. "I'm Fang," she watched the boy warily.

He remained quiet, and continued to eat the food her held. "He isn't much of a talker is he?" Serah commented, wrapping her arm around Snow's. Snow nodded and chuckled. Hope glared at the blond.

Vanille and Fang noticed the glare and laughed. Hope closed his eyes as he took another sip of water.

"So where were you before...you know," Vanille asked. Hope glanced towards her. His green eyes calculating what she might want from him. "Palumpolum...," he said in a quiet voice, looking away from her blue eyes. Snow grinned. "I've been there. It is nice. You got family there?" he asked, not noticing the flinch. Lightning noticed. She hit Snow on his head and glared at him. He rubbed the sore spot and questioned what he did to get her angry. Yeah, he got her angry over even the littlest of things, but still.

"I...I," the boy tried to say, but trying to remember made his head spin. His thoughts kept going back to that one moment. That man and his minions. The screaming and crying. His heart started to beat widely.

"Hope? Hope?" Vanille said, shaking the teen. Hope didn't answer. He couldn't hear her over his own beating heart. He felt scared and alone. He could no longer see them, but the past images kept playing over and over again.

"He is having a panic attack," who was that. Hope didn't move, but felt many hands start to grab at him. He started to thrash as more hands tried to hold him down. He heard someone screaming, but soon realized it was him. His throat started to hurt, but he kept screaming.

"Hope!" he heard a voice. It stopped everything. He stopped moving, breathing, thinking. It sounded familiar. A woman, but he couldn't place who. His eyes started to drop as he heard worried voice around him. They soon vanished into nothing. His mind stilled, but his breathing started to even.

His eyes, half lidded, glanced around him. The last thing he saw, before the darkness consumed him...was a worried blond looking down at him.

Then...he was alone.

* * *

**Oh...my...god...**

**Did I just write that? Longest thing I ever wrote so far. I tried to make it long, but it was difficult. Took me two days to do it. This is what happens when I sleep for too long and dream about a game I bought not too long ago.**

**Hope you enjoyed. I am mostly centering this around Hope, but this is Snow x Hope.**

**I feel they don't get enough love. Yes Serah is there to ruin a lot of their moments, but don't worry. Not all of them shall be ruined. Also I need details. You want your own personal OC in this, you better review. I'm also going to make two character -My own Ocs- to ruin some Snow x Hope moments to. n.n**

**I own nothing, but the plot of this. A Semi-AU. **

**Rating might change...who am I kidding...it will change once I get to that chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Hope?" a woman's voice. The silver haired boy groaned as he forcefully opened his eyes. He looked around him, but noticed he was in a completely black room. No light entered the area and nothing was in it. He was alone.

He slowly got up. He checked around him again. He knew he was standing on something solid, but nothing was beneath his feet. '_Where am I_,' Hope sighed as he started to walk.

"Hope?" the same voice called out. He froze. Something about the voice sounded familiar. It was kind and soft. Something a mother would have. His eyes widened at the thought. Mother...

He turned around to see a lady with silver hair behind him, her back facing him. She wore a white shirt with a light green jacket on. Her pants were light brown, as were her ankle boots. Her skin looked soft and it was the same skin tone as Hope. Her hair swayed as though the wind had picked up.

A man, the man from Hope's memory, was suddenly in front of her. The one with the gloves held no emotion as his hand dug through her chest. Blood splashed itself onto Hope's face. His eyes widened as the lady let out a scream. Laughter broke out around him. Voices swarmed around him as his mother fell to her knees. The man still showed no emotion as he took his hand from her chest.

His mother lay motionless on the ground. Blood pooling itself around her body, soaking her clothing. She gasped for air, proving she wasn't dead...yet.

"Hope?" she called out. Hope felt tears falling from his face, but he couldn't tell why. He could barely remember the person he once called mother. But a sharp pain was where his heart was. He chocked on his own breath as she started to talk to him. "Run...away. Go...now. Mom...will be...fine," she said, gasping between her words. Hope shook his head in denial, knowing she wouldn't be fine.

Her green eyes found his. Hope felt his body stiffen and his breath hitch. A small smile graced her face. Her eyes slowly began to close as she finally went limp. With her final breath, she said, "Wake up."

Hope jolted awake, feeling a sudden pain in his forehead. A yelp came from a man. Hope opened his eyes to look at the person. It was Snow. Snow rubbed his head. "Man kid," he started. The word kid made the silver haired teen angry. Maybe it was because of the blond, but it did. "You have one hard head," the blond tried to joke. Hope glared at him.

Hope heard a laugh on the other side of him. He turned his head to his left to stare at the person. It was Vanille as she struggled to contain her laughter. "Sorry," she said as she finally stopped, only letting out some giggles.

The room suddenly turned serious as Snow sat back on the bed and worriedly looked at Hope. "You were crying in your sleep. I'm sorry," he apologized, earning himself a tilt of the head by Hope in confusion. Why would this stranger care about him? Why would he apologize? "Why?" he asked watching the other closely.

Snow sighed as he ran his finger through his hair. A frown marring his face. "I said something I shouldn't have. It caused you pain and for that I'm sorry. You don't have to answer if you don't want to," he said, bowing his head slightly. Hope thought back to what the man could possibly be talking about. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks.

He gulped as he looked at the two in the room. When he thought about it, he could barely even remember what he used to act like. He frowned at himself.

"I don't remember," Hope said in a monotone voice. Snow's and Vanille's head snapped toward the green eyed teen. "What do you mean?" Vanille asked, her curiosity peaked. Hope shrugged.

"I don't remember my parents. I sort of remember my mom, but...never mind. I can barely even remember myself," he said truthfully. It stunned the people around him. Snow took it the hardest. He could have helped the boy sooner if he went to check more often. It was his fault it happened. He clenched his teeth and started to belittle himself, which Hope started to notice.

He glared at him. "Stop it," he said slapping the blond on the head, startling him and Vanille. Hope frowned at him. "It wasn't your fault. You start thinking stupid things like that I'll rip your tongue off," he growled out. Vanille giggled quietly to herself as the blond sat dumbfounded at the person in the bed.

Snow started to laugh, and with a small smile, ruffled the kid's hair earning him a growl from the other and a scowl, which looked like a pout to the other two in the room.

"Your right," he said, getting up. "I need to get back to work. We still need to get to the town and buy more blankets. Winter is coming and the others got destroyed. Maybe you can come with us," Snow grinned at Hope and left the room with a wave.

Hope snorted at him and turned away. The blond definitely irked him. He crossed his arms and glared at nothing particular.

Vanille stood and grabbed something from below her seat. It was a glass of water. "Ah~. Sorry. The food took up the table. You should drink this. It will help," she said, handing the teen the drink. He thanked her and took it happily. He moaned as the cold drink went down his sore throat. He set the empty glass down on some of the food.

He closed his eyes and felt, somewhat, at peace. He thought back to what Snow had said. Winter was coming. Hope wanted to go into town with them, but he starts thinking negative. He would just slow them down and waste their time. He sighed to himself mentally. He barely knew these people and he already wants to help them.

As he was thinking these things, his eyes slowly start to close. Vanille smiled at the boy as five people walked in. "That him?" asked the tallest. He had orange, spiky hair with red tips. His eyes were a dark brown and he towered over everyone else in the room, only a few inches taller then Snow. The girl next to him was the shortest, besides Vanille and Hope. She had short black hair, some of it in a ponytail. Her brown eyes stood fixed on the semiconscious boy. The one behind her was a man with long blue hair. His gold eyes looked between Vanille and Hope, smiling at them both. The last was the shortest guy in the group, besides Hope of course. He had spiky blond hair with goggles resting on his forehead. His blue eyes watched with curiosity as Hope started to awaken once more. The last person, leading the group, was Lightning.

"Yup! This is Hope," Vanille stood and clapped her hands. The brown eyes girl laughed. "Lebreau, Maqui, Yuj, Gadot," Lightning called. The four looked towards her. "He might want to come into town with you and Snow. Watch over him. Also, when he is a little more awake, give him these," she handed some clothes over to Maqui, the blond. They nodded as the pink haired lady left.

Hope hazily looked at the four. His eyes widening when he saw Yuj. His long blue hair brought back bad memories, but Hope knew they weren't the same person. That person had a neutral look, this one had a smile and was happily showing emotion.

_Doesn't mean I'm going to trust any of them_, Hope's inner mind said. He sighed mentally and tried to get their attention.

"Excuse me," he said. That only got Vanille's attention. The four were happily chatting away. This caused the silver haired teen to get angry. He narrowed his eyes and hit the closest one to him. It was Maqui. "Ow," he yelped, trying to get away from the source of the pain.

The other three looked at Hope with slightly widened eyes. Maqui pouted towards him. "What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his sore spot. Hope huffed and crossed his arms. "When someone tries to get your attention. You have to at least try to pay attention to your surroundings," he said. That brought Vanille, Yuj, and Lebreau to start to laugh and Gadot to smirk. Maqui continued to pout.

"It isn't funny! Why did you hit me? Why not one of them?" he pointed towards the other people on the bed. Hope smiled down at him, "You were closest to me," he said in a sweet voice. Maqui took a step away. This caused everyone to laugh.

"So, Hope. You wanna go into town with us?" Gadot asked. Hope thought about the pros and the cons first and saw the pros outweighed them. He nodded. They nodded back and were about to leave when Yuj remembered something. "The clothes," he said out loud. He took the clothes from the bed and placed them in Hope's lap as the other three left. He smiled down at him, "You might want to change into this," then he left.

Hope removed the blanket and swung his feet over the edge of the bed. He looked over at Vanille who watched him closely. He looked back at the clothes, then at her, then blushed lightly. "Um," he said, "could you please leave for a minute." Vanille suddenly blushed and nodded quickly. "Sorry," she said as she left. Hope waited for a moment before he picked up the clothes.

He removed his clothing and started with the shirt. It was a plain white shirt, but had a cross on his right shoulder. He quickly looked over his pants. They seemed a size too big, but he could manage. It was khaki and only reached just below his knees. His blue bandages around his arms were still there, which he was happy for.

He quickly picked up his clothes and headed to the door. When he opened it, Vanille was talking to the brunette, Fang. Fang noticed him first. "Good to see you awake," she said, smiling at him. Hope nodded as Vanille bounced towards him. "Do they fit?" she asked smiling at him. The green eyed teen nodded.

Snow and his gang made their way towards the three. "Hey kid," Snow greeted with a wave. Hope frowned at the nickname. _Kid_, he repeated in his head. He growled inwardly at it. _If anyone is a kid it is probably going to be him_, Hope thought.

"When he going to head out?" Yuj asked. The others seemed to look towards Snow as Hope's attention started to drift away. "We will be heading out soon," he said.

"Snow!" Hope turned to look where the noise came from. It was Lightning's sister, Serah. The pink haired girl immediately latched herself onto Snow's arm and smiled up at him. Hope growled quietly to himself, surprising himself as well. Only Vanille and Fang were close enough to hear. Vanille continued to smile while Fang rose her brow at the boy.

"You leaving soon?" she asked. Snow nodded and ruffled her hair lightly. "Can you make sure they are thick. And bring in some more. We have a new addition," she said, letting go of him.

Snow nodded as Lightning called for her. The pink haired girl waved and ran to her sister. Lightning glared at Snow before leaving with her sister to go get some more food. Snow turned his attention to everyone. "So who all is going?" he asked. Vanille shook her head and left with Fang. Something about water and storage. Everyone else nodded.

"Good. We head out now," he smiled as he made his way out of the camp ground. Everyone followed behind him. Maqui kept sending Hope some glances, but they were mostly on the blue cloth that wrapped itself around his arms. Beginning on his wrist and ending just below his elbow.

"What are those for?" Maqui finally asked. Both he and Hope were at the end. Snow led the way, Gadot close behind him. Lebreau stood between Gadot and Yuj. Hope turned his green orbs to the others blue ones. "Nothing particular," he finally answered. Maqui frowned at the answer. "Must be something for you to whack poor Vanille in your sleep," Maqui joked. Hope stared wide eyed at him. He frowned, "I did?"

Maqui nodded. "Yeah. She tried to check up on you in your sleep and tried to take those off. You whacked her hand away and groaned in your sleep. When she tried again you did that again, but instead you growled," Maqui laughed.

Hope blushed a faint pink. He rubbed his arm in embarrassment. "I didn't mean to," he said in a hushed tone. Maqui grinned down at the shorter. "I believe you. Besides, you were asleep. Must have been a reflex," he said, brushing off the others thoughts with a wave of his hands.

The air around them was lighter as they continued to converse. Lebreau and Snow glanced back at them every now and then to make sure they were keeping up. After some more time was when Maqui started doing his trademark, "No more~." he fell to his knees as Hope just looked at him weirdly.

Lebreau hit him on his head lightly. "You've done this countless times. How do you still get tired out?" she muttered the last part to herself, but it was still heard. Maqui pouted.

"We are almost there. Can you hold out a little longer," Gadot said more than asked. Maqui nodded slowly before he got up. The five continued on their way. Hope looked around with mild curiosity.

As Gadot said, it only took a short few minutes left for them to finally reach the their destination. Hope looked around happily. He watched as people rushed to get things done or took their time doing who knows what. He felt a hand place itself on his shoulder, bringing his attention back. He looked over his shoulder to find the blond smiling at him. "This is a nice little town," he commented before removing his hand from Hope. Hope nodded before turning to look for the others, but found no one there.

"Lebreau went to go get some medicine with Maqui. Gadot went to see about new weaponry. Yuj went to get better clothes for winter. We are going to be getting the blankets," Snow said, as though reading the Hope's mind. Hope nodded in understanding, slightly peeved that he was stuck with babysitting the blond.

Hope followed Snow to the nearest store that sold blankets. Upon entering, one of the employees turned to see who came in and smiled. "Welcome," she greeted politely, "I'll be there to help you as soon as I can," she was stocking some shelves.

Snow looked around the store, Hope following behind him. After some time, the lady from before came up to them. She had long blond hair that cascaded down her back, ending at her lower back. Her eyes were a stormy gray with a hint of silver. She looked around in her mid-twenties. She wore a white long-sleeved shirt and blank pants. She had a silver necklace with a red sword on it. She wore simple white shoes and had a kind smile on. Probably for show.

"What are you looking for?" she asked, mostly looking at the blond, but sending some curious looks to Hope. Snow smiled at her while Hope remained neutral. "We need some blankets for winter," he said. She nodded and pointed them in the direction of the blankets. The complete opposite direction that they were heading in. _Note to self_, Hope thought, _Snow is horrible with directions_. Snow laughed weakly when she pointed in the opposite direction.

She followed them to help them pick out the ones they would need. "What exact type would you need?" she inquired. Snow thought for a moment. "We need something that will last long and has a high duration against water and other things. We want to camp out with a few friends so we will need a lot," Hope beat Snow to answering, startling the girl. After a moment she smiled and nodded.

She brought them to the blankets farthest away from view. "These are the ones you will want. Most buy them because they can withstand many things. These should amount to your approval," she said pointing to multiple, different colors, blankets.

Hope nodded and looked through them. "Pick any color. We should have enough money since Serah and Lebreau have jobs and we sell things that we don't eat," Snow said as he looked through the blankets. Hope nodded. They were cheap, but most likely will get more expensive as winter draws closer.

Snow picked up three of them so far. Two violets and one pink. Hope had a feeling he knew who was getting the pink one.

Hope continued to search though them. He pulled out four black ones, three whites, and one green. Snow stopped getting some after his tenth blanket. His was the three violets, two red, three blue, and two pink.

"This should work for a while," Snow commented. He picked up Hope's bundle of blankets and made his way to the check out, Hope following silently behind him.

_This kid need to open up more_, Snow thought as he paid for the blankets. As they exited Hope took a few blankets to carry. "I don't need you to carry all of these and break your back," he huffed out. Snow laughed at him before Snow starting leading them to the rendezvous point. Everyone else was all ready there.

Lebreau was carrying two bags while Maqui was carrying three. Gadot was carrying three cases while Yuj was holding the most out of the four. He was holding ten bags, eight containing clothes, the other two had shoes.

"We're here," Snow called, getting all of their attention. They all smiled at them and they started their way back to camp. It was already setting when they left the town, and now it was night when they returned. Vanille and Lightning were the first to their sides.

"Get what we need?" Lightning questioned while Vanille made sure Hope didn't strain himself. Snow and Lightning were talking as the rest put everything away in the storage room. Vanille helped.

"So Hope. How was your first day to town?" Vanille asked as they were the last to put the things away. Hope shrugged. "It was good. Nothing bad happened," he said. She smiled. "Good. It would be bad if your wounds reopened. You also need to keep the manual-labor to a minimum," she said in a motherly way before the two exited.

They exited the building and Vanille pointed to one of the other ones. "That one, closest to the lake is where the guys sleep. The girls are in the other one. Don't worry about it being a one room stuffed with guys. Each building has six rooms. You might need to share since we do have six guys already," Vanille said. She turned to the other building and walked towards it. "Ciao!" she called out to him before running towards it.

Hope walked towards the other building and noticed that Snow was also heading towards it. "Hey Hope," he waved at the other. Hope nodded in greetings as Snow ran towards him. "Do you know where you are going to sleep? All the rooms are taken," Snow said watching the younger closely.

Hope shook his head. "No clue," he said as they continued on their way to the house. Snow thought for a moment before he grinned down. "You can stay with me. I'm not taking no for an answer," he added the last part before the other could deny.

Hope glared before he forcefully made himself agree. Snow grinned before leading him to his room. It was the one farthest away from the entry door. It was next to Sazh's room and in front of Gadot's.

Snow opened the door wide for the other to see. "Welcome to your new room," Snow said. Hope entered first, the blond following.

Hope looked around. It had a small couch in a corner, a chair right next to it. There was also a bookshelf across from them and a bed next to it. The bed could easily fit them both. This thought made the silver haired teen blush for reasons that escaped him.

"You okay? Your face is all red," Snow watched the other with concern as the other turned away. "I'm fine. So where will I sleep?" Hope looked over at the blue eyed man.

"I'll sleep on the couch," he said, pointing to the uncomfortable looking couch. Hope's brow furrowed in displeasure. "We can share the bed. You need your rest to be in your best shape. I don't think that couch will help," Hope pointed to the couch.

Snow chuckled and nodded. Snow started to change, while all Hope did was remove his shirt and hop into the bed. He closed his eyes and snuggled against the cool bed. Snow soon joined him wearing gray slacks and topless.

Hope felt content as he felt a blanket placed on top of him. The warmth spread quickly. Before Hope fell asleep, he felt arms wrap around his waist and him being pulled into Snow's chest. Snow kept murmuring incoherent things as he continued to sleep away. Hope was too tired to push the other away from him. _Must of slept alongside that chick...Serah I believe her name was_, Hope though. He yawned before he was out cold.

* * *

**Yay! Finished.**

**The Ocs will not play a major role in it, unless they are that one OC I put in. If you do not know who I am talking about, reread chapter one. **

**I hope you liked it.**


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Final Fantasy XIII, Fantasy, Hurt-Comfort