Forget Goodbye

Disclaimer: The characters in the story aren't not mine. They belong to their respected owners, I do however take ownership over the plot of this story but not on the plot of the original story in the FFXIII game. Thanks... :)

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Forget Goodbye

Snow x Hope

Chapter 2: An Unfamiliar Face
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Hope awoke with a groan and found himself in his room along with confusion as the byproduct. He remembered everything that had transpired with the Fal'Cie he named Kirin, but what he couldn't remember was how he ended up in his bed when he could distinctly remember losing consciousness at the bridge.

He quickly remembered that he had the mark of the L'Cie once again, and whoever might have brought him back from home would have ultimately seen it. He unconsciously reached for his left wrist as if to cover the newly formed brand. There wasn't much use in feigning innocence over that obvious fact if anyone found out since he knowingly and willingly allowed the transformation to happen.

"You're finally awake," said Snow in an even tone as he walked in unnoticed by the silver haired boy. Snow took note of the way Hope held on to his wrist as if to hide the mark of a L'Cie, but Snow's instinct told him that the simple gesture meant more than what it seemed. Without speaking, Snow sat on the foot of the bed, and just waited for the young man to speak his mind. Personally, Snow would rather just hash out the problem, tackle it, then ultimately solve it… but at the moment, he couldn't even think of a way to solve the problem at hand.

"I'm scared," started Hope. The young man let out the breath he didn't even know he was holding in. He looked up at Snow's watchful eyes, hoping to find some form of courage to help him but he couldn't find anything behind those unsure blue eyes.

"Want to talk about it?" asked Snow, hoping to get an answer out of the boy. He sat there waiting for an answer to grace the silence that felt almost suffocating in that small room.

It was strange, really, to be talking to Snow so calmly. Hope couldn't look at the normally arrogant man in front of him, so his eyes wandered around his room from the lampshade beside him and even to the list of notes containing things to do tacked up on the wall.

"I- I don't if I can do this," said Hope. His voice was shaky, but then continued, "I don't know if I really thought out the consequences when I signed up for this." The silverette's head lowered and opted to looking at his intertwined fingers.

"It's not like we ever signup to be turned into L'Cie, so don't worry about it," said Snow in a reassuring voice, but he faltered when Hope shook his head to refute what the blond had just said.

"But that's the thing, I did this voluntarily," said Hope as he looked up at Snow. He waited for the blond to ask the obvious question but the blonde sat silently as if waiting for him to explain. So he continued, "I met this Fal'Cie by the rust-eaten bridge and he asked me for help. I could have refused to do his bidding, but I ultimately decided to say yes because he presented me a strong argument as to why I was needed, but now, I'm not even sure I can do that after seeing what's to come."

"Fuck, so you're telling me you signed up to relive the hell we went through trying to rid ourselves of the Fal'Cie who tried to control us in the first place. What were you thinking?" Snow's tone went up by about a decibel and this caused Hope to feel like half of what he was. He does remember the reason why they started to fight back, because it was either do something or wait until the transformation took its course and turn them into Cie'ths.

"I didn't do this for myself okay! I was doing this because everyone that I cared about and other innocents are bound to die if I don't," as Hope answered back, he couldn't back it up with real conviction since he himself did not believe that to be the only reason. If he looked in his heart of hearts, then he'd have probably surmised that he did this because he felt insignificant. It wasn't even that he started feeling this a week before, he started feeling a tad bit insignificant when they had returned to Oerba to inhabit the land.

"You could still have at least asked for our help instead of tackling this by yourself!" answered Snow back at the younger man. "Did you really think we'd just stand by rather than do something about it? Are we really that unreliable?" Snow's tone of voice was even, but the hurt was evident behind it.

"You don't understand! I knew that all of you might try and help, that's why I had to do this by myself! You and Serah are about to be married, Dajh is finally reunited with Sazh, and I didn't want Serah to lose Light again! I had to do this!" Hope's fists were shaking and his head felt muddled that he couldn't think straight now. Hope's breath hitched for a couple seconds before his breathing became more erratic and seemed harder to come by. It was then that the mark on Hope's wrist started to glow an angry red.

Hope and Snow looked panicked as the summoning started so Hope yelled at the taller man to run and take everyone around them to safety and evacuate until he had things under control. Snow didn't say anything and had rushed out of the room to warn everyone that was in the vicinity.

All of a sudden, a big red ball appeared from his mark and grew until it looked about the size of an Adamantortoise. Hope expected to see the familiar face of Alexander when the red ball dissipated, but what greeted him was unexpected. Thirteen figures emerged, each one of a different color and each held a different weapon ranging from axes, staffs, staves, spears, and even swords. Each of them looked just like Odin when initially summoned by Lightning, but Hope held his ground.

"I guess this is what I get for second guessing myself, but now I have to prove to myself that I can do this!" Hope ran to attack one of the soldiers in the line of 13 but before he could reach his intended target, 12 of the other knights backed off as if to say that they were not interested in fighting. However, the one that stayed drew a sword from its sheath and Hope knew that this was eidolon that the test is centered around on.

Hope reacted quickly as he casted a series of magic attacks that varied in elemental damages towards the opponent. When none of it seemed effective, he switched to using a magical non-elemental attack like Ruin and Ruinga. Neither of which seemed to affect the said Eidolon either. As the first wave of spells ended, the knight charged at Hope with the humungous sword in tow. As the sword came down with great force, Hope jumped away, barely missing the sword that created a dent in the land that previously cradled his home.

Even as Hope was able to dodge the blow, the impact was massive and caused the debris to hit him with great force. Injured by the indirect impact, Hope casted a couple of cure spells on himself to get back up to his feet.

"My magic doesn't work from so far away. I need to get closer," said Hope out loud. When the knight swung down with the sword for a second time, Hope casted an aero spell just right below him to propel himself on top of knight's shoulder. Without missing a beat, Hope casted a series of Watergas that scattered itself across the visible land. When the knight and the land was drenched in water, Hope used an Aeroga spell to propel himself from the knight's shoulder and hover on air as the water around them collected, mimicking a massive hurricane before casting a barrage of Thundagas that were amplified by the water's presence.

When the knight visibly knelt in defeat, Hope called out his crystal and shattered it allowing the knight to know that the battle is over. To show that the Eidolon has surrendered, it went on to its Gestalt mode by merging with the other knights.

Six of the knights turned into wheels, with two of the other knights transforming into the tire chains that held three of each together. The other four knights melded together and created the body while the last knight, whom Hope had fought, reconstructed itself into the cannon. The ending result was a humungous tank, which Hope stared in awe. A couple of seconds passed by and Hope dismissed the eidolon, allowing it to dissipate into thin air.

With the battle over, Hope saw the destruction that followed and frowned in disappointment. The only solace he could find was that no one was hurt, and he probably had to thank Snow for that later.

"That wasn't Alexander," was what Hope first heard as Sazh came into view, "care to explain?"

"I'm a L'Cie again, what's there to explain," muttered Hope lowly. He didn't want to be treated like a monster, but he knew the repercussions in allowing this to happen so he'll just bear with it for now. At least, the most important people in his life will still be able to lead normal, happy lives unencumbered by the burden of what's to come.

"Thanks for stating the obvious, but what I'd like to know is why you're a L'Cie again," countered Lightning as she got to the scene with Serah trailing just behind her who held on to Snow for dear life. It didn't make immediate sense to Hope at the time, but he felt slightly irritated. He should have been a little relieved that he was able to defeat such a strong eidolon in battle by himself but now he just felt like rolling his eyes towards the back of his head. It was such a foreign feeling for Hope to be jealous. He had felt the array of emotions from rage and so on, but jealousy was something he wasn't accustomed to.

"Aww man, if only Kirin was here… he could probably explain it better," muttered Hope lowly. However, no such luck was given as the others gathered around him. While they waited for an explanation, Hope contemplated on whether or not to give in to the others. It was a look on Snow's face that caught Hope's eyes so he decided on letting the older man do all the talking. "I really can't explain right now, but I told Snow almost everything so he can tell you instead."

With that, Hope ran out of the circle and started with the search for his father to explain everything. He didn't want to leave his dad alone to go on another journey, but it seems that he must do so one more time. He might not be able to see his father's face again if this played out in the way he thought out, but being able to say goodbye before leaving will be better than not having had the chance to talk. This time, he won't be able to smile as he leaves, but he'll be able to at least pretend to do so.

It didn't take long for Hope to find his father. The commotion had gotten most of the people in the vicinity to come out of their houses just in time to watch a silver haired young man fight off an eidolon. It fascinated and terrified the people at the same time that a kid like that could fight off something that big and monstrous, but they knew the implications of being a L'Cie. The transformation will bring on unseemly powers, but at the cost of one's own life. They now knew that L'Cies are neither monsters by themselves or contagious, but they were still apprehensive over the fact that they held powers inside themselves that overreach the limits of a mere mortal.

"Dad." Hope paused in front of his old man as he tried to force the words to come out. His dad only nodded in acknowledgement, but Hope saw right through it and found himself in the warm embrace of the man.

"You have to go again right." It was more a statement than a question. Hope only nodded within the arms of the older man. He felt like a small child being comforted by his father, but none the less, it felt good.

"Don't worry, he won't be alone!" proclaimed Snow as he and the rest of the other members walked towards the pair.

Shrugging out of his dad's embrace, Hope made a point to glare at Snow before declining the offered help.

"Actually, you have no choice, I'm going with you and that's that," said Lightning seriously. "I've come to treat you like a brother so you can't just up and leave now without me."

"But you guys aren't L'Cie anymore; you'll be endangered without your powers." Hope felt elated that they wanted to do this with him but he just couldn't let them take that risk.

"You seem to forget, I've been fighting long before I became a L'Cie," Lightning gave Hope a small grin that allowed him to relax from his stance a little bit. In any case, there was no use arguing with the woman when she set her mind onto it.

"I'm coming too," announced Snow.

"But what about the wedding?" asked Hope. "You guys have postponed it for such a long time."

"It'll be alright, me and the future missus will be taking care of the wedding details, and when you guys arrive… It'll be a blast," assured Sazh while Serah nodded in agreement.

"I really don't have a choice now do I?" Hope smiled up at his friends, but felt a small pang of pain somewhere in his chest. He wanted to say something else, but Light and Snow's expectant faces made him back down. "Thanks."

Hope watched those around him talk about the details of what's to come, but something troubled him deep down.

"Actually, I was thinking, maybe you should leave the day after tomorrow, that way you'll be prepared," said Hope's father and the others just nodded in agreement after considering it.

With something else weighing heavily in Hope's mind, Hope let the others talk things out. Even when his father asked him if he was alright he just smiled and nodded then walked away from the others while his smile slipped until a frown replaced them.

"What's wrong with me?" asked Hope more to himself as he clutched his chest as if the pain was more literal. "I need to know… I just need to…"

To Be Continued…