003 - Hope! [Action]

[noras-boy.livejournal.com]

[Hope is inbetween his morning and afternoon classes. He's got his books in his bag, with a crisp new pad of paper with incredibly neat handwriting just visible where the cover has not fallen over the lined paper in a straight line. Hope is looking up at the sky with his eyes closed.

It had been an interesting thing being back in a school environment. He'd never really thought he'd miss it as much as he did. There were new people to meet, schedules to keep and lots of interesting thing to learn. It had been a rough time recently in his life, he was glad it was starting to resemble something normal, even if it never would be.

Hope pulls out a little laminated card from his pocket and looks down at it. He had Political Science, Sociology and Tactical strategy left to go for that day. He smiles, stands heading towards the cafeteria for a bite to eat.]


[OOC: Open to EVERYONE! Especially his class mates.]

Comments

[brightens]

Mmm... Dunno yet!

[ She looks over to the lunch line and taps her chin with a finger, seemingly deep in thought. About her lunch choice, yes. ]

You think they have any more of those left?

[ She points to the sandwich. ]

[noras-boy.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure. They're in the fridge opposite the hot meals section. You just take one up to the counter.

[... Why is he telling her this. She probably already knows that already.]

Uhh... they get snapped up fast, so I'd go see.

[brightens]

[ Either way, whether she knew it already or not, she's listening intently. ]

Aaaalright! I'm gonna try it!

[ She hops up out of her chair and practically runs to the counter, nearly colliding with a few students on the way. ]

[noras-boy.livejournal.com]

[Hope shakes his head gently, a fond smile on his lips. Vanille was a very strange girl, but a fun one to be around. He looks back down at his notes while she's at the counter.]

[brightens]

[ A few minutes later, she returns, triumphant, a sandwich and drink in hand, plopping into her seat. ]

Got them~!

[noras-boy.livejournal.com]

Well done!

[He laughs and takes a sip of his own drink, tucking his notes away.]

How've your classes been?

[brightens]

Ah— pretty good, so far! It's too bad we're not in any of the same ones, though, huh?

[ Takes a generous bite of her sandwich, chewing thoughtfully. ]

I'm, ah... I'm in a class with Lightning.

[noras-boy.livejournal.com]

That's not Lightning.

[It spilled out of his mouth before he could control his tone. Another one of the issues he hadn't quite dealt with. He snapped at her... and that wasn't what he'd wanted.]

Sorry Vanille. It's... [He looks down into open space.] I miss the real Lightning.

[brightens]

[ She shakes her head. ]

No... You're right. She's... She's not the Lightning we know.

I miss her, too.

[noras-boy.livejournal.com]

After... After everything. Lightning was the one to really look out for me... when we separated from you and Sazh. She taught me how to survive.

[His fist clenches on the table.]

I don't know what to do. Snow says we have to help her... but how do we help someone who believes we should die? Someone with a will like Lightning?

[brightens]

We can't just give up on her, either.

[ She leans forward a little, setting her food down on the table. ] She's still Lightning, even if she doesn't remember anything... Even if she's really different than what we remember. She doesn't... [ She shakes her head. ] She doesn't trust any of us and sees us as enemies, but... We can't just ignore the fact that she's here... Right?

I guess... For now, we should just avoid making her mad, you know? Let her know we don't want to hurt anyone... That we never did.

[ After all, it wasn't their fault they became l'Cie in the first place... It was hers. ]

[noras-boy.livejournal.com]

Right. We can do that... but... It's hard. She's not m- She's not our Lightning... We don't know what she's been through.

[He looks down. Hope is kinda sucking at the optimism right now.]

How do we know... how do we know what the other versions of us did? If there are any. We- They might have hurt people. It's going to take time. And I'm not sure...

[He fades, his fists clenching.]

What was her world like?

[brightens]

No... We don't. I don't think anyone does, except her.

[ Vanille lowers her hands to her lap, playing with her fingers. ] Do... You think maybe we should ask?

[noras-boy.livejournal.com]

Do you think she'd tell us even if we did?

[Hope looks down too.]

It's awful... but I don't even want to try it because it'd only make her suspicious.

[brightens]

Snow said... That Cid is going to try to help us... To get through to her, you know?

I guess we should just... Wait... A little while, you know? It probably won't hurt much. Since she's already...

[noras-boy.livejournal.com]

Yeah... and we're busy enough as it is...

[They're probably going to have to FORCE Hope to talk to that Lightning. Unless there was a real reason? He'd probably shy away.]

I... in a way I hope the Real Lightning comes here...

[brightens]

[ She can't blame him. After everything she's seen, she wants to run away, too. ]

I hope so, too. We can't really all be together if everyone's not here, right? That includes our Lightning. And Fang, too...