cursedwithpuns | .[Hope Estheim - 0.0.2. Action]. The wait is excruciating!~ (Cherrygrove)

No. We fly on our Pokémon, if they know how and can support our weight.

[But she will be damned if she lets you up on a bird, lil' bro. It's so not happening.]

Really?!

[Super excitable midget is excitable!]

There are pokémon big enough to fly us around? That's so cool!

[His enthusiasm is also something she'd missed terribly, so she only nods and smiles.]

Big enough to fly on and some big enough to ride on when we're on the ground. I can introduce you to mine once we're settled.

Okay!

[And for a little while? All the troubling thoughts he had while he was on his own melted away for a few minutes of unbridled dorky joy.]

[Those few minutes of unbridled joy really, really, really make Lightning smile. He deserves as much happiness as he can get, and always will, but there's a lot they've got to talk about.

And they're right at the door to the Inn, too. This could get ugly, fast.]

Which is your room?

This one.

[He walked down the hall and gestured them inside. Hope sat down on his bed, his stuff somewhat untidy, his bag in the corner and his clothes on the floor. He had meant to pick them up...]

So... um. Where do we start?

[The mess doesn't really bother Lightning, and she shuts the door behind her as she enters, taking a moment to take one deep breath. In for a gil, in for a pound.]

At the beginning. What's the last thing you remember from home?

We saved everyone. We'd gone through Crystal Stasis and we didn't have a brand.

[That was an odd question.]

Why? Did you think I had amnesia about that too?

[While her expression is a relieved one at his answer, she shakes her head. Amnesia about this never crossed her mind.]

People can come from different times, have different memories. The last time Snow was here, he didn't remember us defeating Orphan. The last thing he remembered was all of us turning into Cie'th.

[Sigh]

I just needed to know how much you remembered, that's all.

Different times?

[Hope looked at Lightning stricken.]

What if someone turned up with their brand! The shock could turn them into a Cei'th! And then what-- We couldn't fight them off-

[See panicking midget response.]

[See big sis all but lunge forward to put her hands on your shoulders, midget-bro. Calm down!]

Hope, listen to me! We have no magic here. No powers. We're just human here, brands or not. No one would turn into a Cei'th here.

Are you sure?

[What're you saying Hope. Of course Lightning is sure.]

Sorry... It's been a tough few days.

I'm sure. Vanille showed up with her brand the last time and she didn't go Cie'th on us.

[Still, she nods and sits beside him. She can understand how it would be hard to take.]

Don't worry about it. It's a lot to take in all at once.

Yeah.

[He looks down. He can't figure out how to ask this question, but as soon as he heard the different times... it had burst into his mind like a confetti canon.]

Lightning... Could... Could my mom...?

[That question brings Lightning up short. Nora Estheim is long dead, lost to the wreckage of the Hanging Edge, but Johto...Johto doesn't care about that. There's always a chance...]

She could show up. I just can't say if she will. We have no control over who comes or who goes here.

Edited 2012-02-15 08:34 (UTC)

I...

[Hope is lost for a moment. A flood of emotion preventing him from finishing with "see". He looked down at his feet.

His mom could turn up. Out of the blue. One day. That's... impossible. But, he knew, a lot of things they had achieved together were impossible. He sighed. Not really knowing what else to say.]

I guess... Is there any more bad news? I'd rather have that in one go.

[Lightning keeps a hand on Hope's shoulder, trying to anchor him through the flood she can guess is rushing through him, but she's not entirely sure it works. She would probably be the same if her parents showed up here someday.

His question, however, actually makes her flinch. She'd spent nearly the entire flight here trying to find a way to explain this, but she still can't find the words. He needs to know, but she's unwilling to hurt him anymore than she already has.]

There is, but...it's complicated.

It's okay. Just... tell me.

[Hope looked at Lightning, he put his hand on hers. He wasn't prepared to wonder. He'd rather know one way or the other.

He takes a breath.]

I'm ready.

[Lightning stops, hesitating for one second longer to take a deep breath and gain some kind of stability where she sits. fal'Cie, she doesn't want to do this. Doesn't want to tell him what she's going to, but...what choice does she have?]

I'm dead, Hope. Been dead for almost a year now.

[She knows it's not going to make any sense to him, what with his grip on her hand, but....he has to know. Better he find out now than another, more vulnerable time.]

D-Dead?

[No. No. Just- No! You can't tell me that! You're not dead. You can't be dead. You're here now. You're here. I'm holding your hand- you can't- you can't take her away from me! Not again!

The numbness visibly spreads through his body and his back goes rigid. His eyes glaze over, tears welling up slowly, falling as his eyes can barely contain them any more. He attempts to stand, to run away but his body won't move.]

No.

[It started softly, but the fire ignited, spreading until it burst out of his mouth.]

No! You're not dead. You're not!

[Etro, she knew he wasn't going to take this well, but seeing him like this...it hurts. It hurts a lot more than any of the blows that contributed to her death, and this won't ease. Not for a while.

So she stands up, keeping her hand under his as she turns to put the other on his other shoulder, looking him directly in the eye. He'll know she's not lying because Lightning doesn't lie, not when it's this important, but...she doesn't know what else to do.]

Hope, listen to me! There's no other way things could be right now. I felt myself die in a place where there was no healing magic or way out. There's no other way for things to be.

You're wrong!

[He yelled at her. He wanted to shrug her away and run away. Out into the cold. Either that or to hurt something. Someone. What use was everything he went through if not to be able to use it-

But he wasn't home. He couldn't just blast things at will, he couldn't even heal her. Call her back. He stood frozen his expression frozen in anger as he can't look up into her eyes. She can't be dead. You can't be dead.]

If you're here you can't be dead. You might have been close but you can't have been dead.

[Don't tell me I'm wrong. he prayed desperately. Every last drop of pain and confusion had to be released at least temporarily, for him to look up at Lightning. His eyes lost behind a veil of angry and crushed tears.]

Please. Don't... just... don't tell me I'm wrong.

[She lets him yell, lets him cry and she'll let him scream if that's what he wants to do. But she's not letting go of his shoulders, and if he runs, she'll chase him and catch him. Her own heart is feeling like it's been run through as he cries, so she crouches down, moving one hand to gently wipe tears from his cheek. The look on her face should say enough, but...]

I wish I could tell you that, Hope. I wish you were right. But I know what happened, and if this place could bring Snow when he was a Cie'th, there's nothing stopping it from bringing the dead here. I'm sorry.

No.

[Lightning, you weren't supposed to tell him that.

His knees buckle as the familiar pain of losing a family member wraps it's icy tendrils around him. The tears would come this time, not like the last. He sobs, large, heavy tear laden sobs that shake his entire body.]

I-I can't take... I can't take this.

[The words slip out between racking sobs. He clings to her clothes. It wasn't a hug, it was a primal instinct, as if she was going to try and leave. He grabs a fistful and squeezes so hard that under his gloves his knuckles are white.]

How... How could you do this to me?!

[The anger swallows him for a moment before he realises what he's saying and a wave of guilt spirals around him. How could he yell at Lightning like that? A very broken boy falls against wherever his head would land when he's on his knees and just sobs.]

[Lightning drops down with him when he falls, keeping in constant contact with him to try and anchor him and remind Hope that she may be dead in their world, but that she's not going anywhere here. She almost vocalizes that, but then his yell catches her off-guard due to the volume alone. She understands the words and the feelings behind it, though, and she only shakes her head. She's had almost a year to cope with this, to come to terms with it, but Hope...it's going to take a very long time.

She'll be here for every minute of it, and his head falls to her chest when he finally gives in, but she doesn't care. She just wraps him in both her arms and hangs on for all she has. Because he's her family and she wishes she could have given him good news, but she can't and she won't leave him to find out from someone who won't even comfort him if it got out. She just wishes there was something more she could do than hold him close and press a kiss to the top of his head. She knows this won't help him much at all and that hurts her.]

.[Hope Estheim - 0.0.2. Action]. The wait is excruciating!~ (Cherrygrove)

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