love don't know how to rest

It wasn’t like she had a solution though, they still had no idea what was causing the crystals to appear, nor how heroes were summoned to this world. And even if they did know and could summon more people to fight, Lightning didn’t know if she could justify it.

It was well and good to say they were fighting to save this world, and no one who had arrived seemed to hold any deep resentment for being pulled in, but it was still stealing people away from their old lives. They didn’t know if time was still passing while they were gone, it was very possible that the fate of someone’s home world might be put at risk in order to protect this one. 

She was getting ready to put her phone away, figuring out there was nothing else to learn for the time being, when her eyes caught sight of some messages in one of the group chats that had just come in..

Zidane: Oh hey, did you guys hear we got two new members?

Rinoa: Oh, who are they? 

Zidane: Their names are Hope and Iris, don’t know much about them yet. 

Zidane: They’re still talking with Mog.

Lightning froze. Hope. It couldn’t just be a coincidence, right? It wasn’t exactly a common name for guys, at least not in her world. She supposed it could be different elsewhere though. She shouldn’t get her hopes up.

Lightning: Hope…does he have silver hair? 

Her nails tapped impatiently against the back of her phone as she waited for a reply. Although she didn’t want Hope dragged into another fight, he had more than earned his peace, her heart desperately needed it to be him.   

Zidane: !!!!

Zidane: Do you know him, Lightning?

Although he hadn’t directly said yes, it was clear enough what the answer was from the way Zidane had replied. 

Lightning: Yes

That was the only reply she gave before muting the chat and shoving her phone into her pocket, ignoring the sudden flurry of notifications she could see from the app.  She didn’t know for sure if Hope had been pulled from the same point in the timeline as her, so she didn’t want to say too much until she knew what his specific situation was. 

At the very least she felt certain that he must have come from a point in time where they had already met, whatever forces had brought them here was unlikely to pull in anyone who wasn’t capable in a fight. 

Thankfully she was relatively close to the Ghost’s headquarters, but it was a struggle not to just run the whole way there. Given what had been going on with the crystals and monsters, it might panic people. 

Once she actually made it into the building though, she no longer hesitated, taking the stairs up to the second floor two at a time. Thankfully there was no one else in the stairwell to judge her. It was only once she neared the meeting room that she slowed down and took a moment to compose herself; she didn’t want to alarm Hope by seeming too frantic.  

The door was slightly ajar already when she approached and made no sound as she pushed it the rest of the way open. There in front of her, listening intently to Mog, were two figures. 

One was a teenage girl with dark brown hair, and the other…

Hope. 

Any fears she had of him being from earlier in the timeline then her vanished as she took in the sight of him. He was clearly an adult and dressed in a blue button up shirt that she remembered buying for him because he had happened to mention it matched the color of her eyes.  

What was most telling though, was the engagement ring she could see on his figure. It matched the one she wore on a chain around  her neck, where it would not get caught on anything during a fight. They had gone to buy them together. 

It was Mog who noticed her presence first.

“Ah,” He began, “Here’s one of the other warriors, kupo!” 

Hope and the girl both turned in her direction, and she could see the exact moment that her partner fully registered her presence, his eyes first widening in surprise, before softening in relief.

“Lightning!” He breathed out, almost like a prayer. 

Mog looked between the two of them in surprise. 

“Ah! Could it be, you’re from the same world, kupo?” 

Lightning didn’t answer, and instead closed the distance between her and Hope, to pull him into her arms. It was only once she could feel the familiar shape of his muscles under the hands, and breathe in his familiar scent, that she could finally relax and truly believe he was real.

She wanted to bury her face in his shoulder, to pepper his face and lips with kisses, to check every inch of his body to make sure that no harm had befallen him while she was gone. There were other people around though, so it would have to wait. 

Thankfully she had tomorrow off, and Mog generally gave newcomers a few days to settle themselves before adding them to the rotation, so they had time. And she would be insisting that Mog partner her and Hope up, she didn’t share him with others.

After lingering for what was probably a moment too long given they were in mixed company, Lightning finally let go of Hope, contenting herself with intertwining their fingers together instead. 

“We are,” Hope told Mog, after she had let go. His grip on her hand was firm, and she could tell that just like her, he had no intentions of letting go anytime soon. “We’ve known each other for a long time.”

Lightning resisted the urge to let out a snort. That was an understatement. Even if most of it hadn’t been spent by each other’s side, there was still over a  thousand years of history between the two of them. 

“I see, kupo.” Mog said, nodding his head solemnly. “I’ll have to rearrange the teams then, you two would probably work best together.” 

Hope gave a small smile, “That would be appreciated,” He said, always the diplomatic one. Or at least these days he was, Lightning distinctly remembered a time he’d wanted to solve his  problems by stabbing them. “We’ve always been partners.”

It was true, even when there was time and space separating them, even when they hadn’t been able to communicate, they had still been partners. Still been working together towards a common goal. 

Lightning had almost forgotten about the girl, Hope’s presence proving far too distracting, but she was reminded of it as the girl let out a sigh.

“Ah, I wonder if there’s anyone here I know.” She wondered outloud, before giving Lightning a smile. “I’m Iris Amicitia,” She said, sticking out her hand. 

Lightning took it briefly, considering the girl as they shook hands. She didn’t look like she could be that much older then Hope had been back when they were l’cie. She wasn’t the only teenager among their group, but Lightning still didn’t like it. Children should be allowed to be children, not have to carry the fate of a world.

“Lightning Farron.” She said, “And I suppose you’ve already met Hope.”

Iris nodded cheerfully, “Yup! Hope Estheim. We arrived at about the same time.” She let out another sigh, “Not really sure how I feel about being dragged into another world though, things back home are a bit of a mess right now.”

Lightning pursed her lips. This was the kind of situation she had been worried about. She didn’t know what exactly Iris meant by things being a mess, but clearly she had been pulled away from a situation that was worrying. 

“I don’t think you need to worry too much.” Hope assured Iris. “From my point of view it’s only been a few hours since I last saw Lightning, but I’m guessing it's been longer for her.”

He glanced at Lightning, raising a questioning eyebrow. She nodded. 

“I’ve been here for about two months.”

Hope's eyes looked sad for a moment, and she knew he must be thinking about the time in the past when she had also been separated from her friends. She gave his hand a quick squeeze, letting him know she was okay. It had only been two months, while she had missed everyone, she had endured longer. At least this time she was in a place where she could live a normal life in between fights, instead of being a constant guardian. 

The look on Hope’s face said he wasn’t fully convinced, but he let the subject drop for the time being.

“That’s quite a difference in time.” He said, reaching up to run at his chin thoughtfully. “Is it the standard difference between here and all worlds though, I wonder, or does it vary.” He turned to look at Mog, clearly hoping the moogle would have answers, but he just shook his head sadly.

“I’m afraid I don’t know, kupo.” He told them, “I was brought here like you guys and put in charge, I don't know the specifics of things anymore then the rest of you.” 

Lightning let out a sigh. It seemed like all they got these days were more questionions, never answers. 

Hope echoed her sigh. “It seems we need more data then.” Hope said, turning to look at Iris. “If there turns out to be anyone here that’s from your world, let me know. Even two data samples will be better than just one.”

Iris nodded in understanding, and Lightning couldn’t help but give Hope an affectionate look. She knew he was tired of leadership, he had done his best to stay out of the limelight since being reborn, but he had not lost the ability to step up and take charge.

Still, as proud as she was, she also felt sorrowful. 

She had wished just a few weeks earlier that Hope was there, had thought that he might be able to get this figured out so they could all go home, but now that he was here, she felt guilty. Guilty that he had to bear that kind of weight again and guilty that she was happy he was here.

Hope gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, he had always been good at reading her emotions, even when they had been gone. She was sure he would bring it up later, wanting to know what was bothering her.

“For now, let’s just focus on getting you guys settled in, kupo!” Mog said, “It’ll be easier to take care of that kind of thing once you have phones….you do know how to use phones, right?”

Both Iris and Hope nodded, and Mog let out a sigh of relief. Lightning couldn’t blame him, while everyone was fine with using cell phones now, it had been a bit of an ordeal to teach certain members how to use them. Not everyone came from worlds where phones were a thing.  

“As for living arrangements…” Mog continued, but Lightning cut him off.

“Hope will be staying with me.” She said, her tone brooking no argument. 

Mog blinked. “There’s enough…” He began, before seeming to finally take  notice of the way that Lightning and Hope’s fingers were intertwined. “Ah…I see, kupo!”

He seemed to think for a moment, his bobble wiggling back and forth as he did so.

“We’ll have to see about getting you a bigger place.” He finally said, “The dorms aren’t really meant for two people. Just bear with it for now, okay kupo?” 

“It’s fine.” Lightning said. If necessary she was sure she and Hope could figure something out, they were both good at being resourceful.  Besides, while Mog was right that the dorms weren’t really meant for two people, it was a little bit different when those two people were a couple. She and Hope were used to sharing space, they’d be fine until they found somewhere else. 

“Well, I suppose that’s settled then. Would you be willing to  show them where the dorms are and introduce them to others?”

Honestly, Lightning really didn’t want to. What she wanted to do was find a nice quiet spot and spend some time catching up with Hope. It wouldn’t be very responsible of her to refuse though, so she nodded. 

There would be time later to catch up with Hope. She could give him and Iris an initial tour of the dorms, and then once they ran into someone else, she might be able to pass the responsibility off to them and have time alone with Hope.