Director Estheim; Hope.

       “ A remark to not deny. ” As words could not pronounce more than truth. The world wasn’t cleanse of purity as the reason of flaws were those of the corrupts in laws. The stigma of those to meet intentions of immoral actions emphasizes the contrast of the fraction that wishes to eradicate them. There was no end once the fault was acknowledged, but did bring one less of the wandering degeneracy. Lightning’s own worth was defining the iniquity in one and ensure consequences were met.“ Not all of confining a culprit no.” A purpose role foregrounds of protection of those incapable, with hopes to inspire another. “A means to protect society as a whole.” She stressed.

        She reflected on the present. To what motivates the male to say such as would seem she was aware of the motives of her actions. Words of incentive perhaps. Even if not, she simply smiled at the thought of his approach. The sight was a pleasure. Hands settling on her hips with a tilt of her head in such observant mode. “ Now do you intend to come along? Or is this simply to lecture me?” Her last statement traced a tease. “Now then. Onward shall we? ”

Hope made some sweeping gesture, one born of theatre more than politeness, before silently ushering her forward in an ‘I’ll follow you’ motion. In the past he had likened her to some of the more renowned investigators of literature - when it came to her work, Lightning took professional to a new length. He’d once teased that such icons as Poirot or Marple, or even Nero Wolf would struggle to meet her. (Holmes was never mentioned - the great detective never cared about society as much as he cared about the truth on the whole, though he could see her one day saying that the case was ‘afoot.’)

» ⑆ ❀ Yuna covered her mouth with a small smile. “I’ll be more than happy to teach you how to fish. Of course, I’ll even show you a small fun trick I learned from one of the villagers. Don’t tell anyone when I show you.” Turning around to continue their walk. Rikku was mainly keeping her arms linked around Yuna in excitement. “Oh, we’re having bisque soup. I hope you’ll like seafood, Hope. If not, I’ll make you something different. You’re not allergic to anything, are you?”

  “I’ll eat his share if he doesn’t want his!” Grinning widely, laughing when Yuna gave her a look. “I’m kidding… Slightly. Come on! We’re finally away from those bozos. Let’s live a little and have fun. Maybe we can even steal the airship and go have fun just the three of us.”

 “And have Cid yell at us? No thanks. I rather not hear my uncle complain about how reckless we are. Oh, also, there’s been a surge of dogs roaming the village now, so I apologize if you two don’t like them. ” With the village in the distance getting much clearer, Rikku snatched Yuna’s hand and proceeded to bolt down the hill wanting food, see the dogs, and of course, stock up on some cheap potions due to not many visiting customers.

  “Come on, slowpokes! We got places to be!” With a Yuna laughing, holding out her hand to Hope as Rikku sledded down that hill. 

A few villagers glanced up, hearing a rather loud woman’s voice, wondering who it could have been before focusing on their day-to-day life. One of the kids playing with the pack of dogs and an elderly woman was scolding everyone over every little thing.

Throughout the exchange, Hope had flittered between nodding in affirmative or quietly humming in thought. (Although there was the brief moment where Rikku ‘offered’ to help him eat his dinner that left him verbally frowning. “I’m sure it’ll be great - no such thing as being picky when you’ve camped as much as I have.” He still could recall the behemoth steaks that were grilled over crackling fires when he travelled with old friends.) But the act wasn’t so much for show: in truth, he had been lost in his thoughts. Again.

“I’ve been thinking about something, actually,” he murmured. “Now, it’s just an idea, but before we get to the village....” He trailed off, lowering his voice an octave as though he were indulging in a conspiracy. 

He’d heard all about how the citizens of Besaid felt about machina - the whole of Spira was on edge when it came to using the ‘forbidden Machina’ of the past. Generations of ardent belief wasn’t about to just vanish now that the Al Bhed literally swooped in on mechanical wings and helped to save the day. 

» ⑆ ❀  Yuna had pretended to ignore what Brother was saying in their native tongues, perhaps to save Brother some ego despite knowing how creepy it was that family was rather crushing hard on her. It was hard lately dealing with countless requests for her hand in marriage, knowing that all they saw in her is someone that could make their family honorable. They didn’t know her personally despite living on Besaid for almost her whole life, and the ones in Luca were obnoxious. 

A tense hand around her purple folded skirt trying to remain calm. “Oh, ah, thank you, Hope, Rikku. Let’s get out of here before your brother notices we’re leaving.”

 Rikku laughed- quickly getting quiet in case they looked over here, shoving Yuna. “Let’s go, go, go! I want some Yunie food!” Yuna chuckled, grinning at them before quickly making haste towards the village with a small wooden house built for her next to the temple. “So, what have you been up to?”

 “Usual. Wakka plans on taking me to Kilikia for them to ease down. I rather not want to go on a boat there, but we have no choice. I think this weekend is my only time off… Oh, what about you two? Has the airship been treating you nicely, Hope? I’m hoping that those parts we found will work well with it, and if not, maybe they can be melted down into something useful.”

  “Actually, I have a question… Do you think you guys could let me up there sometime? I would like to get away from being High Summoner and just be Yuna. I’ll even watch you two work or help around!” 

 Rikku giggles. “Of course you can, Yuna! I’m sure Hop’ would be willing to show you around the airship all day. Of course, you’ll have to provide food for us! Oh, oh, could we go fishing by any chance?! I wonder if Besaid fish is just as good as the fish around the home was.”

  “…How about I take you two fishing then one day? Maybe this weekend when it’s my free time. That is if Wakka doesn’t schedule anything..” Glancing away, careful not to fall.

Hope had mostly been nodding along, following the conversation as best as he could. Yuna and RIkku were cousins, but more than that, they had travelled across Spira together. Rikku was right there when they brought Yevon down low and for so much of it before hand. In truth, he almost felt a little out of place - the pair of them surely had a strong bond by now. But he wasn’t about to excuse himself when he had been asked along - especially if it meant keeping the renegade summoner safe from Brother.

By the time Yuna was asking for a ride on the airship - the same one she had been using to cross the lands and help finally take Sin down - he didn’t doubt for one moment that she could climb aboard anytime she wanted. It wasn’t his place to say, but he nodded along with Rikku the moment she asked. At least one before he had spoken with the young Al Bhed and agreed that Yuna could do with a little more healthy rebellion in her life.

“Fishing?” He knew Besaid was a fishing village - at least he assumed it was. A small island with a natural cove and an established dock. And if he were honest, he had been too busy helping to unload supplies and finding himself meeting them both to really pay attention when they landed. But it would make sense that fishing would have been a general past time there. (Really, aside from praying and Blitzball, what else was there to do...?)

“I mean, I’m all for it. But...” Hope trailed off for a second, scratching the side of his cheek as they walked up the mountain path away from the beach. “I think I’ll need a lesson or two. I can’t say I’ve ever really given it a go.” 

Still - how hard could it be, right? Right.

No interest in pitching errant Moogle’s skyward.

No acting skills what-so-ever, even in a fine purple suit on a gold statue.

Would want to explore the desert ruins over helping Fang topple religion.

Alexander would make a heckin’ big chonky Chocobo. And most of all...

» ⑆ ❀ Turning over to the silvered haired male, full attention onto him as Rikku just happily shook her, excited that they were meeting once more. “Oh, you don’t have to call me Lady Yuna. Just Yuna is fine with me, but thank you. I had no choice. I would do it all over again if everyone stayed alive and safe.”

“Thank you. I had all sorts of fun, including intruding at a wedding! And besides, Yunnie, you’re so sweet. I rather not have you go through that ever again!” Rikku grinned. “I see that you’ve become a hot celebrity for everyone.”

“Ah, I suppose… Even a few unwanted questions, but it’s my job to make sure everyone feels safe even with Sin permanently gone. Ah, all of you must be hungry. I made some soup that should be ready when we get there. I do hope the supplies here will be enough for a while. I think there’s another shipment from Luca to be picked up soon.”

Yuna jumped slightly when Rikku threw her arm around the High Summoner’s shoulders. “It’ll be alright, Yuna. You work too hard for everyone. Your job is over, and you should relax! Haven’t been sleeping, have you?” A single shake of the head answered the Al Behd’s question. “I figure. Come on, Hope. Let’s steal Yuna from this area for a little bit! To Yuna’s home for food! Brother and the rest can deal with them.” 

Turning to Hope with a sweet smile, waving at him. “Not nauseous from Brother’s or Rikku’s driving? If so, I do have some medicine for that. Oh, I forgot to mention, some of the fishermen found a few machina parts, and I figured they might be some use to you. I had it all cleaned off to the best of our ability, and it’s got your name all over it.” 

 Peeking over Hope’s shoulder, noticing Brother and a few others butting heads. At least Wakka is there to stop it. “Heh, we should get going now.”

Hope found himself silently wondering how anyone could remain so down to earth after everything they had gone through. He supposed part of it was from exhaustion - the weariness of the experience, coupled with the grief from loss. Sudden changes that weren’t going to go anywhere just yet. Not to mention the giant question of “what next.” He had agreed with the Al Bhed that had allowed him to stay among them - forcing summoners to throw away their lives to mollify a creature like Sin was barbaric. And yet Yuna - the High Summoner, now - was willing to go right along with it. And she still managed to walk away.

He almost thanked her for the parts. Honestly, did she ever stop thinking about others? Unlikely. Before he could, however, it became clear from the noise behind them that Brother was getting that much rowdier. And the crush he had on Yuna (a cousin no less) was well known to all. “That’s not a bad idea,” he said, lowering his voice just a little bit as though they were conspiring to steal some great treasure.