NaNo2014 day 23

[shamera]

The sun was bright when Hope woke up again, body aching and sore but otherwise perfectly normal for any other morning. He groaned into his pillow as the sunlight streamed through his window, pulling his blankets up over his head for several minutes as he dozed lightly, until he finally had to shove the blankets away and gasp for fresh air.

The cold air woke him up faster, although it also made him more reluctant to move from the bed, along with just how his body felt like it had been tossed through a meat grinder. He hadn’t even felt that bad during and after the hunting trip with Fang.

It was only a glance at the clock in his room that prompted Hope to get out of bed, stepping carefully one foot at a time onto the floor to test his footing and just how badly his muscles were protesting. While the ache was mildly irritating, it certainly wasn’t going to impede his most common actions. His skin still felt rather tender from the day prior, but as Hope checked a mirror above his dresser rather quickly while changing, he couldn’t find not signs of any kinds of wounds or lingering windburns. As a pulled on a knit cardigan over his shirt, he paused once again at the mirror, and frowned at his reflection.

Pale blue-green eyes stared back at him in disapproval, framed by pale skin and hair that was perhaps a tad too long. He reached up and tugged at his bangs, trying to see where they ended if he pulled it flat down against his face rather than let it fluff up. They covered his eyes entirely now. He reached up and patted his hair down, frowning as the sides of his hair curled around his face. It didn’t help that his cheeks were still childishly rounded with a light smattering of freckles that he couldn’t notice unless he was actually looking for them.

He let go of the sides of his hair, his reflection turning nostalgic.

Not a year ago, Nora Estheim had laughed and laughed as she showed off her newly shorn hair, coming up to stand behind her son and rest her chin on top of his head, ”Hey, look at that! If you grow your hair just a little longer, we’ll have the same haircut too!”

He could remember her smile clearly, despite it having been seven months now… along with four hundred years. It was always comforting, if a little sad; gentle and memorable. There was just something about the way she smiled that always put him at ease, no matter how bad a situation.

He tilted his head slightly up and to the side, and stretched his lips up, attempting to imitate that smile.

His reflection smiled back, and Hope froze for a moment at the sight before reaching up and turning the mirror on its cord on the wall, until all he could see was the imperfect back surface.

Hope let out a shaky breath, and drew away from the mirror to finish dressing for the day. He’d have to get a new pair of gloves, and possibly another sweater. And a haircut. A very short haircut.

—

His father was still there when he exited his room, which was a surprise. Hope blinked, and then leaned his head back into his room to look for the time again. It still read after noon.

“Hope.” Bartholomew addressed, putting down his work tablet. He was seated at the small table in the kitchen area with a cup of cold coffee and a plate with crumbs on it. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay.” Hope answered automatically; carefully. He thought for a second, and then stepped toward the kitchen area as well to rummage through the fridge. “Hungry, I guess.”

It wasn’t worth it to mention just how stiff his entire body felt. That was to be expected, after all. He hadn’t forgotten about being thrown into a well and shot the night before. All things considered, he felt a lot better than he would have expected to.

“There’s food being kept warm in the oven.” His father told him. “Miss Farron — ah, Serah, she brought over breakfast this morning, but neither of us wanted to wake you.”

Hope checked in the oven, and made a pleased noise as he pulled out the plate of eggs, bacon, and pancakes. It was far more than he could eat, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to finish as much as possible. He placed all of it on the table, and then pulled a clean glass from the cabinets and rummaged through the fridge for juice.

“Your friends Lightning and Noel left earlier in the morning.” Bartholomew told him, sounding vaguely uncomfortable using such informal names. Hope only responded with a noise that he meant to be both sympathetic to his father’s unease and an acknowledgement to the statement. “They said they’d be back later, although I suppose that means soon.”

“Okay.” Hope put the rest of the juice back in the fridge and made his way over to the table with his large glass, pulling the seat out to sit down. “I’m surprised you’re still home, though. Don’t you have important meetings at work?”

“I wanted to speak with you about a few things.” His father told him, and Hope just nodded along, digging into the warm food. He learned long ago the difference in his dad’s tone when he was serious and when he was serious, and it currently didn’t seem to be the latter. “And did you really think I would just leave you on your own after what happened yesterday?”

That question made Hope pause and look up guiltily. “...I didn’t mean it that way. I just — I know how important your work is to you.”

“Never as important as my family.” Bartholomew said, tone stern. He folded his hands together as Hope opened his mouth to protest, but then thought better of it. “The work I’ve been doing lately… It’s what I wanted to speak with you about. That, along with a decision I…” His father fell silent for a moment, looking conflicted as he adjusted his glasses. “I have always made my decisions on what would be best for you. But you’re smart, and you’re not a child anymore. The residential area of the settlements are being completed now, and I am at an important stage in my work, but… Hope. Do you want to stay here?”

“Uhh.” He hadn’t been expecting that. He couldn’t ever remember a conversation like this ever coming up before in the previous timeline. “I’m okay with being here?”

“I wanted to provide you with more opportunities here.” His father admitted. “I believed… still do believe, that this place will provide better connections for your future. But this should not be my decision alone. I had hoped you would get into a good school here, that perhaps life would go back to normal for you, but perhaps that was folly on my part. Your friends all reside in New Bodhum… and Hope, if you feel that you’ll be happier there, then I can do my work just as well there as here.”

Hope found himself unable to respond. He just always expected to stay in the settlements. The place would eventually turn into Academia, after all, and that was the city he had grown attached to in the future. Not New Bodhum, not anywhere else. That was one of the reasons Hope hadn’t protested moving so far away from his friends this time.

“Of course you needn’t decide anything now.” Bartholomew continued easily. “But seeing as this building will no longer be used for residencies soon, would would have to move to the residential areas. Or, if you would prefer, we can move elsewhere.”

Hope breathed in, and then looked down at the warmed food, one hand tapping his fork against the stack of pancakes as he pondered the situation. “Does this have to do with the kidnappers?”

“I would be lying if I claimed otherwise.” His father admitted. “Had you been with your friends, I doubt this would have happened. I hate to admit it, but perhaps their protection is more important than my intentions. But. Your happiness will the the deciding factor here, more than anything else.”

In his mind’s eye, Hope could see the gleaming spires of Academia. He could see the glowing lights, hear the bright laughter of children and shopkeepers calling out their sales. There were gleaming walkways and ships flying overhead, and the Academy headquarters stretching into the sky in a building as strong and majestic that it made Hope proud to look at it each time. The design he had submitted originally had been full of tributes to his former Eidolon, Alexander, as Hope wanted to make the Academy a fortress that would shelter humanity the same way his Eidolon had once sheltered him through the worst times.

Could he really leave that ideal, that future which he knew could happen, behind?

His father must have seen his indecision, as he tried to smile and reached over to pat his son’s arm. “Think upon it. I won’t ask for an answer today, so I expect that you give it some thought. But there is something else I wanted to mention to you.”

“Is it going to be like what you just said?” Hope asked shakily, attempting to lighten the situation as he laughed nervously. “I don’t know if I can make another decision like that on top of this.”

“No, it’s nothing like that.” Bartholomew reassured him. This time, the older man cracked a genuine smile. “I wanted to share my work with you. My recent meetings have yielded positive results, and I would like your input and ideas.”

With that said, the older man put down the tablet he had been working on, and pushed it slightly over so that Hope could see the contents clearly.

“I suppose the idea came after the results came in from the time you took the assessment exam for the settlement’s high school.” His father explained. “I wanted to create an alternative form of education that would provide quality schooling. That was the initial idea. And then Rygdea told me that you were using the old hangars as a place to build technology, and the idea shifted. I’ve been in contact with several influential people from Cocoon, and they’ve just recently approved the idea of a new academy being built on Gran Pulse. It’s to provide a source of secondary education as well as continuation of research and experimentation for scientists to expand upon information found down here on Pulse.”

The excitement for the project was clear in his father’s voice.

“Well?” Bartholomew asked, still sounding enthused. “What do you think? There’s a lot left to do before we can even start, and we need a name for it, but…”

“You should keep it simple.” Hope interjected. He had dropped his fork to take a better look at the wording of the project his father had been working on, and was trying to keep his voice level. “I mean, it’s pretty unique to the schools down here. Just call it by what it is.”

“Hmm.” His father hummed in thought, and then nodded. “The Academy it is, then.”

—

They were still discussing the details when Lightning and Noel returned, their arms full with bags.

“The Guardian Corps has a lead on the kidnappers.” Lightning informed them as she set the bags down on the floor in the tiny living room. “They’ve found several leads to people connected with this group, but now there may be something solid that would bring these people in before they can do any more damage.”

“That’s great,” Hope tried to enthuse, although he doubted it would make the situation any better. Those who hated l’Cie weren’t going to stop hating l’Cie just because some kids were caught being terrible. As optimistic as he wanted to be about people being inherently good, he also understand implicitly that should the kidnappers be caught and tried fairly, there would also be a good number of people who would see their actions as nothing wrong because it had been against a former l’Cie.

The only thing that could change the opinions on l’Cie was time, and reinforcement of the truth. It would be years before people started grudgingly accepting the fact that it had been the Cocoon fal’Cie at fault, and not the easily blamed l’Cie. It would be a long and bumpy road, but Hope also knew that people would change for the better.

“I’ll be going with the team to apprehend them,” She told him. “But Noel’s going to stay here with you.”

Somehow, the situation sounded eerily similar to when Snow left the two of them together in 400AF. Not that he minded too much, but…

“I thought he’d be going back with you guys.” Hope admitted awkwardly. “I mean… wouldn’t Serah want him there?”

“She does.” Lightning confirmed. “But she also wants you safe as well. And until we apprehend the kidnappers, both she and I would rather you not be left on your own. Fang and Vanille have also volunteered to stay, but they’re in the middle of a project Vanille’s been working on and Fang refuses to leave her.”

“I don’t think anyone should be left on their own right now, regardless of—” Hope flushed deeply as he caught his own words. Lightning gave him a somewhat smug smile, and he sighed. “Fine. Okay. I get it. Don’t do anything on my own right now, seeing as I wouldn’t want any of you guys to be on your own either.”

“I knew you were smarter than you looked.” Lightning quipped wryly. She smiled, though, and placed a hand on his shoulder in reassurance. “Don’t worry. Sazh and Dajh will be staying with Fang and Vanille, and Serah’s going to be surrounded by all of Team NORA until this blows over.”

“And what about you?” Hope asked quietly.

“I may have picked the worst of the lot.” Lightning said, rolling her eyes. “Snow’s coming along with me. We’ll see how useful he actually proves to be.”

“Well, you’re probably going to have to tell Serah he was useful no matter what since he actually is your brother-in-law now.” Hope joked, mood lightening as he watched her make a vague grimace.

“Urg.” She said. “Don’t remind me.”

Hope laughed, feeling the rest of the tension drain away in that quick moment. Sadly, that lasted only a moment before his smile fell. “...I’m sorry.”

“About what?” Lightning asked, and then shook her head. “No. Never mind. You probably think this is all your fault. Well—” She reached out and flicked him hard on the forehead, and Hope yelped, drawing back to cover the spot with his hands in case she went in for a second attack. “It’s not. So get that in your head.”

“Ow.” Hope protested rather weakly, rubbing at the spot on his forehead. He looked up at her serious expression, and smiled faintly. “Yeah, yeah. I get it. Not my fault those people are dumb.”

It was the same with Psicom and the Sanctum when they had been running away from them. This affected all of them, not just him. It was just… hard to remember, at times. He was far too used to things happening because of him, and then having to take responsibility for that. But now everyone else was here as well.

A burden shared, huh?

“I’ll give you a call this evening.” She told him. “Expect the others to be on the line as well. It’d be easier if we could keep everyone together, but…”

Hope bit his lip, thinking of the what his father said earlier. Would it truly be better if they moved to New Bodhum? Then, as Lightning said, they might all at least be together and things wouldn’t be as hectic. It might actually be better as well, as he would be able to physically see the others on a daily basis.

He just… didn’t want to abandon the Academy. Even if it would form again, Hope didn’t want to be the reason it was delayed or, heaven forbid, failed. His father was needed in the settlement in order to further the idea and draw more people on board, and then eventually the entire settlement would be so enamored with the concept that they would name the settlement Academia, in honor of the institution being built at the heart of the newly bustling city.

Then again, it was one thing to preserve the Academy. This was an entirely new timeline, after all. Was it really a duty of his to make sure that the one good thing that came from the previous timeline stayed the same, or was he supposed to change things up and make sure that no one would know how the future would go this time?

Well, no one except Yeul. He wondered if she knew what he would decide, and whether that would actually make a difference. He probably shouldn’t ask her. It just brought his thoughts back to her dilemma, and her own struggle to survive in a world whose laws dictated she needed to die. He still wasn’t sure how he could help her.

He wanted to go with Lightning, but was sure that she would refuse if he offered. He wouldn’t be able to help if he couldn’t get control of his magic back. He’d have to practice first somehow, and then make himself useful. Until then, the best he could do was to not make her worry.

So as she got ready to leave, all he could do was tug on her sleeve to draw her attention to himself for a moment.

“Um.” He stammered out, feeling young and insecure all over again. “Stay safe.”

She glanced down at him with an unreadable gaze for a moment before her expression softened. “Don’t worry. I plan on it.”

He watched her walk away this time, until she turned at a street corner and he couldn’t see her any more.