Retro

A Splash of Hope Can Save Your Life

18 January 2013 (original)

I was 12. This is likely one of my favorites because 1. Hope is a character I really like 2. I like the way I wrote this then 3. The idea makes me emotional and 4. It is fun to write about FF as well. Despite the image being of an older Hope, the Hope in this story is the one right after FF XIII's story ends (14).

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"This is a story about Hope (Final Fantasy XIII) I've had in my mind for a while. I'd like if people could read it, I spent some time sorting this out... it's not easy writing stories... I hope I can keep up with all of them." (Original Note)

"I wrote this like a year ago and found it again. After reading it over, I realized how good it was and that I was pretty impressed at myself for being able to write something like this a year ago. I couldn't let it go to waste, the idea itself was pretty interesting. So here it is now. Because I wrote it a year ago there are probably many grammar mistakes. Just saying.

PS- Watch out for spoilers!" (Nov 22, 2013)

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Excruciating pain and a sudden stop of the constant beating was the only thing the platinum-haired boy had felt before his mind suddenly flushed blank as he felt something tugging him away. He couldn't see what was happening, or what had happened to cause this feeling, but it didn't feel right. He could still feel the tingle of pain flowing through him like some grudge that had stuck after a long time. Pain? Why pain? Why was he feeling the leftovers of something painful and miserable when it wasn't even there. He didn't even know what was going on for crying out loud! ... But, what was going on? The boy's mind couldn't think. Not now anyway. It was as if he was being thrown so fast that you can't think fast enough to prevent yourself from getting a bruise... or stitches, or a broken bone... or death. But Hope was used to most of these things. He had gotten multiple bruises during his lifetime, most of them while fighting with monsters alongside Lightning. He had also needed stitches after a Behemoth clawed his arm as he was just getting it up to protect his face (lesson learned, be aware of your surroundings). Even broken his leg once when an explosion made him fly back, stumble and twist his leg as he tried to run away... Typical Hope, always running away from danger. But he had changed over the years, his days with Lightning and the intense fights he got himself into made him stronger... but what about death? Hope had unfortunately seen some pretty shocking deaths himself. Vanille and Fang, who had sacrificed themselves for Cocoon, had hit Hope really hard. Even though he knew it was to save Cocoon, he secretly wished his friends would've just been alive, and not having to deal with saving the world, and focuses, and becoming l'Cie... things had been so complicated, so hard and dangerous... why had he risked himself? Why had he allowed himself to just be dragged along with Vanille and meet up with Lightning, Snow, Sazh, and Fang? Maybe it was destiny or maybe just bad luck to have people he loved die in the end. Yeah, it still had been nice to have made new friends that made him stronger... but it just wasn't fair. And the most miserable and unforgettable one of all memories, was the death of his beloved mother. How she had slipped from Snow's grip, and fallen into the never ending darkness of The Hanging Edge's abyss (or as Sazh says,"Hell's not sounding too bad cause this place ain't exactly paradise"). How he cried out for her as she fell, tears in his eyes. It still hurt him to think about it, and he never took his necklace his mother had given him for his 9th birthday ever since. But death had never gotten a grip on Hope before. Hell, no way no one ever suspected Hope to be a ghost or some kind of dead creature- and of course not. And he himself had to admit, after all his experiences, death had been one of the top fears in his list, which wasn't made up of a lot of things now.

He could feel himself slipping, and he couldn't do anything about it.

And then- out of the sudden, Hope could feel a soft cushion-like surface under him. He still didn't open his eyes, but questions flooded his mind when his hand made it's way to touch it- soft and grainy... like sand. Sand? Since when had Hope last been to a sandy place? New Bodhum was out of the question, as he had always wanted to take a visit and hang out with Maqui, Gadot, Lebreau, Yuj... Serah, and Snow. But responsibility had gotten him when he had traveled alone to the Paddra Ruins to research about the future and a mysterious object known as the "Oracle Drive" that contained images of future events. But after that, it was about all his memories could stretch out to. With all the light that shone down on him, it was impossible to keep his eyes open in such brightness "When did it get so bright?" was his first thought as he slowly raised his arm over his face for shade and blinked. He felt how warm he was getting by just laying there in the open heat. If he continued, he would've caught on fire, and the sudden change of temperature wasn't pleasing. He sat up slowly and waited for his eyes to focus on his surroundings. When the blurriness became clear, the first thing he spot was water. Water? He flinched "Where am I?" he asked himself, looking around wildly as he spotted his next hints. Sand, water, more sand, and more water... "A beach?" With the clear ocean water that made soft waves every five seconds, and sand all over the ground, it had to be a beach. He narrowed his eyes as far as they could look, over the horizon of the never ending ocean "I've never been to the beach before..." he murmured as the picture reminded him of what Serah had described New Bodhum to be like. They also had a beach there... They also had a beach there! "Am I in New Bodhum?!" Hope suddenly thought as his face became hopeful. To make sure, he turned away from the ocean and searched for any beach houses anywhere nearby, and to his disappointment, found none but sand, for miles and miles... his face dropped as the boy was once again clueless of his whereabouts "I think I'm lost..." he said with his tone down as he raised his hand a few inches of the ground and watched the pure white sand escape through his open fingers. The sound of the waves crashing into the ocean, soft and calm, continued. Hope, feeling hopeless (Oh, the irony), sighed and placed his hand over the water. It was surprisingly warm and nice to the touch. He couldn't help smiling as the water flowed through his fingers, forgetting about his worries for a moment. He hadn't been there long, but the sun was shining so hard against him, he felt an urging feeling to throw himself in the water and refresh himself. But that wouldn't be a very good idea now, after all. So he was just about to shrug it away and sit up, when a sudden wave came down on him and splashed him all over "...!" Hope wasn't quick enough to avoid it, so he accidentally swallowed some of the water. So like everyone would, he immediately sat up and coughed out some water that had gotten in his lungs. With the knowledge that ocean water was salty, he prepared himself for a salty taste, but he never got it. Surprisingly, the water wasn't salty as he thought it would be... it was sweet. Something he wouldn't have expected coming from the ocean... It was an ocean, right? He was beginning to question himself again. And then, while he instinctively coughed the water out, he realized he didn't have to. It wasn't harming him. It was as if he didn't even have lungs, though he could still feel a similar feeling on his chest relieved every time he took a breath as if he did... He then realized, he could somehow breathe over the water. What was going on? He was suddenly on this beach alone, and now he could breathe underwater? And what about the sweet taste the water had... He didn't need to ask for anything else.

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"A/N- I was planning on continuing this and I probably will. Might take me forever though. Just saying.

~*FF ROCKS! *~" (Nov 22, 2013)