His Jealously (FFXIII - Hope/Vanille, Hint of Lightning/Snow)

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Title: His Jealously

Characters: Hope/Vanille with a slight hint of Lightning/Snow

Rating: Teen at best

Disclaimers: I do not own anyone/anything from the forum Final Fantasy. Square Soft/Enix owns Final Fantasy and its characters. There is no copyright infringement intended. I do not make any profit/money or take any credit.

Summary: He still doesn't get it, how the heck is the kid more popular than he is?

A/N: Prompt for September 10th – Hope/Vanille, Lightning/Snow – Jealously – 'Snow just doesn't get it. Just what was it about the kid that made him popular?'

Timeline: Anytime during Gran Pulse

Word Count: 2,757Betaed: Nope

His Jealously

He still doesn't get it. How the heck is the kid more popular than he is? Snow Villiers stretched his legs out from where he was sitting watching Hope talk to Lightning with a smile on his face. The more surprising thing…Lightning also had a smile on her face as she replied. Snow had never seen her smile before.

Snow groaned as he tried to figure it out. A fourteen year old kid, one they had never met before, was more popular than him with the ladies. It was a strange place for him to be as he was used to ladies fawning over him. Of course, that changed when he met Lightning and got a cold shoulder from her.

She hadn't liked the thought of him dating her little sister, even going as far to say that she didn't think he was good enough for her but Snow had persisted. But whenever he opened his mouth, she would shoot him a glare than indicated that it was better to keep his mouth shut.

Of course, the kid tried to kill him so that'll probably put him in good graces with Lightning but they were on good terms before he had 'saved' them using the twins. He wondered just how the kid managed to sneak his way into her heart without bruises. There was something in the way they acted together, something almost…motherly she could become. Hope just seemed to take it all in his stride.

It was enough to drive him nuts. He wanted Lightning to accept him but no, he gets death glare and threats in his direction. Hope gets all the smiles and soft looks.

He understood Hope and Vanille, the two of them had met each other first but Hope and Fang? Even she was protective of him, scolding him off whenever he neared too close to a feral creature and ushering him over to her side. Snow remembered Hope wandering a little further away from them, distracted by the flock of sheep when Fang darted from her spot beside him and over to Hope, knocking away the feral hound that had tried to sneak up on the distracted boy.

Everyone had been stunned to see Fang move so fast that they couldn't act. Not that it mattered as Fang had taken care of the creature all within a few seconds before she rounded on Hope, scolding him for moving away from the group before scanning him to make sure that he was fine.

Hope assured her that he was fine but Fang ushered him over to the group, making sure he was in the middle so he couldn't wander away again, much to the amusement of Vanille as she giggled and to Hope's brief shock and wonder as he gave the older woman a nod.

Snow watched as Hope gaze in one direction before looking at the other with a look that indicated he was lost before he turned to look at wild woman.

"Erm, Fang?" he turned to look up at the tall woman. "I think I'm lost." He gave her the sad eyes and a sheepish grin. Fang just chuckled as she pointed toward a direction and told him where it lead before explaining how she could remember then pointed in another direction. Hope's brows were furrowed as he concentrated on what she was saying so he could commit it to memory.

If he had admitted that he was lost, he would have gotten a glare and not so nice mutters in his direction. He briefly wondered it was because of Hope's age that they were more attentive to him. Snow turned to see Lightning was watching them with an amused smile before she turned to face Sazh who was gesturing to something.

Vanille was further ahead of them, skipping happily as she scanned the flowers, enjoying being back on her home world for the first time in a while. Snow could see Hope's eyes lingering on Vanille's slim for a moment before he managed to tear his gaze away and look at something Fang was pointing out.

That was another thing that was getting to Snow. He could swear that there was something going on with Hope and Vanille. There was just something there, he just couldn't place his finger on it and it was driving him nuts. They couldn't be together, they only had known each other for a short time before he joined them then, as far as he knew, Vanille had gone off with Sazh and Hope had gone off with Lightning.

They had all met back up together and they had stayed together since so there wasn't really any time for Hope and Vanille to have gotten together behind their backs…right? Unless the kids were pretending to sleep, waiting until they had all gone to sleep…alarm bells went off in Snow's head. It could have happened!

Snow eyed Hope a little longer, picking up that Hope would occasionally glance in Vanille's direction, smiling whenever she was smiling. He decided to look at Vanille and saw the same. She would occasionally look in Hope's direction. Sometimes their eyes met and they gave each other soft shy smiles, a hint of blush kissing their cheeks.

"What's with the glaring at the kid?" Sazh asked as he sat next to Snow, curious to what was going on. He had noticed that Snow had been keeping an eye on Hope and his interactions with the women but he couldn't figure out why.

Sazh looked at Hope to see what was so interesting but he only found Hope joining the women by the hill. Vanille had a hand on his arm while Fang had her arms crossed and Lightning had her hands on her hips.

"Don't you find it suspicious that all three of them are so attentive to Hope?" Snow asked, watching as Hope said something to Vanille that had her in laugher with Fang and Lightning smiling in amusement.

"Er…no?" asked Sazh, not sure where the conversation was going. He was used to Vanille being worried about Hope when they had split up after the Vile Peaks so he wasn't that surprised to see her paying the young man attention. He knew that Lightning would protect Hope when the younger man followed her. Even Fang had warmed up to the kid once she got to know him.

"Well, I do," Snow muttered. Sazh arched an eyebrow at Snow wondering where this was coming from. As far as he knew, Snow and Fang had managed to create a truce between the two of them, Vanille didn't have any hard feelings toward Snow and even Lighting had warmed up. "There's something wrong here. I swear that kid is up to something." Sazh frowned.

"So, you think Hope has used some magic on the ladies to make them more attentive to him?" Sazh asked, unsure just what the tall hulk was saying.

"Yes," Snow hissed.

"You don't think that the ladies like him for him? I mean, if you consider how many heart-attacks he has given us, it does make sense for them to be more protective of him," Sazh pointed out.

"He didn't give us any heart-attacks before we spilt up," Snow reminded.

"Well, Vanille was already sweet on him at the time and Lightning warmed up to him during their trip together," Sazh reminded. "We hadn't even met Fang, apart from Vanille, at the time."

"But she likes him!" Snow whined. Sazh rolled his eyes, shaking his head as the Chocobo popped out from his afro, curious to what was going on. It let out a soft chirp, attracting the men's attention.

"She probably knows that Vanille likes him so she's not that bothered about it," Sazh pointed out as the Chocobo settled down on Sazh's shoulder, looking around before it spotted Hope and let out a happy squawk.

Beating its tiny wings, it half flew, half floated toward the young man, chirping in excitement. Hope turned when he heard the noise and smiled when he saw the yellow fluff ball coming over.

"Hey little buddy," Hope greeted, cupping his hands so the chocobo could settle itself in them. He rubbed a thumb over the breast of the chocobo getting a trill of happiness in return. Vanille had crossed the small space, showering the chocobo with the same amount of attention Hope was.

"See, even your bird likes him," Snow pointed out.

"I think the bird likes everyone," Sazh reminded wryly. It was true too considering the bird like to spend time by Lightning's side. Lightning had complained about it on more than one occasion.

True to his words, the chocobo had caught sight of Lightning and hopped out of Hope's hand to his shoulder before launching its tiny body over the distance to land on Lightning's shoulder.

Lightning looked down when she heard a chirping sound and gave the bird an exasperated amused glance, wrinkling her nose when the chocobo moved in closer, rubbing its feathery body against her neck. Fang was chuckling, finding the situation funny.

Snow watched the scene with a strange pang in his heart before he shook it away. He had been having strange feelings regarding Lightning, feelings he didn't want to look too close at. Not while he still held Serah's crystal on him.

He tore his blue eyes away from Lightning's form to look at Hope only to see he was watching Vanille as she skipped over to cliff edge, a hand rising up to shade her eyes from the high sun.

"Have you noticed anything about Hope and Vanille's closeness?" Snow asked. Sazh looked at the taller man before looking at the couple. He had noticed that the two of them would look at each other every now and then and they did prefer to sleep next to each other. "Hey Hope!" Vanille's perky voice called from the cliff edge. He looked over to see her waving her hands. "Come over here!" Hope obliged, more than willing to anything Vanille wanted. They watched as Vanille grabbed Hope's hand and pulled him over to the edge, pointing to something. Hope's face brightened as awe crossed it. He said something to Vanille, who nodded and replied.

They stared at each other for a moment longer before looking out at whatever Vanille had pointed out. Sazh had noticed that they hadn't let each other's hands go and he wasn't complaining. Unlike Snow, he knew that the two of them of were close, they even held hands then they were sleeping.

"I think you are looking for trouble," Sazh informed the taller man, who looked at him, startled. "The kid already tried to kill you for being stupid, don't give him another excuse." Snow blushed slightly, wondering who the hell had told the older man of his blunders.

"What are you two up to?" Fang's voice interrupted them and they turned to see her standing off to the side with a suspicious look. Lightning was standing next to her with the same expression.

"Nothing," Snow blurted out. Sazh snorted.

"He thinks the kid has used some magic on you women so you would be more attentive to him. I think Snow is just jealous he isn't getting the same amount of attention." Snow glared at him. Fang and Lightning stared at Snow before they looked at each other before they looked at Snow once more, who gulped, fearing for his life.

"You are an idiot," Fang informed the man bluntly before she walked over to where Hope and Vanille were still standing. They looked at her when she approached them, smiling brightly. They still didn't drop the hand holding.

"Thanks," Snow muttered to Sazh, who just smiled, clapping Snow on the back.

"Anytime," Sazh told him cheerfully before he got up, dusting off his trousers. He patted Lightning on the shoulder before he joined Fang and the kids, a look of awe crossing his face when he saw what the kids had been looking at.

Lightning sat down next to Snow, careful to make sure her gun-blade was still sheathed.

"Are you really jealous of Hope?" Lightning asked; her voice quiet. Snow just stayed silent and she rolled her eyes. "He reminds me of Serah," Lightning admitted. Snow looked at her. "At first, I was sort of using him a replacement for Serah, to make up for everything before I saw him for whom he was and started seeing him like a little brother."

"How…" Snow trailed off, not sure what he wanted to ask.

"He knows what it is like to lose a parent in front of you," Lightning drew up her knees and wrapped her arms around them. "Serah doesn't remember our parents because they were the busy type. She wasn't there when they were killed…I was." Snow stared at her. He was an orphanage because his parents died shortly after he was born so he didn't know what it was like. "Hope and I could relate to each other and in a way, he helped me to see that I don't need to hold onto my anger."

Snow listened to her, it felt strange that she was opening up to him but at the same time, he was happy. He had always wanted to know about Lightning, to understand her coldness better.

They sat in silence for a while, just enjoying that they could be open for once before Lightning sighed and stood up. They couldn't linger for too long.

Snow watched as Lightning walk away and Vanille made her way over to him.

"Sazh told me that you were feeling jealous," Vanille told him as she sat down. Snow groaned.

"Has he told Hope?" Snow asked. Vanille shook her head. "Good." Vanille just smiled as she drew up her knees, watching Fang and Hope near a hill, watching the creatures below them. Fang was obviously explaining what each creature was to Hope, who had his brows furrowed, mentally taking notes.

"Fang likes him because he admitted he hadn't been to Pulse despite being told it was hell. He wanted to come here and see just what is it that had people of Cocoon scared," Vanille explained. She smiled when she saw Fang laugh at something Hope had told her. "Fang doesn't put much stock in fear, if it doesn't help you to move forward, then there is no point in being scared. It's much better to face up to it and become stronger in the end than it is to cower before it."

Snow grunted. It sounded like the woman.

"What about you?" Snow asked. Vanille shrugged.

"He understands me," Vanille tilted her head so she could look at the older man. "I was there when he lost his mother and he sort of clung onto me. When he left with Lightning, I was worried about him but at the same time, I knew it was better for him to go with Lightning. I could sense that the two of them would be good for each other." She smiled as she looked back at the group once more. "And I was right. Lightning isn't as hard as she used to be, she's become softer around Hope…more maternal. Hope isn't holding onto his anger anymore, he's growing up."

Snow looked toward the group once more to see Sazh was saying something that had Hope laughing, Lightning smiling, and Fang chuckling.

"Hope, despite him hating his name, embodies the hope we still have. All we have to do look at him to know that there is always still hope no matter where we go or what we face. He's the youngest one out of us yet he is willing to stand up and move forward no matter what. He is also willing to sacrifice himself if that's what it will take for us keep going."

Snow sighed as he raised his eyes heavenward to see Cocoon above them before he looked at Vanille.

"Just one question," she looked at him. "Are you two together?" She blinked at him before she smiled as she stood up, brushing her skirt down and winked at him.

"That's for Hope and I to know," she informed him before she skipped over to Hope, linking hands with him and pressed a kiss to the startled boy's cheek before he blushed, scratching the back of his head but he smiled broadly at the pink haired girl.

Snow just gaped after her before he shook his head, smiling wryly. Teenagers.

The End