[Fanfic] But You Were A Lie

Title: But You Were A Lie

Author: Vianna Orchidia / Annasthacy Chashyme
Fandom: Final Fantasy XIII Series
Character: Lightning Farron, Hope Estheim
Rating: K
Genre: General
Disclaimer: I do not own the series and the characters, and I do not gain any profit from this fanfiction

Warning: OOC, set sometime during LR, see A/N below.

I was just a lie, a fake. But the feelings became real.

I love you. I always have.

--Serah to Lightning in LR

He reached out to take her hand, but she flinched and swatted him away, almost defensively, and he could only smile in sadness. He understood. He could imagine the whirlwind of emotions in her more-than-human body, turning and throwing things into disarray, into dismay. He could understand if she got wary of him now, if she hadn't before.

He was no longer the man she once knew during their l'Cie times, after all. Rather, that man never even existed. Hope Estheim had never been there.

“Light,” he whispered. Beaten and admitting loss. “I...”

The rose-haired woman closed her eyes. Hearing that voice would destroy her again, again, again— “Leave,” she said between gritted teeth. “Leave, NOW!”

She was broken, she was shattered, she was not hiding the sound of her heart falling into unmendable pieces on the floor. It took everything in him not to rush toward her. He felt a lone drop of tear on his cheek as he wished that Hope Estheim, the real Hope Estheim wherever that dead existence might be, he prayed so hard that Hope Estheim would appear this instant to soothe the pain away from his most beloved woman.

Hope Estheim's existence was a lie.

Then was this terrible in his chest a lie too?

A/N:

[headcanon where Bhunivelze killed Hope after extracting his memories, and then made a copy of him. This copy is the Hope that Light sees in LR. He was made by God and was given memories, but not a soul. In the end, because this fake!Hope studied the memories thoroughly to be able to interact naturally with Light, he fell in love with Light too. Very similar to Serah's case.

By the way, as continuation from this drabble, I also have a headcanon that real!Hope's soul has always been in the chaos, because he was killed and already dead before Light awoke, so he could be reborn safely. Not sure if this headcanon will make its way into a real piece of writing tho.]

[I HATE MYSELF FOR WRITING ANGST FOR MY OTP]