[Fanfic] To Learn Something New (ch 10)

Title: To Learn Something New

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: set post-LR, happily married yay

cherry /cher·ry/ n a small round fruit that is usually red or black

Sapphire eyes narrowed at a plate of cake lying innocently on the table.

"What. Is. This."

"Oh, Lightning! You came home early. Did something happen at work?" A silverette came out from the kitchen, donning a creme apron she didn't remember having, and pulled her into an embrace. He kissed her lips lightly, then pulled away.

"No, I just finished my work earlier than expected and the boss let me go home." Lightning crossed her arms. "What about you? Shouldn't you be at work too?"

Hope glanced at the cake sheepishly. "I took the day off."

"You what?" astonished, Lightning raised her voice. The workaholic Hope Estheim took the day off? And without telling her, to top! Had the world gone mad or some kind of insane God appeared last night?

But Hope only gave her a calm, somewhat shy smile. "It's your birthday. I wanted to make a cake for you, so..." He trailed off, measuring his wife's reaction. It wasn't so bad; she widened her eyes for a moment before returning to normal, muttering a small "oh, it's my birthday already?" under her breath. Hope's smile got bigger. "Come on. I'm not the best, but I think the cake turned out fine. It's shortcake."

True enough, when Lightning further inspected the cake, it wasn't half bad. But there seemed to be something off about this cake...

"Um, Hope? I thought basic shortcakes are strawberry. Why is this... cherry?"

He played with his fingers. "I kind of took the wrong canned fruit at the supermarket, so I just had to with it...?"

That was clumsy. So her Hope. The woman chuckled into her hand. She took the knife from him and proceeded to cut the cake evenly. "I don't hate cherry," she assured him softly. "Let's just hope the different fruit didn't change the flavor."

"Yeah, let us," Hope laughed as he helped her putting a piece of cake each on two plates. "Happy birthday, Light."

"Thanks."