[Fanfic] To Learn Something New (ch 21)

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: Final Fantasy XIII is property of Square Enix. I do not own the series and the characters, and I do not gain any profit from this fanfiction

Warning: soulmate!AU

letter /let·ter/ n a direct or personal written or printed message addressed to a person or organization

Hope Estheim never fancied himself as a supernatural believer—no, quite the opposite, he's a man of logics and answers and it was his job to decode the impossible into possible—but for this time, just this one time, he knew there would be no logical answer.

It started on one rainy afternoon, his apartment offering shelter and warmth after a field day at work (he would never, ever understand the higher-ups who insisted on doing a field day under pattering rain). Everything seemed normal—he unlocked the door, turned on the air conditioner, and peeled off his wet clothes. After a nice hot shower he went to the kitchen to set up a mug of steaming tea. Then, with the mug in hands, he sat down in the living room and got his laptop started.

That was when he spotted an envelope on top of a shelf.

It was weird. He was fairly sure there was nothing there that morning, when he went to work. With questions still racking his brain, Hope took the envelope and carefully opened it. The envelope itself was plain white, the kind you can buy at convenience stores, but the letter inside was a little different. The paper was gradient pink in color, and it had a faint scent of roses. The writing was ink black, shaped like it was done with an ancient pen rather than modern-day ballpoint. But more than anything, the message was what did Hope in.

「She is near.」

What? Who is near? And why is it important that she is near? Baffled, Hope slouched back on the couch with heavy breaths. Who in earth could have sent this message? How did they put it inside my apartment? When? What does this all mean? His mind's gears worked in full speed trying to decode this phenomenon, but as he listened to his own breath the solitude of his apartment, he found no answer. And like any other human being when facing a weird condition with no explanation, his brain unconsciously resorted to the primitive solution: this was supernatural.

If he thought that would be the end of his supernatural experience, well, he was wrong. It was only the beginning.

When Hope got home the following day, this time a little after dusk and way more exhausted than yesterday, he was greeted by the same white envelope sitting conspicuously on his shoe rack. He immediately tore it open and pulled out another gradient pink paper with a short sentence written on it.

「She is almost here.」

Yeah right. Hope decided not to give too much thought into the message (mainly because he needed a hot shower and dinner and sleep very soon) and threw the letter onto the living room's table where yesterday's letter was still on. As he sank his head on the pillow later that night and drifted slowly into slumber, somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered what tomorrow's message would be.

Sure enough, an envelope sat waiting for him on the shoe rack again (perhaps the sender finally understood that the chances he found the letter would be higher if placed on that particular spot). Today he's not so tired and there was no homework, so he picked up the envelope and read it on the couch, mimicking his posture at the first day.

「Tomorrow.」

It was almost like a promise. Hope felt his heart beating a little faster at that. What is going to happen tomorrow? Is it about that 'she'? He should have been a little concerned—he didn't know whether this letter spoke of good things or bad things, after all—yet he felt strangely happy with the prospect of something happening tomorrow.

That night Hope fell asleep with pleasant expectations. That night he dreamed of a promise, made in the far away past and possibly different universe.

The following day was Sunday. Hope spent a good part of the morning for sleeping in and a lazy breakfast. He had no plans for today except doing some reports, maybe making some progress at that journal he started a month ago, and waiting for this 'tomorrow' the letter spoke about.

At eleven, his doorbell rang once. It was a rare sound, because as a single man with few friends he rarely had any guest. It crossed his mind for a second that this was his moment of truth, his answer for the letters. The doorbell rang once again.

Hope didn't even bother with the peephole before opening the door. There, in front of his apartment, a woman stood with a scrap of paper in her hand, the perfect figure of someone looking for an address. With a quick glance, Hope took in her appearance. Her white coat reminded him of the white envelope and her rose-colored hair was the perfect same shade of the letter.

This is the 'she'.

“Light,” he muttered, out of breath all of a sudden, as that woman smiled at him. He didn't even know where that name came from, his mouth just moved.

She shook her head, almost exasperated but still smiling widely. “What, so it's you, Hope.”

Her tone took him by surprise. She later explained, after making herself comfortable on his couch, that there had been this letter giving her an address. His address. That's why she set out to find this address, wanting answers for her own questions—about who sent it to her, and how she knew his name like they're the best of friends even though it's not even included in the letter.

Hope couldn't answer. She didn't mind.

So in the end, supernatural things had played a big role on his meeting with his future partner for life. 

A/N: I... have no answer. This was 'supernaturally' written after a session of frustration breakout this morning.

Maybe, just maybe, this is inspired by soulmate!AU prompt I saw on tumblr about a compass.