This whole idea comes from my Paine/Gippal fic A Mentor, a Brother, and a Lover. I'd reccommend reading it if you want to figure out who Siri Kenobi is (she's the best friend of Gippal's cousin, as well as Shinra's mother), but if you want to be surprised as to what happens and who dies when, etc. then don't read it. In case you don't get it, Siri and her brothers are all half-human, half-Guado, like Seymour (their mom is Guado and their dad is human. Murtagh, who is mentioned below, is also human). The story centers around them, but canon characters (such as Auron, Gippal, Nhadala, and Kinoc, among others) will come into play later. It's basically just looking at the world of Spira through the eyes of somebody who wasn't in the game. The dating system comes from the fact that Sin appeared 1000 years before FFX, so AS stands for After Sin. Thus, 976 AS is 24 years before FFX. There are the usual 4 seasons, and 90 days in each season (so it's a 360 day year), and the New Year begins on the 1st Day of Spring. Reviews (even if critical) are solicited and much appreciated!
46th Day of Summer, 976 AS
Guadosalam
30 year old Leia Kenobi stretched her arms above her head and smiled. It wasn't often that she got to sleep in until 8 in the morning—one of her six sons (ranging in age from 11 years, 9 months to a mere 18 months) was almost always up by half past six. And with her husband gone at the city's Warrior Monk Garrison further down the river, she was usually all alone in taking care of her children. In recent days, however, her best friend Ellimere (a widow, and mother of two young girls) had been helping her out, and her older brother had been dropping by every day as well. The reason? She was nine months pregnant. Leia was quite sure she was having another boy, but some small part of her held out hope that, maybe this time, she would give birth to a daughter. She adored her sons, but she yearned for a little girl that she could dress up, pass on her possessions to, and share "Girl talk" with.
Just then, her peace was abruptly broken by the door opening and two identical green-haired heads peeking in. They belonged to her twin sons, Squall and Seifer. Although almost polar opposites in terms of personality, the twins shared most likes and dislikes, and were almost never seen apart from one another. Even at the tender age of three, they'd worked out a strategy to watch each other's back when getting into mischief (which they often did), and had the sort of unspoken understanding that was special to twin siblings.
"Breakfast is ready, mommy," said Squall quietly. "Auntie Elle came over to cook."
"And I helped her," Seifer added proudly.
Leia smiled. "Alright. Go tell her I'll be there in a minute." They ran out of the room and Leia moved to get out of bed, but was suddenly seized by a strong contraction. She looked down at her swollen stomach and her eyes lit up. It was time.
Leia walked into her kitchen to find 8 children sitting at the table, and Ellimere busy doling out pancakes to each of them. She looked up and grinned.
"Morning, sleepyhead."
"Morning. Guess what?"
"What?" Then she caught Leia's significant look. "Oh! Is it…?"
Leia grinned. "It is. Go to my brother's house and tell him, so he can run out to the Barracks and get Garen." Most of this was over the heads of their children, but Anakin caught on immediately.
"Is the baby coming?" he asked excitedly. This, of course, set off the other five boys and two girls, and it was a few minutes before Leia and Ellimere could make themselves heard above the barrage of questions and exclamations.
"Kids! Shush for a minute!" said Ellimere. "Now. Boys, I'm going to talk to your Uncle Nida and he's going to go get your dad. Raine, Ryelle, you two stay here and listen to your Auntie Leia, okay?"
The boys nodded, and 8 year old Ryelle and 5 year old Raine chimed "yes, mom." Ellimere smiled at them and hurried out the door.
She was back less than a quarter of an hour later, and with her was a Guado woman named Sera, a Healer and long-time friend of Leia's who had lived in Guadosalam almost all her life, and had helped to deliver Raine, Ryelle, and all of Leia's sons.
"Nida ran off almost before I'd finished talking," said Ellimere. "Assuming this baby isn't born before they get back, we'll have plenty of time. You alright?"
Leia assured them she was, laughing softly to herself at the memories that were flooding her head. Garen hadn't been present for the births of his three oldest children, having been stationed too far away (the fact that Anakin and Laguna had been born during a time of Sin hadn't helped matters). By the time the twins came around, however, Garen had been a Captain and had managed to secure a posting at Guadosalam's Garrison, and because they were in a Calm he'd gotten home in plenty of time and had been given a generous amount of leave.
Two hours later, the door to Leia's bedroom banged open, and her brother and husband came into the room (the children—including Sera's two sons—were with Ellimere and Sera's husband Murtagh out in the living room). Nida looked like her—short and slender (he stood an inch, if that, above her own 5'6"), dark blue hair that stood up in sharp spikes (her own was turquoise), and blue eyes. Garen was quite the opposite—6'5", stocky and broad-shouldered, with short, straight, light brown hair and gold eyes. They were the two men she loved most in the world, but she could muster up no more than a pained grimace as a means of acknowledgement. This baby was stubborn, and not coming nearly as fast as some of its brothers (most notably Liam, whose birth Garen had almost missed due to a quickly progressing labor).
"Hey guys," she gasped, as she fell back onto the pillow after a contraction. Nida stayed long enough to kiss her on the cheek and get an assurance of her health from Sera before he left the room, to help Ellimere and Murtagh look after the children. Garen pulled a chair up to her bedside and sat, taking one of her hands in his and gently stroking the back of it with his thumb.
"Sorry I'm not exactly the neatest person in the world," he said, looking in the mirror on the opposite wall and wrinkling his nose at his reflection. "Nida caught me in the middle of a training session. Sub-Commander Zak let me go immediately, but I've only got a week's leave, since…" he trailed off, but Leia knew why. High Summoner Yuri's Calm had ended while she was pregnant with Liam, and as such the Warrior Monks needed all the men they could get.
"It's alright," she said, smiling at him. "I don't care, as long as you're here now."
It took another 3 and a half hours for Leia to get to the point where she could start pushing, and when the time came she sat up partway with her arms around her knees, and Sera put a blanket over her legs. She then spent the next 30 minutes straining to deliver her baby, Garen helping by sponging her face with cool water, tying her hair back for her so that it didn't stick to her face with sweat, and not voicing a word of complaint when she clenched her hands around his tight enough to leave nail marks.
"I've got the head, Leia. Just one more push, come on." The understanding smile and look of compassion from one of her oldest and dearest friends gave Leia the strength she needed, and two minutes later, at exactly two-thirty in the afternoon, her 7th child was born.
"Congratulations," said Sera, as the infant (which Leia couldn't see, as it was still under the tent formed by her legs and the blanket) began to wail. "You have a baby girl."
Leia turned to look at Garen, who was open-mouthed. "A girl?" they both said, in tones of mingled surprise and joy.
Sera beamed. "Yep, a beautiful little girl. Gold eyes, just like her daddy." She cut the cord and finished her initial cleaning of the baby, before wrapping her in a blanket and offering her to Garen. Garen accepted his daughter with trembling arms, and Leia felt tears of joy fill her eyes as she watched her husband whisper endearments to their little girl. The baby protested being handed over as Garen gave her to Leia, but was quickly satisfied when Leia put her to her breast. Sera looked bright-eyed as well, and after she finished attending to Leia she beamed at them both and went to tell Nida, Ellimere, Murtagh, and the children the good news.
Ellimere, Nida, and Murtagh exchanged looks, as another stifled shout came from the bedroom. Around them sat the 10 children, all with varying looks of worry on their faces. Anakin had Rowan and Raine on his lap, Laguna had an arm each around Squall and Seifer, Liam had a death grip on Ryelle's legs, and Murtagh's two boys (almost-6-year-old Jess and 22 month old Jaicen—both had his gray eyes and Jaicen also had his brown hair, whereas Jess' was dark blue like his mother's) were clinging to his arms, Jaicen sucking on his thumb at the same time. Liam let go of Ryelle at that moment, and carefully crossed the room to his Uncle and Murtagh.
"Mommy okay?" he asked. He, Squall, Seifer, and Jaicen were more frightened than the others, as he had been the youngest child thus far and Squall, Seifer, and Jaicen were too young to remember his birth (to that net end, Liam and Jaicen were only 4 months apart).
"Hey, Kiddo. C'mere." Nida swung Liam up so that he was snug against his right side and his legs were around Nida's waist. "There's absolutely nothing to worry about, okay? Your mommy will be-" the cry of a newborn infant suddenly pierced the air. "Just fine," Nida finished, beaming.
"Was that the baby?" "The baby's here!" "Yay!" Pandemonium reigned for the next fifteen minutes, as the children cheered, danced around in circles, and ran around the room. It wasn't until Sera appeared that they quieted, and then they became almost as loud again as they crowded around her with questions.
"Shh," she said, putting a finger up to her lips. "You kids have to quiet down or you'll scare your baby sister." Murtagh and Nida both did a double take and looked at each other—with Leia's record, they'd been expecting another boy. Ellimere picked up Liam so that the (no longer) smallest child wouldn't get squashed or not be able to see, and between the three of them they got the children to file quietly into the bedroom.
Nida beamed, feeling as happy for his sister and brother-in-law as it was possible to be as he watched his nephews, his closest friends, and their children crowd around the bed, where Leia had a tired but proud smile on her face as she cradled her newborn baby daughter. He caught Garen's eye and they nodded to each other, a mutual recognition of their respect for one another (they never had managed to become more than casual friends, due mostly to a simple clash of personalities) and their mutual adoration and protective feelings towards Leia, her sons, and most especially the sleeping infant in her lap, whose delicately pointed ears, lightly veined face, and wisps of turquoise hair made her seem so small and fragile.
You're an angel, Nida thought with a smile, as he carefully took his niece from Murtagh and cradled her in his arms. Maybe I'll have a little girl like you someday. If Kaylie was still… Nida stopped himself. Don't even think about it or you'll get depressed, he told himself sternly. This is a happy day. Don't start. The baby stirred briefly and opened her eyes, revealing a pair of bright gold irises. She looked at Nida and must have decided that she approved of him, for she promptly made a small gurgling noise and went back to sleep.
"What's her name?" he asked, handing the baby back to Leia. She and Garen exchanged one of those looks, in which married couples seem to be able to carry out entire conversations without speaking, before she looked back at him.
"We didn't even bother thinking of girl's names this time," she admitted with a grin. "But back when I was pregnant with Liam and Squall and Seifer we decided that if it was a girl we'd name it Shaylie, after Garen's mom. But since Nicolai already took that name, I think we'll go with our mom, instead." she looked at Nida. "Her name is Siri."
"And," she continued, still looking at him. "We want you to be her Godfather." Nida's jaw dropped.
"Me?" he asked, with a mixture of happiness and surprise. "You mean it? But I'm not married, or anything-"
"Neither is Xu," Garen pointed out. "But she's still Liam's Godmother."
"We figured it was about time you got the honor," Leia added. "I know how much you love these kids." She gave him a look of perfect understanding and affection, and Nida could only nod as he accepted his niece—his goddaughter—into his arms again.
You really are an Angel, Siri, he thought, as he looked down at her through slightly misty eyes. And the best thing is you're not just Leia and Garen's angel, you're my angel, too. I probably won't make the best godfather, but I can swear to the Fayth I'll try.
Siri stirred in her sleep and closed one tiny fist on the material of Nida's shirt, looking as content as it was possible for a newborn infant to be. She would grow up loved, that much was certain. Between her parents, brothers, "cousins", and Aunts and Uncles (both of blood and of the heart), Siri would never lack for love, protection, or a pair of willing arms.
