A/N: Got bored, made this. What else is there to say?
Disclaimer: Oh, right, this. I don't own anything you recognize. I probably own a lot less, but I'm bored, and want to write the story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NOEL~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anger. Blind, unrelenting, hateful, anger. That was all Noel could feel just now. Snow thought that after running off- to look for Serah's sister, no less!- and being missing for years, that he could just show up, and everything would all be peachy again? Bullshit! No way could he honestly expect Serah to forgive him, not after what he had put her through.
Looking towards Serah, Noel was a little pleased-and where in Etro's name had that come from, he thought sarcastically-but mostly unsurprised to see that Serah had backed up a step upon seeing Snow. Seriously, Snow actually thought that choosing Lightning as more important than Serah, trying to find her-and failing miserably, Noel thought, after all, we found her, killed Caius, secreted the Heart of Chaos away inside a weak fal'Cie from Gran Pulse, and saved the timeline. Without Snow's help-was going to gain him any points at all? Sure, he said he was doing it for Serah, but he failed, and it kept him away for ten years.
Of course, Snow wouldn't remember any of his little time travel expedition. No one but Serah, Lightning, Fang, Vanille, Sazh, Hope, Noel, and Yeul remembered any of it. Oh, and Mog, of course. Yeul had been transported back to their time, with a promise from Etro that she would live a long and happy life. She had made friends among the villagers of New Bodhum, and Noel had signed the papers that allowed him to formally adopt her, despite being nearly the same age as her. This was a source of endless amusement to her, and to Serah.
And even 'Team NORA' didn't need Snow anymore, Noel thought. Gadot had, after five years of Snow being gone, stepped in to fill the void, immediately offering Noel a place on the team. Noel accepted, and his happy little life had started to move forwards from there. Yeul and Lebreau shared recipes, and had girly talk moments with Serah- Noel and Gadot learned, by means of Lebreau's fist, not to eavesdrop.
"Serah!" Ouch. Did the bastard have to be so damn loud? Seriously, he'd burst everyone's eardrums if he kept this up.
To his left, Noel heard Serah whimper, and instinctively moved to put himself between her and the threat. Of course, when that threat has the strength of a behemoth, and the brains to match, you don't stand much chance of blocking a threat that is determined to get past you. Noel learned this lesson the hard way once more, and was reminded of his and Serah's admission of their feelings for one another, when he was pimpslapped by a behemoth.
"Serah! I'm so sorry, I couldn't find Lightning anywhere. I looked all over Pulse, but I didn't find her!" By this point, Noel was glad to see, nearly everyone in New Bodhum had moved to stand behind him and Serah, ready to defend them if need be.
"Let go of my sister, idiot." Ah, there was the snarky ex-soldier-turned-researcher.
"Lightning?" Oh, too good to miss this rare opportunity. Noel was glad he had a camera, as that picture would have all of them in stitches for weeks. Snow's expression was as though...well, Noel didn't actually know what.
"Yes?"
"But...but...how?"
"I was moved a little farther than everyone else during the last battle. Ended up in Oerba. I got lost in the Mah'habara, and by the time I got back, you had left."
"We sent messages every week, letting you know, but they were all returned." There's Gadot, moving to support his friends, Noel thought. Loyal and strong, that one. Not the brains, but definitely good to have on your side in a scrape. Of course, they actually had sent messages, but since Etro had sent Snow ten years ahead of them-aging him appropriately, of course-none of the messages were opened. Over the course of ten years, the entirety of New Bodhum, and the original l'Cie, had begun to think Snow had abandoned Serah. Eight years down the line, when Serah and Noel had made the announcement that they were going to start dating, no-one had objected.
"But...I never got any of them!"
"You honestly expect us to believe that, asshole? What happened? Your 'bit on the side' see what an ass you really were, and dump you? And then you think you can come back and ruin Serah's life some more? No fucking way, you no-good, cheating scumbag!" And there's the famous-or infamous, depends on how one looks at it- Farron temper. According to Light, all Farron woman were fiery-tempered. The moniker 'Meanie Miss Farron' had become a description, rather than a joke.
Ah well. Time to do his bit as Serah's boyfriend-and he still felt warm inside, every time he heard, said, or even thought it-and save her from the big bad moron.
"Actually," Noel began, shoving Snow's hands away, "after the first five months, we checked with the service provider's company. All those messages were delivered to your phone. And your password was used to return them to the sender." A little of Etro's help to do just that, and they had a watertight alibi.
Snow looked at Noel, confused. "Who the hell are you?"
Smirking inwardly, yet calm on the surface, Noel simply stated, "I'm Serah's boyfriend."
The fallout this caused was a sight to behold. Maqui and Yuj giggled behind their hands, Gadot had an amused look on his face, Lebreau and Yeul sighed and shook their heads, Lightning and Hope-who, contrary to what he told Snow, had never completely forgiven the man for his part in Hope's mother's death-both smirked, Serah tried to hide behind her hands, Sazh sighed, Dajh joined Maqui and Yuj in giggling, Fang and Vanille laughed out loud, most of New Bodhum joining them, and Snow just looked shocked. In fact, his jaw was so low down that if he tried to move, Noel thought secretly that he would get a mouthful of sand.
"What the fuck are you talking about! I'm Serah's fiance! You can't be her boyfriend!"
"Snow, you've been missing for ten years. You've been declared legally dead. There's a tombstone with your name on it in the cemetery. Serah was mourning for nearly six years. She only recently met Noel, and, honestly, I approve of him a lot more than you. At least he's never abandoned her for ten years, to GO HAVE AN AFFAIR!" Lightning's voice had steadily grown louder, until she screamed the last four words for all of Pulse to hear. A pack of behemoths that had been planning to attack New Bodhum turned around and fled at the sound of her voice. Two grown men soiled themselves, and slunk home to change their underwear, and a woman in Academia went into premature labour. While it is debatable whether this last one was linked to the first two, that is a story for another time.
"I NEVER HAD AN AFFAIR!"
"HOW DO YOU EXPECT ANYONE, LEAST OF ALL SERAH, TO BELIEVE THAT?"
"Because it's true!"
"Bullshit, Villiers, bullshit!" 'Go Lightning' Noel thought to himself. Looking over at Hope, he saw the smirk on Hope lips, and the pride in his eyes. Silently, Noel mouthed to Hope, 'Ten gil says Lightning breaks his nose.' Hope smirked even wider, and mouthed back, 'Twenty gil says she chops his dick off.' Noel nearly laughed at that, but settled for nodding.
"It's not bullshit! I love Serah! I left to find you so that she could be happy!"
"How in Etro's name could losing both of us make her happy? You better leave now, before I chop something important off!" 'Damn, there goes twenty gil if she carries out that threat.'
"I'm not, leaving, Lightning! I love Serah, and I promised that when I came back we would get married!"
Serah walked forward, towards Snow, her hand clenched around something. Noel was tensing all his muscles, ready to jump in if things turned ugly at this point. Snow turned towards her, looking hopeful. Serah opened her hand, and the object fell out, and onto the sand. Everyone who was near enough could see that it was the engagement necklace that Snow had given Serah back on Cocoon.
"No. No, Snow, I can't-won't-marry you. Please leave." At this point, Serah was reduced to tears, and fled back to the house she and Lightning shared. Noel glared at Snow, who was looking at the necklace in shock, before dashing after Serah, to comfort her. He didn't find out the rest of what happened until later that evening, when he and Serah joined the rest of team NORA for dinner. Hope put his hand on the table, and said "You owe me ten gil, Kreiss. Pay up."
"Aw, dammit. Wait, only ten? Why?"
"Well, after you left, Snow tried to follow. Light punched him in the face, and everyone heard his nose break. He got up, and tried to go after you again, but this time, Lightning brought her gunblade out, and castrated him. He passed out, and we all lugged him out of the town. He tried to come back, but the guards aimed at his head, and he finally got the message. So ten gil, since I owe you ten, and you owe me twenty." The money changed hands, and the rest of the evening was spent in merriment and revelry(Noel's exact words during the evening, which were caught on camera).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SERAH~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Yeah, more Snow bashing. Sorry, but I really hate the character. I didn't hate him in the first game, but in the second one, Square Enix made him into a total douchebag. Well, you've read it, now review it! Until next time; Fly, my pretties, FLY!