A/N: Welp, here comes the angst. (and alotta romantical suff. YESSS.) After reading, you might have a lot of questions that have not yet been answered. Do not fret! All will be revealed in due time, so follow if you wish! :D

(AU, a small, conservative town in which Claire and Serah live with their parents, YEAR 1953.)

Note: I do not mean to offend anyone, and I am not bashing any religions, nor is all the scripture in the story accurate. I myself am Christian, so I do have a little room to poke fun:3 SO PLEASE, DO NOT BE OFFENDED!

Enjoy ^-^ ~

Sunday, March 2, 1953

"May the homosexuals repent from their sins, or may they perish in hell."

The synchronized voices recited the scripture with the sweetest tones, without a tinge of remorse.

Claire Farron stood with her mother and younger sister at her sides with joined hands, as they watched Father read from the holy bible from the podium at the front of the massive church. Claire took a subtle glance at both her sister and her mother, watching each of them recite the scripture as led by her father, the pastor of the town's Catholic church. Claire however, was most likely the only voice that was not contributing to the mass. And she deeply wondered why. The words of the holy bible and the leadings of her father, she had repeated every Sunday since she had first begun to speak. Her mouth now kept perfectly still, though her mind was racing. And it made her extremely dizzy. She found herself staring upwards at the intricately painted church ceiling in an attempt to clear her mind, though the height of the paintings made her nausea worse.

Perhaps she was simply tired. Of what, however, she didn't know. Not back then, at least.

…

The Sunday church seminar ended, and the well-dressed townsfolk began their usual after-mass small talk as they exited the large wooden doors, engraved in intricate patterns from bottom to top. Some stopped on the church lawn for a more in-depth chat (if one could even label it as that), and others giving their thanks to the Pastor before skipping off for brunch at the nearby diner. Most, if not all, of the town attended her father's seminar every Sunday. The town itself was quite small and very conservative; having just over 150 residents, everyone was generally familiar with one another. At the same time however, rumors spread quickly amongst the town's occupants and eroded into nothing more than vicious gossip. And in a town such as that one, a secret was never just your own.

Claire escorted her younger sister Serah out of the bundle of people huddled around the front doors of the church by placing a hand on the small of her back. Once they reached a small clearing, Serah stepped in front of her elder sister to beam at her.

"Wasn't father wonderful with his preaching? I felt the church had a certain air to it today, as if something important were to happen. It was strange, but a good kind of strange, you know?" Serah tilted her head to the side slightly when she realized her sister was staring down at her in amusement.

"What? Did I say something funny?" Serah defended against Claire's playful gaze.

The eldest shook her head, her strawberry blonde bangs falling into her eyes for a moment before she brushed them back. Her younger sister had a tendency to ramble on about things she found particularly interesting. She tapped Serah's nose with her white, gloved pointer finger. "No. You're just cute, that's all."

Serah visibly blushed, and she scowled. "Shut up. I'm the one with the job, here." She directed her thumb at herself proudly, before turning away to cross her arms over her chest.

Claire scoffed, placing her gloved hands on her hips. "Just because you have a little internship, Serah, that doesn't mean you-", she trailed off when she saw younger sister's expression.

Serah was staring at someone in the distance, her eyes crinkled slightly by how large her lopsided smile was. Claire knew that look, and it almost made her gag. That was Serah's, 'oooh look, super cute boy' lovey-dovey mushy look. As a matter of fact, Claire actually felt herself gag.

Serah bit her lip while staring at the tall blonde man, but immediately came out of her trance when a gloved hand snapped it's digits in front of her. She scowled at Claire, who rolled her eyes back at her.

Claire scoffed as she shifted towards the gigantic blonde. Snow was speaking to Claire's and Serah's father and they appeared to be getting along swimmingly. Claire knew Serah had had a crush on the oaf for quite some time now, and after her father's permission, the two had begun a sort of a platonic courtship. (Under the strict watch of the Pastor, of course.) Serah didn't mind too much about her father's limitations on her life, she had learned to deal with them and usually had a trick up her sleeve to persuade her father to bend the rules a bit.

Claire opened her mouth to speak to her sister again, but Serah had already been hallway towards Snow, smoothening out her lavender church dress as she walked toward the tall man. Claire closed her open mouth, and watched out of the corner of her eye as Serah greeted Snow happily, who in return took her hand and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles. At this, Claire looked away. She didn't like the idea of anyone dating her sister, and eventually the oaf would grow fearful of Claire, and run off. Like all the others. Claire scoffed. She didn't understand why Serah enjoyed Snow's company so much. There wasn't anything very special about him, apart from his massive frame.

She didn't understand how someone other than family could make Serah this happy. Claire had been courted by a few men already, given her already adult age of 20, and also had daily confessions by men who lived in the town. None of them mattered to her. None of them had even stayed long enough to get past the pretty face and realize there was a dangerous and adventure-craving soul just underneath. And even if they did manage to get in, that's not what a man wanted in a woman. They wanted someone domesticated, a woman completely devoted in servicing the man and his children, along with tending to the house, and on top of all that, still be able to manage a good Job.

But in reality, that wasn't what Claire expected for herself.

The pinkette felt a gentle pat on her arm and she nodded to her mother who was now standing beside her. Her mother was a lovely, regal woman, who always demanded respect for not only herself, but her family as well. Claire stared at her mother's profile as the other woman was glaring at something intensely in the distance for a moment, before turning back to her daughter.

"Oh dear…" a scowl tainted her mother's features, and Claire frowned.

The younger woman noticed that her mother recognized someone within the crowd, and obviously didn't want to be bothered with them; by the way she was tilting her Sunday hat in such a way to shield her face. Claire's eyebrows rose slightly, with both confusion and slight interest. "What is it?"

Her mother shook her head. "It's the Yun woman. She's most likely coming to discuss her lease payment with me." The elder woman sighed, tilting back her church hat to its normal position, realizing that hiding from the woman would get her nowhere. "Well, we as Catholics must try to be tolerant of all people, no matter what their sins may me." She turned to her daughter. "Please, never associate yourself with this woman. She will likely attempt to force sin on your innocent mind, Claire."

Claire kept her face stoic and unreadable, though inside she was raving. Her mother, (and father for that matter), still treated her as though she was vulnerable to the world. Innocent, naïve little Claire. She was a woman now, not a girl. But it seemed as though her parents didn't want to recognize the fact. She pushed her emotions down again to prevent from giving anything away. As she always did.

Claire looked around, eyes searching. She knew who the woman was, of course. Twisted within the town's usual gossip, the woman's name almost always came up, but Claire did her best to avoid the town's indulgence in everyone's gossip. So, she hadn't heard much about the woman. But from what she did hear, she thought she knew enough.

Miss Oerba-Yun, first name Fang, was said to be cunning, strong, and untrustworthy. She was either sneered at or ignored by most of the town, and Claire knew why. Miss Oerba-Yun had had two mothers. This was, considered by the town, as a sin worth banishment, but the right to banish had been revoked from the town many years ago. So the people just tended to avoid her, unless necessary to do otherwise. The townsfolk had the assumption that the reason the woman was still living in the town that hated her was because she was trying to seduce a young school teacher. The people had seen the two get a bit friendly from time to time, but the red-headed schoolteacher, Vanille, was the town's sweetheart. And having someone coming from homosexual parents associate with the town's sweetheart was a big 'no no'.

Some even claimed that Miss Oerba-Yun was gang-affiliated, (others went so far as to think the woman was attempting to convert townsfolk to homosexuality), automatically classifying her as trouble. But, as agreed upon by the entire town, she was also one of the most gorgeous women the citizens had ever laid eyes upon. Claire herself had only ever had brief glances at the woman while out in the central, or at random hours of the day.

Finally, Claire spotted her.

And the rumors didn't even begin to describe Fang Oerba-Yun.

The woman was striding over, as seductive and mysterious as a panther, but with all the confidence of a war hero. Her facial expression was gentle, despite her striking features making her appear otherwise. From the wild, shoulder-length brunette mane she sported effortlessly, to her sharp, alert and shining emerald eyes. A small beauty mark was prominent just under her left eye, and full lips added to the woman's beauty, only with a bit of upper-lid eyeliner being the only trace of makeup. She was clad in black high-waist slacks, and a light blue bottom up blouse that went down to her toned forearms. Claire feared she had begun to stare too long at the rest of the woman's body, and she quickly scowled in a different direction.

She heard light footsteps approach, and soon her ears rung with a lovely, husky yet feminine voice, with a strong tinge of an Australian accent.

"How do you do, Ms. Farron?"

For a moment, Claire thought the tan woman was addressing her, but her mother quickly responded instead.

"Alright, thank you very much. And, um, yourself, Ms. O-oerba-Yun?" Claire's mother responded, and the younger woman could practically hear the distaste in her mother's usually sweet and gentle tone.

"I've seen better days, t' be perfectly honest." Fang slid her hands into the pockets of her slacks as she spoke. "But anyway, I've been meaning to talk to you about the property-"

"Do you mind if we discuss this some other time, Miss Oerba-Yun? I was hoping to rush off to have brunch at the diner with my family."

Claire could sense the bits of raw poison in her mother's words, and glanced over at the tan woman, who looked a tad confused, but she nodded none of the less.

"Of course, family is of the upmost importance, yeah?" Fang nodded taking her hands out of her pockets and adjusting her cuffs.

Claire couldn't help but think that there was a double meaning in the woman's words.

Fang cleared her throat, and politely held out her right hand towards Mrs. Farron. "Well, it was a pleasure speaking with you, Alina. I'll take my leave."

Claire watched out of the corner of her eye as her mother gingerly took the woman's outstretched hand and gave it a firm shake, before dropping it as if it were a hot rock. That, she was expecting. What she wasn't expecting was the woman to speak to her.

"Miss Claire."

The pinkette's eyes widened a fraction as she turned to see the jade-eyed woman holding her palm out towards her person. Claire resisted the urge to scoff, remembering to act like a lady while her mother was around, and placed her hand atop the slightly taller woman's own. The woman's hand was callused but strangely soft, and extremely warm as tan fingers closed over her own.

She also wasn't expecting Fang to bring their joined hands up her lips.

Fang tugged Claire's hand up along with her own, and bent down slightly to brush her lips on the fair woman's knuckles. She lowered their hands, and with slight hesitation, let Claire's hand go.

Claire gritted her teeth as she felt warmth blossom across her cheeks. Damn her accursed pale complexion!

With a small nod towards both Farrons, Fang turned and walked off, merging with the crowd.

Though not yet able to speak, Claire listened to her mother rant beside her.

"That vixen! She thinks she can come and disrupt our holy day with our brothers and sisters and think nothing of it? She is not welcome here, I will not allow her to cross into the house of the Lord-"

Claire felt the greatest urge to want to cover her ears at her mother's words. She didn't understand at all what was so bad about the Oerba-Yun woman. She shouldn't have to be submitted to ridicule simply because of her parents… but it wasn't Claire's place to say what was right or wrong. Her parents controlled the church, and the church controlled the rules. There was nothing she could do.

…Was there?

A/N: Shall I continue? :)

-Instead of Fang's name meaning 'Fang of the Yun clan in Oerba', since in this fic she will have had two mothers, I just made the Oerba and Yun into two last names.

-I couldn't find Lightning's real mothers name, so I went with Alina, a French name meaning "bearer of light". Get it? ;D

Please review!