Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy XIII, or any other story that I might reference at some point.

AN: Well, I don't usually do things like this (Most of my stories are a single, chronological storyline), but I just felt like I might pull it off with this game. There are a lot of little plot bunnies scampering through my head for FFXIII, but only somewhat connected. So this story will probably just be a series of loosely connected oneshots. Hope you enjoy!

And on a side note, I'm going with the official "Claire" translation of Lightning's name, rather than the original French "Éclair." I tend to go with official translations unless it's something that I absolutely can't stand.

"Talking"

Thought

Time Passage

She watched them dancing, and though only a few would probably be able to recognize it under the stony façade that was ever present in her demeanor, a smile tugged at her lips. It was the first time that they'd had any sort of real party since the two had actually gotten married, and not even a fraction of the chaos was present this time around.

Claire "Lightning" Farron met Snow Villiers by accident. Serah wanted her to meet her new boyfriend of course, but the meeting itself had been a horrible fiasco brought about by sheer force of destiny. Or, alternatively, because Serah had forgotten to tell him that she'd be spending the day with her sister, and said boyfriend had then proceeded to sneak up on his lovely better half from behind and grabbed her in a bear hug, and in turn elicited a surprised squeal from the smaller girl.

Lightning, being a highly skilled soldier and incredibly protective of her sister, had responded in a way that she found to be rather appropriate for a stranger grabbing her sister out of nowhere. Looking back on it, she really probably should apologize for breaking his nose someday…No, he'd probably forget about it sooner or later anyway. And besides, he needed the reminder that hurting her little sister would end with big sister Lightning doing some hurting of her own.

But as much as she wanted to throttle him sometimes, she knew it would never come to that. Oh, she'd hated him for a long time, no doubt about it. She'd tried everything she could think of to separate the two. Ever since she was a child, Serah had been intent on salvaging whatever trash she found in the gutter and using it in any way she could. Cans and boxes became toys, lids and bits of string became necklaces, and rarely were any of her little knickknacks put to waste. This was especially true when they were still young, and her rather meager wages as a rookie didn't allow for many possessions that one might call extravagant.

Unfortunately, that same affection for saving the garbage had apparently transferred over to her taste in men. But unlike her little treasures, Lightning hadn't the slightest reservation about kicking her new, more…excitable…recycling projects out the door and around the block a few times. And oh, how she'd done exactly that. Most of Serah's rather few boyfriends didn't last through their first meeting. One or two had attempted to brave big sister's wrath, thinking that she was just full of tough talk after her plethora of detailed and often violent promises of what would befall them if they took advantage of her sister. Yet they soon learned that attempting to sneak into the house (Or even sneak a kiss. On the cheek. In broad daylight. Surrounded by so many people that there could clearly never be anything scandalous happening) would only land them over that line into the territory of brutal, indescribable, unrelenting suffering. And which could possibly prevent any chance of children happening in the future of said young men.

And then he came along. Snow Villiers. The bane of her existence that topped all other banes of her existence.

She'd tried to get rid of him. Heavens knows she tried. Verbal threats, physical threats, legal threats, throwing him in a jail cell, decking him so hard that Serah was almost certain he'd be sleeping for a few years…Nothing worked on him. Every one of the things that had driven any previous suitors off, some of which had become so well known among the teenage male population that they had nearly stopped so much as considering the thought of considering the possibility of asking Serah Farron out on a date, had absolutely no impact on the boneheaded blond.

And then everything fell apart. Serah had come to her and said that she was a l'Cie, that her and that thing (And she refused to acknowledge him as a man, for obviously he was some kind of freakish monster determined to twist her sister into his little toy) were getting married. What a laugh. Serah must have thought her as gullible as a child if she expected her to believe that, and Villiers…well, Villiers was an idiot. Hell, he was only just barely bright enough to inspire the thought that it was likely his idea in the first place. No, it had been a stupid, thoughtless attempt to keep her from making a big deal out of their engagement. After all, certainly she would be too concerned about Serah becoming one of the l'Cie to act so petty, right? So what better way than to make big sis lay off?

But truly, she'd wanted it to be a lie. Wanted it so much that she'd insulted her sister, threatened that if she really was a l'Cie she would become a target just like anyone else. But she wasn't. She could never target her own sister, no matter what she might have become. But fear and desperation had made her blind, and ignorant, just like everyone else on Cocoon. Everyone…

But not him. Not Snow Villiers. The useless, idiotic Neanderthal had believed in Serah when even her own sister wouldn't. Snow Villiers had stood by her when anyone else would have run screaming to PSICOM, and insulted her, and derided her, and threatened her. And she hated him for it. Hated him because he'd been able to do what even she was too afraid to do, to say what she was terrified of saying, to stand strong when she could only stand in the shadows and cower in the face of reality. Hated him because he'd failed to protect her, but had at least been there to try. Hated him because after seeing what she'd become, crystallized, lost for eternity, he couldn't give up hope. Once again, when all that they'd done to save her turned out pointless, he'd been there when she couldn't and just believed. But deep down, it was more than that. It wasn't something she'd understood, not at first, not for a long time, but in her heart she knew the truth behind that loathing for Snow Villiers.

That plain and simple truth was far more painful than simply hating him for corrupting her sister. It was more agonizing than despising him because he couldn't protect her. The true reason why she hated Snow Villiers? Because she hated herself, and he just wouldn't stop loving her sister long enough for her to hate him instead. He couldn't be a cruel, heartless monster just once, not just a single time, so that she could stop feeling as though she were lower than the utter scum she'd insisted he was so many times before.

But then she'd come to understand him, to see who he really was behind that cocky, immature shell. And when it came down to it, he was human, just like her. He was stubborn, and prideful, and wasn't always the brightest, but then she could hardly consider herself perfect either. And when it counted, who he really was showed through even to her. He never turned his back on her or Serah, and never even considered the option no matter how horribly she treated him as a result. He always looked out for Vanillé, and didn't care what Fang had done. He always gave Sazh just the right combination of pity, kindness, and irritatingly childish behavior to keep him from losing himself to despair. He accepted anything Hope threw at him, and never gave up on his promise to their youngest friend's mother, no matter the cost to himself.

Snow Villiers…Snow Villiers was a good man. Not a perfect man, not anywhere close, but his heart was in the right place, regardless of how many mistakes he may have made along the way. And when she'd come to realize that, some of the hate was gone. Not just for him, but for her as well. Because if Serah could forgive her, if Snow could forgive her, then maybe she wasn't as horrible a person as she felt.

Serah's giggles pulled her from her reverie for a moment, as Snow dipped her in an overly-extravagant fashion, apparently deciding that his decidedly buffoonish antics would be far more enjoyable than an actual, elegant dance. And with that Lightning cracked, allowing a genuine smile to grace her lips.

No, her once overpowering fear of losing her baby sister to some scoundrel wouldn't be a problem. If there was one person in the entirety of the universe that would never hurt Serah, not for anything, then it was Snow Villiers. Before he'd come along, she'd believed that unless they would literally die for the teenager, none of her suitors would ever be good enough. But Snow…Snow wouldn't die for his wife. He wasn't the type to die for the ones he loved. He was the type who looked Death in the face, beat it into a senseless pulp, and then stood up and did the same to whatever was threatening them.

To her, he had just been another loud, stubborn, irresponsible, brutish oaf. And he was still a loud, stubborn, irresponsible, brutish oaf. But he was their oaf, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

AN: Well, there you go. I'm not usually one for writing romantic things, so this story (Definitely some of my ideas for later chatpers) will probably be the first one that has me going into any real detail with romance. Since that's the case, feedback will be particularly helpful when the more romantic chapters come around, especially any corrections or advice on how it's written. Anyway, for now, I hope you liked it and I'd love to hear your opinions!