Whoops! Seems like my first upload lost the author's note...and what a horrible thing that is!...
Anyways, this is (one of) my first FF XIII fanfics, so please go easy on my if the characters are a tad OOC - it will get better with time, I promise!
Disclaimer: I don't own FF XIII or any of the characters (sniffle-sob), though I do own Despair, Astra, and the plot!
The Pulse sun was up, shining brightly overhead, it was a beautiful day, with soft puffy clouds drifting lazily across the sky, and Serah Villiers was in a wonderful mood: she was engaged to the man she loved, her brand as a Pulse l'Cie was but a distant memory, and – best of all – her beloved sister Claire was coming to visit tomorrow, along with Hope, Sazh, and Dajh. And so she walked through the streets of Bodhum, humming to herself, hands full with bags of groceries, feeling as if the world was going right for once.
She passed her favorite café and paused a moment, internally debating with herself – on one hand, she wasn't that far from home, and she could easily wait the extra five minutes to make a cup of coffee herself…but then again, there was a reason this place was her favorite café.
And so she was standing there when a familiar woman ran by her, closely followed by a man shouting, "Wait, Astra, please!"
Serah nearly dropped her bags of groceries in shock, instead opting to stick a foot out to trip the silver-haired man who went tumbling to the ground at the unexpected obstacle.
"What the- oh, I'm sorry," the man said, halting his cursing as he saw Serah. His eyes were a dark forest green, a sheepish expression on his face as he ran a hand through his hair – dark silver, Serah noted, feeling a flush creeping up her cheeks.
"Oh," was all she could say, feeling embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else…" her mind flashed to a young boy as she had last seen him, his green eyes inquisitive beneath silver-white hair, and felt her face turning bright red.
"It's fine," the man said, turning and standing straight, searching for something in the crowds around him. "Damn, lost her again," he muttered, before turning to Serah, who now wore an expression of polite curiosity. "A friend of mine," he explained, a frown tugging at his lips. "I'm not exactly the most tactful person, and said something I really shouldn't have. Now she's pissed at me again." He cursed under his breath, shaking his head.
"I'm sorry," Serah repeated, feeling more and more embarrassed as time passed. Of course this wasn't Hope – he would still be in classes at the university in Palumpolum right now, not chasing people on the streets of Bodhum. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Nah, don't worry about me, miss…?"
"Serah."
"Miss Serah," he finished, flashing her a smile. "After all the times I've sparked her temper, I've become quite adept at calming her down. It's finding her that's the hard part, but at this point, I might as well just wait." He shrugged, seeming unaffected by his dilemma, and held out his hand. "The name's Despair – lame, I know, but it is what it is." He waited a moment, then seemed to notice she had her hands full, and laughed, running his hands through his hair again. "And here I am, rambling on about my problems while you're standing there with all your bags. Would you like some help?"
"Oh – no, I'll be fine," Serah demurred, taking a step back and flinched as she felt her foot fall further than expected off the edge of the sidewalk, felt the ground rushing up towards her-
And Despair was there, one arm slipped behind her shoulders as his free hand held the bags she had let go of in her shock. "Careful," he said wryly as they both realized the irony of his late warning.
"Th-thanks…" Serah muttered, standing up. She moved to take back the bags he had caught and he held them out for her, but did not relinquish his hold on them.
"Are you sure I cannot help you? As payment for ranting at you about my personal problems."
Serah opened her mouth, prepared to decline, but paused. Truth be told, she hadn't been completely done shopping, but it had reached the point where she could no longer carry any more bags and had decided to return later with Snow in tow. However, if Despair was willing…gears turned in her mind as a plan formed. "Only if you're fine with me dragging you into more stores," she said with a smile, trying to hide the evil grin that wanted to creep onto her face.
"That's fine by me," Despair replied, sweeping her a bow with his free arm. "Just lead the way, and I shall be as your pack mule – and believe me, I've had practice."
With Despair's help, Serah was able to finish all of her shopping and then some – she had been unable to resist the impulse to splurge a little, especially since she would not have to suffer the side effects of buying more than she immediately needed. The sun was just beginning to vanish behind the distant horizon, and Serah's steps were quick as they made their way back to the house Serah and Snow had shared since their marriage three years previously. As they approached the front door, Serah reached into the purse over her shoulder, searching for the keys. "Would you mind bringing the bags in for me?" She found her key ring, picking out the key to her home and inserting in the doorknob.
"No problem," Despair replied nonchalantly. Serah twisted the key, pushing the door open and stepping inside.
"Thanks," she said, stepping aside and letting him in. "Snow?" she said, louder. "I'm home."
"Be down in a moment!" came the shout from upstairs, followed by a thud, and Serah laughed, leading Despair to the kitchen area.
"Go ahead and set the bags down on the table," she said, setting the two bags she had been carrying down as Despair methodically unloaded the bags that had been loaded into his arms. "Would you like something to drink? It's the least I can do after your help."
"I thank you for your kindness, but I am fine," Despair shook his head, turning as they heard footsteps pounding down the stairs and the hulk that was Snow barreled into the room.
"Welcome home, baby!" Snow said, sweeping Serah into his arms and spinning her around, narrowly avoiding hitting the table and cabinets as he did so. "How was shopping?"
"It went fine," Serah said, sounding breathless, and held a hand out towards Despair. "This is Despair. He helped me carry the bags back – after all, we have a bit of a crowd coming soon…"
Snow raised an eyebrow, but held out his hand nonetheless. "Snow," he said by way of introduction, noting the forest green eyes and dark silver hair that tugged at his memory. "Thanks for helping my wife today." He placed a careful emphasis on the word 'wife', declaring his territory before the potential threat.
But Despair did not react to the warning, shaking the proffered hand with a smile. "No problem," he said, just as he had earlier. "It was my pleasure. And I owed her, after that rant," he gave a little self-depreciating laugh, shaking his head.
"No, you didn't," Serah said, unable to maintain her previous evil plan any longer. "It was my fault for tripping you – I'm sorry." She bowed her head, feeling embarrassed once more.
But Despair surprised them once again, only laughing at her admission. "So it was you! I couldn't for the life of me figure out why I'd tripped so suddenly, and you looked far too innocent to be the culprit. Don't worry about it, miss – you probably did me a favor, keeping me from continuing to make a fool of myself running after my friend like that."
"Why were you running after your friend?" Snow asked, unable to restrain his curiosity as Serah began to put away the groceries, beginning with the perishables.
Despair looked sheepish. "I said something that got her mad," he admitted, like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "As usual, whatever we were talking about went out the window, and she went out the door."
"I know how you feel, man," Snow sympathized, sitting down at the table and gesturing for Despair to do the same. "These women – you piss them off and it doesn't matter what was happening, it's all your fault." He sighed, ignoring the Lightning-esque glare Serah shot him.
Despair grinned at that, but continued standing. "I should get going – I'm hoping Astra will be home by now, and we can talk things out…again." He shrugged, moving towards the door.
"Thanks again for your help," Serah smiled brightly at him, nudging Snow.
"Oh – yeah, thanks for helping," Snow added, then grinned. "We're having some friends over tomorrow, but would you like to come over for dinner the day after that? Bring your friend – maybe we can help you two." An evil matchmaking light was burning in his eyes, and Despair continued moving towards the door.
"Perhaps," he said noncommittally. "I'll have to talk to Astra about it – don't need to piss her off again, you know? But we don't live too far from here – maybe we'll stop by."
"That sounds lovely," Serah said.
They said their goodbyes and Despair left. Serah nudged her husband again, looking pointedly at the bags, and he stood with a sigh, helping to her empty the bags.
"He looked kind of familiar," Snow mentioned after it had been silent for a while, feeling a sense of nostalgia tugging at the back of his mind.
"Kind of like Hope," Serah replied, frowning. "I was wondering if that was just me or not. Honestly, when I tripped him, I thought it was Hope, though of course it wasn't." She tapped her chin with one finger, a thoughtful look on her face.
"Hey, come on baby, lighten up," Snow teased, kissing her forehead as he continued to put away her shopping. "We can figure it out some other time – for now, we have to get ready for sis and the others…"
As usual, the mere mention of guests was enough to get Serah moving again, though the mystery of Despair lurked in the back of their minds.
So? How was it? Feel free to comment or critique (HELPFUL critique is more than welcome, but flames make me cry :(...).
Since I'm currently torn between this and Past, Present, Future, I might be a bit slow in updating. However, reviews make me happy, and a happy Zare updates more often! (Okay, so that was a lame attempt at begging for reviews...) Honestly, though, whichever story gets more reviews (and has more plot bunnies) will get updated faster...
To quote everyone's favorite redhead: Ciao!