Gem: I found this buried in my archive of random stories. Take it how you will since there is a wide range of time that this can fit in. I am currently the owner of a cup of tea but only until I finish drinking it and I don't own FFIX in the slightest.
What possessed me? Really, raising one kid as a single parent was hard enough. Locke and Gem were proof enough for that. But as I look out on our latest 'mission' I realize just what possessed me. All the kids needed a better home or even just a home. Sure they all had their quirks but that's what made them them.
Gem had technically been the first but she already had her father. She just helped keep the boys out of trouble and her baby face helped a lot. I gave her fairly simple missions that she completed for me. Granted, the one took years but it was worth it in the end.
The actual first 'member' was Marcus. It was obvious that he needed out of his house. He was so young. But he had picked up on everything so fast that I was slightly startled. And he would always get down when Gem was out on a mission. This was the first family he had known and he didn't want the members to leave. And frankly, neither did I.
I found Zidane down at the docks one day a couple of years later. The kid was soaked and didn't speak our language. He was a fast learner and picked up both the language and thief skills in record time. Despite Marcus having two years more of training, Zidane was caught up with him before the kids turned five.
I found Cinna not even six months later. I knew the look in his eyes. I had seen it once before. I took care of the guys following him and then took him back to the hideout. I had also seen the look of pain in his eyes. The kid was hurt. Thankfully, Gem was actually there for a bit before she would leave again.
By the time the kids were about six and a half, I knew that we had to do something for the last of my 'boys.' We raided Gem's house even though Locke was completely aware of what we were doing. We planned out our strategy and managed to get the kid. He was fairly expressionless which earned him his name. Blank was the last of the boys and also, just recently blinded. My 'kids' were ahead of me; they immediately gave him a hand in learning how to navigate. I was very glad that the first floor of the hideout didn't have very breakable items. Blank constantly ran into things and to test him, one of the other four would have him direct that person to him. It helped a lot though.
Eventually, Gem left. Locke's kids had a huge sense of wanderlust. It was to be expected. What wasn't expected was the arrival of a young girl. She came in the middle of the night but we didn't see her until the morning. She had a fiery spirit and hated nobles. It was eventually discovered that she had been one at one point but even then, she still hated them. I heard words that I hadn't heard in a long time. She told all of Tantalus one day that "nobles were stuffy." We stared at her for a moment and then went back to what we were doing before she told us that. Ruby had been the last to join and yet, none of the boys minded.
So what possessed me? I think that deep inside everyone wants to belong to a family. These kids weren't your run-of-the-mill kids. Rather, I had two girls who despised their backgrounds, three who just needed to be given a better family, and one who had no concept of family at first. Kids are kids but now, years later, I know what possessed me. I think that somehow, I made an impression on each of them. And that impression would stay with them for years.