A/N: My first Final Fantasy One-Shot. This is NOT an incest, by the way. ^_^'''
Our home had always been happy, nice, and simple. Dad was a military officer but he isn't really that strict like most soldier dads out there. Mom was a simple, loving, and understanding housewife who cooks really good meals that I actually asked her to teach me some of them. She was a master chef at a five-star restaurant but she chose resign so that she could spend more time with us. Oh! I also have big sister who's two years older than I am. She is the calm, cool, collected Claire. For me, she's the best big sis in the world. Well, she might be quite over-protective of me and a little cold towards other people but there is this gentle and caring part deep inside her that only a few people could see. The four of us form the welcoming Farron household.
But then our lives took a drastic turn. Nothing would ever be the same as it was before.
One fateful night, our parents went out to celebrate their wedding anniversary, walking out the door in a bright mood as they left Claire in-charge. I could tell that time that they were going to have a great time, since Dad has a gentle loving smile on his face and he's not that much of a smiling person and Mom was dressed in her best clothes and wore the sparkling necklace Dad gave her when he was still courting her. We thought they'd just go out to eat at some restaurant then get home late at night. But something else happened. When they were driving back home, they crashed into a speeding truck. Mom and Dad were taken to the hospital by some concerned onlookers but it was too late. They were dead on arrival. They left me and Claire to take care of ourselves since we didn't even know a relative who'd let us live with them. My sister had to take the responsibility of two parents.
Fortunately, there was this rich guy who owned a company and gave us scholarships until we finish schooling and he also gave us some money every month.
Of course, the money wasn't enough to cover all our expenses so Claire had to take a part-time job as a waitress and became a working student. I would also bake cupcakes and sell them to school but that's nothing compared to my sister's labour. She would always go home with a tired look on her face then do her homework.
My sister remained caring and nice despite how tiring her everyday life is. She'd always help me out with my homework, take care of me when I'm sick, comfort me whenever I remember what happened with Mom and Dad, and we'd sleep beside each other every night. She even sometimes sings to me some lullabies until I'm deep in slumber.
Although as months passed by, it seemed like Claire started to change. It's not just with her being more mature. She used to smile every day and now it's like I haven't seen her smile for ages! I know how hard it's been for her but it wouldn't kill her if she smiled, right? Yes, she may be smiling in the restaurant she's working in but I know she's faking them. I never mentioned this to her though and I simply miss my sister's smile.
When it was just a week before her 16th birthday, I baked more cupcakes then before to earn money enough to bake a cake for two and buy tickets to the amusement park.
A day before her birthday, I started to bake her birthday cake. Since Claire has her part-time job by this time in the afternoon, I have the quiet house all to myself after I got home from school. I didn't even rest for a few minutes. I went straight to our kitchen which looked like one of those that could be seen in cooking shows since Mom like how it was easy to get some stuff and how spacious they are. When I got everything ready, I started to make the cake according to the instructions. I poured the batter into the circular baking pan then put it in the oven and set the timer. I waited as the scent of a sweet strawberry cake filled the kitchen.
Just then, I heard a familiar sound.
DING DONG!
Oh my! Claire got home earlier than I expected!
I panicked. How could I hide all of these? I sprayed some air freshener to cover up the scent of the cake. I hid all the materials I used in an empty cabinet.
DING DONG!
I wiped off all the mess I made.
DING DONG!
How about the cake? Just great! Either I have to lie or admit! Wait, Claire could always see through my lies. Sheesh. So much for the surprise. And I shouldn't have hid all of the baking materials if I had to admit!
"Coming!" I shouted as I walked outside and opened the gate. Huh? Why is there a bicycle parked in front of the house? Claire doesn't use bikes. And why is the person in front of me is quite taller than Claire is? And why is she not wearing a school uniform? I looked up to the sweating impatient face. It's not Claire's. It's just a postman. A postman!
"Miss Farron?" he inquired. I nodded, panting. He handed me some letters and left pedalling on his bicycle. Did I just go through all that panicked trouble of cleaning up and hiding stuff for some postman? Great. Really great.
I closed the gate then the door and went back to the kitchen. I took out all the dirtied bowls, mixing spoon, mixer, and other items I used. I washed them in the sink just in case Claire would arrive sooner than I expected again. When I was done, the oven made a beeping sound. I put on some oven mittens and took out the cake. It's perfect with its golden brown colour and just the smell of it is mouth-watering. Wait, Serah. This is big sister's cake. No eating. No cake slicers or forks allowed.
I got the cake out of the baking pan as I already had the icing ready and decorated it with the sweet white frosting and placed strawberries on top of it then poured a spoonful of strawberry jam on the center, giving the strawberries a pinker, glazy look.
I carefully placed the cake in a Tupperware then put it in the refrigerator. I hid it there by surrounding it with the other items in it so that it won't be much noticed if ever Claire opens the fridge.
I cooked our dinner. Claire came home with the usual tired look on her face. As always, I prepared our dinner on the table then placed a piece of the chicken dish on each of our plates. Claire nodded and said, "Thanks."
After eating, Claire stood up and made her way towards the fridge. I forgot she has eyes that could see every detail changed! I rushed towards it and beat her to it. I took out the pitcher and said, "Gosh! I'm so thirsty for some cold water! Would you like some too, Claire?" I poured some water in my glass and showed her an empty one.
"Yeah," she replied then went back to her seat. I guess she paid no mind. Phew! I poured some water into the other glass then returned the pitcher to the refrigerator. I gave her one of the glasses of water as I drank some of mine.
"Oh, Serah," Claire started, "I won't be working tomorrow. Manager said it'll be my day-off, saying that I was one of her best employees and I need a little break."
Good! 'Operation Smile' would be easier to initiate tomorrow. "I see," I responded, making it as unobvious as I could that I have something planned for her birthday.
After finishing our homework, we went to bed.
The next day, I walked 1.3 kilometers going to school with Claire beside me. She once said that I should always walk beside her on mornings to avoid running into Snow, her blonde handsome and somewhat idiotic classmate. Does she really hate him that much? I think he's kind of cute and I have to admit that I have a little crush on him. A two-year age gap isn't bad when it's just a crush.
Before leaving me to my classroom, I told her I'd be home later than usual and asked her permission. She consented, saying that I should be careful and I must call her if anything goes wrong. When school's done, I went somewhere near the amusement park then called Claire on my pink phone with a cute silvery charm hanging on it.
"Claire, go where I am right now! This is urgent! I'm near the amusement park!" I told her on the phone, using my somewhat serious voice. She can't resist me if I sound really serious, which is all part of my plan.
In less than ten minutes, Claire arrived. She looked really worried. L-Looks like I was too much…
"What happened, Serah? Did someone rob you? Got you into trouble? What?" she asked in her really anxious tone. Did I sound like that when I called her? Ehehehe… sorry…
"A-Awww, it's not that bad! Come on!" I said as I pulled her towards the amusement park.
When we arrived, she asked with one of her eyebrows raised, "So what's wrong here?"
"Nothing, we're just going to have a little fun!" I said in my most enthusiastic mood.
She frowned. Uh oh. "It that what 'urgent' meant to you?" she asked, obviously trying to keep her anger from rising.
"C-Calm down," I stammered. I don't like it when big sis is mad. She's really, really scary! "Your birthday is important so it's urgent!" I said, smiling nervously.
She sighed. "I'm leaving." Oh no…
"Wait! What am I going to do with these tickets?" I asked her, showing her two amusement park tickets.
"Spend them with a friend," she replied as she started to walk away.
"NO! I want to spend them with you, big sister! Please?" I asked desperately while following her.
"No," she answered.
"Pleeeaaase?"
"No."
"Pretty please?"
"N-O. No." Just please accept it already for crying out loud! Now's the time to pull out my secret weapon.
"Pretty please with a cherry on top?" I begged with my puppy-dog face.
"…" she looked away. It' working! I walked towards the direction she faced and shower her my begging puppy face. "Puh-lease?"
Now she looked like she can't resist my request. She sighed. "Alright. Just a few rides."
YES! I dragged her into the park and gave the worker at the entrance our tickets. There are some people inside but they're not as many compared to the number of people there are on a holiday.
"Let's go to the haunted house!" I said, smiling.
Claire looked at me with surprise and confusion. "Are you sure? You were scared to death – "
"That was a long time ago! I've grown up!" I stated, cutting her off. Please don't remind me.
"Suit yourself," she answered as I pulled her towards the eerie-looking house. I was dark inside. I could also hear some creepy sounds like evil laughs and doors creaking. This. Is. Not. Scary. I caught a glimpse of something that moved. W-What was that? I'm starting to get – NO! I'm not! I clutched Claire's arm. Through the darkness, I looked at her face. Her face … has boredom written all over it? This is not thrilling for her? I looked to the left as we kept walking. I looked to the right. I saw a harmless-looking door. Curiosity crept in me. I wonder what's in it? Maybe their control room or something? I like to see that! I walked towards the door while holding Claire's arm. I was about to open it with the doorknob when…
"BWAHAHAHA!" The door flipped open revealing a spooky person with ripped clothes and … blood all over his face!
"Eeek!" I squeaked.
Claire looked at me with one eyebrow raised. "It's not yet late to turn back," she advised.
"I'm fine! I'm more mature than before!" I told her.
We continued walking through cobwebs and antique-looking furniture. I glanced at a painting of a person. WHAT THE? Did … did the painting's eyes just moved? N-Never mind that! Then I saw some guys with scary faces taking one step forward then backward. At first they uh … disturbed me but I realized they were actually just machines. From that point on, walking through the haunted house felt like a breeze.
A hand patted my shoulder. "I'm not scared Claire. So stop patting my shoulder."
She looked at me. "That's not me," she said.
"Huh?" I looked back. There's a guy with a spine-chilling face holding an axe. My eyes widened. He grinned at me with his eyes wide. A… ZOMBIE!
"KYAAAHHH!" I screamed as I dragged Claire towards the exit while the zombie chased us. "A ZOMBIE IS CHASING MEEE! WAAAHHH! LEAVE ME ALOOONE!" I shouted at the top of my lungs while running with Claire to the end. When we got out of the house, the zombie disappeared. I sighed with relief.
"So that's mature! Really, really mature!" Claire exclaimed while laughing. "You're still so childish, Serah!" she teased with a grin on her face. Geez. Wait, big sis is not only smiling, she's laughing!
Operation Smile: Succes!
"Success! YAY!" I cheered, jumping up and down like a little girl getting a new doll bought by her parents.
"Hn? Success that you finally got out of there?" Claire spoke, laughing. Ouch.
"No! You smiled! At last!" I retorted.
"Huh?" She stopped laughing then gently placed her fingertips on her lips as she blinked twice. She smiled gently then nodded. "And that's because of you. Thanks."
I smiled back. "Let's go to the roller coaster next!" I invited.
"Just be sure not to barf or cry, little Serah!" Claire warned me teasingly.
"Geez! Of course I won't!"
So we spent the rest of the afternoon at the amusement park. When we got home, I took out the cake. I sliced it and gave some to Claire and myself.
"So that's what you're hiding. It's so obvious," said Claire.
"Huh? Why?"
"Why else would you beat me to the fridge?"
"Ehehehe…" I scratched my head sheepishly.
"Anyway, I must admit that that was fun. Thanks, Serah," thanked Claire then smiled gently.
I smiled back.
Though this is not my birthday, I'll remember this day as long as I live!
Thank you for reading! Please press the little blue button down there, if you don't mind...
Sincerely yours,
Eru-chii