Ignition

Game: Final Fantasy XIII

Pairing: Serah/Snow

Genre: Romance/Humor

POV: Snow

After that first meeting with Serah, the rest of the week seemed to just fly by. We had been texting back and forth and had decided to go on a dinner date rather than a lunch date. Not that I was complaining, of course; just the thought of being with that cute girl again made my heart beat faster.

"…lo? Cocoon to Snow!" a voice said before a loud snap alerted me. I looked up to see Lebreau glaring at me from her side of the bar.

"Huh? Sorry, what were you saying?" I asked sheepishly.

Sighing, Lebreau shook her head. "Honestly, that's the third time you've spaced out on me. I was asking what your plans were for your date. It's tomorrow, right?"

"Whoa! Snow's got a date?!" Maqui piped up from next to me. "When did this happen?"

I chuckled at the blonde-haired boy's energy. Maqui had really come out of his shell since he joined NORA. "If you must know, it happened on Tuesday. I met the cutest girl in all of Cocoon!" I bragged.

"Is that so?" Yuj asked as he sat down on my other side. "Her standards must not be very high," he joked before getting smacked upside the head by Lebreau.

"Ha ha, hilarious," I replied sarcastically.

"So, where are you taking her?" Maqui asked curiously.

"Uh…" My mind suddenly went blank. It seemed that I had gotten so excited over the fact that I had a date that I had completely forgotten to choose where to go. Whoops!

"Don't tell me," Lebreau groaned as she apparently came to the same conclusion I had. "Fast food isn't gonna cut it this time, Snow!"

"What's wrong with fast food?" Maqui asked with a slight pout.

Okay, obviously Maqui wasn't the person to ask about this. The seaside café was NORA's establishment, so I ruled that out. "Yuj, do you know a good place to go for a first date?"

"Well, you definitely don't wanna overdo it by going somewhere fancy," the blue-haired man advised. "I actually know a nice place that's having a local music show. Nothing too crazy, just some soft rock to my understanding. Best part is, if there's a pause in the conversation, the music playing in the background won't make it so awkward."

Flashing a grin, I told Yuj, "Thanks! I'll pay you back somehow." Inside, I was relieved to actually have a plan instead of going on the fly like I usually did. Now I really couldn't wait for tomorrow!

…

The next day, I found myself right in front of Serah's door. Psyching myself up, I rang the doorbell and waited for my date to come out.

Before I started wondering if anyone was even home, the door opened and Serah was standing there with a lovely smile. "Hey, Snow! Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Oh, you weren't that long," I said, smiling back and looking over her. She was wearing a sleeveless white dress shirt, a see-through pink sweeper, a red plaid pleated skirt lined with black lace, black thigh-high stockings and ivory ankle boots. Her light pink hair was done up in a side ponytail like the last time I saw her, and she had a black armband on her right bicep. "You look good in casual clothes," I commented, immediately favoring this outfit over the school uniform she wore before.

"Thank you," Serah said, blushing a little. How in the heck did I score a date with such an adorable girl? "We better hurry and go, before Sis gets back."

"Then let's go!" I said, taking her hand in mine and leading her to my aero bike. Setting her in front of me, I revved up the engine before taking off for the Bodhum shopping district.

It didn't take us long to reach the place Yuj mentioned, an outdoor restaurant with a stage for local musicians to perform. We were led to a table a ways away from the stage.

"This is a pretty nice place," Serah said as she looked around. "Do you come here a lot?"

"A friend of mine does," I answered as I glanced over the menu. "See anything good?"

"Hmm… the wedding soup sounds good," she said after a few seconds.

"Just the soup?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. "I'm going for a steak myself."

Letting out a light laugh, Serah said, "Well, I had a late lunch, so I'm not that hungry."

"I see," I muttered. "So does Lightning know about this?"

"She knows I'm going out with a friend," the pink-haired girl said with a slightly guilty smile. "I wasn't sure how she would react if I said it was you."

"Let me guess, overprotective older sister?" I asked.

Serah nodded. "She has her reasons. Our dad died when we were young, and Mom passed away almost six years ago, so Sis has had to raise me all by herself. Sometimes I wish she wasn't so overprotective, though. I'm eighteen, and more than capable of making my own decisions."

Smiling sadly, I looked up at the sky. "At least you have someone taking care of you. I never knew my parents."

Serah's pretty blue eyes suddenly became sympathetic. "Oh, no… Snow, I'm sorry," she apologized.

"Hey, I'm okay now," I told her reassuringly. "I've got Lebreau and the guys in NORA, so I'm not alone. Guess you could say they're my family now."

She gave a small smile. "I'm glad you see it that way. You still have people who care about you, and that's wonderful."

I thought I caught a slight waver in her voice. "Are you okay?" I asked, concerned about her.

"I'm fine, just… I'm a little envious," Serah sighed. "Sis works long hours, so she's been drifting away from me lately."

Reaching across the table, I patted her head. "She's your sister. I'm sure she still loves you, even if you don't spend much time together." At that moment, I decided to try to lighten the mood. "Now come on, where's that smile I saw at the beach?" Serah giggled, though she tried to hide her smile by moving her hand over her mouth. "Aha! I saw that!" I said, resulting in more giggling. I loved the way she laughed; I could listen to it all night.

When she had settled down, Serah placed a hand over mine. "Whoa, I just noticed this, but your hands are huge," she observed.

"Oh yeah, I guess they are," I replied before slowly adjusting my hand until it was holding her smaller hand. We both fell silent as we just looked at each other, holding hands, a soft ballad playing in the background. I could feel my cheeks heat up, and I saw Serah's cheeks flushing.

A while into our meal, I couldn't help but get the feeling that we were being watched. "Hey, will you excuse me for a minute?" I asked as I stood up and left the table. Rounding a corner, I stopped at another table and said, "Nice try guys, I know that's you."

Maqui and Yuj reluctantly put down the menus they were hiding behind. "Just wanted to see how the date was going," the blonde said sheepishly.

"I saw you two holding hands," Yuj teased. "She's cute, by the way."

"Thank you," I said with a smug grin. "Now why don't you two finish eating and then head on home? I don't wanna keep Serah waiting." Both of them nodded quickly. "Good! Glad we cleared things up. I gotta go."

"Introduce us sometime, alright?" I heard Maqui say, but I ignored him as I walked back to Serah.

"Sorry about that," I apologized as I sat back down. "So, anything you wanna do after this?"

Serah shrugged. "I don't know… maybe just a walk in the park would be nice."

"I think I'd like that, too," I replied with a grin.

Once we finished eating, I paid the bill and we flew to the park. There weren't a lot of people there, and I held Serah's hand as we walked through our quiet surroundings.

After a few minutes of silence, Serah suddenly piped up, "Oh, I just remembered! I have a present for you."

This caught my interest. "A present? For me?"

The pink-haired girl nodded as she dug through her purse. "I wanted to give you something… as a thank you present… why is this purse so messy?" She grumbled that last bit, and I couldn't help snickering. I always wondered how women's purses were so disorganized. Her eyes lit up when she seemed to have found what she was looking for. "Okay, lean forward and close your eyes."

Cocking an eyebrow, I shot her a playful smirk before doing as I was told. I felt Serah's fingers on the back of my neck and something cool touching my chest. "Serah, what are you doing?"

"Shh…" she whispered. A few seconds later, I couldn't feel her fingers anymore, but I could feel something hanging around my neck. "You can open your eyes now."

Opening my eyes, I looked down and saw a silver pendant hanging around my neck. "Is this… a cat?" I asked noticing the image of a cat on the pendant.

"I thought it suited you," Serah said. "I wanted to properly thank you for saving my life."

I couldn't help grinning at this girl's generosity. "Serah, you didn't have to get me a present!"

"No, but… I wanted to," she replied shyly, using the same excuse I did when I paid for her soda the other day.

"Thank you," I said gratefully. "I really appreciate it."

Serah gave her biggest smile yet. "Y-You're welcome." Then she suddenly started getting nervous, not making eye contact with me. "Um, I know we haven't known each other very long, but I…" She then looked me straight in the eye. "I really like you, Snow, and if it's alright with you, I want to go on another date."

I was stunned. The cutest girl in Cocoon just told me she liked me! "YES! She likes me!" I cheered, pumping my fist and not caring who heard me.

"Ha ha, I'll take that as a yes!" Serah said in-between giggles.

Eventually, I flew Serah back to her house, and if I didn't have to watch where I was going, I would've kept gazing at my new girlfriend. I couldn't remember the last time I was so happy! When we got there, I walked Serah to the door just like last time.

"Good night, my hero," she said with a smile.

"Sweet dreams," I replied in a soft voice before leaning down to try to kiss her. It only then occurred to me that our difference in height might be a problem. Chuckling, I stepped down one of the steps so I was at least a little closer to her eye level before trying again. This time, our lips met in a sweet, loving kiss.

We stood like that for a while, her arms around my neck and mine around her waist, softly kissing each other. We gazed into each other's eyes as I slowly pulled away, walking back to my aero bike. I looked back one last time, and Serah blew one more kiss in my direction. I pretended to snatch the kiss out of the air before watching her go inside her house.

Grinning to myself, I flew back home feeling like the luckiest guy in the world. I clutched the pendant Serah gave me, silently wondering what lay ahead of us.

Author's note: For those of you wondering about the title, "Ignition" is a song written and composed by Luke Gray, a musician from my hometown. I listened to it over and over while writing the restaurant scene, and I thought it was fitting considering that Snow and Serah officially began their relationship. ;)