A/U: Second chapter, up at last! It hasn't been long, I know, but this is kind of taking priority until a new assignment comes along, so…yeah.

Envious sky, I dedicate this chappie to you, you'll know why at the end of it :D

Reviews:

ziel101 - glad you're liking the story, yes, it is AU, so hopefully (why, square) you won't be confused again ;)

Envious sky - glad you're enjoying the story, this chappie's for you ;)

Disclaimer: No, I don't own FF XIII, but I wish I did. Who wants to help me steal it? Any takers on insane plans?

Lightning woke up to the sound of her alarm clock, which she promptly threw against the wall, where it smashed. Looks like it's time for a new replacement. Again. That makes it thirteen alarm clocks she'd broken in the last month, not that she was counting. Oh well. She stretched, then tried to go back to sleep. When she realised she couldn't, she lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling for a bit. Why did she set her alarm on a weekend, anyway?

Oh yeah, she was supposed to have a job interview at the Guardian Corps at 11:00, but they postponed it to the next day, she remembered now.

Lovely, but now what am I supposed to do? She looked around her room. Apart from her guitar propped up against her wardrobe, and the various posters on the walls, this room could belong to an adult.

Which, technically, she was.

She sat up, pushing the covers off her legs so she could stand, and heading to the bathroom to brush her teeth and her hair, which was a pale pink. She looked in the mirror. A beautiful 18-year-old woman with cerulean coloured eyes looked back. She was mildly surprised when she saw dark bruise-like circles under them, evidence that she woke up early every morning. Her usually creamy skin was paler than was usual, too.

She finished brushing her hair and pinned it to her left side, falling easily into routine. When she was done she returned to her room and changed into a white shirt and black pants, and left her room to find something to eat.

She walked to the kitchen , where she was her mother, Rosalie. She had the same blue eyes and pink hair as her daughters, though her eyes were a slightly fuller coloured blue. She was quick to smile and joke, though she did less since her husband was killed. Her laugh lines were evidence of this.

"Hey, Lightning," she greeted before flipping whatever she was cooking over. "Want some pancakes?"

"Yeah, sure," Lightning agreed before taking a seat at the kitchen table. "Is Serah up yet?"

"Uh, no, haven't seen her up yet, though I did see clean dishes on one side of the sink. I'm guessing she got up, had breakfast and went back to bed." She smiled wickedly. "Do you want to wake her up, or should I?"

Lightning smirked. "It is your turn."

"Lovely." She turned her attention back to the frying pan, where Lightning could see the pancakes cooking. She could feel her mouth watering, and only now felt just how hungry she was. Rosalie laughed merrily as she heard her daughter's stomach rumble.

"Hang on a second while I finish these, and then I'll wake your sister," she chortled. "After you've finished breakfast, and once Serah's ready, you can take her to Vanille's house, if you want. You could hang out with Fang, too."

"Sounds great. I don't have anything else to do today."

"How so?" Rosalie asked as she flipped the finished pancakes onto a plate and handed it to Lightning. "What about the interview?"

"They postponed it."

"Ah, ok. I'm going to go wake up Serah. Do you want to watch, or do you want to eat first?"

"I think I'll watch. It's always fun when you wake her up."

"Alright, let's go." Rosalie grabbed the frying pan and walked around the kitchen table, pulling her daughter out of her seat with her.

Lightning smirked. Serah was about to get a really fun surprise.

As they tiptoed into Serah's room, Rosalie couldn't help but chuckle under her breath. Lightning tiptoed over to the corner and grabbed Serah's toy moogle and handed it to Rosalie. She then stepped back to watch as her mother threw the moogle into the air, and with surprising speed and accuracy, hit it with the frying pan into the wall above Serah's head with a loud bang. She jerked awake, heart pumping, to find her toy moogle on her head and her mother still clutching the frying pan. Serah threw the moogle at Lightning, who dodged, grinning.

"Rise and shine," she said.

Serah, grumbling under her breath, slowly kicked the covers off of her, stood up and fished around in her wardrobe for clothes. Lightning nudged Rosalie, and they walked out of the room, Lightning shutting the door behind her.

As Serah dressed, she cursed under her breath. Batting a toy moogle at the wall was no way to wake a person up in the morning. When she finished dressing she checked her clock. It was almost 12:00, which meant it was almost time to go to Vanille's place. That cheered her up immensely. Serah walked to the bathroom to brush her hair again and put it into her usual side ponytail, all the while thinking of the revenge she would get on her mother and older sister, which cheered her up even more. With her toilette complete, she ducked into her room to get her bag, grabbing the loose gil she always kept under her pillow, and put it into her pocket. She then walked into the living room, where her older sister was waiting for her, seemingly done with her breakfast.

"I'm taking you to Vanille's place," she announced abruptly from her place on the couch, where she was idly channel-surfing waiting for her sister. She turned off the TV, then stood up.

"Lightning, it's only three doors down from here," she reminded her. "And besides, I don't need protecting with Fang around."

"Actually, I'm going to see Fang, since I don't have anything else to do," Lightning corrected.

"Oh, ok."

"So, you ready to go?" Lightning asked her little sister. She almost always forgot to pack something.

"Of course I am!"

"You got everything? Toothbrush, toothpaste, etcetera?" Rosalie asked as she walked upstairs to the living room.

"Uh…"

"Go check."

"Fine."

As Serah ran off to collect her toiletries, Rosalie smiled at Lightning, who was staring a hole in the wall.

"You have fun at Fang's, ok? You look like you need it," she said. Lightning nodded, then continued staring a hole in the wall until Serah came back, toiletries in hand, and proceeded to stuff them into her bag. Panting slightly, she looked at her mother, who said, "Your pillow?"

Serah ran back into her room to fetch her pillow. Rosalie and Lightning looked at each other and started laughing.

"I can hear you! Stop laughing!" Serah yelled from her room. That only made them laugh harder. Sighing, Serah grabbed her pillow, and after a moment's thought, her toy moogle, which was resting on the floor after the incident that morning. She then ran out to the living room, which was next to the kitchen, and stuffed the moogle into her bag and picked it up. She found that her family was stil chuckling under their breath. Well, Rosalie was, Lightning was smiling slightly.

"Can we go now?" Serah huffed, ready to get out of the house and away from her family.

"Yeah, sure, we were just waiting for you –" Lightning was interrupted by her mother, who had started laughing again.

"Stop laughing!" Serah said as she stomped downstairs and out the door.

"See ya, mom," Lightning shot at Rosalie as she ran downstairs after her sister.

"Kids," Rosalie chuckled under her breath as the phone rang. "Hello?"

"Oh, Rose, could you cover for Arianna? She said she was too sick to come in today," Lebreau's voice answered, sounding distressed. "I know it's your day off, and I wouldn't ask you otherwise, but…"

"Yes, ok, see you in a jiff."

"Oh, thank Etro! You're a lifesaver!"

"You owe me one, though," Rosalie smiled. The more work she got, the more hours she worked, the more money she got to pay the bills and mortgage with.

"We'll talk about that when you get here, your shift starts soon."

"Ok, bye." As Rosalie hung up, she wondered what Arianna's real reason was for skipping out on work. The 17-year-old was never sick; Rosalie often envied her her immune system. It made the whole thing rather suspicious. She shrugged, and went to her room to get changed, all the while thinking about how tired she would be when she got home.

Hope was just about done with his clothes when his mother called, "Lunchtime!" He sprinted out of his room and into the living room, where his parents were waiting with lunch, which were sandwiches. At that point, Hope didn't care what they were, as long as they were edible. Nora smiled at his son's apparent impatience.

"Eat up, because that's all we're getting until dinner, and make sure you save some for me," she said as she watched her boys dig in. she chuckled under her breath watching them. She decided to take a walk as she waited for them to finish up.

As she went outside and to the end of the driveway, she noticed a girl watching the house. Was she waiting for someone? Nora waved, hoping to catch her attention. The girl waved back, and walked over to Nora. "Hey there, are you new here? I haven't seen you around here before," the girl said, and Nora smiled.

"No, we've just moved in. My name's Nora," she replied, holding out her hand for the girl to shake. She did. "Call me Ari, everyone else does."

"Ok, Ari." The name rolled unfamiliarly on her tongue. "How old are you?"

"I just turned 17," she replied, grinning.

"Well, that's great! Do you have any family?"

"Uh, no, my parents died in a car accident when I was five," Ari admitted. "I live and work at Lebreau's, the café just down the street here, and to the left. You should come by sometime." Ari pointed down the street.

"Yeah, of course."

"Well, I need to get going, my shift starts soon."

"Ok. It was nice to meet you, Ari."

"Nice to meet you too, Nora." Ari smiled and turned to walk to her car.

As she watched the silver-haired woman – Nora, go back inside, she got a phone call. As she answered, she knew automatically who it was.

"Hey boss," she greeted smoothly.

"Hey yourself. Where are they?"

"They're inside right now. I just met the woman."

"Good. Meet me here," he rattled off directions, "and we'll plan on what we're gonna do next."

"Gotcha. See ya soon." As she hung up she saw someone else sit on the edge of the driveway. That must be Nora's son, Hope. He definitely had her hair.

She turned her back on the boy and walked to her car.

Hope watched as the mysterious blue-haired girl walk calmly to her car. He briefly considered going over to say hi, but he pushed that thought aside as he stood up and walked back inside. He felt a tingling sensation at the base of his neck, and instinctively knew he was being watched. He turned around to see an empty street, completely devoid of any human activity except himself.

Weird.

A/U: I love leaving suspenseful endings, they're delightfully amusing.

Read and review, please please please! It will help my sanity and coax me onward :D