A Little Competition

"Mommy, can you help me with this?"

Fang put her book down on the dining table. It was a treatise on the work Cocoon's archaeologists had been doing to try and preserve the many ruins that had been found on Gran Pulse. As much as it annoyed her to have people poking around in those sorts of places, she had to admit that it was better than letting them crumble into dust. However, it wasn't often that Averia asked her – or anyone – for help, so she could always leave the book until later.

"Got a problem, kiddo?" Fang grinned, and just because she knew it would get to Averia, she reached over to ruffle the girl's hair.

Averia scowled and backed out of Fang's reach. "Mommy, stop messing with my hair!"

"But it's fun." Fang smirked and blocked the punch that Averia aimed at her jaw. It was a good punch, all things considered, but the girl had a long, long way to go before she could land a hit on Fang. Besides, even if she did, it wasn't like she'd do any damage. Fang had spent the last decade getting clobbered by Lightning for inappropriate remarks, teasing comments, and good old-fashioned Yun wit. "So, what's bothering you?"

Averia held up part of the Saturday newspaper. Custom in the Yun-Farron household dictated that every newspaper be split up amongst the family. Fang and Lightning got the news and sports, Diana got the comics, and Averia got all the puzzles.

"It's this." Averia pointed a grid printed on one of the pages. There were some numbers inside it, and thick lines split the overall grid into nine smaller grids, each of them 3 x 3. "It's called Sudoku, and I can't solve this one." She glared at the offending problem. "I hate it when I can't solve them."

"Sudoku, huh?" Fang studied the puzzle more closely. She vaguely remembered seeing something about Sudoku on television. Apparently, it had become quite popular, but she'd never actually had the chance to play it. "How does it work?"

Averia sat down next to Fang and pointed at the puzzle. "See these empty spaces? You have to fill them up with numbers between 1 and 9. But each number can only appear once in each of the rows and columns, and each number can only appear once in each of the smaller grids." Averia jabbed one finger at the problem. "I've done all the others already, but there's something wrong with this one. I can't get it."

"I see." Fang bit back a chuckle. No wonder Averia sounded so annoyed. The idea that something – anything – could get the better of her was not something the girl entertained very often. It also didn't escape Fang's notice that all the Sudoku puzzles were graded according to difficulty, and that this last one was labelled 'brain-meltingly hard'. "Have you tried asking your sister for help?" Diana liked puzzles, although she tended to like them more when she could poke, prod, or jump on them.

"She doesn't like Sudoku much," Averia grumbled. She had pulled a pen out of her pocket and was holding it like a sword, the tip pointed at the puzzle. "And she's watching cartoons now."

Fang glanced at the clock on the wall. Of course, it was time for the Saturday morning special of Gary the Gorgonopsid – one and a half hours of nauseatingly cheerful fun involving the vaguely educational adventures of a small (but growing) band of ridiculously coloured animals. It was right up Diana's alley, even if just looking at it made part of Fang's soul die.

"Well, why don't we try and solve it together," Fang suggested. "I haven't really played Sudoku before, but I'm not bad when it comes to puzzles."

"Thanks, mommy." Averia pursed her lips. "Here's what I've worked out so far…"

Over the next fifteen minutes, Averia painstakingly laid out the reasoning that had gotten her about halfway through the problem. Fang was impressed. Heck, she was way more than impressed. Her little girl spoke clearly and efficiently, and her reasoning was frighteningly complex and precise for a girl her age. She grinned. Yep, she and Lightning made awesome kids together, although she would always maintain, if asked, that it was mostly because of her.

"So, what do you think?" Averia asked, once she'd finished explaining.

"I think you're right about almost everything so far." Fang pointed to one of the spaces in the grid. "But unless I'm mistaken, we can probably say that space over there is a 2."

Averia's eyes widened, and she studied the puzzle for a few moments. "I think you might be right."

"Of course, I –"

"Actually, that spot should be a 3." Lightning set her mug of hot chocolate down on the dining table, and slid into the chair beside Averia.

"You think it should be a 3?" Fang's lips curled. "What makes you think you're right?"

Lightning shrugged nonchalantly. "I happen to play Sudoku now and then, and I can tell that it should be a 3."

Fang fought the urge to roll her eyes. What Lightning had just said was Lightning-speak for: I play Sudoku obsessively when nobody is watching, and if you think I'm wrong, you're clearly insane because Lightning Farron has never been wrong about anything, ever, in the history of the universe.

"No, it's a 2." Fang pointed to the numbers that she and Averia had filled in throughout the grid. "Look at all the other numbers. It has to be a 2."

"What if some of those numbers are wrong?" Lightning pointed to the grid. "That one over there should be a 5 not a 7, and that one should be a 2 not a 9. If you change those around then it's obvious it should be a 3 not a 2."

"Obvious?" Fang smirked. "Well, have you ever considered that maybe…"

As Fang and Lightning continued to bicker, Averia sighed. She loved her parents – they were pretty awesome most of the time – but she knew where this was going. It was going to turn into another one of their crazy competitions. Honestly, people thought she was competitive, and she was, but she had nothing on her parents. One time, they'd even gotten into a competition to see who could fit the most peanut butter into a sandwich.

If things went like they usually would, then her mom and her mommy probably wouldn't even get around to solving the Sudoku puzzle. Instead, they'd argue a lot, threaten each other, and then somehow get all touchy feely and mushy with each other. It would be horrible to watch, even worse than sitting through the Gary the Gorgonopsid special. She should probably just leave now and come back for her puzzle later.

As stealthily as she could, Averia slipped out from between her parents and headed for the living room. Gary the Gorgonopsid should be almost over by now, and there was a nature documentary coming up that she wanted to see.

Fang watched Averia walk out of the dining room. "Look at that, Lightning. You scared her off."

"Scared her off?" Lightning took a sip of her hot chocolate. "Not likely." She smirked. "I think she just didn't want to see her mommy get proved totally wrong."

"Is that a challenge?" Fang was not the sort of person to back down from a challenge, especially not when it came from Lightning. The fact that it was over a newspaper puzzle didn't mean a thing. Rain, hail, or shine, she'd answer any one Lightning's challenges, any time, anywhere. Naturally, she'd prefer that all of the challenges take place in the bedroom under hot and steamy conditions, but she couldn't have everything she wanted. Or could she? "Because it sure sounds like a challenge."

"I suppose it is." Lightning reached for a paper and copied the Sudoku puzzle onto it. "But you don't really think you can win, do you? I heard Averia explaining. You barely even know what Sudoku is."

"You're that confident?" Fang grinned. Pride cometh before the fall. "Then how about we bet on it."

"Fine." Lightning folded her arms over her chest. Naturally, Fang took a quick look. "The loser has to sit with Diana through all of her cartoons next Saturday."

Fang shuddered. That was a fate almost worst than death, but if Lightning thought that was going to scare her off, she had another thing coming. Besides, there were some things worth the risk of several hours of cartoons. "In that case, the winner gets to take charge for the oh… the next week." The leer she threw at Lightning, who was wearing a tank top and yoga pants, left precisely zero doubt about what she meant by 'take charge'. "Unless, of course, you're afraid you'll lose."

Lightning scowled. "I'm not going to lose." She lifted her chin. "And you'd better brace yourself, because for the next week, I'll be calling the shots." Her eyes narrowed. "And you can be sure I have a few things in mind." Scary. Sexy scary.

Fang bit back a grin. Poor Lightning. She was so easy to manipulate sometimes. Even if Fang lost, she'd still get a whole week of Lightning taking charge, and that could hardly be called losing. And if she won? Heh. She had a few ideas of her own. Scratch that, she had a lot of ideas, and a week would give her more than enough time to try at least a few of them. She could even have the kids sleep over at Serah's house with Claire for a night or two.

"Fang, are you fantasising about me again?" Lightning's eyes sparkled with amusement.

Fang shook her head and grinned. "Maybe. Want me to tell you what I was fantasising?"

Lightning's cheeks flushed. She'd learned the hard way that asking Fang what she was fantasising about usually led to the other woman demonstrating. "Let's just start."

And off they went.

Things started well, but as they passed the half hour mark, it became apparent that neither of them was getting anywhere. Fang was stuck on the last few spaces of the grid, and by the positively murderous expression that Lightning had on her face, it was clear that the pink haired woman wasn't faring much better. If anything, it looked like Lightning was trying to glare the answer out of the puzzle.

"This is harder that I thought," Lightning muttered. "What do you think?"

"Oh, I don't know." Fang waggled her eyebrows suggestively. "It almost sounds like you're admitting defeat."

"Oh, be quiet. I am not admitting defeat." Lightning scowled. "But I could almost swear there was something wrong with this one. I just can't get it to work."

"Excuses, excuses." Fang glanced back at the puzzle. She wasn't any closer to solving it, but Lightning was so adorable when she was all frustrated like that. "When I win –"

The doorbell rang, and Vanille's voice came through the front door. "Hey, guys, it's me, your favourite auntie." She paused. "And guess what? I've got candy!"

As soon as the word 'candy' was spoken, both Averia and Diana raced to answer the front door. A few moments later, the red head stumbled into the kitchen with Diana on her back and Averia grinning from ear-to-ear. Her mom and mommy might have turned the Sudoku puzzle into another competition, but she was sure her Aunt Vanille could help her with it.

"So, Averia tells me that you two are having problems with a Sudoku puzzle." Vanille reached back and handed Diana a piece of chocolate. "Why don't you let me have a look?"

"Be my guest." Lightning waved one hand at the problem. "But you should know that we've both been working on it for a while now and –"

Vanille laughed. In fact, she laughed so hard that she barely managed to get Diana off her back before she fell to her knees.

"What's so funny?" Lightning growled.

"Well, it's just that this problem is impossible. You two can see that right?" Vanille chuckled and dragged herself back up to her feet.

"Impossible?" Fang and Lightning looked at each other. "What do you mean impossible?"

Vanille settled down at the dining table and pulled chairs out for Averia and Diana. "I mean exactly what I said. It's impossible." And then, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, she rattled off an explanation for why the starting numbers made it impossible to fill in the grid while following the rules. "So you see, there's actually a typo in the starting numbers. If you change those two around then you can solve it, but as it stands, there's no way to fill in the grid and follow the rules." She tilted her head to one side. "So… I'm guessing neither of you noticed that… and why do you two look like someone stole your cookies?"

"It's nothing." Fang sighed. If the problem was impossible then that meant the bet was off. "Girls, why don't you take your candy to living room. We'll be there in a second." Once the two girls were out of earshot, Fang gave a wry chuckle. "We were sort of betting on which one of us would solve the puzzle first."

"Betting?" Vanille gave them both a sly grin, and Lightning looked away, her cheeks a rosy pink. "Is that what they call it these days? You perverts."

"Stop that." Lightning scowled and reached for her laptop. "How do we even know you're right about the problem being impossible? I'm going to check the newspaper's information site." A few keystrokes later, and her scowl deepened.

Vanille popped a piece of chocolate into her mouth. "I was right, wasn't I?"

Lightning refused to look at her. "Maybe."

"Honestly, it's like you've forgotten which one of us built a robot, and which one of us was able to get it working again after five hundred years." Vanille grinned. "Anyway, who says you can't bet on something else. There's always the crossword."

And with Fang and Lightning were off again.

"I'll be in the living room with the girls," Vanille said as she stood and gave Fang a pat on the shoulder. "You can thank me later."

"Thank you for what?" Fang asked. She wasn't bad when it came to crosswords, but Lightning was a monster.

"A certain somebody happens to make crossword puzzles for the newspaper," Vanille whispered. "Look at 41 across."

Fang's eyes widened. "21 across: The Dia word for cheater?" She chuckled. "You're right, I do owe you. Now get out of here before Lightning notices."

It took two more minutes for Lightning to notice. It took her another two minutes to corner Vanille in the living room, and a further five minutes for her to pry the information out of Vanille after the red head decided to use Averia and Diana as human shields.

And Fang? It took her exactly seven minutes and thirty seconds to finish the crossword, and one minute and thirty seconds to figure out what she wanted Lightning to do for her first. It involved an apron, and very little else.

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off of this.

This is based on Prompt #16 for Fangrai February: Something fluffy: Lightning and Fang are ridiculously competitive at everything - even at the puzzles in the morning paper.

When I saw this prompt, I thought I'd give it a try, and since none of the chapters thus far have included the kids, I thought I'd slip them in too. This chapter is much more straightforward than the other two in that it's just a straight up fluff piece with a little bit of innuendo and some mischief (from all the usual suspects).

There are times when I wonder what Averia is thinking. She's got a slightly crazy (in the best possible way) little sister, one mother who loves to tease and poke at her other mother, and an aunt who is her little sister's partner in crime most of the time. I really do think she might be the sanest person in the family (although that isn't saying much).

If you have the time check out my blog over at razieltwelve(period)wordpress(period)com. You should also check out at Fangrai February at fangrai(dash)February(period)tumblr(period)com.

I would also like to apologise to all of you who tried to read Chapter 2 of this story over the weekend. I uploaded it, but due to errors on the part of this website, it was totally inaccessible. As you can imagine, I was kind of annoyed. There's nothing worse than getting an alert for a new chapter only for that new chapter to not show up. If you haven't had a look at it, do take a look. It's (hopefully) humorous, and I think you'll enjoy it.

Also, an invisible internet hat tip (plus an imaginary cookie) to mcoyne for correctly guessing that I'd give prompt #16 a try. Whoever guesses the next prompt gets an imaginary Gary the Gorgonopsid plush toy. As a bonus, it'll also have an imaginary signature from Diana on it.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.