Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XIII does not belong to me.

Author's Note: We're in the final stretch! I have estimated that there are three more chapters following this, with two of them already written – I just need to write the one immediately following this one. Writing happy, normal things is surprisingly difficult. I think I've written too much tragedy for these characters.

The One With Telling the Family

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Claire first remembers having the nightmare a month into her relationship with Hope, which has progressed so naturally to the point where her drawer space has been taken up by his clothes, and his bathroom houses her toothbrush.

"A Gil for your thoughts?" Her boyfriend asks, running a hand up the naked skin of her arm as they laze one sunny morning in bed. She flinches at the contact as it draws her out of her mind and Hope pulls back, raising an eyebrow in both surprise and question.

"Sorry." She grabs the hand and presses a kiss to his knuckles in apology. "Just a bad dream that hasn't left yet."

"What was it?" She leans into his fingers and lets him cradle her face. Humming in response, she tries to draw the remnants of the nightmare teeming at the back of her conscience to the forefront.

(Your sister is dead

Because of you)

The words echo inside of her skull, intoned by a surprisingly clear feminine voice and she grimaces. "Just something about Serah." She closes her eyes and for a moment she is back at the place her sleep took her to, a grey ocean rising up to meet a grey sky on the back of her eyelids. The tide washing at her feet turns her skin numb and there is something important behind her, something that calls her name but she knows that if she turns around, then—

"I'm on a beach," she murmurs, her eyes still closed as she furrows her brow. "It's dark and cold. The world feels..." She searches for the words. "...wrong. Someone calls my name, but I know that if I turn around, they won't let me go." She opens her eyes and frowns, a headache beginning to build up behind her sockets. "How stupid, dreaming of monsters at my age."

Hope's fingers at her cheek curl further inward, his blunt nails scraping at her skin. "You're probably just worried about today," he says after a momentary silence. The corners of his lips quirk up in a smile and he leans forward to press a lingering kiss to her lips. "I wouldn't worry about it too much," he continues once he pulls back. His hand sweeps her hair behind one ear and her frown turns into a guilty smile.

"Probably, though I would be surprised if Serah's reaction to us was anything but happy. Snow, on the other hand..."

Hope laughs. "I wouldn't worry about Snow, Claire. He'll probably act tough for all of five minutes before breaking down into "I knew it was going to happen"."

Both of her eyebrows rise up with surprise. "Really? He's not going to be bothered by his little brother dating his all-but-adopted daughter?"

"You're more like a little sister to him," Hope corrects her with a grin. "He never adopted you as his daughter on paper anyway, so I wouldn't worry about that. Besides, he knows how much I love you."

The pleasant churning in her stomach at the confession of love makes her smile. "The same can probably be said for me too, with how much of my sulking over you he's had to endure over the years."

The both of them begin laughing, the bright sunlight of Phoenix filtering through her bedroom curtains painting their entwined bodies in a warm glow. Hope stretches beside her in the bed, his silver hair catching in the light and Claire thinks—

(The grey ocean and the grey sky, and free falling through the air and the brush of white feathers against her thigh - cold metal pressed into every crevice of her skin, and a guilt like no other seeping into her soul; and if she turns, the empty city beckons—)

—that this is perfection.

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"Wait," is the first word out of Serah's mouth the moment she opens the Villiers' front door, an eyebrow already raised in suspicion as she first eyes them standing in front of her, and then peers at the residential street behind them. "There's two of you here, but only one of your cars. And I know neither one of you live within walking distance to here, or from each other." She remains staring at them, her pretty face drawn together in concentration. "Is the world ending?"

Hope chuckles and sweeps past her with a quick kiss to the top of her head as Claire mutters "we weren't that bad" under her breath. The two sisters remain standing in silence as Serah tilts her head, her eyes beginning to widen as the thoughts inside her head begin to click.

"Wait," she repeats herself, and then— "Claire, is this what I think it is?"

Her older sister rolls her eyes in response and pushes past. "Well, it's certainly not the world ending," she quips with a sisterly tug on Serah's side ponytail as she does so. There comes a brief moment of silence behind her as Serah's mind makes all the connections before the front door clicks shut—

"I CANT BELIEVE IT," Serah all but squeals like a twelve year old in Claire's ear as she jumps on her sister from behind, her slender frame enveloping the woman in a tight embrace. "Claire! You! And Hope! I've been waiting for this moment forever!"

Claire's arms under Serah's legs around her waist - having come up automatically - rise and lower in a shrug. "I'm glad you're taking this well." Her tone of voice remains light but the smile she sends her sister over one shoulder speaks volumes of her relief and happiness. Serah squeaks again, tightening her grip on Claire before wiggling off.

She drops to her feet with a small exhale. "Does Snow know?"

"Does Snow know, what?" Comes the voice of their guardian from the stairwell behind them. The greying blond eyes the two with his hands fisted at his hips, a mischievous smile pulling at his lips. "You two are way too old to be getting into trouble, don't you think?"

"It's great news!" Serah pipes up and rocks herself towards Snow, grabbing at his hands and beginning to bounce. "It's Claire and Hope! Claire and Hope!"

"If you're acting like a kid again, it must be something amazing," Snow observes before untangling his hands from the girl's. His eyes travel to Claire, who shifts under his gaze. "Claire and Hope are what, now? Are actually speaking, and not like robots? That does deserve a celebration."

"Uh, not quite." A silence follows Claire's evasive reply, any possible tension dispersed by Serah's grinning face.

A chuckle floats from the living room as the silence stretches on and Hope emerges. "I'd say it's more than just talking," he comments before putting one arm around Claire's shoulder and turning to grin at his brother. "A lot more than talking, actually."

Serah giggles. "More like no talking, probably!"

Claire's cheeks and ears flush at the comment, her eyes flashing to glare at her sister before turning back to watch for Snow's reaction. The man observes them in silence, a look of thoughtful surprise on his face. "Well," he finally says, a grin beginning to break out at his lips. "I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought that this scenario would be the best outcome to the past several years. Congratulations, kids."

Claire exhales loudly in relief and Hope's arm around her shoulders tightens, his grin radiating like Phoenix itself.

"And really," Snow continues, "I should have seen this coming a long time ago, considering how twelve year old Claire trailed Hope. Ah, the good old days… Maybe I liked it better when you couldn't stand him…"

He grins widely at Claire as her boyfriend and sister burst out laughing, and she can't quite muster up the anger to glare at him.

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The Farron sisters migrate over to the living room couches after brunch, where Serah curls up next to her older sister and begins to brush her straight hair over one shoulder. Claire eyes her with suspicion. "What are you doing, Serah?"

"We should get matching hairstyles!" She replies and tilts her head, bringing attention to her long side ponytail. "You'll look great like this!" She reaches up and fixes her sister's bangs to fall across one eye, a grin settling at her lips. "Seriously. Let me go and get a mirror so you can see."

"I'm not your doll," Claire sighs in response but lets her sister run off to her bedroom anyway. One of her hands trails up to the hair now lying over her left shoulder and she runs her fingers through it, contemplating the cut for the briefest of moments. Snow and Hope's approaching voices catch her attention and she glances towards their direction, raising an eyebrow when the two freeze at the sight of her.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," she comments as they continue staring, beginning to feel uncomfortable under the intensity of their stare.

Her voice breaks them out of their stupor and Snow smiles. "You look great, Claire. Is this Serah's work? She's been trying to get me to cut my hair for weeks."

"Hey!" Her sister's voice chimes in as she returns, and Claire twists around to see her scowling at their guardian. "Your hair needs that haircut, Snow! Have you seen it? I can't believe you'd let it suffer looking like that. I refuse to be associated with you."

The admittedly shaggy blond shrugs. "Hey, you're the one living here for free, not me. How soon are you gonna move out, then?"

Claire tunes out the following family argument and turns her attention back to Hope, who's watching the two with a fond smile on his face. He catches her stare and comes to sit next to her on the couch, one of his hands settling on her thigh as he leans back into the cushions.

"Do I look like her?" Claire blurts out quietly, feeling both a sudden sense of clarity and foolishness at the question. At Hope's look of confusion she elaborates, "You said I reminded you of someone you knew. Is that what that was? Did Snow know her, too?"

A wince passes over his expression and her gut churns at having hit the bullseye. "You still remember that," he says under his breath before sighing. "Yeah, you do. With your hair like that, for Snow and me, it really was like almost seeing a ghost."

She shifts closer to him and presses her body against his, her eyes staring at Snow and Serah as they continue arguing. "Do you want to tell me about her?" She asks.

There's hesitation on Hope's end before he speaks. "It was a long time ago, before we moved to Bodhum. She was older than me, around Snow's age. She actually couldn't stand him when we all first met but he grew on her. He has a tendency to do that, as I'm sure you've noticed." He pauses, before moving his arm over her shoulder. "I was a kid back then and she was my first love. She was an amazing woman – a soldier, with the drive for it to boot, and she loved her family and friends fiercely. I didn't have my mother at that point and Snow wasn't the best at taking care of a child, so she become my role model. I'll remain thankful my entire life for what she did for me."

"How did she die?" At her quiet question, Hope's smile turns sad.

"She was a soldier," he replies, "and in that line of profession, especially with how stubborn she was, things don't always go as planned."

A solemn silence settles over them. "I'm sorry," Claire breaks it, both for the question and the situation. Hope's lips press to the top of her head where it is leaning against his shoulder.

"It was a long time ago." In front of them, the family squabble has moved on to Snow leaving his dishes in the sink and Serah's forgetfulness about leaving her cooking pans all over the counters. "You might remind me of her, but you're two different people. I love you for you, Claire. That will never change." She can feel his smile through his words, and a warmth settles over her.

"She was my first love but that was in a different life, and I look back on her with the fondness you carry for old friends." Serah and Snow stop talking for the briefest of moments before both burst out in laughter at a peculiarity one had brought up within their tirades. A sense of happy normality settles over Claire, surrounded by the people she loves.

"I have never been as happy as I am when I am with you," Hope promises, and that is all Claire needs.