New Arrivals

The Villiers Family

When Claire first met Ice and Alyssa at the hospital, she wasn't sure what to think. Alyssa was a girl and Ice was a boy, but they looked almost exactly the same. They had the same blonde hair – her daddy's – and the same blue eyes – her mommy's. It was probably a baby thing. They'd look different once they got older.

But however they looked, they were extremely cute. She wanted to grab both of them and hug them and never let them go. From the moment she leaned over them, the two babies held against her mommy's body, their eyes met hers, blue on blue, older sister and younger siblings.

"Hey." Claire reached out and gently – very gently – held their hands. "I've been waiting ages for you two." She bit her lip. "They're so small."

"Of course they are." Snow laughed. He was beaming with pride. "They're babies, Claire. Even I was that small once."

Claire found it hard to believe that her daddy of all people – who was huge – had ever been that small. "And they look so… so squishy."

A gentle smile crossed Serah's lips. "Would you like to hold them?"

"Me?" Claire took a step back. "But… but I don't know how. I might drop them and –"

"You'd only have to hold one of them at a time, and I'll show you how." Serah glanced at Snow. "Snow, can you hold Ice? I'll show Claire how to hold her new little sister."

"Sure." Snow picked the baby boy up and grinned. "I have a feeling he'll grow up to be as big as me. Bigger even."

"I'm not sure I want that. Claire already looks like she'll be taller than me when she grows up. If these two take after you as well, I'll be the one short person in a house full of tall people." Serah adjusted her hold around Alyssa. "All right, Claire. Here is how you hold her…"

A few nervous moments later, Claire held the adorable bundle that was her baby sister. She could hardly stop shaking. It was only beginning to sink in. She had siblings now – her own brother and sister. She caught a glimpse of Averia's face out of the corner of her eye. There was a hint of uncertainty there in contrast to the obvious glee on Diana's face.

"Can I make them my minions?" Diana asked. She was practically rubbing her hands together at the thought of finally acquiring some minions of her own.

Serah ruffled Diana's hair. "No."

"Please, Aunt Serah. I'd give them candy and everything."

"No." Serah's lips twitched. "But I would like it if you could treat them as if they were your little brother and sister." She dangled the bait. "I know you've always wanted to be a big sister…"

"I'll be the best big sister ever!" Diana punched the air. "For once, I'll be the one lifting people up and helping them reach stuff." She scowled. "Unless they end up taller than me too."

Claire giggled and then turned to Averia. She knew the expression on the older girl's face. She'd seen it in the mirror several times. Averia was wondering where they stood now. Were they still going to act like sisters now that Claire had siblings of her own? Claire rolled her eyes. Trust Averia to worry over nothing. Averia and Diana had never allowed Claire to feel left out. They had included her – sometimes physically dragging her along – in all their sisterly adventures and mischief.

"Aunt Lightning," Claire said. "Does Averia know how to hold a baby? Alyssa should meet her other older sister too."

Soon, a smiling Averia was holding Alyssa. However, her smile began to slip as the blonde girl started to chew on her hair. Next to her, Claire pulled some of her own pink hair out of Ice's mouth.

"Oops."

Six years later…

"Get her!" Ice yelled, hurling himself at his older sister's middle.

"Gah!" Claire stumbled back as her little brother tried to give her the ultimate bear hug of doom. He wasn't big enough to push her back himself, but a running leap off the couch certainly helped his cause. In the meantime, her little sister grabbed her by the leg. Claire went down, and the three siblings rolled around the carpet. Unable to take her on individually, the twins had resorted to teaming up against their older sister.

"I've got her leg!" Alyssa shouted. "Grab her arms!"

"A little help?" Claire asked as she grabbed Ice in a headlock and tried to shake Alyssa off her leg.

Averia looked up from the science project that she and Claire were supposed to be doing. This was the twins' tenth attempt this week to "defeat" their older sibling. "Oh no, Claire. They're your brother and sister."

"Are they now?" Claire met Ice's and Alyssa's eyes. All three Villiers children smirked. "In that case… Villiers family attack!"

"Huh?" Averia had barely enough time to blink before all three Villiers leapt at her. "Ah!"

Coming out of the kitchen with some snacks, Serah and Snow gazed fondly at the squabbling group on the living room floor then turned to Diana.

"Aren't you going to help her?" Serah asked. Averia and Claire were fairly evenly matched, but the addition of Ice and Alyssa had tilted the odds in Claire's favour.

Diana cracked her knuckles. "Yun-Farron family counterattack!"

The younger of the two Yun-Farron siblings waded into the melee. She tugged Ice and Alyssa off, leaving the two pink-haired cousins to duke things out. Alyssa latched onto Diana's back while Ice tugged at her middle. The trio ended up on the couch, the twins giggling as Diana launched her dreaded tickle attack… version three.

Snow put the snacks down as Lightning walked into the room and shook her head. He stepped toward her.

"Don't even think about." Lightning glared. "If you do, I'll –ah!"

Snow shrugged and poured himself a glass of soda as Serah tackled Lightning to the ground. Technically, Serah was part of the Villiers family now, so it counted. He was halfway through his soda when Fang ambled in to join him. She must have heard all the yelling.

Fang helped herself to a few corn chips. Ice and Alyssa were now pleading for mercy from a cackling Diana while Averia and Claire continued to grapple on the ground. Lightning had seized the upper hand and had Serah pinned against the carpet.

"It must be a Farron thing," Fang said. "They always have been a bit violent."

X X X

The Estheim Family

Despite being seven years old, Diana had yet to acquire her first real minion. It wasn't for lack of effort. She'd tried to turn Alyssa and Ice into her minions. But even though they were only a few months old, it was clear that they liked Claire and Averia more. It had to be because of the pink hair – or maybe because of how much Averia looked like Claire. Whatever it was, Diana had been forced to admit defeat. If she wanted a minion, she'd have to look elsewhere.

When her Aunt Vanille had given birth, she'd felt a fresh surge of hope. She'd been her Aunt Vanille's minion for a while now, so it would be only fair if her Aunt Vanille's kid became her minion. Besides, it wasn't like her Aunt Vanille could turn her own kid into her minion, could she?

Her new cousin's name was Raine. Diana thought Raine was a pretty awesome name although not quite as awesome a name as Diana. After what felt like forever, Diana was finally allowed into her Aunt Vanille's hospital room. Her aunt was tired but happy. Her Uncle Hope seemed even tireder, but he was happy too.

Everything must be okay then. Her mommy and mom were both smiling. Diana had heard that giving birth could be tough, but nobody would be smiling if something bad had happened.

"Hey." Vanille gave Diana a lazy wave from the bed.

"Aunt Vanille." Diana crept closer.

"Come here, Diana. Somebody wants to meet you."

Diana's eyes widened as her Aunt Vanille shifted so that she could see the baby. Little Raine Estheim wasn't very pretty. Her face was all red, and she was kind of weird looking too. She had a big head, a shock of red hair, and bright green eyes. Diana shrugged. That was how babies were. She'd seen some photos of herself as a baby. She hadn't been very pretty either.

But would Raine like her? Diana had been foiled before. She didn't know what she'd do if this baby liked her older sister and Claire more than her too. But almost immediately, she knew that wouldn't happen. Raine was smiling at her. Slowly, Diana leaned over and touched the baby's fingers.

"She's soft." Diana gasped.

Vanille and Hope exchanged grins. Vanille chuckled. "That's how babies are."

"And small – smaller than me."

"Well, of course."

Diana stretched her finger out, and the baby grabbed onto it. She smiled. Success! This baby already liked her. She gave the baby a gentle pat on the hand. "You can be my own little minion." She giggled. "Yes, you can."

That was when she noticed everyone staring at her. Her Aunt Vanille smirked.

"I mean… you can be my little sister, yes, you can."

Diana almost cackled. Hehehehe. Finally, she would have her own minion.

Twelve years later…

"You're horrible!" Raine jabbed one finger at Diana and then turned back to the screen. Her character had just died a horrible, bloody death courtesy of Diana. "I'm your little sister! You're supposed to let me win sometimes."

Diana started another game. "You're the one who said you wanted to fight me for real. It's not my fault I can totally mangle you." She pressed another combination of buttons. A comically large spray of blood came from Raine's character. Immortal Combat was an awesome game!

"Yeah… but you don't have to be so merciless." Raine's fingers flew across her controller in a desperate attempt to hold her cousin off.

Diana ended the match with another brutal victory. "Mercy is for the weak, little sister. One day, when you have a minion of your own, you'll understand that."

Raine's eye twitched. She had a number of options available to her, but only one of them would give her the satisfaction she craved. "All right! Rematch. I'm not stopping until I beat you!"

"Then we'll be playing forever because you'll never win." Diana dodged a couch cushion. "But if you're that eager to die, who am I to stand in your way?"

In the kitchen, Vanille helped her younger daughter, Fraise, stir the cake mix. The five year old was eyeing the chocolate flavoured cake mix with the keenness that only a child could. Vanille had no doubt whatsoever that her daughter would make a play for it the second she turned her back.

"Are they arguing again?"

Averia glanced into the living room. Raine had abandoned the game in favour of trying to club Diana over the head with a couch cushion while shouting about what a cheater she was. It didn't help matters at all that Diana was grinning and twisting away from every strike.

"As usual." Averia sighed. "And remind me why I'm wearing this again?"

The garment in question was a prototype suit of armour. Vanille called it HCA – Heavy Combat Armour. It was designed to provide protection from heavy weapons fire while boosting the wearer's strength and speed. To do this the armour came with a host of inbuilt servos and motors designed to detect and augment the wearer's movements. It was one of Vanille favourite creations, and the menacing colour scheme – black with red highlights – only added to the appeal.

"Because I've been having problems adjusting it to keep up with some of the quicker test subjects. You and your mother are the two quickest people I know. If I can get it to keep up with you two, I should be able to get it to keep up with everyone else." Vanille shrugged. "Plus I had your measurements on file."

Averia scowled. "And you couldn't have gotten Diana to wear this instead?"

"Not really. She doesn't have the security clearance to wear one of those. You do." Vanille turned back to Fraise. The little girl was lifting a spoonful of cake mix to her lips. "Stop right there. No cake until it's done." The blonde girl pouted. "Don't give me that look – I invented that look. I know you're faking."

Fraise laughed and changed her approach, breaking into a sunny smile before reaching for the cake mix again. Vanille, who was wise to her tricks, gave her a playful poke in the side. "No eating any until it's done. Now, keep stirring. Remember, you said you wanted to help."

Vanille left Fraise to her own devices and went over to help Averia with some biscuits. One of the advantages of testing the armour outside of combat was the chance to check its fine motor control. So far so good – Averia hadn't experienced any trouble preparing the cookies. "Hope and the boys should be back soon. They went shopping for clothes. Honestly, I have no idea how those two manage to go through so many clothes."

Averia's brows furrowed as she concentrated on the biscuits. She'd crushed her first few before coming to grips with how the armour amplified her movements. An ear-splitting shriek filled the air followed by Diana's laughter. "I still can't believe you and Uncle Hope have four kids. Just one would drive me crazy."

"I've always wanted a large family and so has Hope." Vanille shrugged. "And we're not doing it alone. That's what extended family is for – slave labour."

"Right." Averia didn't mind helping, but her Aunt Vanille was so good at convincing people. It had to be some form of magic. "And then there's the fact you gave birth to them all. I mean… ouch."

Amused at the horror on Averia's face, Vanille laughed. "You'll understand one day. By the way, your parents are due back this evening, right? We should have dinner."

"Yes. They were supposed to be back this morning, but their flight from New Eden got delayed. Some of the other senior officers called a meeting about the issues we've been having with the latest settlements."

"Gran Pulse can be a tricky place. Not everyone is cut out for frontier work. From what I've seen, most of the new kids coming up through the Guardian Corps could use some more seasoning before we send them out on frontier patrol." Vanille snickered. "Not everybody can be Sergeant Badass."

The blush on Averia's cheeks drew a giggle from Fraise. Diana had given her that nickname as a joke, but her squad members had latched onto it. Even her parents knew, and her mom was always teasing her about it. "Aunt Vanille."

"What? I think it's sweet you're as good at killing things as your parents." Vanille paused. Fraise had gone very quiet. "Fraise?"

The little girl was staring out the window. She hopped up and down on her stool, and Vanille hurried over to grab her before she could tip it over. "Mommy, mommy! Look! There's a dragon!"

"A dragon?" Averia reached for her gun blade. "Where?" She followed the direction of Fraise's gaze and then relaxed. She'd know that dragon anywhere. It was Bahamut.

As the dragon angled in to land in the backyard, the three of them went outside to meet him. Fang and Lightning waved from on top of the dragon. The pink-haired general wore an almost identical suit of armour to Averia.

"Really? You two couldn't wait a few hours for another flight? I didn't realise my cake was that good," Vanille said.

"Your cake is great," Fang said. "But you know Lightning. She hates to be kept waiting."

Lightning flipped off Bahamut's back and landed on the grass with a crunch. "It was pointless waiting." She nodded at Fraise. "Hello, Fraise."

"Aunt Lightning!"

Averia bit back a laugh as her mother gave the blonde girl her obligatory hug and cuddle. The years had only added to her mother's formidable reputation, but her younger cousins didn't see the Guardian Corps' legendary general – they only saw their slightly surly, but altogether loveable, aunt. As soon as she'd gotten her hug and cuddle, Fraise turned her attention to Bahamut. She'd met the dragon before, but only as an infant. This would be her first meeting with the Eidolon that she would actually remember.

"Is it safe, mommy?" Fraise asked.

Fang patted Bahamut's snout. "Don't worry, kid. Dragons are dangerous, but this one will never be dangerous to you."

Bahamut leaned down to examine Fraise more closely. The girl gave him a tentative pat and then laughed when he blew some air on her face. The Eidolon grinned toothily as the girl grabbed onto him. Chalk up another win for him in the popularity stakes. Odin would be pissed.

In the meantime, Vanille went over to examine Lightning's armour. "So, how's the armour been treating you?"

"It takes a while to get used to." Lightning frowned. "The servos aren't fully keeping up yet, but I'll need to give it a proper workout to get a better idea of how far behind they are." Her lips curled. "Averia, what's your schedule tomorrow?"

"Nothing really."

"Good." Lightning's eyes gleamed. "We'll be sparring tomorrow then. I want to see what this armour can do in battle."

Averia felt an almost feral grin slip over her lips. Sparring against her mother was the very definition of fun. Sure, it was challenging, but there were very, very few people who could fight at the level her mother could. "I'm looking forward to it."

"You know," Fang said. "I'm not big on armour myself, but I could get used to this." She waggled her eyebrows and took a long – very appreciative – look at Lightning.

"Mom!" Averia frowned. "Come on."

"What can I say? Your mother looks great in armour." Fang grinned. "And even better out of it."

Averia's reply was lost in the ruckus as Diana stumbled out into the backyard with Raine on her back. Diana didn't seem the least bit bothered that Raine was trying to choke her.

"Bahamut!" Diana waved at the dragon. "Nice to see you."

The dragon preened in front of his number one fan.

Raine hopped off Diana's back. "Hi. Is Odin here?"

"Odin?" Diana huffed. "Everyone knows that Bahamut is better."

"No, Odin is better!"

"Bahamut is better!"

Vanille grabbed the arguing pair before they could get any louder. "All right, back inside guys. I'm sure your parents want something to eat, and it's almost time for afternoon tea." The Eidolon cleared his throat and sent a speculative glance toward the kitchen. Vanille chuckled. "Yes, Bahamut you can stay for cake. But no, you can't eat the whole thing."

X X X

The Katzroy Family

Chirpy and Sazh were both waiting eagerly on the porch for Dajh to bring his firstborn home. Sazh, of course, had already seen the baby boy. But not even he had been able to convince the doctors to let a chocobo into the hospital. They could have asked Lightning to pull a few strings, but they wanted to be able to go back there one day.

"Kweh." Chirpy's feathers were more grey than gold these days, but he was as lively as ever.

"Yes, Chirpy everything went fine. The kid's fine, his mom's fine, everything's fine." Sazh snickered. "Although Dajh almost passed out during the delivery."

"Kweh kweh."

"Yes, it was funny, and yes, I think chocobos have it easier than people. You guys just lay a few eggs and wait."

A car pulled up in front of the porch, and Sazh got to his feet.

"Hi, dad." Dajh got out of the car and helped his wife and baby boy get out of the car. Chirpy ambled over, and Kahla gave him an affectionate rub on the back of the head. The dark-skinned woman had worked at the ranch for years – it was how she'd met Dajh. The chocobo put one wing around her.

"Kweh."

Kahla stroked his feathers. "Thank you, Chirpy."

The chocobo firmly believed that she deserved congratulations. From what he'd heard – and based on the documentary Sazh had shown him – giving birth could be quite horrific for humans. Chirpy walked over to Dajh and peered down at the bundle in his arms.

"His name is Sazh," Dajh said. "We thought we'd name him after my dad."

Chirpy glanced from the baby to the older man who shared the same name. "Kweh."

"Hey!" Sazh – the elder – laughed. "He is not more handsome than me."

Chirpy took another look at the baby. "Kweh." He definitely is.

The chocobo leaned down and nuzzled the baby's cheek. Human babies were so different from chocobo chicks. They were small and squishy, and they couldn't even walk on their own. He'd have to keep an eye out on this one. But that was okay. He'd managed to keep up with Diana and the girls. He'd been younger then, of course, but he was certain he could manage a few more years of fussing.

"Kweh." Chirpy nodded in approval. "Kweh kweh."

Kahla let the baby grab one of her fingers with his tiny hand. "Yes, we're hoping he grows up as tough as his grandfather and as handsome as his father."

"Hey!" Sazh gave a good-natured laugh. "That's enough of that. How about you let me hold him for a second, son?" He rocked the baby gently in his arms. "Think we should get him a chocobo one day?"

Dajh put one arm around Chirpy. "It worked for me, didn't it?"

Three years later…

Dajh glanced up as his son came over to him with a chocobo perched in his hair.

"Daddy, this chocobo won't get out of my hair!" Little Sazh giggled.

"Kweh." Chirpy walked over and nudged the chocobo in question. It cheeped at him a few times. The older chocobo turned back to Dajh. "Kweh."

"So, he's one of yours?"

"Kweh kweh. Kweh."

"Why don't you let him hang around, son?" Dajh patted Sazh on the shoulder. "And his name is Chocolino. He's Chirpy's grandson."

"Okay." Sazh ran back toward his mother. Kahla was in the middle of setting up a picnic with older Sazh. The two adults took an immediate interest in the boy and his new friend.

"A chip off the old block, huh?" Dajh patted Chirpy on the back.

"Kweh kweh."

"A chirp off the old block?" Dajh rolled his eyes. "That is the lamest pun ever."

Chirpy gave him a soft poke in the side with his beak. "Kweh."

"Okay, fine. Maybe it was a little bit funny." Dajh grinned. "Or not."

"Kweh!"

X X X

Author's Notes

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

I realise that I still owe you that Christmas story, but you needn't worry. I haven't forgotten it although my own Christmas festivities (and other things) have kept me far, far behind schedule. That said, I thought it would be a good idea to get this chapter out of the way first.

The Christmas story is set reasonably far into the future. As such, I can't just ignore the changes that have happened to the former l'Cie and their extended families in the intervening time. Snow and Serah's twins have arrived, and Vanille and Hope finally have kids. Dajh also has a son (making Sazh an actual grandpa!).

This chapter not only allows me to give you guys some sense of who these new characters are (albeit a very limited one), it also allows me to introduce them here rather than cluttering the Christmas story with even more detail. That will leave me with more space for all the Yun-Farron family goodness.

As you can see the next set of kids do take after their parents somewhat. Ice and Alyssa are warm, friendly types who don't mind a bit of rough and tumble. Raine has a bit of a temper and a love of arguing (although she isn't anywhere near as good at it as Vanille) while Fraise is a bit quieter though with a hint of mischief. Little Sazh, of course, is too young for us to say too much about him.

As is usually the case when it comes to names, I've picked the names of the kids for a reason. Here's a brief rundown:

Alyssa is a name with multiple origins. There are two in particular that I'm looking at. As a variant of Alicia it means noble or exalted, a play on the fact that Serah means princess in Hebrew. As a variant of Alisa (a name of Hebrew origin) it can also mean great happiness (which is how Serah and Snow must have felt, considering they really wanted more children).

Ice has the easiest name to explain. His father is named Snow.

Raine has appeared before and has already had the origin of her name explained. Basically it's derived from either Hebrew or French (the language from which Vanille's name comes). It means queen. Interestingly enough, Raine first appeared as the daughter of Serah and Vanille in a Verah AU I wrote (Chapter 18 of the omake theatre series). I liked the name so much that I've kept it.

Fraise's name is another pun. In French, Fraise means strawberry. In the context of Final Fantasy XIII, strawberry has a number of connotations. It can be used to describe either of the Farron sisters (see e.g., the term Neapolitan). However, one could also use it as a passing reference to Vanille's red hair (which is closer in colour to a strawberry than the pink of either Lightning's or Serah's hair, in my opinion). Vanille's name is also French for vanilla. Her having a daughter named strawberry only adds to the, in my opinion, humorous decision to name Vanille after an ice cream flavour (at least, that's how I've always viewed vanilla – a flavour of ice cream, one of three in the Neapolitan grouping). It also amuses me because it's a sort of nod at the occasional Verah hints I drop.

Sazh (the younger) has a name of very obvious origin. He's named after his awesome grandpa.

As for Chocolino, I'm using what I assume is the masculine form of Chocolina – the name given to the chocobo chick in the actual games (remember, I came up with Chirpy before FF XIII-2 came out). Chocolina is his grandmother (see Chapter 15 of the omake theatre series for how that happened).

So, here we are. Apart from the two boys that Hope and Vanille have, the entire extended family of the former l'Cie up to the Christmas story has been named. My next post should, if everything goes to plan, be that Christmas story.

Finally, if you like my writing… I have a new original story out! It's called The Fire Upon the Mountain. It is the third story in The Last Huntress Series (after The Last Huntress and The Lord of Dark Waters). It weighs in at a hefty 40,000 words making it as long as the previous two stories combined. It is now available on Amazon, and you can find a link to it in my profile. If you enjoy fantasy with a healthy dose of action, check it out (or pick up The Last Huntress and work your way up!). Here's the blurb (a link to a longer preview is also available in my profile), and you can rest assured that there's action aplenty:

Scarlett is the last of her line – a huntress sworn to kill all monsters.

Rose is a girl searching for the power to take back her homeland.

There are whispers of fire in the east, tales of titan wings and crimson scales. A dragon has come, a beast the likes of which the mountains have not seen since the days of Scarlett's grandmother.

Drawn to the east by rumours of dragon fire, Scarlett and Rose witness the fury of the dragon firsthand. One city already lies in ashes, and another may not be far behind. They have two weeks to prepare. But how do you kill a dragon? How do you kill a living inferno? Scarlett and Rose must find a way. If they cannot, another city will fall – and they will fall with it.

If you enjoy high fantasy, you might want to check out my other story The Burning Mountains. Alternatively, if a paranormal Western (with zombies, demons, and one tricky necromancer) is more your style, have a look at The Gunslinger and the Necromancer.

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

P. S. I hope that all of you have a happy and safe New Year. May next year be the best year yet.