Theme 35: Motherly Duty

Pairing: Squall Leonhart/Lightning Farron

Lightning grit her teeth at the defiant look her youngest shot up at her. Had she been in a more amiable mood, she would have found it cute – in the deepest, darkest, innermost depths of her labyrinthine heart – how the young girl barely past her own waist struck a very striking resemblance to her own bold pose. In fact, if she so would, Lightning would have seen the silhouette of a familiar little Claire standing right beside the seven year old Farron-Leonhart.

"M'not gonna!" Raine stomped her foot much the same way any child of her temperament would.

"It's been a month, Raine." Lightning struggled to keep her voice controlled amidst her rising ire. Honestly, Raine was such a stubborn child. "Your dad's finished. Your sister's finished. It's your turn now."

She reached out to drag Raine, kicking and screaming be damned.

"But- but it's icky!" The little brunette ducked under her mother's reach. "I don't wanna!"

Lightning bit back an angry retort of not caring whether she wanted it or not – she did, actually; Raine was her pride and joy, after all – and squashed the feelings of guilt that welled inside her at the look the young girl wore when she grabbed her daughter's warding arm and hoisted her against her breast.

Damn, Raine looked honestly terrified, too.

"Lemme down, mommy!" Raine began to thrash, trying everything she could to escape while her mother strode towards her parent's bedroom. "I'm sorry, mommy! I'll do anything just not this!"

"This is for your own good, Raine." Lightning said in a mediating tone. A grunt left her throat when Raine's thrashing managed to land her daughter's elbow against her face. "It's just ear cleaning, anyway. You've gone through this before."

"And it's still scary!" Raine, seeing as her struggling wouldn't get her anywhere, wrapped her arms and legs against her mother's neck and torso and squeezed, hard. If her mother wouldn't release her, then she'd do her best to stick to her mother as much as possible.

"It's not scary. It's part of keeping you clean." Lightning rolled her eyes.

It was always like this every month.

As the resident mother, Lightning took it upon herself to make sure her family remained fit and healthy at all times. Naturally, even little tasks such as curetting their ears were included.

The thought reminded her of the first time she had cleaned Squall's ears. One slow afternoon back when they were still dating, the couple had been sat on the wooden floor of the veranda, Squall's lightly snoring head on Lightning's lap as he rested amidst her caresses behind his ears. Lightning's eyes had trailed southwards when she spotted the cerumen inside her partner's ears thanks to the summer sun, and she frowned.

Immediately, a curette was betwixt her thumb and forefinger and Lightning was off digging. Squall's eyes shot open at the foreign intrusion and was about to protest before Lightning beat him to it...

"Ugh- Light!" Squall grunted in displeasure as he felt his face painfully held in place by her free hand.

"Hold still." She chided him half-heartedly, her focus trained on the wax she was digging.

Lightning stopped when Squall began to tremble in apprehension before she felt his muscles sag. He had given up on protesting.

She smiled.

"…This feels very weird…" Squall whined as his eyes fluttered to a close.

"Oh shut it, schoolboy."

…Come to think, the look Squall had worn back then was exactly the same as the terror Raine had etched across her face previously. It was nice to know that she could pin her youngest's stubbornness on her mule of a husband.

Now.

"You're a good girl, right Raine?" She asked her daughter, who remained stuck against her torso. "Good girls listen to their mommy, and good girls get rewards."

Raine's blue eyes peeked up from underneath her chin. "Rewards…like…explosions?"

A twitch unconsciously formed on her left eye before she responded as patiently as she could. "No. Not explosions. Maybe a cookie."

"…double chocolate chip?" The hopefulness in her voice assured Lightning that she had this in the bag. Her daughters were just too easy to bribe.

"Yes." She nodded her head and looked her daughter in the eyes sincerely. "But only if you stay still."

Raine's brows creased as her fear fought against her stomach until, eventually, a low rumble from the winner sang; just thinking about the sweet treat had already made the young girl hungry.

"…m'kay mommy." The little girl detached herself whilst Lightning set them both down on the bed.

"That's my girl." Lightning encouraged.

The mother of two patted her lap, signaling for her daughter to position herself.

Upon seeing her mother brandish the familiar device, a sliver of apprehension sparked across Raine's eyes. Luckily, Lightning moved in swiftly and reminded.

"Double chocolate cookies and, if you're extra good, I'll throw in another."

With the promise of goodness cemented in her spirit, Raine cautiously set her temple against her mother's lap, her pulse thick against her ear, and closed her eyes shut when she felt her mother palm her cheeks and that thing descend.

Lightning frowned at the tiny tremors wracking her youngest. "Are you alright, Raine?"

"…cookies…" Came her daughter's whimper.

Lightning froze, honestly feeling bad at the…trauma she was putting her daughter through. "Raine, dear," She cooed the alien word smoothly. "talk to me. What's wrong?"

"It's…scary, mommy. But I'm good." Lightning had to hold her daughter still when she felt her attempt to nod as she added as an afterthought, "Cookies."

"Yes, cookies." She affirmed. "You're doing good, so there'll be cookies when this is done."

"Y-yeah…"

The demureness in Raine's voice honestly worried her. The littlelest Leonhart was never normally like that, and so she couldn't stop herself from questioning, "What's so scary about this?"

Besides, talking seemed to relax her child more.

It took a while before Raine's reply came.

"Uhm…it just feels weird, mommy." Raine confessed quietly.

"What does?"

"That stiff thingy penetrating me."

Lightning's mind momentarily shut down for a split second as she digested her daughter's honest words. Unlike Averia, the impressionable Raine wasn't usually so verbose, so…

"A-ah, is that right…?" She chuckled humorlessly before glancing down at her innocent daughter. Raine probably didn't even know what her words sounded like; bless the innocence of youth.

"Uhm." Raine hummed in agreement before her body sagged not unlike her father's defeated resignation. "Uncle Zidane lied though. He says girls feel good when they get penetrated. I don't. It just feels weird. And scary." Her eyes peer with innocent curiosity at her mother from their corner. "Do you feel good when it happens to you, mommy?"

…Fuck it. She's gonna kill that babbling troll, knighthood or not.

"Raine, honey?" Lightning began. "Can we play a game now?"

"What kind of game, mommy?" Raine asked curiously.

"Let's play the 'who can stay quiet the longest' game until mommy's finished."

An angry huff left her daughter's lips.

"Aww! I don't like that game, mommy! I always lose!"

"Three cookies."

"… … … …

… … …

… …

… But it really doesn't feel good!"

Gods, damn it!

A/N: Not my best, but hopefully this will get me back in a writing mood.

News; I've been busy the past weeks, what with graduating from my BSc and my mother and younger sister coming over to celebrate. What this meant was I've been spending ages in H&M just sitting down waiting for them girls to finish shopping, only to move on to another clothing store carrying a new set of bags wherein the process repeats itself. ;( My record is spending two hours sat on a chair in annoyed consternation but, hey, I really should be used to it, I guess o_o

We did drive up to see Shakespeare's place over the weekend, where my friend and I began trolling the tour guide. In our defense, I doubt the Iron Age relic – a shard from a pot they found under his final home - was 6000 years old…

Another random note: I bet old Bill Shakespeare was highly cross with his wife, Anne Hathaway, for consorting with playboy millionaire Bruce Wayne~ o/

Yes, horrible joke is horrible, but my eyes are about to shut yet I still have a lot of packing to do before moving houses XD~

Toodles and hopefully I'll be able to update soon o/

Thanks once more for your patience, everyone ^_^