Note: This is set in the same universe as Ordinary Heroes and Tell Me a Story. However, its exact position in the timeline (or even if it is part of the official timeline) has not yet been determined.

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Big Sister, Little Sister

School could be a tough place, especially for people who were different, and Diana was very different indeed. But Diana had an older sister – an older sister who didn't care that Diana was different, an older sister who would make sure that nobody else cared either.

Oh, Averia didn't go after everyone. She understood that her sister could be strange and maybe even a little weird, and the other kids would have to be stupid not to notice that. Most of the time a glare was enough to stop people from being mean, and when it wasn't, usually a quiet word or two was. She could sound a lot like her mom when she needed too, and if Lightning Farron could terrify trained soldiers with just her voice, then Averia Yun-Farron could certainly terrify a few children.

No, the only people that Averia really went after were the nasty ones. These were the kids who didn't stop at calling Diana weird, or strange, or short. These were the kids who wanted to make Diana feel all small inside, like she didn't belong, like she wasn't fine just the way she was.

But Averia wasn't stupid. She would only get one chance, and after that she would probably get grounded or worse. So, she asked around very quietly, and she found out who the biggest, nastiest bully was. It wasn't very hard. He was one of the bigger boys from sixth grade, and he'd picked on other people before. Well, he wouldn't be picking on anyone once she was done with him.

She waited until he started picking on Diana again, and then, in front of a crowd of other kids, she called him what he really was. Coward. Bully. Idiot. She wanted him mad. She wanted him angry. She needed him to throw the first punch. When he did, she beat him up, beat him up so badly that he cried. And then she told him why.

After that, no one ever called Diana weird or strange again, and no one ever tried to make her feel all small inside. When the teachers found out, Averia got into lots of trouble. They called her parents and gave her lots of detention. But that was okay. At least the boy got into trouble too, and she could tell, even though her parents grounded her that they weren't angry, not really.

The Yun-Farrons were a family, and if there was one thing that both Fang and Lightning had taught Averia, it was that family looked after family. So, no, they weren't angry with her, not really. If anything, they were a little disappointed. But not for the reasons most people would have expected.

Fang wouldn't have just beaten the boy up. She'd have put him in the hospital. In fact, back when she and Vanille had been kids, she had put someone in the hospital for picking on the red head. But of course, that had been in the old days, and times were different now.

And Lightning… Lightning would have found a way to get away with it.

But Averia wasn't Fang, and she wasn't Lightning. She was just Averia, and that would have to be enough. And it was, at least for Diana, it was.

The little girl made a point of sitting just outside the window whenever Averia had detention. She was good at hiding, so the teachers never saw her, but she could see Averia, and Averia could see her. They didn't have to say a word. Diana's sunny smile was enough to make Averia smile, just a little.

And on the weekends when Averia couldn't go out and had to stay home because she was grounded, Diana never felt like going to the park. Instead, she would stay at home with Averia.

In the years to come, Averia would have many choices to make. Some of them would be very hard, but others would be very, very easy. The easiest choice was always Diana. It didn't matter how old they got, or how tough Diana became. There would always be some part of Averia that saw the other girl as the slightly squishy looking thing with a tuft of unruly black hair and piercing blue eyes that her mommy had given birth to all those years ago.

The baby's eyes had opened and she'd smiled – she'd smiled right at Averia, and Averia had known right then and there, in some vague, instinctive way, that she would do anything to protect that smile. Averia had only been three when Diana was born, and so that particular memory had long since faded, if it had ever been there to begin with. But that feeling… that simple need to make Diana smile… that would always be there.

And as the years passed that feeling would only grow stronger. Diana, Averia felt, was meant for greater things. There was something inside Diana. It was that same something that made her weird or strange to other people, that same something that made her dream of impossible things. One day, Averia knew, Diana would find a way to show that something to everyone else. And on that day, Diana would become great. Everyone would see that the something inside of Diana wasn't just strangeness or weirdness. No, the something inside Diana was the same thing that made poets, and writers, and artists, and Diana had more of it than anyone Averia knew.

Yes, the day would come when Diana would leave Averia behind, when that something inside her would take her to places that Averia could never follow. If Diana's soul was like the wind, then Averia's was like the ground itself. Cold and hard, rules and logic, these were the things that Averia understood best. What did she know of dreaming? What did she know of flying?

But that was all right. Averia was Diana's big sister, so when the time came for Diana to leave her behind, she would not be sad, and she would not be angry. She would be happy. Diana would be better than her, more than her, and that was all that a big sister could ask for.

Yet when the day finally came, Averia would learn something very simple. It was the same something that Vanille had taught Fang so many years ago, the same something that Serah had taught Lightning too. It would be simple, so simple that Averia would never be able to understand how she had missed it.

Diana would never, ever leave her behind.

And if Averia had forgotten how to live for herself or how to dream, then Diana would just have to teach her. After all, some things were meant to fly, and Averia was one of them, even if she never could see it herself.

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Author's Notes

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

I can honestly say that this is the chapter that I am least comfortable posting. I could give you a lot of reasons for this, but basically it comes down to this: feeling. This chapter is heavy with it, or at least, I hope it is. But at the same time, it's a chapter that I very much wanted to post as well. People have asked about what happens to Averia and Diana in the future and this is one (admittedly oblique and fairly short) answer to that question. Does it really surprise anyone that Averia is willing to give up her dreams for Diana? And does it really surprise anyone that Diana doesn't leave Averia behind? Maybe not, but that's okay. Some things shouldn't just be known, they should be said, and now, at least, I've said them. Eventually, I'll probably get around to writing something more substantial about the future of Ordinary Heroes, and when I do it will probably be a little happier than this. For now, however, this will have to do.

On an unrelated topic, this chapter is dedicated to my sister. She's a better writer than I am, and maybe after enough of my bugging and poking, she'll finally believe it. On another unrelated note – do not go longer than two days without sleep, otherwise you'll end up writing something like this. Seriously, get sleep people, and if after three days without sleep you start hallucinating, then don't worry. That happened to me too.

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