When Lightning invited him to meet her family, this wasn't what he had in mind.

Serah was there and familiar, which was nice, but there were a lot of other people that he hadn't expected Lightning to know. And she called them family as well. All these strangers, all of them completely different to Lightning. Some were loud, careless, blunt, touchy, and in general, all very excitable.

And he's never seen Lightning look so happy.

That alone baffled him. If anything, this seemed like a group that Serah was hang with. Serah was just as bold as the rest, she didn't mind contact; Lightning though, he always found Lightning to be a little finicky about contact, which was one of the reasons he resisted reaching out time to time.

But watching this group, and how they interacted with Lightning, it was almost comical.

He found he couldn't stop the open smile slide across as he joined the merry laugh around the table, Lightning had a scowl on her features as she was dragged down into the body of the woman that greeted him at the door. The woman, Fang he believed, was oblivious to Lightning's glare, or simply didn't care, chortling as she held Lightning close, arm hooked securely around her neck and shoulders.

The family was an interesting one. Fang was the first to greet him at the door, and truth to be told she made him jump that first meet. Before he could even knock on the door, it flew open with an overexcited, "Welcome!" at his face, and he was only spared a few seconds of eyeing the wild woman before him before he was dragged into the house.

He was only able to catch a glimpse of Lightning before he was bombed with curiosity and eager greetings.

Grasping his drink and downing it casually, his eyes roamed the table, mentally struggling with the names that were thrown at him.

Fang was Lightning's best friend, though the two only met a few years ago. Fang was a wandering hunter and a bit of a mercenary, till she and Lightning met, in a battle against two behemoths. It ended with Fang settling down and joining the GC, now an Officer working under a man named Amodar; if he wasn't mistaken, Amodar was Lightning's old mentor.

Dajh came right after Fang. He was a six year old afro kid with a chocobo chick. Like the rest of the few kids that Noctis ever got the chance to meet, he was excitable and eager, asking his awkward questions and pointing out random facts. One good example when the boy said:

"Your hair looks like a chocobo's butt."

Fang and a few others just couldn't stop laughing at that, while his father lightly chastised his son. Noctis himself was left baffled, amused, but not insulted. After the shock, he himself even laughed. His hair was a mess after all, it has always been.

Then, he was able to get a small greeting from Lightning, a small, fleeting moment, before he was attacked again. More people joined, people that weren't Lightning or Serah's parents like he had been expecting.

A boy, much older than Dajh, jogged in, eyeballing him warily (too a point Noctis felt that he was being sized up). Noctis, in returned, eyed the white haired, green eyed youth, blinking slightly at the rare colors of hair and eyes. He had thought Lightning and Serah had been a rare sight, it wasn't every day that someone stumbled upon someone with naturally pink hair; and now he finds a white haired boy.

Before they could even breath a word to one another, Fang ambushed him, calling out for someone by the name of Vanille, Sazh, and Snow to get their butts in here.

And just as quickly as that, he was met with the rest of Lightning's family.

Sazh was the father of Dajh, with the same afro and friendly grin; and the most mature person in the house, besides Lightning.

Vanille was Fang's younger cousin, and was just as loud, and even more animated. Both had no boundaries about personal space. They were going to take some getting used too...

Then there was Snow. Lightning's soon to be brother-in-law. Though it was a close tie with Fang and Vanille, but out of everyone, Snow seemed to be the least likely companion of Lightning's. Then again, he probably wasn't by choice originally. The big man practically called attention to himself, a big, "Hey!" Noctis practically jumped at the vice, staring wide eyed at the large grinning blonde man.

So this was her version of Prompto.

Towering over him, he slapped Noctis, hard, on the back, laughing. "So your the brave fool chasing after sis," he boomed, amused by his own joke. Noctis could only shift uncomfortably under his arm.

He was graced with a glimpse of a smiling Serah before he was dragged off by the large man and into the den, with the rest of the family following, probing and asking him more questions then he could answer.

Then, just as quickly as he came in, he was seated, questions still shot at him as food was placed around; and once everyone was settled, merry and easy conversation flowed around, and Noctis was neither excluded, nor was he the star of the dinner. Though he didn't talk unless there was a question shot at him; it did little to settle his laughter with the group with each story and tale told around the table.

And the food, oh dear Etro, the food, it was some of the best he's ever had.

"It was looking hopeless I tell you," Fang declared; sweeping her arms around the table, leaving them all eyeing her and waiting in anticipation. Eagerly, she went on, "the cliff at my back, and the behemoth before me., with only my spear between us.

"Both of us were badly shaken, and neither of us were willing and ready to just flee and let our prey escape. The desire to win and survive was just too great! Crouching low, we both charged, my spear up towards it throat, its claws reaching around me, both of us were inches from death-"

"Fang," Vanille cut in, not bothering to hide the evil smile in her voice, "didn't the behemoth stumble and trip and its head just glided towards you and you killed it when it was still dazed?"

"Vanille!" Fang hissed, turning on younger. "This is my story!" she grumbled as laughter exploded around.

"So Noctis," Sazh mused aloud. "Do you have dinners like this often?"

"Unfortunately no," Noctis answered honestly. Most of his dinners were spent alone, or with boring business people. It was his first time experiencing a family dinner with people that didn't care about their businesses or themselves.

It was different, and fun.

Loking up and meeting Sazh's eyes, he said, "But I wouldn't mind doing it more often." The last bit turned his head towards Lightning, sitting across from him, smiling softly. Serah and Vanille giggled while the boy, Hope as he learned, rolled his eyes, pouting darkly and casting weak glares his way; Snow and Fang snickered at him while Sazh merely smiled.

Just as quickly, Noctis turned away, flushing.

And Lightning, she blinked, her brow rising in slight confusion at everyone and their odd behavior before she shrugged it off and went on with her meal.

Everyone was just as weird and odd as they always were. It was probably nothing.

the first time i ever saw noctis, i thought "is that sasuke from naruto? what's he doing in final fantasy?!" there's a joke i hear every now and then that the back of sasuke's head looks like a duck butt, i don't know if there are ducks in final fantasy, but i know there are chocobos X) its my own personal joke for this fic

i want to write about noctis trying to learn how to ride a chocobo now X)

personally, i really do think that Hope had a crush on Lightning before they became more like siblings or a maternal and son bond, maybe even still then.

i have a feeling that if Fang told stories about her hunts and fights, she'd try and make them as intense as possible X)