Thanks for your review. And to you Sekai Kuroi I think that this chapter will help you and give you some of the answers you sought. Again, thanks you very much to all of my readers and reviewers.

Chapter 7 : doubt

This morning Serah finally decided to go to her sister house. She don't have wanted to go here since the funeral of Claire. But this morning was different. Today Serah is the same age as her sister when she had disappeared. Maybe it was because Serah knows that today she can understand what had happen to her sister, or maybe it was for an other reason, but she can't help herself but go to the house. Fortunately nor Snow nor Belle were here. Snow was helping Lebreau today, and Belle had gone to a journey with some class mates, but Serah suspected that the main reason for her to go was that Hope had gone too. Serah was very aware of the big crush her daughter had for their former L'cie friend. And she was sure that she can count on Hope to keep the thing in a safe way. After all, it was part of the growing up to have some crush and to felt the heart broken ache. And Hope can be good to teach this to their daughter, except for the heart broken part wished Serah..

Serah opened the door and was surprised to see that the place was as clean as when Claire lived here. It take her only a couple of minute to understand why. Like herself, the commander don't really believed in the death of Lightning, so he had hired someone to keep the house clean. Serah was very grateful for this. When Claire will return home she will find her house in the same state as when she had leaved it. Serah take a good look around but she can't find anything to help her to find where her sister had run out. It was so like her to have a place where everything was here with a reason. There was almost nothing of personal here, like if her sister just had gone here to sleep. On the contrary of Serah's house, this one was dead.

Serah had almost lost hope to find something when she entered Claire's bedroom. Like the other rooms, this one was very bare. The only thing who was not functional was a couple of picture on the bedside table. intrigued, Serah take a look at the pictures. The first one, closer of the bed, shown all of the former L'cie after they have wake up from their crystal stasis. Claire had a small smile in the picture and she had her arm around a smiling Hope. Serah remembered that Hope had just learn that his father was alive just before the picture was taken. It had always amazed Serah, how Hope was able to break Claire's barrier so easily. Even herself can't have do it, and she was her sister. The two of them have shared such a strong bond, no doubt that Hope was crushed by Claire's disappearance.

Not wanting to dwell on these sad feelings, Serah take a look at the other picture. This one was older than the first one. It showed two little girl and their mother. Even if the picture was not very good, you can see that the mother was ill. The youngest of the two girl looked very unaware of the illness of their mother, but it was not the case with the oldest. On the contrary of her sister, this one was not smiling. She had a concerned look on her face like if she had known what her future would be when their mother would have passed. Serah wanted to cry. She was so young when their mother had die, that she don't have understand how much her sister had give up for raising her. She had become a GC member soon after the death of their mother and she had never talk again about her wish to become an archaeologist. And Serah had accepted it like if it was due to her. Of course, she still can say that she was too young to know what had happen then, but she was not as naive as everyone thought. In a way, back then, she was glade that Claire take care of her like she had done. Which saddened her the most was that she never had thanked her sister for what she had done. And now there was a great chance that she never can.

Without thinking Serah looked at her sister on the picture. There was something strange in the picture but Serah can't found out what it was. Suddenly, it hit her. It was not that there is something strange, but it was that her sister in the picture looked exactly the same as her daughter is now. The two of them have the same face, the same hair and eyes. It was amazing for Serah to never have noticed it before. Everyone had told her that belle was indeed her daughter, but in fact Belle looked more like Claire than her. If it was not too far-fetched, Serah was ready to think that Belle was Claire reincarnation. Because, now that she thought about it, more than once Belle had acted like Claire would have. But it was impossible ! There is no way that her little girl had something to do with Claire. It was just some mystery of the genetic that her daughter looked so alike to her aunt.

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Sazh had some doubt for a long time. But he don't have dared to share them with the Villier. Snow, Serah and Belle were so happy together, that Sazh don't wanted to ruin their happiness. But he can't keep his mouth shut any longer. A few weeks ago he had seen how Belle looked at Hope, and there is no crush or sisterly love in this stare. It was the true love he had seen in her eyes. The same sort of love he had seen more than once in Lightning eyes when she looked at Hope too. Sazh was not as blind as most of his friends. He was well aware that Lightning's feelings for Hope have run deeper than the friendship everyone wanted to see. But in their defense, Sazh had to say that Lightning was very good at hiding her feelings. She was almost as good at this than Dajh's mother was. And if Sazh had finally can see through her mask, then he had no problem to see through Lightning's. But he had keep it quiet. There was nothing he can have do, and as long as Lightning was satisfied with the looks, there was nothing wrong in Sazh's book.

The problem was that the looks become to be not enough for Lightning, and the woman was well aware of it. Sazh had understand why Lightning had avoided Hope at all cost before she disappeared. But this solution had only mean a lot of hurt for both of them. Because Hope had returned lightning's feelings with the same passion as her. Most of their friends thought that because Hope was only fourteen when they had become L'cie, he was not mature enough to know what the love was. But they were wrong. Hope always was more mature than most of the child of his age, and in a way even more mature than Snow. Of course, when he had lost his mother, he had reacted like any child would. But thanks to lightning he had let go his idea of taking revenge from Snow. And he had become a precious ally in their fight against the Fal'cie. After that, as much as the other wanted to see him, he was a child anymore.

And now Belle had come in this. Sazh had always thought that Belle looked stunningly like her aunt Lightning. But since she turned ten, Sazh believed that Belle and Lightning were one and the same. Like the other he loved the girl, but he was not blinded like them. He had see some time when Belle's personality changed. And at these time he was ready to bet that it was Lightning who had take control. But he had no proof, and when he had asked some question to Belle, the girl had looked really unaware of her split of personality. And more, he had no way to explain how Lightning can have become a baby again. No one would believed him, but he had to try. He don't doubted that if Hope give his love to Belle, and then it turned out that she was Lightning, the news would kill him. Because as much as she had loved him, there would be no way for Lightning to share her love with a man seven years younger than her. The shame would be stronger than her love.

That's why Sazh come to Lebreau's café this morning. He needed to talk to Snow alone. Serah was Lightning's sister, and Sazh don't know how she would react at the news that the girl she raised was in fact her sister. It would be easier for him to explain it with Snow help. Sazh was very confident, but he had never expected for Snow to react like he did. At first, Snow looked like if he wanted to laugh it out. But after seeing that Sazh looked pretty serious, Snow had become very angry. Sazh can't understand why Snow acted like this. It looked like if the man had forget that Belle was not his real child. Seeing that he can't do anything more, Sazh leaved the bar with a troubled mind. He was not sure anymore that he was right, and he wondered what had made him thought that Belle and Lightning can share something more than a stunning resemblance.

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Snow was still angry with Sazh's words when he returned home. How his friend dare to make some joke about their beloved child. It was so hard for him and Serah to not be able to have an other child. But after Belle's birth, Serah was not able to carry an other child. In spite of himself Sazh's word continued to taunt him. So, he go to his study and searched for a document. A special one. Belle's birth certificate. Snow felt some relief when he found it. There written black on white was the proof that Belle was his and Serah's child. He can't have imagined Serah's pregnancy ! Belle is their child from blood, there is no reason for doubting of it.

When she returned home, Serah found her husband looking at some baby picture of Belle. She remembered very well when Snow had returned home with the camera. He had acted like a child with a new toy. But now, Serah was grateful for her husband to have take so much picture of Belle. Their daughter was growing so fast ! It looked only like if it was yesterday that she had give birth to her. In fact it was only almost four years ago, but with Belle looking like a fifteen years old girl, it looked more than that. But the doctor was very optimistic about Belle's case. It looked like if her growing up had begin to go a little slower. The doctor hoped for her to began to grow normally when she will reach her twentieth anniversary, or so. Serah hoped with all her heart that it will be true. And if it was the case, Serah know very well with whom her daughter wanted to spend her life. And nor her nor her husband would be against it. Serah just hoped that Belle can take the place Claire once had occupied in his heart. She don't know why but when she remembered the picture she had found in Claire's house she felt very optimistic.

In her place, the old woman was laughing. The woman had made her choice, she was sure of it, but she was still not aware of it. This year she would not bothered her by asking about her choice. She just had let the event gone to their natural course. It was for the best. After all it was the least she can do for the woman who had saved her life. All of them will be more happy with this.

To be continued.

I hope you have liked, and it had answered some of your question. I don't know how long this story will continue, but I have two chapter almost planned and maybe some more. I'm still not sure. Don't forget to give me a review and I try to update Sunday.