Family Behavior.
Response to Cocoon02: Really, Cocoon02? You took a risk on me? Oh my bleep. You? Oh swoon... I've read some of your work as an anonymous, now I'm blushing that you liked mine... You're such a good writer... （≧∇≦）fangirl moment... Squee!
Response to Invisible Valkyrie: Yeah, Invisible Valkyrie, I agree, I did make Snow kind of a... ._. Blank slate, but that was because I couldn't figure out how to make him react. Since he plotted like a boss. LIKE. A. BOSS. Yep! Carlisle is the only one that cooks—edible food. I just wondered who would do the majority of housework and I just dropped it on Snow. I actually love his character
(!) but it's so easy to put him in these kind of situations because he kinda walks right into them. XD, the manly hero has to scrub the floors. (⌒▽⌒) HARRRR...
（^人^）Thanks again and review—this story, and the brand-new Creation Reborn!—please!
-(1)- Additions, Chapter Three.
Claudius reached for his mother, squealing as he did so. His tiny hands, smaller than anything Lightning had ever seen before, were covered in little yellow mittens to protect his newborn skin from the northern chill in the air. He was a winter baby—unlike his sister and parents—born right before the cold season.
Serah loved this, because it gave her a blatant excuse to buy tiny sweaters, mittens, socks and hats for her adorable nephew. Bags of them were accepted with a smile... And then tossed into the deepest corner of his closest. Serah had done the same thing when Carlisle was born, except with dresses, tiny outfits—with purses. What does a baby need with a damn purse?—and tights. Lightning had never dressed Carlisle in these. They went straight to the donation box at Bodhum's local GreatWill. Let some other vicarious mother dress her daughter in those.
Lightning let her months-old son grasp her index finger with his hands, listening to his accompanying coos with a smile.
His blue eyes were the same shape as his father's, but the dark color that she had. Instead of her coldness though, his had a dazzling luminosity, like surprise azure fireworks during twilight. They matched with the light rosé wisps of hair atop his head. He did have his father's kind and genuine face, but her light—just shy of pale—skin, lit with a soft pink blush right underneath the surface.
Claudius was a beautiful baby, and he was hers. Pride and other wonderful emotions filled her chest and inflated her hubris. She had made another beautiful, perfect...-ish... human being.
Of course, Snow was involved, but she hardly thought about that, unless she was blaming him for one of Claudius'—few—flaws. After all, she had carried the dazzling bloodsucker for nine months. Claudius was her damn son, not his.
Carlisle's soft, shaky breathing at her elbow made her jump, tearing her finger away from Claudius' grasp. He responded to this with a whine.
"He's tiny..." Carlisle breathed with a curious look on her face, her eyes wide and unblinking as she stared at her brother. "So... Tiny..."
Lightning replied with a short snort. "Yeah, as babies are wont to be." She stuck her hand back to Claudius, who took her finger again. She was lucky that he didn't have his teeth yet because he stuck it into his mouth and mashed his gums against her flesh.
Bloodsucker indeed. What; did he crave flesh as much as he had craved sugar?
"Can I..." Carlisle's eyebrows locked together into a monobrow as she thought of a way to get around her "unreasonable" request. Her eyes lit up as they met Lightning's. "Hold him? Please?" She pleaded when Lightning's face contorted into an uncomfortable grimace.
That was unreasonable. She didn't like anyone touching her son. Hell, even Snow hadn't held him more than five times. Not like he hadn't tried—oh, yes, he had tried—but Lightning had bent his arm at a breaking angle until he promised not to touch Claudius unless she gave her explicit consent.
Claudius was just so... Fragile and precious. She had fears of him falling to the ground and breaking into pieces of flesh colored glass. When he was in her arms, she knew that he was safe, protected. She didn't have that guarantee with anyone else.
"Please, mommy?" Carlisle begged, her eyes even wider than usual. "Please? I wanna hold him."
Lightning eyed her daughter with suspicion. Carlisle certainly looked sturdy enough to support Claudius' weight. But she was so damn... wispy... But she was Snow's daughter, she had to have some bulk to her.
"...Fine." Lightning almost spat, removing her finger from Claudius' mouth, wiped the saliva off on a soft green baby towel and slipped her hands around his body, cradling his head. Carlisle mimicked the cradling pose she had seen so many times before and Lightning gently—ever so gently, in case Carlisle was unprepared—lowered Claudius into the girl's arms.
Carlisle made a low surprised sound at the feel of her brother in her arms. He was... warmer than she had thought possible. He took up such a presence, even with his diminutive size.
It all became real in that moment.
This was an actual human being; he was the thought that had consumed all others since that day when Lightning had told her that she would have a sibling. He was warm and heavy and alive. She wondered if she had overwhelmed her parents like this when she was born.
Lightning hovered, something in her twitching—or dying—as Carlisle held Claudius. The little girl rocked on her feet, swaying and calming the boy, who cooed happily. He smiled at Carlisle and Lightning felt a twinge of jealousy.
After assuring that Carlisle wouldn't drop him, she sat back down and glared in their direction. If Carlisle did falter, Lightning could dash out and save Claudius before he hit the ground.
And still, her heart pounded in her ears as she watched her children. Damn, when had she become a helicopter parent; always hovering and worrying wasn't her way.
"Hey, Claudius," Carlisle said to her brother. "I bet you'll love my strawberry ice cream, since mommy ate so much of it."
Lightning blushed a soft pink, embarrassment coloring her cheeks. Like her father, Carlisle could be unknowingly blunt with her honesty.
"Don't give him ideas." Lightning said exasperatedly as Claudius responded to his sister's mindless talk with a happy squeal. "We don't need him to be hyped up on sugar."
"Aw... But he'd like it..." She smiled at the boy and kissed his fat, rosy cheek. Her eyes lit up again as another idea came to her. "Oh! Do you want to see my room?" She asked, as if Claudius understood.
Lightning's soul screeched in agony as Carlisle started for the stairs. She was up and stopped the girl before she could take another step. "No, not at all. Do not move with him. Privileges revoked. Give me Claudius. Now," she hissed when Carlisle hesitated.
With her brother out of her arms, Carlisle pouted. "I wasn't going to drop him."
"And how do I know that?" Lightning snarled coolly, Claudius safe inside of his carrier.
Carlisle sighed deeply and fluttered into the refrigerator, searching for something to eat, per her schedule, all the while muttering to herself about how unfair her life was.
()-(-)-()-(-)-()
Snow's fingers roved through her hair, playing with the rosé strands as she sighed exhaustedly. She was so damn stubborn, insisting that only she could take care of Claudius, despite Snow being more than ready to help. She had some deep seeded fear that Claudius couldn't be out of her sight for more than twelve seconds. Even now, Snow saw her eyes aimed in the direction of the coffee-table. The tablet sitting atop the glass surface showed the camera feed from their son's room.
Jeez, she had problems. She couldn't even focus on him for a second and he was her adoring husband.
She heard him sigh—it was hard not to, considering that she was right on him—and finally tore her eyes away from Claudius after a short internal war. She glared up at Snow and sharply asked, "What?"
"Oh, are you done? I didn't want to interrupt you two."
"Hardy-har-har." Lightning rolled her eyes. "Emotional blackmail doesn't work when you're jealous of your own son, ass."
"I'm not jealous of Claud. I'm a bit peeved at you because for months you've been obsessing over him. Carlisle told me that you freaked out when she made an offhand comment."
Lightning sniffed. "She moved to the stairs."
"You still don't yell at her; you'll damage her soul or something. You know how fragile she is."
Lightning winced. She had done that twice.
Carlisle—as if summoned by the mention of her name—appeared on her beanbag sack, dressed in yellow pajama pants, a pink shirt and playing with her little game system—a birthday gift from her uncle Hope—the lights reflecting off of her glasses.
No, she had been there; as quiet as a leaf falling during summer until she had sniffled from a dust mote flying up her nose.
Snow readjusted their bodies so that there was a three inch gap between them and placing his hands around her shoulders, a more appropriate position.
"Carlisle, what are you still doing up?" Lightning asked. Carlisle looked up, those eyes once again wide.
The girl responded like an average child. As if. "I'm not tired."
Lightning frowned. "It's ten. Go to bed."
Carlisle frowned as well and Snow was struck by how similar they looked. He didn't even need to see Lightning's face to know what kind of look she had; he had been on the receiving end of those many times.
"But I'm not tired."
Lightning inhaled sharply. Snow hoped he wouldn't have to hold her back.
"What are you talking about? It's ten at night. You always go to bed at ten."
"I don't want to. I'm not tired. I asked dad and he said that I could stay up if I wanted to."
Rage turned on and it was aimed at Snow. His coming argument fizzled underneath her frozen glare.
"T - That's not... I... Er..."
Lightning narrowed her eyes. "When did this happen?"
'When you were obsessing over Claudius?' His blasphemous mind thought. He couldn't say that; she'd murder him in front of Carlisle, always the witness.
"I guess you decided to take Carlisle under your wing, huh? You feeling lonely? What? Do you two play checkers before school? Legos?"
Snow blinked when he realized that she was joking in her own twisted way, of course.
"You've been ignoring her," Snow rolled his eyes. "Somebody has to keep her from going insane."
"I'm fine with being alone." Carlisle said in her wispy voice and her parents faced her, worry on their features. "What? I see Lia at school—when she's around—and there's Nora and Faith."
"Cousins don't count." They said together. And Lia especially.
Lia's full name was Liona Kriess and she wandered around with her nomadic parents, Noel and Lightning's sister, Serah. The girl was Carlisle's best friend, but she was only in Bodhum about three months out of the year.
As for Faith and Nora Estheim, eight year old twin brother and sister respectively, they lived about a half hour away in Academia. Carlisle adored them, but—once again—they only visited every now and again.
She could've made friends with the other children that lived along the beachfront, the surfer kids, but she said that she didn't like them. They were too loud, or some other offense.
"No one likes being alone." Snow said, casting a look at Lightning. She stiffened at the repressed memories she had with being alone. "You don't even see Lia or Faith most of the time."
Carlisle tapped the screen of the device and doodled for a second before showing it to him. 12/25. Christmas. She would see them then.
Snow sighed exasperatedly and Lightning did the same. Why was she so... Fine with being alone?
Carlisle stared at her screen for a moment more before standing and whooshing away. They heard her footsteps on the stairs and the shut of her door.
She didn't come back.
Lightning, a bit unsettled by Carlisle's random appearances and disappearances, rolled around on the couch so she could face him. He didn't meet her gaze until she grabbed his chin and made him look at her.
"..." She exhaled softly and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry," she apologized quietly.
Snow, his cheeks pressed together by her clamped hand, mumbled, "'Bout wat? 'Noring ee?"
She opened her eyes halfway and muttered as she played with his flesh, "I'm not ignoring you right now. Aren't I a good wife?"
Snow laughed with her and pulled her back into his arms.
()-()-()-() June 1 - June 2 Author notes: rambling-tastic.
So I got seriously bored and diverted from the timeline... again. Sigh...
Warning! This chapter contains fifty percent more Carlisle! Tee hee...
I added the little Snow/Light moment because they don't really have many in my story or otherwise. I do like the moments they have in Lightning Returns—dear god, Snow. What the hell were you talking about, "you gonna make it up to me?" Perv—and wish I could've seen them interact in XIII-2, but that's what we have fanfiction for so... Pltttt...
Eeeeyyyyy... Wait... New idea...! No... Wait...
So, I'm just putting out some requests for someone to help me with Creation Reborn—mostly fight scenes and some songs, but I think I have that covered—kind of like a co-writer/mentor. If you're interested in helping me out, I'd love to know. :3
Anyways... Gosh, I love these two together. They're so cute and strangely perfect for each other, I kind of wonder why Square didn't pair them together, rather than Snow and Serah—bleep, Snow and Light falling in love would've made the XIII trilogy so much better in terms of story and character development. That's what made XIII-2 so good because Serah and Noel's relationship progressed, at least to me.
I never understood why Snow was attracted to Serah when he had better chemistry with Lightning, but I guess Square had to add him in somehow. I would've done it differently—can we all agree that PSICOM would've found the vestige eventually and everyone would've been purged anyway, so, meh—but... Canon. It sucks sometimes. Once again, that's why we have fanfiction! Yay!
Aww, there's a baby named Claudius! D'awwwwwwwww... Another funny story of how I got the name for him, but like Carlisle's, I'll spare you the IRL truth. I actually had a few more names for them—like Avis, Polaris, Rose for Carlisle—but these two won out. And I just realized that three out of the four have the letters "C" "L" "A" and "I" in their names. Even though I use the original Éclair spelling, I still count the Western Claire version, sometimes. Claire, Carlisle and Claudius. They even have the same sounds. I have subconscious OCD. How kawaii.
So I'm just going to write Snow x Lightning stuff, aren't I?! XD, I love going against canon. Glad you guys think I'm good at it. I want to say thanks to my reviewers—at the time that I wrote this, May something-something. I didn't check last week; so if I got more, I'll answer them next chapter-sorry
Thick... paragraphs... Wow... I write too much.
Toast Writer. Get the buttah!