Sisters and Stockmen
Serah Farron stepped off the train and looked down at her valise. It was a little heavier than she'd thought when she was packing it and she was starting to regret convincing her sister that it would be better if she just met her at the train station in Midar Town rather than going all the way to Eden City to pick her up. It didn't help much either that the dusty, crowded streets were so different from the paved, orderly thoroughfares of Eden City, or that she could already see some of the local riff raff looking in her direction.
She was just about to ask a passerby if there was some place nearby that she could wait with her valise until her sister came, when a large shadow fell over her. Startled, she took a hurried step back and tripped. Closing her eyes, she braced herself for the pain of hitting the ground. Only it never came. Instead, when she opened her eyes, she found herself looking into a pair of kind blue eyes.
"Best watch your step there, miss."
She nodded dumbly and looked up, way, way up, because the man who'd caught her was really quite tall, and broad at the shoulders too. He was a few years older than her and for all that he was big, there was a kind look about him, and his voice, from what she'd heard, was gentle too. There was a rumpled, weather-beaten hat on his head that covered blonde hair and she was startled to realise that he was also pretty handsome, in a rugged sort of way.
"You okay there, miss? You're staring at me."
She blushed and practically threw herself backward and would have fallen had he not caught her again and set her easily – very easily, actually, because goodness he was strong – on her feet. "Um… thank you, sir."
He gave her a wry sort of smile and his eyes twinkled as he replied, "Well, I'll accept your thanks, miss, but I'm no sir. Mister will do just fine."
"Then thank you, mister." Her sister had always told her not to talk to strangers, but that was only because she didn't want her to run into any trouble. But there was something about the big man in front of her, maybe the way he spoke and carried himself, that made her certain that he wasn't trouble, at least not to her.
He glanced down at her valise. "Looks like you're having a little trouble with that bag of yours." He smiled again and Serah felt her heart flutter. He had such a wonderful smile. "Seems a little big for someone your size."
She blushed and looked away. "I suppose it's a little heavy, but I've managed so far."
He shrugged his broad shoulders. "Didn't say otherwise, but maybe I could give you a hand? A lady like you shouldn't have to lug a heavy bag like that around herself."
As he reached for the valise, she tugged it away from him. "I couldn't possibly trouble you. Besides, I'm just waiting for my sister and I'm sure she'll be here any moment."
He nodded good-naturedly. "Well, I suppose I could wait with you then, if you don't mind." He glanced over at a bench beneath the shade a few yards off. "Though it might be better if we waited over there."
"I suppose," she said a tad unsurely.
"Then it's settled." And before she could protest, he'd taken her valise and carried it over to the bench. She hurried after him and settled down on one side with him a polite distance away on the other.
Silence settled over them and Serah looked at the ground. What was it about him that made her so nervous? And it wasn't a bad nervous either, it was something different, something that made her heart race and thrill in the most exciting way.
"So, you got a name?" he asked.
"Oh!" She snapped out of her thoughts and looked over only to blush as she noticed that his face wasn't even a foot away. Somehow, he'd managed to get a little closer without her noticing. "Serah Farron."
He smiled. "They call me Snow Villiers." He offered his hand. "Farron? Name seems kind of familiar."
She reached for his hand to shake it, but he grinned and brought her hand up to his lips. She blushed again, right down to the tips of her toes, she was sure, and all but yanked her hand away. Doing her best to put a disapproving look on her face, she glared at him. It must not have been a very good glare – her sister had always been better than her in that department – because he simply grinned and tipped his hat a fraction at her.
"So, Serah, what brings you out this way?"
She crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, Mr Villiers," she stressed the formality of the title, "I'm a school teacher."
"That so?" He smiled again and she felt her heart do something crazy in her chest. "Mind telling me where you're teaching Ms Farron?"
"I'm going to teach in Bodhum," she replied as she found herself smiling back without really knowing why. "I did some studying back east in Eden City and I'm going to go teach in Bodhum."
"That your home town?" Snow asked.
She nodded. "I grew up there, but I've been in Eden City the last couple of years."
"It's pretty tough out in Bodhum," he said lightly. "Though I hear things have gotten better as of late. Word is, they've got quite a sheriff now."
Serah grinned. Bodhum did indeed have quite a sheriff. "I heard that too, but the town's growing and there's a lot of young ones out there now, but there's no teacher. An education is an important thing to have, and I'll see it that they get a good one." She looked at Snow. "And you, Mr Villiers, what do you do for a living?"
Snow reached up to scratch the back of his head. "I've done a lot of things in life, but I guess that if you had to pin me down, I'd call myself a stockman." He smiled self-deprecatingly. "I've worked out of most of the ranches out here, herding cattle, riding the trail, that sort of thing. I've got some friends who I ride with most of the time, but we've just finished a job and Midgar Town's a good place to go to find another."
"It sounds exciting." Serah took off her hat to fan herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Snow watching her intently and felt a pleasant rush of warmth run through her. "I've never been on the road that much." She sighed. "My older sister can be real over protective."
Snow chuckled softly. "Older sibling are supposed to be like that aren't they? I don't have any siblings myself, but my friends are about as good as family and I'm plenty protective of them." He smirked at her. "Besides, you're such a little thing. I don't know how you'd do in a scrap."
Serah frowned. Little she was, but she was still a Farron. She glared up at him. "I'll have you know, Mr Villiers, that I can be plenty dangerous in a scrap if I want to be." As if to demonstrate her point, she held up one small fist.
His shoulders shook with laughter as he wrapped one hand gently around her fist. She flushed. His hand felt good on hers. "I didn't mean offence there, Ms Farron. Out here, I guess you're right that it's not too sharp to judge on looks alone, but you have to admit that you don't look too fierce."
"I guess not." Serah pulled her hand back. "But I'm guessing by your looks that you are quite good in a scrap, Mr Villiers."
Snow grinned. "If there's a scrap, Ms Farron, you'll be sure to find me on the winning side."
The two of them spent the next quarter of an hour in easy conversation. For all that Snow was a stockman, he had some pretty big dreams. He'd worked long enough for other men, he said, and was keen to work for himself. If everything went right, he'd have enough for a place of his own in a couple of months. He planned to set up a farm and settle down and raise a family. Serah mentioned that there was some prime farming land not too far from Bodhum if Snow was inclined to settle that way.
"Settle down near Bodhum?" Snow said. "That doesn't sound too bad, if you'll be there too, Ms Farron."
"Ms Farron?" A familiar voice said. "Why don't you introduce me to your friend, Serah."
Serah looked up and gave a happy cry and leapt up to throw her arms around her older sister. "Claire!"
Lightning hugged her sister and then pulled away to study Snow. "Sorry, I was late, Serah. There was some trouble on the way." Her eyes narrowed. "Seems the Bahamut Bandit and Vanille the Kid robbed another bank. The marshals had road blocks set up, but they're fooling themselves if they think they can catch them like that."
"It's okay, Lightning" Serah smiled at her older sister. "Mr Villiers has been keeping me company." Serah winced as Lightning turned a harsh glare on Snow. Despite the considerable size advantage, the blonde haired man noticeably squirmed beneath Lightning's scrutiny.
"Well, Serah, say goodbye to Mr Villiers." Lightning shot Snow another glare. She'd seen his sort before and he looked like just the kind of man who'd tried and take advantage of her kind hearted and innocent little sister.
Serah smiled at Snow, something that Lightning couldn't help but wince at. "Good afternoon, Mr Villiers. Thank you for your company."
Snow shrugged. "I should be the one thanking your for your company, Ms Farron." He grinned. "Take care now."
Lightning looked from Serah to Snow. "The carriage is just over there," she said, pointing behind her. "You go on ahead, Serah, I'll bring your valise in a second. I just want to have a word with Mr Villiers here. You know, to convey my thanks."
When Serah was inside the carriage, Lightning turned back to Snow. "Mr Villiers is it? I saw how you were looking at my little sister."
"Well, it seems you're pretty clever." He smiled. "Your sister called you Claire, didn't she?"
"Yes," Lightning said. "Though most people just call me Lightning." Her lips firmed into a thin line. "I'm a sheriff, actually."
"Um… hi." Snow gulped. No wonder Serah's last name had sounded so familiar. There was only one sheriff who people called Lightning and she was definitely not someone he wanted to get on the wrong side of.
"My sister seems to like you," Lightning said, softly, gently, and to Snow infinitely menacingly. "We're also at the train station right now with no small number of people walking by, which leaves me in something of a bind." Serah waved from the carriage and Lightning waved back, smiling, before her gaze snapped back to Snow and her mouth settled into a frown. "See, I get the feeling that you happen to like my sister too, which really doesn't make me too happy and when I'm not happy I've been told I have the tendency to get a little violent." She pushed back her jacket to reveal the pistols at her side. "You catch my meaning?"
Snow nodded silently.
"Good." Lightning picked up Serah's valise and turned away. "Watch yourself, Mr Villiers."
Later as Snow was turning in for the night, he found his mind wandering back to a certain pink haired schoolteacher. Serah had been quite the sight for someone who'd spent his whole life out on the trail. She looked all sweet and delicate and talking to her made him feel like maybe, for the first time he was home, but he could tell that there was steel in her too, although maybe not so much as in that sister of hers, or at least so close to the surface.
He shivered. Lightning was something else, but she was a sheriff, so he supposed she couldn't just shoot him on sight. Besides, the best things in life were worth suffering for and he had a feeling that Serah could well become the best thing in his life. She'd mentioned good land out near Bodhum and in a few months he'd have enough to maybe settle down. That would help his chances, he was sure, because a man with some coin in his pockets and his own patch of land was a damn sight better as a prospect than a fiddle-footed stockman. He fell asleep with a smile on his face and a dream in his heart.
Elsewhere, Lightning scowled at the moon and continued to polish her gun. She had a feeling she'd be using it soon.
X X X
Author's Notes
First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy nor am I make any money off this.
Finally, we have Snow entering the fray, along with Serah. I've always thought that Serah and Snow made a cute sort of couple (even if she is really small and he is something of a giant). The idea of Serah as a schoolteacher is just something that fits for me, and I think Snow's size and personality make him suited to being a stockman (his friends who ride with him are, as you might have guessed, the other members of NORA). The bit at the end with Lightning was something I just had to slip in because I don't think it matters what universe they're in – she'll never think much of Snow at first.
As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are appreciated.