Lunch with Ms Farron

Serah loved teaching, she really did, but there were times when she was mighty tempted to drop by her sister's office and grab a weapon or two. This morning was one of those times. Little Tidus hadn't just turned up to class late, he'd turned up covered almost head to toe in mud. Considering that it hadn't rained for near on a week, she wasn't sure that she even wanted to know how he'd managed that. Of course, he hadn't done the sensible thing and wiped himself clean before coming in. No, he'd somehow figured that it would be a good idea to hug anyone he could catch.

The other kids hadn't taken too well to that, except for maybe Yuna, and it wasn't all that long before she'd had a fair sized brawl on her hands. Problem was, she couldn't exactly pull a gun on the little critters although she'd been sorely tempted when Tidus had come at her with arms outstretched to give her a hug. It would have been cute if he'd been clean, but she'd only just bought her dress and she quite liked it a light pink instead of brown. Nor could she rely on her sister's other methods of dealing with the local riff raff. It might not be as bad as shooting them, but she didn't think any of the parents would take too kindly to her getting busy with her left hook.

Still, she hadn't gone all the way back east to Eden City to learn how to teach just to let one muddy little boy scare her off. With a firm nod, she clapped her hands to try and get their attention and when that didn't work, she put one hand to her lips and whistled as loudly as she could. That got their attention all right, and she bit back a grin, as they all stood about with their hands clamped to their ears. Smiling, she gestured for all of them to take a seat.

"Why don't we get started for today?"

Things quietened down some after that, or at least they got as quiet as they ever got when it came to a bunch of youngsters out West. Every time she turned her back, someone would be trying to pick a fight or pull a prank. Still, none of them had the guts to try and pull a prank on her. She might have become quite a prim and proper lady, but she'd been something of a prankster herself back when she and Lightning had been younger. She'd also been pretty quick on her feet too, since playing a prank on Lightning was like kicking a sleeping coyote – likely to end in a great deal of pain.

"Yuffie Kisaragu, don't you even think of throwing that pencil at Vincent," Serah said, her back to the class as she wrote on the board. The girl in question gasped and dropped the pencil she'd been about to throw. Even without looking, she knew the rest of the children were exchanging looks that were a mix of awe and terror. Most of them had got to thinking she had eyes on the back of her head or something, but the truth was that she'd learned to turn her head just far enough to see most of the class out of the corner of her eyes. It helped too, that most of them had a hard time controlling their giggling just before they did something silly.

But despite all the trouble they could cause, Serah was pretty happy with the kids. They were decent enough and once they got settled down, and most of them had a pretty good head for sums and letters and there were even a few that she thought could really make a go of university. In any case, she was just happy knowing that by the time she was done with them, every one of them would be able to read well enough to get through a newspaper and figure sums well enough to work out if a deal was fair or not.

When lunchtime came, she let most of the children go for a bit. Pretty much all of them went back home for lunch, but there were always one or two who brought lunch and just stayed around the schoolhouse until it was time to start again. Today, only Yuffie stayed behind.

"So, Yuffie, what do you have for lunch?" Serah asked as she eyed her own meagre meal of muesli. Normally, she'd have something better, but today she'd mighty rushed what with Lightning being too busy working on fixing her office back up to give her much of a hand.

Yuffie opened her lunchbox and squinted hard at what was inside. "I think it's porridge."

Serah raised one eyebrow and leaned over to take a better look. Whatever was in Yuffie's lunchbox, it did sort of resemble porridge, although Serah wouldn't have been to keen to place a wager on that. "I see… so, Yuffie, why were you going to throw a pencil at Vincent?"

The girl huffed and looked away and Serah had to bite back a smile. Yuffie was just going on seven and already she was quite a handful. "He's always making funny of me. He keep calling me short but he's only taller than me because he's a year older! If we were the same age I know I'd be taller."

Serah again had to hold back a smile. Vincent was tall for a kid, and while Yuffie wasn't the shortest seven year old she'd ever seen, she wasn't far off. Somehow, she doubted that just being a year older would changes things. Still, she didn't have the heart to point that out to Yuffie. Instead, she just listened as the girl continued to rail about all the horrible things that Vincent was supposed to have done, most of which it was plain to see, had nothing to do with him at all.

At least it had only been a pencil that Yuffie was going to throw. When Serah had first started her classes up, they'd been throwing just about anything they could lay their hands on, even books. However, she'd put a stop to that pretty fast after one sorry incident in which both Yuffie and Vincent had gone home with black eyes from a pair of well-aimed dictionaries. Still, despite the way they were always fighting each other, Serah had a feeling they were pretty close too. Only Vincent could pick on Yuffie, and the last time that any of the other boys had tried, Vincent had been on him like a wolverine.

"So you see, Ms Farron," Yuffie said as she finally put an end to her rambling. "It's actually all Vincent's fault."

Serah chuckled softly and ruffled ruffled Yuffie's hair. "Don't worry too much about what he says, Yuffie. I'm sure that when you grow up, you'll be a right lovely young lady."

Yuffie beamed and Serah was about to say something else when suddenly there was a knock from the door. Looking over, Serah felt her heart skip a beat when saw a certain blonde stockman there with that looked to be a plate of sandwiches.

"Afternoon there," Snow said. "Mind if I come in, Ms Farron?"

Serah's mouth was suddenly feeling a little dry. "Not at all, Mr Villiers." She swallowed slowly. "Although I hope you're not here for a lesson. You'll be a mite older than the other students, I'm afraid."

Snow took off his hat and stepped into the schoolroom and smiled teasingly. "I'd say it depends a fair bit on what kind of lesson you're thinking of teaching, Ms Farron."

Serah blinked for a moment and then felt a blush bloom across her cheeks as the meaning of his words became clear. Shooting him as disapproving a look as she could manage while still blushing something fierce, she said, "Why, Mr Villiers, there's a child present."

"I'm not a child," Yuffie groused. "I'm a lovely young lady." She paused. "Or I will be."

Snow laughed and came over to set the plate of sandwiches on Serah's table. "Isn't that just sweet?" He nodded at the sandwiches. "I picked these up from a friend of mine looking to set up a saloon in town. I was wondering if maybe you're a bit hungry?"

Serah looked at the sandwiches closely. They looked mighty tempting, especially when she put them up next to her muesli. "Well, it would be rude of me to refuse such a kind offer, Mr Villiers." She inclined her head. "I'm much obliged."

"Don't mention it," Snow replied. "Besides, it's the least I can do. That tip you gave me about good land looks to be spot on." He smiled softly. "And really, you can just call me Snow."

Serah felt her stomach do another flip flop that had nothing to do with hunger and everything to do with how warm Snow's smile was. "I'm afraid that just wouldn't be proper, Mr Villiers. I don't think I know you quite well enough for that." Although, she thought, giggling inwardly, she wouldn't mind getting to know him better – in a strictly proper way of course.

"Well, why don't we talk a little then? I figure good food is even better with good company and it looks like you've got time for a chat or two." Snow glanced around the empty schoolroom.

Serah nodded slowly. "I guess I could talk for a bit." She looked at Yuffie and the porridge she had. "You don't mind her maybe having a bite to eat too, do you?"

Snow grinned. "Nah. I like kids myself, been thinking of settling down lately, but I just can't seem to find the right woman." His eyes were on her the whole time as he was speaking, and Serah felt her heart skip along like a hummingbird. He picked a sandwich up and passed it to Yuffie. "Here, kid, why don't you get started?"

"Thanks!" Yuffie said as she grabbed the sandwich and Serah watched with quiet awe as the little girl practically inhaled it. Just how Yuffie could eat like that and still remain so little she wasn't sure.

"Hey, slow down there, kid," Snow said. "There's plenty more."

Yuffie looked up at him. "People keep calling me short. How'd you get so tall?"

Serah laughed. "Yuffie, that's not very polite."

Snow just waved Serah's concerns away and leaned down to whisper into Yuffie's ear. "The secret is to drink lots of milk."

Yuffie's eyes widened. "Really?"

Snow nodded. "Yep, that's it."

Serah covered her mouth with one hand as she took in the completely serious look on Yuffie's face. She wouldn't be surprised if the very next day the girl turned up with a big jar of milk to drink, because Yuffie was never one to do things in halves. It was like the week the girl had decided that she was going to be a sheriff. For the entire week, Yuffie had walked around dressed like Lightning and with a right funny look on her face that Serah supposed was Yuffie's attempt to copy Lightning's famous glare.

"So how's teaching suiting you?" Snow asked.

Serah took a moment to pick out a sandwich and then replied. "It's quite something, and I do enjoy it. It's just that sometimes…" she trailed off, her eyes moving to the window where she could see two of the kids, Squall and Seifer rolling on the ground, fists flying.

Snow followed her look and chuckled. "I see what you mean. Think we should go out there and split them up?"

Serah shook her head. "They'll be just fine." And sure enough, a moment later, one of the shopkeepers came by with a bucket of water and doused the squabbling children. "So how about you, Mr Villiers, how's farming life?"

Snow scratched the back of his head. "It's a tad tougher than I thought it might be, but I'm getting the gist of things and me and my friends should be set to get some crops planted soon enough." He tapped his hat. "We're doing better when it comes to cattle though. We've already got a pen fixed up and some good stock in. I figure I can raise them bigger and better in one place than running them ragged out on the range."

Serah nodded. "I've heard some folks saying that might be the way to do things. You given any thought to raising sheep too? Wool comes in mighty handy come winter, and they're pretty tame and easy to look after."

Snow smiled broadly. "Why that's a fine idea." He paused for a moment and then laughed. "Well, what do you know, it seems like I'll be getting a lesson after all."

They spent the next forty or so minutes just talking and Serah barely even noticed the time roll past, or the fact that they'd both stopped eating sandwiches so they could keep on talking. Of course, Yuffie did notice, and the little girl was more than happy enough to pick up the slack, wolfing the sandwiches down and even putting a couple in her pockets for later. She was especially careful with the mayonnaise sandwich. She was dead certain it would look just great in Vincent's hair.

"Will you look at the time," Serah said as she glanced over at the clock. "I've got to get a start on things for when the children come back."

Snow stood. "It's been mighty nice talking with you Ms Farron. You should drop by my place some time, I could show you round the place and you could maybe tell me a little bit more about what I should be doing." He grinned.

"Maybe I will. It does sound quite nice, Mr Villiers," Serah said.

Snow shook his head. "Well now, we've been talking right on forty minutes, Ms Farron. I figure you could call me Snow by now."

Serah looked away. "I guess I could, Mr… I mean, Snow."

Snow walked over to the door and sketched a bow. "I'll be seeing you later then, Ms Farron."

"Wait!" Serah said, a little bit too loudly. "Um… if I'm to call you Snow, why don't you call me Serah?"

Snow put his hat back on and gave Serah a roguish grin. "In that case, I'll see you later… Serah." He paused and then smiled at Yuffie. "And of course, you too, little lady."

As the children filed back in for class, Serah barely noticed the fact that Tidus was still covered with mud, or that Squall and Seifer were dripping onto the floor. Nor did she notice Yuffie reaching into her pocket for the sandwich she'd saved just for Vincent. All she could think about was how wonderfully quick lunch had gone by. Speaking to Snow, it seemed like each moment just whistled past, nice and natural, almost like it was meant to be. And big as he was, she never felt like he might hurt her, just the opposite, she felt safe, like he'd look out for her no matter what.

"Snow," she whispered softly, "Snow Villiers." It was funny, she thought, how much the name suited that blonde hair of his. But then again, his smile was so much warmer than snow could ever be.

"Take that, Vinnie!"

Serah snapped back to the present just in time to see Yuffie mash the mayonnaise sandwich into Vincent's hair. The boy let loose a kind of strangled squeak and turned to look at Yuffie with murder in his eyes.

Well, the peace was good while it lasted, Serah thought as she did her best to calm Vincent down. That was no small task either, what with him chasing Yuffie around the room with a dictionary in hand. Then her eyes flicked back onto her table and she paused mid-step, deep in thought. Snow had left his plate behind. A slow smile crossed her face. The only polite thing to do would be to return it. Yes, she thought, the only right thing to do would be to go return it to him in person.

When she turned back to Vincent and Yuffie, there was a big smile on her face. The smile remained there even after Yuffie added a ham and cheese sandwich to the mess already in Vincent's hair.

X X X

Author's Notes

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off this.

I thought it would be nice to have a little bit of insight into just what Serah is up against teaching out in the West. Originally, I was just going to have "normal" children in her class, but after a bit of thinking, I decided to slip some references to previous Final Fantasy games in. The thought of a little Yuffie picking fights with a little Vincent is something that I find extremely funny. For those of you not familiar with the names, Tidus and Yuna are from FF X, Seifer and Squall are from FF VIII, and Yuffie and Vincent are from FF VII.

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