The Stockman and the Lady

Snow pulled up in front of the Farron place. Looking it over, he was a little surprised. It wasn't quite what he expected. Somehow, he'd thought that it would be bigger, and even if it wasn't exactly small, it wasn't large either. No, if he had to put a word to the place, he'd call it cosy. The front was pretty weathered and the wooden steps that led up to the front door looked like they'd seen a fair bit of wear and tear, but those things aside, everything else about the place told him how much the people who lived there loved it.

There were repairs along the porch, a lot of them pretty spotty, the kind that a kid might make, along with others on the wall and roof. In other places, the repairs were better, and he didn't have much trouble picturing Lightning up on the roof with a hammer and nails – she was definitely tough enough for that kind of thing – but the thought of Serah up there too brought a grin to his lips. For all that Serah wasn't all that much smaller than her sister, she did seem a good deal more delicate.

Serah.

Funny wasn't it, how just the sound of her name could make him smile. When he'd been just a little kid, he'd seen statues of fairies in some store window. He'd been big even back then and the other kids had made fun of him for staring, but those fairies had just seemed so small, so fragile. And even though he knew that fairies were just make believe, the first time he'd seen Serah, and every time since, he'd been reminded of those statues of fairies in that long ago shop window. Serah was all small and delicate and there were times, especially when he was talking to her, when he didn't think he was good enough to be near her. He chuckled softly. That much he and Lightning probably agreed on.

A lady like Serah deserved the best and he was man enough to know that wasn't him. If he was feeling generous he might say that he was a decent man, a middling sort of man on any of the scales that measured the worth of men. But who could blame him for wanting more, for wanting to maybe hold onto the best, most beautiful thing he'd ever seen?

He got off his chocobo and walked up the steps to the door. His hand was raised up to knock the door when he just stopped and stared. His hands were so big and while he was plenty strong, he was plenty clumsy too. That was another thing that made him nervous about being around Serah. One time when he'd still been a kid, he'd dropped something because he'd been too big and clumsy to hold it right. He couldn't really remember what it was anymore –a picture frame, a vase, a toy? – whatever it was, it had been pretty, and he'd broken it. The last thing he ever wanted to do was break Serah like that.

He laughed. As if Lightning would ever let him do something like that. If the sheriff even suspected that he might do something to hurt Serah, he had a feeling he'd be dead before he knew it. Steeling himself, he brought his hand the rest of the way up and knocked on the door.

For a moment there was nothing and then through the door came Serah's shout. "I'll be there in just a minute."

Snow felt his heart begin to hammer and his hands began to get sweaty. He was a little boy again, all nervous and gun shy, and it took everything he had to keep from doing a little jig on the spot to try and rid himself of the nervous energy. Then the door opened.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr Villiers," Serah said. "I just had to finish up a few things in the house."

For a moment, Snow couldn't think of anything at all to say. He'd invited her to come over and take a look around his place outside of town and she'd actually agreed. He'd expected that she might wear a dress, and if he wasn't honest, she really was just about the best looking thing he'd ever seen in a dress. Right now though, she wasn't wearing a dress. Far from it, and he was having a heck of a hard time not staring.

He swallowed thickly. "I thought I told you to call me Snow, Serah."

But he still couldn't quite get his eyes up to meet her gaze, even though every bit of him that had been raised right and decent was telling him to do the polite thing. It wasn't his fault though, not when she came out looking like that. He was just a man and well, she was one hell of a woman.

Instead of a dress, Serah was wearing trousers and a blouse with a vest over it. The trousers were the fitted kind, hugging the long, slim line of her legs, and he couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't maybe just a bit criminal to hide legs like that under those skirts she always wore, even if they were fine skirts. His gaze trailed up and he flushed, because her blouse, even it wasn't exactly tight, it wasn't exactly loose either, and together with the vest she wore, it only seemed to bring out every feminine curve she had.

In all honesty, the clothes were pretty much normal, just the sort that would be suited to a day's hard work around the ranch or in the saddle, and it wasn't even the first time he'd seen women dressed like that. Lightning, for one, dressed a bit like that and while he'd have to be dead not to notice how pretty she was, no one had ever made him feel quite like Serah was making him feel now.

He must have been staring something awful, because Serah gave a nervous kind of laugh.

"It's not polite to stare at a lady, Snow." Serah's voice seemed a tad reproachful and Snow finally managed to drag his eyes up to meet hers. He thought she might be mad, but there was a pretty little blush across her cheeks, and if he wasn't mistaken, her eyes weren't exactly meeting his either. He shook right down to his boots. Had she been staring at him too?

"Do I… do I look bad, Snow?" she asked quietly.

Was she crazy? "No!" He blurted. A blush spread across his cheeks and he pulled his hat off his head and began to fiddle with it, not even noticing how badly he was mangling it. Odds were it would never fit on his head again. "I mean… uh… um… you look real fine, Serah." Right away, Snow wanted to kick himself. He'd never been much good with words. Serah looked better than fine.

"You think so?" The blush was still there across Serah's cheeks, but there was an uncertainty in her eyes that made him realise that she really didn't know how good she looked.

Snow squared his shoulders and nodded firmly. If she didn't know, he'd have to make it plain. "Yes. You look real good, Serah. Beautiful, even."

The smile he got in return was just about the greatest thing he'd ever seen in his life and Snow had to try real hard just to keep his mind working. He'd had other women smile at him. After all, he was a tall man and powerfully built, and most people seemed to find him pretty easy to get along with too. But none of those women, not even the ones who'd known just how to entice a man, had ever made him feel just plain good to be him, just plain happy to be Snow.

"Thank you, Snow." Serah smiled and turned to close and lock the door. "I'll… I'll just go round back and get Goldie and then we can be off."

Snow nodded, still a little awestruck. "I'll just wait out front here for you."

Just as she was rounding the back of the house to where he assumed the stables were, Serah called out over her shoulder, just loud enough for him to hear. "You know, Snow, I think you look real fine too. Handsome, even."

Snow, who had been climbing back onto his chocobo, fell right out of the saddle. The big mahogany coloured bird just let him fall and when he crashed to the ground with a thud, it pecked at the ground near his feet, clearly not too happy. He got back up as quickly as he could and looked up and down the street. Serah hadn't seen him fall and it didn't look like anyone else had noticed either. Smiling widely – she thought he was handsome! – he got back in the saddle, more carefully this time.

Serah came back riding on a gold coloured chocobo. It seemed to suit her, being all slim and little like she was, but the bird looked light on its feet, and from what he could tell, it was pretty tough too. He had a feeling that Lightning was responsible for that last bit. He waited for her to draw level with him, a little surprised at how easily she handled herself in the saddle.

"You ready?" he asked. Serah nodded. "Then, let's get going."

The ride over to his place would take about an hour if they kept an easy place, and if he was honest, he didn't much feel like rushing. He liked the feel of being in the saddle and having good company only made things better.

"How'd you learn to ride so well?" he asked as they cut across a grassy plain just outside of town. There were a couple of small creeks there too, and a couple of straggly looking bushes.

Serah laughed and patted her chocobo on the neck. The bird made a kind of happy chirping sound. "I grew up out here, remember? And don't forget, I had Lightning for a sister."

"That so?" Snow wondered if Lightning had always be so… well, scary. "I would have thought that Lightning wouldn't let you go out too much. She seems a mite… protective."

"A mite?" Serah actually laughed and the sound of it was like church bells. What he wouldn't give to hear that sound every day! "She's a bit more than a mite protective." Her sapphire eyes shone with mirth. "But I know she only does it because she loves me. She just wanted… just wanted to make sure that if anything ever happened to her, that I could look after myself."

It took Snow a second to work out what she meant, but really it should have been obvious. Lightning was a sheriff and out West, sheriffs didn't exactly have things cut out easy. Fact was, most of them ended up dead not retired. So it made sense to make sure that Serah could look after herself if anything ever happened to Lightning. But he hated how sad she had sounded talking about how something might happen to Lightning. If he had his way, he'd make sure that she was never sounded sad again. She deserved that.

Trying to lighten things up a little, Snow patted the gun at his side with a teasing grin. "So, Serah, tell me something. Can you shoot like your sister?"

Serah just grinned back at him and pulled something from a holster on the saddle. His eyes widened. It was a gun, not a big one, but still a gun. "I won't say I can shoot like her, Snow. I doubt anyone can. But I'm no slouch either, if I have to use one."

There was something about the way that Serah's small hands moved so certainly over the gun that made Snow's throat go dry. Swallowing thickly, he tried to get himself back together. "Maybe you can show me later, Serah."

When they reached the outskirts of Snow's plot of land, it was still only midmorning. Snow pulled up on a ridge overlooking everything and waited for Serah to draw rein beside him. It was a nice view, one that he'd found early, and he always took the time to enjoy if he had the chance. From up here he could see the river that cut right through his plot. It was like a big, shining blue serpent and all along it, the land was a lush, deep green. Near a bend in the river, right where the plot was flattest, was his place, or rather the place he shared with the others.

"What do you think?" Snow asked.

Serah's eyes were bright and the river was shining in them along with the lush green and Snow couldn't bring himself to look away. "It's lovely, Snow, all of it." She smiled and inclined her head at the house. "But wouldn't it be better if we took a closer look?"

Snow looked back at his place and nodded. "Fair enough, Serah."

It was a pretty short ride to the house from the ridge and as they went along, Snow pointed out all the things he and the others had done since they settled. They'd planted a few crops and gotten some fences knocked together to keep any animals out. Closer to the house, they'd put some more fences together and fenced in tight were some sheep and cattle.

"Oh, Snow, we have to come back and look at these more," Serah said as they rode past a small flock of sheep. The fluffy animals were just roaming about chewing on the grass and making a couple of curious noises. Not far off, the cattle were watching them through the fence, their heads moving to follow them as they rode past.

"Of course, Serah." Snow laughed. He should've expected that she might have a soft spot for animals. "But first, why don't I show you the house?"

Serah gave him another sunny smile but inwardly Snow was a little worried. He'd gotten the place tidied up as much as he could before going into town to pick her up, but knowing the others, there was no guarantee that it would stay that way, even if it was just for a few hours. Gadot might listen, but Yuj and Maqui were another matter.

They stopped in front of the house and as Serah dismounted, Snow was there to offer a hand.

"Help you off?" Snow asked.

Serah nodded. "Why thank you, Snow. You're quite the gentleman, aren't you?"

Snow grinned back. "I'd like to think so."

But just as she was about to get out of the saddle, Serah's foot caught in the stirrups and she fell. Or at least, she would've fallen if Snow hadn't reached out and caught her. For a moment, they were pressed right up against each other and Snow was struck again by how small she was compared to him, how delicate. It made him feel all protective and he almost had to force himself to gently lower her to the ground and set her away from him. It was a good thing he did too, because she smelled so nice and felt so good, that it would've been hard to let her go if he'd held her any longer.

"Uh… thank you, Snow." Serah was blushing something fierce and looking away and Snow was pretty sure he wasn't much different.

"No… um… it's fine." Snow fiddled with the saddle of his chocobo, looking it over much too closely.

"You're pretty bold, Snow, making a move on a lady like that."

Both of them jerked around to face the door of the house where a blue haired young man was standing.

Snow scowled. "Damn it, Yuj, don't go saying things like that."

"Language, Snow!" Serah snapped.

Snow flushed. He'd forgotten for a moment that Serah was a schoolteacher and like most schoolteachers, she didn't think too much of harsh language. "Uh… sorry about that."

"Heh. She's already got you whipped down to boy size, doesn't she, Snow?" Yuj taunted and Snow was already thinking about all the things he'd do to him once Serah had gone home.

But he needn't have worried. Serah squared up to Yuj, glaring at him pretty fiercely and narrowed her eyes. "You're not being very polite, young man. Snow's been nothing but a gentleman and you should be one too."

Snow almost laughed at the look on Yuj's face. When Serah was acting like that, it was pretty easy to see her as Lightning's sister. The others came out the front door and he chuckled and then glanced over at Serah. "How about I introduce you to everyone? These are my friends, Serah. The big one's Gadot, the blonde is Maqui." He looked over at Yuj and smirked. "And the rude one is Yuj."

Serah curtsied and Snow almost split his sides laughing as the others did their best to sketch a proper bow. "Nice to meet you all."

Snow looked over at Serah. "And this here, guys, this here is Serah Farron."

"Farron?" Gadot asked and Snow could see that his friend was trying to match the small, delicate look of Serah to the trim lethality that was Lightning and having trouble with it. "As in the sheriff?"

Serah smiled brightly. "Lightning is my sister."

For once, Snow was real glad about that. If nothing else it would make sure the others behaved themselves around Serah. "You hear that? If you fellows act up there'll be trouble, and not the kind I can get you out of either. It'll be sheriff who straightens you out, and believe me, it'll be a straightening out of the painful kind. Now, I'll just be showing Serah around our place a little so try and behave."

Both Yuj and Maqui went a little pale at the mention of Lightning – her reputation alone was all kinds of scary – but they both looked like they still wanted to say something, probably something troublesome. Gadot must have noticed that too, because he plucked both of them up by the scruffs of their shirts as easy as could be and carried them back inside.

"They'll behave just fine," Gadot said to Serah. "Besides, it'd be nice to have a visitor for once. Come on in."

Snow looked over at Serah. There was a taken aback look on her face as she watched Gadot carry off the two younger men, their legs actually kicking helplessly in the air. He was about to apologise, but then she gave another tinkling laugh and smiled at him.

"They're quite… energetic aren't they?"

Snow winced and rubbed the back of his head with one hand. "That's a pretty kind way of putting it." He frowned slightly. "I'm real sorry if they were rude to you or anything…"

Serah just shook her head, her lips still curved into a playful smile. "It's okay. Besides… I was just thinking about how familiar it was."

"Familiar?" Snow was interested now. Serah didn't seem like the type to hang around trouble, but then again, she was there with him.

Serah flushed. "Actually… when I was little, well, I was a bit troublesome. Lightning was always pulling me out of trouble." She giggled. "She used to get into fights sometimes to protect me."

"Well, imagine that, a schoolteacher like you getting into trouble at school." Snow grinned at the embarrassed look on Serah's face. She really was all cute like that. "Now, how about I take you inside and show you around a bit."

X X X

Serah had to hold back a laugh as she took in the inside of the house. It was just so different from the house she shared with Lightning. Serah was a pretty neat person and Lightning was even neater. In fact, her sister tended to get a little cranky if even a couple of things weren't put where they were supposed to be. Some of that though, was probably because she was a sheriff. If there were trouble, it would be any good at all to have to waste time looking for something important. It also wasn't a good idea to have guns and knives and the like just lying around either.

But the inside of Snow's house was different. It was pretty clear that a bunch of men who'd lived most of their lives on the road owned the place. It wasn't that it was dirty. No, it was decent enough, but it wasn't organised too well. There was a sitting room with a couple of tables in it and a bookshelf, but the books were everywhere but the bookshelf and there were several neatly stacked piles of clothes there too. Next to the sitting room was the dining room and this time she couldn't hold back her laugh as she saw that there were still dishes on the table along with what looked to be the left over's from breakfast.

The kitchen was next. It was surprisingly big and well equipped, but from the looks of things, it hadn't been touched in a while, which made her wonder who'd picked everything out. There was a pantry too, which also had a pretty big selection of things, even though it was a little small. The only other places were the bedrooms, which were upstairs, but she was glad Snow didn't show her those. She probably wouldn't stop blushing for a week if he took her up to his bedroom.

As they went around the house, she noticed that the others were all staring at her. The big one, Gadot, was pretty subtle about it, but the two younger ones were looking at her like they'd never seen a woman before. Or maybe, she thought hopefully, it was because Snow had never brought a woman home before.

"So, how'd you all meet?" Serah asked as they sat around the dining table with some coffee set out. It was brewed just how she liked it, strong and with a fair bit of sugar. "I hope you don't mind my asking, but, well, you don't all look like brothers." She winced a little at how blunt her question was, but she really was quite curious.

There was silence for a moment and Serah worried that she might have overstepped her bounds, but then Snow got a sort of funny offended look on his face like she'd just insulted him and then he turned to stare at Yuj and Maqui. "Brothers? Well, I wouldn't mind being brothers with Gadot, but these two?" He smiled brightly. "Yeah, you're right. We're not brothers, at least not by blood. We kind of just met up on the road and well, yeah, we've stuck together ever since."

Gadot nodded and took a long swig of his coffee. There was a bottle of whiskey next to him that wasn't quite full and she wondered if maybe he'd added some to his coffee. It certainly wouldn't be the strangest thing she'd ever seen added to coffee. "You see, years back, Snow was working a job out at one of those cushy ranches back east a bit. Those fellows don't really run ranches to turn a profit. No, they do it more because they can and because they like to think of themselves as being tough. So, anyway, I was working on the same ranch and when the job was done we got to talking and it turned out we were both headed back West the same way." He chuckled. "After that, we ended up taking a couple more jobs at the same places and since we seemed to make a pretty decent team, we just figured we'd just stick together."

Sereah smiled. That made sense. Friends could be pretty hard to make out West, so you stuck close to the ones you did make. "How about Yuj and Maqui?"

"Well," Maqui said with a grin. "We saved these two when they got into trouble."

Yuj nodded. "Yep. These two were just about to get eaten by –"

Snow laughed and cut them off. He grinned and Serah felt her heart skip a beat. "Fact is, we ran into those two on another job. They were working the ranches too, but some of the older folks didn't take to them too kindly so we decided to step in, set things right. A man's got a right to make a decent living without other judging too harshly." He chuckled. "They do come handy sometimes though."

"Oh, come on, Snow, let us have some fun," Maqui whined.

Snow shook his head. "It's one thing to tell tall tales around a campfire, but Serah here's a guest and she deserves the truth. Besides, how'd you think I'd look if I let you lead her wrong?" He glanced over to Serah. "So now you've had a look around the house, how about we head outside again?"

Serah smiled. It was nice talking to the others and they did seem like good folk, but it was Snow she'd come her to visit. "I'd like that."

X X X

Snow led Serah back outside the house and they took a quick ride back up to where the sheep and cattle were. It was a strange thing, Snow thought, to watch Serah moving about with the animals, but she did seem to have a good hand for it. The sheep came right up to her like they'd known her for years and they didn't seem to mind one bit when she ran her finger through their wool or patted them on the head. It was a far cry from how the sheep had treated him and the others the first time. They'd barely managed to get out of the pen alive after the sheep went on a bit of a stampede and it had taken Snow almost a week to get rid of the bruises.

"They seem really nice," Serah said as she patted another sheep on the head. "Your family, I mean."

"My family?" It was a little odd to say it out loud, but now that Snow thought about, that's what they really were. Gadot was like a reliable brother about his own age, maybe a tad older, and Yuj and Maqui were the younger brothers with a nose for trouble. Lebreau, of course, was the bossy older sister that kept the lot of them in line. "I guess you could call them that. And you're right, they are pretty nice, even if they are a little strange sometimes."

Serah laughed a little. She knew just what it was like to have an interesting family. When she'd been younger, she'd had more than one suitor just turn tail and run under sister's glare, to say nothing of what happened when her sister pulled a gun. Snow was actually the first man in a while who'd been man enough to hold his ground against her sister, and that alone told her that he was cut of some pretty stern stuff, even if most of the time he was too easy going for it to show.

"Well," Serah said. "I think all families are probably a little bit strange."

Snow nodded and pulled his hand back as one of the sheep made to bite him. "That I can agree with."

Serah soothed the angry sheep with one hand and then hopped up to sit on the fence of the pen. Even so, she still wasn't able to look Snow in the eyes without tilting her head back a fair bit. "So, tell me Snow, what are you planning to do with this place here?"

Snow grinned. The future was something he was always thinking about, something he'd been working toward and dreaming of for almost as long as he could remember. All those years working for another man, tending another man's land, all of it was so that one day he could have his own place with the people he thought of as family. "I was thinking that I'd get the farm set up. We've got wheat planted now, and some fruits and vegetables too. We've got sheep and cattle, as well, and we're hoping to get a barn set up and some more sheds. If things go right, we won't just be selling cattle for meat, we'll have some dairy cattle too." He glanced back up at the house. "If things go well, I'd also like to get the house done up a bit better. You know, get it done with bricks and stone and with some proper glass windows and everything."

Serah looked over at him and Snow suddenly found it hard to look away. There was a thoughtful look in her eyes, a cool one too, not cold, just considering and quiet and wondering. At the same time, she put her hands on the fence to steady herself and began to kick her legs up and down. It was a strangely playful gesture and a bit at odds with the look in her eyes. "You've really been thinking about this a lot, haven't you?"

Snow nodded. "It was all I could think about during the hard years."

Still holding his gaze, Serah's voice dropped to little more than a whisper. "You ever think about maybe sharing that future with somebody?"

"I don't know." There was blush on Serah's face and he could feel one spreading across his own, but he just couldn't seem to look away. "I guess it depends on whether or not I can find someone I think it's worth sharing with."

Serah was the first to break their shared gaze and she looked past him, out to where the plains gave way to some rough hills. "What was it like on the trail, Snow? I've never really been on the trail and while Lightning's got all kinds of stories, I know there are a fair few she'll never tell me, even if it is for my own good."

Snow shuddered a little. He could easily imagine the sort of stuff that Lightning was keeping from Serah. "Well… it was pretty tough, Serah, I won't sugar coat that. But it was good too. Every night, I'd go to sleep some place new and, every morning, I'd wake up knowing that I was headed some place different. And it wasn't like I was on my own. Or, well maybe, I was at the start, but after I met the others, it wasn't so bad. It was good, actually, real good."

She nodded and closed her eyes. "Keep talking, Snow. Tell me what the sky looked like out there, out where there's nobody else but you and the others hitting the trail."

It would have been so easy to just stand there and stare, she looked so damn perfect there, perched on the fence, eyes closed, head tilted back a fraction to catch the breeze. It felt right too, just shooting the breeze with her. He wanted her to understand him, wanted her to know everything there was about him. "Way out West, the sky is clear, real clear, so clear that sometimes you can't help but think that you can see all the way out to forever." He felt his own eyes drift shut as he dragged up the memories. "And at night, when you're all done working for the day, you can look up and see the stars…"

They spent most of the day out there by the fence, just talking things through. He told her all about his life on the trail and she told him about life her life growing up in Bodhum and about the time she'd spent over in Eden City studying. He'd found that last bit real interesting. He'd never been to one of the big cities and the thought of all those people in one place and all those machines and all the smoke and hustle and bustle made him feel a little sick. The wide open West was where he wanted to spend his days.

It was midafternoon by the time they decided to head back in. Both of them were getting plenty hungry and so a meal was in order. Problem was, he didn't exactly have much in the way of good food in the house. Sure they had plenty of ingredients and while he and the others could cook well enough to keep themselves alive, Lebreau was easily the best cook out of the lot of them and right now she was down at her saloon.

"Sorry, I'll get something together, but I'm afraid we haven't got anything on hand that's too good," Snow said as he sat Serah down at the dining table.

Serah smiled. "Well, you had plenty of things in the pantry. How about I cook you something? Unless you'd think it was rude."

"Rude?" Yuj said, eyes wide with shock. "That wouldn't be rude at all. That'd be just great!"

Snow glared at Yuj. "Serah's a guest here. It wouldn't be right to ask her to cook anything."

But Serah just waved him off. "It'd be fine. Besides, I'm hungry and you'd all be helping too." She looked at Yuj and Snow saw some of that steel he'd come to associated with Lightning bleed through. "You will all be helping, right?"

And with that, Serah got started in the kitchen. It was quite the sight to see, the little woman ordering the whole lot of them around, using the very same voice she used in the classroom with the kids she taught. In no time at all, really, she had the whole lot of them dancing to her tune and the kitchen was all busy as they got the vegetables cut up, the meat prepared, and the soup on the boil. In the middle of it all, Snow did his best not to stare. Serah just looked so right there with the rest of his family, yelling at Yuj and Maqui to keep up, and chatting with Gadot.

"You better hold onto thise one," Gadot whispered as he stood next to Snow at the kitchen counter. He was cutting apples, most likely for an apple pie. "I don't think you'll ever do better."

Snow smiled and nodded. In front of him Maqui was now cowering in front of Serah as she waved a spatula around explaining that he was supposed to peel the potatoes before putting them into the water. "I know. But she deserves better than me."

Gadot chuckled. "Maybe she does, but maybe she'll settle."

"I sure hope so." Snow grinned. "I sure hope so."

"Well, you two did talk the day away," Gadot said. "That's got to be a good sign, right?"

Snow smiled so widely that he was sure that he looked downright silly. "We did talk a lot." It was strange how good the day had been when all he'd really done was just talk.

Soon enough, the food was ready and set out on the table. As they all took their places at the table, Snow took a moment to just stop and stare. Serah had managed to whip up the most delicious looking meal he'd ever seen. There was even a deep dish apple pie there, and it smelled so good that Snow was mighty tempted to just grab the thing and run.

"Dinner is served," Serah said. "Now let's get started."

As they all got stuck into the food, Snow was pretty glad that everyone seemed to be using their best manners. The last thing he wanted Serah to see was four grown men throwing food into their mouths like they hadn't ever eaten a decent meal before.

"So, Serah, where is your sister today?" Snow asked. It had been bugging him a little, and he'd half expected Lightning to be there at the door with a gun in hand when he'd gone to pick up Serah.

Serah smiled. "Oh, she's meeting with a marshal she asked to come out here from back east. A lady by the name of Quistis, I think."

"That so?" Snow mused. Well, that explained things. "I really hope you didn't mind cooking for us today although I have to say, your cooking is top notch and then some, Serah."

Serah reached out slowly to pat his hand. He almost flinched at the contact. "I enjoyed cooking for you, Snow, and today was… it was really good." Her eyes glittered. "Maybe we could do it again some time."

Snow was about to reply when the front door slammed open. As the men jolted to their feet, Lebreau stomped in. She looked mad all the way down to her boots and her shirt looked a little worse for wear.

"What happened?" Snow asked.

Lebreau growled. "One of the drunks got a little grabby. I put him down just fine, but I need a new shirt before the evening rush, not to mention I need to pick up some things from the pantry." She stopped and stared at the food on the table. "Where'd all this food come from? None of you can cook this well." Her gaze shifted from four guilty faces to Serah. "Don't tell me you had Serah here cook for you?"

Snow was suddenly feeling mighty nervous. "She offered…"

"Really?" The look in Lebreau's eyes was plenty cold and all sorts of scary. "How about you explain to me exactly how a guest of ours came to be cooking for us." She grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and practically dragged him into the sitting room.

"Is he going to be okay?" Serah asked as the door to the sitting room shut with a bang.

Gadot reached for the apple pie and cut himself a good sized slice. It smelled just fine and he was sure it would taste even better. "Lebreau won't kill him, if that's what's got your worried. Besides, if he gets all roughed up, you can just nurse him back to health, right?"

Serah couldn't help but blush at the thought of nursing Snow back to health even as the yelling started. Lebreau, it seemed, was just as good at tongue-lashing as she was at serving drinks. Serah giggled as a thought came to mind. Maybe she should introduce Lebreau to Lightning?

X X X

Author's Notes

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

Well, I thought it'd be nice to have another Snow and Serah chapter, especially since Valentine's Day wasn't too long ago. In any case, I like to try and keep things varied a little between the humorous, the serious, and the romantic (and all the stuff in between). If nothing else, it helps keep me sharp writing-wise. I also wanted to see if I could put together a longer chapter centred around Snow and Serah. Finally, I thought it would be a good idea to introduce the rest of NORA.

On another note, a belated happy Valentine's Day to everyone – single or not, I hope you all had fun. Love is a lot like a rollercoaster. There are twists and turns, mind-numbing terror, and a hell of a lot of screaming. It also happens to be a lot of fun.

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