A/N: In the Paying it Forward universe, Sice has her first Thanksgiving with the Yun-Farron family after the latter takes her in, honouring the wishes of Sice's late parents. Romantic pairing here is Fangrai, length of this is short, plus lack of dialogue is intentional.

A Day of Surprises

Seven gives the newest housemate in the Yun-Farron household a friendly hug for comfort on the morning of Thanksgiving Day, knowing that it's been eight months since Sice's biological parents died the way they did - and two weeks less than that since Fang and Lightning took her in without hesitation, as the married couple recalled that Sice's parents, in their will, wanted the Fangrai pair to adopt their daughter should anything happen to them. Sice's birth parents, Samus and Phoenix, were very fond of Seven, and how the Fangrai pair raised the silver haired girl and her younger brother, Lasswell. The deaths of both Phoenix and Samus Aran have been tough on everyone who knew them, with those closes to them wanting to give the Fangrai pair some privacy for Thanksgiving - to be more accurate here, Turkey Day according to both Fang and Sice. Lightning personally made a vow to the older Aran couple that she will love and protect Sice as if she was one of her and Fang's own children. For Sice, one of the biggest perks to having her own space within the Yun-Farron household - a pseudo home that was done to perfection by that oaf Snow Villiers, is that she is the one who's the closest to the beloved horses Odin and Kain. In fact, when it came to said horses, Sice gave both Seven and Fang competition on who the horses love the most.

The two teenagers continue to hang out in Seven's room either comforting each other or watching TV, which is similar to Lightning's room from the latter's younger years and before one Oerba Yun Fang showed up - spartan, lack of decoration. To Sice, this was okay, as the photos of those who meant a damn to Seven are all present and that's what mattered the most. Oddly enough, Sice was taken aback by Seven's choice of pajamas: thin spaghetti strap tank top in lavender plus pajama trousers patterned in cats and horses, all the while the white-haired teen was in women's boxers and a t-shirt that's a few sizes too big. Usually, Seven would be helping Fang and Lightning with the Turkey Day feast (Seven, in the last few years, agreed with Fang on calling Thanksgiving Turkey Day) but due to the recent events tied to Sice's late parents, Seven opted to make sure that Sice was okay, which the white-haired teen's overall well-being was more important to the Fangrai pair than anything else. To make up for it, Lasswell decided to help out with the meal, which completely was by choice from the youngest Yun-Farron family member. It was the smells of the amazing food - enough to feed a family of five for a few days - that played a huge role in Sice being more at peace with the recent times.

XXX

It was a few hours later - the two teens had a plethora of healthy snacks to consume while waiting for the main meal to be done - that they made their presence known to both the Fangrai couple and Lasswell. Seven couldn't stop smiling upon finding out that the horses were fed and the two cats, Bahamut and Y'shtola, were given their grain free wet cat food just minutes before. The two teens had to do everything they could to not drool at the sight of the food presented to them, for the smell to be that good to match the presentation of the food shown before them. In a twist of events shortly after, Fang showed Seven how to properly and safely carve the turkey, knowing that Lasswell will get his chance to learn how in a few years. Sice couldn't stop smiling to see her mate/friend Seven finally get her chance to carve that turkey at last, one of the many surprises to come today. Seven's gracefulness and care with carving the turkey, which is all Seven by choice, that wowed everyone else in the Yun-Farron household that day. Lasswell, not to be outdone, helped Seven with making a plate for every human so that they can all have a peaceful Turkey Day. The next surprise was the cats eating their extra wet food in peace, while Odin and Kain being observant of their humans eating their food in peace.

After the Yun-Farron family, plus Sice, were done with the Turkey Day meal (a resounding success according to the entire family) and cleaned everything up, Sice and Seven were treated to a horseback ride with the beloved horses. Seven was on Odin while Sice rode on Kain. The two horses were gentle and patient as Sice never rode a horse before, and Kain was afraid of hurting her, which Odin and Seven appreciated. Once the horseback ride was done, Sice and Seven surprised everyone by giving Kain a gentle kiss on his snout, making the horse feel so giddy inside. Odin got a kiss on his snout too - Seven personally made sure of that. The family had a second plate of food for dinner, before setting aside some plates for the leftovers to cover them for the next few days, which was something that Lightning remembered Phoenix and Samus did when they were alive and had Turkey Day with Sice - Lightning was the last one to call Thanksgiving Turkey Day - so in a way, Lightning was continuing the Aran family tradition. "Thank you for allowing us to care for Sice, Phoenix and Samus... you are forever missed by us all..." Lightning would quietly say in her prayer to Etro before joining Fang in bed, in eternal gratitude of their trust to care for Sice like this.

Today was a day of pleasant surprises.

FIN

A/N #2: Next story is the Christmas follow up to this one in the Paying it Forward universe, with more people to surprise Sice.