A/N: In the Paying it Forward universe, the Valentine's Day party at Guardian Corps becomes a family affair for a not so surprising reason. Pairing focus is on Fangrai and a side focus of Celes/Locke. Lack of dialogue is on purpose.

A Family Affair, Take One

Lightning and Fang look at each other in disbelief, realising that they don't have a babysitter to watch their two kids, Seven and Lasswell for the annual Valentine's Day event with the Guardian Corps. For the past few hours, the Fangrai couple have been trying to make arrangements for a babysitter for their kids, knowing that everyone else they know won't be able to help them, with some of them being in attendance at the event. Granted, there weren't any rules about couples bringing their kids to the event, which is one that Fang and Lightning have been avoiding for an unknown amount of time because of varying reasons, but this is their first time going as a married couple who are also parents. Five minutes pass before Lightning gets a text message from Celes, which simply read 'Bring the kiddos', which said text message gave both Lightning and Fang the okay to bring their kids to the event, as it looks like Celes and Locke brought their kids to the annual event as well. Surprisingly enough, the text message from Celes put one massive smile on Fang's face as Seven has been wanting to experience one of these events, with the silver haired girl knew that Valentine's Day was one for those who have love in their hearts, something that Seven clearly has: love in her heart. Lasswell was interested in going to the event as well, but only because of his older sister.

Lady Luck was in their favour when Fang got a text message from Amodar that the pets are welcome to the event (it made Lasswell's day upon hearing that Amodar wanted to meet the cats and horses). Regarding the transport to get to and from the event, the married couple took the SUV that can hold the wagon that can hold both Odin and Kain so that almost everyone is in the SUV (Lightning rode her velocycle to the event solo, as a guide for Fang and the others). One interesting drive to the event later, everyone, humans, cats & horses, all made it to the event in one piece. What made this both endearing and hilarious was how Odin refusing to leave Seven's side once everyone made it to the actual venue, and people would say the same thing about Bahamut and Lasswell. To no one's surprise, however, the pets and kids were well behaved around every person they crossed paths with. My parents would be so proud of me for two well behaved kids, cats & horses at a GC event today...I miss them both so damn much to this day... Lightning mused to herself in a rare moment of pride, knowing that this was the case with Lightning and Serah when they were kids and they had to attend events with their parents. It was that muse that Fang caught quicker than the speed of Lightning's namesake, that prompted the others to give Lightning some form of comfort.

Bringing everyone to the event would turn out to be the best thing the couple would do.

XXX

Celes, upon seeing every last being of the Yun-Farron family, gave both Bahamut and Y'shtola kisses in between their feline ears, their absolute favourite spots to get kisses by any human, along with gentle scratches in the same spot (in between their feline ears). Locke giving the horses some attention, along with sneaking them some carrots and apples, made Odin and Kain's day (even though Seven fed the horses said food earlier that day). Thanks for the tip, Seven. You got me in their good graces at long last... Locke proudly mused to himself, noting that this moment took him a bit longer than the rest to get Odin and Kain to like him, despite the fact that both Odin and Kain have been with the Yun-Family for less than a year. What made this better for Locke was that Odin gave him the same type of loving and attention that he regularly gives his favourite human, which is Seven. Speaking of the silver haired girl, she and her younger brother both ran to Celes with a small gift they teamed up to buy with their allowance money they saved up to get for her. It was Celes' gentle smile of appreciation that made their day, Lasswell's more so, since the idea of the gift was his. It was a while later that Celes made her presence known to the horses and it was Kain who found a way to make Locke jealous, which had the kids releasing a proper giggle fit within a few minutes of seeing what happened.

The event itself was such a grand affair that welcomed children and varying animals, as some of the attendees brought interesting creatures as their pets, which all were on their best behaviour and treated each other with love, kindness and respect. Behemoths were present at the event, for Etro's sake, and were extremely kind and loving to not only the horses but also the other humans. They even gave Seven the same type of loving Odin the horse gives her, as the kisses Seven got were full of love and gentleness! One of the other animals at the event were the backs for both Bahamut and Y'shtola (it can be argued that they sense the scents of the humans in the Yun-Farron family, who treats all beings the same way). As for Fang and Lightning, they were mingling with the other humans at the event at multiple times throughout the event, which had more than enough chocolate for people to consume, and pet friendly food for the pets to consume. In the past Valentine's Day events, no person was up for a promotion at the GC. It was at this particular event this time around it was announced that at least 20 people are up for a promotion, with a few of them being in attendance at this event. Fang, Locke, Celes and Lightning were not putting any thought into this, although there was talk within the GC that at least Lightning was up for a promotion to where she is at the same level of power as Amodar.

Surely enough, the dancing part of the event would see the following happen: Celes and Fang having a dance as buddies (Locke and Lightning would follow suit, which came complete with some friendly trash talk about varying sports either person had heard about in recent days), every animal seeing Seven as their human queen, with Lasswell as their human prince, followed by a buddy dance with Locke and Fang plus Celes and Lightning - Hope and Vanille were out of the country with the Villiers family - with laughter and smiles being shared by every last attendee at the event. With the love in the hearts of all, knowing the true meaning of Valentine's Day, this was one event that everyone had a great time at, a first for Fang and Lightning after so many years, especially the instance of Jihl and Rachel. Oddly enough, no one asked about either Jihl or Rachel, but that was okay for everyone, knowing what the mentioning of either name would do to Lightning today. One could thank both Etro and Lady Luck for this get together being one that all would enjoy for years to come, as the revelation of those slated to get a promotion confirmed that Lightning's promotion would see her as Amodar's equal, with both Celes and Hope also getting promotions at the GC, which should make things easier for everyone related to them for a while to come.

Everyone left the event with a smile.

XXX

Upon their return home from the event, and after Kain, Odin, Bahamut and Y'shtola were safely in their respective spots as well as the two kids tucked in their bed, Fang and Lightning, surprisingly enough to all, had a love making session that was very them but it didn't wake anyone up from it. Their genuine 'I love you' exchanges made this their best Valentine's Day as a couple yet. Lightning finally getting that promotion was the icing on the cake.

This was a real family affair that would continue for years to come, even when Seven marries a special someone she goes to school with now, until Lightning retires from the GC and they would then move to Oerba on Gran Pulse proper.

Lightning and Fang are forever grateful.

FIN

A/N #2: Next story is in the Second Time Around, and will be a St. Patrick's Day event at the Guardian Corps, with the event becoming a family affair!