[Fanfic] To Learn Something New (ch 19)

Title: To Learn Something New

Author: Vianna Orchidia / Annasthacy Chashyme
Fandom: Final Fantasy XIII Series
Character: Lightning Farron, Hope Estheim, Serah Farron
Rating: K+
Genre: General
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XIII is property of Square Enix. I do not own the series and the characters, and I do not gain any profit from this fanfiction

Warning: AU glorious AU. See more A/N below.

brother /bro·ther/ n a boy or man who has one or both of the same parents as you

“Claire, Serah, this is Hope. He's going to live with us from now on, so be good okay?”

It was Sunday, a chilly winter morning with just enough foreshadows of oncoming snowfall. Young Claire Farron stared minutely at the little boy, marveling at his pretty platinum hair and timid eyes. He seemed scared—hiding half of his face in a green scarf and standing a little behind her mother's legs. The fifteen-years-old girl wondered if her hard gaze and straight lips made him even more scared, since she'd heard enough of boys getting terrified simply at her presence. Well, she felt bad for this Hope. Hopefully Serah, the more cheerful of the two sisters, would be able to make him feel welcomed.

Just as Claire had predicted, Serah quickly took matters into hands, quite literally, as she grabbed the boy's hand and shook it vigorously. “Hello, Hope! I'm Serah, and this is my sister Claire. Welcome to the family!” she chimed. Her bright smile dimmed a little when she continued, “I'm very sorry to hear about your parents... But I hope you'll find happiness in this family too.”

Sure, Claire and Serah had heard about their new brother-to-be before. Their parents had made them sit together on the couch, talking and delivering the news as softly as they could, and asked them if they minded having another sibling in the house. Hope Estheim's parents were killed in an unfortunate plane crash and apparently the Farrons were his only distant, very distant relative so they had decided to take care of the poor child. It went without saying that the sisters agreed immediately.

About two days after they voiced their consent, the Farron parents brought home a series of documents necessary for taking the rights to be Hope's guardian. They said the boy insisted on keeping his family name, so they were just going to take care of him rather than adopting him. Mr Farron showed his girls the photograph of said boy, which Claire and Serah took eagerly. Serah squealed at how cute he was and Claire smiled at the pure, crystal-clear green eyes. Both of them already felt a fondness over the seven-years-old at that moment.

After spending a month in the Farron household, as the youngest member of the family, Hope found himself getting pampered and almost spoiled on a daily basis. Mr and Mrs Farron were generally a little too nice and caring to their children while Serah had obviously taken an extreme liking to the boy.

Only Claire didn't show any special attention to him. She yelled at him for leaving dirty laundry on the floor and scolded him severely for skipping meals. She never smiled much. Truthfully, she scared Hope out of his wits. But as time went on, Hope finally understood that Claire was never a cold person.

When one day Hope got home with a bad test result in hands, Serah hugged him and told him to never mind he could try again at the next test. Claire glanced at his test, then turned back to him and said in a hard voice, “ I know you can do better than this.” That was all she said, but it gave him strength more than Serah's consoling hugs. She said it not in a reprimanding voice, but a strong, faithful sentence that instantly made Hope believed that yes, he could do better because it had been in him all along.

He became the best in all of his classes after that. The proud smile Claire gave him was more than enough reward.

Just like this the happy family spent their everyday. Sometimes they went on a trip to Eden to see the capital or to Palumpolum where Hope's parents were buried. Claire graduated from high-school and entered the Guardian Corps at seventeen, leaving the house for extensive military training. The Farrons let her go with great reluctance. Hope waved her goodbye with a big smile, shouting, “I know you can do better!”

Four years later, fourteen-years-old Hope found a rose-haired woman in military suit standing in the living room, looking relaxed as she inspected the rows of photographs one by one. “Claire?” he called out, a little disbelief tainting his tone. Ever since joining the military, Claire's visit to home was few and far in between, and she had always called in advance. Coming home in surprise like this was new.

The woman turned around, a small smile on her face, and crossed her arms. “Hope. I see you won another science competition.” So she must have noticed the new trophy. Hope couldn't stop the blush rising to his cheeks. Somehow this Claire felt different to him. She's still the same face, the same voice, the same smile—but all of a sudden she was a woman. Not the person who used to be his almost-sister. It may be the teenage hormones, but for the first time in seven years, Hope found this Claire very attractive. It didn't help that her uniform consisted of a sleeveless coat and a mini-skirt which showed a lot of skin, much to Hope's chagrin.

“Sis? Is that you?”

A new voice came as the only warning before another young woman threw herself on Claire. Serah, now a university student, hugged her older sister tightly with a laugh. “Oh Claire, look at you! You're a sergeant now, aren't you? You're so amazing!” Serah said after releasing Claire from her death hug.

“I missed you too, Serah.”

At that remark, Serah and Hope laughed in unison.

“Too bad Mom and Dad won't be home until tomorrow. But oh well. Come on, you two. We need to have a looong chat and I'm not doing it without cakes.” The younger sister pulled her siblings by the arms into the kitchen. “We're lucky I just baked one yesterday. I think we still have some leftover. Hope, take out the plates and forks, please?”

“Sure, Serah.”

“And Sis, you sit down on that chair and start talking.”

Claire widened her eyes. “What? Why? What am I supposed to talk about?” Hope was sure she had a pout on her face.

“I don't know, maybe about your missions, your everyday job at the Corps... Anything we might've missed since your last visit, which was a year-and-half ago, if you forget.”

Now Claire was rolling her eyes and Hope was chuckling. It was going to be a long chat indeed.

Later that night, once again Hope found the oldest Farron looking at the pictures in the living room. He quietly watched from behind, his eyes unconsciously trailed the curves of her body as he did so, though he quickly reprimanded himself for such a vulgar action.

“I've missed so much,” Claire spoke suddenly, clearly aware of his presence. Hope almost stuttered an apology until he held himself together, telling himself that she didn't need to know he was checking her out. “Serah's graduation, your victory at that competition, Mom and Dad's anniversary...”

“Everything comes at a price.” Hope approached her, not very close but apparently still close enough to take in the scent of her soap. He steeled his mind. “But with it comes great rewards too. Right?”

She nodded. Even this boy had grown so much, she thought fondly.

“Um, Claire?” He smiled nervously. “You... I see you still keep that necklace.”

Both of them watched intently as she raised the lightning bolt pendant from her cleavage. It had been a birthday present from Hope, a very particular shape that was chosen because she had told him about her nickname in the military: 'Lightning'. She always wore it even in her sleep. It reminded her of home.

“It's a charm, I guess.” Claire tilted her head a little, eyes closed. “I didn't tell you and Serah, but... there were harder missions, darker times in the Guardian Corps. During those times, if I had this necklace I would remember home. I would remember you.”

With her eyes closed, she could not see the furious blush and agape mouth that was Hope. “M-me...?”

She smiled. “Yeah, you. I would remember hope.”

Right at that moment, Hope knew he was doomed by this rose-haired woman, an almost-sister suddenly turned into crush.

A/N:

I should have stopped at "The proud smile Claire gave him was more than enough reward" but ha I'm not satisfied when there's not enough non-platonic love between them.