Sisters Will Be Sisters

Sisters Will Be Sisters

Lightning and Serah

Lightning drew her bow taut and squinted at her target. It was a circular piece of wood about a hundred yards away with a series of concentric circles painted on the front. It shouldn’t be that hard to hit. If she were using her gun blade, she wouldn’t even have to think about it. A flick of her wrist, a brief narrowing of her eyes, and the target would have sprouted a bullet hole right in the centre.

But she wasn’t using her gun blade.

Aim.

Breathe.

Release.

Thud.

“Wow.” Serah grinned and tilted her head to one side. “You did a lot better with this shot – you actually hit the target.”

For what felt like the hundredth time since they’d started their little archery competition, Lightning fought the urge to reach over and strangle the amused smirk right off her sister’s face. Only two things stopped her: the fact that she loved Serah and the fact that she only had herself to blame.

They had been discussing weapons over coffee. Serah might be a schoolteacher now, but she refused to let her skills fade in case they were needed again. Lightning might have mentioned that guns were the best projectile weapons and in comparison, bows weren’t all that difficult to use. She might also have made the mistake of saying how easily she could learn how to use a bow if she really wanted to.

Serah was Lightning’s sister, and the younger woman was nothing if not proud of her hard won skills with the bow. Lightning could have apologised, but what did she have to apologise for? Guns were better than bows, and she was certain that she could learn how to use a bow quite quickly if she had to. After all, she was already an expert marksman with a gun, and weapon usage had always come easily to her. How hard could it be?

The answer was simple. It was very, very hard.

And Serah’s reaction was equally simple. She was very, very amused.

After a brief introduction to archery from Serah, Lightning had taken her first shot at one of the distant targets. If Serah could do it, she could do it too. Only she couldn’t. Her first arrow had missed by yards, and her most recent – and best – attempt had barely managed to hit the edge of the target.

“You don’t have to be so smug.” Lightning scowled.

“Maybe.” Serah grinned – smugly – and glanced quickly at the target before peeling off a quick shot as something close to an afterthought. To Lightning’s utter consternation, the arrow thudded into the exact centre of the target. “But remember when you took me to the shooting range to learn how to use a gun?”

Lightning nodded.

“Who was the one being smug then?”

Lightning had to force the word out. “Me.”

“Right. And remember when we first started sword practice? Who was the one being smug about being so good with a sword?”

Lightning’s face twitched. “Me.”

“Yes.” Serah grinned and didn’t even both to look at the target before she fired another arrow that split her first right down the middle. “So you’ll forgive me, won’t you, if I’m a little smug right now.”

“I was trying to help you get better.”

Serah raised one eyebrow.

“Fine. I might have been showing off a little bit.” Lightning scowled. “So I guess it’s only fair you get to show off too.”

Serah smiled sunnily and sent a third arrow toward the target. Lightning didn’t even bother to look. The sound it made as it split her first and second arrows was enough. Her little sister was a monster, a certified monster with a bow.

“I’m glad you understand. Besides, who knows? Maybe one day your gun blade will break or run out of ammunition. If that happens, you might have to use a bow and arrow.” Serah giggled. “And if you practice really hard, maybe you’ll get good enough to surprise Fang the next time you two decide to have one of your idiotic competitions.”

Now that was an idea worth considering. Lightning would bet every gil she had that Fang was pretty good with a bow. She would also bet every gil she had that Fang knew how bad she was with a bow. If she could practice in secret with Serah, then the next time they decided to compete…

“They aren’t stupid competitions,” Lightning huffed. “They are well-established methods of determining superiority.”

“They’re still stupid and they’re still competitions.” Serah flashed Lightning a teasing grin. Eyes closed, she tossed an arrow into the air, caught it, and sank it into the centre of the target.

“Now, you’re just being insulting.” Lightning rolled her eyes. “Out of interest, how much farther can you shoot and still be accurate.”

Serah smirked. “See those targets over there?”

Lightning frowned. The closest of the targets that Serah had pointed at was three hundred yards away. “Yes.”

“Watch.”

Serah took seven shots, seven shots at increasingly distant targets. Even the closest target should have been an impossible shot with a bow an arrow.

Seven bull’s eyes.

The scowl of Lightning’s face deepened as Serah all but danced a merry jig around her.

“Not bad, right? Now, how about you actually listen to me while I’m explaining this time, and we’ll see if we can get you a little better. We’ll start off with the closer targets too and then work our way out.”

“If I say yes, will you stop dancing around like an idiot?”

“Nope.” Serah poked Lightning with the top of her bow. “But I will if you can get a bull’s eye.”

Lightning made a disgusted sound. “Fine. Start talking.”

X     X     X

Fang and Vanille

Vanille giggled. “You’re not very good at this, are you?”

Fang eyed the binding rod dipped into the lake. “You know that’s cheating, right?”

“No, it’s not, and I did offer you one.” Vanille waved at the spare binding rod in the corner of their little boat. “You should take it because you’re getting your ass kicked.”

“You can keep it. I don’t need your help.” Actually, Fang did. Vanille had already caught five fish to her one. And by the looks of it, she had another bite. “Damn it, you have to be cheating.”

“We’re using the same fishing line and bait, Fang. How am I cheating? I think the fish can sense your evil intent. You’re a huntress, so they know you’re out to get them. Me, I’m cute and harmless, so they swim right up to my line and then – BAM – I’ve got them. See, I’ve got another one now.”

Vanille flicked her wrist and the fish flopped into the bucket beside her. Fang wanted to pull her hair out.

“I still think you’re cheating.”

“We both know I’m not. You’re just annoyed that you’re losing.” Vanille smirked. “You’ve always been a sore loser, even when we were kids. I remember when we used to play with the other kids, you always had to win, or you’d go off and sulk. They called you ‘Fang the Super Sulker’ when you weren’t around.”

“They did not!”

“They did too.” Vanille jabbed the handle of her binding rod at Fang. “I was the one who always had to make nice after you got angry and stormed off, so I should know, Ms Super Sulker.”

“Call me that again, and I will throw you overboard.”

“See, you’re being a sore loser again.”

Fang’s lip twitched.

“And now you’re going to start pouting since you’re not getting your way.” Vanille shook her head melodramatically. “For a legendary huntress, you can be very childish.”

“Childish?” Fang gaped. “You, the same person who enjoys cleaning kids out in monopoly, are calling me childish?”

“Yep. And it’s true.” Vanille’s binding rod wiggled. “And I have another bite.”

That was too much.

“Explain to me again why I can’t dive in with my spear to catch fish?”

“Because that would be cheating. This is normal fishing, Fang, not spear fishing. If you want to go wade into the water and stab things, bring Lightning. Although knowing you two, there probably wouldn’t be all that much fishing once you got her wet.”

Fang took a moment to savour the thought of pushing Lightning into the water. The pink haired woman would surface with a splutter, and Fang would take the opportunity to pin her down in the shallows, hands working to get Lightning’s pesky clothes out of the way so that –

“Focus, Fang, focus.” Vanille jabbed her binding rod at Fang again. “And remember what happened the last time we didn’t set rules? Lightning came along and she started shooting everything. It’s bad enough when I go fishing with Serah. She seems to think you can use a bow. It’s like none of you know how to do fishing properly.”

Fang chuckled as Vanille waved one fist at her. Vanille did take her fishing very seriously. It was probably why she had so much fun fishing with Sazh since he was the only person who seemed to agree that fishing should be as slow and boring as possible.

“Fine, we’ll do things your way. But you will be sharing those fish you caught for lunch, right?”

“Well, yeah, I’m not cruel. Plus, the girls would be sad if I let their mommy starve to death.” Vanille smirked. “But it’ll cost you.”

“Brat. How much?”

“A hundred trillion gil.”

“Are you serious? I don’t even know if there’s that much gil in the whole world.”

“Well, you should have thought of that before you decided to catch only one fish.” Vanille struck a sage pose. “When in the desert, water is priceless. Likewise, when starving, food is worth a king’s ransom. Now, pay up.” She paused. “Oh, and that was one hundred trillion gil per fish.”

Fang ruffled Vanille’s hair. “Put it on my tab. I wonder how Lightning is going.”

“We should ask her when we get back. Remember, it was her idea to have a special ‘sister day’ set aside each month.”

“She always has fixated on Serah a little too much.” Fang smiled. “It makes you wonder sometimes.”

“I don’t think she’s the only one fixated on their sister. What was it you said? ‘I’ll tear down the sky if it’ll save her.’”

Fang flushed. “Vanille…”

“Oh, I appreciate your devotion and everything, but should I be worried?” Vanille gasped in fake horror as she tried to cover her body with one hand. “Did you lure me out on this fishing trip to take advantage of your sweet, innocent little sister.”

“Vanille, you are hardly sweet and based on the times I’ve walked in on you, you are hardly innocent.”

“Spoil sport.” Vanille rolled her eyes. “But really, you have to admit, you’re as obsessed about me as Lightning is about Serah. You had Hope fearing for his life for the better part of a month after you walked in on us. Would it have been better if I asked you to join in? Or maybe you could ask Serah to join you and Lightning. Or how about all four of us –”

“Vanille, please, shut up.”

“Only when you catch another fish.”

X     X     X

Averia and Diana… and Claire

Sometimes, Averia wondered what her parents were thinking. Actually, she wondered that a lot of the time. She could understand why they wanted to spend a special ‘sister’s day’ with their sisters, but why did she have to do that too? It wasn’t that she didn’t like Diana – she loved Diana – but she already spent almost all of her time with her. Apart from school and hanging out with friends, Diana was almost always within reach. They even shared a bedroom.

Of course, Diana didn’t mind. Saturday mornings could be very boring once cartoons were done, so the younger girl was happy to have the company. Averia just wished she hadn’t won their game of scissors-paper-rock to decide what they would be playing.

“Remind me again, what are we playing?”

Diana frowned and pointed at the play tea set she’d set up in their living room. “Mom and mommy are playing with their sisters, so you have to play with me too.” On the couch, their Uncle Hope gave them a cursory glance and then returned to reading the morning newspaper. “But it might be boring if it’s only the two of us, so I invited Mr Snaggles to play too.”

Indeed she had. There were four spots at the table. One was for Diana, one was for Averia, and was one for Mr Snaggles. That still didn’t explain the black mask the plush toy was wearing though.

“I see. What about the mask?”

Diana rolled her eyes. It was obvious. “It’s ninja tea.” She handed Averia a black mask and put one on herself. “Now, put that on.”

Averia tied on her mask and then lifted one of the teacups. There wasn’t anything in it – it was imaginary tea – but that still left her in a quandary. “How are we supposed to drink with masks on?”

“We’re ninjas and ninjas are awesome.”

As if that explained anything…

While she was contemplating the physical impossibility of drinking imaginary tea with a fake ninja mask on, Averia glanced over at Claire, who was sitting next to their Uncle Hope on the couch. The other girl was pretending to read a book, but she was doing quite a bad job of it. Instead, she was taking quick, very obvious glances at Averia and Diana. It took Averia a moment to understand why.

Of course. Trust Claire to make things more complicated than they needed to be.

“You.” Averia pointed her teacup at Claire. “Get over here.”

Claire shifted forward then stopped. “But we’re not sisters.”

“Maybe not by blood, but we’re cousins who live next door to each other and that’s close enough.” Averia rolled her eyes. “And do you really want to leave me alone with Diana? I thought you liked me.”

“Hey!” Diana jabbed her teacup at Averia.

Claire’s smile was radiant. “I guess not.”

Still smiling, Claire settled into the fourth spot at the table. Averia’s eyes widened. Stupid. She’d been stupid not to notice earlier. Diana had already set the fourth spot for Claire. It was the three of them and Mr Snaggles. And if things weren’t clear enough, Diana handed Claire a ninja mask.

“Here. You have to wear one.”

“Cool.” Claire frowned. “You know, we can’t drink with these on.”

“You’re a ninja, work it out!”

Averia waited until Diana was deep in conversation with Mr Snaggles about the merits of different blends of imaginary tea before she turned to poke Claire in the cheek.

“Dummy, you’re my sister as much as Diana is.”

“But we don’t have the same parents.” Claire’s voice sounded small, and Averia hated that.

“Dummy.” Averia poked her harder. “Do you think my mommy and Aunt Vanille have the same parents? Of course not, but they’re still sisters.” She poured Claire another cup of imaginary tea. “You’re our sister, and you’re struck with us. Now drink.”

As the three girls and the plush toy enjoyed their imaginary tea – Diana would later add imaginary cake to the menu – Hope watched the whole thing with a smile. Averia understood something that took most people forever to learn. People didn’t have to share the same parents to be brothers or sisters. All it took was shared hearts.

X     X     X

Author’s Notes

As always, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off of this.

I thought I’d try something a little fluffier after Wasteland and The Vestige. The dynamic between the two pairs of canon sisters (Lightning and Serah; Fang and Vanille) has always fascinated me. Lightning and Serah are both strong-willed, competitive people, so I can easily imagine an off hand comment going awry. Besides, I’m sure Serah would love the chance to show her sister who’s boss.

Fang and Vanille have a different sort of dynamic, most likely because Fang is more laid back than Lightning. She’s more content to let Vanille mess around, and she takes Vanille’s jabs for what they are – little attempts at amusement. Despite how energetic she can seem, I think Vanille would enjoy regular fishing. It’s a chance to sit back, unwind, and watch the world go by. I imagine Sazh would enjoy it too.

The last part of the story is about the three girls. I do think they consider themselves sisters. Diana and Averia are, obviously, sisters, but for as long as either of them can remember, Claire has also been there. Claire lives next door, so when she’s not spending time at their house, they’re spending time at hers. It’ll be interesting to see how the dynamic changes when Claire’s sibling eventually makes an appearance.

Also, my second original short story “The Gunslinger and the Necromancer” is now out on Amazon – you can find a link to it here. It runs to roughly 13,000 words. If you like Westerns with a paranormal twist, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. Here’s the blurb (you can find a link to a longer preview here):

When the Church needs someone to send the denizens of Hell back to where they belong, they go looking for Lizzy Stanton.

As gunslingers go, Lizzy’s right up there with the best of them. No matter what kind of evil she’s up against, she knows exactly how to handle things – put a holy bullet right between the eyes. But when she takes a job to go after a necromancer over in Pine Creek, she might just have bitten off more than she can chew.

With zombies, demons, and one tricky necromancer to worry about, Lizzy’s going to have to be real quick on the trigger. In the gunfight between good and evil, she’s the gunslinger who always delivers.

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