Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XIII does not belong to me.

Author's Note: This will be entirely written from Claire's perspective, and so the first few chapters where she is a child take a bit to get through. Bear with me. Also, please drop me a review if you enjoy this!

The One With The Giant Man (and His Stupid Younger Brother)

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Claire first meets their new neighbours when she is seven. It is difficult not to – one of them has a laugh loud enough to wake her up from the afternoon nap she's been put to. Weighing her curiosity about the strange laughter in her house against the wrath of her mother at seeing her daughter awake, Claire throws a look at her sister to make sure Serah is still sleeping before sneaking out of the bedroom.

She tiptoes through their narrow hallway and peeks out around a corner. Her mother stands at their front door, smiling at a giant blond man who towers over her and dwarfs their front entrance. Beside him, much shorter, stands a teenage boy with silver hair and his hands stuck in his pockets.

Claire wrinkles her nose. She hates teenagers, who are always mean to her and tug at her pink hair and tease her with stupid names.

The blond giant's gaze slides past her mother and straight to Claire before the girl can duck back out of sight. They stare at each other for a few surprised seconds before his face lights up with a smile large enough that Claire has to wonder as to how his face isn't breaking apart.

"And who's this?" He calls out in her direction, interrupting whatever conversation he was having with her mother and bringing the attention of all three of them straight to her. Claire can feel the hotness spreading at the tips of her ears at all the eyes suddenly on her, and especially at the look of ire that passes across her mother's face.

"Claire," the woman chides with a sigh in her voice, motioning for her daughter to get out from behind her corner. "What are you doing awake?"

Claire's eyes slide over to the stupid adult who got her in trouble with her mother. "It was loud." Defensively, she crosses her arms and does her best to imitate her mother and turns an accusing stare at the man. To her surprise, his face adopts such a look of shame that she almost feels bad for him. Almost.

"Sorry, Elize." The giant reaches up to rub one massive hand against the back of his even more massive head. "I guess I didn't realize how loud I was being." The boy beside him snorts. Claire notices that he's still staring in her direction and turns her intimidating look on him. Instead of the shame she was hoping would come over him, he only smiles at her instead. Claire tries not to pout.

Her mother sighs. "It's fine. I guess since you're already here, Claire, I might as well introduce you. Come here." The eyes of their two guests track her as she crosses their living room to go stand beside her mother, settling in at her side and leaning into the reassuring hand the woman places on her shoulder. Claire had known the man in front of her was a giant, but he didn't seem quite this big from the other side of the room. And the boy beside him just would not stop staring. Claire averts her eyes, suddenly feeling shy.

One of her mother's fingers tap against her shoulder, requesting that Claire be polite. Claire drags her eyes away from her feet with some reluctance and tries to be brave with all the attention focused on her. "Hello," she manages out. "I'm Claire Farron. Nice to meet you."

She notices that the smile on the boy's face has grown even bigger, and she tries not to scowl at him. They had just met, and he already thought there was something funny about her. She hated teenagers. They were all stupid.

The giant crouches down in front of her and sticks out one hand. "Hello, Claire," he grins, and up close he doesn't actually look as scary. Claire might even call him friendly looking, now that his height is more approachable. She places one of her hands in his and is surprised at how careful he is not to shake it too hard. Not all adults were as considerate. "I'm Snow Villiers, and this is my brother, Hope. We're your new neighbours."

She chances a look at this Hope, who gives her a little wave when he notices her staring. He's still smiling, and it's making Claire angry. She can feel her ears turn red again and looks away. "You don't look like an adult," she tells Mr. Villiers instead. "Adults don't have hair that messy."

"Claire!" Her mother responds, the grip she has on her daughter's shoulder tightening. "That was rude! Apologize to Snow, please."

Claire blinks up at her. "But whenever my hair is like that, you always make me sit down and brush it. His is worse!"

Mr. Villiers laughs before either of the two can continue and straightens. One of his hands goes to mess with his hair again, which is long and in a really dire need of a haircut. Claire considers suggesting her mother for the job, who always cuts hers and Serah's hair whenever it gets too long. "It's fine, Elize, she really does have a point. It has been getting pretty bad these past few years."

The silver haired boy finally speaks, and Claire is surprised at how young he sounds. "And yet when I tell you to do it, you completely ignore me." His smile turns to a grimace when the man brings down one hand and rubs at his brother's head. "Really, Snow?"

Mr. Villiers laughs. Claire still finds it intimidating. "Whatever you say, Chocobo-head." Claire tilts her head and peers closely at Hope's hair; after a moment, she giggles. His hair really does look like the Chobocos she's seen in her books.

The boy pauses, and his grimace turns into a small smile directed at her. Claire narrows her eyes at him.

"Is Serah still sleeping?" Her mother's question interrupts the glaring content she is itching to begin with the stupid teenager, and Claire nods. "Alright. I want you back in that room as well, Claire."

Claire does pout this time, large enough that she can feel her lower lip wobbling. "But I'm not tired," she insists, turning her gaze to her mother and trying to make her eyes as wide as she's sometimes seen Serah do. "I don't want to sleep!"

Her mother only smiles, and winds one hand through her daughter's hair. "No complaints, Claire. Back to bed. Now."

The eyes always work when Serah does them. Always. It wasn't fair.

"It was nice to meet you," the teenager tells her as she begins trudging away, tucking her chin close to her chest in defeat. She glances over her shoulder at his voice and really wishes her mother wasn't watching so that she could stick her tongue out at him. Stupid, smiling teenager who thinks he can make fun of her only minutes after meeting her.

"You too," she says instead, and waves to the giant and his stupid little brother.

How was she supposed to sleep now, knowing that her new neighbour was a stupid boy?