We prove a functional limit theorem for vector-valued functionals of the fractional Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process, providing the foundation for the fluctuation theory of slow/fast systems driven by both long- and short-range-dependent noise. The limit process has both Gaussian and non-Gaussian components. The theorem holds for any $$L^2$$
L
2
functions, whereas for functions with stronger integrability properties the convergence is shown to hold in the Hölder topology, the rough topology for processes in $$C^{\frac{1}{2}+}$$
C
1
2
+
. This leads to a ‘rough creation’ / ‘rough homogenization’ theorem, by which we mean the weak convergence of a family of random smooth curves to a non-Markovian random process with non-differentiable sample paths. In particular, we obtain effective dynamics for the second-order problem and for the kinetic fractional Brownian motion model.