Disclaimer: Anything that is not mine, is not mine. The game, the characters, they are not mine. The concept of the story is mine, but the elements added that were not originally mine, is definitely not mine. I hope that's enough disclaimer!

Author's Note: This idea hit me like a brick, and I thought it fits perfectly as a Squinoa. The connection makes perfect sense! I was just picturing what would Squall and Rinoa do when they realize that their parents, Julia and Laguna, had a previous affair but pursued other people (Julia to Fury, and Laguna with Raine). What if the reverse happened? It took me a while to get this story together (it is very hard to anticipate possibilities that could happen), so I hope you enjoy it!

The roaring of the engine filled the silence in the car as he tried to keep a steady hand and keep the road straight. 10 minutes into the drive, he was becoming less stiff, but his heart would suddenly skip a beat with worry. Silence kept on eating him inside, and he was beginning to hope his wife on the passenger's seat would say something, anything to let him know that she was okay.

There was more silence.

"Is she beautiful?" she sobbed.

He took a deep breath.

"Is she beautiful?"

"Yes."

"How far is she?"

"Seven months."

"Seven months?" she choked. "All this time for the past seven months, you've been screwing someone else? From Winhill? Your assignment in that place finished nine months ago!"

"It doesn't mean anything."

"She's pregnant, Laguna." she yelled. "She's pregnant and you only told me after she's seven months in! Don't tell me it doesn't mean anything, of course it means something!"

"Julia…" Laguna pulled over. He faced her. "Julia, please."

"You've been seeing her while you were already here! How long? 10 months? 11 months? A year?!" more tears were forming in Julia's brown eyes.

"I'm sorry!" Laguna intercepted. "I'm sorry… okay? I'm sorry. I promise I won't see her anymore. I'll never see her anymore."

"Oh, really? Of course you'll see her, you have a son, Laguna. A son with her! A son!" Julia sobbed.

"It was a mistake, okay? Please, Julia."

"I know we're going a rough patch in our marriage."

"No, no we're not." Laguna reached for her.

"Yes, Laguna, don't deny it!" Julia pushed his arms away. "How could you do this? How could you do this to me? To us?"

There was a pause. Laguna fought to find the right words to answer her. Emotions. Emotions were what made him feel so strongly for Raine. Loneliness from being away from home and Julia made him look for another woman's company. Sadness from what he and Julia were going through before he left for the mission made him seek comfort from someone else. Someone who would make things work for him. Someone to assure him that everything would be okay. But never like this. He never intended for the affair to go this far.

"I'm done." Julia said. "You can go back now to her in Winhill."

Julia opened her side of the door and walked away.

"Julia!" Laguna opened his own side of he door and went after Julia. "Please, come back!"

As if she didn't hear anything, Julia didn't stop walking away.

"Please, let's work this out! Let's talk about this!"

"There's nothing to talk about, Laguna." Julia replied without turning around. "Go home."

Laguna stopped on his tracks as he watched Julia go farther on the streets of Galbadia. Maybe time was all she needed to clear her head. Maybe time will give her the chance to change her mind. And when she comes back home, maybe she would talk to him, or at least he could talk to her. What time would she be home? How long should he wait for her?

What if she never comes back?

"Good afternoon Sir, how may I help you?"

"Yeah, where's the restaurant and bar?"

"Please head down the spiral staircase and you'll see it right there."

"Okay, thank you."

"My pleasure."

Julia approached the female receptionist. "Hey."

"Hey! Julia!"

Julia smiled, and a tear streamed down her cheek.

"Julia? What's wrong honey?"

Julia wiped her tear. "Nothing. It's just, me and Laguna. We're going through something."

"Oh no."

"I just… I'm okay. I just want to drop by and maybe, you know, get my mind off that…"

"Yes honey, of course. Hold on." the receptionist faced another behind the desk to endorse the frontline job to her. She went inside a door and after a minute, she was on the other side of the desk, walking to Julia.

"Hey." Julia greeted again.

"Oh, Julia." the receptionist hugged her.

"I just want to stay here for a while."

"Yes, sure, for as long as you need."

Julia pulled away. "I'll just hit the bar, if that's okay."

"Of course." the receptionist examined her. "What happened?"

Julia shook her head. "We're just going through a bad time. I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay." the receptionist place an arm around Julia and lead her down the spiral staircase. "I'll join you after my shift, okay?"

Julia nodded.

"You may perform anytime you want, anytime you're ready. The stage is yours for the taking. I'll be here in a while."

"Sure. Thank you."

Julia headed straight to the bar and listened to the music played by the resident pianist. She received a nod from him as she sat. Another man caught her attention, a regular at the place. He approached her from across the room and stood by her at the bar.

"It's nice to see you here again." he said.

"Good evening, General Caraway. How have you been?"

"I've been good. And yourself? You look exhausted."

"I am. It's been a long day for me."

"As is mine. Need a drink?"

"Not now. I may perform, or may not."

"Why not?"

Julia shook her head. "Not in the mood. And I don't really like ruining my songs because of my mood."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Julia kept silent.

"Was it Loire?"

Julia turned to him, and he looked back.

"This must have a long backstory."

"Can you tell, General?" she replied.

"Fury, please." he replied. "And it's the marriage that always entails problems, doesn't it. What happened?"

"Nothing that I want to talk about." Julia choked on her words.

"Okay."

The pianist began playing a new song, the one Julia wrote for her husband before they tied the knot. She almost made it to fame when a visiting music producer lauded her performance. She was offered a record deal, which she turned down. At that time, all she wanted was to live with her own family. Money would be nice, but the public attention she knew follows would ruin the peaceful life she wanted for herself and Laguna. She opted to settle down in a quiet little house in Galbadia while she sang as a profession at Galbadia Hotel.

"This song is the reason I keep coming back here." The General said, breaking the silence between them. "I like seeing you perform. No matter how many times I watch and listen to it, I always look forward to it, anticipate it."

Julia smiled.

"I miss hearing you sing again, Julia. I missed seeing you here." Fury placed his hands in his pockets and looked down. "I missed you."

Julia looked at the sight of the sweet, comforting General. It had been a while since Laguna said something like that to her, and then, for the first time in what seemed like a long time, she felt wanted again. Missed. Cared for. Was this the feeling his mistress had when Laguna wooed her? It sure was when Julia first met him. And the General, one who was known for his hardened attitude in battle, was giving her all the attention she needed.

Julia leaned against the bar and faced him. Fury turned to her and was met with a soft smile.

"Are you, by any chance, checked in here, General?"

Fury returned a smile. "Yes."

"How is it?"

"It's big enough for one, but as always expected, it's cozy."

"Let's go see your room."

.

.

.

Laguna woke up to the gurgling sounds of vomit in the bathroom. He paused for a while, waiting for any more sound that would follow. She threw up again. This time, she was gagging. He slid off his bed and sprinted to the bathroom.

"Julia?"

The door was slightly ajar, light peeking from the space, and the figure of Julia sitting on the floor. Laguna kneeled beside his wife and placed his arms around her. "Julia, are you okay?"

Julia leaned her head on Laguna's chest. "Hmm." She murmured.

"What are you feeling? Is something wrong?"

Julia gave a weak sob. "I might be pregnant."

Laguna froze and pulled away. A moment passed as he tried to find truth in Julia's face. "Really?"

Julia looked at him, her eyes teary and puffy.

He let out a soft chuckle that grew into laughter and pulled Julia back in his arms. "Thank you, Julia. I promise to stay by you, I'll never leave you. I'll give you everything. Thank you for this blessing." At last they were given a child. His family was finally complete, and it was his second chance of happiness. Suddenly, nothing else in the world mattered to him anymore, except what he had to do to make sure his family lived in the best of things. His chest felt lighter, and the future was suddenly clearer and brighter to Laguna.

"We'll work this out, okay?"

She stayed silent. She lifted her limp arms and embraced Laguna back.

"Okay."

"Laguna."

Laguna looked up from the article on his hand. "Hey, Kiros, Ward."

Two men, one of them darker and slimmer named Kiros, and the other taller and bulkier they called Ward, approached Laguna's desk and sat on the two empty chairs in front of him. "I heard about the pregnancy news. Congrats." Kiros said.

Ward made a hand gesture.

Kiros chuckled. "Ward wanted to know which one."

Laguna mocked a laugh. "Har har har."

"How's that working out for you, Laguna? You have a seven-month old son you haven't seen since he was born, and now you're having a baby with Julia."

"Thanks for the reality check." Laguna stood and placed his hands in his pockets. "How is she?"

"Raine?"

"Yeah."

"Well," Kiros glanced at Ward then turned to Laguna. "Raine's alright. She's still angry about the fact that you're married and you still, in her own word, 'screwed' her."

Laguna pursed his lips. "Do they need anything? Let me know if they need anything."

"She said she nor her son needs you."

"Right." Laguna hung his head. "Maybe I should go visit them, see how they're doing. I want to see my son, too."

"She also said she never wants to see you again."

Laguna sighed. "Well, that's expected."

More than anything, Kiros felt sorry for his friend, for the mess he got himself into. Even though he wasn't married (and never planned to), he knew marriage was never easy and to him, that was the challenge in the commitment. That's how to gauge the strength in a marriage. He wondered if Laguna's reckless decision was part of his carefree personality that made him act before thinking, or was there more to it. How much of his heart did Laguna invested on the affair?

Ward waved at Kiros and made another hand gesture.

Kiros nodded. "Right. Laguna, we're also here to report about the Deling incident."

"Oh yeah, what happened?" Laguna recalled why he invited the two in his office in the first place. There was a recent Deling incident, a messy one, with "deadly" monsters from, what the sources assume, Tear's Point. And Tear's Point meant bad news. Being a big story that it was, Laguna, the publication's editor-in-chief, took it upon himself to write it for the next day's run of the newspaper.

"Geezards and imps swarmed Deling. Residents said they just came out of the water from the shores. Best bet was Tear's Point since it came from that direction. 400 deployed soldiers, only 67 survived. Not including the General."

"General Caraway?"

"Yes."

Laguna jerked his head to his side and clicked his tongue. Deling's army was one of the most reliable and aggressive ones. Defeat was never one of the expectations held on them. "I bet what comes after is SeeD."

"Yes. Balamb SeeDs are already on it. They were being led by Captain Auron."

Laguna knew Auron, but Auron didn't know him. Hell, Laguna would bet that Auron never knew he existed, even when his name was on every newspaper of Galbadia Daily. SeeDs were always up-to-date, and news flew faster with them. Newspapers were just for documentation and records. No validations needed, no questions asked. They leap into action, and they act fast. SeeDs leave destruction and casualties in their path, which was why they never interfered unless it was an end-of-the-world scenario. Even for Laguna who joined the army in his younger years along with Kiros and Ward, SeeD meant things just got more serious.

"Any updates on that?" Laguna asked.

"So far, so good. Ten minutes into their arrival, 23% of the monsters were eliminated. Deling is expected to clear up by tomorrow morning. Normalcy will resume in a week after restoration is complete."

"To be clear though, Balamb SeeDs will also assist in the restoration program?"

"Balamb Garden will be assisting in the restoration process."

"Can I include that in the piece?"

"Why not?"

"SeeDs are not really into public relations."

"Well, they are out there to help. How much less of public relations are they expecting? Everybody knows already."

"That's a good point."

Kiros shrugged. "Is there anything else you wanna ask while we're here?"

"So far so good." Laguna smirked as he sat down on his swivel chair.

Kiros gestured at Ward that it was time to go and they stood up.

"See you again soon then, Laguna."

"Thanks for your time. And if there's any more update, please keep in touch."

"Yeah." Kiros replied. As Ward exited his office, Kiros paused. He looked over his shoulder.

"By the way, his name is Squall. Squall Leonhart."

Laguna looked at Kiros as the latter stepped out and closed the door behind him. A smile formed on Laguna's face. Of course he would take after his mother's name.

"Squall." He whispered, as if his son was there with him.

After a light stroll outside, what Julia only wanted was some peace and quiet with her cold lemonade and the TV. After changing her clothes, she headed to the kitchen, made herself a lemonade on their largest drinking glass, and dropped the lemon peel on her juice. She had been craving for the bitter taste lately – the more bitter it is the better. It helped in washing all her worries away, like magic. She added more ice in her concoction and dropped herself on the sofa. She reached for the remote and turned the TV on. Now she's relaxed.

Just as she was switching in between channels, her cellphone rang. It was Onyx, the receptionist from Galbadia Hotel.

"Hello?"

"Julia! Are you watching this?"

"Watching what?" she asked, tightening her grip on the remote.

"GDN. Turn it to GDN now!"

Julia switched the channel to the news network. It showed Deling City overrun by oversized red clawed lizards and violent monkey-bat hybrids. Soldiers were seen shooting their guns and getting devoured by one of them.

Julia gasped. "Oh Hyne."

"Julia, listen to me. Remember General Caraway? The regular from Galbadia Hotel?"

A moment passed.

"He's in Deling, isn't he?"

"Yes."

Julia held her breath.

"333 are confirmed to be dead during the invasion of Deling City by monsters. It was reported that General Caraway, the Deling official who led the defense at Deling, was also killed during the encounter. It was speculated that the monsters classified as imps and geezards emerged from Tear's Point…"

"I'm sorry, Julia."

A shaking sob escaped Julia.

"Onyx, please tell me this isn't real."

She heard Onyx sigh. "I'm coming over, okay? Just hold on Julia. Wait for me there."

Julia dropped her phone as more sobs came out of her. She looked at her bulging stomach and rubbed it.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Julia repeated to words over and over again between her sobs.

"Push." The doctor said sternly.

Through gritted teeth and pouring sweat, Julia tried her might to push the baby out of her. She could feel her heart almost giving in to the pressure. She stopped to catch her breath, closing her eyes from the bright light of the delivery room.

"Mrs. Loire, the baby is almost out. Please, push."

The doctor's voice was becoming more incoherent by the second, but she was feeling the baby almost out of her. Instinctively, despite the pain, she pushed harder than the last one. She screamed at the top of her lungs unlike she had ever screamed before. She didn't care what scandal or destruction it may cause, she had to push and push hard. Until finally, she felt relief. The baby was not in her anymore. Her breaths were quick and short, until she felt exhaustion wash over her. Was it finally over?

Suddenly, she heard little cries fighting for air. Through her blurry gaze, she saw how the medical attendants wrapped a little body in a pink towel.

"Mrs. Loire. You have a very beautiful baby girl."

Julia reached for the doctor as she handed her daughter. She examined her girl, and a smile crossed her face.

"So beautiful." Julia managed to whisper.

The baby had fair skin with think ebony hair growing from her reddish scalp. Through her closed eyes, Julia could tell they were the same as hers.

"Where is she?"

Julia looked up to see her husband in a scrubsuit, sprinting to her side. He took one look at her daughter and Julia could tell his smile was of immense joy. Laguna reached for the baby girl and cradled her in his arms.

"Rinoa." Julia said.

Laguna turned to look at her. "Rinoa?"

Julia smiled and nodded.

Laguna turned back at the little Rinoa. "Rinoa. Our little ball of sunshine. Just as beautiful as her mother."

Julia leaned back on her bed as she watched her family's moment.

A fresh new start, she thought to herself.