Laguna stood at Ellone's door holding the bouquet of roses in his sweating hands. He'd been standing outside of her house for almost five minutes now, trying to find the courage to knock on her door. He'd come here to tell her how he felt about her, but he'd quickly felt his bravery dissipate once he'd made it to her front door.

He'd come up with so many scenarios in his head where Ellone ended up rejecting him and slamming the door in his face. He was sure he deserved it, too, considering how he'd been so rude to her the last time he'd seen her, just three days ago.

Three days.

Laguna had spent those three days in mental agony thinking non-stop about her and their kiss. Their make out session on his bed. He couldn't stop thinking about her soft lips and warm tongue and how it had felt to massage it with his own tongue. He knew that his kissing had been clumsy and inexperienced compared to hers, but that didn't matter. He still felt his heart clench when he thought about it. And about how she looked at him afterwards, her eyes shining with an emotion he'd never seen before. Or perhaps he had, but he'd never attributed it to being love that she felt when she looked at him like that.

Ellone in love with him. In a way, he wondered what was wrong with her to fall in love with him in the first place. He couldn't see what any woman saw in him, to be honest. He was goofy and awkward and fully aware of it even if Squall didn't think so.

It was at that moment that the door opened, causing Laguna's mouth to drop as he felt himself exposed to Ellone who stood in front of him, taking a step backward in surprise at seeing him at her door. If there had been any bushes nearby, he probably would have jumped into one. Since there weren't any, all he could do was quickly hide the flowers behind his back, despite knowing that she'd be suspicious about what he was hiding from her.

"Uncle Laguna," Ellone said, covering her heart with her hand.

Laguna smiled at her sheepishly. "H-Hey Elle. Sorry if I caught you at a bad time."

"I was just about to go for a walk." Ellone released a breath as her eyes darkened. "What are you doing here?" And she crossed her arms, as she eyed him suspiciously.

Laguna would have scratched the back of his head nervously if it wasn't for the flowers he was holding. Suddenly feeling as though there was no point in delaying the inevitable, he pulled the flowers from behind his back and held them towards her. "Just came to give you these," he said shyly.

Ellone blinked in surprise at the flowers he held out towards her. She then looked up at Laguna and he saw her eyes soften. She then shook her head and laughed a little as she accepted them and moved aside to give Laguna room to enter her home.

"Uncle Laguna, you didn't need to bring me flowers."

Laguna walked inside and sat on the couch in the living room. "I was such a jerk to you, Elle. I felt really bad for ordering you to leave like I did. It was really rude of me. I'm really sorry," Laguna said as he rubbed the tops of his thighs anxiously. He almost felt like he was twenty seven again, and he felt just as inexperienced and awkward.

Ellone placed the flowers on the dining room table before walking to the couch and sitting next to Laguna. "I was upset seeing you react like that. I just hate seeing you sad, Uncle Laguna. I really care about you," And Ellone took hold of one of his hands making him stop rubbing his legs momentarily. "I probably could have chosen a better time to tell you. It's my fault for freaking you out when you were vulnerable."

"I just wasn't expecting it," Laguna said. "It completely blew my mind, honestly. I'm so used to seeing you as my niece that I didn't even know how to respond. But I feel better now."

"That's good to hear."

A silence fell between them as Laguna wrestled with how to express how he felt. He wasn't exactly an expert when it came to approaching women in the first place. He was amazed that he even had the guts to visit Ellone after he'd made a fool out of himself. Yet somehow, as though it had a mind of its own, his hand reached up to rest against Ellone's left cheek.

Laguna couldn't help but notice how warm it felt under his cool hand. He smiled at her gently. "Elle...I came here because...because I feel the same way. I...I think I love you," Laguna said, feeling his heart swell with emotion as he told her this. He felt as though he'd admitted to something criminal and yet it felt so good to come out and say it. Like it made him a better person for admitting it.

Ellone's eyes widened as her breath hitched at this. She placed her own hands on Laguna's cheeks as he saw her eyes water. "Uncle- I mean, Laguna...really? Do you mean it?" She asked and he couldn't help but catch the eagerness in her voice.

Laguna chuckled at this as he leaned forward to press his forehead against hers, looking into her eyes as he did so. He rubbed her cheek tenderly with his thumb. "Yes, I mean it. I love you. I'm sorry it took me a while to come here and tell you. I just needed some time to myself to process things. You know what a dummy I am, Elle."

"You're not dumb at all," Ellone told him for perhaps the thousandth time. And somehow, he always believed it when it was uttered from her lips. "You're smart and mature...and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Not even Squall," Ellone said, giggling a little.

"Mature...you sure about that?" Laguna said, feeling amusement begin to settle in. "Maybe if I give you a cuchi cuchi treatment right now, you'll change your mind."

"You better not," Ellone warned as she quickly leaned back from him, crossing her arms around herself protectively.

Laguna chuckled at this as he raised his hands threateningly, feeling playful at the moment. It had been a while since he'd last tickled Elle and he'd secretly missed their tickling sessions. He knew Ellone was very ticklish in her sides and he never failed at making her beg him for mercy when he tickled her. "It's cuchi cuchi time, Elle," Laguna said ominously as he saw Ellone's eyes widen in fear.

"Nooo!" She cried out as Laguna pounced on her and began tickling her sides, making her laugh madly as she tried to squirm out of his grasp. But Laguna held onto her tightly, taking hold of her hands to keep her from pushing him away. He burst into laughter himself as he tickled her to the point of exhaustion, only stopping when she began pleading for him to let her go.

Once this was over, Laguna was left holding Ellone in his arms, with her back against his chest. He could feel her chest rising and falling rapidly due to her laughing bout. Laguna chuckled a little as he wrapped his arms around her and pressed his face against her hair, smelling it without thinking. It smelled sweet and comforting, just like Ellone.

"I hate you," Ellone said, but he detected the smile in her voice.

"You're just as ticklish as ever," Laguna teased as he poked her side playfully making her groan loudly. He then smiled softly as he gave her a squeeze. "You know I missed tickling you like that. Like back when you were just a kid."

"I missed it too," Ellone said and he could hear the sincerity in her voice.

Laguna felt his chest twinge as he rubbed his face against Ellone's cheek, shutting his eyes tightly and relishing the beauty of the moment. "God, I...I love you so much Elle."

"Laguna..."

"You're so amazing. So sweet and caring and fun to talk to. You're always there for me," Laguna said as he felt his own eyes begin to water. "You make me laugh when I feel like crying. You're so beautiful." Pouring his heart out to her felt so good in that moment. It suddenly felt like he'd been wanting to say these things to her for years, but was only given the opportunity to do so now.

"Thank you," Ellone whispered.

They sat there for a while enjoying the feeling of sitting together in silence. Laguna couldn't recall the last time he'd felt so at peace. So content and free. He couldn't remember the last time that he was okay with simply being who he was. And being truly cared for by another human being who he loved in return. He felt as though this was something he'd been awaiting for an unbearably long time. And he couldn't understand why he'd denied himself of this feeling for so long now that he had it. How could he not want to be loved like this? It was like he'd been punishing himself for some crime that he no longer cared about committing.

But suddenly Laguna felt anxiety settle in as it so often did in his life. There was still one thing that bothered him. "Elle?"

"Mmm?"

Laguna hesitated as he felt that maybe he was about to ask a dumb question. He didn't want to make her feel bad either. "You don't...you don't think that, you know, our age gap is really weird, do you?"

Ellone shifted then, sitting up and moving to look at him. "Laguna..."

Laguna scratched his head nervously laughing a little as he blushed in embarrassment. "I don't know. I just don't want to feel like that creepy old dude who's into young women, if you know what I mean."

Ellone shook her head at this as she reached to take hold of his hands. "Listen, Laguna. You are not creepy. Get it through your head. This isn't as weird as you think. And you're not really my uncle so it's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Laguna felt awkward knowing that she'd read his mind. "It just...It just feels weird to me, I guess," he said, feeling as though he needed some more reason to not feel this way. "I mean I used to give you horsey rides, like I was your dad. I was an adult when you were just a kid."

Ellone smiled at him as she squeezed his hands. "It's perfectly normal to feel that way. But don't make a bigger deal out of it than it is. It's not like you're eighty, you know."

Laguna wrinkled his nose at this. "Eighty...Geez. I'll be eighty sooner than you think. And when I'm eighty you'll be around sixty."

"You sure are thinking ahead," Ellone teased, smiling at him in amusement.

"Don't make fun of me," Laguna said shyly. "And it's not like I'm...you know, planning our wedding or whatever."

"I bet you are. I bet you planned out everything. Even our kids' names."

Laguna laughed at this, his shoulders shaking as he felt that his niece knew him a little too well. He definitely was the type to think ahead when he was in a relationship. "I don't know about kids. I think Squall is more than enough work for me to deal with. Besides, who knows how screwed up any future kids of mine would turn out to be. You know, with me for a dad. I think Squall got off easy not having to be raised by me."

"Then I guess it's better to be safe than sorry," Ellone joked.

It was then that Laguna looked at Ellone soulfully before he leaned forward slowly, placing a hand against her cheek as kissed her. They kissed slowly and gently at first, their tongues teasing each other before the kiss deepened, causing Laguna to moan as she placed her hands in his hair, her fingers tangling in it. Once their kiss was over they leaned away from each other and looked into one another's eyes, breathing heavily. Laguna saw the passion in Ellone's eyes which made something hot pool in the bottom of his stomach and caused long-dead feelings to reawaken.

He felt desire, and it felt so raw and so powerful that he just wanted to make love to Ellone right at that moment. He wanted to kiss her all over, let her know exactly what she meant to him. He wanted to lead her to her bedroom, and unzip and unbutton her clothes, letting them all drop to the floor as he gave in to the pressure and took control. It wasn't the first time in the past three days that he'd imagined this. It took all he had to keep himself from acting on these urges. Especially whenever she said his name and looked at him like that.

A part of Laguna felt shame for feeling this way. Regardless of everything Ellone had told him, despite her reassurances he felt like it was simply wrong for him to love her. It was taboo. It was creepy. It was just plain weird.

But as Laguna held Ellone's hands in his own, massaging them with his thumbs, he found that a bigger part of him just didn't care.