Disclaimer: MAN, do I wish I could own them! I wonder how much Squaresoft would sell them for… Tee hee (^---~)
Notes: Song fics are kinda fun! I've done longer ones on songs, so a short one is no big. Not much plot I suppose, but then you must know the normal plot, tee hee, Of course I couldn't help killing Rinoa. I'm a True Trepie and a certified Rinoa Hater, so sue me (^__^) I didn't HAVE to kick Squall out so neatly, but I like Laguna more, as tasty as Squall is; I insist they make a Laguna powerade flavor too!!
Quistis gasped and turned away. There was no way Laguna could have known, she'd never told him how she'd ached so long just to receive the love of his son. But, as impossible as it was, there HE was, confronting her for it. Laguna reached a hand out towards her turned back. She didn't resist when he touched her, and he knew she wasn't mad. He understood. She was just very confused, and he did understand that, all too well.
After all that they'd been through together, fighting the sorceresses, Rinoa's funeral, and Squall's gradual descent into madness, they'd become closer and closer to one another. They'd worked often as a pair, and their attraction was inevitable. True, he could easily be her father, but time never kept love from blooming before, and it certainly hadn't now.
Laguna knew what it was like to love more than one person, especially knowing that the one of them could never love you. He understood her pain, but he wanted to help, he wanted to save her from the darkness that was eating at her soul. Gently, he placed his arms around her from behind, burying his face in her shoulder. She didn't resist, grasping his forearms fiercely.
She supposed it must have been obvious, the way she'd tried to care for him after Rinoa's death, but Squall wouldn't have it. He rejected her as anything more than a friend, much as he'd done the first time. Save now, Squall rejected even friends. Laguna was the only one who could even approach him. He knew his son needed help, but he couldn't let him continue to alienate everyone who loved and cared for him. Quistis allowed the tears to flow freely down her cheeks.
Laguna turned her around and stared deeply into her eyes. "Quistis, please tell me this: Do you love me?"
"Oh Laguna, you know I do." She sobbed quietly.
"Then forget him. It's hard, I know, and I won't tell you not to love him, too, because Squall needs all the love he can get. But please, don't live in the past! You've put your heart to sleep inside of you, waiting for him. Let me wake it, let me lead you out, bring you home. Will you let me love you?"
Tears welled anew in Quistis' eyes. Laguna saw the need and let her sit on the edge of the Garden's courtyard fountain. The moon shone above, reflecting off of the crystal blue seas below. The simulated tropical paradise of Balamb Garden seemed a fitting backdrop for emotional turmoil.
"I've always tried to be cheerful, tried to be a help to everyone. How could anyone know I was so weak and empty inside? Oh Laguna, I feel so helpless. How can you see inside me? I never let anyone inside, and here you are. Help me.."
Laguna held her tightly. She leaned against him and held on for dear life, afraid that the darkness of her own fear and pain would overtake her. "I've been lost in my weakness for so long, it's as if I was frozen in time. My heart and soul feel so dead, I don't know what to do, Laguna…"
"I can only save you if you let me. I would follow you to the ends of the earth, just to rescue you from the pain that wrecks your soul even now. I want to save you from all of that, but you have to let me. Quistis, you must let me…" He lifted her chin and caressed her cheek. She stared longingly into his eyes, a stare returned by the cerulean pools across from her. She started to speak, but he trailed a soft finger across her lips, motioning her to silence. They sat like that for a moment, until his hand slid to the back of her head and his other hand joined it. Their lips met and held for what might have been an eternity.
Her own tears gone, Quistis gently wiped away the one that leaked from the corner of Laguna's eye. She held him, tightly, but gently. Whispering into his ear, she pleaded. "Save me, wake me up, don't let me fall to this darkness inside… My love is yours to grow, bring it back to life…" She kissed his ear slowly and deliberately, and he withdrew from her.
"As you have asked, so shall I do" He bowed deeply and seductively to her. "Allow me to fill your heart, let it no longer be troubled, let me undo what you would not have undone." Laguna seized her gently around the waste and kissed her passionately on the lips. As he laid her down by the side of the fountain, she allowed his hands to heal physically her broken heart. She could not stop loving Squall anymore than Laguna could stop loving Raine, but perhaps, just maybe, the love they found in each other would be strong enough to heal them both.
