Disclaimer: As always, Squaresoft/Square Enix owns all the Final Fantasy characters/references/places etc.

One-shot. Takes place in the Lunar Subterrane landscape.

Laguna rushed forward, just barely dodging the seemingly endless supply of colourful explosions tailing him. Even though he felt like he would have been a fan of fireworks back home (which was who knows where, really), he was pretty confident he'd never wanted to be close enough to feel the heat off of them.

It was more than a bit frustrating to have any real memories concealed by some unknown force; only left with just a whiff of a gut feeling to be teased with. He shook his head, no time to worry about that right now, there was a bronze, vertically challenged, psycho-imp out to dismember him.

He dashed around a stone pillar to reload and catch his breath. He wasn't one hundred percent sure how long the fight had been going on, but the toll the landscape was taking said a lot. There were potholes that could swallow the Ragnarok whole. Laguna blew his bangs out of his eyes, "Why can't we all just get along?"

A jolt of adrenaline shot through him as he heard the distinctive tip-tapping of small, crystalline feet scurrying his way. Another vague feeling of homesickness hit him. A flash of a short-haired, little girl scampering across a room with a mischievous laugh during a game of hide-and-seek came to mind. He shook his head and pulled out a sticky grenade.

"I doubt this one's coming for a hug... better make my get-away." He shouldered his machine gun and took off for the next pile of rubble. Just before flinging himself behind it, he threw the sticky bomb hoping the sparkling killer wouldn't be expecting it. "Fire in the hole!"

A satisfying "click" gave him the answer he needed. Laguna broke out in a run and pushed the detonator. If he could buy enough time to get some distance, he may be able to pull out the big guns and finish this thing off without getting killed in the process.

That's when he went from the smallest to the biggest of his nemeses: a cliff. With the battle still being waged close behind, Laguna let his momentum propel him over the edge. He didn't have enough time to whip out his extension line and rappel down the cliff side. As a last ditch effort to avoid the most unheroic of deaths, he threw down an electroshield to buffer the impact and try to roll once at the bottom.

The blue shield formed beautifully and he felt the wind resistance kick in, just as planned. Unfortunately he hadn't taken into account the possibility of another skirmish unfolding beneath him.

With a quick glance above, he could see the impostor mage was still hot on his heels, but before he could come up with a plan, a black blur shot horizontally towards him at an alarming rate. Laguna managed to curl into a ball to brace for the impending collision. It did not disappoint.

Both warriors cried out as they were knocked into opposite directions. Laguna's shield ran out just in time for him to come into contact with a boulder lying on another rocky shelf. He lay there for a moment, unable to move coherently and tried to will the breath back into his lungs. Once he was able to blink the angry stars away, he forced himself to roll onto one side to find any of his weapons. Although there was no sign of his machine gun, his rifle did lay a short distance away. Unfortunately his right leg was being uncooperative. And bleeding.

"Great, let's do this the hard way..." trying to ignore the injuries, Laguna wormed his way over and snatched up his precious gun.

"Shiva!" a shout from his left caught his attention.

The brilliant flash of cerulean blinded him all over again. As Laguna shielded his eyes with the hand that hurt the least, he thought he could see the outline of a man behind the lustrous summon and its display of icy needles. If nothing else, the summoner was a non-crystal entity. That was a good sign.

Having accomplished its attack, the frigid blue woman-like creature vanished in an instant. The figure in black landed on a partial pillar readying his weapon; the shine of which sparked some hope in Laguna. One of his opponents, a red harlequin had taken the most damage and was looking pretty frail. The other was the bronze imp who had been originally after himself. Not such a good sign.

That didn't sit well with Laguna. This guy shouldn't have to carry my burdens. Laguna checked his inventory, there had to be something he could do.

As quickly as he could maneuver himself, Laguna modified his rifle and took aim. The red villain was closest so he held his breath and let out a shot. The bullet pierced through what would have been the shoulder, and the arm shattered. The man in black chanced a quick glance his way before darting forward to lay waste to what remained. With a clean fury of cuts, the manikin fragmented into a heap.

Though he doubted the crystal creatures actually felt any loyalty, it seemed the remaining magical one seemed keen on avenging her fallen comrade instead of pursuing Laguna.

"Great, more fireworks." Laguna reloaded while keeping an eye on the combatants. Thankfully it also seemed that this new hero was adept in magic on top of being skilled with a blade.

Laguna got in another shot; the bullet ricocheting off a bluff as the younger man sidestepped a nasty cloud of magic from the enemy's staff. It was a direct hit to her torso. The unexpected force caused the mage to falter and she was taken down by the other warrior.

"Whew, just as planned!" Laguna carefully exhaled and gingerly laid back against the rocks.

"You should wrap your leg up."

"Oh!" Laguna jolted upright, regretting it a second later as a wave of nausea swept over him. I hope I don't have a concussion on top of everything else!

The younger man, who had joined him behind the crag, was eyeing the landscape for further threats. Laguna took in his dark clothing and solemn frown. At least it seemed he wasn't on the enemy list.

"Yeah, probably a good idea." He emptied his pockets to see if there was anything left to make a bandage. "You never know when another pint-sized killer is gonna pop up. For something so small, she sure does have a lot of gusto."

"You shouldn't judge an opponent by their size." Having found the coast was clear, the man with the scar settled on leveling his gaze on Laguna.

"No kidding." Laguna gave a small groan as he shifted his weight against the boulder. "You want a potion? I have a couple left from the last Moogle I ran into."

His new found friend shook his head and crouched to nudge a small bundle of dressing towards Laguna. "You need it more than me."

"Yeah... you've got a point." Laguna picked up the cloth and grabbed up a potion for himself. He gave the bottle a quick wipe before popping the cork and taking a swig. "And thanks for your help back there."

"We're all in this together, so keeping our numbers up would be advantageous for everyone."

"Yeah, safety in packs! That's right."

That earned him a slightly confused look. "You mean 'safety in numbers'? Right idea, I guess."

"Well, yeah, that's what I said." Laguna tightened a wrap on his leg before hoisting himself up to stand beside the young man. "We should get mov-" he wasn't able to finish before being shoved back down by a black-gloved hand.

"Laguna, get down! Manikins are back, can you fight?"

The battle-ready look on the other man's face indicated this was more of a question on whether or not he could be relied upon rather than a check up on his health. He tried to cover his disconcertion with a short, "I'm good."

The younger fighter spared a look at the banged up leg before peering over their cover. "We've got two close by on the left that are heading east. They haven't noticed us yet, but there is one on the other side that may have spotted us. I'll come from around that way and see if I can take him out from behind before the other two are alerted. You should stay here and watch my back with your longer range artillery."

"You can count on me!" Laguna rolled over to pull up his rifle once again.

The shorter brunette nodded, and set off, his swift movements kicking up the loose gravel as he hopped to get lower and out of the enemy's line of sight. Lady Luck appeared to finally deal them a better hand and the pair of manikins did continue without a glance his way. Laguna waited - no point in shooting now and drawing their attention. The single manikin, one shaped like a petite knight, wasn't as cooperative.

Laguna sighed to himself, what was with the enemy posing as children? Was it a tactic to dishearten Cosmos' warriors? Whatever the case, it didn't seem to faze his partner. The black clothing came in handy as he snuck behind rock formations and down through crevasses. Laguna was tempted to call out that they should just let the small fry go, but remembered the calculated attacks and lifeless look the last manikin had given before smashing into rubble. No wonder Mr. Man In Black seemed most comfortable frowning.

This time around the enemy went down without much resistance. Laguna wouldn't have hesitated to help, but was thankful it wasn't needed. Getting knocked around twice seemed to be catching up to him.

"Good job out there." He waved to welcome the successful fighter back while finally retrieving his machine gun. "By the way, I haven't introduced myself! I'm Laguna Loire, what's your name?"

Another frown, followed by "Squall."

"Nice to meet ya!" Laguna breezed past the awkward pause, "Anyway, it's a bit hard to tell the time of day, but it feels like it's getting late. How about we make camp?"

Squall scanned the horizon and nodded. "We should take advantage of the quiet while we can."

"Cool. I saw a cave in the cliff behind us. Let's take a look."

"There's sufficient airflow to let the fire burn for a while but it would be better to put it out after you're done cooking, otherwise we'll attract more manikins." Squall had managed to scrounge up material to build a fire upon and used one of his spells to get it going after Laguna was taking too long trying to remember how to do it with sticks and flint alone.

Laguna had insisted they actually cook the mysterious rations Squall had on hand. Surprisingly there hadn't been much resistance - could have been the blue tinge to what has been described as "a reliable source of protein" from a Moogle. It led one to wonder, what did Moogles eat? Could their judgement truly be relied upon? Laguna had wondered as much out loud, to which Squall had kept his own opinions to himself. Or maybe he was just ignoring the rambling altogether.

"True that. Grub's pretty much done, why don't you take a seat and help yourself? I can keep watch for a bit." Laguna stood up to stretch gingerly, the potion had helped but his leg still ached. The bandage should probably be changed after they ate as well.

Squall hesitated at the entrance until Laguna squatted down and made shooing motions at him. "Warm up by the fire, I could use the fresh air."

They sat that way for a few minutes listening to the re-hydrated mystery meat sizzle on their makeshift skillet.

"Hey, if you don't mind me spouting my mind, it looks like you're pretty used to all this combat. No offence or anything, just saying that you look like you handle yourself pretty well out there."

Squall raised an eyebrow. "Cosmos did choose us because we're warriors. It makes sense that all of us should be able to fight."

"Nah, I don't mean the actual combat, I mean you seem like you've been through some tough times but you can't be more than twenty years old." Laguna smiled nervously, unsure why he felt the need to press the point. Squall looked a bit annoyed, or maybe he was just hungry?

"I'm eighteen." He responded impassively.

Okay, probably more annoyed then hungry. Or maybe 'hangry'? That was a medical term, right? "Not picking on you, or anything like that. Just glad you're on our side is all! I mean, I'm kind of envious."

Squall crossed his arms to cover his surprise. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, I've got weapons and the will to help everyone out, but really, I haven't got a clue what the end game is." Laguna shrugged, but winced at the movement. He made a mental note to sell off some junk to round up more gil for extra potions. Stingy Moogles. "You look like you're already thinking ten steps ahead and a couple to the side if things go awry."

"It's a battlefield. If we want to make it out alive, some kind of strategy should be thought out." It all rolled off Squall's tongue so easily, like the words memorized from a training manual. Still, it was better than talking to himself.

"Agreed!" Laguna gave a wide grin. "So yeah, glad to have you around."

Squall looked unsure with how to deal with the compliment. "Like you said, you've got weapons, and you're here; so there must be some reason Cosmos wanted you in the fight."

"Yeah, I guess... I've got a feeling that I'm more of the spur of the moment kind of strategist."

The look he received conveyed an air of irritation. He could just imagine a thought bubble popping up with "That's not strategy..."

So he elaborated in defense, "Like, if something comes up, I'd find a way to make use of what I have on hand. If you plan things out too tightly, you may not see opportunities like that, you know?"

Stomach growling, Squall conceded with a shrug. "Dinner is ready."

Much to his surprise, Laguna was the first to wake up. The only prize for this was being greeted with a sore back to go along with his foggy head and impaired leg. He tried to massage the taut muscles without complaining too loudly.

While turning his head to stretch his neck, he couldn't help but notice light shimmering off of geometric humanoids in the plain below. Forgetting the exercises, Laguna dropped to his knees (adrenaline once again overriding the pain) and shuffled towards Squall. After giving a firm nudge on his shoulder, Laguna clasped a hand over Squall's mouth.

"I can make out at least a dozen manikins from the cave's entrance. We need to be quiet."

Squall could hear the concern in the older man's whispering and motioned towards his gunblade. Laguna nodded and tried to slip into his own gear as silently as he knew how.

Shortly after, Squall joined Laguna by the edge to do a head count and check for possible escape routes. Without making eye contact, he surprised Laguna with a low whisper, "Any great 'spur of the moment' ideas coming up for you?"

"Well, I don't see a posse coming to our rescue, so I guess we're on the own for the moment. I've got some tech that may come in handy, but I'm still kind of a mess right now with my leg, so you may need to lend a hand again. Sorry."

Squall rolled his eyes, a gesture that reminded Laguna who the actual teenager was between them. "It's fine. I've had experience with different firearms."

"Great! Okay... and I saw you shooting off all kinds of cool spells earlier. So, with your magic and my ingenuity, let's see what we can do." Laguna ducked behind the cavern wall and rummaged through his inventory. While doing this, he gave a sideways glance at Squall, a question popping up before he gave it too much thought. "Have we met before?"

Squall squinted at him, "Did you hit your head again?"

"Just wondering how you knew my name back before we made it to the cave yesterday."

"We have bigger things to worry about." Squall turned back to the entrance, and gestured to the sharply faceted creatures stirring outside. "I don't have enough energy to call down Shiva just yet or pull off a limit break."

"Don't worry; I've got some stuff to cause a distraction so we can try to make it back over the top of this cliff and hopefully to where there are less of those monsters." He pulled up a cluster of bombs. "Plus if I can set up another one of my force shields, you may be able to reflect some of your magic like a bunch of flares to either draw friendly eyes this way, or blind those creeps with the electrical spells."

"You're crazy."

"Sometimes you need a little crazy to fight against crazy."

Squall shook his head but proceeded to mentally calculate which way was best to shoot the 'flares.'

Laguna smiled to himself. So maybe Squall wasn't the warmest person ever, that didn't matter. He had a feeling that they'd make it out just fine.

Notes:

Sorry for the halting transitions and sort of lame ending, I wanted to get this up for Father's day... I'd like to come back and touch that up when something comes to me. Feedback greatly appreciated!

Also, I promise I am far from giving up on Leaving a Legacy. Planning a reboot of sorts for it.