A/N: Yet another Laguna introspection, and yet again a darker one for him. I was looking at an image of him from the end of the game and noticed all the little wrinkles and this came to mind.
Emerald eyes stared impassively into the mirror, tracing paths of grey streaked through dark brown and cracks through smooth skin. Some would say they were the marks of a warrior, of someone who has gone through the hell that is life and survived. The marks of wisdom, of someone who's experienced all life's thrown at them.
To him they were reminders of all his failures.
Slight crinkles at the corners of eyes, a line or two at the edges of a mouth. Laughter lines, signs of happiness and life. But what would they be called when the wrinkles are born of fake laughter? Of forced smiles?
Lies. All of it. Every time he spoke, every time he joked, or even opened his mouth at all, lies spewed out. Piling up and up and up and it felt like he was drowning in them.
He wondered what would happen when they finally piled high enough to cover his head. Would he suffocate under all the weight? Would the lies flood into his mouth and nose until he choked on them?
Fists clenched tight as he continued to assess his reflection, frowning as he tried to see what others saw. A warm and passionate leader, a strong and resilient man who always has a smile for everyone he meets. But he knew the truth. He was a failure. A man who was never there when people needed him, who abandoned those he cared for, a man who screwed everything up.
He wasn't the hero of the Sorceress War.
He wasn't even the great Monster Hunter of Winhill.
He was just Laguna Loire, the man who manages to lose everything he cares about.
Hands clenched again before he suddenly lashed out, fingers grabbing the edges of the mirror and tearing it straight off the wall. Ignoring the shattered glass that rained around him he walked out of the bathroom, that famous smile plastering itself on again.
He would write the mess off as an accident, just him being clumsy and knocking into the mirror. And everyone would believe him.