"White Rose"
By: Irvy'sLilCowgrl
All characters are Copyright Square. Please let me know what you think of the story!
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The president of Esthar sat at his desk, quietly observing the chaos that was taking place around him. His emerald green eyes watched, as three upset people paced around his office.
"Mr. President! Please! We need you to sign these bills!"
A short, chubby man said, as he waved numerous papers around in the air.
"No Mr. President! You must first go over these blueprints for the new air station that has to go up soon!"
A tall, red-faced man said stepping in front of the shorter one.
"You two must leave! Mr. Loire needs his privacy!"
Laguna Loire glanced at his secretary Anne, who was trying desperately to get the two loud gentlemen to leave the office.
He brushed a strand of his Raven hair from his forehead, and then said, "Jim. Daniel. Please follow my secretary Anne. She will be happy to take your requests, and I will get to them as soon as I finish these."
Laguna pointed to a large stack of papers sitting on his desk.
Anne, smiling politely at the two men, motioned for them to follow her.
"Yes sir, Mr. President." Jim, the chubby man said quietly.
The two men followed Anne out, and the door to Laguna's office shut with a quiet "click."
"Whew!" Laguna said to himself. "Finally some quiet time!"
Laguna leaned back in his chair, and shut his eyes. His thoughts drifted away from his work, and onto Raine, and how much he missed her.
Laguna had yet to find another woman in his life that equaled up to even an ounce of Raine's grace, beauty and strength. Oh sure he had been out with numerous women after the death of his beloved wife, but in the end, none of them ever worked out.
They were usually only after one thing.
Laguna was the President of a big country, and being the wife of a President had its perks. Laguna was too smart for this, though, and always ended up getting his heart broken. He was the one who had to break it off with a woman that he thought loved him for him alone, and not because he was the President.
"Raine, how I miss you." Laguna thought sadly. "You wouldn't care if I was the President of Esthar, or a lonely beggar on the streets. You'd still love me."
Laguna's thoughts then drifted away from Raine, and he thought about how much everything had changed in the past few years. It had been three years since the Sorceress Ultimecia was defeated, and peace was restored everywhere.
"My son…the hero." He said quietly to himself.
Laguna's son Squall was still the commander of SeeD. Every once in a while, Laguna would hear from Squall, but most of the time is was on a professional basis.
For some reason, Squall was uncomfortable with the fact that Laguna was his father, and he made it a point not to bring it up during their brief conversations.
Laguna, although proud to have a son as great as Squall, understood his discomfort on the subject, and decided not to push it any further with the boy.
"I wonder how he's been doing?" Laguna thought with a small smile. "I really should visit-"
Suddenly Laguna's office door opened and shut loudly, jolting him from his thoughts.
"Laguna! How is it going?"
In walked Laguna's personal advisors, whom happened to also be his two best friends.
"Kiros! Ward! How has the day treated you?" Laguna asked, happy to see his friends.
"Very good, Laguna. How about yourself?"
"What do you think?" Laguna asked, motioning to the huge piles of paper on his desk.
"Very….umm….busy?" Kiros said with a small laugh.
"To say the least." Laguna replied.
Ward, whose voice was still silenced from the accident at the excavation site, chuckled quietly.
Laguna stood up, and brushed his hair out of his face.
"You know, guys, sometimes I wish I could just get away from here for a while. I haven't had not one vacation since I became President of Esthar."
"Why don't you take one then Laguna." Kiros replied. "Ward and I can hold down the fort for a week or so."
"And what about these?" Laguna asked, pointing to the large stack of papers on his desk.
"Oh come on! What are these?"
Kiros picked up a couple of the papers.
"Sign this, veto that. All of these things have most likely been here for a week already, and they can wait another week or so."
"All right! All right! You've got me convinced." Laguna said with a deep laugh.
Not that he needed much convincing.
"Pack my bags boys! I'm going to Balamb Garden!"
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Squall Leonhart, the commander of SeeD, walked slowly through Balamb Garden's quad.
His azure eyes took in the wonderful sights of life around him. It was springtime, and the flowers were blooming, and the birds singing cheerfully.
Squall watched the students walking hand in hand, laughing, talking, and enjoying the warm sunshine.
The young man walked up to the nearby balcony, and looked over the vast field that surrounded the garden. Squall had decided to park the garden in this spot over a year ago, and apparently it was a great decision.
The students of the garden loved being able to go out into the beautiful fields, and enjoy nature, instead of being confined inside of the garden all of the time.
Squall looked down to the left, and saw students walking together in a beautiful rose garden. White, red, orange, yellow, all the colors of the rainbow waved cheerfully in the wind, as it caressed the soft petals of each beautiful rose in the menagerie.
The rose garden had been planted when Balamb Garden first made the vast field it's permanent home.
Squall took his attention away from the beautiful colors, and turned to see Balamb's resident sharpshooter, Irvine Kinneas, approaching.
"Hey Squall," Irvine said with a trademark sideways grin, "How you doing?"
"Fine. You?"
"Eh….I'm alright. I'd be better, if it weren't for these." Irvine pointed to a small stack of papers that he had sat down next to Squall.
Since Ultimecia's defeat, both Irvine and Zell had decided to become instructors at Balamb Garden.
Irvine, of course, taught "The Basics of Sharpshooting" while Zell taught "Martial Arts 101".
"Where's Rinoa?" Irvine asked, looking around for Squall's "shadow", as she was known around the garden.
"She's helping Selphie decorate for the masquerade ball that's coming up."
"Oh that Stardust thingy…." Irvine said, snapping his finger. "I need a date for that!"
"It's called the Stardust Masquerade Ball, Irvine." Squall replied. "And what about Selphie?"
"Selphie's got a date already…I heard her talking about it yesterday." Irvine said quietly.
"Well…I'm sure….Irvine??"
Squall watched Irvine, as he waved to a small group of girls, who were giggling.
"Hey Squall, sorry! Gotta run! I'm workin' on that date!" Irvine grabbed his papers up, and jogged toward the girls.
"Hey Laura! Tanya! Kelly! Wait up ladies! How would you like the honor…."
Squall watched as Irvine's deep voice faded away, along with the girls' giggles.
"He'll never change…" Squall thought.
"Commander Squall! Commander Squall!" Xu came running up, out of breath.
"Was…..Looking….Everywhere….." Xu said, trying to catch her breath. "Whew! Commander Squall, there is an extra special guest to the garden in your office right now! He asks specifically for you sir!"
"Oh no…." Squall thought. " Not another special reporter looking for interviews with the heroes….I cant take anymore!"
"Sir! Come along! You mustn't keep him waiting!" Xu called, her brown eyes growing impatient.
"I'm coming. I'm coming." Squall said, sighing deeply. "What's next?" he thought, as he followed Xu toward his office.
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Please Read and let me know what you think! I know that Laguna and Quistis are a weird couple, because of the age difference….but maybe Quis likes older guys!
I will post the next chapter verrrry soon!!! Thanks!