Laguna walked into the great room of the presidential palace and was greeted by a funny sight. Ward, was sitting on the floor by the coffee table cross-legged, holding a tiny child sized tea cup with two fingers wearing a small black top hat and a purple feather boa.
His teacup was filled with imaginary tea by a two-year-old little girl dressed in a plastic tiara and pink plastic slippers, her curly black hair was pulled up into pigtails on the sides of her head, and her lavender dress had costume jewelry clipped all over it. Laguna suppressed a laugh after catching a glared from Ward that conveyed the message of: "tell anyone about this, and I will kill you."
He had no doubt been bullied by this tiny tyrant into having tea with her, and with him not being able to speak and her not being able to read his facial expressions, it was probably not hard for her to do.
She turned to see what Ward had been looking at, and her bright blue eye lit up as she smiled and ran over to Laguna.
"Daddy! Come have tee wif mee!" She squealed in delight, taking his hand and pulling him over to the table.
"I'd love to baby doll, but I think I'm a little underdressed!" He said sweetly.
"That's ok; I'll dress yoo up!" She said, excitedly pulling him down to sit on the floor next to Ward.
She then ran to dig in a giant toy box and brought him a bright pink feather boa, some costume jewelry, and a pair of big green sunglasses. She gleefully wrapped the boa around his neck and clipped the plastic jewel earrings onto his earlobes, and he put the large sunglasses on his face.
"How do I look?" He asked, holding out his arms.
Ward let out a breathy chuckle.
"Aliesie?" He asked the little girl.
"You need dis," she answered, taking off her tiara and placing it on his head.
"Oh wow! I get to be a princess?!" Laguna asked excitedly. She nodded in response as she served him some imaginary tea, making all the pouring noises herself.
"Sweet! What should my princess name be?" He asked her before taking an exaggerated sip.
She had thought for a second before a large cheeky grin appeared on her face.
"Princess Sparkles," she laughed.
"Perfect! Now, what about Uncle Ward?" He asked.
"Ummm… Lady…" she thought carefully about what Ward's name should be. "Banana!" She continued.
"Lady Banana, I think that's the perfect name!" Laguna praised, as he gave Ward a pat on the arm, Ward nodded in approval.
"Oh my, what's going on here?" Kiros asked as he entered the great room.
"Kiros! We are having a fancy tea party with the fair princess Aliesie!" Laguna answered in a posh accent.
"I see…" Kiros nodded with an entertained expression on his face. "Laguna, Ward, I need to speak with the two of you."
"There is only Princess Sparkles and Lady Banana present, presently!" Laguna replied in the same posh accent.
"Laguna…" Kiros pleaded.
"Princess Sparkles!" Laguna demanded, crossing his arms over his chest, Ward was doing the same as well.
"Very well, Princess…Sparkles, I need to speak with you," Kiros conceded.
"We may speak after tea!" Laguna respond, hold his palm out to Kiros. "For now, we may
discuss the happenings of Mr. Bear and Ms. Unicorn!" Laguna continued gesturing for Kiros to sit.
Aliesie looked up at Kiros, excited about having another member of the tea party. He couldn't resist her puppy dog eyes and sighed in defeat before joining them on the floor.
"Yoo can be Lady pumpernickel!" She said with excitement as she wrapped a boa around his neck as well.
"I can work with that," Kiros shrugged.
Pain surged through his body; he couldn't breathe and felt his heart might explode from the voltage.
Even after the shock stopped, it was still hard to breathe, and he couldn't move. Blood pooled on the floor beneath him, his blood. With every shock the pool got bigger, his muscles tensed causing the razor wire to cut deeper.
"Why?" Laguna murmured.
"Speak up," Domino scolded.
"Why?" Laguna repeated, "why are you doing this?"
Domino kept repeating the same pattern. She would regress him to one of his happy memories then snap him out of it with a jolt of electricity. Sometimes she would change it up with fire, water, ice or even club him but electricity was her favorite. Every time she would shock him she tightened the wire holding him to the chair.
"Why are you doing all of this?" Laguna asked again.
"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific my dear," Domino laughed.
"You," Laguna didn't have the strength to form his thoughts into speech.
He wanted to ask so many things, like why she felt the need to torture him, which was the only thing that kept repeating in his mind.
"If you're wondering why you're being punished, it's because I'm not allowed to kill you," she said solemnly. "Yet."
"What?" Laguna asked breathlessly.
"Does that surprise you?" She laughed.
"Yes," Laguna answered.
"I'm hurt," she pouted, " I'll have you know, not one person has died because of me."
"Not for lack of trying my dear," Damion said as he entered.
"You've got me there!" she said gleefully "In my defense, you only said not to kill anyone. You didn't say I couldn't have fun."
"Sadistic bitch," Laguna whispered.
"What was that? You want more pain?" she asked, leaning close to Laguna's face. "Well if that's what you want, far be it for me to say no!"
Another bolt of electricity surged through his body, and everything went black.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Seifer muttered as he peeked around the corner.
They hadn't run into any resistance since Kiros and Ward. The palace was empty and unsettling.
"What do you think is going on?" Alana whispered.
Even at low volumes, their voices carried through the corridor. They tried to keep noise to a minimum even though Domino knew they were there if she hadn't she wouldn't have sent Kiros and Ward to attack them.
"Either they're all out fighting Garden, or," Seifer started.
"Or?" Alana prodded.
"It's a trap," Zell finished.
"I don't think that's the case," Alana said. She and Seifer were both focused on the way forward even to cast a glance back at Zell who was bringing up the rear.
"What would make it a trap? There is no one around," Alana asked.
"The gun to my back is the first clue," Zell deadpanned.
Seifer and Alana both turned to see Zell with his hands in the air and an Esthar soldier indeed had a gun to his back.
"Shit," Seifer muttered when more soldiers emerged.
Surrounded and outnumbered they had no choice but to surrender. If it had been just Zell and Seifer, they would have fought their way through, but they had Alana to consider and wouldn't be able to fight all of them off and keep her safe.
Zell and Seifer exchanged dark looks as the guards disarmed them and put handcuffs on their wrists but said nothing.
Squall looked out from the Garden bridge and watched as Esthar grew closer and closer. Even though the battle was a distraction, it was no less nerve-wracking. He ran great risk of losing a lot of SeeDs and students, all for the sake of saving one person.
Part of him wondered if it was worth it. All of them were willing to do what they were ordered to, but they were risking their lives for what felt like Squall's selfish need to save his father.
"We're just outside the city," Nida said bringing the Garden to a stop.
Squall jumped at the sudden intrusion.
"When did you get here?" he asked.
"I've been here the entire time," Nida laughed. "Who do you think has been piloting Garden?"
"Sorry," Squall sighed.
"I'm used to it."
Squall let out a long sigh as they slipped back into his head.
He had no idea what his plan was to stop Domino. She was powerful, if they killed her, her power would just go to another woman who could end up doing the same thing.
Hyne forbid it be Rinoa that took her power. The world would want her head on a pike. Even though Squall promised to protect her if she became the world's enemy, he didn't want to have to fight off the entire world.
They could always seal her away, but she wasn't likely to fall for any attempt to draw her to the sorceress memorial.
"Do you think I'm an idiot commander?"
"What?" Squall asked looking around.
"What?" Nida parroted.
"Who said that?" He asked.
"No one said anything," Nida answered.
"Only you can hear me."
"Why?" He asked the voice.
"Because I said so, that's why."
"What do you want?" Squall asked.
"Squall, who are you talking to?" Nida asked.
"Shh!" Squall hushed him.
"Why don't we get rid of the distractions?"
In the blink of an eye, Squall was in Laguna's office once again. This time it was empty except Squall, and a woman who Squall could only assume was Domino seated behind the desk.
"Tell me, Commander, do you remember the deal I offered you?" She asked.
Squall said nothing.
"Let me refresh your memory then," she said standing up. "You let me have your wife's power, your father lives."
Squall remained silent. Domino didn't seem pleased, and Squall didn't want to risk making the situation worse.
"I feel I was very clear on my terms. Was I not?" Domino asked.
"You were," Squall sighed after a long silence.
"Then I'll ask you again. Do you think I'm an idiot?"
"No," he sighed, "I believe that you're a psychopath."
"Don't try to flatter me, Commander," she flirted.
"Just get to the point you're trying to make," Squall demanded.
"Wow, you aren't much for foreplay are you?" she laughed, "I feel sorry for your wife."
"Don't you dare say one word about my wife," he snapped.
"Don't be so dramatic," she said rolling her eyes.
"Make your point," he demanded again.
"I've laid out the dots, it's not my fault you aren't connecting them," she shrugged.
"Enough with your games," he yelled.
"You're no fun," she pouted.
Squall glared at her; she was frustrating beyond belief, toying with him the way she was. He didn't want to admit to her that he knew the point she was trying to make. She must have known about the rescue attempt.
He knew that was a risk when he came up with the idea, but he figured it would work out in the end. He was wrong.
"You knew the terms, and you've made it obvious what your choice is," she said quickly.
"What?" Squall started to panic at her tone and tried hard to hide it.
"You can't have your cake and eat it too," she said casually. "What happens next is on you."
In a bright flash of light, Squall was back in Garden laying face down on the floor. He shook his head slightly disoriented.
"Are you ok, Squall?" Nida asked, panicked.
"I'm all right," he grumbled.
"What happened? You were talking, and then you just collapsed," he explained.
"That's the least of our problems right now," Squall growled.
"What do you mean?" Nida asked.
"Get ready to storm the palace," Squall ordered. "Make the announcement."
She was more intimidating than Zell expected her to be. The power she possessed just rolled off of her, churning his stomach. A small part of him could feel Aliesie's power, but it didn't have the same pull on him as it did before.
All three of them exchanged concerned glances; given the state of Laguna, there was no telling what she would do to them. The soldiers forced all of them into metal chairs and strapped their hands and feet to the legs.
"What do we have here?" She smiled. "Some new playmates?"
"Sadistic bitch," Seifer mumbled.
"You can't tell me a man like you doesn't like it rough," she said pinching his cheek.
"You're not my type," he said shaking her hand off.
"Right," Domino laughed, "you prefer older women, right?" she continued, glancing at Alana.
Seifer scoffed; "You don't know anything about me."
"I've been inside her head," she whispered in his ear. "But, that has nothing to do with why you're here, does it? I do, however, know why you are her and I'd like you to know that your efforts are fruitless."
"What are you talking about?" Alana asked, her voice shaking.
"Allow me to show you," Domino smiled.
She held her hand out and produced a dagger from thin air. A wicked smile stretched across her face as she moved closer to Laguna. She slid her hands down his chest seductively and with her free hand slapped him across the face to wake him up.
He jolted, gasping in pain till she put the dagger to his chin.
"Were you enjoying your fantasy?" she whispered.
She slid the dagger slowly across his face. His breathing became shallow and quick as he began to panic. His eyes darted around the room looking for help when he spotted them. They were tied, but he still pleaded silently for their help. Alana looked at him with a mixture of panic and pity, Seifer and Zell looked on with nothing but anger. There wasn't anything they could do to stop it.
Domino raised the dagger over her head and brought it down full force toward his heart, before it made contact an explosion jolted the building, knocking the blade from her hand.
One explosion, followed by another and another till the room filled with dirt and smoke. Laguna heard muffled voices yelling, gunshots and more explosions. He wanted to hide, fight, scream for help and do something but he couldn't. Laguna couldn't even hold his head up. Then he felt hands on him, and the wire holding him down cut away.
He felt weightless. Then pain as his body jostled, someone was carrying him. He had no idea where but he couldn't muster the strength to worry about it. He felt himself fading faster and faster into unconsciousness.
"Laguna!"
That voice. He knew that voice.
"Laguna!"
There it was again. It echoed Laguna couldn't tell which direction it was coming from, he struggled to find it, but he couldn't move.
"Laguna, wake up!"
His eyes fluttered open, and he was blinded. The light hurt his eyes; his body was into much pain to move.
"Laguna?"
Alana appeared in his field of vision briefly before he faded back into darkness. He could still hear her voice it was muffled and mixed with a high-pitched ringing sound. She seemed scared like she was crying.
He was falling, falling far away from everyone. Voices faded into silence; light became darkness breathing became harder like he was drowning. He remembered this feeling. It was the same as when he fell off the cliff. He couldn't move in the water with his leg broken. That must be what was happening to him now. He was still in the water.
"What do we do now?" Zell asked.
"I don't know," Squall answered.
It was a miracle that Squall managed to storm the palace and save Laguna and the others in time, but the small victory felt empty. The reason being that Laguna was in critical condition and Domino was still alive. More than likely she was not happy.
They managed to get far enough away from Esthar that they could breathe a small sigh of relief, but Squall had a feeling it would be short lived. Domino would likely strike back hard and fast leaving little time for retaliation. Their best bet was to get as far away as they could and at least get Laguna to a hospital before it happened.
"Do you know where we're going?" Seifer asked.
"Galbadia," Squall answered.
"You sure Galbadia is safe?" Seifer asked with a chuckle.
"Safer than Esthar," Squall reasoned.
"What are we gonna do about Domino?" Rinoa asked.
Squall couldn't answer that question. There wasn't much he could do about Domino, she could get in people's heads, and Rinoa was her number one target. All he could do was keep her safe, far away from Domino.
There was only one way that would be possible.
"Zell, go get Quistis," Squall ordered, "tell her I need to speak with her right away."
"About what?" Zell asked.
"Just do it," he pleaded.
Zell shrugged and did as he was told.
"Seifer, can you give us a minute?" Squall asked when Zell left.
Seifer raised an eyebrow curiously then nodded before following after Zell.
Squall stayed silent staring off into the distance, deep in thought as he usually was Rinoa was worried, though. He wasn't as confident as he usually was, he seemed shaken and honestly a little scared.
"Squall?" she asked quietly.
He snapped out of his gaze at the sound of her voice and gave her his full attention. He made an unusual noise urging her to say what was on her mind.
"Is everything alright?" she asked.
"No," he chuckled darkly.
"What's wrong?"
"Rin," he started, "we can't stay here."
"What are you talking about?" she chuckled nervously.
"You're not safe here," Squall explained, grabbing her shoulders.
"We're in a flying fortress surrounded by trained and experienced mercenaries that will follow your every command without question," Rinoa scoffed. "I'm fairly sure we're in the safest place on the planet."
"Garden makes us a giant target. If we stay we're putting everyone here at risk are you willing to sacrifice them just to keep Domino from getting your powers?"
"No, but… Garden is our home. All our friends are here," Rinoa cried.
"They can take care of themselves," Squall scoffed. "I know you don't want to, but I need you to trust me on this. As soon as we get to Galbadia, you and I are leaving Garden."
"For how long?" Rinoa asked with tears starting to form in her eyes.
"I don't know," Squall answered.
He was aware that they could be gone for years, possibly the rest of their lives. All he knew was they couldn't stay, as much as Rinoa objected she had no choice but to agree.
It was hard seeing Laguna in such bad shape. All the years Alana had known him she never imagined this kind of thing happening to him even though he was always cavalier with his personal security. Alana felt helpless. There wasn't anything she could do to fix what happened and that hurt more than anything. If she hadn't been so stubborn in the past and asked him for help none of this would have happened.
Domino did a lot of damage to him. Broken bones in his arms, legs hands and feet; a few cracked ribs, shattered eye socket and extensive nerve damage. According to Dr. Kadowaki, he would need corrective surgery to repair the damage but would likely never return to full mobility.
"How is he?" Seifer asked, making Alana jump.
She hadn't left his side since they returned to Garden and Seifer would pop in at least once an hour to check on her.
"still no change," she sighed leaning back in her chair.
"You should probably get some sleep," he said sitting in a chair next to her.
"I'm not tired," she yawned grabbing Seifer's cup of coffee and taking a swig.
"I can get you your own if you want," Seifer chuckled.
"This one is fine," she replied taking another drink.
A long silence passed between them. The only sound in the room was Laguna's slow breathing and the steady beeping of the heart monitor. Seifer felt the need to say something, but he couldn't quite find the words that would alleviate the awkward situation in which he found himself.
"We need to find a way to stop her," Alana whispered.
"How do you propose we do that?" Seifer asked.
"I wish I knew," she chuckled darkly. "I'm up for anything honestly. My last plan didn't quite turn out so well as you can see."
"He's alive, and so is Aliesie," Seifer stated, "I'd call it a win."
"I wouldn't, Domino is still alive," she sighed.
"Sometimes you have to lose the battle before you can win the war," Seifer replied.
"Are you trying to cheer me up?" Alana asked raising an eyebrow.
"Pfft," he shrugged, "no."
"If you're not careful I might start to think you're a nice guy," she laughed.
"I am a nice guy," Seifer scoffed. "you are just one of those people that brings out my 'softer' side."
"I'm not the only one?" she laughed. "I thought I was special."
"Ha, no one is," he smirked.
They fell back into the silence that made Seifer uncomfortable. He'd never had to deal with this kind of thing before he didn't like feeling ill prepared. As much as he hated to admit it, he wanted to make her feel better mostly because sad people made him uncomfortable. He didn't see much point in wallowing; he was more in the mindset of "the only way to fix the problem is to do something about it, sitting around won't fix anything."
Sadly in this situation, there wasn't much to do outside of sitting and waiting.
"About what Domino said," Seifer said awkwardly.
"She was just trying to get in your head; I wouldn't read much into it," Alana interrupted.
"Yeah," Seifer sighed.
Hours later they arrived outside Deling city limits, Laguna and all the injured SeeDs and cadets were taken to the hospital. Laguna was rushed into surgery. Seifer and Alana departed Garden shortly after to stay with Laguna. Zell stayed behind, not sure what he should do.
Zell felt like he should go with Alana and Seifer and meet up with Aliesie later on but he also felt obligated to stay with Garden and go after Domino like he'd been trained to do. Either way, he might end up facing off with Domino again, but with SeeD, he'd have more resources at his disposal.
He decided his best option would be to talk to Squall about it. Zell wanted someone else to look at the situation and give him advice on what to do; Squall was the only one he knew who could be objective.
When he got to Squall's office, he didn't even take notice that Squall wasn't there before he started talking. He'd gotten through all he needed to say before realizing he wasn't talking to Squall but Quistis.
"Where's Squall?" he asked.
"Gone," she answered, organizing papers on the desk.
"Where?" he asked.
"Don't know, he wouldn't say," she explained.
"When will he be back?" Zell sighed.
"He didn't say," Quistis shrugged. "All he said was he wouldn't put Garden at risk by keeping Rinoa here, so he left and put me in charge."
"So what's gonna happen now?" he asked.
"For now, Garden will be coming up with a strategy to take Domino down," she explained pushing herself out of what was now her chair. "That will take some time so, for now, we're staying put here, far away from Esthar. Knowing where she is has given us a small amount of security, I've spoken to Carraway, and he agreed to keep an eye on Esthar for now and alert us to any movement."
"What should I do?" Zell asked.
He didn't want just to sit and wait. He wanted to take action but that was risky, Domino was unpredictable. So much so that Squall didn't even want to risk what she might do, that alone was unsettling.
"If you want to leave I won't stop you or anyone else for that matter," she answered. "In fact, I was just about to make an announcement on that subject. I won't force anyone who doesn't want to be involved in this to fight."
"That's awfully generous of you considering this is a mercenary school," Zell chuckled.
"Most of the students who enrolled recently did so for the education, not to be cannon fodder," Quistis explained. "No one expected a third sorceress war."
"I guess you're right," Zell sighed.
"Considering how conflicted you are you might be better off going with Seifer," Quistis smiled.
"I never expected to agree with that kind of statement," Zell laughed.
"Good luck dealing with him," she chuckled.
Time passed slowly with no update on Laguna. The surgery was taking longer than expected which left Alana unsettled. She spent most of her time in the hospital pacing the waiting room with Seifer telling her repeatedly to sit down. She never listened but would just glare at him for telling her what to do.
"Do you think he's going to be alright?" Alana asked for the hundredth time in an hour.
"Yes," Seifer sighed angrily.
"You don't need to snap at me; I'm just worried," she scolded.
"You have asked the same question a million times; you're pacing so much you're wearing a path on the floor. Now for the millionth time, sit down and just wait," Seifer snapped.
"I don't want to," she hissed, she wanted to yell but didn't want to cause a scene.
"Sit," he sneered.
She scowled at him for a moment before sitting down in a huff. She crossed her legs and began tapping her nails on the armrest of her seat.
The tapping got louder and faster and started to irritate Seifer more than the pacing. He tried to tune it out for a while, but he couldn't take it. He quickly grabbed her hand to silence the tapping which earned him another dark look.
"You need to calm down," Seifer muttered.
"I can't," Alana sighed, "also, don't tell me what to do."
"I don't see why you're so worried, you and I both know he is in the best hands outside of Esthar," he said, trying his best to comfort her if only for his sanity. "Not only that, you once told me he survived falling off a cliff and breaking nearly every bone in his body."
"That was a long time ago," Alana whispered.
"And I'm pretty sure he's just as strong now as he was back then," Seifer replied.
Alana nodded, surrendering to logic. She still worried just quietly.
Seifer opened his mouth to say something when the door swung open and the doctor appeared. Alana jumped to her feet, quickly forgetting Seifer was there.
"the procedure was a success," the doctor announced.
Alana hadn't realized she was holding her breath till she let out a sigh of relief.
They had to do more than they initially realized. A metal plate was put in Laguna's skull, several pins were placed in his legs and arms, and some nerves were reattached. He would survive, but he would likely never regain a full range of motion. Thankfully as far as they could tell he suffered no brain damage.
They were permitted to see him but told he would be unresponsive for quite some time. Alana didn't want to see him that way. She was happy knowing he would recover.
"So what do we do now?" Seifer asked.
"I wish I knew," Alana shrugged. "Knowing Laguna will survive is enough for me right now."
"Yeah, but Domino isn't going to stop," Seifer said crossing his arms.
"I know that," Alana sighed.
Seifer rolled his eyes in frustration and headed for the exit. Alana followed after in silence feeling an overwhelming sense of defeat. She had no plan of action or even a glimmer of an idea. She'd been left without a leg to stand on. For the second time in her life, Domino had made her completely helpless.
When they got to the elevator, Alana let out an exasperated sigh, waiting for the doors to open. When they finally did, they came face to face with Zell.
"Hey guys," he said in surprise. "Hows Laguna?"
"He'll live," Seifer answered, "what are you doing here?"
"Well, I want to go with you guys to go after Domino," Zell replied.
"No," Seifer said flatly.
"Seifer," Alana scolded. "Thank you, Zell, we appreciate the offer."
"You can't come with us," Seifer said.
"Yes, you can," Alana said.
"No," Seifer repeated.
"So what's your plan?" Zell asked ignoring Seifer.
"We don't have one at the moment," Alana answered quietly.
"Good, because I have one," Zell replied slightly excited.
"Don't care," Seifer said, "you're not coming."
"Seifer! You are not in charge," Alana yelled. "What is your plan, Zell?"
Zell waited to see if Seifer would let him talk before finally speaking.
"We find Odine and get him to figure out how to stop Domino," Zell said enthusiastically.
"how do you propose we do that?" Seifer asked wryly.
"Seifer," Alana sighed, rubbing her temples. "Just, stop it. Zell, thank you, that's a fantastic idea. The problem is we don't know where to start looking for him."
"There's good news then; Laguna had garden keep tabs on him. The last report says he's somewhere in Trabia," Zell explained.
"Where in trabia? It's a big country," Seifer said dryly.
"It's a start," Alana said with a smile.
Her mood changed drastically from distraught to hopeful, and it didn't escape Seifer's notice. He kept his mouth shut; it was the only lead they had. He boarded the elevator in silence and headed to the lobby alone while Zell and Alana kept talking. Someone had to get supplies for going to Trabia.
His body felt heavy, his mouth was dry, and something uncomfortable stuck in his nose. He tried to move his arms to take it out but he couldn't. He groggily opened his eyes; the room was dark enough that the light didn't hurt. He tried moving his head to look around, but that was stuck in place as well.
He groaned as his eyes shifted to look around the room. He was in the hospital. That was a relief, but he didn't like not knowing what happened.
"Oh good, you're awake."
That voice. Domino.
"Wh-why," Laguna tried to speak, but his throat was to dry.
"Don't worry darling, I'm not there with you," she laughed, "but don't think you are safely out of my reach."
Laguna started to panic making his heart monitor beep louder. He looked around the room as best he could and as far as he could tell he was completely alone. It wasn't much of a relief considering she only needed to be in his head to do damage.
"You may think I'm a monster," she sighed. "But as you know, your son made his choice."
Laguna knew from the moment he heard Domino make Squall an offer that Rinoa would be the one he chose. It was an outcome that Laguna had accepted. He took some comfort in the fact that Squall tried to save him.
"I'm even feeling somewhat merciful since I've already had my fun with you," she chuckled. "Goodnight, Mr. President."
Laguna didn't know what she was going to do, but he felt himself drift back into the abyss he'd fallen into before. It was only for a second, his eyes snapped back open, but he wasn't in the hospital room anymore.
It was unmistakable, the smell of the cool summer air, the grass, the flowers, he was home in Winhill. The stars twinkled in the sky and the moon shone brightly overhead, there was something familiar about it. He felt something in his hand; he looked down to see a ring in his palm.
"Laguna?"
Her voice made him jump; he quickly spun around to face her. She was as beautiful as ever, her smile, her eyes. He hadn't realized how much he missed her all those years till this moment.
"Raine," he murmured with a quick wave.
"What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?" she asked with a smile.
"Oh, nothing," he said quickly turning around.
"Laguna—"
She started to speak but was interrupted when he turned back and put the ring on her finger. She was stunned as she looked at the ring Laguna could see the tears forming in her eyes when he showed her the matching ring on his finger. She smiled brightly and threw her arms around him.
"I love you, Raine," he whispered. "Let's go home."
Alana didn't know what to do or say. She sat in silence as the car rumbled down the bumpy road, Seifer sat next to her in the back seat, Zell in the driver's seat with Aliesie next to him.
He was supposed to recover. That thought kept repeating in her head over the past few days ever since the hospital called to give her the news. No one believed it was truly complications from surgery that caused it. Everyone knew the truth; no one wanted to say it.
"Not far now," Zell announced.
Alana had never been to Winhill; she wished it was under better circumstances, but fate had other plans.
Everything about the service passed in a blur, Alana was grateful that it wasn't anything big it meant fewer people to deal with and not having to lie about what killed him. Everyone there already knew.
He was gone. Alana didn't know what to do, what was she supposed to say to Aliesie? It was easier last time she buried a man she loved; then her child was just a baby who didn't even know what was happening. Aliesie was an adult who knew full well what happened.
"You ready to go?" Seifer asked. Alana jumped when he nudged her arm.
"Give me a minute," she answered. Everyone else had already headed back up the hill, Seifer nodded and started back up the hill leaving her alone next to his grave.
"Hey, Laguna," she began but wasn't sure exactly what she wanted to say. He always said he wanted to be buried with Raine when he died, Alana fulfilled that wish.
"So, you're gone," she suppressed the urge to cry. "The last few days I've been thinking about a lot of different things. I never thought I would get a second chance after Kaz died. I figured I was done; then I met you. I never dreamed I could love again, I placed my bet, and you came through for me. I still lost, though; I always seem to."
She had to take a moment to compose herself.
"Thank you, Laguna. Also fuck you, for making me think life might be fair. I don't regret anything about our life together is over and I'll always love you," she couldn't fight the tears anymore. "Take care of our idiot Raine," she choked before turning to leave.
"You ok?" Seifer asked, meeting her halfway up.
"I will be," she answered with a shaky voice. "Are you ready for another adventure?" she choked out a laugh.
"I don't work for free," he smiled wryly.
"Oh? What are your demands?" Alana asked.
"I require a boat," Seifer answered.
"Why do you want a boat?" Alana chuckled.
"You seem to have misheard, I said, require, it's a synonym for need. I need a boat," Seifer said crossing his arms.
"Ok, why do you need a boat?" Alana clarified.
"Pirate stuff," Seifer replied.
"I'm not buying you a boat."
"Are you sure you don't want to come along?" Zell asked Aliesie wrapping his arms around her shoulders.
She buried her face into his chest and nodded.
"It'll be a while before I can come back to see you," he said stroking her hair.
"I know," she whispered. "But I'll just get in the way if I come along."
He couldn't argue with her logic. It was better that she stay behind, but he didn't like it all the same.
After this, it was straight to Trabia for who knows how long. He wanted more time with her, she'd just lost her father, and he wanted to be with her.
He sighed and rested his cheek on top of her head. He caught a glimpse of Seifer and Alana heading back up the hill. He didn't have much time left with her.
"Marry me," he blurted.
She tensed in surprise before pulling away from him. The shock was evident on her face.
"What?" she asked.
"Marry me," he repeated confidently.
"Ok," she nodded quietly.
He smiled and leaned in to kiss her, " I love you," he whispered.
"I know," she replied. "I love you too."
The ride back to the town square was as quiet as the ride to the gravesite. It was a different kind of silence; it was a comfortable silence. Hopeful.
They still had a long journey ahead of them. They lacked resources and manpower, but they made up for it in determination to make the world a better place. The road ahead was going to be challenging, but they wouldn't back down.
The end
Yes, this is where it ends I'm sorry it isn't happier but this is where it felt natural to finish. I plan on writing a sequel eventually but as of right now that's a long way down the road. Thank you to everyone who had reviewed so far and every one who has favorite and followed this story. A special thanks to Siobhane for supporting this story since the beginning and even beta reading a few chapters, you are and Silentstarlightsky are the ones I kept it going for.
Its not my best but it is my first published fanfiction and after almost a year and a half its finally finished. Thank you, everyone!
This chapter was inspired by the song Always starting over from the musical If/Then and some lyrics were included in the dialogue.
