-_-_-_-_-_-
Hundreds of students and instructors gathered around the unprotected leader as he made his way toward the main hall. Being the ham that he is, Laguna stopped for photo opportunities with the pupils and answered many of their questions about his favorite cereal and what he thought was funnier: cheese or beavers. For the extremely difficult questions, Laguna would shake his head slightly and answer, "No comment."
Kiros and Ward were becoming perturbed and urged Laguna to continue on. "Come ON, MAN! Let's go! You can talk to these people anytime, but if you don't hurry, Squall might leave the country!"
"Alright, alright! Geeze, you always have to burst my burble?"
"That's bubble, Laguna."
"Yeah, whatever." He waved and smiled one last time before following Ward and Kiros into the check-in office.
"Name?" the secretary asked.
"Laguna Loire." He took a deep breath then smiled. "President of Esthar."
"Seriously, sir."
"Laguna Loire," he repeated.
"Okay, let's do it this way. Who are you here to see?"
"Squall Loi-....Lion....Leo..."
Ward and Kiros exchanged distressed glances.
"Lyonhate...Luo... It does start with an 'L', right?"
"Leonhart! The kid's name is Leonhart!" Kiros yelled.
"Um....What he said."
The secretary rechecked her papers and pulled out a plastic coated name tag. "Here you go, Mr., oh, excuse me, 'President' Loire."
Laguna thanked the woman and pinned the tag to his jacket. "Do you know where I could find him?"
"The commander should be taking his lunch break. Try the cafeteria to your right."
"But where's Squall?"
The woman sighed heavily. "Commander Leonhart is in the C A F E T E R I A."
He paused, unsure of what she was trying to say. When it finally hit him, he turned excitedly to his friends. "D'ja hear that? My son's the commander!" He laughed giddily. "Takes after his old man," he added proudly.
"....."
"What d'ja say, Ward?"
Kiros gladly interpreted. "He agrees that you're old."
"Son!"
"AHH!!!" Squall fell over in his seat and defensively held the plastic spork in front of his face.
Irvine chuckled heartily as he revealed his identity to his petrified teammate. Squall, of course, did not laugh.
"That was inhumane," he mumbled as he picked up the plastic chair.
Irvine shrugged. "Sorry. I couldn't miss the opportunity," he smiled.
"Son!"
Squall scowled at Irvine, who threw up his hands in defense. "Wasn't me this time!"
"You mean..." Squall whispered frightfully.
"Son!" Laguna yelled again as he ran to him.
Unable to move due to fear, Squall stood still, tensely squeezing his fists. He grunted uncomfortably as Laguna practically squashed him with a hug.
"How's my boy doing? You got a girlfriend? Are you passing all your classes? How do you like your teachers? Do they hassle you? Have you ever been sent to the principal's office?"
"Whatever, yes, straight A's, whatever, sometimes, we don't have a principal. I guess that answered all your questions, the next flight out is in a half hour."
"Don't worry about my job, I've cleared the entire week just for you!"
Squall's twitch went unnoticed as Laguna hugged him once more. His eyes searched the cafeteria rapidly, awaiting for his other teammates (or at least Selphie, who'd stick to Laguna like glue) to see him and come to his rescue....but no one came.
"Hey, why don't you show me around? I'd love to meet your friends. You...do have friends now, right?"
"...."
".......Or, you could tell me about your normal day. Do you take any extra curricular activities?
"...."
"Play a sport?"
"...No."
"Take art?"
"...No."
"Take music?"
"...No."
"Joined a club?...No, huh?"
"...."
"What do you take?"
"Sleeping pills."
Laguna decided not to continue asking questions about school, considering Squall was giving him the cold shoulder.
".....Wanna play Parcheesi?"
It didn't take long before Selphie caught sight of President Loire. Her little heart skipped a beat and her hyper mode kicked in. "Sir Laguna! Sir Laguna!" she screamed and skipped merrily over to Squall and his father.
'There is a God!' "Selphie!" Squall waved his arms in the air. "Over here! Look! It's L-a-g-u-n-a!"
"Is she your friend?" he whispered to Squall, who nodded happily. "You have more than one, right?"
"Laguna, Laguna, Laguna!" Selphie sang.
"Isn't she cute?" the president smiled. "She sounds like those moombas."
"I'll just.....leave you guys alone...So you can get better acquainted." Squall struggled to release Laguna's grip on his arm.
"Nonsense, son!" he laughed. "Hey, why don't you round up 'the gang' and we can hang out!"
"Hang out?"
"Yeah! It'll be fun!"
"Hang out? You wanna hang out with my friends?"
"And you, of course!" He patted him on the back. Squall figured that pat to be number forty-two and decided that when he reached one hundred, would report child abuse.
Selphie continued to jump up and down. "I'll get everyone for you! SeeDs have some time off today, anyway. We'll meet you at your dorm, Squall!" She rushed off cheerfully, heading toward Kiros and Ward, who quickly side-stepped her.
Squall nearly choked. "My dorm?"
Irvine, Rinoa, Quistis, and Zell had gathered into Squall's dorm. They each greeted President Loire respectfully and answered his questions.
"How long have you known my son? Is he doing well commanding Garden? Are you old enough to vote?"
Zell scratched the back of his head in thought. "Er, well, I knew Squall at the orphanage, but forgot about him-"
"Yeah, that's easy to do."
"....after I was adopted. We met up again late last year. He's doin' a great job with the Garden. Lot's of stuff always goin' on...."
"So, tell me, Zell....can you vote? Next year's an election year...."
"I'll be old enough in March, but-"
"You're going to vote for me, right?!" Laguna grabbed Zell by the collar before he fell over from shock.
Zell nervously squeaked out, "I wasn't planning on-"
"You're going to vote for me, right?!"
"I'm not even a citizen of Esthar!"
"Laguna, please let Zell go. He has enough problems as it is," Squall sighed.
Laguna looked at his hands in embarrassment and released Zell. "Sorry, kid, I always get excited when talking about politics," he apologized, half laughing.
Zell backed away cautiously. "No prob."
"Didn't you say you had a girlfriend, Squall?" Kiros questioned.
His father put his hand over his heart and, quite dramatically, said, "My little boy's growing up." He sniffled a little, then turned to face Squall.
"...."
"Can I meet her?"
"Sure." He brought Rinoa up to Laguna. "Not like the knife can go any deeper, anyway," he grumbled.
Rinoa shot him an angered glance, but decided not say anything. "Nice to meet you, I'm Rinoa Heartilly." She smiled warmly and they shook hands.
"Heartilly? That sounds really familiar...."
Kiros ran over hastily. "Change of subject!" he interrupted.
Laguna rested his head in his hand. "Heartilly...."
"Why don't we all go for a ride? We could...uh...stop at the park!" Kiros waved his hands, trying to get others to join in.
"Is your hand asleep?" Irvine inquired.
Kiros walked over to Irvine and whispered, "If he remembers this girl Julia, he's going to get upset. Change the subject!"
Irvine nodded in agreement and proceeded to throw out suggestions. "We could see a movie, go bowling, sneak into a bar-"
Laguna raised an eyebrow. "Did you say bar?"
"No!" Kiros answered for him. "He said...barber's. We should all get a hair cut!"
"Which one?" Laguna laughed hysterically at his joke, while the others stared blankly.
Acting as though he was never cut off, Irvine continued offering selections. "We could go to an amusement park, fight monsters at the training center-"
"That sounds like fun! It's been so long since I've destroyed monsters... It'll be great to be able to fight alongside my son."
Squall winced as Laguna patted his back for the sixty-second time. By now, Squall was seriously thinking of lowering the number to sixty-five.
Hope you enjoyed part 3!