Author's Note: Okaay...Sylin from Seifer's Song is in here. It might prove a little spoiler for the 4th chapter of the story, which shall be posted soon, but it shouldn't. Enjoy! Oh and I've changed the time line a little bit...Seifer's birthday is a couple days later than the stragety guide says it is.
Light from the moon filtered through the small houses
and into the small town square of Winhill. It cast silvery shadows
on the tall dark haired man that entered
the quiet, sleeping town. He had a machine gun slung over his
shoulders, and his long thick hair was pulled back with a band. A
soft wind passed through the town, pulling some of his hair down across
his eyes. The man ignored it, and quickened his pace, his footsteps
echoing dully, as if even the ground the town stood on didn't want his
presence there. His footsteps faded as he stopped at the door to
a pub. No lights were lit, and an eerie echo sounded as the door
creaked open.
Laguna Loire found himself looking into the barrel
of a gun.
"Hey, Raine...it's me." he said, startled.
The gun was lowered and the voice that was not his loved ones replied,
cold and harsh.
"There is no Raine here." it said, and Laguna peered
into the darkness, only making out shadowed, harsh chiseled features. Laguna
stepped boldly into the darkness, swinging his machine gun off his shoulder.
"Who the hell are you? And where is my wife and
daughter?" Laguna demanded, and his only reply was silence. The gun
was aimed at his heart this time when the figure raised his weapon again.
"You have nothing left here, outsider, so leave
before I kill you." he snarled, the lines on his face becoming deep and
cruel with anger and hatred. Laguna retreated several steps, and the door
slammed in his face. His hearing picked up the man leaving through
the back, and Laguna carefully opened the door again. When he stepped
into the pub, the difference was noticeable immediately.
The surface of the bars were no longer so clean
that they gleamed; they were covered in dust and a dark, nearly black stain
marred the floor. The air was thick and stuffy, as if it hadn't been
aired out. Raine's cat, Skye, scampered out of the shadows and meowed
pitifully. She was thin and dirty. Laguna, deeply disturbed,
bent over and rubbed the cats head. Skye began to purr happily, twisting
her body around Laguna's legs.
Dancing bears, painted wings...
Looking around a little more, Laguna found
the remains of Ellone's Halloween Costume. The angel wings were bent,
and the more Laguna looked, the more things he saw, the more nervous he
became. Fear rose within Laguna, twisting up through his stomach
and wrapping around his heart. Forgetting everything, he ran upstairs,
flinging open the door. An abandoned baby bassinet sat by the large
bed, and it was in the same shape as the downstairs, besides the haunting
smell of flowers. A dark figure appeared behind him.
"I told you to leave, outsider!" the man snarled,
but he was without his gun this time.
"Not until I find my wife!" Laguna shouted back,
the fear turning his blood icy as he ignored all pretense and shouted,
forgetting and not caring about the sleeping town.
"You won't find her, I told you! Your wife is of
the departed." The man told him sharply, and the fear around his heart
seemed to tighten, making it hard to breathe. Laguna, taking a step
backwards, shook his head in denial.
"You don't believe me? Look out in the field
if you wish. But then leave." the man said, and turned on his heel,
stomping down the stairs noisily.
Things I almost remember
Laguna's world spun around him, images and memories of Raine Loire twisting and blending together to form a jumble. He couldn't filter out one single memory, part of his mind wanted to remember as much of her as it could, the other wanted to remember one special moment. His wish came true, as the images twisted together, they melted into a brightly lite room, full of laughter and singing...
And a song someone sings...
Once Upon a December
The room smelled of cookies and cinnamon, Christmas lights on the tree twinkling merrily, the air thick and warm. Raine was outside, hanging a wreath outside the pub, her breath misting up the big picture window as Ellone added glass balls and other ornaments onto the Christmas Tree. Laguna could be heard in the back of the pub, in the kitchen, whistling and checking on the cakes and cookies rising in the oven. There was a suprised cry and an explosion of white from the kitchen as Raine came back inside, stamping her feet on the mat.
"Laguna? What happened?" the woman asked, her striking
blue eyes reflecting the multicolored lights on the Christmas tree.
"I dropped the flour bag." came his muffled reply.
There were several knocks on the door.
"Elle, can you get that?" Raine asked her adoptive
daughter, who nodded and hurried over to the door. A woman stood
at the door, a cloak held tightly about her as she tried to keep herself
warm. She had dark eyes and long blonde hair that was thick with
snowflakes. She smiled at Ellone and stepped inside. Raine
was in the kitchen, and suddenly there was laughter erupting from the room.
"You!" she shouted at Laguna, her eyes lighting
up with laughter. He was covered in flour, the white settling in
his hair. Raine was laughing at him, white stirring up and settling
on her shoes everytime she moved. A smile lit up the visitors face,
and she laughed. Raine's head turned to one side as she heard the
sound, and she suddenly whipped around.
"Sylin!" she said, her eyes widening in surprise.
Sylin's smile grew wider, and Raine ran over to her, wrapping her arms
around the blonde woman.
"I heard that you were having a Christmas party.
I thought I'd drop by." Sylin explained to Raine. Raine's smile faded
just a bit. She lowered her voice.
"Mexius is allowing you to come here?" she asked,
and Sylin shrugged.
"There wasn't much he could do." Sylin said, anger
flashing across her face at the mention of her bedmate. She took
off her cloak, revealing a shirt pulled taut over her stomach. Raine's
eyes widened, and she grinned again.
"Really? Oh, I'm so happy for you!" Raine cried,
throwing her arms around her best friend again.
"My son, shall be named after me. He will
not carry his bastard of a fathers name, I swear that to you." Sylin told
her friend with such force that Raine stepped backwards. After recovering,
she cleared her throat.
"Okay, we're here to celebrate. Laguna, come
out here." she shouted across the room. There was a soft reply. "I
don't care how old you look! Get your weeny butt out here!" Raine shouted
back. Laguna reluctantly came around the corner, and stood next to
Raine. She wrapped her arm around his waist.
"Sylin, this is my daughter Ellone..." Ellone
smiled and waved at Sylin. "And my husband Laguna." She placed
her head on his shoulder briefly, not being able to resist the urge to
hug him.
Someone holds me safe and warm...
More knocks on the door. Raine pulled herself away from Laguna and pulled open the front door. Kiros, Ward, and a friend of Raine's named Edea and her husband stood out in the oncoming blizzard, their hair dusted in snow. A pair of black horses pranced impatiently, waiting to be covered. Laguna spoke to the younger man, around 25, and told him the horses could be put in the garage of the abandoned house next door. The man nodded, leading the horses off into the snow.
Horses prance through a silver storm
Figures dancing gracefully, across my memory...
Raine pulled the cookies out of the stove
and placed them on a table while everyone gathered around, the number of
cookies quickly diminishing. Everyone quickly broke off into groups,
talking and laughing.
Laguna felt slightly uncomfortable. Apparently
no one but Sylin was from Winhill, but she no longer lived there and felt
no hard feelings toward him. He knew that Winhill hated him, and
he wished to avoid the townspeople whenever he could. He felt Raine's
soft touch on his arm and turned around. Sylin was sitting at the
keyboard that Raine had rented for the evening. She flexed her fingers
and began to play. A haunting tune filled the air. Raine took
Laguna's hand and led him into a space, and began to dance with him.
Halfway through the song, Sylin hesitantly began to sing as Raine laid
her head on Laguna's shoulder.
"Far away, long ago, glowing dim as an ember....Things
my heart, used to know, things it yearns to remember..." Laguna
felt Raine's head on his shoulder, her soft hair, and watching in despair
as the memory and Sylin's voice spun away into the dark, stuffy room. He
felt dizzy and lightheaded, and in a daze, stumbled down the stairs and
into the field. The downstairs room he passed through barely seemed
the same from his memory. He walked into the moonlight bathed field,
and a smooth, flat tombstone stood out in the silvery grass. Laguna
stumbled over to it, running his fingers over the engraved name.
Raine Loire. His fingers traced the words
over and over again as sobs racked his body. His son and his daughter
were gone. That Christmas was the time Raine told him she was pregnant
with their child, the chirstmas where Sylin's son Seifer was born.
His first and last christmas with his beloved Raine. His sobs soon
dissolved into a fitfull sleep, full of a haunting tune.
And a song someone sings
Once upon a December...