I Am Not Alone
Edea walked down the shoreline, watching the children play in the surf. They would chase the water out and run away squealing in delight as the water rolled back after them. She smiled, remembering the how scared they had all been the night before. It had been storming violently for the past few days, and the children have always been frightened of lightning. She stared out at the sea-green ocean and breathed the salt-air in deeply. Edea was abruptly pulled out of her relaxed state by the calls of Quistis. She ran down the beach toward the cries of the little girl. As she came closer she saw the other children gather as well. Edea slowed down, eventually coming to a complete stop as she saw the object Quisty was pointing at more clearly…
It was a man, around 30-years-old Edea guessed. He was lying on his side in the sand. He was soaking wet; his face and clothes were caked in sand and salt. His shoulder-length black hair was weighed down with salt and sand as well, with a few strands of algae mixed in. Edea moved slowly toward him and knelt down. She reached out cautiously and touched the man. He didn't move. She took his wrist and searched for a pulse. She lowered her head; she couldn't find one. Edea stared at the man… She reflexively pushed his hair back out of his face and saw someone that she knew.
(I've met him before! …What was his name…) She thought blankly, staring at his face, searching for the name to go with it. One of the little boys moved in closer, it was Seifer.
"Is he… is he dead Matwon?" Edea looked at the blonde little boy and nodded.
"No he's not…" Edea heard, coming from a quiet voice behind Irvine. Irvine took a step to the side to look at the boy who had spoken. Edea saw Squall's passive blue-grey eyes staring through her.
"Squall… I'm afraid he-"
"No he's not," Squall repeated impatiently. "He's still breeving..." Edea looked down quickly to see that Squall was right. The man's chest was rising and falling at regular intervals. It was a very slight movement, barely noticeable, but there. She stood up quickly.
"Go back to the house children…" she said. The children didn't move. "Quisty, Seifer, take the younger children back to the house please." Quistis and Seifer nodded and turned to the other, smaller children. Quisty and Seifer are the two oldest children in the orphanage, both are five already, while the rest of the children are either four or about to turn four. They gathered up the smaller children and took them back toward the house. Squall stayed behind. Edea knelt beside the man again and carefully turned him over so that he was lying on his back instead of his side.
(His face is so familiar… Why can't I remember his name?) She didn't notice Squall was still there as she closed her eyes and started concentrating on the man. Squall stood a little to the side, watching Edea, and to his surprise, the man started to float. Just a little… Edea stood up and lifted the man easily into the air and turned, almost dropping him at the sight of Squall.
"Squall! I thought I told you to go back to the house with everyone else…" Squall looked at the ground and kicked the sand. She sighed. "Alright, come along…" Squall looked up at her.
"How did yoo do that?" he asked. Edea looked at the little boy and began to walk, still carrying the man.
"Magick." Squall's eyes grew bigger.
"Magick? Neat!" He followed Edea back to the house and opened the back door for her, not letting the other children see her carrying the man. Edea put him down on the bed. She looked him over and then turned to Squall.
"Squall can you go get me a cloth and a bowl of water? Ask Irvine to help you reach the shelves." Squall nodded and ran out of the room. Edea turned back to the man on the bed. She sighed and started tugging on his boots. The right boot came off easily, but she couldn't seem to get his left boot off and she hadn't the foggiest clue as to why. She pushed his pant leg up to get a better grip on the boot and caught a good look at his leg. It was one giant bruise, all purple and swollen.
(It must be broken… his ankle is swollen, that's why I can't get the boot off!) Edea looked the boot over and found it was made of soft leather. She turned to the desk in the corner of the room and pulled out a pair of scissors. She carefully slid the scissors over the top of his boot, and cautiously cut the leather, giving his ankle more room. The boot slid off easily when she had cut the leather down to his ankle. The door behind her opened and Squall slipped in quietly with Irvine behind him.
"Good, put the bowl next to the bed, Irvine. Squall; give me the cloth… Alright, now I need you two to go back into the other room and I'll call if I need you okay?" The boys nodded and slowly left the room. Edea turned her attention back to the man.
(I need to get him out of these clothes…)
***
"Magick? There's no such fing!" Seifer insisted, trying to seem smarter than little Squall. Seifer never liked Squall very much, he was quiet and ignored Seifer whenever possible, like now…
"I saw her! He was fwoating and then she picked him up and cawyed him into the howse," Squall reassured the other kids.
"Squall? Could you come give me a hand please? Irvine and Seifer too…" The three boys looked at each other and walked into the adjacent room. Edea handed each boy an article of wet clothing. Squall got the man's jacket and shirt, Irvine got his pants, and Seifer got his socks and boots. "Take those outside and lie them in the sun where they can dry, but make sure they don't blow away…" The boys nodded and left the room. Squall hesitated at the door and looked back at Matron, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, washing the man's face. He stared at the man for a little while, then left the room, closing the door quietly behind him
Edea had covered the man up to his waist with a blanket and started to clean him off. She wet the cloth and began to wipe the sand and dirt off of his face. He was a handsome man she found as the dirt cleared away. As she came to the right side of his head, she found a large spot on his temple that was caked with sand and blood. She pulled the chunks of sand off of his face, being careful not to hurt him and found a large, very aggravated gash. She immediately set to cleaning this out, but as soon as she touched it with the water, the man moved. Edea jumped off the bed, but he did not wake, he just reacted to the pain that she had caused.
"…Find Ellone…." he mumbled. Edea blinked.
(Ellone? …That's who he is! Oh… La… Yes, Laguna!) Edea stared in disbelief at the man, who four years ago had been on her doorstep, looking for Ellone. At the time, she had not known who Ellone was, but a few weeks after he had left her doorstep, Ellone came here with a baby… Squall. Ellone's "special gift," as they called it, was very much sought after by many people, so in order to keep her safe, Edea and her husband, Cid, had put her upon a ship. That had happened about a month ago, and Squall had been very upset. Edea slowly sat back down on the bed next to Laguna. She saw he had on dog tags… she had not noticed them earlier. Slowly, she reached for them and read what they said. It was standard military issue, Name, Rank, Serial Number, Blood type… What interested Edea was that they were Galbadian. Laguna moved again. She quickly let go of the dog tags. She looked at him thoughtfully and wondered.
(Where has he been? When Ellone came here, I tried to find him, but…) Edea picked up the cloth again and wet it once more. She turned Laguna's head and held onto his chin as she cleaned the sand and salt out of the cut on his forehead. He kept reflexively trying to get away from her, but she held his chin in place. After she had dug out all of the sand and salt, she walked to her dresser and pulled a first aid box out of the top drawer. Edea walked back to the bed, holding the box. She took out a bandage and carefully wrapped it around his head, cutting the end neatly with her scissors. She then searched Laguna's torso and arms for more cuts, but all she found were some bruises. Then she turned to his leg. It was definitely broken. She thought for a second, and then left the room. Edea returned a few seconds later, carrying two thin boards, about two-and-a-half feet long each. She placed the boards on the floor next to him, planning to make a splint out of them, when he got his pants back. It would only give him splinters if she splinted them directly to his leg.
She left the room for a while, keeping an eye on the children… Seifer and Squall had a tendency to fight with one another often, usually it was because Squall ignored Seifer and Seifer always had to be the centre of attention. To keep them occupied, Edea asked Seifer to go out and check if Laguna's cloths were dry. Seifer left the room sullenly.
"How do yoo know his name?" Squall asked softly, looking up at Edea.
"I've met him before. He was here a long time ago, looking for Ellone." Squall's eyes widened.
"He knows Sis?" Edea nodded. "'Guna…" he whispered to himself.
***
Seifer was being mean to Squall again. Usually, Squall just ignored him, but this time, Seifer told Squall that he was never going to see Sis again. Squall had hit Seifer and a fight had ensued. Squall lost and ran off crying. He was hiding in the room with "'Guna." 'Guna always listened and he knew Sis too. Squall sat down with his back to 'Guna's bed, his knees curled up to his chin and cried.
Laguna slowly opened his eyes and blinked. The sledge hammers in his head immediately started pounding away at his inner skull. Laguna groaned and sluggishly sat up, shaking his head. He looked around the room and saw that he was in a house. There was a dresser, a desk, a chest, and a little boy sitting on the floor crying. Laguna brought his hand up to his forehead and felt a gauze bandage there.
(Why does my leg hurt?) He lifted up the blanket to find a homemade splint over top of his pant leg. His shirt was lying neatly folded on top of the chest, as was his coat. His boots were sitting on the floor next to the chest.
Squall heard a noise behind him and looked up, seeing a pair of dark-green, cat eyes staring back at him. Squall gasped and stood up quickly, backing away from the bed. 'Guna was awake! He watched 'Guna drop his head in his hands and groan again. Squall ran out of the room.
"Matwon! Matwon!!!" Edea looked up from her sewing.
"What is it Squall?" Squall stopped running and tried to catch his breath.
"…He's… (pant, pant)… He's awake (pant, pant)…" Edea looked confused.
"Who's awake Squall?"
"…(pant, pant)… 'Guna!" Edea stood up.
"Laguna is awake?" Squall nodded vigorously. Edea walked past the little boy and into the next room. All the children followed quietly behind her and stood in the doorway watching. Laguna was sitting up in bed, holding his head. "…Laguna?" He looked up and blinked, trying to focus on Edea's form. "…Laguna Loire?"
"…Y-yes?" Laguna stumbled over the word. Edea walked to the bed slowly and sat down on the end. Laguna's eyes followed her, trying to place a name with the face, and trying to keep focused.
"Do you remember me?" Laguna squinted at her and shook his head.
"…No… I don't."
"My name is Edea Kramer. I run an orphanage near Centra." Laguna stared at her closer, thinking hard. After a second his eyes lit up.
"…Yes, now I remember! I-I was at your orphanage a few years ago, looking for Ellone…" Edea nodded.
"Yes, that's right." Laguna shook his head.
"Oh… Wh-where am I?" he asked looking around the room. His eyes stopped on the group of children at the door.
"You're at my orphanage." She turned and looked at the group of children in the doorway. Edea shook her head and smiled. Laguna looked at each child. The smallest was a little girl, about 3 or 4, with brown hair that curled up at the ends. The biggest was a little boy with red hair. There was another little girl who was around 5, with long blonde hair, and two other boys with blonde hair, one taller than the other was. The smallest boy was the one who held Laguna's attention. He had light brown hair and blue-grey eyes that seemed to stare through you. His features seemed very familiar to Laguna, but he couldn't place the name of the person that the boy looked like. He had been the boy in the room who had run out when Laguna had awakened. Laguna turned his attention back to Edea.
"How'd I get here?"
"You washed up on the beach. You've been unconscious for about two days." Laguna closed his eyes and tried to remember.
"I-I had been on a ship… That's it! I was looking for Ellone again… We were island hopping, when a storm come up and blew us off course and onto the rocks…" he said finally, opening his eyes. Squall came into the room some, listening intently.
"You were looking for Ellone, again? You mean you had found her?" Laguna nodded, and lowered his head.
"She had been kidnapped by Esthar. I rescued her and sent her home to Winhill, planning to follow her back a few days later… I got back to Winhill to find that she wasn't there… No one would tell me where she was… No one ever really liked me there…"
"Ellone was here." Laguna looked up sharply.
"She was here?!" Edea nodded.
"She was sent here with her brother. I had been told that their mother and father had died." Laguna looked puzzled.
"Brother? Ellone doesn't have a brother. Her parents died a long time ago. The woman who lived next door to them took her in… My… my wife, Raine. Raine was… dead… when I returned to Winhill…" Edea saw a tear drop from Laguna's eye. He wiped it away. Edea looked at Squall, and gestured for him to come closer. Squall walked cautiously toward the bed. Laguna raised his head and looked at Squall again, seeing him better. Edea took Squall's hand and pulled him up next to the bed.
"This is Ellone's brother…" Edea said, looking at Laguna. Laguna stared at the little boy in front of him. "His name is Squall Leonhart. He came here as a baby with Ellone. He's always called her 'Sis', and she told me that he was her brother." Laguna looked Squall up and down. "You said that your wife's name is-was… Raine?" Laguna nodded. "Well… I asked Ellone about her and Squall's family. She said that they lived with a woman named Raine, and that Squall's father was her 'Uncle?'" Laguna looked sharply at Squall.
(That's who he looked like! …Raine… That… means… that… I'm…) Laguna turned his head to Edea.
"Ellone always called me 'Uncle Laguna'…" He practically whispered. Edea's eyes widened.
"That means that you're his…" She looked at Squall.
***
Squall ignored the two adults and was staring out the window on the other side of 'Guna's bed. He wasn't listening to them at all. They had been talking about Sis, and then they started talking about this "Raine" person. Suddenly, Squall felt very uncomfortable. He brought his attention back to the two adults… they were staring at him. He looked from one to the other and suddenly felt like he'd missed something very important. Squall looked back at other children in the doorway. They were all staring at him too.
"What?" Squall said nervously. Edea looked back at Laguna whose head suddenly started to hurt more. Laguna dropped his head in his hands and squeezed his eyes shut.
(This isn't happening, this isn't happening…) he kept repeating mentally to himself.
(No, I couldn't have screwed up more… Raine had been pregnant? …Shit…) Edea turned her gaze in Squall's direction again.
"…Um… Squall, honey? Could you and the other children go outside?" Squall looked puzzled, but nodded his head and walked out of the room with the other children. Edea stood up and closed the door behind them. She turned back to Laguna who was on the verge of tears.
Author's Notes: Hey, I didn't have a note on this chapter when I first put it up, and since I'm updating I figured I'd add one. I'll let you know that IANA is coming along slowly… I hate writer's block. I'm working on chapter 6 so this isn't all of it, I promise! ^_^ Anyway, disclaimer stuff… yada yada… enjoy and R&R
-Rhyein