Squall pressed his nose against the aeroplane window. They were flying over the continent of Esthar. Squall could see an enormous city unfold beneath them.
"Wow…" he whispered in awe. Laguna glanced at the small boy and smiled. He had said the same thing the first time he had seen Esthar too.
"We'll be landing soon," Kiros announced from the cockpit. Squall turned away from the window.
"Is dat where we live?" he asked. Laguna nodded. Squall looked out the window again. "Cool…" Ward shook a little in the front seat, causing Laguna to shudder. He knew Ward was "laughing" but it always unnerved Laguna a little, since no sound actually came out. Squall stared intently out the window as the aeroplane became level with the city. Laguna pulled himself out of his seat and leaned on his crutch.
"Come on Squall," he said quietly, waiting for the boy. Squall tore himself away from the window and followed Kiros and Ward out of the aeroplane. Laguna limped slowly behind. As they exited the aeroplane, Laguna heard a crowd of people chattering somewhere nearby, a large crowd. They left the air-station and Laguna was greeted by the people of Esthar, all of who were very happy to find their beloved president alive and well. Squall's eyes grew wide as the crowd cheered and he unconsciously grabbed Laguna's pant leg. There were a lot of people, why were they all cheering?
Laguna looked down in surprise when he felt the sudden weight on his clothing.
"Whassamatter? Are you alright?" Laguna asked the little boy. Squall stared up at Laguna with a scared look on his face.
"There's so many peeple…" he whispered. "Why r they all here?" Kiros looked down at the boy.
"Didn't you know? Your dad is the President of the whole country," Kiros answered, smiling. "They all came here to welcome him home."
"Pwes-e-dant? What's a Pwes-e-dant?" Squall asked, confused.
"…" Ward looked at Kiros.
"Oh, give him a break, Ward, he's only, what? Three? Four?"
"Three and a half," Laguna corrected quietly. "Squall, a president is someone in charge of taking care of a whole bunch of people… Um…" He thought for a second. "Kinda like Matron was in charge of taking care of you." Squall's eyes lit up in comprehension. "Come on guys, I'm tired and I wanna go home…" he said to Kiros and Ward.
"But Laguna-" Kiros started. Laguna narrowed his eyes and Kiros stopped. "Um… Okay, let's go home."
(…What's with him? He's so… different. Two weeks… He finds out he's got a son and his personality does a one-eighty… Weird.) Kiros thought, raising an eyebrow as he watched Laguna and Squall get into the car that was waiting for them. He sat down in the front seat and Ward got in the driver's side.
"…"
"I don't know what's wrong with him… He's acting strange though," Kiros answered quietly. Ward nodded in agreement and started the car.
The car pulled up to the front gate of the Presidential Palace about an hour after it had left the air-station. The streets had been so crowded with people wanting to welcome the president home that the car could only move a few feet every minute to prevent any collisions. Kiros and Ward got out of the car. Squall stared through the window at the enormous building.
"What's that?" Squall asked, pointing.
"Our house," Laguna answered, smiling at Squall's shocked expression. He opened the car door and got out, standing on one foot, while he pulled his crutch out of the car. Squall climbed out the other door. Laguna glanced at the skyways full of people, all cheering and waving at him, happy that he was back. He sighed and waved back at them, causing the crowd to cheer louder. Then he slowly followed Kiros and Ward into the palace, with Squall lagging behind.
Laguna opened the door to the bedroom. Squall peeked around the doorframe, eyes wide. He looked up at Laguna.
"I get a woom to myself?" he asked.
"Yes," Laguna answered. Then he pointed across the hall. "That's my room right there, okay?" Squall nodded and walked cautiously into the room, looking around in complete awe. Laguna watched as Squall dove headfirst into the bed, testing it. "I'll just be in my room, okay?" Laguna said, half-smiling at Squall. Squall waved, acknowledging that he had heard Laguna, and ran to look out the window. He turned slowly and limped into his bedroom, leaving the door cracked open. Laguna sat down slowly on the bed, wincing. He glanced across the room at the mirror.
(Man, I look like shit…) he thought, rubbing the rough beard on his chin. Laguna stared at himself in the mirror for a few more seconds and shrugged. (Screw it… I'll shave later.) He thought as he lied back on the bed, closing his eyes.
(I'm so tired…)
***
"Loooooser!"
"Ha ha! Poor baby Lag-goon-a!"
"Yah! Go home and whine to your mommy!"
"You'll regret that!" Laguna yelled at the other children, his green eyes brimming with tears.
"Yeah, right! Whaddaya gonna do? Send your dad out to beat us up? Oh, Wait… I forgot. You don't HAVE a dad!" the children laughed louder.
"SHUT UP! I DO TOO!" he shouted, the tears falling down his cheek.
"Well then where is he?" one of the children asked sarcastically. Laguna opened his mouth to answer but was cut off abruptly.
"LAGUNA LOIRE! TIME TO COME IN!" a voice behind him called. Laguna turned away from the children and walked back toward the woman.
"Yeah! Run away you baby!"
"Go crying to your mommy!"
Laguna wiped his eyes and stuck his hands in his pocket as he walked slowly to the house. The other children quit taunting him after a while and ran off to go play. He straightened his face and tried to act as if everything were normal as he approached his mother. She looked at the ten-year-old worriedly.
"Is everything alright Laguna?" she asked. Laguna forced a smile and shrugged.
"Sure mom, everything's a-o-k," he answered. Brook Loire raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Laguna sighed. "Everything is just fine, mom. We were playing a game," he said, staring at the ground.
"…Alright… It's time to eat, go set the table," she said finally, opening the front door. Laguna walked in, followed closely behind by his mother.
***
"…Laguna?" Brook whispered.
"…What?" he answered, his voice cracking. She could tell he'd been crying. Brook walked quietly into the room and sat down on the end of the bed.
"What the matter?" she asked quietly. Laguna wiped his eyes and buried his head in his pillow.
"…Nothing…" Brook pursed her lips and waited. "Go away…" he whispered. Brook reached out and stroked Laguna's head.
"Laguna… Please tell me what's wrong," she urged. Laguna turned over and Brook gazed into his tear stained eyes.
"Why can't we be a normal family? Just like everyone else?" he sobbed, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. Brook blinked. "Why do I have to be the only kid without a dad?" he continued. Brook bit her lip and pushed back the tears that had began to well up in her eyes.
"…Laguna, your father…" her voice trailed off as the tears forced themselves into her eyes again. Laguna sat up and hugged his mother.
"You don't have to tell me mom. I'm sorry," he said. He buried his face in her shoulder and cried. Brook held Laguna tightly as tears silently fell down her cheek.
For as long as Laguna could remember, his mother had told him that his father was working in Timber. He was supposedly trying to make enough money to buy a house and send for them to go live with him someday. Laguna had believed his mother until he had found an old letter a few months ago from his father to his mother. It had said that he was living in Southern Galbadia and that he was getting married to another woman and that he wanted a divorce.
Laguna didn't remember his father very well; Clay Loire had left when he was three years old. He had only one picture of the man. The picture was rather old, and quite beat up. Laguna used to stare at the picture for hours, taking in every detail of his face. Laguna looked a lot like his father, Brook had always told him that. His black hair and his lanky build came from his father. From his mother, however, he inherited his green eyes and his mild temperament, which often made him the object of ridicule among his classmates. He adored his mother though and didn't want to worry her, so he normally just shrugged the insults off with a "whatever" and went on with his life. When the other children started picking on the fact that Laguna didn't have a father, however, he couldn't just shrug it off. He would sit on the front porch of the small house and watch the other kids outside, their fathers teaching them how to ride a bike, or to play catch, and it hurt. He didn't want to drop all of these problems on his mother; she had enough things to worry about between keeping the house clean, paying the bills and her job. So he kept all his feelings bottled up behind a smile and a goofy personality.
"I'm sorry, Laguna…" she whispered, hugging him tightly.
***
"Hey, Laguna! Wake up!" Kiros said, peeking around the doorframe. Laguna put his head under a pillow.
"Go away…" he mumbled. Kiros frowned and walked into the room.
"Come on Mr. President. You have things to do," he said, moving toward the bed.
"…Don't wanna…" Laguna murmured. Kiros pulled the pillow off of Laguna's head and raised an eyebrow. "Ah!" Laguna exclaimed, blinking in the light.
"Get up."
"Grumble, grumble… frickin', frackin', rickin', rackin'…" Laguna muttered under his breath, as he sat up. "This better be good," he grumbled as Kiros helped him stand up. "Gimme that crutch." Kiros reached over and grabbed the crutch that was propped against the wall next to the bed.
"Now what's so important?" he asked, leaning on the crutch.
"Um… The President's Personal Physician wants to check out your leg and stuff," Kiros answered, shrugging.
"Where's Squall?"
"In his room."
"…Okay." Laguna reluctantly followed Kiros out of the room. He stopped in front of Squall's bedroom and slowly opened the door. "…Squall?"
Laguna glanced around the room and finally rested his eyes upon the bed. Squall was asleep, his eyes were red and puffy, Laguna could tell he'd been crying. He limped into the room and to the bed. Laguna stared down at the little boy and carefully brushed the hair away from Squall's face. The child rolled over and mumbled, "…Matwon…"
Kiros poked his head into the room.
"He'll be fine Laguna, come on," he whispered urgently. Laguna sighed and reluctantly followed Kiros out, turning off the lights and closing the door behind him.
***
Author's Note: OK. Disclaimer. I don't own them (except Squall MWAHAHAHA! I HAVE HIS DEED, HE'S MINE! MINE, I SAY! ^_~) and I'm not making money. :P Updating is fun… It makes me go back and read, and helps inspire me to write more… ^_^
-Rhyein