Why yes, it IS a new chapter of Second Chances! Are you as surprised as I am? Not much else to say.
-Rei
Chapter 11: Back in the Day
Laguna awoke and looked around the room. Oops, he thought. I guess I never did go back to my room last night. The loveseat across the room from him was empty, and sunlight was streaming in through the window. Oh well, it's Saturday, I'm allowed to sleep in. He stretched and yawned.
"Oh, so you're finally up?" Esarene walked into the living room, wearing a long bathrobe over her nightshirt. She apparently hadn't been up for long, either. Even in a robe with her hair all messy, she still looked pretty darn cute...
"Um, good morning," Laguna said, blushing.
"Morning," she replied. "You know you talk in your sleep?"
"I still do?" Laguna laughed a little. "Raine told me..." He drifted off, and Esarene turned away and left the room.
"I've-got coffee on," she said. "I made enough for you, if you want some."
Laguna followed her into the kitchen, and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "I wish I could've had you to myself last night..." he murmured, kissing her hair.
"That's all right," Esarene replied awkwardly. Argh, how can it be so hard to resist him? She couldn't push him away-it felt too good to be there. "Laguna..."
"Yeah?"
"Talk to me about Raine."
Laguna was silent for a moment. "I don't know what to say."
"You must have been dreaming about her..."
"Oh, man, what did I say in my sleep?" Laguna laughed, but the sound was awkward.
"Just her name."
"I don't remember my dreams," Laguna sighed, "but I probably do dream about her from time to time."
"I don't want you to think I'm jealous or anything, but I'm confused..." murmured Esarene. "I don't want to, like, take her place or anything, if I'm not welcome."
"That's ridiculous! Esarene...why wouldn't you be welcome?"
"I mean...you loved her, didn't you? And you still love her. No matter how long it's been, that love doesn't just die, does it?"
"Of course not," Laguna sighed, "but she is gone. It's been seventeen years. I've accepted it." He was squeezing her more tightly now, and sounded choked up. Esarene winced. If you've accepted it, then why...
"Don't cry..." she murmured. "Have...have you ever talked to Squall about her?"
Laguna bit his lip. "I haven't had a chance," he said. "I still...can hardly face him." He looked up over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of the clock. "Oh, damn! Kiros and Ward are gonna have my head, the meeting starts in ten minutes! I've got to go! See you later, okay, Esarene?"
"Okay..." echoed Esarene, as the President of Esthar took off at a run.
Yes, that's right, Reney...the President of Esthar, she told herself. What on earth have I gotten myself into, falling in love with this man?
*
"What's that, Seifer?"
"Nothing," the boy snapped. "Go away."
"I'm just curious..." Selphie pulled back apologetically. "Um...are you crying?"
"No, I'm not! Go away!" Seifer whirled around, drawing back his hand to strike her. He didn't, though, staring at something over Selphie's shoulder. She turned around to see Irvine, standing there in his bandages and shaking with anger.
"Don't...don't you dare hit her..." he said, breathing heavily.
"Irvy..."
"Oh, so you're coming to the rescue, are you, new boy?" Seifer walked by Selphie, coming towards Irvine.
"I...I don't want to fight you now," he said, meeting Seifer's eyes.
"You're different." Seifer looked the orphanage's newest resident over. "Not a crybaby like Zell, and not like Squall, either." He clenched his fist around whatever it was that he'd been looking at when Selphie had come into the room. "But who cares!" he shouted. "Pretty soon, my mom's gonna come back and take me home, just like she promised! And I won't have to see any of you." Tears were welling up in his eyes again. "She promised!"
With that, he ran from the room.
(Poor Seifer...he was just the same as all of us, thought Irvine. I guess we all had our problems.)
"Where are you going?" Irvine asked.
"I gotta go make sure he's okay!" Selphie replied, running after Seifer. In his injured state, Irvine couldn't keep up with her.
"But-he was gonna hit you!" Irvine called after her.
Selphie stopped in the doorway of Elle's room, where Seifer had run to. "Sis--sis!" he bawled, and Ellone hugged him. "My mom's gonna come back, isn't she? Isn't she?"
Selphie hung back, then cried out as someone ran into her-Squall. (Man, talk about déjà vu!) He only looked at her for a second before he ran into Ellone's room, not bothering to apologize. "Sis, it's almost time," he said.
"I'm sorry," Ellone replied. "Okay, I'll take you now." She got up and left Seifer staring at something in the palm of his hand.
*
"I was just a child," Ellone said, back in the present with them. At this rate, trips back into the past were going to become a habit. "But sometimes I wonder if...what happened to Seifer...was my fault. I mean, I loved all of you, but I always loved Squall most of all... after all, he was Uncle Laguna and Aunt Raine's son. And I didn't realize I was being mean to him..."
"No way!" Selphie replied. "It isn't your fault! Seifer loved you-you were nice to him!"
"But I was always nicer to Squall..." Ellone sighed. "I wonder where Seifer is...if he's even alive."
"What was that thing that he had, do you know?" Irvine asked.
"A locket," Ellone replied. "His mother gave it to him, when she left him with Edea."
"His mother left him?" Selphie began. "Then it's no wonder that he's-"
"It's not like that," Ellone interrupted. "Things were being torn apart. Seifer's mother knew that he would be safe with Edea, but she wanted to come back for him when the war was over."
"Did she?"
"No," Ellone sighed. "She was killed, about a year later. But Edea didn't have the heart to tell him for some time after that...not when it was all he looked forward to..."
"Do you remember...what happened to my parents?" Selphie wondered.
"No, not you or Zell," Ellone replied. "You were really small when a man brought you two to Edea. He only knew that you'd been found in Esthar cities that had been attacked by Galbadia."
"Huh?" Selphie gasped. "So...coming to Esthar is kinda like...I'm coming home, isn't it?" There was a long silence.
"Let's try for a happier memory next time, shall we?" Ellone said.
"We don't mean to bother you-" Irvine began, but Ellone put up a hand to stop him and laughed.
"No, no, it's not a bother! Just like old times, isn't it? It's nice to relive these memories with you two. Maybe I should try it with Squall, hm?"
Selphie giggled. "You could try to bring out his inner child," she said.
"What? Wasn't he always just the same?" Irvine replied.
"Aw, that poor kid," Ellone sighed. "All of us poor kids. And the cycle repeats itself...you remember that girl with Matron--her name was Lotus?" Irvine shook his head, and Selphie frowned.
"Vaguely," she said. "I heard that Edea and Cid adopted her, anyway."
"She used to be in an orphanage, for children who lost their parents in the Second Sorceress War," Ellone explained. "I think she was the oldest, like me...but she's like a miniature, female version of Squall. There's a wall around her."
"It's sad," Irvine sighed. "It happens to too many children..."
"But it shouldn't happen any more, right? There's peace in the world now, right?" Selphie said.
Irvine frowned. "Not if my fa--not if Valdaeve has his way." He slammed his fist onto the table. "Dammit! What the hell is that man thinking?"
"Irvine-" Ellone began.
"I have to do something! If nobody stops him, he could throw the world into chaos again. If, with my gun, I could--" He broke off.
"You could be an assassin?" Selphie said. "And shoot your own father?"
"I...I was ready to shoot Edea, wasn't I?" said Irvine, a bit sheepishly. "But....I hate him. For what he did to my mom, and what he's doing now...I really, really hate him."
"Calm down, please!" Selphie said. "It's all right. If he gets into trouble, you know that SeeD and Esthar won't stand for it."
"But that would mean war, and more deaths...more orphans..."
Ellone put a hand on Irvine's shoulder. "You're a good kid," she said. "Your heart's in the right place, but think about it. If the president of Galbadia were to be assassinated by a member of Garden with ties to Esthar, do you think that the government would stand for it? They might have treated Seifer's action as independent, but are they going to believe the same thing twice? If you kill Valdaeve in such a way, he could become a martyr, and we'd be facing yet another world war against a Galbadia united in hatred."
Irvine let himself unwind a bit. "Dammit."
"Have a little faith. Galbadians aren't stupid. Give them time to realize what kind of man they've allowed to become their leader, and they'll come to their senses. I know it's hard to just sit and wait, but it's the most peaceful choice."
"Dammit." Irvine repeated. Selphie lay her hand down on one of his clenched fists.
"We'll talk to Sir Laguna about it," she said. "There's gotta be something he can do."
*
"Hmmm, hmm mmmm..." Esarene hummed, scribbling on a sheet of paper. The top was a mess of scribbled-out words, the rest of the page a mess of doodles. "Well, this was a complete waste of time." She crumpled up the paper and threw it aside, missing the trashcan. "Crud." She stood up, bent over to pick up the ball of paper, and tried again. It hit the rim, but bounced out onto the floor again. "Stupid piece of-" she began, picked up the paper a third time, and hurled it into the trashcan with all her might. It hit the bottom, then bounced back out yet another time.
She placed the trash in the can a final time, gingerly, half expecting it to be spit back out in her face. I almost feel like there's a ghost, watching me... She shuddered. That's-absurd! God, Esarene, back in the day you used to prize yourself on your cynicism. But really, you were just a naïve little girl-you still are.
And if we had known each other then?
Would we have been friends, or rivals? It's not like I even have a clue what she was like. Hah...back then, I was hardly more than a child--just as old as our children are now. My parents would tell me that he was too old for me-that he would only get me in trouble.
So I let someone else get me in trouble, instead. Things turned out all right in the end, I guess...
Arghhh! No, they're not all right! I'm in love with the President of Esthar, a widower with a past and a kid and an ex-wife who seems to be haunting me-not to mention the fact that the father of my son seems to have a meglomaniacal complex!
I gotta figure this out, before it's too much for me to handle.
I hope it's not already too late...
*
My mind is made up, thought Esarene, stepping quickly through the hallway. My mind is made up, I am not going to look at him and turn into an idiot because he is good-looking and I'm in love with him...
"Gah!"
Okay, so I'm in love with him. But I've made up my mind. She replayed the scene in her head...Laguna was in love with someone who died seventeen years ago. Why did I drag it out so long?
"Esarene...."
"Maybe you'd better not come tonight, Laguna," Esarene said, her voice soft and cold. "You're probably getting behind in your work."
"It's all right, Ward and Kiros will take care of things," Laguna insisted. Esarene might've given in to his entreating smile, but she remembered seeing him sleep--remembered those same lips whispering her name. Her name. The woman to whom Laguna belonged, and always would belong. Irvine was right--he was just looking for a replacement.
Isn't that enough? a small part of her cried pathetically. She pushed it aside. It was better to nip this in the bud.
"Besides, there are other things I should do tonight."
Laguna looked disappointed. "Like what?"
"I don't know--it may seem like a foreign concept to you, but maybe I'll spend time with my son?"
She might as well have slapped him in the face--it would've had a similar effect. She knew it was his weakness, and used it against him, and loathed herself for it. He'd confided that secret in her, trusted her...
Because when he looks at me, he sees Raine.
