Chapter 14: Fragile Peace

"Mom?" Irvine knocked on the door to his mother's room, Selphie beside him. "You aren't still writing, are you? Come on, Mom, you've got to eat eventually." Irvine knocked on the door more loudly, but received no reply. "Hello?"

"That's weird," said Selphie. "We haven't seen either of them this morning."

"Them?" echoed Irvine.

"Neither your mom nor Sir Laguna. I know they got back from the construction site early this morning, so Laguna should be here..."

"Oh, man. No..."

"Huh?"

"Selphie, can I use your phone?"

*

"Hello, you've reached the President of Esthar, Laguna Loire. I can't come to the phone right now, so please leave a message after the tone. Catch ya later!" Beeeeep.

"Aaaaaaaaaaauuuuuugggggghhhhhh!"

"What the hell?" Esarene woke with a start, sitting up straight in bed. She blinked at the sunlight streaming in through the window and looked around for a clock. The glare made the numbers on Laguna's clock impossible to read, and she crawled over Laguna to shade the display with her hand.

"Good morning," Laguna said.

"Afternoon," Esarene corrected him. "For almost a half hour, now."

"Mm," Laguna replied, indifferent. They kissed, and Esarene curled up against his side.

"You've got a message on your answering machine," she said, playing with his dogtags. Did Laguna ever take them off? He made a sound of acknowledgment, smiling down at her in complete contentment. Esarene returned both the smile and the emotion. "So what do you think they'll say about us?" she wondered.

"What do you mean?" Laguna murmured back.

"When they find out what we did," Esarene explained.

"You think they will?"

"I think Irvine already suspects," Esarene said, thinking of the phone call that had awakened her. "But why does it matter? We're adults, after all."

"Yeah...I guess." Laguna sounded a bit uncomfortable, and Esarene coughed.

"Well, if you don't approve, I can be going now..."

"For some reason, I don't think you mean that," Laguna replied, pulling the blankets back over them, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Rrrring.

"Phone's ringing," Esarene noted.

"That it is," Laguna replied.

Rrrring.

"People are probably getting worried," Laguna said.

"That's their problem."

Rrrring.

"I haven't woken up next to anyone for about eighteen years," Laguna murmured.

"I never knew it could be so nice," Esarene replied.

Rrrring.

"So I guess we'd better make up for lost time, hmm?"

"Something like that..."

"Hello, you've reached the President of Esthar, Laguna Loire. I can't come to the phone right now, so please leave a message after the tone. Catch ya later!" Beeeeep.

"Laguna?" The voice belonged to Kiros. "Hello, Laguna...I know you're in there! Pick up the phone! Hello...I'm waiting..."

But Laguna wasn't listening. And it was a very good thing that the answering machine only provided a one-way connection.

*

"They probably just don't want to be bothered," Selphie said. "You know, it's kind of cute."

"But it's not your mom," Irvine said.

"I still think you're taking it way out of proportion," Selphie said. "Why don't you ask Squall what he thinks?"

"I though he was leaving today," Irvine said.

"Not 'til tonight. And you'd think he'd want to say good-bye to Laguna before he left, wouldn't you?"

Irvine found Squall sitting on a couch in one of the palace waiting rooms, reading a magazine. "Hey, Squall," he called.

"Yeah," Squall said, not looking up from his magazine.

"I called, and-"

"I know." Squall and Irvine exchanged glances, both of their glum faces red with embarrassment. "Your mom..."

"And your dad..."

Irvine let out an agonized moan, looking down at the floor.

"I can't decide what's worse, the fact that our parents are doing that, or the fact that they're getting some when we...aren't." Irvine shook his head, and Squall shrugged.

"You're not," he said.

"Yeah, like you've gotten anywhere," Irvine said. "But really, I haven't even had a mother for all that long. I wasn't ready for this."

Squall shrugged again. "I guess it's really none of my business, what he decides to do."

"He's your father, though," Irvine said.

"It's not the same."

"He's doing the best he can," Irvine said. "Well, we can't keep running away from it. Let's go."

"What are you talking about?"

"We should face them."

"It's not the time," Squall said, turning away.

"This is our business, too," Irvine said. "I mean, if things don't work out for them, things could get really awkward. And if they do work out...I don't know. But they can't just ignore us."

"Why not? It's what they've done for most of their lives."

Irvine groaned. "That's why things have gotta change, now," he said. "They are parents, they need to act like parents. We're going to talk to them."

Squall put his hand to his forehead. "Whatever."

*

"Geez, Laguna, how long are you going to take?"

"Um...well, it's not like this is something I do all the time..."

"You're pathetic. I used to do this for a living, you know."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Forget it, I'm coming." Esarene sighed.

"No, it's all right, I can--ah--ow!" His sentence ended in an exclamation of pain.

"Crap." Esarene came running. She had pulled on a shirt of Laguna's that almost came down to her knees, in order to attain some sort of decency. In the kitchen, Laguna was clutching his hand and cursing.

"Run it under cold water," Esarene said. She started the water in the sink and dragged his hand under it. "What were you thinking?" She examined the strange Estharian oven and turned a dial on the front. "You ran the wrong burner."

"I was wondering why it wasn't getting hot."

Esarene shook her head and started the right burner. "I'll remember this the next time I ask you for oatmeal. No, keep your hand under the water a little longer. Let me look--what did you do?"

"Well, I was trying to see why it wasn't getting hot, and I put my hand down on the stove to lean and see if something was wrong in the back--"

"Poor, poor thing," Esarene whispered. "I just can't trust you on your own, can I? I don't know how you managed to survive on your own for so long."

"I've cooked before," Laguna replied softly.

"We should probably put some ice on your poor hand," said Esarene. "I guess I can't blame you. It is sorta hard to tell by looking which burner is running on this stupid thing. But--but--how long have you been living here?"

Laguna sighed. Esarene filled a bowl with water and ice and told him to put his hand in it. He complied, then yanked it out with a yelp.

"It'll keep the burn from getting worse," she said. She heard the water boiling on the stove, and added the dry oatmeal to the water. Laguna gritted his teeth and placed his burned hand in the freezing water until he couldn't stand it any longer. He examined his dripping, half-numbed palm. His left hand...where the ring...

Esarene finished stirring and glanced over at Laguna. He had such an odd expression on his face. The pan of oatmeal rested on the kitchen counter, cooling. Laguna didn't seem to notice her presence.

"Esa..." he began, choking on the word. His hand was throbbing, but that was only the beginning of the pain. He blinked, and was surprised to feel a tear run down his cheek. Was he feeling guilty? No...it wasn't guilt...

Esarene hugged him, as a friend rather than a lover. "Laguna," she murmured. "It's all right."

Laguna returned the embrace numbly, and he cried. They didn't say or do anything more. This was another old heartache, and Esarene provided a trusted shoulder upon which he could cry. He couldn't even share this with Ward and Kiros, she thought. Stupid men. After all this time...

It was Laguna who broke the silence, sniffing and wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his robe. "Oatmeal's...probably cold, now." he said, his voice still choked with tears.

"It's not important." She couldn't release him just yet. "I...I'll always be here for you, Laguna," she said. "From now on. I don't want you to hurt anymore."

Laguna closed his tear-reddened eyes. "I know," he whispered back to her. "Thank you."

*

After breakfast they curled up on the couch for a while, Laguna lying with his head in Esarene's lap. She stroked his hair and looked at him, speech unnecessary. The outside world did not exist for them.

There was something in quiet moments like this that Esarene couldn't describe, no matter how good with words she might otherwise be. Here was absolute peace and contentment. Her only fear was that this moment might end--it was too fragile, anything could shatter it.

But I shouldn't fear anything, she thought, because now I know, I can always come back to him.

The doorbell buzzed.

"No," Laguna murmured. "Not yet."

"I don't feel like going back to the real world, either," Esarene sighed. "But if they're coming to the door, I guess it must be important." The doorbell buzzed again. "And they're not going away."

"I guess I should go see, then. I can just say I slept in..."

"Why bother?" Esarene asked him. Another, longer buzz from the doorbell.

"Goddamn persistent," he muttered, sitting up. "Coming!"

When he opened the door, Irvine and Squall all but fell through it. "She's here, isn't she!" Irvine shouted.

Laguna blinked. "What are you talking about?"

Irvine moaned. "We can't take this," he explained. "It's just-too-weird. Where have you been? Where's my mom?" Irvine demanded.

"This...isn't really a good time..."

"It's all right, I should probably be going, anyway." Esarene emerged from one of the back rooms, fully dressed. "Oh, hello," she said calmly to Squall and Irvine, her eyes dancing.

"This isn't what it looks like," Laguna said hurriedly. Esarene laughed behind her hand.

"What the hell is it, then?!" demanded Irvine.

Esarene laughed at him. "What do you mean, 'this isn't what it looks like'? You might as well have said, 'I've been in here, having sex with Irvine's mom,' and the effect would have been the same."

Both Squall and Laguna buried their faces in their hands, Laguna's face burning red. Irvine, on the other hand, nearly passed out cold. Esarene had to help him remain standing.

"Or I could have just come in here to show him the novel I was working on," she continued, when it became apparent that no one else was in much of a condition to speak. "It's not really your concern, is it?" She shook her head. "You look like fish, with your mouths hanging open like that."

Now Squall spoke. "So, you're in love, then?"

"I think so," Esarene said.

"I hope so," Laguna said.

"Good for you."

Irvine couldn't manage to get any words out. "Mom, I--uh--I didn't--mean--"

"Don't worry about it," Esarene sighed. "I'm sure everyone has other things to worry about."

"Laguna, have you been lazing about in here all day?" Now Kiros was entering the room. "I tried to call you. Or did you forget that Coray Akito is coming today?"

Laguna scratched the back of his head. "But not until five, right?"

"And it's almost four, and there are fifty reporters out there wanting to talk to you. Shall I tell them that you've been in here with your girlfriend all day?"

Laguna winced. "No, I'll be right out," he said. "Esarene, I--"

"Go," Esarene said. "It's important. Good luck." She kissed his cheek.

"Oh, god," Irvine said. "You're already acting like you're married."

It was Esarene's turn to blush after that.