"Laguna!"

(…Go away…)

"Laguna!"

(Let me sleep…)

"Laguna!!"

(Quit pulling my leg…)

"Laguna!"

(…Laguna?)

"Laguna!"

(…Laguna?!)

Squall opened his eyes slowly, trying to focus on the objects in front of him. They were moombas. There were about four of them. He groaned and shook his head.

"Laguna!" One of them exclaimed. Squall blinked and shook his head. Laguna? Where? He glanced around the room. He was still chained to the wall, but there was no one there but the moombas and himself. The moombas came toward him and started unlocking his bonds and helped him down. Squall slid to the floor as soon as his feet hit the ground. He was so exhausted.

"Laguna!" Another said, and handed Squall a vial of liquid. Squall took the small bottle and stared at it suspiciously. "Laguna!" the Moomba said again.

"Quit calling me that! I'm NOT Laguna!" Squall snapped. The moombas took a few steps back and looked at one another, communicating in guttural sounds that only they understood. Squall looked at the vial again. The liquid inside was thick and a bluish colour. He could smell the herbs in it as he brought it closer to his face. It wasn't a bad scent.

(Like flowers…) he thought to himself. The Moomba approached him and gestured to the vial. It looked frustrated, like it was trying to tell him something. Squall closed his eyes as the Moomba came closer. The sudden movement of the animal made his head hurt. His eyes couldn't focus upon it while it was moving and it hurt to try. Squall brought his other hand up to his forehead and took a deep breath. He took his hand away and opened his eyes. On his glove was some blood.

"…M-M-Medicine!" the Moomba exclaimed suddenly. Squall blinked and looked at the Moomba next to him. "H-H-Help Laguna!" The moombas all nodded their large heads and stared hopefully at Squall. He looked at the vial in his hand and back to the Moomba.

"…This is medicine?" he asked cautiously. The Moomba jumped up and down with glee. Squall stared at the vial for a second and then brought it to his lips.

(…What the hell…) he thought as he swallowed the contents. Suddenly Squall's vision cleared and the pain in his head subsided. Squall stared at the small vial (What the heck was that stuff?). He felt much better. Squall put his hand to his head again and found that the bleeding had stopped. He pulled himself off of the ground, leaned against the wall, and closed his eyes. Around him an alarm sounded. Squall jerked at the loud noise.

"Warning! Escape alert! Monsters will be set loose on each floor. If escapees refuse to surrender, you have permission to kill. The anti-magick field will be lifted," A voice said over the loudspeaker. Squall felt himself become light-headed and he could feel his energy draining.

(…Dammit… The anti-magick field is gone.) He put a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes again. (I'm… so… tired…)

To his left, he heard the door open. Squall opened his eyes quickly and saw Zell, Quistis and Selphie walk through the door. Behind them he heard more moombas shouting the word "Laguna" loudly.

"Squall! Are you okay?" Selphie exclaimed, running toward him. Zell and Quistis followed her over to him. Zell pulled out Squall's gunblade and handed it to him.

"There ya go Squall. Now let's get outta here!" Zell asserted, pumping his fists in the air. Squall put the gunblade back into its sheath at his side and pushed himself off of the wall. Quistis watched as Squall wobbled, his legs a little uncertain.

"Squall? Are you alright?" Quistis asked. Squall shrugged.

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?" she prompted, frowning. Squall rolled his eyes.

(What does she want me to say? …No Quistis, I was tortured for a few hours and now that the anti-magick field has been lifted, my healing powers are taking over, fixing what the electricity screwed up, at the expense of my energy and sanity.)

"Yes," he answered. "Let's get outta here." The others nodded and waited as Squall walked unsteadily toward the door. Zell followed behind him, making sure that Squall had someone to fall on if he needed it. Squall seemed to realise this and glanced at Zell with his eyes full of resentment. The four SeeDs walked out of the small chamber, followed by the moombas, who were curiously silent.

(He is one of great power…)

Squall glanced around.

"Huh?"

(Yes, yes. With the blood of Master Laguna…)

(There are great things destined for him…)

Squall stopped again. The others came nearer to him, just in case.

"Squall?" Zell ventured. Squall didn't answer. Instead, he was staring at two moombas who were a little ways away, seemingly ignoring the four humans. "Squall, they're just moombas…"

"…Shut up Zell, you don't understand what the fuck you're talking about," Squall snapped at him, not taking his eyes from the moombas. Zell took a step back, he felt as if Squall had slapped him across the face.

(…The blood of Master Laguna?)

***

"Dammit, Irvine! If you don't turn this car around right now, I'm gonna kick your ass!" Rinoa shouted in the gunbunny's ear.

"OW! RINOA! THAT HURT!" he exclaimed, hitting the breaks. Rinoa jumped out of the passenger seat of the car. "Oh, come on Rinoa! Your dad told me to get just YOU. Don't make this so difficult…" Irvine climbed out of the car after her. Rinoa had already started hiking back the way they had come from. "Dammit Rinoa!" Irvine shouted after her.

"I'm going back to help them Irvine, even if you won't!" she shouted back.

"They don't need help, they'll all be fine!"

"How do you know? What if Squall is like, 'No one ordered me to escape'?" she said, turning to face Irvine. Irvine shook his head, chuckling.

"Squall's good about following orders, but he's not stupid, Rinoa…"

"Well I'm going to help them, like a GOOD friend," she growled at him. Then she turned on her heel and started back toward the prison.

"Oh, come one Rinoa! Stop it! I have orders from your dad to bring you back in one piece! …Rinoa! …Rinoa!?!" Irvine sighed. "FINE! I'LL GO WITH YOU! …Damn women," he murmured under his breath. Irvine got back into the vehicle and hit reverse. He pulled up next to where Rinoa was waiting and opened the passenger door.

"…We're really going to go back?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Yes Rinoa. Now get in the damn car."

"I mean it Irvine Kinneas. Do you swear that if I get into this car, we will go back to the prison?" Rinoa asked sceptically. Irvine hit his head against the steering wheel and took a deep breath.

(I'm gonna kill her…) He looked up at her and raised his hands.

"I promise."

"Fine," she answered, getting into the car.

"If you weren't a girl, I swear I'd…"

***

Squall stood in the chamber staring from one person to the next. He looked at the staircase and then at the prison claw.

"I think we should take the claw down," Quistis said. "Zell's right, it'll go faster and you're too weak to go down twelve flights of stairs." Squall ignored her and looked at the moombas gathered around his feet.

"How do we get out of here?" he asked them. The moombas jumped up and down excitedly and pointed toward another staircase, one that was leading up.

"Laguna! Laguna!"

"Why do they keep saying that?" Quistis asked. "It's getting annoying."

"I dunno," Squall shrugged. "I guess that's the way out," he commented, pointing toward the second staircase.

"But that's going up," Selphie said, looking confused. "How can we get out if we're going up?"

"I don't know!" Squall said exasperatedly. "Believe it or not, I don't know everything!" he snapped. Selphie jumped in surprise and closed her mouth. Squall covered his face with his hands and sighed. "I'm sorry Selphie. I'm just tired and I want to get the hell outta here." They all agreed and walked toward the second set of stairs, Squall lagged behind, watching the moombas, and feeling very tired.

"SEE! I TOLD you they'd be fine!" Squall heard a voice say. It was coming from the direction of the stairwell. He glanced over and saw Rinoa and Irvine coming down the stairs.

"Oh, bite me, Irvine," Rinoa said, sticking her tongue out at him. Irvine opened his mouth to retort back, but thought better of it and resorted to glaring. "Is everyone okay? Let's get out of here!"

"The guards are all searching the lower levels at the moment," Zell said. "Now would be a good time to go."

"Yes. Let's go," Quistis agreed. The group was almost to the top of the staircase when Rinoa noticed that Squall wasn't with them.

"Squall? Hey, wait! Where's Squall?" she observed. "You guys go ahead, I'll get him…" Before anyone could object, Rinoa had run down the stairs and out of view. Irvine shrugged.

"Let's go, they should be alright," he said and started up the stairs. Quistis frowned, but followed the other three up the staircase.

"Squall? Squall, come on, we have to get out of here before the guards find you," Rinoa said, glancing around. She spotted Squall sitting against a wall, staring at a Moomba. "Squall… We have to go now," Rinoa said urgently, pulling him to his feet. He didn't fight her at all, and Rinoa was surprised at how placid he was. "Squall, are you alright?" she asked, pulling his arm over her neck to help him keep his balance.

"Yes…" he began as they started walking slowly toward the staircase. "…No…" he finished, his knees giving out from under him. Rinoa held on to him, not letting him hit the ground.

"Squall! What did they do to you?" she murmured, helping him to the staircase. As they started the arduous climb to the top of the stairs Rinoa heard a loud shout behind her.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

"Shit…" Rinoa muttered, stopping. She and Squall slowly turned around to face their attackers. There were four Galbadian soldiers facing them, with guns pointed.

"Come down here," the leader said, gesturing. Rinoa obeyed quietly, helping Squall back down the stairs.

(Dammit, they're in the way…)

Squall blinked and pulled Rinoa down.

"What the…?!?" Rinoa exclaimed in surprise. Behind her she heard gunfire, and Squall pushed her head down as four bullets flew over them, hitting the guards, who fell, one by one. Rinoa turned her head and saw Irvine standing at the top of the staircase, his shotgun smoking. "Squall? How did you…?" she started, but stopped when she saw that Squall had passed out. "Irvine! Help me!"

***

"Hey! He's waking up!"

Squall groaned and slowly opened his eyes. Quistis was kneeling next to him with a worried look on her face.

"Squall? Squall, are you alright?" she asked. Squall blinked and rubbed his eyes. He looked at his surroundings and frowned. He was sitting on the floor of a train engine.

"Where the hell are we?" he murmured. Quistis sighed.

"You're on the engine of a train that Irvine and I, uh… 'liberated.' We're going back to Garden to warn them about some missiles. The Galbadian Army-"

"I know about the missiles. Where is everyone else?"

"They went to the Missile Base to try and stop the launch," Irvine answered, from behind Squall. Squall turned his head and saw the sharpshooter piloting the train.

"I didn't know you knew how to drive a train…"

"I don't. It's actually kinda easy once you get the hang of it," Irvine said, shrugging. "We'll be back in Balamb in about twenty minutes. Are you gonna be alright, Squall?" Squall nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be okay… Don't worry about me."

"What happened Squall? Why did you pass out? What did they do to you?" Quistis asked, concern apparent on her face. Squall looked away from her and watched the trees silently pass by.

"…"

"Squall… Please?" Quistis pleaded. She wanted so much for him to talk to her, to tell her what happened, to let her help him. Quistis watched as Squall's eyes glazed over and he sucked himself into his own little world and sighed. She stood up after a second and stood next to Irvine.

"I wish he'd talk to me," she mumbled to herself. Irvine raised an eyebrow.

"He's had a bad time Quistis, and from what I've heard and seen, he's not really the type to come out and tell you when something's wrong. Don't try to force him into doing something that isn't natural."

"Yeah, I guess…" Quistis glanced over at Squall. "But he can't go on like this forever. You can't go through life like that."

***

"What the hell is going on here!?" Quistis exclaimed as they entered Garden to find it in chaos. There were people running everywhere, monsters on the loose, and Garden Faculty members ordering everyone about. Quistis ran over to a faculty member to find out what was going on as Irvine helped Squall. The faculty member turned to the three teenagers.

"Do you support Headmaster Cid or Garden Master NORG?" he demanded.

"What?" Quistis asked, extremely confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Do you support Headmaster Cid or Garden Master NORG?!?" he demanded again, more forcefully.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Quistis exclaimed.

"You must be one of Cid's spies! SEIZE THEM!" the faculty member shouted, pointing at the three SeeDs. Quistis, Irvine, and Squall suddenly found themselves surrounded by SeeD Candidates and Grats.

"What the fuck?" Irvine muttered, pulling out his gun.

"No!" Squall said, leaning against the taller man. "Don't hurt them!"

"I'm more worried about them hurting us," Quistis said, pulling out her whip. Squall pushed himself off of Irvine and pointed his hands toward the students.

"Dammit… SLEEP!" Squall commanded, causing everyone within earshot of him, except Irvine, Quistis, and the Grats, to pass out. "Get rid of the Grats," he said softly. Quistis and Irvine obeyed, killing off the few monsters that were lurking around.

"How'd he do that?" Irvine whispered. Quistis shrugged.

"It was just a sleep spell…"

"Yeah, but so many at once? And only the students?"

"It can be done."

"Sure, by a sorceress," Irvine murmured after killing the last of the Grats. The two turned back around to see their leader sitting on the ground in the middle of the circle of unconscious SeeD Candidates, he was fast asleep. "What's wrong with him?"

"Probably the same thing that was wrong with him when we left… He was tortured for God's sake, Irvine."

"True, but you'd think he'd be in pain, not asleep," Irvine said, picking Squall up carefully.

"Who says he's not in pain?" Quistis defended. "Come on, let's get him to the infirmary if we can."

***

"Oh my goodness! What happened?" Dr. Kadowaki exclaimed as Irvine set Squall down on one of the infirmary beds.

"We've been through a bad time… Where's Headmaster Cid, and what the hell is going on here?" Quistis asked. Dr. Kadowaki walked over to Squall and stopped.

"He didn't pass out did he?"

"What? Why should that matter?"

"Just answer the question."

"I don't think so. He cast a sleep spell on a bunch of SeeD Candidates 'cos when we got here, they attacked us."

"Okay, good," Dr. Kadowaki replied, as she pulled on a pair of white cotton gloves and began examining Squall. "Everything has gotten crazy here. After the assassination attempt on the Sorceress failed, Garden split into two factions, those with the Headmaster and those against. The Headmaster is hiding around somewhere because the Garden Faculty has gone completely insane. They've released all the monsters from the Training Centre and are trying to capture all the SeeDs and the students siding with Headmaster Cid. I don't even know why, it's crazy."

"…Great… Just great. There are missiles from Galbadia headed this way and we're in the middle of a coup d'etat!" Quistis shook her head. (What's with the gloves?)

"What? Missiles?"

"Yeah, that's why we're trying to find Cid, we gotta evacuate ASAP."

"Xu should know where he is, but I don't know where she is."

"Xu? Okay, thanks for your help Dr. Kadowaki… and take good care of Squall, okay?" Quistis added. Dr. Kadowaki smiled.

"I will."

"Come on Irvine!" Quistis called running out of the infirmary, Irvine smiled at the doctor and followed after her.

***

Author's Note: Updatingupdatingupdating… blah blah blah… I still don't own FF8, except Squall *drool* and I will get Irvine and Laguna, dammit! ^_~ Enzyvay, yeah… Okay, time for breakfast. ^_^