Disclaimer: I don't own ff8! There, art thou satisfied?

~*Chapter 4*~

Squall looked around his opulent surroundings with an air of quiet appreciation. Rinoa had obviously been waiting up for him but it had been too hard for her too keep her heavy lids from closing. "Pity," he thought, "she looks beautiful."

She wore a simple nightdress, yet on her anything could look as if a master seamstress had crafted it. Barely reaching to her mid thigh, it clung to her curves, accentuating the gentle sweeping lines of her figure. The colour was, as always, a shade of blue, this time of the palest dove variety, and the material shimmered with the rise and fall of her chest.

His little sorceress was a vain one; she needed to wear the dark blue glasses that were perched precariously on the tip of her button nose to see any distance, but would wear contacts in the presence of anyone but him. He teased her about his a lot, the glasses framed her heart shaped fact beautifully, but she'd pout and stomp if he dared suggest it to her.

She was so cute when she was mad. All scrunched up nose and pouting lower lip. He loved to tease her, just to get that face. Her dark hair was fanned about the plush red velvet of the chaise de lounge she had fallen asleep on and he gently picked her up and placed her under the covers of the feather-down bed, removing the glasses carefully and placing them on the side table within her reach. She stirred slightly and he planted a soft kiss on her forehead, his scent and touch comforted her and she smiled in her sleep, comfortable now to sleep deeply as he had returned.

He walked onto the balcony and looked around at the vibrant city, still buzzing with the audible hum of machinery, music and laughter. It was amazing he mused. So full of life so quickly after so much death. He reflected on his situation. In one day he had declared his undying love for Rinoa, received the same sentiment from her and found out he had a real family. Who'd have thought, he pondered that I was related to Laguna? A sharp pain gripped his chest and his head started throbbing, he realised immediately who was responsible,

"Elle, please don't do this! Not now!" He gasped

"I have to show you Squall. You need to know what happened. It's for your own good." her consciousness swam through his own intermingling with it.

A brilliant radiance blinded him and suddenly he was in the town of Winhill with Sis. But they were little. Tiny in Squalls case, only three years old, and painfully thin.

"Sis, where's mommy?" The little boy tugged impatiently at the sleeve of Elle.

"I told yoo Squally, she's not here anymore. She went away and she's not coming back. The fairies are lookin' after her though!" She exclaimed brightly.

"Did she not like me when I was a baby? Is that why she went away? I'm nicer now mommy! Sis tell her! Make her come back." Squall looked at her pleadingly, his lower lip trembling.

"Come on Squall, We'll go see where mommy is. Your Daddy, Uncle Laguna, will be here for us soon though and we'll go live with him and eat cakes and ice cream all day!" The pair started walking slowly up the hill, Elle holding on tightly to his little hand, Squall sucking absently at his thumb.

"Woohoo! I can't wait to see Daddy!" The little boy stopped suddenly, and looked serious,

"He won't leave us too, will he?"

"Of course he won't! Look at your hair Squall Loire! It's all weird and spiky! Come here till I try and flatten it." She started spitting on her palm, like Raine had done to her when she was little, except Squalls hair just wouldn't stay down, it just sprang back like it had been before. It was a good thing she was so big now, otherwise she couldn't have looked after Squall like Raine had said.

"Elle, you look after the baby. He's your little brother now." She had looked so white, the doctor said she'd lost a lot of blood when the little baby had came out.

"Tell your Uncle Laguna that I'm sorry we didn't wait for him, but that I love him with all my heart and soul."

"Where are yoo goin' Raine?" The little Elle was sucking her thumb and holding onto the side of Raine's bed tightly, her little knuckles white.

"I have to go to the fairies Elle. They're going to look after me." Raine smiled, looking at peace.

"What yoo gonna call the baby Raine? He's all pink and squishy!" Elle had been handed the baby and was laughing in delight.

Raine had looked out of the window then, beyond the confines of Winhill, and the doctor nodded to the priest to begin the last rites. The rain was teaming down the window; a hurricane was battering the small village.

"Squall. His name is to be Squall Loire, Elle. Make them call him that. Not Leonhart, Loire. If he asks about me, tell him I love him, and that I'll always be watching down on him."

"Will yoo be watching me too?" the little girl was playing with the baby's downy hair, it was spiky and brown, it wouldn't stay flat. The two blue eyes gazing up at her seemed to be filled with a storm and she was fascinated with this tiny creature.

She had laughed weakly, "Of course, I gotta make sure you don't cause too much mischief with Laguna!"

Her expression turned to one of pain and she called for her son. As she held him in her arms for the first and last time, she slipped a necklace into his shawl with an explanatory note of what was to be done after she was gone. Her breathing became laboured until, with her last breath she whispered,

"I love you so much Squall, make sure you remember that and tell your Daddy I love him too."

"Raine? Raine! Why yoo not talkin'? Raine!"

Little Elle fought back tears remembering that night, and hadn't realised until Squall started struggling under her firm grip.

"Stop spitting on me Elle, you're gross!" He looked inquisitively at her red rimmed eyes,

"Why yoo crying?"

"I'm just…just thinking how far we have to go! Hurry up slow coach, or the monsters will get ya!"

Squalls little face crumpled and he whimpered, "Don't say that Elle, that's not nice of yoo. I'm scared, don't leave me here by myself!"

"I'll never leave yoo, silly! Whether yoo like it or not!" She ruffled his hair and they started giggling. They ran to the unmarked spot where Elle had taken him so often. He lay down and started sucking his thumb, rubbing the grass gently with his other hand. She looked on at her little brother; hoping Uncle Laguna would be here soon.

A shout interrupted their moment of peace. "There they are!" A large, burly red-faced man hauled Squall up off his resting place and dangled him painfully by the arm above the ground.

"You little cretin. Just as bad as your no good father. How often do you have to be told too stay the hell away from here? You don't deserve to be near her, you killed her. You and your idiot father." The man spoke with pure hatred dripping from every word.

The small boy began to cry. Elle was kicking the man in the shins, screaming,

"Don't listen to him Squall he's a liar! Yoo're a good boy, Raine loved yoo! Yoo're a bad man! Leave him alone! Leave him alone!"

He paid no attention to the girl, instead pulling Squall further up so he was eye to eye with the frightened child.

"Not content with killing Raine, you try and turn this little princess bad too? Well, we're having none of that. You're going away Leonhart, far away where you can't hurt little Elle."

"No! Please, I'll be good, I pwomise! Elle's my sis, she's gotta take care of me! I love Elle!" Squall pleaded, but it was futile.

"No one cares about you Leonhart. Not even your idiot father. He can't even be bothered to come and collect his spawn. You're nothing and you will always be nothing. Deal with it." The red faced man sneered, Elle was still kicking him,

"He's not Leonhart, he's Loire! Raine said so, Raine said so! Yoo gotta call him Squall Loire! Put my brother down!"

The man tossed Squall away like a rag and he fell badly, becoming unconscious. He made to pick up Elle gently, but she ran to Squall's side and started screaming as she saw the blood pouring from an open head wound.

"Yoo killed him! Yoo killed my brother! I'm telling Uncle Laguna! He's gonna be mad at yoo!" she sobbed hysterically.

"He's not dead princess, he's sleeping. Now come on, why don't you come get some ice cream with me? My wife just made some this morning!" the man said cheerily, trying to placate her.

"Only if Squall comes." She sniffed

"Tch. Fine. But we're not feeding him." He picked up the boy roughly and carried them to the house.

Later that night when the two returned to the house where they stayed with the old women they found that that Squall's toy were gone, not that he had many to start with. Elle had always had many; the villagers loved her and gave her presents every day, not just birthdays and Christmas. Squall had never had a birthday or a Christmas. His one toy was an old blanket that he'd had since birth, and now it was missing, along with his makeshift bed of old crates and torn quilts.

"Where's Squall's things? Where is he gonna sleep?" Elle demanded.

"He's going to sleep on the floor. It's better than he deserves. I threw that old blanket out, it was dirty." The old women eyed Squall distastefully and sniffed.

"But it was his. And he'll freeze without a bed and bedclothes."

"What's your point Elle? Don't give him any of your blankets either, or he'll not be here when you wake up. Good night princess, Squall, get in the corner." She ordered.

Squall curled himself up into a small ball in the corner and started crying. A flash of silver around his neck caught the woman's eye.

"Ah hah! Been thieving have you? This necklace ain't yours, it was Raine's and she would never have given it to you." She attempted to snatch it triumphantly, but Elle leapt in front of Squall.

"It is Squall's! She gave it to him. Don't dare touch it or I won't be here when you wake up!" Elle's threat was not empty and the old woman backed down.

"Tch. Fine."

"Why are so mean to him? He's only a little boy, he's never done anything to anybody." Elle's curiosity got the better of her.

"He killed Raine. Him and that stranger robbed us of her. Why aren't you angry that he did that?" the old woman despaired.

"He didn't. Raine wanted to go see the fairies. So she went, it had nothing to do with Squall." Elle explained calmly, silly woman; they'd been mistaken! Now they'd like Squall she reasoned.

"Giving birth to that thing killed her Elle!" this shocked Elle into silence for a moment, but the woman's smugness at thinking she had won was short lived.

"No. Squall saved her, she told me so. She said he was a gift from the fairies, and that one day he would show us all what it meant to have the strength and courage and pride of a lion. He's going to be a great man and accomplish wonderful things she said.

Her and Greiver are always watching over him she said, and Raine doesn't lie. So she'll be seeing what yoo're doing to her little boy and she won't like yoo. Squall, come and share my bed, snuggle under and get warm. I'll always look after yoo." With that, the pair had fallen into an easy sleep; huddled together to keep warm in such a cold hearted town.

Squall woke out of the dreamlike state to find Elle standing over him.

"Are you ok Squall?" She asked, concern etched on her face.

"Yeah. Thanks for that, I really needed to remember how much everyone has always hated me even when I was small." He snarled. He never was in the best of moods when he woke, Elle remembered with a smile and let it pass without comment.

"I thought you'd like to know about Raine."

"Yeah. I'm sorry I snapped. It was nice to see I was loved. What happened after that sis?" he inquired.

She paused and thought back, "Well, about two weeks after that, we went to the orphanage, met the gang and had fun!"

He laughed softly, "And you couldn't have shown me that?"

"I will one day, right now this was more important. Sweet dreams Squall, get snuggled under the covers and warm up, you're freezing." She called as she closed the door softly behind her.

"Yes sis. Good night."

He got undressed and slipped under the warm sheets careful not to wake Rinoa, but still she murmured sleepily, "Hmm? Where have been sweetie, missed you…"

"I was just finding out about myself, I…"

But she was already asleep again. He let himself drift into a sleep littered with memories of the past.