Disclaimer: Guess what! I married the head of Squaresoft and I now own ff8! Oh wait, that's not true…damn

~*Chapter 7*~

A lone figure stood at the edge of the pretty, rural town. The air hung heavily suspended in the silence. Pastel pinks and vibrant shades of red scarred the sky as dusk approached; a faint breeze stirred the man from his prone position. Five companions held back, tears marring their features as their leader knelt in front of a simple grave, flowers clutched in trembling hands.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Brat!"

"Monster."

"Why don't you run off and just get lost?"

"Go play in traffic."

"Why don't you do us all a favour? Just curl up and die."

"Murderer!"

"No wonder your mother died. Who'd want to raise a thing like you? I'd die to get out of it too."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He blinked back tears, remembering those hate filled days. Why? Why did they hate a defenceless child so much? He stroked the grass covering his mother's burial site and read the intricate inscription; lovingly and painstakingly carved by hand. It had been defaced, but the inscription was still clear:

"Raine Loire; beloved wife and mother. Sleep well amongst the stars, my love."

He laid the flowers down and ran a hand over the cool marble; a silent vow was made. If I ever find who did this I swear to Hyne he shall not escape my blade.

"Squall!" A sweet voice broke through his murderous thoughts, and he looked up to see the angel in blue standing over him.

She touched his shoulder slightly, "Are you ok?"

He exhaled sharply, never looking up; "I'm fine. Let's go find an inn. I, I need to rest."

A hint of sympathy crept into her voice, "I know."

She was startled into silence when he looked straight into her eyes, searching so deeply for something, it was almost as if he was trying to reach her soul with those pleading eyes.

"Do you ever visit your mom?"

"No. I don't know where she is. That man would never let me see her. I never even got to say goodbye." Her face hardened, shutting him from her emotions.

He stood slowly and embraced her, his face buried in her raven hair. He whispered softly to her, "I'm sorry. We've both lost so much. But you know what? We should move on, let it go. Maybe we should go speak to your Dad, try to reconcile things?"

"No! No. It's none of your business Squall. You didn't want to get involved in a family feud two months ago, don't break the habit of a lifetime." She stormed off, leaving a confused Squall watching her rapidly retreating form.

He turned to see his friends gaping at Rinoa's sudden departure, not wishing to explain the situation he called back to them, "I'll meet you at the hotel. I've got some…business to attend to."

They nodded dumbly. He strode off, where would she be? It was a small town, he knew it better than she did, it shouldn't be too hard to find her he reasoned. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the approach of a large, ignorant man. The man jostled him and snapped him from his thoughts.

"Watch where you're going punk!"

"Sorry." Squall mumbled, not even looking up. The man pushed him.

"You should have some respect for those that live here boy. We don't take kindly to outsiders. Why the hell were you at that grave?"

Squall pondered playing all his cards at once, instead he held back, "What happened to that woman's grave stone?"

"I happened to it. That poor woman's relationship to that cretin she spawned and the loser that she married has no place here. It doesn't deserve acknowledgement." He sneered, thinking he had won the battle.

Squall's head snapped up. He recognised that voice. The man who had tormented him at his mother's grave as a child was right here in front of him. The man who had defiled his mothers resting-place. Anger flashed in his grey-blue eyes, a storm seemed to be brewing in them. He drew himself up to his full height and looked the man square in the eyes, his nose an inch from the mans own.

"Do you recognise me?" He asked softly.

"Why the fuck should I recognise a worthless outsider?"

"Take a good look, not just at me, but at everything around you, because these are going to be your last few moments on this planet. Do you recognise me?" Squall yelled at the frozen figure before him

The man shook his head dumbly, "N, no."

"I can't believe your conscience is so under developed that you can't remember someone who's life you made hell. You nearly killed me on so many occasions. Well, I'm glad I finally get the chance to return the favour."

The man's eyes widened first with surprise, then recognition, "Leonhart…"

"Yeah, Leonhart. The kid who was a nothing, a nobody. The kid you tried to kill. The kid who saved the whole fucking world, including this shitty town. Do you still wish I were dead? Do you? Answer me you piece of shit!" He was screaming at the man, tears running freely down his face

The man scoffed at him; "We've never needed you Leonhart. Someone else would've saved us if you weren't here. You're still nothing, you're worthless. My only regret is that I didn't succeed in killing you when you were a snivelling little brat. Nothing much as changed though has it? You're still wailing away, just like in the good ol' days. I can still make you cry. Some hero."

His smug satisfaction changed to terror when Squall took his gunblade from its holster. He raised it above the mans head and brought it down with a warriors cry.

"Squall!"

The gunblade stopped an inch from striking the man down and Squall turned to face the voice.

Rinoa ran over and shook him, "What the hell are you thinking? This isn't you…Squall?"

"He, he was the one Rinoa. He tried to kill me when I lived here." Squall was trembling uncontrollably. The gunblade dropped from his hands.

Rinoa turned and looked at the man, rage noticeable in her eyes, blackening them with her fury. "I think you should leave now, or he won't be the only one trying to kill you."

The man responded by leaving a trail of dust in his wake. Squall felt the world spinning, his head was hurting and he was unsteady on his feet. "Rin? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"I know. I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have went off like that. Squall? Squall?" She looked at him worried; he was swaying from side to side, about to collapse.

"What's wrong? Squall!" Rinoa cried, the last thing he heard before he blacked out.

~*~*~

Squall woke to a bright light, blinding in its intensity. He winced at the pain in his head and slowly opened one eye to see Rinoa sleeping in a chair next to him, a wet cloth clutched in her hands. She had obviously been up half the night looking after him, and he smiled as she snuffled a little in her dream. Both eyes now prised open; he planted a soft kiss on her forehead and made to leave the room. Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself staring at a naked Squall. She was only in a nightdress herself, the windows couldn't be opened in case the chill air had worsened his fever and the room was stifling. He coloured and made an attempt to cover his embarrassment and growing arousal.

"I, uh…jeez, you have a knack for catching me in bad situations Rinny."

She giggled, " I wouldn't say this was bad. Under other circumstances I would say this was great!"

He smiled and nervously ran a hand through his hair. She laughed at his discomfort and crossed the room, taking him into her arms and teasing the inside of his mouth with her tongue. He moaned lowly and pressed his body close to hers, one hand reaching to cup her breast. Both were surprised when the door opened behind them and a relieved looking Laguna breezed into the room.

"I'm so glad you're ok, the guy's called me and said you were sick and I…" He trailed off into silence as he took in the scene before him. His son stood naked in front of him, looking both enraged and embarrassed as he held his scantily clad girlfriend close to him. Squall suddenly realised he was still fondling Rinoa's breast and he removed his hand quickly.

Laguna turned his back to them and coughed nervously, "Uh Rinoa? Would you mind letting me have a word with Squall in private?"

"S, Sure." She looked pityingly at Squall and squeezed his hand before rushing out the room clutching a robe. He quickly grabbed a towel and tied it hastily around his waist. Laguna turned round to face him and exhaled slowly. He limped to a seat and gestured for Squall to sit with him.

"Raine would be so much better at this. Right, don't ask him if they've done anything. Remember what Kiros said. No sex education lessons." He thought wildly.

"Oh Hyne, he's limping, he's nervous. What the hell's he gonna say? He better not start lecturing me…" Squall looked at his feet, then met Laguna's gaze. Laguna cleared his throat nervously. "Get on with it" Squall willed him silently.

"Well…" Laguna began.

"Yes?"

He couldn't help it, and he offered a silent apology to Kiros, "I hope the two of you are being careful, you have your whole lives ahead of you and I don't want anything to hinder your bright futures. I don't want you to regret anything or to resent someone for a mistake that could be easily avoided."

Squall's eyes clouded over with anger, "Look Laguna, you have no right to do this! You shouldn't jump to conclusions, it wasn't what it must have looked like."

"I have every right. I'm you father."

"A father who hasn't been in my life for seventeen years doesn't have any rights."

"That's harsh." He slumped, deflated. Squall defiantly refused to offer any comfort or response. Laguna changed his game plan slightly.

"Look, I'm not trying to lecture you, and you're right, I can't really lecture you. I've not been around and anything I would try to put across wouldn't make an impression on you."

"Good."

"But you know Squall, when a man and a woman love each other the way you and Rinoa love each other things can get out of hand. You can find that a kiss turns into heavy petting, that's when you start touching each others personal, uh, bits and that can lead to your…bits coming into contact themselves and that leads to trouble. If you find yourself in a situation like that, you have to take precautions…"

"Laguna, we…" Squall looked at him horrified,

"Don't interrupt son, it's for your own good. Anyway, this," he said taking a condom from his pocket, "is a condom. When your, uh, thing gets y'know…you just slip one of these babies on and hey presto! No babies! You need me to show you how to work one? You got a banana or something?" He stumbled on blindly.

"Hell no! No! Stop, please!"

"Oh you already know? That's good! But you know Squall, if anything ever does go wrong and you get Rinoa in trouble, I want you to know you can come to me and I'll help you out in anyway I can. But you're a Loire; you couldn't leave her in a situation like that."

Squall took a deep breath, " Laguna, I know all this. Garden is very responsible in that they wouldn't let the genders live so close to one another without warning us first of the implications of getting carried away. Basic biology is taught at ten years of age. If Esthar are building a Garden of their own, surely you've read over the syllabus to see what is taught and when? And like you said; I'm a Loire. I love Rinoa too much to even contemplate letting anything happen to her. And if anything did, for any reason, I'd be there."

Laguna smiled, "I know. I'm proud of you Squall. I know you'll never let me down. Be good kiddo, I'll see you back in Esthar soon, right?"

"Sure."

Laguna strode out the door, grabbing Rinoa for a hug as she passed on her way in, "Hey sweetheart, you look after him for me!"

"Of course Laguna." She smiled weakly; relieved she was now fully clothed.

Squall sat down heavily on the bed, his head in his hands.

"That was very sweet what you said about me."

He looked up; "I meant it. I love you Rin."

"I can't believe that happened, you should have seen your face!" She laughed.

"My face! You're usually so pale, I don't think I've ever seen such an…interesting shade of red…"

She hit him playfully, "Shut up!"

He looked at her, one eyebrow raised, "Make me."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe."

She tackled him onto the bed and kissed him, "Well, I suppose that's one way one way to keep me quiet."

"Well, I'm obviously not doing well enough if you can still talk!

"I guess you'll just have to try harder…"

She didn't answer; instead, her response was to kiss him even harder, "Mmmph!"