Disclaimer: I wish I own them, but no, FF8 and all its characters belong to Squaresoft. But I do own this story! ^__^
Chapter 10: Marry Me You Shall!
After another tiring journey, they finally arrived at Timber.
"See? I told you to go east, but noooo, 'the map says north', said Mr Map-never-lies," smirked Squall.
Laguna pouted. It wasn't his fault that maps had no sense of directions.
"The next train to Balamb leaves in two hours, how convenient," remarked Squall after checking with the train station.
Laguna was checking the chocobos that Kiros, Ward and he left in Timber a few days ago. Fortunately they stayed healthy.
"Alright. Maybe I'll visit Timber Maniacs for the time being, join me?"
Squall thought about the editor of Timber Maniacs and shuddered. He had heard enough stories to last into the next century from Laguna's incessant babbling on the road, stories such as how he got to join the Galbadian army, how he got to know Kiros and Ward, and how about the time he had to be a B-grade movie actor just to earn money? Why listen in on another life story of another boring man?
"I'll…" started Squall, with the intention of rejecting the invitation.
"You'll go? That's great!" Before Squall had finished, Laguna was already grabbing him by the collar and leading – well, actually dragging – him on his way. Squall frowned, but did not give any resistance.
"AAAHHH!!"
A girlish scream shocked both men. Before they had time to react, a girl had already caught hold of Squall's hand tightly. A whole bunch of kids gathered around him.
"It really is you! Do you still remember me? You saved me from the train a few months ago!" the little girl squealed with delight. The other kids were examining Squall from head to toe.
"Hey! Why didn't you tell me before? You make me so proud!" Laguna yelled from across the sea of children.
Squall didn't know what to do. The girl kept on tugging his hand, and the children had formed a wall around him, denying him of any exit from this embarrassment. He looked up at Laguna, begging with his eyes that his father would help him.
Laguna ignored his son's helpless look. He did look silly surrounded by kids. Would it be too much to ask Squall and Rinoa to have as much babies as a team of footballers consisted of?
"I made up my mind to marry you! I even broke up with Buddy. I told him I'm not into dangerous activities anymore," the little girl continued squealing happily. The other kids were now yelling "Marry! Marry!" Squall's cheeks were fiery red with embarrassment as onlookers watched them with glee.
"Um, I can't marry you, little girl, 'cause I have a girlfriend who's waiting for me back home," Squall tried to wriggle out of the situation.
"Not if I marry you first!"
This girl sure is persistent, thought Squall as the other children pushed and pulled Squall away. "Where are you taking me?"
"I'll marry you now! We're taking you back to my house," answered the girl with a huge smile on her face.
This is getting way out of hand, Squall thought, starting to panic. Marrying a little girl was not in their plan of getting home. Plus, if he missed the train, they'd have to wait another three days for another ride home. And he missed his bed very much.
"A little help over here?" he yelled at Laguna.
Laguna stifled a laugh. "You're forgetting the magic words," he yelled back.
"Please?" The force of the group of kids was too much. He was pushed farther and farther away from the train station.
"Nope! The word D-A-D!"
Squall was getting desperate. He drew in a big breath before yelling on top of his lungs the 'magic word', "Please DAD?!"
Laguna followed slowly behind. "Ah, that word is like a melody to my ears. I wonder why you rarely use it?"
Squall was bright red from embarrassment AND anger. "Oookay, if you help me out, I'll call you 'dad' as often as possible, happy?!"
Laguna looked at the children and wondered aloud, "Are they really that hard to deal with? I mean, you fight with monsters all the time…"
"DAD!!"
"Fine! I'll help you!"
Laguna moved closer to the mob, picked the girl out and took her aside. "Listen, I got a secret to tell you."
The other kids stopped, but Squall was still trapped.
"He doesn't want to tell you this, but someday you'll know that there are men who marry men."
The little girl arched her eyebrow in confusion.
Laguna pointed to Squall, "We are actually secret lovers."
"I thought he had just called you 'dad'," the girl pointed out.
"It's our secret way of calling each other," Laguna sported a smile.
The girl refused to believe his words. "Prove it."
"Fine," replied Laguna, with a wink.
Squall couldn't catch what Laguna had told the girl. As Laguna walked towards him with his hands in his pockets, the girl gave instructions to the kids to clear a path. He thought everything was finally okay.
He was about to give thanks to his father when suddenly the latter took out his hands, caught hold of Squall's cheeks and pulled him in for a long kiss on the lips. Squall's eyes widened with astonishment.
That did the trick. The kids quickly dispersed, shrieking all the way home. When every single kid had left, Laguna finally ended the kiss. He looked at Squall and laughed heartily, for he had put duct tape on Squall's mouth before leaning in for the kiss. Squall looked stupid with duct tape on his face.
Laguna helped his son peel off the duct tape. "Neat trick, huh? Always remember to have duct tape in your pocket. Learnt it while making the movie. I had to kiss disgusting 'princesses', so this trick came in a lot of help."
Squall stood motionless with eyes narrowed, trying to burn a hole through his father with his piercing looks.
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Author's note: Again, for those who didn't know, Squall can save a girl from an oncoming train in Timber. I took the liberty to make up a name for the kid on the bridge. I actually learnt the duct tape trick from Ranma ½ (love that show!)