(¯`'·.¸(¯`'·. .author's note. .·'´¯)¸.·'´¯)
I AM NOW ACCEPTING ANONYMOUS REVIEWS. Any flames, and that leaves . . . but, I enjoy reading my reviewers stories, so please, PLEASE sign in if you have an account! Laziness will not be tolerated!
I hate flashbacks . . . luckily for you guys though, I'm smarter than to have the bar thing saying in bold type 'FLASHBACK.' That's just annoying.
(¯`'·.¸(¯`'·. quistis .·'´¯)¸.·'´¯)
The hotel rooms here in Deling are extremely comfortable, given the amount of rich visitors they receive. I wondered slightly whether or not Laguna had stayed in this very room at one point. Given the amount of time he had supposedly spent in the bar downstairs, I didn't doubt the possibility.
Deling was an active city. The traffic noise out my window alone was enough to keep me awake, but given my state of mind, I wouldn't have been able to rest anyway. I was worried.
Mainly about Laguna. Squall could forgive me, given time, because I was his friend . . . But Laguna?
If Squall didn't forgive Laguna, after all that Laguna's conscience had gone through over the years because of him, then Squall was more of a moron than his father was.
Not that his father was a moron, or anything. . . well . . . yes, fine, Laguna was a moron. Or at least, he pretended to be, Hyne knew why.
I thought back to two days ago.
Two days ago, I'd left Garden. For vacation, I'd said.
I'd peered at the faces staring at me. They wanted answers . . . that I couldn't give. But then, I suppose Squall won't tell them . . . and since . . . well. . .
Selphie had put her hands on her hips impetuously and demanded right out. "Who's Squall's father?"
"What, you don't doubt that might not be true? This man might be lying," I had, really, tried to swerve the conversation away from the inevitable. Zell waved his arm, pointed in the air.
"Quistis," he'd voiced seriously, "like you'd believe it if you didn't know it was absolutely true."
I'd suppressed a wince. These people knew me too well. The penalties of friendship . . . outweighed by the good, but still existent. I hadn't been able to find a reason anymore not to tell them . . .
"This conversation remains between us," I had warned slowly. "Squall might not want you to know . . . this never happened. Not even to Squall."
Irvine had shouldered his Exeter, shifting its considerable weight with ease. "We got it Quistis. Secret stuff, we've proved in the past we keep a secret. Now spill it."
I threw in the proverbial towel. "Well . . . through a chance encounter . . ." Yes, the truth there, "I found out who Squall's birth father was. Not a shock, in its entirety, but that he was alive and aware of his paternal status was. . ." I hesitated, not a wise choice of words to explain things. I was heading into instructor mode.
Zell broke in. "Why the hell didn't he claim him?!"
I'd shaken my head. I had thought on all possibilities, this included. "Fear of inability. He was a fighter, Zell, our age. Could you be a father?"
"I wouldn't just up and leave!" Zell exploded. "Where the hell did his morals go? The mother-"
I had placated him with a hand. "Squall's mother asked him to go somewhere, and he went. When the father returned, he found the mother dead, from childbirth."
Rinoa then stepped forward, and she hadn't seemed happy. "So . . . who's Squall's mom?"
I'd remembered how Laguna had broken the news to me, by stating Raines name before him. At an irreparable loss for how to continue, I had followed suit " . . . Raine. Yes, THE Raine. Raine Leonhart."
Irvine had choked, but motioned me to continue. I plunged forward.
"Yes. However, a year or so before her death, both her marital status and name was changed . . ." I had paused, thinking over it a bit, and continued, ". . . to Raine Loire."
Silence can deafen a man caught unawares just as much as words can. The silence that followed was just that kind. None of us are stupid. The others can put two and two together as well as you and I . . .
"You mean to say that Laguna Loire is Squall's . . . " Zell had shaken his head. " . . . I don't believe it . . . well, I do, it's just . . ."
"Sir . . . Sir Laguna?" Selphie had asked in a deferential tone. "Sir Laguna is Squall's-" she had shut her mouth on the last words. She'd shaken her head rapturously. "Oh wow . . . that's . . . not what I expected at all . . ."
Irvine had shaken his head as well. "Me either . . . Quistis, how . . ?" His dazed voice was clearing fast. Soon they'd have been asking rational questions, so I'd hurried to finish my point so I could leave.
A loud curse word had then come from the closed classroom door. I'd winced. "I've been helping Laguna to finally break the news to Squall . . . and that was my involvement in this fiasco."
I looked back at the door. " . . . and for the last time, this conversation never happened."
That had been followed by another shout, this time a bit less recognizable. Irvine had blinked pointedly. "Quistis, how many vacation days do you have?"
Quite a few, actually.
I had taken the hint.
So here I was, in Deling, praying that Squall hadn't completely wrecked my classroom, and hoping to Hyne that Laguna wasn't suicidal . . .
NO!
No, that was an extremely unpleasant thought. Laguna was going to be okay. Laguna can take care of himself.
He might seem like a total ditz some times, but he . . . appreciated things. He could hold even the most trivial thing up to the light and make it shine. He was an optimist to a certain extreme . . . less than Selphie's aggravatingly persistent idealism, more-far, far more-than my wry pessimism.
Laguna wasn't the kind who could stand by and let someone be miserable. Even those who thoroughly enjoyed their bad moods couldn't help but find his well placed antics heartening. Not that I enjoy my bad moods, of course, but I prefer them sometimes.
I thought back to when I had fought beside him, in that pitifully vain attempt to protect my charge. He'd obviously kept in shape, and his skills weren't rusty at all. He was a fighter to the core, honest, straightforward.
He'd managed to age well, in fact. I remembered how his startling green eyes had flashed when . . . oh, damn . . .
. . . since when do I care about Laguna's eyes?
I wondered why in Hyne's name I was thinking about Laguna in the first place . . . I was worried, yes, but this was just plain ridiculous.
I eyed the television perched in the corner of the room with apprehension. The things killed brain cells, really. And that was about it. However, perhaps it would be best to know if Balamb had mounted a full scale attack upon Esthar . . . and since I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway . . .
I turned on the news . . . which was on commercial. Sighing, I slumped over on the bed. Worry was apparently having entirely too much fun eating its way through my stomach.
Suppose, for a moment, that in a slight mishap of fate the conversation over the phone line went well, and those shouted curses were entirely misdirected . . . how would that change things? Squall would have a father. Rinoa would have a father in law, so soon after losing HER father. I groaned; would Rinoa end up ruining this chance?
Sighing, I cast my eyes back at the flashing screen.
" . . . which Estharian President Laguna Loire commented on earlier today." My ears perked up. What? I fumbled for the remote and turned up the volume as Laguna's image flickered on the screen. He looked less like the Laguna I knew, and . . . more like a completely different person, who was used to power and its responsibilities.
His strangely somber expression intensified the effect. That moronic act of his was astonishingly effective if he had managed to hide this facet of himself. His voice filtered through. "The assassination attempts-" WHAT?
Assassination attempts? Of course! No doubt those who killed General Caraway would be after Laguna, too . . . and in the political turmoil of a major leader's death, no one could really do much about these attempted murders until things calmed down enough for them to focus on it. They'd merely have to take them as they came . . .
Kiros and Ward, they'd be responsible for the whole bodyguard bit. But would they be able to take it all? If they were injured, who had enough skill? It's not as though Laguna could turn to SeeD anymore . . .
I swore softly; my mental outburst had caused me to miss parts of his speech. ". . . I'm still alive, and I plan on staying that way for awhile, thanks." Laguna gave a cocky grin, and the news switched over to some hospital.
I shook my head. His way of seeming both serious and endearing was almost certainly why he had remained in power so long. He was practically a dictator, even if a benign and well-loved one.
But the assassinations . . . he had enough to be dealing with. He was a president, and this sort of thing was his duty, but it was still . . . unfair.
Why now? What if Laguna died? Was it my fault? Should I have waited before making Laguna break the news to Squall? Then, Laguna could have still turned to SeeD about it. My fault? Was it?
Was it?
I stood up. Guilt was not going to get the better of me. Not this time.
I was going to something about it.
(¯`'·.¸(¯`'·. .laguna. .·'´¯)¸.·'´¯)
I woke up with a splitting headache. Could you blame me? Things in the past two days had been really hectic.
First off, that conversation with Squall. Was that good? Bad? And he said he'd call-which had resulted in a slight lack of sleep-and he hadn't yet. It'd only been a couple days, but . . . had he changed his mind?
I'd tried calling Quistis back, she could figure things like this out better then I could. But, the only person who answered her phone was that Selphie chick . . . and, to tell you the truth, she scared me kinda . . . So, I couldn't get in contact with Quistis for her opinion.
And that wasn't all . . . it got worse. Gee, how lucky for me.
In the face of my obvious refusal of the treaty Galbadia had drawn up, it seemed that Koryu Deling had come up with a solution to the problem-kill me. He'd tried three times already, and though luckily none of them succeeded (thanks to my awesome skills, oh yeah!) they'd probably keep trying.
The first time, I'd had to shoot the guy in my room. Messy.
So last night I had slept in some guest bed, and while I was there, Kiros found another guy sneaking into my real room. And . . . let's just say that the third guy hadn't been so inconspicuous-he'd opened fire while I was eating lunch. Totally took the edge off my appetite.
I groaned and rubbed my forehead in exasperated pain. Argh . . . gotta get some aspirin . . .
*knock knock knock*
My head-with much protest-jerked up. Three business-like raps? It wasn't Ward . . .Ward's knock was slow and powerful, and well . . .Kiros didn't knock at all. My personnel knew to speak up. None of those three were at my door . . . and no one else was allowed anywhere near here . . .
Not again. . . damn assassins . . .
I reached for my Uzi, and in a falsely cheerful voice, called out, "Er . . . just a sec!" Trying to think around the pounding in my head, I slipped around the room's edge to reach the door. This stealth thing sucked.
Take a breath, Laguna, count to three . . . I narrowed my eyes and swung open the door, pointing the gun at where their head should be-
And froze, as the 'assassin' merely raised an eyebrow, and began to speak.
"Well, at least someone here has an ounce of sense. Honestly, for such an advanced city-state, you have extraordinarily lax security."
My jaw dropped. Literally, it fell open, I swear; cause really, I was NOT expecting Quistis to be standing there, seemingly unfazed by the fact that I had a high powered automatic weapon pointed at her head.
Well, if Quistis was here, what did that mean? Just visiting? Or . . . or had Squall sent her to kill me? Wait . . . what was I thinking? Quistis wouldn't agree to that.
She continued coolly, as if she were reporting to a superior on something. "Your guards require far more training, I disabled them easily. Your cameras are far too easily avoided-not to mention obvious-and I found an easily accessed open window. It's a good thing for your sake I came, Mr. Loire."
"It's Laguna, not Mr. friggin' Loire . . ." I muttered, before blinking and lowering the gun. Shaking my head, I queried dazedly, "What . . . what the heck are you doing here?"
"Testing your security. In all seriousness, you should be glad SeeD wasn't called in against you. You'd be dead," Quistis met my eyes without qualms; she was standing at attention.
How had she . . ? I looked around for the guards that were supposed to be at my door. Seeing my gaze, she pointed to two lumps in the hall-lumps that happened to be wearing Estharian uniform. I winced-KO'ed, both of them.
"Uh . . . oops?" I scratched my head bashfully. Eh . . . I'd get Ward to demote them later. "So, uh . . . what are you here for. . . exactly . . .?" I motioned for her to continue.
"I'm here to help." Quistis finished simply and crisply. "You obviously need it." Oh, this was doing wonders for my ego. Not.
"I didn't call for SeeD . . ." Had Squall . . .?
"I came on my own." Quistis stood a bit straighter. Yeah, I should've known Squall wouldn't have . . . wait, on her own? But . . .
She cut into my thought, explaining. "When I was talking to you, Squall heard your name mentioned. He cut me off. I left the room while he talked to you, and I was struck most suddenly by an epiphany."
An epiphany? "Really?"
"A vacation-a very LONG vacation-was suddenly a very good idea."
I blinked, and laughed. It wasn't really that funny, it was actually kinda true, but the fact that Quistis had made any joke at all was a good sign. "Yeah, I can see that!" A thought struck me. "Wait . . . so this is your vacation?"
"Yes," she answered steadily, still at attention.
"But you said you were working . . ." I trailed off, thinking.
What? SeeDs weren't allowed to take jobs unsanctioned by their CO, and Quistis wasn't working for SeeD for the moment. She was on her vacation, she said, so . . . if she was here to help. . .
Oh, CRAP.
She probably still felt she'd failed Rinoa's father; she was here to make sure she didn't do the same thing with Squall's. AKA, me.
She was here, of her own will, unpaid, unasked, wasting her scarce vacation days to protect me.
Something within me twanged. "Aw, man . . . no, you can't be wasting your vacation here!" I kinda panicked, looking up and down the hall for something to prove that with.
She kept at attention, and waited until I looked back at her bewilderingly to reply. "Well, it's better to waste it here then to waste it getting drunk in Deling."
Hey, that's my favorite vaca . . . oh . . . oops . . . "Yeah . . ." I muttered nervously. She followed my awkward head scratching motion with her eyes . . . she was still at attention. "Hey, hey, relax!" She didn't budge.
. . . Oh, yeah! She was used to the whole military thing, right? "Man, Quistis . . . at ease."
She loosened up automatically, and shook her head. "Unless, of course, you want me to leave . . . I wouldn't impose upon you." Calm and cool as usual.
"N-no, no!" I blurted out without thinking. "There's plenty of room in this behemoth of a house." Well, yeah . . . it was the presidential residence . . . it kind had to be huge . . .
Quistis's eyes wrinkled up slightly at the corners. "Most likely. I imagine things are busy at the moment, so I won't keep you waiting. I need to speak with your head of security; and as soon as possible."
I rubbed the ridge in between my eyes; concentrating. "Busy is an understatement . . ."
Between dodging various bullets, I'd been trying to neutralize the entire situation politically, but this kinda thing takes work. You can't just openly accuse a country of trying to kill you, that just gives them permission to try harder. The trick is to make them happy enough that they decide you aren't so bad after all . . .
. . . but President Koryu Deling wasn't a happy person. It was obviously the treaty or nothing, no compromises. And that was a damn stupid treaty.
I sighed half-heartedly. Things had been worse at some points, but hey, that didn't mean I had to like what was going on now.
"Mr. Loire?" Quistis questioned, almost worriedly. "Laguna?"
I shook my head, and snapped up with a sloppy grin. "I'm fine, I'm fine! Right, you wanted Kiros? He's around here somewhere . . . in fact, he's probably on his way . . ."
Quistis peered down the hall. "Yes, he is." She stepped back, ending up slightly behind me.
"Hey, Kiros, wh-"
He cut me off curtly. "Someone's gotten past security."
I snorted, pointing at the unconscious lumps across the hall. "Yeah I kinda figured that out."
Kiros groaned. "Don't tell me-we have another clean up job in your rooms?"
"Nope." I grinned widely.
"Hmm?" Kiros tilted his head, puzzled. I stepped aside, revealing Quistis.
"Kiros, remember Quistis Trepe?" Quistis held out her hand solemnly as I re introduced her. Kiros took it, but as soon as he did that, he turned to me and demanded, "What's she doing here?"
"Er . . ." I scratched my head.
Quistis cleared her throat. "I'm perfectly capable of answering for myself. I'm here to help."
Kiros narrowed his eyes at Quistis. Aw, man, now's not the time to go into Bodyguard Buddy mode . . . he ignored my obvious eye roll. "I was under the impression that SeeD was out of the picture for awhile. . ."
"She's here on her own-OUCH!"
"Well . . . you see, Kiros . . . I . . ." Quistis was obviously fishing for an excuse. I slapped my forehead, and leaned over.
Quistis stiffened as I muttered by her ear, "You really suck at lying."
"Well," she hissed back softly, "I'm working on it."
Kiros stared at me and Quistis, then at Quistis, then at me. And grinned hugely. "Oooh . . . I see now."
"See what?" I demanded, to be joined in the same statement by Quistis.
Kiros kept grinning. "You know, you coulda just told me, Laguna. It's not like I'd tell anyone." He was shaking down suppressed laughter.
"Tell anyone what?" I demanded. Quistis shifted questioningly.
"I don't see why it's such a secret," Kiros raised an appraising eyebrow at Quistis. "She's quite a catch."
. . .
I looked at Quistis and blinked. "Secret?"
Quistis blinked back, doubly so. "Catch?"
. . .
We stared at each other for a full two seconds. Yeah, she was really good looking, actually . . . And we were standing really close . . . WHAT the HELL was Kiros SAYING?!
I jumped back as if burned, and Quistis-who was partially flushed-neatly sidestepped. Kiros thought the entire thing was hilarious, and Quistis stated acidly that she'd get the information from him later, and she'd join me for breakfast.
"How did someone so rude and brutal end up as an advisor in diplomacy?" Quistis shook her head as we made our way to the dining room-and away from Kiros.
I grinned. Hey, my headache was gone. "Ever attended an international conference?"
(¯`'·.¸(¯`'·. .author's note. .·'´¯)¸.·'´¯)
The leading up is done! I'm pleased! The stage is set, folks. Now, was all that really necessary just to get Quistis by Laguna's side? Yes. It built my characters, set up the plot-the one thing here I'm really proud of-and was infinitely more interesting than just having the usual 'Love Interest #1 is sent to bodyguard Love Interest #2.' That is very overused, and very BORING.
Plus, now I don't have to start the relationship from step one. They trust each other now-which is the first step.
Someone once said 'make love not war.' What the heck were they talking about? Love IS war. Rev the engines, man the guns, arm yourselves! This is where the battle of tension, uncomfortable moments, and dirty thoughts begins!
Factoid: Yesterday, a friend showed me the FF7 packet which comes with the game-I own the game, not the packet. I share a birthday and blood type with Tifa Lockheart . . . not to mention hair color and considerable build . . .
. . . Hmm . . . suburbia . . . makes me glad I'm a social reject . . .
Alas, minutiae and technicalities are life itself.
I AM NOW ACCEPTING ANONYMOUS REVIEWS. Any flames, and that leaves . . . but, I enjoy reading my reviewers stories, so please, PLEASE sign in if you have an account! Laziness will not be tolerated!
I hate flashbacks . . . luckily for you guys though, I'm smarter than to have the bar thing saying in bold type 'FLASHBACK.' That's just annoying.
(¯`'·.¸(¯`'·. quistis .·'´¯)¸.·'´¯)
The hotel rooms here in Deling are extremely comfortable, given the amount of rich visitors they receive. I wondered slightly whether or not Laguna had stayed in this very room at one point. Given the amount of time he had supposedly spent in the bar downstairs, I didn't doubt the possibility.
Deling was an active city. The traffic noise out my window alone was enough to keep me awake, but given my state of mind, I wouldn't have been able to rest anyway. I was worried.
Mainly about Laguna. Squall could forgive me, given time, because I was his friend . . . But Laguna?
If Squall didn't forgive Laguna, after all that Laguna's conscience had gone through over the years because of him, then Squall was more of a moron than his father was.
Not that his father was a moron, or anything. . . well . . . yes, fine, Laguna was a moron. Or at least, he pretended to be, Hyne knew why.
I thought back to two days ago.
Two days ago, I'd left Garden. For vacation, I'd said.
I'd peered at the faces staring at me. They wanted answers . . . that I couldn't give. But then, I suppose Squall won't tell them . . . and since . . . well. . .
Selphie had put her hands on her hips impetuously and demanded right out. "Who's Squall's father?"
"What, you don't doubt that might not be true? This man might be lying," I had, really, tried to swerve the conversation away from the inevitable. Zell waved his arm, pointed in the air.
"Quistis," he'd voiced seriously, "like you'd believe it if you didn't know it was absolutely true."
I'd suppressed a wince. These people knew me too well. The penalties of friendship . . . outweighed by the good, but still existent. I hadn't been able to find a reason anymore not to tell them . . .
"This conversation remains between us," I had warned slowly. "Squall might not want you to know . . . this never happened. Not even to Squall."
Irvine had shouldered his Exeter, shifting its considerable weight with ease. "We got it Quistis. Secret stuff, we've proved in the past we keep a secret. Now spill it."
I threw in the proverbial towel. "Well . . . through a chance encounter . . ." Yes, the truth there, "I found out who Squall's birth father was. Not a shock, in its entirety, but that he was alive and aware of his paternal status was. . ." I hesitated, not a wise choice of words to explain things. I was heading into instructor mode.
Zell broke in. "Why the hell didn't he claim him?!"
I'd shaken my head. I had thought on all possibilities, this included. "Fear of inability. He was a fighter, Zell, our age. Could you be a father?"
"I wouldn't just up and leave!" Zell exploded. "Where the hell did his morals go? The mother-"
I had placated him with a hand. "Squall's mother asked him to go somewhere, and he went. When the father returned, he found the mother dead, from childbirth."
Rinoa then stepped forward, and she hadn't seemed happy. "So . . . who's Squall's mom?"
I'd remembered how Laguna had broken the news to me, by stating Raines name before him. At an irreparable loss for how to continue, I had followed suit " . . . Raine. Yes, THE Raine. Raine Leonhart."
Irvine had choked, but motioned me to continue. I plunged forward.
"Yes. However, a year or so before her death, both her marital status and name was changed . . ." I had paused, thinking over it a bit, and continued, ". . . to Raine Loire."
Silence can deafen a man caught unawares just as much as words can. The silence that followed was just that kind. None of us are stupid. The others can put two and two together as well as you and I . . .
"You mean to say that Laguna Loire is Squall's . . . " Zell had shaken his head. " . . . I don't believe it . . . well, I do, it's just . . ."
"Sir . . . Sir Laguna?" Selphie had asked in a deferential tone. "Sir Laguna is Squall's-" she had shut her mouth on the last words. She'd shaken her head rapturously. "Oh wow . . . that's . . . not what I expected at all . . ."
Irvine had shaken his head as well. "Me either . . . Quistis, how . . ?" His dazed voice was clearing fast. Soon they'd have been asking rational questions, so I'd hurried to finish my point so I could leave.
A loud curse word had then come from the closed classroom door. I'd winced. "I've been helping Laguna to finally break the news to Squall . . . and that was my involvement in this fiasco."
I looked back at the door. " . . . and for the last time, this conversation never happened."
That had been followed by another shout, this time a bit less recognizable. Irvine had blinked pointedly. "Quistis, how many vacation days do you have?"
Quite a few, actually.
I had taken the hint.
So here I was, in Deling, praying that Squall hadn't completely wrecked my classroom, and hoping to Hyne that Laguna wasn't suicidal . . .
NO!
No, that was an extremely unpleasant thought. Laguna was going to be okay. Laguna can take care of himself.
He might seem like a total ditz some times, but he . . . appreciated things. He could hold even the most trivial thing up to the light and make it shine. He was an optimist to a certain extreme . . . less than Selphie's aggravatingly persistent idealism, more-far, far more-than my wry pessimism.
Laguna wasn't the kind who could stand by and let someone be miserable. Even those who thoroughly enjoyed their bad moods couldn't help but find his well placed antics heartening. Not that I enjoy my bad moods, of course, but I prefer them sometimes.
I thought back to when I had fought beside him, in that pitifully vain attempt to protect my charge. He'd obviously kept in shape, and his skills weren't rusty at all. He was a fighter to the core, honest, straightforward.
He'd managed to age well, in fact. I remembered how his startling green eyes had flashed when . . . oh, damn . . .
. . . since when do I care about Laguna's eyes?
I wondered why in Hyne's name I was thinking about Laguna in the first place . . . I was worried, yes, but this was just plain ridiculous.
I eyed the television perched in the corner of the room with apprehension. The things killed brain cells, really. And that was about it. However, perhaps it would be best to know if Balamb had mounted a full scale attack upon Esthar . . . and since I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway . . .
I turned on the news . . . which was on commercial. Sighing, I slumped over on the bed. Worry was apparently having entirely too much fun eating its way through my stomach.
Suppose, for a moment, that in a slight mishap of fate the conversation over the phone line went well, and those shouted curses were entirely misdirected . . . how would that change things? Squall would have a father. Rinoa would have a father in law, so soon after losing HER father. I groaned; would Rinoa end up ruining this chance?
Sighing, I cast my eyes back at the flashing screen.
" . . . which Estharian President Laguna Loire commented on earlier today." My ears perked up. What? I fumbled for the remote and turned up the volume as Laguna's image flickered on the screen. He looked less like the Laguna I knew, and . . . more like a completely different person, who was used to power and its responsibilities.
His strangely somber expression intensified the effect. That moronic act of his was astonishingly effective if he had managed to hide this facet of himself. His voice filtered through. "The assassination attempts-" WHAT?
Assassination attempts? Of course! No doubt those who killed General Caraway would be after Laguna, too . . . and in the political turmoil of a major leader's death, no one could really do much about these attempted murders until things calmed down enough for them to focus on it. They'd merely have to take them as they came . . .
Kiros and Ward, they'd be responsible for the whole bodyguard bit. But would they be able to take it all? If they were injured, who had enough skill? It's not as though Laguna could turn to SeeD anymore . . .
I swore softly; my mental outburst had caused me to miss parts of his speech. ". . . I'm still alive, and I plan on staying that way for awhile, thanks." Laguna gave a cocky grin, and the news switched over to some hospital.
I shook my head. His way of seeming both serious and endearing was almost certainly why he had remained in power so long. He was practically a dictator, even if a benign and well-loved one.
But the assassinations . . . he had enough to be dealing with. He was a president, and this sort of thing was his duty, but it was still . . . unfair.
Why now? What if Laguna died? Was it my fault? Should I have waited before making Laguna break the news to Squall? Then, Laguna could have still turned to SeeD about it. My fault? Was it?
Was it?
I stood up. Guilt was not going to get the better of me. Not this time.
I was going to something about it.
(¯`'·.¸(¯`'·. .laguna. .·'´¯)¸.·'´¯)
I woke up with a splitting headache. Could you blame me? Things in the past two days had been really hectic.
First off, that conversation with Squall. Was that good? Bad? And he said he'd call-which had resulted in a slight lack of sleep-and he hadn't yet. It'd only been a couple days, but . . . had he changed his mind?
I'd tried calling Quistis back, she could figure things like this out better then I could. But, the only person who answered her phone was that Selphie chick . . . and, to tell you the truth, she scared me kinda . . . So, I couldn't get in contact with Quistis for her opinion.
And that wasn't all . . . it got worse. Gee, how lucky for me.
In the face of my obvious refusal of the treaty Galbadia had drawn up, it seemed that Koryu Deling had come up with a solution to the problem-kill me. He'd tried three times already, and though luckily none of them succeeded (thanks to my awesome skills, oh yeah!) they'd probably keep trying.
The first time, I'd had to shoot the guy in my room. Messy.
So last night I had slept in some guest bed, and while I was there, Kiros found another guy sneaking into my real room. And . . . let's just say that the third guy hadn't been so inconspicuous-he'd opened fire while I was eating lunch. Totally took the edge off my appetite.
I groaned and rubbed my forehead in exasperated pain. Argh . . . gotta get some aspirin . . .
*knock knock knock*
My head-with much protest-jerked up. Three business-like raps? It wasn't Ward . . .Ward's knock was slow and powerful, and well . . .Kiros didn't knock at all. My personnel knew to speak up. None of those three were at my door . . . and no one else was allowed anywhere near here . . .
Not again. . . damn assassins . . .
I reached for my Uzi, and in a falsely cheerful voice, called out, "Er . . . just a sec!" Trying to think around the pounding in my head, I slipped around the room's edge to reach the door. This stealth thing sucked.
Take a breath, Laguna, count to three . . . I narrowed my eyes and swung open the door, pointing the gun at where their head should be-
And froze, as the 'assassin' merely raised an eyebrow, and began to speak.
"Well, at least someone here has an ounce of sense. Honestly, for such an advanced city-state, you have extraordinarily lax security."
My jaw dropped. Literally, it fell open, I swear; cause really, I was NOT expecting Quistis to be standing there, seemingly unfazed by the fact that I had a high powered automatic weapon pointed at her head.
Well, if Quistis was here, what did that mean? Just visiting? Or . . . or had Squall sent her to kill me? Wait . . . what was I thinking? Quistis wouldn't agree to that.
She continued coolly, as if she were reporting to a superior on something. "Your guards require far more training, I disabled them easily. Your cameras are far too easily avoided-not to mention obvious-and I found an easily accessed open window. It's a good thing for your sake I came, Mr. Loire."
"It's Laguna, not Mr. friggin' Loire . . ." I muttered, before blinking and lowering the gun. Shaking my head, I queried dazedly, "What . . . what the heck are you doing here?"
"Testing your security. In all seriousness, you should be glad SeeD wasn't called in against you. You'd be dead," Quistis met my eyes without qualms; she was standing at attention.
How had she . . ? I looked around for the guards that were supposed to be at my door. Seeing my gaze, she pointed to two lumps in the hall-lumps that happened to be wearing Estharian uniform. I winced-KO'ed, both of them.
"Uh . . . oops?" I scratched my head bashfully. Eh . . . I'd get Ward to demote them later. "So, uh . . . what are you here for. . . exactly . . .?" I motioned for her to continue.
"I'm here to help." Quistis finished simply and crisply. "You obviously need it." Oh, this was doing wonders for my ego. Not.
"I didn't call for SeeD . . ." Had Squall . . .?
"I came on my own." Quistis stood a bit straighter. Yeah, I should've known Squall wouldn't have . . . wait, on her own? But . . .
She cut into my thought, explaining. "When I was talking to you, Squall heard your name mentioned. He cut me off. I left the room while he talked to you, and I was struck most suddenly by an epiphany."
An epiphany? "Really?"
"A vacation-a very LONG vacation-was suddenly a very good idea."
I blinked, and laughed. It wasn't really that funny, it was actually kinda true, but the fact that Quistis had made any joke at all was a good sign. "Yeah, I can see that!" A thought struck me. "Wait . . . so this is your vacation?"
"Yes," she answered steadily, still at attention.
"But you said you were working . . ." I trailed off, thinking.
What? SeeDs weren't allowed to take jobs unsanctioned by their CO, and Quistis wasn't working for SeeD for the moment. She was on her vacation, she said, so . . . if she was here to help. . .
Oh, CRAP.
She probably still felt she'd failed Rinoa's father; she was here to make sure she didn't do the same thing with Squall's. AKA, me.
She was here, of her own will, unpaid, unasked, wasting her scarce vacation days to protect me.
Something within me twanged. "Aw, man . . . no, you can't be wasting your vacation here!" I kinda panicked, looking up and down the hall for something to prove that with.
She kept at attention, and waited until I looked back at her bewilderingly to reply. "Well, it's better to waste it here then to waste it getting drunk in Deling."
Hey, that's my favorite vaca . . . oh . . . oops . . . "Yeah . . ." I muttered nervously. She followed my awkward head scratching motion with her eyes . . . she was still at attention. "Hey, hey, relax!" She didn't budge.
. . . Oh, yeah! She was used to the whole military thing, right? "Man, Quistis . . . at ease."
She loosened up automatically, and shook her head. "Unless, of course, you want me to leave . . . I wouldn't impose upon you." Calm and cool as usual.
"N-no, no!" I blurted out without thinking. "There's plenty of room in this behemoth of a house." Well, yeah . . . it was the presidential residence . . . it kind had to be huge . . .
Quistis's eyes wrinkled up slightly at the corners. "Most likely. I imagine things are busy at the moment, so I won't keep you waiting. I need to speak with your head of security; and as soon as possible."
I rubbed the ridge in between my eyes; concentrating. "Busy is an understatement . . ."
Between dodging various bullets, I'd been trying to neutralize the entire situation politically, but this kinda thing takes work. You can't just openly accuse a country of trying to kill you, that just gives them permission to try harder. The trick is to make them happy enough that they decide you aren't so bad after all . . .
. . . but President Koryu Deling wasn't a happy person. It was obviously the treaty or nothing, no compromises. And that was a damn stupid treaty.
I sighed half-heartedly. Things had been worse at some points, but hey, that didn't mean I had to like what was going on now.
"Mr. Loire?" Quistis questioned, almost worriedly. "Laguna?"
I shook my head, and snapped up with a sloppy grin. "I'm fine, I'm fine! Right, you wanted Kiros? He's around here somewhere . . . in fact, he's probably on his way . . ."
Quistis peered down the hall. "Yes, he is." She stepped back, ending up slightly behind me.
"Hey, Kiros, wh-"
He cut me off curtly. "Someone's gotten past security."
I snorted, pointing at the unconscious lumps across the hall. "Yeah I kinda figured that out."
Kiros groaned. "Don't tell me-we have another clean up job in your rooms?"
"Nope." I grinned widely.
"Hmm?" Kiros tilted his head, puzzled. I stepped aside, revealing Quistis.
"Kiros, remember Quistis Trepe?" Quistis held out her hand solemnly as I re introduced her. Kiros took it, but as soon as he did that, he turned to me and demanded, "What's she doing here?"
"Er . . ." I scratched my head.
Quistis cleared her throat. "I'm perfectly capable of answering for myself. I'm here to help."
Kiros narrowed his eyes at Quistis. Aw, man, now's not the time to go into Bodyguard Buddy mode . . . he ignored my obvious eye roll. "I was under the impression that SeeD was out of the picture for awhile. . ."
"She's here on her own-OUCH!"
"Well . . . you see, Kiros . . . I . . ." Quistis was obviously fishing for an excuse. I slapped my forehead, and leaned over.
Quistis stiffened as I muttered by her ear, "You really suck at lying."
"Well," she hissed back softly, "I'm working on it."
Kiros stared at me and Quistis, then at Quistis, then at me. And grinned hugely. "Oooh . . . I see now."
"See what?" I demanded, to be joined in the same statement by Quistis.
Kiros kept grinning. "You know, you coulda just told me, Laguna. It's not like I'd tell anyone." He was shaking down suppressed laughter.
"Tell anyone what?" I demanded. Quistis shifted questioningly.
"I don't see why it's such a secret," Kiros raised an appraising eyebrow at Quistis. "She's quite a catch."
. . .
I looked at Quistis and blinked. "Secret?"
Quistis blinked back, doubly so. "Catch?"
. . .
We stared at each other for a full two seconds. Yeah, she was really good looking, actually . . . And we were standing really close . . . WHAT the HELL was Kiros SAYING?!
I jumped back as if burned, and Quistis-who was partially flushed-neatly sidestepped. Kiros thought the entire thing was hilarious, and Quistis stated acidly that she'd get the information from him later, and she'd join me for breakfast.
"How did someone so rude and brutal end up as an advisor in diplomacy?" Quistis shook her head as we made our way to the dining room-and away from Kiros.
I grinned. Hey, my headache was gone. "Ever attended an international conference?"
(¯`'·.¸(¯`'·. .author's note. .·'´¯)¸.·'´¯)
The leading up is done! I'm pleased! The stage is set, folks. Now, was all that really necessary just to get Quistis by Laguna's side? Yes. It built my characters, set up the plot-the one thing here I'm really proud of-and was infinitely more interesting than just having the usual 'Love Interest #1 is sent to bodyguard Love Interest #2.' That is very overused, and very BORING.
Plus, now I don't have to start the relationship from step one. They trust each other now-which is the first step.
Someone once said 'make love not war.' What the heck were they talking about? Love IS war. Rev the engines, man the guns, arm yourselves! This is where the battle of tension, uncomfortable moments, and dirty thoughts begins!
Factoid: Yesterday, a friend showed me the FF7 packet which comes with the game-I own the game, not the packet. I share a birthday and blood type with Tifa Lockheart . . . not to mention hair color and considerable build . . .
. . . Hmm . . . suburbia . . . makes me glad I'm a social reject . . .
Alas, minutiae and technicalities are life itself.