A/N: I must admit that Laguna was my absolute favourite character in the entire game. Every time he said something, I just wanted to take him home and hide him in my closet. However, living in this horrible place known as reality, I soon learned it was not possible. When a romance was alluded to but never properly explored beyond the tragedy, the opportunity to give it life would not be passed up. Let's hope I can do it justice.
Disclaimer: I am a poor girl too lazy to study for her exams and dreading my eight hour shift checking groceries. I do not own any of the characters, places, ideas or trademarks of Final Fantasy VIII, and I am not receiving any monetary benefit for using any of the said entities.
Cobbles and Stones: Prologue
It seemed the only thing louder than the hum of rain against the gutters and the windows was the knocking on the door. It boomed through the entire house, pulling Raine down the stairs as she tugged on a robe over her pajamas and flicked on a light to dimly illuminate the expanse of the bar.
As she pulled the door open, not carrying the fear of kidnappers or any other unsavoury characters like those stories in Deling magazines, three men entered. Two of them wore the uniforms of Galbadian soldiers, battered by the rain and soaked with the crimson blood of the third man, sagging limply in their arms. His eyes were closed, but his breathing came out in regularly timed intervals, a good sign. His long hair was plastered to his face with water and nearly dried blood, but he bore no visible open injuries. Clearly the soldiers had cast some healing magic on him shortly after discovering his body, or else the man would not have survived the night.
After the injured man was set down on a couch in the backroom and Raine found herself wide awake, she gave the two soldiers some water and guided them into the front room of the bar, where talking could happen peacefully.
"Kehl, Camazotz, who is he?"
The one on the left, Kehl, shrugged his broad shoulders in a loose gesture.
"We don't know, ma'am," Camazotz spoke up. Raine's green eyes hardened for a moment at the use of the word ma'am, and then her shoulders slumped in resignation. No use getting upset over the trivial things.
"'Is Ident card said: Sergeant Laguna Loire, but we've ne'er seen 'im before."
"You can't bring him here if you don't know who he is. I've got a child living here. And-and-and a bar to run! He could be dangerous!"
There was a loud thud from the backroom, as if the man in question had just rolled off the couch. A second later, loud snoring happened through the room. Raine simply rolled her eyes, despite knowing her point had just been rendered useless.
"With all due respect Miss Raine, the Galbadian military wouldn't have given him the rank of Sergeant if he was dangerous. And with his wounds, it's not like he'll be able to accomplish much, even if he was."
"Miss Nat'alie, up the road, said ye were the only one with any medical knowledge in this part of Winhill and tha' ye could take care of 'im," Kehl added. It was true enough; she took basic health science classes once a week online, but hadn't had any proper experience in such a situation.
Raine guessed her expression must have been one of doubt because Camazotz smiled at her. "We wouldn't ask anyone else, Miss Raine. I promise once he's up and walking he'll be outta your hair, quick as a buel with Wendigo on its ass."
It took a little more convincing, but Raine was finally made agreeable. Camazotz and Kehl stayed for one drink, telling her of the latest from the Town Square and then departed, leaving the man called Laguna in her custody officially. Too awake to return to sleep, she wiped down the marble texture of the bar and cleaned up a few stray bottles to be put in the weeks recycling. All of ten minutes work.
After a few minutes of enjoying the silence, she crept into the backroom. The man was still on the floor, seemingly undamaged from his fall. The only sound he made was a light breathing and the occasional lip smacking that seemed to accompany sleep in the movies, but not something she ever expected to hear in real life. Moving closer, Raine knelt down and looked at him more closely, using only the moonlight streaming in through the window. He was clearly in pain, quite a bit of his face was bruised and there was a cut above his eye that would leave a scar. At the same time, he looked almost peaceful. Like nothing could ever affect him.
Confident that he was fully asleep, she reached out and gently held his dog tags in her hand. Sergeant Laguna Loire, 117-03. Galbadian Army.
Letting the tags drop she settled down on her legs and watched as he stirred a bit. Sitting back, she positioned her back in a comfortable position against the wall and watched over him, her eyes only leaving him to look at the digital clock in the far wall. A yawn broke passed her lips, and it wasn't long until dawn appeared in the window. When her eyes forced themselves open, it was morning.
Raine carefully made her way up the stairs, being careful to keep from stepping on the spots that creaked. Opening the door, she noticed Ellone still curled up in a mess of blankets. She scooped up the little girl in her arms.
"Wake up, honey." She whispered continued waking propositions to the little girl and brushed some hair out of her face.
"…Raine?"
"Yes, sweetie. Wake up. I've got someone I want you to meet."
The little girl grunted and shifted in what Raine supposed was compliance, rubbing at her eyes with a tiny hand balled into a fist. Adjusting Ellone to give her a better vantage point, she brought the girl passed the bar and opened the door to the backroom, where they both could see in. Ellone's lip jutted out as she scrutinized the man with a child's eye, paying no attention to the abundance of injuries.
"His name is Laguna. He's going to be staying with us for a while. Is that okay?"
Ellone giggled, "That's a girly name!"
"Well, don't tell him that. His feelings will be hurt. And we don't want to hurt his feelings, right?"
"I hope he plays dolls with me."
Raine smiled and shifted the little girl to get a better grip. "If not, I will. Now let's give Mr. Laguna some quiet so he can sleep."
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