Chapter 4

The President's secret

"GAWD! I looooooove this Palace! It's so high-tech 'n stuff!" Selphie sang happily as she bounced in the Presidential Palace corridors beside the ever silent Squall Leonhart.

"C'mon Squall! Why so gloomy? Sir Laguna's keeeeeeewl!"

The silent brunette looked down at her, eyebrow raised skeptically.

"OOOOOH! There's his office!" Selphie suddenly yelled gleefully as she began running towards the large double doors and kicked them open forcefully as she barged into the office yelling "SIR LAGUNA!"

Several businessmen sitting around a wide conference desk, their hands folded seriously in front of them as they all stared wide-eyed at the short, yellow clothed woman, was the sight that greeted Squall as he entered the President's office calmly.

Selphie seemed to the point of wishing she could will herself into shrinking in a microscopic beetle as she blushed shamefully and looked around the room nervously, when a black shoulder-length haired man, wearing a white button up shirt stood up quickly from his seat.

"Squall! Selphie!" the President of Esthar exclaimed happily as he made his way towards the pair, his arms opened wide.

Laguna hugged Selphie warmly and turned towards Squall to do the same but decided against it as he noticed the icy stare the blue stormy eyes were shooting at him. He shook Squall's unreceptive hand excitedly instead.

"Well, as you can see, we were in the middle of a reunion, but you can just stay here and wait 'til we finish." Laguna grinned goofily at them before walking back to his seat and the businessmen resumed their previous conversations.

Squall pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. This was going to be a long day indeed…

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"Well, now that that's finished…" Laguna sighed as he closed the large doors of his office behind the last deputy which had exited the room.

"I always hate these business type reunion things…" Laguna whined almost childishly, which only caused Squall to scowl at him.

"You're the President…" the browned haired young man stated slightly irritated at Laguna's immature manners.

The older man brushed a dark whitening lock away from his face nervously, the raven tresses fluttering back before his vivid green eyes instantly.

"I know, but paper work is just not my thing…" he explained giving a nervous laugh as he glanced almost shyly at Squall's stormy eyes.

Squall had to force down the irritated groan that threatened to escape his lips. He then decided to get this worthless meeting over with once and for all; he did not wish to waste any more time staying around the silly President.

"You wanted to see me, Mr. President?" Squall asked politely yet unable to hide his irritation completely.

Laguna seemed to squirm at the SeeD Commander's words, smiling awkwardly.

"Geez, no need to be so formal…" he said scratching his head.

"Would you please -" Squall inhaled deeply to calm himself. "- just get to the point…"

Laguna seemed to grow even more nervous as he squirmed once again, eyeing Selphie strangely.

"Sir Laguna, are you alright?" the bouncy haired young woman asked, bowing her head to one side innocently.

"Selphie… uh… would you mind… uh… leaving the two of us?" Laguna stuttered.

Selphie's green cheerful eyes widened in confusion before she smiled sweetly and nodded. Whirling around, she strutted out of the room happily, closing the doors behind her.

Squall could feel the horror rushing through his body. His worst nightmare was now becoming true; he was left alone, defenceless and vulnerable against… the blabbermouth…

"So, Squall!" Laguna started, forcing himself to sound cheerful, but soon thought otherwise as Squall glared at him menacingly.

"Uh… yeah… maybe you should sit down?"

"I'd rather stand," Squall replied instantly.

"Look, this is not going to be easy for me, so please…?" Laguna muttered, walking towards the humongous windows at the other side of the room. The President of Esthar fell silent for several minutes, gazing down through the glass at the vast city below.

"I wish I wouldn't have to tell you all I'm going to say… but a part of me wants it more than anything. I know you don't have a very high opinion of me; you think I'm some kind of crazy old goof…"

'Well you got that close enough…' Squall thought bitterly.

"I wish I could prove you wrong too; wish there was a way I could make you like me, but the truth is, I can't act like someone I'm not, Squall…" he was still gazing down at his city as the solemn words left his lips. For the first time since Squall had met him, he saw Laguna being genuinely serious.

The stormy eyed young man frowned in confusion, taking one step closer to the shoulder length haired man, before stopping abruptly. Straightening himself, Squall slid his emotionless mask back on his face.

"Mr. Loire, there is no reason to want such a thing. My feelings towards you are irrelevant. As SeeD Commander and one of your clients; I will follow any orders-"

"That's the problem Squall! I'm not just 'your employer'! I'm not just 'the President of Esthar'!" Laguna had whirled around quickly and strode over to Squall until only a feet separated them as he said those words almost hysterically.

Squall raised a questioning eyebrow at the older man as he finished his outburst. Laguna sighed, looking down at his feet, his shoulders slumping miserably.

"Before I left Windhill to search for a new job in the Esthar region, there is something in the past which Ellone didn't show you…" Laguna began babbling as he kept staring down at his feet and playing nervously with his fingers.

"What does this have to do with me, sir?" Squall asked, his impatience now very apparent in his normally emotionless voice.

"Everything!" Laguna exclaimed loudly, raising his head abruptly. Squall's eyes widened; he was now more than confused.

"I asked Raine to marry me before leaving… and then we… you know… slept together…" Squall cringed at the thoughts which only caused Laguna to blush deeply. "But what I didn't know is that Raine was pregnant when Kiros and I left…"

"Where is this going?" Squall asked as he began feeling very nervous. Laguna was now looking into his eyes, his emerald eyes filled with strange, restrained emotions. Squall wanted nothing less than to experience them, or even see any of them. This was not his problem, whatever nonsense Laguna was babbling about.

"She gave birth to the baby 9 months later; it was in perfect health, beautiful really, or so I've been told… and even then she never told me about the child because she probably knew what I had gotten myself into with the prison incident and the resistance group against Adel." Laguna looked down once again as his eyes seemed to fill with an extremely painful guilt. "When I came back to Windhill a few years later, it had already been too late… Raine had been murdered by Estharian Soldiers since she'd refused to tell them where she had sent Ellone…"

Squall blinked in confusion.

"She'd sent the baby… m-my son… with Ellone… at Edea's orphanage…"

Squall's insides jolted nauseatingly. Sis… for as long as he could remember she had been by his side… the brown haired young man fell backwards slightly as his knees suddenly grew weak under his weight. He gripped the closest chair tightly to support himself before he could fall.

"…Your… son…?" Squall mumbled, his breathing ragged.

"I was never able to see him after that… A few years passed and then I finally went to the orphanage to find Ellone, still unaware of the fact that I even was a father, but Ellone had already been taken by Esthar Scientists… and so I went to search for her and after she was free, the plans for Adel's demise swept me away from everything else…" Laguna's green eyes were gazing intently into Squall's stormy ones as he explained this, as if trying to communicate something he could not find the courage to pronounce aloud.

Squall could only grip the chair tighter, too afraid to even breath… to even think…

"And then I became President… after almost ten years, I found out the truth… of my being a father… but I couldn't face my one and only son… do you remember Kiros telling you that… you looked very much like your mother, Squall?"

The silent young man froze entirely, his eyes widening impossibly.

"Yes… you have the same eyes… you have Raine's eyes…" Laguna smiled hopefully, but his emerald eyes showed only pain, sorrow and guilt.

Squall took one long trembling breath. The world around his was whirling insanely and he soon found his legs faltering once more.

Laguna grabbed the brown haired man's arms forcefully as he saw his body bucking to one side. He pulled the closest chair out with his foot and sat Squall down on it carefully, holding his arms tightly still, as the ghastly expression on the youth's face was not reassuring.

Kneeling down before the baffled young man, Laguna could only stare up as him in concern.

"Squall…?" he whispered as he brought a hand to Squall's cheek, brushing away the wild strands of hair softly. The brown haired man squirmed before blinking as if waking up from an awful dream. The stormy blue eyes gazed down almost fearfully at the emerald ones which stared up at him. He opened his trembling mouth slightly but closed it instantly.

"…Y-You're…" he stuttered, his voice no higher than a whisper. "… you're… my… father…?" his voice had resembled one of a lost child as the last word escaped his lips.

Laguna smiled weakly and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could add anything else, the doors of his office flew open loudly.

Both occupants of the room whirled their heads towards the door, unmoving form their positions as they had both been too startled to react in any other way than looking towards the reason of their surprise.

A tall broad shouldered, short blond haired man wearing a tight white tank top and blue shaggy pants, his uniform jacket held lazily in his hand to his side, stood motionless in the door frame. His emerald eyes were wide in amazement.

For several minutes all three men stayed motionless, staring back and forth at each other in silence before Laguna finally pulled his hand away from Squall's cheek swiftly and stood up, forcing a goofy grin on his lips.

"Seifer Almasy! Long time no see, eh?" the dark shoulder length haired man exclaimed, scratching his head.

The golden haired man smirked as he shot his former rival a mocking glance before averting his green eyes to the President of Esthar.

"I came to discuss something with you, President, but I never thought I'd come across something so… interesting…" Seifer mocked, glancing down at Squall briefly.

Laguna's eyes widened in horror as he realized what the former Sorceress's Knight was implying.

"Nooooononononononono!" Laguna shrieked, waving his hands frantically in front of him in dismissal. "This is absolutely not what you think!"

Seifer cocked an eyebrow. "Sure it's not… now I'll leave you to it anyways. I'll come back later when you guys are… done…" the tall blond smirked devilishly before whirling around, swinging his jacket over his shoulder and walking outside the Presidential office.

Laguna turned back towards Squall, frowning apologetically, but the brown haired young man did not stay put long enough to see the silent demand for forgiveness as he stood up abruptly, knocking the chair he had been sitting on violently to the floor. He paid no attention to it as he hastily strode over to the large doors, exiting the room.

Closing the doors behind him, he pushed his back against them, closing his eyes and sighing miserably.

Having failed to notice the presence of another person next to him in his upset state, a low chuckle startled him as it rumbled a few inches to his left.

His eyelashes shot open quickly, as he turned to his left only to find himself facing none other than Seifer Almasy, who was smirking down at him.

"Never thought Squall Leonhart would end up being the President of Esthar's personal bitch…" the blond haired man mocked, shaking his head disdainfully.

An intense surge of fury violently took possession of the silent young man's body as he threw himself at the arrogant taller man, pushing up forcefully against the closest wall, his fingers digging painfully hard in Seifer's shoulders.

"Shut up…" Squall hissed threateningly.

"Touched a nerve didn't I?"

Squall pulled Seifer's body away from the wall slightly only to ram it back violently against it, making the much taller man gasp in pain softly.

The two men stayed silent for several minute as Squall stared up into Seifer's emerald pools furiously, keeping him trapped against the wall firmly.

The smirk on Seifer's lips had now faded as he held Squall's stormy glare, searching inside the blue depths for the enraged emotions the shorter man had now expertly hidden behind his emotionless mask as he slightly regained his composure. But Seifer could still grasp the emotions in those fiery eyes, as Squall's fury betrayed him.

Before the arrogant man would add another snide remark, Squall shoved him into the wall with much less force this time, releasing his grip on the taller man's shoulders and walking away, his steps heavy and quick as the anger still boiled through his veins.

"Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going!" Seifer barked, evidently annoyed at being thrust against a wall and suddenly ignored.

"Away…"

Seifer caught up with the angered brown haired man, grabbing his upper arm. Squall tried to pull it away forcefully, which only resulted in making Seifer tighten his grip painfully. Squall was abruptly reminded how much stronger the taller man actually was.

"The least you could do is tell me what it meant - what I saw in there - don't you think?"

Squall glared murderously at him.

"It's none of your busi-"

"It sure as hell is, if it got me bruised from getting fuckin' rammed against a wall!" Seifer shouted before Squall could finish his usual dismissive reply.

The shorter man attempted to pull his arm away one again, which only made Seifer tighten his grip yet again.

"If you don't want to get your ass thrown out of Garden, Almasy, you'll let go of my arm… now…" Squall threatened, hissing every word through clenched teeth.

Seifer scowled, blinked then released Squall's arm.

"You happy now, Commander?" Seifer said in a falsely sweet tone, bowing down before Squall, his arms outstretched politely.

The SeeD commander never gave his reply as he whirled around and strode away.

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It was with a very thoughtful and unhappy expression that Squall arrived back to Balamb Garden. He did not waste a single second make his way towards his private room.

"Oy! Squally!" a voice suddenly shouted behind him.

The brown haired man suddenly felt a very strong urge to scream in desperation, but only sighed deeply to calm himself and turned around slowly. The sight of a very cheerful looking young woman wearing a yellow summer dress rushing towards him was what he was greeted with.

He desperately wished he had the ability to will himself away into his private rooms. The hyper-active ball of energy of a girl was not exactly what he needed to lighten his foul mood.

"Selphie…" he said in a bored tone.

"Hey Squall! Sooooo… what did Sir Laguna want to talk to you about?" she asked cheerfully, winking at him.

The SeeD Commander winced at the question and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Selphie, this is definitely not a good time…" he warned.

The bouncy haired girl blinked in confusion then smiled. "Okay! I just need to deliver a message, though… even if I can't begin to understand what madness came over that guy!" as she finished, she frowned, bringing a finger to her chin in thought.

'That guy?' This drew Squall's attention.

"Anyways… Seiferout of all people came to see me before leaving the Ragnarok, when we arrived back in Balamb- did you even know he was back at Garden?"

"Yes, I did… I was in Xu's office when he burst in with entire Security Committee on his back to ask permission to come back to Garden…"

Selphie blinked, sniggered, obviously trying to stop herself from laughing madly. "Oh! Well, I had no idea, so imagine my surprise when I saw him walking in the cockpit! I almost had a heart attack when I heard his voice behind me!" She whined. Squall almost smiled as he imagined the bouncy girl screaming like a banshee before dropping dead in the cockpit of her dear Ragnarok.

"Anyways… he was really nice with me; asking me how it was going and all that. We talked for a few minutes - it was really weird! And then he said he had to go, but before, he asked me to give you a message…"

"A message?" Squall wondered aloud, slightly confused.

"Yeah! He simply told me to say he was sorry!" she exclaimed with a dumbfounded expression.

It was Squall's turn to blink, bewildered. It had never been Seifer Almasy's policy to apologize for anything since the man was simply too stubborn to ever admit he had done something wrong in the first place.

Hell was surely freezing over…

"Well, I'd better go! Xu'll be wanting to see me!" Selphie waved at him as she strutted away cheerfully towards the elevator, leaving a still confused Squall free to leave for his quarters.

Peace would apparently not come to him easily as he now had too many unpleasant thoughts to dwell upon.

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TBC…

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