Chapter 3 – I'm sleeping WHERE?
"Hey, wake up," Squall nudged Kylah's foot with the toe of his boot. "We're almost there."
Kylah opened her eyes sleepily, and looked around trying to gain her bearings as to where she was. She abruptly remembered that she was on a train bound for Esthar. With Squall Leonhart.
She closed her eyes again, and inwardly groaned.
"We're almost to Esthar?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.
"Actually, we're almost to the last train station before Esthar. A presidential representative will pick us up there."
She nodded, then stood and stretched. Every muscle in her body complained loudly. She sorely wished she had not fallen asleep in her seat. Rubbing her sore neck, she reached down and picked up her duffel as the train eased to a stop.
"Final stop, Esthar," the conductor's voice came over the intercom. "Final stop, Esthar."
"I guess this is us," she said, shouldering her bag and following Squall out of the compartment.
They stepped from the train and out into the bright sunshine. Kylah shielded her eyes and looked around. Nearby was a rather large vehicle, with two official looking gentlemen standing beside it. One of the men had to be the largest human being that Kylah had ever encountered in her life.
"Ward! Kiros!" Squall greeted them. "Didn't expect such a welcoming party."
"The President insisted," Kiros replied. "He would have come himself, but…well… we wouldn't let him."
Ward nodded in agreement.
"This is my partner, Kylah Deraldi," Squall gestured toward her.
"It's a pleasure," she offered her hand. Both men accepted her offer of a handshake.
"Shall we?" Kiros gestured toward the vehicle. Kylah and Squall both followed their escorts.
"The big guy doesn't talk very much," Kylah observed in a whisper to Squall.
"He can't," Squall whispered back. "He was injured in battle many years ago, and hasn't been able to speak since."
"Oh," was the only response Kylah could come up with.
"This place is amazing!" Kylah said a little while later as she followed Kiros and Ward down the corridors of the Presidential Palace toward the president's office. She was completely enthralled by the architecture and atmosphere of Esthar.
"It is a beautiful place," Kiros agreed. "I was awestruck with this place the first time I saw it almost 25 years ago. Here we are!" he said, opening the door to Laguna's office.
Kylah caught her first glimpse of the famous Laguna Loire. Her first thought was that Selphie was right: he was incredibly handsome. He had longish dark hair that stubbornly insisted in falling over his forehead, the back of it pulled up into a casual ponytail. His deep green eyes sparkled mischievously. Her second thought was that Quistis was also right: he definitely did NOT look like the typical presidential figure. Rather than a suit, he was dressed casually in jeans, a t-shirt, and a rather loud tropical-print shirt that was unbuttoned. And Sneakers. That was a nice touch.
"Welcome!" he said, gesturing excitably toward Kylah and Squall. "So glad you guys could come! Squall, good to see you again," he said offering the younger man his hand.
Almost reluctantly, Squall shook the president's hand. A twinge went through Laguna's heart as Squall's hand clasped his. Almost as soon as that twinge passed, another twinge ripped through his leg.
"Ow, ow, ow!" he cried, pulling away from Squall's handshake. He grabbed his leg, and hopped around, yelping in pain.
Kiros covered his eyes with his hand and shook his head.
Kylah looked at the president with an odd look. For starters, he looked incredibly hilarious and cute hobbling around like that. Second, maybe she had imagined it, but she thought she had seen a slight flicker of…. something cross Laguna's eyes as he shook Squall's hand.
Laguna breathed a sigh of relief as the cramp finally left his leg. He winced slightly as he caught sight of the bemused look that Squall shot him. Abruptly, Kiros kicked his shin and pointed toward Kylah.
"Oh! You must be Kylah," Laguna turned to her and flashed a smile, convincing her even more that she had imagined it. "Cid told me a lot about you. It's a pleasure to meet such a lovely lady." He appeared as if he was going to shake her hand, then acted like he might want to kiss it instead. Comically, he bounced back and forth between the two, unsure of exactly how he should handle the situation. Finally, he settled for shaking it, then reached up to scratch the back of his head with an impish and embarrassed smile.
Oh, yes. Quistis was right. He was most certainly charming, in his own unique way…
"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. President," she replied with a slight chuckle.
"Please, call me Laguna. Mr. President, Mr. Loire…. All titles that sound stuffy, and make me sound old."
"Excuse me," a soft voice interrupted from the doorway. "I hate to interrupt, but I wanted to say hi."
Everyone turned to see who the newcomer was. Kylah noted that Squall's eyes brightened at the sight of the lovely woman standing across the room.
"Squall!" she cried, joyously. She flew at him, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Hey, Sis," he replied, returning her hug. "Good to see you."
"It's been entirely too long," Ellone responded, sternly. "How is my niece?"
"Cass? She's good. Inquisitive. Bright. Active. Curious. Keeps everyone on their toes."
A lump formed in Laguna's throat as he listened to Squall describe the youngest Leonhart. Squall's daughter.
Kylah considered the Laguna as she looked him over. She thought she had seen that flicker again. Or had she?
"Well, you guys must be tired," he interrupted the exchange between Squall and Ellone. "I'll have Kiros show you to your suite."
"Suite?" Squall asked, sounding like the term was spoken in a foreign language.
"Suite. I thought it would be easier if you had a suite with a private common room. That way you could discuss…whatever you SeeD's talk about during a mission. Without any of my multitudes of bodyguards listening in all the time."
Kylah and Squall exchanged a look. "Well, I guess that will be alright…" Squall didn't sound so sure about sharing quarters with Kylah.
"Excellent! Kiros, if you would be so kind…"
"Certainly. Right this way."
Kylah and Squall grabbed their duffels and followed Kiros back down the corridor.
"Tell me," Kylah addressed Kiros as they walked, "is the president always like that."
Kiros sighed. "You get used to it after a while."
"This isn't so bad," Kylah commented a little while later as she looked around the suite that she and Squall were to share. It had two bedrooms separated by a large sitting room that contained three couches, two chairs, a desk, and a coffee table. A small kitchenette was off of the back of the room. The bedrooms held two beds a piece, and each had it's own private bathroom. "At least we'll have our own space."
Squall grunted in reply, staring out a window over the city.
She tried a different approach. "You miss Cass?" she inquired.
A shrug.
Giving up entirely, she announced. "Laguna told us to use the rest of the day to settle in, so I think I'll go take a look around the city. You need anything while I'm out?"
Another shrug.
"Okay. Catch you later." And then she left.
Squall closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief when Kylah exited the suite. He never would understand the female need for incessant chatter and small talk. Leaving his place at the window, he sauntered over to the couch and sank down onto it to enjoy the blessed silence.
Kylah had been right about one thing: the suite that Laguna had assigned to them was very spacious and nice. Much nicer than his quarters back at Garden. He had been a little hesitant about sharing quarters with Kylah, but maybe this would be okay.
He would stay in his room, and hopefully Kylah would stay in hers. He would have his peaceful space, and she would have her own. She would stay in her own room. Sleeping. And being quiet for once in her life.
He groaned as he sank down onto the couch and rubbed his eyes with his open hand. What on Earth was Cid thinking, sending Kylah along with him. Maybe she was a brilliant negotiator, but….
One thing was for sure: this was going to be a long mission.
Author's Note: This was a really short chapter, but don't get too attached to things being short. Later chapters will be quite a bit longer!