Chapter 10 – Revelations
It was early morning in Esthar, the sun just peeking up over the mountains in the distance. Kylah stood with her friends on the deck of the Airstation, ready to see them all off on the Ragnarok as they set out to start their investigation.
"You guys be careful," she admonished her friends. "We already have one of us out of commission; the last thing we need is more."
"Don't worry," Selphie replied, cheerfully. "We'll be fine! How much trouble can we really get into in Dollet?"
Kylah raised an eyebrow and gave her a look.
Grumbling, Selphie climbed aboard the ship.
Quistis gave Kylah a quick salute. "We'll contact you before the day's out," she promised, and then turned to follow Selphie. "Selphie! Leave that pilot alone!"
Zell entered an impromptu boxing match with an imaginary enemy. "Don't worry, Kylah. We'll take care of it!" With a quick wave, he turned and joined his friends on the ship.
That left Kylah and Irvine standing face-to-face on the deck. "Are you going to be okay?" Irvine asked her.
She crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself tightly. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I mean, how hard can it be to baby-sit a cranky president who's miffed because he's been confined to quarters?"
He chuckled at her half-hearted attempt at a joke. "We'll be in touch," he promised. "And Kylah? There's something I want to ask you about when I get back."
"What is it?" she asked, struggling to keep panic out of her blue eyes.
Irvine made note of the reaction. "Like I said, when I get back. Later, K." Refusing to answer any more questions, he turned and strode casually up into the Ragnarok.
Kylah groaned and put the heel of her hand to her forehead in frustration. She wasn't sure what Irvine thought he knew, but she didn't want to find out.
A little while later, Kylah walked up to the door of Laguna's office. Before she opened the door, she quickly braced herself for an encounter with President Loire. She had already heard through the Palace grapevine that he was in an incredibly foul mood that morning.
"Good morning," she said cheerfully as she stepped through the door.
Laguna stood behind his desk holding a cup of coffee, and looking glumly out the window. "Yeah, yeah," he replied, taking a sip from his mug.
She rolled her eyes. "You know, you won't be 'trapped' in here forever. Just for a few days. And it hasn't even been 24 hours!"
He sighed deeply. "I know, but I'm not used to being trapped like this. I like to get out and about, seeing the people."
"Like I said, Laguna, just for a few days."
He nodded, then turned from the window and rested his mug on his desk. "Have you heard anything about Squall this morning?"
"Yeah, I just left there," she replied. "His vitals look better, but he still hasn't regained consciousness."
"They don't know when he will, either," Laguna said, frustration filtering into his voice.
Kylah nodded. "Yeah, but I spoke with the doctor about it this morning. He seems to think that this is what's best for Squall right now."
Laguna gave her a look that plainly said he thought she had lost her mind.
"Seriously, it makes sense. His body took quite a shock. In order to recover, it had to shut down all unnecessary systems to divert more energy toward recovery. When he's recovered enough, he'll wake up." I hope.
"Yeah, well…." Laguna grumbled. He looked up at her with an annoyed look. "Shouldn't you be working or something?"
She looked mildly offended. "I have been working," she retorted. "Already this morning, I've sent one team off to Deling City to do some investigation, and have sent another to Dollett to do the same thing. I've also taken reports from SeeD intelligence in Timber and Winhill."
"Winhill?" he asked, suddenly giving her his full attention. "Did they have anything to report?"
"Absolutely nothing. I get the feeling from them that the locals aren't too thrilled with outsiders poking around in their town."
Laguna gave a short laugh. "That's an understatement."
She sent him a curious look. "What do you mean by that?"
He paused, not sure if he really wanted to tell her. Finally, he relented. "I used to live in Winhill. That's where I met Squall's mother." He turned his gaze to Raine's picture. "When she died, the locals blamed me. They said that if she hadn't gotten involved with me, she'd still be alive." He shrugged. "Maybe they're right."
Kylah frowned. Surely he didn't believe that. "Laguna," she said at length, "don't you dare let yourself think that. If Raine loved you the way I imagine she did, then she would rather have lived a little while and loved you than have gone a lifetime without you. Besides, look at the wonderful thing that came out of that situation."
He looked up at her. "Squall?" She nodded, bringing a smile to his face. "See? Told you you were in love with him!"
She blushed a crimson red, but gave him an exasperated look. "I'm leaving now. I don't have to take this abuse!"
As she quickly walked out of his office, she could hear his uproarious laughter following after her.
"Why don't you let me take your place so you can go get some sleep?"
It was late that evening, and Ellone had spent most of the day sitting by Squall's bedside hoping that her brother would regain consciousness. Much to her disappointment, he had remained still and silent the entire day. She hated to leave, afraid that she would miss it when he woke up.
Kylah could see Ellone's reluctance to leave. "I promise, I'll call you if there's any change at all," she pressed. "You're exhausted. Go to bed."
"What about you," Ellone countered. "You've been up working since early this morning. Don't you need sleep too?"
Kylah shrugged. "Nah. I'm a SeeD. We don't need no stinkin' sleep."
Ellone laughed. "And when you do sleep, it's with both eyes open and one hand on your weapon."
"Exactly. Now go to bed. Come on, your uncle will be upset if he hears that you didn't get any sleep."
Reluctantly, Ellone agreed. She stood, stretched her tired muscles, bid Kylah a tired goodnight, and left for the solace of her small apartment in the palace.
Kylah looked down at Squall once Ellone had left. "I guess it's just you and me, Leonhart," she said. "And you're not running away this time."
She sank tiredly into the chair that Ellone had vacated, then shifted uncomfortably. "How the heck did she sit in this thing all day?" she asked.
Giving up, she scooted her chair closer to the bed, folded her arms on the edge of it and rested her chin on her arms. "You know? Selphie's right. You do look terrible."
She paused, gathering her thoughts. "Since I have you're undivided attention, I guess this is as good a time as any to get some things off of my chest.
"I'd never admit it to him, but Laguna is right. I have fallen for you. And I know that you probably don't want to hear that, which is why I'm telling you now when you're dead to the world and won't remember it. I don't know why I fell for you, since you're an emotionally challenged jerk. But I did.
"I also wanted to tell you that I was really scared when you were injured in the blast. I guess I still am. We all are. When you wake up, you have to promise that you'll never scare us like that again.
She closed her eyes, fighting back tears. "Squall, you have to come back to us soon. So much has happened that you need to know about. Did you know that you have a father? I really shouldn't tell you that, because he wanted to. And he's going to. Don't be too hard on him when he does. He really loves you, and has been worried sick these past couple of days.
Carefully, she reached out and took his hand. "Just please come back to us." She rested her cheek against the crook of her other arm, eyes never leaving his face. She willed him to open his eyes, but he seemed to ignore that request.
Gradually, the long day caught up with her. She slowly drifted off into a deep sleep, her hand still holding his tightly, head still resting on the edge of his bed.
He fought his way up through the darkness, struggling toward the bright light. Gradually, he became aware of his senses. First is hearing. He heard an annoying beep, continuing every second or so. He swallowed hard. He felt like he had swallowed a bucket of sand, mouth and throat both dry and scratchy.
Next he became aware of the pain. A deep, agonizing ache in his shoulder and neck. His shoulder felt as if someone had ripped his arm from the socket and casually jammed it back in. He also felt as if a large butcher knife was wedged in the side of his neck.
Finally, he was able to open his eyes. He blinked several times, trying to force his eyes to focus in on his surroundings. It took him several minutes to realize that he was in some sort of hospital room. He tried to move his hand to rub his eyes, but found that he couldn't move it. Slowly and carefully, he turned his head to see why he couldn't move it.
He found Kylah resting her head on the edge of his bed, hand intertwined with his. She was sleeping peacefully, auburn hair spilled out over her shoulder and part of the blanket.
"Kylah," he whispered, quickly finding that his voice didn't work quite right. He swallowed again, then gave it another shot. "Kylah," he said again, this time a little more loudly.
Her head shot up and looked wildly around the room. In seconds, she had focused in on him and realized what had happened.
"You're awake!" she cried, joyously. "Oh, thank goodness!" She moved from the couch to sit on the edge of his bed. "How do you feel?" she asked, brushing a strand of hair from his forehead.
He closed his eyes. "I feel like someone summoned Doomtrain to run over me," he managed to whisper.
She chuckled. "Don't move. I'll go find a nurse." She quickly fled the room.
No problem, he thought. I don't think I can move.
She returned moments later with a nurse in tow. "Well, Mr. Leonhart," the nurse said, cheerfully, "it's good to see you back among the land of the living. Let's check you over." She set about checking his vitals and medicine levels.
Kylah's eyes widened when the nurse peeled off his dressings to check the wound and change them. She hadn't seen the wounds since he'd been brought here, and it was quite a shock. It was a mass of black and blue, a large, angry red wound right in the middle. A long, jagged slice ran right along the side of his neck. She winced, knowing that it must hurt tremendously.
He looked at her sleepily. "Yeah, it doesn't feel too great," he murmured, reading her thoughts.
She smiled sympathetically, and reached over to squeeze his hand comfortingly.
"Well, everything looks good," the nurse said, as she gently wrapped his shoulder and neck in fresh, clean bandages. "Now, you need to get plenty of rest and –"
She was interrupted when the door flew open and Ellone and Laguna burst into the room. Ellone was clad in a simple satin nightgown, bathrobe belted tightly around her slender waist. Laguna wore bright blue sleep pants with yellow chocobos dancing cheerfully around them. He had carelessly thrown a t-shirt on when he'd been suddenly dragged out of bed, and had barely taken the time to throw his bedraggled hair up into a sloppy ponytail.
Kylah looked him over, and raised an eyebrow. "Chocobos?" she asked.
He looked down, then flushed. "Yeah, well….. I forgot my shoes, too," he said, noticing his bare feet.
Ellone snickered. "The ensemble just isn't complete without those adorable moogle slippers."
"S'okay," Squall mumbled sleepily from his bed. The nurse had increased his pain medication, and it was making him very drowsy. "Kylah has a pair of those cute moogle slippers too."
Laguna chuckled. "Well, if you're going to be in charge of my personal security, I'm glad to know you at least have taste." He then turned serious, and stepped over to the side of Squall's bed. "How ya feelin' kid?" he asked.
Squall frowned. "Why does everyone keep asking me that? I feel terrible."
"If it's any consolation," Ellone said, stepping beside her uncle, "you don't look so hot either."
He closed his eyes and chuckled softly. "Appropriate."
"Do you remember what happened?" Kylah asked.
He sighed deeply. He really was starting to have a difficult time focusing. "I remember a reporter… and a camera… The camera had a bomb in it…." He opened his eyes and looked around. "I tried to get the bomb out of the room before it exploded. Was anyone else hurt?"
"Cuts and bruises, nothing major," Laguna replied.
Squall nodded and closed his eyes again.
"I think," Kylah said, noticing that Squall was beginning to drift off, "that we'd better leave him to get some rest." Laguna and Ellone nodded and started to tiptoe out of the room. Kylah started to follow.
"Kylah?" Squall asked, opening his eyes again.
She turned and gave him a questioning look.
"Can you stay? Just a few minutes."
She smiled and nodded. Quickly signaling Laguna and Ellone to go on back to bed, she re-entered Squall's room and sat back down next to his bed.
"Thanks," he mumbled, giving into the medicine and allowing himself to fall into a deep sleep.
"No problem," she replied, softly, taking his hand once again.
Late the next morning, Kylah peeked her head into Squall's room to see if he was awake. She found him sitting up in bed, scowling into a magazine that someone had brought him.
"How's it going?" she asked, opening the door fully.
He looked up from his reading. "I'm feeling better, but can you please find me something decent to read?" He held up his reading material, revealing a popular woman's magazine. "The nurses around here just don't have the same taste that I do."
She laughed heartily. "You're saying that you don't want to learn more about women?" she teased.
"I'm saying that I've learned more about PMS this morning than I ever wanted to know."
This made her laugh harder. "I'll see what I can do," she promised.
"Weapon's Monthly, Timber Maniacs, I don't care. Anything is better than this." He tossed the magazine aside. "So, what have I missed?" he asked, settling back comfortably and looking at her expectantly.
She quickly filled him in on the events of the past two days, carefully leaving out the part about Laguna being his father. It took her several minutes, but she detailed the aftermath of the explosion, SeeD's new assignment, and the arrival and departure of their friends from Balamb.
"I received a report from Irvine late last night, and he said that he and Selphie have heard rumors of a new underground anarchist group based out of Gabaldia, but they haven't been able to find anything out about the membership or its purpose. Quistis sent me a message this morning that said she and Zell are turning up nothing in Deling City, and are going to move on to Timber this afternoon," she finished up.
Squall pondered all of this in his head. "So, you're staying behind to see to the President's personal security?"
She nodded. "We have to run under the assumption that the target was either Laguna or President Caraway. Or, possibly, both. At least until we come up with evidence that proves otherwise."
"What can I be doing?" Squall asked, anxious to get back into action.
She shook her head. "You can rest and relax so that you can recover quickly. That's it."
He frowned.
"Don't give me that look," she admonished. "At least for a couple more days. I'm handling this assignment very well on my own for the moment. You haven't even been conscious for 24 hours. Give yourself a chance to heal before you get back out and try to kill yourself again."
Reluctantly, he agreed. "I guess you're right. I just don't like being out of the loop during stuff like this."
"Don't worry," she assured him. "I'll keep you up to speed on what's going on, and let you know if there are any new developments."
The door to his room quietly swung open and Laguna's head popped around the edge of it. "Am I interrupting?" he asked, hesitantly. "If I am, I can come back later…"
"Nah," Kylah replied. "I was just bringing Squall up to date on the status of the mission."
Laguna nodded. Kylah noticed that he looked a little nervous and fidgety. He was rocking back and forth from the heels of his feet to the balls of them, hands jammed into his pockets restlessly.
"Laguna," she inquired, looking puzzled. "Are you okay?"
Before he could answer, a sharp, shooting pain shot up his leg. He yelped, grabbed it, and started hopping around on one foot.
Squall eyed him curiously. "What has you so nervous?" he asked.
Laguna looked up at him sharply. He had forgotten that Squall had been sent back into his life as a younger man, and knew that he only got leg cramps when he was nervous. He realized that he couldn't put this off any longer since Squall obviously knew something was up.
"Kylah?" he said, turning to her with a pointed look. "Can I speak with Squall for a minute? Alone?"
She got the message loud and clear. Standing, she stretched her arms lazily above her had so to appear casual. "I have some work I need to be doing anyway. I'll catch you guys later." She then strolled out of the room, closing the door behind her.
"Okay," Squall said, once Kylah was out of the room. "What's going on?"
Laguna began to pace. "I, uh, have something important that I need to tell you."
Squall was silent, waiting for Laguna to continue.
He sighed. "Okay," he continued. "Man, this is harder than I thought it would be….. Um…"
This time, Squall rolled his eyes. "Would you spit it out already?"
Laguna nodded. "Okay. Alright. Um, Squall. What I have to tell you is… What I mean is….Well… How should I explain it? Uh….."
He took a deep breath, fighting to calm his frazzled nerves. "Squall, I knew your mother," he finally blurted out.
Squall stared at him for a long moment. "My mother?" he finally asked.
"Yeah."
"How did you know my mother?"
"I knew your mother because… Well, because…. Your mother was…."
"Laguna!" Squall finally shouted, exasperated with the entire situation.
"Your mother was my wife!" Laguna finally cried. "I knew your mother because she was my wife." He was silent after that, hoping that Squall would put two and two together.
Squall was stunned. He couldn't speak. He felt as if he had been punched in the gut. He could only sit and stare at Laguna in total shock.
"That means I'm your…."
"…My father." Squall whispered, reality setting in.
Slowly, Laguna nodded.
Squall closed his eyes and rested his head back against the pillows. Snippets of conversation from the past abruptly came flooding back to him as Laguna continued to speak.
Uncle Laguna went on a journey to find me... But because he did, Uncle Laguna wasn't able to be by Raine's side when she died.
"I really wanted to tell you this sooner…"
Raine wanted to show Laguna her new born baby…"…just never seemed like the right time!"
Raine kept calling out for Laguna. So no matter what, I wanted Laguna to stay in the village...
"I guess now's not the greatest time, but…"
You look like your mother.
"It just couldn't wait any longer…"
Ward said, "Thank God you don't look like your father."
"We're both always so busy—"
"Get out," Squall finally interrupted Laguna's ramblings, eyes still closed tightly.
"Squall," Laguna tried again.
"I said, get out!" His grey-blue eyes flew open, full of fury. He was angry. Really angry, Laguna noted.
Laguna let out a deep breath, and nodded. "Okay, I'll go," he said, softly, and bit his lip. He had known it would be bad, but he'd figured he'd at least have a chance to explain himself. With a final glance over his shoulder, he opened the door, stepped through it, and quietly shut it behind him.