Sorry for the late update everyone. I would like to express my deepest gratitude for those who have commented and/or placed me on their favourites list. It is enjoyable writing this story and I hope that you enjoy it just as much as I do. My greatest regret is not having enough time to update quickly, but I'm glad everyone is patient with me and my little story. Thanks one last time.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, locations, etc. of Final Fantasy VIII; they belong only to their rightful owner, and it is not me.
"…You can't change the past. I just found that out. When I was kidnapped, 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. Raine wanted to show Laguna her new born baby... Raine kept calling out for Laguna. So no matter what, I wanted Laguna to stay in the village… But it didn't work. I can no longer make it back to that moment…"
Squall's eyes opened abruptly at the sound of his alarm's morning tune. He had been dreaming. He had heard Ellone's voice explain the reason why he became Laguna in those strange visions. It wasn't until later that he found out that he was that 'new born baby'. Laguna never came back before Raine died.
"I wonder if she ever blamed him…" Squall thought, turning to his side, "Did she die with regrets? With anger? A baby… without a father. No wonder so many things in my life screwed up. He's the one to blame…"
"Good morning, Squall!" a cheery voice suddenly interrupted his brooding.
He nearly fell off the bed in fright at the unexpected interjection. Having avoided landing on the floor, he unluckily hit his head on the wall at the top of his bed. This was not the awakening he had exactly wanted. Muttering a curse beneath his breath, he lifted his head to find his girlfriend trying to hide her amusement.
"What's so funny?" he grumbled, his morning voice low and husky.
Rinoa sat on his bed and tried to keep a straight face, "I know that SeeDs are trained to be prepared for anything and put themselves on defence mode when sudden things happen. But that was purely shameful, Commander Leonheart! Why, had a Malboro ambushed you, I don't think they'd leave time to laugh at your antics. You should've seen the way you jumped."
He groaned, "You're just teasing me now," he turned away from her and rubbed his sore head. After a while, he spoke again, "How did you get into my room?"
"You gave me the key!" she cried, as if it was the most obvious fact in the world. Then she added cheekily, "…Now Squall, I know you always recommend people to go talk to a wall, but I'm over here."
"…I like where I am," he replied bluntly, eyes staring blankly at the wall in front of him.
For a short moment, it was as if the power of the sorceress had intensified in the room. Rinoa glowered at her boyfriend's back and approached with arms extended, hands near his neck, "Are you ignoring…" she said slowly in a merciless tone.
With swift movement, Squall rolled over, grabbed her and pulled her downwards. Even she was unable to predict his actions as she yelped with surprise. The world spun around briefly before she discovered that she was pinned down by his body, with his face smirking proudly above her.
"It certainly is a good morning, Miss Heartilly," he attempted to say with a serious face but his eyes couldn't hide his elation.
Rinoa giggled at his antics, enjoying the feel of having him close to her. Things had certainly started changing after the Laguna incident in the cafeteria. That had been over five months ago. Days passed and Squall had slowly begun to open up to her. He smiled at her a lot more and they shared more jokes together. There was laughter too, but she felt that something was missing…
She pretended to pass out, "Ew…" she whispered, "Squall's morning breath… gross."
In revenge, he poked her side several times, making her body jolt with shock, "What was that?" he warned.
"You cheater," she said between laughs, "You know I'm ticklish… stop!"
He chuckled beneath his breath before stopping to gaze at the beauty that lay before him. Her smooth skin, the blush of her cheeks, her smile and the way her chest rose with every quick breath she took. There was something about her that made her special to him. As she recovered from being tickled and gazed directly into his eyes, he felt his heart stop. Hell, he felt the entire world stop for that instant; and lately, that had been happening a lot.
He lowered his head until his lips nearly touched hers. Her laboured breaths could be felt against his lips as he closed the gap and kissed her gently.
They stared at each other afterwards, neither wanting to leave the room and continue on with their everyday lives. Unfortunately, a Garden without a commander would not go down well with Cid and the other senior members.
"We should get going…" he said with a sigh.
A brief flicker of disappointment appeared on her face before she hid it well behind a cheery smile, "Yeah, we should. The others are probably heading to breakfast. Go, get ready. I'll be waiting."
As Squall got ready for the day, he couldn't help but sense there was something odd about his girlfriend's expression. But he wasn't able to figure it out. And by the time they were ready to head to the cafeteria, she appeared to be her normal self again before he could ask.
"Yo, Squall!" Zell waved them over frantically, "Look who came!"
His eyes quickly scanned their usual table to see what was different this morning. There was Zell looking a little too ecstatic. Selphie and Irvine were not present. Surprisingly, Seifer had woken up and was now reclining on a chair with his arms resting on the back rung; he had a smirk on his face. Even more astonishing was the fact that there was someone unexpected sitting beside Quistis, conversing with her.
"Hey, isn't that Ellone?" questioned Rinoa.
Right on cue, the young woman lifted her head and smiled at the couple. She waved happily to them as they walked towards the table. Over the last couple of months, her hair had grown longer and she now wore it in a ponytail. She was also wearing a pair of jeans and a simple white blouse. That was why he couldn't recognise her at first.
"Sis," said the commander, "What are you doing here?"
Ellone chuckled, "What's wrong, Squall? I'm not allowed to visit my own family?"
The group laughed as the pair sat down and he realised how rude he must have sounded, "No, I'm just surprised, that's all," he tried to explain before changing the subject, "When did you get here?"
"Late last night, actually," she answered with a smile, "I decided to wait until morning because I didn't want to wake anyone up."
"How did you get here? Did you come all by yourself, sis?" Zell asked, concerned about her safety.
Ellone shifted uncomfortably in her seat and cleared her throat, "Well, I came here directly from Esthar on the White SeeD ship… with Uncle Laguna."
The commander could swear he felt the blood drain from his head suddenly. Everyone looked at each other and then towards him with a worried expression. Rinoa immediately reached for his hand, which had unconsciously balled into a fist, and tried to calm him down by rubbing it gently.
Just when he thought he could get away, given the distance between Esthar and Balamb. He would never have guessed that his so-called father would come here and end up in the same building as him.
Squall sat quietly during breakfast, without losing his temper like last time. He ate his food but the group noticed that he was more concerned with pushing the food around on the plate rather than doing any actual eating. Rinoa was especially anxious, hoping that he would be okay considering the awkwardness.
He left with what sounded like a grunt rather than a farewell and retreated towards his office. His friends glanced worriedly at each other and finally focused on Rinoa. She cleared her throat, "I think he wants to be alone for a while," she commented to which the others nodded in agreement.
There was a quiet knock on the door shortly after he had settled down into his paperwork. The commander sighed and wondered who would be knocking so softly. He would eventually find out. "Door's open," he murmured, looking down at his papers one last time.
The door creaked open but the figure remained in the doorway. This irritated Squall because he didn't think it was necessary to have to personally invite someone into his boring office. When friends dropped by to visit, they would never bother knocking. Rinoa would announce herself by throwing the door open, bounding over to him and kissing him on the cheek. He lifted his head in case it was Ellone who wasn't used to his office mannerisms.
Squall remained silent as he glared at the person at his door. The last person he wanted to see.
"Hey Squall..." the man mumbled uncertainly.
He immediately cut him off, "What the hell are you doing here?"
Laguna was not surprised at the icy welcome; he had expected it well before he had decided to pay Balamb Garden a visit, "I wanted to see how you were-"
"I was perfectly fine until I found out you were here," snapped the young man.
His father paused to draw a breath, "I was concerned."
"Really? Trying to get rid of the guilt of abandoning your family?"
"Don't make it sound like I didn't care, Squall."
He stood from the desk and stared murderously at his father, "Since when did caring mean not being there for your child all through his life? Why would you start caring when you left Raine to die and Ellone and I at some orphanage?"
Laguna was stunned at his harsh words and could see he was losing a battle with someone who was full of bitterness and resentment. Someone who had experienced too much loneliness and pain beyond what an ordinary person would go through in a lifetime. It would be a very difficult task to patch up what remained of their relationship and heal the hurt in Squall's eyes that he could see.
He answered in a quiet voice, "Don't make it sound like I didn't try-"
"Why? The truth hurts doesn't it?" Squall growled with fury. He had had enough. He moved from behind the table until he stood across from the other man. "I know why you're here, Laguna. It's because I'm commander of Balamb Garden, isn't it? You want to reclaim me so you can show the world just how talented your son is. Imagine that, the president of the most technological city has a son who is just as able as he. Is that how it is? I can read you like a book and you're the type of book which I'd throw away after reading the first page. You're nothing but garbage!" His voice intensified with rage, "I hate you! I wish I wasn't your son and I wish you never existed!"
Laguna replied with a rough punch to his son's right jaw, "And I certainly cannot believe that a person born from my blood can treat everyone with respect except his own father!"
The younger male made an answer of his own by punching him as well before shoving him repeatedly towards the direction of the door, "GET THE FUCK OUT!" he yelled, which even surprised himself as he had never raised his voice at that volume at anyone before and he also rarely swore aloud.
"Oh Hyne, what's going on?" a female voice could be heard.
Rinoa.
"Squall! Uncle Laguna!" another voice shouted. It sounded like Ellone.
When the elevator doors had opened, the sound of two men arguing with each other could be heard all the way down the hallway. Rinoa recognised one of them as belonging to her boyfriend and she instantly became afraid. She wasn't afraid of him though; just afraid of what was happening to him because she had never heard him sound so distressed. Ellone, who was with her, had exclaimed that it was Uncle Laguna. As if wordlessly reaching a mutual understanding, they had rushed towards the commotion.
The young sorceress was first to rush into the room and was mortified by the sight. There was Squall and Laguna at each other's throats and she saw that both had sustained equally serious injuries to their faces. Without thinking of any danger she would be in, she stepped in and intervened before any weapons could be taken out. She pushed the men apart as Ellone ran in to take Laguna out; probably back to his own room.
"Well, I can see some resemblance now," Rinoa thought silently, "They are usually calm but when fired up, they sure get angry in the same way..."
She turned to Squall, who was breathing heavily as if he was ready to kill anyone who decided to get in his way. "Squall?" she said softly before approaching him cautiously in case he lashed out at her, "It's okay, he's gone now."
He threw his arms around Rinoa and held her tightly, almost squeezing the wind out of her. "Please don't leave me, Rin," he said in a hoarse voice.
She couldn't tell if he was crying or not. But that didn't really matter because she could hear all the agony in his voice. She did all she could by holding him as well, hoping that there would be a way to resolve this conflict.
To be continued... (you thought there would be a hook for the next chapter, didn't you?) ;)