Dissidia: Returning Home 012: Laguna's savior
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Dissidia Final Fantasy, Square Enix game
Hey guys we're back to Dissidia: Returning Home. In here we'll explore where Laguna ended up since his fight with the Manikins. Because it seems to fit perfectly I will place at the time when after a bad fight at Centra against Esthar soldiers he was found unconscious and rescued by Raine, his future wife and mother of our favorite loner since FF VII's Cloud, Squall. Have fun reading!
shoreline- Laguna groaned as his entire body is wrecked with pain. Unable to get up, he just realized that he was at a beach. 'Ugh...' he thought painfully as he tried to register his whereabouts. All he can see was a blurry beach. All he can feel was the soft sand under him. All he can hear were the gentle sighs of the sea.
His arms wouldn't listen and his chest was burning from the pain. It was then that he remembered everything, being surrounded, fighting til the last of his strength fades away, forcing his comrades to jump off that viscous cliff. Honestly that was perhaps the dumbest thing he possibly got himself into.
He faded in and out of awareness and somehow knew that this was it. He was faintly aware of a slim figure approaching him just before he passed out. 'Guess this is it huh?..' He thought weakly before smiling sadly. 'Sorry...Julia...guess I can't come back to you..I really wanted to hear the rest of that..song...of..yours...' He lamented before slipping to the darkness.
Raine's house- A strange dream woke Laguna from his sleep. In this strange fantasy, he was fighting a fearsome battle against a bunch of crystal like soldiers with the help of many other warriors. The problem was, at the end of his dream, Laguna and the others lost.
He could barely recall the events of this dream. Even the faces of his comrades were obscured in Light and darkness. Laguna tried to get up but winced as he felt extreme pain all over his body. He yelped pathetically from the intense pain when he noticed he was wrapped in several bandages.
Confused, he looked around the small room. It was tidy yet plain. Few loose possessions were around the floor, and his machine gun was propped at the corner near the lone window along with the rest of his galbadian uniform.
Just then, the door opened, alarming the injured soldier. What he saw was rather surprising. 'Wha? A little girl..' Laguna thought. What opened the door and is now looking at him shyly was a young girl no older than 4. "Are you awake mister? Does anything hurt?" She asked softly, looking at the floor as she swings her arms back and forth.
Laguna became flustered 'She is sooo CUTE!' He thought to himself. He smiled and rose to his feet quickly. "I'm just peachy! Oww!" Laguna keeled over when the injuries on his chest reacted again. The little girl looked at the soldier with a bit of concern and walked to him cautiously.
Laguna winced in pain as he cradled his injured chest. He then saw the girl look at him carefully, a sense of worry is seen in her eyes. "Are you ok mister?" Just then footsteps from downstairs. Then a beautiful voice was heard. "Ellone? Where are you? Are you with that sleeping soldier again?" The melodious voice turned stern as a young woman came up from the stairs.
The moment Laguna set his eyes on her, his entire per-referral vision was replaced with her appearance. She is beautiful, with her long black hair held back by a yellow hairband and wearing a modest sweater with blue jeans. He quickly went to fix his long bangs when it was evident that there was no need. The young woman glared at him and began lecturing the poor soldier.
"You have been out of it for six days! You shouldn't be walking around with all those injuries." She placed her hands on her hips angrily. Ellone cowered behind the woman and shyly peaked from her side. Laguna chuckled at the and got up to greet the girls when he was immediately shot down as she jabbed her index finger to the bed.
He smiled, hoping to reassure her. "Relax it doesn't hurt that-" suddenly, a fierce pain shot through his entire right shin. Yelping loudly, he gripped his throbbing leg, startling the poor girl while her apparent guardian watched with concern. "Agh...leg cramp.." He grumbled. The girls looked at their guest/patient worryingly. "Ummm...Should we check on that leg?" Laguna shook his head quickly
"No no no it's fine..!" He groaned in response. "It's just.." He mumbled as he took a glance at the young woman in front of him. "It only happens around girls...including pretty ones.." He initially thought in his head. However, turns out he spoke his thought out-loud. The woman blushed slightly, flattered by the injured man's compliment. The little girl looked up to her caretaker with a wide grin. "See Raine! Guys think you're pretty!" She giggled in delight.
Despite the flattery, the older woman shook it off and started to walk out the room. "I'll get some coffee ready. Ellone, look after him." She said with authority before going downstairs. The little girl nodded and stared intently at Laguna, puffing her cheeks out as though she's trying to intimidate him. "Aww, aren't you adorable." Laguna chuckled as his leg cramps dissipated, much to the girls relief.
"Oh, wait!" Laguna shouted, wincing as he accidentally strained his throat. The young woman stopped "Yes?" She asked. "Well uhh... What's your name?" He asked sheepishly earning a giggle from his little sentry. The young lady smiled politely. "It's Raine. The little on is Ellone." She introduced. "Awww! I wanted to tell him." The little girl in question pouted, getting a good laugh from the adults in return.
Few minutes later- Laguna drank a hefty bit of his coffee while Ellone and her Raine watched in silent curiosity. "How are you holding up?" The older of the two asked. Laguna finished his gulp and smirked. "You know what they say, what doesn't hurt ya makes you stronger." He said cheerfully. "Don't you mean 'What doesn't "kill" you'?" Raine corrected questionably. Ellone chuckled as Laguna scratched the back of his head embarrassed.
"Wow that coffee was good! May I get some more please?" Laguna asked hoping to change the subject. Raine nodded and stood up to prepare more. Ellone giggled at Laguna's antics. First the leg cramps and now he's saying words wrong? She already finds this guy too funny to be a soldier. Just then, Raine came back with more drinks.
"So, mister soldier? Got a name?" She asked kindly. After grabbing his mug Laguna answered with confidence, "Names Laguna. Laguna Loire. Soldier of Galbadia." His cheerful demeanor fell then. "Well...used to be.." Raine looked down sadly. 'Poor guy.' She though to herself. Laguna the shot up with sudden wonder and hope. "Were there two other soldiers besides me? Did ya find anyone else?"
Raine shook her head. "You were the only one... I found you by dumb luck washed ashore. There was no one else..." She then saw Laguna slouch on his seat on the bed, devastated at the possible death of his teammates. 'Kiros...Ward..' He then sighed depressingly as he laid back down. Ellone looked sad as well. Laguna was a lot better to see when he is either happy or silly. Depression doesn't suit him.
Raine was quiet as well. War was always terrible in her perspective, no matter how justified it could be. She will never forget that fateful day when Eshtarian soldiers raided the village and gunned down Ellone's birth parents just so the poor girl could be an heir to some crazy sorceress. Ever since then, her opinions on wars and soldiers were always the same.
"Why do you fight mister? Don't you want to hurt people?" Ellone bravely asked. Laguna sighed in response as he began talking, still sore from as his injuries. "Gotta a point there kiddo. I'm not really much of a fighter...Heck I was always a screw up in the academy..." He ranted on, remembering all the times he made a fool of himself. In front of his superiors, his friends and his teammates. Then something came back to him.
An image of him and a group of mysterious warriors fighting weird crystal versions of themselves came up in small flashes. But as he though on it some more, the image became clearer. There was even this small warrior who had a tail! He chuckled at the memory as he recalled yanking on the tail, much to the poor warrior's displeasure plus it resulted in a flurry of painful attacks. Despite the faint image he could not recall any of their names. It was like his memory of them became a clean slate.
"What's wrong mister?" Ellone's voice echoed, bringing Laguna back from his stupor. "Oh! Nothing! Nothing at all." He smiled, getting up to see the concern on the two girls. 'Guess it was all such a strange dream while I floating out there..felt pretty real though.' He thought to himself, eventually putting that odd dream behind him. Raine decided to break the ice. "Even so, you're still badly injured. I suggest you stay here until you back to full health. Is that clear?" Raine demanded.
Laguna smiled and nodded approvingly. "Crystal. But when I get better I'll have to pay you back for everything you've done for me" He grinned. Raine chuckled at his thoughtfulness. "There's no need. Besides won't the army need you?" She questioned. Laguna shook his head. "I was a grunt. They won't miss me. Besides..." He looked up as he thought of a girl who captured his heart for the first time, Julia..."Doubt she still thinks I'm alive.." His
thoughts then turned back to his saviors, a big smile on his face.
"You guys could use patrol in this town. Who knows how many monsters show up there and here." He stated confidently. 'Don't you mean "here and there"?' She thought to herself amusingly. "Ok then, but you're not getting off of that bed until you're injuries are all healed, understood?" She said sternly. Laguna smiled, and gave her his best salute. "Yes mam!" before grunting in pain as Ellone giggled from her seat.
Raine chuckled and the pair started to leave back downstairs, ready for a day at the bar. Ellone left first while Raine looked back to her new guest of honor "By the way," She began, getting his attention. "Welcome to Raine's pub." She said with the most heart warming smile Laguna has ever seen, even rivals Julia's. As Raine departed, the tired and weary soldier laid back in his temporary nursery and fell to sleep.
This is of course the beginning of the wonderful love story of Final Fantasy VIII.
Oh man...I'm soo sorry for the late addition to this story _ I've pretty busy graduating from highschool and just got accustomed to to my college routine. I'll try to maintain a schedule for these stories of mine but you how life just loves to throw those curve balls.. Anyway the next character to have their after Dissidia story told is High summoner Yuna, followed by our favorite Dragoon Kain. Hope you guys are looking forward to it cause I certainly do ^_^