His Second Childhood
By: Selim
Summary: When Squall returned from Time Compression, he wasn't himself anymore. Now he must grow up again, but would having his father in his life the second time make any difference? Squall doubts it, but time has never been on his side.
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII. I am not making any profit off this piece of fiction.
Rating: T
Laguna must have expected it to be easy to find a laidback nanny for Squall. It wasn't hard for the boy to know that any person that came through those doors would try too hard, especially if it meant to impress their beloved president. They wished nothing more than to appease the small boy to receive looks from Laguna. At times, they even went as far as to attempt putting the moves on their bachelor president. Squall snorted with each attempt. He doubted the man had time to look over the Estharian women that threw themselves at his feet. Laguna was painfully oblivious to his (still) boyish looks.
By the fourth nanny, Squall had grown used to the abundance of children's snacks, walks to the park, and fights around naptime. He despised the concept of any kind of bedtime, be it night or day. He kicked and screamed when he was tucked into the bed. He called them horrible names when the door was locked behind them. Rage left messes that the maids were getting tired of cleaning up, but Squall didn't care. He wanted Laguna to know how he hated the new 'parent mode'. He was Commander of Balamb! He was a hero of the people! He was—
-Running for his life. The new nanny, who Squall dared not to remember her name, was a persistent person if there ever was one. She'd figured the reason or Squall's tantrums was that the boy had too much energy to fall asleep and the best way to deal with that was by putting the boy in a toddler gymnastics class that was just, as the boy had reasoned, like a prison. Even in his youth he hated all those easy exercises that fatigued muscles too fast. It didn't leave the person tired, simply embarrassed by the sight of themselves in a mirror not far off.
Climbing into an inner tube, Squall watched through the plastic windows as the woman and five of the instructors walked around to find him. Grumbling, Squall tucked himself further in, out of reach of long arms. The only way they could get him was by climbing in and (luckily) the pipe was only large enough for a small child. With narrow eyes, Squall watched the other children jumping around not far from his hideout; laugher filled the small room, ricocheting off the walls between his name being called. Grunting, Squall pushed his legs out in front of him, losing himself in the sight of his untied laces. He almost didn't see the hand reach for him.
With a scream, Squall pushed himself further into the tube, where it connected to a stairway up higher in the shaft. Squall glanced up before looking over at the instructor trying to climb in to grab him. With a deep breath, Squall started his climb.
His shoes fell off halfway up the toy, but that just made it easier to curl his toes around the thick bars as he pushed himself into another pipe further up the block-tower. Another plastic window gave the boy a bird's eye view of the gymnasium. Possibly three meters off the ground, Squall pressed his nose to the barrier, watching his nanny make an attempt to climb up. She'd never make it, Squall smirked at the thought. The toy was only designed for children between four and six, and Squall's former training was enough to get his chubby form up and through the tubes until he was safely nestled into a higher tower connecting to a slide.
A squeak escaped his throat with the gymnastics coach reached into the tube to grab him. Crawling back, Squall stopped just short of the ladder taking him down to where his nanny looked up with narrowed eyes. He knew it! The boy fought back the smirk. The woman could only be too sweet for so long before her resolve broke. Onto the newest nanny! Maybe Laguna would finally realize he didn't appreciate the "aid" or "mother figures" in his new life. He just needed someone to reach the top shelves at home, not a person to remind him that "growing boys need naps."
He didn't know why, but he felt the need to sabotage all of the help. He didn't like them and felt that they were only there for one reason – the bachelor, Laguna. With the only knowledge about Squall and Laguna's relationship being that the President had adopted a war orphan, the women had piled outside the palace gates to get a chance to become the boy's mother. For the most part, none of them came to Squall's par of mother-material. No one was Matron, the only mother he'd ever know.
Besides, he just got his biological father back – after eighteen parentless years. He needed to make Laguna's life a living hell.
Deciding that he was going to be stuck in that tube for awhile, Squall busied himself at attempting to tie his shoe lace.
It had been a month since he arrived in Esthar and it had gone by as if the other day hadn't existed. Not that he was having fun or anything, rather he woke up with no real recollection of the smaller things he did the day before. It was as if every day was a new day with new troubles and an overbearing father trying his hardest to look like he really didn't care. Ward was always there to smack Laguna back in place though, making the tall, burly man Squall's new favorite person. The man was a supportive ear that would intrinsically know what made Squall happy. He had mock battles with the boy, never once attempting to be some horrendous dragon or smelly malboro like Kiros did. Kiros treated the boy like a two-year-old, using careful language and played safe games that stimulated Squall's mind.
While the adult in him hated it, the child in him loved it. He had to fight the urge to squeal in delight every time he was thrown in the air when being picked up. Ward was usually bad at doing this, especially when seeing the child after a long day. He'd suddenly toss the boy in the air before apologizing in remembering the bundle in his arms was not a child, but an adult who'd never been tossed like that save for the time in battle when he'd been knocked in the air by a monster's tail.
Speaking of which, something big caught his attention in the plastic windows, towards the door. Ward! He never dreamt of the day he'd consider the quiet man to be his savior, but Squall made his way to the long tube where he was going to make his escape down a long slide. He would have slid down too, had two children also hiding from the gym instructor were already taking refuge in the tall slide. Tense, Squall eyed the children, trying to size them up. Both were possibly four, one chunkier than the other. The larger child tried his own attempt to look menacing.
"This is our hideout, baby!" The child pushed Squall back to the tube he'd come from. Pushing forward, Squall tried to make himself to the slide but was stopped by the smaller of the two. Again he was grabbed and pushed back, another hindrance to the toddler's plans.
"Yeah, our hideout!" The skinny one chimed in.
Trying to push past again, Squall slammed his small shoulder into the skinny boy's ribs, effectively pushing the boy away. His next strike was on the stunned chubby kid. With strength he didn't know he had, he pushed himself and the child down the slide, one rolling down while he slid down on his belly leaving painful burns. The pain was overwhelming for him, and he chimed in with his own pained cries with the two four-year-olds, drawing attention from his nanny, the gym instructors, and Ward.
The large man was quick to pick Squall up, patting the boy on the back until finally Squall found control of his emotions. Lacing his fingers under the man's uniform collar, which was properly folded down, the child eyed the two boys on the floor screaming that Squall had hit them. At the same time, the nanny was trying to tell Ward about her charges behavior, including ignoring her for the better part of the day. Red in the face, Squall tucked his head into Ward's shoulder.
Ward's stern stare down at the kids was enough to get both boys to start crying again about hideouts and babies but Ward was no longer listening. With a firm nod towards the nanny, Ward and his charge left the gym. Bottom lip extended, Squall relished in the silence that was Ward, trying to figure out what was going on in the man's head. He would have thought with all his experience in being quiet, he would be able to interpret the facial expressions of the mute man.
One, it was odd for the man not to throw Squall in the air when he was lucky to even get the boy in his arms. Two, he was quick at picking Squall off the ground before the boy could throw an all out tantrum that came with the child mind. Three, he still hadn't put Squall down. He had either seen enough at the toddler gym to give Laguna a negative report or he was annoyed with Squall's uncharacteristic behavior.
"They kept pushing me first." Squall supplied absently. "And she kept reaching up to grab me." There wasn't any question who "she" was; every person in the presidential palace knew that Squall didn't like his much needed nanny. The feeling was mutual, considering the woman had addressed concerns of her charge being 'standoffish' and 'anti-social'. The gym had been, more or less, her idea to open the toddler up, especially since he was having "problems adapting to his new environment" according to the woman who overnight had a degree in childhood psychology.
Ward just patted the boy on the back and kept going. He didn't stop at the magazine racks to pick Squall up a new issue of a traveling guide, as he usually did, and instead stepped on a transportation unit nearby, programming it to take him directly to the palace. Disheartened, Squall wiggled himself out of the man's hold, taking a seat to watch the world go by. "H, has," he tried again, "the Balamb Garden contacted me yet?" He hadn't heard from any of his old friends since they left and it was beginning to scare him. Painful memories of standing at the old orphanage when Ellone had disappeared kept him awake at night.
Shaking his head negative, Ward tensed when the transport came to a sudden halt before the palace. He stepped out, Squall following after. As always, Squall stopped; his head tilting back to look over the large presidential palace, taking in just how big it was in comparison to his small frame. Grabbing Ward's arm, Squall stopped the man, tucking his head into the presidential aid's open palm. Thick fingers brushed stringy bangs back, letting stormy blue eyes see light and Ward's friendly smile. "Yeah." Squall nodded. "They just got busy with war publicity."
Ward's arm lowered, taking Squall's hand to take the boy inside, easing past the guards in front of the president's office. Laguna's head was ducked into some paperwork, the ear piece of a phone tucked between his shoulder and his ear leaving him too busy to see Squall attempting to climb on the plush couch in the corner as Ward and Kiros stepped to the side in a hushed, one-sided conversation.
"—You'll receive the bill in two to three weeks." Laguna dropped the receiver on the hook. "How was school?"
Scowling at the man, Squall crossed his legs as he dug deep into the couch cushions where he'd hidden some magazines.
"Kiros removed those before my early meeting." Laguna tapped at his keyboard, the projector monitor flickered into existence with a budget table. From the corner of his eye, Squall noted a positive from the Balamb Garden.
"You charged the school?" Squall screeched.
Kiros actually jumped at the boy's rise in voice. "Please keep your voice down."
"I didn't just charge them." Laguna rubbed his temple. "There was a war; we 'hired' Balamb Garden as mercenaries to supply the Estarian War Effort against Adel. We were more than happy to pay that; however, we sat down and crunched the numbers and the facts. It was one of said mercenaries that caused the whole war to begin with. General Caraway denied responsibility for his daughter, saying she was being claimed by the Garden. Headmaster Kramer didn't deny this and took charge of the girl's actions during the war. Parliament put the price down for releasing Adel in the first place, which evened out our cost for hiring your ragtag team. But then we had to consider the damage your group made. I overlooked them, as damage is expected from war however the use of our ship Ragnarok was not. Fuel isn't cheap with that mission; looking for Commander Leonhart was one thing but searching for a little alien that may or may not have existed was a whole other matter—"
"Selphie really got into that search!"
"Exactly!" The man stopped working. "The fuel alone is in the tens of thousands because it's not from this world. The Ragnorak is the first of its kind. Esthar was actually happy when it disappeared in space. That's where the credit comes from."
"You'd," Squall bit his lip but forced the words out of his mouth, "charge your own son?"
"Of course not. If I was doing that, I'd put a price tag for all the adoption paperwork that usually comes with taking on a child. Even if you are biologically my son, I still would need to adopt you for the name change. Legally that cost but that's a responsibility of my own. I tried to ease the overall price by compensating Mrs. Kramer for taking care of both you and Ellone so it lowered the bill by hundreds of thousands but I can only help so much before parliament throws a tantrum."
The budget was beginning to hurt Squall's head. He knew things cost, but usually someone else covered those. Another part of him wanted to say that Laguna was in his right, as a contract holder, to try and put things in his favor. The man was—
"You seem surprised, Squall." Kiros was chuckling, annoying the child. "You didn't think Laguna remained president for something he did almost twenty years ago, did you? The man's an idiot, the perfect politician."
"…not an idiot." Laguna grunted. "See if you get dinner tonight. Ward, order pizza! Make sure I get Tabasco sauce on my Galbadia Eight Meat."
"Ew," Kiros wiggled his nose, "No, two votes beat one. No Tabasco sauce."
"But it's good-!" Both Squall and Laguna cried out at the same time before freezing, eyeing each other. Throwing himself from his desk, the president lunged at his son, wrapping his arms around the boy's small frame. "I have another vote. This is the best day of my life!"
"Get off-! Ward!"
After dinner, Squall had a strict schedule that led up to his bedtime. At first, he fought the rules, but realized that, like his nap, an early bedtime was needed if he was going to give Laguna hell the next day. After brushing his teeth and climbing under his blankets, Squall ignored Laguna tucking him in before leaving. With heavy lids, Squall listened to the faint wind outside his window until he was lured to sleep. It didn't surprise him that he woke up once in the middle of the night, a problem he'd had back in his teenage years.
He used that time normally to visit the toilets, but upon climbing back into bed, Squall found himself unable to sleep. After twenty-minutes of tossing and turning, Squall slid out onto the main floor, greeted by the darkness of the condo. As his foot stepped onto the cold tile of the kitchen, the autolights switched on, bathing the room in a soft glow. Making his way to the phone, Squall climbed onto the barstool, putting the receiver to his ear, calling the school.
It didn't surprise him that it was Zell that answered the phone. Although the boy didn't have many leadership qualities, he'd been active during the war leaving him able to take on Squall's old job since Quistis (who did have leadership qualities) wanted to return to her safe job as an instructor. The boy seemed exhausted when he answered and a quick glance at the clock explained why. It was two in Esthar, leaving it likely twenty-three hundred in Balamb. He never expected Zell of all people to pull an all nighter.
"Shit Squall, Laguna's got the headmaster by the balls. I mean, it's not that big of a bill, I saw worse while looking in the files but it's the principle of the matter. We helped them. We could have just returned back to Balamb and let Ultimacia take over the world but since we're now housing two sorceresses secretly the man has ammunition and isn't afraid to use it."
A snort escaped Squall. "I'm sure I still have a pay account somewhere, use the money in it. I was saving for after my mercenary days but…I have years to worry about that now."
"Thanks man. We'll fax the forms to you for your signature; um…you can sign right?"
"My motor skills are next to nil but I'm sure I can get Ward to sign something close." Squall reached for an apple, digging his teeth into the red skin.
"Thanks, that'll ease the problems here. Rinoa up and left when Ellone admitted that neither girl was powerful enough to return you to your original form. She didn't want to wait sixteen years for you to be legally okay to date. So I still don't think we should cover her cost, make that bastard Caraway do so."
"She'll return to Timber, in hopes of returning to obscurity."
"Won't happen, man. You should have seen what happened when we dropped by Galbadia. Apparently they're not needy enough to take back Martin but a real war hero like Irvine, now that they jumped all over. We haven't seen his skinny ass since they took him inside the garden talking about a good paying job. Selphie is the same way. Trabia demanded her, apparently they can get recovery funds if they have a good ole war hero in their ranks. Place is looking nice too – oh, hey Squall, I'm going to have to go don't want Laguna sticking me with a call either. Thanks again for the aid."
"Whatever. Also," Squall changed the ear he had the receiver pressed to, "can you do me a favor?"
"Anything, man."
"Seifer. I want all reports on his whereabouts."
"Shit…You do know that three other places want his head on a platter?"
"Yes, that's why I want him first. He has a lot to answer for and I'd rather have him in Esthar where he's not a wanted man. Just get me Seifer."
"Yes, yes, Commander Leonhart." Zell chuckled before break the connection. Scowling at the phone in his hand, Squall hung up the phone.
Running his fingers through his hair, Squall rolled his stiff shoulders. He needed that, it was nice to actually be spoken to as an adult. Tucking away plans to call Zell again, Squall returned to his bedroom.