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
Note: Unbeta'd

Seifer probably didn't know what he was getting into when he signed up to babysit Squall. That was probably why Laguna was also skeptical about the teen's abilities. Instead of going straight to work like a good president, he stood in front of Seifer with his arms over his broad chest repeating a list of instructions of what to, and what not to, do with Squall. Honestly, a potion always fixed things. And if Squall was stupid enough to stuff his mouth with more than he could chew, than good riddance. "Trust me, President Loire, Squall will be fine."

Laguna's eye twitched. "Trust you? I can barely tolerate having you in my presence right now." Seifer winced. He'd heard from Kiros that the work for removing any traces of Lunatic Pandora had just begun and the paperwork was alarming. Unable to blame Odine (the man had a habit of disappearing when his ass was on the line), it left Laguna with Seifer. "Make sure Squall gets a nap. He gets cranky and once I'm off work we're going grocery shopping. Also, Squall has a habit of hiding whatever he doesn't want to eat under the rug. Make sure he stays at the table with his drinks, he spilt chocolate milk all over my study the other day."

"Beat into submission, understood." Seifer sent his best Galbadian salute towards the man. He wasn't prepared for a drawer to quickly open and the revolver of a gun to be pressed firmly against his lips. Hands up, Seifer felt his heartbeat quicken. He wasn't armed, he wasn't ready. No one had told him the President would have a gun…in so close of range to an angry toddler.

"You insult what I fought for." Laguna hissed.

"I'm sorry." Seifer whispered.

"'ant milk…"

Both men jumped, having not heard Squall's door open. The child stood in his pajamas, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and looking much younger than he usually did. The gun disappeared faster than Seifer could say his own last name and Laguna was bent on one knee. "Did you have a good night?"

"Fly…" Squall murmured. "Squall fly." With help, he was put on a chair. Seifer busied himself at fetching a cup of milk. When Squall was all settled in with toast and milk, Laguna crossed his arms again.

"I'll be back at fifteen hundred, but if something comes up I'll give you a call. He doesn't get a lot of sweets, but he'll demand it. Also, after his nap he watches television. He'll show you how to work it. Just help him with what he needs make sure he takes his naps, and make sure he cleans his messes. I'm going now, Squall." The man ruffled the boy's hair. "You behave now."

Squall didn't respond, not fully awake as he nursed a sippy cup in flimsy hands. It was one of the few things Laguna had warned him that Seifer was taking to heart. Squall didn't have the motor skills he had before. His inability to hold a heavy cup stable required the assistance of a lid, which normally annoyed the nineteen-year-old Squall. Little Squall, on the other hand, didn't care. It appeared early in the morning Little Squall was out to play. With a tilt of his head, a friendly smile etched on his face, Laguna left the room to go to work.

"No more daycare?" Squall whispered. He seemed almost scared.

"No more of that place, Puberty Boy. Just you, me, and whatever tasks your daddy throws at us. Whatever you want to do, I'm yours."

Squall's eyes narrowed in thought. Jumping from his seat (and nearly falling over in the process), Squall rushed to his room. He returned a few seconds later carrying two padded gunblade molds. "Can we train?" He showed Seifer the other blade. It was modeled after the Revolver, the one in Squall's arms looking more like the Lionheart. It made Seifer smile, raising the foam toy up to investigate the weapon. "Well…" Squall perked up, ready to hear an affirmative from the only person willing to try with him. "…I suppose we can try to find some grounds in this rat nest and duke it out some. After you get cleaned and ready of course."

Looking down at his pajamas, Squall caressed the breast pocket on it. There, Seifer noted, was a chocobo patch. "It looks just like Choco." He smiled brightly. "I never showed you Choco!" With a dash, Squall returned to his room. He stumbled out again with his arms full of toys. Dropping to the floor, Squall spread the toys out in front of him. "This is Choco!" He held up a stuffed chocobo. "He's my best friend."

"Aw, I thought I was your best friend?" Seifer smirked, bending to one knee. The bird was deposited in his hands.

Squall's stopped moving. His eyes clouded over in thought as his head tilted back. "I…Seifer is also my friend." Without another thought, Squall held up a piece of wooden building blocks. It was an aged block, perhaps one of many similar ones. Seifer smiled as his friend explained he had more blocks just like that one, which Ward had found at some sale a while back. "I think Matron used to have some of these." The blond shrugged in uncertainty as Squall fumbled with naming the rest of his things. "…I have more in my room. Do you want to see them?"

"The President really does spoil you." Seifer smiled. "I don't think you've ever had this many toys collectively in your life. I mean, personally of course. The playroom at the Garden has a lot, but it wasn't ours." Although, if memory served correctly, a lot of the toys did go missing over time, often finding new homes in the children's dorms. Usually the Garden Staff turned a blind eye to that behavior.

Squall held Choco to his chest, unable to meet Seifer's eye. "I guess. He's supposed to though. He owes me."

Little Shit. Seifer rubbed his temples. "Material things only mean so much." But he had a feeling that Squall already knew that. It was the child in Squall that had to show off all the things he was receiving. It was the man in the boy that didn't feel justified about being abandoned. "Come on, go brush your teeth or I'll just go home."

"No! Battle!" All of his toys, except for the stuffed chocobo, were abandoned in the kitchen as Squall darted back in his room. With a shake of his head, Seifer began picking up the toys, pushing his way into the child's room. He made quick work of making Squall's bed, pulling out a clean set of clothes, and opening the blinds. He never noticed Squall entering the room again. "So you're going to be my nanny now?"

"Ch, hardly. A nanny is usually paid. I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart considering you're an escape artist in the works." Seifer frowned, looking through the brunette's shelves. "Do you wear underwear?"

"I can dress myself!" Squall rushed over to Seifer, pushing on the man's leg towards the door. "Get out of my room! Never come in my room!"

"But you asked me to come see your toys!" Seifer dropped to his knees where Squall's toy chest was. With a low whistle, Seifer shuffled through the collection. "It's been what, six months since time compression? How did you accumulate so many toys so quickly?"

Shuffling on his feet, Squall looked away. "They're given to me?"

"You've never asked for one?"

"Just the blades and Choco." Squall frowned. "I don't really understand it," he finally admitted, "I hate playing with toys, but…sometimes I see something and I just have to have it. Laguna doesn't know how to say 'no' yet and Ward and Kiros are like those uncles we always heard of. You know; the ones that could buy their nieces and nephews everything because they don't have kids of their own? Yeah well, they get me toys. Or Zell finds the latest thing in town. Quistis sent me the blocks. She told me about us having them at one time. Thought it'd be cute or something, I don't remember…Don't look, I'm getting changed."

Keeping his back turned, Seifer rummaged through the toys. He'd never even heard of half the things that Squall was given. What was a child going to do with so many electronic toys? Hell, he was happy with the toy train they had back at the orphanage. In fact, besides a few stuffed animals, there wasn't really wasn't any toys Seifer was familiar with there. "No books?"

"…I got a few." The sound of someone jumping around almost got Seifer to turn his head, but he kept his attention focus elsewhere to give Squall his privacy. "I can't get my pants to button."

Stifling a laugh, Seifer helped his friend. "All done! Do you want anything else to eat?"

"No way, I'm going to kick your ass in a fight!" Squall shouted, tucking his chocobo in his pocket.

"Language, Squall. I don't think Laguna appreciates that mouth." With a pleasant smile, one he usually used to frighten people (although it never worked on Squall), Seifer tilted his head to the side. "But I suppose we can go wash your dirty mouth out with soap, Squallie-!" He jeered lightly.

With a hiss, Squall jumped back. The chocobo bounced off of Seifer's head. "And don't call me Squallie!"

"Right, right, Ice Princess."

"It's Commander to the likes of you!" The doll hit Seifer again, but the man could only laugh as he escaped from the room.

It was unfair, sure, but Seifer could always remind Squall that the boy had won three of their last battles. Besides, the obvious height difference made Seifer a shoe-in for victor. With a loud shout, the blond raised his arms to display his muscles. "And all it took was holding Squall back!" He laughed. The child huffed, grabbing the hem of his shirt. Oh yes, pushing back on Squall's head to keep an arms distance between his body and Squall's feverous attacks was playing dirty, but Seifer was tired of fair fights.

Throwing his blade to the ground, Squall stomped his foot. "You're a big smelly cheater!" He shouted.

"Not just a smelly one, I'm a big one? Is that 'cause you're so short?" Seifer mocked. God, he missed these days. He felt like a three-year-old pushing a child in sand. Faintly he could see Squall looking back up at him with watery eyes. "Well maybe if you agreed to come in and eat lunch, we wouldn't have had that final battle."

"I don't want carrots-!" Squall sobbed.

"I was joking about the carrots. Yesh! You're worse than Zell." Rubbing his temples, Seifer threw his head back. "We'll have celery instead."

Sniffling, Squall made a disgusted face. "No veggies!"

"Either carrots or celery." And Quistis said he was no good with children. He just didn't like the spoiled ones that Balamb received every so often; acting like the academy was some boarding school that gave them prestige instead of an orphanage for children whose parents just couldn't afford another mouth to feed. "I'll even give you some dressing to dip them in." With his cards out on the table, Seifer waited for Squall to think the offer over.

"…Will you join me in Gesz Joe's Fun Show?" Squall piped up.

Seifer thought this through. How easy. He got Squall to eat food that Laguna wanted and all he had to do was watch some kid show that Squall just pulled out of his ass? Although the name did sound familiar, Seifer could just smile. He was patient even to live through thirty minutes of vibrant colors and stupid questions just to make Squall happy. "Sure! Let's go in first, getting kind of hot out here."

"…" Squall blocked his eyes, staring overhead. "I wonder if it ever rains here."

"Probably not like in Balamb, so maybe once every few months."

With a blink of his eye, Squall murmured, "Reminds me of the orphanage."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Seifer started back towards the private lift to take them into the palace. "I mean we're pretty close in landscape to Centra." Ignoring Squall's cries about pushing the button, Seifer started the lift, keeping a firm hand on Squall's shoulder as they were lifted out of the private gardens. Even after months of living in the futuristic city, Seifer found it hard to get used to the lifters. He had rather walk to and from places that ride on one of the ingenious inventions of Odine. However, sometimes that was all he was limited to.

On his knees, Squall stared wide eyed as the ground disappeared under him. Seifer's grip tightened as his belly shifted. "Can I tell you something?" The brunette's voice was uneven, quaking even past his childish fascination with the rapid speed of the transport.

"Sure."

"I won't be here forever. Always treat me like you used to." With one last smile towards Seifer, Squall's attention returned to rapidly waving at guards they passed over. To the boy's bemusement, some waved back.

Seifer could only ponder what Squall was talking about.

Getting Squall down for a nap was the easy thing. Keeping the boy entertained was a whole other matter. Seifer really wasn't good with children in that matter, but when it came to Squall the blonde wasn't one to skimp from his job. It surprised him that, out of all the complex toys he had, all the boy wanted was pen, a piece of paper, and a cup without a lid. Thirty minutes later, Seifer had five new drawings of possible gunblade models and one nice blocky lighthouse so he "wouldn't lose his way again".

The newest picture was probably the most confusing though, Seifer realized as he sat himself on the opposite side of the table with his own sheet of paper (stolen from Laguna's study, of course). He'd been drawing up his own gunblade when Squall's drawing grab his attention. At two, Squall wasn't an artist by any stretch of the word. He was, however, a godsend at trying to explain his point where words failed to. This newest creation, however, couldn't find a place in Seifer's mind.

"What's that?" He finally asked, trying to distinguish the long horizon line, square structures, and stick figures.

Squall's brows etched together. "Dun know." He finally said after some time, putting smiles on all the stick figures but one. That one, Seifer decided, had to be Puberty Boy. After a long internal battle, Squall sliced the frowning one across the face. "Saw it during my nap."

"Looks like Dollet." Seifer frowned. Yeah, he finally relented. That's what it looked like if that was supposed to be a satellite dish on a tall mountain. He counted the number of stick figures – five. Quistis, Zell, Selphie, Seifer, and Squall. "I wasn't smiling during any of that."

"You were in my dream." Squall kicked his feet out. "It was all scary like though. There was big booms and little booms and a big robot. Have you ever seen a big robot?"

It was Seifer's turn to have his eyebrows knot together. "Squall, that was X-ATMO92. He attacked after we took to tower. That idiot Wedge summoned him. Don't you remember?"

The pen in the brunette's hand slowed before the boy continued making what was supposed to be the robotic spider. "Stupid Seifer, I've never been to Dollet and I'd remember if I fought an Ex-ATM-Thingy." Shaking his head, Squall scratched out one of the block figures, but it wasn't his older image. Reaching forward, Seifer dropped his index finger on the stick image of Squall.

"That's you."

Squall twitched. "Nuh uh. That's a guy in my dream. Stupid Seifer." The drawing was crumpled up and thrown over the boy's shoulder to join a pile of other failed drawings. "I hope I never grow up to be like him, he was so mean." The last part was whispered as if it was the biggest secret ever.

Exhaling sharply, Seifer shook his head and stood. "Right. I'm going to make you a light snack." Opening the refrigerator, the man grunted. "There's really no food in here."

"Laguna never goes shopping."

"You should call him 'dad'." Seifer muttered. "Think you can live with a grilled cheese sandwich?" When the boy didn't make any obvious noise of dislike, Seifer went about that task until he heard Squall's chair scrapping across the floor. The boy, Seifer noted from the corner of his eye, fell face first into the couch. Shaking his head, Squall crawled around it, trying to find the remote. He found it between the couch cushions, probably where he'd hidden it the night before.

To Seifer's surprise, a wall panel light up as an HD television, Squall shifted through the channels until he came across a clown-like image that would forever haunt the blonde's dreams. The clown rolled across the techno colored stage stopped with a playful cheer, "Guess what time it is!"

In a shout that Seifer didn't know Squall possessed, the boy jumped around, "Gesz Joe's Fun Show!"

"That's right kids! And today we're going to my Aunt GeGe's house! Are we excited?"

"Yea!" Squall bounced around as a new song was introduced to teach basic exercise moves. The show, Seifer decided, was likely aimed for four to five year olds as Squall's small frame wasn't able to do all the moves, but his advance mind made it easier not to get lost in just the bright colors. Why didn't he have a video camera? This was something he could have made millions off of. "Jump! Jump! Jump!" Squall did as instructed, grabbing the table to keep from falling. Seifer smirked, going back to working on snack. He'd wait until Squall was done to tell the boy that it was time to eat.

Meanwhile, he busied himself by making a grocery list for Laguna or Kiros, or whoever bought food because it was a wonder why child services had yet to be called.

"Turn. Turn. Turn."

Did Squall steal eat carrots? Children were known to hate their vegetables, but Squall never was a 'normal' child. Maybe he hated them now? Not caring enough to ask, Seifer wrote that down before checking the pantries. "How the hell did he keep you alive this long?"

"Pizza!"

Jumping, Seifer looked towards Squall. He wasn't sure if that was said towards the video screen or to him, either way he didn't like it. "Right; the primary food group for all bachelors – pizza." He rolled his eyes. Leave it to Laguna to completely throw off a mercenary diet of 'whatever was left after Hurricane Zell ripped through the cafeteria'.

Although he was a big fan of vegetable medley, even if he couldn't identify half of what he was bringing to his mouth. "Maybe I should suggest a cook? I mean all I can see your sperm donor doing is burning the entire palace to the ground. No offense, Squall, but it's a miracle you weren't born with two left feet."

The boy was holding the table again, bouncing around in a stirring motion. Seifer's brows shot up, noting the pure determination on Squall's face. The television show was starting to make a little sense if the boy really had been eating nothing but pizza. The mercenary in their blood wouldn't allow even an ounce of baby fat come on their bones. No one wanted a chunky mercenary. "My…mother…wasn't…" The child was panting, trying to keep up with a pace far too fast for his tiny body. "…Laguna's…just…Laguna…" He muttered matter-of-factly, probably something he'd heard Kiros say.

"Those traits are genetic, you know." Seifer smirked as Squall came to a stop. "Maybe that's why you were always quiet. Lord knows if you spoke stupid would probably just fall out."

Little hands tightened on the glass table as tiny shoulders hunched. "You don't know anything, that's why you'll always be stupid."

"See, can't even come up with a good comeback." Seifer shook his head. "We should just get you a pacifier. Come fight me again in sixteen years, maybe then you'll stand a chance."

"I kicked your ass before I'll do it again!" Squall stomped his foot down.

"Oh yeah?" Seifer put his pen down. Squall was slowly starting to replace Zell as his favorite play thing. "Whatcha going to do about it, Puberty Boy?"

Tiny fist shook before the child turned around with a huff, bottom lip extended. "Just you wait," his promise was barely audible.

As Squall was always a force when it came to revenge. Seifer nearly had a heart attack when Laguna came back to Squall clamping on his leg screaming about Seifer touching his 'naughty bits'. With a shake of his head as everything was sorted out to Squall just being himself, Seifer promised to come back again. In the end, he did find it endearing to babysit his old rival.