Careworn Lives

Summary: Squall has shown signs of the deadly disease, pnemoresin, that his father Laguna passed down to him genetically. However, now that isn't the only problem Laguna has to face. Missiles with Esthar's flag printed on them have struck Balamb, Trabia, and Galbadia Gardens causing terribly destruction and many lives lost in their wake. Now, Squall is determined to fight this new foe and disregard his own health problems. While Laguna must decide whether his son's life is more important or thousands of innocents.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters that were not made by me. No canon was harmed by any of the OCs within this text. (In other words, the few OCs that are in this *aka. The bad guys* will not have any love interests, or be super omega powerful. I strictly hate any and all mary-sues and gary-sues. You will not find any of them in this story.)

While Reading: Please note that all speech will be surrounded by quotes ("") but all thought speech will be surrounded by apostrophes (''). Some people do it, some don't

Chapter 7

The flight back to Esthar seemed even longer than they were use to. Generally, it always felt like the return trip home from anywhere they had been was far shorter. That desire to sleep in ones own bed, to see that which was familiar. Now, it felt more like they were heading someplace new and did not want to be going there just yet.

"Have you figured out what you're going to tell the people of Esthar?" The silence was broken by Kiros' legitimate question. Laguna had been doing nothing the entire trip but watching the land flash by below them as if in a trance. The helm was set on auto-pilot when Kiros had returned from his own much needed rest below, which quickly bothered him knowing that Laguna would generally search out a source to keep his mind off of strenuous subjects.

"Enough that I figure they'll still be awake at night wondering if they're safe in their beds." The aged president rubbed his face with his hands, trying to come up with something but ending at the same conclusions repeatedly. "What do I tell them? News travels fast after the communication towers were all brought on line. Three Gardens being struck by our own missiles is not something that would have gone unremarked." Laguna finally leaned back in his chair and let his hands fall down to his sides. His gaze rolled back over his shoulder at his long time colleague and dear friend.

The beads in Kiros' long, braided hair, stirred the silence with their gentle rhythmic chiming as Kiros moved to take a seat opposite Laguna. He had two mugs of fresh coffee in his hands which he offered one to the president. The latter taking it willingly but setting it aside all the same. Kiros held an expression that always seemed to take some of the burden from Laguna's shoulders. Much in the way that Laguna wanted none of the sort to happen, but it did anyway, which pleased the smug bustard that Laguna could never keep all of his burdens to himself.

"Why don't you just stick to the truth." Kiros began as he gazed into the swirl of his coffee, Laguna's eyes already having been diverted to the window again. "Don't bother trying to fabricate something because you're not good at it."

Laguna stopped his musings and looked at his friend out of the corner of his eye, "That's a lie and you know it."

"You came to me, asking how you should lie to Raine on why you missed one of your first dates because you had boasted at the bar you could handle any chocobo that had just eaten fresh gyashl greens. And before you could even get on the bird, you fell, and it nearly trampled you to the point of unconsciousness."

Laguna paused before adding, "-but that was so embarrassing! What kind of hero could I be in her eyes if she knew a chocobo had used me as a door mat!"

Kiros slowly brought his mug up to his lips, trying to hide the grin behind it, "Your body was covered in very recognizable, chocobo, foot prints. I don't believe your initial excuse of," Kiros paused as he changed his voice to mock his friend, "-a gang of chocobo riders stole an old lady's purse and you ran after them and got it back after a major battle that sent them all running," returning to his normal voice, "really won over your lady's fair heart."

"Have I told you yet today that you're an ass?"

"Not yet today." Kiros smiled.

"You're an ass."

"Welcome back to Esthar, President Loire." The intercom suddenly picked up an incoming call as the brilliance of the city came into view. The large contrasting ship moved over it towards it's customary docking position, the auto-pilot being remotely taken over by the control tower below them. "We trust your trip went smoothly." The engines could be heard steadily powering down as it came to a gentle landing.

"As smoothly as you could call it." Laguna said with a shake of his head, knowing the engineer in the tower was aware of everything that had recently happened, yet trying to hide it all the same.

There was a limousine already waiting for them once they had landed. Ward stood at the forefront of what was a mass of people. Reporters namely, others simple spectators, all who were being kept at bay by the remarkable force from the Esthar soldiers. Their presence always made Laguna feel that he had failed. Seeing them having to protect him meant there was no peace in the city and odds are there wasn't going to be for some time.

Reaching the limo Laguna called over to them all; ignoring their current questions, "I will be holding a press conference one hour from now. All your questions will be answered then. Please, do not let your assumptions get the better of you. Remain in your homes and stay with your families." A sigh escaped him as he went to duck into the stretch, trying to ignore the constant flashing of cameras in his face as he did. Both Kiros and Ward followed behind him and they were led off under a military procession to the state office.

"This may be my last address to the citizens of Esthar." Laguna stated to both Kiros and Ward who sat opposite him. Their expressions, unremarkable, as they listened to what they knew, yet feared, to be the truth. "Regardless of how this all ends, I'm stepping down from the presidency."

"So-" Kiros started, "-you will fight than."

Laguna nodded, "You know me. I always liked the Esthar uniforms better myself." He smiled at them as they pulled up in front of the presidential suite and were escorted in to allow Laguna his final preparation for his upcoming speech.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"Squall?" A gentle knock accompanied a gentle voice as Squall laid on the small bed in his SeeD issued dorm. He never liked the large, expansive room that his leadership role had granted him, so instead, he had turned it into new sleeping quarters to house the expanded student body. Cid certainly didn't favor having young students so close to the head faculty rooms and offices but the last person he could argue with was Squall Leonhart.

"Squall."

The voice became more urgent now which made Squall turn on his side and grumble out a, "Come in, Rinoa." He didn't want to face anyone at that moment and only wanted to keep his thoughts to himself. Why couldn't he ever be granted some time to himself to think? Apparently, every leader was automatically assumed to know everything about their master plan right off the bat. Squall wished he knew how to gain those skills.

Rinoa entered the dimly lit room quietly. The door hardly making a sound as it closed behind her. Squall listened for any tell-tale signs to how she was feeling. No uneasy breathing. No shuffle or skip to her step. No quiver in her hand as it rested like a feather on his bare shoulder. All Squall could do was continue to stare at the blank wall before him, trying to ignore the young woman's presence all together in hopes that he would fall asleep and let his subconscious figure out what he needed to do.

"I thought you might want to know that Laguna will be doing a live broadcast from Esthar concerning the attack."

Squall remained motionless, his breathing calm as if he was sleeping. Rinoa knew the last thing he wanted to see was that man's face but not only was what he had to say important, Laguna now was wrapped up in their lives than either of them would have ever thought.

Rinoa sighed softly to herself as she rubbed Squall's shoulder with her thumb, trying to think of something to say to him. Even if it remained a one sided conversation, like many of their exchanges had been in the past, she knew that he did listen and sometimes that was the best answer she could ask for.

However, before she could come up with anything to say, Squall broke the silence first, "Why do you think... he never came looking for me?" Rinoa's hand paused in it's ministrations and almost shot off his shoulder by the question.

Squall. Who knew nothing beyond duty and fighting. Who never was open about any of his feelings. Who always remained the pillar to which the rest of them all clung to. Was hurting. Rinoa knew he had to be having a difficult time with everything that had happened to him, but, never had she thought that the one thing that was dominating his thoughts was not the current devastation to the Gardens, but had to do with his father.

"Before he told you that he was your father. Laguna had me meet him aboard the Ragnarok to confide in me what he knew was going to be difficult to tell you." She paused as she waited to see if he made any moves but remained the same, "When the citizens of Esthar proposed him to be their new President, Laguna's giving personality gave in and he of course obliged in helping the city recover from Adel's evil reign. After sending Ellone back to be with Raine in Winhill, you were born. During all that time that Laguna and Raine were separated, he was never aware that Raine was pregnant." Squall stirred at this but continued to be silent so Rinoa carried on.

"From our experiences of seeing Raine through Ellone's power, I would think that she wouldn't have wanted Laguna to know that she was pregnant with his son. With the responsibility of restoring a city and it's people..." she paused as she searched for her words, "-I don't think I would have wanted to add anything more to that stress, either."

A gasp quickly left her lips as Squall sat up in an instant, grabbing her hand in the process, his face was suddenly within inches of her own. Even in the dull light, she could see the fierceness in his eyes. His expression was sharp as he stared at her making her suddenly feel a bit uneasy, wanting to glance anywhere else but in those eyes.

"If we had a son, or a daughter, nothing would be more important to me than to know about them." Squall squeezed her hand almost painfully. She winced slightly, which made him realize what he was doing and he quickly loosened his grip, but instead brought his other hand up to gently brush along her cheek to caress her face holding her eyes on his. "Only one thing has ever mattered to me since that night we danced together. I may not have known it then, but I will never go back to thinking otherwise." Rinoa's eyes began to glisten over as he spoke, "Nothing should be more important than those you love, and I would never put anything before you."

Rinoa smiled, something that she feared she wouldn't ever be able to do again. The few tears that managed to escape were gently wiped away as Squall moved slowly towards her to take her lips in his own.

They stayed that way, as time seemed to have stopped for them to at least have this one moment together in an ever rolling sea of despair. Only until Rinoa finally parted from him, her hand moving up to rest on his chest above his heart. Her gaze fell from his as new tears began to form. Squall reached out out of fear to bring her gaze back to his with a worried response, "What's the matter?"

Rinoa merely shook her head, the tears beginning to flow more freely than before, "I just thought of how your mother must have felt being away from her love, and hiding such a gift for so long."

With her breath beginning to hitch as she could no longer stop herself from crying, Squall wrapped his arms around her and brought her close to him, letting her know that she would never need to do the same with him.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

After his speech was given, Laguna felt as though the citizens of Esthar were the greatest people in all the world. Not only did they support and stand by every word that he said, but were welcome to making sure he had all the help he could get. Kiros had received the largest new recruitment list to the Esthar military in all of Esthar's history. He had not asked any citizen to offer their services to the military, but young men and women were ready to fight and protect their families and friends from this new evil.

"You saved us from Adel! You deserve more than what little we can give!

"You have brought years of peace to our country, and helped many others prosper as well! Whatever you may need from us, we offer willingly!"

Were just some of the comments left by the new recruits. It was inspiring to hear, and it strengthened Laguna's weakening optimism which he greatly needed.

"Ward has already seen to issuing out orders to our military leaders and they have started training new recruits and veterans alike." Kiros announced as they once again boarded the Ragnarok after obtaining the small package containing the only lead they had.

Laguna sighed, "I wish we didn't have to train either at all."

Kiros nodded in understanding, but both of them knew it was a necessary evil. They had a strong military force protecting Esthar as it were, however, their force was nothing like it once was and that was due to Laguna wanting to show the Galbadian's that they were for peace.

Thankfully for Squall's team at the time, they had taken care of much of the Galbadian Army's leadership and reassured Esthar that with their lessened security they need no longer worry of any outside threats. Of course, threats that they would have known about. The Shumi were never thought of in such a manner. Of course, any military strategist would have been going right along saying they were fools to ever underestimate even the most peaceful of people. To which Laguna would have to agree with them now. Unless, something changed once he talked to the Elders themselves.

Arriving in the frozen north to the large metal dome that resided alone in a small clearing, Laguna landed the Ragnarok and, with machine gun in hand, along with Kiros armed and ready, they headed for the dome that would take them deep into the planet where the Shumi resided.

Laguna felt awkward visiting the Shumi Village armed, but in such times, he feared they would not go along with what he needed from them and would have him imprisoned for the previous oil spill. Which now seemed like child's play compared to the current crisis that included hundreds of dead and broken families behind him.

On the elevator ride down, Laguna began to sniff the air as the clean refreshing scent of plants and fresh water was being masked by something fowl. "Hey, Kiros. Do you smell something?"

Kiros looked to Laguna, "I do. Smoke."

The elevator finally came to a halt and the doors slid open only to open up to blazing fires and smells of charred flesh.

A/N: End of chapter 7! Told you I had my plans set in motion a bit more so this time around. lol I hope you enjoyed this chapter as I really enjoyed writing it. :) Please R&R on your way out and I hope you're enjoying the story so far as there is much more still to come. ^^