FFVIII: Secret Heart

[Soul Hunter]

Hi all. I noticed you have no fanfics here. Let me change that for a bit.

This here is my twisted mind pairing Laguna and Ellone. No worries, nothing risque in this fic. Just some giddy moments that happen when an older guy and a young girl get to spend too much time together. R&R appreciated. Cheers!

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”I miss you so much.”

The cell phone text message info was dated more than two weeks ago. Mixed with the other SMS messages sent him by the likes of his Domestic Policy advisor, National Security advisor, Chief of Staff, and Carrie’s House of Flowers, this one just stood out from the rest, like a vibrant red rose peeping out from a bed of tall grass. And he didn’t dare touch it even when he did housecleaning to get rid of superfluous and unneeded text messages.

Away on a mission to help the residents of Kalada after SeeD broke up a child prostitution ring that had been enslaving it*, Ellone had sent this little message two weeks ago to an eagerly waiting Laguna, who feasted on the message as though it was the only thing he needed to survive. It had already been two weeks since. He really had no reason anymore to keep this text message in his Inbox, as it no longer served any purpose other than clutter. Laguna had considered many times to just dispose of it, but every time he tried it felt as though he was throwing away something of great value to him. Like a cherished photograph. ”I miss you so much.” So what? Like it was such a big deal to be missed by someone. He was sure Kiros and Ward always missed him whenever they embarked on a diplomatic mission to Galbadia or some other country that used to have Esthar in its hit list (though he’d positively cringe if anyone of them sent him a text message saying ”I miss you so much. Muwah!”).

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Author’s Note: That little event happened in Danger Girls.
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Why was he even thinking about this in the first place? Ellone missed him. He missed her too, so much that he checked in with the Marines that accompanied her on that mission every day. But there wasn’t really anything there that was out of the ordinary, was there? He had known Ellone since she was four years old. He was the one who stood as her dashing uncle figure when, together with Raine, he pledged to look after her after her parents were killed by Esthar soldiers under Adel’s command. He loved her like the daughter he never had. Well, he had some doubts on that aspect since he never knew what it was like to have a child of his own, at least during that time. But suffice it to say that Ellone was the number two girl in his life, second only to Raine. When he still plied the trade as ‘Monster Hunter of Winhill’, it was often Ellone’s cute and vibrant smiling face that welcomed him in the morning. And together, they’d spend the rest of the day tormenting Raine with their tireless antics. ”I got in twouble.” They would giggle while telling each other that whenever the Winhill maiden got fed up, and then conspire to give her the coochie-coochie treatment to make her lighten up. Raine was always such a hard case, Laguna would tell Ellone. She, in turn, would pinch his nose for teasing her kind and pretty aunt.

He loved her, of course. Otherwise, he would not have risked his life searching for her after the same Esthar soldiers kidnapped her. But so what if he loved her? Who wouldn’t love her? Ellone was the kind of girl who always had that pleasant smile to brighten anyone’s day. No one in his right mind wouldn’t find little Ellone as the eye candy of all eye candies; simply put, she was that cute and adorable. Her parents would have been very proud of her if they’d survived. He was proud of her, prouder than anyone one else had been. And they weren’t even related.

The devil’s advocate in him (not that something like that would make much headway) would argue that Ellone was different then. And boy was she different now! Shrugging, Laguna dismissed it as a mere echo of a sad, sad mind. All men had that tendency, of course, but he wasn’t about to let his run loose and pepper him with all the filth of the male psyche. Besides, would a father think that way of his own daughter?

No, of course not. But she’s not your daughter, is she?

He crimped his lips and shouted ”SHUT UP!” in his mind. The devil’s advocate went poof (boy that little devil’s a smart one), and Laguna went on his merry way, as though nothing ever violated his pristinely naïve mind. He looked at the message in his cell phone and smiled. Ellone. And with fingers that felt stiff as wood, Laguna pressed the Delete and Confirm buttons in succession.

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“I swear I don’t know whether to beatify that guy or wallop him for being so damn gutless.”

She was quite preoccupied with her work that had her friend’s voice been a decibel lower, it would have totally escaped her notice. As it was, Ellone had to scramble to catch the medicine bottles her arms knocked over when Freida’s sudden outburst startled her. With an annoyed look, Ellone accosted her friend.

“My goodness, Freida. Every one of these is important, you know. We aren’t even sure if we have enough for the relief packages.” She unleashed one of her rare flare-ups before going back to her chore. “What’s bothering you this time?”

“Oh, me? Nothing. Nothing. I’m just a little peeved at that guy over there.”

Though still feeling irritated, Ellone trained her eyes towards the direction Freida pointed out. Seeing what the other saw, she couldn’t help sighing in amusement.

“See? See that mook? He’s standing there again, just looking at you. He’s just there, staring, and doing not a blessed thing.”

Ellone smiled, no longer annoyed. “It’s not a crime to stare, you know.”

“It is. He’ll be an accessory to murder once I go over there a pound him to bloody paste. Look at him, he’s just standing there looking pathetic like he’s trying to gain your sympathy or something.”

“He’s not. Just a little shy. You know he’s been like that since the day we met him.”

“Yeah. You mean ever since he began having this stupid crush on you. But that’s just it. Why won’t he do something like talk to you or ask you out for coffee?”

“If you want you can go and ask him to have coffee with you. I won’t mind.”

Freida crossed her arms over her chest. “Not the issue. Besides, he’s not my type.”

“Then what’s you’re problem?” Ellone returned, this time with a soft chuckle.

“My problem is I hate seeing guys who can’t do a damn thing to get what they want. Theo obviously likes you, but all he does when you’re around is keep his distance and stare. Why won’t he do like all normal guys do and simply walk up?”

“Not all guys are like that, Freida. Some of them can be really shy. But that’s their thing and we can’t do anything about it short of making the first move ourselves.”

“You say it like it’s an admirable thing for you.”

“It is kinda charming. Shy guys, I mean.”

“Really? Hmm…” Freida paced, looking at Ellone suspiciously. “You’re kinda telling me that you find Theo charming?”

“That’s not my intention. But Theo’s not that bad either.”

“So you like him is what you’re telling me?”

Ellone passed a sideways glance toward Freida, squinting. “He’s not bad, that's all I'm saying.”

“So you don’t like him.”

“He’s a good person.”

“So you like him.”

“I don’t recall saying that.”

“So you don’t like him.”

“I’m sure any girl would be lucky to be his girlfriend.”

“You like him?”

“I just don’t think I’m one of them.”

“STOP MESSING WITH MY MIND!”

“Haha!” Ellone laughed crisply, the kind of laugh that attracted everyone’s attention not because it was loud, but rather because it was sincere and carried no pretentious tone. A delight to hear. “I am not messing with you. But maybe next time you’d actually wait until I opened up before making asinine conclusions.”

“Come on girlie.” Freida returned, her voice now lower and her face having a look of calm, serious and curious. “Tell me the truth. Do you like him or not?”

“Why are you acting like it’s so important to you?” Answered Ellone as she went back to her chore. “You looking to set me up with him?”

“Hey, you said it yourself. Theo would be a good catch.”

“So?”

“So? What do you mean so? So I’d rather see that it’s my best friend who landed with a really impressive guy, and not just some bimbo whose idea of a profound relationship is how many text messages they send each other in one day.”

“So you think Theo’s better off with me because I can’t key in long text messages with my eyes closed?”

“No, don’t be silly. I mean, look at the two of you. Instead of going out partying like the rest of the sheep, you’d rather spend your time helping poor folks. Theo belongs to one of the wealthiest families in Dollet while you’re the niece of the President of Esthar. And what are the two of you doing all the time? Social work.”

“Laguna’s not really my uncle.”

“Beside the point. You know what I’m getting at, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I know.” Ellone said while gingerly slipping in the last bottle of antibiotics into the last open box. Without saying anything, she folded the box lid closed and then sealed it with packaging tape. For a moment the only noise that was heard was the tearing sound the tape made as it unrolled from the dispenser and adhered over the porous surface of the box cover. With her work done, she then sat on the table and directly faced the waiting Freida. “I still remember when I was four years old, when I lived in Winhill with Laguna and Aunt Raine. Being somewhat like a daughter to them, I saw first hand just how much they loved each other. It was so sweet, how Laguna always brought something for Aunt Raine whenever he went home from monster hunting. And how she’d respond in kind, hugging him as he walked through the door, asking how his day went, leading him to the couch and massaging his head and shoulders. They’d talk for hours and Aunt Raine always giggled at his jokes that seem to never run out. Laguna’s always so funny, he makes Aunt Raine and I laugh all the time.”

“Girl, don’t you ever get tired of telling me that story?”

“Guess I never will.” Ellone trailed. And even though Freida had heard the story for about a million times already, she also always saw the profoundly fond expression on her friend’s face as she reminisced on those times. Freida never dared berate Ellone for telling the story over and over because she could see how important those times were for her. “I didn’t realize until much later how I envied the two of them for sharing a love that came only once in a lifetime. And I thought if ever I’d find someone, it has to be a man whom I would love the same way Aunt Raine loved Laguna. A love that is deep, intense and yet balanced. You know, the responsible kind. One that always forgives and yet doesn’t tolerate wrong things. Aunt Raine loved Laguna with all her heart, and in spite of that…” Ellone stopped briefly, as though she just had a revelation. “… Or rather, because of that, she always corrected him whenever he did or thought about something questionable. And he did the same thing to her. They made each other’s life stable and secure. And so much more interesting and colorful.”

This Freida never got tired of hearing. It always made her smile too.

“Maybe you can have a life like that with Theo.”

“Theo?” Ellone said, throwing a glance at the spot where he stood earlier. “I don’t know. The problem with witnessing first hand a love that can only come once in a lifetime is… it becomes your yardstick. A standard against others have to measure up. Theo’s a nice guy but he’s nowhere near Laguna. I want someone who’s like Laguna in every respect.”

This Freida couldn’t believe she didn’t see before. Looking at the dreamy and distant look on Ellone’s face, she couldn’t believe it took her this long to see through her friend’s feelings.

“Oh. My. God.”

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Members of the Committee for Good Government had just left, leaving Laguna with a lingering sense of exhaustion in spite of the fact that it was only 10:25 in the morning. Nineteen years ago, together with a rag-tag band of scientists and other non-combatant misfits, he led a revolt that beat the odds and successfully deposed one of the worst tyrants in history. Today, as Commander-In-Chief of the world’s most powerful military force, he had come to realize that the job of cleaning up after Adel’s mess was not yet over. Though effectively suppressed by Balamb Garden’s SeeD, the case of former Adel soldier turned child prostitute trafficker Cameron Guillan turned out to have been just an indication of a much bigger problem, a problem that he should have addressed long ago after ascending to the office of the President of Esthar. Laguna wondered how much repercussion Adel’s evil regime had left behind that he still had to deal with.

He looked at the phone on his desk and wondered if he should call back Balamb Garden Headmaster Cid Kramer, who earlier was in contact with him and the committee by speakerphone. Cid had offered the services of SeeD to facilitate an extended investigation, but Laguna declined, explaining that looking into possible event chains that were merely suggested by a single isolated incident was too wasteful of SeeD resources. Now he wished he had at least told Cid that he’d think about it. Adel the tyrant sorceress couldn’t have been so stupid as to lead an openly wicked regime without fail-safes. Almost all of history’s nastiest customers had prepared their own versions of poison pills to ensure that no one else reaped the fruits of their labor. And if she indeed had done something like this, her propensity for evil assured that nothing short of SeeD was needed to defang such a threat.

Beside the phone was his cell phone. Laguna felt that urge again, like he always did when work began to overwhelm him. He fought the urge, telling himself that he had no important reason whatsoever to call her. Ellone might be in the middle of something and he didn’t want to be disruptive of her affairs.

He didn’t use to be so conscious about giving Ellone a call. Laguna felt somewhat uneasy – only a slobbering school boy wary of a negative reaction from his crush normally acted this way.

“Nah.” He could almost laugh at himself for even considering the idea.

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Ellone had been thinking about the glassy eyes her friend had accosted her with that day. That wide-eyed, cheek-flushed, jaw-hanging-loosely look that described the utter bewilderment for what she thought she had discerned out of the benign words Ellone said. A reaction she was already used to by now, since she had been getting that same rejoinder from almost every friend who had been swift enough to discern her mind.

There was nothing to discern, Ellone resolutely declared to those who dared ask the question. It didn’t cease to amaze her how some people could have the mentality to make something more out of her relationship with Laguna. So what if they weren’t blood-related, that didn’t mean it was altogether permissible for them to see each other as fair game. She thought only the media was better than professional novelists in weaving up convoluted tales and fabrications (Oh wait… maybe that was why so many best-selling novelists used to be media people). But now even her best friend was following suit. Logically speaking, one had to make a monumental jump to connect her statement of wanting someone like Laguna to actually wanting Laguna. It didn’t follow, and Ellone couldn’t avoid feeling somewhat irked that her friend, of all people, could be so inane. It wasn’t that Ellone only grouped with profound people. She just didn’t expect that kind of pettiness from someone as smart as Freida.

Ellone folded her legs and brought her knees close to her chest, her feet making faint rustles while raking over a thin bed of fallen leaves. The sun now showed only half of its dimming crimson disc. And her arms, partly covered by a green shoal, were beginning to feel the bite of the nippy Centra dusk air. She thought about going back to the shelter before it got dark, but finding the time to be by herself underneath a lonely tree was a luxury that she couldn’t get much of anymore since departing from Edea’s orphanage fifteen years ago. And given the immense stress social work had been gifting her with, this was a rare moment of relaxation that she intended to enjoy if it was the last thing she did on this earth.

The problem was peaceful moments like this also encouraged introspection for most people. She was no different, and Ellone wouldn’t have been more concerned if she didn’t have a reason. She had thought of her best friend for the first time as trivial and shallow, but deep inside she knew that Freida was being more smart than less insightful. Last month would have been a different story had Freida chosen to level her subtle accusation at that time. Today, though, Ellone felt something that her cursory thoughts told her she should be worried about. But there was not an iota of concern in her heart, at least not the type that gave her indigestion.

Rather, she felt a bit giddy. Elated. As though someone had paid her a compliment.

It was as though she actually liked Freida thinking about her and Laguna like that. A couple. Not that she thought Freida was awfully approving of the prospect – the expression on her face suggested it would be a mistake of the scale somewhere in between hosting a track meet on a mine field and placing a cup of coffee on top of the nuclear missiles launch button. But it was the thought that counted, no matter what form it assumed.

And Ellone knew she should be concerned. Contrary to what most people thought, she wasn’t naïve, and she knew exactly why she was being cavalier towards an issue so sensitive it could mean the end of Laguna’s political career if it got into the wrong hands.

The question was: could he possibly feel the same?

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There was a movie that he remembered seeing a long time ago. It was about two girls who met in summer camp and discovered that they were twins (seeing that they looked exactly alike helped) whose parents had separated when they were both only months old. Desiring to meet and get to know the respective parents that were absent from each of their lives, the two eleven-year old girls switched places and assumed each other’s identity.

Laguna was thinking about the scene when the dad was at the airport, waiting for his daughter’s (which wasn’t really the daughter that he expected to arrive) plane to touch down. When the plane had finally parked and the passengers finally spilled out, the dad’s face glowed with expectant joy while watching his daughter emerge from the plethora of newly arrived tourists and returning vacationers. At this moment, the parallel between him and the dad in the movie was so uncanny that he would have been laughing if it weren’t for the confusion besieging him. Unlike the movie dad, who brimmed with fatherly happiness, he wasn’t sure why he looked forward to seeing Ellone emerge from one of the passenger service hallways that led down from the elevated landing platform of Esthar Airstation. The thickness of his anticipation was so much that, as he was unable to do the waiting in the palace, he made the Presidential Service Corps scramble to revise its daily agenda just to protect the President that suddenly decided to meet his ‘niece’ in person at the airport. None of the other people who crowded with Laguna at the waiting zones knew that they were elbow-to-elbow with the most powerful man in the world, or that the people who ‘crowded’ directly around Laguna were elite PSC agents armed with sophisticated Estharian automatic rail submachine guns.

He felt as though a five-foot long sharp spike impaling his heart was suddenly pulled out the moment he set eyes on Ellone. Laguna hadn’t realized how much he missed her until now – two years was indeed way long for her to be away from him.

But she had only been away for a month. It sure felt like two years, though. He almost changed the name of the Presidential Palace to the Castle of Droll during that time.

Laguna can put that behind him now, though. Ellone was back. All was right with the world.

“Ellone!”

Oh gosh… it’s him. It was weird for Ellone to react like this, as though having Laguna pick her up from the Airstation was such an unusual and unlikely event. Of course, there was nothing unusual about it. He had always been there for her, even though they were apart. It was Laguna who twice saved her life. Twice, he was the reason why she still walked this world. And through the years, even though there were apart for the most of it, Laguna had been the one he was most familiar with. He had been the best friend and most reliable companion she ever had. As common a fixture in her life as a roof was to a house.

The thrill of seeing him electrified her so much that she had thought she’d died and gone to heaven. But no, the P.A. system still blared and porters with loaded baggage carts still occasionally crossed her path. She just felt as though she’d gone to heaven upon seeing him again after too long a time of yearning for his presence.

Ellone battled for composure – she almost abandoned all her luggage in her desire to feel herself imprisoned in his arms. This was no way for a girl like her to act, especially toward a man who in all practicality had stood as a surrogate father. But he’s not my father! Almost immediately shrieked her heart, fuming in utter objection. It was as though it fought to safeguard its right to dwell in the bliss of love. He’s not even related to me in any way! It continued fiercely. And who cares what other people would say?

Whatever bewilderment that ate away at her instantly dissolved the moment Laguna’s strong arms wrapped around her soft body. Ellone could almost cry. Though aware that her job would not give it realization, she made a promise never to be away from him again.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

Squirt.

Laguna didn’t add the word. He wished he could, if only to bring a sense of innocence to this steamy embrace. But everything inside him rebelled like an oppressed slave caste. Ellone was no squirt.

She was a woman who deserved love.

His heart pressed closely against hers. Nothing could be more right in the world.

And too quickly, Laguna and Ellone felt their lips tingling.

They immediately broke off the embrace.

“So how was the mission?” He asked. Staring at her lovely face made him unmindful of the people that had begun to stare.

“Um… rough.” She answered. Because you were not there. She wanted to add.

“Come on, let’s go home.” Laguna said cheerfully as one of the PSC agents effortlessly took her luggage. “You can tell me all about it in the car.”

“Yeah.” Ellone said. Listening to his voice, she couldn’t help misting a little. And as he walked ahead of her, Ellone’s soul thundered as her mind and heart warred against each other ferociously.

Her hands then reached out for Laguna’s and held tight.

Heart: 1, Mind: 0.

[Nightwing]

Not bad mate... Make sure not to have anything too intense now...

[Nelfichu]

Originally Posted by BIZARRO Soul Hunter

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

Squirt.

Hahahahaha!

[CaButler]

And after that, we'll need something more serious.

...

Don't look at me like that, I'm working on it.