Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Child of Destiny ❯ Prologue

Author's Notes: This is an alternate reality Final Fantasy VIII fanfic. A sort of what if story. What if instead of sending Ellone back alone to Raine in Winhill, he brought Raine to Eshtar and their unborn child was born there instead?
I got this idea one night, and once I thought of it I couldn't get rid of it until I put it down on paper. I've always wondered what Squall and Ellone's lives would have been like in the game, if Laguna and Raine had been there to raise them as a family.
Instead of being sent to Edea's orphanage after Raine died from a disease or whatever it was she died from in the game, and nobody knew where Laguna was because it seemed that he had simply dropped out of sight after Ellone had been rescued and sent back to Winhill alone.
And then Squall winds up being alone in the orphanage when Edea and Cid send Ellone away in order to protect her from Galbadian soldiers that were looking for her, causing him to grow up to be the cold teenage boy we all know and love in the Final Fantasy 8 game.

~17 years ago~

Flying high above the Atlantic Ocean, an economy sized helicopter made it's way across the dark and gloomy waters at a fast pace. The pilots wore uniforms unknown to anyone who met them as they looked across the ocean.

"I see land coming up ahead." The pilot called over to his companion, yelling as loud as he could to be heard over the noise caused by the beating propellers of the copter.

"I see it!" his companion shouted back, as his eyes fastened on a small island that was coming up. "Go back there and tell President Loire that we're almost to Winhill. I can handle piloting the copter until you get back."

The copilot nodded his head in agreement, as he flashed his boss the ok signal with his hands as he unbuckled his seatbelt and stood up to head to the back of the helicopter to inform their passengers of the news.

~In the Back~

Three men and a young girl sat impatiently in the back part of the helicopter, bored out of their minds about how long the trip from Eshtar was taking them. The three year old girl had fallen asleep with her head resting in the lap of the man seating next to her, curled into a small a small ball in her seat, murmuring softly in her sleep.

"Damn it! When are going to get there!" Laguna complained as he glanced out the window of the seat he was sitting in. His hand absently stroked the girls head as he glanced down at her sleeping form. "I want to get back to Winhill now!"

"Laguna, calm down already will you?" Kiros called over from his seat as he frowned at his friend. "What's up anyways? Couldn't returning to Winhill have waited another week until negotiations in Eshtar were over?" he demanded. "You could have just sent Ellone on ahead by herself and followed after her."

Ward nodded his head in silent agreement.

"For the last time, Kiros, no it couldn't wait. I needed to go back now." Laguna snapped angrily back at his friend, his eyes narrowed in anger as he peered back at his two friends from across the aisle.

Laguna's reaction drawing both Kiros and Ward up short, looks of surprise as they saw the determined look on his features. Laguna had never snapped at them before, nor had they ever seen that kind of expression on his features before either.

"Well if you'd explain what the hurry could be we would understand, buddy." Kiros snapped back exasperatedly. "There's no reason to take our heads off like that."

Laguna slumped dejectedly in his seat as he stared off into space, the tension in his body lessoning as he calmed down. "Look, I'm sorry you guys, but I'm in a hurry to see Raine. I've got this feeling that there's something wrong."

Kiros and Ward shared a surprise look on their features before Kiros spoke once more. "Something wrong? Like what, 'Guna" he asked tersely.

"I've got this feeling somethings going to happen to her if I don't go back to her. Something that I'm going to regret not doing." Laguna said as he glanced over at his friends before turning away from them to stare out the window to look at the ocean. "I've been hearing the pixies again, guys."

"The pixies?..." Kiros asked, his brow creasing as he thought about it, before he finally remembered what he was talking about. "Again! But it's been almost 3 weeks since we last heard their voices, Laguna! And they only came when we were in trouble."

"I know, but it was different this time, Kiros. I only heard two voices this time. One voice I recognised because his was one we've always heard before when they appeared, but this time their was someone else there too." he said as he got into his story.

"It happened 3 days ago when I started making plans to send Ellone back to Winhill alone. When their voices came to me." Laguna began, his face tensing. "I think whoever they were, the new voice was using the first one to speak to me. The new voice belonged to a woman, who spoke directly to me. She said that I shouldn't send Ellone back to Winhill alone, that I should go with her or else wind up regretting it for the rest of my life. But they wouldn't say what it was, before they left me alone again." he said as he took a deep breath before continuing. "I think something bad is going to happen soon if I don't go back, and I need to go back there and fast."

Kiros's eyes took on a complexed expression, as he thought over Laguna's words, his lips thinning, before he finally spoke up at Ward's nudging. "What do you think could be happening in Winhill that would bring the pixies back to give you that kind of warning?" he demanded sounding suspicious as he asked the question.

"I don't know, Kiros. But I have this feeling that whatever it is it must involve Raine." Laguna said as he met Kiros' eyes once more. "I haven't seen her in almost 7 months ever since we started out on this adventure to rescue Elle from Adel, and I haven't had any contact with her since that last day I was in Winhill." he said as he slumped down in his seat, removing his hand from Ellone's forehead. "Some husband I turned out to be." he grumbled.

"Look once we reach Winhill, we'll see that everything is okay." Kiros began as he looked out the window. "Since your taking the job as president in Eshtar, you can bring her out there to live in the city with you."

"I hope so." Laguna muttered just as the co-pilot came into the room to tell them that they were almost to land, and that Winhill was coming up soon. Everyone got ready to land while Laguna woke up Ellone, getting her to sit back up and helped her refasten her seatbelt around her waist.

~15 Minutes Later~

The helicopter lands directly outside of Winhill, the the 4-some climbed out. Laguna carried the worn out Ellone on his shoulder as they stepped out, looking out over the grassy area that surrounded the small town.

As they stepped into the streets of Winhill, people started coming out of buildings to see what the commotion was all about, and spotted the ragtag group coming through the gates that surrounded the entrance.

Some of the locals who they all knew immediatly came out of their homes to welcome Laguna and Ellone back home, some even slapping Laguna on the back in congratulations on his success on rescuing Ellone, before finally allowing them to proceed through the streets to home.

Crossing the small bridge that led towards the pub and Laguna's home, Laguna set Ellone, on her feet and watched as she ran shouting Raine's name as she headed towards the pub's doors, flinging them open before she disappeared inside, with Laguna, Kiros and Ward right behind her.

"Auntie Raine!" Ellone cried out as she ran into the pub.

A young woman with long brown hair pulled back by a headband, looked up immediatly in disbelief at the sound of that of-so-familiar voice, from serving a customer some beer, and her eyes widen in shock as she took in the sight of the small girl rushing towards her.

"E- El- Elone?" she asked, surprise evident in her voice as the young girl ran straight for her, afraid to take her eyes off the girl, because that if she even blinked the image would disapper. It took her a full moment to realize that she wasn't imagining things and that she was really seeing Ellone running towards her, before she dropped the tankard she held in her hands and broke off into a run to cross the short distance between them.

"ELLONE!!!" Raine shrieked as she finally reached Ellone and swung her up into her arms into a tight hug, not wanting to let the little girl go even for a second, before finally setting the small girl back down on the ground to kneel before her so they could look at each other eye to eye as she examined Ellone for any signs of abuse.

"Thank god, Ellone. You've come back" she whispered as tears ran down her face as she stared into the face of the little girl she loved as her own daughter. "I thought I lost you forever." she said her voice breaking as she stared at her young charge.

"Auntie Raine?" Ellone asked as she stared up at Raine's face, lifting one hand up to touch the wet streaks running down Raine's cheeks. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm just glad to see you again, kiddo." Raine said as she dried her tears with her clean apron that she was wearing. "I thought I lost you. Did your uncle Laguna save you? Is he here with you?" she asked as she looked around the room intently.

"Yeah." Ellone said as she crossed her small arms across her stomach. "He and Kiros and Ward brought me back. You should'a seen them. Auntie they were great." She said as she moved closer for another hug, before finding an obstacle that had never been there before that she hadn't noticed until now because of the loose fitting close Raine was wearing. Ellone's eyes widen in surprise as she looked at Raine's stomach was now huge and round like Raine had eaten an entire watermelon whole.

"Auntie how come your fat?" Ellone asked, as she placed a hand on Raine's potruding belly.

Raine paid no attention to Ellone's question as her eyes finally fastened on Laguna who had just stepped into the pub and was now staring at them with a stunned look on his features as he stared directly at her belly.

"Laguna..." she whispered

As they stepped through the doors, they saw Ellone was tightly hugging an older woman who knelt before her, hugging Ellone back with all she was worth, tears running down her face, speaking softly to Ellone who was also crying into her apron.

As he stepped closer to the duo, he caught hold of Ellone's last words, and his eyes widen as he took in the swell of Raine's belly. Rushing towards her, he pulls her out of the pub room and upstairs to her loft followed by the others. "Raine...?" he asked disbelievingly as they reached the loft. "Are you pregnant?"

"Of course, I am!" Raine said angrily stood up to face her erstwhile husband with narrowed eyes as she met his own, as she pulled her dress tighter around her waist to show off her figure and give him a better look at her stomach.

"How. When?" Laguna asked dumbly, an awstruck expression as he stared at his wife's stomach.

"What do you think, Laguna?" she demanded tersely as she stared at him. "It happened that last night, 6 weeks before Ellone was kidnapped."

"Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant before I left?!" he demanded as he stared intently at her with narrowed eyes.

"I didn't know I was pregnant until a week after you had left." Raine said calmly, as she broke free of Laguna's grip to go sit down on the couch next to Ellone who was already sitting down. "I was going to wait until after you returned with Ellone to tell you that we were going to have a baby but..."

"But I didn't come back until now." Laguna finished for her, his voice sounding soft as he said the last words. "A baby. My baby..."

"Laguna I..." Raine began only to stop in midsentence as Laguna swooped down on her and scooped her up into his arms to twirl her around.

"This is great news!" he cried as he held her tightly to himself, but not tight enough to cause any harm to thei baby.

Raine eyed him in surprise, and pleasure evident on her face. "You like the idea of a baby?" she asked uncertainly

A broad smile spread across Laguna's features as he stared into her eyes. "I'm never more happier about it. Will you forgive me for taking so long to come back??" he said before bringing his mouth down to claim her lips for his own in a deep passionate kiss before she could answer him.

Kiros and Ward immediatly saw what their two friends were getting ready to do, and immediatly stood up and began to herd Ellone out of the room. "Come on kid. Your too young to see what's going to happen here."

"Aw! But I wanna see what Auntie Raine and Unca Laguna are going to do!" Ellone protested, as she tried to plant her feet in the floor. "What are they going to do that I'm too young to see?" she demanded.

"You'll know when your older, squirt." was Kiros' only answer as they made their way down the steps, with Ward slamming the door behind them.

Much Later. After a lot of persuading (and kissing up) Laguna was able to talk Raine into leaving Winhill and leaving with him to go live in Eshtar with them, promising that they'd all be safe from anyone who came searching for Ellone because of her powers, and that Ellone would have the best medical help she may need when the time came for it. Raine closed down her pub, and packed up all her things and after saying goodbye to all of her friends that she had made over the years, she stepped out of Winhill, and with one last look at the town, she stepped into the waiting chopter and flew away to her new life.

~ 2 Months Later~

Exactly 2 months later, Raine Leonhart Loire gave birth to a healthy a brand new 6lbs 7ounces baby boy. Her water had broken during a weapons conference she had attended with her husband early that afternoon, and the labor pain had begun almost immediatly, causing them to break off the the conference early to rush her to the local hospital. It had taken nearly 5 hours before their son was finally brought into the world, and the small family couldn't be any happier.

During the last two months of her pregnancy, the doctors had told them almost on their arrival in the city that their might be complications with the birth if Raine didn't take it easy or else risk loosing her life along with the life of her unborn child.

As she fed her son, she glanced around the room at her husband and adopted daughter Ellone with fondness as they gathered around the hospital bed, with Ellone making cooing sounds at Squall.

"Raine... he's beautiful." Laguna whispered as he glanced lovingly at his wife, placing a kiss lightly on her forehead. "He's got your hair." he said glancing at the fuzzy growth on his sons head.

"And he's got your eyes." Raine said as she cradled her son closer to her body. The baby was finished with his first meal, and was now yawning placidly as he got ready to take a nap. Within a few moments he was sound asleep.

Just then a nurse came into the room with a blank birth certificate. "President Loire, Mrs. Loire. We need to know the name you will give your son for records and to place on the birth certificate." she informed them curtly.

"We've already decided on a name." Raine said as she glanced at her husband giving him the go ahead.

Turning to face the nurse, Laguna said. "That's right. We've decided that our son's name shall be, Squall."

------------------------------------------------ Child of Destiny
By: Raven Star
Chapter 1: The Beginning