Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Storm Front ❯ Chapter 4

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

January and first snowfall. I watched fat flakes settle softly on the slate roof of the pub from the window in Laguna's room, enjoying a rare quiet moment. Laguna was dozing, and the little room felt cozy and warm for his presence, even if he was most tolerable when sleeping. I leaned against the window frame, letting my mind drift with the blowing snow, not really paying attention to anything but the silence.

Motion in the bed behind me, caught out of the corner of my eye, brought me out of my reverie. I turned to see Laguna sitting up in bed, watching me.

"What?" I said, unnerved.

"Nothing," he replied, quickly. "Snow's pretty, isn't it?" He leaned forward and propped himself up on his good knee. "Wish I could get out of this bed and go out in it. I bet me and Ellone'd have a great time in that snow."

"If you want to try getting up again, I'll go get the crutches," I said. "We'll see if you have any better luck than you did a week ago."

"Hey, I almost made it that time!" Laguna protested. "If you hadn't interrupted…"

I cut in smoothly. "If I hadn't interrupted, you would have fallen flat on your face." He made a face. "Do you want me to go get the crutches?"

"Yeah." Laguna looked out at the snow. "I really wanna get up and get out. Just for a little while."

"All right, I'll be back in a moment." I tossed a glance back over my shoulder. "Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh."

The crutches were in a cupboard under the stairs. Ellone saw me grab them and left her toys to come cheer Laguna on. "Uncle Laguna's gonna walk!" she sang, swinging her moogle by the arm.

"Maybe," I amended.

By the time the two of us got back to his room, Laguna had already tossed off his blankets and maneuvered his pajama-clad legs over the edge of the bed. It surprised me to see how thin he'd become since he was dumped on my doorstep, but there was a steely spark in his eyes that spoke of tremendous determination. I smiled to myself. Maybe he would get up this time.

"All right, Laguna," I said, standing next to him with one crutch. "Let's go." He grabbed on to me and I wrapped an arm around his shoulders, helping to haul him up. "Here's one crutch."

"Okay…" he said, wobbling on the good leg. I braced myself - this was where we'd left off before.

"Lean on the crutch," I warned. "Now. The other one." I fixed it under his other arm, and cautiously let go of him to see if he could maintain his balance. Laguna's arms were shaking with the effort, but his jaw was set.

"I can do this," he muttered, clenching his fingers around the soft padding on the hand-grips. Breath whistling through his teeth, he put all his weight on the good leg as I let go - and stayed up.

"Yaaaaay!" Ellone cheered, bouncing on Laguna's bed. "You can walk!"

"Getting there, Elle," he said.

"Can you use them?" I asked. "Try to take a step or two. I'll be right here if you need a hand."

"Gonna try." Laguna gritted his teeth and swung the crutches ahead of him a few inches. Slowly, his leg followed. "Yeah!" he breathed. "Again!" Another step, and another. When he was almost at the door, he stopped and looked back at us, grinning triumphantly.

"You did it, you did it!" Ellone sang, jumping up and down. "Now you can come outside and play with me!"

"Toldja I could!" Laguna replied, just as one crutch began to wobble. "Soon I'll be out there and we can build a fort, just like I told you about!"

"Hold up there, soldier," I said, steadying him before he could lose the precarious control he'd gained. "Not today. And I really wouldn't recommend going outside in that cast. I think that's enough for now."

We worked our way back to the bed, and Laguna sat down hard. Ellone crawled over next to him, and she giggled as Laguna tousled her hair. "Gonna need some stuff," he said.

"Such as?"

"Clothes. Real clothes," Laguna said, wrinkling his nose at his pajamas. "Shoes, too. I can't go out like this."

"One thing at a time." I picked up the crutches and stood them against the wall, within easy reach. "Do you have any personal effects with the army? I imagine that if I went to the garrison, I could send out for them. It's not like you're in any condition to re-join them soon, anyway."

"Probably, but I don't know if clothes are part of 'em." He considered for a moment. "Where's the pack I had when I got dragged in here?"

"I think it's in the closet," I said, opening the door and rummaging inside. In the back I found a battered case with the remnants of his Galbadian uniform. I pulled it out and held it up. "Is this it?"

"Yeah," Laguna said, reaching for it. He opened a zippered pouch on the back and pulled out a wad of gil notes, counting them quickly. "Not as much here as I remember, but anyway…" He peeled off a bundle of gil and handed them to me. "Is a thousand enough? I have more if you need it."

I stared at the money in my hand, a little perplexed. "What do you need?"

"Clothes," he said, impatiently. "A coat. Socks, shoes, all that. Can you get 'em for me?" Laguna grinned up at me through a fall of black hair. "I'm not stayin' up here forever!"

"I think so," I said slowly. "I don't think it'll cost this much, though."

"Aw, don't worry about it," Laguna said, waving a dismissing hand. "Whatever it takes, and maybe you can buy Ellone something with the rest." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Plus I guess I owe you for all the medical care, right?"

"A present, a present!" Ellone cheered. "Uncle Laguna's gonna buy me a present!"

"No amount you could pay me would make up for your care," I remarked dryly. "I'm sure there's something else you can do when you're well. Don't worry about the money."

"Well, okay then. But you better be quick about the clothes, 'cause I'm gonna be out there sooner than you think!" Laguna swung his legs back up onto the bed. "It's just a matter of time."

He wasn't kidding. As I was fast learning, Laguna could be very persistent when he wasn't being silly. Every day he got a little farther and lasted a little longer on his crutches. Within a few days, he had been able to get down the stairs. In two weeks, Laguna was all over the pub, in high spirits.

The remains of Laguna's uniform had furnished me with a set of measurements to take to the shops and to the tailor, and within a few days I presented him with brand-new pants and shirts, most of them army surplus. A pair of black boots had likewise come from the garrison; it seemed easiest to stick with what I knew fit him, and I still had the one intact boot from his first night with me. I'd had enough money to purchase sweaters and a coat as well. At Laguna's repeated insistence, and over my protests of spoiling Ellone, I bought her a few games she could play with him.

It wasn't long before his latest accomplishment wore off and Laguna began to chafe at the cast on his leg. His new mobility had restored some sense of manly pride and he wanted to be his old self, right away. Despite my repeated warnings to wait for Winhill's traveling physician to come and scan his leg to be sure the bone had knit, Laguna insisted on trying to put some weight on the leg while he was still on crutches. I yelled at him, certain he was going to undo a good portion of the healing I'd effected, and he yelled right back that I was being a worry-wart and overly cautious.

The matter was settled shortly thereafter when Dr. Lifchure came by a week later with her diagnostic equipment. She'd been a friend of mine for some time, and it was as a personal favor to me that she loaded her sensitive instruments up and trekked down to Winhill from Deling City. It was good to see her again, and I told her so.

"Nice to see you again too, Raine," she said, hugging me warmly. "Where's the patient?"

"Upstairs," I said. "He's playing with Ellone. I know he's been on pins and needles awaiting your arrival."

"Hmmm." She gave me a sidelong look. "It's not like you to take in charity cases. What gives?"

I snorted. "Laguna was dumped on my doorstep in the middle of the night. What else was I going to do? Turn him away?"

"I suppose not." Dr. Lifchure picked up her portable X-ray, and turned to me. "Shall we go?"

We went upstairs to Ellone's room, where the two of them were playing some very complicated card game that Ellone had devised. Laguna perked up at once to see me come in with my friend. He grabbed a crutch and scrambled to his feet. "You must be Raine's doctor-friend!" he exclaimed, extending a hand. "I'm Laguna Loire. Nice to meetcha."

"Dr. Becai Lifchure," she replied, meeting his outstretched hand. "I understand you want your cast off."

"Like crazy!" Laguna said, giving the gray plaster a disgusted look. "Seems like I've been in this thing forever!"

"If you come with me, we'll have a look inside and see if the break has healed. Where's your room?"

"Across the hall," he said. "Let's go!"

A few minutes later, Becai had her machine set up to scan his leg. Laguna was doing his best not to bounce, but like Ellone, he had a lot of trouble controlling his enthusiasm.

"Would you please sit still?" she asked, a slight snap to her tone.

"Sorry!" Laguna replied, giving her a winning smile.

"And… go." The instrument flickered to life, and Laguna's bones sprung into ghostly view on the monitor. Becai hummed to herself while pressing buttons and turning knobs, checking the site of the break carefully. After several minutes, she switched off the machine and stood back. Laguna's eyes were wide with query.

"So?" he asked, imploring.

"You're all set," she said. "Nicely healed and getting stronger. We can take the cast off whenever you want."

"Yahoo!" Laguna whooped. He shot me a look. "I knew you were mother-henning me!"

Becai gave him a stern look. "Raine did a very fine job with your leg. If she hadn't 'mother-henned' you the way she did, you'd be a cripple or worse. You'll still have to do some work to get the bad leg up to speed." She turned to me. "Raine, I'll leave you with some plans for parallel bars. He'll need them for practice before he can walk unassisted."

"Shouldn't be too hard to get those made," I said. "What else?"

"Make sure he does the physical therapy."

"What about my cast?" Laguna broke in. "Are you gonna take it off? Plllease?"

Becai looked at Laguna, who was all puppy-dog eyes, and I saw the corner of her mouth twist with humor. "Oh, I don't know. I think us girls might want to go have lunch first."

I tried not to laugh. "Yes, I think you might need some more… how was it? Mother-henning?"

"Awwww… come on!"

"In a bit, in a bit," she said airily. "Let's go, Raine." Laughing, we left the room, hearing Laguna swear behind us. I'd rat him out later for cursing with Ellone nearby, but for now it was too much fun to have a girl friend around to gossip with. We went down to the hotel restaurant for a bite to eat - a nice change from my own cooking. We talked a lot over lunch, reminiscing and laughing. Then, as I knew Becai would, she brought up the subject of Laguna - and not as a patient.

"So aren't you the lucky one!" she said, laughing. "How many people have such a cute guy thrown into their life? And he's so vulnerable, so dependent on you…" She made big cow eyes at me, and I scowled.

"Mostly, Laguna's a pain in the rear end," I said, crossly. "He has nice eyes. Big deal. I'd still like to kick his ass from here into next week most of the time. Plus…" I sighed, heavily. "He'll leave once his injuries are healed completely. I don't think he wants to stay in Winhill." I shrugged and picked at my entrée.

"I don't know," she said, looking coy. "You could give him a reason to stay. I get this feeling that he likes you."

"Oh, knock it off, Becai." I swatted at her with my napkin, and she laughed. "Do your job and stop trying to set me up."

"If you don't want him, can I have him?" Seeing my murderous look, Becai grinned. "Ahhh… the truth comes out. You'll have to face it sooner or later, Raine dear. But… in your own time." She stood up and wiped her mouth. "Let's go back. I think your soldier is about ready to climb the walls. Let's not torture him any more."

"Truth?" I got up and hurried after her, annoyed. "What do you mean about the truth! He drives me nuts!"

"Exactly!" she called back.

"Becai, you're a pest, you know that?"

"I just tell it like I see it," she responded.

We walked through town together, reached the door of the pub, and went inside. It was ominously quiet upstairs. Becai pulled a rotating saw out of her bag and tested it to make sure it worked. "Let's go get that cast off Laguna before he really gets upset," she said.

"Yeah…" I said, "But it was completely worth it to put him on the hot seat for a while. He rattles my cage so often that I'm happy to return the favor."

Laguna glared at both of us when we came through his door, and I had to suppress a smile. "How was lunch? Did you enjoy leaving poor defenseless me behind to suffer in this cast some more?"

"It was very nice, thank you, and now it's your turn. Blankets off the leg." Becai turned on her saw, and the keening whine filled the room. "Hold still and this won't hurt a bit."

"Famous last words," Laguna muttered. The shrill scream of the blade deepened as it cut into plaster. It didn't take long for Becai to slice the cast off, pulling the thick white remnants away. Deprived of its protective shell, Laguna's leg looked thin and wasted, and he regarded it in dismay.

"It looks awful," he said, sounding disheartened.

Becai gave him a sympathetic look. "You'll have to use your crutches for support until the leg can comfortably hold your weight," she said. "Also, I'll be giving Raine plans for parallel bars, where you can work on walking without putting too much stress on yourself."

"Thanks," I said, taking the sheets of paper from her. "This shouldn't be too hard to do."

"Anytime. It was nice to get away from Deling City for a while." Becai grinned. "Now, are you going to show me around, or do I spend the rest of my stay playing cards with Ellone?"

Becai spent another three days with us, generously helping the townspeople and updating Ellone's booster shots. Ellone wasn't thrilled about that, but it was necessary. Laguna, Ellone, and I saw her off, waving goodbye as her car disappeared. Before she left, she whispered to me, "Don't write your soldier off too soon - you never know!"

"Like hell," I said, arching an eyebrow. "That'll be the day."

I took Becai's plans to the local woodworker, and within the week Laguna had started to walk, albeit with assistance. Though I could see the pain it caused him to put the atrophied leg down, he stubbornly persisted. We ran through the strengthening exercises again and again.

And at night, long past the hours of normal sleep, I heard him next door to my room, working through the weakness. Working so he could walk; working so he could move on and leave us behind. I rolled myself into a ball and tried to ignore the heartache the thought brought.

"Becai was right," I said to myself, as a tear slid down onto my pillow.