Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Storm Front ❯ Chapter 5

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

"It's snowing, it's snowing again!"

I looked up from my post in the kitchen towards the source of the sound. Ellone had her face pressed to the glass of the little window, wide-eyed with wonder. Snow again? It didn't snow often in Winhill, and the previous fall had melted before Laguna had been able to get outside to build the snow fort he'd promised to Ellone.

"It's really snowing?" Laguna's voice drifted in from the common room, and he hurried in to join her at the window. He was still walking with a limp, but the crutches and the physical therapy were a thing of the past. I glanced over my shoulder to see both children watching the snow settle with rapt attention. "It's a blizzard out there! Wow!"

"Can we build a fort? Please?" Ellone's eyes were shining.

"Yeah! We'll do it!" Laguna looked out the window. "But there's not enough snow yet. When there is, we will!"

"Is it really snowing that hard?" Curiosity piqued, I joined the two of them at the window. To my great irritation, I seemed hyperaware of Laguna's proximity, and I tried not to notice as our shoulders brushed. It was a sense I'd been having more and more, and it was getting very troublesome.

Whirling snow pattered against the windowpane, and it was piling up fast on the cold ground outside. "It's a blizzard, all right," I said, surprised. "Wonder how much we're going to get?"

"Don't know," Laguna replied. "Ought to keep the monsters away, anyhow."

"Icky monsters," Ellone said, screwing up her face in revulsion. "Big bugs. Don't like those buchubuchus."

"What's a…buchubuchu?" Laguna said blankly.

"You know! They're green and wiggly, and they have big spots!" Ellone said, wringing her hands. Laguna shook his head.

"Caterchipillers," I broke in. "Ellone had trouble saying that word, so she calls them buchubuchus."

"Oh! Yeah! I know those." Laguna grinned at Ellone. "I don't like them either. I won't let any of them get you, I promise!"

"It's snowing even harder," Ellone said, peering outside again. "Let's go outside! Please?"

I hesitated. "It's getting late, Ellone, and I have to make dinner."

"Uncle Laguna can take care of me, right?" She grabbed onto his leg and hugged it.

"I'll stay with her, Raine, you don't haveta worry," Laguna said. "I'll take good care of her."

"Oh, all right," I relented. "Don't be out late. Dinner is soon. And wear hats and gloves."

"Yeah, yeah," Laguna said, already heading for the coat closet with Ellone in tow. "Whatever you say!"

Laguna pulled the heavy coat I'd bought for him out of the closet and threw it around his shoulders. "Come on, Ellone!" he said, and Ellone started to follow him out. Her own coat was half-on, half-off, and there wasn't a glove in sight.

"Laguna!" I said, grabbing the tail of his coat before he could get too far. "Where are the gloves and scarves and such? I told both you and Ellone to wear them!"

"Aw, who needs those?" Laguna scrubbed the back of his head with his hand.

"You do," I replied, handing him a scarf. "I don't need to play nursemaid again to you when you come back with a cold. And secondly," I said, moving closer and lowering my voice, "Whatever you do, Ellone is going to do. You have to set an example. Therefore… coat, scarf, gloves, and hat!"

"No hat," Laguna said flatly. "I hate them."

"Everything else, then." He sighed and wound the scarf around his neck, then pulled on the gloves. I helped Ellone bundle herself up in her puffy pink jacket and snow boots.

"Now can we go?" Laguna asked.

"See you later, come back soon," I said, waving them out the door.

They went outside, but before I could shut the door behind them, Laguna popped his head back in again. "You don't want to come with us?"

"I'm busy at the moment," I said. "You go have some fun with Ellone."

Disappointment flickered briefly across his face. "Too bad… Okay, then. Seeya!"

I went back to preparing dinner in the kitchen. I heard Ellone's delighted shrieks from outside, and Laguna laughing. It sounded like fun, and maybe I could leave something on to simmer if I wanted to go outside with them.

Knife temporarily stilled, I wavered between the demands of the kitchen and Laguna's infectious enthusiasm. It was probably going to be a slow night if anyone showed up at all; the snow was quite heavy and the soldiers would be less inclined to make the trek into town. I walked to the windows facing the town square and looked out; Laguna and Elle were having a snowball fight. Laguna was letting Elle pelt him with snowballs, covering his head and pretending to run away. He threw some back at her, but they were thrown way off target so that she could dodge them easily. Elle was screaming with laughter and chasing her "uncle" around, clearly having the time of her life.

They disappeared behind one of the houses, but I could still hear them. Maybe it might be fun to go out for a little while… I put on my own winter gear and walked out into swirling white. Laguna and Elle were nowhere to be found. I wandered through the deepening snow towards the house they'd run behind. "Ellone?" I called, peeking around the corner.

Something soft and cold hit me from behind, and I yelped and turned around. There were the two miscreants, and Laguna's eyes were wide with surprise.

"Ruh-Raine?" he said. "I thought you weren't coming out!"

I gave him a dangerous look. "Did you throw that snowball?"

"It was an accident!" he protested, holding both hands out. "I was throwin' at Elle, and I didn't know you were there…"

I scooped some snow up into my hands and started to pack it. He looked wary. "Because if you did throw that snowball… I'm going to have to throw this at you!" Laguna dodged, but he was too late; my missile hit him dead-center on the chest. Ellone burst out laughing and clapped her hands.

He looked down at the white blotch on his coat and narrowed his eyes playfully at me. "You know, this means war."

"Simple retaliation," I pointed out.

"Unh-unh." Laguna was packing snow himself. "War."

Ellone ran over and tugged at my hand. "Come on! Run!" I laughed and stumbled off with her, throwing up clouds of snow in my wake. A snowball whizzed by my ear, and I ducked.

Unable to resist a taunt, I called back over my shoulder, "You need to work on your aim, Laguna!"

"I heard that!" he yelled back. "You'll be sorry!" I giggled and scooped up some more snow. As I was bent down, another snowball pegged me in the shoulder. It threw me off balance and I rolled into the snow, laughing. Sensing a kill, Laguna ran over and stood over me while lazily tossing a new snowball in one hand.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't let you have it," he said ominously, doing his best to look dangerous.

I froze for a moment, and he grinned. "Can't move, can ya?" he chuckled, swaggering a little. He was right, but not for the reason he thought. I stared up at Laguna through the blowing snow, and my heart turned over in my chest. Snow had caught in the long black hair, and his eyes had me transfixed. What is the matter with you, Raine? I thought furiously, and shoved the inappropriate thoughts back into the dark corner of my mind, where they belonged.

"Reason one!" I yelled back, and threw my concealed missile at him while pushing away from him with one leg. It hit him solidly on the chest, and he staggered back and tripped over his own unsteady feet to sit down hard on a snowdrift. Ellone ran over, giggling, and dropped an armload of snow on her unsuspecting uncle's head. "And… reason two," I said, smug.

"Gotcha!" Elle sang.

"Cold!" Laguna screamed. "Aaaaah, and it's melting all down my neck! I'm gonna get you guys!"

"Maybe tomorrow," I said, glancing at the swiftly darkening sky. "Night's falling." I extended a hand to Laguna to help him up.

"You just want to avoid the inevitable," he grumbled, but he took my hand. We walked back to the pub, him leading with Ellone orbiting his legs, and me drifting along in the snow, trying to forget the feel of his gloved hand wrapped around mine.

It was indeed a quiet night at the pub. No soldiers braved the whipping snow for a night of carousing at the bar, and so we had a rare evening with just the three of us. Laguna and Ellone were in high spirits, chattering nonstop about the fort they were going to build the next day. From the sound of it, they'd need a small army and a bulldozer to finish it.

I sat on the couch, quietly reading, listening to Laguna and Elle banter in the chairs opposite me. A fire flickered in the fireplace, and the room was warm and snug. Wind whipped around the eaves of the house, but we were safe inside.

Something was niggling at the back of my head as I read, and I put the book down and stared into the leaping flames, trying to get my thoughts to crystallize. It had been an unsettling day despite the fun we'd had, and conflicting thoughts were racing around in my brain, disrupting the peace of the evening.

"Something on your mind, Raine?" Laguna said, and I looked over to him and Ellone. She was snuggled into his lap with a book, and it looked like storytime, something Elle liked better than almost anything else.

"I'm all right," I replied. "Just thinking."

"Mind if I tell Elle a story? We don't wanna bother you."

I shook my head. "Go ahead."

Laguna started to read to Elle, his tenor voice punctuated by her excited commentary. As he read, the troubling thought finally rose to the surface. Family. The three of us had started to feel a little bit like a family, and I found it unnerving. He was going to leave us sooner or later, and the last thing I needed was to get attached to someone like him. Laguna was hardly someone I had envisioned for myself and it just wouldn't do to throw myself at the first johnny-come-lately who walked down the main street of Winhill.

And these feelings I'd been having when being with him almost seemed like a good idea… well, maybe a little bit of a crush. He was around so much that it was almost inevitable, I reasoned. Yet… for a moment, just for a moment, while we were out there in the snow, I'd felt a flash of something that could be more.

It was time to put that to rest, I thought to myself. Time to clamp down on it and put Laguna out of my thoughts. I could do better, and I would, someday. But as I looked over at Elle and Laguna, happily cuddling in the chair, a rebellious portion of my mind whispered, how?

The next morning dawned overcast but quiet. The storm was over, and it left nearly a foot and a half of snow behind it. Ellone and Laguna both raced through breakfast, since their primary goal was to get out the door and into the snow. This time they put on all the proper garments before hurrying out, after some harassment, of course.

I busied myself with the tasks of the day. There was plenty to keep me busy inside, and Ellone was certainly safe with Laguna. They came inside at about midday to lunch and hot chocolate, but it wasn't long before they were back outside. Not long after lunch, Anna from the flower shop came by to see how we'd weathered the storm.

"Hello, Anna," I called from the kitchen. "How are you?"

"Just fine, dear," she said, putting a bag down on the table. "I brought you some cookies. Not much else to do yesterday but stay inside, so I baked."

"Thank you!" I walked out of the kitchen, dusting flour off my hands. "Laguna and Elle certainly didn't stay inside. They were having a marvelous time."

Anna shook her head. "They're having a great time now, too. How we're ever going to get through that fort of theirs before springtime is beyond me."

"Get through their fort?" I said, smiling. "How much of a fort can one man and a three-year-old build?"

The older woman gave me a funny look. "Have you looked outside recently?"

"No. Should I?"

"I think you should." Anna opened the door, and I looked out. What met my eyes boggled the imagination.

I was right in that it would have taken a small army to build the fort Laguna and Elle had in mind, and Laguna had found one. It looked like every Galbadian soldier in the garrison was pushing snow around. Laguna himself was yelling out suggestions while he packed snow into crenellations, and to my amazement, the soldiers were playing along. They all seemed to be having a genuinely good time.

I gaped at the spectacle. Anna folded her arms and shook her head. "What a mess," she said. "That Laguna is trouble, mark my words."

"Trouble?" I laughed out loud. "He's been nothing but trouble since he crossed this threshold. But he's harmless. I don't think Laguna could concentrate hard enough to come up with any thoughts of malice."

"He's not from around here," Anna said darkly, as if that explained everything. "He's friendly with all those dratted Galbadian soldiers, too."

"He was one," I replied.

"Even worse."

Subtly nettled, I bit back a retort. Anna was an old friend. "Is there anything I can do for you while you're here?"

"Well, I had a question for you. I can't get the rainlilies to grow the way you could. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Can you stop by sometime and have a look?"

"Sure," I said. "I'll be by sometime tomorrow, is that all right?"

Anna smiled. "Certainly. Thank you very much, dearie." She checked her watch. "I'd better be going. Goodbye, Raine."

"Goodbye - and thank you for the cookies! I'm sure they'll be gone in no time. Especially considering how Laguna eats."

"You ought to make him work at something for the food you're giving him," Anna harrumphed. "He should make himself useful."

I sighed. "There has to be something. He can't be hopeless at everything."

"Think about it." Anna clasped my hands in hers and left.

The fort had grown in length by a few feet while we were speaking. The two halves snaked around two sides of the square, facing one another. The fort was sufficient to stage a war of epic proportions. Ellone was running between the two embankments, clearly overjoyed. She spotted me and bounced over, tugging on my pants leg.

"Come and see what Uncle Laguna made for me!" she bubbled.

"Let me get my coat on," I said. "Where's your hat, Ellone?"

"Ummm…"

"Go get it and put it on. I'll be right out," I scolded. She darted off, and I went back inside to bundle up. Ellone was waiting for me on the porch when I came back out.

"Come on!" she said, bristling with impatience. "Come and see!" Ellone grabbed my hand and dragged me out into the square. "Isn't it great?" she said proudly, spreading her arms wide.

"It's certainly big," I said weakly.

"It's the best fort in the whole world!" Ellone jumped up and down and clapped her hands. Her face brightened as she spotted Laguna, who was packing snow onto the central pile. "Uncle Laguna! Show Raine our fort!"

A dark head popped up from behind a created snowbank, and Laguna waved to both of us. "Hi, Raine!" he called. "What do you think? Didn't me 'n Elle do a great job?"

"You, Elle, and the rest of the Galbadian Army," I returned, hands on hips. Laguna climbed over the front of the fort and half-jumped, half-slid to the bottom. He sauntered over, grinning at both of us and looking pleased with himself.

"Yeah, well… we did it, didn't we, Elle?" Ellone giggled and grabbed onto Laguna's leg. "Come have a look, Raine," he invited. "It's pretty cool!"

A chorus of hello's from the soldiers rose from the snow as Laguna led me behind the fort. One of them called out, "Thanks, Raine!" I wondered what he'd be thanking me for, and suspicion began to grow in the back of my mind.

Laguna was talking nonstop about his creation. "And look here," he said, pulling aside a board, "There's our stockpile of ammo." I stared at an enormous pile of snowballs, tumbled together. He put the board back and wound along a path set behind the wall to the main tower. "So we need a high point where we can spot the enemy from, right Elle?"

"Right!" Ellone puffed up and pointed to the largest snowbank. "I helped bring snow, just like the other soldiers!"

"But we all know you're the best trooper of all!" Laguna scooped Ellone up and helped her onto his shoulders. "C'mon, you have to see the fortifications."

"Laguna…" I hurried after him, trying to get his attention. He paid me no mind and tramped along to the next major set of snowbanks.

"Raine!" A soldier below me was waving and smiling.

"Mallin?" I said blankly. "How did you get involved with this?"

"Laguna asked me," he replied. "And I gotta say thanks to you, it was so nice of you to offer…"

Warning bells went off. "Offer what?" I said suspiciously, but Mallin had already been distracted. "What am I offering?" I yelled after him, but he was gone. With growing dread, I ran after Laguna.

"An' here's the moat," he was saying. "No water in it, but someone attacking would trip in it…"

I grabbed the back of his coat and tugged hard to get his wandering attention. "Laguna! I want to talk to you!" Laguna turned around, with the look of a little boy who's been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "What… exactly… did you offer these men in return for their help?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest.

"Uhh… well… I was gonna talk to you about that," he said. "I can help with it and all…"

I schooled my face into a pleasant expression for the moment. "Elle, can you leave me and Uncle Laguna alone for a minute?"

She looked unhappy. "How come?"

"Because I have to talk to him in private." Laguna reluctantly let her down, and Elle scooted off to help the soldiers pile snow. "Now," I said, eyes blazing, "You had better start talking. I want to know why all the soldiers are thanking me."

"Ummm… I wanted Elle to have a good fort, so I asked the garrison to help out, and they did…"

I sighed. "Laguna," I said, "I know these guys. They don't work for free. What did you promise them in return for their help with the fort?"

Avoiding my eyes, he replied, "Dinner…" I started towards him, my hands in fists. "But I can help with it! If you need money an' all…" Laguna backed away from me, hands in the air, and tripped over a pile of snow to sit down hard.

Fury found a voice. "Did you even think to ask me first?" I yelled, and the soldiers all poked their heads up to see where the noise was coming from.

"But don't you usually serve these guys dinner?" he protested. "I thought maybe I could just pay for it…"

"I never have this big a crowd in the pub," I snapped. "Treating dinner is one thing, but you promised these guys something from me without talking to me! What's the matter with you?"

"Raine…" he said weakly, standing up. "I really meant to talk to you but then things just got going, and…"

I was so mad at him that I could barely speak. "Laguna, for once, just for once, could you think before you open that big mouth of yours? Oh, I know you've gotten yourself in trouble, right enough! But don't drag me into it! Do you understand?" I punctuated the last sentence with a hard poke in the shoulder.

"I'm sorry…" Laguna's voice trailed off as I turned my back on him and marched back towards the pub. "Raine?" he called as I walked away.

"What?" I snapped.

"Umm… what about dinner, then?" he asked, hands in pockets.

I threw up my hands in exasperation. "I'm not going to let all these guys down because you have terminal foot-in-mouth disease!" A cheer went up from the gathered soldiers. "Actually," I said, narrowing my eyes at him, "That gives me an idea." I walked back up to him and grabbed the end of his scarf. "You, Laguna Loire," I told him, "are going to help me fix dinner." I started back towards the pub, ignoring the sounds of protest and partial strangulation from my unwilling captive. The soldiers laughed as I dragged Laguna inside, bent over from my indirect hold on his neck. Ellone ran after us, her eyes wide.

Laguna was uncharacteristically quiet in the kitchen as I ordered him to do tasks like peeling potatoes and chopping onions. He did try to break the tension by talking to me, but I was in no mood to banter with him of all people, and eventually he stayed silent. Despite his unskilled hands, the work did go faster, and I was able to put together enough food for everyone.

I stayed behind the bar for most of the evening. Laguna seemed to be his usual loud, cheery self with his new friends, but he kept looking over to gauge the mood on my face, trying to be very surreptitious about it. The soldiers ate almost every bit of what I'd prepared, and I did get more than the usual night's take of gil from the bar. My guests weren't stupid enough to think they'd be getting free beer.

After the last soldier had disappeared into the night, I busied myself with cleaning up. I was sweeping under one of the tables when I saw Laguna approaching. "Raine?" he said tentatively. "Umm… can I talk to you?"

"Yes, Laguna?" I said. "What is it?"

He scuffed his feet and looked at the floor. "I'm really sorry about dinner and all. I really didn't want to make trouble, I just wanted to make Elle happy…" Laguna looked genuinely upset. "And I don't want you to be mad anymore."

Some of my anger evaporated and I sighed. "Think before you open your mouth next time," I advised. "And I'm not covering for you again. Next time, it's all your responsibility."

Laguna gave me a watery smile. "I promise."

"Good." I picked up my dustpan. "I think that's the last of it. I don't know about you, but I'm going to bed." I dumped broken glass and spilled food into the garbage, and went for the stairs.

"Raine?"

A little exasperated, I turned around. "Yes, Laguna?"

"I know that tonight cost you… what can I do?"

"I'll think of something," I said, remembering Anna's warning to keep him busy. In light of recent events, Laguna really did need something to keep him occupied. "For now, you can go tuck Ellone in. She'll listen to you when you tell her to go to bed."

Laguna nodded and followed me up the stairs. I shut the door to my room and washed up, climbing into bed with a sense of great weariness. As I lay alone in the dark, my thoughts turned again to the man whom I could faintly hear reading to Ellone. His heart was certainly in the right place, but his head…

At any rate, it was well past time for Laguna to be getting busy, I thought. He was nearly well enough to take care of himself. He could do something for Winhill the same way any other villager would. It was probably time to set him up in his own house, as well, I reflected. People were going to start talking, and my schoolgirl crush aside, I didn't want that.

It was just too close for comfort.