Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ sore kara... ❯ saikai da ( Chapter 15 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: awwaw 
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 02.20.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 182 | Status: Completed
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 02.20.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 182 | Status: Completed
Standard disclaimers apply.
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sore kara...
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saikai da
When the threesome - lead by their brave and strong leader Laguna finally arrived at the city of Galbadia, it was because it was already daybreak, and there was light. Needless to say all three were more or less tired over walking aimlessly for the entire night. Laguna very promptly fell dead asleep on the streets, leaving Cloud and Zidane no choice but to pluck him off the road and toss him over the shoulder while they proceeded to search for oil and petrol. Not two steps from the entrance of the city was the car station.
"'Morning!" The attendant behind the car accessories stall greeted cheerily, when he noticed the duo walking towards the store. The other assistants were busy unfolding the stand-up promotion sign outside the stall and unlocking the store. "How can I help you?" He grinned happily.
"Um, good morning." Cloud relieved himself of Laguna by throwing him to the unawares Zidane, causing both of them to tumble to the ground. "How much petrol do we need to make it to... um, Timber?"
"Timber?" The attendant raised an eyebrow in confusion. Timber was on the further west of Galbadia continent. "Where in the world did you guys come from?"
Cloud blinked twice in confusion. "We drove here on a vehicle-boat. I think the place we came from was called Centra, or something."
"Centra?" The attendant was even more bewildered. "You know, I'll be damned or something, but if you DID drove-floated here on a vehicle-boat, Timber should be your first stop, and NOT Galbadia city! What in the world happened?"
"Oh, you don't wanna know." Cloud began patting his inventory for gil. "We spent MOST of our time floating around the sea, when a certain dark-haired boy insisted on learning how to 'man the ship'..." he grumbled softly, throwing knowing looks over at Laguna, who was still sleeping on the ground, Zidane having given up trying to make him sit a long time ago, "... I suppose somehow everything got screwed up and stuff, but here we are, on the northern tip of the continent, out of oil and petrol, but still wanting to go to Timber..."
The attendant was listening intently, nodding his head with sympathy. It appeared that he was experienced with this brand of road idiots, enough so that he could actually empathize. At the back of his head, professional instincts kicked in and calculations began to manifest themselves. "Well if Timber is your final destination," he stroked his chin in thought, "I'd suggest you get at least 20 worth of petrol. Never know when we might end up drive-floating the wrong direction, do we?" He winked. Cloud merely laughed good-naturedly.
"Give me a moment, sir." He turned towards Zidane, who looked up from the ground with a bored expression on his face. "Zidane, you... got any gil on you or something?"
The confused monkey allowed that question to sink in for a while before turning in all directions, patting on pockets, hidden pockets, concealed pockets, and pockets he didn't even know existed. He came up with a measly 1000++ gil.
"I was under the impression that you handed the gil to Squall." Zidane offered a lopsided smile, one that meant - good-gracious-i-hope-you-didn't. Cloud did a familiar careless shrug and smiled back almost in embarassment.
"You're right. I did."
The morning breeze blew.
"Great! And we forgot to ask some from old pops in the car!" Zidane found that he couldn't stop smiling, as he put a hand to his forehead. "So how now? Sprint back and get the money?"
"We could do that." Cloud lifted a finger and pointed at Sleeping Laguna. "But do you remember the way we came by?"
The morning breeze blew.
"... argh."
"Yes, argh."
They sighed in unison.
"You guy sure look like you gotta lot on your load." The attendant from the stall was laughing, having overheard the entire conversation. "If you're not in a rush, you could always stay in the city and do some part-time for the money, you know."
"We ARE in a rush." The duo replied. Laguna continued snoring.
The attendant continued looking surprised and amused. Suddenly snapping out of that look, however, he glanced quickly around the environment and gestured for the both of them to gather closer. "There is," he said when the distance was close enough, "another option - a quicker one, though...
"... there's some big thing going on tonight at the palace, something about a really big performance." He breathed in. "I heard that they're lacking performers to do the big show..."
"You must be joking," Zidane laughed, "something as big as that would have the whole town's able and available young men and women clamouring for it already, wouldn't it? I doubt we'd even have standing ground for the audition."
"You're really buying this, aren't you." Cloud turned to look at his companion, who shrugged slightly and puckered his lips. The attendant once again laughed.
"That's the whole point why I'm telling you this, right, young men? The royal organizers are apparently rejecting every young folk who belongs to the continent of Galbadia alone, denying that there is even a problem with the event. The townsfolks aren't blind or deaf, unfortunately, and they won't buy it. That's why tonight will be quite the deciding factor - the people of Galbadia will not take this kingdom anymore if they find that it is led by no one by a deceitful creed. I heard that they will allow audiences if you weren't people of Galbadia. Maybe you guys can try."
The blond headed mercenary and thief merely exchanged glances. "That is a lot of information stemming from one of the supposed unhappy townsfolk." Cloud turned sideways and looked at the man from the corner of his eye.
Chuckling, the man tapped his pen rythmatically on the table.
"Maybe, just maybe, I feel that there is still hope for this kingdom... more than there would be hope if the Sorceress indeed took over..."
"We are grateful." Cloud smiled nevertheless, noticing that the Sorceress was involved in this event, meaning that it would be better if they got themselves involved too. "Thank you for the information."
"No problem, lads!" The attendant grinned. "Just remember to buy those 20 worth petrol from me when you get your paycheck!"
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They walked in silence for the most part of the journey - partly due to fatigue, but mostly due to frustration. There was nothing to hear, but the buzzing of the busy afternoon city bazaar, and the trudging of the people's feet along the sandy pathways of Galbadia City. Zidane turned to look at the sky, and saw a faint rim of white. That must be Gaia, he thought to himself.
"What do you think?" Cloud's voice made him turn back from the sky. "What should our next step be?"
"..." went the monkey boy for a while. "... I honestly don't know, Cloud. I don't even know if we'll see Squall and Kuja again." He stopped walking and stood still on the ground, making Cloud stop to turn back and look at him. The boy was visibly troubled.
"... Do you think we'll see them again?" He finally asked.
Cloud almost laughed.
"They're alive." He shrugged and looked away, smiling faintly; almost as if he was comforting himself. "We still need to go tour Squall's Garden, remember?"
Zidane looked at him as if he was crazy. "I never knew Squall had a garden."
"Yeah, whatever." Cloud rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about those two bozos, they can take care of themselves. Hey, we might just bump into them around the corner, for all we know."
"Hah hah." The monkey boy crossed his arms and continued walking. Somehow, that laugh was devoid of all mirth. They walked together for a while until Zidane stopped and looked at the skies again. Cloud groaned, turning around. What was it that people had so much to think about? Walking was just walking, wasn't it?
"What's the matter *now*?" The blond mercenary spared no efforts in making his tone sound as assertive as he could muster. "Is there a strange machine in the sky or something? Why do you keep looking up?"
"I was just thinking..." Zidane frowned and upturned his lips. "... haven't we... forgotten something?"
Cloud looked at the skies as well - realizing that it did help facilitate thinking, since the sky was not as distracting as moving people. He thought long and hard.
A little while later, two people breathed really sharply and turned to look at one another.
"Laguna!!"
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< br> "Where am I?" The raven-haired boy scratched his head and continued walking, glancing from left to right. "Where's Cloud and Zidane?" He kept pushing the taller adults away in irritation. "And why are there so many people here?!! - OOF!"
The knock into an incoming adult sent him reeling all the way to outer space and back. By the time he regained focus there were tiny planets and stars circling his head. He had to shake really hard to get them back to where they came from in outer space.
Amidst the hurrying people who were purchasing their wares quickly before the bazaar ended it's day, the person who had knocked into Laguna stood out as a stark contrast in movement, action and especially in aura. Laguna found himself unable to take his eyes off the stranger - who was regarding him with a doubtful expression. Finally, he gracefully swept downwards and offered a hand to the boy with a rather evil looking smirk on his face. It was not that he had any evil intention in mind, Laguna decided, as he grabbed the hand and heaved himself up, it almost seemed as if this guy had been evilly smirking all his life and just could not kick the habit.
"Thanks, mister!" Laguna smiled happily. He was about to walk away when he noticed the stranger still staring at him weirdly. Something was definitely amiss. "Is there something wrong, sir?"
The silver-haired stranger looked away - as if he was embarassed, but quickly regained his composure and asked, "Are you... by any chance, surnamed Leonhart?"
The boy stayed in his position for a few seconds, pondering the possible ways of answering that question and wondering about their consequences. Eventually he shrugged, and said, "Nope, my name is Laguna, Laguna Loire, not Leonhart. I don't know anybody by that name, too."
"Oh." The stranger looked apprehensive. "Well, the formalities are in place, so it is in my best interest to introduce myself as well - my name is Kuja." He bowed slightly, making Laguna wonder if he was by any way related to royalty. "There is a performance at the royal grounds this evening, and I will be performing."
"You're an actor??" Laguna practically squealed. "COOL! Can I go see, can I??"
"Why, of course you may." Kuja laughed. "The world is invited." There was still that shadow of apprehension clouding his features, though, when he looked at Laguna again. Nevertheless, he smiled and asked, "Are you alone on the streets? It is quite dangerous around this time of the day at the bazaars..." Feline eyes darted from side to side to disarm any wannabe-pickpockets by the stare alone.
"Well..." Laguna scratched the back of his head again, laughing nervously, "... I'm kindda lost, you see. I came with these two blond guys, but we lost each other on the way here... at least, that's what I think happened." Laguna shrugged and grinned. "I think they should be out of their minds looking for me now, coz I'm the only one who knows the way back to the Shelter!"
"Did you just say," Kuja interupted the boy in mid-stammer, "... two blond guys?"
To this, Laguna nodded eagerly. "The best! They accompanied me all the way here to get some petrol so we can continue moving to Timber. Cloud has this really spikey hair that defies all senses of gravity, but he's really cool! Zidane's cool too, and he's nice to talk with! I really like the tail too, I wonder how he fixes that there..."
Pausing for a breather, he noticed with discomfort that Kuja was now really looking at him with an expression which denoted ill intentions. But Laguna had long decided that Kuja was just born that way, so he dispelled the thoughts and waited for Kuja to speak instead. It did not take long, for Kuja was bubbling with things to say.
"Cloud and Zidane? They're here too?" The silver-haired man almost exclaimed. A small grin tugged at the edges of his mouth. Laguna only nodded in response.
"You know them?" The boy asked warily.
"Know them?" Kuja practically scoffed. 'We dropped down from the moon together!' was hardly the right thing to say, however, so he simply replied, "We're... in the same acting troupe!" He waved a hand in front of his face to hide the fact that he was flushing from the outright misinformation. "They went out to... explore the world some time back and we never heard from them again! Are they going to get it from me when I see them..." His eyes were already glinting with limitless thoughts of doom. "... so, where are they?"
"I don't know, mister, I thought I told you that already." Laguna grinned and shrugged. So Cloud and Zidane were actors who explored the world but got lost somewhere in the middle! This was all so exciting! "But they'll be in Galbadia City until they find me, that I know for sure." The confident reply gave even Kuja a sweatdrop. The ex-villian then checked the skies and pouted a little.
"Well, Laguna, I haven't got all day because I have some preparations to make before the evening arrives... Why don't you come with me? The performance is grand-scale and will be sure to attract everybody within the city. I'm sure it'll attract Cloud and Squall too." He then winked purposefully at the boy. "Maybe you can land a role somewhere in the script, too."
At this, Laguna perked up considerably. "Sure! Why not?" He ran towards the already walking Kuja, and together they travelled the rest of the journey back to the palace.
Even though he was starkly different in personality, Kuja could not help but put the two together. While joking and laughing with the boy en route, his mind was on but one thought...
*I wonder what Squall's reaction will be... ?*
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"..................... .........................."
"Stop that, Squall. I'll go deaf sooner or later, the rate you're keeping quiet..." Zidane grumbled to his dark-haired companion, Cloud trudging along close behind. He was merely offered a curt glance.
"... I'm sorry, but I really didn't expect to bump into you guys just around the corner." Squall mumbled with a pokered face, garnering sweatdrops from the other two guys, as they remembered the earlier 'around the corner' joke.
"So where're you taking us now?" Cloud, who had been rather quiet from since turning the corner and hitting Squall right on the forehead, spoke up.
"The palace."
"The WHAT?"
"Palace, he said 'palace', Zidane."
"I know, 'palace', but WHY the palace? We haven't done anything wrong!"
"Relax, we're not going there because you've done anything wrong. Kuja and I are actually staying there temporarily. We're also helping the King do a performance tonight at the palace grounds..." He trailed off, half embarassed.
"Is this also the same performance that will determine the people's decision about the fate of the kingdom?" Cloud turned his face to a side and asked, recalling the car attendant's words that morning.
Squall simply nodded. "Really well-informed, aren't we."
"But Cloud, what about Laguna?" Zidane turned back to ask the blond mercenary, effectively pausing time and space for the one and only Squall Leonhart. He halted immediately, but otherwise did nothing to convey his absolute shock. Not noticing the discrepancy in action, Cloud and Zidane walked on. "We still haven't found him, you know. We're supposed to go back tonight with the petrol..."
"I know," Cloud was saying, "but look at it this way, this performance thingie is really big, according to various sources, so Laguna should hear about it, and maybe he'll come and watch. We'll keep a lookout for him until then. Unless you have anymore better ideas, that is."
While they continued debating, Squall slowly recovered from his shock and walked behind the duo noiselessly, listening in with the slightest bit of interest. This was the first name he had heard from since arriving at Terra that might be connected to his time and dimension. He wondered if it was the correct Laguna, and even if it was, was it even the correct time. Not willing to divulge his part of the story until he was entirely sure, Squall continued this way all the way to the palace.
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"Is he back yet?" Kuja asked the guard who stood at the palace gates.
"Who, sir?" The guard politely questioned.
"Squall, the moody teenager who went out with me this morning." Kuja expounded.
"Oh!" The guard remembered. "No, sir, he is not back from his errands yet. I have not seen him walk this way since he exited this morning."
Kuja nodded, bowing slightly out of pure instinct and habit. "Thank you for the information." He then walked into the palace, followed by a bubbling Laguna, who observed everybody in the household buzzing with activity, preparing for the oncoming performance.
"Say, Laguna," Kuja waved at the little boy, "I'll be putting some things away for the time being. You try not to get lost among the throngs, okay?" He smiled. Laguna gave him the thumbs-up in agreement. With that, the ex-villian disappeared into the palace proper.
The dark-haired boy turned a full round to inspect the busy place, eyes wide and jaws gaped.
"This place is big..." He breathed. Wandering along the paths of servants who were running errands and generally making up the palace, he had to swerve to avoid the occasional servant-running-astray as well as the frequent falling decoradum. It looked from outside, a festive occasion involving the entire household of servants and masters alike, but a keen sense of instinct told Laguna that something else was hidden beneath the thin veil of appearance the people were trying to give. Something just didn't feel right.
He turned this way and that, until he finally reached a contrastingly more silent part of the palace grounds. It was peaceful, and overgrown with long grass, weeds, the occasional flower or two and some really huge trees. He wondered briefly if he hadn't walked out of the palace into some unkept park or another, but decided that it couldn't be so.
Finding a log, he rested.
As the sky slowly turned a beautiful shade of orange, soft, tinkering sounds of a piano floated into the ears of the resting boy. He listened to the halting keys being pressed, until finally they seemed to have come to a rest. Getting up and gently treading through the grass to a wall where there was a window about two storeys upwards, Laguna wondered what he should do.
He shrugged, then clapped as loudly as he could, hoping the player of the piano could hear the applause.
After a while, a head poked out of the window to look at him, but due to the glaring rays of the sun, he could not see the face.
"Hey there!" Laguna grinned and struck a pose. "You were the one playing the piano, weren't you?"
Although he squinted, he could not catch the reaction of the listener. Judging from the fact that he/she had not turned away from the window, he continued, "That was some spiffy work you know! I could never tinker a piano like that, I tell 'ya." He grinned again. "You'll make it big one day, I just know it!"
"Laguna!" Kuja's head poked from around the corner. "Thought you'd be here." He almost grinned to himself. This was a quiet corner of the palace Squall had taken to during the time he had spent here. For some weird reason or another he knew he'd find Laguna here almost as if he was sure he'd find Squall here had the latter been in the palace. "Come on, the performance is kicking up."
The boy ran after Kuja, but looked back at the window, where he had seen someone poke his/her head out of. "Hey, I hope I can hear you play some other time! See you around!"
With that, he bounded out of the area.
And up at the 2nd storey, Julia sat beside the window, with a huge smile set on her face as she tried to catch the last glimpses of the dark-haired boy. She went back to her piano, and practiced harder than she thought was needed.
Maybe, just maybe, she could really play for that boy one day.
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saikai datta
1/10/01
http://cloud-is.ourfamily.com/
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sore kara...
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saikai da
When the threesome - lead by their brave and strong leader Laguna finally arrived at the city of Galbadia, it was because it was already daybreak, and there was light. Needless to say all three were more or less tired over walking aimlessly for the entire night. Laguna very promptly fell dead asleep on the streets, leaving Cloud and Zidane no choice but to pluck him off the road and toss him over the shoulder while they proceeded to search for oil and petrol. Not two steps from the entrance of the city was the car station.
"'Morning!" The attendant behind the car accessories stall greeted cheerily, when he noticed the duo walking towards the store. The other assistants were busy unfolding the stand-up promotion sign outside the stall and unlocking the store. "How can I help you?" He grinned happily.
"Um, good morning." Cloud relieved himself of Laguna by throwing him to the unawares Zidane, causing both of them to tumble to the ground. "How much petrol do we need to make it to... um, Timber?"
"Timber?" The attendant raised an eyebrow in confusion. Timber was on the further west of Galbadia continent. "Where in the world did you guys come from?"
Cloud blinked twice in confusion. "We drove here on a vehicle-boat. I think the place we came from was called Centra, or something."
"Centra?" The attendant was even more bewildered. "You know, I'll be damned or something, but if you DID drove-floated here on a vehicle-boat, Timber should be your first stop, and NOT Galbadia city! What in the world happened?"
"Oh, you don't wanna know." Cloud began patting his inventory for gil. "We spent MOST of our time floating around the sea, when a certain dark-haired boy insisted on learning how to 'man the ship'..." he grumbled softly, throwing knowing looks over at Laguna, who was still sleeping on the ground, Zidane having given up trying to make him sit a long time ago, "... I suppose somehow everything got screwed up and stuff, but here we are, on the northern tip of the continent, out of oil and petrol, but still wanting to go to Timber..."
The attendant was listening intently, nodding his head with sympathy. It appeared that he was experienced with this brand of road idiots, enough so that he could actually empathize. At the back of his head, professional instincts kicked in and calculations began to manifest themselves. "Well if Timber is your final destination," he stroked his chin in thought, "I'd suggest you get at least 20 worth of petrol. Never know when we might end up drive-floating the wrong direction, do we?" He winked. Cloud merely laughed good-naturedly.
"Give me a moment, sir." He turned towards Zidane, who looked up from the ground with a bored expression on his face. "Zidane, you... got any gil on you or something?"
The confused monkey allowed that question to sink in for a while before turning in all directions, patting on pockets, hidden pockets, concealed pockets, and pockets he didn't even know existed. He came up with a measly 1000++ gil.
"I was under the impression that you handed the gil to Squall." Zidane offered a lopsided smile, one that meant - good-gracious-i-hope-you-didn't. Cloud did a familiar careless shrug and smiled back almost in embarassment.
"You're right. I did."
The morning breeze blew.
"Great! And we forgot to ask some from old pops in the car!" Zidane found that he couldn't stop smiling, as he put a hand to his forehead. "So how now? Sprint back and get the money?"
"We could do that." Cloud lifted a finger and pointed at Sleeping Laguna. "But do you remember the way we came by?"
The morning breeze blew.
"... argh."
"Yes, argh."
They sighed in unison.
"You guy sure look like you gotta lot on your load." The attendant from the stall was laughing, having overheard the entire conversation. "If you're not in a rush, you could always stay in the city and do some part-time for the money, you know."
"We ARE in a rush." The duo replied. Laguna continued snoring.
The attendant continued looking surprised and amused. Suddenly snapping out of that look, however, he glanced quickly around the environment and gestured for the both of them to gather closer. "There is," he said when the distance was close enough, "another option - a quicker one, though...
"... there's some big thing going on tonight at the palace, something about a really big performance." He breathed in. "I heard that they're lacking performers to do the big show..."
"You must be joking," Zidane laughed, "something as big as that would have the whole town's able and available young men and women clamouring for it already, wouldn't it? I doubt we'd even have standing ground for the audition."
"You're really buying this, aren't you." Cloud turned to look at his companion, who shrugged slightly and puckered his lips. The attendant once again laughed.
"That's the whole point why I'm telling you this, right, young men? The royal organizers are apparently rejecting every young folk who belongs to the continent of Galbadia alone, denying that there is even a problem with the event. The townsfolks aren't blind or deaf, unfortunately, and they won't buy it. That's why tonight will be quite the deciding factor - the people of Galbadia will not take this kingdom anymore if they find that it is led by no one by a deceitful creed. I heard that they will allow audiences if you weren't people of Galbadia. Maybe you guys can try."
The blond headed mercenary and thief merely exchanged glances. "That is a lot of information stemming from one of the supposed unhappy townsfolk." Cloud turned sideways and looked at the man from the corner of his eye.
Chuckling, the man tapped his pen rythmatically on the table.
"Maybe, just maybe, I feel that there is still hope for this kingdom... more than there would be hope if the Sorceress indeed took over..."
"We are grateful." Cloud smiled nevertheless, noticing that the Sorceress was involved in this event, meaning that it would be better if they got themselves involved too. "Thank you for the information."
"No problem, lads!" The attendant grinned. "Just remember to buy those 20 worth petrol from me when you get your paycheck!"
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They walked in silence for the most part of the journey - partly due to fatigue, but mostly due to frustration. There was nothing to hear, but the buzzing of the busy afternoon city bazaar, and the trudging of the people's feet along the sandy pathways of Galbadia City. Zidane turned to look at the sky, and saw a faint rim of white. That must be Gaia, he thought to himself.
"What do you think?" Cloud's voice made him turn back from the sky. "What should our next step be?"
"..." went the monkey boy for a while. "... I honestly don't know, Cloud. I don't even know if we'll see Squall and Kuja again." He stopped walking and stood still on the ground, making Cloud stop to turn back and look at him. The boy was visibly troubled.
"... Do you think we'll see them again?" He finally asked.
Cloud almost laughed.
"They're alive." He shrugged and looked away, smiling faintly; almost as if he was comforting himself. "We still need to go tour Squall's Garden, remember?"
Zidane looked at him as if he was crazy. "I never knew Squall had a garden."
"Yeah, whatever." Cloud rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about those two bozos, they can take care of themselves. Hey, we might just bump into them around the corner, for all we know."
"Hah hah." The monkey boy crossed his arms and continued walking. Somehow, that laugh was devoid of all mirth. They walked together for a while until Zidane stopped and looked at the skies again. Cloud groaned, turning around. What was it that people had so much to think about? Walking was just walking, wasn't it?
"What's the matter *now*?" The blond mercenary spared no efforts in making his tone sound as assertive as he could muster. "Is there a strange machine in the sky or something? Why do you keep looking up?"
"I was just thinking..." Zidane frowned and upturned his lips. "... haven't we... forgotten something?"
Cloud looked at the skies as well - realizing that it did help facilitate thinking, since the sky was not as distracting as moving people. He thought long and hard.
A little while later, two people breathed really sharply and turned to look at one another.
"Laguna!!"
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< br> "Where am I?" The raven-haired boy scratched his head and continued walking, glancing from left to right. "Where's Cloud and Zidane?" He kept pushing the taller adults away in irritation. "And why are there so many people here?!! - OOF!"
The knock into an incoming adult sent him reeling all the way to outer space and back. By the time he regained focus there were tiny planets and stars circling his head. He had to shake really hard to get them back to where they came from in outer space.
Amidst the hurrying people who were purchasing their wares quickly before the bazaar ended it's day, the person who had knocked into Laguna stood out as a stark contrast in movement, action and especially in aura. Laguna found himself unable to take his eyes off the stranger - who was regarding him with a doubtful expression. Finally, he gracefully swept downwards and offered a hand to the boy with a rather evil looking smirk on his face. It was not that he had any evil intention in mind, Laguna decided, as he grabbed the hand and heaved himself up, it almost seemed as if this guy had been evilly smirking all his life and just could not kick the habit.
"Thanks, mister!" Laguna smiled happily. He was about to walk away when he noticed the stranger still staring at him weirdly. Something was definitely amiss. "Is there something wrong, sir?"
The silver-haired stranger looked away - as if he was embarassed, but quickly regained his composure and asked, "Are you... by any chance, surnamed Leonhart?"
The boy stayed in his position for a few seconds, pondering the possible ways of answering that question and wondering about their consequences. Eventually he shrugged, and said, "Nope, my name is Laguna, Laguna Loire, not Leonhart. I don't know anybody by that name, too."
"Oh." The stranger looked apprehensive. "Well, the formalities are in place, so it is in my best interest to introduce myself as well - my name is Kuja." He bowed slightly, making Laguna wonder if he was by any way related to royalty. "There is a performance at the royal grounds this evening, and I will be performing."
"You're an actor??" Laguna practically squealed. "COOL! Can I go see, can I??"
"Why, of course you may." Kuja laughed. "The world is invited." There was still that shadow of apprehension clouding his features, though, when he looked at Laguna again. Nevertheless, he smiled and asked, "Are you alone on the streets? It is quite dangerous around this time of the day at the bazaars..." Feline eyes darted from side to side to disarm any wannabe-pickpockets by the stare alone.
"Well..." Laguna scratched the back of his head again, laughing nervously, "... I'm kindda lost, you see. I came with these two blond guys, but we lost each other on the way here... at least, that's what I think happened." Laguna shrugged and grinned. "I think they should be out of their minds looking for me now, coz I'm the only one who knows the way back to the Shelter!"
"Did you just say," Kuja interupted the boy in mid-stammer, "... two blond guys?"
To this, Laguna nodded eagerly. "The best! They accompanied me all the way here to get some petrol so we can continue moving to Timber. Cloud has this really spikey hair that defies all senses of gravity, but he's really cool! Zidane's cool too, and he's nice to talk with! I really like the tail too, I wonder how he fixes that there..."
Pausing for a breather, he noticed with discomfort that Kuja was now really looking at him with an expression which denoted ill intentions. But Laguna had long decided that Kuja was just born that way, so he dispelled the thoughts and waited for Kuja to speak instead. It did not take long, for Kuja was bubbling with things to say.
"Cloud and Zidane? They're here too?" The silver-haired man almost exclaimed. A small grin tugged at the edges of his mouth. Laguna only nodded in response.
"You know them?" The boy asked warily.
"Know them?" Kuja practically scoffed. 'We dropped down from the moon together!' was hardly the right thing to say, however, so he simply replied, "We're... in the same acting troupe!" He waved a hand in front of his face to hide the fact that he was flushing from the outright misinformation. "They went out to... explore the world some time back and we never heard from them again! Are they going to get it from me when I see them..." His eyes were already glinting with limitless thoughts of doom. "... so, where are they?"
"I don't know, mister, I thought I told you that already." Laguna grinned and shrugged. So Cloud and Zidane were actors who explored the world but got lost somewhere in the middle! This was all so exciting! "But they'll be in Galbadia City until they find me, that I know for sure." The confident reply gave even Kuja a sweatdrop. The ex-villian then checked the skies and pouted a little.
"Well, Laguna, I haven't got all day because I have some preparations to make before the evening arrives... Why don't you come with me? The performance is grand-scale and will be sure to attract everybody within the city. I'm sure it'll attract Cloud and Squall too." He then winked purposefully at the boy. "Maybe you can land a role somewhere in the script, too."
At this, Laguna perked up considerably. "Sure! Why not?" He ran towards the already walking Kuja, and together they travelled the rest of the journey back to the palace.
Even though he was starkly different in personality, Kuja could not help but put the two together. While joking and laughing with the boy en route, his mind was on but one thought...
*I wonder what Squall's reaction will be... ?*
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"..................... .........................."
"Stop that, Squall. I'll go deaf sooner or later, the rate you're keeping quiet..." Zidane grumbled to his dark-haired companion, Cloud trudging along close behind. He was merely offered a curt glance.
"... I'm sorry, but I really didn't expect to bump into you guys just around the corner." Squall mumbled with a pokered face, garnering sweatdrops from the other two guys, as they remembered the earlier 'around the corner' joke.
"So where're you taking us now?" Cloud, who had been rather quiet from since turning the corner and hitting Squall right on the forehead, spoke up.
"The palace."
"The WHAT?"
"Palace, he said 'palace', Zidane."
"I know, 'palace', but WHY the palace? We haven't done anything wrong!"
"Relax, we're not going there because you've done anything wrong. Kuja and I are actually staying there temporarily. We're also helping the King do a performance tonight at the palace grounds..." He trailed off, half embarassed.
"Is this also the same performance that will determine the people's decision about the fate of the kingdom?" Cloud turned his face to a side and asked, recalling the car attendant's words that morning.
Squall simply nodded. "Really well-informed, aren't we."
"But Cloud, what about Laguna?" Zidane turned back to ask the blond mercenary, effectively pausing time and space for the one and only Squall Leonhart. He halted immediately, but otherwise did nothing to convey his absolute shock. Not noticing the discrepancy in action, Cloud and Zidane walked on. "We still haven't found him, you know. We're supposed to go back tonight with the petrol..."
"I know," Cloud was saying, "but look at it this way, this performance thingie is really big, according to various sources, so Laguna should hear about it, and maybe he'll come and watch. We'll keep a lookout for him until then. Unless you have anymore better ideas, that is."
While they continued debating, Squall slowly recovered from his shock and walked behind the duo noiselessly, listening in with the slightest bit of interest. This was the first name he had heard from since arriving at Terra that might be connected to his time and dimension. He wondered if it was the correct Laguna, and even if it was, was it even the correct time. Not willing to divulge his part of the story until he was entirely sure, Squall continued this way all the way to the palace.
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"Is he back yet?" Kuja asked the guard who stood at the palace gates.
"Who, sir?" The guard politely questioned.
"Squall, the moody teenager who went out with me this morning." Kuja expounded.
"Oh!" The guard remembered. "No, sir, he is not back from his errands yet. I have not seen him walk this way since he exited this morning."
Kuja nodded, bowing slightly out of pure instinct and habit. "Thank you for the information." He then walked into the palace, followed by a bubbling Laguna, who observed everybody in the household buzzing with activity, preparing for the oncoming performance.
"Say, Laguna," Kuja waved at the little boy, "I'll be putting some things away for the time being. You try not to get lost among the throngs, okay?" He smiled. Laguna gave him the thumbs-up in agreement. With that, the ex-villian disappeared into the palace proper.
The dark-haired boy turned a full round to inspect the busy place, eyes wide and jaws gaped.
"This place is big..." He breathed. Wandering along the paths of servants who were running errands and generally making up the palace, he had to swerve to avoid the occasional servant-running-astray as well as the frequent falling decoradum. It looked from outside, a festive occasion involving the entire household of servants and masters alike, but a keen sense of instinct told Laguna that something else was hidden beneath the thin veil of appearance the people were trying to give. Something just didn't feel right.
He turned this way and that, until he finally reached a contrastingly more silent part of the palace grounds. It was peaceful, and overgrown with long grass, weeds, the occasional flower or two and some really huge trees. He wondered briefly if he hadn't walked out of the palace into some unkept park or another, but decided that it couldn't be so.
Finding a log, he rested.
As the sky slowly turned a beautiful shade of orange, soft, tinkering sounds of a piano floated into the ears of the resting boy. He listened to the halting keys being pressed, until finally they seemed to have come to a rest. Getting up and gently treading through the grass to a wall where there was a window about two storeys upwards, Laguna wondered what he should do.
He shrugged, then clapped as loudly as he could, hoping the player of the piano could hear the applause.
After a while, a head poked out of the window to look at him, but due to the glaring rays of the sun, he could not see the face.
"Hey there!" Laguna grinned and struck a pose. "You were the one playing the piano, weren't you?"
Although he squinted, he could not catch the reaction of the listener. Judging from the fact that he/she had not turned away from the window, he continued, "That was some spiffy work you know! I could never tinker a piano like that, I tell 'ya." He grinned again. "You'll make it big one day, I just know it!"
"Laguna!" Kuja's head poked from around the corner. "Thought you'd be here." He almost grinned to himself. This was a quiet corner of the palace Squall had taken to during the time he had spent here. For some weird reason or another he knew he'd find Laguna here almost as if he was sure he'd find Squall here had the latter been in the palace. "Come on, the performance is kicking up."
The boy ran after Kuja, but looked back at the window, where he had seen someone poke his/her head out of. "Hey, I hope I can hear you play some other time! See you around!"
With that, he bounded out of the area.
And up at the 2nd storey, Julia sat beside the window, with a huge smile set on her face as she tried to catch the last glimpses of the dark-haired boy. She went back to her piano, and practiced harder than she thought was needed.
Maybe, just maybe, she could really play for that boy one day.
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saikai datta
1/10/01
http://cloud-is.ourfamily.com/