Final Fantasy VIII
The GF With The Machine Gun
By Sephiroth
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII and all characters
therein are owned by SquareSoft. All rights are
theirs and not mine. I am not getting any money
for this endeavor, though my husband is keeping
my supply of mechanically separated chicken
well-stocked.

No Moombas were harmed in the making of this
fic.
--------------------------------------------------
-Chapter Two-
"Regarding The Heartache of Squall Leonhart and the
Grief of the City of Esthar."


Squall surged forward with his gunblade, his father's dogtags 
dangling from his wrist. This monster could not be allowed to
live. Not after it had destroyed the world's most precious gift.
He ducked low and continued to run toward the beast as 
lashed its claws at him. He was lifted and thrown back 
several feet. He picked up the dogtags, which had fallen from 
his wrist, and noticed the inscription written upon them.

"Desperado..." he read quietly to himself. He wondered why his
father had chosen to place the name of his ultimate attack on
the back of his dogtags. It seemed like an odd thing to put there.

Then he heard the sound of that attack. But Laguna was dead. 
So how could...

Looking up, Squall saw Laguna circle the great beast, firing his
machine gun in its general direction. He spotted the grenade 
and leapt out of the way just as it went off.

Squall stared at Laguna. "I thought..."  he began. Before he could
complete his sentence, however, Laguna gave a cheerful wave, 
then vanished.

Squall made one final attack on the monster, who was greatly 
weakened by Laguna's Desperado attack. Then, as the great beast
faded into nothingness, Squall saw Laguna lying there, in a pool of
blood. He raced over to him, trying to awaken him. He was alive, wasn't
he? Hadn't he just helped defeat the monster? 

"Father," Squall lifted Laguna into his arms, noticing the severed spine,
and the other injuries. They were the same wounds that Laguna had
suffered before Squall had arrived. So how had he performed Desperado?
How could he do anything of the sort in that condition. Even if he'd lived,
the paralysis would have prohibited the pushoff he'd need to swing the 
rope around the beast. 

Even if he'd lived. The words cut into the barriers around Squall's heart in
a way that none ever had before. HIs father was dead. He had thought that
being apart from Laguna for his whole life would shield him from any feelings
when the time came for Laguna to pass on. It hadn't. Instead, it hurt worse.
Now, all the missed opportunities, all the lost times, filled him with a grief more
intense than he had ever know. He wept as only one man had ever wept 
before, clasping the lifeless body of the Estharian President to his bossom
and rocking back and forth, a slow, sorrowful dance to the music of his grief.

People quickly gathered around, breaking down into tears when they realized
their beloved President was now forever lost to them. Their sobs joined with
Squall's, becoming a symphony of sorrow which echoed throughout the beautiful
city

Someone must have called a coroner. Squall could hear the approaching siren.
He had to be pried away from Laguna's body. He felt a pair of strong arms lead
him away. He followed, not caring who was leading him nor where they would
eventually end up.

(TBC...)





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