[FFML] Final Fantasy VIII: The GF With The Machine Gun (part 3a)

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.
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-Chapter Three-

-Concerning the Moomba At The Presidential Funeral,
and How It Brought Grief Back to the Shumi Village-

A servant brushed dust from the black velvet curtains
as she helped to hang them in the window of the
Presidential Palace. Tears fell from her eyes as she listened
to the sounds of the room below her.

In that room, Kiros Seagill wiped a tear from his eyes as he
read over the speech for the funeral, making a few last minute
corrections. In one hour, the man he'd grown to love would be
in the ground. Never again would Kiros look upon the face
that brought joy into his eyes.

Kiros wasn't gay in the standard sense of the word. He hadn't
been looking for love in the arms of another man. But when
Laguna had come along, the man who'd sworn never to fall
in love had done just that.

The man had wanted to be a journalist, but never had the courage
to ask the tough questions. He'd joined the Galbadian Army to
learn self-confidence. as so many of his generation had done.

Kiros had taken Laguna under his wing and had trained him for
several months, trying to up his self-confidence. Then, Kiros had
taken shrapnel in his leg. Out of commission for several weeks, he'd
placed Laguna in charge of the platoon.

"I was fine, you know," he told the cold face, a lost dream that was
now framed by the harsh realitiy of a coffin. "Did I ever tell you that?
I wanted you to gain more self-confidence. That was why I remained
down for so long. And you did learn. You became my commanding
officer, not because you could order people around, but because you
found you had the knack for making them follow you without ordering
them around. Now I almost wish I'd never met you. Maybe you'd be a
shy flower salesman working the counter at your wife's shop? You'd
be just coming home right now, kissing her and asking if Squall had
called from college... or would he still have become a SeeD? Perhaps he
would have grown up at home. Then he'd be asking if he could use the
car. Or would you have married Julia? I think you two would have met
somehow, even without you having joined us. Losing you is the worst
thing that's happened to me in many years, my dear friend. I know I had
no right to love you, but I did, and I still do. I only wish."

"Laguna," the cheerful squeal came from the hallway. Kiros heard and went
to speak to the Moomba. The small furry creature was a close friend of
Laguna's.

The Moombas of the Shumi Village were the other people who Laguna had
emancipated. Working as laborers in the Galbadian prison, they knew Laguna
and secretly learned from him. He taught them to fight and even tried to teach
them how to speak. He'd felt that if he could teach them that, they'd be able
to blow the whistle on future exploiters. He hadn't gotten very far before he'd
started on the path that had led to Esthar, but he'd taught them his name, their
name, and one other word, the one he'd considered the most important word of
all. He'd taught them the word 'Love'.

Now the lips that had endeavored to teach the Moombas to speak, to free
them from the imprisonment of silence, were forever silent. Kiros hoped this
young Moomba would be able to deal with the death of his people's savior.

"Laguna!" the Moomba looked up at Kiros. This man was Laguna's friend. He
would take the Moomba to see Laguna, of that the furry creature was certain.

"Little Fellow," Kiros said, his eyes still wet with tears. "Please, come here. It is easier
for me to show you, for I cannot say the words."

The Moomba followed Kiros into the room whre the coffin was laid out. Bounding over
to the coffin, the curious creature peered within.

Startled, he fell back and landed on his rear end. He sat there, as a child who as fallen
while learning to walk, and then had begun to cry.

"You may stay for the funeral," Kiros invited. "I am sorry for you as I am for all the world."

"Laguna," the Moomba grieved. It rubbed its eyes with its paws, a sight that brought
Kiros's own grief back to mind. The tall man knelt by the Moomba and put his arms
around the small furry creature.

~What will you tell your peple,~ Kiros wondered as he stroked the Moomba's back. ~How
shall you tell them their savior is dead?~

(TBC...)