After seeing only dusty, cracked earth for miles of walking through the salt plains of Esthar, the smell of a thunderstorm was a welcome sensation--it meant water, and Laguna was thisty. Rain was something he missed dearly right now.

He smiled at the thought, realizing how that last statement could be seen as such a pun. Yes, even more than rain, he missed his wife, Raine, but knew he would not be returning to Winhill for weeks still. Unless by the chance of some miracle he found Ellone even earlier than expected, of course.

There was a run-down-looking town up ahead, which was a very good sign. Though he had barely learned a thing about Ellone's wherabouts, he knew that any place with people was somewhere he could ask questions, and also somewhere he could find a phone to call Winhill to check up on Raine. When he left, she had been seven months pregnant, and if the calendar on his watch still read correctly, she would be officially due in two days. He wished he could be home in time, but Ellone needed him even more than Raine did. Raine . . . he knew she was strong. She could take care of herself, and there was always Mrs. Worsey there to take care of her when she needed help. Ellone on the other hand . . . a child. Scared and alone, she needed all the help she could get. Especially now. . . he didn't want to think of what that bastard Odine could be doing to her.

Laguna's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud clash of thunder radiating from a black stormcloud in the west. He looked up just in time to see the last dying flickers of the lightning that had spiderwebbed from one cloud to another. Noticing how quickly the sky was darkening, he quickened his steps.

Reaching town only ten minutes later, he managed to duck into a local pub just as the first giant raindrops began to fall. He walked to the bar and, leaning on the counter, asked the overweight, scruffy man behind it, "Hey, can I make a phone call? It sort of an emergency."

"Uh . . . " the man put down the glass he was cleaning, "There's a pay phone in the corner, buddy. Use that."

"Sure, whatever." Laguna said lightly, waving his hand at the particularly unfriendly man as he turned to the phone and fished in his pocket for a half-gil. After ten minutes of searching, he finally found his cash in his back pocket, the last he could possibly have looked in. "Figures." he mumbled, throwing the coin in the slot and picking up the reciever. This was going to cost a lot more than a regular call--it was overseas, and he hoped Raine appreciated that. Even if she didn't, though, he wouldn't have been able to keep himself from checking up on her. With every blurred ring, he began to miss her voice more and more. The phone rang ten times, and just as he was about to hang up, there was a sharp click, cutting out the phone in mid-ring. The dim bar lights flickered out a few seconds later, as a loud crash of thunder was heard overhead, shaking the floor beneath Laguna's tired feet. He muttered a curse and headed for the door, watching his feet and wondering why Raine wasn't answering her phone and when the storm would stop. He hoped the town's hotel had vacancies tonight--there was no way he'd stay out in this storm longer than he had to. Travelling would have to wait for tomorrow. Just as he made his way to the door, he bumped rather hard into a tall lanky figure. He mumbled an automatic apology and continued on his way.

"Laguna??"

Laguna whipped around, surprised by the sound of his name, "Kiros??" he exclaimed, a smile on his face, "What are you doing here, man?" He slapped his friend's shoulder in a greeting and watched as his face changed from surprised glee to a mournful frown. Laguna's soon followed.

"Uh . . . well, looking for you, actually." Kiros replied, looking strangely uncomfortable, "Hey--I got a room at the hotel before comin' down here . . . think you could come back there with me? We've got to talk."

"You're damn right we do!" Laguna exclaimed, "We haven't seen each other in, like, almost a year!"

"Yeah . . .yeah." Kiros' voice trailed off as his eyes shifted from Laguna's face to where a bolt of lightning flashed, seemingly lost in thought. Laguna wondered what he could be thinking about--whatever it was, it looked bad. Kiros turned and headed out into the rain as that lightning bolt's thunder finally boomed over the pair, and Laguna followed, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets. He wanted to run to save his hair from going mizzo-frizzo, but Kiros walked, as though the pounding rain and thunder overhead weren't even there.

"Hey--what's wrong?" Laguna tried his best to be serious, tried to mask his still-present joy at seeing his friend. He wondered why it seemed Kiros didn't feel the same way.

Kiros turned his head to look at him, thin beaded braids clinking together as they fell over one shoulder. He didn't know how to answer that. He *could't* answer it right now. So he chose not to speak at all, his heart aching at the sight of the worried expression on Laguna's face. *Raine . . . I wonder if he even has a clue. I wish he did. That might make this easier.*

"Is . . . is Raine okay?" Laguna stuttered, basically as a precaution. "Cuz I know you stop by there once in a while to check up on her." No, Raine was probably fine. *Laguna, you're just being paranoid.*

"Yeah, about once a month when I could." Kiros replied, avoiding the question.

"Man, I really miss her. Absence makes the heart grow bigger, you know what I mean?"

"Uh . . ." Kiros sighed and shook his head--Laguna hadn't changed a bit. "I think you mean 'fonder.'"

Laguna dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Whichever."

As the pair made their way out of the rain, their clothes and hair soaked through, Laguna asked, "So, how is she? I tried to call, but she didn't answer."

Kiros didn't reply until they'd made their way up the tiny hotel's creaky staris to a dusty room that looked like it hadn't been slept in in years. He stood a foot or so from the wall as Laguna sat down on the edge of the small bed. Laguna forgot that he was soaking wet, his mind now occupied with the fact that his friend refused to answer any of his questions about Raine. He was about to ask about Raine again when Kiros finally spoke up: "Nobody answered because nobody's home."

Laguna became puzzled, his eyeborws pushed together as he tried to figure out what Kiros was trying to say to him. He asked the only obvious question that came to his mind: "Oh god, something happenned to her didn't it? . . . Where is she?"

Kiros remained standing, though his legs became weak with the dread of how hurt Laguna would be in the next few seconds. He wanted to grasp that moment and keep time *right there*, where Laguna was naiive, unaware of the emotions destined to follow his next words. The powers of Ellone would have been incredibly handy right now. He sighed . . . might was well be blunt. "She's . . she died, giving birth to your--"

No matter how soft the tone of Kiros' words, they still sliced right through Laguna's chest, each syllable tearing his heart to tatterred shreds.

"--son . . ."

Laguna stared at him for a few seconds, sure that this was some sort of sick joke. They always used to play jokes on each other . . . but one look at Kiros' face told him that he wasn't kidding around. *She's dead*. All other words were were a blur to him as he became caught up in the only two that seemed to matter.

"Her body rests--" Suddenly Laguna found himself on his feet and lunging at Kiros, found his hand at his throat, slamming him into the wall, not hard enough to hurt him, but hard enough to cause a rain of dust to fall from the ancient rafters above them. The heavy raindrops on the hotel's thin roof could be heard quite loudly in the minute of silence that followed. Kiros didn't fight him. He had half-expected this reaction, though it pained him just the same to see it.

"Laguna . . ."

"She's *not* dead." Laguna replied through clenched teeth, staring at Kiros with slitted eyes, their faces inches apart.

*Denial.* Kiros wasn't surprised by this either. He knew the feeling all too well; memories of the death of his father so many years ago were still clear in his mind. He had reacted the same way. Kiros kept his voice as calm as he could, hoping to offer comfort: "You know I wouldn't lie to you. I saw her laid to rest with my own eyes." Well, maybe not comforting, but at least it was the truth.

Laguna slowly drew back his shaking hand, swallowed a few times, and looked around at the floor, his eyes wide and darting back and forth as if he were lost--searching for something. They became glossy with tears as they finally came to rest back on Kiros' face. His mouth hung slightly open as he tried to think of which question to ask, as the expression on his face asked them all at once: *Where's the baby? What was it that killed her? Did she think I would be there? Did she pray that I'd show up, as I'd have done if ~I~ had lain on ~my~ deathbead? Did she know that if I could have been there I would have, and when I didn't come . . . did she hate me?* Despite all these queries, a quite unconcequencial one was what came from his lips: "How long ago?"

"Four days." Kiros replied quietly. "The funeral was yesterday. They would have waited longer if they thought I would find you first." He put a hand on his friend's soggy shoulder, only to have it shrugged off a second later. Laguna then walked out of the room, breaking into a run as he came to end of the stairs.

Kiros waited a minute before gong after him, knowing he wanted and deserved some time by himself. Upon being reminded of the raging storm outdoors by a loud crash of thunder, he decided to go after Laguna, in hopes of saving him from himself.

Raine always called upon Kiros when she needed to talk, and he was always happy to lend an ear, often staying up until dawn with her. Now, he wished more than anything that it had been Laguna she had spoken to, that somehow he could give Laguna all those memories that he deserved more. *Laguna was never around, and I was . . . she said that. She said she couldn't complain, though--he was searching for Ellone, someone they both loved very much.*

Laguna ran for the equivalent of a city block or so, his boots sloshing loudly in the mud puddles that covered the dirt road like a sheet, until finally sitting down on a curb, his head held low, beside an extremely tall tree. The tree was dead and leafless, barely offering any protection from the needle-raindrops that were driven into his skin by the raging wind.

Laguna slowly pulled his left hand from his pocket and held it up, his eyes resting upon the gold band around his ring finger. It was filthy--encrusted with grime and dusty dirt from the months of his travels. Water dripped from the charcoal ropes of his wind-matted hair onto it, washing a spot away. He took the ring off and rinsed it in a puddle, and it emerged as bright and shining as the day he had purchased it. He stared at it, beginning to bawl like a little baby despite how ashamed he felt, his head low to hide his reddenned face.

A minute later, a hand fell upon his shoulder. He looked up to see Kiros there, and then found that the rain was beginning to die down. Kiros sat down on the curb beside him, waiting for Laguna to talk, not wanting to seem like he was trying to pull anything out of him.

"What am I gonna do?" Laguna asked, his eyes wide and strangely blank, shocked, as he began to stare at nothing. His ring was in front of his eyes, but he wasn't looking at it. The world was a blur. Kiros didn't know how to answer him--he would have said the same thing were he in his friend's shoes. Thankfully, Laguna continued. "I mean, I can't go back . . . Ellone still needs me. I can't bail out on her. . ."

"Mrs. Worsey is going to take care of the baby until you get back. Take your time--she loves kids. You don't need to worry about that."

"I have a son." Laguna's words seemed more an echo, quiet and faraway. "I thought about this day so many times . . . I thought it would be happy." Another pause. Kiros chewed his lip. "Before, I always told myself I couldn't be a father on my own . . . it's true. I don't have a clue about kids. But Raine was there, and I knew she could . . . teach me. Without her, though . . . I'll be completely lost."

"I know, but you'll have the people in Winhill to help you . . ."

"I pictured our lives together, when I was walking all alone . . . that's how I'd spend my time." Laguna continued, seeming not to be listening, "To entertain myself. I *knew* dammit, I *knew* how happy we'd be, I could see it in my head, living on the road, the three of us seeing the sights in some motor home, and I could write to make money to support ourselves while we travelled. We were gonna be *happy*. I *expected* that much . . . Looks like I was counting my alligators before they hatched, huh?"

Kiros almost smiled, "I think you mean 'chickens'."

Laguna nodded sadly, "Yeah, I think I do."

"Look, Laguna, you can still do all those things."

"It wouldn't be the same."

"Then you could find someone else--"

"No." Laguna's voice was adamant yet quiet as he looked up at Kiros sharply. "I can't believe you think I'd--"

"You have to admit, you did after Julia--"

"I didn't *love* Julia, you dope!" Laguna yelled, his voice again getting shaky. He struggled with all his might to hold onto the sobs that tried to again tear from his throat.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have said that." Kiros said quietly. He couldn't believe he'd just said what he had.

Laguna shrugged. "I want to go inside."

Kiros nodded and stood, his hand on Laguna's arm to help him up. He staggered, then found his balance and began to walk, not following nor leading Kiros, just *walking* as the last few raindrops fell onto his head. The pair headed for the hotel, Kiros stopping in the bar for a second to buy a bottle of Tantal. He was sure Laguna would need it tonight.