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[Neither Raine nor Laguna are particularly inclined to sleep in very often, but no matter how much of an early riser you are, small children always seem to beat you out, like they have a sixth sense for it and want the chance to pounce you beneath the covers before you can wake yourself. Laguna finds himself treated to one such occasion, opening one eye to examine the weight pressing on his left arm and finding that Slai has crawled into bed between the two of them. He carefully rolls over onto his side to allow her more room, not wanting to jostle Raine. She needs all the sleep she can get. He rubs the sleep from his eyes, putting a hand against Slai's shoulder.]

Hey there, sweetie. Bad dreams?

[She shakes her head.] I can't find Elle.

You what? [He checks the clock. Still early, much too early for Ellone to have gotten up of her own accord.] Maybe she just couldn't sleep. She might be downstairs. We can go find her together.

She's not anywhere. I looked all over the house an' looked out at the yard.

[Laguna frowned. He got the foreboding sense that this might be the start of another Wild Elle Chase.]

We'll find her. She can't be far.

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[Raine's out sound for once, exhausted from Brooke having some fussy nights. The sounds of voices is all it takes to stir her though. She's got mom-senses.]

What is it?

Slai can't find Elle. [He's hesitant to use the word 'missing,' especially in front of Slai, not wanting to panic her, but the implication is certainly there. He runs a hand through his bed-rumpled hair and sits up, gingerly setting Slai down beside him.]

I'm gonna go have a look.

[The last time Elle went missing, Laguna ran off to Esthar and Raine never saw him again. She sits up in the bed, heart racing, although she's trying her best to appear calm for Slai's sake.]

Maybe I should help.

[He nods once, making a huge effort to remain as calm as he possibly can.]

Good idea. It's only been since last night, right? She can't be far.

[Even so, he makes quick work of getting out of bed and groping around for a shirt.]

Slai, honey? Can you keep an eye on Brooke for us? I'll stay close to the house. Just let me know if she wakes up.

[Raine's reaching for a robe herself, not even bothering with ditching the PJs.]

I'll give the yard and the orchard a look, Laguna.

I'll check the rest of the house and the cellar, then the barn.

[He pulls a tee-shirt on over his head before hurrying towards the door, doing all he can to keep from breaking into a full run.]

[Raine's hot on his heels, trying her best to put on the facade of calm for Slai's sake, but she feels anything but. Maybe that woman that drove them here in the first place found them. She makes for their flourishing orchard, ducking and getting on her tiptoes to look for any sign of their errant daughter.]

Ellone!

[Laguna starts calling for her once he hits the first floor of the house, quickly going through it room by room before ducking into the cellar. No sign of her there, either. He heads out back, letting the door slam behind him as he runs towards the barn.]

Ellone!

[Combing every inch of the property proves fruitless. Raine's not sure if she's been taken again, if she's vanished, or what. Finally in a desperate move, she whips out her phone and tries Ellone's number.]

Please pick up...

[It takes her a while to actually realize her phone's ringing, but eventually she does... and gulps. Hrn, guess they didn't find her note. Time to move out of the cave so Matoya doesn't get on her case about conversations where everyone can hear and no one cares.]

...Hello? [Oh, Hyne help her, she's going to be in so much trouble.]

[She's still on Gaia!]

Ellone! Thank goodness! We thought...

Where are you?!

Did you... not see my note? I did leave one this time.

[sob, pathetic distraction.]

I'm with Rinoa, Squall, and Matoya.

[Inteeentionally leaving out Marlene's name right now or that'll get aaaawkward questions she's not even sure Laguna knows the answers to anymore.]

I'm fine, really. Don't worry about me.

You just left? Without telling us?

[Notes do not count, missy.]

Do you have any idea what this did to Slai? What in the world are you doing with... Matoya? Who is that?

It was spur of the moment and important!

[More of less. She pauses. Sob, she's 24-years-old! Guilting should not be part of the deal still!]

We're sending people home if they really want to go.

You're... WHAT?!

[Siiigh. She'd expected that.]

Only the people who really want to go back and have nothing to live for here. It's not like we're picking people and throwing them randomly.

Ellone...

[You hear that tone? Mom does not approve. However, she's got the presence of mind to cover the phone for a second.]

Laguna? Laguna, I found her!

Elle, Slai got scared. We thought...

[Well Ellone can probably figure out what they thought happened to her. Vanishing off Gaia was the least of their fears.]

[sob. She winces on the other side of the phone.]

I'm sorry. It's just... it was really fast and I had to go talk to people, so I didn't get a chance to tell you. I'll be back as soon as I can. Promise.

[pause.]

And you can ground me when I get back if that'll help. [She sounds both mildly amused and understanding.]

[Laguna's own search is interrupted by Raine's calling for him; he stops immediately and races towards her, seeing that she's on the phone. ... oh. He should have thought of that. But when it comes to his family, he automatically fears the worst.]

You found her? Is she okay?!

Here, you can talk to her. She ran off again.

[Raine's only angry because she's scared. Holding the phone out for the taking now.]

[And here we see a rare glimpse of the elusive Laguna Lineface. He frowns as he takes the phone from his wife, nodding once before putting it to his ear.]

Elle? Where are you?

[sob, she waits.]

I'm fine. Really. I'm with Rinoa, Squall, Marlene, her knight, and Matoya.

[Yeeeeep, that's where your little baby is.]

[LINEFACE.]

Sounds like quite a crew. Couldn't let us know before you took off? We've been worried about you, y'know! People go missing here all the time!

[It's an affectionate scolding, honey, he swears.]

It was a little spur of the moment and I knew you wouldn't let me go if I told you.

[What? She can be upfront with him. And she's totally wearing her own lineface.]

I can take care of myself. [Mostly.] And I did leave a note. It's not my fault that ran off.

[She's still going to sound a little pouty anyway.]

[He sighs heavily.]

Slai can't read. She crawled into bed with us this morning, scared that you were missing. At least call me after you run off next time so I know you're okay.

I will. Sorry about that. [ pause. ] Maybe we should teach her.

You think she's ready? We could do that--

[HE SEES WHAT YOU DID THERE.]

Don't try to distract me, young lady!

[SHE DID NOTHING.]

I wasn't-!

[Huff. She's totally giving him the arms folded over her chest while she pouts look on the other end of the phone.]

[He sighs again, shaking his head.]

Sorry. I understand why you did what you did.

And I'm sorry for worrying you. Tell Slai I'm sorry and I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?

Will do. Be safe out there, will you? We'll see you soon.

I will. You don't have to worry about me. [And hopefully, Raine won't be too mad at her.]

Alright. Call us if anything big happens!

I will! See you!

[He ends the call, turning his attention back to Raine.]

At least she's safe. I'm not thrilled that she ran off on us.

Neither am I. I'm not crazy about what she's doing either. I guess at least Squall is with her, but...

And here I thought he was supposed to be the responsible one. [He cracks a weak half-smile, even though he's worried about the both of them.]

I guess they're adults. But it's hard to think of them that way.

[Raine turns and hides her face against Laguna's chest, while holding onto him tightly. This morning frightened her more than she'll ever vocalize.]

It is. I still think of Squall as our beautiful baby I held before...

[Before she faded into a sleep she wouldn't wake from, before she ended up here.]

I love them both, but it's hard to reconcile that they're grown.

[He slides both arms around her, holding her tightly. He carefully lifts one hand to smooth her hair back, stroking it in an attempt to comfort her. Even if she's not saying so, he knows how much this scared her. It scared him, too.]

I know. It's a hard adjustment to make. [He's only known Squall as an adult... that's been a bit hard to swallow, even now.]

I mean, neither one of us is exactly old enough for grown kids, and... I missed so much. That's hard to come to terms with.

I missed a lot too.

[He nods slowly, kissing the top of her head afterward.]

But we love 'em just the same as if we'd been there all along. That counts.

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