A/N: For stripstripe, who liked to read about a Father's Day one-shot with little Squall in it. Squall's four years old here and that makes this piece AU. Hope you'll enjoy and a happy Father's Day to all! :D

Thanks: M. L. Ayala, for betaing this piece. :)

~ "I don't remember you giving me a hug today, though." ~

It was a bright and sunny day, with just the right amount of wind to make it feel pleasant. Summer was just around the corner and that fact was noticeable everywhere; the smell of ice cream, mixed with suntan and something else that was hard to define was in the air. Everyone around them seemed to be in an extraordinarily good mood, too. But all of that didn't really matter to little Squall. The silent four year-old had just finished putting the last touches on the clay figurine that he'd made at school for Father's Day. It was probably not bigger than a baby moogle, but grand in every way.

To say that the brunet toddler had worked very hard on the figurine to make it look all nice and neat was the understatement of the year. He was more than happy with the result and Ellone, his Sis, had even said that it was perfect. She happened to be the more artistic one in the family, so it was needless to say that Squall had believed her. He just fervently hoped that his Dad would like it, too. The nervous boy had made a boat for Laguna, because he knew how much the man liked them. Well, that piece of information was kind of hard to miss, even for a complete outsider; his dad couldn't stop talking about it ever since that one trip with the whole family. Squall couldn't blame him for that, though, because he himself had great memories of that particular day, too.

The little boy got up and, with the figurine in his hand, he swiftly made his way to the cozy living room, where he knew his dad would be. He'd been looking forward to the moment that he would finally be able to give it to the man. However, Squall was too preoccupied with his current thoughts, which resulted in him bumping into his father, hard. The force of it made him stumble backwards. Unable to keep his balance, he fell on the floor. During the process, the clay figurine flew out of his hands and landed a bit further on the wooden floor.

"Oh, Squall! I'm sorry, I didn't see you. Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" Laguna asked, his voice at once laced with concern.

The man offered his son a hand to help him get on his feet again. Squall got up slowly, but didn't reply, as he was too busy with looking for the figurine. Suddenly, he froze in place and his steel blue eyes widened considerably in what had to be pure horror; his clay figurine was broken in half. The sail, along with the sail pole had broken off completely and was probably damaged beyond repair.

"Squall?"

Tears appeared in the brunet boy's stormy blue eyes and he sniffed, rubbing his eyes. Laguna frowned at the display, feeling as though something inside him broke. He followed Squall's line of vision and his mouth formed an O-shape when he finally understood what was wrong.

The man crouched in front of him, so he was on eye-level with his son and started talking to him softly. "Was that meant for me?"

The toddler nodded briefly, but this only caused more tears to spill over his cheeks.

"Hey, it's alright. We can fix it. You'd be surprised what a little glue can do these days."

"B-but it won't be perfect anymore," he muttered, his voice thick from sadness.

Laguna's heart ached at the defeated impression that the quiet boy made. He hated seeing him upset over something like this. The man ran a hand through his long, brunet locks, before taking Squall in his lap and swaying him gently back and forth to console him.

"Of course it will be," Laguna spoke. "It will even be extra perfect and special this way, because that little crack will show how much ill luck it has withstood so far. And a boat without a spectacular story isn't a boat at all, right?"

That seemed to calm Squall down, even if only a little. He nodded once and let his father wipe away the remaining tears on his face.

Laguna kissed the top of his head and whispered, now with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, "I don't remember you giving me a hug today, though." A hiccup escaped Squall as he put his tiny arms around his father's neck. Laguna grinned at the silent, but sweet gesture, hugging him back. "Ah, that's much better! Now, I'll go get the glue. Come on."

After scooping up his son in his arms, Laguna headed to his room to get the tools that he needed.

"...Dad?"

"Mmm?"

Little Squall seemed to hesitate slightly, before saying just as softly, "Happy Father's Day."

At that, Laguna let out a loud laugh. Ruffling his hair affectionately, he told his son, "Thank you, Squall. It wouldn't be as much fun as it is now without you."

A/N: There's no way Laguna would get his hug if this had taken place after FF VIII. :P