(You've been warned!!! There are *MAJOR Spoilers* in the following text)

Squall and Laguna, as you know, share a pretty strange relationship. Squall first discovers Laguna in the "dream world" where he resides as part of Laguna's sub-consciousness. Laguna, a man with often a little too much to say, initially pisses Squall off. "I dreamt I was a moron" were the first words Squall mumbles when he wakes up from that first encounter. However, he may have been a little too quick in insulting Laguna, because Laguna is really Squall's father. Yep, that's right...it's not directly mentioned in the game, but there are several incidences in the game that imply so.

1. At the beginning of Disc 2, Squall finds himself tortured by Seifer's cronies in District Prison. A Moomba comes to help the tormented chap and licks his wounds. It mumbles "Laguna, Laguna". If you read the in-game notes, it states that Mumbas remember people by licking their blood.

2. Somewhere in Disc 3 (though I cannot for the life, remember where, though I think it was probably the first time you visit Winhill as Squall), it is implied that before Laguna left to find Ellone, who was kidnapped by Adel, he was already married to Raine. It is revealed that during the period Laguna got to Esthar, Raine was already with child. Raine, however, died after giving birth to the child, and the child was sent away to an orphanage.

3. During Squall's first real encounter with Laguna in Esthar, where the latter is President, he asks about Raine, which Laguna dismisses as too painful to talk about.

4. In the Ragnarok, just before you enter the Lunatic Pandora, talk to Kiros, Ward and Laguna. When you talk to Ward, who can't speak, Kiros says that what Ward is really thinking of is that it's a good thing Squall doesn't resemble his father. When you talk to Kiros, he mentions that Squall resembles his mother. Finally, when you talk to Laguna, he says that he's been wanting to tell you something. He then hesitates and says that it's okay if you don't want to listen.

5. Visit the Shumi village after you get Laguna on board the Ragnarok. Note that you probably need to complete the Shumi sidequest before you get to see this sequence. Well, anyways, when you do get there, visit the workshop. The Laguna statue has already been completed. After leaving the workshop, the Elder will talk to Assistant. There's a flashback to Laguna's last visit to the village. Just before Laguna leaves the village, he asks the Moomba with him to say a few words that it's been taught. The only thing the Moomba says is "Laguna, Laguna".....(Refer to the first point I made again, there are obvious blood ties between Squall and Laguna...this is perhaps the most important but subtle clue in the game).

So there you have it.. I had a slight suspicion all along, after the first mention of Laguna's child, but the relationship between father and son didn't really hit me until the Ragnarok scene. Some time back, I went in to an IRC chat (something I don't usually do), and there was some mention of an FF8 storyguide that apparently fully explained the relationship between Squall and Laguna. I've never heard, much less seen, that book before, but if it confirmed the relationship, then my deductions were pretty right after all :-) BTW, my memory ain't perfect, and I might have missed out something or recalled something wrongly. If you have anymore in-game clues that further hint to the relationship, feel free to email me.

P.S. If anyone has a scan of the book, please send it to me...