Strifehart Week 2016: Aug 19th/Day 1: Sora or fanmix
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Sora was well known for being bafflingly dense and childish and, occasionally, perceptively sharp and mature. Luckily for the former he had a lot of help to see clearly, for the latter he found it impossible not to try and help others when he saw their hurts and sorrows.
For Leon, it always came as a surprise when the boy danced two steps ahead. A pleasant one for the most part. He made sure to cover up his surprise, with only the occasional proud smile slipping out now and again.
But even he was taken off guard when Sora joined him on one of Hollow Bastion's highest rooftops and stated his inner thoughts like they were written on his forehead. Leon was neither good at comforting or at being comforted, and yet found himself facing both of Sora's extremes in one conversation.
"You're missing Cloud, aren't you?"
His mask slipped into one of surprise before he covered it with his usual indifference. Sora's expression switched from sympathetic to sad, and his head dropped as he pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them like the child he was.
Expecting a long speech about how two people who had a bond could never be truly separated, things he already knew and cherished and doubted, Leon found himself confused in the silence that took its place. He didn't look to prompt a conversation, nor did he try and change the subject … Eventually, he admitted to himself, the quiet was unsettling.
"How do you do it?"
Leon blinked a few times before Sora made sense. "How can you go on when you miss someone so much? You work so hard and do many other things … how do you stop missing them? Just for a little while …"
The boy's voice was shaking and Leon would bet that his eyes were teary. He shifted to face Sora, the keybearer's face partially tucked into his folded arms and knees, and wondered how on earth he was supposed to comfort this kid when he was still reeling from the perceptive statement just minutes before?
When the boy looked at him, Sora's eyes, as expected, filled with tears. The almost desperation and pain in his eyes was a familiar sight. The brunet had seen it many times in the mirror.
Leon sighed and simply said; "You're missing Riku."
The tears rolled down the child's round cheeks and soaked into the fabric of his sleeves. It was a heart-breaking sight.
Feeling uncharacteristically confident in a situation well out of his element, Leon pulled an arm around Sora and tucked the boy into his side, letting him sniff and mumble his troubles as they stared out into the starry sky. He listened to the unsteady flow of words and hiccups, tiny confessions about Riku that were all too familiar to him. How he missed him, how he had looked everywhere and hadn't found a trace, what if he was hurt? What if he was dead? Would they ever be together again? Why did he had to leave?
Leon said nothing until Sora was quiet. He had heard all of these worries and many more just like them from his own mind every time he woke up without Cloud tucked into bed beside him. But he knew how to cope, Sora didn't. Leon had found a way to accept the distance between himself and Cloud, but Sora was new to this and Riku's absence was weighing him down.
He squeezed his arm at last when Sora's sniffles died into easy breathing, murmuring gently "Missing someone you care about is natural, and it never goes away so long as you feel something for them." Sora sniffed unhappily, "I've got friends here who need me, refugees who rely on me and the others. That's how I go on, there's no way to forget, you just take it a day at a time and before you know it you'll be with Riku again."
Sora looked up, face tearfully hopeful. He tucked his head against Leon's shoulder and nodded silently, a hand reaching from his knee to cling to the sleeve of Leon's jacket.
Touched that Sora had come to him of all people to vent his worries Leon felt a familiar stirring of fondness he often felt when the boy was around, he turned his head to press his lips into Sora's hair. "You'll find Riku." Heaven and Earth would turn to dust before Sora gave up on him.
He smiled when a hint of Sora's comforting laughter escaped his raw throat, glad his expression was hidden in spiky hair lest the boy think he was turning soft.
"And …" Sora wiped at his eyes and gave Leon a determined look of his own with his brilliant light and optimism returning, "And Cloud will come back."
Touched again, Leon nodded the once and returned to admiring the night, Sora made himself comfortable and so long as he was too tired or emotional to talk Leon wasn't going to object to the company. He was just a kid, far too young to be responsible for entire worlds, so he was glad to offer support whenever he was around. If he needed a kindred spirit to assure him that painful separation wasn't forever, then so be it.
Sora fell asleep soon after, and not long after that Leon carried him home.
Once he had been tucked in safe and sound in Leon's guest bed, Leon heard the distant rumble of a motorcycle. He smiled to himself, his wait was over for a while. Sora's wait would be soon too.
Cloud called to him from downstairs and Leon went to meet him, closing Sora's door quietly and wished him luck before going down to meet his no longer missing partner. "I'm here …"