It was a quiet morning in the Borough for once. Leon was patiently sipping coffee at the table in the centre while Yuffie sulked petulantly over something or the other, one never knew with her. The tapping of Cid's keyboard was the only real noise, aside from the 'swish-swish' of Aerith's broom and her light humming.
Even Cloud, back from another one of his epic clashes, was quiet- he was sleeping peacefully on Merlin's bed, blonde hair swaying in front of his eyes. A light snore echoed from the corner every once in a while, which made the corner of Leon's lip twitch up.
"I can't believe you" Yuffie eventually huffed, and Leon sighed.
"Yuffie. Radiant Garden doesn't need an amusement park," he repeated, quite calmly. The girl had somehow gotten it into her head that they needed rides and 'fun' that didn't have anywhere to go. However, given that the Heartless still existed- until they eliminated that body-stealing bastard, they always would- there was no way Leon was risking that kind of beacon. And, for once, no amount of berating or nagging would change his mind.
The group agreed with Leon. Unlike Yuffie, who had only been seven at the time of Radiant Garden's fall, the others remembered its original form fondly. And in that regard, there was plenty to do and explore without a theme park. Leon, Aerith and Cloud had gotten along perfectly fine and dandy as kids in the place, and felt no great need to make such a fuss over the town's 'lack of fun'.
"If you need something to do, how about being productive?" Leon suggested, rising from the table and stepping down from the raised ground. "I'm sure there's plenty of work around here. And I'm still waiting on your History assignment."
Yuffie groaned. Since having your world destroyed kind of eliminated schooling, Leon had set out to get Yuffie a proper education. While things had been bad, that was training. But now they were a bit more stable, he was filling in the gaps as best he could.
"Don't you have work to do, too?" she retorted back, and Leon sighed.
"I always have work to do" he said, his tone unreadable. "Ienzo kicked me out of the study and told me to take a fifteen."
"And by kicked out, he means locked the door and left a note saying 'take a break, Squall'" snorted Cloud from the corner. "I liked him better when he was mute."
"Yeah, well, beggars can't be choosers" Leon retorted in a huff, and Cloud smirked.
A long time ago, they'd all been familiar with each other. Although Leon and Cloud weren't familiar with Kairi- no right-minded adult would trust them with kids- they had known all of Ansem's apprentices in one way or another.
All of them.
Leon shivered quietly to himself, and Cloud raised an eyebrow at him.
"Get your head in the game, Squall."
"Leon" he muttered, and Cloud rolled his eyes, before suddenly sitting up and moving away from the bed. Leon turned fully to face him, one eyebrow quirking up.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I just got the worst feeling" he said, rubbing his arm. "Survivor instinct, but I don't know why."
Leon's brow furrowed for a second. It furrowed deeper as he realized that a another rhythmic sound had joined the room, a consistent noise. If he didn't know better, if his mind wasn't screaming at the impossibility, he would've sworn it sounded like a-
TRAIN.
There was a deafening crash, debris and concrete exploding outwards as Leon hit the floor defensively, covering his head in an attempt to prevent cranial damage.
Once the dust had cleared a bit, he nearly choked on the sight that greeted him when he looked up. A brightly lit train had literally rammed directly into the Borough and crashed into the bed where Cloud had been moments before. Its edges were decorated in lights, the carts reminiscent of a amusement park ride.
And standing at the helm, his hands on his hips and his spikes covered in dust, was the only person who would think to enter by…an amusement park train ride.
He looked over to them, a cocky smirk on his features and his blue eyes glinting with mischief.
"Choo choo, motherfuckers."
