Characters: Kairi/Leon.
Genre: Romance, a hint of angst.
Prompt: She reminded him of everything he stood for.

--

Leon had only heard Sora talk of her up until that point. The sparkle in the boy's eye was obvious when he mentioned her, but then he quickly became downcast when he remembered her fate. Leon thought little of it. When Sora mentioned her, he would smile and encourage him to save his friend. He didn't dwell on it. He didn't think of her any differently until he saw her face to face.

She just showed up alongside Sora in their house in the third district. The boy was bright and beaming with pride and yes, I rescued her. The first thing Leon noticed was that she was small. Tiny and petite. The second thing he noticed is that she was smiling. Smiling. After she'd had her heart torn away from her, witnessed the boy who came to rescue her sacrifice himself from her, seen her best friend become a monster.

Leon retreated to his underground cavern soon afterwards. Pulling out his immense sword, he took a deep breath, and began to practice formations. He closed his eyes and swung his blade left, then right, then left again, creating sparks as it scraped against the wall.

She reminded him of everything he stood for.

Slash.

Endurance.

Slash.

Compassion.

Slash.

Strength.

Slash.

He slammed his blade into the stone wall again and again, watching the sparks fly and smelling their metallic tang. All the things he should have stood for. All the things he had failed at. He hadn't protected his homes, his friends, or his family. He hadn't—

"Are you training hard?"

He stopped his blade in midswing, turning to face the small girl who had found her way down here. He just looked at her, surprised to see her in this cave when she should have been with Sora.

"Sora's running errands around town. So I decided to explore." Kairi explained, seemingly reading his thoughts. "I didn't mean to interrupt you."

"You don't have to go." He said, shrugging and turning back to the wall to swing his blade again. He could feel the radiance of her smile.

"You know what?" She began again. "This cave kind of reminds me of our Secret Place. It feels the same. It's cozy here." She turned to him. "And you remind me of Sora and Riku."

He laughed at her. "I do? Really? I don't know, I'm a lot better looking than either of those punks. Even though I haven't actually met Riku yet."

She laughed back. "I don't know…" She said, a happy trill in her voice. She walked around him to inspect him from every angle, stopping in front of him and standing on tiptoe to look at his face. "Nope, you're just like them." She grinned broadly. Leon smiled back at her. Kairi tilted her head to one side, and cautiously raised a finger to trace the scar on his face. He closed his eyes under her cool touch. "Where did you get this scar?" She asked in a small voice.

Leon shook his head. "It's a long story. Too long of one to tell you before Sora gets back."

She didn't move away from him. "You seem familiar." She said softly. "I can't put my finger on it, but it seems like I know you from somewhere."

He didn't say anything. He couldn't come up with the words to respond. He couldn't tell her that he wasn't who he used to be, that he had failed his world. He began to pull away, looking at the ground, but Kairi stopped him as she embraced him in a tight hug.

"Thank you, Leon. For helping us. I know he couldn't have done it without you."

Leon nearly jumped away, completely startled by her actions, but then he gently wrapped his arms around her small frame.

"You're welcome, Princess."

Leon pulled away then, placing his hands on her shoulders. She beamed up at him. "Now, why don't you wait here? Sora should be along shortly, if he's after what I think he is." Leon said.

Kairi nodded. "Sure!"

He chuckled softly to himself and made his way through the tunnel to the alleyway. "I'll see you around, Kairi." He waved over his shoulder.

If she was still smiling, he could be all that he stood for again, he decided.