Leon hurried long through the town, picking up his pace as quickly as he could. All he knew was that there was some kind of urgent need for him back at Merlin's house. Yuffie had texted him in all capital letters saying 'COME QUICKLY! MERLINS HOUSE! WE NEED YOU HERE TO SEE THIS!'.

Even if it was coming from Yuffie, one who easily overdramatized things, he decided to not take a chance waiting. He rushed down the next street that would lead him to the alleyway where Merlin's house was. He ran up to the door and swung it open, finding Aerith, Tifa, and Yuffie all standing there.

"What is it?" Leon asked. "What's the problem?"

"Take a look and see for yourself!" Yuffie chuckled as she pointed to the far corner of the room.

Turning to look, Leon's mouth dropped wide open at what he saw, or really who he saw.

Sitting on the bed, with his arms crossed, was a young teenager who looked exactly like a younger Leon. His hair was shorter, though it did seem to be about the length Leon had it when he was a teenager himself. There was also this boy's clothes, it varied from what Leon wore, but he could see some similarities; the fluff on the collar of the jacket as well as an overuse of useless belts around the waist.

But other than that, Leon could have sworn he was looking into a mirror… a much younger mirror of himself.

"And this happened… how?" he asked after a moment.

Aerith decided to answer this time. "I don't know. One moment I was out on my walk, and on my way back I found him unconscious in the alleyway. I called up Tifa and Yuffie and we brought him here."

"He's not very friendly though. He doesn't like to talk much," Yuffie sighed.

"Yuffie," Tifa grumbled.

"What! It's true!"

"I can hear you," the boy muttered.

'He even sounds like me,' Leon thought to himself.

He then cleared his throat to speak. "Then can you answer the question? If you help answer our questions, maybe we can help figure out how you got here."

The boy tensed slightly, eyeing Leon carefully. Slowly, his shoulders relaxed and he closed his eyes. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Leon questioned.

"Don't know how I got here."

Sighing, Leon walked over to the table across from the bed and sat down. "Well, let's back up a little then. How about your name?"

The boy huffed. "Squall."

"You're serious?!" Yuffie gasped. She then stared at Leon. "Are you sure this isn't some weird time travel magic or something?"

"I never said it wasn't. I don't even know how that could be possible," Leon replied.

"It… can't be time travel. I've experienced time travel… this isn't how it works," Squall interjected.

Yuffie let out another loud gasp, staring down Squall. "What?! You've time traveled before?!"

"Yuffie, please," Tifa said, trying to calm the young ninja girl down.

Aerith stepped forward, moving towards the young Squall, all with a smile on her face. "I know you may not have known how you got here, but I promise that we'll help you find a way home. So please, bear with us as we try to discover what we can do."

Squall gave a shrug in response. "Alright."

"First, we should find you a place to stay for the night," Aerith said, humming thoughtfully.

"He can stay with Leon of course!" Yuffie replied happily. "They're one in the same after all!"

Leon crossed his arms. "And you don't think you should ask me?"

"But he's like a young you, so I thought it would make sense," Yuffie replied.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Leon shook his head. "Never said I'm opposed. But, let me make my own decisions first, okay?"

Getting up from his chair, he approached Squall. "Are you okay with that? You'll stick with me until we can find a way to send you home?"

Squall sighed deeply. "Guess that's all I can do. So… yeah, it's okay."

Leon offered a smile. "Then come on, I'll show you the way."

As Leon and Squall walked out of Merlin's house, he could see Yuffie giggling happily. He rolled his eyes, doing his best to ignore her childish excitement as he headed home. It wasn't long into their walk that he noticed just how Squall was staring at him.

It wasn't hard to recognize what was behind familiar deep blue eyes, as they were technically his own. "Something you want to say or ask?"

Squall shook his head. "No. It's nothing."

Leon smirked. "You can't hide it from me. I know my own face… heh, as weird as that sounds. I know the look when I'm contemplating something."

"You really believe that? That we're the same person?"

"I don't really know… Could be, but it's clear we have some differences. I'm not too well versed with time travel, but maybe it's something like another world."

Squall raised an eyebrow. "Another world? You mean an alternate dimension?"

"Maybe. Who knows for sure," Leon shrugged.

"Right…" Squall hummed softly. "So how old are you?"

"Guess that's one place to start," Leon replied. "I'm 27."

"Really?"

"What?" Leon said, letting out a small laugh.

Squall shook his head. "Nothing. Just… surprised. You're 10 years older."

Leon gave an amused smile. "Well, guess that makes for a more interesting conversation."

He led the youth through the alleyways of Radiant Garden until he arrived at his house. Squall was quiet all the way from unlocking the door to stepping inside, but Leon could see he was curiously looking around.

"Should I make dinner? Tea?"

"Whatever you want," Squall said as he sat down at the kitchen table.

Leon held back a sigh. 'Was I really ever that quiet and distant at that age? Guess this is what everyone had to deal with, so I get it now. But I wonder if part of that gloominess is coming from being separated from his home. I would understand if it was that.'

He could see the uneasiness still lingering in Squall's eyes. Part of it however, reminded Leon much of himself when he was that age. Back then, wounds were fresh and it was hard to smile. But, he had found his way eventually, given the right time and circumstances. Maybe whatever Squall was going through could end on a positive note as well.

"Well, guess as I get things ready, feel free to ask anything that comes to mind."

He didn't get a response right away, but as he started to prepare the kettle to boil water, he heard Squall speaking up.

"The wings on your jacket…" Squall started to say. "Where are they from?"

"That… It's a design made by someone very special to me. And if we are assuming there's similarities between us, then you would probably know who she is," Leon answered.

"Rinoa?"

Leon turned his head and smiled. "Yeah, that's right."

Squall waited a moment, glancing to the floor before he looked back. "Where is she now?"

"She's been off in the far reaches of Radiant Garden, helping people build more houses and other restoration needs."

"Restoration?"

"Long story," Leon answered. "But I'm starting to get that our stories will be different in the end. I have a feeling things like Heartless and Nobodies don't mean anything to you?"

"No."

"Then what about you? You asked about Rinoa, so what does she mean to you?" Leon asked as he sat down while he waited for the kettle to boil.

Squall placed his hands on the table, placing his fingers together. He seemed to concentrate deeply, trying to figure out what words to say. Leon knew all too well how it was in his younger years, trying to articulate how he felt, so he stayed quiet while he waited for the other to answer.

"She's someone who… helped show me how to let others in," Squall started to say. The slightly smile curled up at the edge of his lips. "Got under my skin at first, tried dragging me into a friendship. Wouldn't take no for an answer… and became someone… very special to me."

Now Leon was starting to grin. "That does sound like Rinoa, always so determined. And of course, being someone rather special."

Squall had a slight hint of blush on his cheeks as he nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

By now the kettle was whistling and Leon stood back up to attend to it. "Anything else on your mind? We got all evening."

"I guess your story…"

"You mean what I've gone through?"

Squall nodded. "Yeah."

As Leon set a tea cup down in front of Squall, pouring the hot water into it he nodded his head. "Guess I can start there. Sit back and get ready to hear quite the story."

As the two enjoyed their tea, Leon did the best he could to explain what had happened through his life. Surprisingly, Squall didn't ask many questions. He mainly listened, just nodding his head along with what was being said.

Eventually, Leon came to the end of his story. "So, that's where we're at. Continuing restoration progress and keeping our eyes open for any returning Heartless or Nobodies."

"Huh… alright. It's interesting," Squall replied softly.

"Probably a bit different than what you were expecting?"

Squall nodded. "A bit… a lot is different from my story."

"Well, if you want, you can tell me your story," Leon offered gently.

He watched as Squall seemed to contemplate the idea. He could see it in the younger boy's eyes, still reminding him so much of how he used to be. Leon could only hope that the young Squall could one day reach the point that he had made it to.

"Maybe later. Kind of tired… after ending up here."

Leon nodded. "That's fine. You think you'll need anything to eat? I can have something heating up as I prepare the guest room."

"I think I'm good."

Standing up, Leon gave a thoughtful hum. "Well, if you end up needing anything, let me know."

Squall nodded his head before Leon went off to the guest room to prepare it. It wasn't long before the room was ready and Squall quietly stepped inside, seemingly examining everything around him.

"If you need me, my bedroom's the one at the end of the hall."

"Alright," Squall replied.

"Guess I'll see you in the morning?"

"If this isn't a dream then I guess so…"

Leon left him with that, heading into his own room where he resumed his focus on the paperwork that he had been reading through, all before he had gotten that text from Yuffie.

It was still hard to believe it. A young, alternate version of himself had shown up out of the blue with no way to explain it. He was much more reserved than Leon ever was, but he could see that most of it was probably dwelling from being transported out of his home.

Maybe in time, if he didn't end up going back home immediately, he could slowly open up. Maybe then Leon could get to know this other version of himself, discovering what life had been like for him. He even imagined giving his younger self some well needed advice that he wished he had at that age.

He chuckled softly to himself as he picked up a few papers, thinking of the idea. It almost sounded like he was trying to be a big brother.

"Being a big brother to myself," he muttered. "How weird is that?"

I've had this idea for a while to have FF8 Squall meet his KH version and vice versa. This isn't going to be a terribly long story but just something I thought for fun.