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[dreamer1789.livejournal.com]

Challenge: [165]: Kiss
Title: No Cinderella Nights
Word count: 428
Characters: Sora, Leon
A/N: No spoilers, not yaoi. Adjusted Squall’s past, so that it follows KH canon and Leon’s girl can just be any KH char. ;)

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“Hey, Leon!” Even from where he sits on Merlin’s blue sofa, Sora is practically buzzing with energy. However it’s not so much his hyper-energy, but his curiosity that leaks through the question the boy throws at Squall out of nowhere. “What’s a first kiss like?”

Leon has relaxed enough that his surprise briefly shows on his usually impassive face. He vaguely wonders what prompted the Key bearer to ask him of all people such a question. His gloved hand tightens into a fist. If Yuffie put him up to this, he swears she’ll regret it. But, he reflects, Sora’s like an open book – Leon disapproves of such gullibility in a warrior. And there’s only honest curiosity in those clear blue eyes plus, a small dose of embarrassment.

But these trivial thoughts are pushed to the background as that night unfolds and replays itself in his minds’ eye. His countenance darkens and he mentally glowers at the images. It’s not something he wants to relive at all. In fact, he just wants to shove it back to the darkest recesses of his mind, where it belongs. His first kiss…

The first seconds were a little awkward. It wasn’t sparkling fairytale stuff like some of the dumber girls at the academy might swear by. But he could start to see why people didn’t mind doing this. It was…comforting to be able to lose yourself in somebody special, someone you could trust. In that moment, though he’d never admit it out loud, he was content, happy even.

Then the first tremor shook not only the foundations of Radiant Garden’s castle on which balcony they stand, but the very air seems to shudder and fold in on itself. Squall didn’t realize it yet, but his world was being invaded by the darkness. What happened next, his failure to protect the one he’d grown to love and everyone else, how he ended up in Traverse Town as Radiant Garden was transformed into Hollow Bastion; it’s all one traumatic blur.

“Leon?” Surprise, and the first hint of concern from a boy who saved the worlds bring, the warrior back to the present. Leon. That’s right, Squall’s failure was buried the day that name was cast aside.

He pushes away from the wall he was leaning against and heads for the door. Knowing that Sora will pester him until he gets some form of an answer, he tells the kid. “It’s different for everyone. You’ll just have to find out for yourself.” He refuses to utter the words that haunt him... Before it’s too late.