Cheating Destiny

Leon

[ONE YEAR LATER]

"Two sea-salt ice creams, please!!!"

The attendant of the vendor cart shoots the dark-haired girl beside you a strange look before rolling his eyes and grabbing two popsicles from his cart. Yuffie's practically bouncing on her heels as she glances between you, the man, and the ice cream with her eyebrows raised suggestively.

"50 munny," the man grumbles as he hands you both popsicles, obviously not loving Yuffie's optimism so early in the morning.

"Oh," Yuffie laughs as she pats her pockets with a sheepish expression. "I forgot my wallet."

The man just gives you an exasperated look. You sigh, pulling out a few coins from the pockets of your jacket and handing them to the man. Yuffie cheers, sticking the popsicle in her mouth as she bounces away.

"Sorry about... well, you know," you apologize, nodding towards Yuffie.

"It's okay," he sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. "We all really appreciate you guys, helping us rebuild. It's on the house next time."

You grin and give him an eager nod before hurrying after Yuffie, who's already down the stairs and heading towards Cid's.

"I don't want to work!" she complains with a groan. "I dunno how you do it, [Name]."

"Do what?"

She comes to a stop, resting a hand on her hip as she shoves the popsicle in her mouth again.

"This! I mean... don't get me wrong, I love helping out my world. But aren't you a little bored, after everything we went through last year?"

Death, chaos, and the smell of blood suddenly fill your memories, and you quickly shake your head.

"Nope," you reply, taking a large bite of your ice cream. "Between homicidal Nobodies and a deranged Vanitas, this is much better."

"Is Yuffie complaining again?"

You glance over your shoulder, grinning when you spot a tall, brown-haired male walking towards you and Yuffie.

"What do you mean 'again,' huh?" Yuffie asks as Leon wraps an arm around your shoulders.

"You haven't stopped complaining for a year now," Leon explains dryly. "One more day of it and Cid just might kill you."

Yuffie sticks out her tongue at Leon before polishing off the rest of her ice cream. You giggle lightly, wrapping an arm around Leon's waist as you lean into him. He smiles down at you before pressing his lips against the top of your head.

"Ew," Yuffie complains, and you shoot her a look at Leon starts to smirk.

"You know, I think Genesis mentioned needing some help. Why don't you go find him?" Leon suggests.

An excited look grows on Yuffie's face.

"Really?? He never wants my help!"

She takes off down the road, practically tripping over her feet as she hurries towards the castle.

"He's going to kill you. You know that, right?" you speak up as soon as Yuffie's out of earshot.

Leon merely shrugs, pulling you closer to him.

"It's payback for forcing me to read through all of those journal entries with him."

"You're such a bully~" you tease, laughing as Leon envelops you in his arms.

The past year had really been a blur. Genesis and Yuffie had come with you two, as Hollow Bastion needed (and still requires) a lot of work to get it back to normal. Genesis spends most of his days locked away in the castle, combing through all of the old scientific experiments, notes, and even diary entries – which are absolutely hilarious and one of your favorite forms of entertainment, since Xehanort was a legitimate nutcase. Yuffie was great at keeping up the morale of the citizens, when she wasn't chatting their ears off and driving them crazy. She, Genesis, and even Leon to a point (though he'd never admit it) all miss the war. It was strange, watching these great fighters acting almost as housecats.