Lookie! I typed a bit of it up!
Title: Stealing Hearts
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: None
Warnings: Unbeta'd.
Series: Kingdom Hearts
Chapter: 1, 2, 3
It was hard for Leon to call it quits. The feeling of cutting loose, of letting go and flowing with the rhythm of battle was intoxicating. It reminded him of other fights, long ago; where the point wasn’t to win but to do something else, to drag it out as long as possible. He couldn’t think of any reason to drag out a fight, unless it was to steal something or to cause a distraction, but he knew in his bones that he’d done this before, alone and with others.
Sora was falling into it too, feeling the way each strike and parry should fall into one another. He was thinking more and reacting less even as his energy ran out of him like water and the key blade swung slower and slower with each pass. Leon almost wanted to cast Cure on them both. He wanted Sora to win, to land those last few blows. It would be so easy to keep them both going all day; he’d already hammered home the most important points of strategy in one-to-one combat, now all Sora needed was practice and time to refine his skills. Leon could do that, could teach him those, the key blade wasn’t so different in shape and heft from his Gunblade…
It almost hurt to stop and let his blade rest its tip in the sand. Sora panted, hands on knees, watching him with half closed eyes. “What are you doing? Tired already old man?” The boy managed to gasp out. He was stripped down to his pants, the rags of his shirt and jacket scattered all over the arena. Blood, sweat and dirt streaked him all over, painting him in shades of gold and brown and crimson.
Leon frowned at him, both for the symbolic resemblance to a great cat he despised, and the flippant remark. Shaking his head to scatter the strange image, he turned away from that youthful face, voice as cold as the frozen tundra winds and twice as sharp.
“Enough. You can try again tomorrow.” The sky changed rapidly in the Coliseum, its weather unpredictable and sometimes as violent as the contestants. Leon was more attuned with Traverse Town, where the night never lifted. No matter the time of day the sky over his city stubbornly clung to midnight. It messed with his sense of time, never seeing the sun rise, but Leon had adjusted and knew that almost a day there had passed without him. He enjoyed this fight, but he had duties to attend to.
Sora gaped at him, before screaming in betrayed fury, the onslaught of emotion fueling his mad headlong charge. Ultima came up and down and across, battering at Leon’s hasty block. Ars Arcanum twisted into another Ars Arcanum, the finishing move finally breaking through Leon’s defense to crash into his ribs, shoulders and chest. The older man managed to duck down and come up under the swinging blade. Flinging Lionheart to the sky he grabbed both of Sora's thin wrists, swept his leg under Sora’s and pinned the child painfully to the unforgiving ground, Ultima falling from nerveless fingers somewhere between stepping forward and falling backward.
Sora wasn’t done though. Held down, cursing and screaming, he twisted and kicked out, catching Leon in his unguarded stomach. For endless moments he struggled, fighting Leon’s superior strength and hold. When he finally fell quiet, Leon was watching him with a smile on his face. A bare lifting of the corners of the mouth true, but a smile nonetheless. And there was one more surprise in store.
As Leon stood up and Sora stumblingly got to his feet, the warrior picked up his blade and bowed to Sora. Dark hair a curtain, eyes half closed and body more relaxed than anyone had seen it, ever; Leon put his right hand to his heart, bowed at the waist, and then straightened, right hand raising itself into a strange salute.
“You won Sora. Congratulations.” Leon turned and walked out of the arena, the little smile gone like snowflakes in the desert.
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: None
Warnings: Unbeta'd.
Series: Kingdom Hearts
Chapter: 1, 2, 3
It was hard for Leon to call it quits. The feeling of cutting loose, of letting go and flowing with the rhythm of battle was intoxicating. It reminded him of other fights, long ago; where the point wasn’t to win but to do something else, to drag it out as long as possible. He couldn’t think of any reason to drag out a fight, unless it was to steal something or to cause a distraction, but he knew in his bones that he’d done this before, alone and with others.
Sora was falling into it too, feeling the way each strike and parry should fall into one another. He was thinking more and reacting less even as his energy ran out of him like water and the key blade swung slower and slower with each pass. Leon almost wanted to cast Cure on them both. He wanted Sora to win, to land those last few blows. It would be so easy to keep them both going all day; he’d already hammered home the most important points of strategy in one-to-one combat, now all Sora needed was practice and time to refine his skills. Leon could do that, could teach him those, the key blade wasn’t so different in shape and heft from his Gunblade…
It almost hurt to stop and let his blade rest its tip in the sand. Sora panted, hands on knees, watching him with half closed eyes. “What are you doing? Tired already old man?” The boy managed to gasp out. He was stripped down to his pants, the rags of his shirt and jacket scattered all over the arena. Blood, sweat and dirt streaked him all over, painting him in shades of gold and brown and crimson.
Leon frowned at him, both for the symbolic resemblance to a great cat he despised, and the flippant remark. Shaking his head to scatter the strange image, he turned away from that youthful face, voice as cold as the frozen tundra winds and twice as sharp.
“Enough. You can try again tomorrow.” The sky changed rapidly in the Coliseum, its weather unpredictable and sometimes as violent as the contestants. Leon was more attuned with Traverse Town, where the night never lifted. No matter the time of day the sky over his city stubbornly clung to midnight. It messed with his sense of time, never seeing the sun rise, but Leon had adjusted and knew that almost a day there had passed without him. He enjoyed this fight, but he had duties to attend to.
Sora gaped at him, before screaming in betrayed fury, the onslaught of emotion fueling his mad headlong charge. Ultima came up and down and across, battering at Leon’s hasty block. Ars Arcanum twisted into another Ars Arcanum, the finishing move finally breaking through Leon’s defense to crash into his ribs, shoulders and chest. The older man managed to duck down and come up under the swinging blade. Flinging Lionheart to the sky he grabbed both of Sora's thin wrists, swept his leg under Sora’s and pinned the child painfully to the unforgiving ground, Ultima falling from nerveless fingers somewhere between stepping forward and falling backward.
Sora wasn’t done though. Held down, cursing and screaming, he twisted and kicked out, catching Leon in his unguarded stomach. For endless moments he struggled, fighting Leon’s superior strength and hold. When he finally fell quiet, Leon was watching him with a smile on his face. A bare lifting of the corners of the mouth true, but a smile nonetheless. And there was one more surprise in store.
As Leon stood up and Sora stumblingly got to his feet, the warrior picked up his blade and bowed to Sora. Dark hair a curtain, eyes half closed and body more relaxed than anyone had seen it, ever; Leon put his right hand to his heart, bowed at the waist, and then straightened, right hand raising itself into a strange salute.
“You won Sora. Congratulations.” Leon turned and walked out of the arena, the little smile gone like snowflakes in the desert.