Chapter Text
The next few days were surprisingly pleasant for the nation of Wakanda. With Namor and his people having relented in their attacks, the entire country found peace once again, especially when water flowed out of the city and slowly returned it to normal. People got to work repairing the damage that had been done to the city from Namor's attack, and jets were being used to transport people and supplies back into the city. Buildings and structures were repaired, and people had happier dispositions as the markets and other areas of beauty were returned to normal.
People smiled as they went about together in the marketplace near the waterfront, all of them happy to find a sense of normalcy between the individual tasks that they carried out, and the familiar setting of their home being restored.
Some of the homes that were quickly restored were the lake houses near the waterfront, including one shared between Aneka and Ayo. The two of them entertained guests in their home, with Ayo smiling while still dressed in her Dora Milaje gear. Aneka placed a kiss to the top of her head, and Ayo thanked her for being her love.
In the forest outside of the palace, Leon helped Shuri with the new goal that she had. After harvesting seeds from the heart-shaped herb that Shuri had developed, she and Leon went about into the forest and started planting them, ensuring that they would be able to grow to full size. The two of them had small smiles as they planted the slowly budding herbs, which ensured that the mantle of the Black Panther would live on even after Shuri. Leon was proud of their efforts, especially Shuri's with ensuring the Black Panther would live on.
"The Queen Mother would be proud of you," Leon informed her.
"Yes," Shuri said with a small smile. She looked up at Leon. "I'm sure she would be."
Leon nodded at her once again before helping her to her feet. Zawavari and the Elders of the Merchant, Mining, Border, and River Tribes were all nearby, all of them saying a little chant for the new grove of heart-shaped herbs. Even with them being more accepting of tradition, Leon and Shuri both just smirked at the Elders' actions before they turned and started walking out of the forest. Zawavari and the Elders stayed for another moment for the chant before they turned and left, too.
When returning to the palace, Shuri went down into the lab to say goodbye to Riri. Leon, meanwhile, went up to the floor with the throne room and watched the repairs being done on it. Leon still wasn't sure what things were going to be like for the nation in terms of politics now, between Ramonda having died, the strange, new alliance with Talokan, and the five Tribes still being united under the name of the Black Panther, even if it was a different person holding the mantle now. The future of Wakanda was a bit more uncertain now than it had been when T'Challa died. But this time, Leon was sure they could get through it.
After all, if they could take care of Killmonger and Namor, then how bad could some uncertain politics really be for Wakanda?
Crossing his arms and leaning against the wall, Leon thought about Riri and what she would be doing now. The young girl's life had certainly changed now, considering she now had a partnership with Wakanda and access to her own high-powered suit reminiscent of Iron Man's. Luckily, Shuri had already made arrangements so that the CIA wouldn't be after Riri as soon as she arrived back in MIT, though he was still a little curious about how she had done so. Given how crazy their lives were, Leon figured he'd be okay with just hoping for the best while still being a little prepared for the worst.
He had survived this long doing that, after all.
Leon was also inwardly proud of himself for having sent that information and the pictures of the Talokan soldiers to Everett. Though Everett had still been arrested for reasons that weren't shared with Wakanda, the nation itself still managed to get some amnesty over having gotten proof of outside interference, and promising that this outside interference wouldn't attack again. Things were still wary with the American government (as to be expected in this situation), but Leon's involvement helped ensure that the government wouldn't go as far as to try to wage war against Wakanda.
Leon could admit to still being a little worried about what could happen to Everett, especially with the involvement of that Director de Fontaine... *1*
Deciding that was a problem that could be solved in the future, Leon instead decided to focus on the now. He remembered hearing that Okoye would be doing something to help Everett, so he was a little relieved on that front. And he also remembered Shuri explaining to him that while Riri's suit would have to stay in Wakanda, they had worked on restoring the car she had. Leon was a little impressed that Shuri had found all the pieces, but he reminded himself that he should never doubt her skills. Leon was glad that after the craziness of the past couple of weeks, Riri was going to be able to get back to a semi-normal life.
Eventually, though, as he expected, Shuri soon appeared in the hallway, walking up to Leon with a ready expression on her face.
"You ready?" Leon asked, standing up straight from the wall.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Shuri confirmed with a nod of her head.
Leon nodded back, already having prepared himself to help her with what she needed to do next.
In the waterfall ridges near the rivers of Wakanda, people were gathered from all five Tribes, including Dora Milaje, all of them cheering and ululating in celebration as they prepared for the ceremony for swearing in the new ruler of Wakanda, the same ceremony that Leon had witnessed when first arriving in Wakanda. The people from all five Tribes and the city all cheered and hooted in preparation, while Zawavari stood at the base of the platform, complete with water flowing over her feet and over the waterfall behind her. The water continued to flow before Zawavari rammed her staff into the ground, quieting everyone gathered.
Zawavari announced that she was presenting Princess Shuri, the Black Panther. A Quinjet rose up over the waterfall and extended down its entrance platform, and everyone cheered. Of course, those cheers were replaced with silenced confusion as M'Baku slowly stepped out of the ship, dressed in his tournament garb and carrying his staff. M'Baku announced that the Black Panther sends her regards, but she wouldn't be joining them today. Luckily, people smiled as M'Baku stepped forward and introduced himself, announcing that he wished to challenge for the throne.
Unlike when M'Baku had challenged T'Challa so many years ago, people were excited by him issuing the challenge now.*2*
Of course, not every person involved in the battle recovering was doing so pleasantly.
Deep in his underwater cavern, finishing a new mural on his wall involving a black panther, and with bandages over his wounds, Namor spoke to Namora in Mayan, asking what was troubling her. Namora explained that she looked forward to fighting beside him her entire life, and made it clear that she didn't like the thought of him kneeling to the Wakandans. Namor then explained that the Black Panther and Silver Lion had every reason to kill him, but then asked her why she thought they didn't.
Namora was confused before Namor explained that the Black Panther is the most powerful person in the most powerful nation on the surface. He then explained that the Black Panther "had no allies," and now felt empathy for the people of Talokan. Namor told Namora that with this alliance, Talokan will be stronger than ever. He promised that he was sure the surface world would come for Wakanda, then Wakanda would turn to Talokan. Namor promised his cousin that this would happen in the future.
Things were getting a little bit better for one person, though.
Everett had been changed into a bright red prison jumpsuit, and was currently being transported in a black van on an empty road placed within a massive forest. Though he was restrained with handcuffs that restrained him to the floor, Everett felt no shame for his current predicament, knowing that he had been in the right. All he felt was worry over his friends, especially given Fontaine's parting words during their last conversation.
Soon, though, the van came to a stop due to massive tree branches stuck in the center of the road, preventing them from being able to proceed. One agent in the front seat stepped out to observe the situation while the other asked over an intercom how they were to proceed. Of course, then two blasts shook the van, denting the wall in front of Everett, and shattering the windows of the front seat while knocking the driver unconscious.
Everett started jumping and twitching in his seat in worry before the back doors of the van were suddenly ripped off, revealing a figure standing in bright blue armor. He panicked for another moment before the mask retracted, revealing Okoye standing in front of him. Everett sighed out in relief while Okoye called him a colonizer in chains, commenting that she had seen everything. Everett sarcastically called her funny, and Okoye said they had to go as she entered the van to free him.
Haiti
The task that Leon was helping Shuri with had nothing to do with ruling Wakanda or being the Black Panther. Instead, he was joining her in support of something that she needed to do for herself emotionally.
After having a Quinjet fly them from Wakanda to Haiti, Shuri and Leon then proceeded to flag down a truck for extra transportation to their new destination. Leon was briefly reminded of moments in road trip movies where characters had to hitchhike in a big truck, which was only aided by the way that the two of them rode in the back of the truck with many others. But Leon brushed those thoughts aside as he and Shuri rode on the truck, watching the many trees and buildings around them pass by as they went together down the road.
This was also admittedly better in the long run. After all, with Shuri now being the Black Panther, and the relations with America still a little rocky, discretion with their transportation was important.
Riding in the back, Shuri and Leon were inconspicuous, though Shuri was still a little obvious given that she had on a black hoodie and a pair of sunglasses. Leon just wore his usual outfit. Luckily, no one called them out on it as they sat in their seats with bags on their backs during the car trip. The others in the back of the truck all spoke amongst each other in Haitian Creole, many of them friendly with each other during the long car ride. Eventually, though, the truck soon pulled to a stop near a set of connected, bright pink buildings with yards that were next to the beach, and Shuri and Leon perked up, knowing that this was their stop.
Luckily, the others knew this, as well, as one man sitting directly next to Shuri climbed out of the back of the truck to clear the way for her. He then offered her a hand and helped her climb out of the back of the truck.
"Merci," Shuri told him in gratitude.
Leon nodded at the man as he climbed out of the truck after Shuri. While the man climbed back into the truck, Leon and Shuri walked around it to the front of the truck, where Shuri passed some money to the driver for the ride.
"Thank you," Shuri told him in Haitian Creole.
"You're welcome," the driver replied.
"Let's do this," Leon told Shuri, giving her a reassuring smile.
Shuri smiled back before the truck drove down the road once again. She and Leon then slowly walked down the grass next to the road, moving together around a small fence to enter the yard next to the building. Walking into the yard, the two of them then moved down a small dirt road that led to the building, which Nakia was walking out of. Dressed in a teal, yellow, and pink dress with her hair down, Nakia walked up to her two friends and greeted them happily in Xhosian.
"Hey," Shuri greeted with a small smile.
"Nice to see you're doing well after all that fighting," Leon remarked.
Nakia and Shuri both smirked before stepping towards each other and hugging in greeting.
"Welcome," Nakia told Shuri in Xhosian. They stepped back from the hug. "It's good to see you."
Shuri nodded at her old friend.
"Everything is ready," Nakia told them. Leon and Shuri looked towards the beach together. "Just give me one moment, eh?"
"Actually..." Shuri said as Nakia slowly started to move towards the house again. "I think I should do it on my own."
She looked at Leon, then back at Nakia.
"Leon will be with me, but it's to help himself as much as it is me," Shuri added.
Leon looked down and furrowed his eyebrows. Shuri did have a point that this would also provide him with a form of closure that he also needed.
"Of course," Nakia assured them.
With that, Shuri and Leon slowly moved together across the yard towards the entrance of the beach. The two of them walked together across the sandy landscape towards where Nakia had already set up stuff for the both of them. Two logs were placed around a fireplace set up with rocks and kindling, where a small fire was burning brightly at a distance that was far enough away for the crashing waves to not affect it. Leon and Shuri walked together towards the fire and the logs, as the fire had been set up by Nakia at their own request.
Leon was glad that they were following through with Ramonda's request to burn their funeral robes, as it both respected the late Queen's wishes, and provided them some form of closure for their shared grief.
Moving across the beach together, Shuri and Leon both sat down on the logs provided for them before taking their bags off their backs. Opening up their bags, the two of them pulled out the funeral robes that they had gotten back from the beach where they first encountered Namor. Sitting together for a moment, Shuri and Leon both looked at their funeral robes, adjusting them together in their hands. The two of them inspected the white robes for a few more moments before they decided to follow through. Shuri went first, tossing her robe into the small fire, and Leon followed her by gently placing his own robe against the top of the kindling.
The fire crackled as it accepted the white fabric as more kindling to keep it alit. Shuri and Leon both looked down at the fire as the white robes slowly started to turn black as they burned. After a few moments, they looked at the sun out in the distance, with Shuri stifling a sob as she finally took a moment to grieve her lost brother. Leon closed his eyes and felt a tear slide down his cheek, but no more fell out of his eyes.
He had cried enough over the last six months.
Images of T'Challa suddenly flew through their heads. Shuri saw her brother not long after he had been declared King, giving a salute to Dora Milaje as he entered the laboratory, where she met him with a less than graceful handshake. Leon saw himself going through that casino with T'Challa, all of them except for him dressed in a manner of incognito, but T'Challa smiled at him in reassurance. Shuri and Leon both then saw T'Challa at his challenge to be King and the both of them cheering for him. The image then shifted to Shuri placing the components for T'Challa's Black Panther suit around his neck after he had been saved in Jabariland.
One final image then flowed through their minds, showing T'Challa walking into the throne room with a scarf around his neck, but a triumphant smile on his face.
Shuri and Leon slowly opened their eyes, and the two of them slowly breathed in and out as emotion washed over the both of them. A tear slid down Shuri's cheek once again, while Leon let out a shaky breath. After a few moments, Leon lifted up an arm and wrapped it around Shuri's shoulders to pull her in for a reassuring side hug. Shuri gave a small smile of gratitude as she let out a small sob for her lost brother.
"Gone... But not forgotten," Leon promised her.
"Never forgotten," Shuri agreed with a small shake of her head. "Never."
"Never," Leon repeated.
The two of them continued to sit together on the logs, just taking a moment to process the full range of their grief for T'Challa. Shuri and Leon both sighed out as they felt emotion coursing through them both before looking down at the fire, watching it as it burned for a moment. The last few weeks had been very crazy for them both, but it had helped them both get the closure they needed. *3*
Shuri and Leon continued to sit together on the beach, staring out at the water as the waves continued to crash against the shore. After a few moments, Shuri breathed in and out and sniffled, feeling the emotion finally begin to fade slightly as she sat up. She let out another small sigh, but Leon nodded at her reassuringly, knowing that she was a bit better.
The sound of feet in the sand reached Leon's ears, and he noted that Nakia must have finally come over to join them. Of course, the sound of tiny feet walking in the sand with hers got Leon to furrow his eyebrows. Butterflies flew through his stomach as he realized it was finally time.
"Shuri, Leon," Nakia slowly said. Leon and Shuri turned to look at her. "May we join you now?"
Shuri's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, while Leon's lit up in amazement.
Nakia stood in the sand just a few feet away, a smile on her face as she held hands with a small boy. Dressed in a yellow shirt and shorts, the boy had a smile on his face as he looked at the two of them, his black hair pushed up to make him look a little taller. Leon let out a small huff when he realized that this was the same boy that he and Ramonda had met when they first arrived at the school in Haiti.
'I knew that kid looked familiar,' Leon thought, his eyes lighting up in realization.
After all, there was only one reason why Nakia would have brought a child with her to meet Shuri and Leon here.
"This is my son, Toussaint," Nakia confirmed, introducing the boy to Leon and Shuri.
Shuri's eyes slowly widened as realization set in. Leon gave a small smile to the young boy as Nakia crouched down so that her face was level with his.
"Toussaint, this is your aunty, Shuri, and your uncle, Leon," Nakia told him.
Toussaint looked from his mom to Shuri and Leon and waved at them.
"Hi," he said with a smile.
Shuri was nearly frozen in shock, while Leon smiled and waved back.
Nakia then took Toussaint's hand, and the two of them walked over to join Leon and Shuri. Shuri wiped her nose and watched as Toussaint and Nakia slowly took a seat next to her on her log. Leon smiled at Toussaint, while Shuri continued to look at the boy in shock. Nakia and Toussaint shared a look, and they both laughed before Nakia gave her son a hug. They both looked up at Shuri, who looked at Nakia, hoping for an explanation.
"We agreed it was better for him to grow up here," Nakia told Shuri, keeping an arm around Toussaint. "Away from the pressure of the throne." She then looked at Toussaint. "Your father, your baba, prepared us for his death, didn't he?"
Toussaint nodded his head while Shuri still looked completely overwhelmed. Leon patted her on the shoulder reassuringly, which got her to look at him.
"Y... You knew?" Shuri asked him.
"For some time," Leon admitted. "T'Challa swore me to the same secrecy as your mother. He didn't want too many people to know before the time was right."
"Yes," Nakia confirmed, drawing Shuri's attention. "In that light, he didn't want us to go to the funeral, because he felt that time was not yet right." She looked at Toussaint and placed a hand on his shoulder. "So we had our own ceremony for him here."
"My mother knew of him," Shuri assessed. She looked at Nakia. "Did she meet him?"
"She did," Nakia confirmed.
"Did you meet him before?" Shuri asked, looking at Leon.
"Uh, no," Leon admitted with a shake of his head. "This is a first for me, too."
"Then how did you learn about him?" Shuri asked.
Though she kept a hand on Toussaint's back, Nakia looked up, also curious about this.
"Well... This is embarrassing," Leon admitted. He raised an eyebrow at the memory. "But once when I was at the palace, not too long after the Blip, I still didn't know where everything was, and I forgot to knock on one specific door. And when I found T'Challa sitting on the toilet researching good gifts for children, it was kind of easy to put the pieces together. He gave me the full explanation afterwards."
The other three had very different reactions to this. Shuri immediately groaned at the mental image of her brother in that position, while Nakia grimaced but smirked, and Toussaint chuckled, clearly amused by the story. *4*
While Toussaint continued to chuckle, Shuri slowly breathed in and out as she finished processing that she had a nephew. Once she felt a bit better, she looked at Toussaint with a smile and held up a hand.
"It's nice to meet you," Shuri told Toussaint.
"Nice to meet you," Toussaint said, grasping Shuri's hand.
"You're already a pretty cool little kid," Leon told the boy with a smile.
"Yes, Toussaint is a beautiful name," Shuri told her nephew with a smile. "It holds a great history."
"And it sounds cool," Leon added with a smile.
"Thanks," Toussaint told them. "Your names are cool, too, I guess." He furrowed his eyebrows. "Except for your real name being Squall."
Leon closed his eyes and groaned dramatically while Nakia, Shuri, and Toussaint all laughed at him.
"My mom says you are both good at keeping secrets," Toussaint then told Leon and Shuri. "Is that true?"
"Yes, I can keep a good secret," Shuri promised, still laughing a bit.
"Well, she didn't know you existed until two minutes ago, so... Yeah, I can keep a secret, kid," Leon added with his own smile.
Toussaint looked at Nakia with a smile, and she gave him a reassuring look. Leon furrowed his eyebrows in curiosity as Toussaint turned to look at him and Shuri.
"Toussaint is my Haitian name," Toussaint told them.
Leon and Shuri both looked at Nakia, both of them now intrigued. The two of them looked at Toussaint once again.
"Who are you?" Shuri asked in Xhosian.
"My name is Prince T'Challa, son of King T'Challa," Toussaint declared, a slight authority in his young voice.
Leon and Shuri both looked up from Toussaint and looked at Nakia in realization. Nakia just smiled before placing her head against her son's in an affectionate manner. Leon and Shuri looked down and closed their eyes, both of them sniffling once again. Of course, after a few moments, Shuri and Leon both smiled and chuckled, not surprised in the least that Nakia had named her son after his father.
No matter what, T'Challa would live on, in the memories that people held of him, what he did for his people, and even through his son.*5*
Letitia Wright as Shuri/Black Panther
Doug Erholtz as Squall "Leon" Leonhart/Silver Lion
Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia
Danai Gurira as Okoye
Winston Duke as M'Baku
Florence Kasumba as Ayo
Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams/Ironheart
Michaela Coel as Aneka
Mabel Cadena as Namora
Introducing Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor
With Martin Freeman as Everett Ross
With Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine
And Angela Bassett as Queen Romanda
Black Panther and Silver Lion: Wakanda Forever
Sometime after returning to Wakanda, Leon got his bag ready, packing his supplies back inside to begin his trip back home to Radiant Garden. After following through with Queen Ramonda's funerary process with burning the robe, and then finally meeting T'Challa's son, the grief had mostly faded. He was still sad that T'Challa was gone, but he had finally processed his grief in a healthy manner and was ready to get back to work and go home. Everyone understood and expressed their gratitude for all the help he had given over the last few months, while also wishing him well for when he got back to Radiant Garden.
The goodbyes were pretty sad, but they were still heartfelt as Leon made sure to visit everybody that he cared about in the process. There was M'Baku, who gave him a spine shattering hug, followed by Okoye, Ayo, and Aneka, all of whom gave him the standard Wakandan salute. That same salute was given from Zawavari and the Elders from the Border, River, Mining, and Merchant Tribes (though they had sought out Leon rather than the other way around).
Shuri gave him a big hug, thanked him for everything he had done to help her, and made him promise to come back soon. Leon promised that he would before he finished packing his bag.
Not much really needed to be put in the bag, just some necessary equipment. Though, he carried his Gummiphone in his hand as he walked down onto the outdoor hangar as his repaired Highwind Gummi ship rose from a component in the floor.
As he walked up to the Gummi ship, Leon powered up his Gummiphone once again, knowing that he needed to make an important call before he started flying. Inwardly grimacing over the fact that he would most likely be getting an earful from his friends, Leon prepared himself before going to his contacts, selecting the one for Yuffie, and pressed the green Call button.
Leon wasn't surprised that the phone barely rang for five seconds before the call was answered. Yuffie's face suddenly appeared on the screen of his phone, with Aerith and Cid both crowding in to look at him as best they could.
"Leon!" Aerith, Cid, and Yuffie all exclaimed in unison.
"What the hell took ya so long!?" Cid demanded.
"Do you have any idea how long we've been trying to call you?" Aerith exclaimed.
"You stupid bastard, don't you care about us!?" Yuffie shouted.
Leon grimaced as his friends continued to shout at him, which had him lowering the volume of his phone for a moment. Aerith, Cid, and Yuffie all continued to yell, all of them expressing their anger, annoyance, and displeasure over the fact that he hadn't contacted them in such a long time. Leon at least found some comfort over the fact that it had been six months only for him, so it must have only been about six weeks or so for them. Still, Aerith, Cid, and Yuffie all didn't hesitate to voice their anger at him.
After a few moments, the three of them stopped yelling, and the three of them all breathed in and out as they frowned at him through the phone screen. Leon nodded for a moment before he turned the volume back up on his phone.
"You guys finished?" Leon asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Aerith admitted.
"I'm a bit better, yeah," Cid added.
"I'm angry, but I'm always angry at you," Yuffie admitted with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Right," Leon remarked, rolling his eyes at Yuffie. "Well, if it's any consolation, I'm on my way back. I took care of everything I needed here, and I've processed all my grief. I'm ready to come home."
"Good," Aerith said. "Things haven't been the same without you."
"Yeah," Cid agreed. "I forget sometimes just how much we need you here."
"Well, I'd much rather deal with our problems at Radiant Garden than the ones that happen here," Leon admitted. "I love this place, but it seems like some kind of crazy crap happens all the time. Hell, something weird happened recently involving that Nick Fury guy while I was helping Shuri with something, but I didn't look into it for long."
He looked up in thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"There's enough people here on this world; they can take care of it on their own," Leon decided.
"Good," Yuffie said. She smiled. "'Cause well... You remember how I told you that something super, ultra, mega-sized, immensely huge has happened and you need to get back here ASAFP?"
"Vaguely," Leon remarked with a small roll of his eyes. "But you're way too dramatic, so I just shrugged it off, as per usual."
"Well, buddy, she wasn't being overly dramatic this time," Cid told him with a smile.
"Yeah, something huge really has happened," Aerith added with her own smile.
"What?" Leon asked with a confused frown.
Yuffie just smiled once again before she suddenly turned her phone around.
When Leon saw where she was pointing her phone, when he saw her... His eyes widened, and he immediately ended the call.
With speed that he didn't even know he had possessed, Leon climbed into his Gummi ship and powered it up as fast as he could. Within moments, the ship was ready to fly, and it slowly started to rise up into the air, way too slowly than he'd have preferred. Luckily, after a few moments, the ship was airborne and rising higher into the sky. Leon quickly started flying the ship, turning it to point up into the air and piloting it over the Wakandan palace. Within moments, the Gummi ship passed through the barrier around Wakanda. Within a few more moments, it had flown through the atmosphere of the planet Earth, leaving the world and entering the Lanes Between.
Leon impressed himself with how quickly he piloted his Gummi ship through the Lanes Between, hurrying through the oceanic realm between worlds. Asteroids, wormholes, and many other worlds passed by his Gummi ship as he piloted it through the Lanes towards his destination. It took some clever maneuvering, but Leon managed to navigate throughout the gigantic expanse of the Lanes Between and come into view of Radiant Garden. Not even hesitating, Leon piloted his ship down towards the planet, entering the main city and landing it in the gigantic hangar they had set up over the apartment building.
Once the ship was parked, Leon all but leapt from the hangar and the apartment building towards the Castle Town, where Merlin's House was. Hurrying through the familiar neighborhood, Leon moved up to the large and eccentric house towards the front door, which he practically kicked open. Entering the house, Leon looked up at Aerith, Cid, and Yuffie, all of whom were a little surprised over how quickly he had arrived. Of course, all three of them just nodded at Leon and gestured to an opposite wall. Leon quickly turned towards this wall, and found her standing there.
Leon let out a huff as he saw her once again. It had been some time since they had last seen each other, but she looked exactly the same. Her black hair flowed down over her shoulders and onto the sleeveless, blue knit duster sweater, along with matching knit arm warmers with a mechanical device attached to her left warmer. Underneath, she had on a black tank top, a denim button up skirt, black cycling shorts, and a pair of silver-buckled black boots. There was a black ribbon on her left arm, and a necklace with a ring on it.
Leon's breath caught as he looked at her, but a smile slowly started to spread across his face.
"Rinoa," he said.
Rinoa Heartilly smiled at him.
"It is nice to see you once again," she told Leon. "My hero."
Leon's cheeks turned the faintest shade of pink.
"But I must ask," Rinoa said, furrowing her eyebrows. "Why do you call yourself Leon now? I've always known you as Squall."
Yuffie immediately started to giggle, which got Aerith and Cid to smirk at her.
Embarrassment filled Leon at his friends' words, but he couldn't find himself to care enough.
Rinoa was here.*6*
