Empty bowls now sat between them on the table, quiet monuments to a moment that neither would forget. Nikko’s bowl, in particular, looked as if it had been licked clean, every last trace of ice cream gone, as if it had never been there. Leon couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.
"So," he leaned forward, resting his chin on one palm. "How was it?"
Nikko didn’t answer immediately. She just stared at the table for a moment, her expression unreadable. Then slowly, she lifted her gaze to meet his.
Leon broke into a smug, satisfied grin.
"Knew it," he said, leaning back like a man who’d just won a bet. "That was only the beginning tho, because we’re going to have a lot of fun today."
True to his word, Leon wasted no time. With a few quick calls, most notably to his mother, who sighed but ultimately gave her approval, he arranged something utterly outrageous.
He rented out an entire amusement park.
Just for the two of them.
By the time they arrived, the gates were open, the rides humming, and the park staff waiting patiently at their posts. Nikko looked around in stunned silence, the scale of the whole place overwhelming. It was magical, bright banners flapping, laughter-soundtracks playing from speakers, the scent of popcorn drifting through the air.
Leon turned to her with a grin.
As Nikko stared up at the towering tracks of the roller coaster. Her eyes followed the spirals and steep drops, her stomach doing flips before they even boarded.
"Will it... be safe?" she asked quietly.
Leon blinked, caught off guard by the question. Then he smiled at her, softly.
"Don’t worry. If anything happens, I’ll be there."
Nikko didn’t know why, but despite the words coming from a ten-year-old, something about them calmed her in a way nothing else ever had. She nodded.
The coaster began to rise up the track with that slow, rhythmic clunking.
Nikko instinctively shut her eyes tight.
She had never realized it before, but somewhere deep down... she was terrified of heights.
The wind howled softly as they climbed higher and higher. The air grew thinner. Leon, sitting right beside her, leaned over with a glint in his eye and gently tapped her arm.
"Hey. Open your eyes. We’re at the top."
Hesitantly, Nikko cracked one eye open, and instantly regretted it.
They were high. Far above the park, above the buildings, the world stretched out beneath them like a map.
The roller coaster dropped, and with it,
"GYYYYYAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
Nikko’s scream split the air like a banshee’s wail.
Leon’s laugh rang out beside her, pure joy and chaos, as he threw his hands into the air.
Nikko didn’t even think. Her hands shot out and clamped onto Leon like iron. Her face was a storm of terror and disbelief.
She was going to die.
But even through the madness of speed and fear... something stirred. Beneath her scream, she heard Leon’s laughter. Unshaken, wild, and carefree. And little by little, it chipped away at her terror.
Somewhere, between the loops, the turns, the howling wind, and the shared adrenaline, Nikko let go.
But of the part of herself that believed she didn’t deserve joy.
And for the first time in years...
She screamed with life.
The sun had already begun its descent by the time Leon and Nikko stepped off the last ride. The once-boisterous amusement park had quieted into a serene hush, its lights flickering on like sleepy stars waking for the night. They had done it all, roller coasters, bumper cars, haunted houses, spinning tea cups, shooting galleries. Each ride, each game, each moment added another splash of color to the blank canvas that had been Nikko’s dull, gray world.
She didn’t smile much.
But Leon saw it, those tiny cracks in her emotionless facade. A gasp here, a widened eye there, even a short laugh that escaped without permission. Her soul, once buried beneath years of cold indifference and cruelty, was starting to breathe.
But make no mistake, Leon wasn’t doing this out of pity. Nor out of some noble sense of justice. Nikko had nothing to offer him. No connections, no influence, not even a shred of tactical value at the time.
He did it because he understood.
Because he, too, had once stared at the world through hollow eyes. Not on this planet, but back on Earth. That memory, of being alone, broken, and unwanted, never left him.
A sleek, black vehicle pulled to a stop in front of the Federal Manor. The gates loomed ahead like a prison dressed in gold. The fun was over.
Nikko sat still, staring at the building. Then, slowly, she turned to Leon. Her eyes said everything: Don’t make me go back.
She looked like a stray cat who had finally found warmth for the first time, and was about to be thrown back into the street.
Leon sighed and reached out, gently patting her head. To his surprise, she didn’t flinch or pull away. Her body stayed perfectly still, accepting the comfort like it was sacred.
"Let’s play a game," Leon said suddenly.
"Yes it’s called the finger game."
It was a simple game people played back on Earth. You hold up three fingers, and for every question asked, if it applies to you, you put a finger down and vice versa.
"The rules are simple: if you have a finger up by the end of the questions, I’ll take you with me; if you don’t, you have to return home."
Nikko swallowed, then nodded, raising three fingers.
In her mind, she had already made the decision.
’I don’t want to go back to that place. I can’t.’
Leon smiled gently, but there was a strange intensity behind his eyes.
"Alright then. First question."
His tone shifted, colder, almost surgical.
"Put a finger down if you want to be strong."
Nikko lowered a finger.
"Put a finger down if you’ll do anything to become strong."
Leon’s voice lingered a little longer before the last.
"Put a finger down if you believe strength is the only thing that matters in this world."
Nikko stared at him. Her heart tightened.
She remembered the sneers. The bruises. The words.
’Kill yourself.’ ’You’re a stain.’ ’You’ll never awaken.’
And she put her final finger down.
She looked at her closed hand, trembling slightly.
That was when she whispered, barely audible:
"But... I’m not strong like you..."
Leon turned to her. Slowly, a smile curled on his lips. Not a soft one. Not kind.
One that hinted at chaos, rebellion and freedom.
"You don’t have to be like me... to fuck the world over."
His eyes gleamed with a wild light as he leaned closer.
"There are multiple ways to do it. And I’m going to teach you every single one."
In that moment, Leon didn’t look like a savior.
He looked like a corrupted guardian. A wicked star shining in the dark.
And to Nikko, who had been cast aside and shattered by the world,
He was the only light that had ever looked her way.
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