Side Story: Leon & Ada – After All These Years

Setting: A week before the final raid on Echo Base

Location: A small Echo outpost, Sector-3 ruins

POV: Leon

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Leon Kennedy hated rain.

He hated the way it crept into his coat, soaked his boots, made the grip on his magnum feel slippery. Most of all, he hated that it reminded him of the first time he ever met her.

Ada Wong.

And now, she was walking two steps ahead, just like always.

"Still can't walk in sync with me?" he muttered.

She smirked over her shoulder. "If I did, you'd trip on your feelings."

Leon groaned. "Yeah. Missed this."

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They'd been sent to clear an old Echo relay hub. Easy job. Intel, extraction, done. But the walk through the empty city was the real mission—tense silence, unspoken words.

Buildings leaned like tired corpses. Signs buzzed with dying neon.

"Place is worse than Raccoon," Leon muttered, checking a corner.

Ada didn't respond right away.

Then, softly:

"You ever think about that night?"

Leon looked over.

She wasn't smiling. For once.

He knew which night she meant.

"…Every day," he admitted.

Ada looked away. Rain dripped from her lashes.

"I did what I had to."

"And I kept waiting for a reason," he said. "Even after the outbreak. After the wars. After everything. I still waited for you."

They stared at each other across the dark street.

Then she said: "And now?"

Leon holstered his gun, walked closer, boots echoing on wet pavement.

"Now?" he said. "I know you'll leave again. You always do."

Ada's lip twitched. "But?"

"But I'll still follow. Every damn time."

The tension hung heavy between them—years of war, lies, silence. And still, that flicker in their eyes never went out.

Finally, Ada stepped forward and gently leaned her forehead against his.

"I never stopped watching you, Leon," she whispered. "Even when I was supposed to."

He closed his eyes.

"I know."

---

Later, after the mission—when the hub was cleared and they sat in the evac van under flickering lights—Ada rested her head on his shoulder for just a moment.

No promises.

No future.

But for now… they were here.

Together.

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End of Side Story.