Title: Fear
Fandom: Final Fantasy: Advent Children
Characters: Cloud
Prompt: 074 - Dark
Word Count: 290
Date finished: 08/09/2006
Rating: G
Summary: Cloud and his lantern.
Author's Notes: Came from nowhere. Seems to work.
Disclaimer: Characters are owned by Square Enix and Sony Pictures as far as I know.

He couldn't keep this up. The oil was precious and expensive, and he barely had enough gil to keep himself in gas to keep Fenrir going. Most of his profits went to Tifa, to help care for the kids, and this stupid… irrational….

But he was feeling better already, and he sighed softly, careful that his breath didn't disturb the small flame. The light reminded him a little of Aerith, the first time he'd met her after falling through her roof. There hadn't been that much light then, either…

And the darkness in his own soul had been masked by bravado and a belief that he was someone other than himself.

She had shone, though. And Tifa, too, though in a different way, darker than Aerith because of what had happened to her. Tifa had nightmares of Nibelheim, like he did.

He missed Tifa's light, missed her strength, missed… everything. Missed her so much that sometimes he woke up with tears in his eyes.

But the darkness in his soul was coming out, seeping out his left arm, creating monsters in the darkness when there weren't any there - and there were, he knew; he fought them often enough. He would not let that darkness taint her, no matter how scared of the dark he was.

So he spent all his gil on oil to keep a false light going in the church where he slept, so he didn't dim the real one he wanted - needed - so much that she finally went out.

Advent Children Table | Challenge Main

Home | Stories | Links | Contact me