kh_drabble | [053 - Literature] Collapse

Challenge: 053 - Literature
Title: Collapse
Word Count: 268
Note: The Aerith-hated in me found this very odd to write. Ah, well. Staying up all night makes me introspective and she's 1/3 of my current obsession anyway.

The library was her favorite place.

She loved the scent of the books, the feel of the pages, the sound the books made when you flipped through them. She loved the tranquility, the feeling of detachment from reality that she got when she lost herself between the pages of a book. It was something Yuffie couldn't understand, as the girl quickly got bored with not only reading, but standing still and it was something Leon couldn't understand, since the boy seemed more preoccupied with brooding or training to sit down and read.

But that was alright because it was something Aerith preferred to do alone.

When the very ground beneath her began to rumble and the dark tendrils of the shadows slithered over the ground, wrapping the castle up in an unearthly and ominous darkness, the only thing Aerith could think of was the books. There was nothing she wanted more, even as she was scooped up in the arms of an unfamiliar, cursing blond man, than to rush back into the castle and save the books.

Long after they'd taken flight, Aerith placed a hand to the window and stared at the diminishing image of what had been her home, hoping the shadows hadn't destroyed the books. And even after she sat with Merlin and he allowed her to venture within his library and read his spell books and taught her as much as he could... it wasn't enough.

She hoped that she could return home one day, once the threat of the Heartless and Maleficent had passed.

She hoped they were taking good care of her books.