Challenge 205 "Between Then and Now"
Oct. 28th, 2009 12:06 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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kh_drabbleTitle: Between Then and Now
Challenge [205] Disquiet
Word Count: 595
Yuffie has disappeared (again) and Aerith paces the length of their kitchen and casts furtive glances out the window. Leon doesn't ask if she's alright, merely leans against the door frame, watching her flutter about like a trapped bird. "It's just, she didn't put on a coat." She finally says, her empty hands turning over as if this explained everything.
Leon stopped questioning his life a long time ago, it makes these situations easier, when he finds himself crunching through newly fallen snow with a sweater tucked under one arm and Aerith calling at his back "Tell her I'm making potato soup!"
As if the simple lure of food would be enough to draw her back. Leon doesn't bother telling her this. "Whatever," he says instead.
The path he takes is familiar, if not more than a little disused. He remembers traveling these alleyways and roads many many years ago (he was different, the last breath of storms) for this exact same person. Somehow, Leon knows he'll find her (counting stars to herself) exactly where she always hid before (smaller then, less angles and more innocence).
Yuffie doesn't disappoint. He sees her silhouetted against the pale crescent moon, her willowy form poised in complete stillness on the highest peak of the accessory shop's roof. A glimmer of something sharp clenched in her left hand and Leon has enough sense about him to announce his presence before climbing the ladder. After all, she's quick with that kunai.
She's smiling, a full stretching of the lips (pulled back so far he can see all her teeth, practically a grimace) and she crinkles her eyes so tight he wonders if she wasn't on the cusp of crying. Yuffie is hardly ever this quiet (not since the beginning, as if she would spend the rest of her life making up for the eerie silence that swallowed her those first three years), Leon knows too much about ghosts to bother asking if she's alright.
"A star fell," she injects so much effort into those three words Leon almost expects her to propel herself off the roof. Words come tumbling from her mouth in a cascade of frayed nerves and childhood fears. "The sky looked emptier all of a sudden, but you can't really see diddly in the Third District. Once I got here I thought I'd wait a little bit because they probably won't fall out at once. I know I forgot my jacket, Ponytail's probably having a coronary but what if I turned back and a star did fall? There'd be nobody to record it, or whatever, all because I got a little cold and-" Leon pushes her jacket against upturned hands, stopping her mid-babble. She blinks owlishly at him, slowly coming back to herself(all angles and sharp tools and sharper tongue).
He moves away from her, as if it's that easy. He's halfway down the ladder before calling up to her, "Aerith made potato soup." Then back to solid ground, shoving the doors to the Second District open. He lets Yuffie run past him, her cheerful whoop ringing sour in his ears, before casting one glance over his shoulder at the stars hanging overhead. Leon stares at them until his eyes water, silently trying to fix them in place in his head (in his heart) and the tiny sliver of optimism he has left is sent heavenward.
Two months later, when the last of the snow has finally melted and warmth has returned to Traverse Town, the Mouse King's ship lands in the First District.
A week later a boy falls out of the sky.
Challenge [205] Disquiet
Word Count: 595
Yuffie has disappeared (again) and Aerith paces the length of their kitchen and casts furtive glances out the window. Leon doesn't ask if she's alright, merely leans against the door frame, watching her flutter about like a trapped bird. "It's just, she didn't put on a coat." She finally says, her empty hands turning over as if this explained everything.
Leon stopped questioning his life a long time ago, it makes these situations easier, when he finds himself crunching through newly fallen snow with a sweater tucked under one arm and Aerith calling at his back "Tell her I'm making potato soup!"
As if the simple lure of food would be enough to draw her back. Leon doesn't bother telling her this. "Whatever," he says instead.
The path he takes is familiar, if not more than a little disused. He remembers traveling these alleyways and roads many many years ago (he was different, the last breath of storms) for this exact same person. Somehow, Leon knows he'll find her (counting stars to herself) exactly where she always hid before (smaller then, less angles and more innocence).
Yuffie doesn't disappoint. He sees her silhouetted against the pale crescent moon, her willowy form poised in complete stillness on the highest peak of the accessory shop's roof. A glimmer of something sharp clenched in her left hand and Leon has enough sense about him to announce his presence before climbing the ladder. After all, she's quick with that kunai.
She's smiling, a full stretching of the lips (pulled back so far he can see all her teeth, practically a grimace) and she crinkles her eyes so tight he wonders if she wasn't on the cusp of crying. Yuffie is hardly ever this quiet (not since the beginning, as if she would spend the rest of her life making up for the eerie silence that swallowed her those first three years), Leon knows too much about ghosts to bother asking if she's alright.
"A star fell," she injects so much effort into those three words Leon almost expects her to propel herself off the roof. Words come tumbling from her mouth in a cascade of frayed nerves and childhood fears. "The sky looked emptier all of a sudden, but you can't really see diddly in the Third District. Once I got here I thought I'd wait a little bit because they probably won't fall out at once. I know I forgot my jacket, Ponytail's probably having a coronary but what if I turned back and a star did fall? There'd be nobody to record it, or whatever, all because I got a little cold and-" Leon pushes her jacket against upturned hands, stopping her mid-babble. She blinks owlishly at him, slowly coming back to herself(all angles and sharp tools and sharper tongue).
He moves away from her, as if it's that easy. He's halfway down the ladder before calling up to her, "Aerith made potato soup." Then back to solid ground, shoving the doors to the Second District open. He lets Yuffie run past him, her cheerful whoop ringing sour in his ears, before casting one glance over his shoulder at the stars hanging overhead. Leon stares at them until his eyes water, silently trying to fix them in place in his head (in his heart) and the tiny sliver of optimism he has left is sent heavenward.
Two months later, when the last of the snow has finally melted and warmth has returned to Traverse Town, the Mouse King's ship lands in the First District.
A week later a boy falls out of the sky.
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no subject
Date: 2009-10-28 11:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-28 06:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-28 09:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-28 09:38 pm (UTC)yaaay! I can't wait to read what you post (ps, comments coming for your latest chapter I promise)
no subject
Date: 2009-10-29 03:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-29 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-29 08:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-30 05:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-30 01:28 am (UTC)That's so cute!
You characterize this group so well. :3 Good luck!
no subject
Date: 2009-10-30 05:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-02 02:17 am (UTC)i adore all of the images in parentheses. counting stars to herself and sharp tools and sharper tongue. eee.
so pretty. :x ♥