(no subject)
Challenge: [233] Ephemeral
Title: What's at the End of the Tunnel
Word count: 275
Notes: It's been years since I haven't posted here, so pardon my rustiness! Also I was honestly surprised, as I replayed the first game recently, that they hadn't even thought of putting a scene like this inside. Oh well, looks like it's my job. 8D
The orange streetlight glow followed Cid inside, trailing his heels until he shut the door; the sound reverberated through the little house. “I just got a report from the Excalibur,” he announced, pausing for breath.
Leon stopped polishing his gunblade, putting the weapon down on the table. Sitting next to him, Aerith put down the shirt she’d been mending. On the opposite side, Yuffie was perfectly still for the first time in the nine years Leon had known her. Every pair of eyes in the room was focused entirely on the old man.
Panting lightly, Cid held up a perilously short note, a folded piece of paper. Aerith bit her lip. Yuffie’s fingers clutched the edge of the old dining table. Leon’s stomach did flip-flops, and he let his weight rest more heavily on the back of the chair.
Whatever was in that note would change things.
“Area nearly clear,” Cid read. “Castle mostly safe. Returning soon with more information. Cheers…” he trailed off, adding, almost as an afterthought, “Goofy, Donald, and Sora.”
There was a very long, heavy pause in which everyone let the words sink in.
Leon’s first thought was how in the world they would transport a hundred and one dogs. Then, was the town still standing, and his old house, and would they have access to water, and how much planning they would have to do and--he bowed his head so that the others wouldn’t see him wipe his eyes.
Yuffie whooped and Cid laughed and Aerith put her head in her hands and wept with relief.
“We’re going home,” she finally sobbed, and Leon just pulled her shaking shoulders close.
Title: What's at the End of the Tunnel
Word count: 275
Notes: It's been years since I haven't posted here, so pardon my rustiness! Also I was honestly surprised, as I replayed the first game recently, that they hadn't even thought of putting a scene like this inside. Oh well, looks like it's my job. 8D
The orange streetlight glow followed Cid inside, trailing his heels until he shut the door; the sound reverberated through the little house. “I just got a report from the Excalibur,” he announced, pausing for breath.
Leon stopped polishing his gunblade, putting the weapon down on the table. Sitting next to him, Aerith put down the shirt she’d been mending. On the opposite side, Yuffie was perfectly still for the first time in the nine years Leon had known her. Every pair of eyes in the room was focused entirely on the old man.
Panting lightly, Cid held up a perilously short note, a folded piece of paper. Aerith bit her lip. Yuffie’s fingers clutched the edge of the old dining table. Leon’s stomach did flip-flops, and he let his weight rest more heavily on the back of the chair.
Whatever was in that note would change things.
“Area nearly clear,” Cid read. “Castle mostly safe. Returning soon with more information. Cheers…” he trailed off, adding, almost as an afterthought, “Goofy, Donald, and Sora.”
There was a very long, heavy pause in which everyone let the words sink in.
Leon’s first thought was how in the world they would transport a hundred and one dogs. Then, was the town still standing, and his old house, and would they have access to water, and how much planning they would have to do and--he bowed his head so that the others wouldn’t see him wipe his eyes.
Yuffie whooped and Cid laughed and Aerith put her head in her hands and wept with relief.
“We’re going home,” she finally sobbed, and Leon just pulled her shaking shoulders close.