Because writing, while fun, is never convenient.
I managed to get most of the rest of the Bitty!Terra drabbles planned out this morning. Then I worked for eight hours. So much for that. :/ This one's a bit of a consolation prize. Not sure what it's supposed to be about or even what I was going for, but it's here and I think it worked out okay.
~~*~~
Terra screamed himself awake, a strangled cry that died abruptly as he opened his eyes and recognized his ceiling, his room, his home. It hadn't been real, he realized slowly, putting a hand to his heart as though he could keep it from beating frantically in his throat. It had all been a dream. A nightmare.
Nightmares were new to him. Then again, so was the idea of calling someplace "home." He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to either.
Taking a deep, shaky breath, and then another, he forced himself to relax, stretching his body out from the tight ball he'd curled himself into in his sleep and instead lying flat on the bed. His breathing hitched involuntarily as his mind wandered back to his nightmare. In it, he'd been completely alone - a numb, hopeless loneliness dragged him down, leaving him drowning in the emptiness in his heart.
For a long time, he'd felt that loneliness every day. Back then, he'd had nothing to compare it to - he'd always been on his own, unloved. But now that he'd found Master Eraqus and Aqua, now that he'd come to know them and live with them and care for them, now that he had a solid basis of comparison, that loneliness was hell - the stuff of nightmares. If there was one thing that nightmare had done, it was hammer home the stark realization that having someone to love also meant having someone to lose.
He took another deep breath, steady this time, and the hand resting on his heart clenched into a fist. That would never happen, he vowed silently. He would keep the loneliness and the nightmares at bay. He would protect the people he cared about. And he would become strong enough to do it.
No matter what.
~~*~~
Terra screamed himself awake, a strangled cry that died abruptly as he opened his eyes and recognized his ceiling, his room, his home. It hadn't been real, he realized slowly, putting a hand to his heart as though he could keep it from beating frantically in his throat. It had all been a dream. A nightmare.
Nightmares were new to him. Then again, so was the idea of calling someplace "home." He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to either.
Taking a deep, shaky breath, and then another, he forced himself to relax, stretching his body out from the tight ball he'd curled himself into in his sleep and instead lying flat on the bed. His breathing hitched involuntarily as his mind wandered back to his nightmare. In it, he'd been completely alone - a numb, hopeless loneliness dragged him down, leaving him drowning in the emptiness in his heart.
For a long time, he'd felt that loneliness every day. Back then, he'd had nothing to compare it to - he'd always been on his own, unloved. But now that he'd found Master Eraqus and Aqua, now that he'd come to know them and live with them and care for them, now that he had a solid basis of comparison, that loneliness was hell - the stuff of nightmares. If there was one thing that nightmare had done, it was hammer home the stark realization that having someone to love also meant having someone to lose.
He took another deep breath, steady this time, and the hand resting on his heart clenched into a fist. That would never happen, he vowed silently. He would keep the loneliness and the nightmares at bay. He would protect the people he cared about. And he would become strong enough to do it.
No matter what.