The Reason I Survive

[eroded_earth]

Characters: Terra & Open [but ask first because I don't want TOO many responses to this XD]
Time: Late Evening
Location: Lobby
Content: Dream Sequence + Reaction
Format: Prose
Warnings: Angst?

Comments

[doomedtheworld]

Mist curled outside the window, swirling and shifting around empty streets. The emptiness wasn't unusual, the skaa still believed the mist to be cursed, what was disturbing was the darkness and the silence. Not a single light burned throughout all of Luthadel, the city stood quiet and solemn and dark except for the lone light that burned behind Vin

[eroded_earth]

Terra didn't know what to do with himself now. He should probably go back to his room and finish sleeping there but what good would it do if he just woke up again? He sighed, there had to be something he could do about this.

Before he could give it much more thought, a soft voice was speaking to him a few feet away. For a brief second he thought about ignoring them, but, well, that wouldn't be very nice. Plus, they sounded concerned. Terra straightened up, brushing some of his dampened hair out of his face and turning to find Vin standing barefoot in the lobby. He shook his head, "Not really. You?"

[doomedtheworld]

Vin hesitated when Terra didn't respond right away. Maybe she had been wrong about him not wanting to be alone, she was probably just intruding. She glanced back the way she came, wondering if she should just leave him to his thoughts.

But then he looked up and Vin turned back, freezing momentarily. She could see the look in his eyes reflecting back everything she felt and she knew in a second she had nothing to say. What reassurance could she offer him when she couldn't even make herself feel better?

Instead, she just shook her head as well. "Not really."

[eroded_earth]

Terra recognized that look in Vin's face. It was the same sort of feeling he had lately, trying to hide your fear of sleep and the nightmares...putting on a brave face. He could see it in her eyes though...the nightmares were as bad for her as they were for him. He wondered if she had made similar mistakes as he had...mistakes that had cost him his home and made the dreams hit far too close to said home (both literally and figuratively).

"I didn't think so. Would it help at all to talk about it?"

[iamaman_punch]

Linkara hadn't been doing too well with the nightmares either, to be honest. Seeing himself as the worst shadow over his home...well, with the possible exception of Insano, hadn't every villain who'd ever harrassed him come about because of something he'd done or at least been involved in? It wasn't a comforting thought, and it was one he'd been trying to avoid. Distractions were great.

Of course, he also knew he didn't have it nearly as bad as some people - people for whom the nightmares rang depressingly true. The point pretty much hammered itself home when Linkara walked into the lobby, intent on a library trip if only to have something to do, and instead heard what could have been a sob and saw Terra either on the verge or in the middle of a mental breakdown.

Dammit, why did it have to be Terra. Why was it always Terra. And here he'd thought Peter Parker couldn't catch a break (One More Day aside

[eroded_earth]

Terra wanted to go back to his room now but he just couldn't muster up the will to. So he stayed there, wondering where he was supposed to go from here or what he was supposed to do with himself now. What could he do? They were nightmares. It wasn't something he could control.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't hear Linkara approach. In fact, he didn't even realize he was there until his hand was on his shoulder. Unfortunately, the first thing Terra did was jerk up, startled by the unexpected touch. He whipped around but found that it was just Linkara. His heart immediately stopped racing, he was jumpier than he realized he would be. "Linkara...sorry about that. Guess I'm a little wound up."

[iamaman_punch]

Well, that hadn't worked. At all. Maybe it was just a Terra thing. Either way, Linkara wasn't going to fault him for being on edge - not when everyone else was as well and not when the last thing Terra needed was for anyone to fault him for anything. "You and the rest of the city," he replied. "Nightmares get to you too?" Of course, if Terra's nightmares were anything like his - and given how things had been going, they were probably exactly like his - then given what he knew about Terra, the nightmares were probably getting to him worse than just about everyone else he knew.

[eroded_earth]

Terra knew Linkara had just done that in an attempt to comfort him. He actually felt bad that he had jumped over it. Just another sign that he really needed some sleep or at least to relax. "Yeah," he paused, wondering how much to say to this, "I guess you could say that."

"I've dealt with nightmares before...but never like this and the fact that other people are having the same kinds of dreams...it's terrible."

[before_the_moon]

He stood there, staring at Terra with a stoic, indecipherable expression on his face. Not knowing what to do. Isa wasn't the comforting type, he didn't know how, Lea was the nice one, not him.

Isa knew about those dreams, he had them too, even though he never talked about them. Horrible visions of what he had interpreted Saïx to be like. It wasn't something he wanted to focus on, so he pushed it away, like the rest of his emotions.

After a while, he went over to where he was sitting, "Terra?"

[eroded_earth]

Terra took a deep breath and pushed away from the table. He should just go to bed, at least in his room he could have his nightmares alone. He paused,however, when he saw Isa standing nearby. "Oh, hello Isa," he gave the boy a small and tired smile, but even that was forced, "I didn't disturb you from something did I?"

Isa certainly didn't look troubled, but if everyone was having these nightmares then certainly the kid was having his own troubles. Terra felt bad for him.

[before_the_moon]

"No," he replied, "Are you...?" Isa trailed off, of course Terra wasn't okay, anyone with eyes could see that. He tried to shift focus, "Is there..." but trailed off again. Isa was literally at a loss for words.

Reaching out and being nice to someone he barely knew? It wasn't in his nature to do something like this.

He sat down next to Terra and tried again. "What's wrong?"

[eroded_earth]

Terra waited patiently for Isa to figure out what he wanted to say. It was clear that the boy was worried about him but wasn't sure how to express it. Terra could remember feeling like that before, especially in his younger days when he was still learning how to be a friend to anyone. Back before he'd met Aqua and Master Eraqus and they had shown him how to care about others. It was a hard thing to learn to express.

He looked down at his hands when Isa asked finally. Terra wasn't sure where to start with telling him, he didn't know Isa all that well after all. Still, Terra had always been an honest person (for the most part) so he felt like he should tell Isa. "It's the nightmares. I realize they can be troubling for everyone but, lately, they've been hitting a little close to home for me." He closed his hands, remembering the feeling of the dark tendrils creeping over them...the feeling that he was helpless to stop it. "They remind me of things that are probably going to happen too me...and of things I've done that I

[sailorgenerous]

On the whole, Rarity was really rather irritated that her sleep was constantly interrupted by these horrible nightmares. Honestly, they didn't even make any sense - why would she be the one casting a shadow over Ponyville? Everyone there loved her! Of course, she did get carried away at times, but never anything so awful as thatShe'd been headed back down to that lovely JoAnn's store she'd found to restock on some of her favorite colors when she paused, recognizing a spiky brown hairdo over the top of one of the chairs. Of course Terra would be out and about too. She trotted around the side of the chair, mouth open to greet him, when she noticed he was sleeping - not peacefully, no, but sleeping nonetheless, a rare occurrence nowadays. She left him be, opting instead to head towards the kitchen for a plate of leftover cookies and a glass of milk, which she magicked with her over to the hotel's gift shop to pick up a blanket. She may as well have something to help him sleep and something for when he woke up

[eroded_earth]

Terra heard the clopping sound of hooves and straightened up, removing his hands from his face. He was a little disturbed to see Rarity look so sadly at him. Maybe it was the fact that a small, unicorn was looking so sad. Terra hated seeing her like that almost more than he hated what the nightmares were doing to him. He pulled the blanket more over his shoulders, Rarity's kindness was doing more to comfort him than the actual blanket.

"No," he said in a soft voice, not his usual confident self at all, "no it hasn't helped me for a long time now." He blinked when she put a hoof to his knee. She really was worried about him it seemed. "Thanks. You're doing a lot right now, trust me." He thought about giving her a hug but he wasn't quite sure how to do that. "How are you holding up?"

[sailorgenerous]

"Oh, I'm perfectly alright, but this isn't about me." That statement was a strong testimony to just how concerned Rarity was over Terra's well-being. It took quite a bit to get Rarity to place her own petty concerns aside, but her worry over Terra's distraught state was more than enough reason to do just that.

She moved a bit closer, looking down and back up again, trying to figure out logistics that, she realized after a few moments of contemplation, simply wouldn't work. The only thing left now was to be direct about it. "Terra, be a dear and lean down," she requested. "I want to give you a hug, but you're simply too tall sitting up like that." Because a hug was a simple and direct form of comfort, and as far as Rarity was concerned this situation definitely warranted one.

[eroded_earth]

Well, it sounded like she was doing okay at least. Terra looked a little relieved. He shouldn't have been surprised though, Rarity was tougher than she looked and, not to mention, Terra didn't think she could have possibly carried the darkness inside that he did.

"Huh? Oh." Terra actually appeared bewildered by the request, especially since he had just been considering the problem himself. It was hard, but he did manage a smile before getting out of the seat and kneeling in front of Rarity. Without saying another word and without trying to give it much more thought on logistics, Terra pulled the small unicorn pony into a hug.

[wavesinherheart]

Terra hadn't been the only one suffering through the nightmares. Aqua had only seen what their homeland had become long after the event that had sent it plummeting into darkness in the first place, yes. But that didn't make it any easier to find herself alone in the Land of Departure. Nor did it make it any easier to know that somehow it was her shadow that weighed so heaviy on it.

Worse still was the feeling that it was right. That she should have done something, anything, to stop Terra from falling into Xehanort's hands. To keep Vanitas from being able to do what he had. Or even something as simple as being able to find Ven's sleeping heart. But she hadn't been able to. Now, all she could hope to do was try to pick up the shattered pieces of what should have been. She hadn't even been able to keep their home safe

[eroded_earth]

After having such a dream, Terra wasn't sure if he wanted to see his friend from the Land of Departure or not. Still, when he heard his name come from Aqua's voice he couldn't help but feel relieved. For now, the dream was just that...a dream. Aqua and the Master were here with him and while elements of that dream might have been true he could still take comfort in the fact that he had his family here.

"Aqua. Hey." He wondered how she was coping with the dreams. It was hard for him to imagine someone like Aqua "casting darkness over their home." For Terra, she had always been one of the sources of light in the Land of Departure.

[wavesinherheart]

A dream that Aqua meant to keep a dream as long as she could. There had to be an answer to it. A reason for someone - or something - keeping them up all night. Even if it was a reason that was less than pleasant.

"You're holding up alright?" She had her suspicions, given the dreams, but it didn't hurt to ask anyway. And besides, it was something to say, at the very least.

[eroded_earth]

He hesitated. He didn't want to worry Aqua, but at the same time if he could not tell her then who could he talk to? Aqua was his best friend and while certain events had seemed to drive the apart he could never see her as anything other than that. He knew that he would do anything for her and vise-versa.

"As best I can. I don't think I've had a decent night's sleep in awhile...the dreams are too real for me."