She never saw it coming. Certainly there had been tremors, whispers in the wind, but she loved her children and they would never do anything to harm her.
She believed that until the day the ground split open and darkness poured from the earth, scattering the ones she loved so much.
Don't leave me, she cried, ignoring the streets falling to pieces around her and the wounds staining her white dress with inky darkness. The loyal ones stayed. The smart ones left. The ones who had proven to be entirely too smart simply watched.
Still, she clung to those who remained with her, holding them tightly, until her dress had bled nearly to black and the very ground crumbled at her feet – until she realized her embrace was no longer protecting her children but killing them.
She didn't want them to leave her. It was the only way they would survive.
It was the most difficult decision any mother could be forced to make.
Go, she cried, opening her arms and sending her children away. Leave me. Live! She watched them run to their ships, casting regretful glances back at her as they flew away, leaving her alone in the shattered remains of a world that had once been beautiful. She could only hope her sisters would offer them a safer home.
As the last of her beloved children fled, the heart of Radiant Garden collapsed to her knees, sobbing as if broken, until the darkness swallowed her whole.
I've always wanted to do stories with anthropomorphic personifications of the KH worlds, if only because I thought it'd be fun. This one, written for the "Left Behind" prompt on kh-drabble, took a hard left turn into heartbreaking. Odd how that works sometimes.
