Glimpse
By:
Phoenix Dayze
(Cloud, Fate)
PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or its characters.
Pain laced through him. Cloud slowly fell to his knees, the blast rocking him as it tore through his chest. A hollow, aching stillness held time in sway, a moment of mind and body adjusting to cold, untimely truth. The searing, empty pain was death.
It washed over him, and Cloud opened his eyes to it. He wanted the pain. He craved it. "Please," he silently begged unseen forces, "Let me finally know. Let me understand."
He waited for the next shot, for it to rend his flesh, but it never came. Tears burned in Cloud's eyes as he gasped for breath. Why? His heart cried. Don't deny me now! I need to know what he felt!
Panic seized his darkening thoughts. His life was ebbing away, and soon all chances at redemption would be lost. All his opportunities to suffer for what he'd done would be gone with this single shot.
Images twirled through his consciousness. Questions long unanswered. How many shots had Zack taken? How long had he lived? How long had it taken for the pain to consume him--for his life to leak away into the earth? What had he thought as he died?
Cloud wanted to cry. He wanted to scream. He wanted to go back, to tell Zack that he wasn't worth saving. Had he known Zack's irreparable fate, he would have shot himself years ago and spared his friend such a bitter end.
But Zack was dead. And now, he too would die in a final, unworthy attempt at recompense. And as the pain magnified--as his vision dimmed, all Cloud could think was—It's not nearly enough.
Slowly he pulled himself to his feet. And turning, he charged his attackers, a cry of broken defeat on his lips.
A blast of heat struck his body as his world exploded. His pain, his guilt, his memories...it all burst into flames. And all was silent.
The End.