Sora used to be the kind of guy who believed in forever.
Back then, he believed in rainbows and butterflies, smiles and laughs, love and happiness. He wasn't afraid of the Bogeyman 'cause Yuffie was there to go "all hyper-active ninja on him, Sora!" The dark never scared him because Yuffie was always there holding him close and whispering little jokes in his ears.
Sora used to believe in forever, thinking that death in all its mediocrity could never break him. She had Yuffie, his hyper active ninja in shining armor, his sunshine, his best friend, and Death, in all its macabre glory, had nothing on Yuffie.
Or so he thought.
Yuffie began getting sick. First, it was a small cough, and she laughed it off. "Sora, you big ol' worry-wart! Calm down. It's just a common cold. I'll be fine." And she was, until six months later, she began coughing up blood; huge amounts that Sora knew a common cold didn't cause. After some poking and prodding, Yuffie went to the doctor.
The diagnosis shattered Sora's ideas about forever.
Yuffie had cancer. His Yuffie had cancer. His Yuffie, his forever, had advanced stage four cancer. His Yuffie had something inside of her that was killing her and there was nothing Sora or the doctors could to help her. Sora cried harder than Yuffie did. Cancer doesn't happen in forever. It just doesn't. Cancer happens to other people, not Yuffie. It can't kill her forever, because forever is Sora and Yuffie together, not Yuffie gone and Sora spending every night lonely, empty, cold, and afraid. The truth was simple; it didn't matter what Sora thought about cancer; Yuffie had it. And she was dying, slowly but surely, right in front of Sora's eyes.
Yuffie took the news calmly. She never broke down and cried like Sora. Instead, she spent her remaining months trying to be the Yuffie Sora knew. Things were normal for the first four months, then Yuffie got worse. At night, her breathing became labored, and there were times that Sora thought he had lost her. Yuffie began to stop eating. Her brown eyes, once a pair of shining orbs, became dull, emotionless, empty. She became weak and bony, hardly able to lift her hand to hold Sora's. Soon, she became a full-time patient at the hospital.
x-x-x
It hurt Sora to walk in and see the woman he loved hooked to so many machines. Yuffie's voice was barely audible over the constant beeps of the heart monitor and the soft WHOOSH! of the breathing machine.
"Sora, I'm so tired."
Sora gently slipped his hand in Yuffie's.
"I know, but you're going to get better, okay? That's why you're here, silly! You have to get better because when you do, you and I are going to Paris, just the two of us."
"Paris?"
Sora gave Yuffie's hand a small squeeze.
"Yeah, Paris, France. Remember how you always used to say that we would go and climb the Eiffel Tower, and then we'd shop in all the fancy stores and buy so many shoes and --"
"Y'know, I don't think I'm going to be...able to go."
"Don't talk like that. Of course you are! And we're going to have so much fun, Yuffie. But first, you have to get better, okay?"
"Okay, Sora."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Good, now I'm going to go. I'll be back tomorrow, though. Be good and don't cause too much mischief, Yuffie."
"'Bye Sora. I love you."
Sora bent down and kissed her on the forehead.
"I love you, too, Yuffie. Now get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow."
He grabbed his bag and walked at the door.
Yuffie smiled and closed her eyes.
The heart monitor flatlined.
x-x-x
Sora used to believe in forever. Sora used to believe in love.
He learned the hard way that nothing lasts forever and gray tombstones can't love you back.
this is old old old! So old...blah. But alas, it was crying to be posted, so..yeah.
reviews are love, yes? :3