Cold Light

He stood silently, his hand still clenching the old doorknob of the ancient room he had escaped to. He waited, holding his breath until he heard the footsteps of his comrades move away from the door. Ever since, they had been looking at him as if he was about to break. But it was only because... he was. Their faces told Cloud that they wanted to ask him how he was, what he was feeling... what they could do to help. Nothing. There was nothing they could do or say that could make any difference to Cloud. She was gone. And nothing would ever be the same. Despite the torment he was feeling, none of it seemed real to Cloud, even now... even after laying her to rest a few hours ago. Cloud felt like it was just a nightmare that he would soon wake from. That he would open his eyes and see her smiling face wishing him a good morning. A smile so gentle and warm that the sun paled in comparison to her pure light.

But that light was gone... snuffed out by the man he once admired.

Cloud wasn't sure how long he had stood there by the door waiting, but when he heard the muffled voices of his friends pick up a conversation, he felt repulsed by the sound of normalcy they had resumed so quickly. What they were saying was lost to him, their words foreign to his mind... and he didn't care to know. His hand fell limply to his side as he pressed his shoulder to the door for support, his eyes downcast and void as he absentmindedly listened to their voices. Subconsciously, he moved... Ghosting his way to the the sole bed in the room, where he sat in silence.

The foggy light of the night poured in through the open window behind him, his ghostly-lit silhouette looking like some grim statue from ancients times. The silence was haunting yet longed for. The isolation from everyone and everything was the only therapy he could find in this moment. But that same silence reminded him of his sad reality... He could no longer hear her laugh or hold her in his arms... She wouldn't be there to see tomorrow's sunrise or smell the wild-flowers they would come across during their journey. She was stolen from him and robbed of her future. And the longer he sat there, the more real it all became.

Her heart was no longer beating.

Cloud slowly lowered his head into his hands, her blood now dried to the leather. He rested his elbows on his knees as he buried his face in defeat. His vision grew blurry as tears began to form. Cloud stared into the void, never blinking, to keep his tears at bay... but his grief was too strong and he quickly succumbed to the immense pain that was tearing his soul apart. His chest began to swell and his heart felt hollow. He tried to keep his mouth taut, but the longer he tried, the more he could feel himself about to break. The core of his body begin to tremble, and the world around him collapsed on top of him, smothering him. He took one deep breath and broke. His once taut mouth now quivered uncontrollably. His reddened eyes burned as the tears began to fall. His breathing became jagged as he tried his best to not let his feeble cries escape him. His shoulders jerked as he tried to choke back the sound of his weeping, but the air fought him with every breath and it made it nearly impossible to keep his cries a secret from the others.

Aerith's gone, his mind surrendered.

The cold light of the moon couldn't combat the darkness that would forever surround him now that his beloved was gone...

A/N: Day 1 of #ClerithMonth. The theme was "Teardrops".