Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like, turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle, then write a ficlet related to or inspired by each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish; you start when the song starts, and stop when it's over.
Went over the limit, by a lot. Never said I was good at speed-writing.
Aerith – Glass of Water, Coldplay
She put a gentle hand on Leon's shoulder, not looking at him but instead gazing over him at the sunset. As she expected, he didn't say anything and tolerated the physical contact.
"What's on your mind?" The words ghosted out of her mouth so softly, she almost didn't believe she had actually said them.
He shrugged abruptly and her hand slipped off his shoulder. The question was merely a nicety to open the conversation; Aerith knew exactly where his thoughts were spinning. She thought of the drawer they'd put everything they had to remind themselves of their old friends. Aerith was lucky enough to have a photo of her mother, which she took out every week on the dot to look at and remember.
"You know, Leon..." She trailed off, trying to find words. "For us... The past made us... More than anyone else, maybe..."
He didn't speak, so she continued. "Other people can forget the things that happened to them."
Aerith could have believed he wasn't breathing, he was so still.
"But we can't."
Slowly, Leon turned to look up at her. Instead of the rage she was expecting, she saw something that made her feel more guilty than if he had exploded. Hopelessness.
"Why would you hand me ammo to shoot myself with?" He spoke even quieter than her, so quietly she couldn't distinguish the emotional undertone. When Aerith didn't answer for a moment, Leon shook his head and stood up, clearly intending to leave.
Before he went out of earshot, Aerith answered, all of a sudden clear and insistent. "Maybe instead of trapping yourself in the past, maybe you could just remember what happened and use it to live here in the present. The point is that what happened to us isn't reason for us to give up but a reason to keep fighting."
Leon slowed and turned around, meeting her square in the eye. "And what do I have here in the present worth fighting for? That's worth living here for?"
Aerith stayed silent. This time Leon did leave for good and she watched the back of him as he went back into town.
There, he would be met by Cloud, who would talk to him for a few minutes and both men would feel like smiling but wouldn't.
Then Tifa, who would cheerfully volunteer to accompany on the patrol tomorrow morning and Leon would quietly refuse, believing that he was saving Tifa from having to fight when everyone but him knew morning patrol was when Leon didn't have the strength to face his demons alone.
And Cid, who would ask for Leon's help deciphering some mysterious computer program and the end result would be something like getting the water systems fully functional which would make everyone happy.
Yuffie, who would watch him silently for half the night before putting a grin on her face, call him Squall and challenge him to a tickle-fight, because of all of them, she fought the hardest to keep Leon's head above water and heart in the light and he was the only one who didn't realize how much of her heart she gave to him in an effort to keep him connected to at least one other person.
No, thought Aerith, wretched with heartache for him, there wasn't anything for him as long as he wouldn't see it. If only he would open his eyes.