Tunnel's End
By Nanaho-Hime
For sick-atxxheart on the HPFC
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Tom Riddle (because when he is no longer immortal, Voldemort is merely a name, no longer an entity) fears that when he comes to the end of his tunnel there will be no light for him. He has spent his entire existence, fearing death, escaping death, trying to conquer death so that when he does actually die he is not prepared.
When he does die, he is no longer Voldemort, he is eleven year old Tom Riddle, eager and angry, ambitious and ready to vanquish the world that had scorned him. He knows that there is no place in heaven for him, and no one who loved him enough to wait at the end of his tunnel. He knows that when he tore his soul, there wasn't much left of him that made him human.
In his twisted mind, he does not regret much, but he does regret defeat. Death beat him in the end, took him and mocked him for his mortality (because he was always mortal, no matter how much he had tried to deny it).
When he does reach the end of the tunnel, after years of agonized, resigned steps he is back in hell, back in the orphanage, grey and gothic and the host of every bad memory that has ever plagued him. The gates are open, and he has no choice but to enter.
Waiting for him, just outside the entrance, is his mother (and he knows that it is his mother). She wears a sad, disappointed smile.
"Hello Tom."
"Mother."
"Oh Tom," Merope puts a hand on top of his head, "What did you do to yourself Tom."
He doesn't answer her; disgusted that she is free of the gates while he is trapped inside them forever.
"I had hoped," her voice wavered, "That you would find out how beautiful the world is, how beautiful love is."
He ignores her, hating her with every fiber of his being, for the life she took away from him.
"I always loved you Tom."
"Liar."
"You're scared Tom, but death could have been a beautiful adventure."
She disappears and he enters the gates. They close behind him, and he is trapped in his hell.
A/N: Hope you like it :)