Chrono Trigger: The Light of Fire

Chapter 1: Lost in Darkness

As usual these days, Crono just lay on his bed in his mother's house, just staring up into the ceiling. He had done so for a month now, hardly sleeping, hardly eating. His thoughts strayed to the time when it happened…

--Flashback--

It was Crono and Marle's first anniversary, and the two were still one of the happiest couples one could imagine. They had everything you could wish for: money, love, and Marle was pregnant with their first child. They had already settled on the names: Glenn if it was a boy and Ayla if it was a girl.

Crono suggested going out for a little leisure trip around Guardia and Marle gladly accepted.

They climbed into the royal carriage and gladly went on their ride. But then, as they passed Porre, the horse was scared by a Poly rolling out in front of them. The horse ran out of control, and before either Crono or Marle could do anything to stop him, he ran over the edge of the cliffs and fell into the ocean, dragging Crono and Marle with him.

When Crono came to, he was in Guardia Castle, his anxious mother and Lucca watching by his side.

"Where's Marle?" was the first thing he said.

"Crono…" said Lucca, and then she burst into tears. That was all the answer Crono needed.

"Her body washed ashore near Choras," his mother explained to him. "The most skilled healers in the world tried their abilities, ranging from Cure to Life 2, but to no avail. I'm sorry, Crono, but Marle is gone."

"And so is our…" Crono wailed, realizing that their unborn child had died with its mother. Shock claimed him, and he collapsed back on the bed.

--End flashback--

Crono's mother knocked on his door and entered. She carried today's dinner on a tray. His favorite jerky, following a recipe Ayla had taught her. She nearly smiled at the memory of the uplifting girl with the limited vocabulary, but as usual, her son's plight made it disappear. She just placed the tray on his bedside table, and he gave her a glance and attempted a grateful smile, which ended up as a painful wince.

The poor woman knew all too well what her son was going through: his father had died in an ambush on the roads by some robbers, while she was still pregnant with Crono. Too bad Lucca had carried out her suggestion and dismantled the Epoch…

Now, it was obvious to Crono's mother that he wasn't going to open up to her. Then who could… all of a sudden, she knew the solution, and she left the house, locked up, and left for her destination.

"So, Gina, what brings you here?" Lara asked Crono's mother as Taban directed his automatic tea boiler to pour some tea for him, Lara, Chrono's mother, and Lucca. "Something to do with Crono?"

"Yes, it is," said Crono's mother in a defeated tone. "He seems to be losing his spark. He won't talk, he hardly eats, and he becomes completely unresponsive if I try to tell him to prepare for Marle's upcoming funeral."

Taban gave a nod. "Yes, I've seen it before, how people who lose their loves become completely apathetic. They'll cut all bonds with the outside world and eventually, they might even become suicidal to join their loved ones."

Lucca's eyes widened. "So you're telling me that Crono might kill himself?!"

"Unfortunately, that seems to be the case," said Taban. "I suppose that's why Gina has come here, right?"

"Correct," said Crono's mother. "As a matter of fact, I came here to ask if you, Lucca, could try to get him to open up a bit. He won't for me, and since you know him better than anyone except for Marle, I thought maybe you could…"

"I… I don't know," said Lucca. "I've had my own trouble trying to cope with Marle's death, and besides, I might only make it worse…"

"Nonsense," said Taban. "Crono needs a friend by his side now. Don't you think Crono would have done the same for you?"

"Well, from that point of view…" Lucca said, and then followed up with a more tactful: "Of course I'll go and talk to him. I don't know how it'll help, but I'll go."

A few minutes later, Crono's mother led Lucca into the residence. She showed him up to his room.

"Thank you," she whispered, and gave Lucca a brief hug. Lucca returned it, braced herself, and entered Crono's room.

Crono looked up as she entered, and then resumed staring at the ceiling. He only looked up for a moment, but she had seen enough. The energetic sparkle in his eye was completely eradicated, now replaced by a blackness that could only mean extreme misery.

"Oh, Crono…" Lucca managed to choke out, tears forming in her eyes because of Crono's condition. Looking around the room, she saw that the curtains were down, and the room was lit only by a single candle. Crono hadn't touched his Ioka jerky.

He suddenly sat up, which was more progress than Lucca had anticipated in the beginning. He looked up at her, and said: "Hey, Lucca."

So much pain focused in one voice. Crono was teetering on the brink of suicide, and Lucca knew it. She sat down next to him. "How do you feel?"

"I… I don't know," said Crono, glancing down. Lucca put her arm around him. "Half of me feel like I should get over her, but she was bearing our child and I loved her…"

"I know how you feel, Crono," said Lucca comfortingly. "I loved her too, in a friendly fashion."

"I… I even suggested that we should go on that trip. If I hadn't done that, Marle wouldn't have…" Crono suddenly started to hiccup and then he started to cry. Lucca knew he had long denied himself these tears, and she put her arms around him and hugged him to her, stroking his hair as he cried into her shoulder. She felt her tears well up again and did nothing to stop them.

"You couldn't have foreseen it," she murmured into his hair. "Nobody could have. It was an accident, it wasn't your fault."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Crono muttered, slightly muffled against her shoulder.

"Remember my mother?" Lucca said in response. Crono swallowed. Of course Lucca knew what she was talking about, since she had blamed herself for the accident with her mother's legs. "I know it's not the same thing, since I fixed that, but I learned that you can't beat yourself up over an accident."

She let him go and looked at her watch. "It's getting late. I should get back home."

Crono didn't look too surprised. "OK. Take care, Lucca."

"Don't worry about me, you dummy," Lucca smirked. "Worry about yourself instead. I'll be back tomorrow." She kissed him on the cheek. "Get some sleep." As Lucca was about to leave, she glanced back over the shoulder. Crono had followed her advice, snoring loudly on his bed. Lucca made the journey home with a smile on her face.