Light...
It filtered down into the shadows, as if to remind me of what I had lost. It teased me, dancing across my body in small streams. I let my hand fall back to my rasping chest. I lay across a decrepit sofa, my body sprawled out, weak and crumbling, as if I were the embodiment of that very sofa.
Light...
It is gone from my life. Gone from my heart. I had made myself their enemy. His enemy. I had let them defeat me, beat me back into the shadows. It was the only option.
Light...
I cursed it, wishing it didn't stream around me, when I sensed the presence of another in this dark place. I didn't want to be found. Especially by the one who had come looking. The boy had always been curious, and, until now, I had never wished for that to change. But now I did. I didn't want him to find me. To see me like this. With what little energy I had, I turned on the sofa, so nothing could be seen of me except my shadowed back.
Light...
It flashed across my mind like a dagger of hope in my heart, when I heard his voice say my name. But I knew in the deepest part of myself that my ending could never be a happy one. Happy endings are reserved for it. The people it claims as its own. People like him. Not for me.
Light...
I wanted nothing more than for it to go away. I wanted to retreat back into my darkness, to disappear silently from his life. But it was too late. I knew the exact moment he had spotted me, his shuffling noises ceasing. One word. That was all it took. That one word rang out in the empty silence between us, crushing the last bit of it from my heart. "Why?" he asked, his soft voice carrying easily across the distance between us. I didn't move, didn't reply, not trusting my shaky voice to say what I so desperately wanted to convey.
Light...
It seemed to be growing brighter around me. "Why?" I heard him ask again, this time right next to the sofa. I could feel him so close to me, though we weren't touching. Like thousands of tiny pin pricks on my back, tingling along my spine. I told him that I had done what needed to be done. My voice betrayed the state the rest of my body was in. Broken, weak, fading. He asked what that was supposed to mean, and it all came tumbling out before I could stop it. I told him everything. That a person as good as he deserved more than what my darkness could give. That he deserved a family as good as him. That I could never be enough.
Light...
It flashed across my eyes, as he reached out to touch me. Even though I had begged him not to, he turned me over, gasping at the sight of my decrepit state. Cold fingers ran along the scar on my cheek, following it down its spindling design to my neck. Cracks stood out across my dull grey skin, spider-webbing their way across my entire form. My body had become lifeless, like a beaten porcelain doll. I was nothing more than a shell around my heart, both threatening to shatter at the tiniest force. I was a broken husk of what I once was, but in my soul I knew it was worth it.
Light...
He asked what had happened to me. Why I was like this. I couldn't stop a breathy laugh. Perhaps it was because there wasn't enough fear in the world? Maybe the Man in the Moon was finally being merciful and ending my wretched existence? Or maybe I wanted to die? Maybe I would rather fade from existence than live on without the spirit I had grown to love.
Light...
Everything about him oozed it. His touch. His voice. His soul. And when he sat on the sofa, laying my head on his lap, I felt, for even that fleeting moment, that maybe even a being of the dark such as myself could enjoy living in that light. That light that was brighter than anything else in existence. Because it was his.
Light...
Only when I felt something wet drop onto my cheek did I finally open my eyes. Gold and blue met, dancing together in the mix of shadows and light that surrounded us. I weakly raised a hand, brushing away a few of those tears from his pale cheeks. His eyes were like the most beautiful ice sculptures in the world, and they were melting. And it broke my heart to know that I was the cause of the destruction of such beauty. He leaned down closer to me, whispering in my ear with the most heartbroken voice I had ever heard. "You weren't the reason for my despair. It was never you," he said. "I was upset that no one could ever see the good in you that I could. I was upset with myself...for being too scared to admit that I love you..." And then there were lips pressed against my own. Cold and yet warm. Hard and yet filled with tenderness. This. I had waited for this. Yearned, begged inside, hoped beyond hope for this.
Light...
My eyes could stay open no longer, but it didn't disappear. Bursts of it went off in my head like fireworks. Celebrating the most joyous occasion of my entire existence. He loved me. He loved me. I had always been enough for him. I only wished I could have seen it sooner.
Light...
It filled my heart again. Filled my soul. The last image I had of him was heartbreaking. And yet I was happy. Was it so horrible of me to find my own joy in those tears? To know that the spirit I had loved for so long loved me in return? I didn't know whether or not it did, but I couldn't stop my lips from forming into a content smile.
Light...
My body was overcome by it. My shadowed form couldn't take it anymore, and I could feel it starting to crumble away, disintegrating into sparkling black sand. Too weak to speak loudly, I barely managed to breathe something out.
Light...
I happily let it overcome, engulf my being, take me to a blissful place. My form faded into nothing but the very sand I had once used to bring fear, my last words hanging in the air.
Light...
I love you, Jack Frost. Everything I did...it was all for you...
I don't know if I should be crying or smiling right now! I suppose I shall settle for both.
Alrighty everybody. I hope you all enjoyed this story. It was oddly fun writing in this style. It's the first time I've ever done anything like it. Now...down to business: I may kinda sorta have a follow-up sequel one-shot type thing idea for this. Would anybody be interested in that? No guarantees either way though. I have a lot of other stories to work on too, and I am determined to finish them all since I'm usually really horrible about finishing stories that I start... Hehe :D Well hope you guys liked it. Review please! ^^