#angst warning
The Death of a Star
What if Usagi had perished in battle? How would it affect those left behind? Character drabbles. Not upbeat. WARNING: Character Death, Angst. Written in response to the Death of a Moon Challenge.
***
The flame dances and crackles, shooting sparks that land dangerously close to her knees.
She doesn’t notice.
The sacred flame no longer speaks to her.
She’s numb. Cold. Her legs ache.
The flame offers no warmth, no guidance.
Ashes stir and tumble from her lap as she stands and exits the room.
The flame waits, ever patient.
She returns moments later, solution in hand. Resolved, she raises her burden and turns it over. Water rushes out in a torrent, dousing the flames below in one fell swoop. The embers smoulder and hiss in the aftermath, leaving her in darkness.
Alone.
The Death of a Star
What if Usagi had perished in battle? How would it affect those left behind? Character drabbles. Not upbeat. WARNING: Character Death, Angst. Written in response to the Death of a Moon Challenge.
***
The words blur and she frowns at the droplets blotting the pages of her medical text. She moves to wipe them away, but more fall.
Slamming the book shut, she mashes balled fists against her eyelids in order to stem the tide of tears.
She takes a deep breath in…
…and then out.
The tears subside and she turns back to the text, reaching out to find her page, but stopping short. Her fingers tense, then curl into a fist.
The book won’t help. It won’t offer answers…solace. It won’t explain why she’s here…
…and why Usagi is not.
The Death of a Star
What if Usagi had perished in battle? How would it affect those left behind? Character drabbles. Not upbeat. WARNING: Character Death, Angst. Written in response to the Death of a Moon Challenge.
***
I close my eyes and all I can see is her face; marred by battle, streaked with blood, yet hauntingly serene. I press the palms of my hands to my eyes, desperate to wipe the memory from my psyche…I cannot bear to relive that moment again.
The others, though similarly affected, may still go on to lead their lives, but not me. The centre of my universe, my reason for being, has been stolen from me.
Full of resolve, I press down on the cold steel, relishing in the anticipation of the release to come.
“Aishiteru, Usako. I’m coming.”
The Death of a Star
What if Usagi had perished in battle? How would it affect those left behind? Character drabbles. Not upbeat. WARNING: Character Death, Angst. Written in response to the Death of a Moon Challenge.
***
I feel the life slowly trickle from my body and liken it to a steady flow of blood without ebb. I realize now that I must indeed be bleeding, my body broken, but such details seem trivial in this moment.
I hear their quiet sobs surround me, although they are faint, as though muffled by some growing barrier. They wish me to use the ginzuishou as always, but I do not know how to tell them. There will be no ginzuishou this time. No revival…no renewal. This must be my final sacrifice, and I shall have peace.
Gomen, minna.
