exnatura:

 She laughed because Naminé laughed. She laughed because that was all she knew how to do— all she could do— in the face of a fear that snaked up her limbs and down her throat. Laughter kept her steady, kept her centered. It was a wall of defense erected to keep sanity intact. It was her most powerful magic.

 With Naminé pressed against her chest, tucked beneath her curved form and hidden from view, Aerith felt a fluttering relief slither up her throat and down her limbs. Even as the earth trembled. Even as stones rose and fell like raindrops in the wake of giant footsteps. There was something grounding in offering herself as sacrifice in place of another. There was something right about it.

 This position— this motherly embrace— was as familiar to her as breathing.

 ❝ His name is Cloud. ❞

 Her tongue handles his name with care. It traces the syllables with unabashed affection. Even now. Even in a place like this, Aerith cannot help but to say his name with such a love that her next statement is an unnecessary admission. ❝ I kind of love him. ❞

  The words fall against Naminé’s hair.

         ❝ When we get home, I’ll introduce you, okay? ❞

 There was no time for more than that. Aerith could not string along the beginnings of her story with a melancholic exhale. She could not drip skepticism— pessimism— into every turn of phrase until even she fell into silence, into waiting for the end. The last step was so loud, her ears rang. It was so strong, her grip on Naminé was tested. Their bodies lurched. Their balance lost.

 The foot of a giant rested merely a yard for them in a crater so large and so deep, she believed the forest would never heal. A shuddering roar echoed into the night. The creature composed of ashen rock and whisps of darkness drew its foot up. It leaned.

 This was it. This was the end.

            There was a strangled noise of fear.

 And then everything went silent.

         _{Terror filled her throat and made it hard to breathe, hard to swallow, hard to think. Everything felt both vivid and blurred as her eyes closed tightly and she molded herself to Aerith’s body, clinging onto her with everything that she had, wanting more than anything to remember her last words. To acknowledge them and hold them close because while they were mere words they meant something to the woman, the man she spoke of meant something to her—}

                                    _{And she would remember that name.
                                             Cloud, Aerith’s kind of love.
                                                      [ For all the good it would do her. ]}

         _{As silence descended upon them with the abruptness of a bird taking flight still she shivered, and still her eyes were closed as she felt tears brim. There was no loss of awareness though, no pain. Still she could feel the ground underneath them and smell the stench that lingered in the air oppressively and nothing changed, nothing came for them, nothing ended them—}

         _{Slowly, hesitantly, she opened her eyes once more and blinked away the tears, waiting for things to come back into focus before lifting her head and taking a cautious look around. And then another one, and then another one as her grip on Aerith’s dress loosened though she did not take a step back, and confusion overcame her.}

                  _{Nothing was changed. Dead trees were still standing tall and ominous, and there were no footprints in the ground, there was no lingering darkness or shadows except for those that had already been there—it was as if the hoard of giant heartless had not been there to begin with. As if trees had not fallen all around them and ginormous footfalls had not fallen mere yards away from them. As if death had not been staring at them in the face, taunting them and laughing at t hem. As if it had all—}

                                                                        _{Been in their i m a g i n a t i o n.}

         _{”A-Aerith…” she whispered softly, still not quite yet able to allow her arms to fall, muscles still locked into a position that did not let them relax. In the air her voice was fragile and wispy and for a moment she wondered if it was even audible, but could not bring herself to speak again, could only turn her head slowly and stare up at the brunette with wide and terrified and confused eyes.}

                                             _{What was that place, that they had gotten lost in?}

                                                               _{What kind of hell had they walked into?}

                                                                        _{For surely, it was hell.}