Heart of Darkness is finished with, and I'm ten chapters into The Moonstone now. I might manage to read most of the set texts yet! Speaking of Heart of Darkness, did there really need to be so much anvilicious 'darkness' symbolism? I get it already, Mr Conrad. God. It wasn't so terrible though. Just kind of dull, to be honest. The Moonstone is shaping up to be a good read, though, I am enjoying it muchly.

I'm completely and utterly fed up with work right now, so much so that I think I'm gonna apply at the IKEA callcentre up the road. My brother works there, and he says it's simple stuff, just ordering parts and stock checks and the usual stuff like that. And Charli works there too, so I'll have someone to annoy occasionally. *grin* Apparently they're recruiting for the Internet Orders bit though, so we won't be working on the same department. I do get paid more where I work now, because I'm a gold CSA which takes me to level 2, but to be honest I can deal with the drop in money if it means I get a job I don't despise as much.

Anyway, enough with my whining, here are my ficlets written for the 100 Themes challenge on the CxA Forums.



Theme: Beach
Category: One-Shot/Drabble

It had been almost a year since the journey had come to an end, since he'd seen Aerith's smile in the warm glow of the Lifestream that had saved them all. When he got lost in memories of those times, it still seemed like only a few days ago that he'd stepped off the Shinra ferry and into the heated embrace of Costa del Sol, preoccupied over Sephiroth's sudden appearance. Only a few days ago that Aerith had glanced over, and must have seen the unease and uncertainty on his face, because she'd smiled at him as Barret was loudly expressing his relief at being able to change out of his sailor's uniform, and then, her eyes shining with mischief, she turned and remarked: "Oh, too bad. I liked Barret's sailor suit. He looked so cute."

The outraged expression on his face had been more than enough to lighten the mood, and so many times later on, when the worry and tension was almost too much to bear, Cloud longed to hear her voice, hear some silly, teasing comment from her that would make everyone laugh and forget their worries for a while.

That first and only evening they'd spent in the seaside town, he'd found her on the beach, her red jacket folded by her side, leaning back on her hands and gazing out over the glittering ocean as the sun began to dip into the water. She looked up at him as he approached, the glow of the sunset illuminating her smile, and invited him to sit with her on the sand. Cloud had been about to speak, make some offhand comment to break the silence, but the moment his fingers accidentally brushed hers, the words dissolved on his lips. Because instead of moving her hand away politely, she'd gently entwined her fingers with his own. They'd remained there together until the sun was almost out of sight, making occasional quiet conversation, her hand still in his, until Yuffie had shouted over to them from the top of the sandy steps that led down to the beach and the moment passed.




Theme: Stolen
Category: Drabble

When Yuffie made away with the group's entire collection of materia outside Wutai, Cloud made up his mind that stealing was one of the worst things that could happen. But he had to correct himself later when Aerith flashed him a mischievous smile, their faces close, her fingers tangled in his hair, her lips still slightly wet. Yes, stealing was fine with him, he decided, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her forward again. Especially when it was kisses that were being stolen.




Theme: Drowning
Category: Drabble again, some more.

He thought it was all over when they saved the world. Barret and Tifa were there to support him in starting afresh, the rebuilding of Seventh Heaven helped to take his mind off of everything he had lost. But now the dreams have started, and when the sky darkens and the day draws to a close, he's afraid of laying down to rest for the night, afraid of those startlingly clear nightmares where he sees himself gently laying her in the water, throat tight and tears falling, and as she sinks from sight, her eyes snap open and panic spreads across her face, that face that was so serene and peaceful a few moments before.

Tifa casts him a worried look when he comes downstairs for breakfast after waking from one of these dreams, she always catches the tiredness and pain in his eyes, but he never sees her. He sees Aerith, and she's reaching towards the glimmering surface of the lake as she falls, as her lungs fill up with water and she's drowning, and all he can do is let her die again.