You Make Me Feel Alive

Day 6 - Loss

Disclaimer: I do not own Ratchet and Clank or any of its characters. Ratchet Appreciation Week 2021 prompt list by weeksofrac of Twitter/ weeksofratchetandclank of Tumblr.

Honestly, I really feel for Ratchet on this one. Boi's lost so many loved ones, and at this point, I just hope he keeps the ones he still has. :,(

You Make Me Feel Alive

Day 6: Loss

It always hurt.

Well, that was an understatement. The hurt that came with losing someone he loved always speared him through the heart, gripping his chest in a way that made him think he would never breathe again. Memories haunted him during the days afterward, and he went through the motions without any sort of life in him. The days blurred together until they felt like one day on repeat.

But time marched on, just as Ratchet did.

Veldin's stars swirled in the sky, a meteor shower on display for any observers below. The desert chirped with the sounds of nocturnal creatures. Miles of sand stretched on over the surface of the plateau, empty of native Veldin inhabitants. Not many people wanted to show up for the meteor shower that happened every other year.

Ratchet sat on a lone cliff, dangling his feet over the side. The shadow of his garage stretched over him, blanketing him in dark comfort.

Not many people bothered to watch the meteor shower. It came like clockwork, down to the hour it would happen. It had always been there for as long as anyone could remember, and most assumed that it would still go on long after they passed.

To a lot of Veldin creatures, the meteor shower was always going to be there.

A sigh blew out of Ratchet's mouth, and green eyes watched the stars dance across the sky. His worries from the day melted away. Memories and a touch of nostalgia for the past flooded his mind, pulling a sense of introspection from the normally reckless Lombax.

He used the meteor showers as a marker.

Clank had disappeared right before one of the meteor showers and came back just after the next one. Cronk and Zephyr had been around the time the last one occurred, but now, it was his first one without them in his life.

Three weeks before he left Veldin on his first adventure, he had watched the meteor shower and swore to leave Veldin to explore the galaxy.

These meteor showers were important to him, even if they were insignificant to many others.

Ratchet flopped back against the ground, letting the hard dirt beneath him keep him anchored to the present. Gloved hands settled over his lower stomach, rising and falling with each slow breath. He swung his feet, a gentle pace to give his legs something to do while he kept the rest of his body still.

In his time under the stars, he took everything in.

Forms, silhouettes of people he lost, drew shapes in the falling stars. For a moment, it almost looked like Cronk and Zephyr were there, chortling and dancing in each other's embrace. A second later, and Alister's warrior-like form blinked in-and-out of existence. He looked... happy. A happy that Ratchet wished he could have been working with Ratchet to find the Lombaxes outside of using the Great Clock.

He couldn't see their forms, but the Lombax could feel others watching him, spirits of the past reminding him of the precious moments he had with them and how easily it could all be taken away.

One corner of Ratchet's mouth lifted higher than the other.

In the grand scheme of it all, he knew that he was a minor part of the universe. Galaxies in themselves were massive, and that wasn't counting the infinite number of dimensions filled with their own universes. He was nothing more than a tiny pebble in an unfathomable ocean.

Colors, not just white, melted into the meteor shower. Greens and reds intertwined with purples and blues. They acted in sync, painting a masterpiece in the sky.

He was so grateful for those he had known. Even if they had been taken away from him when he hadn't been ready for it, he knew it was a part of living his life. The moments he had spent with Cronk and Zephyr, even listening to their chatter over his coms, meant the world. Azimuth—despite the short amount of time he had spent with the older Lombax—had been a father figure, something Ratchet had longed for since he had learned what parents were.

A soft smile, knowing and sad, touched the Lombax's lips. "Wish you guys were here..."

The stars stayed quiet. Less stars flew across the sky, and signs that the meteor shower was going to end soon began to show.

"Thank you for everything you've given me."

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Song Inspo: "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa (ft. Charlie Puth) [KLYMVX & Hitimpulse Remix].

I basically wrote all of these over the span of two days, so these last two prompts are ones that I had big plans for, but not enough energy to give the whole shebang. I do really like this prompt, and if I ever feel the need to rewrite this at another time, I'm definitely up for it. Again, thank you all so much for reading and supporting! :D