Of Love and Death.

The Past Chapter 7: Turning Point Pt. 2

      Fire collapsed backward onto his bed, looking up at the ceiling. He hoped he'd done a good job of sneaking through the hallways. With a little luck no one had seen him as he raced to his room, trying to keep his composure up. It had taken everything he'd had not to collapse in a heap of sadness on the floor of the Sun's marketplace.

      Fire had made Mind cry. He'd turned on Mind, just like that. It had only taken a second for him to start worrying that the Shadow would betray him. He felt awful, and guilty. Turning on Mind like that was basically evil of Fire. Why couldn't he have just trusted Mind? They were friends, he knew that Mind was basically physically incapable of harming a fly.

     "AAARGH!" Fire screamed, burying his face in his hand. This was so - everything was awful. Just awful. He wanted to punch something, but he couldn't move his arms. They were frozen where they were, gripping his face tightly. He felt like if he moved them then they would be stabbed by swords or needles filled with poison.

     Fire felt something brush his hands, it was warm and soft. A drop of it rolled down his cheek and landed in his mouth. "BLEG!" Fire spat. His tears were salty, he didn't remember that from the last time he'd cried.

     The Sun didn't sob in great gasps, but rather he laid there quietly. Fire had never been so glad that he didn't have a roommate as he was at that moment. If some saw him like this, he would have never been able to live it down. He'd also, probably, get asked a lot of awkward questions he really didn't want to answer.

     It was then that the door opened. Great. Just great. Apparently, someone needed him for something. Fire managed to prop himself up slightly to see who it was. It was Someone he knew well. Water. The other Sun was standing in the doorway and glaring at Fire with an expression that made it clear he knew something was wrong.

     How am I gonna get out of this one? Fire wondered. Because Water was not going to let this one go easily. Fire considered closing his eyes and pretending to simply be asleep. While being propped up on his arms. That was believable, right? That plan, however, was ruined when Water grabbed his arms forcing Fire to sit up. Because it totally would have worked otherwise, totally. 

     Fire growled and yanked his arms back to his chest.

      "So. You want to tell me what's wrong?" Water asked. Great. Someone had noticed that Fire had been a wreck in the Orb's hallways. And it just had to be the one person who was most likely to check on him.

     Light wasn't in the running, even though he was basically everyone's grandfather, on account of how ABSOLUTELY UNLIKELY it was that the Sun's leader would actually notice anything. Even if it was explicitly pointed out to him, Light would not notice. It was a little ridiculous.

     Mind watched as Fire left, the Sun's brilliant red wings fanned out wide. He waited a moment, and then let himself collapse onto his knees. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, Mind chanted to himself. If he cried, then he was sad about losing Fire as a friend. If he was sad about losing Fire as a friend, then that'd be like saying he needed people other than Cold. Which Mind didn't. Which Mind couldn't.

     Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, Mind continued thinking. Just don't cry. It wasn't necessary. He wasn't going to miss Fire, because he had Cold. He didn't need to repeat that until it was true, because it was true already. It was true.

      I don't care about Fire, Mind thought to himself, even as he felt sick to his stomach. As a matter of fact, I don't care about anyone but Cold. Not Form. Not Time. Not even Blood. As Mind thought the words, he felt the tears that were hiding behind his eyes become harder to control. Yet he couldn't cry. He wouldn't cry.