Chapter Text
When Luke opened his eyes, he hadn’t expected to be greeted by the starlight of his old home. He sat up in his bed, confusion now settled in as he looked around.
Why was he back in New Sand City?
He carefully toed the floor before he stood, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to adjust to the feeling. It was awkward to move, somewhat. He blamed it on his nerves. After all, they were about to go into battle tomorrow.
Dread dawned over him as he made his way down, his steps light and careful. The doors seemed to stare at him, but his body moved before he could have a chance to turn back.
…
Amy’s dead body laid at his feet.
Dried blood clung to her hair, and the smell of death clung onto her.
He was gonna be sick.
His stomach sank further as the horror of his situation sank in, and he slowly lifted his eyes, the corpses of his friends littered on his doorstep.
Leon’s limp body lay prone to the left, and Ethan’s empty eyes bore into his just a step down behind him.
Iulian, Andrew, Atlas… all of them laid in a pool of their own blood, long dried from a battle past.
His heart pounded in his chest, feeling lightheaded as he tried to grasp his sanity.
Where had he been? Why wasn't he there to protect them? Why couldn’t he be strong enough? Why why why why why whywhywhywhywhywhy-
As his knees hit the ground, Luke awoke with a sudden jerk. His blood rushed past his ears; the only thing in his head now was the sound of his erratic heartbeat. His hair clung to his pillow, as rivulets of sweat ran down the sides of his face. Slowly, he sat up, his fists balled up as he gripped the blanket tightly.
Still afraid, he stole a glance at Amy. She slept peacefully; the slow rise and fall of her breath signalled she was alive.
She was alive.
Luke got up and simply stared at his hands for a moment, a slight tremble still present on them. He buried his face in them, and took a deep breath.
Tomorrow.
This ended tomorrow. For everyone’s sake.
One more breath, and he was calmed down. As calm as he could be, anyway. Tiredly, he trudged back to the bed, and once again got under the blankets. Subconsciously, he had already moved to cuddle his girlfriend, and kept a light hold of her.
Exhaustion slowly overtook his senses; his eyes drooped with little effort, and as sleep took him over, he was greeted with blissful darkness.