Darkness Into Light

She was running, lost in the darkness that threatened to surround her. Here was her home, was her truth. The darkness that surrounded her was the darkness that filled her life, that plagued her waking moments. She could never escape from it, not fully. She had been a fool to think otherwise.

Yet still she ran, her feet pounding against the pavement, sounding in her ears, filling the empty void that wrapped around her like a blanket to muffle out all sensation. Only it didn't, because she could still feel, still smell and hear and long. She felt afraid and alone and overwhelmed. She smelled the stagnation of the darkness, the mold of a place kept in a unnatural state of no movement. She could hear her rattling, gasping breathes as she fled. She could feel the the chill of the air, the coldness that came from the depths of despair. She was possessed by this darkness, it was who and what she was. So she ran, and ran, her footsteps pounding into the ground beneath her, a ground that seemed to be no different then the air around her, her wide eyes were sightless, for here, there was no sight, nothing, nothing but the darkness and the cold and the frozen feelings that were thawing and ripping through like Furries talons.

She was at the mercy of this dark core, but she would not freeze her heart, because to do that would be to loose hope. Hope, it came with her footsteps, with the feel of her feet hitting against the ground. Light entered her world, soft and gray, it was so faint, so wispy it felt almost like a teasing rather then true light. It was the faintest color allowed. But it meant the uthna was over, the darkest part of her night had passed. And she lived, and felt and breathed. She had survived and she would keep running. Running toward the light that teased her with its soft glow.

Light increased, steadily, slowly, small increments filled the world around her until it was no longer darkness but dawn she ran through and instead of fleeing she was hurrying, running toward something someone. Hope gave her wings to her feet as she kept going, the wind of her movement tossing back her dark curls, her pale cheeks flushed with the exercise of her hurry.

She stumbled then, almost falling to her feet and then arms came around her, catching her to them. Holding her close. She panted, her lips parted, her body trembling. Her legs pulsed almost by themselves it seemed after so long running. Yet she burrowed into the warmth of the arms that held her, felt the heat of the man who held her, the heat of his heart, his love. It burned through her frozen figure, thawing the last of the ice that held her heart in its hold. Suddenly feelings burst through into her until she wept from them, the tears hot and stinging as they slipped down her frozen, pale cheeks. Her head tilted back, misty eyes going to the dark amber of the man who held her, who loved her.

They just looked at each other, staring into the soul of each other before his lips slowly lowered to hers and he took her into a sweet, gentle kiss that burned through everything, that left her with just him, her hope, her love, her future. He would be the strength she did not have. And she would be his.