ficlet: Water Falls [FFIV]

[terabient]

ff_yuri_drabble is the best/worst thing to happen to me, writing-wise. best because i am actually writing about fandoms i've followed for years, worst because everything has been painfully sappy. XD

Title: Water Falls
Fandom: FFIV
Pairing: Rosa/Rydia
Rating: G
Words: 300
A/N: confession: i stole this idea from a Batman comic, of all things.

Rosa breathes deeply, inhaling stagnant, acrid air. She covers her mouth with one pale hand to muffle her cough.

The party has been in the Underworld for a month, but Rosa is still not used to the tolls the environment takes on her. She raises her eyes to the sunless sky. Though the cavern ceiling is a full mile above her, she still feels trapped.

"Are you feeling alright, Rosa?" Rydia comes to Rosa's side and rests her hand on Rosa's shoulder.

"Well enough," Rosa says, smiling weakly. Out of all of them, it is Rydia who fares best in this strange, alien place. Rosa wonders why that is - perhaps the otherworldly lands and beasts that have raised her and caused her to blossom before her time have fortified her slender frame with unseen strength.

"You don't look like you're doing well." Rydia frowns. Rosa laughs at the scolding tone in the younger woman's voice, a laugh that dissolves into coughing.

"Of all the things I miss here, it's the rain I wish for the most," Rosa says once she recovers. "It's so dry here, and the groundwater's so thick with minerals, it feels like rocks are left in my mouth when I'm done drinking..."

"Rain, huh?" Rydia looks to the magma-lit sky. "...I can do that, I think." She lifts her hands, weaving them through the air, her voice whispering words of black magic.

"What..." Rosa is interrupted by a burst of water, a rainstorm in a cloudless sky. Rosa lifts her head and opens her mouth to catch the magic-born raindrops, her dry, burned skin eagerly absorbing the cool water.

"Rydia!" Rosa laughs in delight, throwing her arms around Rydia in a damp, grateful hug. "Thank you!"

"It's the least I can do," Rydia murmurs. "You taught me how to call the elements, after all."