Through Fire And Water

The Life I Used To Want

I stared at him. "Pardon?"

"I can't believe this," he said happily, tears appearing in the corners of his eyes as he stepped closer to me. I didn't have anywhere else to go, so I stayed where I was. He reached out and held my arms gently, looking deeply into my eyes. "How are you so beautiful?" He brushed a curl behind my ear and the warmth of his hand made me shiver. "It's unfair how gorgeous you look in that dress."

"Uh - Uh -"

"Oh, Mira, you're shaking!" Brian grabbed my hands, which were in fact trembling. "Are you alright? Do you feel sick?"

He massaged my hands, which I'll admit were nice because his hands were so much bigger then mine. I mostly just felt uncomfortable, though, and tried to weasel away from him.

"I know you're nervous," he said carefully, cupping my face and drawing my gaze to his. "Everyone one is on their wedding day. Even I am." He kissed my hand so softly I nearly squeaked. "But there is nothing to worry about, my love. Everything will go just as it should. I promise."

His face neared mine and his eyes closed, and I panicked, pushing him away. He opened his eyes, shocked.

"Y-you're not supposed to see the bride before the wedding!" I stuttered out, averting my eyes. He then chuckled, grabbing my hands and kissing my palms.

"As you wish, love," he replied, going to the door. He pulled the handle behind him and threw me one last smile over his shoulder, making me freeze as he closed the door behind him.

His eyes were completely empty. There was no feeling behind them whatsoever. I felt panic build up in my chest and rushed towards the door, lifting the skirts of my dress as I did so. I grabbed the handle and threw the door open -

But there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. The space before me was black, somehow lit up by some unseen light. The ground was covered in water, and when I slid my toes in I realised it was only an inch deep. I stepped in, running into the blank space before me.

"Hello?" I called, running desperately. "Is anybody there?" My voice echoed as if I were in a great space, making me slow to a stop. "Hello, is anybody out there!"

Nothing but my own echoing voice replied. I turned around to make my way back to the white room, but the door was gone. I heard creaking hinges off to my right and looked to see an open doorway cut out of the blackness, revealing what looked like a stormy metal deck. I went towards it slowly, looking around inside of it carefully before stepping through. I was hit immediately by cold rain, and I hugged my arms around my chest as I stepped farther out. My dress quickly became soaked and started to weigh heavy on my limbs, but I ignored it and continued forward. The metal was flooded and ended not far before me. The air smelled salty and the breeze came from in front of me me, cold and powerful. I shivered, continuing forward, until I saw the end of the deck before me.

I stood on a platform overlooking the raging sea, watching as the waves crashed against each other below me. I stumbled back, nearly falling, and turned to hurry back to the door, but someone was blocking me. Darth Vader stood before me, his lightsaber ignited and glowing red, evaporating the rain drops that found themselves too close to it. I stopped, staring with wide eyes, and he started walking towards me. I grabbed my skirts to run but I had nowhere to go. He stepped closer and closer until finally he raised his arm to swing.

But then the world slipped out from beneath my feet and I had to fight to catch the edge of the platform before I went with it. The platform morphed into a metal catwalk and suddenly it was bright outside, I was still sopping wet but the air around me was completely dry. A hooded figure glared down at me, eyes blazing orange as his own lightsaber neared my hands. My hands slipped and I screamed, plummeting all of three feet into a rocky grassland. I fell hard and landed on my back, scrambling back up and trying desperately to understand what was happening.