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MUSIC OF THE NIGHT - PART TWO
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Close your eyes ~Music of the Night ***************************************************************************
She had no idea what was driving her onward, but she ran into the trees following the path the cloaked figure had taken. Her heart was pounding, as she stumbled through the brush trying to keep up---something told her it was imperative she didn’t lose the one she followed. Tea choked back the momentary stab of fear at the idea that she was trapped in one of those really bad horror movies where she would have been yelling at a character like herself “not to go in there.” But as she continued on the path, her thoughts made the decision for her. What did it matter? If this was living…surrounded by, and consumed on the inside by an empty void…what was there to risk? Since Todd had left, she realized that she had not taken any kind of risk or chance. She played it safe, no fear of giving herself to anything that would hurt her because none of it made her feel to begin with. Angry tears of frustration filled her eyes, at Todd, but also at herself. Something went wrong. After all that time of walls crashing down between them, as they ripped them down with their bare hands and hearts bared as well, somehow, they had both stopped trying, stopped trusting, and they had given up on each other. Lies, games, and broken hearts…a hurt so deep it could only be born of something that had been true. Masks… They had both retreated behind them, and they had stopped fighting and let the outside world come in and tear them down. Together they could have been strong enough to handle it, but after he had proposed to her--- unconsciously, they both drew back from the fight just enough to let things like silence and doubt in. She couldn’t hear the echo of his footfalls ahead of her anymore. Branches and limbs tore at her body and that fancy costume…who’s Guinevere without Lancelot anyway…and her side ached from running. “Why are you running, damn you? I know you were watching me, I saw you, there in the trees. I’m so tired of running…and distance…of fighting to keep up…I can’t do it anymore!” She yelled into the darkness, but just as she could never really give up before, she kept going. *************************************************************************** He could hear her behind him. Why didn’t she give up? Tea had always had a relentless stubborn streak. And he knew her when she wanted something. She would dig in her heels and keep going until she had nothing left, and even then, she seemed to find this strength from some other part of her. That was one of the reasons that he’d been so drawn to her tonight. Todd sensed that the fire was still in her, but under her defeated countenance it was buried more deeply than he’d ever seen. The thought of Tea without that passion for life, and the thought that he had something to do with that loss, was almost more than he could bear. He wanted to stop---to go to her. He pulled off to the side and crouched down in a dense patch of foliage, trying to quiet his ragged breathing. He had to stop…he had to think…and part of him was sure that he wanted her to catch up. He’d never been one to think things through…he reacted first and thought about the consequences later. But in all that had gone on between them, now, more than ever, he realized the power of consequences. A decision, or one moment in time, could change the course of lives, could be the choice between happiness or heartbreak. He had made some bad decisions in the past, and to build on them now, would mean no turning back. She appeared next to him, so close he could almost reach out and touch her, but she didn’t see him. His dark costume blended well with the night, and the white mask was hidden from view. The moonlight revealed her face full of frustration and the trails of tears which had left their mark. Her hair had been pulled free… He was captivated. She was beautiful. He ran a hand through his own hair, shorter in length, his head aching with the pressure of the decision he tried to weigh. Beside him, she began to yell in her frustration, accompanied by soft sobs… “Why are you running, damn you? I know you were watching me, I saw you, there, hiding in the trees. I’m so tired of running…and distance…of fighting to keep up…I can’t do it anymore!” But she did keep going, just as he knew she would. Tea kept running---searching. For what though? Did she know? Could she suspect? He wondered what was in her heart… did she want it to be him? Did she need to know it was not him? He groaned in confusion, and slowly got to his feet, following her at a distance. *************************************************************************** Tea wasn’t about to give up now. She had enough of walking away. Her cheeks flushed with anger, she ran through a small clearing that looked like the best escape route of the choices the figure must have had. Just as she changed direction, her foot caught on a large fallen limb, and she let out a slight cry as she fell to the ground, hard. *************************************************************************** Todd saw it happen, and his unconscious cry mingled with hers. He didn’t care anymore whether she would see him or not, he had to know she was okay. Slowly he approached her, his heart in his throat….why wasn’t Tea moving? He moved beside her, swallowing past his fear. She was so still, like a fallen angel....Oh Tea, did I make you fall? Did we fall together? Let her be okay...She has to be--- Her eyes were closed, but as he bent down beside her, he was so relieved to see the even rising and falling of her chest. But why was she so still? His own breath caught in his chest as he saw a somewhat ugly bruise forming on her temple. As gently as he could, his hand trembling, he reached out and stroked her forehead in an attempt to wake her. Softly he whispered her name. He’d wished to be near her for so long, but not like this. Her hand was laying limp across her stomach, and he took it in his own. Suddenly, he flashed back to one of those last times he’d been near her---their wedding night--- --just like this...she lay there, and he willed her to live...he had felt her life pulse go weak beneath his fingers, and feelings from a soul he didn’t know he possessed came up from the surface...a primal anguish...a deep seeded love...the knowledge that without her, he would be nothing more than a shell, because they completed each other...two halves of the same whole....how did it happen? How could he let it happen?... With a tenderness he didn’t realize he possessed, he lifted her up in his arms, and he was gratified when she stirred slightly, moaning a bit as he lifted her weight and held her close in his arms. He knew where to take her. He would make it right. *************************************************************************** Throbbing pain and an all consuming darkness was all she knew... Tea’s eyes felt heavy, and when she opened them, all she saw was darkness. With panic filling her person, she put her hands up to her eyes, struggling... ‘Shhhhh....’ A voice---Thank God,she wasn’t alone. For some reason, she felt herself relax... … so tired of being alone... She remembered fear in the dark, and falling. She had been following....someone....him...the Phantom. Her hand touched the wet cloth that she found across her eyes and went further up on her forehead to gingerly try to find the source of the ache. A strong and gentle hand reached out and took hers.... ‘Don’t....’ the voice whispered, so softly it was barely a sound at all. Gently, she felt the warmth of his hand stroking her forehead. ‘You hurt yourself...or maybe....I hurt you.’ ‘No, I was clumsy...I was running...I was sure only that I couldn’t let him get away...I wasn’t paying attention...’ As she spoke, she pulled the damp compress from her eyes, and when she opened them, she tried to adjust her eyes to the dimly lit room. Candlelight GASP
It was him.... ***************************************************************************
Your safe no one will find you --All I Ask of You *************************************************************************** His heart twisted painfully in his chest as her eyes...those eyes he knew, eyes he loved, eyes he longed to gaze into and find all that she was in them, and all that she saw in him...focused on him. She gasped, and then she settled again, calm. She tilted her head slightly to the side, and then she stared again, hard, into his eyes, the only thing that the mask would reveal. Slowly she brought a trembling hand up to the mask, and unconsciously she found herself tracing the line of a familiar scar on the cheek. ‘Todd? Todd, it is you, isn’t it?’ She sat up as if in slow motion. Tears sprang to her eyes, as she reached for the mask and tried to pull it off. He pulled back. "No....don’t....this time the monster is the one behind the mask..." His voice was stronger...it was the voice of the man she had been waiting for, as he put his hand up to cover hers, to try to stop her. "Todd…please….It doesn't have to be this way…I--I've been waiting for you. We started a story without an end. You can hide your face all you want, but my heart already knows that it's you. Our hearts have always been able to see that of the other, haven't they? Even under the masks. We can't hide from each other--not now--and we never could. No more masks, it's time to be Real, Todd." Slowly, he reached up and removed the Mask that could cover nothing more than the book's cover from her view. "Oh God….Todd…" She couldn't find the words to go on, but her eyes said it all. His face was damp with tears, as was hers. Their eyes connected, and they got lost in that connection for minutes which stretched into a wonderful eternity. Then they let their eyes travel, to be sure that this was all real…. With a tentative hand, she reached and out touched his hair, cut shorter, but still falling in the same familiar way. She moved her hand to his cheek, and he pressed his face up against her hand, letting out the breath that he didn't realize he'd been holding. He covered her hand with his, and moved his lips against her palm, softly kissing her hand. She moved closer to him, and he leaned in and rested his forehead against hers, bringing his hand up to gently stroke the bruise on her temple, and then dancing his fingertips over her features. "Todd…where….why…." she began at the same time he jumped in with "I hurt you Tea…I messed up worse than ever before and it was my fault…" Tea: Something went wrong Todd, what happened? We were on the same path and then… Todd: I was so afraid…I knew I would do it sooner or later…hurt you….I don't know what the hell I was doing…. Tea: You didn't have to be alone in that Todd…I was afraid too…so afraid you didn't love me…I pushed and I prodded and I pushed you so hard I pushed you away… Todd: I've never walked away from a fight before…It's like I threw this one… Tea: Did we give up on each other, or ourselves? Todd: I never knew trust before…you gave that to me Tea, but I was still getting used to how it worked….I didn’t get it… Tea: I had a lot to learn too, Todd, don't you get that by now? It's about both of us changing….through each other…. Todd: I don't do change that good…I need you for that, Tea… Tea: I've needed you for so long, and you weren't there…. Todd: I wanted to be… Tea: I wanted you to be… Todd: I didn't know…I don't do spontaneous…I had to know… Tea: So much has happened Todd….we have to break down the walls, once and for all….Can we do that? Todd: Do you remember, Delgado [she melted at that…it had been too long] when I said I didn't know if I loved you or not, before the wedding…okay, the second Wedding, the second try…I don't do feelings….or, I haven't "done" feelings…I told you I wasn't sure, because….Tea, I didn't think love was something for Todd Manning. I still don't know what I'm here for, but I know what life without you is like, and I know I've been dead without you. You are life…and maybe life is love….that's what it's supposed to be… Tea: We can make it that, Todd. No more nightmares, no more pain…just life, and love, and you and me. We've both had our share of darkness, and we're both scared, but if we don't try….what's the point? I love you Todd Manning….but even when the rest of the world isn't true…when everyone and everyone else isn't sure of us, we have to be sure of each other. Todd: Can you be sure of me? Even when I can't be sure of me? Tea: Do you have faith in me? Do you trust me? Todd: I don't trust well, Tea. Trust was always the thing that got you kicked in the face when someone said they promised not to kick you and you believed them…. Tea: Blind faith is scary Todd, but you have to know that I would never deliberately hurt you. We need that foundation to build on… Todd: I think I can do that part of the trust thing. But what the fact that I can't trust me? Tea: What if I have enough trust in you for both of us? All we need is to do the best we know how by each other, and when we can do better, than we need to push us for us to be better. Todd: That sounds like work…. Tea: Love is work, Todd.
Todd: Then I can do work. I can do lots of stuff if it means never again
going months at a time with just a picture…and that image of you. Tea,
every night all I could see was you lying there in your wedding dress,
barely breathing…. Tea: We were both doing a lot of running Todd. We were both talking and the other one wasn't really listening. You were afraid, and I was afraid, and we were both busy being afraid by ourselves. If we're going to be afraid, we need to be afraid together, remember? Either one of us could accidentally hurt each other. We just need to be stronger, so we don't let that happen. You need to trust me to trust you. You need to trust me to trust myself.… Todd: That's a lot of me needing to trust…But…I love you, Delgado. I think I know what that means now…I'm ready to try. Tea: Are we in this together? Todd: I don't want to be in this apart. There's nothing to be in apart. Life sucks apart. Tea: I was thinking the same thing from the moment you left. Todd: When you didn't try to solve my puzzle, I figured I needed to stay away. Tea: What puzzle? Todd: I gave you the key to my heart, and you trashed it. Tea: I was angry, Todd. I thought I was angry at you, but I was really angry at the mess we made together. When I wanted to fix it, the key was gone. I wondered though…every second of every day I wondered, and wanted…. Todd: I wanted too. Remember? "What I want, more than anything in this world, is for you to be happy…" If that meant Tea minus Todd, then…I had to let you go.-- But not without giving you something to always know that I'd still be waiting when you came to your senses, Delgado. [he grinned, then grew serious again] I was waiting right here all this time. It just seemed right. We had something going in here, and this is where the bookmark was shoved in the Life of Todd and Tea. I was hoping that someday we could pick the book up right back here, where we left off…. Tea looked around, taking her eyes off of him and focusing on her surroundings for the first time. They were in the Cabana---the same one that she'd rented for their wedding night. And for the most part, it still looked exactly the same. "You've been here, all this time? How did I not know? I would have searched the world over for you, Todd, and you were right under my nose? Why?" She asked softly. "It was the book thing…and I had to look out for you. I had to make sure you were safe. Happy…I made you that promise, remember? 'Whether it was the end of a journey, or the beginning…" even if it had to be as a ghost, I was in it for the long haul." "And I promised you all my laughter, love, and understanding, for now and forevermore…." Todd smiled…she remembered. He had let those words trip through his head so many times since that night. "…and those things have never, and will never belong to anyone else. I won't lie to you, Todd--no more lies---but I tried, I really did. But it was you. From the very beginning, it was always you…" She stared down at the bed, nervously fidgeting with some lace. She had to smile…he'd lived among lace for months? What he would do for her….and what she would do for him. This will work….Somehow, I promise you, we'll make this work…. He grabbed her hand, caressing it lightly…tentatively. Then he met her eyes and grinned. "Look at us….Guinevere and the Phantom of the Opera? " He became serious for a minute. "Are you sure you don't want to wait for Lancelot? Some guy who's already right in the head? If you hold out…" "I've held out long enough, for no reason. I've run into Lancelots, but it's the Phantom minus his mask that I love, and he's been right in front of me since the day I met you. We'll make our own story.…Remember? We make up the rules as we go along…." "There's no one else I want to play with, Delgado…I can't promise you a happily ever after…" Todd answered, his voice soft. "So we'll make a new fairy tale ending…And they loved the best they knew how for the rest of their lives, with trust, faith in each other, and understanding." "I can do that…" "I hope so…because without you, my story was over before it even began." She said, genuine emotion filling every word. Todd Manning felt the impossible…He felt hope. "How's this for a beginning?" He moved close against her, and leaned in, gently covering his lips with her own in a soft series of kisses. He moved back for a second, and unconsciously, she sighed with disappointment. He needed to check her eyes. He saw not only her dreams, but the reflection of his own. "Once upon a time….there was a monster, and a beautiful lady…and she melted his heart, with a kiss…" He began, looking around first to be sure no one would overhear him but her. He was safe with her. He knew that now. "And he made her more than she ever thought she could be…There was no more need for masks, or hiding in dark corners…" "Because they were safe with each other…" "Always…" Her eyes and her words held all the answers he needed. He took her in his arms and kissed her with all the passion that had been building for her since the day he'd met her. No more holding back, no more hiding…and she melted into his embrace and returned all the feeling in his kiss. His Mask fell unnoticed to the floor. ***************************************************************************
Anywhere you go let me go too ---All I Ask of You
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