The Music
Pai loathed Kisshu's taste for the Earth music called rocked. It was loud and annoying and gruesome and…and loud! He hated the loud. The electric guitar solos screeched at his ears.
"'DUDE! DUDE! DUDE LOOKS LIKE A LADY!' " Kisshu half attempted to sing half screamed to the song as Tauto danced.
"Will you turn that down?" asked Pai. His two cousins did not hear him. The two brothers cracked it up higher, meaning they heard noise from him, but they did not care. With a growl, Pai left with a Chimera Animal in a vile in his pocket. 'Fighting should get my mind of that horrible music,' he thought.
Sadly no, that would not happen. As he flew over Tokyo, the music he heard was that awful and far too catchy for its own good Japanese pop music. He had only heard a song once and it was stuck in his head for weeks. Couldn't they have calm pretty music that was soothing, that you could work to without getting distracted? This planet was terrible! He could not wait to conquer it. He would get rid all this awful-
'Look at this stuff? Isn't it neat would you think my collection's complete? Wouldn't you think I'm the girl? The girl who has everything?'
Now that was music. A tune that was calm and soothing, not loud and obnoxious was far nicer. Landing on a roof, he continued to listen to the singer's beautiful voice.
'Look at this trove, treasures untold. How many can one cavern hold? Looking around here you think? Sure, she's got everything.'
He sat down and opened up a few rolls of paper he carried with him and began to write. 'Day 234 on Earth: I found a beautiful Earth song. I do not know what it is called yet.' He rolled up the page of his log and opened up the calculations he was making on tank that had healing properties he was going to call a CR Tank. He began writing a formula, some scratches of his pencil going along with the song.
'I've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty. I've got whozits and whatzits galore. You want thingamabobs? I got twenty! But who cares? No big deal. I want more.'
Kisshu and Taruto never understood that Pai respected music for its beautiful tunes and elegant patterns. As a child, he had been fascinated by it. Each one was like an equation that had many possible answers, but only one true one to make it right. This was truly one of the nicest songs he had hears from Earth, no, the only nice song he had heard from Earth.
'I wanna be where the people are. I wanna see, wanna see them dancin'. Walking around on those - what do you call 'em? Oh - feet!'
'Peculiar,' thought Pai. There was a human that did not know what feet were. Pai, after a bit of studying humans, had seen that even the least of them knew what feet were. He studied the song a bit more.
'Flippin' your fins you don't get too far. Legs required for jumpin', dancin'. Strolling along down a-what's that word again?- Street.'
Aha! This must be a fish of some kind! Pai was sure of it. Maybe it was, perhaps, one of the human's mythical creatures like a mermaid. He had seen the Mew, Lettuce, turn into one. Yes, he was now nearly one hundred percent positive. A mermaid would sing this song! Of, he knew, not an actually mermaid. That would be ludicrous.
'Up where they walk, up where they run. Up where they stay all day in the sun, wanderin' free - wish I could be part of that world. What would I give if I could live out of these waters? What would I pay to spend a day warm on the sand? Bet'cha on land they understand that they don't reprimand their daughters. Proper women sick of swimmin', ready to stand.'
Such passion was sung. He knew that singers would often put a little of themselves into each piece back on his home planet. Humans seemed to be no different. This voice was calming and beautiful; he liked it.
'And ready to know what the people know. Ask 'em my questions and get some answers. What's a fire and why does it - what's the word? Burn?'
Yes, he liked this voice a lot. It was truly a gift to his ears. This person seemed to be singing just for him. The signer gave him the gift of her beautiful voice.
'When's it my turn? Wouldn't I love, love to explore that world up above? Out of the sea, wish I could be, part of that world.'
Pai opened his log and added, 'I believe the song is called 'Part of that World' or perhaps 'Part of Your World'.' He rolled up the piece of papers and placed it back in his pocket. He sighed to himself, "I believe I will return tomorrow."
And he did. Day after day, he would return and hear a different, but beautiful song. As he worked back at the space ship, he would hum them and continue to jot down his notes. It was even more likely for you to catch a smile on his face than usual.
"Is it just me, Kisshu, or does Pai seem…funny?" asked Taruto, after a few weeks of Pai odd behavior.
"Yeah, he seems almost happy," said Kisshu. "Maybe he got hit in the head or something?" Pai chuckled quietly from across the room so his cousins didn't hear. How foolish they were.
"I'm leaving," he said "I'll be back soon."
"You always leave at this time," said Kisshu. "Are you like dating someone or something?"
"Far from it," said Pai, "I've found a place to think without your dreaded noise."
"Well," said Kisshu, offended. "Whatever!" Taruto shook his head. Sometimes he wondered who the younger brother was between him and Kisshu. The young alien debated on following Pai for a moment as he saw his older cousin take off, but, decided against it. Somebody needed to keep Kisshu calm now anyways.
Pai arrived a little early to his usual spot and decided to listen in on some of the human conversations. Sometimes they were interesting, usually boring, though.
"So, the last day, she's practicing here, eh?" said one man carrying what Pai recognized as a microphone.
"Yup," replied his co-worker. "She's done with her concerts and just wanted to practice one more time."
"She's a babe," said the microphone carrier. "I'll be glad to see her back on magazine covers, but her voice rocks too."
"You said it," said the other man as they walked away.
Pai was appalled. Such understated words like rocks and babe for his singer. Vulgar as these humans were, a few things they had said troubled him. Her last practice... That would mean she would not come here to sing anymore. But why? Had she grown weary of singing? Did she have other priorities? Pai's worries mounted up until he heard her voice and he could think of nothing else, but its beauty.
'Look at me. I will never pass for a perfect bride, or a perfect daughter.'
Oh that lovely voice! How it put him at ease! The best thing to come out of this horrid planet so far.
'Can it be I'm not meant to play this part? Now i see that if i were truly to be myself, I would break my family's heart.'
How he loved that voice! That beautiful velvety- Wait, did Pai just think love? He was, Pai, he never loved. He liked, he treasured, but never loved.
'Who is that girl I see staring straight back at me? Why is my reflection someone i don't know?'
But as the voice sang, something stirred in the deepest cockles of his heart. He loved this voice. But that brought up another thought. What if he didn't just love the voice? What if he loved the person behind the voice? He admitted to fantasizing about what the girl looked like, but nothing seemed truly right in his mind, but the images were always very beautiful. Did he love this person who put so much effort and beautiful sound into her vocal art? Could it be he- Pai, known for coldness and cruelty- was in love? No, it just wasn't possible.
'Somehow I cannot hide who i am, though I've tried.'
Somehow, the singer had answered him. He could not hide. He loved not just the voice, but had fallen in love with her through her voice. Pai had never been one for fairytales and yet he somehow he felt he was stuck in one.
'When will my reflection show who I am inside? When will my reflection show who I am inside?'
'I MUST go see her.' Pai flew down to the windows of the roof he had been sitting on. Taking one from Kisshu's book, he went just below the window and peeped in so that just his eyes showed. He took a sharp intake of breath at what he saw.
The features were as clear as day. Holding a microphone in her hand, was the unmistakable bright purple hair, purple eyes, light and gorgeous curves of Zakuro Fujiwara.
Pai flipping around under the window with his whole back tightly pressed up against the building. No, it couldn't be. Not a mew. Why a mew? Any normal human could have done! He'd have felt no guilt. But Mew Zakuro had the voice he had fallen in love with. He was in love with Mew Zakuro.
'No, no…no,' he thought to himself. 'There must be some mistake. The other singer had to of left the stage. Mew Zakuro will sing in a moment and I will prove it to myself that I am not in love with…a Mew.' He through the window again and saw Zakuro talking to a man. He nodded and motioned to someone to start something. Another beautiful tune began to play. He sighed; it was not Mew Zakuro after all.
'What I love most about rivers, you can't step in the same river twice. The water's always changing, always flowing. But people, I guess, can't live like that. We all must pay a price. To be safe we lose our chance of ever knowing what's around the river bend, waiting just around the river bend!'
Although a bit faster paced than normal, his singer's voice appeared from the lips of Zakuro. His heart swelled at the sound of it. 'I can't deny it can I?' he thought. 'I fell in love with a Mew.' And as he realized this he began to see every sing beautiful curve and smile. The flow of her hair began to enchant him as if she were hypnotizing him. The lyrics and beautiful song, they were part of her almost. It seemed she was the song as she seemed to put her heart into it. Kisshu had once tried to explain the feelings the younger alien had for the Mew, Ichigo to him. He had not understood then, but now the comprehension seemed to click within his mind. These indescribable feelings were not him, but him all at the same time.
Once Zakuro had finished her song, she put the microphone on its stand and headed out the door with a curt wave goodbye. She walked along the sidewalk. The sun lightened up- or perhaps it was just in Pai's mind- her white and purple short sleeved shirt and purple skinny jeans. Pai followed her high in the sky. His heart was beating faster than it normally did and it was loud.
Suddenly, Zakuro hopped into a back alleyway heading toward a wooded area near the denser part of a nearby park. Her unknown alien fan was close behind. Abruptly, she stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of the wooded area.
"Who's following me?" she growled out. Pai had no choice, but to land. He was no coward.
"I am," he said. Zakuro gasped and immediately brought out her pendant.
"Mew Zaku-," she began her battle cry before she was stopped.
"I'm not here to hurt you!" said Pai.
"Then what are you hear for?" asked Zakuro with sneer as she turned around. What could Pai say. 'Um, yeah, I'm kind of in love with you now, so…'
"I've heard you sing," he said, attempting to hold his head high instead of ducking in of embarrassment. "You have a beautiful voice."
"What do you care?" she spat.
"I do not like most Earth music, but the kind you sang was calming," said Pai.
"Stupid alien," she said. "I know what you're doing! You're trying to get me to like you so that you can betray me or convert me to your side or something. I don't fall for those kinds of tricks."
"No, no that's not it at all," argued Pai. "I just really like your voice."
"You followed me all the way to tell me that you like my singing voice?" asked Zakuro with a raised eyebrow. Pai nodded quickly.
"You want a song, Alien-boy?" she snapped. "Here!" Pai's heart warmed and felt like it was going to explode as she began to sing, but he also paid close attention to the words she sang.
"'You think I'm an ignorant savage and you've been so many places, I guess it must be so. But still I cannot see if the savage one is me. How can there be so much that you don't know? You don't know ...'"
Was she…trying to teach him a lesson? Using what he loved most to hurt his feelings? But it was true, he did think most human were ignorant and savage.
"'You think you own whatever land you land on. The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim. But I know every rock and tree and creature has a life, has a spirit, has a name.'"
He began to ponder. Had they not claimed Earth as their own? Yes, they had once lived there, but no one really knew what had driven them out. Kisshu only remembered a bit from living here. Pai remember close to nothing.
"'You think the only people who are people are the people who look and think like you. But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you'll learn things you never knew, you never knew.'"
Zakuro began to back up to the trees, still singing in her wonderful melodic voice. And then, she began to walk away, still singing all the way. Pai followed her intently.
"'Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon? Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned? Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains? Can you paint with all the colors of the wind? Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?'"
"But, mountains have no voice. The wind is not colored. Wind is not visible at all," he told her. She merely smirked and then began to run freely as she sang. Her wolf ears and tail popped out as Ichigo's cat featured often did. Pai immediately took after his beloved singer.
"'Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest. Come taste the sunsweet berries of the Earth. Come roll in all the riches all around you. And for once, never wonder what they're worth.'"
What could she ever mean? Did she want him to have more respect towards the planet? What was her point? Perhaps, she just wanted him to hear her voice. 'Doubtful…'thought Pai.
"'The rainstorm and the river are my brothers. The heron and the otter are my friends. And we are all connected to each other in a circle, in a hoop that never ends.'"
"What are you trying to tell me?" he wanted to scream, but plainly spoke in usual monotone instead.
"'How high will the sycamore grow? If you cut it down, then you'll never know. And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon. For whether we are white or copper skinned, we need to sing with all the voices of the mountains. We need to paint with all the colors of the wind.'"
"But there is no voice to the mountains. There are no colors to the wind!" Pai exclaimed.
"Look beyond! That is what makes my voice beautiful to you," she said. "That is what makes this world beautiful! The world you will destroy if you take over this planet!" Only then did Pai she was looking up at him, clutching his hands in hers. He looked to the wind. Several green leaves blew in the wind.
"Colors of the wind…" he said finally realizing.
"'You can own the Earth and still all you'll own is Earth until you can paint with all the colors of the wind.'"
Pai then realized that he had never loved the voice. He had been looking beyond and loving the person behind it the whole time. He had used the voice as a shield to block his true feelings. Why had it taken so long for him to figure it out? Someone as smart as him?
"Sometimes love is even blind to the smartest people," said Zakuro.
"Why did you do all of this?" he asked. "Sing to me. Lead me here." He overlooked the large cliff they were standing on.
"Someone had to teach one of you aliens what you were doing to this planet," she said. "I saw a chance and I took it. It's what I do. I'm not exactly a team person."
"May I sit with you awhile?" asked Pai.
"I suppose," said Zakuro as she took a seat. Pai followed in suit. The sun was beginning to set over the horizon and the setting was pristine and enchanting. They sat in an almost agonizing silence for a while.
"So," said Pai, breaking the silence, "Since where do your ears and tail pop out? I thought that only happens to Mew Ichigo." Zakuro shook her.
"It happens to all of us every once in a while," said Zakuro, her wolf tail wagging a bit. "Mine tend to happen when I feel free and happy, which isn't often. It nearly happened during one of the concerts."
"You love singing," he said. "And yet, you're a model, why?"
"My mom never thought singing was a good career," replied Zakuro. "Forced me into modeling. I like it, but I prefer to sing."
"My mother was a composer back on my home planet," said Pai. "She composed meaningful, calm, elegant music. Of course she never played it for me. I was the death of her."
"What do you mean?" asked Zakuro.
"My mom died giving birth to me," explained Pai. "My father banned music from the house and had me and my brother Jebro focus on Mathematics and Sciences instead. Jebro had learned in secret how to play music though. We would go over to a friend's house and he would play and I would sing our mother's songs.
"Dad found us one day. That was the first and only time he ever hit Jebro and me. I never sang again in fear, but always loved music. Usually music that reminds me of what my mother wrote."
"That's…touching," said Zakuro. "I thought you were the cold and heartless one."
"I admit, I am a little…distant," said Pai, "But music brings out the better of me."
"I can see."
Pai tried to get up enough courage to tell her. He just couldn't though. Would he forever live with an aching heart longing for this one girl? The words 'I love you.' wanted to dance upon his lips so badly, it just about hurt. His heart felt like it couldn't take anymore until it detonated and exploded inside of him. Then his beloved's voice began to sing another beautiful song.
"'Have you ever fed a lover with just your hands?
Close your eyes and trust it, just trust it
Have you ever thrown a fist full of glitter in the air?
Have you ever looked fear in the face
And said I just don't care?
It's only half past the point of no return
The tip of the iceberg, the sun before the burn
The thunder before lightning, the breath before the phrase
Have you ever felt this way?
Have you ever hated yourself for staring at the phone?
Your whole life waiting on the ring to prove you're not alone
Have you ever been touched so gently you had to cry?
Have you ever invited a stranger to come inside?'"
Pai looked at Zakuro as she sang an indescribably beautiful song. He loved her voice, no, he loved her. This must have been how she felt or a song she just loved because her tail was wagging again.
"'It's only half past the point of oblivion
The hourglass on the table, the walk before the run
The breath before the kiss and the fear before the flames
Have you ever felt this way?
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
There you are, sitting in the garden
Clutching my coffee, calling me sugar
You called me sugar
Have you ever wished for an endless night?
Lassoed the moon and the stars and pulled that rope tight
Have you ever held your breath and asked yourself
Will it ever get better than tonight? Tonight'"
At the end of the song, Pai's emotions surged through him. He lost control of his hand as he quickly, but gently grabbed her cheek and pulled her close. She did not fight back. Pai pulled her close and his lips met her soft, tender ones in a loving, warm kiss. And, to his surprise, Zakuro kissed back.
End of Story…
Kai: That took a while. Here's a nice long one-shot for one of my favorite TMM couples! Don't yell at me for liking Disney! I own Jebro, Pai's brother mentioned in the story and the plot, but nothing else! 'Part of Your World', 'Reflection', 'Just Around the Riverbend' and 'Colors of the Wind' belong to Disney. 'Glitter in the Air' belongs to P!nk. Should there be a sequel? Leave it in the reviews! REVIEW PLEASE! All flames will be used for s'mores, but constructive criticism is welcomed. Peace!