"Violin"
Violin music...
Where was that coming from?
She paid no attention and continued rocking back and forth in her rocking chair, causing the splintered porch below her to creak. Strange, she thought, an ex Oz military officer such as myself finding solace in knitting? She smiled to herself and let her fingers slide over the cool needles, which calmed the heavy, humid air that lingered after the pervious giant thunderstorms. The fortress-like clouds were making their way across the sky, and clearing a small path for the sun to shoot out of as it set. It drowned the world in warm orange though clouds still blackened the sky.
She closed her eyes. The sweet, sad music seeped in through the cicadas and the crickets and blew the low-hanging branches of the weeping willows around her. The harder she tried to figure out where it was coming from, the farther away it seemed. It was so sad and calming she let it drown out her already anesthetized-mind until all her thoughts had dripped onto the dry porch under her.
A little girl's laughter lit the bitter-sweet music.
She felt little hands and a curly-haired head on her lap. She set down the knitting needles and ran her hands over the little girl's hair, stopping to twirl one of her curls around her finger.
The little girl giggled.
She opened her eyes. "Lily, what's so funny?"
The little girl crawled up on to her lap and buried her head in her neck. "Hmmm, just a funny stranger, mommy."
She continued to stroke her hair. "Lily you know I don't like you talking to strangers. It worries me."
The little girl giggled and jumped off her lap. "I know. I told the ugly old man, cuz he was really ugly mommy, to go away and then-" she put her muddy hands in front of her mouth to supress more laugher, "-then I threw a mud-pie at him and got 'im right in the face, mommy!"
She rolled her eyes and smiled. "You didn't have to do that, Lily. That's not nice."
"But he was a stranger. And he was ugly."
She picked the little girl back onto her lap and cleaned her hands. "Why was he so ugly?"
She rocked the chair back and forth again and the little girl began to fall asleep on her shoulder.
"Cuz he was too tall. And his hair was too brown and his eyes too brown, too. He was just ugly."
The little girl rolled over to appreciate the sun-set as her eye-lids were weighted by the gentle violin music. "Oh, and he wore a military outfit. I don't like military people... "
Nothing entered her head. She was too busy breathing in the rain-washed wind to remember her military days. She could only close her eyes and be sung to sleep with her daughter in her arms...
"What kind of military uniform was it, Lily?"
"I dunno," she hummed. "Looked like Oz."
Oz... she thought, or rather, it streamed through her mind like the current of a stream. A picture of a tall, brown-haired man wearing an Oz uniform began to form in her head...
What a handsome man, she remembered...
Her eyes popped open. "Lily, where was this man?"
The little girl was asleep.
She set her down on the rocking chair, staring out at the broad, green horizon uncertainly.
Could it be...?
She picked up her white sun-dress and hopped down the steps. Her heart picked up its beating as she began running down the dirt road. Her soft eyes bent in desperate, sad hope as blood-calming memories returned to her, "Join me, Lady..."
Long, brown hair-strands whipped in her face as she brought her hand to her mouth. She continued to run, searching every bend of the dirt road for tire-tracks, horse-tracks, or even foot-prints. But they were nowhere. The sweet music in the air vibrated the golden harp-strings holding her heart together, "Return to me, Lady... "
Dust covered her tired, aching feet. Her eyes scanned the hills and creek-sides sorrowfully. He was nowhere. That beautiful man, I can't miss him...
The minutes of his absence seemed like arduous hours to her. He was gone. The most elegant of the elegant, the aristocrat of the aristocrats, but most importantly, her love...
She touched her heart, closed her eyes, and sat down next to a stream in the ditch on the side of the road. She let her dirt-covered bare feet slide into the water and let the continuing music sing her sad head to sleep.
I know it was you, she thought, I know. But I've missed you... will you ever come back again...
Easy tears slid from her eyes and down her chin. She didn't wipe them as they tickled her hot skin.
"Treize..." she sighed happily.
"Lady."
She whipped her head around, sending her soft hair flying around her shoulders.
There he stood. Tall, glowing, noble, strong, regal, beautiful... The setting sun's rays played across him in time to the music. She just stood there, staring longingly at him and having her mind soaked with comforting memories of them together.
He smiled his confident, eyes-half-closed smile and spoke, "Lady."
She was smiling, though more tears streamed down her stoic face. Treize. His name seemed like the words to the mysterious music. "Oh, Threize..." she said and walked toward him.
He stood regally and only moved his hand to take hers and kiss it. She brushed her hair behind her ear like a nervous school-girl. His smile, she remembered, and now it's right here...
He was still holding her hand. "You have quite the lovely little girl."
She laughed slightly. They paused.
Silence.
"Her name is Lily."
He took her other hand. "Beautiful name."
he looked at him with wet eyes. "She had a beautiful father."
If he was surprised, he didn't show it. He suavely pulled her closely to him and spoke very softly, "I've missed you, Lady."
The violin music took over. She couldn't speak. The music in the heavy, red air said it all as they embraced. She was lost in that moment; she couldn't feel anything but the long-forgotten strength of his protective arms. She couldn't smell anything but him, see anything but him, know anything but him. And she didn't want that moment to end. And she didn't want to ask him, either.
"But, I thought you were killed in the final battle at Libra," she whispered, not wanting him to answer.
He continued to smile but looked her strongly in the eyes. I'm with you, Lady.
She put her hand to her mouth and tears streamed down her cheeks. He wiped them away with the back of his soft hand and put both hands under her chin. She dropped her hand and stared lovingly into his eyes. He brought her mouth to his and kissed her.
She remembered kissing him on the deck of an extravagant cruise ship, the moon-light shining off the water and lighting only one side of his elegant face.
She remembered kissing him underneath the cover of a weeping willow, while they ignored the soft branches that fluttered over them.
And she remembered kissing him on the deck of the destroyed Wing gundam, when she had just woken up from her coma and rescued him from the Libra beam-cannon. The cold black spun around them but he'd held her chin in his hands just like then... And the world seemed to spin around them then. It wasn't dizzying, but more like the world was turning and the wind dancing around them. Leaves rustled at their feet and slightly blew up the edges of her sun-dress. She laughed slightly, so did he, but he continued to hold her and kiss her.
Don't ever leave me, Treize...
The violin music then sang the world slowly darker and everything cooled.
She no longer felt his large, warm arms. She felt cold stone and prickly grass.
She thought she had her eyes open, but suddenly they really popped open.
She was lying on her back in the cemetery. Above her head was a familiar grave, one she visited all too often.
The music was gone. It was never there.
Just a dream, she said to herself, unbelieving. She still held the red roses she brought for him in her right hand while her left one was under her head. The wind blew, not as warm but equally as sad, and she remained there for a while.
She rubbed her stomach and rubbed her eyes, remembering what the doctor told her that morning. "I would've named her Lily," she sniffed.
She set the roses down on the grave except for one. She held it to her stomach and held tears back. The only thing of yours that I could still have here with me... She plucked the petals off the rose and let them dance away, one by one, on the wind.
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and smiled.
She turned her head.
Is that violin music...?
No, it can't be.
Then she left the grave, the wind whipping her hair and the glittery tears off her face.
"You are with me."
Violin music...
Where was that coming from?
She paid no attention and continued rocking back and forth in her rocking chair, causing the splintered porch below her to creak. Strange, she thought, an ex Oz military officer such as myself finding solace in knitting? She smiled to herself and let her fingers slide over the cool needles, which calmed the heavy, humid air that lingered after the pervious giant thunderstorms. The fortress-like clouds were making their way across the sky, and clearing a small path for the sun to shoot out of as it set. It drowned the world in warm orange though clouds still blackened the sky.
She closed her eyes. The sweet, sad music seeped in through the cicadas and the crickets and blew the low-hanging branches of the weeping willows around her. The harder she tried to figure out where it was coming from, the farther away it seemed. It was so sad and calming she let it drown out her already anesthetized-mind until all her thoughts had dripped onto the dry porch under her.
A little girl's laughter lit the bitter-sweet music.
She felt little hands and a curly-haired head on her lap. She set down the knitting needles and ran her hands over the little girl's hair, stopping to twirl one of her curls around her finger.
The little girl giggled.
She opened her eyes. "Lily, what's so funny?"
The little girl crawled up on to her lap and buried her head in her neck. "Hmmm, just a funny stranger, mommy."
She continued to stroke her hair. "Lily you know I don't like you talking to strangers. It worries me."
The little girl giggled and jumped off her lap. "I know. I told the ugly old man, cuz he was really ugly mommy, to go away and then-" she put her muddy hands in front of her mouth to supress more laugher, "-then I threw a mud-pie at him and got 'im right in the face, mommy!"
She rolled her eyes and smiled. "You didn't have to do that, Lily. That's not nice."
"But he was a stranger. And he was ugly."
She picked the little girl back onto her lap and cleaned her hands. "Why was he so ugly?"
She rocked the chair back and forth again and the little girl began to fall asleep on her shoulder.
"Cuz he was too tall. And his hair was too brown and his eyes too brown, too. He was just ugly."
The little girl rolled over to appreciate the sun-set as her eye-lids were weighted by the gentle violin music. "Oh, and he wore a military outfit. I don't like military people... "
Nothing entered her head. She was too busy breathing in the rain-washed wind to remember her military days. She could only close her eyes and be sung to sleep with her daughter in her arms...
"What kind of military uniform was it, Lily?"
"I dunno," she hummed. "Looked like Oz."
Oz... she thought, or rather, it streamed through her mind like the current of a stream. A picture of a tall, brown-haired man wearing an Oz uniform began to form in her head...
What a handsome man, she remembered...
Her eyes popped open. "Lily, where was this man?"
The little girl was asleep.
She set her down on the rocking chair, staring out at the broad, green horizon uncertainly.
Could it be...?
She picked up her white sun-dress and hopped down the steps. Her heart picked up its beating as she began running down the dirt road. Her soft eyes bent in desperate, sad hope as blood-calming memories returned to her, "Join me, Lady..."
Long, brown hair-strands whipped in her face as she brought her hand to her mouth. She continued to run, searching every bend of the dirt road for tire-tracks, horse-tracks, or even foot-prints. But they were nowhere. The sweet music in the air vibrated the golden harp-strings holding her heart together, "Return to me, Lady... "
Dust covered her tired, aching feet. Her eyes scanned the hills and creek-sides sorrowfully. He was nowhere. That beautiful man, I can't miss him...
The minutes of his absence seemed like arduous hours to her. He was gone. The most elegant of the elegant, the aristocrat of the aristocrats, but most importantly, her love...
She touched her heart, closed her eyes, and sat down next to a stream in the ditch on the side of the road. She let her dirt-covered bare feet slide into the water and let the continuing music sing her sad head to sleep.
I know it was you, she thought, I know. But I've missed you... will you ever come back again...
Easy tears slid from her eyes and down her chin. She didn't wipe them as they tickled her hot skin.
"Treize..." she sighed happily.
"Lady."
She whipped her head around, sending her soft hair flying around her shoulders.
There he stood. Tall, glowing, noble, strong, regal, beautiful... The setting sun's rays played across him in time to the music. She just stood there, staring longingly at him and having her mind soaked with comforting memories of them together.
He smiled his confident, eyes-half-closed smile and spoke, "Lady."
She was smiling, though more tears streamed down her stoic face. Treize. His name seemed like the words to the mysterious music. "Oh, Threize..." she said and walked toward him.
He stood regally and only moved his hand to take hers and kiss it. She brushed her hair behind her ear like a nervous school-girl. His smile, she remembered, and now it's right here...
He was still holding her hand. "You have quite the lovely little girl."
She laughed slightly. They paused.
Silence.
"Her name is Lily."
He took her other hand. "Beautiful name."
he looked at him with wet eyes. "She had a beautiful father."
If he was surprised, he didn't show it. He suavely pulled her closely to him and spoke very softly, "I've missed you, Lady."
The violin music took over. She couldn't speak. The music in the heavy, red air said it all as they embraced. She was lost in that moment; she couldn't feel anything but the long-forgotten strength of his protective arms. She couldn't smell anything but him, see anything but him, know anything but him. And she didn't want that moment to end. And she didn't want to ask him, either.
"But, I thought you were killed in the final battle at Libra," she whispered, not wanting him to answer.
He continued to smile but looked her strongly in the eyes. I'm with you, Lady.
She put her hand to her mouth and tears streamed down her cheeks. He wiped them away with the back of his soft hand and put both hands under her chin. She dropped her hand and stared lovingly into his eyes. He brought her mouth to his and kissed her.
She remembered kissing him on the deck of an extravagant cruise ship, the moon-light shining off the water and lighting only one side of his elegant face.
She remembered kissing him underneath the cover of a weeping willow, while they ignored the soft branches that fluttered over them.
And she remembered kissing him on the deck of the destroyed Wing gundam, when she had just woken up from her coma and rescued him from the Libra beam-cannon. The cold black spun around them but he'd held her chin in his hands just like then... And the world seemed to spin around them then. It wasn't dizzying, but more like the world was turning and the wind dancing around them. Leaves rustled at their feet and slightly blew up the edges of her sun-dress. She laughed slightly, so did he, but he continued to hold her and kiss her.
Don't ever leave me, Treize...
The violin music then sang the world slowly darker and everything cooled.
She no longer felt his large, warm arms. She felt cold stone and prickly grass.
She thought she had her eyes open, but suddenly they really popped open.
She was lying on her back in the cemetery. Above her head was a familiar grave, one she visited all too often.
The music was gone. It was never there.
Just a dream, she said to herself, unbelieving. She still held the red roses she brought for him in her right hand while her left one was under her head. The wind blew, not as warm but equally as sad, and she remained there for a while.
She rubbed her stomach and rubbed her eyes, remembering what the doctor told her that morning. "I would've named her Lily," she sniffed.
She set the roses down on the grave except for one. She held it to her stomach and held tears back. The only thing of yours that I could still have here with me... She plucked the petals off the rose and let them dance away, one by one, on the wind.
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and smiled.
She turned her head.
Is that violin music...?
No, it can't be.
Then she left the grave, the wind whipping her hair and the glittery tears off her face.
"You are with me."