Author's Note : This idea has been floating around for a while, and so, I finally decided to write it and post it. I took Aryea's lead and posted this here, figured the Fame fanfics should be together. I obviously own nothing... except some clothes... books... a computer... I've tried to stay true to the show and the characters. Since, to my knowledge, we don't hear much about Bruno's mother, I took some liberty. My sincere apologies if anything is incorrect. This was originally intended to be a one shot... but, well, I didn't really end it properly for that now did I? And yes, reviews are most welcome :). Hope you enjoy!

Gotta Learn How to Fall

Angelo Martelli awoke. He moved to wrap the covers more tightly around him, but, as it turned out, there were no covers. Still groggy, he stretched and rose from his bed, reasoning that he must've kicked the covers off sometime in the night. Something was clouding his eyes. He rubbed them, then froze, mouth falling open in awe. Everywhere he looked he saw only a billowy whiteness, as though he were encased in a cloud. He appeared to be floating; he could feel no floor beneath his feet now that he thought of it. The mist cleared for a second as he moved his hand, but rushed back in again.

"Hello?" he called out, the panic beginning to rise in his voice.

Silence.

"Hello! Is anyone there?" he called out again, and waited.

"Good morning," came the reply, surprisingly close, almost beside him.

"Can you tell me where I am?" he asked.

"You, my dear friend, are dead."

Angelo stared into the mist, not comprehending. Dead, what did it mean to be dead? No longer alive, no longer eating, drinking or breathing. "Dead?" he whispered, and quickly sat down. "Dead?" he asked again.

"Dead," confirmed the voice. And it all came back. The slight ache in his left arm, it had been coming and going for weeks, no cause for worry. Or so he had believed. No time for rest anyway, he needed the money for Bruno's school, a new year had begun. He'd barely made the deadline for last year's final payment in August. No time for a doctor. It had been Bruno's first day back in school, and Angelo had been on his second customer of the day. That was when it all went wrong. His client had been an elderly lady, rich and laden with incredibly heavy amounts of luggage. He lifted the first bag into the trunk, his arm acting up again. He lifted the second bag, the pain intensified. He lifted the third, and collapsed. Some glimpses of white light and masked faces, and then, darkness. Until now.

Angelo suddenly jumped. Bruno. A father is no use to his teenage son dead.

"What about my kid? I can't be dead yet! How's he gonna write his music? You have to send me back!" he pleaded.

"He will manage."

"He's too young. That's not his place! It's my job to take care of him, I'm his dad, not the other way around. You gotta send me back."

"That is something I can't do."

"Please, just until I can earn enough to pay for this year's school, just long enough to prepare him to live on his own, just long enough to say goodbye."

" I'm sorry Angelo, there is nothing I can do. There are certain laws of your world that even I have to abide by."

Angelo crumpled back on an invisible chair, rubbing his temples."I messed up, I really messed up."

"You did nothing of the sort," sighed the voice, "You humans and your guilt, you always insist on blaming yourselves for everything."

"What do you know? Do you have a kid?" snapped Angelo, then more calmly, "Who are you anyways?"

A ball of light flew in front of him. It grew slowly, vaguely humanoid at first, then more and more so. It was a man, dressed in casual attire. Close observation revealed the faintest outline of wings by his sides, framing his chequered shirt. His hair was the hue of sand, skin almost transparent, but the most disturbing features were the man's eyes: pupilless oceans of white. He smiled, while Angelo could only stare.

" I," he began, " am your guardian angel, my name is Eleazar. It is my duty to acclimatize you to the after life."

Angelo remained mute, it was all just too much. He could not shake the thought of his son left alone to face the world. There was so much that he still planned on. He'd wanted to be by his side when he signed his first recording contract, the first time the radio played his songs. He wanted to see his son giddy on the day of wedding, and he'd wanted to see the amazement in his eyes when he held his first child.

"Angelo. Angelo?" came Eleazar's voice, forcing him to focus on his current situation.

"Yeah?" he replied.

Eleazar sighed, " I've just been explaining everything to you, and now, it seems, I have to begin again."

Angelo straightened his back and made an effort to focus.

" Now, you've just demonstrated why you are here in the first place, instead of starting your new life. You cling far too much to your previous world. The devoutly religious are always much easier. The aim of their lives becomes pleasing some sort of divine being, or achieving an other worldly state. Most people take some convincing, but eventually move on. You, on the other hand, having died so suddenly, have some unfinished business, thus your guilt. However, once again, because of the suddenness of the situation, you still managed to cross over. You've lead a good life, Angelo, and done more for your son than you know. By all rights you deserve to be in a better place. But, you would not enjoy yourself. Everyday you would wake worrying for Bruno, wondering if he had to sell his synthesizers, if he ever realized your dreams for him."

Angelo thought for a minute, knowing very well that what the angel said was true. "So what happens now?"

"You can't go back, and you can't go forward, so you must stay still. You are currently residing in the Place Between. Here, you will be able to watch selected parts of Bruno's life, and by the time you've finished, he'll be waiting for you."

"But, how…"

"Time passes strangely here; it caters to its inhabitants."

Angelo nodded, a small smile forming on his lips. At least he could escape all that uncertainty; he would at least know what happened to Bruno.

"Where do I look? What do I have to do to see him?"

"Not yet, not yet. You will not be watching alone. Before you begin you must meet your viewing companion," informed Eleazar, and pointed.

Angelo turned. At first he saw nothing, only a hazy white. Then, the mist parted, and the figure of a woman stepped out. Angelo let out his breath, being unaware that he had held it in. She stood before him, as radiant as he'd ever seen her. Her hair was still the curly dark brown, almost black, that he remembered. Just like her son. His son. He would've bet anything in the world that she still smelled the same. And he was right.

"Bianca." he whispered, fearing that anything more would cause her to disappear. He quickly closed the distance between them, then hesitated. What if she disintegrated when he touched her? What if she were just a ghost, or an illusion? He couldn't bear to lose her a second time.

She laughed, and hugged him. " I've waited all these years and my own husband has forgotten how to hold me," she teased.

Angelo didn't care, she was here, she was solid and once again in his arms. He pulled back long enough to kiss her; she'd never tasted so sweet. His wife smiled, and brushed at the tears welling in her eyes, her beautiful eyes.

"Now, let's see how our boy turned out," she said as she untangled herself from him.

Angelo's face fell, "I should've -", he began, but Bianca cut him off.

"Don't say it, don't even think about it. All you ever did was love him too much," she said as she entwined her fingers with his. Her gaze drifted to their hands as she continued. " You did a fine job with him, you really did. He's grown into a caring, talented young musician."

Angelo smiled, truly smiled, relieved that he'd done well enough for the both of them. He glanced away, looking for the angel, but he was gone. Instead, a television now stood before them. He looked at Bianca, who apparently knew what to do, and turned it on. It crackled into life, and tuned itself to a picture of Bruno sporting a white apron and waiter's garb.

"And so we begin," said Angelo.