Musical Magic - by missmarthanightingale
They had won. Earth and the rest of the Federation were safe. So why did it feel as though they had failed?
They had won, yes. But at such cost! Vulcan was gone. Only a few thousand of Spock's people survived. And Starfleet had lost almost its entire senior class. More than 2,000 students gone, and not a trace of them left, for they had been sucked out of existence along with the planet they had failed to save. The Academy was lifeless, crippled by its emptiness. No one laughed, or even smiled. They simply went about their duties, shocked into silence. There was no joy in their victory, only grief at their failure.
It had been exactly one month. One month since Nero, one month since the Narada and the black hole and the victory and the failure. One month of grief and of silence and of an overwhelming sense of loss. One month.
She was drifting about the Academy in the middle of the night. Not strictly allowed, but she doubted anyone would try to stop her. Everyone understood. Many others shared the habit. They just couldn't stay in the rooms that had been shared with the friends who were once so beautifully alive, which were now filled with echoes and memories that were simply too painful to think of. Her room, which had once been a haven of peace and happiness, was now a hell filled with grief and sorrow. She couldn't stay for a minute longer [it was so very quiet] so she had pulled on a thin dressing gown over her pajamas and left.
She was wandering aimlessly around the grounds when she heard the music. Someone was playing the guitar and there was a woman singing. It sounded almost like a lullaby, but the words didn't fit.
Throw me in the landfill; don't think about the consequences.
Throw me in the dirt pit; don't think about the choices that you make.
Throw me in the water; don't think about the splash I will create.
Leave me at the altar, knowing all the things you just escaped.
It was bitter, but it was beautiful.
Push me out to sea, on the little boat that you made out
Of the evergreen, that you helped your father cut away.
Leave me on the tracks, to wait until the morning train arrives.
Don't you dare look back, walk away, catch up with the sunrise.
She found herself drawn towards the sound [it was so beautiful] and followed it.
Well this is torturous,
Electricity between both of us.
And this is dangerous,
'Cause I want you so much, but I hate your guts,
I hate you.
She found its source in a secluded corner of the Academy. It had probably been a garden of some sort, but had been abandoned and allowed to run wild. It was hauntingly beautiful.
So leave me in the cold, wait until the snow covers me up,
So I cannot move, 'till I'm just embedded in the frost.
Then leave me in the rain, 'till my clothes cling to my frame,
Wipe away your tearstains, thought you said you didn't feel pain.
It was filled with overgrown trees and long grass that reached halfway up her calves [untamed] and a clearing in the centre made of a carpet of wildflowers [so beautiful] broken only by a small pond. There was a winding path through the trees to the clearing, in which were sat two people, a man and a woman.
Well this is torturous,
Electricity between both of us.
And this is dangerous,
'Cause I want you so much, but I hate your guts,
I want you so much, but I hate your guts.
The woman was more of a girl, really. She looked about eighteen. She had long dark hair separated into two parts, held in place by solid gold bands. It swept across her youthful face, which was dominated by eyes that were a warm shade of green that invoked memories of happiness and love for who knew what reason. She had long lashes and delicately arched eyebrows. She had a small nose and a relatively large mouth. She wore a white dress that was really more of an oversized shirt, and had thick brown gloves that left her fingers and thumbs free. She was holding a beautiful guitar of a dark wood that had a rose burned onto it. She was beautiful, though not in the conventional sense. There was something about her, about the sparkle in her eyes and the upward tilt of her lips that made the girl radiate comfort and warmth and security and belonging and home.
Well this is torturous,
Electricity between both of us.
And this is dangerous,
'Cause I want you so much, but I hate your guts,
I want you so much, but I hate your guts.
Then she shifted her attention to the man, and froze in shock. It was James Tiberius Kirk, also holding a guitar and wearing loose pajama pants and a white shirt. With his hair slightly messed up [as though he'd been running his hand through it] he had no cocky grin on his face, no superiority in his eyes. He looked genuine. He looked – well, he looked quite handsome. Someone who she had only seen glimpses of before, when he was with Gaila, or on the Enterprise – she finally understood what her best friend had seen in him. He looked like someone who could be a great man, a great captain. Someone who could change the world for the better.
Their song had finished now. As she watched, he threw his head back and laughed. She should have felt anger [what right had he to be happy when they had lost everything] but his laughter filled her with a sense of joy. It felt right.
They were discussing something. Occasionally one would play out a few notes on their guitar. They spoke for several minutes more, when they finally agreed on — whatever it was. The girl tapped out a beat on her guitar [one, two, three, four] and he started to play. A light, repetitive melody. He played for a few seconds before the girl began to sing.
Shadows settle on the place that you left,
Our minds are troubled by the emptiness.
Destroy the middle; it's a waste of time,
From the perfect start to the finish line.
And if you're still breathing, you're the lucky ones,
'Cause most of us are heaving through corrupted lungs,
Setting fire to our insides for fun,
Collecting names of the lovers that went wrong,
The lovers that went wrong.
The music grew stronger and the girl added to it, beating out a pattern, as though she was substituting for drums. Then the music faded and she stopped, only to start singing again.
We are the reckless; we are the wild youth,
Chasing visions of our futures.
Now we understand the truth,
That some will die before we get there.
Her breath caught. They were singing about the Narada. About the cadets who had died. About the few who had survived.
And if you're still bleeding, you're the lucky ones,
'Cause most of our feelings, they are dead and they are gone.
We're setting fire to our insides for fun,
Collecting pictures from the flood that wrecked our home,
It was a flood that wrecked this.
The girl was beating out a pattern for emphasis. Now the music grew strong again, as did her voice.
And youth caused it,
And youth caused it,
And youth caused it.
It was true. They had all been young and inexperienced. They never stood a chance. The Enterprise had survived only because of Kirk and his ingenuity, his unpredictability, his madness and his sheer genius.
The girl continued her improvised drumming as she sang.
Well I've lost it all; I'm just a silhouette,
I'm a lifeless face that you'll soon forget.
My eyes are damp from the words you left,
Ringing in my head, when you broke my chest,
Ringing in my head, when you broke my chest.
She was singing of the survivors now, in their silence and grief, lifeless and unnoticed, remembering all that had been taken.
The drumming suddenly stopped, the music lowered.
And if you're in love, then you are the lucky one,
'Cause most of us are bitter over someone.
The music rose again; the girl's drumming returned.
Setting fire to our insides for fun,
To distract our hearts from ever missing them,
But I'm forever missing him.
The girl's voice had grown bitter [had she known one of the cadets?] and her drumming strengthened.
The music swelled.
And youth caused it,
And youth caused it,
And youth caused it.
Kirk strummed a few seconds longer, then let the music fall away. They sat in silence for several moments, and the girl laughed.
"That was good," she said. "Could use a little more work, but it was good."
He smiled at her, something in his gaze that their hidden audience could not identify. It was similar to how he had looked at Gaila, but more brotherly [could they be siblings? Kirk only had an older brother, right?] and more familiar. He had known this girl for a long time.
She fell backwards onto the grass.
"Look at the stars. They're so beautiful."
"The view's better when you're out there."
He lay down beside her, putting their guitars to one side.
"But they don't twinkle. It takes away the magic."
"Yeah. But it's still beautiful. Just in a different way."
"Imagine if they still twinkled, out there."
He turned his head to face her. She kept her gaze on the stars.
"Now that would be magical."
"Yes. Yes, it would."
They lay like that for several minutes, his gaze on her and her eyes on the stars.
Then the girl spoke.
"What shall we play next?"
He thought for a moment.
"Do you remember the lullaby you wrote for us, when I was little?"
"Yes."
"Let's play that one."
The girl smiled.
"Good choice."
They sat up and retrieved their guitars. He started to play a light melody, and the girl began to sing.
I remember tears streaming down your face when I said
"I'll never let you go",
When all those shadows almost killed your light.
What were they singing of now? What great loss had inspired this song? How young had they been then?
I remember you said "Don't leave me here alone",
But all that's dead and gone and past tonight.
The girl joined in on her guitar, and he quietly sang with her.
Just close your eyes, the sun is going down,
You'll be all right; no one can hurt you now,
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound.
Their eyes were closed; they looked so peaceful. This was private; she should leave.
Don't you dare look out your window, darling everything's on fire,
The war outside our door keeps raging on.
War? What had these two been through together?
Hold on to this lullaby,
Even when the music's gone, gone.
He was adding his voice to hers at certain notes. It made an eerie effect. They were making magic with their voices [magic seemed to fit everything about this situation] the instruments only adding to the effect.
Just close your eyes, the sun is going down.
You'll be all right; no one can hurt you now.
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound.
She didn't know the girl, but he was happy with her. They'd been worried about him — he clearly blamed himself for what had been lost, and he desperately missed Gaila [turned out he really had loved her] and anyone that could make him happy was a friend to her.
They were humming the melody now.
She slipped away from the clearing, along the path and out of the abandoned garden.
The girl began to sing again.
Just close your eyes,
You'll be all right,
Come morning light,
You and I'll be safe and sound.
It occurred to her how very right that scene had seemed. A handsome young man and a beautiful young girl in an overgrown clearing amongst the wild trees, beneath the stars and the full moon, making the most beautiful music she had ever heard.
She could still hear the guitars and the singing.
The music followed her all the way back to the dorms.
[When she woke the next morning she wondered if it hadn't all been a dream.]
I originally wrote this as part of a larger story but I kind of lost inspiration halfway through. This was a sort of prequel which I thought stood alone well enough.
There's a long and complicated story behind the girl, but the gist of it is that she was on Tarsus IV with Jim, and everyone thinks she died there. Her family was killed and she figured they'd just stick her in an orphanage and forget about her, but she wanted to stay with Jim. She's been following him around for years, trying to keep him out of serious trouble. When he joined Starfleet they had to get a little sneakier, and they found an abandoned garden to meet up in as often as they could.
She loves music and firmly believes that it always helps, which is why they wrote a song (Youth) for the cadets who died during the Narada incident. She wrote the other songs as well, one as a lullaby for the younger children on Tarsus (Safe and Sound) and the other one (Landfill) just because.
The story is told from Nyota's point of view, if that wasn't clear.
The songs, in order of appearance, are Landfill (Daughter), Youth (Daughter), and Safe and Sound (Taylor Swift).
I own nothing.
I don't know the name of the art it of the cover image so I can't credit them but I think it's beautiful, and I based the girl on it. Imagine her holding a guitar instead of a crystal ball! If you know who the artist is, please ell me so that I can credit them.
I hope it isn't hideous, please let me know what you think.
Martha