Listen to Your Heart
I know there's something in the wake of your smile
I get a notion from the look in your eyes
You've built a love but that love falls apart
Your little piece of heaven turns to dark
Glitch frowned and pulled back from his desk as the yelling started. It didn't matter how thick the walls were…when the Princess and the Tin Man had a row, (which has been happening with ever-increasing frequency) the entire castle heard it. DG was heard-headed and Cain came off as hard-hearted. It wasn't a good combination.
The Queen's advisor, who was still trying to reconcile the two parts of his newly-restored brain, started to wonder what had caused the fight this time, but stopped mid-thought. With those two, it didn't matter. They could fight over the color of the sky. He tried to return to the plans for his newest invention, an improvement to the phonograph, but couldn't quite get his thoughts to increase their volume to drown out the yelling.
When a door slammed shut ten minutes later, he started and his pen slipped, blotting ink all over one of the pages. Cursing silently, Glitch tried to blot at the stains, but eventually gave up on the efforts; the page was too far gone. Great…now I'll have to start over! But he couldn't recapture the inspiration that might have led to a break-through for the invention. His mind started to drift to DG and Cain.
Groaning as he resigned to the fact that he wouldn't be able to get any more work done until he'd fulfilled his role as peace-maker, he pushed himself away from the table and out the door. Their chambers were one floor down from his, and at the opposite end of the hall, but he'd made this walk enough times that he didn't even have to have his eyes open. When he got there, he tapped on the door, which was answered by Cain.
"Where is she?"
"Hell, if I know."
"What did you say this time?"
Cain just glared at him. Glitch threw up his hands in surrender before Cain nodded succinctly. The inventor knew where he was likely to find her, anyway.
Listen to your heart when he's calling for you
Listen to your heart, there's nothing else you can do
I don't know where you're going and I don't know why
But listen to your heartbefore you tell him goodbye
Glitch didn't know how it had happened, but he had somehow ended up as the translator for their embattled relationship, erecting a bridge every time careless words or misunderstood emotions drove them apart. He hated it, too. It was bad enough to see two of his closest friends fighting, tearing each other apart. But when you held a torch for one of the people whose relationship you fought to keep whole, it was never easy to see him tormented like this. He didn't doubt that they loved each other…they just couldn't get over themselves enough to realize what a great thing they had.
He walked outside, toward the garden that he knew was DG's favorite, and found her standing over a potted daisy fingering the petals. When she stormed out of a fight, she was always in the garden. When it was her husband, Cain was always in the stables. He paused just a few feet inside the arched entrance, catching the tear stains on her pale cheeks. Not again…it's always the worst when she's crying. I'd rather have her pacing, raging mad, than crying. He approached cautiously, knowing that the advice he was about to give her would break his heart without her ever knowing.
If she heard him coming, she didn't show it. She had to have known, though, because she didn't startle when he put a hand lightly on her shoulder. He let the contact settle in before he spoke; waiting for her to turn to him for that brotherly hug that he gave her every time.
When she did turn, he said: "Tell me what happened."
Sometimes you wonder if this fight is worthwhile
The precious moments are all lost in the tide
They're swept away and nothing is what it seems
The feeling of belonging to your dreams
She recounted every word of the fight, but the details didn't matter. It was always the same thing: different backgrounds coloring different interpretations of words that led to pointless shouting matches. The words she spoke when she finished recounting the argument, however, made his heart hurt.
"I just don't know why I bother trying to make this work with him anymore. He's twice my age, set in his ways, and sometimes I think he has more in common with a rock than he does with me. You'd think that after being married for two years, things would be better."
Glitch fought himself to keep from smiling at her rather blunt observation, which happened to have tinge of truth to it. "Listen, Doll," he said softly, calling on his own pet name for her from the day they'd met, "I know it seems like things are too hard right now, but Cain's crazy for you. I'm sure it'll get better soon."
"I can't agree with you this time, Glitch," she said sorrowfully. "We've actually started fighting more, not less. And when he pops off with comments about how well I can handle pressure, which he knows is actually pretty damn well, it tears me apart. When he gets defensive, he starts calling me 'Kid,' and I hate it when people say things that make me feel like a child."
Glitch sat on a nearby bench, looking at her thoughtfully. "Can I be honest with you, DG?"
"Of course!" she said, feeling a little bit hurt by the fact that he would have to ask that question at all. She sat next to him on the bench and he took both of her hands in his own.
Listen to your heart when he's calling for you
Listen to your heart, there's nothing else you can do
I don't know where you're going and I don't know why
But listen to your heartbefore you tell him goodbye
"You've got a very good thing with Cain…a love that some women, and some men, only dream about." He put emphasis on the word "men," hoping that he wouldn't have to be more frank with his confession.
Her usually wide-set eyes spread even wider. "Glitch…um…wow, I really don't know what to say to that."
"Explains a lot in hind-sight, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, actually, it does. I had no idea that you're…"
"Listen, Princess," he continued, "I happen to know for a fact that Wyatt loves you very passionately. Believe me; bouncing between the two of you as unofficial negotiator, I've learned that there's no way he'd ever be happy with anyone but you. I also know that you'll never be happy without him. You actually have a wonderful love, despite the fights. Would you trust anyone else with your life and your heart so implicitly? Don't throw it away just because he's determined to be an ass."
And there are voices that want to be heard
So much to mention but you can't find the words
The scent of magic; the beauty that's been
When love was wilder than the wind
She stared unblinking at her own hands as she processed his words and her own thoughts. Glitch was right; she couldn't imagine her life with out Cain. She just couldn't see an end to the fighting. Their marriage had turned from blissful beauty to dismal darkness. Closing her eyes, she tried to contain the hurt as she remembered the first time they'd made love and the wonderful magic that had filled the air. Their carefree abandon had been replaced with hurt and anguish. She shook her head.
"I wish I could stay with him, but I don't know that I have the strength—"
She was interrupted when she saw a familiar fedora over the hedge-fence of the garden. Her hands clenched around Glitch's, and her jaw set firmly as tears started to spring from her eyes. He turned the corner and locked his eyes onto hers.
Listen to your heart when he's calling for you
Listen to your heart, there's nothing else you can do
I don't know where you're going and I don't know why
But listen to your heart before you tell him goodbye
Glitch released DG's hands and said, "Do you doubt me now? He's finally got it into his thick skull to stop letting me apologize for him."
Cain didn't enter into the garden any farther. He stood in the arch waiting for her to come to him, knowing that if she did it meant that she forgave him. The unspoken apology hung in the air. He couldn't hear Glitch's next statements.
"Before you decide to leave him, just remember this: sometimes what's said between two people isn't as important as what's shared between two hearts. Promise me that you'll listen to what both of your hearts are saying before finally deciding to give up."
She nodded again, choking on the emotion in her throat, as she stood and walked to him. Glitch's heart couldn't help but break when the Tin Man wrapped his wife in an embrace that the inventor was sure he could never enjoy. He had to content himself with watching, wishing to all the gods that he was her.
Author's Notes: What is it with me and song fic drabbles? shrug Please review if you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I claim no rights to Tin Man, the characters, or the song.