DISCLAIMER: I don't own them, okay?
Author's Note: This is nothing great. I Just made some revisions on the original scenes. I didn't know what to write in here, honestly. But I put all my heart and effort on writing this one-shot, so I hope you guys will like it.
SWAY IN LACIE'S MELODY
"Here I am looking far away, hoping that someday I could stand beside you with a smile on my face."
Where's that melody coming from?
It was so nostalgic, so sad, yet so beautiful. Somehow, it makes the person listening to it feels like standing under the bright light.
Charlotte Baskerville stood outside the mansion garden, looking for the source of the said tune she just heard. She turned around and saw from a nearby tree a young man clad in a black cloth. Catching herself in the act, she blushed as she stared at the man who caught her attention.
"Master Glen," she whispered. She felt like closing her eyes from the moment's silence.
The Baskervilles is a huge prominent family in the city of Sablier. Glen Baskerville, being the head, is an aloof person who was never seen smiling around people. He is a young man in his 25s, and a lot of ladies were coming after his looks, not minding his anti-social personality. Although their existence is normally hiding in the dark, the aim of the Baskervilles is to find a suitable heir who will draw the line with other noble houses; that heir turned out to be Oswald, Lacie's older brother, who inherited the name Glen.
Due to the orders of Glen, the Baskervilles had sheltered a lot of people. Those who were orphaned at a young age, those who were abandoned by their village and the likes were taken into the Baskervilles' mansion to start a new life. One of those fortunate was Charlotte, and she was attracted by the hidden kindness Glen was portraying.
She has been in love with him ever since she laid her eyes on him.
But, Glen is the master, while she is just a small fragment of the family.
"Who goes there?!" Charlotte turned to her back when she felt the presence of another individual.
"I'm sorry… did I surprise you?" went a voice. The said guy was wearing a cloak with a hood, so Charlotte found it difficult to identify who he was.
"Who are you?"
"I'm just a suspicious person which is just actually some nobody."
"Huh?" Charlotte felt her eyebrow twitching. That man is so weird.
"Jack, stop messing with Charlotte."
Charlotte was surprised to hear Glen spoke. He saw what happened. She blushed.
"Ah! Charlotte, what a lovely name! Can I call you Lottie, then?" Jack said as he pulled his hood downwards. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Lottie. I'm Jack Vessalius. I'm just a music box maker."
Jack-he is the third son of the Vessalius family which was just a third-rate noble house and not that wealthy. He is a happy-go-lucky man who never cared about outside appearances. He is always seen so jolly and so carefree and do things he found interesting even to the extent that he almost annoys some people. He is the weirdest of them all…
But there's something with Jack which Charlotte found worth pondering. She was thankful for him, for because of that man, her Master Glen would smile on his own accord. Glen do things which some people wouldn't expect of him to do because of Jack. The two of them were the best of friends and seemed to understand and enjoy each other's company even if they were just sitting under a shade of a tree without saying a single word.
Somehow, Charlotte felt jealous of Jack. She was disappointed for she could never enter their world. She will remain standing while looking at them from afar.
"Ah, you're just in time, Lottie! Come here!" Jack called out to her on one particular day when he noticed that she was staring at them. "I would like to show you something." Charlotte meekly went closer and was amazed when Jack showed her an intricately-designed pocket watch. "This is my best handiwork. What do you think?"
"You made this? I thought you're a music box maker?"
"I am, but music box or pocket watch… their source of power is just the same." Jack smiled and opened the pocket watch. "Watch this… can you hear it?"
Charlotte felt a very warm feeling. The tune was the same melody that she heard when she saw Glen and first met Jack. "What is the title of the song?"
"Lacie," Glen answered. Charlotte surprisingly turned her attention at him. "I wrote that tune. Do you like it?" Glen smiled at him. Charlotte's time stopped at that very moment. She couldn't believe he would talk to her like that, and moreover, he smiled at her. That gentle smile of him, it instantly took Charlotte's breath away.
Lacie… An artwork made by Jack and Him. It was full of emotions and memories. Charlotte could feel certain envy from it. Lacie was the reason Jack and Glen became friends. She was the reason Glen could smile. If it wasn't for Lacie, Jack wouldn't be able to meet Glen and Glen wouldn't open up like that if it wasn't for him. Charlotte would find life miserable and worthless if it wasn't for Glen.
It's all because of Lacie.
Glen wouldn't open up things about Lacie—his sister whom he loves the most—but Jack would always do. He would always speak about Lacie whenever he and Charlotte were alone. Charlotte could feel that Jack really treasures her.
Every time you kissed me,
I trembled like a child.
Gathering the roses, we sang for the hope.
Your very voice is in my heartbeat,
Sweeter than my dreams
We were there, in everlasting bloom.
Roses die,
The secret is hidden inside the pain.
Winds are high up on the hill;
I cannot hear you.
Come, and hold me close
I'm shivering cold in the heart of rain.
Darkness falls; I'm calling for the dawn...
Silver dishes for the memories,
For the days gone by
Singing for the promises tomorrow may bring.
I harbor all the old affection;
Roses of the past
Darkness falls, and summer will be gone.
"That are some of the lyrics Lacie came up with," Jack said after he sang the first part of the song to Charlotte.
"It's…too sad," Charlotte muttered under her breath. No wonder when she heard the tune, she almost felt like crying. It was a compilation of Lacie, Glen, and Jack's feelings. "Master Glen… is he… did he miss his sister?"
"Glen?" Jack pondered for a bit. "I don't know what's going on in his mind," he said as he gave Charlotte a smile. "The truth is… I'm angry at Glen for some reasons."
"Why?"
"I don't know… maybe because he didn't fight for his sister and just let Lacie die."
"Don't think like that about Master Glen. I know how he felt. I know how it feels to lose someone important. Maybe that was what Lady Lacie wished for."
"A selfish wish…" Jack chuckled silently. He covered his face with his hands to hide the tears he was trying to conceal since a while ago. "Lacie and Glen… they're both important to me. Even if I know for myself that I'm mad, I still can't admit it. I can't get angry at them and blame them."
"Jack…" Charlotte gave him a reassuring hug. "You really like her, don't you?"
"I-I love her… yet she… I grew contented on just having her with me that I didn't wish for her to return my love. How foolish am I to believe in her promise. Lacie lied to me, yet I still can't forget about her."
"I know how that one feels. For the contentment and not receiving the love you wished to have. I know that it hurts."
In some way or another, Jack and Charlotte were the same.
"I'm sorry, Lottie," Jack whispered as he pulled himself away from Charlotte. "You… about Glen… I know how you feel about him. Why don't you tell him before its too late?"
"W-What are you talking about?!" Charlotte exclaimed with a blush on her face. "I-I can't just suddenly do that. M-Master Glen is the head of the Baskervilles. I-I'm in no position to confess my one-sided feeling!"
"So what of it?" Jack asked in a serious tone. Charlotte fell silent. "So what if he's a high-ranked noble? I'm just nobody, even lower than your position, Lottie, yet he accepted me and labeled me as his best friend. Glen isn't the type of guy who looks down at others. If you happen to confess and he rejected you, it's fine… as long as you tell him. If you didn't, you will live in regret."
"T-That's… I can't… I can't even approach him."
"If you can't, I'll help you."
Joys of the daylight,
Shadows of starlight,
Everything was sweet by your side, my love.
Ruby tears have come to me for your last words.
I'm here just singing my song of woe,
Waiting for you, my love...
"Will you join me, Charlotte?" Glen asked, as he saw her on a nearby tree not far from where he was sitting.
Charlotte was startled. Glen had offered her to come and sit with him. She nodded her head and slowly sat beside him, although she chose to sit not too close to him.
"The weather is nice. Don't you think?" Glen asked again.
"U-Uh, Y-Yes… it is," Charlotte answered while stuttering. Glen smiled.
Is this what Jack meant by his help?
She slowly tilted her head to look at him and summoned all her guts to start a conversation. "D-Do… Does Master Glen like the sun?"
"I do," he answered plainly at first. "The light… and everything which is acquainted by it…I love it. Nature, music, and the people around me… I love the world that Lacie used to love."
Charlotte paused upon the mention of her name. That was the first time Glen opened up that topic with someone else aside from Jack. In addition, it was she whom he opened up with. A small smile crept from Charlotte's lips.
"Are you scared of me, Charlotte?"
She was halted from her thoughts when Glen asked her that. "N-No, I-I'm not, Master."
"Jack told me," he muttered. She paused and blushed. "…He told me all about you. On how you look up at me…"
"T-Tha…That… Master… I … w-whatever Jack had said was not true…I-I mean, I …" She couldn't believe Jack would tell him that. She didn't know how to describe the embarrassment she was feeling at that moment.
"So, it's not true that you like me?"
Charlotte gasped. "N-No!" she cried out and then covered her mouth from humiliation. "I-I'm sorry, Master Glen. I-I didn't mean to."
Glen reached for her hand. "Charlotte… tell me what you feel about me."
Now let my happiness sings inside my dream…
"I-I like you, Master Glen." This is what Jack had said. It's alright if she'll get rejected as long as she tells him. Charlotte cheeks were burning like crazy. She needed to get away as soon as possible before she exploded.
"Like what? Do you like me because you're required to do so, or you like me for another reason?" That was not really like Glen.
"I… I Love… you. I-I had always been in love with you." There, she said it at last, and now the last thing was to hear his response.
Charlotte was anticipating that she would be rejected, but, surprisingly, Glen pulled her to an embrace. "M-Mas…ter?"
"I'm sorry for being cold and for not noticing you. A lot of people are afraid to go near me…and I thought that you're like them because you're scared. I am naïve for not knowing the real reason."
"M-Master Glen… No…" Charlotte couldn't help but cry. She was happy but there was something not right. She knew how wrong this was.
Glen tilted her head and wiped the tears that were newly trickling down from her eyes. "Don't cry…" Charlotte refused to look at him, forcing her head downwards. "Look at me, Charlotte…"
Every time you kissed me, my heart was in such pain.
Gathering the roses, we sang of the grief.
Your very voice is in my heartbeat,
Sweeter than despair
We were there in everlasting bloom.
Somehow, she could hear a voice singing the tune Glen made. It was so beautiful and at the same time painful.
"Please…" She tried to control her tears, but it was no use. "Master Glen…"
Glen gently pressed his forehead on her, forcing her to look at him. "No, don't call me that. Call me by my real name…"
"B-But I can't, master…"
"Oswald… say it…"
"O-Os—" before Charlotte could even say it, Glen had already placed his lips on her quivering one. The gentleness that Glen offered on his kiss made Charlotte felt like succumbing to its pleasure. Her master, the only person she knew that would never do such acts had done it to her. Glen had never showed any interests on her, in fact they just happened to have that talk because of Jack, yet he showed her the joy she wanted. Merely being able to stay at his side would be a paradise for Charlotte, and she didn't anticipate that it would go beyond that dream. She closed her eyes as she kissed Glen back. She was embarrassed but still managed to do it. She never knew if that would be the last time she would feel his warmth.
Underneath the stars, shaded by the flowers,
Kiss me in the summer day bloom, my love.
You are all my pleasure, my hope and my song.
I will be here dreaming in the past.
Until you come...
Until we close our eyes.
The sun shone brightly on their faces, yet they didn't mind the blinding light it gives off. Glen had already pushed Charlotte down on the grass but still continued with the gesture.
Charlotte felt that she was the happiest girl in the whole world. She was afraid at first, but all thanks to Jack that she was able to advance in that kind of relationship with the master she adores.
They both parted and stared at each other with blushing faces. "O-Oswald," Charlotte whispered as tears and a smile escaped from her.
Glen rested his face on the side of her neck and whispered in return, "Stay with me, Charlotte."
She gently nodded and placed her arms around him.
Not far from where the two were, stood Jack. He was smiling to himself. "How cute of Lottie… Glen is so not himself today. Who would have thought that he likes her too?" he whispered and walked away. He looked up at the sky and muttered to himself, "Ah, Lacie… if you were just here. I miss you." He sighed and then forced a smile while brushing off the tears that were lingering at the corners of his eyes. "I better go to Alice. She must be waiting for me."
END
How was it?
You can review if you like. :)
A/N: Lotti's back story just inspired me to write something. I don't know if it's nice enough to read or not. I really want Charlotte to end up with Oswald. They look good with each other. (Well, how I wish. That won't happen anyway. That is why we, fanfictionists exist! :D). It's not bad to dream sometimes. xD Oh, yeah, I forgot to put a disclaimer about this and I'm too lazy to edit the disclaimer part—the poem-like thingy in the story is actually the lyrics of the actual "LACIE" song. It was written (or sang? I don't know) by Emily Bindiger. For those who didn't know, it was used as a background music in the Anime adaptation of Pandora Hearts. It's the melody from the pocket watch—LACIE for more elaboration. (I forgot the title of it)