Sticks and Stones

Broken bones will always heal.

Nobody knows that better than me and my flock, and there's no doubt about that. You show me your scars and I'll show you fifteen to match it and conquer it. It's the way it's always been, and I don't think we'd have it any other way. Safety has been tried and tried on us, but we've never really known what "safe" was. If you ask me, it's flying with five of my favorite people, high above the treetops, oblivious to the issues of human society. Maybe because we aren't human.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Angel recited this to me once, looking up from a young child's book. She cocked her head to one side, possessing more knowledge than any forty-year-old man ever will, and asked me, "Max, that's a lie, isn't it?" The way she phrased it was more of a disappointed sentence, not a naïve question of desire.

I remember studying her fragile face, her white-curly blonde hair, her taller-than-a-third-grader frame, and realizing that yes, in fact, it was a lie. Or maybe, it depended on the way you looked at it.

"I think they tell this to young kids so they won't let people's insults bother them, sweetie," I answered, and bounced her curls. "They tell it so kids won't take the insults to heart and won't let it make them angry. It's just supposed to be a nice rhyme."

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But... words are the only thing that do hurt, Max."

She dismissed herself, tossing the book on the table lightly. She walked out the door of our new home, built by people Mom hired, and I saw her take off into the sky, either thinking way too much about things way beyond her maturity level, or thinking about the next time she'd be allowed to try to give Total a bath.

I sat and pondered this phrase, wrote it out on a napkin a few times. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. It was quite the opposite from what we'd learned. Many of us have been through broken bones without shedding a tear. But to think about all the tears we'd cried over Jeb, Angel going missing, absence of parents, Ari... and to think of me, all the tears I'd cried over Fang... the sticks and the stones were the last things hurting us.

Words are what hurt the most.

Words, and actions. And people themselves. Not physically inflicting pain, but simply existing in a way different than you wish they do.

Example: Fang and the Red-Haired Wonder. Fang and Dr. Amazing. Fang and any other girl whose name doesn't happen to be Maximum Ride.

Maybe I'm biased.

All things said, my feelings for Fang have grown more and more confusing. He's the first shoulder I look for to cry on. He's the only person I feel comfortable with sharing everything I'm thinking with. He's always the first one I think of when something happens. He's just a go-to kind of guy, I guess, and my feelings have been confused because of this.

But Fang hasn't ever said anything that's hurt me — he's only acted. Acted and made himself happy, even though it's not what made me happy. He kissed me, and that made me happy, but each time I turned and ran. Does it make logical sense? No. But it seemed to at the time. I hurt him as much as he hurts me, so what if we canceled that out and made something beautiful out of it?

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

I was beginning to think the entire point to hope was completely full of bullshit.

Call me pessimistic.

A/N: I'm not sure where I'll go with this.

Well, actually, let me reintroduce myself. I'm Stephanie Pascal, formerly x Step On Me x. I switched over to the RENT fandom a few months ago, and now that I read the Final Warning (even though I don't like how it went to life lesson, Go Green! mode) I realized I missed Iggy a ton. Haha cause I love him! But I also missed the Max/Fang romance. Which I love just as much as Iggy himself. (See my profile). Anyway! I'm back and I'm knockin'.

Like Mr. Opportunity.

This is really really short, but it's only a prologue. I'm gonna go with the flow on this one. And try not to get sucked into a hurricane. (: This is post MR4, but if you haven't read it, it'll be okay, I'm not going to reveal much. So ... review!