Okay... This is the sequal to "Beauty from Pain" I'm not sure if any of you remember, as it has been FOREVER since that story ended, and I apologize for the extremely long wait, but I really wasn't sure at the time where I wanted this story to go... And I was also extremely worried about what you guys would think, as this one is probably going to be a lot different then the last... I've written other chapters, but I really need your feedback if you want me to post them or not, I also really need your honest opinion of what you think of the plot so far, ect... (although, please be nice about it.)
(P.S. please ignore any spelling/grammar errors as I know there are many, but I did try my vary best to limit them to a vary few.)
Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!! the American Idol cast belong to themselves and the Lion King are all Disneys. So don't hurt me!! holds up Simba plushie
gulp Without farther or due... On with the story.
Hiya! My name is Melia Lynn Cowell…. Or so the adoption papers legally stated on the date of January 29th 2001. You see… Just in case you don't know, when I was younger Mr. Nasty himself, yep that's right the one and only "Simon Cowell" rescued me right off the plains of the beautiful country of Africa… Now you may be wondering why would I need rescuing if it were such a nice place to live in, and why the heck would celebrity Simon Cowell even give….well anyone --especially some 12 year old orphan-- the time of day.
What made me so special? Well nothing, I guess… Believe me; my story is far from glamorous; Twas fate who threw me into the hands of the nasty TV talent judge when a powerful river current threatened to take my life. Shortly after that, I ended up in the place I had feared and expected I was going from the moment we stepped on the plane to California… the orphanage. I would not have gone if it were not for Simba.
Despite the fact that he was a lion, he was the only father I have ever known, and at that time, I would have done anything to save his life from the terrible illness he had been suffering from… Simon had promised that if I went with them, he would help Simba… So I did and it wasn't long before he recovered. I did not even get the chance to say goodbye before they sent him back to Africa along with the rest of the lion pride. Secretly, I'm still not sure if I ever forgave Simon for allowing that… Of course, it wasn't really his fault… The California Zoo did it without his consent, but somehow it still seems he could have done something more to prevent it from happening. Naturally, I was furious at the time, especially when the law refused to let me go after him...
Sinnita, one of Simon's ex-girlfriend, took in children just like me who did not have any parents or legal guardians to take care of them. She lived in England so as you can expect, that is exactly where I was sent shortly after that season of American Idol ended.
Ryan Seacrest and Paula Abdul had tried to dispute against it, but Simon would have none of it. He had told them that, if I were going to be send anywhere other then Africa, he would make sure it would be to Sinnita's house. He new she would take good care of me as she has done to countless other orphans and because of that, his decision was final.
The only problem was I wasn't an orphan, I had a family, but because he they were all lions, as you can imagine, the United Kingdom laughed my case out of the courtroom when I tried to protest at the age of 13 why I needed to return to Africa.
They forced me to stay in the orphanage to my despair until the age 14, when I escaped and attempted to run away… Not because of the way I was treated, Sinnita was a wonderful caretaker, but because I had a mission to complete.
I still remember that day as if it were yesterday.
I had stood outside the huge mansion of Simon Cowell, considering he was the only one I new who lived in England. The door slowly creaked open and I stared at the ground, tears threatening to fall. "Please don't make me go back…" I whispered before he could say anything. He let out a small cough; I could tell by the tired look on his face that he must have been feeling bad that day.
"Melia? Wha... What are you doing here love? Sinnita's going to be worried sick about you…" He seemed a bit disoriented as he leaned a land against the door to settle himself.
"It sounds like you already are…" I looked up at him with sad brown eyes.
"What?" He stared at me, confused.
"Sick, I mean… Here, I'll take care of you."
"No no Melia it's just a bit of a cold. Really I…" I grabbed his hand before he could finish and led him into the living room. It was beautiful as was expected… Just like something out of a movie, I remembered seeing. The couch was made of expensive leather and the carpet, a spotless cream color. Various pictures hung from the wall's of thing's I was not quit sure what to make of at the time. I remembered having imagined, at that time, what it would have been like to live there…
"Wow… You have a beautiful house Mr. Cowell," I almost whispered. My eyes filled with awe. By that time, I had forgotten all about the bitterness harvesting inside over his sending me to live with Sinnita, instead, I only asked that he heard me out… Desperately praying the somehow he would understand. It was my only hope and when you're that desperate, you don't care who hears your pleas as long as they're willing to listen.
A faint smile had shown the dimmest of light in his faded eyes. "Thank you Melia, your vary kind. But I really should be getting you back to Sinnita…speaking of which, where is she anyways?"
"Wait here. I'll be right back…" Completely ignoring his question, I ran into the kitchen, only to appear moments later holding a wet washrag in one hand and a bottle of Aspirin with a small glass of water in the other. "Now Simon, sit down okay?" At this point, my voice sounded much like that of a mother instead of a child.
He sighed, but reluctantly ended up obeying anyways. He stared at me curiously. "Now, how did you manage to find all that in a house you've never even been in before? You've hardly been here for five minutes…"
"It's not to hard to figure out, most people keep some sort of cloth to dry their hands off in the kitchen, and everyone knows that every household has a medicine cabinet somewhere. Yours just happened to be next to the refrigerator." I said it as if it were the simplest thing in the world while dabbing his forehead with the rag. I handed him the bottle of Aspirin after reading the instructions on the back of how many to take.
"I read about you having frequent headaches on the internet, and the way you were leaning against the door earlier, I figured you must have had one, plus you looked like you had a fever."
"Do I really look that awful?" He asked surprised, letting out a small chuckle.
"Do you want me to answer honestly?" I asked genuinely.
"No fair, that's my line…" He leaned his head back and laughed. "Come on Melia… What is it you really came here for? What is it you want this time?"
"Wha-what makes you think I want anything?" I tried my hardest not to give myself a way. I learned that day that there was no fooling Simon Cowell… He had seen right through me from the moment he answered the door. "I want… to…"
"Yes… go on."
"To…" I took a deep breath, dreading his reaction with every essence of my being. "To return to Africa… to the pride." I closed my eyes, knowing already what would come next. I reopened one only slightly only to find he was staring at me with a knowing grin.
"Really? And…why is that?" He decided to play dumb.
"You know why… they need me…" I crossed my arms but before I new it, the tears had already filled my eyes, waves of sadness and longing overcame me and I buried my face in my hands. Back then, it was okay to cry…It was okay to appear weak and venerable in front of a stranger. I wasn't ashamed to admit I needed someone.
"I need them…" I choked out the word, avoiding eye contact. "I never would have agreed to come to California if I new I would never see my family again… And besides I would never get adopted even if I wanted too…" The words slipped sooner then I would have liked.
He scooped me into his lap and rapped his arms around my waist, his head rested upon my shoulder as he reached up to wipe a few fallen tears from my cheek. I had worn no make-up for lack of money so there was no smeared mascara running down my blemished face…
"Shhh… That's not true."
"Yes it-it is…and I don't care. I don't want to be adopted anyways… I don't want to live with strangers who I've never seen before in my life… I wouldn't fit in…and I wouldn't want too." I breathed in deeply to catch my breath. "People are stupid! I hate them. I hate them…They want nothing more then to rip everything away…I hate them…I already have a family…" My voice trailed off into a violent cough.
This time Simon remained silent, but rubbed my back in soothing motions to try to ease the cough. It was obvious he had no idea what to say in a situation like this and I was too angry to care… I hated the world and the government laws at a vary young age for tearing me away from the only family I had ever known, for ripping me away from the love I clung to so dearly.
"Why did this happen? Why did they take my family away? Why…" I whimpered. "Why do we have to be alone…?" In that moment he new I was speaking for all the countless seemingly forgotten ones in the world who asked the same…
"I...I…don't know Melia. Sometimes I ask myself the same thing… Your right…your right sweetheart, It's not fair. The world is cruel… And you don't deserve what happened to you. None of you do." He gently gave my hand a squeeze and I turned, flung my arms around his neck, drinking in whatever comfort I could and pored out my heart in the form of mournful sobs… Maybe for hours, or just a few minutes, I really couldn't tell you how long we stayed in that position but I will say this, somewhere in-between that time period, I know I felt a few warm droplets of moisture soak into the fabric of the tattered sundress I had on that were not mine.
"Even so Melia… You know your going to have to go back to Sinnita's house." The words I had been dreading to hear from the moment I came here had finally come out.
I was not ready to face the truth and anger swelled within me. Betrayal and hurt overwhelmed my emotions.
"I thought, for the briefest moments, that you were my friend. That you were different. Guess I was wrong…" I pulled away, forcing back tears. From this moment on, I had made an inner vow never to trust anyone ever again. Never again, would I give someone the power to break my heart.
I left Simon's house that day and continued my run, taking what I needed to survive from the rich, and occasionally helping those I met on the streets who, like me, would go to great lengths just to make it. Until eventually, instead of calling the cop's against his better judgment, Simon caught up with me one cold rainy day in London, the city I had fled too two days after I had left his mansion. Eventually, he managed to convince me to return to the orphanage, only with the promise that someday he would find a way to bring me back to my family, by then, I was so weary from lack of nourishment that I didn't have the strength to put up much of a fight anyhow.
A year later, he returned to the orphanage, this time not only just to visit me and the other orphans, but also with a mysterious black blindfold in hand. Sinnita tied it around my head so that I couldn't see anything and led me outside in the freezing bitter cold of December 24th to an idling limo.
Within minutes, we arrived at our destination.
I will never forget that Christmas… Twas the one Simon decided to adopt me. Any secret resentment I had been holding inside vanished completely the moment he uttered the words,
"Melia… I would like you to come live here." For the first time in years, I new someone truly did care about me. Yet I never forgot his promise… As soon as his schedule would let him, we both would fly to Africa.
