Summary- Across the Universe through Jude's artwork. "He would draw a thousand more pictures in his mind of his love" First ATU fanfic, no flames please!
Disclaimer- I do not own Across the Universe or any of the characters or the story line. Because if I did we'd all have a freakin' awesome sequel on the way!
Author's Note- No dialog in this, written in 3rd person but from the perspective of Jude. Enjoy!
Jude was an artist, and he probably always would be. He only drew the things that sparked something in him, and it was that feeling that he translated onto paper. Before he came to America, he had never drawn a person. He sometimes drew rocks or things he found on the street, there was the dead bird he had found on the road. But never people. He hadn't ever been touched by a person before. He thought that maybe when he met Molly that eventually he might draw her. He never really thought about it much after that. He would sit down to draw and whatever he felt, it would appear on the page before him. He never drew Molly. Never his mother either. Only things.
Then when he came to America, that changed. He started out by drawing pictures of himself mostly, in his spare time. He had nothing else to draw, so he practiced the face. He used a shattered piece of glass to study the shape of his eyes or the angle of his lips, and then transferred it onto paper. Sometimes, when he got tired of his own face, he would take a walk outside until he became sleepy and went home.
It was when he was taking one of these walks that he met Max. They ended up as friends, and soon he was in Max's car on the way to his family's house. On the drive over, he drew Max because he was intrigued by the newness of his face.
The finally arrived at a school, where Max explained they would pick up his sister Lucy. They waited, and from the first moment Jude saw her, he knew that he would draw her. He drew her in his mind a thousand times over the next month that he was with Max in New York, never able to get a good picture down on paper.
Finally, she came to visit. He was able to draw her on the wall, a relief to him because he was able to get the image out of his head and onto some sort of canvas. He told her to come closer so he could get her eyes right. He had lied. He knew her eyes perfectly; he had drawn them a million times. The truth was, he just had wanted her to see in his eyes what he could not say. What he was afraid to say.
Eventually, he had drawn everyone in his small apartment. His creativity had hit a block, and he was stuck in the living room trying to draw a satisfactory picture of an apple. It was then that he realized Lucy and he were traveling down different paths. She wanted revolution; he wanted something that even he couldn't explain because he didn't know yet. Lucy had inspired many a picture from the day she first came to New York, and now even the drawings of her seemed empty, the usually spark he drew in her eyes was dull.
After his Strawberry piece, Jude's artwork went on hold. He was too busy trying to figure his life out. Everything had changed between Lucy and him, and with Max in Vietnam, he had no one. It was then that he turned back to his pad and pencil. Lucy had left, and he had nothing else to do but draw. He drew twenty pictures of her that night, of every moment he could remember that they had shared.
The next time he was able to draw, he was back again in England, and he had nothing left to draw anyways. Sure, there were the rocks in the streets, and the dead birds, but they all seemed meaningless now. England was dreary and bleak. It held no prospect for him anymore.
The next piece he drew was after he and Lucy had been reunited. It was of the two of them, just two faces next to each other. That was all that he needed, the two of them together was enough.
Over the years, they stayed together until they were both a good deal older and wiser, using their mistakes to protect their children. He told her that he only drew things that inspired him, and she replied that she must have inspired him a lot.
It was true. Since Jude had met Lucy, he had drawn over 200 pictures of her, and 90 pictures were of them together. Every feeling he had of her, their relationship in art. All the pictures had one thing in common. Her. Because when he thought about it, she was what had inspired him the most. She was what had sparked that something in him. She was his muse, and always would be, forever until he could no longer draw, and even then, he would draw a thousand more pictures in his mind of his love.
Author's Note- OH THE FLUFF! –dies- Well thanks for taking the time to read this small little story of fluffiness. Please review! Reviews will help me to write my OTHER ATU story faster! (And it's almost done, so please review for me!) You all rock 3
