Brief Moments In Time.
StoryGirl.
1. She doesn't realize that she honestly loves him, that this is the man she was destined to meet, to fall in love with, until she sees him, dirty and dusty from his run, holding the hand of an Aboriginal boy that he rescued off of Mission Island. Tears spring to her eyes then, and she realizes that she must have been blind, that all others are blind, to not love this man.
2. Nullah returns from his walkabout roughly two years after he left, no longer a boy, but a man, a creamy, her son. The first thing he does is visit the small grave they made in memory of his mother, and spends almost an hour there whispering to her in the language she has grown to understand. The Drover watches him with an arm around her waist, his breath hot on the back of her neck.
Their son.
3. One month into her stay at Faraway Downs, she inspects herself in the mirror before starting the day. Her hair pushed up in a loose bun, she run a hand down her cream pants, biting her lip nervously. That is when she notices it. A freckle, a single one, a blimp on her neck. However could this have happened? She was raised to know the dangers of the sun, raised to know to stay away from it, to keep inside.
She asks the Drover about it later on, when a few more have appeared onto her arms. He just laughs and tells her to learn to love them.
And she does.
And his, of course.
4. Only being with the Drover makes her wish that she could have children. Maitland wasn't at all worried when their first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage, brushed it off and said that all the fun was in the try, not the actual pregnancy. She is though so worried she miscarriages the next one.
But the Drover doesn't mind. He loves her for her, flaws and all.
Besides they have Nullah. And their cheeky-spirited boy is all they need.
5. Their first night without Daisy is filled with grief. Nullah won't stop crying- and the Drover can not do anything to comfort him. With all the sorrow in the world, they watch King George chant for his long-forgotten daughter, for the man who committed acts of crimes against, and lastly, for his grandson, who now has no-one to take him in and love him. That's when the Drover suggests that she should start mothering him; take over the role Daisy had been destined to do.
So she does. And somewhere, in the back of her mind, she knows she does Daisy proud.
6. She hires a photographer a year into their relationship to have their photo taken, for something to be made for her to remember him by when he is gone during the dry, droving with all the passion he can muster. She nervously combs through Nullah's hair one last time, smoothing down her own strands. The Drover, unshaven, as she likes him, watches her pace from the doorway, staring her over. There had hardly been enough time for him to bathe, to rid himself of the desert dust, before the photographer had arrived.
She walks over to him, a smile on her lips. He cradles her in his strong arms until the photographer finishes setting up.
In those slow moments, she realizes that here, with him, was where she was supposed to be.
7. He asks her to marry him on a night when the rain, and only the rain, fills their senses. With all the wonder and hope in the world, he waits patiently for her answer, staring at her as she glances at the stranger ring that had been slipped onto her finger, Maitland's ring lying forgotten at the bottom of her jewelry box.
His breathing fills the air, the rain pattering with determination on the roof. "Well?" He asks, looking up at her, the bedcovers winded around her body. "What do you say?"
She looks up, tears streaming down her face. "Well, for starters, I'd say yes."
"Really?"
She laughs. "Yes, really."
"Then that would make me the happiest man alive."
8. The first time they make "wrong-side business" – as Nullah puts it- it is magic, sparks shooting up into the air. She's never felt like this, never been able to feel like this. It makes her feel wonderful and she's glad she actually came to Australia. With Maitland, he took the pleasure in enjoying himself, never asking if she was alright. It was all about making a child together, an heir for Faraway Downs, to him. But, with the Drover, her world is turned upside down. She actually enjoys herself.
9. He comforts her in the long days after Cath's death. She feels so guilt that she made her switch shifts, made her work, made her die. The woman never deserved it; she had been a constant in the long days while she waited for Nullah's return. Apart from marrying Neil Fletcher, she had done nothing wrong in her life.
He whispers words of comfort into her ear on the long trip back to Faraway Downs, hold her close when he body is wracked by shaking sobs. Although she had not wanted the woman to die, she feels guilt that she thanks God that it hadn't been her instead. With the Drover and Nullah the puzzle is finally found the missing piece needed to complete it.
10. He returns with the rain, and she finds that a comfort. Whenever the first raindrop falls, announcing the start of the wet, he is sure to returns, sure to fills the hole that aches inside her heart. He does, usually a few days after the rains start, bounding up the stairs with all the eagerness of a small child. They meet, embracing, until Nullah interrupts them with a question about dinner, or whatever meal is to come next.
He returns with the rain. And, because of that, she learns to love the wet rather than the dry, when he leaves.
AN: Enjoy!
Friends Quote:
Ross: Can I borrow your blue tie? Emma spit on mine.
Chandler: Okay, but you'll have to give it back when I get a job. Of course, by then, ties will be obsolete and we'll all be wearing silver jumpsuits.