Dedicated to my beautiful friend, SummerRose12. Thanks for all the support and encouragement.
For Good
Victoria hugged her little friend. "I'm glad I have such a good friend as you, Jemi."
Jemima returned the white queen's hug. "And I'm glad I have you." She stepped away and, looking straight into Victoria's eyes, began to sing:
"I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn;
And we are led to those who help us most to grow
If we let them, and we help them in return.
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true;
But I know I'm who I am today because I knew you."
Victoria smiled and joined in, singing a lower harmony.
"Like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes a sun.
Like a stream that meets a boulder halfway through the wood.
Who can say if I've been changed for the better? But,
Because I knew you,
I have been changed for good."
Victoria took over the melody for the second verse and Jemima added in some upper harmonies.
"It well may be that we will never meet again in this lifetime,
So let me say before we part
So much of me is made of what I learned from you.
You'll be with me like a handprint on my heart.
And now whatever way our stories end,
I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend.
"Like a ship blown from its mooring by a wind off the sea.
Like a seed dropped by a sky-bird in a distant wood.
Who can say if I've been changed for the better? But…"
Jemima sang, "…because I knew you," and Victoria copied her before they sang in unison, "I have been changed for good."
Once more, Jemima took a solo. "And just to clear the air, I ask forgiveness for the things I've done you've blamed me for."
Victoria took over. "But then I guess we know there's blame to share…"
Again, the two sang together. "…and none of it seems to matter anymore.
Like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes a sun.
Like a stream that meets a boulder halfway through the wood.
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
I do believe I have been changed for the better."
Jemima sang, "And because I knew you…" This, Victoria repeated with a variation on the tune, before the two harmonized one last time to finish the song. "Because I knew you, I have been changed for good."
The sound of clapping came towards them and the friends looked up in surprise.
The Rum Tum Tugger stepped forward. "Beautiful, kits, just beautiful."
Victoria and Jemima swore that the moon reflected tears sparkling in the tom's eyes.
xXGuffelumpaloompaXx has made a video based on this fic! Check it out here: http:// www. youtube. com/ watch? v= kALvpG x58n0 (leave out the spaces).
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own any of the characters mentioned in this story - they belong to T.S. Eliot Andrew Lloyd Webber and whoever else created them. I DO NOT own the lyrics to 'For Good' (from 'Wicked') - they were written by Stephen Schwartz. I DO, however, own the plotline, and it is protected in my name under Australian Copyright Law dating back to 2009.