AN: Hi!! This is for Another Artist's 'Another Lovely Challenge' #4, Cry Me A River.
Okay, I'll give you the rules and then you read, and please critique. I am hopefully making this better than my other one for this contest.
NEEDED:
-A park scenery with kids playing on the playground.
-Tears. They can't be just sniffling and sad, but there has to be tears.
-An iPod full of both happy and sad songs, and one of both must be listed.
-A fruit. Doesn't matter what kind, but a fruit must be said somewhere in the story.
NO-NOs:
-No immediate cheer-ups. For example, after one sappy line, the other can't be happy! Be realistic please!
-The person crying can't be crying over a break-up.
-No texting or phone calls.
-No strangers... so no characters not listed in the series.
Okay, that's all. On with the story!
Broken
Gone. Gone. Gone. Amy couldn't believe it. After everything they had been through, Dan was gone forever.
Just hours ago, Dan and Amy had both been alive and well. They parachuting off of an airplane in England, trying to escape from the Starling's clutches, who had gotten out of the hospital and were hungry for revenge.
The plan had been risky. Neither knew how the parachutes worked, or if they even did work. But the parachutes were the Cahill's last chance.
Not knowing had ended up being the fatal flaw. Dan's parachute hadn't been manufactured properly--- it had a gaping hole in the side of it.
When Dan started to fall rapidly to the ground, it was too late for Amy to save him. He was too far away. All she could do was to watch in horror as he went down until she couldn't see her poor brother anymore.
Now, Amy was broken. Dan had been her confident, the only person that she had ever truly trusted. He had been the last of Amy's family. Now Amy was utterly alone in life. Not even Nellie was with her anymore; she had left them alone after the Cahill siblings had figured out what she was.
She looked at the ground, where Dan's mangled body was. Amy had come to say farewell, after she landed.
Kneeling down beside his body, she whispered, "Goodbye, Dan. I will always- always remember you." Her lips were shaking as she kissed his forehead.
As Amy got up and started to walk away, the whole thing really hit her, like a big wave coming over her. She had already been sad, but the tears, somehow, hadn't come until now. But they did come. Water flowed through her eyes in two streams.
Amy couldn't believe he was really dead! That he would never pretend to be a ninja, or tell Amy she was a dweeb, or had a face like a baboon's butt. That he wouldn't solve another math puzzle, or make another daring escape from a building.
But he was. Amy kept walking away, towards the park. A whole group of children were playing there, carefree and happy, even though it was cloudy. Their world hadn't been broken apart by some tragic event.
She had planned to stop at that park, because of it's trees, but the kids stopped her. She couldn't take any joy when her brother had just died.
Instead, Amy continued on, heading towards a place she had found while searching for clues.
While she walked, Amy pulled out the iPod that Nellie had gotten her as a parting gift. A shot of pain lanced through her heart at the thought of Nellie, but she blocked it out by turning on the music.
For you, it's always midnight.
Sweepin' up broken glass after every fight,
And the sound of the train that I could of been on,
Reminding me that the last one's gone,
For you, it's always midnight---
When Amy realized what song it was, she abruptly switched the song to something more happy. The heartbreak in her life was already enough.
This is for you people who just lost somebody,
Your best friend your baby, your man or your lady,
Put your head to the sky---
Once again Amy stopped the music, for she had begun to cry even harder. Of course the only song on the iPod that would ever remind her of Dan did. The world hated her! Amy turned the iPod off, before it could dredge up more unwanted memories.
The whole rest of the walk, Amy did nothing but stare at the ground, and occasionally look up at the scenery to make sure she was going in the right direction. Her tears were still flowing freely.
Eventually, she arrived to her quaint spot. It was right above the ocean, on a rocky cliff that hung over the churning water. There were various trees, ranging from massive oak trees surrounding her, with green leaves, to dainty ones with luscious red apples, to bristly pines. The dreary sky above that matched Amy's mood--- although not as intense--- made the water gray and mysterious.
Through the tears, Amy hadn't noticed the figure who was sitting on a blanket to her left, eating a sandwich, until now.
The person's back was to Amy, but there was no mistaking who he was. Jet black hair, cinnamon colored skin, a crisp white dress shirt... Ian Kabra. Infamous for breaking her heart over and over again.
Ian seemed to hear Amy, most likely from her sobbing, and turned around. "Amy," he said in surprise. After looking at her for a minute, he asked, "Why are you crying?"
"Wh-why d-does it m-m-matter to y-you?" The pain Amy was in made her stutter even more so than usual.
Ian looked at her and pursed his lips, trying to decide on an answer. After about thirty seconds, he said, "I don't know."
"Why would you c-care? Why would you care that Dan- that Dan is d-dead? I b-bet you're happy ab-about it!" Tears came rushing even faster down through Amy's red eyes now, if that was even possible.
Why would Ian care? What was Dan to him, besides his enemy? Nothing! Dan had meant less than a squished bug on the ground, Amy was certain!
"Amy, don't cry," Ian pleaded.
"I-Ian, my whole family is dead! Everyone I loved, everyone, is now gone! C-can't you understand that? Everyone has left me! I'm all alone!" She cried out.
Weirdly enough, recognition came into Ian's eyes. "Actually," he corrected quietly, "I do understand. When I was ten years old, my Grandmother, Gabrielle died. I loved her. She was by far the best grandmother ever. Technically, she wasn't a Cahill, as she was from my father's side of the family, but that didn't matter. Gabrielle was like another parent.
"When Natalie and I were younger, she would come over, and play with us, play board games, and games outside; things our parents deemed unimportant. But to us, the children, it was like winning the lottery. And it felt so special because mum and dad were always so busy...." Ian trailed off for a moment, and then kept going. "When she died, our hearts were broken, Natalie and I's. No more games of hide and go seek, or checkers, or capture the flag. At that point, we knew both of our childhoods were over. Our parents have always treated us as adults. We never lived as true kids." Ian had a faraway look in his sparkling eyes, and, surprisingly, they were a little wet. Thinking of his grandma had pained him like nothing else.
"Oh." Amy said, with a sniffle. Truly, she had been listening, but she still thought her pain was worse. And really, it was. Ian's hurt was only a fraction of what hers was. Although, her tears weren't flowing quite as heavily now, because the story had distracted Amy momentarily.
"But at least you still have Natalie," Amy pointed out. "I'm all alone." Amy's brow creased. She truly was alone. Who was left? Saladin, she supposed.
After looking into Amy's jade eyes for a while, his gaze finally averted to the ground. And then he mumbled, so faintly that Amy could barely hear it, "It doesn't have to be that way."
"What?" Amy didn't know what to make of it. And yet she wished... that he was talking about... them. But that was only a fairy tale.
Ian cleared his throat, and a little clearer, he repeated, "It doesn't have to be that way... I'm here."
An emotion went into Ian's eyes that Amy couldn't recognize. Longing, maybe? As she looked into them, the beautiful scenery around her paled in comparison. He was so lovely. Too lovely. Too lovely for me, Amy thought.
"You're here? As a friend? I don't know how that can be. With the clue hunt. All you would do is hurt me again. You must know that it wouldn't work out," Amy told him, nostalgic, thinking about all of those horrible incidents where the clue hunt had sworn them as enemies and turned them into horrible beasts....
The water that was running down Amy's smooth cheeks kept coming, when sad thoughts didn't leave her.
Ian, it seemed, was remembering too, because, a tear slipped from his eye, and fell to the ground. "I'm sorry." Ian's voice burned with regret. "Those were my worst moments. I was so focused on the clue hunt, I was willing to do anything to win. I was ravenous for power." Momentarily, he stopped, and looked up at Amy. She was staring at him in longing. So badly, she wished that they could be together without the fear of having to destroy one another.
"I don't want to think about them anymore," Ian continued. "I want to change them, but it's impossible. The only thing that would work out would be for us to forgive each other, and move on, if that's even possible." The Kabra's head shook back and forth doubtfully.
"Well," Amy spoke up, being braver than she had, possibly, in her whole life. "m-maybe w-we c-c-could..." Amy didn't know what to say.
Ian knew exactly what she meant, though. "Okay," he told her passionately, and then, he reached out, and hugged her.
Maybe it wasn't as romantic as, say, pulling out a rose and giving it to her. Or giving her a kiss. But for Ian and Amy, it was perfect. It was just what they needed.
This reminded Amy of a song that was very familiar to her--- even if it was nothing like what had happened to Ian and her---and was on her iPod she had been listening to earlier.
I remember what you wore on our first date,
You came into my life and I thought hey, you know, this could be something,
'Cause everything you do and what you say,
You know that it all takes my breath away, and now I'm left with nothing,
So maybe it's true, I can't live without you,
and maybe two is better than one,
but there's so much time, to figure out the rest of my life,
and you've already got me coming undone,
and I'm thinking two is better than one.
AN: What'd you think? Was that okay? This story took me forever!! I hope you liked it!! I'm going to try to make another one too, about Ian proposing to her.