Hello all! So life was pretty...interesting last week. We got wicked terrible flooding, as in I had no front yard flooding, so mi familia and I had to crash at my aunt's house for a few days. Luckily life and the universe are all back in line and as they should be.

I also wanted to apologize for not thanking Iwait4theRain in the previous chapter for reviewing chapters one; thanks buddy! Also, many thanks to ImaginaryTurtle, SILVERArrowGRIFFIN, and once again Iwait4theRain for favoriting/alerting to this drabble collection; it means so much to me. The title for this drabble comes from one of Mother Nature's many mysteries; I even included the definition for ya'll. :3


Swan song: noun; def: The beautiful legendary song sung only once by a swan in its lifetime, as it is dying.

~.~

Tony rests his face against the chain link fence; he's out of breath, upset, angry and confused all at once. His Maria, his beautiful, pristine Maria can't be dead. But it's just like the city to gobble up all the good things and spit out only the ugly bones.

Then he sees it. Through the haze, he sees a flash of red and the outline of a feminine frame. Maria. She calls to him, her mouth turned into a smile and her eyes wide. At first Tony can't believe it; Maria's alive, still breathing the same air as him and the rest of the living. He calls out her name as he runs towards her; the thought of his lips touching hers has never been more lovely. Tony feels Maria's arms around him, but he then feels something else.

It's a dull pain, and soon the lights and colors around him begin to tilt, which makes Tony feel like he's spent too much time on the rides at Coney Island. He feels Maria envelope her arms around him, and as they sink to the ground Tony's legs throb as though they've been beaten with lead.

Maria holds him close, close enough that he can hear her heartbeat; Tony knows his own heartbeat is slowly fading, he can feel it. And then Maria begins to sing a song—their song. Tony tries to sing a few bars, but his lips can only make the formations of the words. He listens to Maria's soft voice wishing that he could join in on their song. It would be so lovely for him to die this way: singing words of hope with the one he loves and leaving her with one last beautiful memory. But as Maria begins to go in and out of focus, Tony knows he is short on time to make that memory.

So he reaches a hand out towards her, feeling for one last time the warmth of her flesh against his and he remembers what they shared only a few hours ago. He remembers what little moments he had with Maria and smiles at how wonderful they were. Then he feels nothing at all, and Tony is left only with the contentment in knowing that not all swan songs have to be sung.