Growing Wings

Twilight Fanfiction

Michiyo Ichimaru

Chapter Nine

No Day but Today

The theatre was a small masterpiece. It was obvious that they tore it down and redecorated it with each show. What an amazing atmosphere to walk into in the dead of the night. Alice herded us in the direction of our seats flawlessly. There were a number of men who appreciated her ability to dance around near collisions and scoot gracefully across the floor to the small section where our tickets we won were for. Each one was shot down by a sheer death glare from Jasper. If only they knew he could do MUCH worse…

Sitting in the crowded seats, I didn't feel distracted anymore. Hearing Edward's voice, even if it was only across the phone lines, had broken my doubt and fear. And he admitted that he would be getting better soon! Now I was only anxious to see the show. My mother had always dreamed of going to see a true Broadway Musical live, but she had never the money or the resources to get the tickets. When I told her about going to see this, she would totally FLIP.

Thanks to Alice's NEED to doll both herself and me up, we made it just in time. Already the lights were dimming and the music started. Regardless of all the amazing things I heard about going to a show like this, I was in no way prepared for the awesome feeling of sitting there and listening to the music. All of it was filled to the brink with emotion: excitement, passion, danger, love… Guitars were wailing and techno music came out of what I could only guess were extreme synthesizers. Alice's eyes were transfixed.

And so were Jasper's… transfixed on Alice. I could only guess that the emotion he was feeling from her was too much. Or maybe it was something I just didn't want to pry in to. Jacob looked like he was literally waiting for the action part that the music told him was coming. Besides that, he looked somewhat bored. I felt sorry for making him feel obliged to come along with us to comfort me…

I just hoped that he would be able to put all of that aside and find something to enjoy about the musical…

Mark and Rodger were the first two introduced. I remembered that Edward told me to watch this man… and Mimi. My knowledge on musicals was non-existent, so I just watched, my eyes hardly leaving Rodger throughout the first couple of scenes. They also introduced two others, both men, whom I paid little attention to; until I realized that the one named Angel was literally a drag queen.

That one threw me for a bit of a whirl.

Finally, they were all gone but Rodger and Mark again, when Mark left to meet someone named Maureen, his ex-girlfriend, and left Rodger alone. The actor sung beautifully, although I mentally noted that Edward could have sung it a million times better. Suddenly, his song broke to the sound of someone knocking. I gasped and wondered what was about to happen next.

Her name was Mimi, and she was gorgeous. At first, I had my doubts about liking this show. However, when Alice told me it had plenty of romance and action, I was appeased into silence. I had to give it a chance, first. When I saw Mimi, I wondered what Edward had in mind when he told me to watch these two. But I silenced my mind and fell into the engaging plot of the musical. The music was very exciting and the lyrics and the tones had me on the edge of my seat, hoping… hoping that these two fell in love… hoping that they got a happy ending…

It wasn't until a bit later that I realized, to my embarrassment and horror, why Edward found it imperative that I watch these two characters dance around each other. Both of them had baggage in their lives, yet Mimi was the one who pressed their relationship, asking Rodger to go out with her. The song she sang made it very clear what his interpretation was…

Mimi's song made him think of me…

What's the time?

Well it's gotta be close to midnight…

My body's talkin' to me –

It says, "Time for danger!"

I groaned at the implications. Even worse, I knew a time when I acted just like this.

So let's find a bar

So dark we forget who we are!

Where all the scars from the nevers and maybes…

Die!

Now I KNEW I wanted them to get a happy ending. Curiously, I waited for Rodger's reaction to Mimi. I hoped that it would be something like Edwards, and that they would overcome it in the end. That would be one heck of a sign. And I wasn't disappointed. Edward pushed her away and tried to reason, rather furiously, for her to go away because it wasn't what he wanted. It reminded me of the way Edward lied to me in the woods when he left, because he thought it was for the better.

Little Girl - Hey
The Door Is That Way
You Better Go You Know
The Fire's Out Anyway
Take Your Powder - Take Your Candle
Your Sweet Whisper
I Just Can't Handle
Well Take Your Hair In The Moonlight
Your Brown Eyes - Goodbye, Goodnight

I Should Tell You, I Should Tell You
I Should Tell You, I Should -- No!

Another Time - Another Place
Out Temperature Would Climb
There'd Be A Long Embrace
We'd Do Another Dance
It'd Be Another Play
Looking For Romance
Come Back Another Day
Another Day

My heart pounded slightly at the sound of the romantic and passionate ideas he was fighting. Edward held back for the sake of reasons that were also good, but frustrating. Now I just wanted to know how things turned out for them in the end. Mimi rebutted, but she still lost. For a long time I had to wait in silence for any more breakthroughs in their dead relationship. But, they came back. Together. They had promised to try when he asked her to go with them to a restaurant for a sort of "celebration" party after the riot.

Then I heard La Vie Boheme. My face turned a million shades of red while Jacob laughed terribly, loving the way my shade changed with every different offensive and embarrassing word. Luckily, after that, I got the sweetness I was waiting for since I heard their argument. Mimi and Rodger pulled themselves away from the action and sang a different song, together, that almost had me in tears. The pure emotion… Rodger sang first, a little uncertainly…

I Should Tell You I'm Disaster
I Forget How To Begin It


Let's Just Make This Part Go Faster
I Have Yet -- To Begin It
I Should Tell You

Mimi smiled and admitted the part I knew all along. After all… I did similar things to stay by Edward, even when I knew what he was and how much danger I was in.

I Should Tell I Blew The Candle Out
Just To Get Back In

Rodger looked unfazed, as he gazed into her eyes.

I'd Forgotten How to Smile
Until Your Candle Burned My Skin

I Should Tell You
I Should Tell You
I Should Tell You

I listened breathlessly to the song and imagined Edward and myself in this position, how he would handle it… how I would handle it… I felt like I already knew the answer. Their happy ended had to be on the way.

Trusting Desire - Starting To Learn
Walking Through Fire Without A Burn
Clinging - A Shoulder, A Leap Begins
Stinging And Older, Asleep On Pins

However, I wasn't prepared for Angel's death, OR Rodger deciding to leave then. I knew he was leaving Mimi behind. And I knew how she felt. But this didn't change my opinion. Their happy ending was coming. He would come back just like Edward. If he didn't… Well, I still cried at this part anyway. I remembered watching Romeo and Juliet with Edward and crying at that too. Edward had become fascinated by my tears and still, he wiped them away and kissed me. He said that he had been envious of the relief of death… I had been so disappointed.

Mimi went through life in a similar zombie-like state that I did. I could see the similarities in her face and the way she moved. She was half-dead, left with a bleeding hole in her heart, one that I knew well. But I kept trying to remind myself of how I felt in the end, when he came back. Not healed, but as if there had never been a wound there at all. I hoped that she would have the same happy ending that I did and feel the same restoration.

Then they said that she WAS dying and there was nothing they could do. I was still crying from listening to her sing "Without You" and now this? I couldn't believe that there was even a possibility that it could end like this. Even though my reunion with Edward was very close to the brink of death… well, maybe that's why we were too similar. Maybe that's why I wanted Rodger to rush in for her like I had rushed in for Edward and make her see that she HAD to come back to life.

I knew I wouldn't stop crying for a long time.

But he did come back. Rodger kneeled beside her and sang her the most beautiful song I had ever heard. And she regained consciousness! I nearly passed out in my great relief. They sang the finale together and I wiped away my tears, relief washing over me. Jacob smiled at me. "Happy? Even those messed up excuses for humans found happiness. I'm sure you can." He was right. Confidence filled my chest and I nodded. "Ugh. I don't see how you could sit there and ENJOY something you cried so much about." He scoffed, helping me up and following Alice and Jasper out of the theatre.

No one had to guess what Alice thought about it. She was talking the whole way, clinging to Jasper laughing and crying. Jasper looked like he was going to explode from all the emotion he felt coming from Alice like tidal waves. I laughed. I couldn't help it. They looked like a perfectly normal couple where the girl asks her boyfriend to go see a show with him. He hates it and she can't stop talking about it. If I didn't know better, I would have fallen for it.

The rest of the week passed in a sort of daze. I was anxious to see Edward again, and yet I was happy here. The activities weren't a distraction. I still thought about Edward. Everything we did reminded me of some memory of him. Yet, it was a pleasant alternative to what I couldn't have and made the wait a little less vile and painful for me. Still, the day we were to leave, I was ready half an hour early, unable to contain my excitement. I wanted them to let me see Edward, even if it wasn't over yet.

Maybe they would just let me sit and talk to him for a while. That might ease my mind a little. And I still had the urge to talk to Carlisle about what Alice said, as well as the dream I had. I decided it would be better to let them know rather than to hide it. But… I felt dread when I thought about Edward learning about it. On one hand, my dreams weren't prophetic. On the other, the fact that I had considered it even subconsciously, bothered me and probably would bother him even more.

I tried to relax and sleep on the plane ride home. Jacob and Alice were talking and I finally saw why they had started getting along so well. Both of them were extremely opinionated and competitive. Their hobby was bickering back and forth and arguing about stupid things. Since it hadn't come up yet, amazingly, they were now fighting over their opinions of the show. I chuckled softly and tuned them out to get some rest so Edward wouldn't see any effects of my nervous anxiety and unrest over the past week and three days.

Although it was difficult to sleep as excited as I was, I knew it was a long flight and that if I did sleep, I would dream of Edward. It didn't take me long to fall into a deep sleep, curled up semi-comfortably on my side with the pillow I packed snug in my embrace. Even though I thought it hadn't taken me long to fall asleep, I didn't dream and when I woke up, it was considerably later. Once again I was woken by unnatural forces. This time, it was much easily recognized and I was much quicker on the grab.

There was Alice's cell phone, ringing, with a small yellow note again. On this note, there wasn't even a single word. This time, there was a small winking smiley face drawn on it. I smiled gratefully and quickly answered it. Again I heard the breath of silence and then Edward's happy voice. "Good morning, Bella." He said cheerfully. It was so much different than the way his voice started before. I already felt my heart lighten and the excitement was causing it to speed up double.

"Is it really morning already?" I asked, looking for a clock. To my surprise it was five in the morning already. "Wow. I slept better than I thought." I mumbled mostly to myself, but he heard it, no doubt. "How are you?" Immediately my attention went back to him. Since I hadn't heard from him since the second day, I was anxious to hear about his progress. "You sound better." I added, hoping to score some points for noticing.

Edward chuckled. "You're right. A lot has changed since then. Carlisle thinks I may be better sooner than expected. He thinks it may have something to do with the great amount of tolerance I've built up to keep you safe. I've hit what he calls the final stage, so it should level off soon. But enough about me… I miss you… your voice, your scent, your eyes, your mouth, your laughter… everything about you. So how about you tell me a little about you. Like… how was your week? Did you like the show?" There was an air of curiosity evident in his voice.

"We had a great week!" Teasing him was fun, so I decided listing all the things we did BESIDES the show would be fun to do before telling him what I thought of the amazing show. "First there was bowling… Alice and I were TERRIBLE but Jasper and Jake got really competitive. Jake still won, but Jasper was really close." I thought I would hear Edward hiss at the mention of Jacob, but I was wrong. There was still a hint of jealousy but he hid it well behind a chuckle.

"Later on in the week we also got involved in a rally to raise funds for an orphanage. It was funny… Jasper felt all the pity and sympathy and he couldn't help but ask us to agree to join in. We all got pins of appreciation, and I made a donation for you, so you could have one." I blushed, remembering how I wanted to get him one so badly. Although it sounded pretty corny to me, Edward loved it.

He urged me to continue. "Well, then Alice convinced me to go dancing with all of them. Dancing with Jake is even more awkward than it was at prom since he's even taller, so Jasper graciously helped me dance my way to the center of the room. All the girls looked so jealous. None more than Alice. Which was funny, because I didn't do a thing. I was curious if it was hard for Jasper to calm my emotions AND keep me from messing up his perfect moves at the same time. Sounds like a handful to me." I giggled.

At that moment, Jasper leaned up over my seat and whispered in my ear, "It wasn't as hard as dealing out two separate emotions to two separate people later when Alice got jealous of the beautiful woman in my arms." He chuckled. I couldn't tell if he was teasing me or Edward. Apparently it worked on both of us, because I was blushing deep crimson and Edward was obviously scowling and making a small irritated clacking sound. When Jasper left, Edward calmed himself down and casually asked me to continue.

"Since we did all that in the first three days, the fourth day we just kinda sat around. Jacob got to pick a movie to order from the hotel since he didn't like the show very much. He had us watching horror movies all night! But finally Alice got tired of it and picked out a comedy to get me out of under my bed. Normally I'm okay with those kinds of films but… Jacob likes it WAY too much. I got to laugh my way through the entire comedy and that erased all the nightmares I would have had going to sleep after watching movies like SAW and Halloween."

I shuddered. My face had turned the same shade as Newton's when we went to watch Crosshairs, by the time we watched SAW III… I was out for most of Halloween. Luckily Alice stopped him before he started The Ring or whatever that is… By then I was shaking helplessly, trying to take one breath at a time and not empty the contents of my stomach.

Jacob must have had some sort of stomach of steel to watch all that blood and never flinch. Really, the same goes for Jasper and Alice, although Alice looked quite appalled at most of it and cried at the end of SAW III. I didn't listen to enough of the plot to understand why, but Jasper was there to comfort her. Maybe it was because I was the human in the room that these things only affected me. Yet, after that, I wasn't sure that I'd want to watch another horror movie even AFTER I was changed.

"Day five was spent exploring and… shopping." I cringed. Then I remembered what I liked about that trip. "Just wait till you see our luggage. You'd think there were twenty of us. Some of it is for the wedding. Alice reserved flowers from a unique place down there for the flower girl and decoration. She's still following the red and white idea. The ring bearer's outfit is so cute and the flower girl's is adorable, but who… did you already decide who you wanted to ask?"

Edward sighed. "I never thought you'd ask with such genuine interest. You'll meet them soon. I'm sorry to say that they're both not human, however, the less people there who aren't in on the secret, the better. I hope you understand. Especially kids… they don't think before they speak." I chucked.

"Yeah. I know exactly what you mean. So don't be sorry. I'll be happy to meet them. Anyway, where was I? Oh! Day six we went to the Metropolitan Museum. The artwork there was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. I had to take a year of Humanities back in Phoenix, but we never got to actually see the real thing. It's so much more impressive in person. Afterwards we got to eat at a place where I got to try real sushi and then we went out for Italian ice."

"Day six was a lot of packing and preparation since we'd have to be on the plane the next day. But I got to try more new food: French, this time. And wine! But not much because I'm already a klutz without being drunk." I laughed. "Then this afternoon we got on the plane where something even more amazing happened!"

Edward chuckled. "What's that?" After all the time he had been listening to me ramble, I expected him to be bored of me and my simple human doings by now, except… he wasn't. He still sounded excited to hear what I had to say. And I tried really hard not to give it away by laughing.

"I got to talk to you again!" I said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. To me, it was. He laughed again, and I imagined I could feel the thunderous roar of his stomach as he held me tight. I missed the soft rumble that meant he was delightfully surprised. Only I was good at surprising him, mostly because he couldn't hear my thoughts like others. I sighed dreamily. "I can't believe I talked so much. You are so easy to talk to. You don't interrupt me unless I need encouraging and when you do encourage me… you sound so sincere!"

He sighed. "Silly Bella, that's because I am sincere when I'm talking to you. And hearing every detail of your life, even more than what you did tell me, makes me more proud than anything. It would never grow old. Remember I told you that I missed the sound of your voice? I wanted to hear it. But I should go and let you get some more sleep before you have to get off. You'll need all the energy you can muster to deal with all your new luggage." He was stifling his laughter.

Although I didn't want to, I knew he wanted me to behave and listen. So, even though it went against my nature, I agreed. "Okay. But know that I'd much rather stay up talking to you until I passed out." I grinned at the way his laughter boomed.

"Of course. But know that I'd much rather not have you passing out on me ever. You put yourself in enough danger constantly that if you passed out I would fear you might fall into a coma." His light voice was teasing, and I didn't mind. I would have loved to stick my tongue out at him now if he could only see. "Goodnight, I love you."

"I love you, too." I said, but it was ruined by a yawn I didn't see coming. "Sorry." I blushed. Why did I always pick the worst times to look and/or sound like an idiot? Edward's laughter was the last thing I heard before he hung up. This time I let go of it immediately, laying it by my head cautiously and following his instructions. I think it was much easier this time. And dream of him I did…

When we got off the plane, it was dark again. Jasper and Alice had planned the timing very carefully. If it had been light and they didn't have anything to hide under, it would have been dangerous. However, we were lucky that so many people wore hooded sweatshirts in New York. There they blended right in when they needed to use them. Back here in Forks… it was more natural to wear a parka and winter jacket. I missed the lights and clear weather the moment I saw the rain emanating from the dark cloudy skies.

But my skies cleared up in an instant. Waiting for us at the gate was the most beautiful creature I had ever laid eyes on. And he was all mine.

"EDWARD!" I shouted, launching myself towards him as fast as I could manage. My happiness was only completed when my arms were wrapped around him tightly. Something in me should have told me to be cautious. But he was laughing and I felt the rumbling in his chest and I felt whole again. Pulling away from him, I stared at him seriously. "Is it really over?"

"Four days early." Edward claimed proudly. I let this sink in, before grabbing his face and lifting myself up onto my tip toes to smash our lips together. It started out ferociously, both of us needing. Slowly it diminished to soft, sweet loving pecks every few seconds. "I missed your enthusiasm. Especially in trying to succeed in making your heart burst out of your chest." I blushed. My heart was racing in the most awkward pattern of beats and my brain was trying to force me to remember to breathe only to realize that it was in charge and forgot to accept the command from my lungs. "Your greeting?" he asked innocently.

Then I remembered how I promised to greet Edward the next time I saw him. I told him that I would greet him in the perfect way the next time we met, and I hadn't forgotten the phrase I picked. Quite simply, I turned to him and said:

"Edward, you complete me."

A/N: One more down! I really hope you liked the comparison to Mimi and Rodger. My friends are obsessed with all musicals, and this one is one of their current favorites. Not to mention it really DOES fit. Give me your feedback. Please review and thanks to everyone who has been so faithful in reviewing to keep me writing. I normally don't write this fast and be pleased with the results, so… it's thanks to you guys. Thanks and keep going! I love hearing it. Until then…

Michiyo Ichimaru