Hey everybody, I'm back! Thank you so much to those who reviewed. I appreciated them so thanks to all you guys! So anyway, since a lot of you want more of the Royai love there, there will be some in this chapter, and I hope you enjoy that.
FMA and all the characters associated with that anime/manga are not mine (as always… sigh) Also, all musicals and songs mentioned in this fic are not mine. They are just so lovely and all… XP Anyway, on to the fic.
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Chapter 11: All I Ask of You
"So, now that you've all gotten the hang of proving easy statements, we'll be proving harder statements. I was looking through your scores, and they're pretty good for most of you. So next week, we'll start proving the different theorems." It was Friday afternoon and almost dismissal time. They were near the end of another Geometry class and had another quiz. The past week, they had nothing but quizzes and homework, not to mention a lot of activities.
"So, you've got the weekend, so homework! Answer page 50 on your notebook, present all proofs using the indirect way of proving and the proper way of proving. I will collect that on Monday. If there are any questions, ask them now." Before anyone could ask Ms. Stanley anything, someone knocked on the door, shattering the silence in the room. The door opened, creaking slightly, and up popped Mr. Davies' head.
"Oh Mr. Davies, it's you again…" Ms. Stanley said, putting back the chalk on the chalk ledge and dusting her hands.
"Sorry to interrupt… I thought the class was dismissed." Mr. Davies explained. Before anyone could say anything else, the bell rang.
"Well, I was about to dismiss them since the bell already rang. What or who do you need, Mr. Davies?" Ms. Stanley said, getting her things.
"I'd like to speak with Ms. Hawkeye." Riza was surprised. She was no longer the academic chairman. Sunny had won the position during the elections since Christella refused to have a position lower than the Discipline chairman as she lost the class representative position.
"Go on, Ms. Hawkeye. I'll be dismissing the class anyway." Riza nodded and stood up before hurrying out the door.
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"What is it you wanted to tell me, Mr. Davies? I'm no longer the academic chair." Riza told him. She could hear Ms. Stanley's loud voice giving out reminders to the class.
"Oh… I'm sorry. But since you're here, I might as well tell you now. The first group will perform next week. I'll give you the next few meetings to practice and the second meeting of next week, Thursday, I believe… the first group will perform. After that, we'll follow the order. That's all… tell them I'll wait out here in case anyone has questions." Mr. Davies told her. Riza nodded before going back to the room to announce it. As soon as Riza went back to the room, the front door opened and Christella came out. She silently closed the door as Riza started announcing the reminders.
"Mr. Davies?" She called out as she approached him.
"Oh, Ms. Curtis. Do you have questions?"
"It's more of a request actually… you see, I switched groups with Hannah Baker and so I'm with Roy Mustang's group."
"Alright… I think I remember Riza telling me that."
"But that's not my request… I have 2 actually." Christella said flashing her sweetest smile.
"Oh alright… go ahead."
"My group mates and I are not really having an easy time with Les Miserables… some of us aren't familiar with that musical or its story. So… we wanted to switch to the Phantom of the Opera."
"The Phantom of the Opera? Are you sure? I only allow groups to switch only once and once only… once you say you're going to switch, that's it. If I remember, the last time somebody picked that was a few years ago. Around 3 years ago."
"Yes, we're very sure about that." Christella replied.
"Alright then, I'll allow that. What's the second request?" Mr. Davies asked. Christella heard Riza finishing the last of the reminders and hurried up with her last request.
"I'd like to switch to the first slot. Vanessa Lewis has to compete in a tennis tournament during that week of their performance. And I don't think their group would like that."
"Really? I'd like to speak with Ms. Lewis." Mr. Davies said. At that very moment, the door flew open and Vanessa was one of the first ones out.
"Nessa… come here." Christella called out. Vanessa approached the two.
"Ms. Lewis, I understand you have to participate in a competition during the week of your performance."
"That's correct sir. I was about to inform you as well." Vanessa said brandishing a letter from her bag. She handed the letter to Mr. Davies who read it. "All teachers and administrators got that letter, sir. My group mates were also informed and I told them I would switch with Christella's group."
"Alright. Since everything's in order, I'll allow that switch. So your group Christella will perform next week, and yours, Ms. Lewis will perform last."
"Thank you sir." Christella and Vanessa said together before heading back inside. Thinking it was done, Mr. Davies left and went back to the faculty room.
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"Where have you been, Christella? We're meeting about the musicals thing." Darwin asked Christella as she joined the group.
"Oh about that… we're performing first. And we're performing Phantom of the Opera instead."
"WHAT?!" the seven other members of the group exclaimed out loud.
"Do I have to repeat myself?" Christella asked.
"You switched our performance date and our piece?" Riza asked her.
"Yeah… Vanessa isn't going to be there for their performance so I offered to switch. And as for the musical change, I think we could do better with Phantom of the Opera."
"That's not a very good reason, Chris. Why didn't you ask us first?" Roy asked her, tone serious.
"Well, that way we could prove ourselves better. And besides, there's no taking it back."
"You're joking right?" Riza asked.
"Nope. I usually never joke. Well then, I guess we have to double the practice." Christella announced, somewhat proud of herself.
"That's pretty easy for you to say, Christella." Katrina snarled earning her a glare from Christella.
"God, Chris… why the hell did you do that without thinking?" Roy asked as she sat down beside him.
"Oh I was thinking about it and I did. So just accept it alright?!" Christella snapped, getting annoyed. The rest of the group was just silent. "Oh come on… don't tell me you're all mad at me for that switch! Roy, tell me you're not mad."
"…I'm not mad, Chris. I'm disappointed." Roy told her. That shut Christella up pretty quickly and she had a very shocked look on her face.
"… there's nothing we can do, but accept it." Riza said through gritted teeth before anyone else could say anything. "We'll meet as planned at Roy's house tomorrow. Bring a list of songs that you want to sing may it be a solo or a duet or a group song. Just three choices per person so that we can narrow down the choices easily and not waste time. And tomorrow once we've decided on the final list of songs, learn the lyrics and the tune and whatever. After that, we'll decide the rest." Everyone just nodded in reply, even Christella, who still had that shocked look on her face.
"That's that. I'll see you tomorrow." Roy said standing up. "I have a meeting. See you tomorrow. Riza, if you like, I'll fetch you again tomorrow at 7."
"Thanks Roy." Riza replied with a smile as Roy got his bag and left.
"Well, I think that's that as well… let's adjourn and I'll see you tomorrow." Riza said as she and some of her group mates stood up to leave.
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"Riza! Wait up, Riza!" Riza stopped and turned to see who was calling her. Charm and Sunny were running towards her.
"Hey… sorry I left early. I mean I left without telling you guys. You guys weren't done with your group meetings yet." Riza told the two. They were already in front of the school gate, ready to go home.
"What happened in your group? We heard you all shout WHAT?!" Sunny asked Riza as she adjusted her bag strap. Riza sighed as she thought back on what happened.
"Christella did something pretty stupid." Riza started.
"So what else is new? She always does something stupid." Sunny answered her tone rather sardonic.
"It's not like that Sunny… it's just that she told Mr. Davies that we were switching with Vanessa's group and so we're performing first next week… not only that, she asked him to change our musical. And now we're doing Phantom of the Opera."
"That is pretty stupid… and let me guess. She didn't tell you guys about her diabolical plans?"
"Yeah. That in itself is stressful. Now we might stay late at Roy's place practicing for that musical." Riza said as they started to walk out of the school gates.
"Hey guys, I guess I'll walk home from here. I need to go that way." Charm said pointing to the opposite direction.
"It's alright, Charm. I need to go home to, my driver's there already." Sunny said. "Do you need a lift home, Riza?"
"No thanks. I can walk home. Besides, I need to pick up some stuff at the grocery for our dinner." Riza said shaking her head.
"I'll see you guys on Monday then. Bye." Charm waved goodbye as she left. After a few minutes, Sunny waved goodbye and headed to her van. Riza walked home on her own after seeing that Sunny's van was gone. She stopped by the grocery store to get some vegetables for salad and some drinks.
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"Beatrice, I'm home." Riza greeted as she opened the door of her house.
"In the kitchen, Riza. Did you get the vegetables?" Beatrice called out.
"Yeah, I got the vegetables and some drinks for us." Riza said as she dropped her bag in the living room and went inside the kitchen.
"How was school?" Beatrice was busy making some stew for her and Riza and didn't even look up from the stove.
"Fine… Roy's going to stop by tomorrow and we're going to go to his house for another project." Riza said as she removed the vegetables from the plastic bag.
"Another project? Ever since you started schooling at Fountain, you've had 2 projects. That's a lot compared to when you were schooling at Ash Creek."
"Well, that's not a decision I make, Beatrice. If you need me, I'll be upstairs researching for this project. Holler if it's dinner." Riza said with a small smile as she headed upstairs to her room. Her good mood left Beatrice puzzled.
"Hmmmm… ever since she found new friends here she's been in a very good mood… especially when she won the top position in her class. Or was it because of Roy? She talks about him a lot… well besides Sunny of course." Beatrice asked herself. After thinking on the cause of Riza's good mood, she just shrugged and continued stirring.
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Riza was in her room researching and chatting with Roy and Sunny until Beatrice called her down for dinner. After dinner, she went back up, researched a bit more, printed some of her research, took a bath then went to sleep.
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Riza got up early the next day. She dressed up and put all the stuff she needed in a brown back-pack then went down. Beatrice was up and was about to leave for her work.
"Good Morning, Riza."
"Good morning. Are you leaving already?" Riza said as she got a banana and a glass of orange juice.
"Yeah I am, but I'll wait for you to leave, considering it's almost 7 o'clock… my shift at the store doesn't start until 8:30… so I have plenty of time." Beatrice said, cleaning up. "Is that all you're going to eat?"
"For now, this is what I'll eat… I'm not on a diet, Beatrice. So don't you worry." Riza assured as she ate her banana and drank her orange juice.
"So… what's the project about?" Beatrice asked. Riza glanced at her watch. It was five to seven.
"We're performing songs from the Phantom of the Opera."
"Really? Whose part are you singing?" Beatrice asked as she sat across Riza.
"I don't know yet. We'll know later. I might not be home until later in the evening." Riza told her. She heard a car stop outside. She stood up and pushed back her chair and got her bag.
"That's Roy… I'll go now. I'll see you later, Beatrice." Riza said. As soon as she exited the kitchen, the doorbell rang and Riza opened the door and shortly after that, she shut the door.
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"Hey… Katrina's going to be late for a while. She said that her brother's taking her to my house and her brother had to run a quick errand." Roy told her as he climbed in the car after Riza and shut the door.
"Alright… we can start without her. Anyone else who's going to be late?" Riza asked as the car sped off to Roy's home.
"Well… so far only Katrina told me that she was going to be late."
"Okay… let's just do all that we can do." Riza said with a small smile.
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They arrived at Roy's house in a matter of ten minutes. Riza was no longer surprised at the way Roy was welcomed at the house, as it was her second time to go there. She was a bit surprised when she realized that Roy's mother was at home.
"Hello mother." Roy greeted as they entered the house. His mother was tall, slender and had the same raven colored hair that Roy had. But unlike Roy, she had green colored eyes.
"Oh Roy dear… back so soon?" She asked. She was about to go to the den when they came in.
"I just fetched my classmate at her house, mother. This is Riza Hawkeye. She's new at Fountain Hill." Riza took a step forward and extended her hand with a smile.
"Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Mustang." Roy's mother shook Riza's hand.
"Nice to meet you as well my dear. Cameron Mustang."
"Mom… did anyone call while I was gone?" Riza let go of Mrs. Mustang's hand and stepped back.
"No one called dear. Who else is coming here?"
"Well, besides Riza, there's Katrina Smith, Ruben, Darwin, Jennifer, Christina and Christella."
"Alright then. The cook's out for his day off so I'll leave you some money here, since I need to leave for work in a while. Go order a pizza and have it delivered here." Mrs. Mustang said as she started for the stairs. "I'll be in my room, getting ready for work. Isabelle, Sarah and Christopher are here. Colleen and your father left as soon as you left."
"Okay mom. Thanks. I'll bring Riza to the guest room first and we'll get some things done."
"Okay. If you want use the den as well… the piano's there. And if you want, ask Isabelle or Sarah to come down and play the violin for you guys. Heaven knows they need practice and your musical is nice with instrumentals and live music."
"Sure mom, thanks… I'll tell them that later." Roy said as he led Riza up the stairs, ahead of his mother, and straight to the guest room.
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"I'll go get my lap top. My research is there." Roy said as he turned on the air conditioner. Riza sat down on the bed and pulled out her lap top.
"Okay, I'll turn on my lap top too… some of my research is there too." Riza said as Roy left the room.
Riza could hear Roy's retreating footsteps in the hallway and later, she heard a door open and then close. In no time, Roy was back, carrying a thin, silver lap top.
"Nice lap top." Riza commented.
"Thanks." Roy said with his usual smirk as he turned on his lap top. "So, what are your three choices for the songs?"
"Well… two of them are solos… and the other one's a duet." Riza began.
"Oh let me guess… One of your songs the solo, is Music of the Night and the duet is All I Ask of You." Roy said looking up from his lap top.
"You're really good at guessing aren't you, Roy?" Riza complimented.
"Well I am… but those two were also on my list of choices. I'm not just so sure about the third one. It must be so weird for me to pick a song like that."
"What song?" Riza asked as she crossed her legs on the bed. Good thing for her, she was wearing jeans.
"Think of Me."
"A diva's song… sung by Christine right?"
"Yeah. Speaking of songs, I got the notes for All I Ask of You."
"You mean notes for playing the piano." Riza said, opening some documents on her lap top.
"Yeah. Maybe, I can drag my siblings downstairs and let's try it out." Roy suggested.
"You play the piano?"
"Of course. I composed our jingle for the elections last year."
"I wouldn't doubt it. You're very talented. So tell me. Before we head downstairs… have you seen this musical before?" Riza asked. It took Roy a while to answer because he was busy typing something on his computer.
"Yeah I've seen it. By the way, I've learned the lyrics of All I Ask of You already…" Roy said, grinning.
"That's great. Maybe you can go ahead and play Raoul." Riza replied, smiling now.
"And you'll be my Christine?" Roy asked. Riza's smile faded a bit and she struggled for words when she heard the word my.
"You mean, I'll be Christine?" Riza stammered.
"Yeah, why not?" Roy asked her. He didn't notice the sudden change of expression on Riza's face.
"Well, maybe Christella would like that part." Riza replied.
"I don't know about Christella singing a solo and a duet. She really doesn't like to memorize stuff."
"And as for me, I can't sing like Christine." Riza reasoned.
"Maybe we can change one or two things to help you. I'll tell the guys that. So you can be Christine and I'll be Raoul."
"And the others? What part are they going to play in this master plan of yours?" Riza asked, an eyebrow raised.
"There's a group song there. We can add that. But for now, let's go drag Isabelle from her confinement and ask her to play the violin while I'll play the piano. You will sing the duet with me." Roy said as he hopped off the bed and put on his carpet slippers.
"Oh fine then…" Riza said with a smile as she put on her sandals and followed Roy out the door.
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"Wow Roy… you drag me from my bed just to play the violin." Isabelle grumbled as she followed the two to the den, carrying her violin case.
"Don't complain to me. Mom said to ask you to play the violin." Roy said, hands in his pockets.
"Where is mom, Roy? And why couldn't you drag Sarah or Christopher instead?" Isabelle asked as they entered the den. Riza just smiled at the two siblings.
"Because…" Roy said as he sat on the piano stool and pushed back the cover of the piano. "… Christopher plays the flute and he's younger than me, and he's still asleep. Sarah said she'll play the violin later for me. Mom already left for work. But for now, you'll do just fine. Here." Roy said as he handed Isabelle a copy of the sheets for the song.
"All I Ask of you, huh? How romantic can you get, Roy?" Isabelle commented as she read the title of the piece.
"Oh, just shush and play." Roy replied. He stretched his arms before bringing his fingers down on the keys. Taking a deep breath, he nodded to Isabelle and together they started playing a gentle and sweet melody that was the tune of All I Ask of You.
"…No more talk of darkness. Forget these wide-eyed fears. I'm here… nothing can harm you. My words will warm and calm you..." Roy sang Raoul's part as he was playing. Riza was amazed at Roy's singing voice. It may not be as good as the one who played Raoul, but it sounded really good. Roy's piano playing was really good too. Riza then shot a glance at Isabelle. Riza saw that Isabelle had a big grin on her face when Roy started singing and playing. But something told Riza to pay attention as Roy was getting to the end of Raoul's part. Riza took a deep breath and sang the chorus and the part of Christine.
"Say you'll love me ev'ry waking moment. Turn my head with talk of summertime… say you need me with you now and always. Promise me all that you say is true… That's all I ask of you…" Riza sang in a soft, melodic voice. She had to admit, she wasn't a very good singer. She had no idea where that melodious tone came from. All she saw was Roy's smiling face as he played. He took a deep breath before continuing Raoul's part.
"Let me be your shelter. Let me be your light. You're safe, no one will find you. Your fears are far behind you." This time Riza was ready. As soon as Roy ended, she sang the next few lyrics.
"All I want is freedom…" Riza began. Suddenly she felt like she was Christine and Roy was Raoul. It seemed to her that although they barely knew each other, here they were, making beautiful music together. "…A world with no more night. And you…" Riza's voice softened a bit. "…always beside me. To hold me and to hide me." Riza now had a very beautiful smile on her face. Roy's face, which usually has his signature smirks, now had a smile that would make the girls swoon.
"Then say that you'll share with me one love, one lifetime…" Roy sang, no longer looking at the keys he was pressing. He was now looking at Riza. And for a while, his dark blue eyes met her reddish-brown eyes.
"…let me lead you form your solitude. Say you need me with you here beside you. Anywhere you go let me go too… Christine, that's all I ask of you."
"Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime… say the word and I will follow you." Riza sang as soon as Roy finished. Roy glanced at the keys for a while and then at the piece then joined Riza.
"Share each day with me, each night, each morning" They sang together. They were so into their singing that they didn't notice Darwin, Katrina, Ruben, Jennifer and Christina enter the house. Hearing the lovely singing coming from the den, they his by the door and stood their listening.
"Say you love me…" Riza sang.
"You know I do." Roy replied.
"Love me… that's all I ask of you..." They sang together. They paused for a while as Isabelle and Roy played another round of the chorus. With a nod from Roy, Riza joined him as they both sang the last few lyrics of the song.
"Anywhere you go let me go too! Love me…" Their voices dropped to a whisper that it seemed that they were singing it to each other.
"…That's all I ask… of you." Roy finished off the last part of the instrumental and he and Isabelle ended at the same time and on the same note. Riza gave a small sigh of relief. Somehow to her, it seemed so nice to sing with Roy. She didn't feel nervous or afraid. Isabelle had a big smile on her face as she went to the two and hugged Roy and Riza.
"Oh my god, you two were great! I've never felt like this before! Oh my god… that was great!" Isabelle said, grinning from ear to ear.
"Oh come on Isabelle. My voice isn't great you know." Roy said as he stood up from the stool.
"And I don't sing at all…" Riza added as she gave back the song sheet to Roy.
"Are you joking you two?! Well that's that. You two are singing that for our project and there will be no buts and ifs." The three in the den spun around to see that Darwin and the rest who were listening by the door came in. Darwin and Ruben were even applauding them.
"Oh don't be silly guys… It's not easy singing it like this. I mean I was playing the piano." Roy said.
"Well I bet it's not going to sound as good as that if you sing with a tape. Maybe we can ask Mr. Davies if we can get some members of the class to play for us! Just that song… I mean, Darwin, you can play the piano right?" Jennifer asked, sounding all excited.
"Yeah I can… that's a great idea! You don't need to play as you sing. You can sing with Riza and we can get someone else to play. Mr. Davies didn't say anything about performing the music live. Besides if I remember correctly, Julia Sung plays the piano and the violin. Peter also plays the violin. So does Nicole, Thomas and Carina. Daniella can play both the piano and the violin. Nicholas plays the flute… and --"
"Alright, I get your point Darwin." Roy interrupted him as he was enumerating their classmates who could play instruments.
"So, are you both singing that song together?" Christina asked. Roy and Riza exchanged looks as if they could find the answer in each other's eyes.
"I'm okay with it if it's okay with all of you, even Christella and if it's okay with Riza." Roy answered. All heads then turned to Riza.
"It's fine with me…" She said finally. The whole group was very happy and were relieved that one of their problems was solved. Isabelle whispered to Roy before leaving the room, bringing her violin with her. They were having a mini celebration when Christella arrived.
"What's the hubbub here?" She asked as she entered the den. The noise died down and they avoided Christella's questioning glares.
"Why are you late, Christella?" Jennifer asked. "I believe, if I'm not mistaken… it's already ten to nine."
"Oh get off my case. Why what time did you arrive?" Christella snapped back. Jennifer had no answer to that. In a way, Christella was right.
"Well… never mind what time you guys arrived. We only need two or three more songs as we already have one." Roy said before anyone could reply to Christella's question.
"What do you mean we have one song? Who's singing it and what's the title?" Christella asked as she turned to Roy.
"It's All I ask of You. Riza and I are singing it." Roy replied. Christella didn't seem shocked, but if she was, she had a very good way of masking it.
"You two… are singing that song together." Christella stammered.
"Yes we are. And we better not waste time, we have to pick the next few songs. So let's get to work." Riza replied. Everyone else nodded and sat down on the couch in the den and on the floor.
"I'll go get my lap top. Riza, I'll get yours as well okay?" Roy said as he started to leave the den.
"Sure Roy… thanks."
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Ahhhh!! The end of another chapter. :D Mwahaha. Well, if you want to know, we had a project like this for our music class. We had to present a few songs from our chosen musicals. So there… Watch out for the next part of the fic, coz it will be the real performance. XD So thanks again to those who reviewed. And I'll be back with the next chapter, hopefully before the new school year kicks in. XP Please and thank you for reviews and comments and questions!