THE SECRET
Chapter 21
By Kiddo
In Loving Memory of Jonathan Brandis
"Don't fix a broken heart. Who really wants to forget?" (Joseph Fiennes)
"I always will remember you by real good moments." ("Real Good Moments" by Christian Wunderlich)
Disclaimer:
I don't have any rights to the TV show "seaQuest DSV" or "seaQuest 2032" and I am not making any money with this story.
The song "Never Forget" belongs to the group "Take That".
A spezial "Thank You" goes to me wonderful beta reader Jackie and to dolphinology and kas for their reviews.
After the song ended, the second one began.
Been on this path of life for so long
Feel I've walked a thousand miles
Sometimes strolled hand in hand with love
Everybody's been there
With danger on my mind I would stay on the line of hope
I knew I could make it
Once I knew the boundaries I looked into the clouds and saw
My face in the moonlight
Just then I realized what a fool I could be
Just cause I look so high I don't have to see me
Finding a paradise wasn't easy but still
There's a road going down the other side of this hill
Never forget where you've come here from
Never pretend that it's all real
Someday soon this will be someone else's dream
This will be someone else's dream
Been safe from the arms of disappointment for so long
Feel each day we've come too far
Yet each day seems to make much more
Sure is good to be here
I understand the meaning of 'I can't explain this feeling'
Now it feels so unreal
At night I see the hand that reminds me of the stand I make
The fact of reality
Never forget where you've come here from
Never pretend that it's all real
Someday soon this will be someone else's dream
This will be someone else's dream
We've come so far and we've reached so high
And we've looked each day and night in the eye
And we're still so young and we hope for more
But remember this
We're not invincible, we're not invincible - no
We're only people, we're only people
Hey we're not invincible, we're not invincible
So again I'll tell you
Never forget where you've come here from
Never pretend that it's all real
Someday soon this will be someone else's dream
This will be someone else's dream
Never forget where you've come here from
Never pretend that it's all real
Someday soon this will be someone else's dream
This will be someone else's dream
Never, everybody sing, oh babe
Never, no never, never forget for love
Someday, lalala…oh
Never, everybody sing this song
Never, nanana…
Someday, come on, come on, everybody, everybody
Everybody, everybody, everybody
Lucas had never heard the song before, but he liked it. And he would never forget his friends on the seaQuest for sure. You could never in your whole life forget what you had deep down in your heart.
But the name, Take That, came to his mind. Sean's mother had kept a few teen magazines from her time in high school. Mrs. Richards had loaned the boys the magazines one time, and the two teenagers had read them and also made fun of them a bit. The whole thing had been a special kind of history lesson. Sometimes you could find out more about a generation of teenagers by reading their teen magazines than by reading history books.
The blond teenager could remember that Take That had been an English boy group that had been very successful from around 1991 to 1996. The group had been very, very popular, and for the first time in a long time the word "Beatlemania" had been used again. Concerts had to be interrupted because the fans had become too violent near the stage. It had just been unbelievable.
Robbie Williams, who had later become a big star, had also been a member of Take That. That was in the beginning, before he had been thrown out of the group. From that point on, the band had only had four members.
The last song where all five sang together was "Never Forget". Some time later, after the rest of the group had broken up, the fans took the song up as the goodbye song, and it stayed in the charts for a long time. The strange thing was that it hadn't really been the last song; other songs had followed this one. But the meaning of the lyrics and the two words "Never Forget" had just turned it into a goodbye song for the fans.
Lucas could even remember that two or three of the magazines had pictures with the "Never Forget Take That" slogan on them. Stickers with those four words had also been sold.
The end of Take That had created a lot of distress in some fans. The telephones at the student crisis center had been ringing off the hook. For many fans, their world had fallen apart. The most extreme reactions had even been suicidal.
When the song ended, the teenager took his headphones off and re-packed his discman into his bag.
Captain Bridger glanced over at the boy from the driver's seat when Lucas sat back down next to him in the co-pilot's seat. "What are you thinking about?"
The young man looked out at the ocean. "How much I will miss everybody." He took a short pause and then continued talking. "You know, I don't want to do this. Who knows where I will end up? I'm sure wherever it is I won't like it."
Nathan could understand, but he wanted to lift the the boy's spirits. "Maybe it will be better than you think."
The blond boy looked skeptically at the captain. "You really believe that?"
Bridger shrugged his shoulders. "To tell you the truth, I don't know. But look at this from this point of view: Did you want to go to the seaQuest at first?"
Lucas looked down and shook his head. "No."
"There, you see? And now you like it so much that you wish that you didn't have to go. Maybe the same thing will happen this time."
Now the teenager just shrugged his shoulders. "You could be right. But in any case, the whole lying thing will start again. I hate this! And I don't want to go away and leave all of you!"
Bridger observed the boy closely. "You sound like you want to stay on the seaQuest. My offer still stands; you can stay if that's what you truly want. We can still turn around. You just have to say it." And again, the captain was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He would give everything for Lucas to be able to stay with him, but on the other hand, he knew that the submarine was no longer safe enough for the young man. He could do nothing but accept the boy's decision, even though it would break his heart...
Lucas didn't need to think about what the captain had said. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to stay on the seaQuest. But it just wasn't possible. He would put the others in danger by doing that. The teenager shook his head. "No. I will leave the seaQuest..."
To Be Continued...
Written December 2003 / Translated Summer 2004
Information:
In Chapter 20, Benjamin Krieg wrote that he had a problem finding a fitting song, but that's not really true. I was the one who had problems finding a good song for this situation. I wanted a song that I personally associate with goodbye but not with death. Otherwise, it wouldn't have worked for this story.
Because I'm an old Take That fan, I remebered the song "Never Forget." The information in this chapter about Take That is true. I also had a poster of the group with the slogan "Never Forget Take That" on my wall. And I'm sure that I still have the sticker with the words around here somewhere.
Two words from this song are very important for me: Never Forget! In addition to the part of the story that means that Lucas shouln't forget his friends on the seaQuest, there is also a second meaning, and the second meaning is really a part of my life. For me it says: "Never Forget Jonathan Brandis!" And I won't forget him.