Disclaimer: I don't own them
except for the kids!
Randy lightly ran her fingers over the keys of the piano. She had learned to play from Quatre when she was eight. She pressed down on them and began to play a slow soulful piece. The sound echoed in the large music room of the Winner compound in Arabia, where all the families were vacationing for two weeks. She was alone in the room. The sheer curtains that fell from the ceiling all the way to the floor blew gently in the breeze from the open windows. She began to sing the words.
I heard he sang a
lullaby
I heard he sang it
from his heart
When I found out I
thought I would die
Because that lullaby
was mine
I heard he sealed it
with a kiss
He gently kissed her
cherry lips
I found that so hard
to believe
Because his kiss
belonged to me
Quatre walked past and heard her singing. He stopped and softly opened the door. He watched her, smiling slightly.
How could an angel
break my heart
Why didn't he catch
my falling star
I wish I didn't wish
so hard
Maybe I wished our
love apart
How could an angel
break my heart
She pulled out the words from the depths of her heart. She closed her eyes and continued to sing.
I heard her face was
white as rain
Soft as a rose that
blooms in May
He keeps her picture
in a frame
And when he sleeps
he calls her name
I wonder if she
makes him smile
The way he used to
smile at me
I hope she doesn't
make him laugh
Because his laugh
belongs to me
He could feel her pain in her words. Even though she make everyone believe that she was ok, he could just tell by her song.
How could an angel
break my heart
Why didn't he catch
my falling star
I wish I didn't wish
so hard
Maybe I wished our
love apart
How could an angel
break my heart
She was unaware that she had an audience. She felt the wind caress her cheeks from the open windows.
Oh my soul is dying,
it's crying
I'm trying to
understand
Please help me
How could an angel
break my heart
Why didn't he catch
my falling star
I wish I didn't wish
so hard
Maybe I wished our
love apart
How could an angel
break my heart
She played the last few chords until she let her fingers rest lightly on the keys. She opened her eyes and stared at the highly polished black wood.
"That was beautiful Randy," Quatre said with a smile. He came over and sat down next to her on the bench. "You've surpassed even my talent at this instrument."
Randy smiled up at him. "Vaughn always said you were better at the violin."
"I was. But I know that you play that too. Vaughn said he taught you to play," he said as he idly ran his fingers over the ivory, "And that now you even play better then him," he finished, his eyes twinkling.
"I try," she said as she folded her hands on her pale blue silk skirt.
"You never had to. You were blessed with many talents, even musical ones. Which I know you didn't get from your dad," Quatre said, chuckling a little.
"Remember when I asked you to teach me to play?" Randy asked as she looked up at him.
"I remember. A tomboyish little girl with two braided pigtails asking me ever so politely to teach her how to play," Quatre said ruffling her long raven hair. "You haven't changed much from that."
"Well instead of pigtails, I have dyed hair and a tattoo, and I'm more of a hoyden then a tomboy," she replied, wrinkling her nose a little.
"I wouldn't say you were a hoyden Randy. You're still the tomboy at heart, who is very good at hiding things from the rest of the world," he said gently.
Randy lowered her eyes away from the knowing aquamarine eyes. "I'm not hiding anything," she answered faintly.
Quatre arched a brow at her.
She sighed. "Can't hide anything from you like I can't hide anything from Vaughn."
"I know what happened two weeks ago with Miles still bothers you. And I know you hide it from everyone because you don't want anyone to know that you're hurt inside and you don't want to worry anyone like you did with your hands," he said as he turned her palms up. He could see pale marks on her palm. There were three sets of scars, all from her nails.
"I just…" Randy said quietly, not even finishing.
"I know you feel too proud to let anyone see how much you feel. Just like your dad would hide behind his pride. There is no shame in hiding your pain, even I have. But to take it out on yourself is not good for you or anyone else."
"I couldn't show how much things hurt me as a child, I'm not going to show what hurts me as an adult. I am who I am."
"But you don't have to prove yourself anymore. You never had to. You set those standards for yourself. Randy, you're not that tomboy anymore that has to prove that she can be just as tough as the guy can. You are you. And that's all right. You don't have to be anyone but yourself," Quatre said gently. He looked into the cobalt eyes, so much like Duo's. Filled with so much emotion, but never expressing it. He looked down at the scars on her hands. "And you don't have to do this. If you don't express what you feel inside, you'll fall apart."
Randy watched as he rubbed his finger over the scars on her left palm. She looked back up at him. "But I don't know how," she said faintly.
He smiled and gave her a brief hug. "You can express it in your own way. Just in a way that's not going to hurt you and leave another set of scars like those."
She gave him a wan smile as she leaned away from him. "Thank you Uncle Quatre," she said as she rose from the bench. She pressed a kiss on his cheek and glided out of the room on sandaled feet.
Quatre smiled sadly as she left. He rested his own hands on the ivory keys of the piano. Randy was so unlike his daughters. They possessed their mother's fiery nature, but they also were calmer and even-tempered. Randy was too much of both her parents. Duo's recklessness, his pride, and his temper, coupled with Hilde's stubbornness, her unquenchable spirit, brains, and looks, made for a combustible combination. She was just the extreme of both of them, which was proving to be unhealthy for her. He sighed. He and the others had always told Duo to keep an eye on her for she walked all over him with abandonment and that he couldn't protect her forever. The brick wall he set up when it came to Randy had met them all. There was no talking to him about it. "If only you had followed our advice Duo," he sighed as he rolled his head back and looked at the gilt ceiling. "And maybe she wouldn't be so hurt by this." He knew more then the others when it came to uncovering Duo's real feelings about his daughter. It was guilt. His fears of losing anyone close to him. He had felt it when Hilde had gone through the difficult labor with Randy. Duo's intense fear. And all he had done was spoil Randy more then the law should allow. But he was so overprotective of her, it drove everyone insane. And now it was coming back to haunt him. Quatre sighed again and went over to the windows and looked out onto the moonlit desert. "Allah help her heal her heart. She sorely needs it," he said silently as he closed his eyes, letting the cool beams of the moon wash over him.
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Randy made her way from the main house across the wide courtyard to the bungalow her family stayed in. She could hear the voices of Leigh and Jonathon both slightly raised. She paused by the fountain in the middle of the courtyard. The water glittered like diamonds as the moon hit them as they fell into the crystal pool below. She leaned down and let her hands glide through the water. She stared at her reflection for a moment before moving away. "If only expressing oneself could be that easy," she said ruefully as she turned her head away, leaving the fountain alone once again.
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Donavon stepped out of the shadows of the date palms. He had covertly watched Randy stop by the fountain. Her silk skirt flirted with her ankles, the matching top in a darker shade of blue tied behind her neck, leaving her upper back bare. He was more in love with her then he was before. He could still see the unhappiness in her cobalt eyes. The still shuttered look that she had carried since the end of her and Miles. He walked over to the fountain, which she had occupied a moment before. He sat down on the marble edge and trailed his hands through the clear liquid. He didn't hear Duo's approach until he saw the older man's reflection in the pool. He didn't say anything.
Duo sat down across from Donavon. "You and I have to have a talk."
Donavon looked up at him. "What about?" he asked, although he already had a good feeling about what.
"About you and my daughter. I never actually got to hear your side of that mess a few weeks ago. I wasn't in the right frame of mind at that time," Duo said, arching a brow.
"That would be understandable," Donavon replied as his hand stilled in the water. "What do you want to know?"
"Whatever you can tell me. Randy isn't herself and it shows. It bothers me that she isn't. And I want to know exactly why she's avoiding you and vice versa."
Donavon took a deep breath. "I won't find myself with a noose around my neck when this is done will I?"
"No. I just want to hear what really happened," Duo said, shrugging his shoulders.
Donavon let out a sigh. "Nothing was supposed to happen. We drank too much, but she had always been able to hold her liquor. I've seen her drink so many times without getting tipsy. And I rarely drink. I guess the Sake was too strong, even for the both of us," he explained as he took his hand out of the water and wiped it on his khaki shorts. "I didn't mean to kiss her, she was drunk as I was. But I…I couldn't stop myself from kissing her when she asked me to. I shouldn't have, but I did."
"Did you only kiss her?" Duo asked quietly.
Donavon looked up at him with wide eyes. "How I wish that was all I did! But she kissed me again and I couldn't stop her! I don't really remember much more then that…Except the next morning I woke up and…" he trailed off, gulping, "neither of us…I…we…weren't wearing much…. I'm not completely sure what we did," he finished miserably, waiting for Duo to throttle him.
Duo tilted his head to one side, thoughtfully. "Is that all?"
"I don't know. I wish I did. I took her home; she didn't want to talk about it. God if I hurt her in any way I wouldn't forgive myself. She means…"
"Too much to you," Duo supplied. He could see the twenty year old's shock. "Didn't I tell you before, I knew how you felt about Randy. And you know what I think?"
"What?" Donavon asked nervously.
"That nothing happened. You wouldn't. You just don't fit the type of guy that would do that. You're too much in love with her," Duo said plainly. "Although I don't like the fact that you two were drunk and things could have happened. But since I'm sure they didn't, there's nothing for you to worry about. I just want my little girl happy and I know you can."
"What! Even after all that! I couldn't possibly make her happy! She doesn't need a guy like me," Donavon said rapidly.
"That's where you're wrong. She does need a guy like you. She needs a guy who won't let her walk all over them. Not like me, not like Miles. And you won't."
"I would let her walk all over me. I'm not the guy for her. She wouldn't go for me! I'm her ex's brother!" Donavon babbled.
Duo looked at him and sighed. "Don't hide what you feel from her. Don't be afraid that she wouldn't love you back. She has more then enough love to give. And you love her. That's the only thing that's important to me. Tell her that you love her. Don't wait any more then you have to. She needs you more then she lets on."
Donavon eyes left Duo's and looked back at the water. "Did you want Miles and her to break up?"
"Maybe. Subconsciously I might have. But not like what happened. I knew that somewhere deep inside of me that Miles wasn't the one for her. He was too afraid of me and he let her do as she liked," Duo answered as he swirled the water with his fingers.
Donavon bent his head forward and looked down into the water again. "What makes you so sure that I'm the right one for her?"
"Because I do," Duo said cryptically as he too stared into the water. He met Donavon's eyes. "Trust me." He slowly stood and started walking away. "You know. I also have a feeling that she loves you too," he called over his shoulder and disappeared into the shadows of the trees.
Donavon watched him leave. "Randy loves me? How could that be possible?" "Well don't you remember what she said that night? What night? When you two got drunk, she said she loved you. That was the alcohol talking. Are you so sure about that? I don't know" "I don't know," he whispered, echoing his thoughts aloud. He closed his eyes. "How do I tell her that I love her, when I don't even know if she feels the same way?"
*Song: "How Could An Angel Break My Heart?" by Toni
Braxton
A/N: I'm getting a little sappy aren't I? I promise
it'll get better soon! XOXO!