It's You

Tianna was walking around Dominic's room, it was warm with the breeze blowing in through the open window. She looked at all of the pictures-- her pictures-- pinned to the wall she remembered being bare. Her finger tips brushed lightly over the glossy prints of her brother and the couple she had of her father. She ran her hand over the cover of her journal with a slight smile, then with a curious gaze she focused on the file resting upon Dominic's dresser. She flipped the pages open and her breath caught in her throat-- it was Gavin's file from Rostengburg. There were pictures of her old friend. Tianna almost cried, but she knew he hadn't wanted her to cry then, and he wouldn't want her to cry now. The best thing she could do for him was to remember him and their friendship. She took the pictures out and using a couple of the extra tacks, she pinned the pictures to the wall. She smiled warmly and wiggle her bare toes in the carpet.

She opened each drawer in the two dressers in the room, her and Dominic's clothes were mixed in together. She smiled, and wrapped her fingers into the shirt she was wearing, it was an oversized T-shirt, and it hung down, almost past her knees. She chuckled a little remembering the night before when she'd stolen it right off Dom's body and slipped it down over her head. He had rescued her, protected her just like he'd promised. She was safe again, it was a beautiful feeling. Even more beautiful was the feeling of not having to be afraid any longer. She felt immortal, like nothing could touch her now, because she had Dominic.

She pulled the closet door open, and breathed in the scent of him, and ran her fingers over the different textures of the fabrics. Something caught her eye though, in the back of the closet and she pushed the clothes out of the way. It was a black six string, acoustic guitar. It had an ornate design painted around the opening, but most of it had been worn way from years of playing. She smiled shyly as if afraid of treading into that memory and wrapped her fingers around the neck of the guitar and carried it back over to the bed. She climbed carefully on to the bed and settled comfortable against the edge of the open window. She plucked idle at the strings.

A brow rose, it was in tune, but something was causing it too sound just the slightest bit off. She shook the guitar and her eye brow arched higher at the clatter made. The guitar was turned up side down, and shaken again until an onyx pendant fell out against the strings. Then fingers pulled the pendant out, the chain rubbing the strings into a quiet sound as it ran across them. She studied the pendant, it was a hawk with it's wings open and its head to the sky. It had been Gavin's. She smiled brightly, and unhooking the chain, she slid her father's ankh pendant down to join Gavin's, then she hooked it back around her neck.

Dominic stood in the doorway, and watched Tianna through the small opening. He hadn't shut the door all of the way when he left the room that morning. She smiled as he watched her. She hadn't said a word as she wandered around the room, and discovered precious bits of her past. In truth she'd barely spoken since they left the hospital. He worried about her, he wanted everything to be okay with her. Wanted her to be the joyous, spirited woman he knew she was. He watched as she slipped the guitar strap around her shoulder and let her hand slid down the woven fabric of that strap, before pushing those long fingers through her own short cropped hair. He smiled, her hair had been growing out and was showing that natural ebony, but it still had pink tips.

Tianna's fingers were stiff and it took her a while to get the tune to play correctly on the guitar. It was a light melody that she'd heard so many times before in her past, and once before in her dreams. Gavin used to sing it to her, and now, as she resolved to move past the lost love, and pay tribute to both him, and her new love, she played it. "If tomorrow never comes," Her voice was soft, airy as she sang quietly, "I would want just one wish." As she continued to sing, she didn't notice Dominic walk into the room, "To taste your quiet mouth," She smiled, when her fingers fumbled lightly over the strings. She shook her head with a slight laugh then continued on, "And trace it's steps with my finger tips."

She looked up and smiled brightly at Dominic, her fingers didn't stop playing that sweet tune, and she didn't stop singing, "And it's you, the light changes when your in the room. It's you, oh it's you." The guitar sang a climatic verse, and then softened down, "And it's you, it's you, oh it's you, it's you... " She'd held out the end of each part, her mouth forming a pert little 'o' as it sang the vowel. Then the music stopped and she held the guitar in her hands for a silent moment, before standing and putting it back in the closet.

"Come here, Princess." Dominic said taking Tianna's hands and pulling her into his arms. He held her for a long moment, just reveling in the feel of her head resting against his chest, and her arms wrapped loosely around his waist. He pulled back a bit and kissed the top of her head, then sat her down on the edge of the bed.

Tia gave him a strange look and then spoke, "You have sit face."

"What face?" Dominic chuckled quietly.

"The 'I'm- about- to- tell- you- something- really- long- and- tedious- so- you- better- sit- down' face." Tianna smiled childishly and kicked her feet back and forth idly as she waited for Dominic to start telling her that long tedious something she was expecting.

"Well, yeah, that's about right. It's not the bad sit face though, I think the long and tedious this time will be worth the wait. At least I hope it will be."

"I'm sure it will. Now tell me, so we don't have to draw the long part on any more that we have to."

Dominic laughed again then took a deep breath, "Tianna,"

"Yes that is my name." Tia snickered, as she playfully interrupted.

"Shh, I'm trying to tell you something tedious and worth knowing."

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'll be a good girl now." Tianna traced a halo in the air above her head with her finger then folded her hands neatly in her lap.

"Good, okay, anyway." Dominic took another breath and tried again, "Tianna," He paused to look and see if she was going to interrupt again, when she didn't he continued, "When I first met you, you were the spunky, little thing, with a tremendous about of strength and attitude. You had some hidden secret that intrigued me. They told me you were building a car and I told them I thought that was a man's job." He winced in mock fear when Tianna glared at him, and quickly attempted to recover, "But I quickly threw that idea out of the window of my car as you went speeding past in that race. I bow down to your superior skills, and apologize for the chauvinistic comment."

Tianna giggled when he really did bow, and fell back against the bed grinning, "Silliness!" She composed her self-- mostly-- and took a deep breath and sat up. Even though she was still grinning, she wasn't giggling, "Apology accepted. Please continue on with this wonderful story about me."

Dominic shook his head at her comment, but did continue on with his story, "Then we almost kissed, but the cops came and we were interrupted. I thought everything was cool, everyone got away all right, I didn't even realize they'd chased you down, until Romeo ran all spastic-like into my house. I told him not to worry about it though, and I headed out to find you. I don't even know how I did, but there you were, cornered in the alley. When you got shot my heart stopped. That was the first sign really, you were just another girl, right?"

"I was not just another girl," Tianna huffed.

"That wasn't a question to be answered... Anyway, I took you home and after you kicked Brian and Vince's asses-- by the way thank you for not kicking Jesse's you might have broken him,"

"No problem. He wasn't the one trying to kill me, so there wasn't a need to kick his ass."

Dominic grinned, "After you kicked Brian and Vince's asses It was my turn to try and fix you. I think I did okay, and I'm really sorry that it hurt so badly, but there was a bullet in your shoulder and you were pretty adamant about not going to the hospital."

"Damn right I was."

"But that was the second sign I think I acknowledged. When you said you didn't died that easily, it just eluded more to the secret I didn't think I would ever find out and it also tore away a little piece of me. For some reason the thought of you dying had hurt. At this point you know I still thought you were just another girl. I guess I had know you a couple days at that point."

"Something like that..."

"That next morning everything started rushing along. I didn't mean to make you cry but my own damned curiosity made me ask about your dad. You just spilled her whole life out to me. You told me the secret. Told me stuff that even Romeo didn't know. My heart just shattered when you cried yourself to sleep in my arms. When you broke down. But I think I got all your pieces back, didn't I?"

"You did," Tianna said quietly, almost shyly, "you even added a couple to fill some of the empty spaces."

"I'm glad... I hoped that would be what you said." Dominic ran a hand over his head, and just looked at Tia as if deciding exactly where he should pick up and continue his story. "When the car crashed, all I could think of was that they didn't mention you on the news when they covered the accident. Well it was murder too, but they called it an accident." When Tianna glared he added, "Don't worry Letty's dead, she got what was coming to her. Anyway, I didn't know where you were, I couldn't find out anything on where you might be. I'd forgotten things you told me that could've been useful. It was like my mind wasn't giving me any information except that I had promises to keep and I wasn't doing a good job.

"It was actually Mystic who pointed out the obvious too me. She said check Rostengburg. So we broke in, we stole files... She came out with the guitar, she said you would want it. I heard you screaming... saw the lights pop with the power surge. I wanted to break you out then. Mystic stopped me though."

"You wouldn't have been able to do it though. My guess is all the security and doctors, were in the little room where the perform the shock therapy. Bunch of sick fucks, the whole lot of them. They watch. I'm like a circus attraction there."

"That doesn't make me feel better... I couldn't do anything, I had to wait. Had to let you suffer more until I could come to the rescue. I heard you scream for me one day, early in the evening. I knew he had you back, but I knew he'd be expecting someone to do something stupid like rushing right in, so I still had to wait. When I found you, you were strung up with barbed wire." Dominic fingers ran lightly of the scarred flesh of Tianna's wrists, "They'd cut so deep I couldn't even see the wire. We took you in the hospital. They stitched you up, and fixed you as best they could but it wasn't enough. You were in a coma for months, and you flat lined... I didn't even know what was going on around me. All I knew is I thought you were dead."

"I told you I don't die as easy as all that."

"I cried, I feel kind of silly saying that now, but I did. I cried because I thought you were dead, and I cried when you screamed and announced very loudly that you were alive, I cried more. I cried like a little girl, Tianna, and I am not ashamed to admit that." Tianna giggled, but didn't say anything so he continued, dropping down on one knee. Dominic took both Tia's hands and kissed the inside her wrists. Then he looked up at her, "I love you Tianna Isis Ammon, so much more than I ever thought possible." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring he'd found in her shoe box. It was a black, double star sapphire, flanked on either side with prefect white diamonds, and set in a simple band of white gold. "Tianna, would you do me the extreme honor, of being my Princess for the rest of my life? Will you marry me?"

Tianna's jaw dropped just a little bit to make her look surprised and she looked at Dominic like he'd grown another head. then here gaze traveled down to the ring, "Mommy's ring..."

"I got permission to use it, it's okay," Dominic didn't know how to react to her lack of an answer, but he was dealing with it.

"Permission? From who?" The only two people she could think of that knew about that ring were dead. Both Romeo and her mom, were dead, so he couldn't have asked them.

"The same person who gave me permission to ask for you hand in marriage." Dominic was grinning slightly, he was actually finding it slightly amusing by this point.

"And who would that be?"

"Your father. He's down stairs in the kitchen."

Tianna blinked as she absorbed the information she'd just been given, then she jumped up from the bed and raced as fast as she could down the stairs and through the living room. She slid to a halt in the kitchen and stared at the man standing there. He seemed just as surprised to see her as she was to see him. "Daddy?"

The man smiled warmly, and he's eyes brightened, "God it's been a long time since I've heard that."

"Oh my god..." Tianna's hands flew over her mouth, she remembered his voice. She remembered the look of him though he looked much smaller than she remembered. Then again, though, she had been much shorter the last time she saw him. "Daddy!" She threw her arms around the man's neck and hugged him as if she would fall if she let go. She laughed when he whispered little comments about her height and hair color, and how he'd missed her. Everything just seemed to fall into place. "Did you really tell Dominic he could marry me?"

"I did, I can tell he loves you. Did he use you mother's ring?"

"Yes."

"I don't see it on your finger, he did ask didn't he?"

"Yes he did."

"And what did you tell Dominic?"

Very slowly, and very comically as the expression showed vividly on her face, Tianna realized she'd never given Dominic an answer. "Oh my god... I can't believe I didn't..." She didn't even finish the scolding comment she was giving herself, she just turned and ran out of the kitchen. Dominic wasn't in the living room so he hadn't followed her down. "Still upstairs then," She said climbing the stairs two at a time and running into the room.

In the bed room Dominic was still kneeling on the floor, and awkwardly he turned to face Tianna as she reentered. He grinned boyishly, and held the ring out as an offering, "Will you marry me Tianna, or should I ask again?"

Tianna threw herself against Dominic knocking him back against the carpet. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him thoroughly, before pulling back. "Absolutely yes. Yes. Yes. Yes." She kissed him after each spoken yes and giggled when he nuzzled her neck, and wrapped his arms tight around her.

Dominic sat up and leaned Tia just far back enough to slid the ring onto her left ring finger. It fit perfectly. "Looks like you have your mother's hands." Dominic said leaning into Tia pressing his forehead to hers. The smile on Dominic's face was that of a giddy boy getting his first kiss.

Tianna angled her head and kissed the man again, then in response she added, "Looks like I finally have my Prince Charming."

"Yeah?"

"It's you."