It's My Life
Okay, as promised, here's Lena's side of 'For Rel' and 'Get Rel'.
NOTE: For anyone who would like to know, I've got a new GW fic out, An Understanding Love; another Heero/Relena story. Thought some of you would like to know.
They started with the drums and then the bass, electric, and keyboards joined in.
Focus! Relena told herself, forcefully pulling her eyes away from Heero.
"Can you move it like this?" Draca sang, recalling Relena to what the band was playing.
Relena and Lynn responded with, "I can shake it like that!" Repeating two more times.
"Come on ladies rock the party! Shake your body dance on the party!" all three girls cried out before the band got quieter so that Adam could sing over all of the instruments.
Vocals switched over to Sage and Relena had to smile as he sang. They had found only one recording of the song and Sage did everything possible to imitate the man's voice from the recording.
When Sage was done, the girls did another round of call and response with the chorus. After the chorus there were three down notes that the entire instrumental part of the band did together then continued with the instrumental sound for a bit before the song switched back over to Sage.
Adam moved over to Relena, as much as his chord to his amp would allow, and began to act as though he were the one singing the song instead of Sage. Relena just shook her head at her friend's playful, gay mood while keeping track of where the band was in the music.
That was the great thing, in Relena's opinion, about playing in a band that sang, if anyone got lost it was easy to get back on track. Whereas if there was no singing and if a person got lost then sooner or later the rest of the band would be lost due to missed cues.
Soon enough the song came to an end with a fading effect and Relena hit the last chord as Sage pounded the closing bass beat. Unconsciously, Relena had let out a sigh of relief and drew in a deep breath as a small, secretive smile started to form, until the sound of the unenthused applause came to her ears. Of course she heard the few enthusiastic clasps but those were outnumbered by the higher class polite applause.
Having lived in that world of high class all her life and knowing exactly what those polite applauses translated into—"Great, you played, now leave"—Relena decided to not have it be that way. No, the higher class audience was going to get involved whether they wanted to or not.
"That sounds weak people. Also, don't clap if you don't like it, please, we would like you all to be blunt with us," implored Relena, shaking her head slightly, she just could no longer tolerate falseness.
"You suck!" came a voice, which sounded suspiciously like one of the teenaged sons of America's representative, from the background.
"Like that, thank you sir, whoever said that. That's what we need to know, though we may ignore that comment for this evening," teased Lynn, glancing at Relena to give her wink of encouragement.
"For those of you who do not know our music, all the songs that we are singing tonight are not our songs. Our songs are usually in Japanese; these songs are just some classics that we pulled out from the internet on ancient music. These songs maybe dead to the world right now but that's the exact reason why we brought them here tonight. Though we shall play one of our songs for you later on this evening," explained Draca, switching her microphone for an ear piece microphone.
"I vote for Salimar to sing the next song," voted Adam while Lynn took off her guitar, handing it to one of the free percussionists, who apparently also played guitar, and strapped it on.
Completely surprised by Adam's suggestion since it wasn't planned that she sing the next song, Relena cried, "What! I protest to that!" All the crowd did was wait impatiently for the band to get on with their show and to stop talking and arguing.
Noting the frowns from the crowd, Lynn decided that the minor protest between Adam and Relena needed to stop and offered, "I'll join in with you, Salimar, and so will Draca."
Taking one of the other two ear piece microphones, Lynn attached it into her ear then took the other one and handed it to Relena. She glanced down at the ear piece with a tiny pout yet reluctantly took it and stood up from the keyboard.
Standing in front of the crowd with Lynn and Draca was frightening for Relena, she was so used to sitting off to the side and protected a bit by the keyboard that when she was in front of the crowd without the keyboard she felt naked.
Sage cued the trumpet player to be ready to play and immediately both drums and singers started at the same time in a swing style song, the singers snapping their fingers to the beat.
Trying to ignore the fact that her friends were in the crowd, Relena tried to loosen up a bit to dance, but it wasn't working. She watched as Lynn and Draca moved about, working the crowd into the music by clapping their hands, snapping their fingers, and starting to swing dance a bit with some of the older men.
"Women will confirm if you wanna make heads turn and boyfriends to get jealous. I'm tellin' you now so listen up fellas! Silk may show you hustle, and tee's may show your muscle. But the guy the girls are choosin' is wearing that brand new Van Heusen!" sang Relena, feeling her body relax and a genuine grin plastered as her face as she joined the crowd.
Relena purposely, feeling daring, went nearby Trowa as to silently, and without his knowing, say, "Catch me if you can."
"A crisp white shirt, stylin' tie, jacket, slacks, shoes that shine; starched light, martinized, cotton's hot buttoned up or not. Long sleeve, French cuff, studly, cuddly, sensuous! Hey guys, three words: You can't go wrong with a crisp white shirt," the three girls sang while doing some action such as making a gesture to the white shirts of the tuxedoes while singing.
"Wear flannel in the forest, plaid if you're a tourist, tank top if you're swimmin', and polyester if you don't like women," Relena flickered at the collar of one of the nearby young men wearing a polyester shirt. "Sweatshirt when you're gruntin', thermals when you're huntin'. Girls will treat you like Adonis…They even love 'em for pajamas!"
As Relena was becoming much more relaxed, she began adding in gestures to the list of clothing or pointing them out from the crowd.
"A crisp white shirt, stylin' tie, jacket, slacks, shoes that shine; starched light, martinized, cotton's hot buttoned up or not. Long sleeve, French cuff, studly, cuddly, sensuous! Hey guys, three words: You can't go wrong with a crisp white shirt…" Trumpet crescendoed with the vocals. "…stylin' tie, jacket, slacks, shoes that shine; starched light, martinized, cotton's hot buttoned up or not! Long sleeve…French cuff, studly, cuddly, sensuous! Hey guys, three words: You can't go wrong with a crisp…white…shirt!"
The trumpet played its last note and this time more of the guests were applauding, for real, causing Relena to swell with pride. She was happy to be able to see the higher class, who were normally very formal and sometimes a bit stiff, lighten.
"Whoa! Sounding much better people but we only get to do six more songs than it is back to the orchestra, after all they're the ones getting paid to play for you, not us," Draca told the crowd after glancing at Marquis Weridge for the sign that they had six more songs to do before they had to leave.
Removing the ear piece microphone, Relena took her place back behind the keyboard and felt its securities envelope her. As she dimly listened to Draca, Relena glanced over at her grandfather, Marquis Weridge. He caught her eye and gave her a proud, broad smile and discreet kiss.
"…I think it's about time to slow the pace down slightly, but not too much," was all Relena heard before she realized that the band was humming and bass guitar playing softly.
Everyone continued to hum even after Sage began to sing "Lean on Me". Relena wasn't so much fond of the song itself as she was of the lyrics, she liked the lyrics a lot but she didn't like to play the song too much. It was one of her less practiced pieces and one of those songs that required minimal keyboard.
"Girl, please swallow your pride. If I have things you need to borrow, for no one can fill those of your needs that you don't let show," jumped in Adam, causing Relena to glance back at him. She knew what he was doing, he was singing the song to her for the most part and as endearing as that might have been to other people, Relena knew better.
With Adam, if he sang a song to you it wasn't because he was showing his feelings for you, but rather he was giving advice or trying to cheer someone up. This time, he was trying to discreetly give Relena advice.
Subconsciously, Relena sang the chorus with the rest of the band, like she was supposed to.
For the rest of the song, Relena tried to relax until she saw that Draca was out in the crowd, dancing with Quatre no less!
Caught between laughing aloud or yelling at Draca for dancing with Quatre, Relena just shook her head and smiled, bopping her head to the music until it came to it's abrupt ending, one that she hated. She just couldn't get over how the ending just seemed so suddenly that it barely seemed like an ending at all.
"Now, wasn't that fun? Thank you, Quatre for the dance," winked Draca before returning to the band. "Alright ladies and gents, we shall have our dear electric player, Lynn, show you how well she is able to sing."
Subtly, Relena made a victorious 'yes' motion as she watched Lynn's eyes grow wide with surprise and the orchestra percussion player pull out a country styled guitar and put it in tune.
"Come on country girl; show them what you are able to sing!" urged Draca.
It wasn't common knowledge, but for those who did their research into Lynn's past, beyond the fact that she was a foster kid, they found out that Lynn was in fact a Texas born girl and had spent the first five years of her life in Dallas.
"You are so dead, Draca," growled Lynn as she replaced the ear piece microphone back into her ear. "Okay, people, me being a slight Texan girl at heart, I shall be showin' ya'll a little bit of the country music. It ain't all what most people think it is."
The orchestra player started up on the guitar then Sage joined in with Adam, which was to be the only instrumental background music for the entire song, until Relena came in later with the keyboard.
Getting up from behind the keyboard with the ear piece microphone on, Relena went over to a nearby young male and asked him for a brief dance. He accepted with a surprised tone, and took Relena out on the dance floor as Lynn sang with a lot of emotion.
When Lynn came to the line, "But Katie's young and man, she just don't care," Relena excused herself from her partner and grabbed a girl that was close to them for the man to dance with.
Finding Lynn by Heero and Sylvia, Relena closed her eyes briefly so that no one would see her roll them. What was it and her friends attracting attention from Heero? Was it some sort of plan to make Heero find her even faster!
"She's in love with the boy! She's in love with the boy! She's in love with the boy!" Relena sang with the other girls before Lynn took control of the song again.
Returning to her keyboard, Relena prepared herself for her upcoming chords and miniature solos, which were fun for Relena to play for they weren't written like classical pieces but more laid back with a little bounce.
"She's gonna marry that boy someday…" The song ended with Lynn back with the rest of the band, standing beside Draca, who had started up a line of line dancers in the middle of the song-amazingly enough.
"Now, doesn't she have a beautiful voice?" asked Draca, being extremely playful with Lynn as she winked at her friend. "Though I think we have been neglecting the boys too much, what do you say ladies?"
There were a few daughters of the representatives that cheered at the idea, which surprised Relena. Not once, in her years of politics pre and post being Vice Foreign Minister, did Relena ever hear anyone cheer.
"My…boys, you two have a bit of a fan club all of your own," teased Draca, throwing Relena a stunned-questioning look, which Relena replied with a shrug. She couldn't explain why suddenly some girls cheered.
"Hallelujah to that sister!" agreed Relena, full-heartedly as she moved away from her instrument and towards Draca. "Anyways, we are all about being different and singing different types of music. So let's hear some of it boys!"
Lynn placed her guitar back on and glanced at Adam for a cue. He gave her a curt nod and both of them opened up the song, then Sage joined them.
It was a fast pace song and it could make almost anyone hyped, or suffer from a headache.
"8 o'clock Monday night and I'm waiting to finally talk to a girl a little cooler than me. Her name is Nona she's a rocker with a nose ring. She wears a 2-way, but I'm not quite sure what that means…" Adam sang, watching as Relena made her way around the crowds, pointedly avoiding the area where Quatre, Sylvia, and Heero were.
"And when she walks," he continued to sing, "all the wind blows and the angels sing…but, she doesn't notice me! Cause she's watching wrestling, creaming over tough guys, listening to rap metal, turntables in her eye."
Relena could feel Adam's eyes on her as she danced with one of the older men of the audience, who had zero rhythm, yet the young girl bore it well. Glancing up to meet Adam's stare, she saw him motion his head toward Heero and Sylvia, even though it looked more like hair toss.
Understanding what he wanted her to do, which was to go over by Heero and sort of stand under his nose without him knowing who she really was. Biting her lip, Relena shook her head. This was a game she was playing with the perfect soldier and she didn't wish to somehow mess up now, perhaps later she would approach him, but not now.
"There she goes again with fishnets on and dread locks in her hair. She broke my heart I want to be sedated. All I wanted was to see her naked," Adam sang, giving Relena a small shrug.
"Your band is pretty good!" shouted the older man Relena was dancing with, catching her attention. "I never knew how much fun it would be to hear lyrics in music or to hear such a small variety of music make simplistic music sound like a masterpiece."
"Thank you," Relena smiled, she knew what a critical critic someone like Mr. Robinson of Canada was. So, a compliment from him was not something to be taken lightly.
"I'm especially impressed with your friend's voice," he continued, gesturing to Draca. "She has a powerful voice that it very well tuned and pleasant to listen to, and I should know having been a choir teacher when I was much younger."
Raising an impressed eyebrow, Relena stared down at the man in shock. She had never known that Mr. Robinson had once been a teacher before he went into politics, and it made her smile that she now knew something more, something more personal beyond his political reputation and status.
"We keep telling her that she should be an opera singer," Relena replied.
Mr. Robinson smiled, "You have a wonderful voice as well, it may not be professional or as powerful as your friend's, but a pleasure to listen to none the less. You shouldn't try to hide your talent so much, what you sang earlier was delightful."
Her cheeks were burning, she was certain of it. Relena was never one to be able to take compliments about herself too well, it was nice to hear them but so many times she found her own opinions contradicted others', causing her to believe people only complimented her for politeness sake.
"No, I don't," Relena denied out of habit.
"Indeed you do, and never let anyone, including yourself, say otherwise," Mr. Robinson told her as the song came to an end. "It was a pleasure to have had this dance with you."
"As it was with you," returned Relena as she returned Mr. Robinson to his eldest daughter and wife. "Your husband is quite the gentleman Mrs. Robinson."
"I would have nothing less," the older woman smiled.
Laughing a bit, Relena bowed to the Robinson family before returning to the band and giving Sage a high-five and "Great job". Then she did the same with Adam and he replied, "Next time, dance with Heero, make Sylvia jealous."
Sitting at the keyboard, Relena just rolled her eyes, she did not wish to draw attention, at least not a lot of it, to her character Salimar.
"These boys certainly can sing, can't they ladies and gentlemen?" declared Lynn, applauding the boys before nodding to Draca who just smiled evilly for a second and gave Lynn a wink.
Relena didn't see the wink nor did she notice that wicked smile that was on Draca's lips until she heard her friend announce the next singer.
"Now, this time for certain, Salimar is going to sing our first true slow song of the evening for all of you great people that keep the peace for all of us," announced Draca, directing everyone's attention to the stunned but defeated Relena.
Relena wanted to protest but she knew that it would be useless this time, and her ballad was meant for only one singer, though it could have more. Plus, what Mr. Robinson said about trying not to hide her talents repeated itself in Relena's head.
Waving a bit and forcing a smile, one that Relena was used to putting on after meetings, during meetings, in the public, just about anywhere. There was no way that she was going to show just how terrified she was to have to sing by herself, and on a ballad.
Moving to the piano, Relena sat down while Lynn took control of the keyboard, setting it to her liking.
Adjusting the microphone on the piano to suit her, Relena tested the tuning of the piano and its tone once more to make certain that it still sounded magnificent. Satisfied, she turned to Lynn and gave her a nod.
Taking a sedated breath, Relena heard Lynn play the keyboard solo before piano, bass, and drums entered.
With her eyes closed yet fingers gliding confidently over the piano, Relena sang, "I don't know what it is that you've done to me, but it's caused me to act in such a crazy way. Whatever it is that you do when you do what you're doing…It's a feeling that I don't understand. 'Cause my heart starts beating triple time with thoughts of loving you on my mind. I can't figure out just what to do when the cause and cure is you."
In her mind, Relena could picture Heero's image during the Eves' War when he was introduced to the St. Gabriel class as 'Heero Yuy'.
"I get so weak in the knees, I can hardly speak, I lose all control and something takes over me. In a daze and it's so amazing! It's not a phase, I want you to stay with me, by my side, I swallow my pride. Your love is so sweet, it knocks me right off of my feet! Can't explain why your loving makes me weak."
Relena resisted the temptation of opening her eyes to gaze at Heero, for if she opened her eyes she would see him with Sylvia.
"Time after time, after time I try to fight it…but your love is strong, it keeps on holding on! Resistance is down when you're around, cries fading. In my condition, I don't want to be alone! 'Cause my heart starts beating triple time with thoughts of loving you on my mind. I can't figure out just what to do when the cause and cure is you…"
She could see him sitting on the bench in the park outside of the Peacecraft home and school, reading a book again. During his stay in the Sank Kingdom she had began to notice some of the smaller habits and pleasures Heero took, and it wasn't because she followed him around.
"I get so weak in the knees, I can hardly speak, I lose all control and something takes over me. In a daze and it's so amazing! It's not a phase, I want you to stay with me, by my side, I swallow my pride. Your love is so sweet, it knocks me right off of my feet! Can't explain why your loving makes me weak."
The image in her mind changed over to the night when she had left her life as Relena Darlian-Peacecraft, Vice Foreign Minister, behind. She could recall every word that she and Heero had exchanged.
"I try hard to fight it! No way can I deny it! You're love's so sweet, knocks me off my feet!"
She could remember the unjust anger she felt toward him the moment he walked into the kitchen and how one of his rare, small smiles faded into his mask of indifference. It seemed as though he could not allow her to see something so precious as a smile.
"I get so weak in the knees, I can hardly speak, I lose all control and something takes over me. In a daze and it's so amazing! It's not a phase, I want you to stay with me, by my side, I swallow my pride. Your love is so sweet, it knocks me right off of my feet! Can't explain why your loving makes me weak!"
Relena could hear Lynn start to since the echoing, "I get so weak," while the tempo of the song gradually grow a little powerful.
"Blood starts racing through my veins! Boy, it's something I can't explain! Something 'bout the way you do the things you doo-ooo-ooo, it...Ohhhhh, off my feet!
Can't explain why your lovin' makes me weak…"
Relena added in her own little improvise grace note at the end of the song.
Slowly opening her eyes, Relena saw that Heero was still floating around the dance floor with Sylvia. She adverted her eyes ruefully and felt her chest tighten painfully.
Taking a breath, Relena blinked away her tears and looked up to find that Draca had been dancing with Trowa, of all people! It amazed Relena that Trowa had even danced, let alone allowed Draca to dance with him.
Draca ditched her dance partner and headed back to the band only to stand near the drum set and by Adam. Relena couldn't hear what they were saying but apparently it was something about Heero and Sylvia.
Getting up, she and Lynn joined the group.
"What's the game plan?" asked Lynn. The band had only two more songs to play and they could perform them three ways; one, play both now and be done with it. Two, play one now, take a break, and play the last afterwards. Or three, take a break and play both at the end.
"Last one, then your song, we are out of here, and then on the first flight back to Verona. I don't want to be here any longer than necessary," Draca told them, and Relena could feel her friend's underlining meaning, she didn't want to stay around Heero and Sylvia longer than necessary.
"Aw…come on, darling, that would be rude for us to dash away without chowing down on some food or paying our respects in person to the host and to Marquis Weridge," pointed out Adam, draping an arm over Relena's shoulder.
"He's right, after all Marquis Weridge did get us this gig so we must thank him at the very least," added Relena as a hint that she would like to have a word or two with her grandfather before leaving.
"Fine, we'll do this your way than. We finish, we pack up, we thank, and then we are out of here," listed Draca, surprising Relena that she gave in so easily. "Sound good for all of you?"
"What about food?" asked Sage as everyone turned to him with raised eyebrows. If there was ever anyone who was overly food conscious, it was Sage. He refused to waste food and would eat as much as he could without vomiting. "Can't go home on an empty stomach, you know."
"Okay, we eat too," sighed Draca, shaking her head. "Is that good for all of you?"
"Yeah, but let's get back to the crowd they look a bit anxious," noted Relena, impressed that the higher class crowd was restless for the band to play again.
"Let's finish this then," declared Draca and the group returned to their instruments, Lynn to her guitar and Relena to her keyboard.
Picking up an ear microphone, Draca plastered on a smile and announced to the crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen I regret to inform you that this is the second to last song that we shall perform for you this evening. We have one more after this song, one of our songs, to still entertain you with though."
Thank you to: NekuYasha, Lynn-Minmay, Morrighan of Crimson and Sable, Ulitheal, and DogDemonK9.
Damn, this thing was long, and it took so long to write! Hope you enjoyed.