Title: Through Another's Eyes
Rating: T
Ship: Dom/Letty
Description: A background, foreground and future fic surrounding Dom and Letty and the circumstances invloved in the movie. Answering a lot of questions the movie left open.
Disclaimer: I wish. The things I could do with Dominic. ;)
Chapter 1
To understand how they got here. To this very moment. You have to go back to the beginning. All the way back to the street they first lived on. When Tony Toretto was still working on his car, in the family garage, every afternoon. When Maria Toretto was still making dinner in the kitchen. When Mia Toretto was still in pink dresses her mother picked, playing with her dolls, like any normal 6 year old. Dominic Toretto was in the garage watching his dad with awe and envy. And little Leticia Ramieraz lived down the street.
The Torettos were famous even then. At least in her eyes. They'd always been her family. Ever since she was a baby. Her mother had been friends with Maria, her father with Tony, and her older brother with Dominic. And as unconventional as they seemed now, back then the two families that always seemed to blend into one, were as normal as any other family on their block. They were happy. Every sunday they'd go to church together and head back to the Torettos for a barbeque lunch. It was their ritual, one they continued all their lives. But as in every story, there's conflict and pain, riddled amoung the joy and love.
As many happy memories Letty had of that time. There was one memory that always clouded the rest. One that still, to this day, some 20 years later, could bring tears to her eyes.
You have understand. The Toretto's and the Ramieraz' weren't two families. They were one. They'd known each other for so long, that they'd blended together so casually no one had noticed. They lived their lives as one big family. When one member of that family hurt, everyone else felt the pain. And when one succeeded, it was success for everyone. There was a lot of joy in that big family. But there was a lot of pain too.
And it started with her brother. They'd been close, Letty and Joey. He'd only been a few years older than her. But he was a born protector. He watched out for her all the time. She was his baby sister and he loved her. She'd never doubted that, and knowing had helped when it happened. They'd always called him Joey. He'd never liked Juan. He said it sounded too Spanish. Being best friends with Dom, the Italian Stallion as Letty always teased, didn't help. He'd wanted to be just like him, so he adopted the name of Joey when he was only 3 years old. The same year Letty was born.
It would be seven years later when their world was rocked for the first of many times. They'd been walking home from school, he and Dom. Dom had seen it all. They were screwing around. Like 10 year old boys tended to do. Joey had just barely stepped off the curb when the car came tearing around the corner. He had never seen it coming.
Letty could still remember the sound of the sirens as they came closer and closer to her house. She ran downstairs and out onto the front porch. She saw the paramedics all crowded around and Tony was pulling a screaming Dom away from the scene. She jumped down the stairs and ran towards them. But Maria had grabbed her, scooping her up in her arms before she could get close enough to see what was going on. Maria had held her tightly, burying Letty's face against her neck and rubbing her back comfortingly. Letty couldn't see anything but she heard her mother's heart wrenching scream and her father's voice calling to her brother. She remembered feeling utter dread and the warmth of Mia's hand holding hers.
Somewhere amoungst all the screaming Letty had figured it out. Joey was hurt, badly, and as the fear set in she'd wrapped herself around Maria as tightly as she could. The ride to the hospital had been a blur, her most vivid memory had been the smell of Maria's soft perfume, as she'd held her the whole way there, and her soft voice soothing her as best she could.
To this day she hated hospitals and couldn't stand to be in them for more than a few minutes. She even still found herself reaching for Maria's hand. She'd sat there that first day for hours. Not moving, just holding Maria's hand as she sat in her lap. The accident managed to bring their two families even closer. None of them had left the hospital the whole time. They littered the halls, and sat beside Joey's bed the entire time. All three days.
He was a fighter, her brother. He'd held on for three whole days before he was gone. The moment he passed they were all in the room. Letty's mother, on one side of the bed holding his small hand, her father on the other doing the same. Tony had stood by her Dad, his hand on his shoulder, giving the only support he could as they watched Joey struggle for breath. Mia stood at the foot of the bed, rubbing Joey's feet gently. She'd always been a carer. It was the first time Mia thought about being a doctor.
But what Letty remembered most from her brother's last moments always made her feel guilty. She remembered looking from Maria's lap, at Dom standing at the door. He was looking in, and she knew the moment her brother took his last breath by the tear that rolled down Dom's cheek. What happened next was a blur as Maria and Tony gathered Mia, Dom and Letty in their arms and took them out of the room. Maria stayed with them as Tony went back into the room.
Maria had gathered the three children in her arms and whispered that everything was going to be ok as they all cried quietly. Dom pulled away and ran down the corridor and around the corner. They'd found him sitting outside crying later. But Maria had stayed with her. She had Mia on one knee and Letty on the other. Her arms around them both. And Letty could remember her words and her voice perfectly.
"My beautiful girls. I know this hurts." Her voice had cracked for a moment. But she continued. "But I promise you, everything is going to be ok. Joey is up in heaven now. And although we'd like him here with us, God wanted him more. You'll see him again. I promise."
Letty had believed her. Everything would be ok, cause Maria promised, and Maria never broke her promises.
She had been right in a sense. It had been hard. For a long time. But the Torettos had stuck by them and they'd made it through. Even finding their way back to happiness.
Looking back, Letty realised that was the moment she'd really fallen for cars. As twisted as it sounded. She'd always been fascinated by them, but in that moment she'd decided that she was going to learn everything about them. She was going to know everything there was to know and maybe then, she wouldn't be so scared.
She'd started hanging around Dom and Tony as they worked on the charger. They been great about it. Telling her everything they were doing. Explaining everything to her. Even letting her help. Turned out she had a knack for it.
From then on the memories became happier as they got through their loss together. But it wouldn't be the last tragedy to strike their family. It was only the beginning.