Author's Note: This is an AU, I will try to rewrite the first chapter when inspiration strikes. :) Until then, here's the second chapter. This is written from the point of view of some random person, also known as a figment of my imagination! Song used is No One by Aly and AJ.
THINGS LEFT UNSAID
Because the things left unsaid were, more often than not, the most important things. The things left unsaid, like so many things between them.
CHAPTER TWO
angel
--
ANGEL
DEFINITION: an attendant or guardian spirit
You are moving through the crowd
Trying to find yourself
Feelin' like a doll left on a shelf
Will someone take you down?
The sign is the same as it always is, reading 'Arliya Forest' in faded grey letters set on a white fence. It isn't like I was searching for anything in particular. That is when I saw her, the beautiful girl. Fairy light hair brushing just past the jutting of her shoulder bones at her back, eyes that could have been painted with the thinnest painbrush by the most talented artist.
She could have been an angel.
But she is lonely. One look at her and I can tell what kind of person she is. Weary, cold, and setting out into the real world. We are not so different, she and I, save for the fact that she is beautiful. A charming melody rings out from the distance, high and lovely. Her shoeless feet dance over the grass and light powdering of snow and I realize who she is. She is a dancer, light and delicate, she twirls in the arms of the night, air cold and harsh, but holding her in place.
The music rises higher, and her eyes alight with some passion I will never be able to understand. There is the line between her and I. She is one of them, born with fire and compassion in their hearts. I am no so, I will follow, and I will settle for whatever life hands me.
She dances to the music, until- "Riza!" She freezes, hands still suspended in the air before she turns, and her face enlightens. "Maria! How are you?"
Her friend, dark haired and beautiful, but not like the angel girl, strides forward. "Riza! You're going to have a cold, come to my place!" Riza laughs, speaking something about burdening her friend while being dragged along.
It is in a split second my mind makes a decision.
"Angel, are you lonely and cold up there were you are?" my voice rings across the field and I watch behind the tree branches that shrowd me to see her turn, picture perfect eyes settling on mine, though she must not have known it. The notes I sang still hang silently in the air, and she pauses, breath caught.
"Riza, what are you looking at?" her friend inquires. Only the Angel girl heard me. Riza flashes her friend a bitterly beautiful smile, wheeling on her heel and pulling Maria along behind her. It is only after a moment that I follow them, the dark, my guise.
--
The Angel girl visits the clearing in the forest every night. She dresses warmer now, I figure her friend must provide her well. I am glad. I am gladder still that Angel girl dances for me every night. I believe she knows I am here.
I know because after her promenade, I will sing one line for her. Simple, haunting, and beautiful, and she will turn and smile at wherever I am. Never has she come forward to see who hides behind the tree, I would run if she did, and she would not catch me if I ran. She realizes this, it is our silent agreement. And I will not move forward to introduce myself, because she will run if I do, and I will not be able to catch her.
This, we know.
--
It is one of the Art and Music performances Rebecca has dragged me to. She wishes for me to sing for the crowd, but once we arrive, I see the Angel girl. This time, however, she does not know it is I. Riza only knows me as the Voice. We are intoduced, she smiles brilliantly at me and I shake her hand. We exchange pleasantries and her voice is beautiful and soft, like I had expected.
She does not realize it is I, and I tell Rebecca I will not be singing, tonight.
--
One day, Angel girl comes to the field in turmoil. "Voice! Come out, I cannot bear the loneliness, tonight!" she calls out, and I hesitate. "Please!" she calls, and I step further into the shadows, she will be disappointed at who I am if should reveal myself.
"What is wrong, child?" I sing, the harmony delicate.
"Come out, please!" She takes a step towards where she knows I reside.
"Do not step near!" I sing, letting the pretense of anger seep into my voice. Angel girl will do no better to not know who I am. She pauses, hanging in the air for a second before I sing, smooth and lulling, "Dance, child, dance."
She dances.
--
The next few weeks return to our schedule. She will dance and I will sing. Tonight is different. She dances into the clearing, eyes sparkling. "Voice!" she exclaims, twirling and letting the snow whirl around her as she dances, fast and fleeting and beautiful. Finally, she stops. She lies backward on the snow, wetting her clothing. She is wearing a brand new jacket tonight, as well as a new pair of boots, I wonder where she has the money to buy such things.
Riza faces the stars while she croons to me. "Voice, I will be returning no longer."
"Have you been taken by deceit?" Her statement angers me.
"Oh, but you don't understand! You see, I met a man-"
"Deceit! Your foolish love is an illusion."
"No! It isn't. He's the most beautiful man! He treats me so kindly and he- oh! Here he comes!"
"Riza?" a deep, throaty voice unknown to me cuts across the clearing, and she lifts her head up from her pillow of snow. I turn my head to see a black haired man stepping towards her. His eyes are hidden to me. I am sure he is the Devil hiding himself from me. "Roy!" she exclaims pleasantly.
He chuckles, and I realize he is the most beautiful man I have ever seen, for his eyes are just as beautiful as hers. "What are you doing in the snow, you are going to have a cold." he smiles, warm at her.
She turns to the tree I am behind, "You see, Voice, this is no illusion."
Roy turns confusedly to her, "Who are you speaking to, Riza? There is no one here."
"Angel." I sing, letting my voice ring pure and clear and long to the two of them. Angel girl's Roy looks surprisedly at my tree. I let my note fade, letting my approval cut across to reach her. She smiles beautifully.
"Thank you, Voice." she voices. Roy chuckles, "I have a feeling no matter how much I ask you about this subject, you will not tell me the answer to this riddle."
Riza smiles, "I will not. Goodbye, Angel." she says to me.
"Angel." I sing again.
--
I never see that clearing again, and I know Angel never does again, either.
Your life plays out on the shadows of the wall
You turn the light on to erase it all
You wonder what it's like to not feel worthless
So open all the blinds and all the curtains
--
Author's Note: Okay, so the first two chapters of this drabble collection really are weird, aren't they? Hope it wasn't too bad. Anyway, for this, I wanted to portray Riza as young and fleeting, and having an interest in dancing, rather than all the heavy, depressing burdens she usually has to bear.