Disclaimer: I don't own The Host *fails to come up with witty remark*.

Author's Note: Hey, loyal fans. I have a little challenge for you: how would you define fanfiction? I've been curious myself, but I can't seem to be able to explain it. I'm excited to see what you come up with. Review away!

The Perfect Tune: A Burns Story

Chapter 6: Duets in Catatonia

Rains POV

I seemed to be drifting in an endless light. But it wasn't light, it was clouds. Drifting in a sea of clouds, lovely. It was so peaceful, I could just drown.

The clouds were amazingly soft, like the feather pillows Cassandra remembered sleeping with when she was small. I didn't get that logic at all, though. I've felt feathers and they're in no way soft, except for their amazingly silky quality, which you couldn't feel through the pillow cover. But hey, they weren't my memories.

There was also a deafening silence, like the ones in Cassandra's childhood. I couldn't hear a thing.

Oh God, I thought. Was I deaf?

Silly me. I couldn't be deaf. You don't go deaf in heaven.

I didn't want to leave this place. There was nothing in the world to worry about, no silly human emotions to throw a fit over.

Then I realized something.

I couldn't move. It was as if some force was holding me down, like a brace of hands.

I didn't like this much anymore. I couldn't hear, I couldn't move, I bet I can't see either, and the clouds are just an illusion.

But what of the soft pillows? Could it be that I was Cassandra again, lying in the bed of my parent's large manor?

Could all that had happened have been a dream? Could Burns not exist, just a figment of my imagination?

No, if none of this has happened, then why did my arm hurt so much?

Then the thought brought up the pain. My arm throbbed with impossible pain, more than that of when Cassandra had fallen down the grand staircase when she was eight. More than when I had rolled into a cactus during my Seeker exam. More than all of the pain I or Cassandra had felt in our lives combined.

I screamed, but I couldn't hear that either.

"Rains?" A voice said, breaking through my silent reverie. It continued. "Please, it'll be okay!" It sounded pleading, as if he were trying to convince himself as well.

Then, he started to sing. I remembered. I remembered those sincere lyrics and contemporary style. I remembered the voice, most of all.

Burns.

"Burns…" I whispered, the words coming out incredibly slurred.

"Rains?" He seemed happier. Happier that I could hear him, that I knew how much he loved me.

"I love you…" I hoped he could understand my words, because I surprisingly couldn't.

"I love you too." I could feel one of the bracing hands reach over, and hold my own.

I smiled, drifting back into the clouds.

Burns POV

It turned out that Rains was going to be alright. Doc fixed up her arm nice and solid, and she was going to be waking up anytime soon. I stayed by her bedside, vowing to be the first thing she sees when she wakes up.

I brought my guitar, singing for her. It seemed to make her so much happier. She also seemed pained, as if she wanted to be there with me to hear the songs in person. I sad that I couldn't be there with her.

I wondered where she was. Could she be back with the souls, with her Shards?

I wouldn't be mad. Shards made her happy, I think. But if I was comatose, I'd be right here. Nothing extravagant. As long as Rains was there, it'd be heaven.

"But you are here," I murmured. "And I'm right here with you."

Her hand twitched, closing around mine. Her eyelids fluttered, and she jerked awake.

"Burns!" She cried, wrapping her good arm around me.

"I love you too," I said, placing a good, pure kiss on her lips.

Rains POV

Ever since I've woken up, Burns and I were inseparable. He'd be there, holding my good hand, kissing the ever-healing scar on my cheek.

"So, what's the catch?" I said one day, after Burns had brought me lunch.

Slight confusion splaying his handsome features. "What catch?"

"Why are you spending so much time with me? I know you love me and all, but you still wouldn't be around me so much. 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder' and all that."

He sighed, sadness replacing confusion. "We only have a week together, Rains. Once our time is up, Doc is going to…"

"Going to what, Burns?" I put a hand over his heart, stroking his chest.

"They're going to extract you, send you away," he looked away.

"But I'm not dangerous!"

"I know, Rains. But we can't take any chances. I'm sorry."

We? Was I not a part of them, after all I've been through?

I sat there, speechless. My hand lay motionless, still touching his heart. Burns held me to his chest now, stroking my hair.

I didn't want to leave. I was, in Shards' words, attached. I loved everyone here, well, except for Jared. He was a sore spot ever since he broke my arm.

We sat there for a really long time. Burns was about to go walk me to dinner when we hear the distant cry of,

"Seeker!"

Author's Note: Sorry if the endings kind of rocky. I always have problems with endings, in writing and in real life. If you have a couple more dollars of iTunes credits to burn, check out "Jamie All Over" by Mayday Parade. It's an awesome song, and it has the word Jamie in the title! Anyway, please review and I will update soon.