Set Me Free - Chapter 16
Rated: T
Revival
Chapter Summary: A sudden change of heart from Buster Moon has incredible ripple effects for all involved.
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The name on her phone 'Moon' suddenly popped up on screen and it made Ash physically flinch and almost drop the device out of pure shock. The annoying ringtone blaring and vibrating in her paw didn't have any intention of stopping and it was only succeeding in making this situation harder to deal with for she had such little time to comprehend it all…
…For indeed - Buster Moon was calling her…
Whatever the reason, she wasn't sure.
At first, Ash thought perhaps it was a strange dream. That she'd simply fallen asleep laying on the couch and this was all some twisted nightmare caused by lack of sleep and too much junk food. It would sure as hell make more sense than if this was reality - because none of this made much sense for why the hell would Moon be calling her now of all times?
It was a dream.
It had to be.
Yet the vibration of her phone echoing up through her paw and arm didn't feel dream-like whatsoever. The noisy ringtone Lance had chosen for her so awful she still berated herself for not changing it yet; it even managed to hurt her ears and the pain registering told her indeed…this may just be reality.
Pushing aside any last hesitation and to sate her own curiosity (and against her better judgment), she answered the call with a swipe of her thumb.
"Yeah?" she asked dryly into the receiver; ready for whatever prank or similar awaited her on the other line. Perhaps Moon had to pawn off his phone for money and neither Moon nor the shop bothered to clean the phone out. The animal who eventually bought it was probably just calling everyone in the contacts for shits and giggles…
"...Ash? Ash, is that you? I-I'm pretty sure I got the right number." the voice on the other line rang out and a chill went through her body when indeed - it was the one and only Buster Moon.
"What do you want, Moon?" she muttered out; more so to cover the shock in her voice than anything.
"Oh, Ash! So glad I got a hold of you - I - I-I first just want to apologize for my behavior last time I saw you. I was being completely selfish and not really thinking when I turned you all away last week. I shouldn't have done that…"
"Yeah. No kidding…" Ash didn't even bother hiding the venom in her tone. His blatant disregard for their effort to cheer him up and still believe in him even after he almost got them all killed was really rather, for lack of a better term, fucked up.
Moon went silent for a moment, a soft sigh she easily picked up before he decided to respond, "…I know - I…I'm so sorry; you have to believe me, Ash. I wasn't in my right mind, I was depressed and not thinking clearly to see how I hurt you all and…
I'm sorry. I really am."
"So what? Did you just call to apologize because it's kinda late for that." Ash was physically trembling; the blatant anger in her voice stemming through even in the back of her mind told her to stop, to not speak in such a way but it was all the hurt speaking now…
"I know that. Sorry doesn't really help now, b-but, I wanted to invite you to come perform with the others back at the theater! W-We're going to perform like we were supposed to! Uh, yeah, sure, t-t-there's no money in it, but maybe we'll get some recognition and who knows what'll happen after that?" Buster's stuttering voice was rather strange to listen to; normally one so confident and self-assured and it was weird to hear it squelched.
The more shocking thing though was the content of his words…
…Performing?
NOW?
"What if there was a producer who heard us? Even a local television newscast streaming the whole show throughout the town? It would bring so much more attention to the Moon Theater a-and maybe with their help, we could raise money and do benefit concerts to eventually raise enough and re-build! Anything can happen if we work together!" it appeared his confidence was slowly gaining by her silence.
Ash was frozen on the other line as Buster continued in his ramblings and the excitement leeching out in waves. A persistent bitterness rose in her chest at all of this for she had desperately wanted to put this all behind her - Lance, Moon Theater, all of those associated - Everything. Didn't Moon get that she wanted to move on with her life?!
Now, here was Moon trying to convince her to come back?! And for what!? A maybe? A billion in one possibility that an animal who actually mattered listened to their impromptu concert and just handed them a shitton of money to rebuild an old theater?! Newsflash: They lived in reality, not a freakin' fairytale land! There was no one who would fund their little venture! That dream was dead a long time ago and they all would have to accept it…especially Buster.
Buster's voice that she supposed she'd drowned out was now audible as her thoughts scattered away with a resolute answer she would give him.
"...I know it may not sound like much, but I can hear the passion when you sing. Your new song you wrote!" Ash couldn't help but flinch when he said it; her mind awash with thing she didn't care to think about right now. "Ash, I know you want to sing it and being exposed on the news or something may spark a -"
"What's the fucking point, Moon?" Ash interrupted, the fire in her voice not held back whatsoever. She felt as if she may be the only one out of the whole group who had any grasp of brutal reality.
"...pardon?" he asked, his voice sounding more like his depressed tone back at Eddie's pool house.
"There's no money, no prize, and no theater left. There's nothing, Moon. Unlike you, I need to move on…alright? It's over!"
"...Ash, of course there's still something! W-What about your dreams? Your singing? There's such passion when you're performing onstage! I know there's still a part of you that wants to do this! I believe in you! I -"
Ash hung up the phone with a firm press of her thumb on the red icon.
Heart pounding desperately in her chest at her abrupt decision to do so and all of a sudden, it all overwhelmed her. Eyes flooding with tears and emotions she cared not to deal with right now.
Just what the hell?!
Looking back down at her phone, she saw Moon was trying to call her back but she rejected his call with a swipe of her finger. It drifted back to her contacts - the few she didn't delete from her phone or block the numbers completely. 'Dad' was one that was staring back at her - how easy it would be to call him now and ask for tuition money - to go to college and ditch the dream forever.
Moon's words flitting about in her mind and how insane it all sounded…yet before she could talk herself out of it, she found her finger drifting downward in her contacts and without any hesitation, she called someone else.
"Ash?" the British-accented voice asked on the other line.
"Hey…" Ash muttered. "Uh…what's up?" she still continued to fail miserably at small talk.
"I just got off the phone with Mr. Moon!" Johnny admitted way too happily for her taste and Ash's stomach clenched, "Yeah, I-I tried to call ya but your line was busy."
"...Wait - Moon called you too!?"
"Yeah!"
"...so he's actually serious about this?" she muttered under her breath in complete disbelief. Was she the only sane one left?
"Uh…Yes. I'm pretty sure."
"...Are you shitting me?" Ash grumbled when Johnny basically had to repeat himself for the third time.
"I'm not!" Johnny laughed; his voice was pure unadulterated sunshine and rainbows and as nice as it sounded from the muted chuckle he had last time they spoke, it still kinda irritated her.
"So, wait, did you actually agree to his insane scheme?"
"I don't think it's a scheme, Ash. I think he's serious. He just wants to have a concert and invited us to perform. It sounded genuine to me So I'm gonna go… Didn't you hear him out?"
"Not really - I hung up on him!"
Johnny grew silent on the other end…and wait, was he fucking snickering?!
"...you hung up on him?" he asked in an obviously bemused tone and she could practically see the lopsided smile he wore on the other end as well as the chuckle lacing his voice.
"YES!" Ash replied, not even bothering to hide her slight annoyance. "I didn't believe him - thought he was just rubbing salt in the wound. I mean, like why the hell would he do this now? It doesn't…"
"I believe him."
"Of course you do." she couldn't help but sigh a moment later; Johnny's endless reserves of optimism would never empty, would they?
"Mr. Moon wouldn't lie about this - I could hear it in his voice."
Ash's mouth opened, ready to argue about how strange all of this was but the words wouldn't come. Silence filling the dead air around her and the nonexistent space between her ear and phone where Johnny was strangely quiet. A soft breath left her mouth; head swimming and body felt numb as the words finally came out.
"…But why now? What damn good is this now?! The theater is gone - what are we going to gain by doing any of this?"
"That our dream of singing may come true - even if it's just for a night."
Ash rolled her eyes that time; he sounded so painfully optimistic and cheesy she couldn't help it.
"But where?! There's nothing but a pile of rubble and I doubt Moon acquired another venue this quick considering the sad-sack of a state he was last time we saw him!"
"I-It is at the Moon Theater! We're going to build…or rather re-build a stage of sorts to have a concert! Ya know, just for fun."
"...for fun?" Ash wasn't convinced.
"Mr. Moon says he wants to relive the glory days - make it about the music rather than the venue and -"
"By putting on a show in a bunch of rubble?!" Ash interrupted.
Johnny grew silent for a moment. "…uh, yeah?"
"Please tell me you told him how ridiculous he sounds?!"
"Ash…c'mon, what have we gotta lose?"
"The rest of our sanity, our dignity - our lives! The Moon Theater is just a pile of unsteady rubble! How the hell is that safe to perform on by any stretch of the imagination?!"
"I'm sure we'll make it work out. Now what do you say?" Johnny said and Ash could practically see the shrug of his shoulders from his voice alone.
Ash grew silent on the other line.
This didn't sound right whatsoever and it felt like she would be taking a giant step backwards if she agreed to this absurd lunacy. The more logical side telling her to finish the call, hang up and dial her father like she should. Attend college, graduate, than finally pursue a real career going rather than chasing fruitless dreams and hoping for it not to completely blow up in her face.
Life didn't work out perfect for her - it never did - so why the hell would it go right for her now of all times?
"...Ash?" Johnny's voice filled her ears again and she audibly sighed.
"I'm sorry," the words felt positively foreign on her tongue, "I can't keep living in the past, Johnny. It's time to move forward and this isn't the way for me to do it."
"...not even for a night?"
Ash's mouth froze, wanting so badly to say 'no' and to even hang up on him like she did to Moon but she found she couldn't even muster up the courage for that.
Using her silence as leeway to try and convince her, Johnny continued.
"Ash, you love to play and sing - I saw the passion in your audition even if that no-good ex-boyfriend of yours tried to steal the spotlight," he chuckled and she hated how her heart prickled in her chest, "It was as if you were the only one on stage. I know you want to do this - you don't have to but…I'd sure like it if ya were there..."
Another sigh escaped her parted lips; heart beating uncomfortable in her chest as she stared over at her new guitar - or rather, refurbished, guitar. The strings and promise of a stage beckoning her to say 'yes', but she couldn't do that either.
"I…I need to move on."
It was now Johnny's turn to be silent. It remained that way for a few tense moments before his voice hit her ears again.
"I understand…b-but, if you change your mind, he wants us to meet there tomorrow morning, bright and early. If I don't see ya - good luck in whatever you decide to pursue." it hurt how genuine he sounded while speaking those words.
"Mm-hmm. Yeah. Alright." was all she replied.
"Well, um…I, I hope you 'ave a good day. Bye, Ash."
"Bye." she muttered before his line went dead; the finality of it all hitting her square in the gut.
Ash started at the screen of her phone for what felt like an eternity. Mind awash with too much to fathom that these last…what, seven minutes at most provided?
It was all just too much.
Moon's and even Johnny's words were torturing her; flitting frantically, more than her scattered mind cared to comprehend now or frankly, ever.
They were really going to do a show?
A failure or flop no one would want to see? A random bunch of animals performing in the remains and rubble of a long-failing theater - not exactly high-class entertainment that would draw any positive attention. Hell, the more she thought about it, it was very likely the rest of the rubble would collapse and crush the rest of them in the process. She supposed it would serve them right for not obeying the brutal weight of reality she grunted internally. The thought was not one she entertained long but a side of her that kept pestering her had far greater implications…
…What if?
That two word question that held more weight than she cared to admit bothered her to no end.
The risk-taker, the rebellious porcupine that pushed against all odds part kept putting these doubts in her mind. What if someone who mattered heard? What if the stage didn't collapse and…the show was good?
"No Ash. Stop! No way! I am not thinking of doing this…" she was suddenly talking to herself; feeling like a mental patient who escaped from the psych ward. Wondering if she should sign herself into a loony bin before she REALLY did something stupid - like actually take him up on his offer? Oh, hell no.
"NO!" she spoke again to herself because yes indeed, she was well aware she was fully out of her mind. Eyes flitting to her phone and seeing her dad's number, hand frozen as she pushed herself to call him but her body wouldn't obey.
"Ugh!" she grunted whilst standing to her feet to pace around, again proclaiming to the empty apartment, "I am NOT going to do this…"
"...I can't believe I'm doing this…" Ash muttered the second she stepped off the bus the next morning; approaching the remains of what used to be the majestic Moon Theater…